New International Evidence on Real Estate as a Portfolio Diversifier

This paper provides an international comparison of the benefits of including real estate assets in mixed-asset portfolios. Real estate returns are desmoothed using a variant of the Geltner (1993) approach, and Bayes-Stein estimators are used to increase the stability of portfolio weight estimations. Both unhedged and hedged analyses are conducted. Real estate is found to be an effective portfolio diversifier, and even more so when both domestic and international real estate assets are considered. The optimal allocation to real estate is 15% to 25%, and remains stable when the level of the standard deviation of real estate is altered. Real estate allocation between domestic and nondomestic assets, however, varies substantially across countries, depending on whether returns are hedged or not.

International Evidence on Real Estate as a Portfolio Diversifier

This paper provides an international comparison of the benefits of including real estate assets – both domestic and international – in mixed-asset portfolios. Data from seven countries on three continents are considered for a common time period (1987-2001) to facilitate comparisons. Real estate returns are desmoothed using a variant of the Geltner (1993) approach, and Bayes-Stein estimators are used to increase the stability of portfolio weight estimations. Both unhedged and hedged analyses are conducted. Real estate is found to be an effective portfolio diversifier, and even more so when both domestic and international real estate assets are considered. The optimal allocation to real estate is in the 15 to 25% range, and remains remarkably constant in the various analyses. The breakdown of the real estate allocation between domestic and non-domestic assets, however, is found to vary substantially across countries and depending on whether returns are hedged or not.

Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Putative Antipsychotic Drugs

This study attempted to further explore the discriminative stimulus properties of antipsychotic drugs, by establishing the typical antipsychotic drug chlorpromazine, and the atypical antipsychotic drug clozapine as discriminative stimulus in two different groups of rats. The rats trained to discriminate chlorpromazine from vehicle failed to do so reliably, however nine of ten rats trained to discriminate 1.25 mg/kg clozapine from vehicle were able to acquire the discrimination in 19.1 sessions. The clozapine cue partially generalized (63.13% drug lever responding [SEM = ± 18.91]) to the antimalarial drug methylene blue at the 7.5 mg/kg dose, but not to the antimalarial quinacrine. This study found that the antimalarial drug methylene blue may share some pharmacological similarities or subjective effects with that of clozapine, and further studies into its antipsychotic value, if any, should be explored

Complement mediated synapse elimination in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a devastating psychiatric disorder with a typically age of onset in late adolescence. The heritability is estimated to be in between 60-80% and large-scale genome-wide studies have revealed a prominent polygenic component to SCZ risk and identified more than three-hundred common risk variants. Despite a better understanding of which genetic risk variants that increases SCZ risk, it has been challenging to map out the pathophysiology of the disorder. This has stalled the development of target drugs and current treatment options display moderate efficacy and are prone to produce side-effects. SCZ is generally considered a neurodevelopmental disorder and it was proposed more than forty years ago that physiological removal of less active synapses in adolescence, i.e., synaptic pruning, is increased in SCZ and hereby causes the core symptoms of the disorder. This theory has then been supported by post-mortem brain tissue and imaging studies displaying decreased synapse density in SCZ. More recently, it was then shown that the most strongly associated risk loci can largely be explained by copy numbers of a gene coding for the complement factor 4A (C4A). As microglia prune synapses with the help of complement signalling, we therefore decided to use a recently developed human 2D in vitro assay to assess microglial uptake of synaptic structures in models based on cells from individuals with SCZ and healthy controls (study I). We observed excessive uptake of synaptic structures in SCZ models and by mixing synapses from healthy controls with microglia from SCZ patients, and vice versa, we showed the contribution of microglial and neuronal factors contributing to this excessive uptake of synaptic structures. We then developed an in vitro assay to study neuronal complement deposition dependent on copy numbers of C4A in the neuronal lines. Complement 3 (C3) deposition increased by C4A copy numbers but was independent of C4B copy numbers (also unrelated to SCZ risk). Similar C4A copy numbers correlated with the extent of microglial uptake of synapses. Microglial uptake of synaptic structures could also be inhibited by the tetracycline minocycline that also decreased risk of developing SCZ in an electronic health record cohort. In study II, we cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from first-episode psychosis patients to measure protein levels of C4A. In two independent cohorts, we observed elevated C4A levels (although not C4B levels) in first-episode patients that later were to develop SCZ and could show correlations with markers of synapse density. However, elevated C4A levels could not fully be explained by more copy numbers of C4A in individuals with SCZ and in vitro experiments revealed that SCZ-associated cytokines can induce C4A mRNA expression while also correlating with C4A in patient-derived CSF. In study III, we set-up a 3D brain organoid models to more fully comprehensively capture processes in the developing human brain and then also included innately developing microglia. We display synaptic pruning within these models and use single cell RNA sequencing to validate them. In conclusion, this thesis uses patient-derived cellular modelling to uncover a disease mechanism in SCZ that link genetic risk variants with bona fide protein changes in living patients

The Role of Multi-Family Properties in Hedging Pension Liability Risk : Long-Run Evidence

The authors thank Daniel Waldenström, Dmitry Kuvshinov, and MSCI for providing data. The comments of Jan Bohlin, Stephen Lee, Zongyuan Li, Bryan MacGregor, Rainer Schulz as well as of two anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged. The participants at the 28th annual European Real Estate Society (ERES) conference, the 14th ReCapNet conference, the 39th annual American Real Estate Society (ARES), the University of Aberdeen real estate research seminar and the Skye real estate conference also provided many valuable comments. Any errors are the authors'.Peer reviewedPostprin

Effects of bias on the association between post-traumatic stress disorder and interleukin-6

No abstract available.NoneAccepte

Application of Swedish quality register data for use in health economic analyses of chronic conditions

Sweden has many registers to monitor and follow-up healthcare, and combined with the unique personal identification numbers, this represents vast opportunities for register based research. Part of these data sources are the Swedish quality registers, which are set up to monitor the quality of care of specific diseases. Two of these registers that both have good national coverage over time and are used for research purposes are the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register (SRQ) and the Swedish Stroke Register (Riksstroke). These are set up to monitor the quality of care of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and stroke, respectively, both diseases being associated with a chronic condition of functional disability. Data from the two quality registers have been used for scientific research in various fields, but to a lesser extent in health economic analyses. Health economics addresses issues relating to the allocation of scarce resources to improve health. This includes resource allocation both within the economy to the healthcare system and within the healthcare system to different activities. Two common health economic approaches are economic evaluations of specific therapies and burden-of-illness studies, taking a broader analytical approach to a disease. The overall aim of this thesis was to study the applicability of quality register data in health economic analyses of chronic conditions. The specific aims were: • To assess the applicability of data from a quality register in economic evaluations of anti-TNF treatment for RA in clinical practice • To assess the applicability of data from a quality register in burden-of-illness studies where health outcomes, resource use and costs of stroke are put in relation to each other Data from the quality registers were used and linked to other relevant data sources to address the aims of this thesis. For the economic evaluations of treatments in RA, health economic models were constructed to enable the analyses. Statistical analyses were performed to allow for hospital comparisons of health outcomes and resource use for stroke, as well as estimating long-term transition probabilities for the health economic model in RA. The papers concluded that: • Anti-TNF therapies have on macro level been used cost-effectively as first-line biological treament for RA in Swedish clinical practice. The cost-effectiveness results did not differ depending on the source of effectiveness data (clinical practice or RCT trial). However, the results were sensitive to the underlying progression rate of the comparator and assumptions made in the model. • The impact of stroke on health outcomes, resources and costs were substantial. There were differences in performance between hospitals in these indicators that could not be explanied by differences in patient mix. The results further indicated that the costs differed by level of functional disability and age, up to two years post stroke. Further, the papers of this thesis demonstrated the valuable contribution of quality register data in health economics in providing a valid base of data and opportunities to: • Assess real life effectiveness of treatments in economic evaluations • Retrieve data on health outcomes and patient characteristics, which are essential in: - Measuring health outcomes and relating them to levels of resource use - Enabling hospital comparisons of performance and performing case-mix adjustment of results - Enabling stratification of cost estimates by level of health outcome - Provide input parameters for future economic evaluations In order to assess the full health economic aspects of chronic conditions, quality registers play an important role, but there is a necessity to combine the quality register data with other registers or other data sources, published literature and potentially also conduct modelling to account for the long-term effects. Nevertheless, any quality register that wants to ensure that the data can be used for health economic analyses and provide valid data for such analyses, should consider to: • Ensure long-term follow-up of the patients (espcecially in chronic conditions) • Collect data on: - Patient characteristics, including the clinical markers important for the patient’s prognosis - Treatments received - Health outcomes that are common as measurements of treatment outcome(e.g in RCTs), as well as estimation of quality of life or utilities - Resource use (quantifyable) outside the healthcare sector, e.g .informal care The quality registers and other register data sources can be utilized to a greater extent in different assessments which share the aim of improving healthcare delivery and increasing its value – either by assessing level of health outcomes, processes and resources used; enabling comparisons between treatments or hospitals; or assessing determinants for different outcomes

Conditions and possibilities for a planting design practice for improved air quality in subway stations

Växtgestaltning är ett holistiskt tillvägagångssätt för att skapa platsbildning och även utnyttja växters och utformningars gentjänster. Uppsatsen tillämpar disciplinen på tunnelbanestationer med huvudsakligt syfte att minska luftföroreningar. Både växtval och stationens utformning visar sig kunna bidra till förbättrad luftkvalitet. Växter har störst effekt som luftförbättrare i miljöer med förhöjda partikelkoncentrationer, vilket i tunnelbanestationer är vid perrongen. Det råder generell konsensus bland forskare kring vad för fysiska egenskaper som har koppling till växters partikeladsorberande förmåga. Det råder däremot brist på kvantitativt utförda studier för många växtfamiljers luftförbättringskapacitet. Därmed tillämpade uppsatsen en växtvalsmetod som utgår från att utifrån taxonomiska grupper anpassade till tunnelbanans habitat välja arter som innehar utseendemässiga egenskaper som är kopplade till hög luftrenande kapacitet. Uppsatsens slutresultat presenterar därmed ett förslag på en växtgestaltad tunnelbanemiljö vars luftrenande effekt har empiriska belägg men som saknar stöd i kvantifierade mätningar. Vidare finner arbetet att en och samma gestaltning kan förbättra både förutsättningarna för tunnelbanan som växthabitat och samtidigt gynna människors välbefinnande i de generellt sett negativt uppfattade miljöerna. En öppen stationsutformning som innefattar ljusbrunnar skapar god översikt, minskar känslan av isolering, tillgodoser människans behov av ljusintensitetens dygnsvariation och möjliggör vissa arters överlevnad i ytor under marknivå. En gestaltningslösning som har tydligt sammanhang till utemiljön ökar även möjligheterna till ventilering, som starkt bidrar till att avlägsna skadliga luftburna partiklar. Samtidigt ökar växters partikeladsorberande förmåga i miljöer med god luftcirkulation. Sammanfattningsvis framgår de aspekter där växtgestaltning kan utgöra störst förbättringspotential i tunnelbanemiljöer som ökat sammanhang till omgivningen, förbättrad orienteringsförmåga och troligen, med ett taktiskt artval och välplanerad gestaltning, förbättrad luftkvalitet.Planting design is a holistic placemaking practice in which the designs also strive to take advantage of potential extra benefits, such as ecosystem services and human wellbeing. This thesis applies the practice onto subway stations with the main purpose of improving its air quality. With this set intention, both the choice of vegetation and the station design appears to contribute to local air quality in the underground cavities. Plants have the largest effect as a sink for particulate matter in areas where concentrations are elevated, which in the case of subway stations is at the platform, near the rail and wheels which is the emitting source of heavy metal containing particles. Overall there seems to be consensus amongst researchers on which physical traits are correlated with high capacity for adsorbing particulate matter. In the present day there is however only a limited amount of studies that quantify the adsorbing effect of specific species, and such information is completely missing for many taxonomic groups. Therefore, the thesis adhered to a method for choosing plant material that consists in selecting plants within the taxonomic groups that possesses adaptations for the subway as a habitat, which in addition carries morphological features that scientific research has found to be advantageous for particulate matter adsorption. A result in form of a plating design proposal for a subway station can thereafter be presented, which ability to improve air quality has empirical evidence but which lacks in quantifiable data. Furthermore, the thesis reveals that one design solution that is beneficial for the needs of humans can simultaneously create favourable habitat conditions for underground vegetation. As a digested recapitulation, the aspects where planting design proves to potentially have the largest impact on subway station design concerns connectivity, orientation and presumably, on the grounds that the chosen plant material and configuration of spaces is tactical, better air quality