Asymptotic expansions for renewal measures in the plane

Let P be a distribution in the plane and define the renewal measure R=ΣP *n where * denotes convolution. The main results of this paper are three term asymptotic expansions for R far from the origin. As an application, expansions are obtained for distributions in linear boundary crossing problems.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47655/1/440_2004_Article_BF00348749.pd

A blinded, randomized, controlled trial assessing conservative management strategies for frozen shoulder

BACKGROUND: There is little evidence for the optimal form of nonoperative treatment in the management of frozen shoulder. This study assesses the efficacy of current physiotherapy strategies. METHODS: All primary care referrals of frozen shoulder to our physiotherapy department were included during a 12-month period. Of these referrals, 17% met the inclusion criteria for primary idiopathic frozen shoulder. The 75 patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: group exercise class, individual physiotherapy, and home exercises alone. A single independent physiotherapist, who was blinded to the treatment groups, made all assessments. Range of motion, Constant score, Oxford Shoulder Score, Short Form 36, and Hospital Anxiety and Disability Scale (HADS) outcome measures were performed at baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year. RESULTS: The exercise class group improved from a mean Constant score of 39.8 at baseline to 71.4 at 6 weeks and 88.1 at 1 year. There was a significant improvement in shoulder symptoms on Oxford and Constant scores (P < .001). This improvement was greater than with individual physiotherapy or home exercises alone (P < .001). The improvement in range of motion was significantly greater in both physiotherapy groups over home exercises (P < .001). HADS scores significantly improved during the course of treatment (P < .001). The improvement in HADS anxiety score was significantly greater in both physiotherapy intervention groups than in home exercises alone. CONCLUSIONS: A hospital-based exercise class can produce a rapid recovery from a frozen shoulder with a minimum number of visits to the hospital and is more effective than individual physiotherapy or a home exercise program

The occupational success of young men who left school at sixteen

Digitised version produced by the EUI Library and made available online in 2020

A Generic Architecture For Demand Response: The ALL4Green Approach

Demand Response is a mechanism used in power grids to manage customers’ power consumption during critical situations (e.g. power shortage). Data centres are good candidates to participate in Demand Response programs due to their high energy use. In this paper, we present a generic architecture to enable Demand Response between Energy Provider and Data Centres realised in All4Green. To this end, we show our three-level concept and then illustrate the building blocks of All4Green’s architectural design. Furthermore, we introduce the novel aspects of GreenSDA and GreenSLA for Energy Provider–Data centre sub-ecosystem as well as Data centre–IT Client sub-ecosystem respectively. In order to further reduce energy consumption and CO2 emission, the notion of data centre federation is introduced: savings can be expected if data centres start to collaborate by exchanging workload. Also, we specify the technological solutions necessary to implement our proposed architectural approach. Finally, we present preliminary proof-of-concept experiments, conducted both on traditional and cloud computing data centres, which show relatively encouraging results

Collagen-induced Arthritis Is Reduced in 5-Lipoxygenase-activating Protein-deficient Mice

Collagen-induced arthritis in the DBA/1 mouse is an experimental model of human rheumatoid arthritis. To examine the role of leukotrienes in the pathogenesis of this disease, we have developed embryonic stem (ES) cells from this mouse strain. Here, we report that DBA/1 mice made deficient in 5-lipoxygenase-activating protein (FLAP) by gene targeting in ES cells develop and grow normally. Zymosan-stimulated leukotriene production in the peritoneal cavity of these mice is undetectable, whereas they produce substantial amounts of prostaglandins. The inflammatory response to zymosan is reduced in FLAP-deficient mice. The severity of collagen-induced arthritis in the FLAP-deficient mice was substantially reduced when compared with wild-type or heterozygous animals. This was not due to an immunosuppressive effect, because anti-collagen antibody levels were similar in wild-type and FLAP-deficient mice. These data demonstrate that leukotrienes play an essential role in both the acute and chronic inflammatory response in mice

Post-transplant obesity impacts long-term survival after liver transplantation

Background: Short-term survival after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has improved over the past decades, but long-term survival remains impaired. The effects of obesity on long-term survival after OLT are controversial. Because pre-transplant body mass index (BMI) can be confounded by ascites, we hypothesized that post-transplant BMI at 1 year could predict long-term survival. Methods: A post-hoc analysis was performed of an observational cohort study consisting of adult recipients of a first OLT between 1993 and 2010. Baseline BMI was measured at 1-year post-transplantation to represent a stable condition. Recipients were stratified into normal weight (BMI 30 kg/m2). Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were performed with log-rank testing, followed by multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. Results: Out of 370 included recipients, 184 had normal weight, 136 were overweight, and 50 were obese at 1-year post-transplantation. After median follow-up for 12.3 years, 107 recipients had died, of whom 46 (25%) had normal weight, 39 (29%) were overweight, and 22 (44%) were obese (log-rank P = 0.020). Obese recipients had a significantly increased mortality risk compared to normal weight recipients (HR 2.00, 95% CI 1.08–3.68, P = 0.027). BMI was inversely associated with 15 years patient survival (HR 1.08, 95% CI 1.03–1.14, P = 0.001 per kg/m2), independent of age, gender, muscle mass, transplant characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors, kidney- and liver function. Conclusion: Obesity at 1-year post-transplantation conveys a 2-fold increased mortality risk, which may offer potential for interventional strategies (i.e. dietary advice, lifestyle modification, or bariatric surgery) to improve long-term survival after OLT