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Relative size refers to the size of a property relative to the average-sized property in its neighborhood. Previous research suggests that, in addition to absolute size, relative size may also [...]

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to establish the adjustments needed for FHA- and VA-financed homes relative to conventionally financed homes. The effects of FHA and VA financing on [...]

Sapolsky, Robert M. A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons. 12 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 14 1/2 hrs. Tantor Audio. 2013. ISBN 9781452618531. $44.99; 12 CDs/2 MP3-CDs. [...]

Golfing is a major recreational activity and growing business enterprise in the United States. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1992), the number of golfers increased by 147% [...]

In this article, a standard regression model is used to perform an analysis that suggests that residential property located in a federally certified historic district sells at a 26% premium [...]

Historic facade easements are grants or donations by owners of historic property that preserve the outside fabric of historic buildings. In return for this encumbrance of the owner's rights, the owner receives a federal income tax deduction theoretically equal to the loss in rights (or value). Subsequent buyers are faced with the restrictions of the facade easement donation with no tax advantages. Thus, buildings subject to prior grants of historic facade easements should sell at discounts relative to unencumbered properties. The authors use a database of residential condominium sales in Philadelphia to assess the impact of these facade easements. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

A study was conducted to analyze the price effects of cash versus mortgage transactions. Results show that selling houses in all-cash terms generate discounts. A sample of comparable row house units shows that cash basis transactions received 13% price discounts compared to other market transactions which used financing terms. These results support theries which describe real property buyer-seller relationships., There are numerous studies on the trade-off between liquidity and selling price in the real estate literature. Notable examples include: Ferreira and Sirmans 1989; Bible and Crunkleton 1983; Clauretie 1984; [...]

The selective replacement of C–H bonds in complex molecules, especially natural products like terpenoids, is a highly efficient way to introduce new functionality and/or couple fragments. Here, we report the development of a new metal-free allylic amination of alkenes that allows the introduction of a wide range of nitrogen functionality at the allylic position of alkenes with unique regioselectivity and no allylic transposition. This reaction employs catalytic amounts of selenium in the form of phosphine selenides or selenoureas. Simple sulfonamides and sulfamates can be used directly in the reaction without the need to prepare isolated nitrenoid precursors. We demonstrate the utility of this transformation by aminating a large set of terpenoids in high yield and regioselectivity.

Compliments to Eric Knorr on his comprehensive and easy to understand article 'he Complete Guide to the New CPUs' in the December issue. Even a PC novice could understand the […]

* Bird, Kai. The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames. 12 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 15 hrs. Random Audio. 2014. ISBN 9780804166478. $45; digital download. HIST From […]

Goetz, Thomas. The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest To Cure Tuberculosis. 9 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 9% hrs. Recorded Bks. 2014. ISBN 9781490609652. $102.75; 1 MP3-CD. [...]

* Kolbert, Elizabeth. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. 8 CDs. unabridged. 10 hrs. S. & S. Audio. 2014. ISBN 9781442369450. $34.99; digital download. SOC SCI In this deeply felt [...]

* Goodwin, Doris Kearns. The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism. 30 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 37 hrs. S. & S. Audio. 2013. [...]

Phosphine selenides are introduced as an alternate class of selenium-based catalysts for the aza-Heck reaction of alkenes. Using these catalysts, a range of terminal alkenes react with NFBS to give oxidative amination products. Judicious choice of phosphine ligand gives greater regio- and stereoselectivity than with diphenyl diselenide, enabling the selective formation of Eterminal enimides in high yields. Isotope-labeling experiments and measurements of kinetic isotope effects reveal that the reaction occurs stereospecifically via irreversible anti addition, followed by rate-determining syn elimination.

The article discusses new techniques that have been developed with which to assess the health problems of the U.S. The arrival of new techniques prompted changes in the concept of health. There has been an interest in the total quality of life rather than merely the length of life. The Health Interview Survey and the Health Examination Survey are used to collect precise physiological and diagnostic data.

Brian Mockenhaupt's 'Blood in the Clouds' was a very touching piece, enhanced by the perspective of more recent veterans. A timely reminder that, as Franklin said, 'There never was a [...]

Biss, Eula. On Immunity: An Inoculation. 5 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 6 1/4 hrs. HighBridge. 2014. ISBN 9781622314973. $26.95; 1 MP3-CD. retail ed.; digital download. SCI Immunity to bodily harm--to [...]

Jacobsen, Annie. Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America. 16 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 191/2 hrs. Hachette Audio. 2014. ISBN 9781619691537. $35; Playaway digital; digital [...]

Fraser, Antonia. Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832. 10 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 11 3/4 hrs. Recorded Bks. 2013. ISBN 9781470395100. $123.75; digital download. HIST In [...]

Lieberman, Daniel E. The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease. 12 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 15 hrs. Books on Tape. 2013. ISBN 9780307990082. $45; digital download. HEALTH [...]

Healy, Thomas. The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind-and Changed the History of Free Speech in America. 9 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 10 1/2 hours. Tantor Audio. […]

Persico, Joseph E. Roosevelt's Centurions: FDR and the Commanders He Led to Victory in World War II. 20 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 24 1/2 hrs. Books on Tape. 2013. ISBN […]

In many cities, developers may be unable to pass office development linkage fees to either former landowners or tenants. Potential tenants will not accept exaction fees if they are sensitive to rental increases and if they can move to alternate locations. A survey of office users in the Philadelphia central business district shows the extent of user mobility. A financial analysis using Philadelphia data indicates that linkage fees substantially reduce developer returns when office users are mobile. As a result, such fees eventually curtail development. Before they implement linkage fee programs, therefore, cities should consider the sensitivity of demand for office space and the likelihood that developers can survive with lower profit margins. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

We theorize how the real estate market will respond to development impact fees. We look at the effects of impact fees on residential and nonresidential real estate under different supply and demand relationships and in the short term and long term. We examine prices that developers, homebuyers, and landowners pay or receive. We also explore how impact fees affect the distribution of development among communities in metropolitan areas. We conclude, on the whole, that neither developers nor landowners will bear the major burden of paying impact fees. Rather, consumers - homebuyers, renters, or nonresidential tenants - will pay the major share of development impact fees in the long term. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Holders (lenders) of foreclosed homes face considerable pressure to quickly remarket these properties (Crockett, 1990; Curry, Blalock, and Cole, 1991; Hardin and Wolverton, 1996). In this study, we examine the price effects of cash versus mortgage financing for foreclosed homes. Using a database for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, we show that cash financing attracts an average price discount of 10% for foreclosed properties. The results are consistent with those of Asabere, Huffman, and Mehdian (1992) and Lusht and Hansz (1994), who found significant price discounts of 13% and 16%, respectively, for properties sold under normal conditions.

Large constructed wetlands, known as stormwater treatment areas (STAs), have been deployed to remove phosphorus (P) in drainage waters before discharge into the Everglades in South Florida, USA. Their P removal performance depends on internal P cycling under typically hydrated, but with occasionally desiccated, conditions. We examined the spatial and temporal P removal capacity under different hydrologic conditions along a STA flow path. While inflow soils are P enriched, the outflow region of the wetland contained P‐unsaturated soils with minimal net recycling of bound soil P to the water column as plant‐available P. The outflow‐region soils were characterized by low porewater soluble reactive P (SRP) (≤40 μg L−1) and high total sulfide (TS) (2–9 mg L−1) concentrations, and total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) and SRP flux rates that averaged 1.51 and 0.002 mg m−2d−1, respectively. Pronounced increases in porewater and surface‐water concentrations of SRP, dissolved organic P (DOP), and TAN were observed immediately after rehydration of the cell after an extended drought. Elevated total P concentrations persisted at the outfall of the cell for several months thereafter, resulting in an annual outflow total P concentration nearly threefold higher than the long‐term mean. Relative to processes that can occur during extended periods of inundation, such as sulfate‐enhanced P release from organic matter mineralization or iron sulfide formation, aerobic oxidation of organic matter during prolonged dryout periods is a more significant biogeochemical process in compromising soil P retention in STAs.

To support consideration of social and organisational issues within the UK defence acquisition Human Factors Integration (HFI) process, definitions and associated guidance have been created. The social and organisational domain in HFI is a relatively recent addition to the existing core domains of manpower, personnel, training, human factors engineering, health hazards and system safety. The methodology used to identify relevant factors included a scoping study, involving stakeholder consultations and a targeted literature review. The factors identified were formed into a framework comprising three high level sub-domains (Organisational Configuration, Social Environment and Ways of Working) and a suite of guidance materials appropriate for a range of stakeholders. Following identification of the factors and development of guidance a pilot workshop was conducted to assess the suitability of the information and the generic process within the acquisition process. The incorporation of social and organisational factors into the wider HFI process will ensure more effective and efficient equipment and service procurement by government acquisition organisations and more competitive equipment and services created by industry suppliers.

The article offers ideas for horticultural businesses on operating in a sustainable manner. It suggests hiring a consultant to assess the company's environmental footprint, provide alternative technologies and recommend improvements to reduce environmental impact. It recommends implementing a 98-percent drip irrigation policy. Other tips include switching to biodegradable pots and reducing fertilization.

Background: Patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) presenting with jaundice have advanced chronic ALD and/or acute alcoholic hepatitis. Their prognosis is poor. These patients may be managed by General Medical physicians (GM) or by Gastroenterologists (GE). Aim: This study aimed to retrospectively assess the differences in management and outcome of jaundiced ALD between GM and GE. Patients and Methods: Patients with a serum bilirubin greater than 80 mmol/l on admission and a history of alcohol excess until within three weeks of admission were identified retrospectively. In particular the use of corticosteroids (CS), nutritional support (N) and the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics (A/b) were noted. Results: 97 patients were identified, 62 managed by GE. Differences were apparent between GE and GM managed patients with respect to CS (p = 0.017), N (p < 0.001) and A/b (p < 0.001). The overall mortality was 27.8%, 34.0%, and 37.1% at 28, 56, and 84 days respectively. Mortality for patients with a Discriminant Function ≈ 32 was greater in GM managed patients compared with GE at 28 (p=0.006), 56 (p = 0.013), and 84 days (p = 0.036). Conclusion: Differences exist between the management of jaundiced ALD between GM and GE. Such differences may translate into improved outcomes.

Provides information about the commercial production of English Ivy by horticulturists from Georgia. Propagation techniques; Materials used for propagation and culture of ivy; Methods to be avoided in order to speed root development and growth.

Despite being established for the treatment of peptic ulcer (PU) disease, few studies have assessed the long-term effectiveness and economic benefits of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) eradication in primary care. Our aim was to investigate the effect of community based Hp eradication for patients with chronic peptic ulcer disease requiring maintenance acid suppression.The endpoints used were the patient s dyspeptic symptoms and the requirement for the prescription of maintenance acid suppression therapy. The study area covered seven general practices in the Glasgow area. Patients with previously diagnosed peptic ulcer disease receiving prescribed acid suppression therapy were invited to a dyspepsia clinic. Hp status was assessed by Helisal rapid blood test (HRBT). Positive patients received Hp eradication therapy and were reviewed six weeks later. At six months a review of practice records was carried out, and two years after eradication a postal questionnaire was sent to participating patients. A total of 243 patients attended the initial clinic of which 81.9% were HRBT positive. 156 of 196 patients offered Hp eradication re-attended at six weeks. The per protocol eradication rate was 91.7%. After six months patients who had received eradication therapy were less likely to require maintenance acid suppression therapy compared with those to whom eradication was not given. Two years after treatment 76.5% of patients felt their symptoms were improved, but 42.2% were still receiving maintenance therapy. The estimated cost of treatment per month per patient had fallen from £20.23 to £9.39 after eradication. In conclusion we felt that community based Hp eradication for patients with chronic PU disease is effective, however it does not completely alleviate dyspepsia. Predictors of symptomatic response or of no longer requiring acid suppression therapy after two years were younger age of onset of PU disease and absence of pre-documented gastro-oesophageal reflux disease or hiatus hernia. Hp eradication improves patient s symptoms, reduces the requirement for maintenance acid suppression and is cost-effective after two years follow-up in this targeted group.

This study examines the impacts of building permit policy on suburban land prices. The central premise of this study is that building permit policy may be a binding constraint and may lead to price distortions in land markets. We use a database of 354 suburban land sales to examine the impact of permit policy on land prices in 26 municipalities in a suburban county of Philadelphia. Our study offers evidence of price distortions. We find that land prices go up with planned increases in residential building permits. We also find that a progrowth building permit policy causes land prices to rise more in municipalities where developable land is scarce and vice versa.

Economic evaluations of restored or enhanced lakes in Florida indicated gravity drawdown was the least expensive action, whereas effluent diversion was 10,000 times more costly on a per hectare basis, with the other lake treatment costs occurring in the following order: gravity drawdown < grass carp introduction < mechanical drawdown < aeration < stormwater control = drawdown-dredging < effluent diversion. Within a particular treatment category, the costs spanned approximately one and one half orders of magnitude. Contrary to the abundant cost data, which permitted an economic analysis, inappropriate statistical design and lack of commitment toward sampling Florida's restored lakes undermines attempts to understand long-term water quality responses to various enhancement techniques. Using Lake Tohopekaliga as a case study, ordinary statistical tests produced contradictory and unreliable interpretations on the effectiveness of drawdown and phosphorus removal at sewage treatment plants in improving the trophic state index. This emphasizes the need for more robust statistical approaches and more detailed data collection in evaluating lake restoration activities It is unfortunate for Florida's lake restoration program that quantitative conclusions based on inferential statistics, replete with tests of assumptions, is limited to very few lakes

This paper presents a direct-design procedure for synthesis of closed loop control systems. This method has been taught successfully to final year electrical engineering undergraduates and is of interest in that it illustrates the application of a considerable part of a typical engineering mathematics syllabus and may help to provide motivation for the study of mathematical topics.Additionally the method points the way to numerous other techniques for the synthesis of control systems and these methods are a fruitful source of project work for students of electrical engineering or of applied mathematics.

A model must be judged on the basis of its ability to explain and predict experimental observations. We believe the model presented in this paper for the growth process and resultant morphology has been shown to be capable of explaining a wide variety of experimental observations by a number of different investigators. The assumption is that fiber crystals, once nucleated in an extensional flow field, continue to grow by a chain attachment process in which the highest molecular weight material forms the continuous growth core. Further growth is obtained by the extension and flattening of chains tied to the central backbone and acted upon by the fluid mechanical forces in the shearing flow boundary layer surrounding the growing crystal. A central feature of the model is the realization that complete chain extension and crystallization is not possible due to energetics considerations, and the growing fiber thus must consist of a chain backbone surrounded by a uniform "fuzz" of uncrystallized coils which are attached to the main fiber. The final morphology and properties of the crystals which result from this growth process can then be explained on the basis of this understanding of the growth kinetics.Further examination of the various details of the model, especially from a quantitative view, are planned, and it is expected that many of the basic features should provide for obvious extension to the flow-induced process from the melt. An unfortunate consequence, perhaps, of the model is the realization that purely extended chain crystals are an ideal which cannot be achieved in any normal flow system and can at best only be approximated by growth of infinitely high molecular weight polymer in flow fields with essentially infinite velocity gradients.

Techniques for studying the mechanisms of chemical corrosion in fiber-reinforced plastics are of considerable importance. The most common analysis technique for studying chemical changes in polymers is Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. For polymers reinforced with graphite fibers, however, study of the matrix is hindered by the presence of the graphite, which strongly absorbs IR radiation in a broad band of wavelengths. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degradation of AS-4/3501-5a graphite/epoxy composite material exposed to solutions of hydrogen peroxide. Evidence was also sought for degradation in high pH (up to pH = 12) solutions. After long-term environmental exposure, a simple gravity flotation technique was used to separate the epoxy matrix from the graphite fibers for FT-IR analysis. The resulting spectroscopic evidence indicates that hydrogen peroxide attacks the secondary amines in the cured epoxy structure. No evidence of attack by high pH solutions was found.

ABSTRACT: In addition to measuring the quantity of stormwater runoff generated during ten rainfall events from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) area of Kennedy Space Center (KSC), historical rainfall records were also used for determining the feasibility of implementing a program of stormwater recycling to air conditioning cooling towers. It was projected that 0.182 million gallons per day (MGD) of runoff would be generated from the VAR area during a year of average rainfall (48 inches); only 0.117 MGD is required for coolant makeup water in the VAR area. Due to the seasonal variations in rainfall, stormwater recycling may not always meet all the cooling water demands.

The effects of seawater exposure on the mechanics of Mode I fracture and crack growth in unidirectional AS-4/3501 graphite/epoxy were investigated utilizing the previously developed compliant load-frame (CLF) technique. Mode I double-cantilever- beam (DCB) specimens were exposed to fresh flowing seawater under both static and fa tigue loading conditions. Long-term fatigue loading in air resulted in extensive bridging of reinforcing fibers across the crack tip, increasing the apparent fracture resistance of the material. The primary effect of seawater was to weaken the fiber-to-matrix bond in the composite, causing an increase in the number of bridged fibers. Fiber bridging increased the fracture resistance of the DCB test specimens and reduced the rate of crack growth to near zero. An increase in the fracture resistance of specimens soaked in seawater but not loaded was also attributed to a weakened fiber-to-matrix bond. The compliant load-frame (CLF) technique was found to be a simple and cost-effective method for studying the mechanics of crack growth under environmental exposure conditions. However, linear- elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) relationships derived previously for the CLF become invalid when the fracture resistance of the material increases during crack growth, e.g., during fiber bridging.

A simple technique is presented for characterizing crack growth in compos ite materials subjected to a hostile environment. The method, based on linear-elastic frac ture mechanics (LEFM), retains the simplicity of constant-strain testing while greatly in creasing the observed crack growth. Load is applied using a rigid frame in series with an extension spring. The enhancement of crack propagation leads to a more accurate assess ment of long-term environmental cracking susceptibility. Crack growth rates were measured in fiberglass/epoxy double-cantilever beam (DCB) specimens to verify the theory for stress-corrosion-cracking (SCC). No SCC threshold was observed for the fiberglass/epoxy in distilled water. Applicability to corrosion-fatigue (CF) testing is dis cussed.

Nitrogen fixation, as assayed by the acetylene reduction technique, provided 44% of the input of nitrogen to a lake in central Florida (Lake Tohopekaliga) during 1984. Ninety-four percent of the lake total fixation was found in the water column and associated with Anabaena spp. The lake-wide average nitrogen fixation rate of 5.7 g N/m2-yr amounted to a mass loading of 497 metric tons of nitrogen for the year, and is one of the highest nitrogen fixation rates reported.

We have determined the volume and location of hippocampal tissue required for normal acquisition of a spatial memory task. Ibotenic acid was used to make bilateral symmetric lesions of 20-100% of hippocampal volume. Even a small transverse block (minislab) of the hippocampus (down to 26% of the total) could support spatial learning in a water maze, provided it was at the septal (dorsal) pole of the hippocampus. Lesions of the septal pole, leaving 60% of the hippocampi intact, caused a learning deficit, although normal electrophysiological responses, synaptic plasticity, and preserved acetylcholinesterase staining argue for adequate function of the remaining tissue. Thus, with an otherwise normal brain, hippocampal-dependent spatial learning only requires a minislab of dorsal hippocampal tissue.

Removal of two chlorinated compounds from secondary domestic wastewater was examined in central Florida using four thin‐film raceways (7.32 m long by 1.22 m wide by 4.0 cm deep) containing the aquatic macrophyte pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellataL). Two raceways received secondary effluent amended with 5.0 mg/L of monochloramine plus 1.0 mg/L of 2,4‐dichlorophenol (2,4‐DCP) and two raceways received secondary effluent only (controls). Mass balances indicated 100% removal of monochloramine and >95% removal for 2,4‐DCP after loadings of 25.2 and 6.1 g/m2, respectively, over the 60‐d study. This study demonstrates the potential of aquatic macrophyte‐based thin film systems for reducing concentrations of chlorinated compounds to acceptable levels under high wastewater loadings and short residence times (∼ 10 h).