bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The most consistent and reliable predictors of corporate financial choices in Pakistan: New evidence usingBICestimation
Authors: Shahzad Umeair , Luo Fukai , Liu Jing , Faisal Mahmood , Ullah Hafeez 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe current literature contradicts over the basic predictors of corporate financial choices in Pakistan. This study reports profitability (−ve), liquidity (−ve), industry leverage (+ve), cash holding (−ve), tangibility (+ve), and size (+ve) as reliable predictors explaining book leverage. The study mainly applies Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) to control predictors' overfitting issues. Evaluated with the United State and other countries, we report the diversity of capital structure decisions in Pakistani listed firms. This study finds the reliability of some residuals on reinforcement with the core predictors' regression model but they do not meet the standard as a core determinant. Our predictors are reliable to explain the capital structure of sample firms across their level of size, growth, maturity, and ownership concentration. We expect that our six basic predictors will contribute to the prospective study on corporate financial choices in Pakistan.
Sustaining Economic Growth in COMESA: Challenges and Prospects
Authors: Adika Gameli 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) achieved an average growth rate of 5.1% between 2005 and 2014. However, economic growth in the region plunged from 6.5% recorded in 2014 down to 6.0% in 2015 and reduced drastically to 3.5% in 2016. This study employs the generalized two‐stage least square instrumental variables regression to examine growth catalysts and the challenges and prospects of sustaining economic growth. The empirical results suggest that external resources significantly promote economic growth and pose a significant threat to growth sustainability, given the uncertainty and globally declining trend in external resource inflows to Africa. Furthermore, the domestic savings rate was found to contribute significantly to economic growth, indicating that the sustainability of economic growth will require a deliberate effort to mobilize domestic resources. Finally, the study established that, while participation in the COMESA trading bloc by member‐countries does not significantly impact the region, the joint participation of some COMESA members in both COMESA and Southern African Development Community (SADC) trading blocs has a detrimental effect on economic growth in the region.
Modelling cryptocurrencyhigh–lowprices using fractional cointegratingVAR
Authors: Yaya OlaOluwa S. , Vo Xuan Vinh , Ogbonna Ahamuefula E. , Adewuyi Adeolu O. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis paper empirically provides support for fractional cointegration of high and low cryptocurrency price series, using particularly, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple; synchronized at different high time frequencies. The difference of high and low price gives the price range, and the range‐based estimator of volatility is more efficient than the return‐based estimator of realized volatility. A more general fractional cointegration technique applied is the Fractional Cointegrating Vector Autoregressive framework. The results show that high and low cryptocurrency prices are actually cointegrated in both stationary and non‐stationary levels; that is, the range of high–low price. It is therefore quite interesting to note that the fractional cointegration approach presents a lower measure of the persistence for the range compared to the fractional integration approach, and the results are insensitive to different time frequencies. The main finding in this work serves as an alternative volatility estimation method in cryptocurrency and other assets' price modelling and forecasting.
Predicting the volatility of crude oil futures: The roles of leverage effects and structural changes
Authors: Gong Xu , Lin Boqiang 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis paper investigates whether leverage effects and structural changes have positive effects on the volatility prediction of crude oil futures. On the basis of existing HAR models, this paper proposes three classes of new HAR models by considering leverage effects, structural changes, or both. The in‐sample and out‐of‐sample results show that leverage effects and structural changes contain significant information for predicting oil volatility. In most cases, structural changes have more in‐sample and out‐of‐sample incremental information than leverage effect, whereas leverage effects have more out‐of‐sample information for predicting 1‐day volatility. In addition, HAR models with leverage effects and structural changes have better in‐sample and out‐of‐sample performances than the corresponding other three classes of HAR models. The above results mean that leverage effects and structural changes should be considered while modelling and forecasting oil volatility.
FDI inflows and economic growth in Arab region: The institutional quality channel
Authors: Aziz Omar G. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis study empirically investigates the possible role of institutional quality in absorbing foreign direct investment (FDI) flows' spillovers for growth in a group of Arab countries. The analysis is performed by employing system GMM estimation in panel data comprising 11 Arab countries over the period 1988–2012. It develops overall indexes of doing business and economic freedom indicators using the principal components analysis (PCA) as weights. The study finds that the quality of institutions plays an important role in enhancing economic growth via indirect impact by absorbing spillovers of FDI inflows. On the one hand, the study reveals that greater macroeconomic stability and financial development have a positive influence on growth. The results of this study have several implications for policy makers.
Islamic portfolio optimization under systemic risk: Vine Copula‐CoVaR based model
Authors: Braiek Sana , Bedoui Rihab , Belkacem Lotfi 
Published: August 2020

AbstractWe propose a new methodology based on CoVaR to optimize Islamic portfolio. First, we generate the return distribution using the ARMA‐FIAPARCH and ARMA‐FIGARCH model. Then, we transform the standardized residuals onto copula scale using the empirical cumulative distribution function. Thereafter, using the best vine‐copula fits, we computed downside and upside risk. We obtained CoVaR of the market (sectors), conditional on the VaR for sectors (market) returns. We find the optimized portfolio wt through mean‐CoVaR optimization. The empirical results of Islamic industry show that the optimal allocation is influenced by the existence of systemic risk. Thus, when comparing the mean‐CoVaR model with the mean–Variance model we find that mean‐CoVaR more performant in optimization. The minimum risk portfolio allocation is influenced by the existence of systemic risk, the interdependence structure between sectors and the optimization model. Our findings offer a better understanding of the allocation during the crisis period which is very valuable for the international investors, multinational corporations and portfolio managers.
Hedging capabilities of Bitcoin for Asian currencies
Authors: Kinkyo Takuji 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis study investigates whether Bitcoin (BTC) can provide a hedge against the fiat currencies in Asia over various investment horizons. We focus on Asia because it is one of the fastest‐growing regions worldwide, where cryptocurrencies are actively traded. A wavelet transform technique is combined with a multivariate factor stochastic volatility (SV) model to examine the dynamic correlation properties and risk reduction effectiveness of BTC in both the time and frequency domains. We use gold and oil as benchmarks and compared their results with those of BTC. The estimated correlations indicate that the Asian currencies tend to be negatively correlated with BTC; therefore, the latter could provide a hedge against the former over the medium (8–32 days) and long (32–64 days) terms. By contrast, Asian currencies tend to be positively correlated with oil and gold for the same horizons. We also analyze the downside risk reduction effectiveness of BTC for the portfolio of Asian currencies and find that BTC provides better risk reduction than oil and gold, particularly over the medium and long terms. This study makes significant contributions to the literature by demonstrating that the correlation properties and risk reduction effectiveness of BTC differ depending on the investment horizons. We believe our findings using the wavelet‐based SV model can help heterogeneous investors detect portfolio risks and thus, identify optimal hedging strategies over various investment horizons.
Postpartum metabolic syndrome and high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein after gestational hypertension and pre‐eclampsia
Authors: Osoti Alfred O. , Page Stephanie T. , Richardson Barbra A. , Guthrie Brandon L. , Kinuthia John , Polyak Stephen J. , Farquhar Carey 
Published: August 2020

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hsCRP), a biomarker of chronic inflammation and an independent predictor for cardiovascular disease overall and in subgroups of women with/without pre‐eclampsia and gestational hypertension (GHT).MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted in Nairobi, Kenya. Women with pre‐eclampsia or GHT and normotensive women within 12 weeks postpartum underwent physical, anthropometric, fasting lipid profile, plasma glucose, and hsCRP measurements at 6 months postpartum. A generalized linear regression model with Poisson distribution adjusted for body mass index and age was used to estimate the association between elevated hsCRP and MetS overall and stratified by pre‐eclampsia or GHT.ResultsIn the 171 women included in the study, risk of elevated hsCRP (>3 mg/L) was greater among women with compared to those without MetS (adjusted relative risk [ARR] 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05–2.73, P=0.03) and was statistically significantly higher in the hypertensive (ARR 2.16 95% CI 1.01–4.62, P=0.04) but not in the normotensive (ARR 1.46, 95% CI 0.93–2.28) group.ConclusionIncreased risk of elevated hsCRP postpartum can guide longitudinal mechanistic and intervention studies to reduce postpartum cardiovascular morbidity in women with MetS, especially after pre‐eclampsia or GHT.
Masked acute rejection of the graft kidney under the recovery of native kidneys in a patient who underwent simultaneous liver and kidney transplantation
Authors: Hattahara Kodai , Sawada Atsuro , Sakai Kaoru , Teramoto Yuki , Nakamoto Yuji , Okajima Hideaki , Yamasaki Toshinari , Inoue Takahiro , Ogawa Osamu , Kobayashi Takashi 
Published: August 2020

IntroductionSimultaneous liver and kidney transplantation is a life‐saving procedure for patients with liver failure and irreversible renal dysfunction. However, some studies have reported the recovery of native renal function after simultaneous liver and kidney transplantation.Case presentationA 33‐year‐old woman initially underwent living‐donor liver transplantation for liver failure. When graft liver failure developed, she also sustained acute renal failure and required continuous hemodiafiltration for 6 weeks. Simultaneous liver and kidney transplantation from a brain‐dead donor recovered her liver and renal function. A 1‐year protocol graft kidney biopsy revealed acute cellular rejection despite stable serum creatinine levels. Renal scintigraphy showed functional native kidneys masking acute rejection of the graft kidney. The rejection was improved by pulse steroid therapy.ConclusionAcute rejection of the graft kidney may silently progress due to recovery of the native kidney function after simultaneous liver and kidney transplantation. Renal scintigraphy and graft kidney biopsy should be considered even if blood tests indicate stable total renal function.
Immediate ileal ureter replacement for ureteral avulsion during ureterescopy
Authors: Ragonese Mauro , Foschi Nazario , Pinto Francesco , Di Gianfrancesco Luca , Bassi Pierfrancesco , Racioppi Marco 
Published: August 2020

IntroductionComplete ureteral avulsion represents a rare and fearsome complication of ureteroscopy, reported in less than 1% of cases. In literature there are few reports and different options are presented for its treatment. We present a case of a ureteral avulsion managed with ileal ureter replacement.Case presentationA 67‐year‐old man with a left proximal ureter stone was treated at our department with ureteroscopy. During retrieval of the instrument a complete ureteral avulsion was discovered, with a so‐called “scabbard lesion”. We decided to proceed with immediate laparotomy and we performed a ileal ureter replacement.ConclusionUreteral avulsion is a rare complication but must be known as a possible complication in high volume center. There is no standard definition regarding its treatment, and in our experience immediate treatment with ileal ureter replacement proved to be safe and effective without any changes in renal function.
Dual‐pathway DenseNets with fully lateral connections for multimodal brain tumor segmentation
Authors: Hu Jingyu , Gu Xiaojing , Gu Xingsheng 
Published: August 2020

AbstractMultimodal medical image data provide different structured and functional information, which helps segment brain tumor and gets a reliable and accurate diagnosis. Segmenting brain tumors in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a challenging task because brain tumors can be at any location with changeable shape and size. Existing deep neural networks for brain tumor segmentation use few connections to fuse multilevel information. To make use of multilevel information from multimodal MRIs, we propose dual‐pathway DenseNets with fully lateral connections (DP‐DenseNets), a three‐dimensional (3D) fully convolutional neural network that uses dense connectivity to construct dual‐pathway architecture to multimodal brain tumor segmentation problem. Each two similar imaging modalities have a pathway, for one thing, the bottom‐up pathway with dense connectivity is developed for extracting features; another, the top‐down pathway concatenates the features of the bottom‐up pathway in all layers. Dual pathways with different loss functions and fully lateral connectivity from the bottom‐up pathway to the top‐down pathway provide an abundant combination of different levels of features. Comparing to these fusion schemes such as input‐level fusion and later‐level fusion, this architecture leverages semantics from low to high levels, which is provided by fully lateral connectivity. Our model is evaluated on the dataset from Brain Tumor Segmentation Challenge 2017 (BRATS 2017), and the experiments show that our method achieves better performance than other 3D networks.
What we know and don't know about the socioeconomic impacts of mobile money in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A systematic literature review
Authors: Nan Wenxiu (Vince) , Zhu Xiaolin (Christina) , Lynne Markus M. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractMobile money has been viewed as transformative in developing countries, because it provides basic financial services via mobile phones to people who lack easy access to formal financial services such as bank accounts. Given its accessibility, security, and affordability, mobile money has been increasingly touted as a promising digital solution for socioeconomic development in Sub‐Saharan Africa. Despite its potentially disruptive impacts, research on this innovation remains fragmentary. To take stock of what is known and to advance future research, a systematic review was conducted of 82 empirical academic studies on the socioeconomic impacts of mobile money in Sub‐Saharan Africa. Results show that mobile money, when widely used in Sub‐Saharan African countries, has enabled a wide range of socioeconomic benefits at multiple levels including household welfare, business benefits, community development, financial development, and country well‐being. In addition, the systematic review reveals multifaceted research biases and gaps in the literature and accordingly suggests promising directions for future research.
Influence of Changes in Soft Tissue Composition on Changes in Bone Strength in Peripubertal Girls: The STAR Longitudinal Study
Authors: Bland Victoria L , Bea Jennifer W , Blew Robert M , Roe Denise J , Lee Vinson R , Funk Janet L , Going Scott B 
Published: August 2020

ABSTRACT
Obesity and osteoporosis remain two major public health concerns. Soft tissue composition and bone are interrelated; however, it is still not well understood how changes in adiposity during adolescence affect bone development. The aim of this study was to assess how changes in DXA-derived total body lean mass (TBLM) and total body fat mass (TBFM) associate with 2-year changes in bone outcomes at the 20% femur, 66% tibia, 66% radius, and 4% tibia, as measured by pQCT, during the years surrounding the onset of menarche in a cohort of 9- to 12-year-old (baseline) adolescent girls (70% Hispanic). From baseline to 2-year follow-up, girls showed statistically significant increases in all bone outcomes, except radial endosteal circumference. In separate linear regression models, change in TBLM and change in TBFM were both positively associated with 2-year changes in bone outcomes at all measured bone sites, after controlling for relevant covariates. However, when change in TBLM and change in TBFM were included in the same model, change in TBLM was the predominant predictor of bone outcomes, explaining 4% to 14% of the variance in bone strength outcomes. Change in TBFM remained a positive predictor of tibia polar strength strain index (SSIp) (2% variance explained). A significant interaction between change in TBFM and menarcheal status was identified at the radius for SSIp and indicated that greater gains in TBFM were beneficial for SSIp in girls that were premenarcheal at baseline but detrimental for girls who were postmenarcheal at baseline. The overall findings suggest that changes in TBLM during the peripubertal years have a greater influence on bone outcomes than changes in TBFM. While gains in TBFM might benefit the weight bearing 66% tibia, greater gains in TBFM may be detrimental to bone development at the non-weight bearing 66% radius after the onset of menarche. © 2020 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).
Mandatory CSR disclosure and firm investment behavior: Evidence from a quasi‐natural experiment in China
Authors: Makosa Lewis , Yang Jinkun , Sitsha Lovemore , Jachi Moses 
Published: August 2020

AbstractIn this article, we examine the effect of mandatory disclosure of corporate social responsibility on firm's investment behavior. Our analysis exploits China's 2008 mandatory requirement that firms disclose their corporate social responsibility activities. Using difference‐in‐difference design, the study finds that firms that were made to report their corporate social responsibility experience a decrease in the level of investment, but the firm investment efficiency improved, especially on alleviating over‐investments. These findings suggest that mandatory CSR disclosure alters firm investment behavior and the implementation of such a disclosure requirement may need the government support.
Slow Accumulation and Elimination of Diazepam and Its Active Metabolite With Extended Treatment in the Elderly
Authors: Greenblatt David J. , Harmatz Jerold S. , Zhang Qingchen , Chen Yuxi , Shader Richard I. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractAge‐related changes in disposition of diazepam and its principal active metabolite, desmethyldiazepam (DMDZ), during and after extended dosage with diazepam were studied in healthy volunteers. Eight elderly subjects (ages 61‐78 years) and 7 young subjects (21‐33 years) received 2.5 mg of diazepam twice daily for 15 days. Predose (trough) concentrations of diazepam and DMDZ were measured during the 15 days of dosing, and in the postdosage washout period. Kinetic properties were determined by nonlinear regression using a sequential drug‐to‐metabolite pharmacokinetic model. Steady‐state plasma concentrations of diazepam and DMDZ were 30% to 35% higher in elderly subjects compared to young volunteers, and steady‐state clearances correspondingly lower, though differences did not reach significance. Large and significant differences were found between young and elderly groups in mean half‐life of diazepam (31 vs 86 hours; P < .005) and DMDZ (40 vs 80 hours; P < .02). Half‐life values from the multiple‐dose study were closely correlated with values from previous single‐dose studies of diazepam (R2 = 0.85) and DMDZ (R2 = 0.94) in the same subjects. With extended dosing of diazepam in the elderly, slow accumulation and delayed washout of diazepam and DMDZ is probable. After discontinuation, withdrawal or rebound effects are reduced in likelihood, but delayed recovery from sedative effects is possible due to slow elimination of active compounds. Safe treatment of elderly patients with diazepam is supported by understanding of age‐related changes in pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic properties.
Assessing and mapping urban soils as geochemical barriers for contamination by heavy metal(loid)s in Moscow megapolis
Authors: Romzaykina Olga N. , Vasenev Viacheslav I. , Paltseva Anna , Kuzyakov Yakov V. , Neaman Alexander , Dovletyarova Elvira A. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractUrbanization is responsible for some negative environmental consequences, including soil contamination by heavy metal(loid)s (HMs). At the same time, urban soils can buffer HMs and perform as geochemical barriers. For the case of Moscow city, the soil contamination by multiple HMs as well as soil buffer capacity was analyzed, mapped, and considered to assess urban soils as geochemical barriers. Comparison with the health standards indicated contamination by different HMs in 30–60% of the observations, and Zn and Cd were the most widely spread contaminants. “Hotspots” of contamination were shown in the central and eastern districts of Moscow with the most intensive traffic and congregation of industries. New spatial patterns were shown for soil performance as geochemical barriers to multiple HM contamination. High buffer capacity of loamy and slightly alkaline soils in the city center with high contamination level resulted in a better performance of soil geochemical barriers compared with some green zones and natural areas where low buffer capacity of loamy sandy and slightly acid soils were not enough to resist even relatively low contamination. The capacity of urban soil to perform a geochemical barrier for contamination by HMs is an important ecosystem service. Spatially explicit information on this ecosystem service can be highly relevant to assess environmental and health risks of urban soil contamination and to support decision making in urban planning and sustainable development.
Synthesis of aza‐diarylmethines via 1,6‐conjugate addition/aromatization of para‐quinone methides and isatin catalyzed by Et3N
Authors: Ren Hong‐Xia , Zhang Ying , Wang Hui‐Ling 
Published: August 2020

AbstractA highly efficient 1,6‐conjugate addition/aromatization of para‐quinone methides and isatin catalyzed by Et3Nhas been developed for the synthesis of aza‐diarylmethinesin excellent yields (up to 99%). A series of aza‐diarylmethines were obtained and scale‐up experiment was conducted with excellent results demonstrating the potential applications of this protocol.