This is a study of the relationship between context, internal corporate governance and firm performance, looking at the case of Turkey, an exemplar of family capitalism. We found more concentrated ownership, often in the hands of families, led to firms performing better; concentrated ownership means that controlling families bear more of the risks of poor performance. Less predictably, given that the institutional environment is so well attuned to family ownership, we found that mechanisms that accord room for a greater range of voices and interests within and beyond families -larger boards and foreign ownership stakes -seem to also make for positive performance effects. We also noted that increases in cross ownership did not influence market performance, but was negatively associated with accounting performance. Conversely, we found that a higher proportion of family members on boards had no discernable effect on performance. Our findings provide further insights on the relationship between the type of institutions encountered in many emerging markets, internal corporate governance configurations and firm performance.

We aimed to determine the difference in tissue stiffness, which might reflect histologic damage, by comparing the potential of the shear wave elastography (SWE) values of operated undescended testes (OUT) with those of undescended testes (UT) and normal testes. A total of 120 patients (235 testes) were enrolled in the current study. Quantitative SWE values were measured by manually drawing contours of the entire testis structure with a free region of interest. A group of 66 OUT were classified as group A. Operation age and the period passed over the operation time and SWE values were compared among the testes assigned to group A. The 50 testes having inguinal canal placement were classified as group B, and the 119 testes whose sonography findings were normal were classified as group C. These 3 groups were compared in terms of the SWE values and volume. The SWE values of group A were significantly higher than those of groups B and C (P < 0.001). The SWE values of group B were significantly higher than those of group C (P < 0.001). The SWE values of OUT were significantly higher than those of the contralateral normal testes and UT (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences among operation age and period passed over the operation time and SWE values in the OUT (P > 0.05). There was no significant correlation between SWE values and testes' volume (P > 0.05). The SWE technique can be used effectively as a new parameter to assess stiffness of the OUT and UT to predict interstitial fibrosis and the severity of histologic damage.

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The pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) presumptively is due to an inappropriate intestinal epithelial immunologic response of immature gut to luminal stimuli. Glutamine is essential for intestinal crypt cell proliferation and enhances the cellular response to growth factors. We aimed to test the hypothesis that the supplementation of enteral feedings with glutamine may stimulate an immature intestine and decrease the intestinal inflammatory change in NEC. Immediately after birth, the neonatal rats were weighed and randomized into one of four treatment groups. Group 1 consisted of rats whom were breast-fed. Group 2 (NEC group) consisted of neonates whom were fed with a special rodent formula. Rats in groups 3 and 4 were fed in a similar fashion to those in group 2, and glutamine 0.3 mg/kg per day and dexamethasone 0.5 mg/kg per day were added to their formula, respectively. The neonatal rats were weighed and killed on day 4: the last 4 cm of terminal ileum was harvested for morphological studies and detection of nitrite and nitrate levels in tissue. The animals in the NEC group showed various degrees of inflammatory changes similar to clinical NEC. The inflammatory changes of the intestine appeared to be attenuated in both glutamine- and steroid-treated animals compared to those in the NEC group. Only steroid treatment decreased the tissue levels of these nitrogen oxides that were increased in rats in the NEC group. We herein provide evidence that maturational agents such as glutamine and dexametasone can attenuate the local intestinal inflammatory damage in experimental NEC. These findings support the hypothesis that the gut immaturity in premature infants represents a risk factor for NEC.

Spinal anesthesia provided by hyperbaric bupivacaine is adequate for distal hypospadias repair in children, but adding 2 microg x kg(-1) intrathecal morphine provides better postoperative pain control when compared to placebo in these children.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: NONE DECLAREDIntroductionTeratomas are derived from embryonic tissues that are typically found in the gonadal and sacrococcygeal regions of adults and children. Primary teratomas in the retroperitoneum are very rare in infant and primary adrenal teratomas are extremely rare. Early diagnosis and surgical resection are important for effective treatment.Case reportWe report here the case of a histologically unusual adrenal teratomas detected on computed tomography during the workup of abdominal distension 3-mounth-old male infant. The evaluation and treatment of this condition and a review of the literature are included in this paper.

The BI-RADS classification-based treatment algorithm may not be valid in adolescents. In the present study, all patients with lesions with BI-RADS ≥3 levels had revealed benign pathologies. The BI-RADS classification may show an increased risk. However, to determine the need for a biopsy in adolescents, there is a need for larger-scale pediatric and adolescent studies using the BI-RADS classification.