Vertical phasing in commercial real estate development

Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate, 2008 [first author]; and, (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, Center for Real Estate, 2008 [second author].Includes bibliographical references.Real estate development is inherently a risky endeavor. Developers encounter varied risks during the different phases of a development project, from permitting to construction and through lease-up and stabilized operations. Flexibility allows a developer to mitigate some of these risks by capitalizing on potential upsides, and reducing the effects from possible downsides. Flexibility, and phasing specifically, enables a developer to manage risk more effectively by allowing a building to grow as market conditions warrant. This thesis investigates the determinants and implementation of vertical phasing, and suggests areas of applicability for vertically phased development. By "vertical phasing", we mean when a building is originally constructed to a certain height, but includes the intentional capacity for it to expand vertically in the future. Vertical phasing is an example of a real option "in" real estate development. A real option embodies a right, but not an obligation to pursue a future course of action. Flexibility, or real options, in real estate is important because it can add value to a project. The significant expansion of tall buildings is a recent phenomenon, though vertical phasing itself is not new. Expanding a one story building to two stories, for example, is a common example of vertical phasing. This thesis examines the decision and development process of major buildings that are constructed with the intentional ability to be expanded vertically in the future without disrupting the occupation and operations of the original building. While the intention is that the vertical expansion will take place at some appropriate time in the future, if such an opportunity never arises, the original building can exist by itself as a complete, fully functioning structure.(cont.) Drawing from a study of four buildings in the United States and Canada, this thesis examines the context in which vertical phasing of buildings is employed. It first considers the various drivers that lead to vertical phasing. It then discusses the specific issues and challenges with respect to vertical phasing. This thesis argues that while vertical phasing of buildings is rare and complex, it is a viable method of development that has significant potential in enhancing the value of buildings. Specifically, vertical phasing is relevant to corporate real estate development, in which less quantifiable value drivers of a building are tangible and important. By evaluating the drivers and implementation of vertical phasing, this thesis shows that vertical phasing of buildings may be easier than commonly believed, and may be used effectively in corporate real estate development and possibly other sectors of the real estate industry.by Jason R. Pearson and Kate S. Wittels.S.M.in Real Estate Developmen

Drone Technology for Monitoring and Mapping in the Grasslands of Eastern Montana

The Nature Conservancy in Montana has been working to protect wildlife habitat and enhance conservation in the Northern Great Plains for several decades.  The foundation of our work has been the Matador Grassbank in south Phillips County. Through the grassbank, ranchers implement conservation practices on their home ranches in exchange for discounted grazing on the Conservancy’s Matador Ranch. One of the conservation practices is the retention of black-tailed prairie dog towns. The southern portion of Phillips County supports among the most acres and largest prairie dog towns in the state. The prairie dog towns in this region of Montana support species of high conservation concern, including two black-footed ferret reintroduction sites, the largest population of mountain plovers, and large numbers of burrowing owls. Discounts for retaining prairie dog towns on grassbank ranches is tiered, based on the size of the town and potential for supporting species of concern. However, precisely mapping towns is challenging when using handheld GPS units and ATV’s to traverse the perimeters. Currently, The Nature Conservancy is using drone technology to create more precise and detailed maps. Drones yield detailed imagery which can be incorporated into a GIS, allowing precise mapping of town boundaries. Using drones will enable ranchers and the Conservancy to better understand the expansion or contraction of towns over time. The Matador ranch successfully implemented drone technology as a tool for more efficient and accurate monitoring, and plans to continue incorporating its use in all aspects of conservation and management

MODELING NASAL TRACT INFECTIONS OF SARS-CoV-2 VARIANTS

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 has undergone waves of documented mutationsand dominant variants. Sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 spike, membrane, envelope and nucleocapsidstructural proteins has revealed mutations specific to each variant. The cell infection and viral replicationmechanisms induced by these mutations, however, remain to be quantified or identified. Clinical nasal testdata has revealed a 1000-fold rise in infectious nasal titers of delta over alpha, and another 70-fold rise ofomicron over delta. Here we seek to understand what infection-replication mechanisms can, and cannot,explain these clinical data. We employ a mechanistic model of SARS-CoV-2 nasal tract infection [2] thatestimates infectious viral load and infected cells in the 1-3 days following an initial nasal tract infection. Weexplore sensitivity in nasal viral load to mechanisms impacted by mutations: (i) viral spike binding affinity tocell receptors, modeled as cell infectability; (ii) latency time: spanning virion-cell receptor binding to cellularuptake, assembly, replication, and onset of virion shedding; and (iii) the number of virions shed per day byinfected cells. We find that latency time has the dominant effect on viral load: reducing the 12-hour latencyfor the alpha variant to 6, respectively 2, hours is sufficient to reproduce the rises in nasal test data of deltaand omicron, respectively. Increase replication rate of infectious virions by infected cells has a significantinfluence, one order of magnitude higher rate can produce two orders of magnitude higher viral titers. Wefurther show viral load and cell infection are weakly sensitive to cell infectability, even though stronger deltaand omicron spike-receptor binding affinities are the most publicized mutation.Doctor of Philosoph

Intracule functional models. IV. Basis set effects

We have calculated position and dot intracules for a series of atomic and molecular systems, starting from an unrestricted Hartree-Fock wave function, expanded using the STO-3G, 6-31G, 6-311G, 6-311++G, 6-311++G(d,p), 6-311++G(3d,3p), and 6-311++G(3df,3pd) basis sets as well as the nonpolarized part of Dunning's cc-pV5Z basis. We find that the basis set effects on the intracules are small and that correlation energies from the dot intracule ansatz are remarkably insensitive to the basis set quality. Mean absolute errors in correlation energies across the G1 data set agree to within 2 mE(h) for all basis sets tested.P.M.W.G. thanks the APAC Merit Allocation Scheme for a generous grant of supercomputer resources and the Australian Research Council Grant Nos. DP0664466 and DP0771978 for funding

A quantitative proteomic analysis of the tegumental proteins from Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula reveals novel potential therapeutic targets

The tegument of Schistosoma mansoni plays an integral role in host–parasite interactions, particularly during the transition from the free-living cercariae to the intra-mammalian schistosomula stages. This developmental period is characterised by the transition from a trilaminate surface to a heptalaminate tegument that plays key roles in immune evasion, nutrition and excretion. Proteins exposed at the surface membranes of newly transformed schistosomula are therefore thought to be prime targets for the development of new vaccines and drugs for schistosomiasis. Using a combination of tegumental labelling and high-throughput quantitative proteomics, more than 450 proteins were identified on the apical membrane of S. mansoni schistosomula, of which 200 had significantly regulated expression profiles at different stages of schistosomula development in vitro, including glucose transporters, sterols, heat shock proteins, antioxidant enzymes and peptidases. Current vaccine antigens were identified on the apical membrane (Sm-TSP-1, calpain) or sub-tegumental (Sm-TSP-2, Sm29) fractions of the schistosomula, displaying localisation patterns that, in some cases, differ from that in the adult stage fluke. This work provides the first known in-depth proteomic analysis of the surface-exposed proteins in the schistosomula tegument, and some of the proteins identified are clear targets for the generation of new vaccines and drugs against schistosomiasis

Students’ Perceptions of an Applied Research Experience in an Undergraduate Exercise Science Course

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(7): 926-941, 2017. Applied research experiences can provide numerous benefits to undergraduate students, however few studies have assessed the perceptions of Exercise Science (EXS) students to an applied research experience. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to describe the rationale and implementation of an applied research experience into an EXS curriculum and 2) to evaluate EXS undergraduate students’ perceptions of an applied research experience. An EXS measurement course was chosen for implementation of an applied research experience. The applied research experience required groups of students to design, implement, and evaluate a student-led research project. Fourteen questions were constructed, tailored to EXS undergraduate students, to assess students’ perceptions of the experience. Qualitative analysis was used for all applicable data, with repeated trends noted; quantitative data were collapsed to determine frequencies. There was an overall positive student perception of the experience and 85.7% of students agreed an applied research experience should be continued. 84.7% of students perceived the experience as educationally enriching, while 92.8% reported the experience was academically challenging. This experience allowed students to develop comprehensive solutions to problems that arose throughout the semester; while facilitating communication, collaboration, and problem solving. Students believed research experiences were beneficial, but could be time consuming when paired with other responsibilities. Results suggest an applied research experience has the potential to help further the development of EXS undergraduate students. Understanding student perceptions of an applied research experience may prove useful to faculty interested in engaging students in the research process

Chromatin profiling of Drosophila CNS subpopulations identifies active transcriptional enhancers

One of the key issues in studying transcriptional regulation during development is how to employ genome-wide assays that reveals sites of open chromatin and transcription factor binding to efficiently identify biologically relevant genes and enhancers. Analysis of Drosophila CNS midline cell development provides a useful system for studying transcriptional regulation at the genomic level due to a large, well-characterized set of midline-expressed genes and in vivo validated enhancers. In this study, FAIRE-seq on FACS-purified midline cells was performed and the midline FAIRE data were compared with whole-embryo FAIRE data. We find that regions of the genome with a strong midline FAIRE peak and weak whole-embryo FAIRE peak overlap with known midline enhancers and provide a useful predictive tool for enhancer identification. In a complementary analysis, we compared a large dataset of fragments that drive midline expression in vivo with the FAIRE data. Midline enhancer fragments with a midline FAIRE peak tend to be near midline-expressed genes, whereas midline enhancers without a midline FAIRE peak were often distant from midline-expressed genes and unlikely to drive midline transcription in vivo