Distressed conversions

Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in Conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, 2012.This thesis was scanned as part of an electronic thesis pilot project.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. This thesis was scanned as part of an electronic thesis pilot project.Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-123).This thesis analyzes condominium and apartment development in the downtown Chicago residential market between 1997 and 2011. Specifically, it focuses on developments that converted from apartments to condominiums mainly during the boom years between 1997 and 2007 and developments that converted from condominiums to apartments during the bust years between 2008 and 2011. In the case of the latter, this thesis seeks to determine the reason or reasons that these developments had to convert from condominiums to apartments through a detailed analysis of four such developments. This analysis addresses development drivers including timing, pricing, and location. Additionally, this thesis considers the overall market conditions including supply, demand, economics, and demographics to determine what caused the boom and the ultimate bust of the market and these developments.by Canan Ceylan Safar and Daniel Pollard.S.M.in Real Estate Developmen

First-Order Melting of a Moving Vortex Lattice: Effects of Disorder

We study the melting of a moving vortex lattice through numerical simulations with the current driven 3D XY model with disorder. We find that there is a first-order phase transition even for large disorder when the corresponding equilibrium transition is continuous. The low temperature phase is an anisotropic moving glass.Comment: Important changes from original version. Finite size analysis of results has been added. Figure 2 has been changed. There is a new additional Figure. To be published in Physical Review Letter

Simulations of Oligomeric Intermediates in Prion Diseases

We extend our previous stochastic cellular automata based model for areal aggregation of prion proteins on neuronal surfaces. The new anisotropic model allow us to simulate both strong beta-sheet and weaker attachment bonds between proteins. Constraining binding directions allows us to generate aggregate structures with the hexagonal lattice symmetry found in recently observed in vitro experiments. We argue that these constraints on rules may correspond to underlying steric constraints on the aggregation process. We find that monomer dominated growth of the areal aggregate is too slow to account for some observed doubling time-to-incubation time ratios inferred from data, and so consider aggregation dominated by relatively stable but non-infectious oligomeric intermediates. We compare a kinetic theory analysis of oligomeric aggregation to spatially explicit simulations of the process. We find that with suitable rules for misfolding of oligomers, possibly due to water exclusion by the surrounding aggregate, the resulting oligomeric aggregation model maps onto our previous monomer aggregation model. Therefore it can produce some of the same attractive features for the description of prion incubation time data. We propose experiments to test the oligomeric aggregation model.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures For larger versions of several figures, see http://asaph.ucdavis.edu/~dmobley and click on the prion paper lin

Adaptation of the Cerebrocortical Circulation to Carotid Artery Occlusion Involves Blood Flow Redistribution between Cortical Regions and is Independent of eNOS

Cerebral circulation is secured by feed-forward and feed-back control pathways to maintain and eventually reestablish the optimal oxygen and nutrient supply of neurons in case of disturbances of the cardiovascular system. Using the high temporal and spatial resolution of laser-speckle imaging we aimed to analyze the pattern of cerebrocortical blood flow (CoBF) changes after unilateral (left) carotid artery occlusion (CAO) in anesthetized mice in order to evaluate the contribution of macrovascular (Willis circle) vs. pial collateral vessels as well as that of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) to the cerebrovascular adaptation to CAO. In wild-type mice CoBF reduction in the left temporal cortex started immediately after CAO, reaching its maximum (-26%) at 5-10 s. Thereafter, CoBF recovered close to the pre-occlusion level within 30 s indicating the activation of feed-back pathway(s). Interestingly, the frontoparietal cerebrocortical regions also showed CoBF reduction in the left (-17-19%) but not in the right hemisphere, although these brain areas receive their blood supply from the common azygos anterior cerebral artery in mice. In eNOS-deficient animals the acute CoBF reduction after CAO was unaltered, and the recovery was even accelerated as compared to controls. These results indicate that (i) the Willis circle alone is not sufficient to provide an immediate compensation for the loss of one carotid artery, (ii) pial collaterals attenuate the ischemia of the temporal cortex ipsilateral to CAO at the expense of the blood supply of the frontoparietal region, and (iii) eNOS, surprisingly, does not play an important role in this CoBF redistribution

Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring efficacy of perindopril/indapamide first-line combination in hypertensive patients: the REASON study

Background: Circadian blood pressure (BP) measurements provide more information on hypertensive complications than office BP measurements. The purpose of this study was to analyze the efficacy of the first-line combination of perindopril 2 mg plus indapamide 0.625 mg versus atenolol 50 mg on BP parameters and variability over 24 h in patients with hypertension. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, controlled, 12-month study comparing perindopril/indapamide and atenolol was performed in 201 patients (age 55.0 years) with uncomplicated sustained essential hypertension. Ambulatory BP measurements (ABPM) were done every 15 min over 24 h. Results: After 1 year of treatment, the decrease in systolic BP was significantly greater for perindopril/indapamide than for atenolol during the entire 24-h period (-13.8 ν −9.2 mm Hg), the daytime and the nighttime periods (P < .01). Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) variations were comparable for the two groups (−7.2 ν −8.3 mm Hg, NS). Pulse pressure (PP) reduction was also significantly greater for perindopril/indapamide than for atenolol (for the whole 24 h, −6.6 ν −0.9 mm Hg, P < .001). The through to peak (T/P) BP ratio and the smoothness index were comparable in the two groups for DBP. For systolic blood pressure (SBP), higher values of the T/P ratio (0.80 ν 0.59) and the smoothness index (1.45 ν 0.98; P < .02) were achieved for the perindopril/indapamide combination than for atenolol. Conclusions: The perindopril/indapamide first-line combination decreased SBP and PP more effectively than atenolol. Moreover, the BP control effect was smooth and consistent throughout the 24-h dosing interval and BP reduction variability was lower than the one induced by atenolo

Regression of left ventricular mass in hypertensive patients treated with perindopril/indapamide as a first-line combination: The REASON echocardiography study

Background: Increase in left ventricular mass (LVM) may be linked to morbidity and mortality in hypertensive patients. Arterial stiffness, systolic blood pressure (BP), and pulse pressure (PP) seem to be the main determinants of LVM. The perindopril/indapamide combination normalizes systolic BP, PP, and arterial function to a greater extent than atenolol. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of perindopril (2 mg)/indapamide (0.625 mg) first-line combination with atenolol (50 mg) on LVM reduction in hypertensive patients. Methods: Two hundred fourteen patients with essential hypertension participating in the PREterax in Regression of Arterial Stiffness in a ContrOlled Double-BliNd (REASON), randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study, underwent M-mode two-dimensional-guided echocardiography. Results: Perindopril/indapamide and atenolol were both effective at brachial BP reduction during the 12-month period. The systolic BP reduction was significantly greater with perindopril/indapamide than with atenolol (−21.2 v −15.3 mm Hg), whereas the reduction in diastolic BP was similar between treatment groups (−12.1 v −11.3 mm Hg). Reduction in LVM was higher with perindopril/indapamide than with atenolol. The between-group difference was significant for LVM (−13.6 v −4.3 g, P = .027), LVM/body surface area (LVMI1, P = .032), and LVM/body height2.7 (LVMI2, P = .013). The 124 patients with LV hypertrophy at baseline showed greatest LVM regression (LVM: −22.5 v −8.9 g, P = .009; LVMI1, P = .031; LVMI2, P = .028). The reduction in LVM adjusted for brachial systolic BP and heart rate was still significantly greater with perindopril/indapamide than with atenolol. Conclusions: Treatment, based on a first-line perindopril/indapamide combination in hypertensive patients, was more effective than atenolol on regression of echocardiographic indices of LVM and LV hypertroph

Interstitials, Vacancies, and Supersolid Order in Vortex Crystals

Interstitials and vacancies in the Abrikosov phase of clean Type II superconductors are line imperfections, which cannot extend across macroscopic equilibrated samples at low temperatures. We argue that the entropy associated with line wandering nevertheless can cause these defects to proliferate at a sharp transition which will exist if this occurs below the temperature at which the crystal actually melts. Vortices are both entangled and crystalline in the resulting ``supersolid'' phase, which in a dual ``boson'' analog system is closely related to a two-dimensional quantum crystal of He$^4$ with interstitials or vacancies in its ground state. The supersolid {\it must} occur for $B\gg B_\times$, where $B_\times$ is the decoupling field above which vortices begin to behave two-dimensionally. Numerical calculations show that interstitials, rather than vacancies, are the preferred defect for $B\gg \phi_0/\lambda_\perp^2$, and allow us to estimate whether proliferation also occurs for B\,\lot\,B_\times.The implications of the supersolid phase for transport measurements, dislocation configurations and neutron diffraction are discussed.Comment: 53 pages and 15 figures, available upon request, written in plain TE

Genome Analysis Linking Recent European and African Influenza (H5N1) Viruses

Although linked, these viruses are distinct from earlier outbreak strains

Finite-Size Effects and Dynamical Scaling in Two-Dimensional Josephson Junction Arrays

In recent years many groups have used Fisher, Fisher, and Huse (FFH) dynamical scaling to investigate and demonstrate details of the superconducting phase transition. Some attention has been focused on two dimensions where the phase transition is of the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii (KTB) type. Pierson et al. used FFH dynamical scaling almost exclusively to suggest that the dynamics of the two-dimensional superconducting phase transition may be other than KTB-like. In this work we investigate the ability of scaling behavior by itself to yield useful information on the nature of the transition. We simulate current-voltage (IV) curves for two-dimensional Josephson junction arrays with and without finite-size-induced resistive tails. We find that, for the finite-size effect data, the values of the scaling parameters, specifically the transition temperature and the dynamical scaling exponent z, depend critically on the magnitude of the contribution that the resistive tails make to the IV curves. In effect, the values of the scaling parameters depend on the noise floor of the measuring system.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures; submitted to Physical Review

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely