Three-way ordinal non symmetrical correspondence analysis for the evaluation of the patient satisfaction

In some recent articles, emphasis has been given to the partition of the Goodman-Kruskal’s tau index using orthogonal polynomials for the study of the non symmetrical relations in three-way contingency tables. New graphical techniques that consider such a partition and allow for the analysis of asymmetric relationships have been proposed, including three-way ordinal non symmetrical correspondence analysis (Simonetti, 2003). Such a procedure takes into account the presence of an ordinal predictor and response variables. In this paper we demonstrate the applicability of such a technique for the patient satisfaction evaluation

Highly conductive, ionic liquid-based polymer electrolytes

In this manuscript is reported a thermal and impedance spectroscopy investigation carried out on quaternary polymer electrolytes, to be addressed as separators for lithium solid polymer batteries, containing large amount of the N-methyl-N-propylpyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide ionic liquid. The target is the development of Li+ conducting membranes with enhanced ion transport even below room temperature. Polyethylene oxide and polymethyl methacrylate were selected as the polymeric hosts. A fully dry, solvent-free procedure was followed for the preparation of the polymer electrolytes, which were seen to be self-consistent and handled even upon prolonged storage periods (more than 1 year). Appealing ionic conductivities were observed especially for the PEO electrolytes, i.e., 1.6 × 10-3and 1.5 × 10-4 S cm-1 were reached at 20 and -20°C, respectively, which are ones the best, if not the best ion conduction, never detected for polymer electrolytes

Evaluation of immunization practices in Naples, Italy.

This paper reports the results of a survey on vaccination coverage among children born in January 1995 and residing at the beginning of the study (March 1998) in the city of Naples, Italy. The percentages vaccinated, at various times from birth, with oral polio vaccine (OPV), have been compared with those found in a similar survey conducted at the end of 1985 regarding the cohort of children born in June 1983. By the fourth month of life 67% of the 1995 cohort were vaccinated with the first doses of OPV, an increase of about 26% on that found in the 1983 cohort. Similar results were found with the second doses. Among the 1995 cohort 49% were vaccinated with the third dose of OPV within the thirteenth month of life; the corresponding value for the 1983 cohort was 33%. Within the twenty-fourth month of life, in the 1995 cohort, 86% completed the primary cycle of vaccination with OPV; the corresponding figure for the 1983 cohort was 65%. At the end of the third year of life 80% of the 1995 cohort received the fourth dose of OPV. A significant association has been found between socioeconomic status and coverage level

Correlation Functions Along a Massless Flow

A non-perturbative method based on the Form Factor bootstrap approach is proposed for the analysis of correlation functions of 2-D massless integrable theories and applied to the massless flow between the Tricritical and the Critical Ising Models.Comment: 11 pages (two figures not included in the text), Latex file, ISAS/EP/94/15

Quantum Fields on Star Graphs with Bound States at the Vertex

We investigate the propagation of a massless scalar field on a star graph, modeling the junction of $n$ quantum wires. The vertex of the graph is represented by a point-like impurity (defect), characterized by a one-body scattering matrix. The general case of off-critical scattering matrix with bound and/or antibound states is considered. We demonstrate that the contribution of these states to the scalar field is fixed by causality (local commutativity), which is the key point of our investigation. Two different regimes of the theory emerge at this stage. If bound sates are absent, the energy is conserved and the theory admits unitary time evolution. The behavior changes if bound states are present, because each such state generates a kind of damped harmonic oscillator in the spectrum of the field. These oscillators lead to the breakdown of time translation invariance. We study in both regimes the electromagnetic conductance of the Luttinger liquid on the quantum wire junction. We derive an explicit expression for the conductance in terms of the scattering matrix and show that antibound and bound states have a different impact, giving raise to oscillations with exponentially damped and growing amplitudes respectively.Comment: LaTex 1+29 pages, 2 figures: Expanded version with new title and abstract; clarifying comments, fig.2 and references added; final version to appear in J. Math. Phy

Interstellar Scintillation of the Polarized Flux Density in Quasar, PKS 0405-385

The remarkable rapid variations in radio flux density and polarization of the quasar PKS 0405-385 observed in 1996 are subject to a correlation analysis, from which characteristic time scales and amplitudes are derived. The variations are interpreted as interstellar scintillations. The cm wavelength observations are in the weak scintillation regime for which models for the various auto- and cross-correlations of the Stokes parameters are derived and fitted to the observations. These are well modelled by interstellar scintillation (ISS) of a 30 by 22 micro-as source, with about 180 degree rotation of the polarization angle along its long dimension. This success in explaining the remarkable intra-day variations (IDV)in polarization confirms that ISS gives rise to the IDV in this quasar. However, the fit requires the scintillations to be occurring much closer to the Earth than expected according to the standard model for the ionized interstellar medium (IISM). Scattering at distances in the range 3-30 parsec are required to explain the observations. The associated source model has a peak brightness temperature near 2.0 10^{13}K, which is about twenty-five times smaller than previously derived for this source. This reduces the implied Doppler factor in the relativistic jet, presumed responsible to 10-20, high but just compatible with cm wavelength VLBI estimates for the Doppler factors in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs).Comment: 43 pages 15 figures, accepted for ApJ Dec 200

Long-term optical variability of PKS 2155-304

Aims: The optical variability of the blazar PKS 2155-304 is investigated to characterise the red noise behaviour at largely different time scales from 20 days to O(>10 yrs). Methods: The long-term optical light curve of PKS 2155-304 is assembled from archival data as well as from so-far unpublished observations mostly carried out with the ROTSE-III and the ASAS robotic telescopes. A forward folding technique is used to determine the best-fit parameters for a model of a power law with a break in the power spectral density function (PSD). The best-fit parameters are estimated using a maximum-likelihood method with simulated light curves in conjunction with the Lomb Scargle Periodogram (LSP) and the first-order Structure Function (SF). In addition, a new approach based upon the so-called Multiple Fragments Variance Function (MFVF) is introduced and compared to the other methods. Simulated light curves have been used to confirm the reliability of these methods as well as to estimate the uncertainties of the best-fit parameters. Results: The light curve is consistent with the assumed broken power-law PSD. All three methods agree within the estimated uncertainties with the MFVF providing the most accurate results. The red-noise behaviour of the PSD in frequency f follows a power law with f^-{\beta}, {\beta}=1.8 +0.1/-0.2 and a break towards f^0 at frequencies lower than f_min=(2.7 +2.2/-1.6 yrs)^-1.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, the ROTSE-light curve can be downloaded from http://vizier.cfa.harvard.edu/viz-bin/VizieR?-source=J/A+A/531/A12

La actividad turistica en Misiones: El turismo rural una alternativa de desarrollo. 16H135

Este trabajo intenta definir un modelo de desarrollo turístico en el espacio rural que permita la reactivación socioeconómica del área de estudio (Departamentos Guaraní y San Pedro de la provincia de Misiones) y que se constituya en un marco de referencia para el desarrollo de otras áreas similares de la provincia. Para ello se propone una planificación - participativa, que partiendo de previsiones de demanda y oferta culmina en el diseño de líneas de acción