Observing marine mammal (MM) populations continuously in time and space over the immense ocean areas they inhabit is challenging but essential for gathering an unambiguous record of their distribution, as well as understanding their behaviour and interaction with prey species. Here we use passive ocean acoustic waveguide remote sensing (POAWRS) in an important North Atlantic feeding ground to instantaneously detect, localize and classify MM vocalizations from diverse species over an approximately 100,000 km(2) region. More than eight species of vocal MMs are found to spatially converge on fish spawning areas containing massive densely populated herring shoals at night-time and diffuse herring distributions during daytime. We find the vocal MMs divide the enormous fish prey field into species-specific foraging areas with varying degrees of spatial overlap, maintained for at least two weeks of the herring spawning period. The recorded vocalization rates are diel (24 h)-dependent for all MM species, with some significantly more vocal at night and others more vocal during the day. The four key baleen whale species of the region: fin, humpback, blue and minke have vocalization rate trends that are highly correlated to trends in fish shoaling density and to each other over the diel cycle. These results reveal the temporospatial dynamics of combined multi-species MM foraging activities in the vicinity of an extensive fish prey field that forms a massive ecological hotspot, and would be unattainable with conventional methodologies. Understanding MM behaviour and distributions is essential for management of marine ecosystems and for accessing anthropogenic impacts on these protected marine species.

Objectives: To assess intravesical prostatic protrusion (IPP) as a novel predictor of clinical progression in patients with benign prostatic enlargement (BPE). Methods: All patients attending the outpatient clinic at our institution who were being treated for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to BPE between January 1997 and December 2003 were recruited into the study. International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) scores, uroflowmetry parameters, post-void residual urine volume (PVR), IPP and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were collected. IPP was classified into Grade 1, 2 or 3. Patients were stratified to different treatment options including watchful waiting, alpha blockers or 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. Those who developed high post-void residual urine volume (>100 mL), acute urinary retention or a deterioration of at least 4 points in IPSS score were considered to have disease progression. Using the Grade 1 IPP group as a reference, the odds ratio for clinical progression of Grade 2 and Grade 3 IPP were calculated by using multivariate analysis. Results: A total of 259 patients with a mean age of 63 years (range 50-90 years) and mean follow-up time of 32 months were available for analysis. Fifty-two patients were found to have clinical progression. Odds ratio for progression of a Grade 2 IPP was 5.1 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6-16.2) and that of a Grade 3 IPP was 10.4 (95% CI 3.3-33.4). Conclusion: A higher IPP grade is associated with a higher risk of clinical progression in BPE. IPP is a useful non-invasive predictor for clinical progression in BPE.

The passive ocean acoustic waveguide remote sensing (POAWRS) technique is employed to detect and characterize the underwater sound radiated from three scientific research and fishing vessels received at long ranges on a large-aperture densely-sampled horizontal coherent hydrophone array. The sounds radiated from the research vessel (RV) Delaware II in the Gulf of Maine, and the RV Johan Hjort and the fishing vessel (FV) Artus in the Norwegian Sea are found to be dominated by distinct narrowband tonals and cyclostationary signals in the 150 Hz to 2000 Hz frequency range. The source levels of these signals are estimated by correcting the received pressure levels for transmission losses modeled using a calibrated parabolic equation-based acoustic propagation model for random range-dependent ocean waveguides. The probability of the detection region for the most prominent signal radiated by each ship is estimated and shown to extend over areas spanning roughly 200 km in diameter when employing a coherent hydrophone array. The current standard procedure for quantifying ship-radiated sound source levels via one-third octave bandwidth intensity averaging smoothes over the prominent tonals radiated by a ship that can stand 10 to 30 dB above the local broadband level, which may lead to inaccurate or incorrect assessments of the impact of ship-radiated sound.

Discordance of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status between primary breast cancer, metastatic lesion and synchronous axillary lymph node metastasis has been reported in the series studies. Systemic treatment of primary invasive breast cancer patients with synchronous axillary metastasis is currently based on the biomarker characteristics of the primary tumor; however, hormone receptors and HER2 status may change throughout tumor progression from the primary tumor to the synchronous axillary metastasis. As local metastasis, the synchronous axillary lymph node metastasis may represent the potentially metastatic breast cancer cells much better than the primary tumor. Hence, the determination of hormone receptors and HER2 status should be routinely performed in synchronous axillary nodal metastasis, together with primary tumor, to guide therapy management and evaluate the recurrent risk of primary invasive breast cancer patients with synchronous axillary nodal metastasis, which may even change the postoperative risk categories (St. Gallen consensus) of breast cancer in these patients. This article will review the studies on the discordance and clinical significance of ER, PR, and HER2 receptor status between primary breast cancer and synchronous axillary lymph node metastasis.

No abstract

Yes-associated protein (YAP) has been reported to be an oncogene in a number of malignancies. It constitutes an important regulatory mechanism for the Hippo pathway, a key regulator of cell growth and apoptosis. The present study aimed to investigate the clinical significance and the role of YAP in the development of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). YAP expression levels were compared between ccRCC and adjacent normal renal tissues by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. YAP expression levels were then detected in ccRCC cell lines 786-0 and ACHN, as well as in human embryonic kidney 293 cells (HEK-293) using western blotting. Three specific YAP-shRNA lentiviral vectors were constructed and transfected into 786-0 cells, and then the mRNA and protein levels of YAP and downstream transcription factor TEAD1 were detected. Finally, the effects of YAP silencing on proliferation and the cell cycle distribution of 786-0 cells were detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry (FCM), respectively. The apoptosis rate was also analyzed by FCM. It was observed that the expression levels of YAP mRNA and protein in ccRCC tissues were higher than these levels in the adjacent normal renal tissues. The expression of YAP protein in ccRCC tissues was significantly correlated with clinical stage and differentiation. The YAP protein levels in the two ccRCC cell lines 786-0 and ACHN were significantly higher than that in the HEK-293 cells. Additionally, treatment of 786-0 cells with YAP-shRNA lentiviral vectors significantly reduced the expression levels of YAP and TEAD1 mRNA and protein. Further analyses in 786-0 cells in which YAP was decreased, revealed that cell proliferation was inhibited, cell cycle was arrested at the G1 phase and apoptosis was increased. These results indicate that YAP is an underlying oncogene in ccRCC and it may be a promising biomarker and therapeutic target of ccRCC.

Abstract:The vocalization behavior of humpback whales was monitored over vast areas of the Gulf of Maine using the passive ocean acoustic waveguide remote sensing technique (POAWRS) over multiple diel cycles in Fall 2006. The humpback vocalizations comprised of both song and non-song are analyzed. The song vocalizations, composed of highly structured and repeatable set of phrases, are characterized by inter-pulse intervals of 3.5 ± 1.8 s. Songs were detected throughout the diel cycle, occuring roughly 40% during the day and 60% during the night. The humpback non-song vocalizations, dominated by shorter duration (≤3 s) downsweep and bow-shaped moans, as well as a small fraction of longer duration (∼5 s) cries, have significantly larger mean and more variable inter-pulse intervals of 14.2 ± 11 s. The non-song vocalizations were detected at night with negligible detections during the day, implying they probably function as nighttime communication signals. The humpback song and non-song vocalizations are separately localized using the moving array triangulation and array invariant techniques. The humpback song and non-song moan calls are both consistently localized to a dense area on northeastern Georges Bank and a less dense region extended from Franklin Basin to the Great South Channel. Humpback cries occur exclusively on northeastern Georges Bank and during nights with coincident dense Atlantic herring shoaling populations, implying the cries are feeding-related.

Large tumor suppressor 1 (LATS1) gene is one of the key factors in Hippo signaling pathway. Inactivation of LATS1 by promoter methylation was found in colorectal cancer (CRC), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), astrocytoma, breast cancer and it was proved to be a tumor suppressor. However, its role is unclear in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In this study, the expression of LATS1 was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR) and immunohistochemistry in 30 pairs of RCC tissues and matched normal kidney tissues and RCC cells. We found that the expression of LATS1 was markedly reduced in RCC tissues and cells, in the RCC tissue in 46.7% (14/30), while in the normal kidney tissues in 76.7% (23/30), and was associated with pathological grade and clinical stage of RCC. We detected methylation status of LATS1 by bisulfite sequence-PCR (BSP) in renal cancer cell line 786-O which lowers expression of LATS1, and we found it hypermethy-lated (in 97.5%). In addition, pharmacological demethylation using 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza) restored the expression of LATS1 mRNA and protein in 786-O cells, both LATS1 demethylation and overexpression of LATS1 downregulated the expression of Yes-associated protein (YAP), inhibited cell proliferation, induced cell apoptosis and cell cycle G1 arrest in 786-O cells. Thus, this report for the first time demonstrates the inactivation of LATS1 by promoter methy-lation and it is a tumor suppressor in kidney cancer. LATS1 may serve as a biomarker for possible early diagnosis and as a potential therapeutic target for human RCC.