Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blogs, Advertising and Local-Market Movie Box-Office Performance

We measure the effects of pre- and post-release blog volume, blog valence and advertising on the performance of 75 movies in 208 geographic markets of the U.S. We attribute the variation in blog effects across markets to differences in demographic characteristics of markets combined with differences across demographic groups in their access and exposure to blogs as well as their responsiveness conditional on access. We study the effects of pre-release factors on opening day box-office performance and of pre- and post-release factors on box-office performance one month after release. Our estimation accounts for confounding factors in the measurement of these effects via the use of instrumental variables. We find considerable heterogeneity in the effects across consumer and firm generated media and across geographic markets, with gender, income, race and age driving across-market differences. Release day performance is impacted most by pre-release blog volume and advertising, whereas post-release performance is influenced by post-release blog valence and advertising. Across markets, there is more variance in advertising and blog valence (post-release) elasticities than there is in blog volume (pre-release) elasticities. We identify the top 20 markets in terms of their elasticities to each of these 3 instruments. Further, we classify markets in terms of their sensitivities across these 3 instruments to identify the most sensitive markets that studios can target with their limited release strategies. Finally, we characterize the extent to which studios could have improved their limited release strategies by identifying the overlap between the actual release markets and the most responsive ones. At the time of first release, we find that studios cover only 53% of the most responsive advertising markets and 44% of the most responsive markets to pre-release blog volume in their limited release strategies, implying considerable room for improvement if these were the only metrics to assess those strategies.
Effects of Rotenone on Zooplankton Communities and a Study of their Recovery Patterns in Two Mountain Lakes in Alberta

The devastation and recovery of the zooplankton communities were studied in conjunction with the application of rotenone to two mountain lakes in Jasper National Park. Crustacean plankters were absent for about 6 months after treatment, but rotifers and net phytoplankton were never completely absent. All crustacean species except one reached prerotenone abundance in about 3 years, probably the minimum time for recovery in these lakes.The speed of recovery is likely related to fecundity, time of reproduction, and the presence of resistant stages. Diaptomus sicilis had not reached reproductive maturity when rotenone was applied, and it was the last species to recover to its original numbers.Some species not found in samples before application were found in small numbers afterwards, probably due in part to movement from the littoral into the limnetic zone. In both lakes, blooms of small cladocerans after treatment were soon supplanted by increases in large cladoceran numbers. Most variations in composition a.
Forum Shopping and Personal Bankruptcy

The dramatic increase in U.S. personal bankruptcy filings of the last fifteen years has focused attention on the wide disparities between different states' personal bankruptcy exemptions. These differences have been criticized both on the grounds of equity and also because they provide an incentive to move to a state with a higher exemption before declaring bankruptcy, that is to "forum-shop. " This paper focuses on the latter of these objections. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we estimate a Nested Logit model of the household migration decision. Our econometric approach specifically avoids the problem of endogenously induced bankruptcy filings by examining the effect of filing propensity, rather than the actual event of filing, on the tendency to migrate to a higher exemption state. We conclude that, while there is indeed evidence that considerations of bankruptcy laws do influence interstate migration, the actual effect is relatively modest. We estimate that, in any given year, roughly 4,500 moves to higher-exemption states are motivated by considerations of differences in bankruptcy laws; by way of comparison, this is roughly one quarter of the magnitude of recent estimates of welfare-induced migration. This suggests that the emphasis on differences in exemptions which has been a feature of recent attempts to reform the bankruptcy code is somewhat exaggerated.
Annual reproductive cycle of the Iriomote cat Felis iriomotensis

The Iriomote cat, Felis iriomotensis, is a small felid endemic to Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan. Little is known of its breeding ecology in either captivity or the wild. In this study we investigated the reproductive cycle from observations of the frequency of male urine marking, reproductive conditions and behaviors of females with young in the field, and with reference to previous reports related to breeding. Breeding of female Iriomote cats may not be seasonally restricted, although a mating peak was recognized between February and April. Females delivered litters between April and June, and maternal care continued until kittens reached four to 4.5 months of age.
Pre-Going Private Ownership Around the World

Going private transactions are often highly leveraged, and give rise to potential agency conflicts among existing shareholders. But who exactly are those shareholders, and under what legal conditions are these transaction more likely to occur? We examine ownership structure prior to going private transactions in 33 countries around the world from 2002 to 2014.The data indicate strong and consistent evidence that pre-going private ownership is characterized by higher institutional and corporate ownership. Family ownership lowers the probability of a public to private transaction. Stronger creditor rights increase the probability of going private particularly for whole company and institutional buyouts.
Plant-Level Dynamics and Aggregate Productivity Growth in the Meat Processing Industry: Evidence from Longitudinal Data

This paper examines how plant-level dynamics contribute to aggregate productivity growth in the Turkish meat processing industry. An aggregate productivity decomposition approach that utilizes plant-level longitudinal data is used to achieve this goal. Our results are consistent with the empirical literature in the sense that productivity enhancement within existing plants is the main source of aggregate productivity growth in this sector. However, our analysis generally suggest that plants that exit the meat processing industry tend to be more productive than entering plants, especially in the post-economic crisis period studied. Even though the latter insight is not consistent with the existing empirical literature, we show that these results tend to support Caballero and Hammour's (2000) contention that institutional factors such as industry structure (i.e. mature vs. infant industry) and economic crisis conditions (i.e. pre- vs. post-crisis periods) affects the nature of plant dynamics' contributions to aggregate productivity growth. Overall, our results reveal that industry-specific institutional factors must be taken into consideration when shaping policies aimed to improve and sustain aggregate productivity growth.
Cash-Settled Swaptions - A Review of Cash-Settled Swaption Pricing

In this paper we provide an outline of interest rate swaptions and how to price swaptions with different payoff or settlement types. Firstly we review the different settlement styles commonplace in financial markets. Secondly we review the swaption pricing formulae corresponding to each settlement type and review pricing considerations associated with each payoff. Thirdly we review the pricing of swaptions with different choices of settlement style. We outline swaption par-yield pricing considerations and review the cash-annuity factor. We note that par-yield cash-settlement is not arbitrage-free, yet despite this par-yield settlement is a standard swaption payoff in European markets. We emphasize par-yield settlement, since his method can be provide significant benefits and yet be quite opaque and often misunderstood. Par-yield settlement provides a simplified representation of the cash payoff of a swap, which is convenient for swaption payoff standardization, trade netting and the exchange clearing of swaptions. Trade netting can significantly reduce counterparty credit risk, associated XVA and capital charges, which can be substantial. Finally we review how to extend the par-yield and cash-annuity definitions to allow the pricing of swaptions with stubs and irregular coupons.
Mostly Deterred: An Episodic Analysis of The Israel-Gaza Conflict

Does violent retaliation to attacks by state and non-state actors lead to deterrence or, on the contrary, to counter-retaliation and protracted violence? We study this question in the context of Israel's conflict with Gaza between 2007 and 2014, using original security reports from the United Nations. We build an original dataset including over 16,000 Palestinian projectile launches and over 8,800 Israeli airstrikes, recorded with precise timing. Our findings weigh heavily against the argument that retaliation perpetuates this conflict. The conflict is characterized by short-lived episodes of violence separated by quiet interludes. Episodes tend to last less than one day and are followed by 3.5 days of calm, on average. Most episodes have no retaliation: 61% are one-sided, consisting only of provocations that go unanswered. Among episodes that do, the median number of successive counter-retaliations is only 3. Moreover, counter-retaliation does not induce subsequent episodes: 91% of episodes are initiated by Gazan militants’ attacks and 85% of episodes end with Gazan militants’ attacks. We find that Israeli retaliation strongly correlates with Gazans’ initial number of attacks and type of rockets fired. Yet, rather than provoking an immediate increase in violence or de-escalation, retaliation seems to have no short-term effect, as would be predicted by a model of long-term deterrence.
Identification by electron microscopy of marine nanoplankton from New Zealand, including the description of four new species

Abstract The marine nanoplankton of New Zealand has been examined for the first time by a combination of transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Of the c. 50 taxa found, practically all are known also from the Northern Hemisphere. As in this part of the world, the nanoplankton consists mainly of members of the systematic groups Chrysophyceae, Prymnesiophyceae (Haptophyceae), Loxo- and Prasinophyceae, and Choanoflagellida. Four new species are described: the prymnesiophytes Chrysochromulina novae-zelandiae and Phaeocystis scrobiculata, the choanoflagellate Bicosta antennigera, and Petasaria heterolepis, a flagellate of unknown affinities. Cells of the latter are covered by a scaly periplast, which contains both unmineralised and mineralised scales, of which the latter are siliceous (as demonstrated by X-ray microanalysis). In the New Zealand material 35 species could be identified, of which only the coccolithophorid Coccolithus huxleyi and the prasinophyte Pyramimonas grossii have been found in New .
Consequences for welfare and pension buffers of alternative methods of discounting future pensions*

Abstract We explore the implications of alternative methods of discounting future pension outlays for the valuation of funded pension liabilities. Measured liabilities affect the asset–liability ratio of pension funds and, thereby, their policies. Our framework for analysis is an applied many-generation OLG model describing a small open economy with heterogeneous agents and a two-pillar pension system (with pay-as-you-go and funded tiers) calibrated to that in the Netherlands. We compare mark-to-market discounting against various alternatives, such as discounting against a moving average of past market curves or a curve that is constant over time. The pension buffer is stabilized by adjusting indexation and contribution rates in response to demographic, economic and financial shocks in the economy. Mark-to-market valuation of liabilities produces substantially higher volatility in the pension buffers, but it also generates slightly higher aggregate welfare.
Effects of Various Inorganic Nitrogen Sources on the Growth and Biomass Production by Candida utilis Isolated from Fermenting Cassava Tubers

Candida utilis isolated from fermenting cassava tubers was cultivated in salt media containing sucrose as carbon source and different concentrations of ammonium sulphate, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate and urea used individually as sole nitrogen sources. The yeast was grown in a 100 ml shaken culture and harvested after a 10-day fermentation period. Variations in media composition significantly (P≤0.05) affected yeast biomass production. Ammonium sulphate at 0.1% (w/v) concentration resulted in the best biomass production of the isolate. Concentrations above 0.1% (w/v) did not result in correspondingly greater biomass yield. Urea gave better yields at lower concentrations but concentrations above 0.07% (w/v) resulted in lower biomass yield. Sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate were inferior to ammonium sulphate and urea as nitrogen sources for yeast biomass production. A kinetic model based on the variations of these inorganic nitrogen supplementation, level of aeration and subsequent biomass production by the isolate was proposed. Keywords : Candida utilis, Nitrogen supplementation, Biomass, Cassava fermentation, Yeast growth
Cross-species Amplification and Characterization of Microsatellite DNA Loci from Gallus gallus in Bambusicola thoracica

The Chinese Bamboo Partridge (Bambusicola thoracica) is a gamebird endemic to China. Ten polymorphic microsatellite (simple sequence repeat) markers were obtained through cross-species amplification for this partridge from its relative species Gallus gallus. The number of alleles per locus varied from 4 to 13. The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.1220 to 1.0000 and the expected heterozygosity from 0.1183 to 0.8898. Four microsatellite loci showed significant differences from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These polymorphic loci provide a valuable tool for the investigation of the phylogeography and conservation genetics of this partridge.
Global Macroeconomic Impacts of Demographic Change

The world has been experiencing dramatic demographic change since the 1950s, with almost all countries facing ageing challenges this coming century. However, the timing and speed of this demographic transition are significantly asymmetric across countries. This paper examines the impacts of global demographic change on macroeconomic conditions, international trade, and capital flows in major economies in a global multi-region and multi-sector general equilibrium model. We separately simulate demographic shocks in six regions of the world economy to understand how each shock individually affects the world economy and then combine these shocks to obtain the consequences of global demographic change. The paper finds that future demographic change will have significant impacts on each region’s GDP, which will change the landscape of the world economy. However, the spillover effects on GDP across countries are relatively small. In young economies such as emerging Asia and Africa, while economic growth will significantly benefit from demographic dividends, demographic change does not improve per capita GDP. In ageing economies such as Japan and Europe, population ageing will decrease the real interest rate. However, this impact will be offset by rising interest rates in young economies. Due to the differential real interest rates, capital will flow from more ageing to less ageing economies. These capital flows can be substantial and beneficial for all economies.
Performance of cotton aphid Aphis gossypii (Hemiptera: Aphididae) lineages on cotton varieties

Abstract The performance of three clonal lineages of Aphis gossypii Glover originating from central Greece was studied on six commercial cotton cultivars that differ with respect to leaf pubescence traits (Zeta-2, Zeta-5, Eva, Korina, Acala-SJ2 and Sindos-80). Two main laboratory experiments were conducted: (i) one clonal lineage was studied on all six varieties; and (ii) four varieties were assayed with two other lineages. Aphid development, fecundity, longevity and mortality were recorded and life-table characteristics estimated for all varieties. The results showed that leaf trichome density was significantly correlated with aphid performance (i.e. positive correlation with intrinsic rate of increase and fecundity, and negative correlation with developmental time) in both experiments. Leaf hairiness was at least partly responsible for the poorer performance in cotton aphid lineages. We hypothesise that other factors such as allelochemicals (e.g., gossypol, tannins), which are known to affect hemipteran insects, also might be involved.
Labor Market Earnings of Veterans: Is Time in the Military More Valuable or Less than is Civilian Experience?

We provide an updated assessment of the labor market experiences of veterans between 2005 and 2018, documenting three facts. First, we find that male and female veterans receive civilian earnings nearly equivalent to nonveterans, suggesting military experience is valued similarly to foregone civilian experience. Second, veterans are clustered in occupations with below average employment and real earnings growth, and in metropolitan areas with lower levels and growth of GDP per capita. Third, veterans experience lower returns to formal educational investments (e.g., college) than do nonveterans. Veterans realize earnings gains from professional licenses, but their returns are lower than for nonveterans.
Non-Equivalence of Measurement in Latent Variable Modelling of Multigroup Data: A Sensitivity Analysis

In cross-national surveys and other studies of multiple groups of respondents, an important methodological consideration is the comparability or equivalence of measurement across the groups. Ideally full equivalence would hold, but very often it does not. If non-equivalence of measurement is ignored when it is present, substantively interesting comparisons between the groups may become biased. We consider such biases in multigroup latent variable modelling of multiple-item scales, specifically latent class and latent trait models for categorical items. We use numerical sensitivity analyses to examine the nature and magnitude of the biases in different circumstances. The results suggest that estimates of multigroup latent variable models can be sensitive to assumptions about measurement, in that non-equivalence of measurement does not need to be extreme before ignoring it may substantially distort cross-group comparisons. Some factors which affect the degree of this bias are described, and results for latent class and latent trait models are compared. We also discuss the implications of such findings on the analysis of large cross-national surveys and other comparative studies.
Labour Supply Effects of Conditional Transfers: Analyzing the Dominican Republic’'s Solidarity Program

This paper studies the impact of the conditional cash transfer program Solidaridad on changes in the labor market of the Dominican Republic based on statistical data from the Evaluation of the Social Security Survey 2010. The estimation methodology is based on matching techniques, which can discern the impact on both benenefit-receiving and non-benefit-receiving households. The results show a negative but very small impact of the different components of the program on labor market indicators, especially for the components related to children. However, the estimates show some heterogeneity in the effects on the most vulnerable sectors of the population.
Willingness to Pay for Reductions in Morbidity Risks Under Anticipated Regret

Prevention decisions that reduce individuals’ morbidity risks are important, generally irreversible, and particularly difficult since they imply a trade-off between two important attributes: the safety and its cost. All those features make regret more likely to be anticipated. In this paper, we study the willingness to pay for reductions in morbidity risks within a framework of anticipated regret. As results, we find that with other things being equal, an individual who is disproportionately averse to large regrets has a higher willingness to pay than a standard expected utility individual. This notion of regret aversion has been shown to be relevant for regret theory to reconcile with many decision patterns which are not in line with standard expected utility theory. Moreover, the effect induced by this notion of regret aversion can be interpreted as if the regret averse individual overweighs risk reductions due to prevention, i.e., probability weighting effect. We further discuss how the resolution of uncertainty may affect the regret averse individual’s willingness to pay, and how the attribution effect in belief formation may bias its estimates.
Registration of ‘Jake’ Soybean

Journal of Plant Registrations, Vol 1, May–June 2007 29 J.G. Shannon and J.A. Wrather, University of Missouri-Delta Center, P.O. Box 160, Portageville, MO 63873; D.A. Sleper, H.T. Nguyen, and S.C. Anand, Division of Plant Sciences, 271-F Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211; R.T. Robbins, University of Arkansas, 2601 N. Young, Nematology Lab. , Fayetteville, AR 72704. Registration by CSSA. Received 25 May 2006. *Corresponding author (shannong@missouri.edu).
Specification Test for Threshold Estimation in Extreme Value Theory

A fundamental component in the modeling of a financial risk exposure is the estimation of the probability distribution function that best describes the true data-generation process of independent and extreme loss events that fall above a certain threshold. In this paper, we assume that, above the threshold, the extreme loss events are explained by an extreme value distribution. For that purpose, we apply the classical peaks-over-threshold method in extreme-value statistics. According to that approach, data in excess of a certain threshold is asymptotically described by a generalized Pareto distribution (GPD). Consequently, establishing a mechanism to estimate this threshold is of major importance. The current methods to estimate the thresholds are based on a subjective inspection of mean excess plots or other statistical measures; the Hill estimator, for example, leads to an undesirable level of subjectivity. In this paper, we propose an innovative mechanism that increases the level of objectivity of threshold selection, departing from a subjective and imprecise eyeballing of charts. The proposed algorithm is based on the properties of the generalized Pareto distribution and considers the choice of threshold to be an important modeling decision that can have significant impact on the model outcomes. The algorithm we introduce here is based on the Hausman specification test to determine the threshold, which maintains proper specification so that the other parameters of the distribution can be estimated without compromising the balance between bias and variance. We apply the test to real risk data so that we can obtain a practical example of the improvements the process will bring. Results show that the Hausman test is a valid mechanism for estimating the GPD threshold and can be seen as a relevant enhancement in the objectivity of the entire process.