Partial Consensus Research Articles

Distributed Partial Quantum Consensus of Qubit Networks With Connected Topologies.

In this article, we consider the partial quantum consensus problem of a qubit network in a distributed view. The local quantum operation is designed based on the Hamiltonian by using the local information of each quantum system in a network of qubits. We construct the unitary transformation for each quantum system to achieve the partial quantum consensus, that is, the directions of the quantum states in the Bloch ball will reach an agreement. A simple case of two-qubit quantum systems is considered first, and a minimum completing time of reaching partial consensus is obtained based on the geometric configuration of each qubit. Furthermore, we extend the approaches to deal with the more general N -qubit networks. Two partial quantum consensus protocols, based on the Lyapunov method for chain graphs and the geometry method for connected graphs, are proposed. The geometry method can be utilized to deal with more general connected graphs, while for the Lyapunov method, the global consensus can be obtained. The numerical simulation over a qubit network is demonstrated to verify the validity and the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Development of advanced practice nursing core competencies in Saudi Arabia: A modified Delphi study

BackgroundAdvanced practice nursing requires a diverse set of competencies that define what advanced practice nurses need to know and be able to do to deliver safe, effective, and high-quality healthcare. Given the lack of evidence regarding core competencies and the evolution of advanced practice nursing roles in Saudi Arabia, it is becoming increasingly important to develop core competencies to standardize educational and clinical training programs. ObjectiveTo define the core competencies of advanced practice nursing in Saudi Arabia. DesignUtilizing a modified Delphi design and snowball sampling technique, data were collected between April and July 2023 using an online questionnaire consisting of 28 core competencies that was developed based on an in-depth literature review and a critical analysis of advanced practice nursing core competencies published by leading professional organizations. Two rounds of Delphi surveys were conducted. SettingsThe study was set in clinical and academic settings in Saudi Arabia. ParticipantsNursing experts with graduate degrees as advanced practice nurses. ResultsIn Round 1, 34 advanced practice nursing experts reached full consensus on 24 of the 28 core competencies, and four core competencies reached partial consensus. Based on suggestions and feedback from the experts, the investigators revised ten core competencies to reflect the improvement suggestions and created three new core competencies. A total of 26 core competencies were used in Round 2, which achieved a full consensus among the 34 advanced practice nursing experts, under the following six core competency domains: knowledge of advanced practice nursing, person-centered care, professional improvement, professionalism, communication and interprofessional partnership, and leadership and system-based practice. ConclusionsGiven the need for a standardized competency framework, the 26 core competencies proposed in our study have the potential to guide education and training in academic programs and facilitate the implementation of advanced practice nursing in clinical settings.

Sources of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infections Among Men Who Have Sex With Men With a Migration Background: A Viral Phylogenetic Case Study in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Men and women with a migration background comprise an increasing proportion of incident human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases across Western Europe. To characterize sources of transmission in local transmission chains, we used partial HIV consensus sequences with linked demographic and clinical data from the opt-out AIDS Therapy Evaluation in the Netherlands (ATHENA) cohort of people with HIV in the Netherlands and identified phylogenetically and epidemiologically possible HIV transmission pairs in Amsterdam. We interpreted these in the context of estimated infection dates, and quantified population-level sources of transmission to foreign-born and Dutch-born Amsterdam men who have sex with men (MSM) within Amsterdam transmission chains. We estimate that Dutch-born MSM were the predominant sources of infections among all Amsterdam MSM who acquired their infection locally in 2010-2021, and among almost all foreign-born Amsterdam MSM subpopulations. Stratifying by 2-year intervals indicated time trends in transmission dynamics, with a majority of infections originating from foreign-born MSM since 2016, although uncertainty ranges remained wide. Native-born MSM have predominantly driven HIV transmissions in Amsterdam in 2010-2021. However, in the context of rapidly declining incidence in Amsterdam, the contribution from foreign-born MSM living in Amsterdam is increasing, with some evidence that most local transmissions have been from foreign-born Amsterdam MSM since 2016.

Noisy kinetic-exchange opinion model with aging.

We study the critical behavior of a noisy kinetic opinion model subject to resilience to change depending on aging, defined as the number of interactions before a change of opinion state. In this model, the opinion of each agent can take three discrete values, the extreme ones ±1, and also the intermediate value 0, and it can evolve through kinetic exchange when interacting with another agent, or independently, by stochastic choice (noise). The probability of change by pairwise interactions depends on the age that the agent has remained in the same state, according to a given kernel. We particularly develop the cases where the probability decays either algebraically or exponentially with the age, and we also consider the anti-aging scenario where the probability increases with the age, meaning that it is more likely to change mind the longer the persistence in the current state. For the opinion dynamics in a complete graph, we obtain analytical predictions for the critical curves of the order parameters, in perfect agreement with agent-based simulations. We observe that sufficiently weak aging (slow change of the kernel with the age) favors partial consensus with respect to the aging-insensitive scenario, while for sufficiently strong aging, as well as for anti-aging, the opposite trend is observed.

Development and prioritisation of policy recommendations for medication safety improvement for intensive care units: a European Association of Hospital Pharmacists Special Interest Group Delphi Study

ObjectivesMedication errors (MEs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the healthcare system. Patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) are potentially more susceptible to MEs due to...

Partial component consensus in mean‐square for delayed nonlinear multi‐agent systems with uncertain nonhomogeneous Markov switching topologies and aperiodic denial‐of‐service cyber‐attacks

The partial component consensus in mean‐square for delayed nonlinear multi‐agent systems (NMASs) with uncertain nonhomogeneous Markov switching (UNMS) topologies subjected to aperiodic denial‐of‐service (DoS) cyber‐attacks is investigated. Firstly, the partial component ( ‐dimensional) consensus of the system ( ‐dimensional, ) is considered in this paper. When , the partial component consensus degrades into identical consensus. Secondly, the communication topologies governed by uncertain nonhomogeneous Markov chains are random. Thirdly, the communication topologies suffer from aperiodic DoS cyber‐attacks. Then, in view of stochastic analysis technology, distributed control theory and Lyapunov stability theory, the partial component consensus conditions are obtained using permutation matrix and inequality scaling skills. Eventually, the correctness of the results is verified through an example.

Prescribed time partial component lag consensus of multi-agent systems with switching topologies and external bounded disturbances

This paper investigates the problem of prescribed time partial component lag consensus (PTPCLC) and the problem of prescribed time partial component consensus (PTPCC) for nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) with switching topologies and external bounded disturbances. Some novel control protocols are designed by introducing a new time-varying function which depends on the prescribed settling time. Then, making full use of the permutation matrix, the original error system about the same agent is transformed into the new error system about the same component. Furthermore, the control parameters are designed according to the minimum eigenvalue of the Laplacian matrix and minimum non-zero values of the inner coupling matrix of the MASs to guarantee that the MASs can achieve PTPCLC and PTPCC, respectively. Finally, some simulation examples are given to verify the correctness of theoretical results.

Distributed partial output consensus optimization for constrained chain interconnected systems

For chain interconnected systems with state and input constraints, a partial output consensus (POC) optimization problem is studied when the set-points are infeasible. In this case, outputs with and without consensus requirements cannot converge to the set-points achieved from real-time optimization. For this case, a novel set-point optimization method is developed, which is called distributed partial output consensus optimization. Based on this method, the set-points for two-part outputs i.e. having a part that must achieve consensus and a part that has a set-point, can be recalculated simultaneously and their feasibility can be ensured by using a distributed projection operator. The convergence of the strategy is then analyzed. From the results of both simulation and experimental testing, the effectiveness of the proposed method is validated.

Molecular identification of Oidium neolycopersici on greenhouse tomato in Kazakhstan

Powdery mildew caused by Oidium neolycopersici is a harmful diseases of tomato widespread all over the world, particularly affecting tomato plants in greenhouses. Despite the occurrence of the disease in Kazakhstan, no studies on molecular identification of the pathogen were conducted to date. In the present work, third generation sequencing of partial rRNA gene sequence was used to identify the isolate of the powdery mildew fungus from a local greenhouse, in addition to traditional identification based on symptoms and micromorphology. As a result, 5,693 reads specific to the target genomic region allowed to obtain a partial consensus sequence rRNA gene of 499 bp length. This sequence was used to identify the fungus. Although the specificity of this sequences was not certain within genera Erysiphe and Pseudoidium, in addition to morphological and pathological traits, it provided sufficient data to identify the found fungal isolate as Oidium [Erysiphe] neolycopersici. More precise identification and characterization require additional studies using purified genetic material of the fungus.

A COMPREHENSIVE COMPOSITE FOR ALLOSTATIC LOAD SCORING AND RISK CATEGORIZATION FOR PREDICTIVE COMPARISONS

Abstract Introduced three decades ago, the concept of Allostatic Load (AL) describes the wear and tear of the physiological response to chronic stress, and how sustained demand overloads the systems involved, deplete their resources, and leads them to fail. Current evidence shows positive relationship between AL and risk of developing conditions such as depression, fibromyalgia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, early cognitive decline, and dementia. However, there is only partial consensus regarding which biomarkers can compose an AL index or how to accurately score them. Current proposals debate between purely statistical cut-off points, inclusion of gender and ethnicity differences, use of clinical reference values, and scoring ongoing medication. The result is a considerable heterogeneity of methods for AL calculation and a lack of universally agreed values, leaving researchers to subjectively choose which framework suits better to their aims. Using data from the PREVENT-Dementia study (cognitively normal mid-life participants, n=700), we developed a comprehensive composite for AL scoring to generate a more accurate and biologically relevant index, that considers both previous and recent clinical evidence. By including gender and age differences, high quartile approach, and up-to-date clinical reference values, individuals were categorized as no-risk, at-risk and high-risk of AL, which will be associated with MRI brain volume measurements. Comparison to serum Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels will serve as proxy of the neuroendocrine biomarkers originally proposed as AL primary mediators, due to its association to increased cortisol. Additional stress-related biomarkers, such as sleep quality and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio will also be assessed for associations.

Fixed-time partial component consensus for nonlinear multi-agent systems with/without external disturbances

The concept of fixed-time partial component consensus (FdTPCC) is given and FdTPCC for nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) with/without disturbance is discussed. Whether under an undirected graph or a directed graph, by designing a new control protocol, followers can reach consensus about leader’s partial state components within a settling time. Furthermore, the settling time reached is independent on the initial states and relative to parameters of the protocol. Finally, two simulation examples are given to verify the correctness of theoretical results.

Systemic anti-inflammatory treatment of atopic dermatitis during conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding: Interdisciplinary expert consensus in Northern Europe.

Treating atopic dermatitis (AD) in pregnant or breastfeeding women, and in women and men with AD aspiring to be parents is difficult and characterized by uncertainty, as evidence to inform decision-making on systemic anti-inflammatory treatment is limited. This project mapped consensus across dermatologists, obstetricians and patients in Northwestern Europe to build practical advice for managing AD with systemic anti-inflammatory treatment in men and women of reproductive age. Twenty-one individuals (sixteen dermatologists, two obstetricians and three patients) participated in a two-round Delphi process. Full consensus was reached on 32 statements, partial consensus on four statements and no consensus on four statements. Cyclosporine A was the first-choice long-term systemic AD treatment for women preconception, during pregnancy and when breastfeeding, with short-course prednisolone for flare management. No consensus was reached on second-choice systemics preconception or during pregnancy, although during breastfeeding dupilumab and azathioprine were deemed suitable. It may be appropriate to discuss continuing an existing systemic AD medication with a woman if it provides good disease control and its benefits in pregnancy outweigh its risks. Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, methotrexate and mycophenolate mofetil should be avoided by women during preconception, pregnancy and breastfeeding, with medication-specific washout periods advised. For men preconception: cyclosporine A, azathioprine, dupilumab and corticosteroids are appropriate; a 3-month washout prior to conception is desirable for methotrexate and mycophenolate mofetil; there was no consensus on JAK inhibitors. Patient and clinician education on appropriate (and inappropriate) AD treatments for use in pregnancy is vital. A shared-care framework for interdisciplinary management of AD patients is advocated and outlined. This consensus provides interdisciplinary clinical guidance to clinicians who care for patients with AD before, during and after pregnancy. While systemic AD medications are used uncommonly in this patient group, considerations in this article may help patients with severe refractory AD.

Improving kinship probability in analysis of ancient skeletons using identity SNPs and MPS technology.

In forensic kinship analysis and human identification cases, analysis of STRs is the gold standard. When badly preserved ancient DNA is used for kinship analysis, short identity SNPs are more promising for successful amplification. In this work, kinship analysis was performed on two skeletons from the Early Middle Ages. The surface contaminants of petrous bones were removed by chemical cleaning and UV irradiation; DNA was isolated through full demineralization and purified in an EZ1 Advanced XL machine. The PowerQuant kit was used to analyze DNA yield and degradation, and on average, 17 ng DNA/g of petrous bone was obtained. Both skeletons were typed in duplicate for STR markers using the Investigator EssplexPlus SE QS kit, and comparison of partial consensus genotypes showed shared allelic variants at most loci amplified, indicating close kinship. After statistical calculation, the full-sibling kinship probability was too low for kinship confirmation, and additional analyses were performed with PCR-MPS using the Precision ID Identity Panel. The HID Ion Chef Instrument was used to prepare the libraries and for templating and the Ion GeneStudio S5 System for sequencing. Analysis of identity SNPs produced full genetic profiles from both skeletons. For combined likelihood ratio (LR) calculation, the product rule was used, combining LR for STRs and LR for SNPs, and a combined LR of 3.3 × 107 (corresponding to a full-sibling probability of 99.999997%) was calculated. Through the SNP PCR-MPS that followed the STR analysis, full-sibling kinship between the ancient skeletons excavated from an early medieval grave was confirmed.

Generating consensus on road safety issues and priorities in Ghana: A modified Delphi approach

BackgroundImplementation of evidence-based approaches to reduce the substantial health, social, and financial burdens of road traffic injuries and deaths in Ghana and other low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) is vitally important. Consensus from national stakeholders can provide insight into what evidence to generate and which interventions to prioritize for road safety. The main objective of this study was to elicit expert views on the barriers to reaching international and national road safety targets, the gaps in national-level research, implementation, and evaluation, and the future action priorities. Materials and MethodsWe used an iterative three-round modified Delphi process to generate consensus among Ghanaian road safety stakeholders. We defined consensus as 70% or more stakeholders selecting a specific response in the survey. We defined partial consensus (termed “majority”) as 50% or more stakeholders selecting a particular response. ResultsTwenty-three stakeholders from different sectors participated. Experts generated consensus on barriers to road safety goals, including the poor regulation of commercial and public transport vehicles and limited use of technology to monitor and enforce traffic behaviors and laws. Stakeholders agreed that the impact of increasing motorcycle (2- and 3-wheel) use on road traffic injury burden is poorly understood and that it is a priority to evaluate road-user risk factors such as speed, helmet use, driving skills, and distracted driving. One emerging area was the impact of unattended/disabled vehicles along roadways. There was consensus on the need for additional research, implementation, and evaluation efforts of several interventions, including focused treatment of hazardous spots, driver training, road safety education as part of academic curricula, promotion of community involvement in first aid, development of strategically positioned trauma centers, and towing of disabled vehicles. ConclusionThis modified Delphi process with stakeholders from Ghana generated consensus on road safety research, implementation, and evaluation priorities.

On the allosteric puzzle and pocket crosstalk through computational means.

Allostery is a constitutive, albeit often elusive, feature of biomolecular systems, which heavily determines their functioning. Its mechanical, entropic, long-range, ligand, and environment-dependent nature creates far from trivial interplays between residues and, in general, the secondary structure of proteins. This intricate scenario is mirrored in computational terms as different notions of "correlation" among residues and pockets can lead to different conclusions and outcomes. In this article, we put on a common ground and challenge three computational approaches for the correlation estimation task and apply them to three diverse targets of pharmaceutical interest: the androgen A2A receptor, the androgen receptor, and the EGFR kinase domain. Results show that partial results consensus can be attained, yet different notions lead to pointing the attention to different pockets and communications.

Distributed set-based observers using diffusion strategies

We propose two distributed set-based observers using strip-based and set-propagation approaches for linear discrete-time dynamical systems with bounded modeling and measurement uncertainties. Both algorithms utilize a set-based diffusion step, which decreases the estimation errors and the size of estimated sets, and can be seen as a lightweight approach to achieve partial consensus between the distributed estimated sets. Every node shares its measurement with its neighbor in the measurement update step. In the diffusion step, the neighbors intersect their estimated sets using our novel lightweight zonotope intersection technique. A localization example demonstrates the applicability of our algorithms.

Distributed Robust Partial State Consensus Control for Chain Interconnected Delay Systems

Partial state consensus (PSC) is investigated for chain interconnected systems with time-varying delays and parameter uncertainties. A novel design philosophy of PSC control is proposed and a sequential calculation method is presented to guarantee the robustness of the controller. A sufficient condition based on linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) is derived and the stability is proven by the Lyapunov method. The proposed approach can ensure that the states which are subject to a consensus constraint achieve consensus, while those without a consensus constraint track their own set points. Finally, numerical simulations and a solution proportioning experiment are developed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

IDEOM vitiligo work group: an update on our first year

Abstract The new Vitiligo Work Group of IDEOM was created in October 2021 and met at the annual IDEOM meetings of 2021 and 2022. The mission of the workgroup is to develop core outcome measures in vitiligo that meet three criteria: to meet the needs of stakeholders of all types, to be validated for clinical trials and studies, and to be used in all age groups of patients. The Vitiligo Work Group met November 2021 and June 2022, yielding a list of 10 potential core domains for voting. Voting was conducted at the Annual Meeting of IDEOM on 18 June 2022. Voting members of IDEOM included 23 dermatologists, 1 rheumatologist, 3 dermatologists and rheumatologists, 11 industry partners, 9 patients, 8 patient association representatives and 15 researchers. Core domains meeting 75% consensus threshold included: health-related quality of life (95·35%), extent of depigmentation (93·632%), treatment satisfaction including treatment burden (92·86%), location (83·67%), colour matching (82·69%) and maintenance of pigmentation (76·47%). Two domains met 50% threshold including primary diagnosis/comorbidities (59·62%) and trajectory of disease/stabilization (57·45%) and one domain, itch, failed to reach a consensus (38·46%). Using an approach of inclusion of stakeholders from all walks of life, six core domains reached a consensus for inclusion, two achieved partial consensus but required revision to break down the elements (e.g. primary diagnosis and comorbidities should be separated) and itch failed to achieve inclusion. The group continues to work on its core domains set using a broad range of stakeholders to produce a practical set of domains that are of importance to all stakeholders.

Generalized Frame for Orthopair Fuzzy Sets: (m,n)-Fuzzy Sets and Their Applications to Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods

Orthopairs (pairs of disjoint sets) have points in common with many approaches to managing vaguness/uncertainty such as fuzzy sets, rough sets, soft sets, etc. Indeed, they are successfully employed to address partial knowledge, consensus, and borderline cases. One of the generalized versions of orthopairs is intuitionistic fuzzy sets which is a well-known theory for researchers interested in fuzzy set theory. To extend the area of application of fuzzy set theory and address more empirical situations, the limitation that the grades of membership and non-membership must be calibrated with the same power should be canceled. To this end, we dedicate this manuscript to introducing a generalized frame for orthopair fuzzy sets called “(m,n)-Fuzzy sets”, which will be an efficient tool to deal with issues that require different importances for the degrees of membership and non-membership and cannot be addressed by the fuzzification tools existing in the published literature. We first establish its fundamental set of operations and investigate its abstract properties that can then be transmitted to the various models they are in connection with. Then, to rank (m,n)-Fuzzy sets, we define the functions of score and accuracy, and formulate aggregation operators to be used with (m,n)-Fuzzy sets. Ultimately, we develop the successful technique “aggregation operators” to handle multi-criteria decision-making problems in the environment of (m,n)-Fuzzy sets. The proposed technique has been illustrated and analyzed via a numerical example.

Systemic treatment of children and adolescents with atopic dermatitis aged ≥2 years: a Delphi consensus project mapping expert opinion in Northern Europe.

Paediatric atopic dermatitis (AD) can be burdensome, affecting mental health and impairing quality of life for children and caregivers. Comprehensive guidelines exist for managing paediatric AD, but practical guidance on using systemic therapy is limited, particularly for new therapies including biologics and Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, recently approved for various ages in this indication. This expert consensus aimed to provide practical recommendations within this advancing field to enhance clinical decision-making on the use of these and other systemics for children and adolescents aged ≥2 years with moderate-to-severe AD. Nineteen physicians from Northern Europe were selected for their expertise in managing childhood AD. Using a two-round Delphi process, they reached full or partial consensus on 37 statements. Systemic therapy is recommended for children aged ≥2 years with a clear clinical diagnosis of severe AD and persistent disease uncontrolled after optimizing non-systemic therapy. Systemic therapy should achieve long-term disease control and reduce short-term interventions. Recommended are cyclosporine A for short-term use (all ages) and dupilumab or methotrexate for long-term use (ages ≥6 years). Consensus was not reached on the best long-term systemics for children aged 2-6 years, although new systemic therapies will likely become favourable: New biologics and JAK inhibitors will soon be approved for this age group, and more trial and real-world data will become available. This article makes practical recommendations on the use of systemic AD treatments for children and adolescents, to supplement international and regional guidelines. It considers the systemic medication that was available for children and adolescents with moderate-to-severe AD at the time this consensus project was done: azathioprine, cyclosporine A, dupilumab, methotrexate, mycophenolate mofetil and oral glucocorticosteroids. We focus on the geographically similar Northern European countries, whose healthcare systems, local preferences for AD management and reimbursement structures nonetheless differ significantly.