Human myocardial protein pattern reveals cardiac diseases

Proteomic profiles of myocardial tissue in two different etiologies of heart failure were investigated using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Right atrial appendages from 10 patients with hemodynamically significant isolated aortic valve disease and from 10 patients with isolated symptomatic coronary heart disease were collected during elective cardiac surgery. As presented in an earlier study by our group (Baykut et al., 2006), both disease forms showed clearly different pattern distribution characteristics. Interesting enough, the classification patterns could be used for correctly sorting unknown test samples in their correct categories. However, in order to fully exploit and also validate these findings there is a definite need for unambiguous identification of the differences between different etiologies at molecular level. In this study, samples representative for the aortic valve disease and coronary heart disease were prepared, tryptically digested, and analyzed using an FT-ICR MS that allowed collision-induced dissociation (CID) of selected classifier masses. By using the fragment spectra, proteins were identified by database searches. For comparison and further validation, classifier masses were also fragmented and analyzed using HPLC-/Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight/time-of-flight (TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry. Desmin and lumican precursor were examples of proteins found in aortic samples at higher abundances than in coronary samples. Similarly, adenylate kinase isoenzyme was found in coronary samples at a higher abundance. The described methodology could also be feasible in search for specific biomarkers in plasma or serum for diagnostic purposes

Comparative analysis: public and private school management systems

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThe Portuguese educational system has counted, for many years, with the co-existence of both public and private schools. In fact, the country’s growth and development led, in the past, to an increasing demand for free of charge public education that could only be matched through the creation of “publicly-subsidized and privately owned and managed schools”. Still, the demographic evolution of Portugal recently generated a decrease on the demand for public educational services. This situation has raised doubts about the true contribution of this type of school for the public education system. This paper aims at answering this question by isolating the impact of different property and management schemes on the performance of students, resorting to cross-section data on 9th grade students from 2010. The results corroborate the well known result on the relevance of the family socio-economic background for students’ performance, but do also sustain the existence of a significant positive impact of private ownership and management schemes on the overall performance of students. These results suggest that there might be gains associated with the expansion of such schemes within the public education system

kClust: fast and sensitive clustering of large protein sequence databases

Background: Fueled by rapid progress in high-throughput sequencing, the size of public sequence databases doubles every two years. Searching the ever larger and more redundant databases is getting increasingly inefficient. Clustering can help to organize sequences into homologous and functionally similar groups and can improve the speed, sensitivity, and readability of homology searches. However, because the clustering time is quadratic in the number of sequences, standard sequence search methods are becoming impracticable. Results: Here we present a method to cluster large protein sequence databases such as UniProt within days down to 20\%-30\% maximum pairwise sequence identity. kClust owes its speed and sensitivity to an alignment-free prefilter that calculates the cumulative score of all similar 6-mers between pairs of sequences, and to a dynamic programming algorithm that operates on pairs of similar 4-mers. To increase sensitivity further, kClust can run in profile-sequence comparison mode, with profiles computed from the clusters of a previous kClust iteration. kClust is two to three orders of magnitude faster than clustering based on NCBI BLAST, and on multidomain sequences of 20\%-30\% maximum pairwise sequence identity it achieves comparable sensitivity and a lower false discovery rate. It also compares favorably to CD-HIT and UCLUST in terms of false discovery rate, sensitivity, and speed. Conclusions: kClust fills the need for a fast, sensitive, and accurate tool to cluster large protein sequence databases to below 30\% sequence identity. kClust is freely available under GPL at ftp://toolkit.lmb.uni-muenchen.de/pub/kClust/

Development of a versatile sample preparation method and its application for rare-earth pattern and Nd isotope ratio analysis in nuclear forensics

An improved sample preparation procedure for trace-levels of lanthanides in uranium-bearing samples was developed. The method involves a simple co-precipitation using Fe(III) carrier in ammonium carbonate medium to remove the uranium matrix. The procedure is an effective initial pre-concentration step for the subsequent extraction chromatographic separations. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by the measurement of REE pattern and 143Nd/144Nd isotope ratio in uranium ore concentrate samples.JRC.E.7-Nuclear Safeguards and Forensic

Second, but not least: the potential of the growing second-hand apparel market in Portugal, exploratory research

From garage sales to peer-to-peer globally inter-connected digital marketplaces—the consumption of previously worn apparel items is becoming a worldwide trend. However, the Portuguese second-hand fashion market appears to be rather fragmented. To understand the potential of this market in Portugal, the present Work Project explores the attitude of the Portuguese consumer towards the selling and purchasing of pre-used apparel. More over, this study further accesses if this manner differs according to gender and generation. In this sense, qualitative and quantitative analysis were conducted on consumers aiming to thoroughly comprehend their behavior, drivers, triggers, and obstacles. The results show evidence of growing interest from the Portuguese consumer which, in contrast with the overall market, is profiled differently—differing in sustainable motivations and price sensitivity, as well as differing in terms of channels, impediments, and stimuli

Impactos da Liderança Sobre o Potencial Criativo das Pessoas nas Instituições Universitárias

Questões referentes à liderança e criatividade nas instituições têm sido muito discutidas. Em uma era da informação, do conhecimento, da transformação, do avanço tecnológico e velocidade de mudanças, torna-se essencial a discussão acerca do papel do líder nestas. O líder, como um agente de mudanças, muito exerce influência sobre os colaboradores, suas habilidades e competências. Dentre estas, a criatividade tem se configurado como um diferencial para a conquista das metas almejadas para as instituições e para a inovação das mesmas frente à concorrência exacerbada da contemporaneidade. Este artigo objetivou analisar os efeitos da liderança nas instituições universitárias, no que concerne à criatividade das pessoas. Aborda impactos positivos e negativos que a liderança pode vir a despertar no potencial criativo das pessoas neste âmbito. Analisa as instituições de trabalho, competências essenciais de um colaborador, aspectos relacionados à liderança, como sua conceituação, importância e, por fim, fatores relacionados à criatividade. Identificou-se que é necessário que a liderança atue nos colaboradores com a postura facilitadora, delegando a estes responsabilidades, de forma a estimulá-los e motivá-los, assim a criatividade poderá emergir. Percebeu-se que para a liderança exercer um impacto positivo nas pessoas no que tange à criatividade das mesmas, é necessário primeiramente desvencilhar-se do estereótipo do “chefe”, mais responsável por sua mediocridade do que por um trabalho eficiente de equipe. Caso isto não ocorra, com a presença de um líder autoritário, que cultive a rigidez e crie barreiras comunicacionais, inúmeros obstáculos poderão impedir os colaboradores de se desenvolverem plenamente no que corresponde ao seu potencial criativo. Outros fatores podem desfavorecer o potencial criativo, são eles: a intransigência e o autoritarismo, protecionismo e paternalismo, a falta de integração entre os setores, a falta de apoio para colocar novas idéias em ação e a falta de estímulo aos colaboradores. Nas considerações finais, foram apontados os impactos negativos que a liderança poderá ter sobre o potencial criativo, bem como foram pontuados aspectos positivos da intervenção do líder no que diz respeito à criatividade

Impact of a brief faculty training to improve patient-centered communication while using electronic health records

Objective Despite rapid EHR adoption, few faculty receive training in how to implement patient-centered communication skills while using computers in exam rooms. We piloted a patient-centered EHR use training to address this issue. Methods Faculty received four hours of training at Cleveland Clinic and a condensed 90-minute version at the University of Chicago. Both included a lecture and a Group-Objective Structured Clinical Exam (GOSCE) experience. Direct observations of 10 faculty in their clinical practices were performed pre- and post-workshop. Results Thirty participants (94%) completed a post-workshop evaluation assessing knowledge, attitude, and skills. Faculty reported that training was important, relevant, and should be required for all providers; no differences were found between longer versus shorter training. Participants in the longer training reported higher GOSCE efficacy, however shorter workshop participants agreed more with the statement that they had gained new knowledge. Faculty improved their patient-centered EHR use skills in clinical practice on post- versus pre-workshop ratings using a validated direct-observation rating tool. Conclusion A brief lecture and GOSCE can be effective in training busy faculty on patient-centered EHR use skills. Practice Implications Faculty training on patient-centered EHR skills can enhance patient-doctor communication and promotes positive role modeling of these skills to learners

The formation of Jupiter by hybrid pebble-planetesimal accretion

The standard model for giant planet formation is based on the accretion of solids by a growing planetary embryo, followed by rapid gas accretion once the planet exceeds a so-called critical mass. The dominant size of the accreted solids (cm-size particles named pebbles or km to hundred km-size bodies named planetesimals) is, however, unknown. Recently, high-precision measurements of isotopes in meteorites provided evidence for the existence of two reservoirs in the early Solar System. These reservoirs remained separated from ~1 until ~ 3 Myr after the beginning of the Solar System's formation. This separation is interpreted as resulting from Jupiter growing and becoming a barrier for material transport. In this framework, Jupiter reached ~20 Earth masses within ~1 Myr and slowly grew to ~50 Earth masses in the subsequent 2 Myr before reaching its present-day mass. The evidence that Jupiter slowed down its growth after reaching 20 Earth masses for at least 2 Myr is puzzling because a planet of this mass is expected to trigger fast runaway gas accretion. Here, we use theoretical models to describe the conditions allowing for such a slow accretion and show that Jupiter grew in three distinct phases. First, rapid pebble accretion brought the major part of Jupiter's core mass. Second, slow planetesimal accretion provided the energy required to hinder runaway gas accretion during 2 Myr. Third, runaway gas accretion proceeded. Both pebbles and planetesimals therefore have an important role in Jupiter's formation.Comment: Published in Nature Astronomy on August 27, 201