Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
University–Industry collaboration in the biopharmaceuticals: the Italian case

We investigate the determinants of University–Industry (U–I) interactions in the biopharmaceuticals in Italy over the period 2004–2010, choosing co-publishing as a proxy of U–I partnerships. We construct a novel dataset of co-published articles, that contains measures of proximities, agglomeration, firms’ and universities’ characteristics. Following a consolidated methodology, we integrate our dataset of effective interactions with the set of all potential interactions, to estimate probabilistic models for the occurrence and the intensity of U–I interactions. Our main findings confirm and extend the predictions of the previous literature: (1) geographical proximity and prior partnership increase the probability and the intensity of co-publication; (2) the proximity of a firm to other biopharmaceutical firms and universities attenuates the relevance of geographical proximity; (3) there exists complementarity between prior partnerships and geographical proximity. A novel result is that firms’ and Universities’ size, firms’ R&D and patents expenditure and the composition of the academic staff as well as quality of academic research exert a significant impact on the intensity of co-publishing.
Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen under Leucaena leucocephala pastures in Queensland

Soil organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) accumulation in the top 00.15m of leucaenagrass pastures were compared with native pastures and with continuously cropped land. OC and TN levels were highest under long-term leucaenagrass pasture (P0.05). For leucaenagrass pastures that had been established for 20, 31, and 38 years, OC accumulated at rates that exceeded those of the adjacent native grass pasture by 267, 140, and 79kg/ha.year, respectively, while TN accumulated at rates that exceeded those of the native grass pastures by 16.7, 10.8, and 14.0kg/ha.year, respectively. At a site where 14-year-old leucaenagrass pasture was adjacent to continuously cropped land, there were benefits in OC accumulation of 762kg/ha.year and in TN accumulation of 61.9kg/ha.year associated with the establishment of leucaenagrass pastures. Similar C:N ratios (range 12.714.5) of soil OC in leucaena and grass-only pastures indicated that plant-available N limited soil OC accumulation in pure grass swards. Higher OC accumulation occurred near leucaena hedgerows than in the middle of the inter-row in most leucaenagrass pastures. Rates of C sequestration were compared with simple models of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the grazed pastures. The amount of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2-e) accumulated in additional topsoil OC of leucaenagrass pastures ≤20 years old offset estimates of the amount of CO2-e emitted in methane and nitrous oxide from beef cattle grazing these pastures, thus giving positive GHG balances. Less productive, aging leucaena pastures 20 years old had negative GHG balances; lower additional topsoil OC accumulation rates compared with native grass pastures failed to offset animal emissions.
The Dynamics of Takeovers Through Exchange Offers

This study proposes a dynamic model of acquisitions made by means of exchange offers. The model incorporates the process of the takeover bid, ex-change of shares, and completion of a merger. The optimal strategies for relevant players are derived using a dynamic programming approach. Although the takeover process is designed without introducing a Pareto optimality, it is shown that the model leads to the same takeover strategies as those of an equilibrium model, under certain conditions. The implications of the model for acquisition premiums paid to target shareholders are consistent with the empirical evidence.
Seed Germination and Dormancy in Eastern Gamagrass

Eastern gamagrass [Tripsacum dactyloides (L.) L. ] is an important native rangeland species and could be a more widely used perennial pasture grass. Stand establishment, however, is slow, and it can take 3 yr before a full stand is attained. Our objectives were to determine the caryopsis weight distribution, the relationship between caryopsis weight and percentage germination, the role of the copulate fruit case in seed dormancy, and the force required to open the cupulate fruit case. Caryopses of Iuka' and 'Pete' eastern gamagrass were extracted from the cupulate fruit case by hand, individually weighed, separated into five weight classes, and germinated in a germination chamber. Differences in percentage observed germination and total potential germination at 7 and 14 d were attributed to caryopsis weight (P > 0.05). No caryopsis weight x cultivar interaction occurred, suggesting homogeneity of slopes for cultivars (P > 0.25). An artificial fruit case (band) was fashioned from an extruded plastic tube and a caryopsis placed inside to examine the role of the fruit case in germination. Germination of unbanded caryopses (44.8%) was significantly greater than banded caryopses (6.3%, P ≤ 0.01). A lever and fulcrum were used to find the force required to open the fruit case. We concluded that seed dormancy was likely mechanical for these cultivars. Under natural conditions, the integrity of the fruit case must be reduced before germination will proceed normally. Light, alternating temperatures, freezing and thawing, fire, rodents, and soil microorganisms, to name a few, may be involved in the decay of the fruit case.
Relational Retention

We study a repeated game model of an employment relationship in which the worker's outside option is endogenously determined by the strategic behavior of a second employer who also values the worker's services. We show that long-term employment relationships are much more difficult to sustain when outside options are endogenous rather than exogenous. In particular, they can never be sustained by a sequence of spot contracts but must instead be based on an implicit long-term agreement, a so-called relational retention contract. At the same time, relational retention contracts can support long-term employment relationships even when the worker could work in another job where he is more productive. These results provide a novel justification for the existence of rents to continued employment that rests solely on the strategic interaction between competing employers. Further, we show that tighter employment protection reduces parties' abilities to sustain long-term employment relationships and may thereby reduce overall welfare.
Revealing a Preference for Mixtures: An Experimental Study of Risk

Using a revealed preference approach, we conduct an experiment where subjects make choices from linear convex budgets in the domain of risk. We find that many individuals prefer mixtures of lotteries in ways that systematically rule out expected utility behavior. We explore the extent to which an individual's preference to choose mixtures is related to a preference for randomization by comparing choices from a convex choice task to the decisions made in a repeated discrete choice task. We find that a preference to mix is positively correlated with behavior from repeated discrete choice tasks.
Regional Financial Developments and Research and Development Investment – Cash Flow Sensitivity: Evidence on Chinese Public High-Tech Companies

In a sample of 485 Chinese public high-tech companies, we show that the R&D investment is significantly dependent on internal cash flow. Based on the sizable discrepancies of stock market and financial intermediary developments in the East, Middle and West regions of China, empirical estimation provides strong evidence that the financial developments in both credit and equity markets have large effects on reducing financing constraints. The effects are most significant in the financially advanced East region of China.
Enhancing Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of Human Resource Management

The purpose of this article is to investigate the mediating role of human resource management to enhance organizational performance. A thorough review of scholarly articles and empirical evidence was conducted in order to bring to light the current and mediating role of human resource management in enhancing organizational performance. Even though the majority of scholars advocate that HRM practices have a direct and often positive impact on organizational performance, there is another stream of scholars who argue that HRM practices may have no impact, or at best an indirect effect on organizational performance. This article attempts to gather the obtained published empirical material, and clarify of the various views and findings formalized thus far including conclusions and recommendations for this critical issue.
Abundance changes and activity flexibility of the oncilla, Leopardus tigrinus (Carnivora: Felidae), appear to reflect avoidance of conflict

We investigated the density and activity of the oncilla, Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775), a threatened small cat, in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, using camera-trap data. We described differences in the activity of individuals occurring alone or in sympatry with larger cats. Oncilla presented low densities (7-13 ind./100 km²) and high flexibility in its activity. The oncillas were primarily nocturnal in the absence of other larger cat species - margay, ocelot and puma - but became more diurnal, with a cathemeral activity pattern, when the other cats were present. Oncilla is likely to be in a subordinate position in interactions with larger cats and changes its activity to decrease the chances for interspecific encounters. In this study, however, the presence of other cat species covaries with habitat changes (from coastal forest patches to dense evergreen forests). We also verified the highest oncilla relative abundance in an area with no sympatric larger cats, with abundance decreasing when it was in sympatry with margay, ocelot and puma. Our results, together with recent records of oncilla in other degraded landscapes of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, provide evidence that oncillas may thrive even in harsh environments where other cats have already been extinct. This raise interesting conservation insights, as in the absence of other cats, L. tigrinus may assume a top predator role of these impoverished vertebrate communities.
Yield Performance of Banana Irrigated with Fractions of Class A Pan Evaporation in a Semiarid Environment

There is a scarcity of information regarding the optimum water requirement for banana (Musa acuminata Colla, AAA group) grown under semiarid conditions with drip irrigation in the tropics. A 3-yr study was conducted on a fine-loamy, mixed, isohyperthermic Cumulic Haplustoll to determine water requirement, yield, and fruit-quality traits of the plant crop (PC) and two ratoon crops (R1 and R2) of «Grande Naine» banana subjected to five levels of irrigation. The irrigation treatments were based on Class A pan factors that ranged from 0.25 to 1.25 in increments of 0.25. Drip irrigation was supplied three times a week on alternate days. Results showed significant (P ± 0.01) irrigation treatment and crop erects for all yield components, fruit length and diameter, days to flower, and days from flowering to harvest. Highest marketable yield (86.3 Mg ha −1 ) was obtained from the R2 crop with water application according to a pan factor of 1.25. Plant crop and R1 plants irrigated using the same pan factor yielded 45.3 and 70.3 Mg ha −1 , respectively. Increasing the pan factor from 0.25 to 1.25 resulted in weight gains of the third-upper hand of 70 % in PC, 90 % in RI, and 122 % in R2. Irrigation according to increasing pan factor resulted in significant increases on the numher of hands per bunch and the length and diameter of fruits in the third-upper and last hands in the bunch. It was concluded from this investigation that, to attain high yields, banana grown under semiarid conditions should be irrigated with a pan factor of not less than 1.0
Resolution of Behavioral Paradoxes in Dual Decision Theory

A novel approach to dual decision making is suggested. The basic notion is the behavioral probability of an event, which consists of two terms. One of the terms defines the probability of the event based on the rational estimation of utility. While the other term takes into account irrational processes in decision making. The sum of these terms is the behavioral probability taking into account the rational-irrational duality of decision making. Despite that the term characterizing irrational corrections is random, its non-informative prior can be estimated, which makes it possible to predict, without any fitting parameters, the average ratio of decision makers taking the corresponding decisions. It is shown that the well known paradoxes in behavioral decision making, such as Allais paradox, Ellsberg paradox, Kahneman-Tversky paradox, conjunction fallacy, disjunction effect, prisoner dilemma, and Ariely paradox, find natural explanations in the frame of the suggested dual decision theory.
Board Size, Firm Type, and Stock Return Volatility

We analyze the association of board size and stock return volatility for different firm types. First, we find significant evidence that the association is non-linear over all firms. Second, we find that this differs for different firm types. While complex firms show a negative linear relationship between board size and volatility, research and development intensive firms exhibit a stronger u-shaped relationship. This shape is incompatible with the explanation in previous studies that larger boards experience communication and coordination problems which lead to lower volatility. Third, we provide evidence for an alternative explanation, namely that having more directors improves monitoring, but only up to a point. Our results hold for a battery of robustness checks, including a variety of endogeneity tests.
Rollover Traps

We model the joint effects of debt maturity and cash holdings on default risk. When firms have short-term debt outstanding, negative cash flow shocks lead to a drop in liquid reserves and may cause firms to suffer losses when rolling over their debt, due to weaker fundamentals. This mechanism gets more pronounced as debt maturity decreases, increases default risk, and can give rise to a rollover trap, a scenario in which firms burn their cash flows and cash reserves due to severe rollover losses. High exposure to rollover risk can also make claimholders risk-loving and lead distressed firms to implement gambling strategies.
Identification of cheese-smear coryneform bacteria

SUMMARY Three groups of coryneform bacteria isolated from the rind of nine soft and semi-hard cheese varieties, i.e. the orange, white and yellow strains, were studied with regard to morphological and physiological features. The 115 orange isolates of the Brevibacterium linens type formed only one homogeneous phenon. The 96 white and 161 yellow pigmented strains were grouped into 15 phena. Five phena (58% of the strains) belong to the species ‘B. ammoniagenes’, Arthrobacter variabilis and A. nicotianae. The other strains were arranged into five Arthrobacter spp. and four Corynebacterium spp. groups as well as a Rhodococcus sp. group. Usually specific forms for the individual cheese varieties were involved. In cheeses of poor surface-smear quality B. linens was found in reduced numbers.
Introduction of the Great-Tailed Grackle by Aztec Emperor Auitzotl: Four-Stage Analysis with New Information

Summary. The introduction of the great-tailed grackle Quiscalus mexicanus into the Valley of Mexico by Aztec Emperor Auitzotl during the years 1486–1502, is the earliest documented case of exotic bird introduction in the western hemisphere. This translocation was intensively managed and involved at least three different human interventions: (1) capture and transport of grackles to the Aztec capital, followed by release there, (2) supplemental feeding and (3) protection from human harassment and predation. Here I present new details of this ancient translocation gleaned from extant sixteenth-century manuscripts, and review what is known about each of the four stages of the introduction. The grackles were brought from more than one locality north of the Río de la Antigua (Gulf Coast region). After release at Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco, they multiplied and dispersed. By 1577, they had spread more than 20 leagues, invading even areas between the Aztec capital and their native range. Complete protection of the introduced grackles ended relatively soon, either during the rule of Auitzotl or that of his successor Montezuma II (1502–1520). A related account of Aztec translocation of exotic plants can be used as a model to predict additional details of Auitzotl's introduction of the great-tailed grackle. Like the Auitzotl account, the plant account shows that a method and ideal of Royal Aztec translocation was to prevent the loss of each propagule. To achieve this goal, gardeners with experience cultivating the exotic plants in their native lands were imported from the Gulf Coast with them, and elaborate sacrificial rituals were performed. Large numbers of each exotic species were translocated, increasing propagule pressure and ensuring establishment.
Information Acquisition and Diffusion in Markets

Consumers acquire information through their own search efforts or through word‐of‐mouth communication within their social network. Information diffusion leads to free‐riding and less active search. Free‐riding consumers also create important positive externalities, however, as they are more likely to compare prices, imposing competitive pressure on firms. We show how market prices depend on network characteristics and search cost. For example, if search cost becomes small, price dispersion disappears, while prices converge to the monopoly level, with expected prices decreasing for small search cost. Prices are lower in societies with more connections, while price dispersion remains even in fully connected societies.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Comovements and Asymmetric Tail Dependence in State Housing Prices in the US: A Nonparametric Approach

We re-examine the methods used in estimating comovements among U.S. regional home prices and find that there are insufficient moments to ensure a normal limit necessary for employing the quasi-maximum likelihood estimator. Hence, we propose applying the self- weighted quasi-maximum exponential likelihood estimator and a bootstrap method to test and account for the asymmetry of comovements as well as different magnitudes across state pairs. Our results reveal interstate asymmetric tail dependence based on observed house price indices rather than residuals from fitting AR-GARCH models.
Re-evaluation of three Chlorogonium (Volvocales, Chlorophyceae) species based on 18S ribosomal RNA gene phylogeny

We sequenced the nuclear 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes of 23 strains of the genus Chlorogonium, to re-evaluate the status of C. euchlorum, C. elongatum, and C. capillatum, which had previously been classified using morphological criteria and gene sequence data from the large subunit of chloroplast Rubisco (rbcL). Although C. capillatum CCAP 12/2A and SAG 12-2a had been considered parts of the same strain of C. capillatum, we identified SAG 12-2a as C. euchlorum. We observed no intraspecific variation of the 18S rRNA gene sequence within C. euchlorum and C. capillatum. Some variations in 18S rRNA gene sequences were observed among strains of C. elongatum, but these sequences constituted a monophyletic group. Thus, taxonomic delimitation using chloroplast rbcL gene sequences produced monophyletic groupings of Chlorogonium species, which are supported by nuclear gene sequence analysis.
Chromosome Aberration, Cancer Mortality and Hormetic Phenomena among Inhabitants in Areas of High Background Radiation in China

The respective average annual doses are about 330 and 110 mR/yr, in the high background radiation areas (HBRA) in Yangjiang County and the control areas (CA) in Enping and Taishan Counties. Both the HBRA and CA are in Guangdong Province which borders the South China Sea. The frequencies of chromosome aberration in circulating lymphocytes were examined for persons residing in the HBRA and CA. Those in the HBRA had increased frequencies of detectable abnormalities in stable aberrations (translocations and inversions) and unstable aberrations (dicentrics and rings). Previous reports have shown that when samples of circulating lymphocytes taken from inhabitants were tested in vitro for mitotic responses to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and for the degree of unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) induced by UV-irradiation, there were higher responsiveness and UDS rates for those in the HBRA than in the CA. In contrast, mortality from all cancers and those from leukemia, breast and lung cancers that are inducible by radiation was not higher in the HBRA. Although the differences in the cancer mortality rates for the HBRA and CA are not significant, the findings are compatible with the assumption that the lower mortality from cancer in the HBRA is the result of the hormetic effects of the three-fold higher dose rate of background radiation in that areas. This assumption requires further study.
COVID-19 in Africa: Socio-economic Impact, Policy Response and Opportunities

PurposeThis paper examines the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 and the policy response in African countries.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses discourse analysis to analyse the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in Africa.FindingsThe findings reveal that African countries have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and the effect was more severe for African regions compared to other regions. The rising pandemic affected social interaction and economic activities through the imposed social distancing policies that have different levels of strictness in several African countriesPractical implicationsThe implication of the findings is that social policies can affect the social and economic well-being of citizens. Secondly, the coronavirus outbreak has revealed how a biological crisis can be transformed to a sociological subject. The most important sociological consequence of the coronavirus outbreak for African citizens is the creation of social anxiety among families and households in the region. The outbreak has also shown how vulnerable African societies are in facing health hazards. Policymakers should enforce social policies that unite communities in bad times, to reduce social anxiety.Originality/valueThis is the first paper that explore the socio-economic impact of coronavirus and the policy response in African countries.
Group Meeting Frequency and Borrowers’ Repayment Performance in Microfinance: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in South Africa

A quasi-natural experiment has been carried out at The Small Enterprise Foundation, a South African microfinance institution offering group lending with joint liability. In a pilot project, the frequency of meetings was reduced from fortnightly to monthly and the members of the groups were no more required to attend all the meetings but they could send a representative. After selecting a suitable control group using propensity score matching techniques, we ran difference-in-difference regressions to evaluate the impact of the policy changes. Estimates suggest that the pilot project increased loan repayment delays and decreased groups’ deposits, but it had a negligible impact on groups’ savings balances. Text mining techniques, applied to survey data, pointed towards the lack of trust within the groups whose members did not meet frequently outside the repayment meetings as one of the causes of the negative outcomes of the pilot experiment. We conclude that group meetings are an effective tool to stimulate the accumulation of social capital among microcredit borrowers.