Amelogenin binds to both heparan sulfate and bone morphogenetic protein 2 and pharmacologically suppresses the effect of noggin

Enamel matrix derivative (EMD) is widely considered useful to promote tissue regeneration during periodontal treatment. It has been reported that the main constituent of EMD is amelogenin and that the BMP-like and TGF-β-like activity of EMD promotes osteogenesis. However, it remains unclear whether those activities are dependent on amelogenin or another growth factor contained in EMD. We performed two-dimensional SDS-PAGE analysis of EMD, as well as Western blot analyses using anti-amelogenin, anti-BMP2/4, and anti-TGF-β1 antibodies, and amino acid sequencing. Our results revealed that a large number of splicing forms of amelogenin, BMP2/4, and other unknown molecules were involved in EMD, though TGF-β1 was not. In addition, we have evaluated intracellular signaling of ERK1/2 and Smad1/5/8, binding potential and alkaline phosphatase activity and have explored the potential regulatory relationship between amelogenin and BMP. Amelogenin bound to BMP2 as well as heparin/heparan sulfate. Thus, it was suggested that BMP2/4 carried over in EMD during processing promote binding activity and phosphorylate Smad1/5/8 in osteoblasts. On the other hand, amelogenin did not phosphorylate Smad1/5/8, but rather ERK1/2. Further, high-density amelogenin reduced the inhibition of alkaline phosphatase activity by noggin, though amelogenin did not have antagonistic properties against BMP. Together with the above findings, our findings suggest that the BMP2/4 contaminated during the purification process of EMD because of the avidity of amelogenin plays an important role in signaling pathway of calcification

Depression and dementia of cerebrovascular origin Depressão e demência de origem cerebrovascular

We report the case of a patient who presented various psychiatric syndromes at the time of evaluation - partial complex epileptic seizures, personality change, and severe depression, which eventually progressed to dementia - resulting from multiple cerebral infarctions of probable neuro-angiopathic origin, of unknown etiology. Aspects related to depression following cerebrovascular accidents, as well as how cerebrovascular accidents can result in different disorders depending on the variables, are discussed based on the data from current literature.<br>Relatamos o caso de um paciente que apresentou diversas síndromes psiquiátricas ao longo do tempo - crises epilépticas parciais complexas, alteração de personalidade e depressão grave que finalmente progrediu para demência - resultantes de múltiplos infartos cerebrais de provável origem neuroangiopática cuja etiologia permaneceu indeterminada. São discutidos aspectos relacionados a depressões secundárias a acidentes cerebrovasculares, assim como estes podem resultar em diferentes transtornos de acordo com algumas variáveis que são discutidas com base nos dados da literatura atual

Sentiment analysis in organizational work: Towards an ontology of people analytics

The present paper proposes a conceptual ontology to evaluate human factors by modeling their key performance indicators and defining these indicators' explanatory factors, manifestations and diverse corresponding digital footprints. Our methodology incorporates six main human resource constructs: performance, engagement, leadership, workplace dynamics, organizational developmental support, and learning and knowledge creation. Using sentiment analysis, we introduce a potential way to evaluate several components of the proposed human factors ontology. We use the Enron email corpus as a test case, to demonstrate how digital footprints can predict such phenomena. In so doing, we hope to encourage further research applying data mining techniques to allow real time, less costly and more reliable assessments of human factor patterns and trends

Cognitive impairment in a Brazilian sample of patients with bipolar disorder Prejuízo cognitivo em uma amostra brasileira de pacientes com transtorno do humor bipolar

OBJECTIVE: Persistent neurocognitive deficits have been described in bipolar mood disorder. As far as we are aware, no study have examined whether the cognitive impairment is presented in the same way in a Brazilian sample. METHOD: Cognitive function of 66 patients with bipolar disorder (32 with depressive symptoms and 34 euthymic) and 28 healthy subjects was examined using a complete cognitive battery. RESULTS: Patients with bipolar disorder presented a significantly poorer performance in eight of the 12 subtests when compared to healthy subjects. There was no significant difference between the subgroups of patients. These patients showed impairment in both verbal and non-verbal cognitive function. CONCLUSION: Cognitive impairment was found in both groups of patients with bipolar disorder. The findings described here suggest an overall impairment of cognitive function, independent of mood symptoms. This is in line with data showing that cognitive deficits may be a persistent characteristic of bipolar disorder.<br>OBJETIVO: Déficits neurocognitivos persistentes têm sido descritos no transtorno do humor bipolar; entretanto, não há estudos em amostras brasileiras para avaliar se o prejuízo se apresenta da mesma forma. MÉTODO: Foi realizada uma avaliação cognitiva em 66 pacientes bipolares (32 com sintomas depressivos e 34 eutímicos) e 28 controles, utilizando-se uma bateria cognitiva completa. RESULTADOS: Em oito dos 12 subtestes avaliados os pacientes apresentaram desempenho significativamente inferior em relação aos controles. Não houve diferença significativa entre os grupos de pacientes. Foram encontrados prejuízos cognitivos tanto na área verbal como na área não verbal da cognição. CONCLUSÃO: Foi observada uma performance inferior em ambos os grupos de pacientes com transtorno bipolar. As dificuldades cognitivas encontradas apontam para um prejuízo global no funcionamento cognitivo, independente da presença de sintomas, sugerindo estabilidade ou cronicidade dos déficits cognitivos