Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Home ranges of female mountain sheep, Ovis canadensis nelsoni: effects of precipitation in a desert ecosystem

Les dimensions des domaines des femelles de mouflons de montagne habitant des zones climatiques distinctes du desert Mohave (Californie, USA) ont ete comparees, ainsi que les relations entre la taille des territoires et le poids et l'âge des animaux. Le patron de precipitations est unimodal dans la zone la plus seche, Panamint Range, et bimodal a Old Dad Peak ou la densite des femelles est environ quatre fois plus elevee. Cette derniere zone se caracterise egalement par une plus forte proportion de buissons et d'herbes vivaces et une meilleure qualite de fourrage. Les domaines et aires centrales de Panamint Range sont deux fois plus grands que ceux de Old Dad Peak ou les femelles sont nettement plus proches de l'eau. Aucune relation n'a pu etre mise en evidence entre la taille du corps ou l'âge et les dimensions du domaine des mouflons femelles. Les femelles de Old Dad Peak se nourrissent surtout d'herbes vivaces et de forbs, tandis que celles de Panamint Range, plus desertique, consommaient surtout des buissons, des forbs perennes et des plantes succulentes. Au printemps, l'azote fecal ne differe pas selon les zones, mais en ete et en automne il est plus eleve a Panamint Range, sans doute a cause de la moindre qualite et disponibilite de la nourriture liee a une pluviometrie faible. En consequence, les mouflons de Panamint Range ont des domaines plus grands a cause de l'environnement desertique appauvri. Nous proposons l'hypothese selon laquelle le patron et le taux de precipitation, ayant pour consequence la productivite des plantes, affectent la repartition du mouflon de montagne, et meme les probabilites de survie des populations de cet ongule.
Preliminary Report: Evaluation of Storage Conditions and Cryococktails during Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Cryopreservation

The use of cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) has proven critical in both clinical and biomedical applications. While utilized, in numerous settings, the functionality of frozen PBMCs is often limited, and a disconnect exists between measured viability and outcome. In this study we investigated parameters affecting outcome including storage protocol, freeze media, and assessment assay. PBMCs were isolated from seven healthy donors and cryopreserved in: (1) a media-based cocktail (SAIC), (2) CryoStor 7.5 (CS7.5), and (3) CryoStor 7.5 plus caspase inhibitors (CS7.5 ± Inh). All samples were stored in vapor phase liquid nitrogen (static) with replicates exposed to a thermal cycling regime, which mimicked typical sample handling (cycle). Viability was assessed immediately postthaw by trypan blue. Cryopreservation-induced delayed-onset cell death (CIDOCD) was evaluated postthaw using the Vybrant® Apoptosis Assay (VAA) that differentiated viability, apoptosis, and necrosis by fluorescent mi.
When is Concentration a Good Thing? The Dynamic Effect of Recommendation Concentration on Consumer Purchase

The effect of recommendation concentration is critical to profit maximization of e-commerce platforms. However, recommendation with high concentration level may not always be a good thing to purchase behavior which researchers know little about. To fill this gap, we develop a stochastic model to capture the state-dependent effect of recommendation concentration on purchase behavior. Specifically, we introduce a hidden Markov model (HMM) to investigate the following research questions: (1) is there any hidden state that potentially governs the dynamic purchase journey? (2) If so, how will concentration-level factors affect purchase behavior given a consumer's hidden state? (3) How does recommendation concentration play a role in transferring consumers among different hidden states? Would concentration levels in different recommendation systems (popularity recommender, content-based recommender and collaborative filtering recommender) make a difference? Based on Bayesian estimation of the model with a granular click-stream dataset from a vertical e-commerce platform of liquors, we identify three consumer states governing the purchase process, which are termed as "awareness'', "interest'' and "desire'' respectively. Our results show that the effects of recommendation concentration on purchase are state-dependent. Concentrated recommendation with focal product is effective to boost the focal product's conversion rate in awareness state, whereas it would depress the conversion rate of the focal product in interest state. In addition, recommendation concentration has a significant impact on moving consumer into a deeper state in which the intrinsic purchase intention is higher. Furthermore, through counterfactual simulations of different concentration strategies, our findings offer implications for e-commerce platforms on when and how recommendation concentration should be introduced dynamically, which stimulates more purchase actions eventually.
Structure of Subtilosin A, a Cyclic Antimicrobial Peptide from Bacillus subtilis with Unusual Sulfur to α-Carbon Cross-Links: Formation and Reduction of α-Thio-α-Amino Acid Derivatives†,‡

The complete primary and three-dimensional solution structures of subtilosin A (1), a bacteriocin from Bacillus subtilis, were determined by multidimensional NMR studies on peptide produced using isotopically labeled [13C,15N]medium derived from Anabaena sp. grown on sodium [13C]bicarbonate and [15N]nitrate. Additional samples of 1 were also generated by separate incorporations of [U-13C,15N]-l-phenylalanine and [U-13C,15N]-l-threonine using otherwise unlabeled media. The results demonstrate that in addition to having a cyclized peptide backbone (amide between N and C termini), three cross-links are formed between the sulfurs of Cys13, Cys7, and Cys4 and the α-positions of Phe22, Thr28, and Phe31, respectively. The stereochemistry of all residues in 1 except for the three modified ones was confirmed to be l by complete desulfurization with nickel boride, acid hydrolysis to the constituent amino acids, and conversion of these to the corresponding pentafluoropropanamide isopropyl esters for chiral GC MS ana.
Arms Race or Detente? How Inter-Firm Alliance Announcements Change the Stock Market Valuation of Rivals

Most prior event studies find that the announcement of a new alliance is accompanied by a positive stock market response for the partners. This result has usually been interpreted as evidence for the prevailing view that alliances are effective vehicles for partners to acquire or access new skills and thus become stronger competitors. However, partners should also earn positive abnormal returns if alliances are used to shape competitive interactions, attenuating competitive intensity industry-wide. In this study we disentangle these different mechanisms by examining how alliance announcements affect the stock market's evaluation of allying firms' rivals: If an alliance is expected to make partner firms more competitive, this should lead to negative abnormal returns for partners' rivals; if an alliance is expected to facilitate a reduction in competitive intensity, this should lead to positive abnormal returns for rivals. Results from an event study analysis of R&D alliances in the telecommunications and electronics industries during 1996-2004 provide evidence consistent with competition attenuation in some alliances. Our research thus challenges the increasingly narrow focus on learning and resource accumulation through alliances, and calls for broader consideration of the roles and effects of collaboration, both for individual firms and for industry structure.
Modern Era Knowledge Spillovers in the Solar Energy Sector

The purpose of this paper is to provide an updated analysis of international knowledge spillovers in the solar energy sector. Specifically, the paper investigates how the accumulation of solar energy patents and public R&D spending affected the output of domestic granted solar energy patents. The econometric analysis relies on a data set consisting of most of the OECD countries plus China and analyzes two time periods; from 1990 to 2014 and the years 2000 to 2014. To analyze the data material, a Poisson fixed-effects estimator based on the Hausman, Hall and Griliches (1984) method was used. The empirical findings suggest that the domestic accumulation of patents and R&D is important for the potential development of new ones. Indeed, early investment in specific technology can be an indicator of future leadership in that field. It also seems to be the case that long run investment works better for a country that wants to be a part of the development of a particular technology.
Past and present distribution of Dasycercus: toward a better understanding of the identity of specimens in cave deposits and the conservation status of the currently recognised species D. blythi and D. cristicauda (Marsupialia : Dasyuridae)

Abstract. Maps of the distribution of the two currently recognised species of Dasycercus, D. blythi and D. cristicauda have been prepared following correct identification based on tail morphology of specimens in the modern collections of all Australian museums. Localities in which the remains of Dasycercus have been found in cave deposits have also been mapped and an attempt made to determine the specific identity of some of these specimens. Following examination of larger samples of each species, differences in the premolar dentition were found to no longer be diagnostic. Most cave specimens could not be assigned to species on the basis of some dental measurements. DNA sequences could provide a means for establishing the identity of the cave specimens. Correct identification of specimens, together with knowledge of the search effort underlying the known distribution and persistence of the species in localities over their ranges, is essential for assessment of their conservation status.
Reconciling FCFF and FCFE in Nominal and Real Models

The objective of this paper is to reconcile Free Cash Flow to Firm (FCFF) and Free Cash Flow to Equity (FCFE) approaches, in nominal and real term models, considering potential and actual distribution. In order to do so, some mathematical derivations are made to help reconciliation, especially in real term models. In addition to that, application of both approaches, in nominal and real models, are developed through full examples. Two discussions are addressed: (1) valuation approaches inconsistency debate, to which there are two possible corrections in order to assure that inputs (in capital structure) in both approaches reflect the same assumptions and (2) potential versus actual distribution debate, which considers that the firm does not distribute all cash available for distribution. To reconcile nominal and real term models, there is necessary caution to assure that the tax shield over the inflation embedded in the nominal cost of debt is considered in the real model. When considering actual distribution, there are additional necessary adjustments to calculate real term earnings consistent with nominal earnings, in order to reconcile both models.
The Drivers of Capital Flows in Emerging Markets Post Global Financial Crisis

Using a sample of 34 emerging markets and developing economies over the period 2009Q3-2015Q4, the paper employs a panel framework to study the determinants of capital flows, both net and gross, across a wide range of instruments. The baseline regressions are then extended to focus on high and low episodes - quarters with flows one standard deviation above/below mean. Overall, the results suggest that the capital flow slowdown witnessed in recent years is due to a combination of lower growth prospects of recipient countries and worse global risk sentiment. However, the determinants of flows can be considerably different across instruments and across the type of flows considered, net or gross. The sensitivity of certain types of flows, towards push and pull factors, increases during periods of high and low capital flows. Moreover, some variables may not necessarily be significant during normal times, but can be important drivers during such episodes, and vice versa. Indicators like the gap between the U.S. long- and short-term maturity bond yields - not significant during normal times - can be an important driver during high episodes.
Price Overreactions in the Forex and Trading Strategies

This paper explores price overreactions in the FOREX by using both daily and intraday data on the EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCAD, AUDUSD and EURJPY exchange rates over the period 01.01. 2008-31.12. 2018. It applies a dynamic trigger approach to detect overreactions and then various statistical methods, including cumulative abnormal returns analysis, to test the following hypotheses: the intraday behaviour of hourly returns on overreaction days is different from that on normal days (H1), there are detectable patterns in intraday price dynamics on overreaction days (H2) and on the following days (H3). The results suggest that there are statistically significant differences between intraday dynamics on overreaction and normal days respectively; also, prices tend to change in the direction of the overreaction during the overreaction day, but move in the opposite direction on the following day. Finally, there exist trading strategies that generate abnormal profits by exploiting the detected anomalies, which can be seen as evidence of market inefficiency.
Nitrogen Isotopic Composition and Elemental concentration of Tree-rings May Help Map the Extent of Historic Fire Events

Elemental and nitrogen isotopic compositions of tree-rings adjacent to a fire-scar in a white birch (Betula papyrifera) are compared to those away from the scar in the same tree, and to those of nearby non-scarred yellow birches (Betula alleghaniensis) and white birches. The δ15N value at the fire-scar was 1.5 ‰ lower than non-fire-scarred trees and had elevated Ba, Ca, Mg, Sr, and Mn concentrations relative to elsewhere around the bole and to non-scarred trees. Variations in tree-ring chemistry may be useful in mapping the extent and assessing the magnitude of historic fire events.
Pulling Starters

We study a fundamental strategic decision in baseball: when (if at all) to make the ``call to the bullpen'' and pull the starting pitcher. We first use a simple theoretical model to show that at the optimal time to pull the starter, the pitching change should yield a \emph{strict }improvement in current pitching quality (i.e., a strict decrease in runs allowed in the current inning). We then use detailed pitch-level data from the 2008-2017 seasons to estimate the effects of pulling the starter on both runs allowed in the current inning and on win probability. We argue that the pulling starter decision is plausibly ``as good as random'' conditional on the large set of included covariates, but acknowledge the lack of true randomization. We find that the predicted effect of pulling the starter on runs allowed is indeed negative, but the effect on win probability is a precise zero. We then examine how these choices are affected by game situations and recent game events, including a measure of lucky hitting performance, and find only scattered and limited evidence of biases. We interpret the results to imply that call to the bullpen decisions are approximately Bayesian-optimal. However, there was a steady downward trend in the mean inning that starters were pulled over a period of decades prior to our sample time-frame. Thus, even if managers make approximately Bayesian-optimal choices now, this is likely due to not only learning from their own experiences, but also learning from prior generations and the long-term stability of the baseball context.
Price Transmission Analysis in the Italian Feed Industry: An Interrupted-Threshold-Cointegration (ITC) Approach

More than half of total production costs for dairy producers is represented by feed, whose price level strongly depends on maize price patterns. However, the literature paid no attention to this vertical price transmission dynamics. This paper tries to fill the gap by investigating the interrelationship between Italian maize and feed prices, proposing a novel two-regime threshold-cointegration model where regimes are triggered by an observable transition variable. The latter accounts for both fundamental and non-fundamental drivers that recent literature found to be potential triggers influencing the transmission process. Empirical results suggest that the impact of non-fundamentals, especially financialization and energy price, is quite weak, whereas market fundamentals still play a significant role in shaping the price transmission dynamics. Furthermore, the cointegration relationship is found to be non-continuous, with several interruptions.
The Mirage of Merit: Reconstituting the 'Ideal Academic'

This paper takes a hard look at merit and the ideal academic, twin concepts that have been accorded short shrift by the scholarly literature. For the most authoritative positions, the ideal displays all the hallmarks of Benchmark Man. Despite the ostensible 'feminisation' of the academy, the liberal myth that merit is stable, objective and calculable lingers on. As a counterpoint to the feminisation thesis, it is argued that a remasculinisation of the academy is occurring as a result of the transformation of higher education wrought by the new knowledge economy. In response, the ideal academic has become a 'technopreneur' – a scientific researcher with business acumen who produces academic capitalism. This new ideal academic evinces a distinctly masculinist hue in contrast to the less-than-ideal academic – the humanities or social science teacher with large classes, who is more likely to be both casualised and feminised.
Pension Portfolio Choice and Peer Envy

I examine the effect of envy on the portfolio allocation of workers in a defined contribution (DC) pension plan. If a worker’s DC plan performs better than his co‐worker’s, he may gloat; on the other hand, if his DC plan performs worse, he may feel envy. I model anticipated envy when workers make portfolio allocations, and find that in equilibrium, workers will mimic their co‐worker’s allocation to eliminate the disutility from envy. This portfolio allocation is riskier than that of a worker who does not exhibit envy.
Assessment of compositional changes during ripening of transgenic papaya modified for protection against papaya ringspot virus

BACKGROUND: Papaya (Carica papaya L.) production is limited by over 20 viruses, the most damaging of which is papaya ringspot virus (PRSV). Owing to a lack of suitable PRSV-resistant sources in Carica germplasm, transgenic resistance using the coat protein (cp) gene of a local PRSV strain is being developed to manage the disease in Jamaica. For assurance of food safety, the nutritional and antinutritional composition of transgenic papayas during ripening was compared with that of unmodified control samples. RESULTS: Mature unripe fruits of transgenic and non-transgenic papayas were repeatedly harvested and stored at room temperature for 1 week periods, during which random samples were assessed. With the exception of one transgenic line, no significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed in selected nutrients and antinutrients between the control and test samples at three stages of maturity, although a few random variations were noted. CONCLUSION: Transformation with viral cp gene and two marker genes did not produce any major unintended alterations in either the nutritional or the antinutritional composition of transgenic papayas. These findings must be compared with other physicochemical and safety assessments to provide a scientific basis for concluding substantial equivalence with conventional papayas available on the market in Jamaica. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry
Measuring Market Power in Gasoline Retailing: A Market - or Station Phenomenon?

Applying detailed consecutive daily micro data at the gasoline station level from Sweden we estimate a structural model to uncover the degree of competition in the gasoline retail market. We find that retailers do exercise market power, but despite the high upstream concentration, the market power is very limited on the downstream level. The degree of market power varies with both the distance to the nearest station and the local density of gasoline stations. A higher level of service tends to raise a seller’s market power; self-service stations have close to no market power. Contractual form and brand identity also seem to matter. We find a clear result: local station characteristics significantly affect the degree of market power. Our results indicate that local differences in station characteristics can more than offset the average market Power found for the whole market.
Effects of Melia azedarach, (Meliaceae) fruit extracts on the leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis, (Diptera, Agromyzidae): Assessment in laboratory and field experiments

Summary Control of the widely distributed pest Liriomyza huidobrensis, is complicated due to the protected habit of the leafmining larvae, and their resistance to insecticides. The effects of Melia azedarach, (Meliaceae) fruit extracts against adults and larvae of L. huidobrensis, were investigated. In the laboratory, leaves of Cucurbita, sp. infested with first and third instar larvae were treated with different extract solutions. Larval and pupal survival, as well as wing-spread of adults, were ssessed. Female adult behaviour towards the extract was also analysed in terms of number of feeding punctures and number of offspring left on treated/untreated leaves. In the field, an infested Vicia faba, crop was sprayed four times at weekly intervals with plant extract, water, and a blank solution. The number of adult leafminers and parasitoids emerging from sampled leaves from each treatment were compared. The laboratory tests showed translaminar action of the extracts, which negatively affected leafminer pupal survival, while body size was not affected. The extracts also deterred feeding by adult females and may also have caused reduction in oviposition rates. All solutions and concentrations tested had similar effects. In the field, extract effects were consistent with those from laboratory trials, number of pupae and pupal survival being lower on treated plants. Percentage parasitism was not affected by plant extract treatment, suggesting a selective activity.
Phylogenetic relationships of the newly described species Chondrostoma olisiponensis (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)

Phylogenies were generated using mitochondrial cytochrome b and nuclear s-actin gene DNA sequences to infer the phylogenetic relationships of the newly described Chondrostoma olisiponensis. Results indicate that the species is monophyletic with species of the lemmingii -group in mtDNA phylogenies, while it is monophyletic with species of the arcasii -group in the nuclear s-actin trees. This is in agreement with the morphological resemblance of C. olisiponensis to both species groups. Results from nuclear but not mitochondrial DNA indicate that one population could be currently hybridizing with sympatric Chondrostoma lusitanicum. Based on a relaxed clock calibration of cytochrome b, it is estimated that C. olisiponensis split 12·5–7·9 million years ago (middle–upper Miocene) from its most recent ancestor, which coincides with a period of endorrheism in the Iberian Peninsula.
Community‐wide impact of an exotic aphid on introduced tall goldenrod

1. The aphid Uroleucon nigrotuberculatum Olive, which is specialised to the tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima L. , in its native range, has become a dominant species on the introduced tall goldenrod in Japan. How this exotic aphid influenced arthropod communities on the introduced tall goldenrod in aphid‐present (spring) and aphid‐absent (autumn) seasons was examined, using an aphid removal experiment.