Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Share repurchase and the cost of capital: Discussion on the nature of share repurchase of Chinese listed companies

Share repurchase is not only an important financial policy of the company, but also a financial policy with a very wide range of influence. A scientific and reasonable share repurchase policy has a significant financial effect in terms of an equity structure optimization, capital structure adjustment, cash holding control, and even management compensation system design. The long-standing share repurchase in the U.K. and U.S. companies and the recent practice of share repurchase by Chinese listed companies imply an important financial proposition: share repurchase is a high-quality financial policy that, when properly applied, will help reduce the cost of capital. The data in this study show that share repurchases can reduce the level of firms’ cost of capital and play an important role in enhancing their competitiveness. This study also finds that Chinese listed companies, when formulating and implementing share repurchase programs, do not subjectively view share repurchases as a policy tool to adjust cash holdings and capital structure. In addition, they do not view share repurchases as an alternative to cash dividends but use equity incentives for management as the main intention for share repurchases. This decision-making concept is not conducive to the rational use of share repurchase policies in the long run and should be a cause for concern in the business community. Finally, the leverage and the cash holding path are the main motives affecting share repurchases and are the important fundamental mechanisms in this study, while the mediating mechanism test finds that share repurchases mainly reduce the cost of capital through two information perspectives of analyst following and stock liquidity. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the role of share repurchases in reducing the cost of capital is more obvious in enterprises with fierce product market competition, high institutional investor shareholding.
Protein and Micronutrient Contents of Moringa oleifera (Murunga) Leaves Collected from Different Localities in Sri Lanka

Deficiency in protein and micronutrients especially iron, zinc and calcium among children and pregnant mothers has become a major health issue in Sri Lanka today. Moringa oleifera is an important multipurpose tropical tree under-utilized for its nutritional and medicinal properties. In the present study, M. oleifera leaves collected from eight districts falling within different agro-climatic localities in Sri Lanka were analyzed for their protein and some micronutrient. The collected samples were dried, milled to particle sizes of less than 125 µm and protein as well as mineral contents were analyzed by Kjeldhal method and microwave assisted acid digestion followed by the Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, respectively. Results revealed wide variations in the ranges of protein and micronutrients in Moringa leaves collected from the different localities, and among all the districts studied, leaves collected from Polonnaruwa contained significantly higher iron, zinc and protein contents compared to those from the other districts and calcium and magnesium were also present in considerable amounts. Therefore, Polonnaruwa district appears to offer the best environmental conditions for the intensive cultivation of moringa to obtain leaves of high nutritive value. However, moringa leaves collected from all the locations contain appreciable amounts of nutrients and could be used as a food supplement to combat protein and micronutrient malnutrition among the affected people of Sri Lanka.
Assessing HLA imputation accuracy in a West African population

The Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) region plays an important role in autoimmune and infectious diseases. HLA is a highly polymorphic region and thus difficult to impute. We therefore sought to evaluate HLA imputation accuracy, specifically in a West African population, since they are understudied and are known to harbor high genetic diversity. The study sets were selected from Gambian individuals within the Gambian Genome Variation Project (GGVP) Whole Genome Sequence datasets. Two different arrays, Illumina Omni 2.5 and Human Hereditary and Health in Africa (H3Africa), were assessed for the appropriateness of their markers, and these were used to test several imputation panels and tools. The reference panels were chosen from the 1000 Genomes dataset (1kg-All), 1000 Genomes African dataset (1kg-Afr), 1000 Genomes Gambian dataset (1kg-Gwd), H3Africa dataset and the HLA Multi-ethnic dataset. HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-C alleles were imputed using HIBAG, SNP2HLA, CookHLA and Minimac4, and concordance rate was used as an assessment metric. Overall, the best performing tool was found to be HIBAG, with a concordance rate of 0.84, while the best performing reference panel was the H3Africa panel with a concordance rate of 0.62. Minimac4 (0.75) was shown to increase HLA-B allele imputation accuracy compared to HIBAG (0.71), SNP2HLA (0.51) and CookHLA (0.17). The H3Africa and Illumina Omni 2.5 array performances were comparable, showing that genotyping arrays have less influence on HLA imputation in West African populations. The findings show that using a larger population-specific reference panel and the HIBAG tool improves the accuracy of HLA imputation in West African populations. Author Summary For studies that associate a particular HLA type to a phenotypic trait for instance HIV susceptibility or control, genotype imputation remains the main method for acquiring a larger sample size. Genotype imputation, process of inferring unobserved genotypes, is a statistical technique and thus deals with probabilities. Also, the HLA region is highly variable and therefore difficult to impute. In view of this, it is important to assess HLA imputation accuracy especially in African populations. This is because the African genome has high diversity, and such studies have hardly been conducted in African populations. This work highlights that using HIBAG imputation tool and a larger population-specific reference panel increases HLA imputation accuracy in an African population.
Soil moisture transport through the unsaturated zone: tritium tagging studies in Sabarmati basin, western India

ABSTRACT This paper describes a study for groundwater recharge estimation in the Sabarmati basin, western India, by means of the tritium tagging method. The estimation of areal average recharge for the basin from the point recharge estimates obtained at various field stations is discussed. A considerable variability of recharge estimates is observed at nearby locations having apparently similar conditions of soil and climate. In spite of the observed spatial variability in recharge estimates, data from the tritium tagging experiment in combination with conventional hydrogeological information (i.e. grain size, water level of the unconfined aquifers and other geological information) enable us to divide the alluvial parts of the basin into three recharge zones. On an average basis, about 14% of the precipitation input is estimated to be recharged annually in the alluvial parts of the Sabarmati basin.
Complex upper-mantle deformation beneath the North China Craton: implications for lithospheric thinning

SUMMARY The mechanism of lithospheric thinning of the North China Craton (NCC) remains controversial. To constrain the mechanism, this study investigated the upper-mantle deformation pattern of the craton by measuring shear wave splitting at the cratonic edge. The results, derived from data recorded at 47 stations, reveal a complex pattern of mantle deformation. Inside the eastern craton, the majority of fast direction trends SE–NW parallel to the tectonic extension direction accompanying with the lithospheric thinning. At the cratonic edge, 15 stations with only null splitting results indicate undetectable anisotropy beneath the stations. This may be due to upwelling or chaotic ascension of mantle flow. To the north, off the craton, large delay times and variation of splitting parameter with backazimuth are generated by the combination of lithospheric and asthenospheric anisotropy. Based on comparison of the splitting results and the predicted ones by the compelling models, it is likely that lithospheric delamination dominated the lithospheric thinning at the north edge of the NCC during the Mesozoic to Cenozoic.
OECD SOCIAL, EMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION WORKING PAPERS A Review of Studies on the Distributional Impact of Consumption Taxes in OECD Countries

This series is designed to make available to a wider readership selected labour market, social policy and migration studies prepared for use within the OECD. Authorship is usually collective, but principal writers are named. The papers are generally available only in their original language – English or French – with a summary in the other. The opinions expressed and arguments employed here are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 I would like to thank Marco Mira d'Ercole and his colleagues in the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development for making available to this study the data used in their own earlier studies as well as their contribution through comment and feedback on drafts of the Working Paper. I would particularly like to thank Marco for his encouragement and enthusiasm for this project and our shared view about the importance of all fiscal incidence studies including consumption taxes in their analysis. Thanks also for various comments on this paper provided by members of the OECD in the context of its work on the " distribution of resources ". 3 DELSA/ELSA/WD/SEM(2008)1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Consumption taxes are only rarely assessed for their impact on the economic well-being of individuals. This paper reviews various studies on this issue. It first describes the large differences in the size and structure of these taxes among OECD countries, and then reviews the types of assumptions that are typically made when estimating the redistributive impact of these taxes. Based on this review, the paper advocates the wider adoption of the methodology that is currently adopted by government statisticians in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom – based on input-output tables and on the modelling of a large part of the consumption taxes levied on various types of final expenditures and production inputs. The paper argues that, beyond methodological differences, all studies agree that consumption taxes have a significant regressive impact on the distribution of household disposable income. Illustrative simulations – based on applying the detailed findings on the incidence of consumption tax in one country (Australia) to the tax structure and income distribution of other OECD countries suggests that omission of consumption taxes affects estimates of the overall size of the redistribution achieved through the tax system and of how this differ across countries and evolves over time. RÉSUMÉ …
Trends in the daily and extreme temperatures in the Qiantang River basin, China

Temporal and spatial changes in the annual and seasonal temperatures in a typical basin of the Qiantang River were analysed based on the time series databases of daily temperatures from 14 meteorological stations. Both the Mann–Kendall (MK) trend test and simple linear regression analyses were employed to detect trends in the mean and extreme temperatures. The temperature changes during the three periods of 1960–1990, 1960–2000 and 1960–2006 were investigated at each meteorological station and over the entire basin as an average. The spatial and temporal changes were characterized by significant warming throughout the region, with the minimum temperature (Tn) increasing the most, particularly after 1990. Various percentiles of extreme temperatures, as well as their corresponding frequencies, were chosen to explore the trends of extreme climate change in this region. Linear regression analyses showed a significant warming trend in cold events both on an annual and seasonal basis, especially in the winter. Conversely, the hot events were dominated by an insignificant warming trend (p > 0.05). When comparing the time series before and after 1990, trend shifts were apparent in both the mean and extreme temperatures, particularly in the spring and winter. In addition to the large‐scale circulation, regional factors may have influenced the observed climate change in the studied region. Climate change has already influenced human society by, for example, increasing the frequency of haze in the study region. We conclude that the warming here is mainly attributed to changes in the minimum temperature.
Geochemistry of tetrahedrite and mineral zoning at Casapalca, Peru

The extensive Casapalca veins cut Tertiary volcanic rocks and red beds near the crest of the Peruvian Andes. The veins correspond to a fracture system which probably formed during one period of tectonic activity. Paragenetic studies identify four stages of mineralization without obvious time breaks characterized by (1) sphalerite-galena-pyrite, (2) chalcopyrite-pyrite-sphalerite, (3) tetrahedrite, and (4) quartz-carbonates. The tetrahedrite is the main source of silver, and its paragenetic position can be correlated from one part of the mine to another over great distances.Quantitative electron microprobe analyses show that tetrahedrite from Casapalca has a chemical composition approximately(Cu,Ag) (sub 10+x) (Fe,Zn) 2 (Sb,As) (sub 4+z) S 13 where 0 < x < 0.5, 0 < z < 0.15. Qualitative electron microprobe analyses performed in this study include numerous profiling and area scans, as well as more than 10,000 points of step-traverse analyses on about 60 selected samples from most of the accessible vein system. Silver and antimony in tetrahedrite are always positively correlated. The silver-antimony correlation may be mostly controlled by two factors, namely, the activity ratios of Ag (super +) and Cu (super +) in the hydrothermal solution from which tetrahedrite crystallized and a crystallographic effect by which tetrahedrite with higher antimony content could accommodate more silver.Correlation of the chemical composition of tetrahedrite throughout the Casapalca vein system outlines a zoning pattern compatible with the zonation of wall-rock alteration and other studies of mineral zoning and metal distribution. As-rich Ag-poor tetrahedrite predominates in the inner zone which is probably close to the center of the hydrothermal system at Casapalca. The outer Sb-rich Ag-rich tetrahedrite zone envelops the As-rich Ag-poor tetrahedrite zone. This zoning pattern differs from the one used at Casapalca for several decades. The newly proposed zoning of mineralization should be useful as a guide to mineral exploration at Casapalca.A similar zoning pattern of the Sb/As ratio and silver in tetrahedrite, where the antimony and silver in tetrahedrite increase from the central to the peripheral zone may exist in many ore deposits. The chemical variations of tetrahedrite may reveal the hydrology and the evolution of certain chemical parameters of ore fluids in a hydrothermal system.
Claims in the clinic: A qualitative group interview study on healthcare communication about unestablished side effects of the copper IUD

Background Lay online communication about health-related issues has in recent years largely been associated with the spread of misinformation and decreased trust in healthcare. Such communication has included claims about systemic side effects of the copper IUD. In Sweden, a social media group centered on this issue now gathers around 8,700 members. This study aimed to use the case of reported yet unestablished side effects of the copper IUD to investigate experiences of and reasoning about healthcare encounters between caregivers and patients contesting established medical knowledge. Methods We conducted qualitative, semi-structured, digital group interviews with members of the social media group (seven groups, n = 23) and with midwives and gynecologists (six groups, n = 15). We also gathered essays written by social media group members (n = 23). The material was analyzed thematically. Results The participant accounts pointed towards tensions related to principles of evidence-based medicine, i.e., perceived insufficiency of research on the safety of the copper IUD and lack of clarity in routines for reporting and following up suspected side effects, and of patient-centered care, i.e., listening respectfully to patients. Tension between caregivers’ obligation to adhere to evidence-based medicine while also providing patient-centered care was noted. Conclusion Healthcare providers’ efforts to assess and address patient claims contesting established medical knowledge should include ensuring and communicating sufficient research, clarifying procedures for reporting suspected side effects, and improving person-centered care. This can increase the quality of care while contributing to the mitigation of distrust in healthcare and the spreading of health-related misinformation.
Relation between fluid intelligence and mathematics and reading comprehension achievements: The moderating role of student teacher relationships and school bonding

Several studies have shown the relevance among students of the quality of their interpersonal relationships for their academic achievement. Nevertheless, most studies available have explored the relation between the cognitive functioning and academic achievement without taking into account the quality of the relationships experienced in the school environment. Furthermore, the studies that have begun to consider the joint role of these factors in the prediction of academic achievement are scant. Therefore, it appears of relevance to deepen the relation between cognitive functioning and quality of school relationships in order to support students’ academic achievement and the potential of youth. In this paper, we examined the moderating role of the quality of student–teacher relationships and school bonding (STR-SB) in the associations of fluid intelligence (Gf) with academic achievement among adolescents (N = 219). A multiple-group structural equation modelling analysis revealed that STR-SB quality moderated unexpectedly only the link between Gf and mathematics. The findings support the idea that the quality of student–teacher relationships may be a relevant dimension to be considered to clarify the association between cognitive functioning and academic achievement.
Determination of tissue oxygen saturation by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

Abstract. Significance Tissue oxygenation is a parameter that allows for determining the health status of human beings. In diabetic patients, it is particularly important to evaluate this parameter as an indicator of microcirculatory problems in the extremities. Aim We aim to obtain tissue oxygen saturation from diffuse reflectance measurements. Approach A computational algorithm to automate the methodology was implemented with the aim of establishing a medical diagnosis technique that is non-invasive and easy to apply and requires a short evaluation time. Tissue oxygen saturation measurements were performed on a group of volunteers to whom a vascular occlusion was applied. It was observed that, by increasing the applied pressure to the arm of each volunteer, the tissue oxygen saturation progressively decreased. Results The results indicate that the developed technique is an effective method for monitoring changes in blood hemodynamics in patients with some type of pathology in which tissue oxygenation is compromised. In addition, the expected behavior of tissue oxygen saturation during a vascular occlusion was obtained. Conclusions A methodology to obtain tissue oxygen saturation from diffuse reflectance measurements was successfully developed. It meets the necessary characteristics to be considered a technique for obtaining StO2 because it can be applied in vivo and non-invasively and does not require a high computational cost; thus it is fast and capable of providing an objective and quantifiable evaluation.
Glacial dynamics and transport of debris during the final phases of the Weichselian Glaciation, southwest Skåne, Sweden

Late Weichselian glacial sediments were studied in three sections west of Lund, southwest Sweden. The lowermost sedimentary unit is a lodgement till containing rock fragments derived from the northeast-east. Fabric analyses indicate successive ice flow directions: from the northeast, east-northeast, south-southeast and then east. The last active ice movement in the area was from the east. Above the lodgement till are deglaciation sediments consisting of meltout till, flow till and glaciofluvial sand and gravel deposited in a subaerial stagnant-ice environment. The uppermost unit consists of glaciolacustrine clay and silt, containing abundant ice-rafted debris, deposited during a short-lived transgression phase when stagnant ice was still present in the area. At the westernmost site investigated, the petrographical composition of the deglaciation deposits displays a gradual change, with upwards increasing components of Cretaceous chalky limestone. The presence of this rock type requires a period of glacial transport from the south. This stratigraphy cannot be explained with traditional glaciodynamic models. A possible scenario can, however, be constructed using a previously published model (Lagerlund, 1987) where marginal ice domes in the southwestern Baltic area interact with the main Scandinavian Ice Sheet.
Motivational interview-based health mediator interventions increase intent to vaccinate among disadvantaged individuals

ABSTRACT Coverage for recommended COVID-19 and diphtheria-tetanus-poliomyelitis (DTP) booster shots is often inadequate, especially among disadvantaged populations. To help health mediators (HMs) involved in outreach programs deal with the problems of vaccine hesitancy (VH) in these groups, we trained them in motivational interviewing (MI). We evaluated the effectiveness of this training among HMs on their MI knowledge and skills (objective 1) and among the interviewees on their vaccination readiness (VR) and intention to get vaccinated or accept a booster against COVID-19 and/or DTP (objective 2). Two MI specialists trained 16 HMs in a two-day workshop in May 2022. The validated MISI questionnaire evaluated HMs’ acquisition of MI knowledge and skills (objective 1). Trained HMs offered an MI-based intervention on vaccination to people in disadvantaged neighborhoods of Marseille (France). Those who consented completed a questionnaire before and after the interview to measure VR with the 7C scale and intentions regarding vaccination/booster against COVID-19 and DTP (objective 2). The training resulted in HMs acquiring good MI skills (knowledge, application, self-confidence in using it). HMs enrolled 324 interviewees, 96% of whom completed both questionnaires. VR increased by 6%, and intentions to get vaccinated or update COVID-19 and DTP vaccination increased by 74% and 52% respectively. Nearly all interviewees were very satisfied with the interview, although 21% still had questions about vaccination. HMs assimilated MI principles well. MI use in outreach programs appears to show promise in improving vaccine confidence and intentions among disadvantaged people.