810 research outputs found
Liver fibrosis indices and outcomes after primary intracerebral hemorrhage
Background and Purpose- Cirrhosis-clinically overt, advanced liver disease-is associated with an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke and poor stroke outcomes. We sought to investigate whether subclinical liver disease, specifically liver fibrosis, is associated with clinical and radiological outcomes in patients with primary intracerebral hemorrhage. Methods- We performed a retrospective cohort study using data from the Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive-Intracerebral Hemorrhage. We included adult patients with primary intracerebral hemorrhage presenting within 6 hours of symptom onset. We calculated 3 validated fibrosis indices-Aspartate Aminotransferase-Platelet Ratio Index, Fibrosis-4 score, and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Fibrosis Score-and modeled them as continuous exposure variables. Primary outcomes were admission hematoma volume and hematoma expansion. Secondary outcomes were mortality, and the composite of major disability or death, at 90 days. We used linear and logistic regression models adjusted for previously established risk factors. Results- Among 432 patients with intracerebral hemorrhage, the mean Aspartate Aminotransferase-Platelet Ratio Index, Fibrosis-4, and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Fibrosis Score values on admission reflected intermediate probabilities of fibrosis, whereas standard hepatic assays and coagulation parameters were largely normal. After adjusting for potential confounders, Aspartate Aminotransferase-Platelet Ratio Index was associated with hematoma volume (β, 0.20 [95% CI, 0.04-0.36]), hematoma expansion (odds ratio, 1.6 [95% CI, 1.1-2.3]), and mortality (odds ratio, 1.8 [95% CI, 1.1-2.7]). Fibrosis-4 was also associated with hematoma volume (β, 0.27 [95% CI, 0.07-0.47]), hematoma expansion (odds ratio, 1.9 [95% CI, 1.2-3.0]), and mortality (odds ratio, 2.0 [95% CI, 1.1-3.6]). Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Fibrosis Score was not associated with any outcome. Indices were not associated with the composite of major disability or death. Conclusions- In patients with largely normal liver chemistries, 2 liver fibrosis indices were associated with admission hematoma volume, hematoma expansion, and mortality after intracerebral hemorrhage
Gene and protein expression of glucose transporter 1 and glucose transporter 3 in human laryngeal cancerâthe relationship with regulatory hypoxia-inducible factor-1Îą expression, tumor invasiveness, and patient prognosis
Increased glucose uptake mediated by glucose
transporters and reliance on glycolysis are common features
of malignant cells. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1Îą supports the
adaptation of hypoxic cells by inducing genes related to
glucose metabolism. The contribution of glucose transporter
(GLUT) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1Îą (HIF-1Îą) activity to
tumor behavior and their prognostic value in head and neck
cancers remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine
the predictive value of GLUT1, GLUT3, and HIF-1Îą messenger
RNA (mRNA)/protein expression as markers of tumor
aggressiveness and prognosis in laryngeal cancer. The level of
hypoxia/metabolic marker genes was determined in 106 squamous
cell laryngeal cancer (SCC) and 73 noncancerous
matched mucosa (NCM) controls using quantitative realtime
PCR. The related protein levels were analyzed by
Western blot. Positive expression of SLC2A1, SLC2A3, and
HIF-1Îą genes was noted in 83.9, 82.1, and 71.7 % of SCC
specimens and in 34.4, 59.4, and 62.5 % of laryngeal cancer
samples. Higher levels of mRNA/protein for GLUT1 and
HIF-1Îą were noted in SCC compared to NCM (p<0.05).
SLC2A1 was found to have a positive relationship with grade,
tumor front grading (TFG) score, and depth and mode of
invasion (p<0.05). SLC2A3 was related to grade and invasion
type (p<0.05). There were also relationships of HIF-1Îą with
pTNM, TFG scale, invasion depth and mode, tumor recurrences,
and overall survival (p<0.05). In addition, more advanced
tumors were found to be more likely to demonstrate
positive expression of these proteins. In conclusion, the
hypoxia/metabolic markers studied could be used as molecular
markers of tumor invasiveness in laryngeal cancer.This work was supported, in part, by the statutory
fund of the Department of Cytobiochemistry, University of ĹĂłdĹş, Poland
(506/811), and by grant fromtheNational Science Council, Poland (N403
043 32/2326)
The predictive and prognostic potential of plasma telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) RNA in rectal cancer patients
Background: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery is the standard care for locally advanced rectal cancer,
but tumour response to CRT and disease outcome are variable. The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of plasma
telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) levels in predicting tumour response and clinical outcome.
Methods: 176 rectal cancer patients were included. Plasma samples were collected at baseline (before CRT\ubcT0), 2 weeks after
CRT was initiated (T1), post-CRT and before surgery (T2), and 4\u20138 months after surgery (T3) time points. Plasma TERT mRNA levels
and total cell-free RNA were determined using real-time PCR.
Results: Plasma levels of TERT were significantly lower at T2 (Po0.0001) in responders than in non-responders. Post-CRT TERT
levels and the differences between pre- and post-CRT TERT levels independently predicted tumour response, and the prediction
model had an area under curve of 0.80 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73\u20130.87). Multiple analysis demonstrated that patients with
detectable TERT levels at T2 and T3 time points had a risk of disease progression 2.13 (95% CI 1.10\u20134.11)-fold and 4.55 (95% CI
1.48\u201313.95)-fold higher, respectively, than those with undetectable plasma TERT levels.
Conclusions: Plasma TERT levels are independent markers of tumour response and are prognostic of disease progression in rectal
cancer patients who undergo neoadjuvant therapy
Silencing Agrobacterium oncogenes in transgenic grapevine results in strain-specific crown gall resistance
Crown gall disease of grapevine induced by Agrobacterium vitis or Agrobacterium tumefaciens causes serious
economic losses in viticulture. To establish crown gall-resistant lines, somatic proembryos of Vitis
berlandieri Ă V. rupestris cv. 'Richter 110' rootstock were transformed with an oncogene-silencing transgene
based on iaaM and ipt oncogene sequences from octopine-type, tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid pTiA6. Twentyone
transgenic lines were selected, and their transgenic nature was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction
(PCR). These lines were inoculated with two A. tumefaciens and three A. vitis strains. Eight lines showed
resistance to octopine-type A. tumefaciens A348. Resistance correlated with the expression of the silencing
genes. However, oncogene silencing was mostly sequence specific because these lines did not abolish
tumorigenesis by A. vitis strains or nopaline-type A. tumefaciens C58
Vitamin D supplementation and breast cancer prevention : a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials
In recent years, the scientific evidence linking vitamin D status or supplementation to breast cancer has grown notably. To investigate the role of vitamin D supplementation on breast cancer incidence, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing vitamin D with placebo or no treatment. We used OVID to search MEDLINE (R), EMBASE and CENTRAL until April 2012. We screened the reference lists of included studies and used the âRelated Articleâ feature in PubMed to identify additional articles. No language restrictions were applied. Two reviewers independently extracted data on methodological quality, participants, intervention, comparison and outcomes. Risk Ratios and 95% Confident Intervals for breast cancer were pooled using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 test. In sensitivity analysis, we assessed the impact of vitamin D dosage and mode of administration on treatment effects. Only two randomized controlled trials fulfilled the pre-set inclusion criteria. The pooled analysis included 5372 postmenopausal women. Overall, Risk Ratios and 95% Confident Intervals were 1.11 and 0.74â1.68. We found no evidence of heterogeneity. Neither vitamin D dosage nor mode of administration significantly affected breast cancer risk. However, treatment efficacy was somewhat greater when vitamin D was administered at the highest dosage and in combination with calcium (Risk Ratio 0.58, 95% Confident Interval 0.23â1.47 and Risk Ratio 0.93, 95% Confident Interval 0.54â1.60, respectively). In conclusions, vitamin D use seems not to be associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer development in postmenopausal women. However, the available evidence is still limited and inadequate to draw firm conclusions. Study protocol code: FARM8L2B5L
The effect of peer-group size on the delivery of feedback in basic life support refresher training: a cluster randomized controlled trial
ChromaSig: A Probabilistic Approach to Finding Common Chromatin Signatures in the Human Genome
Computational methods to identify functional genomic elements using genetic information have been very successful in determining gene structure and in identifying a handful of cis-regulatory elements. But the vast majority of regulatory elements have yet to be discovered, and it has become increasingly apparent that their discovery will not come from using genetic information alone. Recently, high-throughput technologies have enabled the creation of information-rich epigenetic maps, most notably for histone modifications. However, tools that search for functional elements using this epigenetic information have been lacking. Here, we describe an unsupervised learning method called ChromaSig to find, in an unbiased fashion, commonly occurring chromatin signatures in both tiling microarray and sequencing data. Applying this algorithm to nine chromatin marks across a 1% sampling of the human genome in HeLa cells, we recover eight clusters of distinct chromatin signatures, five of which correspond to known patterns associated with transcriptional promoters and enhancers. Interestingly, we observe that the distinct chromatin signatures found at enhancers mark distinct functional classes of enhancers in terms of transcription factor and coactivator binding. In addition, we identify three clusters of novel chromatin signatures that contain evolutionarily conserved sequences and potential cis-regulatory elements. Applying ChromaSig to a panel of 21 chromatin marks mapped genomewide by ChIP-Seq reveals 16 classes of genomic elements marked by distinct chromatin signatures. Interestingly, four classes containing enrichment for repressive histone modifications appear to be locally heterochromatic sites and are enriched in quickly evolving regions of the genome. The utility of this approach in uncovering novel, functionally significant genomic elements will aid future efforts of genome annotation via chromatin modifications
Prognostic impact of immunohistochemical expression of CK7 and CK20 in curatively resected ampulla of Vater cancer
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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