Sprouty2 mediated tuning of signalling is essential for somite myogenesis

Background: Negative regulators of signal transduction cascades play critical roles in controlling different aspects of normal embryonic development. Sprouty2 (Spry2) negatively regulates receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) and FGF signalling and is important in differentiation, cell migration and proliferation. In vertebrate embryos, Spry2 is expressed in paraxial mesoderm and in forming somites. Expression is maintained in the myotome until late stages of somite differentiation. However, its role and mode of action during somite myogenesis is still unclear. Results: Here, we analysed chick Spry2 expression and showed that it overlaps with that of myogenic regulatory factors MyoD and Mgn. Targeted mis-expression of Spry2 led to inhibition of myogenesis, whilst its C-terminal domain led to an increased number of myogenic cells by stimulating cell proliferation. Conclusions: Spry2 is expressed in somite myotomes and its expression overlaps with myogenic regulatory factors. Overexpression and dominant-negative interference showed that Spry2 plays a crucial role in regulating chick myogenesis by fine tuning of FGF signaling through a negative feedback loop. We also propose that mir-23, mir-27 and mir-128 could be part of the negative feedback loop mechanism. Our analysis is the first to shed some light on in vivo Spry2 function during chick somite myogenesis

Sprint interval and sprint continuous training increases circulating CD34+ cells and cardio-respiratory fitness in young healthy women

The improvement of vascular health in the exercising limb can be attained by sprint interval training (SIT). However, the effects on systemic vascular function and on circulating angiogenic cells (CACs) which may contribute to endothelial repair have not been investigated. Additionally, a comparison between SIT and sprint continuous training (SCT) which is less time committing has not been made

Analytic two-loop form factors in N=4 SYM

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.co

Pre-cooling for endurance exercise performance in the heat: a systematic review.

PMCID: PMC3568721The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/166. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Endurance exercise capacity diminishes under hot environmental conditions. Time to exhaustion can be increased by lowering body temperature prior to exercise (pre-cooling). This systematic literature review synthesizes the current findings of the effects of pre-cooling on endurance exercise performance, providing guidance for clinical practice and further research

Factorization Properties of Soft Graviton Amplitudes

We apply recently developed path integral resummation methods to perturbative quantum gravity. In particular, we provide supporting evidence that eikonal graviton amplitudes factorize into hard and soft parts, and confirm a recent hypothesis that soft gravitons are modelled by vacuum expectation values of products of certain Wilson line operators, which differ for massless and massive particles. We also investigate terms which break this factorization, and find that they are subleading with respect to the eikonal amplitude. The results may help in understanding the connections between gravity and gauge theories in more detail, as well as in studying gravitational radiation beyond the eikonal approximation.Comment: 35 pages, 5 figure

Evaluation of shoulder-specific patient-reported outcome measures: A systematic and standardized comparison of available evidence

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Background: The aim of this study was to perform a standardized and systematic evaluation of the available evidence on multi-item shoulder-specific patient-reported outcome measures that are applicable to a wide spectrum of disorders. Materials and methods: A systematic review was conducted in PubMed to identify articles with information regarding the development process, metric properties, and administration issues of shoulder-specific patient-reported outcome measures. Two experts independently reviewed all the articles identified for one instrument and applied the EMPRO (Evaluating Measures of Patient Reported Outcomes) tool, which was designed to assess the quality of attributes in a standardized way. An overall EMPRO score and 6 attribute-specific scores were calculated (range, 0-100) to describe the quality of instrument performance. Results: We identified 11 instruments and 112 articles (2-30 articles per instrument). The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) shoulder assessment, Simple Shoulder Test (SST), and Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) were the best rated, with overall scores of 77.4 points, 72.6 points, and 69.7 points, respectively. They have been shown to be valid, reliable, and responsive, with a low administration burden. Acceptable results were also found for the Flexilevel Scale of Shoulder Function, Shoulder Pain and Disability Index, and Dutch Shoulder Disability Questionnaire, but some of their attributes need further evaluation. Conclusions: Current evidence supports the use of the ASES, SST, or OSS. We recommend the SST for longitudinal studies or clinical trials, the Dutch Shoulder Disability Questionnaire for clinical practice to minimize administration burden, and the ASES or OSS to discriminate among patients' or groups' evaluations at one point of time. © 2014 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees.Department of HealthGovernment of the Basque Country, Spai

Presenteeism in hospital nurses

This quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional research aimed to determine the estimated productivity of health-related limitations at work in 129 nurses working in direct care delivery to critical and potentially critical patients. Instruments were applied for socio-demographic and functional characterization and for the evaluation of presenteeism (Work Limitations Questionnaire). Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used for data analysis. In this study, 75% of nurses obtained a lost productivity index of up to 4.84%. The physical demand domain represented the major limitation for these professionals (25%). Presenteeism was directly correlated to health care, occurrence and number of absences, and indirectly related to work time at the unit. It was concluded that organizational or individual factors influence individuals' productivity, in view of the circumstances involving care delivery to critical and potentially critical patients.Estudio cuantitativo, descriptivo y transversal con el objetivo de determinar la productividad supuesta de las limitaciones en el trabajo relacionadas con la salud de 129 enfermeros que asisten a pacientes críticos y potencialmente críticos. Se utilizó un instrumento para la caracterización sociodemográfica y funcional y para la evaluación de la presencia. Se realizó un análisis estadístico de los datos con el software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. En este estudio, 75 % de los enfermeros obtuvieron un índice de productividad perdida de hasta 4,84%. La demanda física fue el dominio que presentó mayor limitación (25%). La presencia se relacionó directamente a: realización de tratamiento de salud, ocurrencia y número de faltas, e indirectamente al tiempo en la unidad. Se concluye que existe influencia de factores organizacionales o individuales en la productividad del individuo frente a las circunstancias que involucran la asistencia al paciente crítico y potencialmente crítico.Este é um estudo quantitativo, descritivo e transversal com o objetivo de determinar a produtividade estimada das limitações no trabalho, relacionadas à saúde, em 129 enfermeiros atuantes na assistência direta a pacientes críticos e potencialmente críticos. Utilizou-se instrumento para caracterização sociodemográfica e funcional e para a avaliação do presenteísmo (questionário de limitações no trabalho). Procedeu-se à análise estatística dos dados com o software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Neste estudo, 75% dos enfermeiros obtiveram índice de produtividade perdida de até 4,84%. A demanda física foi o domínio que representou maior limitação para esses profissionais (25%). O presenteísmo correlacionou-se diretamente à realização de tratamento de saúde, ocorrência e número de faltas, e indiretamente ao tempo de trabalho na unidade. Conclui-se que existe influência de fatores organizacionais ou individuais na produtividade do indivíduo, frente às circunstâncias que envolvem a assistência ao paciente crítico e potencialmente crítico

Global and regional brain metabolic scaling and its functional consequences

Background: Information processing in the brain requires large amounts of metabolic energy, the spatial distribution of which is highly heterogeneous reflecting complex activity patterns in the mammalian brain. Results: Here, it is found based on empirical data that, despite this heterogeneity, the volume-specific cerebral glucose metabolic rate of many different brain structures scales with brain volume with almost the same exponent around -0.15. The exception is white matter, the metabolism of which seems to scale with a standard specific exponent -1/4. The scaling exponents for the total oxygen and glucose consumptions in the brain in relation to its volume are identical and equal to $0.86\pm 0.03$, which is significantly larger than the exponents 3/4 and 2/3 suggested for whole body basal metabolism on body mass. Conclusions: These findings show explicitly that in mammals (i) volume-specific scaling exponents of the cerebral energy expenditure in different brain parts are approximately constant (except brain stem structures), and (ii) the total cerebral metabolic exponent against brain volume is greater than the much-cited Kleiber's 3/4 exponent. The neurophysiological factors that might account for the regional uniformity of the exponents and for the excessive scaling of the total brain metabolism are discussed, along with the relationship between brain metabolic scaling and computation.Comment: Brain metabolism scales with its mass well above 3/4 exponen

Quantum Computing

Quantum mechanics---the theory describing the fundamental workings of nature---is famously counterintuitive: it predicts that a particle can be in two places at the same time, and that two remote particles can be inextricably and instantaneously linked. These predictions have been the topic of intense metaphysical debate ever since the theory's inception early last century. However, supreme predictive power combined with direct experimental observation of some of these unusual phenomena leave little doubt as to its fundamental correctness. In fact, without quantum mechanics we could not explain the workings of a laser, nor indeed how a fridge magnet operates. Over the last several decades quantum information science has emerged to seek answers to the question: can we gain some advantage by storing, transmitting and processing information encoded in systems that exhibit these unique quantum properties? Today it is understood that the answer is yes. Many research groups around the world are working towards one of the most ambitious goals humankind has ever embarked upon: a quantum computer that promises to exponentially improve computational power for particular tasks. A number of physical systems, spanning much of modern physics, are being developed for this task---ranging from single particles of light to superconducting circuits---and it is not yet clear which, if any, will ultimately prove successful. Here we describe the latest developments for each of the leading approaches and explain what the major challenges are for the future.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, 291 references. Early draft of Nature 464, 45-53 (4 March 2010). Published version is more up-to-date and has several corrections, but is half the length with far fewer reference