Credit Scorecard for Corporate Clients based on Industries

A mathematical model for an improved credit scorecard is developed. Ideally, this scorecard will not reject "good" clients nor will it approve a loan to "bad" clients

Cation insertion to break the activity/stability relationship for highly active oxygen evolution reaction catalyst

The production of hydrogen at a large scale by the environmentally-friendly electrolysis process is currently hampered by the slow kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). We report a solid electrocatalyst α-Li2IrO3 which upon oxidation/delithiation chemically reacts with water to form a hydrated birnessite phase, the OER activity of which is five times greater than its non-reacted counterpart. This reaction enlists a bulk redox process during which hydrated potassium ions from the alkaline electrolyte are inserted into the structure while water is oxidized and oxygen evolved. This singular charge balance process for which the electrocatalyst is solid but the reaction is homogeneous in nature allows stabilizing the surface of the catalyst while ensuring stable OER performances, thus breaking the activity/stability tradeoff normally encountered for OER catalysts

The direction of research into visual disability and quality of life in glaucoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Glaucoma will undoubtedly impact on a person's ability to function as they go about their day-to-day life. The purpose of this study is to investigate the amount of published knowledge in quality of life (QoL) and visual disability studies for glaucoma, and make comparisons with similar research in other chronic conditions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic literature search of the Global Health, EMBASE Psychiatry and MEDLINE databases. Title searches for glaucoma and six other example chronic diseases were entered alongside a selection of keywords chosen to capture studies focusing on QoL and everyday task ability. These results were further filtered during a manual search of resulting abstracts. Outcomes were the number of publications per year for each disease, number relating to QoL and type of glaucoma QoL research.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifteen years ago there were no published studies relating to the impact of glaucoma on QoL but by 2009 this had risen to 1.2% of all glaucoma articles. The number of papers relating to QoL as a proportion of all papers in glaucoma in the past 10 years (0.6%) is smaller than for AMD and some other disabling chronic diseases. Most QoL studies in glaucoma (82%) involve questionnaires.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>QoL studies in glaucoma are increasing in number but represent a tiny minority of the total publications in glaucoma research. There are fewer QoL articles in glaucoma compared to some other disabling chronic conditions. The majority of QoL articles in glaucoma research use questionnaires; performance-based measures of visual disability may offer an additional method of determining how the disease impacts on QoL.</p

Are pediatricians responsible for maintaining high MMR vaccination coverage? Nationwide survey on parental knowledge and attitudes towards MMR vaccine in Serbia.

AimTo assess parental knowledge and attitudes related to MMR vaccination and to determine factors associated with parental decision whether to vaccinate their child with MMR vaccine in Serbian population.MethodsThe selection of participants was performed using multi-phase sampling. Seventeen out of the total 160 public health centers on the territory of Republic of Serbia were randomly selected. All parents of children up to the age of 7 who visited the pediatrician at the public health centers from June to August 2017 were recruited. Parents filled in an anonymous questionnaire regarding their knowledge, attitudes and practices in immunization with MMR vaccine. The relative contribution of different factors was explored by univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe majority of parents were female (75.2%), with mean age of 34.3 ± 5.7 years, and the average age of children was 4.7 ± 2.4 years, 53.7% of them were girls. In the multivariable model, getting information on vaccination from a pediatrician was associated with 7.5 fold increased probability to vaccinate child with MMR vaccine (OR = 7.52; 95% CI 2.73-20.74; pConclusionOur study emphasized the key role of pediatricians in the formation of parental attitude on MMR vaccination of their child

Epidemiology of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease in the Population of Belgrade, Serbia

Background: The aim of this study was to determine prevalence and 15-year survival in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). Methods: The study covers the period from 1 January 1988 to 31 December 2007 in the territory of Belgrade. Data on a number of CMT-affected persons and their basic demographic characteristics as well as data on the disease were collected from medical records. Data on the course and outcome of the disease were obtained through direct contact with patients, their families and their physicians. Results: We registered 161 patients with CMT in the population of Belgrade. The most frequent type was CMT1. The crude prevalence of CMT disease in the Belgrade population on 31 December 2007 was 9.7/100,000 for all subtypes, 7.1/100,000 for CMT1, and 2.3/100,000 for CMT2. Gender-specific prevalence was 11.2/100,000 for males and 8.3/100,000 for females. The highest age-specific prevalence was registered in the oldest age group (75+ years; 19.1/100,000), and the lowest one in patients aged 5-14 years (5.0/100,000). The cumulative probability of 15-year survival for CMT patients in Belgrade was 85.6 +/- 7.8% (44.9 +/- 31.8% for males and 98.2 +/- 1.8% for females). Conclusions: The prevalence of CMT found in Belgrade is similar to the prevalence registered in Southern European countries. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Cardiac Nitric Oxide Synthases and Na+/K+-ATPase in the Rat Model of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Induced by Dihydrotestosterone

Nitric oxide synthases (NOSs) and Na+/K+-ATPase are enzymes essential for regular functioning of the heart. Since both enzymes are under insulin and androgen regulation and since insulin action and androgen level were disturbed in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), we hypothesized that cardiac nitric oxide (NO) production and sodium/potassium transport would be deteriorated in PCOS. To test our hypothesis we introduced animal model of PCOS based on dihydrotestosterone (DHT) treatment of female Wistar rats and analyzed protein expression, phosphorylation or subcellular localization of endothelial NOS (eNOS), inducible NOS (iNOS) and alpha subunits of Na+/K+-ATPase in the heart. Obtained results indicate that DHT treatment significantly decreased cardiac eNOS protein level and activating phosphorylation at serine 1177, while inhibitory phosphorylation at threonine 495 was increased. In contrast to expression of eNOS, iNOS protein level in the heart of DHT-treated rats was significantly elevated. Furthermore, cardiac protein level of alpha 1 subunit of the ATPase, as well as its plasma membrane content, were decreased in rats with PCOS. In line with this, alpha 2 subunit protein level in fraction of plasma membranes was also significantly below control level. In conclusion, DHT treatment impaired effectiveness of NOSs and Na+/K+-ATPase in the female rat heart. Regarding the importance of NO production and sodium/potassium transport in the cardiac contraction and blood flow regulation, it implicates strong consequences of PCOS for heart functioning.Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia {[}III41009

High frequency of p16 and p14 promoter hypermethylation and marked telomere instability in salivary gland tumors

Objectives: to investigate p16(INK4a) and p14(ARF) tumor suppressor gene methylation status, determine telomere length and assess the importance of these epigenetic and genetic parameters in the development of pleomorphic adenoma and carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid salivary glands. Materials and Methods: Genomic DNA from paraffin-embedded samples of 50 pleomorphic adenomas and 10 carcinomas ex pleomorphic adenoma was subjected to methylation specific polymerase chain reaction for hypermethylation analyses and real time polymerase chain reaction for the relative telomere length calculations. Results: Promoter hypermethylation of the two genes was a very frequent event in both neoplasms between 60% and 90% of samples were hypermethylated - but without significant difference between the groups. The mean relative telomere length in the pleomorphic adenoma group was significantly increased in comparison to the control group (P = 0.00), and significantly decreased in comparison to the carcinoma group (P = 0.05). Telomeres were also longer in myxoid and cellular histological subtypes of adenomas than in the classic type (P = 0.044 and P = 0.018, respectively). Longer telomeres were more frequent in tumors with hypermethylated p14(ARF) alleles (P = 0.013). Conclusion: Promoter hypermethylations seems to be an important mechanism of p16(INK4a) and Pl4(ARF) inactivation in parotid gland tumors. Telomeric lengthening appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of both benign and malignant tumors of the parotid glands. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved