The first textbook introduction to the history of the Great Seljuk Islamic Empire to be published in English
The Great Seljuk Empire was the Turkish state which dominated the Middle East and Central ...Asia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This book surveys that period, which was one of exceptional importance, witnessing profound demographic, religious, political and social changes in the Islamic Middle East. The Turkish invasions played a role in provoking the Crusades, led to the collapse of Byzantine power in Anatolia and brought about the beginnings of Turkish settlement in what is now Turkey and Iran, permanently altering their ethnic and linguistic composition.
Key Features
The first book in a western language to offer an overview of this major Islamic empireProvides a narrative history and a thematic analysis of the empire's institutions and aspects of life in the Seljuk worldExamines the political, administrative, military, religious, economic and social organization of the Great Seljuk Empire using a wide variety of historical and literary sourcesDraws on the evidence of archaeology and material cultureIllustrated with images, maps, charts, family treesText boxes introduce key themes and institutions
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) frequently complicates the course of patients with various forms of chronic lung disease (CLD). CLD-associated PH (CLD-PH) is invariably associated with reduced functional ...ability, impaired quality of life, greater oxygen requirements and an increased risk of mortality. The aetiology of CLD-PH is complex and multifactorial, with differences in the pathogenic sequelae between the diverse forms of CLD. Haemodynamic evaluation of PH severity should be contextualised within the extent of the underlying lung disease, which is best gauged through a combination of physiological and imaging assessment. Who, when, if and how to screen for PH will be addressed in this article, as will the current state of knowledge with regard to the role of treatment with pulmonary vasoactive agents. Although such therapy cannot be endorsed given the current state of findings, future studies in this area are strongly encouraged.
Blockchains or distributed ledgers are an emerging technology that has drawn considerable interest from energy supply firms, startups, technology developers, financial institutions, national ...governments and the academic community. Numerous sources coming from these backgrounds identify blockchains as having the potential to bring significant benefits and innovation. Blockchains promise transparent, tamper-proof and secure systems that can enable novel business solutions, especially when combined with smart contracts. This work provides a comprehensive overview of fundamental principles that underpin blockchain technologies, such as system architectures and distributed consensus algorithms. Next, we focus on blockchain solutions for the energy industry and inform the state-of-the-art by thoroughly reviewing the literature and current business cases. To our knowledge, this is one of the first academic, peer-reviewed works to provide a systematic review of blockchain activities and initiatives in the energy sector. Our study reviews 140 blockchain research projects and startups from which we construct a map of the potential and relevance of blockchains for energy applications. These initiatives were systematically classified into different groups according to the field of activity, implementation platform and consensus strategy used.11A summary of the research projects reviewed in this study can be found in the Appendix A. Opportunities, potential challenges and limitations for a number of use cases are discussed, ranging from emerging peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading and Internet of Things (IoT) applications, to decentralised marketplaces, electric vehicle charging and e-mobility. For each of these use cases, our contribution is twofold: first, in identifying the technical challenges that blockchain technology can solve for that application as well as its potential drawbacks, and second in briefly presenting the research and industrial projects and startups that are currently applying blockchain technology to that area. The paper ends with a discussion of challenges and market barriers the technology needs to overcome to get past the hype phase, prove its commercial viability and finally be adopted in the mainstream.
•One of the first systematic reviews of blockchains in the energy sector.•Overview of key principles of distributed ledger technologies.•Detailed review of energy applications and use cases such as P2P energy trading.•Discussion on benefits and limitations of blockchains for energy applications.•Review & classification of around 140 blockchain commercial and research initiatives.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Guidelines summarize and evaluate all available evidence on a particular issue at the time of the writing process, with the aim of assisting health professionals in selecting the best management ...strategies for an individual patient with a given condition, taking into account the impact on outcome, as well as the risk-benefit ratio of particular diagnostic or therapeutic means. Guidelines and recommendations should help health professionals to make decisions in their daily practice. However, the final decisions concerning an individual patient must be made by the responsible health professional(s) in consultation with the patient and caregiver as appropriate.
•A simple method has been suggested for the estimation of the occupied and unoccupied distributions for different sensors installed in a residential home.•A critical feature of the method is that it ...does not require extensive recording of ground truth.•Practical occupancy inference through combining Dempster-Shafer’s theory of evidence with Hidden Markov Models has been demonstrated on some preliminary data and appears to be a very reasonable approach.•A methodology has been developed that uses this practical occupancy inference for assessing the possibility of demand response for a particular household at different times of day.•The benefits of occupancy to different demand response initiatives have been qualitatively assessed.
This article introduces a methodological approach for analysing time series data from multiple sensors in order to estimate home occupancy. The approach combines the Dempster-Shafer theory, which allows the fusion of ‘evidence’ from multiple sensors, with the Hidden Markov Model. The procedure addresses some of the practicalities of occupancy estimation including the blind estimation of sensor distributions during unoccupied and occupied states, and issues of occupancy inference when some sensors have missing data. The approach is applied to preliminary data from a residential family home on the North Coast of Scotland. Features derived from sensors that monitored electrical power, dew point temperature and indoor CO2 concentration were fused and the Hidden Markov Model applied to predict the occupancy profile. The approach shown is able to predict daytime occupancy, while effectively handling periods of missing sensor data, according to cross-validation with available ground truth information. Knowledge of occupancy is then fused with consumption behaviour and a simple metric developed to allow the assessment of how likely it is that a household can participate in demand response at different periods during the day. The benefits of demand response initiatives are qualitatively discussed. The approach could be used to assist in the transition towards more active energy citizens, as envisaged by the smart grid.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a heterogeneous disorder with high mortality.
We conducted a comprehensive study of plasma metabolites using ultraperformance liquid chromatography mass ...spectrometry to identify patients at high risk of early death, to identify patients who respond well to treatment, and to provide novel molecular insights into disease pathogenesis.
Fifty-three circulating metabolites distinguished well-phenotyped patients with idiopathic or heritable PAH (n=365) from healthy control subjects (n=121) after correction for multiple testing (P<7.3e-5) and confounding factors, including drug therapy, and renal and hepatic impairment. A subset of 20 of 53 metabolites also discriminated patients with PAH from disease control subjects (symptomatic patients without pulmonary hypertension, n=139). Sixty-two metabolites were prognostic in PAH, with 36 of 62 independent of established prognostic markers. Increased levels of tRNA-specific modified nucleosides (N2,N2-dimethylguanosine, N1-methylinosine), tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates (malate, fumarate), glutamate, fatty acid acylcarnitines, tryptophan, and polyamine metabolites and decreased levels of steroids, sphingomyelins, and phosphatidylcholines distinguished patients from control subjects. The largest differences correlated with increased risk of death, and correction of several metabolites over time was associated with a better outcome. Patients who responded to calcium channel blocker therapy had metabolic profiles similar to those of healthy control subjects.
Metabolic profiles in PAH are strongly related to survival and should be considered part of the deep phenotypic characterization of this disease. Our results support the investigation of targeted therapeutic strategies that seek to address the alterations in translational regulation and energy metabolism that characterize these patients.
Treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) has really only been available for the last 16 years. Progress has been extremely rapid, and both the mortality and the morbidity from this ...condition have been improved by the application of one or more of three groups of therapy, the endothelin receptor antagonists (ETRA), the agents promoting the nitric oxide pathway (both phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5i) and guanylate cyclase activators) and the prostacyclins.
Registries of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have been instrumental in characterizing the presentation and natural history of the disease and provide a basis for prognostication. ...Since the initial accumulation of data conducted in the 1980s, subsequent registry databases have yielded information about the demographic factors, treatment, and survival of patients and have permitted comparisons between populations in different eras and environments. Inclusion of patients with all subtypes of PAH has also allowed comparisons of these subpopulations. We describe herein the basic methodology by which PAH registries have been conducted, review key insights provided by registries, summarize issues related to interpretation and comparison of the results, and discuss the utility of data to predict survival outcomes. Potential sources of bias, particularly related to the inclusion of incident and/or prevalent patients and missing data, are addressed. A fundamental observation of current registries is that survival in the modern treatment era has improved compared with that observed previously and that outcomes among PAH subpopulations vary substantially. Continuing systematic clinical surveillance of PAH will be important as treatment evolves and as understanding of mechanisms advance. Considerations for future directions of registry studies include enrollment of a broader population of patients with pulmonary hypertension of all clinical types and severity and continued globalization and collaboration of registry databases.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The purpose of this study was to compare patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension enrolled in the AMBITION trial with (excluded from the primary analysis set ex-primary analysis set) and without ...(primary analysis set) multiple risk factors for left ventricular diastolic dysfunction.
Treatment-naive patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension were randomized to once-daily ambrisentan and tadalafil combination therapy, ambrisentan monotherapy, or tadalafil monotherapy. The primary end point was time from randomization to first adjudicated clinical failure event.
Primary analysis set patients (n = 500), compared with ex-primary analysis set patients (n = 105), were younger (mean, 54.4 vs 62.1 years) with greater baseline 6-minute walk distance (median, 363.7 vs 330.5 meters) and fewer comorbidities (e.g., hypertension and diabetes). Treatment effects of initial combination therapy vs pooled monotherapy were directionally the same for both populations, albeit of a lower magnitude for ex-primary analysis set patients. Initial combination therapy reduced the risk of clinical failure compared with pooled monotherapy in primary analysis set patients (hazard ratio, 0.50; 95% confidence interval, 0.35–0.72), whereas the effect was less clear in ex-primary analysis set patients (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.35–1.37). Overall, primary analysis set patients had fewer clinical failure events (25% vs 33%), higher rates of satisfactory clinical response (34% vs 24%), and lower rates of permanent study drug withdrawal due to adverse events (16% vs 31%) than ex-primary analysis set patients.
Efficacy of initial combination therapy vs pooled monotherapy was directionally similar for primary analysis set and ex-primary analysis set patients. However, ex-primary analysis set patients (with multiple risk factors for left ventricular diastolic dysfunction) experienced higher rates of clinical failure events and the response to combination therapy vs monotherapy was attenuated. Tolerability was better in primary analysis set than ex-primary analysis set patients.
Imatinib is an oral inhibitor of several protein kinases implicated in the pathophysiology of pulmonary hypertension. Treatment with imatinib resulted in improved hemodynamics and exercise capacity ...in a controlled trial (Imatinib QTI571 in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, a Randomized Efficacy Study IMPRES), among pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients inadequately responsive to 2 to 3 PAH-specific therapies.
The long-term (up to 204 weeks) safety and efficacy of imatinib in this open-label extension study were reviewed until early study termination on April 16, 2014. Of 202 IMPRES-enrolled patients, 66 imatinib and 78 placebo recipients entered the extension.
Overall, 93.8% (135 of 144) of patients discontinued the extension study; administrative issues (i.e., sponsor termination; 32.6%) and adverse events (31.3%) were the primary reasons for discontinuation. Nine patients completed the extension study before it was terminated. Serious and unexpected adverse events were frequent. These included 6 subdural hematomas in the extension study and 17 deaths during or within 30 days of study end. Although the patients who tolerated imatinib and remained in the extension for a longer duration did experience an improvement in functional class and walk distance, most discontinued the drug and the study.
Severe adverse events, significant side effects, and a high discontinuation rate limit the utility of imatinib in the treatment of PAH. These risks outweigh any possible improvements in hemodynamics and walk distance seen in those patients able to remain on drug. The off-label use of this compound in PAH is discouraged.
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