Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust synchronization and fault detection of uncertain master-slave systems with mixed time-varying delays and nonlinear perturbations

In this paper, the problem of robust synchronization and fault detection for a class of master-slave systems subjected to some nonlinear perturbations and mixed neutral and discrete time-varying delays is investigated based on an H∞ performance condition. By introducing a descriptor technique, using Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and a suitable change of variables, new required sufficient conditions are established in terms of delay-dependent linear matrix inequalities to synthesize the residual generation scheme. The explicit expression of the synchronization law is derived for the fault such that both asymptotic stability and a prescribed level of disturbance attenuation are satisfied for all admissible nonlinear perturbations. A numerical example with simulation results illustrates the effectiveness of the methodology.
Cystatin C as a marker of glomerular filtration rate: prospects and limitations

Purpose of reviewThere is much interest in cystatin C to replace or supplement serum creatinine to estimate the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Here we review the performance of cystatin C and combined creatinine–cystatin C estimating equations compared to creatinine-based estimating equations in chronic and acute kidney disease. Recent findingsDrift in the cystatin C assay has had a large effect on the results reported using cystatin C, but these issues are not routinely considered in evaluation of GFR-estimating equations. The recently released primary reference material for cystatin C will allow less difference among assays in the future. There does not appear to be a consistent message among published studies as to whether cystatin C-based equations are better than creatinine-based equations in the general population or those with chronic kidney disease (CKD), as well as those with reduced muscle mass or chronic illness, or acute kidney injury. Cystatin C could be used in combination with creatinine as a confirmatory test for estimated GFR from creatinine. SummaryCystatin C may have a role to estimate GFR in selected circumstances, and the next set of studies should be directed at developing implementation strategies for its use.
Ezetimibe added to ongoing statin therapy improves LDL-C goal attainment and lipid profile in patients with diabetes or metabolic syndrome

This analysis of the Ezetimibe Add-on to Statin for Effectiveness (EASE) trial examined the effectiveness and safety of ezetimibe 10 mg added to ongoing statin therapy in patients with diabetes, metabolic syndrome without diabetes, or neither disorder who had low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels exceeding National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) goals. After six weeks of treatment, ezetimibe added to statin reduced LDL-C in patients with diabetes by 28%, metabolic syndrome by 24%, or neither by 26%, compared with a 3% reduction for placebo for each group. In each group, more patients receiving ezetimibe plus statin reached LDL-C goal (67–74%) compared with those receiving placebo plus statin (19–22%). Other parameters demonstrating greater improvement with ezetimibe included triglycerides, apolipoprotein (Apo)B/Apo A-I ratio, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and C-reactive protein. Ezetimibe plus statin was well tolerated in each group. Ezetimibe added to ongoing statin therapy offers a new treatment option that is consistently effective in improvement of lipid profiles and attainment of LDL-C goals in patients with or without diabetes or metabolic syndrome.
Providing Better-Matched Donors for HLA Mismatched Compatible Pairs Through Kidney Paired Donation

Background Participation of compatible pairs (CP) in kidney paired donation (KPD) could be attractive to CPs who have a high degree of HLA mismatch, if the CP recipient will gain a better HLA match. Because KPD programs were not designed to help CP, it is important to define allocation metrics that enable CP to receive a better-matched kidney, without disadvantage to incompatible pairs (ICP). Methods Simulations using 46 ICPs and 11 fully HLA-mismatched CPs were undertaken using the Australian KPD matching algorithm. Allocations were preformed adding 1 CP at a time or all 11 CPs at once, and with and without exclusion of unacceptable antigens selected to give a virtual calculated panel-reactive antibody ranging 70% to 80% to improve HLA matching in CP recipients. Results On average, most CP recipients could be matched and had a lower eplet mismatch (EpMM) with the matched donor (57 ± 15) than with their own donor (78 ± 19, P < 0.02). However, only recipients who had an EpMM to own donor greater than 65 achieved a significant reduction in the EpMM with the matched donor. The gain in EpMM was larger when CPs were listed with unacceptable antigens. Furthermore, inclusion of 1 CP at a time increased matching in ICP by up to 33%, and inclusion of all 11 CPs at once increased ICP matching by 50%. Conclusions Compatible pair participation in KPD can increase match rates in ICP and can provide a better immunological profile in CP recipients who have a high EpMM to their own donor when using allocation based on virtual crossmatch.
A Comparative Analysis of D-Dimer Assays in Patients with Clinically Suspected Pulmonary Embolism

Summary To avoid angiography in patients with clinically suspected pulmonary embolism and non-diagnostic lung scan results, the use of D-dimer has been advocated. We assessed plasma samples of 151 consecutive patients with clinically suspected pulmonary embolism. Lung scan results were: normal (43), high probability (48) and non-diagnostic (60; angiography performed in 43; 12 pulmonary emboli). Reproducibility, cut-off values, specificity, and percentage of patients in whom angiography could be avoided (with sensitivity 100%) were determined for two latex and four ELISA assays. The latex methods (cut-off 500 μg/1) agreed with corresponding ELISA tests in 83% (15% normal latex, abnormal ELISA) and 81% (7% normal latex, abnormal ELISA). ELISA methods showed considerable within- (2–17%) and between-assay Variation (12–26%). Cut-off values were 25 μg/l (Behring), 50 μg/l (Agen), 300 μg/l (Stago) and 550 μg/l (Organon). Specificity was 14–38%; in 4–15% of patients angiography could be avoided. We conclude that latex D-dimer assays appear not useful, whereas ELISA methods may be of limited value in the exclusion of pulmonary embolism.
The Discoveries and Mercantilism: An Essay in History and Theory *

The study of Mercantilism (an ill-defined concept at best) has usually been a study of Mercantilist pamphlets. Historians have used the pamphlets to piece together a picture of the economic policy of the age; theorists have discussed the doctrines they contain, more or less sympathetically, but usually in the light of classical economic theory and therefore frequently in a faintly patronizing manner. But each age must write its own history and in a neomercantilistic world we cannot be content to view Mercantilism so narrowly. We must, I suggest, stand back from the pamphlets and take a wider view of the matter. Some five years ago Professor Charles Wilson wrote a paper in which he attempted to do just that. In particular, he sought to identify certain objective economic conditions in the Mercantilist world which would account for Mercantilist trade practices. Behind this approach was the idea that Mercantilism was not merely an economic ideology invented by ex parte pamphleteers, but a rational economic policy reflecting the economic facts of the age. Furthermore, Professor Wilson suggested that the economic facts of the Mercantilist period bore a certain resemblance to the economic facts of the contemporary world. Heresy received its due, for the late Professor Heckscher immediately brought the weight of his authority to bear on Professor Wilson's article and gently but firmly tried to push the whole problem back into the well-worn grooves of traditional Mercantilist scholarship.
Identification of guidelines for Hoshin Kanri initiatives

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a set of guidelines to be used for diagnosing and (re)designing organizational systems based on Hoshin Kanri – a management framework that is recognized for building the link between strategy and business execution. Design/methodology/approach A two-step approach was used in this research work. A systematic literature review (SLR) was used to find relevant references related to Hoshin Kanri that could serve as sources for recommendations. After completing the SLR, content analysis was used to define the recommendations and analyze them, deriving a set of guidelines. Findings A collection of recurring topics was identified through content analysis. These topics can be interpreted as central aspects for Hoshin Kanri application. Topics were eventually categorized and one guideline was developed for each one of the categories, which resulted in a total of 23 guidelines. Guidelines were grouped in two dimensions (context and process) and also according to their central aspect (organizational culture, capabilities, focus, alignment, integration and review). Originality/value Although Hoshin Kanri has been widely applied in Japan and also in large companies over the past 50 years, it is not as widely explored in research papers as other frameworks. Literature often focuses on Hoshin Kanri only as a process and not as an organization-wide holistic system. There are few empirical studies about its conceptual assumptions and practical implications and no systematization of the main aspects that ensure the effective application of Hoshin Kanri in a universal manner.
The Prevalence of Macular Cysts in Patients with Clinical Cone-Rod Dystrophy Determined by Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

ABSTRACT Background: To determine the prevalance of macular cysts in patients with clinical cone-rod dystrophy (CORD) using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). If macular cysts could be demonstrated in such patients, they might benefit from treatment with a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor that has been shown to be effective for treating macular cysts in various night-blinding disorders. Material and Methods: Thirty-six CORD patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination and an SD-OCT examination using two different systems. The presence of hypo-reflective lacunae was used to determine the presence of macular cysts. Results: The patients’ mean age was 42.9 ± 19.5 years (range 6–71 years). Mean BCVA was 1.09 ± 0.64 logMAR (range no light perception to 20/25 + 2 in the better-seeing eye). All the 72 eyes studied showed a variable degree of retinal thinning, disruption of what has been referred to as the inner segment ellipsoid and outer nuclear layer (ONL) thinning of the macula. None showed evidence of macular cysts on OCT testing. Conclusions: Although macular cysts are a common feature of various hereditary night-blinding retinal dystrophies, these were not identified in our cohort of CORD patients.
Kinetics of propylene oxide metabolism in microsomes and cytosol of different organs from mouse, rat, and humans.

Kinetics of the metabolic inactivation of 1,2-epoxypropane (propylene oxide; PO) catalyzed by glutathione S-transferase (GST) and by epoxide hydrolase (EH) were investigated at 37 degrees C in cytosol and microsomes of liver and lung of B6C3F1 mice, F344 rats, and humans and of respiratory and olfactory nasal mucosa of F344 rats. In all of these tissues, GST and EH activities were detected. GST activity for PO was found in cytosolic fractions exclusively. EH activity for PO could be determined only in microsomes, with the exception of human livers where some cytosolic activity also occurred, representing 1-3% of the corresponding GST activity. For GST, the ratio of the maximum metabolic rate (V(max)) to the apparent Michaelis constant (K(m)) could be quantified for all tissues. In liver and lung, these ratios ranged from 12 (human liver) to 106 microl/min/mg protein (mouse lung). Corresponding values for EH ranged from 4.4 (mouse liver) to 46 (human lung). The lowest V(max) value for EH was found in mouse lung (7.1 nmol/min/mg protein); the highest was found in human liver (80 nmol/min/mg protein). K(m) values for EH-mediated PO hydrolysis in liver and lung ranged from 0.83 (human lung) to 3.7 mmol/L (mouse liver). With respect to liver and lung, the highest V(max)/K(m) ratios were obtained for GST in mouse and for EH in human tissues. GST activities were higher in lung than in liver of mouse and human and were alike in both rat tissues. Species-specific EH activities in lung were similar to those in liver. In rat nasal mucosa, GST and EH activities were much higher than in rat liver.
Latent fingerprint segmentation based on convolutional neural networks

Latent fingerprints are important evidences used by law enforcement agencies to identify suspects for centuries. However, due to the poor image quality and complex background noise, separating the fingerprint region-of-interest from complex background is a very challenging problem. This paper proposes a new latent fingerprint segmentation method based on Convolutional Neural Networks (ConvNets). The latent fingerprint segmentation problem is formulated as a classification system, in which a set of elaborately designed ConvNets is learned to classify each patch as either fingerprint or background. Considering the spatial correlation between fingerprint patches, we proposed to train the set of ConveNets using multi-sized overlapping patches to utilize complementary information. Then, a score map is calculated based on the classification results to evaluate the possibility of a pixel belonging to the fingerprint foreground. Finally, a segmentation mask is generated by thresholding the score map and used to delineate the latent fingerprint boundary. Experimental results on NIST SD27 latent database demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the existing benchmarks in terms of both false detection rate (FDR) and overall segmentation accuracy. Thanks to the off-line training and short segmentation running time, the proposed method is applicable to applications such as latent fingerprint matching.
Type I Interferons Inhibition of Inflammatory T Helper Cell Responses in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Abstract: T helper (Th) cells play a central role in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Activated autoreactive Th cells provide the help required for autoreactive B cells to differentiate and produce pathogenic autoAbs. Both autoAb‐containing immune complexes and direct effects of inflammatory Th cells promote tissue injury and organ damage. In SLE, triggering of plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) Toll‐like receptors by autoimmune complexes containing nucleic acid autoantigens stimulates pDC secretion of high levels of type I interferons (IFN‐α/β). Study of SLE patients and murine disease models implicate these type I IFNs as key disease effectors. However, the role of pDC‐derived type I IFNs in regulating the inflammatory function of Th cells in SLE is unknown. Although, type I IFNs are classically considered to promote Th1‐mediated inflammation, they can also act as potent inhibitors of both Th1 and Th17 inflammatory cell responses. Work of ourselves and others leads us to hypothesize that if initiated during stages of SLE when Th cell‐mediated tissue inflammation is absent or minimal, such as early in the disease or during periods of remission, type I IFN neutralization will disrupt the cycle of systemic autoimmune induction and disease. However, if initiated during advanced stages of disease when there is substantial ongoing Th1 (and possibly Th17) cell‐mediated inflammation, targeting type I IFNs will exacerbate the Th cell‐mediated inflammatory disease and thus potentiate end‐organ damage and destruction. This has important implications for the application of the numerous anti‐type I IFN therapies currently under development for SLE treatment.
Spatial Analysis of Air Pollution and Mortality in Los Angeles

Background: The assessment of air pollution exposure using only community average concentrations may lead to measurement error that lowers estimates of the health burden attributable to poor air quality. To test this hypothesis, we modeled the association between air pollution and mortality using small-area exposure measures in Los Angeles, California. Methods: Data on 22,905 subjects were extracted from the American Cancer Society cohort for the period 1982–2000 (5,856 deaths). Pollution exposures were interpolated from 23 fine particle (PM2.5) and 42 ozone (O3) fixed-site monitors. Proximity to expressways was tested as a measure of traffic pollution. We assessed associations in standard and spatial multilevel Cox regression models. Results: After controlling for 44 individual covariates, all-cause mortality had a relative risk (RR) of 1.17 (95% confidence interval = 1.05–1.30) for an increase of 10 &mgr;g/m3 PM2.5 and a RR of 1.11 (0.99–1.25) with maximal control for both individual and contextual confounders. The RRs for mortality resulting from ischemic heart disease and lung cancer deaths were elevated, in the range of 1.24–1.6, depending on the model used. These PM results were robust to adjustments for O3 and expressway exposure. Conclusion: Our results suggest the chronic health effects associated with within-city gradients in exposure to PM2.5 may be even larger than previously reported across metropolitan areas. We observed effects nearly 3 times greater than in models relying on comparisons between communities. We also found specificity in cause of death, with PM2.5 associated more strongly with ischemic heart disease than with cardiopulmonary or all-cause mortality.
Recent Trends In Mutual Fund Industry

Mutual funds would be solitary of the major mechanisms of capital formation and wealth saving in the years to come, giving positive results. The mutual fund has emerged as a potential investment option for various categories of investors. The mutual fund industry in India has undergone a most successful phase in the last 10 years. However, this tremendous growth in the mutual fund industry in India is still lacking far behind other developed nations. Past revisions and reports of the fund houses have shown the upward movement in the growth trend of Indian mutual fund industry. Since the inception of UTI, the Indian mutual fund industry has made significant progress regarding the capacity of the business. A large number of schemes have been launched by the fund houses to cater the need of the investors. However, in several platforms, the progress of the industry was questioned by comparing it with other countries. The penetration of the sector to a distinct segment of the investors and the total contribution to the corpus of the industry regarding GDP has always drawn attention. This paper enlightens the readers on the growth of the industry in recent times. The study focuses on the key areas which are of strategic importance to industry for its growth.
Quantitative determinants of the outcome of asymptomatic mitral regurgitation.

BACKGROUND The clinical outcome of asymptomatic mitral regurgitation is poorly defined, and the treatment is uncertain. We studied the effect on the outcome of quantifying mitral regurgitation according to recent guidelines. METHODS We prospectively enrolled 456 patients (mean [+/-SD] age, 63+/-14 years; 63 percent men; ejection fraction, 70+/-8 percent) with asymptomatic organic mitral regurgitation, quantified according to current recommendations (regurgitant volume, 66+/-40 ml per beat; effective regurgitant orifice, 40+/-27 mm2). RESULTS The estimated five-year rates (+/-SE) of death from any cause, death from cardiac causes, and cardiac events (death from cardiac causes, heart failure, or new atrial fibrillation) with medical management were 22+/-3 percent, 14+/-3 percent, and 33+/-3 percent, respectively. Independent determinants of survival were increasing age, the presence of diabetes, and increasing effective regurgitant orifice (adjusted risk ratio per 10-mm2 increment, 1.18; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.06 to 1.30; P<0.01), the predictive power of which superseded all other qualitative and quantitative measures of regurgitation. Patients with an effective regurgitant orifice of at least 40 mm2 had a five-year survival rate that was lower than expected on the basis of U.S. Census data (58+/-9 percent vs. 78 percent, P=0.03). As compared with patients with a regurgitant orifice of less than 20 mm2, those with an orifice of at least 40 mm2 had an increased risk of death from any cause (adjusted risk ratio, 2.90; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.33 to 6.32; P<0.01), death from cardiac causes (adjusted risk ratio, 5.21; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.98 to 14.40; P<0.01), and cardiac events (adjusted risk ratio, 5.66; 95 percent confidence interval, 3.07 to 10.56; P<0.01). Cardiac surgery was ultimately performed in 232 patients and was independently associated with improved survival (adjusted risk ratio, 0.28; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.14 to 0.55; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Quantitative grading of mitral regurgitation is a powerful predictor of the clinical outcome of asymptomatic mitral regurgitation. Patients with an effective regurgitant orifice of at least 40 mm2 should promptly be considered for cardiac surgery.
The fetal brain sparing response to hypoxia: physiological mechanisms

How the fetus withstands an environment of reduced oxygenation during life in the womb has been a vibrant area of research since this field was introduced by Joseph Barcroft, a century ago. Studies spanning five decades have since used the chronically instrumented fetal sheep preparation to investigate the fetal compensatory responses to hypoxia. This defence is contingent on the fetal cardiovascular system, which in late gestation adopts strategies to decrease oxygen consumption and redistribute the cardiac output away from peripheral vascular beds and towards essential circulations, such as those perfusing the brain. The introduction of simultaneous measurement of blood flow in the fetal carotid and femoral circulations by ultrasonic transducers has permitted investigation of the dynamics of the fetal brain sparing response for the first time. Now we know that major components of fetal brain sparing during acute hypoxia are triggered exclusively by a carotid chemoreflex and that they are modified by endocrine agents and the recently discovered vascular oxidant tone. The latter is determined by the interaction between nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species. The fetal brain sparing response matures as the fetus approaches term, in association with the prepartum increase in fetal plasma cortisol, and treatment of the preterm fetus with clinically relevant doses of synthetic steroids mimics this maturation. Despite intense interest into how the fetal brain sparing response may be affected by adverse intrauterine conditions, this area of research has been comparatively scant, but it is likely to take centre stage in the near future.