Further Empirical Examination of an Improved Sales Comparison Approach

Despite the significant advances in applying regression analysis into property valuation, the main features of the sales comparison approach lack thorough research. A series of works have endeavoured to retain the essence of the sales comparison approach, while at the same time take advantage of regressions to derive not only the implicit values of property attributes, but also the degree of similarity between properties. Despite these improvements, the determination of the best regression forms and the piecemeal-type of price adjustment remain vexing problems. The nearest neighbours method assumes that the effects of all attribute differences between the subject and comparable properties are captured by the Mahalanobis distance. The indicated market value of the subject property is simply a weighted average of the actual selling prices of the comparable properties. This method sidesteps the above vexing difficulties and seems worth employing. The present study extends the application of the nearest neighbours method to high-density residential properties, which have not previously been examined. In terms of both the average and coefficient of variations for prediction errors, neither the conventional regression nor the nearest neighbours method outperforms the other. Nevertheless, the distribution of the accumulated prediction errors suggests that the nearest neighbours method is superior over the regression analysis approach. Our empirical findings are, therefore, in favour of further pursuit along the small sample (comparables) methods

A New Approach to Modeling Early Warning Systems for Currency Crises : can a machine-learning fuzzy expert system predict the currency crises effectively?

This paper presents a hybrid model for predicting the occurrence of currency crises by using the neuro fuzzy modeling approach. The model integrates the learning ability of neural network with the inference mechanism of fuzzy logic. The empirical results show that the proposed neuro fuzzy model leads to a better prediction of crisis. Significantly, the model can also construct a reliable causal relationship among the variables through the obtained knowledge base. Compared to the traditionally used techniques such as logit, the proposed model can thus lead to a somewhat more prescriptive modeling approach towards finding ways to prevent currency crises.

"A New Approach to Modeling Early Warning Systems for Currency Crises : can a machine-learning fuzzy expert system predict the currency crises effectively?"

This paper presents a hybrid model for predicting the occurrence of currency crises by using the neuro fuzzy modeling approach. The model integrates the learning ability of neural network with the inference mechanism of fuzzy logic. The empirical results show that the proposed neuro fuzzy model leads to a better prediction of crisis. Significantly, the model can also construct a reliable causal relationship among the variables through the obtained knowledge base. Compared to the traditionally used techniques such as logit, the proposed model can thus lead to a somewhat more prescriptive modeling approach towards finding ways to prevent currency crises.

Characterization of the GXXXG motif in the first transmembrane segment of Japanese encephalitis virus precursor membrane (prM) protein

The interaction between prM and E proteins in flavivirus-infected cells is a major driving force for the assembly of flavivirus particles. We used site-directed mutagenesis to study the potential role of the transmembrane domains of the prM proteins of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in prM-E heterodimerization as well as subviral particle formation. Alanine insertion scanning mutagenesis within the GXXXG motif in the first transmembrane segment of JEV prM protein affected the prM-E heterodimerization; its specificity was confirmed by replacing the two glycines of the GXXXG motif with alanine, leucine and valine. The GXXXG motif was found to be conserved in the JEV serocomplex viruses but not other flavivirus groups. These mutants with alanine inserted in the two prM transmembrane segments all impaired subviral particle formation in cell cultures. The prM transmembrane domains of JEV may play importation roles in prM-E heterodimerization and viral particle assembly

Functional properties of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) seed and its application as bakery product

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) seed is a valuable food resource as it has an excellent source of dietary fibre. Therefore, this study examined the functional properties of roselle seeds. Replacement of cookie flour with roselle seed powder at levels of 0–30 % was investigated for its effect on functional and nutritional properties of cookies. Among the four formulations cookies, the most preferred by panelists was 20 % roselle seed powder cookie (F3), followed by 10 % roselle seed powder cookie (F2) and 30 % roselle seed powder cookie (F4). The least preferred formulation among all was control cookie (F1). Cookie with 20 % roselle seed powder added showed higher content of total dietary fibre (5.6 g/100 g) as compared with control cookie (0.90 g/100 g). Besides that, cookies incorporated with roselle seed powder exhibited improved antioxidant properties. Thus, roselle seed powder can be used as a dietary fibre source and developed as a functional ingredient in food products

Hydrodynamical Simulations of the Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1097

NGC 1097 is a nearby barred spiral galaxy believed to be interacting with the elliptical galaxy NGC 1097A located to its northwest. It hosts a Seyfert 1 nucleus surrounded by a circumnuclear starburst ring. Two straight dust lanes connected to the ring extend almost continuously out to the bar. The other ends of the dust lanes attach to two main spiral arms. To provide a physical understanding of its structural and kinematical properties, two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations have been carried out. Numerical calculations reveal that many features of the gas morphology and kinematics can be reproduced provided that the gas flow is governed by a gravitational potential associated with a slowly rotating strong bar. By including the self-gravity of the gas disk in our calculation, we have found the starburst ring to be gravitationally unstable which is consistent with the observation in \citet{hsieh11}. Our simulations show that the gas inflow rate is 0.17 M_\sun yr$^{-1}$ into the region within the starburst ring even after its formation, leading to the coexistence of both a nuclear ring and a circumnuclear disk.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in the Ap

Dynamic Antenna Alignment Control in Microwave Air-Bridging for Sky-Net Mobile Communication Using Unmanned Flying Platform

This paper presents a preliminary study on establishing a mobile point-to-point (P2P) microwave air-bridging (MAB) between Unmanned Low Altitude Flying Platform (ULAFP) and backhaul telecommunication network. The proposed Sky-Net system relays telecom signal for general mobile cellphone users via ULAFP when natural disaster sweeps off Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs). Unlike the conventional fix point microwave bridging application, the ULAFP is cruising on a predefined mission flight path to cover a wider range of service. The difficulty and challenge fall on how to maintain antenna alignment accurately in order to provide the signal strength for MAB. A dual-axis rotation mechanism with embedded controller is designed and implemented on airborne and ground units for stabilizing airborne antenna and tracking the moving ULAFP. The MAB link is established in flight tests using the proposed antenna stabilizing/tracking mechanism with correlated control method. The result supports backbone technique of the Sky-Net mobile communication and verifies the feasibility of airborne e-Cell BTS

How E-Servqual Affects Customer\u27s Online Purchase Intention?

With the boom of Internet, Internet has become one of the consumers’ online shopping channels. However, there is different in online shopping situation is because of consumers in different cultures and countries have different online shopping behavior is worth to discuss. This study is to explore the Internet users’ online shopping situation in developing country, Malaysia, and 118 questionnaire respondents were collected. Statistical analysis software SPSS 17.0 and AMOS 6.0 were used to analyze the impact on e-service quality, satisfaction, trust, and purchase intention. The model fit of this study was in an acceptable level, and this indicates that the theoretical model of this study supports the description of e-service quality for e-retailers that online shopping situation will be effected by trust and satisfaction. The result of this study will be available for those who interested in developing a transnational e-retailer as a reference, as well as academic research on cross-cultural comparative analysis