Anti-disturbance composite tracking control for a coupled two-tank MIMO process with experimental studies

Coupled multiple-tank systems are very important for a wide range of industrial applications due to their unique uses. However, the liquid level control for the coupled two-tank multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system is quite challenging because it has strong nonlinearity and coupling, and it is susceptible to multiple external disturbances. For this process, this paper proposes a novel anti-disturbance control strategy consisting on a nonlinear composite hierarchical anti-disturbance predictive control (CHADPC). First, a model-based explicit nonlinear model predictive controller (ENMPC) is designed assuming that all disturbances are measurable and its global exponential stability is proved. Then, a nonlinear disturbance observer (DO) is designed to estimate the lumped disturbances. The composite controller handling the estimated disturbances is then proposed. Finally, simulation and experimental tracking control tests under perturbations and comparisons with recently reported works have been carried out to highlight the promising performance of the proposed ENMPC and CHADPC schemes

SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC METHODS FOR DETERMINATION OF SOFOSBUVIR AND DACLATASVIR IN PURE AND DOSAGE FORMS

Objective: Two simple, sensitive and accurate spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of sofosbuvir (SOF) and daclatasvir (DAC) in pure forms and pharmaceutical formulations. Methods: The proposed methods are based on the oxidation of SOF and DAC by a known excess of cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate in sulphuric acid medium followed by determination of unreacted cerium(IV) by adding a fixed amount of indigo carmine (IC) and alizarin red S (ARS) dyes followed by measuring the absorbance at 610 and 360 nm, respectively. The experimental conditions affecting the reaction were studied and optimized. Results: The beer’s law was obeyed in the concentration ranges of 0.2-3.0, 0.2-4.0 for SOF and 0.5-4.5 and 0.5-5.0 μg/ml for DAC using IC and ARS methods, respectively with a correlation coefficient ≥ 0.9991. The calculated molar absorptivity values are 2.354 × 104, 1.933 × 104 for SOF and 1.786 × 104 and 2.015 × 104 L/mol. cm for DAC using IC and ARS methods, respectively u. The limits of detection and quantification are also reported. Intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy of the methods have been evaluated. Conclusion: The methods were successfully applied to the assay of SOF and DAC in tablets and the results were statistically compared with those of the reference method by applying Student’s t-test and F-test. No interference was observed from the common tablet excipients. The accuracy and reliability of the methods were further ascertained by performing recovery studies using the standard addition method

Extraction and Analysis of Carbamate and Pyrethroid Pesticides in Tomatoes and Rice by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

This work aimed to explore common methods for the extraction of pesticide and to perform qualitative and quantitative analysis by gas chromatography coupled with electron impact mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS). Extraction was conducted using QuEChERS and Liquid-Liquid (L-L). Calibration curve and standard addition curve were both plotted for different concentration of mixtures. Additionally, the efficiency of the QuEChERS extraction methods was examined by spiking the organic rice and tomato with standard mixture of pyrethroid and carbamate and applying the extraction. Results showed that, in general, carbamate species (especially the aliphatic types) were eluted at earlier times compared to pyrethroids species. Carbamates were more susceptible to degradation during GC separation compared to pyrethroids. A chromatographic resolution of 3.24 was obtained for the two permethrin isomers. Good linearity of the three quantitative methods (R2 > 0.99) were obtained for most compounds. Based on using the standard addition curve, the recovery for the different pyrethroid and carbamate compounds were determined.qscienc

Scoring System Prognostic of Outcome in Patients Undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Myelodysplastic Syndrome

To develop a system prognostic of outcome in those undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo HCT) for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)

Global incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 371 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Detailed, comprehensive, and timely reporting on population health by underlying causes of disability and premature death is crucial to understanding and responding to complex patterns of disease and injury burden over time and across age groups, sexes, and locations. The availability of disease burden estimates can promote evidence-based interventions that enable public health researchers, policy makers, and other professionals to implement strategies that can mitigate diseases. It can also facilitate more rigorous monitoring of progress towards national and international health targets, such as the Sustainable Development Goals. For three decades, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) has filled that need. A global network of collaborators contributed to the production of GBD 2021 by providing, reviewing, and analysing all available data. GBD estimates are updated routinely with additional data and refined analytical methods. GBD 2021 presents, for the first time, estimates of health loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The GBD 2021 disease and injury burden analysis estimated years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 371 diseases and injuries using 100 983 data sources. Data were extracted from vital registration systems, verbal autopsies, censuses, household surveys, disease-specific registries, health service contact data, and other sources. YLDs were calculated by multiplying cause-age-sex-location-year-specific prevalence of sequelae by their respective disability weights, for each disease and injury. YLLs were calculated by multiplying cause-age-sex-location-year-specific deaths by the standard life expectancy at the age that death occurred. DALYs were calculated by summing YLDs and YLLs. HALE estimates were produced using YLDs per capita and age-specific mortality rates by location, age, sex, year, and cause. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for all final estimates as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles values of 500 draws. Uncertainty was propagated at each step of the estimation process. Counts and age-standardised rates were calculated globally, for seven super-regions, 21 regions, 204 countries and territories (including 21 countries with subnational locations), and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Here we report data for 2010 to 2021 to highlight trends in disease burden over the past decade and through the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: Global DALYs increased from 2·63 billion (95% UI 2·44–2·85) in 2010 to 2·88 billion (2·64–3·15) in 2021 for all causes combined. Much of this increase in the number of DALYs was due to population growth and ageing, as indicated by a decrease in global age-standardised all-cause DALY rates of 14·2% (95% UI 10·7–17·3) between 2010 and 2019. Notably, however, this decrease in rates reversed during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, with increases in global age-standardised all-cause DALY rates since 2019 of 4·1% (1·8–6·3) in 2020 and 7·2% (4·7–10·0) in 2021. In 2021, COVID-19 was the leading cause of DALYs globally (212·0 million [198·0–234·5] DALYs), followed by ischaemic heart disease (188·3 million [176·7–198·3]), neonatal disorders (186·3 million [162·3–214·9]), and stroke (160·4 million [148·0–171·7]). However, notable health gains were seen among other leading communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) diseases. Globally between 2010 and 2021, the age-standardised DALY rates for HIV/AIDS decreased by 47·8% (43·3–51·7) and for diarrhoeal diseases decreased by 47·0% (39·9–52·9). Non-communicable diseases contributed 1·73 billion (95% UI 1·54–1·94) DALYs in 2021, with a decrease in age-standardised DALY rates since 2010 of 6·4% (95% UI 3·5–9·5). Between 2010 and 2021, among the 25 leading Level 3 causes, age-standardised DALY rates increased most substantially for anxiety disorders (16·7% [14·0–19·8]), depressive disorders (16·4% [11·9–21·3]), and diabetes (14·0% [10·0–17·4]). Age-standardised DALY rates due to injuries decreased globally by 24·0% (20·7–27·2) between 2010 and 2021, although improvements were not uniform across locations, ages, and sexes. Globally, HALE at birth improved slightly, from 61·3 years (58·6–63·6) in 2010 to 62·2 years (59·4–64·7) in 2021. However, despite this overall increase, HALE decreased by 2·2% (1·6–2·9) between 2019 and 2021. Interpretation: Putting the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of causes of health loss is crucial to understanding its impact and ensuring that health funding and policy address needs at both local and global levels through cost-effective and evidence-based interventions. A global epidemiological transition remains underway. Our findings suggest that prioritising non-communicable disease prevention and treatment policies, as well as strengthening health systems, continues to be crucially important. The progress on reducing the burden of CMNN diseases must not stall; although global trends are improving, the burden of CMNN diseases remains unacceptably high. Evidence-based interventions will help save the lives of young children and mothers and improve the overall health and economic conditions of societies across the world. Governments and multilateral organisations should prioritise pandemic preparedness planning alongside efforts to reduce the burden of diseases and injuries that will strain resources in the coming decades. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

ويكي دوك ألينار: اداة من على الرف لمحاذات مستندات ويكيبيديا

Wikipedia encyclopedia is an attractive source for comparable corpora in many languages. Most researchers develop their own script to perform document alignment task, which requires efforts and time. In this paper, we present WikiDocsAligner, an off-the-shelf Wikipedia Articles alignment handy tool. The implementation of WikiDocsAligner does not require the researchers to import/export of interlanguage links databases. The user just need to download Wikipedia dumps (interlanguage links and articles), then provide them to the tool, which performs the alignment. This software can be used easily to align Wikipedia documents in any language pair. Finally, we use WikiDocsAligner to align comparable documents from Arabic Wikipedia and Egyptian Wikipedia. So we shed the light on Wikipedia as a source of Arabic dialects language resources. The produced resources is interesting and useful as the demand on Arabic/dialects language resources increased in the last decade.لا يوج

Mishandling and exposure of farm workers in Qatar to organophosphate pesticides

We used a combination of subjective (questionnaire) and objective (urinary metabolites) measurements to evaluate factors that can predict the exposure of farm workers in Qatar to organophosphate pesticides and to assess whether the levels of exposure are associated with any self-reported health outcomes. The results show that pesticides were being extensively mishandled in the farms. Very few (<2%) of the farm workers knew the names of the pesticide they were using, and about one-third of the participants did not know the amount of pesticides to be applied to the crops. Nearly all (96%) of the participants had participated in mixing pesticides together before use and few (29%) used protective clothing while engaged in this operation. A significant number of participants (18%) had no knowledge that pesticides are a health hazard. At least one dialkyllphosphate (DAP) metabolite was detected in every worker. The geometric mean (GM) concentration of the dimethylalkylphosphates (DMAP) was 108. nM (range, from below the limit of detection (LOD) to 351. nM), and the GM for the diethylalkylphosphates (DEAP) was 43. nM (range, LOD-180. nM). The GM for total concentration of the metabolites (DAP) of 146. nM (maximum value estimated to be 531. nM) is below the values that have been reported for farmers in some countries, but higher than the levels in the general populations of many countries. We explored the influence of metal exposure and found consistent and negative relationships between the DAP metabolites and the concentrations of most of the trace elements in the urine of the farm workers; the negative associations were statistically significant for Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, As, and Pb. We suspect that the negative associations are not source-dependent but may be reflective of antagonistic relationships in human metabolism of OPPs and trace metals; hence we recommend that metals should be included as co-factors in assessing the health effects of OPP exposure.NPRP award [4-054-1-009] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).Scopu

Neural network-based minutiae extraction for fingerprint verification system

Fingerprint is one of the most important biometrics that has been employed for verification systems. Fingerprint is characterized by two fundamental properties; Easy to acquire, and it is unique for each person. This paper presents minutia extraction method based on Neural Network-based. These features can be used in verification systems. The verification process includes four main phases: image acquisition, preprocessing, feature extraction, and pattern matching. The method is applied on a set of fingerprint images and the results show that the average matching accuracy of fingerprints is 91.6%