Background: The complement component 5 inhibitor therapies (C5ITs) eculizumab and ravulizumab have been approved or submitted for regulatory approval in several regions for AQP4+ NMOSD. Methods: This global, long-term, prospective, multicenter, observational registry will enroll adult patients with AQP4+ NMOSD being treated with eculizumab or ravulizumab and who have received ≥1 dose of eculizumab or ravulizumab within 4 or 12 weeks prior to enrollment, respectively. Inclusion criteria include available historical data on C5IT dosing since initiation and the number and types of relapses from 1 year prior to C5IT initiation through enrollment. The primary outcome is annualized relapse rate. Safety outcomes will include serious adverse events, meningococcal infections, and pregnancy, breastfeeding, and neonatal outcomes. Data will be collected prospectively for up to 5 years. Approximately 130 patients will be enrolled, with a maximum of around 200 patients in up to 10 countries globally. Results: N/A Conclusions: This registry will collect data to characterize the long-term effectiveness and safety of the C5ITs eculizumab and ravulizumab in patients with AQP4+ NMOSD to provide evidence on the real-world impact of C5ITs in this patient population.

This paper presents theoretical and experimental investigations into modelling a single-link flexible manipulator system. An analytical model of the manipulator, characterised by an infinite number of modes, is developed using the Lagrange's equation and modal expansion method. This is used to develop equivalent time-domain and frequency-domain working models of the system in state-space and transfer function forms respectively. The model parameters are then estimated experimentally using system's measured input/output data. The model thus obtained is validated through experimentation and results including the effect of payload on system characteristics presented and discussed.

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in pregnant women. Diagnosis and treatment in these women are particularly challenging as the necessary investigations and treatment modalities may potentially harm the developing foetus. Nonetheless, it appears that initial diagnostic investigations may be carried out as for non-pregnant women, but bearing in mind the risks of exposing the foetus to ionising radiation. Surgery can be carried out with little risk to the mother or foetus but radiotherapy is generally avoided. Chemotherapy can be given relatively safely when administered after the first trimester, but large volume prospective data and, in particular, data regarding the long-term implications of in utero exposure, are awaited.

In this prospective pilot study, nine patients suffering from complex regional pain syndrome of the arm were treated with morphine 0.16mg h−1 (3.84mg day−1) applied continuously through an axillary brachial plexus catheter. In all of them an oral analgesic medication including the less potent opioid tramadol had not provided sufficient pain relief. During regional treatment, patients were kept in hospital and physiotherapy was carried out frequently in order to improve strength and function of the affected arm. Pain at rest and during movement as well as grip strength were assessed at first visit, during morphine infusion and at a long–term follow–up visit. All assessments improved significantly during plexus analgesia. There were no major opioid related side–effects. The results from this pilot study indicate that continuous axillary brachial plexus analgesia with low dose morphine might be beneficial in patients suffering from complex regional pain syndrome of the arm.

This paper presents an investigation into the utilisation of sequential and parallel processing techniques for the real-time simulation of a flexible manipulator system. A finite dimensional simulation of the system is developed using a finite difference approximation to the governing dynamic equation of the manipulator. The developed algorithm is implemented on a number of uni-processor and multi-processor, homogeneous and heterogeneous, parallel architectures. A comparison of the results of these implementations is made and discussed, on the basis of real-time processing requirements in the simulation and control of flexible manipulator systems.

This paper presents the design and development of a laboratory facilityconstituting a constrained planar flexible manipulator system. The system isdesigned for experimental investigations within research programmes involvingflexible manipulator systems. An outline of a generic design procedure forflexible manipulator systems is given. The design criteria developed throughthis procedure account for the strength and stiffness of the manipulator and therequired transducers and instrumentation. These are considered in detail and thesystem designed accordingly. Finally, practical problems encountered arehighlighted and methods of dealing with such problems are presented anddiscussed.

In this paper, we obtain the projective cover of the orbit space X/G in terms of the orbit space of the projective space of X, when X is a Tychonoff G-space and G is a finite discrete group. An example shows that finiteness of G is needed.