THE INFLUENCE OF THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE ENTERPRISES IN SERVICES ON EXPORTS. THE CASE OF 25 EU COUNTRIES IN 2007

Services are the most important contributor to the GDP and also the most important job generator. Countries development, usually, is based on the services sector. The present paper is aiming to highlight the influence of the number of active enterprises in services on exports. The paper is based on a model generated using data provided by Eurostat, for 25 EU countries and for 4 services categories. Generated in Eviews 4.1, the model is correctly specified, with a R-squared value of 0.65, and revealed a validated influence of the number of enterprises active in Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods and in Real estate, renting and business activities on exports.enterprise, services, exports, European Union

Senior Entrepreneurship Literature: A Systematic Review

The present paper aims to provide a comprehensive approach to the senior entrepreneurship literature, by employing a systematic review process, focusing on scientometric and content analyses. A data set of 47 articles indexed in the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database was subject to investigation, this representing the result of a search in Web of Science Core Collection (Social Sciences Citation Index, Emerging Sources Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded) during April 2023. The employed scientometric analysis outlines a classification of the investigated senior entrepreneurship literature based on years of publication, subject areas, main authors, geographical distribution of the articles, most productive institutions, representative journals and publishers. Additionally, due to the developed content analysis over the abstracts of the articles included in the data set, the main research trajectories in the investigated senior entrepreneurship literature could be established. These particularly envisaged the studied topics, applied theories, employed research methods, and the main researched regions. Furthermore, starting from these premises, a future research agenda in the field of senior entrepreneurship was designed. The original analyses developed within the paper and the proposed novel research agenda bring a contribution to the scientific literature in the area of senior entrepreneurship, with important practical implications for scholars with research interests in the field

STEEL SLAG, A SUBSTITUTE OF LIMING MATERIALS IN AGRICULTURE

Regular application of amendments and fertilizers in required doses causes significant and lasting chemical changes in the soil, in relation with the degree of success of crop production. Steel slag is a highly alkaline material considered a by-product of the steelmaking process. This material is used in many different applications including the amendment for acid soils. Amendment is a practice commonly used for rapid elimination of problems of soil acidification. As a product applied in agriculture, the steel slag has been studied in many parts of the world somewhat with satisfactory results. In some European countries, researches have shown an improvement in acid soil properties. The ability of the steel slag to improve the acidity of the soil can be explained by the high content of CaO and MgO and Al2O3 low. When a liming material such as limestone or steel slag is evaluated, it is compare to calcium carbonate, and its neutralizing value is called the Calcium Carbonate Equivalent (CCE) value. Application of amendments, including by-products such as steel slag can restore soil quality by balancing the pH value, organic matter intake, increasing water retention capacity, reducing compaction, etc. For reasons of environmental protection, steel slag properties should always be tested given the wide variety in terms of their physical and chemical indicators

Electrocardiographic Changes in Liver Cirrhosis—Clues for Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy

Background and Objectives: Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is a chronic cardiac dysfunction associated with liver cirrhosis, in patients without previous heart disease, irrespective of the etiology of cirrhosis. Electrocardiography (ECG) is an important way to evaluate patients with cirrhosis and may reveal significant changes associated with liver disease. Our study aimed to evaluate ECG changes in patients with diagnosed liver cirrhosis and compare them to patients with chronic hepatitis. Materials and Methods: We evaluated laboratory findings and ECG tracings in 63 patients with cirrhosis and 54 patients with chronic hepatitis of viral etiology. The end points of the study were prolonged QT interval, QRS hypovoltage and T-peak-to-T-end decrease. We confirmed the diagnosis of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy using echocardiography data. Results: Advanced liver disease was associated with prolonged QT intervals. Also, QRS amplitude was lower in patients with decompensated cirrhosis than in patients with compensated liver disease. We found an accentuated deceleration of the T wave in patients with cirrhosis. These findings correlated to serum levels of albumin, cholesterol and ammonia. Conclusions: ECG changes in liver cirrhosis are frequently encountered and are important noninvasive markers for the presence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy

Assessment of Immune Status in Dynamics for Patients with Cancer Undergoing Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy using immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized the treatment, and many types of cancer show a response rate of 20–40% and a significant increase in five-year survival. However, immunotherapy is expensive and may cause serious adverse events. Therefore, a predictive method allowing identification of responding patients before starting the treatment would be very useful. In this study, we aimed to identify and implement other individual prognosis factors, factors that could lead to an improved clinical decision made in regard to the patient to establish an individualized treatment. Materials and Methods. All patients recruited from October 2018 to July 2019 were treated in OncoFort Hospital, Bucharest, with nivolumab or pembrolizumab. We investigated T lymphocyte CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, and CD4/CD8 cells by flow cytometry in patients before and after receiving treatment with anti-PD-1 agents. Results. We found that the responder group showed higher expression on CD4+ cells than the nonresponder group after the first cycle of immunotherapy. The prediction of the immunotherapeutic effect revealed that the elevation of T lymphocytes CD8+ and CD4+ after the first cycle of immunotherapy was followed by a decrease in their expression after the second cycle and was followed by a return almost to that one after the first administration. Conclusion. Our work indicates that the evaluation of the cells of the immune system in relation to the tumor and immunotherapy may lead to a better understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms and the identification of prognostic and predictive factors that will more effectively model the therapeutic approach

Forward rapidity results from RHIC

A summary of BRAHMS results is presented. Emphasis is placed on data for which measurements at forward rapidities are necessary for interpretation. This includes measurements of spectra over a wide range of y and transverse momentum, yields, stopping, quark chemistry and high p(t) Suppression in both Au+Au and d+Au collisions at root SNN = 200 GeV

Inclusive, prompt and non-prompt J/ψ\psi production at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) dependence of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ and the centrality dependence of the average transverse momentum $\langle p_{\rm T}\rangle$ for inclusive J/$\psi$ have been measured with ALICE for Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV in the e$^+$e$^-$ decay channel at mid-rapidity ($|y|<0.8$). The $\langle p_{\rm T}\rangle$ is significantly smaller than the one observed for pp collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy. Consistently, an increase of $R_{\rm AA}$ is observed towards low $p_{\rm T}$. These observations might be indicative of a sizable contribution of charm quark coalescence to the J/$\psi$ production. Additionally, the fraction of non-prompt J/$\psi$ from beauty hadron decays, $f_{\rm B}$, has been determined in the region $1.5 < p_{\rm T} < 10$ GeV/c in three centrality intervals. No significant centrality dependence of $f_{\rm B}$ is observed. Finally, the $R_{\rm AA}$ of non-prompt J/$\psi$ is discussed and compared with model predictions. The nuclear modification in the region $4.5 < p_{\rm T} < 10$ GeV/c is found to be stronger than predicted by most models.The transverse momentum (p$_{T}$) dependence of the nuclear modification factor R$_{AA}$ and the centrality dependence of the average transverse momentum 〈p$_{T}$〉 for inclusive J/ψ have been measured with ALICE for Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=2.76$ TeV in the e+e$^{−}$ decay channel at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.8). The 〈p$_{T}$〉 is significantly smaller than the one observed for pp collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy. Consistently, an increase of R$_{AA}$ is observed towards low p$_{T}$. These observations might be indicative of a sizable contribution of charm quark coalescence to the J/ψ production. Additionally, the fraction of non-prompt J/ψ from beauty hadron decays, f$_{B}$, has been determined in the region 1.5 < p$_{T}$ < 10 GeV/c in three centrality intervals. No significant centrality dependence of f$_{B}$ is observed. Finally, the R$_{AA}$ of non-prompt J/ψ is discussed and compared with model predictions. The nuclear modification in the region 4.5 < p$_{T}$ < 10 GeV/c is found to be stronger than predicted by most models.The transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) dependence of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ and the centrality dependence of the average transverse momentum $\langle p_{\rm T}\rangle$ for inclusive J/$\psi$ have been measured with ALICE for Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV in the e$^+$e$^-$ decay channel at mid-rapidity ($|y|<0.8$). The $\langle p_{\rm T}\rangle$ is significantly smaller than the one observed for pp collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy. Consistently, an increase of $R_{\rm AA}$ is observed towards low $p_{\rm T}$. These observations might be indicative of a sizable contribution of charm quark coalescence to the J/$\psi$ production. Additionally, the fraction of non-prompt J/$\psi$ from beauty hadron decays, $f_{\rm B}$, has been determined in the region $1.5 < p_{\rm T} < 10$ GeV/c in three centrality intervals. No significant centrality dependence of $f_{\rm B}$ is observed. Finally, the $R_{\rm AA}$ of non-prompt J/$\psi$ is discussed and compared with model predictions. The nuclear modification in the region $4.5 < p_{\rm T} < 10$ GeV/c is found to be stronger than predicted by most models

Neutral pion production at midrapidity in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV\sqrt{s_{{\mathrm {NN}}}}= 2.76\,{\mathrm {TeV}}

Invariant yields of neutral pions at midrapidity in the transverse momentum range $0.6 < p_{T} < 12$ GeV/c measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV are presented for six centrality classes. The pp reference spectrum was measured in the range $0.4 < p_{T} < 10$ GeV/c at the same center-of-mass energy. The nuclear modification factor, $R_{AA}$, shows a suppression of neutral pions in central Pb-Pb collisions by a factor of up to about $8-10$ for $5 \lesssim p_{T} \lesssim 7$ GeV/c. The presented measurements are compared with results at lower center-of-mass energies and with theoretical calculations.Invariant yields of neutral pions at midrapidity in the transverse momentum range 0.6 < p_\mathrm{T}< 12\,{\mathrm \mathrm{GeV}}/ c measured in Pb–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm {NN}}}= 2.76\,{\mathrm {\,}}\mathrm{TeV}$ are presented for six centrality classes. The pp reference spectrum was measured in the range $0.4 < p_\mathrm{T}< 10\,{\mathrm {\,}}\mathrm{GeV}/$ c at the same center-of-mass energy. The nuclear modification factor, $R_\mathrm{{AA}}$ , shows a suppression of neutral pions in central Pb–Pb collisions by a factor of up to about $8{-}10$ for 5 \lesssim p_\mathrm{T}\lesssim 7\,{\mathrm \mathrm{GeV}}/ c. The presented measurements are compared with results at lower center-of-mass energies and with theoretical calculations.Invariant yields of neutral pions at midrapidity in the transverse momentum range $0.6 < p_{T} < 12 GeV/c$ measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV are presented for six centrality classes. The pp reference spectrum was measured in the range $0.4 < p_{T} < 10 GeV/c$ at the same center-of-mass energy. The nuclear modification factor, $R_{\rm AA}$, shows a suppression of neutral pions in central Pb-Pb collisions by a factor of up to about $8-10$ for $5 \lesssim p_{T} \lesssim 7 GeV/c$. The presented measurements are compared with results at lower center-of-mass energies and with theoretical calculations