Multicriterial ranking approach for evaluating bank branch performance

14 ranking methods based on multiple criteria are suggested for evaluating the performance of the bank branches. The methods are explained via an illustrative example, and some of them are applied to a real-life data for 23 retail bank branches in a large-scale private Turkish commercial bank

Unwinding of primer-templates by archaeal family-B DNA polymerases in response to template-strand uracil

Archaeal family-B DNA polymerases bind tightly to deaminated bases and stall replication on encountering uracil in template strands, four bases ahead of the primer-template junction. Should the polymerase progress further towards the uracil, for example, to position uracil only two bases in front of the junction, 3′–5′ proof-reading exonuclease activity becomes stimulated, trimming the primer and re-setting uracil to the +4 position. Uracil sensing prevents copying of the deaminated base and permanent mutation in 50% of the progeny. This publication uses both steady-state and time-resolved 2-aminopurine fluorescence to show pronounced unwinding of primer-templates with Pyrococcus furiosus (Pfu) polymerase–DNA complexes containing uracil at +2; much less strand separation is seen with uracil at +4. DNA unwinding has long been recognized as necessary for proof-reading exonuclease activity. The roles of M247 and Y261, amino acids suggested by structural studies to play a role in primer-template unwinding, have been probed. M247 appears to be unimportant, but 2-aminopurine fluorescence measurements show that Y261 plays a role in primer-template strand separation. Y261 is also required for full exonuclease activity and contributes to the fidelity of the polymerase

An archaeal family-B DNA polymerase variant able to replicate past DNA damage: occurrence of replicative and translesion synthesis polymerases within the B family

A mutant of the high fidelity family-B DNA polymerase from the archaeon Thermococcus gorgonarius (Tgo-Pol), able to replicate past DNA lesions, is described. Gain of function requires replacement of the three amino acid loop region in the fingers domain of Tgo-Pol with a longer version, found naturally in eukaryotic Pol zeta (a family-B translesion synthesis polymerase). Inactivation of the 3'–5' proofreading exonuclease activity is also necessary. The resulting Tgo-Pol Z1 variant is proficient at initiating replication from base mismatches and can read through damaged bases, such as abasic sites and thymine photo-dimers. Tgo-Pol Z1 is also proficient at extending from primers that terminate opposite aberrant bases. The fidelity of Tgo-Pol Z1 is reduced, with amarked tendency tomake changes at G:C base pairs. Together, these results suggest that the loop region of the fingers domain may play a critical role in determining whether a family-B enzyme falls into the accurate genome-replicating category or is an errorprone translesion synthesis polymerase. Tgo-Pol Z1 may also be useful for amplification of damaged DNA

Stock return and monetary variables in Istanbul Securities Exchange: a cointegration analysis

Ankara : The Department of Economics and the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent Univ., 1995.Thesis(Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1995.Includes bibliographical references leaves 29-31.This study investigates the long run relationship between stock prices and monetary variables and examines the different aspects of the relation for the period between 1988 and 1995, and for three subperiods within this range using daily data. The discrimination between the periods are made due to the strict changes in the volume of trade in ISE which indicate us a structural change.A recently developed statistical theory, i.e. the cointegration theory, which is based on the use of time series regressions and permits us to study the long-run relations of the nonstationary time series, is used for examining the relation.The results show that especially in last five years, there is a tendency to weaken the relation between monetary variables and the stock prices in Turkish stock market. This tendency can be explained by the rapid increase in the volume of trade causing an increase in the number of investors utilizing the same set of information.Argaç, A RehaM.S

HIV therapy by a combination of broadly neutralizing antibodies in humanized mice

Human antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) can neutralize a broad range of viral isolates in vitro and protect non-human primates against infection. Previous work showed that antibodies exert selective pressure on the virus but escape variants emerge within a short period of time. However, these experiments were performed before the recent discovery of more potent anti-HIV-1 antibodies and their improvement by structure-based design. Here we re-examine passive antibody transfer as a therapeutic modality in HIV-1-infected humanized mice. Although HIV-1 can escape from antibody monotherapy, combinations of broadly neutralizing antibodies can effectively control HIV-1 infection and suppress viral load to levels below detection. Moreover, in contrast to antiretroviral therapy the longer half-life of antibodies led to control of viraemia for an average of 60 days after cessation of therapy. Thus, combinations of potent monoclonal antibodies can effectively control HIV-1 replication in humanized mice, and should be re-examined as a therapeutic modality in HIV-1-infected individuals

СТАНДАРТИ НАДАННЯ МЕДИЧНОЇ ДОПОМОГИ ХВОРИМ НА ЦУКРОВИЙ ДІАБЕТ МЕДИЧНОЮ СЕСТРОЮ ЗАГАЛЬНОЇ ПРАКТИКИ

The article represents an exemplary local protocol for providing of medical care to patients with diabetes mellitus by general duty nurse, created by the authors on the basis of modern normative documents (clinical protocols of medical care to patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2).У статті наведено примірний локальний протокол із надання медичної допомоги хворим на цукровий діабет медичною сестрою загальної практики, розроблений авторами на основі сучасних нормативних документів (уніфікованих клінічних протоколів із надання медичної допомоги хворим на цукровий діабет 1 та 2 типів)

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ПІДГОТОВКИ МЕДИЧНИХ СЕСТЕР З ПАЛІАТИВНОЇ ТА ХОСПІСНОЇ ДОПОМОГИ В УКРАЇНІ ТА ПОЛЬЩІ

The subject Palliative Medicine includes the mastering of complex medical, social, psychological and spiritual activities aimed at improving the quality of life of patients with terminal illness and the limited outlook of life and their family members. Analysis of the master of nursing training in health education is performed in the article. The features of teaching Palliative Medicine in Ukraine and Poland is compared.Предмет «Паліативна медицина» охоплює засвоєння комплексу медичних, соціальних, психологічних та духовних заходів, спрямованих на поліпшення якості життя пацієнтів, які мають невиліковну хворобу та обмежений прогноз життя, а також членів їхніх сімей. У статті проведено аналіз підготовки магістрів медсестринства. Порівняно особливості викладання паліативної медицини в Україні та Польщі.

Compact Broadband Antenna with Vicsek Fractal Slots for WLAN and WiMAX Applications

This paper aims to design a compact broadband antenna for wireless local area network (WLAN) and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX) applications. The suggested antenna consists of an octagonal radiator with Vicsek fractal slots and a partial ground plane, it is printed on FR-4 dielectric substrate, and its global dimension is 50 x 50 x 1.6 mm(3). The antenna is designed and constructed using both CST MICROWAVE STUDIO(R) and CADFEKO electromagnetic solver, and in order to validate the acquired simulation results, the antenna is manufactured and tested using vector network analyzer E5071C. The measurement results show that the designed antenna attains a broadband bandwidth (S-11 < -10 dB) from 2.48 to 6.7 GHz resonating at 3.6 and 5.3 GHz, respectively. The broadband bandwidth covers the two required bands: WiMAX at the frequencies 2.3/2.5/3.3/3.5/5/5.5 GHz and WLAN at the frequencies 3.6/2.4-2.5/4.9-5.9 GHz. In addition, the suggested antenna provides good gains of 2.78 dBi and 5.32 dBi, omnidirectional measured radiation patterns in the E-plane and the H-plane and high efficiencies of 88.5% and 84.6% at the resonant frequencies. A close agreement of about 90% between simulation and measurement results is noticed