Inserting financial instability in strategic management of commercial real estate companies: A corporate perspective on the meaning of the phenomenon of financial instability

The global financial system was marked by several crises frequently connected to Commercial Real Estate (CRE). As a precursor to financial crisis events, the phase of Financial Instability (FI) is generally considered from a more macroeconomic perspective with a focus on systemic risk to better identify environmental dynamics in the run-up to such a crisis. However, there is no common understanding about FI on a corporate level that enables organisations to undertake such a strategic analysis. This study aims to explore the corporate meaning of the phenomenon from a managerial perspective. It emphasises executives` lived experience in FI and the underlying procedures in organizational sensemaking. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews with senior executives of German CRE companies with reference to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) 2007/08. Within the social constructivist paradigm, the study adopts a hermeneutic phenomenological research approach using the theoretical lenses of van Manen's ‘lifeworld existentials' and Weick's ‘properties of sensemaking'. The corporate definition of FI that emerged from this study extends existing ones. The revealed procedures indicate that organisational sensemaking was underrepresented in such a phase. From this, qualitative indicators and implications are developed grounded in behavioural dynamics of the market participants. The findings of this research contribute to theoretical and applied knowledge about FI. The study proposes the systematic incorporation of this definition and sensemaking procedures by executives and institutionalises the monitoring of the developed indicators in SM to better control a CRE company prior, during, or after a phase of FI

Temperature dependence of microbial degradation of organic matter in marine sediments:polysaccharide hydrolysis, oxygen consumption, and sulfate reduction

The temperature dependence of representative initial and terminal steps of organic carbon remineralization was measured at 2 temperate sites with annual temperature ranges of 0 to 30 degrees C and 4 to 15 degrees C and 2 Arctic sites with temperatures of 2.6 and -1.7 degrees C. Slurried sediments were incubated in a temperature gradient block spanning a temperature range of ca 45 degrees C. The initial step of organic carbon remineralization, macromolecule hydrolysis, was measured via the enzymatic hydrolysis of fluorescently labeled polysaccharides. The terminal steps of organic carbon remineralization were monitored through consumption of oxygen and reduction of (SO42-)-S-35. At each of the 4 sites, the temperature response of the initial step of organic carbon remineralization was similar to that of the terminal steps. Although optimum temperatures were always well above ambient environmental temperatures, optimum temperatures generally decreased with decreasing environmental temperatures. Activity at 5 degrees C as a percentage of highest activity was highest in the Arctic sites and lowest in the warmest temperate site. The highest potential rates of substrate hydrolysis were measured in the Arctic, while the highest rates of oxygen consumption and sulfate reduction were measured at the warmest temperate site. Potential rates of extracellular enzymatic hydrolysis (at least for this class of pullulanase enzymes) do not appear to Limit organic carbon turnover in the Arctic. These results suggest that organic carbon turnover in the cold Arctic is not intrinsically slower than carbon turnover in temperate environments; sedimentary metabolism in Arctic sediments may be controlled more by organic matter supply than by temperature

Temperature dependence of microbial degradation of organic matter in marine sediments:polysaccharide hydrolysis, oxygen consumption, and sulfate reduction

The temperature dependence of representative initial and terminal steps of organic carbon remineralization was measured at 2 temperate sites with annual temperature ranges of 0 to 30°C and 4 to 15°C and 2 Arctic sites with temperatures of 2.6 and –1.7°C. Slurried sediments were incubated in a temperature gradient block spanning a temperature range of ca 45°C. The initial step of organic carbon remineralization, macromolecule hydrolysis, was measured via the enzymatic hydrolysis of fluorescently labeled polysaccharides. The terminal steps of organic carbon remineralization were monitored through consumption of oxygen and reduction of 35SO42–. At each of the 4 sites, the temperature response of the initial step of organic carbon remineralization was similar to that of the terminal steps. Although optimum temperatures were always well above ambient environmental temperatures, optimum temperatures generally decreased with decreasing environmental temperatures. Activity at 5°C as a percentage of highest activity was highest in the Arctic sites and lowest in the warmest temperate site. The highest potential rates of substrate hydrolysis were measured in the Arctic, while the highest rates of oxygen consumption and sulfate reduction were measured at the warmest temperate site. Potential rates of extracellular enzymatic hydrolysis (at least for this class of pullulanase enzymes) do not appear to limit organic carbon turnover in the Arctic. These results suggest that organic carbon turnover in the cold Arctic is not intrinsically slower than carbon turnover in temperate environments; sedimentary metabolism in Arctic sediments may be controlled more by organic matter supply than by temperature

Involvement of microbial mats in early fossilization by decay delay and formation of impressions and replicas of vertebrates and invertebrates

Microbial mats have been hypothesized to improve the persistence and the preservation of organic remains during fossilization processes. We test this hypothesis with long-term experiments (up to 5.5 years) using invertebrate and vertebrate corpses.Once placed on mats,the microbial community coats the corpses and forms a three-dimensional sarcophagus composed of microbial cells and exopolymeric substances (EPS). This coverage provides a template for i) moulding superficial features, resulting in negative impressions, and ii) generating replicas.The impressions of fly setulae, fish scales and frog skin verrucae are shaped mainly by small cells in an EPS matrix. Microbes also replicate delicate structures such as the three successive layers that compose a fish eye.The sarcophagus protects the body integrity, allowing the persistence of inner organs such as the ovaries and digestive apparatus in flies,the swim bladder and muscles in fish, and the bone marrow in frog legs.This study brings strong experimental evidence to the idea that mats favour metazoan fossilization by moulding, replicating and delaying decay. Rapid burial has classically been invoked as a mechanism to explain exceptional preservation. However, mats may play a similar role during early fossilization as they can preserve complex features for a long timeThis work, which is part of the research projects CGL2013-42643P and the research grant supporting M. Iniesto were funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The SEM facility at IMPMC was supported by Region Ile de France grant SESAME 2006 I-07-593/R, INSU-CNRS, INP-CNRS, and University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris. SEM analyses performed for this study were supported by a grant from the Foundation Simone et Cino Del Duca (PI: K. Benzerara). Some SEM observations were also conducted at SIdI UAM (Madrid). Environmental SEM observations were performed at the MNCN (Madrid

Saisonale Variationen von Porenwasserprofilen, Nährstoff-Flüssen und Reaktionen in intertidalen Sedimenten des Weser-Ästuars.

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Temperature dependence and rates of sulfate reduction in cold sediments of Svalbard, Arctic Ocean

Sediments of permanently cold areas around Svalbard and northern Norway were examined for their sulfate reduction activities and the degree of adaptation of their bacterial communities toward low temperatures. Depth distributions of sulfate reduction rates were obtained from whole-core incubations with sulfur-35-labeled sulfate as tracer. The integrated rates from the sediment surface to a depth of 15 cm ranged between 0.9 and 4.1 mmol m(-2) day(-1), comparable to rates in shelf sediments of temperate climates. The temperature dependence of sulfate reduction was investigated by incubation of anoxic sediment slurries in a temperature gradient block at -5 degrees C to + 40 degrees C. Sulfate reduction rates increased 4- to 10-fold from in situ temperature to the optimum temperature, and highest measured rates reached nearly 200 nmol ml(-1) day(-1) at 27 degrees C. The optimum temperatures, 25-30 degrees C, indicated a mesophilic community of sulfate-reducing bacteria and were at least 20 degrees C higher than the in situ temperatures of -1.7 to 2.6 degrees C. Arrhenius plots were linear from the lowest temperatures nearly to the optimum temperatures, and activation energies fell in the range of 40-75 kJ mol(-1), that is, at the lower end of previously reported values. Samples from depths below 15 cm showed enhanced rates as a result of substrate addition, whereas the optimum temperatures did not change. The high rates at in situ temperatures and the low activation energies are indications of a cold-adapted population of mesophilic or moderately psychrophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria in these sediments

Pore water response on seasonal environmental changes in intertidal sediments of the Weser estuary, Germany

In order to determine time-dependent changes in estuarine pore-water chemistry and flux variations across the sediment-water interface, sediment cores of an intertidal mud flat in the Weser Estuary were taken monthly over a one-year period. Sediment temperature, pH, Eh, Cl-, O-2, NO3-, and SO42- pore-water concentrations were measured and showed variations that relate to the changes of surface temperature and estuarine water composition. Fick's first law was applied to quantify diffusive fluxes from concentration gradients in the diffusive boundary layer and in the pore water. Total nitrate fluxes were calculated from flux chamber experiments. Diffusive oxygen fluxes increased from 5 mmol m(-2) d(-1) in winter to 18 mmol m(-2) d(-1) in early summer, while nitrate fluxes into the sediment increased from 3 mmol m(-2) d(-1) in winter to 60 mmol m(-2) d(-1) in early summer. Oxygen and nitrate fluxes into the sediment correlated linearly to sediment temperature. Sulfate fluxes increased from 0.5 mmol m(-2) d(-1) in winter to 10 mmol m(-2) d(-1) in August and September. Converted into carbon fluxes, the sum of these oxidants ranged from 10 mmol m(-2) d(-1) in winter to 80 mmol m(-2) d(-1) in summer. An estimation of the upper limit of the annual nitrate flux into the sediment showed that about 10% of the 250,000 t of nitrate discharged annually by the river may be decomposed within the inner Weser Estuary

Controls on the formation of authigenic minerals in association with decaying organic matter: an experimental approach

Carcasses of the shrimp Crangon crangon were incubated in a marine medium under oxic conditions at 15°C which was inoculated with a consortium of sulfate-reducing, sulfide-oxidizing, and fermentative bacteria. These standard conditions were varied by adding sediment, omitting sulfate, adding glucose, omitting the inoculum, adding phosphate, and enhancing the buffer capacity. The chemical gradients generated by decay were monitored over a period of 29 days with O2, pH- and sulfide-microelectrodes. In most of the experiments oxygen was depleted, pH decreased and sulfide accumulated around the carcass within a week, creating steep chemical gradients, and decay was predominantly anaerobic. By 29 days maximum change in O2 concentration was from around 200 to 0 μM, in pH from 7.5 to 6.2, and in sulphide concentration from 0 to 5.6 mM. Although weight loss and general decay were least when only indigenous bacteria were present, only CaCO3 crystal bundles formed and there was no soft tissue preservation. In contrast, where decay and weight loss were more extensive anaerobic sulphate reduction was intense, pH decreased markedly, and some muscle tissue was replicated in CaPO4. The pH close to the decaying carcass seemed to determine whether CaCO3 or CaPO4 formed. Paradoxically, the exceptional preservation of soft-tissues in fossils requires elevated rather than restricted microbial activity as this leads to anaerobically driven authigenic mineral formation

Detection of pineapple bacilliform virus using the polymerase chain reaction

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay has been developed to detect pineapple bacilliform virus (PBV) in extracts from infected plants. Initially, degenerate primers were designed from conserved badnavirus amino acid sequences and used in PCR with partially purified PBV preparations. A 448 bp DNA fragment was amplified from a region in the reverse transcriptase and ribonuclease H genes. The nucleotide sequence of the cloned PCR product indicated that PBV was related to, but distinct from, other badnaviruses. Specific primers designed from the PBV sequence yielded a 403 bp fragment when used in PCR with extracts from infected pineapple plants, but not from plants infected with sugarcane bacilliform or banana streak viruses (genus Badnavirus). The specificity of the PCR product was confirmed by Southern hybridisation using a digoxigenin labelled DNA probe. PBV appears to be present in all pineapple growing areas along the east coast of Australia. PBV was detected in plants grown from seeds, plants propagated through meristem tip culture and in mealybugs which were collected from infected plants. PBV was detected in crown, leaf and root tissue from infected pineapple plants. PCR results of all field-infected samples were confirmed by immunoelectron microscopy