Board Composition and Firm Performance: Evidence from BIST 100 Companies in Turkey

This study examines how board composition affects firm performance. Female directors, independent directors and foreign directors and board size were taken as the indicators of board composition. The empirical analysis, based on a sample of 100 firms drawn from the BIST 100 Index over a 3-year period, the years between 2012 and 2014. In the study, for financial performance indicators, Return on Assets, and Return on Equity were used and for market performance indicator Market Value to Book Value was used. After the analysis, it is found that, board composition has an impact on firm performance in BIST 100 companies. This study is unique in terms of analyzing the effects of 2012 regulation of mandating at least 1/3 of all board members to be independent directors and suggesting at least one female director to BIST 100 company boards by Capital Boards of Turkey

The effects of virtual shareholder meeting on the participation of shareholders to management in joint stock companies in turkey: a research on bıst-100 companies

Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye'de anonim şirketlerde son yıllarda uygulanmaya başlanan Elektronik Genel Kurul Sistemi (e-GKS)'nin pay sahiplerinin yönetime katılımına etkilerini ortaya koymaktır. Bu amaçla, Borsa İstanbul 100 (BİST-100) Endeksi'nde yer alan işletmelere ikincil kaynak taraması, anket ve gözlem teknikleri yoluyla veri temin edilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler ışığında e-GKS uygulamasının pay sahiplerinin yıllık genel kurula ve dolayısıyla yönetime katılımına pozitif etki yaptığı belirlenmiştir. Bu durumun ilerleyen yıllarda kurumsal yönetim uygulamalarında yer alan güç boşluğu sorununa çözüm olacağı ve pay sahiplerinin yönetime katılımına önemli katkılar yapacağı öngörülmektedir.The aim of this study is to show the effects of Virtual Shareholder Meeting (e-GKS), applied in the recent years by joint stock companies in Turkey, for the participation of shareholders to firm management. With this purpose, data gathered from companies listed in the Borsa İstanbul 100 Index by secondary literature review, survey and direct observation techniques. It was found that e-GKS has a positive effect on the participation of shareholders in general annual meeting and thereby to the management of the firm. This situation will be a solution to the power gap problem in corporate governance practices and will make a great contribution to the participation of shareholders to the firm management

Empirical Modelling of Power Requirements in Olive Pruning Residue Shredding: Effects of Varying Moisture Content and Rotary Speeds

Pruning residues, which occur every year in orchards and have many different utilization potentials, are an important issue for fruit producers. The shredding process is indispensable and critical for the utilization of these residues. The performance of the shredding process is affected by the operating parameters of the shredding machine as well as the moisture content of the residues to be shredded. In this study, olive pruning residues with three different moisture contents were shredded at three different rotor speeds in the developed shredding system. We determined how the power requirement of the shredder changed under different conditions, and empirical models were developed. The experiments showed that the average power requirement of the shredder ranged from 7.32 to 10.81 kW, and it was found that residues with low moisture content decreased the power values, while higher rotor speeds increased the power requirement. The developed final model has a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.376, a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.441, and a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.859. The model serves as a reliable tool for estimating power requirements in the shredding of olive pruning residues, enabling the selection of the optimal rotor speed based on moisture content

Evaluation of renal function and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in children and adolescents: The role of birthweight

Objective: A marked relationship is known between low birth weight and reduced nephron number. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of low birth weight on renal function and blood pressure in healthy children and adolescents. Methods: This study was carried out on 33 children (7 to 18 years) who were born with a birth weight under 2500 g. The control group was composed of 30 children born at term with a birth weight appropriate for gestational age. Urine microalbumin, N-Acetyl-?-D Glucosaminidase, sodium levels and blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and cystatin-C levels were investigated in patients and the control group. The sizes of kidneys in both groups were examined by ultrasonography. Blood pressure was monitored for 24 hours as ambulatory blood pressure. Results: The study group had higher levels of blood cystatin-C, urinary sodium, and N-Acetyl-?D-Glucosaminidase than the control group. Kidney volumes were smaller in the study group than in the controls. Conclusion: In our study, we observed that some glomerular and tubular functions were affected in children with low birth weight and in children born preterm. These effects were not observed in children with mature small for gestational age. Considering that nephron formation is completed at the 37th week, gestational age (prematurity) was thought to affect glomerular maturation more than intrauterine growth retardation. Our findings did not demonstrate hypertension in children born with low birth weight in childhood. We suggest that low birth weight children should be followed carefully for renal functions and blood pressure. © 2023 The authors. Published by Aydın Pediatric Society.TPF-11004This project was supported by the Scientific Research Projects Unit of Adnan Menderes University, project no: TPF-11004

Early stage alterations in CA1 extracellular region proteins indicate dysregulation of IL6 and iron homeostasis in the 5XFAD Alzheimer's disease mouse model

WOS: 000423364400015PubMed ID: 29376847In recent years, an increasing number of research papers revealed that the compositional and volumetric alterations in the extracellular matrix are the consequences of aging and may be related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the alterations in hippocampal extracellular fluid proteins in vivo using the 5XFAD mouse model. Samples were obtained from hippocampi of 5XFAD mice (n = 6) and their non-transgenic littermates by intracerebral push-pull perfusion technique at 3 months of age, representing the pre-pathological stage of the AD. Proteins in the hippocampal perfusates were analyzed by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-qTOF-MS/MS). 178 proteins were identified and 19 proteins of them were found to be statistically significantly altered (p = 40%, unique peptide count>= 3) in the hippocampal CA1 extracellular fluid of the 5XFAD mouse model. Ingenuity pathway analysis of the protein expression results identified IL6 as an upstream regulator. The upregulation of IL6 was validated by immunohistochemical staining of the hippocampus and cortex of the 5XFAD mice prior to A beta plaque formation. Furthermore, the iron level in the hippocampus was measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry as IL6 is mentioned in several studies to take part in iron homeostasis and inflammation and found to be increased in 5XFAD mice hippocampus. Alterations in extracellular matrix proteins in addition to increasing amount of hippocampal IL6 and iron in the early stages of AD may reveal inflammation-mediated iron dyshomeostasis in the early stages of neurodegeneration.TUBITAK (Turkey) - ARRS (Slovenia) Bilateral Cooperation program [112S414]This study is supported financially by TUBITAK (Turkey) - ARRS (Slovenia) Bilateral Cooperation program with 112S414 project number. Special thanks to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ozge Cevik for providing us IL6 antibody