bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gender Differences in Financial Reporting Decision Making: Evidence from Accounting Conservatism
Authors: Francis Bill , Hasan Iftekhar , Park Jong Chool , Wu Qiang
Published: August 2014

This paper investigates the effect of CFO gender on corporate financial reporting decision making. Focusing on firms that experience changes of CFO from male to female, the paper compares the firms' degree of accounting conservatism between pre‐ and post‐transition periods. We find that female CFOs are more conservative in their financial reporting. In addition, we find that the relation between CFO gender and conservatism varies with the level of various firm risks, including litigation risk, default risk, systematic risk, and CFO‐specific risk such as job security risk. We further find that the risk aversion of female CFOs is associated with less equity‐based compensation, lower firm risk, a higher tangibility level, and a lower dividend payout level. Overall, the study provides strong support for the notion that female CFOs are more risk averse than male CFOs, which leads female CFOs to adopt more conservative financial reporting policies.
Impact of ABCB1 single nucleotide polymorphisms 1236C>T and 2677G>T on overall survival in FLT3 wild‐type de novo AML patients with normal karyotype
Authors: Jakobsen Falk Ingrid , Fyrberg Anna , Paul Esbjörn , Nahi Hareth , Hermanson Monica , Rosenquist Richard , Höglund Martin , Palmqvist Lars , Stockelberg Dick , Wei Yuan , Gréen Henrik , Lotfi Kourosh
Published: August 2014

Drug resistance is a clinically relevant problem in the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). We have previously reported a relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ABCB1, encoding the multi‐drug transporter P‐glycoprotein, and overall survival (OS) in normal karyotype (NK)‐AML. Here we extended this material, enabling subgroup analysis based on FLT3 and NPM1 status, to further elucidate the influence of ABCB1 SNPs. De novo NK‐AML patients (n = 201) were analysed for 1199G>A, 1236C>T, 2677G>T/A and 3435C>T, and correlations to outcome were investigated. FLT3 wild‐type 1236C/C patients have significantly shorter OS compared to patients carrying the variant allele; medians 20 vs. 49 months, respectively, P = 0·017. There was also an inferior outcome in FLT3 wild‐type 2677G/G patients compared to patients carrying the variant allele, median OS 20 vs. 35 months, respectively, P = 0·039. This was confirmed in Cox regression analysis. Our results indicate that ABCB1 1236C>T and 2677G>T may be used as prognostic markers to distinguish relatively high risk patients in the intermediate risk FLT3 wild‐type group, which may contribute to future individualizing of treatment strategies.
Designing N‐PolyVector Fields with Complex Polynomials
Authors: Diamanti Olga , Vaxman Amir , Panozzo Daniele , Sorkine‐Hornung Olga
Published: August 2014

We introduce N‐PolyVector fields, a generalization of N‐RoSy fields for which the vectors are neither necessarily orthogonal nor rotationally symmetric. We formally define a novel representation for N‐PolyVectors as the root sets of complex polynomials and analyze their topological and geometric properties. A smooth N‐PolyVector field can be efficiently generated by solving a sparse linear system without integer variables. We exploit the flexibility of N‐PolyVector fields to design conjugate vector fields, offering an intuitive tool to generate planar quadrilateral meshes.
Discrete 2‐Tensor Fields on Triangulations
Authors: de Goes Fernando , Liu Beibei , Budninskiy Max , Tong Yiying , Desbrun Mathieu
Published: August 2014

Geometry processing has made ample use of discrete representations of tangent vector fields and antisymmetric tensors (i.e., forms) on triangulations. Symmetric 2‐tensors, while crucial in the definition of inner products and elliptic operators, have received only limited attention. They are often discretized by first defining a coordinate system per vertex, edge or face, then storing their components in this frame field. In this paper, we introduce a representation of arbitrary 2‐tensor fields on triangle meshes. We leverage a coordinate‐free decomposition of continuous 2‐tensors in the plane to construct a finite‐dimensional encoding of tensor fields through scalar values on oriented simplices of a manifold triangulation. We also provide closed‐form expressions of pairing, inner product, and trace for this discrete representation of tensor fields, and formulate a discrete covariant derivative and a discrete Lie bracket. Our approach extends discrete/finite‐element exterior calculus, recovers familiar operators such as the weighted Laplacian operator, and defines discrete notions of divergence‐free, curl‐free, and traceless tensors–thus offering a numerical framework for discrete tensor calculus on triangulations. We finally demonstrate the robustness and accuracy of our operators on analytical examples, before applying them to the computation of anisotropic geodesic distances on discrete surfaces.
Compressed Manifold Modes for Mesh Processing
Authors: Neumann T. , Varanasi K. , Theobalt C. , Magnor M. , Wacker M.
Published: August 2014

This paper introduces compressed eigenfunctions of the Laplace‐Beltrami operator on 3D manifold surfaces. They constitute a novel functional basis, called the compressed manifold basis, where each function has local support. We derive an algorithm, based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), to compute this basis on a given triangulated mesh. We show that compressed manifold modes identify key shape features, yielding an intuitive understanding of the basis for a human observer, where a shape can be processed as a collection of parts. We evaluate compressed manifold modes for potential applications in shape matching and mesh abstraction. Our results show that this basis has distinct advantages over existing alternatives, indicating high potential for a wide range of use‐cases in mesh processing.
Feature‐Preserving Surface Completion Using Four Points
Authors: Harary Gur , Tal Ayellet , Grinspun Eitan
Published: August 2014

We present a user‐guided, semi‐automatic approach to completing large holes in a mesh. The reconstruction of the missing features in such holes is usually ambiguous. Thus, unsupervised methods may produce unsatisfactory results. To overcome this problem, we let the user indicate constraints by providing merely four points per important feature curve on the mesh. Our algorithm regards this input as an indication of an important broken feature curve. Our completion is formulated as a global energy minimization problem, with user‐defined spatial‐coherence constraints, allows for completion that adheres to the existing features. We demonstrate the method on example problems that are not handled satisfactorily by fully automatic methods.
Piecewise‐Planar 3D Reconstruction with Edge and Corner Regularization
Authors: Boulch Alexandre , de La Gorce Martin , Marlet Renaud
Published: August 2014

This paper presents a method for the 3D reconstruction of a piecewise‐planar surface from range images, typically laser scans with millions of points. The reconstructed surface is a watertight polygonal mesh that conforms to observations at a given scale in the visible planar parts of the scene, and that is plausible in hidden parts. We formulate surface reconstruction as a discrete optimization problem based on detected and hypothesized planes. One of our major contributions, besides a treatment of data anisotropy and novel surface hypotheses, is a regularization of the reconstructed surface w.r.t. the length of edges and the number of corners. Compared to classical area‐based regularization, it better captures surface complexity and is therefore better suited for man‐made environments, such as buildings. To handle the underlying higher‐order potentials, that are problematic for MRF optimizers, we formulate minimization as a sparse mixed‐integer linear programming problem and obtain an approximate solution using a simple relaxation. Experiments show that it is fast and reaches near‐optimal solutions.
3D Motion Completion in Crowded Scenes
Authors: Gafni Niv , Sharf Andrei
Published: August 2014

Crowded motions refer to multiple objects moving around and interacting such as crowds, pedestrians and etc. We capture crowded scenes using a depth scanner at video frame rates. Thus, our input is a set of depth frames which sample the scene over time. Processing such data is challenging as it is highly unorganized, with large spatio‐temporal holes due to many occlusions. As no correspondence is given, locally tracking 3D points across frames is hard due to noise and missing regions. Furthermore global segmentation and motion completion in presence of large occlusions is ambiguous and hard to predict. Our algorithm utilizes Gestalt principles ofcommon fateandgood continuityto compute motion tracking and completion respectively. Our technique does not assume any pre‐given markers or motion template priors. Our key‐idea is to reduce the motion completion problem to a 1D curve fitting and matching problem which can be solved efficiently using a global optimization scheme. We demonstrate our segmentation and completion method on a variety of synthetic and real world crowded scanned scenes.
Real‐time Bas‐Relief Generation from Depth‐and‐Normal Maps on GPU
Authors: Ji Zhongping , Sun Xianfang , Li Shi , Wang Yigang
Published: August 2014

To design a bas‐relief from a 3D scene is an inherently interactive task in many scenarios. The user normally needs to get instant feedback to select a proper viewpoint. However, current methods are too slow to facilitate this interaction. This paper proposes a two‐scale bas‐relief modeling method, which is computationally efficient and easy to produce different styles of bas‐reliefs. The input 3D scene is first rendered into two textures, one recording the depth information and the other recording the normal information. The depth map is then compressed to produce a base surface with level‐of‐depth, and the normal map is used to extract local details with two different schemes. One scheme provides certain freedom to design bas‐reliefs with different visual appearances, and the other provides a control over the level of detail. Finally, the local feature details are added into the base surface to produce the final result. Our approach allows for real‐time computation due to its implementation on graphics hardware. Experiments with a wide range of 3D models and scenes show that our approach can effectively generate digital bas‐reliefs in real time.
3D Shape Segmentation and Labeling via Extreme Learning Machine
Authors: Xie Zhige , Xu Kai , Liu Ligang , Xiong Yueshan
Published: August 2014

We propose a fast method for 3D shape segmentation and labeling via Extreme Learning Machine (ELM). Given a set of example shapes with labeled segmentation, we train an ELM classifier and use it to produce initial segmentation for test shapes. Based on the initial segmentation, we compute the final smooth segmentation through a graph‐cut optimization constrained by the super‐face boundaries obtained by over‐segmentation and the active contours computed from ELM segmentation. Experimental results show that our method achieves comparable results against the state‐of‐the‐arts, but reduces the training time by approximately two orders of magnitude, both for face‐level and super‐face‐level, making it scale well for large datasets. Based on such notable improvement, we demonstrate the application of our method for fast online sequential learning for 3D shape segmentation at face level, as well as realtime sequential learning at super‐face level.
Transductive 3D Shape Segmentation using Sparse Reconstruction
Authors: Xu Weiwei , Shi Zhouxu , Xu Mingliang , Zhou Kun , Wang Jingdong , Zhou Bin , Wang Jinrong , Yuan Zhenming
Published: August 2014

We propose a transductive shape segmentation algorithm, which can transfer prior segmentation results in database to new shapes without explicitly specification of prior category information. Our method first partitions an input shape into a set of segmentations as a data preparation, and then a linear integer programming algorithm is used to select segments from them to form the final optimal segmentation. The key idea is to maximize the segment similarity between the segments in the input shape and the segments in database, where the segment similarity is computed through sparse reconstruction error. The segment‐level similarity enables to handle a large amount of shapes with significant topology or shape variations with a small set of segmented example shapes. Experimental results show that our algorithm can generate high quality segmentation and semantic labeling results in the Princeton segmentation benchmark.
Supervised learning of bag‐of‐features shape descriptors using sparse coding
Authors: Litman Roee , Bronstein Alex , Bronstein Michael , Castellani Umberto
Published: August 2014

We present a method for supervised learning of shape descriptors for shape retrieval applications. Many content‐based shape retrieval approaches follow the bag‐of‐features (BoF) paradigm commonly used in text and image retrieval by first computing local shape descriptors, and then representing them in a ‘geometric dictionary’ using vector quantization. A major drawback of such approaches is that the dictionary is constructed in an unsupervised manner using clustering, unaware of the last stage of the process (pooling of the local descriptors into a BoF, and comparison of the latter using some metric). In this paper, we replace the clustering with dictionary learning, where every atom acts as a feature, followed by sparse coding and pooling to get the final BoF descriptor. Both the dictionary and the sparse codes can be learned in the supervised regime via bi‐level optimization using a task‐specific objective that promotes invariance desired in the specific application. We show significant performance improvement on several standard shape retrieval benchmarks.
An Efficient Approach to Correspondences between Multiple Non‐Rigid Parts
Authors: Tam Gary K.L. , Martin Ralph R. , Rosin Paul L. , Lai Yu‐Kun
Published: August 2014

Identifying multiple deformable parts on meshes and establishing dense correspondences between them are tasks of fundamental importance to computer graphics, with applications to e.g. geometric edit propagation and texture transfer. Much research has considered establishing correspondences between non‐rigid surfaces, but little work can both identify similar multiple deformable parts and handle partial shape correspondences. This paper addresses two related problems, treating them as a whole: (i) identifying similar deformable parts on a mesh, related by a non‐rigid transformation to a given query part, and (ii) establishing dense point correspondences automatically between such parts. We show that simple and efficient techniques can be developed if we make the assumption that these parts locally undergo isometric deformation. Our insight is that similar deformable parts are suggested by large clusters of point correspondences that are isometrically consistent. Once such parts are identified, dense point correspondences can be obtained by an iterative propagation process. Our techniques are applicable to models with arbitrary topology. Various examples demonstrate the effectiveness of our techniques.
Learnt Real‐time Meshless Simulation
Authors: Sidorov K. A. , Marshall A. D.
Published: August 2014

We present a new real‐time approach to simulate deformable objects using a learnt statistical model to achieve a high degree of realism. Our approach improves upon state‐of‐the‐art interactive shape‐matching meshless simulation methods by not only capturing important nuances of an object's kinematics but also of its dynamic texture variation. We are able to achieve this in an automated pipeline from data capture to simulation. Our system allows for the capture of idiosyncratic characteristics of an object's dynamics which for many simulations (e.g. facial animation) is essential. We allow for the plausible simulation of mechanically complex objects without knowledge of their inner workings. The main idea of our approach is to use a flexible statistical model to achieve a geometrically‐driven simulation that allows for arbitrarily complex yet easily learned deformations while at the same time preserving the desirable properties (stability, speed and memory efficiency) of current shape‐matching simulation systems. The principal advantage of our approach is the ease with which a pseudo‐mechanical model can be learned from 3D scanner data to yield realistic animation. We present examples of non‐trivial biomechanical objects simulated on a desktop machine in real‐time, demonstrating superior realism over current geometrically motivated simulation techniques.
What Makes London Work Like London?
Authors: AlHalawani Sawsan , Yang Yong‐Liang , Wonka Peter , Mitra Niloy J.
Published: August 2014

Urban data ranging from images and laser scans to traffic flows are regularly analyzed and modeled leading to better scene understanding. Commonly used computational approaches focus on geometric descriptors, both for images and for laser scans. In contrast, in urban planning, a large body of work has qualitatively evaluated street networks to understand their effects on the functionality of cities, both for pedestrians and for cars. In this work, we analyze street networks, both their topology (i.e., connectivity) and their geometry (i.e., layout), in an attempt to understand which factors play dominant roles in determining the characteristic of cities. We propose a set of street network descriptors to capture the essence of city layouts and use them, in a supervised setting, to classify and categorize various cities across the world. We evaluate our method on a range of cities, of various styles, and demonstrate that while standard image‐level descriptors perform poorly, the proposed network‐level descriptors can distinguish between different cities reliably and with high accuracy.
Pattern‐Based Quadrangulation for N‐Sided Patches
Authors: Takayama Kenshi , Panozzo Daniele , Sorkine‐Hornung Olga
Published: August 2014

We propose an algorithm to quadrangulate an N‐sided patch (2 ≤ N ≤ 6) with prescribed numbers of edge subdivisions at its boundary. Our algorithm is guaranteed to succeed for arbitrary valid input, which is proved using a canonical simplification of the input and a small set of topological patterns that are sufficient for supporting all possible cases. Our algorithm produces solutions with minimal number of irregular vertices by default, but it also allows the user to choose other feasible solutions by solving a set of small integer linear programs. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm by integrating it into a sketch‐based quad remeshing system. A reference C++ implementation of our algorithm is provided as a supplementary material.
Super 4PCS Fast Global Pointcloud Registration via Smart Indexing
Authors: Mellado Nicolas , Aiger Dror , Mitra Niloy J.
Published: August 2014

Data acquisition in large‐scale scenes regularly involves accumulating information across multiple scans. A common approach is to locally align scan pairs using Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm (or its variants), but requires static scenes and small motion between scan pairs. This prevents accumulating data across multiple scan sessions and/or different acquisition modalities (e.g., stereo, depth scans). Alternatively, one can use a global registration algorithm allowing scans to be in arbitrary initial poses. The state‐of‐the‐art global registration algorithm, 4PCS, however has a quadratic time complexity in the number of data points. This vastly limits its applicability to acquisition of large environments. We present Super 4PCS for global pointcloud registration that is optimal, i.e., runs in linear time (in the number of data points) and is also output sensitive in the complexity of the alignment problem based on the (unknown) overlap across scan pairs. Technically, we map the algorithm as an ‘instance problem’ and solve it efficiently using a smart indexing data organization. The algorithm is simple, memory‐efficient, and fast. We demonstrate that Super 4PCS results in significant speedup over alternative approaches and allows unstructured efficient acquisition of scenes at scales previously not possible. Complete source code and datasets are available for research use at http://geometry.cs.ucl.ac.uk/projects/2014/super4PCS/.
Remeshing‐assisted Optimization for Locally Injective Mappings
Authors: Jin Y. , Huang J. , Tong R.
Published: August 2014

Constructing locally injective mappings for 2D triangular meshes is vital in applications such as deformations. In such a highly constrained optimization, the prescribed tessellation may impose strong restriction on the solution. As a consequence, the feasible region may be too small to contain an ideal solution, which leads to problems of slow convergence, poor solution, or even that no solution can be found. We propose to integrate adaptive remeshing into interior point method to solve this issue. We update the vertex positions via a parameter‐free relaxation enhanced geometry optimization, and then use edge‐flip operations to reduce the residual and keep a reasonable condition number for better convergence. For more robustness, when the iteration of interior point method terminates but leaves the positional constraints unsatisfied, we estimate the edges in the current tessellation that block vertices moving based on the convergence information of the optimization, and then split neighboring edges to break the restriction. The results show that our method has better performance than the solely geometric optimization approaches, especially for extreme deformations.
Cross‐Collection Map Inference by Intrinsic Alignment of Shape Spaces
Authors: Shapira Nitzan , Ben‐Chen Mirela
Published: August 2014

Inferring maps between shapes is a long standing problem in geometry processing. The less similar the shapes are, the harder it is to compute a map, or even define criteria to evaluate it. In many cases, shapes appear as part of a collection, e.g. an animation or a series of faces or poses of the same character, where the shapes are similar enough, such that maps within the collection are easy to obtain. Our main observation is that given two collections of shapes whose “shape space” structure is similar, it is possible to find a correspondence between the collections, and then compute a cross‐collection map. The cross‐map is given as a functional correspondence, and thus it is more appropriate in cases where a bijective point‐to‐point map is not well defined. Our core idea is to treat each collection as a point‐sampling from a low‐dimensional shape‐space manifold, and use dimensionality reduction techniques to find a low‐dimensional Euclidean embedding of this sampling. To measure distances on the shape‐space manifold, we use the recently introduced shape differences, which lead to a similar low‐dimensional structure of the shape spaces, even if the shapes themselves are quite different. This allows us to use standard affine registration for point‐clouds to align the shape‐spaces, and then find a functional cross‐map using a linear solve. We demonstrate the results of our algorithm on various shape collections and discuss its properties.
KRAS status and resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine‐kinase inhibitor treatment in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: a meta‐analysis
Authors: Li W. , Shi Q. , Wang W. , Liu J. , Ren J. , Li Q. , Hou F.
Published: August 2014

Aim

This study reviewed the association between KRAS mutation and resistance to treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine‐kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Method

A search was carried out of PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library databases (to November 2013) without language restrictions.

Results

Ten studies were included in the final meta‐analysis, consisting of 1339 patients with mCRC, of whom 427 (32%) had a KRAS mutation. The objective response rate (ORR) of mCRC patients with KRAS mutation was 8% (33/427), whereas the ORR of mCRC patients with wild‐type KRAS was 34% (306/912). The overall pooled response rate (RR) for the ORR was 1.297 (95% CI 1.244–1.353, P < 0.01). Subgroup analysis comparing cetuximab monotherapy treatment with cetuximab plus chemotherapy, showed a pooled RR of 1.26 (95% CI 1.12–0.63, P < 0.01) and 1.30 (95% CI 1.25–1.36, P < 0.01), respectively. For patients receiving anti‐EGFR with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) given as first‐line treatment or not, the pooled RRs were 1.34 (95% CI 1.23–1.46, P < 0.01) and 1.29 (95% CI 1.23–1.35, P < 0.01). The data on progression‐free survival from five studies in the meta‐analysis gave a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.99 with a 95% CI of 1.69–2.29. Finally, the data for overall survival in mCRC patients were pooled from the only three studies reporting the HR (1.80; 95% CI 1.50–2.10). None of the results had any evidence of heterogeneity.

Conclusion

All the results favoured a stronger link between mutant KRAS and anti‐EGFR mAb, but due to a mutually exclusive relationship between KRAS and other gene mutations the clinical usefulness of KRAS mutation as a selection marker for sensitivity to EGFR TKIs in mCRC is limited.
Complications after surgery for colorectal cancer affect quality of life and surgeon–patient relationship
Authors: Di Cristofaro L. , Ruffolo C. , Pinto E. , Massa M. , Antoniutti M. , Cagol M. , Massani M. , Alfieri R. , Costa A. , Bassi N. , Castoro C. , Scarpa M.
Published: August 2014

Aim

This multicentric prospective study aimed to investigate how postoperative complications after surgery for colorectal cancer affect patients' quality of life and satisfaction with care.

Method

One hundred and sixteen patients operated on for colorectal cancer were enrolled in this study. Patients answered three questionnaires about generic (EORTC QLQ‐C30) and disease‐specific (EORTC QLQ‐CR29) quality of life and treatment satisfaction (EORTC IN‐PATSAT32) at the time of admission and at 1 and 6 months after surgery. Non‐parametric tests and linear multiple regression models were used for statistical analysis.

Results

Twelve patients had complications requiring further surgery (anastomotic leakage, abdominal bleeding, abdominal wall sepsis, wound infection). Patients with complications that required surgery reported a worse score of physical function, emotional function and anxiety than patients without such complications 1 month after surgery. These patients judged their general satisfaction with the quality of care and doctors' interpersonal skills, technical skills, information provision and availability to be worse than in patients without such complications. The presence of postoperative psychiatric complications and anastomotic leakage were independent predictors of quality of life (β = −0.30, P = 0.004, and β = −0.42, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

In patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer, complications requiring any kind of surgical management significantly affected patients' perception of all doctor‐related items suggesting an impairment of the entire surgeon–patient relationship. Convincing patients that ‘zero risk’ cannot be achieved in surgical practice is therefore a priority.
A systematic review of patient preference elicitation methods in the treatment of colorectal cancer
Authors: Currie A. , Askari A. , Nachiappan S. , Sevdalis N. , Faiz O. , Kennedy R.
Published: August 2014

Aim

This systematic review aimed to assess the use of patient preference in colorectal cancer treatment. Eliciting patient preference is important for shared decision‐making in colorectal cancer treatment. The introduction of newer treatments, which balance quality of life and overall survival, makes this an important future focus.

Method

A systematic search strategy of MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL and the Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews was undertaken to obtain relevant articles. Information regarding the type of patients included, preference instruments, study settings, outcomes and limitations was extracted.

Results

The eight articles comprising this review each described an empirical study using a validated instrument to define patient preference for an aspect of colorectal cancer treatment. The evidence suggests that patients are prepared to trade significant reductions in life expectancy to avoid certain complications of colorectal surgery, particularly stoma formation. In the adjuvant setting, patients are prepared to risk significant treatment side effects to gain small potential increases in life expectancy and chance of survival. Where neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment risks worsening function, however, patients generally forgo any potential increase in survival to improve bowel function and therefore quality of life. The only predictors of preference were tertiary education and previous cancer treatment.

Conclusion

Most patients judge a moderate survival benefit to be sufficient to make adjuvant therapy for colorectal cancer worthwhile, but they are willing to trade a potential reduction in life expectancy and survival to avoid certain unwanted surgical sequelae.
Major postoperative complications following elective resection for colorectal cancer decrease long‐term survival but not the time to recurrence
Authors: Odermatt M. , Miskovic D. , Flashman K. , Khan J. , Senapati A. , O'Leary D. , Thompson M. , Parvaiz A.
Published: August 2014

Aim

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of major complications after colorectal cancer surgery on survival and time to recurrence.

Method

Patients having a curative colorectal cancer resection and a follow‐up of at least 3 years were identified from a prospective database. Major complications were defined as Clavien–Dindo Grades 3b or 4 and their impact on time to recurrence and mortality was analysed by univariate and multivariable analysis. Postoperative death within 30 days or during the initial hospitalization (Clavien–Dindo Grade 5) was a priori excluded.

Results

From 2003 to 2012, 868 colorectal cancer resections resulting in 63 (7%) major postoperative complications including deaths (Clavien–Dindo ≥ 3b) were identified. After exclusion of Grade 5 complications (postoperative or in‐hospital deaths), 844 resections with 39 (5%) major complications remained for analysis. Median follow‐up time was 5.7 years. Using the Kaplan–Meier method, the estimated crude 5‐year overall survival probability was 78% (95% CI 75–81) in the group without and 65% (95% CI 51–83) in the group with major complications (P = 0.009, log‐rank test). Major complications were a significant negative predictor for overall survival (hazard ratio 2.42, 95% CI 1.41–4.14) when adjusted for sex, age, American Society of Anesthesiologists grade, tumour site (colon vs rectum), R stage and tumour stage. However, in both univariate and multivariable analysis, major complications were not a significant predictor for time to recurrence (hazard ratio 1.29, 95% CI 0.56–2.99).

Conclusion

Non‐lethal major postoperative complications seem to have a negative long‐term impact on survival but not on time to recurrence.
Urinary and sexual dysfunction in women after resection with and without preoperative radiotherapy for rectal cancer: a population‐based cross‐sectional study
Authors: Bregendahl S. , Emmertsen K. J. , Lindegaard J. C. , Laurberg S.
Published: August 2014

Aim

Knowledge of urinary and sexual dysfunction in women after rectal cancer treatment is limited. This study addresses this in relation to the use of preoperative radiotherapy, type of surgery and the presence of bowel dysfunction.

Method

All living female patients who underwent abdominoperineal excision (APE) or low anterior resection (LAR) for rectal cancer in Denmark between 2001 and 2007 were identified. Validated questionnaires (the ICIQ‐FLUTS and the SVQ) on urinary and sexual function were completed by 516 (75%) and 482 (72%) recurrence‐free patients in 2009.

Results

Urgency and incontinence were reported by 77 and 63% of respondents, respectively. Vaginal dryness, dyspareunia and reduced vaginal dimensions occurred in 72, 53 and 29%, respectively, and 69% reported that they had little/no sexual desire. Preoperative radiotherapy was associated with voiding difficulties (OR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.09–2.44), reduced vaginal dimensions (OR = 4.77, 95% CI 1.97–11.55), dyspareunia (OR = 2.76, 95% CI 1.12–6.79), lack of desire (OR = 2.22, 95% CI 1.09–4.53) and reduced sexual activity (OR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.30–0.98). Patients undergoing APE had a higher risk of dyspareunia (OR = 2.61, 95% CI 1.00–6.85). Bowel dysfunction after LAR was associated with bladder storage difficulties (OR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.01–2.65), symptoms of incontinence (OR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.35–3.50), lack of sexual desire (OR = 2.69, 95% CI 1.21–5.98), sexual inactivity (OR = 0.48, 95% CI 0.24–0.96) and sexual dissatisfaction (OR = 0.40, 95% CI 0.20–0.82).

Conclusion

Urinary and sexual problems are common in women after treatment for rectal cancer. Preoperative radiotherapy interferes with several aspects of urinary and sexual functioning. Bowel dysfunction after LAR is associated with urinary dysfunction and a reduction in sexual desire, activity and satisfaction.
Interaction Between Phonological and Semantic Representations: Time Matters
Authors: Chen Qi , Mirman Daniel
Published: August 2014

Computational modeling and eye‐tracking were used to investigate how phonological and semantic information interact to influence the time course of spoken word recognition. We extended our recent models (Chen & Mirman, 2012; Mirman, Britt, & Chen, 2013) to account for new evidence that competition among phonological neighbors influences activation of semantically related concepts during spoken word recognition (Apfelbaum, Blumstein, & McMurray, 2011). The model made a novel prediction: Semantic input modulates the effect of phonological neighbors on target word processing, producing an approximately inverted‐U‐shaped pattern with a high phonological density advantage at an intermediate level of semantic input—in contrast to the typical disadvantage for high phonological density words in spoken word recognition. This prediction was confirmed with a new analysis of the Apfelbaum et al. data and in a visual world paradigm experiment with preview duration serving as a manipulation of strength of semantic input. These results are consistent with our previous claim that strongly active neighbors produce net inhibitory effects and weakly active neighbors produce net facilitative effects.
Soluble CD163 levels are elevated in cerebrospinal fluid and serum in people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus and are associated with impaired peripheral nerve function
Authors: Kallestrup M. , Møller H. J. , Tankisi H. , Andersen H.
Published: August 2014

Aims

To measure soluble CD163 levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and serum of people with Type 2 diabetes, with and without polyneuropathy, and to relate the findings to peripheral nerve function.

Methods

A total of 22 people with Type 2 diabetes and 12 control subjects without diabetes were included in this case–control study. Participants with diabetes were divided into those with neuropathy (n = 8) and those without neuropathy (n = 14) based on clinical examination, vibratory perception thresholds and nerve conduction studies. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid soluble CD163 levels were analysed using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay.

Results

Soluble CD163 levels were significantly higher in the cerebrospinal fluid and serum of the participants with Type 2 diabetes compared with the control participants [cerebrospinal fluid: median (range) 107 (70–190) vs 84 (54–115) μg/l, P < 0.01 and serum: 2305 (920–7060) vs 1420 (780–2740) μg/l, P < 0.01). Cerebrospinal fluid soluble CD163 was positively related to impaired peripheral nerve conduction (nerve conduction study rank score: r = 0.42; P = 0.0497) and there was a trend for higher levels of soluble CD163 in the cerebrospinal fluid and serum in participants with neuropathy than in those without neuropathy [cerebrospinal fluid: median (range) 131 (86–173) vs 101 (70–190) μg/l, P = 0.08 and serum: 3725 (920–7060) vs 2220 (1130–4780), P = 0.06).

Conclusions

Cerebrospinal fluid soluble CD163 level is associated with impaired peripheral nerve function. Higher levels of soluble CD163 in people with diabetic polyneuropathy suggest that inflammation plays a role in the development of neural impairment. The relationship between cerebrospinal fluid soluble CD163 level and peripheral nerve conduction indicates that soluble CD163 may be a potential biomarker for the severity of diabetic polyneuropathy.
Gender differences and patterns of cardiovascular risk factors in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes: a population‐based analysis from a Scottish region
Authors: Collier A. , Ghosh S. , Hair M. , Waugh N.
Published: August 2014

Aim

To explore the gender differences, along with the relationships between BMI, glycaemic control, cardiovascular risk factors and the prevalence of diabetes complications, in a representative population‐based group of people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Methods

Data were obtained from general practices in Ayrshire and Arran, Scotland for 15 351 patients.

Results

In the cohort with Type 1 diabetes, after adjustment for age, men had a significantly lower BMI (P = 0.007) and significantly lower total cholesterol (P = 0.005), HDL‐cholesterol (P = 2.5*10‐17) and HbA1c levels (P = 0.003) than women. By contrast, men had higher blood pressure, both systolic (P = 0.034) and diastolic (P = 0.0003), and higher non‐fasting triglyceride levels (P = 0.001). Men with Type 1 diabetes had a higher prevalence of neuropathy (P = 0.021). Among people with Type 2 diabetes, men had a significantly lower BMI (P = 4.26*10‐37), and significantly lower total cholesterol (P = 2.96*10‐62) and HDL‐cholesterol levels (P = 8.25*10‐141) but higher non‐fasting triglyceride levels (P = 0.0002). In Type 2 diabetes, men had a higher prevalence of ischaemic heart disease (P = 1.66*10‐25), stroke (P = 0.002) and peripheral vascular disease (P = 1.68*10‐12), while women were older (P = 4.83*10‐23), heavier and had a higher prevalence of hypertension (P = 5.32*10‐12). More people with Type 2 diabetes were on lipid‐lowering treatment (84.7 vs 52.4%; P = 5.51*10‐8) than were those with Type 1 diabetes. The prevalence of retinopathy was higher among non‐smokers thank smokers in people with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes (Type 1, P = 0.016; Type 2, P = 0.001).

Conclusions

The study shows gender differences between Type 1 and 2 diabetes that are of clinical significance and require further investigation. Follow‐up of the patients included in the present study should give us much greater understanding of the importance of gender in the development of metabolic abnormalities and diabetes complications.
Gamma‐delta t‐cell lymphomas
Authors: Foppoli Marco , Ferreri Andrés J. M.
Published: August 2014

Gamma‐delta T‐cell lymphomas are aggressive and rare diseases originating from gamma‐delta lymphocytes. These cells, which naturally play a role in the innate, non‐specific immune response, develop from thymic precursor in the bone marrow, lack the major histocompatibility complex restrictions and can be divided into two subpopulations: Vdelta1, mostly represented in the intestine, and Vdelta2, prevalently located in the skin, tonsils and lymph nodes. Chronic immunosuppression such as in solid organ transplanted subjects and prolonged antigenic exposure are probably the strongest risk factors for the triggering of lymphomagenesis. Two entities are recognised by the 2008 WHO Classification: hepatosplenic gamma‐delta T‐cell lymphoma (HSGDTL) and primary cutaneous gamma‐delta T‐cell lymphoma (PCGDTL). The former is more common among young males, presenting with B symptoms, splenomegaly and thrombocytopenia, usually with the absence of nodal involvement. Natural behaviour of HSGDTL is characterised by low response rates, poor treatment tolerability, common early progression of disease and disappointing survival figures. PCGDTL accounts for <1% of all primary cutaneous lymphomas, occurring in adults with relevant comorbidities. Cutaneous lesions may vary, but its clinical behaviour is usually aggressive and long‐term survival is anecdotal. Available literature on gamma‐delta T‐cell lymphomas is fractioned, mostly consisting of case reports or small cumulative series. Therefore, clinical suspicion and diagnosis are usually delayed, and therapeutic management remains to be established. This review critically analyses available evidence on diagnosis, staging and behaviour of gamma‐delta T‐cell lymphomas, provides recommendations for therapeutic management in routine practice and discusses relevant unmet clinical needs for future studies.
Role of allogeneic stem cell transplantation in mantle cell lymphoma
Authors: Cohen Jonathon B. , Burns Linda J. , Bachanova Veronika
Published: August 2014

Despite a wide spectrum of treatment options, mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) remains a challenging hematologic malignancy to manage. Advances in front‐line therapy, including the monoclonal antibody rituximab and increasing use of cytarabine, have improved remission rates. Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can effectively consolidate remission of MCL, leading to encouraging survival beyond 5 yr. However, nearly all patients with MCL will relapse and require salvage therapy. Novel agents such as ibrutinib, bortezomib, and lenalidomide have dramatically expanded the options for treating relapsed MCL. In this review, we summarize the clinical evidence supporting the use of allogeneic donor HCT in MCL and make recommendations on indications for its use. Data suggest that allogeneic donor HCT is the only curative therapy for patients with poor prognosis or aggressive MCL. Patient selection, timing, and optimal use remain a matter of scientific debate and given the rapidly changing therapeutic landscape of MCL, the outcomes of allogeneic HCT should be interpreted in the context of novel therapeutics.
Methylation‐regulated miR‐149 modulates chemoresistance by targeting GlcNAc N‐deacetylase/N‐sulfotransferase‐1 in human breast cancer
Authors: He Dong‐Xu , Gu Xiao‐Ting , Li You‐Ran , Jiang Li , Jin Jian , Ma Xin
Published: August 2014

Dysregulation of microRNA is strongly implicated in the chemoresistance of cancer. In this study, we found that miR‐149 was downregulated and involved in chemoresistance in adriamycin (ADM)‐resistant human breast cancer cells (MCF‐7/ADM). Downregulation of miR‐149 was related to hypermethylation of its 5′‐UTR; this methylation also affected the expression of the glypican 1 gene, which is both the host and the target gene of miR‐149. Furthermore, we found that miR‐149 modulated chemoresistance through targeting the expression of GlcNAc N‐deacetylase/N‐sulfotransferase‐1 (NDST1). With downregulated miR‐149, NDST1 expression was increased in chemoresistant MCF‐7/ADM cells versus control MCF‐7 wild‐type cells. The increased NDST1 then activated a heparan sulfate‐related pathway involving activation of heparanase. Finally, expression of miR‐149 and NDST1 was confirmed in clinical chemoresistant samples of breast cancers receiving anthracycline/taxane‐based chemotherapies. The high expression of NDST1 was also an unfavorable predictor for distant relapse‐free survival in Her2 and basal breast cancers. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that miR‐149 is regulated by methylation, and is a modulator of cancer chemoresistance by targeting NDST1.
NOD‐like receptors interfacing the immune and reproductive systems
Authors: Van Gorp Hanne , Kuchmiy Anna , Van Hauwermeiren Filip , Lamkanfi Mohamed
Published: August 2014

Nucleotide‐binding oligomerization domain receptors (NOD‐like receptors, NLRs) are intracellular proteins that are chiefly known for their critical functions in inflammatory responses and host defense against microbial pathogens. Several NLRs have been demonstrated to assemble inflammasomes or to engage transcriptional signaling cascades that result in the production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines and bactericidal factors. In recent years, NLRs have also emerged as key regulators of early mammalian embryogenesis and reproduction. A subset of phylogenetically related NLRs represents a new class of maternal effect genes that are highly expressed in maturing oocytes and pre‐implantation embryos. Mutations in several of these NLRs have been linked to hereditary reproductive defects and imprinting diseases. In this review, we discuss the expression profiles, the emerging functions and molecular mode of action of these NLRs with newly recognized roles at the interfaces of the immune and reproductive systems. In addition, we provide an overview of coding mutations in NLRs that have been associated with human reproductive diseases, and outline crucial outstanding questions in this emerging research field.
Novel mode of action of plant defense peptides – hevein‐like antimicrobial peptides from wheat inhibit fungal metalloproteases
Authors: Slavokhotova Anna A. , Naumann Todd A. , Price Neil P. J. , Rogozhin Eugene A. , Andreev Yaroslav A. , Vassilevski Alexander A. , Odintsova Tatyana I.
Published: August 2014

The multilayered plant immune system relies on rapid recognition of pathogen‐associated molecular patterns followed by activation of defense‐related genes, resulting in the reinforcement of plant cell walls and the production of antimicrobial compounds. To suppress plant defense, fungi secrete effectors, including a recently discovered Zn‐metalloproteinase from Fusarium verticillioides, named fungalysin Fv‐cmp. This proteinase cleaves class IV chitinases, which are plant defense proteins that bind and degrade chitin of fungal cell walls. In this study, we investigated plant responses to such pathogen invasion, and discovered novel inhibitors of fungalysin. We produced several recombinant hevein‐like antimicrobial peptides named wheat antimicrobial peptides (WAMPs) containing different amino acids (Ala, Lys, Glu, and Asn) at the nonconserved position 34. An additional Ser at the site of fungalysin proteolysis makes the peptides resistant to the protease. Moreover, an equal molar concentration of WAMP‐1b or WAMP‐2 to chitinase was sufficient to block the fungalysin activity, keeping the chitinase intact. Thus, WAMPs represent novel protease inhibitors that are active against fungal metalloproteases. According to in vitro antifungal assays WAMPs directly inhibited hyphal elongation, suggesting that fungalysin plays an important role in fungal development. A novel molecular mechanism of dynamic interplay between host defense molecules and fungal virulence factors is suggested.
Small‐scale Inference: Empirical Bayes and Confidence Methods for as Few as a Single Comparison
Authors: Bickel David R.
Published: August 2014

Empirical Bayes methods of estimating the local false discovery rate (LFDR) by maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), originally developed for large numbers of comparisons, are applied to a single comparison. Specifically, when assuming a lower bound on the mixing proportion of true null hypotheses, the LFDR MLE can yield reliable hypothesis tests and confidence intervals given as few as one comparison. Simulations indicate that constrained LFDR MLEs perform markedly better than conventional methods, both in testing and in confidence intervals, for high values of the mixing proportion, but not for low values. (A decision‐theoretic interpretation of the confidence distribution made those comparisons possible.) In conclusion, the constrained LFDR estimators and the resulting effect‐size interval estimates are not only effective multiple comparison procedures but also they might replacep‐values and confidence intervals more generally. The new methodology is illustrated with the analysis of proteomics data.