Pricing and Time on the Market for Residential Properties in a Major U.K. City

The pricing and length of time to sell single-family residential properties is a function of the interaction between buyer and seller behavior. This study estimates value effects in relation to the time on the market for residential properties within the Belfast (U.K).metropolitan area. Three distinctive characteristics of market are highlighted. First, the majority of sales are at a premium to the list price. Second, different factors influence time on the market for premium and discount sales. Third, the marketing period is examined for three events: listing to sales agreement, sales agreement to completion, and listing to completion.

A Nonparametric Variance-Ratio Test of the Behavior of U.K. Real Estate and Construction Indices

This study utilizes tests based on ranks and signs suggested by Wright (2000), in addition to the traditional variance-ratio test, to examine the behavior of United Kingdom real estate and construction security indices. The results suggest a positive dependence in the index return series and provide a strong rejection of the random walk hypothesis for the two U.K. index series examined in this study. Thus, the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) is not confirmed for these real estate securities indices in the U.K.variance ratio; heteroskedasticity; stock index; random walk; ranks; signsJournal: International Real Estate Review

A comparison of an open access university press with traditional presses: Two years later

This study is a comparison of AUPress with three other traditional (non-open access) Canadian university presses. The analysis is based on the rankings that are correlated with book sales on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. Statistical methods include the sampling of the sales ranking of randomly selected books from each press. The results of one-way ANOVA analyses show that there is no significant difference in the ranking of printed books sold by AUPress in comparison with traditional university presses. However, AUPress, can demonstrate a significantly larger readership for its books as evidenced by the number of downloads of the open electronic versions

Facilitating open access to information: a community approach to open education and open textbooks

Access to information as a necessary precondition for human flourishing is recognized explicitly in the UNESCO Strategic Development Goals, and mirrored by the work of universities globally to reduce barriers to information, especially research outputs. Growing international attention has turned to learning and teaching resources, particularly textbooks as a key barrier to fully engaging with, and participating in, higher education. The affordances of open texts provide an alternative to commercially published and often exclusionary access practices; and empower educators and students in co-creation and open sharing of information and knowledge. This paper examines the design of an ongoing institutional grants program predicated on a facilitated community learning approach for academic staff seeking to adopt, or adapt open textbooks into the curriculum as one mechanism to increase access to information. The participants’ experiences and personal learning were captured through a series of semi-structured interviews that inform the iterative design of the ongoing grants program that could be transferred to other institutions seeking to support educational change

Corporate real estate strategy in the UK and Malaysia

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare corporate real estate (CRE) strategies of companies in a mature market, the UK, with companies in an emerging market, Malaysia, and examine whether CRE strategy impacts on financial performance. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology involved the analysis of the reporting of CRE strategies in company reports for two time periods, 1998 and 2003. Multivariate models were used to test the relationship between CRE strategy and financial performance. Findings: The results show that a high percentage of companies have CRE strategies that map to the Nourse and Roulac framework, though some companies had alternative or no CRE strategies. Variations are apparent between the UK and Malaysia and between the time periods with differences in the clarity of reporting. The contribution of CRE strategy to financial performance is more significant in 2003. Research limitations/implications: The testing of relationships based on another framework, would allow comparisons to be made with the current study in determining the potential of CRE strategy. Originality/value: This study has been the first attempt to identify relationships between CRE strategy and the financial performance of companies and in doing so has raised other potential questions for further research

Corporate real estate strategy: the Malaysian perspective

This study analyses the relationships between corporate real estate (CRE) strategy and financial performance of companies in Malaysia during 1998 and 2003. The identification of CRE strategies is based on the work of Nourse and Roulac (1993) and maps these strategies to the financial performance of companies through multivariate models. The results indicate that 80% of the companies had a dominant CRE strategy that matched the Nourse and Roulac framework in both periods. For the 1998 analysis, there was no apparent link between CRE strategy and share performance. Indeed those companies not having a strategy had better share performance. In contrast, there was evidence of a CRE strategy making a contribution to share price in 2003. In particular, the strategy to facilitate managerial process and knowledge framework is shown to enhance financial performance, compared to other CRE strategies or the no strategy alternative. This study concludes that CRE strategy can make a positive contribution to financial performance, but needs more attention from management in order to maximize its potential

Corporate real estate strategies and financial performance of companies

This study analyzes the relationship between Corporate Real Estate (CRE) strategy and the financial performance of major companies in the UK for two time periods, 1998 and 2003. The identification of specific CRE strategies is based on the seminal work of Nourse and Roulac (1993). The results indicate that more than 75% of the companies examined had a CRE strategy that could be mapped to the Nourse and Roulac framework and that certain CRE strategies made a contribution in enhancing the financial performance of companies. The relationship was stronger for companies in 2003 than for 1998. This was tested for both share price and profit margin as the dependent variable. This study concludes that CRE strategy can make a limited contribution to company financial performance

Regulation of Liver Regeneration by Hepatocyte O-GlcNAcylation in Mice

A grant from the One-University Open Access Fund at the University of Kansas was used to defray the author's publication fees in this Open Access journal. The Open Access Fund, administered by librarians from the KU, KU Law, and KUMC libraries, is made possible by contributions from the offices of KU Provost, KU Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Studies, and KUMC Vice Chancellor for Research. For more information about the Open Access Fund, please see http://library.kumc.edu/authors-fund.xml.Background & Aims The liver has a unique capacity to regenerate after injury in a highly orchestrated and regulated manner. Here, we report that O-GlcNAcylation, an intracellular post-translational modification regulated by 2 enzymes, O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA), is a critical termination signal for liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy (PHX). Methods We studied liver regeneration after PHX on hepatocyte specific OGT and OGA knockout mice (OGT-KO and OGA-KO), which caused a significant decrease (OGT-KO) and increase (OGA-KO) in hepatic O-GlcNAcylation, respectively. Results OGA-KO mice had normal regeneration, but the OGT-KO mice exhibited substantial defects in termination of liver regeneration with increased liver injury, sustained cell proliferation resulting in significant hepatomegaly, hepatic dysplasia, and appearance of small nodules at 28 days after PHX. This was accompanied by a sustained increase in expression of cyclins along with significant induction in pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic gene expression in the OGT-KO livers. RNA-sequencing studies revealed inactivation of hepatocyte nuclear 4 alpha (HNF4α), the master regulator of hepatic differentiation and a known termination signal, in OGT-KO mice at 28 days after PHX, which was confirmed by both Western blot and immunohistochemistry analysis. Furthermore, a significant decrease in HNFα target genes was observed in OGT-KO mice, indicating a lack of hepatocyte differentiation following decreased hepatic O-GlcNAcylation. Immunoprecipitation experiments revealed HNF4α is O-GlcNAcylated in normal differentiated hepatocytes. Conclusions These studies show that O-GlcNAcylation plays a critical role in the termination of liver regeneration via regulation of HNF4α in hepatocytes

UK Housing Market: Time Series Processes with Independent and Identically Distributed Residuals

The paper examines whether a univariate data generating process can be identified which explains the data by having residuals that are independent and identically distributed, as verified by the BDS test. The stationary first differenced natural log quarterly house price index is regressed, initially with a constant variance and then with a conditional variance. The only regression function that produces independent and identically distributed standardised residuals is a mean process based on a pure random walk format with Exponential GARCH in mean for the conditional variance. There is an indication of an asymmetric volatility feedback effect but higher frequency data is required to confirm this. There could be scope for forecasting the index but this is tempered by the reduction in the power of the BDS test if there is a non-linear conditional variance process

Teaching tools in Evidence Based Practice: evaluation of reusable learning objects (RLOs) for learning about Meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>All healthcare students are taught the principles of evidence based practice on their courses. The ability to understand the procedures used in systematically reviewing evidence reported in studies, such as meta-analysis, are an important element of evidence based practice. Meta-analysis is a difficult statistical concept for healthcare students to understand yet it is an important technique used in systematic reviews to pool data from studies to look at combined effectiveness of treatments. In other areas of the healthcare curricula, by supplementing lectures, workbooks and workshops with pedagogically designed, multimedia learning objects (known as reusable learning objects or RLOs) we have shown an improvement in students' perceived understanding in subjects they found difficult. In this study we describe the development and evaluation of two RLOs on meta-analysis. The RLOs supplement associated lectures and aim to improve students' understanding of meta-analysis in healthcare students.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Following a quality controlled design process two RLOs were developed and delivered to two cohorts of students, a Master in Public Health course and Postgraduate diploma in nursing course. Students' understanding of five key concepts of Meta-analysis were measured before and after a lecture and again after RLO use. RLOs were also evaluated for their educational value, learning support, media attributes and usability using closed and open questions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Students rated their understanding of meta-analysis as improved after a lecture and further improved after completing the RLOs (Wilcoxon paired test, p < 0.01 in all cases) Whilst the media components of the RLOs such as animations helped most students (86%) understand concepts including for example Forest plots, 93% of students rated usability and control as important to their learning. A small number of students stated they needed the support of a lecturer alongside the RLOs (7% 'Agreed' and 21% 'Neutral').</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Meta-analysis RLOs that are openly accessible and unrestricted by usernames and passwords provide flexible support for students who find the process of meta-analysis difficult.</p