Real options and game theoretical approaches to real estate development projects: multiple equilibria and the implications of different tie-breaking rules

This paper contributes to a fast growing literature which introduces game theory in the analysis of real option investments in a competitive setting. Specifically, in this paper we focus on the issue of multiple equilibria and on the implications that different equilibrium selections may have for the pricing of real options and for subsequent strategic decisions. We present some theoretical results of the necessary conditions to have multiple equilibria and we show under which conditions different tie-breaking rules result in different economic decisions. We then present a numerical exercise using the in formation set obtained on a real estate development in South London. We find that risk aversion reduces option value and this reduction decreases marginally as negative externalities decrease.

Theoretical insights into bacterial chemotaxis

Research into understanding bacterial chemotactic systems has become a paradigm for Systems Biology. Experimental and theoretical researchers have worked hand-in-hand for over 40 years to understand the intricate behavior driving bacterial species, in particular how such small creatures, usually not more than 5 µm in length, detect and respond to small changes in their extracellular environment. In this review we highlight the importance that theoretical modeling has played in providing new insight and understanding into bacterial chemotaxis. We begin with an overview of the bacterial chemotaxis sensory response, before reviewing the role of theoretical modeling in understanding elements of the system on the single cell scale and features underpinning multiscale extensions to population models. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2012 doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1168 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

Food restriction reverses the hyper-muscular phenotype and force generation capacity deficit of the myostatin null mouse

Food restriction has a great impact on skeletal muscle mass by inducing muscle protein breakdown to provide substrates for energy production through gluconeogenesis. Genetic models of hyper-muscularity interfere with the normal balance between protein synthesis and breakdown which eventually results in extreme muscle growth. Mutations or deletions in the myostatin gene result in extreme muscle mass. Here we evaluated the impact of food restriction for a period of 5 weeks on skeletal muscle size (i.e., fibre cross-sectional area), fibre type composition and contractile properties (i.e., tetanic and specific force) in myostatin null mice. We found that this hyper-muscular model was more susceptible to catabolic processes than wild type mice. The mechanism of skeletal muscle mass loss was examined and our data shows that the myostatin null mice placed on a low calorie diet maintained the activity of molecules involved in protein synthesis and did not up-regulate the expression of genes pivotal in ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation. However, we did find an increase in the expression of genes associated with autophagy. Surprisingly, the reduction on muscle size was followed by improved tetanic and specific force in the null mice compared to wild type mice. These data provide evidence that food restriction may revert the hyper-muscular phenotype of the myostatin null mouse restoring muscle function.

Institutional capacity and implementation issues in farmers' rights

Armed with the ‘equity’ and ‘conservation’ arguments that have a deep resonance with farming communities, developing countries are crafting a range of measures designed to protect farmers’ access to innovations, reward their contributions to the conservation and enhancement of plant genetic resources and provide incentives for sustained on-farm conservation. These measures range from the commericialization of farmers’ varieties to the conferment of a set of legally enforceable rights on farming communities – the exercise of which is expected to provide economic rewards to those responsible for on-farm conservation and innovation. The rights-based approach has been the cornerstone of legislative provision for implementing farmers’ rights in most developing countries. In drawing up these measures, developing countries do not appear to have systematically examined or provided for the substantial institutional capacity required for the effective implementation of farmers’ rights provisions. The lack of institutional capacity threatens to undermine any prospect of serious implementation of these provisions. More importantly, the expectation that significant incentives for on-farm conservation and innovation will flow from these ‘rights’ may be based on a flawed understanding of the economics of intellectual property rights. While farmers’ rights may provide only limited rewards for conservation, they may still have the effect of diluting the incentives for innovative institutional breeding programs – with the private sector increasingly relying on non-IPR instruments to profit from innovation. The focus on a rights-based approach may also draw attention away from alternative stewardship-based approaches to the realization of farmers’ rights objectives.

A theoretical framework for energy and momentum consistency in subgrid-scale parameterization for climate models

A theoretical framework for the joint conservation of energy and momentum in the parameterization of subgrid-scale processes in climate models is presented. The framework couples a hydrostatic resolved (planetary scale) flow to a nonhydrostatic subgrid-scale (mesoscale) flow. The temporal and horizontal spatial scale separation between the planetary scale and mesoscale is imposed using multiple-scale asymptotics. Energy and momentum are exchanged through subgrid-scale flux convergences of heat, pressure, and momentum. The generation and dissipation of subgrid-scale energy and momentum is understood using wave-activity conservation laws that are derived by exploiting the (mesoscale) temporal and horizontal spatial homogeneities in the planetary-scale flow. The relations between these conservation laws and the planetary-scale dynamics represent generalized nonacceleration theorems. A derived relationship between the wave-activity fluxes-which represents a generalization of the second Eliassen-Palm theorem-is key to ensuring consistency between energy and momentum conservation. The framework includes a consistent formulation of heating and entropy production due to kinetic energy dissipation.

When consent doesn't work: a rights-based case for limits to consent’s capacity to legitimise

Consent's capacity to legitimise actions and claims is limited by conditions such as coercion, which render consent ineffective. A better understanding of the limits to consent's capacity to legitimise can shed light on a variety of applied debates, in political philosophy, bioethics, economics and law. I show that traditional paternalist explanations for limits to consent's capacity to legitimise cannot explain the central intuition that consent is often rendered ineffective when brought about by a rights violation or threatened rights violation. I argue that this intuition is an expression of the same principles of corrective justice that underlie norms of compensation and rectification. I show how these principles can explain and clarify core intuitions about conditions which render consent ineffective, including those concerned with the consenting agent's option set, his mental competence, and available information.

Towards a theoretical framework for creative participation : how personal characteristics influence employees' willingness to contribute ideas

To retain competitiveness, succeed and flourish, organizations are forced to continuously innovate. This drive for innovation is not solely limited to product/process innovation but more profoundly relates to a continuous process of improving how organizations work internally, requiring a constant stream of ideas and suggestions from motivated employees. In this chapter we investigate some recent developments and propose a conceptual framework for creative participation as a personality driven interface between creativity and innovation. Under the assumption that employees’ intrinsic willingness to contribute novel ideas and solutions requires a set of personal characteristics and necessary skill that might well be unique to each organizational unit, the chapter then explores personal characteristics associated with creativity, innovation and innovative behavior. Various studies on the correlation between creativity and personality types are also reviewed. The chapter provides a discussion of solutions and future development together with recommendations for the future research.

Dietary quebracho tannins are not absorbed, but increase the antioxidant capacity of liver and plasma in sheep

A total of sixteen lambs were divided into two groups and fed two different diets. Of these, eight lambs were fed a control diet (C) and eight lambs were fed the C diet supplemented with quebracho tannins (C+T). The objective of the present study was to assess whether dietary quebracho tannins can improve the antioxidant capacity of lamb liver and plasma and if such improvement is due to a direct transfer of phenolic compounds or their metabolites, to the animal tissues. Feed, liver and plasma samples were purified by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and analysed by liquid chromatography–MS for phenolic compounds. Profisitinidin compounds were identified in the C+T diet. However, no phenolic compounds were found in lamb tissues. The liver and the plasma from lambs fed the C+T diet displayed a greater antioxidant capacity than tissues from lambs fed the C diet, but only when samples were not purified with SPE. Profisetinidin tannins from quebracho seem not to be degraded or absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. However, they induced antioxidant effects in animal tissues.

Optimizing the methods of synthesis for barium hexagonal ferrite: an experimental and theoretical study

M-type barium hexaferrite (BaM) is a hard ferrite, crystallizing in space group P6(3)/mmc possessing a hexagonal magneto-plumbite structure, which consists of alternate hexagonal and spinel blocks. The structure of BaM is thus related to those of garnet and spinel ferrite. However the material has proved difficult to synthesize. By taking into account the presence of the spinel block in barium hexagonal ferrite, highly efficient new synthetic methods were devised with routes significantly different from existing ones. These successful variations in synthetic methods have been derived by taking into account a detailed investigation of the structural features of barium hexagonal ferrite and the least change principle whereby configuration changes are kept to a minimum. Thus considering the relevant mechanisms has helped to improve the synthesis efficiencies for both hydrothermal and co-precipitation methods by choosing conditions that invoke the formation of the cubic block or the less stable Fe3O4. The role played by BaFe2O4 in the synthesis is also discussed. The distribution of iron from reactants or intermediates among different sites was also successfully explained. The proposed mechanisms are based on the principle that the cubic block must be self-assembled to form the final product. Thus, it is believed that these formulated mechanisms should be helpful in designing experiments to obtain a deeper understanding of the synthesis process and to investigate the substitution of magnetic ions with doping ions.

Steric effects on uranyl complexation: synthetic, structural, and theoretical studies of carbamoyl pyrazole compounds of the uranyl(VI) ion

New bifunctional pyrazole based ligands of the type [C3HR2N2CONR'] (where R = H or CH3; R' = CH3, C2H5, or (C3H7)-C-i) were prepared and characterized. The coordination chemistry of these ligands with uranyl nitrate and uranyl bis(dibenzoyl methanate) was studied with infrared (IR), H-1 NMR, electrospray-mass spectrometry (ES-MS), elemental analysis, and single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The structure of compound [UO2(NO3)(2)(C3H3N2CON{C2H5}(2))] (2) shows that the uranium(VI) ion is surrounded by one nitrogen atom and seven oxygen atoms in a hexagonal bipyramidal geometry with the ligand acting as a bidentate chelating ligand and bonds through both the carbamoyl oxygen and pyrazolyl nitrogen atoms. In the structure of [UO2(NO3)(2)(H2O)(2)(C5H7N2CON {C2H5}(2))(2)], (5) the pyrazole figand acts as a second sphere ligand and hydrogen bonds to the water molecules through carbamoyl oxygen and pyrazolyl nitrogen atoms. The structure of [UO2(DBM)(2)C3H3N2CON{C2H5}(2)] (8) (where DBM = C6H5COCHCOC6H5) shows that the pyrazole ligand acts as a monodentate ligand and bonds through the carbamoyl oxygen to the uranyl group. The ES-MS spectra of 2 and 8 show that the ligand is similarly bonded to the metal ion in solution. Ab initio quantum chemical studies show that the steric effect plays the key role in complexation behavior.