Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Albumin Immunological Relationships of Australian Marsupials. 2. The Pseudocheiridae

Microcomplement fixation of albumin was used to examine the phylogenetic relationships among the ringtail possums, family Pseudocheiridae. Phylogenetic analysis of the data supports the hypothesis of at least three distinct clades within the family: one containing Petauroides and Hemibelideus; a second consisting of Pseudocheirus herbertensis, Ps. forbesi, Ps. mayeri, and Ps. canescens; and a third containing Ps. archeri, Ps. corinnae, Ps. cupreus and Ps. dahli. The data have not resolved the phylogenetic position of Ps. peregrinus, which may either form a separate clade or lie close to the Ps. archeri clade.
Biasing Auction

Bidders' psychological biases can have important effects on behavior in auctions and the principles of auction design. I consider two potential sources of the winner's curse in common values auctions. The first, overconfidence, is here defined for the first time in a fully general, distribution free manner by bidders believing their signals are more informative than they really are. The other bias, disregard, is intended to capture the spirit of an alternative explanation of the winner's curse proposed by Eyster and Rabin (2006) and is present when bidders underestimate the informativeness of other bidders' signals. When the value of the object is normally distributed, the two hypotheses can be formulated in an intuitive manner. Both explain the winner's curse, but they offer sharply different predictions about bidder behavior and prescriptions for auction design. When bidders are very overconfident, the first-price auction is revenue preferred to the second-price auction. Furthermore, even when the effects are relatively mild, they can reverse Milgrom and Weber (1982)'s Disclosure Principle as it can be optimal for auctioneers to induce speculation.
Assessing the Environmental Risks of Silver from Clothes in an Urban Area

ABSTRACT The environmental risks from the use of silver-containing clothes (“silver clothes”) were assessed for an urban area. First, we evaluated whether the use of silver clothes may cause contamination of wastewater treatment sludge that exceeds certain risk thresholds. Second, we assessed the risk of silver exposure to earthworms from applying the sludge as fertilizer to agricultural land. The most critical parameter was the concentration of silver in silver clothes, for which estimates in the literature vary by more than five orders of magnitude. For concentrations at the high end of that parameter range, there is considerably increased concentration of silver in the sludge, and toxic effects on earthworms even at modest use rates of silver clothes suggest high risk. At the low end, no risks can be expected. The main recommendation from this study is that if silver is used in clothes, the silver concentration must be kept at the lower end of the range applied in this study if risks are to be avoided. This can be done either by design choices of companies, or by regulation. If the function of the applied silver is not maintained at these lower levels, the use of silver clothes should be minimized.
New species of Cyclodontina from Bahia, Brazil (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Odontostomidae)

A new species of pulmonate snail was recently collected in a small forest fragment in the city of Bom Jesus da Lapa, Bahia state, Brazil. Bahia is known for a high diversity of land snails and Bom Jesus da Lapa is an interesting locality, since it is close to the interface between two major Brazilian biomes: Cerrado and Caatinga. The new species is described as Cyclodontina tapuia sp. nov. and can be easily identified by its brown shell, conical spire, convex whorls, a sculpture comprised of strong ribs, and an aperture with four barriers: a median parietal tooth, a median palatal tooth, a median basal tooth and a strong columellar lamella. This discovery is also a reminder of how little the Brazilian continental molluscan fauna is known and of the urgency in studying and preserving the rich (though usually overlooked) fauna of the Caatinga.
The performance of male ducklings given starter diets with different concentrations of energy and protein

1. Male ducklings were fed for 14, 21 or 28 d on diets containing 180, 200, 220 or 240 g of protein and 10.88 or 12.55 MJ of metabolisable energy (ME) per kg, followed by a common finisher diet until 56 d of age. 2. Birds given starter diets with 220 or 240 g of protein per kg were significantly heavier at 14 d than those given diets with 180 or 200 g protein per kg. 3. There was no significant benefit in feeding diets with protein levels greater than 180 g/kg for more than 14 d. 4. Diets with only 10.88 MJ of ME per kg produced significantly lighter birds at 28 and 56 d of age and significantly reduced food conversion efficiency up to 14 d.
Worst Case Housing Needs: 2015 Report to Congress

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development finds that worst case housing needs decreased during the 2011-to-2013 period but persist at high levels across demographic groups, household types, and regions. Substantial unmet needs for affordable rental housing remain even as economic conditions are improving. The unmet need for decent, safe, and affordable rental housing continues to outpace the ability of federal, state, and local governments to supply housing assistance.
PENGARUH PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE, JOB PROCEDURE DAN TECHNOLOGY TERHADAP KINERJA PEGAWAI ORGANISASI PUBLIK (The Effect of Personal Knowledge, Job Procedure and Technology on Employee’s Performance in Public Organization)

<b>Indonesian Abstract:</b> Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh personal knowledge, job procedure dan technology dalam konteks knowledge management terhadap Performance (Kinerja Pegawai) di lingkungan organisasi publik, secara khusus pada lingkungan Badan Pendidikan dan Pelatihan (BPPK) Kementerian Keuangan. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah seluruh pegawai di lingkungan BPPK. Sampel penelitian diperoleh dengan teknik simple random sampling. Dengan menggunakan teknis analisis jalur (path analysis), penelitian menemukan bahwa (1) personal knowledge tidak terbukti secara signifikan memengaruhi performance (kinerja pegawai), job procedure terbukti secara signifikan memengaruhi performance (kinerja) pegawai, dan technology terbukti secara signifikan memengaruhi performance (kinerja) pegawai; (2) personal knowledge terbukti secara signifikan memengaruhi pemahaman pegawai akan job procedure organisasi; dan (3) personal knowledge dalam pengaruh tidak langsung terbukti secara signifikan memengaruhi performance (kinerja) pegawai yang dimediasi oleh job procedure. <b>English Abstract:</b> This research was aimed to analyse the impact of personal knowledge, job procedure and technology on the employees' performance using case study from Financial Education and Training Agency (FETA) of Ministry of Finance of Indonesia. Population of this research was all employees of FETA. The sample was selected by simple random sampling technique. The data were collected through a questionnaire and were analyzed using the path analysis method. The results of this research found that: (1) personal knowledge has no significant effect on employee’s performance, job procedure and technology have significant effect on employee’s performance; (2) personal knowledge has significant effect on employee’s understanding on job procedure; and (3) personal knowledge indirectly has significant effect on employee’s performance mediated by job procedure.
Purinoceptors: Ontogeny and phylogeny

The majority of studies of the functional distribution of purinoceptors have been carried out with mammalian preparations. The objective of this article is to review the disparate literature describing purinoceptor‐mediated effects in invertebrates and lower vertebrates and, in view of the concept that ontogeny repeats phylogeny, to review also the evidence for purinoceptor involvement in the complex signaling involved in embryonic development. Even with the limited information currently available, it is clear that purinoceptors are involved in early signalling in vertebrate embryos; one novel G protein‐coupled P2Y receptor has already been cloned and characterized in frog embryo and hopefully more will follow. It is also clear that purinoceptors for both adenosine and ATP are present in early evolution and play a number of different roles in most, if not all, invertebrate and lower species. However, until selective agonists and antagonists are identified for the recently cloned purinoceptors subtypes in vertebrates, it will not be possible to resolve questions concerned with the evolution of these subtypes. Molecular cloning of genes encoding receptors for purines and pyrimidines from invertebrates and lower vertebrates represents an alternative approach to advancing knowledge in the area. Drug Dev. Res. 39:204–242, 1996. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Dual Nature of Trade: Measuring its Impact on Imitation and Growth

Imports of goods that embody foreign technology can raise a country's output directly as inputs into production and indirectly through reverse-engineering of these goods, which contributes to domestic imitation and innovation. This paper first quantifies spillovers from high technology imports to domestic imitation and innovation in both developed and developing countries. It then considers the contribution of foreign and domestic innovation to real per capita GDP growth.
The Causal Effect of Parents’ Schooling on Children’s Schooling in Europe. A New IV Approach.

This paper estimates the causal effect of parental education on children’s education in 13 European countries, using representative data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). A novel instrumental variable approach is used to solve the endogeneity issue. We combine two instruments: parental birth order (indicator for being a first born) and Compulsory Schooling Laws (CSL). While CSL have been widely used in applied work, our contribution is to introduce parental birth order as instrument in the intergenerational mobility literature. We find that parental education has a positive, large and significant causal effect on children’s education. This finding is robust to the instrument chosen (birth order, CSL, or both), to sample selection and to several robustness checks.
Monopolistic Competition, Credibility and the Output Costs of Disinflation Programs: An Analysis of Price Controls

Brazil, Argentina and Israel all used price controls as part of disinflation programs in 1985-1986. In each case they were intended to break an "inertial" component of inflation. This paper focuses on a specific mechanism through which inflation inertia can emerge: the interaction between lack of credibility of government monetary policy announcements and the price setting behavior of forward looking firms. We show that this interaction can lead to inertia extending well beyond the price setting period; that is important since the price setting period is likely to be short in high inflation economies. We develop an open economy macromodel in which firms set prices before uncertainty about government monetary policy is resolved. Lack of credibility is then shown to lead to output losses during a disinflation program. We demonstrate the effects of price controls and show that their temporary use can be defended on welfare grounds. The paper analyzes asset price behavior during disinflation programs with and without price controls and the influence of credibility problems. We discuss nominal and real interest rates, the stock market and exchange rates. Finally we show that if past government policy has any information content about future government policy, cheating on current announcements of tight policy buys current employment gains during the price control period at the cost of higher inflation afterwards. Sustaining low inflation after the price control period thus requires restrictive monetary policy during the price control period.
Do Housing Submarkets Really Matter?

We maintain that the appropriate definition of submarkets depends on the use to which they will be put. For mass appraisal purposes, submarkets should be defined so that the accuracy of hedonic predictions will be optimized. Thus we test whether out-of-sample hedonic value predictions can be improved when a large urban housing market is divided into submarkets and we explore the effects of alternative definitions of submarkets on the accuracy of predictions. We compare a set of submarkets based on small geographical areas defined by real estate appraisers with a set of statistically generated submarkets consisting of dwellings that are similar but not necessarily contiguous. The empirical analysis uses a transactions database from Auckland, New Zealand. Price predictions are found to be most accurate when based on the housing market segmentation used by appraisers. We conclude that housing submarkets matter, and location plays the major role in explaining why they matter.
The Effectiveness of Monetary Policy in Steering Money Market Rates during the Recent Financial Crisis

The recent financial crisis deeply affected the money market yield curve and thus, potentially, the proper functioning of the interest rate channel of monetary policy transmission. Therefore, we analyze the effectiveness of monetary policy in steering euro area moneymarket rates using two measures: first, the predictability of money market rates on the basis of monetary policy expectations, and second the impact of extraordinary central bank measures on money market rates. We find that market expectations about monetary policy are less relevant for money market rates up to 12 months after August 2007 compared to the pre-crisis period. At the same time, our results indicate that the ECB’s net increase in outstanding open market operations as of October 2008 accounts for at least a 100 basis point decline in Euribor rates. These findings show that central banks have effective tools at hand to conduct monetary policy in times of crises.
Labor Supply of Egyptian Married Women When Self-Employment is an Option: Participation and Hours of Work

This paper estimates the responsiveness of labor supply function of urban married women on both the intensive margin (hours of work) and the extensive margin (participation) to unearned income and market wages, when self-employment is an option. Data used from household surveys carried out in 1988 and 1998. While early work on female participation rarely considered self-employed an autonomous option, data on female participation in developing countries reveal a significant portion of female labor force working for their own account. An extended version of Roy's model, developed by Tunali and Baslevent (2000), is applied in this analysis. The model allows for three options: non-employment, self-employment, and wage work. Heckman-Lee two-step econometric model is used in this analysis, correcting for two types of self-selection: selection into the self-employment rather than not participating, and selection into wage work rather than self-employment. The results indicate a zero wage elasticity of labor supply and also zero income elasticity.
Understanding and Creating Public Value: Business is the Engine; Government the Flywheel (and Also the Regulator)

In this essay, we define the meaning and content of public value, show how government and business create public value, and briefly explain why their governance arrangements work the way they do. We deal first with business and then government. We conclude that government manages risks and that governmental value creation is distinctively concerned with stability. Hence, to make government work better, risk management ought to be central to the practice of public finance, public policy, and public administration. Understanding the importance of stability is potentially of even greater importance to those who research and teach public policy and administration. Indeed, we propose that the elaboration of a general risk assessment model explaining, among other things, government’s systemic inclination to stability, would take our field a long towards integration with mainstream positive social science and, therefore, holds out the prospect of considerable interdisciplinary consilience, although at this time we can do no more than suggest the contours of such a model.
Non-Affine Stochastic Volatility With Seasonal Trends

We propose a new stochastic volatility model for pricing options on assets that exhibit seasonal trends in volatility. Such assets are prevalent among commodities, with futures on grains and energy being an example. The model is based on the 3/2 stochastic volatility model, but includes a cyclical long-run volatility component. The model yields a closed-form characteristic function which can be used to rapidly calibrate the model to benchmark options. We test the model on market data and show that the model proposed here allows for significantly better empirical fit to option prices on corn and wheat futures than the unmodified 3/2 model.
Risk Neutral Densities: A Review

Trading in options with a wide range of exercise prices and a single maturity allows a researcher to extract the market's risk neutral probability density (RND) over the underlying price at expiration. The RND contains investors' beliefs about the true probabilities blended with their risk preferences, both of which are of great interest to academics and practitioners alike. With particular focus on U.S. equity options, this article reviews the historical development of this powerful concept, practical details of fitting an RND to option market prices, and the many ways in which investigators have tried to distill true expectations and risk premia from observed RNDs. I touch on areas of active current research including the "pricing kernel puzzle" and the "volatility surface," and offer thoughts on what has been learned about RNDs so far and fruitful directions for future research.
What Could Anti-Trust in the OECD Mean for Development?

The extra-territorial effects of cartels, mergers and other non-competitive activities require consideration especially if they harm consumers and firms in developing countries. This chapter provides an overview of the available empirical literature regarding the impact of cartels, mergers and abuses of dominance and that are rooted in the OECD. Typically the available evidence is not yet sufficiently comprehensive to allow robust conclusions, but (with no claim on accuracy), it seems reasonable that the direct impact on developing countries is very substantial and in welfare terms may exceed the contribution by Official Development Aid. OECD countries could contribute to development through the activities of their competition authorities and appropriate changes in legislation.
Influence of planting date and cultivar on soybean sudden death syndrome in Kentucky.

In a 3-yr study in western Kentucky, soybean (Glycine max) cultivars differed in susceptibility to soybean sudden death syndrome (SDS), and their reactions, while not always consistent, were affected by planting date. In 1987 and 1988, May plantings resulted in higher SDS levels for most cultivars than did plantings in mid-June through early July. The reverse occurred for some cultivars in 1986, and others were unaffected by planting date. While the relative SDS reactions of most cultivars were generally consistent among years, all cultivars were affected, at least moderately, in one or more plantings (.)
The Bidding Paradox: How Economists and Politicians Might Agree on the Attractiveness of Mega Sports Events

The ambition to host mega sports events is (or can be) perfectly justifiable with various arguments. The most persistently used argument is the supposed financial or direct economic gain for the host economy, of which the compelling body of evidence is discouraging. This implies that the justification for hosting should come from a different, broader economic angle. This paper provides a critical discussion of the myriad of economic and frequently intangible effects that could be put forward in the public debate preceding the submission of a bid. Paradoxically, most of these effects are not, or infrequently employed in public debates.
The Role of Competitive Amplification in Explaining Sustained Performance Heterogeneity

This paper presents a formal model that elucidates how sustained performance heterogeneity emerges from competitive amplification due to endogenous resource investment under uncertainty. Specifically, the model shows that if resources are scale free, any small resource differences are amplified into large performance differences, leading to high firm-specific heterogeneity in an industry, and vice versa for resources with low scalability. This finding provides a theoretical explanation for the empirical observation that firm-specific components of performance heterogeneity in the variance decomposition studies are significantly larger in some sectors than in others. Consistent with the predictions of the model, the empirical analysis in this paper confirms that industries with more scale free resources on average exhibit higher firm-specific heterogeneity.
Sites of inhibition of mitochondrial electron transport in macrophage- injured neoplastic cells

Previous work has shown that injury of neoplastic cells by cytotoxic macrophages (CM) in cell culture is accompanied by inhibition of mitochondrial respiration. We have investigated the nature of this inhibition by studying mitochondrial respiration in CM-injured leukemia L1210 cells permeabilized with digitonin. CM-induced injury affects the mitochondrial respiratory chain proper. Complex I (NADH-coenzyme Q reductase) and complex II (succinate-coenzyme Q reductase) are markedly inhibited. In addition a minor inhibition of cytochrome oxidase was found. Electron transport from alpha-glycerophosphate through the respiratory chain to oxygen is unaffected and permeabilized CM-injured L1210 cells oxidizing this substrate exhibit acceptor control. However, glycerophosphate shuttle activity was found not to occur within CM- injured or uninjured L1210 cells in culture hence, alpha- glycerophosphate is apparently unavailable for mitochondrial oxidation in the intact cell. It is concluded that the failure of respiration of intact neoplastic cells injured by CM is caused by the nearly complete inhibition of complexes I and II of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. The time courses of CM-induced electron transport inhibition and arrest of L1210 cell division are examined and the possible relationship between these phenomena is discussed.
Effect of acetylene on autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrification

Acetylene (C2H2) strongly inhibited (Ki 0.25 μM or 0.66 Pa) the oxidation of ammonia (NH4+) to nitrite (NO2−) by Nitrosomonas europaea but did not affect the oxidation of hydroxylamine (NH2OH) to NO2− by this organism. We suggest that the C2H2-sensitive step is associated with the ammonia oxygenase. Oxidation of NH4+ was inhibited only approximately 50% by 0.4 mM (10 kPa) ethylene and by 2.1 mM (10 kPa) nitrous oxide and was unaffected by 0.1 mM (10 kPa) methane. The oxidation of NO2− to nitrate (NO3−) by Nitrobacter winogradskyi and of NH4+ to NH2OH and NO3− by the heterotrophic nitrifier, Arthrobacter sp. , was not affected by 3.83 mM (10 kPa) C2H2.