Simulation-based solution of stochastic mathematical programs with complementarity constraints: Sample-path analysis

We consider a class of stochastic mathematical programs with complementarity constraints, in which both the objective and the constraints involve limit functions or expectations that need to be estimated or approximated. Such programs can be used for modeling \\average" or steady-state behavior of complex stochastic systems. Recently, simulation-based methods have been successfully used for solving challenging stochastic optimization problems and equilibrium models. Here we broaden the applicability of so-called the sample-path method to include the solution of certain stochastic mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints. The convergence analysis of sample-path methods rely heavily on stability conditions. We first review necessary sensitivity results, then describe the method, and provide sufficient conditions for its almost-sure convergence. Alongside we provide a complementary sensitivity result for the corresponding deterministic problems. In addition, we also provide a unifying discussion on alternative set of sufficient conditions, derive a complementary result regarding the analysis of stochastic variational inequalities, and prove the equivalence of two different regularity conditions

Importance of Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) for Controlling of Aquatic Vegetation

Aquatic plants are beneficial and a necessary part of lakes and reservoirs. Also, some kind of plants are the main food source for aquatic animals. Plants are able to stabilize sediments, improve water clarity and add diversity to the shallow areas of lakes. On the other hand, overgrown plants can become a nuisance by hindering human uses of water and threaten the structure and function of diverse native aquatic ecosystems. This chapter aims to make analysis of using of grass carp to control aquatic vegetation. In this concept, origin and distribution, biological features, reproduction, feeding behaviour and effects of grass carp on aquatic plants, water body and sediments are also discussed

Is metabolic syndrome related with coronary artery disease severity and complexity: An observational study about IDF and AHA/NHLBI metabolic syndrome definitions

Background: The aim of the present study was to assess the relation between metabolic syndrome (MS) and coronary artery disease (CAD) complexity, assessed by Syntax score (SS), and severity in non-diabetic patients with stable CAD who underwent coronary angiography, and to evaluate whether the MS defined by different definitions, including International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and American Heart Association/National Heart Lung Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) guidelines, similarly correlated with SS.Methods: The present study is cross sectional and observational with prospective inclusion of 248 consecutive patients (157 male) who underwent coronary angiography due to stable CAD.Results: The prevalence of MS was 54.4% according to IDF definition and 50.4% according to AHA/NHLBI definition. MS score according to IDF definitions (r = 0.446, p < 0.001), MS score according to AHA/NHLBI definitions (r = 0.341, p < 0.001) were moderately correlated with SS. In Fisher r to z transformation test the correlations of the presence of MS according to IDF and AHA/NHLBI definitions with SS were not statistically significant (p = 0.168, z = –1.38). The systolic blood pressure (p < 0.001, B = 0.354, 95% CI = –0.308 to 0.228), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.006, B = –0.194, 95% CI = –0.333 to –0.056), age (p = 0.014, B = 0.147, 95% CI = 0.029 to 0.264), left ventricular ejection fraction (p = 0.031, B = –0.150, 95% CI= –0.286 to –0.014), waist/hip circumference (p < 0.001, B = 45.713, 95% CI = 23.235 to 68.1919) and log10 high density lipoprotein (p < 0.001, B = –22.209, 95% CI = –33.298 to–11.119) were the independent predictors of SS in linear regression analysis.Conclusions: MS is associated with the presence and complexity of CAD. Besides the presence of discrepancy in the limits of waist circumference, both IDF and AHA/NHLBI criteria were similarly correlated with CAD complexity

Successful Treatment of Mushroom Poisoning with Silybin: A Case Report

Although up to 100 of them known to be toxic, there are more than 5,000 mushroom species in the world. Of these, the most poisonous species belong to Amanita and Gallerina species. Alpha- and beta-amanita toxins which are associated with serious liver, kidney and central nervous system damage is produced by Amanita phalloides which is responsible for 90% of fatal mushroom poisoning in Turkey. Two cases that we aimed to present are two male patients aged 55 and 42 who collected and consumed mushrooms in the forest. The patients were admitted to the county state hospital with complaints of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fatigue after 18 and 24 hours. Patients with increased liver function tests were referred to our hospital for further examination and treatment, and they were discharged after successful treatment in our intensive care unit

Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with sustained and switching treatments using biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs: A multicenter, observational cross-sectional study for rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease with different disease activity grades. Several registries have been designed to determine the appropriate regimens of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs to obtain sustained clinical remission. We examined epidemiological and clinical characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis patients using a clinical registry database (BioSTaR) and analyzed the differences in patients with sustained and switched therapies. Methods A multicenter, observational cross-sectional study for rheumatoid arthritis was performed between February 2019 and September 2020 using the BioStaR-RA registry. Demographic and clinical characteristics were prospectively recorded into a specifically designed electronic database. The patients were divided into three groups due to the heterogeneity of the study cohort. Patients were grouped as Group I (Initial; within the first 6 months of treatment with biological/targeted synthetic drugs), Group ST (Sustained Treatment; any first drug lasting for at least 6 months without any change), and Group S (Switch; any switching to another drug). Comparative analysis was performed between sustained treatment (Group ST) and drug switching (Group S) groups. Results The study included a total of 565 patients. The mean age was 53.7 +/- 12.8 years, and the majority were female (80.4%). There were 104, 267, and 194 patients in Groups I, ST, and S, respectively. Erosive arthritis and hematological extra-articular involvement were more frequently detected in Group S than Group ST (p = 0.009 and p = 0.001). The patients in Group S had significantly higher disease activity scores (DAS28-CRP, CDAI, and SDAI) (p = 0.025, p = 0.010, and p = 0.003). There were significantly more patients with moderate disease activity in Group S (p < 0.05). Conclusions The groups with sustained treatment and switching included patients with different disease activity status, although higher disease activity was determined in switchers. Overall, moderate disease activity and remission were the most common disease activity levels. Lower disease activity scores, lower hematologic manifestations, better functional status, and lesser radiographic damage are associated with sustained treatment.Turkish Medicine and Medical Devices Agency ; Ankara Numune Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanes

Forage yield and lodging traits in peas (Pisum sativum L.) with different leaf types

Two semi-leafless and four leafed pea (Pisum sativum L.) genotypes were evaluated for plant height, lodging scores, and forage yield in eight diverse locations with typical Mediterranean or Mediterranean-type climate in the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 growing seasons. The genotypes used in this study were forage type with indeterminate growing habit. Significant differences among pea genotypes were found for all traits over years and locations. All interactions which related to G x E interaction showed significance (P>0.01) for all traits. The forage yield of the pea genotypes averaged 26605 kg ha(-1) and the highest yield was obtained from the leafed genotype Urunlu. Its forage yield reached to 35970 kg ha(-1) yield level at Samsun location

Genotype x nvironment interaction and stability analysis for dry matter and seed yield in field pea (Pisum sativum L.)

The objectives of this study were to evaluate dry matter (DM) yield and seed yield of six leafed and semi-leafless pea (Pisum sativum L.) genotypes, and to compare them for these traits. Evaluation of genotype x environment (G x E) interaction, stability and cluster analysis were also carried out at eight diverse locations with typical Mediterranean and Mediterranean-type climate during the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 growing seasons. Significant differences were found among the pea genotypes for DM and seed yield on individual years and combined over years, and in all locations. All interactions which related to G x E interaction showed significance (P>0.001) for DM and seed yield. The highest yield (4789 kg ha(-1)) was obtained from the leafed genotype 'Urunlu'. However, stability analysis indicated that for DM yield, the leafed genotypes 'Golyazi' and 'Urunlu' should be grown in low yielding and high yielding environments, respectively. Cluster analysis, based on grouping locations, showed that P101 was the preferred variety in low yielding environments, and P98, in high yielding ones. It was suggested that the use of both stability and cluster analyses might give better results. Comparison of cluster and stability analyses showed that the stability analysis fails to recommend cultivars to different regions where yield potential showed significant differences. It seems, however, that cluster analysis could be a powerful tool to examine G x E interaction. If the number of environments was sufficient, a separate stability analysis could be run in each cluster

Akut miyokard infarktüslü hastalarda sağ ventrikül fonksiyonlarının mortalite ve morbidite üzerine etkisi

Akut Miyokard İnfarktüsü (AMİ) günümüzde toplum sağlığını tehdit eden en önemli sorunların başında gelmektedir. Sağ ventrikül (RV) AMİ sonrası istenmeyen durumların gelişme ihtimali artmaktadır. Bu çalışma kapsamında kliniğimize AMİ tanısıyla kabul edilen hastalar; anterior, inferior ve inferior+RV AMİ tanılarına göre üç gruba ayrılmıştır. Hastalara yatışlarında, taburculuk dönemlerinde ve AMİ sonrası otuzuncu günlerinde ekokardiyografik değerlendirmeler yapılmıştır. Hastalar ortaya çıkan istenmeyen durumlar, aldıkları tedaviler ve ölümcül olaylar açısından takip edilmişlerdir. Yöntem: Çalışmamıza toplam 66 AMİ’li hasta dahil edilmiş olup, bunların 28’ine anterior AMİ, 17 tanesine inferior AMİ, 21 tanesine inferior+RV AMİ tanıları konularak takipleri yapılmıştır. Ortalama yaş 56,7 (±12,8) idi ve tüm hastalara trombolitik tedavi uygulandı. İlk ekokardiyografik incelemeler, trombolitik tedavi verilirken yapıldı. Ekokardiyografik incelemelerde aort, atriyum, ventriküller, kalp kapakçıkları ve ventriküllerin duvar kalınlıkları, hareket kusurları ve modifiye simpson yöntemiyle her iki ventrikülün EF değerleri belirlendi. Mitral ve triküspit akımlardan E, A, bunların oranları ve İVGZ; TDİ ile lateral anuluslardan S’, E’, A’; EKG yardımıyla M-mode ekokardiyografi ile her iki ventrikülden preejeksiyon periyotları (PEP) ve ejeksiyon zamanları (ET) saptandı. RV için genel ölçümlere ek olarak; TAPSE ve Triküspit DT hesaplandı. Kardiyak fonksiyonların genel bir göstergesi olan TEİ (MPİ) indeksi; triküspit kapağın kapanmasından, açılmasına kadarki geçen süreyle, RVOT’tan ejeksiyon sürelerinin hesaplanarak formülde yerlerine konulması ile bulundu. Hastaneye yatış dönemlerindeki laboratuvar verileri, vital ve hemodinamik parametreleri, koroner anjiyografi raporları, medikal tedavileri ile kontrol dönemine kadarki istenmeyen olaylar formlara kaydedildi. Hastaların hastanemizdeki yoğun bakım ve servislerdeki toplam yatış süreleri takip edildi. Bulgular: Genel hasta özellikleri açısından gruplar arasında fark saptanmadı. RV-AMİ grubunun ekokardiyografik verilerinin, tüm AMİ gruplarında olumsuz yönde değiştiği, anterior ve inferior AMİ gruplarında uygun tedaviler ile zaman içerisinde hızla toparlandığı saptandı. Ancak RV-AMİ grubunda bu toparlanmanın diğer grupların gerisinde kaldığı, AV blok ile kardiyojenik şokun anlamlı olarak yüksek olduğu belirlendi (p=0,001, p=0,03). Ölüm oranları açısından anterior ve RV-AMİ grupları birbirine eşit (n=4) ve inferior Mİ grubunda hiç ölüm olmadığı gözlendi. Koroner anjiyografi yapılan ve uygun şekilde revaskülerize edilen hastalarla bu işlemin uygulanmadığı hastalara göre ekokardiyografik değerlendirmelerde fark olduğu görüldü. İnferior+RV-AMİ grubunda otuzuncu gündeki LVEF değişimi KAG yapılan ve uygun şekilde revaskülarize edilenlerde %4,8 iken, yapılmayanlarda %1,4 idi (p=0,028). Yine TAPSE’deki artış revaskülarize edilenlerde 3,18 mm iken, yapılmayanlarda 1,57 mm idi (p=0,009). Revaskülerizasyon yapılanlarda RV-PEP değişimi (26,6 msn; p=0,023); RV-PEP/ET değişimi (0,18; p=0,008); RV-EF değişimi (%6,25, p=0,002) yapılmayanlara göre anlamlıydı. TEİ indekslerinin zaman içerisindeki değişimi tüm gruplarda anlamlıydı (p=0,01). İnferior+RV-AMİ grubunun ortalama TEİ indeksi değerleri tüm dönemlerde diğer gruplardan yüksekti, kontrol döneminde diğer iki grubun TEİ indeksleri normal sınırlarda iken, İnferior+RV AMİ grubunun ortalaması bunlardan ve normalden yüksekti (Sırasıyla, yatış 0,52; taburculuk; 0,42; kontrol; 0,35) (p=0,007). Enerjiye ve kan akımına bağımlı bir dönem olan İVGZ’nin her iki ventrikülü etkileyen AMİ’lerde de anlamlı olarak uzadığı ama en belirgin değişimin yine inferior+RV AMİ grubunda olduğu görüldü. Zaman içerisindeki İVGZ değişimi RV AMİ grubu için anlamlıydı (p=0,006). Hastanede yatış süreleri açısından fark saptanmazken, yoğun bakım süresinin RV-AMİ grubunda fazla olduğu saptandı (p=0,009). Sonuç: AMİ sonrası sağ ventrikül fonksiyonlarının incelenmesi önemlidir. RV-AMİ sonrasında istenmeyen olayların görülme olasılığı artmaktadır. Bu nedenle AMİ sonrası ekokardiyografik inceleme yapılırken RV’ye ait MPİ, TAPSE, PEP ve PEP/ET oranınında değerlendirilmesi faydalı olacaktır