Non-normal real estate return distributions by property type in the U.K.

Investment risk models with infinite variance provide a better description of distributions of individual property returns in the IPD database over the period 1981 to 2003 than Normally distributed risk models, which mirrors results in the U.S. and Australia using identical methodology. Real estate investment risk is heteroscedastic, but the Characteristic Exponent of the investment risk function is constant across time yet may vary by property type. Asset diversification is far less effective at reducing the impact of non-systematic investment risk on real estate portfolios than in the case of assets with Normally distributed investment risk. Multi-risk factor portfolio allocation models based on measures of investment codependence from finite-variance statistics are ineffectual in the real estate context

Role of many-body entanglement in decoherence processes

A pure state decoheres into a mixed state as it entangles with an environment. When an entangled two-mode system is embedded in a thermal environment, however, each mode may not be entangled with its environment by their simple linear interaction. We consider an exactly solvable model to study the dynamics of a total system, which is composed of an entangled two-mode system and a thermal environment, and also an array of infinite beam splitters. It is shown that many-body entanglement of the system and the environment plays a crucial role in the process of disentangling the system.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

A Study of Restaurateurs\u27 Attitudes and Practices in Relation to Obesity

The dramatic increase in the rate of obesity in the United States is raising new public health concerns. Each year, obesity-related problems cause at least 300,000 deaths and cost around 100 billion dollars. Take a walk down the street, go to a shopping center or sport event, or pick up a newspaper or magazine and the severity of the obesity problem in the United States is becoming a critical problem to solve. About 65% of the U.S. adult population is overweight (35%) or obese (30%), which has doubled in only two decades. Obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, arthritis, respiratory problems, cancer, and sleep apnea have become a major concern in our health care crisis. Poor diet and physical inactivity leading to excess body weight was identified as the second leading cause of death in the United States. While Americans are consuming more food outside the home, it may seem easy to assume a relationship between the increases in the success of the restaurant industry and national obesity rates. The growth in food away from home has created concern about its possible effect on dietary quality. Because so much food is eaten outside the home, restaurants do have a significant impact on the food consumption of the United States and play a considerable role in the shaping of American diets

A Generalized Circle Theorem on Zeros of Partition Function at Asymmetric First Order Transitions

We present a generalized circle theorem which includes the Lee-Yang theorem for symmetric transitions as a special case. It is found that zeros of the partition function can be written in terms of discontinuities in the derivatives of the free energy. For asymmetric transitions, the locus of the zeros is tangent to the unit circle at the positive real axis in the thermodynamic limit. For finite-size systems, they lie off the unit circle if the partition functions of the two phases are added up with unequal prefactors. This conclusion is substantiated by explicit calculation of zeros of the partition function for the Blume-Capel model near and at the triple line at low temperatures.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX. To be published in PRL. 3 Figures will be sent upon reques

Lubricant degradation, transport and the effect of extended oil drain intervals on piston assembly tribology

There are ever increasing demands on lubricant manufacturers to meet governmental legislation and customer needs by improving fuel economy, engine durability and exhaust system compatibility as shown by the introduction of GF4 and move towards GF5 specification oils. This has created an ever increasing need to understand how oil degrades in an engine and how this degraded oil affects piston assembly tribology. This review conference paper will give an overview of a collaborative project that has been undertaken to further enhance the understanding of how lubricant degrades in an operating engine, its transport through the engine and effect upon piston assembly tribology

Extraction and tribological investigation of top piston ring zone oil from a gasoline engine

With tightening emission regulations, increased expected fuel economy, and longer drain intervals impacting on lubricant formulation, greater understanding of how oil degrades in an automotive engine is becoming ever more important. Equally significant is the effect that this degraded lubricant has on the tribological operation of the engine, particularly its overall internal friction and component wear. In a previous paper, four tests to degrade oil in a single cylinder engine were reported [1]. These tests were set up such that the lubricating oil was degraded in the ring pack before returning to the sump, where it was sampled and chemical and rheological analysis undertaken. This paper reports the extension of this work using the same Hydra engine and describes how oil has additionally been extracted from the rear of the top piston ring during engine operation. This extracted oil has then been subjected to similar analysis as the sump oil samples in the previous tests, along with additional analysis to look at the tribological properties of the oil using tribometers. The results clearly show significant differences in the rheological, tribological, and chemical properties of the fresh oil and used sump oil samples when compared with the top ring zone (TRZ) oil samples, particularly the effect of load on the levels of volatiles present in the TRZ samples and their effect on traction and friction coefficient values during tribological testing

Three dimensional echocardiography in valvular heart disease

Although cardiac structures exist in three dimensions, two dimensional (2-D) echocardiography only provides information in a single tomographic plane, the orientation of which is determined by the ultrasound window. Accordingly the use of geometric assumptions and/or mental integration of information from multiple 2-D images are needed to assess cardiac function and structure. Advances in ultrasound technology and image reconstruction have opened up the possibility of using three dimensional (3-D) techniques in both quantitative applications such as measurement of ventricular volumes and qualitative applications such as the assessment of valve stenosis or regurgitation. Further technical improvements in terms of real-time 3-D imaging and development of 3-D transoesophageal echo (TOE ) probes; have opened up further applications including intra-operative guidance of percutaneous valve interventions

Extraction of biological hydroxyapatite from tuna fish bone for biomedical applications

Natural hydroxyapatite (HAp) is known for its common use in biomedical applications including in orthopaedic and implantation. HAp can be extracted from natural resources such as eggshells, fish bones and coral. Annually, it is found that huge amount of tuna fish bones was thrown away and being wasted as results from great consumption of tuna fish. In this study, tuna fish bones were extracted and characterised to be used in biomedical applications. Specifically, tuna fish bones were cleaned, and calcined at high temperature of 700 °C, 900 °C and 1100 °C. Powders calcined at 700 °C showed pure HAp compared to powders calcined at 900 °C and 1100 °C which showed the presence of β-TCP. As temperature rising, the morphology of the powders also changes from spherical-shaped to irregular-shaped indicated the substitution of phosphate and calcium from the β-TCP which also influenced the ratio of Ca/P obtained. In this study, powders calcined at 700 °C obtained optimum Ca/P ratio of 1.60. Moreover, EDS analysis showed the presence of tracer elements such as Ca, Mg, Sr Na, K and Zn in all calcined samples. These elements can help improve the biocompatibility of the HAp and beneficial for biomedical applications

Separation of Pt(IV), Rh(III) and Fe(III) in acid chloride leach solutions of glass scraps by solvent extraction with various extractants

Solvent extraction experiments were conducted to recover pure Pt(IV) and Rh(III) from the chloride leach liquor of glass industry scraps containing a small amount of Fe(III) using Alamine 336, TOPO, TBP and Cyanex 923. The Pt(IV) and Fe(III) were selectively extracted by Cyanex 923 leaving Rh(III) in the raffinate, while only Fe(III) was extracted by TBP. The Pt(IV) in the loaded Cyanex 923 phase was first selectively stripped over Fe(III) by NaSCN and then the remaining Fe(III) was stripped by HCl solution. The Fe(III) in the loaded TBP phase was easily stripped by dilute HCl solution. The McCabe-Thiele diagrams for the extraction of Pt(IV) by Cyanex 923 and of Fe(III) by TBP were constructed. Based on the obtained results, a flowsheet for the separation of three metals from the real leaching solution of glass industry scraps was proposed

Extraction of biological hydroxyapatite from bovine bone for biomedical applications

Current biomedical field demands intensive research on cost-effective and high availability materials to fulfil its various applications. Owing to its similar characteristic to human bone, biological hydroxyapatite (HAp) has been used as an alternative in bone replacement and implantation. In this study, biological HAp was extracted from bovine bones via calcination. Powders calcined at 700 °C and 900 °C showed the presence of HAp. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) analysis shows that the irregular morphology emerged and the size was increasing as the calcination temperature increased. By increasing the temperature of 1100 °C, β-TCP (beta-tricalcium phosphate) started to develop and influenced the ratio of Ca/P. At 900 °C, the Ca/P ratio obtained was 1.70, and closest to the theoretical ratio of Ca/P. The presence of trace elements like Ca, Mg, Sr Na, K and Zn in all samples are proved via energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis, and these elements help to enhance the bioactivity hence make it a good alternative in biomedical applications