The Global Equity Market Reactions of the Oil & Gas Midstream and Marine Shipping Industries to COVID-19: An Entropy Analysis

oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/152This article quantifies the information flow between major equities in the Oil & Gas Midstream and Marine Shipping industries, on the basis of the effective transfer entropy methodology. In addition, the article provides the first analysis of investor fear and market expectations in these sectors, according to the Rényi entropy approach. The period of study was extended over five years to fully capture the pre/post-COVID situations. The entropy results reveal a major change in the underlying information flow pattern among equities in the Oil & Gas Midstream and Marine Shipping sectors in the aftermath of COVID-19. According to the new (post-COVID) paradigm, the stocks in the Oil & Gas Midstream and Integrated Freight & Logistics industries have gained momentum in occupying six of the ten positions within the list of the most influential equities in the market, in terms of information transmission. The disorder and randomness have decreased for over 89% of the studied equities, after virus outbreak. For the equities detected with high information-transmission standing, the Rényi entropy results indicate that investors more likely showed a higher level of future expectations and a lower level of fear regarding frequent market events within the post-COVID timeline. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-04-07 Full Text: PD

Assessment of the Business Environment and Strategies for Developing Busıness Processes: the Case of Iran’s West Azarbaijan Province

Accurate, comprehensive and credible performance management systems, as one of the benchmarks of the development of organizations and communities, require the provision of specific infrastructures and requirements. The present study consists of a mixed approach of fuzzy hierarchy analysis and balanced scorecard to assess the business environment in the West Azarbaijan province of Iran. This research is applied in terms of purpose and has been prepared in terms of method with analytical and descriptive approach. Analytical Hierarchy Process Analysis (AHP) technique was used to measure the variables of the research and indicators are weighted by analyzing the fuzzy hierarchical process as well. Based on this, the growth and learning field with a priority weight of 0.467 is the most important and secondarily, the internal processes area with a priority weight of 0.277 is considered. The financial area with priority weight of 0.160 is considered important in the third order and finally the client area with a priority of 0.095 is considered

EVALUATION OF HEMOSTATIC EFFECTIVENESS OF INFUSIBLE PLATELET MEMBRANE IN RABBITS AS A POTENTIAL SUBSTITUTE FOR PLATELET TRANSFUSION

Several platelet substitutes have been used for transfusion in human and animal models. The potential hemostatic effect of infusible platelet membrane (IPM) was investigated for evaluation its ability to reduce the prolonged bleeding time in thrombocytopenic rabbits. IPM was prepared from outdated platelet concentrates. Platelet concentrates were pooled, disrupted by freeze-thaw procedure, pasteurized for 20 hours to inactivate possible viral or bacterial contaminants. Rabbits were made thrombocytopenic by subcutaneous injection of busulfan dissolved in polyethylene glycol 400. Administration of IPM at a dose of 2 mg per kg results considerable reduction in the bleeding time. The values of bleeding time in the 48 data sets were obtained. Decrease in the percentage of bleeding time elevation during 2, 4, 6 and 24 hours after injection in the test group of rabbits were found 24.8, 39.0, 52.4 and 95.6 respectively. Reduction in the bleeding time seen in our experimental animals may support clinical potential utility of IPM as a substitute for platelets in the treatment of thrombocytopenia in humans.KEYWORDS: Infusible platelet membrane, Platelet substitute, Bleeding time

Polymorphism of calpastatin gene in Arabic sheep using PCR- RFLP

Calpastatin has been known as candidate gene in muscle growth efficiency and meat quality. This gene has been located to chromosome 5 of sheep. In order to evaluate the calpastatin gene polymorphism, random blood sample were collected from 111 Arabic ram sheep from different regions. The DNA extraction was based on Boom et al. (1989) method. Exon and entron I from L domain of the ovine calpastatin gene was amplified to produce a 622 bp fragment. The PCR products were electrophoresed on 1.2% agarose gel and stained by etidium bromide. Then, they were digested with restriction enzyme MspI and then electrophoresed on 2.5% agarose gel with ethidium bromide and revealed two alleles, allele A and allele B. Data were analysed using PopGene32 package. In this population, AA, AB, BB genotype have been identified with the 70.27, 28.82, 0.9% frequencies. A and B allele’s frequencies were 0.85, 0.15, respectively. The population was found to follow Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

Analysis of livability Regeneration Promotions in the Informal livability Text of the City (Case Study: Zanjan)

The issue of informal settlements can be considered the biggest challenge for cities today and the biggest challenge for the planet after climate change. These types of settlements, with their various dimensions, are a spatial-physical representation of the antisocial socialization of individuals and groups. The physical representation of these urban phenomena in various labels has always been born in an informal process and has always been seen as an anti-urban phenomenon challenge; the role of factors and drivers influencing the organization of informal settlements in ZanjanThis article deals with the descriptive-analytical method, Data were collected through library and field studies. Data analysis was performed by Delphi method, one-sample t-test and path analysis in DPSIR format with the help of SPSS software.The results showed that according to the one-sample T test, the "impact" component with a coefficient of 2.74 received the highest score. In contrast, the driving force component with a coefficient of 4.87 received the lowest score. Also, based on the route analysis, the "pressure" index with a total impact factor of 0.623 has the greatest impact and causal relationship with the organization of informal settlements.Conclusion: the most important factor in the formation and continuation of informal settlements is the neglect of the transportation system; Distribution of uses; Pollution; The way of ownership and lack of services. In this regard, to organize informal settlements, strengthen the transportation system; solve the problem of ownership document; improving the quality of life is essential

Assessment of Moisture Status and Crop Production in Different Climate of Iran

Drought varies with regard to the time of occurrence, duration, intensity, and extent of the area affected from year to year. The objective of this study was therefore to gather and analyze standardized information on Role of Early Warning Systems by FAO56 and UNESCO models for cereals (wheat, barley, corn and rice), leguminous (bean, chickpea, lentil and alfalfa) and industrial crops (soybean, sunflower, canola, sugare beat, potato and cotton) in Iran environmental zones. To gather information on perceived risks and foreseen impacts of climatic factors on crops production, we designed a set of qualitative and quantitative data from agrometeorological and agriculture organizations in 44 stations in Iran (1961-2010). Annual average rainfall (mm.y-1) and ETo (mm.y-1) in stations with very dry climate are 76.56 and 3001.03, respectively, these rates for stations with dry climate are 195.41 mm.y-1 and 2249.44 mm.y-1, for stations with semi dry climate is 343.9 mm.y-1 and 1351.62 mm.y-1, for stations with semi humid climate is 583.8 mm.y-1 and 1153.4 mm.y-1 and for stations with humid climate is 1272.16 mm.y-1 and 949.91 mm.y-1. The maximum and minimum of Annual average rainfall happened in Rasht (1337.5 mm.y-1) and Zabol (57.7 mm.y-1) stations, and the maximum and minimum for Annual average ETo happened in Chabahar (3909.15 mm.y-1) and Anzali harbor (890.6 mm.y-1), respectively. Therefore, 13.63 percent of stations have suitable conditions for crop productions and 86.37 percent are in critical and unsustainable conditions

RABBIT PYROGEN TEST STUDY OF INFUSIBLE PLATELET MEMBRANE AS A PLATELET SUBSTITUTE FOR BLOOD TRANSFUSION

Blood transfusion centers are under considerable pressure to produce platelet concentrates with a shelf life limited to 3-5 days. Many approaches have been investigated experimentally to produce new hemostatically active platelet products that are capable of long term storage. In this article infusible platelet membrane (IPM) as a platelet substitute was investigated with regard to rabbit pyrogen test as a requirement for parenteral drugs according to the EU Pharmacopoeia monograph to demonstrate its safety. Lyophilized IPM was prepared from fresh and outdated platelet concentrates. Platelet concentrates were pooled, disrupted by freeze-thaw procedure and pasteurized for 20 hours to inactivate possible viral or bacterial contaminants. Sterility test, size particle test and rabbit pyrogen test were then performed. Administration of IPM at various dosage forms were carried out on a group of three rabbits with a total of five groups. The summed response of body temperature of each group was calculated. At dosage forms of 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 9.0 mg per kg of body weight, the summed responses of each group were 0.1, 0.2 , 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 degree centigrade, respectively. As might be expected, there was shown a strong direct correlation between dose and response with r=0.996. Preparations being examined passed the test according to the EU Pharmacopoeia monograph. It was concluded that IPM as a platelet substitute is sterile and safe without endotoxins and non-endotoxin pyrogens that may be originated from bacteria, intracellular and extracellular proinflamatory cytokines and other biologic response modifiers in conventional platelet concentrates. Keywords: Infusible platelet membrane, rabbit pyrogen test, platelet substitut

Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-Adjusted life-years for 29 cancer groups, 1990 to 2017 : A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study

Importance: Cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a threat to global development. The latest United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs reaffirmed this observation and also highlighted the slow progress in meeting the 2011 Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the third Sustainable Development Goal. Lack of situational analyses, priority setting, and budgeting have been identified as major obstacles in achieving these goals. All of these have in common that they require information on the local cancer epidemiology. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is uniquely poised to provide these crucial data. Objective: To describe cancer burden for 29 cancer groups in 195 countries from 1990 through 2017 to provide data needed for cancer control planning. Evidence Review: We used the GBD study estimation methods to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-Adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results are presented at the national level as well as by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. We also analyzed the influence of the epidemiological vs the demographic transition on cancer incidence. Findings: In 2017, there were 24.5 million incident cancer cases worldwide (16.8 million without nonmelanoma skin cancer [NMSC]) and 9.6 million cancer deaths. The majority of cancer DALYs came from years of life lost (97%), and only 3% came from years lived with disability. The odds of developing cancer were the lowest in the low SDI quintile (1 in 7) and the highest in the high SDI quintile (1 in 2) for both sexes. In 2017, the most common incident cancers in men were NMSC (4.3 million incident cases); tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer (1.5 million incident cases); and prostate cancer (1.3 million incident cases). The most common causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for men were TBL cancer (1.3 million deaths and 28.4 million DALYs), liver cancer (572000 deaths and 15.2 million DALYs), and stomach cancer (542000 deaths and 12.2 million DALYs). For women in 2017, the most common incident cancers were NMSC (3.3 million incident cases), breast cancer (1.9 million incident cases), and colorectal cancer (819000 incident cases). The leading causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for women were breast cancer (601000 deaths and 17.4 million DALYs), TBL cancer (596000 deaths and 12.6 million DALYs), and colorectal cancer (414000 deaths and 8.3 million DALYs). Conclusions and Relevance: The national epidemiological profiles of cancer burden in the GBD study show large heterogeneities, which are a reflection of different exposures to risk factors, economic settings, lifestyles, and access to care and screening. The GBD study can be used by policy makers and other stakeholders to develop and improve national and local cancer control in order to achieve the global targets and improve equity in cancer care. © 2019 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe