Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Foreign Exchange Risk Hedging Techniques on Financial Performance of Listed Firms in Kenya

The adoption of floating foreign exchange rate regime in the 1990s and international trade have led to increased exposure of Kenyan firms to foreign exchange risk. Foreign exchange risk can affect a firm’s expected cash flows, and by extension, its financial performance. This paper examines the effects of foreign exchange risk hedging techniques on the financial performance of publicly listed firms in Kenya. The target population constituted all the 54 firms that were continuously listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange during the study period, from 2011 to 2016. The study used panel data research design. Secondary data was obtained from financial statements of the listed firms. The data was coded and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics—correlation and regression—with the aid of STATA software. The feasible generalised least square model was used to test the hypotheses. The results show currency hedging has a positive effect on financial performance. This implies that when hedging strategies and hedging tools are implemented appropriately, they help firms achieve their financial objectives, increasing financial performance, hence creating value for shareholders.
POWER ASYMMETRY IN COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND FLUCTUATIONS FROM FULL SKY TO SUB-DEGREE SCALES: IS THE UNIVERSE ISOTROPIC?

We repeat and extend the analysis of Eriksen et al. and Hansen et al., testing the isotropy of the cosmic microwave background fluctuations. We find that the hemispherical power asymmetry previously reported for the largest scales ℓ = 2–40 extends to much smaller scales. In fact, for the full multipole range ℓ = 2–600, significantly more power is found in the hemisphere centered at (θ = 107° ± 10°, ϕ = 226° ± 10°) in galactic co-latitude and longitude than in the opposite hemisphere, consistent with the previously detected direction of asymmetry for ℓ = 2–40. We adopt a model selection test where the direction and amplitude of asymmetry, as well as the multipole range, are free parameters. A model with an asymmetric distribution of power for ℓ = 2–600 is found to be preferred over the isotropic model at the 0.4% significance level, taking into account the additional parameters required to describe it. A similar direction of asymmetry is found independently in all six subranges of 100 multipoles between ℓ = 2–600. None of our 9800 isotropic simulated maps show a similarly consistent direction of asymmetry over such a large multipole range. No known systematic effects or foregrounds are found to be able to explain the asymmetry.
Correlation between docetaxel clearance and estimated cytochrome P450 activity by urinary metabolite of exogenous cortisol.

PURPOSE There is no simple and practical method for the estimation of the interpatient variability of cytochrome P450 (CYP3A4) enzyme activity. Cortisol is metabolized by this enzyme and excreted as 6-beta-hydroxycortisol (6beta-OHF) and free-cortisol (FC) in urine, and docetaxel is also metabolized by hepatic CYP3A4 enzyme. We developed a new method for the estimation of CYP3A4 activity by measuring urinary cortisol metabolite after administration of exogenous cortisol. This study was aimed at assessing the predictability of the individual activity of CYP3A4 estimated by this method. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer were entered onto this study. Hydrocortisone 300 mg was administered intravenously, and urinary 6beta-OHF and FC were measured. More than 2 days later, 60 mg/m(2) of docetaxel was administered intravenously with pharmacokinetic sampling. The correlation between docetaxel pharmacokinetics and estimated interpatient variability of CYP3A4 activity with the application of our method was assessed. RESULTS After cortisol administration, the total amount of 24-hour urinary 6beta-OHF (T6beta-OHF) increased about 60-fold compared with pretreatment levels, averaging 12,273 +/- 4,076 microg/d (mean +/- SD). Docetaxel clearance (CL) and area under the concentration-time curve averaged 24.5 +/- 6.4 L/h/m(2) and 2.66 +/- 0.91 mg/L 8729. h, respectively. An excellent correlation between docetaxel CL and T6beta-OHF was observed (r =.867). In multivariate analysis, T6beta-OHF (P <.001), alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (P <.004), AST (P =.007), and age (P =. 022) significantly correlated with docetaxel CL. CONCLUSION The interpatient variability of CYP3A4 activity and docetaxel CL could be predicted by measuring T6beta-OHF after cortisol administration.
Patient Satisfaction with Nurse Practitioner and Physician Services in the Occupational Health Setting

The purpose of this research was to determine if patient satisfaction differed when clinical services were provided by nurse practitioners versus physicians in the occupational health setting. This convenience sample included 129 patients visiting community-based occupational medicine clinics for evaluation of a new work-related injury. There was high satisfaction with both nurse practitioner and physician providers. There was no significant difference in overall patient satisfaction between provider types. Results of this study support a practice model using nurse practitioners as primary providers in the occupational health setting.
Observations on the adrenal blood vessels in the rat.

INTRODUCTION In view of the increasing interest in the physiology of the adrenal gland, it is obviously of great importance that renewed inquiry should be made into the details of its blood supply in readily available animals. In the work to be described, a study was made of the vascular pattern of the adrenal in the rat. Satisfactory results were achieved by injection methods, employing indian ink and Neoprene Latex. In his work on the adrenal gland of the dog, Flint (1900) described a plexus of finely branching and anastomosing arteries within the capsule, and stressed the importance of this arrangement as a means of equalizing the different pressures in the arteries of supply to the organ. He noted four types of vessel arising from this plexus: (1) Small arteries intrinsic to the capsule (arteriae capsulae); (2) arteries to the medulla which run through the cortex without branching (arteriae medullae); (3) arteries passing into the cortex to varying depths and there ending in capillaries (arteriae corticis); and (4) a capillary system derived from the arterioles of the capsular plexus, passing centripetally in the reticulum to be continuous in the juxta-medullary part of the cortex with the first order of collecting tributaries of the central vein of the medulla. This central vein, in Flint's opinion, drained both cortex and medulla, twigs from the latter either entering it directly or joining its radicles. Bennett & Kilham (1940), in the cat, described the superficial arterial plexus as subcapsular, not intracapsular. They considered that this plexus possessed a system of anastomosing capillaries, from which the cortical capillary network was derived. They further reported the presence of arterio-venous anastomoses on the surface of the gland. In their specimens Bennett & Kilham found neither arteriae capsulae nor arteriae corticis, but they described a number of arterial loops, both ends of which were found in the subcapsular plexus, while the curve of each loop pursued a course through the cortex to a variable depth, usually without branching en route. Gersh & Grollman (1941), working on the mouse and rat, also noted these arterial loops, but in addition found Flint's arteriae corticis. Recently Harrison (1951), after ligating individual arteries of supply in the living animal, demonstrated an immediate appearance of areas of necrosis in the zona fasciculata of the rabbit's adrenal. He suggested that individual adrenal arteries are end arteries to the zona fasciculata in the rabbit and probably also in the cat and rat. It will thus be seen that there is some divergence of opinion on the details of the blood supply to the adrenal gland.
Supporting workers with mental health problems to retain employment: users' experiences of a UK job retention project.

OBJECTIVES To understand experiences and perspectives of job retention project users in relation to challenges faced and support received; to develop explanatory insight into effective interventions. PARTICIPANTS 14 employed users of a United Kingdom job retention project, with a range of mental health problems. METHODS Semi-structured individual interviews which were collaboratively designed with service users. Data analysis involved deductive & inductive thematic analysis, constant comparative analysis, and service user collaboration. RESULTS Participants' feelings of guilt and self blame were a major obstacle to job retention. The project helped them address these by supporting a reappraisal of their situation. This assisted identification of job accommodations and adjustments and confidence in self advocacy. Thus an important basis for improved dialogue with their employer was established. A peer support group provided an important adjunct to individual project worker interventions. 10 participants retained employment; three of those who did not were helped to retain work aspirations. CONCLUSIONS The project effectively used a multi-faceted approach involving a person - environment-occupation focus on the worker, their work, and workplace. Such complex interventions may offer more promise than those interventions (such as cognitive behavioural therapy) which have a primary focus on the individual worker.
Quantitative assessment of tumor blood flow in mice after treatment with different doses of an antiangiogenic agent with contrast-enhanced destruction-replenishment US.

PURPOSE To quantify tumor blood flow by using contrast material-enhanced destruction-replenishment ultrasonography (US) to evaluate tumor response to different doses of an agent for antiangiogenic treatment in hepatoma-bearing mice, with histologic measurements of microvascular density (MVD) as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS Experiments were approved by the regional animal care committee. Mice bearing subcutaneous H22 hepatoma were treated with different doses of thalidomide, 100 mg/kg in group B and 200 mg/kg in group C. Group A (control group) was treated with 0.5% carboxylmethylcellulose. Treatment groups and the control group included 10 mice each. Contrast-enhanced US was used to evaluate the percentage of nonenhanced area, and contrast-enhanced destruction-replenishment US was used to evaluate tumor blood flow. Tumor blood flow was compared with measurements of MVD. Comparisons were made by using one-way analysis of variance and the post hoc least significant difference test for multiple comparisons. RESULTS Contrast-enhanced gray-scale US showed significant increases in the percentage of nonenhanced area in group C (mean, 10.56% ± 7.25 [standard deviation]), as compared with groups A (mean, 2.40% ± 3.12; P = .004) and B (mean, 3.75% ± 5.55; P = .012). Contrast-enhanced destruction-replenishment US showed significant decreases of tumor blood flow in groups B and C, as compared with group A (P = .003 and P < .001, respectively), and the blood flow in group C was significantly lower than that of group B (P = .01). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed significant decreases of MVD in groups B and C, as compared with MVD in group A (P = .002 and P < .001, respectively); however, there was no significant difference in MVD between groups B and C (P = .21). CONCLUSION Quantification of tumor blood flow by using contrast-enhanced destruction-replenishment US shows the potential to guide drug dosage during antiangiogenic therapy.
Subjective Age in a Modern Japanese Young, Middle-Age, and Upper Middle-Age Sample

The subjective age perception of a Japanese sample of 1,459 (ages in the 20s to 80s) was surveyed, and participants were asked to give their subjective psychological ages. Irrespective of the cohort, participants felt their subjective age to be younger than their chronological age, and a cohort difference was found in the size of the discrepancy. The middle- and upper middle-age generations (50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s) showed a larger discrepancy than that of prior tested young adults (20s and 30s). A cross-cultural comparison was conducted, and possible reasons for the discrepancy between subjective and chronological ages were examined.
PENGARUH PRICE BOOK VALUE (PBV), PRICE EARNING RATIO (PER), DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO (DER) DAN RETURN ON ASSET (ROA) TERHADAP RETURN SAHAM (Studi Empiris Pada Perusahaan Food and Beverage Yang Terdaftar di BEI Periode 2012-2016)

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to and analyze influence on Partial Price Book Value (PBV), Price Earning Ratio (PER), Debt To Equity Ratio (DER), Return On Asset (ROA) Against Return of stock on company Food and Beverage listed on the Stock Exchange 2012-2016 period. Research this is research explanative with using secondary data form report finance company food and beverage on IDX. The sample are having 11 companies from 18 companies on company food and beverage listed on the Stock Exchange. Technique taking sample use technique purposive sampling . Results research this that Price Book Value (PBV) is influential significant and related positive to Return shares , Price Earning Ratio (PER) is influential significant and related positive to Return shares , Debt To Equity Ratio (DER) effect significant and related negative to Return stock , Return On Assets (ROA) is influential significant and relate negatively to Return shares . Keywords: Price Book Value (PBV), Price Earning Ratio (PER), Debt To Equity Ratio (DER), Return on Assets (ROA) and Return stock
Quality of life in older women with early-stage breast cancer in the first year of survivorship.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To describe quality-of-life (QOL) changes in older women with early-stage breast cancer in the first year of survivorship and report on the effectiveness of a psychoeducational intervention on survivors' QOL. DESIGN Secondary analysis, descriptive, repeated measure. SETTING An academic setting in the southeastern United States. SAMPLE 50 early-stage breast cancer survivors, aged 65 years and older. METHODS Data were drawn from the Breast Cancer Education Intervention (BCEI) research study. Data for a six-month time period within the survivors' first year were available for an experimental group participating in a psychoeducational intervention and a control group. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Overall QOL and physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being subscales. FINDINGS Older women reported positive overall QOL within the first year of survivorship, but overall QOL declined slightly over time. Physical and psychological well-being declined over time. Social well-being initially improved over time, but then declined. Spiritual well-being initially declined over time, then improved. Survivors had a downward trend in overall QOL during the study time period; however, experimental group participants had a smaller decline in QOL compared to control group participants. CONCLUSIONS QOL in older breast cancer survivors within the first year is positive. However, overall QOL declines over time. The BCEI attenuated decline of QOL in the experimental group compared to the control group. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Few studies focus on older breast cancer survivors. This descriptive study is one of the first to describe changes in QOL and report the effect of interventions for older breast cancer survivors. Oncology nurses are in a position to recognize QOL issues and help older women maintain QOL in the first year of survivorship after treatment.
Laplace deconvolution with noisy observations

In the present paper we consider Laplace deconvolution for discrete noisy data observed on the interval whose length may increase with a sample size. Although this problem arises in a variety of applications, to the best of our knowledge, it has been given very little attention by the statistical community. Our objective is to fill this gap and provide statistical treatment of Laplace deconvolution problem with noisy discrete data. The main contribution of the paper is explicit construction of an asymptotically rate-optimal (in the minimax sense) Laplace deconvolution estimator which is adaptive to the regularity of the unknown function. We show that the original Laplace deconvolution problem can be reduced to nonparametric estimation of a regression function and its derivatives on the interval of growing length T_n. Whereas the forms of the estimators remain standard, the choices of the parameters and the minimax convergence rates, which are expressed in terms of T_n^2/n in this case, are affected by the asymptotic growth of the length of the interval. We derive an adaptive kernel estimator of the function of interest, and establish its asymptotic minimaxity over a range of Sobolev classes. We illustrate the theory by examples of construction of explicit expressions of Laplace deconvolution estimators. A simulation study shows that, in addition to providing asymptotic optimality as the number of observations turns to infinity, the proposed estimator demonstrates good performance in finite sample examples.
Clinical and phenomenological comparisons of late-onset and early-onset depression.

OBJECTIVE The authors examined the relationship between age at onset of first depressive episode and clinical features in elderly depressed patients. METHOD They used data on age at onset and clinical features in 246 elderly depressed patients treated at the National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Center for the Study of Depression in Later Life, located at Duke University. RESULTS Two variables--loss of interest and number of depressive episodes--were related to age at onset in all analyses. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms the hypothesis that apathy is more prominent in late-onset than in early-onset depression.
Try and try again--qualitative insights into adolescent smoking experimentation and notions of addiction.

ISSUE ADDRESSED addiction is a relatively unexplored issue in youth tobacco control. Increasingly, there is recognition of addiction experiences in regular and irregular teenage smokers. Research was undertaken on behalf of the Smarter than Smoking (STS) project to probe young people's reasons for smoking uptake, their attitudes towards the social acceptability of smoking, predictors of continued smoking after trial and understandings and perceptions of addiction. METHODS twenty focus groups were conducted to collect qualitative data from young people (n=92) aged 13 to 15 years from metropolitan and regional areas of Western Australia (WA), from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, including young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. RESULTS of the young people spoken to, 20% smoked regularly, 40% had tried smoking and 40% had never tried. Acceptability and normalcy of trialling smoking was a recurring theme, with little perceived risk of trial leading to regular smoking or becoming addicted. Even non-smokers accepted 'just having a try' in the context of curiosity, life experiences and 'informed choice'. CONCLUSIONS preventing continuation after trial of smoking among young people needs to increase in importance, given the prevailing norms around 'trying it' and individual choice.
Temporal Relationship between Renal Cyst Development, Hypertension and Cardiac Hypertrophy in a New Rat Model of Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease

Background/Methods: We have examined the hypothesis that cyst formation is key in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in a Lewis polycystic kidney (LPK) model of autosomal-recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD), by determining the relationship between cyst development and indices of renal function and cardiovascular disease. Results: In the LPK (n = 35), cysts appear at week 3 (1.1 ± 0.1 mm) increasing to week 24 (2.8 ± 2 mm). Immunostaining for nephron-specific segments indicate cysts develop predominantly from the collecting duct. Cyst formation preceded hypertension (160 ± 22 vs. Lewis control 105 ± 20 mm Hg systolic blood pressure (BP), n = 12) at week 6, elevated creatinine (109 ± 63 vs. 59 ± 6 µmol/l, n = 16) and cardiac mass (0.7 vs. 0.4% bodyweight, n = 15) at week 12, and left ventricular hypertrophy (2,898 ± 207 vs. 1,808 ± 192 µm, n = 14) at week 24 (all p ≤ 0.05). Plasma-renin activity and angiotensin II were reduced in 10- to 12-week LPK (2.2 ± 2.9 vs. Lewis 11.9 ± 4.9 ng/ml/h, and 25.0 ± 19.1 vs. 94.9 ± 64.4 pg/ml, respectively, n = 26, p ≤ 0.05). Ganglionic blockade (hexamethonium 3.3 mg/kg) significantly reduced mean BP in the LPK (52 vs. Lewis 4%, n = 9, p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: Cyst formation is a key event in the genesis of hypertension while the sympathetic nervous system is important in the maintenance of hypertension in this model of ARPKD.
Penetration of Listeria monocytogenes in mice infected by the oral route.

In this study, it is suggested that the Peyer's patches are the most important point of entry of Listeria monocytogenes in the host after subclinical infection by the oral route. Microbiological, histopathological and ultrastructural evidence of infection was obtained in mice inoculated with a sublethal dose of 10(9) cfu. No mortality was observed. L. monocytogenes was isolated from the mesenteric lymph nodes from 6 hours post infection (hpi) through day 7 p.i. and from the liver and spleen from 24 h p.i. until days 5 and 7 p.i. respectively. Lesions were mainly restricted to the dome area of Peyer's patches and consisted of a purulent to pyogranulomatous inflammatory reaction. Scarce and minor lesions were also observed in the mesenteric lymph nodes and liver. L. monocytogenes was detected by immunohistochemistry in the Peyer's patches from 12 h p. i. to day 6 p.i. Ultrastructural study of Peyer's patches showed that the majority of Listeria cells were free within the cytoplasm of neutrophils and macrophages, not surrounded by a phagosomal membrane, and some of them were dividing.
INDIRECT STABILIZATION OF LOCALLY COUPLED WAVE-TYPE SYSTEMS

We study in an abstract setting the indirect stabilization of systems of two wave-like equations coupled by a localized zero order term. Only one of the two equations is directly damped. The main novelty in this paper is that the coupling operator is not assumed to be coercive in the underlying space. We show that the energy of smooth solutions of these systems decays polynomially at infinity, whereas it is known that exponential stability does not hold (see (F. Alabau, P. Cannarsa and V. Komornik, J. Evol. Equ. 2 (2002) 127-150)). We give applications of our result to locally or boundary damped wave or plate systems. In any space dimension, we prove polynomial stability under geometric conditions on both the coupling and the damping regions. In one space dimension, the result holds for arbitrary non-empty open damping and coupling regions, and in particular when these two regions have an empty intersection. Hence, indirect polynomial stability holds even though the feedback is active in a region in which the coupling vanishes and vice versa.