Infinite-dimensional LMI approach to analysis and synthesis for linear time-delay systems

summary:This paper considers an analysis and synthesis problem of controllers for linear time-delay systems in the form of delay-dependent memory state feedback, and develops an Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) approach. First, we present an existence condition and an explicit formula of controllers, which guarantee a prescribed level of $L^2$ gain of closed loop systems, in terms of infinite-dimensional LMIs. This result is rather general in the sense that it covers, as special cases, some known results for the cases of delay- independent/dependent and memoryless/memory controllers, while the infinity dimensionality of the LMIs makes the result difficult to apply. Second, we introduce a technique to reduce the infinite-dimensional LMIs to a finite number of LMIs, and present a feasible algorithm for synthesis of controllers based on the finite-dimensional LMIs

Comparison of Value Set Based on DCE and/or TTO Data: Scoring for EQ-5D-5L Health States in Japan

AbstractBackgroundThe valuation study of the five-level version of the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) involved composite time trade-off (cTTO) and a discrete choice experiment (DCE). The DCE scores must be anchored to the quality-of-life scale from 0 (death) to 1 (full health). Nevertheless, the characteristics of the statistical methods used for converting the EQ-5D-5L DCE results by using TTO information are not yet clearly known.ObjectivesTo present the Japanese DCE value set of the EQ-5D-5L and compare three methods for converting latent DCE values.MethodsThe survey sampled the general population at five locations in Japan. 1098 respondents were stratified by age and sex. To obtain and compare the value sets of the EQ-5D-5L, the cTTO and DCE data were analyzed by a linear mixed model and conditional logit, respectively. The DCE scores were converted to the quality-of-life scale by anchoring to the worst state using cTTO, mapping DCE onto cTTO, and a hybrid model.ResultsThe data from 1026 respondents were analyzed. All the coefficients in the cTTO and DCE value sets were consistent throughout all the analyses. Compared with the cTTO algorithm, the mapping and hybrid methods yielded very similar scoring coefficients. The hybrid model results, however, produced a lower root mean square error and fewer health states with errors exceeding 0.05 than did the other models. The DCE anchored to the worst state overestimated the cTTO scores of almost all the health states.ConclusionsJapanese value sets based on DCE were demonstrated. On comparing the observed cTTO scores, we found that the hybrid model was slightly superior to the simpler methods, including the TTO model

A atenção farmacêutica na prática da polimedicação pela população idosa no Brasil: Pharmaceutical attention in the pratice of polyamedication by the elderly population in Brazil

Com o aumento da longevidade e expectativa da população mundial, há o crescimento também de patologias e comorbidades, acarretando na prática desenfreada da polimedicação ou polifarmácia. Realizar uma revisão integrativa da literatura sobre a atenção farmacêutica na polimedicação da população idosa no Brasil. Estudo de revisão integrativa, de cunho exploratório, qualitativo, transversal e descritivo, investigados nas bases de dados científicas: Scientific Eletronic Library Online (SciELO), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências das Saúde (LILACS) e National Library os Medicine (MEDLINE), partindo dos descritores em Ciências da saúde (DeCS): “Polimedicação”, “Atenção farmacêutica” e “idosos”, no recorte temporal de 2017 a 2022. Foram selecionados artigos que retrataram que a prática da polimedicação é comum na população idosa, a atenção farmacêutica atua para minimizar os problemas relacionados ao medicamento. Assim, a atuação do farmacêutico é importante para a promoção de saúde e uso racional de medicamentos para a população idosa no Brasil

A farmácia magistral veterinária no brasil: mercado em ascensão / The master veterinary pharmacy in brazil: a growing market

Introdução: A farmácia magistral é um estabelecimento de manipulação de fórmulas magistrais e oficinais, de comércio de drogas, medicamentos, insumos farmacêuticos e correlatos. O setor magistral veterinário é um mercado vantajoso e em crescimento, com alta demanda e possibilidade de personalização e individualização para cada animal, sendo uma área de atuação nova para o farmacêutico. Objetivo: Identificar e compreender o segmento da farmácia magistral veterinária no mercado brasileiro. Metodologia: foi realizada uma revisão integrativa nas bases de dados PUBMED, SCIELO e LILACS, publicados entre os anos de 2016 à 2021. Utilizou-se como palavras-chave os termos dos Descritores em Ciências da Saúde (DeCS) em inglês, português e espanhol: “farmácia magistral”, “farmácia de manipulação veterinária” e suas combinações, refinando os achados com o operador booleano AND. Resultados: O presente estudo identificou 23 publicações relacionadas ao tema, sendo que 26,08% tratavam da importância da atuação do farmacêutico neste setor; 43,48% estavam relacionados com o produto ou medicamento veterinário manipulado; 17,39% se  referiam as prescrições de produtos e medicamentos veterinário e 13,04% (3/23) estavam relacionadas com o mercado da farmácia magistral veterinária, tratando sobre a oportunidade deste mercado em ascensão, a falta de produtos ou medicamentos veterinários ou de farmácias de manipulação próximas para atender a demanda. Conclusão: o mercado da farmácia magistral veterinária é promissor, vantajoso e atrativo. Além de oferecer personalização da terapia aos pets, com formulações adequadas as necessidades de cada espécie e por contar com um farmacêutico qualificado para atuará na produção das formulações e orientação ao uso correto, visando a promoção da saúde e bem-estar do animal

Successful management of refractory pleural effusion due to systemic immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis by vincristine adriamycin dexamethasone chemotherapy: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Refractory pleural effusion in systemic immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis without cardiac decompensation is rarely reported and has a poor prognosis in general (a median survival of 1.6 months). Moreover, the optimum treatment for this condition is still undecided. This is the first report on the successful use of vincristine, adriamycin and dexamethasone chemotherapy for refractory pleural effusion due to systemic immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis without cardiac decompensation.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 68-year old Japanese male with systemic immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis presenting with bilateral pleural effusion (more severe on the right side) in the absence of cardiac decompensation that was refractory to diuretic therapy. The patient was admitted for fatigue, exertional dyspnea, and bilateral lower extremity edema. He had been receiving intermittent melphalan and prednisone chemotherapy for seven years. One month before admission, his dyspnea had got worse, and his chest radiograph showed bilateral pleural effusion; the pleural effusion was ascertained to be a transudate. The conventionally used therapeutic measures, including diuretics and thoracocentesis, failed to control pleural effusion. Administration of vincristine, adriamycin, and dexamethasone chemotherapy led to successful resolution of the effusion.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Treatment with vincristine, adriamycin, and dexamethasone chemotherapy was effective for the refractory pleural effusion in systemic immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis without cardiac decompensation and appears to be associated with improvement in our patient's prognosis.</p

Common Variants in CDKN2B-AS1 Associated with Optic-Nerve Vulnerability of Glaucoma Identified by Genome-Wide Association Studies in Japanese

BACKGROUND: To date, only a small portion of the genetic variation for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), the major type of glaucoma, has been elucidated. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined our two data sets of the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) derived from a total of 2,219 Japanese subjects. First, we performed a GWAS by analyzing 653,519 autosomal common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 833 POAG patients and 686 controls. As a result, five variants that passed the Bonferroni correction were identified in CDKN2B-AS1 on chromosome 9p21.3, which was already reported to be a significant locus in the Caucasian population. Moreover, we combined the data set with our previous GWAS data set derived from 411 POAG patients and 289 controls by the Mantel-Haenszel test, and all of the combined variants showed stronger association with POAG (P<5.8 × 10(-10)). We then subdivided the case groups into two subtypes based on the value of intraocular pressure (IOP)--POAG with high IOP (high pressure glaucoma, HPG) and that with normal IOP (normal pressure glaucoma, NPG)--and performed the GWAS using the two data sets, as the prevalence of NPG in Japanese is much higher than in Caucasians. The results suggested that the variants from the same CDKN2B-AS1 locus were likely to be significant for NPG patients. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: In this study, we successfully identified POAG-associated variants in the CDKN2B-AS1 locus using a Japanese population, i.e., variants originally reported as being associated with the Caucasian population. Although we cannot rule out that the significance could be due to the differences in sample size between HPG and NPG, the variants could be associated specifically with the vulnerability of the optic nerve to IOP, which is useful for investigating the etiology of glaucoma

Use of low-dose combined therapy with gemcitabine and paclitaxel for advanced urothelial cancer patients with resistance to cisplatin-containing therapy: a retrospective analysis

Purpose The prognosis of patients with advanced and recurrent urothelial cancer (UC) is poor. Although cisplatin (CDDP)-containing chemotherapy is the most effective regimen in these patients, there is no other established chemotherapeutic regimen. We administered combination therapy with low-dose gemcitabine (GEM) and paclitaxel (PTX), named low-dose gemcitabine-paclitaxel (LD-GP) therapy, as salvage therapy for these patients. The aim was to evaluate the anti-tumoral effects, relief of pain, and toxicity of LD-GP therapy in patients with resistance to CDDP-containing therapy. Patients and methods Thirty-five patients with advanced UC, previously treated with CDDP-containing regimens, were treated with LD-GP therapy (GEM, 700 mg/m 2 + PTX, 70 mg/m 2 on day 1 and 8, repeated every 28 days). Pain was measured on a visual analog scale before and after treatment. Pain relief and survival were compared between this and other treatment regimens. Results None of the patients had complete response to LD-GP therapy. Partial response and stable disease were seen in 25.7 and 62.9 % of patients, respectively. Kaplan- Meier curves showed better survival in patients with LDGP therapy than with others (p = 0.034). Twenty-eight patients (80.0 %) had adequate pain relief, and only two patients needed to increase their analgesics. Other regimens demonstrated pain relief in 30.4 % of patients. Common toxicities included leukopenia, with five patients requiring granular colony-stimulating factor therapy (14.3 %). The most common non-hematologic toxicity was fatigue (n = 7, 17.1 %). Conclusions LD-GP therapy is feasible and well tolerated as salvage therapy in patients with advanced UC with resistance to CDDP-containing therapy