Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of tadpole size on cell-mediated competition between anuran larvae Bufo calamita and Rana temporaria ) in the laboratory

The faeces of tadpoles frequently contain cells that can inhibit the growth of other individuals. We examined the mechanism of such cell-mediated interference competition in interactions between tadpoles of Rana temporaria and Bufo calamita . When R. temporaria and B. calamita tadpoles were exposed to cell-laden faeces from larger R. temporaria tadpoles, growth was inhibited relative to controls. Tadpoles of B. calamita remained susceptible to the inhibitory effects of the cells for longer during development than those of R. temporaria . In the presence of excess food, cell production by both species was related to stage of development. Tadpoles raised with cell-laden faeces from R. temporaria tadpoles produced more cells/tadpole/hour than those raised without competitor faeces, and smaller tadpoles were more inhibited than larger tadpoles.
Responses of a Heteromyid Rodent Community to Large- and Small-scale Resource Pulses: Diversity, Abundance, and Home-range Dynamics

Abstract We augmented food resources to a heteromyid rodent community in the Sonoran Desert of southern California to experimentally ascertain the effect of a resource pulse on rodent abundance, diversity, and home-range dynamics. The same community displayed increased rodent abundance and species diversity in response to the productivity pulse that resulted from the 1997–1998 El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In marked contrast to the response to the ENSO, our experiment resulted in a decline in rodent diversity because the largest pocket mouse present (Chaetodipus formosus) monopolized the added resources and increased its proportional abundance. In addition, the abundance of adult rodents did not change in response to supplemental resources, even though reproduction, and consequently juvenile abundance, increased greatly. This implies that home-range size and overlap by adult animals remained unchanged despite the greater abundance of food. Among caching species such as pocket mice, this may be an adaptive response to the highly variable and scarce resources of the desert environment. The decline in diversity and lack of change in adult density and home-range dynamics observed with the experimental resource pulse are directly counter to the response of the community to the ENSO resource pulse, and were apparently the result of fine-scale spatial processes. This suggests that the effects of resource pulses are scale-dependent, and that the results of small-scale manipulative experiments may provide limited insight into community responses to large-scale climatic events.
Genotypic and Environmental Variation in Soybean Seed Cell Wall Polysaccharides

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ] seed cell wall polysaccharides (CWP) have been characterized, but little is known about their genotypic variation. This information would be beneficial for determining genetic strategies for manipulating CWP content and composition. Seed CWP was determined by the Uppsala total dietary fiber method to quantify monosaccharides of CWP in 14 soybean genotypes from Maturity Groups 00 to I grown at four Minnesota locations. CWP concentration of mature whole seed varied from 158 to 176 g/kg dry matter (DM). Genotypic but not environmental effects were significant for total CWP concentration. For individual monosaccharide concentrations, both genotypic and environmental effects were present. Seed of five genotypes were separated into cotyledon and seed coat for CWP analysis. Genotypic variation for CWP concentration was mostly in cotyledon and not seed coat. Pectin was mostly in cotyledon rather than seed coat with 80.8 and 14.6 g pectin/kg of whole seed DM in cotyledon and seed coat, respectively. Only xylose, glucose, galactose, and uronic acid concentrations were significantly different among genotypes in cotyledon. The correlation between CWP concentration and protein plus oil concentration among the 14 genotypes was r = -0.724, which suggests that an increase in protein plus oil content is associated with a reduction of CWP concentration. The genotypic variation observed suggests that it is possible to breed for reduced CWP. However, genotypic variation for some monosaccharides was limited, suggesting that other methods of genetic manipulation may be more efficient in reducing these monosaccharides.
THE GROWTH OF THE SHOOT APEX IN MAIZE: EMBRYOGENY

THE QUANTITATIVE FEATURES of shoot apex growth during embryogeny, as far as we are aware, have remained unexplored. The object of the present study is to describe these, specifically for Zea mczys L. , in terms of changes in size, form and cell complement, especially as related to time. The results of similar studies on the seedling stage of maize have been reported in earlier papers (Abbe et al., 1941; Stein and Abbe, 1949; Abbe and Phinney, '1951; Abbe et al., 1951). Briefly,'these studies of. the seedling indicate that its shoot apex: (a) increases insize both within the plastochron and through a succession of plastochrons; (b) maintains an essentially constant cell size, so that increase in cell number is mainly responsible for increase in shoot apex size;-, (c) produces leaf primoraia at an acceleratory rate from stage seven onward; (d) increases in'amount of tissue at an acceleratory rate both in relation to time and in proportion to the amount of growing tissue. MATERIALS AND METHODS&-University of Minnesota Station Inbred A188 was grown during the summer of 1951 at University Farm,2 St. Paul; date of planting was June 5. When the plants were about one ft. high they were thinned to a spacing of about 1.5 ft. between plants. , The plantswere pollinated August 16, 1951. Minimum, average, and maximum air temperatures for each 24-hr. period as recorded at the Minneapolis Airport(the nearest source of meteorological data) are shown in fig. 1 for the perio,d, August 16-October 17, 1951. All data for the study are taken from material fixed in Karpechenko's modification of Nawaschin's fluid. One ear was harvested every two days from the 11th to the 51st day after pollination. Scoring to stage was carried out in accorda-nce with the method described by Abbe and Phinney (1951); for example, a shoot apex is designated as being in stage four when the youngest recognizable leaf primordium is that of leaf four. These determinations were made for each day of collection, for 3 embryos each from the proximal and distal thirds of the ear, and'for 4 enlibryos from the
Specific Issues of Coastal Destinations Sustainable Development - Empirical Study

Coastal tourism is usually vital to the economy of coastal destinations. Due to the increasing number of existing and emerging destinations, development of those destinations have to be controlled thought strategic planning and monitoring and based on the principles of sustainable development. That includes the set of indicators which offer great information base for tourism managers. Quality of the tourist experience is affected by a large set of factors; therefore the purpose of this paper is to better understand tourists’ attitudes towards different offer elements. This research has been designed in a way that a survey questionnaire was distributed to tourists who stayed in a typical coastal tourism destination. The first objective was to analyze the tourists’ expectations and satisfactions regarding different elements of tourism offer, second one was to indentify gaps between tourists’ expectations and satisfactions and, consequently third aim was to identify the critical element of the analysed coastal destination. Analysis of obtained results has shown that critical elements of this particular destination are beaches, although they are at the same time perceived by the local management as the most important tourism resource for this destination. In this sense, this study provides an important backdrop for destination management looking to deal with their specific problem and therefore improve the level of tourists’ satisfaction.
A Statistical Valuation of Residential Home Attributes and Predictive Model: A Framework for Predicting Home Values Based on Home Characteristics and Changes in Macroeconomic Variables in a Defined Target Market

For homebuyers, it is important to understand what drives home value to make a competitive offer. By understanding the value of individual home attributes buyers can more accurately and quantitatively assess the value of multiple houses with different characteristics. Furthermore, homeowners who wish to renovate their homes benefit by understanding the value added by improving or adding certain attributes. Through a hedonic regression pricing model, the value of individual homes, as well as the value of specific home attributes, can be estimated. The final output of the model is a predicted value based on the attributes of the subject home. Macroeconomic factors influence buying habits that are reflected in home values. The second part of this analysis incorporates a macroeconomic analysis to the home price model to better understand both the changes in median home prices given a change in macroeconomic variable and the sensitivity of changes in home values between cities within the subject area. In the end, the model can be used to predict the value of a subject home within the target market currently, and the change in the value given a predicted change in macroeconomic variables. The last output is a dollar value of specific attributes so that buyers can understand the source of differences in home values.
Genetic Variation for Nitrogen Remobilization and Postsilking Nitrogen Uptake in Maize Recombinant Inbred Lines: Heritabilities and Correlations among Traits

In maize (Zea mays L.), grain protein yield is the result of two nitrogen fluxes: N remobiiization from stover to the kernels and N allocation to kernels from postsilking N uptake. Nitrogen-15 labeling was used to study these two fluxes. Genetic variation for N remobilization and postsilking N uptake was studied in testcrosses derived from a population of recombinant inbred lines. On average, from a 2-yr experiment, 28.3% of whole-plant N was taken up after silking, and 93% of this postsilking N uptake was allocated to kernels. Nitrogen remobiiization represented around 61% of total grain N. However, there was greater variation for postsilking N uptake than for N remobiiization. Consequently, N grain yield was more highly correlated with the amount of postsilking N uptake than with the amount of N remobilization. The amount of N remobilization was significantly correlated with both the whole-plant N amount present at silking and the proportion of N remobilized, whereas N from N uptake within kernels was only correlated to the postsilking N uptake. Variation for the proportion of postsilking N uptake allocated to kernels was low in comparison to that of postsilking N uptake. There was a negative correlation between the amount of N remobilization and the amount of postsilking N uptake, which appears to have a physiological basis. Finally, use of 15 N labeling provided a better description of variation for N accumulation in kernels than the classical balance method.
A survey of free and conjugated deoxynivalenol in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 cereal crops in Australia

Free and conjugated deoxynivalenol (DON, vomitoxin) were determined in samples of cereal grain collected from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 crops in the Australian states of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Free DON was absent in 53–64% of analysed samples. Levels of free DON ranged from 0.10 to 7.31 µg/g. The highest levels of free DON were found in samples collected from the New South Wales 2010 crop while no samples from South Australia or Western Australia regions contained this compound. Free DON in the samples collected from the 2010 crop was significantly higher compared with those from the 2009 and the 2011 crop. Conjugated DON was detected in 61, 87 and 68% of contaminated grain samples in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 crop, respectively. Conjugated DON was found mainly in the samples collected from the 2009 crop (up to 48%) and the 2011 crop (up to 43%) but no significant difference between free DON and total DON content was observed. The current survey emphasises the frequency of non-detectable, conjugated DON in Australian cereal crops and the potential challenges in understanding the hazard posed by DON-contaminated feedstuffs.
Patience Premium

We introduce the notion of a patience premium, which is based on the concept of ambiguity aversion and is an ambiguity premium. We identify three reasons for the existence of the patience premium: Certainty preferences: perceived confidence in the expected performance; Comparison with peers: desire to outperform the competition drives the focus towards short-term outcomes; Loss aversion: intolerance to negative performance leads to the use of sub-optimal trading strategies. These reasons are driven by the behaviour of market participants and are interconnected. The phenomenon of the patience premium helps explain why the performance of investment strategies may benefit from having longer holding periods.
Options Valuation and Calibration for Leveraged Exchange-Traded Funds with Heston-Nandi and Inverse Gaussian GARCH Models

Leveraged exchange-traded funds (LETF) are newly introduced ETFs that have become increasingly popular. It closely tracks the value of an underlying index while allowing for additional leverage. In this paper, we consider the valuation of options written on leveraged exchange-traded funds under two popular affine GARCH models, the Heston-Nandi model and the inverse Gaussian GARCH model. We also calibrate the two models using market data, and demonstrate the superior pricing performance.
Characterization of the expression pattern of p63α and δnp63α in benign and malignant oral epithelial lesions

The p53 homologue p63 is essential for ectodermal differentiation, such that p63−/− mice lack all squamous epithelia and teeth. The p63 gene expresses at least 6 different transcripts, but information regarding the expression, regulation and function of the different isoforms has remained sparse, due to the lack of adequate reagents directed specifically against the individual proteins. Here we characterize the expression of p63α/ΔNp63α in benign and malignant lesions of the oral epithelium, using a specific antibody raised against a peptide derived from the C‐terminus of p63α, which does not cross‐react with p53 or the other p53 homologue, p73. By immunohistochemical analysis, we show that these p63 isoforms are expressed in the nucleus of many cells. In normal and benign lesions, p63α/ΔNp63α‐expressing cells are mainly found suprabasally, whereas p53‐expressing cells are restricted to the basal‐cell layer. By RT‐PCR, we show that ΔNp63α is the predominant isoform in cell lines from squamous‐cell carcinomas of the head and neck, confirming our immunochemical observations. Our data are consistent with studies suggesting a role for p63 in the transit‐amplifying population of epidermal cells. Over‐expression of p63α, and in particular the ΔN form, was frequently seen in carcinomas. Taken together with previous analyses of p63 expression, our data suggest distinct roles for different p63 isoforms in the regulation of growth and/or differentiation of epithelial cells. Moreover, our data are compatible with the notion that p63 can act to promote neoplastic growth in the oral epithelium. Int. J. Cancer 87:368–372, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Predictability and Good Deals in Emerging and Developed Currency Markets: The Role of Spot vs. Forward Speculation

We study the predictability of forward and spot exchange rates of currencies of emerging and developed economies from 1994 to 2016 to shed light on the efficiency of currency markets and how it has evolved over this time. For the currencies of emerging economies, our analysis of rates of return on forward contracts finds some evidence of excess-predictability, especially in the earlier parts of the sample period, consistent with the view that this portion of the foreign exchange market has only become efficient in recent times. When we turn our attention to excess-returns computed from spot exchange rates and spot interest rates, however, we find much less predictability. In particular, over our full sample period, we find no evidence of excess-predictability, in contrast with the results reported by Hsu et al. (2016) but in agreement with Kuang et al. (2014). The different predictability of spot excess-returns and rates of return on forward contracts is a manifestation of the widespread violation of covered interest parity which emerged with the onset of the 2008 financial crisis.
Global Excess Liquidity and House Prices - A VAR Analysis for OECD Countries

The belief that house prices are driven by specific regional and institutional variables and not at all by monetary conditions is so entrenched with some market participants and some commentators that the search for empirical support would seem to be a trivial task. However, this is not the case. This paper investigates the relationship between global excess liquidity and asset prices on a global scale: How important is global liquidity? How are asset (especially house) prices and other important macro variables like consumer prices affected by global monetary conditions? This paper analyses the international transmission of monetary shocks with a special focus on the effects of a global monetary aggregate (global liquidity) on consumer prices and different asset prices.We estimate a variety of VAR models for the global economy using aggregated data that represent the major OECD countries. The impulse responses show that a positive shock to global liquidity leads to permanent increases in the global GDP deflator and in the global house price index, while the latter reaction is even more distinctive. Moreover, we find that there are subsequent spillovers to consumer prices. In contrast, we are not able to find empirical evidence in favour of the hypothesis that the MSCIWorld index as a measure of stock prices significantly reacts to changes in global liquidity.
Investigation of the Stochastic Choice under Risk using Experimental Data

We extend the analysis of the data from the experiment of Pradiptyo et al.’s (2015) to help explaining the subjects’ behaviour on decision under risk. We investigate the relative empirical performance of the two general models of the stochastic choice: the random utility model (RUM) and the random preference model (RPM). We specify these models using two preference functionals, expected utility (EU) and rank-dependent expected utility (RDEU). We then estimate parameters in each model using a maximum likelihood technique and run a horse-race using the goodness-of-fit between the models. The results show that the RUM better explains the subjects’ behaviour in the experiment. Additionally, the RDEU fits better than that of the EU in modelling the stochastic choice.
Nova tripanozomiaze humana: estudos sobre a morfolojia e o ciclo evolutivo do Schizotrypanum cruzi n. gen., n. sp., ajente etiolojico de nova entidade morbida do homem

1o O Schizotrypanum cruzi apresenta, no organismo do conorrino, duas modalidades de desenvolvimento, reprezentando a primeira simples cultura do parazito; a outra, provavelmente precedida de fenomenos sexuais nao surpreendidos, sera, talvez, o ciclo evolutivo, eficaz na transmissao entre os vertebrados. 2o O Conorhinus e um verdadeiro hospede intermediario do Schizotrypanum, cujo ciclo e realizado num prazo minimo de 8 dias. 3o Os flajelados, com tipo de critidias encontrados nos conorrinos em liberdade, podem reprezentar estadios culturais do Schizotrypanum ou serao parazitos excluzivos do inseto. 4o A ocurrencia do ciclo evolutivo sexuado, no organismo do conorrino, depende de condicao nao explicada, dos flajelados no sangue dos vertebrados. Ao terminar, cumprimos o grato dever de afirmar o maior reconhecimento ao nosso mestre e Diretor Dr. Goncalves Cruz, a cuja orientacao devemos o rezultado destas pesquizas. Somos ainda profundamente grato aos nosso mestres, Professores S. von PROWAZEK e M. HARTMANN, de quem recebemos os melhores ensinamentos para concluzao deste trabalho. Tambem somos em extremo obrigado ao Dr. ADOLPHO LUTZ, cujo auxilio nos foi do mais alto proveito. Tivemos sempre, como esforcado companheiro de trabalho na zona infestada pela nova especie morbida, o Dr. BELISARIO PENNA, a quem devemos os inestimaveis proveitos de um auxilio eficaz.
Fractal Dynamics and Wavelet Analysis: Deep Volatility Properties of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple

The substantial growth of the crytocurrency market since 2009 has merited suspicions of bubblelike dynamics attributed to the exceptional price growth and volatility exhibited across associated exchanges. The deep volatility and exponential rise in cryptocurrencies valuations strongly suggest that both long memory and price volatility spillovers should be present in these assets dynamics. To date, literature on the major cryptocurrencies price processes does not address jointly and comprehensively their fractal properties, long memory and wavelet analysis, that could robustly confirm the presence of fractal dynamics in their prices, and confirm or deny the validity of the Fractal Market Hypothesis as being applicable to the cryptocurrencies. Having performed both analyses, our overall results that Bitcoin prices show persistency. This trend has been reducing overtime. Assessing the period 2016 between 2017, Bitcoin is better described by a random walk while less mature cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Ripple present evidence of persistence behaviour, and may be better described as a random walk. We conclude that Bitcoin may be described as a ‘True Hurst Process’, where crowd behaviour and technical information tend to dominate the leading cryptocurrency’s price development.
Banking Industry Stocks Analysis Using Econometric and Deep Learning Approach*

Analyzing stock prices is very difficult due to the uncertainty and their dynamic nature. Investors use many statistical techniques such as moving average, Relative Strength Index (RSI) and others to make buying or selling decision on stocks investment. Stocks price are times series data which is a model that deals with a sequence of measurement of a same variable based on series of time. In this paper, we evaluate the stocks using an econometric approach using granger causality which is a methodology used in econometric to analyse short- or long-term dependency in binary or multivariate data. Another technique of analysis that is also beneficial for investors is the prediction. The second of econometric used in the study is the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA). Finally The study experiments a deep learning approach using the Long Short Term Memory(LSTM) which also cops with sequences of prediction using historical information and the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) which is a class of feedforward artificial network. In this research, we conduct a predictive analysis of historical stock price data of three banking industry stocks of New York Exchange (NYSE) which are JP Morgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. We first evaluate their long-term relationship using their logarithm returns and follow by the prediction method. Based on the results obtained from the three methods meaning the LSTM, ARIMA and MLP, we conclude that LSTM outperforms ARIMA and MLP on the prediction.