Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of Diagnostic Tests in Wildlife: The Case of Chytridiomycosis in Wild Amphibians

Abstract We validated the diagnostic tests for the high-profile disease, chytridiomycosis, in wild amphibian populations. We compared histological samples with a Taqman real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) test in five species of frogs at different times of the year at six locations in the wet tropics of northern Queensland. The sensitivity and specificity of each test were estimated using prior estimates from previous laboratory studies and Bayesian methods. The qPCR test was almost three times as sensitive 72.9% (62.7–82.2%) than histology 26.5% (19.9–33.9%) but was less specific 94.2% (89.3–98.6%) than histology 99.5% (98.4–100%), which was likely caused by contamination. Monitoring of the negative control success rate of the qPCR test is potentially a good indicator of specificity. It is likely that using individual gloves for handling amphibians reduces cross-contamination and, therefore, improves specificity rather than cause inhibition of the qPCR. Classifying indeterminate results as positive will increase the qPCR test sensitivity but will lower specificity to a lesser degree depending on the likelihood of contamination. Although PCR is the preferred test for amphibian populations, histology is useful when wishing to confirm a diagnosis of infection and in situations where observing the severity of infection and pathology in skin is desired. In this study, we show that diagnostic test validation in wild animals is now relatively straight forward using modern computing power and can incorporate prior knowledge generated from laboratory studies using Bayesian approaches.
ICO vs. Equity Financing Under Imperfect, Complex and Asymmetric Information

This paper offers a game-theoretic model of a firm that raises funds for financing an innovative business project and chooses between ICO (initial coin offering) and equity financing. The model is based on information problems associated with both ICO and equity financing well-documented in the literature. Several new features are introduced, for example, information complexity, which is analyzed along with a more traditional imperfect information and an asymmetric information approach. The model provides several implications that have not yet been tested. For example, we find that the message complexity can be beneficial for firms conducting ICOs. Also, high-quality projects can use ICO as a signal of quality. Thirdly, the average size of projects undertaking equity financing is larger than that of firms conducting ICO.
Stein's Overreaction Puzzle: Option Anomaly or Perfectly Rational Behavior?

Empirical studies have shown that implied volatilities of long-term options react quite strongly to changes in implied volatilities of short-term options and do not display the rationally expected smoothing behavior. Given the observed strong mean-reversion in volatility, those findings have been interpreted as evidence for overreaction in the options market. Focusing on a stochastic variance process in a rational expectation framework, we theoretically show that under normal market conditions the risk-neutral volatility dynamics are substantially more persistent than the physical one. As a result, the empirical observation of a strong reaction of long-term volatility would be consistent with perfectly rational behavior. We additionally show that the degree of persistence depends on investors’ risk aversion. Using daily data on S&P 500 index options, we confirm previous findings for the 2000-2010 period, which is characterized by an overall moderate level of risk aversion. Once we identify periods of high and low risk aversion, in line with the predictions of our theoretical model, empirical results only hold for periods, when investors are highly risk averse. During periods of low risk aversion, results are insignificant. Robustness checks reveal that the results are remarkably stable over the complete term structure. Therefore, we provide strong evidence that the empirical observation is not overreaction, but in line with perfectly rational behavior.
Intention-Based Reciprocity and the Hidden Costs of Control

Empirical research suggests that - rather than improving incentives - exerting control can reduce workers' performance by eroding motivation. The present paper shows that intention-based reciprocity can cause such motivational crowding-out if individuals differ in their propensity for reciprocity and preferences are private information. Not being controlled might then be considered to be kind, because not everybody reciprocates not being controlled with high effort. This argument stands in contrast to existing theoretical wisdom on motivational crowding-out that is primarily based on signaling models.
How Does the Joint-Venture Negotiation Box Work?

This research paper is interested in introducing a new methodological approach to evaluate a joint-venture negotiation between two players (or groups) respectively. Hence, this new methodological approach is entitled “The Joint-Venture Negotiation Box (JVNBox). ” The primary objective of the JVN-Box is to calculate a suitable point of balance between two players for the generation of favorable conditions in a joint venture. Subsequently, the success of any joint-venture according to this research depends on the effort to work hard by the weak player and sacrifice welfare from the stronger player. In the Beginning, this study assumes that different players need to agree with some initial talks. In fact, both players can start a formal discussion to find the suitable point of balance in the process to consolidate a joint-venture. Nevertheless, the division between players always depends on the opportunity cost and incentives in the process of negotiation.
The Resource Provision Capability of Independent Directors in Family-Controlled, Publicly-Listed Companies in Malaysia

To develop a comprehensive measurement index that captures a wide range of independent director characteristics that collectively reflect their overall resource provision capability in the context of Malaysian publicly-listed companies. A detailed content analysis of independent director-related disclosures in the annual reports of 217 family-controlled companies listed on the Malaysian stock exchange (Bursa Malaysia). Ten distinctive types of ‘resource’ that independent directors bring to their respective companies were identified. These resources (e.g. government contracts, networks, loans, expertise, etc.) are then utilized to develop a resource provision capability index. The resultant index provides a fair indication of independent directors’ contribution to enhancing/sustaining their respective companies’ performance. The developed comprehensive resource provision capability index can be used to explore as well identify the specific nature of independent director contribution to their respective firms. This study makes a contribution to the governance literature by elaborating on independent directors’ resource provision role that has been generally ignored in “Western” studies. More specifically, not only we are proposing that independent directors’ role transcends the classic, Western-inspired monitoring role, we provide evidence of other specific means by which they can contribute to their respective firms and offer a framework to capture all such capability in a concurrent manner.
The Ecological Impact of Biofuels

The ecological impact of biofuels is mediated through their effects on land, air, and water. In 2008, about 33.3 million ha were used to produce food-based biofuels and their coproducts. Biofuel production from food crops is expected to increase 170% by 2020. Economic model estimates for land-use change (LUC) associated with food-based biofuels are 67–365 ha 10−6 l−1, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions for decades compared to business as usual. Biodiversity is reduced by about 60% in U.S. corn and soybean fields and by about 85% in Southeast Asian oil palm plantations compared to unconverted habitat. Consequently, the largest ecological impact of biofuel production may well come from market-mediated LUC. Mitigating this impact requires targeting biofuel production to degraded and abandoned cropland and rangeland; increasing crop yields and livestock production efficiency; use of wastes, residues, and wildlife-friendly crops; and compensatory offsite mitigation for residual direct and indirect i.
THE FEEDING BIOLOGY OF ANT-LION LARVAE - GROWTH AND SURVIVAL IN MORTER-OBSCURUS

Growth and survival of ant-lion larvae were investigated at four sites in Sierra Leone. Pitfall trapping showed prey density and biomass to decline as the dry season progressed. Very few large prey were available and most were too large for ant-lions to capture. At three sites ant-lion density declined and mean weight increased through the dry season, larvae disappearing from the sites at the same date despite differences in initial densities. Rain caused the death of many small larvae at one site and the survivors subsequently grew more rapidly. Despite intra-site differences in growth rates three sites showed no evidence of competition. At the fourth site, with a much greater size range of larvae, large individuals had a competitive advantage over small ones; larger pits were either more widely separated from their nearest neighbours, or their neighbours were smaller than average. It is argued that food and not time is the factor limiting growth rates. Very small and large larvae are the vulnerable stages in larval development, the latter because of the scarcity of large prey.
Effects of Seller's Information Disclosure in Equity Auctions Requiring Post-Auction Investment

We consider a moral hazard issue inherent in the equity auctions of assets such as oil & gas leases and corporate takeovers. After the auction, the winning bidder decides whether to make follow-up investments in the acquired asset and makes the equity payment out of the revenue from it according to the auction outcome. Before the auction, the seller holds private information about the possible returns on that investment and must decide whether to disclose it. Larger equity payments undermine incentives to invest, reducing the impact of information revealed by the seller on expected values of the asset to a winning bidder. Thus, information disclosure makes bids less aggressive in expectation. Expected seller revenues may be higher when she does not disclose her private information than when she commits to publicly announcing it regardless of whether it is good or bad.
Proteolytic enzymes in coastal surface seawater: Significant activity of endopeptidases
and exopeptidases

We assayed proteolytic enzymes in coastal surface seawater using 16 types of fluorogenic substrates, including those for aminopeptidase, trypsin, elastase, and chymotrypsin. Hydrolysis rates were similar or higher for substrates of trypsin and chymotrypsin than for those of aminopeptidase. Substrates for elastase were hardly hydrolyzed. The results strongly suggest trypsin‐type and chymotrypsin‐type endopeptidases and aminopeptidases were present in the seawater. In most previous studies of proteolytic enzymes in aquatic environments, leucine‐aminopeptidase activity measured using a fluorogenic substrate has been used as a model of proteolytic activity. From the results of this study using various peptide analog fluorogenic substrates, the significance of endopeptidases, which could play a key role in downsizing of dissolved proteins and polypeptides to oligopeptides prior to microbial respiration, was confirmed
The effect of upzoning on house prices and redevelopment premiums in Auckland, New Zealand

We study the short-run effects of a large-scale upzoning on house prices and redevelopment premiums in Auckland, New Zealand. Upzoning significantly increases the redevelopment premium but the overall effect on house prices depends on the economic potential for site redevelopment, with underdeveloped properties appreciating relative to intensively developed properties. Notably, intensively developed properties decrease in value relative to similar dwellings that were not upzoned, showing that the large-scale upzoning had an immediate depreciative effect on pre-existing intensive housing. Our results show that the economic potential for site redevelopment is fundamental to understanding the impact of changes in land use regulations on property values.
Discrimination of the natal origin of young‐of‐the‐year Allis shad (Alosa alosa) in the Garonne–Dordogne basin (south‐west France) using otolith chemistry

Abstract – The otolith composition of age 0+ Allis shad (Alosa alosa) captured in two rivers in the Gironde system in south-west France, the Dordogne and the Garonne, was analysed to establish the natal origin of the fish. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analyses were used to take measurements of 15 isotopes, among which Co, Fe, Sr and Rb were the most important elements in the discrimination process. It was possible to reclassify each sampled fish into its natal river basin (Garonne or Dordogne) with a high degree of accuracy. Linear discriminant analysis correctly reclassified 91.1% of the Garonne samples and 87.8% of the Dordogne samples (mean success in reclassification in 20 runs ± 1 SD: 89.21 ± 8.6%). Artificial neural networks correctly reclassified 90.1% of the Garonne samples and 81.2% of the Dordogne samples (mean success in reclassification after 1000 training cycles ±1 SD: 85.6 ± 9.1%). Using these tools the present results show that it is possible to assign a natal origin to juvenile shad that hatched in the Dordogne–Garonne basin based on the trace elements in the otolith. Resumen 1. En este estudio exploramos si determinados elementos traza en los otolitos pudieran ser utilizados para determinar el origen geografico o espacial de Alosa alosa en las cuencas de los rios Garonne y Dordogne (cuenca de la Gironde, suroeste de Francia). Con este fin, analizamos la composicion de los otolitos de juveniles del ano del sabalo (Alosa alosa). El Plasma Acoplado por Induccion con Espectrometro de Masas (ICPMS) permitio la cuantificacion de 15 isotopos en los otolitos de los cuales Co, Fe, Sr y Rb fueron los mas determinantes en la discriminacion. 2. Los individuos capturados fueron asignados a cada uno de los dos rios utilizando el analisis discriminante lineal con tasas de correcta reclasificacion del 91.1% para los individuos de Garonne y del 87.8% para los individuos de Dordogne (con una media de clasificaciones correctas ± desviacion estandar de: 89.21% ± 8.6%). 3. Utilizando Redes Artificiales de Neuronas, las tasas de clasificacion correcta fueron similares a las del analisis disciminante lineal: 90.1% para los individuos de Garonne y 81.2% para los individuos de Dordogne (con una media de clasificaciones correctas ± desviacion estandar de: 85.6% ± 9.1%). 4. Estos resultados muestran que es posible asignar el lugar de origen a los juveniles de sabalo de la cuenca de Dordogne-Garonne analizando los elementos traza de sus otolitos.
The Food Crisis and New Technologies

The present crisis in global economy, the issue of cli mate change and the fast-growing world population, leading to increased demand of food, are signifiant factors reinforcing moves towards inclusive technology developments. Increasing population and consumption growth will lead to the increasing global demand for food, as well. The growing competition for land, water, and energy affct food production capability, entailing the necessity for reducing the effcts of overexploita tion of food system on the environment (1).
International Financial Reporting Standards, Institutional Infrastructures and Costs of Equity Capital around the World

We construct a large sample of 21,608 firm-years with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopters and non-adopters from 34 countries over the 1998-2004 period, and evaluate differences in the implied cost of capital between the IFRS adopters and the non-adopters. We also investigate whether and how the cost-of-capital effect of IFRS adoptions is differentially influenced by the efficacy of institutional infrastructures determining a country's corporate governance and enforcement mechanisms. Our results reveal the following. First, we find that the cost of equity capital is significantly lower for the full IFRS adopters than for the non-adopters, suggesting that the IFRS adopters benefit from greater and better disclosures via IFRS by having a lower cost of raising capital from equity markets. Moreover this result holds, irrespective of a country's institutional infrastructure. Second, we find that the cost of capital decreases with the efficacy of institutional infrastructure. Finally and more importantly, we find that the cost of capital-reducing effect of IFRS adoption is greater when the IFRS adopters are from countries with weak institutional infrastructures than when they are from countries with strong infrastructures. The above results are overall robust to the use of alternative measures of the expected cost of capital and a battery of sensitivity checks.
On the Ancestral Gametic Correlations of a Mendelian Population Mating at Random

(1) The population to be considered in this paper is supposed to be initated by a group of s1 individuals with the protogenic constitution ( aa ), and s3 individuals with the hydrid constitution (A a ), where the mating is given by the simple Mendelian formula: (AA) X ( aa ) = 4 (A a ). I do not assume at this stage any relation between the gametic constitution of an individual and its somatic character. I propose first to consider the correlation between any ancestor and the resulting array of offspring, when we regard only their gametic constitutions. I assume that all mating in the population is random, i. e . That every possible mating occurs simply in the population, and that there is no differential fertility or selective death-rate. In a paper published in the “Phil. Trans.,’ vol. 203, A, 1904, P. 53 et seq . , I have dealt with the correlation between the somatic characters of the ancestry and the offspring in an population of a Mendelian character, more general in that I supposed the character to depend upon n couplets, and not a single Mendelian couplet, less general in that I supposed the population to have arisen from a series of initial hybridisations, and not form a mixture as in the present case of hybrids and numbers of two pure races in any proportions. In that paper I showed ( a ) that there was correlation between any ancestor and the offspring, ( b ) that the regression for any ancestor and the offspring was linear, and ( c ) that the correlations decreased in geometrical progression. These are the chief characteristics of the Law of Ancestral Heredity. It was clear that, judged by somatic characters only. Ancestry was of importance. The result depended on Mendel’s first principle of dominance being absolutely true. The values of the correlations were, how ever, less than those with which biometric work had made us familiar.
The Traveling Salesman Problem With One Truck and Multiple Drones

We develop a novel mixed-integer programming (MIP) formulation for a traveling salesman problem with a truck-drone team, consisting of one truck and multiple drones, that carries out a set of deliveries. Our model takes an approach different from other MIP formulations in the literature. Benchmarks show that it can compete with those as well as with purpose-built exact solution methods but has the advantage of being easily implementable with an off-the-shelf solver. Additionally, we present an even tighter formulation for a special case where the drone range is non-binding. We conduct several numerical experiments to explore the performance of the model and to gain insights into the problem with multiple drones.
Habituation and habitat changes can moderate the impacts of human disturbance on shorebird breeding performance

Disturbance by humans is widely expected to reduce the reproductive fitness of nesting birds if disturbance reduces nest attentiveness, and unattended eggs experience increased risk of predation or exposure to potentially lethal temperature extremes. Yet, relatively few studies have examined the physiological or behavioural mechanisms whereby disturbance influences reproductive fitness, or the extent to which the costs of disturbance may be reduced through habituation. We compared the behavioural responses, egg temperatures and reproductive success of shore‐nesting white‐fronted plovers Charadrius marginatus to disturbance at two breeding sites experiencing low versus high human recreational activity, respectively. Daytime nest attentiveness decreased with increasing experimental disturbance at both sites, but this relationship differed between sites; for any given level of disturbance, incubating birds at the more disturbed site had greater nest attentiveness. They achieved this through habituation, allowing a closer human approach before leaving the nest, and returning to the nest faster after a disturbance event. Despite lower average daytime nest attentiveness at the more disturbed site, incubation temperatures did not differ significantly between sites. Nest mortality, mostly by natural mammalian and corvid predators, was significantly lower at the site experiencing high recreational activity. However, chick mortality was significantly greater at the more disturbed site, most likely because of predation by domestic dogs. Chick mortality may have been increased by the habitation of chicks, whose escape responses were much reduced at the more disturbed site. Nonetheless, annual fecundity was substantially higher at the more disturbed site, showing that the overall reproductive fitness of wild birds is not always compromised by human disturbance and urbanization.
Influence of Water Exchange and Dissolved Oxygen in Redds on Survival of Steelhead Trout Embryos

Abstract A field study of spawning gravel conditions affecting the survival of steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri Richardson) embryos was conducted in two small streams in the Alsea River Basin in Lincoln County, Oregon, from February to June 1959. Holes 10 inches deep, approximating natural redds, were dug in arbitrarily selected spawning locations. Plastic mesh sacks containing gravel and 100 fertilized trout eggs were placed in the upstream end of each hole. A stand-pipe was placed in the lower end of each excavation about 10 inches away from the eggs, and the hole was filled with gravel to the streambed level. Periodically, determinations were made of gravel permeability and of the apparent velocity and dissolved-oxygen content of the intra-gravel water. A month after calculated hatching times, the bags were removed from the stream-bed, and the fry contained in them were counted and preserved. The permeability of the spawning gravel fluctuated while embryos were in the gravel. During this period mean gr.