416 research outputs found
Stabilization Control of the Differential Mobile Robot Using Lyapunov Function and Extended Kalman Filter
This paper presents the design of a control model to navigate the
differential mobile robot to reach the desired destination from an arbitrary
initial pose. The designed model is divided into two stages: the state
estimation and the stabilization control. In the state estimation, an extended
Kalman filter is employed to optimally combine the information from the system
dynamics and measurements. Two Lyapunov functions are constructed that allow a
hybrid feedback control law to execute the robot movements. The asymptotical
stability and robustness of the closed loop system are assured. Simulations and
experiments are carried out to validate the effectiveness and applicability of
the proposed approach.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1611.07112,
arXiv:1611.0711
Cluster ionization via two-plasmon excitation
We calculate the two-photon ionization of clusters for photon energies near
the surface plasmon resonance. The results are expressed in terms of the
ionization rate of a double plasmon excitation, which is calculated
perturbatively. For the conditions of the experiment by Schlipper et al., we
find an ionization rate of the order of 0.05-0.10 fs^(-1). This rate is used to
determine the ionization probability in an external field in terms of the
number of photons absorbed and the duration of the field. The probability also
depends on the damping rate of the surface plasmon. Agreement with experiment
can only be achieved if the plasmon damping is considerably smaller than its
observed width in the room-temperature single-photon absorption spectrum.Comment: 17 pages and 6 PostScript figure
Modeling the effect of age in T1-2 breast cancer using the SEER database
BACKGROUND: Modeling the relationship between age and mortality for breast cancer patients may have important prognostic and therapeutic implications. METHODS: Data from 9 registries of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) of the United States were used. This study employed proportional hazards to model mortality in women with T1-2 breast cancers. The residuals of the model were used to examine the effect of age on mortality. This procedure was applied to node-negative (N0) and node-positive (N+) patients. All causes mortality and breast cancer specific mortality were evaluated. RESULTS: The relationship between age and mortality is biphasic. For both N0 and N+ patients among the T1-2 group, the analysis suggested two age components. One component is linear and corresponds to a natural increase of mortality with each year of age. The other component is quasi-quadratic and is centered around age 50. This component contributes to an increased risk of mortality as age increases beyond 50. It suggests a hormonally related process: the farther from menopause in either direction, the more prognosis is adversely influenced by the quasi-quadratic component. There is a complex relationship between hormone receptor status and other prognostic factors, like age. CONCLUSION: The present analysis confirms the findings of many epidemiological and clinical trials that the relationship between age and mortality is biphasic. Compared with older patients, young women experience an abnormally high risk of death. Among elderly patients, the risk of death from breast cancer does not decrease with increasing age. These facts are important in the discussion of options for adjuvant treatment with breast cancer patients
Clinical implications of reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones in paediatric Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri infections.
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to quantify the impact of fluoroquinolone resistance on the clinical outcome of paediatric shigellosis patients treated with fluoroquinolones in southern Vietnam. Such information is important to inform therapeutic management for infections caused by this increasingly drug-resistant pathogen, responsible for high morbidity and mortality in young children globally. METHODS: Clinical information and bacterial isolates were derived from a randomized controlled trial comparing gatifloxacin with ciprofloxacin for the treatment of paediatric shigellosis. Time-kill experiments were performed to evaluate the impact of MIC on the in vitro growth of Shigella and Cox regression modelling was used to compare clinical outcome between treatments and Shigella species. RESULTS: Shigella flexneri patients treated with gatifloxacin had significantly worse outcomes than those treated with ciprofloxacin. However, the MICs of fluoroquinolones were not significantly associated with poorer outcome. The presence of S83L and A87T mutations in the gyrA gene significantly increased MICs of fluoroquinolones. Finally, elevated MICs and the presence of the qnrS gene allowed Shigella to replicate efficiently in vitro in high concentrations of ciprofloxacin. CONCLUSIONS: We found that below the CLSI breakpoint, there was no association between MIC and clinical outcome in paediatric shigellosis infections. However, S. flexneri patients had worse clinical outcomes when treated with gatifloxacin in this study regardless of MIC. Additionally, Shigella harbouring the qnrS gene are able to replicate efficiently in high concentrations of ciprofloxacin and we hypothesize that such strains possess a competitive advantage against fluoroquinolone-susceptible strains due to enhanced shedding and transmission
Fast detector of the ellipticity of infrared and terahertz radiation based on HgTe quantum well structures
We report a fast, room temperature detection scheme for the polarization
ellipticity of laser radiation, with a bandwidth that stretches from the
infrared to the terahertz range. The device consists of two elements, one in
front of the other, that detect the polarization ellipticity and the azimuthal
angle of the ellipse. The elements respectively utilise the circular
photogalvanic effect in a narrow gap semiconductor and the linear photogalvanic
effect in a bulk piezoelectric semiconductor. For the former we characterized
both a HgTe quantum well and bulk Te, and for the latter, bulk GaAs. In
contrast with optical methods our device is an easy to handle all-electric
approach, which we demonstrated by applying a large number of different lasers
from low power, continuous wave systems to high power, pulsed sources.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
The epidemiology and aetiology of diarrhoeal disease in infancy in southern Vietnam: a birth cohort study.
OBJECTIVES: Previous studies indicate a high burden of diarrhoeal disease in Vietnamese children, however longitudinal community-based data on burden and aetiology are limited. The findings from a large, prospective cohort study of diarrhoeal disease in infants in southern Vietnam are presented herein. METHODS: Infants were enrolled at birth in urban Ho Chi Minh City and a semi-rural district in southern Vietnam, and followed for 12 months (n=6706). Diarrhoeal illness episodes were identified through clinic-based passive surveillance, hospital admissions, and self-reports. RESULTS: The minimum incidence of diarrhoeal illness in the first year of life was 271/1000 infant-years of observation for the whole cohort. Rotavirus was the most commonly detected pathogen (50% of positive samples), followed by norovirus (24%), Campylobacter (20%), Salmonella (18%), and Shigella (16%). Repeat infections were identified in 9% of infants infected with rotavirus, norovirus, Shigella, or Campylobacter, and 13% of those with Salmonella infections. CONCLUSIONS: The minimum incidence of diarrhoeal disease in infants in both urban and semi-rural settings in southern Vietnam was quantified prospectively. A large proportion of laboratory-diagnosed disease was caused by rotavirus and norovirus. These data highlight the unmet need for a rotavirus vaccine in Vietnam and provide evidence of the previously unrecognized burden of norovirus in infants
A prospective multi-center observational study of children hospitalized with diarrhea in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
We performed a prospective multicenter study to address the lack of data on the etiology, clinical and demographic features of hospitalized pediatric diarrhea in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam. Over 2,000 (1,419 symptomatic and 609 non-diarrheal control) children were enrolled in three hospitals over a 1-year period in 2009-2010. Aiming to detect a panel of pathogens, we identified a known diarrheal pathogen in stool samples from 1,067/1,419 (75.2%) children with diarrhea and from 81/609 (13.3%) children without diarrhea. Rotavirus predominated in the symptomatic children (664/1,419; 46.8%), followed by norovirus (293/1,419; 20.6%). The bacterial pathogens Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Shigella were cumulatively isolated from 204/1,419 (14.4%) diarrheal children and exhibited extensive antimicrobial resistance, most notably to fluoroquinolones and third-generation cephalosporins. We suggest renewed efforts in generation and implementation of policies to control the sale and prescription of antimicrobials to curb bacterial resistance and advise consideration of a subsidized rotavirus vaccination policy to limit the morbidity due to diarrheal disease in Vietnam
Genome-wide association reveals host-specific genomic traits in Escherichia coli
Background
Escherichia coli is an opportunistic pathogen which colonizes various host species. However, to what extent genetic lineages of E. coli are adapted or restricted to specific hosts and the genomic determinants of such adaptation or restriction is poorly understood.
Results
We randomly sampled E. coli isolates from four countries (Germany, UK, Spain, and Vietnam), obtained from five host species (human, pig, cattle, chicken, and wild boar) over 16 years, from both healthy and diseased hosts, to construct a collection of 1198 whole-genome sequenced E. coli isolates. We identified associations between specific E. coli lineages and the host from which they were isolated. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified several E. coli genes that were associated with human, cattle, or chicken hosts, whereas no genes associated with the pig host could be found. In silico characterization of nine contiguous genes (collectively designated as nan-9) associated with the human host indicated that these genes are involved in the metabolism of sialic acids (Sia). In contrast, the previously described sialic acid regulon known as sialoregulon (i.e. nanRATEK-yhcH, nanXY, and nanCMS) was not associated with any host species. In vitro growth experiments with a Δnan-9 E. coli mutant strain, using the sialic acids 5-N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) as sole carbon source, showed impaired growth behaviour compared to the wild-type.
Conclusions
This study provides an extensive analysis of genetic determinants which may contribute to host specificity in E. coli. Our findings should inform risk analysis and epidemiological monitoring of (antimicrobial resistant) E. coli
Single-neutron transfer from 11Be gs via the (p,d) reaction with a radioactive beam
The 11Be(p,d)10Be reaction has been performed in inverse kinematics with a
radioactive 11Be beam of E/A = 35.3 MeV. Angular distributions for the 0+
ground state, the 2+, 3.37 MeV state and the multiplet of states around 6 MeV
in 10Be were measured at angles up to 16 deg CM by detecting the 10Be in a
dispersion-matched spectrometer and the coincident deuterons in a silicon
array. Distorted wave and coupled-channels calculations have been performed to
investigate the amount of 2+ core excitation in 11Be gs. The use of "realistic"
11Be wave functions is emphasised and bound state form factors have been
obtained by solving the particle-vibration coupling equations. This calculation
gives a dominant 2s component in the 11Be gs wave function with a 16% [2+ x 1d]
core excitation admixture. Cross sections calculated with these form factors
are in good agreement with the present data. The Separation Energy prescription
for the bound state wave function also gives satisfactory fits to the data, but
leads to a significantly larger [2 x 1d] component in 11Be gs.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Nuclear Physics A.
Added minor corrections made in proof to pages 26 and 3
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