Studies have shown that firm asset growth predicts cross-sectional stock returns. Firms that shrink their assets earn superior returns while firms that substantially expand their assets incur poor returns in the following years. I show that the negative asset growth often implies poor operating performance and a high probability subsequently to be delisted from the exchanges and that the high a...

Objective: To treat patients with vascular mild cognitive impairment (VMCI) using TCM, it is necessary to classify the patients into TCM syndrome types and to apply different treatments to different types. We investigate how to properly carry out the classification using a novel data-driven method known as latent tree analysis. Method: A cross-sectional survey on VMCI was carried out in several...

BACKGROUND Lower health literacy is a public health issue that follows a social gradient, potentially reinforcing existing health inequalities. However, levels of health literacy in particular populations can be unclear and are a key to identifying effective public health interventions. This research examined health literacy levels in Stoke-on-Trent, where 31.2% of the population live in areas ...

The aim of the study was to find out the type of arch form amongst different Angle classifications attending the orthodontic department of Sardar Begum Dental College and Hospital, Peshawar. Consideration of the arch form is of paramount importance, because it is imperative that the arch form should be examined before embarking upon the treatment as this gives valuable information about the pos...

This paper formulates a dynamic stochastic model to examine the joint patent application and renewal behaviors under an international patent-protection regime. The framework makes it possible to utilize both the cross-sectional (multi-country application) and the time-series (patent renewal) dimensions of available international patenting data to estimate the private value of patent protection,...

INTRODUCTION The aim of our study was to investigate and evaluate, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of malnutrition as well as the relationship between different anthropometric and biochemical markers with Mininutritional assessment (MNA) scores. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A representative sample of the institutionalized Spanish population aged 65 and older (stricly speaking, born in 1942 or ...

A range of cross-sectional models are estimated with a view to establishing the factors that determine the valuation of professional athletes in a highly-specialised sport, with an application to cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL). We distinguish between personal characteristic and playing ability factors, and with respect to the former, between ability in different forms of the sport. We fi...

This paper presents the results of a cross-sectional study that analyzes housing characteristics and the demographic makeup of Chicago community areas. The study is part of a larger project that uses data mining techniques to evaluate and model changes in neighborhoods that may lead to gentrification or abandonment, and ultimately to the loss of affordable housing. Our initial analysis has defi...

Existing studies show that firm asset and investment growth predict cross-sectional stock returns. Firms that shrink their assets or investments subsequently earn higher returns than firms that expand their assets or investments. I show that the superior returns of the low asset and investment growth portfolios are due to the omission of delisting returns in CRSP monthly stock return file and t...

OBJECTIVES To explore predictors of university students' intention to receive a recommended vaccine and the main sources of vaccine-related information accessed by university students. SETTING Participants were recruited from University College London (UK) in summer 2015. PARTICIPANTS 177 university students participated. The majority of participants were female (58%), White (68%) and had n...