Learning by doing as a human capital factor: Case of Eskisehir furniture manufacturing sector

This study seeks to determine the impacts of learning by doing, human capital and R&D factors on firm’s output by using simultaneous equations system. In this study, medium and large-sized companies from furniture manufacturing sector in Eskisehir, Turkey are selected as the research domain and a database is generated based on the information collected through face-to-face interviews with company executives (or with officials designated by them), the financial statements of researched companies, and the records of Eskisehir Chamber of Industry. According to the estimation results obtained, the human capital stock, learning by practice phenomenon and the research and development expenditures have a linear impact on the company's total output. It is understood that, fixed capital stock and size of company become prominent in terms of their impact on the human capital, and the mentioned variables demonstrate a positive relation with the output. Likewise, the linear relationship between learning by practice and company size as well as wage level; and between research & development expenditures and company size are the factors that come forth in the explanation of the dependent variables

Impact of Rescue-Thrombolysis during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Patients with Pulmonary Embolism

Background: Cardiac arrest in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Thrombolysis is expected to improve the outcome in these patients. However studies evaluating rescue-thrombolysis in patients with PE are missing, mainly due to the difficulties of clinical diagnosis of PE. We aimed to determine the success influencing factors of thrombolysis during resuscitation in patients with PE. Methodology/Principal Findings: We analyzed retrospectively the outcome of 104 consecutive patients with confirmed (n = 63) or highly suspected (n = 41) PE and monitored cardiac arrest. In all patients rtPA was administrated for thrombolysis during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In 40 of the 104 patients (38.5%) a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) could be achieved successfully. Patients with ROSC received thrombolysis significantly earlier after CPR onset compared to patients without ROSC (13.661.2 min versus 24.660.8 min; p,0.001). 19 patients (47.5%) out of the 40 patients with initially successful resuscitation survived to hospital discharge. In patients with hospital discharge thrombolysis therapy was begun with a significantly shorter delay after cardiac arrest compared to all other patients (11.061.3 vs. 22.560.9 min; p,0.001). Conclusion: Rescue-thrombolysis should be considered and started in patients with PE and cardiac arrest, as soon a

Rare Cause for Sudden Right Heart Failure

Right heart failure occurs daily in clinical settings, but an underlying cardiac malignant tumor is very uncommon. We report a case of a 48-year-old man presenting only with palpitations and decompensated heart failure. Echocardiographic imaging revealed a large tumor of the right ventricle. Shortly after a putatively successful surgical approach, the patient was admitted again with heart failure symptoms. On reassessment, a complete relapse with multiple metastases could be seen. Generally, cardiac malignant tumors are diagnosed at a time-point when therapeutic options are very limited or even postmortem. Broad echocardiographic screening in patients with unspecific symptoms might be helpful to detect cardiac malignant tumors at early stages

Local Thrombolysis for Successful Treatment of Acute Stroke in an Adolescent with Cardiac Myxoma

Intracardiac myxomas are the most common benign cardiac tumors in adults. They are a rare source of cardiogenic embolisms and sudden death, especially in young patients. This report describes the case of a male adolescent who presented with right-sided paresis and aphasia. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed an ischemic stroke without evidence of acute bleeding. Intra-arterial local thrombolysis was immediately started. An echocardiographic screening after successful thrombolysis with a remarkable recovery of symptoms detected a thrombotic-like mass in the left atrium. The mass was excised surgically, confirmed as a benign atrial myxoma, and the patient was discharged with restitution ad integrum. Thus, contrary to some critical reports, thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic strokes due to atrial myxomas may be safe and highly effective

K+ Channel Regulator KCR1 Suppresses Heart Rhythm by Modulating the Pacemaker Current If

Hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide sensitive (HCN) channels underlie the pacemaker current If, which plays an essential role in spontaneous cardiac activity. HCN channel subunits (HCN1-4) are believed to be modulated by additional regulatory proteins, which still have to be identified. Using biochemistry, molecularbiology and electrophysiology methods we demonstrate a protein-protein interaction between HCN2 and the K+ channel regulator protein 1, named KCR1. In coimmunoprecipitation experiments we show that KCR1 and HCN2 proteins are able to associate. Heterologously expressed HCN2 whole-cell current density was significantly decreased by KCR1. KCR1 profoundly suppressed IHCN2 single-channel activity, indicating a functional interaction between KCR1 and the HCN2 channel subunit. Endogenous KCR1 expression could be detected in adult and neonatal rat ventriculocytes. Adenoviral-mediated overexpression of KCR1 in rat cardiomyocytes (i) reduced If whole-cell currents, (ii) suppressed most single-channel gating parameters, (iii) altered the activation kinetics, (iv) suppressed spontaneous action potential activity, and (v) the beating rate. More importantly, siRNA-based knock-down of endogenous KCR1 increased the native If current size and single-channel activity and accelerated spontaneous beating rate, supporting an inhibitory action of endogenous KCR1 on native If. Our observations demonstrate for the first time that KCR1 modulates IHCN2/If channel gating and indicate that KCR1 serves as a regulator of cardiac automaticity

Accuracy of Doppler-Echocardiographic Mean Pulmonary Artery Pressure for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension

Background: The validity of Doppler echocardiographic (DE) measurement of systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) has been questioned. Recent studies suggest that mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) might reflect more accurately the invasive pressures. Methodology/Principal Findings: 241 patients were prospectively studied to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of mPAP for the diagnosis of PH. Right heart catheterization (RHC) and DE were performed in 164 patients mainly for preoperative evaluation of heart valve dysfunction. The correlation between DE and RHC was better when mPAP (r = 0.93) and not sPAP (r = 0.81) was assessed. Bland-Altman analysis revealed a smaller variation of mPAP than sPAP. The following ROC analysis identified that a mPAP$25.5 mmHg is useful for the diagnosis of PH. This value was validated in an independent cohort of patients (n = 50) with the suspicion of chronic-thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. The calculated diagnostic accuracy was 98%, based on excellent sensitivity of 98 % and specificity of 100%. The corresponding positive and negative predictive values were 100%, respectively 88%. Conclusion: mPAP has been found to be highly accurate for the initial diagnosis of PH. A cut-off value of 25.5 mmHg might be helpful to avoid unnecessary RHC and select patients in whom RHC might be beneficial

Beta1-Adrenoceptor Polymorphism Predicts Flecainide Action in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

BACKGROUND: Antiarrhythmic action of flecainide is based on sodium channel blockade. Beta(1)-adrenoceptor (beta(1)AR) activation induces sodium channel inhibition, too. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of different beta(1)AR genotypes on antiarrhythmic action of flecainide in patients with structural heart disease and atrial fibrillation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In 145 subjects, 87 with atrial fibrillation, genotyping was performed to identify the individual beta(1)AR Arg389Gly and Ser49Gly polymorphism. Resting heart rate during atrial fibrillation and success of flecainide-induced cardioversion were correlated with beta(1)AR genotype. The overall cardioversion rate with flecainide was 39%. The Arg389Arg genotype was associated with the highest cardioversion rate (55.5%; OR 3.30; 95% CI; 1.34-8.13; p = 0.003) compared to patients with Arg389Gly (29.5%; OR 0.44; 95% CI; 0.18-1.06; p = 0.066) and Gly389Gly (14%; OR 0.24; 95% CI 0.03-2.07; p = 0.17) variants. The single Ser49Gly polymorphism did not influence the conversion rate. In combination, patients with Arg389Gly-Ser49Gly genotype displayed the lowest conversion rate with 20.8% (OR 0.31; 95% CI; 0.10-0.93; p = 0.03). In patients with Arg389Arg variants the heart rate during atrial fibrillation was significantly higher (110+/-2.7 bpm; p = 0.03 vs. other variants) compared to Arg389Gly (104.8+/-2.4 bpm) and Gly389Gly (96.9+/-5.8 bpm) carriers. The Arg389Gly-Ser49Gly genotype was more common in patients with atrial fibrillation compared to patients without atrial fibrillation (27.6% vs. 5.2%; HR 6.98; 95% CI; 1.99-24.46; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The beta(1)AR Arg389Arg genotype is associated with increased flecainide potency and higher heart rate during atrial fibrillation. The Arg389Gly-Ser49Gly genotype might be of predictive value for atrial fibrillation

Perfectionism Among University Students: An Example From Anadolu University

Bu çalışmada, farklı fakültelerde öğrenim gören üniversite öğrencilerinin mükemmeliyetçiliğe bakışlarının çok boyutlu mükemmeliyetçilik ölçeği ile değerlendirilip, fakülteler arasındaki farklılığı incelemektir. Araştırma Anadolu Üniversitesinin üç farklı fakültesinde (Fen, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler ve Mühendislik Mimarlık) öğrenim gören 213 öğrenci ile yürütülmüştür. İlk aşamada, 35 sorudan oluşan ve her sorunun şıklarında beşli Likert kul-lanılan altı faktörlü çok boyutlu mükemmeliyetçilik ölçeği ile veriler anket yolu ile toplanmıştır. İkinci aşamada, yapılan anketin güvenirliliği Cronbach’ın alfa katsayısı ile ölçülmüştür. Son olarak öğrencilerin anket sorularına verdikleri cevaplara göre, fakülteler arasında farklılık olup olmadığı parametrik olmayan istatistiksel tekniklerin-den olan Kruskal-Wallis testi ve Diskriminant analizi ile araştırılmıştır.The purpose of the study is to show the attitudes of university students from different faculties towards the perfectionism and try to define their differences. Study is conducted in there different faculties (namely Science, Engineering and Architecture, and Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences) of Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey, with 213 students. In the first stage of the study, the data is collected from the students via Six- factored Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale in which 35 itemed likert scaled questions are asked. In the second stage, the Cronbach’s alpha is calculated to show the reliability of the study. Finally, the differences between the students from different faculties are tested by Kruskall-Wallis H test and also a discriminant analysis of the data is investigated