The Determinants of the Debt Maturity Decision for Real Estate Investment Trusts

This research uses the maturity of incremental bond issues and the weighted-average maturity of all outstanding debt and tests various theories from the corporate debt maturity literature to discover if real estate investment trust (REIT) debt maturity is influenced by liquidity risk, asymmetric information, personal taxes, and agency problems. The findings reveal that there is little to no evidence for the liquidity and asymmetric information hypotheses; however, there is evidence that personal taxes influence the maturity of REIT incremental debt issues, and agency problems play a role in determining the incremental and average debt maturity of REITs

The visual complexity of coronal mass ejections follows the solar cycle

The Heliospheric Imagers on board National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s twin STEREO spacecraft show that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) can be visually complex structures. To explore this complexity, we created a citizen science project with the U.K. Science Museum, in which participants were shown pairs of CME images and asked to decide which image in each pair appeared the most “complicated.” A Bradley‐Terry model was then applied to these data to rank the CMEs by their “complicatedness,” or “visual complexity.” This complexity ranking revealed that the annual average visual complexity values follow the solar activity cycle, with a higher level of complexity being observed at the peak of the cycle. The average complexity of CMEs observed by STEREO‐A was also found to be significantly higher than those observed by STEREO‐B. Visual complexity was found to be associated with CME size and brightness, but our results suggest that complexity may be influenced by the scale‐sizes of structure in the CMEs

Geographically-weighted regression of knowledge and behaviour determinants to anti-malarial recommending and dispensing practice among medicine retailers in western Kenya: capacitating targeted interventions

Background Most patients with malaria seek treatment first in retail drug shops. Myriad studies have examined retailer behaviours and characteristics to understand the determinants to these behaviours. Geospatial methods are helpful in discovering if geographic location plays a role in the relationship between determinants and outcomes. This study aimed to discover if spatial autocorrelation exists in the relationship between determinants and retailer behaviours, and to provide specific geographic locations and target behaviours for tailoring future interventions. Methods Retailer behaviours and characteristics captured from a survey deployed to medicine retailers in the Webuye Demographic and Health Surveillance Site were analysed using geographic weighted regression to create prediction models for three separate outcomes: recommending the first-line anti-malarial therapy to adults, recommending the first-line anti-malarial therapy to children, and selling that therapy more than other anti-malarials. The estimated regression coefficients for each determinant, as well as the pseudo R2 values for each final model, were then mapped to assess spatial variability and local areas of best model fit. Results The relationships explored were found to be non-stationary, indicating that spatial heterogeneity exist in the data. The association between having a pharmacy-related health training and recommending the first-line anti-malarial treatment to adults was strongest around the peri-urban centre: comparing those with training in pharmacy to those without training (ORæ=æ5.75, pæ=æ0.021). The association between knowing the first-line anti-malarial and recommending it to children was strongest in the north of the study area compared to those who did not know the MOH-recommended anti-malarial (ORæ=æ2.34, pæ=æ0.070). This is also the area with the strongest association between attending a malaria workshop and selling the MOH-recommended anti-malarial more than other anti-malarials, compared to retailers who did not attend a workshop (ORæ=æ2.38, pæ=æ0.055). Conclusion Evidence suggests that spatial heterogeneity exists in these data, indicating that the relationship between determinants and behaviours varies across space. This is valuable information for intervention design, allowing efforts to focus on those factors that have the strongest relationship with their targeted behaviour within that geographic space, increasing programme efficiency and cost-effectiveness

In-situ drift spectroscopy in a continuous recycle reactor: a versatile tool for catalytic process research

Diffuse Reflectance IR Fourier-Transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy is an increasingly popular technique in catalysis research as it permits in situ observation of the reactor bed in powd. or granular form. However, DRIFTS in its conventional form suffers from temp.-gradient problems. One soln. is to couple the DRIFTS cell with a continuous recycle flow system. The value of such an arrangement is illustrated via studies of the kinetics and mechanism of CO2 methanation over Ru/TiO2 under transient and steady-state conditions. Metal-absorbed CO is identified as the main reaction intermediate through titrn. to CH4 in transient hydrogenation. The COad is probably supplied via rapid establishment of the reverse water gas shift equil.: H2 + CO2 -> COad + H2O involving adsorbed formate intermediate(s). [on SciFinder (R)

Secondary teachers’ beliefs about the relationship between students cultural identity and their ability to think critically

Critical thinking (CT) is increasingly included within education curriculum policy development to support students’ intellectual progress. Teachers who embed CT learning and are cognisant of students cultural identity increase their ability and aptitude to think critically. This paper reports results from an anonymous survey administered to 490 teacher participants, designed to investigate teacher beliefs regarding the impact of students cultural identity on their ability to think critically. The results of the study found a diversity of teacher opinion, including negative attitudes (53%) regarding students’ abilities and the requirement for a culturally responsive teaching approach.  The study highlights the complexities of implementing CT, and the need for policy makers to consider the impact of teachers’ beliefs about student cultural identity before effective delivery of CT in secondary schools is likely to occur

Detection and replication of Moku virus in honey bees and social wasps

Transmission of honey bee viruses to other insects, and vice versa, has previously been reported and the true ecological importance of this phenomenon is still being realized. Members of the family Vespidae interact with honey bees via predation or through the robbing of brood or honey from colonies, and these activities could result in virus transfer. In this study we screened Vespa velutina and Vespa crabro collected from Europe and China and also honey bees and Vespula vulgaris from the UK for Moku virus (MV), an Iflavirus first discovered in the predatory social wasp Vespula pensylvanica in Hawaii. MV was found in 71% of Vespula vulgaris screened and was also detected in UK Vespa crabro. Only seven percent of Vespa velutina individuals screened were MV-positive and these were exclusively samples from Jersey. Of 69 honey bee colonies screened, 43% tested positive for MV. MV replication was confirmed in Apis mellifera and Vespidae species, being most frequently detected in Vespula vulgaris. MV sequences from the UK were most similar to MV from Vespula pensylvanica compared to MV from Vespa velutina in Belgium. The implications of the transfer of viruses between the Vespidae and honey bees are discussed