Non-normal real estate return distributions by property type in the U.K.

Investment risk models with infinite variance provide a better description of distributions of individual property returns in the IPD database over the period 1981 to 2003 than Normally distributed risk models, which mirrors results in the U.S. and Australia using identical methodology. Real estate investment risk is heteroscedastic, but the Characteristic Exponent of the investment risk function is constant across time yet may vary by property type. Asset diversification is far less effective at reducing the impact of non-systematic investment risk on real estate portfolios than in the case of assets with Normally distributed investment risk. Multi-risk factor portfolio allocation models based on measures of investment codependence from finite-variance statistics are ineffectual in the real estate context

Initial success of native grasses is contingent on multiple interactions among exotic grass competition, temporal priority, rainfall and site effects.

Ecological communities are increasingly being recognized as the products of contemporary drivers and historical legacies that are both biotic and abiotic. In an attempt to unravel multiple layers of ecological contingency, we manipulated (i) competition with exotic annual grasses, (ii) the timing of this competition (temporal priority in arrival/seeding times) and (iii) watering (simulated rainfall) in a restoration-style planting of native perennial grasses. In addition, we replicated this experiment simultaneously at three sites in north-central California. Native perennial grasses had 73-99 % less cover when planted with exotic annuals than when planted alone, but this reduction was greatly ameliorated by planting the natives 2 weeks prior to the exotics. In a drought year, irrigation significantly reduced benefits of early planting so that these benefits resembled those observed in a non-drought year. There were significant differences across the three sites (site effects and interactions) in (i) overall native cover, (ii) the response of natives to competition, (iii) the strength of the temporal priority effect and (iv) the degree to which supplemental watering reduced priority effects. These results reveal the strong multi-layered contingency that underlies even relatively simple communities

Metabolomics--a novel window into inflammatory disease

Inflammation is an important component of normal responses to infection and injury. However, chronic activation of the immune system, perhaps due to aberrant responses to normal stimuli, can lead to the establishment of a chronic inflammatory state. Such inflammatory conditions are often debilitating, and are associated with a number of important co-morbidities including cardiovascular disease. Resting non-proliferative tissues have distinctive metabolic activities and requirements, which differ considerably from those in infiltrating immune cells, which are undergoing proliferation and differentiation. Immune responses in tissues may therefore be modulated by the relative abundance of substrates in the inflamed site. In turn immune cell activity can feed back and affect metabolic behaviour of the tissues, as most clearly demonstrated in cachexia - the loss of cellular mass driven by tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) a key mediator of the inflammatory response. Here we discuss the potential for metabolomic analysis to clarify the interactions between inflammation and metabolic changes underlying many diseases. We suggest that an increased understanding of the interaction between inflammation and cellular metabolism, energy substrate use, tissue breakdown markers, the microbiome and drug metabolites, may provide novel insight into the regulation of inflammatory diseases

Structural Reinterpretation of Poverty by Examining Working Poverty: Implications for Community and Policy Practice

This exploratory research focused on the structural context of working poverty, thereby transcending its individual or behavioral aspects. Two major questions guided this study: (1) How are the working poor different compared to the working nonpoor? (2) How do structural conditions affect the chances of one being working poor? Central findings of the study were that four primary sets of factors—demographic, human capital, employment barriers, and labor market positions—contribute to an individual\u27s likelihood of being among the working poor. The structural factors—employment barriers and labor market positions—significantly contributed to the effects of human capital and demographic variables. All four factors require attention in community and policy practice to improve the lot of American workers in an increasingly global marketplace

Coordinated regulation of ceruloplasmin and metallothionein mRNA by interleukin-1 and copper in HepG2 cells

AbstractDuring the acute phase response, cytokines induce hepatic metallothionein and ceruloplasmin synthesis and the uptake of metals. We have investigated how copper and cytokines may interact in controlling ceruloplasmin (CP) and metallothionein mRNA in liver cells. We found that IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-6 increased both metallothionein-1 (MT-1) and metallothionein-2 (MT-2) mRNA in HepG2 cells. The time and pattern of induction was different, both IL-1α and IL-1β inducing two peaks of MT-1 and MT-2, with that of MT-2 being much larger. IL-6 induced only low levels of both MT-1 and MT-2 mRNA. CP mRNA was also increased after 16 h by IL-1β, whereas IL-1α induced two CP peaks at 8 and 20 h, while IL-6 had little effect. Copper administration gave rise to substantially increased MT-1 mRNA, a slightly lower increase in MT-2 and also a significant increase in CP mRNA with similar kinetics. These parallel increases in MT and CP mRNA suggest that the coordinated expression of these proteins may be important for their synthesis during the acute phase response

Financial Literacy and 401(k) Loans

Based on a survey of nearly 900 401(k) participants, we find that borrowing in 401(k) plans is related not only to standard demographic factors, but also to measures of general financial literacy, 401(k) contribution rates and wealth, non-retirement wealth, and credit card repayment behavior. Taken together, these results suggest that the decision to borrow from a 401(k) plan is linked to a broader impatience in financial decision-making, namely high discount rates in time preferences. Meanwhile, conditional on loan-taking, financial literacy appears unrelated to whether a given loan is used for consumption or investment purposes. Given the interrelated nature of these borrowing and behaviors, efforts to educate participants about the benefits and risks of 401(k) borrowing may need to be more comprehensive in scope than previously realized

Patterning ecological restoration after weeds

The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent. Disturbances stemming from anthropogenic or natural causes make plant community restoration challenging. The introduction of fast-growing weeds that generate high biomass and produce copious seed is most threatening to plant communities. A paradigm shift in ecosystem restoration is needed that emphasizes traits and affected ecological processes similar to weeds. The repeated introduction of seed from native plants with weedy characteristics follows the propagule pressure and evolution of invasiveness hypotheses. In targeting areas with heavy weed populations, native plants could establish and more successfully develop into functioning plant communities

Aboveground Net Primary Productivity in Grazed and Ungrazed pastures: Grazing Optimisation Hypothesis or Local Extinction of Vegetation Species

The controversy that has surrounded herbivory studies in the last few decades prompted our investigation to establish the extent to which herbivore optimisation hypothesis or compensatory growth evidence is real. We used the traditional movable cage method to collect primary productivity data on herbage, functional groups and key individual grass species in various controlled large herbivore treatments in an east African savanna. The herbivore treatments in triplicate blocks included cattle, wild herbivores with and without mega herbivores and combinations of cattle and wild herbivores also with and without mega herbivores. The findings revealed that at herbage level, most grazed treatments (four out of five) had higher productivity than the ungrazed control and three showed grazing optimisation curve at sixth polynomial degree between monthly productivity and grazing intensity (1-g/ng). At functional group level forbs productivity was higher in the ungrazed control than in any of the grazed treatments while at individual grass species level _Themeda triandra_ productivity was higher in all grazed treatments than in ungrazed control. We conclude against presence of herbivore optimisation hypothesis at herbage, functional group and species level because of lack of attributable grazing effect in grazed treatments that matches complex ecological effects in the ungrazed treatment

"Standing on the shoulders of giants" : understanding mental health promotion and social inclusion through work based experiences and patient and public partnership

This inquiry focused on my practice which required me to increasingly engage patients and the public in developing health and social care provision. Both retrospectively and in real time, I sought to, review and understand my own learning processes and their application into a number of successive community based projects. Through these successive projects I have observed how local knowledge can provide value to personal and collective knowing through learning to work with patients and the public at three levels, at an individual level to improve personal care, with current service users to examine and improve existing services, and with the public developing new services that are creative and innovative. This qualitative inquiry had an epistemology where the findings are specific to the particular context at particular points in time. This was important as there was no way of knowing how the participants of the projects and myself as practitioner and researcher would develop. Not one discreet event was researched, but a process of phases with different types of activities that were recorded and examined. The inquiry was underpinned by an Action Learning methodology that enabled, rather than constrained, the emergence of appropriate and varied practice methods and techniques and facilitated their integration. The theory generated from this inquiry resulted in the development of a framework for patient and public involvement. This framework provides a context for engagement at different levels of involvement through adopting critical factors for empowerment which are guided by the process and ethos of Action Learning. Consequently Action Learning is positioned as the process for facilitating transformational change in practice and practitioner development. It reinforces how appropriate the character of Action Learning can be at increasing learning at both an individual and societal level and specifically for the changing contexts of involvement, inclusion and citizenship.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo