Establishing locally derived reference intervals for full blood count parameters and white cell differential counts in the Western Cape region of South Africa

Background: The recognised variation observed in normal haematological parameters in different populations and geographic locations, emphasizes the need to establish locally derived reference intervals (RIs) with appropriate representation of the various ethnic groups. Accurate RIs are essential to distinguish between health and disease. Objective: To establish locally derived RIs for full blood count (FBC) and white blood cell (WBC) differential count parameters in healthy adults in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Methods: A prospective, descriptive study was performed, utilizing blood samples of healthy first-time blood donors, presenting voluntarily for blood donation to the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) between November 2016 and October 2017. African, Coloured and Caucasian participants aged between 18 and 60 years of age were included based on convenience sampling. Participants testing positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV, HCV) and syphilis, and those with serum ferritin levels outside the reference range were excluded. Donors with an elevated serum ferritin were also excluded. Reference intervals were derived using non-parametric statistical methods and expressed to include the central 95% of the sample population (2.5th to 97.5th percentiles). Outliers for individual parameters were identified and excluded from the analysis. Results: A total of 376 females and 244 males were included for analysis; 31.61% were African, 39.68% Coloured and 28.71% Caucasian. For all race groups combined, gender-based differences were found in most FBC parameters, including the haemoglobin (Hb), WBC count, neutrophil count and platelet count. When comparing RIs for males and females in the three ethnic groups, statistically significant differences were found for parameters including the Hb, WBC count and red cell indices. There were no significant differences in the absolute eosinophil counts and mean cell volume (MCV) in females, and platelet counts in males. The ranges differed for a number of FBC variables compared to the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) coastal reference ranges in current use. Conclusion: Locally established and population-specific RIs are essential for accurate interpretation of blood counts. Implementation of separate RIs for the main ethnic groups in the Western Cape should be considered and would have implications for the diagnosis of anaemia and other blood count abnormalities as well as decision rules on haemoglobin levels for blood donor deferral

Sustainable hydrogen generation substrates, catalysts and methods : an overview

Abstract: Because of the increasing demand for energy, various alternative sources of energy generation are being examined. Interest in hydrogen generation is on the rise due to its potential as a scalable green energy source, its transportability, and other positive factors. While various studies have been conducted on hydrogen generation, this review explores three major factors in hydrogen generation in relation to sustainability: substrates or hydrogen storage media, catalysts for speeding up the rate of hydrogen reaction, and methods employed. The media used to store the hydrogen, such as metal hydrides and complex hydrides, is examined in relationship to hydrogen yield, ease of hydrogen generation or treatment, cost and environmental friendliness. A list of popular catalysts - particularly precious/rare earth metals, strong acids and weak acids - is examined and compared in terms of hydrogen yield, environmental friendliness, and cost. The recent trend in hydrogen generation techniques and material treatment innovations such as hydrolysis, and ball milling of nanocomposites is examined. Innovations in hydrogen storage material selection and techniques will go a long way in lowering hydrogen generation cost, increasing hydrogen yield and ameliorating negative environmental impacts

Detection of unjustified plans for cognitive agents

International audienceWe focus on how cognitive agents, which have uncertain or incomplete information about their environment, can detect when preconditions of a running plan have become unjustified. We use an ATMS to detect automatically when a plan becomes unjustified. We offer to insert a substitution plan, according to the progress of the now unjustified plan. Thus the programmer will be able to specify to one's agent what are the actions to be undertaken to correct actions made by mistake

Total Energy Management in General Motors

This paper presents an overview of General Motors' energy management program with special emphasis on energy conservation. Included is a description of the total program organization, plant guidelines, communication and motivation techniques, successful case histories, some concepts for future savings and the results of the program to date

Detection of unjustified plans for cognitive agents

International audienceWe focus on how cognitive agents, which have uncertain or incomplete information about their environment, can detect when preconditions of a running plan have become unjustified. We use an ATMS to detect automatically when a plan becomes unjustified. We offer to insert a substitution plan, according to the progress of the now unjustified plan. Thus the programmer will be able to specify to one's agent what are the actions to be undertaken to correct actions made by mistake

LE SYNDROME DU CHIOT NAGEUR

MAISONS-ALFORT-Ecole Vétérin (940462302) / SudocSudocFranceF

Alma (un langage de programmation d'agents cognitifs)

Cette thèse s'intéresse à la programmation d'agents cognitifs. Devant les grandes difficultés que l'on rencontre pour concevoir, réaliser et maintenir des systèmes informatiques de plus en plus complexes, nous pensons que ce paradigme peut apporter des réponses. Grâce à des concepts proches de notre manière de penser, cela ouvre la porte à de nouvelles solutions. L'état d'esprit dans lequel les systèmes multi-agents nous plongent, nous guide vers une modularité différente : plus explicite, plus déclarative, mieux adaptable et plus robuste. Nous pensons que ce paradigme ne se développera pas à sa juste valeur tant qu'un langage de programmation l'incarnant n'aura pas réussi à s'imposer. Et c'est pour aller dans ce sens que ce travail a été accompli. Il nous semble indispensable pour des agents cognitifs de pouvoir raisonner à partir d'informations incomplètes, de gérer des contradictions, et de raisonner sur les actions possibles dans ce contexte. Nous avons conçu une solution basée sur du raisonnement hypothétique. Nous montrerons dans cette thèse les impacts de ce choix sur les différentes composantes des agents : la révision de leurs croyances, l'écriture et génération automatique de leurs plans, la gestion des plans en cours d'exécution, et le rétablissement d'un comportement cohérent de l'agent. La contribution de cette thèse est le langage de programmation d'agents ALMA qui intègre ces différents aspects.This thesis is about cognitive agents programming. We think this paradigm is an answer to the issues raised in designing, implementing and maintaining complex software systems. Concepts used in multi-agents systems are close to our natural way of thinking. This leads us to some new kind of solutions which are more declarative, adaptable and robust. We believe this paradigm will reach its true value only with the help of dedicated programming languages. This is the underlying goal of this thesis. Cognitive agents need to have a reasoning based on incomplete information. They also need to be able to manage contradictions, and to anticipate the possible actions from this situation. We have designed a solution based on hypothetical reasoning. We will show the consequences of this choice on the components of the agent architecture. The first consequence is the integration of an assumption based belief revision process. Then, we will show how plans are programmed, managed and how a consistent behavior is restored when beliefs have changed. And lastly we will show how we integrate an automated planning mechanism relying on a dynamic belief base. The contribution of this thesis is this agent programming language ALMA that has all those features.PARIS-BIUSJ-Mathématiques rech (751052111) / SudocSudocFranceF

A study of the alkylation and rearrangement products of chiral 1,3-oxazolidine- and thiazolidine-2-thiones

Homochiral 1,3-oxazolidine-2-thiones and 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thiones are useful chiral auxiliaries in asymmetric synthesis. Our interest in chiral amino dienes drove us to consider the preparation of dienes (1a) and (1b) bearing those auxiliaries. Trying to synthesize such dienes by alkylation of the corresponding heterocycles with 1,4-dihalogeno-2-butenes, we found several rearrangement reactions leading to new compounds that we fully characterized. In particular, we found a new access towards 4-vinyl-1,3-thiazolidin-2-ones