Intra-Project Externality and Layout Variables in Residential Condominium Appraisals

This study examines the impact of intra-project externalities and layout variables on the selling prices of 897 condominium units in the cities of Irvine and Santa Ana in Orange County, California. It documents that, at a micro-level, proximity to intra-project externalities such as greenspace, swimming pools, recreational areas, traffic noise, and the like, and project layout variables representing the location of individual condominium units within multiunit structures, have significant effects on the property values of units within a condominium project. The results indicate that, when cost is not prohibitive, both appraisers and underwriters should take intra-project externalities and layout variables into consideration when estimating property values or underwriting residential mortgages for condominium properties.

Moving Vertices to Make Drawings Plane

A straight-line drawing $\delta$ of a planar graph $G$ need not be plane, but can be made so by moving some of the vertices. Let shift$(G,\delta)$ denote the minimum number of vertices that need to be moved to turn $\delta$ into a plane drawing of $G$. We show that shift$(G,\delta)$ is NP-hard to compute and to approximate, and we give explicit bounds on shift$(G,\delta)$ when $G$ is a tree or a general planar graph. Our hardness results extend to 1BendPointSetEmbeddability, a well-known graph-drawing problem.Comment: This paper has been merged with http://arxiv.org/abs/0709.017

Inscribing or Circumscribing a Histogon to a Convex Polygon

We consider two optimization problems of approximating a convex polygon, one by a largest inscribed histogon and the other by a smallest circumscribed histogon. An axis-aligned histogon is an axis-aligned rectilinear polygon such that every horizontal edge has an integer length. A histogon of orientation ? is a copy of an axis-aligned histogon rotated by ? in counterclockwise direction. The goal is to find a largest inscribed histogon and a smallest circumscribed histogon over all orientations in [0,?). Depending on whether the horizontal width of a histogon is predetermined or not, we consider several different versions of the problem and present exact algorithms. These optimization problems belong to shape analysis, classification, and simplification, and they have applications in various cost-optimization problems

Shear-solvo defect annihilation of diblock copolymer thin films over a large area

Achieving defect-free block copolymer (BCP) nanopatterns with a long-ranged orientation over a large area remains a persistent challenge, impeding the successful and widespread application of BCP self-assembly. Here, we demonstrate a new experimental strategy for defect annihilation while conserving structural order and enhancing uniformity of nanopatterns. Sequential shear alignment and solvent vapor annealing generate perfectly aligned nanopatterns with a low defect density over centimeter-scale areas, outperforming previous single or sequential combinations of annealing. The enhanced order quality and pattern uniformity were characterized in unprecedented detail via scattering analysis and incorporating new mathematical indices using elaborate image processing algorithms. In addition, using an advanced sampling method combined with a coarse-grained molecular simulation, we found that domain swelling is the driving force for enhanced defect annihilation. The superior quality of large-scale nanopatterns was further confirmed with diffraction and optical properties after metallized patterns, suggesting strong potential for application in optoelectrical devices

Analysis of protein binding characteristics among Arabidopsis BBX protein family

Abstract Plants have evolved various mechanisms of adjusting their diurnal and seasonal growth and development in response to variations in day length and light quality. This plasticity is facilitated by intricate regulatory networksthat comprise transcription factors, whose expression is modulated by the activity of photoreceptors. In Arabidopsis, B-box (BBX) transcription factors, which contain one or two Zn-ligating B-box motifs in their N-termini, serve as key mediators of light signaling for photomorphogenesis, shade avoidance, and photoperiodic flowering. While multiple BBX proteins may function as a single regulatory unit, the binding networks that form among members of the BBX family have not been extensively investigated. Here, we have demonstrated that the homodimerization of two B-box motifs containing CONSTANS protein (BBX1), which regulates light signaling and is the most extensively characterized among all BBX proteins, requires at least three B-box motifs. Therefore, the number of B-box motifs may significantly influence heterodimerization among BBX family members. An interactome analysis of all 32 known B-box family members revealed that the binding affinity between group III and V proteins with only one B-box motif is relatively weaker than that observed among other group members. In fact, the group V proteins BBX26 and BBX27 rarely interact with other BBX members. Taken together, the results of this study emphasize the importance of the B-box motif in network formation among BBX proteins and provide insights into investigating the various signaling pathways mediated by these networks