The Sensitivity of Bank Stocks to Mortgage Portfolio Composition

Previous studies have found that bank stock returns are very sensitive to changes in real estate returns in general. But how the composition and quality of bank real estate portfolios affect the sensitivity of bank stocks to real estate returns has not been rigorously examined. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine this important question. The results indicate that commercial mortgages contribute the most to the sensitivity of bank stock returns. Farmland loans have a negative impact on bank real estate return sensitivity. Thus, farmland loans could play a diversification role in terms of reducing the sensitivity of banks to real estate returns, if used appropriately.

The Wealth Effects of Domestic vs International Joint Ventures: The Case of Real Estate

This study examines the wealth effect of international versus domestic real estate joint ventures on the U.S. participating firm's shareholders. This is done using traditional even study methodology for real estate joint venture announcements. The results suggest that domestic real estate joint ventures generally result in a significant increase in the firm's value, while international real estate joint ventures usually have a much less significant to nonsignificant wealth impact. This may be due to the immovability of real properties in foreign countries and the large amount of initial investment in real estate that increase both political and economic risks for international real estate joint ventures. This study also finds that hotel joint ventures generally have a weaker wealth effect than non-hotel real estate joint ventures.

Higgs algebraic symmetry of screened system in a spherical geometry

The orbits and the dynamical symmetries for the screened Coulomb potentials and isotropic harmonic oscillators have been studied by Wu and Zeng [Z. B. Wu and J. Y. Zeng, Phys. Rev. A 62,032509 (2000)]. We find the similar properties in the responding systems in a spherical space, whose dynamical symmetries are described by Higgs Algebra. There exists a conserved aphelion and perihelion vector, which, together with angular momentum, constitute the generators of the geometrical symmetry group at the aphelia and perihelia points $(\dot{r}=0)$.Comment: 8 pages, 1 fi

International nosocomial infection control consortium (INICC) report, data summary of 36 countries, for 2004-2009

The results of a surveillance study conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) from January 2004 through December 2009 in 422 intensive care units (ICUs) of 36 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe are reported. During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN; formerly the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system [NNIS]) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infections, we gathered prospective data from 313,008 patients hospitalized in the consortium's ICUs for an aggregate of 2,194,897 ICU bed-days. Despite the fact that the use of devices in the developing countries' ICUs was remarkably similar to that reported in US ICUs in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were significantly higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals; the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection in the INICC ICUs of 6.8 per 1,000 central line-days was more than 3-fold higher than the 2.0 per 1,000 central line-days reported in comparable US ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia also was far higher (15.8 vs 3.3 per 1,000 ventilator-days), as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (6.3 vs. 3.3 per 1,000 catheter-days). Notably, the frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates to imipenem (47.2% vs 23.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (76.3% vs 27.1%), Escherichia coli isolates to ceftazidime (66.7% vs 8.1%), Staphylococcus aureus isolates to methicillin (84.4% vs 56.8%), were also higher in the consortium's ICUs, and the crude unadjusted excess mortalities of device-related infections ranged from 7.3% (for catheter-associated urinary tract infection) to 15.2% (for ventilator-associated pneumonia). Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Acute osteomyelitis of the maxilla in the newbom

Journal of Laryngology and Otology1077627-628JLOT

Kinetic studies on the adsorption of phenol, 4-chlorophenol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol from water using activated carbons

This study uses rate parameters in pseudo-first-order (PFO) and pseudo-second-order (PSO) equations (k(1) and k(2)q(e), respectively) to judge the extent for approaching equilibrium in an adsorption process. Out of fifty-six systems collected from the literature, the adsorption processes with a k(2)q(e) value between 0.1 and 0.8 min(-1) account for as much as 70% of the total. These are classified as fast processes. This work compares the validity of PFO and PSO equations for the adsorption of phenol, 4-chlorophenol (4-CP), and 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) on activated carbons prepared from pistachio shells at different NaOH/char ratios. The activated carbons, recognized as microporous materials, had a surface area ranging from 939 to 1936 m(2)/g. Findings show that the adsorption of phenol, 4-CP, and 2,4-DCP on activated carbons had a k(2)q(e) value of 0.15-0.58 min(-1), reflecting the fast process. Evaluating the operating time by rate parameters revealed that k(2)q(e) was 1.6-1.8 times larger than k(1). These findings demonstrate the significance of using an appropriate kinetic equation for adsorption process design. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Structural and electrical studies of radio frequency sputtered hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide films

10.1063/1.360377Journal of Applied Physics78127289-729