University of Western Australia

About: University of Western Australia is a education organization based out in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 29613 authors who have published 87405 publications receiving 3064466 citations. The organization is also known as: UWA & University of WA.

Don't judge species on their origins

Abstract: Conservationists should assess organisms on environmental impact rather than on whether they are natives, argue Mark Davis and 18 other ecologists.

Association between postoperative troponin levels and 30-day mortality among patients undergoing noncardiac surgery

Abstract: CONTEXT Of the 200 million adults worldwide who undergo noncardiac surgery each year, more than 1 million will die within 30 days. OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between the peak fourth-generation troponin T (TnT) measurement in the first 3 days after noncardiac surgery and 30-day mortality. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A prospective, international cohort study that enrolled patients from August 6, 2007, to January 11, 2011. Eligible patients were aged 45 years and older and required at least an overnight hospital admission after having noncardiac surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Patients' TnT levels were measured 6 to 12 hours after surgery and on days 1, 2, and 3 after surgery. We undertook Cox regression analysis in which the dependent variable was mortality until 30 days after surgery, and the independent variables included 24 preoperative variables. We repeated this analysis, adding the peak TnT measurement during the first 3 postoperative days as an independent variable and used a minimum P value approach to determine if there were TnT thresholds that independently altered patients' risk of death. RESULTS A total of 15,133 patients were included in this study. The 30-day mortality rate was 1.9% (95% CI, 1.7%-2.1%). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that peak TnT values of at least 0.02 ng/mL, occurring in 11.6% of patients, were associated with higher 30-day mortality compared with the reference group (peak TnT ≤ 0.01 ng/mL): peak TnT of 0.02 ng/mL (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.41; 95% CI, 1.33-3.77); 0.03 to 0.29 ng/mL (aHR, 5.00; 95% CI, 3.72-6.76); and 0.30 ng/mL or greater (aHR, 10.48; 95% CI, 6.25-16.62). Patients with a peak TnT value of 0.01 ng/mL or less, 0.02, 0.03-0.29, and 0.30 or greater had 30-day mortality rates of 1.0%, 4.0%, 9.3%, and 16.9%, respectively. Peak TnT measurement added incremental prognostic value to discriminate those likely to die within 30 days for the model with peak TnT measurement vs without (C index = 0.85 vs 0.81; difference, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.5; P < .001 for difference between C index values). The net reclassification improvement with TnT was 25.0% (P < .001). CONCLUSION Among patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, the peak postoperative TnT measurement during the first 3 days after surgery was significantly associated with 30-day mortality.

An atlas of human long non-coding RNAs with accurate 5′ ends

Abstract: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are largely heterogeneous and functionally uncharacterized. Here, using FANTOM5 cap analysis of gene expression (CAGE) data, we integrate multiple transcript collections to generate a comprehensive atlas of 27,919 human lncRNA genes with high-confidence 5' ends and expression profiles across 1,829 samples from the major human primary cell types and tissues. Genomic and epigenomic classification of these lncRNAs reveals that most intergenic lncRNAs originate from enhancers rather than from promoters. Incorporating genetic and expression data, we show that lncRNAs overlapping trait-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms are specifically expressed in cell types relevant to the traits, implicating these lncRNAs in multiple diseases. We further demonstrate that lncRNAs overlapping expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL)-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms of messenger RNAs are co-expressed with the corresponding messenger RNAs, suggesting their potential roles in transcriptional regulation. Combining these findings with conservation data, we identify 19,175 potentially functional lncRNAs in the human genome.