Economies of Scale for Real Estate Investment Trusts

Using the translog cost function to estimate economies of scale for a sample of Real Estate Investment Trusts for the years 1992-1994, we find significant evidence that economies of scale exist for REITs for all years examined. The results show that measurement of scale economies is sensitive to the model used for the measurement. Individual characteristics of the REIT, such as type of management and degree of leverage, affect the magnitude of the scale economy. Additional variables accounting for property type diversification and geographic influences have little additional impact on the measured scale economies. Finally, the measured economies of scale for REITs vary considerably over time.

Maintenance of Residential Rental Property: An Empirical Analysis

The maintenance costs of 137 residential rental properties in northwestern South Carolina are analyzed. The results show that maintenance cost per square foot increases with property age, tenant turnover, certain amenities, and for higher-rent properties. Compared to other property types, apartments exhibit higher maintenance costs per square foot with larger complexes showing lower per square foot maintenance costs than smaller complexes. This cost economy suggests added value to rental housing for larger complexes. Owners of multiple properties are found to pay higher maintenance costs. Finally, there is no observed relationship between absentee ownership and the level of property maintenance.

Reexamining the Impact of Employee Relocation Assistance on Housing Prices

In this paper, we reexamine the issue of whether corporate relocation assistance programs for transferred employees significantly affect sale prices of single-family homes. We estimate a hedonic price equation that includes physical housing characteristics, location factors, occupancy status, and type of seller for a sample of 2,441 transactions. Seller types include (a) transferred employees who were given direct relocation assistance, (b) transferred employees who were not given direct relocation assistance, and (c) sellers who were not facing an employment transfer. After controlling for vacancy and tenant occupancy, we find that houses sold by transferred employees who receive direct relocation assistance exhibit no significant price differential, but that houses sold by transferred employees who do not receive direct relocation assistance sell at a discount of approximately 3%.

Breakthrough in cachexia treatment through a novel selective androgen receptor modulator?!

Cachexia, and particularly the loss of metabolically active lean tissue, leads to increased morbidity and mortality in affected patients. An impairment of strength and functional status is usually associated with cachexia. A variety of anabolic and appetite-stimulating agents have been studied in patients with cachexia caused by various underlying diseases. Overall, these studies have demonstrated that treatment can increase body weight and/or lean body mass. However, these therapies may have severe side effects, particularly when utilizing testosterone and related anabolic steroids targeting the androgen receptor. These side effects include cardiovascular problems, prostate hyperplasia and cancer in men, as well as virilization in women

Radiative Decays X(3872) -> psi(2S)+gamma and psi(4040) -> X(3872)+gamma in Effective Field Theory

Heavy hadron chiral perturbation theory (HHchiPT) and XEFT are applied to the decays X(3872) -> psi(2S) + gamma and psi(4040) -> X(3872) + gamma under the assumption that the X(3872) is a molecular bound state of neutral charm mesons. In these decays the emitted photon energies are 181 MeV and 165 MeV, respectively, so HHchiPT can be used to calculate the underlying D^0 bar{D}^{0*}+ bar{D}^0 D^{0*} -> psi(2S) + gamma or psi(4040) -> (D^0 bar{D}^{0*}+ bar{D}^0 D^{0*}) + gamma transition. These amplitudes are matched onto XEFT to obtain decay rates. The decays receive contributions from both long distance and short distance processes. We study the polarization of the psi(2S) in the decay X(3872) -> psi(2S) + gamma and the angular distribution of X(3872) in the decay psi(4040) -> X(3872) + gamma and find they can be used to differentiate between different decay mechanisms as well as discriminate between 2^{-+} and 1^{++} quantum number assignments of the X(3872).Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Stand up for recalcitrance!

This is an urgent plea for action. Action for progressive change: in services and societies that frame them. Concerted action to protest and resist hurtful orthodoxies and, more importantly, communicative action to conceive alternative, better futures and seek the change that will get us there. Some of this action is already underway. Some of it barely escapes the bounds of imagination. Too little of it involves mental health nurses, and, arguably, this must be remedied. Hence this plea. I wish to make a case for a new professional identity that embraces resistance and action for change, seeking democratised solutions for service level and societal deficiencies. Recalcitrant professionalism can seek constructive alliances with recalcitrant consumers, service users and survivors to resist and transform the forces of oppression that assail us all

Ein komponentenbasiertes Meta-Modell kontextabhängiger Adaptionsgraphen für mobile und ubiquitäre Anwendungen

Gegenwärtige Infrastrukturen für verteilte Dienste und Anwendungen, insbesondere das Internet, entwickeln sich zunehmend zu mobilen verteilten Systemen. Durch die Integration drahtloser Netze, mobiler bzw. dedizierter Endgeräte und nicht zuletzt durch die Mobilität der Benutzer steigt die Heterogenität und Dynamik der Systeme hinsichtlich der eingesetzten Endgeräte, Kommunikationstechnologien sowie Benutzeranforderungen und Anwendungssituationen. Diese Eigenschaften sind mobilen Systemen inhärent und bleiben trotz der fortschreitenden Entwicklung der Technologien bestehen. Daraus resultieren spezifische Anforderungen an Anwendungen und Dienste, denen insbesondere die Softwareentwicklung Rechnung tragen muss. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Adaptivität von Softwaresystemen als wesentlicher Lösungsansatz für mobile verteilte Infrastrukturen thematisiert. Dazu werden wesentliche Mechanismen zur Adaption sowie der Überschneidungsbereich von Adaptionsmechanismen, "Context-Awareness" und Softwareentwicklung untersucht. Ziel ist es, Erkenntnisse über Basismechanismen und Grundprinzipien der Adaption zu gewinnen und diese zur systematischen Entwicklung adaptiver Anwendungen auszunutzen. Aus der Analyse des State-of-the-Art werden als erstes wichtiges Ergebnis der Arbeit wesentliche Basismechanismen zur Adaption identifiziert, umfassend klassifiziert und hinsichtlich eines Einsatzes in mobilen verteilten Infrastrukturen bewertet. Auf dieser Grundlage wird ein Meta-Modell zur systematischen Entwicklung adaptiver Anwendungen erarbeitet. Dieses erlaubt die Beschreibung adaptiver Anwendungen durch die Komposition von Basismechanismen zur Struktur- und Parameteradaption. Die Steuerung der Adaption durch Kontext und Meta-Informationen kann explizit beschrieben werden. Das Meta-Modell kann Entwickler beim Entwurf adaptiver Anwendungen unterstützen, stellt aber auch einen Ausgangspunkt für deren Analyse und Validierung sowie zur Kodegenerierung dar. Durch die explizite Beschreibung der verwendeten Adaptionsmechanismen und deren Abhängigkeiten von Kontext können Anwendungsmodelle außerdem zur Dokumentation verwendet werden. Im Rahmen der Validierung konnte die Integrierbarkeit der Basismechanismen und die flexible Anwendbarkeit des Modells zur systematischen Entwicklung adaptiver Anwendungen nachgewiesen werden