Commercial Property and Financial Stability - An International Perspective

Commercial property and property development have historically posed a greater direct risk to financial institutions’ balance sheets than have housing and mortgage markets. A number of factors contribute to this: banks’ commercial property lending is concentrated in loans for construction and development, which tend to be risky; imbalances can build up further because construction lags are longer; and incentives to avoid default are weaker for borrowers in the commercial property sector than they are for home loan borrowers. Conditions in global commercial property markets have been especially challenging in the current cycle.banks; commercial property; financial stability; loan losses

The therapeutic investigation

No Abstrac

Books as therapy

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A manifesto for a socio-technical approach to NHS and social care IT-enabled business change - to deliver effective high quality health and social care for all

80% of IT projects are known to fail. Adopting a socio-technical approach will help them to succeed in the future. The socio-technical proposition is simply that any work system comprises both a social system (including the staff, their working practices, job roles, culture and goals) and a technical system (the tools and technologies that support and enable work processes). These elements together form a single system comprising interacting parts. The technical and the social elements need to be jointly designed (or redesigned) so that they are congruent and support one another in delivering a better service. Focusing on one aspect alone is likely to be sub-optimal and wastes money (Clegg, 2008). Thus projects that just focus on the IT will almost always fail to deliver the full benefits

Women 1.5 Times More Likely to Leave STEM Pipeline After Calculus Compared to Men: Lack of Mathematical Confidence a Potential Culprit

The substantial gender gap in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce can be traced back to the underrepresentation of women at various milestones in the career pathway. Calculus is a necessary step in this pathway and has been shown to often dissuade people from pursuing STEM fields. We examine the characteristics of students who begin college interested in STEM and either persist or switch out of the calculus sequence after taking Calculus I, and hence either continue to pursue a STEM major or are dissuaded from STEM disciplines. The data come from a unique, national survey focused on mainstream college calculus. Our analyses show that, while controlling for academic preparedness, career intentions, and instruction, the odds of a woman being dissuaded from continuing in calculus is 1.5 times greater than that for a man. Furthermore, women report they do not understand the course material well enough to continue significantly more often than men. When comparing women and men with above-average mathematical abilities and preparedness, we find women start and end the term with significantly lower mathematical confidence than men. This suggests a lack of mathematical confidence, rather than a lack of mathematically ability, may be responsible for the high departure rate of women. While it would be ideal to increase interest and participation of women in STEM at all stages of their careers, our findings indicate that simply increasing the retention of women starting in college calculus would almost double the number of women entering the STEM workforce.Comment: 27 pages, 3 figures, includes Supplemental Informatio

The effect of sepsis on cerebral microvascular blood flow

Background: Sepsis is a dysregulated host response to infection that affects 18 000 000 people worldwide, and over 325 000 000 dollars are spent treating sepsis in Canada every year. One of the symptoms of severe sepsis is an altered mental state, which is accompanied with a measured decrease in oxygen levels in the skeletal muscle microvasculature. It is hypothesized that his altered mental state is due to a lack of oxygenated blood reaching the brain. Hypothesis: After the onset of sepsis, microvascular cerebral blood flow and oxygen levels in the blood will decrease. Onset of decreased blood flow in the brain is expected to occur later than in skeletal muscle. Methods: Data will be collected rom Sprague Dawley rats. Rats will undergo a sepsis inducing procedure, and one of the right leg muscles will be exposed. Data will be collected from this muscle via intravital video microscopy, and from the left leg and the brain via near infrared spectroscopy. Results: Expected results include a decrease in microvascular blood flow in both legs and the brain, with a later onset of decreased flow in the brain compared to the leg. Discussion: It is known that sepsis causes changes in skeletal muscle microvasculature. If we see these same changes in the cerebral microvasculature, it may be an indication that there isn\u27t enough oxygen reaching the brain. This could be a cause of a decreased mental state, and would be worth further exploration

Use of crushed brick in reinforced earth railway structures

The Bermondsey Dive-Under Scheme is a key part of the Thameslink Programme which will remove the existing bottleneck that severely limits the number of trains that can pass through London Bridge Station. The scheme involves extensive demolition of 900m of masonry viaduct followed by the construction of 900m of new structures, 200m of reinforced earth structures, and 200m of embankment widening and raising. This paper describes a study undertaken in 2012 that examined the viability of recycling the demolished brickwork material into a crushed engineered fill material for use in the permanent works. The overarching objective of the study was to seek to reduce the significant volumes of both imported fill and exported demolition material that would be required for the BDU scheme. In addition to the associated sustainability benefits, the significant reduction in lorry movements from London’s congested streets would result in significant environmental and safety benefits. The paper details the sampling and testing of brickwork that was undertaken as part of the study and presents the findings from the study. A synopsis of the properties of the crushed brick and the material requirements for engineered fill is included. The paper also discusses some of the issues associated with introducing innovation within major works programmes. The Bermondsey Dive Under Scheme is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2017.</p