Liminal Spaces: Theorising the Permanence of Transience

Flux in our multifarious built environment gives rise to antagonisms in our lived experience of the spatial and temporal. Permanent space becomes temporary; temporary space becomes permanent, reflecting myriad relationships and conflicts. This chapter considers uneven development from the perspective of communities, localised action and national governance, explored through the concepts of liminality and temporality. Our chapter revisits grounding literature on places in time, through concepts such as heterotopia. We argue that critical temporalities bring new insights into these liminal, temporary uses by focusing on the evolving spaces of change in marginal neighbourhoods in the UK. We present two case studies that analyse community projects and food banks, spaces which represent what we call ‘transient spatialities’. In our contribution we suggest how contemporary experiences of capitalism can be effectively understood, through liminality, temporality and transience in our case studies, which reflect experiences of poverty and deprivation at the economic margins

The Evolving Intersection of Planning and the Commercial Real Estate Market

This chapter considers the intersection between planning and commercial real estate in the UK, and how it has evolved, adapted and responded to globalisation and consequent regulatory and industry changes after the global financial crisis. We consider the implications of the broader changes that have taken place in London, in particular the influence of dynamic capital flows and ‘financialisation’. The rapidly changing investment and development context in London over the last decade has wide-ranging implications for planning practice, which seeks to balance sustainable social and economic real estate impacts, and successfully ‘add value’. The chapter reflects on how global drivers of change in the planning and real estate markets find expression in London, drawing on interviews with professionals in commercial real estate and planning

Revisiting currency swaps: hedging real estate investments in global city markets

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to re-examine currency swaps as an effective hedging technique for individual asset performance in today’s global real estate market, by considering hypothetical prime office investments across six different cities and five currency pairs. The perspective of a risk-averse, high net worth, non-institutional, smaller-scale Swiss investor is paired with investors from five additional national markets. / Design/methodology/approach: The study examines currency swaps in key office markets across three continents (Frankfurt, London, New York, Sydney, Warsaw and Zurich) and extends previous work on the topic by adopting both Monte Carlo (MC) and Latin Hypercube (LH) techniques to create stochastic samples for individual asset performance analyses. This is the first paper to apply LH sampling to currency swaps with underlying real estate assets, and the validity of this method is compared with that of MC. Four models are presented: the experience of the domestic investor (no exchange rate (ER) fluctuations); an unhedged direct foreign investment; hedging rental income and initial purchase price via a currency swap; and hedging rental income and anticipated terminal value. / Findings: The efficacy of a swap depends on the historical framework of the ERs. If the foreign currency depreciates against the domestic one, hedging the repatriated cash flow of a property investment proved superior to the unhedged strategy (EUR, GBP, PLN and USD to the CHF). An investor would benefit from exposure to an appreciating foreign currency (CHF to the EUR, GBP, PLN and USD), with an unhedged strategy clearly outperforming the currency swap as well as the domestic investor’s performance, while a historically sideways fluctuating ER (AUD to the CHF) also favours an unhedged approach. In all scenarios, unexpected economic or market shocks could cause negative consequences on the repatriated proceeds. / Practical implications: This research is of interest to small-scale, non-institutional investors aiming to develop strategies for currency risk mitigation in international investments for individual assets; however, tax-optimising strategies and the implications on a larger portfolio have not been taken into account. / Originality/value: There is no recent academic work on the efficacy of currency swaps in today’s global office market, nor has the position of smaller-scale high net worth investors received much academic attention. This research revisits the discussion on their validity, providing contemporary insight into the performance of six markets using LH as an alternative and original sampling technique

Faculty and undergraduate perceptions of an integrated mentoring approach

The role of an academic mentor is typically diverse, discipline specific and institutionally heterogeneous. Mentoring relationships are commonplace, yet the experience and delivery of mentoring in universities reflect a broad spectrum of approaches and execution. This article reflects on the pedagogic evolution of mentoring, examining the student response to systematic changes in undergraduate mentoring. Much has been written on mentoring, but this research focuses on student experiences when pastoral, professional and curriculum-based mentoring models are integrated and applied together, rather than adopted as separate, distinct approaches. The research employs a mixed methodology, adopting qualitative and quantitative analytical techniques to investigate how mentoring relationships evolved following the implementation of an updated contemporary mentoring system. Initially, faculty responses to the changing mentoring system were related through semi-structured interviews. Student experiences were then collected in a pilot study via questionnaires disseminated across all undergraduate levels and subsequently analysed. Key findings suggest that by adopting multifaceted approaches to mentoring which blend the modern and traditional, institutions can effectively add significant ‘value’ to the student experience. Typically (but not exclusively), the undergraduate students’ personal and academic development is enhanced when a system which integrates the pastoral, professional and curriculum-based models is applied

Occupier responses to sustainable real estate: what's next?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is two-fold. Primarily, it examines the relationship between sustainable buildings and occupiers, by summarising the key extant literature. Secondarily, the paper proposes avenues for future research relating to the impact of sustainability on corporate real estate strategy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews over ninety relevant publications related to sustainability, real estate market responses and corporate real estate, focussing on the role and response of occupiers. The approach concentrates on occupier strategies, specifically considering influences such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), landlord tenant relationships, the changing occupier role and the ‘circle of blame’. Findings – In recent years, literature has increasingly begun to reflect nuances in occupier responses to sustainable, prime, office real estate, with some conflicting findings as to the importance of sustainability. Location remains the dominant consideration in decision making for occupiers, but sustainability is key to CSR and ‘value-add’ in certain sectors. More effective use of sustainable buildings requires improved communication between landlord and tenant. Our review demonstrates that challenges still remain in relation to the ‘circle of blame’. More research needs to be done in relation to the emergence of sustainability in the non-prime and retail sectors. Originality / value – Through collating key literature in this topical research area, the paper provides a critical review of occupier responses to sustainable real estate, and therefore a fuller understanding of emerging market practices. Additionally, it suggests future research directions. Keywords – Sustainable buildings, Occupier perceptions, CRE strategy, Decision making, Circle of blame. Paper type – Literature review

Electronic gaming machine characteristics: it's the little things that count

A range of gamblers, from low-frequency social gamblers through to problem gamblers in treatment, participated in focus groups discussing the characteristics of Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs) that they found attractive. Analyses of the resulting transcripts resulted in two groups of EGM characteristics being identified as important, one group associated with winning and one with betting. Overall, free spin features were identified in all groups as the most attractive characteristic of EGMS. Beyond that it was smaller win-related characteristics, and low-denomination machines with multiple playable lines that were associated with increased duration and intensity of gambling behaviour. The important characteristics were consistent across different levels of gamblers, with the key behavioural difference being a self-reported ‘expertise’, and ‘strategic’ approach to gambling amongst higher-frequency gamblers and problem gamblers in treatment. The key characteristics all occur frequently and result in more wins and extended gambling sessions. The patterns identified resonated with established behavioural principles, and with models describing the development of problem gambling and addictions more generally

Balance in single-limb stance after surgically treated ankle fractures: a 14-month follow-up

BACKGROUND: The maintenance of postural control is fundamental for different types of physical activity. This can be measured by having subjects stand on one leg on a force plate. Many studies assessing standing balance have previously been carried out in patients with ankle ligament injuries but not in patients with ankle fractures. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether patients operated on because of an ankle fracture had impaired postural control compared to an uninjured age- and gender-matched control group. METHODS: Fifty-four individuals (patients) operated on because of an ankle fracture were examined 14 months postoperatively. Muscle strength, ankle mobility, and single-limb stance on a force-platform were measured. Average speed of centre of pressure movements and number of movements exceeding 10 mm from the mean value of centre of pressure were registered in the frontal and sagittal planes on a force-platform. Fifty-four age- and gender-matched uninjured individuals (controls) were examined in the single-limb stance test only. The paired Student t-test was used for comparisons between patients' injured and uninjured legs and between side-matched legs within the controls. The independent Student t-test was used for comparisons between patients and controls. The Chi-square test, and when applicable, Fisher's exact test were used for comparisons between groups. Multiple logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with belonging to the group unable to complete the single-limb stance test on the force-platform. RESULTS: Fourteen of the 54 patients (26%) did not manage to complete the single-limb stance test on the force-platform, whereas all controls managed this (p < 0.001). Age over 45 years was the only factor significantly associated with not managing the test. When not adjusted for age, decreased strength in the ankle plantar flexors and dorsiflexors was significantly associated with not managing the test. In the 40 patients who managed to complete the single-limb stance test no differences were found between the results of patients' injured leg and the side-matched leg of the controls regarding average speed and the number of centre of pressure movements. CONCLUSION: One in four patients operated on because of an ankle fracture had impaired postural control compared to an age- and gender-matched control group. Age over 45 years and decreased strength in the ankle plantar flexors and dorsiflexors were found to be associated with decreased balance performance. Further, longitudinal studies are required to evaluate whether muscle and balance training in the rehabilitation phase may improve postural control

Searching the protein structure database for ligand-binding site similarities using CPASS v.2

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A recent analysis of protein sequences deposited in the NCBI RefSeq database indicates that ~8.5 million protein sequences are encoded in prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes, where ~30% are explicitly annotated as "hypothetical" or "uncharacterized" protein. Our Comparison of Protein Active-Site Structures (CPASS v.2) database and software compares the sequence and structural characteristics of experimentally determined ligand binding sites to infer a functional relationship in the absence of global sequence or structure similarity. CPASS is an important component of our Functional Annotation Screening Technology by NMR (FAST-NMR) protocol and has been successfully applied to aid the annotation of a number of proteins of unknown function.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We report a major upgrade to our CPASS software and database that significantly improves its broad utility. CPASS v.2 is designed with a layered architecture to increase flexibility and portability that also enables job distribution over the Open Science Grid (OSG) to increase speed. Similarly, the CPASS interface was enhanced to provide more user flexibility in submitting a CPASS query. CPASS v.2 now allows for both automatic and manual definition of ligand-binding sites and permits pair-wise, one versus all, one versus list, or list versus list comparisons. Solvent accessible surface area, ligand root-mean square difference, and Cβ distances have been incorporated into the CPASS similarity function to improve the quality of the results. The CPASS database has also been updated.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>CPASS v.2 is more than an order of magnitude faster than the original implementation, and allows for multiple simultaneous job submissions. Similarly, the CPASS database of ligand-defined binding sites has increased in size by ~ 38%, dramatically increasing the likelihood of a positive search result. The modification to the CPASS similarity function is effective in reducing CPASS similarity scores for false positives by ~30%, while leaving true positives unaffected. Importantly, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves demonstrate the high correlation between CPASS similarity scores and an accurate functional assignment. As indicated by distribution curves, scores ≥ 30% infer a functional similarity. Software URL: <url>http://cpass.unl.edu</url>.</p