ANN Forecasting Models for ISE National-100 Index

Prediction of the outputs of real world systems with accuracy and high speed is crucial in financial analysis due to its effects on worldwide economics. Because the inputs of the financial systems are timevarying functions, the development of algorithms and methods for modeling such systems cannot be neglected. The most appropriate forecasting model for the ISE national-100 index was investigated. Box- Jenkins autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and artificial neural networks (ANN) are considered by using several evaluations. Results showed that the ANN model with linear architecture better fits the candidate data

How is moral hazard related to financing R&D and innovations?

This study investigates which corporate governance and firm-specific characteristics lead firms to be prone to ex-post moral hazard by misallocating the funds that they specifically borrowed for financing their R&D activities. We study 106 firms that received a specially designed loan by a Turkish government to be invested only in R&D and technological innovations. We find that as the size of the loan increases firms are less prone to moral hazard. For family firms our results support the agency theory. For large shareholders, initially our results are aligned with the agency theory but after controlling for the loan size our results hold for the stewardship theory. We also find that as amount of the loans increases relative to size of firms, the performance of projects financed by these loans plummets. Finally, we show that moral hazard related to R&D and innovation activities varies across industries.peer-reviewe

Cognitive Evaluation of Bupropion Sustained Release in Heavy Tobacco Smokers Using Event-Related Potentials

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of bupropion sustained release (SR) on cognitive function, evaluated by event-related potentials (ERPs), in heavy tobacco smokers

Elevated Red Blood Cell Distribution Width May Be a Novel Independent Predictor of Poor Functional Outcome in Patients Treated with Mechanical Thrombectomy

Purpose Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) evaluates the variation (size heterogeneity) in red blood cells. Elevated RDW has been identified as a predictor of poor functional outcomes for acute ischemic stroke. The association between elevated RDW level and poor functional outcome in stroke patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy has not been reported before. This study aims to investigate this relationship. Materials and Methods This was a multicenter retrospective study involving the prospectively and consecutively collected data of 205 adult stroke patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy for anterior circulation large vessel occlusion (middle cerebral artery M1, anterior cerebral artery A1, tandem ICA-MCA, carotid T) between July 2017 and December 2019. RDW cut off levels were accepted as >16%. The effect of elevated RDW on poor functional outcome (modified Rankin scale 3–6) was investigated using bivariate and multivariate regression analysis. Results Elevated RDW was significantly associated with poor functional outcome in bivariate and multivariate analysis (odds ratio [OR] for RDW >16%, 2.078; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.083–3.966; P=0.027 and OR for RDW >16%, 2.873; 95% CI, 1.342–6.151; P=0.007; respectively). Conclusion These findings suggest that elevated RDW may be an independent predictor of poor functional outcomes in ischemic stroke patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy

Decline in subarachnoid haemorrhage volumes associated with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, decreased volumes of stroke admissions and mechanical thrombectomy were reported. The study\u27s objective was to examine whether subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions demonstrated similar declines. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study across 6 continents, 37 countries and 140 comprehensive stroke centres. Patients with the diagnosis of SAH, aneurysmal SAH, ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions and COVID-19 were identified by prospective aneurysm databases or by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, codes. The 3-month cumulative volume, monthly volumes for SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling procedures were compared for the period before (1 year and immediately before) and during the pandemic, defined as 1 March-31 May 2020. The prior 1-year control period (1 March-31 May 2019) was obtained to account for seasonal variation. FINDINGS: There was a significant decline in SAH hospitalisations, with 2044 admissions in the 3 months immediately before and 1585 admissions during the pandemic, representing a relative decline of 22.5% (95% CI -24.3% to -20.7%, p\u3c0.0001). Embolisation of ruptured aneurysms declined with 1170-1035 procedures, respectively, representing an 11.5% (95%CI -13.5% to -9.8%, p=0.002) relative drop. Subgroup analysis was noted for aneurysmal SAH hospitalisation decline from 834 to 626 hospitalisations, a 24.9% relative decline (95% CI -28.0% to -22.1%, p\u3c0.0001). A relative increase in ruptured aneurysm coiling was noted in low coiling volume hospitals of 41.1% (95% CI 32.3% to 50.6%, p=0.008) despite a decrease in SAH admissions in this tertile. INTERPRETATION: There was a relative decrease in the volume of SAH hospitalisations, aneurysmal SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm embolisations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings in SAH are consistent with a decrease in other emergencies, such as stroke and myocardial infarction

Liver and colon pro- and anti-oxidant enzyme activities in rats after long-term ethylnitrosourea exposure

136-138Liver and colon pro- and anti-oxidant enzyme activities were investigated in rats treated with ethylnitrosourea (ENU) (i.p.) (4 mg/kg body wt) for 6 months. The pro-oxidant enzymes (NADPH cytochrome c reductase, NADH cytochrome c reductase, NADH cytochrome b5 reductase and cytochrome P-4502E1 and the anti-oxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase (SOD) exhibited significantly increased activity in liver and colon. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) showed enhanced activity in liver, but decreased activity in colon. Glutathione peroxidase (GP) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities were significantly increased in colon, but decreased in liver. Catalase (CAT) activity while showed a significant increase in liver, exhibited only marginal increase in colon. Malondialdehyde (MDA) level was significantly elevated in both tissues

An Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Refrigerant Flow Inside the Suction Muffler of Hermetic Reciprocating Compressor

In this study, detailed temperature and pressure measurements were performed at the inlet, outlet and outer boundaries of the suction muffler of a hermetic reciprocating compressor. The measurements were conducted without effecting real phenomena. After experimental studies, detailed computational fluid dynamic analysis of the refrigerant flow (isobutane) in the suction muffler was performed. Experimental pressure and temperature values at the inlet, outlet and outer boundaries of the suction muffler were used as boundary conditions. The effect of suction valve (opening and closing) at the exit of the suction muffler has been considered. 3- dimensional time dependent calculations were completed when statistically steady state convergence was reached for one crank period. Realizable k-є turbulence model with appropriate parameters, second order discretizations for time and space derivatives and real gas model for isobutane (R600a) were applied for the numerical analysis. Mesh dependency of the analysis and solver algorithms were also investigated. The results of the numerical analysis has shown that the time integrated average of the numerically calculated mass flow rate is close to average mass flow rate measured with a calorimeter test system. Furthermore thermal mapping inside the suction muffler shows good agreement with experimental results. Time dependent flow analysis results inside the suction muffler help to characterize the flow and acoustic function of the muffler which leads to the new and better muffler designs

BLOOD-CLOT CAUSING A FILLING DEFECT IN DUODENAL BULB

WOS: A1988N858700044PubMed ID: 3259808