Impact of Perioperative Infection on Cancer Specific Survival after Nephrectomy for Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Purpose: Several case reports have documented rare spontaneous cancer regression following systemic infections. Immune related targeted therapies are now available for many cancers, including renal cell carcinoma. We hypothesized that perioperative infection after nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma may impact long-term cancer specific survival.

Short-term heat stress alters redox balance in porcine skeletal muscle.

Heat stress contributes to higher morbidity and mortality in humans and animals and is an agricultural economic challenge because it reduces livestock productivity. Redox balance and associated mitochondrial responses appear to play a central role in heat stress-induced skeletal muscle pathology. We have previously reported increased oxidative stress and mitochondrial content in oxidative muscle following 12 h of heat stress.

Synthetic temperature-inducible lethal gene circuits in Escherichia coli.

Temperature sensitivity is often used as a way to attenuate micro-organisms to convert them into live vaccines. In this work, we explore the use of temperature-sensitive (TS) genetic circuits that express lethal genes as a widely applicable approach to TS attenuation. We tested different combinations of TS repressors and cognate promoters controlling the expression of genes encoding restriction endonucleases inserted at four different non-essential sites in the Escherichia coli chromosome.

Night-Break Experiments Shed Light on the Photoperiod1-Mediated Flowering.

Plants utilize variation in day length (photoperiod) to anticipate seasonal changes. They respond by modulating their growth and development to maximize seed production, which in cereal crops is directly related to yield. In wheat (), the acceleration of flowering under long days (LD) is dependent on the light induction of () by phytochromes.

Nutrient sensing by absorptive and secretory progenies of small intestinal stem cells.

Nutrient sensing triggers responses by the gut-brain axis modulating hormone release, feeding behavior and metabolism that become dysregulated in metabolic syndrome and some cancers. Except for absorptive enterocytes and secretory enteroendocrine cells, the ability of many intestinal cell types to sense nutrients is still unknown; hence we hypothesized that progenitor stem cells (intestinal stem cells, ISC) possess nutrient sensing ability inherited by progenies during differentiation. We directed via modulators of Wnt and Notch signaling differentiation of precursor mouse intestinal crypts into specialized organoids each containing ISC, enterocyte, goblet, or Paneth cells at relative proportions much higher than in situ as determined by mRNA expression and immunocytochemistry of cell type biomarkers.

Clinical, behavioural and pharmacogenomic factors influencing the response to levothyroxine therapy in patients with primary hypothyroidism-protocol for a systematic review.

Background: Suboptimal thyroid hormone therapy including under-replacement and over-replacement is common amongst patients with hypothyroidism. This is a significant health concern as affected patients are at risk of adverse cardiovascular or metabolic consequences. Despite a growing body of evidence on the effects of various factors on thyroid hormone replacement, a systematic appraisal of the evidence is lacking.

Regulation of Mammalian Mitochondrial Gene Expression: Recent Advances.

Perturbation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene expression can lead to human pathologies. Therefore, a greater appreciation of the basic mechanisms of mitochondrial gene expression is desirable to understand the pathophysiology of associated disorders. Although the purpose of the mitochondrial gene expression machinery is to provide only 13 proteins of the oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) system, recent studies have revealed its remarkable and unexpected complexity.

Experiences and Preferences for End-of-Life Care for Young Adults with Cancer and Their Informal Carers: A Narrative Synthesis.

To review the qualitative literature on experiences of and preferences for end-of-life care of people with cancer aged 16-40 years (young adults) and their informal carers. A systematic review using narrative synthesis of qualitative studies using the 2006 UK Economic and Social Research Council research methods program guidance. Seven electronic bibliographic databases, two clinical trials databases, and three relevant theses databases were searched from January 2004 to October 2015.

Democratic therapeutic community treatment for personality disorder: randomised controlled trial.

Background: Democratic therapeutic community (DTC) treatment has been used for many years in an effort to help people with personality disorder. High-quality evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is absent.

Aims: To test whether DTC treatment reduces use of in-patient services and improves the mental health of people with personality disorder.

Periodic actin structures in neuronal axons are required to maintain microtubules.

Axons are cable-like neuronal processes wiring the nervous system. They contain parallel bundles of microtubules as structural backbones, surrounded by regularly spaced actin rings termed the periodic membrane skeleton (PMS). Despite being an evolutionarily conserved, ubiquitous, highly ordered feature of axons, the function of PMS is unknown.

Thyroid hormones and cardiovascular disease.

Myocardial and vascular endothelial tissues have receptors for thyroid hormones and are sensitive to changes in the concentrations of circulating thyroid hormones. The importance of thyroid hormones in maintaining cardiovascular homeostasis can be deduced from clinical and experimental data showing that even subtle changes in thyroid hormone concentrations - such as those observed in subclinical hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, and low triiodothyronine syndrome - adversely influence the cardiovascular system. Some potential mechanisms linking the two conditions are dyslipidaemia, endothelial dysfunction, blood pressure changes, and direct effects of thyroid hormones on the myocardium.

MANAGEMENT OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Regenerative therapies in autoimmune Addison's disease.

The treatment for autoimmune Addison's disease (AAD) has remained virtually unchanged in the last 60 years. Most patients have symptoms that are relatively well controlled with exogenous steroid replacement, but there may be persistent symptoms, recurrent adrenal crisis and poor quality of life, despite good compliance with optimal current treatments. Treatment with conventional exogenous steroid therapy is also associated with premature mortality, increased cardiovascular risk and complications related to excessive steroid replacement.

A Variant in the BACH2 Gene Is Associated With Susceptibility to Autoimmune Addison's Disease in Humans.

Context: Autoimmune Addison's disease (AAD) is a rare but highly heritable condition. The BACH2 protein plays a crucial role in T lymphocyte maturation, and allelic variation in its gene has been associated with a number of autoimmune conditions.

Objective: We aimed to determine whether alleles of the rs3757247 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the BACH2 gene are associated with AAD.

Impact of Month of Birth on the Risk of Development of Autoimmune Addison's Disease.

Context: The pathogenesis of autoimmune Addison's disease (AAD) is thought to be due to interplay of genetic, immune, and environmental factors. A month-of-birth effect, with increased risk for those born in autumn/winter months, has been described in autoimmune conditions such as type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroid disease.

Objective: Month-of-birth effect was investigated in 2 independent cohorts of AAD subjects.

Serum Thyroid Function, Mortality and Disability in Advanced Old Age: The Newcastle 85+ Study.

Context: Perturbations in thyroid function are common in older individuals but their significance in the very old is not fully understood.

Objective: This study sought to determine whether thyroid hormone status and variation of thyroid hormones within the reference range correlated with mortality and disability in a cohort of 85-year-olds.

Design: A cohort of 85-year-old individuals were assessed in their own homes (community or institutional care) for health status and thyroid function, and followed for mortality and disability for up to 9 years.

How young people describe the impact of living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis: feasibility of using social media as a research method.

Objective: Young people with cancer exhibit unique needs. During a time of normal physical and psychological change, multiple disease and treatment-related symptoms cause short and long-term physical and psychosocial effects. Little is known about how young people cope with the impact of cancer and its treatment on daily routines and their strategies to manage the challenges of cancer and treatments.

Biphasic regulation of the transcription factor ABORTED MICROSPORES (AMS) is essential for tapetum and pollen development in Arabidopsis.

Viable pollen is essential for plant reproduction and crop yield. Its production requires coordinated expression at specific stages during anther development, involving early meiosis-associated events and late pollen wall formation. The ABORTED MICROSPORES (AMS) transcription factor is a master regulator of sporopollenin biosynthesis, secretion and pollen wall formation in Arabidopsis.

A conceptual view at microtubule plus end dynamics in neuronal axons.

Axons are the cable-like protrusions of neurons which wire up the nervous system. Polar bundles of microtubules (MTs) constitute their structural backbones and are highways for life-sustaining transport between proximal cell bodies and distal synapses. Any morphogenetic changes of axons during development, plastic rearrangement, regeneration or degeneration depend on dynamic changes of these MT bundles.

Study of Optimal Replacement of Thyroxine in the Elderly (SORTED) - results from the feasibility randomised controlled trial.

Background: Hypothyroidism is a common condition, particularly in the older population. Thyroid hormone requirements change with age and serum TSH levels also alter, especially in older patients. However, in practice laboratory reference ranges for thyroid function are not age-specific and treatment in older patients aims to achieve a similar target thyroid function level as younger age groups.

Loperamide-induced hypopituitarism.

Loperamide is the most commonly used antidiarrhoeal medication in the UK. We report a serious and hitherto undocumented adverse effect of chronic use in a 45-year-old man with inflammatory bowel disease. He presented to the endocrine clinic with fatigue and low libido; biochemical assessment revealed hypogonadism and adrenal insufficiency without any elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone.

Adherence to National Comprehensive Cancer Network® Guidelines for Testicular Cancer.

Purpose: Testicular cancer is the most common malignancy among young men and well established treatment guidelines exist to optimize outcomes. We characterized errors in the management of testicular cancer observed among patients seen at 3 referral centers in the United States.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data from 593 patients presenting with testicular cancer to 3 academic medical centers from 2007 to 2016.

Management trends for men with early-stage nonseminomatous germ cell tumors of the testicle: An analysis of the National Cancer Database.

Background: Surveillance has been recommended more frequently as a postorchiectomy management option for men with early stage nonseminomatous germ cell tumor (NSGCT) of the testicle. It is unknown how contemporary treatment patterns reflect these recommendations.

Methods: Data from the National Cancer Database were extracted on all men who were diagnosed with clinical stage (CS) IA or CSIB NSGCT between 2004 and 2013.

Dormant and after-Ripened Arabidopsis thaliana Seeds are Distinguished by Early Transcriptional Differences in the Imbibed State.

Seed dormancy is a genetically controlled block preventing the germination of imbibed seeds in favorable conditions. It requires a period of dry storage (after-ripening) or certain environmental conditions to be overcome. Dormancy is an important seed trait, which is under selective pressure, to control the seasonal timing of seed germination.