Artificial pancreas using a personalized rule-based controller achieves overnight normoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes

Objective: This study assessed the efficacy of a closed-loop (CL) system consisting of a predictive rule-based algorithm (pRBA) on achieving nocturnal and postprandial normoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The algorithm is personalized for each patient’s data using two different strategies to control nocturnal and postprandial periods. Research Design and Methods: We performed a randomized crossover clinical study in which 10 T1DM patients treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) spent two nonconsecutive nights in the research facility: one with their usual CSII pattern (open-loop [OL]) and one controlled by the pRBA (CL). The CL period lasted from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., including overnight control, and control of breakfast. Venous samples for blood glucose (BG) measurement were collected every 20 min. Results: Time spent in normoglycemia (BG, 3.9–8.0 mmol/L) during the nocturnal period (12 a.m.–8 a.m.), expressed as median (interquartile range), increased from 66.6% (8.3–75%) with OL to 95.8% (73–100%) using the CL algorithm (P<0.05). Median time in hypoglycemia (BG, <3.9 mmol/L) was reduced from 4.2% (0–21%) in the OL night to 0.0% (0.0–0.0%) in the CL night (P<0.05). Nine hypoglycemic events (<3.9 mmol/L) were recorded with OL compared with one using CL. The postprandial glycemic excursion was not lower when the CL system was used in comparison with conventional preprandial bolus: time in target (3.9–10.0 mmol/L) 58.3% (29.1–87.5%) versus 50.0% (50–100%). Conclusions: A highly precise personalized pRBA obtains nocturnal normoglycemia, without significant hypoglycemia, in T1DM patients. There appears to be no clear benefit of CL over prandial bolus on the postprandial glycemia

The minimal overlap rule: restrictions on mergers for creditors’ consensus

As it is known, there is no rule satisfying additivity in the complete domain of bankruptcy problems. This paper proposes a notion of partial additivity in this context, to be called μ-additivity. We find out that this property, together with two quite compelling axioms, equal treatment of equals and continuity, identify the minimal overlap rule, introduced by O’Neill (Math. Soc. Sci. 2:345–371, 1982).

Supporting the Revolution: America, Democracy, and the End of the Cold War in Poland, 1981-1989. ACES Working Paper (Report) No. 8, 2007

Early on the morning of December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the leader of the communist Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), declared martial law, ending the so-called "Polish Crisis," which began with the creation of the Independent Free Trade Union "Solidamosc" in August 1980. Over the next eight years, the Communist government and the opposition struggled over power, culminating in 1989 with the creation of a Solidamosc-led government which ended fifty years of Communist rule in Poland and led the way to further democratic revolutions throughout Eastern Europe. The purpose of this dissertation is to utilize newly available and underutilized archival sources as well as oral history interviews, from both international and American perspectives, to fully chronicle American policy toward Poland from the declaration of martial law until the creation of the Solidarnosc government. Rather than explaining Polish-American relations in bilateral terms, the dissertation illuminates the complex web of influences that determined American policy in Washington and affected its implementation within Poland. This includes descriptions of internal tensions within the Reagan administration, differences between American decisions in Washington and implementation in Warsaw, lobbying from Polish-American groups, clashes between Capitol Hill and the White House, coordination with American labor organizations to support Solidarnosc, disagreements with West European allies in NATO and international financial organizations, cooperation with the Vatican and the Polish Catholic Church, synchronization with American humanitarian organizations working in Poland, limitations caused by the realities of Soviet power in Eastern Europe, and complications caused by domestic Polish concerns. By taking a broad view of American policy and highlighting internal Polish decisions, with both the Communist government and the democratic opposition, the dissertation provides concrete examples of America's role in Poland's transformation, arguing, however, that this role was very limited. These conclusions are relevant to arguments about the end of the Cold War, the nature of American power, as well as current discussions about possibilities to promote democracy within hostile regimes.

Algeria's Failed Transitions to a Sustainable Polity: Coming to yet another crossroads. MEDPRO Technical Report No. 8/October 2011

Algeria is so far the only country in North Africa not to have experienced sustained mass protests calling for political change. The government in Algiers has by no means remained indifferent to the groundbreaking events in neighbouring countries, but it is responding to this sweeping wave of change at its own pace. This paper argues that, despite its apparent stability, the Algerian polity suffers from underlying currents of instability that risk undermining the long-term sustainability of the state. It identifies the failure of the country’s political and economic transitions and its implications as the most serious challenge confronting the Algerian state today. Unless a) the process of democratic transition that was initiated in 1989 is refined and put back on track, leading to the advent and consolidation of the rule of law, popular enfranchisement and total civilian control of the military; and b) the efforts to diversify the economy away from hydrocarbons are intensified and made more coherent, Algeria will remain susceptible to future instability. This is all the more pertinent given that the country is heading towards a crossroads where the issue of generational transition will also become imperative for the current leadership to deal with.

The EU, China and Southeast Asia: Divergent Views of Dealing with Human Security. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 14 No. 8, May 2014

Introduction. This chapter takes a closer look at the European Union (EU), China, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s respective approaches to dealing with non-traditional security (NTS) challenges by investigating their policies toward Burma/Myanmar—a source country of numerous such challenges. It argues that, although all, as members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), see the need for multilateral solutions to fight organized crime, provide disaster relief, combat terrorism, prevent drug trafficking, etc., they differ with respect to the steps to be taken to protect human security in Asia-Pacific. China, initially hesitant to join the ARF for fear that other members might try to contain it, has come to value the principal forum for NTS challenges in the Asia-Pacific region since, like many ASEAN countries, it is a big proponent of non-interventionism, non-use of force, consensus decision-making, that is, the confidence-building mechanisms commonly referred to as the ‘ASEAN way’.2 The EU, as a strong proponent of human rights and the rule of law, repeatedly, has criticized ARF members for allowing sovereignty-related norms to get in the way of the protection of human rights, but it has refrained from assuming the role of norm exporter. As will be seen in the case of Burma/Myanmar, the EU does make its opinions heard and, when necessary, will take unilateral steps not supported by the ASEAN members of the ARF but, cognizant of the history of the region, for the most part, settles for supporting economic development and aiding in capacity-building, understanding that it would be counter-productive to exert pressure on reluctant ARF members to modify the non-interference norm. The chapter then speculates about the ‘ASEAN way’s’ longevity, arguing that, increasingly, there are internal and external dynamics that seem to indicate that the ‘ASEAN way,’ at least in its current form, may not be here to stay. The conclusion looks at what might be in store for Burma/Myanmar in the years to come.

Discussing Citizenship in Egypt: A comparative study of the post-2011 political debate. EUSpring Working Paper No. 3 [also Arab Citizenship Review No. 8], 20 July 2015

From the Introduction. Having simultaneously evolved theoretically and in political practice over centuries, the concept of citizenship is one of the most complex in political and social sciences. It correlates and intersects with another set of concepts and values, especially the rule of the law and democracy. Its historical evolution, thanks to individuals and citizens’ movements’ struggle to gain equal rights in their political communities, needs to be captured by theory.

Discussing Citizenship in Egypt: A comparative study of the post-2011 political debate. Arab Citizenship Review No. 8, 20 July 2015

From the Introduction. Having simultaneously evolved theoretically and in political practice over centuries, the concept of citizenship is one of the most complex in political and social sciences. It correlates and intersects with another set of concepts and values, especially the rule of the law and democracy. Its historical evolution, thanks to individuals and citizens’ movements’ struggle to gain equal rights in their political communities, needs to be captured by theory.

Ornament, or the Christian rule of dress. Containing strictures on Judson's "Letter to Christian females on plain dress." In a series of letters,

Wanting p. 7-8.

Grazing : hearings before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, second session, on the Department of the Interior's proposed rule to amend the Department's regulations concerning livestock grazing.

Shipping list number: 94-0291-P (pt. 1), 95-0084-P (volume 2).

Experience with Rule Induction & k-Nearest Neighbour Methods for Interface Agents that Learn

Peer reviewed

Simplified Predictive Instrument to Rule Out Acute Coronary Syndromes in a High-Risk Population.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether diagnostic protocols based on cardiac markers to identify low-risk chest pain patients suitable for early release from the emergency department can be applied to patients older than 65 years or with traditional cardiac risk factors. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a single-center retrospective study of 231 consecutive patients with high-risk factor burden in which a first cardiac troponin (cTn) level was measured in the emergency department and a second cTn sample was drawn 4 to 14 hours later, we compared the performance of a modified 2-Hour Accelerated Diagnostic Protocol to Assess Patients with Chest Pain Using Contemporary Troponins as the Only Biomarker (ADAPT) rule to a new risk classification scheme that identifies patients as low risk if they have no known coronary artery disease, a nonischemic electrocardiogram, and 2 cTn levels below the assay's limit of detection. Demographic and outcome data were abstracted through chart review. The median age of our population was 64 years, and 75% had Thrombosis In Myocardial Infarction risk score ≥2. Using our risk classification rule, 53 (23%) patients were low risk with a negative predictive value for 30-day cardiac events of 98%. Applying a modified ADAPT rule to our cohort, 18 (8%) patients were identified as low risk with a negative predictive value of 100%. In a sensitivity analysis, the negative predictive value of our risk algorithm did not change when we relied only on undetectable baseline cTn and eliminated the second cTn assessment. CONCLUSIONS: If confirmed in prospective studies, this less-restrictive risk classification strategy could be used to safely identify chest pain patients with more traditional cardiac risk factors for early emergency department release.

Measurement of the doubly-polarized He3→(γ→,n)pp reaction at 16.5 MeV and its implications for the GDH sum rule

We report new measurements of the double-polarized photodisintegration of 3He at an incident photon energy of 16.5 MeV, carried out at the High Intensity γ-ray Source (HIγS) facility located at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL). The spin-dependent double-differential cross sections and the contribution from the three-body channel to the Gerasimov–Drell–Hearn (GDH) integrand were extracted and compared with the state-of-the-art three-body calculations. The calculations, which include the Coulomb interaction and are in good agreement with the results of previous measurements at 12.8 and 14.7 MeV, deviate from the new cross section results at 16.5 MeV. The GDH integrand was found to be about one standard deviation larger than the maximum value predicted by the theories.

Vibrational spectroscopy of phthalocyanine and naphthalocyanine in sandwich-type (na)phthalocyaninato and porphyrinato rare earth complexes: Part 14. The infrared and Raman characteristics of phthalocyanine in “pinwheel-like” homoleptic bis[1,8,15,22-tetrakis(3-pentyloxy)phthalocyaninato] rare earth(III) double-decker complexes

The infrared (IR) spectroscopic data and Raman spectroscopic properties for a series of 13 “pinwheel-like” homoleptic bis(phthalocyaninato) rare earth complexes M[Pc(α-OC5H11)4]2 [M = Y and Pr–Lu except Pm; H2Pc(α-OC5H11)4 = 1,8,15,22-tetrakis(3-pentyloxy)phthalocyanine] have been collected and comparatively studied. Both the IR and Raman spectra for M[Pc(α-OC5H11)4]2 are more complicated than those of homoleptic bis(phthalocyaninato) rare earth analogues, namely M(Pc)2 and M[Pc(OC8H17)8]2, but resemble (for IR) or are a bit more complicated (for Raman) than those of heteroleptic counterparts M(Pc)[Pc(α-OC5H11)4], revealing the decreased molecular symmetry of these double-decker compounds, namely S8. Except for the obvious splitting of the isoindole breathing band at 1110–1123 cm−1, the IR spectra of M[Pc(α-OC5H11)4]2 are quite similar to those of corresponding M(Pc)[Pc(α-OC5H11)4] and therefore are similarly assigned. With laser excitation at 633 nm, Raman bands derived from isoindole ring and aza stretchings in the range of 1300–1600 cm−1 are selectively intensified. The IR spectra reveal that the frequencies of pyrrole stretching and pyrrole stretching coupled with the symmetrical CH bending of –CH3 groups are sensitive to the rare earth ionic size, while the Raman technique shows that the bands due to the isoindole stretchings and the coupled pyrrole and aza stretchings are similarly affected. Nevertheless, the phthalocyanine monoanion radical Pc′− IR marker band of bis(phthalocyaninato) complexes involving the same rare earth ion is found to shift to lower energy in the order M(Pc)2 > M(Pc)[Pc(α-OC5H11)4] > M[Pc(α-OC5H11)4]2, revealing the weakened π–π interaction between the two phthalocyanine rings in the same order.