381 research outputs found
FINANCIAL RATIOS: CONSIDERATIONS OF THEIR RELEVANCE TO CORPORATE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS AND AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE MAJOR ERRORS OFTEN MAR THESE RATIOS.
No full textAbstract
This article focuses on financial ratios, a topic that is often considered obsolete. This leads many scholars and companies to underestimate the danger of incorrect calculations and interpretations of these ratios. Sometimes, in some articles and books, it can be perceived how the author, while addressing the issue of a company's financial situation, considers Financial ratios as obsolete analysis tools and proposes the use of much more sophisticated and complex instruments for financial analysis. This behaviour is to be stigmatised because we know that more refined and complex instruments must supplement financial ratios for a company's financial analysis to be complete. However, we disagree with considering Financial ratios as obsolete instruments. Further investigations may be performed alongside these ratios, but these ratios can never replace by any complex and, perhaps, more structured financial tool. And it should note that underestimating the importance of financial ratios frequently leads to the quantitative determination of incorrect values and the interpretation of data, even if determined correctly, that is entirely misleading and far removed from the reality that the ratios are intended to portray. For the writer, therefore, financial ratios are not only not obsolete but represent the starting point of a financial analysis that provides company management with indispensable information on the development of the financial situation of the company to which they belongAnalysis of a company's financial situation is not feasible except by comparing specific data with other values. Absolute values do not allow one to judge the 'trend of the company's financial situation. For this reason, it is well-known that particular ratios are used to understand whether the enterprise enjoys excellent health or has more or less severe problems financially. Often the determination of these ratios starts foot, by some scholars and by many companies, using aggregates, unsuitable for the analysis to be complete and correct. In some instances, it is also noticeable how ratios are determined whose informational value is practically null. As a result, a calculation of them is an interpretation that can be downright misleading regarding the situation being experienced, at a given instant, the enterprise under analysis. And it should be noted how using ratios alone is insufficient to carry out a financial analysis point. The completion of proportions with dynamic analysis is essential, and therefore, for this reason, the preparation of a cash flow statement should be considered indispensable completion of purely financial ratios
Encapsulated Mesenchymal stromal cells for spinal cord injury repair
No full textSpinal cord injury affects a significant portion of the population and unfortunately, current clinical therapeutic options are limited. The progression of SCI pathology is driven by several cellular and molecular post injury events which culminate in an inhibitory scar. Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC) robustly produce paracrine factors which successfully attenuate tissue damage and therefore represent a promising cellular SCI therapy. However, current transplantation modalities do not provide control or ensure long term persistence of the cells. To circumvent these limitations, we investigated the efficacy of alginate microencapsulation in developing an implantable vehicle for MSC delivery. We demonstrate that MSCs remain viable after electrostatic encapsulation with alginate and retain paracrine function. Encapsulated MSCs (eMSCs) promote immunomodulatory macrophage action and prevent degradation of hippocampal tissue in an organotypic model of secondary injury. Pre-clinical animal studies demonstrate the feasibility of transplanting eMSC via lumbar puncture (LP). Capsules localize within the intrathecal space for at least 6 weeks after transplantation, without any observable degradation. Free MSC (fMSC) transplants were not detectable 1 week after transplantation, while eMSC persisted for at least 2 weeks after injury. eMSC transplantation led to marked improvements in white matter sparing and locomotor function. Overall, these observations support the inclusion of eMSC for post-SCI therapy. Syringomyelia after SCI can be attributed, in part, to a non-resolving inflammatory presence at the injury site. The Stromal cell represents a key cellular regulator of immune specific functions. Therefore studies were designed to evaluate the regulatory action of MSCs on macrophages during inflammation. MSC secretion of PGE2 promoted macrophage reprogramming by attenuating pro-inflammatory M1 cytokine secretion and enhancing expression of M2 CD206. PGE2 reprogramming was mediated through the EP4 receptor and CREB signaling indirectly, via GSK3-α inhibition. Lastly, MSCs led to a marked increase in CD206 expressing cells at the injury site 1 week after transplantation. The data here support the role of stromal derived PGE2 in facilitating macrophage reprogramming and establishes GSK3-CREB interactions as a possible regulatory checkpoint in macrophage reprogramming. In conclusion, MSC regulation of immune cell plasticity may be responsible, in part, for their efficacy observed post-SCI transplantation.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Jeffrey Avi Barmink
Concurrent Validity of the Beery–Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual–Motor Integration and the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency in the Assessment of Children Ages 5 to 12 Years Referred for Occupational Therapy
No full textAbstract
Date Presented 3/31/2017
This study provides clinicians with a comparative analysis of the psychometric property of concurrent validity of two tests of motor proficiency, the Beery–Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual–Motor Integration, sixth edition, and the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency–2 and to assess their usefulness in the evidence-based clinical decision-making process.
Primary Author and Speaker: Doris Obler
Additional Authors and Speakers: Tamara Avi-Itzhak</jats:p
Proposals for International Tax Reform: Is There a Middle Road
No full textIn this article, Avi-Yonah looks at two recent tax reform proposals and discusses plausible avenues for post-election tax reform, suggesting two proposals for solving the problems of the U.S. international tax regime. This article was originally prepared for the Century Foundation\u27s November 17 conference, Paying for Progress: A Tax Reform Agenda for the Next President. See https://tcf.org/content/report/proposals-international-tax-reform/. The author would like to thank Jeff Madrick and the Century Foundation staff for hosting the conference and revising the article
Proposals for International Tax Reform: Is There a Middle Road
No full textIn this article, Avi-Yonah looks at two recent tax reform proposals and discusses plausible avenues for post-election tax reform, suggesting two proposals for solving the problems of the U.S. international tax regime. This article was originally prepared for the Century Foundation\u27s November 17 conference, Paying for Progress: A Tax Reform Agenda for the Next President. See https://tcf.org/content/report/proposals-international-tax-reform/. The author would like to thank Jeff Madrick and the Century Foundation staff for hosting the conference and revising the article
ALL THE MORE: A Merged List of 72 Qal Vachomer Arguments in the Tanakh
No full textALL THE MORE, by Avi Sion, Ph.D., comprises a merged list of 72 qal vachomer arguments in the Tanakh, i.e. of a fortiori arguments in the Hebrew Bible. This listing brings together lists proposed in past rabbinic literature and in more recent studies by the author.
The literature research for it was carried out mainly by R. Yaakov Gabay, who looked into works in Hebrew by five rabbis who had proposed lists, namely: R. Shmuel Yaffe Ashkenazi (Yefeh Toar, 1597), R. Zvi Hirsch Katzenellenbogen (Netivot Olam, 1822), R. Zeev Wolf Einhorn (Midrash Tannaim, 1839), R. Mattityahu Strashun (Mattat Yah, 1892), R. Chaim Hirschensohn (Berure HaMidot, 1928). The author of the present essay brought additional information from the Tanakh commentary of R. Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi, 11th Cent.) and an essay by R. Louis Jacobs (2005), as well as from his own past works (Judaic Logic, 1995, and A Fortiori Logic, 2013).
The information thus gathered is here presented in a systematic manner, after careful evaluation by the author of each case with reference to narrative context, language used, and logical form. Efforts are made to identify which cases were known to each of the past authors, and to determine who found each case first and whether subsequent listings of the case (if any) were independent or derivative
Emerg Infect Dis
No full textTick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a viral infection of the central nervous system that occurs in many parts of Europe and Asia. Humans mainly acquire TBE through tick bites, but TBE occasionally is contracted through consuming unpasteurized milk products from viremic livestock. We describe cases of TBE acquired through alimentary transmission in Europe during the past 4 decades. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 410 foodborne TBE cases, mostly from a region in central and eastern Europe. Most cases were reported during the warmer months (April\u2013August) and were associated with ingesting unpasteurized dairy products from goats. The median incubation period was short, 3.5 days, and neuroinvasive disease was common (38.9%). The clinical attack rate was 14% (95% CI 12%\u201316%), and we noted major heterogeneity. Vaccination programs and public awareness campaigns could reduce the number of persons affected by this potentially severe disease
Making interactive TV easier to use : interface design for a second screen approach
No full textInteractive television (iTV) has the potential to revolutionize the way we consume broadcast media, but users still find both the notion of iTV and the services currently available problematic. This paper describes a project that investigates a representative group of users' aspirations, and barriers to iTV service engagement in the UK. This primary research informed the development of new User Interface (UI) and service solutions that addressed these barriers. Specifically, a second screen solution was developed to remove the need for iTV services to use on-screen graphics, dramatically improving the possibilities for effective interaction and navigation for iTV interfaces and services. The effectiveness of these solutions was evaluated through the testing of these new iTV services in a representative group of family homes
Does graduation from a token economy predict long-term outcomes of a residential treatment program?
No full textToken economies are efficacious and widely-used treatments for disruptive adolescents in residential settings. However, the literature suggests that positive effects of these treatments may not maintain or generalize when artificial reinforcement is no longer available. Theory and research from both social and behavioral psychology suggest that generalization could be enhanced if acute behavior change in token economies is followed by a phase that emphasizes self-regulation training and natural and logical consequences over token reinforcement. At Girls and Boys Town's family-style residential program for youth with multiple behavioral and environmental problems, youth who succeed in the program progress through motivation system levels, from traditional token economy levels to a motivation system that emphasizes self-regulation and natural and logical consequences. It was hypothesized that youth who ended their treatment at higher motivation system levels would have better outcomes at 5-16-year follow-up, even when controlling for a proxy of general success in the treatment program (Favorable Departure Rating). One cohort of former residents was surveyed 16 years, on average, after departure (n = 207; 42% of the total cohort), and another cohort of former residents was surveyed 5 years after departure (n = 131; 61% of the total cohort). Data on respondents were also collected from treatment records. Analyses of the 16-year follow-up group suggested that discharge from higher motivation systems positively predicted educational attainment, household income, and military service and marginally predicted locus of control and happiness. However, when controlling for Favorable Departure, motivation system marginally predicted only two outcomes. Favorable Departure was a more reliable predictor of happiness, highest grade completed, and (marginally) respondents' retroactive evaluation of the treatment at follow-up than motivation system was. Neither measure significantly predicted outcome on 13 other long-term outcome measures. In the 5-year follow-up group, motivation system was again a strong predictor of military service, even when controlling for Favorable Departure. However, neither motivation system nor Favorable Departure was a significant predictor of any of the other 16 long-term outcome measures. Exploratory analyses of predictors of post-treatment success and long-term follow-up outcomes of residential treatment were also conducted. Extensive recommendations for follow-up research are offered.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-101)
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