bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Robust H ∞  control of stochastic linear switched systems with dwell time
Authors: Shaked U. , Gershon E. 
Published: January 2013

SUMMARYThe theory of H ∞  control of switched systems is extended to stochastic systems with state‐multiplicative noise. Sufficient conditions are obtained for the mean square stability of these systems where dwell time constraint is imposed on the switching. Both nominal and uncertain polytopic systems are considered. A Lyapunov function, in a quadratic form, is assigned to each subsystem that is nonincreasing at the switching instants. During the dwell time, this function varies piecewise linearly in time following the last switch, and it becomes time invariant afterwards. Asymptotic stochastic stability of the set of subsystems is thus ensured by requiring the expected value of the infinitesimal generator of this function to be negative between switchings, resulting in conditions for stability in the form of LMIs. These conditions are extended to the case where the subsystems encounter polytopic‐type parameter uncertainties. The method proposed is applied to the problem of finding an upper bound on the stochastic L2‐gain of the system. A solution to the robust state‐feedback control problem is then derived, which is based on a modification of the L2‐gain bound result. Two examples are given that demonstrate the applicability of the proposed theory. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Including the Smoking Epidemic in Internationally Coherent Mortality Projections
Authors: Janssen Fanny , van Wissen Leo J. G. , Kunst Anton E. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractWe present a new mortality projection methodology that distinguishes smoking- and non-smoking-related mortality and takes into account mortality trends of the opposite sex and in other countries. We evaluate to what extent future projections of life expectancy at birth (e0) for the Netherlands up to 2040 are affected by the application of these components. All-cause mortality and non-smoking-related mortality for the years 1970–2006 are projected by the Lee-Carter and Li-Lee methodologies. Smoking-related mortality is projected according to assumptions on future smoking-attributable mortality. Projecting all-cause mortality in the Netherlands, using the Lee-Carter model, leads to high gains in e0 (4.1 for males; 4.4 for females) and divergence between the sexes. Coherent projections, which include the mortality experience of the other 21 sex- and country-specific populations, result in much higher gains for males (6.4) and females (5.7), and convergence. The separate projection of smoking and non-smoking-related mortality produces a steady increase in e0 for males (4.8) and a nonlinear trend for females, with lower gains in e0 in the short run, resulting in temporary sex convergence. The latter effect is also found in coherent projections. Our methodology provides more robust projections, especially thanks to the distinction between smoking- and non-smoking-related mortality.
Nodular lymphoid hyperplasia in endoscopic and FDG‐PET/CT (18F‐fluoro‐2‐deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computerized tomography) imaging
Authors: Lin Chung‐Cheng , Shih Hsiang‐Yao , Kuo Chao‐Hung , Hu Huang‐Ming , Chen Yu‐Wen , Wu Deng‐Chyang , Su Yu‐Chung 
Published: January 2013

AbstractGastrointestinal nodular lymphoid hyperplasia is a rare lymphoproliferative state. In children, it is associated with familial immunodeficiency disease but most cases have no obvious etiology. In adults, nodular lymphoid hyperplasia is associated with immunocompromised status, including chemotherapy, acquired immunodeficiency viral infection, organ transplantation, and multiple polypoid lesions are noted in endoscopic findings and sometimes may be confused with family polypoid syndrome. We present a child with histological proof of focal intestinal nodular lymphoid hyperplasia that had a complete image study including negative results of 18F‐fluoro‐2‐deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computerized tomography analysis.
Functional Outcomes of Adults with Left Ventricular Assist Devices Receiving Inpatient Rehabilitation
Authors: Nguyen Elizabeth , Stein Joel 
Published: January 2013

ObjectiveTo study the functional outcomes of patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) who were receiving inpatient rehabilitation.DesignThis is a retrospective cohort study of adults with an implanted LVAD admitted to an acute inpatient rehabilitation unit (IRU) over a 14‐month period from March 2010 through May 2011.SettingA tertiary care hospital.PatientsThis study included 11 patients with an implanted LVAD who required acute inpatient rehabilitation. All the patients with LVADs were included irrespective of the initial admitting diagnosis. Nine patients were admitted for cardiac diagnoses and underwent LVAD placement before their transfer to the IRU; 2 patients received LVADs before this hospital admission and were admitted for stroke.MethodsDemographic, clinical, and functional data were abstracted. Acute care length of stay (LOS), IRU LOS, and discharge disposition, along with IRU Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores, were analyzed.Main Outcome MeasurementsThe primary outcome measurements were IRU LOS, change in functional status (measured by the FIM), FIM efficiency (FIM gain/LOS), and discharge setting.ResultsThe mean ± standard deviation (SD) IRU LOS was 17.5 ± 8.9 days. The mean ± SD FIM gain was statistically significant at 28.6 ± 10.2 (P < .0001), and compared favorably to benchmarks for mean FIM gains regionally (22.5) and nationally (23) for patients admitted to IRUs with a cardiac diagnosis. The mean (SD) FIM efficiency (FIM gain/IRU LOS) was 1.97 ± 1.1 compared with the regional mean of 2.27 and national mean of 2.28. Seven of the 11 patients were discharged directly home after inpatient rehabilitation, and 3 returned home after an additional acute hospital stay. One subject died after transfer back to the acute hospital service.ConclusionsThe patients with LVADs in this study achieved clinically meaningful functional gains from inpatient rehabilitation that compared favorably with national benchmarks for patients with cardiac diagnoses. The majority of the subjects were successfully discharged home. IRUs should consider implementing rehabilitation programs for this growing patient population.
A ten-legged sea spider (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate (Germany)
Authors: KÜHL GABRIELE , POSCHMANN MARKUS , RUST JES 
Published: January 2013

AbstractA new sea spider (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate (Germany) is described asPentapantopus vogteligen. et sp. nov. This is the fifth pycnogonid species known from this exceptional fossil Lagerstätte. The most conspicuous character of the new species is the presence of five pairs of walking legs. This character, in concert with a reduced abdomen, indicates a phylogenetic position ofP. vogteliamong the crown group pycnogonids.P. vogteliextends the knowledge of fossil pycnogonid body plans and underlines the significance of the Hunsrück Slate, as this locality shows the highest diversity of sea spiders for the entire fossil record so far.
A Referendum on Trade Theory: Voting on Free Trade in Costa Rica
Authors: Urbatsch Robert 
Published: January 2013

AbstractResearch on mass opinion in international political economy overwhelmingly relies on survey data. This poses problems of external validity, especially for a frequently low-salience issue such as trade policy. To examine whether survey findings about attitudes toward economic openness apply outside of surveys, this note considers patterns of voting in the 2007 Costa Rican plebiscite about joining the Central American Free Trade Area. Several extant theories appear to explain voting patterns, but the results are less in line with traditional economic models based on locally important economic sectors.
Palmer and Company: an Indian Banking Firm in Hyderabad State
Authors: LEONARD KAREN 
Published: January 2013

AbstractAlthough the misreading of Hyderabad's early nineteenth century banking firm, Palmer and Company, as scandalous, illegal, and usurious in its business practices was contested at the time in Hyderabad, and at the highest levels of the East India Company in both Calcutta and London, such conspiracy theories have prevailed and are here challenged. The Eurasian William Palmer and his partner, the Gujarati banker, Benkati Das, are best understood as indigenoussahukarsor bankers. Their firm functioned like other Indian banking firms and was in competition with them in the early nineteenth century as Hyderabad State dealt with the increasing power of the British East India Company and its man-on-the-spot, the Resident. Historians need to look beyond the English language East India Company records to contextualize this important banking firm more accurately.
Student Perceptions of the Impact of Bursaries and Institutional Aid on their Higher Education Choices and the Implications for the National Scholarship Programme in England
Authors: CALLENDER CLAIRE , WILKINSON DAVID 
Published: January 2013

AbstractVariable tuition fees and bursaries, funded by higher education institutions, were introduced in England to promote student choice and provider competition, while bursaries would off-set higher fees and safeguard access. Both have been central to government reforms of undergraduate student funding since 2004. This article assesses student perceptions of the impact of bursaries on their higher education decisions and choices, and considers the implications for the 2012/13 National Scholarship Programme. It concludes that most students do not think their choices are affected by bursaries, although those who are cost-conscious, expect to receive higher bursaries, especially of £1,000 or more, and attend Russell Group universities are more likely to think bursaries are influential and important. The reconfiguration of institutional aid from 2012/13 may overcome some perceived barriers to the effectiveness of financial support, but is likely to exacerbate others, and create new impediments and inequalities.
Spatiotemporal patterns of pandemic influenza-related deaths in Allied naval forces during 1918
Authors: SHANKS G. D. , WALLER M. , SMALLMAN-RAYNOR M. 
Published: January 2013

SUMMARYThis paper draws on the mortality records of the French, US and UK Royal navies to reconstruct the spatiotemporal evolution of the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic in global Allied naval forces. For a total of 7658 deaths attributed to respiratory diseases (French and US navies) and all diseases (UK Royal Navy) at 514 locations worldwide, techniques of spatial point pattern analysis were used to generate weekly maps of global mortality intensity in 1918. The map sequence for the main period of pandemic mortality, mid-August to mid-November 1918, revealed a near-simultaneous development of mutiple foci of high disease intensity in three distant locations (Europe, North America, West Africa). Given the relatively slow speed of naval ships in convoy at this time (<12 knots), our findings suggest that the pandemic influenza virus was circulating on three continents at the observed onset of the main mortality wave.
Perplexities of pertussis: recent global epidemiological trends and their potential causes
Authors: JACKSON D. W. , ROHANI PEJMAN 
Published: January 2013

SUMMARYRecent much-publicized increases in pertussis case reports in some countries with high vaccine coverage have raised concerns about its current and future control. The ubiquity of this trend, however, remains unexamined. In an attempt to paint a global picture, we used case counts to determine which countries experienced statistically significant trends in incidence over the past two decades and to map changes in incidence during this period. These data reveal that pertussis resurgence is not a universal phenomenon. The heterogeneity in incidence trends, even in countries with superficially similar demography, socioeconomic conditions and vaccination programmes, is striking and requires explanation. In this opinion piece, we review and assess the multifaceted proposed explanations incorporating evolution, population dynamics, and the details of immunization programmes. While we do not solve the riddle that is pertussis epidemiology, we highlight critical aspects that are likely to hold the key to understanding its worldwide epidemiology.
Large-scale occupancy surveys in East Antarctica discover new Adélie penguin breeding sites and reveal an expanding breeding distribution
Authors: Southwell Colin , Emmerson Louise 
Published: January 2013

AbstractKnowledge of spatial distribution is fundamental to ecological studies and crucial for conservation and management of species and biodiversity, but detailed, large-scale spatial data are lacking for most taxa. Although the Adélie penguin is one of the most intensively studied Antarctic vertebrates, spatial data that could aid in ecological study and conservation management are incomplete. We undertook a large-scale survey of the current breeding distribution of Adélie penguins along 3800 km of the East Antarctic coastline. The survey increased the number of known breeding locations by 50% and revealed that the breeding distribution has expanded in some parts of the survey region over the past two to three decades. The expanding breeding distribution may reflect underlying population dynamics of sustained growth and resultant density dependent effect on dispersal and movement from established breeding sites to new sites. The comprehensive, large-scale distribution data from this study will form a baseline for assessing any future changes in Adélie penguin breeding distribution, provide data for developing spatial models for predicting future changes in breeding distribution under plausible scenarios of environmental change, and contribute to the development of metapopulation models by providing estimates of local colonization and extinction probabilities under specific conditions of metapopulation change.
Counting civil society: deconstructing elite participation in the provincial English city, 1900–1950
Authors: HAYES NICK 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTWith few dissenting voices, the historiography of twentieth-century urban civil society has been relayed through a prism of continuing and escalating elite disengagement. Within a paradigm of declinism, academics, politicians and social commentators contrast a past offering a richness of social commitment against a present characterized by lowering standards in urban governance. Put simply, the right sorts of people were no longer volunteering. Yet the data for such claims is insubstantial, and the applied methodology flawed. What are lacking are detailed empirical studies which offer flexible measures of status across a range of voluntary and political activities, so that we can better understand the social trends of urban volunteering across the first 50 years of the twentieth century.
Iodine and iron status of pregnant women in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Habimana Laurence , Twite Kabange E , Wallemacq Pierre , De Nayer Philippe , Daumerie Chantal , Donnen Philippe , Kalenga Muenze K , Robert Annie 
Published: January 2013

AbstractObjectiveAdequate iodine and Fe intakes are imperative during pregnancy to prevent fetal defects, but such data are not available in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We aimed to assess iodine and Fe status in pregnant women from Lubumbashi.DesignCross-sectional study. We measured urinary iodine concentration (UIC) in random urine samples using a modified Sandell–Kolthoff digestion method; the WHO reference medians were used to classify iodine intake as deficient, adequate, more than adequate or excessive. Serum ferritin concentrations were measured by immunoenzymatic assay and considered insufficient when <12 ng/ml.SettingMaternity units from rural, semi-urban and urban areas of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo.SubjectsTwo hundred and twenty-five randomly selected pregnant women attending prenatal consultation, seventy-five postpartum women and seventy-five non-pregnant women as controls.ResultsOverall median UIC in pregnant women was 138 (interquartile range: 105–172) μg/l, indicating iodine deficiency, whereas postpartum and non-pregnant women had adequate iodine intake: median UIC = 144 μg/l and 204 μg/l, respectively. Median UIC values were lower in late pregnancy than in early pregnancy: in the first, second and third trimester respectively 255 μg/l, 70 μg/l and 88 μg/l in the rural area; 306 μg/l, 166 μg/l and 68 μg/l in the semi-urban area; and 203 μg/l, 174 μg/l and 99 μg/l in the urban area. Fe was insufficient in 39 % of pregnant women compared with 21 % of non-pregnant and postpartum women. In the third trimester, deficiencies in both iodine and Fe were high: 40 %, 12 % and 18 % in the rural, semi-urban and urban areas, respectively.ConclusionsOur data suggest that pregnant women are at risk of iodine and Fe deficiencies in Lubumbashi. Country policies fighting against iodine and Fe deficiencies during pregnancy should be reinforced.
Comparisons of Analysis Methods for Proof‐of‐Concept Trials
Authors: Karlsson KE , Vong C , Bergstrand M , Jonsson EN , Karlsson MO 
Published: January 2013

Drug development struggles with high costs and time consuming processes. Hence, a need for new strategies has been accentuated by many stakeholders in drug development. This study proposes the use of pharmacometric models to rationalize drug development. Two simulated examples, within the therapeutic areas of acute stroke and type 2 diabetes, are utilized to compare a pharmacometric model–based analysis to a t‐test with respect to study power of proof‐of‐concept (POC) trials. In all investigated examples and scenarios, the conventional statistical analysis resulted in several fold larger study sizes to achieve 80% power. For a scenario with a parallel design of one placebo group and one active dose arm, the difference between the conventional and pharmacometric approach was 4.3‐ and 8.4‐fold, for the stroke and diabetes example, respectively. Although the model‐based power depend on the model assumptions, in these scenarios, the pharmacometric model–based approach was demonstrated to permit drastic streamlining of POC trials.CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology (2013) 2, e23; doi:10.1038/psp.2012.24; advance online publication 16 January 2013
An analysis and validation pipeline for large-scale RNAi-based screens
Authors: Plank Michael , Hu Guang , Silva A. Sofia , Wood Shona H. , Hesketh Emily E. , Janssens Georges , Macedo André , de Magalhães João Pedro , Church George M. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractLarge-scale RNAi-based screens are a major technology, but require adequate prioritization and validation of candidate genes from the primary screen. In this work, we performed a large-scale pooled shRNA screen in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to discover genes associated with oxidative stress resistance and found several candidates. We then developed a bioinformatics pipeline to prioritize these candidates incorporating effect sizes, functional enrichment analysis, interaction networks and gene expression information. To validate candidates, we mixed normal cells with cells expressing the shRNA coupled to a fluorescent protein, which allows control cells to be used as an internal standard and thus we could detect shRNAs with subtle effects. Although we did not identify genes associated with oxidative stress resistance, as a proof-of-concept of our pipeline we demonstrate a detrimental role of Edd1 silencing in ESC growth. Our methods may be useful for candidate gene prioritization of large-scale RNAi-based screens.
Monolayer graphene oxide as a building block for artificial muscles
Authors: Rogers Geoffrey W. , Liu Jefferson Z. 
Published: January 2013

The electromechanical actuation of a highly ordered compound of graphene oxide (GO) is shown via ab initio simulations to produce high-performance quantum-mechanical responses, which mimic the behaviour of mammalian skeletal muscle. In addition to large expansive strains (∼10%), this GO compound (asymmetrically unzipped C4O) exhibits large contractive strains of −4.8% upon −0.15 e/C-atom electron injection. Furthermore, as these contractive strains are coupled with equally high stresses (∼100 GPa) and short response times (∼1 ns), we show that this GO material meets all of the functional requirements of an artificial muscle building block.
Outbreak of Fluoroquinolone-ResistantEscherichia coliInfections after Transrectal Ultrasound—Guided Biopsy of the Prostate
Authors: Dumford Donald , Suwantarat Nuntra , Bhasker Vineet , Kundrapu Sirisha , Zabarsky Trina F. , Drawz Paul , Zhu Hui , Donskey Curtis J. 
Published: January 2013

Design.We conducted an investigation after identifying a cluster of 4 serious infections following transrectal ultrasound–guided biopsy of the prostate (TRUBP) during a 2-month period.Setting.veterans Affairs medical center.Patients.Patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) after TRUBP and time-matched controls with no evidence of infection.Methods.The incidence of UTI within 30 days after TRUBP was calculated from 2002 through 2010. We evaluated the correlation between infection with fluoroquinolone-resistant gram-negative bacilli (GNB) and fluoroquinolone resistance in outpatientEscherichia coliurinary isolates and performed a case-control study to determine risk factors for infection with fluoroquinolone-resistant GNB. Processes for TRUBP prophylaxis, procedures, and equipment sterilization were reviewed.Results.An outbreak of UTI due to fluoroquinolone-resistantE. coliafter TRUBP began 2 years before the cluster was identified and was correlated with increasing fluoroquinolone resistance in outpatientE. coli. No deficiencies were identified in equipment processing or biopsy procedures. Fluoroquinolone-resistant E. coli UTI after TRUBP was independently associated with prior infection with fluoroquinolone-resistant GNB (adjusted odds ratio, 20.8;P= .005). A prediction rule including prior UTI, hospitalization in the past year, and previous infection with fluoroquinolone-resistant GNB identified only 17 (49%) of 35 cases.Conclusions.The outbreak of fluoroquinolone-resistantE. coliinfections after TRUBP closely paralleled rising rates of fluoroquinolone resistance among outpatientE. coliisolates. The delayed detection of the outbreak and the absence of sensitive predictors of infection suggest that active surveillance for infection after TRUBP is necessary in the context of increasing fluoroquinolone resistance in the United States.