A Nonlinear Fuel Optimal Reaction Jet Control Law

We derive a nonlinear fuel optimal attitude control system (ACS) that drives the final state to the desired state according to a cost function that weights the final state angular error relative to the angular rate error. Control is achieved by allowing the pulse-width-modulated (PWM) commands to begin and end anywhere within a control cycle, achieving a pulse width pulse time (PWPT) control. We show through a MATLAB{reg_sign} Simulink model that this steady-state condition may be accomplished, in the absence of sensor noise or model uncertainties, with the theoretical minimum number of actuator cycles. The ability to analytically achieve near-zero drift rates is particularly important in applications such as station-keeping and sensor imaging. Consideration is also given to the fact that, for relatively small sensor and model errors, the controller requires significantly fewer actuator cycles to reach the final state error than a traditional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. The optimal PWPT attitude controller may be applicable for a high performance kinetic energy kill vehicle

Epidemiology and strain characterization of rotavirus diarrhea in Malaysia

SummaryObjectivesThe objectives of the study were to describe the epidemiology and strain characterization of rotavirus (RV), to determine the proportion of hospitalizations for diarrhea attributable to RV among children under 5 years of age, and to estimate the disease burden of RV diarrhea in Malaysia.MethodsAll children 0–59 months of age admitted for acute gastroenteritis to Kuala Lumpur Hospital (KLH) or Hospital Umum Sarawak (HUS) were surveyed. The periods of surveillance were from February 1, 2001 to April 30, 2003 in KLH and April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2003 for HUS.ResultsThe highest rate of RV-associated diarrhea was among children aged 6–17 months, accounting for 55% of RV-associated diarrhea. There was no seasonality observed in either hospital. P[8]G9 strains were predominant, accounting for 73% of all strains in both hospitals, 80% from KLH and 61% from HUS. There was no mortality.ConclusionsRV was responsible for 38% of hospitalizations for diarrhea. It was most common in the 6–17 months age group. There was no seasonality observed for RV-associated diarrhea. The most prevalent strain of RV was P[8]G9. The estimated incidence of RV-associated diarrhea was 27 per 10000 population under the age of 5 years per year

Termoreverzibilni mukoadhezivni in situ hidrogel za oftalmičku primjenu: dizajniranje i optimizacija koristeći kombinaciju polimera

The purpose of the study was to develop an optimized thermoreversible in situ gelling ophthalmic drug delivery system based on Pluronic F 127, containing moxifloxacin hydrochloride as a model drug. A 32 full factorial design was employed with two polymers Pluronic F 68 and Gelrite as independent variables used in combination with Pluronic F 127. Gelation temperature, gel strength, bioadhesion force, viscosity and in vitro drug release after 1 and 10 h were selected as dependent variables. Pluronic F 68 loading with Pluronic F 127 was found to have a significant effect on gelation temperature of the formulation and to be of importance for gel formation at temperatures 3336 ºC. Gelrite loading showed a positive effect on bioadhesion force and gel strength and was also found helpful in controling the release rate of the drug. The quadratic mathematical model developed is applicable to predicting formulations with desired gelation temperature, gel strength, bioadhesion force and drug release properties.Cilj rada bio je razvoj i optimizacija termoreverzibilnog sustava za isporuku lijekova koji gelira in situ. Sustav je napravljen na bazi Pluronic F 127, a sadrži moksifloksacin hidroklorid kao modelni lijek. U radu je primjenjeno 32 potpuno faktorijsko dizajniranje s dva polimera, Pluronic F 68 i Gelrite kao nezavisnim varijablama koji su kombinirani s Pluronic F 127. Kao zavisne varijable odabrane su temperatura geliranja, čvrstoća gela, jačina bioadhezije, viskoznost i in vitro oslobađanje lijeka nakon 1 i 10 h. Pronađeno je da Pluronic F 68 u kombinaciji s Pluronic F 127 ima značajan učinak na temperaturu geliranja u rasponu od 33 do 36 C. S druge strane, Gelrite ima povoljan učinak na jačinu bioadhezije, čvrstoću gela i oslobađanje lijeka. Razvijen je kvadratni matematički model pomoću kojeg se može predvidjeti temperatura geliranja, čvrstoća gela, jačina bioadhezije i oslobađanje ljekovite tvari

Reliability and Validity of the Monitored Functional Task Evaluation (MFTE) for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

This article describes the development of a new functional measure — the Monitored Functional Task Evaluation (MFTE) — a symptom-limited evaluation that is used to measure the functional performance of an individual with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and to document a client's physiological changes through repeated testing. Stage I of the study included developing the content validity of the instrument. Stage II consisted of establishing the performance profile, test-retest and inter-rater reliability using a convenience sample of 27 inpatients and outpatients who had COPD. In stage III, the criterion-related and discriminative validity of the instrument was verified in a retrospective sample of 124 inpatients and day patients who had COPD. Results indicated that there was high intra- and inter-rater reliability for the total score of MFTE. Significant correlation of the MFTE was found with parameters such as Moser's Activities of Daily Living (ADL) class, COPD disability class, 6-minute walking distance, work capacity in terms the ratio of the metabolic rate associated with a given activity to the resting metabolic rate, and the fatigue dimension of the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire. In addition, prediction of group membership to Moser's ADL class revealed that 52.4% of the original grouped cases could be correctly classified by the MFTE alone. In conclusion, the MFTE is a useful measure to evaluate functional performance as well as document physiological changes in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD from both conceptual and empirical perspectives

A fast radio burst with a low dispersion measure

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond pulses of radio emission of seemingly extragalactic origin. More than 50 FRBs have now been detected, with only one seen to repeat. Here we present a new FRB discovery, FRB 110214, which was detected in the high latitude portion of the High Time Resolution Universe South survey at the Parkes telescope. FRB 110214 has one of the lowest dispersion measures of any known FRB (DM = 168.9$\pm$0.5 pc cm$^{-3}$), and was detected in two beams of the Parkes multi-beam receiver. A triangulation of the burst origin on the sky identified three possible regions in the beam pattern where it may have originated, all in sidelobes of the primary detection beam. Depending on the true location of the burst the intrinsic fluence is estimated to fall in the range of 50 -- 2000 Jy ms, making FRB 110214 one of the highest-fluence FRBs detected with the Parkes telescope. No repeating pulses were seen in almost 100 hours of follow-up observations with the Parkes telescope down to a limiting fluence of 0.3 Jy ms for a 2-ms pulse. Similar low-DM, ultra-bright FRBs may be detected in telescope sidelobes in the future, making careful modeling of multi-beam instrument beam patterns of utmost importance for upcoming FRB surveys.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Projecting Temperature-Attributable Mortality and Hospital Admissions due to Enteric Infections in the Philippines

Background: Enteric infections cause significant deaths, and global projection studies suggest that mortality from enteric infections will increase in the future with warmer climate. However, a major limitation of these projection studies is the use of risk estimates derived from nonmortality data to project excess enteric infection mortality associated with temperature because of the lack of studies that used actual deaths.Objective: We quantified the associations of daily temperature with both mortality and hospital admissions due to enteric infections in the Philippines. These associations were applied to projections under various climate and population change scenarios.Methods: We modeled nonlinear temperature associations of mortality and hospital admissions due to enteric infections in 17 administrative regions of the Philippines using a two-stage time-series approach. First, we quantified nonlinear temperature associations of enteric infections by fitting generalized linear models with distributed lag nonlinear models. Second, we combined regional estimates using a meta-regression model. We projected the excess future enteric infections due to nonoptimal temperatures using regional temperature–enteric infection associations under various combinations of climate change scenarios according to representative concentration pathways (RCPs) and population change scenarios according to shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) for 2010–2099.Results: Regional estimates for mortality and hospital admissions were significantly heterogeneous and had varying shapes in association with temperature. Generally, mortality risks were greater in high temperatures, whereas hospital admission risks were greater in low temperatures. Temperature-attributable excess deaths in 2090–2099 were projected to increase over 2010–2019 by as little as 1.3% [95% empirical confidence intervals (eCI): −3.1%, 6.5%] under a low greenhouse gas emission scenario (RCP 2.6) or as much as 25.5% (95% eCI: −3.5%, 48.2%) under a high greenhouse gas emission scenario (RCP 8.5). A moderate increase was projected for temperature-attributable excess hospital admissions, from 0.02% (95% eCI: −2.0%, 1.9%) under RCP 2.6 to 5.2% (95% eCI: −12.7%, 21.8%) under RCP 8.5 in the same period. High temperature-attributable deaths and hospital admissions due to enteric infections may occur under scenarios with high population growth in 2090–2099.Discussion: In the Philippines, futures with hotter temperatures and high population growth may lead to a greater increase in temperature-related excess deaths than hospital admissions due to enteric infections. Our results highlight the need to strengthen existing primary health care interventions for diarrhea and support health adaptation policies to help reduce future enteric infections. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP932

Sexual violence against women and children in Chinese societies

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the reported patterns of sexual violence against women and children in China. It reviews the prevalence of and risk factors for various types of sexual violence and discusses community knowledge and perceptions of these violent acts. It also critically examines three major problems of sexual violence research in China. First, the diversity of findings and study methods reported by surveys and criminal reports reflects the problems in obtaining accurate figures on the scope of the problem. Second, precautions must be taken in reading studies on Chinese culture-specific risk factors for domestic violence. Third, the study of culture-specific factors should not focus solely on cultural factors in a vacuum but rather, should examine traditional culture in the context of modern societies and consensus international standards of human rights. Recommendations for future research are also discussed. © 2009 Sage Publications.postprin

Reporting guidelines for surgical technique could be improved: a scoping review and a call for action.

To identify reporting guidelines related to surgical technique and propose recommendations for areas that require improvement. A protocol-guided scoping review was conducted. A literature search of MEDLINE, the EQUATOR Network Library, Google Scholar, and Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations was conducted to identify surgical technique reporting guidelines published up to December 31, 2021. We finally included 55 surgical technique reporting guidelines, vascular surgery (n = 18, 32.7%) was the most common among the clinical specialties covered. The included guidelines generally showed a low degree of international and multidisciplinary cooperation. Few guidelines provided a detailed development process (n = 14, 25.5%), conducted a systematic literature review (n = 13, 23.6%), used the Delphi method (n = 4, 7.3%), or described post-publication strategy (n = 6, 10.9%). The vast majority guidelines focused on the reporting of intraoperative period (n = 50, 90.9%). However, of the guidelines requiring detailed descriptions of surgical technique methodology (n = 43, 78.2%), most failed to provide guidance on what constitutes an adequate description. Our study demonstrates significant deficiencies in the development methodology and practicality of reporting guidelines for surgical technique. A standardized reporting guideline that is developed rigorously and focuses on details of surgical technique may serve as a necessary impetus for change

Genetic diversity of human sapovirus across the Americas

Background: Sapoviruses are responsible for sporadic and epidemic acute gastroenteritis worldwide. Sapovirus typing protocols have a success rate as low as 43% and relatively few complete sapovirus genome sequences are available to improve current typing protocols. Objective/study design: To increase the number of complete sapovirus genomes to better understand the molecular epidemiology of human sapovirus and to improve the success rate of current sapovirus typing methods, we used deep metagenomics shotgun sequencing to obtain the complete genomes of 68 sapovirus samples from four different countries across the Americas (Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru and the US). Results: VP1 genotyping showed that all sapovirus sequences could be grouped in the four established genogroups (GI (n = 13), GII (n = 30), GIV (n = 23), GV (n = 2)) that infect humans. They include the near-complete genome of a GI.6 virus and a recently reported novel GII.8 virus. Sequences of the complete RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene could be grouped into three major genetic clusters or polymerase (P) types (GI.P, GII.P and GV.P) with all GIV viruses harboring a GII polymerase. One (GII.P-GII.4) of the new 68 sequences was a recombinant virus with the hotspot between the NS7 and VP1 regions. Conclusions: Analyses of this expanded database of near-complete sapovirus sequences showed several mismatches in the genotyping primers, suggesting opportunities to revisit and update current sapovirus typing methods