Patient factors that affect pre-operative patient-reported outcomes in women undergoing breast cancer surgery

Background/Objective: Understanding the impact of patient, disease, and treatment factors on pre‐ operative patient reported outcomes (PROs) is important to guide surgical decision‐making with breast cancer. Methods: This prospective cohort study evaluates PROs in women undergoing breast cancer treatment at a metropolitan health care system. New cases undergo tumor board discussion and same‐day consultations with various specialties. Women choose to complete pre‐ and post‐operative Breast‐Q© Breast‐conserving surgery (BCS), mastectomy (M), or reconstruction ® modules and demographic surveys. Individual associations to pre‐operative Breast‐Q survey scores were assessed using linear regression models (1 for each Breast‐Q survey type). Variables significant for at least 1 survey were included in multiple linear regression models. Results: A total of 375 women completed the pre‐operative surveys (BCS=244, M=39, BR=92). Procedure choice, laterality, race, marital status, employment, prior breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, or history of radiation or chemotherapy did not impact PROs. Breast satisfaction decreased with higher BMI (est=‐0.367, p=0.045) and Stage II disease (est=‐11.011 (vs. Stage 0), p=0.008). Lower psychosocial score was associated with younger age (est=0.271, p=0.002), higher BMI (est=‐0.367, p=0.014), and income \u3c$35k (est=0.172 (vs. 35k+), p=0.016). Similarly, lower physical well‐being of the chest was associated with younger age (est=0.207, p=0.011), higher BMI (est=‐0.285, p=0.039), and income \u3c$35k (est=0.218 (vs. 35k+, p=0.039). Sexual well‐being decreased with higher BMI (est=‐0.545, p=0.004) and income \u3c$35k (est=0.135 (vs. 35k+), p=0.016). Conclusions: While factors such as age, BMI, and stage of disease are difficult to change prior to surgery, patients with lower income may need special interventions to assist them through the treatment process

Partial purification and properties of a plasminogen activator from human erythrocytes

The lysis time of euglobulin clots made with whole blood (plasma and red cells) was very much shorter than that of clots made with plasma alone, indicating a fibrinolytic component in red cells. A plasminogen activator was found in the stroma-free hemolysate, and proteolytic activity was found in the stromal fraction. The plasminogen activator, purified by using diethylaminoethyl-cellulose (DEAE-cellulose) in a batch procedure followed by column chromatography, was called erythrokinase (EK). On preliminary characterization, EK appears to activate human and bovine plasminogen in a manner similar to urokinase (UK), as determined by fibrinolytic and caseinolytic assays. The two enzymes can be separated by DEAE chromatography and acrylamide-gel electrophoresis, however, and they hydrolyze acetyl-L-lysine methyl ester and benzoyl arginine methyl ester at different rates

Role of the Y134F mutation in cyp51 and overexpression of cyp51 in the sensitivity response of Puccinia triticina to epoxiconazole

a b s t r a c t A collection of 110 isolates of Puccinia triticina in 2007 from different European wheat-growing regions were examined for their sensitivity to the demethylation inhibiting (DMI) fungicide epoxiconazole and the expression and mutations of the target gene, cyp51. The cyp51 gene was highly conserved across Europe. A mutation at codon 134 (Y134F) was identified in only five isolates. This mutation had a limited impact, if any, on the sensitivity of P. triticina towards epoxiconazole. Over the entire collection of isolates, cyp51 expression and in vitro sensitivity towards epoxiconazole was moderately correlated. A constitutive up-regulation of the cyp51 gene was detected in some of the isolates with higher ED 50 values. Such up-regulation was not inducible by exposure to different concentrations of epoxiconazole. Isolates of P. triticina with the highest ED 50 values and with the Y134F mutation in the cyp51 gene or with cyp51 overexpression were equally well controlled in vivo by registered field rates of epoxiconazole as compared to an isolate with the lowest ED 50 value

Sintering of a crystalline cordierite/ZrO2 composite

Dilatometry was used to investigate the sintering of a composite material with 70 wt% crystalline cordierite and 30 wt% 3Y-TZP. Using a precision digital dilatometer, results for constant rate of heating sintering and rate-controlled sintering are compared. In both cases dense bodies with homogeneous distributions of both components are obtained. Reactions between the two components are observed only in the case of sintering with constant rate of heating and low heating rates

Partial characterization of antigenic streptococcal plasma membrane components in acute glomerulonephritis

Fluorescein-labeled immunoglobulin G (IgG) fractions of serum from patients with acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis stained parts of the glomerular basement membrane and mesangium of kidney tissue obtained from the same patients during the early phase of the disease. Renal tissue obtained from normal individuals and from patients with other kidney diseases failed to stain with these IgG fractions. Preabsorption of the serum fractions with various freezethawed bacteria demonstrated that only certain group A streptococci abolished the staining capacity. Fractionation of the streptococci into cellular constituents indicated that it was predominantly the plasma membrane fraction which blocked the immune staining. Spectrofluorometry using alkali-solubilized renal tissue confirmed these observations in a quantitative manner. By sucrose density-gradient ultracentrifugation of the plasma membrane two possible antigens were isolated. One was soluble in phosphate-buffered saline and the other was insoluble. The soluble component was a lipoprotein with a molecular weight of approximately 120,000