Aromatase is a key enzyme in local estrogen production by androgen conversion, especially in women post-menopause. There have been controversies concerning aromatase localization in breast carcinomas ...and its association with current histopathological variables.
Using polyclonal antibody immunohistochemistry we assessed (by intensity and percentage scores) the immunolocalization of aromatase in 70 tissue samples, and described particularities within the molecular subtypes of breast cancer.
Aromatase was found in all tissue compartments: tumor (95.7%), stroma (58.6%) and adipose tissue (94.3%). Aromatase expression in tumor cells correlated inversely with tumor grading (p=-0.361, p=0.027), and positively with estrogen receptor status (ER, p=0.143, p<0.001). Dividing the study group by intrinsic subtypes, a strongly inversely association between tumor aromatase and grading (p=-0.486, p<0.001), and between stromal aromatase and Ki67-index (p=-0.448, p=0.048) was observed in luminal A breast cancer. Tumor aromatase and ER percentage scores had stronger correlations in luminal B HER2 negative (p=0.632, p=0.002), and positive (p=0.324, p=0.026) tumors. In contrast, in triple negative tumors, a positive association stromal aromatase and Ki67 index (p=-0.359, p=0.007) was observed.
Local aromatase was linked to better tumor differentiation and proliferation in luminal breast subtypes, and not in triple negative cases, suggesting a potential prognostic role of aromatase in breast carcinomas.
The goals of bariatric surgery are to improve the quality of life by lowering body mass index (BMI) but also to treat obesity comorbidities. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of ...laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) on metabolic parameters.
85 obese patients treated by bariatric surgery LSG procedure were included in the study. Basal, 6 and 12 months after surgery serum glucose levels and lipid fractions were measured. Metabolic syndrome criteria according to IDF 2006 were evaluated at baseline and after bariatric surgery.
Our group included 61.2 % female patients, the mean age was 40.2 ±10.2 years and the metabolic syndrome criteria at baseline were confirmed in 69.4% of the study group. At twelve months after the intervention, the mean excess weight loss (%EWL) was 72%, with age and BMI subgroups variations. We found significant improvements of serum concentrations for triglycerides (P-value = 0.001, decreased by 30%), HDL-cholesterol (P-value = 0.017, increased by 26%), total cholesterol (P-value = 0.043, decreased by 12%) and glucose (P-value = 0.007, decreased by 12%).
The positive effect of bariatric surgery was confirmed for lipid fractions and fasting glucose levels, also the metabolic syndrome prevalence was significantly reduced, all these changes contribute to lower cardiovascular risk together with significant weight loss.
Abstract Objectives The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of embryonic blastomere loss, following cryopreservation and thaw of Day 2 embryos in an assisted reproductive technology ...(ART) setting, on pregnancy outcome and fetal development. Study design This is a retrospective analysis performed on 3553 slow frozen-thawed Day 2 embryos, of all IVF/ICSI thawing cycles carried out during the 11 year study period. Of these thawed embryos, 628 underwent SET on Day 3 of embryo development. We measured the influence of several laboratory parameters on blastomere loss after thaw including: cell stage at cryopreservation, blastomere loss post-thaw, ability to resume mitosis and the rate of overnight cleavage. Results There is an association between cell number on day of freeze and embryonic survival post-thaw; 3 cell (77.4%), 4 cell (92.1%), 5 cell (81.4%) and 6 cell (86.5%) embryos ( p < 0.05). We found a significant association between the rate of overnight cleavage and positive hCG and implantation rate ( p -value <0.05), while there is no association with live birth rate ( p -value 0.242). Embryos with 100% blastomere survival have significantly higher cleavage rates, positive hCG, implantation and live birth rates than embryos which experienced blastomere loss ( p < 0.05). However, blastomere survival has no impact on miscarriage rate or the observed newborn birth weight (3.85 ± 0.77 kg). Conclusions In the present study we demonstrate, for the first time, that although it is optimal to select an embryo with 100% blastomere survival, transfer of an embryo with ≥50% blastomeres intact post-thaw does not influence the development of the baby, as indicated by weight at birth.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the serum estradiol (E2) per oocyte ratio (EOR) as a function of selected embryology events and reproductive outcomes with IVF.
Methods
This ...retrospective analysis included all IVF cycles where oocyte collection and fresh transfer occurred between January 2001 and November 2012 at a single institution. Patients were divided by three age groups (<35, 35–39, and ≥40 years) and further stratified into nine groups based on EOR (measured in pmol/L/oocyte). Terminal serum E2 (pmol/mL) was recorded on day of hCG trigger administration, and fertilization rate, cleavage rate, number of good quality embryos, and reproductive outcomes were recorded for each IVF cycle.
Results
During the study interval, 9109 oocyte retrievals were performed for 5499 IVF patients (mean = 1.7 cycles/patient). A total of 63.4 % of transfers were performed on day 3 (
n
= 4926), while 36.6 % were carried out on day 5 (
n
= 2843). Clinical pregnancy rates were highest in patients with EOR of 250–750 and declined as this ratio increased, independent of patient age. While the odds ratio (OR) for clinical pregnancy where EOR = 250–750 vs. EOR > 1500 was 3.4 (
p
< 0.001; 95 % CI 2.67–4.34), no statistically significant correlation was seen in fertilization, cleavage rates or number of good quality embryos as a function of EOR.
Conclusions
Predicting reproductive outcomes with IVF has great utility both for patients and providers. The former have the opportunity to build realistic expectations, and the latter are better able to counsel according to measured clinical parameters. A better understanding of follicular dynamics and ovarian response to gonadotropin stimulation could optimize IVF treatments going forward.
We use measurements of crustal and upper mantle seismic attenuation in the southeastern Carpathian Arc and surroundings to test mantle responses to Tethys closure in this region. Active seismicity at ...the Carpathians' Vrancea bend zone can delimit lithosphere and asthenosphere distributions through attenuation observations at overlying seismic stations. We measure frequency-independent attenuation via an iterative spectral ratio method which compares
P and
S spectra for evolving time windows of both arrivals, yielding 400 individual estimates of apparent differential Q
S and one composite measurement based on a normalized sum of the spectral ratios determined for the individual Q estimates. The procedure allows exclusion of subtle multipathed phases with attenuation different from that of the direct arrivals and yields a robust estimate of the measurement uncertainty. Measurements are retained for interpretation if the mean of the 400 individual Q estimates and the composite spectra Q estimate fall within the standard deviation of the 400 measurements. Results for 65 earthquakes recorded at the German–Romanian K2 accelerometer network during 1999 fall into clear groups: attenuation is low (high Q
S) at stations east and north of the Vrancea zone on the East European platform, the Scythian Platform, and in the eastern portion of the Moesian Platform. Inconsistent results at stations west of the Intramoesian fault, including those in and around Bucharest, probably reflect strong site effects at several locales. Attenuation at stations above and near the Vrancea zone, and at stations in the Transylvanian Basin, is high (low Q
S), most likely due to the presence of hot, shallow asthenosphere in these areas. The technique we developed may ultimately yield a strong test of slab detachment and continental lithosphere delamination hypotheses put forth to explain the unusual seismicity and volcanism of the Carpathian arc.
The DACIA PLAN (Danube and Carpathian Integrated Action on Process in the Lithosphere and Neotectonics) deep seismic sounding survey was performed in August–September 2001 in south-eastern Romania, ...at the same time as the regional deep refraction seismic survey VRANCEA 2001. The main goal of the experiment was to obtain new information on the deep structure of the external Carpathians nappes and the architecture of Tertiary/Quaternary basins developed within and adjacent to the seismically-active Vrancea zone, including the Focsani Basin. The seismic reflection line had a WNW–ESE orientation, running from internal East Carpathians units, across the mountainous south-eastern Carpathians, and the foreland Focsani Basin towards the Danube Delta. There were 131 shot points along the profile, with about 1 km spacing, and data were recorded with stand-alone RefTek-125s (also known as “Texans”), supplied by the University Texas at El Paso and the PASSCAL Institute. The entire line was recorded in three deployments, using about 340 receivers in the first deployment and 640 receivers in each of the other two deployments. The resulting deep seismic reflection stacks, processed to 20 s along the entire profile and to 10 s in the eastern Focsani Basin, are presented here. The regional architecture of the latter, interpreted in the context of abundant independent constraint from exploration seismic and subsurface data, is well imaged. Image quality within and beneath the thrust belt is of much poorer quality. Nevertheless, there is good evidence to suggest that a thick (∼10 km) sedimentary basin having the structure of a graben and of indeterminate age underlies the westernmost part of the Focsani Basin, in the depth range 10–25 km. Most of the crustal depth seismicity observed in the Vrancea zone (as opposed to the more intense upper mantle seismicity) appears to be associated with this sedimentary basin. The sedimentary successions within this basin and other horizons visible further to the west, beneath the Carpathian nappes, suggest that the geometry of the Neogene and recent uplift observed in the Vrancea zone, likely coupled with contemporaneous rapid subsidence in the foreland, is detached from deeper levels of the crust at about 10 km depth. The Moho lies at a depth of about 40 km along the profile, its poor expression in the reflection stack being strengthened by independent estimates from the refraction data. Given the apparent thickness of the (meta)sedimentary supracrustal units, the crystalline crust beneath this area is quite thin (<
20 km) supporting the hypothesis that there may have been delamination of (lower) continental crust in this area involved in the evolution of the seismic Vrancea zone.