The mGPS, PNI, and NLR were effective predictive indicators of postoperative complications. The PLR was the most useful prognostic indicator for pancreatic cancer patients after pancreaticoduodenectomy.

No abstract

Despite its importance in various disciplines, a general method to assess ontogenetic ages of skeletal and fossil specimens has been lacking for birds. Although the textural ageing method was formulated to assess relative ontogenetic ages of specimens from inspection of bone surface textures, the exact correspondence of surface textures to ontogenetic stages has not yet been clear. In this study, bone surface textures of six major limb bones (humerus, ulna, carpometacarpus, femur, tibiotarsus, and tarsometatarsus) were described in postnatal ontogenies of four species of modern birds (Calonectris leucomelas, Phalacrocorax capillatus, Larus crassirostris, and Cerorhinca monocerata) from 14 to 28 individuals of known ontogenetic stages for each species. Consistently with the previous postulation, it was found that bones of chicks were characterized by rough surface textures with numerous grooves/depressions that host minute foramina. Bones of fledglings/juveniles, which are generally as large as those of adults but more slender, were characterized by the occasional presence of depressions and foramina. Histological observations confirmed that these rough surface textures were underlain by fibrolamellar bone tissue which is associated with active periosteal ossification. These results indicate that the smooth surface texture in adults is formed after the cessation of circumferential bone growth, which probably takes place between fledging and the attainment of sexual maturity. The available evidence suggests that the textural ageing is probably applicable to the entire Neognathae, a clade containing most crown-group birds. Anat Rec, 301:1026-1045, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

No abstract

Despite longstanding interest in convergent evolution, factors that result in deviations from fully convergent phenotypes remain poorly understood. In birds, the evolution of flightless wing-propelled diving has emerged as a classic example of convergence, having arisen in disparate lineages including penguins (Sphenisciformes) and auks (Pan-Alcidae, Charadriiformes). Nevertheless, little is known about the functional anatomy of the wings of flightless auks because all such taxa are extinct, and their morphology is almost exclusively represented by skeletal remains. Here, in order to re-evaluate the extent of evolutionary convergence among flightless wing-propelled divers, wing muscles and ligaments were reconstructed in two extinct flightless auks, representing independent transitions to flightlessness: Pinguinus impennis (a crown-group alcid), and Mancalla (a stem-group alcid). Extensive anatomical data were gathered from dissections of 12 species of extant charadriiforms and 4 aequornithine waterbirds including a penguin. The results suggest that the wings of both flightless auk taxa were characterized by an increased mechanical advantage of wing elevator/retractor muscles, and decreased mobility of distal wing joints, both of which are likely advantageous for wing-propelled diving and parallel similar functional specializations in penguins. However, the conformations of individual muscles and ligaments underlying these specializations differ markedly between penguins and flightless auks, instead resembling those in each respective group’s close relatives. Thus, the wings of these flightless wing-propelled divers can be described as convergent as overall functional units, but are incompletely convergent at lower levels of anatomical organization—a result of retaining differing conditions from each group’s respective volant ancestors. Detailed investigations such as this one may indicate that, even in the face of similar functional demands, courses of phenotypic evolution are dictated to an important degree by ancestral starting points.