Filtering in Office Markets: Evidence from Medium-Size Cities

Filtering, a change in the quality of use for a structure, has been studied extensively in housing. However, there are reasons to believe that the phenomenon is at least as significant in office markets. Reasons to expect filtering in office markets are presented in this article. Then evidence of filtering is examined from two medium-size cities. The findings are strongly consistent with the presumed effects of filtering. As expected, evidence of filtering is least significant for large downtown highrise offices, more significant among clustered suburban office buildings, and most significant among isolated office buildings.

Improved Sweetclover Varieties for Central Texas

Last updated: 6/12/200

CEO Compensation And Firm Performance: Is There Any Relationship?

Recent media and public attention has focused on CEO compensation.  This study looks at the relationship between CEO compensation and several measures of firm performance across a wide variety of industries.  The study used a database of CEO compensation for 200 large public companies which filed proxy statements with the SEC for 2007.  Total CEO compensation consists of:  base salary, cash bonuses, perks, stock awards, and option awards.  The measures of firm performance were:  company revenue, year-to-year change in net income, and year-to-year change in total shareholder return (TSR).  Correlation and regression analysis were used to test various hypotheses.  We expected that total CEO compensation and its components would be directly related to financial measures of company performance

Activity of commercial detergents against conidia and chlamydospores of fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum

Current containment recommendations for limiting the spread of race 4 of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum in California lack non-corrosive yet effective alternatives to bleach for sanitizing equipment used in farming operations. To find an equivalent to Farmcleanse, an Australian product recommended for disinfecting equipment contaminated with the Fusarium wilt pathogen, 26 cleansers and degreasers commercially available in the United States were tested for their ability to kill spores of race 4 of F. oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum. All treatments were tested at 1:10 and 1:100 (v/v) aqueous dilutions against conidia and chlamydospores in suspension. All treatments were also tested against chlamydospores in soil at a 1:10 dilution. Treatments demonstrating strong anti-fungal activity against spore suspensions at a 1:100 dilution were tested against conidia and chlamydospores at increasing aqueous dilutions (up to 1:100,000). Six products (Clorox, Simple Green d Pro 3, Trewax Nature's Orange, Formula 409 Antibacterial All Purpose Cleaner, Formula 409 Orange Cleaner Degreaser, and Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner Citrus Scent) were effective against conidia and chlamydospores at a 1:100 dilution. Two products (Simple Green d Pro 3, Trewax Nature's Orange) gave results similar to bleach at dilutions up to 1:1000 on both conidia and chlamydospores in suspension. Quaternary ammonium compounds were present in four of the six most effective products. None of the cleansers performed as well as bleach against chlamydospores in soil. These results reveal useful alternatives to bleach, but similarity in brand names of distinctly different products should benoted. The results also point to the importance of completely removing soil from equipment prior to spraying with anti-fungal cleansers. © The Cotton Foundation 2011

Fluctuating awareness of treatment goals amongst patients and their caregivers: a longitudinal study of a dynamic process

Background: Because increasing numbers of people now survive for months or years with advanced cancer, communication between patients, service providers, and family caregivers often continues over long periods. Hence, understanding of the goals of medical treatment may develop and change as time elapses and disease progresses. This understanding is closely related to the "awareness of dying," which has been studied in both qualitative and quantitative research. However, when both a patient and family caregiver are involved, the question of "awareness" becomes more complex. A recent longitudinal study reported on patient and caregiver knowledge of treatment goals, but no comparison of such knowledge using matched interview schedules and paired data analysis has been provided. This report examines patterns of awareness and factors associated with these patterns. Materials and methods: One hundred sixty-three patients with incurable cancer and their nominated principal family caregivers (136) were recruited from The Canberra Hospital Oncology Services. Participants' understanding of the treatment goals were measured by interview questions at weeks 1 and 12. Results: One-third of both patients and caregivers understood that the treatment goal was not curative; however, not all patient and caregiver pairs had the same understanding. In 15% of pairs, both patient and caregiver believed that the goal of treatment was curative, while another 13% said that they did not know the aim of the treatment. Thirty-nine percent of pairs registered incongruent responses in which only one member of the pair understood that the treatment was not intended to cure the disease. Over time, a few respondents changed their perception of the treatment goals toward accurate clarification. Bivariate analysis using an awareness variable, constructed for the purpose, showed that in 6 months before death, at least one person in 89% of pairs understood that the treatment was noncurative. Time-to-death, gender, and place of residence were also important predictors of knowledge. Conclusions: Discrepancies between patients and their caregivers may complicate the delivery of effective care when patients are seriously ill. Misunderstanding or uncertainty about treatment goals will obstruct proper informed consent. Health professionals providing care for families dealing with advanced cancer must recognize that the discussion of treatment goals is a dynamic process, which may require them to extend their communication skills

Population-based detection of systolic and diastolic dysfunction with amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide

Background: There is limited information regarding the clinical utility of amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for the detection of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in the community. We evaluated predictors of circulating NT-proBN

Ultraviolet Imaging of the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae

We have used the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope to obtain deep far-UV (1620 Angstrom), 40' diameter images of the prototypical metal-rich globular cluster 47 Tucanae. We find a population of about 20 hot (Teff > 9000 K) objects near or above the predicted UV luminosity of the hot horizontal branch (HB) and lying within two half-light radii of the cluster center. We believe these are normal hot HB or post-HB objects rather than interacting binaries or blue stragglers. IUE spectra of two are consistent with post-HB phases. These observations, and recent HST photometry of two other metal-rich clusters, demonstrate that populations with rich, cool HB's can nonetheless produce hot HB and post-HB stars. The cluster center also contains an unusual diffuse far-UV source which is more extended than its V-band light. It is possible that this is associated with an intracluster medium, for which there was earlier infrared and X-ray evidence, and is produced by C IV emission or scattered light from grains.Comment: 13 pages AASLaTeX including one postscript figure and one bitmapped image, JPEG format. Submitted to the Astronomical Jorunal. Full Postscript version available at http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~bd4r

Measurement of the Dielectric Strength of Titanium Dioxide Ceramics

Titanium dioxide ceramics (TiO2) are candidate materials for high energy density pulsed power devices. Experiments to quantify the dielectric strength of TiO2 have been performed on a limited number of unoptimized samples. A high voltage test set was constructed to test the titanium dioxide. All samples had a relative dielectric constant of 100, all samples were of 3 mm nominal thickness, and all tests were performed in water dielectric to reduce the effect of the triple point field enhancement at the electrode edge. Both single layer and laminated samples were tested and the breakdown field strengths were recorded. Voltage risetimes varied slightly around 400 ns depending upon the size of the test sample area. Areas varied from \u3c 0.2 cm^2 to \u3e 100 cm^2. Both single layer and laminated material showed a strong area effect where the dielectric strength dropped off as area to the -0.17 and -0.1 power respectively. Effective areas of the electrodes were calculated using a field solver program. Breakdown field strengths varied from 469 kV/cm to 124 kV/cm in the single layer specimens, and from 556 kV/cm to 261 kV/cm in the laminates over an increasing area range. Energy density calculations for the material show that at areas of approximately 100 cm^2 the laminates can store nearly 3 times more energy than single layers

Apollo Lightcraft Project

This second year of the NASA/USRA-sponsored Advanced Aeronautical Design effort focused on systems integration and analysis of the Apollo Lightcraft. This beam-powered, single-stage-to-orbit vehicle is envisioned as the shuttlecraft of the 21st century. The five person vehicle was inspired largely by the Apollo Command Module, then reconfigured to include a new front seat with dual cockpit controls for the pilot and co-pilot, while still retaining the 3-abreast crew accommodations in the rear seat. The gross liftoff mass is 5550 kg, of which 500 kg is the payload and 300 kg is the LH2 propellant. The round trip cost to orbit is projected to be three orders of magnitude lower than the current space shuttle orbiter. The advanced laser-driven 5-speed combined-cycle engine has shiftpoints at Mach 1, 5, 11 and 25+. The Apollo Lightcraft can climb into low Earth orbit in three minutes, or fly to any spot on the globe in less than 45 minutes. Detailed investigations of the Apollo Lightcraft Project this second year further evolved the propulsion system design, while focusing on the following areas: (1) man/machine interface; (2) flight control systems; (3) power beaming system architecture; (4) re-entry aerodynamics; (5) shroud structural dynamics; and (6) optimal trajectory analysis. The principal new findings are documented. Advanced design efforts for the next academic year (1988/1989) will center on a one meter+ diameter spacecraft: the Lightcraft Technology Demonstrator (LTD). Detailed engineering design and analyses, as well as critical proof-of-concept experiments, will be carried out on this small, near-term machine. As presently conceived, the LTD could be constructed using state of the art components derived from existing liquid chemical rocket engine technology, advanced composite materials, and high power laser optics