Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synthetic organic toxicants in Lake Superior

Numerous synthetic organic toxicants have been reported in Lake Superior in the past quarter century although relatively few industrial centers are located on its shores. The chemicals enter the lake primarily through atmospheric deposition via transport from regional and distant sources. This contribution discusses research issues regarding the processes by which the chemicals enter and exit the lake, their in-lake cycling and bioaccumulation, and recently reported potential toxicological effects. Research issues that remain for historically important synthetic organic toxicants are discussed as well as those of emerging chemicals of concern. Although concentrations of some historically important toxicants are decreasing in Lake Superior's waters through volatilization and sedimentation and burial, abiotic and biotic in-lake cycling opens routes of entry into the lake's lower food web, contributing to concentrations in fish that warrant consumption advisories in certain cases. Concentrations of some non-polar emerging chemicals of concern that are increasing in production (such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers) can be expected to increase in the lake and be subject to similar processes occurring to historically important persistent organic pollutants unless regulatory intervention leads to decreasing atmospheric emissions. Other emerging chemicals of concern await measurement in Lake Superior. Our ability to understand the fate and effects of synthetic organic toxicants on the Lake Superior ecosystem, whether they are ‘legacy’ chemicals or emerging chemicals of concern, is limited by the availability of techniques to determine physical-chemical properties, concentrations, fluxes, bioaccumulation pathways and rates, and mechanisms of toxicity. Future research on synthetic organic toxicants in Lake Superior relies on advances in development of these techniques. Policy decisions must take into account the variety factors that lead to the presence of the chemicals in the lake and their toxic effects.
Bactericidal Activities of Some Common Herbs in India

Abstract The bactericidal activities of the aqueous and methanol extracts of the leaves of three plants used as popular medicine in India were studied. The dried leaf extracts of Vangueria spinosa. B. (Rubiaceae), Cestrum nocturnum. L. (Solanaceae), and Nyctanthes arbortristis. L. (Oleaceae) were tested in vitro. by the disk diffusion method against four bacterial strains, namely, Staphylococcus aureus. (MTCC 2940), Bacillus subtilis. (MTCC 441), Escherichia coli. (MTCC 739), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. (MTCC 2453). Both the aqueous and the methanol extracts of V. spinosa. showed the strongest activity, followed by C. nocturnum. and N. arbortristis. The only exception was P. aeruginosa. , which, in turn, was found to be resistant against the aqueous extract of N. arbortristis. Aqueous extracts of the leaves of all the plants appeared to have less antibacterial activity than the methanol extracts.
The Effect of Supplier Industry Competition on Pay-for-Performance Incentive Intensity

Abstract We examine how supplier industry competition affects CEO incentive intensity in procuring firms. Using Bureau of Economic Analysis data to compute a weighted supplier industry competition measure, we predict and find that higher supplier competition is associated with stronger CEO pay-for-performance incentive intensity. This effect is incremental to that of the firm’s own industry competition previously documented and is robust to alternative measures of supplier competition and to exogenous shocks to competition. Importantly, we show that performance risk and product margin act as mediating variables in the relation between supplier competition and CEO incentive intensity providing support for the theory underpinning our finding. We document that CEO compensation contracts are used as a mechanism to exploit the market dynamics of upstream industries to a firm’s benefit. Our findings are economically important as suppliers provide, on average, 45 percent of the value delivered by procuring firms to the market (BEA, 2016).
Cooperative and Competitive Reasoning: From Games to Revolutions

I develop a game theoretic model where players use two different reasoning processes in strategic situations: cooperative and competitive. Players always consider cooperating at first: if they believe others will cooperate with enough probability, they will do so; otherwise they behave competitively. The model generalizes Level-k and team reasoning models, and provides a unified explanation for several important phenomena. In Rubinstein’s Email game, players coordinate successfully upon receiving enough messages. In 2×2 games of complete information, the solution concept lies between Pareto dominance and risk-dominance. In coordination games, the model explains several experimental facts that cannot be accounted for by global games, especially the fact that people coordinate more with public rather than private information. I provide a generalization of the model that relaxes the epistemic requirements for cooperative behavior, and apply it to analyze revolutions.
Housing Mobility and Downsizing at Older Ages in Britain and the United States

This paper examines geographic mobility and housing downsizing at older ages in Britain and America. Americans downsize housing much more than the British largely because Americans are much more mobile. The principal reasons for greater mobility among older Americans are two fold: (1) greater spatial distribution of geographic distribution of amenities (such as warm weather) and housing costs and (2) greater institutional rigidities in subsidized British rental housing providing stronger incentives for British renters not to move. This relatively flat British housing consumption with age may have significant implications for the form and amount of consumption smoothing at older ages.
Equity Incentives and Earnings Management: Evidence from the Banking Industry

We examine the relationship between equity incentives and earnings management in the banking industry. By focusing on this regulated industry and using industry-specific earnings management proxies, we provide evidence on the impact of regulation on earnings management arising from CEOs' equity incentives. We find that bank managers with high equity incentives are more likely to manage earnings, but only when capital ratios are closer to the minimum regulatory capital requirements. This finding indicates that in the banking industry, potential regulatory intervention induces, rather than mitigates, earnings management arising from equity incentives.
The Learning, Timing, and Pricing of the Option to Invest with Guaranteed Debt and Asymmetric Information

We consider a borrower who must get a loan from a lender to start a project. The loan is secured by an insurer, who takes the project and the lender's loss at default. The borrower grants the insurer a fraction of the loan (fee-for-guarantee swap, FGS) or of the project's equity (equity-for-guarantee swap, EGS) as the guarantee cost. FGSs or EGSs are similar to credit default swaps (CDS) but the former are much more popular than the latter to small businesses. We assume the borrower knows the project's expected growth rate, but the insurer merely knows it to take a high or low value with a given initial belief on the high-type borrower. The insurer learns about the growth rate and dynamically updates her/his belief. We show that the learning reduces the guarantee cost and adverse selection cost. A sufficiently high initial belief would induce a pooling equilibrium, where the learning will accelerate investment, though the learning would postpone the investment sometimes. FGSs are superior to EGSs if information is somewhat asymmetric, explaining the fact that the former are more popular than the latter in practice.
Bioactivity of Piper guineense Schum. & Thonn seed and Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf powder against Trogoderma granarium Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

Laboratory studies were carried out to investigate bioactivity of Piper guineense seeds and Moringa oleifera leaf powders applied singly or in a mixture against larvae and adult Trogoderma granarium Everts in airtight containers. Three levels (0.0 g, 0.5 g, and 1.0 g/20 g groundnut seeds) of the plant powders were used and pirimiphos-methyl was applied at 0.01 g/20 g seeds (recommended dose). Another control consisting of untreated seeds with aerated lids was included in the bioassay. Both larvae and adults were not killed in control with aerated lids throughout the experimental period and larvae were also tolerant to airtight storage conditions. Adults were more susceptible to plant powders than larvae and adult mortality recorded in P. guineense at 1.0 g, 0.5 g and M. oleifera at 1.0 g/20 g seeds were not significantly different from the mortality observed with the recommended dose of Pirimiphos methyl at five days after treatment (DAT). Larval mortality observed in a mixture of both plants (1:1; w/w) caused significantly higher mortality (77.5%) than other treatments at 5 DAT. All treatments (P. guineense and M. oleifera applied singly or in a mixture) were repellant to larvae T. granarium with 60% repellency recorded in the mixture of plants, 50% repellency in P. guineense and 30% repellency in M. oleifera slurry. The water absorption capacity of treated seeds was not affected by treatment with plant powders and ranged from 31.98% to 37.59%.
Sperm-cell ultrastructure of North American sturgeons. III. The lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque, 1817).

Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) sperm cell fine structure was examined using transmission electron microscopy. The cell possesses a distinct acrosome, a defined head region, a midpiece, and a single flagellum. Sperm cells of this species share a general radial symmetry, an elongate shape, a distinct acrosome, and the presence of endonuclear canals with those of other sturgeons. The mean length of the lake sturgeon sperm cell body (acrosome + nucleus + midpiece) is approximately 7.13 µm and the length of the flagellum is about 50 µm, resulting in a total cell length of about 57 µm. The lake sturgeon sperm cell is much longer and slightly wider than that of the Atlantic sturgeon. The sperm-cell nuclei of lake, shortnose, white, and stellate sturgeons are elongate trapezoids in shape, with the anterior (acrosome) end narrowest but, in the Atlantic sturgeon, the anterior portion of the trapezoid is wider than the posterior. Although slightly smaller in total length and width, the lake sturgeon sperm cell.
Diurnal patterns of mass gain in tropical granivores suggest avoidance of high midday temperatures during foraging, rather than the starvation–predation risk trade-off

Diurnal patterns of body mass gain in small temperate birds are of theoretical interest because they are largely a consequence of the starvation vs predation risk trade-off. In tropical birds, diurnal variation in body mass may also be influenced by other constraints such as water availability, digestive bottlenecks and the avoidance of periods of high temperature. We recorded body mass and amount of seed eaten with time of day and temperature in three small granivorous species, feeding on baited balances in a savanna habitat in tropical West Africa. Birds fed in the morning and afternoon but almost never visited balances to feed during the middle of the day. Body mass increased with time of day, but with a clear bimodal pattern so that mass was gained in the early morning and was then lost again by the time birds resumed feeding in the afternoon. Mass was then mostly regained at the end of the afternoon. There was a significant, but biologically small, increase in body mass with increasing temperature. When controlling for the effects of time of day, species, year and day, body mass on average increased to a peak at about 24 °C before declining slightly; daily temperature peaked at 27 °C during the midday period when the birds did not feed, and so mass was lost. Body mass gain between consecutive diurnal hours was greatest when the temperature was about 18 °C, during early morning feeding. Gain in body mass decreased as temperature increased by late morning, and stopped or even slightly decreased above 24 °C when birds stopped feeding. The amount of food eaten per visit to the balance was independent of time of day and temperature, confirming that the birds were regulating their mass adaptively, rather than simply reflecting availability of food. Body mass gain was not restricted to the early morning as expected with low predation risk and high starvation risk, nor was it restricted to just late in the day as expected with high predation risk and low starvation risk. Instead, high temperatures around midday may result in a period where foraging is avoided completely for energetic or water conservation reasons, driving the bimodal diurnal pattern of body mass gain.
Geographic Diversification and Credit Supply in Times of Trouble: Evidence From Microlending

Abstract This paper investigates the impact of geographic diversification on the provision of credit during a financial crisis. We analyse in particular the microlending crisis that occurred in Nicaragua from mid-2008. We find that during the crisis, lenders reduced overall credit provision but to a lesser extent to those geographic areas that contributed most to geographic diversification in the boom period. This mitigation effect was greater for those lenders that were more geographically diversified before the onset of the crisis. Furthermore, we discover that lenders with major loan monitoring problems, that is lenders with larger credit officers’ portfolios, cut lending relatively less to those geographic areas that contributed most to geographic diversification. Overall, our results suggest that geographic diversification can support lending when a credit boom ends in a crisis.
Influence of release size on establishment and impact of a root weevil for the biocontrol of houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale)

Abstract The root-boring weevil, Mogulones cruciger, was introduced into Canada to control the weed, houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale). To optimise its use as a biocontrol agent, a 2-year study was performed in British Columbia, Canada to test if the number of M. cruciger released at sites predicted subsequent declines in weed populations. No, 100, 200, 300 or 400 weevils were released in 1999 at field sites (five replicates) corresponding to discrete populations of houndstongue separated by distances of 0.3–3 km. The sites were subsequently monitored for weevil establishment, population change, and host attack, and houndstongue population change. By 2001, M. cruciger had established at all 20 release sites and was present in low numbers in three of five control sites. The year following release, release size was positively correlated with number of adult weevils collected, their damage to host plants, and with subsequent numbers of larvae per plant. In contrast, houndstongue populations were reduced at the same rate and amount, regardless of the experimental release size, within 2 years of release. Significant release treatment×time interactions indicated that factors other than M. cruciger contributed to houndstongue reductions (e.g. drought). However, overall the addition of weevils accelerated the reductions relative to sites with no weevils added. Our study demonstrated that the lowest number within a range of release sizes typically used in weed biocontrol programmes (i.e. 100) was as effective as 200–400 weevils in achieving a consistent amount and rate of houndstongue reduction, and thus, could be implemented to optimise weevil use and achieve predictable biocontrol.
Problems of Maintaining Adequate Accounting Records for a Non-Profit Organization in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper looks at the accounting challenges faced by a small-scale non-profit organization operating in sub-Saharan Africa. We will look at the case of Enright Flight Ministries, Inc. a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Florida that carries out evangelical and humanitarian aid projects in Zambia. Building upon field interviews with administrative staff and project managers, we analyze the various problems facing the organization in maintaining adequate accounting records. After looking at both external and internal problems, we investigate the solutions employed by Enright Flight Ministries to maintain the integrity of accounting systems to derive best practices for the small-scale international nonprofit organization.
Walking in Your Footsteps: Sibling Spillovers in Higher Education Choices

Social interactions have been shown to affect peoples’ behavior in many settings. Yet little is known about their role in shaping higher education choices. We exploit discontinuous admission rules generated by Chile’s centralized system of admission to postsecondary education to study spillovers from older to younger siblings in the choice of college and major. Our findings reveal strong sibling spillovers in the choice of degrees (i.e., majors offered at a specific college,) and college institutions. Having an older sibling enroll in a given degree, as opposed to just apply, increases by 80% the likelihood of enrolling in the same degree. Similarly, having an older sibling enroll in a given college, increases by 42% the likelihood of enrolling in any degree in the same college. We show suggestive evidence that information may be relevant for spillovers in the choice of degree, but less so in the choice of college. We also discuss mechanisms such as role model effects and direct benefits for siblings of attending college together.
Productivity Effects of Higher Education Capital in Selected Countries of Sub-Saharan Africa

This study aimed to analyse the productivity effects of higher education enrolment (HEE), higher education output (HEO) and the associated productivity gap (GP) on selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the period between 1981 and 2014. It was hypothesized in the study that HEE and HEO had statistically significant positive impact on productivity in the selected sub-Saharan Africa countries over the stated period. Fixed effect Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) and a robust version of System Generalized Methods of Moment (SYSGMM) were adopted as model estimating techniques. Results from the LSDV model indicated that HEE had no statistically significant positive impact on productivity growth in the twenty-one SSA countries. This non-significance was corrected in the dynamic model, but with negative effects on the growth rate of total factor productivity (TFP). The study further compared the worldwide technological frontier with those of the SSA countries under investigation and discovered that countries like Gabon, Mauritius and Swaziland ranked high, while Burundi needs to improve on its productivity determinants. The major conclusion of this study is therefore that higher education human capital should be supported with strong policy implementation, as this can have a positive impact on productivity growth.
Divestment on the Stock Markets: A Sign of Low Opportunity Industry?

Corporate divestments on the stock markets have been studied since long, but the main focus of previous studies has been the firm level impact of divestments. We take this discussion to the industry level and argue that divestments, on average, are carried out in industries, where opportunities are low. These industries have low operating performance, gauged on capital expenditures, cash flow, sales growth, assets growth, profit margin, market to book value and research and development, compared to industries where there are no divestments. In addition to this evidence, we find that the merger and acquisitions activities, in which the target is in industries where divestments happened in last three years, bidders had less value created compared to mergers where the target industry had no divestments. Both, the low operating performance of industries post divestments and low value created by bidders having targets in industries where divestments happened, signal that industries where divestments take place have low opportunities ahead. This also implies that a corporate change can be interpreted as a signal for industrial change.
Heterogeneous Effects of Bank Consolidations in Local Markets: Evidence from Branch Level Data

This paper investigates the efficiency and competition effects of bank mergers and acquisitions on deposits growth and mortgage loan lending, using a sample of bank M&amp;As between 1997 and 2014. I exploit the within-bank cross-branch variation in whether there is a merging opponent branch nearby, as a variation in changes in lo- cal competition condition at branch level. I find that deposits growth increases for all branches involved in M&amp;As on average, but branches with merging counterpart branches nearby actually see drop in deposits growth. Regions affected by M&amp;As on average experience increase in mortgage loan denial rates, with especially large increase among the regions with opponent branches located closely. Subsample analyses reveal the increase in denial rates generally comes from low-income applicant, especially for M&amp;As with government assistance, suggesting an additional social cost the government should consider in assessing assisted bank mergers.
How are Veterans Faring Financially? Updates and New Evidence from a National Survey

This research provides updated and new evidence on the financial well-being of military veterans. We leverage data from two waves of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) to examine how veterans are faring over time, relative to comparable civilians, and among different demographic subgroups. Overall, veterans in 2018 are faring better than those in 2015 in a number of areas. They have less difficulty covering expenses and bills, lower likelihoods of experiencing an income drop, and higher likelihoods of having emergency funds and retirement plans in addition to an employer plan. Veterans in 2018 are, however, more likely to report problematic credit card behaviors. Relative to non-veterans, veterans continue to fare better in many areas. They report higher financial well-being, lower levels of financial anxiety, and a higher likelihood of having a will. They are also more likely to participate in the gig economy. Veterans who are female; who are younger; who are married, divorced or separated; or who have financial dependents are faring worse than their veteran peers. Further, black veterans are faring somewhat better than white veterans, while those identifying as an “Other” race/ethnicity are faring worse.
The use of rapeseed meals and a mustard seed meal as a protein source in diets for laying pullets

1. Three experiments with laying pullets were carried out in which rapeseed meals (B. napus and B. campestris) and a mustard seed meal (B. juncea) formed 12% of the diet. 2. Dietary rapeseed had no effect on the onset of lay when fed from 17 weeks of age but caused a delay when fed from 10 weeks of age: changing to a control soyabean diet for the laying period resulted in normal egg production. 3. Diets containing B. napus but not B. campestris consistently depressed egg production and reduced egg weight in one experiment. Mustard seed meal did not affect performance. 4. Significant number of eggs with a “fishy” taint were laid by brown‐egged birds fed on a diet containing rapeseed. 5. Thyroids of birds fed on rapeseed meal diets during the laying period were significantly heavier than those of birds fed on diets containing mustard seed or soyabean. 6. The enlargement of the thyroid gland is probably related to the oxazolidinethione content of the rapeseed.