Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Standardized Tools and the Generalizability of Human Capital: The Impact of Standardized Technologies on Employee Mobility

The mobility of highly skilled knowledge and creative workers is an important determinant of innovation. Existing studies have not considered how the growth and diffusion of standardized technologies and tools influence the mobility of individual knowledge workers. We theorize that the diffusion of standardized tools increases the generalizability of human capital and, in turn, increases the ability of individuals to move between companies. Using data on the use of middleware in the console games industry, we find that this diffusion of standardized middleware tools led to an increase in labor mobility on average, but was associated with higher mobility for individuals with skills that complemented those tools. Worker experience with standardized tools amplified these effects, as individuals who were experienced in using these tools saw the largest shift in the likelihood of mobility. We do not find that this diffusion led to individuals leaving the industry, but we do find evidence that the diffusion of a common set of tools within an industry was associated with workers being less likely to leave that industry. These results highlight the potential unintended effects of technological standardization and the broad diffusion of standardized tools, which may enable workers to more easily shift between competitors.
Derivations of stand heights from airborne laser scanner data with canopy-based quantile estimators

The distribution of canopy heights obtained with an airborne laser scanner over a field trial with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) was a function of the vertical distribution of foliage area. Over a wide range of canopy structures, the proportion of laser pulses returned from or above a given reference height was proportional to the fraction of leaf area above it. We hypothesized that the quantile of the laser canopy heights matching in probability the fraction of leaf area above a desired height would be an unbiased estimator of same. This was confirmed in 36 (20 × 20 m) plots and 6 older validation plots. Canopy-based quantiles of the laser canopy height data were within 6% (mean 3%) of the field estimates. Laser and field estimates were strongly correlated (r ~ 0.8), and statistical tests supported the null hypotheses of no difference in mean stand height (P > 0.3). A geometric model successfully predicted the mean difference between the laser canopy heights and the mean tree height.
Disclosure of Cybersecurity Investments and the Cost of Capital

While firms have been steadily making cybersecurity investments, only a tiny fraction discloses information about such investments. This is puzzling because an informed market must reward firms that are reducing risks by managing security well and informing the market through regulatory disclosures. While anecdotes support such incentives, arguably, the lack of concrete evidence establishing the value for firms tied to cybersecurity investment disclosures perpetuates such behavior. Consequently, this study uncovers an important incentive for disclosures by answering: are financial markets efficient enough to reward disclosures of cybersecurity investment by reducing the firm’s cost of capital? We utilize exogenous variations in SEC comment letters, which shift a firm’s disclosure activity randomly, and find that one standard deviation increase in disclosing cybersecurity investments in SEC filings reduces the cost of capital by 7%. The effect is stronger for more informative disclosures, firms with more analysts followers, firms that are more likely to be invested by institutions, and when firms raise capital. The effect vanishes when either the investment or disclosure is inadequate. The findings highlight the role of reducing information asymmetry in connecting voluntary disclosures of cybersecurity investments with financial advantages.
Dietary amino acids affect intestinal Clostridium perfringens populations in broiler chickens

An experiment was performed to examine the effect of protein source and dietary amino acid profile on intestinal levels of C. perfringens in broiler chickens. Broiler chickens (age = 14 d; n = 192) were fed diets containing 400 g kg-1 crude protein with fish meal, meat/bone meal, feather meal, corn gluten meal, soy protein concentrate, pea protein concentrate, or potato protein concentrate as the primary protein source along with a control diet containing 230 g kg-1 crude protein. The birds were orally inoculated daily, with 1 mL (~1.0 × 108 CFU mL-1) of an overnight culture of C. perfringens between 14 and 21 d of age, killed at 28 d of age and C. perfringens numbers in ileum and cecum were enumerated. Birds fed fish meal, meat/bone meal, feather meal and potato protein concentrate had significantly higher intestinal C. perfringens counts than the birds fed corn gluten meal, soy or pea protein concentrates or the control diet (P < 0.05). The glycine content of the diets and ileal contents was significant.
Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationship of Genus Phyllostachys by RAPD Markers

Genus Phyllostachys is a long-lived woody species primarily distributed throughout South East Asia. Many species of this genus has been regarded as medically and ecologically important in the world. We evaluated representative samples of the four taxa with RAPD to estimate genetic relationships within the genus Phyllostachys . The percentages of polymorphic loci were 8.9-33.3% at the species level. P. bambusoides was found to show lower genetic diversity ( H =0.018) than other species. Total genetic diversity ( H T ) was 0.315, genetic diversity within populations ( H S ) was 0.043, the proportion of total genetic diversity partitioned among populations ( G ST ) was 0.659 and the gene flow ( N m) was 0.0263. As some Korean populations were isolated and patchily distributed, they exhibited low levels of genetic diversity. The four taxa of the genus Phyllostachys analyzed were distinctly related to a monophyletic. P. nigra var . henonis . Stapf was found to be more closely related to P. pubescens than to P. nigra. P. bambusoides was quite distinct from the remaining species.
Public Sector Accounting System - A Conceptual Analysis

Public sector accounting is the system of accounting that involves recording and maintenance of books of accounts by the government authorities on their financial performance. There are three categories of organisations normally working in any environment: public, private and non-profit concerns. Each of these organisations is working on a different motive, for instance, private sector organisations run for making more profit for their long-existence, public organisations or governments work for socioeconomic sustainable development of the country, whereas NGOs are for rendering the services to the society at large. If this is the reality, it is clear that the financial transactions of each of these organisations are different from each other. So it is not possible to record their transactions as per single accounting standard. Hence, it is necessary to have different accounting standards applicable to these organisations individually. Government accounts must be available to the public in a transparent manner. To ensure this, it is necessary to have standards which are applicable to the public sector to account for their financial transactions. The present paper is intended to analyse the public sector accounting system at the global level and in the Indian context.
Supply Chain Performance Measurement Using Integrated Multi-Criteria Decision Making Techniques

Supply chain management affects company performance, so the company should improve their supply chain performance in order to achieve competitiveness. Performance measurement is critical for improving competitiveness as it provides information on the strengths that must be maintained and the weaknesses that must be addressed. The purpose of this study is to measure supply chain performance by using the integrated approach of DEMATEL, ANP, and TOPSIS. Data were obtained through questionnaires assessed by experts on six supply chain alternatives in the manufacturing industry. DEMATEL and ANP methods are used to obtain causal relationships between indicators and weight of supply chain performance indicators. TOPSIS method is used to measure supply chain performance. The results showed that alternative supply chain 3 is the highest performance value. Customer relationship dimension has the high weight value, so the company must maintain customer relationship through continuous improvement.
Behavioural responses and biochemical correlates in Solea solea to gradual hypoxic exposure

The common sole, Solea solea, a benthic flatfish, is frequently exposed to environmental hypoxic conditions. A succession of behavioural responses to oxygen depletion can be observed. Under moderate hypoxia (80-20% air saturation) the fish reduce spontaneous activity and the scope for activity is lowered. At the onset of anaerobic metabolism (at 20% air saturation) the fish lie still on the bottom, but with increasing severity of hypoxia they start bending the body so as to lift the mouth above the bottom and to reach water layers with higher oxygen concentrations. Between 20 and 6% air saturation, the sole applies two different metabolic strategies: (i) it activates anaerobic metabolism and (ii) it depresses its metabolism below standard metabolic rate. At 5% air saturation or lower the fish swim up with burst- and panic-like movements and lose balance and swim in an uncoordinated manner (below 3%), finally remaining paralysed at the bottom. The correlation of behavioural and metabolic responses clearly .
Cointegration: Its Fatal Flaw and a Proposed Solution

Summary It has been argued that whenever regression models involve nonstationary and trending variables, estimation methods appropriate to stationary series cannot be applied to such models and instead require cointegration techniques. Unfortunately, extant methodologies applied to cointegration are a trap: if the error term of a cointegration regression consists of omitted relevant regressors, then, even though they are integrated to the same order, the dependent and the independent variables of the regression are not cointegrated! This paper proposes a remedy based on time-varying coefficient (TVC) modeling that overcomes all the shortcomings described in the paper.
The Olympic Spirit Boost: A Synthetic Control Approach

This paper examines the effect of hosting the Summer Olympic Games on future country’s sport success, computing the total number of Olympic medals in the subsequent Games. In order to control for the endogeneity produced by the hosting decision, we use the Synthetic Control Method (SCM), which constructs a weighted country that works as a synthetic counterfactual. The main finding of this paper is that, although decreasing over time, the ex-host effect does not fades away immediately after hosting for some host countries (as Australia and Canada), and that the effect is negligible for middle income countries (as Mexico and Greece). Despite the high costs associated with hosting mega-events such as the Olympic Games, our paper sheds light on a important benefit generated from investments in sports.
Reviewing the Literature on Postponement Strategies as a Way for Better Flexibility in Organizations

Globalization, technological and customer increasing changes, amongst other drivers, result in higher levels of uncertainty and unpredictability for organizations. In order for organizations to cope with the uncertain and fast changing economic and business environment, these organizations need to innovate in order to achieve flexibility. In simple terms, the organizations must develop strategies leading to the ability of these organizations to provide horizontal information connections across the supply chain to create and deliver products that meet customer needs, by synchronization of customer demands with product creation. The generated information will create efficiency and effectiveness throughout the whole supply chain regarding production, storage and distribution, as well as eliminating redundant activities and reduction in response time. In an integrated supply chain, spanning activities include coordination with distributors and suppliers. This paper explains how through postponement strategies, flexibility can be achieved in an organization. In order to achieve the above, a thorough literature review was conducted via the search of online websites that contains material from scientific journal data-bases, articles and textbooks on the subject of postponement and flexibility. The findings of the research are found in the last part of the paper. The first part introduces the concept of postponement and its importance in supply chain management. The second part of the paper provides the methodology used in the process of writing the paper.
Efficiency Estimation for Textile Industry in India, 1989-2000

Paper applies stochastic frontier production (SFP) function to measure efficiency of textile firms in India. In SFP models with panel data (balanced or unbalanced) unobservable firm efficiency levels are related to explanatory variables. The SFP were first proposed by Aigner, Lovell and Schmidt (1977), and postulates the existence of technical inefficiencies of production of firms involved in producing a particular product. <br><br>A SFP function is defined for set of panel data1 on 652 textile firms for the period 1989-2000. The time period is chosen to cover a sufficiently long period so that we are able to examine more issues and in more depth. Output is measured by net value added, age or experience of the firm by years since establishment, Ratio’s loan/equity implies credit availability, total exports by sales gives export orientation, total imports by raw material gives import intensity, gives energy intensity. The mean technical efficiency of the firms is found to be 63%. The three fourth of the firms have efficiency in the range of 0.5 to 0.9.
The European Minimum Wage on the Doorstep

On January 14, 2020, the European Commission started its initiative to establish fair minimum wages in Europe. Based on a discussion of the living wage concept, this article analyzes how recent national initiatives for substantial minimum wage increases in various EU Member States and the Commission’s initiative to develop a European minimum wage policy could mutually reinforce each other and eventually lead to fair minimum wages in Europe that enable workers to enjoy a decent living standard. In view of the significant differences in the minimum wage regimes and welfare state traditions, this article argues for a pragmatic approach of taking the “in-work-poverty-wage” threshold of 60% of the national full-time gross median wage as the reference for the assessment of the adequacy of minimum wages in Europe.
Corporate Governance Index for Saudi Firms

This paper constructs a Corporate Governance Index, CGI for all Saudi listed firms in Tadawul, 2016. Based on Four Corporate Governance categories: the board of directors; the shareholders’ rights and general assembly; the public disclosure and transparency; and stakeholders, we find that the cumulative corporate governance score for Saudi listed firms ranges from 45 to 91 points out of 100. The mean value was 67 points for all firms with a standard deviation of 8%. This indicates that Saudi firms vary significantly in corporate governance practices. Investigating the four categories separately show that Saudi companies are doing well in general in the board of directors and shareholders as compared with public disclosure and stakeholders’ categories.
Effects of Administration of Galactooligosaccharides on the Human Faecal Microflora, Stool Weight and Abdominal Sensation

The effect of changing the human intestinal microflora by administration of Oligomate-50, which contains 52 per cent galactooligosaccharides and is produced from lactose by the action of β-D-galactosidase (produced by Aspergillus oryzae and Streptococcus thermophillus ), was investigated. Oligomate-50 (0, 4.8, 9.6 or 19.2 g/d) was given orally for 7 d to 12 volunteers in a single-blind cross-over study. Each dose included 0, 2.5, 5.0 or 10.0 g of galactooligosaccharides, respectively. Bifidobacteria were greatly increased following ingestion of galactooligosaccharides and a linear relation was found ( P < 0.05) between the amount of galactooligosaccharides ingested and the number of bifidobacteria per gram of faeces. Lactobacilli were also slightly increased. The ratio of the number of bifidobacteria to the total number of bacteria was significantly increased from 0.26 ± 0.12 to 0.48 ± 0.19 by galactooligosaccharides ingestion. Stool weight and stool frequency after ingestion did not change significantly and no sign of diarrhoea was observed when 10.0 g of galactooligosaccharides was ingested. The results of this study show that galactooligosaccharides are a superior growth-promoting factor for bifidobacteria, and, moreover, have the ability to increase the multiplication of lactobacilli in the human intestinal microflora. Keywords: Galactooligosaccharides; Oligomate-50; Bifidobacteria; Lactobacilli; Intestinal microflora; Faecal microflora.
The Induction of Volatile Emissions in Maize by Three Herbivore Species with Different Feeding Habits: Possible Consequences for Their Natural Enemies

Abstract In order to find their prey, natural enemies of herbivores often make effective use of plant volatiles that are emitted by plants on which the herbivores have been feeding. The phenomenon of herbivore-induced emissions of attractants has been well investigated for mite–plant interactions and for interactions between leaf feeding caterpillars and plants. Herbivore-induced emissions of chemical signals appear to be common in plants, but little is known about induction by herbivores that have different feeding habits. We obtained more knowledge on this by comparing the volatile emissions induced in maize plants by a folivorous caterpillar ( Spodoptera littoralis ), a stemborer ( Ostrinia nubilalis ), and an aphid ( Rhopalosiphum maidis ). As controls we also measured the emissions of healthy, undamaged plants and plants that were mechanically damaged and then treated with caterpillar regurgitate. Volatiles were collected twice daily for 2 h over a 3-day period after initial infestation or mechanical damage. Quantitatively, the plants infested with S. littoralis emitted by far the most. Their emissions started several hours after initial damage, lasted for the 3 days, and were the highest on the third day. The volatile profile was the same for the regurgitate-treated plants, but here the emissions dropped rapidly after the first day. The plants infested by O. nubilalis emitted the same blend of volatiles, but in much lower quantities. In addition to the known induced maize volatiles, the Ostrinia -damaged plants emitted some highly volatile, still unidentified compounds, which may be specific for the frass of this insect or emitted from the damaged plant stem. The aphids induced no measurable emissions of volatiles in the maize, even after heavy infestation. This is perhaps because several aphids, including R. maidis, barely damage the plant cells, and may not trigger a plant response. These findings suggest that induction of volatiles is the result of cell tissue damage, particularly to the leaves of the plant. This should have consequences also for the search strategies employed by the natural enemies of the respective herbivores. It can be expected that enemies of stemborers use some highly volatile compounds in addition to the known induced compounds. Natural enemies of some aphids may have to resort to other foraging cues, as the plant appears to provide them with no or very little olfactory information.
Observational Learning in Large Anonymous Games

I present a model of observational learning with payoff interdependence. Agents, ordered in a sequence, receive private signals about an uncertain state of the world and sample previous actions. Unlike in standard models of observational learning, an agent's payoff depends both on the state and on the actions of others. Agents want both to learn the state and to anticipate others' play. As the sample of previous actions provides information on both dimensions, standard informational externalities are confounded with payoff externalities. I show that in spite of these confounding factors, when signals are of unbounded strength there is learning in a strong sense: agents' actions are ex-post optimal given both the state of the world and others' actions. With bounded signals, actions approach ex-post optimality as the signal structure becomes more informative.
Carbon/nutrient balance of boreal plants in relation to vertebrate herbivory

The evolutionary response of plants to herbivory is constrained by the availability of resources in the environment. Woody plants adapted to low-resource environments have intrinsically slow growth rates that limit their capacity to grow rapidly beyond the reach of most browsing mammals. Their low capacity to acquire resources limits their potential for compensatory growth which would otherwise enable them to replace tissue destroyed by browsing. Plants adapted to low-resource environments have responded to browsing by evolving strong constitutive defenses with relatively low ontogenetic plasticity. Because nutrients are often more limiting than light in boreal forests, slowly growing boreal forest trees utilize carbon-based rather than nitrogen-based defenses. More rapidly growing shade-intolerant trees that are adapted to growth in high-resource environments are selected for competitive ability and can grow rapidly beyond the range of most browsing mammals. Moreover, these plants have the carbon and nutrient reserves necessary to replace tissue lost to browsing through compensatory growth. However, because browsing of juvenile plants reduces vertical growth and thus competitive ability, these plants are selected for resistance to browsing during the juvenile growth phase. Consequently, early successional boreal forest trees have responded to browsing by evolving strong defenses during juvenility only. Because severe pruning causes woody plants to revert to a juvenile form, resistance of woody plants to hares increases after severe hare browsing as occurs during hare population outbreaks. This increase in browsing resistance may play a significant role in boreal forest plant-hare interactions. Unlike woody plants, graminoids retain large reserves of carbon and nutrients below ground in both low-resource and high-resource environments and can respond to severe grazing through compensatory growth. These fundamental differences between the response of woody plants and graminoids to vertebrate herbivory suggest that the dynamics of browsing systems and grazing systems are qualitatively different.
Labor Market and Financial Shocks: A Time Varying Analysis

Motivated by the events of the Great Recession, we estimate a time-varying structural VAR model to analyze the effects of a financial shock on the labor market, focusing on the US. Our results indicate that a tightening of financial conditions is highly detrimental to the labor market. Moreover, we show that financial shocks have affected the unemployment rate asymmetrically in the last three decades, an implication that a standard VAR cannot capture: while negative financial shocks have been responsible for increases in unemployment, our model does not find significant contributions of financial shocks during periods of expansion. The source of this asymmetry is the time-varying standard deviation of the identified shock, which is higher in times of financial distress; on the other hand, we find the transmission mechanism is almost constant over time.