Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Banks Credit and Productivity Growth

Financial institutions are key to allocate capital to its most productive uses. In order to examine the relationship between productivity and bank credit in the context of different financial market set-ups, we introduce a model of overlapping generations of entrepreneurs under complete and incomplete credit markets. Then, we exploit firm-level data for France, Germany and Italy to explore the relation between bank credit and productivity following the main derivations of the model. We estimate an extended set of elasticities of bank credit with respect to a series of productivity measures of firms. We focus not only on the elasticity between bank credit and productivity during the same year, but also on the elasticity between credit and future realised productivity. Our estimates show a clear Eurozone core-periphery divide, the elasticities between credit and productivity estimated in France and Germany are consistent with complete markets, whereas in Italy they are consistent with incomplete markets. The implication is that in Italy firms turn to be constrained in their long-term investments and bank credit is allocated less efficiently than in France and Germany. Hence capital misallocation by banks can be a key driver of the long-standing slow productivity growth that characterises Italy and other periphery countries. JEL Classification: G10, G21, G31, D92, O16
The Impact of Collateral Policies on Sovereign CDS Spreads

Giovanni Calice, a professor at the University of Southampton, builds in this paper a new theoretical model for pricing of credit default swap (CDS) contracts with asymmetric collateralisation agreements. The study, one of the few in the field, represents a timely contribution to the discussion on the financial links between asymmetric collateralisation and the related hedging activities by Credit Value Adjustment (CVA) desks on the market for sovereign CDS. Calice finds that CDS prices are related to collateral costs and so to the operation of CVA desks of financial institutions. It follows that not posting collateral on derivatives transactions, a widespread practice by sovereigns, may increase borrowing costs in particular for countries that have a significant amount of notional outstanding CDSs contracts. This situation means that, in an asymmetric collateralisation transaction, the increase of CDS spreads may affect the cost of debt, exacerbating an already unstable situation. The study also considers why, during the euro area sovereign debt crisis, CVA practices (such as hedging asymmetric collateralisation) have emerged as one of the variables that have influenced the evolution of sovereign CDS markets. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) have sponsored this study as part of a paper series drafted by key international experts on financial markets issues.
Uniform Generation of Languages by Scattered Context Grammars

The present paper discusses the uniform generation of languages by scattered context grammars. More specifically, it demonstrates that every recursively enumerable language can be generated by a scattered context grammar, G, so that every sentential form in a generation of a sentence has the form y_1. y_m u, where $u$ is a terminal word and each y_i is a permutation of either of two equally long words, z_1∈{A, B, C}* and z_2∈{A, B, D}*, where A, B, C, and D are G's nonterminals. Then, it presents an analogical result so that u precedes y_1. y_m.
Investigating the Effect of Empowerment on Employees’ Occupational Self-Efficacy

The present descriptive-survey research aims to study the impact of empowerment on occupational self-efficacy of the employees in the Greater Tehran branches of Mehr Eghtesad Bank. The statistical population is comprised of all 600 employees of Mehr Eghtesad Bank working in branches of the Greater Tehran. Using Morgan table, the sample size is determined to be 234. Sampling is carried out using simple random method. In order to assess the studied variables, employee empowerment questionnaire and work self-efficacy scale have been used. The validity of the questionnaires is confirmed by experts. Using Cronbach’s Alpha, the reliability of empowerment questionnaire is measured to be 0.84, and the reliability of occupational self-efficacy is assessed to be 0.81. In order to analyze the data, descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics (univariate regression and stepwise regression) have been used. Research results indicate that empowerment and all its dimensions (meaningfulness, competence, autonomy, and impact) have a positive and significant effect on self-efficacy of employees in Greater Tehran branches of Mehr Eghtesad Bank. The results also suggest that the three dimensions of autonomy, impact, and meaningfulness can predict the self-efficacy of employees in Greater Tehran branches of Mehr Eghtesad Bank.
Additional therapy for cholesterol lowering in ezetimibe-treated, statin-intolerant patients in clinical practice: results from an internal audit of a university lipid clinic

Abstract Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of alternative approaches to improve cholesterolemia control in patients with statin-related myalgia treated with ezetimibe. Research design and methods: We retrospectively evaluated 3534 Clinical Report Forms (CRFs) filled in the period June 2012–June 2015 for first visits to the lipid clinic of the University of Bologna. For this study, we selected 252 CRFs based on the following criteria: statin-related myalgia, previous failed treatment with at least two low-dosed statins, well tolerated treatment with ezetimibe. Then, the following lipid-lowering treatments were added in order to improve the ezetimibe low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering efficacy, based on clinical judgment: fenofibrate 145 mg, rosuvastatin 5 mg 1 tablet/week, rosuvastatin 5 mg 2 tablets/week, red yeast rice (standardized in monacolin K 3 mg) + berberine 500 mg, berberine 500 mg b.i. d. , phytosterols 900 mg + psyllium fiber 3.5 g b.i. d. Patients continuing to claim a tolerable myalgia were then treated with coenzyme Q10 nanoemulsions 200 mg/day. Results: The treatment with standard lipid-lowering diet plus ezetimibe alone was associated with a mean LDL-C reduction of 17 ± 2%. The additive LDL-lowering effect with the various tested treatment was: −16 ± 2% with fenofibrate 145 mg/day, −13 ± 1% with rosuvastatin 5 mg 1 tablet/week, −17 ± 3% with rosuvastatin 5 mg 2 tablets/week, −19 ± 4% with red yeast rice + berberine, −17 ± 4% with berberine b.i. d. and −10 ± 3% with phytosterols + psyllium b.i. d. ; 11% of the patients treated with fenofibrate required treatment modification because of myalgia recurrence, while the percentage was negligible for the other tested treatments. In patients with residual tolerable myalgia, treatment with coenzyme Q10 for 8 weeks was associated with a mean improvement of the graduated myalgia score from 4.8 ± 1.9 to 2.9 ± 1.3 (p = 0.013). Conclusions: Some alternative treatments seems to be effective and well tolerated, thus improving the ezetimibe effect on cholesterolemia.
Timeliness of Corporate Reporting In Developing Economies: Evidence from Turkey

This paper empirically investigates the effects of both firm and audit -specific factors on the timeliness of financial reporting practices of firms listed on Borsa Istanbul using panel data methodology. This study employs a data set containing annual data from 150 non-financial Turkish listed companies in Borsa Istanbul between the years 2009 – 2014 to document their reporting behaviors. Descriptive analysis indicates that average reporting time is 69 days for the whole sample and 62 days and 74 days for individual and consolidated financial statements respectively. In line with prior studies, firm size, dividend per share, auditor type and good news (income), unsurprisingly, has a significant negative impact on timeliness behavior of sample firms. In addition, financial statement type (individual and consolidated financial statements) also has a significant effect on reporting time. On the other hand price to book ratio and leverage of firms have no significant impact as hypothesized. Examining the reporting behavior of emerging markets contribute to the literature through comparing with the developed countries and indicating the factors which have impact on timeliness. The outcomes of research also provide some insights to the interested parties and regulatory bodies to evaluate the preparation of financial statements in terms of timeliness.
Perinatal brain lesions and cognitive outcome

could depend on specific prefrontal area lesions. Moreover, it remains essential to better understand the impact of executive function impairment on the daily life of children with CP and their families, as data are still too limited (a single study used a questionnaire focused on teachers’ points of view). Similarly, Bodimeade et al.’s examination of executive dysfunction exclusively concerns the cognitive dimension, leaving unanswered the question of whether ‘hot’ aspects of executive function are impaired. Taking into account the social adjustment problems in children with CP and social behavior disorders after early brain lesions, further investigation of these aspects as well as their relationships with the so-called ‘cool’ executive function is to be encouraged. In order to understand the long-term effect of executive function impairment and its potential progressive greater impact on daily life (as a consequence of higher environmental and societal requirements), longitudinal follow-up will be a key issue.
Genome‐wide linkage scan, fine mapping, and haplotype analysis in a large, inbred, Arab Israeli pedigree suggest a schizophrenia susceptibility locus on chromosome 20p13

Linkage and association studies in schizophrenia have repeatedly drawn attention to several chromosomal regions and to genes within them. Conflicting patterns of association and the lack of a clear functional significance of the associated variants limit the interpretation of these results. The use of rare pedigrees, where genes with a major effect cause the disorder, has been proven beneficial in studies of other complex disorders. Our objective was to use this advantage by performing a genome wide linkage analysis for schizophrenia in a large, multiplex Israeli Arab pedigree. We genotyped 346 microsatellite markers in 24 pedigree members affected with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 32 unaffected relatives. Two‐point linkage analysis with SUPERLINK demonstrated a LOD score of 2.47 for D20S116 on chromosome 20p13 under an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. Further fine mapping yielded a two‐point LOD score of 2.56 for the adjacent marker D20S193 and narrowed down the linked region to 2–5 cM. A haplotype containing the markers D20S193, D20S889, and D20S116, 0.7 Mb in length, was found to be shared by most affected pedigree members. Genotyping of 43 SNPs in the interval supported these results with a multipoint LOD score of 2.7 around D20S193. We were also able to better define the boundaries of the shared haplotype which contains strong candidate genes for schizophrenia. Our study exemplifies the power of rare and unique pedigrees in drawing attention to novel regions for genetic studies of schizophrenia. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Voluntary Corporate Governance Disclosure Innovative Evidence: The Case of Jordan

This paper aimed to assess the corporate governance voluntary disclosure level and the impact of a set of corporate governances (CG) attributes on the level to which corporate governance voluntary disclosure is conducted in Jordan. Another objective was to determine if Jordanian industrial listed corporations adhere to and disclose good CG practices voluntarily, and if they do, to determine the factors influencing such disclosure. This study employed 61 industrial listed firms for the years 2010-2014. The research developed a general voluntary CG disclosure index composing of 15 Jordanian Corporate Governance Codes and gauged the relationship via pooled OLS and regression method. The results indicated that the proposed Jordanian Corporate Governance Index (JCGI) enhanced voluntary corporate governance disclosure among Jordanian listed firms over the examined years. They also showed varying levels of CG disclosures in different scenarios; 1) it is lower in firms with higher managerial ownership and 2) higher relative to the independent directors’ proportion on the board, audit firm size, and audit committee presence with institutional ownership. Evidence on the compliance level towards the CG code in Amman Stock Exchange is unique and the study is distinct as it provides a pioneering evidence of the achieved compliance level.
Effects of double‐filtration plasmapheresis combined with interferon plus ribavirin for recurrent hepatitis C after living donor liver transplantation

Response rates to interferon and ribavirin treatment for recipients with recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are suboptimal, particularly for those with genotype 1b and high viral load. The present study evaluated the effects of combining double‐filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) with pharmacotherapy using interferon plus ribavirin after living donor liver transplantation. DFPP was applied in the first week to mechanically eliminate HCV from the blood in the induction phase. One patient could not tolerate DFPP, and another 2 patients discontinued interferon treatment because of adverse effects. Negative results were obtained for HCV‐RNA in week 48 (end‐treatment response) in 3 patients, and sustained virological response (SVR) was achieved in 2 patients (20%). These response rates were not improved compared to those of the historical non‐DFPP group. Although this preliminary study examined only a small number of patients, no additive effect of DFPP was observed in terms of the SVR rate. Liver Transpl, 2008. © 2008 AASLD.
Assessing the Quality of Economic Evaluations of FDA Novel Drug Approvals

Objective: To systematically review and assess the quality of the novel drugs’ economic evaluation literature in print during the drugs’ early commercial availability following US regulatory approval. Data Sources: MEDLINE and the United Kingdom National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database were searched from 1946 through December 2011 for economic evaluations of the 50 novel drugs approved by the FDA in 2008 and 2009. Study Selection and Data Extraction: The inclusion criteria were English-language, peer-reviewed, original economic evaluations (cost-utility, cost-effectiveness, cost-minimization, and cost-benefit analyses). We extracted and analyzed data from 36 articles considering 19 of the 50 drugs. Two reviewers assessed each publication’s quality using the Quality of Health Economic Studies (QHES) instrument and summarized study quality on a 100-point scale. Data Synthesis: Study quality had a mean of 70.0 ± 16.2 QHES points. The only study characteristics associated with QHES score (with P < 0.05) were having used modeling or advanced statistics, 75.1 versus 61.9 without; using quality-adjusted life years as an outcome, 75.9 versus 64.7 without; and cost-utility versus cost-minimization analysis, 75.9 versus 58.7. Studies most often satisfied quality aspects about stating study design choices and least often satisfied aspects about justifying design choices. Conclusion: The reviewed literature considered a minority of the 2008-2009 novel drugs and had mixed study quality. Cost-effectiveness stakeholders might benefit from efforts to improve the quality and quantity of literature examining novel drugs. Editors and reviewers may support quality improvement by stringently imposing economic evaluation guidelines about justifying study design choices.
Seroprevalence of HIV infection among blood donors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to determine the seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus infection among blood donors living in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. METHODS A total of 1500 consecutive donors comprising 1481 males and 19 females were screened for HIV-I and HIV-II antibodies using the World Health Organization (WHO) approved Immunocomb HIV I and II test kit. All initially reactive samples were confirmed using the Genscreen HIV I and II test kit. RESULTS The overall prevalence of HIV was 1.0%. The highest prevalence occurred in the 20 - 29 years age group (60%), followed by 30 - 39 years age group (21.5%). Commercial remunerated donors had the highest infection burden (1.4%) followed by the family replacement donors (0.7%) (p < 0.05). HIV-I accounted for the more predominant strain (0.8%). CONCLUSION This study has shown an overall prevalence of 1% among blood donors in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria with the highest prevalence amongst donors in the 20 to 29 years age group. We advocate for the mandatory screening of donor units intended for transfusion and the immediate take off of the national blood transfusion service. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for the health education of the people of the Niger Delta area on preventive measures aimed at arresting the spread of HIV.
Deriving Loop Functions from Reflexive Transitive Loop Invariants

Most activities of program comprehension can be understood, ultimately, as efforts to derive the function that a program or program part defines on its state space, or from its inputs to its outputs. Among traditional programming language constructs, iteration is one of the most difficult to analyze, because the derivation of the function of a loop requires the invention of an inductive argument, a creative step that does not lend itself to easy automation. In this paper, we briefly present some theoretical results from a refinement calculus, which we deploy to derive the function of while loops in a stepwise manner, by successive approximations. We discuss our current effort in deploying the proposed approach to develop an automated tool that computes the function of while loops under some restrictive conditions. We also discuss how to expand the capability of the proposed tool.
Changes of whole-body power, muscle function, and jump performance with prolonged cycling to exhaustion.

PURPOSE To quantify how whole-body power, muscle-function, and jump-performance measures change during prolonged cycling and recovery and determine whether there are relationships between the different fatigue measures. METHODS Ten competitive or recreationally active male cyclists underwent repeated 20-min stages of prolonged cycling at 70% VO2peak until exhaustion. Whole-body peak power output (PPO) was assessed using an all-out 30-s sprint 17 min into each cycle stage. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded throughout. Isometric and isokinetic muscle-function tests were made between cycle stages, over ~6 min, and during 30-min recovery. Drop-jump measures were tested at exhaustion and during recovery. RESULTS PPO initially increased or was maintained in some subjects but fell to 81% of maximum at exhaustion. RPE was near maximal (18.7) at exhaustion, with the time to exhaustion related to the rate of rise of RPE. PPO first started to decline only when RPE exceeded 16 (ie, hard). Peak isometric and concentric isokinetic torque (180°/s) for the quadriceps fell to 86% and 83% of pretest at exhaustion, respectively. In contrast, the peak concentric isokinetic torque (180°/s) of the hamstrings increased by 10% before declining to 93% of maximum. Jump height fell to 92% of pretest at exhaustion and was correlated with the decline in PPO (r = .79). Muscle-function and jump-performance measures did not recover over the 30-min postexercise rest period. CONCLUSIONS At exhaustion, whole-body power, muscle-function, and jump-performance measures had all fallen by 7-19%. PPO and drop-jump decrements were linearly correlated and are appropriate measures of maximal performance.
Interaction of trade enterprises in the process of goods category management

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement of the Doctor Degree in Administration and Management Science division: Administration and Management Subdiscipline of: Business Management Supervisor: Dr. hab. oec. Professor Grigorijs Oļevskis Promocijas darbs Doktora grāda iegūšanai vadībzinības nozarē Apakšnozare: uzņēmējdarbības vadība Zinātniskais vadītājs: Dr. hab. oec. professors Grigorijs Oļevskis
Mammographic Calcifications Due to Filarial Disease

hospital. It was initially thought necessary to amputate the leg because of the size of the object, the coldness of the lower leg, and the pulselessness of the foot. Once the beam had been removed, the improved condition of the patient and the return of the foot pulses, made us hopeful that the limb would survive. The reason for the pulselessness of the foot was a complete compression of the femoral
Walking for Health in Pregnancy

The purpose of this study was to examine RT3 accelerometer activity counts and activity energy expenditure of 36 pregnant women at 20 and 32 weeks' gestation during treadmill walking and free-living conditions. During treadmill walking, oxygen consumption was collected, and activity energy expenditure was estimated for a 30-min walk at a self-selected walking pace. The number of min it would take a pregnant woman to meet exercise recommendations (i.e., kcal/week) were calculated. Preliminary activity count cut points at a self-selected walking pace were then estimated and applied in interpreting free-living data. For the treadmill walking condition, the self-selected walking pace significantly decreased from 20 to 32 weeks' gestation. Additionally, few women (< 12% each day) met physical activity guidelines in the free-living condition. Encouraging pregnant women to walk for 30–40 min per day at a self-selected walking pace may be an appropriate public health recommendation.
Viscosupplementation Therapy for Osteoarthritis

Intra-articular viscosupplementation with hyaluronic acid has become an increasingly accepted therapeutic alternative in the symptomatic management of osteoarthritis. Basic science research has documented numerous potential actions of exogenous hyaluronic acid upon the diseased joint. A substantial aggregate of clinical data suggests that viscosupplementation is clinically safe and suggests some therapeutic efficacy with regard to pain relief. However, a robust placebo effect and industry bias have obscured these outcomes considerably. Although recent attention has focused on the disease-modifying potential of this treatment option, definitive evidence is lacking. This paper will review the development, experience, indications, and clinical outcomes of viscosupplementation therapy in patients with osteoarthritis.