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Although inventory shrinkage negatively affects firms' operations decisions in nearly every type of industry, it is generally ignored in practice. Most of the available mathematical models are not considering inventory shrinkage caused by lost or misplaced inventory items, because of the mathematical complexity. Therefore, we develop new (r,Q) models addressing shrinkage. Besides misplaced items, we consider perished or lost items, which are common in the retail industry. We further propose an algorithm to solve the models developed. To demonstrate the applicability of our models and solution algorithm, we assume normal and exponential demand distributions. We show that total inventory costs obtained using our models are significantly lower than those from available models, which does not consider misplaced items and the sensitivity analysis leads us to several managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Bronchiectasis is characterized by abnormal, persistent, and irreversible enlargement of the bronchi. Many etiological factors have been described, but there are limited data on the development of bronchiectasis after organ transplantation. Our study is the first to study evaluate the frequency of bronchiectasis in heart and liver transplants as well as kidney transplants. Our aim is to analyze the frequency of bronchiectasis development after solid-organ transplant and the characteristics of the cases and to evaluate potential relationships., Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of patients who underwent solid-organ transplant at the Başkent University Faculty of Medicine Hospital through the hospital electronic information system. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data and thoracic computed tomography scans were evaluated., Results: The study included 468 patients (151 females/317 males). Kidney transplant was performed in 61.5% (n = 207), heart transplant in 20.3% (n = 95), and liver transplant in 18.2% (n = 85) of patients. Development of bronchiectasis was detected in only 13 patients (2.7%). We determined a 13.64-fold risk of developing bronchiectasis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 10.08-fold risk in patients with pneumonia by multivariate regression analyzes, in which all possible risk factors for the development of bronchiectasis after transplant were evaluated., Conclusions: The pathophysiology of transplantassociated bronchiectasis has not yet been clarified. Underlying diseases, recurrent pulmonary infections, and potential effects from immunosuppressive drugs may contribute to the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis. Further prospective studies are needed to include long-term health outcomes in transplant patients with and without bronchiectasis.

Background: High density lipoprotein (HDL) is well established to have an athero-protective role under normal conditions; however, pro-inflammatory alteration of HDL proteins may transform the HDL particle into a dysfunctional molecule. Our aim was to investigate HDL dysfunction by measuring enzyme-based markers in carotid artery stenosis (CAS). Patients and methods: All participants underwent duplex ultrasound and 52 subjects diagnosed with CAS and 51 subjects who had no significant stenosis (as controls) were enrolled in this study. Serum lipid profiles and serum parameters associated with dysfunctional HDL including myeloperoxidase (MPO), paraoxonase 1 (PON1), arylesterase (ARE) activity, and lipid hydroperoxide (LOOH) levels were measured. Results: It was found that the patients with CAS had increased levels of MPO and LOOH while PON1 activity was decreased. There was no significant difference between the CAS and non-CAS groups in terms of HDL levels. MPO/PON1, MPO/ARE, and LOOH/PON1 ratios were significantly increased in the CAS group. MPO/PON1 and MPO/ARE ratios both demonstrated significant correlations with degree of stenosis (%). Conclusions: The MPO/PON1 and MPO/ARE ratios may be potential serum markers that can enable the monitoring of HDL functionality and the assessment of atherosclerotic disease risks. Additionally, monitoring the oxidative balance of lipids on HDL molecules by LOOH/PON1 ratio may have value in the early detection of pro-atherosclerotic transformation of the HDL particle.

A substantial group of patients suffer from Covid-19 (CAC) coagulopathy and are presented with thrombosis. The pathogenesis involved in CAC is not fully understood. We evaluated the hemostatic and inflammatory parameters of 51 hospitalized Covid-19 adult patients and 21 controls. The parameters analyzed were danger signal molecule (High molecular weight group box protein-1/HMGBP-1), platelet count, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), D-dimer, fibrinogen, endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR), soluble E-selectin, soluble P-selectin, thrombomodulin, tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), soluble fibrin monomer complex (SFMC), platelet-derived microparticles (PDMP), β-thromboglobulin, antithrombin and protein C. The main objective of our study was to investigate which part of the hemostatic system was mostly affected at the admission of Covid-19 patients and whether these parameters could differentiate intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU patients. In this prospective case-control study, 51 patients ≥ 18 years who are hospitalized with the diagnosis of Covid-19 and 21 healthy control subjects were included. We divided the patients into two groups according to their medical progress, either in ICU or non-ICU group. Regarding the outcome, patients were again categorized as a survivor and non-survivor groups. Blood samples were collected from patients at admission at the time of hospitalization before the administration of any treatment for Covid-19. The analyzes of the study were made with the IBM SPSS V22 program. p  < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 51 adult patients (F/M: 24/27) (13 ICU and 38 non-ICU) were included in the study cohort. The mean age of the patients was 68.1 ± 14.4 years. The control group consisted of 21 age and sex-matched healthy individuals. All of the patients were hospitalized. In a group of 13 patients, Covid-19 progressed to a severe form, and were hospitalized in ICU. We found out that the levels of fibrinogen, prothrombin time (PT), endothelial protein-C receptor (EPCR), D-dimer, soluble E-selectin, soluble P-selectin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) were increased; whereas, the levels of soluble fibrin monomer complex (SFMC), platelet-derived microparticles (PDMP), antithrombin and protein-C were decreased in Covid-19 patients compared to the control group at hospital admission. Tissue plasminogen activator was the only marker with a significantly different median level between ICU and non-ICU groups ( p  < 0.001). In accordance with the previous literature, we showed that Covid-19 associated coagulopathy is distinct from sepsis-induced DIC with prominent early endothelial involvement and fibrinolytic shut-down. Reconstruction of endothelial function at early stages of infection may protect patients from progressing to ICU hospitalization. We believe that after considering the patient's bleeding risk, early administration of LMWH therapy for Covid-19, even in an outpatient setting, may be helpful both for restoring endothelial function and anticoagulation. The intensity of anticoagulation in non-ICU and ICU Covid-19 patients should be clarified with further studies., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12291-023-01118-3., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestNone of the authors report any conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Association of Clinical Biochemists of India 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Purpose: There is no study on the role of three-dimensional compressed sensing time of flight MR angiography (3D-CS-TOF) in the management of the WEB device. We evaluated the efficacy of 3-tesla 3D-CS-TOF for the management and follow-up of the WEB device implantations., Materials and Methods: Seventy-three aneurysms of 69 patients treated with the WEB device were retrospectively examined. Morphological parameters and embolization results of the aneurysms were assessed and compared on 3D-CS-TOF, CTA, and DSA images., Results: Occluded, neck remnant, and recurrent aneurysms were observed in 61 (83.6%), 7 (9.6%), and 5 (6.8%) aneurysms, respectively. Inter- and intra-reader agreement values related to aneurysm size measurements were perfect. Aneurysms size, age, and proximal vessel tortuosity were negatively correlated with the visibility of the aneurysms and parent vessels on 3D-CS-TOF images (p = 0.043; p = 0.032; p < 0.001, respectively). Subarachnoid hemorrhage and age are associated with 3D-CS-TOF artifacts (p = 0.031; p = 0.005, respectively). 3D-CS-TOF findings are in perfect agreement with DSA or CT angiography (CTA) results (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: According to our results, 3D-CS-TOF can be an easy, fast, and reliable alternative for the management or follow-up of WEB assisted embolization.