University of Alberta

About: University of Alberta is a education organization based out in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 65403 authors who have published 154847 publications receiving 5358338 citations. The organization is also known as: Ualberta & UAlberta.

Breast Cancer Subtypes and Response to Docetaxel in Node-Positive Breast Cancer: Use of an Immunohistochemical Definition in the BCIRG 001 Trial

Abstract: Purpose To investigate the prognostic and predictive significance of subtyping node-positive early breast cancer by immunohistochemistry in a clinical trial of a docetaxel-containing regimen. Methods Pathologic data from a central laboratory were available for 1,350 patients (91%) from the BCIRG 001 trial of docetaxel, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (TAC) versus fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FAC) for operable node-positive breast cancer. Patients were classified by tumor characteristics as (1) triple negative (estrogen receptor [ER]–negative, progesterone receptor [PR]–negative, HER2/neu [HER2]–negative), (2) HER2 (HER2-positive, ER-negative, PR-negative), (3) luminal B (ER-positive and/or PR-positive and either HER2-positive and/or Ki67 high ), and (4) luminal A (ER-positive and/or PR-positive and not HER2-positive or Ki67 high ), and assessed for prognostic significance and response to adjuvant chemotherapy. Results Patients were subdivided into triple negative (14.5%), HER2 (8.5%), luminal B (61.1%), and luminal A (15.9%). Three-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates (P values with luminal B as referent) were 67% (P .0001), 68% (P .0008), 82% (referent luminal B), and 91% (P .0027), respectively, with hazard ratios of 2.22, 2.12, and 0.46. Improved 3-year DFS with TAC was found in the luminal B group (P .025) and a combined ER-positive/HER2-negative group treated with tamoxifen (P .041), with a marginal trend in the triple negatives (P .051) and HER2 (P .068) subtypes. No DFS advantage was seen in the luminal A population. Conclusion A simple immunopanel can divide breast cancers into biologic subtypes with strong prognostic effects. TAC significantly complements endocrine therapy in patients with luminal B subtype and, in the absence of targeted therapy, is effective in the triple-negative population. J Clin Oncol 27:1168-1176. © 2009 by American Society of Clinical Oncology

Systematic review of physical activity and health in the early years (aged 0–4 years)

Abstract: The early years represent a critical period for promoting physical activity. However, the amount of physical activ- ity needed for healthy growth and development is not clear. Using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Develop- ment, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework, we aimed to present the best available evidence to determine the relationship between physical activity and measures of adiposity, bone and skeletal health, motor skill development, psychosocial health, cognitive development, and cardiometabolic health indicators in infants (1 month - 1 year), toddlers (1.1-3.0 years), and preschoolers (3.1-4.9 years). Online databases, personal libraries, and government documents were searched for relevant studies. Twenty-two articles, representing 18 unique studies and 12 742 enrolled participants, met inclusion criteria. The health indicators of interest were adiposity (n = 11), bone and skeletal health (n = 2), motor development (n = 4), psycho- social health (n = 3), cognitive development (n = 1), and cardiometabolic health indicators (n = 3); these indicators were pre-specified by an expert panel. Five unique studies involved infants, 2 involved toddlers, and 11 involved preschoolers. In infants, there was low- to moderate-quality evidence to suggest that increased or higher physical activity was positively asso- ciated with improved measures of adiposity, motor skill development, and cognitive development. In toddlers, there was moderate-quality evidence to suggest that increased or higher physical activity was positively associated with bone and skel- etal health. In preschoolers, there was low- to high-quality evidence on the relationship between increased or higher physical activity and improved measures of adiposity, motor skill development, psychosocial health, and cardiometabolic health indi- cators. There was no serious inconsistency in any of the studies reviewed. This evidence can help to inform public health guidelines. (PROSPERO registration: CRD42011001243)

Functional characterization of Arabidopsis NaCl-inducible WRKY25 and WRKY33 transcription factors in abiotic stresses

Abstract: Previous microarray analyses of Arabidopsis roots identified two closely related WRKY transcription factors (WRKY25 and WRKY33) among the transcripts that increased in abundance following treatment with NaCl Here, we report further characterization of these genes, which we found to be inducible by a variety of abiotic stresses in an SOS-pathway independent manner, although WRKY33 induction was dependent on ABA signaling Transcripts of both genes were detected in roots and leaves, while specific patterns of enrichment were observed in stems and floral buds for WRKY25 and WRKY33, respectively We also identified upstream intergenic regions from each gene that were sufficient to confer stress-inducible expression on a reporter gene However, the stress sensitivity of wrky25 null mutants did not differ from wild-type under any assay condition, while wrky33 null mutants and wrky25wrky33 double mutants showed only a moderate increase in NaCl-sensitivity, suggesting functional redundancy with other transcription factors Nevertheless, overexpression of WRKY25 or WRKY33 was sufficient to increase Arabidopsis NaCl tolerance, while increasing sensitivity to ABA Through microarray analyses of relevant genotypes, we identified 31 and 208 potential downstream targets of WRKY25 and WRKY33, respectively, most of which contained a W-box in their upstream regions