Factors predicting companies' crisis in the engineering industry from the point of view of financial analysis.

A key factor for business management is the assessment of the financial situation of companies. Nowadays, it is essential to monitor the liquidity crisis, which is closely linked to corporate crises. The aim of the paper is to analyse a selected sector of the economy from the perspective of the corporate crisis and to identify the factors of crisis. More than 2000 engineering companies in Slovakia were analysed during the period from 2015 to 2019 with the aim of analysing financial results, especially in the area of financial forecast for the future. In the analysis, statistical testing of the significance of relationships using the Spearman correlation coefficient, the significance of differences by the power of t-test, regression and clustering were used. A significant part of the paper is the analysis of selected indicators of the company's crisis-Altman's Z score and the IN05 index. The results indicate that engineering companies in Slovakia are achieving good results and their financial situation is improving within the years between 2015-2019. The results can also be used as a starting point for research concerning the impact of COVID-19 in this area. In the context of corporate crisis management, engineering companies behave in the same way but it is necessary to monitor individual factors that can detect a corporate crisis. Possible measures would thus lead to the stabilization of financial results and long-term sustainable positive prospects for companies in the future.

Glycoprofiling as a novel tool in serological assays of systemic sclerosis: a comparative study with three bioanalytical methods.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease seriously affecting patient's quality of life. The heterogeneity of the disease also means that identification and subsequent validation of biomarkers of the disease is quite challenging. A fully validated single biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis, disease activity and assessment of response to therapy is not yet available. The main aim of this study was to apply an alternative assay protocol to the immunoassay-based analysis of this disease by employment of sialic acid recognizing lectin Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) to glycoprofile serum samples. To our best knowledge this is the first study describing direct lectin-based glycoprofiling of serum SSc samples. Three different analytical methods for glycoprofiling of serum samples relying on application of lectins are compared here from a bioanalytical point of view including traditional ELISA-like lectin-based method (ELLA), novel fluorescent lectin microarrays and ultrasensitive impedimetric lectin biosensors. Results obtained by all three bioanalytical methods consistently showed differences in the level of sialic acid present on glycoproteins, when serum from healthy people was compared to the one from patients having SSc. Thus, analysis of sialic acid content in human serum could be of a diagnostic value for future detection of SSc, but further work is needed to enhance selectivity of assays for example by glycoprofiling of a fraction of human serum enriched in antibodies for individual diagnostics.

MCP-1 -2518 A/G single nucleotide polymorphism in Slovak patients with systemic sclerosis.

Recent study in a group of German patients with SSc has implicated the SNP in the MCP-1 gene (-2518 A to G) as a factor of susceptibility to SSc. Reflecting the need for replication of genetic association studies, we investigated if this SNP is associated with SSc in another Caucasian population. MCP-1 -2518 A/G genotypes were determined using PCR-SSP in 46 SSc patients and in 449 healthy subjects, all unrelated and of Slovak (Slavonic) origin. The distribution of MCP-1 -2518 A/G genotypes complied with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium both in patient and healthy control groups. There was no difference in MCP-1 -2518*G allele frequency between SSc patients and healthy subjects (patients: 0.23; controls: 0.24; P > .05). Furthermore, MCP-1 -2518 GG homozygotes were similarly represented among SSc patients and healthy subjects (P > .05). The association of MCP-1 -2518 A/G SNP with SSc observed originally in German population was not replicated in the Slovak population.

Lower adrenocortical and adrenomedullary responses to hypoglycemia in premenopausal women with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, adrenomedullary hormonal system (AMHS), and sympathetic noradrenergic system (SNS) in premenopausal women with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: Insulin-induced hypoglycemia (0.1 IU/kg) was performed in 17 longterm, glucocorticoid-naive SSc patients with low disease activity and in 18 healthy women matched for age and body mass index (BMI). Concentrations of glucose, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, androstenedione (ASD), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), 17a-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP), epinephrine (EPI), norepinephrine (NE), interleukin 1ss (IL-1ss), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) were analyzed in plasma. RESULTS: Basal plasma levels of cortisol, ASD, 17OHP, DHEAS, IL-1ss, IL-6, and TNF-a were not significantly different in SSc compared to controls. Patients had higher basal ACTH (6.76 +/- 1.0 pmol/l in SSc vs 4.14 +/- 0.45 pmol/l in controls; p < 0.05), lower basal DHEA (9.02 +/- 1.64 nmol/l in SSc vs 17.0 +/- 2.8 nmol/l in controls; p < 0.05), and lower basal NE (1.61 +/- 0.26 nmol/l in SSc vs 2.57 +/- 0.38 nmol/l in controls; p < 0.05). Patients had comparable responses of glucose and ACTH to hypoglycemia. General linear model for repeated measurements, with BMI and age as covariates, revealed that the responses of 17OHP (p < 0.05), ASD (p < 0.05), DHEA (p < 0.01), EPI (p < 0.001), and NE (p < 0.001) to hypoglycemia were lower in SSc compared to controls. Cortisol response to hypoglycemia tended to be lower in SSc patients (p = 0.06) compared to controls. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate decreased adrenocortical and adrenomedullary functions in premenopausal women with SSc. Whether the observed changes in the neuroendocrine system are secondary to chronic disease deserves further investigation.

Prolactin and growth hormone responses to hypoglycemia in patients with systemic sclerosis and psoriatic arthritis.

This study compared prolactin (PRL) and growth hormone (GH) responses to hypoglycemia in premenopausal females with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with those in matched healthy controls. No differences were found in glucose and GH responses to hypoglycemia in both groups of patients compared to controls. SSc patients had lower PRL response (P < 0.05) to hypoglycemia compared to controls. PRL response tended to be lower also in PsA patients, however the difference did not reach level of statistical significance (P = 0.11). The present study showed decreased PRL response to hypoglycemia in premenopausal females with SSc.

Factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A mutations and the risk of atherothrombotic events in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Because genetic predisposition to atherothrombosis in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains to be determined, the most common genetic prothrombotic factors, prothrombin G20210A and factor V Leiden mutations, were studied. Seventy-four SLE patients with vascular ischemia (SLE cases) were studied and stratified into myocardial infarction and/or cerebrovascular accident subgroup (MI/CVA), and coronary heart disease subgroup without overt arterial thrombotic events (CHD). Seventy-one SLE patients without atherothrombosis were investigated as SLE controls. Factor V Leiden was detected in six cases (five in MI/CVA, one in CHD group) and three controls (OR 2.00, 95%CI 0.48-8.32). Two cases (both CHD patients) had prothrombin G20210A mutation vs. three controls (OR 0.63, 95%CI 0.1-3.88). Anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) were increased in cases vs. controls (39/74 vs. 27/71); however, this was not statistically significant (OR 1.82, 95%CI 0.94-3.52). Neither univariate nor multivariate analysis indicated that investigated mutations are risk factors for atherothrombosis in SLE cases, MI/CVA, or CHD subgroups. Overall, disease activity was the strongest risk factor for atherothrombosis (p=0.0014) in SLE cases. Combination of disease activity+gender was the best predictor of atherothrombotic process (p=0.00045) in this cohort. In MI/CVA subgroup, disease activity was the only predictor (p=0.0058). In CHD patients, the best predictive value was conferred by combination of hypertension+gender+disease activity (p=0.00077). No other investigated risk factor (including aCL) conferred an increased risk individually or potentiated the other risk factors. The results deny the role of investigated mutations in atherothrombosis in SLE, but they underscore the importance of disease activity (i.e., ongoing inflammation) in pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and arterial thrombosis.

Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in patients with neuropsychiatric SLE.

The aim of this study was to investigate a relationship between neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE), characterized by many different neurological and psychiatric disorders, and the polymorphism of apoE as a neurobiologically important molecule conferring increased risk and a worse prognosis of a variety of CNS diseases. One hundred and forty-six SLE patients and 93 healthy controls were studied. Out of the SLE cohort, 48 patients (32.8%) were diagnosed with NPSLE and further classified according to criteria of onset, extent, relapsing tendency and type of neuropsychiatric impairment. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) polymorphism was determined by PCR-RFLP and confirmed by isoelectrofocusing. The frequency of the epsilon4 allele was significantly higher in the NPSLE group than in the non-NPSLE group (17.7% vs. 3.1%, chi(2)=19.05, p<0.0001). Distribution of apoE genotypes was significantly different between NPSLE and non-NPSLE groups (chi(2)=80.95, p<0.0001). Both epsilon4 allele frequency (17.7% vs 8.6%, chi(2)=5.082, p<0.024) and genotype distribution (chi(2)=7.202, p<0.027) were significantly different between NPSLE group and the controls. The allele epsilon4 was also associated with earlier disease onset (Fisher's test, p<0.036) and peripheral nervous system involvement (chi(2)=8.242, p<0.0041), but not with relapse frequency ( p<0.37) or major/minor subtype of the disease ( p<0.90). The epsilon4 allele carriers did not develop significantly more neuropsychiatric syndromes than non- carriers (1.75+/-0.23 sy (mean +/- SD) in epsilon4 vs 1.85+/-0.19 sy (mean +/- SD) in non-epsilon4 carriers, Mann-Whitney test, p<0.78). In conclusion, the data suggest an association between apoE polymorphism and NPSLE.

Interleukin 1alpha single-nucleotide polymorphism associated with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: In systemic sclerosis (SSc), constitutive expression of the proinflammatory and fibrogenic cytokine interleukin 1alpha (IL-1alpha) by dermal fibroblasts from the affected skin has been observed. We investigated the association of a single-nucleotide polymorphism at position -889 in the IL-1alpha gene in patients with SSc. METHODS: Genotyping of IL-1alpha-889 polymorphism was performed in 46 patients with SSc and in 150 healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers. All subjects were unrelated Slovak Caucasians. RESULTS: In SSc patients, carriers of the IL-1alpha-889 T allele were significantly overrepresented in comparison with controls (63.0% vs 42.0%; p = 0.01, OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.6). The frequency of the IL-1alpha-889 T allele was increased in SSc patients (38.0%) in comparison with controls (25.7%; p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The IL-1alpha-889 polymorphism, previously shown to predispose to increased IL-1 protein expression, may be involved in susceptibility to SSc.