Publications by authors named "Mock K"

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection and plays a significant role in cervical, penile, anal, vaginal, vulvar, and oropharyngeal cancers as well as non-cancerous genital warts and genital dysplasia. In the United States, there are approximately 46,000 new HPV-related cancers a year. There is an effective vaccine to prevent over 90% of these cancers and other HPV-related diseases; however, those that are aged 18-26 have the lowest vaccine rates among eligible age groups.

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Understanding how mutations arise and spread through individuals and populations is fundamental to evolutionary biology. Most organisms have a life cycle with unicellular bottlenecks during reproduction. However, some organisms like plants, fungi, or colonial animals can grow indefinitely, changing the manner in which mutations spread throughout both the individual and the population.

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Context: With abortion no longer deemed a constitutional right in the United States (US), the importance of effective contraceptive methods cannot be overstated. Both male sterilization (vasectomy) and female sterilization (tubal ligation) have the lowest failure rates of available means of contraception. Despite the less invasive and reversible nature of vasectomy compared to tubal ligation procedures and even though some healthcare professionals dissuade certain women, especially those who are white and/or economically advantaged, from undergoing a sterilization procedure, female sterilization is approximately three times more prevalent than male sterilization in the US.

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Trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) is arguably the most important deciduous tree species in the Intermountain West of North America. There, as elsewhere in its range, aspen exhibits remarkable genetic variation in observable traits such as morphology and phenology. In contrast to Great Lakes populations, however, relatively little is known about phytochemical variation in western aspen.

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Article Synopsis
  • Intracranial artery calcifications (IAC) are frequently found on CT angiography and may indicate a higher risk for ischemic stroke.
  • While atherosclerosis in brain arteries is known to contribute to strokes, IAC is not yet used as an official predictor for stroke risk or recurrence.
  • The review investigates the underlying causes, prevalence of IAC, and evidence that suggests it could be a valuable tool for predicting stroke occurrences, recurrences, and treatment responses.
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Background And Aims: At the population level, genetic diversity is a key determinant of a tree species' capacity to cope with stress. However, little is known about the relative importance of the different components of genetic diversity for tree stress responses. We compared how two sources of genetic diversity, genotype and cytotype (i.

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Background: Traffic and industrial emissions are associated with increased pediatric asthma morbidity. However, few studies have examined the influence of city industrial zoning on pediatric asthma outcomes among minoritized communities with limited access to air monitoring. Methods: In this cross-sectional analysis of 39,974 school-aged students in Santa Ana, CA, we investigated the effect of proximity to areas zoned for industrial use on pediatric asthma prevalence, physical fitness, school attendance, and standardized test scores.

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Polyploidy, the expression of more than two sets of chromosomes, is common in plants, and is thought to influence plant trait expression and drive plant species evolution. The degree to which polyploidy influences interactions among physiological processes such as growth and defense in natural populations through its effect on phenotypic variability is poorly understood. We link broad plant genotypic features (including polyploidy) to phenotypic expression of growth and chemical defense in natural populations of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) to examine patterns in resource allocation that might drive growth-defense tradeoffs.

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Mapping geographic mosaics of genetic variation and their consequences via genotype x environment interactions at large extents and high resolution has been limited by the scalability of DNA sequencing. Here, we address this challenge for cytotype (chromosome copy number) variation in quaking aspen, a drought-impacted foundation tree species. We integrate airborne imaging spectroscopy data with ground-based DNA sequencing data and canopy damage data in 391 km of southwestern Colorado.

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Species responses to climate change depend on environment, genetics, and interactions among these factors. Intraspecific cytotype (ploidy level) variation is a common type of genetic variation in many species. However, the importance of intraspecific cytotype variation in determining demography across environments is poorly known.

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Objective: To determine the long-term outcome of endoscopic urethrotomy for primary urethral strictures based on a population-based approach.

Patients And Methods: We analysed a nationwide database of all patients with urethral stricture disease who underwent endoscopic urethrotomy as a primary intervention between January 2006 and December 2007. All patients were followed individually for 7-9 years.

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Background: Although there is evidence that self-inflicted abdominal stab wounds are less severe than those from assault, it is unclear if this is true in other anatomic regions. This study compares severity and injury pattern between self-inflicted stab wounds (SISWs) and wounds from assault (ASW).

Materials And Methods: Stab wounds from our level I trauma registry from 2013 to 2018 were reviewed.

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is the widest-ranging tree species in North America and an ecologically important component of mesic forest ecosystems displaced by the Pleistocene glaciations. Using phylogeographic analyses of genome-wide SNPs (34,796 SNPs, 183 individuals) and ecological niche modeling, we inferred population structure, ploidy levels, admixture, and Pleistocene range dynamics of , and tested several historical biogeographical hypotheses. We found three genetic lineages located mainly in coastal-Cascades (cluster 1), east-slope Cascades-Sierra Nevadas-Northern Rockies (cluster 2), and U.

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Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess the classification capability of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) ultrasound feature descriptors targeting established commercial transcriptomic gene signatures that guide management of breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective, single-institution analysis of 219 patients involved two cohorts using one of two FDA approved transcriptome-based tests that were performed as part of the clinical care of breast cancer patients at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center between April 2008 and January 2013. BI-RADS descriptive terminology was collected from the corresponding ultrasound reports for each patient in conjunction with transcriptomic test results.

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Background: Pertuzumab has improved pathologic complete response rates when compared with other chemotherapeutics in the treatment of HER-2 positive breast cancer patients.

Aims: We sought to determine if axillary lymph node dissections (ALNDs) yielding at least the national standard of 10 lymph nodes is lower in patients who received neoadjuvant pertuzumab.

Methods And Results: A retrospective database identified patients who underwent ALND for breast cancer.

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The preference-performance hypothesis states that ovipositing phytophagous insects will select host plants that are well-suited for their offspring and avoid host plants that do not support offspring performance (survival, development and fitness). The mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), a native insect herbivore in western North America, can successfully attack and reproduce in most species of Pinus throughout its native range. However, mountain pine beetles avoid attacking Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva), despite recent climate-driven increases in mountain pine beetle populations at the high elevations where Great Basin bristlecone pine grows.

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Information on the distribution of multiple species in a common landscape is fundamental to effective conservation and management. However, distribution data are expensive to obtain and often limited to high-profile species in a system. A recently developed technique, environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling, has been shown to be more sensitive than traditional detection methods for many aquatic species.

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Chromosomal rearrangement can be an important mechanism driving population differentiation and incipient speciation. In the mountain pine beetle (MPB, Dendroctonus ponderosae), deletions on the Y chromosome that are polymorphic among populations are associated with reproductive incompatibility. Here, we used RAD sequencing across the entire MPB range in western North America to reveal the extent of the phylogeographic differences between Y haplotypes compared to autosomal and X-linked loci.

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Background: Carefully selected children with early appendicitis may be managed nonoperatively. However, it is unknown whether nonoperative management (NOM) is applicable to all patients with uncomplicated appendicitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of NOM of uncomplicated appendicitis with expanded inclusion criteria.

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Ploidy levels sometimes vary among individuals or populations, particularly in plants. When such variation exists, accurate determination of cytotype can inform studies of ecology or trait variation and is required for population genetic analyses. Here, we propose and evaluate a statistical approach for distinguishing low-level ploidy variants (e.

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Cancer metastasis is the main reason for poor patient survival. Tumor cells delaminate from the primary tumor by induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT is mediated by key transcription factors, including ZEB1, activated by tumor cell interactions with stromal cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM).

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Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical, financial, and socioeconomic factors associated with negative appendectomy (NA).

Methods: Data were obtained from the California State Inpatient Database (2005 to 2011). Patients (≥18 years) who underwent nonincidental appendectomies (n = 180,958) were evaluated with multivariate regression analyses.

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The population of the United States is predicted to age dramatically over the next few decades; as such older patients will comprise an increasing proportion of the injured populations. Due to multiple comorbidities and frailty, the old and very old are at greater risk for mortality than younger patients. To identify predictors of inhospital mortality in these patients, we performed a retrospective cohort study at our Level 1 trauma center.

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High-fructose corn syrup-55 (HFCS-55) has been suggested to be more lipogenic than sucrose, which increases the risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and dyslipidemia. The study objectives were to determine the effects of drinking different sugar-sweetened solutions on hepatic gene expression in relation to liver fatty acid composition and risk of NAFLD. Female rats were randomly assigned (n=7 rats/group) to drink water or water sweetened with 13% (w/v) HFCS-55, sucrose or fructose for 8 weeks.

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