University of the Philippines

About: University of the Philippines is a education organization based out in Quezon City, Philippines. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 4589 authors who have published 4437 publications receiving 114846 citations. The organization is also known as: UP.

Multigrid optimization methods for linear and bilinear elliptic optimal control problems

Abstract: Multigrid optimization schemes that solve elliptic linear and bilinear optimal control problems are discussed. For the solution of these problems, the multigrid for optimization (MGOPT) method and the collective smoothing multigrid (CSMG) method are developed and compared. It is shown that though these two methods are formally similar, they provide different approaches to computational optimization with partial differential equations.

Positron emission tomography imaging of tissue P‐glycoprotein activity during pregnancy in the non‐human primate

Abstract: Background and purpose: Changes in tissue P-glycoprotein (P-gp) activity during pregnancy could affect the pharmacokinetics and thus the efficacy and toxicity of many drugs. Therefore, using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, we tested whether gestational age affects tissue P-gp activity in the pregnant non-human primate, Macaca nemestrina. Experimental approach: Mid-gestational (day 75 ± 13, n= 7) and late-gestational (day 150 ± 10, n= 5) age macaques were imaged after administration of a prototypic P-gp substrate, 11C-verapamil (13.7–75.4 MBq·kg−1), before and during intravenous infusion of a P-gp inhibitor, cyclosporin A (CsA) (12 or 24 mg·kg−1·h−1). Accumulation of radioactivity in the fetal liver served as a reporter of placental P-gp activity. P-gp activity was expressed as CsA-induced percent change in the ratio of the area (0–9 min) under the 11C-radioactivity concentration–time curve in the tissue (AUCtissue) to that in the maternal plasma (AUCplasma). Key results: The CsA-induced change in AUCfetal liver/AUCmaternalplasma of 11C-radioactivity significantly increased from mid- (35 ± 25%) to late gestation (125 ± 66%). Likewise, the CsA-induced change in AUCmaternal brain/AUCplasma increased from mid- (172 ± 80%) to late gestation (337 ± 148%). The AUC ratio for the other maternal tissues was not significantly affected. Neither the CsA blood concentrations nor the level of circulating 11C-verapamil metabolites were significantly affected by gestational age. Conclusions and implications: P-gp activity at the blood–brain barrier and the placental barrier in the macaque increased with gestational age. If replicated in humans, the exposure of the fetus and maternal brain to P-gp substrate drugs, and therefore their efficacy and toxicity, will change during pregnancy.

Doubly Robust and Multiple-Imputation-Based Generalized Estimating Equations

Abstract: Generalized estimating equations (GEE), proposed by Liang and Zeger (1986), provide a popular method to analyze correlated non-Gaussian data. When data are incomplete, the GEE method suffers from its frequentist nature and inferences under this method are valid only under the strong assumption that the missing data are missing completely at random. When response data are missing at random, two modifications of GEE can be considered, based on inverse-probability weighting or on multiple imputation. The weighted GEE (WGEE) method involves weighting observations by the inverse of their probability of being observed. Imputation methods involve filling in missing observations with values predicted by an assumed imputation model, multiple times. The so-called doubly robust (DR) methods involve both a model for the weights and a predictive model for the missing observations given the observed ones. To yield consistent estimates, WGEE needs correct specification of the dropout model while imputation-based methodology needs a correctly specified imputation model. DR methods need correct specification of either the weight or the predictive model, but not necessarily both. Focusing on incomplete binary repeated measures, we study the relative performance of the singly robust and doubly robust versions of GEE in a variety of correctly and incorrectly specified models using simulation studies. Data from a clinical trial in onychomycosis further illustrate the method.

Short-term Trends in Functional Limitation and Disability Among Older Asians: A Comparison of Five Asian Settings

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to examine short-term trends in the prevalence of limitation in Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) and Nagi physical functioning tasks among persons age 60 years or older in five Asian settings: Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and the Beijing Municipality. The data come from recent panel surveys of older adults that span a period of 3-4 years during the mid to late 1990s. Results suggest a general trend toward an increase in functional limitation in four of the five settings, with the most pronounced increases occurring for the Nagi functioning tasks. Compositional differences in the population accounted for little of the increase. The paper discusses the potential implications of these results and places them in the context of past and current trends in functional limitation observed in the United States.