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Distributed output feedback consensus control of networked homogeneous systems with large unknown actuator and sensor delays
No full textThis paper studies observer-based output feedback consensus control of networked homogeneous systems in the presence of unknown bounded actuator and sensor delays. A transport hyperbolic partial differential equation (PDE) is used to describethe dynamics of the delay state, and then a distributed observer on the basis of the estimate delay state and relative output information is designed to estimate the neighborhood consensus error. Predictor-based consensus protocols are proposed byutilizing the observer state and the estimate delay state. Lyapunov-Krasovskii functions are explicitly constructed to analyze system stability, and the delay mismatch robustness of the consensus protocols is proved. Simulation results performed on low-Earth-orbit satellite formation flying are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme
Exploring Party Change: The professionalisation of the UK’s three Green parties crossing the representation threshold
No full textStudies of political parties have evidenced a clear impetus for organisational change and professionalisation when a party crosses the representation threshold, though the process by which this change occurs remains under-researched. We use a case study of the UK’s three Green parties to provide a focused examination of the professionalisation-through-representation process. Our study finds clear evidence that all three parties have professionalised to an extent as a result of securing representation. By evaluating the empirical findings in relation to key debates within the party organisational change literature, we show that professionalisation-through-representation does not necessarily require deliberate decisions by actors across a party, it can be largely uni-directional (though in this case the Greens have maintained a relatively consistent presence in legislatures), and is shaped by institutional rules on the public provision of funding and staff as well as parties’ own origins
New surveillance guidelines for Li-Fraumeni and hereditary TP53 related cancer syndrome: implications for germline TP53 testing in breast cancer
No full textGRADE Guidelines 30: The GRADE Approach to Assessing the Certainty of Modelled Evidence - an Overview in the Context of Health Decision making
No full textObjectives: To present the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) conceptual approach to the assessment of certainty of evidence from modelling studies (i.e. model outputs). Study Design and Setting: We performed expert consultations, held an international multi-disciplinary workshop, and further elaborated a conceptual approach for assessing the certainty of evidence from models within the context of systematic reviews, health technology assessments, and health care decisions. We assessed the content validity of the approach obtaining feedback from experts in a broad range of modelling and health care disciplines.Results: Workshop participants agreed, that the domains determining the certainty of evidence previously identified in the GRADE approach (risk of bias, indirectness, inconsistency, imprecision, reporting bias, magnitude of an effect, dose-response relation, and the direction of residual confounding) also apply in the context of assessing the certainty of evidence from models. The assessment itself will depend on the nature of model inputs and the model itself. We distinguished the assessment of the certainty of model outputs from a single model and across multiple models. We proposed a framework for selecting the best available evidence from models: 1) to develop de novo a model specific to the situation of interest, 2) to identify an existing model the outputs of which provide the highest certainty evidence for the situation of interest, that could be used either “off the shelf” or after adaptation, and 3) to use outputs from multiple models. We also present a summary of preferred terminology tofacilitate communication among various modelling and health care disciplines.Conclusions: This conceptual GRADE approach provides a framework for using evidence from models in health decision making and the assessment of certainty of evidence from a model or models. The GRADE Working Group and the modelling community continue developing detailed methods and related guidance for the assessment of specific domains determining the certainty of evidence from models
The Negative Impact of the Psychiatric Model of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome on Doctors' Understanding and Management of the Illness
No full textBackground: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling condition that greatly impacts the lives of sufferers. Many sufferers report problems getting a confirmatory diagnosis and difficulties getting doctors to believe them and offer support. Objective: This paper explores this issue by examining a biopsychosocial model of ME/CFS promoted within psychiatry and its potential influence on how doctors might view and manage the illness. Method: A narrative literature review is undertaken to identify salient theory and discourse for consideration. Findings: Psychiatrists proffer a hypothetical model of ME/CFS aetiology and continuance, that instructs doctors to view the illness as a syndrome perpetuated by psycho-social factors that sustain unexplained symptoms such as fatigue, pain and post-exertional malaise, rather than symptoms being related to biological disease processes. The psychiatric model theorises that patients’ symptoms are maintained by their maladaptive beliefs and behaviours, requiring psychotherapy. Conclusion: The psychiatric biopsychosocial model of ME/CFS may negatively bias how physicians approach the illness, with doctors directed to view patients’ complaints as manifestations of psychological distress, rather than physical symptoms that require medical investigation or intervention. This finding may help explain why many ME/CFS patients feel disbelieved and unsupported after seeking medical care. Psychiatric theory fails to acknowledge or incorporate a substantial body of evidence showing biological deficits associated with ME/CFS. Medical trainees and physicians need more training and clinical exposure to ME/CFS patients, armed with better awareness of misleading and unproven claims associated with the biopsychosocial model.<br/
Choking Under Pressure: Does it get easier with age? How Loneliness affects Social Monitoring across the Lifespan.
No full textPrevious experimental work showed that young adults reporting loneliness performed less well on emotion recognition tasks (Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy [DANVA-2]) if they were framed as indicators of social aptitude, but not when the same tasks were framed as indexing academic aptitude. Such findings suggested that undergraduates reporting loneliness possessed the social monitoring skills necessary to read the emotions underlying others’ facial expressions, but that they choked under social pressure. It has also been found that undergraduates reporting loneliness have better recall for both positive and negative social information than their non-lonely counterparts. Whether those effects are evident across different age groups has not been examined. Using data from the BBC Loneliness Experiment that included participants ages 16-99 years (N = 54,060) we (i) test for replication in a larger worldwide sample, and (ii) extend those linear model analyses to other age groups. We found only effects for participants ages 25-34 years: In this age group, loneliness was associated with increased recall of negative individual information, and with choking under social pressure during the emotion recognition task; those effects were small. We did not find any such effects among participants in other age groups. Our findings suggest that different cognitive processes may be associated with loneliness in different age groups, highlighting the importance of life-course approaches in this area
Infection Prevention and Control Practices in the Home Environment:Examining Enablers and Barriers to Adherence among Home Health Care Nurses
No full textBackground: Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices have been established in home health care. Adherence to IPC practices has been suboptimal with limited available evidence. The study aim was to examine the impact of individual, home environment, and organizational factors on IPC practices using human factors model.Methods: 353 nurses were surveyed across two large home care agencies to examine the relationship between IPC adherence and individual, home environment, and organizational factors.Results: Nurses reported multiple barriers to IPC practices in patients’ homes (mean=4.34, standard deviation [SD]= 2.53). Frequent barriers included clutter (reported by 74.5% of nurses) and a dirty environment (70.3%). Nurses also reported limited availability of some IPC supplies (mean=7.76, SD=2.44), including personal protective equipment. Home environment factors were significant barriers, and availability of IPC supplies were significant enablers of IPC adherence. Agency-provided training and decision-making resources were not significant factors for IPC adherence in the presence of home environment barriers and IPC supplies.Conclusion: This study findings suggest that IPC adherence strategies point to addressing barriers in the home environment and increasing availability of IPC supplies. The relationship between the patient’s home environment, organizational factors, and IPC practices among home health care nurses warrants further study
Factors Dominating Low Frequency ‘V, ∩, U’ Shape Features in Transformer FRA Spectra
No full textFrequency Response Analysis (FRA) is the most effective technique to detect transformer winding deformation and displacement. The main challenge in applying the FRA technique lies in the correct interpretation of the differences between the diagnosis and the reference frequency spectra. In this paper winding space coefficient, known as the dominant factor for transient overvoltage distribution along a winding, is found as the key to explain the low frequency FRA features, i.e. ‘V’, ‘∩’ and ‘U’ shapes seen in the measured FRA spectra. Circuit analysis is used onto single windings to provide theoretical basis, and analytical solutions are developed to mathematically reveal the winding space coefficient as the dominating factor behind the different low frequency shape features
Platforms and the pandemic: A case study of fashion rental platforms during COVID-19
No full textFrom Airbnb to Uber, the sharing or platform economy has reshaped many aspects of our economy and society. In recent years, fashion rental platforms have gained in popularity, fueling the introduction of the platform economy in fashion. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the impact on fashion rental platforms was abrupt, with demand disappearing seemingly overnight as events were cancelled and many people began working from home. Drawing on a case study of fashion rental platforms, we explore the immediate consequences of the pandemic on this segment of the platform economy, examining both the challenges these platforms face in the short-term and the strategies platforms have adopted to try and weather the storm. Based on our findings, we highlight the ways in which the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fashion rental platforms intersects with issues pertaining to value creation, precarious work, gender, and sustainable consumption. In doing so, we reflect on how fashion rental platforms inform understanding of the platform economy more broadly and conclude by suggesting themes for future research
On Compensating Actuator Delays in Consensus Control under Undirected Graphs
No full textThis paper studies delay compensation in consensus control under undirected graphs via output feedback. The dynamics of each node involved in the network is subject to unknown bounded actuator delays. A transport partial differential equation (PDE) is employed to model the dynamics of the delay state, and a filter with adaptive control gains is proposed using the available relative output information of neighboring nodes. Based on the state of the filter, the estimation delay state, and the delay estimation, we propose two distributed adaptive output feedback consensus protocols. The first one employs a delay-adaptive predictor and guarantees local consensus, while the second one, replacing the delay estimation by a constant, is proven to be a global consensus controller provided that the delay mismatch is in a small compact set. Simulation results performed on a group of neutrally stable systems are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme