Prognosis of severe cytomegalovirus infection in newborns

Objective is to study the features of impaired activation of T and B lymphocytes in order to predicting severe cytomegalovirus infection in newborns. Materials and methods. 133 newborns with cytomegalovirus infection were examined. Immediately after diagnosing cytomegalovirus infection, all patients observed were immunologically ex amined, including assessing count of peripheral blood T and B lymphocytes, as well as their intercellular interaction by using flow cytometry immunostaining for CD3, CD3+CD28–, CD3+CD28+, CD3–CD28+, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD20+CD40+, CD28, CD40. The test was performed by using a Beckman Coulter Epics XL laser flow cytofluorometer. Depending on the condition severity, all children were divided into two groups: 1 — cytomegalovirus infection, severe form — 60 subjects (45.1%); 2 — cytomegalovirus infection, moderate form — 73 subjects (54.9%). Results of the entire set of studied indicators for cellular and humoral arms of immune system revealed statistically significant differences for the prognosis of severe cytomegalovirus infection: CD3+CD28–, CD20, CD20+CD40+, CD4. T lymphocytes with CD3+CD28+ activation markers, through which costimulating signals necessary for the activation of T helper cells are exerted cell-intrinsic features, serving as an important factor ensuring immune response. Using the “classification trees” method, we developed a differentiated approach to forecast severe cytomegalovirus infection in newborns. Systems of inequalities were obtained, four of which classify a subgroup of newborns with severe cytomegalovirus infection. The consistent application of the obtained inequalities makes it possible to isolate from the input stream of sick patients with a prognosis of the development of severe cytomegalovirus infection. The proposed diagnostic rules can be considered as screening markers for predicting a severe cytomegalovirus infection in newborns, which makes possible the timely onset of specific therapy.

The importance of immunosupression in the development of the heavy form of cytomegaloviral infection in newborn children

Objective: to study the features of disorders in T and B cell immunity and the synthesis of serum immunoglobulins of classes IgA, IgM, IgG with the aim of predicting severe cytomegalovirus infection (CMVI) in newborns.Research methods: 133 newborns with cytomegalovirus infection were examined. Lymphocytes were typed to differentiation clusters CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20 using monoclonal antibodies, IMMUNOTECH (France). The expression of membrane markers of immunocompetent cells was determined using a Beckman COULTER EpicsXLII flow laser cytofluorimeter. Depending on the severity of the condition, all children were divided into two groups: 1 — CMVI, severe form — 60 people (45,1%); 2 CMVI, moderate form — 73 people (54,9%).Results. Using the «classification trees» method, we were able to develop a differentiated approach to the prognosis of a severe form of CMVI in newborn children. Systems of inequalities were obtained, four of which classify a subgroup of newborns with severe CMVI. Conclusion: the proposed diagnostic rules can be considered screening markers for prognosis of a severe form of CMVI in newborns.

On Lipschitz Continuity of Projections onto Polyhedral Moving Sets

In Hilbert space setting we prove local lipchitzness of projections onto parametric polyhedral sets represented as solutions to systems of inequalities and equations with parameters appearing both in left- and right-hand sides of the constraints. In deriving main results we assume that data are locally Lipschitz functions of parameter and the relaxed constant rank constraint qualification condition is satisfied.

Necessary conditions of physical realizability of the bifocal lens collimator

The conditions of physical realizability of one of the varieties of aplanitic lens collimators, a bifocal lens collimator, which has two points of perfect focus and do not lie on the main optical axis, are considered. Based on the relationship of the parameters specified during the design of the bifocal lens collimator (aperture size, thickness, focal length, distance from the main optical axis to the focal point, tilt of the phase front in the aperture), conditions that are necessary for the synthesis of a physically feasible collimator are formulated. The solution of this problem is based on the properties of an ellipse of equal edges and the geometry of a bifocal lens collimator. The graphic dependencies of the obtained expressions are given and analyzed. Based on this analysis, the mutual dependence of the parameters specified at the beginning of the calculation of the lens surface is determined. Systems of inequalities that establish the conditions for the realizability of a bifocal lens collimator are written. A number of restrictions on the initial parameters of the bifocal lens collimator are recorded. The fulfillment of the inequalities obtained in the article is a necessary condition for the physical realizability of the bifocal lens collimator.

A full investigation of the directional congestion in data envelopment analysis

One of interesting subjects in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is estimation of congestion of Decision Making Units (DMUs). Congestion is evidenced when decreases (increases) in some inputs re- sult in increases (decreases) in some outputs without worsening (im- proving) any other input/output. Most of the existing methods for measuring the congestion of DMUs utilize the traditional de nition of congestion and assume that inputs and outputs change with the same proportion. Therefore, the important question that arises is whether congestion will occur or not if the decision maker (DM) increases or de- creases the inputs dis-proportionally. This means that, the traditional de nition of congestion in DEA may be unable to measure the con- gestion of units with multiple inputs and outputs. This paper focuses on the directional congestion and proposes methods for recognizing the directional congestion using DEA models. To do this, we consider two di erent scenarios: (i) just the input direction is available. (ii) none of the input and output directions are available. For each scenario, we propose a method consists in systems of inequalities or linear pro- gramming problems for estimation of the directional congestion. The validity of the proposed methods are demonstrated utilizing two nu- merical examples.

Localization Method of Compact Invariant Sets with Application to the Chua System

In this paper, we consider the problem of compact invariant sets localization for the Chua system. To obtain our results we develop and apply a localization method. This method allows us to find two types of subsets in the phase space of a nonlinear system. The first type consists of Poincaré sections having a nonempty intersection with any compact invariant set of the system. The second type consists of localizing sets containing all compact invariant sets of the system. The considered localization method produces systems of inequalities describing the localizing sets and specifies the equations of the appropriate global sections. These inequalities and equations depend on parameters of the system and, therefore, the obtained localization results can be used in the bifurcation analysis. We find one-parametric families of both compact global sections and nontrivial localizing sets for the Chua system. These localizing sets are compact or unbounded. The intersection of unbounded localizing sets in some cases is a compact localizing set. We indicate the domains where trajectories of the Chua system go to infinity.