Incorporating Green Building Features into Property Valuation Practices

The aim of this paper is to review the relationship between sustainability and property value in commercial real estate and provide some suggestions for valuers in recognising the sustainability features as part of property evaluation process. In doing so, the key factors that impact the valuation of commercial property are identified. The survey of stakeholders in Singapore’s real estate industry was also conducted. The findings indicate that the stakeholders generally recognise the importance of sustainability but with a strong focus on economic factors such as lower costs and asset financial performance. Though social benefits are recognised, their translation into financial value is more complex. Further quantitative and market studies are required to evidence the link between sustainable characteristics of buildings and their property value. Some guidelines have been proposed as a result of this study and they include improving data collection and storage, enhancement of the current valuation parameters to incorporate financial benefits of sustainability features as well as the need for continual learning and development in the area of sustainability

The inter-item standard deviation (ISD): An index that discriminates between conscientious and random responders

Although random responding is prevalent and increases Type II errors, most psychologists avoid trying to identify it because the means to do so are extremely limited. We propose the inter-item standard deviation (ISD), a statistical index of response variance, is suited for this task. We hypothesized that random responders produce large ISDs because they respond to items all over a measure’s response range, whereas conscientious responders produce small ISDs because they respond to items more consistently. We administered a questionnaire containing the NEO-FFI-3 and an embedded validity scale to 134 university students. Another 134 responders were created using a random number generator. For all 268 responders, the ISD was calculated for each of the NEO-FFI-30 s five subscales and an aggregated ISD was calculated by averaging the five ISD indexes. Results showed that (1) random responders produce significantly larger ISDs than conscientious responders, (2) the ISDs were strongly correlated with the embedded validity scale and with one another, and (3) the ISDs correctly identified responders with greater than 80% classification accuracy. The mean ISD yielded greater than 95% classification accuracy. This study shows that responders can be identified by quantifying inter-item response variance.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC

Sun exposure behaviour, seasonal vitamin D deficiency, and relationship to bone health in adolescents

YesContext: Vitamin D is essential for bone health in adolescence, where there is rapid bone mineral content accrual. As cutaneous sun-exposure provides vitamin D, there is no recommended oral intake for UK adolescents. Objective: Assess seasonal vitamin D status and its contributors in white Caucasian adolescents, and examine bone health in those found deficient. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Six schools in Greater Manchester, UK. Participants: 131 adolescents, 12–15 years. Intervention(s): Seasonal assessment of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), personal sunexposure and dietary vitamin D. Adolescents deficient (25OHD <10 ng/mL/25 nmol/L) in ≥one season underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (lumbar spine, femoral neck), with bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) correction for size, and peripheral quantitative computed tomography (distal radius) for volumetric (v)BMD. Main Outcome Measure: Serum 25OHD; BMD. Results: Mean 25OHD was highest in September: 24.1 (SD 6.9) ng/mL and lowest in January: 15.5 (5.9) ng/mL. Over the year, 16% were deficient in ≥one season and 79% insufficient (25OHD <20 ng/mL/50 nmol/L) including 28% in September. Dietary vitamin D was low year-round while personal sun-exposure was seasonal and predominantly across the school week. Holidays accounted for 17% variation in peak 25OHD (p<0.001). Nineteen adolescents underwent bone assessment, which showed low femoral neck BMAD versus matched reference data (p=0.0002), 3 with Z≤ -2.0 distal radius trabecular vBMD. Conclusions: Sun-exposure levels failed to provide adequate vitamin D, ~one-quarter adolescents insufficient even at summer-peak. Seasonal vitamin D deficiency was prevalent and those affected had low BMD. Recommendations on vitamin D acquisition are indicated in this age-group.The Bupa Foundation (Grant number TBF-M10-017)

The Conscientious Responders Scale: A new tool for discriminating between conscientious and random responders

This investigation introduces a novel tool for identifying conscientious responders (CRs) and random responders (RRs) in psychological inventory data. The Conscientious Responders Scale (CRS) is a five-item validity measure that uses instructional items to identify responders. Because each item instructs responders exactly how to answer that particular item, each response can be scored as either correct or incorrect. Given the long odds of answering a CRS item correctly by chance alone on a 7-point scale (14.29%), we reasoned that RRs would answer most items incorrectly, whereas CRs would answer them correctly. This rationale was evaluated in two experiments in which CRs’ CRS scores were compared against RRs’ scores. As predicted, results showed large differences in CRS scores across responder groups. Moreover, the CRS correctly classified responders as either conscientious or random with greater than 93% accuracy. Implications for the reliability and effectiveness of the CRS are discussed.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC

Anatomically and Functionally Distinct Lung Mesenchymal Populations Marked by Lgr5 and Lgr6

The diversity of mesenchymal cell types in the lung that influence epithelial homeostasis and regeneration is poorly defined. We used genetic lineage tracing, single-cell RNA sequencing, and organoid culture approaches to show that Lgr5 and Lgr6, well-known markers of stem cells in epithelial tissues, are markers of mesenchymal cells in the adult lung. Lgr6 + cells comprise a subpopulation of smooth muscle cells surrounding airway epithelia and promote airway differentiation of epithelial progenitors via Wnt-Fgf10 cooperation. Genetic ablation of Lgr6 + cells impairs airway injury repair in vivo. Distinct Lgr5 + cells are located in alveolar compartments and are sufficient to promote alveolar differentiation of epithelial progenitors through Wnt activation. Modulating Wnt activity altered differentiation outcomes specified by mesenchymal cells. This identification of region- and lineage-specific crosstalk between epithelium and their neighboring mesenchymal partners provides new understanding of how different cell types are maintained in the adult lung. Keywords: mesenchymal cells; bronchiolar epithelium; alveolar epithelium; lung stem cells; lung; differentiation; niche; Wnt signalin

Improving human-robot interactivity for tele-operated industrial and service robot applications

In industrial robotics applications, teach pendant has been widely used by human operators to pre-define action trajectories for robot manipulators to execute as primitives. This hard-coding approach is only good for low-mix-highvolume jobs with sparse trajectory way-points. In this paper, we present a novel industrial robotic system designed for applications where human-robot interaction is key for efficient execution of actions such as high-mix-low-volume jobs. The proposed system comprises a robot manipulator that controls a tool (such as a soldering iron) to interact with the required workpiece, a networking server for remote tele-operation, and an integrated user interface that allows the human operator to better perceive the remote operation and to execute actions with greater ease. A user study is conducted to understand the merits of the proposed system. Results indicate that human can operate the system with ease and complete tasks more quickly and that the system can improve application efficiency

Characterization of the Ga-InSb system: experimental investigation of thermal, structural, mechanical and electrical properties

The materials based on gallium-antimonide are widely used in electronic industry in the production of various electronic devices. The results of characterization of selected alloys in the Ga-InSb system obtained by experimental investigation of some thermal, structural, mechanical and electrical properties are presented in this paper. Applied experimental techniques included: differential thermal analysis, light optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with EDX, hardness, micro hardness and electrical conductivity measurements

Cardiopulmonary assessment of patients with systemic sclerosis for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: recommendations from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation Autoimmune Diseases Working Party and collaborating partners.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare disabling autoimmune disease with a similar mortality to many cancers. Two randomized controlled trials of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) for SSc have shown significant improvement in organ function, quality of life and long-term survival compared to standard therapy. However, transplant-related mortality (TRM) ranged from 3-10% in patients undergoing HSCT. In SSc, the main cause of non-transplant and TRM is cardiac related. We therefore updated the previously published guidelines for cardiac evaluation, which should be performed in dedicated centers with expertize in HSCT for SSc. The current recommendations are based on pre-transplant cardiopulmonary evaluations combining pulmonary function tests, echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and invasive hemodynamic testing, initiated at Northwestern University (Chicago) and subsequently discussed and endorsed within the EBMT ADWP in 2016