cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286059
title: Profit distribution and regulation: the impact of mandatory dividend in corporate internal funding

description: ABSTRACT The purpose of our research is to verify the impact of mandatory dividends on Brazilian publicly traded companies, focusing on both the value of cash holdings and the impact on corporate investment. Our work aims to reach the research objective making significant improvements over the previous works on the subject. First, we separate firms according to their dividend status. Second, in addition to investment regressions, we use the value of cash approach to test the impact of mandatory dividend on corporate financial decisions. Finally, our manual data collection makes it possible to allocate the dividend distributed to its reference period. Considering our context, where sources of financing are expensive and scarce, evidences obtained by the present research has great relevance. The law aims to protect the minority investor against the expropriation of resources. However, in dealing with all cases equally, legislation ends up harming companies that rely on these resources for their financing, thereby damaging their shareholders. This article brings new evidences, from an innovative approach, on factors affecting the availability of resources and its impact on the value of cash and on corporate investment in Brazil. We analyzed a sample of 1,654 dividend distributions from 2008 to 2015, using investment and firm value regressions. Our results indicate that companies paying just the minimum dividend have higher value attached to an extra unit of cash, corroborating our view that those companies will likely use these resources to fund future profitable investments. We also find that mandatory dividend has a negative impact on investment, but only for companies paying dividends above the minimum, contrary to our expectations. We argue that the marginal value of cash approach is a more effective way to test the impact of regulation on corporate financial decisions and this last evidence may be the result of endogeneity problems in investment regressions.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286057
title: Evaluating company bankruptcies using causal forests

description: ABSTRACT This study sought to analyze the variables that can influence company bankruptcy. For several years, the main studies on bankruptcy reported on the conventional methodologies with the aim of predicting it. In their analyses, the use of accounting variables was massively predominant. However, when applying them, the accounting variables were considered as homogenous; that is, for the traditional models, it was assumed that in all companies the behavior of the indicators was similar, and the heterogeneity among them was ignored. The relevance of the financial crisis that occurred at the end of 2007 is also observed; it caused a major global financial collapse, which had different effects on a wide variety of sectors and companies. Within this context, research that aims to identify problems such as the heterogeneity among companies and analyze the diversities among them are gaining relevance, given that the sector-related characteristics of capital structure and size, among others, vary depending on the company. Based on this, new approaches applied to bankruptcy prediction modeling should consider the heterogeneity among companies, aiming to improve the models used even more. A causal tree and forest were used together with quarterly accounting and sector-related data on 1,247 companies, 66 of which were bankrupt, 44 going bankrupt after 2008 and 22 before. The results showed that there is unobserved heterogeneity when the company bankruptcy processes are analyzed, raising questions about the traditional models such as discriminant analysis and logit, among others. Consequently, with the large volume in terms of dimensions, it was observed that there may be a functional form capable of explaining company bankruptcy, but this is not linear. It is also highlighted that there are sectors that are more prone to financial crises, aggravating the bankruptcy process.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286054
title: Identifying outliers in asset pricing data with a new weighted forward search estimator

description: ABSTRACT The purpose of this work is to present the Weighted Forward Search (FSW) method for the detection of outliers in asset pricing data. This new estimator, which is based on an algorithm that downweights the most anomalous observations of the dataset, is tested using both simulated and empirical asset pricing data. The impact of outliers on the estimation of asset pricing models is assessed under different scenarios, and the results are evaluated with associated statistical tests based on this new approach. Our proposal generates an alternative procedure for robust estimation of portfolio betas, allowing for the comparison between concurrent asset pricing models. The algorithm, which is both efficient and robust to outliers, is used to provide robust estimates of the models’ parameters in a comparison with traditional econometric estimation methods usually used in the literature. In particular, the precision of the alphas is highly increased when the Forward Search (FS) method is used. We use Monte Carlo simulations, and also the well-known dataset of equity factor returns provided by Prof. Kenneth French, consisting of the 25 Fama-French portfolios on the United States of America equity market using single and three-factor models, on monthly and annual basis. Our results indicate that the marginal rejection of the Fama-French three-factor model is influenced by the presence of outliers in the portfolios, when using monthly returns. In annual data, the use of robust methods increases the rejection level of null alphas in the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Fama-French three-factor model, with more efficient estimates in the absence of outliers and consistent alphas when outliers are present.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286051
title: Evaluation of sulfadimidine, amprolium and triquen to treat coccidiosis in wild pigeons

description: Abstract Coccidiosis remains one of the major problems in poultry all over the world. Very limited data on anticoccidial drugs in wild pigeons is available. The current study was aimed to understand the comparative efficacy of sulfadimidine, amprolium and triquen in wild pigeons of Dir district, Pakistan suffering from coccidiosis. The faecal matter of wild pigeons were purchased from the local market for coccidian infection. Results revealed that 88.8% (16/18) were found infected with Eimeria spp. Three positive groups were treated with sulfadimidine (0.2mg/L), amprolium (25mg/L) and triquen. Sulfadimidine was most effective (45%) followed by amprolium (44.6%) while triquen (24.0%) showed less effectiveness against coccidiosis in pigeons. Number of oocysts were 79, 81 and 80 before treatment and 60, 44 and 44 after treatment with sulfadimidine, amprolium and triquen respectively. This study showed that sulphadimidine, amprolium and triquen could not significantly reduce the coccidiosis in pigeons. Further studies are required to clear the mechanism of anti-coccidial drugs in wild pigeons.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286047
title: Microbial source tracking and antimicrobial resistance in one river system of a rural community in Bahia, Brazil

description: Abstract Use of antibiotics inevitably leads to antimicrobial resistance. Selection for resistance occurs primarily within the gut of humans and animals as well as in the environment through natural resistance and residual antibiotics in streams and soil. We evaluated antimicrobial resistance in Gram negative bacteria from a river system in a rural community in Bahia, Brazil. Water was collected from the Jiquiriçá and Brejões rivers and the piped water supply. Additionally, stools were collected from a random sample of residents, cows, pigs and horses near the river. The samples were screened for bacteria resistant to ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime, and meropenem and identified biochemically at the genus and species levels. Microbial source tracking demonstrated that ruminant and human fecal contamination increased as the rivers neared the village center and decreased after the last residence. Antibiotic bacteria were identified from all samples (n = 32). No bacteria were resistant to carbapenems, but the majority of the enterobacteria were resistant to ciprofloxacin, even though this class of antibiotics is not commonly used in food animals in this region. Considering these facts, together with the pattern of human fecal contamination, a human source was considered most likely for these resistant isolates.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286045
title: Tertiary hospital sewage as reservoir of bacteria expressing MDR phenotype in Brazil

description: Abstract High doses of antibiotics used in hospitals can affect the microbial composition of sewers, selecting resistant bacteria. In this sense, we evaluated the antibiotic resistance profile and the multiresistant phenotype of bacteria isolated in sewage from a tertiary hospital in the interior São Paulo state, Brazil. For bacteria isolation, 10 µL of sewage samples were sown in selective culture media and the isolates were identified using VITEK-2 automatized system. The antibiotic sensitivity test was performed by disk diffusion. High percentages of resistance were found for amoxicillin, ampicillin, ceftazidime, clindamycin, vancomycin and the multidrug-resistant phenotype (MDR) was attributed to 60.7% of the isolates. Our results show bacteria classified as critical/high priority by WHO List of Priority Pathogens (Enterococcus and Staphylococcus aureus resistant to vancomycin and Enterobacteriaceae resistant to carbapenems) in hospital sewage. Therefore, the implementation of disinfection technologies for hospital sewage would reduce the bacterial load in the sewage that will reach urban wastewater treatment plants, minimizing superficial water contamination and bacterial resistance spread in the environment.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286042
title: Obtainment and characterization of digestive aspartic proteases from the fish Caranx hippos (Linnaeus, 1766)

description: Abstract This work aimed to obtain aspartic proteases of industrial and biotechnological interest from the stomach of the crevalle jack fish (Caranx hippos). In order to do so, a crude extract (CE) of the stomach was obtained and subjected to a partial purification by salting-out, which resulted in the enzyme extract (EE) obtainment. EE proteases were characterized physicochemically and by means of zymogram. In addition, the effect of chemical agents on their activity was also assessed. By means of salting-out it was possible to obtain a purification of 1.6 times with a yield of 49.4%. Two acid proteases present in the EE were observed in zymogram. The optimum temperature and thermal stability for EE acidic proteases were 55 ºC and 45 °C, respectively. The optimum pH and pH stability found for these enzymes were pH 1.5 and 7.0, respectively. Total inhibition of EE acid proteolytic activity was observed in the presence of pepstatin A. dithiothreitol (DTT) and Ca2+ did not promote a significant effect on enzyme activity. In the presence of heavy metals, such as Al3+, Cd2+ and Hg2+, EE acidic proteases showed more than 70% of their enzymatic activity. The results show that it is possible to obtain, from the stomach of C. hippos, aspartic proteases with high proteolytic activity and characteristics that demonstrate potential for industrial and biotechnological applications.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286041
title: Evaluation of vegetables grown in dry mountainous regions for soil transmitted helminths contamination

description: Abstract Infection caused by geo-helminth parasites are called geohelminthiasis are one of the global health problems. Vegetables eaten raw is the principal source of transmission of geo-helminth parasites. Pakistani people believe that eating raw vegetables are a significant source to get important vitamins and minerals. Based on the high incidence of pathogenic parasites and cultivating different vegetable types in the study areas, we conducted this study to evaluate the geo-helminth contamination of raw vegetables in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This is a descriptive study comprised, 1942 samples of 25 various types of vegetables. The samples were examined in physiological saline solution using sedimentation and centrifugation methods. The findings were analyzed by Graph-Pad version 5. P value less than 0.05 (95% CI) was considered significant. Results showed that 16.5% (n=322) of all vegetables were contaminated with one or more type of geo-helminth parasites. Garlic was the highest (35%) and cauliflower the lowest (4%) contaminated samples respectively. Ascaris lumbricoides was the most common geo-helminth found followed by hook worm species while Trichuris trichura was the least in all the vegetable samples. Leafy vegetables were highly contaminated 25.3% than vegetables with root parts 21.2% and fruity 9.09%. More than half of the contaminated vegetables were contaminated with single species of geo-helminth (P&lt;0.05) while less than half with multiple types of geo-helminth contamination. Ninety two vegetables samples were contaminated with 2 species of parasites (P&lt;0.05) and 45 with 3 (P&gt;0.05) species of geo-helminth parasites. Education level of vendors and means of display were not significantly associated while types of vegetable used were significantly associated with the prevalence of parasites. The findings of this study provide evidence that consumption of raw vegetable has a high risk of acquiring geo-helminth infections. The authors believe that preventing the human to enter to the vegetable farmland for defecation, avoiding the irrigation of agricultural fields via night soil, and educating the people on proper washing and cooking of vegetables may be useful in reducing parasitic infections.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286038
title: Effects of different combinations of N, P and K at different time interval on vegetative, reproductive, yield and quality traits of mango (Mangifera Indica. L) cv. Dusehri

description: Abstract The experiment was carried out on mango cv. Dusehri to investigate the effect of N, P and K fertilizers on vegetative, reproductive growth, yield and fruit quality. Eight different fertilizer combinations such as T1 (control), T2 (N), T3 (P), T4 (K), T5 (NP), T6 (NK), T7 (PK) and T8 (NPK) were used. Individual or combine fertilizer application of N (1000 g), P (750 g) and K (750 g) were applied during growing season in February and August. All the treatments significantly influenced on vegetative growth, flowering, fruiting, yield and other physiochemical attributes of mango as compared to control. Least effect was observed with individual fertilizer application while combine fertilizer treatments enhanced most of the investigated parameters. Especially, qualitative traits showed non-significant differences between treated and untreated mango trees. However, among the different treatments T8 (NPK) showed significance for fruiting aspects such as maximum size of growth flushes (177.51 mm), total number of panicles/tree (845), total number of flowers/panicle (974), sex ratio (69.18%), fruit retention (13.85%), total number of fruits/tree (379), yield (82 kg/tree), fruit weight (197.5 g), pulp weight (135.5 g) and physiochemical parameters namely TSS (24.53), Vit. C (57.63 mg/100 mL) and total sugar (20.84%). In general, combine application of NPK (T8) were the most effective in enhancing fruiting aspects, yield, physiochemical characteristics as well as improved fruit quality of mango trees.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286037
title: A summary of reptile and anuran amphibian species from Brazilian sandy coastal plains: 31 years of sampling efforts of the “Laboratório de Ecologia de Vertebrados, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro”

description: Abstract Although currently there is already a set of studies regarding ecological aspects of some particular reptile and amphibian species living in Brazilian sandy coastal plains (including the so-called “restinga” and “campo nativo” habitats), there is comparatively few information on the species composition usually associated to these environments. During 31 years (1988-2019) of herpetological studies carried out in sandy coastal plains environments by our research team of the Laboratory of Vertebrate Ecology (Department of Ecology, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, in Rio de Janeiro Brazil) we have surveyed reptile and amphibian communities and performed different studies with similar methods in 70 sites from 10 different states along the Brazilian coast. Our surveys resulted in records of 87 species of reptile (five turtles, two crocodylians, six amphisbaenians, 36 lizards and 39 snakes) from 24 families, and 77 species of anuran amphibians from nine families. We have studied multiple natural history topics for anurans and reptiles which resulted in the publication of some specific ecological studies, especially regarding some species, encompassing population and community ecology, foraging and feeding habits, species activity, thermoregulation, reproduction, use of microhabitats, and parasitism by ecto and endoparasites. Our results along these three decades have also contributed for the description of four new lizard species (Ameivula nativo, Glaucomastix littoralis, G. abaetensis and G. itabaianensis). Our studies constitute an important contribution to the knowledge of the ecology of anuran amphibians and reptiles in these ecosystems, as well as to the conservation of sandy coastal plains environment. The checklist presented in this study, based on our records of sandy coastal plains herpetofauna, provides for many localities along the Brazilian coast, the needed knowledge on species occurrence, including the presence of endemic and/or endangered species, which can be of value for many conservation actions.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286036
title: Phytochemical characterization, and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the hydroethanolic extract of Anadenanthera peregrina stem bark

description: Abstract The Brazilian Cerrado biome consists of a great variety of endemic species with several bioactive compounds, and Anadenanthera peregrina (L.) Speg is a promising species. In this study, we aimed to perform phytochemical characterization and evaluate the antioxidant and antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli of the hydroethanolic extract of A. peregrina stem bark. The barks were collected in the Botanical Garden of Goiânia, Brazil. The hydroethanolic extract was obtained by percolation and subjected to physicochemical screening, total phenolic content estimation, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprinting, and antioxidant (IC50 values were calculated for the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay - DPPH) and antibacterial activity determination. The pH of the extract was 5.21 and density was 0.956 g/cm3. The phytochemical screening indicated the presence of cardiac glycosides, organic acids, reducing sugars, hemolytic saponins, phenols, coumarins, condensed tannins, flavonoids, catechins, depsides, and depsidones derived from benzoquinones. The extract showed intense hemolytic activity. The total phenolic content was 6.40 g GAE 100 g-1. The HPLC fingerprinting analysis revealed the presence of gallic acid, catechin, and epicatechin. We confirmed the antioxidant activity of the extract. Furthermore, the extract did not inhibit the growth of E. coli colonies at any volume tested, but there were halos around S. aureus colonies at all three volumes tested. These results contribute to a better understanding of the chemical composition of A. peregrina stem bark and further support the medicinal applications of this species.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286033
title: The biochemical content and antioxidant capacities of endemic Tanacetum densum (Lab.) Schultz Bip. subsp. laxum, and Tanacetum densum (Lab.) Schultz Bip. subsp. amani Heywood growing in Turkey

description: Abstract Medicinal plants have a significant role in preventing and curing several diseases, and Tanacetum L. is one of these plants. The aim of the present study is to determine the fatty acid, lipid-soluble vitamin, sterol, phenolic content, and antioxidant capacity of Tanacetum densum subsp. laxum and Tanacetum densum subsp. amani, to compare the effect of altitude on the biochemical content and to compare systematically by using fatty acids and phenolics. This study showed that palmitic acid (C16:0) and stearic acid (C18:0) are major sources of saturated fatty acid and oleic acid (C18:1 n9), and linoleic acid (18:2 n6c) and a-linolenic acid (C18:3 n3) are the principal unsaturated fatty acids in the two endemic Tanacetum densum taxa. Also, this study found that the unsaturated fatty acid content (60.11±1.61%) of Tanacetum densum subsp. laxum was higher than the unsaturated fatty acid content (44.13±1.28%) of Tanacetum densum subsp. amani. And also, the ω6/ω3 ratio of Tanacetum densum subsp. laxum (1.74) and Tanacetum densum subsp. amani (1.60) was found to be similar. However, this study determined that the lipid soluble vitamin and sterol content of two endemic Tanacetum taxa are low except for stigmasterol. Present study showed that catechin is principal phenolic in the Tanacetum densum taxa. This study also found that Tanacetum densum subsp. laxum and Tanacetum densum subsp. amani had the highest levels of catechin, vanillic acid, and caffeic acid content though the phenolic amounts, particularly catechin and quercetin, were dissimilar in the T. densum taxa. This study suggested that ecological conditions such as altitude may affect the biochemical content of two endemic Tanacetum densum taxa. Furthermore, the current study determined that two endemic Tanacetum L. taxa had potent radical scavenging capacities and found a correlation between total phenolics and antioxidant activity.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14286026
title: Filamentous fungi occurrence on Molossus molossus (Pallas, 1766) (Chiroptera: Molossidae) present in an Atlantic Forest remnant in Southern Brazil

description: Abstract The bats usually inhabit shelters with favorable conditions for fungal proliferation, including pathogenic and opportunistic species. The fungal diversity present on bats is little known and the studies are scarce in Brazil, which only a work has been performed in Cerrado and Pantanal biomes. Therefore, the objective of this study was evaluating the occurrence of filamentous fungi on the rostral region of Molossus molossus in an Atlantic Forest remnant of Brazil. The bats were captured with mist nets installed outside a shelter located in the municipality of Treviso, (28°29'23”S and 49°31'23”W), south region of state Santa Catarina. With a swab sterile moistened in saline solution, samples from the rostral region were obtained from all captured M. molossus individuals. The samples were taken to the laboratory for analysis and isolation in different culture media, followed of identification of fungal through the microculture technique. In total, 15 individuals were captured, which five fungal genus and 19 taxa were identified. Among the taxa registered, Aspergillioides sp.2, (47%), Penicillium sp.1 (33%), Chrysonilia sp. (33%), Cladosporium sp. (27%) were classified as little constant. In terms of abundance, Penicillium sp.1 (34%), Aspergillioides sp.2 (21%) and Aspergillus sp.2 (11%) were the most abundant in the samples. The results showed the occurrence of high diversity fungal in the rostral region of M. molossus in the Atlantic Forest, which is higher than observed in others Brazilian biomes. Some fungal genera found may harbor pathogenic and opportunistic species that need to be identified for preventing potential disease well as for bat conservation projects.