Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stock Repurchases and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

We study the effects of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) on repurchases, leverage and investment. The TCJA generates tax windfalls through a repatriation tax cut and a corporate income tax cut. Using monthly repurchase data from SEC filings, we find the surge of repurchases after the TCJA is driven by the repatriation tax cut, and not the income tax cut. Executive incentives and employee ownership affect TCJA-triggered repurchases. Investments increase, primarily in response to the income tax cut and especially for capital-constrained, low-leverage, or profitable firms. Highly-levered firms with high income taxes reduce their leverage significantly.
Prevalence and Factors Associated with Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) among Presumptive MDR-TB Patients in Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems. There are alarming reports of increasing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MTR-TB) from various parts of the globe, including Ethiopia. This study was designed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with MDR-TB among presumptive MDR-TB cases in Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tigray Regional State from 2015 to 2016. Two hundred sputum samples were collected, transported, processed using 2% N-acetyl-L-cysteine-sodium hydroxide, and cultured in LJ medium. Besides, the microscopic examination was performed after ZN staining. Moreover, drug susceptibility test was done using molecular line probe assay. Descriptive statistics and binary and multivariable logistic regression were done. A statistical test was regarded as significant when the P value was <0.05. Results The prevalence of MDR-TB was found to be 18.5%. About one-fourth (26.5%) of the study participants had sputum smear positive for acid-fast bacilli (AFB). TB culture was positive in 37% of the samples, and rifampicin mono-resistant cases accounted for 3.5% of the presumptive MDR-TB cases. Three (1.5%) were new MDR-TB cases, while the rest had been treated previously for TB. Most (63.5%) of the MDR-TB cases were from 15 to 44 years of age. Age was associated with MDR-TB with a crude odds ratio of 1.06 (CI: 1.02–1.10) and adjusted odds ratio of 1.06 (CI: 1.00–1.11). Conclusions The prevalence of MDR-TB was found to be high. Preventive measures should be taken to prevent the transmission of MDR-TB in the community.
Valuable Choices: Prominent Venture Capitalists' Influence on Startup CEO Replacements

This paper explores how prominent venture capitalists (VCs) affect chief executive officer (CEO) replacement in startups. Defining prominence using eigenvector centrality, we use matching methods and instrumental variables to show that startup CEO replacement occurs more often and faster when prominent VCs participate. We further explore these VCs’ comparative advantage in managing CEO turnover, finding that the prominent VC effects increase as replacement costs rise, such as when incumbent CEOs are entrenched or possess specialized technology know-how, or when startups are in an early stage. When prominent VCs participate, replacement CEOs are disproportionately experienced outsiders—external hires who possess prior startup CEO experience. Our results reveal that CEO turnover is associated with increases in startups’ ex post innovation and survival performance, with experienced outsider CEO replacements showing the strongest survival rates.
The Nursing Activities Score Per Nurse Ratio Is Associated With In-Hospital Mortality, Whereas the Patients Per Nurse Ratio Is Not.

OBJECTIVES Studies have shown contradicting results on the association of nursing workload and mortality. Most of these studies expressed workload as patients per nurse ratios; however, this does not take into account that some patients require more nursing time than others. Nursing time can be quantified by tools like the Nursing Activities Score. We investigated the association of the Nursing Activities Score per nurse ratio, respectively, the patients per nurse ratio with in-hospital mortality in ICUs. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of the National Intensive Care Evaluation database. SETTING Fifteen Dutch ICUs. PATIENTS All ICU patients admitted to and registered ICU nurses working at 15 Dutch ICUs between January 1, 2016, and January 1, 2018, were included. The association of mean or day 1 patients per nurse ratio and Nursing Activities Score per nurse ratio with in-hospital mortality was analyzed using logistic regression models. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Nursing Activities Score per nurse ratio greater than 41 for both mean Nursing Activities Score per nurse ratio as well as Nursing Activities Score per nurse ratio on day 1 were associated with a higher in-hospital mortality (odds ratios, 1.19 and 1.17, respectively). After case-mix adjustment the association between a Nursing Activities Score per nurse ratio greater than 61 for both mean Nursing Activities Score per nurse ratio as well as Nursing Activities Score per nurse ratio on day 1 and in-hospital mortality remained significant (odds ratios, 1.29 and 1.26, respectively). Patients per nurse ratio was not associated with in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS A higher Nursing Activities Score per nurse ratio was associated with higher in-hospital mortality. In contrast, no association was found between patients per nurse ratios and in-hospital mortality in The Netherlands. Therefore, we conclude that it is more important to focus on the nursing workload that the patients generate rather than on the number of patients the nurse has to take care of in the ICU.
Production of Nontraditional Food for Children after Weaning

This study aimed at manufacturing of camels’ milk, and its yogurt made with barley and certain fruits and vegetables for the benefit of feeding children after weaning. Different technological options were assayed, including characterizing the physical, chemical, microbiological, functional and sensory properties. The chemicals composition between different camels’ milk being fermented and non-fermented for fortified barley, fruits and vegetables products for children nutrition are significant (p≤0.05). The total viable count in the samples was higher due to the increase of the solids. The viscosity of fermented camels’ milk was also better than non-fermented camels’ milk. The effect of children food fermented camels' milk for fortified barley, fruit and vegetables had the highest antioxidant activity. Sensory evaluation of children food showed that fermented camels’ milk fortified with barley and fruits better of overall acceptability of appearance, color body, texture and flavor than non-fermented camels’ milk fortified with barley and fruits. In contrast, fermented camels’ milk made from barley and vegetables were less than those made from non- fermented. Economic evaluation for children food made to camels’ milk (fermented and non- fermented) showed it is cheapest than the commercial children food. Finally, in the case of manufacturing of children food after weaning from non-fermented camels’ milk fortified with barley prefers mixed vegetables, while it may be fermented camels’ milk when mixed with fruit.
A review on the properties of natural fibres and its bio-composites: Effect of alkali treatment

Due to the dominating advantages of natural fibres such as biodegradability, eco-friendliness, nominal cost, low density and high specific strength, they are being used opposite to synthetic fibres in many industrial applications. Despite many advantages, these fibres face some limitations such as higher moisture uptake, quality variations, low thermal stability, and poor compatibility with polymeric matrix. To overcome these limitations, chemical treatments of these fibres were found to be the most suitable method to improve adhesion with polymers, increase their strength and water absorption resistance, and improve their composite properties also. Among chemical treatments, alkali treatment is the most widely used and versatile surface modification method of the natural fibres. A good number of research works have been carried out on effect of alkali treatment on the properties of natural fibres and its composites, which motivated for this review. In this paper, the effect of alkali treatment on the properties of natural fibres has been reviewed. In addition, the physical and mechanical properties, thermal analysis and tribological behaviour of its biocomposites are also reviewed. It was concluded that alkali treatment of natural fibres could provide enhanced properties of various bio-composites up to a great extent.
Non-Performing Loans, Governance Indicators and Systemic Liquidity Risk: Evidence From Greece

In this study we propose a new determinant of non-performing loans for the case of the Greek banking sector. We employ aggregate yearly data for the period 1996-2016 and we conduct a Principal Component Analysis for all the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) for Greece, aiming to isolate the common component and thus to create the GOVERNANCE indicator. We find that the GOVERNANCE indicator is a significant determinant of Greek banks’ non-performing loans indicating that both political and governance factors impact on the level of the Greek non-performing loans. An additional variable that also has a statistically significant impact on the level of Greek non-performing loans, when combined with WGI in the dynamic specification of our model, is systemic liquidity risk. Our results could be of interest to policy makers and regulators as a macro prudential policy tool.
SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS IN SPECTATOR SPORT: AN ANALYSIS OF THE TWENTY-TWENTY CRICKET LEAGUE MATCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA

Since their inception, twenty-twenty (T20) cricket league matches have gained tremendous popularity and are heralded in South Africa with the potential of increasing the spectator support base in cricket. The purpose of this study was to enhance an understanding of service quality by examining the service quality dimensions in T20 cricket events in South Africa. A convenience sample of 250 T20 cricket spectators in the Gauteng province of South Africa participated in a survey using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The factor analysis procedure resulted in the extraction of six primary dimensions, namely service personnel, game atmosphere, facility access, facility aesthetics, home team quality and opposing team characteristics. The model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis, which showed a good-fit of the data to the model. Among the service quality dimensions, facility access was rated the most important dimension. The study recommends that managers use the suggested dimensional framework to measure service quality in T20 cricket. Managers can also use this framework and measurement scale as a diagnostic tool to identify strengths and weaknesses in their services, thus providing guidance for potential areas of improvement.
The Academic Master’s Program in Management: is it relevant to professional practice?

This is an analysis of the relevance of an academic Master’s Program in Management to professional practice from the viewpoint of graduates and professors. The study was guided by three perspectives: “academic”, “social” and “institutional”. It is a descriptive study, focusing on the case of an academic program offered by a Brazilian private university. In the academic dimension, the analysis revealed its emphasis on traditional teaching methods in relation to professional and vocational aspects. A weak social identity and the inexistence of exchanges of experiences and no perception of a common technical language were highlighted in the social dimension. The prestige of the university more than the program was the main factor that influenced institutional attractiveness, albeit with no benefits of employability. The conclusions show a need to reevaluate the current content and teaching methods to integrate the degree better into management and professional practice to bridge these gaps. This article contributes to the field by identifying critical points of the degree program that require a better alignment of capability, knowledge and resources with the expectations and demands of the productive sector and society. Studies in this field in Brazil are scarce and there is little empirical evidence of the influence of management education on professional activities and organizational management.
The Moderating Effect of Organizational Characteristics on The Relationship Between Information Technology Integration and Performance: Empirical Evidence from Selected Public Hospitals in Kenya

With the continuing digital revolution steered by the Internet, organizations are moving towards information technology integration to improve their performance. Regrettably, these developments have in no way been all-inclusive. The health gap between public institutions in first, second and third world nations has broadened. Public organizations in second and third world nations are characterized by poor performance. This study sought to establish the moderating effect of organizational characteristics on the relationship between information technology and performance of public hospitals in Kenya. The study used Technology Organization Environment (TOE) theory. The study was guided by explanatory and cross-sectional research design. The target population was 98 public hospitals in Kenya. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 294 respondents. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses were used. The study results established that organizational characteristics moderated the relationship between information technology integration and performance of public hospitals in Kenya. Therefore, study concluded that organizational characteristics play a major role in an organization’s adoption and utilization of information technology integration. The study recommends technologies should be customized to fit the type of organizational characteristics for better performance.
OUTCOME OF PREGNANCY IN WOMEN WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS IN EMAM KHOMEINI HOSPITAL - URMIA.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that affects primarily women, commonly in their reproductive years. Clinicians have to face the many problems of pregnancy in patients with SLE including the influence of SLE on fetal outcome and that of pregnancy on SLE. This study was performed to study maternal and fetal outcomes in women with SLE. Material and Methods: It is a retrospective study of 20 pregnancies in 13 women with SLE in nephrology department in Urmia University of Medical sciences. Results: The mean age of patients was 24 years old (ranges between 19–37). Seven patients were nulliparous. 15 of 20 pregnancies occurred in remission phase and others in active phase. In 5 patients kidney biopsy was performed before pregnancy. There was one patients on stage 2, three on stage 3 and one on stage 4 of lupus nephritis before pregnancy. The kidney function in all patients was normal before pregnancy. 2 of 13 patients had positive antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) but only one of them had past history of multiple abortion and deep vein thrombosis in lower exterimities. In all of APA positive patients aspirin and heparin were used. In 7 cases non-nephrotic range proteinuria was seen during pregnancy but no impairment of renal function, no hypertension and no maternal mortality was seen. In 3 cases flare up of SLE occurred during pregnancy with no influence on fetal and maternal outcome. The median gestational age was 37 weeks (range between 34 -39 weeks) with 5 preterm deliveries. Two Intrauterine Fetal Death (IUFD) and one abortion occurred. Mean birth weight was 2160 grams.The median Apgar score was 8 at birth.There was one IUGR and 3 Low Birth Weight (LBW). Only one LBW infant was from mother with active disease before pregnancy. Only one of 5 pregnancies in APA positive mothers was failed. Except one, all cases were on steroid treatment at time of conception. Conclusion: The probabilities of favorable fetal and maternal outcomes is high in women with stable and prolonged remission of SLE, normal renal function, normal blood pressure and negative APA. However, the risk of fetal loss and/or kidney function deterioration is high in patients with active SLE and/or renal insufficiency. Pregnancy planning during the inactive phase of renal disease, careful monitoring of blood pressure and renal function and treatment with Heparin and low dose aspirin in women with positive APA are the prerequisite for successful pregnancies in SLE.
Intergenerational Social Mobility Based on the Investments in Human Capital: Evidence of the Long-Term Results of PROSPERA in Health

Mexico's conditional cash transfer program, PROSPERA, has demonstrated short- and medium-term positive effects on health and education, including: increased children's height; decreased risky behaviors among adolescents, including the postponement of parenthood; and increased years of schooling. This paper explores whether these effects lasted in the long-term and translated into positive changes in outcomes across generations. This study uses the most recent PROSPERA Evaluation Survey (ENCEL 2017) and combines it with previous waves and with the 1997 Socioeconomic Characteristics Survey (ENCASEH). Using intergenerational mobility analysis and quasi-experimental methods, this study finds strong evidence of positive absolute intergenerational mobility in height and years of schooling. The findings show that, on average, male offspring are 2.8 centimeters taller and have 5.3 more years of schooling than their providers (usually their parents), while female offspring are 4.1 centimeters taller and have 5.7 more years of schooling than their providers. These intergenerational gains are relevant not only because they reflect improvements in human capital, but also because these improvements have a positive return to investment. The study finds that a 1 percent increase in height is associated with a 10.7 and 8.8 percent increases in hourly wages for men and women, respectively. The analysis finds that a one-year increase in schooling is associated with 3.4 and 4.8 percent increases in hourly wages for men and women, respectively. These results show that PROSPERA has been successful in helping children and youth build human capital through better health and education, which has led to positive returns in the labor market.
Private Credit and Housing Prices in the European Union Perspective

The interaction between credit supply and housing prices can have an important effect on the economy because developments in either the housing markets or the mortgage markets can influence the whole financial sector or even the economy. In fact, the US subprime mortgage crisis which started in the second half of 2007 confirmed the importance of the interaction between both markets. Although there are numerous studies on the interaction between credit and housing prices at a country level, there are few cross-country studies. the first aim of the study is to examine the dynamic relationship between private credit and housing prices at both cross- country and country level in the EU. Secondly, the effect of the different monetary strategy within the EU on this relationhip will be investigated. Thirdly, the direction and size of this interaction will be explored by considering the different sub-samples as well as some individual countries in the EU. For this purpose, two methods are used: the vector autoregressive (VAR) model and the simultaneous equations model. The latter is applied for robustness check. The findings of the study show that the direction and size of this interaction change among the sub-groups of the EU. This is the same for the individual countries in the Eurozone.
Towards a Metric-based Security Model

This study is an initial attempt to create a methodology that assesses a system’s software security by means of automatically-obtained vulnerability metrics. The motivation behind this study lies on the fact that although several security metrics already exist, relevant research is still on an early stage, mainly due to the di culty in defining meaningful and e cient metrics. Furthermore, no single quality metric or measurement is able to holistically assess the security status of a system. Due to this reason, a framework of metrics is needed to combine multiple security measurements. Using automated measurements provided by static analysis tools, three metrics were created to assess the susceptibility of the software system on di↵erent types of software vulnerabilities both on its source code as well as on its third party dependencies. Furthermore, a fourth metric was integrated which assesses the update behavior of the external dependencies of the system. The first two metrics, “Acute Issues” and “Latent Issues”, detect vulnerabilities within the source code of the system and provide a rating based on the number of vulnerabilities detected. The other two metrics detect issues located in third-party dependencies of the system. More specifically, the “Dependency Vulnerability” metric, as the name states, detects vulnerabilities located on a system’s dependencies and returns a rating based on the number of vulnerabilities found and their severity. Finally, the “Dependency Freshness” metric, detects how recently the third-party dependencies of the system were updated. The evaluation of the framework was conducted in two parts. In the first part, four software security consultants and developers were interviewed to check the model against significant user acceptance determinants for methodologies, such as usefulness and compatibility, as well as to verify the metrics’ conformance to validity criteria such as discriminative power, predictability and consistency. In the second part of the validation, a longitudinal analysis was conducted in order to verify the tracking ability of the source code metrics. The results show that the framework is generally considered useful among the interviewees, with an average of 4.5 out of 5 in a likert scale. Furthermore, the proposed methodology is compatible to the way the interviewees currently assess the security of software systems (3.75 out of 5). Moreover, the data gathered suggests that the metrics comply to the validity criteria as defined by ISO 1061-1998.