IMF biases created by binning and unresolved systems

I discuss two of the possible sources of biases in the determination of the IMF: binning and the existence of unresolved components. The first source is important for clusters with a small number of stars detected in a given mass bin while the second one is relevant for all clusters located beyond the immediate solar neighborhood. For both cases I will present results of numerical simulations and I will discuss strategies to correct for their effects. I also present a brief description of a third unrelated bias source.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures, to appear in "Young massive clusters, initial conditions and environments", typo in author's name correcte

Expulsion of Magnetic Flux Lines from the Growing Superconducting Core of a Magnetized Quark Star

The expulsion of magnetic flux lines from a growing superconducting core of a quark star has been investigated. The idea of impurity diffusion in molten alloys and an identical mechanism of baryon number transport from hot quark-gluon-plasma phase to hadronic phase during quark-hadron phase transition in the early universe, micro-second after big bang has been used. The possibility of Mullins-Sekerka normal-superconducting interface instability has also been studied.Comment: Thoroughly revised version. Accepted for Astrophysics & Space Scienc

The Secular and Cyclic Determinants of Capitalization Rates: The Role of Property Fundamentals, Macroeconomic Factors, and “Structural Changes”

In this paper we revisit many studies that have attempted to explain the determinants of real estate capitalization rates. We introduce two new innovations. First we are able to identify two macroeconomic factors that greatly impact cap rates besides risk free treasury rates. These are the general corporate risk premium operating in the economy, and the amount of debt (liquidity) available. The addition of these factors greatly adds to the ability of previous models to explain the secular fall of cap rates in the last decade and the recent rise. In addition, we use innovative tests for “structural” shifts in the cap rate – even including all of these macro-economic factors. Our tests identify two distinct “periods” which we label “investor sentiment”. These were a period of negative sentiment in 1991-1996 and a period of positive sentiment from 2002-2007. Methodologically, our analysis uses a large and robust quarterly panel data set of 30 US metropolitan areas from 1980q1 through 2007q4. We compare models not only using traditional measures of within sample “fit”, but also examine how the models behave in in-sample “back test” forecasts

An investigation into support for restrictions on HIV carriers in the Chicago metropolitan area Investigação sobre restrições impostas a portadores de HIV em área metropolitana de Chicago, EUA

An investigation into support for restrictions on people testing seropositive for HIV is reported on. Data were collected during telephone interviews with two-hundred adults aged eighteen to sixty-five in the Chicago metropolitan area. Using the analytic technique of LISREL, six models which attempt to explain support for restrictions were tested. It was found that the model best supported by the data indicates that two groups contribute to support for restrictions on HIV carriers - one due to intolerance of homosexuality and one to mistrust of public health officials regarding their control and management of the AIDS epidemic. The relevance of these findings for public health policy makers is discussed.<br>São discutidas possíveis explicações para as restrições impostas a pacientes aidéticos e indivíduos HIV positivos nas várias esferas da vida social. A diversidade de interesses e valores que permeiam as atitudes em relação a este grupo da população foram analisados através da técnica de LISREL. Coletaram-se informações de 200 adultos (idade entre 18 e 65 anos) residentes em Chicago, Illinois, USA, através de entrevistas telefônicas. Conclui-se que os dados apontam como explicação à observada discriminação, a intolerância à homossexualidade e a falta de credibilidade nas intervenções originárias das políticas de saúde do processo para controle da epidemia de AIDS. São discutidas as conseqüências destes achados para o estabelecimento de prioridades e de possíveis programas

Hierarchical Zoning, Incompatible Uses and Price Discounts

This study examines an aspect of hierarchical zoning. Hierarchical zoning, unlike mutually exclusive zoning, is uni-directional in that it protects upper-level residential uses from nonconforming, non-residential uses but not "vice versa." The result is that the lower-level zones can be a mixture of several nonconforming, incompatible uses. This unique attribute of hierarchical zoning offers a window of opportunity for choices for affordable housing at affordable locations. Using hedonic analysis, empirical evidence shows that huge price discounts (over 15%) are associated with apartments that are situated in nonconforming zones. Arguments here support more flexible zoning. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.