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

A thoracic-epidural granulocytic sarcoma case that was diagnosed preceding the onset of and that recurred co-incidental to acute promyelocytic leukemia, which developed after surgical treatment.

Granulocytic sarcoma or chloroma is a tumor seen in myelocytic leukemia. Spinal epidural onset is rare and is generally seen before or together with the onset of myelocytic leukemia. An epidural mass located at the 2nd-5th thoracic levels in an 18-year-old male patient was pathologically diagnosed as granulocytic sarcoma. Radiotherapy was performed after surgical intervention. Ten months later, he was re-admitted with abdominal pain. At this time, an epidural mass at the 6th-9th thoracic levels was detected on magnetic resonance imaging, and acute promyelocytic leukemia was diagnosed. After systemic chemotherapy, partial remission was achieved. We aimed to present this rare case with its remarkable follow-up findings.</p

ANN Models and Bayesian Spline Models for Analysis of Exchange Rates and Gold Price

ANN (Artificial Neural Network) models and Spline techniques have been applied to economic analysis, to handle economic problems, evaluate portfolio risk and stock performance, and to forecast stock exchange rates and gold prices. These techniques are improving nowadays and continue to serve as powerful predictive tools. In this study, we compare the performance of ANN models and Bayesian Spline models in forecasting economic datasets. We consider the most commonly used ANN models, which are Generalized Regression Neural Networks (GRNN), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), and Radial Basis Function Neural Networks (RBFNN). We compare these models using BayesX and Statistica software with three important economic datasets: on the exchange rate of Turkish Liras (TL) to Euro, exchange rate of Turkish Liras (TL) to United States Dollars (USD), and Gold Price for Turkey. With these three economic datasets, we made a comparative study of these models, using the criterions MSE and MAPE to evaluate their forecasting performance. The results demonstrate that the penalized spline model performed best amongst the spline techniques and their Bayesian versions. Amongst the ANN models, the MLP model obtained the best performance criterion results

Lactoferrin in Gingival Crevicular Fluid and Peripheral Blood during Experimental Gingivitis

Objectives Lactoferrin (LF) is an iron binding protein and stored in the specific granules of granulocytes. It is released by degranulation following granulocyte activation. A positive correlation was previously reported between periodontitis and LF titers of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and blood. The purpose of this study was to examine alterations of GCF and blood levels of LF (LF-GCF and LF-BL, respectively), employing the experimental gingivitis model. Methods Twelve systemically healthy volunteers, aged 19–21, were selected. Pre-experimental phase of hygiene was followed by a 14-day experimental gingivitis phase in which subjects refrained from all oral hygiene procedures. After that subjects resumed optimal plaque control for 21 days of recovery period. At days 0 (baseline), 14 and 35 gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and blood samples were collected and plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP) and probing pocket depth scores were recorded. LF levels were measured with commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Results PI, GI, BOP and LF-GCF increased significantly after 14 days of experimental gingivitis period and decreased significantly after reinstitution of oral hygiene measures (P<.05). LF-BL appeared to follow the same pattern. Significant negative correlation was detected between the level of LF-BL and BOP at day 14 (P<.05), whereas significant positive correlation was noticed between LF-BL and clinical scores PI, GI and BOP at day 35 (P<.05). Conclusions LF-BL followed the same pattern with LF-GCF and clinical scores during the experimental gingivitis and recovery periods, although alterations of the LF-BL appeared statistically insignificant.PubMe

Optimizing Winter Wheat Resilience to Climate Change in Rain Fed Crop Systems of Turkey and Iran

Erratic weather patterns associated with increased temperatures and decreasing rainfall pose unique challenges for wheat breeders playing a key part in the fight to ensure global food security. Within rain fed winter wheat areas of Turkey and Iran, unusual weather patterns may prevent attaining maximum potential increases in winter wheat genetic gains. This is primarily related to the fact that the yield ranking of tested genotypes may change from one year to the next. Changing weather patterns may interfere with the decisions breeders make about the ideotype(s) they should aim for during selection. To inform breeding decisions, this study aimed to optimize major traits by modeling different combinations of environments (locations and years) and by defining a probabilistic range of trait variations [phenology and plant height (PH)] that maximized grain yields (GYs; one wheat line with optimal heading and height is suggested for use as a testing line to aid selection calibration decisions). Research revealed that optimal phenology was highly related to the temperature and to rainfall at which winter wheat genotypes were exposed around heading time (20 days before and after heading). Specifically, later winter wheat genotypes were exposed to higher temperatures both before and after heading, increased rainfall at the vegetative stage, and reduced rainfall during grain filling compared to early genotypes. These variations in exposure to weather conditions resulted in shorter grain filling duration and lower GYs in long-duration genotypes. This research tested if diversity within species may increase resilience to erratic weather patterns. For the study, calculated production of a selection of five high yielding genotypes (if grown in five plots) was tested against monoculture (if only a single genotype grown in the same area) and revealed that a set of diverse genotypes with different phenologies and PHs was not beneficial. New strategies of progeny selection are discussed: narrow range of variation for phenology in families may facilitate the discovery and selection of new drought-resistant and avoidant wheat lines targeting specific locationsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

An efficient and inexpensive method for real-time panoramic video processing

“This thesis describes our contribution to panoramic vision research. Different techniques in obtaining panoramic images are introduced and discussed. The main contribution of this thesis is obtaining panoramic images by a single fixed camera looking into a spherical mirror. The geometry and optical properties of a spherical mirror is explained in detail. Converting the spherical mirror image into a 360-degree panoramic image is explained, and two new algorithms are introduced. The image transformation is applied for both still and full motion images. A technique to obtain real-time image transformation is explained and experimental results are discussed. Techniques to improve speed and image quality are developed. A parallel transformation algorithm is implemented and tested on a network of workstations”--Abstract, page iii

Can postoperative laryngeal examination be neglected in thyroid and parathyroid patients with no loss of signal after intraoperative neuromonitoring?

WOS: 000461107900005Objective: We aimed to evaluate the necessity and the worthiness of postoperative vocal cord examination in cases with no loss of signal during intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Material and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated cases that had no loss of signal during intraoperative nerve monitoring in cases who underwent thyroid and parathyroid surgery in our endocrine surgery unit, between January 2014 - January 2017. Results: A total of 171 patients were analyzed who had no loss of signal during IONM. It was observed that 94 of the patients (55%) had at least one previous surgery and 77 (45%) underwent their first operation. Ninety-one patients were monitored with continuous-IONM and 80 with intermittent-IONM. All patients' preoperative and postoperative laryngeal examinations were identical and no postoperative vocal cord problems were observed. Conclusion: The signal from the vagus nerve is sufficiently sensitive to show the postoperative vocal cord functions after resection in patients having no loss of signal during IONM. We support the idea that postoperative vocal cord examination may be neglected in these patients