Real Asset Ownership and the Risk and Return to Stockholders

Many corporations own a significant amount of real assets and this includes real estate. However, the effect of real asset ownership on the risk and return for a firm’s stockholders is unknown. This study attempts to ascertain the effect, if any, of corporate real asset ownership on the risk and return to stockholders. Using data from 1985 through 1994, the results indicate a lack of diversification benefits associated with holding real assets.

Analysis of 3D-printed metal for rapid-prototyped reflective terahertz optics

We explore the potential of 3D metal printing to realize complex conductive terahertz devices. Factors impacting performance such as printing resolution, surface roughness, oxidation, and material loss are investigated via analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches. The high degree of control offered by a 3D-printed topology is exploited to realize a zone plate operating at 530 GHz. Reflection efficiency at this frequency is found to be over 90%. The high-performance of this preliminary device suggest that 3D metal printing can play a strong role in guided-wave and general beam control devices in the terahertz range.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Optics Expres

An integrated biorefinery framework for the coproduction of biofuels and chemicals: Experimental analysis, detailed modelling, optimization and life cycle analysis

In this work, a novel integrated biorefinery framework is introduced. A 'cradle to grave' analysis is developed by adding novel steps into a basic biodiesel process involving the valorization of waste streams to value-added chemicals. Insights are given towards a new bioconversion route of glycerol to succinic acid. An unstructured model of batch experiments at different conditions is constructed. Experimental results at the bench scale are used to estimate kinetic parameters and to validate model predictions. The developed model is used in optimization studies to compute the best initial conditions for batch as well as the optimal feeding profiles for fed-batch processes to maximize succinic acid productivity. Finally, the above process is incorporated into a biorefinery scheme. Simulation and optimization in conjunction with life cycle analysis (LCA) is performed to simultaneously improve its sustainability and its economics. Copyright © 2010, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l

APPLICATION OF A DYNAMIC PANEL DATA ESTIMATOR TO CROSS-COUNTRY COFFEE DEMAND: A TALE OF TWO ERAS

We estimate price and income elasticities of demand for green coffee beans in panels of up to 40 countries, both during and after the operation of export quotas under International Coffee Agreements. The dynamic panel estimator proposed in Han and Phillips (2007) is used because it is a consistent estimator, for any length of panel, regardless of the presence of unit roots. Dynamic panel data models, of any type, do not seem to have been previously applied to coffee demand. We find evidence of a concave relationship between income and coffee consumption for countries which are members of the International Coffee Organization, but no evidence of such a relationship for other countries. A further conclusion is that measures which increase the price of coffee beans can be expected to have little effect on coffee sales.Coffee Demand, Dynamic Panel Data, International Coffee Organization

DPP-4 inhibitor dose selection according to manufacturer specifications:A Contemporary Experience From UK General Practice

Recently, 2 dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, sitagliptin and saxagliptin, adjusted dosing specification from creatinine clearance to glomerular filtration rate, more typically reported in routine laboratory tests. This cross-sectional study examines all DPP-4 inhibitor initiations that require dose adjustment and the dose selection using data from UK general practice. Results indicate that 34% of patients taking a nonlinagliptin DPP-4 inhibitor were given a higher dose and 11% a lower dose than specified in the Summary of Product Characteristics. This reinforces the deviation from Summary of Product Characteristics prescription of DPP-4 inhibitors identified in earlier studies despite improvement in compatibility with routine reporting. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc

Goals of instruction : a cross case analysis of five secondary mathematics teachers

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on August 25, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. John Lannin.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.Teacher goals are an understudied component of teacher thinking. Teacher goals uncover the composite of knowledge, beliefs, and values and direction that underlie teachers' actions. In this study five experienced secondary mathematics teachers were observed and interviewed over the span of a week to investigate their goals. Findings were developed inductively and led to a presentation of goal themes. Teachers held goals for self-improvement, for the classroom environment, for the direction tasks and activities would go, and also held learning goals in both pure subject matter as well as affect goals such as that students come to value mathematics and perceive it as useful. Teachers monitored the attainment of their goals and were driven to continually work towards goals because they did not think of themselves as ever completely achieving their goals. The reasoning teachers engaged in related to their goals provided a window into their knowledge and beliefs and how their knowledge and beliefs developed around their goals. This information is beneficial to researchers as well as practitioners and pre-service teachers because this research indicates that teachers' goals can be very useful to uncover teacher knowledge and highlights how influential teacher goals are in the overall learning environment as well as how teachers perceive their own work.Includes bibliographical references