Policy implications of demographic change: panel discussion: recent demographic achievements and the challenges ahead

The last century, the twentieth century, has been the most revolutionary, the most unparalleled in human history, in terms of demographic events, and it is likely to retain that distinction into the future.Demography ; Economic conditions

Distributed Weight Selection in Consensus Protocols by Schatten Norm Minimization

In average consensus protocols, nodes in a network perform an iterative weighted average of their estimates and those of their neighbors. The protocol converges to the average of initial estimates of all nodes found in the network. The speed of convergence of average consensus protocols depends on the weights selected on links (to neighbors). We address in this paper how to select the weights in a given network in order to have a fast speed of convergence for these protocols. We approximate the problem of optimal weight selection by the minimization of the Schatten p-norm of a matrix with some constraints related to the connectivity of the underlying network. We then provide a totally distributed gradient method to solve the Schatten norm optimization problem. By tuning the parameter p in our proposed minimization, we can simply trade-off the quality of the solution (i.e. the speed of convergence) for communication/computation requirements (in terms of number of messages exchanged and volume of data processed). Simulation results show that our approach provides very good performance already for values of p that only needs limited information exchange. The weight optimization iterative procedure can also run in parallel with the consensus protocol and form a joint consensus-optimization procedure.Comment: N° RR-8078 (2012

Design and Analysis of Distributed Averaging with Quantized Communication

Consider a network whose nodes have some initial values, and it is desired to design an algorithm that builds on neighbor to neighbor interactions with the ultimate goal of convergence to the average of all initial node values or to some value close to that average. Such an algorithm is called generically "distributed averaging," and our goal in this paper is to study the performance of a subclass of deterministic distributed averaging algorithms where the information exchange between neighboring nodes (agents) is subject to uniform quantization. With such quantization, convergence to the precise average cannot be achieved in general, but the convergence would be to some value close to it, called quantized consensus. Using Lyapunov stability analysis, we characterize the convergence properties of the resulting nonlinear quantized system. We show that in finite time and depending on initial conditions, the algorithm will either cause all agents to reach a quantized consensus where the consensus value is the largest quantized value not greater than the average of their initial values, or will lead all variables to cycle in a small neighborhood around the average. In the latter case, we identify tight bounds for the size of the neighborhood and we further show that the error can be made arbitrarily small by adjusting the algorithm's parameters in a distributed manner

Continuous saline bladder irrigation for two hours following transurethral resection of bladder tumors in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer does not prevent recurrence or progression compared with intravesical Mitomycin-C.

BackgroundIntravesical Mitomycin-C (MMC) following transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT), while efficacious, is associated with side effects and poor utilization. Continuous saline bladder irrigation (CSBI) has been examined as an alternative. In this study we sought to compare the rates of recurrence and/or progression in patients with NMIBC who were treated with either MMC or CSBI after TURBT.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed records of patients with NMIBC at our institution in 2012-2015. Perioperative use of MMC (40 mg in 20 mL), CSBI (two hours), or neither were recorded. Primary outcome was time to recurrence or progression. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared analysis, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and Cox multivariable regression analyses were performed.Results205 patients met inclusion criteria. Forty-five (22.0%) patients received CSBI, 71 (34.6%) received MMC, and 89 (43.4%) received no perioperative therapy. On survival analysis, MMC was associated with improved DFS compared with CSBI (p = 0.001) and no treatment (p = 0.0009). On multivariable analysis, high risk disease was associated with increased risk of recurrence or progression (HR 2.77, 95% CI: 1.28-6.01), whereas adjuvant therapy (HR 0.35, 95% CI: 0.20-0.59) and MMC (HR 0.43, 95% CI: 0.25-0.75) were associated with decreased risk.ConclusionsPostoperative MMC was associated with improved DFS compared with CSBI and no treatment. The DFS benefit seen with CSBI in other studies may be limited to patients receiving prolonged irrigation. New intravesical agents being evaluated may consider saline as a control given our data demonstrating that short-term CSBI is not superior to TURBT alone

Novel Delivery Mechanisms for Existing Systemic Agents and Emerging Therapies in Bladder Cancer.

Systemic agents including immune checkpoint inhibitors, antibody-drug conjugates, and targeted therapies play a critical role in the management of bladder cancer. Novel localized delivery mechanisms for existing systemic agents explore solutions to improve treatment response without compromising safety. Herein, we review the contemporary innovations in modern intravesical agents, hyperthermic drug delivery, reverse-thermal gels, nanocarriers, gene therapy, and subcutaneous therapies

Durvalumab: an investigational anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody for the treatment of urothelial carcinoma.

Our expanding knowledge of immunotherapy for solid tumors has led to an explosion of clinical trials aimed at urothelial carcinoma. The primary strategy is centered on unleashing the immune system by releasing the inhibitory signals propagated by programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1). Many antibody constructs have been developed to block these interactions and are used in clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration has already approved a number of checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) monoclonal antibodies including ipilimumab; anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies including nivolumab and pembrolizumab; anti-PD-L1 antibodies including atezolizumab, avelumab, and durvalumab. One of the latest inhibitors is durvalumab, which is a high-affinity human immunoglobulin G1 kappa monoclonal antibody and blocks the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 and CD80. Currently, there are a number of ongoing trials in advanced urothelial carcinoma both using durvalumab monotherapy and in combination with other targeted therapies. In addition, durvalumab is being investigated in the non-muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma, which is centered around intravenous formulations. These exciting developments have added a significant number of therapies in a previously limited treatment landscape

la psychobiographie et son rôle dans la création littéraire

  Dans son article, Pierre Glaudes fait appelle au terme psychobiographique pour signifier une activité critique moderne dans l'interprétation des textes littéraires.  La création littéraire est souvent considérée comme porte-parole de son créateur. Derrière les mots se cache une  vie à vivre ou à vouloir vivre. Pour le faire, l'écrivain dote ses personnages de ses idées. L'analyse qu'a avancée Freud au début du XXème siècle, a permis une nouvelle orientation vers l'analyse du personnage dans toute création littéraire. Les études faites par lui considèrent la création littéraire comme une rêverie qui relève de l'univers diurne, elles tentent à cerner l'implication personnelle de l'auteur dans son texte tout en chargeant le personnage à être le représentant de conflits intrapsychique. Notre étude tente à analyser les éléments psychobiographiques dans certaines créations littéraires, notamment celles de Stendhal, de Kafka et d'Ionesco, et à aborder tous les aspects qui en résultent

المفهوم الجديد للشخصية في المسرح الحديث

يُقدم المسرح الحديث، التيار الأدبي الذي يعود لخمسينيات القرن الماضي، مفهوماً جديداً فيما يتعلق بالشخصية المسرحية. لقد قام كتابه بالضرب بعرض الحائط كل القواعد المسرحية ليقدموا فناُ مسرحياُ يعبر عن المآسي و الآلام التي عرفتها البشرية عقب الحربين العالمتين. فمن الجديد في اللغة إلى الديكور إلى مفهوم الزمان و المكان نصل إلى مفهوم جديد للشخصية المسرحية. يهدف هذا البحث إلى تسليط الضوء على المفهوم الجديد للشخصية لدى رواد المسرح الحديث الذين يقدمون تشويهاً حقيقياً للشخصية. سيتناول بحثنا هذا الطريقة التي قام بها كتاب المسرح الحديث بإعادة النظر في مفهوم الشخصية المسرحية من خلال أعمالهم، كما سنتناول الأسباب التي قادتهم إلى ذلك