Partner resources and incidence and survival in two major causes of death

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenny Torssander

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Because people tend to marry social equals – and possibly also because partners affect each other’s health – the social position of one partner is associated with the other partner’s health and mortality. Although this link is fairly well established, the underlying mechanisms are not fully identified. Analyzing disease incidence and survival separately may help us to assess when in the course of the disease a partner’s resources are of most significance. This article addresses the importance of partner’s education, income, employment status, and health for incidence and survival in two major causes of death: cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVD. Based on a sample of Finnish middle-aged and older couples (around 200,000 individuals we show that a partner’s education is more often connected to incidence than to survival, in particular for CVD. Once ill, any direct effect of partner’s education seems to decline: The survival chances after being hospitalized for cancer or CVD are rather associated with partner’s employment status and/or income level when other individual and partner factors are adjusted for. In addition, a partner’s history of poor health predicted higher CVD incidence and, for women, lower cancer survival. The findings suggest that various partner’s characteristics may have different implications for disease and survival, respectively. A wider focus on social determinants of health at the household level, including partner’s social resources, is needed. Keywords: Marital/cohabiting partners, Education, Income, CVD, Cancer, Survival, Finland

Melatonin prevents experimental preterm labor and increases offspring survival.

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Domínguez Rubio, Ana P; Sordelli, Micaela S; Salazar, Ana I; Aisemberg, Julieta; Bariani, María V; Cella, Maximiliano; Rosenstein, Ruth E; Franchi, Ana M

2014-03-01

Preterm delivery is the leading cause of neonatal mortality and contributes to delayed physical and cognitive development in children. At present, there is no efficient therapy to prevent preterm labor. A large body of evidence suggests that intra-amniotic infections may be a significant and potentially preventable cause of preterm birth. This work assessed the effect of melatonin in a murine model of inflammation-associated preterm delivery which mimics central features of preterm infection in humans. For this purpose, preterm labor was induced in BALB/c mice by intraperitoneal injections of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at 10.00 hr (10 μg LPS) and 13.00 hr (20 μg LPS) on day 15 of pregnancy. On day 14 of pregnancy, a pellet of melatonin (25 mg) had been subcutaneously implanted into a group of animals. In the absence of melatonin, a 100% incidence of preterm birth was observed in LPS-treated animals, and the fetuses showed widespread damage. By comparison, treatment with melatonin prevented preterm birth in 50% of the cases, and all pups from melatonin-treated females were born alive and their body weight did not differ from control animals. Melatonin significantly prevented the LPS-induced rises in uterine prostaglandin (PG) E2 , PGF2α, and cyclooxygenase-2 protein levels. In addition, melatonin prevented the LPS-induced increase in uterine nitric oxide (NO) production, inducible NO synthase protein, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) levels. Collectively, our results suggest that melatonin could be a new therapeutic tool to prevent preterm labor and to increase offspring survival. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Increased Survival after Gemfibrozil Treatment of Severe Mouse Influenza▿

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Budd, Alison; Alleva, Lisa; Alsharifi, Mohammed; Koskinen, Aulikki; Smythe, Victoria; Müllbacher, Arno; Wood, Jeff; Clark, Ian

2007-01-01

Gemfibrozil, an agent that inhibits production of proinflammatory cytokines in addition to its clinically useful lipid-lowering activity, increased survival in BALB/c mice that were already ill from infection by influenza virus A/Japan/305/57 (H2N2). Gemfibrozil was administered intraperitoneally once daily from days 4 to 10 after intranasal exposure to the virus. Survival increased from 26% in vehicle-treated mice (n = 50) to 52% in mice given gemfibrozil at 60 mg/kg/day (n = 46) (P = 0.0026). If this principle translates to patients, a drug already approved for human use, albeit by a different route for another purpose, might be adapted relatively fast for use against influenza, conceivably including human infection with a derivative of the avian H5N1 strain. PMID:17562808

Intraseasonal variation in survival and probable causes of mortality in greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus

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Blomberg, Erik J.; Gibson, Daniel; Sedinger, James S.; Casazza, Michael L.; Coates, Peter S.

2013-01-01

The mortality process is a key component of avian population dynamics, and understanding factors that affect mortality is central to grouse conservation. Populations of greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus have declined across their range in western North America. We studied cause-specific mortality of radio-marked sage-grouse in Eureka County, Nevada, USA, during two seasons, nesting (2008-2012) and fall (2008-2010), when survival was known to be lower compared to other times of the year. We used known-fate and cumulative incidence function models to estimate weekly survival rates and cumulative risk of cause-specific mortalities, respectively. These methods allowed us to account for temporal variation in sample size and staggered entry of marked individuals into the sample to obtain robust estimates of survival and cause-specific mortality. We monitored 376 individual sage-grouse during the course of our study, and investigated 87 deaths. Predation was the major source of mortality, and accounted for 90% of all mortalities during our study. During the nesting season (1 April - 31 May), the cumulative risk of predation by raptors (0.10; 95% CI: 0.05-0.16) and mammals (0.08; 95% CI: 0.03-013) was relatively equal. In the fall (15 August - 31 October), the cumulative risk of mammal predation was greater (M(mam) = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.04-0.19) than either predation by raptors (M(rap) = 0.05; 95% CI: 0.00-0.10) or hunting harvest (M(hunt) = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.0-0.06). During both seasons, we observed relatively few additional sources of mortality (e.g. collision) and observed no evidence of disease-related mortality (e.g. West Nile Virus). In general, we found little evidence for intraseasonal temporal variation in survival, suggesting that the nesting and fall seasons represent biologically meaningful time intervals with respect to sage-grouse survival.

Plasmodium Parasitemia Associated With Increased Survival in Ebola Virus–Infected Patients

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Rosenke, Kyle; Adjemian, Jennifer; Munster, Vincent J.; Marzi, Andrea; Falzarano, Darryl; Onyango, Clayton O.; Ochieng, Melvin; Juma, Bonventure; Fischer, Robert J.; Prescott, Joseph B.; Safronetz, David; Omballa, Victor; Owuor, Collins; Hoenen, Thomas; Groseth, Allison; Martellaro, Cynthia; van Doremalen, Neeltje; Zemtsova, Galina; Self, Joshua; Bushmaker, Trenton; McNally, Kristin; Rowe, Thomas; Emery, Shannon L.; Feldmann, Friederike; Williamson, Brandi N.; Best, Sonja M.; Nyenswah, Tolbert G.; Grolla, Allen; Strong, James E.; Kobinger, Gary; Bolay, Fatorma K.; Zoon, Kathryn C.; Stassijns, Jorgen; Giuliani, Ruggero; de Smet, Martin; Nichol, Stuart T.; Fields, Barry; Sprecher, Armand; Massaquoi, Moses; Feldmann, Heinz; de Wit, Emmie

2016-01-01

Background. The ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa has resulted in 28 646 suspected, probable, and confirmed Ebola virus infections. Nevertheless, malaria remains a large public health burden in the region affected by the outbreak. A joint Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institutes of Health diagnostic laboratory was established in Monrovia, Liberia, in August 2014, to provide laboratory diagnostics for Ebola virus. Methods. All blood samples from suspected Ebola virus–infected patients admitted to the Médecins Sans Frontières ELWA3 Ebola treatment unit in Monrovia were tested by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for the presence of Ebola virus and Plasmodium species RNA. Clinical outcome in laboratory-confirmed Ebola virus–infected patients was analyzed as a function of age, sex, Ebola viremia, and Plasmodium species parasitemia. Results. The case fatality rate of 1182 patients with laboratory-confirmed Ebola virus infections was 52%. The probability of surviving decreased with increasing age and decreased with increasing Ebola viral load. Ebola virus–infected patients were 20% more likely to survive when Plasmodium species parasitemia was detected, even after controlling for Ebola viral load and age; those with the highest levels of parasitemia had a survival rate of 83%. This effect was independent of treatment with antimalarials, as this was provided to all patients. Moreover, treatment with antimalarials did not affect survival in the Ebola virus mouse model. Conclusions. Plasmodium species parasitemia is associated with an increase in the probability of surviving Ebola virus infection. More research is needed to understand the molecular mechanism underlying this remarkable phenomenon and translate it into treatment options for Ebola virus infection. PMID:27531847

Increasing Winter Maximal Metabolic Rate Improves Intrawinter Survival in Small Birds.

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Petit, Magali; Clavijo-Baquet, Sabrina; Vézina, François

Small resident bird species living at northern latitudes increase their metabolism in winter, and this is widely assumed to improve their chances of survival. However, the relationship between winter metabolic performance and survival has yet to be demonstrated. Using capture-mark-recapture, we followed a population of free-living black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) over 3 yr and evaluated their survival probability within and among winters. We also measured the size-independent body mass (M s ), hematocrit (Hct), basal metabolic rate (BMR), and maximal thermogenic capacity (Msum) and investigated how these parameters influenced survival within and among winters. Results showed that survival probability was high and constant both within (0.92) and among (0.96) winters. They also showed that while M s , Hct, and BMR had no significant influence, survival was positively related to Msum-following a sigmoid relationship-within but not among winter. Birds expressing an Msum below 1.26 W (i.e., similar to summer levels) had a winter. Our data therefore suggest that black-capped chickadees that are either too slow or unable to adjust their phenotype from summer to winter have little chances of survival and thus that seasonal upregulation of metabolic performance is highly beneficial. This study is the first to document in an avian system the relationship between thermogenic capacity and winter survival, a proxy of fitness.

Plasmodium Parasitemia Associated With Increased Survival in Ebola Virus-Infected Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenke, Kyle; Adjemian, Jennifer; Munster, Vincent J; Marzi, Andrea; Falzarano, Darryl; Onyango, Clayton O; Ochieng, Melvin; Juma, Bonventure; Fischer, Robert J; Prescott, Joseph B; Safronetz, David; Omballa, Victor; Owuor, Collins; Hoenen, Thomas; Groseth, Allison; Martellaro, Cynthia; van Doremalen, Neeltje; Zemtsova, Galina; Self, Joshua; Bushmaker, Trenton; McNally, Kristin; Rowe, Thomas; Emery, Shannon L; Feldmann, Friederike; Williamson, Brandi N; Best, Sonja M; Nyenswah, Tolbert G; Grolla, Allen; Strong, James E; Kobinger, Gary; Bolay, Fatorma K; Zoon, Kathryn C; Stassijns, Jorgen; Giuliani, Ruggero; de Smet, Martin; Nichol, Stuart T; Fields, Barry; Sprecher, Armand; Massaquoi, Moses; Feldmann, Heinz; de Wit, Emmie

2016-10-15

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa has resulted in 28 646 suspected, probable, and confirmed Ebola virus infections. Nevertheless, malaria remains a large public health burden in the region affected by the outbreak. A joint Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institutes of Health diagnostic laboratory was established in Monrovia, Liberia, in August 2014, to provide laboratory diagnostics for Ebola virus. All blood samples from suspected Ebola virus-infected patients admitted to the Médecins Sans Frontières ELWA3 Ebola treatment unit in Monrovia were tested by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for the presence of Ebola virus and Plasmodium species RNA. Clinical outcome in laboratory-confirmed Ebola virus-infected patients was analyzed as a function of age, sex, Ebola viremia, and Plasmodium species parasitemia. The case fatality rate of 1182 patients with laboratory-confirmed Ebola virus infections was 52%. The probability of surviving decreased with increasing age and decreased with increasing Ebola viral load. Ebola virus-infected patients were 20% more likely to survive when Plasmodium species parasitemia was detected, even after controlling for Ebola viral load and age; those with the highest levels of parasitemia had a survival rate of 83%. This effect was independent of treatment with antimalarials, as this was provided to all patients. Moreover, treatment with antimalarials did not affect survival in the Ebola virus mouse model. Plasmodium species parasitemia is associated with an increase in the probability of surviving Ebola virus infection. More research is needed to understand the molecular mechanism underlying this remarkable phenomenon and translate it into treatment options for Ebola virus infection. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2016. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Chemotherapy increases long-term survival in patients with adult medulloblastoma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kocakaya, Selin; Beier, Christoph Patrick; Beier, Dagmar

2016-01-01

chemotherapy first-line survived significantly longer (mOS: 108 mo, 95% CI: 68.6-148.4) than patients treated with radiation alone (mOS: 57 mo, 95% CI: 39.6-74.4) or patients who received chemotherapy at tumor recurrence. This effect was not biased by tumor stage or decade of treatment. Importantly, (neo...... parts of treatment regimes; however, established prognostic factors and data clarifying the role of chemotherapy are missing. METHODS: We investigated 227 publications from 1969-2013, with 907 identifiable, individual patients being available for meta-analysis. Demographic data, risk stratification......)adjuvant chemotherapy also significantly increased the chance for long-term survival (>5 y) compared with radiotherapy alone or chemotherapy at tumor recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis clarifies relevant prognostic factors and suggests that chemotherapy as part of first-line therapy improves overall survival...

Survival in 76 cats with epilepsy of unknown cause: a retrospective study.

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Szelecsenyi, Arlette Cornelia; Giger, Urs; Golini, Lorenzo; Mothersill, Ian; Torgerson, Paul R; Steffen, Frank

2017-11-01

Survival of cats with epilepsy of unknown cause (EUC) has not been reported. Seizure semiology and its relationship to treatment outcome and survival was studied in a population of 76 cats. A questionnaire for seizure semiology was developed based on experimental data. Seizure semiology was characterised by owner interviews at least one year after discharge. Seizures were classified as (1) primary generalised and (2) focal without and (3) with secondary generalisation. Median age at seizure onset was four (range 0.3-18) years. One-third of cats with EUC presented with primary generalised seizures and 78 per cent of those with initially focal seizures progressed to secondary generalised seizures. Clinical signs of generalised seizures included sudden onset of loss of consciousness and tonic-clonic seizures, while cats with focal seizures had unilateral signs. Antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy was initiated in 62 cats. Complete remission rate was 42 per cent and the median survival time was 3.2 (range 1-11) years with or without AED, and 91 per cent were still alive at the time of interview. Neither semiology nor seizure type predicted survival, response to treatment and outcome in cats with EUC. A seizure-free status of more than 12 months was observed in 79 per cent of cats without AED. © British Veterinary Association (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Edema-induced increase in tumour cell survival for 125I and 103Pd prostate permanent seed implants - a bio-mathematical model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yue Ning; Chen Zhe; Nath, Ravinder

2002-01-01

Edema caused by the surgical procedure of prostate seed implantation expands the source-to-point distances within the prostate and hence decreases the dose coverage. The decrease of dose coverage results in an increase in tumour cell survival. To investigate the effects of edema on tumour cell survival, a bio-mathematical model of edema and the corresponding cell killing by continuous low dose rate irradiation (CLDRI) was developed so that tumour cell surviving fractions can be estimated in an edematous prostate for both 125 I and 103 Pd seed implants. The dynamic nature of edema and its resolution were modelled with an exponential function V(T)=V p (1+M exp(-0.693T/T e )) where V p is the prostate volume before implantation, M is the edema magnitude and T e is edema half-life (EHL). The dose rate of a radioactive seed was calculated according to AAPM TG43, i.e. D radical S k Δg(r) φ-bar an /r 2 , where r is the distance between a seed and a given point. The distance r is now a function of time because of edema. The g(r) was approximated as 1/r 0.4 and 1/r 0.8 for 125 I and 103 Pd, respectively. By expanding the mathematical expression of the resultant dose rate in a Taylor series of exponential functions of time, the dose rate was made equivalent to that produced from multiple fictitious radionuclides of different decay constants and strengths. The biologically effective dose (BED) for an edematous prostate implant was then calculated using a generalized Dale equation. The cell surviving fraction was computed as exp(-αBED), where α is the linear coefficient of the survival curve. The tumour cell survival was calculated for both 125 I and 103 Pd seed implants and for different tumour potential doubling time (TPDT) (from 5 days to 30 days) and for edemas of different magnitudes (from 0% to 95%) and edema half-lives (from 4 days to 30 days). Tumour cell survival increased with the increase of edema magnitude and EHL. For a typical edema of a half-life of 10 days

20-year follow-up study of Danish HHT patients-survival and causes of death

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Kjeldsen, Anette; Aagaard, Katrine Saldern; Tørring, Pernille Mathiesen

2016-01-01

in the TGF-β pathway which is responsible for angiogenesis. Modulations of angiogenesis may influence cancer rates. The objective of the study was to evaluate 20-year survival according to HHT subtype, as well as to evaluate differences in causes of death comparing HHT patients and controls. We also wanted......BACKGROUND: Hereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) is a dominantly inheritable disorder, with a wide variety of clinical manifestations due to presence of multiple arteriovenous manifestations. The most common mutations are found in HHT1 (ENG) and HHT2 (ACVRL1) patients, causing alterations...

Veratridine increases the survival of retinal ganglion cells in vitro

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.P.F. Pereira

1997-12-01

Full Text Available Neuronal cell death is an important phenomenon involving many biochemical pathways. This degenerative event has been studied to understand how the cells activate the mechanisms that lead to self-destruction. Target cells and afferent cells play a relevant role in the regulation of natural cell death. We studied the effect of veratridine (1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 µM on the survival of neonatal rat retinal ganglion cells in vitro. Veratridine (3.0 µM, a well-known depolarizing agent that opens the Na+ channel, promoted a two-fold increase in the survival of retinal ganglion cells kept in culture for 48 h. This effect was dose-dependent and was blocked by 1.0 µM tetrodotoxin (a classical voltage-dependent Na+ channel blocker and 30.0 µM flunarizine (a Na+ and Ca2+ channel blocker. These results indicate that electrical activity is also important for the maintenance of retinal ganglion cell survival in vitro

Free Base Lysine Increases Survival and Reduces Metastasis in Prostate Cancer Model.

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Ibrahim-Hashim, Arig; Wojtkowiak, Jonathan W; de Lourdes Coelho Ribeiro, Maria; Estrella, Veronica; Bailey, Kate M; Cornnell, Heather H; Gatenby, Robert A; Gillies, Robert J

2011-11-19

Malignant tumor cells typically metabolize glucose anaerobically to lactic acid even under normal oxygen tension, a phenomenon called aerobic glycolysis or the Warburg effect. This results in increased acid production and the acidification of the extracellular microenvironment in solid tumors. H + ions tend to flow along concentration gradients into peritumoral normal tissue causing extracellular matrix degradation and increased tumor cell motility thus promoting invasion and metastasis. We have shown that reducing this acidity with sodium bicarbonate buffer decreases the metastatic fitness of circulating tumor cells in prostate cancer and other cancer models. Mathematical models of the tumor-host dynamics predicted that buffers with a pka around 7 will be more effective in reducing intra- and peri-tumoral acidosis and, thus, and possibly more effective in inhibiting tumor metastasis than sodium bicarbonate which has a pKa around 6. Here we test this prediction the efficacy of free base lysine; a non-bicarbonate/non-volatile buffer with a higher pKa (~10), on prostate tumor metastases model. Oxygen consumption and acid production rate of PC3M prostate cancer cells and normal prostate cells were determined using the Seahorse Extracellular Flux (XF-96) analyzer. In vivo effect of 200 mM lysine started four days prior to inoculation on inhibition of metastasis was examined in PC3M-LUC-C6 prostate cancer model using SCID mice. Metastases were followed by bioluminescence imaging. PC3M prostate cancer cells are highly acidic in comparison to a normal prostate cell line indicating that reduction of intra- and perit-tumoral acidosis should inhibit metastases formation. In vivo administration of 200 mM free base lysine increased survival and reduced metastasis. PC3M prostate cancer cells are highly glycolytic and produce large amounts of acid when compared to normal prostate cells. Administration of non-volatile buffer decreased growth of metastases and improved survival

Increase of survival of x-irradiated mice by postirradiation injections of a splenic extract prepared from vaccine or endotoxin-treated syngeneic animals

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Tsuneoka, K; Takagi, Y; Shikita, M [National Inst. of Radiological Sciences, Chiba (Japan)

1977-05-01

Spleens of mice which had been treated with E. coli endotoxin or typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine were extracted with isotonic saline. The extract was filtered through an asbestos filter and chromatographed on a Sephadex G-200 column. The fraction which was excluded at around 2.5-void volume (molecular weight, about 20,000) was significantly effective in increasing survival of animals when it was repeatedly injected in mice after x irradiation (600 R). The injection caused an increase of the weight of spleen of the animals with an increased number of endogenous spleen colonies. The result suggests that the life-saving effect of the spleen extract is based on its effect of stimulating repopulation of autochthonous hematopoietic cells in the x-irradiated animals. A similar splenic extract prepared from normal mice had an ambiguous effect on the survival of x-irradiated animals.

Human and Autologous Adipose-derived Stromal Cells Increase Flap Survival in Rats Independently of Host Immune Response

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Toyserkani, Navid Mohamadpour; Jensen, Charlotte Harken; Andersen, Ditte Caroline

2018-01-01

evaluated after 7 days. RESULTS: The mean survival rates for SVF treatment regardless of human or autologous origin were significantly increased as compared with the control group. Adipose stem/stromal cell and SVF lysate injection did not increase flap survival. Vessel density was increased for human...... injections lead to increased vessel density, but it did not necessarily lead to increased flap survival. Further research should elaborate which molecular events make SVF treatment more efficacious than ASC....

UK Renal Registry 15th annual report: Chapter 5 survival and causes of death of UK adult patients on renal replacement therapy in 2011: national and centre-specific analyses.

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Steenkamp, Retha; Shaw, Catriona; Feest, Terry

2013-01-01

These analyses examine a) survival from the start of renal replacement therapy (RRT) based on the total incident UK RRT population reported to the UK Renal Registry, b) survival of prevalent patients. Changes in survival between 1997 and 2011 are also reported. Survival was calculated for both incident and prevalent patients on RRT and compared between the UK countries after adjustment for age. Survival of incident patients (starting RRT during 2010) was calculated both from the start of RRT and from 90 days after starting RRT, both with and without censoring at transplantation. Prevalent dialysis patients were censored at transplantation; this means that the patient is considered alive up to the point of transplantation, but the patient's status post-transplant is not considered. Both Kaplan-Meier and Cox adjusted models were used to calculate survival. Causes of death were analysed for both groups. The relative risk of death was calculated compared with the general UK population. The unadjusted 1 year after 90 day survival for patients starting RRT in 2010 was 87.3%, representing an increase from the previous year (86.6%). In incident patients aged 18-64 years, the unadjusted 1 year survival had risen from 86.0% in patients starting RRT in 1997 to 92.6% in patients starting RRT in 2010 and for those aged ≥65 it had increased from 63.9% to 77.0% over the same period. The age-adjusted one year survival (adjusted to age 60) of prevalent dialysis patients increased from 88.1% in the 2001 cohort to 89.8% in the 2010 cohort. Prevalent diabetic patient one year survival rose from 82.1% in the 2002 cohort to 84.7% in the 2010 cohort. The age-standardised mortality ratio for prevalent RRT patients compared with the general population was 18 for age group 30-34 and 2.5 at age 85+ years. In the prevalent RRT dialysis population, cardiovascular disease accounted for 22% of deaths, infection and treatment withdrawal 18% each and 25% were recorded as other causes of death

Equity and child-survival strategies.

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Mulholland, Ek; Smith, L; Carneiro, I; Becher, H; Lehmann, D

2008-05-01

Recent advances in child survival have often been at the expense of increasing inequity. Successive interventions are applied to the same population sectors, while the same children in other sectors consistently miss out, leading to a trend towards increasing inequity in child survival. This is particularly important in the case of pneumonia, the leading cause of child death, which is closely linked to poverty and malnutrition, and for which effective community-based case management is more difficult to achieve than for other causes of child death. The key strategies for the prevention of childhood pneumonia are case management, mainly through Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), and immunization, particularly the newer vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and pneumococcus. There is a tendency to introduce both interventions into communities that already have access to basic health care and preventive services, thereby increasing the relative disadvantage experienced by those children without such access. Both strategies can be implemented in such a way as to decrease rather than increase inequity. It is important to monitor equity when introducing child-survival interventions. Economic poverty, as measured by analyses based on wealth quintiles, is an important determinant of inequity in health outcomes but in some settings other factors may be of greater importance. Geography and ethnicity can both lead to failed access to health care, and therefore inequity in child survival. Poorly functioning health facilities are also of major importance. Countries need to be aware of the main determinants of inequity in their communities so that measures can be taken to ensure that IMCI, new vaccine implementation and other child-survival strategies are introduced in an equitable manner.

Increasing maternal healthcare use in Rwanda: implications for child nutrition and survival.

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Pierce, Hayley; Heaton, Tim B; Hoffmann, John

2014-04-01

Rwanda has made great progress in improving maternal utilization of health care through coordination of external aid and more efficient health policy. Using data from the 2005 and 2010 Rwandan Demographic and Health Surveys, we examine three related questions regarding the impact of expansion of health care in Rwanda. First, did the increased use of health center deliveries apply to women across varying levels of education, economic status, and area of residency? Second, did the benefits associated with being delivered at a health center diminish as utilization became more widespread? Finally, did inequality in child outcomes decline as a result of increased health care utilization? Propensity score matching was used to address the selectivity that arises when choosing to deliver at a hospital. In addition, the regression models include a linear model to predict child nutritional status and Cox regression to predict child survival. The analysis shows that the largest increases in delivery at a health center occur among less educated, less wealthy, and rural Rwandan women. In addition, delivery at a health center is associated with better nutritional status and survival and the benefit is not diminished following the dramatic increase in use of health centers. Finally, educational, economic and residential inequality in child survival and nutrition did not decline. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increased risk of all-cause mortality and renal graft loss in stable renal transplant recipients with hyperparathyroidism.

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Pihlstrøm, Hege; Dahle, Dag Olav; Mjøen, Geir; Pilz, Stefan; März, Winfried; Abedini, Sadollah; Holme, Ingar; Fellström, Bengt; Jardine, Alan G; Holdaas, Hallvard

2015-02-01

Hyperparathyroidism is reported in 10% to 66% of renal transplant recipients (RTR). The influence of persisting hyperparathyroidism on long-term clinical outcomes in RTR has not been examined in a large prospective study. We investigated the association between baseline parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels and major cardiovascular events, renal graft loss, and all-cause mortality by Cox Proportional Hazard survival analyses in 1840 stable RTR derived from the Assessment of LEscol in Renal Transplantation trial. Patients were recruited in a mean of 5.1 years after transplantation, and follow-up time was 6 to 7 years. Significant associations between PTH and all 3 outcomes were found in univariate analyses. When adjusting for a range of plausible confounders, including measures of renal function and serum mineral levels, PTH remained significantly associated with all-cause mortality (4% increased risk per 10 units; P=0.004), and with graft loss (6% increased risk per 10 units; PHyperparathyroidism is an independent, potentially remediable, risk factor for renal graft loss and all-cause mortality in RTR.

Survival in systemic lupus erythematosus, 1995-2010

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Voss, A; Laustrup, H; Hjelmborg, J

2013-01-01

ObjectiveThe objective of this paper is to investigate survival and causes of death in a Danish lupus population.MethodsTwo hundred and fifteen SLE patients (94% Caucasians) were followed prospectively for up to 16 years. Thirty-eight patients died. Survival rate and causes of death were analysed......%) and malignancies (13%). Deaths due to infections and active SLE were rare and predominated within the first seven years after diagnosis and before age 40, while cardiovascular deaths prevailed after 20 years' follow-up.ConclusionThis study shows that despite progress in lupus management, including direct access...... to specialized hospital care and increased use of hydroxychloroquine, mortality in lupus patients is still increased. Main causes of death were active disease and infections among the young and newly diagnosed, while cardiovascular deaths prevailed in longstanding disease....

Increasing Disadvantages in Cancer Survival in New Zealand Compared to Australia, between 2000-05 and 2006-10.

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J Mark Elwood

Full Text Available New Zealand has lower cancer survival compared to its neighbour Australia. If this were due to long established differences between the two patient populations, it might be expected to be either constant in time, or decreasing, as improving health services deals with inequities. In this study we compared trends in relative cancer survival ratios in New Zealand and Australia between 2000-05 and 2006-10, using data from the New Zealand Cancer Registry and the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare. Over this period, Australia showed significant improvements (6.0% in men, 3.0% in women in overall 5-year cancer survival, with substantial increases in survival from major cancer sites such as lung, bowel, prostate, and breast cancers. New Zealand had only a 1.8% increase in cancer survival in men and 1.3% in women, with non-significant changes in survival from lung and bowel cancers, although there were increases in survival from prostate and breast cancers. For all cancers combined, and for lung and bowel cancer, the improvements in survival and the greater improvements in Australia were mainly in 1-year survival, suggesting factors related to diagnosis and presentation. For breast cancer, the improvements were similar in each country and seen in survival after the first year. The findings underscore the need to accelerate the efforts to improve early diagnosis and optimum treatment for New Zealand cancer patients to catch up with the progress in Australia.

Long-term survival and causes of death in patients with ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome without obstructive coronary artery disease

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Andersson, Hedvig Bille; Pedersen, Frants; Engstrøm, Thomas

2018-01-01

Aims: We aimed to study survival and causes of death in patients with ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (STE-ACS) with and without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods and results: We included 4793 consecutive patients with STE-ACS triaged for acute coronary angiography at a larg...... than patients with obstructive CAD. Causes of death were less often cardiovascular. This suggests that STE-ACS patients without obstructive CAD warrant medical attention and close follow-up.......Aims: We aimed to study survival and causes of death in patients with ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (STE-ACS) with and without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods and results: We included 4793 consecutive patients with STE-ACS triaged for acute coronary angiography at a large...

Fifteen-Year Biochemical Relapse-Free Survival, Cause-Specific Survival, and Overall Survival Following I125 Prostate Brachytherapy in Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer: Seattle Experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sylvester, John E.; Grimm, Peter D.; Wong, Jason; Galbreath, Robert W.; Merrick, Gregory; Blasko, John C.

2011-01-01

Purpose: To report 15-year biochemical relapse-free survival (BRFS), cause-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) outcomes of patients treated with I 125 brachytherapy monotherapy for clinically localized prostate cancer early in the Seattle experience. Methods and Materials: Two hundred fifteen patients with clinically localized prostate cancer were consecutively treated from 1988 to 1992 with I 125 monotherapy. They were prospectively followed as a tight cohort. They were evaluated for BRFS, CSS, and OS. Multivariate analysis was used to evaluate outcomes by pretreatment clinical prognostic factors. BRFS was analyzed by the Phoenix (nadir + 2 ng/mL) definition. CSS and OS were evaluated by chart review, death certificates, and referring physician follow-up notes. Gleason scoring was performed by general pathologists at a community hospital in Seattle. Time to biochemical failure (BF) was calculated and compared by Kaplan-Meier plots. Results: Fifteen-year BRFS for the entire cohort was 80.4%. BRFS by D'Amico risk group classification cohort analysis was 85.9%, 79.9%, and 62.2% for low, intermediate, and high-risk patients, respectively. Follow-up ranged from 3.6 to 18.4 years; median follow-up was 15.4 years for biochemically free of disease patients. Overall median follow-up was 11.7 years. The median time to BF in those who failed was 5.1 years. CSS was 84%. OS was 37.1%. Average age at time of treatment was 70 years. There was no significant difference in BRFS between low and intermediate risk groups. Conclusion: I 125 monotherapy results in excellent 15-year BRFS and CSS, especially when taking into account the era of treatment effect.

Cancer survival among Alaska Native people.

Science.gov (United States)

Nash, Sarah H; Meisner, Angela L W; Zimpelman, Garrett L; Barry, Marc; Wiggins, Charles L

2018-03-26

Recent cancer survival trends among American Indian and Alaska Native (AN) people are not well understood; survival has not been reported among AN people since 2001. This study examined cause-specific survival among AN cancer patients for lung, colorectal, female breast, prostate, and kidney cancers. It evaluated whether survival differed between cancers diagnosed in 1992-2002 (the earlier period) and cancers diagnosed in 2003-2013 (the later period) and by the age at diagnosis (<65 vs ≥65 years), stage at diagnosis (local or regional/distant/unknown), and sex. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate univariate and multivariate-adjusted cause-specific survival for each cancer. An improvement was observed in 5-year survival over time from lung cancer (hazard ratio [HR] for the later period vs the earlier period, 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.72-0.97), and a marginally nonsignificant improvement was observed for colorectal cancer (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.66-1.01). Site-specific differences in survival were observed by age and stage at diagnosis. This study presents the first data on cancer survival among AN people in almost 2 decades. During this time, AN people have experienced improvements in survival from lung and colorectal cancers. The reasons for these improvements may include increased access to care (including screening) as well as improvements in treatment. Improving cancer survival should be a priority for reducing the burden of cancer among AN people and eliminating cancer disparities. Cancer 2018. © 2018 American Cancer Society. © 2018 American Cancer Society.

Cell Survival in irradiation mouse intestine is increased by DNA-Binding radioprotectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coultas, P.; Martin, R.

1996-01-01

Crypt survival in the mouse intestine has been used to examine effects of bisbenzimide radioprotectors. Intravenous delivery has been used for the present study in which the effects of methyl proamine (MP), a second generation Hoechst 33342 analogue have been examined. Recent results using the lung model suggest that MP is both more potent as a protector and less toxic than H 33342. The rapid nature of the crypt microcolony survival assay in mouse intestine provides an efficient way to examining factors which could impinge on the extent of radioprotection, for example, the interval between protector administration and radiation exposure. The data clearly show that for MP at 100 mg/kg, there is substantially increased crypt survival equivalent to a dose modification of about 1.33. The crypt scoring methods used indicate that protection is throughout the small intestine and preliminary data indicate that colon is also protected to a similar or slightly greater extent

Increasing survival time decreases the cost-effectiveness of using "test & treat'' to eliminate HIV epidemics.

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Wagner, Bradley G; Coburn, Brian J; Blower, Sally

2013-01-01

Treating HIV-infected individuals reduces their viral load, consequently increasing their survival time and decreasing their infectivity. It has been proposed that universal testing and treatment (i.e., universal "test & treat'') could lead to HIV elimination and would be extremely cost-effective. It is now being debated whether to use a universal "test & treat'' approach in the "real-world'' as a prevention strategy to control HIV epidemics. However current modeling predictions of the impact, and cost-effectiveness, of universal `"est & treat'' strategies are based on an unrealistically short survival time for treated individuals. Here we use mathematical modeling and a longer, more realistic, survival time. We model the potential impact of a universal "test & treat'' strategy in South Africa. Our results show that increasing the length of the survival time on treatment, although beneficial to individuals, reduces the probability of eliminating HIV and decreases the cost-effectiveness of using universal "test & treat'' strategies. Therefore our results show that individual-level benefits and public health benefits will conflict when using "test &treat'' strategies to reduce HIV transmission.

Increase of Power System Survivability with the Decision Support Tool CRIPS Based on Network Planning and Simulation Program PSS®SINCAL

Science.gov (United States)

Schwaegerl, Christine; Seifert, Olaf; Buschmann, Robert; Dellwing, Hermann; Geretshuber, Stefan; Leick, Claus

The increased interconnection and automation of critical infrastructures enlarges the complexity of the dependency structures and - as consequence - the danger of cascading effects, e.g. causing area-wide blackouts in power supply networks that are currently after deregulation operated closer to their limits. New tools or an intelligent combination of existing approaches are required to increase the survivability of critical infrastructures. Within the IRRIIS project the expert system CRIPS was developed based on network simulations realised with PSS®SINCAL, an established tool to support the analysis and planning of electrical power, gas, water or heat networks. CRIPS assesses the current situation in power supply networks analysing the simulation results of the physical network behaviour and recommends corresponding decisions.

Chronic high-fat diet-induced obesity decreased survival and increased hypertrophy of rats with experimental eccentric hypertrophy from chronic aortic regurgitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhahri, Wahiba; Drolet, Marie-Claude; Roussel, Elise; Couet, Jacques; Arsenault, Marie

2014-09-24

The composition of a diet can influence myocardial metabolism and development of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The impact of a high-fat diet in chronic left ventricular volume overload (VO) causing eccentric LVH is unknown. This study examined the effects of chronic ingestion of a high-fat diet in rats with chronic VO caused by severe aortic valve regurgitation (AR) on LVH, function and on myocardial energetics and survival. Male Wistar rats were divided in four groups: Shams on control or high-fat (HF) diet (15 rats/group) and AR rats fed with the same diets (ARC (n = 56) and ARHF (n = 32)). HF diet was started one week before AR induction and the protocol was stopped 30 weeks later. As expected, AR caused significant LV dilation and hypertrophy and this was exacerbated in the ARHF group. Moreover, survival in the ARHF group was significantly decreased compared the ARC group. Although the sham animals on HF also developed significant obesity compared to those on control diet, this was not associated with heart hypertrophy. The HF diet in AR rats partially countered the expected shift in myocardial energy substrate preference usually observed in heart hypertrophy (from fatty acids towards glucose). Systolic function was decreased in AR rats but HF diet had no impact on this parameter. The response to HF diet of different fatty acid oxidation markers as well as the increase in glucose transporter-4 translocation to the plasma membrane compared to ARC was blunted in AR animals compared to those on control diet. HF diet for 30 weeks decreased survival of AR rats and worsened eccentric hypertrophy without affecting systolic function. The expected adaptation of myocardial energetics to volume-overload left ventricle hypertrophy in AR animals seemed to be impaired by the high-fat diet suggesting less metabolic flexibility.

Activation of CHK1 in Supporting Cells Indirectly Promotes Hair Cell Survival

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Azadeh Jadali

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The sensory hair cells of the inner ear are exquisitely sensitive to ototoxic insults. Loss of hair cells after exposure to ototoxic agents causes hearing loss. Chemotherapeutic agents such as cisplatin causes hair cell loss. Cisplatin forms DNA mono-adducts as well as intra- and inter-strand DNA crosslinks. DNA cisplatin adducts are repaired through the DNA damage response. The decision between cell survival and cell death following DNA damage rests on factors that are involved in determining damage tolerance, cell survival and apoptosis. Cisplatin damage on hair cells has been the main focus of many ototoxic studies, yet the effect of cisplatin on supporting cells has been largely ignored. In this study, the effects of DNA damage response in cochlear supporting cells were interrogated. Supporting cells play a major role in the development, maintenance and oto-protection of hair cells. Loss of supporting cells may indirectly affect hair cell survival or maintenance. Activation of the Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase (PI3K signaling was previously shown to promote hair cell survival. To test whether activating PI3K signaling promotes supporting cell survival after cisplatin damage, cochlear explants from the neural subset (NS Cre Pten conditional knockout mice were employed. Deletion of Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog (PTEN activates PI3K signaling in multiple cell types within the cochlea. Supporting cells lacking PTEN showed increased cell survival after cisplatin damage. Supporting cells lacking PTEN also showed increased phosphorylation of Checkpoint Kinase 1 (CHK1 levels after cisplatin damage. Nearest neighbor analysis showed increased numbers of supporting cells with activated PI3K signaling in close proximity to surviving hair cells in cisplatin damaged cochleae. We propose that increased PI3K signaling promotes supporting cell survival through phosphorylation of CHK1 and increased survival of supporting cells indirectly increases hair cell

Francisella tularensis type A Strains Cause the Rapid Encystment of Acanthamoeba castellanii and Survive in Amoebal Cysts for Three Weeks post Infection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

El-Etr, S H; Margolis, J; Monack, D; Robison, R; Cohen, M; Moore, E; Rasley, A

2009-07-28

Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of the zoonotic disease tularemia, has recently gained increased attention due to the emergence of tularemia in geographical areas where the disease has been previously unknown, and the organism's potential as a bioterrorism agent. Although F. tularensis has an extremely broad host range, the bacterial reservoir in nature has not been conclusively identified. In this study, the ability of virulent F. tularensis strains to survive and replicate in the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii was explored. We observe that A. castellanii trophozoites rapidly encyst in response to F. tularensis infection and that this rapid encystment phenotype (REP) is caused by factor(s) secreted by amoebae and/or F. tularensis into the co-culture media. Further, our results indicate that in contrast to LVS, virulent strains of F. tularensis can survive in A. castellanii cysts for at least 3 weeks post infection and that induction of rapid amoeba encystment is essential for survival. In addition, our data indicate that pathogenic F. tularensis strains block lysosomal fusion in A. castellanii. Taken together, these data suggest that the interactions between F. tularensis strains and amoeba may play a role in the environmental persistence of F. tularensis.

Boosted TCA cycle enhances survival of zebrafish to Vibrio alginolyticus infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Man-Jun; Cheng, Zhi-Xue; Jiang, Ming; Zeng, Zao-Hai; Peng, Bo; Peng, Xuan-Xian; Li, Hui

2018-01-01

Vibrio alginolyticus is a waterborne pathogen that infects a wide variety of hosts including fish and human, and the outbreak of this pathogen can cause a huge economic loss in aquaculture. Thus, enhancing host's capability to survive from V. alginolyticus infection is key to fighting infection and this remains still unexplored. In the present study, we established a V. alginolyticus-zebrafish interaction model by which we explored how zebrafish survived from V. alginolyticus infection. We used GC-MS based metabolomic approaches to characterize differential metabolomes between survival and dying zebrafish upon infection. Pattern recognition analysis identified the TCA cycle as the most impacted pathway. The metabolites in the TCA cycle were decreased in the dying host, whereas the metabolites were increased in the survival host. Furthermore, the enzymatic activities of the TCA cycle including pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), α-ketoglutaric dehydrogenase (KGDH) and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) also supported this conclusion. Among the increased metabolites in the TCA cycle, malic acid was the most crucial biomarker for fish survival. Indeed, exogenous malate promoted zebrafish survival in a dose-dependent manner. The corresponding activities of KGDH and SDH were also increased. These results indicate that the TCA cycle is a key pathway responsible for the survival or death in response to infection caused by V. alginolyticus, and highlight the way on development of metabolic modulation to control the infection.

Ciprofloxacin Derivatives Affect Parasite Cell Division and Increase the Survival of Mice Infected with Toxoplasma gondii.

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Erica S Martins-Duarte

Full Text Available Toxoplasmosis, caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, is a worldwide disease whose clinical manifestations include encephalitis and congenital malformations in newborns. Previously, we described the synthesis of new ethyl-ester derivatives of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin with ~40-fold increased activity against T. gondii in vitro, compared with the original compound. Cipro derivatives are expected to target the parasite's DNA gyrase complex in the apicoplast. The activity of these compounds in vivo, as well as their mode of action, remained thus far uncharacterized. Here, we examined the activity of the Cipro derivatives in vivo, in a model of acute murine toxoplasmosis. In addition, we investigated the cellular effects T. gondii tachyzoites in vitro, by immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy (TEM. When compared with Cipro treatment, 7-day treatments with Cipro derivatives increased mouse survival significantly, with 13-25% of mice surviving for up to 60 days post-infection (vs. complete lethality 10 days post-infection, with Cipro treatment. Light microscopy examination early (6 and 24h post-infection revealed that 6-h treatments with Cipro derivatives inhibited the initial event of parasite cell division inside host cells, in an irreversible manner. By TEM and immunofluorescence, the main cellular effects observed after treatment with Cipro derivatives and Cipro were cell scission inhibition--with the appearance of 'tethered' parasites--malformation of the inner membrane complex, and apicoplast enlargement and missegregation. Interestingly, tethered daughter cells resulting from Cipro derivatives, and also Cipro, treatment did not show MORN1 cap or centrocone localization. The biological activity of Cipro derivatives against C. parvum, an apicomplexan species that lacks the apicoplast, is, approximately, 50 fold lower than that in T. gondii tachyzoites, supporting that these compounds targets the apicoplast. Our results

Chemotherapy increases long-term survival in patients with adult medulloblastoma--a literature-based meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kocakaya, Selin; Beier, Christoph Patrick; Beier, Dagmar

2016-03-01

Adult medulloblastoma is a potentially curable malignant entity with an incidence of 0.5-1 per million. Valid data on prognosis, treatment, and demographics are lacking, as most current knowledge stems from retrospective studies. Surgical resection followed by radiotherapy are accepted parts of treatment regimes; however, established prognostic factors and data clarifying the role of chemotherapy are missing. We investigated 227 publications from 1969-2013, with 907 identifiable, individual patients being available for meta-analysis. Demographic data, risk stratification, and treatment of these patients were similar to previous cohorts. The median overall survival (mOS) was 65 months (95% CI: 54.6-75.3) , the 5-year overall survival was 50.9% with 16% of the patients dying more than 5 years after diagnosis. Incomplete resection, clinical and radiological signs for brainstem infiltration, and abstinence from radiotherapy were predictive of worse outcome. Metastatic disease at tumor recurrence was identified as a new prognostic factor, while neither metastasis at initial diagnosis nor desmoplastic/classic histology was correlated with survival. Patients receiving chemotherapy first-line survived significantly longer (mOS: 108 mo, 95% CI: 68.6-148.4) than patients treated with radiation alone (mOS: 57 mo, 95% CI: 39.6-74.4) or patients who received chemotherapy at tumor recurrence. This effect was not biased by tumor stage or decade of treatment. Importantly, (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy also significantly increased the chance for long-term survival (>5 y) compared with radiotherapy alone or chemotherapy at tumor recurrence. This meta-analysis clarifies relevant prognostic factors and suggests that chemotherapy as part of first-line therapy improves overall survival and increases the proportion of patients with long-term survival. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Neuro-Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions

Individual social capital and survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ejlskov, Linda; Mortensen, Rikke N; Overgaard, Charlotte

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: The concept of social capital has received increasing attention as a determinant of population survival, but its significance is uncertain. We examined the importance of social capital on survival in a population study while focusing on gender differences. METHODS: We used data from...... a Danish regional health survey with a five-year follow-up period, 2007-2012 (n = 9288, 53.5% men, 46.5% women). We investigated the association between social capital and all-cause mortality, performing separate analyses on a composite measure as well as four specific dimensions of social capital while...... controlling for covariates. Analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazard models by which hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: For women, higher levels of social capital were associated with lower all-cause mortality regardless of age, socioeconomic status, health...

Total and cause-specific mortality by moderately and markedly increased ferritin concentrations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ellervik, Christina; Marott, Jacob Louis; Tybjærg-Hansen, Anne

2014-01-01

. Stepwise increasing concentrations of ferritin were associated with a stepwise increased risk of premature death overall (log rank, P = 2 × 10(-22)), with median survival of 55 years at ferritin concentrations ≥600 μg/L, 72 years at 400-599 μg/L, 76 years at 200-399 μg/L, and 79 years at ferritin

Landscape‐level patterns in fawn survival across North America

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Gingery, Tess M.; Diefenbach, Duane R.; Wallingford, Bret D.; Rosenberry, Christopher S.

2018-01-01

A landscape‐level meta‐analysis approach to examining early survival of ungulates may elucidate patterns in survival not evident from individual studies. Despite numerous efforts, the relationship between fawn survival and habitat characteristics remains unclear and there has been no attempt to examine trends in survival across landscape types with adequate replication. In 2015–2016, we radiomarked 98 white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns in 2 study areas in Pennsylvania. By using a meta‐analysis approach, we compared fawn survival estimates from across North America using published data from 29 populations in 16 states to identify patterns in survival and cause‐specific mortality related to landscape characteristics, predator communities, and deer population density. We modeled fawn survival relative to percentage of agricultural land cover and deer density. Estimated average survival to 3–6 months of age was 0.414 ± 0.062 (SE) in contiguous forest landscapes (no agriculture) and for every 10% increase in land area in agriculture, fawn survival increased 0.049 ± 0.014. We classified cause‐specific mortality as human‐caused, natural (excluding predation), and predation according to agriculturally dominated, forested, and mixed (i.e., both agricultural and forest cover) landscapes. Predation was the greatest source of mortality in all landscapes. Landscapes with mixed forest and agricultural cover had greater proportions and rates of human‐caused mortalities, and lower proportions and rates of mortality due to predators, when compared to forested landscapes. Proportion and rate of natural deaths did not differ among landscapes. We failed to detect any relationship between fawn survival and deer density. The results highlight the need to consider multiple spatial scales when accounting for factors that influence fawn survival. Furthermore, variation in mortality sources and rates among landscapes indicate the potential for

Depletion of intrinsic expression of Interleukin-8 in prostate cancer cells causes cell cycle arrest, spontaneous apoptosis and increases the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs

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Lokeshwar Bal L

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The progression of all cancers is characterized by increased-cell proliferation and decreased-apoptosis. The androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC is the terminal stage of the disease. Many chemokines and cytokines are suspects to cause this increased tumor cell survival that ultimately leads to resistance to therapy and demise of the host. The AIPC cells, but not androgen-responsive cells, constitutively express abundant amount of the pro-inflammatory chemokine, Interleukin-8 (IL-8. The mechanism of IL-8 mediated survival and therapeutic resistance in AIPC cells is unclear at present. The purpose of this report is to show the pervasive role of IL-8 in malignant progression of androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC and to provide a potential new therapeutic avenue, using RNA interference. Results The functional consequence of IL-8 depletion in AIPC cells was investigated by RNA interference in two IL-8 secreting AIPC cell lines, PC-3 and DU145. The non-IL-8 secreting LNCaP and LAPC-4 cells served as controls. Cells were transfected with RISC-free siRNA (control or validated-pool of IL-8 siRNA. Transfection with 50 nM IL-8 siRNA caused >95% depletion of IL-8 mRNA and >92% decrease in IL-8 protein. This reduction in IL-8 led to cell cycle arrest at G1/S boundary and decreases in cell cycle-regulated proteins: Cyclin D1 and Cyclin B1 (both decreased >50% and inhibition of ERK1/2 activity by >50%. Further, the spontaneous apoptosis was increased by >43% in IL-8 depleted cells, evidenced by increases in caspase-9 activation and cleaved-PARP. IL-8 depletion caused significant decreases in anti-apoptotic proteins, BCL-2, BCL-xL due to decrease in both mRNA and post-translational stability, and increased levels of pro-apoptotic BAX and BAD proteins. More significantly, depletion of intracellular IL-8 increased the cytotoxic activity of multiple chemotherapeutic drugs. Specifically, the cytotoxicity of Docetaxel

Coyote removal, understory cover, and survival of white-tailed deer neonates: Coyote Control and Fawn Survival

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kilgo, John C. [USDA Forest Service; Southern Research Station, New Ellenton, SC (United States); Vukovich, Mark [USDA Forest Service; Southern Research Station, New Ellenton, SC (United States); Ray, H. Scott [USDA Forest Service, Savannah River; New Ellenton, SC (United States); Shaw, Christopher E. [USDA Forest Service; Southern Research Station, New Ellenton, SC (United States); Ruth, Charles [South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources, Columbia, SC (United States)

2014-09-01

Predation by coyotes (Canis latrans) on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) neonates has led to reduced recruitment in many deer populations in southeastern North America. This low recruitment combined with liberal antlerless deer harvest has resulted in declines in some deer populations, and consequently, increased interest in coyote population control. We investigated whether neonate survival increased after coyote removal, whether coyote predation on neonates was additive to other mortality sources, and whether understory vegetation density affected neonate survival. We monitored neonate survival for 4 years prior to (2006–2009) and 3 years during (2010–2012) intensive coyote removal on 3 32-km² units on the United States Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, South Carolina. We removed 474 coyotes (1.63 coyotes/km² per unit per year), reducing coyote abundance by 78% from pre-removal levels. The best model (w_i = 0.927) describing survival probability among 216 radio-collared neonates included a within-year quadratic time trend variable, date of birth, removal treatment, and a varying removal year effect. Under this model, survival differed between pre-treatment and removal periods and it differed among years during the removal period, being >100% greater than pre-treatment survival (0.228) during the first removal year (0.513), similar to pre-treatment survival during the second removal year (0.202), and intermediate during the third removal year (0.431). Despite an initial increase, the overall effect of coyote removal on neonate survival was modest. Mortality rate attributable to coyote predation was lowest during the first removal year (0.357) when survival was greatest, but the mortality rate from all other causes did not differ between the pretreatment period and any year during removals, indicating that coyote predation acted as an additive source of mortality. Survival probability was not related to

Increasing RpoS expression causes cell death in Borrelia burgdorferi.

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Linxu Chen

Full Text Available RpoS, one of the two alternative σ factors in Borrelia burgdorferi, is tightly controlled by multiple regulators and, in turn, determines expression of many critical virulence factors. Here we show that increasing RpoS expression causes cell death. The immediate effect of increasing RpoS expression was to promote bacterial division and as a consequence result in a rapid increase in cell number before causing bacterial death. No DNA fragmentation or degradation was observed during this induced cell death. Cryo-electron microscopy showed induced cells first formed blebs, which were eventually released from dying cells. Apparently blebbing initiated cell disintegration leading to cell death. These findings led us to hypothesize that increasing RpoS expression triggers intracellular programs and/or pathways that cause spirochete death. The potential biological significance of induced cell death may help B. burgdorferi regulate its population to maintain its life cycle in nature.

Impact of chemotherapy relative dose intensity on cause-specific and overall survival for stage I-III breast cancer: ER+/PR+, HER2- vs. triple-negative.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lu; Yu, Qingzhao; Wu, Xiao-Cheng; Hsieh, Mei-Chin; Loch, Michelle; Chen, Vivien W; Fontham, Elizabeth; Ferguson, Tekeda

2018-05-01

To investigate the impact of chemotherapy relative dose intensity (RDI) on cause-specific and overall survival for stage I-III breast cancer: estrogen receptor or progesterone receptor positive, human epidermal-growth factor receptor negative (ER+/PR+ and HER2-) vs. triple-negative (TNBC) and to identify the optimal RDI cut-off points in these two patient populations. Data were collected by the Louisiana Tumor Registry for two CDC-funded projects. Women diagnosed with stage I-III ER+/PR+, HER2- breast cancer, or TNBC in 2011 with complete information on RDI were included. Five RDI cut-off points (95, 90, 85, 80, and 75%) were evaluated on cause-specific and overall survival, adjusting for multiple demographic variables, tumor characteristics, comorbidity, use of granulocyte-growth factor/cytokines, chemotherapy delay, chemotherapy regimens, and use of hormone therapy. Cox proportional hazards models and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were estimated and adjusted by stabilized inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) of propensity score. Of 494 ER+/PR+, HER2- patients and 180 TNBC patients, RDI PR+, HER2- patients, 85% was the only cut-off point at which the low RDI was significantly associated with worse overall survival (HR = 1.93; 95% CI 1.09-3.40). Among TNBC patients, 75% was the cut-off point at which the high RDI was associated with better cause-specific (HR = 2.64; 95% CI 1.09, 6.38) and overall survival (HR = 2.39; 95% CI 1.04-5.51). Higher RDI of chemotherapy is associated with better survival for ER+/PR+, HER2- patients and TNBC patients. To optimize survival benefits, RDI should be maintained ≥ 85% in ER+/PR+, HER2- patients, and ≥ 75% in TNBC patients.

Cause-Specific Mortality in HIV-Positive Patients Who Survived Ten Years after Starting Antiretroviral Therapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trickey, Adam; May, Margaret T; Vehreschild, Jorg-Janne

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To estimate mortality rates and prognostic factors in HIV-positive patients who started combination antiretroviral therapy between 1996-1999 and survived for more than ten years. METHODS: We used data from 18 European and North American HIV cohort studies contributing to the Antiretro......OBJECTIVES: To estimate mortality rates and prognostic factors in HIV-positive patients who started combination antiretroviral therapy between 1996-1999 and survived for more than ten years. METHODS: We used data from 18 European and North American HIV cohort studies contributing...... to the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration. We followed up patients from ten years after start of combination antiretroviral therapy. We estimated overall and cause-specific mortality rate ratios for age, sex, transmission through injection drug use, AIDS, CD4 count and HIV-1 RNA. RESULTS: During 50,593 person...... years 656/13,011 (5%) patients died. Older age, male sex, injecting drug use transmission, AIDS, and low CD4 count and detectable viral replication ten years after starting combination antiretroviral therapy were associated with higher subsequent mortality. CD4 count at ART start did not predict...

Enhanced malignant transformation is accompanied by increased survival recovery after ionizing radiation in Chinese hamster embryo fibroblasts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boothman, D.A.

1994-01-01

Transformed Chinese hamster embryo fibroblasts (CHEF), which gradually increase in tumor-forming ability in nude mice, were isolated from normal diploid CHEF/18 cells. Transformed CHEF cells (i.e., T30-4 > 21-2M3 > 21-2 > normal CHEF/18) showed gradual increases in potentially lethal damage (PLD) survival recovery. β-Lapachone and camptothecin, modulators of topoisomerase I (Topo I) activity, not only prevented survival recovery in normal as well as in tumor cells, but enhanced unscheduled DNA synthesis. These seemingly conflicting results are due to the fact that Topo I activity can be modulated by inhibitors to convert single-stranded DNA lesions into double-stranded breaks. Increases in unscheduled DNA synthesis may result from a continual supply of free ends, on which DNA repair processes may act. Altering Topo I activity with modulators appears to increase X-ray lethality via a DNA lesion modification suicide pathway. Cells down-regulate Topo I immediately after ionizing radiation to prevent Topo I-mediated lesion modification and to enhance survival recovery. 16 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

Outcomes of different bearings in total hip arthroplasty - implant survival, revision causes, and patient-reported outcome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Varnum, Claus

2017-01-01

ceramic-on-ceramic (CoC) THAs comparing them to those of "standard" metal-on-polyethylene (MoP) THAs. Study II: To compare the six-year revision risk for metal-on-metal (MoM) with that for MoP bearings in cementless stemmed THA, and further to study the revision risk for different designs of stemmed Mo...... for the outcome of THA is the type of bearings. This PhD thesis focuses on the influence of different types of bearings on implant survival, revision causes, PROMs, and noises from THA. The aims of the thesis were: Study I: To examine the revision risk and to investigate the causes of revision of cementless......M THAs and the causes of revision. Study III: To examine the association between CoC, MoM, and MoP bearings and both generic and disease-specific PROMs, and furthermore to examine the incidence and types of noises from the three types of bearings and identify the effect of noises on PROM scores. In study...

Survival and cause of death after traumatic spinal cord injury. A long-term epidemiological survey from Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartkopp, A; Brønnum-Hansen, Henrik; Seidenschnur, A M

1997-01-01

Life expectancy among individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI) has remained lower than in the normal population, even with optimal medical management. But significant improvement has been achieved, as will be illustrated in this retrospective study of an unselected group of traumatic survivors...... treatment and were rehabilitated at the centre for Spinal Cord Injured in Hornbaek, Denmark. At the end of the follow-up, 31st December 1992, 236 (197 men and 39 women) had died. The commonest causes of death were lung diseases, particularly pneumonia; suicide; and ischaemic heart disease. Among...... and pneumonia. A significant decrease in the overall mortality was observed from the first (1953-1973) to the second half of the observation period (1972-1992). Similarly the survival curves for both men and women demonstrate that the gap in survival probability between the normal population and the SCI has...

Survival of adult female elk in yellowstone following wolf restoration

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, S.B.; Mech, L.D.; White, P.J.; Sargeant, G.A.

2006-01-01

Counts of northern Yellowstone elk (Cervus elaphus) in northwestern Wyoming and adjacent Montana, USA, have decreased at an average rate of 6-8% per year since wolves (Canis lupus) were reintroduced in 1995. Population growth rates of elk are typically sensitive to variations in adult female survival; populations that are stable or increasing exhibit high adult female survival. We used survival records for 85 radiocollared adult female elk 1-19 years old to estimate annual survival from March 2000 to February 2004. Weighted average annual survival rates were approximately 0.83 (95% CI = 0.77-0.89) for females 1-15 years old and 0.80 (95% CI = 0.73-0.86) for all females. Our estimates were much lower than the rate of 0.99 observed during 1969-1975 when fewer elk were harvested by hunters, wolves were not present, and other predators were less numerous. Of 33 documented deaths included in our analysis, we attributed 11 to hunter harvest, 14 to predation (10 wolf, 2 unknown, 1 cougar [Puma concolor], and 1 bear [Ursus sp.]), 6 to unknown causes, and 2 to winter-kill. Most deaths occurred from December through March. Estimates of cause-specific annual mortality rates were 0.09 (0.05-0.14) for all predators, 0.08 (0.04-0.13) for hunting, and 0.07 (0.03-0.11) for wolves specifically. Wolf-killed elk were typically older (median = 12 yr) than hunter-killed elk (median = 9 yr, P = 0.03). However, elk that winter outside the park where they were exposed to hunting were also younger (median = 7 yr) than elk that we did not observe outside the park (median = 9 yr, P wolves and hunters may reflect characteristics of elk exposed to various causes of mortality, as well as differences in susceptibility. Unless survival rates of adult females increase, elk numbers are likely to continue declining. Hunter harvest is the only cause of mortality that is amenable to management at the present time.

Associations of all-cause mortality with census-based neighbourhood deprivation and population density in Japan: a multilevel survival analysis.

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Tomoki Nakaya

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Despite evidence that neighbourhood conditions affect residents' health, no prospective studies of the association between neighbourhood socio-demographic factors and all-cause mortality have been conducted in non-Western societies. Thus, we examined the effects of areal deprivation and population density on all-cause mortality in Japan. METHODS: We employed census and survival data from the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study, Cohort I (n = 37,455, consisting of middle-aged residents (40 to 59 years at the baseline in 1990 living in four public health centre districts. Data spanned between 1990 and 2010. A multilevel parametric proportional-hazard regression model was applied to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs of all-cause mortality by two census-based areal variables--areal deprivation index and population density--as well as individualistic variables such as socioeconomic status and various risk factors. RESULTS: We found that areal deprivation and population density had moderate associations with all-cause mortality at the neighbourhood level based on the survival data with 21 years of follow-ups. Even when controlling for individualistic socio-economic status and behavioural factors, the HRs of the two areal factors (using quartile categorical variables significantly predicted mortality. Further, this analysis indicated an interaction effect of the two factors: areal deprivation prominently affects the health of residents in neighbourhoods with high population density. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed that neighbourhood socio-demographic factors are significant predictors of all-cause death in Japanese non-metropolitan settings. Although further study is needed to clarify the cause-effect relationship of this association, the present findings suggest that health promotion policies should consider health disparities between neighbourhoods and possibly direct interventions towards reducing mortality in densely

A Decade of Never-smokers Among Lung Cancer Patients-Increasing Trend and Improved Survival.

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Toh, Chee-Keong; Ong, Whee-Sze; Lim, Wan-Teck; Tan, Daniel Shao-Weng; Ng, Quan-Sing; Kanesvaran, Ravindran; Seow, Wei-Jie; Ang, Mei-Kim; Tan, Eng-Huat

2018-03-17

It is not known whether clinicopathologic characteristics, treatment, and survival of never-smokers among lung cancer incident cases have changed over time. We assessed the trend and overall survival (OS) of these patients within our institution during a 10-year period. We reviewed 2 cohorts of non-small-cell lung cancer patients with a diagnosis from 1999 to 2002 and from 2008 to 2011. The patient characteristics and OS were compared by smoking status within each cohort and between the 2 cohorts over time. Of the 992 patients in the 1999-2002 cohort and the 1318 patients in the 2008-2011 cohort, 902 and 1272 had a known smoking status, respectively. The proportion of never-smokers increased from 31% in 1999-2002 to 48% in 2008-2011 (P never-, former-, and current-smokers have remained largely constant over time. A greater proportion of never-smokers had Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0 to 1 and adenocarcinoma. The median OS increased from 15.5 months in 1999-2002 to 24.9 months in 2008-2011 (P = .001) for never-smokers, 12.3 to 15.9 months (P = .150) for former-smokers, and 10.5 to 13.9 months (P = .011) for current-smokers. The larger survival improvement among never-smokers was likely accounted for by the larger increase in never-smokers who were treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors and pemetrexed over time. We found an increasing trend of never-smokers among incident lung cancer cases and improved survival for these patients during a 10-year period. The documentation of smoking status in any national cancer registry is vital to estimate the true incidence of lung cancer among never-smokers over time. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Splenectomy increases the survival time of heart allograft via developing immune tolerance

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2013-01-01

Background The spleen is an active lymphoid organ. The effect of splenectomy on the immune response remains unclear. This study investigated whether splenectomy can induce immune tolerance and has a beneficial role in cardiac allograft. Methods Wistar rats were used for heart donors. The Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats designated as the recipients of heart transplantation (HT) were randomly assigned into four groups: sham, splenectomy, HT, splenectomy + HT. The survival of transplanted hearts was assessed by daily checking of abdominal palpation. At various time points after transplantation, the transplanted hearts were collected and histologically examined; the level of CD4+CD25+ T regulatory lymphocytes (Tregs) and rate of lymphocyte apoptosis (annexin-v+ PI+ cells) in the blood were analyzed by using flow cytometric method. Results 1) Splenectomy significantly prolonged the mean survival time of heart allografts (7 ± 1.1 days and 27 ± 1.5 days for HT and splenectomy + HT, respectively; n = 12-14/group, HT vs. splenectomy + HT, p Splenectomy delayed pathological changes (inflammatory cell infiltration, myocardial damage) of the transplanted hearts in splenectomy + HT rats; 3) The level of CD4+CD25+ Tregs in the blood of splenectomized rats was significantly increased within 7 days (2.4 ± 0.5%, 4.9 ± 1.3% and 5.3 ± 1.0% for sham, splenectomy and splenectomy + HT, respectively; n = 15/group, sham vs. splenectomy or splenectomy + HT, p splenectomy surgery and gradually decreased to baseline level; 4) Splenectomy increased the rate of lymphocyte apoptosis (day 7: 0.3 ± 0.05%, 3.9 ± 0.9% and 4.1 ± 0.9% for sham, splenectomy and splenectomy + HT, respectively; n = 15/group, sham vs. splenectomy or splenectomy + HT, p Splenectomy inhibits the development of pathology and prolongs the survival time of cardiac allograft. The responsible mechanism is associated with induction of immune

Chronic treatment with AMPA receptor potentiator Org 26576 increases neuronal cell proliferation and survival in adult rodent hippocampus.

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Su, Xiaowei W; Li, Xiao-Yuan; Banasr, Mounira; Koo, Ja Wook; Shahid, Mohammed; Henry, Brian; Duman, Ronald S

2009-10-01

Currently available antidepressants upregulate hippocampal neurogenesis and prefrontal gliogenesis after chronic administration, which could block or reverse the effects of stress. Allosteric alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor potentiators (ARPs), which have novel targets compared to current antidepressants, have been shown to have antidepressant properties in neurogenic and behavioral models. This study analyzed the effect of the ARP Org 26576 on the proliferation, survival, and differentiation of neurons and glia in the hippocampus and prelimbic cortex of adult rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats received acute (single day) or chronic (21 day) twice-daily intraperitoneal injections of Org 26576 (1-10 mg/kg). Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry was conducted 24 h or 28 days after the last drug injection for the analysis of cell proliferation or survival, respectively. Confocal immunofluorescence analysis was used to determine the phenotype of surviving cells. Acute administration of Org 26576 did not increase neuronal cell proliferation. However, chronic administration of Org 26576 increased progenitor cell proliferation in dentate gyrus (approximately 40%) and in prelimbic cortex (approximately 35%) at the 10-mg/kg dosage. Cells born in response to chronic Org 26576 in dentate gyrus exhibited increased rates of survival (approximately 30%) with the majority of surviving cells expressing a neuronal phenotype. Findings suggest that Org 26576 may have antidepressant properties, which may be attributed, in part, to upregulation of hippocampal neurogenesis and prelimbic cell proliferation.

Investigation of New Morpholino Oligomers to Increase Survival Motor Neuron Protein Levels in Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

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Ramirez, Agnese; Crisafulli, Sebastiano G; Rizzuti, Mafalda; Bresolin, Nereo; Comi, Giacomo P; Corti, Stefania; Nizzardo, Monica

2018-01-06

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal-recessive childhood motor neuron disease and the main genetic cause of infant mortality. SMA is caused by deletions or mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 ( SMN1 ) gene, which results in SMN protein deficiency. Only one approved drug has recently become available and allows for the correction of aberrant splicing of the paralogous SMN2 gene by antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), leading to production of full-length SMN protein. We have already demonstrated that a sequence of an ASO variant, Morpholino (MO), is particularly suitable because of its safety and efficacy profile and is both able to increase SMN levels and rescue the murine SMA phenotype. Here, we optimized this strategy by testing the efficacy of four new MO sequences targeting SMN2 . Two out of the four new MO sequences showed better efficacy in terms of SMN protein production both in SMA induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and SMAΔ7 mice. Further, the effect was enhanced when different MO sequences were administered in combination. Our data provide an important insight for MO-based treatment for SMA. Optimization of the target sequence and validation of a treatment based on a combination of different MO sequences could support further pre-clinical studies and the progression toward future clinical trials.

Neurogenesis and Increase in Differentiated Neural Cell Survival via Phosphorylation of Akt1 after Fluoxetine Treatment of Stem Cells

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Anahita Rahmani

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Fluoxetine (FLX is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI. Its action is possibly through an increase in neural cell survival. The mechanism of improved survival rate of neurons by FLX may relate to the overexpression of some kinases such as Akt protein. Akt1 (a serine/threonine kinase plays a key role in the modulation of cell proliferation and survival. Our study evaluated the effects of FLX on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC fate and Akt1 phosphorylation levels in MSCs. Evaluation tests included reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, western blot, and immunocytochemistry assays. Nestin, MAP-2, and β-tubulin were detected after neurogenesis as neural markers. Ten μM of FLX upregulated phosphorylation of Akt1 protein in induced hEnSC significantly. Also FLX did increase viability of these MSCs. Continuous FLX treatment after neurogenesis elevated the survival rate of differentiated neural cells probably by enhanced induction of Akt1 phosphorylation. This study addresses a novel role of FLX in neurogenesis and differentiated neural cell survival that may contribute to explaining the therapeutic action of fluoxetine in regenerative pharmacology.

Gestational Age-Dependent Increase of Survival Motor Neuron Protein in Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

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Iwatani, Sota; Harahap, Nur Imma Fatimah; Nurputra, Dian Kesumapramudya; Tairaku, Shinya; Shono, Akemi; Kurokawa, Daisuke; Yamana, Keiji; Thwin, Khin Kyae Mon; Yoshida, Makiko; Mizobuchi, Masami; Koda, Tsubasa; Fujioka, Kazumichi; Taniguchi-Ikeda, Mariko; Yamada, Hideto; Morioka, Ichiro

2017-01-01

Background: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the most common genetic neurological disease leading to infant death. It is caused by loss of survival motor neuron (SMN) 1 gene and subsequent reduction of SMN protein in motor neurons. Because SMN is ubiquitously expressed and functionally linked to general RNA metabolism pathway, fibroblasts (FBs) are most widely used for the assessment of SMN expression in SMA patients but usually isolated from skin biopsy samples after the onset of overt sympt...

Patient Survival Periods and Death Causes Following Surgical Treatment of Mammary Gland Tumours Depending on Histological Type of Tumour: Retrospective Study of 221 Cases

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Jana Lorenzová

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This retrospective study evaluated a canine patient group operated on for mammary neoplasms (221 females. After surgical treatment, the animals were divided based on histological findings into groups and subgroups according to the WHO system. In the individual groups and subgroups the length of their survival following a mammary tumour surgery and death causes were followed. Of their total number, 164 tumours were malignant, 39 were benign and 18 were mammary hyperplasias. With regard to malignant tumours, invasive tubular carcinoma (20.81% was identified most frequently; fibroadenoma reached the highest occurrence (10.41% as regards benign tumours. The length of survival in females with malignant tumours ranged from 12 to 37.4 months, depending on histological subtypes. In females with benign mammary neoplasms the length of survival ranged from 39.1 to 59.3 months and in animals with hyperplasia it was 50.2 months. As a result of mammary tumour, 41 females (25% died in the malignant tumour group, none died in the benign tumour group and 2 females (11.1% died in the hyperplasia group. The survival periods in surgically treated patients with mammary tumours were shorter for solid and complex carcinomas, compared to patients affected with the remainder of the histological subtypes. The longest survival period following operation was recorded in the group suffering from adenoma. The least favourable illness prognosis for patients with mammary tumours in respect to linking the death cause to the mammary tumour was for those having invasive papillary carcinoma. The most favourable illness prognosis was for patients with benign tumours and non-invasive tubular carcinoma. A frequent death cause in females with mammary tumours was another illness unrelated to mammary tumours.

Cougar survival and source-sink structure on Greater Yellowstone's Northern Range

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Ruth, T.K.; Haroldson, M.A.; Murphy, K.M.; Buotte, P.C.; Hornocker, M.G.; Quigley, H.B.

2011-01-01

We studied survival and causes of mortality of radiocollared cougars (Puma concolor) on the Greater Yellowstone Northern Range (GYNR) prior to (1987–1994) and after wolf (Canis lupus) reintroduction (1998–2005) and evaluated temporal, spatial, and environmental factors that explain variation in adult, subadult, and kitten survival. Using Program MARK and multimodel inference, we modeled cougar survival based on demographic status, season, and landscape attributes. Our best models for adult and independent subadults indicated that females survived better than males and survival increased with age until cougars reached older ages. Lower elevations and increasing density of roads, particularly in areas open to cougar hunting north of Yellowstone National Park (YNP), increased mortality risks for cougars on the GYNR. Indices of ungulate biomass, cougar and wolf population size, winter severity, rainfall, and individual characteristics such as the presence of dependent young, age class, and use of Park or Wilderness were not important predictors of survival. Kitten survival increased with age, was lower during winter, increased with increasing minimum estimates of elk calf biomass, and increased with increasing density of adult male cougars. Using our best model, we mapped adult cougar survival on the GYNR landscape. Results of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated a good model fit for both female (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.70–0.92, n = 35 locations) and male cougars (AUC = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.74–0.94, n = 49 locations) relative to hunter harvest locations in our study area. Using minimum estimates of survival necessary to sustain the study population, we developed a source-sink surface and we identify several measures that resource management agencies can take to enhance cougar population management based on a source-sink strategy.

Challenges in the estimation of Net SURvival: The CENSUR working survival group.

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Giorgi, R

2016-10-01

Net survival, the survival probability that would be observed, in a hypothetical world, where the cancer of interest would be the only possible cause of death, is a key indicator in population-based cancer studies. Accounting for mortality due to other causes, it allows cross-country comparisons or trends analysis and provides a useful indicator for public health decision-making. The objective of this study was to show how the creation and formalization of a network comprising established research teams, which already had substantial and complementary experience in both cancer survival analysis and methodological development, make it possible to meet challenges and thus provide more adequate tools, to improve the quality and the comparability of cancer survival data, and to promote methodological transfers in areas of emerging interest. The Challenges in the Estimation of Net SURvival (CENSUR) working survival group is composed of international researchers highly skilled in biostatistics, methodology, and epidemiology, from different research organizations in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Slovenia, and Canada, and involved in French (FRANCIM) and European (EUROCARE) cancer registry networks. The expected advantages are an interdisciplinary, international, synergistic network capable of addressing problems in public health, for decision-makers at different levels; tools for those in charge of net survival analyses; a common methodology that makes unbiased cross-national comparisons of cancer survival feasible; transfer of methods for net survival estimations to other specific applications (clinical research, occupational epidemiology); and dissemination of results during an international training course. The formalization of the international CENSUR working survival group was motivated by a need felt by scientists conducting population-based cancer research to discuss, develop, and monitor implementation of a common methodology to analyze net survival in order

Smoking-related general and cause-specific mortality in Estonia.

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Kõks, Gea; Fischer, Krista; Kõks, Sulev

2017-07-19

Tobacco smoking is known to be the single largest cause of premature death worldwide. The aim of present study was to analyse the effect of smoking on general and cause-specific mortality in the Estonian population. The data from 51,756 adults in the Estonian Genome Center of the University of Tartu was used. Information on dates and causes of death was retrieved from the National Causes of Death Registry. Smoking status, general survival, general mortality and cause-specific mortality were analysed using Kaplan-Meier estimator and Cox proportional hazards models. The study found that smoking reduces median survival in men by 11.4 years and in women by 5.8 years. Tobacco smoking produces a very specific pattern in the cause of deaths, significantly increasing the risks for different cancers and cardiovascular diseases as causes of death for men and women. This study also identified that external causes, such as alcohol intoxication and intentional self-harm, are more prevalent causes of death among smokers than non-smokers. Additionally, smoking cessation was found to reverse the increased risks for premature mortality. Tobacco smoking remains the major cause for losses of life inducing cancers and cardiovascular diseases. In addition to the common diseases, external causes also reduce substantially the years of life. External causes of death indicate that smoking has a long-term influence on the behaviour of smokers, provoking self-destructive behaviour. Our study supports the idea, that tobacco smoking generates complex harm to our health increasing mortality from both somatic and mental disorders.

Conditional survival is greater than overall survival at diagnosis in patients with osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma.

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Miller, Benjamin J; Lynch, Charles F; Buckwalter, Joseph A

2013-11-01

Conditional survival is a measure of the risk of mortality given that a patient has survived a defined period of time. These estimates are clinically helpful, but have not been reported previously for osteosarcoma or Ewing's sarcoma. We determined the conditional survival of patients with osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma given survival of 1 or more years. We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program database to investigate cases of osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma in patients younger than 40 years from 1973 to 2009. The SEER Program is managed by the National Cancer Institute and provides survival data gathered from population-based cancer registries. We used an actuarial life table analysis to determine any cancer cause-specific 5-year survival estimates conditional on 1 to 5 years of survival after diagnosis. We performed a similar analysis to determine 20-year survival from the time of diagnosis. The estimated 5-year survival improved each year after diagnosis. For local/regional osteosarcoma, the 5-year survival improved from 74.8% at baseline to 91.4% at 5 years-meaning that if a patient with localized osteosarcoma lives for 5 years, the chance of living for another 5 years is 91.4%. Similarly, the 5-year survivals for local/regional Ewing's sarcoma improved from 72.9% at baseline to 92.5% at 5 years, for metastatic osteosarcoma 35.5% at baseline to 85.4% at 5 years, and for metastatic Ewing's sarcoma 31.7% at baseline to 83.6% at 5 years. The likelihood of 20-year cause-specific survival from the time of diagnosis in osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma was almost 90% or greater after 10 years of survival, suggesting that while most patients will remain disease-free indefinitely, some experience cancer-related complications years after presumed eradication. The 5-year survival estimates of osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma improve with each additional year of patient survival. Knowledge of a changing risk profile is useful in counseling

Benign meningiomas: primary treatment selection affects survival

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Condra, Kellie S.; Buatti, John M.; Mendenhall, William M.; Friedman, William A.; Marcus, Robert B.; Rhoton, Albert L.

1997-01-01

Purpose: To examine the effect of primary treatment selection on outcomes for benign intracranial meningiomas at the University of Florida. Methods and Materials: For 262 patients, the impact of age, Karnofsky performance status, pathologic features, tumor size, tumor location, and treatment modality on local control and cause-specific survival was analyzed (minimum potential follow-up, 2 years; median follow-up, 8.2 years). Extent of surgery was classified by Simpson grade. Treatment groups: surgery alone (n = 229), surgery and postoperative radiotherapy (RT) (n = 21), RT alone (n = 7), radiosurgery alone (n = 5). Survival analysis: Kaplan-Meier method with univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: At 15 years, local control was 76% after total excision (TE) and 87% after subtotal excision plus RT (SE+RT), both significantly better (p = 0.0001) than after SE alone (30%). Cause-specific survival at 15 years was reduced after treatment with SE alone (51%), compared with TE (88%) or SE+RT (86%) (p = 0.0003). Recurrence after primary treatment portended decreased survival, independent of initial treatment group or salvage treatment selection (p = 0.001). Atypical pathologic features predicted reduced 15-year local control (54 vs. 71%) and cause-specific survival rates (57 vs. 86%). Multivariate analysis for cause-specific survival revealed treatment group (SE vs. others; p = 0.0001), pathologic features (atypical vs. typical; p = 0.0056), and Karnofsky performance status (≥80 vs. <80; p = 0.0153) as significant variables. Conclusion: Benign meningiomas are well managed by TE or SE+RT. SE alone is inadequate therapy and adversely affects cause-specific survival. Atypical pathologic features predict a poorer outcome, suggesting possible benefit from more aggressive treatment. Because local recurrence portends lower survival rates, primary treatment choice is important

Little Smoky Woodland Caribou Calf Survival Enhancement Project

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Kirkby G. Smith

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The Little Smoky woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus herd is a boreal ecotype located in west central Alberta, Canada. This herd has declined steadily over the past decade and is currently thought to number approximately 80 animals. Factors contributing to the herds' decline appear related to elevated predator-caused mortality rates resulting from industrial caused landscape change. At current rates of decline, the herd is at risk of extirpation. A calf survival enhancement project was initiated in the first half of 2006 as a means of enhancing recruitment while other longer-term approaches were implemented. A total of 10 pregnant females were captured in early March and held in captivity until all calves were at least 3 weeks old. Before release, calves were radiocollared with expandable drop-off collars. Following release, survival of mother and offspring were tracked at intervals until the fall rut. Survival of penned calves was compared to "wild-born" calves at heel of non captive radiocollared females. This approach is compared to other techniques designed to increase recruitment in caribou.

Lovastatin delays infection and increases survival rates in AG129 mice infected with dengue virus serotype 2.

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Marlen Martinez-Gutierrez

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: It has been reported that treatment of DENV-infected cultures with Lovastatin (LOV, can affect viral assembly. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of LOV on the survival rate and viremia levels of DENV-2-infected AG129 mice. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Mice were inoculated with 1 × 10(6 plaque-forming units (PFU/ml of DENV-2 and treated with LOV (200 mg/kg/day. Pre-treatment with one or three doses of LOV increased the survival rate compared to untreated mice (7.3 and 7.1 days, respectively, compared to 4.8 days. Viremia levels also decreased by 21.8% compared to untreated mice, but only in the group administered three doses prior to inoculation. When LOV was administered after viral inoculation, the survival rate increased (7.3 days in the group treated at 24 hpi, 6.8 days in the group treated at 48 hpi and 6.5 days in the group treated with two doses compared to the untreated group (4.8 days. Interestingly, the serum viral titer increased by 24.6% in mice treated at 48 hpi with a single dose of LOV and by 21.7% in mice treated with two doses (at 24 and 48 hpi of LOV compared to untreated mice. Finally histopathological changes in the liver and spleen in infected and untreated mice included massive extramedullary erythropoiesis foci and inflammatory filtration, and these characteristics were decreased or absent in LOV-treated mice. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that the effect of LOV on viremia depends on the timing of treatment and on the number of doses administered. We observed a significant increase in the survival rate in both schemes due to a delay in the progression of the disease. However, the results obtained in the post-treatment scheme must be handled carefully because this treatment scheme increases viremia and we do not know how this increase could affect disease progression in humans.

The immunological response and post-treatment survival of DC-vaccinated melanoma patients are associated with increased Th1/Th17 and reduced Th3 cytokine responses.

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Durán-Aniotz, Claudia; Segal, Gabriela; Salazar, Lorena; Pereda, Cristián; Falcón, Cristián; Tempio, Fabián; Aguilera, Raquel; González, Rodrigo; Pérez, Claudio; Tittarelli, Andrés; Catalán, Diego; Nervi, Bruno; Larrondo, Milton; Salazar-Onfray, Flavio; López, Mercedes N

2013-04-01

Immunization with autologous dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with a heat shock-conditioned allogeneic melanoma cell lysate caused lysate-specific delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions in a number of patients. These responses correlated with a threefold prolonged long-term survival of DTH(+) with respect to DTH(-) unresponsive patients. Herein, we investigated whether the immunological reactions associated with prolonged survival were related to dissimilar cellular and cytokine responses in blood. Healthy donors and melanoma patient's lymphocytes obtained from blood before and after vaccinations and from DTH biopsies were analyzed for T cell population distribution and cytokine release. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from melanoma patients have an increased proportion of Th3 (CD4(+) TGF-β(+)) regulatory T lymphocytes compared with healthy donors. Notably, DTH(+) patients showed a threefold reduction of Th3 cells compared with DTH(-) patients after DCs vaccine treatment. Furthermore, DCs vaccination resulted in a threefold augment of the proportion of IFN-γ releasing Th1 cells and in a twofold increase of the IL-17-producing Th17 population in DTH(+) with respect to DTH(-) patients. Increased Th1 and Th17 cell populations in both blood and DTH-derived tissues suggest that these profiles may be related to a more effective anti-melanoma response. Our results indicate that increased proinflammatory cytokine profiles are related to detectable immunological responses in vivo (DTH) and to prolonged patient survival. Our study contributes to the understanding of immunological responses produced by DCs vaccines and to the identification of follow-up markers for patient outcome that may allow a closer individual monitoring of patients.

Honokiol Increases CD4+ T Cell Activation and Decreases TNF but Fails to Improve Survival Following Sepsis.

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Klingensmith, Nathan J; Chen, Ching-Wen; Liang, Zhe; Burd, Eileen M; Farris, Alton B; Arbiser, Jack L; Ford, Mandy L; Coopersmith, Craig M

2017-10-11

Honokiol is a biphenolic isolate extracted from the bark of the magnolia tree that has been used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine, and has more recently been investigated for its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. Honokiol has previously been demonstrated to improve survival in sepsis models that have rapid 100% lethality. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Honokiol on the host response in a model of sepsis that more closely approximates human disease. Male and female C57BL/6 mice underwent cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) to induce polymicrobial intraabdominal sepsis. Mice were then randomized to receive an injection of either Honokiol (120 mg/kg/day) or vehicle and were sacrificed after 24 hours for functional studies or followed 7 days for survival. Honokiol treatment after sepsis increased the frequency of CD4 T cells and increased activation of CD4 T cells as measured by the activation marker CD69. Honokiol also increased splenic dendritic cells. Honokiol simultaneously decreased frequency and number of CD8 T cells. Honokiol decreased systemic TNF without impacting other systemic cytokines. Honokiol did not have a detectable effect on kidney function, lung physiology, liver function or intestinal integrity. In contrast to prior studies of Honokiol in a lethal model of sepsis, Honokiol did not alter survival at seven days (70% mortality for Honokiol vs. 60% mortality for vehicle). Honokiol is thus effective in modulating the host immune response and inflammation following a clinically relevant model of sepsis but is not sufficient to alter survival.

Evaluation Of Factors Influencing On Causes Of Prosthetic Valve Re-operation And Early Postoperative Survival Tehran Emam hospital (1991-2001

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Rahmani Reaza

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Prosthetic valve re-operation has greater mortality and morbidity than primary valve replacement. By recognition of factors influencing on causes of redo operation and preoperative survival, one can select appropriate prosthesis at primary valve replacement and when operation performed at appropriate time, surgical risk can be reduced."nMethods and Materials: Two hundred patients that underwent prosthetic valve re-operation from October 1991 through November 2001 were included in this study. There were 68 men and 132 women with the mean age of 42:tl 1.8 years. Structural failure was the commonest cause of bio-prosthesis replacement (93%. Valve thrombosis was the common cause of mechanical valve replacement (32%. Age younger Than 50 (P= 0.01 and interval after the first implantation more than 10 years (P= 0.01 affected bio-prosthesis degeneration."nResults: Atrial fibrillation (P<0.01, Older age especially more than 40 (P<0.05 and mitral position (P<0.01 affected mechanical valve thrombosis. Cross clamp time (P= 0.005, Tricuspid insufficiency (P = 0.001, NYHA IV (P = 0.005 and emergent operation (P= 0.001 were independent determinants of hospital mortality."nConclusion: In conclusion, in patients with more than 10-years life expectancy and age younger than 50, mechanical valve can be selected for primary valve replacement. If operation performed before patients reach deteriorated condition, preoperative survival would be excellent.

Long-Term Survival after Stroke: 30 Years of Follow-Up in a Cohort, the Copenhagen City Heart Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boysen, G.; Marott, J.L.; Gronbaek, M.

2009-01-01

in the Copenhagen City Heart Study who experienced a first-ever stroke from 1978 to the end of 2001 were followed to the end of 2007. Stroke events were validated using the World Health Organization's definition of stroke. Linkage to the Danish Civil Registration System enabled identification of participants who...... died before the end of 2007. The National Register of Causes of Death provided cause of death. Survival in stroke patients was compared with survival in participants in the Copenhagen City Heart Study who did not suffer a stroke, and with survival in the general Danish population. Cox regression......-stroke controls. Long-term survival improved steadily over time. Life expectancy after stroke increased up to 4 years from 1978 to the end of 2001, exceeding the increase of life expectancy in the general population. Slightly longer survival was found in women than in men when adjusted for age at stroke onset...

Trends in scale and shape of survival curves.

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Weon, Byung Mook; Je, Jung Ho

2012-01-01

The ageing of the population is an issue in wealthy countries worldwide because of increasing costs for health care and welfare. Survival curves taken from demographic life tables may help shed light on the hypotheses that humans are living longer and that human populations are growing older. We describe a methodology that enables us to obtain separate measurements of scale and shape variances in survival curves. Specifically, 'living longer' is associated with the scale variance of survival curves, whereas 'growing older' is associated with the shape variance. We show how the scale and shape of survival curves have changed over time during recent decades, based on period and cohort female life tables for selected wealthy countries. Our methodology will be useful for performing better tracking of ageing statistics and it is possible that this methodology can help identify the causes of current trends in human ageing.

Survival chance in papillary thyroid cancer in Hungary: individual survival probability estimation using the Markov method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esik, Olga; Tusnady, Gabor; Daubner, Kornel; Nemeth, Gyoergy; Fuezy, Marton; Szentirmay, Zoltan

1997-01-01

Purpose: The typically benign, but occasionally rapidly fatal clinical course of papillary thyroid cancer has raised the need for individual survival probability estimation, to tailor the treatment strategy exclusively to a given patient. Materials and methods: A retrospective study was performed on 400 papillary thyroid cancer patients with a median follow-up time of 7.1 years to establish a clinical database for uni- and multivariate analysis of the prognostic factors related to survival (Kaplan-Meier product limit method and Cox regression). For a more precise prognosis estimation, the effect of the most important clinical events were then investigated on the basis of a Markov renewal model. The basic concept of this approach is that each patient has an individual disease course which (besides the initial clinical categories) is affected by special events, e.g. internal covariates (local/regional/distant relapses). On the supposition that these events and the cause-specific death are influenced by the same biological processes, the parameters of transient survival probability characterizing the speed of the course of the disease for each clinical event and their sequence were determined. The individual survival curves for each patient were calculated by using these parameters and the independent significant clinical variables selected from multivariate studies, summation of which resulted in a mean cause-specific survival function valid for the entire group. On the basis of this Markov model, prediction of the cause-specific survival probability is possible for extrastudy cases, if it is supposed that the clinical events occur within new patients in the same manner and with the similar probability as within the study population. Results: The patient's age, a distant metastasis at presentation, the extent of the surgical intervention, the primary tumor size and extent (pT), the external irradiation dosage and the degree of TSH suppression proved to be

Living with parents or grandparents increases social capital and survival: 2014 General Social Survey-National Death Index

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Peter Muennig

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: After nearly a century-long trend toward single-family living arrangements, people in wealthy nations are increasingly living in multi-generational households. Multi-generational living arrangements can, in theory, increase psychological, social, and financial capital—factors associated with improvements in health and longevity. Methods: We conducted a survival analysis using the 2014 General Social Survey-National Death Index, a prospective multi-year survey. We explored whether single generational living arrangements were associated with a higher risk of mortality than multi-generational living arrangements. Results: We explored this association for different groups (e.g., the foreign-born and those with high self-reported stress in family relationships. Healthy subjects who live in two-generation households were found to have lower premature mortality (hazard ratio 0.9, 95% confidence interval = 0.82, 0.99. Otherwise, we found little evidence that living arrangements matter for the respondents’ risk of premature mortality. Conclusions: Healthy people living in two-generation households have longer survival than healthy people living on their own. Keywords: Immigrant Health, Survival, Social capital and health

Females increase reproductive investment in response to helper-mediated improvements in allo-feeding, nest survival, nestling provisioning and post-fledging survival in the Karoo scrub-robin Cercotrichas coryphaeus

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Lloyd, P.; Andrew, Taylor W.; du Plessis, Morné A.; Martin, T.E.

2009-01-01

In many cooperatively-breeding species, the presence of one or more helpers improves the reproductive performance of the breeding pair receiving help. Helper contributions can take many different forms, including allo-feeding, offspring provisioning, and offspring guarding or defence. Yet, most studies have focussed on single forms of helper contribution, particularly offspring provisioning, and few have evaluated the relative importance of a broader range of helper contributions to group reproductive performance. We examined helper contributions to multiple components of breeding performance in the Karoo scrub-robin Cercotrichas coryphaeus, a facultative cooperative breeder. We also tested a prediction of increased female investment in reproduction when helpers improve conditions for rearing young. Helpers assisted the breeding male in allo-feeding the incubating female, increasing allo-feeding rates. Greater allo-feeding correlated with greater female nest attentiveness during incubation. Nest predation was substantially lower among pairs breeding with a helper, resulting in a 74% increase in the probability of nest survival. Helper contributions to offspring provisioning increased nestling feeding rates, resulting in a reduced incidence of nestling starvation and increased nestling mass. Nestling mass had a strong, positive effect on post-fledging survival. Controlling for female age and habitat effects, annual production of fledged young was 130% greater among pairs breeding with a helper, and was influenced most strongly by helper correlates with nest survival, despite important helper effects on offspring provisioning. Females breeding with a helper increased clutch size, supporting the prediction of increased female investment in reproduction in response to helper benefits. ?? 2009 J. Avian Biol.

Spatial Random Effects Survival Models to Assess Geographical Inequalities in Dengue Fever Using Bayesian Approach: a Case Study

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Astuti Thamrin, Sri; Taufik, Irfan

2018-03-01

Dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) is an infectious disease caused by dengue virus. The increasing number of people with DHF disease correlates with the neighbourhood, for example sub-districts, and the characteristics of the sub-districts are formed from individuals who are domiciled in the sub-districts. Data containing individuals and sub-districts is a hierarchical data structure, called multilevel analysis. Frequently encountered response variable of the data is the time until an event occurs. Multilevel and spatial models are being increasingly used to obtain substantive information on area-level inequalities in DHF survival. Using a case study approach, we report on the implications of using multilevel with spatial survival models to study geographical inequalities in all cause survival.

Do biological and bedsite characteristics influence survival of neonatal white-tailed deer?

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M Colter Chitwood

Full Text Available Coyotes recently expanded into the eastern U.S. and potentially have caused localized white-tailed deer population declines. Research has focused on quantifying coyote predation on neonates, but little research has addressed the potential influence of bedsite characteristics on survival. In 2011 and 2012, we radiocollared 65 neonates, monitored them intensively for 16 weeks, and assigned mortality causes. We used Program MARK to estimate survival to 16 weeks and included biological covariates (i.e., sex, sibling status [whether or not it had a sibling], birth weight, and Julian date of birth. Survival to 16 weeks was 0.141 (95% CI = 0.075-0.249 and the top model included only sibling status, which indicated survival was lower for neonates that had a sibling. Predation was the leading cause of mortality (35 of 55; 64% and coyotes were responsible for the majority of depredations (30 of 35; 86%. Additionally, we relocated neonates for the first 10 days of life and measured distance to firebreak, visual obstruction, and plant diversity at bedsites. Survival of predation to 10 days (0.726; 95% CI = 0.586-0.833 was weakly associated with plant diversity at bedsites but not related to visual obstruction. Our results indicate that neonate survival was low and coyote predation was an important source of mortality, which corroborates several recent studies from the region. Additionally, we detected only weak support for bedsite cover as a covariate to neonate survival, which indicates that mitigating effects of coyote predation on neonates may be more complicated than simply managing for increased hiding cover.

Partitioning of excess mortality in population-based cancer patient survival studies using flexible parametric survival models

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Eloranta Sandra

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Relative survival is commonly used for studying survival of cancer patients as it captures both the direct and indirect contribution of a cancer diagnosis on mortality by comparing the observed survival of the patients to the expected survival in a comparable cancer-free population. However, existing methods do not allow estimation of the impact of isolated conditions (e.g., excess cardiovascular mortality on the total excess mortality. For this purpose we extend flexible parametric survival models for relative survival, which use restricted cubic splines for the baseline cumulative excess hazard and for any time-dependent effects. Methods In the extended model we partition the excess mortality associated with a diagnosis of cancer through estimating a separate baseline excess hazard function for the outcomes under investigation. This is done by incorporating mutually exclusive background mortality rates, stratified by the underlying causes of death reported in the Swedish population, and by introducing cause of death as a time-dependent effect in the extended model. This approach thereby enables modeling of temporal trends in e.g., excess cardiovascular mortality and remaining cancer excess mortality simultaneously. Furthermore, we illustrate how the results from the proposed model can be used to derive crude probabilities of death due to the component parts, i.e., probabilities estimated in the presence of competing causes of death. Results The method is illustrated with examples where the total excess mortality experienced by patients diagnosed with breast cancer is partitioned into excess cardiovascular mortality and remaining cancer excess mortality. Conclusions The proposed method can be used to simultaneously study disease patterns and temporal trends for various causes of cancer-consequent deaths. Such information should be of interest for patients and clinicians as one way of improving prognosis after cancer is

Increased survival with enzalutamide in prostate cancer after chemotherapy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.I. Scher (Howard I.); K. Fizazi (Karim); F. Saad (Fred); M.-E. Taplin (Mary-Ellen); C.N. Sternberg (Cora); K. Miller (Kurt); R. de Wit (Ronald); P.F.A. Mulders (P. F A); K.N. Chi (Kim Nguyen); N.D. Shore (Neal); A.J. Armstrong (Andrew); T.W. Flaig (Thomas); A. Flechon (Aude); P. Mainwaring (Paul); M. Fleming; J.D. Hainsworth (John); M. Hirmand (Mohammad); B. Selby (Bryan); L. Seely (Lynn); J.S. de Bono (Johann)

2012-01-01

textabstractBACKGROUND: Enzalutamide (formerly called MDV3100) targets multiple steps in the androgen-receptor-signaling pathway, the major driver of prostate-cancer growth. We aimed to evaluate whether enzalutamide prolongs survival in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer after

Metformin Increases Overall Survival in Patients with Diabetes Undergoing Surgery for Colorectal Cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fransgaard, Tina; Thygesen, Lau Caspar; Gögenur, Ismail

2015-01-01

-Meier estimator and the Cox regression model adjusted for important clinical risk factors were used. RESULTS: A total of 30,493 patients were included in the study, of which 3391 were diagnosed with diabetes and 1962 were treated with metformin. The adjusted HR of all-cause mortality for the diabetes group was 1......BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence suggests that metformin decreases the risk of developing colorectal cancer in patients with diabetes, but only few studies have examined potential survival benefits after surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC). The purpose of the study was to examine the association......'s National Clinical Database (DCCG). The Danish National Patient Register (NPR) records all hospital contacts in Denmark, and the diagnosis of diabetes was identified by combining NPR data with use of antidiabetic drugs identified through the Danish National Prescription Registry and DCCG. The Kaplan...

Increased survival with enzalutamide in prostate cancer after chemotherapy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scher, H.I.; Fizazi, K.; Saad, F.; Taplin, M.E.; Sternberg, C.N.; Miller, K.; de Wit, R.; Mulders, P.F.A.; Chi, K.N.; Shore, N.D.; Armstrong, A.J.; Flaig, T.W.; Flechon, A.; Mainwaring, P.; Fleming, M.; Hainsworth, J.D.; Hirmand, M.; Selby, B.; Seely, L.; Bono, J. De; Investigators, A.

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND: Enzalutamide (formerly called MDV3100) targets multiple steps in the androgen-receptor-signaling pathway, the major driver of prostate-cancer growth. We aimed to evaluate whether enzalutamide prolongs survival in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer after chemotherapy. METHODS:

Prognostic Factors for Survival in Patients with Gastric Cancer using a Random Survival Forest

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Adham, Davoud; Abbasgholizadeh, Nategh; Abazari, Malek

2017-01-01

Background: Gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the third top cause of cancer related death with about 1 million new cases and 700,000 deaths in 2012. The aim of this investigation was to identify important factors for outcome using a random survival forest (RSF) approach. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from 128 gastric cancer patients through a historical cohort study in Hamedan-Iran from 2007 to 2013. The event under consideration was death due to gastric cancer. The random survival forest model in R software was applied to determine the key factors affecting survival. Four split criteria were used to determine importance of the variables in the model including log-rank, conversation?? of events, log-rank score, and randomization. Efficiency of the model was confirmed in terms of Harrell’s concordance index. Results: The mean age of diagnosis was 63 ±12.57 and mean and median survival times were 15.2 (95%CI: 13.3, 17.0) and 12.3 (95%CI: 11.0, 13.4) months, respectively. The one-year, two-year, and three-year rates for survival were 51%, 13%, and 5%, respectively. Each RSF approach showed a slightly different ranking order. Very important covariates in nearly all the 4 RSF approaches were metastatic status, age at diagnosis and tumor size. The performance of each RSF approach was in the range of 0.29-0.32 and the best error rate was obtained by the log-rank splitting rule; second, third, and fourth ranks were log-rank score, conservation of events, and the random splitting rule, respectively. Conclusion: Low survival rate of gastric cancer patients is an indication of absence of a screening program for early diagnosis of the disease. Timely diagnosis in early phases increases survival and decreases mortality. Creative Commons Attribution License

Toward a psychology of human survival: Psychological approaches to contemporary global threats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walsh, R.

1989-01-01

Nuclear weapons, population explosion, resource and food-supply depletion, and environmental deterioration have been posing increasing threats to human survival. Moreover, for the first time in history, all these major global threats are human caused and can, therefore, be traced in large part to psychological origins. After a brief overview of the nature and extent of current threats, this paper suggests criteria for an adequate psychology of human survival. The causes and effects of the threats are examined from various psychological perspectives and the psychological principles underlying effective responses are deduced. The ways in which mental health professionals may contribute to this most crucial task are discussed. 76 references

Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in relation to sex

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wissenberg, Mads; Hansen, Carolina Malta; Folke, Fredrik

2014-01-01

); and in females (4.8% in 2001 to 6.7% in 2010), psexes in patients with a non-shockable rhythm (OR 1.00; CI 0.72-1.40), while female sex was positively associated...... characteristics in females with a lower proportion of shockable rhythm. In an adjusted model, female sex was positively associated with survival in patients with a shockable rhythm.......AIM: Crude survival has increased following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We aimed to study sex-related differences in patient characteristics and survival during a 10-year study period. METHODS: Patients≥12 years old with OHCA of a presumed cardiac cause, and in whom resuscitation...

Using expert knowledge to incorporate uncertainty in cause-of-death assignments for modeling of cause-specific mortality

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Daniel P.; Norton, Andrew S.; Storm, Daniel J.; Van Deelen, Timothy R.; Heisy, Dennis M.

2018-01-01

Implicit and explicit use of expert knowledge to inform ecological analyses is becoming increasingly common because it often represents the sole source of information in many circumstances. Thus, there is a need to develop statistical methods that explicitly incorporate expert knowledge, and can successfully leverage this information while properly accounting for associated uncertainty during analysis. Studies of cause-specific mortality provide an example of implicit use of expert knowledge when causes-of-death are uncertain and assigned based on the observer's knowledge of the most likely cause. To explicitly incorporate this use of expert knowledge and the associated uncertainty, we developed a statistical model for estimating cause-specific mortality using a data augmentation approach within a Bayesian hierarchical framework. Specifically, for each mortality event, we elicited the observer's belief of cause-of-death by having them specify the probability that the death was due to each potential cause. These probabilities were then used as prior predictive values within our framework. This hierarchical framework permitted a simple and rigorous estimation method that was easily modified to include covariate effects and regularizing terms. Although applied to survival analysis, this method can be extended to any event-time analysis with multiple event types, for which there is uncertainty regarding the true outcome. We conducted simulations to determine how our framework compared to traditional approaches that use expert knowledge implicitly and assume that cause-of-death is specified accurately. Simulation results supported the inclusion of observer uncertainty in cause-of-death assignment in modeling of cause-specific mortality to improve model performance and inference. Finally, we applied the statistical model we developed and a traditional method to cause-specific survival data for white-tailed deer, and compared results. We demonstrate that model selection

Conditional Deletion of PDK1 in the Forebrain Causes Neuron Loss and Increased Apoptosis during Cortical Development

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Congyu Xu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Decreased expression but increased activity of PDK1 has been observed in neurodegenerative disease. To study in vivo function of PDK1 in neuron survival during cortical development, we generate forebrain-specific PDK1 conditional knockout (cKO mice. We demonstrate that PDK1 cKO mice display striking neuron loss and increased apoptosis. We report that PDK1 cKO mice exhibit deficits on several behavioral tasks. Moreover, PDK1 cKO mice show decreased activities for Akt and mTOR. These results highlight an essential role of endogenous PDK1 in the maintenance of neuronal survival during cortical development.

The Effect of Early Detection of Occult Brain Metastases in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Patients on Survival and Cause of Death

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niwinska, Anna; Tacikowska, Malgorzata; Murawska, Magdalena

2010-01-01

Purpose: The aim of the study is to evaluate disease-free survival, survival from the detection of brain metastases, overall survival, and cause of death in patients with occult brain metastases (Group I) vs. patients with symptomatic brain metastases (Group II). Methods and Materials: In 80 HER2-positive breast cancer patients, treated with trastuzumab and cytostatic agents for metastatic disease, magnetic resonance imaging screening of the brain was performed, and in 29 patients (36%) occult brain metastasis was detected (Group I). Whole-brain radiotherapy was delivered to Group I. This first group was compared with 52 patients who had symptomatic brain metastases (Group II) and was treated the same way, at the same clinic, during the same time period. Results: Median disease-free survival was 17 months in Group I and 19.9 months in Group II (p = 0.58). The median time interval between the dissemination of the disease and the detection of occult or symptomatic brain metastases was 9 and 15 months, respectively (p = 0.11). When the brain metastases were detected, the median survival was 9 and 8.78 months, respectively (p = 0.80). The median overall survival was 53 and 51 months, respectively (p = 0.94). In the group with occult brain metastases (Group I) 16% of patients died because of progression within the brain. In the group with symptomatic brain metastases (Group II) the rate of cerebral death was 48% (p = 0.009). Conclusions: Whole-brain radiotherapy of occult brain metastases in HER2-positive breast cancer patients with visceral dissemination produces a three-fold decrease in cerebral deaths but does not prolong survival.

Investigating Rates of Hunting and Survival in Declining European Lapwing Populations.

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Guillaume Souchay

Full Text Available Understanding effects of harvest on population dynamics is of major interest, especially for declining species. European lapwing Vanellus vanellus populations increased from the 1960s until the 1980s and declined strongly thereafter. About 400,000 lapwings are harvested annually and it is thus of high conservation relevance to assess whether hunting was a main cause for the observed changes in lapwing population trends. We developed a multi-event cause-specific mortality model which we applied to a long-term ring-recovery data set (1960-2010 of > 360,000 records to estimate survival and cause-specific mortalities. We found no temporal change in survival over the last 50 years for first-year (FY and older birds (after first-year; AFY originating from different ringing areas. Mean survival was high, around 0.60 and 0.80 for FY and AFY individuals, respectively. The proportion of total mortality due to hunting was <0.10 over the study period and the estimated proportion of harvested individuals (kill rate was <0.05 in each year. Our result of constant survival indicates that demographic processes other than survival were responsible for the pronounced change in lapwing population trends in the 1980s. Our findings lend support to the hypothesis that hunting was not a significant contributor to the large-scale decline of lapwing populations. To halt the ongoing decline of European lapwing populations management should focus on life history stages other than survival (e.g. productivity. Further analyses are required to investigate the contribution of other demographic rates to the decline of lapwings and to identify the most efficient conservation actions.

Influence of beta blockers on survival in dogs with severe subaortic stenosis.

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Eason, B D; Fine, D M; Leeder, D; Stauthammer, C; Lamb, K; Tobias, A H

2014-01-01

Subaortic stenosis (SAS) is one of the most common congenital cardiac defects in dogs. Severe SAS frequently is treated with a beta adrenergic receptor blocker (beta blocker), but this approach largely is empirical. To determine the influence of beta blocker treatment on survival time in dogs with severe SAS. Retrospective review of medical records of dogs diagnosed with severe, uncomplicated SAS (pressure gradient [PG] ≥80 mmHg) between 1999 and 2011. Fifty dogs met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-seven dogs were treated with a beta blocker and 23 received no treatment. Median age at diagnosis was significantly greater in the untreated group (1.2 versus 0.6 years, respectively; P = .03). Median PG at diagnosis did not differ between the treated and untreated groups (127 versus 121 mmHg, respectively; P = .2). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify the influence of PG at diagnosis, age at diagnosis, and beta blocker treatment on survival. In the all-cause multivariate mortality analysis, only age at diagnosis (P = .02) and PG at diagnosis (P = .03) affected survival time. In the cardiac mortality analysis, only PG influenced survival time (P = .03). Treatment with a beta blocker did not influence survival time in either the all-cause (P = .93) or cardiac-cause (P = .97) mortality analyses. Beta blocker treatment did not influence survival in dogs with severe SAS in our study, and a higher PG at diagnosis was associated with increased risk of death. Copyright © 2014 by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Increase of Intracellular Cyclic AMP by PDE4 Inhibitors Affects HepG2 Cell Cycle Progression and Survival.

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Massimi, Mara; Cardarelli, Silvia; Galli, Francesca; Giardi, Maria Federica; Ragusa, Federica; Panera, Nadia; Cinque, Benedetta; Cifone, Maria Grazia; Biagioni, Stefano; Giorgi, Mauro

2017-06-01

Type 4 cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDE4) are major members of a superfamily of enzymes (PDE) involved in modulation of intracellular signaling mediated by cAMP. Broadly expressed in most human tissues and present in large amounts in the liver, PDEs have in the last decade been key therapeutic targets for several inflammatory diseases. Recently, a significant body of work has underscored their involvement in different kinds of cancer, but with no attention paid to liver cancer. The present study investigated the effects of two PDE4 inhibitors, rolipram and DC-TA-46, on the growth of human hepatoma HepG2 cells. Treatment with these inhibitors caused a marked increase of intracellular cAMP level and a dose- and time-dependent effect on cell growth. The concentrations of inhibitors that halved cell proliferation to about 50% were used for cell cycle experiments. Rolipram (10 μM) and DC-TA-46 (0.5 μM) produced a decrease of cyclin expression, in particular of cyclin A, as well as an increase in p21, p27 and p53, as evaluated by Western blot analysis. Changes in the intracellular localization of cyclin D1 were also observed after treatments. In addition, both inhibitors caused apoptosis, as demonstrated by an Annexin-V cytofluorimetric assay and analysis of caspase-3/7 activity. Results demonstrated that treatment with PDE4 inhibitors affected HepG2 cell cycle and survival, suggesting that they might be useful as potential adjuvant, chemotherapeutic or chemopreventive agents in hepatocellular carcinoma. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1401-1411, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Diverse microbial species survive high ammonia concentrations

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Laura C.; Cockell, Charles S.; Summers, Stephen

2012-04-01

Planetary protection regulations are in place to control the contamination of planets and moons with terrestrial micro-organisms in order to avoid jeopardizing future scientific investigations relating to the search for life. One environmental chemical factor of relevance in extraterrestrial environments, specifically in the moons of the outer solar system, is ammonia (NH3). Ammonia is known to be highly toxic to micro-organisms and may disrupt proton motive force, interfere with cellular redox reactions or cause an increase of cell pH. To test the survival potential of terrestrial micro-organisms exposed to such cold, ammonia-rich environments, and to judge whether current planetary protection regulations are sufficient, soil samples were exposed to concentrations of NH3 from 5 to 35% (v/v) at -80°C and room temperature for periods up to 11 months. Following exposure to 35% NH3, diverse spore-forming taxa survived, including representatives of the Firmicutes (Bacillus, Sporosarcina, Viridibacillus, Paenibacillus, Staphylococcus and Brevibacillus) and Actinobacteria (Streptomyces). Non-spore forming organisms also survived, including Proteobacteria (Pseudomonas) and Actinobacteria (Arthrobacter) that are known to have environmentally resistant resting states. Clostridium spp. were isolated from the exposed soil under anaerobic culture. High NH3 was shown to cause a reduction in viability of spores over time, but spore morphology was not visibly altered. In addition to its implications for planetary protection, these data show that a large number of bacteria, potentially including spore-forming pathogens, but also environmentally resistant non-spore-formers, can survive high ammonia concentrations.

Mechanism and preclinical prevention of increased breast cancer risk caused by pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Haricharan, Svasti; Dong, Jie; Hein, Sarah; Reddy, Jay P; Du, Zhijun; Toneff, Michael; Holloway, Kimberly; Hilsenbeck, Susan G; Huang, Shixia; Atkinson, Rachel; Woodward, Wendy; Jindal, Sonali; Borges, Virginia F; Gutierrez, Carolina; Zhang, Hong; Schedin, Pepper J; Osborne, C Kent; Tweardy, David J; Li, Yi

2013-12-31

While a first pregnancy before age 22 lowers breast cancer risk, a pregnancy after age 35 significantly increases life-long breast cancer risk. Pregnancy causes several changes to the normal breast that raise barriers to transformation, but how pregnancy can also increase cancer risk remains unclear. We show in mice that pregnancy has different effects on the few early lesions that have already developed in the otherwise normal breast-it causes apoptosis evasion and accelerated progression to cancer. The apoptosis evasion is due to the normally tightly controlled STAT5 signaling going astray-these precancerous cells activate STAT5 in response to pregnancy/lactation hormones and maintain STAT5 activation even during involution, thus preventing the apoptosis normally initiated by oncoprotein and involution. Short-term anti-STAT5 treatment of lactation-completed mice bearing early lesions eliminates the increased risk after a pregnancy. This chemoprevention strategy has important implications for preventing increased human breast cancer risk caused by pregnancy. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00996.001.

Influence of salinity and prey presence on the survival of aquatic macroinvertebrates of a freshwater marsh

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Kang, Sung-Ryong; King, Sammy L.

2012-01-01

Salinization of coastal freshwater environments is a global issue. Increased salinity from sea level rise, storm surges, or other mechanisms is common in coastal freshwater marshes of Louisiana, USA. The effects of salinity increases on aquatic macroinvertebrates in these systems have received little attention, despite the importance of aquatic macroinvertebrates for nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and as a food source for vertebrate species. We used microcosm experiments to evaluate the effects of salinity, duration of exposure, and prey availability on the relative survival of dominant aquatic macroinvertebrates (i.e., Procambarus clarkii Girard, Cambarellus puer Hobbs, Libellulidae, Dytiscidae cybister) in a freshwater marsh of southwestern Louisiana. We hypothesized that increased salinity, absence of prey, and increased duration of exposure would decrease survival of aquatic macroinvertebrates and that crustaceans would have higher survival than aquatic insect taxon. Our first hypothesis was only partially supported as only salinity increases combined with prolonged exposure duration affected aquatic macroinvertebrate survival. Furthermore, crustaceans had higher survival than aquatic insects. Salinity stress may cause mortality when acting together with other stressful conditions.

Empiric potassium supplementation and increased survival in users of loop diuretics.

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Charles E Leonard

Full Text Available The effectiveness of the clinical strategy of empiric potassium supplementation in reducing the frequency of adverse clinical outcomes in patients receiving loop diuretics is unknown. We sought to examine the association between empiric potassium supplementation and 1 all-cause death and 2 outpatient-originating sudden cardiac death (SD and ventricular arrhythmia (VA among new starters of loop diuretics, stratified on initial loop diuretic dose.We conducted a one-to-one propensity score-matched cohort study using 1999-2007 US Medicaid claims from five states. Empiric potassium supplementation was defined as a potassium prescription on the day of or the day after the initial loop diuretic prescription. Death, the primary outcome, was ascertained from the Social Security Administration Death Master File; SD/VA, the secondary outcome, from incident, first-listed emergency department or principal inpatient SD/VA discharge diagnoses (positive predictive value = 85%.We identified 654,060 persons who met eligibility criteria and initiated therapy with a loop diuretic, 27% of whom received empiric potassium supplementation (N = 179,436 and 73% of whom did not (N = 474,624. The matched hazard ratio for empiric potassium supplementation was 0.93 (95% confidence interval, 0.89-0.98, p = 0.003 for all-cause death. Stratifying on initial furosemide dose, hazard ratios for empiric potassium supplementation with furosemide < 40 and ≥ 40 milligrams/day were 0.93 (0.86-1.00, p = 0.050 and 0.84 (0.79-0.89, p < 0.0001. The matched hazard ratio for empiric potassium supplementation was 1.02 (0.83-1.24, p = 0.879 for SD/VA.Empiric potassium supplementation upon initiation of a loop diuretic appears to be associated with improved survival, with a greater apparent benefit seen with higher diuretic dose. If confirmed, these findings support the use of empiric potassium supplementation upon initiation of a loop diuretic.

Survival rates and predictors of survival among colorectal cancer patients in a Malaysian tertiary hospital.

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Magaji, Bello Arkilla; Moy, Foong Ming; Roslani, April Camilla; Law, Chee Wei

2017-05-18

Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed malignancy and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death globally. It is the second most common cancer among both males and females in Malaysia. The economic burden of colorectal cancer is likely to increase over time owing to its current trend and aging population. Cancer survival analysis is an essential indicator for early detection and improvement in cancer treatment. However, there was a scarcity of studies concerning survival of colorectal cancer patients as well as its predictors. Therefore, we aimed to determine the 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates, compare survival rates among ethnic groups and determine the predictors of survival among colorectal cancer patients. This was an ambidirectional cohort study conducted at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. All Malaysian citizens or permanent residents with histologically confirmed diagnosis of colorectal cancer seen at UMMC from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2010 were included in the study. Demographic and clinical characteristics were extracted from the medical records. Patients were followed-up until death or censored at the end of the study (31st December 2010). Censored patients' vital status (whether alive or dead) were cross checked with the National Registration Department. Survival analyses at 1-, 3- and 5-year intervals were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Log-rank test was used to compare the survival rates, while Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was carried out to determine the predictors of 5-year colorectal cancer survival. Among 1212 patients, the median survival for colorectal, colon and rectal cancers were 42.0, 42.0 and 41.0 months respectively; while the 1-, 3-, and 5-year relative survival rates ranged from 73.8 to 76.0%, 52.1 to 53.7% and 40.4 to 45.4% respectively. The Chinese patients had the lowest 5-year survival compared to Malay and Indian patients. Based on the 814

Novel Resuscitation from Lethal Hemorrhage. Increasing Survival of Combat Casualties

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Safar, Peter

2001-01-01

Using our novel animal models of severe hemorrhage, focusing on evaluation of outcome to 3-10 days, the following strategies were found superior in terms of intact survival compared to standard resuscitation...

Combined high-field intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging and endoscopy increase extent of resection and progression-free survival for pituitary adenomas

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Sylvester, Peter T.; Evans, John A.; Zipfel, Gregory J.; Chole, Richard A.; Uppaluri, Ravindra; Haughey, Bruce H.; Getz, Anne E.; Silverstein, Julie; Rich, Keith M.; Kim, Albert H.; Dacey, Ralph G.

2014-01-01

Purpose The clinical benefit of combined intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) and endoscopy for transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma resection has not been completely characterized. This study assessed the impact of microscopy, endoscopy, and/or iMRI on progression-free survival, extent of resection status (gross-, near-, and subtotal resection), and operative complications. Methods Retrospective analyses were performed on 446 transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma surgeries at a single institution between 1998 and 2012. Multivariate analyses were used to control for baseline characteristics, differences during extent of resection status, and progression-free survival analysis. Results Additional surgery was performed after iMRI in 56/156 cases (35.9 %), which led to increased extent of resection status in 15/156 cases (9.6 %). Multivariate ordinal logistic regression revealed no increase in extent of resection status following iMRI or endoscopy alone; however, combining these modalities increased extent of resection status (odds ratio 2.05, 95 % CI 1.21–3.46) compared to conventional transsphenoidal microsurgery. Multivariate Cox regression revealed that reduced extent of resection status shortened progression-free survival for near- versus gross-total resection [hazard ratio (HR) 2.87, 95 % CI 1.24–6.65] and sub- versus near-total resection (HR 2.10; 95 % CI 1.00–4.40). Complication comparisons between microscopy, endoscopy, and iMRI revealed increased perioperative deaths for endoscopy versus microscopy (4/209 and 0/237, respectively), but this difference was non-significant considering multiple post hoc comparisons (Fisher exact, p = 0.24). Conclusions Combined use of endoscopy and iMRI increased pituitary adenoma extent of resection status compared to conventional transsphenoidal microsurgery, and increased extent of resection status was associated with longer progression-free survival. Treatment modality combination did not significantly impact

Vibrio harveyi effect under survival of Litopenaeus vannamei larvae

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Gabriel Aguirre-Guzmán

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The culture of aquatic organisms show a high relevance in the human feeding and the culture activities can create artificial conditions that increase the growth and selection of specific bacteria. Vibrio species are normal bacteria’s from microflora of penaeid shrimp, those are opportunistic pathogens that can take advantage of the ecological changes generated for the culture of aquatic organisms and which may cause diseases, low survival and economic losses in the shrimp production. The aim of this research was to determine the variation in the survival of different larval substages (nauplius, zoea I-III, mysis I-III and postlarvae 1, of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei exposed at three doses [103 , 105 , and 107 colony-forming unit (CFU ml-1 [ of V. harveyi, by immersion (30 min as infection method. This species generated a significant low survival in larvae (p < 0.05 only in high doses (105 and 107 CFU ml-1 , where higher doses show the lowest values of survival. Larval substages and postlarvae 1 of shrimp showed sensitivity associate to the increase of Vibrio doses and this sensitivity decreased with the growth of larval substages and postlarvae 1. This information has high significance for the fisheries and aquaculture industry, which help to generate strategies to reduce the effects of V. harveyi with positive effect in growth and survival of the shrimp larvae and postlarvae 1.

Survival after blood transfusion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kamper-Jørgensen, Mads; Ahlgren, Martin; Rostgaard, Klaus

2008-01-01

of transfusion recipients in Denmark and Sweden followed for up to 20 years after their first blood transfusion. Main outcome measure was all-cause mortality. RESULTS: A total of 1,118,261 transfusion recipients were identified, of whom 62.0 percent were aged 65 years or older at the time of their first...... the SMR remained significantly 1.3-fold increased. CONCLUSION: The survival and relative mortality patterns among blood transfusion recipients were characterized with unprecedented detail and precision. Our results are relevant to assessments of the consequences of possible transfusion-transmitted disease...... as well as for cost-benefit estimation of new blood safety interventions....

Effects of roads on survival of San Clemente Island foxes

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Snow, N.P.; Andelt, William F.; Stanley, T.R.; Resnik, J.R.; Munson, L.

2012-01-01

Roads generate a variety of influences on wildlife populations; however, little is known about the effects of roads on endemic wildlife on islands. Specifically, road-kills of island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) on San Clemente Island (SCI), Channel Islands, California, USA are a concern for resource managers. To determine the effects of roads on island foxes, we radiocollared foxes using a 3-tiered sampling design to represent the entire population in the study area, a sub-population near roads, and a sub-population away from roads on SCI. We examined annual survival rates using nest-survival models, causes of mortalities, and movements for each sample. We found the population had high annual survival (0.90), although survival declined with use of road habitat, particularly for intermediate-aged foxes. Foxes living near roads suffered lower annual survival (0.76), resulting from high frequencies of road-kills (7 of 11 mortalities). Foxes living away from roads had the highest annual survival (0.97). Road-kill was the most prominent cause of mortality detected on SCI, which we estimated as killing 3-8% of the population in the study area annually. Based on movements, we were unable to detect any responses by foxes that minimized their risks from roads. The probabilities of road-kills increased with use of the road habitat, volume of traffic, and decreasing road sinuosity. We recommend that managers should attempt to reduce road-kills by deterring or excluding foxes from entering roads, and attempting to modify behaviors of motorists to be vigilant for foxes. ?? 2011 The Wildlife Society.

Evaluation of medical treatments to increase survival of ebullism in guinea pigs

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Stegmann, Barbara J.; Pilmanis, Andrew A.; Wolf, E. G.; Derion, Toniann; Fanton, J. W.; Davis, H.; Kemper, G. B.; Scoggins, Terrell E.

1993-01-01

Spaceflight carriers run a constant risk of exposure to vacuum. Above 63,000 ft (47 mmHg), the ambient pressure falls below the vapor pressure of water at 37 C, and tissue vaporization (ebullism) begins. Little is know about appropriate resuscitative protocols after such an ebullism exposure. This study identified injury patterns and mortality rates associated with ebullism while verifying effectiveness of traditional pulmonary resuscitative techniques. Male Hartley guinea pigs were exposed to 87,000 ft for periods of 40 to 115 sec. After descent, those animals that did not breathe spontaneously were given artificial ventilation by bag and mask for up to 15 minutes. Those animals surviving were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups--hyperbaric oxygen (HBO), ground-level oxygen (GLO2), and ground-level air (GLAIR). The HBO group was treated on a standard treatment table 6A while the GLO2 animals received O2 for an equivalent length of time. Those animals in the GLAIR group were observed only. All surviving animals were humanely sacrified at 48 hours. Inflation of the animal's lungs after the exposure was found to be difficult and, at times, impossible. This may be due to surfactant disruption at the alveolar lining. Electron microscopy identified a disruption of the surfactant layer in animals that did not survive initial exposure. Mortality was found to increase with exposure time: 40 sec--0 percent; 60 sec--6 percent; 70 sec--40 percent; 80 sec--13 percent; 100 sec--38 percent; 110 sec--40 percent; and 115 sec--100 percent. There was no difference in the delayed mortality among the treatment groups (HBO--15 percent, GLO2--11 percent, GLAIR--11 percent). However, since resuscitation was ineffective, the effectiveness of any post-exposure treatment was severely limited. Preliminary results indicate that reuscitation of guinea pigs following ebullism exposure is difficult, and that current techniques (such as traditional CPR) may not be appropriate.

Long-Term Survival of Individuals Born Small and Large for Gestational Age.

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E Christina M Wennerström

Full Text Available Little is known on long-term survival and causes of death among individuals born small or large for gestational age. This study investigates birth weight in relation to survival and causes of death over time.A national cohort of 1.7 million live-born singletons in Denmark was followed during 1979-2011, using the Danish Civil Registration System, the Medical Birth Registry and the Cause of Death Registry. Cox proportional hazards were estimated for the impact of small (SGA and large (LGA gestation weight and mortality overall, by age group and birth cohort.Compared to normal weight children, SGA children were associated with increased risk of dying over time. Though most of the deaths occurred during the first year of life, the cumulative mortality risk was increased until 30 years of age. The hazard ratios [HR] for dying among SGA children ages <2 years were: 3.47 (95% CI, 3.30-3.64 and 1.06 (95% CI, 0.60-1.87 in 30 years and older. HR for dying among SGA adults (20-29 years were: 1.20 (95% CI, 0.99-1.46 in years 1979-1982 and 1.61 (95% CI, 1.04-2.51 in years 1989-1994. The SGA born had increased risk of dying from infection, heart disease, respiratory disease, digestive disease, congenital malformation, perinatal conditions, and accidents, suicide, and homicide. Individuals born LGA were associated with decreased mortality risk, but with increased risk of dying from malignant neoplasm.Survival has improved independently of birth weight the past 30 years. However, children born SGA remain at significantly increased risk of dying up till they turn 30 years of age. Individuals born LGA have lower mortality risk but only in the first two years of life.

Adaptive Memory: Survival Processing Increases Both True and False Memory in Adults and Children

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Otgaar, Henry; Smeets, Tom

2010-01-01

Research has shown that processing information in a survival context can enhance the information's memorability. The current study examined whether survival processing can also decrease the susceptibility to false memories and whether the survival advantage can be found in children. In Experiment 1, adults rated semantically related words in a…

Prognostic factors for survival in patients with Ewing's sarcoma using the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) program database.

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Duchman, Kyle R; Gao, Yubo; Miller, Benjamin J

2015-04-01

The current study aims to determine cause-specific survival in patients with Ewing's sarcoma while reporting clinical risk factors for survival. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program database was used to identify patients with osseous Ewing's sarcoma from 1991 to 2010. Patient, tumor, and socioeconomic variables were analyzed to determine prognostic factors for survival. There were 1163 patients with Ewing's sarcoma identified in the SEER Program database. The 10-year cause-specific survival for patients with non-metastatic disease at diagnosis was 66.8% and 28.1% for patients with metastatic disease. Black patients demonstrated reduced survival at 10 years with an increased frequency of metastatic disease at diagnosis as compared to patients of other race, while Hispanic patients more frequently presented with tumor size>10cm. Univariate analysis revealed that metastatic disease at presentation, tumor size>10cm, axial tumor location, patient age≥20 years, black race, and male sex were associated with decreased cause-specific survival at 10 years. Metastatic disease at presentation, axial tumor location, tumor size>10cm, and age≥20 years remained significant in the multivariate analysis. Patients with Ewing's sarcoma have decreased cause-specific survival at 10 years when metastatic at presentation, axial tumor location, tumor size>10cm, and patient age≥20 years. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantifying the changes in survival inequality for Indigenous people diagnosed with cancer in Queensland, Australia.

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Baade, Peter D; Dasgupta, Paramita; Dickman, Paul W; Cramb, Susanna; Williamson, John D; Condon, John R; Garvey, Gail

2016-08-01

The survival inequality faced by Indigenous Australians after a cancer diagnosis is well documented; what is less understood is whether this inequality has changed over time and what this means in terms of the impact a cancer diagnosis has on Indigenous people. Survival information for all patients identified as either Indigenous (n=3168) or non-Indigenous (n=211,615) and diagnosed in Queensland between 1997 and 2012 were obtained from the Queensland Cancer Registry, with mortality followed up to 31st December, 2013. Flexible parametric survival models were used to quantify changes in the cause-specific survival inequalities and the number of lives that might be saved if these inequalities were removed. Among Indigenous cancer patients, the 5-year cause-specific survival (adjusted by age, sex and broad cancer type) increased from 52.9% in 1997-2006 to 58.6% in 2007-2012, while it improved from 61.0% to 64.9% among non-Indigenous patients. This meant that the adjusted 5-year comparative survival ratio (Indigenous: non-Indigenous) increased from 0.87 [0.83-0.88] to 0.89 [0.87-0.93], with similar improvements in the 1-year comparative survival. Using a simulated cohort corresponding to the number and age-distribution of Indigenous people diagnosed with cancer in Queensland each year (n=300), based on the 1997-2006 cohort mortality rates, 35 of the 170 deaths due to cancer (21%) expected within five years of diagnosis were due to the Indigenous: non-Indigenous survival inequality. This percentage was similar when applying 2007-2012 cohort mortality rates (19%; 27 out of 140 deaths). Indigenous people diagnosed with cancer still face a poorer survival outlook than their non-Indigenous counterparts, particularly in the first year after diagnosis. The improving survival outcomes among both Indigenous and non-Indigenous cancer patients, and the decreasing absolute impact of the Indigenous survival disadvantage, should provide increased motivation to continue and enhance

Is activation of the Na+K+ pump necessary for NGF-mediated neuronal survival

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sendtner, M.; Gnahn, H.; Wakade, A.; Thoenen, H.

1988-01-01

The ability of nerve growth factor to cause rapid activation of the Na+K+ pump of its responsive cells was examined by measuring the uptake of 86 Rb+. A significant increase in 86 Rb+ uptake in E8 chick dorsal root ganglion sensory neurons after NGF treatment was seen only if the cells had been damaged during the preparation procedure. Such damaged cells could not survive in culture in the presence of NGF, and undamaged cells that did survive in response to NGF exhibited no increased 86 Rb+ uptake rate. Furthermore, cultured calf adrenal medullary cells did not show an increase in 86 Rb+ uptake after treatment with NGF, although these cells respond to NGF with an increased synthesis of catecholaminergic enzymes. These results are incompatible with the hypothesis that the mechanism of action of NGF that promotes neuronal survival and enzyme induction results from an initial stimulation of the Na+K+ pump

The effect of carbon dioxide therapy on composite graft survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Durães, Eliana Ferreira Ribeiro; Durães, Leonardo de Castro; Carneiro, Fabiana Pirani; Lino, Ruy de Souza; Sousa, João Batista de

2013-08-01

To investigate the effect of carboxytherapy in auricular composite grafts in rabbits. An experimental study was conducted using 20 rabbits randomly assigned to a treatment group of carboxytherapy or a control group of saline solution. In each ear, a circular graft with 1.5 cm or 2 cm of diameter was amputated and reattached. Animals underwent carbon dioxide or saline injection four times during the experiment. We analyzed clinical evolution of the animals, grafts survival, histopathology features and histomorphometry of collagen. The treated group had a significantly lower weight gain (p=0.038). Histopathology was not significantly different between groups. There was an increase in amount of collagen in 2 cm grafts submitted to carbon dioxide therapy (p=0.003). Carboxytherapy didn't influence graft survival rate for 1.5 cm grafts or 2 cm grafts (p=0.567 and p=0.777, respectively). Carbon dioxide therapy increased the amount of collagen in 2 cm grafts. CO2 was not significantly different from saline infusion on composite grafts survival, but this study suggests that there is a mechanical effect caused by distension which favored graft survival.

The impact of increasing dose on overall survival in prostate cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, Matthew D.; Schultheiss, Timothy E.; Smith, David D.; Tseng, Bertrand P.; Wong, Jeffrey Y. C.

2015-01-01

To assess the impact of increasing dose on overall survival (OS) for prostate cancer patients. Treatment data were obtained on more than 20,000 patients in the National Oncology Data Alliance®, a proprietary database of merged tumor registries, who were treated for prostate cancer with definitive radiotherapy between 1995 and 2006. Eligible patients had complete data on total dose, T stage, use and timing of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and treatment start date (n = 20,028). Patients with prior malignancies were excluded. On multivariate analysis, dose, T stage, grade, marital status, age, and neoadjuvant ADT were significant predictors of OS. Hazard ratios for OS declined monotonically with increasing dose, reaching 0.63 (95 % Confidence Interval 0.53–0.76) at ≥80 Gy. On subset analysis, neoadjuvant ADT significantly improved OS in high risk patients but was not significant in lower risk patients. The dose response was maintained across all risk groups. Medical comorbidities were balanced across all dose strata and sensitivity analysis demonstrated that other prognostic factors were unlikely to explain the observed dose response. This study suggests that increasing dose significantly improves OS in prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13014-015-0419-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Survival and causes of mortality in juvenile Puerto Rican parrots

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G.D. Lindsey; W.J. Arendt; J. Kalina

1994-01-01

Fifteen juvenile Puerto Rican Parrots (Amazona vittata) from wild nests in 1985, 1986 and 1987 were radio monitored an average of 110 +_ 15.9 (SE) d (range 4-209 d) post-fiedging.. Minimum survival was 67% (n = 3) in 1985, 100%( n = 4) in 1986 and 43% (n = 7) in 1987. Most mortality (three of five deaths) occurred during the first 35 d following fledging. A major...

Surviving After Suicide

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... fewer tools for communicating their feelings. Surviving After Suicide Fact Sheet 3 Children are especially vulnerable to feelings of guilt and ... to take care of them. Secrecy about the suicide in the hopes of protecting children may cause further complications. Explain the situation and ...

Pretreatment with Cry1Ac Protoxin Modulates the Immune Response, and Increases the Survival of Plasmodium-Infected CBA/Ca Mice

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Martha Legorreta-Herrera

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Malaria is a major global health problem that kills 1-2 million people each year. Despite exhaustive research, naturally acquired immunity is poorly understood. Cry1A proteins are potent immunogens with adjuvant properties and are able to induce strong cellular and humoral responses. In fact, it has been shown that administration of Cry1Ac protoxin alone or with amoebic lysates induces protection against the lethal infection caused by the protozoa Naegleria fowleri. In this work, we studied whether Cry1Ac is able to activate the innate immune response to induce protection against Plasmodium berghei ANKA (lethal and P. chabaudi AS (nonlethal parasites in CBA/Ca mice. Treatment with Cry1Ac induced protection against both Plasmodium species in terms of reduced parasitaemia, longer survival time, modulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and increased levels of specific antibodies against Plasmodium. Understanding how to boost innate immunity to Plasmodium infection should lead to immunologically based intervention strategies.

Climatic variation and age-specific survival in Asian elephants from Myanmar.

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Mumby, Hannah S; Courtiol, Alexandre; Mar, Khyne U; Lummaa, Virpi

2013-05-01

Concern about climate change has intensified interest in understanding how climatic variability affects animal life histories. Despite such effects being potentially most dramatic in large, long-lived, and slowly reproducing terrestrial mammals, little is known of the effects of climatic variation on survival in those species. Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are endangered across their distribution, and inhabit regions characterized by high seasonality of temperature and rainfall. We investigated the effects of monthly climatic variation on survival and causes of death in Asian elephants using a unique demographic data set of 1024 semi-captive, longitudinally monitored elephants from four sites in Myanmar between 1965 and 2000. Temperature had a significant effect on survival in both sexes and across all ages. For elephants between 1 month and 17 years of age, maximal survival was reached at -24 degrees C, and any departures from this temperature increased mortality, whereas neonates and mature elephants had maximal survival at even lower temperatures. Although males experienced higher mortality overall, sex differences in these optimal temperatures were small. Because the elephants spent more time during a year in temperatures above 24 degrees C than in temperatures below it, most deaths occurred at hot (temperatures>24 degrees C) rather than cold periods. Decreased survival at higher temperatures resulted partially from increased deaths from infectious disease and heat stroke, whereas the lower survival in the coldest months was associated with an increase in noninfectious diseases and poor health in general. Survival was also related to rainfall, with the highest survival rates during the wettest months for all ages and sexes. Our results show that even the normal-range monsoon variation in climate can exert a large impact on elephant survival in Myanmar, leading to extensive absolute differences in mortality; switching from favorable to unfavorable climatic

The synthetic parasite-derived peptide GK1 increases survival in a preclinical mouse melanoma model.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Torres, Armando; Vera-Aguilera, Jesús; Hernaiz-Leonardo, Juan Carlos; Moreno-Aguilera, Eduardo; Monteverde-Suarez, Diego; Vera-Aguilera, Carlos; Estrada-Bárcenas, Daniel

2013-11-01

The therapeutic efficacy of a synthetic parasite-derived peptide GK1, an immune response booster, was evaluated in a mouse melanoma model. This melanoma model correlates with human stage IIb melanoma, which is treated with wide surgical excision; a parallel study employing a surgical treatment was carried out as an instructive goal. C57BL/6 mice were injected subcutaneously in the flank with 2×10(5) B16-F10 murine melanoma cells. When the tumors reached 20 mm3, mice were separated into two different groups; the GK1 group, treated weekly with peritumoral injections of GK1 (10 μg/100 μL of sterile saline solution) and the control group, treated weekly with an antiseptic peritumoral injection of 100 μL of sterile saline solution without further intervention. All mice were monitored daily for clinical appearance, tumor size, and survival. Surgical treatment was performed in parallel when the tumor size was 20 mm3 (group A), 500 mm3 (group B), and >500 mm3 (group C). The GK1 peptide effectively increased the mean survival time by 9.05 days, corresponding to an increase of 42.58%, and significantly delayed tumor growth from day 3 to 12 of treatment. In addition, tumor necrosis was significantly increased (pcancers remains to be determined, and surgical removal remains a challenge for any new experimental treatment of melanoma in mouse models.

Goat meat does not cause increased blood pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Sunagawa, Katsunori; Kishi, Tetsuya; Nagai, Ayako; Matsumura, Yuka; Nagamine, Itsuki; Uechi, Shuntoku

2014-01-01

While there are persistent rumors that the consumption of goat meat dishes increases blood pressure, there is no scientific evidence to support this. Two experiments were conducted to clarify whether or not blood pressure increases in conjunction with the consumption of goat meat dishes. In experiment 1, 24 Dahl/Iwai rats (15 weeks old, body weight 309.3±11.1 g) were evenly separated into 4 groups. The control group (CP) was fed a diet containing 20% chicken and 0.3% salt on a dry matter basis. The goat meat group (GM) was fed a diet containing 20% goat meat and 0.3% salt. The goat meat/salt group (GS) was fed a diet containing 20% goat meant and 3% to 4% salt. The Okinawan mugwort (Artemisia Princeps Pampan)/salt group (GY) was fed a diet containing 20% goat meat, 3% to 4% salt and 5% of freeze-dried mugwort powder. The experiment 1 ran for a period of 14 weeks during which time the blood pressure of the animals was recorded. The GS, and GY groups consumed significantly more water (pgoat meat does not cause increased blood pressure, rather the large amount of salt used in the preparation of goat meat dishes is responsible for the increase in blood pressure.

Sodium caseinate induces increased survival in leukaemic mouse J774 model.

Science.gov (United States)

Córdova-Galaviz, Yolanda; Ledesma-Martínez, Edgar; Aguíñiga-Sánchez, Itzen; Soldevila-Melgarejo, Gloria; Soto-Cruz, Isabel; Weiss-Steider, Benny; Santiago-Osorio, Edelmiro

2014-01-01

Acute myeloid leukaemia is a neoplastic disease of haematopoietic stem cells. Although there have been recent advances regarding its treatment, mortality remains high. Consequently, therapeutic alternatives continue to be explored. In the present report, we present evidence that sodium caseinate (CasNa), a salt of the principal protein in milk, may possess important anti-leukaemic properties. J774 leukaemia macrophage-like cells were cultured with CasNa and proliferation, viability and differentiation were evaluated. These cells were also inoculated into BALB/c mice as a model of leukemia. We demonstrated that CasNa inhibits the in vitro proliferation and reduces viability of J774 cells, and leads to increased survival in vivo in a leukaemic mouse model. These data indicate that CasNa may be useful in leukaemia therapy. Copyright © 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Cancer in adolescents and young adults in north Netherlands (1989-2003) : increased incidence, stable survival and high incidence of second primary tumours

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Gaal, J. C.; Bastiaannet, E.; Schaapveld, M.; Otter, R.; Kluin-Nelemans, J. C.; de Bont, E. S. J. M.; van der Graaf, W. T. A.

Background: Lack of survival improvement in adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer has led to increased awareness of this young population. Design: We carried out a population-based study of incidence and survival of primary tumours and second primary tumours in patients aged 12-24 in north

Design for Survivability: An Approach to Assured Autonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Alexandrov, Natalia M.; Ozoroski, Thomas A.

2016-01-01

Rapidly expanding unmanned air traffic includes and will continue to include non-cooperative participants. Non-cooperative behavior may be due to technical failure, a lack of appropriate equipment, a careless or malicious operator. Regardless of the cause, the outcome remains: growing density of non-cooperative traffic will increase the risk of collision between unmanned vehicles and aircraft carrying humans. As a result, the degraded safety of airspace may limit access to airspace, with adverse consequences for the traveling public and the economy. Because encounters with small non-cooperative objects, such as birds or wayward drones, can happen too rapidly for an external control system to mitigate them, it is imperative that the aircraft that carry humans survive encounters with non-cooperative vehicles. To-date, design for survivability has been practiced explicitly in the military domain. Survivability against collisions in civil aviation has been limited to tolerances against bird strikes; and these tolerances have proved inadequate on occasion. The growing risk of collision with unmanned vehicles now requires the development of survivability discipline for civilian transport aircraft. The new discipline must be infused into multidisciplinary design methods, on par with traditional disciplines. In this paper, we report on a preliminary study of survivability considerations for the civil aviation domain.

Temporal trends and gender differentials in causes of childhood deaths at Ballabgarh, India - Need for revisiting child survival strategies

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Krishnan Anand

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Relating Information on causes of deaths to implementation of health interventions provides vital information for program planning and evaluation. This paper from Ballabgarh Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS site in north India looks at temporal trends and gender differentials in the causes of death among under-five children. Methods Data on causes of death for 1972-74, 1982-84, 1992-94, 2002-04 were taken from existing HDSS publications and database. Physicians’ assigned causes of death were based on narratives by lay health worker till 1994 and later by verbal autopsy. Cause Specific Mortality Fractions (CSMF and Cause Specific Mortality Rates (CSMR per 1000 live births were calculated for neonatal ( Results The CSMF of prematurity and sepsis was 32% and 17.6% during neonatal period in 2002-04. The share of infections in all childhood deaths decreased from 55.2% in 1972-74 to 43.6% in 2002-04. All major causes of mortality (malnutrition, diarrhea and acute lower respiratory infection except injuries showed a steep decline among children and seem to have plateued in last decade. Most of disease specific public health interventions were launched in mid eighties. . Girls reported significantly higher mortality rates for prematurity (RR 1.52; 95% CI 1.01-2.29; diarrhea (2.29; 1.59 – 3.29, and malnutrition (3.37; 2.05 – 5.53. Conclusions The findings of the study point out to the need to move away from disease-specific to a comprehensive approach and to address gender inequity in child survival through socio-behavioural approaches.

Causes of death after traumatic spinal cord injury-a 70-year British study.

Science.gov (United States)

Savic, G; DeVivo, M J; Frankel, H L; Jamous, M A; Soni, B M; Charlifue, S

2017-10-01

Retrospective and prospective observational. Analyse causes of death after traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) in persons surviving the first year post injury, and establish any trend over time. Two spinal centres in Great Britain. The sample consisted of 5483 patients with tSCI admitted to Stoke Mandeville and Southport spinal centres who were injured between 1943 and 2010, survived first year post injury, had residual neurological deficit on discharge and were British residents. Mortality information, including causes of death, was collected up to 31 December 2014. Age-standardised cause-specific mortality rates were calculated for selected causes of death, and included trends over time and comparison with the general population. In total, 2322 persons (42.3% of the sample) died, with 2170 (93.5%) having a reliable cause of death established. The most frequent causes of death were respiratory (29.3% of all certified causes), circulatory, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (26.7%), neoplasms (13.9%), urogenital (11.5%), digestive (5.3%) and external causes, including suicides (4.5%). Compared to the general population, age-standardised cause-specific mortality rates were higher for all causes, especially skin, urogenital and respiratory; rates showed improvement over time for suicides, circulatory and urogenital causes, no significant change for neoplasms, and increase for skin and respiratory causes. Leading causes of death after tSCI in persons surviving the first year post injury were respiratory, circulatory, neoplasms and urogenital. Cause-specific mortality rates showed improvement over time for most causes, but were still higher than the general population rates, especially for skin, urinary and respiratory causes.

The effect of comorbidity on the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and survival from colon cancer: a retrospective cohort study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Purdie Gordon

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Comorbidity has a well documented detrimental effect on cancer survival. However it is difficult to disentangle the direct effects of comorbidity on survival from indirect effects via the influence of comorbidity on treatment choice. This study aimed to assess the impact of comorbidity on colon cancer patient survival, the effect of comorbidity on treatment choices for these patients, and the impact of this on survival among those with comorbidity. Methods This retrospective cohort study reviewed 589 New Zealanders diagnosed with colon cancer in 1996–2003, followed until the end of 2005. Clinical and outcome data were obtained from clinical records and the national mortality database. Cox proportional hazards and logistic regression models were used to assess the impact of comorbidity on cancer specific and all-cause survival, the effect of comorbidity on chemotherapy recommendations for stage III patients, and the impact of this on survival among those with comorbidity. Results After adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, area deprivation, smoking, stage, grade and site of disease, higher Charlson comorbidity score was associated with poorer all-cause survival (HR = 2.63 95%CI:1.82–3.81 for Charlson score ≥ 3 compared with 0. Comorbidity count and several individual conditions were significantly related to poorer all-cause survival. A similar, but less marked effect was seen for cancer specific survival. Among patients with stage III colon cancer, those with a Charlson score ≥ 3 compared with 0 were less likely to be offered chemotherapy (19% compared with 84% despite such therapy being associated with around a 60% reduction in excess mortality for both all-cause and cancer specific survival in these patients. Conclusion Comorbidity impacts on colon cancer survival thorough both physiological burden of disease and its impact on treatment choices. Some patients with comorbidity may forego chemotherapy unnecessarily

Electrically evoked local muscle contractions cause an increase in hippocampal BDNF.

Science.gov (United States)

Maekawa, Takahiro; Ogasawara, Riki; Tsutaki, Arata; Lee, Kihyuk; Nakada, Satoshi; Nakazato, Koichi; Ishii, Naokata

2018-05-01

High-intensity exercise has recently been shown to cause an increase in brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. Some studies have suggested that myokines secreted from contracting skeletal muscle, such as irisin (one of the truncated form of fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 (FNDC5)), play important roles in this process. Thus, we hypothesized that locally evoked muscle contractions may cause an increase of BDNF in the hippocampus through some afferent mechanisms. Under anesthesia, Sprague-Dawley rats were fixed on a custom-made dynamometer and their triceps surae muscles were made to maximally contract via delivery of electric stimulations of the sciatic nerve (100 Hz with 1-ms pulse and 3-s duration). Following 50 repeated maximal isometric contractions, the protein expressions of BDNF and activation of its receptor in the hippocampus significantly increased compared with the sham-operated control rats. However, the expression of both BDNF and FNDC5 within stimulated muscles did not significantly increase, nor did their serum concentrations change. These results indicate that local muscular contractions under unconsciousness can induce BDNF expression in the hippocampus. This effect may be mediated by peripheral reception of muscle contraction, but not by systemic factors.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis PPE18 Protein Reduces Inflammation and Increases Survival in Animal Model of Sepsis.

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Ahmed, Asma; Dolasia, Komal; Mukhopadhyay, Sangita

2018-04-18

Mycobacterium tuberculosis PPE18 is a member of the PPE family. Previous studies have shown that recombinant PPE18 (rPPE18) protein binds to TLR2 and triggers a signaling cascade which reduces levels of TNF-α and IL-12, and increases IL-10 in macrophages. Because TNF-α is a major mediator of the pathophysiology of sepsis and blocking inflammation is a possible line of therapy in such circumstances, we tested the efficacy of rPPE18 in reducing symptoms of sepsis in a mouse model of Escherichia coli- induced septic peritonitis. rPPE18 significantly decreased levels of serum TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-12 and reduced organ damage in mice injected i.p. with high doses of E. coli Peritoneal cells isolated from rPPE18-treated mice had characteristics of M2 macrophages which are protective in excessive inflammation. Additionally, rPPE18 inhibited disseminated intravascular coagulation, which can cause organ damage resulting in death. rPPE18 was able to reduce sepsis-induced mortality when given prophylactically or therapeutically. Additionally, in a mouse model of cecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis, rPPE18 reduced TNF-α, alanine transaminase, and creatinine, attenuated organ damage, prevented depletion of monocytes and lymphocytes, and improved survival. Our studies show that rPPE18 has potent anti-inflammatory properties and can serve as a novel therapeutic to control sepsis. Copyright © 2018 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

Measles Vaccination Supports Millennium Development Goal 4: Increasing Coverage and Increasing Child Survival in Northern Ghana, 1996–2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Welaga

2018-02-01

Full Text Available BackgroundMeasles vaccine (MV administered as the last vaccine after the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP may be associated with better child survival unrelated to prevention of measles infection. Other studies have shown that MV administered after DTP was more beneficial and was associated with lower mortality compared with DTP administered after MV or DTP administered simultaneously with MV. We compared the difference in mortality between measles vaccinated after DTP3 and measles-unvaccinated children in Navrongo, Ghana.MethodsThis was a follow-up study involving annual cohort of children aged 9–23 months from 1996 to 2012. We assessed survival in relation to the measles vaccination status within the first 12 months from interview date and until 5 years of age using Cox proportional hazards models.ResultsIn all, 38,333 children were included in the study. The proportion of children vaccinated with MV-after-DTP3 increased from 45% in 1996 to 95% in 2012. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR for measles unvaccinated compared with MV-after-DTP3 vaccinated children was 1.38 (1.15–1.66 in the first 12 months after assessment of vaccination status and 1.22 (1.05–1.41 with follow-up to 5 years of age. The national immunization days campaigns with oral polio vaccine or MV might have reduced the effect of being MV-after-DTP3 vaccinated vs MV-unvaccinated. For 12 months of follow-up, the HR before a campaign for MV-unvaccinated children was 1.63 (1.23–2.17 compared to those who received MV-after-DTP3. After the campaign, the HR reduced to 1.23 (0.97–1.54. Stratifying the analysis by sex, measles-unvaccinated boys had a HR of 1.69 (1.33–2.61 compared to measles-unvaccinated girls who had a HR 1.06 (0.79–1.40 during 1-year follow-up. In 1989, only 7% of children in the area had received MV-after-DTP3; the increase in MV-after-DTP3 coverage from 1989 to 2012 may have lowered mortality rate among children aged 9 months to

Proliferation and clonal survival of human lung cancer cells treated with fractionated irradiation in combination with paclitaxel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rijn, Johannes van; Berg, Jaap van den; Meijer, Otto W.M.

1995-01-01

Purpose: This study was performed to determine the effects of a continuous exposure to paclitaxel (taxol) in combination with fractionated irradiation on cell proliferation and survival. Methods and Materials: Human lung carcinoma cells (SW1573) were given a daily treatment with 3 Gy of x-rays during 5 days in the continuous presence of 5 nM taxol. The surviving fraction and the total number of cells were determined every 24 h before and immediately after irradiation. Results: Irradiation with 5 x 3 Gy and 5 nM taxol cause approximately the same inhibition of cell proliferation. In combination these treatments have an additional effect and the cell population increases no further after the first 24 h. Whereas the cells become more resistant to taxol after the first 24 h with a minimum survival of 42%, taxol progressively reduces the population of surviving cells in combination with x-rays when the number of fractions increases, up to 25-fold relative to irradiation alone. The enhancement effect of 5 nM taxol is likely to be attributed to an inhibition of the repopulation during fractionated irradiation and not to an increased radiosensitivity. Only after treatment with 10 or 100 nM taxol for 24 h, which is attended with a high cytotoxicity, is moderate radiosensitization observed. Conclusion: Taxol, continuously present at a low concentration with little cytotoxicity, causes a progressive reduction of the surviving cell population in combination with fractionated irradiation, mainly by an inhibition of the repopulation of surviving cells between the dose fractions

Elemental carbon exposure at residence and survival after acute myocardial infarction.

Science.gov (United States)

von Klot, Stephanie; Gryparis, Alexandros; Tonne, Cathryn; Yanosky, Jeffrey; Coull, Brent A; Goldberg, Robert J; Lessard, Darleen; Melly, Steven J; Suh, Helen H; Schwartz, Joel

2009-07-01

Particulate air pollution has been consistently related to cardiovascular mortality. Some evidence suggests that particulate matter may accelerate the atherosclerotic process. Effects of within-city variations of particulate air pollution on survival after an acute cardiovascular event have been little explored. We conducted a cohort study of hospital survivors of acute myocardial infarction (MI) from the Worcester, MA, metropolitan area to investigate the long-term effects of within-city variation in traffic-related air pollution on mortality. The study builds on an ongoing community-wide investigation examining changes over time in MI incidence and case-fatality rates. We included confirmed cases of MI in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003. Long-term survival status was ascertained through 2005. A validated spatiotemporal land use regression model for traffic-related air pollution was developed and annual averages of elemental carbon at residence estimated. The effect of estimated elemental carbon on the long-term mortality of patients discharged after MI was analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards model, controlling for a variety of demographic, medical history, and clinical variables. Of the 3895 patients with validated MI, 44% died during follow-up. Exposure to estimated elemental carbon in the year of entry into the study was 0.44 microg/m on average. All-cause mortality increased by 15% (95% confidence interval = 0.03%-29%) per interquartile range increase in estimated yearly elemental carbon (0.24 microg/m) after the second year of survival. No association between traffic-related pollution and all-cause mortality was observed during the first 2 years of follow-up. Chronic traffic-related particulate air pollution is associated with increased mortality in hospital survivors of acute MI after the second year of survival.

Androgen receptor agonists increase lean mass, improve cardiopulmonary functions and extend survival in preclinical models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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Ponnusamy, Suriyan; Sullivan, Ryan D; You, Dahui; Zafar, Nadeem; He Yang, Chuan; Thiyagarajan, Thirumagal; Johnson, Daniel L; Barrett, Maron L; Koehler, Nikki J; Star, Mayra; Stephenson, Erin J; Bridges, Dave; Cormier, Stephania A; Pfeffer, Lawrence M; Narayanan, Ramesh

2017-07-01

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a neuromuscular disease that predominantly affects boys as a result of mutation(s) in the dystrophin gene. DMD is characterized by musculoskeletal and cardiopulmonary complications, resulting in shorter life-span. Boys afflicted by DMD typically exhibit symptoms within 3-5 years of age and declining physical functions before attaining puberty. We hypothesized that rapidly deteriorating health of pre-pubertal boys with DMD could be due to diminished anabolic actions of androgens in muscle, and that intervention with an androgen receptor (AR) agonist will reverse musculoskeletal complications and extend survival. While castration of dystrophin and utrophin double mutant (mdx-dm) mice to mimic pre-pubertal nadir androgen condition resulted in premature death, maintenance of androgen levels extended the survival. Non-steroidal selective-AR modulator, GTx-026, which selectively builds muscle and bone was tested in X-linked muscular dystrophy mice (mdx). GTx-026 significantly increased body weight, lean mass and grip strength by 60-80% over vehicle-treated mdx mice. While vehicle-treated castrated mdx mice exhibited cardiopulmonary impairment and fibrosis of heart and lungs, GTx-026 returned cardiopulmonary function and intensity of fibrosis to healthy control levels. GTx-026 elicits its musculoskeletal effects through pathways that are distinct from dystrophin-regulated pathways, making AR agonists ideal candidates for combination approaches. While castration of mdx-dm mice resulted in weaker muscle and shorter survival, GTx-026 treatment increased the muscle mass, function and survival, indicating that androgens are important for extended survival. These preclinical results support the importance of androgens and the need for intervention with AR agonists to treat DMD-affected boys. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Goat Meat Does Not Cause Increased Blood Pressure

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Katsunori Sunagawa

2014-01-01

Full Text Available While there are persistent rumors that the consumption of goat meat dishes increases blood pressure, there is no scientific evidence to support this. Two experiments were conducted to clarify whether or not blood pressure increases in conjunction with the consumption of goat meat dishes. In experiment 1, 24 Dahl/Iwai rats (15 weeks old, body weight 309.3±11.1 g were evenly separated into 4 groups. The control group (CP was fed a diet containing 20% chicken and 0.3% salt on a dry matter basis. The goat meat group (GM was fed a diet containing 20% goat meat and 0.3% salt. The goat meat/salt group (GS was fed a diet containing 20% goat meant and 3% to 4% salt. The Okinawan mugwort (Artemisia Princeps Pampan/salt group (GY was fed a diet containing 20% goat meat, 3% to 4% salt and 5% of freeze-dried mugwort powder. The experiment 1 ran for a period of 14 weeks during which time the blood pressure of the animals was recorded. The GS, and GY groups consumed significantly more water (p<0.01 than the CP and GM groups despite the fact that their diet consumption levels were similar. The body weight of animals in the CP, GM, and GS groups was similar while the animals in the GY group were significantly smaller (p<0.01. The blood pressure in the GM group was virtually the same as the CP group throughout the course of the experiment. In contrast, while the blood pressure of the animals in the GS and GY group from 15 to 19 weeks old was the same as the CP group, their blood pressures were significantly higher (p<0.01 after 20 weeks of age. The GY group tended to have lower blood pressure than the GS group. In experiment 2, in order to clarify whether or not the increase in blood pressure in the GS group and the GY group in experiment 1 was caused by an excessive intake of salt, the effects on blood pressure of a reduction of salt in diet were investigated. When amount of salt in the diet of the GS and GY group was reduced from 4% to 0.3%, the animal�

Is the increase in allergic respiratory disease caused by a cohort effect?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linneberg, A; Nielsen, N H; Madsen, F

2002-01-01

-sectional studies have shown that the prevalence of allergic sensitization decreases with increasing age. This could reflect the natural course of allergic sensitization. Alternatively, this could reflect that the increase in sensitization is caused by a cohort effect, i.e. an increase among subjects born during...... by a cohort effect. Thus, changes in lifestyle or environmental factors that occurred around or after 1960 may have contributed to this increase....

Survival and cause of death after transcatheter aortic valve replacement as compared to an age- and sex-matched background population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Theut, Marie; Thygesen, Julie B; De Backer, Ole

2017-01-01

AIMS: This study aimed to assess survival and causes of death in a real-world TAVR population as compared to an age- and sex-matched background population. METHODS AND RESULTS: Each aortic stenosis (AS) patient treated with TAVR in Eastern Denmark between 2007 and 2014 (n=617) was matched with 25...... age- and sex-matched controls (n=15,425) randomly drawn from the general Danish population. In the total TAVR population, early mortality (≤90 days) was significantly higher (hazard ratio [HR] 3.90 [2.82-5.39]; p

Declines in Malaria Burden and All-Cause Child Mortality following Increases in Control Interventions in Senegal, 2005-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Thwing, Julie; Eckert, Erin; Dione, Demba Anta; Tine, Roger; Faye, Adama; Yé, Yazoume; Ndiop, Medoune; Cisse, Moustapha; Ndione, Jacques Andre; Diouf, Mame Birame; Ba, Mady

2017-09-01

Malaria is endemic in Senegal. The national malaria control strategy focuses on achieving universal coverage for major interventions, with a goal of reaching preelimination status by 2018. Senegal began distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and introduced artemisinin-based combination therapy in 2006, then introduced rapid diagnostic tests in 2007. We evaluated the impact of these efforts using a plausibility design based on malaria's contribution to all-cause under-five mortality (ACCM) and considering other contextual factors which may influence ACCM. Between 2005 and 2010, household ownership of ITNs increased from 20% to 63%, and the proportion of people sleeping under an ITN the night prior to the survey increased from 6% to 29%. Malaria parasite prevalence declined from 6% to 3% from 2008 to 2010 among children under five. Some nonmalaria indicators of child health improved, for example, increase of complete vaccination coverage from 58% to 64%; however, nutritional indicators deteriorated, with an increase in stunting from 16% to 26%. Although economic indicators improved, environmental conditions favored an increase in malaria transmission. ACCM decreased 40% between 2005 and 2010, from 121 (95% confidence interval [CI] 113-129) to 72 (95% CI 66-77) per 1,000, and declines were greater among age groups, epidemiologic zones, and wealth quintiles most at risk for malaria. After considering coverage of malaria interventions, trends in malaria morbidity, effects of contextual factors, and trends in ACCM, it is plausible that malaria control interventions contributed to a reduction in malaria mortality and to the impressive gains in child survival in Senegal.

Lack of potassium channel induces proliferation and survival causing increased neurogenesis and two-fold hippocampus enlargement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Almgren, Malin; Persson, Ann-Sophie; Fenghua, Chen

2007-01-01

-fold within dentate gyrus (DG), CA2/3, and hilus of 12-week-old mceph/mceph versus wild type mice. In CA1, there was a tendency toward an increase in volume and in number of astrocytes. The volume estimates in newborn and p14 mice suggest that the overgrowth in mceph/mceph hippocampus starts between birth...

Carbon monoxide inhalation increases microparticles causing vascular and CNS dysfunction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Jiajun; Yang, Ming [Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Kosterin, Paul [Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Salzberg, Brian M. [Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Milovanova, Tatyana N.; Bhopale, Veena M. [Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Thom, Stephen R., E-mail: sthom@smail.umaryland.edu [Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States)

2013-12-01

We hypothesized that circulating microparticles (MPs) play a role in pro-inflammatory effects associated with carbon monoxide (CO) inhalation. Mice exposed for 1 h to 100 ppm CO or more exhibit increases in circulating MPs derived from a variety of vascular cells as well as neutrophil activation. Tissue injury was quantified as 2000 kDa dextran leakage from vessels and as neutrophil sequestration in the brain and skeletal muscle; and central nervous system nerve dysfunction was documented as broadening of the neurohypophysial action potential (AP). Indices of injury occurred following exposures to 1000 ppm for 1 h or to 1000 ppm for 40 min followed by 3000 ppm for 20 min. MPs were implicated in causing injuries because infusing the surfactant MP lytic agent, polyethylene glycol telomere B (PEGtB) abrogated elevations in MPs, vascular leak, neutrophil sequestration and AP prolongation. These manifestations of tissue injury also did not occur in mice lacking myeloperoxidase. Vascular leakage and AP prolongation were produced in naïve mice infused with MPs that had been obtained from CO poisoned mice, but this did not occur with MPs obtained from control mice. We conclude that CO poisoning triggers elevations of MPs that activate neutrophils which subsequently cause tissue injuries. - Highlights: • Circulating microparticles (MPs) increase in mice exposed to 100 ppm CO or more. • MPs are lysed by infusing the surfactant polyethylene glycol telomere B. • CO-induced MPs cause neutrophil activation, vascular leak and CNS dysfunction. • Similar tissue injuries do not arise with MPs obtained from air-exposed, control mice.

Effects of increased alcohol availability during adolescence on the risk of all-cause and cause-specific disability pension: a natural experiment.

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Thern, Emelie; de Munter, Jeroen; Hemmingsson, Tomas; Davey Smith, George; Ramstedt, Mats; Tynelius, Per; Rasmussen, Finn

2017-06-01

To test if being exposed to increased alcohol availability during adolescence is associated with an increased risk of receiving disability pension due to all-cause, alcohol use disorders and mental disorders. Register-based population-based study using a natural experiment setting, the alcohol policy change in Sweden (1967-68), with increased access to strong beer in a narrow time window and geographical area. The individuals exposed to the policy change were compared with non-exposed individuals living in the rest of Sweden, excluding a border area. Sweden. A total of 518 810 individuals (70 761 in the intervention group; 448 049 in the control group) born 1948-1953, aged 14-20 years during the policy change. Date and diagnosis of the outcome variable of disability pension due to all-cause, alcohol use disorders and mental disorders were obtained from the Swedish National Social Insurance Agency database from 1971 to 2013. Individual and family level socio-demographic and health-related covariates, as well as a regional level covariate, were included. Compared with the control group, adolescents exposed to the alcohol policy change were at an increased risk of receiving disability pension due to all-causes [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.07-1.11], alcohol use disorders (HR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.05-1.30) and mental disorders (HR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.15-1.23). In Sweden, a natural experiment with a 43-year follow-up suggests that exposure to increased alcohol availability during adolescence is associated with an increased risk of receiving a disability pension due to all-cause, alcohol use disorder and mental disorder diagnoses. © 2017 The Authors. Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) drones survive oxidative stress due to increased tolerance instead of avoidance or repair of oxidative damage.

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Li-Byarlay, Hongmei; Huang, Ming Hua; Simone-Finstrom, Michael; Strand, Micheline K; Tarpy, David R; Rueppell, Olav

2016-10-01

Oxidative stress can lead to premature aging symptoms and cause acute mortality at higher doses in a range of organisms. Oxidative stress resistance and longevity are mechanistically and phenotypically linked; considerable variation in oxidative stress resistance exists among and within species and typically covaries with life expectancy. However, it is unclear whether stress-resistant, long-lived individuals avoid, repair, or tolerate molecular damage to survive longer than others. The honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is an emerging model system that is well-suited to address this question. Furthermore, this species is the most economically important pollinator, whose health may be compromised by pesticide exposure, including oxidative stressors. Here, we develop a protocol for inducing oxidative stress in honey bee males (drones) via Paraquat injection. After injection, individuals from different colony sources were kept in common social conditions to monitor their survival compared to saline-injected controls. Oxidative stress was measured in susceptible and resistant individuals. Paraquat drastically reduced survival but individuals varied in their resistance to treatment within and among colony sources. Longer-lived individuals exhibited higher levels of lipid peroxidation than individuals dying early. In contrast, the level of protein carbonylation was not significantly different between the two groups. This first study of oxidative stress in male honey bees suggests that survival of an acute oxidative stressor is due to tolerance, not prevention or repair, of oxidative damage to lipids. It also demonstrates colony differences in oxidative stress resistance that might be useful for breeding stress-resistant honey bees. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Increased reactive oxygen species levels cause ER stress and cytotoxicity in andrographolide treated colon cancer cells.

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Banerjee, Aditi; Banerjee, Vivekjyoti; Czinn, Steven; Blanchard, Thomas

2017-04-18

Chemotherapy continues to play an essential role in the management of many cancers including colon cancer, the third leading cause of death due to cancer in the United States. Many naturally occurring plant compounds have been demonstrated to possess anti-cancer cell activity and have the potential to supplement existing chemotherapy strategies. The plant metabolite andrographolide induces cell death in cancer cells and apoptosis is dependent upon the induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) leading to the unfolded protein response (UPR). The goal of the present study was to determine the mechanism by which andrographolide induces ER stress and to further evaluate its role in promoting cell death pathways. The T84 and COLO 205 cancer cell lines were used to demonstrate that andrographolide induces increased ROS levels, corresponding anti-oxidant response molecules, and reduced mitochondrial membrane potential. No increases in ROS levels were detected in control colon fibroblast cells. Andrographolide-induced cell death, UPR signaling, and CHOP, Bax, and caspase 3 apoptosis elements were all inhibited in the presence of the ROS scavenger NAC. Additionally, andrographolide-induced suppression of cyclins B1 and D1 were also reversed in the presence of NAC. Finally, Akt phosphorylation and phospho-mTOR levels that are normally suppressed by andrographolide were also expressed at normal levels in the absence of ROS. These data demonstrate that andrographolide induces ER stress leading to apoptosis through the induction of ROS and that elevated ROS also play an important role in down-regulating cell cycle progression and cell survival pathways as well.

Long-term survival and causes of death in patients with ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome without obstructive coronary artery disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, Hedvig Bille; Pedersen, Frants; Engstrøm, Thomas; Helqvist, Steffen; Jensen, Morten Kvistholm; Jørgensen, Erik; Kelbæk, Henning; Räder, Sune Bernd Emil Werner; Saunamäki, Kari; Bates, Eric; Grande, Peer; Holmvang, Lene; Clemmensen, Peter

2018-01-07

We aimed to study survival and causes of death in patients with ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (STE-ACS) with and without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). We included 4793 consecutive patients with STE-ACS triaged for acute coronary angiography at a large cardiac invasive centre (2009-2014). Of these, 88% had obstructive CAD (stenosis ≥50%), 6% had non-obstructive CAD (stenosis 1-49%), and 5% had normal coronary arteries. Patients without obstructive CAD were younger and more often female with fewer cardiovascular risk factors. Median follow-up time was 2.6 years. Compared with patients with obstructive CAD, the short-term hazard of death (≤30 days) was lower in both patients with non-obstructive CAD [hazard ratio (HR) 0.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.27-0.89, P = 0.018] and normal coronary arteries (HR 0.31, 95% CI 0.11-0.83, P = 0.021). In contrast, the long-term hazard of death (>30 days) was similar in patients with non-obstructive CAD (HR 1.15, 95% CI 0.77-1.72, P = 0.487) and higher in patients with normal coronary arteries (HR 2.44, 95% CI 1.58-3.76, P Causes of death were cardiovascular in 70% of patients with obstructive CAD, 38% with non-obstructive CAD, and 32% with normal coronary arteries. Finally, patients without obstructive CAD had lower survival compared with an age and sex matched general population. STE-ACS patients without obstructive CAD had a long-term risk of death similar to or higher than patients with obstructive CAD. Causes of death were less often cardiovascular. This suggests that STE-ACS patients without obstructive CAD warrant medical attention and close follow-up. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2017. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Aggressive Treatment of Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Increases Survival: A Scandinavian Single-Center Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristoffer Watten Brudvik

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background. We examined overall and disease-free survivals in a cohort of patients subjected to resection of liver metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRLM in a 10-year period when new treatment strategies were implemented. Methods. Data from 239 consecutive patients selected for liver resection of CRLM during the period from 2002 to 2011 at a single center were used to estimate overall and disease-free survival. The results were assessed against new treatment strategies and established risk factors. Results. The 5-year cumulative overall and disease-free survivals were 46 and 24%. The overall survival was the same after reresection, independently of the number of prior resections and irrespectively of the location of the recurrent disease. The time intervals between each recurrence were similar (11 ± 1 months. Patients with high tumor load given neoadjuvant chemotherapy had comparable survival to those with less extensive disease without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Positive resection margin or resectable extrahepatic disease did not affect overall survival. Conclusion. Our data support that one still, and perhaps to an even greater extent, should seek an aggressive therapeutic strategy to achieve resectable status for recurrent hepatic and extrahepatic metastases. The data should be viewed in the context of recent advances in the understanding of cancer biology and the metastatic process.

Is the effect of non-invasive ventilation on survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis age-dependent?

OpenAIRE

Siirala, Waltteri; Aantaa, Riku; Olkkola, Klaus T; Saaresranta, Tarja; Vuori, Arno

2013-01-01

Background Hypoventilation due to respiratory muscle atrophy is the most common cause of death as a result of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Patients aged over 65?years and presenting bulbar symptoms are likely to have a poorer prognosis. The aim of the study was to assess the possible impact of age and treatment with non-invasive ventilation (NIV) on survival in ALS. Based on evidence from earlier studies, it was hypothesized that NIV increases rates of survival regardless of age. Meth...

Annual elk calf survival in a multiple carnivore system

Science.gov (United States)

Eacker, Daniel R.; Hebblewhite, Mark; Proffitt, Kelly M.; Jimenez, Benjamin S.; Mitchell, Michael S.; Robinson, Hugh S.

2016-01-01

The realized effect of multiple carnivores on juvenile ungulate recruitment may depend on the carnivore assemblage as well as compensation from forage and winter weather severity, which may mediate juvenile vulnerability to predation in ungulates. We used a time-to-event approach to test for the effects of risk factors on annual elk (Cervus canadensis) calf survival and to estimate cause-specific mortality rates for 2 elk populations in adjacent study areas in the southern Bitterroot Valley, Montana, USA, during 2011–2014. We captured and radio-tagged 286 elk calves: 226 neonates, and 60 6-month-old calves. Summer survival probability was less variable than winter (P = 0.12) and averaged 0.55 (95% CI = 0.47–0.63), whereas winter survival varied more than summer and significantly across study years (P = 0.003) and averaged 0.73 (95% CI = 0.64–0.81). During summer, elk calf survival increased with biomass of preferred forage biomass, and was slightly lower following winters with high precipitation; exposure to mountain lion (Puma concolor) predation risk was unimportant. In contrast, during winter, we found that exposure to mountain lion predation risk influenced survival, with a weak negative effect of winter precipitation. We found no evidence that forage availability or winter weather severity mediated vulnerability to mountain lion predation risk in summer or winter (e.g., an interaction), indicating that the effect of mountain lion predation was constant regardless of spatial variation in forage or weather. Mountain lions dominated known causes of elk calf mortality in summer and winter, with estimated cause-specific mortality rates of 0.14 (95% CI = 0.09–0.20) and 0.12 (95% CI = 0.07–0.18), respectively. The effect of carnivores on juvenile ungulate recruitment varies across ecological systems depending on relative carnivore densities. Mountain lions may be the most important carnivore for ungulates, especially where grizzly

Bumblebee family lineage survival is enhanced in high-quality landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Carvell, Claire; Bourke, Andrew F G; Dreier, Stephanie; Freeman, Stephen N; Hulmes, Sarah; Jordan, William C; Redhead, John W; Sumner, Seirian; Wang, Jinliang; Heard, Matthew S

2017-03-23

Insect pollinators such as bumblebees (Bombus spp.) are in global decline. A major cause of this decline is habitat loss due to agricultural intensification. A range of global and national initiatives aimed at restoring pollinator habitats and populations have been developed. However, the success of these initiatives depends critically upon understanding how landscape change affects key population-level parameters, such as survival between lifecycle stages, in target species. This knowledge is lacking for bumblebees, because of the difficulty of systematically finding and monitoring colonies in the wild. We used a combination of habitat manipulation, land-use and habitat surveys, molecular genetics and demographic and spatial modelling to analyse between-year survival of family lineages in field populations of three bumblebee species. Here we show that the survival of family lineages from the summer worker to the spring queen stage in the following year increases significantly with the proportion of high-value foraging habitat, including spring floral resources, within 250-1,000 m of the natal colony. This provides evidence for a positive impact of habitat quality on survival and persistence between successive colony cycle stages in bumblebee populations. These findings also support the idea that conservation interventions that increase floral resources at a landscape scale and throughout the season have positive effects on wild pollinators in agricultural landscapes.

Modeling the decline of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, 1989-1998: the importance of survival vs. recruitment

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Stephen M. Arthur

2003-04-01

Full Text Available The Porcupine caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti herd increased from approximately 100 000 animals during the 1970s to 178 000 in 1989, then declined to 129 000 by 1998. Our objective was to model the dynamics of this herd and investigate the potential that lower calf recruitment, as was observed during 1991-1993, produced the observed population changes. A deterministic model was prepared using estimates of birth and survival rates that reproduced the pattern of population growth from 1971-1989. Then, parameters were changed to simulate effects of lower calf recruitment and adult survival. Reducing recruitment for 3 years caused an immediate reduction in population size, but the population began to recover in 5-6 years. Even a dramatic temporary reduction in recruitment did not explain the continuing decline after 1995. In contrast, a slight but persistent reduction in adult survival caused a decline that closely followed the observed pattern. This suggests that survival of adults, and perhaps calves, has declined since the late 1980s.

Density-dependent intraspecific aggression regulates survival in northern Yellowstone wolves (Canis lupus).

Science.gov (United States)

Cubaynes, Sarah; MacNulty, Daniel R; Stahler, Daniel R; Quimby, Kira A; Smith, Douglas W; Coulson, Tim

2014-11-01

Understanding the population dynamics of top-predators is essential to assess their impact on ecosystems and to guide their management. Key to this understanding is identifying the mechanisms regulating vital rates. Determining the influence of density on survival is necessary to understand the extent to which human-caused mortality is compensatory or additive. In wolves (Canis lupus), empirical evidence for density-dependent survival is lacking. Dispersal is considered the principal way in which wolves adjust their numbers to prey supply or compensate for human exploitation. However, studies to date have primarily focused on exploited wolf populations, in which density-dependent mechanisms are likely weak due to artificially low wolf densities. Using 13 years of data on 280 collared wolves in Yellowstone National Park, we assessed the effect of wolf density, prey abundance and population structure, as well as winter severity, on age-specific survival in two areas (prey-rich vs. prey-poor) of the national park. We further analysed cause-specific mortality and explored the factors driving intraspecific aggression in the prey-rich northern area of the park. Overall, survival rates decreased during the study. In northern Yellowstone, density dependence regulated adult survival through an increase in intraspecific aggression, independent of prey availability. In the interior of the park, adult survival was less variable and density-independent, despite reduced prey availability. There was no effect of prey population structure in northern Yellowstone, or of winter severity in either area. Survival was similar among yearlings and adults, but lower for adults older than 6 years. Our results indicate that density-dependent intraspecific aggression is a major driver of adult wolf survival in northern Yellowstone, suggesting intrinsic density-dependent mechanisms have the potential to regulate wolf populations at high ungulate densities. When low prey availability or high

Life course evolution of body size and breast cancer survival in the E3N cohort.

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His, Mathilde; Le Guélennec, Marine; Mesrine, Sylvie; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Fagherazzi, Guy; Dossus, Laure

2018-04-15

Although adult obesity has been associated with poor breast cancer survival, data on adiposity at different periods in life and its lifelong evolution are scarce. Our aims were to assess the associations between breast cancer survival and body size during childhood, puberty and early adulthood and body size trajectories from childhood to adulthood. Self-assessed body size at age 8, at puberty, at age 20-25 and at age 35-40 and trajectories of body size of 4,662 breast cancer survivors from the prospective E3N cohort were studied in relation to risk of death from any cause, death from breast cancer and second invasive cancer event using multivariate Cox regression models. Four trajectories of body size were identified (T1 "moderate increase," T2 "stable/low increase," T3 "increase at puberty" and T4 "constantly high"). Compared with stable body size, an increase in body size during adult life was associated with an increased risk of death from any cause (HR T1 vs. T2 = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.01-1.60) and an increased risk of second invasive cancer event (HR T1 vs. T2 = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.06-1.47). Silhouettes at various ages were not associated with survival. Our results suggest that the evolution of body size from childhood to adulthood has a long-term influence on breast cancer survival. Although these results need to be confirmed, this work sheds light on the need to combine lifelong approaches to current BMI to better identify breast cancer survivors who are at higher risk of recurrence or second primary cancer, or of death. © 2017 UICC.

Drought Increases Consumer Pressure on Oyster Reefs in Florida, USA.

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Hanna G Garland

Full Text Available Coastal economies and ecosystems have historically depended on oyster reefs, but this habitat has declined globally by 85% because of anthropogenic activities. In a Florida estuary, we investigated the cause of newly reported losses of oysters. We found that the oyster reefs have deteriorated from north to south and that this deterioration was positively correlated with the abundance of carnivorous conchs and water salinity. In experiments across these gradients, oysters survived regardless of salinity if conchs were excluded. After determining that conchs were the proximal cause of oyster loss, we tested whether elevated water salinity was linked to conch abundance either by increasing conch growth and survivorship or by decreasing the abundance of a predator of conchs. In field experiments across a salinity gradient, we failed to detect spatial variation in predation on conchs or in conch growth and survivorship. A laboratory experiment, however, demonstrated the role of salinity by showing that conch larvae failed to survive at low salinities. Because this estuary's salinity increased in 2006 in response to reduced inputs of freshwater, we concluded that the ultimate cause of oyster decline was an increase in salinity. According to records from 2002 to 2012, oyster harvests have remained steady in the northernmost estuaries of this ecoregion (characterized by high reef biomass, low salinity, and low conch abundance but have declined in the southernmost estuaries (characterized by lower reef biomass, increases in salinity, and increases in conch abundance. Oyster conservation in this ecoregion, which is probably one of the few that still support viable oyster populations, may be undermined by drought-induced increases in salinity causing an increased abundance of carnivorous conchs.

Drought Increases Consumer Pressure on Oyster Reefs in Florida, USA.

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Garland, Hanna G; Kimbro, David L

2015-01-01

Coastal economies and ecosystems have historically depended on oyster reefs, but this habitat has declined globally by 85% because of anthropogenic activities. In a Florida estuary, we investigated the cause of newly reported losses of oysters. We found that the oyster reefs have deteriorated from north to south and that this deterioration was positively correlated with the abundance of carnivorous conchs and water salinity. In experiments across these gradients, oysters survived regardless of salinity if conchs were excluded. After determining that conchs were the proximal cause of oyster loss, we tested whether elevated water salinity was linked to conch abundance either by increasing conch growth and survivorship or by decreasing the abundance of a predator of conchs. In field experiments across a salinity gradient, we failed to detect spatial variation in predation on conchs or in conch growth and survivorship. A laboratory experiment, however, demonstrated the role of salinity by showing that conch larvae failed to survive at low salinities. Because this estuary's salinity increased in 2006 in response to reduced inputs of freshwater, we concluded that the ultimate cause of oyster decline was an increase in salinity. According to records from 2002 to 2012, oyster harvests have remained steady in the northernmost estuaries of this ecoregion (characterized by high reef biomass, low salinity, and low conch abundance) but have declined in the southernmost estuaries (characterized by lower reef biomass, increases in salinity, and increases in conch abundance). Oyster conservation in this ecoregion, which is probably one of the few that still support viable oyster populations, may be undermined by drought-induced increases in salinity causing an increased abundance of carnivorous conchs.

Use of Preservative Agents and Antibiotics for Increased Poliovirus Survival on Positively Charged Filters.

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Fagnant, Christine Susan; Kossik, Alexandra Lynn; Zhou, Nicolette Angela; Sánchez-Gonzalez, Liliana; Falman, Jill Christin; Keim, Erika Karen; Linden, Yarrow; Scheibe, Alana; Barnes, Kilala Sayisha; Beck, Nicola Koren; Boyle, David S; Meschke, John Scott

2017-12-01

Environmental surveillance of poliovirus (PV) and other non-enveloped viruses can help identify silent circulation and is necessary to certify eradication. The bag-mediated filtration system is an efficient method to filter large volumes of environmental waters at field sites for monitoring the presence of viruses. As filters may require long transit times to off-site laboratories for processing, viral inactivation or overgrowth of bacteria and fungi can interfere with virus detection and quantification (Miki and Jacquet in Aquatic Microb Ecol 51(2):195-208, 2008). To evaluate virus survival over time on ViroCap ™ filters, the filters were seeded with PV type 1 (PV1) and/or MS2 and then dosed with preservatives or antibiotics prior to storage and elution. These filters were stored at various temperatures and time periods, and then eluted for PV1 and MS2 recovery quantification. Filters dosed with the preservative combination of 2% sodium benzoate and 0.2% calcium propionate had increased virus survival over time when stored at 25 °C, compared to samples stored at 25 °C with no preservatives. While elution within 24 h of filtration is recommended, if storage or shipping is required then this preservative mixture can help preserve sample integrity. Addition of an antibiotic cocktail containing cephapirin, gentamicin, and Proclin ™ 300 increased recovery after storage at 4 and 25 °C, when compared to storage with no antibiotics. The antibiotic cocktail can aid sample preservation if access to appropriate antibiotics storage is available and sample cold chain is unreliable. This study demonstrated that the use of preservatives or antibiotics is a simple, cost-effective method to improve virus detection from ViroCap cartridge filters over time.

An examination of black/white differences in the rate of age-related mortality increase

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Andrew Fenelon

2013-09-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND The rate of mortality increase with age among adults is typically used as a measure of the rate of functional decline associated with aging or senescence. While black and white populations differ in the level of mortality, mortality also rises less rapidly with age for blacks than for whites, leading to the well-known black/white mortality "crossover". OBJECTIVE This paper investigates black/white differences in the rate of mortality increase with age for major causes of death in order to examine the factors responsible for the black/white crossover. METHODS The analysis considers two explanations for the crossover: selective survival and age misreporting. Mortality is modeled using a Gompertz model for 11 causes of death from ages 50-84 among blacks and whites by sex. RESULTS Mortality increases more rapidly with age for whites than for blacks for nearly all causes of death considered. The all-cause mortality rate of mortality increase is nearly two percentage points higher for whites. The analysis finds evidence for both selective survival and age misreporting, although age misreporting is a more prominent explanation among women. CONCLUSIONS The black/white mortality crossover reflects large differences in the rate of age-related mortality increase. Instead of reflecting the impact of specific causes of death, this pattern exists across many disparate disease conditions, indicating the need for a broad explanation.

Primary Causes of Death After Permanent Prostate Brachytherapy

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Bittner, Nathan; Merrick, Gregory S.; Galbreath, Robert W.; Butler, Wayne M.; Wallner, Kent E.; Allen, Zachariah A.; Brammer, Sarah G.; Moyad, Mark

2008-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the primary causes of death in low-risk (low-risk), intermediate-risk (intermediate-risk), and high-risk (high-risk) patients undergoing permanent prostate brachytherapy with or without supplemental therapies. Methods and Materials: From April 1995 through November 2004, a total of 1,354 consecutive patients underwent prostate brachytherapy. All patients underwent brachytherapy >3 years before analysis. Of the patients, 532 (39.3%) received androgen deprivation therapy and 703 (51.9%) received supplemental radiation therapy. The median follow-up was 5.4 years. Multiple parameters were evaluated as predictors of cause-specific, biochemical progression-free, and overall survival. Results: The 10-year cause-specific survival was 97.0% (99.7%, 99.0%, and 90.1% for low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk patients). Overall survival was 76.7% (82.5%, 78.3%, and 67.6% for low-, intermediate-, and high-risk patients, respectively). The cumulative death rate for cardiovascular disease was 11.5% (8.7%, 9.3%, and 19.8% for low-, intermediate-, and high-risk patients). The death rate from second malignancies (nonprostate cancer) was 7.2% and was not substantially different when stratified by risk group. Death from all other causes was 6.5% for the entire cohort but 1.3%, 5.0%, and 10.8% for low-, intermediate-, and high-risk patients. In multivariate analysis, death from prostate cancer was best predicted by Gleason score and risk group, whereas death from cardiovascular disease, nonprostate cancer, and all other causes were most closely related to patient age and tobacco use. Conclusions: Although cardiovascular mortality was the predominant cause of death, prostate cancer was responsible for approximately 10% of all deaths. In particular, overall survival was poorest in the high-risk group. Although high-risk patients were most likely to die of prostate cancer, the divergence in overall survival between high-risk and lower-risk patients primarily

Sodium chloride inhibits the growth and infective capacity of the amphibian chytrid fungus and increases host survival rates.

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Michelle Pirrie Stockwell

Full Text Available The amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is a recently emerged pathogen that causes the infectious disease chytridiomycosis and has been implicated as a contributing factor in the global amphibian decline. Since its discovery, research has been focused on developing various methods of mitigating the impact of chytridiomycosis on amphibian hosts but little attention has been given to the role of antifungal agents that could be added to the host's environment. Sodium chloride is a known antifungal agent used routinely in the aquaculture industry and this study investigates its potential for use as a disease management tool in amphibian conservation. The effect of 0-5 ppt NaCl on the growth, motility and survival of the chytrid fungus when grown in culture media and its effect on the growth, infection load and survivorship of infected Peron's tree frogs (Litoria peronii in captivity, was investigated. The results reveal that these concentrations do not negatively affect the survival of the host or the pathogen. However, concentrations greater than 3 ppt significantly reduced the growth and motility of the chytrid fungus compared to 0 ppt. Concentrations of 1-4 ppt NaCl were also associated with significantly lower host infection loads while infected hosts exposed to 3 and 4 ppt NaCl were found to have significantly higher survival rates. These results support the potential for NaCl to be used as an environmentally distributed antifungal agent for the prevention of chytridiomycosis in susceptible amphibian hosts. However, further research is required to identify any negative effects of salt exposure on both target and non-target organisms prior to implementation.

Cut your losses: self-amputation of injured limbs increases survival.

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Emberts, Zachary; Miller, Christine W; Kiehl, Daniel; St Mary, Colette M

2017-01-01

Autotomy, self-induced limb loss, is an extreme trait observed throughout the animal kingdom; lizards drop their tails, crickets release their legs, and crabs drop their claws. These repeated evolutionary origins suggest that autotomy is adaptive. Yet, we do not have a firm understanding of the selective pressures that promote and maintain this extreme trait. Although multiple adaptive hypotheses exist, research has generally focused on autotomy's adaptive value as a form of predator escape. However, autotomy could also be selected to reduce the cost of an injured limb, which we investigate here. Previously, this alternative hypothesis has been challenging to directly test because when an injury occurs on an autotomizable limb, that limb is almost always dropped (i.e., autotomy is behaviorally fixed within populations). Recently, however, we have identified a species, Narnia femorata (Insecta: Hemiptera: Coreidae), where some individuals autotomize limbs in response to injury, but some do not. This natural variation allowed us to investigate both the survival costs of retaining an injured limb and the benefits of autotomizing it. In this study, we find a positive association between autotomizing injured limbs and survival, thereby quantifying a new and likely widespread benefit of autotomy-reducing the cost of injury.

Survival, causes of death, and estimated tissue doses in a group of human beings injected with plutonium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowland, R.E.; Durbin, P.W.

1975-01-01

To determine the relationship between urinary excretion and plutonium body content, 18 persons of short life expectancy were injected with plutonium between 1945 and 1947. Seventeen of these 18 individuals have been identified; eight were found to have survived for at least eight years and four are still alive today (1975). The causes of death of 13 of these individuals have been determined from death certificates; none appear to be related to the administered plutonium. Doses to the liver and to the cells on the surface of bone have been calculated for these plutonium cases. The liver doses do not appear to be high enough to be carcinogenic, but comparison of the bone-surface doses with radium doses that have induced bone tumors indicates that six of these cases have received doses high enough to be considered carcinogenic. However, no bone tumors have yet appeared. (auth)

Is survival improved by the use of NIV and PEG in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS? A post-mortem study of 80 ALS patients.

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Christian Burkhardt

Full Text Available Non-invasive ventilation (NIV and percutaneous gastrostomy (PEG are guideline-recommended interventions for symptom management in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS. Their effect on survival is controversial and the impact on causes of death is unknown.To investigate the effect of NIV and PEG on survival and causes of death in ALS patients.Eighty deceased ALS patients underwent a complete post mortem analysis for causes of death between 2003 and 2015. Forty-two of these patients consented for genetic testing. Effects of NIV and PEG on survival and causes of death were analyzed in a multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression.Six patients, who requested assisted suicide causing drug-induced hypoxia, were excluded from final analysis. Respiratory failure was the main cause of death in 72 out of 74 patients. Fifteen out of 74 died of aspiration pneumonia 23/74 of bronchopneumonia and 8/74 of a combination of aspiration pneumonia and bronchopneumonia. Twenty died of hypoxia without concomitant infection, and six patients had pulmonary embolism alone or in combination with pneumonia. NIV (p = 0.01 and PEG (p<0.01 had a significant impact on survival. In patients using NIV bronchopneumonia was significantly more frequent (p <0.04 compared to non-NIV patients. This effect was even more pronounced in limb onset patients (p<0.002. Patients with C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansions showed faster disease progression and shorter survival (p = 0.01.The use of NIV and PEG prolongs survival in ALS. This study supports current AAN and EFNS guidelines which recommend NIV and PEG as a treatment option in ALS. The risk of bronchopneumonia as cause of death may be increased by NIV.

Transport increase and confinement degradation caused by MARFE

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Shi, Peng; Zhuang, Ge; Gao, Li; Zhou, Yinan

2017-10-01

Recently, the MARFE phenomenon associated with high density plasmas has been observed on J-TEXT Ohmically heated discharges. The MARFE on J-TEXT is charactered by the poloidally local region at high field side (HFS) edge with high density and strong radiation. At the almost same time of MARFE appearance, the density peaking factor and sawtooth oscillation reach maximum and decrease with density increasing, infers that the plasma confinement is saturated. By analyzing the far-forward scattering signals from polarimeter-interferometer, it is found that the local radial density turbulence at high field edge increases significantly after MARFE onset. It is inferred that the local particle transport at MARFE affected region (HFS edge) is enhanced. The enhancement of radial transport at MARFE affected region is considered as the possible reason for confinement saturation on J-TEXT. Furthermore, the trapped electron mode (TEM) with quasi-coherent characteristics is measured by far-forward scattering. The TEMs are always observed in plasmas with low density, and disappear after the plasma density exceeds a threshold. The density threshold of TEM disappearance is consistent with the density threshold of MARFE onset. The evolution of turbulences affirms that the MARFE may be the cause of energy confinement transition from LOC to SOC.

Survival and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes among Periviable Infants.

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Younge, Noelle; Goldstein, Ricki F; Bann, Carla M; Hintz, Susan R; Patel, Ravi M; Smith, P Brian; Bell, Edward F; Rysavy, Matthew A; Duncan, Andrea F; Vohr, Betty R; Das, Abhik; Goldberg, Ronald N; Higgins, Rosemary D; Cotten, C Michael

2017-02-16

Data reported during the past 5 years indicate that rates of survival have increased among infants born at the borderline of viability, but less is known about how increased rates of survival among these infants relate to early childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes. We compared survival and neurodevelopmental outcomes among infants born at 22 to 24 weeks of gestation, as assessed at 18 to 22 months of corrected age, across three consecutive birth-year epochs (2000-2003 [epoch 1], 2004-2007 [epoch 2], and 2008-2011 [epoch 3]). The infants were born at 11 centers that participated in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. The primary outcome measure was a three-level outcome - survival without neurodevelopmental impairment, survival with neurodevelopmental impairment, or death. After accounting for differences in infant characteristics, including birth center, we used multinomial generalized logit models to compare the relative risk of survival without neurodevelopmental impairment, survival with neurodevelopmental impairment, and death. Data on the primary outcome were available for 4274 of 4458 infants (96%) born at the 11 centers. The percentage of infants who survived increased from 30% (424 of 1391 infants) in epoch 1 to 36% (487 of 1348 infants) in epoch 3 (Pneurodevelopmental impairment increased from 16% (217 of 1391) in epoch 1 to 20% (276 of 1348) in epoch 3 (P=0.001), whereas the percentage of infants who survived with neurodevelopmental impairment did not change significantly (15% [207 of 1391] in epoch 1 and 16% [211 of 1348] in epoch 3, P=0.29). After adjustment for changes in the baseline characteristics of the infants over time, both the rate of survival with neurodevelopmental impairment (as compared with death) and the rate of survival without neurodevelopmental impairment (as compared with death) increased over time (adjusted relative risks, 1.27 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.01 to 1.59] and 1

Cervical HSV-2 infection causes cervical remodeling and increases risk for ascending infection and preterm birth

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McGee, Devin; Poncil, Sharra; Patterson, Amanda

2017-01-01

Preterm birth (PTB), or birth before 37 weeks gestation, is the leading cause of neonatal mortality worldwide. Cervical viral infections have been established as risk factors for PTB in women, although the mechanism leading to increased risk is unknown. Using a mouse model of pregnancy, we determined that intra-vaginal HSV2 infection caused increased rates of preterm birth following an intra-vaginal bacterial infection. HSV2 infection resulted in histological changes in the cervix mimicking cervical ripening, including significant collagen remodeling and increased hyaluronic acid synthesis. Viral infection also caused aberrant expression of estrogen and progesterone receptor in the cervical epithelium. Further analysis using human ectocervical cells demonstrated a role for Src kinase in virus-mediated changes in estrogen receptor and hyaluronic acid expression. In conclusion, HSV2 affects proteins involved in tissue hormone responsiveness, causes significant changes reminiscent of premature cervical ripening, and increases risk of preterm birth. Studies such as this improve our chances of identifying clinical interventions in the future. PMID:29190738

Modeling the survivability of brucella to exposure of Ultraviolet radiation and temperature

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Howe, R.

Accumulated summation of daily Ultra Violet-B (UV-B = 290? to 320 ? ) data? from The USDA Ultraviolet Radiation Monitoring Program show good correlation (R^2 = 77%) with daily temperature data during the five month period from February through June, 1998. Exposure of disease organisms, such as brucella to the effects of accumulated UV-B radiation, can be modeled for a 5 month period from February through June, 1998. Estimates of a lethal dosage for brucell of UV-B in the environment is dependent on minimum/maximum temperature and Solar Zenith Angle for the time period. The accumulated increase in temperature over this period also effects the decomposition of an aborted fetus containing brucella. Decomposition begins at some minimum daily temperature at 27 to 30 degrees C and peaks at 39 to 40C. It is useful to view the summation of temperature as a threshold for other bacteria growth, so that accumulated temperature greater than some value causes decomposition through competition with other bacteria and brucella die from the accumulated effects of UV-B, temperature and organism competition. Results of a study (Cook 1998) to determine survivability of brucellosis in the environment through exposure of aborted bovine fetuses show no one cause can be attributed to death of the disease agent. The combination of daily increase in temperature and accumulated UV-B radiation reveal an inverse correlation to survivability data and can be modeled as an indicator of brucella survivability in the environment in arid regions.

Microbial survival on food contact surfaces in the context of food hygiene regulation

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Stuart-Moonlight, Belinda Isobel

2001-01-01

Bacterial food poisoning causes substantial suffering and financial loss worldwide. One way organisms enter foods is via cross contamination directly or indirectly from structural and food contact surfaces. An 'in situ' method was developed for the detection of surviving bacteria on surfaces. Samples of test surfaces were overlaid with agar and after incubation, colonies were visualised by reaction with nitroblue tetrazolium, which was reduced to a purple insoluble dye. It was shown that the death of bacteria applied as liquid films to surfaces, occurred largely at the point of drying. For impervious surfaces (ceramic, stainless steel, glass and polystyrene), surface type had little effect on survival. In contrast, survival was markedly affected by the nature of the suspension fluid in which cells were dried. In deionised water, survival was low and for Gram negative organisms was strongly influenced by cell density. Where cells were dried in simulated food films (containing brain heart infusion, NaCI, serum or sucrose), survival values increased with increasing concentrations and approached 100% for Staphylococcus aureus cells suspended in 10% w/v sucrose. The survival of Gram positive organisms on impervious surfaces was generally greater than for Gram negative organisms and consistent with this observation, scanning electron microscopy indicated that Gram negative cells collapsed during drying. On wood surfaces, survival was generally similar to or higher than on impervious surfaces. However, neither of the Gram positive organisms tested (Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes) could be recovered following inoculation onto the surface of the African hard-wood, iroko, although Gram negative organisms survived well. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed that cells had not been adsorbed below the wood surface and an ethanol-soluble toxic factor was extracted from iroko, which killed Staphylococcus aureus cells, but had no effect on the viability of

PDHK-2 deficiency is associated with attenuation of lipase-mediated fat consumption for the increased survival of Caenorhabditis elegans dauers.

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Sunhee Kim

Full Text Available In Caenorhabditis elegans, slow fat consumption has been suggested to contribute to the extension of the survival rate during nutritionally adverse conditions. Here, we investigated the potential role of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDHK-2, the C. elegans homolog of mammalian PDK, effects on fat metabolism under nutritional conditions. PDHK-2 was expressed at low levels under well-fed conditions but was highly induced during long-term starvation and in the dauer state. This increase in pdhk-2 expression was regulated by both DAF-16 and NHR-49. Dauer-specific induction of PDHK-2 was abolished upon entry into the post-dauer stage. Interestingly, in the long-term dauer state, stored fat levels were higher in daf-2(e1370;pdhk-2 double mutants than in daf-2(e1370, suggesting a positive relationship between PDHK-2 activity and fat consumption. PDHK-2 deficiency has been shown to lead to greater preservation of residual fats, which would be predicted to contribute to survival during the dauer state. A test of this prediction showed that the survival rates of daf-2(e1370;pdhk-2(tm3075 and daf-2(e1370;pdhk-2(tm3086 double mutants were higher than that of daf-2(e1370, suggesting that loss of either the ATP-binding domain (tm3075 or branched chain keto-acid dehydrogenase kinase domain (tm3086 of PDHK-2 leads to reduced fat consumption and thus favors increased dauer survival. This attenuated fat consumption in the long-term dauer state of C. elegans daf-2 (e1370;pdhk-2 mutants was associated with concomitant down-regulation of the lipases ATGL (adipose triglyceride lipase, HSL (hormone-sensitive lipase, and C07E3.9 (phospholipase. In contrast, PDHK-2 overexpression in wild-type starved worms induced lipase expression and promoted abnormal dauer formation. Thus, we propose that PDHK-2 serves as a molecular bridge, connecting fat metabolism and survival under nutritionally adverse conditions in C. elegans.

Cigarette smoke regulates VEGFR2-mediated survival signaling in rat lungs

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Stevenson Christopher S

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF and VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2-mediated survival signaling is critical to endothelial cell survival, maintenance of the vasculature and alveolar structure and regeneration of lung tissue. Reduced VEGF and VEGFR2 expression in emphysematous lungs has been linked to increased endothelial cell death and vascular regression. Previously, we have shown that CS down-regulated the VEGFR2 and its downstream signaling in mouse lungs. However, the VEGFR2-mediated survival signaling in response to oxidants/cigarette smoke (CS is not known. We hypothesized that CS exposure leads to disruption of VEGFR2-mediated endothelial survival signaling in rat lungs. Methods Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed CS for 3 days, 8 weeks and 6 months to investigate the effect of CS on VEGFR2-mediated survival signaling by measuring the Akt/PI3-kinase/eNOS downstream signaling in rat lungs. Results and Discussion We show that CS disrupts VEGFR2/PI3-kinase association leading to decreased Akt and eNOS phosphorylation. This may further alter the phosphorylation of the pro-apoptotic protein Bad and increase the Bad/Bcl-xl association. However, this was not associated with a significant lung cell death as evidenced by active caspase-3 levels. These data suggest that although CS altered the VEGFR2-mediated survival signaling in the rat lungs, but it was not sufficient to cause lung cell death. Conclusion The rat lungs exposed to CS in acute, sub-chronic and chronic levels may be representative of smokers where survival signaling is altered but was not associated with lung cell death whereas emphysema is known to be associated with lung cell apoptosis.

Intraoperative Tumor Perforation is Associated with Decreased 5-Year Survival in Colon Cancer

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Bundgaard, N S; Bendtsen, V O; Ingeholm, P

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: It is a widely held belief that intraoperative tumor perforation in colon cancer impairs survival and causes local recurrence, although the prognostic importance remains unclear. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of unintended intraoperative tumor perforation...... on postoperative mortality and long-term survival. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This national cohort study was based on data from a prospectively maintained nationwide colorectal cancer database. We included 16,517 colon cancer patients who were resected with curative intent from 2001 to 2012. RESULTS: Intraoperative...... tumor perforation produced a significantly impaired 5-year survival of 40% compared to 64% in non-perforated colon cancer. Intraoperative tumor perforation was an independent risk factor for death, hazard ratio 1.63 (95% confidence interval: 1.4-1.94), with a significantly increased 90-day postoperative...

The small-molecule TNF-α inhibitor, UTL-5g, delays deaths and increases survival rates for mice treated with high doses of cisplatin.

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Shaw, Jiajiu; Media, Joseph; Chen, Ben; Valeriote, Fredrick

2013-09-01

UTL-5g is a novel small-molecule chemoprotector that lowers hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and myelotoxicity induced by cisplatin through TNF-α inhibition among other factors. The objective of this study was to investigate whether UTL-5g can reduce the overall acute toxicity of cisplatin and increase cisplatin tolerability in mice. BDF1 female mice were treated individually with UTL-5g (suspended in Ora-Plus) by oral gavage at 60 mg/kg, 30 min before i.p. injection of cisplatin at 10, 15, and 20 mg/kg, respectively, on Day 0. Starting from Day 1, individual mice were again treated daily by the same dose of UTL-5g for 4 consecutive days. Survivals and body weights were monitored. UTL-5g treatment increased the survival rate and delayed the time to death for mice treated with 150 % of the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of cisplatin (15 mg/kg). Likewise, at 200 % of the MTD of cisplatin (20 mg/kg), treatment of UTL-5g increased the survival rate and delayed the time to death. Treatment of UTL-5g did not have a significant effect on weight loss induced by cisplatin, indicating that body weight may not be a sensitive-enough measure for chemoprotection of UTL-5g against cisplatin. In summary, UTL-5g delayed deaths and increased survival rates of mice treated by high doses of cisplatin, indicating that UTL-5g is capable of reducing the overall acute toxicity of cisplatin and increased cisplatin tolerability in mice; this is in line with the specific chemoprotective effects of UTL-5g previously reported. Further investigation of UTL-5g in combination with cisplatin is warranted.

Increased survival of CBA pluripotent haemopoietic stem cells in vitro induced by a marrow stromal factor in Sl/Sl/sup d/ mice

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Blackburn, M J; Patt, H M

1979-07-01

Media conditioned by marrow adherent cells from anaemic Sl/Sl/sup d/ and W/W/sup v/ mice increased the 24-h survival of CBA CFU/sub s/ in vitro compared to fresh medium to about the same extent as marrow-conditioned medium from normal Sl/sup +//Sl/sup +/, W/sup +//W/sup +/, and CBA mice. Sl/Sl/sup d/ marrow-conditioned medium also increased the percentage of CFU/sub s/ in DNA synthesis to the same extent as CBA marrow-conditioned medium. These results demonstrate that Sl/Sl/sup d/ mice produce a marrow stromal factor that increases both survival of CFU/sub s/ and the percentage of CFU/sub s/ in DNA synthesis in vitro. Therefore, the defective haemopoietic microenvironment of Sl/Sl/sup d/ mice is not due to a deficiency in the production of this factor.

Mental vulnerability and survival after cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nakaya, Naoki; Bidstrup, Pernille E; Eplov, Lene F

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: It has been hypothesized that personality traits affect survival after cancer, but studies have produced inconsistent results. This study examined the association between mental vulnerability and survival after cancer in Denmark in a prospective cohort study. METHODS: Between 1976...... and 2001, 12733 residents of Copenhagen completed a questionnaire eliciting information on a 12-item mental vulnerability scale, as well as various personal data. Follow-up in the Danish Cancer Registry until 2003 identified 884 incident cases of primary cancer, and follow-up for death from the date...... of cancer diagnosis until 2003 identified 382 deaths. Mental vulnerability scores were divided into 4 approximately equal-sized groups. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of all-cause mortality. RESULTS: Multivariate HR for all-cause mortality for persons...

Factors predictive of survival and estimated years of life lost in the decade following nontraumatic and traumatic spinal cord injury.

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Hatch, B B; Wood-Wentz, C M; Therneau, T M; Walker, M G; Payne, J M; Reeves, R K

2017-06-01

Retrospective chart review. To identify factors predictive of survival after spinal cord injury (SCI). Tertiary care institution. Multiple-variable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis for 759 patients with SCI (535 nontraumatic and 221 traumatic) included age, sex, completeness of injury, level of injury, functional independence measure (FIM) scores, rehabilitation length of stay and SCI cause. Estimated years of life lost in the decade after injury was calculated for patients vs uninjured controls. Median follow-up was 11.4 years. Population characteristics included paraplegia, 58%; complete injury, 11%; male sex, 64%; and median rehabilitation length of stay, 16 days. Factors independently predictive of decreased survival were increased age (+10 years; hazard ratio (HR (95% CI)), 1.6 (1.4-1.7)), male sex (1.3 (1.0-1.6)), lower dismissal FIM score (-10 points; 1.3 (1.2-1.3)) and all nontraumatic causes. Metastatic cancer had the largest decrease in survival (HR (95% CI), 13.3 (8.7-20.2)). Primary tumors (HR (95% CI), 2.5 (1.7-3.8)), vascular (2.5 (1.6-3.8)), musculoskeletal/stenosis (1.7 (1.2-2.5)) and other nontraumatic SCI (2.3 (1.5-3.6)) were associated with decreased survival. Ten-year survival was decreased in nontraumatic SCI (mean (s.d.), 1.8 (0.3) years lost), with largest decreases in survival for metastatic cancer and spinal cord ischemia. Age, male sex and lower dismissal FIM score were associated with decreased survival, but neither injury severity nor level was associated with it. Survival after SCI varies depending on SCI cause, with survival better after traumatic SCI than after nontraumatic SCI. Metastatic cancer and vascular ischemia were associated with the greatest survival reduction.

Rich Medium Composition Affects Escherichia coli Survival, Glycation, and Mutation Frequency during Long-Term Batch Culture.

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Kram, Karin E; Finkel, Steven E

2015-07-01

Bacteria such as Escherichia coli are frequently grown to high density to produce biomolecules for study in the laboratory. To achieve this, cells can be incubated in extremely rich media that increase overall cell yield. In these various media, bacteria may have different metabolic profiles, leading to changes in the amounts of toxic metabolites produced. We have previously shown that stresses experienced during short-term growth can affect the survival of cells during the long-term stationary phase (LTSP). Here, we incubated cells in LB, 2× yeast extract-tryptone (YT), Terrific Broth, or Super Broth medium and monitored survival during the LTSP, as well as other reporters of genetic and physiological change. We observe differential cell yield and survival in all media studied. We propose that differences in long-term survival are the result of changes in the metabolism of components of the media that may lead to increased levels of protein and/or DNA damage. We also show that culture pH and levels of protein glycation, a covalent modification that causes protein damage, affect long-term survival. Further, we measured mutation frequency after overnight incubation and observed a correlation between high mutation frequencies at the end of the log phase and loss of viability after 4 days of LTSP incubation, indicating that mutation frequency is potentially predictive of long-term survival. Since glycation and mutation can be caused by oxidative stress, we measured expression of the oxyR oxidative stress regulator during log-phase growth and found that higher levels of oxyR expression during the log phase are consistent with high mutation frequency and lower cell density during the LTSP. Since these complex rich media are often used when producing large quantities of biomolecules in the laboratory, the observed increase in damage resulting in glycation or mutation may lead to production of a heterogeneous population of plasmids or proteins, which could affect the

Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980-2015 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, Haidong; Naghavi, Mohsen; Allen, Christine; Barber, Ryan M.; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.; Carter, Austin; Casey, Daniel C.; Charlson, Fiona J.; Chen, Alan Zian; Coates, Matthew M.; Coggeshall, Megan; Dandona, Lalit; Dicker, Daniel J.; Erskine, Holly E.; Ferrari, Alize J.; Fitzmaurice, Christina; Foreman, Kyle; Forouzanfar, Mohammad H.; Fraser, Maya S.; Pullman, Nancy; Gething, Peter W.; Goldberg, Ellen M.; Graetz, Nicholas; Haagsma, Juanita A.; Hay, Simon I.; Huynh, Chantal; Johnson, Catherine; Kassebaum, Nicholas J.; Kinfu, Yohannes; Kulikoff, Xie Rachel; Kutz, Michael; Kyu, Hmwe H.; Larson, Heidi J.; Leung, Janni; Liang, Xiaofeng; Lim, Stephen S.; Lind, Margaret; Lozano, Rafael; Marquez, Neal; Mensah, George A.; Mikesell, Joe; Mokdad, Ali H.; Mooney, Meghan D.; Nguyen, Grant; Nsoesie, Elaine; Pigott, David M.; Amare, Azmeraw T.; Hoek, Hans W.; Singh, Abhishek; Tura, Abera Kenay

2016-01-01

Background Improving survival and extending the longevity of life for all populations requires timely, robust evidence on local mortality levels and trends. The Global Burden of Disease 2015 Study (GBD 2015) provides a comprehensive assessment of all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes

Henslow's sparrow winter-survival estimates and response to prescribed burning

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Thatcher, B.S.; Krementz, D.G.; Woodrey, M.S.

2006-01-01

Wintering Henslow's sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) populations rely on lands managed with prescribed burning, but the effects of various burn regimes on their overwinter survival are unknown. We studied wintering Henslow's sparrows in coastal pine savannas at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, Jackson County, Mississippi, USA, during January and February 2001 and 2002. We used the known-fate modeling procedure in program MARK to evaluate the effects of burn age (1 or 2 growing seasons elapsed), burn season (growing, dormant), and calendar year on the survival rates of 83 radiomarked Henslow's sparrows. We found strong evidence that Henslow's sparrow survival rates differed by burn age (with higher survival in recently burned sites) and by year (with lower survival rates in 2001 likely because of drought conditions). We found some evidence that survival rates also differed by bum season (with higher survival in growing-season sites), although the effects of burn season were only apparent in recently burned sites. Avian predation was the suspected major cause of mortality (causing 6 of 14 deaths) with 1 confirmed loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) depredation. Our results indicated that recently burned savannas provide high-quality wintering habitats and suggested that managers can improve conditions for wintering Henslow's sparrows by burning a large percentage of savannas each year.

Survival of microorganisms in smectite clays: Implications for Martian exobiology

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Moll, Deborah M.; Vestal, J. Robie

1992-08-01

Manned exploration of Mars may result in the contamination of that planet with terrestrial microbes, a situation requiring assessment of the survival potential of possible contaminating organisms. In this study, the survival of Bacillus subtilis, Azotobacter chroococcum, and the enteric bacteriophage MS2 was examined in clays representing terrestrial (Wyoming type montmorillonite) or Martian (Fe 3+-montmorillonite) soils exposed to terrestrial and Martian environmental conditions of temperature and atmospheric pressure and composition, but not to UV flux or oxidizing conditions. Survival of bacteria was determined by standard plate counts and biochemical and physiological measurements over 112 days. Extractable lipid phosphate was used to measure microbial biomass, and the rate of 14C-acetate incorporation into microbial lipids was used to determine physiological activity. MS2 survival was assayed by plaque counts. Both bacterial types survived terrestrial or Martian conditions in Wyoming montmorillonite better than Martian conditions in Fe 3+-montmorillonite. Decreased survival may have been caused by the lower pH of the Fe 3+-montmorillonite compared to Wyoming montmorillonite. MS2 survived simulated Mars conditions better than the terrestrial environment, likely due to stabilization of the virus caused by the cold and dry conditions of the simulated Martian environment. The survival of MS2 in the simulated Martian environment is the first published indication that viruses may be able to survive in Martian type soils. This work may have implications for planetary protection for future Mars missions.

Analysis of underlying and multiple-cause mortality data: the life table methods.

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Moussa, M A

1987-02-01

The stochastic compartment model concepts are employed to analyse and construct complete and abbreviated total mortality life tables, multiple-decrement life tables for a disease, under the underlying and pattern-of-failure definitions of mortality risk, cause-elimination life tables, cause-elimination effects on saved population through the gain in life expectancy as a consequence of eliminating the mortality risk, cause-delay life tables designed to translate the clinically observed increase in survival time as the population gain in life expectancy that would occur if a treatment protocol was made available to the general population and life tables for disease dependency in multiple-cause data.

Survival of extrasolar giant planet moons in planet-planet scattering

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CIAN HONG, YU; Lunine, Jonathan; Nicholson, Phillip; Raymond, Sean

2015-12-01

Planet-planet scattering is the best candidate mechanism for explaining the eccentricity distribution of exoplanets. Here we study the survival and dynamics of exomoons under strong perturbations during giant planet scattering. During close encounters, planets and moons exchange orbital angular momentum and energy. The most common outcomes are the destruction of moons by ejection from the system, collision with the planets and the star, and scattering of moons onto perturbed but still planet-bound orbits. A small percentage of interesting moons can remain bound to ejected (free-floating) planets or be captured by a different planet. Moons' survival rate is correlated with planet observables such as mass, semi-major axis, eccentricity and inclination, as well as the close encounter distance and the number of close encounters. In addition, moons' survival rate and dynamical outcomes are predetermined by the moons' initial semi-major axes. The survival rate drops quickly as moons' distances increase, but simulations predict a good chance of survival for the Galilean moons. Moons with different dynamical outcomes occupy different regions of orbital parameter space, which may enable the study of moons' past evolution. Potential effects of planet obliquity evolution caused by close encounters on the satellites’ stability and dynamics will be reported, as well as detailed and systematic studies of individual close encounter events.

Chronic exposure to arsenic, estrogen, and their combination causes increased growth and transformation in human prostate epithelial cells potentially by hypermethylation-mediated silencing of MLH1.

Science.gov (United States)

Treas, Justin; Tyagi, Tulika; Singh, Kamaleshwar P

2013-11-01

Chronic exposure to arsenic and estrogen is associated with risk of prostate cancer, but their mechanism is not fully understood. Additionally, the carcinogenic effects of their co-exposure are not known. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of chronic exposure to arsenic, estrogen, and their combination, on cell growth and transformation, and identify the mechanism behind these effects. RWPE-1 human prostate epithelial cells were chronically exposed to arsenic and estrogen alone and in combination. Cell growth was measured by cell count and cell cycle, whereas cell transformation was evaluated by colony formation assay. Gene expression was measured by quantitative real-time PCR and confirmed at protein level by Western blot analysis. MLH1 promoter methylation was determined by pyrosequencing method. Exposure to arsenic, estrogen, and their combinations increases cell growth and transformation in RWPE-1 cells. Increased expression of Cyclin D1 and Bcl2, whereas decreased expression of mismatch repair genes MSH4, MSH6, and MLH1 was also observed. Hypermethylation of MLH1 promoter further suggested the epigenetic inactivation of MLH1 expression in arsenic and estrogen treated cells. Arsenic and estrogen combination caused greater changes than their individual treatments. Findings of this study for the first time suggest that arsenic and estrogen exposures cause increased cell growth and survival potentially through epigenetic inactivation of MLH1 resulting in decreased MLH1-mediated apoptotic response, and consequently increased cellular transformation. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Clinical outcomes and survival in AA amyloidosis patients

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Yavuz Ayar

a large proportion of cases and increased number of patients with idiopathic amyloid A amyloidosis. Additionally, it was observed that patient survival was not affected by different etiological causes in amyloid A amyloidosis.

Botulinum toxin A and B raise blood flow and increase survival of critically ischemic skin flaps.

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Schweizer, Dennis F; Schweizer, Riccardo; Zhang, Shengye; Kamat, Pranitha; Contaldo, Claudio; Rieben, Robert; Eberli, Daniel; Giovanoli, Pietro; Erni, Dominique; Plock, Jan A

2013-10-01

Botulinum toxin (BTX) A and B are commonly used for aesthetic indications and in neuromuscular disorders. New concepts seek to prove efficacy of BTX for critical tissue perfusion. Our aim was to evaluate BTX A and B in a mouse model of critical flap ischemia for preoperative and intraoperative application. BTX A and B were applied on the vascular pedicle of an axial pattern flap in mice preoperatively or intraoperatively. Blood flow, tissue oxygenation, tissue metabolism, flap necrosis rate, apoptosis assay, and RhoA and eNOS expression were endpoints. Blood-flow measurements 1 d after the flap operation revealed a significant reduction to 53% in the control group, while flow was maintained or increased in all BTX groups (103%-129%). Over 5 d all BTX groups showed significant increase in blood flow to 166-187% (P < 0.01). Microdialysis revealed an increase of glucose and reduced lactate/pyruvate ratio and glycerol levels in the flap tissue of all BTX groups. This resulted in significantly improved tissue survival in all BTX groups compared with the control group (62% ± 10%; all P < 0.01): BTX A preconditioning (84% ± 5%), BTX A application intraoperatively (88% ± 4%), BTX B preconditioning (91% ± 4%), and intraoperative BTX B treatment (92% ± 5%). This was confirmed by TUNEL assay. Immunofluorescence demonstrated RhoA and eNOS expression in BTX groups. All BTX applications were similarly effective, despite pharmacologic dissimilarities and different timing. In conclusion, we were able to show on a vascular, tissue, cell, and molecular level that BTX injection to the feeding arteries supports flap survival through ameliorated blood flow and oxygen delivery. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Survival of Columbian white-tailed deer in western Oregon

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Ricca, Mark A.; Anthony, Robert G.; Jackson, Dewaine H.; Wolfe, Scott A.

2002-01-01

Columbian white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus leucurus; CWTD) are an endangered subspecies on which little demographic information exists. We determined survival rates and causes of mortality for 64 radiocol- lared adults from 1996 to 1998, and for 63 radiocollared neonatal fawns during the summer and fall months of 1996-2001 in Douglas County, Oregon, USA. Annual adult survival rates averaged 0.74 over 3 years, and most mor- tality (73%) occurred between fall and winter. Seasonal survival was lowest (0.75) for the fall-winter 1997-1998, and was 20.90 during all spring-summer periods. Annual and seasonal survival rates did not differ by gender. Average annual survival was 0.77 for deer in wildland areas compared with 0.66 for deer in suburban areas, but these dif- ferences were not consistent between years and seasons. Survival over the entire 3-year study was low (0.38). Eight deer died from a combination of emaciation and disease, and almost all (92%) necropsied deer were in poor body condition. Fawn survival to 7 months was low (0.14, 95% CI = 0.02-0.26) and declined most rapidly during the first 1.5 months of life. Predation (n = 21) and abandonment (n = 6) were the most frequent known causes of death for fawns. Our results suggest that CWTD may have responded to density-dependent factors during this short-term study, although the effects of other environmental or intrinsic factors cannot be ignored. Fawn survival may be insufficient to produce enough recruits for population growth and eventual range expansion.

Cancer survival in Cixian of China, 2003-2013: a population-based study.

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Li, Dongfang; Li, Daojuan; Song, Guohui; Liang, Di; Chen, Chao; Zhang, Yachen; Gao, Zhaoyu; He, Yutong

2018-04-01

Cixian is one of the high-risk areas for upper gastrointestinal cancer in China and the world. From 2005, comprehensive population-based screening for upper gastrointestinal cancers has been conducted in Cixian. The aim of this study was to investigate population-based cancer survival from 2003 to 2013 and to explore the effect of screening on upper gastrointestinal cancer survival in Cixian. Observed survival was estimated using the life table method. The expected survival from the general population was calculated using all-cause mortality data from the population of Cixian with the EdererII method. Cixian cancer registry, with a total coverage of 6.88 million person years, recorded 19,628 cancer patients diagnosed during 2003-2013. In Cixian, from 2003 to 2013, there were 19,628 newly cancer cases and 13,984 cancer deaths, with an incidence rate of 285.37/100,000 and mortality rate of 203.31/100,000. The overall five-year relative cancer survival for patients diagnosed in Cixian in 2003-2013 was 22.53%. The relative survival for all cancers combined in Cixian had an overall upward trend from 2003 to 2013. Among upper gastrointestinal cancer in Cixian, the five-year relative survival for cardia gastric cancer was highest at 30.42%, followed by oesophageal cancer at 25.37% and noncardia gastric cancer at 18.93%. In 2013, the five-year relative survival for oesophageal cancer, cardia gastric cancer, and noncardia gastric cancer patients aged 45-69 years was 39.97% (95% CI: 34.52-45.43%), 51.74% (95% CI: 42.09-60.86%), and 37.43% (95% CI: 26.93-48.17%), respectively, the absolute values increasing 14.11%, 16.71%, and 14.92% compared with that in 2003. There is an increasing trend in overall survival for upper gastrointestinal cancer with early screening and treatment of cancer in Cixian. © 2018 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Survival from skin cancer and its associated factors in Kurdistan province of Iran.

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Ahmadi, Galavizh; Asadi-Lari, Mohsen; Amani, Saeid; Solaymani-Dodaran, Masoud

2015-01-01

We explored survival of skin cancer and its determinants in Kurdistan province of Iran. In a retrospective cohort design, we identified all registered skin cancer patients in Kurdistan Cancer Registry from year 2000 to 2009. Information on time and cause of death were obtained from Registrar's office and information on type, stage and anatomic locations were extracted from patients' hospital records. Additional demographic information was collected via a telephone interview. We calculated the 3 and 5 years survival. Survival experiences in different groups were compared using log rank test. Cox proportional hazard model was built and hazard ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Of a total of 1353, contact information for 667 patients were available, all of which were followed up. 472 telephone interviews were conducted. Mean follow-up time was 34 months. We identified 78 deaths in this group of patients and 44 of them were because of skin cancer. After controlling for confounding, tumour type, anatomical location, and diseases stage remained significantly associated with survival. Hazard ratios for death because of squamous cell carcinoma was 74.5 (95%CI: 4.8-1146) and for melanoma was 24.4 (95%CI: 1.3-485) compared with basal cell carcinomas. Hazard ratio for tumours in stage 4 was 16.7 (95%CI: 1.8-156.6) and for stage 3 was 16.8 (95%CI: 1.07-260) compared with stage 1 and 2. Tumour stage is independently associated with survival. Relatively low survival rates suggest delayed diagnosis. Increasing public awareness through media about the warning signs of skin cancers could increase the chance of survival in these patients.

Poor horse traders: large mammals trade survival for reproduction during the process of feralization

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Grange, Sophie; Duncan, Patrick; Gaillard, Jean-Michel

2009-01-01

We investigated density dependence on the demographic parameters of a population of Camargue horses (Equus caballus), individually monitored and unmanaged for eight years. We also analysed the contributions of individual demographic parameters to changes in the population growth rates. The decrease in resources caused a loss of body condition. Adult male survival was not affected, but the survival of foals and adult females decreased with increasing density. Prime-aged females maintained high reproductive performance at high density, and their survival decreased. The higher survival of adult males compared with females at high density presumably results from higher investment in reproduction by mares. The high fecundity in prime-aged females, even when at high density, may result from artificial selection for high reproductive performance, which is known to have occurred in all the major domestic ungulates. Other studies suggest that feral ungulates including cattle and sheep, as these horses, respond differently from wild ungulates to increases in density, by trading adult survival for reproduction. As a consequence, populations of feral animals should oscillate more strongly than their wild counterparts, since they should be both more invasive (as they breed faster), and more sensitive to harsh environmental conditions (as the population growth rate of long-lived species is consistently more sensitive to a given proportional change in adult survival than to the same change in any other vital rate). If this principle proves to be general, it has important implications for management of populations of feral ungulates. PMID:19324787

Whiplash causes increased laxity of cervical capsular ligament

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Ivancic, Paul C.; Ito, Shigeki; Tominaga, Yasuhiro; Rubin, Wolfgang; Coe, Marcus P.; Ndu, Anthony B.; Carlson, Erik J.; Panjabi, Manohar M.

2009-01-01

Background Previous clinical studies have identified the cervical facet joint, including the capsular ligaments, as sources of pain in whiplash patients. The goal of this study was to determine whether whiplash caused increased capsular ligament laxity by applying quasi-static loading to whiplash-exposed and control capsular ligaments. Methods A total of 66 capsular ligament specimens (C2/3 to C7/T1) were prepared from 12 cervical spines (6 whiplash-exposed and 6 control). The whiplash-exposed spines had been previously rear impacted at a maximum peak T1 horizontal acceleration of 8 g. Capsular ligaments were elongated at 1 mm/s in increments of 0.05 mm until a tensile force of 5 N was achieved and subsequently returned to neutral position. Four pre-conditioning cycles were performed and data from the load phase of the fifth cycle were used for subsequent analyses. Ligament elongation was computed at tensile forces of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0 N. Two factor, non-repeated measures ANOVA (Pwhiplash-exposed and control groups and between spinal levels. Findings Average elongation of the whiplash-exposed capsular ligaments was significantly greater than that of the control ligaments at tensile forces of 0 and 5 N. No significant differences between spinal levels were observed. Interpretation Capsular ligament injuries, in the form of increased laxity, may be one component perpetuating chronic pain and clinical instability in whiplash patients. PMID:17959284

Whiplash causes increased laxity of cervical capsular ligament.

Science.gov (United States)

Ivancic, Paul C; Ito, Shigeki; Tominaga, Yasuhiro; Rubin, Wolfgang; Coe, Marcus P; Ndu, Anthony B; Carlson, Erik J; Panjabi, Manohar M

2008-02-01

Previous clinical studies have identified the cervical facet joint, including the capsular ligaments, as sources of pain in whiplash patients. The goal of this study was to determine whether whiplash caused increased capsular ligament laxity by applying quasi-static loading to whiplash-exposed and control capsular ligaments. A total of 66 capsular ligament specimens (C2/3 to C7/T1) were prepared from 12 cervical spines (6 whiplash-exposed and 6 control). The whiplash-exposed spines had been previously rear impacted at a maximum peak T1 horizontal acceleration of 8 g. Capsular ligaments were elongated at 1mm/s in increments of 0.05 mm until a tensile force of 5 N was achieved and subsequently returned to neutral position. Four pre-conditioning cycles were performed and data from the load phase of the fifth cycle were used for subsequent analyses. Ligament elongation was computed at tensile forces of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0 N. Two factor, non-repeated measures ANOVA (Pwhiplash-exposed and control groups and between spinal levels. Average elongation of the whiplash-exposed capsular ligaments was significantly greater than that of the control ligaments at tensile forces of 0 and 5 N. No significant differences between spinal levels were observed. Capsular ligament injuries, in the form of increased laxity, may be one component perpetuating chronic pain and clinical instability in whiplash patients.

Is survival improved by the use of NIV and PEG in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)? A post-mortem study of 80 ALS patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Burkhardt, Christian; Neuwirth, Christoph; Sommacal, Andreas; Andersen, Peter M; Weber, Markus

2017-01-01

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) and percutaneous gastrostomy (PEG) are guideline-recommended interventions for symptom management in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Their effect on survival is controversial and the impact on causes of death is unknown. To investigate the effect of NIV and PEG on survival and causes of death in ALS patients. Eighty deceased ALS patients underwent a complete post mortem analysis for causes of death between 2003 and 2015. Forty-two of these patients consented for genetic testing. Effects of NIV and PEG on survival and causes of death were analyzed in a multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression. Six patients, who requested assisted suicide causing drug-induced hypoxia, were excluded from final analysis. Respiratory failure was the main cause of death in 72 out of 74 patients. Fifteen out of 74 died of aspiration pneumonia 23/74 of bronchopneumonia and 8/74 of a combination of aspiration pneumonia and bronchopneumonia. Twenty died of hypoxia without concomitant infection, and six patients had pulmonary embolism alone or in combination with pneumonia. NIV (p = 0.01) and PEG (pNIV bronchopneumonia was significantly more frequent (p NIV patients. This effect was even more pronounced in limb onset patients (pNIV and PEG prolongs survival in ALS. This study supports current AAN and EFNS guidelines which recommend NIV and PEG as a treatment option in ALS. The risk of bronchopneumonia as cause of death may be increased by NIV.

Uric acid, an important antioxidant contributing to survival in termites

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Tasaki, Eisuke; Sakurai, Hiroki; Nitao, Masaru; Matsuura, Kenji; Iuchi, Yoshihito

2017-01-01

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated spontaneously in all organisms and cause oxidative damage to biomolecules when present in excess. Accumulated oxidative damage accelerates aging; enhanced antioxidant capacity may be a positive factor for longevity. Recently, numerous studies of aging and longevity have been performed using short-lived animals, however, longevity mechanisms remain unknown. Here we show that a termite Reticulitermes speratus that is thought to be long-lived eusocial insect than other solitary insects uses large quantities of uric acid as an antioxidant against ROS. We demonstrated that the accumulation of uric acid considerably increases the free radical-scavenging activity and resistance against ultraviolet-induced oxidative stress in laboratory-maintained termites. In addition, we found that externally administered uric acid aided termite survival under highly oxidative conditions. The present data demonstrates that in addition to nutritional and metabolic roles, uric acid is an essential antioxidant for survival and contributes significantly to longevity. Uric acid also plays important roles in primates but causes gout when present in excess in humans. Further longevity studies of long-lived organisms may provide important breakthroughs with human health applications. PMID:28609463

Survival during the Breeding Season: Nest Stage, Parental Sex, and Season Advancement Affect Reed Warbler Survival.

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Kaja Wierucka

Full Text Available Avian annual survival has received much attention, yet little is known about seasonal patterns in survival, especially of migratory passerines. In order to evaluate survival rates and timing of mortality within the breeding season of adult reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus, mark-recapture data were collected in southwest Poland, between 2006 and 2012. A total of 612 individuals (304 females and 308 males were monitored throughout the entire breeding season, and their capture-recapture histories were used to model survival rates. Males showed higher survival during the breeding season (0.985, 95% CI: 0.941-0.996 than females (0.869, 95% CI: 0.727-0.937. Survival rates of females declined with the progression of the breeding season (from May to August, while males showed constant survival during this period. We also found a clear pattern within the female (but not male nesting cycle: survival was significantly lower during the laying, incubation, and nestling periods (0.934, 95% CI: 0.898-0.958, when birds spent much time on the nest, compared to the nest building and fledgling periods (1.000, 95% CI: 1.00-1.000, when we did not record any female mortality. These data (coupled with some direct evidence, like bird corpses or blood remains found next to/on the nest may suggest that the main cause of adult mortality was on-nest predation. The calculated survival rates for both sexes during the breeding season were high compared to annual rates reported for this species, suggesting that a majority of mortality occurs at other times of the year, during migration or wintering. These results have implications for understanding survival variation within the reproductive period as well as general trends of avian mortality.

Effect of Methyl Parathion on Survival and Development of Tadpoles of Indian Cricket frog Fejervarya limnocharis

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Hunasanahalli Puttaswamygowda Gurushankara

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Amphibian populations are declining due to various causes including pesticide contamination in natural habitat. We evaluated the effect of Methyl Parathion (MPT an organophosphate pesticide on survival and development of common paddy field frog Fejervarya limnocharis in a laboratory condition. Effect of 0 µg MPT/L, 500 µg MPT/L,1000 µg MPT/L, 1500 µg MPT/L, 2000 µg MPT/L and 3000 µg MPT/L was studied using static toxicity test for a duration of 28 days. MPT reduced the survival of tadpole. The mortality was increased with the increased concentration of pesticide. The development decreased with increased MPT concentrations. At higher concentrations, MPT induced slow development and tadpoles failed to metamorphose. It is assumed that slow development could affect the early larval life and amphibian population in the agroecosystem.

Aging causes collateral rarefaction and increased severity of ischemic injury in multiple tissues

Science.gov (United States)

Faber, James E.; Zhang, Hua; Lassance-Soares, Roberta M.; Prabhakar, Pranay; Najafi, Amir H.; Burnett, Mary Susan; Epstein, Stephen E.

2011-01-01

Objective Aging is a major risk factor for increased ischemic tissue injury. Whether collateral rarefaction and impaired remodeling contribute to this is unknown. We quantified the number and diameter of native collaterals, and their remodeling in 3-, 16-, 24-, and 31-months-old mice. Methods and Results Aging caused an “age-dose-dependent” greater drop in perfusion immediately after femoral artery ligation, followed by a diminished recovery of flow and increase in tissue injury. These effects were associated with a decline in collateral number, diameter and remodeling. Angiogenesis was also impaired. Mechanistically, these changes were not accompanied by reduced recruitment of T-cells or macrophages to remodeling collaterals. However, eNOS signaling was dysfunctional, as indicated by increased protein nitrosylation and less phosphorylated eNOS and VASP in collateral wall cells. The cerebral circulation exhibited a similar age-dose-dependent loss of collateral number and diameter and increased tortuosity, resulting in an increase in collateral resistance and infarct volume (e.g., 6- and 3-fold, respectively, in 24-months-old mice) after artery occlusion. This was not associated with rarefaction of similarly-sized arterioles. Collateral remodeling was also reduced. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that aging causes rarefaction and insufficiency of the collateral circulation in multiple tissues, resulting in more severe ischemic tissue injury. PMID:21617137

Effect of gamma-irradiation on mouse pancreatic islet-allograft survival

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanai, T.; Porter, J.; Gotoh, M.; Monaco, A.P.; Maki, T.

1989-01-01

Elimination or inactivation of lymphoid tissue in the pancreatic islet preparation achieves prolongation of islet-allograft survival. In this study we examined the effect of gamma-irradiation on mouse islet-allograft survival. In a B6AF1 isograft model, irradiation up to 2400 rad did not induce deterioration of islet function over 200 days, but greater doses caused cessation of graft function between 83 and 186 days. When DBA/2 crude islets were transplanted into B6AF1 recipients, all nonirradiated allografts were acutely rejected. Marked prolongation of allograft survival was achieved by islet irradiation with doses between 800 and 12,000 rad. With higher doses, significant numbers of allografts survived beyond the controls, but many lost function between 78 and 180 days, with none surviving greater than 200 days. Irradiation with 16,000 rad caused acute radiation damage. Because most secondary islet allografts in recipient mice that lost primary islet-graft function between 84 and 195 days survived greater than 100 days, late functional loss was probably due to the radiation injury. Combined use of recipient treatment with cyclosporin A and graft irradiation (2400 rad) achieved prolongation of DBA/2 islets in B6AF1 mice

Do pulmonary artery catheters cause or increase tricuspid or pulmonic valvular regurgitation?

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Sherman, S V; Wall, M H; Kennedy, D J; Brooker, R F; Butterworth, J

2001-05-01

There are few quantitative data on the extent or mechanism of pulmonary artery catheter (PAC)-induced valvular dysfunction. We hypothesized that PACs cause or worsen tricuspid and pulmonic valvular regurgitation, and tested this hypothesis by using transesophageal echocardiography. In 54 anesthetized adult patients, we measured color Doppler jet areas of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) in two planes (midesophageal [ME] 4-chamber and right ventricular inflow-outflow views) and pulmonic insufficiency (PI) in one plane (ME aortic valve long-axis view), both before and after we advanced a PAC into the pulmonary artery. Regurgitant jet areas and hemodynamic measurements were compared by using paired t-test. There were no significant changes in blood pressure or heart rate after passage of the PAC. After PAC placement, the mean PI jet area was not significantly increased. The mean TR jet area increased significantly in the right ventricular inflow-outflow view (+0.37 +/- 0.11 cm(2)) (P = 0.0014), but did not increase at the ME 4-chamber view. Seventeen percent of patients had an increase in TR jet area > or =1 cm(2); 8% of patients had an increase in PI jet area >/=1 cm(2). In patients without pulmonic or tricuspid valvular pathology, placement of a pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) worsened tricuspid regurgitation, which is consistently visualized in the right ventricular inflow-outflow view, and often not seen in the midesophageal 4-chamber view. This is consistent with malcoaptation of the anterior and posterior leaflets. PAC-induced pulmonic insufficiency was rarely detected in the midesophageal aortic valve long-axis view. We conclude that a PAC is very unlikely to be the sole cause of severe tricuspid regurgitation or pulmonic insufficiency.

Influence of Habitat and Intrinsic Characteristics on Survival of Neonatal Pronghorn.

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Christopher N Jacques

Full Text Available Increased understanding of the influence of habitat (e.g., composition, patch size and intrinsic (e.g., age, birth mass factors on survival of neonatal pronghorn (Antilocapra americana is a prerequisite to successful management programs, particularly as they relate to population dynamics and the role of population models in adaptive species management. Nevertheless, few studies have presented empirical data quantifying the influence of habitat variables on survival of neonatal pronghorn. During 2002-2005, we captured and radiocollared 116 neonates across two sites in western South Dakota. We documented 31 deaths during our study, of which coyote (Canis latrans predation (n = 15 was the leading cause of mortality. We used known fate analysis in Program MARK to investigate the influence of intrinsic and habitat variables on neonatal survival. We generated a priori models that we grouped into habitat and intrinsic effects. The highest-ranking model indicated that neonate mortality was best explained by site, percent grassland, and open water habitat; 90-day survival (0.80; 90% CI = 0.71-0.88 declined 23% when grassland and water increased from 80.1 to 92.3% and 0.36 to 0.40%, respectively, across 50% natal home ranges. Further, our results indicated that grassland patch size and shrub density were important predictors of neonate survival; neonate survival declined 17% when shrub density declined from 5.0 to 2.5 patches per 100 ha. Excluding the site covariates, intrinsic factors (i.e., sex, age, birth mass, year, parturition date were not important predictors of survival of neonatal pronghorns. Further, neonatal survival may depend on available land cover and interspersion of habitats. We have demonstrated that maintaining minimum and maximum thresholds for habitat factors (e.g., percentages of grassland and open water patches, density of shrub patches throughout natal home ranges will in turn, ensure relatively high (>0.50 neonatal survival rates

Influence of habitat and intrinsic characteristics on survival of neonatal pronghorn

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Jacques, Christopher N.; Jenks, Jonathan A.; Grovenburg, Troy W.; Klaver, Robert W.

2015-01-01

Increased understanding of the influence of habitat (e.g., composition, patch size) and intrinsic (e.g., age, birth mass) factors on survival of neonatal pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is a prerequisite to successful management programs, particularly as they relate to population dynamics and the role of population models in adaptive species management. Nevertheless, few studies have presented empirical data quantifying the influence of habitat variables on survival of neonatal pronghorn. During 2002–2005, we captured and radiocollared 116 neonates across two sites in western South Dakota. We documented 31 deaths during our study, of which coyote (Canis latrans) predation (n = 15) was the leading cause of mortality. We used known fate analysis in Program MARK to investigate the influence of intrinsic and habitat variables on neonatal survival. We generated a priori models that we grouped into habitat and intrinsic effects. The highest-ranking model indicated that neonate mortality was best explained by site, percent grassland, and open water habitat; 90-day survival (0.80; 90% CI = 0.71–0.88) declined 23% when grassland and water increased from 80.1 to 92.3% and 0.36 to 0.40%, respectively, across 50% natal home ranges. Further, our results indicated that grassland patch size and shrub density were important predictors of neonate survival; neonate survival declined 17% when shrub density declined from 5.0 to 2.5 patches per 100 ha. Excluding the site covariates, intrinsic factors (i.e., sex, age, birth mass, year, parturition date) were not important predictors of survival of neonatal pronghorns. Further, neonatal survival may depend on available land cover and interspersion of habitats. We have demonstrated that maintaining minimum and maximum thresholds for habitat factors (e.g., percentages of grassland and open water patches, density of shrub patches) throughout natal home ranges will in turn, ensure relatively high (>0.50) neonatal survival rates

Net survival after exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins: the Yusho study.

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Onozuka, Daisuke; Hirata, Teruaki; Furue, Masutaka

2014-12-01

Net survival is an important measure of the overall outcome of disease management. This net survival is the most appropriate for international comparisons of disease impact between countries or time periods with different patterns of all-cause mortality because it is not influenced by other causes of death. However, little information is available on net survival among Yusho patients, who were accidentally exposed to PCBs and other dioxin-related compounds. We estimated the net survival of 1664 Yusho patients (860 males, 804 females) as Yusho cohort subjects using the unbiased Pohar-Perme method. Among males, 1-, 5-, 10-, and 15-year net survival were 99.5% (95% confidence interval (CI): 97.9, 99.9), 99.1% (CI: 95.0, 99.9), 97.4% (CI: 86.5, 99.5), and 97.4% (CI: 84.2, 99.6), respectively. Among females, net survival remained almost constant. 1-, 5-, 10-, and 15-year net survival were generally higher in females than in males. This study provides the first unbiased estimations of net survival among Yusho patients. We confirmed that older male Yusho patients have experienced a significant decrease in net survival. Our results suggest that the excess hazard of PCBs and dioxins must be taken into account when evaluating unbiased estimates of net survival. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of non-implantation factors on survival rate of microbe irradiated by low-energy N+

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Tianyou; Chen Linhai; Qin Guangyong; Li Zongwei; Su Mingjie; Wang Yanping; Chang Shenghe; Huo Yuping; Li Zongyi

2006-01-01

The effects of non-implantation factors, such as drying, vacuum and the staying time of the E.coli LE392 culture, on survival rate of E.coli LE392 were studied when E.coli LE392 was irradiated by the low-energy N + . The results show that the survival rate of E.coli LE392 does not reduce steadily all the time but rapidly drops sometime during drying. The survival rate of E.coli LE392 declines sharply as the samples are placed in vacuum, then falls in distinctively with increasing of time. the tolerance of E.coli LE392 towards vacuum increasingly strengthens when the E.coli LE392 culture is placed at room temperature. Preparing the culture in batchs can ensure the consistency of the irradiated samples and avoid errors caused by the inconsistent samples. When the non-implantation factors are controlled, E.coli is implanted by 30 kev N + of 1 x 10 14 cm -2 and 3 x 10 15 cm -2 , respectively. And the results show no difference in the E.coli's survival rates between batchs at the same dose. (authors)

Dying like rabbits: general determinants of spatio-temporal variability in survival.

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Tablado, Zulima; Revilla, Eloy; Palomares, Francisco

2012-01-01

1. Identifying general patterns of how and why survival rates vary across space and time is necessary to truly understand population dynamics of a species. However, this is not an easy task given the complexity and interactions of processes involved, and the interpopulation differences in main survival determinants. 2. Here, using European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as a model and information from local studies, we investigated whether we could make inferences about trends and drivers of survival of a species that are generalizable to large spatio-temporal scales. To do this, we first focused on overall survival and then examined cause-specific mortalities, mainly predation and diseases, which may lead to those patterns. 3. Our results show that within the large-scale variability in rabbit survival, there exist general patterns that are explained by the integration of factors previously known to be important at the local level (i.e. age, climate, diseases, predation or density dependence). We found that both inter- and intrastudy survival rates increased in magnitude and decreased in variability as rabbits grow old, although this tendency was less pronounced in populations with epidemic diseases. Some causes leading to these higher mortalities in young rabbits could be the stronger effect of rainfall at those ages, as well as, other death sources like malnutrition or infanticide. 4. Predation is also greater for newborns and juveniles, especially in population without diseases. Apart from the effect of diseases, predation patterns also depended on factors, such as, density, season, and type and density of predators. Finally, we observed that infectious diseases also showed general relationships with climate, breeding (i.e. new susceptible rabbits) and age, although the association type varied between myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease. 5. In conclusion, large-scale patterns of spatio-temporal variability in rabbit survival emerge from the combination

Plant circadian clocks increase photosynthesis, growth, survival, and competitive advantage.

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Dodd, Antony N; Salathia, Neeraj; Hall, Anthony; Kévei, Eva; Tóth, Réka; Nagy, Ferenc; Hibberd, Julian M; Millar, Andrew J; Webb, Alex A R

2005-07-22

Circadian clocks are believed to confer an advantage to plants, but the nature of that advantage has been unknown. We show that a substantial photosynthetic advantage is conferred by correct matching of the circadian clock period with that of the external light-dark cycle. In wild type and in long- and short-circadian period mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana, plants with a clock period matched to the environment contain more chlorophyll, fix more carbon, grow faster, and survive better than plants with circadian periods differing from their environment. This explains why plants gain advantage from circadian control.

Change in FVC and survival in chronic fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gimenez, Andrea; Storrer, Karin; Kuranishi, Lilian; Soares, Maria Raquel; Ferreira, Rimarcs Gomes; Pereira, Carlos A C

2018-04-01

The predictive value of the decline in FVC by ≥10% on survival in patients with fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis is unknown. Of 112 patients included, 66 (59%) had surgical lung biopsies. Patients with ≥10% decline in predicted FVC after 6-12 months had a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality (median survival 53 months, 95% CI 37 to 69 vs 139 months, 95% CI 66 to 212 months, p=0.007). On multivariate analysis remained associated with increasing mortality: decline in FVC by ≥10% (HR 4.13, 95% CI 1.96 to 8.70, p=0.005), lower FVC% (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.05, p=0.003) and with decreasing mortality improvement with antigen avoidance (HR 0.18, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.77, p=0.021). © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Schinus terebinthifolius Leaf Extract Causes Midgut Damage, Interfering with Survival and Development of Aedes aegypti Larvae.

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Procópio, Thamara Figueiredo; Fernandes, Kenner Morais; Pontual, Emmanuel Viana; Ximenes, Rafael Matos; de Oliveira, Aline Rafaella Cardoso; Souza, Carolina de Santana; Melo, Ana Maria Mendonça de Albuquerque; Navarro, Daniela Maria do Amaral Ferraz; Paiva, Patrícia Maria Guedes; Martins, Gustavo Ferreira; Napoleão, Thiago Henrique

2015-01-01

In this study, a leaf extract from Schinus terebinthifolius was evaluated for effects on survival, development, and midgut of A. aegypti fourth instar larvae (L4), as well as for toxic effect on Artemia salina. Leaf extract was obtained using 0.15 M NaCl and evaluated for phytochemical composition and lectin activity. Early L4 larvae were incubated with the extract (0.3-1.35%, w/v) for 8 days, in presence or absence of food. Polymeric proanthocyanidins, hydrolysable tannins, heterosid and aglycone flavonoids, cinnamic acid derivatives, traces of steroids, and lectin activity were detected in the extract, which killed the larvae at an LC50 of 0.62% (unfed larvae) and 1.03% (fed larvae). Further, the larvae incubated with the extract reacted by eliminating the gut content. No larvae reached the pupal stage in treatments at concentrations between 0.5% and 1.35%, while in the control (fed larvae), 61.7% of individuals emerged as adults. The extract (1.0%) promoted intense disorganization of larval midgut epithelium, including deformation and hypertrophy of cells, disruption of microvilli, and vacuolization of cytoplasms, affecting digestive, enteroendocrine, regenerative, and proliferating cells. In addition, cells with fragmented DNA were observed. Separation of extract components by solid phase extraction revealed that cinnamic acid derivatives and flavonoids are involved in larvicidal effect of the extract, being the first most efficient in a short time after larvae treatment. The lectin present in the extract was isolated, but did not show deleterious effects on larvae. The extract and cinnamic acid derivatives were toxic to A. salina nauplii, while the flavonoids showed low toxicity. S. terebinthifolius leaf extract caused damage to the midgut of A. aegypti larvae, interfering with survival and development. The larvicidal effect of the extract can be attributed to cinnamic acid derivatives and flavonoids. The data obtained using A. salina indicates that caution

Schinus terebinthifolius Leaf Extract Causes Midgut Damage, Interfering with Survival and Development of Aedes aegypti Larvae.

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Thamara Figueiredo Procópio

Full Text Available In this study, a leaf extract from Schinus terebinthifolius was evaluated for effects on survival, development, and midgut of A. aegypti fourth instar larvae (L4, as well as for toxic effect on Artemia salina. Leaf extract was obtained using 0.15 M NaCl and evaluated for phytochemical composition and lectin activity. Early L4 larvae were incubated with the extract (0.3-1.35%, w/v for 8 days, in presence or absence of food. Polymeric proanthocyanidins, hydrolysable tannins, heterosid and aglycone flavonoids, cinnamic acid derivatives, traces of steroids, and lectin activity were detected in the extract, which killed the larvae at an LC50 of 0.62% (unfed larvae and 1.03% (fed larvae. Further, the larvae incubated with the extract reacted by eliminating the gut content. No larvae reached the pupal stage in treatments at concentrations between 0.5% and 1.35%, while in the control (fed larvae, 61.7% of individuals emerged as adults. The extract (1.0% promoted intense disorganization of larval midgut epithelium, including deformation and hypertrophy of cells, disruption of microvilli, and vacuolization of cytoplasms, affecting digestive, enteroendocrine, regenerative, and proliferating cells. In addition, cells with fragmented DNA were observed. Separation of extract components by solid phase extraction revealed that cinnamic acid derivatives and flavonoids are involved in larvicidal effect of the extract, being the first most efficient in a short time after larvae treatment. The lectin present in the extract was isolated, but did not show deleterious effects on larvae. The extract and cinnamic acid derivatives were toxic to A. salina nauplii, while the flavonoids showed low toxicity. S. terebinthifolius leaf extract caused damage to the midgut of A. aegypti larvae, interfering with survival and development. The larvicidal effect of the extract can be attributed to cinnamic acid derivatives and flavonoids. The data obtained using A. salina indicates

Conditionally replicating adenovirus expressing TIMP2 increases survival in a mouse model of disseminated ovarian cancer.

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Sherry W Yang

Full Text Available Ovarian cancer remains difficult to treat mainly due to presentation of the disease at an advanced stage. Conditionally-replicating adenoviruses (CRAds are promising anti-cancer agents that selectively kill the tumor cells. The present study evaluated the efficacy of a novel CRAd (Ad5/3-CXCR4-TIMP2 containing the CXCR4 promoter for selective viral replication in cancer cells together with TIMP2 as a therapeutic transgene, targeting the matrix metalloproteases (MMPs in a murine orthotopic model of disseminated ovarian cancer. An orthotopic model of ovarian cancer was established in athymic nude mice by intraperitonal injection of the human ovarian cancer cell line, SKOV3-Luc, expressing luciferase. Upon confirmation of peritoneal dissemination of the cells by non-invasive imaging, mice were randomly divided into four treatment groups: PBS, Ad-ΔE1-TIMP2, Ad5/3-CXCR4, and Ad5/3-CXCR4-TIMP2. All mice were imaged weekly to monitor tumor growth and were sacrificed upon reaching any of the predefined endpoints, including high tumor burden and significant weight loss along with clinical evidence of pain and distress. Survival analysis was performed using the Log-rank test. The median survival for the PBS cohort was 33 days; for Ad-ΔE1-TIMP2, 39 days; for Ad5/3-CXCR4, 52.5 days; and for Ad5/3-CXCR4-TIMP2, 63 days. The TIMP2-armed CRAd delayed tumor growth and significantly increased survival when compared to the unarmed CRAd. This therapeutic effect was confirmed to be mediated through inhibition of MMP9. Results of the in vivo study support the translational potential of Ad5/3-CXCR4-TIMP2 for treatment of human patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

SPARCL1 Expression Increases With Preoperative Radiation Therapy and Predicts Better Survival in Rectal Cancer Patients

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Kotti, Angeliki, E-mail: angkotti@yahoo.gr; Holmqvist, Annica; Albertsson, Maria; Sun, Xiao-Feng, E-mail: xiao-feng.sun@liu.se

2014-04-01

Purpose: The secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine-like 1 (SPARCL1) is expressed in various normal tissues and many types of cancers. The function of SPARCL1 and its relationship to a patient's prognosis have been studied, whereas its relationship to radiation therapy (RT) is not known. Our aim was to investigate the expression of SPARCL1 in rectal cancer patients who participated in a clinical trial of preoperative RT. Methods and Materials: The study included 136 rectal cancer patients who were randomized to undergo preoperative RT and surgery (n=63) or surgery alone (n=73). The expression levels of SPARCL1 in normal mucosa (n=29), primary tumor (n=136), and lymph node metastasis (n=35) were determined by immunohistochemistry. Results: Tumors with RT had stronger SPARCL1 expression than tumors without RT (P=.003). In the RT group, strong SPARCL1 expression was related to better survival than weak expression in patients with stage III tumors, independent of sex, age, differentiation, and margin status (P=.022; RR = 18.128; 95% confidence interval, 1.512-217.413). No such relationship was found in the non-RT group (P=.224). Further analysis of interactions among SPARCL1 expression, RT, and survival showed statistical significance (P=.024). In patients with metastases who received RT, strong SPARCL1 expression was related to better survival compared to weak expression (P=.041) but not in the non-RT group (P=.569). Conclusions: SPARCL1 expression increases with RT and is related to better prognosis in rectal cancer patients with RT but not in patients without RT. This result may help us to select the patients best suited for preoperative RT.

Conditional Melanoma Cancer Survival in the United States

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Ray M. Merrill

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Beyond relative survival, which indicates the likelihood that patients will not die from causes associated with their cancer, conditional relative survival probabilities provide further useful prognostic information to cancer patients, tailored to the time already survived from diagnosis. This study presents conditional relative survival for melanoma patients in the United States, diagnosed during 2000–2008 and followed through 2012. Analyses are based on 62,803 male and 50,261 female cases in population-based cancer registries in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program of the National Cancer Institute. Five-year relative survival estimates are presented for melanoma patients who have already survived one, two, three, four, or five years after the initial diagnosis. Five- and ten-year relative survival decreases with age, stage at diagnosis, and is lower among males, Blacks, and Hispanics. Five-year conditional relative survival improves with each year already survived. The potential for improvement in five-year conditional relative survival is greatest for older age, males, Blacks, Hispanics, and in later staged cases. For local disease, five-year conditional relative survival was significantly lower in ages greater than 65 years and in Blacks. It was significantly higher in females, non-Hispanics, and married individuals. Age had a greater inverse relationship with five-year survival in later staged disease. A similar result occurred for females and married individuals. In contrast, non-Hispanics had better five-year survival if diagnosed with local or regional disease, but not distant disease.

Dying to remember, remembering to survive: mortality salience and survival processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Daniel J; Hart, Joshua; Kramer, Melanie E; Burns, Amy D

2014-01-01

Processing items for their relevance to survival improves recall for those items relative to numerous other deep processing encoding techniques. Perhaps related, placing individuals in a mortality salient state has also been shown to enhance retention of items encoded after the morality salience manipulation (e.g., in a pleasantness rating task), a phenomenon we dubbed the "dying-to-remember" (DTR) effect. The experiments reported here further explored the effect and tested the possibility that the DTR effect is related to survival processing. Experiment 1 replicated the effect using different encoding tasks, demonstrating that the effect is not dependent on the pleasantness task. In Experiment 2 the DTR effect was associated with increases in item-specific processing, not relational processing, according to several indices. Experiment 3 replicated the main results of Experiment 2, and tested the effects of mortality salience and survival processing within the same experiment. The DTR effect and its associated difference in item-specific processing were completely eliminated when the encoding task required survival processing. These results are consistent with the interpretation that the mechanisms responsible for survival processing and DTR effects are overlapping.

Androgen Deprivation Therapy Does Not Impact Cause-Specific or Overall Survival in High-Risk Prostate Cancer Managed With Brachytherapy and Supplemental External Beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merrick, Gregory S.; Butler, Wayne M.; Wallner, Kent E.; Galbreath, Robert W.; Allen, Zachariah A.; Adamovich, Edward; Lief, Jonathan

2007-01-01

Purpose: To determine cause-specific survival (CSS), biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS), and overall survival (OS) in high-risk prostate cancer patients undergoing brachytherapy with or without supplemental therapies. Methods and Materials: Between April 1995 and July 2002, 204 patients with high-risk prostate cancer (Gleason score ≥8 or prostate-specific antigen [PSA] >20 ng/mL or clinical stage ≥T2c) underwent brachytherapy. Median follow-up was 7.0 years. The bPFS was defined by a PSA ≤0.40 ng/mL after nadir. Multiple clinical, treatment, and dosimetric parameters were evaluated for the impact on survival. Results: The 10-year CSS, bPFS, and OS were 88.9%, 86.6%, and 68.6%, respectively. A statistically significant difference in bPFS was discerned between hormone naive, ADT ≤6 months, and ADT >6 month cohorts (79.7% vs. 95.% vs. 89.9%, p = 0.032). Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) did not impact CSS or OS. For bPFS patients, the median posttreatment PSA was <0.04 ng/mL. A Cox linear regression analysis demonstrated that Gleason score was the best predictor of CSS, whereas percent positive biopsies and duration of ADT best predicted for bPFS. The OS was best predicted by Gleason score and diabetes. Thirty-eight patients have died, with 26 of the deaths from cardiovascular/pulmonary disease or second malignancy. Eleven patients have died of metastatic prostate cancer. Conclusions: The ADT improved 10-year bPFS without statistical impact on CSS or OS. Death as a result of cardiovascular/pulmonary disease and second malignancies were more than twice as common as prostate cancer deaths. Strategies to improve cardiovascular health should positively impact OS

Lesion-induced increase in survival and migration of human neural progenitor cells releasing GDNF

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Behrstock, Soshana; Ebert, Allison D.; Klein, Sandra; Schmitt, Melanie; Moore, Jeannette M.; Svendsen, Clive N.

2009-01-01

The use of human neural progenitor cells (hNPC) has been proposed to provide neuronal replacement or astrocytes delivering growth factors for brain disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. Success in such studies likely requires migration from the site of transplantation and integration into host tissue in the face of ongoing damage. In the current study, hNPC modified to release glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor (hNPCGDNF) were transplanted into either intact or lesioned animals. GDNF release itself had no effect on the survival, migration or differentiation of the cells. The most robust migration and survival was found using a direct lesion of striatum (Huntington’s model) with indirect lesions of the dopamine system (Parkinson’s model) or intact animals showing successively less migration and survival. No lesion affected differentiation patterns. We conclude that the type of brain injury dictates migration and integration of hNPC which has important consequences when considering transplantation of these cells as a therapy for neurodegenerative diseases. PMID:19044202

Causes of death in a contemporary adult congenital heart disease cohort.

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Yu, Christopher; Moore, Benjamin M; Kotchetkova, Irina; Cordina, Rachael L; Celermajer, David S

2018-04-17

The life expectancy of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) has significantly improved with advances in their paediatric medical care. Mortality patterns are changing as a result. Our study aims to describe survival and causes of death in a contemporary cohort of adult patients with CHD. We reviewed 3068 patients in our adult CHD database (age ≥16 years, seen at least once in our centre between 2000 and 2015), and documented the number and causes of death, via Australia's National Death Index. Survival and mortality patterns were analysed by complexity of CHD and by underlying congenital diagnosis. Our cohort comprised 3068 adult patients (53% male). The distribution of patients (per the Bethesda classification) was 47% simple, 34% moderate and 18% complex (1% not classifiable). Over a median follow-up of 6.2 years (IQR 3.5-10.4), 341 patients (11%) died with an incidence of 0.4 deaths/100 patient years (py). Survival was significantly worse with increasing complexity of CHD (pdeaths/100 py with a median age of death 70 years, and in the complex group was 1.0 death/100 py with a median age of death 34 years. Overall, non-cardiac causes of death outnumbered cardiac causes, at 54% and 46%, respectively. The leading single cause of death was heart failure (17%), followed by malignancy (13%). Simple adult CHD patients mostly died due to non-cardiac causes such as malignancy. Perioperative mortality only accounted for 5% of deaths. Premature death is common in adults with CHD. Although heart failure remains the most common cause of death, in the contemporary era in a specialist CHD centre, non-cardiac related deaths outnumber cardiac deaths, particularly in those with simple CHD lesions. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Progress to extinction: increased specialisation causes the demise of animal clades.

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Raia, P; Carotenuto, F; Mondanaro, A; Castiglione, S; Passaro, F; Saggese, F; Melchionna, M; Serio, C; Alessio, L; Silvestro, D; Fortelius, M

2016-08-10

Animal clades tend to follow a predictable path of waxing and waning during their existence, regardless of their total species richness or geographic coverage. Clades begin small and undifferentiated, then expand to a peak in diversity and range, only to shift into a rarely broken decline towards extinction. While this trajectory is now well documented and broadly recognised, the reasons underlying it remain obscure. In particular, it is unknown why clade extinction is universal and occurs with such surprising regularity. Current explanations for paleontological extinctions call on the growing costs of biological interactions, geological accidents, evolutionary traps, and mass extinctions. While these are effective causes of extinction, they mainly apply to species, not clades. Although mass extinctions is the undeniable cause for the demise of a sizeable number of major taxa, we show here that clades escaping them go extinct because of the widespread tendency of evolution to produce increasingly specialised, sympatric, and geographically restricted species over time.

Progress to extinction: increased specialisation causes the demise of animal clades

Science.gov (United States)

Raia, P.; Carotenuto, F.; Mondanaro, A.; Castiglione, S.; Passaro, F.; Saggese, F.; Melchionna, M.; Serio, C.; Alessio, L.; Silvestro, D.; Fortelius, M.

2016-08-01

Animal clades tend to follow a predictable path of waxing and waning during their existence, regardless of their total species richness or geographic coverage. Clades begin small and undifferentiated, then expand to a peak in diversity and range, only to shift into a rarely broken decline towards extinction. While this trajectory is now well documented and broadly recognised, the reasons underlying it remain obscure. In particular, it is unknown why clade extinction is universal and occurs with such surprising regularity. Current explanations for paleontological extinctions call on the growing costs of biological interactions, geological accidents, evolutionary traps, and mass extinctions. While these are effective causes of extinction, they mainly apply to species, not clades. Although mass extinctions is the undeniable cause for the demise of a sizeable number of major taxa, we show here that clades escaping them go extinct because of the widespread tendency of evolution to produce increasingly specialised, sympatric, and geographically restricted species over time.

Epidemiology and causes of death in a Swedish cohort of patients with autoimmune hepatitis.

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Danielsson Borssén, Åsa; Marschall, Hanns-Ulrich; Bergquist, Annika; Rorsman, Fredrik; Weiland, Ola; Kechagias, Stergios; Nyhlin, Nils; Verbaan, Hans; Nilsson, Emma; Werner, Mårten

2017-09-01

Epidemiological studies of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) show varying figures on prevalence and incidence, and data on the long-term prognosis are scarce. Objective To investigate the epidemiology, long-term prognosis and causes of death in a Swedish AIH cohort. Data collected from 634 AIH patients were matched to the Cause of Death Registry, and survival analyses were made. Prevalence and incidence were calculated for university hospitals with full coverage of cases and compared to the County of Västerbotten in Northern Sweden. AIH point prevalence was 17.3/100,000 inhabitants in 2009, and the yearly incidence 1990-2009 was 1.2/100,000 inhabitants and year. The time between diagnosis and end of follow-up, liver transplantation or death was in median 11.3 years (range 0-51.5 years). Men were diagnosed earlier (p death. Cirrhosis at diagnosis was linked to an inferior survival (p death was the most common cause of death (32.7%). The relative survival started to diverge from the general population 4 years after diagnosis but a distinct decline was not observed until after more than 10 years. Long-term survival was reduced in patients with AIH. No gender difference regarding prognosis was seen but men died younger, probably as a result of earlier onset of disease. Cirrhosis at diagnosis was a risk factor for poor prognosis and the overall risk of liver-related death was increased.

No benefit in diversity? The effect of genetic variation on survival and disease resistance in a polygynous social insect

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Anna Mosegaard; Linksvayer, Timothy Arnold; Boomsma, Jacobus Jan

2011-01-01

within-worker variation).3. We found significant differences in worker survival among the three inbred lineages, with exposure to conidiospores of the fungal pathogen Beauveria bassiana causing significant mortality to the workers independently of their diversity type. Increased diversity did not improve...

Lymph Node Yield as a Predictor of Survival in Pathologically Node Negative Oral Cavity Carcinoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemieux, Aaron; Kedarisetty, Suraj; Raju, Sharat; Orosco, Ryan; Coffey, Charles

2016-03-01

Even after a pathologically node-negative (pN0) neck dissection for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), patients may develop regional recurrence. In this study, we (1) hypothesize that an increased number of lymph nodes removed (lymph node yield) in patients with pN0 oral SCC predicts improved survival and (2) explore predictors of survival in these patients using a multivariable model. Case series with chart review. Administrative database analysis. The SEER database was queried for patients diagnosed with all-stage oral cavity SCC between 1988 and 2009 who were determined to be pN0 after elective lymph node dissection. Demographic and treatment variables were extracted. The association of lymph node yield with 5-year all-cause survival was studied with multivariable survival analyses. A total of 4341 patients with pN0 oral SCC were included in this study. The 2 highest lymph node yield quartiles (representing >22 nodes removed) were found to be significant predictors of overall survival (22-35 nodes: hazard ratio [HR] = 0.854, P = .031; 36-98 nodes: HR = 0.827, P = .010). Each additional lymph node removed during neck dissection was associated with increased survival (HR = 0.995, P = .022). These data suggest that patients with oral SCC undergoing elective neck dissection may experience an overall survival benefit associated with greater lymph node yield. Mechanisms behind the demonstrated survival advantage are unknown. Larger nodal dissections may remove a greater burden of microscopic metastatic disease, diminishing the likelihood of recurrence. Lymph node yield may serve as an objective measure of the adequacy of lymphadenectomy. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2015.

Global Activities and Plant Survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bandick, Roger

2014-01-01

the highest exit rates. Moreover, the exit rates of globally engaged plants seem to be unaffected by increased foreign presence, whereas there appears to be a negative impact on the survival rates of non-exporting non-MNE plants. Finally, the result reveals that the survival ratio of plants of acquired...

Survival of female mallards along the Vermont–Quebec border region

Science.gov (United States)

Longcore, Jerry R.; McAuley, Daniel G.; Heisey, Dennis M.; Bunck, Christine M.; Clugston, David A.

2016-01-01

Understanding effects of location and timing of harvest seasons on mortality of ducks and geese from hunting is important in forming regulations that sustain viable waterfowl populations throughout their range. During 1990 and 1991 we alternately marked 80 hatching year (HY), female mallards along the Vermont–Quebec border; half with radio-transmitters and bands and half with only aluminum leg bands. We monitored radio-marked ducks daily and recorded survival status weekly for 15 weeks from August until December each year. Mallard mortalities began 25 September when the hunting season opened in the Province of Quebec, Canada. Overall survival of mallards at week 10 did not differ between years (0.51 in 1990 vs. 0.43 in 1991) or differ from that of HY American black ducks (0.44 females, 0.42 males) based on proportional hazard analysis in a Bayesian framework. The mortality rates for mallards from hunting (0.47) and causes unrelated to hunting (0.06) were similar between years and to those rates for HY black ducks at that same site. Hunter harvest accounted for most of the mortality recorded during this study and illegal feeding (i.e., baiting) at sites just before and during the hunting season was observed. Females with lower body condition index had greater mortality rates; a 1-standard-deviation increase in condition index would reduce mortality hazard by about 29%. Management options that may increase mallard survival in the area include lowering daily bag limit in Quebec and suspending split hunting seasons in Vermont that increase harvest, delaying opening date of hunting in Quebec to allow for increased body condition before hunting season opens, and improving enforcement of baiting restrictions.

16,16-dimethyl prostaglandin E2 increases survival of murine intestinal stem cells when given before photon radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanson, W.R.; Thomas, C.

1983-01-01

A variety of prostaglandins (PG) protect the gastric and intestinal mucosa when given before damaging agents as absolute ethanol, acidified taurocholate, boiling water, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAI). A synthetic prostaglandin, 16,16-dimethyl PGE 2 , shown to be cytoprotective at physiologic levels to the above agents was given to mice 1 h before or 15 min after 137 Cs gamma(γ) whole-body irradiation. The survival of intestinal stem cells measured by their ability to form in situ colonies of regenerating epithelium was increased stem cells measured by their ability to form in situ colonies of regenerating epithelium was increased when 16,16-dimethyl PGE 2 was given before but not after 137 Cs γ irradiation. The maximum degree of 16,16-dimethyl PGE 2 -induced radioprotection was seen when the drug was given 1 h before irradiation. No radioprotection was seen when the interval between drug and irradiation was 3 h or longer. When the time between 16,16-dimethyl PGE 2 and irradiation was kept at 1 h, the degree of radioprotection was dependent on the PG drug dose. There was a steep rise in the number of surviving cells at low doses of PG. These results imply that tumors which secrete PGE 2 may in part be protected from the lethal effects of ionizing photon radiation

Agrochemicals indirectly increase survival of E. coli O157:H7 and indicator bacteria by reducing ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Staley, Zachery R; Rohr, Jason R; Senkbeil, Jacob K; Harwood, Valerie J

Storm water and agricultural runoff frequently contain agrochemicals, fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), and zoonotic pathogens. Entry of such contaminants into aquatic ecosystems may affect ecology and human health. This study tested the hypothesis that the herbicide atrazine and the fungicide chlorothalonil indirectly affect the survival of FIB (Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis) and a pathogen (E. coli O157:H7) by altering densities of protozoan predators or by altering competition from autochthonous bacteria. Streptomycin-resistant E. coli, En. faecalis, and E. coli O157:H7 were added to microcosms composed of Florida river water containing natural protozoan and bacterial populations. FIB, pathogen, and protozoan densities were monitored over six days. Known metabolic inhibitors, cycloheximide and streptomycin, were used to inhibit autochthonous protozoa or bacteria, respectively. The inhibitors made it possible to isolate the effects of predation or competition on survival of allochthonous bacteria, and each treatment increased the survival of FIB and pathogens. Chlorothalonil's effect was similar to that of cycloheximide, significantly reducing protozoan densities and elevating densities of FIB and pathogens relative to the control. Atrazine treatment did not affect protozoan densities, but, through an effect on competition, resulted in significantly greater densities of En. faecalis and E. coli O157:H7. Hence, by reducing predaceous protozoa and bacterial competitors that facilitate purifying water bodies of FIBs and human pathogens, chlorothalonil and atrazine indirectly diminished an ecosystem service of fresh water.

Overall survival after prostate-specific-antigen-detected recurrence following conformal radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandler, Howard M.; Dunn, Rodney L.; McLaughlin, P. William; Hayman, James A.; Sullivan, Molly A.; Taylor, Jeremy M.G.

2000-01-01

Purpose: To study the significance, in terms of overall and cause-specific survival, of biochemical failure after conformal external-beam radiation therapy (RT) for prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: Of the 1844 patients in the Radiation Oncology prostate cancer database, 718 were deemed eligible. Patients excluded were those with N1 or M1 disease, those treated after radical prostatectomy, those who received hormone therapy before radiation therapy, and those who died, failed clinically, or had no PSA response in the first 6 months after RT. Patients included were required to have a minimum of 2 post-RT PSAs separated by at least 1 week. Biochemical relapse was defined as 3 consecutive PSA rises. This resulted in 154 patients with biochemical failure. Survival was calculated from the third PSA elevation. The rate of rise of PSA was calculated by fitting a regression line to the four rising PSAs on a ln PSA vs. time plot. Results: There were 41 deaths among the 154 patients with failure in 23 of the 41 due to prostate cancer. The overall survival after failure was 58% at 5 years, while the cause-specific failure was 73% at 5 years. Among the 154 failures, several factors were evaluated for an association with overall survival: age at failure, pre-RT PSA, PSA at second rise, PSA nadir, time from RT to failure, time to nadir, Gleason score, T-stage, and rate of rise, both from the nadir and from the beginning of the rise. None of these factors were significantly associated with an increased risk of death. As expected, the group of patients with biochemical failure have significantly worse prognostic factors than those without biochemical failure: median pre-RT PSA 15.9 vs. 9.0 (p < 0.001), and Gleason score of 7 or greater for 48% of subjects vs. 40% (p 0.1). Relative PSA rise and slope of ln PSA vs. time were associated with cause-specific mortality (p < 0.001 and p = 0.007, respectively). Conclusion: Overall survival after conformal radiotherapy for prostate

Cancer survival for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: a national study of survival rates and excess mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Condon, John R; Zhang, Xiaohua; Baade, Peter; Griffiths, Kalinda; Cunningham, Joan; Roder, David M; Coory, Michael; Jelfs, Paul L; Threlfall, Tim

2014-01-31

National cancer survival statistics are available for the total Australian population but not Indigenous Australians, although their cancer mortality rates are known to be higher than those of other Australians. We aimed to validate analysis methods and report cancer survival rates for Indigenous Australians as the basis for regular national reporting. We used national cancer registrations data to calculate all-cancer and site-specific relative survival for Indigenous Australians (compared with non-Indigenous Australians) diagnosed in 2001-2005. Because of limited availability of Indigenous life tables, we validated and used cause-specific survival (rather than relative survival) for proportional hazards regression to analyze time trends and regional variation in all-cancer survival between 1991 and 2005. Survival was lower for Indigenous than non-Indigenous Australians for all cancers combined and for many cancer sites. The excess mortality of Indigenous people with cancer was restricted to the first three years after diagnosis, and greatest in the first year. Survival was lower for rural and remote than urban residents; this disparity was much greater for Indigenous people. Survival improved between 1991 and 2005 for non-Indigenous people (mortality decreased by 28%), but to a much lesser extent for Indigenous people (11%) and only for those in remote areas; cancer survival did not improve for urban Indigenous residents. Cancer survival is lower for Indigenous than other Australians, for all cancers combined and many individual cancer sites, although more accurate recording of Indigenous status by cancer registers is required before the extent of this disadvantage can be known with certainty. Cancer care for Indigenous Australians needs to be considerably improved; cancer diagnosis, treatment, and support services need to be redesigned specifically to be accessible and acceptable to Indigenous people.

Environmental pollution has sex-dependent effects on local survival

Science.gov (United States)

Eeva, Tapio; Hakkarainen, Harri; Laaksonen, Toni; Lehikoinen, Esa

2006-01-01

Environmental pollutants cause a potential hazard for survival in free-living animal populations. We modelled local survival (including emigration) by using individual mark–recapture histories of males and females in a population of a small insectivorous passerine bird, the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) living around a point source of heavy metals (copper smelter). Local survival of F. hypoleuca females did not differ between polluted and unpolluted environments. Males, however, showed a one-third higher local-survival probability in the polluted area. Low fledgling production was generally associated with decreased local survival, but males in the polluted area showed relatively high local survival, irrespective of their fledgling number. A possible explanation of higher local survival of males in the polluted area could be a pollution-induced change in hormone (e.g. corticosterone or testosterone) levels of males. It could make them to invest more on their own survival or affect the hormonal control of breeding dispersal. The local survival of males decreased in the polluted area over the study period along with the simultaneous decrease in heavy metal emissions. This temporal trend is in agreement with the stress hormone hypothesis. PMID:17148387

The relationship of walking intensity to total and cause-specific mortality. Results from the National Walkers' Health Study.

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Paul T Williams

Full Text Available PURPOSE: Test whether: 1 walking intensity predicts mortality when adjusted for walking energy expenditure, and 2 slow walking pace (≥24-minute mile identifies subjects at substantially elevated risk for mortality. METHODS: Hazard ratios from Cox proportional survival analyses of all-cause and cause-specific mortality vs. usual walking pace (min/mile in 7,374 male and 31,607 female recreational walkers. Survival times were left censored for age at entry into the study. Other causes of death were treated as a competing risk for the analyses of cause-specific mortality. All analyses were adjusted for sex, education, baseline smoking, prior heart attack, aspirin use, diet, BMI, and walking energy expenditure. Deaths within one year of baseline were excluded. RESULTS: The National Death Index identified 1968 deaths during the average 9.4-year mortality surveillance. Each additional minute per mile in walking pace was associated with an increased risk of mortality due to all causes (1.8% increase, P=10(-5, cardiovascular diseases (2.4% increase, P=0.001, 637 deaths, ischemic heart disease (2.8% increase, P=0.003, 336 deaths, heart failure (6.5% increase, P=0.001, 36 deaths, hypertensive heart disease (6.2% increase, P=0.01, 31 deaths, diabetes (6.3% increase, P=0.004, 32 deaths, and dementia (6.6% increase, P=0.0004, 44 deaths. Those reporting a pace slower than a 24-minute mile were at increased risk for mortality due to all-causes (44.3% increased risk, P=0.0001, cardiovascular diseases (43.9% increased risk, P=0.03, and dementia (5.0-fold increased risk, P=0.0002 even though they satisfied the current exercise recommendations by walking ≥7.5 metabolic equivalent (MET-hours per week. CONCLUSIONS: The risk for mortality: 1 decreases in association with walking intensity, and 2 increases substantially in association for walking pace ≥24 minute mile (equivalent to <400 m during a six-minute walk test even among subjects who exercise regularly.

Carnitine protects the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans from glucose-induced reduction of survival depending on the nuclear hormone receptor DAF-12

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deusing, Dorothé Jenni; Beyrer, Melanie; Fitzenberger, Elena; Wenzel, Uwe

2015-01-01

Besides its function in transport of fatty acids into mitochondria in order to provide substrates for β-oxidation, carnitine has been shown to affect also glucose metabolism and to inhibit several mechanisms associated with diabetic complications. In the present study we used the mev-1 mutant of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans fed on a high glucose concentration in liquid media as a diabetes model and tested the effects of carnitine supplementation on their survival under heat-stress. Carnitine at 100 μM completely prevented the survival reduction that was caused by the application of 10 mM glucose. RNA-interference for sir-2.1, a candidate genes mediating the effects of carnitine revealed no contribution of the sirtuin for the rescue of survival. Under daf-12 RNAi rescue of survival by carnitine was abolished. RNA-interference for γ-butyrobetaine hydroxylase 2, encoding the key enzyme for carnitine biosynthesis did neither increase glucose toxicity nor prevent the rescue of survival by carnitine, suggesting that the effects of carnitine supplementation on carnitine levels were significant. Finally, it was demonstrated that neither the amount of lysosomes nor the proteasomal activity were increased by carnitine, excluding that protein degradation pathways, such as autophagy or proteasomal degradation, are involved in the protective carnitine effects. In conclusion, carnitine supplementation prevents the reduction of survival caused by glucose in C. elegans in dependence on a nuclear hormone receptor which displays high homologies to the vertebrate peroxisomal proliferator activated receptors. - Highlights: • Carnitine protects from glucose-induced reduction of stress-resistance. • Carnitine acts via the PPAR homolog DAF-12 on glucose toxicity. • Carnitine protects from glucose toxicity independent of protein degradation

Carnitine protects the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans from glucose-induced reduction of survival depending on the nuclear hormone receptor DAF-12

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deusing, Dorothé Jenni, E-mail: Dorothe.J.Deusing@ernaehrung.uni-giessen.de; Beyrer, Melanie, E-mail: m.beyrer@web.de; Fitzenberger, Elena, E-mail: Elena.Fitzenberger@ernaehrung.uni-giessen.de; Wenzel, Uwe, E-mail: uwe.wenzel@ernaehrung.uni-giessen.de

2015-05-08

Besides its function in transport of fatty acids into mitochondria in order to provide substrates for β-oxidation, carnitine has been shown to affect also glucose metabolism and to inhibit several mechanisms associated with diabetic complications. In the present study we used the mev-1 mutant of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans fed on a high glucose concentration in liquid media as a diabetes model and tested the effects of carnitine supplementation on their survival under heat-stress. Carnitine at 100 μM completely prevented the survival reduction that was caused by the application of 10 mM glucose. RNA-interference for sir-2.1, a candidate genes mediating the effects of carnitine revealed no contribution of the sirtuin for the rescue of survival. Under daf-12 RNAi rescue of survival by carnitine was abolished. RNA-interference for γ-butyrobetaine hydroxylase 2, encoding the key enzyme for carnitine biosynthesis did neither increase glucose toxicity nor prevent the rescue of survival by carnitine, suggesting that the effects of carnitine supplementation on carnitine levels were significant. Finally, it was demonstrated that neither the amount of lysosomes nor the proteasomal activity were increased by carnitine, excluding that protein degradation pathways, such as autophagy or proteasomal degradation, are involved in the protective carnitine effects. In conclusion, carnitine supplementation prevents the reduction of survival caused by glucose in C. elegans in dependence on a nuclear hormone receptor which displays high homologies to the vertebrate peroxisomal proliferator activated receptors. - Highlights: • Carnitine protects from glucose-induced reduction of stress-resistance. • Carnitine acts via the PPAR homolog DAF-12 on glucose toxicity. • Carnitine protects from glucose toxicity independent of protein degradation.

Age-Associated ALU Element Instability in White Blood Cells Is Linked to Lower Survival in Elderly Adults: A Preliminary Cohort Study.

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R Garrett Morgan

Full Text Available ALU element instability could contribute to gene function variance in aging, and may partly explain variation in human lifespan.To assess the role of ALU element instability in human aging and the potential efficacy of ALU element content as a marker of biological aging and survival.Preliminary cohort study.We measured two high frequency ALU element subfamilies, ALU-J and ALU-Sx, by a single qPCR assay and compared ALU-J/Sx content in white blood cell (WBCs and skeletal muscle cell (SMCs biopsies from twenty-three elderly adults with sixteen healthy sex-balanced young adults; all-cause survival rates of elderly adults predicted by ALU-J/Sx content in both tissues; and cardiovascular disease (CVD- and cancer-specific survival rates of elderly adults predicted by ALU-J/Sx content in both tissues, as planned subgroup analyses.We found greater ALU-J/Sx content variance in WBCs from elderly adults than young adults (P < 0.001 with no difference in SMCs (P = 0.94. Elderly adults with low WBC ALU-J/Sx content had worse four-year all-cause and CVD-associated survival than those with high ALU-J/Sx content (both P = 0.03 and hazard ratios (HR ≥ 3.40, while WBC ALU-J/Sx content had no influence on cancer-associated survival (P = 0.42 and HR = 0.74. SMC ALU-J/Sx content had no influence on all-cause, CVD- or cancer -associated survival (all P ≥ 0.26; HR ≤ 2.07.These initial findings demonstrate that ALU element instability occurs with advanced age in WBCs, but not SMCs, and imparts greater risk of all-cause mortality that is likely driven by an increased risk for CVD and not cancer.

Causes of death in long-term lung cancer survivors: a SEER database analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdel-Rahman, Omar

2017-07-01

Long-term (>5 years) lung cancer survivors represent a small but distinct subgroup of lung cancer patients and information about the causes of death of this subgroup is scarce. The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database (1988-2008) was utilized to determine the causes of death of long-term survivors of lung cancer. Survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate analysis was conducted using a Cox proportional hazard model. Clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes were assessed for the whole cohort. A total of 78,701 lung cancer patients with >5 years survival were identified. This cohort included 54,488 patients surviving 5-10 years and 24,213 patients surviving >10 years. Among patients surviving 5-10 years, 21.8% were dead because of primary lung cancer, 10.2% were dead because of other cancers, 6.8% were dead because of cardiac disease and 5.3% were dead because of non-malignant pulmonary disease. Among patients surviving >10 years, 12% were dead because of primary lung cancer, 6% were dead because of other cancers, 6.9% were dead because of cardiac disease and 5.6% were dead because of non-malignant pulmonary disease. On multivariate analysis, factors associated with longer cardiac-disease-specific survival in multivariate analysis include younger age at diagnosis (p death from primary lung cancer is still significant among other causes of death even 20 years after diagnosis of lung cancer. Moreover, cardiac as well as non-malignant pulmonary causes contribute a considerable proportion of deaths in long-term lung cancer survivors.

Isoflurane Preconditioning Increases Survival of Rat Skin Random-Pattern Flaps by Induction of HIF-1α Expression

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Yu Sun

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Survival of random-pattern skin flaps is important for the success of plastic and reconstructive surgeries. This study investigates isoflurane-induced protection against ischemia of skin flap and the underlying molecular mechanism in this process. Methods: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs and human skin fibroblast cells were exposed to isoflurane for 4 h. Expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF were analyzed up to 24 h post isoflurane exposure using qRT-PCR and western blot, or ELISA analyses. PI3K inhibitors - LY 294002 and wortmannin, mTOR inhibitor - rapamycin, and GSK3β inhibitor - SB 216763 were used respectively to assess the effects of isoflurane treatment and HIF-1α expression. Furthermore, 40 rats were randomly divided into 5 groups (control, isoflurane, scrambled siRNA plus isoflurane, HIF-1α siRNA plus isoflurane, and DMOG and subjected to random-pattern skin flaps operation. Rats were prepared for evaluation of flap survival and full-feld laser perfusion imager (FLPI (at 7 day and microvessel density evaluation (at 10 day. Results: Isoflurane exposure induced expression of HIF-1α protein, HO-1 and VEGF mRNA and proteins in a time-dependent manner. Both LY 294002 and wortmannin inhibited phospho-Akt, phospho-mTOR, phospho-GSK 3β and HIF-1α expression after isoflurane exposure. Both wortmannin and rapamycin inhibited isoflurane-induced phospho-4E-BP1 (Ser 65 and phospho-P70s6k (Thr 389 and HIF-1α expression. SB 216763 pre-treatment could further enhance isoflurane-induced expression of phospho-GSK 3β (Ser 9 and HIF-1α protein compared to the isoflurane-alone cells. In animal experiments, isoflurane alone, scrambled siRNA plus isoflurane, or DMOG groups had significantly upregulated vascularity and increased survival of the skin flaps compared to the controls. However, HIF-1α knockdown abrogated the protective effect of

Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in relation to sex: a nationwide registry-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wissenberg, Mads; Hansen, Carolina Malta; Folke, Fredrik; Lippert, Freddy K; Weeke, Peter; Karlsson, Lena; Rajan, Shahzleen; Søndergaard, Kathrine Bach; Kragholm, Kristian; Christensen, Erika Frischknecht; Nielsen, Søren L; Køber, Lars; Gislason, Gunnar H; Torp-Pedersen, Christian

2014-09-01

Crude survival has increased following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We aimed to study sex-related differences in patient characteristics and survival during a 10-year study period. Patients≥12 years old with OHCA of a presumed cardiac cause, and in whom resuscitation was attempted, were identified through the Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry 2001-2010. A total of 19,372 patients were included. One-third were female, with a median age of 75 years (IQR 65-83). Compared to females, males were five years younger; and less likely to have severe comorbidities, e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (12.8% vs. 16.5%); but more likely to have arrest outside of the home (29.4% vs. 18.7%), receive bystander CPR (32.9% vs. 25.9%), and have a shockable rhythm (32.6% vs. 17.2%), all p<0.001. Thirty-day crude survival increased in males (3.0% in 2001 to 12.9% in 2010); and in females (4.8% in 2001 to 6.7% in 2010), p<0.001. Multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusted for patient characteristics including comorbidities, showed no survival difference between sexes in patients with a non-shockable rhythm (OR 1.00; CI 0.72-1.40), while female sex was positively associated with survival in patients with a shockable rhythm (OR 1.31; CI 1.07-1.59). Analyses were rhythm-stratified due to interaction between sex and heart rhythm; there was no interaction between sex and calendar-year. Temporal increase in crude survival was more marked in males due to poorer prognostic characteristics in females with a lower proportion of shockable rhythm. In an adjusted model, female sex was positively associated with survival in patients with a shockable rhythm. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, Haidong; Naghavi, Mohsen; Allen, Christine; Barber, R.M.; Bhutta, Zulfiqar; Carter, Austin; Casey, Daniel C.; Charlson, Fiona J.; Chen, Alan Z.; Coates, M.; Geleijnse, J.M.

2016-01-01

Background
Improving survival and extending the longevity of life for all populations requires timely, robust evidence on local mortality levels and trends. The Global Burden of Disease 2015 Study (GBD 2015) provides a comprehensive assessment of all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 249

Biofilms Formed by Gram-Negative Bacteria Undergo Increased Lipid A Palmitoylation, Enhancing In Vivo Survival

Science.gov (United States)

Chalabaev, Sabina; Chauhan, Ashwini; Novikov, Alexey; Iyer, Pavithra; Szczesny, Magdalena; Beloin, Christophe; Caroff, Martine

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Bacterial biofilm communities are associated with profound physiological changes that lead to novel properties compared to the properties of individual (planktonic) bacteria. The study of biofilm-associated phenotypes is an essential step toward control of deleterious effects of pathogenic biofilms. Here we investigated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) structural modifications in Escherichia coli biofilm bacteria, and we showed that all tested commensal and pathogenic E. coli biofilm bacteria display LPS modifications corresponding to an increased level of incorporation of palmitate acyl chain (palmitoylation) into lipid A compared to planktonic bacteria. Genetic analysis showed that lipid A palmitoylation in biofilms is mediated by the PagP enzyme, which is regulated by the histone-like protein repressor H-NS and the SlyA regulator. While lipid A palmitoylation does not influence bacterial adhesion, it weakens inflammatory response and enhances resistance to some antimicrobial peptides. Moreover, we showed that lipid A palmitoylation increases in vivo survival of biofilm bacteria in a clinically relevant model of catheter infection, potentially contributing to biofilm tolerance to host immune defenses. The widespread occurrence of increased lipid A palmitoylation in biofilms formed by all tested bacteria suggests that it constitutes a new biofilm-associated phenotype in Gram-negative bacteria. PMID:25139899

Network ties and survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Acheampong, George; Narteh, Bedman; Rand, John

2017-01-01

Poultry farming has been touted as one of the major ways by which poverty can be reduced in low-income economies like Ghana. Yet, anecdotally there is a high failure rate among these poultry farms. This current study seeks to understand the relationship between network ties and survival chances...... of small commercial poultry farms (SCPFs). We utilize data from a 2-year network survey of SCPFs in rural Ghana. The survival of these poultry farms are modelled using a lagged probit model of farms that persisted from 2014 into 2015. We find that network ties are important to the survival chances...... but this probability reduces as the number of industry ties increases but moderation with dynamic capability of the firm reverses this trend. Our findings show that not all network ties aid survival and therefore small commercial poultry farmers need to be circumspect in the network ties they cultivate and develop....

Continues administration of Nano-PSO significantly increased survival of genetic CJD mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Binyamin, Orli; Keller, Guy; Frid, Kati; Larush, Liraz; Magdassi, Shlomo; Gabizon, Ruth

2017-12-01

We have shown previously that Nano-PSO, a nanodroplet formulation of pomegranate seed oil, delayed progression of neurodegeneration signs when administered for a designated period of time to TgMHu2ME199K mice, modeling for genetic prion disease. In the present work, we treated these mice with a self-emulsion formulation of Nano-PSO or a parallel Soybean oil formulation from their day of birth until a terminal disease stage. We found that long term Nano-PSO administration resulted in increased survival of TgMHu2ME199K lines by several months. Interestingly, initiation of treatment at day 1 had no clinical advantage over initiation at day 70, however cessation of treatment at 9months of age resulted in the rapid loss of the beneficial clinical effect. Pathological studies revealed that treatment with Nano-PSO resulted in the reduction of GAG accumulation and lipid oxidation, indicating a strong neuroprotective effect. Contrarily, the clinical effect of Nano-PSO did not correlate with reduction in the levels of disease related PrP, the main prion marker. We conclude that long term administration of Nano-PSO is safe and may be effective in the prevention/delay of onset of neurodegenerative conditions such as genetic CJD. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Initial effects of quinclorac on the survival and growth of high biomass tree species

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Joshua P. Adams

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Increasingly, short rotation woody crops are being planted for biofuel/biomass production on unused lands or marginal agricultural lands. Many of these plantations occur near agriculture land which is intensively managed including yearly herbicide applications. Herbicide drift from these applications may cause tree stress and decreasing yields impacting potential biomass production. Quinclorac, a rice herbicide, is often cited as a potential source of tree damage and is the focal herbicide of this study. Five planting stocks, including three eastern cottonwood clones, a hybrid poplar clone, and American sycamore, were assessed for herbicide affects and deployed at three sites across south Arkansas. Stocks were exposed to a full rate labeled for rice (3.175 L ha-1, two rates simulating drift (1/100th and 1/10th the full rate, and a no-spray control. Survival of all Populus clones decreased drastically as quinclorac rate increased, while there was little observed effect on American sycamore. Some variability in treatment response among poplars occurred below the full herbicide rate; however, direct spraying a full herbicide rate on poplars resulted in survival rates below 65 percent and negative growth rates due to dieback. Conversely, photosynthetic rates of remaining leaves increased as quinclorac rate increased. Survival and damage scores of American sycamore, regardless of herbicide rate, remained nearly constant.

MoSI (Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal): assessing habitat-specific overwintering survival of neotropical migratory landbirds

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David F. DeSante; T. Scott Sillett; Rodney B. Siegel; James F. Saracco; Claudia A. Romo de Vivar Alvarez; Salvadora Morales; Alexis Cerezo; Danielle R. Kaschube; Manuel Grosselet; Borja Mila

2005-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that population declines in many Neotropical-wintering migratory landbird species are caused by habitat loss and degradation on their wintering grounds. Such habitat loss and degradation can lower overwintering survival rates and cause surviving birds to leave their wintering grounds in poor physical condition, leading to high mortality during...

Impact of reconstruction methods and pathological factors on survival after pancreaticoduodenectomy

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Salah Binziad

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Surgery remains the mainstay of therapy for pancreatic head (PH and periampullary carcinoma (PC and provides the only chance of cure. Improvements of surgical technique, increased surgical experience and advances in anesthesia, intensive care and parenteral nutrition have substantially decreased surgical complications and increased survival. We evaluate the effects of reconstruction type, complications and pathological factors on survival and quality of life. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study to evaluate the impact of various reconstruction methods of the pancreatic remnant after pancreaticoduodenectomy and the pathological characteristics of PC patients over 3.5 years. Patient characteristics and descriptive analysis in the three variable methods either with or without stent were compared with Chi-square test. Multivariate analysis was performed with the logistic regression analysis test and multinomial logistic regression analysis test. Survival rate was analyzed by use Kaplan-Meier test. Results: Forty-one consecutive patients with PC were enrolled. There were 23 men (56.1% and 18 women (43.9%, with a median age of 56 years (16 to 70 years. There were 24 cases of PH cancer, eight cases of PC, four cases of distal CBD cancer and five cases of duodenal carcinoma. Nine patients underwent duct-to-mucosa pancreatico jejunostomy (PJ, 17 patients underwent telescoping pancreatico jejunostomy (PJ and 15 patients pancreaticogastrostomy (PG. The pancreatic duct was stented in 30 patients while in 11 patients, the duct was not stented. The PJ duct-to-mucosa caused significantly less leakage, but longer operative and reconstructive times. Telescoping PJ was associated with the shortest hospital stay. There were 5 postoperative mortalities, while postoperative morbidities included pancreatic fistula-6 patients, delayed gastric emptying in-11, GI fistula-3, wound infection-12, burst abdomen-6 and pulmonary infection-2. Factors

The quiet revolution. Child survival comes of age.

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Bendahmane, D B

1994-01-01

Programs to reduce infant and child mortality have led to improvements in most countries of the world, developed and developing alike. These improvements can be seen graphically on maps produced by the USAID Child Survival Program which was launched in 1985 and which provided a "package" of health interventions that has led to a 10% mortality decline. These interventions have led to an increase in life expectancy in developing countries from 50 years in 1965 to over 60 years in 1986. Unfortunately, the children whose lives have been saved face a cruel paradox because their prospects for improving their lives are slim. They are the victims of deepening poverty, the stresses of urban life, and war and violence. In addition, the education which could allow them to escape their fate is largely denied to them. Although 90% of the children in developing countries enter school, an estimated 100 million drop out before grade 5. To make matters worse, most of the child survivors live in countries where the young age of the majority of the citizens is straining government resources. Even young people in the developed world are not immune from these problems; in the US, children are worse off than they were 25 years ago. While the struggle to increase child survival must continue, the world must also nurture the children who survive. The vicious cycle of population growth, poverty, and environmental degradation (PPE), which causes and is exacerbated by political and social instability, has been weakened by child survival programs which have reduced fertility rates. Education, especially of girls, also has a positive effect on the spiral. The effects of education, health and nutrition, and family planning programs can create a "virtuous" cycle which can increase gross domestic income and equity of income distribution (resulting in shared growth and "human capital accumulation"). Such initiatives as innovative community youth programs and new financing mechanisms can have a

All-cause mortality in asymptomatic persons with extensive Agatston scores above 1000.

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Patel, Jaideep; Blaha, Michael J; McEvoy, John W; Qadir, Sadia; Tota-Maharaj, Rajesh; Shaw, Leslee J; Rumberger, John A; Callister, Tracy Q; Berman, Daniel S; Min, James K; Raggi, Paolo; Agatston, Arthur A; Blumenthal, Roger S; Budoff, Matthew J; Nasir, Khurram

2014-01-01

Risk assessment in the extensive calcified plaque phenotype has been limited by small sample size. We studied all-cause mortality rates among asymptomatic patients with markedly elevated Agatston scores > 1000. We studied a clinical cohort of 44,052 asymptomatic patients referred for coronary calcium scans. Mean follow-up was 5.6 years (range, 1-13 years). All-cause mortality rates were calculated after stratifying by Agatston score (0, 1-1000, 1001-1500, 1500-2000, and >2000). A multivariable Cox regression model adjusting for self-reported traditional risk factors was created to assess the relative mortality hazard of Agatston scores 1001 to 1500, 1501 to 2000, and >2000. With the use of post-estimation modeling, we assessed for the presence of an upper threshold of risk with high Agatston scores. A total of 1593 patients (4% of total population) had Agatston score > 1000. There was a continuous graded decrease in estimated 10-year survival across increasing Agatston score, continuing when Agatston score > 1000 (Agatston score 1001-1500, 78%; Agatston score 1501-2000, 74%; Agatston score > 2000, 51%). After multivariable adjustment, Agatston scores 1001 to 1500, 1501 to 2000, and >2000 were associated with an 8.05-, 7.45-, and 13.26-fold greater mortality risk, respectively, than for Agatston score of 0. Compared with Agatston score 1001 to 1500, Agatston score 1501 to 2000 had a similar all-cause mortality risk, whereas Agatston score > 2000 had an increased relative risk (Agatston score 1501-2000: hazard ratio [HR], 1.01 [95% CI, 0.67-1.51]; Agatston score > 2000: HR, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.30-2.46]). Graphical assessment of the predicted survival model suggests no upper threshold for risk associated with calcified plaque in coronary arteries. Increasing calcified plaque in coronary arteries continues to predict a graded decrease in survival among patients with extensive Agatston score > 1000 with no apparent upper threshold. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Gestational Age-Dependent Increase of Survival Motor Neuron Protein in Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

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Sota Iwatani

2017-09-01

Full Text Available BackgroundSpinal muscular atrophy (SMA is the most common genetic neurological disease leading to infant death. It is caused by loss of survival motor neuron (SMN 1 gene and subsequent reduction of SMN protein in motor neurons. Because SMN is ubiquitously expressed and functionally linked to general RNA metabolism pathway, fibroblasts (FBs are most widely used for the assessment of SMN expression in SMA patients but usually isolated from skin biopsy samples after the onset of overt symptoms. Although recent translational studies of SMN-targeted therapies have revealed the very limited time window for effective SMA therapies during perinatal period, the exact time point when SMN shortage became evident is unknown in human samples. In this study, we analyzed SMN mRNA and protein expression during perinatal period by using umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs obtained from preterm and term infants.MethodsUC-MSCs were isolated from 16 control infants delivered at 22–40 weeks of gestation and SMA fetus aborted at 19 weeks of gestation (UC-MSC-Control and UC-MSC-SMA. FBs were isolated from control volunteer and SMA patient (FB-Control and FB-SMA. SMN mRNA and protein expression in UC-MSCs and FBs was determined by RT-qPCR and Western blot.ResultsUC-MSC-Control and UC-MSC-SMA expressed the comparable level of MSC markers on their cell surface and were able to differentiate into adipocytes, osteocytes, and chondrocytes. At steady state, SMN mRNA and protein expression was decreased in UC-MSC-SMA compared to UC-MSC-Control, as observed in FB-SMA and FB-Control. In response to histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid, SMN mRNA and protein expression in UC-MSC-SMA and FB-SMA was increased. During perinatal development from 22 to 40 weeks of gestation, SMN mRNA and protein expression in UC-MSC-Control was positively correlated with gestational age.ConclusionUC-MSCs isolated from 17 fetus/infant of 19–40 weeks of gestation

Trends in causes of death among children under 5 in Bangladesh, 1993-2004: an exercise applying a standardized computer algorithm to assign causes of death using verbal autopsy data

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Walker Neff

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Trends in the causes of child mortality serve as important global health information to guide efforts to improve child survival. With child mortality declining in Bangladesh, the distribution of causes of death also changes. The three verbal autopsy (VA studies conducted with the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys provide a unique opportunity to study these changes in child causes of death. Methods To ensure comparability of these trends, we developed a standardized algorithm to assign causes of death using symptoms collected through the VA studies. The original algorithms applied were systematically reviewed and key differences in cause categorization, hierarchy, case definition, and the amount of data collected were compared to inform the development of the standardized algorithm. Based primarily on the 2004 cause categorization and hierarchy, the standardized algorithm guarantees comparability of the trends by only including symptom data commonly available across all three studies. Results Between 1993 and 2004, pneumonia remained the leading cause of death in Bangladesh, contributing to 24% to 33% of deaths among children under 5. The proportion of neonatal mortality increased significantly from 36% (uncertainty range [UR]: 31%-41% to 56% (49%-62% during the same period. The cause-specific mortality fractions due to birth asphyxia/birth injury and prematurity/low birth weight (LBW increased steadily, with both rising from 3% (2%-5% to 13% (10%-17% and 10% (7%-15%, respectively. The cause-specific mortality rates decreased significantly due to neonatal tetanus and several postneonatal causes (tetanus: from 7 [4-11] to 2 [0.4-4] per 1,000 live births (LB; pneumonia: from 26 [20-33] to 15 [11-20] per 1,000 LB; diarrhea: from 12 [8-17] to 4 [2-7] per 1,000 LB; measles: from 5 [2-8] to 0.2 [0-0.7] per 1,000 LB; injury: from 11 [7-17] to 3 [1-5] per 1,000 LB; and malnutrition: from 9 [6-13] to 5 [2-7]. Conclusions

Germline disruption of Pten localization causes enhanced sex-dependent social motivation and increased glial production.

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Tilot, Amanda K; Gaugler, Mary K; Yu, Qi; Romigh, Todd; Yu, Wanfeng; Miller, Robert H; Frazier, Thomas W; Eng, Charis

2014-06-15

PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome (PHTS) is an autosomal-dominant genetic condition underlying a subset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with macrocephaly. Caused by germline mutations in PTEN, PHTS also causes increased risks of multiple cancers via dysregulation of the PI3K and MAPK signaling pathways. Conditional knockout models have shown that neural Pten regulates social behavior, proliferation and cell size. Although much is known about how the intracellular localization of PTEN regulates signaling in cancer cell lines, we know little of how PTEN localization influences normal brain physiology and behavior. To address this, we generated a germline knock-in mouse model of cytoplasm-predominant Pten and characterized its behavioral and cellular phenotypes. The homozygous Pten(m3m4) mice have decreased total Pten levels including a specific drop in nuclear Pten and exhibit region-specific increases in brain weight. The Pten(m3m4) model displays sex-specific increases in social motivation, poor balance and normal recognition memory-a profile reminiscent of some individuals with high functioning ASD. The cytoplasm-predominant protein caused cellular hypertrophy limited to the soma and led to increased NG2 cell proliferation and accumulation of glia. The animals also exhibit significant astrogliosis and microglial activation, indicating a neuroinflammatory phenotype. At the signaling level, Pten(m3m4) mice show brain region-specific differences in Akt activation. These results demonstrate that differing alterations to the same autism-linked gene can cause distinct behavioral profiles. The Pten(m3m4) model is the first murine model of inappropriately elevated social motivation in the context of normal cognition and may expand the range of autism-related behaviors replicated in animal models. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Sustained increase in food supplies reduces broodmate aggression in black-legged kittiwakes

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White, J.; Leclaire, S.; Kriloff, M.; Mulard, Hervé; Hatch, Shyla A.; Danchin, E.

2010-01-01

The amount of food ingested by chicks has often been suggested as being the main proximate factor controlling broodmate aggression in facultatively siblicidal species. Although several experiments have demonstrated that short-term food deprivation causes a temporary increase in aggression, no study has, to our knowledge, experimentally manipulated overall food supplies and considered long-term effects on chick behaviour and life history traits. We provided supplemental food to breeding pairs of black-legged kittiwakes, Rissa tridactyla, over an entire breeding season and compared the aggressive behaviour of their chicks with that of chicks of control pairs. Control A-chicks (first to hatch) showed more frequent and intense aggression than their experimental counterparts. Furthermore, the more A-chicks begged and the lower their growth rate the more aggressive they were. The consequences of increased aggression for B-chicks (second to hatch) were lower begging rate, lower growth rate and lower survival. We thus provide evidence that a sustained increase in food availability affects broodmate aggression and chick survival at the nest and we discuss the various proximate and ultimate causes involved in the evolution of broodmate aggression. ?? 2010 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Testing and diagnosis of the cause of increased vibration of the fan plant's support structure

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Varju Đerđ

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a procedure of determining the causes of increased vibration of a fan plant and its support structure in the PUC 'Subotička toplana'. Excessive vibrations were observed following the installation of the frequency converter, thus a methodological approach of testing-analysis-diagnosis has been applied. Based on the definition of the causes of this problem, the paper also suggests possible repair procedures.

Lundep, a sand fly salivary endonuclease increases Leishmania parasite survival in neutrophils and inhibits XIIa contact activation in human plasma.

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Andrezza C Chagas

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Neutrophils are the host's first line of defense against infections, and their extracellular traps (NET were recently shown to kill Leishmania parasites. Here we report a NET-destroying molecule (Lundep from the salivary glands of Lutzomyia longipalpis. Previous analysis of the sialotranscriptome of Lu. longipalpis showed the potential presence of an endonuclease. Indeed, not only was the cloned cDNA (Lundep shown to encode a highly active ss- and dsDNAse, but also the same activity was demonstrated to be secreted by salivary glands of female Lu. longipalpis. Lundep hydrolyzes both ss- and dsDNA with little sequence specificity with a calculated DNase activity of 300000 Kunitz units per mg of protein. Disruption of PMA (phorbol 12 myristate 13 acetate- or parasite-induced NETs by treatment with recombinant Lundep or salivary gland homogenates increases parasite survival in neutrophils. Furthermore, co-injection of recombinant Lundep with metacyclic promastigotes significantly exacerbates Leishmania infection in mice when compared with PBS alone or inactive (mutagenized Lundep. We hypothesize that Lundep helps the parasite to establish an infection by allowing it to escape from the leishmanicidal activity of NETs early after inoculation. Lundep may also assist blood meal intake by lowering the local viscosity caused by the release of host DNA and as an anticoagulant by inhibiting the intrinsic pathway of coagulation.

Comorbidity and cervical cancer survival of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian women: A semi-national registry-based cohort study (2003-2012).

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Diaz, Abbey; Baade, Peter D; Valery, Patricia C; Whop, Lisa J; Moore, Suzanne P; Cunningham, Joan; Garvey, Gail; Brotherton, Julia M L; O'Connell, Dianne L; Canfell, Karen; Sarfati, Diana; Roder, David; Buckley, Elizabeth; Condon, John R

2018-01-01

Little is known about the impact of comorbidity on cervical cancer survival in Australian women, including whether Indigenous women's higher prevalence of comorbidity contributes to their lower survival compared to non-Indigenous women. Data for cervical cancers diagnosed in 2003-2012 were extracted from six Australian state-based cancer registries and linked to hospital inpatient records to identify comorbidity diagnoses. Five-year cause-specific and all-cause survival probabilities were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Flexible parametric models were used to estimate excess cause-specific mortality by Charlson comorbidity index score (0,1,2+), for Indigenous women compared to non-Indigenous women. Of 4,467 women, Indigenous women (4.4%) compared to non-Indigenous women had more comorbidity at diagnosis (score ≥1: 24.2% vs. 10.0%) and lower five-year cause-specific survival (60.2% vs. 76.6%). Comorbidity was associated with increased cervical cancer mortality for non-Indigenous women, but there was no evidence of such a relationship for Indigenous women. There was an 18% reduction in the Indigenous: non-Indigenous hazard ratio (excess mortality) when comorbidity was included in the model, yet this reduction was not statistically significant. The excess mortality for Indigenous women was only evident among those without comorbidity (Indigenous: non-Indigenous HR 2.5, 95%CI 1.9-3.4), indicating that factors other than those measured in this study are contributing to the differential. In a subgroup of New South Wales women, comorbidity was associated with advanced-stage cancer, which in turn was associated with elevated cervical cancer mortality. Survival was lowest for women with comorbidity. However, there wasn't a clear comorbidity-survival gradient for Indigenous women. Further investigation of potential drivers of the cervical cancer survival differentials is warranted. The results highlight the need for cancer care guidelines and multidisciplinary

Comorbidity and cervical cancer survival of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian women: A semi-national registry-based cohort study (2003-2012.

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Abbey Diaz

Full Text Available Little is known about the impact of comorbidity on cervical cancer survival in Australian women, including whether Indigenous women's higher prevalence of comorbidity contributes to their lower survival compared to non-Indigenous women.Data for cervical cancers diagnosed in 2003-2012 were extracted from six Australian state-based cancer registries and linked to hospital inpatient records to identify comorbidity diagnoses. Five-year cause-specific and all-cause survival probabilities were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Flexible parametric models were used to estimate excess cause-specific mortality by Charlson comorbidity index score (0,1,2+, for Indigenous women compared to non-Indigenous women.Of 4,467 women, Indigenous women (4.4% compared to non-Indigenous women had more comorbidity at diagnosis (score ≥1: 24.2% vs. 10.0% and lower five-year cause-specific survival (60.2% vs. 76.6%. Comorbidity was associated with increased cervical cancer mortality for non-Indigenous women, but there was no evidence of such a relationship for Indigenous women. There was an 18% reduction in the Indigenous: non-Indigenous hazard ratio (excess mortality when comorbidity was included in the model, yet this reduction was not statistically significant. The excess mortality for Indigenous women was only evident among those without comorbidity (Indigenous: non-Indigenous HR 2.5, 95%CI 1.9-3.4, indicating that factors other than those measured in this study are contributing to the differential. In a subgroup of New South Wales women, comorbidity was associated with advanced-stage cancer, which in turn was associated with elevated cervical cancer mortality.Survival was lowest for women with comorbidity. However, there wasn't a clear comorbidity-survival gradient for Indigenous women. Further investigation of potential drivers of the cervical cancer survival differentials is warranted.The results highlight the need for cancer care guidelines and

Causal inference for long-term survival in randomised trials with treatment switching: Should re-censoring be applied when estimating counterfactual survival times?

OpenAIRE

Latimer, N.R.; White, I.R.; Abrams, K.R.; Sieburt, U.

2017-01-01

Treatment switching often has a crucial impact on estimates of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of new oncology treatments. Rank preserving structural failure time models (RPSFTM) and two-stage estimation (TSE) methods estimate ‘counterfactual’ (i.e. had there been no switching) survival times and incorporate re-censoring to guard against informative censoring in the counterfactual dataset. However, re-censoring causes a loss of longer term survival information which is problematic when e...

Predominance of Th1 response, increase of megakaryocytes and Kupffer cells are related to survival in Trypanosoma cruzi infected mice treated with Lycopodium clavatum.

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Falkowski-Temporini, Gislaine Janaina; Lopes, Carina Ribeiro; Massini, Paula Fernanda; Brustolin, Camila Fernanda; Sandri, Patricia Flora; Ferreira, Érika Cristina; Aleixo, Denise Lessa; Pala, Nelson Roberto; de Araújo, Silvana Marques

2016-12-01

We investigated the number of megakaryocytes, Kupffer cells and ratios of Th1/Th2 and Th1/Th17 cytokines in survival of mice infected with Y strain of Trypanosoma cruzi and treated with Lycopodium clavatum. In a blind, randomized and controlled assay, Swiss male mice, 8weeks-old, infected with 1400 trypomastigotes (Y strain) were divided into groups and treated with: GLy - Lycopodium clavatum dynamization13c and GCI - alcohol solution 7° GL (vehicle medicine). The treatment was offered two days before infection and on the 2nd, 4th and 6th days after infection, overnight (1mL/100mL) and ad libitum. Parameters assessed were: survival rate, number of megakaryocytes and Kupffer cells, cytokines dosage (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17), Th1/Th2 and Th1/Th17 ratios. The increase in megakaryocytes, Kupffer cells, predominance of Th1 response, with increased TNF-α, IL-10, TNF-α/IL-4, TNF-α/IL-17 and decreased IL-6 IL-6/IL-4, are related to increased survival in mice infected with T. cruzi and treated with Lycopodium clavatum 13c. This result demonstrates the possibility of an alternative approach for the treatment of Chagas disease with dynamized drugs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Overhydration, Cardiac Function and Survival in Hemodialysis Patients.

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Onofriescu, Mihai; Siriopol, Dimitrie; Voroneanu, Luminita; Hogas, Simona; Nistor, Ionut; Apetrii, Mugurel; Florea, Laura; Veisa, Gabriel; Mititiuc, Irina; Kanbay, Mehmet; Sascau, Radu; Covic, Adrian

2015-01-01

Chronic subclinical volume overload occurs very frequently and may be ubiquitous in hemodialysis (HD) patients receiving the standard thrice-weekly treatment. It is directly associated with hypertension, increased arterial stiffness, left ventricular hipertrophy, heart failure, and eventually, higher mortality and morbidity. We aimed to assess for the first time if the relationship between bioimpedance assessed overhydration and survival is maintained when adjustments for echocardiographic parameters are considered. A prospective cohort trial was conducted to investigate the impact of overhydration on all cause mortality and cardiovascular events (CVE), by using a previously reported cut-off value for overhydration and also investigating a new cut-off value derived from our analysis of this specific cohort. The body composition of 221 HD patients from a single center was assessed at baseline using bioimpedance. In 157 patients supplemental echocardiography was performed (echocardiography subgroup). Comparative survival analysis was performed using two cut-off points for relative fluid overload (RFO): 15% and 17.4% (a value determined by statistical analysis to have the best predictive value for mortality in our cohort). In the entire study population, patients considered overhydrated (using both cut-offs) had a significant increased risk for all-cause mortality in both univariate (HR = 2.12, 95%CI = 1.30-3.47 for RFO>15% and HR = 2.86, 95%CI = 1.72-4.78 for RFO>17.4%, respectively) and multivariate (HR = 1.87, 95%CI = 1.12-3.13 for RFO>15% and HR = 2.72, 95%CI = 1.60-4.63 for RFO>17.4%, respectively) Cox survival analysis. In the echocardiography subgroup, only the 17.4% cut-off remained associated with the outcome after adjustment for different echocardiographic parameters in the multivariate survival analysis. The number of CVE was significantly higher in overhydrated patients in both univariate (HR = 2.46, 95%CI = 1.56-3.87 for RFO >15% and HR = 3.67, 95%CI = 2

Overhydration, Cardiac Function and Survival in Hemodialysis Patients.

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Mihai Onofriescu

Full Text Available Chronic subclinical volume overload occurs very frequently and may be ubiquitous in hemodialysis (HD patients receiving the standard thrice-weekly treatment. It is directly associated with hypertension, increased arterial stiffness, left ventricular hipertrophy, heart failure, and eventually, higher mortality and morbidity. We aimed to assess for the first time if the relationship between bioimpedance assessed overhydration and survival is maintained when adjustments for echocardiographic parameters are considered.A prospective cohort trial was conducted to investigate the impact of overhydration on all cause mortality and cardiovascular events (CVE, by using a previously reported cut-off value for overhydration and also investigating a new cut-off value derived from our analysis of this specific cohort. The body composition of 221 HD patients from a single center was assessed at baseline using bioimpedance. In 157 patients supplemental echocardiography was performed (echocardiography subgroup. Comparative survival analysis was performed using two cut-off points for relative fluid overload (RFO: 15% and 17.4% (a value determined by statistical analysis to have the best predictive value for mortality in our cohort.In the entire study population, patients considered overhydrated (using both cut-offs had a significant increased risk for all-cause mortality in both univariate (HR = 2.12, 95%CI = 1.30-3.47 for RFO>15% and HR = 2.86, 95%CI = 1.72-4.78 for RFO>17.4%, respectively and multivariate (HR = 1.87, 95%CI = 1.12-3.13 for RFO>15% and HR = 2.72, 95%CI = 1.60-4.63 for RFO>17.4%, respectively Cox survival analysis. In the echocardiography subgroup, only the 17.4% cut-off remained associated with the outcome after adjustment for different echocardiographic parameters in the multivariate survival analysis. The number of CVE was significantly higher in overhydrated patients in both univariate (HR = 2.46, 95%CI = 1.56-3.87 for RFO >15% and HR = 3

Better midterm survival in women after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

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Takagi, Hisato; Umemoto, Takuya

2017-08-01

In previous meta-analyses demonstrating better midterm overall survival in women undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), unadjusted risk and odds ratios were combined. To determine whether female gender is independently associated with better survival after TAVI, we performed a meta-analysis pooling adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) based on multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched through September 2015 using PubMed and OVID. Studies considered for inclusion met the following criteria: the study population was patients undergoing TAVI; and main outcomes included midterm (mean or median ≥6 months) overall survival or all-cause mortality in women and men. An unadjusted and/or adjusted HR of all-cause mortality for women versus men was abstracted from each individual study. Of 1347 potentially relevant articles screened initially, 16 reports of eligible studies were identified and included. A primary meta-analysis of the 9 adjusted HRs demonstrated a significantly better midterm overall survival in women than men (N.=6891; HR=0.80; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.65 to 0.97; P=0.03). A secondary meta-analysis adding 5 statistically non-significant unadjusted HR also indicated better survival in women (N.=8645; HR=0.83; 95% CI: 0.72 to 0.96; P=0.01). Although statistical tests for the primary meta-analysis revealed funnel plot asymmetry in favor of women, the secondary meta-analysis produced a symmetrical funnel plot. Female gender may be independently associated with better midterm overall survival after TAVI.

Heating-insensitive scale increase caused by convective precipitation

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Haerter, Jan; Moseley, Christopher; Berg, Peter

2017-04-01

The origin of intense convective extremes and their unusual temperature dependence has recently challenged traditional thermodynamic arguments, based on the Clausius-Clapeyron relation. In a sequence of studies (Lenderink and v. Mejgaard, Nat Geosc, 2008; Berg, Haerter, Moseley, Nat Geosc, 2013; and Moseley, Hohenegger, Berg, Haerter, Nat Geosc, 2016) the argument of convective-type precipitation overcoming the 7%/K increase in extremes by dynamical, rather than thermodynamic, processes has been promoted. How can the role of dynamical processes be approached for precipitating convective cloud? One-phase, non-precipitating Rayleigh-Bénard convection is a classical problem in complex systems science. When a fluid between two horizontal plates is sufficiently heated from below, convective rolls spontaneously form. In shallow, non-precipitating atmospheric convection, rolls are also known to form under specific conditions, with horizontal scales roughly proportional to the boundary layer height. Here we explore within idealized large-eddy simulations, how the scale of convection is modified, when precipitation sets in and intensifies in the course of diurnal solar heating. Before onset of precipitation, Bénard cells with relatively constant diameter form, roughly on the scale of the atmospheric boundary layer. We find that the onset of precipitation then signals an approximately linear (in time) increase in horizontal scale. This scale increase progresses at a speed which is rather insensitive to changes in surface temperature or changes in the rate at which boundary conditions change, hinting at spatial characteristics, rather than temperature, as a possible control on spatial scales of convection. When exploring the depth of spatial correlations, we find that precipitation onset causes a sudden disruption of order and a subsequent complete disintegration of organization —until precipitation eventually ceases. Returning to the initial question of convective

Physical activity and survival in breast cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ammitzbøll, Gunn; Søgaard, Karen; Karlsen, Randi V

2016-01-01

PURPOSE: Knowledge about lifestyle factors possibly influencing survival after breast cancer (BC) is paramount. We examined associations between two types of postdiagnosis physical activity (PA) and overall survival after BC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used prospective data on 959 BC survivors from...... the Diet, Cancer, and Health cohort, all enrolled before diagnosis. Self-reported PA was measured as time per activity, and estimated metabolic equivalent task (MET)-hours per week were summed for each activity. We constructed measures for household, exercise, and total PA. The association between...... from all causes during the study period. In adjusted analyses, exercise PA above eight MET h/week compared to lower levels of activity was significantly associated with improved overall survival (HR, 0.68; confidence interval [CI]: 0.47-0.99). When comparing participation in exercise to non...

LATERAL SURVIVAL: AN OT ACCOUNT

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Moira Yip

2004-12-01

Full Text Available When laterals are the targets of phonological processes, laterality may or may not survive. In a fixed feature geometry, [lateral] should be lost if its superordinate node is eliminated by either the spreading of a neighbouring node, or by coda neutralization. So if [lateral] is under Coronal (Blevins 1994, it should be lost under Place assimilation, and if [lateral] is under Sonorant Voicing (Rice & Avery 1991 it should be lost by rules that spread voicing. Yet in some languages lateral survives such spreading intact. Facts like these argue against a universal attachment of [lateral] under either Coronal or Sonorant Voicing, and in favour of an account in terms of markedness constraints on feature-co-occurrence (Padgett 2000. The core of an OT account is that IFIDENTLAT is ranked above whatever causes neutralization, such as SHARE-F or *CODAF. laterality will survive. If these rankings are reversed, we derive languages in which laterality is lost. The other significant factor is markedness. High-ranked feature co-occurrence constraints like *LATDORSAL can block spreading from affecting laterals at all.

Zoledronic acid preserves bone structure and increases survival but does not limit tumour incidence in a prostate cancer bone metastasis model.

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Tzong-Tyng Hung

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The bisphosphonate, zoledronic acid (ZOL, can inhibit osteoclasts leading to decreased osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activity in bone. Here, we used a mixed osteolytic/osteoblastic murine model of bone-metastatic prostate cancer, RM1(BM, to determine how inhibiting osteolysis with ZOL affects the ability of these cells to establish metastases in bone, the integrity of the tumour-bearing bones and the survival of the tumour-bearing mice. METHODS: The model involves intracardiac injection for arterial dissemination of the RM1(BM cells in C57BL/6 mice. ZOL treatment was given via subcutaneous injections on days 0, 4, 8 and 12, at 20 and 100 µg/kg doses. Bone integrity was assessed by micro-computed tomography and histology with comparison to untreated mice. The osteoclast and osteoblast activity was determined by measuring serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRAP 5b and osteocalcin, respectively. Mice were euthanased according to predetermined criteria and survival was assessed using Kaplan Meier plots. FINDINGS: Micro-CT and histological analysis showed that treatment of mice with ZOL from the day of intracardiac injection of RM1(BM cells inhibited tumour-induced bone lysis, maintained bone volume and reduced the calcification of tumour-induced endochondral osteoid material. ZOL treatment also led to a decreased serum osteocalcin and TRAP 5b levels. Additionally, treated mice showed increased survival compared to vehicle treated controls. However, ZOL treatment did not inhibit the cells ability to metastasise to bone as the number of bone-metastases was similar in both treated and untreated mice. CONCLUSIONS: ZOL treatment provided significant benefits for maintaining the integrity of tumour-bearing bones and increased the survival of tumour bearing mice, though it did not prevent establishment of bone-metastases in this model. From the mechanistic view, these observations confirm that tumour-induced bone lysis is not a

[Analysis of the causes of cancer negligence and low survival in the patients with malignant neoplasms of ENT and oral cavity in the city of Moscow].

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Sdvizhkov, A M; Kozhanov, L G; Shatskaia, N Kh; Belov, E N

2014-01-01

The objective of the present study was to elucidate the causes of late detection of malignant neoplasms of ENT and oral cavity and low survival of the patents with these tumours in Moscow. The secondary objective was to elaborate the organizational measures for reducing the level of negligence and mortality from these malignancies among the city population. It was shown that the main cause behind the negligence is the late application of the patients for the medical assistance. Next in importance are asymptomatic clinical course of the disease in the absence of the pathognomonic and early signs of malignant neoplasms, a combination of several pathologies, imperfection of medical knowledge, and the poor resolving power of the modern methods. It is emphasized that the lack of vigilance against cancer among the practicing health providers is one of the main causes of medical errors. A few ways to address the problem of negligence with respect to malignant neoplasms of ENT and oral cavity in Moscow are proposed.

p63 promotes cell survival through fatty acid synthase.

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Venkata Sabbisetti

2009-06-01

Full Text Available There is increasing evidence that p63, and specifically DeltaNp63, plays a central role in both development and tumorigenesis by promoting epithelial cell survival. However, few studies have addressed the molecular mechanisms through which such important function is exerted. Fatty acid synthase (FASN, a key enzyme that synthesizes long-chain fatty acids and is involved in both embryogenesis and cancer, has been recently proposed as a direct target of p53 family members, including p63 and p73. Here we show that knockdown of either total or DeltaN-specific p63 isoforms in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC9 or immortalized prostate epithelial (iPrEC cells caused a decrease in cell viability by inducing apoptosis without affecting the cell cycle. p63 silencing significantly reduced both the expression and the activity of FASN. Importantly, stable overexpression of either FASN or myristoylated AKT (myr-AKT was able to partially rescue cells from cell death induced by p63 silencing. FASN induced AKT phosphorylation and a significant reduction in cell viability was observed when FASN-overexpressing SCC9 cells were treated with an AKT inhibitor after p63 knockdown, indicating that AKT plays a major role in FASN-mediated survival. Activated AKT did not cause any alteration in the FASN protein levels but induced its activity, suggesting that the rescue from apoptosis documented in the p63-silenced cells expressing myr-AKT cells may be partially mediated by FASN. Finally, we demonstrated that p63 and FASN expression are positively associated in clinical squamous cell carcinoma samples as well as in the developing prostate. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that FASN is a functionally relevant target of p63 and is required for mediating its pro-survival effects.

The Effect of Vitamin E on the Survival Rate of unc-13 Caenorhabditis elegans mutants under Oxidative Stress

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Jessica Porcelan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Caenorhabditis elegans unc-13 mutants express decreased neuronal activity and thus are a good model strain for examining defective nervous systems. These unc-13 mutants as well as wild type N2 strains, show rapid mortality when under oxidative stress. However, the antioxidant vitamin E may prolong survival in unc-13 mutant and N2 strains under oxidative stress. The addition of vitamin E to organisms under oxidative stress has a protective effect in both N2 and unc-13 C. elegans strains. Interestingly, vitamin E resulted in a greater increase in survival rate in N2 worms than with unc-13 mutant worms. While both strains displayed lower mortality rates with the addition of vitamin E, this finding suggests that vitamin E more efficiently increases survival rates of C. elegans with typical nervous system function. The efficacy of vitamin E implies that use of antioxidants may lessen the damage caused by oxidative stress in both N2 and mutant worms.

Bacterial survival following shock compression in the GigaPascal range

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Hazael, Rachael; Fitzmaurice, Brianna C.; Foglia, Fabrizia; Appleby-Thomas, Gareth J.; McMillan, Paul F.

2017-09-01

The possibility that life can exist within previously unconsidered habitats is causing us to expand our understanding of potential planetary biospheres. Significant populations of living organisms have been identified at depths extending up to several km below the Earth's surface; whereas laboratory experiments have shown that microbial species can survive following exposure to GigaPascal (GPa) pressures. Understanding the degree to which simple organisms such as microbes survive such extreme pressurization under static compression conditions is being actively investigated. The survival of bacteria under dynamic shock compression is also of interest. Such studies are being partly driven to test the hypothesis of potential transport of biological organisms between planetary systems. Shock compression is also of interest for the potential modification and sterilization of foodstuffs and agricultural products. Here we report the survival of Shewanella oneidensis bacteria exposed to dynamic (shock) compression. The samples examined included: (a) a "wild type" (WT) strain and (b) a "pressure adapted" (PA) population obtained by culturing survivors from static compression experiments to 750 MPa. Following exposure to peak shock pressures of 1.5 and 2.5 GPa the proportion of survivors was established as the number of colony forming units (CFU) present after recovery to ambient conditions. The data were compared with previous results in which the same bacterial samples were exposed to static pressurization to the same pressures, for 15 minutes each. The results indicate that shock compression leads to survival of a significantly greater proportion of both WT and PA organisms. The significantly shorter duration of the pressure pulse during the shock experiments (2-3 μs) likely contributes to the increased survival of the microbial species. One reason for this can involve the crossover from deformable to rigid solid-like mechanical relaxational behavior that occurs for

Foreign Ownership and Long-term Survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kronborg, Dorte; Thomsen, Steen

2006-01-01

probability. On average exit risk for domestic companies is 2.3 times higher than for foreign companies. First movers like Siemens, Philips, Kodak, Ford, GM or Goodyear have been active in the country for almost a century. Relative foreign survival increases with company age. However, the foreign survival...

Survival benefits of remote ischemic conditioning in sepsis.

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Joseph, Bellal; Khalil, Mazhar; Hashmi, Ammar; Hecker, Louise; Kulvatunyou, Narong; Tang, Andrew; Friese, Randall S; Rhee, Peter

2017-06-01

Sepsis remains the leading cause of death in the surgical intensive care unit. Prior studies have demonstrated a survival benefit of remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) in many disease states. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of RIC on survival in sepsis in an animal model and to assess alterations in inflammatory biochemical profiles. We hypothesized that RIC alters inflammatory biochemical profiles resulting in decreased mortality in a septic mouse model. Eight to 12 week C57BL/6 mice received intra-peritoneal injection of 12.5-mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Septic animals in the experimental group underwent RIC at 0, 2, and 6 h after LPS by surgical exploration and alternate clamping of the femoral artery. Six 4-min cycles of ischemia-reperfusion were performed. Primary outcome was survival at 5-d after LPS injection. Secondary outcome was to assess the following serum cytokine levels: interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-10, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factoralpha (TNFα) at the baseline before LPS injection, 0 hour after LPS injection, and at 2, 4, 24 hours after induction of sepsis (RIC was performed at 2 h after LPS injection). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank test were used. ANOVA test was used to compare cytokine measurements. We performed experiments on 44 mice: 14 sham and 30 RIC mice (10 at each time point). Overall survival was higher in the experimental group compared to the sham group (57% versus 21%; P = 0.02), with the highest survival rate observed in the 2-hour post-RIC group (70%). On Kaplan-Meier analysis, 2-h post-RIC group had increased survival at 5 days after LPS (P = 0.04) with hazard ratio of 0.3 (95% confidence interval = 0.09-0.98). In the RIC group, serum concentrations of IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-1β, and TNFα peaked at 2 h after LPS and then decreased significantly over 24 hours (P sepsis and has the potential for implementation in the clinical practice. Early implementation of RIC may play an

Resource availability and competition shape the evolution of survival and growth ability in a bacterial community.

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Minna Pekkonen

Full Text Available Resource availability is one of the main factors determining the ecological dynamics of populations or species. Fluctuations in resource availability can increase or decrease the intensity of resource competition. Resource availability and competition can also cause evolutionary changes in life-history traits. We studied how community structure and resource fluctuations affect the evolution of fitness related traits using a two-species bacterial model system. Replicated populations of Serratia marcescens (copiotroph and Novosphingobium capsulatum (oligotroph were reared alone or together in environments with intergenerational, pulsed resource renewal. The comparison of ancestral and evolved bacterial clones with 1 or 13 weeks history in pulsed resource environment revealed species-specific changes in life-history traits. Co-evolution with S. marcescens caused N. capsulatum clones to grow faster. The evolved S. marcescens clones had higher survival and slower growth rate then their ancestor. The survival increased in all treatments after one week, and thereafter continued to increase only in the S. marcescens monocultures that experienced large resource pulses. Though adaptive radiation is often reported in evolution studies with bacteria, clonal variation increased only in N. capsulatum growth rate. Our results suggest that S. marcescens adapted to the resource renewal cycle whereas N. capsulatum was more affected by the interspecific competition. Our results exemplify species-specific evolutionary response to both competition and environmental variation.

16,16-dimethyl prostaglandin E/sub 2/ increases survival of murine intestinal stem cells when given before photon radiation

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Hanson, W.R.; Thomas, C.

1983-11-01

A variety of prostaglandins (PG) protect the gastric and intestinal mucosa when given before damaging agents as absolute ethanol, acidified taurocholate, boiling water, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAI). A synthetic prostaglandin, 16,16-dimethyl PGE/sub 2/, shown to be cytoprotective at physiologic levels to the above agents was given to mice 1 h before or 15 min after /sup 137/Cs gamma(..gamma..) whole-body irradiation. The survival of intestinal stem cells measured by their ability to form in situ colonies of regenerating epithelium was increased stem cells measured by their ability to form in situ colonies of regenerating epithelium was increased when 16,16-dimethyl PGE/sub 2/ was given before but not after /sup 137/Cs ..gamma.. irradiation. The maximum degree of 16,16-dimethyl PGE/sub 2/-induced radioprotection was seen when the drug was given 1 h before irradiation. No radioprotection was seen when the interval between drug and irradiation was 3 h or longer. When the time between 16,16-dimethyl PGE/sub 2/ and irradiation was kept at 1 h, the degree of radioprotection was dependent on the PG drug dose. There was a steep rise in the number of surviving cells at low doses of PG. These results imply that tumors which secrete PGE/sub 2/ may in part be protected from the lethal effects of ionizing photon radiation.

Early survival factor deprivation in the olfactory epithelium enhances activity-dependent survival

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Adrien eFrançois

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The neuronal olfactory epithelium undergoes permanent renewal because of environmental aggression. This renewal is partly regulated by factors modulating the level of neuronal apoptosis. Among them, we had previously characterized endothelin as neuroprotective. In this study, we explored the effect of cell survival factor deprivation in the olfactory epithelium by intranasal delivery of endothelin receptors antagonists to rat pups. This treatment induced an overall increase of apoptosis in the olfactory epithelium. The responses to odorants recorded by electroolfactogram were decreased in treated animal, a result consistent with a loss of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs. However, the treated animal performed better in an olfactory orientation test based on maternal odor compared to non-treated littermates. This improved performance could be due to activity-dependent neuronal survival of OSNs in the context of increased apoptosis level. In order to demonstrate it, we odorized pups with octanal, a known ligand for the rI7 olfactory receptor (Olr226. We quantified the number of OSN expressing rI7 by RT-qPCR and whole mount in situ hybridization. While this number was reduced by the survival factor removal treatment, this reduction was abolished by the presence of its ligand. This improved survival was optimal for low concentration of odorant and was specific for rI7-expressing OSNs. Meanwhile, the number of rI7-expressing OSNs was not affected by the odorization in non-treated littermates; showing that the activity-dependant survival of OSNs did not affect the OSN population during the 10 days of odorization in control conditions. Overall, our study shows that when apoptosis is promoted in the olfactory mucosa, the activity-dependent neuronal plasticity allows faster tuning of the olfactory sensory neuron population towards detection of environmental odorants.

Increased short- and long-term mortality in 8146 hospitalised peptic ulcer patients.

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Malmi, H; Kautiainen, H; Virta, L J; Färkkilä, M A

2016-08-01

Incidence and complications of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) have declined, but mortality from peptic ulcer bleeding has remained unchanged. The few recent studies on mortality associated with both uncomplicated and complicated patients with peptic ulcer disease provide contradictory results. To evaluate short- and long-term mortality, and the main causes of death in peptic ulcer disease. In this retrospective epidemiologic cohort study, register data on 8146 adult patients hospitalised with peptic ulcer disease during 2000-2008 were collected in the capital region of Finland. All were followed in the National Cause of Death Register until the end of 2009. The data were linked with the nationwide Drug Purchase Register of the Finnish Social Insurance Institution. Mean follow-up time was 4.9 years. Overall mortality was substantially increased, standardised mortality ratio 2.53 (95% CI: 2.44-2.63); 3.7% died within 30 days, and 11.8% within 1 year. At 6 months, the survival of patients with perforated or bleeding ulcer was lower compared to those with uncomplicated ulcer; hazard ratios were 2.06 (1.68-2.04) and 1.32 (1.11-1.58), respectively. For perforated duodenal ulcers, both the short- and long-term survival was significantly impaired in women. The main causes of mortality at 1 year were malignancies and cardiovascular diseases. Previous use of statins was associated with significant reduction in all-cause mortality. One-year mortality in patients hospitalised with peptic ulcer disease remained high with no change. This peptic ulcer disease cohort had a clearly decreased survival rate up to 10 years, especially among women with a perforated duodenal ulcer, most likely explained by poorer survival due to underlying comorbidity. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Survival until 6 years after cholecystectomy: female population of Denmark, 1977-1983

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, T F; Brønnum-Hansen, H; Jørgensen, T

1995-01-01

It has been a prevailing assumption that cholecystectomy patients by and large follow a pattern of survival similar to that of the normal population. This paper presents a population-based study of the long-term survival after cholecystectomy in order to reassess this assumption. Based on data...... to both hysterectomy patients and a sample of the female population. Adjusting for age and other covariates, patients with psychiatric hospital admissions prior to surgery experienced a threefold risk of dying within 6 years after surgery. Patients with prior somatic admissions and patient with acute...... admissions had a relative risk (RR) of about 1.5. Cholecystectomy patients had a significantly increased mortality when compared to hysterectomy patients, RR = 1.3 (1.1-1.6), and to the population sample. Heart diseases and cancer occurred significantly more often as causes of death among cholecystectomy...

Evidence of increasing drought severity caused by temperature rise in southern Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vicente-Serrano, Sergio M; Lopez-Moreno, Juan-I; Lorenzo-Lacruz, Jorge; García-Ruiz, José M; Azorin-Molina, Cesar; Morán-Tejeda, Enrique; Revuelto, Jesús; Beguería, Santiago; Sanchez-Lorenzo, Arturo; Trigo, Ricardo; Coelho, Fatima; Espejo, Francisco

2014-01-01

We use high quality climate data from ground meteorological stations in the Iberian Peninsula (IP) and robust drought indices to confirm that drought severity has increased in the past five decades, as a consequence of greater atmospheric evaporative demand resulting from temperature rise. Increased drought severity is independent of the model used to quantify the reference evapotranspiration. We have also focused on drought impacts to drought-sensitive systems, such as river discharge, by analyzing streamflow data for 287 rivers in the IP, and found that hydrological drought frequency and severity have also increased in the past five decades in natural, regulated and highly regulated basins. Recent positive trend in the atmospheric water demand has had a direct influence on the temporal evolution of streamflows, clearly identified during the warm season, in which higher evapotranspiration rates are recorded. This pattern of increase in evaporative demand and greater drought severity is probably applicable to other semiarid regions of the world, including other Mediterranean areas, the Sahel, southern Australia and South Africa, and can be expected to increasingly compromise water supplies and cause political, social and economic tensions among regions in the near future. (paper)

The Female Stroke Survival Advantage: Relation to Age

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Tom Skyhøj; Dehlendorff, Christian; Andersen, Klaus Kaae

2009-01-01

Background: Age-related hormonal factors are thought to be related to the gender gap in longevity. Testing the hypothesis that survival is best in young premenopausal women we studied the effect of age on 1-week mortality in stroke patients. Methods: A registry was started in 2001 with the aim...... in women. While mortality increased almost linearly in women over the entire age range, it increased steeply in men from the age of 50 and at the age of 80 years survival was 80% better in women. Conclusion: The female stroke survival advantage applies to all ages. It increases with age due to a steeply...

Cancer causes increased mortality and is associated with altered apoptosis in murine sepsis.

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Fox, Amy C; Robertson, Charles M; Belt, Brian; Clark, Andrew T; Chang, Katherine C; Leathersich, Ann M; Dominguez, Jessica A; Perrone, Erin E; Dunne, W Michael; Hotchkiss, Richard S; Buchman, Timothy G; Linehan, David C; Coopersmith, Craig M

2010-03-01

Whereas most septic patients have an underlying comorbidity, most animal models of sepsis use mice that were healthy before the onset of infection. Malignancy is the most common comorbidity associated with sepsis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether mice with cancer have a different response to sepsis than healthy animals. Prospective, randomized controlled study. Animal laboratory in a university medical center. C57Bl/6 mice. Animals received a subcutaneous injection of either 250,000 cells of the transplantable pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line Pan02 (cancer) or phosphate-buffered saline (healthy). Three weeks later, mice given Pan02 cells had reproducible, nonmetastatic tumors. Both groups of mice then underwent intratracheal injection of either Pseudomonas aeruginosa (septic) or 0.9% NaCl (sham). Animals were killed 24 hrs postoperatively or followed-up 7 days for survival. Mice with cancer and healthy mice appeared similar when subjected to sham operation, although cancer animals had lower levels of T- and B-lymphocyte apoptosis. Septic mice with cancer had increased mortality compared to previously healthy septic mice subjected to the identical injury (52% vs. 28%; p = .04). This was associated with increased bacteremia but no difference in local pulmonary infection. Septic mice with cancer also had increased intestinal epithelial apoptosis. Although sepsis induced an increase in T- and B-lymphocyte apoptosis in all animals, septic mice with cancer had decreased T- and B-lymphocyte apoptosis compared to previously healthy septic mice. Serum and pulmonary cytokines, lung histology, complete blood counts, and intestinal proliferation were similar between septic mice with cancer and previously healthy septic mice. When subjected to the same septic insult, mice with cancer have increased mortality compared to previously healthy animals. Decreased systemic bacterial clearance and alterations in intestinal epithelial and lymphocyte apoptosis may

Subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with increased risk for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in adults.

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Tseng, Fen-Yu; Lin, Wen-Yuan; Lin, Cheng-Chieh; Lee, Long-Teng; Li, Tsai-Chung; Sung, Pei-Kun; Huang, Kuo-Chin

2012-08-21

This study sought to evaluate the relationship between subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. SCH may increase the risks of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis. The associations between SCH and all-cause or CVD mortality are uncertain, on the basis of the results of previous studies. A baseline cohort of 115,746 participants without a history of thyroid disease, ≥20 years of age, was recruited in Taiwan. SCH was defined as a serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level of 5.0 to 19.96 mIU/l with normal total thyroxine concentrations. Euthyroidism was defined as a serum TSH level of 0.47 to 4.9 mIU/l. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to estimate the relative risks (RRs) of death from all-cause and CVD for adults with SCH during a 10-year follow-up period. There were 3,669 deaths during the follow-up period; 680 deaths were due to CVD. Compared with subjects with euthyroidism, after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, alcohol consumption, betel nut chewing, physical activity, income, and education level, the RRs (95% confidence interval) of deaths from all-cause and CVD among subjects with SCH were 1.30 (1.02 to 1.66), and 1.68 (1.02 to 2.76), respectively. Adult Taiwanese with SCH had an increased risk for all-cause mortality and CVD death. Copyright © 2012 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

VSVΔG/EBOV GP-induced innate protection enhances natural killer cell activity to increase survival in a lethal mouse adapted Ebola virus infection.

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Williams, Kinola J N; Qiu, Xiangguo; Fernando, Lisa; Jones, Steven M; Alimonti, Judie B

2015-02-01

Members of the species Zaire ebolavirus cause severe hemorrhagic fever with up to a 90% mortality rate in humans. The VSVΔG/EBOV GP vaccine has provided 100% protection in the mouse, guinea pig, and nonhuman primate (NHP) models, and has also been utilized as a post-exposure therapeutic to protect mice, guinea pigs, and NHPs from a lethal challenge of Ebola virus (EBOV). EBOV infection causes rapid mortality in human and animal models, with death occurring as early as 6 days after infection, suggesting a vital role for the innate immune system to control the infection before cells of the adaptive immune system can assume control. Natural killer (NK) cells are the predominant cell of the innate immune response, which has been shown to expand with VSVΔG/EBOV GP treatment. In the current study, an in vivo mouse model of the VSVΔG/EBOV GP post-exposure treatment was used for a mouse adapted (MA)-EBOV infection, to determine the putative VSVΔG/EBOV GP-induced protective mechanism of NK cells. NK depletion studies demonstrated that mice with NK cells survive longer in a MA-EBOV infection, which is further enhanced with VSVΔG/EBOV GP treatment. NK cell mediated cytotoxicity and IFN-γ secretion was significantly higher with VSVΔG/EBOV GP treatment. Cell mediated cytotoxicity assays and perforin knockout mice experiments suggest that there are perforin-dependent and -independent mechanisms involved. Together, these data suggest that NK cells play an important role in VSVΔG/EBOV GP-induced protection of EBOV by increasing NK cytotoxicity, and IFN-γ secretion.

The influence of increased hepatic sequestration after splenectomy on the survival and osmotic fragility of red cells in rats, with reference to protein levels in diets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hisaoka, Fumiko; Shiraki, Keizo; Sagawa, Sueko

1977-01-01

The sequestration of erythrocytes in rats was studied using an isologous 51-Cr labeled population of either normal or N-ethyl-maleimide treated red cells. Experiments were performed for observing the effects of the change in the hepatic sequestration of altered red cells on the osmotic fragility and the survival time of circulating red cells. The rate of sequestration in liver at different period after splenectomy was measured with respect to the survival time and osmotic fragility of red cells. The parameters of the proliferative response imposed on liver were also observed. The spleen sequestered selectively damaged red cells, while the liver compensated and overshot the sequestration for spleen after splenectomy. The sequestering response in liver increased gradually and reached the maximum level around 8 weeks after splenectomy, and then declined toward the control level. This compensatory response in liver was not observed in the rats fed with low protein diet. Therefore, the proliferative response imposed on liver by an extra work after splenectomy was not stimulated in the rats fed with low protein diet. Splenectomy prolonged erythrocyte survival and reduced the osmotic fragility of normal red cells, but the compensatory increase in the sequestration of damaged red cells in liver did not alter the survival and osmotic fragility of normal red cells. This fact indicates that the increased sequestration of reticuloendothelial cells in liver is basically reparative, and it is impossible to compensate for the absence of the spleen because of the inability to duplicate certain anatomic features peculiar to the spleen. (Iwakiri, K.)

After accounting for competing causes of death and more advanced stage, do Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with cancer still have worse survival? A population-based cohort study in New South Wales.

Science.gov (United States)

Tervonen, Hanna E; Walton, Richard; You, Hui; Baker, Deborah; Roder, David; Currow, David; Aranda, Sanchia

2017-06-02

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia have been found to have poorer cancer survival than non-Aboriginal people. However, use of conventional relative survival analyses is limited due to a lack of life tables. This cohort study examined whether poorer survival persist after accounting for competing risks of death from other causes and disparities in cancer stage at diagnosis, for all cancers collectively and by cancer site. People diagnosed in 2000-2008 were extracted from the population-based New South Wales Cancer Registry. Aboriginal status was multiply imputed for people with missing information (12.9%). Logistic regression models were used to compute odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for 'advanced stage' at diagnosis (separately for distant and distant/regional stage). Survival was examined using competing risk regression to compute subhazard ratios (SHRs) with 95%CIs. Of the 301,356 cases, 2517 (0.84%) identified as Aboriginal (0.94% after imputation). After adjusting for age, sex, year of diagnosis, socio-economic status, remoteness, and cancer site Aboriginal peoples were more likely to be diagnosed with distant (OR 1.30, 95%CI 1.17-1.44) or distant/regional stage (OR 1.29, 95%CI 1.18-1.40) for all cancers collectively. This applied to cancers of the female breast, uterus, prostate, kidney, others (those not included in other categories) and cervix (when analyses were restricted to cases with known stages/known Aboriginal status). Aboriginal peoples had a higher hazard of death than non-Aboriginal people after accounting for competing risks from other causes of death, socio-demographic factors, stage and cancer site (SHR 1.40, 95%CI 1.31-1.50 for all cancers collectively). Consistent results applied to colorectal, lung, breast, prostate and other cancers. Aboriginal peoples with cancer have an elevated hazard of cancer death compared with non-Aboriginal people, after accounting for more advanced stage and competing

Quality of life assessment as a predictor of survival in non-small cell lung cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Staren Edgar D

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There are conflicting and inconsistent results in the literature on the prognostic role of quality of life (QoL in cancer. We investigated whether QoL at admission could predict survival in lung cancer patients. Methods The study population consisted of 1194 non-small cell lung cancer patients treated at our institution between Jan 2001 and Dec 2008. QoL was evaluated using EORTC-QLQ-C30 prior to initiation of treatment. Patient survival was defined as the time interval between the date of first patient visit and the date of death from any cause/date of last contact. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression evaluated the prognostic significance of QoL. Results Mean age at presentation was 58.3 years. There were 605 newly diagnosed and 589 previously treated patients; 601 males and 593 females. Stage of disease at diagnosis was I, 100; II, 63; III, 348; IV, 656; and 27 indeterminate. Upon multivariate analyses, global QoL as well as physical function predicted patient survival in the entire study population. Every 10-point increase in physical function was associated with a 10% increase in survival (95% CI = 6% to 14%, p Conclusions Baseline global QoL and physical function provide useful prognostic information in non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Improvements in logistics could increase survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Sweden.

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Strömsöe, A; Afzelius, S; Axelsson, C; Södersved Källestedt, M L; Enlund, M; Svensson, L; Herlitz, J

2013-06-01

In a review based on estimations and assumptions, to report the estimated number of survivors after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in whom cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was started and to speculate about possible future improvements in Sweden. An observational study. All ambulance organisations in Sweden. Patients included in the Swedish Cardiac Arrest Registry who suffered an OHCA between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010. Approximately 80% of OHCA cases in Sweden in which CPR was started are included. None In 11 005 patients, the 1-month survival rate was 9.4%. There are approximately 5000 OHCA cases annually in which CPR is started and 30-day survival is achieved in up to 500 patients yearly (6 per 100 000 inhabitants). Based on findings on survival in relation to the time to calling for the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and the start of CPR and defibrillation, it was estimated that, if the delay from collapse to (i) calling EMS, (ii) the start of CPR, and (iii) the time to defibrillation were reduced to <2 min, <2 min, and <8 min, respectively, 300-400 additional lives could be saved. Based on findings relating to the delay to calling for the EMS and the start of CPR and defibrillation, we speculate that 300-400 additional OHCA patients yearly (4 per 100 000 inhabitants) could be saved in Sweden. © 2013 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Depressive symptoms and all-cause mortality in people with type 2 diabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nefs, Giesje; Pop, Victor J M; Denollet, Johan

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Depression has been associated with increased all-cause mortality in people with type 2 diabetes. AIMS: To test whether anhedonia, dysphoria and anxiety are differentially associated with all-cause mortality and examine symptom-specific behavioural or pathophysiological mechanisms....... METHOD: A total of 1465 people completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale in 2005 and were followed until death or 31 December 2010. Cox regression analyses compared survival time for people with a low v. high baseline dysphoria/anhedonia/anxiety score and identified mediating mechanisms. RESULTS......: After a mean follow-up of 1878 days (s.d. = 306), 139 participants had died. At all time points, people with anhedonia had an almost twofold increased mortality risk compared with those without anhedonia. Physical activity met criteria for mediation. Symptoms of dysphoria and anxiety were not associated...

The intracellular redox stress caused by hexavalent chromium is selective for proteins that have key roles in cell survival and thiol redox control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, Judith M.; Antholine, William E.; Myers, Charles R.

2011-01-01

Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] compounds (e.g. chromates) are strong oxidants that readily enter cells where they are reduced to reactive Cr intermediates that can directly oxidize some cell components and can promote the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. Inhalation is a major route of exposure which directly exposes the bronchial epithelium. Previous studies with non-cancerous human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) demonstrated that Cr(VI) treatment results in the irreversible inhibition of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) and the oxidation of thioredoxins (Trx) and peroxiredoxins (Prx). The mitochondrial Trx/Prx system is somewhat more sensitive to Cr(VI) than the cytosolic Trx/Prx system, and other redox-sensitive mitochondrial functions are subsequently affected including electron transport complexes I and II. Studies reported here show that Cr(VI) does not cause indiscriminant thiol oxidation, and that the Trx/Prx system is among the most sensitive of cellular protein thiols. Trx/Prx oxidation is not unique to BEAS-2B cells, as it was also observed in primary human bronchial epithelial cells. Increasing the intracellular levels of ascorbate, an endogenous Cr(VI) reductant, did not alter the effects on TrxR, Trx, or Prx. The peroxynitrite scavenger MnTBAP did not protect TrxR, Trx, Prx, or the electron transport chain from the effects of Cr(VI), implying that peroxynitrite is not required for these effects. Nitration of tyrosine residues of TrxR was not observed following Cr(VI) treatment, further ruling out peroxynitrite as a significant contributor to the irreversible inhibition of TrxR. Cr(VI) treatments that disrupt the TrxR/Trx/Prx system did not cause detectable mitochondrial DNA damage. Overall, the redox stress that results from Cr(VI) exposure shows selectivity for key proteins which are known to be important for redox signaling, antioxidant defense, and cell survival.

Lung cancer survival in Norway, 1997-2011: from nihilism to optimism.

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Nilssen, Yngvar; Strand, Trond Eirik; Fjellbirkeland, Lars; Bartnes, Kristian; Møller, Bjørn

2016-01-01

We examine changes in survival and patient-, tumour- and treatment-related factors among resected and nonresected lung cancer patients, and identify subgroups with the largest and smallest survival improvements.National population-based data from the Cancer Registry of Norway, Statistics Norway and the Norwegian Patient Register were linked for lung cancer patients diagnosed during 1997-2011. The 1- and 5-year relative survival were estimated, and Cox proportional hazard regression, adjusted for selected patient characteristics, was used to assess prognostic factors for survival in lung cancer patients overall and stratified by resection status.We identified 34 157 patients with lung cancer. The proportion of histological diagnoses accompanied by molecular genetics testing increased from 0% to 26%, while those accompanied by immunohistochemistry increased from 8% to 26%. The 1-year relative survival among nonresected and resected patients increased from 21.7% to 34.2% and 75.4% to 91.5%, respectively. The improved survival remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, stage and histology. The largest improvements in survival occurred among resected and adenocarcinoma patients, while patients ≥80 years experienced the smallest increase.Lung cancer survival has increased considerably in Norway. The explanation is probably multifactorial, including improved attitude towards diagnostic work-up and treatment, and more accurate diagnostic testing that allows for improved selection for resection and improved treatment options. Copyright ©ERS 2016.

Severe extremity amputations in surviving Palestinian civilians caused by explosives fired from drones during the Gaza War.

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Heszlein-Lossius, Hanne; Al-Borno, Yahya; Shaqoura, Samar; Skaik, Nashwa; Giil, Lasse Melvær; Gilbert, Mads

2018-02-21

operations (p=0·0001). Weapons fired on the Gaza Strip from Israeli drones caused severe injuries in surviving Palestinian civilians. Drone-fired missiles resulted in major amputations in almost all victims who had limb losses. Substantially more severe injuries were inflicted by the drone-launched explosives than by other weapons used during the Gaza War. Traumatic amputations caused by drones were often immediately complete. One limitation of our study is that it does not elucidate injury patterns in victims with fatal injuries. None. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global variations in cancer survival. Study Group on Cancer Survival in Developing Countries.

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Sankaranarayanan, R; Swaminathan, R; Black, R J

1996-12-15

Population-based cancer registries from Algeria, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, India, the Philippines, and Thailand are collaborating with the International Agency for Research on Cancer in a study of cancer survival in developing countries. Comparisons with the SEER program results of the National Cancer Institute in the United States, and the EUROCARE study of survival in European countries revealed considerable differences in the survival of patients with certain tumors associated with intensive chemotherapeutic treatment regimes (Hodgkin's disease and testicular tumors), more modest differences in the survival of patients with tumors for which early diagnosis and treatment confer an improved prognosis (carcinomas of the large bowel, breast, and cervix), and only slight differences for tumors associated with poor prognosis (carcinomas of the stomach, pancreas, and lung). With limited resources to meet the challenge of the increasing incidence of cancer expected in the next few decades, health authorities in developing countries should be aware of the importance of investing in a range of cancer control activities, including primary prevention and early detection programs as well as treatment.

Survival analysis of increases in care needs associated with dementia and living alone among older long-term care service users in Japan.

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Lin, Huei-Ru; Otsubo, Tetsuya; Imanaka, Yuichi

2017-08-15

Japan is known for its long life expectancy and rapidly aging society that there are various demands of older adults need to be fulfilled with, and one of them is long-term care needs. Therefore, Japan implemented the Long-Term Care Insurance in year 2000 for citizens who are above 65-year old and citizens who are above 40-year old in needs of long-term care services. This study was undertaken to longitudinally examine the influence of dementia and living alone on care needs increases among older long-term care insurance service users in Japan. Long-term care insurance claims data were used to identify enrollees who applied for long-term care services between October 2010 and September 2011, and subjects were tracked until March 2015. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was conducted to examine increases in care needs over time in months. Cox regression models were used to examine the effects of dementia and living alone on care needs increases. The cumulative survival rates before care needs increased over the 4.5-year observation period were 17.6% in the dementia group and 31.9% in the non-dementia group. After adjusting for age, sex, care needs level, and status of living alone, the risk of care needs increases was found to be 1.5 times higher in the dementia group. Living alone was not a significant risk factor of care needs increases, but people with dementia who lived alone had a higher risk of care needs increases than those without dementia. Dementia, older age, the female sex, and lower care needs levels were associated with a higher risk of care needs increases over the study period. Among these variables, dementia had the strongest impact on care needs increases, especially in persons who lived alone.

Lactic-acid bacteria increase the survival of marine shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, after infection with Vibrio harveyi

OpenAIRE

Vieira, Felipe do Nascimento; Pedrotti, Fabiola Santiago; Buglione Neto, Celso Carlos; Mouriño, José Luiz Pedreira; Beltrame, Elpídio; Martins, Maurício Laterça; Ramirez, Cristina; Arana, Luis Alejandro Vinatea

2007-01-01

This study evaluated the survival, post-larvae quality, and the population of bacteria in Litopenaeus vannamei after the addition of two strains of lactic-acid bacteria (2 and B6) experimentally infected by Vibrio harveyi. Fifteen hundred nauplii were distributed in 20 L capacity tanks with four replicates. The survival of control animals was lower (21%) than that of animals fed with the strains B6 (50%) and 2 (44%). Total bacterial population in the water and larvae, as well as of the Vibrio...

Recognising out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during emergency calls increases bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Viereck, Søren; Møller, Thea Palsgaard; Ersbøll, Annette Kjær; Bækgaard, Josefine Stokholm; Claesson, Andreas; Hollenberg, Jacob; Folke, Fredrik; Lippert, Freddy K

2017-06-01

Initiation of early bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) depends on bystanders' or medical dispatchers' recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The primary aim of our study was to investigate if OHCA recognition during the emergency call was associated with bystander CPR, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and 30-day survival. Our secondary aim was to identify patient-, setting-, and dispatcher-related predictors of OHCA recognition. We performed an observational study of all OHCA patients' emergency calls in the Capital Region of Denmark from 01/01/2013-31/12/2013. OHCAs were collected from the Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry and the Mobile Critical Care Unit database. Emergency call recordings were identified and evaluated. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were applied to all OHCAs and witnessed OHCAs only to analyse the association between OHCA recognition and bystander CPR, ROSC, and 30-day survival. Univariable logistic regression analyses were applied to identify predictors of OHCA recognition. We included 779 emergency calls in the analyses. During the emergency calls, 70.1% (n=534) of OHCAs were recognised; OHCA recognition was positively associated with bystander CPR (odds ratio [OR]=7.84, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.10-12.05) in all OHCAs; and ROSC (OR=1.86, 95% CI: 1.13-3.06) and 30-day survival (OR=2.80, 95% CI: 1.58-4.96) in witnessed OHCA. Predictors of OHCA recognition were addressing breathing (OR=1.76, 95% CI: 1.17-2.66) and callers located by the patient's side (OR=2.16, 95% CI: 1.46-3.19). Recognition of OHCA during emergency calls was positively associated with the provision of bystander CPR, ROSC, and 30-day survival in witnessed OHCA. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Implications caused by SARex on the implementation of the IMO polar code on survival at sea

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Solberg, K. E.

2017-12-01

The International Code for Ships Operating in Polar waters goes into effect on 01 January 2018 for all ships. This puts additional strain on vessel owners and operators as they will have to comply with an additional set of requirements. This includes the functional requirement of a minimum of 5 days survival time. The SARex exercise has elaborated on the issue of survival in close cooperation with the different stakeholders associated with the marine industry. Being an objective third party is important when organizing and executing these activities as all of the stakeholders has different agendas and priorities. Developing sustainable solutions is a balancing act, incorporating economic and political aspects as well as technology and requires a mutual common understanding of the mechanism involved.

A multicenter study of outcome in systemic lupus erythematosus. II. Causes of death.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosner, S; Ginzler, E M; Diamond, H S; Weiner, M; Schlesinger, M; Fries, J F; Wasner, C; Medsger, T A; Ziegler, G; Klippel, J H; Hadler, N M; Albert, D A; Hess, E V; Spencer-Green, G; Grayzel, A; Worth, D; Hahn, B H; Barnett, E V

1982-06-01

Causes of death were examined for 1,103 systemic lupus erythematosus patients who were followed from 1965 to 1978 at 9 centers that participated in the Lupus Survival Study Group. A total of 222 patients (20%) died. Lupus-related organ system involvement (mainly active nephritis) and infection were the most frequent primary causes of death. Causes of death were similar throughout the followup period. Hemodialysis had little impact on the length of survival for patients with nephritis. Active central nervous system disease and myocardial infarction were infrequent causes of death. There were no deaths from malignancy.

Democratic survival in Latin America (1945-2005

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Aníbal PÉREZ-LIÑÁN

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Why do democracies survive or break down? In this paper, it returns to this classic question with an empirical focus on Latin America from 1945 to 2005. The argument deviates from the quantitative literature and a good part of the qualitative literature on democratic survival and breakdown. It is argued that structural variables such as the level of development and inequalities have not shaped prospects for democratic survival in Latin America. Nor, contrary to findings in some of the literature, has economic performance affected the survival of competitive regimes. Instead, it is focused on the regional political environment and on actors’ normative preferences about democracy and dictatorship and their policy radicalism or moderation. It is argued that 1 a higher level of development did not increase the likelihood of democratic survival in Latin America over this long time; 2 if actors have a normative preference for democracy, it is more likely to survive; and 3 policy moderation facilitates democratic survival.

Modification of survival and hematopoiesis in mice by tocopherol injection following irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bichay, T.J.E.; Roy, R.M.

1986-01-01

The LD 50/30 of CD-1-female mice increased from 6.6 Gy to 7.0 Gy when 2.5 mg of dl-α-tocopherol was injected immediately post irradiation. Increased survival was associated with increased numbers of hematopoietic colony forming units (CFU). Endogeneous spleen colonies were found in greater numbers in the tocopherol-treated mice after irradiation. The vitamin, however, must be injected within five hours following irradiation to have this effect. The increased numbers of CFU in tocopherol-treated mice may be due to a stimulation of recovery of repair processes. Split-dose studies suggest that most repair of sublethal damage in hematopoietic stem cells take place within seven and nine hours following irradiation. Tocopherol injection appears to enhance the recovery manifested in the split-dose assay. There is also evidence that tocopherol-treatment caused an earlier onset of mitotic activity in CFU after irradiation. The increased number of spleen colonies in tocopherol-injected mice is not due to an altered CFU seeding efficiency associated with an altered spleen microenvironment. Tocopherol injection did not affect the shoulder of the stem cell survival curve using exogenous spleen colony assays of bone marrow-derived or spleen-derived hematopoietic stem cells. There appears to be a decrease in D 0 in the higher dose region (4.3 Gy) of the bone marrow exogenous SCA survival curves for the vehicle-injected and the non-injected groups; however, the tocopherol-injected group showed no evidence of change in radiosensitivity up to the highest dose used (5.0 Gy). Data may be interpreted to suggest that the therapeutic effect of tocopherol may involve repair of hematopoietic stem cell damage in the higher dose range of bone marrow syndrome. (orig.) [de

Factors driving inequality in prostate cancer survival: a population based study.

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Richéal M Burns

Full Text Available PURPOSE: As cancer control strategies have become more successful, issues around survival have become increasingly important to researchers and policy makers. The aim of this study was to examine the role of a range of clinical and socio-demographic variables in explaining variations in survival after a prostate cancer diagnosis, paying particular attention to the role of healthcare provider(s i.e. private versus public status. METHODS: Data were extracted from the National Cancer Registry Ireland, for patients diagnosed with prostate cancer from 1998-2009 (N = 26,183. A series of multivariate Cox and logistic regression models were used to examine the role of healthcare provider and socio-economic status (area-based deprivation on survival, controlling for age, stage, Gleason grade, marital status and region of residence. Survival was based on all-cause mortality. RESULTS: Older individuals who were treated in a private care setting were more likely to have survived than those who had not, when other factors were controlled for. Differences were evident with respect to marital status, region of residence, clinical stage and Gleason grade. The effect of socio-economic status was modified by healthcare provider, such that risk of death was higher in those men of lower socio-economic status treated by public, but not private providers in the Cox models. The logistic models revealed a socio-economic gradient in risk of death overall; the gradient was larger for those treated by public providers compared to those treated by private providers when controlling for a range of other confounding factors. CONCLUSION: The role of healthcare provider and socio-economic status in survival of men with prostate cancer may give rise to concerns that warrant further investigation.

Anti-pathogen protection versus survival costs mediated by an ectosymbiont in an ant host

Science.gov (United States)

Konrad, Matthias; Grasse, Anna V.; Tragust, Simon; Cremer, Sylvia

2015-01-01

The fitness effects of symbionts on their hosts can be context-dependent, with usually benign symbionts causing detrimental effects when their hosts are stressed, or typically parasitic symbionts providing protection towards their hosts (e.g. against pathogen infection). Here, we studied the novel association between the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus and its fungal ectosymbiont Laboulbenia formicarum for potential costs and benefits. We tested ants with different Laboulbenia levels for their survival and immunity under resource limitation and exposure to the obligate killing entomopathogen Metarhizium brunneum. While survival of L. neglectus workers under starvation was significantly decreased with increasing Laboulbenia levels, host survival under Metarhizium exposure increased with higher levels of the ectosymbiont, suggesting a symbiont-mediated anti-pathogen protection, which seems to be driven mechanistically by both improved sanitary behaviours and an upregulated immune system. Ants with high Laboulbenia levels showed significantly longer self-grooming and elevated expression of immune genes relevant for wound repair and antifungal responses (β-1,3-glucan binding protein, Prophenoloxidase), compared with ants carrying low Laboulbenia levels. This suggests that the ectosymbiont Laboulbenia formicarum weakens its ant host by either direct resource exploitation or the costs of an upregulated behavioural and immunological response, which, however, provides a prophylactic protection upon later exposure to pathogens. PMID:25473011

Survival without sequelae after prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation after electric shock.

Science.gov (United States)

Motawea, Mohamad; Al-Kenany, Al-Sayed; Hosny, Mostafa; Aglan, Omar; Samy, Mohamad; Al-Abd, Mohamed

2016-03-01

"Electrical shock is the physiological reaction or injury caused by electric current passing through the human body. It occurs upon contact of a human body part with any source of electricity that causes a sufficient current through the skin, muscles, or hair causing undesirable effects ranging from simple burns to death." Ventricular fibrillation is believed to be the most common cause of death after electrical shock. "The ideal duration of cardiac resuscitation is unknown. Typically prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation is associated with poor neurologic outcomes and reduced long term survival. No consensus statement has been made and traditionally efforts are usually terminated after 15-30 minutes." The case under discussion seems worthy of the somewhat detailed description given. It is for a young man who survived after 65 minutes after electrical shock (ES) after prolonged high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), multiple defibrillations, and artificial ventilation without any sequelae. Early start of adequate chest compressions and close adherence to advanced cardiac life support protocols played a vital role in successful CPR.

Parathyroid carcinoma survival: improvements in the era of intact parathyroid hormone monitoring?

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Steve R. Martinez

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH assay is a critical test in the diagnosis and management of PTH-mediated hypercalcemia, including parathyroid carcinoma (PCa. We hypothesized that the survival of patients diagnosed with PCa has improved since adoption of the iPTH assay into clinical practice. We identified all confirmed cases of PCa within the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database from 1973 to 2006. Patients were categorized into two eras based upon introduction of the iPTH assay: 1973 to 1997 (era I and 1997 to 2006 (era II, when the iPTH assay was in standard use. We estimated overall survival (OS and disease-specific survival (DSS using the Kaplan-Meier method, with differences among survival curves assessed via log rank. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models compared the survival rates between treatment eras while controlling for patient age, sex, race/ethnicity, tumor size, nodal status, extent of disease, and type of surgery. Multivariate models included patients undergoing potentially curative surgery and excluded those with dis- tant metastases. Risks of overall and disease-specific mortality were reported as hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Study criteria were met by 370 patients. Median survival was 15.6 years. Five-year rates of OS and DSS were 78% and 88% for era I and 82% and 96% for era II. On multivariate analysis, age, black race, and unknown extent of disease predicted an increased risk of death from any cause. Treatment era did not predict OS. No factor predicted PCa-specific mortality. In multivariate analysis, neither OS nor DSS have improved in the current era that utilizes iPTH for the detection and management of PCa.

Survival and mortality among users and non-users of hydroxyurea with sickle cell disease.

Science.gov (United States)

de Araujo, Olinda Maria Rodrigues; Ivo, Maria Lúcia; Ferreira Júnior, Marcos Antonio; Pontes, Elenir Rose Jardim Cury; Bispo, Ieda Maria Gonçalves Pacce; de Oliveira, Eveny Cristine Luna

2015-01-01

to estimate survival, mortality and cause of death among users or not of hydroxyurea with sickle cell disease. cohort study with retrospective data collection, from 1980 to 2010 of patients receiving inpatient treatment in two Brazilian public hospitals. The survival probability was determined using the Kaplan-Meier estimator, survival calculations (SPSS version 10.0), comparison between survival curves, using the log rank method. The level of significance was p=0.05. of 63 patients, 87% had sickle cell anemia, with 39 using hydroxyurea, with a mean time of use of the drug of 20.0±10.0 years and a mean dose of 17.37±5.4 to 20.94±7.2 mg/kg/day, raising the fetal hemoglobin. In the comparison between those using hydroxyurea and those not, the survival curve was greater among the users (p=0.014). A total of 10 deaths occurred, with a mean age of 28.1 years old, and with Acute Respiratory Failure as the main cause. the survival curve is greater among the users of hydroxyurea. The results indicate the importance of the nurse incorporating therapeutic advances of hydroxyurea in her care actions.

Particulate matter air pollution causes oxidant-mediated increase in gut permeability in mice

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Keshavarzian Ali

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Exposure to particulate matter (PM air pollution may be an important environmental factor leading to exacerbations of inflammatory illnesses in the GI tract. PM can gain access to the gastrointestinal (GI tract via swallowing of air or secretions from the upper airways or mucociliary clearance of inhaled particles. Methods We measured PM-induced cell death and mitochondrial ROS generation in Caco-2 cells stably expressing oxidant sensitive GFP localized to mitochondria in the absence or presence of an antioxidant. C57BL/6 mice were exposed to a very high dose of urban PM from Washington, DC (200 μg/mouse or saline via gastric gavage and small bowel and colonic tissue were harvested for histologic evaluation, and RNA isolation up to 48 hours. Permeability to 4kD dextran was measured at 48 hours. Results PM induced mitochondrial ROS generation and cell death in Caco-2 cells. PM also caused oxidant-dependent NF-κB activation, disruption of tight junctions and increased permeability of Caco-2 monolayers. Mice exposed to PM had increased intestinal permeability compared with PBS treated mice. In the small bowel, colocalization of the tight junction protein, ZO-1 was lower in the PM treated animals. In the small bowel and colon, PM exposed mice had higher levels of IL-6 mRNA and reduced levels of ZO-1 mRNA. Increased apoptosis was observed in the colon of PM exposed mice. Conclusions Exposure to high doses of urban PM causes oxidant dependent GI epithelial cell death, disruption of tight junction proteins, inflammation and increased permeability in the gut in vitro and in vivo. These PM-induced changes may contribute to exacerbations of inflammatory disorders of the gut.

Microencapsulation increases survival of the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum IS-10506, but not Enterococcus faecium IS-27526 in a dynamic, computer-controlled in vitro model of the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Science.gov (United States)

Surono, I; Verhoeven, J; Verbruggen, S; Venema, K

2018-02-23

To test the effect of microencapsulation on the survival of two probiotic strains isolated from Dadih, Indonesian fermented buffalo milk, in a dynamic, computer-controlled in vitro model of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract (TIM-1), simulating human adults. Free or microencapsulated probiotics, Lactobacillus plantarum IS-10506 or Enterococcus faecium IS-27526, resuspended in milk were studied for survival in the complete TIM-1 system (stomach + small intestine) or in the gastric compartment of TIM-1 only. Hourly samples collected after the ileal-caecal valve or after the pylorus were plated on MRS agar (for Lactobacillus) or S&B agar (for Enterococcus). Survival of the free cells after transit through the complete TIM-1 system was on average for the E. faecium and L. plantarum 15·0 and 18·5% respectively. Survival of the microencapsulated E. faecium and L. plantarum was 15·7 and 84·5% respectively. The free cells were further assessed in only the gastric compartment of TIM-1. E. faecium and L. plantarum showed an average survival of 39 and 32%, respectively, after gastric passage. There is similar sensitivity to gastric acid as well as survival after complete upper GI tract transit of free cells, but microencapsulation only protected L. plantarum. Survival of microencapsulated L. plantarum IS-10506 is increased compared to free cells in a validated in vitro model of the upper GI tract. It increases its use as an ingredient of functional foods. © 2018 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Nutritional intra-amniotic therapy increases survival in a rabbit model of fetal growth restriction

Science.gov (United States)

Illa, Miriam; Pla, Laura; Zamora, Monica; Crispi, Fatima; Gratacos, Eduard

2018-01-01

Objective To evaluate the perinatal effects of a prenatal therapy based on intra-amniotic nutritional supplementation in a rabbit model of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Methods IUGR was surgically induced in pregnant rabbits at gestational day 25 by ligating 40–50% of uteroplacental vessels of each gestational sac. At the same time, modified-parenteral nutrition solution (containing glucose, amino acids and electrolytes) was injected into the amniotic sac of nearly half of the IUGR fetuses (IUGR-T group n = 106), whereas sham injections were performed in the rest of fetuses (IUGR group n = 118). A control group without IUGR induction but sham injection was also included (n = 115). Five days after the ligation procedure, a cesarean section was performed to evaluate fetal cardiac function, survival and birth weight. Results Survival was significantly improved in the IUGR fetuses that were treated with intra-amniotic nutritional supplementation as compared to non-treated IUGR animals (survival rate: controls 71% vs. IUGR 44% p = 0.003 and IUGR-T 63% vs. IUGR 44% p = 0.02), whereas, birth weight (controls mean 43g ± SD 9 vs. IUGR 36g ± SD 9 vs. IUGR-T 35g ± SD 8, p = 0.001) and fetal cardiac function were similar among the IUGR groups. Conclusion Intra-amniotic injection of a modified-parenteral nutrient solution appears to be a promising therapy for reducing mortality among IUGR. These results provide an opportunity to develop new intra-amniotic nutritional strategies to reach the fetus by bypassing the placental insufficiency. PMID:29466434

Lower survival probabilities for adult Florida manatees in years with intense coastal storms

Science.gov (United States)

Langtimm, C.A.; Beck, C.A.

2003-01-01

The endangered Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) inhabits the subtropical waters of the southeastern United States, where hurricanes are a regular occurrence. Using mark-resighting statistical models, we analyzed 19 years of photo-identification data and detected significant annual variation in adult survival for a subpopulation in northwest Florida where human impact is low. That variation coincided with years when intense hurricanes (Category 3 or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) and a major winter storm occurred in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Mean survival probability during years with no or low intensity storms was 0.972 (approximate 95% confidence interval = 0.961-0.980) but dropped to 0.936 (0.864-0.971) in 1985 with Hurricanes Elena, Kate, and Juan; to 0.909 (0.837-0.951) in 1993 with the March "Storm of the Century"; and to 0.817 (0.735-0.878) in 1995 with Hurricanes Opal, Erin, and Allison. These drops in survival probability were not catastrophic in magnitude and were detected because of the use of state-of-the-art statistical techniques and the quality of the data. Because individuals of this small population range extensively along the north Gulf coast of Florida, it was possible to resolve storm effects on a regional scale rather than the site-specific local scale common to studies of more sedentary species. This is the first empirical evidence in support of storm effects on manatee survival and suggests a cause-effect relationship. The decreases in survival could be due to direct mortality, indirect mortality, and/or emigration from the region as a consequence of storms. Future impacts to the population by a single catastrophic hurricane, or series of smaller hurricanes, could increase the probability of extinction. With the advent in 1995 of a new 25- to 50-yr cycle of greater hurricane activity, and longer term change possible with global climate change, it becomes all the more important to reduce mortality and injury

Mortality and causes of death of 344 Danish patients with systemic sclerosis (scleroderma)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Søren; Halberg, P; Ullman, S

1998-01-01

To determine survival, mortality and causes of death in Danish patients with systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), and to analyse how these parameters are influenced by demographic variables and the extent of skin involvement.......To determine survival, mortality and causes of death in Danish patients with systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), and to analyse how these parameters are influenced by demographic variables and the extent of skin involvement....

Socioeconomic disparities in breast cancer survival: relation to stage at diagnosis, treatment and race

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Yu Xue

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous studies have documented lower breast cancer survival among women with lower socioeconomic status (SES in the United States. In this study, I examined the extent to which socioeconomic disparity in breast cancer survival was explained by stage at diagnosis, treatment, race and rural/urban residence using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER data. Methods Women diagnosed with breast cancer during 1998-2002 in the 13 SEER cancer registry areas were followed-up to the end of 2005. The association between an area-based measure of SES and cause-specific five-year survival was estimated using Cox regression models. Six models were used to assess the extent to which SES differences in survival were explained by clinical and demographical factors. The base model estimated the hazard ratio (HR by SES only and then additional adjustments were made sequentially for: 1 age and year of diagnosis; 2 stage at diagnosis; 3 first course treatment; 4 race; and 5 rural/urban residence. Results An inverse association was found between SES and risk of dying from breast cancer (p Conclusion Stage at diagnosis, first course treatment and race explained most of the socioeconomic disparity in breast cancer survival. Targeted interventions to increase breast cancer screening and treatment coverage in patients with lower SES could reduce much of socioeconomic disparity.

Collapse of a historic oyster fishery: diagnosing causes and identifying paths toward increased resilience

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Edward V. Camp

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Diagnosing causal factors of change at the ecosystem level is challenging because multiple drivers often interact at various spatial and temporal scales. We employ an integrated natural and social science approach to assess potential mechanisms leading to the collapse of an estuarine social-ecological system, and recommend future paths to increased system resilience. Our case study is the collapse of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica fishery in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, USA, and the associated impacts on local resource dependent communities. The oyster fishery collapse is the most recent in a series of environmental stressors to this region, which have included hurricanes and tropical storms, drought, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We found it likely that the oyster collapse was not related to contamination from the recent oil spill, but rather to factors affecting oyster recruitment and survival, which may have been mediated by both human, e.g., fishing-related habitat alteration, and environmental, e.g., increased natural mortality from predators and disease, factors. The relative impact of each of these factors is likely to increase in the future because of changing climate and increased demand for fishery, water, and petroleum resources. Successful restoration and persistence of a viable oyster fishery will depend on: (1 implementation of some minimal best management practices, e.g., extensive habitat restoration via shell addition, and some spatial closures to harvest, (2 improving environmental knowledge and promoting episodic learning through enhanced monitoring and experimental management, and (3 continued community engagement necessary to produce adaptable governance suitable to responding to future unexpected challenges.

Survival of microorganisms in smectite clays - Implications for Martian exobiology

Science.gov (United States)

Moll, Deborah M.; Vestal, J. R.

1992-01-01

The survival of Baccillus subtilis, Azotobacter chroococcum, and the enteric bacteriophage MS2 has been examined in clays representing terrestrial (Wyoming type montmorillonite) and Martian (Fe3+ montmorillonite) soils exposed to terrestrial and Martian environmental conditions of temperature and atmospheric composition and pressure. An important finding is that MS2 survived simulated Mars conditions better than the terrestrial environment, probably owing to stabilization of the virus caused by the cold and dry conditions of the simulated Mars environment. This finding, the first published indication that viruses may be able to survive in Mars-type soils, may have important implications for future missions to Mars.

Craniotomy and Survival for Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Rae, Ali I; Mehta, Amol; Cloney, Michael; Kinslow, Connor J; Wang, Tony J C; Bhagat, Govind; Canoll, Peter D; Zanazzi, George J; Sisti, Michael B; Sheth, Sameer A; Connolly, E Sander; McKhann, Guy M; Bruce, Jeffrey N; Iwamoto, Fabio M; Sonabend, Adam M

2018-04-04

Cytoreductive surgery is considered controversial for primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). To investigate survival following craniotomy or biopsy for PCNSL. The National Cancer Database-Participant User File (NCDB, n = 8936), Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER, n = 4636), and an institutional series (IS, n = 132) were used. We retrospectively investigated the relationship between craniotomy, prognostic factors, and survival for PCNSL using case-control design.  In NCDB, craniotomy was associated with increased median survival over biopsy (19.5 vs 11.0 mo), independent of subsequent radiation and chemotherapy (hazard ratio [HR] 0.80, P < .001). We found a similar trend with survival for craniotomy vs biopsy in the IS (HR 0.68, P = .15). In SEER, gross total resection was associated with increased median survival over biopsy (29 vs 10 mo, HR 0.68, P < .001). The survival benefit associated with craniotomy was greater within recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) class 1 group in NCDB (95.1 vs 29.1 mo, HR 0.66, P < .001), but was smaller for RPA 2-3 (14.9 vs 10.0 mo, HR 0.86, P < .001). A surgical risk category (RC) considering lesion location and number, age, and frailty was developed. Craniotomy was associated with increased survival vs biopsy for patients with low RC (133.4 vs 41.0 mo, HR 0.33, P = .01), but not high RC in the IS. Craniotomy is associated with increased survival over biopsy for PCNSL in 3 retrospective datasets. Prospective studies are necessary to adequately evaluate this relationship. Such studies should evaluate patients most likely to benefit from cytoreductive surgery, ie, those with favorable RPA and RC.

Stress-triggered signaling affecting survival or suicide of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Science.gov (United States)

Cortes, Paulo R; Piñas, Germán E; Cian, Melina B; Yandar, Nubia; Echenique, Jose

2015-01-01

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major human pathogen that can survive to stress conditions, such as the acidic environment of inflammatory foci, and tolerates lethal pH through a mechanism known as the acid tolerance response. We previously described that S. pneumoniae activates acidic-stress induced lysis in response to acidified environments, favoring the release of cell wall compounds, DNA and virulence factors. Here, we demonstrate that F(0)F(1)-ATPase is involved in the response to acidic stress. Chemical inhibitors (DCCD, optochin) of this proton pump repressed the ATR induction, but caused an increased ASIL. Confirming these findings, mutants of the subunit c of this enzyme showed the same phenotypes as inhibitors. Importantly, we demonstrated that F(0)F(1)-ATPase and ATR are necessary for the intracellular survival of the pneumococcus in macrophages. Alternatively, a screening of two-component system (TCS) mutants showed that ATR and survival in pneumocytes were controlled in contrasting ways by ComDE and CiaRH, which had been involved in the ASIL mechanism. Briefly, CiaRH was essential for ATR (ComE represses activation) whereas ComE was necessary for ASIL (CiaRH protects against induction). They did not regulate F0F1-ATPase expression, but control LytA expression on the pneumococcal surface. These results suggest that both TCSs and F(0)F(1)-ATPase control a stress response and decide between a survival or a suicide mechanism by independent pathways, either in vitro or in pneumocyte cultures. This biological model contributes to the current knowledge about bacterial response under stress conditions in host tissues, where pathogens need to survive in order to establish infections. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Cra negatively regulates acid survival in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yangbo; Lu, Pei; Zhang, Yong; Li, Yunlong; Li, Lamei; Huang, Li; Chen, Shiyun

2011-04-01

Survival in acidic environments is important for successful infection of gastrointestinal pathogens. Many bacteria have evolved elaborate mechanisms by inducing or repressing gene expression, which subsequently provide pH homeostasis and enable acid survival. In this study, we employed comparative proteomic analysis to identify the acid-responsive proteins of a food-borne enteric bacterium, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. The expression level of eight proteins involved in carbohydrate metabolism was up- or downregulated over twofold at pH 4.5 compared with pH 7.0. The role of a global transcriptional regulator catabolite repressor/activator Cra was further studied in this acid survival process. lacZ-fusion analysis showed that expression of cra was repressed under acidic pH. Deletion of the cra gene increased acid survival by 10-fold, whereas complementation restored the wild-type phenotype. These results lead us to propose that, in response to acidic pH, the expression of cra gene is downregulated to increase acid survival. This is the first study to demonstrate the regulatory role of Cra in acid survival in an enteric bacterium. © 2011 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emittance increase caused by core depletion in collisions

CERN Document Server

Bruce, R

2009-01-01

A new effect is presented, which changes the emittance during colliding-beam operation in circular colliders. If the initial transverse distribution is Gaussian, the collision probability is much higher for particles in the core of the beam than in the tails. When small-amplitude particles are removed, the remaining ones therefore have a larger transverse emittance. This effect, called core depletion, may cause a decrease in luminosity. An approximate analytic model is developed to study the effect and benchmarked against a multiparticle tracking simulation. Finally, the time evolution of the intensity and emittances of a Pb bunch in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is calculated, taking into account also other processes than collisions. The results show that integrated luminosity drops by 3--4% if core depletion is taken into account. It is also found that core depletion causes the transverse emittance to be larger when more experiments are active. This observation could be checked against experimenta...

Does biological relatedness affect child survival?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2003-05-01

Full Text Available Objective: We studied child survival in Rakai, Uganda where many children are fostered out or orphaned. Methods: Biological relatedness is measured as the average of the Wright's coefficients between each household member and the child. Instrumental variables for fostering include proportion of adult males in household, age and gender of household head. Control variables include SES, religion, polygyny, household size, child age, child birth size, and child HIV status. Results: Presence of both parents in the household increased the odds of survival by 28%. After controlling for the endogeneity of child placement decisions in a multivariate model we found that lower biological relatedness of a child was associated with statistically significant reductions in child survival. The effects of biological relatedness on child survival tend to be stronger for both HIV- and HIV+ children of HIV+ mothers. Conclusions: Reductions in the numbers of close relatives caring for children of HIV+ mothers reduce child survival.

Survival of influenza virus on banknotes.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Yves; Vogel, Guido; Wunderli, Werner; Suter, Patricia; Witschi, Mark; Koch, Daniel; Tapparel, Caroline; Kaiser, Laurent

2008-05-01

Successful control of a viral disease requires knowledge of the different vectors that could promote its transmission among hosts. We assessed the survival of human influenza viruses on banknotes given that billions of these notes are exchanged daily worldwide. Banknotes were experimentally contaminated with representative influenza virus subtypes at various concentrations, and survival was tested after different time periods. Influenza A viruses tested by cell culture survived up to 3 days when they were inoculated at high concentrations. The same inoculum in the presence of respiratory mucus showed a striking increase in survival time (up to 17 days). Similarly, B/Hong Kong/335/2001 virus was still infectious after 1 day when it was mixed with respiratory mucus. When nasopharyngeal secretions of naturally infected children were used, influenza virus survived for at least 48 h in one-third of the cases. The unexpected stability of influenza virus in this nonbiological environment suggests that unusual environmental contamination should be considered in the setting of pandemic preparedness.

Survival of Influenza Virus on Banknotes▿

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Yves; Vogel, Guido; Wunderli, Werner; Suter, Patricia; Witschi, Mark; Koch, Daniel; Tapparel, Caroline; Kaiser, Laurent

2008-01-01

Successful control of a viral disease requires knowledge of the different vectors that could promote its transmission among hosts. We assessed the survival of human influenza viruses on banknotes given that billions of these notes are exchanged daily worldwide. Banknotes were experimentally contaminated with representative influenza virus subtypes at various concentrations, and survival was tested after different time periods. Influenza A viruses tested by cell culture survived up to 3 days when they were inoculated at high concentrations. The same inoculum in the presence of respiratory mucus showed a striking increase in survival time (up to 17 days). Similarly, B/Hong Kong/335/2001 virus was still infectious after 1 day when it was mixed with respiratory mucus. When nasopharyngeal secretions of naturally infected children were used, influenza virus survived for at least 48 h in one-third of the cases. The unexpected stability of influenza virus in this nonbiological environment suggests that unusual environmental contamination should be considered in the setting of pandemic preparedness. PMID:18359825

Geographic remoteness, area-level socioeconomic disadvantage and inequalities in colorectal cancer survival in Queensland: a multilevel analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background To explore the impact of geographical remoteness and area-level socioeconomic disadvantage on colorectal cancer (CRC) survival. Methods Multilevel logistic regression and Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations were used to analyze geographical variations in five-year all-cause and CRC-specific survival across 478 regions in Queensland Australia for 22,727 CRC cases aged 20–84 years diagnosed from 1997–2007. Results Area-level disadvantage and geographic remoteness were independently associated with CRC survival. After full multivariate adjustment (both levels), patients from remote (odds Ratio [OR]: 1.24, 95%CrI: 1.07-1.42) and more disadvantaged quintiles (OR = 1.12, 1.15, 1.20, 1.23 for Quintiles 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively) had lower CRC-specific survival than major cities and least disadvantaged areas. Similar associations were found for all-cause survival. Area disadvantage accounted for a substantial amount of the all-cause variation between areas. Conclusions We have demonstrated that the area-level inequalities in survival of colorectal cancer patients cannot be explained by the measured individual-level characteristics of the patients or their cancer and remain after adjusting for cancer stage. Further research is urgently needed to clarify the factors that underlie the survival differences, including the importance of geographical differences in clinical management of CRC. PMID:24152961

Acylcarnitines profile best predicts survival in horses with atypical myopathy.

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François Boemer

Full Text Available Equine atypical myopathy (AM is caused by hypoglycin A intoxication and is characterized by a high fatality rate. Predictive estimation of survival in AM horses is necessary to prevent unnecessary suffering of animals that are unlikely to survive and to focus supportive therapy on horses with a possible favourable prognosis of survival. We hypothesized that outcome may be predicted early in the course of disease based on the assumption that the acylcarnitine profile reflects the derangement of muscle energetics. We developed a statistical model to prognosticate the risk of death of diseased animals and found that estimation of outcome may be drawn from three acylcarnitines (C2, C10:2 and C18 -carnitines with a high sensitivity and specificity. The calculation of the prognosis of survival makes it possible to distinguish the horses that will survive from those that will die despite severe signs of acute rhabdomyolysis in both groups.

Acylcarnitines profile best predicts survival in horses with atypical myopathy

Science.gov (United States)

Detilleux, Johann; Cello, Christophe; Amory, Hélène; Marcillaud-Pitel, Christel; Richard, Eric; van Galen, Gaby; van Loon, Gunther; Lefère, Laurence; Votion, Dominique-Marie

2017-01-01

Equine atypical myopathy (AM) is caused by hypoglycin A intoxication and is characterized by a high fatality rate. Predictive estimation of survival in AM horses is necessary to prevent unnecessary suffering of animals that are unlikely to survive and to focus supportive therapy on horses with a possible favourable prognosis of survival. We hypothesized that outcome may be predicted early in the course of disease based on the assumption that the acylcarnitine profile reflects the derangement of muscle energetics. We developed a statistical model to prognosticate the risk of death of diseased animals and found that estimation of outcome may be drawn from three acylcarnitines (C2, C10:2 and C18 -carnitines) with a high sensitivity and specificity. The calculation of the prognosis of survival makes it possible to distinguish the horses that will survive from those that will die despite severe signs of acute rhabdomyolysis in both groups. PMID:28846683

Mesenchymal stem cells increase skin graft survival time and up-regulate PD-L1 expression in splenocytes of mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Moravej, Ali; Geramizadeh, Bita; Azarpira, Negar; Zarnani, Amir-Hassan; Yaghobi, Ramin; Kalani, Mehdi; Khosravi, Maryam; Kouhpayeh, Amin; Karimi, Mohammad-Hossein

2017-02-01

Recently, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have gained considerable interests as hopeful therapeutic cells in transplantation due to their immunoregulatory functions. But exact mechanisms underlying MSCs immunoregulatory function is not fully understood. Herein, in addition to investigate the ability of MSCs to prolong graft survival time, the effects of them on the expression of PD-L1 and IDO immunomodulatory molecules in splenocytes of skin graft recipient mice was clarified. To achieve this goal, full-thickness skins were transplanted from C57BL/6 to BALB/c mice. MSCs were isolated from bone marrow of BALB/c mice and injected to the recipient mice. Skin graft survival was monitored daily to determine graft rejection time. On days 2, 5 and 10 post skin transplantation, serum cytokine levels and expression of PD-L1 and IDO mRNA and protein in the splenocytes of recipient mice were evaluated. The results showed that administration of MSCs prolonged skin graft survival time from 11 to 14 days. On days 2 and 5 post transplantation, splenocytes PD-L1 expression and IL-10 serum level in MSCs treated mice were higher than those in the controls, while IL-2 and IFN-γ levels were lower. Rejection in MSCs treated mice was accompanied by an increase in IL-2 and IFN-γ, and decrease in PD-L1 expression and IL-10 level. No difference in the expression of IDO between MSCs treated mice and controls was observed. In conclusion, we found that one of the mechanisms underlying MSCs immunomodulatory function could be up-regulating PD-L1 expression. Copyright © 2017 European Federation of Immunological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of Increased Radiotoxicity on Survival of Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Curatively Intended Radiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Holgersson, Georg; Bergström, Stefan; Liv, Per; Nilsson, Jonas; Edlund, Per; Blomberg, Carl; Nyman, Jan; Friesland, Signe; Ekman, Simon; Asklund, Thomas; Henriksson, Roger; Bergqvist, Michael

2015-10-01

To elucidate the impact of different forms of radiation toxicities (esophagitis, radiation pneumonitis, mucositis and hoarseness), on the survival of patients treated with curatively intended radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Data were individually collected retrospectively for all patients diagnosed with NSCLC subjected to curatively intended radiotherapy (≥50 Gy) in Sweden during the time period 1990 to 2000. Esophagitis was the only radiation-induced toxicity with an impact on survival (hazard ratio=0.83, p=0.016). However, in a multivariate model, with clinical- and treatment-related factors taken into consideration, the impact of esophagitis on survival was no longer statistically significant (hazard ratio=0.88, p=0.17). The effect on survival seen in univariate analysis may be related to higher radiation dose and to the higher prevalence of chemotherapy in this group. The results do not suggest that the toxicities examined have any detrimental effect on overall survival. Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Cause marketing for tissue and organ donation to increase public awareness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strong, M.; Neely, D.; Warnack, K.; Willits, M.; Yriondo, L.

1999-01-01

Today the science of marketing is being applied more and more to increase the rate of tissue and organ donation in the United States. To benefit from the proven tools and techniques of successful marketing in the for-profit world transplantation agencies across the country are turning to integrated marketing communications strategies and strategic partnerships to help achieve their goals.The methods used in cause marketing include: Establishing clear and measurable outcomes and goals; building a marketing plan and timeline to achieve the goals; gathering resources (funding, personnel, organizations, partnerships) to execute the plan, implementation, and measurement of outcomes. This session will review the Tissue and Organ Donation campaign implemented in the Northwest and will touch on the national awareness program developed by United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in the United States. Segments of the Northwest's integrated campaign will include market segmentation strategies and targeted marketing, campaign development, public service advertising and public education campaigns. Media utilized include print, bus signs and billboards, broadcast (radio and TV), video and the internet. Strategies include public service advertising, paid advertising through sponsorships, direct mail, workshops and public speaking. The success of traditional product marketing can be achieved in cause marketing with a long-term, focused public education campaign. The potential benefit to the international community warrants exploration of similar strategies to overcome cultural resistance to life saving transplantation

Increased all-cause mortality with psychotropic medication in Parkinson's disease and controls

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frandsen, Rune; Baandrup, Lone; Kjellberg, Jakob

2014-01-01

AIM: Use of medication and polypharmacy is common as the population ages and its disease burden increases. We evaluated the association of antidepressants, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics and combinations of psychotropic drugs with all-cause mortality in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD...... of psychotropic medication in PD patients and controls. Hazard ratios were as follows for the medication types: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin-noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors, PD HR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.04-1.36; Control HR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.64-1.91; benzodiazepines, PD HR = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.......20-1.76; Control HR = 2.00, 95% CI 1.66-2.43; and combinations of these drugs compared with non-medicated PD patients and controls. Discontinuation of medication was associated with decreased mortality in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The use of psychotropic medication in the elderly is associated with increased...

Increased Effectiveness of Microbiological Verification by Concentration-Dependent Neutralization of Sanitizers Used in Poultry Slaughter and Fabrication Allowing Salmonella enterica Survival

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra H. Mohammad

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Sanitizer neutralizers can assist foodborne pathogen detection during routine testing by counteracting sanitizer residues carried over into fluids collected and tested from food samples. This study tested sanitizer-matched neutralizers applied at increasing concentrations to facilitate Salmonella enterica survival following exposure to cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC or peracetic acid (PAA, identifying minimum required concentrations of neutralizers to facilitate pathogen survival. Salmonella isolates were individually inoculated into a non-selective medium followed immediately by CPC (0.1 to 0.8% v/v or PAA (0.0125 to 0.2% v/v application, followed by neutralizers application. CPC was neutralized by lecithin and polysorbate 80, each supplemented into buffered peptone water (BPW at 0.125 to 2.0X its respective content in Dey-Engley (D/E neutralizing buffer. PAA was neutralized in BPW supplemented with disodium phosphate, potassium monophosphate, and sodium thiosulfate, each at 0.25 to 3.0X its respective concentration in BPW (phosphates or D/E buffer (thiosulfate. Addition of neutralizers at 1X their respective concentrations in D/E buffer was required to allow Salmonella growth at the maximum CPC concentration (0.8%, while 2X neutralizer addition was required for Salmonella growth at the maximum PAA level (0.2%. Sanitizer neutralizers can assist pathogen survival and detection during routine food product testing.

Mitigation of unionid mortality caused by zebra mussel infestation: cleaning of unionids

Science.gov (United States)

Schloesser, Don W.

1996-01-01

Exotic zebra mussels Dreissena polymorpha have infested and caused mortality of native unionids in the Great Lakes since 1986; no other such parasitism of native unionids occurs in North America. Survival of unionids threatened by zebra mussel infestation was tested by suspending uncleaned and cleaned unionids in nearshore waters of western Lake Erie. Survival was determined, and newly settled zebra mussels were removed from clean unionids at eight intervals that ranged from 21 d to 77 d between 5 July 1990 and 3 July 1991. After 1 year, survival rates of uncleaned and cleaned unionids were 0% and 42%, respectively. Of the 10 species examined, only indivduals from 3 species (Amblema plicata plicata, Fusconaia flava, and Quadrula quadrula) survived 1 year. These species have relatively thick shells, which may have contributed to their survival. Removal of newly settled zebra mussels may be important to unionid survival because 98% of the zebra mussels removed after the initial cleaning were small mussels (zebra mussels cause mortality of unionids, but the removal of zebra mussels from unionids is the only method known that successfully reduces unionid mortality in waters colonized by zebra mussels.

Research Plan to Determine Timing, Location, Magnitude and Cause of Mortality for Wild and Hatchery Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon Smolts Above Lower Granite Dam. Final Report.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lower Granite Migration Study Steering Committee

1993-10-01

From 1966 to 1968, Raymond estimated an average survival rate of 89% for yearling chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) migrating from trap sites on the Salmon River to Ice Harbor Dam, which was then the uppermost dam on the Snake River. During the 1970s, the estimated survival rate declined as the proportion of hatchery fish increased and additional dams were constructed. Recent survival indices for yearling chinook salmon smolts in the Snake River Basin indicate that substantial mortalities are occurring en route to Lower Granite Dam, now the uppermost dam on the Snake River. Detection rates for wild and hatchery PIT-tagged smolts at Lower Granite Dam have been much lower than expected. However, for wild fish, there is considerable uncertainty whether overwinter mortality or smolt loss during migration is the primary cause for low survival. Efforts to rebuild these populations will have a better chance of success after the causes of mortality are identified and addressed. Information on the migrational characteristics and survival of wild fish are especially needed. The goal of this initial planning phase is to develop a research plan to outline potential investigations that will determine the timing, location, magnitude, and cause of smolt mortality above Lower Granite Dam.

Mechanisms of Sensorineural Cell Damage, Death and Survival in the Cochlea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allen Frederic Ryan

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The majority of acquired hearing loss, including presbycusis, is caused by irreversible damage to the sensorineural tissues of the cochlea. This article reviews the intracellular mechanisms that contribute to sensorineural damage in the cochlea, as well as the survival signaling pathways that can provide endogenous protection and tissue rescue. These data have primarily been generated in hearing loss not directly related to age. However, there is evidence that similar mechanisms operate in presbycusis. Moreover, accumulation of damage from other causes can contribute to age-related hearing loss. Potential therapeutic interventions to balance opposing but interconnected cell damage and survival pathways, such as antioxidants, anti-apoptotics, and pro-inflammatory cytokine inhibitors, are also discussed.

Factors associated with survival of epiploic foramen entrapment colic: a multicentre, international study.

Science.gov (United States)

Archer, D C; Pinchbeck, G L; Proudman, C J

2011-08-01

Epiploic foramen entrapment (EFE) has been associated with reduced post operative survival compared to other types of colic but specific factors associated with reduced long-term survival of these cases have not been evaluated in a large number of horses using survival analysis. To describe post operative survival of EFE cases and to identify factors associated with long-term survival. A prospective, multicentre, international study was conducted using clinical data and long-term follow-up information for 126 horses diagnosed with EFE during exploratory laparotomy at 15 clinics in the UK, Ireland and USA. Descriptive data were generated and survival analysis performed to identify factors associated with reduced post operative survival. For the EFE cohort that recovered following anaesthesia, survival to hospital discharge was 78.5%. Survival to 1 and 2 years post operatively was 50.6 and 34.3%, respectively. The median survival time of EFE cases undergoing surgery was 397 days. Increased packed cell volume (PCV) and increased length of small intestine (SI) resected were significantly associated with increased likelihood of mortality when multivariable analysis of pre- and intraoperative variables were analysed. When all pre-, intra- and post operative variables were analysed separately, only horses that developed post operative ileus (POI) were shown to be at increased likelihood of mortality. Increased PCV, increased length of SI resected and POI are all associated with increased likelihood of mortality of EFE cases. This emphasises the importance of early diagnosis and treatment and the need for improved strategies in the management of POI in order to reduce post operative mortality in these cases. The present study provides evidence-based information to clinicians and owners of horses undergoing surgery for EFE about long-term survival. These results are applicable to university and large private clinics over a wide geographical area. © 2011 EVJ Ltd.

Unstable Thyroid Function in Older Adults Is Caused by Alterations in Both Thyroid and Pituitary Physiology and Is Associated with Increased Mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Mammen, Jennifer S; McGready, John; Ladenson, Paul W; Simonsick, Eleanor M

2017-11-01

Average thyrotropin (TSH) levels are known to be higher in older adults when measured in cross-sectional populations. Possible etiologies include differential survival, neutral aging changes, or increased disease prevalence at older ages. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying changing thyroid function during aging, and to determine the association of changes with survival, by analyzing the individual thyroid axis over time. Individual patterns of changing TSH and free thyroxine (fT4) were determined in 640 participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who had at least three measures of serum TSH and fT4, not on medications, over an average of seven years of follow-up. Participants with changing phenotypes were identified based on quintiles for both slopes. Those with alterations in primary thyroid gland function demonstrated intact negative feedback (rising TSH with declining fT4 or declining TSH with rising fT4). Other participants had a parallel rise or fall of TSH and fT4 levels, consistent with pituitary dysfunction. Predictors of phenotype were analyzed by logistic regression. Differential survival between thyroid aging phenotypes was analyzed using multivariate Cox regression. While the majority of participants at all ages had stable thyroid function, changes were more common among older adults, with 32.3% of those aged >80 years but only 9.5% of those aged function changes in the highest and lowest quintiles. Regression to the mean accounts for some of the changes, for example increased baseline TSH was associated with a falling TSH pattern (odds ratio = 1.4 [confidence interval 1.1-1.7] per 1 mIU/L). Importantly, changing thyroid function in either the upper or lower quintiles of slope for TSH and fT4 was associated with increased risk of death compared to stable thyroid status (hazard ratio = 5.4 [confidence interval 3.1-9.5]). Changing thyroid hormone function is increasingly common at older ages and is associated

Working memory load eliminates the survival processing effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Kroneisen, Meike; Rummel, Jan; Erdfelder, Edgar

2014-01-01

In a series of experiments, Nairne, Thompson, and Pandeirada (2007) demonstrated that words judged for their relevance to a survival scenario are remembered better than words judged for a scenario not relevant on a survival dimension. They explained this survival-processing effect by arguing that nature "tuned" our memory systems to process and remember fitness-relevant information. Kroneisen and Erdfelder (2011) proposed that it may not be survival processing per se that facilitates recall but the richness and distinctiveness with which information is encoded. To further test this account, we investigated how the survival processing effect is affected by cognitive load. If the survival processing effect is due to automatic processes or, alternatively, if survival processing is routinely prioritized in dual-task contexts, we would expect this effect to persist under cognitive load conditions. If the effect relies on cognitively demanding processes like richness and distinctiveness of encoding, however, the survival processing benefit should be hampered by increased cognitive load during encoding. Results were in line with the latter prediction, that is, the survival processing effect vanished under dual-task conditions.

Risk Factors for Survival in a University Hospital Population of Dogs with Epilepsy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fredso, N.; Koch, B. C.; Toft, Nils

2014-01-01

BackgroundAlthough a common neurological disorder in dogs, long-term outcome of epilepsy is sparsely documented. ObjectivesTo investigate risk factors for survival and duration of survival in a population of dogs with idiopathic epilepsy or epilepsy associated with a known intracranial cause....... AnimalsOne hundred and two client owned dogs; 78 dogs with idiopathic epilepsy and 24 dogs with epilepsy associated with a known intracranial cause. MethodsA retrospective hospital based study with follow-up. Dogs diagnosed with epilepsy between 2002 and 2008 were enrolled in the study. Owners were...... interviewed by telephone using a structured questionnaire addressing epilepsy status, treatment, death/alive, and cause of death. ResultsMedian life span was 7.6years, 9.2years, and 5.8years for all dogs, and dogs with idiopathic epilepsy or dogs with epilepsy associated with a known intracranial cause (P...

Genome-wide association study of prostate cancer-specific survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Szulkin, Robert; Karlsson, Robert; Whitington, Thomas

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Unnecessary intervention and overtreatment of indolent disease are common challenges in clinical management of prostate cancer. Improved tools to distinguish lethal from indolent disease are critical. METHODS: We performed a genome-wide survival analysis of cause-specific death in 24,...

Key factors influencing lung cancer survival in northern Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mangone, Lucia; Minicozzi, Pamela; Vicentini, Massimo; Giacomin, Adriano; Caldarella, Adele; Cirilli, Claudia; Falcini, Fabio; Giorgi Rossi, Paolo; Sant, Milena

2013-06-01

Lung cancer is a major cause of cancer death worldwide. The aims of this study were to analyze presentation, treatment and survival for lung cancer in northern Italy, and identify factors influencing survival. A total of 1180 lung cancer cases diagnosed in four north Italian cancer registries (Biella, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Romagna) in 2003-2005 were analyzed. Information on morphology, stage, diagnostic examinations, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical treatment was collected from clinical records. Three-year relative survival and relative excess risks of death were estimated. Overall, 10% of cases were stage I, 50% stage IV, and 12% stage unknown. Romagna - where sophisticated diagnostic examinations were performed more often - had proportionately more microscopically verified cases and resected cases than Biella. Romagna had also high proportions of cases given chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Three-year survival was 14%, range 10% (Biella) to 19% (Romagna); 69% for stage I, 3% for stage IV. Stage I survival was higher in Romagna (82%) than Reggio Emilia and Biella (60-61%) but for operated stage I cases, survival was similar (88%) in Romagna and Biella. The fully adjusted model showed a higher risk of death in Biella (1.23, 95%CI 1.02-1.48) than Modena (reference). Stage and surgery are key factors influencing survival. Centralizing lung cancer treatment to improve diagnostic work-up may improve outcomes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigation of Prognostic Factors and Survival without Recurrence in Patients with Breast Cancer

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Ahmad Abdollahi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: One of the major consequences of breast cancer is the recurrence of the disease. The objective of present study was to estimate the 7-year survival without recurrence as well as the effective prognostic factors in recurrence. Materials and Methods: This historical cohort survival analysis was conducted on 1329 patients diagnosed with breast cancer in Motahari Breast Clinic, Shiraz, Iran between 2004 and 2011. We estimated the rate of survival without recurrence through the Kaplan–Meier method and the difference between the survival curves was investigated using the log-rank test. Furthermore, Cox regression model was used to model the effective factors in local recurrence as well as metastasis. Results: The mean age of the patients was 54.8 ± 11.4 years. Estrogen receptor positive, progesterone receptor positive, and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positive were observed in 70.6%, 66.6%, and 34.4% of the cases, respectively. The mean of the follow-up period was 3.7 ± 1.8 years in all patients. The results of the Kaplan–Meier method revealed 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year rate of survival without recurrence as 96.4%, 78.4%, 66.3%, and 54.8%, respectively. There was a significant relationship between survival without recurrence and histology grade (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.66, P = 0.009, neural invasion (HR = 1.74, P = 0.006, and progesterone receptors (HR = 0.69, P = 0.031. Conclusion: In this study, the rate of survival without recurrence in breast cancer was 54.8%. Among factors, histology grade and neural involvement at the time of diagnosis increased the chance of recurrence and progesterone receptors caused a longer interval between diagnosis and recurrence.

Modification of bacterial cell survival by postirradiation hypoxia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vexler, F B; Eidus, L Kh

1986-01-27

It is shown that postirradiation hypoxia affects the survival of E.coli. Hypoxic conditions immediately after a single-dose irradiation diminish cell survival in nutrient medium. Increasing time intervals between irradiation and hypoxia decrease the efficiency of the latter, while 1 h after irradiation hypoxia does not modify the survival of irradiated cells. These findings reveal that the mechanisms of action of postirradiation hypoxia on eu- and prokaryotic cells are similar.

Recognising out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during emergency calls increases bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Viereck, Søren; Møller, Thea Palsgaard; Ersbøll, Annette Kjær

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Initiation of early bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) depends on bystanders' or medical dispatchers' recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The primary aim of our study was to investigate if OHCA recognition during the emergency call was associated...... with bystander CPR, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and 30-day survival. Our secondary aim was to identify patient-, setting-, and dispatcher-related predictors of OHCA recognition. METHODS: We performed an observational study of all OHCA patients' emergency calls in the Capital Region of Denmark from...... the association between OHCA recognition and bystander CPR, ROSC, and 30-day survival. Univariable logistic regression analyses were applied to identify predictors of OHCA recognition. RESULTS: We included 779 emergency calls in the analyses. During the emergency calls, 70.1% (n=534) of OHCAs were recognised...

Warming, soil moisture, and loss of snow increase Bromus tectorum’s population growth rate

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Aldo Compagnoni

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Climate change threatens to exacerbate the impacts of invasive species. In temperate ecosystems, direct effects of warming may be compounded by dramatic reductions in winter snow cover. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum is arguably the most destructive biological invader in basins of the North American Intermountain West, and warming could increase its performance through direct effects on demographic rates or through indirect effects mediated by loss of snow. We conducted a two-year experimental manipulation of temperature and snow pack to test whether 1 warming increases cheatgrass population growth rate and 2 reduced snow cover contributes to cheatgrass’ positive response to warming. We used infrared heaters operating continuously to create the warming treatment, but turned heaters on only during snowfalls for the snowmelt treatment. We monitored cheatgrass population growth rate and the vital rates that determine it: emergence, survival and fecundity. Growth rate increased in both warming and snowmelt treatments. The largest increases occurred in warming plots during the wettest year, indicating that the magnitude of response to warming depends on moisture availability. Warming increased both fecundity and survival, especially in the wet year, while snowmelt contributed to the positive effects of warming by increasing survival. Our results indicate that increasing temperature will exacerbate cheatgrass impacts, especially where warming causes large reductions in the depth and duration of snow cover.

Patients undergoing radical prostatectomy have a better survival than the background population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreas Røder, Martin; Brasso, Klaus; Drimer Berg, Kasper

2013-01-01

underwent radical prostatectomy. Patients were followed prospectively per protocol. No patients were lost to follow-up. Overall and cause-specific survival were described using Kaplan-Meier plots. Standardized relative survival and mortality ratio were calculated based on expected survival in the age......INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to investigate standardised relative survival and mortality ratio for patients undergoing radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer at our institution. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 1995 and 2010, a total of 1,350 consecutive patients......-matched Danish population using the methods and macros described by Dickmann. The country-specific population mortality rates used for calculation of the expected survival were based on data from The Human Mortality Database. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 3.4 years (range: 0-14.3 years). A total of 59 (4...

The effect of salinity increase on the photosynthesis, growth and survival of the Mediterranean seagrass Cymodocea nodosa

Science.gov (United States)

Sandoval-Gil, José M.; Marín-Guirao, Lázaro; Ruiz, Juan M.

2012-12-01

There are major concerns in the Mediterranean Sea over the effects of hypersaline effluents from seawater desalination plants on seagrass communities. However, knowledge concerning the specific physiological capacities of seagrasses to tolerate or resist salinity increases is still limited. In this study, changes in the photosynthetic characteristics, pigment content, leaf light absorption, growth and survival of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa were examined across a range of simulated hypersaline conditions. To this end, large plant fragments were maintained under salinities of 37 (control ambient salinity), 39, 41 and 43 (practical salinity scale) in a laboratory mesocosm system for 47 days. At the end of the experimental period, net photosynthesis exhibited a modest, but significant, decline (12-17%) in all tested hypersaline conditions (39-43). At intermediate salinity levels (39-41), the decline in photosynthetic rates was mainly accounted for by substantial increases in respiratory losses (approximately 98% of the control), the negative effects of which on leaf carbon balance were offset by an improved capacity and efficiency of leaves to absorb light, mainly through changes in accessory pigments, but also in optical properties related to leaf anatomy. Conversely, inhibition of gross photosynthesis (by 19.6% compared to the control mean) in the most severe hypersaline conditions (43) reduced net photosynthesis. In this treatment, the respiration rate was limited in order to facilitate a positive carbon balance (similar to that of the control plants) and shoot survival, although vitality would probably be reduced if such metabolic alterations persisted. These results are consistent with the ecology of Mediterranean C. nodosa populations, which are considered to have high morphological and physiological plasticity and a capacity to grow in a wide variety of coastal environments with varying salinity levels. The results from this study support the premise that C

Re-analysis of a banding study to test the effects of an experimental increase in bag limits of mourning doves

Science.gov (United States)

Otis, D.L.; White, Gary C.

2002-01-01

In 1966-1971, eastern US states with hunting seasons on mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) participated in a study designed to estimate the effects of bag limit increases on population survival rates. More than 400 000 adult and juvenile birds were banded and released during this period, and subsequent harvest and return of bands, together with total harvest estimates from mail and telephone surveys of hunters, provided the database for analysis. The original analysis used an ANOVA framework, and resulted in inferences of no effect of bag limit increase on population parameters (Hayne 1975). We used a logistic regression analysis to infer that the bag limit increase did not cause a biologically significant increase in harvest rate and thus the experiment could not provide any insight into the relationship between harvest and annual survival rates. Harvest rate estimates of breeding populations from geographical subregions were used as covariates in a Program MARK analysis and revealed an association between annual survival and harvest rates, although this relationship is potentially confounded by a latitudinal gradient in survival rates of dove populations. We discuss methodological problems encountered in the analysis of these data, and provide recommendations for future studies of the relationship between harvest and annual survival rates of mourning dove populations.

Daily survival rate and habitat characteristics of nests of Wilson's Plover

Science.gov (United States)

Zinsser, Elizabeth; Sanders, Felicia J.; Gerard, Patrick D.; Jodice, Patrick G.R.

2017-01-01

We assessed habitat characteristics and measured daily survival rate of 72 nests of Charadrius wilsonia (Wilson's Plover) during 2012 and 2013 on South Island and Sand Island on the central coast of South Carolina. At both study areas, nest sites were located at slightly higher elevations (i.e., small platforms of sand) relative to randomly selected nearby unused sites, and nests at each study area also appeared to be situated to enhance crypsis and/or vigilance. Daily survival rate (DSR) of nests ranged from 0.969 to 0.988 among study sites and years, and the probability of nest survival ranged from 0.405 to 0.764. Flooding and predation were the most common causes of nest failure at both sites. At South Island, DSR was most strongly related to maximum tide height, which suggests that flooding and overwash may be common causes of nest loss for Wilson's Plovers at these study sites. The difference in model results between the 2 nearby study sites may be partially due to more-frequent flooding at Sand Island because of some underlying yet unmeasured physiographic feature. Remaining data gaps for the species include regional assessments of nest and chick survival and habitat requirements during chick rearing.

Incidence and survival for Merkel cell carcinoma in Queensland, Australia, 1993-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Youlden, Danny R; Soyer, H Peter; Youl, Philippa H; Fritschi, Lin; Baade, Peter D

2014-08-01

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an uncommon but highly invasive form of skin cancer. The mechanisms that cause MCC are yet to be fully determined. To compare the incidence and survival rates of MCC in Queensland, Australia, known to be a high-risk area, with MCC incidence and survival elsewhere in the world. We also analyzed incidence trends and differences in survival by key demographic and clinical characteristics. Retrospective cohort study of population-based administrative data for MCC collected by the Queensland Cancer Registry and supplemented with detailed histopathologic data. Deidentified records were obtained of all Queensland residents diagnosed as having MCC during the period from 1993 to 2010. A subsample of histopathologic records were reviewed by a senior dermatopathologist to determine the potential for misclassification. A total of 879 eligible cases of MCC were included in the study. Incidence rates were directly age standardized to the 2000 United States Standard Population. Trends were examined using Joinpoint software with results expressed in terms of the annual percentage change. The period method was used to calculate 5-year relative survival, and adjusted hazard ratios were obtained from multivariate Poisson models. There were 340 cases of MCC diagnosed in Queensland between 2006 and 2010, corresponding to an incidence rate of 1.6 per 100,000 population. Men (2.5 per 100,000) had higher incidence than women (0.9 per 100,000), and rates peaked at 20.7 per 100,000 for persons 80 years or older. The overall incidence of MCC increased by an average of 2.6% per year from 1993 onwards. Relative survival was 41% after 5 years, with significantly better survival found for those younger than 70 years at diagnosis (56%-60%), those with tumors on the face or ears (51%), and those with stage I lesions (49%). Incidence rates for MCC in Queensland are at least double those of any that have been previously published elsewhere in the world. It is likely

Conditional survival of cancer patients: an Australian perspective

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Yu Xue

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Estimated conditional survival for cancer patients diagnosed at different ages and disease stage provides important information for cancer patients and clinicians in planning follow-up, surveillance and ongoing management. Methods Using population-based cancer registry data for New South Wales Australia, we estimated conditional 5-year relative survival for 11 major cancers diagnosed 1972–2006 by time since diagnosis and age and stage at diagnosis. Results 193,182 cases were included, with the most common cancers being prostate (39,851, female breast (36,585 and colorectal (35,455. Five-year relative survival tended to increase with increasing years already survived and improvement was greatest for cancers with poor prognosis at diagnosis (lung or pancreas and for those with advanced stage or older age at diagnosis. After surviving 10 years, conditional 5-year survival was over 95% for 6 localised, 6 regional, 3 distant and 3 unknown stage cancers. For the remaining patient groups, conditional 5-year survival ranged from 74% (for distant stage bladder cancer to 94% (for 4 cancers at different stages, indicating that they continue to have excess mortality 10–15 years after diagnosis. Conclusion These data provide important information for cancer patients, based on age and stage at diagnosis, as they continue on their cancer journey. This information may also be used by clinicians as a tool to make more evidence-based decisions regarding follow-up, surveillance, or ongoing management according to patients' changing survival expectations over time.

Radioprotective effects of miso (fermented soy bean paste) against radiation in B6C3F1 mice. Increased small intestinal crypt survival, crypt lengths and prolongation of average time to death

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohara, Masayuki; Lu, Huimei; Shiraki, Katsutomo; Ishimura, Yoshimasa; Uesaka, Toshihiro; Katoh, Osamu; Watanabe, Hiromitsu

2001-01-01

The radioprotective effect of miso, a fermentation product from soy bean, was investigated with reference to the survival time, crypt survival and jejunum crypt length in male B6C3F1 mice. Miso at three different fermentation stages (early-, medium- and long-term fermented miso) was mixed in MF diet into biscuits at 10% and was administered from 1 week before irradiation. Animal survival in the long-term fermented miso group was significantly prolonged as compared with the short-term fermented miso and MF cases after 8 Gy of 60 Co-γ-ray irradiation at a dose rate of 2 Gy min -1 . Delay in mortality was evident in all three miso groups, with significantly increased survival. At doses of 10 and 12 Gy X-irradiation at a dose rate of 4 Gy min -1 , the treatment with long-term fermented miso significantly increased crypt survival. Also the protective influence against irradiation in terms of crypt lengths in the long-term fermented miso group was significantly greater than in the short-term or medium-term fermented miso and MF diet groups. Thus, prolonged fermentation appears to be very important for protection against radiation effects. (author)

Radioprotective effects of miso (fermented soy bean paste) against radiation in B6C3F1 mice: increased small intestinal crypt survival, crypt lengths and prolongation of average time to death.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohara, M; Lu, H; Shiraki, K; Ishimura, Y; Uesaka, T; Katoh, O; Watanabe, H

2001-12-01

The radioprotective effect of miso, a fermentation product from soy bean, was investigated with reference to the survival time, crypt survival and jejunum crypt length in male B6C3F1 mice. Miso at three different fermentation stages (early-, medium- and long-term fermented miso) was mixed in MF diet into biscuits at 10% and was administered from 1 week before irradiation. Animal survival in the long-term fermented miso group was significantly prolonged as compared with the short-term fermented miso and MF cases after 8 Gy of 60Co-gamma-ray irradiation at a dose rate of 2Gy min(-1). Delay in mortality was evident in all three miso groups, with significantly increased survival. At doses of 10 and 12 Gy X-irradiation at a dose rate of 4 Gy min(-1), the treatment with long-term fermented miso significantly increased crypt survival. Also the protective influence against irradiation in terms of crypt lengths in the long-term fermented miso group was significantly greater than in the short-term or medium-term fermented miso and MF diet groups. Thus, prolonged fermentation appears to be very important for protection against radiation effects.

Evidence that a Highway Reduces Apparent Survival Rates of Squirrel Gliders

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Sarah C. McCall

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Roads and traffic are prominent components of most landscapes throughout the world, and their negative effects on the natural environment can extend for hundreds or thousands of meters beyond the road. These effects include mortality of wildlife due to collisions with vehicles, pollution of soil and air, modification of wildlife behavior in response to noise, creation of barriers to wildlife movement, and establishment of dispersal conduits for some plant and animal species. In southeast Australia, much of the remaining habitat for the squirrel glider, Petaurus norfolcensis, is located in narrow strips of Eucalyptus woodland that is adjacent to roads and streams, as well as in small patches of woodland vegetation that is farther from roads. We evaluated the effect of traffic volume on squirrel gliders by estimating apparent annual survival rates of adults along the Hume Freeway and nearby low-traffic-volume roads. We surveyed populations of squirrel gliders by trapping them over 2.5 years, and combined these data with prior information on apparent survival rates in populations located away from freeways to model the ratio of apparent annual survival rates in both site types. The apparent annual survival rate of adult squirrel gliders living along the Hume Freeway was estimated to be approximately 60% lower than for squirrel gliders living near local roads. The cause of the reduced apparent survival rate may be due to higher rates of mortality and/or higher emigration rates adjacent to the Hume Freeway compared with populations near smaller country roads. Management options for population persistence will be influenced by which of these factors is the primary cause of a reduced apparent survival rate.

Survival analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badwe, R.A.

1999-01-01

The primary endpoint in the majority of the studies has been either disease recurrence or death. This kind of analysis requires a special method since all patients in the study experience the endpoint. The standard method for estimating such survival distribution is Kaplan Meier method. The survival function is defined as the proportion of individuals who survive beyond certain time. Multi-variate comparison for survival has been carried out with Cox's proportional hazard model

Anti-pathogen protection versus survival costs mediated by an ectosymbiont in an ant host.

Science.gov (United States)

Konrad, Matthias; Grasse, Anna V; Tragust, Simon; Cremer, Sylvia

2015-01-22

The fitness effects of symbionts on their hosts can be context-dependent, with usually benign symbionts causing detrimental effects when their hosts are stressed, or typically parasitic symbionts providing protection towards their hosts (e.g. against pathogen infection). Here, we studied the novel association between the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus and its fungal ectosymbiont Laboulbenia formicarum for potential costs and benefits. We tested ants with different Laboulbenia levels for their survival and immunity under resource limitation and exposure to the obligate killing entomopathogen Metarhizium brunneum. While survival of L. neglectus workers under starvation was significantly decreased with increasing Laboulbenia levels, host survival under Metarhizium exposure increased with higher levels of the ectosymbiont, suggesting a symbiont-mediated anti-pathogen protection, which seems to be driven mechanistically by both improved sanitary behaviours and an upregulated immune system. Ants with high Laboulbenia levels showed significantly longer self-grooming and elevated expression of immune genes relevant for wound repair and antifungal responses (β-1,3-glucan binding protein, Prophenoloxidase), compared with ants carrying low Laboulbenia levels. This suggests that the ectosymbiont Laboulbenia formicarum weakens its ant host by either direct resource exploitation or the costs of an upregulated behavioural and immunological response, which, however, provides a prophylactic protection upon later exposure to pathogens. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the Indicence and Survival of Female Breast Cancer Patients in Beijing Over a 20-Year Period

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Qijun Wang; Weixing Zhu; Xiumei Xing; Chenxu Qu

2006-01-01

OBJECTIVE To provide evidence for breast cancer prevention and control through epidemiological analysis of the incidence, mortality and survival rate of female breast cancer patients in Beijing.METHODS The female registration data in the Beijing urban area from 1982 to 2001 were retrospectively reviewed. The incidence, mortality and survival rate of female breast cancer patients were analyzed using routine and life-table statistical methods.RESULTS During the period of 1982 to 2001, there was a trend of an average annual increase of female breast cancer incidence of 4.6% in urban Beijing, and of 4.9% in the world-population standardized incidence.The epidemiological features of urban Beijing female breast cancer showed:(1)The incidence distribution of different age groups from 25 to 80 years elevated with two peaks at ages of 45～ and 70～ years; (2)There was an elevation in each age group over the last 20 years; (3)The incidence rate at ages of 35 to 64 reached 95.3/105, causing breast cancer to become the number one cancer in females. The changes in the survival rate showed the following: the 5-year observed survival rate (OSR)increased from 62.0% in 1982～1983 to 68.7% in 1987～1988, and the relative-survival rate (RSR) increased from 66.3% to 74.2%. The 10-year OSR and RSR in 1987～1988 were 60.3% and 65.1%, and at 15 years 57.5% and 61.3%, respectively. The mortality rate of breast cancer patients fluctuated from 8 to 10 per 105 population over the 20 years of study.CONCLUSION There is a trend of an annual increase in female breast cancer in Beijing. The 5-year survival is being improved gradually while the mortality remains stable. The results demonstrate that the principles of "early prevention, diagnosis and treatment" for breast cancer are effective in Beijing.

marine survival ecosystem indicators - Estimating the ecosystem indicators of anadromous salmonids in the Puget Sound region

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The objective of this project is to develop a simple approach for estimating the marine survival and causes of trends in survival. Data is a summary of ecosystem...

Increased tolerance and resistance to virus infections: a possible factor in the survival of Varroa destructor-resistant honey bees (Apis mellifera.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Locke

Full Text Available The honey bee ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor, has a world-wide distribution and inflicts more damage than all other known apicultural diseases. However, Varroa-induced colony mortality is more accurately a result of secondary virus infections vectored by the mite. This means that honey bee resistance to Varroa may include resistance or tolerance to virus infections. The aim of this study was to see if this is the case for a unique population of mite-resistant (MR European honey bees on the island of Gotland, Sweden. This population has survived uncontrolled mite infestation for over a decade, developing specific mite-related resistance traits to do so. Using RT-qPCR techniques, we monitored late season virus infections, Varroa mite infestation and honey bee colony population dynamics in the Gotland MR population and compared this to mite-susceptible (MS colonies in a close by apiary. From summer to autumn the deformed wing virus (DWV titres increased similarly between the MR and MS populations, while the black queen cell virus (BQCV and sacbrood virus (SBV titres decreased substantially in the MR population compared to the MS population by several orders of magnitude. The MR colonies all survived the following winter with high mite infestation, high DWV infection, small colony size and low proportions of autumn brood, while the MS colonies all perished. Possible explanations for these changes in virus titres and their relevance to Varroa resistance and colony winter survival are discussed.

Streptococcus mutans autolysin AtlA is a fibronectin-binding protein and contributes to bacterial survival in the bloodstream and virulence for infective endocarditis.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Chiau-Jing; Zheng, Quan-Hau; Shieh, Ya-Hsiung; Lin, Chi-Shuan; Chia, Jean-San

2009-11-01

Streptococcus mutans, a commensal of the human oral cavity, can survive in the bloodstream and cause infective endocarditis (IE). However, the virulence factors associated with this manifestation of disease are not known. Here, we demonstrate that AtlA, an autolysin of S. mutans is a newly identified fibronectin (Fn) binding protein and contributes to bacterial resistance to phagocytosis and survival in the bloodstream. Interestingly, prior exposure to plasma at low concentrations was sufficient to enhance bacterial survival in the circulation. Calcium ions at physiological plasma concentrations induced maturation of AtlA from the 104-90 kDa isoform resulting in increased Fn binding and resistance to phagocytosis. An isogenic mutant strain defective in AtlA expression exhibited reduced survival and virulence when tested in a rat model of IE compared with the wild-type and complemented strains. The data presented suggest that plasma components utilized by S. mutans enhanced survival in the circulation and AtlA is a virulence factor associated with infective endocarditis.

Social determinants of health and 5-year survival of colorectal cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Heidarnia, Mohammad Ali; Monfared, Esmat Davoudi; Akbari, Mohammad Esmail; Yavari, Parvin; Amanpour, Farzaneh; Mohseni, Maryam

2013-01-01

Early in the 21st century, cancers are the second cause of death worldwide. Colon cancer is third most common cancer and one of the few amenable to early diagnosis and treatment. Evaluation of factors affecting this cancer is important to increase survival time. Some of these factors affecting all diseases including cancer are social determinants of health. According to the importance of this disease and relation with these factors, this study was conducted to assess the relationship between social determinants of health and colon cancer survival. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study for patients with colon cancer registered in the Cancer Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, from April 2005 to November 2006, performed using questionnaires filled by telephone interview with patients (if patients had died, with family members). Data was analyzed with SPSS software (version 19) for descriptive analysis and STATA software for survival analysis including log rank test and three step Cox Proportional Hazard regression. Five hundred fifty nine patients with ages ranging from 23 to 88 years with mean ± standard deviation of 63 ± 11.8 years were included in the study. The five year survival was 68.3%( 387 patients were alive and 172 patients were dead by the end of the study). The Cox proportional hazard regression showed 5-year survival was related to age (HR=0.53, p=0.042 for>50 years versusmanual versus non manual jobs), region of residency (HR=3.49, p=0.018 for west versus south regions), parents in childhood (HR=2.87, p=0.012 for having both parents versus not having), anatomical cancer location (HR=2.16, psurvival of colon cancer and it may be better to consider these factors in addition to developing cancer treatment and to focus on these determinants of health in long-time planning.

Survival of translocated sharp-tailed grouse: Temporal threshold and age effects

Science.gov (United States)

Mathews, Steven; Coates, Peter S.; Delehanty, David J.

2016-01-01

Context: The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) is a subspecies of conservation concern in the western United States, currently occupying ≤10% of its historic range. Land and management agencies are employing translocation techniques to restore Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (CSTG) populations. However, establishing self-sustaining populations by translocating grouse often is unsuccessful, owing, in part, to low survivorship of translocated grouse following release.Aims: We measured and modelled patterns of CSTG mortality for 150 days following translocation into historic range, to better understand patterns and causes of success or failure in conservation efforts to re-establish grouse populations.Methods: We conducted two independent multi-year translocations and evaluated individual and temporal factors associated with CSTG survival up to 150 days following their release. Both translocations were reintroduction attempts in Nevada, USA, to establish viable populations of CSTG into their historic range.Key results: We observed a clear temporal threshold in survival probability, with CSTG mortality substantially higher during the first 50 days following release than during the subsequent 100 days. Additionally, translocated yearling grouse exhibited higher overall survival (0.669 ± 0.062) than did adults (0.420 ± 0.052) across the 150-day period and higher survival than adults both before and after the 50-day temporal threshold.Conclusions: Translocated CSTG are especially vulnerable to mortality for 50 days following release, whereas translocated yearling grouse are more resistant to mortality than are adult grouse. On the basis of the likelihood of survival, yearling CSTG are better candidates for population restoration through translocation than are adult grouse.Implications: Management actions that ameliorate mortality factors for 50 days following translocation and translocations that employ yearling grouse will

Fuselage Burnthrough Protection for Increased Postcrash Occupant Survivability: Safety Benefit Analysis Based on Past Accidents

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cherry, Ray

1999-01-01

.... The methodology gives a reasonable assessment of the tolerance on the predicted levels. Fire hardening of fuselages will provide benefits in terms of enhanced occupant survival and may be found to be cost beneficial if low-cost solutions can be found...

Reversible Causes in Cardiovascular Collapse at the Emergency Department Using Ultrasonography (REVIVE-US).

Science.gov (United States)

Chua, Mui Teng; Chan, Gene Wh; Kuan, Win Sen

2017-08-01

Ultrasonographic evaluation of patients in cardiac arrest is currently not protocolised in the advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) algorithm. Potentially reversible causes may be identified using bedside ultrasonography that is ubiquitous in most emergency departments (EDs). This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of sonographically detectable reversible causes of cardiac arrest by incorporating an ultrasonography protocol into the ACLS algorithm. Secondary objectives include rates of survival to hospital admission, hospital discharge, and 30-day mortality. We conducted a prospective study using bedside ultrasonography to evaluate for potentially reversible causes in patients with cardiac arrest at the ED of National University Hospital, Singapore, regardless of the initial electrocardiogram rhythm. A standardised ultrasonography protocol was performed during the 10-second pulse check window. Between June 2015 and April 2016, 104 patients were recruited, corresponding to 65% of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients conveyed to the ED. Median age was 71 years (interquartile range, 55 to 80) and 71 (68.3%) patients were male. The most common rhythm on arrival was asystole (45.2%). Four (3.8%) patients had ultrasonographic findings suggestive of massive pulmonary embolism while 1 received intravenous thrombolysis and survived until discharge. Pericardial effusion without tamponade was detected in 4 (3.8%) patients and 6 (5.8%) patients had intra-abdominal free fluid. Twenty (19.2%) patients survived until admission, 2 of whom (1.9%) survived to discharge and beyond 30 days. Bedside ultrasonography can be safely incorporated into the ACLS protocol. Detection of any reversible causes may alter management and improve survival in selected patients.

Individual and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Healthcare Resources in Relation to Black-White Breast Cancer Survival Disparities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomi F. Akinyemiju

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Breast cancer survival has improved significantly in the US in the past 10–15 years. However, disparities exist in breast cancer survival between black and white women. Purpose. To investigate the effect of county healthcare resources and SES as well as individual SES status on breast cancer survival disparities between black and white women. Methods. Data from 1,796 breast cancer cases were obtained from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results and the National Longitudinal Mortality Study dataset. Cox Proportional Hazards models were constructed accounting for clustering within counties. Three sequential Cox models were fit for each outcome including demographic variables; demographic and clinical variables; and finally demographic, clinical, and county-level variables. Results. In unadjusted analysis, black women had a 53% higher likelihood of dying of breast cancer and 32% higher likelihood of dying of any cause (P<0.05 compared with white women. Adjusting for demographic variables explained away the effect of race on breast cancer survival (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 0.99–1.97, but not on all-cause mortality. The racial difference in all-cause survival disappeared only after adjusting for county-level variables (HR, 1.27; CI, 0.95–1.71. Conclusions. Improving equitable access to healthcare for all women in the US may help eliminate survival disparities between racial and socioeconomic groups.

Survival outcomes following salvage surgery for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kao, S S; Ooi, E H

2018-04-01

Recurrent oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma causes great morbidity and mortality. This systematic review analyses survival outcomes following salvage surgery for recurrent oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. A comprehensive search of various electronic databases was conducted. Studies included patients with recurrent or residual oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with salvage surgery. Primary outcomes were survival rates following salvage surgery. Secondary outcomes included time to recurrence, staging at time of recurrence, post-operative complications, and factors associated with mortality and recurrence. Methodological appraisal and data extraction were conducted as per Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Eighteen articles were included. The two- and five-year survival rates of the patients were 52 per cent and 30 per cent respectively. Improvements in treatment modalities for recurrent oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma were associated with improvements in two-year overall survival rates, with minimal change to five-year overall survival rates. Various factors were identified as being associated with long-term overall survival, thus assisting clinicians in patient counselling and selection for salvage surgery.

Increased tumour ADC value during chemotherapy predicts improved survival in unresectable pancreatic cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nishiofuku, Hideyuki; Tanaka, Toshihiro; Kichikawa, Kimihiko [Nara Medical University, Department of Radiology and IVR Center, Kashihara-city, Nara (Japan); Marugami, Nagaaki [Nara Medical University, Department of Endoscopy and Ultrasound, Kashihara-city, Nara (Japan); Sho, Masayuki; Akahori, Takahiro; Nakajima, Yoshiyuki [Nara Medical University, Department of Surgery, Kashihara-city, Nara (Japan)

2016-06-15

To investigate whether changes to the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of primary tumour in the early period after starting chemotherapy can predict progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS) in patients with unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Subjects comprised 43 patients with histologically confirmed unresectable pancreatic cancer treated with first-line chemotherapy. Minimum ADC values in primary tumour were measured using the selected area ADC (sADC), which excluded cystic and necrotic areas and vessels, and the whole tumour ADC (wADC), which included whole tumour components. Relative changes in ADC were calculated from baseline to 4 weeks after initiation of chemotherapy. Relationships between ADC and both PFS and OS were modelled by Cox proportional hazards regression. Median PFS and OS were 6.1 and 11.0 months, respectively. In multivariate analysis, sADC change was the strongest predictor of PFS (hazard ratio (HR), 4.5; 95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.7-11.9; p = 0.002). Multivariate Cox regression analysis for OS revealed sADC change and CRP as independent predictive markers, with sADC change as the strongest predictive biomarker (HR, 6.7; 95 % CI, 2.7-16.6; p = 0.001). Relative changes in sADC could provide a useful imaging biomarker to predict PFS and OS with chemotherapy for unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. (orig.)

Determine the Influence of Time Held in “Knockdown” Anesthesia on Survival and Stress of Surgically Implanted Juvenile Salmonids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woodley, Christa M.; Wagner, Katie A.; Knox, Kasey M.

2012-01-31

The Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) was developed for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Portland District (USACE) to address questions related to survival and performance measures of juvenile salmonids as they pass through the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS). Researchers using JSATS acoustic transmitters (ATs) were tasked with standardizing the surgical implantation procedure to ensure that the stressors of handling and surgery on salmonids were consistent and less likely to cause effects of tagging in survival studies. Researchers questioned whether the exposure time in 'knockdown' anesthesia (or induction) to prepare fish for surgery could influence the survival of study fish (CBSPSC 2011). Currently, fish are held in knockdown anesthesia after they reach Stage 4 anesthesia until the completion of the surgical implantation of a transmitter, varies from 5 to 15 minutes for studies conducted in the Columbia Basin. The Columbia Basin Surgical Protocol Steering Committee (CBSPSC ) expressed concern that its currently recommended 10-minute maximum time limit during which fish are held in anesthetic - tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222, 80 mg L-1 water) - could increase behavioral and physiological costs, and/or decrease survival of outmigrating juvenile salmonids. In addition, the variability in the time fish are held at Stage 4 could affect the data intended for direct comparison of fish within or among survival studies. Under the current recommended protocol, if fish exceed the 10-minute time limit, they are to be released without surgical implantation, thereby increasing the number of fish handled and endangered species 'take' at the bypass systems for FCRPS survival studies.

Survival in pediatric medulloblastoma: a population-based observational study to improve prognostication.

Science.gov (United States)

Weil, Alexander G; Wang, Anthony C; Westwick, Harrison J; Ibrahim, George M; Ariani, Rojine T; Crevier, Louis; Perreault, Sebastien; Davidson, Tom; Tseng, Chi-Hong; Fallah, Aria

2017-03-01

Medulloblastoma is the most common form of brain malignancy of childhood. The mainstay of epidemiological data regarding childhood medulloblastoma is derived from case series, hence population-based studies are warranted to improve the accuracy of survival estimates. To utilize a big-data approach to update survival estimates in a contemporary cohort of children with medulloblastoma. We performed a population-based retrospective observational cohort study utilizing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program database that captures all children, less than 20 years of age, between 1973 and 2012 in 18 geographical regions representing 28% of the US population. We included all participants with a presumed or histologically diagnosis of medulloblastoma. The main outcome of interest is survivors at 1, 5 and 10 years following diagnosis. A cohort of 1735 children with a median (interquartile range) age at diagnosis of 7 (4-11) years, with a diagnosis of medulloblastoma were identified. The incidence and prevalence of pediatric medulloblastoma has remained stable over the past 4 decades. There is a critical time point at 1990 when the overall survival has drastically improved. In the contemporary cohort (1990 onwards), the percentage of participants alive was 86, 70 and 63% at 1, 5 and 10 years, respectively. Multivariate Cox-Regression model demonstrated Radiation (HR 0.37; 95% CI 0.30-0.46, p < 0.001) and Surgery (HR 0.42; 95% CI 0.30-0.58, p < 0.001) independently predict survival. The probability of mortality from a neurological cause is <5% in patients who are alive 8 years following diagnosis. The SEER cohort analysis demonstrates significant improvements in pediatric medulloblastoma survival. In contrast to previous reports, the majority of patients survive in the modern era, and those alive 8 years following initial diagnosis are likely a long-term survivor. The importance of minimizing treatment-related toxicity is increasingly apparent given

Death by unnatural causes during childhood and early adulthood in offspring of psychiatric inpatients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Webb, Roger; Pickles, Andrew R.; Appleby, Louis

2007-01-01

MEASURES: Deaths from all natural causes and all unnatural causes, specifically, accidents, homicides, suicides, and undetermined causes. RESULTS: The highest observed relative risk (RR) was for homicide in young and older children with affected mothers or fathers. Homicides were between 5 and 10 times...... more likely to occur in this group, according to child's age and whether the mother or father had been admitted. There was previous parental admission in approximately one third of all child homicides. We found no evidence of increased risk of homicide in exposed young adults, but this group had a 2......-verdict deaths by poisoning were higher than for such deaths occurring by other means. CONCLUSIONS: Almost 99% of children studied survived to their mid-20s. However, they were more vulnerable to death from unnatural causes, notably, homicide during childhood and suicide in early adulthood. Further research...

Elevated hemostasis markers after pneumonia increases one-year risk of all-cause and cardiovascular deaths.

Science.gov (United States)

Yende, Sachin; D'Angelo, Gina; Mayr, Florian; Kellum, John A; Weissfeld, Lisa; Kaynar, A Murat; Young, Tammy; Irani, Kaikobad; Angus, Derek C

2011-01-01

Acceleration of chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease, may increase long-term mortality after community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), but underlying mechanisms are unknown. Persistence of the prothrombotic state that occurs during an acute infection may increase risk of subsequent atherothrombosis in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease and increase subsequent risk of death. We hypothesized that circulating hemostasis markers activated during CAP persist at hospital discharge, when patients appear to have recovered clinically, and are associated with higher mortality, particularly due to cardiovascular causes. In a cohort of survivors of CAP hospitalization from 28 US sites, we measured D-Dimer, thrombin-antithrombin complexes [TAT], Factor IX, antithrombin, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 at hospital discharge, and determined 1-year all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Of 893 subjects, most did not have severe pneumonia (70.6% never developed severe sepsis) and only 13.4% required intensive care unit admission. At discharge, 88.4% of subjects had normal vital signs and appeared to have clinically recovered. D-dimer and TAT levels were elevated at discharge in 78.8% and 30.1% of all subjects, and in 51.3% and 25.3% of those without severe sepsis. Higher D-dimer and TAT levels were associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality (range of hazard ratios were 1.66-1.17, p = 0.0001 and 1.46-1.04, p = 0.001 after adjusting for demographics and comorbid illnesses) and cardiovascular mortality (p = 0.009 and 0.003 in competing risk analyses). Elevations of TAT and D-dimer levels are common at hospital discharge in patients who appeared to have recovered clinically from pneumonia and are associated with higher risk of subsequent deaths, particularly due to cardiovascular disease.

Elevated hemostasis markers after pneumonia increases one-year risk of all-cause and cardiovascular deaths.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sachin Yende

Full Text Available Acceleration of chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease, may increase long-term mortality after community-acquired pneumonia (CAP, but underlying mechanisms are unknown. Persistence of the prothrombotic state that occurs during an acute infection may increase risk of subsequent atherothrombosis in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease and increase subsequent risk of death. We hypothesized that circulating hemostasis markers activated during CAP persist at hospital discharge, when patients appear to have recovered clinically, and are associated with higher mortality, particularly due to cardiovascular causes.In a cohort of survivors of CAP hospitalization from 28 US sites, we measured D-Dimer, thrombin-antithrombin complexes [TAT], Factor IX, antithrombin, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 at hospital discharge, and determined 1-year all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.Of 893 subjects, most did not have severe pneumonia (70.6% never developed severe sepsis and only 13.4% required intensive care unit admission. At discharge, 88.4% of subjects had normal vital signs and appeared to have clinically recovered. D-dimer and TAT levels were elevated at discharge in 78.8% and 30.1% of all subjects, and in 51.3% and 25.3% of those without severe sepsis. Higher D-dimer and TAT levels were associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality (range of hazard ratios were 1.66-1.17, p = 0.0001 and 1.46-1.04, p = 0.001 after adjusting for demographics and comorbid illnesses and cardiovascular mortality (p = 0.009 and 0.003 in competing risk analyses.Elevations of TAT and D-dimer levels are common at hospital discharge in patients who appeared to have recovered clinically from pneumonia and are associated with higher risk of subsequent deaths, particularly due to cardiovascular disease.

Survival and Mortality of Pumas (Puma concolor in a Fragmented, Urbanizing Landscape.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T Winston Vickers

Full Text Available Wide-ranging large carnivores pose myriad challenges for conservation, especially in highly fragmented landscapes. Over a 13-year period, we combined monitoring of radio collared pumas (Puma concolor with complementary multi-generational genetic analyses to inform puma conservation in southern California, USA. Our goals were to generate survivorship estimates, determine causes of mortality, identify barriers to movement, and determine the genetic and demographic challenges to puma persistence among >20,000,000 people and extensive urban, suburban, and exurban development. Despite protection from hunting, annual survival for radio collared pumas was surprisingly low (55.8%, and humans caused the majority of puma deaths. The most common sources of mortality were vehicle collisions (28% of deaths, and mortalities resulting from depredation permits issued after pumas killed domestic animals (17% of deaths. Other human-caused mortalities included illegal shootings, public safety removals, and human-caused wildfire. An interstate highway (I-15 bisecting this study area, and associated development, have created a nearly impermeable barrier to puma movements, resulting in severe genetic restriction and demographic isolation of the small puma population (n ~ 17-27 adults in the Santa Ana Mountains west of I-15. Highways that bisect habitat or divide remaining "conserved" habitat, and associated ongoing development, threaten to further subdivide this already fragmented puma population and increase threats to survival. This study highlights the importance of combining demographic and genetic analyses, and illustrates that in the absence of effective measures to reduce mortality and enhance safe movement across highways, translocation of pumas, such as was done with the endangered Florida panther (P. c. coryi, may ultimately be necessary to prevent further genetic decline and ensure persistence of the Santa Ana Mountains population.

Physiological advantages of dwarfing in surviving extinctions in high-CO2 oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Garilli, Vittorio; Rodolfo-Metalpa, Riccardo; Scuderi, Danilo; Brusca, Lorenzo; Parrinello, Daniela; Rastrick, Samuel P. S.; Foggo, Andy; Twitchett, Richard J.; Hall-Spencer, Jason M.; Milazzo, Marco

2015-07-01

Excessive CO2 in the present-day ocean-atmosphere system is causing ocean acidification, and is likely to cause a severe biodiversity decline in the future, mirroring effects in many past mass extinctions. Fossil records demonstrate that organisms surviving such events were often smaller than those before, a phenomenon called the Lilliput effect. Here, we show that two gastropod species adapted to acidified seawater at shallow-water CO2 seeps were smaller than those found in normal pH conditions and had higher mass-specific energy consumption but significantly lower whole-animal metabolic energy demand. These physiological changes allowed the animals to maintain calcification and to partially repair shell dissolution. These observations of the long-term chronic effects of increased CO2 levels forewarn of changes we can expect in marine ecosystems as CO2 emissions continue to rise unchecked, and support the hypothesis that ocean acidification contributed to past extinction events. The ability to adapt through dwarfing can confer physiological advantages as the rate of CO2 emissions continues to increase.

A multi-year analysis of passage and survival at McNary Dam, 2004-09

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Noah S.; Walker, C.E.; Perry, R.W.

2011-01-01

We analyzed 6 years (2004–09) of passage and survival data collected at McNary Dam to determine how dam operations and environmental conditions affect passage and survival of juvenile salmonids. A multinomial logistic regression was used to examine how environmental variables and dam operations relate to passage behavior of juvenile salmonids at McNary Dam. We used the Cormack-Jolly-Seber release-recapture model to determine how the survival of juvenile salmonids passing through McNary Dam relates to environmental variables and dam operations. Total project discharge and the proportion of flow passing the spillway typically had a positive effect on survival for all species and routes. As the proportion of water through the spillway increased, the number of fish passing the spillway increased, as did overall survival. Additionally, survival generally was higher at night. There was no meaningful difference in survival for fish that passed through the north or south portions of the spillway or powerhouse. Similarly, there was no difference in survival for fish released in the north, middle, or south portions of the tailrace. For subyearling Chinook salmon migrating during the summer season, increased temperatures had a drastic effect on passage and survival. As temperature increased, survival of subyearling Chinook salmon decreased through all passage routes and the number of fish that passed through the turbines increased. During years when the temporary spillway weirs (TSWs) were installed, passage through the spillway increased for spring migrants. However, due to the changes made in the location of the TSW between years and the potential effect of other confounding environmental conditions, it is not certain if the increase in spillway passage was due solely to the presence of the TSWs. The TSWs appeared to improve forebay survival during years when they were operated.

Impact of different temperatures on survival and energy metabolism in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Shesheny, Ibrahim; Hijaz, Faraj; El-Hawary, Ibrahim; Mesbah, Ibrahim; Killiny, Nabil

2016-02-01

Temperature influences the life history and metabolic parameters of insects. Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri is a tropical and subtropical pest. ACP invaded new regions around the world and threatened the citrus industry as a vector for Huanglongbing (HLB) disease. ACP is widely distributed and can survive high (up to 45 °C) and low temperatures (as low as -6 °C). The precise mechanism of temperature tolerance in ACP is poorly understood. We investigated adult survival, cellular energy balance, gene expression, and nucleotide and sugar-nucleotide changes under the effect of different temperature regimes (0 °C to 45 °C with 5 °C intervals). The optimum temperatures for survival were 20 and 25 °C. Low temperatures of 0 °C and 5 °C caused 50% mortality after 2 and 4 days respectively, while one day at high temperature (40 °C and 45 °C) caused more than 95% mortality. The lowest quantity of ATP (3.69 ± 1.6 ng/insect) and the maximum ATPase enzyme activities (57.43 ± 7.6 μU/insect) were observed at 25 °C. Correlation between ATP quantities and ATPase activity was negative. Gene expression of hsp 70, V-type proton ATPase catalytic subunit A and ATP synthase α subunit matched these results. Twenty-four nucleotides and sugar-nucleotides were quantified using HPLC in ACP adults maintained at low, high, and optimum temperatures. The nucleotide profiles were different among treatments. The ratios between AMP:ATP and ADP:ATP were significantly decreased and positively correlated to adults survival, whereas the adenylate energy charge was increased in response to low and high temperatures. Exploring energy metabolic regulation in relation with adult survival might help in understanding the physiological basis of how ACP tolerates newly invaded regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Causes of death in U.S. Special Operations Forces in the global war on terrorism: 2001-2004.

Science.gov (United States)

Holcomb, John B; McMullin, Neil R; Pearse, Lisa; Caruso, Jim; Wade, Charles E; Oetjen-Gerdes, Lynne; Champion, Howard R; Lawnick, Mimi; Farr, Warner; Rodriguez, Sam; Butler, Frank K

2007-06-01

Effective combat trauma management strategies depend upon an understanding of the epidemiology of death on the battlefield. A panel of military medical experts reviewed photographs and autopsy and treatment records for all Special Operations Forces (SOF) who died between October 2001 and November 2004 (n = 82). Fatal wounds were classified as nonsurvivable or potentially survivable. Training and equipment available at the time of injury were taken into consideration. A structured analysis was conducted to identify equipment, training, or research requirements for improved future outcomes. Five (6%) of 82 casualties had died in an aircraft crash, and their bodies were lost at sea; autopsies had been performed on all other 77 soldiers. Nineteen deaths, including the deaths at sea were noncombat; all others were combat related. Deaths were caused by explosions (43%), gunshot wounds (28%), aircraft accidents (23%), and blunt trauma (6%). Seventy of 82 deaths (85%) were classified as nonsurvivable; 12 deaths (15%) were classified as potentially survivable. Of those with potentially survivable injuries, 16 causes of death were identified: 8 (50%) truncal hemorrhage, 3 (19%) compressible hemorrhage, 2 (13%) hemorrhage amenable to tourniquet, and 1 (6%) each from tension pneumothorax, airway obstruction, and sepsis. The population with nonsurvivable injuries was more severely injured than the population with potentially survivable injuries. Structured analysis identified improved methods of truncal hemorrhage control as a principal research requirement. The majority of deaths on the modern battlefield are nonsurvivable. Improved methods of intravenous or intracavitary, noncompressible hemostasis combined with rapid evacuation to surgery may increase survival.

Long-Term Survival in Young Women: Hazards and Competing Risks after Thyroid Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stroup, A. M.; Harrell, C. J.; Herget, K. A.

2012-01-01

Differentiated thyroid cancers (DTCs) are one of the most common and survivable cancers diagnosed in women. We examine factors associated with long-term survival and competing risks of death in women diagnosed with DTC under the age of 40 (<40) and aged 40 and older (40+). Methods. SEER data was used to identify DTCs diagnosed in women from 1975 to 2009. We examined overall (OS), disease-specific (DSS), other cancer (OCS), and non-cancer-related (NCS) survival using multivariate Cox proportional hazards modeling. Results. Observed survival was 97.2% for <40 (n=14,540) and 82.5% for 40+ (n=20,513). Distant stage (HR=1.96, 95% CI 1.23-3.07), non-Hispanic Black (HR=2.04, 95% CI 1.45-2.87), being unmarried (HR=1.26, 95% 1.03-1.54), and subsequent primary cancers (HR=4.63, 95% CI 3.76-5.71) were significant for OS in women <40. Age was an effect modifier for all survival outcomes. Racial disparities in NCS were most pronounced for young non-Hispanic black women (HR=3.36, 95% CI 2.17-5.22). Women in both age groups were more likely to die from other causes. Conclusions. Age at diagnosis remains one of the strongest prognostic factors for thyroid cancer survival. More directed efforts to ensure effective care for co morbid conditions are needed to reduce mortality from other causes.

Effect of Interval to Definitive Breast Surgery on Clinical Presentation and Survival in Early-Stage Invasive Breast Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vujovic, Olga; Yu, Edward; Cherian, Anil; Perera, Francisco; Dar, A. Rashid; Stitt, Larry; Hammond, A.

2009-01-01

Purpose: To examine the effect of clinical presentation and interval to breast surgery on local recurrence and survival in early-stage breast cancer. Methods and Materials: The data from 397 patients with Stage T1-T2N0 breast carcinoma treated with conservative surgery and breast radiotherapy between 1985 and 1992 were reviewed at the London Regional Cancer Program. The clinical presentation consisted of a mammogram finding or a palpable lump. The intervals from clinical presentation to definitive breast surgery used for analysis were 0-4, >4-12, and >12 weeks. The Kaplan-Meier estimates of the time to local recurrence, disease-free survival, and cause-specific survival were determined for the three groups. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the effect of clinical presentation and interval to definitive surgery on survival. Results: The median follow-up was 11.2 years. No statistically significant difference was found in local recurrence as a function of the interval to definitive surgery (p = .424). A significant difference was noted in disease-free survival (p = .040) and cause-specific survival (p = .006) with an interval of >12 weeks to definitive breast surgery. However, the interval to definitive surgery was dependent on the presentation for cause-specific survival, with a substantial effect for patients with a mammographic presentation and a negligible effect for patients with a lump presentation (interaction p = .041). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that an interval of >12 weeks to breast surgery might be associated with decreased survival for patients with a mammographic presentation, but it appeared to have no effect on survival for patients presenting with a palpable breast lump.

CovR Regulates Streptococcus mutans Susceptibility To Complement Immunity and Survival in Blood

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Lívia A.; Nomura, Ryota; Mariano, Flávia S.; Harth-Chu, Erika N.; Stipp, Rafael N.; Nakano, Kazuhiko

2016-01-01

Streptococcus mutans, a major pathogen of dental caries, may promote systemic infections after accessing the bloodstream from oral niches. In this study, we investigate pathways of complement immunity against S. mutans and show that the orphan regulator CovR (CovRSm) modulates susceptibility to complement opsonization and survival in blood. S. mutans blood isolates showed reduced susceptibility to C3b deposition compared to oral isolates. Reduced expression of covRSm in blood strains was associated with increased transcription of CovRSm-repressed genes required for S. mutans interactions with glucans (gbpC, gbpB, and epsC), sucrose-derived exopolysaccharides (EPS). Consistently, blood strains showed an increased capacity to bind glucan in vitro. Deletion of covRSm in strain UA159 (UAcov) impaired C3b deposition and binding to serum IgG and C-reactive protein (CRP) as well as phagocytosis through C3b/iC3b receptors and killing by neutrophils. Opposite effects were observed in mutants of gbpC, epsC, or gtfBCD (required for glucan synthesis). C3b deposition on UA159 was abolished in C1q-depleted serum, implying that the classical pathway is essential for complement activation on S. mutans. Growth in sucrose-containing medium impaired the binding of C3b and IgG to UA159, UAcov, and blood isolates but had absent or reduced effects on C3b deposition in gtfBCD, gbpC, and epsC mutants. UAcov further showed increased ex vivo survival in human blood in an EPS-dependent way. Consistently, reduced survival was observed for the gbpC and epsC mutants. Finally, UAcov showed an increased ability to cause bacteremia in a rat model. These results reveal that CovRSm modulates systemic virulence by regulating functions affecting S. mutans susceptibility to complement opsonization. PMID:27572331

Network survivability performance

Science.gov (United States)

1993-11-01

This technical report has been developed to address the survivability of telecommunications networks including services. It responds to the need for a common understanding of, and assessment techniques for network survivability, availability, integrity, and reliability. It provides a basis for designing and operating telecommunications networks to user expectations for network survivability and a foundation for continuing industry activities in the subject area. This report focuses on the survivability of both public and private networks and covers a wide range of users. Two frameworks are established for quantifying and categorizing service outages, and for classifying network survivability techniques and measures. The performance of the network survivability techniques is considered; however, recommended objectives are not established for network survivability performance.

Survival of male Tengmalm’s owls increases with cover of old forest in the territory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hakkarainen, H.; Korpimäki, E.; Laaksonen, T.; Nikula, A.; Suorsa, P.

2008-01-01

The loss and fragmentation of forest habitats have been considered to pose a worldwide threat to the viability of forest-dwelling animals, especially to species that occupy old forests. We investigated whether the annual survival of sedentary male Tengmalm’s owls Aegolius funereus was associated

Mortality, Causes of Death and Associated Factors Relate to a Large HIV Population-Based Cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Garriga, César; García de Olalla, Patricia; Miró, Josep M; Ocaña, Inma; Knobel, Hernando; Barberá, Maria Jesús; Humet, Victoria; Domingo, Pere; Gatell, Josep M; Ribera, Esteve; Gurguí, Mercè; Marco, Andrés; Caylà, Joan A

2015-01-01

Antiretroviral therapy has led to a decrease in HIV-related mortality and to the emergence of non-AIDS defining diseases as competing causes of death. This study estimates the HIV mortality rate and their risk factors with regard to different causes in a large city from January 2001 to June 2013. We followed-up 3137 newly diagnosed HIV non-AIDS cases. Causes of death were classified as HIV-related, non-HIV-related and external. We examined the effect of risk factors on survival using mortality rates, Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox models. Finally, we estimated survival for each main cause of death groups through Fine and Gray models. 182 deaths were found [14.0/1000 person-years of follow-up (py); 95% confidence interval (CI):12.0-16.1/1000 py], 81.3% of them had a known cause of death. Mortality rate by HIV-related causes and non-HIV-related causes was the same (4.9/1000 py; CI:3.7-6.1/1000 py), external was lower [1.7/1000 py; (1.0-2.4/1000 py)]. Kaplan-Meier estimate showed worse survival in intravenous drug user (IDU) and heterosexuals than in men having sex with men (MSM). Factors associated with HIV-related causes of death include: IDU male (subHazard Ratio (sHR):3.2; CI:1.5-7.0) and causes of death include: ageing (sHR:1.5; CI:1.4-1.7) and heterosexual female (sHR:2.8; CI:1.1-7.3) versus MSM. Factors associated with external causes of death were IDU male (sHR:28.7; CI:6.7-123.2) and heterosexual male (sHR:11.8; CI:2.5-56.4) versus MSM. There are important differences in survival among transmission groups. Improved treatment is especially necessary in IDUs and heterosexual males.

Estimation of age- and stage-specific Catalan breast cancer survival functions using US and Catalan survival data

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

Background During the last part of the 1990s the chance of surviving breast cancer increased. Changes in survival functions reflect a mixture of effects. Both, the introduction of adjuvant treatments and early screening with mammography played a role in the decline in mortality. Evaluating the contribution of these interventions using mathematical models requires survival functions before and after their introduction. Furthermore, required survival functions may be different by age groups and are related to disease stage at diagnosis. Sometimes detailed information is not available, as was the case for the region of Catalonia (Spain). Then one may derive the functions using information from other geographical areas. This work presents the methodology used to estimate age- and stage-specific Catalan breast cancer survival functions from scarce Catalan survival data by adapting the age- and stage-specific US functions. Methods Cubic splines were used to smooth data and obtain continuous hazard rate functions. After, we fitted a Poisson model to derive hazard ratios. The model included time as a covariate. Then the hazard ratios were applied to US survival functions detailed by age and stage to obtain Catalan estimations. Results We started estimating the hazard ratios for Catalonia versus the USA before and after the introduction of screening. The hazard ratios were then multiplied by the age- and stage-specific breast cancer hazard rates from the USA to obtain the Catalan hazard rates. We also compared breast cancer survival in Catalonia and the USA in two time periods, before cancer control interventions (USA 1975–79, Catalonia 1980–89) and after (USA and Catalonia 1990–2001). Survival in Catalonia in the 1980–89 period was worse than in the USA during 1975–79, but the differences disappeared in 1990–2001. Conclusion Our results suggest that access to better treatments and quality of care contributed to large improvements in survival in Catalonia. On

Conservation implications of ameliorating survival of little brown bats with white-nose syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Maslo, Brooke; Valent, Mick; Gumbs, John F; Frick, Winifred F

2015-10-01

Management of wildlife populations impacted by novel threats is often challenged by a lack of data on temporal changes in demographic response. Populations may suffer rapid declines from the introduction of new stressors, but how demography changes over time is critical to determining long-term outcomes for populations. White-nose syndrome (WNS), an infectious disease of hibernating bats, has caused massive and rapid population declines in several hibernating species of bats in North America since the disease was first observed on the continent in 2006. Estimating annual survival rates and demographic trends among remnant colonies of hibernating bats that experienced mass mortality from WNS is needed to determine long-term population viability of species impacted by this disease. Using mark-recapture data on infected little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), we estimated the first apparent annual survival rates for four years following WNS detection at a site. We found strong support for an increasing trend in annual survival, which improved from 0.68 (95% CI = 0.44-0.85) to 0.75 (95% CI = 0.51-0.89) for males and 0.65 (95% CI = 0.44-0.81) to 0.70 (95% CI = 0.50-0.84) for females. These results suggest that stabilization at remnant colonies after mass mortality from WNS may be due to improved survival and not from immigration from other areas. Despite ameliorating survival, our stochastic matrix projection model predicts continued declines for little brown bat populations (λ = 0.95), raising concern for the regional persistence of this species. We conducted a vital rate sensitivity analysis and determined that adult and juvenile survival, as opposed to fecundity, are the demographic parameters most important to target to maximize recovery potential of little brown bat populations in areas impacted by WNS.

Disparities in Survival with Bystander CPR following Cardiopulmonary Arrest Based on Neighborhood Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nina Thakkar Rivera

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The American Heart Association reports the annual incidence of out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrests (OHCA is greater than 300,000 with a survival rate of 9.5%. Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR saves one life for every 30, with a 10% decrease in survival associated with every minute of delay in CPR initiation. Bystander CPR and training vary widely by region. We conducted a retrospective study of 320 persons who suffered OHCA in South Florida over 25 months. Increased survival, overall and with bystander CPR, was seen with increasing income (p=0.05, with a stronger disparity between low- and high-income neighborhoods (p=0.01 and p=0.03, resp.. Survival with bystander CPR was statistically greater in white- versus black-predominant neighborhoods (p=0.04. Increased survival, overall and with bystander CPR, was seen with high- versus low-education neighborhoods (p=0.03. Neighborhoods with more high school age persons displayed the lowest survival. We discovered a significant disparity in OHCA survival within neighborhoods of low-income, black-predominance, and low-education. Reduced survival was seen in neighborhoods with larger populations of high school students. This group is a potential target for training, and instruction can conceivably change survival outcomes in these neighborhoods, closing the gap, thus improving survival for all.

Effects of temperature, nutrients, organic matter and coral mucus on the survival of the coral pathogen, Serratia marcescens PDL100.

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Looney, Erin E; Sutherland, Kathryn P; Lipp, Erin K

2010-09-01

Serratia marcescens is an enteric bacterium that causes white pox disease in elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata; however, it remains unclear if the pathogenic strain has adapted to seawater or if it requires a host or reservoir for survival. To begin to address this fundamental issue, the persistence of strain PDL100 was compared among seawater and coral mucus microcosms. Median survival time across all conditions ranged from a low of 15 h in natural seawater [with a first-order decay constant (k) = -0.173] at 30°C to a maximum of 120 h in glucose-amended A. palmata mucus (k = -0.029) at 30°C. Among seawater and mucus microcosms, median survival time was significantly greater within Siderastrea siderea mucus compared with seawater or mucus of Montastraea faveolata or A. palmata (P palmata mucus (P < 0.0001). Increasing the temperature of seawater to 35°C resulted in a significantly slower decay than that observed at 30°C (P < 0.0001). The results of this study indicate that PDL100 is not well-adapted to marine water; however, survival can be improved by increasing temperature, the availability of coral mucus from S. siderea and most notably the presence of dissolved organic carbon. © 2010 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Graves' disease and toxic nodular goiter are both associated with increased mortality but differ with respect to the cause of death

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Frans; Thvilum, Marianne; Pedersen, Dorthe Almind

2013-01-01

Background: Hyperthyroidism has been associated with increased all-cause mortality. Whether the underlying cause of hyperthyroidism influences this association is unclear. Our objectives were to explore whether mortality risk and cause of death differ between Graves' disease (GD) and toxic nodular...

Survival of Bacillus anthracis spores in fruit juices and wine.

Science.gov (United States)

Leishman, Oriana N; Johnson, Miranda J; Labuza, Theodore P; Diez-Gonzalez, Francisco

2010-09-01

Foods have been identified as a potential target for bioterrorism due to their essential nature and global distribution. Foods produced in bulk have the potential to have large batches of product intentionally contaminated, which could affect hundreds or thousands of individuals. Bacillus anthracis spores are one potential bioterrorism agent that may survive pasteurization and remain viable throughout the shelf life of fruit juices and cause disease if consumed. This project examined B. anthracis spore survival in orange, apple, and grape juices, as well as wine. Samples of beverages were inoculated with spores of two nonpathogenic B. anthracis strains at approximately 10(6) CFU/ml, and the spore count was determined periodically during storage for 30 days at 4°C. After this time, the counts of survival spores never declined more than 1 log CFU/ml in any of the beverage types. These results indicate that spores can survive, with little to no loss in viability, for at least a month in fruit juices and wine.

Winter Survival of Individual Honey Bees and Honey Bee Colonies Depends on Level of Varroa destructor Infestation

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van Dooremalen, Coby; Gerritsen, Lonne; Cornelissen, Bram; van der Steen, Jozef J. M.; van Langevelde, Frank; Blacquière, Tjeerd

2012-01-01

Background Recent elevated winter loss of honey bee colonies is a major concern. The presence of the mite Varroa destructor in colonies places an important pressure on bee health. V. destructor shortens the lifespan of individual bees, while long lifespan during winter is a primary requirement to survive until the next spring. We investigated in two subsequent years the effects of different levels of V. destructor infestation during the transition from short-lived summer bees to long-lived winter bees on the lifespan of individual bees and the survival of bee colonies during winter. Colonies treated earlier in the season to reduce V. destructor infestation during the development of winter bees were expected to have longer bee lifespan and higher colony survival after winter. Methodology/Principal Findings Mite infestation was reduced using acaricide treatments during different months (July, August, September, or not treated). We found that the number of capped brood cells decreased drastically between August and November, while at the same time, the lifespan of the bees (marked cohorts) increased indicating the transition to winter bees. Low V. destructor infestation levels before and during the transition to winter bees resulted in an increase in lifespan of bees and higher colony survival compared to colonies that were not treated and that had higher infestation levels. A variety of stress-related factors could have contributed to the variation in longevity and winter survival that we found between years. Conclusions/Significance This study contributes to theory about the multiple causes for the recent elevated colony losses in honey bees. Our study shows the correlation between long lifespan of winter bees and colony loss in spring. Moreover, we show that colonies treated earlier in the season had reduced V. destructor infestation during the development of winter bees resulting in longer bee lifespan and higher colony survival after winter. PMID:22558421

Advanced gastric adenocarcinoma. Influence of preoperative radiation therapy on toxicity and long-term survival rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malzoni, Carlos Eduardo

1996-01-01

The surgical treatment of gastric cancer has better long-term survival rates when performed in patients with early gastric cancer. Worse results are obtained in treatment of advanced gastric cancer. Most patients in west centers are treated in advanced stages. A great number of them go through a surgical treatment unable by itself to cure them. the frequent local recurrence caused by failure of the surgical treatment has been keeping poor survival rates in patients with advanced gastric cancer for decades. The desire of improving survival is the reason of the use of adjuvant therapies. This paper achieved the retrospective study of the influence of preoperative radiation therapy (2000 cGy) in long-term survival rates (120 months) of patients with advanced gastric cancer on stages IIIa, IIIb and IV. The possible injuries caused in the liver and kidney were observed also as well as first group was treated by surgical and radiation therapies and the second received surgical treatment only. There was no statistical difference between the two groups when sex, age, race, occurrence of other diseases, nutritional assessment, TNM stage, occurrence of obstruction or bleeding caused by tumor, surgical procedure and hepatic and renal function were considered. Survival rates and changes on hepatic and renal function were statistically compared. The results showed a statistic improvement on the long-term survival rates of stage IIIa patients treated by preoperative radiation therapy. No statistic difference was observed on hepatic or renal function between the groups. No adverse influence of radiation therapy method was detected by the used parameters. There was no statistical difference between the two groups when immediate surgical complications were considered. (author)

A low protein diet increases the hypoxic tolerance in Drosophila.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Vigne

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Dietary restriction is well known to increase the life span of a variety of organisms from yeast to mammals, but the relationships between nutrition and the hypoxic tolerance have not yet been considered. Hypoxia is a major cause of cell death in myocardial infarction and stroke. Here we forced hypoxia-related death by exposing one-day-old male Drosophila to chronic hypoxia (5% O(2 and analysed their survival. Chronic hypoxia reduced the average life span from 33.6 days to 6.3 days when flies were fed on a rich diet. A demographic analysis indicated that chronic hypoxia increased the slope of the mortality trajectory and not the short-term risk of death. Dietary restriction produced by food dilution, by yeast restriction, or by amino acid restriction partially reversed the deleterious action of hypoxia. It increased the life span of hypoxic flies up to seven days, which represented about 25% of the life time of an hypoxic fly. Maximum survival of hypoxic flies required only dietary sucrose, and it was insensitive to drugs such as rapamycin and resveratrol, which increase longevity of normoxic animals. The results thus uncover a new link between protein nutrition, nutrient signalling, and resistance to hypoxic stresses.

Animal-caused fatalities in New Mexico, 1993-2004.

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Lathrop, Sarah L

2007-01-01

To evaluate animal-caused fatalities in New Mexico using data collected during medicolegal death investigations, including toxicology, survival interval, and circumstances. A retrospective review of the computerized database and hard copies of files from a centralized, statewide medical examiner's office, excluding deaths due to zoonotic diseases and motor vehicle collisions involving animals. Between 1993 and 2004, 63 deaths caused by animals were reported in New Mexico. The majority of decedents were male (46/63, 73%) and non-Hispanic white (33/63, 52%). Horses were the most commonly implicated animals, with 43 (68%) deaths due to a person being thrown from, crushed, dragged, or kicked by a horse. Cattle caused 9 deaths (14%), dogs caused 3 (5%), and venomous animals caused 3, whereas a bear was responsible for 1 death. Ten decedents (16%) had alcohol present at the time of death, and 8 would have been over the legal blood alcohol concentration for driving (0.08%). Ten deaths (16%) were work-related and included deaths of jockeys and ranch workers. The majority of deaths (42/63, 67%) occurred in remote locations, potentially delaying access to treatment. Survival intervals ranged from 1 day to 33 years. Whereas both human and animal behavior can be difficult to predict, a review of animal-caused fatalities investigated by a medical examiner revealed that in many cases, deaths could have been prevented by either the use of protective gear or alterations in human behavior.

Rapidity gap survival in central exclusive diffraction: Dynamical mechanisms and uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strikman, Mark; Weiss, Christian

2009-01-01

We summarize our understanding of the dynamical mechanisms governing rapidity gap survival in central exclusive diffraction, pp -> p + H + p (H = high-mass system), and discuss the uncertainties in present estimates of the survival probability. The main suppression of diffractive scattering is due to inelastic soft spectator interactions at small pp impact parameters and can be described in a mean-field approximation (independent hard and soft interactions). Moderate extra suppression results from fluctuations of the partonic configurations of the colliding protons. At LHC energies absorptive interactions of hard spectator partons associated with the gg -> H process reach the black-disk regime and cause substantial additional suppression, pushing the survival probability below 0.01.

Intrathoracic anastomotic leakage after gastroesophageal cancer resection is associated with increased risk of recurrence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Steen C; Calatayud, Dan; Jensen, Lone S

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Intrathoracic anastomotic leakage after intended curative resection for cancer in the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction has a negative impact on long-term survival. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an anastomotic leakage was associated with an increased recurrence......]: 1.17-2.29, P = .004) and all-cause mortality (HR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.23-2.05, P cancer resection....

Individual and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Health care Resources in Relation to Black-White Breast Cancer Survival Disparities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akinyemiju, T. F.

2013-01-01

Breast cancer survival has improved significantly in the US in the past 10-15 years. However, disparities exist in breast cancer survival between black and white women. Purpose. To investigate the effect of county health care resources and SES as well as individual SES status on breast cancer survival disparities between black and white women. Methods. Data from 1,796 breast cancer cases were obtained from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results and the National Longitudinal Mortality Study dataset. Cox Proportional Hazards models were constructed accounting for clustering within counties. Three sequential Cox models were fit for each outcome including demographic variables; demographic and clinical variables; and finally demographic, clinical, and county-level variables. Results. In unadjusted analysis, black women had a 53% higher likelihood of dying of breast cancer and 32% higher likelihood of dying of any cause ( P < 0.05) compared with white women. Adjusting for demographic variables explained away the effect of race on breast cancer survival (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 0.99-1.97), but not on all-cause mortality. The racial difference in all-cause survival disappeared only after adjusting for county-level variables (HR, 1.27; CI, 0.95-1.71). Conclusions. Improving equitable access to health care for all women in the US may help eliminate survival disparities between racial and socioeconomic groups.

Human survival in volcanic eruptions: Thermal injuries in pyroclastic surges, their causes, prognosis and emergency management.

Science.gov (United States)

Baxter, Peter J; Jenkins, Susanna; Seswandhana, Rosadi; Komorowski, Jean-Christophe; Dunn, Ken; Purser, David; Voight, Barry; Shelley, Ian

2017-08-01

This study of burns patients from two eruptions of Merapi volcano, Java, in 1994 and 2010, is the first detailed analysis to be reported of thermal injuries in a large series of hospitalised victims of pyroclastic surges, one of the most devastating phenomena in explosive eruptions. Emergency planners in volcanic crises in populated areas have to integrate the health sector into disaster management and be aware of the nature of the surge impacts and the types of burns victims to be expected in a worst scenario, potentially in numbers and in severity that would overwhelm normal treatment facilities. In our series, 106 patients from the two eruptions were treated in the same major hospital in Yogyakarta and a third of these survived. Seventy-eight per cent were admitted with over 40% TBSA (total body surface area) burns and around 80% of patients were suspected of having at least some degree of inhalation injury as well. Thirty five patients suffered over 80% TBSA burns and only one of these survived. Crucially, 45% of patients were in the 40-79% TBSA range, with most suspected of suffering from inhalation injury, for whom survival was most dependent on the hospital treatment they received. After reviewing the evidence from recent major eruptions and outlining the thermal hazards of surges, we relate the type and severity of the injuries of these patients to the temperatures and dynamics of the pyroclastic surges, as derived from the environmental impacts and associated eruption processes evaluated in our field surveys and interviews conducted by our multi-disciplinary team. Effective warnings, adequate evacuation measures, and political will are all essential in volcanic crises in populated areas to prevent future catastrophes on this scale. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Annual survival rate estimate of satellite transmitter–marked eastern population greater sandhill cranes

Science.gov (United States)

Fronczak, David L.; Andersen, David E.; Hanna, Everett E.; Cooper, Thomas R.

2015-01-01

Several surveys have documented the increasing population size and geographic distribution of Eastern Population greater sandhill cranes Grus canadensis tabida since the 1960s. Sport hunting of this population of sandhill cranes started in 2012 following the provisions of the Eastern Population Sandhill Crane Management Plan. However, there are currently no published estimates of Eastern Population sandhill crane survival rate that can be used to inform harvest management. As part of two studies of Eastern Population sandhill crane migration, we deployed solar-powered global positioning system platform transmitting terminals on Eastern Population sandhill cranes (n  =  42) at key concentration areas from 2009 to 2012. We estimated an annual survival rate for Eastern Population sandhill cranes from data resulting from monitoring these cranes by using the known-fates model in the MARK program. Estimated annual survival rate for adult Eastern Population sandhill cranes was 0.950 (95% confidence interval  =  0.885–0.979) during December 2009–August 2014. All fatalities (n  =  5) occurred after spring migration in late spring and early summer. We were unable to determine cause of death for crane fatalities in our study. Our survival rate estimate will be useful when combined with other population parameters such as the population index derived from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fall survey, harvest, and recruitment rates to assess the effects of harvest on population size and trend and evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies.

Do American dippers obtain a survival benefit from altitudinal migration?

Science.gov (United States)

Green, David J; Whitehorne, Ivy B J; Middleton, Holly A; Morrissey, Christy A

2015-01-01

Studies of partial migrants provide an opportunity to assess the cost and benefits of migration. Previous work has demonstrated that sedentary American dippers (residents) have higher annual productivity than altitudinal migrants that move to higher elevations to breed. Here we use a ten-year (30 period) mark-recapture dataset to evaluate whether migrants offset their lower productivity with higher survival during the migration-breeding period when they occupy different habitat, or early and late-winter periods when they coexist with residents. Mark-recapture models provide no evidence that apparent monthly survival of migrants is higher than that of residents at any time of the year. The best-supported model suggests that monthly survival is higher in the migration-breeding period than winter periods. Another well-supported model suggested that residency conferred a survival benefit, and annual apparent survival (calculated from model weighted monthly apparent survival estimates using the Delta method) of residents (0.511 ± 0.038SE) was slightly higher than that of migrants (0.487 ± 0.032). Winter survival of American dippers was influenced by environmental conditions; monthly apparent survival increased as maximum daily flow rates increased and declined as winter temperatures became colder. However, we found no evidence that environmental conditions altered differences in winter survival of residents and migrants. Since migratory American dippers have lower productivity and slightly lower survival than residents our data suggests that partial migration is likely an outcome of competition for limited nest sites at low elevations, with less competitive individuals being forced to migrate to higher elevations in order to breed.

Effects of recombinant human epidermal growth factor on the proliferation and radiation survival of human fibroblast cell lines in vitro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyun Sook; Kang, Ki Mun; Na, Jae Boem; Chai, Gyu Young; Lee, Sang Wook

2006-01-01

To explore the effect of recombinant human EGF on the proliferation and survival of human fibroblast cell lines following irradiation. Fibroblast was originated human skin and primary cultured. The trypan blue stain assay and MTT assay were used to study the proliferative effects of EGF on human fibroblast cell lines in vitro. An incubation of fibroblasts with rhEGF for 24 hours immediately after irradiation was counted everyday. Cell cycle distributions were analyzed by FACS analysis. Number of fibroblast was significant more increased rhEGF (1.0 nM, 10 nM, 100 nM, 1,000 nM) treated cell than control after 8 Gy irradiation. Most effective dose of rhEGF was at 160 nM. These survival differences were maintained at 1 week later. Proportion of S phase was significantly increased on rhEGF treated cells. rhEGF cause increased fibroblast proliferation following irradiation. We expect that rhEGF was effective for radiation induced wound healing

Smoking, health, and survival: prospects in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, N

1981-05-16

Smoking is an increasingly prevalent habit in Bangladesh, particularly among men. In the past 10-15 years cigarette consumption has more than doubled. Over 100000 acres (405 Km2) of land that could produce food are planted with tobacco, and cereal imports making up for these production losses generally do not reach the below-subsistence cultivator and landless. Cancer of the lung is already the third commonest cancer among males, and annual deaths from this cause can be expected to increase by 12000 within 15 years. At present respiratory disease is the best-recognised direct health consequence of smoking. However, a more important health risk may be the reduction in nutritional status of young children which results from expenditure on smoking in households whose income for food purchase is already marginal. Smoking of only 5 cigarettes a day in poor household in Bangladesh might lead to a monthly dietary deficit of 8000 calories (33.5 MJ). The existence of young children in Bangladesh is already precarious owing to poor nutrition. If, as seems likely, expenditure on smoking means that they get even less food, then the survival of a large number of children is being seriously endangered.

Clinical findings and survival time in dogs with advanced heart failure.

Science.gov (United States)

Beaumier, Amelie; Rush, John E; Yang, Vicky K; Freeman, Lisa M

2018-04-10

Dogs with advanced heart failure are a clinical challenge for veterinarians but there are no studies reporting clinical features and outcome of this population. To describe clinical findings and outcome of dogs with advanced heart failure caused by degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD). Fifty-four dogs with advanced heart failure because of DMVD. For study purposes, advanced heart failure was defined as recurrence of congestive heart failure signs despite receiving the initially prescribed dose of pimobendan, angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACEI), and furosemide >4 mg/kg/day. Data were collected for the time of diagnosis of Stage C heart failure and time of diagnosis of advanced heart failure. Date of death was recorded. At the diagnosis of advanced heart failure, doses of pimobendan (n = 30), furosemide (n = 28), ACEI (n = 13), and spironolactone (n = 4) were increased, with ≥1 new medications added in most dogs. After initial diagnosis of advanced heart failure, 38 (70%) dogs had additional medications adjustments (median = 2 [range, 0-27]), with the final total medication number ranging from 2-10 (median = 5). Median survival time after diagnosis of advanced heart failure was 281 days (range, 3-885 days). Dogs receiving a furosemide dose >6.70 mg/kg/day had significantly longer median survival times (402 days [range, 3-885 days] versus 129 days [range 9-853 days]; P = .017). Dogs with advanced heart failure can have relatively long survival times. Higher furosemide dose and non-hospitalization were associated with longer survival. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Survival affects decision making for fenestrated and branched endovascular aortic repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Beach, Jocelyn M; Rajeswaran, Jeevanantham; Parodi, F Ezequiel; Kuramochi, Yuki; Brier, Corey; Blackstone, Eugene; Eagleton, Matthew J

2018-03-01

Repair options for complex abdominal and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs) are evolving with increased experience and availability of less invasive endovascular techniques. Identifying risk factors for mortality after fenestrated and branched endovascular aortic repair (F/B-EVAR) could improve patient selection and facilitate decision making regarding who may benefit from prophylactic F/B-EVAR. We evaluated 1091 patients in a prospective investigational device exemption trial who underwent F/B-EVAR from August 2001 to June 2015 for complex aortic aneurysms (CAAs). Multivariable analysis of risk factors for death was performed using a nonproportional hazards model and a nonparametric analysis using random survival forest technology. Operative mortality after F/B-EVAR was low (3.7%), with high CAA-related survival at 30 day and 5 years (96.8% and 94.0%, respectively). All-cause 5-year survival, however, was 46.2% and older age, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, renal disease, anemia, and coagulation disorders were risk factors. Risk was highest for those undergoing type I/II TAAA repairs and those with larger aneurysms. Patients with multiple comorbidities and those undergoing type I or II TAAA repair are at greatest risk of mortality; however, in this high-risk population, F/B-EVAR offers greater survival compared with that reported for the natural history of untreated aneurysms. Operative and early mortality is lower than the best-reported open repair outcomes, even in this high-risk population, suggesting a potential benefit in extending the use of F/B-EVAR to low-to-average risk CAA patients. Copyright © 2017 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improved survival for women with stage I breast cancer in south-east Sweden: A comparison between two time periods before and after increased use of adjuvant systemic therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johansson, Patrik; Fohlin, Helena; Arnesson, Lars-Gunnar

2009-01-01

Purpose. Continuous minor steps of improvement in the management of breast cancer have resulted in decreased mortality rates during the last decades. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcome of patients with stage I breast cancer diagnosed during two time periods that differed with respect to adjuvant systemic therapy. Material and methods. The studied population consisted of all women < 60 years of age, who were diagnosed breast cancer stage I between 1986 and 1999 in south-east Sweden, a total of 1 407 cases. The cohort was divided into two groups based on the management programmes of 1986 and 1992, hereafter referred to as Period 1 and Period 2. Before 1992 the only adjuvant systemic therapy recommended was tamoxifen for hormone receptor positive patients aged 50 years or older. During Period 2 the use of adjuvant treatment was extended to younger patients at high risk, identified by a high tumour S-phase fraction, with either hormonal or cytotoxic treatment. Results. The estimated distant recurrence-free survival rate was significantly higher during Period 2 than during Period 1 (p = 0.008). Subgroup analysis showed that the most evident reduction of distant recurrence risk was among hormone receptor-negative patients (HR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.31-1.09, p = 0.09) and among patients with a high tumour S-phase fraction (HR = 0.53, 0.30-0.93, p = 0.028). The risk reduction between the periods was still statistically significant in multivariate analysis when adjusting for different tumour characteristics and treatment modalities, indicating an influence of other factors not controlled for. One such factor may be the duration of tamoxifen treatment, which likely was more frequently five years during Period 2 than during Period 1. Conclusions. We conclude that the causes of the increase in distant recurrence free survival for women with breast cancer stage I are complex. The results support though that high-risk subgroups of stage I breast cancer patients

[Effect of blood transfusions on the survival of patients with colorectal cancers].

Science.gov (United States)

Klingler, K; Zhang, X; Menghini, T; Metzger, U; Largiadèr, F

1989-01-01

Blood transfusion is reported to cause immunosuppression. An adverse relationship between perioperative blood transfusions and the risk of subsequent recurrence of cancer was reported recently. We reviewed the records of 282 patients and analyzed the interaction between blood tranfusion and the outcome of Dukes stages A, B and C colorectal cancers treated by radical resection during the years 1978-1985. 53 of these patients did not receive any blood transfusions. The actuarial survival analysis (Cutler and Ederer) showed no significant difference for the overall and recurrence-free survival. This study did not support the hypothesis that blood transfusions had an adverse effect on survival of patients with colorectal cancer.

Humanity can survive a nuclear war

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greene, J.C.

1985-01-01

In this paper, the author expresses his belief that while a nuclear war would be a horrendous experience, the United States could still survive and ultimately recover. The author describes what the United States would be like two weeks after a full-scale attack against major military targets and population centers. He says about one half of the population will survive but their lifestyles will be drastically different. Although water distribution systems could be damaged and water service interrupted, analysis has shown that in most cases enough drinking water would be available. Food would also not be a serious complicating factor. With the right precautions, there is no intrinsic reason why life-support requirements for the survivors of a nuclear attack should not be met. The author also discusses how epidemics and diseases could be avoided. He also explains why the genetic effects of radiation are misunderstood and why a nuclear war would not cause sufficient mutations to threaten the survival of the society. The author concludes that the argument that a nuclear war could eliminate the human species or bring an end to civilization as we know it has not stood up to the light of objective and scientific examination

Body mass index and breast cancer survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guo, Qi; Burgess, Stephen; Turman, Constance

2017-01-01

Background: There is increasing evidence that elevated body mass index (BMI) is associated with reduced survival for women with breast cancer. However, the underlying reasons remain unclear. We conducted a Mendelian randomization analysis to investigate a possible causal role of BMI in survival...... from breast cancer. Methods: We used individual-level data from six large breast cancer case-cohorts including a total of 36 210 individuals (2475 events) of European ancestry. We created a BMI genetic risk score (GRS) based on genotypes at 94 known BMI-associated genetic variants. Association between...... the BMI genetic score and breast cancer survival was analysed by Cox regression for each study separately. Study-specific hazard ratios were pooled using fixed-effect meta-analysis. Results: BMI genetic score was found to be associated with reduced breast cancer-specific survival for estrogen receptor (ER...

Extent, causes and timing of moose calves mortality in western interior Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Osbourne, Timothy O.; Paragi, Thomas F.; Bodkin, James L.; Loranger, Andre J.; Johnson, W.N.

1991-01-01

We examined the causes and timing of moose (Alces alces) calf mortality during 1988­ 90 in 2 locations in western interior Alaska. Annual survival rates of all calves in 1988 (0.34, n = 42) and 1989 (0.29, n =47) on the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and in 1990 (0.25, n = 62) on the Koyukuk NWR were not significantly different. Survival rates of male and female calves were not significantly different during any year. Annual survival of single calves was significantly higher than that for twins in 1989 (0.56 vs. 0.20) and 1990 (0.37 vs. 0.21), but not in 1988. Black bears (Ursus americanus) killed 40% of all calves. Wolves (Canis lupus) killed 9% of the calves, unknown predators killed 8%, grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) killed 3%, and 5% died from other causes.

Improved survival prediction from lung function data in a large population sample

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miller, M.R.; Pedersen, O.F.; Lange, P.

2008-01-01

Studies relating tung function to survival commonly express lung function impairment as a percent of predicted but this retains age, height and sex bias. We have studied alternative methods of expressing forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) for predicting all cause and airway related lung disease.......1 respectively. Cut levels of lung function were used to categorise impairment and the HR for multivariate prediction of all cause and airway related lung disease mortality were 10 and 2044 respectively for the worst category of FEV1/ht(2) compared to 5 and 194 respectively for the worst category of FEV1PP....... In univariate predictions of all cause mortality the HR for FEV1/ht(2) categories was 2-4 times higher than those for FEV1PP and 3-10 times higher for airway related tung disease mortality. We conclude that FEV1/ht(2) is superior to FEV1PP for predicting survival. in a general population and this method...

Increased Severe Trauma Patient Volume is Associated With Survival Benefit and Reduced Total Health Care Costs: A Retrospective Observational Study Using a Japanese Nationwide Administrative Database.

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, Akira; Shiraishi, Atsushi; Fushimi, Kiyohide; Murata, Kiyoshi; Otomo, Yasuhiro

2017-06-07

The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations of severe trauma patient volume with survival benefit and health care costs. The effect of trauma patient volume on survival benefit is inconclusive, and reports on its effects on health care costs are scarce. We conducted a retrospective observational study, including trauma patients who were transferred to government-approved tertiary emergency hospitals, or hospitals with an intensive care unit that provided an equivalent quality of care, using a Japanese nationwide administrative database. We categorized hospitals according to their annual severe trauma patient volumes [1 to 50 (reference), 51 to 100, 101 to 150, 151 to 200, and ≥201]. We evaluated the associations of volume categories with in-hospital survival and total cost per admission using a mixed-effects model adjusting for patient severity and hospital characteristics. A total of 116,329 patients from 559 hospitals were analyzed. Significantly increased in-hospital survival rates were observed in the second, third, fourth, and highest volume categories compared with the reference category [94.2% in the highest volume category vs 88.8% in the reference category, adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval, 95% CI) = 1.75 (1.49-2.07)]. Furthermore, significantly lower costs (in US dollars) were observed in the second and fourth categories [mean (standard deviation) for fourth vs reference = $17,800 ($17,378) vs $20,540 ($32,412), adjusted difference (95% CI) = -$2559 (-$3896 to -$1221)]. Hospitals with high volumes of severe trauma patients were significantly associated with a survival benefit and lower total cost per admission.

Preoperative radiotherapy for resectable rectal cancer: improved local control is prognostic for distant metastasis occurrence and survival

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zlotecki, Robert A.; Mendenhall, William M.; Copeland, Edward M.; Vauthey, Jean-Nicholas; Marsh, Robert D.; McCarley, Dean L.; Million, Rodney R.

1996-01-01

tumor length, Dukes pathologic stage, DM, and LC. Variables predictive for cause-specific survival were DM (0% with DM vs. 91% without), LC (63% with LC vs. <10% without), and tumor fixation or annular involvement (66% for mobile vs. 45% for tethered or annular tumors). Treatment-related side effects included delayed wound healing and infections (17%); and bowel obstruction, acute or late (4%). Anastomotic leak occurred in 6 of the 25 cases where LAR was performed. Conclusion: This series demonstrates that preoperative RT increases LC of resectable rectal cancers compared with historical surgery-alone series. LC is also demonstrated to be prognostic for DM and for survival. This series will now serve as an institutional control for the evaluation of our current preoperative treatment protocols, which combine concurrent systemic chemotherapy with pelvic RT

Is the effect of non-invasive ventilation on survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis age-dependent?

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Siirala, Waltteri; Aantaa, Riku; Olkkola, Klaus T; Saaresranta, Tarja; Vuori, Arno

2013-01-01

Hypoventilation due to respiratory muscle atrophy is the most common cause of death as a result of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Patients aged over 65 years and presenting bulbar symptoms are likely to have a poorer prognosis. The aim of the study was to assess the possible impact of age and treatment with non-invasive ventilation (NIV) on survival in ALS. Based on evidence from earlier studies, it was hypothesized that NIV increases rates of survival regardless of age. Eighty-four patients diagnosed with ALS were followed up on from January 2001 to June 2012. These patients were retrospectively divided into two groups according to their age at the time of diagnosis: Group 1 comprised patients aged ≤ 65 years while Group 2 comprised those aged > 65 years. Each group included 42 patients. NIV was tolerated by 23 patients in Group 1 and 18 patients in Group 2. Survival was measured in months from the date of diagnosis. The median age in Group 1 was 59 years (range 49 - 65) and 76 years in Group 2 (range 66 - 85). Among patients in Group 1 there was no difference in probability of survival between the NIV users and non-users (Hazard Ratio = 0.88, 95% CI 0.44 - 1.77, p = 0.7). NIV users in Group 2 survived longer than those following conventional treatment (Hazard Ratio = 0.25, CI 95% 0.11 - 0.55, p NIV had a 4-fold higher risk for death compared with NIV users. This retrospective study found that NIV use was associated with improved survival outcomes in ALS patients older than 65 years. Further studies in larger patient populations are warranted to determine which factors modify survival outcomes in ALS.

Multiple Weather Factors Affect Apparent Survival of European Passerine Birds

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Salewski, Volker; Hochachka, Wesley M.; Fiedler, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Weather affects the demography of animals and thus climate change will cause local changes in demographic rates. In birds numerous studies have correlated demographic factors with weather but few of those examined variation in the impacts of weather in different seasons and, in the case of migrants, in different regions. Using capture-recapture models we correlated weather with apparent survival of seven passerine bird species with different migration strategies to assess the importance of selected facets of weather throughout the year on apparent survival. Contrary to our expectations weather experienced during the breeding season did not affect apparent survival of the target species. However, measures for winter severity were associated with apparent survival of a resident species, two short-distance/partial migrants and a long-distance migrant. Apparent survival of two short distance migrants as well as two long-distance migrants was further correlated with conditions experienced during the non-breeding season in Spain. Conditions in Africa had statistically significant but relatively minor effects on the apparent survival of the two long-distance migrants but also of a presumably short-distance migrant and a short-distance/partial migrant. In general several weather effects independently explained similar amounts of variation in apparent survival for the majority of species and single factors explained only relatively low amounts of temporal variation of apparent survival. Although the directions of the effects on apparent survival mostly met our expectations and there are clear predictions for effects of future climate we caution against simple extrapolations of present conditions to predict future population dynamics. Not only did weather explains limited amounts of variation in apparent survival, but future demographics will likely be affected by changing interspecific interactions, opposing effects of weather in different seasons, and the potential for

Disease and predation: sorting out causes of a bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis decline.

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Joshua B Smith

Full Text Available Estimating survival and documenting causes and timing of mortality events in neonate bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis improves understanding of population ecology and factors influencing recruitment. During 2010-2012, we captured and radiocollared 74 neonates in the Black Hills, South Dakota, of which 95% (70 died before 52 weeks of age. Pneumonia (36% was the leading cause of mortality followed by predation (30%. We used known fate analysis in Program MARK to estimate weekly survival rates and investigate the influence of intrinsic variables on 52-week survival. Model {S1 wk, 2-8 wks, >8 wks} had the lowest AIC c (Akaike's Information Criterion corrected for small sample size value, indicating that age (3-stage age-interval: 1 week, 2-8 weeks, and >8 weeks best explained survival. Weekly survival estimates for 1 week, 2-8 weeks, and >8 weeks were 0.81 (95% CI = 0.70-0.88, 0.86 (95% CI = 0.81-0.90, and 0.94 (95% CI = 0.91-0.96, respectively. Overall probability of surviving 52 weeks was 0.02 (95% CI = 0.01-0.07. Of 70 documented mortalities, 21% occurred during the first week, 55% during weeks 2-8, and 23% occurred >8 weeks of age. We found pneumonia and predation were temporally heterogeneous with lambs most susceptible to predation during the first 2-3 weeks of life, while the greatest risk from pneumonia occurred from weeks 4-8. Our results indicated pneumonia was the major factor limiting recruitment followed by predation. Mortality from predation may have been partly compensatory to pneumonia and its effects were less pronounced as alternative prey became available. Given the high rates of pneumonia-caused mortality we observed, and the apparent lack of pneumonia-causing pathogens in bighorn populations in the western Black Hills, management activities should be geared towards eliminating contact between diseased and healthy populations.

Disease and predation: Sorting out causes of a bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) decline

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Smith, Joshua B.; Jenks, Jonathan A.; Grovenburg, Troy W.; Klaver, Robert W.

2014-01-01

Estimating survival and documenting causes and timing of mortality events in neonate bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) improves understanding of population ecology and factors influencing recruitment. During 2010–2012, we captured and radiocollared 74 neonates in the Black Hills, South Dakota, of which 95% (70) died before 52 weeks of age. Pneumonia (36%) was the leading cause of mortality followed by predation (30%). We used known fate analysis in Program MARK to estimate weekly survival rates and investigate the influence of intrinsic variables on 52-week survival. Model {S1 wk, 2–8 wks, >8 wks} had the lowest AICc (Akaike’s Information Criterion corrected for small sample size) value, indicating that age (3-stage age-interval: 1 week, 2–8 weeks, and >8 weeks) best explained survival. Weekly survival estimates for 1 week, 2–8 weeks, and >8 weeks were 0.81 (95% CI = 0.70–0.88), 0.86 (95% CI = 0.81–0.90), and 0.94 (95% CI = 0.91–0.96), respectively. Overall probability of surviving 52 weeks was 0.02 (95% CI = 0.01–0.07). Of 70 documented mortalities, 21% occurred during the first week, 55% during weeks 2–8, and 23% occurred >8 weeks of age. We found pneumonia and predation were temporally heterogeneous with lambs most susceptible to predation during the first 2–3 weeks of life, while the greatest risk from pneumonia occurred from weeks 4–8. Our results indicated pneumonia was the major factor limiting recruitment followed by predation. Mortality from predation may have been partly compensatory to pneumonia and its effects were less pronounced as alternative prey became available. Given the high rates of pneumonia-caused mortality we observed, and the apparent lack of pneumonia-causing pathogens in bighorn populations in the western Black Hills, management activities should be geared towards eliminating contact between diseased and healthy populations.

Botulinum toxin injection causes hyper-reflexia and increased muscle stiffness of the triceps surae muscle in the rat.

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Pingel, Jessica; Wienecke, Jacob; Lorentzen, Jakob; Nielsen, Jens Bo

2016-12-01

Botulinum toxin is used with the intention of diminishing spasticity and reducing the risk of development of contractures. Here, we investigated changes in muscle stiffness caused by reflex activity or elastic muscle properties following botulinum toxin injection in the triceps surae muscle in rats. Forty-four rats received injection of botulinum toxin in the left triceps surae muscle. Control measurements were performed on the noninjected contralateral side in all rats. Acute experiments were performed, 1, 2, 4, and 8 wk following injection. The triceps surae muscle was dissected free, and the Achilles tendon was cut and attached to a muscle puller. The resistance of the muscle to stretches of different amplitudes and velocities was systematically investigated. Reflex-mediated torque was normalized to the maximal muscle force evoked by supramaximal stimulation of the tibial nerve. Botulinum toxin injection caused severe atrophy of the triceps surae muscle at all time points. The force generated by stretch reflex activity was also strongly diminished but not to the same extent as the maximal muscle force at 2 and 4 wk, signifying a relative reflex hyperexcitability. Passive muscle stiffness was unaltered at 1 wk but increased at 2, 4, and 8 wk (P botulinum toxin causes a relative increase in reflex stiffness, which is likely caused by compensatory neuroplastic changes. The stiffness of elastic elements in the muscles also increased. The data are not consistent with the ideas that botulinum toxin is an efficient antispastic medication or that it may prevent development of contractures. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Survival analysis and classification methods for forest fire size.

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Tremblay, Pier-Olivier; Duchesne, Thierry; Cumming, Steven G

2018-01-01

Factors affecting wildland-fire size distribution include weather, fuels, and fire suppression activities. We present a novel application of survival analysis to quantify the effects of these factors on a sample of sizes of lightning-caused fires from Alberta, Canada. Two events were observed for each fire: the size at initial assessment (by the first fire fighters to arrive at the scene) and the size at "being held" (a state when no further increase in size is expected). We developed a statistical classifier to try to predict cases where there will be a growth in fire size (i.e., the size at "being held" exceeds the size at initial assessment). Logistic regression was preferred over two alternative classifiers, with covariates consistent with similar past analyses. We conducted survival analysis on the group of fires exhibiting a size increase. A screening process selected three covariates: an index of fire weather at the day the fire started, the fuel type burning at initial assessment, and a factor for the type and capabilities of the method of initial attack. The Cox proportional hazards model performed better than three accelerated failure time alternatives. Both fire weather and fuel type were highly significant, with effects consistent with known fire behaviour. The effects of initial attack method were not statistically significant, but did suggest a reverse causality that could arise if fire management agencies were to dispatch resources based on a-priori assessment of fire growth potentials. We discuss how a more sophisticated analysis of larger data sets could produce unbiased estimates of fire suppression effect under such circumstances.

Patch size and edge proximity are useful predictors of brood parasitism but not nest survival of grassland birds.

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Benson, Thomas J; Chiavacci, Scott J; Ward, Michael P

2013-06-01

Declines of migratory birds have led to increased focus on causative factors for these declines, including the potential adverse effects of habitat fragmentation on reproductive success. Although numerous studies have addressed how proximity to a habitat edge, patch size, or landscape context influence nest survival or brood parasitism, many have failed to find the purported effects. Furthermore, many have sought to generalize patterns across large geographic areas and habitats. Here, we examined evidence for effects of edge proximity, patch size, and landscape context on nest survival and brood parasitism of grassland birds, a group of conservation concern. The only consistent effect was a positive association between edge proximity and brood parasitism. We examined effects of patch size on nest survival (37 studies) and brood parasitism (30 studies) representing 170 and 97 different estimates, respectively, with a total sample size of > 14000 nests spanning eastern North America. Nest survival weakly increased with patch size in the Great Plains, but not in the Midwestern or Eastern United States, and brood parasitism was inversely related to patch size and consistently greater in the Great Plains. The consistency in brood parasitism relative to nest survival patterns is likely due to parasitism being caused by one species, while nest survival is driven by a diverse and variable suite of nest predators. Often, studies assume that predators responsible for nest predation, the main driver of nest success, either are the same or exhibit the same behaviors across large geographic areas. These results suggest that a better mechanistic understanding of nest predation is needed to provide meaningful conservation recommendations for improving grassland bird productivity, and that the use of general recommendations across large geographic areas should only be undertaken when sufficient data are available from all regions.