Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of sire breed (Southdown, Suffolk), sex, and growth path on carcass composition of crossbred lambs

Abstract An experiment was repeated in 2 years using 698 lambs to investigate the effects of sire breed (Southdown, Suffolk), sex (female, short‐scrotum male), and growth path on lamb growth and carcass composition. The three growth paths used were high (H), high followed by maintenance (HM), or low followed by high (LH) levels of pasture availability. The Suffolk‐cross lambs averaged 2.3 kg more than Southdown‐cross lambs at weaning (unfasted liveweight) and gained 2.6 kg more than the Southdown‐cross lambs between weaning and slaughter. The male lambs weighed 1.8 kg more than the females at weaning and gained 0.7 kg more between weaning and slaughter. When hot‐carcass weight was adjusted to 17.1 kg, the Southdown‐cross lambs averaged 1.6 mm higher GR than Suffolks and females averaged 1.6 mm higher GR than short‐scrotum lambs. The effect of the different nutritional treatments applied in this study was not consistent on GR or any other carcass measurements. The HM lambs had the largest carcass measureme.
SURVIVAL VALUES OF DIFFERENT METHODS OF CAMOUFLAGE AS SHOWN IN A MODEL POPULATION

Pastry “larvae” were coloured in different ways and offered in randomised samples on a lawn to wild birds. Small adaptive changes provided significant protection and included the following methods of camouflage:— background colour resemblance, disruptive coloration, countershading and disguise—a leaf mimic. General colour seemed of overriding importance in camouflage. Very tentative estimations were made of comparative vulnerability values for various methods of camouflage in relation to this particular experimental arrangement. A rather poor quality leaf mimic, a countershaded model and a disruptively coloured model had an approximately equal advantage over a well-matched plain standard green model, but the advantage was only equal to and certainly not more than a small colour change. Increased predation pressure enhanced the value of small adaptive advantages. Some evidence was found for the adaptive value of seasonal dimorphism. There was some indication that stable polymorphism might be based upon factors simpler than a balance of harmful and beneficial genes.
Creditor’s Holdup, Releveraging and the Setting of Private Appropriation in a Control Contract Between Shareholders

Debt is analyzed in relation to the conflict between three parties, a controlling shareholder, outside investors and creditors. We follow Jensen and Meckling’s (1976) and Myers’ (1977) intuitions that a leverage may result in excess value appropriation by creditors while at the same time acting to discipline private benefits appropriation. A contingent claim valuation model is used to show that debt releveraging is also a key governance variable when incentivization triggers a transfer of value to creditors. We show that debt is a complex regulation tool in an agency contract approach as it interferes endogenously with private benefits incentivization schemes particularly when value creation events occur.
Influence of Microtopography and Canopy Species on Spatial Patterns of Forest Understory Plants

In a maple-beech forest in eastern New York, equal numbers of mounds, pits, and adjacent undisturbed soil microsites were censused for plant species density and cover over the growing seasons of 1978 and 1979. Several soil properties were also measured for each microsite. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and chi-square goodness-of-fit tests were used to test whether the species were uniformly distributed over the microrelief positions. Comparisons of species composition, diversity, and vegetative phenologies were made between microsites and between hemlock- and hard- wood-dominated forest areas. Differences in soil properties between microsites and between the two forest areas were assessed with one-tailed paired t tests and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, respectively. Microrelief created a mosaic of soil properties and a vegetation pattern in the understory, both of which were affected by the presence of hemlock in the canopy. Ordinations (DCA) indicated two factors that affected species composition of the microsites: (1) presence of hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) as the nearest canopy tree, and (2) microtopography (whether the microsite was a mound, pit, or undisturbed-soil site). Species in non-hemlock areas had patchy distributions in the forest community: eight species grew mainly on mounds, six in pits, and five on undisturbed soil. The mounds and pits had characteristic assemblages of species. Species richness and total density and cover of plants in each microsite were constant over the growing season. In contrast, little spatial or temporal community pattern was apparent in forest areas influenced by hemlock. The effect of hemlock on species distributions was due in part to its effect on soil properties. For all microsites, forest areas with hemlock had greater soil organic matter content, available nitrogen, cation exchange capacity, and litter depth, lower soil calcium content, moisture content, temperature, pH, and A, horizon depth; and no frost heaving. Microrelief also affected soil properties significantly. In comparison with pits, mounds were drier and poorer in nutrient content, and had a lower cation exchange capacity, less organic matter, less litter cover, a thinner A, horizon, and less snow accumulation. In areas without hemlock, the mounds were also more acid, warmer in summer and colder in winter, and more subject to frost heaving than pits. Hemlock-influenced areas had no consistent microsite differences in pH or temperature. The different microenvironments, created by the interaction of microrelief and hemlock, resulted in patchy distributions of most understory species. This pattern was likely a result of species require- ments for and tolerances of environmental conditions, tempered by competitive interactions.
Does Real Exchange Rate Depreciation Increase Productivity?: Analysis Using Korean Firm-Level Data

We examine the effects of real exchange rate (RER) depreciation shocks on firm productivity. Using the firm-level data of Korean manufacturing industries for 2006–2013, we distinguish between yearly RER movement and persistent RER depreciation during 2007–2009 and analyze how each affects productivity. We find the positive effect of RER depreciation on productivity among exporters and this positive effect increases with higher export exposure. However, the positive productivity gain disappears when the depreciation persists. Our findings suggest that while immediate depreciation leads to productivity upgrade via price competitiveness and scale expansion, persistent depreciation nullifies the productivity gain by slackening the innovation effort.
Low-Temperature Triggered Varied Antioxidant Responses in Tomato

Low temperature can delay growth and development, reduce productivity, or cause plant death. An experiment was carried out to determine the most sensitive and most tolerant tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.; variety S-22, Selection N-5, Pusa Gorav, K-21, Pusa Ruby, Hera Research, and PKM-1) to low temperature. Forty-day-old seedlings were exposed to day/night temperatures of 10/3°C, 12/7°C, 20/14°C, or 25/18°C (control) for 24 h in a plant growth chamber and then transferred to ambient environmental conditions in a net house and maintained for 60 days. Decreasing temperature led to decreases in growth, chlorophyll content, and photosynthesis rate in all varieties. Activity of antioxidant enzymes catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase and proline accumulation in leaves increased in all varieties as temperature decreased. Variety S-22 had the most antioxidant enzyme activity and proline accumulation and ‘PKM-1’ had the lowest antioxidant enzyme activity and proline content; these were classified as tolerant and sensitive, respectively. Tolerant tomato varieties provide options for producers where low temperature can interfere with plant development.
Molecular Cloning and Evidence for Osmoregulation of the Δ1-Pyrroline-5-Carboxylate Reductase (proC) Gene in Pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Several cDNA clones encoding Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (P5CR, l-proline:NAD[P]+ 5-oxidoreductase, EC 1.5.1.2), which catalyzes the terminal step in proline biosynthesis, were isolated from a pea leaf library screened with a 32P-labeled Aval fragment of a soybean nodule P5CR cDNA (A.J. Delauney, D.P.S. Verma [1990] Mol Gen Genet 221: 299-305). DNA sequence analysis of one full-length 1.3-kb clone (pPPS3) indicated that the pea P5CR gene contains a single major open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 28,242 Da. Genomic analysis suggested that two to three copies of the P5CR gene are present per haploid genome in pea. The primary structure of pea P5CR is 85% identical with that of soybean and exhibits significant homology to human, yeast, and Escherichia coli P5CR. The sequence of one of four highly conserved domains found in all prokaryotic and eukaryotic P5CRs is similar to the consensus sequence for the NAD(P)H-binding site of other enzymes. The pea P5CR cDNA hybridized to two transcripts, 1.3 and 1.1 kb in size, in polyadenylated RNA purified from leaf tissues of mature, light-grown plants (4 weeks old). Only the 1.3-kb transcript was detected in younger (1 week old) greened seedlings or in etiolated seedlings. In greened seedlings, steady-state levels of this 1.3-kb mRNA increased approximately 5-fold in root tissues within 6 h after plants were irrigated with 0.4 m NaCl, suggesting that expression of the P5CR gene is osmoregulated.
Demand for Education and Labor Market Outcomes: Lessons from the Abolition of Compulsory Conscription in France

Before 1997, education was a way for young French men to avoid military service in the army. After the abolition of compulsory conscription in 1997, this incentive to stay on in education disappeared. We show that the decrease in the benefit of pursuing education for men was followed by a fall in their educational achievement relative to women and by a decrease in their relative entry wages. These results suggest that high school dropout rates could be reduced by policies increasing the immediate benefits of pursuing education and that it would yield a substantial improvement in early labor market outcomes.
Delocation in the Manufacturing Sectors in the EU: A Regional Overview

The question of delocation in main industrial regions across the EU is approached here, and its effects on jobs losses estimated. Seventy five regions are selected following the double criteria of size of the manufacturing industries and high per capita income levels. Taken together, the selected regions account for 65% of total manufacturing GVA in the EU-15. Delocation affected half of them in the period 2000-2005 when competition in the international markets rose and shows higher intensity in most of the British, French and Italian regions although its aggregate effect on employment seems have being offset for growth in services sectors. On the other hand, regions located in the continental area with more market potential have the highest concentration of location effects. Therefore delocation has changed the location of European manufacturing industry, benefiting those latter regions and perhaps bringing higher spatial concentration.
Who Benefits from Bond Tender Offers in Europe?

This paper documents the €73 billion in European bond tender offers from 1996 to 2005. European tender offers appear to be much larger than US offers and are seldom motivated by distress relief. Unlike prior research on bond tender offers, we investigate wealth effects to both shareholders and bondholders. We find average bond tender premiums of 3.9% and insignificant stock price reactions, but no evidence of wealth transfers. Moreover, wealth effects to both groups increase in the remaining time to maturity. Thus, tendering the bonds, rather than waiting for them to mature, appears to be a win-win situation.
EFFECTS OF A BRIEF MAGNETIC EXPOSURE ON CEREAL GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH

The effects of magnetic treatment (0–4,000 gauss) on dry seeds of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. and Triticum durum Desf.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and wild oats (Avena fatua L.) were investigated under controlled environment conditions. Exposure of dry seeds of wheat, barley and wild oats to a magnetic field had no effect on germination and seedling growth. The emergence rate of Neepawa wheat and Hercules durum was unaffected by exposure of seed to a field strength of 0,375 and 4,000 gauss. However, exposure of barley seeds imbibed for 10 h prior to treatment reduced seedling growth rate. Exposure of dry seeds of barley and wheat to 0 and 375 gauss had no effect on water imbibition or leakage of cellular electrolytes.
Estimating the Excess Returns to Housing at a Disaggregated Level: An Application to Sydney 2003-11

The returns to housing are particularly important because this asset class makes up such a large fraction of household wealth. Yet they are not straightforward to calculate given both the heterogeneity in homes and the fact they sell only infrequently. We outline a methodology for constructing the excess returns to housing at a disaggregated level, essentially that of the individual home. Our approach explicitly takes account of the inherent risk in home ownership with regard to the capital gain or loss component of housing returns. This approach is applied to a rich data set for Sydney, Australia, from 2003Q1 to 2011Q2. Our findings indicate that the returns to housing are on average quite weak though they exhibit significant diversity across dwelling types and regions. Excess returns are also strongly influenced by assumptions regarding the level of risk aversion.
The relationship between tree size and epiphyte species richness: testing four different hypotheses

Aim For epiphytic plants trees are habitat units, and tree size determines epiphyte species richness. While growing, trees generate vertical microhabitats that are exploited by epiphytes. One would expect to find four different types of relationship between tree size and epiphyte species richness: positive linear (young trees), neutral (old trees), negative (old decaying trees) and positive asymptotic (trees of mixed size class in a mature forest). We tested these relationships in plots of colonizing sweetgum trees in pastureland, isolated remnant trees in pastureland (old oaks) and sweetgum and oaks in a pristine forest.
Digital Participation and Customer Engagement in DSMM

This paper is based on the findings of an empirical survey research, on digital engagements of customers buying or seeking information through digital media. It studies propensity and other engagement patterns in digital and social media marketing (DSMM). It statistically verifies if demographic factors of online customers have any significant influence on digital buying behaviour. This paper presents a conceptual model of ‘engagements and digital relationship.
Zoogeography of the coral reef fishes of the Socotra Archipelago

Fish communities and habitats were studied at the Socotra archipelago (Gulf of Aden, ≈12°N 54°E). Extensive and unexpected hermatypic coral communities were recorded, at the centre of a 2200 km gap in knowledge of species and habitat distributions which coincides with a change from a western Indian Ocean coral reef fauna to an Arabian one. The fish assemblage associated with the Socotra archipelago corals is predominantly south Arabian. An east African influence, minimal on the mainland coasts of Arabia, is more evident here, and results in previously unrecorded sympatry between Arabian endemic species and their Indian Ocean sister taxa. A study of distributions of Chaetodontidae (butterflyfishes) in the north‐western Indian Ocean reveals a number of distinct patterns, with a trend for species replacement along a track from the northern Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. A major feature of the reef fish zoogeography of the region is found to be a distinct south Arabian area, characterized by a ‘pseudo‐high latitude effect’ which results from seasonal cold water upwelling along the Arabian sea coasts of Yemen and Oman and the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. This south Arabian feature is consistent across a wide range of fish families. It is most pronounced in Oman and Yemen, and although it is the dominant influence at Socotra it is slightly ‘diluted’ here by the east African influence. The south Arabian area wholly or partly accounts for most of the major marine zoogeographic features around Arabia, and is the principal feature fragmenting Arabian coastal fish assemblages, and separating them from those of the wider Indo‐west Pacific.
Production of polysaccharides by Arthrobacter globiformis associated with Anabaena azollae in Azolla leaf cavity

The composition of the capsular polysaccharides (CPS) and exopolysaccharides (EPS) of three strains of Arthrobacter globiformis, isolated from the leaf cavities of Azolla caroliniana (strain B1), A. filiculoides (strains A3 and L1) and A. globiformis ATCC 8010 have been analysed by HPLC and enzymatic assays. Glucose and galactose were detected in the EPS of all the strains, while rhamnose was present only in the EPS of the strain L1 and uronic acids in B1 and ATCC 8010. Traces of fructose were detected by enzymatic assays in all the strains. The CPS contained glucose, galactose and rhamnose, while uronic acids were present only in strain B1. In all the strains the amount of EPS was higher than CPS. The reactivity to different dyes and lectins of the mucilagineous matrix of the algal packets extracted from the fern and of the bacterial mucilage were similar.
The Massaria disease of plane trees:its wood decay mechanism

Branches of Platanus × hispanica with distinct symptoms of the Massaria disease were investigated by light and transmission electron microscopy and cellular UVmicrospectrophotometry. The samples collected in the city of Mannheim, Germany, were infected in vivo with the fungus Splanchnonema platani and showed various degrees of wood decay. The investigations were focused on the decay pattern of cell walls in the different cells, i.e., fibres, vessels as well as ray and axial parenchyma cells. The following results were obtained. Hyphae of the ascomycete fungus Splanchnonema platani penetrated from cell to cell through the pits and not through the cell wall middle lamella, by the formation of thin perforation hyphae. During this process, the 1–5 μm thick hyphae became narrower without attacking the wall around the pit canal. After penetration through a pit, the hyphae again enlarged to their original diameter. This is true for all pit pairs connecting the various cell types. Late decay stages did not show a decay of cell corner regions and middle lamellae of fibres as well as vessel and parenchyma cell walls. Phenolic deposits in parenchyma cells were still present in severely attacked xylem tissue. These features point to a low lignolytic capacity of the fungus. The frequently found microscopic decay pattern with the formation of oval or spherical cavities in the S2 layer of the secondary wall with an often structurally intact S3 layer is a characteristic of softrot decay. This classification is also supported by the remaining cell corner and middle lamella regions in advanced decay stages. As a consequence of this decay type, branches fracture in a brittle mode.
Isolation of enteropathogenic and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli from the Dal Lake water of Kashmir

Between July and December 1986, 18 strains of enteropathogenic serotypes of Escherichia coli were isolated from the Dal Lake water. Some of these strains were positive for colonization factor antigen. During the same period, 12 strains of heat‐labile enterotoxin‐producing E. coli were also isolated, all of which were positive for colonization factor antigen I or II. This indicates faecal pollution of this recreational water.
Trunk and main-branch development in Nothofagus pumilio (Nothofagaceae): a retrospective analysis of tree growth

The development of the trunk and main branches of approximately 26-year-old Nothofagus pumilio (Poepp. et Endl.) Krasser trees was studied. The length and number of leaves of annual shoots were recorded for 56 trees from a natural population. Morphological and macroanatomical features allowed the identification of shoot apex deaths and the axillary positions from which branches and relay shoots derived. The trees had a mean height of approximately 6 m and a mean basal diameter of approximately 8 cm. The length of trunk shoots increased from the first years to the intermediate years of tree growth and decreased for the last 6 years of tree growth. The maximum length and number of leaves of trunk shoots were registered for the years around 1985, when tree age was about 17 years. The likelihood of apex death for trunk shoots was minimum for the period of maximum trunk shoot size. Despite the fact that the architectural features of the sampled trees corresponded to those of young, vigorously growing trees, th.
Opaque Selling in Player-versus-Player Games

Despite the sizable market for online games, research on the economics of online game operations remains nascent. In this paper, we focus on free-to-play player-versus-player games in which the game provider offers players an option to purchase game-specific virtual goods (items) before the game begins. Purchasing a virtual item can improve the player’s chance of defeating his opponent. Such practice motivates us to investigate the impact of disclosing the opponent’s skill level on in-game purchases. Analyzing a game-theoretical model that involves one game provider and two competitive players, we obtain the following results. First, when the price of the virtual goods is endogenously determined by the game provider, it is optimal for the provider to adopt “opaque selling” by concealing the opponent’s skill level information from players. However, opaque selling hurts the player’s welfare. Second, when the selling price is exogenously given, opaque selling is the dominant strategy for the provider, although the player welfare is lower, if and only if the price is low. Our results can help game providers decide whether to adopt opaque selling, and also offer a plausible explanation of why some providers adopt the opaque selling strategy.
Natural Disaster and Child Labor: Evidence from Indonesian Earthquake

Natural disasters can bring considerable damages to households in terms of casualties of household members, destruction of houses, and loss of physical assets. We examine the impact of an earthquake in Indonesia on children’s school and work activities and how the effect differs by access to credit. We find that the earthquake decreases education and increases child labor, but the effect is stronger for households with access to credit. Our finding indicates the complementary effect between credit and child labor and suggests the need for policies to increase educational investment when providing credits to households recovering from a shock.