Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative techniques to quantify cyanobacteria dominated epilithic biofilms on tropical rocky shores

The epilithic biofilm of troplcal shores is dominated by cyanobacteria with only a sparse cover of diatoms. Geographical comparison of biofilms is difficult, however, due to variation in enumeration techniques. This paper describes techniques to quantify the biofilm in an attempt to standardize comparative studies. Spec1c.s rlchness and relative abundance were best enumerated using scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of air d r ~ e d rock chips, as compared to light, epifluorescence and confocal laser mlcroscopy. SEM preparations provided cleallmages and allowed identification of most specles Alr d r ~ e d and Cryo-stage preparations prov~ded the least damaged images of species whereas the harsh dehydration process in crit~cal-point dried specimens damaged morphology and removed loosely dttached species resulting in unclerest~mation of specles richness and abundance A combination of SEh4 techniques (e.g. Cryo-stage, air d r ~ e d and critical-po~nt dried san~ples) is reconimended for initial species identificdtion. Chlorophyll a extraction from rock chips, as an indirect estlmate of biomass, was more eff~cient using methanol or ethanol a s compared to acetone. Methanol heated for 2 min and cooled for 12 h ylelded 100% chlorophyll a extraction while cold methanol, methanol heated for 2 min and cooled for 3 and 6 h , and ethanol heated for 5 min, extracted greater than 95% chlorophyll a. No significant loss of chlorophyll a was recorded in rock samples stored in moist or dry conditions at 4°C or room temperature for 24 h or at -20°C for a month, but in samples stored at 4°C or room temperature for a week, 60 to 75% loss occurred. Chlorophyll a, once extracted. can be stored for a week in the dark prior to measurement without significant loss. To standardize techniques for tropical, cyanobacteria-rich epilithic biofilms, chlorophyll a extraction of rock chips using cold methanol 1s recommended. K E Y WORDS. B~ofilm Cyanobacteria Epilithic . Hong Kony . Tropical rocky shore
Informal Sanctions

Informal sanctions are a major determinant of a society's social capital because they are key to the enforcement of implicit agreements and social norms. Yet, little is known about the driving forces behind informal sanctions. We examine systematically the determinants of informal sanctions by a large number of experiments. Our findings show that the violation of fairness principles is the most important driving force of sanctions but, in addition, a non-negligible part of the sanctions is driven by spitefulness. We find surprisingly little evidence for strategic sanctions that are imposed to create future material benefits. Within the class of fairness-driven sanctions the motive to harm those who committed unfair actions or who revealed unfair intentions seems most important. The motive to decrease unfair payoff differences also plays some role but it cannot explain a sizeable part of the sanctions. The motive to achieve a fair relative share is largely irrelevant for sanctioning behavior.
Herbivory on a chemically defended plant as a predation deterrent in Hyalella azteca

SUMMARY 1. We investigated whether a population of the freshwater amphipod, Hyalella azteca, which consumed plants with defensive secondary compounds, reduced predation as reported for terrestrial and marine systems. 2. Field observations in Montezuma Well, U.S.A. , indicated a strong association between the emergent macrophyte, Berula erecta and H. azteca. We hypothesised that this geographically isolated population of sedentary amphipods was able to consume roots of the chemically defended B. erecta as a deterrent against predation. Berula erecta is in the family Apiaceae, which commonly produce coumarins that deter herbivory in terrestrial systems. 3. Hyalella azteca consumed roots of B. erecta at a significantly greater rate than alternative macrophyte substrata in Montezuma Well. Additionally, H. azteca moulted at a significantly higher rate when consuming B. erecta compared with a diet of periphyton. 4. Two insect predators (Telebasis salva and Belostoma bakeri) with different feeding strategies were used to assess the effects of a B. erecta diet on predation rates in the laboratory and in Montezuma Well. Hyalella azteca was preyed on at a significantly lower rate by both predators when given a strict diet of B. erecta roots compared with a diet of periphyton. 5. This is the first experimental evidence that predation on a freshwater herbivore, H. azteca, was reduced when it consumed a chemically defended plant.
Facilitation by unpalatable weeds may conserve plant diversity in overgrazed meadows in the Caucasus Mountains

Positive interactions among plants have been demonstrated in many communities around the world, and appear to play important roles in maintaining species coexistence, productivity, and species diversity. However, the potential for positive interactions to conserve biological diversity in ecosystems that are disturbed by humans is poorly understood and often overlooked. One of the most important positive effects one plant can have on another is protection from herbivory. By associating with an unpalatable neighbor, a tasty species may avoid being eaten and increase in size and reproductive fitness. We examined the role of two highly unpalatable plants, Cirsium obvalatum and Veratrum lobelianum, in subalpine meadow plant communities of the central Caucasus Mountains in the Republic of Georgia, where intense livestock grazing has occurred for over two thousand years. These two species are avoided by livestock because of spines and toxicity, respectively, and have increased dramatically in abundance recently due to seasonal trans-Caucasus migrations of vast herds of domestic sheep during the Soviet era. The Gudauri region, bisected by the Russian-Georgian Military Road, was a focal point of these migrations, and there we found that plant communities associated with Cirsium and Veratrum were very different in composition than open meadows. Forty-four percent (15/34) of all species at our site were found at only trace ( < 1.0%) cover values in the open meadow, but at significantly higher covers under Cirsium or Veratrum. Of the 38 species that were reproducing sexually at our site, eight were found only under the unpalatable invaders. Communities associated with Cirsium and Veratrum had 78-128% more species in flower or fruit than open meadow communities, respectively, than open meadow sites. Furthermore, community composition and reproductive output differed substantially between Cirsium and Veratrum, indicating some degree of species-specificity in their effects. These results indicate that unpalatable plants, which are generally indicators of unhealthy range-lands, have the potential to preserve plant diversity in overgrazed plant communities.
Volatility Prediction Using a Realized-Measure-Based Component Model

This paper introduces a volatility model with a component structure allowing for a realized measure based on high-frequency data (e.g realized variance) to drive the short-run volatility dynamics. In a joint model of the daily return and the realized measure, the conditional variance of the daily return has a multiplicative component structure: the first component traces long-run (secular) volatility trends, while the second component captures short-run (transitory) movements in volatility. Despite being a fixed-parameter model, its component structure implies time-varying parameters, which are data-driven to capture changing volatility regimes. We discuss the model properties and estimation by maximum likelihood. The empirical analysis reveals strong out-of-sample performance compared to benchmark models. This is demonstrated using unconditional and conditional predictive ability tests, and also using the model confidence set.
Satisfaction in Action: Hume's Endogenous Theory of Preferences and the Virtues of Commerce

Hume’s theory of preferences would, from a contemporary point of view, be labelled an endogenous theory of preferences. He sees preferences largely as comparative desires that are formed and affected by the psychological process of sympathy. His view of preferences relates to his economic philosophy. Despite his understanding of preferences, Hume is, unlike some other thinkers with related perspectives like Thorstein Veblen, enthusiastic about the prospects of commercial society, claiming in one of his essays that the ages of commerce and refinement are both the happiest and the most virtuous. An important reason for such enthusiasm lies in the fact that he understands happiness or well-being to largely consist in the process of actively pursuing one’s preferences, not necessarily in the state of having one’s preferences satisfied.
Effect of Monensin and Lysocellin on Growth and Fermentation by Pure Cultures of Ruminal Bacteria

Abstract In an effort to gain further insight into factors that cause increased ruminal propionate when ionophores are fed to ruminants, ruminal bacteria were tested for their susceptibility and fermentation end-product response to monensin or lysocellin. Growth of two strains each of Ruminococcus flavefaciens and Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens in broth media was inhibited by 2μg monen-sin/ml (2 ppm), whereas this concentration did not inhibit the growth of two strains each of Megasphaera elsdenii or Selenomonoas ruminantium, or three strains of Succinimonas amylolytica. Monensin at 2 ppm in the media did not change the ratio of VFA formed by pure cultures of the above strains or by 40 other ruminal bacteria representing a wide variety of acetate and propionate producers. In additional studies, Fibrobacter succinogenec and Lachnospira multiparus were more resistant to lysocellin than to monensin, while B. fibrisolvens, M. elsdenii, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, Ruminobacter amylophilus, Selenomonas ruminantium, S.
The Nonmarket Benefits of Nature: What Should Be Counted in Green GDP?

Green gross domestic product (green GDP) is meant to account for nature's value on an equal footing with the market economy. Several problems bedevil green GDP, however. One is that nature does not come prepackaged in units like cars, houses, and bread. Even worse, green GDP requires measurement of the benefits arising from public goods provided by nature for which there are no market indicators of value. So what should green GDP count? That is the subject of this paper. Ecological and economic theory are used to describe what should be counted - and what should not - if green GDP is to account for the nonmarket benefits of nature.
Influence of Environmental Temperature on Biocalcification by Non-sporing Freshwater Bacteria

The process of biocalcification, recognised as precipitation of calcium carbonate, has been described as a widespread phenomenon associated with a wide range of different bacterial species. This biocalcifying activity, and factors that affect it, have been widely studied in moderately halophilic bacteria but there is a lack of information on factors that affect biocalcification by freshwater bacteria. In this paper, we study how temperature can affect biocalcification by freshwater bacteria that potentially could be used for the process of bioconsolidation during conservation. Ten isolates were characterised by standard biochemical and API 20NE tests. Their biocalcifying activity was studied at temperatures between 10 and 40°C in B4 liquid medium. Mineralogical and quantitative analyses of the crystals were carried out by XRD, and morphological studies by SEM. Biocalcification only occurred when bacteria were present and were able to grow. Carbonate precipitation by bacteria increased with time and temperature of incubation. Temperature affected not only the amount of precipitation but also crystal quality and morphology. As bioconsolidant agents, these organisms could be applied to stone when the temperature does not exceed 40°C depending on the type of isolate.
The Impact of Human Traffic on the Abundance and Activity Periods of Sumatran Rain Forest Wildlife

Human traffic and activity in a natural area might affect the behavior and ecology of resident wildlife, not only in open areas but also in the dense conditions afforded by the undergrowth of a tropical rain forest. Animals have several options to avoid people. They may leave the area, they may become more nocturnal or more arboreal, or they may simply avoid using the trails on which humans are likely to travel and thus go unnoticed without actually making major behavioral changes. Because the withdrawal or changes in the activity period of some species could potentially lead to population increases of their competitors or their prey, the ecological impact of human traffic is potentially farreaching. Unfortunately, it is difficult to assess how much intense human traffic affects the wildlife in a rain forest. Observations create disturbance which makes it almost impossible to study the control situation of no human traffic. This problem can be overcome by using the recently developed technique of camera-trapping (Griffiths & van Schaik 1993). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact
Aboveground Carbohydrate and Nitrogen Partitioning in Common Vetch during Seed Filling

During seed filling in annual legumes, changes in concentration of assimilates occur simultaneously with plant partitioning, leading to net changes in yield of assimilates derived from the processes of accumulation and redistribution. Field studies were conducted during two growing seasons (1991-1992 and 1992-1993) in central Spain with the objectives of determining models of change for assimilate concentrations with advancing maturity and assessing efficiency of assimilate harvest relative to seed maturation. Concentration of total N, starch, total soluble sugars (TSS), neutral-detergent fiber (NDF), acid-detergent fiber (ADF), and acid-detergent lignin (ADL) were determined in plant parts (seed, pod-shell, leaf, and stem) of common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) at seven maturity stages defined as progressively higher dry matter (DM) content in the seed (200-250, 250-300, 350-450, 450-550, 600-700, 700-800, and >800 g DM kg -1 seed). Concentration of assimilates in plant parts changed over the whole seed-filling period. During the phase of rapid seed growth (from 200-250 to 450-550 g DM kg -1 seed), assimilation was dominant for starch (net gain of 1086 kg ha -1 ), redistribution for TSS (net loss of 104 kg ha -1 ), and both process were operative in total N (net gain of 193 kg ha -1 ). During the ripening phase (from 450-550 to >800 g DM kg -1 seed), most chemical components except ADL showed a net loss. Maximum total accumulation for most mobile fractions except TSS was reached at the 450 to 550 g DM kg -1 seed maturity stage. Harvesting common vetch at this stage would represent maximum efficiency for total N and starch. Concentrations of nonstructural chemical components had a nonlinear trend while concentration of fiber fractions and lignin in vegetative structures showed a linear increasing trend over the seed filling phase of common vetch.
The Empirical Measurement of Rent-Seeking Costs

This survey focuses on the efforts, carried out mainly by public choice scholars, to measure the social cost of rent seeking. The concept, introduced by Gordon Tullock in 1967 and coined by Anne Krueger in 1974, is well known and accepted by the profession, but its empirical measurement has fallen behind with respect to its theoretical formulation, an often criticized lack in the literature. Although there are good general surveys, none has specifically focused on reviewing the empirical efforts made to measure the phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to provide such a survey.
Multiple-Species Rearing Diet for Sap Beetles (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

A multiple-species diet for sap beetles with rearing procedures is described. This diet can be used to rear 11 species of sap beetles belonging to five genera in the Nitidulidae: Carpophilus brachypterus (Say), C. hemipterus (L.), C. lugubris Murray, Lobiopa undulata (Say), Phenolia grossa (F.), Stelidota geminata (Say), S. octomaculata (Say), S. ferruginea Reitter, Glischrochilus quadrisignatus (Say), G. fasciatus (Olivier), and G. sanguinolentus (Olivier). Under laboratory conditions, generation times (egg to adult) ranged from 27 to 50 d, and survival (egg to adult) was 40–79% among the above species. Fecundity of all species was high except among G. fasciatus and G. sanguinolentus. Large numbers of known-age beetles can be obtained by using this method.
Institutional Determinants of Venture Capital: Taking Informal Institutions to a Front Seat

Venture Capital (VC) as an industry exists for more than 50 years. VC has flourished in the US, yet it has only moderately developed other geographical areas despite numerous trials of governments to foster it. Vast research endeavours have been carried out to understand the antecedents, barriers and facilitators of the industry, and the variations of degree of development and performance across different geographical regions. However, the focused has been rather limited and accounted almost exclusively for formal features of institutional environments, leaving the informal dimensions unexplored. This paper tries to close that gap, and by drawing on the institutional theory, posits that informal institutions represent relevant determinants of VC activity. On the basis of longitudinal country level data on European countries, we aim to show that the “usual suspects” (e.g. investors protection laws, taxation regulations, liquid exit markets, flexible labour market regulations) are significant but not exhaustive determinants of VC activity, and that informal institutions (such as social capital, uncertainty avoidance and corruption) have a prominent direct effect on it, as well as facilitate the impact of formal features, i.e. formal institutions. These findings are intended to contribute to the literature on venture capital and to inform policy makers, who should bear in mind that informal institutions could and should be used as indirect mechanisms for creating prosperous institutional environment in the long term. Moreover, the informal institutions should also be considered when designing formal regulations, as the impact of the latter on VC activity will be moderated by the existing informal environment.
Presidential Address: Social Transmission Bias in Economics and Finance

I discuss a new intellectual paradigm, social economics and finance—the study of the social processes that shape economic thinking and behavior. This emerging field recognizes that people observe and talk to each other. A key, underexploited building block of social economics and finance is social transmission bias: systematic directional shift in signals or ideas induced by social transactions. I use five “fables” (models) to illustrate the novelty and scope of the transmission bias approach, and offer several emergent themes. For example, social transmission bias compounds recursively, which can help explain booms, bubbles, return anomalies, and swings in economic sentiment.
Asset Pricing around Earnings Announcement Days

The relation between average equity return and market exposure behaves distinctively on days on which early earnings announcements are made by firms for which the announcements have a large spillover “influence” on discount rates and expectations of earnings for related firms. On such days (labelled as LEADs), a higher beta of one in the cross-section is significantly associated with an increase in average equity excess returns of 22.70 basis points. When announcement days are partitioned into overnight and intraday, we show that the positive beta-return relation holds for overnight LEAD announcements and hourly during trading after the market opens. On non-LEADs, returns are flat with respect to beta. We also show that there is a cycle in earnings announcement premiums for LEAD announcers, and that this cycle coincides with beta increases. The post-earnings announcement drifts (PEADs) drop substantially a month after LEAD earnings beats, which is consistent with a fall in future discount rates when unexpectedly high earnings are announced. But there is no other discernible PEAD for LEADs or earlier-than-LEADs announcements.
Biochemical and histochemical study on the intestinal mucosa of the common carp Cyprinus carpio L., with special consideration of mucin glycoproteins

The biochemical and histochemical properties of intestinal mucin glycoproteins of virus and parasite-free common carp Cyprinus carpio were investigated. The presence of carbohydrates in mucin glycoproteins could be demonstrated by histochemical methods, but generally, no obvious differences in specific staining for mucin glycoproteins were observed in contrast to biochemical techniques. Biochemical staining methods displayed differences in structure and composition of intestinal glycoproteins. Released intestinal glycoproteins contained two types of mucin glycoproteins: type 1 mucins displayed a size of >2000 kDa, and were highly glycosylated, while type 2 mucins ranged between 700 and 70 kDa, and were weakly glycosylated. In epithelial (intracellular) glycoproteins, mainly N-acetyl-α-galactosamine and mannose were found, while in luminal (extracellular) glycoproteins in addition sialic acid was evident. Fucose was not detected. Thus, structure and composition of intestinal glycoproteins of common carp were similar to those found in mammals.
Substitution between Offline and Online Advertising Markets

Online advertising is increasingly subject to antitrust scrutiny. Despite this scrutiny, in their 2010 article in this Journal, James Ratliff and Daniel Rubinfeld emphasized that there is a lack of empirical analysis on whether the large offline advertising market disciplines the online advertising market. In this comment, we summarize recent empirical work in economics that begins to fill this void by showing an effect of offline market restrictions on online advertising markets.
Seasonal variations in tissue metabolic capacities of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from clean and metal-contaminated environments

This study examined seasonal variations in tissue metal contamination and physiological condition of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from a clean lake (Halfway Lake) and a metal-contaminated environment (Whitson Lake) in spring, summer, and fall of 1999. Dietary metal content influenced liver metal concentrations, especially for cadmium. Fulton's condition factor (FCF), an indicator of recent feeding activity, was lower in Whitson fish except in summer, when higher FCF values corresponded with higher liver copper concentrations, presumably because of higher feeding rate. Tissue protein concentrations and indicators of biosynthetic capacities (nucleoside diphosphate kinase and RNA/DNA ratios) suggested lower biosynthesis in Whitson fish. Muscle aerobic and anaerobic capacities (using citrate synthase and lactate dehydrogenase as indicators, respectively) were consistently lower in Whitson fish, with maximal differences in summer. In contrast, although liver aerobic capacities were generally comparable amon.