42,044 research outputs found
Leprosy and tuberculosis concomitant infection: a poorly understood, age-old relationship
Historically, archaeological evidence, post-mortem findings and retro- spective analysis of leprosy institutions’ data demonstrates a high observed incidence of concomitant infection with leprosy and tuberculosis (TB). However, reports of concomitant infection in the modern literature remain scarce, with estimates of annual new case detection rates of concomitant infection at approximately 0·02 cases per 100,000 population. Whilst the mechanism for this apparent decline in concomitant infections remains unclear, further research on this topic has remained relatively neglected. Modelling of the interaction of the two organisms has suggested that the apparent decline in observations of concomitant infection may be due to the protective effects of cross immunity, whilst more recently others have questioned whether it is a more harmful relationship, predisposing towards increased host mortality. We review recent evidence, comparing it to previously held understanding on the epidemiological relationship and our own experience of concomitant infection. From this discussion, we highlight several under-investigated areas, which may lead to improvements in the future delivery of leprosy management and services, as well as enhance understanding in other fields of infection management. These include, a) highlighting the need for greater understanding of host immunogenetics involved in concomitant infection, b) whether prolonged courses of high dose steroids pre-dispose to TB infection? and, c) whether there is a risk of rifampicin resistance developing in leprosy patients treated in the face of undiagnosed TB and other infections? Longitudinal work is still required to characterise these temporal relationships further and add to the current paucity of literature on this subject matter
Wind tunnel tests on a tail-less swept wing span-distributed cargo aircraft configuration
The configuration consisted of a 30 deg -swept, untapered, untwisted wing utilizing a low-moment cambered airfoil of 20 percent streamwise thickness designed for low wave drag at M = 0.6, C sub L = 0.4. The tests covered a range of Mach numbers 0.3 to 0.725 and chord Reynolds number 1,100,000 to 2,040,000, angles of attack up to model buffet and sideslip angles + or - 4 deg. Configuration build up, wing pod filleting, airfoil modification and trailing edge control deflection effects were briefly investigated. Three wing tip vertical tail designs were also tested. Wing body filleting and a simple airfoil modification both produced increments to maximum lift/drag ratio. Addition of pods eliminated pitch instability of the basic wing. While the magnitude of these benefits probably was Reynolds number sensitive, they underline the potential for improving the aerodynamics of the present configuration. The cruise parameter (product of Mach number and lift/drag ratio) attained a maximum close to the airfoil design point. The configuration was found to be positively stable with normal control effectiveness about all three axes in the Mach number and C sub L range of interest
Mean squared error of empirical predictor
The term ``empirical predictor'' refers to a two-stage predictor of a linear
combination of fixed and random effects. In the first stage, a predictor is
obtained but it involves unknown parameters; thus, in the second stage, the
unknown parameters are replaced by their estimators. In this paper, we consider
mean squared errors (MSE) of empirical predictors under a general setup, where
ML or REML estimators are used for the second stage. We obtain second-order
approximation to the MSE as well as an estimator of the MSE correct to the same
order. The general results are applied to mixed linear models to obtain a
second-order approximation to the MSE of the empirical best linear unbiased
predictor (EBLUP) of a linear mixed effect and an estimator of the MSE of EBLUP
whose bias is correct to second order. The general mixed linear model includes
the mixed ANOVA model and the longitudinal model as special cases
Small area estimation of general parameters with application to poverty indicators: A hierarchical Bayes approach
Poverty maps are used to aid important political decisions such as allocation
of development funds by governments and international organizations. Those
decisions should be based on the most accurate poverty figures. However, often
reliable poverty figures are not available at fine geographical levels or for
particular risk population subgroups due to the sample size limitation of
current national surveys. These surveys cannot cover adequately all the desired
areas or population subgroups and, therefore, models relating the different
areas are needed to 'borrow strength" from area to area. In particular, the
Spanish Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) produces national poverty
estimates but cannot provide poverty estimates by Spanish provinces due to the
poor precision of direct estimates, which use only the province specific data.
It also raises the ethical question of whether poverty is more severe for women
than for men in a given province. We develop a hierarchical Bayes (HB) approach
for poverty mapping in Spanish provinces by gender that overcomes the small
province sample size problem of the SILC. The proposed approach has a wide
scope of application because it can be used to estimate general nonlinear
parameters. We use a Bayesian version of the nested error regression model in
which Markov chain Monte Carlo procedures and the convergence monitoring
therein are avoided. A simulation study reveals good frequentist properties of
the HB approach. The resulting poverty maps indicate that poverty, both in
frequency and intensity, is localized mostly in the southern and western
provinces and it is more acute for women than for men in most of the provinces.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/13-AOAS702 the Annals of
Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Facile preparation of agarose-chitosan hybrid materials and nanocomposite ionogels using an ionic liquid via dissolution, regeneration and sol-gel transition
We report simultaneous dissolution of agarose (AG) and chitosan (CH) in
varying proportions in an ionic liquid (IL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium
chloride [C4mim][Cl]. Composite materials were constructed from AG-CH-IL
solutions using the antisolvent methanol, and IL was recovered from the
solutions. Composite materials could be uniformly decorated with silver oxide
(Ag2O) nanoparticles (Ag NPs) to form nanocomposites in a single step by in
situ synthesis of Ag NPs in AG-CH-IL sols, wherein the biopolymer moiety acted
as both reducing and stabilizing agent. Cooling of Ag NPs-AG-CH-IL sols to room
temperature resulted in high conductivity and high mechanical strength
nanocomposite ionogels. The structure, stability and physiochemical properties
of composite materials and nanocomposites were characterized by several
analytical techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), CD
spectroscopy, differential scanning colorimetric (DSC), thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and scanning electron
micrography (SEM). The result shows that composite materials have good thermal
and conformational stability, compatibility and strong hydrogen bonding
interactions between AG-CH complexes. Decoration of Ag NPs in composites and
ionogels was confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, EDAX and XRD. The
mechanical and conducting properties of composite ionogels have been
characterized by rheology and current-voltage measurements. Since Ag NPs show
good antimicrobial activity, Ag NPs -AG-CH composite materials have the
potential to be used in biotechnology and biomedical applications whereas
nanocomposite ionogels will be suitable as precursors for applications such as
quasi-solid dye sensitized solar cells, actuators, sensors or electrochromic
displays
Carbon and titanium diboride (TiB2) multilayer coatings.
Titanium Diboride, (TiB2) is a metal-based refractory ceramic material that has
been investigated in industrial applications ranging from, cutting tools to wear
parts and for use in the aerospace industry. The unique properties which make
this material so fascinating are, its high hardness, high melting point and its
corrosion resistance. TiB2 is prevented from wider mainstream use because of its
inherent brittle nature. With a view to overcome this in coating form and with
the aim of providing in addition inherent lubricity, in this study 50 layer
TiB2/C multilayer stacks have been fabricated, with varying volume fractions of
ceramic, whereby the interfaces of the layers limit crack propagation in the
TiB2 ceramic. TiB2 has been multilayered with carbon, to make use of the unique
and hybrid nature of the bonding in carbon coatings. DC magnetron sputtering
with substrate bias was the preferred route for the fabrication of these
coatings. AISI tool steel has been used as the substrate material. By varying
the amount of TiB2 ceramic from 50% to 95%, the Hardness of the coating is seen
to increase from 5 GPa to 17GPa. The Hardness is observed to decrease as a
function of increasing carbon content, agreeing with other studies that the
carbon layers are not load-bearing. The graphitic nature of the sp2 bond,
however, acts as a lubricant layer
Quenching of fluorescence of aromatic molecules by graphene due to electron transfer
Investigations on the fluorescence quenching of graphene have been carried
out with two organic donor molecules, pyrene butanaoic acid succinimidyl ester
(PyBS, I) and oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) methyl ester (OPV-ester, II).
Absorption and photoluminescence spectra of I and II recorded in mixture with
increasing the concentrations of graphene showed no change in the former, but
remarkable quenching of fluorescence. The property of graphene to quench
fluorescence of these aromatic molecules is shown to be associated with
photo-induced electron transfer, on the basis of fluorescence decay and
time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopic measurements.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure
Magnetic suspension characteristics of electromagnetic actuators
Electromagnetic actuators that use a current-carrying coil (which is placed in a magnetic field) to generate mechanical force are conceptually attractive components for active control of rotating shafts. In one concept that is being tested in the laboratory, the control forces from such actuators are applied on the flexibly supported bearing housings of the rotor. Development of this concept into a practical reality requires a clear and thorough understanding of the role of electromechanical parameters of these actuators in delivering the right amount of control force at the right phase into the rotor. The electromechanical parameters of the actuators investigated are the mass of the armature, stiffness of its suspension, electrical resistance, and inductance of the coils. Improper selection of these parameters can result in degradation in their performance, leading to mistuning between the actuator and the rotor. Through a simple analysis, it is shown that use of such mistuned actuators could result in sharp fluctuations in the phase of the control force delivered into the rotor around the critical speeds. These sharp fluctuations in phase, called 'Phase Glitches', are undesirable. Hence, future designs of controllers should take into account the undesirable mistuning effects between the actuator and the rotor caused by the phase glitches
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