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PERSONAL income grew at an average 3.7 percent in U.S. counties in 2010, rebounding from an average decline of 4.3 percent in 2009. (1) Inflation, as measured by the national [...]

A 1998 case in the New Jersey Appellate Division determined that customary liquidated damages clauses in lender and landlord contracts may not be enforceable. Borrowers and tenants will be able to challenge these clauses and force lenders and landlords to prove that their stipulated damage amounts are valid.

In Tony Valenzuela's world, freedom means having a lot of sex. He has sex for money and for free. He gets off in bathhouses, in sex clubs, and even in [...]

Background: Antibiotic treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in active peptic ulcer disease has been demonstrated to speed ulcer healing, reduce the risk of rebleeding, and prevent long-term recurrence. The objective of this study was to determine whether Medicare patients with peptic ulcer disease who are admitted to acute care hospitals are being tested or treated for H pylori infection as recommended by a National Institutes of Health consensus panel. Methods: The study was designed as a retrospective medical records survey. From the Medicare National Claims History File, all persons 65 years and older admitted to California fee-for-service hospitals for peptic ulcer disease in 1994 were identified. A random sample of 600 claims was selected for review. After exclusions, 524 patients were eligible for study. The main outcome measures were (1) the proportion of patients who were tested for H pylori infection by 1 of the 5 available methods (histopathologic study, unease assay, microbiologic culture, serum antibody testing, or urea breath test) and (2) the proportion who were treated with antibiotics (amoxicillin, tetracycline, clarithromycin, or metronidazole) for H pylori infection. Results: Thirty-nine percent of patients with peptic ulcer disease were tested for H pylori infection and 3% were treated empirically. Only 47% of the patients who had a positive diagnostic test result for H pylori were treated with antibiotics. Conclusion: Because diagnosis and treatment of H pylori infection has been demonstrated to improve outcomes and decrease expenses, the data indicate a substantial opportunity to improve the care of elderly Medicare patients with peptic ulcer disease.

A skillful negotiator not only deals with the economic, legal and factual issues surrounding a dilemma but also the psychological issues. The negotiator whose profession is as an attorney must also be an engineer, economist, director, actor, psychologist and an expert in their client's business.

Commercial landlords have had little incentive to control common-area maintenance (CAM) costs since they usually pass these on to tenants in the form of an annually estimated fee. Because most lease clauses fail to grant tenants access to landlord CAM cost records, the latter have not been held accountable for costs. In 1988, Maryland's Rock Creek ruling granted tenants access anyway, and landlords might soon be required to furnish reports similar to annual corporate reports.

Mortgage lenders require that landlords negotiate leases with subordination clauses. The clauses make tenants' rights subordinate to all others, particularly to those of a subsequent lender or investor. Tenants negotiating leases must insist on some nondisturbance protection to avoid exposure to lease termination. The issues of timing of nondisturbance rights, the landlord's defaulted obligations, prepaid rents and exemptions of mortgagee obligations should be addressed.

Second quarter of 2014 State personal income growth accelerated in California, Florida, and 34 smaller states in the second quarter of 2014 but slowed in New York, Texas and 8 [...]

This study develops a methodology to train and apply a hybrid stacked discrete choice model for airline itinerary choice. This stacked model framework includes a data-driven component (i.e., gradient boosting machines) as well as a theory-driven component (i.e., utility maximization using generalized extreme value models). The resulting ensemble model combines attractive features of each, including the ability to conform to complex nonlinear relationships among itinerary characteristics, as well as the ability to leverage an analyst’s understanding of travel behavior tendencies and the natural relationship among itineraries. Using a real industry dataset containing purchase information for approximately 10 million air travelers, it is demonstrated that the resulting model outperforms either the gradient boosting or utility maximization modeling paradigm alone in forecasting air traveler choice behavior. Implementation of this model can be achieved using efficient open source tools including XGBoost and Larch, and requires relatively modest additional effort by an analyst above and beyond the effort to use either tool alone.

Traditionally, travel forecasting models have been used to provide single point predictions. That is, a single future scenario is developed and the model is applied to that scenario. This approach, however, ignores the deep uncertainty that exists in future land use, demographic, and transportation systems inputs, not to mention the uncertainty that exists in the model itself. More importantly, transportation policy decisions made on the basis of such model outputs may be misguided and ineffective. This paper demonstrates and motivates the use of travel forecasting models in an exploratory manner that accounts for the inherent uncertainties of the future. Specifically, this paper describes the user workflow for a new planning and modeling tool: the Travel Model Improvement Program Exploratory Modeling and Analysis Tool (TMIP-EMAT) that has been developed to facilitate the use of exploratory techniques with travel forecasting models. Examples from the proof of concept deployment using the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council regional travel demand model are included. The goal of the longer term study is to provide TMIP-EMAT for state and regional transportation planning agencies to assess how technological innovations will affect traffic and transit demand on major corridors 20 to 30 years down the road. The tool will illuminate interactions between transportation supply and demand on urban surface transportation systems (especially at the corridor level) through exploratory modeling and simulation, and facilitate insights into potential, possible, plausible, probable or preferred futures.

As we move into the final months of 2001, the commercial real estate market in Fairfield and Westchester Counties has clearly experienced an adjustment from the frenzied scramble for space [...]

With the economy having shifted from frenzied overdrive to a more stable and sustainable level, these should continue to be positive times for prudent owner-operators of well-located, Class-A multi-tenanted commercial [...]

This paper discusses the activity- and tour-based model developed for the Denver Regional Council of Governments in Colorado with respect to two major issues that underlie its expansion to a statewide travel model: managing short- and long-distance travel within a single model and accounting for overnight travel. In a statewide model, the issues are interconnected to the modeling of closed and nonclosed tours. Closed tours are those that begin and end at the same location during the travel day (i.e., home). Although nonclosed tours typically are not modeled in regional activity- and tour-based models, or they are modeled with relatively simple procedures, they are more important in statewide models to accommodate overnight travel. Some long-distance travel involves an overnight stay at a location other than the traveler’s home. Such nonclosed tours, which begin or end the day at a location other than home, must be modeled explicitly in a statewide model. In this paper, required adjustments are identified for key activity- and tour-based model components, and the impacts of the explicit modeling of nonclosed tours for the tour mode choice model are presented.

They're living longer; but many people with AIDS are strapped for cash--and taking drastic steps to get it Scott Page knows the devastation AIDS can bring: Four years ago he [...]

W&M Properties is entering the Westchester County market for the first time. We are leading a group of investors in the purchase of 711 Westchester Avenue in suburban White Plains, [...]

PORTLAND, ORE. -- Boyd Coffee Co., has named Jeffrey Newman president and chief executive. The family-owned firm said David Boyd and Dick Boyd have stepped aside from daily operations after [...]

Using data from the All Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS) we statistically detect the extended X-ray emission in the interstellar medium (ISM)/intracluster medium (ICM) in both active and normal galaxies at 0.3 ? z? 1.3. For both active galactic nuclei (AGN) host galaxy and normal galaxy samples that are matched in restframe color, luminosity, and redshift distribution, we tentatively detect excess X-ray emission at scales of 1-10? at a few ? significance in the surface brightness profiles. The exact significance of this detection is sensitive to the true characterization of Chandra'spoint-spread function. The observed excess in the surface brightness profiles is suggestive of lower extended emission in AGN hosts compared to normal galaxies. This is qualitatively similar to theoretical predictions of the X-ray surface brightness profile from AGN feedback models, where feedback from AGN is likely to evacuate the gas from the center of the galaxy/cluster. We propose that AGN that are intrinsically underluminous in X-rays, but have equivalent bolometric luminosities to our sources will be the ideal sample to study more robustly the effect of AGN feedback on diffuse ISM/ICM gas.

The majority of studies on airline delays have been based on databases that contain information only about the final delay outcome associated with a flight; that is, did a flight arrive early or late at the gate and, if so, by how many minutes? This paper uses a database from FlightStats that contains information on the timing of airline notifications of delays to customers. Specifically, the delay notification strategies of six U.S. airlines are compared, and the timing and accuracy of their delay forecasts are analyzed with data from 2010. Results show that airlines use different delay notification strategies. AirTran and Southwest announce delays more frequently throughout the flight departure process, whereas American Airlines, American Eagle, Delta, and JetBlue announce the majority of their delays in two distinct periods before departure. Results also indicate that “no news is bad news” in the sense that the closer to departure that a delay is first announced, the more likely it is to be a long delay. An assessment of forecasting accuracy reveals that the majority of airlines consistently underforecast delays; the two notable exceptions are JetBlue and AirTran. The timing and accuracy of delay forecasts has important implications for airports, particularly as it relates to their ability to develop contingency plans for irregular operations.

In the face of a generally flat economy, suburban submarkets in Westchester and Fairfield Counties contain bright spots that indicate growing demand for office space. White Plains, with more than [...]

Commercial real estate, like many other business sectors, continued to be buffeted throughout 2002 by the aftereffects of 9/11 and the economic downturn. However, the suburban markets of Westchester and [...]

Class-A office leasing has remained strong during 2002 throughout W&M Properties' 2.5 million-SF Fairfield! Westchester County suburban portfolio, with the demand fueled by a diverse range of growing service businesses. [...]

Leasing remains strong throughout W&M Properties' nearly 2.5 million-SF suburban Fairfield and Westchester County Class-A office portfolio. Activity has been solid, with relocations from New York City, local small business [...]

In spite of the past year's economic troubles, the Class A office market in Fairfield and Westchester Counties is still holding strong. Though our occupancy rates remain high throughout W&M's [...]

The taxation of long-term disability (LTD) benefits has a direct bearing on the claimant's replacement income. The taxation of disability benefits is in turn determined by the contribution structure of the LTD plan. Disability income benefits are excluded from the employee's gross income if the benefits are paid for by the employee. Benefits provided by the employer are included in gross income and are therefore taxable. The advantages and disadvantages of an employee-funded plan and an employer-funded plan are compared. A third option involves defining the LTD benefit as a percentage of disposable income instead of gross income. The calculations for determining an employee's disposable income and the tax advantages of this approach are discussed.

The presented methodology estimates parameters of a nested logit model when decision makers who choose one of the alternatives are systematically excluded from the sample data that are used to estimate the model (i.e., censored). Unlike existing methods for estimating discrete choice model parameters with censored data, which require exogenous information beyond the specification of the model to be estimated and the available sampled observations, the proposed method requires no additional outside information. It is demonstrated empirically that this approach can recover not only generic model parameters that apply to common attributes of all alternatives but also parameters for alternative-specific constants and variables associated with both observed and censored alternatives. Although the standard errors of the estimated parameters are larger than those of models estimated with uncensored data, censored data methods still hold great potential for applications in which uncensored data are expensive or impossible to collect.