Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Post-thaw survival and acrosome integrity of spermatozoa of Leccese rams frozen in different seasons with a milk-egg yolk extender

Abstract The influence of the period of semen collection on post-thawing survival, motility and acrosome integrity of spermatozoa in Leccese rams was studied throughout an entire year. The year was divided into the seasons: winter and spring (first semester) and summer and autumn (second semester). Semen from 5 adult rams was collected every two weeks by artificial vagina and frozen according to a freezing system based on milk-lactose egg yolk to constitute semen doses of 400 x 106 spermatozoa. At thawing, survival and acrosomal status of cells were assessed and the motility of the sperm and their kinetic rating (scale 0 to 5 score) were determined at thawing (0 h), and after 1 and 3 h incubation (37° C). Semen collected during the first semester (winter – spring) of the year showed the highest (P<0.01) proportion of post-thaw live spermatozoa, with the maximum value in winter (P<0.01), and the best acrosomal status of spermatozoa, considered as both total proportion of spermatozoa with acrosome break down and spermatozoa without acrosomes. Acrosome integrity was positively correlated (r = 0.32; P<0.01) with post-thaw sperm viability. Motility of spermatozoa at thawing was not influenced by the period of semen collection. However, after 3 h incubation sperm motility was higher (P<0.01) during the first semester of the year, without a difference between winter and spring. A marked individual ram effect was found on freezability of semen. The results provide evidence that the period of semen collection can influence freezability of spermatozoa in Leccese rams. The best characteristics of spermatozoa were observed during the first semester of the year, corresponding to the sexual hypoactivity season for this breed.
Diasporas

Migration flows are shaped by a complex combination of self-selection and out-selection mechanisms. In this paper, the authors analyze how existing diasporas (the stock of people born in a country and living in another one) affect the size and human-capital structure of current migration flows. The analysis exploits a bilateral data set on international migration by educational attainment from 195 countries to 30 developed countries in 1990 and 2000. Based on simple micro-foundations and controlling for various determinants of migration, the analysis finds that diasporas increase migration flows, lower the average educational level and lead to higher concentration of low-skill migrants. Interestingly, diasporas explain the majority of the variability of migration flows and selection. This suggests that, without changing the generosity of family reunion programs, education-based selection rules are likely to have a moderate impact. The results are highly robust to the econometric techniques, accounting for the large proportion of zeros and endogeneity problems.
Coordination with Constrained Network Formation

e study whether maximum efficiency can be obtained in a stochastic learning model where players can actively form links with a limited number of peers to play a size-dependent minimum-effort game. The long-run equilibrium is contingent on the linking constraint and the marginal payoff from coordination. A restrictive linking constraint or a large marginal payoff from coordinating on the maximum effort promotes efficient coordination. Even if these conditions are not satisfied, players need not to be trapped in the least-efficient convention. With the discretion to choose partners, a large population of potential participants will facilitate the emergence of maximum efficiency.
A Critique of Conservation and Management of Shore-nesting Birds

Shorebirds are usually migratory animals that regularly travel between northern and southern parts of the world. In the past few decades, damage and alteration of habitat and the potential problem of population decrease have encouraged more and more people to attach great importance of the management of shorebirds on refuges, and to preserve for both breeding and migrating species. This dissertation chiefly examines the differences between chosen measures for shorebird protection and throws light upon potential knowledge gaps when it comes to management of those creatures. As a result, active measures that can be taken to make significant improvements, for example, learn to recognize potential nesting habitat and built viewing platforms to contain eco-tourists and promote sustainable development.
ITS2 sequence-structure phylogeny in the Scenedesmaceae with special reference to Coelastrum (Chlorophyta, Chlorophyceae), including the new genera Comasiella and Pectinodesmus

Hegewald E. , Wolf M. , Keller A. , Friedl T. and Krienitz L. 2010. ITS2 sequence-structure phylogeny in the Scenedesmaceae with special reference on Coelastrum (Chlorophyta, Chlorophyceae). Phycologia 49: 325–335. DOI: 10.2216/09-61.1 Sequences and secondary structures of the nuclear-encoded internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) ribosomal RNA of nine Coelastrum taxa, Asterarcys quadricellulare (Coelastraceae), Westella botryoides (hitherto Oocystaceae) and Dimorphococcus lunatus (Scenedesmaceae) were determined and compared with existing GenBank entries of scenedesmacean taxa (Desmodesmus, Enallax, Neodesmus, Scenedesmus). Phylogenetic analyses showed that the studied Coelastrum taxa belong to several different lineages within the Scenedesmaceae: five Coelastrum taxa (Coelastrum microporum, Coelastrum astroideum, C. astroideum var. rugosum = Coelastrum rugosum, Coelastrum pseudomicroporum and Coelastrum sphaericum incl. Coelastrum proboscideum) form monophyletic clades, whereas two strains labeled Coelastrum morum belong to different genera. The African strain of C. morum clusters with Coelastrum cambricum. The Finnish strain labeled C. morum clusters with Asterarcys, Dimorphococcus and Hariotina. According to its morphology this strain belongs to Coelastrella, related to Coelastrella saiponensis. Westella botryoides belongs to a separate clade within the Scenedesmaceae. Coelastrum reticulatum is positioned in the clade with Asterarcys, Dimorphococcus and Coelastrella; hence its separation in a separate genus, as originally described (Hariotina), is justified. In general, the phylogenetic analysis of ITS2 data shows that the Coelastraceae are included in the monophyletic Scenedesmaceae, and thus the splitting into two families is not justified, but they belong to the monophyletic subfamily Coelastroidea. The genera Comasiella and Pectinodesmus are newly erected, and several new combinations are proposed.
Executive Profiling and Firm Resolution

Legislative pressures continue to scrutinize auditors for failing to warn investors of subsequent company failures in their audit report (US. House of Representative 1985, 1990, 2002). Multiple literatures have highlighted auditor’s reporting failures (Weil 2001; Dietz 2002; NASDAQ 2002) to provide a warning to investors. Using a sample of 1,053 firms receiving a Going Concern Modified Opinion (GCM) during the period from 2003 through 2005 fiscal year end, we analyze whether executive turnover and gender are associated with subsequent GCM opinions. The paper extends work done by Mutchler (1986), Chen and Church (1992), Geiger and Raghunandan (2001), Geiger, Raghunandan, and Rama (2005), and Behn, Kaplan, and Krumwiede (2001) by modeling and testing the association between the client subsequent performance and mitigating factors. After controlling for financial condition, size, and leverage, the results of the study indicate that client’s future resolution subsequently after receiving GCM is strongly linked to having a new Chief Executive Officer (NEW_CEO). We posit that having a NEW_CEO is highly associated with subsequent client failure. Auditor’s issuing GCM may need to consider a CEO turnover event as predictable event for client subsequent failure. Furthermore, we find no association between client’s subsequent performance after receiving GCM opinion when the executive is a female (FEM_CEO or FEM_CFO)or a new chief financial officer (NEW_CFO).
Tax Avoidance and Financial Statement Readability

This paper examines whether managers of firms that engage in high levels of tax avoidance (TA) strategically reduce their financial statement readability (FSR) to mitigate the risk of exposing their TA strategies. On average, results are inconclusive, but mainly hold in the sample of firms with low effective tax rates (i.e., high TA levels). Specifically, focused on firms with above-industry-median TA, the panel regression results show a negative relation between TA and FSR, and the difference-in-differences analysis, based on the ‘Check-the-Box’ regulation in 1997 that exogenously increases tax planning opportunities, suggests the negative impact of TA on FSR is likely causal. The relationship is stronger for firms faced with a greater likelihood of tax audit ex ante, firms in industries with a higher tax risk, and firms with a larger institutional ownership. The evidence adds to our understanding of the influence of corporate TA on financial disclosures.
Double-Entry Constraint, Structural Modeling and Econometric Estimation

The key proposition of the paper lies in the treatment of financial statements as a matrix of endogenous information codetermined by double entry. To account for the highly structured information set in econometric estimation, we develop a generalised structural system for use with accounting variables, within which the deterministic relationships governing financial statement articulation are clearly defined. The framework is used to formulate fully identified models that are consistent with the underlying duality that characterises the generating process of accounting data. To demonstrate the efficacy of the approach, we consider the model of equity pricing in Penman and Yehuda (2009), and the model of investment sensitivity to operating cash flow in Fazzari, Hubbart and Petersen (1988) and Kaplan and Zingales (1997). By comparison with the more traditional estimation methods, the structural system is shown to yield estimates with increased precision that adhere to double entry rules.
Pacific Biogeography of the Asteraceae Genus Abrotanella (Senecioneae, Blennospermatinae)

Historical biogeography of the trans-Pacific Asteraceae genus Abrotanella (Senecioneae, Blen- nospermatinae) was analyzed with cladistic methods. The genus comprises 19 alpine species and is restricted to six areas of endemism, South America, Australia-New Guinea, Tasmania, New Zealand, Stewart Island, and the sub-Antarctic Campbell and Auckland Islands. Two area cladograms were constructed, one conform- ing to the sequence of Gondwanaland break-up, the other considering also the physical barrier of a glaciated Antarctica. Four fully resolved cladograms of Abrotanella were mapped on the area cladograms using the computer software COMPONENT to assess conformity between distribution patterns in Abrotanella and geological area relationships. The analysis revealed a convoluted pattern, suggesting several cases of dispersal. The distribution of the species apparently reflects migration, possibly via stepping stones along former archipelagos, and long-distance dispersals. A possible ancestral area was estimated by the use of ancestral area analysis, reversible parsimony, and Fitch optimization. All methods indicate South America as part of the area where Abrotanella originated. The distribution of at least two species are most parsimoniously explained by dispersals from South America to Stewart Island and from New Zealand to Australia and New Guinea, respectively. Removal of these two allegedly dispersed species from the component analyses reveals an underlying pattem in agreement with geology if South America is considered as the sister area to the West Pacific.
Predict the Strong Binding Ability Polypeptide of Human α-Enolase with the HLA-DRB1 * 0401

Human α-enolase (ENO1), an evolutionarily conserved and multifunctional protein, is a target self-antigen of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is genetically associated with MHC class II molecules, such as DRB1*0101, DRB1*0401 and DRB1*0404 allele. Among these DRB1 alleles, DRB1*0401 show the most correlation with RA. However, strong binding ability polypeptide of ENO1 with HLA-DRB1*0401 is still largely unknown. In this study, we used NetMHCII prediction method to predict the strong binding ability polypeptide with HLA-DRB1*0401. Among the 434 predicted fragment peptide, ENO1129-141: PLYRHIADLAGNS showed strong binding with HLA-DR4 and peptide ENO1281-293 KSFIKDYPVVSIE is the second candidate peptide. Based on these result, we choosed EON1129-141 and EON1281-293 polypeptides to do the molecular modeling, and used the molecular dynamics to optimize the three-dimensional structural model. The molecular dynamics results showed that ENO1129-141: PLYRHIADLAGNS and ENO1281-293: KSFIKDYPVVSIE have strong binding ability with HLA-DR4* 0401. In the shared epitope, both ENO1129-141and ENO1281-293 have the very near distance 3.15Å and 3.10Å with K71 of the β1 chain. The main-chain conformations of ENO1129-141 sit more deeply with β1 chain. All together, results indicated that ENO1129-141 and ENO1281-293 bind strong with HLA-DR4 and would be potential T cell epitopes of human α-enolase that induced RA.
Effects of US Monetary Policy Shocks during Financial Crises ― A Threshold Vector Autoregression Approach

This paper analyzes the impact of monetary policy during periods of low and high financial stress in the US economy using a Threshold Vector Autoregression model. There is evidence that expansionary monetary policy is effective during periods of high financial stress with larger responses having a higher proportionate effect on output. The existence of a cost channel effect during periods of high financial stress implies the existence of a short run output-inflation trade off during financial crises. Large expansionary monetary shocks also increase the likelihood of moving the economy out of a high financial stress regime.
Corporate Social Performance, Resource Dependence and Firm Performance

Using resource dependence perspective we examine the relationship between different stakeholder groups and firm performance. Our results indicate that different stakeholder groups have different levels of salience for firm’s financial performance. Proactive policies with respect to employees, consumers and diversity show the maximum beneficial effects. Our results also indicate that commitment-based work practices help firms improve their capacity to benefit from their performance on other CSP domains, which we believe indicates preliminary support for the concept of stakeholder influence capacity.
The Linkage Between Workplace Ostracism and Proactive Customer Service Performance in Pakistani Banking Industry: (A Conservation of Resource and Job Embeddedness Perspective)

The Proactive Customer Service Performance (PCSP) is vital for service industry, the key driver of which is willingness of Human Capital to serve. This willingness is badly effected by Workplace Ostracism (WPO) besides other factors. This study investigated the effects of WPO on PCSP directly and indirectly through the mediation of Job Tension (JT), Job embeddedness (JE), Customer Orientation (CO) and Affective Commitment (AC), not studied before. The study used cross-sectional research design, the pool of responses collected through purposive sampling techniques from five banks operating in Pakistan. Data was empirically validated using descriptive statistics, convergent & divergent validity checks and regression weights. SEM technique was used to validate proposed hypotheses. The results proved that WPO directly effects the PCSP significantly and has significant effect through mediation of JT too. The mediation effects of other variables JE, CO & AC proved insignificant. However, the results shows direct significant effect of all these variables on PCSP. The study proved that WPO exists in banking industry of Pakistan. Human Capital through their PsyCap developed by JE, AC and CO is dealing with it. The study suggests that banks can improve their PCSP if the issue of WPO could be addressed on merit and employees be helped to grow their Organization Citizenship behavior (OCB) and PsyCap, the new look on PCSP. The study has also suggested a model to be tested by the future researcher.
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

In the October survey, small fractions of domestic banks, on net, reported easing standards for business lending and some categories of consumer lending over the past three months. Respondents reported little change in residential real estate lending standards on balance. 2 Significant fractions of banks reported a strengthening of demand for commercial real estate loans, residential mortgages, and auto loans, on balance, while demand for most other types of loans was about unchanged. The October survey included special questions on factors affecting C&I loan growth over the past year and on lending to European banks. In another set of special questions, the survey queried banks about their participation in the revised Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP 2.0) and about changes in their standards for approving applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
Do Supply-Side Education Programmes Work? The Impact of Increased School Supply on Schooling and Wages in Indonesia Revisited

Indonesia each year allocates a large proportion of its total public spending to education and it is important to understand whether different groups, for instance, children from less advantageous socioeconomic backgrounds or girls benefit differentially from these public investments. It is also desirable to comprehend whether schooling translates into increases in wages that are similar in size for both for men and for women who obtain additional schooling. This paper uses the large-scale Presidential Instruction Primary School construction programme (SD INPRES) rolled out in Indonesia in the 1970s to examine the effect of increased school supply on schooling attainment: overall, by gender, and by socioeconomic background. It also constructs a new SD INPRES programme exposure variable that is used as an instrument for schooling to assess the causal effect of schooling on wages and whether the additional schooling induced by the programme had differential impacts for men and women. To preview the findings, SD INPRES programme exposure significantly increased schooling both for men and for women. Moreover, women benefitted more from the SD INPRES programme than men and so did individuals from less advantageous socioeconomic backgrounds contributing to a narrowing of schooling gaps by gender and by socioeconomic background. In addition, more schooling is found to cause higher wages for men and women and there appears to be an additional positive effect on wages for women through the additional schooling induced by the SD INPRES programme.
Molecular genetic analysis of black poplar (Populus nigra L.) along Dutch rivers

The genetic structure of remaining black poplar (Populus nigra) trees on the banks of the Dutch Rhine branches was investigated using the AFLP technique. In total, 143 trees, including one P. deltoides and some P. x euramericana, were analysed using six AFLP primer combinations which generated 319 polymorphic bands. The AFLP patterns showed that some of the trees sampled as P. nigra were clearly different. These deviating patterns were also observed for the P. deltoides tree and all trees already identified as hybrid P. x euramericana. Hybrids between the two species are morphologically sometimes difficult to distinguish from the species itself. Two important possible source populations for recolonization of the riverbanks of the river Rhine, consisting of mature flowering P. nigra trees, appeared to consist of only a few genotypes each. In contrast, young black poplar trees growing alone or in small groups downstream of the possible source populations appeared to be predominantly generatively derived because no clones of mature trees were found among them. Therefore vegetative propagation seems a very local strategy whereas colonization of new areas appears to occur through generative propagation. Whether the genetic diversity within these black poplars is sufficient for recolonization of river banks and survival of the metapopulation is a question for further research.
CDC Maria annual canarygrass

CDC Mar ia annual canarygrass, developed at the University of Saskatchewan, possesses glabrous hulls that reduce the skin irritation encountered by farmers during the harvesting process. CDC Maria has higher test and kernel weights, but lower grain yields relative to the pubescent cultivar Keet. CDC Maria is adapted to the traditional canaryseed growing regions of Saskatchewan, the brown and black soil zones. Key words: Canaryseed, Phalaris canariensis L. , cultivar description, glabrous
Structural Empirical Evaluation of Job Search Monitoring

To evaluate search effort monitoring of unemployed workers, it is important to take account of post&#8208;unemployment wages and job&#8208;to&#8208;job mobility. We structurally estimate a model with search channels, using a controlled trial in which monitoring is randomized. The data include registers and survey data on search behavior. We find that the opportunity to move to better&#8208;paid jobs in employment reduces the extent to which monitoring induces substitution toward formal search channels in unemployment. Job mobility compensates for adverse long&#8208;run effects of monitoring on wages. We examine counterfactual policies against moral hazard, like reemployment bonuses and changes of the benefits path.
Learning by Hiring, Network Centrality and Within-Firm Wage Dispersion

In this paper, we highlight knowledge as specific channel through which labour mobility affects conditional within-firm wage dispersion. We present a model in which workers acquire knowledge on the job and firms pursue a policy of learning-by-hiring. The latter generates workers flows that connect firms in a network. A firm’s position in the network depends on its capacity to absorb the tacit knowledge developed by other firms in the economy. The model predicts that firms central to the network, those with the highest absorptive capacity of tacit knowledge, have the highest wage dispersion. Using 1995-2001 Veneto (a region of Italy) matched employer-employee data, we map workers flows between firms and build the network formed by all the firms. For each firm, we assess its network centrality. In our data conditional within-firm wage dispersion turns out to be increasing in network centrality, confirming the prediction of the model.
Lean In or Lean Back: Does Higher Education Empower Women?

Empowering women and closing the gender gap are key issues for economic and social development. This paper explores whether and how higher education can empower women. Taking advantage of China's higher education expansion in the late 1990s, I examine the impact of higher education on increasing women's educational attainment, reducing gender stereotyping, promoting women in the labor market, and changing outcomes in the marriage market. The results show that the reform significantly increased higher educational attainment for both women and men. However, gender ideology became more traditional, especially for women. The regressive gender attitudes could be attributed to the findings that women's opportunities in both the labor market and marriage market became more disadvantaged compared to men after the expansion.