Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Method for Measuring the Efficiency of Production over Time and an Application to Wikipedia's Evolution

Wikipedia, the world's most popular encyclopedia, is a unique enterprise characterized by its purely decentralized production. Thus, it is important to understand whether editors produce the pages in an efficient manner. I examine how efficiently Wikipedia has developed from three perspectives. First, I evaluate whether the editors produce the pages with the highest eventual views first. I find that at a given point in time, editors create roughly 80% of the maximum possible views that could have been created up through that time. Second, I examine whether pages are created in order of how well-connected they are to other pages in the link structure, so how easy they are to find. I find that a page's probability of being created at any point in time is significantly and substantially increasing in its relative number of views and connections. However, this effect diminishes with time and page creation was much less sensitive to these measures in 2008 than in 2001. Third, I compare which pages frequent versus infrequent editors create. I find that frequent editors tend to produce highly-viewed pages while infrequent editors tend to produce better connected pages.
Class I Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase p110β Is Required for Apoptotic Cell and Fcγ Receptor-mediated Phagocytosis by Macrophages*

Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) play an important role in a variety of cellular functions, including phagocytosis. PI3Ks are activated during phagocytosis induced by several receptors and have been shown to be required for phagocytosis through the use of inhibitors such as wortmannin and LY294002. Mammalian cells have multiple isoforms of PI3K, and the role of the individual isoforms during phagocytosis has not been addressed. The class I PI3Ks consist of a catalytic p110 isoform associated with a regulatory subunit. Mammals have three genes for the class IA p110 subunits encoding p110α, p110β, and p110δ and one gene for the class IB p110 subunit encoding p110γ. Here we report a specific recruitment of p110β and p110δ (but not p110α) isoforms to the nascent phagosome during apoptotic cell phagocytosis by fibroblasts. By microinjecting inhibitory antibodies specific to class IA p110 subunits, we have shown that p110β is the major isoform required for apoptotic cell and Fcγ receptor-mediated phagocytosis by primary mouse macrophages. Macrophages from mice expressing a catalytically inactive form of p110δ showed no defect in the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells and IgG-opsonized particles, confirming the lack of a major role for p110δ in this process. Similarly, p110γ-deficient macrophages phagocytosed apoptotic cells normally. Our findings demonstrate that p110β is the major class I catalytic isoform required for apoptotic cell and Fcγ receptor-mediated phagocytosis by primary macrophages.
Assessing Potential Seed Transfer Zones for Five Forb Species from the Great Basin Floristic Region, USA

ABSTRACT: For plant species important in ecological restoration, seed transfer zones have been developed to maximize the probability that sown seed will germinate, establish, persist, and reproduce without negatively impacting the genetic composition of remnant plant populations. However, empirically based seed transfer zones have not been developed for most species. In their absence, maps based on ecological or climatic variables have been suggested as proxies. In the United States, these maps typically include the Environmental Protection Agency's Levels III and IV Ecoregion maps and the US Forest Service's Provisional Seed Zones. Maps of different spatial scales represent a compromise between economic and ecological considerations; those that delineate larger seed transfer zones are less costly to implement but impose more risk of poor adaptation to local conditions. To test the relative suitability of each map in delineating seed transfer zones, we conducted common garden experiments using five forb species found throughout the Great Basin and measured variation in traits thought to influence plant performance. We distinguished between environmentally and genetically controlled variation in measured traits and assessed how well this variation was explained by different candidate seed transfer zones. We found significant, population-level variation in all species for most measured traits. All tested seed transfer zones significantly explained some of this variation, but the proportion explained generally decreased with increasing zone size. Results suggest the intersection of Provisional Seed Zones and Level III Ecoregions was the best proxy for formal seed transfer zones developed based on common garden studies. This spatial scale captured 80% of the variation among source populations on average, and represents a viable compromise between ecological and economic considerations.
Human Capital: Cause and Effect of Economic Growth. The Case of Ghana

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of human capital on economic growth in Ghana. The study employs secondary data extracted mainly from economic data of Ghana Statistical Service, World Bank, Journals of Economic Studies, Bank of Ghana Research Unit and website spanning from 1970 to 2010. The research design was modeled after what has been commonly employed in the existing literature in determining the impact of human capital on economic growth in Ghana. The study applied ordinary least squares regression to estimate the models and perform data analysis. The results of the study show the impact of human capital on economic growth within a forty year period.
Economic Voting and Electoral Behaviour: How Do Individual, Local and National Factors Affect the Partisan Choice?

What impact do income and other demographic factors have on a voter’s partisan choice? Using post-election surveys of 14,000 voters in ten Australian elections between 1966 and 2001, I explore the impact that individual, local and national factors have on voters’ decisions. In these ten elections, the poor, foreign-born, younger voters, voters born since 1950, men, and those who are unmarried are more likely to be left-wing. Over the past 35 years, the partisan gap between men and women has closed, but the partisan gap has widened on three dimensions: between young and old; between rich and poor; and between native-born and foreign-born. At a neighbourhood level, I find that, controlling for a respondent’s own characteristics, and instrumenting for neighbourhood characteristics, voters who live in richer neighbourhoods are more likely to be right-wing, while those in more ethnically diverse or unequal neighbourhoods are more likely to be left-wing. Controlling for incumbency, macroeconomic factors do not seem to affect partisan preferences – Australian voters apparently regard both major parties as equally capable of governing in booms and busts.
COMPOSITION, INTAKE AND DIGESTIBILITY OF TIMOTHY AND ITALIAN AND WESTERWOLDS RYEGRASS SILAGES

Timothy (Phleum pratense L.) and Italian and Westerwolds ryegrasses (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) were harvested as first-cut wilted silages in 1979 and 1980 and were compared on the basis of composition, intake and digestibility. Timothy silage had more cell wall content and was less digestible than the annual ryegrass silages in both years (P < 0.05). Seeding year timothy was consumed less than Aubade ryegrass in 1979 but the postseeding year timothy silage was equal in intake to 1980 Aubade silage but inferior to Italian ryegrass in digestible protein content and also intake (P < 0.05). Leafier Italian and Promenade ryegrasses were consumed more than the stemmy Aubade ryegrass (P < 0.05). Annual ryegrasses were not significantly different in their composition during 1979 but in 1980, Italian ryegrass contained less cell wall and was more digestible than Aubade ryegrass silage (P < 0.05). Prolonged field wilting in humid weather appeared to be more detrimental to the stemmy Aubade for intake and feed value .
Influence of IPO Characteristics on Liquidity

This study examines the relationship between the characteristics that define initial public offerings (IPOs) and the post-offering liquidity of stocks outstanding. We argue that higher underpricing, relative size and retail composition of the offerings will result in higher post-listing liquidity. Based on a sample of Spanish IPOs, our results reveal that liquidity can be explained by a set of IPO characteristics. Furthermore, the results remain robust after removing the market effect and adding other IPO characteristics, such as stabilization agreements, lockup restrictions and the reputation of underwriters, insurers and auditors.
Effect on Transpiration and Water Uptake by Rapid Changes in the Osmotic Potential of the Nutrient Solution

The sudden changes in the rates of transpiration and water uptake which occurred when the osmotic potential of the nutrient solution surrounding the roots of young wheat plants was rapidly changed were studied. The transpiration was measured by the aid of the microwave hygrometer and the water uptake by a recording poto-meter specially built for this investigation. When the osmotic potential of the nutrient solution was rapidly increased by adding mannitol, there was a temporary transpiration increase. The maximum increase was greater but the total time of the temporary increase shorter when a higher mannitol concentration was used. The quantity of water transpired by the shoots due to the temporary transpiration increase seemed to be fairly constant irrespectively of the mannitol concentration. The water transport to the shoots was immediately reduced when the osmotic potential was rapidly increased. The immediate reduction was greater when a higher mannitol concentration was used. After the immediate reduction the rate of water transport increased without delay. When the osmotic potential of the nutrient solution was rapidly decreased by withdrawing mannitol there was a temporary transpiration decrease, and the water transport to the shoots was immediately increased. After this increase the rate of water transport started to decrease at once. When, however, the mannitol concentration had been 0.30 M or higher, the transpiration rate increased progressively, and the change of the rate of water transport was small. The results indicate that the primary effect of the rapidly changed osmotic potential is localized to the root surface. The rapidly reduced water transport to the shoots after adding mannitol brings about the temporary transpiration increase. The course of events after withdrawing mannitol is just the reverse to that when adding mannitol.
Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book: A Closed-Form Solution for Non-Maturity Deposits

Abstract I present an analytical valuation framework for the management of fixed-income instruments traded in imperfectly competitive markets, like demand deposits and credit card loans in the banking book, inter alia, to stabilize the abnormal profit margin. Banking book instruments contain embedded options such as withdrawal rights, discretionary pricing, rate clustering and zero-based floors. Analytical solutions speed up computation time to calculate valuations, earnings and risk measures like closed-form expressions for margin spreads, hedge ratios and parameter sensitivities. Asymptotically, according to martingale central limit theorems and thanks to the long-term nature of the banking book, Gaussian approximations can be applied.
REPRODUCTIVE ASSURANCE MECHANISMS IN THREE TAXA OF THE MIMULUS GUTTATUS COMPLEX (SCROPHULARIACEAE)

The evolution of inbreeding in plants has often been attributed to selection for the ability to set seed in the absence of mates or pollinators. Mechanisms of reproductive assurance in five populations of mixed mating Mimulus guttatus, three populations of inbreeding M. platycalyx, and two populations of inbreeding M. nasutus were examined in a pollinator-free greenhouse. Reproductive assurance was manifested in all populations by autofertility, vegetative reproduction, or both. The inbreeding taxa had significantly greater levels of autofertility and less vegetative reproduction. Three modes of autofertility were identified: 1) due to corolla abscission only, occurring in three M. guttatus populations; 2) due to both corolla abscission and direct anther-stigma contact by curling of the lower stigmatic lobe into the anthers, occurring in two M. guttatus populations; and 3) direct stigma-anther contact by stigma curling alone prior to corolla abscission, found in each M. platycalyx and M. nasutus population. Stigma-anther distance and its interaction with stigma curling contributed to differences in autofertility among populations. Significant levels of intrapopulation quantitative genetic variation were found for seven of ten traits examined; average levels were similar between inbreeding and mixed mating populations. Genetic variation within populations for autofertility per se was not detected, but significant levels controlling stigma-anther distance were found in two M. guttatus populations. These results show that evolution of inbreeding by natural selection for reproductive assurance is possible in Mimulus, and illustrate the complex changes in floral dynamics and morphology it may involve. The evolution of inbreeding in plants, despite profuse theoretical and empirical attention, remains a little un
The Impact of Variation in Labial Tooth Number on the Feeding Kinematics of Tadpoles of Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus)

Abstract The keratinized mouthparts of tadpoles are complex structures that play a significant role in feeding. Recent evidence has shown that the keratinized labial teeth function in two ways: to anchor the oral disc to a substrate and to rake material from it. Reports of tadpoles with missing or deformed keratinized oral structures have increased. Yet, the impact missing teeth has on feeding remains unexplored. Here we use high speed videography (500 frames per second) of tadpoles of Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus [ = Rana sphenocephala]) to study how missing teeth affect feeding. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that the number of teeth present correlates with two metrics of the effectiveness of a tadpole to rake material from a substrate. Those are the duration of the full gape cycle (opening and closing of the jaws) and of the closing phase (closing of the jaws once attached to a substrate). We found a significant positive relationship between duration of time of the closing phase of the gape cycle and the number of labial teeth present. Thus, tadpoles with fewer teeth were in contact with a planar algal-covered substrate for a shorter duration than tadpoles with more teeth. Given the reports of tadpole mouthpart abnormalities, data relating feeding kinematics of tadpoles with missing labial teeth are relevant in assessing the impact these abnormalities have on larval performance. Our data indicate that tadpoles missing labial teeth forage less effectively than tadpoles with undamaged dentition. This may help explain the pattern of reduced growth and developmental rates commonly observed in tadpoles raised in polluted environments or infected with pathogens that attack keratinized oral structures.
Nowcasting Norway

We produce predictions of Norwegian GDP. To this end, we estimate a Bayesian Dynamic Factor model on a panel of 14 variables (all followed closely by market operators) ranging from 1990 to 2011. By means of a pseudo real-time exercise we show that the Bayesian Dynamic Factor Model performs well both in terms of point forecast, and in terms of density forecasts. Results indicate that our model outperforms standard univariate benchmark models, that it performs as well as the Bloomberg Survey, and that it outperforms the predictions published by the Norges Bank in its monetary policy report.
Passive Aggressive: How Index Funds Vote on Corporate Governance Proposals

I study how index funds affect corporate governance through their votes in proxy meetings. The data includes all mutual fund votes on 159,262 proposals at 6,260 firms over the period 2005–2016. I measure the value created by a proposal using a Regression Discontinuity Design on the market reaction to a narrow vote outcome, and I derive four main results. First, the market reaction to a proposal’s passage (resp. failure) is stronger if a larger proportion of index funds vote to support (resp. oppose) it. Second index funds optimally allocate limited monitoring resources to votes for which they are pivotal. Third, index fund ownership of a company’s stock (as instrumented using the Russell 1000/2000 cutoff) promotes the adoption of value-creating proposals. Fourth, managers of firms with higher index fund ownership present fewer value-reducing proposals. Overall, my results imply that index fund ownership improves corporate governance of portfolio firms by making value-creating proposals, and their passage, more likely.
Warmed-Over Flavor and Lipid Stability of Beef: Effects of Prior Nutrition

: Development of lipid oxidation and warmed-over flavor (WOF) in cooked meats during refrigerated storage was investigated in beef from pasture-fed cattle or grain-fed cattle supplemented with 0, 500, or 2500 IU vitamin E/head/d for 105 d. Meat from pasture-fed cattle contained as much α-tocopherol as grain-fed cattle supplemented with 2500 IU vitamin E, but it was found to be less prone to lipid oxidation and development of WOF. It also contained a higher percentage of linolenic acid and lower content of linoleic acid than grain-fed beef.
Neuronal Guidance Molecules: Inhibitory and Soluble Factors

Axonal guidance factors play a central role in neural development and regeneration. The ability of cell surface adhesive proteins and extracellular matrix components to promote axonal outgrowth has been documented for some time. Recently, the existence and the importance of molecules that repulse axons and of soluble factors that attract axons have been appreciated. By virtue of their long-range diffusible action, the netrins are now well- defined, soluble axonal guidance molecules. The physiological role of repulsive mecha nisms has been best documented in the development of the retinotectal map and in the ability of CNS myelin to inhibit axonal regeneration. The collapsin/semaphorin family of axonal growth inhibitors has been characterized at the molecular level. It is now clear that an understanding of axonal guidance mechanisms must include soluble cell-surface and matrix-bound factors, which are both attractive and repulsive for axonal growth cones. The Neuroscientist 1:255-258, 1995
LONG‐TERM PREFORMATION OF LEAVES AND INFLORESCENCES BY A LONG‐LIVED PERENNIAL MONOCARP, FRASERA SPECIOSA (GENTIANACEAE)

In Frasera speciosa, a long-lived monocarpic gentian from the Colorado Rocky Mountains, leaves are preformed two to three yr in advance of their appearance above ground. Initiation of a flower stalk may begin as long as three yr before it becomes fully developed during a plant's final year. Whorls of preformed leaves are initiated continuously during the growing season, but they are enlarged only once a yr, when the basal rosette emerges above ground. This pattern of development allows plants to make maximal use of the growing season. The prolonged development may be necessary for the production of an elaborate and massive flower stalk by a slow-growing plant in a habitat with a short growing season. PREFORMATION, "the formation of a large part of a shoot in the primordial state with a period of rest prior to expansion" (Halle, Oldeman and Tomlinson, 1978), is a relatively common phenomenon. Many plants preform leaf buds or floral structures during the season before they appear. For example, a study of springblossoming herbaceous plants in New England found that all twenty-eight species considered had formed the next season's buds to some recognizable stage of development by August or September (Foerste, 1891). Temperate forest trees in the same area also initiate some, if not all of their leaves during the season before they appear (Sacher, 1954; Critchfield, 1970; Marks, 1975; Steingraeber, 1982). Thirteen species of native perennial Alaskan grasses were found to preform inflorescences; these species flower earlier in the season than species introduced from more temperate regions, which do
Hatching success of walleye embryos in relation to maternal and ova characteristics

– Understanding how maternal and ova traits influence offspring quality is a key issue in both ecological research and fish culture. We examined the survival and size at hatch of walleye embryos in relation to a suite of maternal and ova traits in laboratory incubation trials involving two native walleye populations. Ova were analysed for size, lipid content, fatty acid composition, soluble protein content and size composition, and mineral (Ca, Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn) content. Embryonic survival (egg hatching success) varied most consistently with respect to spawning date and maternal age. Embryonic survival increased with maternal age, but other indices of maternal health, such as condition (residual mass at length) or somatic lipid content, did not account for significant amounts of variation. Indices of ova total lipid content, fatty acid composition and mineral composition explained significant variation in embryonic survival not accounted for by maternal age and spawning date, whereas indices of protein content and composition generally explained less variance. Both larval mass and length at hatch were primarily determined by ovum size, but length at hatch was also related to some aspects of ova fatty acid and mineral composition.