Board of Director Monitoring and Firm Value in REITs

This article examines the influence of board of director composition and characteristics on real estate investment trust (REIT) shareholder wealth as measured by firm market-to-book ratios. Results show that increased outside director representation on the board leads to increased market-to-book ratios up to a point. However, as outside representation becomes too large, the market discounts REIT shares. In addition, a positive relationship is observed between REIT market-to-book ratios and the dollar values of director ownership, providing support for alignment benefits associated with increased director stock ownership.

Do Management Changes Matter? An Empirical Investigation of REIT Performance

Management’s (board of directors or executive officers) contribution to a firm is difficult to directly observe, although stock return performance can be a source of information. This study addresses this issue by extending the work of McIntosh, Rogers, Sirmans and Liang (1994) by analyzing management changes within REITs from 1984 to 2002. The findings indicate a significant relationship between negative performance and a management change from a period three months prior to the change in management. Logit and probit analysis are used to determine whether negative firm performance (measured by its relationship to market returns) can predict the likelihood of a management change. No predictive ability is found.

Lady Gaga as (dis)simulacrum of monstrosity

Lady Gaga’s celebrity DNA revolves around the notion of monstrosity, an extensively researched concept in postmodern cultural studies. The analysis that is offered in this paper is largely informed by Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of monstrosity, as well as by their approach to the study of sign-systems that was deployed in A Thousand Plateaus. By drawing on biographical and archival visual data, with a focus on the relatively underexplored live show, an elucidation is afforded of what is really monstrous about Lady Gaga. The main argument put forward is that monstrosity as sign seeks to appropriate the horizon of unlimited semiosis as radical alterity and openness to signifying possibilities. In this context it is held that Gaga effectively delimits her unique semioscape; however, any claims to monstrosity are undercut by the inherent limits of a representationalist approach in sufficiently engulfing this concept. Gaga is monstrous for her community insofar as she demands of her fans to project their semiosic horizon onto her as a simulacrum of infinite semiosis. However, this simulacrum may only be evinced in a feigned manner as a (dis)simulacrum. The analysis of imagery from seminal live shows during 2011–2012 shows that Gaga’s presumed monstrosity is more akin to hyperdifferentiation as simultaneous employment of heterogeneous and potentially dissonant inter pares cultural representations. The article concludes with a problematisation of audience effects in the light of Gaga’s adoption of a schematic and post-representationalist strategy in the event of her strategy’s emulation by competitive artists

Accidental deep field bias in CMB T and SNe z correlation

Evidence presented by Yershov, Orlov and Raikov apparently showed that the WMAP/Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) pixel-temperatures (T) at supernovae (SNe) locations tend to increase with increasing redshift (z). They suggest this correlation could be caused by the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect and/or by some unrelated foreground emission. Here, we assess this correlation independently using Planck 2015 SMICA R2.01 data and, following Yershov et al., a sample of 2783 SNe from the Sternberg Astronomical Institute. Our analysis supports the prima facie existence of the correlation but attributes it to a composite selection bias (high CMB T × high SNe z) caused by the accidental alignment of seven deep survey fields with CMB hotspots. These seven fields contain 9.2 per cent of the SNe sample (256 SNe). Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient indicates the correlation present in the whole sample (ρs = 0.5, p-value =6.7 × 10−9) is insignificant for a sub-sample of the seven fields together (ρs = 0.2, p-value =0.2) and entirely absent for the remainder of the SNe (ρs = 0.1, p-value =0.6). We demonstrate the temperature and redshift biases of these seven deep fields, and estimate the likelihood of their falling on CMB hotspots by chance is at least ∼ 6.8 per cent (approximately 1 in 15). We show that a sample of 7880 SNe from the Open Supernova Catalogue exhibits the same effect and we conclude that the correlation is an accidental but not unlikely selection bias

Diversification Benefits from Foreign Real Estate Investment

Previous research has questioned the stability of international equity diversification. This study examines whether foreign real estate exists in a more segmented market and whether foreign real estate provides any diversification benefit beyond that obtainable from foreign stocks. Using data encompassing the stock market crash of 1987, foreign real estate was found to have a lower correlation with U.S. stocks than foreign stocks. This lower correlation is shown to be stable through time as foreign real estate has a lower correlation in nearly the entire time period. Foreign real estate was also found to have a significant weight in efficient international portfolios

Ecological Screening Values for Surface Water, Sediment, and Soil: 2005 Update

One of the principal components of the environmental remediation program at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is the assessment of ecological risk. Used to support CERCLA, RCRA, and DOE orders, the ecological risk assessment (ERA) can identify environmental hazards and evaluate remedial action alternatives. Ecological risk assessment is also an essential means for achieving DOE's risk based end state vision for the disposition of nuclear material and waste hazards, the decommissioning of facilities, and the remediation of inactive waste units at SRS. The complexity of an ERA ranges from a screening level ERA (SLERA) to a full baseline ERA. A screening level ecological risk assessments, although abbreviated from a baseline risk assessment, is nonetheless considered a complete risk assessment (EPA, 2001a). One of the initial tasks of any ERA is to identify constituents that potentially or adversely affect the environment. Typically, this is accomplished by comparing a constituent's maximum concentration in surface water, sediment, or soil with an ecological screening value (ESV). The screening process can eliminate many constituents from further consideration in the risk assessment, but it also identifies those that require additional evaluation. This document is an update of a previous compilation (Friday, 1998) and provides a comprehensive listing of ecological screening values for surface water, sediment, and soil. It describes how the screening values were derived and recommends benchmarks that can be used for ecological risk assessment. The sources of these updated benchmarks include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the State of Florida, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), the Dutch Ministry of the Environment (RIVM), and the scientific literature. It should be noted that ESV's are continuously revised by the various issuing agencies. The references in this report provide the citations of each source and, where applicable, the internet address where they can be accessed. Although radiological screening values are not included herein due to space limitations, these have been recently derived by a technical working committee sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE 2002, 2004). The recommended ecological screening values represent the most conservative concentrations of the cited sources, and are to be used for screening purposes only. They do not represent remedial action cleanup levels. Their use at locations other than SRS should take into account environmental variables such as water quality, soil chemistry, flora and fauna, and other ecological attributes specific to the ecosystem potentially at risk

Ecological Screening Values for Surface Water, Sediment, and Soil

This document provides a comprehensive listing of ecological screening values for surface water, sediment, and soil

The effect of anaesthesia and antenatal care on feto-maternal outcome after caesarean section in a developing country

Background: The feto-maternal outcome after delivery is precarious in developing country. The anaesthetic technique and antenatal care as it affect this outcome is assessed.Methods: This is a 5-year retrospective study carried out at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu. Obstetric theatre records of patients who had caesarean section between January 1st 2011 and December 31st 2015 were reviewed. Data extracted from the records using a proformer included socio-dermographic characteristics, indications for surgery, maternal and neonatal outcome, and anaesthetic technique. The data were analyzed using SPSS Version 17 [SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA].Results: A total of 1574 patients had caesarean section within the study period and 1158 (73.6%) of the patients were booked, while 416 (26.4%) were unbooked. The total number of deliveries during this period was 6235 giving a caesarean section rate of 39.6%. More deaths on the operating table were recorded in the unbooked patients as compared to booked parturient (x2=20.013, p<0.001). More babies of the unbooked patients died perioperatively (17.3%) when compared to booked paturient (3.4%) p<0.001.Conclusions: The commonest anaesthesia administered was subarachnoid block. Maternal and neonatal mortality was significantly higher in paturient who did not attend antenatal care compared to those who attended

The simplicity project: easing the burden of using complex and heterogeneous ICT devices and services

As of today, to exploit the variety of different "services", users need to configure each of their devices by using different procedures and need to explicitly select among heterogeneous access technologies and protocols. In addition to that, users are authenticated and charged by different means. The lack of implicit human computer interaction, context-awareness and standardisation places an enormous burden of complexity on the shoulders of the final users. The IST-Simplicity project aims at leveraging such problems by: i) automatically creating and customizing a user communication space; ii) adapting services to user terminal characteristics and to users preferences; iii) orchestrating network capabilities. The aim of this paper is to present the technical framework of the IST-Simplicity project. This paper is a thorough analysis and qualitative evaluation of the different technologies, standards and works presented in the literature related to the Simplicity system to be developed

Natural history and prognostic significance of iron deficiency and anaemia in ambulatory patients with chronic heart failure

Aims: Iron deficiency (ID) and anaemia are common in heart failure; less is known about changes over time. Methods and results: We investigated prevalence, incidence and resolution of ID and anaemia in 906 patients with chronic heart failure (median age 73 (65–79) years, 70% men, 51% with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction) 1 year apart. ID was defined as serum iron ≤13 μmol/L and anaemia as haemoglobin &lt;13.0&nbsp;g/dL for men or &lt;12.0&nbsp;g/dL for women. FAIR-HF criteria for ID were also considered. At baseline, 10% had anaemia without ID, 23% had ID without anaemia, 20% had both, and 47% had neither. Percentages changed little over 1 year, but 157 (30%) patients had new-onset ID, 104 (16%) new-onset anaemia, whilst ID resolved in 173 (44%) and anaemia in 63 (23%). Compared to those who remained iron replete (iron &gt;13 μmol/L), mortality was higher in those with persistent or incident ID at 1 year [hazard ratio (HR) 1.81 (1.23–2.67), and HR 1.40 (0.91–2.14), respectively] in multivariable models (P&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.02). Compared to persistent ID, resolution of ID was associated with a lower mortality [HR 0.61 (0.44–0.86); P&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.004]. Changes in ID defined by FAIR-HF criteria were not similarly associated with mortality. Anaemia was associated with a poor outcome even if it resolved. Conclusions: The prevalence and incidence of ID and anaemia are high in chronic heart failure but so is the rate of resolution. Persistent or incident ID, defined by a serum iron ≤13 μmol/L, is associated with higher mortality and resolution of ID with lower mortality