Average Number Of Classes Research Articles

SELECTION OF PATIENTS WITH RESISTANT ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION FOR RENAL DENERVATION

Aim. To develop an optimized scientifically based approach to medical and diagnostic measures before renal denervation. Methods. 91 patients with a previously diagnosed primary arterial hypertension aged 54.2 (52.0, 69.3) years history of arterial hypertension was 11.4±4.2 years. 57 (62.6%) patients had asymptomatic lesions of target or-gans. 34 (37.4%) were present with associated clinical conditions. The average number of classes of antihyper-tensive drugs taken by patients was 4±1.2. 18 patients (19.8%) received aldosterone antagonists. All patients were included in the study. The duration of the positive underwent standard clinical, laboratory and instrumental tests. The quality of life was assessed using the SF-36 questionnaire. Patients’ adherence to treatment was eval-uated using the Morisky-Green test. After therapy optimi-zation and a number of additional diagnostic procedures, true resistant arterial hypertension was detected in 19 pa-tients, of whom 9 were excluded from the study. 4 patients were excluded because of specific anatomy, and 5 patients were allergic to the contrast media. Results. Optimization of the diagnostic and medical algorithm for managing patients with arterial hy-pertension allowed identifying patients with secondary arterial hypertension, accounted to 8.8% of the study sample, as well as achieving significant reduction of blood pressure according to the 24-hour blood pressure monitoring findings: SBP by 34 ± 12 mm Hg, and DBP by 12 ± 4 mm Hg, compared to the initial values (p = 0.046). The obtained results are comparable in the groups with high and low adherence. 54 patients (77.1%) achieved blood pressure targets. The study groups demonstrated significant improvements of the quality of life and adherence to treatment. The proportion of patients with true resistant arterial hypertension has been identified. Conclusion. The presented algorithm of selecting patients for renal denervation allows to optimize the management strategy inpatients, who are suspected to suffer from resistant arterial hypertension, and to per-form targeted interventions.

The State of Media Curricula at Accredited Seminaries in the United States

The curriculums of all 197 accredited seminaries in the United States were reviewed to identify classes involving instruction in media. Statistical analysis was engaged to determine the average number of classes offered and look for differences in course offerings by faith tradition. Evangelical seminaries favored practical classes in media production, whereas mainline seminaries favored theoretical courses in media studies. Protestant seminaries were significantly more likely than Catholic to offer all types of media coursework. A positive correlation was found between the number of homiletics courses offered by a seminary and the number of media courses. The discussion considers reasons underlying the findings and reflects on the state of media curricula at U.S. seminaries.

CLASS-SELECTIVE REJECTION RULE TO MINIMIZE THE MAXIMUM DISTANCE BETWEEN SELECTED CLASSES

Class-selective rejection scheme assigns to an input pattern a subset of classes that are most likely to identify the pattern, and not simply reject it. Conventional class-selective rejection rules can minimize the error rate for a given average number of classes. In this paper, an example of unnatural classification is shown by using conventional rules and a new optimum criterion for establishing a class-selective rejection rule is proposed. Its optimality and upper-bound of error rate are proven. Finally, two examples are provided to illustrate various aspects of this optimum decision rule.

Optimum tradeoff between class-selective rejection error and average number of classes

The paper first reviews the recently proposed optimum class-selective rejection rule. This rule provides an optimum tradeoff between the error rate and the average number of (selected) classes. Then, a new general relation between the error rate and the average number of classes is presented. The error rate can be directly computed from the class-selective reject function, which in turn can be estimated from unlabelled patterns, by simply counting the rejected classes. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed, and some future research directions are proposed.

The optimum class-selective rejection rule

Class-selective rejection is an extension of simple rejection. That is, when an input pattern cannot be reliably assigned to one of the N classes in an N-class problem, it is assigned to a subset of classes that are most likely to issue the pattern, instead of simply being rejected. By selecting more classes, the risk of making an error can be reduced, at the price of subsequently having a larger remaining number of classes. The optimality of class-selective rejection is therefore defined as the best trade-off between error rate and average number of selected classes. Formally, the trade-off study is embedded in the framework of decision theory. The average expected loss is expressed as a linear combination of error rate and average number of classes. The minimization of the average expected loss, therefore, provides the best trade-off. The complexity of the resulting optimum rule is reduced, via a discrete convex minimization, to be linear in the number of classes. Upper-bounds on error rate and average number of classes are derived. An example is provided to illustrate various aspects of the optimum decision rule. Finally, the implications of the new decision rule are discussed.

Vocal problems among aerobic instructors and aerobic participants

A questionnaire to determine the characteristics of vocal problems was distributed to 75 female aerobic instructors and 75 female aerobic participants ranging in age from 20 to 40 years. Of the questionnaires returned, 50 from each group, with completed replies to all questions, were selected for inclusion in the study. The questionnaires, constructed by the investigator, included pertinent questions relative to length of teaching/participating experience, average number of classes taught/participated in weekly, number of classes taught/participated sequentially, type of aerobics, medical history and history of vocal problems and/or conditions, water intake daily and during instructing/participating, sleep habits, and smoking habits. The results indicated that aerobic instructors generally experienced more hoarseness and episodes of voice loss during and after instructing and a significantly higher prevalence of nodules. The group differences in reported unrelated episodes of hoarseness, however, were quite similar. The results suggest that aerobic instructors experience a higher prevalence of vocal problems when compared to individuals participating in aerobics.