A Fundamental Comparison of International Real Estate Returns

This study analyzes commercial real estate returns in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States over the period 1985-95, from the perspective of a U.S. investor. Because national indices can consist of differing property mixes, this study separately analyzes the office, retail, and warehouse sectors. Moreover, these analyses also convert total returns into their fundamental components: initial yield, growth in income, and shifts in capitalization rates. The paths of currency-adjusted income and asset values and, therefore, capitalization rates are also presented. Generally speaking, the fundamental components of retail returns across the four countries exhibit greater divergence than the office and warehouse sectors. It is interesting that the U.S. property sectors showed the worst performance, while the Australian retail and the British office and warehouse sectors were the best performers (both before and after currency adjustments). Additionally, the currency-adjusted Australian returns were adversely effected by exchange rate movements, while the British returns were positively effected. Lastly, the correlation of the quarterly percentage change in income was generally lower and less statistically significant that the correlation patterns observed among the other components of return. This might suggest that more idiosyncratic risk can be found in the real estate space markets (as proxied by income changes) than in the real estate capital markets (as proxied by the pricing of the income--that is, capitalization rates), which appear to be more globally influenced.

Suitability of high-pressure xenon as scintillator for gamma ray spectroscopy

In this paper we report the experimental study of high-pressure xenon used as a scintillator, in the context of developing a gamma ray detector. We measure a light yield near 2 photoelectrons per keV for xenon at 40 bar. Together with the light yield, we also measured an energy resolution of ~9% (FWHM) at 662 keV, dominated by the statistical fluctuations in the number of photoelectrons.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure

Saxagliptin clinical trials: evaluation of CV risk

Diabetes is Australia's fastest growing chronic disease with approximately 890,000 patients currently diagnosed with diabetes. 1 By 2031 it is predicted that 3.3 million Australians will have type 2 diabetes mellitus, 2 thus increasing the demand for treatment. However, several diabetes, obesity, and lipid drug trials have had unexpected and unfavourable cardiovascular (CV) results. The saxagliptin (SAXA) phase 2b/3 program enrolled a range of patients with diabetes and included a controlled, long-term safety extension phase. SAXA is a potent, selective dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor. In the SAXA clinical data, the primary endpoint, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; stroke, myocardial infarction or CV death, analysed post hoc) and acute cardiovascular events (ACE; acute, clinically significant events, including cardiac revascularisation procedures) were identified using selected MedDRA Preferred Terms. CV events were analysed in a comprehensive dataset: 8 randomised, double-blind, phase 2b/3 trials, which included 4607 patients (3206 randomised to SAXA 2.5, 5, or 10 mg; 150 randomised to SAXA 20, 40, or 100 mg; and 1251 randomised to placebo, metformin, or up-titrated glyburide). Overall exposure was 3758 patient-years on SAXA and 1293 patient-years on comparators. Within the SAXA population, 81% had at least 1 CV risk factor in addition to diabetes, with hypertension (52%), dyslipidaemia (44%), or history of smoking (39%) the most common; 12% had known prior CV disease. Comparator group had similar proportions. Numbers of patients with events are shown in Table. The Cox proportional hazard ratio for MACE was 0.44 (95% CI: 0.24–0.82) and for ACE was 0.59 (95% CI: 0.35–1.00). A series of sensitivity analyses using related endpoints and alternative analytic methods produced consistent results. Based on a >5000 patient-year clinical trial experience, there was no evidence of increased CV risk with SAXA treatment ― as monotherapy or in combination with other oral antidiabetic agents. These data raise the hypothesis of a cardioprotective effect of SAXA, which will be studied in the SAVOR trial

Memorizing Bible Verses with the Association Method of Quantum Learning in Sunday School

In the world of teaching, it takes a variety of creativity, so that students benefit from the learning process. The same thing happened in the Sunday School class held by the church. The core material is certainly from the Bible. This includes memorizing Bible verses from certain parts. Students are required to memorize the verses. Many face failure in the memorization process. They have difficulty remembering the verses. However, there is still an interesting method to make it easier for children to memorize Bible verses, namely by association methods found in quantum learning. The problem is whether the Sunday school teachers understood this association method? With descriptive research methods have found a solution that in the process of memorizing with this association method, can increase the number of verses memorized. This can be shown from the results of evaluations that have been carried out, there is an increase in the number of memorized verses that can be memorized by Sunday school students, which increases to 20 words or about 4%

Transgenic amplification of glucocorticoid action in adipose tissue causes high blood pressure in mice

Obesity is closely associated with the metabolic syndrome, a combination of disorders including insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. A role for local glucocorticoid reamplification in obesity and the metabolic syndrome has been suggested. The enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) regenerates active cortisol from inactive 11-keto forms, and aP2-HSD1 mice with relative transgenic overexpression of this enzyme in fat cells develop visceral obesity with insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. Here we report that aP2-HSD1 mice also have high arterial blood pressure (BP). The mice have increased sensitivity to dietary salt and increased plasma levels of angiotensinogen, angiotensin II, and aldosterone. This hypertension is abolished by selective angiotensin II receptor AT-1 antagonist at a low dose that does not affect BP in non-Tg littermates. These findings suggest that activation of the circulating renin-angiotensin system (RAS) develops in aP2-HSD1 mice. The long-term hypertension is further reflected by an appreciable hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the distal tubule epithelium of the nephron, resembling salt-sensitive or angiotensin II–mediated hypertension. Taken together, our findings suggest that overexpression of 11β-HSD1 in fat is sufficient to cause salt-sensitive hypertension mediated by an activated RAS. The potential role of adipose 11β-HSD1 in mediating critical features of the metabolic syndrome extends beyond obesity and metabolic complications to include the most central cardiovascular feature of this disorder

Random walk forecast of urban water in Iran under uncertainty

There are two significant reasons for the uncertainties of water demand. On one hand, an evolving technological world is plagued with accelerated change in lifestyles and consumption patterns; and on the other hand, intensifying climate change. Therefore, with an uncertain future, what enables policymakers to define the state of water resources, which are affected by withdrawals and demands? Through a case study based on thirteen years of observation data in the Zayandeh Rud River basin in Isfahan province located in Iran, this paper forecasts a wide range of urban water demand possibilities in order to create a portfolio of plans which could be utilized by different water managers. A comparison and contrast of two existing methods are discussed, demonstrating the Random Walk Methodology, which will be referred to as the â On uncertainty pathâ , because it takes the uncertainties into account and can be recommended to managers. This On Uncertainty Path is composed of both dynamic forecasting method and system simulation. The outcomes show the advantage of such methods particularly for places that climate change will aggravate their water scarcity, such as Iran

Forced Convection Heat Transfer from a Finite-Height Cylinder

[EN] This paper presents a large eddy simulation of forced convection heat transfer in the flow around a surface-mounted finite-height circular cylinder. The study was carried out for a cylinder with height-to-diameter ratio of 2.5, a Reynolds number based on the cylinder diameter of 44 000 and a Prandtl number of 1. Only the surface of the cylinder is heated while the bottom wall and the inflow are kept at a lower fixed temperature. The approach flow boundary layer had a thickness of about 10% of the cylinder height. Local and averaged heat transfer coefficients are presented. The heat transfer coefficient is strongly affected by the free-end of the cylinder. As a result of the flow over the top being downwashed behind the cylinder, a vortex-shedding process does not occur in the upper part, leading to a lower value of the local heat transfer coefficient in that region. In the lower region, vortex-shedding takes place leading to higher values of the local heat transfer coefficient. The circumferentially averaged heat transfer coefficient is 20 % higher near the ground than near the top of the cylinder. The spreading and dilution of the mean temperature field in the wake of the cylinder are also discussed.The simulation was carried out using the supercomputing facilities of the Steinbuch Centre for Computing (SCC) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. MGV has been partially supported by grant TRA2012-37714 of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.García Villalba, M.; Palau-Salvador, G.; Rodi, W. (2014). Forced Convection Heat Transfer from a Finite-Height Cylinder. Flow, Turbulence and Combustion. 93(1):171-187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10494-014-9543-7S171187931Ames, F., Dvorak, L.: Turbulent transport in pin fin arrays: experimental data and predictions. J. Turbomach. 128(1), 71–81 (2006)Armstrong, J., Winstanley, D.: A review of staggered array pin fin heat transfer for turbine cooling applications. J. 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Analysis of sequence variations in the suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-3 gene in extremely obese children and adolescents

BACKGROUND: The suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-3 is a negative feedback regulator of cytokine signaling and also influences leptin signaling. We investigated association of variations in the coding sequence and promoter region of SOCS3 with extreme obesity in German children and adolescents. METHODS: An initial screen for sequence variations in 181 extremely obese children and adolescents and 188 healthy underweight adults revealed two previously reported single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the SOCS3 5' region: -1044 C>A (numbering refers to bases upstream of ATG in exon 2) within a predicted STAT3 binding element and -920 C>A (rs12953258, for numbering, see above). RESULTS: We did not detect significant differences in allele or genotype frequencies for any of these SNPs between the analysed study groups (all nominal p > 0.2). In addition, we performed a pedigree transmission disequilibrium test (PDT) for the SNP -1044 C>A in families comprising 703 obese children and adolescents, 281 of their obese siblings and both biological parents. The PDT revealed no transmission disequilibrium (nominal p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our data do not suggest evidence for a major role of the respective SNPs in SOCS3 in the pathogenesis of extreme obesity in our study groups

A call for using natural compounds in the development of new antimalarial treatments – an introduction

Natural compounds, mostly from plants, have been the mainstay of traditional medicine for thousands of years. They have also been the source of lead compounds for modern medicine, but the extent of mining of natural compounds for such leads decreased during the second half of the 20th century. The advantage of natural compounds for the development of drugs derives from their innate affinity for biological receptors. Natural compounds have provided the best anti-malarials known to date. Recent surveys have identified many extracts of various organisms (mostly plants) as having antiplasmodial activity. Huge libraries of fractionated natural compounds have been screened with impressive hit rates. Importantly, many cases are known where the crude biological extract is more efficient pharmacologically than the most active purified compound from this extract. This could be due to synergism with other compounds present in the extract, that as such have no pharmacological activity. Indeed, such compounds are best screened by cell-based assay where all potential targets in the cell are probed and possible synergies identified. Traditional medicine uses crude extracts. These have often been shown to provide many concoctions that deal better with the overall disease condition than with the causative agent itself. Traditional medicines are used by ~80 % of Africans as a first response to ailment. Many of the traditional medicines have demonstrable anti-plasmodial activities. It is suggested that rigorous evaluation of traditional medicines involving controlled clinical trials in parallel with agronomical development for more reproducible levels of active compounds could improve the availability of drugs at an acceptable cost and a source of income in malaria endemic countries