Optimal Short-Circuit Resilient Formulas

We consider fault-tolerant boolean formulas in which the output of a faulty gate is short-circuited to one of the gate\u27s inputs. A recent result by Kalai et al. [FOCS 2012] converts any boolean formula into a resilient formula of polynomial size that works correctly if less than a fraction 1/6 of the gates (on every input-to-output path) are faulty. We improve the result of Kalai et al., and show how to efficiently fortify any boolean formula against a fraction 1/5 of short-circuit gates per path, with only a polynomial blowup in size. We additionally show that it is impossible to obtain formulas with higher resilience and sub-exponential growth in size. Towards our results, we consider interactive coding schemes when noiseless feedback is present; these produce resilient boolean formulas via a Karchmer-Wigderson relation. We develop a coding scheme that resists up to a fraction 1/5 of corrupted transmissions in each direction of the interactive channel. We further show that such a level of noise is maximal for coding schemes with sub-exponential blowup in communication. Our coding scheme takes a surprising inspiration from Blockchain technology

Optimal Trajectory Tracking Control for a Wheeled Mobile Robot Using Fractional Order PID Controller

يقدم هذا البحث, المتحكم التناسبي التكاملي التفاضلي الكسري الامثل اعتمادا على خوارزمية اسراب الطيور للسيطرة على تتبع المسار للانسان الالي ذو العجلات. حيث يتم تقليل مشكلة تتبع المسار مع إعطاء السرعة المرجعية المطلوبة للحصول على المسافة وانحراف زاوية يساوي الصفر، لتحقيق الهدف من تتبع المسار يتم استخدام اثنين من وحدات المتحكم التناسبي التكاملي التفاضلي الكسري للتحكم في السرعة والزاوية لتنفيذ سيطرة تتبع المسار.  تستخدم أساليب تخطيط وتتبع المسارات لإعطاء مسارات تتبع مختلفة. تم استخدام خوارزمية اسراب الطيور لإيجاد المعلمات المثلى لوحدات المتحكم التناسبي التكاملي التفاضلي الكسري. وتم محاكاة النماذج الحركية والحيوية للانسان الالي ذو العجلات لتتبع المسار المطلوب مع خوارزمية أسراب الطيور في برنامج المحاكاة  ماتلاب. وتبين نتائج المحاكاة أن  وحدات المتحكم التناسبي التكاملي التفاضلي الكسري الأمثل هي أكثر فعالية ولها أداء ديناميكي أفضل من الطرق التقليدية.This paper present an optimal Fractional Order PID (FOPID) controller based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for controlling the trajectory tracking of Wheeled Mobile Robot(WMR).The issue of trajectory tracking with given a desired reference velocity is minimized to get the distance and deviation angle equal to zero, to realize the objective of trajectory tracking a two FOPID controllers are used for velocity control and azimuth control to implement the trajectory tracking control. A path planning and path tracking methodologies are used to give different desired tracking trajectories.  PSO algorithm is using to find the optimal parameters of FOPID controllers. The kinematic and dynamic models of wheeled mobile robot for desired trajectory tracking with PSO algorithm are simulated in Simulink-Matlab. Simulation results show that the optimal FOPID controllers are more effective and has better dynamic performance than the conventional methods

СИНДРОМ НЕСПОКІЙНИХ НІГ ТА ЯКІСТЬ ЖИТТЯ У ГЕМОДІАЛІЗНИХ ПАЦІЄНТІВ, КЛІНІЧНА ЕФЕКТИВНІСТЬ ГАБАПЕНТИНУ

В исследовании изучалась клиническая эффективность габапентина при синдроме беспокойных ног (СНН) и влияние СНН на качество жизни пациентов на программном гемодиализе. Использовались опросник оценки качества жизни SF - 36, для диагностики СНН - критерииБ разработанные международной группой RLS - IRLSSG(International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group). Было выявлено, что СНН существенно ухудшает КЖ пациентов, которые лечатся программным гемодиализом. Применение габапентина в течение 4 недель в дозе 300 мг на ночь уменьшает интенсивность проявлений СНН, путем уменьшения неприятных ощущений (парестезий) и улучшает показатели КЖ пациентов с СНН, которые лечатся программным гемодиализом

Asthma among adult patients presenting with dyspnea to the emergency department: An observational study

Introduction: Shortness of breath is a common presenting symptom to the emergency department (ED) that can arise from a myriad of possible diagnoses. Asthma is one of the major causes. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the demographic features, clinical characteristics, management and outcomes of adults with an ED diagnosis of asthma who presented to an ED in the Asia Pacific region with a principal symptom of dyspnea. Methods: Planned sub‐study of patients with an ED diagnosis of asthma identified in the Asia, Australia and New Zealand Dyspnoea in Emergency Departments (AANZDEM) study. AANZDEM was a prospective cohort study conducted in 46 EDs in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia over three 72 hour periods in May, August and October 2014. Primary outcomes were patient epidemiology, clinical features, treatment and outcomes (hospital length of stay (LOS) and mortality). Results: Of the 3044 patients with dyspnea, 387 (12.7%) patients had an ED diagnosis of asthma. The median age was 45 years, 60.1% were female, 16.1% were active or recent smokers and 30.4% arrived by ambulance. Inhaled bronchodilator therapy was initiated in 88.1% of patients, and 66.9% received both inhaled bronchodilators and systemic corticosteroids. After treatment in the ED, 65.4% were discharged. No death was reported. Conclusion: Asthma is common among patients presenting with a principal symptom of dyspnea in the ED of the Asia Pacific region. There was a suboptimal adherence to international guidelines on investigations and treatments of acute asthma exacerbations presenting an opportunity to improve the efficiency of care.Full Tex

Exome sequencing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis implicates a novel gene, DNAJC7, encoding a heat-shock protein

To discover novel genes underlying amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we aggregated exomes from 3,864 cases and 7,839 ancestry-matched controls. We observed a significant excess of rare protein-truncating variants among ALS cases, and these variants were concentrated in constrained genes. Through gene level analyses, we replicated known ALS genes including SOD1, NEK1 and FUS. We also observed multiple distinct protein-truncating variants in a highly constrained gene, DNAJC7. The signal in DNAJC7 exceeded genome-wide significance, and immunoblotting assays showed depletion of DNAJC7 protein in fibroblasts in a patient with ALS carrying the p.Arg156Ter variant. DNAJC7 encodes a member of the heat-shock protein family, HSP40, which, along with HSP70 proteins, facilitates protein homeostasis, including folding of newly synthesized polypeptides and clearance of degraded proteins. When these processes are not regulated, misfolding and accumulation of aberrant proteins can occur and lead to protein aggregation, which is a pathological hallmark of neurodegeneration. Our results highlight DNAJC7 as a novel gene for ALS

Loss of mouse Stmn2 function causes motor neuropathy

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by motor neuron degeneration accompanied by aberrant accumulation and loss of function of the RNA-binding protein TDP43. Thus far, it remains unresolved to what extent TDP43 loss of function directly contributes to motor system dysfunction. Here, we employed gene editing to find whether the mouse ortholog of the TDP43-regulated gene STMN2 has an important function in maintaining the motor system. Both mosaic founders and homozygous loss-of-function Stmn2 mice exhibited neuromuscular junction denervation and fragmentation, resulting in muscle atrophy and impaired motor behavior, accompanied by an imbalance in neuronal microtubule dynamics in the spinal cord. The introduction of human STMN2 through BAC transgenesis was sufficient to rescue the motor phenotypes observed in Stmn2 mutant mice. Collectively, our results demonstrate that disrupting the ortholog of a single TDP43-regulated RNA is sufficient to cause substantial motor dysfunction, indicating that disruption of TDP43 function is likely a contributor to ALS

Epidemiology, prehospital care and outcomes of patients arriving by ambulance with dyspnoea: An observational study

Background: This study aimed to determine epidemiology and outcome for patients presenting to emergency departments (ED) with shortness of breath who were transported by ambulance. Methods: This was a planned sub-study of a prospective, interrupted time series cohort study conducted at three time points in 2014 and which included consecutive adult patients presenting to the ED with dyspnoea as a main symptom. For this sub-study, additional inclusion criteria were presentation to an ED in Australia or New Zealand and transport by ambulance. The primary outcomes of interest are the epidemiology and outcome of these patients. Analysis was by descriptive statistics and comparisons of proportions. Results: One thousand seven patients met inclusion criteria. Median age was 74 years (IQR 61-68) and 46.1 % were male. There was a high rate of co-morbidity and chronic medication use. The most common ED diagnoses were lower respiratory tract infection (including pneumonia, 22.7 %), cardiac failure (20.5%) and exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (19.7 %). ED disposition was hospital admission (including ICU) for 76.4 %, ICU admission for 5.6 % and death in ED in 0.9 %. Overall in-hospital mortality among admitted patients was 6.5 %. Discussion: Patients transported by ambulance with shortness of breath make up a significant proportion of ambulance caseload and have high comorbidity and high hospital admission rate. In this study, >60 % were accounted for by patients with heart failure, lower respiratory tract infection or COPD, but there were a wide range of diagnoses. This has implications for service planning, models of care and paramedic training. Conclusion: This study shows that patients transported to hospital by ambulance with shortness of breath are a complex and seriously ill group with a broad range of diagnoses. Understanding the characteristics of these patients, the range of diagnoses and their outcome can help inform training and planning of services