Model Predictive Control for Vehicle Stabilization at the Limits of Handling

Recent developments in vehicle steering systems offer new opportunities to measure the steering torque and reliably estimate the vehicle sideslip and the tire-road friction coefficient. This paper presents an approach to vehicle stabilization that leverages these estimates to define state boundaries that exclude unstable vehicle dynamics and utilizes a model predictive envelope controller to bound the vehicle motion within this stable region of the state space. This approach provides a large operating region accessible by the driver and smooth interventions at the stability boundaries. Experimental results obtained with a steer-by-wire vehicle and a proof of envelope invariance demonstrate the efficacy of the envelope controller in controlling the vehicle at the limits of handling.

Three-year results of visual outcome with disease activity-guided ranibizumab algorithm for the treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration

PURPOSE To evaluate 3-year follow-up treatment outcomes with ranibizumab (Lucentis(®)) 0.5 mg administered either monthly or quarterly on a pro re nata (PRN) basis according to a disease activity-guided monitoring and treatment algorithm. METHODS A total of 316 treatment-naive eyes of 316 patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration met the criteria for inclusion in this retrospective, interventional case series. Patients were treated with ranibizumab 0.5 mg according to a disease activity-guided algorithm with monthly monitoring. Optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography were routinely used to assess disease activity: active lesions were treated with a series of three monthly injections, whereas inactive lesions were treated with quarterly injections. RESULTS Mean Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study best-corrected visual acuity improved from 52 letters at baseline to 59 letters at 12 months, achieved with a mean of 7.1 injections, 61 letters at 24 months with a mean of 5.0 injections administered in the second year and 60 letters at 36 months with a mean number of 5.2 injections. CONCLUSIONS Monthly visits and a morphology-driven PRN regimen with 3 injections in case of recurrence plus quarterly injections in case of inactive CNV resulted in an average VA gain of 7-9 letters that could be maintained over 3 years.

Misleading Population Estimates: Biases and Consistency of Visual Surveys and Matrix Modelling in the Endangered Bearded Vulture

Conservation strategies for long-lived vertebrates require accurate estimates of parameters relative to the populations' size, numbers of non-breeding individuals (the “cryptic” fraction of the population) and the age structure. Frequently, visual survey techniques are used to make these estimates but the accuracy of these approaches is questionable, mainly because of the existence of numerous potential biases. Here we compare data on population trends and age structure in a bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) population from visual surveys performed at supplementary feeding stations with data derived from population matrix-modelling approximations. Our results suggest that visual surveys overestimate the number of immature (<2 years old) birds, whereas subadults (3–5 y.o.) and adults (>6 y.o.) were underestimated in comparison with the predictions of a population model using a stable-age distribution. In addition, we found that visual surveys did not provide conclusive information on true variations in the size of the focal population. Our results suggest that although long-term studies (i.e. population matrix modelling based on capture-recapture procedures) are a more time-consuming method, they provide more reliable and robust estimates of population parameters needed in designing and applying conservation strategies. The findings shown here are likely transferable to the management and conservation of other long-lived vertebrate populations that share similar life-history traits and ecological requirements.

Longitudinal testing of visual perception in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease

Visuo-perceptual abnormalities are a prominent feature in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and also occur in Alzheimer's disease (AD) to a lesser extent. We studied the progression of visuo-perceptual abnormalities over a 12-month period in DLB and AD by using a novel computerised test battery.

Chances and limits of method restriction: a detailed analysis of suicide methods in Switzerland

The objective of this study was to estimate the potential of method restriction as a public health strategy in suicide prevention. Data from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office and the Swiss Institutes of Forensic Medicine from 2004 were gathered and categorized into suicide submethods according to accessibility to restriction of means. Of suicides in Switzerland, 39.2% are accessible to method restriction. The highest proportions were found in private weapons (13.2%), army weapons (10.4%), and jumps from hot-spots (4.6%). The presented method permits the estimation of the suicide prevention potential of a country by method restriction and the comparison of restriction potentials between suicide methods. In Switzerland, reduction of firearm suicides has the highest potential to reduce the total number of suicides.