Housing and sanitation-related diseases

Housing and health-related issues are typical concerns of developing countries since their consequences usually lead to deadly diseases. Hence, in order to improve the assertiveness of public policies, minimize the divergence between actions proposed by different studies and contribute to mitigate those issues, this paper seeks to understand the relative impacts of the proposed policies as well as their efficiency. Thus, this paper evaluates the Brazilian Rental Housing Program (RHP) using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) model, a strategy that is strengthened by the performance of robustness tests. As a result, we verified that RHP was able to reduce deaths from sanitation-related diseases by up to 11% and that this effect increases over time.As questões de moradia e saúde são preocupações típicas dos países em desenvolvimento, uma vez que suas consequências geralmente levam a doenças mortais. Assim, com o objetivo de melhorar a assertividade das políticas públicas, minimizar as divergências entre as ações propostas pelos diferentes estudos e contribuir para mitigar essas questões, este artigo busca compreender os impactos relativos das políticas propostas, bem como sua eficiência. Para isso, avaliamos o Programa de Arrendamento Residencial (PAR) por meio de um desenho de regressão descontínua (RDD), estratégia que é fortalecida pela realização de testes de robustez. Como resultado, verificamos que o PAR foi capaz de reduzir asmortes por doenças relacionadas ao saneamento em até 11% e que esse efeito aumenta com o tempo

Monotonicity for Multiobjective Accelerated Proximal Gradient Methods

Accelerated proximal gradient methods, which are also called fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithms (FISTA) are known to be efficient for many applications. Recently, Tanabe et al. proposed an extension of FISTA for multiobjective optimization problems. However, similarly to the single-objective minimization case, the objective functions values may increase in some iterations, and inexact computations of subproblems can also lead to divergence. Motivated by this, here we propose a variant of the FISTA for multiobjective optimization, that imposes some monotonicity of the objective functions values. In the single-objective case, we retrieve the so-called MFISTA, proposed by Beck and Teboulle. We also prove that our method has global convergence with rate $O(1/k^2)$, where $k$ is the number of iterations, and show some numerical advantages in requiring monotonicity.Comment: - Added new numerical experiment

Determination of etoposide serum concentrations in small pediatric samples by an improved method of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

Several specific assays have been developed for the measurement of etoposide in biological fluids. As large samples are required for high sensitivity, these systems are not appropriate for a pediatric practice. In the present study, however, an improved method for the determination of serum levels of the anticancer drug etoposide was developed, using high-performance liquid chromatography with fixed-wavelength ultraviolet detection. Etoposide was extracted from serum using dichloromethane. The efficiency of extraction from serum was 85.7 +/- 7.7% for etoposide and 81.1 +/- 8.4% for diphenylhydantoin, the internal standard. The serum concentrations of etoposide were measured in 0.2-ml serum samples. The lower limit of detection was 50 ng/ml. Each measurement was completed within 5 min. The linear quantitation range for etoposide was 0.05-50 microg/ml. This assay presents an alternative method for routine measurement of serum levels of etoposide in the pediatric oncology setting.</p

Experimental and Numerical Study of Strength Prediction of Cold forged Parts Based on the Chaboche Combined Hardening Model.

The high manufacturing costs of heat-treated cold forged parts has necessitated the possible elimination of the heat treatment process for improving their mechanical properties. In such a scenario, the strength of the parts can be determined by the degree of work hardening during cold forging; moreover, optimizing the shapes of cold forged parts based on strength prediction via finite element analysis (FEA) can assist in realizing the weight reduction of these parts as well as the cost reduction. However, when the parts are subjected to tensile loads during operation in the opposite direction of compressive loads imposed during cold forging (the Bauschinger effect), predicting the strength of these parts using an isotropic hardening model is inappropriate because it overestimates their strength. Only a few studies have reported on FEA models that consider the influence of the Bauschinger effect in the field of bulk forming. In this study, a strength prediction method using a Chaboche combined hardening model was investigated for predicting the strength of cold forged parts that are not subjected to heat treatment after cold forging. Simple shear tests were performed to obtain stress&ndash;strain curves with reversed loading over a wide range of strains. The simple shear tests facilitated the accurate prediction of the strength of the cold forged parts

Vonoprazan prevents ulcer recurrence during long-term NSAID therapy: randomised, lansoprazole-controlled non-inferiority and single-blind extension study

Objective To assess the non-inferiority of vonoprazan to lansoprazole for secondary prevention of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced peptic ulcer (PU) and the safety of vonoprazan during extended use.Design A phase 3, 24-week, multicenter, randomised, double-blind (DB), active-controlled study, followed by a phase 3, ≥28 week, multicenter, single-blind, parallel-group extension study (EXT) in outpatients (n=642) receiving long-term NSAID therapy who are at risk of PU recurrence. The patients received vonoprazan (10 mg or 20 mg) or lansoprazole 15 mg once daily. For DB, non-inferiority of the proportion of patients with recurrent PU within 24 weeks was analysed by Farrington and Manning test (significance level 2.5%, non-inferiority margin 8.3%; primary endpoint), recurrent PU within 12 weeks, bleeding and time-to-event of PU (secondary endpoint) and treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs). For EXT, TEAEs (primary endpoint), recurrent PU and safety (secondary) were assessed up to 104 weeks for patients in the extension study.Results The non-inferiority of vonoprazan 10 mg and 20 mg to lansoprazole 15 mg was verified (percentage difference –2.2%,95% CI –6.2% to 1.8%, p<0.001; –2.1%,95% CI –6.1% to 2.0%, p<0.001, respectively). The proportion of patients with endoscopically confirmed recurrent PU within 24 weeks was 3.3%, 3.4% and 5.5%, for vonoprazan 10 mg, 20 mg and lansoprazole 15 mg, respectively. No significant safety concerns were identified.Conclusion The non-inferiority of vonoprazan (10 and 20 mg) was verified in patients receiving long-term NSAIDs in DB; it was effective and well tolerated in EXT for longer than 1 year, with a safety profile similar to lansoprazole (15 mg)

ディジタル オーディオ キキ ニ オケル サンプリング ジッター ノ ショ ヨウソウ ト ソノ ヨウイン

いくつかの種類のディジタルオーディオ機器におけるサンプリングジッター測定の結果を示した。解析信号を用いたジッター測定は、CD-Rメディアの製造メーカの違い、信号のビットパターン、ディジタル信号伝送系、DAC, ADCそしてプレーヤのクロック発振器など、複数の要因が、オーディオ機器の微細なジッター特性に影響を与えていることを示した。ジッター測定を通じて得られた最大のジッター成分振幅は、ジッター周波数2 Hz以上において、2nsを下回った。従来の周波数変動検知実験の結果と比較すると、この程度のジッターが音質に与える影響を聴取者が検知することは困難であると予想される。Results of sampling jitter measurement for several kinds of digital audio products are introduced. Jitter measurement using analytic signals revealed that several factors, that is, bit patterns of a signal, manufactures of CD-R media, a system of digital signal transmission, DAC, ADC and a clock generator, affect minute jitter characteristics of digital audio products. Throughout the measurement, maximum amplitude of a jitter component was less than 2 ns above jitter frequency of 2 Hz. According to the previous experiments on frequency modulation detection, the effect of jitter obtained from the audio products tested here on sound quality is supposed to be undetectable for a human listener

Potential role of LMP2 as an anti-oncogenic factor in human uterine leiomyosarcoma: Morphological significance of calponin h1

Uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is a highly metastatic smooth muscle neoplasm for which calponin h1 is suspected to have a biological role as a tumor-suppressor. We earlier reported that LMP2-null mice spontaneously develop uterine LMS through malignant transformation of the myometrium, thus implicating this protein as an anti-tumorigenic candidate as well. In the present study, we show that LMP2 may negatively regulate LMS independently of its role in the proteasome. Moreover, several lines of evidence indicate that although calponin h1 does not directly influence tumorigenesis, it clearly affects LMP2-induced cellular morphological changes. Modulation of LMP2 may lead to new therapeutic approaches in human uterine LMS.ArticleFEBS LETTERS. 586(13):1824-1831 (2012)journal articl

Potential role of LMP2 as tumor-suppressor defines new targets for uterine leiomyosarcoma therapy

Although the majority of smooth muscle neoplasms found in the uterus are benign, uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is extremely malignant, with high rates of recurrence and metastasis. We earlier reported that mice with a homozygous deficiency for LMP2, an interferon (IFN)-gamma-inducible factor, spontaneously develop uterine LMS. The IFN-gamma pathway is important for control of tumor growth and invasion and has been implicated in several cancers. In this study, experiments with human and mouse uterine tissues revealed a defective LMP2 expression in human uterine LMS that was traced to the IFN-gamma pathway and the specific effect of JAK-1 somatic mutations on the LMP2 transcriptional activation. Furthermore, analysis of a human uterine LMS cell line clarified the biological significance of LMP2 in malignant myometrium transformation and cell cycle, thus implicating LMP2 as an anti-tumorigenic candidate. This role of LMP2 as a tumor suppressor may lead to new therapeutic targets in human uterine LMS.ArticleSCIENTIFIC REPORTS. 1:180 (2011)journal articl