"For good design, you pay now; for bad design, you pay later"--or do you?

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2006.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-118).What is the value of architectural design on office building income? This empirical study of 296 office building located in 11 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) hopes to quantitatively determine if a plain vanilla cereal box suburban office building commands more or less net operating income than an office building with a higher level of design. Previous empirical studies have found a strong influence of design on rents but were limited in geography, building characteristics and total number of observations. In an important study by Vandell and Lane (1990), they found that good architecture commanded a premium of over 20% in office rents. Also, their study showed that good design cost more to produce on average, but not necessarily in every case. Data was gathered from a portfolio of US office buildings and consisted of building metrics and property level 2000-2005 Net Operating Income (NOI). This base data set, MSA dummy variables and architectural attribute dummy variables (created by the authors) formed the backbone of the research. Multiple log linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the economic effects of good design.(cont.) In addition, a survey taken by 31 architects was used to capture subjective rankings on the all 296 office buildings to determine if there is a consensus as to what constitutes good design. It is hoped that these professionals, who are formally trained and are practicing in the field, are well-qualified to evaluate the design of each building. The survey results showed that the architects' responses are idiosyncratic and subjective. Not only did the individual participant's rankings show no significant relationship with one another, but also did not exhibit any relationship with actual building NOI. The empirical study found that the market paid a premium of 7.9% for buildings with non-center cores. Also, a significant 11.7-13.2% premium was paid for properties with non-rectangular and non-square shaped floor plans. Finally, buildings with 60% to 90% exterior windows commanded a substantial 10.7% premium. These results imply that better-designed buildings generate higher NOI either because the tenants are willing to pay a premium or because the operating costs of the building are less, or both.by Meena Murugappan and S. Michael O'Young, Jr.S.M

Quality of life in Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients prior to and after pancreas and kidney transplantation in relation to organ function

Improvement of the quality of life in Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with severe late complications is one of the main goals of pancreas and/or kidney grafting. To assess the influences of these treatment modalities on the different aspects of the quality of life a cross-sectional study in 157 patients was conducted. They were categorized into patients pre-transplant without dialysis (n=29; Group A), pre-transplant under dialysis (n=44; Group B), post-transplant with pancreas and kidney functioning (n=31; Group C), post-transplant with functioning kidney, but insulin therapy (n=29; Group D), post-transplant under dialysis and insulin therapy again (n=15; Group E) and patients after single pancreas transplantation and rejection, with good renal function, but insulin therapy (n=9; Group F). All patients answered a mailed, self-administered questionnaire (217 questions) consisting of a broad spectrum of rehabilitation criteria. The results indicate a better quality of life in Groups C and D as compared to the other groups. In general the scores are highest in C, but without any significant difference to D. Impressive significant differences between C or D and the other groups were found especially in their satisfaction with physical capacity, leisure-time activities or the overall quality of life. The satisfaction with the latter is highest in C (mean±SEM: 4.0±0.2 on a 1 to 5-rating scale; significantly different from A: 3.1±0.1, B: 2.7±0.2 and E: 2.6±0.3; p<0.01), followed by D (3.8±0.2; significantly different from B and E; p<0.01). Group F shows a mean of 3.1±0.4, which is not significantly different from C. The percentages of patients in each group, who are not working: A: 38 %, B: 64 %, C: 74 %, D: 66 %, E: 87 % and F: 78 % indicate that there is no marked improvement in the vocational situation after successful grafting

JSBSim Open-Source Flight Dynamics Model for Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Applications

Simulation packages provide a valuable framework or environment to study the interaction between aircraft, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), in the existent air traffic in near mid-air collision (NMAC) scenarios. The proposed simulation package is based on the open-source JSBSim Flight Dynamics Model (FDM) and our developments represent the UAVs with the required precision to model those interactions. This tool has been validated and tested in UAV computer models and is currently being used in 4D encounters and avoidance maneuvers. The final objective of this paper is to provide a simplified model version of the current package, the including the minimum requirements for the design of a UAV in JSBSim, and guide any modeler through the UAV computer design task

Estimation of minimum alerting boundaries in winds for small unmanned aircraft systems

To achieve a level of safety equivalent to manned aircraft in the national airspace system, the pilot-in-command of small unmanned aircraft systems should be able to maintain situational awareness and make necessary maneuvers to avoid potential conflicts with nearby air traffic during mid-air encounters. However, due to ever-changing flight environments, the pilot-in-command often mis-estimates conflict risks and cannot engage the appropriate maneuvers to prevent mid-air traffic from violating the safety boundaries of small unmanned aircraft systems. To fix this problem, a Monte Carlo simulation-based method is therefore introduced and designed in this paper to quantitatively determine the alerting threshold boundaries in various wind conditions for detect-and-avoid systems to help the pilot-in-command identify hazards and trigger avoidance maneuvers before a safety boundary violation occurs

Giant Big Stik R/C UAV computer model development in JSBSim for sense and avoid applications

Open-source aerospace simulation packages often lack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) models, limiting the study of their interaction with other elements in the airspace. These events, which are a consequence of encounters between manned and unmanned aircraft, have recently attracted interest due to the uncertainties created by UAVs in real environments. In this paper, a fit-for-purpose flight dynamics model specific for sense and avoid (SAA) strategies in near mid-air collision scenarios is developed based on existing model development practices and adjusted from flight data. The Giant Big Stik is recognized as the representative aircraft for testing SAA manoeuvres due to its capabilities. The simulation platform is based on the JSBSim open-source flight dynamics model, and the SAA application is carried out following the current regulations and flight recommendations for UAVs in Canada. Through this methodology, the error between the real and the computer model is reduced in every step that is minimal for the SAA application. The relevance of this paper is also shown in future applications, where this model will be incorporated into more complex simulations with manned aircraft for the study of avoidance manoeuvres that will serve the safe integration of UAVs into the airspace

Comparison of Medium and Long Wave Infrared Imaging for Ocean Based Sensing

Infrared thermal imagers convert the radiation received by a detector into a false colour visual image which represents the temperature profile of a scene or object. The selection of an infrared sensor for ocean based imaging is complicated, and depends on the intended use and target characteristics. This paper provides a theoretical understanding of the physics associated with the energy collected by the sensor and the resulting infrared images. Further, explanation of the factors affecting the resulting image with respect to the camera properties is provided. Finally, a variety of examples of airborne thermal images are presented, with detailed explanations of the imaged scenes based on theory and sensor characteristics provided in the previous sections

Online Risk-based Supervisory Maneuvering Guidance for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

To achieve a level of safety equivalent to manned aircraft in the national airspace system, the pilot-in-command of small unmanned aircraft systems should be able to maintain situational awareness and make necessary maneuvers to avoid potential conflicts with nearby air traffic during mid-air encounters. However, due to ever-changing flight environments, the pilot-in-command often mis-estimates collision risks and cannot engage appropriate maneuvers to prevent mid-air traffic from violating the safety boundaries of small unmanned aircraft systems. To fix this problem, an online risk-based supervisory maneuvering guidance method is therefore designed and developed in this paper to quantitatively assess mid-air collision risks and provide online mitigation solutions for detect-and-avoid systems to help the pilot-in-command identify hazards and trigger avoidance maneuvers before a safety boundary violation occurs

Study about the effect of cellulose nanocrystals on a polyacrylate miniemulsion

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) are widely used due to their biodegradability, high strength, large surface area, and functional versatility. This study investigates the interaction between CNC and acrylate emulsions, which mainly focuses on their impact on emulsion characteristics, polymerization behaviour, and storage stability. CNC was incorporated into an acrylate miniemulsion system at varying concentrations, followed by the systematic study of its effects on particle size, interfacial tension, zeta potential, yield, and viscosity. The morphology of CNC-acrylate systems was analysed using infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results demonstrated that CNC effectively co-stabilized acrylate miniemulsions and enhanced their stability before polymerization. Although CNC did not directly participate in polymerization or affect yield or reaction rates, it slowed the diffusion of free radicals. However, CNC concentrations higher than 1 wt% negatively impacted post-polymerization storage stability and caused aggregation of droplets. These findings reveal the dual role of CNC as both a stabilizing and aggregating agent, offering new insights into its potential for the design of advanced polymer systems

CTCF genetic alterations in endometrial carcinoma are pro-tumorigenic

CTCF is a haploinsufficient tumour suppressor gene with diverse normal functions in genome structure and gene regulation. However the mechanism by which CTCF haploinsufficiency contributes to cancer development is not well understood. CTCF is frequently mutated in endometrial cancer. Here we show that most CTCF mutations effectively result in CTCF haploinsufficiency through nonsense-mediated decay of mutant transcripts, or loss-of-function missense mutation. Conversely, we identified a recurrent CTCF mutation K365T, which alters a DNA binding residue, and acts as a gain-of-function mutation enhancing cell survival. CTCF genetic deletion occurs predominantly in poor prognosis serous subtype tumours, and this genetic deletion is associated with poor overall survival. In addition, we have shown that CTCF haploinsufficiency also occurs in poor prognosis endometrial clear cell carcinomas and has some association with endometrial cancer relapse and metastasis. Using shRNA targeting CTCF to recapitulate CTCF haploinsufficiency, we have identified a novel role for CTCF in the regulation of cellular polarity of endometrial glandular epithelium. Overall, we have identified two novel pro-tumorigenic roles (promoting cell survival and altering cell polarity) for genetic alterations of CTCF in endometrial cance