Prediction of Prostate Cancer Biochemical and Clinical Recurrence Is Improved by IHC-Assisted Grading Using Appl1, Sortilin and Syndecan-1.

Gleason scoring is used within a five-tier risk stratification system to guide therapeutic decisions for patients with prostate cancer. This study aimed to compare the predictive performance of routine H&E or biomarker-assisted ISUP (International Society of Urological Pathology) grade grouping for assessing the risk of biochemical recurrence (BCR) and clinical recurrence (CR) in patients with prostate cancer. This retrospective study was an assessment of 114 men with prostate cancer who provided radical prostatectomy samples to the Australian Prostate Cancer Bioresource between 2006 and 2014. The prediction of CR was the primary outcome (median time to CR 79.8 months), and BCR was assessed as a secondary outcome (median time to BCR 41.7 months). The associations of (1) H&E ISUP grade groups and (2) modified ISUP grade groups informed by the Appl1, Sortilin and Syndecan-1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) labelling were modelled with BCR and CR using Cox proportional hazard approaches. IHC-assisted grading was more predictive than H&E for BCR (C-statistic 0.63 vs. 0.59) and CR (C-statistic 0.71 vs. 0.66). On adjusted analysis, IHC-assisted ISUP grading was independently associated with both outcome measures. IHC-assisted ISUP grading using the biomarker panel was an independent predictor of individual BCR and CR. Prospective studies are needed to further validate this biomarker technology and to define BCR and CR associations in real-world cohorts.Jessica M. Logan ... Lisa M. Butler ... Douglas A. Brooks ... et al

Riparian vegetation condition is associated with invertebrate assemblage composition in intermittent and humic streams

Riparian vegetation is known to provide environmental benefits for aquatic ecosystems and is commonly used in the restoration of agricultural catchments. However, little information exists on the influence of riparian vegetation on the fauna of intermittent or humic (coloured) streams. We examined the ecological condition of riparian vegetation and its influence on stream fauna amongst humic and non-humic intermittent and perennial stream reaches in the Ellen Brook catchment, south west Western Australia. Permutation-tests showed that flow regime (Global R = 0.444, P < 0.001) and the presence/absence of riparian vegetation (Global R = 0.407, P < 0.001) were the most influential factors associated with invertebrate assemblage composition. Riparian vegetation influenced invertebrate assemblages through the provision of organic matter for food and habitat, and by shading stream channels, thereby limiting light and algal growth. This was illustrated by a higher proportion of algal grazers (Chironominae and Physidae) in unvegetated streams and more detritivores (Leptoceridae, Gripopterygidae, Ceinidae) in vegetated streams. Humic intermittent streams showed different invertebrate assemblages to non-humic intermittent streams; having fewer Cladocera and Chironomidae and more grazing gastropods (Physidae and Lynceidae). A significant proportion of the variation in invertebrate assemblages was associated with stream width, salinity and NOx-N concentrations because intermittent streams were narrower, more brackish and less enriched than with nitrogen than perennial streams. Riparian vegetation benefited invertebrate assemblages in all stream types, showing that revegetation is as effective a restoration action in intermittent and humic streams as it is in perennial streams

Improved Discrete Definition of Quadratic Time-Frequency Distributions

This paper proposes a Discrete TFD definition that satisfies all desirable properties and is (approximately) equal to samples of the continuous WVD convolved with a time-frequency kernel. Also, the proposed definition—unlike others—contains a DWVD definition that satisfies important DWVD properties such as Moyal’s formula and signal recovery. The proposed definition can be computed by simple and efficient algorithms. Matlab and Octave code to accompany this paper is available to download at http://www.ieeexplore.ieee.org/. (Additional details can be found in the comprehensive book on Time-Frequency Signal Analysis and Processing (see http://www.elsevier.com/locate/isbn/0080443354). In addition, the most recent upgrade of the original software package that calculates Time-Frequency Distributions and Instantaneous Frequency estimators can be downloaded from the web site: www.time-frequency.net. This was the first software developed in the field, and it was first released publicly in 1987 at the 1st ISSPA conference held in Brisbane, Australia, and then continuously updated).Computation of a time-frequency distribution (TFD) requires a discrete version of the continuous distribution. This discrete TFD (DTFD) should be free from aliasing and conserve all the important mathematical properties of the continuous distribution. Existing DTFD definitions, however, poorly approximate this ideal. One popular definition, the generalized DTFD (GDTFD), is alias free but does not retain all the desirable properties from the continuous distribution. Another definition, the so-called alias-free GDTFD (AF-GDTFD), retains most properties yet is not always alias free. We propose a new DTFD definition, based on the GDTFD, that retains all desirable properties and is always alias free

Robust estimation of highly-varying nonlinear instantaneous frequency of monocomponent signals using a lower-order complex-time distribution

This paper presents a robust method for estimating highly-changing nonlinear IFs in monocomponent signals using a lower order CTD based on the general concept of complex-time argument differentiation. (Additional details can be found in the comprehensive book on Time-Frequency Signal Analysis and Processing (see http://www.elsevier.com/locate/isbn/0080443354). In addition, the most recent upgrade of the original software package that calculates Time-Frequency Distributions and Instantaneous Frequency estimators can be downloaded from the web site: www.time-frequency.net. This was the first software developed in the field, and it was first released publicly in 1987 at the 1st ISSPA conference held in Brisbane, Australia, and then continuously updated).This paper proposes an approach for robust estimation of highly-varying nonlinear instantaneous frequency (IF) in monocomponent nonstationary signals. The proposed method is based on a lower order complex-time distribution (CTD), derived by using the idea of complex-time differentiation of the instantaneous phase. Unlike other existing TFDs in the same framework, the proposed TFD is an order-free distribution which alleviates the subtractive cancellation error in IF estimation. The approach is applied to highly nonstationary monocomponent signals. Performance of the numerical implementation is compared with three existing IF estimation methods using three simulated signals. Noise analysis is also performed to evaluate the robustness of the method in presenfdece of additive noise at signal to noise ratio (SNR) varying from −10 dB to 20 dB. Results show that the proposed method outperforms the other methods at lower SNR and works reasonably well for the noiseless case

Domestic violence victims in a hospital emergency department

To determine the prevalence and predictors of domestic violence victims among attenders at the emergency department at Royal Brisbane Hospital in 1991.Cross-sectional study in which randomly selected nursing shifts were used to screen attenders.Of all attenders at the emergency department, 14.1% disclosed a history of domestic violence. Women were more likely than men to disclose domestic violence ("raw" relative risk, 2.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.83-2.91; relative risk adjusted for age and history of child abuse, 4.50; 95% CI, 3.02-6.71). The greatest risks for being an adult victim of domestic violence were being female and having experienced abuse as a child. Most of those who had experienced domestic violence within the last 24 hours (1.1% of attenders) came to the department after-hours when social work staff were unavailable for referral.The prevalence and risk factors have implications for the training of doctors and nurses in domestic violence problems and for the provision of adequate resources to deal with the psychosocial aspects of domestic violence

Time-frequency analysis of heart rate variability in neonatal piglets exposed to hypoxia

To determine whether the sympathetic nervous system plays any role in the inter-individual variation of cardiovascular response to hypoxia in newborns, neonatal heart rate variability (HRV) analysis was used to assess autonomic response during hypoxia in piglets. Due to the nonstationary nature of HRV signals and the inaccuracy in pre-defined neonatal HRV frequency bands using standard spectral methods, we applied time-frequency distribution analysis to assess neonatal HRV. Although sympathetic activity was initially enhanced to stimulate the cardiac compensation, it did not account for the variation of cardiovascular response since the power of low frequency component in HRV neither showed corresponding changes with the heart rate nor had any correlation with the brain injury. This may be attributed to immaturity of the neural pathway.Scopu