Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring range sizes of South-East Asian hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) : effects of scale, resolution and phylogeny

Aim The effects of resolution and spatial extent on range measures were explored in estimates of the geographic distribution of tropical hawkmoths. Furthermore, data were tested for phylogenetic autocorrelation. Location South-East Asia. Methods Various range measures, such as geographic information system (GIS)-supported range estimates, minimum convex polygons, latitudinal and longitudinal extents, and their products, were derived from original distribution records and compared to each other. A taxonomic classification of the species was used to analyse phylogenetic effects on range sizes. Results Range size measures exhibit a strongly right-skewed frequency distribution with many geographically restricted species and few widespread taxa. Rankings from GIS-supported, comprehensive range size estimates do not deviate greatly from more crude measurements of lower resolution. Comprehensive ranges and ranges within South-East Asia are correlated strongly, but already at this rather large scale the ranking of species changes considerably. Other measures of occupancy with an increasingly more localized consideration of ‘range’ show decreasing strengths of correlation. We found a weak, but significant, autocorrelation in range area data: related groups of species have ranges of similar size. Main conclusions Spatial resolution did not affect range ranking greatly in our data. However, macroecological studies based only on parts of species’ ranges must be viewed critically, particularly if their extent is small compared to comprehensive ranges. Phylogenetic non-independence of range size data must be considered in comparative analyses.
Management Evaluation for the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Fishery: An Integrated Bioeconomic Approach

AbstractWe integrated two existing biological models and a newly developed economic demand model to evaluate the biological and economic performance of alternative policies in the Chesapeake Bay blue crab Callinectes sapidus fishery subject to the requirement that yield and revenue be sustainable. The resulting model was able to compare outcomes of alternative management scenarios considered by policy makers. In order to provide insights into the impacts of relevant policy components in a management scenario, we regressed the sustainable outcomes, sustainable yield, and sustainable revenues on a set of policy components. A short fishing season for female crabs combined with a long fishing season for males appeared to increase sustainable yield and revenue. Among size limit policies, lower minimum limits for males, females, peelers, and soft-shell crabs appeared to reduce sustainable outcomes, while a restrictive maximum size limit for mature females seemed to improve fishery performance with respect to bo.
Effect of Soil Moisture on Oviposition by Childers Canegrub, Antitrogus parvulus Britton (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Ovipositing Childers beetles, Antitrogus parvulus Britton, exhibit preference for soils of certain moisture levels. In a choice trial, A. parvulus laid most eggs in soil at approximately—74 kPa (near field capacity), no or very few eggs in soil near wilting point or drier, and few eggs in soil above field capacity (approximately ‐5.7 kPa). Under no‐choice conditions most females retained their eggs if soil was near wilting point, oviposited immediately in soil near field capacity, and tended to extend egg‐laying in soil above field capacity. Females in very wet soil laid many eggs when soil was changed to near field capacity within 3 d. After 3 d there was very little egglaying response to a change to soil near field capacity.
Decentralization, Transfer Pricing and Tacit Collusion

Research in accounting traditionally regards transfer pricing as an intra-firm transaction problem. Within the context of a simple Cournot model, we demonstrate that firms can use transfer prices strategically as a collusive device. While firms are individually better off from a centralized organizational form with each internal division transferring intermediate goods at marginal cost, all firms benefit from a collusive agreement to organize along profit centers, transferring goods above marginal cost. This collusion yields roughly twice the competitive profits and is sustainable even when price or quantity collusion is not. This practice may also escape legal scrutiny while the same cost-shifting between regulated monopolists and their corporate affiliates is regarded as a major concern for regulators and researchers.
Contagion and Comovement in Technology Partnerships

We find that the stock market valuations of firms reflect information on their technology partnerships and that market performance and fundamentals of firms comove with peers engendered by these partnerships. Using granular, proprietary data on 22,040 technology outsourcing contracts implemented between 1989 and 2013, we document that the implementation of a strategic technology partnership situates the focal client and vendor in a larger community of clients and vendors with interdependent risks and payoffs that results in performance comovement within these communities. We further find that the portfolio of contracts of the focal firm, notably, compensation modes, moderates their comovement with the community. Fixed price [variable price] contracts, where the vendor [client] bears the risk of cost overruns and is the residual claimant of ex-post surplus, insulate the client [vendor] from performance shocks. Our results show that the stock market values technology partnerships and recognizes peer groups engendered by these partnerships that are not reflected in standard industry groupings. The results additionally support the potential shift in competition from between firms to between value networks.
Population genetics of Cerastoderma edule in Ria Formosa (southern Portugal): the challenge of understanding an intraspecific hotspot of genetic diversity

Coastal lagoons are highly variable environments that may act as hotspots of genetic diversity as a consequence of their ecological role as nursery habitats of marine species with both ecological and fisheries importance. The edible cockle (Cerastoderma edule) is a commercially important shellfish resource inhabiting coastal lagoons in Europe and their fisheries management urgently needs genetic studies to design appropriate strategies to promote the recovery of exploited populations. The aim of this study was to assess the C. edule genetic diversity and population structure at a small geographic scale, inside Ria Formosa coastal lagoon (southern Portugal) using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I sequences in six locations. Outcomes pointed to a common pattern of high haplotype diversity and non-significant genetic structuring inside the Ria Formosa lagoon. A high level of gene flow was detected between all localities and the presence of a single stock from a genetic point of view may be considered for fisheries management purposes. The existence of a high number of haplotypes and high values of haplotype diversity of C. edule in Ria Formosa lagoon could be consistent with the hypothesis that higher genetic diversity is expected in populations occurring in coastal lagoons, suggesting that lagoons could increase standing genetic variation and an adaptive potential of lagoon populations as an ecological response to a highly variable environment.
Shadow Union in Local Labor Markets and Capital Structure

This paper identifies an externality of a firm’s unionization that affects the capital structure decisions of non-unionized firms within a local labor market. We find that a union victory leads non-unionized firms to increase market leverage ratios by 0.9 to 1.3 percentage points. This "shadow union" effect is more pronounced when the probability of unionization rises in a larger margin and firms face higher union rents conditional on being unionized. The threat is credible enough to shape corporate financing decisions: shadow unions raise the wages of employees and increase the likelihood of subsequent union victories in the relevant labor market.
The Original Position of the Generative Nucleus in the Pollen Tetrads of Agropyron, Itea, Limnanthes, and Onosma, and its Phylogenetic Significance in the Angiosperms

Abstract In Agropyron pycnanthum, Onosma helveticum, Itea virginica, and Limnanthes douglasii, the positions of the nascent generative nuclei are lateral, proximal, distal, and lateral, respectively. This variable position is nevertheless governed by the “law of the longest distance”: In Angiosperms provided with aperturate pollen, the nascent generative nucleus appears at that point of the pollen wall which is furthest away from the exit point(s) of the pollen tube. The author relates this law to its biological and phylogenetic background.
Cost Based Transfer Pricing

This paper compares the performance of alternative cost-based transfer pricing methods. We adopt an incomplete contracting framework with asymmetric information at the trading stage. Transfer pricing guides intra-company trade and provides incentives for value-enhancing specific investments. We compare actual-cost transfer prices that include a markup over marginal costs with standard-cost transfer prices that are determined either by the central office ex-ante (centralized standard-cost transfer pricing) or by the supplying division at the trading stage (reported standard-cost transfer pricing). For the actual-cost methods, we show that markups based on the joint contribution margin (contribution-margin transfer pricing) dominate purely additive markups (cost-plus transfer pricing). We obtain the following results. (i) Centralized standard-cost transfer pricing dominates the other methods if the central office and the divisions ex-ante face low cost uncertainty. (ii) The actual-cost methods dominate the other methods if the central office and the divisions ex-ante face high cost uncertainty and later, at the trading stage, the buying division receives sufficient cost information. (iii) Reported standard-cost transfer pricing dominates the other methods if the central office and the divisions ex-ante face high cost uncertainty, and the buyer has insufficient cost information at the trading stage.
Pulsed Gastric Lavage: An Efficient Method of Removing the Stomach Contents of Live Fish

Abstract Laboratory and field tests of an improved water flushing method for removing stomach contents of live fish were conducted on largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and grass pickerel (Esox americanus vermiculatus) and compared with the suction pump, stomach flush, and induced regurgitation methods. Pulsed gastric lagave was not injurious to the fish and, of the methods tested, it enabled procurement of the most accurate samples through the entire range of predator sizes and types of prey foods.
Studies on the Structure of Chromosomes II. Chromosome Fibers as Revealed by Scanning Electron Microscopy

The higher order structure of chromosomes of Raji cells has been investigated with a field emission type scanning electron microscope after the chromosomes had undergone surface-spreading. Metaphase chromosomes were seen as a mass of fibers about 336±42 A in mean diameter with a range of 226 A to 429 A. Chromosome fibers had twisted loops with nodules. The organization of the fibers in the construction of the metaphase chromosomes was neither regular nor periodic. The kinetochore region was discernible as a clear constriction, but it had no characteristic structure except for several chromosome fibers parallel to the axis of the chromatids.
Volatility Persistence and Asymmetric Effect in Indian Stock Market: An Empirical Analysis

The present study analyses the attributes of randomness in Indian securities exchange. Unpredictability in the NSE and its underlying indices show highlights of mean reversion and a reasonable level of volatility perseverance, evaluations of which give a thought of the effect and length of a specific information stun to the market. The profits unpredictability is found to show huge leverage impact and uneven reaction. The present study revolves around the idea of volatility in stock market of India, to look at the amount of volatility persistence in the National stock exchange (NSE), and to inspect the presence of leverage impact in the NSE. The daily closing prices data of selected NSE indices from 1 April, 1995 to 31, December, 2018 are collected to examine the extentof asymmetric effect in Indian stock market. Through the present investigation we came to realize that CNX IT is increasingly unstable and furthermore shows abnormal conduct as it is progressively influenced by positive news though CNX 200 shows most elevated leverage effect and asymmetric reaction, additionally CNX SERVICE which is a record with high instability perseverance, and among all indices CNX FMCG shows least volatility persistence. Results will be helpful to market participants and all other stakeholders for future investments and further research on volatility can be extended to other segments (derivatives, swaps and other macroeconomic variables) using quintile regression and other advanced GARCH family models.
Estratégias na suplementação de vacas leiteiras no semi-árido do Brasil

The Brazilian semi-arid region has 928 km2 ranging from the northern portion of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo States, the semi-arid lands of Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceara, and Piaui States, and 45 counties from southeastern Maranhao State. Population is mainly concentrated in rural areas and the major occupation is agriculture and livestock production. Dairy production is one of the few options in these areas, mainly in northeast Brazil, where the feeding systems are based on cultivated forage crops and use of native vegetation, predominately the "Caatinga". These aspects give seasonal characteristics for the production on this region. Inadequate amount and distribution of rainfall in this region presenting strong spatial and seasonal variability and prolonged dry periods practically determines the need for supplementation feeding for dairy cows for production systems located in the semi-arid region. Thus, supplementation has been based on the use of forage resources adapted to the drought, by-products, residues from local agro-industry, and on concentrate feeding. Farmers are also using different options trying to reduce costs without losing productivity during the dry periods. Production systems such as "CBL" (Caatinga-Buffel Grass-Leucaena) and "Gloria System" have been proposed aiming to alleviate the adversities. In addition to these systems, the utilization of agro industrial by-products, crop residues, and native forage resources are important options. In this aspect, the forage cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill.) deserves special attention for its great adaptation, nutritive value, and productivity in the region.
An Analytical Formula for Vix Futures and Its Applications: Error Corrections and Replication

Zhu and Lian (Journal of Futures Markets, 2012) proposed the first closed-form formulas for VIX futures prices, whihch are conceptually appealing and easy to implement. Unfortunately, the paper is found to contain three kinds of errors. The main formula (9) for the price of futures misses the factor of 100 in two places. Consequently, the biggest reported RMSE of 3.230 by Zhu-Lian is significantly lower than the correct RMSE of 9.447; the biggest correct in-sample MPE of about 50% implies little practical value of Zhu-Lian. Further, the discretized equation set (14), which is used for estimating parameters, has variables with inconsistent units of time. As a result, the reported parameters could not be replicated. Lastly, the reported counts of VIX futures within three maturity-groups are bafflingly way off by between -26% and 48%. This short note corrects these mistakes, and tries to replicate the empirical work.
Managerial Social Networks Affect on Firm Performance: A Research in Five Star Hotels

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between external social networks and firm performance. For this purpose, the sample and method of research were determined. The effect of the characteristics of top manager’s social networks, such as the network size and the strength of ties, on firm performance, was measured. The data came from the survey completed by the top managers of five-star hotels in İstanbul and Antalya. First, explanatory factor analysis (AFA) for the construct validity of the scales and then reliability analysis (Cronbach’s alpha) were performed in the study. The regression analysis was used for methodology. According to the results, there is no relationship between the network size and firm performance. There is a positive correlation between the strength of the ties and firm performance. Furthermore, we found that there is a positive correlation between ties with government officials and firm performance. Both findings support and extend social network theory and firm performance literature.
Regression Tree Model for Analysis of Demand with Heterogeneity and Censorship

In this research we analyze new approach for prediction of demand. In the studied market of performing arts the observed demand is limited by capacity of the house. Then one needs to account for demand censorship to obtain unbiased estimates of demand function parameters. The presence of consumer segments with different purposes of going to the theatre and willingness-to-pay for performance and ticket characteristics causes a heterogeneity in theatre demand. We propose an estimator for prediction of demand that accounts for both demand censorship and preferences heterogeneity. The estimator is based on the idea of classification and regression trees and bagging prediction aggregation extended for prediction of censored data. Our algorithm predicts and combines predictions for both discrete and continuous parts of censored data. We show that our estimator performs better in terms of prediction accuracy compared with estimators which accounts either for censorship, or heterogeneity only. The proposed approach is helpful for finding product segments and optimal price setting.
The recent slowdown in bank lending in Spain: are supply-side factors relevant?

Using information from the balance sheets of Spanish banks between 1995 and 2009 matched to credit information at the bank-industry and bank-firm level, we estimate the average impact of current and anticipated changes in banks’ capital on lending to firms. We isolate the role of credit supply factors using the variation in capital growth associated with the bank-specific historical exposure to real estate development and its interaction with the change in house prices in the provinces where the banks operate. We control for the quality of borrowers by using region and industry fixed effects. A 1 % increase in capital growth increases business lending to non-real estate firms by between 0.7 and 0.8 %—a limited magnitude when set against the literature. The relatively small magnitude of credit supply factors may be explained by the weakness of loan demand in a context of deep recession.
Optimal Sequential Search

We introduce a simple new model of sequential search among finitely many options that fits many economic applications. Each payoff is the sum of a random “known factor” and a “hidden factor”, learned at cost. Weitzman (1979) solved the ex post Pandora’s box problem, given known factors. Ours is the ex ante model for estimation, unconditional on known factors, and so resolves major selection effects. <br><br>1. Search intensifies over time, as one increasingly exercises the current option, recalls a prior one, or quits. If one recalls, earlier options are recalled more often. <br><br>2. We solve a long open question in all search models: which stochastic changes lead one to search longer? Answer: more dispersed payoffs. <br><br>3. The stationary search model poorly approximates search with many options: If the known factor density lacks a thin tail (eg. exponential), the recall chance is boundedly positive with vastly many options. <br><br>4. Search lasts longer with more options. Hence, if low search frictions increase worker applicant pools of firms, vacancy duration increases.
Association of TLR4 gene polymorphism with mastitis resistance and susceptibility in Frieswal cattle

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are essential in the host defense against microbial pathogens. Individual TLRs recognize distinct structural components of pathogens and evoke inflammatory responses. In the present study, the amplicon of 316 bp of TLR4 gene was amplified in the thermal cycler (Gene Amp 6700, Applied Biosystem) using the primers of TLR4 gene and the genetic polymorphism was detected by Single Strand Conformation Ploymorphism (SSCP). The SSCP analysis of 316 bp region of TLR4 gene revealed similar type of SSCP patterns in healthy, subclinical and clinical mastitis cases suggesting that Frieswal cattle is monomorphic for TLR4 gene.
Bayesian Bandwidth Selection in Nonparametric Time-Varying Coefficient Models

Bandwidth plays an important role in determining the performance of local linear estimators. In this paper, we propose a Bayesian approach to bandwidth selection for local linear estimation of time-varying coefficient time series models, where the errors are assumed to follow the Gaussian kernel error density. A Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm is presented to simultaneously estimate the bandwidths for local linear estimators in the regression function and the bandwidth for the Gaussian kernel error-density estimator. A Monte Carlo simulation study shows that: 1) our proposed Bayesian approach achieves better performance in estimating the bandwidths for local linear estimators than normal reference rule and cross-validation; 2) compared with the parametric assumption of either the Gaussian or the mixture of two Gaussians, Gaussian kernel error-density assumption is a data-driven choice and helps gain robustness in terms of different specification of the true error density. Moreover, we apply our proposed Bayesian sampling method to the estimation of bandwidth for the time-varying coefficient models that explain Okun's law and the relationship between consumption growth and income growth in the U.S. For each model, we also provide calibrated parametric form of its time-varying coefficients.
Implicit Benefits and Financing

Family, social and business connections create implicit benefits between borrowers and lenders. We model how these benefits influence credit allocation, cost, and renegotiation between the borrower and the lender in case of delinquency. The optimal solution illustrates that financing with implicit benefits achieves lower financing costs, higher managerial effort, and better economic outcomes for both the borrower and the lender in a competitive market or in a monopoly market where the lender maximises profit. The results reconcile the empirical evidence that financing through family, social and business networks is prevalent and often associated with good economic results even though it can be destructive in some scenarios. The model also demonstrates that, since a non-contractual, non-legal-based environment can trigger ex-post non-pecuniary costs on the borrower and lender, only politically connected (or other powerful) players survive when these costs are large. Finally, informational and financial disadvantage due to the growing size and complexity of projects, and the breakdown of relationships in modern society may explain the decline of financing in social networks despite the advantages arising from implicit benefits.
Body composition and reproduction in mountain hares (Lepus timidus scoticus) in north‐east Scotland

Mountain hares in north-east Scotland are pregnant from Mid-February to mid-July, although breeding is at a peak from April to June when all adult females are either pregnant or lactating or both. The onset of reproduction coincides with the highest body fat composition and the end of the breeding season coincides with the greatest depletion of body fat.