4,942 research outputs found
Minimum target prices for production of direct acting antivirals and associated diagnostics to combat Hepatitis C Virus
Combinations of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) can cure hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the majority of treatment-naïve patients. Mass treatment programs to cure HCV in developing countries are only feasible if the costs of treatment and laboratory diagnostics are very low. This analysis aimed to estimate minimum costs of DAA treatment and associated diagnostic monitoring. Clinical trials of HCV DAAs were reviewed to identify combinations with consistently high rates of sustained virological response across hepatitis C genotypes. For each DAA, molecular structures, doses, treatment duration, and components of retrosynthesis were used to estimate costs of large-scale, generic production. Manufacturing costs per gram of DAA were based upon treating at least 5 million patients per year and a 40% margin for formulation. Costs of diagnostic support were estimated based on published minimum prices of genotyping, HCV antigen tests plus full blood count/clinical chemistry tests. Predicted minimum costs for 12-week courses of combination DAAs with the most consistent efficacy results were: US152 for sofosbuvir+ribavirin; US115 for MK-8742+MK-5172. Diagnostic testing costs were estimated at US34 for two HCV antigen tests and US171-360 per person without genotyping or US$261-450 per person with genotyping. These cost estimates assume that existing large-scale treatment programs can be established. (Hepatology 2015;61:1174–1182
A Comparison Of The Performances Of Various Single Variable Charts.
Control charts are used for process monitoring and improvement in industries. Two charts are usually used in the monitoring of both the mean and variance separately
Haptically enabled interactivity and immersive virtual assembly
Virtual training systems are attracting paramount attention from the manufacturing industries due to their potential advantages over the conventional training practices such as general assembly. Within this virtual training realm for general assembly, a haptically enabled interactive and immersive virtual reality (HIVEx) system is presented. The idea is to imitate real assembly training scenarios by providing comprehensive user interaction as well as by enforcing physical constraints within the virtual environment through the use of haptics technology. The developed system employs a modular system approach providing flexibility of reconfiguration and scalability as well as better utilization of the current multi-core computer architecture. The user interacts with the system using haptics device and data glove while fully immersed into the virtual environment with depth perception. An evaluation module, incorporated into the system, automatically logs and evaluates the information through the simulation providing user performance and improvements over time. A ruggedized portable version of the system is also developed and presented with full system capabilities allowing easy relocation with different factory environments. A number of training scenarios has been developed with varying degree of complexity to exploit the potential of the presented system. The presented system can be employed for teaching and training of existing assembly processes as well as the design of new optimised assembly operations. Furthermore, the presented system can assist in optimizing existing practices by evaluating the effectiveness and the level of knowledge transfer involved in the process. Within the aforementioned conceptual. framework, a working prototype is developed.<br /
Haptically enable interactive virtual assembly training system development and evaluation
Virtual training systems are attracting paramount attention from the manufacturing industries due to their potential advantages over the conventional training practices. Significant cost savings can be realized due to the shorter times for the development of different training-scenarios as well as reuse of existing designed engineering (math) models. In addition, use of computer based virtual reality (VR) training systems can shorten the time span from computer aided product design to commercial production due to non-reliance on the hardware parts for training. Within the aforementioned conceptual framework, a haptically enabled interactive and immersive virtual reality (HIVEx) system is presented. Unlike existing VR systems, the presented idea tries to imitate real physical training scenarios by providing comprehensive user interaction, constrained within the physical limitations of the real world. These physical constrains are imposed by the haptics devices in the virtual environment. As a result, in contrast to the existing VR systems that are capable of providing knowledge generally about assembly sequences only, the proposed system helps in cognitive learning and procedural skill development as well, due to its high physically interactive nature.<br /
Simple model for decay of superdeformed nuclei
Recent theoretical investigations of the decay mechanism out of a
superdeformed nuclear band have yielded qualitatively different results,
depending on the relative values of the relevant decay widths. We present a
simple two-level model for the dynamics of the tunneling between the
superdeformed and normal-deformed bands, which treats decay and tunneling
processes on an equal footing. The previous theoretical results are shown to
correspond to coherent and incoherent limits of the full tunneling dynamics.
Our model accounts for experimental data in both the A~150 mass region, where
the tunneling dynamics is coherent, and in the A~190 mass region, where the
tunneling dynamics is incoherent.Comment: 4 page
Co-existing structures in 105Ru
New positive-parity states, having a band-like structure, were observed in
105Ru. The nucleus was produced in induced fission reaction and the prompt
gamma-rays, emitted from the fragments, were detected by the EUROBALL III
multi-detector array. The partial scheme of excited 105Ru levels is analyzed
within the Triaxial-Rotor-plus-Particle approach
Fisheries of inland water bodies in Malaysia
Lotic waters dominate the Malaysian aquatic environment. There are very few natural lakes in Malaysia. There are only two principal lenthic environments in Malaysia. They are Tasek Chini and the Tasek Bera/Tasek Dampar complex. Both of these lakes located in Pahang, are relatively small in size. Tasik Bera is more of a freshwater swamp than a true lake, covered with stands of littoral, floating, emergent and submerge vegetation, such as Lepironia articulata and Pandanus helicopus, and very few truly open water spaces (Furtado & Mori, 1982). They reported 95 species of fishes from Tasik Bera. Almost all of these species were endemic to Peninsular Malaysia. They also highlighted the difficulties of estimating fish abundance in Tasik Bera because of the small size of fish, presence of large numbers of refuges where the fish are inaccessible and the low intensity of fish catches by the natives
The PULSE@Parkes project: A new observing technique for long-term pulsar monitoring
The PULSE@Parkes project has been designed to monitor the rotation of radio
pulsars over time spans of days to years. The observations are obtained using
the Parkes 64-m and 12-m radio telescopes by Australian and international high
school students. These students learn the basis of radio astronomy and
undertake small projects with their observations. The data are fully calibrated
and obtained with the state-of-the-art pulsar hardware available at Parkes. The
final data sets are archived and are currently being used to carry out studies
of 1) pulsar glitches, 2) timing noise, 3) pulse profile stability over long
time scales and 4) the extreme nulling phenomenon. The data are also included
in other projects such as gamma-ray observatory support and for the Parkes
Pulsar Timing Array project. In this paper we describe the current status of
the project and present the first scientific results from the Parkes 12-m radio
telescope. We emphasise that this project offers a straightforward means to
enthuse high school students and the general public about radio astronomy while
obtaining scientifically valuable data sets.Comment: accepted for publication by PAS
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