398 research outputs found
Infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss and sperm DNA fragmentation, have we found the missing link?
No full textFINANCIAL 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
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