bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Progranulin (GP88) tumor tissue expression is associated with increased risk of recurrence in breast cancer patients diagnosed with estrogen receptor positive invasive ductal carcinoma
Authors: Serrero Ginette , Hawkins Douglas M , Yue Binbin , Ioffe Olga , Bejarano Pablo , Phillips Jeffrey T , Head Jonathan F , Elliott Robert L , Tkaczuk Katherine R , Godwin Andrew K , Weaver JoEllen , Kim Wes E 
Published: February 2012

Abstract
Introduction
GP88 (progranulin) has been implicated in tumorigenesis and resistance to anti-estrogen therapies for estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer. Previous pathological studies showed that GP88 is expressed in invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), but not in normal mammary epithelial tissue, benign lesions or lobular carcinoma. Based on these results, the present study examines GP88 prognostic significance in association with recurrence and death risks for ER+ IDC patients.

Methods
Two retrospective multi-site clinical studies examined GP88 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis of paraffin-embedded breast tumor tissue sections from ER+ IDC patients (lymph node positive and negative, stage 1 to 3) in correlation with patients' survival outcomes. The training study established a GP88 cut-off value associated with decreased disease-free (DFS) and overall (OS) survivals. The validation study verified the GP88 cut-off value and compared GP88 prognostic information with other prognostic factors, particularly tumor size, grade, disease stage and lymph node status in multivariate analysis.

Results
GP88 expression is associated with a statistically significant increase in recurrence risk for ER+ IDC patients. The training study established that GP88 3+ score was associated with decreased DFS (P = 0.0004) and OS (P = 0.0036). The independent validation study verified that GP88 3+ score was associated with a 5.9-fold higher hazard of disease recurrence and a 2.5-fold higher mortality hazard compared to patients with tumor GP88 < 3+. GP88 remained an independent risk predictor after considering age, ethnicity, nodal status, tumor size, tumor grade, disease stage, progesterone receptor expression and treatments.

Conclusions
The survival factor GP88 is a novel prognostic biomarker, predictive of recurrence risk and increased mortality for non-metastatic ER+ IDC patients. Of importance, our data show that GP88 continues to be a prognostic factor even after five years. These results also provide evidence that GP88 provides prognostic information independent of tumor and clinical characteristics and would support prospective study to examine whether GP88 expression could help stratify patients with ER+ tumors for adjuvant therapy.
Scaling of wingbeat frequency with body mass in bats and limits to maximum bat size
Authors: Norberg Ulla M. Lindhe , Norberg R. Åke 
Published: February 2012

SUMMARYThe ability to fly opens up ecological opportunities but flight mechanics and muscle energetics impose constraints, one of which is that the maximum body size must be kept below a rather low limit. The muscle power available for flight increases in proportion to flight muscle mass and wingbeat frequency. The maximum wingbeat frequency attainable among increasingly large animals decreases faster than the minimum frequency required, so eventually they coincide, thereby defining the maximum body mass at which the available power just matches up to the power required for sustained aerobic flight. Here, we report new wingbeat frequency data for 27 morphologically diverse bat species representing nine families, and additional data from the literature for another 38 species, together spanning a range from 2.0 to 870 g. For these species, wingbeat frequency decreases with increasing body mass as Mb–0.26. We filmed 25 of our 27 species in free flight outdoors, and for these the wingbeat frequency varies as Mb–0.30. These exponents are strikingly similar to the body mass dependency Mb–0.27 among birds, but the wingbeat frequency is higher in birds than in bats for any given body mass. The downstroke muscle mass is also a larger proportion of the body mass in birds. We applied these empirically based scaling functions for wingbeat frequency in bats to biomechanical theories about how the power required for flight and the power available converge as animal size increases. To this end we estimated the muscle mass-specific power required for the largest flying extant bird (12–16 kg) and assumed that the largest potential bat would exert similar muscle mass-specific power. Given the observed scaling of wingbeat frequency and the proportion of the body mass that is made up by flight muscles in birds and bats, we estimated the maximum potential body mass for bats to be 1.1–2.3 kg. The largest bats, extinct or extant, weigh 1.6 kg. This is within the range expected if it is the bat characteristic flight muscle mass and wingbeat frequency that limit the maximum body mass in bats. It is only a tenth the mass of the largest flying extant bird.
Papiliochrome II pigment reduces the angle dependency of structural wing colouration innireusgroup papilionids
Authors: Wilts Bodo D. , Trzeciak Tomasz M. , Vukusic Peter , Stavenga Doekele G. 
Published: February 2012

SUMMARYThe wings of four papilionid butterfly species of the nireus group, Papilio bromius, P. epiphorbas, P. nireus and P. oribazus, are marked by blue-green coloured bands surrounded by black margins. The cover scales in the coloured bands contain a violet-absorbing, blue-fluorescing pigment. The fluorescence and absorbance spectra of the nireus group wings are very similar to those of the wings of the Japanese yellow swallowtail, Papilio xuthus, and thus the pigment is presumably papiliochrome II. The scale structures of P.xuthus are arranged irregularly, and both the fluorescence and light reflection are diffuse. In the nireus papilionids, the spatial fluorescence distribution of the scales is also diffuse, but the reflection is specular. The scales have a multilayered structure, consisting of two main laminae. We show that the papiliochrome II pigment in the upper lamina of the scales functions as a violet-blocking long-pass filter in front of the lower lamina, thus limiting the reflectance spectrum to the blue-green wavelength range. Optical modelling showed that the papiliochrome II filter effectively removes the angle dependency of the reflectance spectra – that is, it reduces the wing iridescence. The contribution of the fluorescence signal to the visual appearance is minor.
Copper and zinc detoxification in Gammarus pulex (L.)
Authors: Khan Farhan R. , Bury Nicolas R. , Hogstrand Christer 
Published: February 2012

SUMMARY
To negate the toxicity of labile intracellular metals, some aquatic organisms partition metals into specific subcellular locations for detoxification, namely the soluble heat-stable cytosol and insoluble metal-rich granules. The aim of the present study was to characterise these subcellular storage sites in the freshwater crustacean Gammarus pulex (Linnaeus) following in situ exposures upstream (Drym, low metal) and downstream (Relubbus, elevated metal) of copper- and zinc-rich inflows into the River Hayle (Cornwall, UK). In the cytosol of gammarids exposed at Relubbus, copper and zinc associated to a 7.5-kDa metallothionein-like protein (MTLP) that was largely absent from gammarids prior to exposure. Exposure at Relubbus caused MTLP concentrations to increase 4- to 5-fold between days 2 and 4, indicating an induction response to increased labile intracellular metal. On day 16, spherical calcium-rich granules (0.5–2.5 μmol l–1) were visualised and analysed in the posterior caeca of gammarids exposed at both sites. Following exposure at Relubbus, granules contained trace amounts of copper, but zinc was absent. Granules in gammarids exposed at Drym contained no detectable copper or zinc. Granule formation appeared to be independent of exposure. Within the posterior caeca, granules have been associated with calcium storage during the crustacean molt, rather than in detoxification of trace metals. However, the granular copper burden appeared to follow environmental Cu availabilities. Thus, we describe Cu sequestration within molt-cycle calcium storage granules. As both MTLP concentrations and granule formation in crustaceans are affected upon by molting, we hypothesise that detoxification might impact upon this existing process.
Alteration of mitochondrial efficiency affects oxidative balance, development and growth in frog (Rana temporaria) tadpoles
Authors: Salin Karine , Luquet Emilien , Rey Benjamin , Roussel Damien , Voituron Yann 
Published: February 2012

SUMMARY
Mitochondria are known to play a central role in life history processes, being the main source of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which promote oxidative constraint. Surprisingly, although the main role of the mitochondria is to produce ATP, the plasticity of mitochondrial ATP generation has received little attention in life history studies. Yet, mitochondrial energy transduction represents the physiological link between environmental resources and energy allocated to animal performance. Studying both facets of mitochondrial functioning (ATP and ROS production) would allow better understanding of the proximate mechanisms underlying life history. We have experimentally modulated the mitochondrial capacity to generate ROS and ATP during larval development of Rana temporaria tadpoles, via chronic exposure (34 days) to a mitochondrial uncoupler (2,4-dinitrophenol, dNP). The aim was to better understand the impact of mitochondrial uncoupling on both responses in terms of oxidative balance, energy input (oxygen and feeding consumption) and energy output (growth and development of the tadpole). Exposure to 2,4-dNP reduced mitochondrial ROS generation, total antioxidant defences and oxidative damage in treated tadpoles compared with controls. Despite the beneficial effect of dNP on oxidative status, development and growth rates of treated tadpoles were lower than those in the control group. Treatment of tadpoles with 2,4-dNP promoted a mild mitochondrial uncoupling and enhanced metabolic rate. These tadpoles did not increase their food consumption, and thus failed to compensate for the energy loss elicited by the decrease in the efficiency of ATP production. These data suggest that the cost of ATP production, rather than the oxidative balance, is the parameter that constrains growth/development of tadpoles, highlighting the central role of energy transduction in larval performance.
Dietary protein quality differentially regulates trypsin enzymes at the secretion and transcription level in Panulirus argus by distinct signaling pathways
Authors: Perera Erick , Rodríguez-Viera Leandro , Rodríguez-Casariego Javier , Fraga Iliana , Carrillo Olimpia , Martínez-Rodríguez Gonzalo , Mancera Juan M. 
Published: February 2012

SUMMARY
The effects of pelleted diets with different protein composition (fish, squid or soybean meals as main protein sources) on trypsin secretion and expression were studied in the lobster Panulirus argus. Trypsin secretion was shown to be maximal 4 h after ingestion. At this time, fish- and squid-based diets induced trypsin secretion, as well as up-regulation of the major trypsin isoform at the transcription level. While fish- and squid-based diets elicited a prandial response, soybean-based diet failed to stimulate the digestive gland to secrete trypsin into the gastric fluid or induce trypsin expression above the levels observed in fasting lobsters. In vitro assays showed that intact proteins rather than protein hydrolysates stimulate trypsin secretion in the lobster. However, the signal for trypsin transcription appears to be different to that for secretion and is probably mediated by the appearance of free amino acids in the digestive gland, suggesting a stepwise regulation of trypsin enzymes during digestion. We conclude that trypsin enzymes in P. argus are regulated at the transcription and secretion level by the quality of dietary proteins through two distinct signaling pathways. Our results indicate that protein digestion efficiency in spiny lobsters can be improved by selecting appropriated protein sources. However, other factors like the poor solubility of dietary proteins in dry diets could hamper further enhancement of digestion efficiency.
Aging modulates cuticular hydrocarbons and sexual attractiveness inDrosophila melanogaster
Authors: Kuo Tsung-Han , Yew Joanne Y. , Fedina Tatyana Y. , Dreisewerd Klaus , Dierick Herman A. , Pletcher Scott D. 
Published: February 2012

SUMMARYAttractiveness is a major component of sexual selection that is dependent on sexual characteristics, such as pheromone production, which often reflect an individual’s fitness and reproductive potential. Aging is a process that results in a steady decline in survival and reproductive output, yet little is known about its effect on specific aspects of attractiveness. In this report we asked how aging impacts pheromone production and sexual attractiveness in Drosophila melanogaster. Evidence suggests that key pheromones in Drosophila are produced as cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC), whose functions in attracting mates and influencing behavior have been widely studied. We employed gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry to show that the composition of D. melanogaster CHC is significantly affected by aging in both sexes and that these changes are robust to different genetic backgrounds. Aging affected the relative levels of many individual CHC, and it shifted overall hydrocarbon profiles to favor compounds with longer chain lengths. We also show that the observed aging-related changes in CHC profiles are responsible for a significant reduction in sexual attractiveness. These studies illuminate causal links among pheromones, aging and attractiveness and suggest that CHC production may be an honest indicator of animal health and fertility.
Cancelled Surgeries and Payment by Results in the English National Health Service
Authors: McIntosh Bryan , Cookson Graham , Jones Simon 
Published: February 2012

Objectives To model the frequency of ‘last minute’ cancellations of planned elective procedures in the English NHS with respect to the patient and provider factors that led to these cancellations. Methods A dataset of 5,288,604 elective patients spell in the English NHS from January 1st, 2007 to December 31st, 2007 was extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics. A binary dependent variable indicating whether or not a patient had a Health Resource Group coded as S22 - ‘Planned elective procedure not carried out’ - was modeled using a probit regession estimated via maximum likelihood including patient, case and hospital level covariates. Results Longer waiting times and being admitted on a Monday were associated with a greater rate of cancelled procedures. Male patients, patients from lower socioeconomic groups and older patients had higher rates of cancelled procedures. There was significant variation in cancellation rates between hospitals; Foundation Trusts and private facilities had the lowest cancellation rates. Conclusions Further research is needed on why Foundation Trusts exhibit lower cancellation rates. Hospitals with relatively high cancellation rates should be encouraged to tackle this problem. Further evidence is needed on whether hospitals are more likely to cancel operations where the procedure tariff is lower than the S22 tariff as this creates a perverse incentive to cancel. Understanding the underlying causes of why male, older and patients from lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to have their operations cancelled is important to inform the appropriate policy response. This research suggests that interventions designed to reduce cancellation rates should be targeted to high-cancellation groups.
Application of sonoelastography to regional anaesthesia: a descriptive study with the Thiel embalmed cadaver model
Authors: Munirama S , McLeod G A , Eisma R , Schwab A , Corner G , Soames R , Cochran S 
Published: February 2012

Introduction Ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia (UGRA) is being used increasingly in patients but varying patient characteristics make it difficult to visualize needles and spread of local anaesthetic fluid. Methods To evaluate the use of elastography for UGRA by performing ultrasound-guided nerve blocks in Thiel embalmed cadavers. Both upper limb and lower limb blocks were performed on cadavers with ultrasound guidance. B-mode and elastography images obtained on split screen were analysed. Results The B-mode images were superior compared with the ultrasound elastography images with respect to the anatomical details; however, dynamic changes such as fluid spread were visualized better with elastography. Conclusion The elastography images also had good dose response to the volume of the injectate implying its usefulness in detecting local anaesthetic spread when low volumes are used as test doses.
Multiple fractures in the elderly
Authors: Clement N. D. , Aitken S. , Duckworth A. D. , McQueen M. M. , Court-Brown C. M. 
Published: February 2012

We present the prevalence of multiple fractures in the elderly in a single catchment population of 780 000 treated over a 12-month period and describe the mechanisms of injury, common patterns of occurrence, management, and the associated mortality rate. A total of 2335 patients, aged ≥ 65 years of age, were prospectively assessed and of these 119 patients (5.1%) presented with multiple fractures. Distal radial (odds ratio (OR) 5.1, p < 0.0001), proximal humeral (OR 2.2, p < 0.0001) and pelvic (OR 4.9, p < 0.0001) fractures were associated with an increased risk of sustaining associated fractures. Only 4.5% of patients sustained multiple fractures after a simple fall, but due to the frequency of falls in the elderly this mechanism resulted in 80.7% of all multiple fractures. Most patients required admission (> 80%), of whom 42% did not need an operation but more than half needed an increased level of care before discharge (54%). The standardised mortality rate at one year was significantly greater after sustaining multiple fractures that included fractures of the pelvis, proximal humerus or proximal femur (p < 0.001). This mortality risk increased further if patients were < 80 years of age, indicating that the existence of multiple fractures after low-energy trauma is a marker of mortality.
Early results of a non-invasive extendible prosthesis for limb-salvage surgery in children with bone tumours
Authors: Hwang N. , Grimer R. J. , Carter S. R. , Tillman R. M. , Abudu A. , Jeys L. M. 
Published: February 2012

We reviewed our initial seven-year experience with a non-invasive extendible prosthesis in 34 children with primary bone tumours. The distal femur was replaced in 25 cases, total femur in five, proximal femur in one and proximal tibia in three. The mean follow-up was 44 months (15 to 86) and 27 patients (79%) remain alive. The prostheses were lengthened by an electromagnetic induction mechanism in an outpatient setting and a mean extension of 32 mm (4 to 80) was achieved without anaesthesia. There were lengthening complications in two children: failed lengthening in one and the formation of scar tissue in the other. Deep infection developed in six patients (18%) and local recurrence in three. A total of 11 patients required further surgery to the leg. Amputation was necessary in five patients (20%) and a two-stage revision in another. There were no cases of loosening, but two patients had implant breakage and required revision. The mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society functional score was 85% (60% to 100%) at last known follow-up. These early results demonstrate that the non-invasive extendible prosthesis allows successful lengthening without surgical intervention, but the high incidence of infection is a cause for concern.
Do forced air patient-warming devices disrupt unidirectional downward airflow?
Authors: Legg A. J. , Cannon T. , Hamer A. J. 
Published: February 2012

Patient warming significantly decreases the risk of surgical site infection. Recently there have been concerns that forced air warming may interfere with unidirectional airflow, potentially posing an increased risk of infection. Our null hypothesis was that forced air and radiant warming devices do not increase the temperature and the number of particles over the surgical site when compared with no warming device. A forced air warming device was compared with a radiant warming device and no warming device as a control. The temperature and number of particles were measured over the surgical site. The theatre was prepared as for a routine lower-limb arthroplasty operation, and the same volunteer was used throughout the study. Forced air warming resulted in a significant mean increase in the temperature (1.1°C vs 0.4°C, p < 0.0001) and number of particles (1038.2 vs 274.8, p = 0.0087) over the surgical site when compared with radiant warming, which raises concern as bacteria are known to require particles for transport.
Responsiveness of the Manchester–Oxford foot questionnaire (MOXFQ) compared with AOFAS, SF-36 and EQ-5D assessments following foot or ankle surgery
Authors: Dawson J. , Boller I. , Doll H. , Lavis G. , Sharp R. , Cooke P. , Jenkinson C. 
Published: February 2012

The responsiveness of the Manchester–Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) was compared with foot/ankle-specific and generic outcome measures used to assess all surgery of the foot and ankle. We recruited 671 consecutive adult patients awaiting foot or ankle surgery, of whom 427 (63.6%) were female, with a mean age of 52.8 years (18 to 89). They independently completed the MOXFQ, Short-Form 36 (SF-36) and EuroQol (EQ-5D) questionnaires pre-operatively and at a mean of nine months (3.8 to 14.4) post-operatively. Foot/ankle surgeons assessed American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores corresponding to four foot/ankle regions. A transition item measured perceived changes in foot/ankle problems post-surgery. Of 628 eligible patients proceeding to surgery, 491 (78%) completed questionnaires and 262 (42%) received clinical assessments both pre- and post-operatively. The regions receiving surgery were: multiple/whole foot in eight (1.3%), ankle/hindfoot in 292 (46.5%), mid-foot in 21 (3.3%), hallux in 196 (31.2%), and lesser toes in 111 (17.7%). Foot/ankle-specific MOXFQ, AOFAS and EQ-5D domains produced larger effect sizes (> 0.8) than any SF-36 domains, suggesting superior responsiveness. In analyses that anchored change in scores and effect sizes to patients’ responses to a transition item about their foot/ankle problems, the MOXFQ performed well. The SF-36 and EQ-5D performed poorly. Similar analyses, conducted within foot-region based sub-groups of patients, found that the responsiveness of the MOXFQ was good compared with the AOFAS. This evidence supports the MOXFQ’s suitability for assessing all foot and ankle surgery.