bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of levosimendan in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy undergoing aortic valve replacement
Authors: JUHL‐OLSEN P. , JAKOBSEN C.‐J. , RASMUSSEN L. A. , BHAVSAR R. , KLAABORG K.‐E. , FREDERIKSEN C. A. , SLOTH E.
Published: October 2014

Background

Left ventricular hypertrophy is associated with adverse outcomes, including death, during cardiac surgery. This may be facilitated by an increased oxygen demand and diastolic dysfunction. Levosimendan augments haemodynamics without further oxygen consumption and improves echocardiographic indices of diastolic dysfunction. This study aimed to describe the haemodynamic effects of short‐term pre‐ and intra‐operative levosimendan infusion including advanced echocardiographic measures of diastolic and systolic heart function.

Methods

The study was randomised, double‐blinded and placebo‐controlled performed at a single‐centre university hospital. Patients with left ventricular hypertrophy and ejection fraction > 45% scheduled for single procedure aortic valve replacement were included and randomised to infusion of either levosimendan 0.1 μg/kg/min or placebo from 4 h before anaesthesia to the end of surgery. Outcome measures were echocardiographic indices of left ventricular diastolic function: E/e′ (primary endpoint), e′, e′/a′ and indices of systolic function: longitudinal strain, ejection fraction and s′. Patients were followed until 6 months after surgery. In addition, invasive haemodynamic measures were obtained perioperatively.

Results

The trial was prematurely terminated due to an overall high incidence of post‐operative atrial fibrillation (15/20, P = 0.002) after inclusion of 20 patients. The relative decrease in perioperative cardiac index was lower (P = 0.016) in the levosimendan group. There was no difference in E/e′, and similar results were found for all measures of systolic function.

Conclusion

Short‐term levosimendan caused a transient relative increase in cardiac index, but no effect was seen on the first post‐operative day and up to 6 months post‐operatively with indices of systolic and diastolic heart function.
Local anaesthetic infiltration at the end of carotid endarterectomy improves post‐operative analgesia
Authors: CHERPRENET A.‐L. , RAMBOURDIN‐PERRAUD M. , LAFORÊT S. , FAURE M. , GUESMI N. , BAUD C. , ROSSET E. , SCHOEFFLER P. , DUALÉ C.
Published: October 2014

Background

Wound infiltration at the end of carotid endarterectomy under general anaesthesia is a simple technique that can be delegated to the surgeon. It was hypothesised that this technique could improve early post‐operative analgesia by reducing the need for post‐operative opioids.

Methods

Forty patients underwent carotid endarterectomy under general anaesthesia with desflurane and remifentanil supplemented with morphine for post‐operative analgesia. In a prospective double‐blinded randomised study, patients were allocated pre‐operatively to receive either subcutaneous infiltration of both wound edges with 20 ml of 0.75% ropivacaine or infiltration with isotonic saline. The primary outcome was morphine consumption while in the post‐anaesthesia care unit (PACU). Pain scores at rest and movement, sedation, and patient satisfaction were the other main outcomes used to assess post‐operative analgesia.

Results

The median dose of morphine administered in the PACU was 2 mg [0–3] in the ropivacaine vs. 4 mg [3–6] in the placebo group (P = 0.0004, Mann–Whitney's test). Pain at rest and at movement was lower in the ropivacaine group throughout observation in the PACU. No difference was found for both pain and opioid consumption after discharge from the PACU or for patient satisfaction. Sedative events in the early post‐operative period were less frequent in the ropivacaine group.

Conclusions

Local anaesthetic wound infiltration performed before closure reduces the need for additional opioids, lowers the immediate post‐operative pain and improves alertness. These results argue for the use of local infiltration anaesthesia for carotid endarterectomy.
Naltrexone Improves Quit Rates, Attenuates Smoking Urge, and Reduces Alcohol Use in Heavy Drinking Smokers Attempting to Quit Smoking
Authors: Fridberg Daniel J. , Cao Dingcai , Grant Jon E. , King Andrea C.
Published: October 2014

Background

Heavy drinking smokers (HDS) have more difficulty quitting smoking than lighter drinkers or abstainers. The opioid antagonist naltrexone may improve smoking quit rates and reduce alcohol use in drinker–smokers, but its relative efficacy in smokers with a range of drinking patterns is unknown. The current study tested the hypothesis that HDS would show differential benefit of naltrexone versus placebo relative to moderate‐to‐light or nondrinking smokers in terms of improving smoking outcomes and reducing alcohol consumption.

Methods

Adult smokers (N = 315) enrolled in a 12‐week, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled trial of 50 mg naltrexone for smoking cessation were categorized into subgroups based upon past 6‐month drinking patterns: HDS (n = 69; i.e., averaged ≥2 heavy drinking episodes per month), moderate‐to‐light drinking smokers (n = 204, i.e., consumed 1 drink up to a maximum of <2 heavy drinking episodes per month on average), or nondrinking smokers (n = 42, no alcohol consumed in the past 6 months). The groups were compared on the main study outcomes of biochemically verified prolonged abstinence quit rates (i.e., no smoking weeks 2 to 12), and smoking urge and alcohol use (drinks/wk) during treatment.

Results

Naltrexone significantly increased 12‐week smoking abstinence rates and decreased smoking urge and alcohol use among HDS, but not moderate‐to‐light or nondrinking smokers. Mediation analyses in HDS revealed that naltrexone's effect on smoking urge during the first 4 weeks of treatment mediated its effect on quit rates.

Conclusions

HDS appear to be particularly sensitive to naltrexone effects on smoking and drinking outcomes. This group may represent an important target for adjunctive treatment with naltrexone to optimize smoking cessation outcomes.
Increased Delay Discounting Tracks with a High Ethanol‐Seeking Phenotype and Subsequent Ethanol Seeking But Not Consumption
Authors: Beckwith S. Wesley , Czachowski Cristine L.
Published: October 2014

Background

Increased levels of delay discounting have been associated with alcoholism and problematic levels of drinking. Attempts to assess the directionality of this relationship by studying individuals with a family history of alcoholism as well as rodent lines selectively bred for high home cage alcohol preference have yielded discordant results. One possible reason for this discordance is that increased levels of delay discounting may only track with specific processes that lead to addiction vulnerability. This study investigated this possibility by assessing 3 strains of rats previously identified to exhibit heritable differences in ethanol (EtOH) seeking and consumption.

Methods

In an adjusting amount delay discounting task, alcohol‐preferring (P) rats who display high levels of both EtOH seeking and consumption were compared to high alcohol‐drinking (HAD2) rats who only exhibit moderate EtOH seeking despite high levels of consumption, and Long Evans (LE) rats who display moderate seeking and consumption. EtOH‐seeking and consumption phenotypes were subsequently confirmed in an operant self‐administration task with a procedural separation between EtOH seeking and drinking.

Results

P rats discounted delayed rewards to a greater extent than both HAD2s and LE who did not show differences in discounting. Moreover, the EtOH‐seeking and drinking phenotypes were replicated with P rats displaying greater EtOH seeking compared to both the HAD2s and LE, and both the HAD2s and P rats consuming more EtOH than LEs.

Conclusions

Only the high‐seeking strain, the P rats, exhibited increased levels of delay discounting. This suggests that this measure of behavioral under‐control is specifically associated with alcohol‐related appetitive, but not consummatory, processes as the moderate seeking/high drinking line did not show increased levels of impulsivity. This finding supports the hypothesis that delay discounting is specifically associated with only certain processes which are sufficient but not necessary to confer addiction vulnerability and therefore also supports increased levels of delay discounting as a predisposing risk factor for alcoholism.
Alcohol Use Before and During Unwanted Pregnancy
Authors: Roberts Sarah C. M. , Wilsnack Sharon C. , Foster Diana Greene , Delucchi Kevin L.
Published: October 2014

Background

There is little information about pregnancy‐related changes in alcohol use and factors contributing to changes among women with unwanted pregnancies. This study describes changes in alcohol use from before pregnancy recognition to during pregnancy and identifies important predictors of alcohol use severity among women with unwanted pregnancies.

Methods

Data are from the Turnaway Study of 956 women seeking pregnancy termination at 30 U.S. facilities between 2008 and 2010, some of whom were denied care because they were past the gestational limit of the facility where they were recruited and were still pregnant at the baseline interview, 1 week after termination seeking. Predictors of alcohol use severity (a latent variable) were identified.

Results

About 56% of the total sample reported any alcohol use the month before pregnancy recognition, with 23% reporting 6 or more drinks on an occasion. Among the total sample, 35% of those drinking before pregnancy recognition had quit and 20% had reduced 1 week after termination seeking. Among those denied terminations and still pregnant, 71% had quit and 14% had reduced. In a multivariate model predicting alcohol severity, younger age, still pregnant, 1 or more previous births, later gestation, childhood physical abuse, and marijuana and other drug use were associated with lower severity; having completed college, tobacco use, and recent physical violence were associated with higher severity.

Conclusions

The proportion of the total sample drinking before pregnancy recognition is similar to national samples of women of childbearing age, while the proportion binge drinking appears higher. Of women denied terminations, who were still pregnant, the proportion having quit is similar to other populations of pregnant women. More research is needed to examine whether pregnant women may be substituting alcohol for marijuana and other drugs. Interventions focusing on alcohol use severity during pregnancy may need to also focus on tobacco.
Cross‐Border Policy Effects on Alcohol Outcomes: Drinking Without Thinking on the U.S.–Mexico Border?
Authors: Mills Britain A. , Caetano Raul , Vaeth Patrice
Published: October 2014

Background

Rates of alcohol‐related outcomes are sensitive to policy differences in politically distinct, adjacent territories. Factors that shape these cross‐border effects, particularly when the policy differences are longstanding, remain poorly understood. We compared the ability of 2 classes of variables with theoretical relevance to the U.S.–Mexico border context—bar attendance and alcohol‐related social–cognitive variables—to explain elevated drinking on the U.S. side of the border relative to other areas of the United States.

Methods

Data were collected from multistage cluster samples of adult Mexican Americans on and off the U.S.–Mexico border (current drinker N = 1,351). Structural equation models were used to test drinking context (frequency of bar attendance) and 6 different social–cognitive variables (including alcohol‐related attitudes, norms, motives, and beliefs) as mediators of border effects on a composite drinking index.

Results

The border effect on drinking varied by age (with younger adults showing a stronger effect), consistent with previous findings and known risk factors in the region. Contrary to theoretical expectations, 6 different social–cognitive variables—despite relating strongly with drinking—were comparable in border and nonborder areas (within and across age) and played no role in elevated drinking on the border. Conversely, elevated drinking among border youth was mediated by bar attendance. This mediated moderation effect held after adjusting for potential sociodemographic and neighborhood‐level confounders.

Conclusions

Increased drinking among U.S.–Mexico border youth is explained by patterns of bar attendance, but not by more permissive alcohol‐related social–cognitive variables in border areas: Border youth attend bars and drink more than their nonborder counterparts, despite having comparable alcohol‐related beliefs, attitudes, norms, and motives for use. Alcohol's heightened availability and visibility on both sides of the border may create opportunities for border youth to drink that otherwise would not be considered.
Comparison of triamcinolone acetonide mucoadhesive film with licorice mucoadhesive film on radiotherapy‐induced oral mucositis: A randomized double‐blinded clinical trial
Authors: Ghalayani Parichehr , Emami Hamid , Pakravan Fahimeh , Nasr Isfahani Mehdi
Published: October 2014

Aim

Mucositis is a major complication of irradiation in head and neck tumors, the addition of chemotherapy to irradiation may enhance this dose‐limiting problem. Licorice is a strong demulcent that had been effectively used in treatment of peptic ulcer. The main purpose of this study was to compare the therapeutic safety and efficacy of triamcinolone acetonide (T) and licorice (L) mucoadhesive films on oral mucositis in terms of pain control and/or ulcer treatment.

Methods

The study was a double‐blind, randomized prospective trial of two types of mucoadhesive films in the management of oral mucositis that occurred during head and neck cancer radiotherapy. Oral mucositis was assessed using a quantitative scale (World Health Organization scales) and symptoms were assessed using visual analog scale. Sixty patients were enrolled in the study: 30 patients in the triamcinolone and 30 in the licorice group.

Results

With respect to visual analog scores, repeated observations in consecutive weeks showed a meaningful difference (P‐value < 0.05), suggesting the efficacy of both T and L in reducing pain during radiotherapy. Comparison of the pain scores between two groups by independent sample t‐test, however, demonstrated no meaningful difference in any consecutive week.

Conclusions

We concluded that both triamcinolone and licorice mucoadhesive films are effective in the management of oral mucositis during radiotherapy. Furthermore, comparison of the pain scores between two groups demonstrated no meaningful difference, although an overall trend to reduced oral discomfort was seen in the licorice group.
Caesarean scar pregnancy: A 10‐year experience
Authors: Ko Jennifer K.Y. , Li Raymond H.W. , Cheung Vincent Y.T.
Published: October 2014

Aims

To review the management and outcome of all women with caesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) at a single centre.

Methods

A retrospective review of women diagnosed with CSP between January 2004 and December 2013 was performed. Women were identified from the admission and Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic records.

Results

Twenty‐two cases of CSP were identified during the study period. The median gestational age at diagnosis was 6.7 weeks (range 4.7–11.8 weeks). All diagnoses were made by ultrasound, the most common finding of which was a heterogeneous mass at the site of the caesarean scar (100%). The median duration for human chorionic gonadotropin to return to undetectable level was 10 weeks (range 2–20 weeks), although the duration for sonographic resolution of the CSP can take much longer. The success rate of intralesional methotrexate was 80% in our series.

Conclusion

There is no consensus regarding the method of choice for managing CSP. Medical management using intralesional methotrexate appears to be an acceptable treatment in clinically stable women.
Accuracy of self‐reported smoking cessation during pregnancy
Authors: Tong Van T. , Althabe Fernando , Alemán Alicia , Johnson Carolyn C. , Dietz Patricia M. , Berrueta Mabel , Morello Paola , Colomar Mercedes , Buekens Pierre , Sosnoff Connie S. ,   the Prenatal Tobacco Cessation Intervention Collaborative:, Farr Sherry L. , Mazzoni Agustina , Ciganda Alvaro , Becú Ana , Bittar Gonzalez Maria G. , Llambi Laura , Gibbons Luz , Smith Ruben A. , Belizán José M.
Published: October 2014

Evidence of bias of self‐reported smoking cessation during pregnancy is reported in high‐income countries but not elsewhere. We sought to evaluate self‐reported smoking cessation during pregnancy using biochemical verification and to compare characteristics of women with and without biochemically confirmed cessation in Argentina and Uruguay. In a cross‐sectional study from October 2011 to May 2012, women who attended one of 21 prenatal clinics and delivered at selected hospitals in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay, were surveyed about their smoking cessation during pregnancy. We tested saliva collected from women <12 h after delivery for cotinine to evaluate self‐reported smoking cessation during pregnancy. Overall, 10.0% (44/441) of women who self‐reported smoking cessation during pregnancy had biochemical evidence of continued smoking. Women who reported quitting later in pregnancy had a higher percentage of nondisclosure (17.2%) than women who reported quitting when learning of their pregnancy (6.4%).
A retrospective analysis: the development of patient reported outcome measures for the assessment of Crohn's disease activity
Authors: Khanna R. , Zou G. , D'Haens G. , Feagan B. G. , Sandborn W. J. , Vandervoort M. K. , Rolleri R. L. , Bortey E. , Paterson C. , Forbes W. P. , Levesque B. G.
Published: October 2014

Background

The Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) is a measure of disease activity based on symptoms, signs and a laboratory test. The US Food and Drug Administration has indicated that patient reported outcomes (PROs) should be the primary outcome in randomised controlled trials for Crohn's disease (CD).

Aim

As no validated PRO exists for CD, to investigate whether CDAI diary card items could be modified for this purpose.

Methods

Data from a trial of rifaximin‐extended intestinal release were used to identify cut‐points for stool frequency, pain and general well‐being using receiver operating characteristic curves with CDAI <150 as criterion. The operating properties of 2‐ and 3‐item PRO were evaluated using data from a trial of methotrexate in CD. Regression analysis determined PRO2 and PRO3 scores that correspond to CDAI‐defined thresholds of 150, 220 and 450 and changes of 50, 70 and 100 points.

Results

Optimum cut‐points for CDAI remission were mean daily stool frequency ≤1.5, abdominal pain ≤1, and general well‐being score of ≤1 (areas under the ROC curve 0.79, 0.91 and 0.89, respectively). The effect estimates were similar using 2‐ and 3‐item PROs or CDAI. PRO2 and PRO3 values corresponding to CDAI scores of 150, 220 and 450 points were 8, 14, 34 and 13, 22, 53. The corresponding values for CDAI changes of 50, 70 and 100, were 2, 5, 8 and 5, 9, 14. Responsiveness to change was similar for both PROs.

Conclusion

Patient reported outcomes derived from CDAI diary items may be appropriate for use in clinical trials for CD.
A Family Matter: Political Corruption in Banten, Indonesia
Authors: Hamid Abdul
Published: October 2014

This article discusses transformations in local politics in Indonesia after the Reformasi 1998, focusing on the situation in Banten province. It describes how one family, that of Chasan Sochib, has utilized strong kinship networks, exploited state resources, and captured the local bureaucracy to strengthen its political machinery and consolidate political power in the local arena. It shows the rise of family domination in local politics and over economic resources, especially when public policy is crafted to reflect the interests of the family rather than those of the people. It suggests that despite the rhetoric of good governance at the national level, local politics is an important locus to analyze the unequal distribution of power and resources in Indonesia during the last 14 years of efforts to democratize.

Makalah ini membahas perubahan politik lokal pasca 1998 dengan fokus situasi di satu provinsi muda, yaitu Banten. Diutarakan bagaimana keluarga Chasan Sochib menggunakan jaringan kekerabatan yang kuat, mengeksploitasi sumber daya negara, dan menggunakan birokasi guna memperkuat mesin politik dan mengkonsolidasi kekuasaan politik di aras lokal. Menguatnya dominasi keluarga dalam politik lokal dan atas sumber daya ekonomi ini ditempuh lewat kebijakan publik yang disusun sebagai cerminan kepentingan keluarga, daripada kepentingan masyarakat. Meskipun tata kelola pemerintahan yang baik di tingkat nasional kerap didengungkan, situasi politik lokal tetap penting dalam melihat ketidakmerataan distribusi kekuasaan dan sumber daya selama 14 tahun upaya demokratisasi di Indonesia.
From Scandalous Politics to Public Scandal: Corruption, Media, and the Collapse of the Estrada Regime in the Philippines
Authors: Claudio Lisandro E.
Published: October 2014

In January 2001, a peaceful urban revolt ousted President Joseph Estrada of the Philippines amid evidence of the president's involvement in illegal gambling. Using Estrada's ouster as a case study, this article examines the ground‐up process that turns everyday criminality in the Philippines into public scandal. It contends that scandalous politics—acts of illegality perpetrated by the political elite in various localities—are a constant feature of the Philippine state. However, it is only when these acts become legible to the observers of national politics that a public scandal occurs. In examining the nexus between scandalous politics and public scandal, the article views scandal as a mediated phenomenon, one premised on the concerns of middle‐class politics in Manila.

Noong Enero 2001, natanggal sa pwesto si Pangulong Joseph Estrada nang malantad ang katibayan ng kanyang pagkasangkot sa ilegal na pagsusugal. Sa pamamagitan ng halimbawa ng pagkatanggal ni Estrada, kinikilatis ng artikulong ito ang proseso kung saan ang mga pang‐araw‐araw na krimen sa Pilipinas ay nagiging pampublikong iskandalo. Ginigiit nito na ang maiskandalong pulitika—mga gawaing ilegal ng mga elit sa iba't ibang lokalidad—ay isang patuloy na katangian ng estado sa Pilipinas. Subalit nagiging pampublikong iskandalo lamang ang mga gawaing ito kapag napapansin ito ng mga tagapagmasid ng pulitika sa sentro ng bayan. Sa pagkilatis ng koneksyon ng maiskandalong pulitika at pambulikong iskandalo, tinitingnan ng artikulong ito ang iskandalo bilang isang penomenang nakabatay sa mga isyung mahalaga sa burgis na pulitika sa Maynila.
Corruption, Morality, and the Politics of Reform in Thailand
Authors: Sinpeng Aim
Published: October 2014

Corruption has been the single most cited reason for the seizure of power from governments in Thailand. Yet few studies on corruption in Thailand have problematized the term “corruption” despite it being repeatedly used to legitimize the overthrow of government. This article examines the discourse on corruption of the reform movements between the two coup d'états in Thailand in 1991 and 2006. I focus on the reform efforts that culminated in the 1997 constitution and those that culminated in establishment of the opposition movement, the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). I argue that the PAD's conception of corruption was intertwined with the notions of morality, nationalism, and royalism, which differed from what was envisioned in the 1997 constitution. They were thus not satisfied with the outcomes of reforms and resorted to overthrowing the democratic system altogether.

graphic
Rethinking Democratic Practices in Southeast Asia: Corruption and Political Scandals in the Early 21st Century
Authors: Lopez Mario , Suryomenggolo Jafar
Published: October 2014

This special issue deals with how corruption and political scandals impact upon Southeast Asian societies. It is concerned with the ways in which both influence the perceptions of democracy within the region, and whether recent transformations have furthered democratic liberalization. This article offers a brief overview of recent academic discussions that have taken place within Southeast Asia, foregrounding the two issues of corruption and political scandals as part of the debate on the diverse forms of democracy in the region.
Combined preputial advancement and phallopexy as a revision technique for treating paraphimosis in a dog
Authors: Wasik SM , Wallace AM
Published: October 2014

A 7‐year‐old neutered male Jack Russell terrier‐cross was presented for signs of recurrent paraphimosis, despite previous surgical enlargement of the preputial ostium. Revision surgery was performed using a combination of preputial advancement and phallopexy, which resulted in complete and permanent coverage of the glans penis by the prepuce, and at 1 year postoperatively, no recurrence of paraphimosis had been observed. The combined techniques allow preservation of the normal penile anatomy, are relatively simple to perform and provide a cosmetic result. We recommend this combination for the treatment of paraphimosis in the dog, particularly when other techniques have failed.
Enhanced Eryptosis Following Juglone Exposure
Authors: Calabrò Salvatrice , Alzoubi Kousi , Bissinger Rosi , Jilani Kashif , Faggio Caterina , Lang Florian
Published: October 2014

Juglone, a quinone isolated from Juglans mandshurica Maxim, has previously been shown to be effective against malignancy. The effect is at least partially due to stimulation of suicidal death or apoptosis of tumour cells. On the other hand, juglone has been shown to counteract apoptosis, for example, of neurons. In analogy to apoptosis of nucleated cells, erythrocytes may enter eryptosis, a suicidal death characterized by cell shrinkage and breakdown of phosphatidylserine asymmetry of the cell membrane with phosphatidylserine exposure at the erythrocyte surface. Stimulators of eryptosis include increase in cytosolic Ca2+ activity [(Ca2+)i]. This study explored whether juglone stimulates eryptosis. To this end, erythrocyte volume was estimated from forward scatter, phosphatidylserine exposure at the erythrocyte surface from FITC annexin V binding, ceramide abundance from binding of fluorescent antibodies in flow cytometry and cytosolic ATP with a luciferin–luciferase‐based assay. As a result, a 24‐hr exposure of human erythrocytes to juglone (5 μM) significantly decreased erythrocyte forward scatter. Juglone (1–5 μM) significantly increased the percentage of annexin V binding cells. Juglone (5 μM) significantly increased ceramide abundance at the erythrocyte surface and decreased erythrocyte ATP concentration. The effect of juglone (10 μM) on annexin V binding was slightly but significantly blunted by removal of extracellular Ca2+ and by addition of protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor staurosporine (1 μM). In conclusion, juglone stimulates suicidal erythrocyte death or eryptosis at least in part by upregulation of ceramide abundance, energy depletion and activation of PKC.
Pharmacogenomic Biomarker Information in FDA‐approved Paediatric Drug Labels
Authors: Kim Therasa , Han Nayoung , Sohn Minji , Oh Jung Mi , Lee Eui‐Kyung , Ji Eunhee , Kim In‐Wha
Published: October 2014

Gene maturation differs between paediatric and adult populations, and the extrapolation of adult pharmacogenomic information to paediatrics is not always appropriate. We sought to determine the extent of paediatric pharmacogenomic trial translation into US FDA‐approved labels and to evaluate needs for biomarker studies. Using FDA's Table of Genomic Biomarkers and Drugs@FDA website, 38 pharmacogenomic biomarkers in 56 drug labels were identified with possible application in paediatrics. Of these 56 drugs, biomarker comparison against ‘Very Important Pharmacogenes (VIPs)’ defined in PharmGKB's database revealed a total of eight VIPs labelled among 41 drugs. One hundred and thirty‐nine product reviews posted on the FDA website under the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act and Paediatric Research Equity Act between October 2007 and July 2014 were examined. Review screening identified 43 drugs with ‘pharmacogenomic’ content, of which only three were true genotyping study reviews for proton pump inhibitors, all evaluating CYP2C19 polymorphisms. Pantoprazole was the sole drug labelled with pharmacogenomic information obtained specifically from paediatric trials. Clinicaltrials.gov was searched to further evaluate the current availability of pharmacogenomic studies in the paediatric population. Of the 33,132 trials registered on Clinicaltrials.gov, 137 were labelled as paediatric pharmacogenetic and pharmacogenomic studies. Pharmacogenomic studies directly conducted in paediatric patients are lacking, and thus, pharmacogenomic biomarker information based on adult studies is commonly presented in FDA‐approved labels for use in paediatric patients. Considering differences in gene expression and physiological maturation between paediatric and adult populations, studies investigating pharmacogenomic effects specifically in paediatric patients should be conducted whenever significant biomarkers are available.
Causal Mediation Analysis with Multiple Mediators
Authors: Daniel R. M. , De Stavola B. L. , Cousens S. N. , Vansteelandt S.
Published: October 2014

In diverse fields of empirical research—including many in the biological sciences—attempts are made to decompose the effect of an exposure on an outcome into its effects via a number of different pathways. For example, we may wish to separate the effect of heavy alcohol consumption on systolic blood pressure (SBP) into effects via body mass index (BMI), via gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and via other pathways. Much progress has been made, mainly due to contributions from the field of causal inference, in understanding the precise nature of statistical estimands that capture such intuitive effects, the assumptions under which they can be identified, and statistical methods for doing so. These contributions have focused almost entirely on settings with a single mediator, or a set of mediators considered en bloc; in many applications, however, researchers attempt a much more ambitious decomposition into numerous path-specific effects through many mediators. In this article, we give counterfactual definitions of such path-specific estimands in settings with multiple mediators, when earlier mediators may affect later ones, showing that there are many ways in which decomposition can be done. We discuss the strong assumptions under which the effects are identified, suggesting a sensitivity analysis approach when a particular subset of the assumptions cannot be justified. These ideas are illustrated using data on alcohol consumption, SBP, BMI, and GGT from the Izhevsk Family Study. We aim to bridge the gap from “single mediator theory” to “multiple mediator practice,” highlighting the ambitious nature of this endeavor and giving practical suggestions on how to proceed.
Disease Risk Estimation by Combining Case–Control Data with Aggregated Information on the Population at Risk
Authors: Chang Xiaohui , Waagepetersen Rasmus , Yu Herbert , Ma Xiaomei , Holford Theodore R. , Wang Rong , Guan Yongtao
Published: October 2014

We propose a novel statistical framework by supplementing case–control data with summary statistics on the population at risk for a subset of risk factors. Our approach is to first form two unbiased estimating equations, one based on the case–control data and the other on both the case data and the summary statistics, and then optimally combine them to derive another estimating equation to be used for the estimation. The proposed method is computationally simple and more efficient than standard approaches based on case–control data alone. We also establish asymptotic properties of the resulting estimator, and investigate its finite-sample performance through simulation. As a substantive application, we apply the proposed method to investigate risk factors for endometrial cancer, by using data from a recently completed population-based case–control study and summary statistics from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the Population Estimates Program of the US Census Bureau, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
Reader Reaction on the Generalized Kruskal–Wallis Test for Genetic Association Studies Incorporating Group Uncertainty
Authors: Wu Baolin , Guan Weihua
Published: October 2014

Acar and Sun (2013, Biometrics69, 427–435) presented a generalized Kruskal–Wallis (GKW) test for genetic association studies that incorporated the genotype uncertainty and showed its robust and competitive performance compared to existing methods. We present another interesting way to derive the GKW test via a rank linear model.
The Use of Cellulose Nanocrystals for Potential Application in Topical Delivery of Hydroquinone
Authors: Taheri Azade , Mohammadi Mina
Published: October 2014

Nanotechnology‐based drug delivery systems can enhance drug permeation through the skin and improve the drug stability. The biodegradability and biocompatibility of cellulose nanocrystals have made these nanoparticles good candidates to use in biomedical applications. The hyperpigmentation is a common skin disorder that could be caused by number of reasons such as sun exposure and pregnancy. Hydroquinone could inhibit the production of melanin and eliminate the discolorations of skin. This study is aimed at introducing cellulose nanocrystals as suitable carriers for drug delivery to skin. Prepared cellulose nanocrystals were characterized by dynamic light scattering and atomic force microscopy. The size of cellulose nanocrystals determined using dynamic light scattering was 301 ± 10 nm. Hydroquinone–cellulose nanocrystal complex was prepared by incubating of hydroquinone solution in cellulose nanocrystals suspension. The size of hydroquinone–cellulose nanocrystal complex determined using dynamic light scattering was 310 ± 10 nm. The hydroquinone content of the hydroquinone–cellulose complex was determined using UV/vis spectroscopy. Hydroquinone was bound to cellulose nanocrystals representing 79.3 ± 2% maximum binding efficiency when 1.1 mg hydroquinone was added to 1 mL of cellulose nanocrystals suspension (2 mg cellulose nanocrystal). The hydroquinone–cellulose nanocrystal complex showed an approximately sustained release profile of hydroquinone. Approximately, 80% of bound hydroquinone released in 4 h.
Locomotion Skills for Insects with Sample‐based Controller
Authors: Guo Shihui , Chang Jian , Yang Xiaosong , Wang Wencheng , Zhang Jianjun
Published: October 2014

Natural‐looking insect animation is very difficult to simulate. The fast movement and small scale of insects often challenge the standard motion capture techniques. As for the manual key‐framing or physics‐driven methods, significant amounts of time and efforts are necessary due to the delicate structure of the insect, which prevents practical applications. In this paper, we address this challenge by presenting a two‐level control framework to efficiently automate the modeling and authoring of insects’ locomotion. On the top level, we design a Triangle Placement Engine to automatically determine the location and orientation of insects’ foot contacts, given the user‐defined trajectory and settings, including speed, load, path and terrain etc. On the low‐level, we relate the Central Pattern Generator to the triangle profiles with the assistance of a Controller Look‐Up Table to fast simulate the physically‐based movement of insects. With our approach, animators can directly author insects’ behavior among a wide range of locomotion repertoire, including walking along a specified path or on an uneven terrain, dynamically adjusting to external perturbations and collectively transporting prey back to the nest.
shade.js: Adaptive Material Descriptions
Authors: Sons Kristian , Klein Felix , Sutter Jan , Slusallek Philipp
Published: October 2014

In computer graphics a material is a visual concept that is parameterizable and should work for arbitrary 3D assets and rendering systems. Since provided parameters and attributes as well as the capabilities of rendering systems vary considerably, a material needs to adapt to its execution environment. In current approaches, the adaptation logic is ‘baked’ into the rendering application based on string manipulation, compiler directives, or metaprogramming facilities. However, in order to achieve application‐independent and self‐contained material descriptions, the adaptation logic needs to be part of the material description itself.

In this paper we present shade.js, a novel material description using a dynamic language to achieve the necessary adaptivity. A shader can inspect its execution environment and adapt to the available parameters and renderer capabilities at run time. Additionally, shade.js exploits the polymorphism that comes with non‐explicit declaration of types. These two novel features allow for writing adaptable and thus more general material descriptions. Based on the concrete execution environment at run time, the accompanied compiler generates specialized shader code that is specifically typed and optimized for the target rendering system and algorithm. We evaluate shade.js with examples targeting four different rendering approaches (forward and deferred rasterization, ray‐tracing, and global illumination). We show that we can improve convenience and flexibility for specifying materials without sacrificing performance.
Adaptive multi‐scale analysis for point‐based surface editing
Authors: Nader G. , Guennebaud G. , Mellado N.
Published: October 2014

This paper presents a tool that enables the direct editing of surface features in large point‐clouds or meshes. This is made possible by a novel multi‐scale analysis of unstructured point‐clouds that automatically extracts the number of relevant features together with their respective scale all over the surface. Then, combining this ingredient with an adequate multi‐scale decomposition allows us to directly enhance or reduce each feature in an independent manner. Our feature extraction is based on the analysis of the scale‐variations of locally fitted surface primitives combined with unsupervised learning techniques. Our tool may be applied either globally or locally, and millions of points are handled in real‐time. The resulting system enables users to accurately edit complex geometries with minimal interaction.
Fast and Scalable Mesh Superfacets
Authors: Simari Patricio , Picciau Giulia , De Floriani Leila
Published: October 2014

In the field of computer vision, the introduction of a low‐level preprocessing step to oversegment images into superpixels – relatively small regions whose boundaries agree with those of the semantic entities in the scene – has enabled advances in segmentation by reducing the number of elements to be labeled from hundreds of thousands, or millions, to a just few hundred. While some recent works in mesh processing have used an analogous oversegmentation, they were not intended to be general and have relied on graph cut techniques that do not scale to current mesh sizes. Here, we present an iterative superfacet algorithm and introduce adaptations of undersegmentation error and compactness, which are well‐motivated and principled metrics from the vision community. We demonstrate that our approach produces results comparable to those of the normalized cuts algorithm when evaluated on the Princeton Segmentation Benchmark, while requiring orders of magnitude less time and memory and easily scaling to, and enabling the processing of, much larger meshes.
Hybrid Particle‐grid Modeling for Multi‐scale Droplet/Spray Simulation
Authors: Yang Lipeng , Li Shuai , Hao Aimin , Qin Hong
Published: October 2014

This paper presents a novel hybrid particle‐grid method that tightly couples Lagrangian particle approach with Eulerian grid approach to simulate multi‐scale diffuse materials varying from disperse droplets to dissipating spray and their natural mixture and transition, originated from a violent (high‐speed) liquid stream. Despite the fact that Lagrangian particles are widely employed for representing individual droplets and Eulerian grid‐based method is ideal for volumetric spray modeling, using either one alone has encountered tremendous difficulties when effectively simulating droplet/spray mixture phenomena with high fidelity. To ameliorate, we propose a new hybrid model to tackle such challenges with many novel technical elements. At the geometric level, we employ the particle and density field to represent droplet and spray respectively, modeling their creation from liquid as well as their seamless transition. At the physical level, we introduce a drag force model to couple droplets and spray, and specifically, we employ Eulerian method to model the interaction among droplets and marry it with the widely‐used Lagrangian model. Moreover, we implement our entire hybrid model on CUDA to guarantee the interactive performance for high‐effective physics‐based graphics applications. The comprehensive experiments have shown that our hybrid approach takes advantages of both particle and grid methods, with convincing graphics effects for disperse droplets and spray simulation.
Sparse Localized Decomposition of Deformation Gradients
Authors: Huang Zhichao , Yao Junfeng , Zhong Zichun , Liu Yang , Guo Xiaohu
Published: October 2014

Sparse localized decomposition is a useful technique to extract meaningful deformation components out of a training set of mesh data. However, existing methods cannot capture large rotational motion in the given mesh dataset. In this paper we present a new decomposition technique based on deformation gradients. Given a mesh dataset, the deformation gradient field is extracted, and decomposed into two groups: rotation field and stretching field, through polar decomposition. These two groups of deformation information are further processed through the sparse localized decomposition into the desired components. These sparse localized components can be linearly combined to form a meaningful deformation gradient field, and can be used to reconstruct the mesh through a least squares optimization step. Our experiments show that the proposed method addresses the rotation problem associated with traditional deformation decomposition techniques, making it suitable to handle not only stretched deformations, but also articulated motions that involve large rotations.
2D‐D Lifting for Shape Reconstruction
Authors: Nan Liangliang , Sharf Andrei , Chen Baoquan
Published: October 2014

We present an algorithm for shape reconstruction from incomplete 3D scans by fusing together two acquisition modes: 2D photographs and 3D scans. The two modes exhibit complementary characteristics: scans have depth information, but are often sparse and incomplete; photographs, on the other hand, are dense and have high resolution, but lack important depth information. In this work we fuse the two modes, taking advantage of their complementary information, to enhance 3D shape reconstruction from an incomplete scan with a 2D photograph. We compute geometrical and topological shape properties in 2D photographs and use them to reconstruct a shape from an incomplete 3D scan in a principled manner. Our key observation is that shape properties such as boundaries, smooth patches and local connectivity, can be inferred with high confidence from 2D photographs. Thus, we register the 3D scan with the 2D photograph and use scanned points as 3D depth cues for lifting 2D shape structures into 3D. Our contribution is an algorithm which significantly regularizes and enhances the problem of 3D reconstruction from partial scans by lifting 2D shape structures into 3D. We evaluate our algorithm on various shapes which are loosely scanned and photographed from different views, and compare them with state‐of‐the‐art reconstruction methods.
Realistic road path reconstruction from GIS data
Authors: Nguyen H.H. , Desbenoit B. , Daniel M.
Published: October 2014

We introduce a new approach to construct smooth piecewise curves representing realistic road paths. Given a GIS database of road networks in which sampled points are organized in 3D polylines, our method creates horizontal, then vertical curves, and finally combines them to produce 3D road paths. We first estimate the possibility of each point of being a junction between two separate primitive curve segments. Next, we design a tree‐traversal algorithm to expand sequences of local best fit primitives which are then merged together with respect to the G1 continuity constraint and civil engineering rules. We apply the Levenberg‐Marquardt method to minimize the error between the resulting curve and the sampled points while preserving the G1 continuity.
Automatic 3D Indoor Scene Updating with RGBD Cameras
Authors: Liu Zhenbao , Tang Sicong , Xu Weiwei , Bu Shuhui , Han Junwei , Zhou Kun
Published: October 2014

Since indoor scenes are frequently changed in daily life, such as re‐layout of furniture, the 3D reconstructions for them should be flexible and easy to update. We present an automatic 3D scene update algorithm to indoor scenes by capturing scene variation with RGBD cameras. We assume an initial scene has been reconstructed in advance in manual or other semi‐automatic way before the change, and automatically update the reconstruction according to the newly captured RGBD images of the real scene update. It starts with an automatic segmentation process without manual interaction, which benefits from accurate labeling training from the initial 3D scene. After the segmentation, objects captured by RGBD camera are extracted to form a local updated scene. We formulate an optimization problem to compare to the initial scene to locate moved objects. The moved objects are then integrated with static objects in the initial scene to generate a new 3D scene. We demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of our approach by updating the 3D scene of several real‐world scenes.
Illuminant Aware Gamut‐Based Color Transfer
Authors: Nguyen R. M. H. , Kim S. J. , Brown M. S.
Published: October 2014

This paper proposes a new approach for color transfer between two images. Our method is unique in its consideration of the scene illumination and the constraint that the mapped image must be within the color gamut of the target image. Specifically, our approach first performs a white‐balance step on both images to remove color casts caused by different illuminations in the source and target image. We then align each image to share the same ‘white axis’ and perform a gradient preserving histogram matching technique along this axis to match the tone distribution between the two images. We show that this illuminant‐aware strategy gives a better result than directly working with the original source and target image's luminance channel as done by many previous methods. Afterwards, our method performs a full gamut‐based mapping technique rather than processing each channel separately. This guarantees that the colors of our transferred image lie within the target gamut. Our experimental results show that this combined illuminant‐aware and gamut‐based strategy produces more compelling results than previous methods. We detail our approach and demonstrate its effectiveness on a number of examples.
Perceptually‐motivated Stereoscopic Film Grain
Authors: Templin Krzysztof , Didyk Piotr , Myszkowski Karol , Seidel Hans‐Peter
Published: October 2014

Independent management of film grain in each view of a stereoscopic video can lead to visual discomfort. The existing alternative is to project the grain onto the scene geometry. Such grain, however, looks unnatural, changes object perception, and emphasizes inaccuracies in depth arising during 2D‐to‐3D conversion. We propose an advanced method of grain positioning that scatters the grain in the scene space. In a series of perceptual experiments, we estimate the optimal parameter values for the proposed method, analyze the user preference distribution among the proposed and the two existing methods, and show influence of the method on the object perception.