Do Housing Submarkets Really Matter?

We maintain that the appropriate definition of submarkets depends on the use to which they will be put. For mass appraisal purposes, submarkets should be defined so that the accuracy of hedonic predictions will be optimized. Thus we test whether out-of-sample hedonic value predictions can be improved when a large urban housing market is divided into submarkets and we explore the effects of alternative definitions of submarkets on the accuracy of predictions. We compare a set of submarkets based on small geographical areas defined by real estate appraisers with a set of statistically generated submarkets consisting of dwellings that are similar but not necessarily contiguous. The empirical analysis uses a transactions database from Auckland, New Zealand. Price predictions are found to be most accurate when based on the housing market segmentation used by appraisers. We conclude that housing submarkets matter, and location plays the major role in explaining why they matter.Housing; Submarkets; Price Predictions; Mass Appraisal; Hedonic Method

Hedonic Prices and House Numbers: The Influence of Feng Shui

In contemporary practice, feng shui incorporates a wide range of concepts considered to affect a person’s luck. These include traditional ideas about site selection and building design, as well as newer beliefs about the “luckiness” of certain numbers. Focusing on an area with a relatively high percentage of Chinese households in Auckland, New Zealand, this paper uses hedonic price analysis to investigate whether house values are affected by lucky and unlucky numbers. Sales transactions for 1989 to 1996 are used in this analysis. The results demonstrate that lucky house numbers are capitalised into house values.Feng shui, hedonic price model, lucky, New Zealand

Exploring Perceptions of Credible Science Among Policy Stakeholder Groups: Results of Focus Group Discussions About Nuclear Energy

How do different stakeholder groups define credible science? Using original qualitative focus group data, this exploratory study suggests that while nuclear energy stakeholder groups consider the same factors when assessing credibility (specifically, knowledge source, research funding, research methods, publication, and replication), groups differ in their assessments of what constitutes expertise, what demonstrates (or reduces) trustworthiness, and the relative prioritization of expertise versus trustworthiness. Overall, these results suggest it is important for science communication to consider audience-specific credibility, and raise questions about the potential impact of both funding sources and predatory journals on the perceived credibility of scientists

Schwarzschild black hole lensing

We study strong gravitational lensing due to a Schwarzschild black hole. Apart from the primary and the secondary images we find a sequence of images on both sides of the optic axis; we call them {\em relativistic images}. These images are formed due to large bending of light near r = 3M (the closest distance of approach r_o is greater than 3M). The sources of the entire universe are mapped in the vicinity of the black hole by these images. For the case of the Galactic supermassive ``black hole'' they are formed at about 17 microarcseconds from the optic axis. The relativistic images are not resolved among themselves, but they are resolved from the primary and secondary images. However the relativistic images are very much demagnified unless the observer, lens and source are very highly aligned. Due to this and some other difficulties the observation of these images does not seem to be feasible in near future. However, it would be a great success of the general theory of relativity in a strong gravitational field if they ever were observed and it would also give an upper bound, r_o = 3.21 M, to the compactness of the lens, which would support the black hole interpretation of the lensing object.Comment: RevTex, 5 eps files are included, observational difficulties are discussed and there are some changes in presentatio

Estimating Wind Stress at the Ocean Surface From Scatterometer Observations

Abstract—Wind stress is the most important ocean forcing for driving tropical surface currents. Stress can be estimated from scatterometer-reported wind measurements at 10 m that have been extrapolated to the surface, assuming a neutrally stable atmosphere and no surface current. Scatterometer calibration is designed to account for the assumption of neutral stability; however, the assumption of a particular sea state and negligible current often introduces an error in wind stress estimations. Since the fundamental scatterometer measurement is of the surface radar backscatter (sigma-0) which is related to surface roughness and, thus, stress, we develop a method to estimate wind stress directly from the scatterometer measurements of sigma-0 and their associated azimuth angle and incidence angle using a neural network approach. We compare the results with in situ estimations and observe that the wind stress estimations from this approach are more accurate compared with those obtained from the conventional estimations using 10-m-height wind measurements. Index Terms—Atmospheric stability, neutral stability, scatterometer, wind stress. I

Changes in Balance Measures During a Pedometer-Based Senior Citizen Walking Program

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Effect of a Walking Program on Functional Fitness Measures in Older Adults

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Effects of a Six-Month Walking Intervention on the Physical Activity Measures Among Older Adults

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