Explore the vast range of titles available.

The role of routine antibiotic use in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition is unclear. In this randomized, placebo-controlled trial in Niger, amoxicillin did not significantly improve nutritional recovery in children with severe acute malnutrition. Severe acute malnutrition affects approximately 19 million children under 5 years of age worldwide and contributes substantially to mortality and the disease burden among children. 1 To reduce the risk of death from severe acute malnutrition, specialized nutritional and medical intervention is required. Bacterial infection can complicate advanced cases of severe acute malnutrition, 2 – 9 and the risk of nosocomial infection in inpatient settings can be high. Therefore, in 1999, when all children with severe acute malnutrition were treated as inpatients, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended routine use of broad-spectrum antibiotics for the management of severe acute malnutrition, irrespective of clinical . . .

This paper deals with the design of a positive functional H∞ filter-based controller for positive linear systems subject to bounded energy disturbances. We propose a new approach to numerically compute the controller, which is obtained via a function of the state to be estimated with the same order as the controller. The positive filter-based controller is obtained into two steps. First, we search for positive state feedback gain for the design of a control law such that the closed-loop is positive, stable and ensures an H∞ performance requirement. This design of state-feedback gain is solved via constrained Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). Then, we search in a second step for a positive functional filter-based controller permitting to reconstruct this control law, and so to estimate only a functional of the state useful for control purposes. The filter is positive, that is, it ensures the nonnegativity of the estimated states. The proposed procedure is based on the positivity of an augmented system composed of dynamics of both considered system and proposed filter-based controller and also, on the unbiasedness of the estimation error by solving a Sylvester equation. Then we derive conditions for the establishment of such filterbased controller in terms of an optimization problem, that can be solved via constrained LMIs. An algorithm that summarizes the different steps of the designed positive controller for positive linear systems is given. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

This paper deals with the design of adaptive observer for a class of bilinear time delay systems. First, this problem is investigated in the full order case and it is then extended to the reduced order one. The proposed observers allow the joint estimation of the state and the unknown parameter vectors. A Lyapunov–Krasovskii approach is used to deduce the stability conditions, given in terms of the solvability of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) on the vertices of a convex polytope. A relevant example is provided to show the feasibility and the high performances of our results.

We report 4 cases of Health Workers (HW) suspected of having contracted Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), transported from the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in N’Zerekore, Guinea to the Treatment Centre for Carers run by the medical corps of the French army in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, which was established on 17 January 2015 and closed on 7 July 2015. In total more than 500 HWs have died from EVD since the epidemic began. This mortality has had significant effects on the ability of local services to respond appropriately to the disaster. The HWs were transported by air in the “Human Stretcher Transit Isolator-Total Containment (Oxford) Limited” (HSTI-TCOL) negative pressure isolation pod. Medical evacuation of patients with suspected, potentially fatal, infectious diseases is feasible with the use of a light isolator for patients without critical dysfunctions.

In this paper, we consider the H ∞ filters design for singular bilinear systems. The approach is based on the parameterized solution of a set of constrained Sylvester equations. The exponential convergence and l 2 gain attenuation problems are solved by using the bounded real lemma, which leads to linear matrix inequalities (LMI) formulation. Finally, a detailed design procedure is given for the estimation of the states of a flexible joint robot, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001967.].

This paper deals with the H ∞ filtering problem for a class of nonlinear systems. This class of nonlinear systems is composed of a bilinear part and of a lipschitzian one. The use of an unbiasedness condition for the bilinear part (called quasi unbiasedness condition) permits to parameterize the filter matrices through a single gain. Two LPV (Linear Parameter Varying) extensions of the bounded real lemma are used to solve the filtering problem. This approach reduces the conservatism inherent to the boundedness of the inputs. Then the filtering solution is expressed in terms of LMI (Linear Matrix Inequality) to be verified at the vertices of a polytope. A numerical example is finally given to illustrate our approach.

BACKGROUND:Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a highly lethal condition for which no specific treatment has proven efficacy. In September 2014, while the Ebola outbreak was at its peak, the World Health Organization released a short list of drugs suitable for EVD research. Favipiravir, an antiviral developed for the treatment of severe influenza, was one of these. In late 2014, the conditions for starting a randomized Ebola trial were not fulfilled for two reasons. One was the perception that, given the high number of patients presenting simultaneously and the very high mortality rate of the disease, it was ethically unacceptable to allocate patients from within the same family or village to receive or not receive an experimental drug, using a randomization process impossible to understand by very sick patients. The other was that, in the context of rumors and distrust of Ebola treatment centers, using a randomized design at the outset might lead even more patients to refuse to seek care. Therefore, we chose to conduct a multicenter non-randomized trial, in which all patients would receive favipiravir along with standardized care. The objectives of the trial were to test the feasibility and acceptability of an emergency trial in the context of a large Ebola outbreak, and to collect data on the safety and effectiveness of favipiravir in reducing mortality and viral load in patients with EVD. The trial was not aimed at directly informing future guidelines on Ebola treatment but at quickly gathering standardized preliminary data to optimize the design of future studies.METHODS AND FINDINGS:Inclusion criteria were positive Ebola virus reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) test, age ≥ 1 y, weight ≥ 10 kg, ability to take oral drugs, and informed consent. All participants received oral favipiravir (day 0: 6,000 mg; day 1 to day 9: 2,400 mg/d). Semi-quantitative Ebola virus RT-PCR (results expressed in \"cycle threshold\" [Ct]) and biochemistry tests were performed at day 0, day 2, day 4, end of symptoms, day 14, and day 30. Frozen samples were shipped to a reference biosafety level 4 laboratory for RNA viral load measurement using a quantitative reference technique (genome copies/milliliter). Outcomes were mortality, viral load evolution, and adverse events. The analysis was stratified by age and Ct value. A \"target value\" of mortality was defined a priori for each stratum, to guide the interpretation of interim and final analysis. Between 17 December 2014 and 8 April 2015, 126 patients were included, of whom 111 were analyzed (adults and adolescents, ≥13 y, n = 99; young children, ≤6 y, n = 12). Here we present the results obtained in the 99 adults and adolescents. Of these, 55 had a baseline Ct value ≥ 20 (Group A Ct ≥ 20), and 44 had a baseline Ct value < 20 (Group A Ct < 20). Ct values and RNA viral loads were well correlated, with Ct = 20 corresponding to RNA viral load = 7.7 log10 genome copies/ml. Mortality was 20% (95% CI 11.6%-32.4%) in Group A Ct ≥ 20 and 91% (95% CI 78.8%-91.1%) in Group A Ct < 20. Both mortality 95% CIs included the predefined target value (30% and 85%, respectively). Baseline serum creatinine was ≥110 μmol/l in 48% of patients in Group A Ct ≥ 20 (≥300 μmol/l in 14%) and in 90% of patients in Group A Ct < 20 (≥300 μmol/l in 44%). In Group A Ct ≥ 20, 17% of patients with baseline creatinine ≥110 μmol/l died, versus 97% in Group A Ct < 20. In patients who survived, the mean decrease in viral load was 0.33 log10 copies/ml per day of follow-up. RNA viral load values and mortality were not significantly different between adults starting favipiravir within <72 h of symptoms compared to others. Favipiravir was well tolerated.CONCLUSIONS:In the context of an outbreak at its peak, with crowded care centers, randomizing patients to receive either standard care or standard care plus an experimental drug was not felt to be appropriate. We did a non-randomized trial. This trial reaches nuanced conclusions. On the one hand, we do not conclude on the efficacy of the drug, and our conclusions on tolerance, although encouraging, are not as firm as they could have been if we had used randomization. On the other hand, we learned about how to quickly set up and run an Ebola trial, in close relationship with the community and non-governmental organizations; we integrated research into care so that it improved care; and we generated knowledge on EVD that is useful to further research. Our data illustrate the frequency of renal dysfunction and the powerful prognostic value of low Ct values. They suggest that drug trials in EVD should systematically stratify analyses by baseline Ct value, as a surrogate of viral load. They also suggest that favipiravir monotherapy merits further study in patients with medium to high viremia, but not in those with very high viremia.TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02329054.

This paper proposes an easier frequency domain solution to the standard H ∞ filtering problem using a polynomial approach. The design of the H ∞ filter in the frequency domain is first obtained from the time domain solution which is related to a Riccati equation, and then by the use of the connecting relationship between the time and frequency domain approach given by Hippe [8], its representation in the frequency domain is derived. The filter is easy to calculate as it requires the computation of a single gain and it is easily implementable also. A numerical example is given to illustrate the presented approach.

This paper proposes an easier frequency domain solution to the standard H-infinity filtering problem using a polynomial approach. The design of the H-infinity filter in the frequency domain is first obtained from the time domain solution which is related to a Riccati equation, and then by the use of the connecting relationship between the time and frequency domain approach given by Hippe [8], its representation in the frequency domain is derived. The filter is easy to calculate as it requires the computation of a single gain and it is easily implementable also. A numerical example is given to illustrate the presented approach.