Firma Karakteristiginin Sermaye Yapisi Uzerindeki Analizi

Financial policies about asset usage and resource gathering which firms use in order to maintain optimal capital structure, define firm characteristics. In this study the effects of firm characteristics on capital structure analyzed empirically with panel data analysis. A capital structure determinant which represents firm characteristics is used as; debt ratio, liquidity ratio, interest coverage ratio, firm size and growth ratios. Research conducted through Basic Metal Industry, Metal Goods, Machinery and Tool Industry companies which operate in Istanbul Stock Exchange. According to the results all the determinants of firm characteristics except firm size have a negative impact on capital structureOptimal Capital Structure, Leverage Ratio, Firm Size, Panel Data Analysis

Efficiency Measurement in Deposit Banks Using Data Envelopment Analysis and Data Mining

In today’s world in which several countries face financial crises, banking industry has become very important for national economies in order to realize optimal resource use. Therefore, banking industry should operate productively and increase its efficiency. In this study, firstly, efficiency of deposit banks operating in Turkish banking industry are measured using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Then, using efficiency scores of banks, financial performance indicators which are important for predicting bank efficiency are determined using data mining techniques. As a result of the study, “Total Credits/Total Deposits” ratio and “Other Operating Costs/Total Operating Income” ratio are found to be important financial ratios in predicting bank efficiency.Bank Efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis, Data Mining

Factors affecting deposit bank's profitability in Turkey after crisis

Öz (Tr): Bankalar bir yandan kar maksimizasyonunu gerçekleştirecek politikalar saptarken, diğer yandan da riski minimuma indirecek likidite ve emniyet marjlarını oluşturmak için çaba sarf etmek durumundadır. Bu nedenle bankaların karlılığını etkileyen faktörlerin belirlenmesi, bankanın uygulayacağı politikanın tespiti açısından önemli olmaktadır. Bu çalışmada panel veri analizi yöntemi kullanılarak, Türk bankacılık sistemi içersinde yer alan mevduat bankalarının 2001 krizi sonrası dönemde karlılıklarının belirleyicisi olan içsel (banka karakteristikleri) ve dışsal (makroekonomik ve finansal yapı) faktörlerin karlılık üzerindeki etkisi analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmanın sonucunda banka karlılığı üzerinde içsel faktörlerin etkisinin dışsal faktörlere göre daha belirleyici olduğu tespit edilmiş ve banka büyüklüğü, krediler/mevduat oranı ve bankacılık sektörü aktiflerinin gayri safi yurt içi hasıla içindeki payının banka karlılığına pozitif yönlü; maliyet oranı, sermaye yeterliliği oranı ve takipteki krediler/toplam krediler oranının negatif yönlü bir etkide bulunduğu saptanmıştır. Öz (Yabancı): Banks are trying to realize liquidity and security margins to minimize risk in addition to determining policies for maximization of profits. For this reason it is important to determine factors affecting bank's profitability. In this study internal (bank characteristics) and external (macroeconomic and financial structure) factors which determine profitability of banks were analyzed by panel data analysis using data from Turkish deposit banks after 2001 crisis. The results of the study show that internal factors are more important than external factors for bank profitability. Also, bank size, credit/deposit ratio and total assets of the deposit banks/GDP ratio variables have positive effects whereas cost ratio, capital adequacy ratio and loss reserve/total credit ratios have negative effects

İMALAT ŞİRKETLERİNDE ÇALIŞMA SERMAYESİ ETKİNLİĞİNİN FİRMA DEĞERİNE ETKİSİ NASILDIR?

Finansal yönetim kararları içerisinde önemli bir yere sahip olan çalışma sermayesi; firmaların dönen varlık yatırımlarını ifade eden ve günlük işletme faaliyetlerinin aksatılmadan sürdürülebilmesi için gerekli olan sermayedir. Firma değerinin maksimize edilmesi için karlılık, likidite ve risk unsurları arasında optimal bir denge kurulması gerektiği için çalışma sermayesi yönetiminin firma değeri üzerinde önemli bir etkisinin olduğu kabul edilmektedir. Bu nedenle çalışmada, imalat sektöründe faaliyet gösteren ve Borsa İstanbul’da işlem gören firmaların çalışma sermayesi yönetimi ile firma değeri arasındaki ilişkisi incelenmiştir. Ayrıca firma büyüklüğü esasına göre, çalışma sermayesi yatırımlarının firma değeri üzerinde bir etkisinin olup olmadığı da araştırılmıştır. Araştırma kapsamında 2006-2014 dönemi için 121 firma verisinden yararlanmak suretiyle panel veri analizi yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Panel veri analizinde sabit etkiler modeli ile tahmin yapılmıştır.Model tahmininde, Fama ve French 1998 değerleme modeli yardımıyla, Pinkowitz vd., 2006 tarafından geliştirilen ve Wasiuzzaman 2015 tarafından kullanılan bir model esas alınmıştır. Tahmin sonucunda, firma değeri ile net çalışma sermayesi unsurları arasında anlamlı ve pozitif bir ilişki bulunmuştur. Buna göre, çalışma sermayesi etkinliği ve firmalardaki nakit düzeyi arttıkça firma değeri de artmaktadır. Net çalışma sermayesi etkinliğinin artması sonucunda nakit akışları da artmakta bu durumda firma değeri ile nakit düzeyi arasında pozitif yönlü bir ilişki ortaya çıkmaktadır. Firma büyüklüğü ölçütü kullanılarak yapılan tahminlerde de; küçük ölçekli firmalarda, net çalışma sermayesindeki artışın firma değerini artırdığı ve çalışma sermayesi etkinliği ile firma değeri arasındaki ilişkinin daha güçlü olduğu anlaşılmaktadır. Büyük ölçekli firmalarda ise, net çalışma sermayesi ve nakit düzeyi artışının firma değeri üzerinde bir etkisinin olmadığı görülmektedir. Büyük firmalarda çalışma sermaye unsurlarına bağlılığın küçük firmalara nazaran daha az olması ve nakit ihtiyacı durumunda alternatif finansman imkânlarının varlığı, çalışma sermayesi ile firma değeri ilişkisini zayıflatmaktadır. Firmalarda sermaye yapısı, karlılık ve temettü politikalarına ilişkin uygulamaların da firma değeri üzerinde bir etkisinin olduğu anlaşılmaktadır. Ancak küçük firmalarda bu etkinin büyük firmalara nazaran daha fazla olduğu görülmektedir

Harnessing activin A adjuvanticity to promote antibody responses to BG505 HIV envelope trimers

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Detection of Antinuclear Antibodies Targeting Intracellular Signal Transduction, Metabolism, Apoptotic Processes and Cell Death in Critical COVID-19 Patients

Background and Objectives: The heterogeneity of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) lies within its diverse symptoms and severity, ranging from mild to lethal. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a leading cause of mortality in COVID-19 patients, characterized by a hyper cytokine storm. Autoimmunity is proposed to occur as a result of COVID-19, given the high similarity of the immune responses observed in COVID-19 and autoimmune diseases. Here, we investigate the level of autoimmune antibodies in COVID-19 patients with different severities. Results: Initial screening for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) IgG using ELISA revealed that 1.58% (2/126) and 4% (5/126) of intensive care unit (ICU) COVID-19 cases expressed strong and moderate ANA levels, respectively. An additional sample was positive with immunofluorescence assays (IFA) screening. However, all the non-ICU cases (n=273) were ANA negative using both assays. Samples positive for ANA were further confirmed with large-scale autoantibody screening by phage immunoprecipitation-sequencing (PhIP-Seq). The majority of the ANA-positive samples showed "speckled" ANA pattern by microscopy and revealed autoantibody specificities that targeted proteins involved in intracellular signal transduction, metabolism, apoptotic processes, and cell death by PhIP-Seq; further denoting reactivity to nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens. Conclusion: Our results further support the notion of routine screening for autoimmune responses in COVID-19 patients, which might help improve disease prognosis and patient management. Further, results provide compelling evidence that ANA-positive individuals should be excluded from being donors for convalescent plasma therapy in the context of COVID-19.This study was supported by funds from QNRF, grant # NPRP11S-1212-170092

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Acetonic Extract of Buxus sempervirens Induces Cell Cycle Arrest, Apoptosis and Autophagy in Breast Cancer Cells

Plants are an invaluable source of potential new anti-cancer drugs. Here, we investigated the cytotoxic activity of the acetonic extract of Buxus sempervirens on five breast cancer cell lines, MCF7, MCF10CA1a and T47D, three aggressive triple positive breast cancer cell lines, and BT-20 and MDA-MB-435, which are triple negative breast cancer cell lines. As a control, MCF10A, a spontaneously immortalized but non-tumoral cell line has been used. The acetonic extract of Buxus sempervirens showed cytotoxic activity towards all the five studied breast cancer cell lines with an IC50 ranging from 7.74 µg/ml to 12.5 µg/ml. Most importantly, the plant extract was less toxic towards MCF10A with an IC50 of 19.24 µg/ml. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis showed that the plant extract induced cell death and cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase in MCF7, T47D, MCF10CA1a and BT-20 cell lines, concomitant to cyclin D1 downregulation. Application of MCF7 and MCF10CA1a respective IC50 did not show such effects on the control cell line MCF10A. Propidium iodide/Annexin V double staining revealed a pre-apoptotic cell population with extract-treated MCF10CA1a, T47D and BT-20 cells. Transmission electron microscopy analyses indicated the occurrence of autophagy in MCF7 and MCF10CA1a cell lines. Immunofluorescence and Western blot assays confirmed the processing of microtubule-associated protein LC3 in the treated cancer cells. Moreover, we have demonstrated the upregulation of Beclin-1 in these cell lines and downregulation of Survivin and p21. Also, Caspase-3 detection in treated BT-20 and T47D confirmed the occurrence of apoptosis in these cells. Our findings indicate that Buxus sempervirens extract exhibit promising anti-cancer activity by triggering both autophagic cell death and apoptosis, suggesting that this plant may contain potential anti-cancer agents for single or combinatory cancer therapy against breast cancer