The research presented in the paper is the performance analysis of Value at Risk (VaR) model applications, i.e. investment risk measurement using the given models, on the example of transitional markets of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary. The research objective is to achieve high quality knowledge about possibilities of risk measurement using VaR models in the observed markets, tested with concrete examples. The basic hypothesis is that the use of different VaR models provides high quality information on possibilities of investment risk measurement in the cases of transition economies. The research methodology implies the use of MANOVA analysis, discriminant analysis, and Roy’s test. The results indicate the application performance adequacy of extreme value theory (EVT), historical simulation (HS VaR) and delta normal VaR (D VaR) models, and the statistically significant differences between the given VaR models, in relation to the effectiveness of investment risk measurement in the observed markets. On the basis of these results, it is concluded that the application of the EVT, HS VaR and D VaR models leads to high quality information on the possibilities of investment risk measurement in the cases of transition economies of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary.

Bladder cancer has been characterized as an immunogenic cancer and adoptive immunotherapy shows wide application in the treatment of bladder cancer. CD3/CD28 co-stimulation activated T cells have been frequently reported as a new type of anti-tumor T cells, whose response can be enhanced by CD3 mAb as the first signal of T cell activation and CD28 mAb as the second signal by interaction with the B7 molecules. Recently some studies has shown that activation of T cells induced by CD3 mAb and CD28 mAb can increase the expression of PD-1, which can lead to activated T cells apoptosis via interact with B7-H1. Our previous study found that B7-H1 was aberrantly expressed on bladder cancer cells and may contribute to the immune escape in microenvironment of bladder cancer. We show here that PD-1 blockade could enhance the proliferation, persistence and killing activity of CD3/CD28 co-stimulation activated T cells against bladder cancer cells . Moreover, IFN-γ and TNF-α secretions were both up-regulated while IL-10 secretion was down-regulated after PD-1 blockade. Our data suggest that PD-1 blockade can enhance the antitumor effect of CD3/CD28 co-stimulation activated T cells on bladder cancer. PD-1 blockade may serve as a new adjuvant strategy in strengthening the effect of adoptive immunotherapy on bladder cancer.

In this paper, we have investigated the Scattering effects in Carrier Transport of Near-ballistic SiNW MOSFET, which incorporates elastic scattering, optical phonon emission and its combination with random discrete dopants. Current–voltage (I–V) characteristics with impurity limited mobility is compared with Natori’s Ballistic and Quasi-Ballistic Transport model. We study the impact of random discrete dopants in the device leads on the current variability of a Gate-All-Around (GAA) SiNW MOSFET, which shows a remarkable decrease in electric current, mobility variation and transconductance because of limited dopant mobility. Analog parameters like the transconductance (gm), the transconductance generation factor (gm/Id), the early voltage (VA) have also been investigated. Effectiveness of the proposed model has been confirmed by comparing the analytical results with the TCAD simulation results

A study was conducted to determine the emission of CO2 from drained peat overlying pyrite-bearing mineral sediments in the Kelantan Plains, Malaysia. Selected properties of the soils were determined and the implication of drainage and micro-organism on the emission of CO2 were evaluated. The CO2 flux from the soils throughout year 2010 was measured in two different plantation sites. The results showed that the soils were acidic in nature with the topsoil pH of 4.3 or less. Pyrite was detected in the mineral sediments below the peat layer and it was the oxidation of this pyrite that was partly responsible for the increase in the soil acidity. Based on their physico-chemical properties, the soils were classified as Sulfisaprists. The emission of CO2 from this Sulfisaprists was different among the land-use types and seasonal variation was also observed. The highest measured CO2 flux of 3.1 kg C m-2yr-1 was found in the drained forest of gelam species (Melulueca leucadendron), which was significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of the oil palm (Elaies guineensis) with emission of 2.0 kg C m-2 yr-1 or rubber sites (Hevea brasiliansies) with emission of 1.7 kg C m-2yr-1. Using regression analyses, positive correlations were found between the flux of CO2 with soil microbial biomass C (r=0.864) at the oil palm and rubber sites (r=0.849). The emission of CO2 varied from site to site. The differences in CO2 flux among the studied ecosystems suggest that land use may have affected the emission of CO2 from the soils.

Background: Immune cells were reported to play pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of the disease of Verruca plana. Emotional stress is believed to have great impact on the function of human immune system. The aim of this study is to determine the possible association among anxiety, the level of inteleukin-2 (IL-2) and the activity of natural killer (NK) cells in patients with verruca plana. Results: The SAS scores in patients with verruca plana (44.25±11.31) were significantly higher than those in the controls (37.01±10.89) (t =3.04，P<0.01), and 33% of the patients were affected by anxiety. The SAS scores in patients (54.16±11.89) affected by anxiety were significantly higher than those in non-anxiety group (39.35±11.02) (t =5.01, P<0.01). The SAS scores of anxiety（51.18±11.35） and the prevalence(27%)of anxiety disorder in patients unmarried (single) were significantly higher than those in patients married (32.12±11.24) (6%) (t=5.43, P＜0.01、x2= 4.71,P＜0.05). The SAS scores（50.38±11.48）and the prevalence (30%) of anxiety disorder in female patients were significantly higher than those in male patients (34.81 ±10.78）and 3.%( t =4.62， P＜0.01、χ2 =12.69, P＜0.01). The SAS scores and the prevalence of anxiety disorder in patients with long course of disease(>6months) were (45.33±11.19）and 24% and which in patients with short duration (≤6months) were （42.23±11.35）and 9%.There was no significant difference between them(t =1.07, χ2=0.83, P＞0.05). In patients with verruca plana, the level of the IL-2[(44.12±11.37)x103U/L] and the activity of NK cells[(18.96±4.96)%] were significantly lower than those in the controls [(55.12±14.23)x103 U/L, (25.11±6.23)%](t =4.17, P<0.01; t =5.33, P<0.01). In patients with anxiety disorder, the level of the IL-2 [(39.04±10.95)x103 U/L] and the activity of NK cells [(16.25±4.78)%] were significantly lower than those without anxiety [(46.99±11.23)x103 U/L, (20.31±5.12)%, (t=4.17, 5.33, P<0.01)]. Conclusion: Patients with verruca plana were partly affected by anxiety disorder and the cellular immunologic status is abnormal among the patients with Verruca plana.

Thalassemias, group of hereditary blood disorders with less synthesis of one or both globin chain of hemoglobin. Beta thalassemia major is linked with no formation of β-globin chain of hemoglobin and prevalent in the whole world, more affecting developing countries. The current research work was designed to investigate variations in hematological parameters due to iron overload in β-thalassemia patients. Hundred β-thalassemic male and female patients (Fifty each) were considered for this study. Blank blood sample was drawn from each patient. The t- and p-value of studied hematological parameters: red blood cells (0.781, p<0.436), platelet count (8.65, p<0.001), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) 1.27, p<0.204, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) 0.00, p<1, neutrophils (5.97, p<0.001), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) 1.44, p<0.150, hemoglobin (Hb) 15.76, p<0.001, monocytes (3.92, p<0.002), lymphocytes (11.46, p<0.001), Hematocrit (Hct) 13.49, p<0.001, total leukocyte count (TLC) 2.14, p<0.034, eiosinophils (19.95, p<0.001) red blood cell distribution width (RDW) 17.43p<0.001 and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) 12.93, p<0.001. The level of hemoglobin, Hct, RDW, lymphocytes, neutrophils, platelets, eiosinoplis, monocytes, ESR in β-thalassemic male were compared with β-thalassemic female and statistically highly significant (p<0.001) results were obtained. While non significant results were obtained when t-test was applied on RBCs, TLC, MCV, MCHC and MCH values of beta thalassemic males and females. Results of hematological parameters were significantly altered from standard values.

In an iris recognition system, one of the main problems is the use of images with low quality, which affects the performance and effectiveness of the system. Errors in the identification process of these systems as the false acceptance and false rejection are the result of images without adequate quality. Progress in this area of research have increased, mainly supported by standards such as the ISO and NIST, which recommend the evaluation of some characteristics of iris images with the objective to assign a quality value, however, these standards are deficient by failing to establish clear criteria for assessing the quality of the images, so in this paper we propose an algorithm based on ISO / IEC 19794-6 which evaluates each requirement that the standard recommends using specifics methods, achieving classify iris images to use only those that have appropriate levels of quality, making to the iris recognition systems more efficient.

This paper presents design and implementation of a boost converter with passive soft-switching feature to improve efficiency is presented. At first, operational principle of a Boost converter is introduced and then, a variety of soft-switching-cell topologies are discussed. In the passive soft-switching cells, an appropriate one is adopted to reduce switching loss of the DC-DC converter. For verification, a 1200 W boost converter with the soft-switching cell is studied and implemented. In addition, considerations in layout, parallel connection of MOSFETs, and resonant-component selection are also presented in detail. From hardware measurements, the boost converter can achieve high efficiency up to 95%, which also demonstrates that the soft-switching cell reduces switching loss significantly.

Purpose Geographical variation in lupus nephritis epidemiology may indicate important environmental factors contributions to the etiology of lupus nephritis. This paper first describes the epidemiology of biopsy-proven lupus nephritis in China by performing a systematic literature review and the possible social-environmental influential factors. Methods The keywords “lupus nephritis”, “renal biopsy” and “systemic lupus erythematous” were searched in the three largest Chinese electronic databases and Medline/PubMed. The data of the patients with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis were extracted. The possible environmental influential factors including the population density, ethnic group populations, the ratio of females to males, the average sunshine per year, annual average temperature and annual relative humidity, in different regions of China were analyzed. Results Forty-one study centers with 34574 renal disease patients, and 3699 lupus nephritis patients met the inclusion criteria. Lupus nephritis accounts for 2.37% to 25% of all renal disease and 27.2% to 80.65% of renal disease associated with secondary glomerular diseases. The male-to-female ratio is approximately 1:5 in lupus nephritis patients. The included period is predominantly from 1995 to 2010. The proportion ratio of biopsy-proven lupus nephritis in all renal disease or in secondary glomerular disease significantly increased with decreasing latitude from the north to the south part of China. The population is predominantly Han Chinese. The annual average temperature and annual relative humidity or the interaction with other environmental factors maybe influential factors on the epidemiology of biopsy-proven lupus nephritis in China. Conclusions The epidemiology of biopsy-proven lupus nephritis in China is associated with geographical location.

Lack of energy sources, increase of energy demand and costs, competitive conditions in the market and environmental considerations require the efficient usage of energy.\nIn this study, In this study, a continuous rapid heating type, roller hearth type, top and bottom fired and bloom charging industrial furnace charging/discharging door was replaced with an air shutter system. Therefore, furnace pressure shift was controlled, service life increased, gas leakages from openness were prevented, and efficiency of the furnace was increased. In this scope, measurements had been taken, measured data were evaluated and according to the evaluations, the mass and energy balance was established. Moreover, possible energy efficiency enhancement rate by the appliance of air shutter system was determined; payback period, size of investment and saving potential were estimated and current reheating furnace efficiency was determined as 61.83%. By the application of the air shutter system to the furnace, possible saving energy cost is $3900, payback period is about 7.5 months, and system efficiency was evaluated as 61.9%. Possible charging and/or discharging door failures due to the high temperature and corrosive effect of furnace gas was thwarted and as a result, possible occupational accident risks were avoided and a safe working environment was provided.

Th1/Th2 imbalance plays a crucial role in the development of rheumatoid arthritis. It is well known that basophils can affect Th1/Th2 balance by enhancing Th2 response and impairing Th1 response then be involved in the development of many diseases. But little is known the role of basophils in rheumatoid arthritis. Decreased circulating basophils and Th1 response dominated in adult rheumatoid arthritis patients have been reported, while children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis have been found mainly increased circulating basophils and Th2 response dominated. Also, circulating basophils in both of them are activated and associated with disease activity. In addition, longitudinal study found Th2 response dominated in the early stage of rheumatoid arthritis, while Th1 response dominated in long-term chronic rheumatoid arthritis. These finding suggested that basophils maybe involved in the development of rheumatoid arthritis by affect Th1/Th2 balance, but the role of basophils in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis maybe differences from adult rheumatoid arthritis, especially in different stages of the disease.

In this article, simulation results of light in a modified add-drop optical filter are presented. The proposed systems are made up of InGaAsP/InP and consisted of linear optical add-drop filter incorporating two nonlinear nanoring on both sides of the micro ring. This particular configuration is known as a “PANDA” ring resonator, proposed by authors. Light pulse, for instance, Gaussian, bright or dark solitons are fed into the system through different ports such as drop port and through port. By using practical device parameters, the simulation results are obtained using the Optiwave and MATLAB programs. Simultaneous behaviors of light, for instance, fast, slow, stopping and storing light can be manipulated in the various time and different rings, in which the resonant center wavelength is 1.55 micrometer. From results obtained by both analytical and numerical methods, it is found that the four states of light: fast, slow, stopping and storing light can be simultaneously formed within the same system.

Whispering gallery modes (WGMs) of light can be easily generated within a PANDA ring circuit, which is a nonlinear modified optical add-drop filter (ring resonator). When a monochromatic light such as laser, fibre laser, soliton or Gaussian soliton pulse is propagated into the device, the various nonlinear behaviours can be formed and obtained, which can be used for many aspects of applications. To form the sustainable power source, the solar cell device can be fabricated and embedded incorporating the PANDA ring circuits, which is supplied by the solar cells, where in this case the high performance thin film solar cells can be constructed within the PANDA ring circuit system and operated to be the required power source, in which the increasing in output power of 5 times is obtained. The large area WGMs can also be obtained by using PANDA ring array, which they are useful for large unit of applications. These are the simulation results, where all PANDA ring parameters are chosen based on the practical device parameters of the device materials, i.e. InGaAsP/InP, in which the used software programs are MATLAB and Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) Opti-wave. From the simulation results obtained have shown that there are many useful functions can be realized by using the PANDA ring circuits, which they are discussed in details. Firstly, the conjugate mirror for 3D imaging and sensor can be formed by the thin film wall papers. Secondly, the smart tiles for heat sources and Sun light filtering can be constructed, and thirdly, the non-lamp light distribution can be configured by using the visible wavelength region.

Many models in physical, chemical, biological fields can be described carefully by coupled complex equations. Using a computerized symbolic computation technique, we obtained several solutions of three well-known models, namely complex coupled Higgs field, complex coupled Maccari and generalized complex coupled Schr¨odinger-Boussinesq equations. These solutions contain solitons and triangular solutions.

In the context of an evolving and developing educational system based on a social reality, the diversification of the curriculum in higher education, and not only, required the introduction of new modern teaching and learning methods and techniques without renouncing at the most valuable classical ones.\n“The method” is defined as the path or working modality used by teachers and students in teaching interaction to achieve the proposed educational goal. Methods serve cognitive and formative goals of education.\nWe will analyze with priority the methodology for teaching in the socio- humanistic disciplines.\nOne classification of the methods used in the educational process was made by Dale and is known in the literature as “Dale’s Cone of Experience”. We can also find another similar classification under the form of an instrument named \"The Learning Pyramid\".\nIn the winter of 2013 we conducted a research using the opinion survey, based on a questionnaire. We used a representative sample of students from 3 specializations from University of Craiova: International Relations and European Studies, History and Sociology.\nThrough this research we aimed to identify how students from the three specified specializations would classify of the audio-visual methods found in “Dale’s Cone of Experience” and “Learning Pyramid”, depending on the manner in which this methods influence their learning process.

Renal ischemia may lead to oxygen tension in renal papilla which can induce cell injury. The interaction between calcium oxalate (CaOx) and epithelial cells injury is believed as a key factor in crystal deposition as the nidus of idiopathic CaOx stone. Therefore, renal vascular ischemia could be a promoter in the formation of CaOx stone. We investigated CaOx deposition and CaOx metabolism in rats at the condition of renal ischemia in this context. 100 Sprague Dawley rats were randomized into 4 groups. Group A and B were established CaOx stone by being fed 0.75% ethylene glycol water while normal dietary was given to group C and D. All right kidneys were removed. Meanwhile, left renal artery in Group B and C was clamped for 30mins and then released. On 0, 2nd, 4th, 7th and 14th day, oxalate, Creatinine (Cr) and urea nitrogen (UN) levels were evaluated in 24 h urine and blood serum by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) and ion mass spectrum (IMS). 24-h urine volume was measured. Crystal deposition was determinated by H.E and Von Kossa stating. The interaction of CaOx crystals and renal cells was determinate by transmission electron microscope (TEM). High levels of Cr and UN were found in groups B and C. Oxalate levels were higher in groups A and B than in normal dietary groups from 2nd day (P<0.05). We confirmed early crystal deposition in renal papilla on 7th day in group B compared to crystallization on 14th day in group A. Our finding supports that renal ischemia induced renal tubular and interstitial cells injury may promote the deposition of CaOx crystals and formation of CaOx stone.

This paper takes advantage of the mathematical software Maple for the auxiliary tool to study the partial differential problem of two types of two-variables functions. We can obtain the infinite series forms of any order partial derivatives of these functions by using complex power series method and differentiation term by term method, and hence greatly reduce the difficulty of calculating their higher order partial derivative values. On the other hand, we provide two examples to do calculation practically. The research methods adopted in this study involved finding solutions through manual calculations and verifying these solutions by using Maple.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide-secreting tumors (VIPomas) are rare and life-threatening, but can be successfully treated. Here, we present a case report, with a review of diagnosis and treatment for VIPomas in the Chinese biological and medical literature from 1979 to 2013, covering clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, imaging features, treatment and follow up of 31 patients, including one case from our hospital. We found the main clinical manifestations to include periodical secretory watery diarrhea, hypokalemia, achlorhydria, and higher serum VIP levels. Watery diarrhea disappeared or was relieved after surgery or use of somatostatin. Typical symptoms and serum VIP levels were keys to diagnosis. Surgery is the most effective treatment, although somatostatin can relieve symptoms. Tumor resection, radiofrequency tissue ablation, chemotherapeutics and liver transplantation are options for VIPomas that metastasize to the liver.

The primary aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of spiritual leadership on empowerment. The method of study - is a descriptive survey. Data collection consisted of two questionnaires, one questionnaire based empowerment theory, mishra (1992) and a questionnaire based on the theory of spiritual leadership fry (2003) Are the experts have confirmed the validity of the questionnaire and its reliability by Cronbach\'s alpha coefficient of 0.93 is estimated to empower .95 for spiritual leadership. Experience analyzing data using statistical software LISREL taken. Results showed that the spiritual leadership on empowerment of employees of centers in Tehran has a positive influence in other words, all hypotheses were confirmed.

To compete in a dynamic marketplace, construction companies must continually improve their organizational performance. Therefore, the demand for performance measurement and benchmarking at the company level has increased. However, no insight has been provided into the overall performance of the firms in Saudi Arabia. Accordingly, this paper aims to develop a benchmarking framework that can be implemented by construction executives to measure, compare, assess, and improve the performance at the company level. This framework consists of a set of significant key performance indicators (KPIs), in addition to their measurement methods and relative weights. The available literature and questionnaires for large building construction contractors working in Saudi Arabia were used to identify KPIs along with their measurement methods. The relative weights of the KPIs were calculated using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The effectiveness and applicability of the proposed framework were validated through the application of this framework to three construction companies working in Saudi Arabia.

Change order is one of the most common causes for delay in construction projects. However, the change order differs from other delay events due to it is usually agreed between the contract parties before implementation. Consequently, there is critical need to distinguish between change orders and other delay events during delay analysis in order to catch the real critical path. In addition, isolating the change order analysis results separately from delay analysis results helps in achieve accurate pricing for change orders through estimating the increased in the time-related costs such as overhead costs. This paper aims to develop systematic approach to analyze and fix the responsibilities of delay and change orders in project’s schedule using current delay analysis techniques. The proposed approach can be considered as the base for development of software to analyze the change order and delay claims more easily, effectively, and accurately.

The idea of this paper is to determine by means of a relatively new method of operation researches, that is, by the method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA method), the efficiency of mechanical engineering secondary schools (MESS) in Belgrade District. The endeavour in the paper was to find, by means of DEA method, the solutions which would improve the work and efficiency of secondary schools, both mechanical (and other specialized schools) and high schools. Respecting the knowledge relating to the area of operation researches, especially in the area of activities of non- profit researches, such as schools, it can be concluded that in the researches during the past 10 years, it has come to the significant changes in our school system.

The present paper uses the mathematical software Maple for the auxiliary tool to study the partial differential problem of two types of two-variables functions. The infinite series forms of any order partial derivatives of these two types of functions can be obtained by using two important methods: complex power series, differentiation term by term, and hence greatly reduce the difficulty of determining their higher order partial derivative values. In addition, we provide two examples to do calculation practically. The research methods adopted in this study involved finding solutions through manual calculations and verifying these answers by using Maple.

Class imbalance is one of the challenging problems for machine learning in many real-world applications. Many methods have been proposed to address and attempt to solve the problem, including re-sampling and cost-sensitive learning. An important trend in machine learning is the appearance of ensemble learning which combines the decisions of multiple weak classifiers to form an integrated output. Ensemble learning is also a good solution for solving the class imbalance problem by integrating re-sampling technique or weighting strategy. We extend the Random Subspace Method to a novel Adaptive Diverse Random Subspace Method (ADRSM), moreover we propose two new strategies applied on the ADRSM to deal with imbalanced data classification. The first strategy is based on the threshold selection for maximizing the imbalanced data evaluation; the other is based on generative Gaussian mixture distribution over-sampling. Experimental results on various standard benchmark datasets with different ratios of imbalance show that the proposed methods are effective in comparison with commonly used techniques. We conclude that the variant of the random subspace method proposed is a good framework for imbalanced data classification.

The aim of this study is to find out the optimum operating conditions in a diesel engine fueled with biogas-diesel dual fuel. One dimensional (1D), three dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code and multi-objective optimization code are employed to investigate the influence of biogas-diesel dual fuel combustion performance and exhaust emissions in a diesel engine. In this paper, 1D engine code and multi-objective optimization code are coupled and evaluated about 15000 cases to define the proper boundary conditions. In addition, selected single diesel fuel (Dodecane) and dual fuel (biogas-diesel) combustion modes are modeled to compare the engine performances and exhaust emission characteristics by using CFD code under various operating conditions. In optimization study, start of pilot diesel fuel injection, biogas-diesel flow rate and engine speed are optimized and selected cases are compared using CFD code. Biogas and diesel fuels are defined as leading reactants using user defined code. The results showed that, significantly lower NOx emissions are emitted under dual-fuel operation for all cases compared to single-fuel mode at all engine load conditions. Also, biogas-diesel provided superior performance in reductions of NOx and soot emissions.

The research subject of this paper is analysis of international competitiveness of the processed food sector, in order to point out the countries with a stable market position in the sector. In this research, we used indexes: RXA, RTA, ln RXA, RC and RCA. We have dynamically perceived the existence of correlation between the received indexes for each country, index change over time and extracted the commodity groups that belong to the processed food sector in which countries have a comparative advantage. Research results indicate an intensification of trade in the processed food sector, and an increase in competitiveness of processed food sectors in Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Serbia and Ukraine, while in other countries a decrease of competitiveness occurred.

In this paper, we take advantage of the mathematical software Maple for the auxiliary tool to study the partial differential problem of two types of two-variables functions. The infinite series forms of any order partial derivatives of these two-variables functions can be obtained by using complex power series method and differentiation term by term method, and hence greatly reduce the difficulty of calculating their higher order partial derivative values. In addition, we propose two examples to do calculation practically. The research methods adopted in this study involved finding solutions through manual calculations and verifying these solutions by using Maple.

Background: Although intensive insulin therapy has been adopted for several years, the exact target of glucose control remained controversial, especially for neurologic critically ill patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the optimal range of glucose which can predict outcomes and present a possible window of moderate glucose control. Methods: Patients meeting inclusion criteria were enrolled and demographic data were collected for comparison. After 90 days follow-up, logistic regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and receiver operating characteristic analysis were used to identify the relationship between admission glucose level and clinical outcomes. Results: From analysis based on a total of 207 patients, admission higher glucose level can predict the worsen outcome, which also had significant correlation with APACHEⅡ, SAPSⅡ. Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses indicated that glucose cut-off value of 140mg/dl for admission was the best predictor of mortality. Additionally, patients with 140-200mg/dl glucose band and >200mg/dl glucose band had significant increase in the odds of dying when compared with <110mg/dl glucose band. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis confirmed the previous results. Conclusions: Results from our study indicated that 140 mg/dl may be a useful cut-off point which can predict the worsen outcome and also present a possible therapeutic window of insulin therapy aimed to 110-140 mg/dl for critically ill neurologic patients.

This paper aims to develop a novel method for assessing students’ learning level in a more sophisticated way. It also presents the basic grading philosophies: the norm-referenced systems, and criterion-referenced systems. Assessment of learning is one of the most important and difficult task in the learning and teaching processes. Assessment consists of several components, each with a number of judgments often based on imprecise and vague data. The impression and vagueness arise from human interpretation, evaluation and assessment. This study presents the statistical analysis of learning level and two other advanced approaches based on fuzzy inference system for assessing the outcomes of students. As a result, statistical outcomes of learning level were calculated, evaluated and compared with the outcomes of the fuzzy methods. The proposed approaches incorporate the educators, families and educational institutions to have a better understanding on the assessment criteria. It also aims at encouraging students to participate in the whole learning process and proving a fair environment for student assessment.

This research reviewed the impact of macroeconomic factors (industrial production growth, national income, capital market return) on operating cost stickiness for companies listed in the Tehran stock exchange. Using the elimination method, 91 firms were chosen and data was extracted from the firms and the Central Bank library to test the hypothesis. The variables tested used multivariable linear regression. This research has based on annual observations from the years 2007 to 2012. The results showed that there is a meaningful positive relation between industrial production growth and operating cost stickiness and a meaningful positive relation between capital market return and operating cost stickiness. No meaningful relation was found between national income and operating cost stickiness.

Using a non-Newtonian mathematical model for the blood flow in large vessels – elaborated and presented already by us in previous papers, we make some remarks on the wall shear stress (WSS) in the case of a human abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We concentrate on the mechanical conditions which would lead to the rupture of the vascular vessel with aneurysm.\n The original feature is that the established condition is not backed on the real blood flow but only on the data got via the above mentioned model. This leads to a more suitable tool of risk rupture prediction which avoids almost completely the investigation in vivo.

It was revealed that in the Tabriz region of the Islamic Republic of Iran the\ntotal amount of selenium in the poultry food and water was respectively\n0.052+/-0.006 mg/kg and 0.008+/-0.001 mg/l. It is less than norm accepted in\nliterature for poultry. That why selenium supplementation in the food\nallowances of poultry can positively effect on level of their productivity.