Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SHP-2 Regulates Cell Growth by Controlling the mTOR/S6 Kinase 1 Pathway*

Cell growth (accumulation in cell mass) ensues through the promotion of macromolecular biosynthesis. S 6 ribosomal kinase 1 (S6K1), which is activated by the mammalian target of rapamycin, is critical for cell growth. The early events that control S6K1 signaling remain unclear. Here we show that SHP-2 suppresses S6K1 activity under conditions of growth factor deprivation. We show that under conditions of growth factor deprivation, S6K1 activity was increased in fibroblasts lacking functional SHP-2 and in cells where knock down of SHP-2 expression was established by small interference RNA. Consistent with these findings, fibroblasts lacking functional SHP-2 exhibited increased cell size as compared with wild type cells. Growth factor deprivation reduces cellular energy, and the energy-sensing 5′-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) negatively regulates S6K1. We found that SHP-2 promoted AMPK activity under conditions of growth factor deprivation (low energy), suggesting that SHP-2 negatively regulates S6K1 via an AMPK-dependent pathway. These results implicate SHP-2 as an early mediator in the S6K1 signaling pathway to limit cell growth in low energy states.
Portuguese Startups: a success prediction model

This study analyses the factors that influence the success of Portuguese startups. It aims to develop a success versus failure prediction model regarding the Portuguese entrepreneurship ecosystem. Our empirical study considers four categories that influence the success: characteristics of founders, characteristics of startups, capital and external factors. The sample includes 50 startups established over the period from 2003 to 2015 in Portugal. The explanatory variables that we use are management experience, industry experience, marketing skills, age, education, parents that have their own business (characteristics of founders), capital (capital), record keeping and financial controls, planning, professional advisors, staff, partners, product or service timing (characteristics of startups) and economic timing (external factors). The empirical results show that only the founder’s characteristics and external factors have a significant influence in Portuguese startups success. Portuguese startups with young founders, less than 25 years old, and founders with less education, high school education or less, are more likely to be unsuccessful cases. However, and contrarily to the previous literature, marketing expertise is negatively correlated with the success of startups Overall, the success and failure prediction model presents an ability to accurately predict a specific Portuguese startup as success or failure of 82%.
Transfert de Polluants Organiques Persistants (POP) vers l’œuf de poule : influence des caracteristiques des polluants et du statut physiologique de l’animal

Les poules pondeuses sont susceptibles d’etre exposees a des polluants organiques persistants (POP) potentiellement presents dans leur environnement. Dans un contexte de securisation des systemes d’elevage avicole vis-a-vis des POP, nous avons etudie les facteurs influencant le transfert des POP ingeres vers l’œuf. Ces facteurs sont lies a la nature de la matrice ingeree (sol ou aliment), aux caracteristiques de l’animal (taux de ponte, etat d’engraissement) et aux caracteristiques de la molecule (lipophilicite, susceptibilite a la metabolisation). Pour cette etude, differentes approches scientifiques ont ete mobilisees : l’experimentation in vivo et la modelisation mathematique. Les experimentations in vivo ont permis d’etudier la biodisponibilite relative des PCB d’un sol naturellement contamine, et de renseigner les parametres de la cinetique de transfert vers l’œuf de molecules non encore etudiees chez la poule pondeuse telles que des molecules emergentes (exemple d’un retardateur de flammes brome, HBCD) ou les HAP. Nos resultats montrent en particulier l’importance de l’impact du degre de metabolisation de la molecule sur l’allure de la cinetique et le niveau du transfert. L’elaboration d’un modele mathematique dynamique a permis d’explorer l’influence des caracteristiques de l’animal sur le transfert de POP vers l’œuf. Le niveau de ponte influence directement, et de facon proportionnelle, le niveau de contamination des tissus de la poule a l’etat d’equilibre. Le niveau d’engraissement a un role de dilution en cas de periode de non ponte et influence de facon marquee la vitesse de decontamination des tissus lors d’une periode d’epuration suivant une exposition
Dirichlet Problems for some Hamilton--Jacobi Equations with Inequality Constraints

We use viability techniques for solving Dirichlet problems with inequality constraints (obstacles) for a class of Hamilton-Jacobi equations. The hypograph of the “solution” is defined as the “capture basin” under an auxiliary control system of a target associated with the initial and boundary conditions, viable in an environment associated with the inequality constraint. From the tangential condition characterizing capture basins, we prove that this solution is the unique “upper semicontinuous” solution to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman partial differential equation in the Barron-Jensen/Frankowska sense. We show how this framework allows us to translate properties of capture basins into corresponding properties of the solutions to this problem. For instance, this approach provides a representation formula of the solution which boils down to the Lax-Hopf formula in the absence of constraints.
Grasping control of a tentacle arm

In this paper, the problem of a class of hyperredundant arms with continuum elements that performs the grasping function by coiling is discussed. This function is often met in the animal world as the elephant's trunk or octopus tentacle. First, the dynamic model in 3D-space is developed. The equations that describe the motion of the arm that carries a load by coiling are inferred. The stability of the motion is discussed. Numerical simulations of the motion toward a imposed target are presented.
The role of beliefs about infertility on psychological adjustment: a systematic review

Aims Beliefs about an illness can influence psychological adjustment. This relationship has been studied using the Common Sense Model (CSM). This systematic review explores the association between perceptions of infertility, measured by the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ), and psychological adjustment among patients with difficulty conceiving. Methods Six electronic databases were searched between 1996 and 2012. Results Three papers were selected. Results indicate significant relationships between perceptions of infertility and psychological adjustment. Perceptions of more severe consequences, longer timeline and lower controllability contributed to greater distress and lower well-being. Individuals’ perceptions influenced partner’s psychological adjustment. Gender differences were also observed. Conclusions The review suggests that the CSM is an appropriate framework to study infertility. Thus, interventions based on modifying perceptions of infertility may improve psychological well-being. Given the limited number of studies available and methodological limitations, further research is needed to ascertain the IPQ’s contribution to research on infertility.
Barriers and enablers to learning during team-based clinical simulations: Reflective interviews with final year undergraduate nursing students

800x600 Background: Contemporary approaches to clinical simulation can enhance educational outcomes. However, simulation approaches do have limitations with possible compromises for learning and teaching. This paper aims to identify barriers and enablers to learning in simulated clinical settings. Methods: A generic qualitative design was applied. Semi-structured group video debriefing interviews were held with Australian final-year nursing students who completed three patient deterioration scenarios with a standardized patient. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed to identify emergent themes. Results: Interviews with 15 teams of three students (n = 45) from three universities were analysed. Learning enablers were ‘Realism of the simulated environment’; ‘Practicing: we should do this at uni’; ‘Learning from reflection and expert feedback’, and ‘How to become competent: know the gaps’. Barriers to learning included ‘Increased stress from inexperience; ‘Expectations when pretending’ and ‘Lack of assistance’. Skills practice in team-based settings with applicable reflection and debriefing was regarded as beneficial. Simulated patients enhanced fidelity but were unable to replicate actual clinical signs. High stress levels were perceived as a barrier to learning. Conclusions: Applicably designed high fidelity simulations with video-based reflective review offer repeated rehearsal of clinical situations to enable learning. This educational strategy may reduce the time it takes undergraduate students to reach competency. Normal 0 7.8 磅 0 2 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Spondylodiscitis in hemodialysis patients: a case series.

BACKGROUND Although bacterial spondylodiscitis is one of the most serious complications in hemodialysis patients, it is often underdiagnosed, and few reports describe its course and clinical management. PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed 11 hemodialysis patients diagnosed with spondylodiscitis, during a 5-year period, and compared them with the general population followed at our center. Nine patients presented with fever on admission. Blood cultures were positive in all patients and Staphylococcus aureus was identified in 8. Ten patients had a central venous catheter as access for hemodialysis and the number of vascular accesses in the patients´ medical history was superior to the rest of our HD population. RESULTS Four patients (36%) died during follow-up. None of the patients that underwent vancomycin and gentamicin antibiotic therapy died. CONCLUSION Bacterial spondylodiscitis must be suspected whenever a patient on hemodialysis is admitted with fever and/or back pain. The presence of a central venous catheter and a history of multiple vascular accesses may be important risk factors. Prolonged antibiotic therapy with initial broad-spectrum coverage seems to be the best therapeutic approach.
The internal jugular vein valve may have a significant role in the prevention of venous reflux: evidence from live and cadaveric human subjects

Introduction: The internal jugular vein valve (IJVV), which is situated just above the termination of the internal jugular vein, is the only valve between the heart and the brain. This means that it plays a role in the prevention of cephalad flow of venous blood. If the IJVV is damaged or becomes incompetent, increase in intrapleural pressure could result in raised intracranial pressure. Additionally, the jugular venous pulse (JVP) is used clinically to estimate right atrial pressure, a functional IJVV may prevent accurate estimation of the JVP.
Effects of Type 2 Diabetes on Arterial Endothelium

The endothelium, the innermost layer of blood vessels, has many important biological functions which are responsible for regulating vascular tone and structure. One of the major functions of a healthy endothelium is to ensure adequate blood supply to the different tissues. This particular process is regulated by the release and interaction of different vasoactive substances (i.e. vasodilators and vasoconstrictors), which are under tight balance. On the other hand, it is well known that the chronic exposure to certain stresses (e.g. inflammation, oxidative stress, and hyperglycemia) promotes changes in the endothelium leading to endothelial dysfunction. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is among those chronic diseases that are associated with endothelial dysfunction which may contribute to limited glucose uptake in skeletal muscle. In fact, diabetes-related endothelial dysfunction has been reported to lead to morphologic and structural vascular changes present throughout the course of diabetes (Taylor and Poston, 1994). There are around 17 million people in the United States who have diabetes, of whom close to 95% have T2DM. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in people with T2DM (Ness et al., 1999), and coronary heart disease is the most common cause of death among those individuals. For instance, people with T2DM are two to four times more likely to develop CVD compared with people without the condition (Stamler et al., 1993). Interestingly, physical activity is an important therapeutic tool to maintain endothelial function. In fact, regular physical exercise has been reported to be effective in the prevention and delay of onset of T2DM (Bassuk and Manson, 2005; Sanz et al., 2010; Stewart, 2002). Thus the primary purpose of this chapter is to summarize the current available literature concerning the effects of T2DM on arterial endothelium. In addition, this chapter is intended to summarize evidence of the beneficial effects of physical activity on the untoward cardiovascular effects of T2DM and/or the apparent ability of physical activity to prevent progression of diabetes-induced CVD.
Reproductive function prior to disease onset in women with scleroderma.

We tested in a retrospective study the hypothesis that women with scleroderma have an increased risk, before disease presentation, of problems in pregnancy. Reproductive history, as reported from a validated postal questionnaire, was obtained from 204 women with scleroderma [mean year of birth (yob) 1942] and compared to that reported by 233 women with primary Raynaud's phenomenon (mean yob 1948) and 189 healthy women from a population register (mean yob 1950). Only pregnancies occurring before symptom onset in the scleroderma group were considered for analysis. All analyses were adjusted for job, social class, age at first pregnancy, smoking habit, and where relevant, parity. The results are expressed as odds ratios (OR) [with 95% confidence limits (CL)] giving the risk of developing scleroderma, with previous exposure to each of the specific reproductive variables analyzed, relative to the 2 comparison groups. The women with scleroderma were more likely than the population women to have had a delay in conception (> or = 12 months): OR 2.6 (1.1, 5.7) or be infertile: OR 2.3 (0.7, 7.2). These differences were not apparent when the scleroderma group was compared to the women with Raynaud's: OR's 0.7 and 1.1, respectively. Similarly there was a greater self report of maternal ill health in pregnancy in the group with scleroderma compared to the population women: OR 2.1 (1.2, 3.5) but not compared to the women with Raynaud's: OR 1.0 (0.7, 1.6). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Common germline genetic variation in antioxidant defense genes and survival after diagnosis of breast cancer.

PURPOSE The prognosis of breast cancer varies considerably among individuals, and inherited genetic factors may help explain this variability. Of particular interest are genes involved in defense against reactive oxygen species (ROS) because ROS are thought to cause DNA damage and contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS We examined associations between 54 polymorphisms that tag the known common variants (minor allele frequency > 0.05) in 10 genes involved in oxidative damage repair (CAT, SOD1, SOD2, GPX1, GPX4, GSR, TXN, TXN2, TXNRD1, and TXNRD2) and survival in 4,470 women with breast cancer. RESULTS Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GPX4 (rs713041 and rs757229) were associated with all-cause mortality even after adjusting for multiple hypothesis testing (adjusted P = .0041 and P = .0035). These SNPs are correlated with each other (r2 = 0.61). GPX4 rs713041 is located near the selenocysteine insertion sequence element in the GPX4 3' untranslated region, and the rare allele of this SNP is associated with an increased risk of death, with a hazard ratio of 1.27 per rare allele carried (95% CI, 1.13 to 11.43). This effect was not attenuated after adjusting for tumor stage, grade, or estrogen receptor status. We found that the common allele is preferentially expressed in normal lymphocytes, normal breast, and breast tumors compared with the rare allele, but there were no differences in total levels of GPX4 mRNA across genotypes. CONCLUSION These data provide strong support for the hypothesis that common variation in GPX4 is associated with prognosis after a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Mother–child emotion communication and childhood anxiety symptoms

This study examined whether several aspects of emotion communication in mother–child dyads relate to child anxiety symptoms. Mother and child behaviours related to emotion communication were coded based on videotaped mother–child interactions in a sample of 87 ten- to twelve-year olds, and children reported on their anxiety symptoms. Mothers of more anxious children were less supportive in that they engaged more in psychologically controlling behaviours designed to manipulate the child's emotional state, exhibited less warmth and interest in the child, and were less elaborative during conversations about an emotionally negative event. Further, more anxious children showed greater affect intensity and lower congruency of emotions and behaviours, and were less engaged in the conversation. Examining the role of child gender did not change the results significantly. Mother and child emotion communication behaviours each explained significant variance in child anxiety. The results showed that how mothers and children approached emotion-related conversations is important for child anxiety, and highlighted the need to consider mother and child behaviours related to emotion communication in assessment and interventions with anxious children.
Developmental Trajectories of Impaired Community Functioning in Schizophrenia.

IMPORTANCE Community functioning is a core component of the functional deficits in schizophrenia, yet little systematic research on the origins of these functional deficits has been performed. OBJECTIVES To examine 3 key domains of community functioning--social activity, independent behavior, and functioning in school or work--before first hospitalization for schizophrenia and to determine whether these domains are familial. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this population-based, prospective study that included a sibling-control comparison, data from the Israeli National Draft Board Registry were linked with data from the Israeli Psychiatric Hospitalization Case Registry. The merged file included data for all male adolescents who visited the draft board and were followed up for as much as 25.4 years from draft board assessment (through the end of 2010). The 3 functional domains for cases, their unaffected siblings, and controls were compared by time between assessment and time to hospitalization. Analyses were conducted from March 13, 2014, to October 19, 2014. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The trajectories and familiality of 3 key components of community functioning--social activity, independent behavior, and functioning in school or work--in the years preceding hospitalization for schizophrenia. RESULTS Participants included 723,316 Israeli male adolescents who underwent a mandatory behavioral assessment to determine eligibility for military service. Linkage identified 3929 individuals hospitalized for schizophrenia. Data for 338,550 sibling pairs, 1659 hospitalized with schizophrenia, were similarly ascertained. Among those with schizophrenia, impairments in social activity (effect size [d], 0.55) and functioning in school or work (d = 0.37) were recognizable up to 15 years before hospitalization. Independent behavior seemed preserved until the few years before first admission. For social activity, differences between cases and controls were progressively greater for patients admitted closer to time of testing (F = 115.33, P < .001). Unaffected siblings had small impairments compared with controls in social activity (F = 28.25, P < .001) and functioning in school or work scales (F = 14.77, P < .001). Group familial (sibling) correlations were relatively high for social activity (r = 0.40; 95% CI, 0.39-0.41) and functioning in school or work (r = 0.50; 95% CI, 0.49-0.51) but nil for independent behavior (r = 0; 95% CI, -0.01 to -0.01). Impairments in siblings had no progressive increase and were unrelated to their affected sibling's time of illness onset (time trend: social activity: F = 5.463, P = .02; independent behavior: F = 0.908, P = .34; and functioning in school or work: F = 1.386, P = .24). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Various components of impaired community functioning in schizophrenia followed different developmental trajectories. Our results indicate that impairments in social activity and functioning in school or work are familial.
Variables Predictive of Poor Postdischarge Outcomes for Hospitalized Elders in Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) affects more than one million older Americans. As the population ages, the incidence of HF will increase. The purpose of this study was to identify variables that profile elders hospitalized with HF who are at high risk for poor postdischarge outcomes. A total of 103 patients were enrolled in the study. A low serum sodium and a fair or poor self-reported health status predicted all-cause readmission. A low serum sodium predicted HF-related readmissions. Four or more HF symptoms and index admission to an urban hospital predicted physician office visits. Admission to a community hospital predicted emergency department visits, and the number of coexisting medical conditions indicated an increased risk for an emergency department visit. The findings indicate that it is possible to profile hospitalized elders with HF who are at risk for poor postdischarge outcomes.
A registry study of the association of patient's residence and age with colorectal cancer survival

Because of limited literature from rural states of the United States like Nebraska, we evaluated the association of patient's age, Office of Management and Budget residence-county categories (rural-nonmetro, micropolitan-nonmetro, urban), and significant interactions between confounding-variables with colorectal cancer (CRC) survival. This retrospective 1998–2003 study of 6561 CRC patients from the Nebraska Cancer Registry showed median patient survival in colon and rectal cancer in urban, rural and micropolitan counties were 33, 36, and 46 months and 41, 47, 49 months, respectively. In Cox proportional-hazards analyses, after adjusting for significant demographics (age, race, marital status in colon cancer; age, insurance status in rectal cancer), cancer stage, surgery and radiation treatments; 1) no-chemotherapy urban colon cancer patients had significantly shorter survival (rural vs urban; adjusted hazard ratio, HR: 0.78 or urban vs rural HR: 1.28; micropolitan vs urban, HR: 0.78) and 2) no-surgery urban (vs rural, HR: 1.49); micropolitan (vs rural, HR: 2.01) rectal cancer patients had significantly shorter survival. Colon cancer (≥65 years) and rectal cancer (≥75 years) elderly each versus patients aged 19–64 years old had significantly shorter survival (all p < 0.01). The association of patients' age and treatment/residence-county interactions with CRC survival warrant decision-makers' attention.