Readjusting Our Sporting Sites/Sight: Sportification and the Theatricality of Social Life

This paper points out the potential of using sport for the analysis of society. Cultivated human movement is a specific social and cultural subsystem (involving sport, movement culture and physical culture), yet it becomes a part of wider social discourses by extending some of its characteristics into various other spheres. This process, theorised as sportification, provides as useful concept to examine the permeation of certain phenomena from the area of sport into the social reality outside of sport. In this paper, we investigate the phenomena of sportification which we parallel with visual culture and spectatorship practices in the Renaissance era. The emphasis in our investigation is on theatricality and performativity; particularly, the superficial spectator engagement with modern sport and sporting spectacles. Unlike the significance afforded to visualisation and deeper symbolic interpretation in Renaissance art, contemporary cultural shifts have changed and challenged the ways in which the active and interacting body is positioned, politicised, symbolised and ultimately understood. We suggest here that the ways in which we view sport and sporting bodies within a (post)modern context (particularly with the confounding amalgamations of signs and symbols and emphasis on hyper-realities) has invariably become detached from sports' profound metaphysical meanings and resonance. Subsequently, by emphasising the associations between social theatrics and the sporting complex, this paper aims to remind readers of ways that sport—as a nuanced phenomenon—can be operationalised to help us to contemplate questions about nature, society, ourselves and the complex worlds in which we live

Breast cancer risk factors and survival by tumor subtype: pooled analyses from the breast cancer association consortium

Background: It is not known whether modifiable lifestyle factors that predict survival after invasive breast cancer differ by subtype.Methods: We analyzed data for 121,435 women diagnosed with breast cancer from 67 studies in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium with 16,890 deaths (8,554 breast cancer specific) over 10 years. Cox regression was used to estimate associations between risk factors and 10-year all-cause mortality and breast cancer-specific mortality overall, by estrogen receptor (ER) status, and by intrinsic-like subtype.Results: There was no evidence of heterogeneous associations between risk factors and mortality by subtype (P-adj > 0.30). The strongest associations were between all-cause mortality and BMI >= 30 versus 18.5-25 kg/m(2) [HR (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.19 (1.06-1.34)]; current versus never smoking [1.37 (1.27-1.47)], high versus low physical activity [0.43 (0.21-0.86)], age >= 30 years versus 0-= 10 years since last full-term birth [1.31 (1.11-1.55)]; ever versus never use of oral contraceptives [0.91 (0.87-0.96)]; ever versus never use of menopausal hormone therapy, including current estrogen-progestin therapy [0.61 (0.54-0.69)]. Similar associations with breast cancer mortality were weaker; for example, 1.11 (1.02-1.21) for current versus never smoking.Conclusions: We confirm associations between modifiable lifestyle factors and 10-year all-cause mortality. There was no strong evidence that associations differed by ER status or intrinsic-like subtype.Impact: Given the large dataset and lack of evidence that associations between modifiable risk factors and 10-year mortality differed by subtype, these associations could be cautiously used in prognostication models to inform patient-centered care.Surgical oncolog

Development of an \u3ci\u3ein vitro\u3c/i\u3e assay for detecting botulinum neurotoxin type E with application to avian botulism in the Great Lakes

Purpose of study: Botulinum neurotoxin serotype E (BoNT/E) outbreaks in the Great Lakes region cause large annual avian mortality events with an estimated 17,000 bird deaths reported in 2007 alone. It is proposed that environmental conditions following blooms of the native algae Cladophora may promote growth of C. botulinum within Great Lakes sediments and subsequent BoNT/E production. BoNT/E may then be mobilized from the lake bed through food chains consisting of exotic species. We set out to develop a sensitive in vitro assay for diagnosis of avian BoNT intoxication and analysis of drivers that contribute to these outbreaks. Methods used: The BoTest™ Matrix E BoNT/E detection assay combines immuno-precipitation with high-affinity endopeptidase activity detection by Förster Resonance Energy Transfer to rapidly quantify BoNT/E activity in avian blood and other samples with detection limits comparable to the mouse bioassay. Summary of results: Based upon the analysis of archived blood samples (n=87) collected from bird carcasses during avian mortality investigations, BoTest Matrix E detected picomolar quantities of BoNT/E following a two–hour incubation and femtomolar quantities of BoNT/ E following extended incubation (24 hours), with 100% diagnostic specificity and 91% diagnostic sensitivity. Further, BoNT activity, as determined by the BoTest Matrix E assay, correlated linearly with total BoNT/E protein concentration contained within avian blood samples, as measured by sandwich ELISA (slope = 1.2). The BoTest Matrix E assay also detected BoNT/E in spiked mussels, fish and seaweed, suggesting its utility for analysis of food web components. Conclusions: Sensitive in vitro assays for the diagnosis of botulinum intoxication in birds and for the identification of BoNT/E in food web components will facilitate understanding of environmental toxin mobilization pathways and will provide useful tools for the conservation of bird species in the Great Lakes region

Comparison of survival after surgical or medical treatment in dogs with a congenital portosystemic shunt

Objective—To compare survival of dogs with a congenital portosystemic shunt (CPSS) that received medical or surgical treatment. Design—Prospective cohort study. Animals—126 client-owned dogs with a single CPSS. Procedures—Dogs were examined at 1 of 3 referral clinics, and a single CPSS was diagnosed in each. Dogs received medical or surgical treatment without regard to signalment, clinical signs, or results of hematologic or biochemical analysis. Survival data were analyzed via a Cox regression model. Results—During a median follow-up period of 579 days, 18 of 126 dogs died as a result of CPSS. Dogs treated via surgical intervention survived significantly longer than did those treated medically. Hazard ratio for medical versus surgical treatment of CPSS (for the treatment-only model) was 2.9 (95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 7.2). Age at CPSS diagnosis did not affect survival. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Both medical and surgical treatment can be used to achieve long-term survival of dogs with CPSS, although results of statistical analysis supported the widely held belief that surgery is preferable to medical treatment. However, the study population consisted of dogs at referral clinics, which suggested that efficacy of medical treatment may have been underestimated. Although surgical intervention was associated with a better chance of long-term survival, medical management provided an acceptable first-line option. Age at examination did not affect survival, which implied that early surgical intervention was not essential. Dogs with CPSS that do not achieve acceptable resolution with medical treatment can subsequently be treated surgically

Clinical long-read sequencing of the human mitochondrial genome for mitochondrial disease diagnostics

Purpose Long-read, third generation, sequencing technologies have the potential to improve current state of the art diagnostic strategies. In order to determine if long-read sequencing technologies are suitable for the diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders due to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variants, particularly large deletions, we compared the performance of Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) MinION to current diagnostic methods. Methods We sequenced mtDNA from nine patients with mtDNA deletion disorders and three normal controls with both ONT MinION and Illumina MiSeq. We applied a computational pipeline to estimate the positions of mtDNA deletions in patients, and subsequently validated the breakpoints using Sanger sequencing. Results We were able to detect mtDNA deletions with a MinION workflow, successfully calling the disease causing event in all cases. Sequencing coverage was in most cases significantly more (p=0.03, Wilcoxon test) uniform with MinION than with MiSeq and subsequent correction of MinION reads improved breakpoint accuracy and reduced false positives. Although heteroplasmic single nucleotide variants are detectable, the high number of false positives and false negatives precludes their use in diagnostics at this time. Conclusion The MinION is becoming an increasingly attractive diagnostic tool due to the reducing cost, increasing accuracy, and the speed at which data can be obtained

Immunohistochemical Characterisation of GLUT1, MMP3 and NRF2 in Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OSA) is an aggressive bone malignancy. Unlike many other malignancies, OSA outcomes have not improved in recent decades. One challenge to the development of better diagnostic and therapeutic methods for OSA has been the lack of well characterized experimental model systems. Spontaneous OSA in dogs provides a good model for the disease seen in people and also remains an important veterinary clinical challenge. We recently used RNA sequencing and qRT-PCR to provide a detailed molecular characterization of OSA relative to non-malignant bone in dogs. We identified differential mRNA expression of the solute carrier family 2 member 1 (SLC2A1/GLUT1), matrix metallopeptidase 3 (MMP3) and nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (NFE2L2/NRF2) genes in canine OSA tissue in comparison to paired non-tumor tissue. Our present work characterizes protein expression of GLUT1, MMP3 and NRF2 using immunohistochemistry. As these proteins affect key processes such as Wnt activation, heme biosynthesis, glucose transport, understanding their expression and the enriched pathways and gene ontologies enables us to further understand the potential molecular pathways and mechanisms involved in OSA. This study further supports spontaneous OSA in dogs as a model system to inform the development of new methods to diagnose and treat OSA in both dogs and people