Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Land Rental Markets as an Alternative to Government Reallocation? Equity and Efficiency Considerations in the Chinese Land Tenure System

The authors develop a model of land leasing with agents characterized by unobserved heterogeneity in ability and presence of an off-farm labor market. In this case, decentralized land rental may contribute to equity and efficiency goals and may have several advantages over administrative reallocation. The extent to which this is true empirically is explored using data from three of China's poorest provinces. The authors find that both processes redistribute land to those with lower endowments but that land rental markets are more effective in doing so and also have a larger productivity-enhancing effect than administrative reallocation, implying that more active land rental markets would allow producers to realize significant productivity gains. At the same time, the presence of a large number of producers whose participation in rental markets remains constrained suggests that efforts to reduce transaction costs in land rental markets would be warranted.
Producing New Variety of Gracilaria Sp. Through Cross Breeding

In recent years the quality of Gracilaria sp. cultivation in some cluster areas has been decreased because of environmental problems, like high temperature, sewage contamination, and Indonesian water- quality deterioration that have constrained the growth. Breeding technology of Gracilaria sp. is an effective option that can stimulate the development of cultivation technology for Indonesian Gracilaria sp. like gamet induction. As a result, it then can improve either the quantity or quality of Gracilaria sp. production that is economically potential. Through cross breeding and free living technique programs, moreover, super variety with good and stable quality is obtained. This study, therefore, is divided into 3 stages involving (i) isolation and identification of Gracilaria sp. obtained either from natural environment (wild environment) or from cultivation process, (ii) cross breeding and free living technique for improving the rate of Gracilaria sp. gamet induction, (iii) technology engineering of breeding medium for improving the growth, the number of chlorophyll a, and the moisture level of Gracilaria sp. As a result, a new variety of Gracilaria sp. created has average ability in secreting gamet at pH 7 about 6666.67 ± 2886.75 cells/ml, with the growth rate of thallus mass about 2.56%/day, with the number of chlorophyll a about 0.001948 µg/ml, and with the water content of thallus about 28.48%. Thus, it is considered to be better than Gracilaria sp. either from natural environment or from cultivation process.
The Impact of Corporate Board Meetings on Corporate Performance in South Africa

We investigate the impact of corporate board meetings on corporate performance for a sample of 169 listed corporations from 2002 to 2007 in South Africa (SA). Our findings suggest a statistically significant and positive association between the frequency of corporate board meetings and corporate performance, implying that SA boards that meet more frequently tend to generate higher financial performance. A further investigation indicates a significant non-monotonic link between the frequency of corporate board meetings and corporate performance, suggesting that either a relatively small or large number of corporate board meetings impacts positively on corporate performance. Our findings are consistent across a raft of econometric models that control for different types of endogeneities and corporate performance proxies. Our results provide empirical support for agency theory, which suggests that corporate boards that meet more frequently have increased capacity to effectively advise, monitor and discipline management, and thereby improving corporate financial performance.
“Ramadan challenges: Fasting against medical advice

Introduction: Fasting against medical advice (FAMA) is a major challenge for many physicians who treat patients with diabetes during the month of Ramadan. The significance of this phenomenon has not been evaluated in Muslim populations. The goal of this study was to assess the rate and consequences of FAMA in our high-risk patients. Methods: This is a retrospective case-control study. Patients were divided into two groups: (Group A) included high risk patients who decided to fast against the advice of their health care providers, and (Group B) included the low risk patients who were permitted to fast. Results: A total of 401 patients were evaluated. Out of the whole group, 147 patients were categorized as high risk for fasting. (Group A) included 111/147 patients who decided to fast against medical advice and (Group B) included 254 patients permitted to fast. The average number of fasted days and the proportion of patients who were able to fast the whole month were smaller in Group A than Group B (26±3 SD and 51% versus 29±1 SD and 87%, respectively, P<0.001). Severe hypoglycemia was significantly higher in Group A than group B (63% and 50% respectively, P=0.039). Conclusions: The majority of our high-risk patients elect to observe fasting in the month of Ramadan against the advice of their medical team. Patients who insisted on fasting against medical advice were more likely to break their fast due to hypoglycemia or other causes.
The Influence of Compensations and Social Assurance on Job Performance: Study on Contract Employees' Palm Company

Compensation is any form of payment to employee for work they provide their employer, including social assurance. The purpose of this study to examine and analyze the influence of compensations and social assurance to its impact on improving job performance of employees’. The research was conducted by using a quantitative approach that forms the causal relationship between variables. This is one palm company in Kapuas District. The number of samples used in this study amounted to 51 contract employees’ with census sampling technique. The data analysis technique are used in this study are grouped into two, namely descriptive statistics analysis techniques and inferential statistical analysis techniques by using SPSS for Windows. This study found that compensation and the social assurance are high, both can give an increase in job performance of contract employees’ in Kapuas District. This study could accommodate all the hypothesized both of compensations and social assurance by companies able to deliver significant improvements to the job performance Keywords— Kapuas Indonesia, compensations, social assurance and job performance
AGRONOMY AND SOILS Field Evaluation of Nitrophenolate Plant Growth Regulator (Chaperone) for the Effect on Cotton Lint Yield

Reports in the literature have been inconsistent relative to enhanced yields from applications of Chaperone (Asahi Co., Ltd.; Nara Prefecture, Japan), a PGR containing the nitrophenolates sodium 5-nitroguaiacolate (NaC7H6NO4) 1.25 g L -1 , sodium ortho-nitrophenolate (NaC6H4NO3) 2.5 g L -1 , and sodium para-nitrophenolate (NaC6H4NO3) 3.75 g L -1 . Two field studies were conducted to evaluate cotton yield response to foliar applications of Chaperone at early flowering. Study I was conducted in 2004 and 2005 at 28 locations in Texas, and assessed the commercially recommended rate of 0.43 g ai ha -1 compared with an untreated control. Study II was conducted at eight locations within Burleson County, Texas, from 2001 to 2005. The treatments consisted of Chaperone at 0.43 g ai ha -1 , 0.86 g ai ha -1 , and 1.72 g ai ha -1 compared with an untreated control. In Study 1, no differences in lint yield were observed between the Chaperone treatment and the untreated control. Regression analyses also failed to show a response from the Chaperone treatment at locations with lower lint yields relative to locations having higher lint yields. In Study 2, across all experiments, Chaperone at 1.72 g ai ha -1 increased lint yield by an average of 92 kg ha -1 (7.5%) over the untreated control lint yield of 1222 kg ha -1 . Chaperone applied in a single application at early flowering at 0.43 g ai ha -1 and 0.86 g ai ha -1 did not increase yield. Results of this research do not support the use of Chaperone in cotton at the current recommended rate.
Corporate Diversification and Managerial Overconfidence

This study investigates the role of managerial overconfidence in the context of corporate diversification decisions. First, we find that overconfident managers are more likely to manage diversified than focused firms. Second, we find that the diversification discount is concentrated exclusively in companies managed by overconfident managers. Third, we document that the discount is greater following diversification and, most importantly, it persists for several years only for firms managed by overconfident managers. Our evidence is consistent with the view that overconfident managers miscalibrate benefits/costs associated with diversification decisions and perceive them as invariably value-creating.
Inflation Expectations of Japanese Households: Micro Evidence from a Consumer Confidence Survey

Economists unanimously agree that economic agents’ expectations are crucially important in determining macroeconomic outcomes. However, mainstream macroeconomists usually simply assume that expectations are rational, leaving unexamined the fundamental question whether individual agents’ actual expectations are rational or not. Against this background, this study examines the properties of Japanese households’ inflation expectations using micro-based inflation expectations data from the Monthly Consumer Confidence Survey Covering All of Japan. Our analyses show that actual inflation expectations by Japanese households are not rational in the sense that they are upward biased, at least ex post, and individual households appear not to instantaneously incorporate into their expectations information that is freely available from news reports on the views of professional forecasters. Our findings, moreover, suggest that while the sticky information model appears to better explain inflation expectations dynamics (than rational expectations models), we encounter a handful of facts that look inconsistent with the simple model.
Use of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide in the Processing of Thermoplastic Elastomer Nanocomposites

Polymer-layered silicate (PLS) nanocomposites are of great interest presently due to their significant enhancement of properties compared to conventional polymeric materials. However, achieving a high extent of exfoliation, which refers to the complete separation and uniform dispersion of clay layers, is a key challenge in the preparation of PLS nanocomposites, particular for non-polar polymers like polyolefins. Recently, several novel processing technologies utilizing SCC02 as an exfoliation aid have been developed. But how to achieve an optimal processing method by which fully exfoliation occurs with the aid of SCC02 has not been fully studied. A novel clay-C02 injector apparatus was designed and constructed for this project in order to maintain the organoclay in suspension with SCC02 during its melt compounding into a nanocomposite. Thermoplastic polyolefin elastomer (TPO) based nanocomposites were prepared by three methods: 1) directly injecting the C02 into a twin screw extruder (TSE); 2) injecting an organoclay-C02 suspension along with its compatibilizer into a twin screw extruder; and 3) injecting the organoclay-C02 suspension into a single screw extruder (SSE). Under Method 1 both as-supplied organoclay and a previously SCC02pretreated organoclay (from batch) were tested, while for the other two methods only the as-supplied material was used. The structure and properties of the resultant nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), rheology and mechanical testing. It was found SCC02 has a great influence on the morphology of clay within TPO nanocomposites. When preconditioned in SCC02, chain mobility of surfactant within clay
Nutrient utilization during incubation and juvenile growth of indigenous and exotic chicken in Nigeria

Nutrient utilization and early growth rate in three strains of chicken were investigated using 900 hatching eggs, 300 from each strain. The strains of chicken used were Nigerian indigenous chicken (NIC), ISA Brown (IB) and Nera Black strains (NB). Ten eggs per strain were randomly selected for breakout at embryonic day (ED) 7, 11, 15, and 18 of incubation to collect data on albumen weight in order to determine the embryonic albumen reduction rate during incubation and yolk weight to monitor its utilization. Blood samples were collected at hatch (day-old), weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 post-hatch for triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and corticosterone level (CORT) determination. The chicks were randomly distributed into four rearing pens for a 28-day assessment of growth rate. The results showed that at day 18 of incubation (ED 18), weight of egg yolk and rate of yolk loss were similar among all the strains. Also, from ED 0 to 7 and11 to 15, albumen reduction rate in the eggs of IB was higher compared to NB and NIC, while it was lowest in NIC. From ED7 to 11, NIC showed highest reduction rate, followed by NB. Lowest reduction rate was shown in the eggs of IB. At day 7 and 28 of post-hatch growth, relative weight gain by the NIC was higher compared to NB and IB chicks. While IB and NB strains were similar at day 7, NB showed an intermediate relative weight gain at day 28. Strain did not significantly (p>0.05) affect body weight at all the ages. At day 14 and 21of post-hatch growth, strain did not affect relative weight gain except at day 7 and 28. At day 7 and 28 relative weight gain by the NIC chicks was higher compared to NB and IB chicks. While IB and NB were similar at day 7, NB showed an intermediate relative weight gain at day 28. Plasma CORT level did not change from day-old until day 28 in all strains. Similarly, CORT levels did not differ among strains at each age of determination. T3 concentration increased from day-old until day 7 post-hatch and leveled out throughout the ages of observation in all the strains. The weight differences of the embryos at ED18 and day-old-chicks at the hatching day suggest the influence of genetic differences and possibly that of inadequate incubation protocol at this stage.
PHYLOGENY OF ALLOGROMIID FORAMINIFERA INFERRED FROM SSU rRNA GENE SEQUENCES

Allogromiids are classically defined as a group of monothalamous, soft-walled foraminiferans. Recent morphological, cytological, and molecular studies, however, challenge this view, showing that the soft-walled allogromiids are closely related to naked athalamids and unilocular agglutinated foraminiferans. To establish the phylogenetic relationships among these three groups we obtained partial small-subunit ribosomal DNA sequences of 50 species and undetermined morphotypes, and compared them to other foraminiferal taxa. Phylogenetic analyses of our data show that allogromiids, athalamids and astrorhizids comprise an assemblage of 13 lineages branching together at the base of the foraminiferal tree. Among these lineages, two are represented by a single species and four comprise similar genera, while the remaining seven are heterogeneous groups composed of several species having different types of wall structure and different test morphologies. All lineages are relatively well supported, yet the relationships among them are not resolved. In view of our data, we propose to revise the definition of allogromiids to include all naked and testate unilocular granuloreticuloseans that diverged early in the evolution of Foraminifera.
Effects of Country of Origin and Product Features on Customer Purchase Intention: A Study of Imported Powder Milk

This study aims to investigate drivers of purchase intention for imported powder milk by using the partial least squares-structural equation model approach to analyze a data survey of 369 customers in Vietnam. The results indicate that product attitude has the strongest positively effect on purchase intention; meanwhile, the country of origin has indirectly relationship to the purchase intention via product features. Specifically, group conformity also has significant relationship with purchase intention. Lastly, ethnocentrism has a negative effect on product quality and purchase intention. Specifically, the paper also conducts a qualitative study to support the empirical results. The findings enable suppliers or managers to identify key determinants to improve the business strategies in this market.
Measuring stationarity in long-memory processes

In this paper we consider the problem of measuring stationarity in locally stationary long-memory processes. We introduce an $L_2$-distance between the spectral density of the locally stationary process and its best approximation under the assumption of stationarity. The distance is estimated by a numerical approximation of the integrated spectral periodogram and asymptotic normality of the resulting estimate is established. The results can be used to construct a simple test for the hypothesis of stationarity in locally stationary long-range dependent processes. We also propose a bootstrap procedure to improve the approximation of the nominal level and prove its consistency. Throughout the paper, we will work with Riemann sums of a squared periodogram instead of integrals (as it is usually done in the literature) and as a by-product of independent interest it is demonstrated that the two approaches behave differently in the limit.
Dynamic Nexus between Exchange Rate and Stock Prices in the Major East European Economies

This paper investigates the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) between stock returns and exchange rate in four East European emerging markets. Due to persistent long memory and the presence of the asymmetric effect in all asset markets we applied DCC-FIAPARCH model. The estimated negative DCC parameters in all scrutinized countries confirmed that portfoliobalanced theory has predominance in the short run in all selected economies. DCC parameters revealed significant time-varying behaviour, especially during the major crisis periods. By embedding dummy variables in the variance equations, we came to the conclusion that global shocks affect the volatility of DCCs. Particularly, it happened during the Global Financial Crisis and European sovereign debt crisis, but the effects were not linearly equal in all countries. Complementary rolling analysis unveils how conditional volatilities of analysed assets influence DCC. The results suggested that exchange rate conditional volatility has higher influence on DCC than stock conditional volatility.
Response of Shami goats and kids to variable levels of soyabean or sunflower oils in diets.

A study was conducted to determine the effect of feeding soyabean or sunflower oil to lactating Shami goats on milk production, composition and fatty acid profile. Goats (n=125), 2 to 4 years of age and 55 to 60 kg liveweight, were randomly assigned to 5 treatment groups (25 each) in a completely randomized design. Diets were: a control ration (C), control supplemented with 3% soyabean oil (3%SBO), control supplemented with 5%SBO, control supplemented with 3% sunflower oil (3%SFO), and a control supplemented with 5%SFO. Variables measured were milk production, milk composition, dry matter intake, body weight, weaning weight of kids, blood metabolites, and milk and blood fatty acid profiles. Daily milk production was reduced (P<0.05) in most treatments. Fat and protein yields were maximum (P<0.05) at 3%SBO while energy corrected milk was highest (P<0.05) for the 3%SBO. Feed intake was least (P<0.05) for the 3%SFO group and feed to milk ratio was highest (P<0.05) for the 3% SBO group. Values for the serum cholesterol were highest (P<0.05) for the SBO kids. Meanwhile, triglycerides were reduced (P<0.05) following oil treatment with the lowest (P<0.05) value in the serum of the 5%SBO kids. Total conjugated linoliec acid (CLA) content in milk was mostly increased (P<0.05) for oil treated goats. In the blood of kids, total CLA was maximum (P<0.05) for kids of the 5%SFO group. Results indicate that supplementing lactating goat diet with either oils did not improve milk production, milk composition, or growth rate and weaning weight of their kids, but improved their energy corrected milk and CLA content. However, only SBO increased cholesterol level in the blood in kids.
Managing the Unknowable

Using an inductive theory-development study, a field experiment, and a longitudinal field test, we examine early-stage entrepreneurial investment decision making under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Building on existing literature on decision making and risk in organizations, intuition, and theories of entrepreneurial financing, we test the effectiveness of angel investors’ criteria for making investment decisions. We found that angel investors’ decisions have several characteristics that have not been adequately captured in existing theory: angel investors have clear objectives—risking small stakes to find extraordinarily profitable investments, fully expecting to lose their entire investment in most cases—and they rely on a combination of expertise-based intuition and formal analysis in which intuition trumps analysis, contrary to reports in other investment contexts. We also found that their reported emphasis on assessments of the entrepreneur accurately predicts extraordinarily profitable venture success four years later. We develop this theory by examining situations in which uncertainty is so extreme that it qualifies as unknowable, using the term “gut feel” to describe their dynamic emotion-cognitions in which they blend analysis and intuition in ways that do not impair intuitive processes and that effectively predict extraordinarily profitable investments.
Simulation of permafrost and seasonal thaw depth in the JULES land surface scheme

Abstract. Land surface models (LSMs) need to be able to simulate realistically the dynamics of permafrost and frozen ground. In this paper we evaluate the performance of the LSM JULES (Joint UK Land Environment Simulator), the stand-alone version of the land surface scheme used in Hadley Centre climate models, in simulating the large-scale distribution of surface permafrost. In particular we look at how well the model is able to simulate the seasonal thaw depth or active layer thickness (ALT). We performed a number of experiments driven by observation-based climate datasets. Visually there is a very good agreement between areas with permafrost in JULES and known permafrost distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, and the model captures 97% of the area where the spatial coverage of the permafrost is at least 50%. However, the model overestimates the total extent as it also simulates permafrost where it occurs sporadically or only in isolated patches. Consistent with this we find a cold bias in the simulated soil temperatures, especially in winter. However, when compared with observations on end-of-season thaw depth from around the Arctic, the ALT in JULES is generally too deep. Additional runs at three sites in Alaska demonstrate how uncertainties in the precipitation input affect the simulation of soil temperatures by affecting the thickness of the snowpack and therefore the thermal insulation in winter. In addition, changes in soil moisture content influence the thermodynamics of soil layers close to freezing. We also present results from three experiments in which the standard model setup was modified to improve physical realism of the simulations in permafrost regions. Extending the soil column to a depth of 60 m and adjusting the soil parameters for organic content had relatively little effect on the simulation of permafrost and ALT. A higher vertical resolution improves the simulation of ALT, although a considerable bias still remains. Future model development in JULES should focus on a dynamic coupling of soil organic carbon content and soil thermal and hydraulic properties, as well as allowing for sub-grid variability in soil types.