R&D investments and credit lines

Using data for 939 publicly listed firms from 17 European countries over the period from 2004 to 2013, we investigate the effect of used credit lines on R&D investments, controlling for other determinants of R&D investments, i.e., cash flows, cash holdings, sales growth, equity financing, and Tobin’s Q. Our estimation results, based on the system-GMM method, show that used credit lines have a positive and significant impact on R&D investments. In addition, we find that this impact is more pronounced for small and young firms than for large and mature firms. These results show that firms use credit lines as part of their liquidity management tools for supporting their R&D investments. Finally, we provide evidence that European firms in bank-based countries increased their use of credit lines for financing their R&D investments during the financial crisis of 2007-2009, while the link between R&D investments and used credit lines became weaker during the European sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2013

Utjecaj fitohormona na sposobnost zakorjenjivanja reznica vrste Ficus benjamina L.

Vegetative production techniques, of which cutting method widely used in propagation of ornamental plants, have a crucial role for conserving the plant genetic sources. On rooting development of stem cuttings, cutting position, rooting medium and rooting hormone are some of the critical factors that affect the success. The primary objective of this study is to determine the best hormone doses and ideal rooting medium on Ficus benjamina L. stem cuttings. Conventionally, the most frequently vegetative propagation method is the rooting of the stem cuttings in various media such as, pearlite, peat, sand, through exposure to high-concentration rooting hormones (IBA, IAA, NAA, etc.). But, this conventional technique requires wide areas in the rooting stage of mass production, prevents monitoring the course of rooting, and necessitates large amount of materials used as hormones and rooting media. In this study, a new method that may be preferable in mass production of plants was tested. 39 different treatments were carried out, and their results were evaluated. Sand, and perlite were used as solid rooting media. Stem cuttings were kept in low-concentration hormones permanently after cutting (liquid medium). In this way, their rooting capability were examined. Rooting trials were conducted before stem cuttings were taken to solid rooting media. As conclusions, the highest rooting ratio were obtained for 10 ppm of NAA (94.43%) and 100 ppm of IBA (93.9%) in liquid media. Moreover, the highest root length and the average root length were quite low in liquid media.Tehnike vegetativne proizvodnje od kojih se metoda reznica uvelike koristi u razmnožavanju ukrasnog bilja, imaju ključnu ulogu za očuvanje genetskih izvora biljaka. Mjesto uzimanja reznice na biljci, medij ukorjenjivanja i fitohormon ukorjenjivanja neki su od ključnih čimbenika koji utječu na uspjeh razvoja zakorjenjivanja reznica od stabljike. Primarni cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi najbolje koncentracije fitohormona i idealni medij zakorjenjivanja za reznice od stabljike vrste Ficus benjamina L. Konvencionalno, najčešća metoda vegetativnog razmnožavanja je zakorjenjivanja pupova u različitim supstratima kao što su perlit, treset, pijesak do izloženosti visoko koncentriranim hormonima zakorjenjivanja (IBA, IAA, NAA, itd.). Ali ta konvencionalna tehnika zahtijeva široka područja u fazi zakorjenjivanja masovne produkcije, sprječava nadzor tijeka zakorjenjivanja i traži visoku količinu materijala koji se koriste kao hormoni i mediji zakorjenjivanja. U ovom istraživanju, ispitana je nova metoda koja bi mogla biti poželjnijom u masovnoj proizvodnji biljaka. Izvršeno je 39 različitih tretiranja i prikazani su njihovi rezultati. Pijesak i perlit korišteni su kao kruti medij zakorjenjivanja. Pupovi su se trajno čuvali u hormonima niske koncentracije nakon rezanja (tekući medij). Na taj način je ispitana njihova sposobnost zakorjenjivanja. Ispitivanja zakorjenjivanja provedena su prije nego su pupovi odnijeti u kruti medij zakorjenjivanja. Kao zaključak, dobiveni su najviši omjeri zakorjenjivanja za 10 ppm NAA (94.43%) te 100 ppm IBA (93.9%) u tekućim medijima. Najveća duljina korijena i prosječna duljina korijena bile su prilično male u tekućim medijima

The effect of erythropoietin on biomechanical properties of the Achilles tendon during the healing process: an experimental study

Tensile test data. (XLSX 10 kb

THE 25 MARCH 2020 TSUNAMI AT THE KURIL ISLANDS: ANALYSIS AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 occurred near the island of Paramushir (KurilIslands) on 25 March 2020. It caused a weak tsunami in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands.Earthquake and tsunami data from three DART buoys are discussed and compared withnumerical simulations. It is shown that the calculated and measured tsunami characteristics onthe DART buoys is in very good agreement. There are also data on the recording of thisearthquake by a laser strain-meter installed in the Sea of Japan at Shults cape at a distance ofmore than 2,000 km from the epicenter of the earthquake. There is also an instrumentalrecording of the tsunami at the Vodopadnaya point in the southeast of Kamchatka.Unfortunately, there was a large storm at sea at this time, and the amplitudes of tsunami wavesand storm waves were comparable to each other, so here the agreement between calculationsand observations does not seem good enough

Re-irradiation with stereotactic radiotherapy for recurrent high grade glial tumors

Background: Despite the radical treatments applied, recurrence is encountered in the majority of high-grade gliomas (HGG). There is no standard treatment when recurrence is detected, but stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is a preferable alternative. The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the efficacy of SRT for recurrent HGG, and to investigate the factors that affect survival. Materials and methods: From 2013 to 2021, a total of 59 patients with 64 lesions were re-irradiated in a single center with the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System. The primary endpoints of the study were overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and local control rates (LCR). Results: The median time to first recurrence was 13 (4–85) months. SRT was performed as a median prescription dose of 30 Gy (range 15–30), with a median of 5 fractions (1–5). The median follow-up time was 4 months (range 1–57). The median OS was 8 (95% CI: 4.66-11.33) months. Age, grade 3, tumor size were associated with better survival. The median PFS was 5 [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.39–6.60] months. Age, grade 3 and time to recurrence > 9 months were associated with improved PFS. Grade 3 gliomas (p = 0.027), size of tumor < 2 cm (p = 0.008) remained independent prognostic factors for OS in multivariate analysis. Conclusion: SRT is a viable treatment modality with significant survival contribution. Since it may have a favorable prognostic effect on survival in patients with tumor size < 2 cm, we recommend early diagnosis of recurrence and a decision to re-irradiate a smaller tumor during follow-up.

Suicidal Thought and Behavior in High School Students in Adana, Turkey

Fifty years ago adolescents mostly died of natural causes, whereas they now die from more preventable causes. Part of this change has been a worldwide rise in adolescent suicide rates in both developed and developing countries. Suicides are probably under reported due to cultural and religious stigma attached to self-destruction. Objectives of this study were to collect data about suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts and related sociodemographic details in high school students. The population comprised 2,480 randomly selected students among 46,271 students from 72 high schools in 1999–2000 in Adana and 2,352 (94.8%) students from 10 schools were reached and given a questionnaire modified using Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire (YRBSQ). x2 and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests were used. Mean age was 16.5 ±1 (14–21) year, 1,187 (50.5%) students reported severe desperation, 526 students (22.4%) had suicidal thoughts, 332 (14.1%) planned committing suicide, 145 (6.2%) attempted suicide. The occurrence rate of desperation, suicidal thoughts, plans, attempts and the mean number of attempts were significantly higher in females than males. Adolescent suicide is a tragedy affecting individual, family, peers, and community. Families, teachers, and physicians should be aware of risk factors for suicide

Are clinical outcomes and failure rate following meniscal repair for vertical-longitudinal tears age-dependent

This study aimed to compare the clinical outcomes and failure rate following meniscal repair for vertical-longitudinal tears between patients 40 years of age or older and patients younger than 40 years. Between 2008 and 2016, 134 patients with vertical longitudinal meniscal tear repair (121 males and 13 females) were included in the study. Patients were divided into two main groups according to age: 40 years (Group 2). The clinical status of patients was evaluated by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Tegner, Lysholm, and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scores, Barretts criteria were used to assess meniscal healing. Patient and tear characteristics, operative features were also investigated. The mean follow-up time was 57.8 ± 13.0 months (range, 24-84 months). There was a significant improvement in clinical scores in both groups (p 0.05). Failure was noted in 8 patients (8.9%) in group 1, 4 patients (9.1%) in group 2 (p>0.05). Time to failure was significantly lower in the older-aged group (p=0.040). Red-white (RW) zone tears, Body Mass Index (BMI) (kg/m2) and late repairs (>2 months) were found to be significantly higher in failed repairs (p=0.005, p=0.020, p=0.042, respectively). Clinical outcomes following arthroscopic repair for vertical-longitudinal meniscal tears do not differ in terms of age. Especially peripheral tears should be repaired in the early period because of their better healing potential regardless of age. [Med-Science 2020; 9(3.000): 692-9

Fuzzy associative memories for the computation of the bandwidth of rectangular microstrip antennas with thin and thick substrates

A method based on fuzzy associative memories for calculating the bandwidth of electrically thin and thick rectangular microstrip patch antennas is presented. The design parameters of the fuzzy associative memories are optimally determined by using the classical, modified and improved tabu search algorithms. The theoretical bandwidth results obtained by using the fuzzy associative memories are in very good agreement with the experimental results available in the literature

The effects of board structure on corporate performance: Evidence from East African frontier markets

The effectiveness of the well-known corporate governance practices may not be universal due to fundamental differences in the environments under which firms operate. By using hand-collected data from all the non-financial firms listed on the unexplored East African frontier markets (i.e., Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), we examine the effect of board characteristics on the performanceof firms. Our results show that board size has a negative and significant effect on firm performance. The presences of foreigners and civil servants on the board play positive roles on financial performance, where the agency and resource dependence theories apply. Further, we find that board members with higher education also contribute to firm performance. These findings still hold when we consider the 2008–2009 financial crisis period. Overall, we show that in a business climate where ownership is largely dominated by few shareholders, the conventional governance mechanisms do not work effectively