30 research outputs found
Osingon irtoamisen kurssivaikutus
Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.Yritykset maksavat edellisen vuoden voitosta osinkoa osakkeenomistajille korvauksena heidän yritykseen tuomalleen pääomalle. Suomessa yritykset maksavat osingon yleisesti kerran vuodessa. Osingon irrottua osakkeen kurssi luonnollisesti laskee, koska sijoittaja arvostaa osaketta enemmän osingon kanssa kuin ilman sitä. Suomessa osakekurssin pitäisi laskea vähintään osingon verran, koska osingoista ei tarvitse maksaa veroa. Tässä opinnäytteessä tutkittiin, miten osakekurssit reagoivat osingon irtoamiseen osingon irtoamispäivän ympärillä Helsingin arvopaperipörssissä vuosina 1999-2000. Kiinnostus aiheeseen heräsi, kun omien havaintojeni perusteella osakekurssi vuonna 1999 laski vähemmän kuin osingon verran ja monessa tapauksessa palasi osingon irtoamista edeltävälle tasolle muutamassa päivässä. Tässä opinnäytteessä ongelmaa tarkasteltiin aluksi perinteisellä tavalla laskemalla, kuinka paljon osakekurssi laskee osingon irrottua verrattuna edellisen päivän kurssiin. Näin tarkasteltuna kurssilasku jäi selvästi osinkoa pienemmäksi. Tällaisessa tarkastelussa on kuitenkin se ongelma, että molemmissa havainnoissa on mukana osingon irtoamisen lisäksi muiden tekijöiden vaikutuksia eli tämän tutkittavan ilmiön kannalta häiriötekijöitä. Kahden päivän tarkastelussa satunnaisvaihtelu dominoi, ja tämän vuoksi ongelmaa lähestyttiin myös vaihtoehtoisella tavalla. Pyrkimyksenä oli eristää osingon irtoamisen kurssivaikutus ja yleinen pörssikehitys toisistaan, etteivät ne sotkeutuisi keskenään. Tämä tehtiin siten, että kurssikehitystä tarkasteltiin useamman kun kahden päivän ajanjaksolta ja regressioanalyysin avulla laskettiin osingon irtoamisen aiheuttama kertaluonteinen osakekurssin siirtymä alaspäin. Tarkasteluperiodia ei ole mielekästä venyttää kovin pitkäksi, koska tällöin muiden kuin osingon irtoamisen vaikutukset voimistuvat eli tarkastelun validiteetti heikkenee. Regressioanalyysin tuloksia tarkasteltaessa kävi ilmi, että kurssilasku vaihteli osinkoprosentin mukana. Päädyin luokittelemaan osakkeet osingon perusteella kolmeen ryhmään ja pienen osingon ryhmässä kurssilasku osoittautui huomattavasti kahta muuta ryhmään pienemmäksi. Tämän lisäksi suurempien osinkojen ryhmissä kurssilasku olikin odotusten mukaisesti osingon suuruinen. Näin tavanomaisten kvantitatiivisten selittäjien regressiomallia täydennettiin kvalitatiivisilla selittäjillä ja saatiin esille aiemmasta poikkeava tulos. Pienten osinkojen pientä kurssilaskua voidaan selittää pienten osinkojen vähäisellä merkityksellä. Pienen osingon irtoaminen ei jaksa innostaa sijoittajia eli reagointikynnys ei ylity. Suuremmat osingot kiinnostavat sijoittajia, ja niiden osalta kurssilasku on odotetusti osingon suuruinen
Cost-effectiveness of whole-exome sequencing in progressive neurological disorders of children
Objectives: To clarify the diagnostic utility and the cost-effectiveness of whole-exome sequencing (WES) as a routine early-diagnostic tool in children with progressive neurological disorders. Methods: Patients with infantile-onset severe neurological diseases or childhood-onset progressive neurological disorders were prospectively recruited to this WES study, in the pediatric neurology clinic at Helsinki University Hospital during 2016-2018. A total of 48 patients underwent a singleton WES. A control group of 49 children underwent traditional diagnostic examinations and were retrospectively collected from the hospital records. Their use of health care services, related to the diagnostic process, was gathered. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per additional diagnosis was calculated from the health care provider perspective. Bootstrapping methods were used to estimate the uncertainty of cost-effectiveness outcomes. Results: WES provided a better diagnostic yield (38%) than diagnostic pathway that did not prioritize WES in early diagnosis (25%). WES outperformed other diagnostic paths especially when made early, within one year of first admission (44%). Cost-effectiveness in our results are conservative, affected by WES costs during 2016-18. Conclusions: WES is an efficient and cost-effective diagnostic tool that should be prioritized in early diagnostic path of children with progressive neurological disorders. The progressively decreasing price of the test improves cost-effectiveness further. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of European Paediatric Neurology Society.Peer reviewe
Effectiveness of clinical exome sequencing in adult patients with difficult-to-diagnose neurological disorders
Objectives Clinical diagnostics in adults with hereditary neurological diseases is complicated by clinical and genetic heterogeneity, as well as lifestyle effects. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of exome sequencing and clinical costs in our difficult-to-diagnose adult patient cohort. Additionally, we expand the phenotypic and genetic spectrum of hereditary neurological disorders in Finland. Methods We performed clinical exome sequencing (CES) to 100 adult patients from Finland with neurological symptoms of suspected genetic cause. The patients were classified as myopathy (n = 57), peripheral neuropathy (n = 16), ataxia (n = 15), spastic paraplegia (n = 4), Parkinsonism (n = 3), and mixed (n = 5). In addition, we gathered the costs of prior diagnostic work-up to retrospectively assess the cost-effectiveness of CES as a first-line diagnostic tool. Results The overall diagnostic yield of CES was 27%. Pathogenic variants were found for 14 patients (in genes ANO5, CHCHD10, CLCN1, DES, DOK7, FKBP14, POLG, PYROXD1, SCN4A, TUBB3, and TTN) and likely pathogenic previously undescribed variants for 13 patients (in genes ABCD1, AFG3L2, ATL1, CACNA1A, COL6A1, DYSF, IRF2BPL, KCNA1, MT-ATP6, SAMD9L, SGCB, and TPM2). Age of onset below 40 years increased the probability of finding a genetic cause. Our cost evaluation of prior diagnostic work-up suggested that early CES would be cost-effective in this patient group, in which diagnostic costs increase linearly with prolonged investigations. Conclusions Based on our results, CES is a cost-effective, powerful first-line diagnostic tool in establishing the molecular diagnosis in adult neurological patients with variable symptoms. Importantly, CES can markedly shorten the diagnostic odysseys of about one third of patients.Peer reviewe
Attitudes towards genetic testing and information : does parenthood shape the views?
This study examines how parents of pediatric patients might differ in their views and attitudes towards genetic technology and information when compared to adult patients. There is surprisingly little evidence on how parents compare to other parts of population in their attitudes. Previous empirical studies often relate health-related preferences and attitudes to factors such as age, education, and income instead of parental status, thus evading comparison of parents to others as health-related decision makers. Findings related to the parental status can be useful when implementing genetic technology in clinical practice. We conducted a survey of views on genetic technology and information for groups of adult neurology patients (n = 68) and parents of pediatric neurology patients (n = 31) to shed some light on this issue. In addition to our own survey instrument, we conducted other surveys to gain insight on psychosocial factors that might affect these attitudes. The results suggest that parents are more concerned about their children's genetic risk factors when compared to the attitudes of adult patients about their own risk. For both groups, negative emotional state was associated with more concerns towards genetic information. Our study provides insights on how parental views might affect the acceptance of genetic technology and information.Peer reviewe
Cost-effectiveness of whole-exome sequencing in progressive neurological disorders of children
ObjectivesTo clarify the diagnostic utility and the cost-effectiveness of whole-exome sequencing (WES) as a routine early-diagnostic tool in children with progressive neurological disorders.MethodsPatients with infantile-onset severe neurological diseases or childhood-onset progressive neurological disorders were prospectively recruited to this WES study, in the pediatric neurology clinic at Helsinki University Hospital during 2016–2018. A total of 48 patients underwent a singleton WES. A control group of 49 children underwent traditional diagnostic examinations and were retrospectively collected from the hospital records. Their use of health care services, related to the diagnostic process, was gathered. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per additional diagnosis was calculated from the health care provider perspective. Bootstrapping methods were used to estimate the uncertainty of cost-effectiveness outcomes.ResultsWES provided a better diagnostic yield (38%) than diagnostic pathway that did not prioritize WES in early diagnosis (25%). WES outperformed other diagnostic paths especially when made early, within one year of first admission (44%). Cost-effectiveness in our results are conservative, affected by WES costs during 2016–18.ConclusionsWES is an efficient and cost-effective diagnostic tool that should be prioritized in early diagnostic path of children with progressive neurological disorders. The progressively decreasing price of the test improves cost-effectiveness further.</div
Effectiveness of clinical exome sequencing in adult patients with difficult-to-diagnose neurological disorders
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Attitudes towards genetic testing and information: does parenthood shape the views?
This study examines how parents of pediatric patients might differ in their views and attitudes towards genetic technology and information when compared to adult patients. There is surprisingly little evidence on how parents compare to other parts of population in their attitudes. Previous empirical studies often relate health-related preferences and attitudes to factors such as age, education, and income instead of parental status, thus evading comparison of parents to others as health-related decision makers. Findings related to the parental status can be useful when implementing genetic technology in clinical practice. We conducted a survey of views on genetic technology and information for groups of adult neurology patients (n = 68) and parents of pediatric neurology patients (n = 31) to shed some light on this issue. In addition to our own survey instrument, we conducted other surveys to gain insight on psychosocial factors that might affect these attitudes. The results suggest that parents are more concerned about their children's genetic risk factors when compared to the attitudes of adult patients about their own risk. For both groups, negative emotional state was associated with more concerns towards genetic information. Our study provides insights on how parental views might affect the acceptance of genetic technology and information
Loss of NRF-2 and PGC-1α genes leads to retinal pigment epithelium damage resembling dry age-related macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a multi-factorial disease that is the leading cause of irreversible and severe vision loss in the developed countries. It has been suggested that the pathogenesis of dry AMD involves impaired protein degradation in retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). RPE cells are constantly exposed to oxidative stress that may lead to the accumulation of damaged cellular proteins, DNA and lipids and evoke tissue deterioration during the aging process. The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway and the lysosomal/autophagosomal pathway are the two major proteolytic systems in eukaryotic cells. NRF-2 (nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2) and PGC-1 alpha (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha) are master transcription factors in the regulation of cellular detoxification. We investigated the role of NRF-2 and PGC-1 alpha in the regulation of RPE cell structure and function by using global double knockout (dKO) mice. The NRF-2/PGC-1 alpha dKO mice exhibited significant age-dependent RPE degeneration, accumulation of the oxidative stress marker, 4-HNE (4-hydroxynonenal), the endoplasmic reticulum stress markers GRP78 (glucose-regulated protein 78) and ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4), and damaged mitochondria. Moreover, levels of protein ubiquitination and autophagy markers p62/SQSTM1 (sequestosome 1), Beclin-1 and LC3B (microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta) were significantly increased together with the Iba-1 (ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1) mononuclear phagocyte marker and an enlargement of RPE size. These histopathological changes of RPE were accompanied by photoreceptor dysmorphology and vision loss as revealed by electroretinography. Consequently, these novel findings suggest that the NRF-2/PGC-1 alpha dKO mouse is a valuable model for investigating the role of proteasomal and autophagy clearance in the RPE and in the development of dry AMD.Peer reviewe
Korjaamon perustaminen Oulun talousalueelle
Työn tavoitteena oli selvittää mahdollisimman tarkkaan yritystoimintaan vaadittavat kustannukset ja arvioida kannattavuutta yleiskorjaamon perustamiseen ja toimintaan Oulun talousalueella