A Survey of Housing Equity Withdrawal and Injection in Australia

Over the past decade or so, aggregate data suggest a trend increase in housing equity withdrawal in Australia, potentially stimulating household spending. However, there has been little disaggregated information on how equity is being withdrawn and injected, the characteristics of households altering housing equity, and how funds from withdrawn equity are being used. This paper uses a survey of 4 500 households commissioned by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to address these questions. The results suggest that, during 2004, the most common method of withdrawing equity was for a household to increase the level of debt secured against a property they already owned. In contrast, most of the value of equity withdrawn was associated with property transactions, with the typical property transaction resulting in a net equity withdrawal. Turnover in the property market is therefore likely to be an important driver of cycles in aggregate housing equity withdrawal. Bivariate and logit analysis suggests a significant life-cycle influence, with the bulk of equity withdrawal being undertaken by older households, while younger households typically inject, primarily through mortgage repayments or deposits for property purchase. Finally, the results suggest that the bulk of the value of withdrawn equity was used to increase non-housing assets, although a significant proportion of households used the funds for consumption expenditure.housing equity withdrawal; housing turnover; household debt

Optimal Controller Design for the Microgravity Isolation Mount (MIM)

H2 controllers, when designed using an appropriate design model and carefully chosen frequency weightings, appear to provide robust performance and robust stability for Microgravity Isolation Mount (MIM). The STS-85 flight data will be used to evaluate the H2 controllers' performance on the actual hardware under working conditions. Next, full-order H-infinity controllers will be developed, as an intermediate step, in order to determine appropriate H-infinity performance weights for use in the mixed-norm design. Finally the basic procedure outlined above will be used to develop fixed-order mixed-norm controllers for MIM

The effects of progress monitoring in early writing using curriculum-based measurement

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on October 26, 2007)Vita.Includes bibliographical references.Thesis (M.A.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Special education.The purpose of this study was to examine the technical adequacy of progress monitoring assessments in early writing using curriculum-based measurement principles. The participants were 23 students in two first grade classrooms in a small elementary school in a medium sized city in the Midwest. The measures assessed include word copying, word dictation, sentence copying, and sentence dictation. Three minute samples were obtained and analyses were conducted for each minute increment, and were scored using two different methods, correct sequences, and correct minus incorrect sequences. We examined the alternate form reliability of the measures along with the criterion validity of the measures compared to the Test of Early Written Language-2 (TEWL-2), as well as with teacher perceptions of writing proficiency. Examination of the potential of the measures to be sensitive to growth over time was examined after the study's completion. The results are discussed in terms of technical adequacy, utility of the measures, and ability of the measures to serve as indicators of performance and progress early writing

Examining the technical adequacy of curriculum-based measurement progress monitoring in early numeracy using handheld technology

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on May 17, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Erica S. Lembke"July 2011"Vita.The purpose of this study was to examine the use of six early numeracy measures to monitor the mathematics progress of kindergarten and first grade students across 13 weeks. Seventy one kindergarteners were administered oral counting, number identification, missing number, and quantity discrimination measures weekly for 13 weeks. Simultaneously, seventy five first grade students were administered oral-counting, number identification, missing number, next number, number facts, and quantity discrimination measures weekly for 13 weeks. All data was collected via PDA Palm Pilot handheld technology with web-based data management supplied by Wireless Generation, Inc. (mclass:Math software). Alternate form reliability was adequate for instructional decision making on some measures, and low reliability was reported for quantity discrimination, as well as for the next number and number facts measures. Concurrent criterion validity coefficients comparing the measures with student performance on a standardized assessment resulted in weaker coefficients as compared to previous studies that have compared similar measures with the same standardized test. We used hierarchical linear modeling at each grade level to ascertain the ability of the six measures to model weekly growth trajectories over 13 weeks. All measures produced growth rates that were significant across time, for both kindergarten and first grade, with linear growth observed in all measures.Includes bibliographical reference

Membrane biogenesis and the unfolded protein response

In addition to serving as the entry point for newly translated polypeptides making their way through the secretory pathway, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) also synthesizes many lipid components of the entire endomembrane system. A report published in this issue implicates a signaling pathway known to respond to ER unfolded protein load in the control of phospholipid biosynthesis by the organelle (Sriburi et al., 2004). The reasonable notion that demand for ER membrane is integrated with protein processing capacity was initially suggested by genetic analysis of yeast. The new data lend direct support for this idea and imply interesting mechanistic possibilities for how this coupling develops

Deformation and Flexibility Equations for Idealized ARIS Umbilicals, Under Planar End-Loading Conditions

The International Space Station (ISS) relies on the Active Rack Isolation System (ARIS) as the central component of an integrated, station-wide strategy to isolate microgravity space-science experiments. ARIS uses electromechanical actuators to isolate an International Standard Payload Rack (ISPR) from disturbances due to the motion of the ISS. Disturbances to microgravity experiments on ARIS-isolated racks are primarily transmitted via the ARIS power and vacuum umbilicals. Recent experimental tests indicate that these umbilicals resonate at frequencies outside the ARIS controller's bandwidth. at levels of potential concern for certain microgravity experiments. Reduction in the umbilical resonant frequencies could help to address this issue. This paper develops equations for the in-plane deflections and flexibilities of an idealized umbilical (thin, flexible, cantilever beam) under end-point, in-plane loading (inclined-force and moment). The effect of gravity is neglected due to the on:orbit application. The analysis assumes an initially straight. cantilevered umbilical with uniform cross-section. which undergoes large deflections with no plastic deformation, such that the umbilical terminus remains in a single quadrant and the umbilical slope changes monotonically. The analysis is applicable to the ARIS power and vacuum umbilicals. under the indicated assumptions