Robust Local Stabilization of Discrete-Time Systems with Time-Varying State Delay and Saturating Actuators

The robust local stabilization of uncertain discrete-time systems with time-varying state delayed and subject to saturating actuators is investigated in this work. A convex optimization method is proposed to compute robust state feedback control law such that the uncertain closed-loop is locally asymptotically stable if the initial condition belongs to an estimate of the region of attraction for the origin. The proposed procedure allows computing estimates of the region of attraction through the intersection of ellipsoidal sets in an augmented space, reducing the conservatism of the estimates found in the literature. Also, the conditions can handle the amount of delay variation between two consecutive samples, which is new in the literature for the discrete-time case. Although the given synthesis conditions are delay dependent, the proposed control law is delay independent, yielding to easier real time implementations. A convex procedure is proposed to maximize the size of the set of safe initial conditions. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of our approach and also to compare it with other conditions in the literature.Fil: Silva, J. V. V.. Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Silva, L. F. P.. Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Rubio Scola, Ignacio Eduardo Jesus. Cefetmg/ufjs;Fil: Leite, V. J. S.. Cefetmg/ufjs

Comparative bioavailability of two digoxin formulations: determination in human plasma by microparticle enzyme immunoassay

The present study was performed to compare the bioavailability of two digoxin 0.25 mg tablet formulation in 30 volunteers of both sexes. The study was conducted open with randomized two period crossover design and a three-week washout period. Plasma samples were obtained over a 144 h interval. Digoxin concentrations were analyzed by a validated microparticle enzyme immunoassay with optical detection by fluorescence. Bioequivalence between the products was determined by calculating 90 % confidence intervals (90 % I.C) for the ratio of AUC0-72h and Cmax values for the test and reference products, using logarithmic transformed data. The 90 % confidence intervals were 86.98-118.33 %, and 84.52–98.76 %, respectively. Since the 90 % confidence intervals for Cmax and AUC0-72h were within the 80-125 % interval proposed by Food and Drug Administration, it was concluded that the two Digoxin formulations are bioequivalent in their rate and extent of absorption.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Comparative bioavailability of two digoxin formulations: determination in human plasma by microparticle enzyme immunoassay

The present study was performed to compare the bioavailability of two digoxin 0.25 mg tablet formulation in 30 volunteers of both sexes. The study was conducted open with randomized two period crossover design and a three-week washout period. Plasma samples were obtained over a 144 h interval. Digoxin concentrations were analyzed by a validated microparticle enzyme immunoassay with optical detection by fluorescence. Bioequivalence between the products was determined by calculating 90 % confidence intervals (90 % I.C) for the ratio of AUC0-72h and Cmax values for the test and reference products, using logarithmic transformed data. The 90 % confidence intervals were 86.98-118.33 %, and 84.52–98.76 %, respectively. Since the 90 % confidence intervals for Cmax and AUC0-72h were within the 80-125 % interval proposed by Food and Drug Administration, it was concluded that the two Digoxin formulations are bioequivalent in their rate and extent of absorption.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Comparative bioavailability of two digoxin formulations: determination in human plasma by microparticle enzyme immunoassay

The present study was performed to compare the bioavailability of two digoxin 0.25 mg tablet formulation in 30 volunteers of both sexes. The study was conducted open with randomized two period crossover design and a three-week washout period. Plasma samples were obtained over a 144 h interval. Digoxin concentrations were analyzed by a validated microparticle enzyme immunoassay with optical detection by fluorescence. Bioequivalence between the products was determined by calculating 90 % confidence intervals (90 % I.C) for the ratio of AUC0-72h and Cmax values for the test and reference products, using logarithmic transformed data. The 90 % confidence intervals were 86.98-118.33 %, and 84.52–98.76 %, respectively. Since the 90 % confidence intervals for Cmax and AUC0-72h were within the 80-125 % interval proposed by Food and Drug Administration, it was concluded that the two Digoxin formulations are bioequivalent in their rate and extent of absorption.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Quantitative Genetics and Genomics Converge to Accelerate Forest Tree Breeding

Forest tree breeding has been successful at delivering genetically improved material for multiple traits based on recurrent cycles of selection, mating, and testing. However, long breeding cycles, late flowering, variable juvenile-mature correlations, emerging pests and diseases, climate, and market changes, all pose formidable challenges. Genetic dissection approaches such as quantitative trait mapping and association genetics have been fruitless to effectively drive operational marker-assisted selection (MAS) in forest trees, largely because of the complex multifactorial inheritance of most, if not all traits of interest. The convergence of high-throughput genomics and quantitative genetics has established two new paradigms that are changing contemporary tree breeding dogmas. Genomic selection (GS) uses large number of genome-wide markers to predict complex phenotypes. It has the potential to accelerate breeding cycles, increase selection intensity and improve the accuracy of breeding values. Realized genomic relationships matrices, on the other hand, provide innovations in genetic parameters' estimation and breeding approaches by tracking the variation arising from random Mendelian segregation in pedigrees. In light of a recent flow of promising experimental results, here we briefly review the main concepts, analytical tools and remaining challenges that currently underlie the application of genomics data to tree breeding. With easy and cost-effective genotyping, we are now at the brink of extensive adoption of GS in tree breeding. Areas for future GS research include optimizing strategies for updating prediction models, adding validated functional genomics data to improve prediction accuracy, and integrating genomic and multi-environment data for forecasting the performance of genetic material in untested sites or under changing climate scenarios. The buildup of phenotypic and genome-wide data across large-scale breeding populations and advances in computational prediction of discrete genomic features should also provide opportunities to enhance the application of genomics to tree breeding

Multicompartment body composition analysis in older adults: a cross-sectional study

Background During aging, changes occur in the proportions of muscle, fat, and bone. Body composition (BC) alterations have a great impact on health, quality of life, and functional capacity. Several equations to predict BC using anthropometric measurements have been developed from a bi-compartmental (2-C) approach that determines only fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM). However, these models have several limitations, when considering constant density, progressive bone demineralization, and changes in the hydration of the FFM, as typical changes during senescence. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to propose and validate a new multi-compartmental anthropometric model to predict fat, bone, and musculature components in older adults of both sexes. Methods This cross-sectional study included 100 older adults of both sexes. To determine the dependent variables (fat mass [FM], bone mineral content [BMC], and appendicular lean soft tissue [ALST]) whole total and regional dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) body scans were performed. Twenty-nine anthropometric measures and sex were appointed as independent variables. Models were developed through multivariate linear regression. Finally, the predicted residual error sum of squares (PRESS) statistic was used to measure the effectiveness of the predicted value for each dependent variable. Results An equation was developed to simultaneously predict FM, BMC, and ALST from only four variables: weight, half-arm span (HAS), triceps skinfold (TriSK), and sex. This model showed high coefficients of determination and low estimation errors (FM: R2adj: 0.83 and SEE: 3.16; BMC: R2adj: 0.61 and SEE: 0.30; ALST: R2adj: 0.85 and SEE: 1.65). Conclusion The equations provide a reliable, practical, and low-cost instrument to monitor changes in body components during the aging process. The internal cross-validation method PRESS presented sufficient reliability in the model as an inexpensive alternative for clinical field use.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

Whole-genome sequencing of 1,171 elderly admixed individuals from Brazil

As whole-genome sequencing (WGS) becomes the gold standard tool for studying population genomics and medical applications, data on diverse non-European and admixed individuals are still scarce. Here, we present a high-coverage WGS dataset of 1,171 highly admixed elderly Brazilians from a census-based cohort, providing over 76 million variants, of which ~2 million are absent from large public databases. WGS enables identification of ~2,000 previously undescribed mobile element insertions without previous description, nearly 5 Mb of genomic segments absent from the human genome reference, and over 140 alleles from HLA genes absent from public resources. We reclassify and curate pathogenicity assertions for nearly four hundred variants in genes associated with dominantly-inherited Mendelian disorders and calculate the incidence for selected recessive disorders, demonstrating the clinical usefulness of the present study. Finally, we observe that whole-genome and HLA imputation could be significantly improved compared to available datasets since rare variation represents the largest proportion of input from WGS. These results demonstrate that even smaller sample sizes of underrepresented populations bring relevant data for genomic studies, especially when exploring analyses allowed only by WGS