A discrete approach to Wirtinger's inequality

Considering Wirtinger's inequality for piece-wise equipartite functions we find a discrete version of this classical inequality. The main tool we use is the theorem of classification of isometries. Our approach provides a new elementary proof of Wirtinger's inequality that also allows to study the case of equality. Moreover it leads in a natural way to the Fourier series development of $2\pi$-periodic functions.Comment: 9 page

Managing Waiting Times to Predict No-shows and Cancelations at a Children’s Hospital

Purpose: Since long waits in hospitals have been found to be related to high rates of no-shows and cancelations, managing waiting times should be considered as an important tool that hospitals can use to reduce missed appointments. The aim of this study is to analyze patients’ behavior in order to predict no-show and cancelation rates correlated to waiting times. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on the data from a US children’s hospital, which includes all the appointments registered during one year of observation. We used the call-appointment interval to establish the wait time to get an appointment. Four different types of appointment-keeping behavior and two types of patients were distinguished: arrival, no-show, cancelation with no reschedule, and cancelation with reschedule; and new and established patients. Findings: Results confirmed a strong impact of long waiting times on patients’ appointment-keeping behavior, and the logarithmic regression was found as the best-fit function for the correlation between variables in all cases. The correlation analysis showed that new patients tend to miss appointments more often than established patients when the waiting time increases. It was also found that, depending on the patients’ appointment distribution, it might get more complicated for hospitals to reduce missed appointments as the waiting time is reduced. Originality/value: The methodology applied in our study, which combines the use of regression analysis and patients’ appointment distribution analysis, would help health care managers to understand the initial implications of long waiting times and to address improvement related to patient satisfaction and hospital performance.Peer Reviewe

Design and Optimization of a Mycoplasma Detection Assay

Mycoplasma are among the smallest free living microorganisms. These bacteria grow slowly, lack a rigid cell wall and are not eliminated by filter sterilization methods used in tissue culture. Mycoplasma infection affects biochemical and genetic aspects of cultured cells, resulting in experimental inconsistency. Therefore, it is necessary to establish routine testing for mycoplasma contamination in tissue culture laboratories. Our goal is to develop a reliable and cost-effective test for mycoplasma in cell culture based on established methods found in literature. We first cloned and sequenced a PCR product from a commercial mycoplasma detection kit. Sequencing revealed the 16s rRNA as the target for mycoplasma detection; we confirmed this target by conducting a literature search. PCR primers were designed using 16s rRNA gene as a target. We set-up reactions and optimized conditions for the real-time PCR assay to detect the target and confirmed amplicon size with agarose gel electrophoresis. We identified that 56oC was the best temperature for the PCR and found that agarose gel electrophoresis was a better detection method because it identified the size to confirm the proper product. The primers we ordered to develop this assay produce the proper band; however, results of several assays have been inconsistent as sometimes a known positive sample fails to amplify. As well, in several PCR reactions the negative showed a signal. The overall reaction needs improvements to have greater reliability and to eliminate all sources of contamination. Research is continuing results are not final

La convergencia entre identidad e imagen de las actividades extra-académicas: una investigación empírica

Uno de los principales nexos de unión entre la Universidad y la Empresa lo constituyen las actividades extra-académicas. Este estudio recoge una investigación empírica, en la que se determina, tanto la identidad de una de estas actividades, como la imagen de ella que tienen los distintos públicos en los que se han dividido los clientes externos. A p a rtir de estos datos se obtiene información para delimitar de forma realista los objetivos que se deben perseg u ir a la hora de diseñar e implantar la estrategia de comunicación al servicio de la imagen. También se analiza si realmente se producen efectos sinérgicos al lnteractuar los atributos que configuran la imagen

The exaltation of divinity in Mesopotamia: Marduk and Sin, two possible political instruments in Babylon

La Babilonia de Hammurabi, en el siglo xviii a.C., se convirtió en capital territorial y religiosa de Mesopotamia a la par que su dios tutelar, Marduk, fue encumbrado como jefe del panteón babilonio. Casi trece siglos después, Nabónido, un usurpador del trono de Babilonia, quiso entregar la supremacía que hasta entonces ostentaba Marduk al dios lunar Sin, una decisión que le valió la enemistad con el clero de Marduk y, en definitiva, le costó el exilio, el trono de Babilonia e, incluso, la vidaThe Babylon of Hammurabi in the 17th century BC became a territorial and a religious capital of Mesopotamia, as to its tutelary god, Marduk, who became the commander of the Babylonian pantheon. Almost thirteen centuries after, Nabonidus, an usurper of the Babyloninan throne, wanted to give the godly supremacy that held Marduk to the lunar god Sin. This decision caused him a confrontation with Marduk’s priests, and eventually, his exile, the Babylonian throne and, even, his own lif