As more engineering operations become automatic, the need for robustness towards faults increases. Hence, a fault tolerant control (FTC) scheme is a valuable asset. This paper presents a robust sensor fault FTC scheme implemented on a flexible arm manipulator, which has many applications in automation. Sensor faults affect the system's performance in the closed loop when the faulty sensor readi...

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy in the population, and the incidence of this cancer is increasing at a rapid rate. Although genetic analysis of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) has identified mutations in a large percentage of patients, the genetic basis of follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) is less certain. Thyroid cancer, including both PTC and FTC, has been observed in pati...

CONTEXT Well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas include papillary (PTC) and follicular (FTC) carcinomas. FTC is usually a more aggressive form of cancer than the more common papillary type. miR-191 expression is frequently altered in several neoplasias, being up-regulated in some cases, such as pancreatic carcinomas, and down-regulated in other carcinomas, such as melanomas. OBJECTIVE The obje...

We systematically reviewed studies of the virological efficacy of the 4 new tenofovir (TDF)-containing regimens recommended for initial antiretroviral (ARV) therapy in the 2010 World Health Organization ARV Treatment Guidelines. Thirty-three studies assessed the efficacy of 1 or more TDF-containing regimens: TDF/lamivudine (3TC)/nevirapine (NVP) (n = 3), TDF/ emtricitabine (FTC)/NVP (n = 9), TD...

Patients suffering from bone metastases of follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) have a poor prognosis because of the lack of effective treatment strategies. The overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) associated with increased vascularity has been implicated in the pathogenesis of FTC and subsequent bone metastases. We hypothesized that inhibiting the phosphorylation of the EGFR...

BACKGROUND There is a paucity of data on the effect of antiretroviral medications on male fertility. Couples affected by HIV-1 often have fertility intentions, and antiretroviral medications, as both treatment of HIV-1-infected persons and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for uninfected persons, are part of peri-conception risk reduction. METHODS Within a randomized, placebo-controlled trial o...

BACKGROUND Well-trained, well-distributed and productive health workers are crucial for access to high-quality, cost-effective healthcare. Because neither a shortage nor a surplus of health workers is wanted, policymakers use workforce planning models to get information on future labour markets and adjust policies accordingly. A neglected topic of workforce planning models is productivity growt...

BACKGROUND Integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTI) are the standard of care for naïve HIV-infected individuals due to their favourable efficacy and safety profile. The newest INSTIs, elvitegravir and dolutegravir, have not been evaluated in a head to head study; however, both have been compared to efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir (EFV/FTC/TDF) in phase III trials. Elvitegravir/cobicistat/...

INTRODUCTION Tenofovir (TDF) with emtricitabine (FTC) and zidovudine (ZDV) is a recognized alternate first-line antiretroviral (ART) regimen for patients who cannot start treatment with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). Clinical studies comparing TDF+FTC+ZDV to other regimens are lacking. METHODS Participants in a trial of early ART in Côte d'Ivoire (Temprano ANRS 1213...

Current guidelines recommend three drug combinations to treat antiretroviral naïve HIV-infected patients; some data of novel strategies with NRTI-sparing regimen in this setting are now available [1,2]. The study compares immunovirological efficacy and safety of once daily maraviroc (MVC) plus lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) to tenofovir/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) plus LPV/r. This is an ongoing, proof...