Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of a clear-cut harvest on soil respiration in a jack pine - lichen woodland

Quantification of the components of ecosystem respiration is essential to understanding carbon (C) cycling of natural and disturbed landscapes. Soil respiration, which includes autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration from throughout the soil profile, is the second largest flux in the global carbon cycle. We measured soil respiration (soil CO2 emission) at an undisturbed mature jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) stand in Saskatchewan (old jack pine, OJP), and at a formerly continuous portion of the stand that was clear-cut during the previous winter (clear-cut, CC). Tree harvesting reduced soil CO2 emission from ~22.5 to ~9.1 mol CO2 cdot m-2 for the 1994 growing season. OJP was a small net sink of atmospheric CO2, while CC was a net source of CO2. Winter emissions were similar at both sites. Reduction of soil respiration was attributed to disruption of the soil surface and to the death of tree roots. Flux simulations for CC and OJP identify 40% of CO2 emission at the undisturbed OJP site as near-surface .
Reluctant Regulation

We study the effect of state ownership on the market-to-book ratios of publicly traded European utilities observed from 1994 to 2005. We find that when the company is subject to independent regulation, state ownership is positively associated with firm value. This effect is strong and significant in countries where weak checks and balances and political fragmentation do not constrain the power of the executive. We conclude that where political institutions are weak, politicians imperfectly delegate powers to regulatory agencies in order to benefit state-owned firms.
SCREENING OF PHYTOPHAGOUS INSECTS FOR BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF WEEDS

Abstract It is necessary to demonstrate the host specificity of an exotic phytophagous insect before introducing it for the biological control of a weed. The widely-used "starvation test" made on economic plants is considered inadequate for this purpose and we propose that studies should be broadened to include the following: (1) study of the insect’s biology, including host–plant records, with particular attention to adaptations likely to restrict the host range, (2) review of the plants attacked by related insects, (3) determination of the laboratory host range of the insect, (4) investigation of the chemical or physical basis of host–plant recognition, (5) starvation tests on economic plants to confirm the limits of the previously established host range, (6) establishment of the insects’ potential effectiveness for weed control. A limited amount of feeding on economic plants in the laboratory is not reason for rejection, if other criteria show the insect has a high degree of specificity.
Delegated Contracting

We consider a single-principal/multi-agent model to investigate the principal's preferences over delegated contracting. The analysis extends the single-agent/multi-task LEN model in Feltham and Xie (1994) to a multi-agent/multi-task context. We consider full-commitment contracts, i.e., the principal is assured that his contract for each agent is implemented, and analyze the principal's delegation choice to authorize a senior agent to contract with a junior agent based on reports that are only available to the agents. Despite the full-commitment assumption, the agents' incentives to write a decentralized contract are driven by their incentives to share risk, and by their incentives to re-allocate their effort choices, i.e., the two frictions that arise in a limited-commitment setting (Feltham and Hofmann, 2007a). We find that there are benefits and costs to delegated contracting, i.e., establishing a decentralized performance evaluation in addition to a centralized performance evaluation may be detrimental to the principal. However, a decentralized performance evaluation is likely to be beneficial if the senior agent is evaluated based on an aggregate report.
Behavioral Economics: A New Look at Income Inequality and the Growing Wage Gap

Behavioral economics has been growing as a powerful tool to explain much of our life. Although people are often irrational in making their decisions, they are very predictable. In this paper, we offer an extension of the theory about how the human overvaluation of what they have (the high price of ownership) and the human fear of loss influence their decision-making process. Also, we argue for the U-curve relationship between the amount of money spent and the efforts (measured by time) that people spend before spending the money. Our theory offers new insights into why efficiency wages are prevalent, why income inequality is larger than expected, and why the growing wage gap is inherent in many countries.
The Society for Ecological Restoration

Last week I met Mabel, a tireless promoter of conservation and habitat restoration near Houston, Texas. At eighty-nine years of age she moves slowly, but her enthusiasm is undiminished. Cataracts have dimmed her eyesight, but her vision remains clear and determined. Mabel described magical places and remarkable people that forever changed her life. But mostly she described the power of knowledge, enthusiasm, friendships, and collaborations to achieve the goals of conservation and restoration. The collective capabilities and influence of like-minded individuals and organizations can have remarkable and lasting impacts. Although I had planned to share my vision with Mabel, I came away inspired by hers. In my first editorial as Chair of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), I’ll briefly describe a few ways SER is spreading knowledge and fostering the friendships and collaborations that promote restoration. The Society for Ecological Restoration seeks “to promote ecological restoration as a means of sustaining the diversity of life on Earth and reestablishing an ecologically healthy relationship between nature and culture. ” An enthusiastic and knowledgeable membership is our greatest strength, and most of our successes involved collaborations with like-minded organizations. We continue to seek new collaborations—both formal and informal—in pursuit of our collective vision.
Age-Related Changes of the Haematological Profile in Green Iguana ( Iguana iguana rhinolopha )

Pejfiilova S. , Z. Knotkova, Z. Knotek, V. Vrbas: Age-related Changes of the Haematological Profile in Green Iguana (Iguana iguana rhinolopha). Acta Vet Brno 2004, 73: 305-312. Most haematological trials focusing on green iguanas have had the form of one-off blood sample-taking analysis. Our project therefore set out to perform a long-term ontogenetic trial on blood-related animals kept in identical conditions. The trial involved 11 green iguanas ( Iguana iguana rhinolopha), 5 males and 6 females, from a single clutch. The reptiles were kept in experimental terraria with a specific light regime (12 h/12 h), at temperature ranging from 24 to 35 °C and air humidity from 60 to 80%. The health status of the iguanas was monitored at regular intervals. At the age of 14 to 36 months, the iguanas were sampled for blood at intervals of at least 30 days. Total red blood cell and white blood cells counts were performed manually, using haemocytometer with the Natt and Herrick’s solution; packed cell volume (PCV) was established using the microhaematocrit method; haemoglobin concentration was determined spectrophotometrically by using a standard cyanmethaemoglobin method. The leukocyte differential counts were evaluated and the mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were established. No seasonal changes of the haematological indices were observed. No significant differences in the haematological indices between male and female subpopulations were found. As to the number of erythrocytes, a statistically significant drop ( p < 0.01) was observed comparing the data at 14 to 15 months of age (1.64 ± 0.58; 1.17 ± 0.18 10 12 /l) with those at 34 to 36 months (1.01 ± 0.14; 0.88 ± 0.12; 0.93 ± 0.08 10 12/l). Apart from that, we recorded a statistically significant (p < 0.01) drop in packed cell volume (PCV) comparing the figures at 14 to 18 months (0.39 ± 0.04; 0.38 ± 0.03; 0.39 ± 0.04 l/l) with those obtained at 34 to 35 months of age of the animals (0.32 ± 0.03; 0.35 ± 0.02 l/l). On the other hand, our results confirmed a statistically significant ( p < 0.01) rise in haemoglobin concentration comparing the data at 23 to 24 months (73.1 ± 7.2; 64.5 ± 8.8 g/l) with those at 35 to 36 months (92.5 ± 7.4; 94.0 ± 4.6 g/l). A similar statistically significant rise (p < 0.01) was confirmed for computed red cell indices (MCV, MCH, MCHC), too. The physiological basis underlying these changes remains to be examined in the future. Reptiles, blood, erythrocytes, haemoglobin, leukocyte differential counts
L’Attualità Di Un Dissenziente: L’Idea Di Sviluppo in Albert O. Hirschman (The Relevance of a Dissenter: The Idea of Development in Albert O. Hirschman)

<b>Italian Abstract:</b> L'articolo fa parte del numero speciale della rivista, comprendente gli atti del convegno "Albert Hirschman Scienziato sociale" tenutosi a Roma presso l'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. L'autore discute la natura dissenziente del pensiero di Hirschman: contro l'ortodossia economica, contro l'eterodossia, e, in un certo senso, la sua natura auto-dissenziente. <b>English Abstract:</b> The article is part of the special issue of the journal, including the proceedings of the conference "Albert Hirschman scienziato sociale" held in Rome at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. The author discusses the dissenting nature of Hirschman's thought: against economic orthodoxy, against the heterodoxy, and, in a sense, its self-dissenting nature.
The importance of the type and time of inoculation and assessment in the determination of resistance in Brassia napus and B. juncea to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) is a significant agricultural problem worldwide. Finding sources of resistance is crucial to the ongoing search for better management of this disease. Brassica germplasm from Australia, China and India was screened for resistance to SSR under Western Australian field conditions following stem inoculation, application of a spray of mycelial suspension, or as a consequence of myceliogenic germination originating from sclerotia resident in soil. Significant differences in response were observed among 53 genotypes using each of the three screening methods. There was a variable impact of the time of inoculation on the disease level depending upon time of assessment post-stem inoculation. However, this impact could be reduced to an insignificant level provided the assessment after stem inoculation was delayed until 3 weeks post-inoculation. The results of these studies indicate that the use of appropriate inoculation and assessment methods could significantly reduce variability in the responses commonly observed in screening for resistance in crop plants against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
Direct versus indirect effects of habitat reduction on the loss of avian species from tropical forest fragments

Tropical forest fragments typically decrease in avian diversity at rates inversely related to area. However, the mechanisms by which area reduction drives avian species loss remain poorly understood. Changes in habitat area may directly lead to species loss through stochastic fluctuations of reduced populations. Alternatively, area‐dependent changes in top‐down and bottom‐up processes associated with fragmentation may indirectly lead to accelerated avian extinctions. For example, on land‐bridge islands in Lago Guri, Venezuela, fragmentation has resulted in complex changes in the biotic environments through altered abundances of nest predators and generalist herbivores. Using path analysis, we quantified the relative importance of these indirect versus direct effects of area reduction on the rates of avian species loss from 11 fragments during the period 1993–2003. Area reduction had a direct effect on species loss but this was relatively minor compared with indirect effects, especially those mediated through changes in herbivore abundances: species loss was slowed on islands occupied by hyperdense howler monkeys and accelerated on islands with leaf‐cutter ants but lacking howlers. The effects of herbivores on bird species loss are likely indirect and resulting from bottom‐up processes. The primacy of indirect effects at Lago Guri suggests that the loss of species from forest fragments may be driven by active biotic processes (i.e. changes in trophic structure) and is not only a passive response to reduction in habitat area per se. These findings have important implications for the design and management of reserves aimed at protecting birds and other threatened species.
Why Dividend-Growth Regressions Don't Provide Stronger Evidence of Return Predictability

When aggregate stock market returns are directly regressed on the dividend-price ratio, the statistical evidence supporting the hypothesis that returns are predictable is mixed. One response in the literature has been to employ indirect return predictability tests, which use an approximate present-value identity to transpose the null hypothesis that returns are unpredictable onto dividend-growth forecasting regressions. I first show analytically that indirect tests are identical to direct tests if approximation error is ignored, and that the presence of this error is likely to reduce the power of indirect tests. I then verify empirically that indirect tests do not provide stronger evidence of return predictability by bootstrapping asymptotically pivotal test statistics, which guarantee more accurate inferences in finite samples. Using the same approach, I also show that long-horizon return predictability tests produce results that are nearly identical, at all horizons, to tests that use one-period regressions. Finally, I make several methodological contributions that are more broadly applicable to predictive regressions.
Third Party Intervention and Strategic Militarization

Codified at the 2005 United Nations World Summit, the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect articulates an ideal of international interventions motivated by compassion for victims and a desire to bring stability to hot-spots around the world. Despite this consensus, practitioners and scholars have debated the importance of unintended consequences stemming from the expectation of third party intervention. We analyze how third party intervention shapes the incentives to arm, negotiate settlements, and fight wars in a parsimonious game theoretic model. Among the unintended consequences we find: interventions that indiscriminately lower the destructiveness of war increase the probability of conflict and increasing the cost of arming makes destructive wars more likely. Other interventions, however, can have much more beneficial effects and our analysis highlights peace-enhancing forms of third party intervention. From a welfare perspective, most interventions do not change the ex ante loss from war, but do have distributional effects on the terms of peace. As a result R2P principles are hard to implement because natural forms of intervention create incentives that make them largely self-defeating.
The Distribution of Alpha-Radioactivity in Native Vegetation

1. Analysis of the soil and of the plants in a variety of plant communities in Wisconsin and the southern Appalachian Mountains for alpha-emitting substances showed that a considerable concentration occurred in the A0 soil layer. This concentration was greatest in coniferous forests growing on loess-free, igneous soils in cool climates. Such forests had an acid, mor humus, and the apparent accumulation was correlated with certain unknown properties of the humus, since the tree species showed uniform and relatively low concentrations in their living leaves. The humus beneath hemlock trees showed the greatest alpharadioactivity. 2. A number of other rare elements were similarly concentrated in the mor humus of coniferous forests, including copper, gallium, lead, and zirconium. The high concentrations reached by these elements and the radioactive substances, indicate that the immediate soil environment of tree seedlings and many forest herbs may be very different from that expected from ordinary soil analyses in the region.
A Theory of Government Intervention and Financial Fragility

This paper studies a model in which banks decide on the projects in which they invest, and the banks to which or from which they obtain loans. Thus, the links (network) created between banks is endogenous. Each bank is characterized by parameters which define the return on its projects, the withdrawal rate of its depositors and its equity available for investments. Maturity mismatch of balance sheets forces a fraction of assets to be prematurely liquidated, at a fire sale cost. The paper focuses on the impact of government intervention, which alleviates this cost by increasing the recovery rate of assets. The fragility of a network is measured by the number of bank failures following shocks of two kinds: first a shock to a single bank, second a simultaneous shock to all banks. The first leads to a ranking of the banks similar to that used by Google to rank websites: the higher its ranking the greater the degree of vulnerability induced by the bank. The vulnerability of the network to simultaneous shocks depends on the probability distribution of the banks characteristics: the more dispersed the distribution the greater its vulnerability. Government intervention increases the vulnerability of the network, the increase being greater the more dispersed the characteristics of the banks. Banking systems with similar leverage can have different degrees of vulnerability, highlighting the importance of networks.
La Duración Del Desempleo De Los Jóvenes Y Los “Ninis” En Cali-Colombia (The Duration of Youth Unemployment and the 'Ninis' in Cali)

<b>Spanish Abstract:</b> Este artículo discute las características de la duración del desempleo de los jóvenes caleños entre 2012 y 2013. Los resultados muestran que los jóvenes afrodescendientes, las mujeres y vivir en ciertas comunas aumentan la probabilidad de durar más tiempo desempleado. Además, analiza si la etnia, la educación, la ubicación en ciertas comunas, ser mujer, ser migrante aumenta o reduce la probabilidad de que un joven sea “nini” (ni trabaja ni estudia). <b>English Abstract:</b> In this article, we discuss the characteristics of the employment duration for young people in Cali 2012-2013. Our results show that the Afro-descendent female youth and those residing in communas or slums have a higher probability of unemployment duration. On the other hand we analyze how ethnicity, women, location in a specific “Comuna”, Migrant status impacts the probability of NEET¸ conditions (Not in Employment, Education or Training).
Application of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide to Fruit and Vegetables: Extraction, Processing, and Preservation

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) has been found to be a valuable technology for processing and preservation of fruit and vegetables. It has been employed for the inactivation of microorganisms and enzymes in fruit and vegetable products such as juices, purees, and smoothies. SCCO2 is also an effective and green technology for the extraction of bioactive compounds (carotenoids, flavonoids, phenols, etc.) from fruit and vegetables, owing to the relatively low temperature used and the production of extracts without organic solvents. The extraction capability and range of molecules extracted by SCCO2 can be further improved by a reduction in particle size of the extraction substrate and by incorporating the use of solvents. Although high capital costs are associated with SCCO2 technology, operating costs are relatively low. This paper reviews recent developments in the application of SCCO2 specifically in the fruit and vegetable processing industries. Given the strong benefits of SCCO2 technology and the success of niche commercial applications to date, it is likely that this technology will be increasingly adopted in the fruit and vegetable industries.
Effects of Dietary Lipids on Growth and Feed Utilization of Jade Perch, Scortum barcoo

To examine the effects of dietary lipids on the growth and feed utilization of jade perch juveniles, Scortum barcoo, diets containing 36.3% crude protein supplemented with increasing lipid levels (6, 9, 12, and 15% of the dry matter) were used to feed triplicate groups of 30 fish for 60 d. At the end of the experiment, more than 95% fish survived well from all diet groups (P > 0.05). Measurements on the weight gains and the daily specific growth rates indicated that fish fed with diets of 12 and 15% lipids exhibited higher growth rates (P 0.05). Together, increasing lipid levels in fish diets was effective to improve fish growth, feed efficiency, and protein utilization.
Do Federal Reserve Communications Help Predict Federal Funds Target Rate Decisions?

We explain federal funds target rate decisions using macroeconomic variables and Federal Reserve communication indicators. Econometrically, we employ an ordered probit model of a Taylor rule to predict 75 target rate decisions between 1998 and 2006. We find, first, that our communication indicators significantly explain target rate decisions and improve explanatory power in and out of sample. Second, speeches by members of the Board of Governors and regional presidents have a statistically significant and equal-sized effect, whereas the lessfrequent monetary policy reports and congressional hearings are insignificant. Third, our findings are robust to variations in the specification, including changes in the communication strategy. Finally, our communication indicator based on Federal Reserve speeches performs better in explaining target rate decisions than do newswire reports of Fed communications.
How Obesity Can Affect Productivity? The Case of Malaysia

This paper shows how obesity can affect the productivity of any country. In our case, we evaluate the specific case of Malaysia. The same research evaluates the obesity levels among the three largest races of Malaysia such as Malay, Indians, and Chinese. The main objective of this research is to evaluate if exist any relationship between obesity and productivity, then we try to probe through compare our new index and the growth in labor productivity. Hence, this new index is entitled “The National Obesity Behavior Index (NOB-Index). ” The NOB-Index offers the possibility to evaluate and monitoring expansion or contraction of obesity on the national and regional level. Finally, the same document is given a serial of recommendation and policies to solve this deep health problem in Malaysia.
Mycobiota and ochratoxin A in raisins purchased in Hungary

Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium species. This mycotoxin is a common contaminant of various foods including cereal products, spices, dried fruits, coffee, beer and wine. Besides cereal products, goods of grape origin contribute significantly to ochratoxin exposure of humans. The ochratoxin content and mycobiota of raisins purchased in Hungarian outlets were examined in this study. Ochratoxin A content was examined by an immunochemical technique, and the results were confirmed by HPLC analysis using fluorescent detection. Altogether 20 raisin samples were analyzed. Ochratoxin A was detected in all but two samples with ochratoxin concentrations ranging from 0 to 6.2 mg kg-1. The most heavily contaminated raisin sample came from Iran. However, none of the raisins contained ochratoxin A above 10 mg kg-1, the European Community maximum allowable limit in raisins. The mycobiota of raisin samples was also examined to clarify which species could be responsible for ochratoxin A c.