bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Orlistat 120 mg improves glycaemic control in type 2 diabetic patients with or without concurrent weight loss
Authors: Jacob S. , Rabbia M. , Meier M. K. , Hauptman J.
Published: January 2009

Background:  Both obesity and type 2 diabetes are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Published data suggest that orlistat 120 mg, a lipase inhibitor used to treat obesity, may improve glycaemic parameters through weight loss–independent effects.

Aim:  To investigate the effect of orlistat 120 mg on weight loss, and assess whether changes in glycaemic parameters [fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)] are independent of weight loss.

Methods:  This retrospective analysis of pooled data from seven multicentre, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled studies involved overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes (aged 18–70 years). Patients were required to have a body mass index of 27–43 kg/m2, HbA1c of 6.5 to <13%, and stable weight for ≥3 months. Subjects received orlistat 120 mg tid or placebo for 6 or 12 months.

Results:  A total of 2550 overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled and randomized to treatment with orlistat 120 mg tid (n = 1279) or placebo (n = 1271). For the whole population, patients treated with orlistat 120 mg had significantly greater mean decreases in FPG compared with placebo‐treated patients (−1.39 mmol/l vs. −0.47 mmol/l; p < 0.0001). In addition, orlistat 120 mg provided significantly larger mean decreases in HbA1c compared with placebo (−0.74% vs. −0.31%; p < 0.0001). For patients with minimal weight loss (≤1% of baseline body weight), orlistat 120 mg still provided a significantly greater decrease in the least squares mean value for both FPG (−0.83 mmol/l vs. ±0.02 mmol/l; p = 0.0052) and HbA1c−0.29% vs. ±0.14%; p = 0.0008). This suggested that the improvement of glycaemic control with orlistat 120 mg was independent of weight loss. Using linear regression analysis, improvement in glycaemic control (FPG and HbA1c) with orlistat 120 mg was less strongly correlated with weight loss than for placebo.

Conclusion:  Orlistat 120 mg appears to improve glycaemic control more than would be predicted by weight loss alone in overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Postulated mechanisms underlying this effect include an improvement of insulin sensitivity, a slower and incomplete digestion of dietary fat, reduction of postprandial plasma non‐esterified fatty acids, decreased visceral adipose tissue, and stimulation of glucagon‐like peptide‐1 secretion in the lower small intestine.
Blended e‐learning skeleton of conversation: Improving formative assessment in undergraduate dissertation supervision
Authors: Heinze Aleksej , Heinze Beverley
Published: January 2009

The supervision of undergraduate student dissertations is an area in need of research. Although some studies have already addressed this, these are primarily based on academic staff responses.

This study contributes to knowledge by gathering the responses of students and focusing on formative electronic assessment. Data was collected using a student focus group and student questionnaire.

Unsurprisingly, the findings suggest that good supervisor–student communication is crucial to the supervision process and a number of students felt unhappy with this aspect. However, to facilitate this communication, the perceived absolute necessity of regular supervisor–student meetings is being questioned and a combination of technology‐enabled communication is advocated. It is suggested that to improve the undergraduate student dissertation experience, a combination of face‐to‐face and electronic formative assessment is used. In addition, the blended e‐learning skeleton of conversation model provides a sound theoretical framework that could guide supervisors and students in the supervision process. This model is advocated for use in dissertation module design and in supervisor development.
What are learners actually regulating when given feedback?
Authors: Draper Stephen W.
Published: January 2009

e‐Assessment cannot benefit learners, and so education, unless it supports them in doing something differently in future. What, however, are learners trying to do better? This paper adopts a perspective in which learners simultaneously self‐regulate multiple variables that are relevant to learning, and develops a theoretical argument that a key issue is the ambiguity of feedback events (such as a failed task or a poor mark) as to which variable should be adjusted. A common tacit assumption is that the relevant loop is about technical expertise, but in reality, students must and do also adjust effort, learning methods and course choices. Two methods for helping learners by resolving this ambiguity are discussed: telling learners directly which interpretation is relevant, and structuring learning activities to focus on one variable. Which loops are most important to learners generally shifts in the transition from school to university, implying that the role of feedback also changes. e‐Assessment needs a major rethink to address these needs, and to understand why feedback is so often apparently ignored by students. Conversely, attending to all these loops would be to open new dialogues with learners.
The Craniofacial Reconstruction from the Local Structural Diversity of Skulls
Authors: Pei Yuru , Zha Hongbin , Yuan Zhongbiao
Published: January 2009

The craniofacial reconstruction is employed as an initialization of the identification from skulls in forensics. In this paper, we present a two‐level craniofacial reconstruction framework based on the local structural diversity of the skulls. On the low level, the holistic reconstruction is formulated as the superimposition of the selected tissue map on the novel skull. The crux is the accurate map registration, which is implemented as a warping guided by the 2D feature curve patterns. The curve pattern extraction under an energy minimization framework is proposed for the automatic feature labeling on the skull depth map. The feature configuration on the warped tissue map is expected to resemble that on the novel skull. In order to make the reconstructed faces personalized, on the high level, the local facial features are estimated from the skull measurements via a RBF model. The RBF model is learnt from a dataset of the skull and the face feature pairs extracted from the head volume data. The experiments demonstrate the facial outlooks can be reconstructed feasibly and efficiently.
Reconstructing head models from photographs for individualized 3D‐audio processing
Authors: Dellepiane M. , Pietroni N. , Tsingos N. , Asselot M. , Scopigno R.
Published: January 2009

Visual fidelity and interactivity are the main goals in Computer Graphics research, but recently also audio is assuming an important role. Binaural rendering can provide extremely pleasing and realistic three‐dimensional sound, but to achieve best results it's necessary either to measure or to estimate individual Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF). This function is strictly related to the peculiar features of ears and face of the listener. Recent sound scattering simulation techniques can calculate HRTF starting from an accurate 3D model of a human head. Hence, the use of binaural rendering on large scale (i.e. video games, entertainment) could depend on the possibility to produce a sufficiently accurate 3D model of a human head, starting from the smallest possible input. In this paper we present a completely automatic system, which produces a 3D model of a head starting from simple input data (five photos and some key‐points indicated by user). The geometry is generated by extracting information from images and accordingly deforming a 3D dummy to reproduce user head features. The system proves to be fast, automatic, robust and reliable: geometric validation and preliminary assessments show that it can be accurate enough for HRTF calculation.
Knitting a 3D Model
Authors: Igarashi Yuki , Igarashi Takeo , Suzuki Hiromasa
Published: January 2009

A knitted animal is made of a closed surface consisting of several knitted patches knitted out of yarn and stuffed with cotton (Fig. 1). We introduce a system to create a knitting pattern from a given 3D surface model (mainly designed for rotund animal models). A knitting pattern is an instructional diagram describing how to knit yarn to obtain a desired shape. Since the creation of knitting patterns requires special skill, this is difficult for nonprofessionals. Our system automates the process and allows anyone to obtain his or her original knitting patterns from a 3D model. The system first covers the surface of the model with parallel winding strips of constant width. The system then samples the strip at constant intervals to convert it into a knitting pattern. The result is presented in a standard visual format so that the user can easily refer it during actual knitting. We show several examples of knitted animals created using the system.

Example of a knitted animal. A typical knitted animal consists of several circular and cylindrical patches.

image
Perceptual Evaluation of Color‐to‐Grayscale Image Conversions
Authors: Ĉadík M.
Published: January 2009

Color images often have to be converted to grayscale for reproduction, artistic purposes, or for subsequent processing. Methods performing the conversion of color images to grayscale aim to retain as much information about the original color image as possible, while simultaneously producing perceptually plausible grayscale results. Recently, many methods of conversion have been proposed, but their performance has not yet been assessed. Therefore, the strengths and weaknesses of color‐to‐grayscale conversions are not known. In this paper, we present the results of two subjective experiments in which a total of 24 color images were converted to grayscale using seven state‐of‐the‐art conversions and evaluated by 119 human subjects using a paired comparison paradigm. We surveyed nearly 20000 human responses and used them to evaluate the accuracy and preference of the color‐to‐grayscale conversions. To the best of our knowledge, the study presented in this paper is the first perceptual evaluation of color‐to‐grayscale conversions. Besides exposing the strengths and weaknesses of the researched methods, the aim of the study is to attain a deeper understanding of the examined field, which can accelerate the progress of color‐to‐grayscale conversion.
Distortion Optimization based Image Completion from a Large Displacement View
Authors: Liu Chunxiao , Yang Yingzhen , Peng Qunsheng , Wang Jin , Chen Wei
Published: January 2009

We present a new image completion method based on an additional large displacement view (LDV) of the same scene for faithfully repairing large missing regions on the target image in an automatic way. A coarse‐to‐fine distortion correction algorithm is proposed to minimize the perspective distortion in the corresponding parts for the common scene regions on the LDV image. First, under the assumption of a planar scene, the LDV image is warped according to a homography to generate the initial correction result. Second, the residual distortions in the common known scene regions are revealed by means of a mismatch detection mechanism and relaxed by energy optimization of overlap correspondences, with the expectations of color constancy and displacement field smoothness. The fundamental matrix for the two views is then computed based on the reliable correspondence set. Third, under the constraints of epipolar geometry, displacement field smoothness and color consistency of the neighboring pixels, the missing pixels are orderly restored according to a specially defined repairing priority function. We finally eliminate the ghost effect between the repaired region and its surroundings by Poisson image blending. Experimental results demonstrate that our method outperforms recent state‐of‐the‐art image completion methods for repairing large missing area with complex structure information.
Shape‐simplifying Image Abstraction
Authors: Kang Henry , Lee Seungyong
Published: January 2009

This paper presents a simple algorithm for producing stylistic abstraction of a photograph. Based on mean curvature flow in conjunction with shock filter, our method simplifies both shapes and colors simultaneously while preserving important features. In particular, we develop a constrained mean curvature flow, which outperforms the original mean curvature flow in conveying the directionality of features and shape boundaries. The proposed algorithm is iterative and incremental, and therefore the level of abstraction is intuitively controlled. Optionally, simple user masking can be incorporated into the algorithm to selectively control the abstraction speed and to protect particular regions. Experimental results show that our method effectively produces highly abstract yet feature‐preserving illustrations from photographs.
Sketching MLS Image Deformations On the GPU
Authors: Weng Yanlin , Shi Xiaohan , Bao Hujun , Zhang Jun
Published: January 2009

In this paper, we present an image editing tool that allows the user to deform images using a sketch‐based interface. The user simply sketches a set of source curves in the input image, and also some target curves that the source curves should be deformed to. Then the moving least squares (MLS) deformation technique [SMW06] is adapted to produce realistic deformations while satisfying the curves' positional constraints. We also propose a scheme to reduce image fold‐overs in MLS deformations. Our system has a very intuitive user interface, generates physically plausible deformations, and can be easily implemented on the GPU for real‐time performance.
Capturing Intention‐based Full‐Frame Video Stabilization
Authors: Chen Bing‐Yu , Lee Ken‐Yi , Huang Wei‐Ting , Lin Jong‐Shan
Published: January 2009

Annoying shaky motion is one of the significant problems in home videos, since hand shake is an unavoidable effect when capturing by using a hand‐held camcorder. Video stabilization is an important technique to solve this problem, but the stabilized videos resulting from some current methods usually have decreased resolution and are still not so stable. In this paper, we propose a robust and practical method of full‐frame video stabilization while considering user's capturing intention to remove not only the high frequency shaky motions but also the low frequency unexpected movements. To guess the user's capturing intention, we first consider the regions of interest in the video to estimate which regions or objects the user wants to capture, and then use a polyline to estimate a new stable camcorder motion path while avoiding the user's interested regions or objects being cut out. Then, we fill the dynamic and static missing areas caused by frame alignment from other frames to keep the same resolution and quality as the original video. Furthermore, we smooth the discontinuous regions by using a three‐dimensional Poisson‐based method. After the above automatic operations, a full‐frame stabilized video can be achieved and the important regions and objects can also be preserved.
Progressive Interpolation based on Catmull‐Clark Subdivision Surfaces
Authors: Chen Zhongxian , Luo Xiaonan , Tan Le , Ye Binghong , Chen Jiapeng
Published: January 2009

We introduce a scheme for constructing a Catmull‐Clark subdivision surface that interpolates the vertices of a quadrilateral mesh with arbitrary topology. The basic idea here is to progressively modify the vertices of an original mesh to generate a new control mesh whose limit surface interpolates all vertices in the original mesh. The scheme is applicable to meshes with any size and any topology, and it has the advantages of both a local scheme and a global scheme.
Interpolatory and Mixed Loop Schemes
Authors: Shi Zhuo , Lin Shujin , Luo Xiaonan , Wang Renhong
Published: January 2009

This paper presents a new interpolatory Loop scheme and an unified and mixed interpolatory and approximation subdivision scheme for triangular meshes. The former which is C1 continuous as same as the modified Butterfly scheme has better effect in some complex models. The latter can be used to solve the “popping effect” problem when switching between meshes at different levels of resolution. The scheme generates surfaces coincident with the Loop subdivision scheme in the limit condition having the coefficient k equal 0. When k equal 1, it will be changed into a new interpolatory subdivision scheme. Eigen‐structure analysis demonstrates that subdivision surfaces generated using the new scheme are C1 continuous. All these are achieved only by changing the value of a parameter k. The method is a completely simple one without constructing and solving equations. It can achieve local interpolation and solve the “popping effect” problem which are the method's advantages over the modified Butterfly scheme.
Part‐type Segmentation of Articulated Voxel‐Shapes using the Junction Rule
Authors: Reniers Dennie , Telea Alexandru
Published: January 2009

We present a part‐type segmentation method for articulated voxel‐shapes based on curve skeletons. Shapes are considered to consist of several simpler, intersecting shapes. Our method is based on the junction rule: the observation that two intersecting shapes generate an additional junction in their joined curve‐skeleton near the place of intersection. For each curve‐skeleton point, we construct a piecewise‐geodesic loop on the shape surface. Starting from the junctions, we search along the curve skeleton for points whose associated loops make for suitable part cuts. The segmentations are robust to noise and discretization artifacts, because the curve skeletonization incorporates a single user‐parameter to filter spurious curve‐skeleton branches. Furthermore, segment borders are smooth and minimally twisting by construction. We demonstrate our method on several real‐world examples and compare it to existing part‐type segmentation methods.
Automatic Facsimile of Chinese Calligraphic Writings
Authors: Xu Songhua , Jiang Hao , Jin Tao , Lau Francis C.M. , Pan Yunhe
Published: January 2009

To imitate personal handwritings is non‐trivial. In this paper, we attempt to address the challenging problem of automatic handwriting facsimile. We focus on Chinese calligraphic writings due to their rich variation in style, high artistic values and also the fact that they are among the most difficult candidates for the problem. We first analyze the structures and shapes of the constituent components, i.e., strokes and radicals, of characters in sample calligraphic writings by the same writer. To generate calligraphic writing in the style of the writer, we facsimile the individual character elements as well as the layout relationships used to compose the character, both in the writer's personal writing style. To test our algorithm, we compare our facsimileing results of Chinese calligraphic writings with the original writings. Our results are found to be acceptable for most cases, some of which are difficult to differentiate from the real ones. More results and supplementary materials are provided in our project website athttp://www.cs.hku.hk/~songhua/facsimile/.
Robust and Efficient Wave Simulations on Deforming Meshes
Authors: Angst Roland , Thuerey Nils , Botsch Mario , Gross Markus
Published: January 2009

The goal of this paper is to enable the interactive simulation of phenomena such as animated fluid characters. While full 3D fluid solvers achieve this with control algorithms, these 3D simulations are usually too costly for real‐time environments. In order to achieve our goal, we reduce the problem from a three‐ to a two‐dimensional one, and make use of the shallow water equations to simulate surface waves that can be solved very efficiently. In addition to a low runtime cost, stability is likewise crucial for interactive applications. Hence, we make use of an implicit time integration scheme to obtain a robust solver. To ensure a low energy dissipation, we apply an Implicit Newmark time integration scheme. We propose a general formulation of the underlying equations that is tailored towards the use with an Implicit Newmark integrator. Furthermore, we gain efficiency by making use of a direct solver. Due to the generality of our formulation, the fluid simulation can be coupled interactively with arbitrary external forces, such as forces caused by inertia or collisions. We will discuss the properties of our algorithm, and demonstrate its robustness with simulations on strongly deforming meshes.
Simulating Inextensible Cloth Using Impulses
Authors: Ye Juntao
Published: January 2009

Computer simulation of cloth is often plagued by springs being over‐stretched. The evaluation of impulses to prevent over‐stretching is explained step‐by‐step. Our impulse approach controls the length of springs by a nonlinear system and then a novel linearization of it into a symmetric positive definite system. The cloth/solid collision handling is integrated into the linearized system seamlessly. Some results based on this method are also presented.
Smart Motion Synthesis
Authors: Oshita Masaki
Published: January 2009

Creating long motion sequences is a time‐consuming task even when motion capture equipment or motion editing tools are used. In this paper, we propose a system for creating a long motion sequence by combining elementary motion clips. The user is asked to first input motions on a timeline. The system then automatically generates a continuous and natural motion. Our system employs four motion synthesis methods: motion transition, motion connection, motion adaptation, and motion composition. Based on the constraints between the feet of the animated character and the ground, and the timing of the input motions, the appropriate method is determined for each pair of overlapped or sequential motions. As the user changes the arrangement of the motion clips, the system interactively changes the output motion. Alternatively, the user can make the system execute an input motion as soon as possible so that it follows the previous motion smoothly. Using our system, users can make use of existing motion clips. Because the entire process is automatic, even novices can easily use our system. A prototype system demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach.
Local Volume Preservation for Skinned Characters
Authors: Rohmer Damien , Hahmann Stefanie , Cani Marie‐Paule
Published: January 2009

Generating plausible deformations of a character skin within the standard production pipeline is a challenge. This paper presents a volume preservation method dedicated to skinned characters. As usual, the character is defined by a skin mesh at some rest pose and an animation skeleton. At each animation step, skin deformations are first computed using standard SSD. Our method corrects the result using a set of local deformations which model the fold‐over‐free, constant volume behavior of soft tissues. This is done geometrically, without the need of any physically‐based simulation. To make the method easily applicable, we also provide automatic ways to extract the local regions where volume is to be preserved and to compute adequate skinning weights, both based on the character's morphology.
A Resolution Independent Approach for the Accurate Rendering of Grooved Surfaces
Authors: Bosch C. , Pueyo X. , Mérillou S. , Ghazanfarpour D.
Published: January 2009

This paper presents a method for the accurate rendering of path‐based surface details such as grooves, scratches and similar features. The method is based on a continuous representation of the features in texture space, and the rendering is performed by means of two approaches: one for isolated or non‐intersecting grooves and another for special situations like intersections or ends. The proposed solutions perform correct antialiasing and take into account visibility and inter‐reflections with little computational effort and memory requirements. Compared to anisotropic BRDFs and scratch models, we have no limitations on the distribution of grooves over the surface or their geometry, thus allowing more general patterns. Compared to displacement mapping techniques, we can efficiently simulate features of all sizes without requiring additional geometry or multiple representations.
Gradient‐based Interpolation and Sampling for Real‐time Rendering of Inhomogeneous, Single‐scattering Media
Authors: Ren Zhong , Zhou Kun , Lin Stephen , Guo Baining
Published: January 2009

We present a real‐time rendering algorithm for inhomogeneous, single scattering media, where all‐frequency shading effects such as glows, light shafts, and volumetric shadows can all be captured. The algorithm first computes source radiance at a small number of sample points in the medium, then interpolates these values at other points in the volume using a gradient‐based scheme that is efficiently applied by sample splatting. The sample points are dynamically determined based on a recursive sample splitting procedure that adapts the number and locations of sample points for accurate and efficient reproduction of shading variations in the medium. The entire pipeline can be easily implemented on the GPU to achieve real‐time performance for dynamic lighting and scenes. Rendering results of our method are shown to be comparable to those from ray tracing.
Photon‐driven Irradiance Cache
Authors: Brouillat J. , Gautron P. , Bouatouch K.
Published: January 2009

We describe a global illumination method combining two well known techniques: photon mapping and irradiance caching. The photon mapping method has the advantage of being view independent but requires a costly additional rendering pass, called final gathering. As for irradiance caching, it is view‐dependent, irradiance is only computed and cached on surfaces of the scene as viewed by a single camera. To compute records covering the entire scene, the irradiance caching method has to be run for many cameras, which takes a long time and is a tedious task since the user has to place the needed cameras manually. Our method exploits the advantages of these two methods and avoids any intervention of the user. It computes a refined, view‐independent irradiance cache from a photon map. The global illumination solution is then rendered interactively using radiance cache splatting.
Interactive Global Illumination for Deformable Geometry in CUDA
Authors: Schmitz Arne , Tavenrath Markus , Kobbelt Leif
Published: January 2009

Interactive global illumination for fully deformable scenes with dynamic relighting is currently a very elusive goal in the area of realistic rendering. In this work we propose a system that is based on explicit visibility calculations and which is highly efficient and scalable. The rendering equation defines the light exchange between surfaces, which we approximate by subsampling. By utilizing the power of modern parallel GPUs using the CUDA framework we achieve interactive frame rates. Since we update the global illumination continuously in an asynchronous fashion, we maintain interactivity at all times for moderately complex scenes. We show that we can achieve higher frame rates for scenes with moving light sources, diffuse indirect illumination and dynamic geometry than other current methods, while maintaining a high image quality.
‘Ch'us mon propre Bescherelle’: Challenges from the Hip‐Hop nation to the Quebec nation1
Authors: Low Bronwen , Sarkar Mela , Winer Lise
Published: January 2009

We examine the uses of and attitudes towards language of members of the Montreal Hip‐Hop community in relation to Quebec language‐in‐education policies. These policies, implemented in the 1970s, have ensured that French has become the common public language of an ethnically diverse young adult population in Montreal. We argue, usingBlommaert's (2005)model of orders of indexicality, that the dominant language hierarchy orders established by government policy have been both flattened and reordered by members of the Montreal Hip‐Hop community, whose multilingual lyrics insist: (1) that while French is thelingua franca, it is a much more inclusive category which includes ‘Bad French,’ regional and class dialects, and European French; and (2) that all languages spoken by community members are valuable as linguistic resources for creativity and communication with multiple audiences. We draw from a database which includes interviews with and lyrics from rappers of Haitian, Latin‐American, African‐American andQuébécoisorigin.
Urban pioneers in the making: Recontextualization and the emergence of the engaged resident in redeveloping communities1
Authors: Weninger Csilla
Published: January 2009

This paper discusses the interconnections among discourse, personhood and the political economy of contemporary urban transformation. Drawing on interview and walking‐tour data from three redeveloping neighborhoods in a mid‐size city in the U.S. Southeast, I examine metasemiotic descriptions of the ‘engaged urban resident’ as a particular emblem of identity that is circulated in a social network of residents and community‐redevelopment sponsors. Using a discourse‐analytic approach, I discuss four different excerpts as recontextualizations of the emblem, moving from an institutional description that offers an abstract model of conduct for urban residents to deictically concrete and personalized testimonies of resident action. The analysis highlights how despite a common thematic focus on resident engagement, personal commentaries and stories of resident activism steer away from the institutional ideal of positive problem solving toward conflict and acts of removal. I identify links between circulated metasemiotic descriptions of the ‘engaged urban resident’ and market‐led urban redevelopment and argue that individual reframings and enactments of the institutionally‐mandated urban persona can foster socially exclusive and spatially‐purified urban neighborhoods.
Business Cycles and Net Buying Pressure in the S&P 500 Futures Options
Authors: Chan Kam C. , Chen Carl R. , Lung Peter P.
Published: January 2009

We analyse the cyclical behaviour and intraday pattern of net buying pressure in the S&P 500 futures options market. The results suggest that the net buying pressure of puts is counter‐cyclical and is more intense during contraction periods. The trading profits for selling put options during contraction periods thus far exceed those during expansion periods. Net buying pressure also exhibits an intraday pattern. Trading profits in the early trading sessions are higher than those for the rest of the day. In addition, we show that hourly‐basis hedging yields smaller profits than daily‐basis hedging, which suggests that the trading profits based on daily‐basis hedging may contain a risk premium associated with discretely rebalanced ‘risk‐free’ option portfolios.
Cost‐effectiveness of HIV nonoccupational post‐exposure prophylaxis in Australia
Authors: Guinot D , Ho MT , Poynten IM , McAllister J , Pierce A , Pell C , Grulich AE
Published: January 2009

Objective

The aim of the study was to determine the cost‐effectiveness of HIV nonoccupational post‐exposure prophylaxis (NPEP) in Australia.

Methods

A retrospective cost analysis of a population‐based observational cohort of 1601 participants eligible for NPEP in Australia between 1998 and 2004 was carried out. We modelled NPEP treatment costs and combined them with effectiveness outcomes to calculate the cost per seroconversion avoided. We estimated the cost‐utility of the programme, and sensitivity and threshold analysis was performed on key variables.

Results

The average NPEP cost per patient was A$1616, of which A$848 (52%) was for drugs, A$331 (21%) for consultations, A$225 (14%) for pathology and A$212 (13%) for other costs. The cost per seroconversion avoided in the cohort was A$1 647 476 in our base case analysis, and A$512 410 when transmission rates were set at their maximal values. The cost per quality‐adjusted life‐year (QALY) was between A$40 673 and A$176 772, depending on the risks of HIV transmission assumed.

Conclusions

In our base case, NPEP was not a cost‐effective intervention compared with the widely accepted Australian threshold of A$50 000 per QALY. It was only cost‐effective after receptive unprotected anal intercourse exposure to an HIV‐positive source. Although NPEP was a relatively well‐targeted intervention in Australia, its cost‐effectiveness could be improved by further targeting high‐risk exposures.
Implications of and perspectives on HIV surveillance using a serological method to measure recent HIV infections in newly diagnosed individuals: results from a pilot study in Berlin, Germany, in 2005–2007
Authors: Bätzing‐Feigenbaum J , Loschen S , Gohlke‐Micknis S , Hintsche B , Rausch M , Hillenbrand H , Cordes C , Poggensee G , Kücherer C , Hamouda O
Published: January 2009

Objectives

This cross‐sectional study was designed to pilot the analysis of clinical data, knowledge about and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, and prevention and risk behaviour in persons recently infected with HIV.

Methods

Blood samples and demographic, laboratory, clinical and behavioural data were collected from patients with newly diagnosed HIV infections. The BED IgG‐capture ELISA (BED‐CEIA) was used to determine the recency of infection.

Results

Recent HIV infections contributed 54% [95% confidence interval (CI) 45; 64%] of infections in men who have sex with men (MSM) and 16% (95% CI 0; 39%) of infections in patients with other transmission risks (P=0.041). Recently infected MSM were characterized by younger age and higher viral load as compared with MSM who had longstanding infections (P=0.011 and 0.005, respectively). Symptoms during primary infection and patients' assumptions with regard to time of infection were significantly correlated with test results indicating whether or not the HIV infection was recently acquired (P<0.001).

Conclusions

Cross‐sectional surveillance of recent HIV infections proved to be relevant to the identification of current risks for acquiring HIV infection. The high proportion of recent HIV infections in MSM and the even higher proportion in MSM younger than 30 years indicate ongoing HIV transmission in this group. The method will be used in future national HIV surveillance in Germany.
THE FOUNDING ABYSS OF COLONIAL HISTORY: OR “THE ORIGIN AND PRINCIPLE OF THE NAME OF PERU”
Authors: THURNER MARK
Published: January 2009

The name of “Peru” and the entities and beings it names first appeared “in an abyss of history” on “the edge of the world” in the early 1500s. In this essay I ask what hermeneutical truths or meanings the strange event that made the name of Peru both famous and historical holds for—and withholds from—any understanding of the meaning of colonial history. By way of a reading of Inca garcilaso de la Vega's rendering, in Los Comentarios Reales de los Incas (1609) of “the origin and principle of the name of Peru,” I suggest that Peru's name is itself an inaugural event that marks the founding void or abyss of colonial and postcolonial history, which is to say, of modern global history. This événemential void is not unoccupied, however. It is inhabited by another founding, mythopoetic figure of history: “the barbarian” whose speech is registered in the historian's text.
Large-Scale Screening and Subsequent Effects of Migraine Treatment on the Work Floor in the Netherlands
Authors: Mérelle SYM , Couturier EGM , van Bokhorst J , Busschbach JJV , Passchier J
Published: January 2009

In a large retail business group the ID Migraine Screening Test was sent to employees with three or more absences from work in the past year ( n = 2893). Employees with positive results were invited for a neurological consultation and migraine patients were randomly assigned to: first attack ‘treated as usual’ and the second attack treated with 40 mg eletriptan, or reversed order. Of the 2893 employees, 799 responded (28%), 260 were positively screened for migraine (33%), 84 patients were diagnosed by a neurologist and 41 of the 75 included patients completed the protocol. Eletriptan induced pain-free response in 33.3% of the patients at 4 h compared with 0% after ‘non-specific’ treatment ( P = 0.03). Eletriptan also significantly improved quality of life, but differences in absence from work and productivity loss could not be detected. In conclusion, in-company screening can be beneficial for undertreated employees, but implementation obstacles can reduce the effectiveness of screening.
Quality of Life in Children with Primary Headache in a General Hospital
Authors: Bruijn J , Arts W-F , Duivenvoorden H , Dijkstra N , Raat H , Passchier J
Published: January 2009

Knowledge on the quality of life of children with headache is lacking. Until now only a few studies in this field have provided information on a limited number of life domains. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life in a comprehensive number of life domains in children with primary headache presenting at an out-patient paediatric department in a general hospital. From October 2003 to October 2005 all children referred to the out-patient paediatric department of the Vlietland Hospital because of primary headache were investigated by protocol. A thorough history was taken and a general physical and neurological examination was performed. The International Headache Society criteria were used for classification. Quality of life (QoL) was measured using the Dutch version of the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ-PF50 Dutch edition) and compared with data from a previously investigated cohort of healthy children from the same region, and with data from a cohort of children from the USA with asthma or with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), investigated with the CHQ-PF50. A total of 70 primary headache patients were included in the study (25 with tension-type headache, 36 with migraine, seven with chronic tension-type headache, two with both tension-type headache and migraine). Their mean age was 10.6 years (range 4–17 years); 37 children were male. On all but one subscale (self-esteem) the QoL of the children with primary headache was decreased compared with the cohort of healthy children, especially on the domains of mental health, parental impact time and family cohesion. Compared with the cohort of children with asthma the QoL was significantly worse for our headache group on seven subscales and significantly better on one subscale (general health perception). Compared with the cohort of children with ADHD, the QoL was significantly worse on six subscales but significantly better on three subscales. There were no significant differences on any QoL subscale between children with tension-type headache and children with migraine. We conclude that the QoL in children with primary headache presenting at the out-patient paediatric department of a general hospital seems to be considerably diminished. Furthermore, we conclude that, in this population there is no difference in QoL between children with tension-type headache and those with migraine.
Dermatofibroma: a possible model of local fibrosis with epithelial/mesenchymal cell interaction
Authors: Yamamoto T
Published: January 2009

Dermatofibromas are benign dermal nodules usually seen on the extremities; however, whether a dermatofibroma is a reactive fibrous hyperplasia or a true neoplasm is still unclear. Fibrous type dermatofibromas might be regarded as the symptom of local fibrotic processes and thus present a possible model of local fibrosis. Interaction between proliferated dermatofibroma fibroblasts and overlying elongated epidermis suggests a relationship between keratinocytes and mesenchymal cells. We herein describe current insights into the pathogenesis of dermatofibromas and explore the possible involvement of immunocytes around fibroblasts and effector cells which play an important role in the development of dermatofibromas.

Conflicts of interest

None declared
Is the Legalization of Physician‐Assisted Suicide Compatible with Good End‐of‐Life Care?
Authors: GILL MICHAEL B.
Published: January 2009

abstract  Many have held that there is some kind of incompatibility between a commitment to good end‐of‐life care and the legalization of physician‐assisted suicide. This opposition to physician‐assisted suicide encompasses a cluster of different claims. In this essay I try to clarify some of the most important of these claims and show that they do not stand up well to conceptual and empirical scrutiny.
Magnanimity, Athletic Excellence, and Performance‐Enhancing Drugs
Authors: AUSTIN MICHAEL W.
Published: January 2009

abstract  In this paper, I first develop a neo‐Aristotelian account of the virtue of magnanimity. I then apply this virtue to ethical issues that arise in sport, and argue that the magnanimous athlete will rightly use sport to foster her own moral development. I also address how the magnanimous athlete responds to the moral challenges present in sport by focusing on the issue of performance‐enhancing drugs, and conclude that athletic excellence as it is conventionally understood, without moral excellence, has very little value.
Ryle on Knowing How and the Possibility of Vocational Education
Authors: WINCH CHRISTOPHER
Published: January 2009

abstract  Ryle's claim that knowing how is distinct from knowing that is defended from critics like Stanley and Williamson and Snowdon. However, the way in which Ryle himself deploys this distinction is problematic. By effectively dismissing the idea that systematic propositional knowledge has a significant bearing on knowledge how, Ryle implicitly supports a view of vocational education that favours narrow notions of skill and associated training over knowledge informed occupational practice of the kind found in most Northern European countries. The source of Ryle's error in excluding systematic propositional knowledge from a significant place in the constitution of knowing how is traced. It is argued that Ryle's original distinction survives without the exclusion of systematic propositional knowledge from knowing how and the resulting account does more justice to the practice of vocational education in advanced economies than does Ryle's original treatment.
Ethicism, Interpretation, and Munich
Authors: HALWANI RAJA
Published: January 2009

abstract  The paper, using Spielberg's Munich as a test case, argues that the theory of ethicism – the view that a work of art's moral point of view affects the work's overall aesthetic evaluation – has serious restricted applicability owing to a number of reasons. Ethicism does not apply to works of art (1) that have no moral content; (2) that do have moral content but whose prescribed responses are non‐moral; (3) whose prescribed moral responses do not ask the audience to accept or reject the moral claim but merely to contemplate or entertain it; (4) whose prescribed moral responses assert moral claims that are indeterminate; and (5) whose prescribed moral responses are embodied in equally plausible or true but incompatible interpretations.
The JCMS Annual Lecture: National Welfare States and European Integration: In Search of a ‘Virtuous Nesting’*
Authors: FERRERA MAURIZIO
Published: January 2009

In recent years the EU has been witnessing a growing tension between the logic of ‘closure’, which underpins national welfare systems, and the logic of ‘opening’, which guides the integration process, especially in the economic sphere. Are there ways of mitigating such tension, in order to avoid negative consequences in terms of performance and legitimacy? The article outlines a strategy of institutional reconciliation between the two logics, based on a more explicit and effective ‘nesting’ of the nation‐based welfare state within the overall spatial architecture of the Union. While recognizing the important role played by free movement and competition rules, this nesting strategy entails the strengthening of an EU ‘social space’, capable of safeguarding the closure preconditions for multi‐level social sharing arrangements.
Altiero Spinelli and the Idea of the US Constitution as a Model for Europe: The Promises and Pitfalls of an Analogy
Authors: GLENCROSS ANDREW
Published: January 2009

Altiero Spinelli believed European integration needed to draw inspiration from the US constitutional founding. The article uses Spinelli's analogy to assess how useful it is to compare the predicament of European integration with US constitutional politics. The analysis reveals both how Spinelli exaggerated the extent to which the US Constitution established and delimited federal political authority once and for all as well the way in which, despite its functionalist non‐constitutional origins, the EU has experienced its own brand of constitutional politics. The analogy is thus most useful in showing how both polities faced similar tensions over the process of constitutionalism, restraining unit sovereignty and the institutionalization of popular sovereignty at the federal level.
Securitization and Risk at the EU Border: The Origins of FRONTEX*
Authors: NEAL ANDREW W.
Published: January 2009

Documenting the origins, remit and practices of the European external borders agency FRONTEX, this article argues that FRONTEX is not the product of ‘securitizing’ links between terrorism, security, migration and borders made by EU institutions in response to 9/11, but rather of their failure. In so doing, the article critiques securization theory in comparison to the alternative modality of risk.
Black gold to green gold: regional energy policy and the rehabilitation of coal in response to climate change
Authors: Drake Frances
Published: January 2009

Energy production has come under increasing scrutiny as concerns about energy security and climate change have risen. In the UK changes in government structure and privatisation of the electricity industry have led to the emergence of multi‐level governance. This means that decisions on how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity‐generating sector should no longer be solely a national policy decision. Previous studies have sought to explore how renewable energy may develop under multi‐level governance, but this paper pays attention to a traditional fossil fuel source, coal, which is still an important means of electricity generation. Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel and advocates argue that carbon capture and storage techniques could make coal ‘clean’, paving the way for a long‐term, secure and low emission way to produce energy. This study focuses on the Yorkshire and Humber Region, which has had a long association with coal mining and looks at the implications of this as the region seeks to develop a climate change action plan and an energy strategy within the new regional governance structures. The paper argues that the regional networks developed to address climate change are influenced by existing social power structures and alliances. The region as a territorial structure becomes a useful device in promoting national priorities.