Once-daily saquinavir (SAQ)/ritonavir (RTV) (2000/100 mg) with abacavir/lamivudine (600/300 mg) or tenofovir/emtricitabine (245/300 mg) in naïve patients

Poster presentation: Background In the past years, once-daily (QD) dosing of antiretroviral combination therapy has become an increasingly available treatment option for HIV-1+ patients. Methods Open label study in which HIV-1+ patients treated with SAQ/RTV (1000/100 mg BID) and two NRTIs with HIV-RNA-PCR < 50 copies/ml were switched to SAQ/RTV(2000/100 mg QD) with unchanged NRTI-backbone. CD4-cells, HIV-RNA-PCR, SAQ and RTV drug-levels and metabolic parameters were compared. Summary of results 17 patients (15 male, 42 years), median CD4 456 ± 139/micro l were included so far. The median follow-up time is 4 months. The HIV-RNA-PCR remained <50 copies/ml for all patients. Fasting metabolic parameters remained unchanged. The SAQ AUC 0–12 h were significantly higher when given QD vs. BID (median 29,400 vs. 18,500 ng*h/ml; p = 0.009), whereas the Cmin, Cmax and AUC was lower for RTV when given QD vs. BID (7,400 vs. 11,700 ng*h/ml; p = 0.02). Conclusion In this ongoing study SAQ/RTV (2000/100 mg QD) was well tolerated and demonstrated higher SAQ and lower RTV drug levels as compared to the BID dosing schedule. (Table 1 and Figure 1.

A Systematic Approach to the Design of Embodiment with Application to Bio-Inspired Compliant Legged Robots

Bio-inspired legged robots with compliant actuation can potentially achieve motion properties in real world scenarios which are superior to conventionally actuated robots. In this thesis, a methodology is presented to systematically design and tailor passive and active control elements for elastically actuated robots. It is based on a formal specification of requirements derived from the main design principles for embodied agents as proposed by Pfeifer et al. which are transfered to dynamic model based multi objective optimization problems. The proposed approach is demonstrated and applied for the design of a biomechanically inspired, musculoskeletal bipedal robot to achieve walking and human-like jogging

A new biarticular actuator design facilitates control of leg function in BioBiped3

Bioinspired legged locomotion comprises different aspects, such as (i) benefiting from reduced complexity control approaches as observed in humans/animals, (ii) combining embodiment with the controllers and (iii) reflecting neural control mechanisms. One of the most important lessons learned from nature is the significant role of compliance in simplifying control, enhancing energy efficiency and robustness against perturbations for legged locomotion. In this research, we investigate how body morphology in combination with actuator design may facilitate motor control of leg function. Inspired by the human leg muscular system, we show that biarticular muscles have a key role in balancing the upper body, joint coordination and swing leg control. Appropriate adjustment of biarticular spring rest length and stiffness can simplify the control and also reduce energy consumption. In order to test these findings, the BioBiped3 robot was developed as a new version of BioBiped series of biologically inspired, compliant musculoskeletal robots. In this robot, three-segmented legs actuated by mono- and biarticular series elastic actuators mimic the nine major human leg muscle groups. With the new biarticular actuators in BioBiped3, novel simplified control concepts for postural balance and for joint coordination in rebounding movements (drop jumps) were demonstrated and approved

Estimating the Capacity for ART Provision in Tanzania with the Use of Data on Staff Productivity and Patient Losses

BACKGROUND: International targets for access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) have over-estimated the capacity of health systems in low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The WHO target for number on treatment by end 2005 for Tanzania was 10 times higher than actually achieved. The target of the national Care and Treatment Plan (CTP) was also not reached. We aimed at estimating the capacity for ART provision and created five scenarios for ART production given existing resource limitations. METHODS: A situation analysis including scrutiny of staff factors, such as available data on staff and patient factors including access to ART and patient losses, made us conclude that the lack of clinical staff is the main limiting factor for ART scale-up, assuming that sufficient drugs and supplies are provided by donors. We created a simple formula to estimate the number of patients on ART based on availability and productivity of clinical staff, time needed to initiate vs maintain a patient on ART and patient losses using five different scenarios with varying levels of these parameters. FINDINGS: Our scenario assuming medium productivity (40% higher than that observed in 2002) and medium loss of patients (20% in addition to 15% first-year mortality) coincides with the actual reported number of patients initiated on ART up to 2008, but is considerably below the national CTP target of 90% coverage for 2009, corresponding to 420,000 on ART and 710,000 life-years saved (LY's). Our analysis suggests that a coverage of 40% or 175,000 on treatment and 350,000 LY's saved is more achievable. CONCLUSION: A comparison of our scenario estimations and actual output 2006-2008 indicates that a simple user-friendly dynamic model can estimate the capacity for ART scale-up in resource-poor settings based on identification of a limiting staff factor and information on availability of this staff and patient losses. Thus, it is possible to set more achievable targets

A Model of the European Capital City

A sense of cultural-civilisation unity and communication with Europe is the cause why we do not treat our endeavours to join the European Union as entering a foreign structure, but as a return to the Mother-Europe, as a renewal of our participation in a greater European homeland. There is a model of the European capital city. To what degree does Warsaw meet the conditions contained in the synthetic model of a European capital city? In the model we will consider the town-planning structure, that is its topographic arrangement, composition, form and standard, and also those elements that distinguish a capital city. Natural factors are climatic conditions and topography, that is the situation in the geographical space. The climatic conditions of European capitals are similar and they are the reason why the climatic factor does not impose substantially different architectonic-urban patterns, on the contrary, it allows a transfer of urban solutions from one continent to another, becoming a factor that introduces unification of the structures. There is a greater differentiation in topographic conditions. Model conditions are met by those capitals that are situated inland and on rivers; these are the conditions that are necessary for developing the urban-architectonic structure of a capital city. The next condition for a model European capital is a clear participation of a historical process. A city, and especially a capital city, is history expressed in space and buildings. Without history, which has to go back to times earlier than the 20th century, there is no capital deserving to be called European. Historicity of capitals is expressed in the space structure of the city area, and more precisely, in the participation of the old part of the city (Old Town) and in its location in relation to the centre and to the whole town. The ideal, or model state, is one in which the old town has remained the central area in the modern town and around it the later and modern centre is built, and then suburbs grow in a ring-like manner. History is revealed in the ring-like arrangement of great streets, which like rings in a tree grow around the kernel, and the kernel is almost always the castle or the royal palace and the cathedral built close to it. In the ideal arrangement a river is always the bowstring for the arches; on it or close to it there are always buildings housing the centres of both lay and spiritual authority. In this way the ring-radial arrangement is spatially translated into the town's two features: chronology of development and hierarchy of its parts. From the very beginning, the town and its centre has to accept a proper space scale. The concentric development around the Old Town results in the town maintaining spatial compactness and a harmonious density of buildings, which decreases as it gets farther from the centre. Owing to this the urbanised silhouette of the town assumes the form of a compact blot, which is a necessary requirement for a model European capital. In the territory of the town special places of urban concentration must be singled out. Two areas of urban concentration may be pointed to: prestige routes and ceremony squares. Prestige routes in a European capital city are a territory that is built up in a natural way. The capital lives with the history of the country and it reshapes the history into the urban-spatial arrangement along a communication route. After some time its function as a communication route recedes to the background, and architectural-visual elements, which are documents of history, become the most significant. The prestige route is then the greatest concentration of the capital quality, it is the capital of the capital. Besides prestige routes squares are an area of urban concentration in the capital, and especially squares of a certain type that can be called ceremony squares. These are the places where the state ceremonies take place. Another element of the capital quality in Europe are representative parks. They are a prolongation of attributes of power and in the past epochs they were part of the rulers' residences. Besides intra-urban parks, the rulers' suburban residences must be included in the European model of the capital. The next elements of the model of the European capital are important public buildings housing state and social institutions. A set of these buildings, their choice and location in the city, are a canon of the capital quality. They symbolise the state authority, both lay and spiritual, the town authority, culture and art, knowledge and science, justice, communication and money. A feature of the model European capital is the visual decoration made up by sculpture, a second urban branch of art, besides architecture. In European cities monument sculpture is developed, which shapes their visual image and testifies to the national history, decorative sculpture, and religious sculpture, where statues of the saints make squares and streets sacred. A town is the work and image of history and culture of a given nation, country, state. There are circumstances that can weigh on the development of the town. Did subsequent generations agree to accept history and recognise its continuity, or did they break up with the past and want to give the town a new shape? Secondly, in what epoch and under the rule of what kind of art did the town experience its best time? And thirdly, what was the role of the patron-ruler in shaping the European capital city? Warsaw may be included, albeit hardly, in the model of the European capital. In it we have all the important elements that are decisive for the model. However, its history did not allow it to be fully shaped according to the European standards. Approaching Europe, joining its institutional structures, should be an obligation for us to undertake a great programme of valorisation of our capital

A Systematic Approach to the Design of Embodiment with Application to Bio-Inspired Compliant Legged Robots

Bio-inspired legged robots with compliant actuation can potentially achieve motion properties in real world scenarios which are superior to conventionally actuated robots. In this thesis, a methodology is presented to systematically design and tailor passive and active control elements for elastically actuated robots. It is based on a formal specification of requirements derived from the main design principles for embodied agents as proposed by Pfeifer et al. which are transfered to dynamic model based multi objective optimization problems. The proposed approach is demonstrated and applied for the design of a biomechanically inspired, musculoskeletal bipedal robot to achieve walking and human-like jogging

A systematic approach to the design of embodiment with application to bio-inspired compliant legged robots

Bio-inspired legged robots with compliant actuation can potentially achieve motion properties in real world scenarios which are superior to conventionally actuated robots. In this paper, a methodology is presented to systematically design and tailor passive and active control elements for elastically actuated robots. It is based on a formal specification of requirements derived from the main design principles for embodied agents as proposed by Pfeifer et al. which are transfered to dynamic model based multi objective optimization problems. The proposed approach is demonstrated and applied for the design of a biomechanically inspired, musculoskeletal bipedal robot to achieve walking and human-like jogging