RCTS: A flexible environment for sensor integration and control of robot systems; the distributed processing approach

Most robot systems lack a suitable hardware and software environment for the efficient research of new control and sensing schemes. Typically, engineers and researchers need to be experts in control, sensing, programming, communication and robotics in order to implement, integrate and test new ideas in a robot system. In order to reduce this time, the Robot Controller Test Station (RCTS) has been developed. It uses a modular hardware and software architecture allowing easy physical and functional reconfiguration of a robot. This is accomplished by emphasizing four major design goals: flexibility, portability, ease of use, and ease of modification. An enhanced distributed processing version of RCTS is described. It features an expanded and more flexible communication system design. Distributed processing results in the availability of more local computing power and retains the low cost of microprocessors. A large number of possible communication, control and sensing schemes can therefore be easily introduced and tested, using the same basic software structure

The impact of pharaonic female genital mutilation on sexuality: two cases from Sudan highlighting the need for widespread dissemination of sexual and reproductive health education in Africa

It is well documented that female genital mutilation (FGM) can have numerous physical and psychosocial consequences. The increased awareness about FGM and its impact on female health over the past few decades has led to a ban on FGM in many countries, however, this has yet to translate into measurable changes in prevalence. Efforts to enforce legislation have been unsuccessful in part because the general public lacks information about the negative consequences of FGM. In this report we present two cases of sexual difficulties as a result of FGM from Sudan, where the most severe form of FGM is still being practiced. During an interview about infertility, these two women volunteered information about how FGM has affected their sexuality. The lack of information about the impact of FGM on sexuality reflected in these cases, highlighted the significant need for widespread dissemination of sexual and reproductive health education in Africa

Investigation of finite deformations and shear banding: Theory and experiment

An experimental method using a digital image processing technique is developed for the purpose of characterizing material behavior at large elastoplastic deformations and the associated phenomenon of localization of plastic flow into shear bands. This allows for a detailed description of the evolution of the nonuniform deformation pattern in the postlocalization regime. The experimental results are utilized to calibrate a recently developed gradient-dependent constitutive equation which takes into account the effect of heterogeneous plastic flow, anisotropy and large deformations. The measured values of the gradient coefficients are of small magnitude suggesting that higher order gradients are important only in the highly inhomogeneous region as expected. Moreover, it is found that anisotropic effects become significant in the post-localization regime where the anisotropy ratio changes considerably

Determining the need for fertility care and the acceptability and feasibility of administering a fertility awareness tool from the user’s perspective in a sample of Sudanese infertility patients

Fertility experts have advocated addressing preventable causes of infertility and early intervention. However, awareness of risk factors is low, especially in low- and middle-income countries where the prevalence of infertility is high. To address this lack of awareness, the Fertility Awareness Tool (FertiSTAT) was adapted for use in Sudan and other low-resource countries. The aims of this study were to ascertain the need for fertility education in Sudan (Aim 1), and to gauge the acceptability and feasibility of implementing the FertiSTAT in Sudan (Aim 2), both from the patients’ perspective. Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants for semi-structured-in-depth interviews from a fertility clinic in Sudan. We collected sociodemographic information, medical and reproductive history, asked about fertility knowledge, administered the FertiSTAT and asked about the acceptability of the FertiSTAT. Thematic analysis was conducted for qualitative data. Twenty participants were included; of these, 17 were female, 13 were educated beyond secondary school, the mean age was 32.8 years, and the mean duration of infertility was 4.1 years. Ten themes emerged: of these, three themes addressed Aim 1: ‘desire for fertility information’, ‘state of fertility knowledge’ and ‘benefits of fertility education’; and seven themes addressed Aim 2: ‘specific suggestions for the tool’, ‘factors influencing the acceptability and feasibility of implementing the tool’, ‘challenges and barriers to implementation’, ‘self-disclosure’, ‘understanding of being at risk’, ‘compatibility with worldview’ and ‘cultural tailoring’. Fertility education was viewed as necessary and beneficial; however, participants thought that lack of acceptability of sensitive topics would hinder the implementation of the FertiSTAT. Acceptability and feasibility would be enhanced if challenges were addressed in a culturally sensitive manner using cultural tailoring of materials to increase compatibility with individual worldviews

Can Europe recover without credit?

Data from 135 countries covering five decades suggests that creditless recoveries, in which the stock of real credit does not return to the pre-crisis level for three years after the GDP trough, are not rare and are characterised by remarkable real GDP growth rates: 4.7 percent per year in middle-income countries and 3.2 percent per year in high-income countries. However, the implications of these historical episodes for the current European situation are limited, for two main reasons. First, creditless recoveries are much less common in highincome countries, than in low-income countries which are financially undeveloped. European economies heavily depend on bank loans and research suggests that loan supply played a major role in the recent weak credit performance of Europe. There are reasons to believe that, despite various efforts, normal lending has not yet been restored. Limited loan supply could be disruptive for the European economic recovery and there has been only a minor substitution of bank loans with debt securities. Second, creditless recoveries were associated with significant real exchange rate depreciation, which has hardly occurred so far in most of Europe. This stylised fact suggests that it might be difficult to re-establish economic growth in the absence of sizeable real exchange rate depreciation, if credit growth does not return

CYP1B1 and myocilin gene mutations in Egyptian patients with primary congenital glaucoma

Purpose: Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) accounts for 26–29% of childhood blindness in Egypt. The identification of disease causing mutations has not been extensively investigated. We aimed to examine the frequency of CYP1B1 and MYOC mutations in PCG Egyptian patients, and study a possible genotype/phenotype correlation.Methods: Ninety-eight patients with PCG diagnosed at the Ophthalmology department ofAlexandria Main University Hospital were enrolled. Demographic and phenotypic characteristics were recorded. Patients and 100 healthy subjects (control group) were screened for two mutations in CYP1B1 gene (G61E, R368H) and one mutation in MYOC gene (Gln48His) using polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR/RFLP). Phenotypic characteristics pertaining to disease severity were compared.Results: Nineteen patients (19%) with PCG were found positive for one or more of the mutations screened for. Seven patients (7%) were homozygous for the G61E mutation. Ten patients (10%) were heterozygous; 6 for the G61E mutation, 2 for the R368H mutation and 2 for the Gln48His mutation. Two patients (2%) were double heterozygotes harboring a R368H as well as a Gln48His mutation. The most common mutation observed was the G61E in 13 patients; 7 homozygotes and 6 heterozygotes for the mutation. The control group were negative for all mutations screened for. No significant correlations between the mutations and phenotype severity were detected. A statistically significant positive correlation however was found between the different mutations andeach of the IOP and the cup/disk ratio.Conclusion: The current study further endorses the role of CYP1B1 mutations in the etiology of PCG among Egyptian patients and is the first study to report MYOC gene mutation in Egyptian patients with PCG

Regional Differences in Rates of HIV-1 Viral Load Monitoring in Canada: Insights and Implications for Antiretroviral Care in High Income Countries

Background: Viral load (VL) monitoring is an essential component of the care of HIV positive individuals. Rates ofVL monitoring have been shown to vary by HIV risk factor and clinical characteristics. The objective of this studywas to determine whether there are differences among regions in Canada in the rates of VL testing of HIV-positiveindividuals on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), where the testing is available without financial barriersunder the coverage of provincial health insurance programs.Methods: The Canadian Observational Cohort (CANOC) is a collaboration of nine Canadian cohorts of HIV-positiveindividuals who initiated cART after January 1, 2000. The study included participants with at least one year offollow-up. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) regression models were used to determine the effect ofgeographic region on (1) the occurrence of an interval of 9 months or more between two consecutive recordedVL tests and (2) the number of days between VL tests, after adjusting for demographic and clinical covariates.Overall and regional annual rates of VL testing were also reported.Results: 3,648 individuals were included in the analysis with a median follow-up of 42.9 months and a median of15 VL tests. In multivariable GEE logistic regression models, gaps in VL testing >9 months were more likely inQuebec (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.72, p < 0.0001) and Ontario (OR = 1.78, p < 0.0001) than in British Columbia andamong injection drug users (OR = 1.68, p < 0.0001) and were less likely among older individuals (OR = 0.77 per10 years, p < 0.0001), among men having sex with men (OR = 0.62, p < 0.0001), within the first year of cART(OR = 0.15, p < 0.0001), among individuals on cART at the time of the blood draw (OR = 0.34, p < 0.0001) andamong individuals with VL < 50 copies/ml at the previous visit (OR = 0.56, p < .0001).Conclusions: Significant variation in rates of VL testing and the probability of a significant gap in testing wererelated to geographic region, HIV risk factor, age, year of cART initiation, type of cART regimen, being in the firstyear of cART, AIDS-defining illness and whether or not the previous VL was below the limit of detection

Is there a Common European Business Cycle? New Insights from a Frequency Domain Analysis

To assess the synchronization of business cycles in Europe we extract the cyclical component of industrial production in five European countries using the filter of Baxter and King (1999). The hypothesis of a joint business cycle is tested by using the frequency domain common cycle test suggested by Breitung and Candelon (2000). The common cycle hypothesis is clearly rejected for U.K. data whereas some weak evidence for a joint cyclical pattern is found for France, The Netherlands, Austria and Germany. Zusammenfassung Gibt es einen gemeinsamen europäischen Konjunkturzyklus? Neue Erkenntnisse durch eine Spektralanalyse Um die Synchronität der Konjunkturzyklen in Europa zu bewerten, wird die Zykluskomponente der Industrieproduktion in fünf europäischen Ländern identifiziert, indem der Baxter-King-Filter (1999) angewendet wird. Die Hypothese eines gemeinsamen Konjunkturzyklus wird durch einen Test auf einen gemeinsamen Zyklus im Frequenzbereich nach Breitung und Candelon (2000) überprüft. Ein gemeinsamer Konjunkturzyklus muss demnach für Großbritannien klar zurückgewiesen werden, wohingegen einige schwache Anzeichen für ein gemeinsames Konjunkturmuster für Frankreich, die Niederlande, Österreich und Deutschland gefunden werden konnten

Mapping MOS-HIV to HUI3 and EQ-5D-3L in Patients With HIV

Objectives: The Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV) is frequently used in HIV clinical trials; however, scores generated from the MOS-HIV are not suited for cost-effectiveness analyses as they do not assign utility values to health states. Our objective was to estimate and externally validate several mapping algorithms to predict Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) and EQ-5D-3L utility values from the MOS-HIV. Methods: We developed and validated mapping algorithms using data from two HIV clinical trials. Data from the first trial (n = 367) formed the estimation data set for the HUI3 (4,610 observations) and EQ-5D-3L (4,662 observations) mapping algorithms; data from the second trial (n = 168) formed the HUI3 (1,135 observations) and EQ-5D-3L (1,152 observations) external validation data set. We compared ordinary least squares (OLS) models of increasing complexity with the more flexible two-part, beta regression, and finite mixture models. We assessed model performance using mean absolute error (MAE) and mean squared error (MSE). Results: The OLS model that used MOS-HIV dimension scores along with squared terms gave the best HUI3 predictions (mean observed 0.84; mean predicted 0.80; MAE 0.0961); the finite mixture model gave the best EQ-5D-3L predictions (mean observed 0.90; mean predicted 0.88; MAE 0.0567). All models produced higher prediction errors at the lower end of the HUI3 and EQ-5D-3L score ranges