Advisor Choice in Asia-Pacific Property Markets

This paper examines advisor choice decisions by publicly traded REITs and listed property companies in Asia-Pacific real estate markets. Using a sample of 168 firms, we find robust evidence that firms strategically evaluate and compare the increased agency costs associated with external advisement against the potential benefits associated with collocating decision rights with location specific soft information. Our empirical results reveal real estate companies tend to hire external advisors when they invest in countries: 1) that are more economically and politically unstable, 2) whose legal system is based on civil law, 3) where the level of corruption is perceived to be high, and 4) when disclosure is relatively poor. Additionally, we find the probability of retaining an external advisor is directly related to the expected agency costs. Lastly, we find evidence of return premiums in excess of 13 % for firms whose organizational structure matches their investment profile. As such, we conclude that the decision to hire an external advisor represents a value relevant trade-off between the costs and benefits of this organizational arrangement

Capital Structure and Political Risk in Asia-Pacific Real Estate Markets

This study investigates the determinants of capital structure decisions by real estate firms, with a specific focus on the impact of political risk on leverage. Using a sample of Asia-Pacific REITs and listed property trusts, we find those firms with properties located in countries characterized by relatively high degrees of political risk, such as political instability, and/or greater uncertainty in the ability to repatriate and monetize profits from international investment activities, employ less debt than their counterparts operating in more politically stable environments. This core finding remains robust to alternative sample selection criteria including the division of the sample into high versus low market-to-book value firms, and also holds within the subset of organizations that are active in raising additional capital in the secondary markets

A Case for Implementing an Electronic Document Managament System (EDMS)

We live in a world where documentation and record keeping are considered not only necessary but also essential. This documentation produces and unprecedented amount of paperwork. Keeping track of this volume of paper is a task of monumental proportions. Faced with this task, I sought to sell the idea of an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) to the senior staff of the governmental agency that employs me. Participation in the Creative Critical Thinking Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston, has afforded me the opportunity to formulate an implementation scheme to accomplish this. Included in my synthesis project are the documented advantages and disadvantages of using an EDMS. These findings consist of explanations of what has been done in the agency so far and how further development would help the agency in the future. EDMS can enhance the agency’s ability to achieve greater value in its business practices and processes. A review of case studies provides comparative insight into possible problems that could and are encountered in implementation of an EDMS within an organization. Problems such as staff fear of the unknown and resistance to change group process along with communication breakdown. This is where CCT processes of problem solving using dialogue, group communication enhancement/involvement, and other thinking skills come into play. I identify the key components I would employ to change the existing work culture, set up training programs and enhance the aspects of team effort that will contribute to my successful implementation plan. This synthesis has provided an opportunity for me to form a collective documented approach with accumulated knowledge and schema for a successful implementation plan. This paper concludes with my reflective perspective on lessons learned, new problems identified, hopes for future development and personal educational aspirations

Developing and evaluating tools to improve the quality of DNA methylation association studies

There is increasing interest in studying DNA methylation in the context of health and disease. A number of technical and analytical considerations are important to take into account when designing and interpreting DNA methylation studies, such as the experimental parameters used when quantifying DNA methylation differences between individuals and how best to account for study confounders, such as cellular composition. This thesis aims to address these issues by first developing a method to assess study power in bisulfite sequencing (BS) studies, second establishing a method for the estimation of error across reference based cellular deconvolution models, and third generating a novel reference based DNA methylation deconvolution model for the brain incorporating data for three neural cell types. In Chapter 2 the impact of bisulfite sequencing depth and sample size on power is investigated. It is shown that study power is not dependent on one specific parameter, but reflects the combination of multiple study-specific variables. Data simulation is utilised to generate an interactive tool for use by the wider research community that can be used to estimate the power of BS studies based on user-defined input variables including sample size and read depth filtering. In Chapter 3 an error metric is established for reference based cellular deconvolution approaches using DNA methylation data, which is validated using datasets derived from both blood and brain tissue. In Chapter 4 the reference based deconvolution model utilised for the deconvolution of brain tissue is refined to include an additional cell type, resulting in a three cell type model. The model was applied to bulk brain DNA methylation samples, showing that the addition of a third cell type improved insight gained from data generated on bulk brain tissue. Overall, this thesis aims to generate tools which can be utilised to better design and interpret DNA methylation studies, all of which have been made publicly available. This thesis also encourages researchers to clearly communicate any DNA methylation quality control decisions made and examine their methodologies to improve the transparency and reproducibility of their findings.Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

ATEP Directors\u27 and Atcs\u27 Perceptions of the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral Competencies

Recent data clearly indicates that Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC) desire and may benefit from additional sport psychology training. It has been posited that psychological rehabilitation is just as, if not more, important than the physical rehabilitation process (Wiese, Weiss & Yukelson, 1991). Stiller-Ostrowski and Ostrowski (2008) support this by stating that psychosocial aspects of rehabilitation have been identified as an area of focus due to ATCs feeling underprepared. The current study was designed to extend from previous research by examining Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) directors\u27 and ATCs\u27 perceptions of the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral competencies. Specifically, both groups will rate the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral competencies on importance, criticality, and preparedness, as well as rank the NATA Educational Competencies on these same variables. Participants included 88 randomly selected ATCs and 53 undergraduate ATEP directors from both genders, all race/ethnicity groups, and all NATA districts (geographic regions). Both groups completed the Athletic Training Educational Competency Questionnaire (ATECQ) online at http://www.surveymonkey.com. After a 5-week data collection time period, results were analyzed using one-tailed independent T-tests with an alpha level of 0.01 and an effect size of 0.50. Significant results were not found within the importance, criticality, or preparedness variables. However, it was noted that ATEP directors reported two psychosocial competencies to be more important compared to ATCs. In addition, ATCs and ATEP directors ranked the importance, criticality, and preparedness factors of the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral content area below 50% of the other content areas. Moreover, both groups ranked the acute care of injuries and illnesses, orthopedic clinical examination and diagnosis, and risk management and injury prevention as the most important, critical, and prepared. Overall, ATCs and ATEP directors do not consider the psychosocial aspects in athletic training as important or critical as the other content areas. Therefore, it is less likely that time is spent preparing students in this area. It is suggested that educational opportunities need to be made more available to ATCs and ATEP directors. More importantly, complete rehabilitation of the athlete will not occur until ATCs begin to treat the psychological aspects of injury

ATEP Directors\u27 and Atcs\u27 Perceptions of the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral Competencies

Recent data clearly indicates that Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC) desire and may benefit from additional sport psychology training. It has been posited that psychological rehabilitation is just as, if not more, important than the physical rehabilitation process (Wiese, Weiss & Yukelson, 1991). Stiller-Ostrowski and Ostrowski (2008) support this by stating that psychosocial aspects of rehabilitation have been identified as an area of focus due to ATCs feeling underprepared. The current study was designed to extend from previous research by examining Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) directors\u27 and ATCs\u27 perceptions of the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral competencies. Specifically, both groups will rate the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral competencies on importance, criticality, and preparedness, as well as rank the NATA Educational Competencies on these same variables. Participants included 88 randomly selected ATCs and 53 undergraduate ATEP directors from both genders, all race/ethnicity groups, and all NATA districts (geographic regions). Both groups completed the Athletic Training Educational Competency Questionnaire (ATECQ) online at http://www.surveymonkey.com. After a 5-week data collection time period, results were analyzed using one-tailed independent T-tests with an alpha level of 0.01 and an effect size of 0.50. Significant results were not found within the importance, criticality, or preparedness variables. However, it was noted that ATEP directors reported two psychosocial competencies to be more important compared to ATCs. In addition, ATCs and ATEP directors ranked the importance, criticality, and preparedness factors of the Psychosocial Intervention and Referral content area below 50% of the other content areas. Moreover, both groups ranked the acute care of injuries and illnesses, orthopedic clinical examination and diagnosis, and risk management and injury prevention as the most important, critical, and prepared. Overall, ATCs and ATEP directors do not consider the psychosocial aspects in athletic training as important or critical as the other content areas. Therefore, it is less likely that time is spent preparing students in this area. It is suggested that educational opportunities need to be made more available to ATCs and ATEP directors. More importantly, complete rehabilitation of the athlete will not occur until ATCs begin to treat the psychological aspects of injury

An Infrapatellar Fat Pad Tear in a High School Football Player: A Case Report

Objective: To present a clinical case exploring the occurrence and management of a tear to the infrapatellar fat pad IFP of a high school football player. Background: Acute tears to the IFP are rare. Typically, the IFP becomes impinged (i.e., Hoffa’s disease) through a fall, direct knee trauma, or surgical complications, and requires conservative treatment. Treatment: A 15-year-old high school football player reported to the athletic training clinical complaining of right knee discomfort and the inability to fully flex the knee. The patient stated that during a field goal attempt he missed the ball and hyperextended his right knee. Hoffa’s disease and impingement of the IFP have been well documented, but these injuries have a different mechanism of injury. Uniqueness: More common injuries to the IFP occur because of microtraumas (i.e., Hoffa’s disease) or direct trauma to the knee (i.e., IFP impingement) in older populations. For this patient, the mechanism of injury was non-contact and minimal swelling, and no visual deformity or discoloration were present to suggest an injury. Additionally, the patient was able to complete functional movements with complaining only of “weird tightness” in the knee during extension. Conclusion: Due to the similarity of multiple knee pathologies, unknown mechanisms of injury need to be considered when evaluating the knee structure. Further examination is needed to determine demographic data and the probability of a non-contact injury is to the IFP, especially in pediatric patients

The Impact of Geographic and Cultural Dispersion on Information Opacity

This paper investigates the influences of intrafirm geographic and cultural dispersion, the distance between the location of a firm’s investments and its headquarters, on the firm’s information environment. Specifically, using a sample of publicly traded real estate companies across the Asia-Pacific region, we examine how intrafirm geographic and cultural distance impacts a firm’s capital acquisition costs. As a consequence of both the heavily regulated operating environment faced by these firms, as well as the capital intensive nature of this industry, funding costs should be of pronounced importance to firms within this sector. Consistent with this paradigm, we find that firms with geographically disperse investments exhibit enhanced informational opacity. Specifically, firms with more geographically disperse investments exhibit higher capital acquisition costs than their more geographically concentrated counterparts. Similarly, firms with more culturally disparate investments also exhibit enhanced informational opacity, as evidenced by increased capital costs. Additionally, we present evidence that the impact of both physical and cultural distance is increasing following the global financial crisis. Taken together, our results provide strong evidence that both intrafirm geographic and cultural dispersion materially impact both an organization’s information environment and funding costs