Search

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) poses a significant threat due to its tendency to evade early detection, frequent metastasis, and the subsequent challenges in devising effective treatments. Processes that govern epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in PDAC hold promise for advancing novel therapeutic strategies. SAMD1 (SAM domain-containing protein 1) is a CpG island-binding protein that plays a pivotal role in the repression of its target genes. Here, we revealed that SAMD1 acts as a repressor of genes associated with EMT. Upon deletion of SAMD1 in PDAC cells, we observed significantly increased migration rates. SAMD1 exerts its effects by binding to specific genomic targets, including CDH2, encoding N-cadherin, which emerged as a driver of enhanced migration upon SAMD1 knockout. Furthermore, we discovered the FBXO11-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase complex as an interactor and negative regulator of SAMD1, which inhibits SAMD1 chromatin-binding genome-wide. High FBXO11 expression in PDAC is associated with poor prognosis and increased expression of EMT-related genes, underlining an antagonistic relationship between SAMD1 and FBXO11. In summary, our findings provide insights into the regulation of EMT-related genes in PDAC, shedding light on the intricate role of SAMD1 and its interplay with FBXO11 in this cancer type.

In recent years, the amount of available literature, data and computational tools has increased exponentially, providing opportunities and challenges to make use of this vast amount of material. Here, we describe how we utilized publicly available information to identify the previously hardly characterized protein SAMD1 (SAM domain-containing protein 1) as a novel unmethylated CpG island-binding protein. This discovery is an example, how the richness of material and tools on the internet can be used to make scientific breakthroughs, but also the hurdles that may occur. Specifically, we discuss how the misrepresentation of SAMD1 in literature and databases may have prevented an earlier characterization of this protein and we address what can be learned from this example.

Sea lettuce (Ulva spp.), with its worldwide distribution and remarkable ability to grow rapidly under various conditions, represents an important natural resource that is still under-exploited. Its biomass can be used for a wide range of applications in the food/feed, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, biofuel, and bioremediation industries. However, knowledge of the factors affecting Ulva biomass yield and composition is far from complete. Indeed, the respective contributions of the microbiome, natural genetic variation in Ulva species, environmental conditions and importantly, the interactions between these three factors on the Ulva biomass, have been only partially elucidated. Further investigation is important for the implementation of large-scale Ulva aquaculture, which requires stable and controlled biomass composition and yields. In this review, we document Ulva biomass composition, describe the uses of Ulva biomass and we propose different strategies for developing a sustainable and profitable Ulva aquaculture industry.

Content addition to courses and its subsequent correct sequencing in a study plan or curricula design context determine the success (and, in some cases, the failure) of such study plan in the acquisition of knowledge by students. In this work, we propose a decision model to guide curricular design committees in the tasks of course selection and sequencing in higher education contexts using a novel methodology based on network analysis. In this work, the local and global properties stemming from complex network analysis tools are studied in detail to facilitate the design of the study plan and to ensure its coherence by detecting the communities within a graph, and the local and global centrality of the courses and their dependencies are analyzed, as well as the overlapping subgroups and the functions and different positions among them. The proposed methodology is applied to the study of a real case at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.

The unmethylated CpG island-binding protein SAMD1 is upregulated in many human cancer types, but its cancer-related role has not yet been investigated. Here, we used the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 as a cancer model and investigated the cellular and transcriptional roles of SAMD1 using ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq. SAMD1 targets several thousand gene promoters, where it acts predominantly as a transcriptional repressor. HepG2 cells with SAMD1 deletion showed slightly reduced proliferation, but strongly impaired clonogenicity. This phenotype was accompanied by the decreased expression of pro-proliferative genes, including MYC target genes. Consistently, we observed a decrease in the active H3K4me2 histone mark at most promoters, irrespective of SAMD1 binding. Conversely, we noticed an increase in interferon response pathways and a gain of H3K4me2 at a subset of enhancers that were enriched for IFN-stimulated response elements (ISREs). We identified key transcription factor genes, such as IRF1, STAT2, and FOSL2, that were directly repressed by SAMD1. Moreover, SAMD1 deletion also led to the derepression of the PI3K-inhibitor PIK3IP1, contributing to diminished mTOR signaling and ribosome biogenesis pathways. Our work suggests that SAMD1 is involved in establishing a pro-proliferative setting in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Inhibiting SAMD1’s function in liver cancer cells may therefore lead to a more favorable gene signature.

Forecasting the energy consumption of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems is important for the energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings. In fact, conventional models present limitations in these systems due to their complexity and unpredictability. To overcome this, the long short-term memory-based model is employed in this work. Our objective is to develop and evaluate a model to forecast the daily energy consumption of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems in buildings. For this purpose, we apply a comprehensive methodology that allows us to obtain a robust, generalizable, and reliable model by tuning different parameters. The results show that the proposed model achieves a significant improvement in the coefficient of variation of root mean square error of 9.5% compared to that proposed by international agencies. We conclude that these results provide an encouraging outlook for its implementation as an intelligent service for decision making, capable of overcoming the problems of other noise-sensitive models affected by data variations and disturbances without the need for expert knowledge in the domain.

Background Lung ultrasound (LUS) has emerged as a useful tool in the acute phase of patients admitted for ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction. However, its long‐term significance remains uncertain, and risk scores do not include LUS findings as a predictor. This study aims to assess the 1‐year prognostic value of LUS and its ability to enhance existing risk scores. Methods and Results This is a multicenter prospective cohort study involving 373 patients with ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction. LUS was performed during the first 24 hours after angiography. LUS results were assessed both as a categorical (wet/dry lung) and continuous variable (LUS score). The primary end point comprised the following major adverse cardiovascular events: all‐cause mortality or hospitalization for heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, or stroke within 1 year. We also evaluated whether LUS could enhance the predictive value of the GRACE (Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events) score. Major adverse cardiovascular events occurred in 51 (13.7%) patients over a median follow‐up of 368 days. After multivariate analysis, the LUS score was an independent predictor (hazard ratio [HR], 1.06 [95% CI, 1.01–1.10]; P=0.009] for each additional B‐line), whereas the categorical classification was an independent predictor in patients with ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction Killip I (HR, 3.12 [95% CI, 1.34–7.31]; P=0.009). Incorporating LUS into GRACE resulted in a net reclassification index of 31.6% and a significant increase in the area under the curve; GRACE alone scored 0.705 compared with GRACE+LUS 0.791 (P=0.002). Conclusions Detecting B‐lines on LUS at the acute phase predicts major adverse cardiovascular events at 1 year in patients with ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction and enhances the predictive value of the GRACE score. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT04526535.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) epidemiology and clinical features are sexually dimorphic. However, there are no data based on EEG functional connectivity (FC). Likewise, the contribution of sex hormones on brain FC has never been evaluated. Here, we aimed to investigate the association between biological sex and sex hormones on cortical FC changes in PD using high-density EEG. This study involved 69 early-stage PD patients (F/M 27/42) and 69 age-matched healthy controls (HC) (F/M 30/39). Sex hormone levels (total-testosterone (TT), estradiol (E2), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH)) were assessed in PD patients. Data were recorded with a 64-channel EEG system. Source reconstruction method was used to identify brain activity. Cortico-cortical FC was analysed based on the weighted phase-lag index (wPLI) in θ-α-β-low γ bands. Network-based statistic (NBS) was used to compare FC between genders in HC and PD and to study the relationship between FC and sex hormones in PD. PD exhibited a hypoconnected network at θ and α bands and a hyperconnected network at β band compared to HC. Male HC showed a hyperconnected network at α-band compared to female HC. Conversely, males with PD showed a hypoconnected network at α-band compared to females with PD. In females and males with PD, E2 positively correlated with α-FC, while gonadotropins positively correlated with β-FC. TT positively correlated with the θ-FC only in males. Sex hormones shape EEG-FC in both males and females with PD, supporting their major influence on PD pathophysiology.

Forecasting the energy consumption of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems is important for the energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings. In fact, conventional models present limitations in these systems due to their complexity and unpredictability. To overcome this, the long short-term memory-based model is employed in this work. Our objective is to develop and evaluate a model to forecast the daily energy consumption of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems in buildings. For this purpose, we apply a comprehensive methodology that allows us to obtain a robust, generalizable, and reliable model by tuning different parameters. The results show that the proposed model achieves a significant improvement in the coefficient of variation of root mean square error of 9.5% compared to that proposed by international agencies. We conclude that these results provide an encouraging outlook for its implementation as an intelligent service for decision making, capable of overcoming the problems of other noise-sensitive models affected by data variations and disturbances without the need for expert knowledge in the domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pupose - This essay uses service marketing concept to discuss how domestic medical tourism (DMT) can contribute to healthcare equity in developed countries.Approach - The authors take up several vital issues. First, the potential benefits of DMT are outlined from a healthcare equity perspective; second, the challenges that DMT confronts in reaching its aim are identified; and finally, a few research areas are suggested.Finding - It is suggested that increased awareness about the healthcare service and proper service delivery are required to improve healthcare equity.Practical implication - This paper raises several research issues from service marketing to deal with delivery, communication, efficiency, and insurance practices regarding healthcare.Social implication - From a societal point of view, it explores how healthcare equity can be improved by DMT.

Background: Monoamine oxidase type B inhibitors (iMAO-Bs) are a class of largely-used antiparkinsonian agents that, based on experimental evidence, are supposed to exert different degrees of neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, clinical proofs on this regard are very scarce. Since cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) reflects pathological changes occurring at brain level, we examined the neurodegeneration-related CSF biomarkers profile of PD patients under chronic treatment with different iMAO-Bs to identify biochemical signatures suggestive for differential neurobiological effects. Methods: Thirty-five PD patients under chronic treatment with different iMAO-Bs in add-on to levodopa were enrolled and grouped in rasagiline (n = 13), selegiline (n = 9), safinamide (n = 13). Respective standard clinical scores for motor and non-motor disturbances, together with CSF biomarkers of neurodegeneration levels (amyloid- β -42, amyloid- β -40, total and 181-phosphorylated tau, and lactate) were collected and compared among the three iMAO-B groups. Results: No significant clinical differences emerged among the iMAO-B groups. CSF levels of tau proteins and lactate were instead different, resulting higher in patients under selegiline than in those under rasagiline and safinamide. Conclusions: Although preliminary and limited, this study indicates that patients under different iMAO-Bs may present distinct profiles of CSF neurodegeneration-related biomarkers, probably because of the differential neurobiological effects of the drugs. Larger studies are now needed to confirm and extend these initial observations.

This work uses Belbin’s balanced group theory to analyze whether the formation of teams improved the performance of 21 groups formed by the 149 students of an Introduction to Business class in a collaborative learning environment in Higher Education. The analysis is based on a comparison of two types of groups: balanced groups (according to Belbin’s role theory) and those that are not so balanced. The analysis techniques used to determine any significant differences in student grade scores were the student average comparison and the Chi homogeneity tests. The relevance of the different roles that students can acquire when forming work groups was derived from multiple regression in the exams and practices punctuations, and the relevance of each student role was determined by discriminant analysis. The results indicate that balanced groups facilitate greater homogeneity in group grades, improving the performance of the group overall.

The aim of this paper is to contrast whether cognitive memory and emotional recall related to a tragic event and exposure to advertisements that evoke such an experience generates a negative emotional change in the target. We performed an experiment that analyzes emotional changes derived from advertisements featured in the national press ten years after terrorist attacks. We chose the attacks: September 11, 2001, in New York City, and March 11, 2004, in Madrid and analyze the cognitive recall in a set of Spanish and United States focus groups. The results show a significant emotional change in the respondents after the advertisement visualization that is more strongly linked to the recall of a negative event than to the advertisement creativity.

This paper aims to both fit and predict crop biophysical variables with a SAR image series by performing a factorial experiment and estimating time series models using a combination of forecasts. Two plots of barley grown under rainfed conditions in Spain were monitored during the growing cycle of 2015 (February to June). The dataset included nine field estimations of agronomic parameters, 20 RADARSAT-2 images, and daily weather records. Ten polarimetric observables were retrieved and integrated to derive the six agronomic and monitoring variables, including the height, biomass, fraction of vegetation cover, leaf area index, water content, and soil moisture. The statistical methods applied, namely double smoothing, ARIMAX, and robust regression, allowed the adjustment and modelling of these field variables. The model equations showed a positive contribution of meteorological variables and a strong temporal component in the crop’s development, as occurs in natural conditions. After combining different models, the results showed the best efficiency in terms of forecasting and the influence of several weather variables. The existence of a cointegration relationship between the data series of the same crop in different fields allows for adjusting and predicting the results in other fields with similar crops without re-modelling.

This study focused on how climate change-induced effects on weather will translate into changes in wildland fire severity and outcomes in California, particularly on the effectiveness of initial attack at limiting the number of fires that escape initial attack. The results indicate that subtle shifts in fire behavior of the sort that might be induced by the climate changes anticipated for the next century are of sufficient magnitude to generate an appreciable increase in the number of fires that escape initial attack. Such escapes are of considerable importance in wildland fire protection planning, given the high cost to society of a catastrophic escape like those experienced in recent decades in the Berkeley-Oakland, Santa Barbara, San Diego, or Los Angeles areas. However, at least for the three study areas considered, it would appear that relatively modest augmentations to existing firefighting resources might be sufficient to compensate for change-induced changes in wildland fire outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation dynamics is very sensitive to environmental changes, particularly in arid zones where climate change is more prominent. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the response of this dynamics to those changes and understand its evolution according to different climatic factors. Remote sensing techniques provide an effective system to monitor vegetation dynamics on multiple scales using vegetation indices (VI), calculated from remote sensing reflectance measurements in the visible and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this study, we use the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), provided from the MOD13Q1 V006 at 250 m spatial resolution product derived from the MODIS sensor. NDVI is frequent in studies related to vegetation mapping, crop state indicator, biomass estimator, drought monitoring and evapotranspiration. In this paper, we use a combination of forecasts to perform time series models and predict NDVI time series derived from optical remote sensing data. The proposed ensemble is constructed using forecasting models based on time series analysis, such as Double Exponential Smoothing and autoregressive integrated moving average with explanatory variables for a better prediction performance. The method is validated using different maize plots and one olive plot. The results after combining different models show the positive influence of several weather measures, namely, temperature, precipitation, humidity and radiation.

Este estudio describe la aplicación del análisis de importancia-satisfacción en un programa de máster universitariocon la finalidad de conocer, por un lado, sucapacidad para identificar, desde el punto de vista delos estudiantes, aquellos atributos sobre los que seríamás necesario actuar con el fin de mejorar la calidaddel máster y, por otro, su viabilidad como instrumentode retroalimentación para verificar el impacto dedichas actuaciones. El estudio se llevó a cabo en tresgrupos de estudiantes matriculados en el máster enGestión de la Documentación, Bibliotecas y Archivosde la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. El primer grupo, considerado como grupo control, estuvo constituido por los estudiantes matriculados antes del año 2011. A estos alumnos se les solicitó que valorasen los grados de importancia y de satisfacción con el desempeño de un conjunto de 30 atributos que resumían la calidad del máster. Tras la identificación de los atributos sobre los que era prioritario actuar, la organización del título implementó una serie acciones de mejora, cuyo impacto se evaluó en los otros dos grupos de estudiantes matriculados en los cursos 2011/12 y 2012/13 respectivamente. Los resultados obtenidos muestran, en primer lugar, que los tres grupos han otorgado una valoración similar al grado de importancia de cada atributo y, en segundo lugar, se ha constatado el impacto positivo en la mejora de la satisfacción de los estudiantes como consecuencia de las acciones implementadas.

The general objective of this research study is to do a comparative research to investigate the perception of sorrow in the advertising in the press after the terrorist attacks: 11/09/2001 (U.S.) and 11/04/2004 (Spain). The general hypothesis considers that there are similar perceptions of the sorrow towards the ads although there are cultural differences. On a computer program the subject was shown these images about announcement advertisement published in the press after the 09/11 and 11/04 in a random order and was asked different questions that explored their perception and attitudes with regard to these advertisements

A nasalidade coarticulatória, fenômeno pouco explorado no PB, é resultado da coarticulação de uma vogal oral com uma consoante nasal que segue ou antecede a vogal oral em sequências VNV. Este estudo, de cunho introdutório e qualitativo, trata de aspectos aerodinâmicos da nasalidade coarticulatória do PB com dados obtidos através de um piezo-elétrico. Os resultados aerodinâmicos confirmam que a nasalidade das vogais do PB pode ser progressiva, regressiva ou ambas. Enfatizou-se a nasalidade regressiva, também chamada de antecipatória. Verificou-se a presença de fluxo de ar nasal, em vogais nasalizadas coarticulatoriamente em posição tônica e átona, bem como a duração da vogal nasalizada. O grau de nasalização parece estar ligado à consoante nasal que sucede a vogal. As vogais altas apresentaram fluxo de ar nasal com maior amplitude, se comparada com as demais vogais nasalizadas articulatoriamente do PB. Os dados apontam para uma duração da vogal nasalizada em posição tônica semelhante à das vogais nasais, porém, superior à das vogais orais. Locutores do sexo masculino apresentaram fluxo de ar nasal com maior amplitude quando comparado ao fluxo de ar nasal das produções femininas. Esta pesquisa visa contribuir com aspectos aerodinâmicos do PB, especialmente do falar florianopolitano.

RESUMO Objetivo Verificar a associação entre a restrição à participação decorrente de perda auditiva e a autopercepção da saúde, do suporte social e da qualidade de vida em pessoas idosas. Método Estudo com delineamento transversal, observacional, descritivo e com abordagem quantitativa dos dados. Foi utilizado um banco de dados com informações coletadas em um município brasileiro de médio porte, sendo incluídas no estudo 235 pessoas cadastradas em cinco unidades de Estratégia de Saúde da Família. Utilizou-se informações sociodemográficas, de saúde e os resultados dos questionários: avaliação à restrição à participação (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening Version - HHIE-S), Suporte Social (Escala de Apoio Social do MOS), Avaliação Subjetiva de Saúde e a Qualidade de Vida (Short-Form 6 dimensions- SF-6D). Comparou-se os grupos com restrição e sem restrição à participação segundo as variáveis sociodemográficas, de saúde, suporte social e qualidade de vida. Um método de regressão logística binária multivariado foi utilizado para avaliar as associações entre as variáveis independentes e a restrição à participação. Resultados O grupo com restrição à participação é mais velho, possui menor qualidade de vida e pior autopercepção de saúde. Esta se mostrou ser o único preditor da restrição à participação relacionada à perda auditiva. Conclusão A restrição à participação está associada a uma pior autopercepção de saúde. O estudo revela a importância de avaliar a autopercepção dos indivíduos quanto às questões biopsicossociais, além de considerar o contexto ambiental para a compreensão dos impactos sociais e emocionais da perda auditiva.

Purpose: To verify the association between participation restriction due to hearing loss and self-perception of health, social support, and quality of life in elderly people., Methods: This is a cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study with a quantitative data approach. A database with information collected in a medium-sized Brazilian municipality was used. The study was conducted with 235 elderly people registered in five Family Health Strategy Units. Sociodemographic and health information and the results of the following questionnaires were used: Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly - Screening Version (HHIE-S), Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey, Subjective Health Assessment, and Short-Form 6-Dimension (SF-6D) Health and Quality of Life Index. Groups with and without participation restriction were compared according to sociodemographic, health, social support, and quality of life variables. A multivariate binary logistic regression method was employed to evaluate the associations between the independent variables and participation restriction., Results: The group with participation restriction is composed of older individuals with lower quality of life and poorer self-perception of health. Poorer self-perception of health was the only predictor of participation restriction related to hearing loss., Conclusion: Participation restriction is associated with poorer self-perception of health. The study highlights the importance of assessing individuals' self-perception regarding biopsychosocial issues, in addition to considering the environmental context to understand the social and emotional impacts caused by hearing loss.