354 research outputs found
Invariance: a Theoretical Approach for Coding Sets of Words Modulo Literal (Anti)Morphisms
Let be a finite or countable alphabet and let be literal
(anti)morphism onto (by definition, such a correspondence is determinated
by a permutation of the alphabet). This paper deals with sets which are
invariant under (-invariant for short).We establish an
extension of the famous defect theorem. Moreover, we prove that for the
so-called thin -invariant codes, maximality and completeness are two
equivalent notions. We prove that a similar property holds in the framework of
some special families of -invariant codes such as prefix (bifix) codes,
codes with a finite deciphering delay, uniformly synchronized codes and
circular codes. For a special class of involutive antimorphisms, we prove that
any regular -invariant code may be embedded into a complete one.Comment: To appear in Acts of WORDS 201
Language Emptiness of Continuous-Time Parametric Timed Automata
Parametric timed automata extend the standard timed automata with the
possibility to use parameters in the clock guards. In general, if the
parameters are real-valued, the problem of language emptiness of such automata
is undecidable even for various restricted subclasses. We thus focus on the
case where parameters are assumed to be integer-valued, while the time still
remains continuous. On the one hand, we show that the problem remains
undecidable for parametric timed automata with three clocks and one parameter.
On the other hand, for the case with arbitrary many clocks where only one of
these clocks is compared with (an arbitrary number of) parameters, we show that
the parametric language emptiness is decidable. The undecidability result
tightens the bounds of a previous result which assumed six parameters, while
the decidability result extends the existing approaches that deal with
discrete-time semantics only. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
positive result in the case of continuous-time and unbounded integer
parameters, except for the rather simple case of single-clock automata
Osteosarcopenia:Where Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia Collide
peer reviewedThe coexistence of osteoporosis and sarcopenia has been recently considered in some groups as a syndrome termed 'osteosarcopenia'. Osteoporosis describes low bone mass and deterioration of the micro-architecture of the bone, whereas sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass, strength and function. With an ageing population the prevalence of both conditions is likely to increase substantially over the coming decades and is associated with significant personal and societal burden. The sequelae for an individual suffering from both conditions together include a greater risk of falls, fractures, institutionalization and mortality. The aetiology of 'osteosarcopenia' is multifactorial with several factors linking muscle and bone function, including genetics, age, inflammation and obesity. Several biochemical pathways have been identified that are facilitating the development of several promising therapeutic agents, which target both muscle and bone. In the current review we outline the epidemiology, pathogenesis and clinical consequences of 'osteosarcopenia' and explore current and potential future management strategies
On Relevant Equilibria in Reachability Games
We study multiplayer reachability games played on a finite directed graph
equipped with target sets, one for each player. In those reachability games, it
is known that there always exists a Nash equilibrium (NE) and a subgame perfect
equilibrium (SPE). But sometimes several equilibria may coexist such that in
one equilibrium no player reaches his target set whereas in another one several
players reach it. It is thus very natural to identify "relevant" equilibria. In
this paper, we consider different notions of relevant equilibria including
Pareto optimal equilibria and equilibria with high social welfare. We provide
complexity results for various related decision problems
Recommendations for The Conduct of Economic Evaluations in Osteoporosis: Outcomes of An Experts’ Consensus Meeting Organized by The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) And the US Branch of The International Osteoporosis Foundation
Summary
Economic evaluations are increasingly used to assess the value of health interventions, but variable quality and heterogeneity limit the use of these evaluations by decision-makers. These recommendations provide guidance for the design, conduct, and reporting of economic evaluations in osteoporosis to improve their transparency, comparability, and methodologic standards. Introduction
This paper aims to provide recommendations for the conduct of economic evaluations in osteoporosis in order to improve their transparency, comparability, and methodologic standards. Methods
A working group was convened by the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis to make recommendations for the design, conduct, and reporting of economic evaluations in osteoporosis, to define an osteoporosis-specific reference case to serve a minimum standard for all economic analyses in osteoporosis, to discuss methodologic challenges and initiate a call for research. A literature review, a face-to-face meeting in New York City (including 11 experts), and a review/approval by a larger group of experts worldwide (including 23 experts in total) were conducted. Results
Recommendations on the type of economic evaluation, methods for economic evaluation, modeling aspects, base-case analysis and population, excess mortality, fracture costs and disutility, treatment characteristics, and model validation were provided. Recommendations for reporting economic evaluations in osteoporosis were also made and an osteoporosis-specific checklist was designed that includes items to report when performing an economic evaluation in osteoporosis. Further, 12 minimum criteria for economic evaluations in osteoporosis were identified and 12 methodologic challenges and need for further research were discussed. Conclusion
While the working group acknowledges challenges and the need for further research, these recommendations are intended to supplement general and national guidelines for economic evaluations, improve transparency, quality, and comparability of economic evaluations in osteoporosis, and maintain methodologic standards to increase their use by decision-makers
Be He@lthy - Be Mobile (A handbook on how to implement mAgeing)
The Be He@lthy, Be Mobile initiative is a global
partnership led by the World Health Organization
(WHO) and the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU), representing the United
Nations agencies for health and information
and communications technologies (ICTs). The
initiative supports the scale up of mobile health
technology (mHealth) within national health
systems to help combat noncommunicable diseases
(NCDs) and support healthy ageing.
Mobile health, or mHealth, is defined as "medical
and public health practice supported by mobile
devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring
devices, personal digital assistants, and
other wireless devices” (1). The Be Healthy, Be
Mobile initiative uses basic technologies common
in most mobile phones. The BHBM initiative
has overseen the development and implementation
of several mHealth programmes, including
mTobaccoCessation (2), mDiabetes, and mCervicalCancer.
The mHealth programme-specific
handbooks act as aids to policy-makers and
implementers of national or large-scale mHealth
programs. See Annex 1 for further information on
the Be He@lthy, Be Mobile initiative.
mHealth for Ageing, or mAgeing is a new programme
under the initiative, the central objective
of which is to assist older persons (a person
whose age has passed the median life expectancy
at birth) in maintaining functional ability and
living as independently and healthily as possible
through evidence-based self-management and
self-care interventions.
This handbook provides guidance for national
programmes and organizations responsible for
the care of older persons to develop, implement,
monitor, and evaluate an mAgeing programme.
The text messaging communication provided
uses evidence-based behaviour change techniques
to help older persons prevent and manage
early declines in intrinsic capacity and functional
ability. The mAgeing programme is based on
WHO’s Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE):
Guidelines on community-level interventions to
manage declines in intrinsic capacity (3) which
include interventions to prevent declines in intrinsic
capacity and functional abilities in older
people, namely: mobility loss, malnutrition, visual
impairment and hearing loss; as well as cognitive
impairments and depressive symptoms. The
messages are designed to encourage participation
in activities, and to prevent, reduce, or even
partly reverse, significant losses in capacity. The
content of the mAgeing programme will complement
routine care offered by health care professionals
by supporting self-care and self-management.
All content in this handbook is based on the
WHO ICOPE Guidelines and other relevant WHO
recommendations. The ICOPE Guideline recommendations
were reached by the consensus of
a guideline development group, convened by
WHO, which based its decisions on a summary of
systematic reviews of the best quality evidence
most relevant to community-level care for older
people, as well as the most up-to-date research
on the effectiveness of mHealth
Simulating North American Weather Types With Regional Climate Models
Regional climate models (RCMs) are able to simulate small-scale processes that are missing in their coarser resolution driving data and thereby provide valuable climate information for climate impact assessments. Less attention has been paid to the ability of RCMs to capture large-scale weather types (WTs). An inaccurate representation of WTs can result in biases and uncertainties in current and future climate simulations that cannot be easily detected by standard model evaluation metrics. Here we define 12 hydrologically important WTs in the contiguous United States (CONUS). We test if RCMs from the North American CORDEX (NA-CORDEX) and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model large physics ensembles (WRF36) can capture those WTs in the current climate and how they simulate changes in the future. Our results show that the NA-CORDEX RCMs are able to simulate WTs more accurately than members of the WRF36 ensemble. The much larger WRF36 domain in combination with not constraining large-scale conditions by spectral nudging results in lower WT skill. The selection of the driving global climate model (GCM) has a large effect on the skill of NA-CORDEX simulations but a smaller impact on the WRF36 runs. The formulation of the RCM is of minor importance except for capturing the variability within WTs. Changing the model physics or increasing the RCM horizontal grid spacing has little effect. These results highlight the importance of selecting GCMs with accurate synoptic-scale variability for downscaling and to find a balance between large domains that can result in biased WT representations and small domains that inhibit the realistic development of mesoscale processes. At the end of the century, monsoonal flow conditions increase systematically by up to 30% and a WT that is a significant source of moisture for the Northern Plains during the growing seasons decreases systematically up to –30%
Fatty acid profile in peri-prostatic adipose tissue and prostate cancer aggressiveness in African-Caribbean and Caucasian patients
BACKGROUND: Genetic and nutritional factors have been linked to the risk of aggressive prostate cancer (PCa). The fatty acid (FA) composition of peri-prostatic adipose tissue (PPAT), which reflects the past FA intake, is potentially involved in PCa progression. We analysed the FA composition of PPAT, in correlation with the ethno-geographical origin of the patients and markers of tumour aggressiveness.
METHODS: From a cohort of 1000 men treated for PCa by radical prostatectomy, FA composition of PPAT was analysed in 156 patients (106 Caucasians and 50 African-Caribbeans), 78 with an indolent tumour (ISUP group 1 + pT2 + PSA <10 ng/mL) and 78 with an aggressive tumour (ISUP group 4-5 + pT3). The effect of FA extracted from PPAT on in-vitro migration of PCa cells DU145 was studied in 72 patients, 36 Caucasians, and 36 African-Caribbeans.
RESULTS: FA composition differed according to the ethno-geographical origin. Linoleic acid, an essential n-6 FA, was 2-fold higher in African-Caribbeans compared with Caucasian patients, regardless of disease aggressiveness. In African-Caribbeans, the FA profile associated with PCa aggressiveness was characterised by low level of linoleic acid along with high levels of saturates. In Caucasians, a weak and negative association was observed between eicosapentaenoic acid level (an n-3 FA) and disease aggressiveness. In-vitro migration of PCa cells using PPAT from African-Caribbean patients was associated with lower content of linoleic acid.
CONCLUSION: These results highlight an important ethno-geographical variation of PPAT, in both their FA content and association with tumour aggressiveness
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