Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparing and evaluating process‐based ecosystem model predictions of carbon and water fluxes in major European forest biomes

Process‐based models can be classified into: (a) terrestrial biogeochemical models (TBMs), which simulate fluxes of carbon, water and nitrogen coupled within terrestrial ecosystems, and (b) dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs), which further couple these processes interactively with changes in slow ecosystem processes depending on resource competition, establishment, growth and mortality of different vegetation types. In this study, four models – RHESSys, GOTILWA+, LPJ‐GUESS and ORCHIDEE – representing both modelling approaches were compared and evaluated against benchmarks provided by eddy‐covariance measurements of carbon and water fluxes at 15 forest sites within the EUROFLUX project. Overall, model‐measurement agreement varied greatly among sites. Both modelling approaches have somewhat different strengths, but there was no model among those tested that universally performed well on the two variables evaluated. Small biases and errors suggest that ORCHIDEE and GOTILWA+ performed better in simulating carbon fluxes while LPJ‐GUESS and RHESSys did a better job in simulating water fluxes. In general, the models can be considered as useful tools for studies of climate change impacts on carbon and water cycling in forests. However, the various sources of variation among models simulations and between models simulations and observed data described in this study place some constraints on the results and to some extent reduce their reliability. For example, at most sites in the Mediterranean region all models generally performed poorly most likely because of problems in the representation of water stress effects on both carbon uptake by photosynthesis and carbon release by heterotrophic respiration (Rh).
Is There a Link between GDP Growth and Equity Returns?

The analysis of a possible positive relationship between economic growth and stock market returns is interesting both theoretically and practically. Investors often wonder if they should assign higher weight to countries with higher economic performance, hoping that economic growth will eventually show up in equity returns. Although this relationship seems quite intuitive, historically long-run stock price growth has fallen short of GDP growth in many countries. In this bulletin, we use long-term equity data to analyze the steps leading from GDP to stock prices, and point out several factors that could explain why GDP growth is diluted before it can reach shareholders.
Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity: Evidence from Pakistan

This paper examines the investment-cash flow sensitivities (ICFS) controversy as a representative of financial constraints by investigating the panel data of 288 listed firms from Pakistan. Panel data methodology along with First Difference Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique is used for estimation. The result shows positively significant investment cash flow sensitivity. The ICFS also increases monotonically with the level of financial constraints. Additionally, result demonstrates that ICFS for constrained group is significantly higher relative to unconstrained group. The study has imperative implications for policy design and implementation.
Modelling Electricity Demand in Sudan Using Multiplicative Seasonal ARIMA and HOLT-WINTERS

Reliable forecast of energy demand represents a starting point in policy development and improvement of production and distribution facilities. This paper predicts the electricity demand in Sudan during the period from January 2006 to December 2016. For the purposes of these forecasts, multiplicative seasonal ARIMA and Holt-Winters models were used. The results show that the Holt-Winters exponential smoothing method, as opposed to one. An autoregressive model has been included in both the standard and the seasonal Holt-Winters methods to model the residuals and thus improve the forecast accuracy.
Urban Gradient Over Time: When Population Experiences a Shock

This study proposes an empirical analysis to assess the changes recorded by the urban gradient when population size suffers from an important and unexpected shock. To this end, we build an original pseudo-panel covering information for the city of Barcelona from 1902 to 2011. Despite the prediction of canonical theoretical models for monocentric cities, our results identify an increase in the size of the urban gradient due to the reinforcement of the attractiveness of the central business district (CBD) during the period of expansion of the population mostly led by the high-skill and immigrant communities.
Functional Genomics from a Plant Biochemist's Perspective

The lipids derived from plant seeds provide approximately 20% of dietary calories in developed nations. The fatty acid composition of these dietary oils can influence several components of long-term health. Almost all the genes involved in producing dietary oils are now isolated, allowing rational modifications in saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid content in foods. Several of these genes have been identified using genomic approaches. However, many questions about the regulation of plant lipid metabolism seem difficult to solve using conventional biochemical or molecular approaches. For example, we have little understanding of why or how some seeds produce >50% oil whereas other seeds store largely carbohydrate or protein. Major control over complex plant biochemical pathways may only become possible by understanding regulatory networks which provide ‘global’ control over these pathways. To begin to discover such networks and provide a broad analysis of gene expression in developing oilseeds, we have taken two genomic approaches: 1) We have sequenced 10,500 expressed sequence tags (EST) from developing Arabidopsis seeds and analyzed these using different bioinformatics tools. Approximately 30% of the ESTs have no match in dbEST, suggesting many represent mRNAs derived from genes that are specifically expressed in seeds. ‘Electronic northern’ analysis of EST abundance data has provided insights into the import of photosynthate into developing embryos, its conversion into seed oil and the regulation of this pathway. 2) We have produced microarrays which display ca. 4000 seed-expressed Arabidopsis genes. Sensitivity of the arrays is estimated at 1–2 copies mRNA/cell. The arrays have been hybridized with probes derived from seeds, leaves, and roots and analysis of expression ratios between the different tissues has allowed the tissue-specific expression patterns of many hundreds of genes to be described for the first time. Approximately 10% of the genes were expressed at ratios ≥10-fold higher in seeds than leaves or roots. We also identified several transcription factors, as well as kinases and phosphatases, whose expression changed during the seed development, and which may be involved in the regulation of the storage compound synthesis. Moreover, cluster analysis of the expression profiles established distinct groups of co-regulated genes.
Does a Local Bias Exist in Equity Crowdfunding?

We use hand-collected data of 20,460 investment decisions and two distinct portals to analyze whether investors in equity crowdfunding direct their investments to local firms. In line with agency theory, the results suggest that investors exhibit a local bias, even when we control for family and friends. In addition to the regular crowd, our sample includes angel-like investors, who invest considerable amounts and exhibit a larger local bias. Well-diversified investors are less likely to suffer from this behavioral anomaly. The data further show that portal design is important for attracting investors more prone to having a local bias. Overall, we find that investors who direct their investments to local firms more often pick start-ups that run into insolvency or are dissolved, which indicates that local investments in equity crowdfunding constitute a behavioral anomaly rather and a rational preference. Here again, however, portal design plays a crucial role.
Public priorities for sustainable forest management in six forest dependent communities of British Columbia

It is critical to understand how the public prioritizes multiple forestry values when establishing objectives for sustainable forest management. While this is a complex and difficult task, a necessary step is to elicit a broad range of public opinions in forest planning to ensure that decisions serve the needs of various forest stakeholders and society at large. This study seeks to understand how six forest dependent communities in British Columbia prioritize a number of attributes associated with sustainable forest management by using a simple survey-based measurement tool, the Thurstone scale. The results suggest that ecological attributes are a higher priority for survey respondents followed by quality of life, global warming, and economic considerations. This paper explores some of the ramifications of the priorities for sustain- able forest management measured in these six communities as well as implications for using the Thurstone scale in proc- esses like Public Advisory Groups. Resume´ : Il est crucial de comprendre comment le public etablit des priorites parmi les multiples valeurs forestieres lors- qu'il s'agit de fixer des objectifs d'amenagement forestier durable. Bien que cette tache soit difficile et complexe, il faut obtenir une vaste gamme d'opinions du public en planification forestiere pour s'assurer que les decisions satisfassent les diverses parties prenantes en foret et l'ensemble de la societe´. Cette etude cherche a comprendre comment six commu- nautes qui dependent de la foret en Colombie-Britannique etablissent des priorites parmi plusieurs attributs associesa ` l'amenagement forestier durable, en utilisant un outil de mesure simple basesur un sondage, soit l'echelle de Thurstone. Les resultats indiquent que les attributs ecologiques ont le plus haut niveau de prioritepour ceux qui ont repondu au sond- age, suivis par la qualitede vie et les considerations d'ordre economique. Cet article explore quelques-unes des consequen- ces de ces priorites pour l'amenagement forestier durable dans ces six communautes ainsi que les implications de l'utilisation de l'echelle de Thurstone dans les processus comme les groupes consultatifs publics. (Traduit par la Redaction)
Identification of retrotrans-poson families and analysis of their transcriptional activation in wheat

Variations in the reverse transcriptase (RT) domain were analyzed to clarify retrotransposon family structure and their evolution in wheat genome. RT-PCR was conducted by using primers based on the conserved RT peptide motifs of plant retrotransposons to amplify the RT domain of retrotransposons in the seedlings of wheat line Pm97034 treated with powdery mildew fungus. High level of heterogeneity was detected in 51 (RT1-51) clones randomly selected and the identity of nucleotide sequence among them ranged from 75.4% to 97.9%. These sequences, in combination with previously identified seven representatives from wheat retrotransposon families (families 1–7), were used to construct a composite phylogenetic tree. Three new families, designated family 8 to family 10, were identified. Famliy 8 formed before divergence of the Pooideae subfamily and was regarged as an ancient retrotransposon family. Some members of family 4 and family 7 had transcriptional activativity, and were present with multiple copies in wheat and its related species.
Mapping and valuing habitat services: two applications at local scale

The importance of habitat services is recognised as crucial, particularly in respect of land-use planning and land management. To test an approach for valuing habitat services at a local scale, two case studies were done. In these studies we adopted the principle that both the physical and biological characteristics of an area are strictly related to its economic value, which will vary according to the environmental indicators that describe the area itself. Both case studies are located in the north-east of Italy. Biophysical mapping and monetary valuation were carried out in different ways raising a number of issues, such as where to start in terms of data provision; how to define/whether to keep the minimum reference unit; how to choose the proper environmental indicators and, eventually, calibrate them; how to choose the most effective valuation technique; how to assign weights to quantitative/qualitative classifications in order to distribute monetary value over space; and how to solve certain technic.
Contrasting leaf phenology of woody species of dry tropical forest

We studied selected leaf traits [leaf area (LA), leaf water content (LWC), leaf fresh weight (LFW), leaf dry weight (LDW), specific leaf area (SLA) and chlorophyll content] of eight woody species (Shorea robusta, Buchanania lanzan, Diospyros melanoxylon, Lagerstroemia parviflora, Lannea coromandelica, Terminalia tomentosa, Holarrhena antidysenterica and Lantana camara) dominant at four sites in a dry tropical deciduous forest over complete two annual cycles (2008–2010). Our results showed that leaf traits varied across species (1.7–11.5 fold), months (1.2–1.5 fold) and sites (1.1–1.3 fold). However, leaf traits showed smaller variation between sites than between species. Leaf lifespan varied from 7 months (L. coromandelica) to 12 months (S. robusta). On the same sites, species differed in the length of deciduous period. The maximum LA, LDW, LFW and LWC were recorded for the semi-evergreen species, SLA for long-deciduous species and chlorophyll content for short-deciduous species, respectively. The coefficient of variation was maximum for LDW and minimum for chlorophyll content. Among the eight woody species, T. tomentosa exhibited the greatest LA, LDW, LFW and LWC. LA, LWC, LFW, LDW, SLA, LD, SD, MD & SE confirm.
Currency Factors

We examine the ability of existing and new factor models to explain the comovements of G10 currency changes, measured using “currency baskets. ” A clustering technique reveals a clear two-block structure in currency comovements, with the first block containing mostly the dollar currencies and the other the European currencies. A factor model incorporating this “clustering” factor and two additional factors, a commodity currency factor and a “world” factor based on trading volumes, fits currency basket correlations much better than extant factors, such as value and carry, do. In particular, it explains on average about 60% of currency variation and generates a root mean squared error relative to sample correlations of only 0.11. The model also fits comovements in emerging market currencies well. Economically, the correlations between currency baskets underlying the factor structure are inversely related to the physical distances between countries. This paper was accepted by Kay Giesecke, finance.
Entrepreneurship and Inequality: The Role of Incumbent Firms

Using an exogenous variation in entry barriers, we develop and test a theory of wage inequality due to higher levels of startup entry. Researchers have argued that startups generate greater inequality in the labor market because new ventures lead to a higher within- and between-firm dispersion of wages. We propose an alternative explanation: a competitive response of incumbent firms to the threat of talent loss. When threatened by startup entry, incumbents will reallocate rewards among their own workers to prevent the loss of valuable employees to newly founded firms, thus generating greater wage inequality. We exploit a natural experiment provided by deregulation in Portugal and its effect on wage inequality between 1995 and 2009. Using a difference-in-differences methodology we find that, following an exogenous rise in the threat of startup entry, wage inequality increased. This threat further resulted in wider disparities in wages between high and low earners, as the former experienced greater increases in their bargaining power than the latter. Finally, increases in wage inequality inside incumbent firms were amplified in industries with higher rates of mobility to startups and greater human-capital intensity.
Characterization of resistance response of pea (Pisum spp.) against rust (Uromyces pisi)

Components of resistance to the pea rust (Uromyces pisi) were studied at the histological level in seedlings of seven pea (Pisum spp.) accessions showing partial resistance under field conditions. Resistance was characterized macroscopically by an increased latent period and a decreased infection frequency in spite of a compatible interaction (high infection type). Histological investigations revealed little differences among accessions in spore germination and appressoria formation, differences being more evident once the stomata were penetrated by the infection structures. Resistance was mainly due to a restriction of haustorium formation with significant levels of early aborted colonies in accessions IFPI3260, PI347321 and PI347347. Furthermore, a reduction in the number of haustoria per colony, hyphal tips per colony and smaller colony size were found in all genotypes studied. Resistance was not associated with early- or late-acting hypersensitivity in any of the genotypes studied.
A dichotomous key for the identification of common British wild flower families

This article argues the need for, and provides, a dichotomous single access key for the identification of common British wild flower families. A minimum of technical vocabulary is used while at the same time retaining most of the recent botanical names of families. The key provides a user-friendly opportunity for school pupils to become familiar with wild flower families.
A Unified Market Model for Swaptions and Constant Maturity Swaps

Internal-rate-of-return (IRR) settled swaptions are the main interest rate volatility instruments in the European interest rate markets. Industry practice is to use an approximation formula to price IRR swaptions based on Black model, which is not arbitrage-free. We formulate a unified market model to incorporate both swaptions and constant maturity swaps (CMS) pricing under a single, self-consistent framework. We demonstrate that the model is able to calibrate to market quotes well, and is also able to efficiently price both IRR-settled and swap-settled swaptions, along with CMS products. We use the model to illustrate the difference in implied volatilities for IRR-settled payer and receiver swaptions, the pricing of zero-wide collars and in-the-money (ITM) swaptions, the implication on put-call parity, and the issue of negative vega. These findings offer important insights to the ongoing reform in the European swaption market.
How Much Is Your Vote? Opportunistic Business Cycles of Grant Expenditures in Indonesia’s Local Election

The opportunistic political cycle’s theories argued that the incumbent raises the visible expenses in the election time. The paper presents an alternative case that the public planning cycle impedes the incumbent to hike these expenditures. As a short-cut, the incumbent prefers to increase the grants to the voters, which can be comprehended as the vote-buying action. The paper tests the argument by using Indonesia local election and grants spending data from 2008 to 2013. Through treating the endogeneity of incumbency, the analysis results suggest that when the incumbent is participating in the election, the increase in these expenses are observed. Moreover, the hike of grant expenditures is mediated if the incumbent is in a loose electoral contest, where the political concentration is high. In the opposite, the grant expenditures increase to a greater extent if the incumbent participates in a tight election.
Deliberation and Epistemic Democracy

Abstract We study the effects of deliberation on epistemic social choice, in two settings. In the first setting, the group faces a binary epistemic decision analogous to the Condorcet Jury Theorem. In the second setting, group members have probabilistic beliefs arising from their private information, and the group wants to aggregate these beliefs in a way that makes optimal use of this information. During deliberation, each agent discloses private information to persuade the other agents of her current views. But her views may also evolve over time, as she learns from other agents. This process will improve the performance of the group, but only under certain conditions; these involve the nature of the social decision rule, the group size, and also the presence of “neutral agents” whom the other agents try to persuade.
Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic

The composition of the terrestrial Antarctic flora and fauna and the distribution patterns of a number of species and of the principal vegetation types is now reasonably well established, at least in outline, for the Antarctic Peninsula region and the areas about McMurdo Sound as well as for some areas around the coastal ranges of East Antarctica. Detailed research at Signy Island has provided information concerning the biomass and productivity of certain vegetation types, decomposer organisms, microbivores, and invertebrate herbivores and predators. The main pathways of energy and nutrient within the terrestrial study sites can be regarded as reasonably established. Net annual production locally reaches very high levels (up to 800 g m -2 ). Only a tiny part of this productivity is consumed by herbivores, the greater part passing to the decomposers or persisting as peat. Most of the animals are microbivores, or graze on fungi, and in turn sustain the small number of invertebrate predators. Analysis of the range of habitats even on Signy Island indicates however that the sites for which detailed ecological information is available represent only a part of the range of environmental and ecological variation. The island is in fact characterized by a very high level of within-site diversity, some of it on a very small scale. Similarly, recent research which permits ecological comparisons with the sub-Antarctic islands of South Georgia and Macquarie, and with the McMurdo area, confirms that Signy Island displays only a small part of the very large range of diversity within the Antarctic regions as a whole. It is a reasonably representative sample of the maritime Antarctic zone in the Antarctic Peninsula region where conditions are particularly favourable for terrestrial life. Its ecological features resemble most closely those of the South Shetland Islands (except over permeable volcanic rocks) and the Palmer Archipelago on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Very different plant and animal communities occur over much of the McMurdo Sound region and in the inland ranges of East Antarctica. Some general statements can now be made about the relationships between terrestrial Antarctic eco-systems and climatic, edaphic and historical factors. There is a clearly marked attenuation of the vegetation and fauna and simplification of the ecological systems as one moves towards cold, arid continental conditions. But the biota of the maritime Antarctic and the sub-Antarctic islands is more impoverished than ecological factors alone would indicate, because of the isolation of these land habitats, many of which have only recently been deglaciated. If present environmental conditions persist, a slow increase in the complexity of these ecological systems is to be expected and in some areas, especially the subantarctic islands, this process is being accelerated by human influence.