Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Survey of Methods to Interpolate, Distribute and Extra- polate Time Series

This survey provides an overview with a broad coverage of the literature on methods for temporal disaggregation and benchmarking. Dozens of methods, procedures and algorithms have been proposed in the statistical and economic literature to solve the problem of transforming a low-frequency series into a high-frequency one. This paper classifies and reviews the procedures, provides interesting discussion on the history of the methodological development in this literature and permits to identify the assets and drawbacks of each method, to comprehend the current state of art on the subject and to identify the topics in need of further development. It would be useful for readers who are interested in the techniques but are not yet familiar with the literature and also for researchers who would like to keep up with the recent developments in this area. After reading the article the reader should have a good understanding of the most important approaches, their shortcomings and advantages, and be able to make an informed judgment on which methods are most suitable for his or her purpose. Interested readers, however, will not find much detail of the methods reviewed. Due to the broadness of the subjects and the large number of studies being referenced, it is provided some general assessments on the methods revised without great detailed analysis. This review article could serve as a brief introduction to the literature on temporal disaggregation.
Loan Terms and Collateral: Evidence from the Bilateral Repo Market

We study secured lending contracts using a novel, loan-by-loan database of bilateral repurchase agreements in which borrower quality is fixed and collateral quality is known. Holding all risk factors constant except collateral quality, we show that loans on riskier collateral have higher spreads, that is, they remain riskier even though lenders require higher margins. We also document that lower-quality loans have longer maturity, driven by borrower rollover concerns. Our results suggest that maturity is not lenders' primary risk management tool. Holding loan quality constant (including collateral), we show that one point of spread substitutes for approximately 9 points of margin.
Role of Protein Kinase G in Growth and Glutamine Metabolism of Mycobacterium bovis BCG

ABSTRACT The survival of pathogenic mycobacteria in macrophages requires the eukaryotic enzyme-like serine/threonine protein kinase G. This kinase with unknown specificity is secreted into the cytosol of infected macrophages and inhibits phagosome-lysosome fusion. The pknG gene is the terminal gene in a putative operon containing glnH, encoding a protein potentially involved in glutamine uptake. Here, we report that the deletion of pknG did not affect either glutamine uptake or intracellular glutamine concentrations. In vitro growth of Mycobacterium bovis BCG lacking pknG was identical to that of the wild type. We conclude that in M. bovis BCG, glutamine metabolism is not regulated by protein kinase G.
Altered colorectal afferent function associated with 1 TNBS-induced visceral hypersensitivity in mice

21 Background: Inflammation of the distal bowel is often associated with 22 abdominal pain and hypersensitivity, but whether and which colorectal 23 afferents contribute to the hypersensitivity is unknown. Using a mouse model 24 of TNBS-induced colitis, we investigated colorectal hypersensitivity following 25 intracolonic TNBS and associated changes in colorectum and afferent 26 functions. Methods: C57BL/6 mice were treated intracolonically with TNBS or 27 saline. Visceromotor responses to colorectal distension (CRD; 15-60 mmHg) 28 were recorded over 8 weeks in TNBS- and saline-treated (control) mice. In 29 other mice treated with TNBS or saline, colorectal inflammation was assessed 30 by myeloperoxidase (MPO) assay and immunohistological staining. In vitro 31 single-fiber recordings were conducted on both TNBS and saline-treated mice 32 to assess colorectal afferent function. Results: Mice exhibited significant 33 colorectal hypersensitivity through Day 14 after TNBS treatment which 34 resolved by Day 28 with no re-sensitization through Day 56. TNBS induced a 35 neutrophil- and macrophage-based colorectal inflammation as well as loss of 36 nerve fibers, all of which resolved by Days 14-28. Single-fiber recordings 37 revealed a net increase in afferent drive from stretch-sensitive colorectal 38 afferents at Day 14 post-TNBS and reduced proportions of 39 mechanically-insensitive afferents (MIAs) at Days 14-28. Conclusions: 40 Intracolonic TNBS-induced colorectal inflammation was associated with the 41 development and recovery of hypersensitivity in mice, which correlated with a 42 transient increase and recovery of sensitization of stretch-sensitive colorectal 43 afferents and MIAs. These results indicate that the development and 44 maintenance of colorectal hypersensitivity following inflammation are mediated 45 by peripheral drive from stretch-sensitive colorectal afferents and a potential contribution from MIAs.
Capital and Credit Sources and Household Non-Farm Income in Ghana

This paper examines the effects of the various sources of capital and credit available for financing non-farm enterprises in Ghana. A maximization of the household production function yields linear equations for estimating the key parameters of interest. Capital from bank, family, NGOs and money lenders significantly influence non-farm income. In terms of business expansion, credit from bank, cooperatives and family/friends are very important. Regional differences also appear to be significant as well as the ecological zones. Gender differences in capital and credit sources affect income of non-farm enterprises.
Alcoholics anonymous careers: patterns of AA involvement five years after treatment entry.

BACKGROUND Most formal treatment programs recommend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) attendance during treatment and as a form of aftercare, but we know very little about treatment seekers' patterns of AA involvement over time and how these relate to abstinence. METHOD This paper applies latent class growth curve modeling to longitudinal data from 349 dependent drinkers recruited when they were entering treatment and were re-interviewed at one or more follow-up interviews one, three and five years later, and who reported having attended AA at least once. RESULTS Four classes of AA "careers" of meeting attendance emerged: The low AA group mainly just attended AA during the 12 months following treatment entry. The medium and high AA groups were characterized by stable attendance at the second and third follow-ups-at about 60 meetings a year for the medium group and over 200 meetings per year for the high group, followed by slight increases for the medium group and slight decreases for the high group by year five. The declining AA group doubled its meeting attendance postbaseline, to almost 200 meetings during the year following treatment entry, but by year five they were only attending about six meetings on average. Decreases in AA meetings did not necessarily signal disengagement from AA; at the five-year follow-up, a third of the low AA group and over half of the declining AA group said they felt like a member of AA. Activities other than meeting attendance, such as having a sponsor, otherwise paralleled the meeting careers, but social networks were similar by year five. Rates of abstinence by year five (for the past 30 days) were 43% for the low AA group, 73% for the medium group, 79% for the high group and 61% for the declining group. Rates of dependence symptoms and social consequences of drinking did not differ between the groups at year five. CONCLUSIONS The prototypical AA careers derived empirically are consistent with anecdotal data about AA meetings: some never connect; some connect but briefly; and others maintain stable (and sometimes quite high) rates of AA attendance. However, contrary to AA lore, many who connect only for a while do well afterwards.
Sexual bother and function after radical prostatectomy: predictors of sexual bother recovery in men despite persistent post‐operative sexual dysfunction

Changes in sexual bother (SB) following radical prostatectomy (RP) negatively affect health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) of prostate cancer survivors. However, post‐operative SB tends to be neglected whereas sexual function (SF) is thoroughly assessed in clinical practice and few studies have focused on and evaluated patients’ SB. We retrospectively reviewed 2 345 consecutive patients who underwent RP between 2001 and 2009 at a single institution. SF and SB were assessed using Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) questionnaires. We stratified our cohort by SB recovery and post‐operative SF status, including a subset of men who recovered SB despite persistent post‐RP sexual dysfunction. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors for men who have SB recovery. Of 319 eligible patients, 133 (41.7%) recovered their SB at a mean of 20 months after RP. Among the 133 men who demonstrated SB recovery, 109 had post‐operative sexual dysfunction. Patients with SB recovery despite post‐RP sexual dysfunction were more likely to be old (p = 0.004), to have higher clinical T stage (p < 0.001), to have more non‐nerve‐sparing RP (p < 0.001), to have lower pre‐operative EPIC‐SF/SB scores (p < 0.001), to have more extracapsular extension (p = 0.031) and to be PDE5i non‐users after surgery (p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, predictors for this subset were lower comorbidity (OR 0.62, p = 0.043), higher clinical cancer stage (OR 2.35, p = 0.026), worse pre‐operative SF (OR 0.98, p = 0.010), SB (OR 0.98, p < 0.010) and no PDE5i use (OR 0.37, p = 0.002); age was not related (OR 0.99, p = 0.555). As SB can influence patients’ overall HRQoL, expectations of SB recovery should be provided to patients in the same way that SF recovery is presented. This study may help clinicians to discuss SB with patients and assess their potential for SB recovery following RP.
Maximum likelihood sequence estimators: A geometric view

Communication issues are described in terms of macro operations between the data and the observation spaces. The problem of recovering the data is related to the inversion of an operator (the channel mapping); for this reason results available in linear algebra and functional analysis are applicable. Traditional concepts in communications are identified with these operations. An approach to the maximum-likelihood sequence estimator based on a sufficient statistic derived from these concepts is proposed. Intersymbol interference is removed by linear equalization, and a Viterbi-like dynamic programming algorithm takes into account the correlated noise in the metric evaluation. The performance of suboptimal receivers obtained by means of metric simplification is analyzed. >
European Banks Straddling Borders: Risky or Rewarding?

Theory suggests that cross-border banking is beneficial as long as there is a non-perfect correlation across country-specific risks. Using a unique hand-collected dataset with cross-border loans for the 61 largest European banks, we find that cross-border banking in general decreases bank risk, and that the beneficial impact from cross-border banking increases when banks diversify more into countries with dissimilar economic and financial conditions. However, we find that banks do not fully utilize these diversification opportunities as banks mainly invest in countries that are economically more similar to their home country.
Strategic NPV: Real Options and Strategic Games under Different Information Structures

Research summary: Among the most difficult firm strategic choices is the trade-off between making a long-term commitment or holding off on investment in the face of uncertainty. To operationalize strategic management theory under demand, technological and competitive uncertainty, we develop a Strategic Net Present Value (NPV) framework that integrates real options and game theory to quantify value components and interactions at the interface between NPV, real options, and strategic games. Our approach results in new propositions clarifying the way learning-experience conditions, technological uncertainty, and proprietary information interact to tilt the balance in the interplay between wait-and-see flexibility and strategic commitment. As such, Strategic NPV adds to our understanding of the conditions where NPV, real options, or strategic thinking are more relevant. Managerial summary: This study develops and elucidates implementation of a new valuation construct, “Strategic Net Present Value (NPV),” that integrates real options and game theory to more accurately portray strategic decisions underlying management theory. Among the most difficult firm strategic choices in capital intensive industries, such as energy, mining, chip manufacturing, and infrastructure development, is the trade-off between making a long-term commitment or holding off on investment in the face of demand, technological, and competitive uncertainties. The study provides new insights on the way various conditions, such as learning-experience effects, technological uncertainty, and proprietary information, interact to tilt the balance in the interplay between commitment and wait-and-see flexibility. As such, Strategic NPV adds to our understanding of when NPV, real options, or strategic thinking matter more critically for decision making. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PENGARUH CURRENT RATIO, DEBT RATIO, TOTAL ASETS TURNOVER, RETURN ON ASSETS, RETURN ON EQUITY, CURRENT LIABILITY TO TOTAL LIABILITY, DAN FIXED ASSET TO TOTAL ASSETS TERHADAP KESEHATAN PERUSAHAAN MANUFAKTUR DI INDONESIA (STUDI PADA PERUSAHAAN MANUFAKT

The background of this research is many manufacturing companies in Indonesia that went bankrupt due to the multi-dimensional crisis since 2008, and to show than financial statement analysis can predict the financial health of the company to help provide an overview of financial strength in order to perform the appropriate actions and avoid bankruptcy. The objective of this research is to predict level of healthy of financial ability the manufacturing company is in bankruptcy categorized or not. The design of this research applies on many manufacturing company which listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange which have been listed from 2009 to 2013. Data analysis applied measuring method on purposive sampling or sampling by taking the number of objects in accordance with the intended purpose. Data processing used logistic regression method. The result of research indicated that Current Ratio, Debt Ratio, Total Asset Turnover Ratio and Fix Asset to Total Asset ratio, cannot predict the occurrence of financial healthy in the manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. While the Return on Assets, Return on Equity and Current Liability to Total Liability Ratio can predict the occurrence of bankruptcy probability in the manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange. Kata Kunci Rasio keuangan, laporan keuangan, kesehatan perusahaan, regresi logistik.
Analysis of taxi drivers' driving behavior based on a driving simulator experiment

Due to comfort, convenience, and flexibility, taxis become more and more prevalent in China, especially in large cities. According to a survey reported by Beijing Traffic Development Research Center, there were 696 million taxi person-rides in Beijing in 2011. However, many violations and road crashes that were related to taxi drivers occurred more frequently. The survey showed that there were a total of 17,242 taxi violations happened in Beijing in only one month in 2003, which accounted for 56% of all drivers’ violations. Besides, taxi drivers also had a larger accident rate than other drivers, which showed that nearly 20% of taxi drivers had accidents each year. This study mainly focuses on investigating differences in driving behavior between taxi drivers and non-professional drivers. To examine the overall characteristics of taxi drivers and non-professional drivers, this study applied a hierarchical driving behavior assessment method to evaluate driving behaviors. This method is divided into three levels, including low-risk level, medium-risk level, and high-risk level. Low-risk level means the basic vehicle control. Medium-risk level refers to the vehicle dynamic decision. High-risk level represents the driver avoidance behavior when facing a potential crash. The Beijing Jiatong University (BJTU) driving simulator was applied to test different risk level scenarios which purpose is to find out the differences between taxi drivers and non-professional drivers on driving behaviors. Nearly 60 subjects, which include taxi drivers and non-professional drivers, were recruited in this experiment. Some statistical methods were applied to analyze the data and a logistic regression model was used to perform the high-risk level.
Identifying Barriers to Hypertension Guideline Adherence Using Clinician Feedback at the Point of Care

Factors contributing to low adherence to clinical guidelines by clinicians are not well understood. The user interface of ATHENA-HTN, a guideline-based decision support system (DSS) for hypertension, presents a novel opportunity to collect clinician feedback on recommendations displayed at the point of care. We analyzed feedback from 46 clinicians who received ATHENA advisories as part of a 15-month randomized trial to identify potential reasons clinicians may not intensify hypertension therapy when it is recommended. Among the 368 visits for which feedback was provided, clinicians commonly reported they did not follow recommendations because: recorded blood pressure was not representative of the patient's typical blood pressure; hypertension was not a clinical priority for the visit; or patients were nonadherent to medications. For many visits, current quality-assurance algorithms may incorrectly identify clinically appropriate decisions as guideline nonadherent due to incomplete capture of relevant information. We present recommendations for how automated DSSs may help identify "apparent" barriers and better target decision support.
Socio-Cultural Adaptation of Foreign Professionals in Finland:The Case of Cameroonian Professionals

This master’s thesis investigates the adaptation process and coping mechanism of Cameroonian professionals in Finland. Its objective is thus to examine the behavioral patterns that they have adopted in order to integrate themselves professionally. The study seeks to find out their cultural and psychological change after their settlement in Finland and its influence on their identity. Moreover, the various sources of emotional and practical support that have contributed in their adjustment, as well as, the role of the Finnish society in enabling the integration of its foreign professionals are examined. The study ultimately seeks to elaborate a model that could further knowledge on the socio-cultural adaptation of foreign professionals in Finland. The frame of reference thus presents relevant theories of socio-cultural adaptation both at the societal and the organizational level. First, the various modes of cultural and psychological adjustment in new societies are presented, as well as the common dimensions for measuring adaptation. Also the controversial issue of the cultural fit proposition as opposed to the adaptive personality role in adjustment is discussed. In addition, theories on immigrants’ support systems in host societies are elaborated. The second part on the other hand concentrates on diversity management at the organizational level. The various discussions in this part explore what is required in a diversity valuing organization. The primary focus is therefore on strategic human resource management and its role on diversity trainings and talent management. This qualitative study uses an inductive design. The empirical research is hence based on 16 in-depth interviews, the respondents are professionals from various regions of Cameroon, they work in a variety of business fields, and their demographics, as well as, their Finnish language skills also vary tremendously. The results suggest that the Cameroonian professionals have retained their Cameroonian identity but they have also adopted certain Finnish behavioral patterns in order to function well in the society and especially at work. Among other sources of emotional and practical support, the universities rise as the most important in integrating students professionally through their bilateral cooperation with companies. At the work place, diversity management programs that encompass concepts such as ethnicity and race are still lacking, however the professionals see good career prospects in their future; they believe in the fairness of the system and most especially in the good leadership of their superiors.
Follow-up telephone calls to patients discharged after undergoing orthopaedic surgery: double-blind, randomised controlled trial of efficacy.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness of a follow-up telephone call to reduce the number of issues after hospital discharge. BACKGROUND The postdischarge period is often a time of uncertainty and risk. The decreasing length of hospital stays has increased the need for specific instructions about the postdischarge period. A telephone follow-up could be a valuable tool to fill this information gap. DESIGN Double-blind, randomised controlled trial. METHODS The participants included medium or low-intensity orthopaedic patients. We implemented a structured telephone follow-up call conducted by a senior orthopaedic nurse to provide educational support to the intervention group (n = 110), while the control group (n = 109) received routine care after being discharged. Data were collected between September 2011-January 2012. Statistical differences between the two groups were tested using chi-square test or Wilcoxon rank sum test, as appropriate. A linear regression model was performed to investigate factors involved into postdischarge outcomes. RESULTS The intervention group had a statistically significant reduction in all postdischarge problems except for pain and mobilisation; the group also had a lower chance of experiencing frequent or severe problems. The educational intervention and prior poor health had a strong correlation with problems after discharge. Patients who received a telephone follow-up call believed the information provided was valuable. CONCLUSION This nurse-led follow-up intervention significantly contributed to solving or reducing postdischarge health problems and contributed to reduce unnecessary burden on the community health system. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE A nurse-led telephone follow-up is a simple, feasible and low-cost tool to improve patients' outcomes after discharge.
Pre-operative Discography: Appropriate Indications and Clinical Interpretation

Hirsch [11] and Lindblom [16] first described the use of discography for the clinical evaluation of intervertebral disc pathology in 1948. It was initially utilized to help determine the level of a possible disc herniation with patients presenting with sciatica. Over the past 60 years, discography has evolved into a technique almost exclusively used for the diagnosis of discogenic pain or pain emanating from internal disruption of the disc including tears in the anulus. In spite of a large body of literature on discography, the purpose of this technique remains extremely controversial. One reason for controversy reflects the fact that conflicting reports on the sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of discography have been published. In addition, discography has more recently become an important part of the decision making process for some spine surgeons in determining which patients would benefit from lumbar arthrodesis for treatment of unrelenting low back pain. Because the results of surgery for lumbar discogenic pain have been disappointing, controversy exists as to the validity and positive predictive importance of this invasive procedure of discography.