Predicting Students’ School Engagement Based on Communication Skills, Self-restraint, Perceived Parenting Style, and Sensory Processing

Background and Aims Passion generally refers to the stimuli that shape a certain pattern of behavior. It can affects all aspects of a person’s life, including education and academic success. The present study aims to assess the predictability of school engagement based on communication skills, self-restraint, perceived parenting style, and sensory processing.Methods This is a descriptive-analytical study using the structural equation modeling (SEM).The study population consists of all secondary school students in Tehran (district 6). Sampling was done using purposive and convenience sampling methods. Using Cochran’s formula, the minimum sample size was obtained 385. Data collection tools were Baumrind’s parenting styles questionnaire, communication skills test-revised (CSTR), self-restraint scale, adolescent/adult sensory profile, and School Engagement Measure. To evaluate the SEM model, the significance level and path coefficients were investigated using the bootstrap method (re-sampling and sequential) and student’s t-test. Results Of 385 participants, 199 were girls (51.7%) and 186 were boys (48.3%), mostly aged 16 years (47.8%). Their mean age was 17.1±0.84 years. Results showed that the coefficient of determination (R2), Stone-Geisser’s Q2, and path coefficients were positive in all variables. The R2 value was 0.71, indicating that the independent variables together could predict 71% of school engagement.Conclusion Communication skills, self-restraint, perceived parenting style, and sensory processing are predictors of school engagement in students. Among these variables, communication skills have the highest effect

c-Met activation leads to the establishment of a TGFβ-receptor regulatory network in bladder cancer progression

Treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer remains a major clinical challenge. Aberrant HGF/c-MET upregulation and activation is frequently observed in bladder cancer correlating with cancer progression and invasion. However, the mechanisms underlying HGF/c-MET-mediated invasion in bladder cancer remains unknown. As part of a negative feedback loop SMAD7 binds to SMURF2 targeting the TGFβ receptor for degradation. Under these conditions, SMAD7 acts as a SMURF2 agonist by disrupting the intramolecular interactions within SMURF2. We demonstrate that HGF stimulates TGFβ signalling through c-SRC-mediated phosphorylation of SMURF2 resulting in loss of SMAD7 binding and enhanced SMURF2 C2-HECT interaction, inhibiting SMURF2 and enhancing TGFβ receptor stabilisation. This upregulation of the TGFβ pathway by HGF leads to TGFβ-mediated EMT and invasion. In vivo we show that TGFβ receptor inhibition prevents bladder cancer invasion. Furthermore, we make a rationale for the use of combinatorial TGFβ and MEK inhibitors for treatment of high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder cancers

INVESTIGATING NOVEL MECHANISMS OF MAPK PATHWAY REGULATION IN MELANOMA

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (SOM

c-Met activation leads to the establishment of a TGF beta-receptor regulatory network in bladder cancer progression (vol 10, 4349, 2019)

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS10

Author Correction: c-Met activation leads to the establishment of a TGF beta-receptor regulatory network in bladder cancer progression (vol 10, 4349, 2019)

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS10

The roles of ubiquitin modifying enzymes in neoplastic disease

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. The initial experiments performed by Rose, Hershko, and Ciechanover describing the identification of a specific degradation signal in short-lived proteins paved the way to the discovery of the ubiquitin mediated regulation of numerous physiological functions required for cellular homeostasis. Since their discovery of ubiquitin and ubiquitin function over 30 years ago it has become wholly apparent that ubiquitin and their respective ubiquitin modifying enzymes are key players in tumorigenesis. The human genome encodes approximately 600 putative E3 ligases and 80 deubiquitinating enzymes and in the majority of cases these enzymes exhibit specificity in sustaining either pro-tumorigenic or tumour repressive responses. In this review, we highlight the known oncogenic and tumour suppressive effects of ubiquitin modifying enzymes in cancer relevant pathways with specific focus on PI3K, MAPK, TGFß, WNT, and YAP pathways. Moreover, we discuss the capacity of targeting DUBs as a novel anticancer therapeutic strategy