What's the difference between improve and maintain?

Improve


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To disprove or make void; to refute.
  • (v. t.) To disapprove; to find fault with; to reprove; to censure; as, to improve negligence.
  • (v. t.) To make better; to increase the value or good qualities of; to ameliorate by care or cultivation; as, to improve land.
  • (v. t.) To use or employ to good purpose; to make productive; to turn to profitable account; to utilize; as, to improve one's time; to improve his means.
  • (v. t.) To advance or increase by use; to augment or add to; -- said with reference to what is bad.
  • (v. i.) To grow better; to advance or make progress in what is desirable; to make or show improvement; as, to improve in health.
  • (v. i.) To advance or progress in bad qualities; to grow worse.
  • (v. i.) To increase; to be enhanced; to rise in value; as, the price of cotton improves.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) These data indicate a steady improvement in laboratory performance over the last 10 years.
  • (2) Use of the improved operative technique contributed to reduction in number of complications.
  • (3) With UVB treatment clinical improvement was achieved, and a less pronounced decrease in epidermal LC was noticed.
  • (4) This clinical improvement was also associated with a decrease of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p less than 0.001), decrease of C-reactive protein (p less than 0.0001) and with improvement of anaemia (p less than 0.05).
  • (5) In order to control noise- and vibration-caused diseases it was necessary not only to improve machines' quality and service conditions but also to pay special attention to the choice of operators and to the quality of monitoring their adaptation process.
  • (6) Symptomatic improvement was obtained in 14 of the 15 hands, and sensory-evoked response improved in 13 hands.
  • (7) McDonald said cutting better deals with suppliers and improving efficiency as well as raising some prices had only partly offset the impact of sterling’s fall against the dollar.
  • (8) Systemic corticosteroids (i.e., prednisone, prednisolone or methylprednisolone) have improved the survival rate of patients with moderate and severe ulcerative colitis.
  • (9) The active agents modestly improved treadmill exercise duration time until 1 mm ST segment depression (3%), and only propranolol and diltiazem had significant effects.
  • (10) A segment of vas deferens was transplanted to the contralateral deferens with the intention of improving treatment for certain cases of infertility caused by obstruction.
  • (11) Blood pressure control was marginally improved during the study and it is thought possible that better patient compliance might explain this.
  • (12) Since interferon alfa-2b (Intron A) is useful as a single agent, it is important to determine if interferon can be combined with standard chemotherapy to improve both response and survival in patients with cancer.
  • (13) Patients had improved sitting balance and endurance after surgery.
  • (14) However, further improvement of culture systems is needed for active replication of HBV in vitro.
  • (15) Symptoms, particularly colicky abdominal pain, improved during the period of chelation therapy.
  • (16) Her muscle weakness and hyperCKemia markedly improved by corticosteroid therapy, suggesting that the diagnosis was compatible with polymyositis (PM).
  • (17) An intact post-injury marriage was associated with improvement in education.
  • (18) A review is presented concerning the development of new neuroimaging techniques in the last decade which have improved the diagnostic exploration of patients with spinal cord injuries, including studies of possible sequelae.
  • (19) Akinetic symptoms were improved in 7 of 10 patients.
  • (20) What we’re doing is designed to improve people’s lives.” "I don't see race, colour or creed, and neither do my children," he added.

Maintain


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To hold or keep in any particular state or condition; to support; to sustain; to uphold; to keep up; not to suffer to fail or decline; as, to maintain a certain degree of heat in a furnace; to maintain a fence or a railroad; to maintain the digestive process or powers of the stomach; to maintain the fertility of soil; to maintain present reputation.
  • (v. t.) To keep possession of; to hold and defend; not to surrender or relinquish.
  • (v. t.) To continue; not to suffer to cease or fail.
  • (v. t.) To bear the expense of; to support; to keep up; to supply with what is needed.
  • (v. t.) To affirm; to support or defend by argument.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This would disrupt and prevent Isis from maintaining stable and reliable sources of income.
  • (2) Despite their absence, photoreceptors maintained a normal rate of OS assembly.
  • (3) It is likely that trunk mobility is necessary to maintain integrity of SI joint and that absence of such mobility compromises SI joint structure in many paraplegics.
  • (4) Nasotracheal intubation has been well established as a method for maintaining an artificial airway in children.
  • (5) At the same time the duodenum can be isolated from the stomach and maintained under constant stimulus by a continual infusion at regulated pressure, volume and temperature into the distal cannula.
  • (6) Postpartum management is directed toward decreasing vasospasm and central nervous system irritability and maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance.
  • (7) While they may always be encumbered by censorship in a way that HBO is not, the success of darker storylines, antiheroes and the occasional snow zombie will not be lost in an entertainment industry desperate to maintain its share of the audience.
  • (8) Four patients died while maintained on PD; three deaths were due to complications of liver failure within the first 4 months of PD and the fourth was due to empyema after 4 years of PD.
  • (9) Subunits maintained under the above ionic conditions were compared with 30S and 50S particles at low (6 mM) magnesium concentration with respect to the reactivity of individual ribosomal proteins to lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination.
  • (10) Although temazepam was effective for maintaining sleep with short-term use, there was rapid development of tolerance for this effect with intermediate-term use.
  • (11) This suggests that molars do not maintain a fixed relationship to incisors over time, and extreme care must be taken to standardize an experiment to a specific body weight when using this method.
  • (12) For enrolled nurses an increase in "Intrinsic Job Satisfaction" was less well maintained and no differences were found over time on "Patient Focus".
  • (13) The birds were maintained at a constant temperature in, dim green light.
  • (14) The difference in the volume of diuresis was maintained after intravenous injection of 20 mg of frusemide.
  • (15) These levels are sufficient to maintain normal in vivo rates of mRNA and rRNA synthesis, but the average density of packing of polymerases on DNA is considerably less than the maximum density predicted by Miller and Bakken (1972), suggesting that initiation of polymerases of DNA is a limiting factor in the control of transcription.
  • (16) As total pancreatectomy markedly reduces the pancreatic hormone level, leading to a mortal hypoglycaemia, we attempted to maintain plasma glucose within the normal range by constant I.V.
  • (17) The resistance of GSA 65 to proteolytic degradation, together with previous immunofluorescence data that indicate the antigen is an integral part of the G. lamblia cyst wall, suggests that this molecule may play a role in maintaining the integrity of the cyst in vivo.
  • (18) The return of NE to normal levels after one month is consistent with the observation that LH-lesioned rats are by one month postlesion no longer hypermetabolic, but display levels of heat production appropriate to the reduced body weight they then maintain.
  • (19) The UNTR rats were subjected to a continuous food restriction to maintain body weights equal to those of the TR rats.
  • (20) During periods of wet steam it was impossible to maintain consistent sterility of the mouse pellets even using a cycle of 126 degrees C for 60 minutes.