Fixed points of dynamic processes of set-valued F-contractions and application to functional equations

The article is a continuation of the investigations concerning F-contractions which have been recently introduced in [Wardowski in Fixed Point Theory Appl. 2012:94,2012]. The authors extend the concept of F-contractive mappings to the case of nonlinear F-contractions and prove a fixed point theorem via the dynamic processes. The paper includes a non-trivial example which shows the motivation for such investigations. The work is summarized by the application of the introduced nonlinear F-contractions to functional equations

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

A review of potential contaminants in Australian livestock feeds and proposed guidance levels for feed

Contaminants of man-made and natural origin need to be managed in livestock feeds to protect the health of livestock and that of human consumers of livestock products. This requires access to information on the transfer from feed to food to inform risk profiles and assessments, and to guide management interventions such as regulation or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point approaches. This paper reviews contaminants of known and potential concern in the production of livestock feeds in Australia and compares existing but differing state and national regulatory standards with international standards. The contaminants considered include man-made organic chemical contaminants (e.g. legacy pesticides), elemental contaminants (e.g. arsenic, cadmium, lead), phytotoxins (e.g. gossypol) and mycotoxins (e.g. aflatoxins). Reference is made to scientific literature and evaluations by regulators to propose maximum levels that can be used for guidance by those involved in managing contamination incidents or developing feed safety programs. © 2013 CSIRO

Quantifying human-animal contact rates in Malaysian Borneo: Influence of agricultural landscapes on contact with potential zoonotic disease reservoirs

Changing landscapes across the globe, but particularly in Southeast Asia, are pushing humans and animals closer together and may increase the likelihood of zoonotic spillover events. Malaysian Borneo is hypothesized to be at high risk of spillover events due to proximity between reservoir species and humans caused by recent deforestation in the region. However, the relationship between landscape and human-animal contact rates has yet to be quantified. An environmentally stratified cross-sectional survey was conducted in Sabah, Malaysia in 2015, collecting geolocated questionnaire data on potential risk factors for contact with animals for 10,100 individuals. 51% of individuals reported contact with poultry, 46% with NHPs, 30% with bats, and 2% with swine. Generalised linear mixed models identified occupational and demographic factors associated with increased contact with these species, which varied when comparing wildlife to domesticated animals. Reported contact rates with each animal group were integrated with remote sensing-derived environmental data within a Bayesian framework to identify regions with high probabilities of contact with animal reservoirs. We have identified high spatial heterogeneity of contact with animals and clear associations between agricultural practices and high animal rates. This approach will help inform public health campaigns in at-risk populations and can improve pathogen surveillance efforts on Malaysian Borneo. This method can additionally serve as a framework for researchers looking to identify targets for future pathogen detection in a chosen region of study

Quantifying human-animal contact rates in Malaysian Borneo: influence of agricultural landscapes on contact with potential zoonotic disease reservoirs

Changing landscapes across the globe, but particularly in Southeast Asia, are pushing humans and animals closer together and may increase the likelihood of zoonotic spillover events. Malaysian Borneo is hypothesized to be at high risk of spillover events due to proximity between reservoir species and humans caused by recent deforestation in the region. However, the relationship between landscape and human-animal contact rates has yet to be quantified. An environmentally stratified cross-sectional survey was conducted in Sabah, Malaysia in 2015, collecting geolocated questionnaire data on potential risk factors for contact with animals for 10,100 individuals. 51% of individuals reported contact with poultry, 46% with NHPs, 30% with bats, and 2% with swine. Generalised linear mixed models identified occupational and demographic factors associated with increased contact with these species, which varied when comparing wildlife to domesticated animals. Reported contact rates with each animal group were integrated with remote sensing-derived environmental data within a Bayesian framework to identify regions with high probabilities of contact with animal reservoirs. We have identified high spatial heterogeneity of contact with animals and clear associations between agricultural practices and high animal rates. This approach will help inform public health campaigns in at-risk populations and can improve pathogen surveillance efforts on Malaysian Borneo. This method can additionally serve as a framework for researchers looking to identify targets for future pathogen detection in a chosen region of study

Effects on heavy menstrual bleeding and pregnancy of uterine artery embolization (UAE) or myomectomy for women with uterine fibroids wishing to avoid hysterectomy: the FEMME randomized controlled trial

Objective: To determine treatment options (myomectomy vs uterine artery embolization [UAE]) for women wishing to avoid hysterectomy. Methods: A multicenter randomized controlled trial was conducted on 254 women and data were collected on fibroid-specific quality of life (UFS-QOL), loss of menstrual blood, and pregnancy. Results: At 4 years, the mean difference in the UFS-QOL was 5.0 points (95% confidence interval [CI] −1.4 to 11.5; P=0.13) in favor of myomectomy. This was not statistically significant as it was at 2 years. There were no differences in bleeding scores, rates of amenorrhea, or heavy bleeding. Of those who were still menstruating, the majority reported regular or fairly regular periods: 36 of 48 (75%) in the UAE group and 30 of 39 (77%) in the myomectomy group. Twelve women after UAE and six women after myomectomy became pregnant (4 years) with seven and five live births, respectively (hazard ratio 0.48, 95% CI 0.18–1.28). There was no difference between the levels of hormones associated with the uterine reserve in each group. Conclusion: Leiomyoma are common in reproductive-aged women, causing heavy menses and subfertility. Among women with uterine fibroids, myomectomy resulted in better fibroid-related quality of life at 4 years, compared with UAE but the treatments decreased menstrual bleeding equally. There was also no significant difference in the impact of treatment on ovarian reserve

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