Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dietary Abrasiveness Is Associated with Variability of Microwear and Dental Surface Texture in Rabbits

Dental microwear and 3D surface texture analyses are useful in reconstructing herbivore diets, with scratches usually interpreted as indicators of grass dominated diets and pits as indicators of browse. We conducted feeding experiments with four groups of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) each fed a different uniform, pelleted diet (lucerne, lucerne & oats, grass & oats, grass). The lowest silica content was measured in the lucerne and the highest in the grass diet. After 25 weeks of exposure to the diets, dental castings were made of the rabbit's lower molars. Occlusal surfaces were then investigated using dental microwear and 3D areal surface texture analysis. In terms of traditional microwear, we found our hypothesis supported, as the grass group showed a high proportion of (long) “scratches” and the lucerne group a high proportion of “pits”. Regardless of the uniform diets, variability of microwear and surface textures was higher when silica content was low. A high variability in microwear and texture analysis thus need not represent dietary diversity, but can also be related to a uniform, low-abrasion diet. The uniformity or variability of microwear/texture analysis results thus might represent varying degrees of abrasion and attrition rather than a variety of diet items per se.
Dynamic Integration of Reward and Stimulus Information in Perceptual Decision-Making

In perceptual decision-making, ideal decision-makers should bias their choices toward alternatives associated with larger rewards, and the extent of the bias should decrease as stimulus sensitivity increases. When responses must be made at different times after stimulus onset, stimulus sensitivity grows with time from zero to a final asymptotic level. Are decision makers able to produce responses that are more biased if they are made soon after stimulus onset, but less biased if they are made after more evidence has been accumulated? If so, how close to optimal can they come in doing this, and how might their performance be achieved mechanistically? We report an experiment in which the payoff for each alternative is indicated before stimulus onset. Processing time is controlled by a “go” cue occurring at different times post stimulus onset, requiring a response within msec. Reward bias does start high when processing time is short and decreases as sensitivity increases, leveling off at a non-zero value. However, the degree of bias is sub-optimal for shorter processing times. We present a mechanistic account of participants' performance within the framework of the leaky competing accumulator model [1], in which accumulators for each alternative accumulate noisy information subject to leakage and mutual inhibition. The leveling off of accuracy is attributed to mutual inhibition between the accumulators, allowing the accumulator that gathers the most evidence early in a trial to suppress the alternative. Three ways reward might affect decision making in this framework are considered. One of the three, in which reward affects the starting point of the evidence accumulation process, is consistent with the qualitative pattern of the observed reward bias effect, while the other two are not. Incorporating this assumption into the leaky competing accumulator model, we are able to provide close quantitative fits to individual participant data.
The Effectiveness of Teamwork Training on Teamwork Behaviors and Team Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Interventions

The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of teamwork interventions that were carried out with the purpose of improving teamwork and team performance, using controlled experimental designs. A literature search returned 16,849 unique articles. The meta-analysis was ultimately conducted on 51 articles, comprising 72 (k) unique interventions, 194 effect sizes, and 8439 participants, using a random effects model. Positive and significant medium-sized effects were found for teamwork interventions on both teamwork and team performance. Moderator analyses were also conducted, which generally revealed positive and significant effects with respect to several sample, intervention, and measurement characteristics. Implications for effective teamwork interventions as well as considerations for future research are discussed.
Development and Application of Computational Methodologies in Qualitative Modeling

Droits d’auteur L'Université de Lausanne attire expressément l'attention des utilisateurs sur le fait que tous les documents publiés dans l'Archive SERVAL sont protégés par le droit d'auteur, conformément à la loi fédérale sur le droit d'auteur et les droits voisins (LDA). A ce titre, il est indispensable d'obtenir le consentement préalable de l'auteur et/ou de l’éditeur avant toute utilisation d'une oeuvre ou d'une partie d'une oeuvre ne relevant pas d'une utilisation à des fins personnelles au sens de la LDA (art. 19, al. 1 lettre a). A défaut, tout contrevenant s'expose aux sanctions prévues par cette loi. Nous déclinons toute responsabilité en la matière.
Nutrient salts and chlorophyll-a during short term scale in the Eastern Harbor, Alexandria (Egypt).

The present study aims to follow the changes of NH4-N, NO2 -N, NO3-N, PO4-P, SiO4, chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), OOM and pH-values in a rapid short-term variation. During the period from August 2004 - 2005, 136 surface water samples were collected three times every week from the Eastern Harbor, Alexandria (Egypt). The study revealed that the pH values lie in alkaline side, with a range of (7.53-8.70), Chl-a showed a wide range (0.41-78.68g/l) with an average value of 13.60 g/l. The range and the average obtained values of nutrients (¼mole/l) were; 0.47-10.40(2.23) for NO3-N, 0.12-1.48 (4.06) for NO2 -N, 0.35-6.19(2.23) for NH4-N, 0.04-8.58(1.03) for PO4-P, and 0.37-11.90(3.45) for SiO4. The values of OOM ranged from 0.42 to 17.50 mg O2/l with an average value of 4.73mg/L. The distribution of both NO3-N and NH4-N were referred to that the rate of nitrification and denitrification is mostly similar. The N/P ratio (4.76) in the present study is lower than Redfield's ratio , indicated that nitrogen is the limiting factor. The levels of nutriens and chlorophyll-a indicated that the harbor is in eutrophic condition.
Comment on: Ramos-Zavala et al. Effect of Diacerein on Insulin Secretion and Metabolic Control in Drug-Naïve Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Diabetes Care 2011;34:1591–1594

Ramos-Zavala et al. (1) described in their report the effects of diacerein, an anti-inflammatory drug used in the treatment of rheumatic diseases, on insulin secretion in patients with type 2 diabetes. They showed that diacerein induced a significant decrease in fasting glucose levels, A1C levels, tumor necrosis factor-α levels, and interleukin (IL)-1β serum levels. By using the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, they also showed that diacerein is able to improve insulin secretion but does not modify insulin sensitivity. Our laboratory recently investigated the antihyperglycemic effect of diacerein and the mechanisms responsible for …
Repeated Games and Reputations: Long-Run Relationships

Personalized and continuing relationships play a central role in any society. Economists have built upon the theories of repeated games and reputations to make important advances in understanding such relationships. Repeated Games and Reputations begins with a careful development of the fundamental concepts in these theories, including the notions of a repeated game, strategy, and equilibrium. Mailath and Samuelson then present the classic folk theorem and reputation results for games of perfect and imperfect public monitoring, with the benefit of the modern analytical tools of decomposability and self-generation. They also present more recent developments, including results beyond folk theorems and recent work in games of private monitoring and alternative approaches to reputations. Repeated Games and Reputations synthesizes and unifies the vast body of work in this area, bringing the reader to the research frontier. Detailed arguments and proofs are given throughout, interwoven with examples, discussions of how the theory is to be used in the study of relationships, and economic applications. The book will be useful to those doing basic research in the theory of repeated games and reputations as well as those using these tools in more applied research. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship. com/oso/public/content/economicsfinance/0195300793/toc.html
Identification and selection of best fitting candidate distribution for rainfall frequency analysis in Cameron Highlands

In frequency analysis based on analytical method, there are quite a number of probability distributions to be used for quantile estimation. The selection of inappropriate one will lead to either overestimation or underestimation of the quantiles. Thus the identification and selection of the best fitting probability distribution should be given emphasis. The L-moment method offers advantages over the conventional method of moment and thus is more reliable in the distribution identification. The focus of this study is on the identification and selection of best fitting probability distribution, based on L-moment ratio parameters and L-moment ratio diagram. The results show that the GEV (Generalized Extreme Value) distribution fits quite well to data series at most of the homogeneous regions and rainfall intervals.
Safety, efficacy, and patient acceptability of single-dose fosaprepitant regimen for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting

: Control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is a crucial factor in ensuring that patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy can get the full benefit of therapy. Current antiemetic guidelines recommend that the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist aprepitant should be used as part of a combination regimen with dexamethasone and a serotonin receptor antagonist for the prevention of CINV in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC). Fosaprepitant is a water-soluble N -phosphoryl derivative of aprepitant that, when infused, is rapidly metabolized back to an active aprepitant. The existing literature in PubMed about fosaprepitant was screened and selected in order to address the emerging data from two randomized clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of a single-dose fosaprepitant regimen. These phase III trials demonstrated that fosaprepitant given as a single intravenous dose of 150 mg was either noninferior to the conventional 3-day aprepitant or significantly superior to placebo for the prevention of acute and delayed CINV in patients receiving high-dose cisplatin. In both trials, fosaprepitant was well tolerated although more frequent infusion-site adverse events were observed with fosaprepitant. The new dosage regimen of fosaprepitant, therefore, would be an option for CINV control in patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The clinical efficacy is consistent with the findings from a time-on-target, positron-emission tomography study evaluating the NK-1R occupancy in the central nervous system (CNS) over 5 days after a single-dose infusion of 150 mg fosaprepitant in healthy participants. The single-dose regimen is capable of blocking more than 90% of the NK-1Rs in the CNS for at least 48 hours after infusion, which is sufficient to control delayed CINV for 2 to 5 days after HEC. The new dosage regimen of fosaprepitant can provide a simplified treatment option that maintains high protection while ensuring adherence to scheduled antiemetic medication throughout most of the 5-day period encompassing the major risk for CINV.
Effects of ultrasound and sodium lauryl sulfate on the transdermal delivery of hydrophilic permeants : Comparative in vitro studies with full-thickness and split-Citation

The simultaneous application of ultrasound and the surfactant sodium lauryl sulfate (referred to as US/SLS) to skin enhances transdermal drug delivery (TDD) in a synergistic mechanical and chemical manner. Since full-thickness skin (FTS) and split-thickness skin (STS) differ in mechanical strength, US/SLS treatment may have different effects on their transdermal transport pathways. Therefore, we evaluated STS as an alternative to the well-established US/SLS-treated FTS model for TDD studies of hydrophilic permeants. We utilized the aqueous porous pathway model to compare the effects of US/SLS treatment on the skin permeability and the pore radius of pig and human FTS and STS over a range of skin electrical resistivity values. Our findings indicate that the US/SLS-treated pig skin models exhibit similar permeabilities and pore radii, but the human skin models do not. Furthermore, the US/SLS-enhanced delivery of gold nanoparticles and quantum dots (two model hydrophilic macromolecules) is greater through pig STS than through pig FTS, due to the presence of less dermis that acts as an artificial barrier to macromolecules. In spite of greater variability in correlations between STS permeability and resistivity, our findings strongly suggest the use of 700-μm-thick pig STS to investigate the in vitro US/SLS-enhanced delivery of hydrophilic macromolecules.
An Empirical Analysis of the Gender Gap in Mathematics

We document and analyze the emergence of a substantial gender gap in mathematics in the early years of schooling using a large, recent, and nationally representative panel of children in the United States. There are no mean differences between boys and girls upon entry to school, but girls lose more than two-tenths of a standard deviation relative to boys over the first six years of school. The ground lost by girls relative to boys is roughly half as large as the black-white test score gap that appears over these same ages. We document the presence of this gender math gap across every strata of society. We explore a wide range of possible explanations in the U.S. data, including less investment by girls in math, low parental expectations, and biased tests, but find little support for any of these theories. Moving to cross-country comparisons, we find that earlier results linking the gender gap in math to measures of gender equality are sensitive to the inclusion of Muslim countries, where in spite of women's low status, there is little or no gender gap in math.
An Empirical Analysis of the Swaption Cube

We use a comprehensive database of inter-dealer quotes to conduct the first empirical analysis of the dynamics of the swaption cube. Using a model independent approach, we establish a set of stylized facts regarding the cross-sectional and time-series variation of conditional volatility and skewness of the swap rate distributions implied by the swaption cube. We then develop and estimate a dynamic term structure model that is consistent with these stylized facts, and use it to infer volatility and skewness of the risk-neutral and physical swap rate distributions. Finally, we investigate the fundamental drivers of these distributions. In particular, we find that volatility, volatility risk premia, skewness, and skewness risk premia are significantly related to the characteristics of agents' belief distributions for the macroeconomy, with GDP beliefs the most important factor in the USD market, and inflation beliefs the most important factor in the EUR market. This is consistent with differences in monetary policy objectives in the two markets.
Long‐term landscape evolution in Australia

The main features of the Australian physical landscape are of the order of 107-108 years old. This contradicts the widely held view that little of the Earth's topography predates the Quaternary and that erosion cycles are carried to planation within tens of millions of years. Much of the Australian landscape must have developed over similar timescales to that of the tectonic evolution of the continent itself. The study of the geomorphology of such ancient terrains may therefore be seriously deficient unless it is considered within the context of continental-scale tectonic development. Application of this approach shows that there are strong links between the geomorphology of Australia and plate movements, ocean spreading, plate convergence, tectonostratigraphic terranes, orogenesis and epeirogenesis. The most important factor contributing to the survival of ancient landscapes in Australia is the low rate of denudation which the continent has experienced during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. This is largely a consequence of orogenic stability, although the absence of significant Quaternary glaciation may also be of importance. However, in order for landforms to have survived over such timespans, denudation must not only have been low, but must also have been highly localized over space and time. This has been the case both on a regional scale, with long-term denudation rates of 0-2 m Ma−1 in central Australia contrasting with higher rates along the continental margins, and on a local scale, with denudation confined to valleys, leaving divides and interfluves almost unscathed.
Trends In Credit To Smallholder Farmers In South Africa

Access to credit for smallholder farmers remains a challenge in most developing countries. This paper examines the trend and pattern of bank credit to smallholder farmers in South Africa, both before and after the attainment of democratic government. The analysis of the trend and pattern of bank credit to smallholder farmers was conducted within the confines of the same agricultural sector, across all economy sectors and in relation to GDP. Our analyses show that bank credit to smallholder farmers is (and continues to be) a small fraction of total credit to the private sector and is a very small proportion of GDP. The smallholder farmer sector is observed to face the same constraints to credit as SMEs, a category of enterprises to which they also belong. In light of the importance of agriculture, in general, and smallholder farmers, in particular, to South Africa’s poverty alleviation and food security drive, our results have important policy implications.
Bailouts, Moral Hazard and Banks’ Home Bias for Sovereign Debt

We show that an increase in banks' holdings of domestic Sovereign debt decreases the ability of domestic Sovereigns to successfully enact bailouts. When Sovereigns finance bailouts with newly issued debt and the price of Sovereign debt is sensitive to unanticipated debt issues, then bailouts dilute the value of banks' Sovereign debt holdings rendering bailouts less effective. We explore this feedback mechanism in a model of financial intermediation in which banks are subject to managerial moral hazard and ex ante optimality requires lenders to commit to ex post inefficient bank liquidations. A benevolent Sovereign may desire to enact bailouts to prevent such liquidations thereby neutralizing lenders' commitment. In this context, home bias for Sovereign debt may arise as a mechanism to deter bailouts and restore lenders' commitment.
Policy Uncertainty Spillovers to Emerging Markets - Evidence from Capital Flows

We study the extent to which uncertainty in advanced country macroeconomic policy spills over to emerging markets via portfolio bond and equity flows. We find that increases in US policy uncertainty significantly reduce portfolio bond and equity flows into EMEs. Conversely, increases in EU policy uncertainty have different effects on equity vs. bond flows into EMEs: equity inflows increase, but bond inflows decrease. The spillover effect of policy uncertainty on capital flows depends on the time period as well as on global and domestic economic conditions. After the financial crisis more of the effect of policy uncertainty on capital flows was transmitted via overall financial market uncertainty than previously. We also find evidence for a structural break in the direction and explanatory power of portfolio flow determinants including policy uncertainty in Q2 2007 at the onset of the financial crisis, and again in Q4 2010. For both bond and equity flows, the level of global financial market uncertainty is the chief driver of the nonlinearities, while in addition to the global factor the level of country specific default risk matters for equity flows only.
The Effect of Corporate Taxes on Investment and Entrepreneurship

We present new data on effective corporate income tax rates in 85 countries in 2004. The data come from a survey, conducted jointly with PricewaterhouseCoopers, of all taxes imposed on "the same" standardized mid-size domestic firm. In a cross-section of countries, our estimates of the effective corporate tax rate have a large adverse impact on aggregate investment, FDI, and entrepreneurial activity. For example, a 10 percent increase in the effective corporate tax rate reduces aggregate investment to GDP ratio by 2 percentage points. Corporate tax rates are also negatively correlated with growth, and positively correlated with the size of the informal economy. The results are robust to the inclusion of controls for other tax rates, quality of tax administration, security of property rights, level of economic development, regulation, inflation, and openness to trade.
The free cash flow hypothesis for sales growth and firm performance

The paper investigates the agency argument that sales growth in firms with free cash flow (and without strong governance) is less profitable than sales growth for firms without free cash flow. It also tests whether strong governance conditions improve the performance of firms with free cash flow and/or limit the investments in unprofitable sales growth. Consistent with agency theory, firms with free cash flow gain less from sales growth than firms without free cash flow. But different governance conditions affect sales growth and performance in different ways. Having substantial management stock ownership mitigates the influence of Free Cash Flow on performance, despite allowing higher sales growth. In contrast, outside blocks held by mutual funds reduces sales growth substantially, but does not increase performance from sales growth.
KRANNERT GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

We construct a monetary economy with heterogeneity in discounting and consumption risk. Agents can insure against this risk with both money and nominal government bonds, but all trades must be monetized. We demonstrate that a deflationary policy à la Friedman cannot sustain the efficient allocation. The reason is that no-arbitrage imposes a stringent bound on the return money can pay. The efficient allocation can be sustained when bonds have positive yields and–under certain conditions–only if they are illiquid. Illiquidity–meaning bonds cannot be transformed into consumption as efficiently as cash–is necessary to eliminate arbitrage opportunities.