Investigating the Relationship between Working Capital Management and Stock Price Crash Risk

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of working capital management on stock price crash risk. The sample includes 103 Iranian firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2017. Panel data analysis with fixed effect estimation has been used to analyze the relationship between working capital management and stock price crash risk. Cash conversion cycle, working capital requirement, current, and quick ratios were applied as comprehensive measures for working capital management, and Hutton’s model was applied as a measure for stock price crash risk. The results indicate that there is a negative relationship between working capital indicators and stock price crash risk. Therefore, managers can use working capital strategies to decrease the risk of the stock price crash. Furthermore, asymmetry information may, in fact, increase a manager’s incentive to use working capital strategies to reduce the stock price crash risk

Role of TNF α, IL-6 and CXCL10 in dengue disease severity

Background and objective: Dengue virus infections (Dengue) have become increasingly common in Pakistan and can result in case fatalities if not managed appropriately. Patients with Dengue virus infection may be asymptomatic or present with Dengue fever (DF), Dengue with warning signs (DWS) or severe Dengue (SD). Severity in Dengue is coincident with an exacerbated production of lymphocyte-induced cytokines and chemokines which are associated with plasma leakage. We investigated the association of circulating levels of cytokines such as Interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and CXCL-10 in Dengue patients with differing severity of disease.Material and methods: Dengue infection was confirmed by testing for human IgM to the Dengue virus. Dengue patients (n=58) and healthy controls (n=33) were recruited. Dengue patients were grouped into those with DF (n=39), DWS (n=15) and SD (n=4). Serum IL-6, TNFα and CXCL10 levels were tested by ELISA. The Mann Whitney U test was used for statistical analysis.Result: Circulating levels of TNFα (p≤0.001) and CXCL10 (p≤0.001) levels were increased in Dengue patients as compared with controls. When patients were stratified for disease severity, it was observed that CXCL10 was increased in DWS as compared to DF (p=0.046). IL-6 levels were increased in patients with SD as compared to those with DWS (p=0.044). TNFα levels were not found to differ between different groups of Dengue patients.Conclusion: Raised CXCL10 and TNFα levels were associated with increased clinical severity of Dengue infection and probably increased disease progression due to excessive inflammation and increased vascular changes in the patients

General health status in Iranian diabetic patients assessed by short-form-36 questionnaire : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Interference mitigation in D2D communication underlaying LTE-A network

The mobile data traffic has risen exponentially in recent days due to the emergence of data intensive applications, such as online gaming and video sharing. It is driving the telecommunication industry as well as the research community to come up with new paradigms that will support such high data rate requirements within the existing wireless access network, in an efficient and effective manner. To respond to this challenge, device-to-device (D2D) communication in cellular networks is viewed as a promising solution, which is expected to operate, either within the coverage area of the existing eNB and under the same cellular spectrum (in-band) or separate spectrum (out-band). D2D provides the opportunity for users located in close proximity of each other to communicate directly, without traversing data traffic through the eNB. It results in several transmission gains, such as improved throughput, energy gain, hop gain, and reuse gain. However, integration of D2D communication in cellular systems at the same time introduces new technical challenges that need to be addressed. Containment of the interference among D2D nodes and cellular users is one of the major problems. D2D transmission radiates in all directions, generating undesirable interference to primary cellular users and other D2D users sharing the same radio resources resulting in severe performance degradation. Efficient interference mitigation schemes are a principal requirement in order to optimize the system performance. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the existing interference mitigation schemes present in the open literature. Based on the subjective and objective analysis of the work available to date, it is also envisaged that adopting a multi-antenna beamforming mechanism with power control, such that the transmit power is maximized toward the direction of the intended D2D receiver node and limited in all other directions will minimize the interference in the network. This could maximize the sum throughput and hence, guarantees the reliability of both the D2D and cellular connections

The Inquiry of International Standards for Medical Tourism: A Case Study into Hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Medical tourism is a rapidly growing industry that has provided special opportunities to gain competitive advantage over international health organizations. This study aimed to investigate the quality requirements based on Joint Commission International (JCI) for medical tourism in selected hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study that was conducted at three educational hospitals operated by Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2013. The data were collected through the last updated checklists (translation of the standards of JCI, comprising 13 axial) completed by the researcher. Data analysis was done using descriptive and analytical tests including frequency, standard deviation and T- Test by means of SPSS 19.0. Results: Studied hospitals met 76.8% of organization-oriented standards plus 75.4% of patient-oriented standards. There were two patient-oriented standards, namely access to care and its continuity 87.2% alongside anesthesia and surgery care 86.6% which were met at the highest level. On the other side, organization-oriented standard of leadership and guidance 69.2% was the item met at the least. Conclusion: It seems that studied hospitals are ready to attract medical tourists by the advantage of service quality. Moreover, it is necessary to give attention to the strengths and improve the weaknesses concerning quality of services. Criteria on service charges, waited time and etc, should be scientifically analyzed and reviewed as well

Evolution of the Malaysian halal certification system : viable system model as the diagnostic framework

As a Muslim-majority country, Malaysia has a responsibility to fulfil the needs of Muslim citizens to practise their religion. Therefore, the Malaysian halal certification system needs to be viable, that is, to be self-sufficient within its environment. The extant literature has explained the elements of viable systems but placed less emphasis on how systems develop into viability. This study aims to bridge this gap by using the Viable System Model to diagnose the globally recognised Malaysian halal certification system as the system-in-focus. This qualitative study gathered data mainly from interviews with 20 executives from relevant institutions with direct involvement in the system’s implementation. The findings of the study provide insights into the development milestones of a system with elements of viability. Among others, this development was found to happen in stages that are marked by crises and corresponding actions by the respective authorities. Suggestions for the system’s viability are provided

Bacteriological Profile and Antibacterial Sensitivity Patterns of Isolates among Burn Patients in Sulaimani City

Nosocomial infections have increasingly been implicated in transferring fatal septic complications in burn patients. Also multidrug resistant profiles of microorganisms are being increasingly found in burn wounds which are very much alarming due to the limited number effective antibacterial drugs. Retrospective data were collected from burn patients at Sulaimani Burn and Plastic Surgery Hospital between January 2013 and December 2015. Culture& sensitivity tests were performed using wound surface swabs and tissue culture over the three year period. Their results were collected in a predesigned digital form. Statistical analysis was done and results plotted. Out of 500 burn positive swabs samples were previously taken from hospitalized patients, the commonest bacterial isolate were gram-positive bacterial infection; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) 215(43%) followed by gram-negative bacterial infection; Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa  95(19%) and 85 (17%). Vancomycin has no any resistant rate for all gram-positive bacteria followed, but Teicoplanin is the second best drug especially, for MRSA 8.4%. Imipenem and Meropenem are antibiotics with no or less resistant rates for most of gram negative bacteria. Resistance to antibiotics is rapidly increasing in our community and burn wounds are frequently infected by these multidrug resistant organisms. Careful antibiotic selection and effective control of these strains can be translated into lower morbidity and mortality for these patients

Prevalence rate of hepatitis B virus in pregnancy: Implications from a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published from 2000 to 2016

Background: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is one of the most serious infectious diseases and represents a major global health issue worldwide. It can be transmitted vertically and horizontally through contact with infected blood or body fluids. More attention to HBV infection in pregnancy is needed due to high risk of chronicity when transmitted to infants during delivery. Objectives: A comprehensive review of the HBV prevalence rate in pregnant females taking into account different geographical areas and socio-economic status is still lacking. This would be of crucial importance for HBV prevention and control programs. As such, this systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted focusing on HBV prevalence rate in pregnant females from different parts of the world. Methods: Different electronic databases, including Embase, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and ISI/Web of Science were searched from January 1st 2000 to July 31st 2016, using relevant keywords, such as \ue2\u80\u9cprevalence\ue2\u80\u9d or \ue2\u80\u9cseroprevalence\ue2\u80\u9d or \ue2\u80\u9cepidemiology\ue2\u80\u9d and \ue2\u80\u9cpregnancy\ue2\u80\u9d or \ue2\u80\u9cpregnant\ue2\u80\u9d or \ue2\u80\u9cantenatal\ue2\u80\u9d in combination with \ue2\u80\u9chepatitis B virus\ue2\u80\u9d or \ue2\u80\u9cHBV\ue2\u80\u9d with no language restrictions. The study protocol of this systematic review was deposited at the \ue2\u80\u9cInternational Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews\ue2\u80\u9d and registered as CRD42016041985. Results: After scrutinizing all the extant scholarly literature from 2000 to 2016, this study found 222 relevant articles. The overall HBV prevalence rate in pregnant females worldwide was estimated using a random-effect model, giving a value of 3% (95% confidence interval or CI 2% - 4%). Heterogeneity between studies was significantly high (I2= 99.9%, P < 0.0001). The clinical and epidemiological burden was higher in developing countries. Conclusions: This suggests that despite the recent scientific advancements and the clinical progress that has occurred in anti-viral therapy, HBV still represents a major issue worldwide, especially in underdeveloped countries. The key strategies for preventing transmission from pregnant females to their fetuses are through early birth dose and infant vaccination, as well as by the use of hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) and the screening and diagnosis of mothers at high risk and the subsequent use of anti-viral agents during pregnancy in order to reduce maternal DNA concentrations down to undetectable concentrations. Health authorities should effectively implement these approaches to better control HBV in pregnancy

A mutation in the major autophagy gene, WIPI2, associated with global developmental abnormalities

We describe a large consanguineous pedigree from a remote area of Northern Pakistan, with a complex developmental disorder associated with wide-ranging symptoms, including mental retardation, speech and language impairment and other neurological, psychiatric, skeletal and cardiac abnormalities. We initially carried out a genetic study using the HumanCytoSNP-12 v2.1 Illumina gene chip on nine family members and identified a single region of homozygosity shared amongst four affected individuals on chromosome 7p22 (positions 3059377–5478971). We performed whole-exome sequencing on two affected individuals from two separate branches of the extended pedigree and identified a novel nonsynonymous homozygous mutation in exon 9 of the WIPI2 (WD-repeat protein interacting with phosphoinositide 2) gene at position 5265458 (c.G745A;pV249M). WIPI2 plays a critical role in autophagy, an evolutionary conserved cellular pathway implicated in a growing number of medical conditions. The mutation is situated in a highly conserved and critically important region of WIPI2, responsible for binding PI(3)P and PI(3,5)P2, an essential requirement for autophagy to proceed. The mutation is absent in all public databases, is predicted to be damaging and segregates with the disease phenotype. We performed functional studies in vitro to determine the potential effects of the mutation on downstream pathways leading to autophagosome assembly. Binding of the V231M mutant of WIPI2b to ATG16L1 (as well as ATG5–12) is significantly reduced in GFP pull-down experiments, and fibroblasts derived from the patients show reduced WIPI2 puncta, reduced LC3 lipidation and reduced autophagic flux

Pathogenic SCN2A variants cause early-stage dysfunction in patient-derived neurons

Pathogenic heterozygous variants in SCN2A, which encodes the neuronal sodium channel NaV1.2, cause different types of epilepsy or intellectual disability (ID)/autism without seizures. Previous studies using mouse models or heterologous systems suggest that NaV1.2 channel gain-of-function typically causes epilepsy, whereas loss-of-function leads to ID/autism. How altered channel biophysics translate into patient neurons remains unknown. Here, we investigated iPSC-derived early-stage cortical neurons from ID patients harboring diverse pathogenic SCN2A variants [p.(Leu611Valfs*35); p.(Arg937Cys); p.(Trp1716*)], and compared them to neurons from an epileptic encephalopathy patient [p.(Glu1803Gly)] and controls. ID neurons consistently expressed lower NaV1.2 protein levels. In neurons with the frameshift variant, NaV1.2 mRNA and protein levels were reduced by ~ 50%, suggesting nonsense-mediated decay and haploinsufficiency. In other ID neurons, only protein levels were reduced implying NaV1.2 instability. Electrophysiological analysis revealed decreased sodium current density and impaired action potential (AP) firing in ID neurons, consistent with reduced NaV1.2 levels. By contrast, epilepsy neurons displayed no change in NaV1.2 levels or sodium current density, but impaired sodium channel inactivation. Single-cell transcriptomics identified dysregulation of distinct molecular pathways including inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation in neurons with SCN2A haploinsufficiency, and activation of calcium signaling and neurotransmission in epilepsy neurons. Together, our patient iPSC-derived neurons reveal characteristic sodium channel dysfunction consistent with biophysical changes previously observed in heterologous systems. Additionally, our model links the channel dysfunction in ID to reduced NaV1.2 levels and uncovers impaired AP firing in early-stage neurons. The altered molecular pathways may reflect a homeostatic response to NaV1.2 dysfunction and can guide further investigations