Publications by authors named "Alexis Morales"

How the oncogene drives cancer growth remains poorly understood. Therefore, we established a systemwide portrait of KRAS- and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-dependent gene transcription in KRAS-mutant cancer to delineate the molecular mechanisms of growth and of inhibitor resistance. Unexpectedly, our KRAS-dependent gene signature diverges substantially from the frequently cited Hallmark KRAS signaling gene signature, is driven predominantly through the ERK mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade, and accurately reflects KRAS- and ERK-regulated gene transcription in KRAS-mutant cancer patients.

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To delineate the mechanisms by which the ERK1 and ERK2 mitogen-activated protein kinases support mutant KRAS-driven cancer growth, we determined the ERK-dependent phosphoproteome in KRAS-mutant pancreatic cancer. We determined that ERK1 and ERK2 share near-identical signaling and transforming outputs and that the KRAS-regulated phosphoproteome is driven nearly completely by ERK. We identified 4666 ERK-dependent phosphosites on 2123 proteins, of which 79 and 66%, respectively, were not previously associated with ERK, substantially expanding the depth and breadth of ERK-dependent phosphorylation events and revealing a considerably more complex function for ERK in cancer.

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Background: Role-emerging settings - those where occupational therapy (OT) services have not traditionally been provided - are common sites for practice placements of entry-level occupational therapy students. A growing body of literature has attempted to determine the value and drawbacks of such practice placements on the professional preparedness of OT students with mixed findings. Benefits have been identified, including increased cultural understanding, advocacy, creativity, initiative, and problem-solving skills.

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Despite growing research on peer recovery specialists and community health workers (CHWs) in fields such as substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery support, their workplace experiences are little understood. Through semi-structured interviews with 21 CHWs and peer recovery specialists working within substance use disorder treatment and/or traditional health care settings, we identified six prevalent themes: Benefits/Pleasures of the Role; Reciprocity; Challenges; Duality of Lived Experience; Relationships with Medical Professionals and Supervisors; and Defining Metrics. These themes reveal a complex narrative of system failures, organizational hierarchies, and experiential realities in which shared experiences and personal connections with clients undergird both positive and negative aspects of the role.

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Background: Drug checking is a harm reduction strategy that provides greater awareness and information about the drug supply to the community. While fentanyl test strips are low-cost and available in most parts of the U.S.

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Background: The North American overdose crisis has continued at unprecedented rates with more than 100,000 overdose deaths estimated to have occurred in the United States in 2022. Regional variations in overdose rates signify differences in local drug supplies. State-level drug supply surveillance systems have been limited in their ability to document and communicate the rapidly changing drug supplies which can hinder harm reduction efforts at the community level.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is a growing field in developing countries, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), but research and information are limited, making it challenging to apply findings across diverse populations.
  • The study reviewed PGx knowledge among the LAC scientific community, identified barriers to its clinical use, and surveyed 106 professionals to evaluate these obstacles, revealing that the primary barrier is the lack of guidelines for implementing PGx in practice.
  • Despite these challenges, LAC has contributed 3.44% of global PGx publications and identified gene/drug pairs, such as tamoxifen and clopidogrel, as significant for improving genomic medicine responses, although cost-effectiveness concerns remain a critical issue.
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Coaching, an evidence-based approach in other fields, is relatively novel within occupational therapy (OT) and is not yet widely taught in OT programs. In recent studies, experienced occupational therapists have reported that coaching added value to their practice, but OT students' perspectives are missing from the literature. This phenomenological study explored OT students' ( = 14) perceptions of the value of learning to coach while in fieldwork.

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The liver has a complex vascularization and is subjected to a high metabolic demand, making it vulnerable to hemodynamic changes. As a result, several pathologies can develop, one of which is congestive hepatopathy. This disease occurs secondary to various cardiovascular conditions that generate a persistent passive venous congestion in the liver, which in the long term can culminate in fibrosis and cirrhosis, which in turn increases the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma.

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Background: Infection by Adenovirus 36 (Ad-36) has been associated with adipogenesis using cell and animal models, and a high risk of developing obesity has been reported in Ad-36-seropositive individuals. However, molecular mechanisms involved in the maintenance over the years of adipogenesis associated with Ad-36 has not been investigated in human adipose tissue. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as micro-RNAs (miRNAs) that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, have shown an important role in the development and maintenance of metabolic diseases.

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The possible inclusion complexes of Cp(2)NbCl(2) into calixarenes hosts have been investigated. The existence of a true inclusion complex in the solid state was confirmed by a combination of NMR, ab-initio calculations, thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR, Raman and PXRD. Ab-initio calculations, (1)H NMR solution and solid state (13)C CP MAS NMR results demonstrated that p-sulfonic calix[6]arene does form an inclusion complex with Cp(2)NbCl(2).

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Host-guest interactions between α-, β-, and γ-cyclodextrins and vanadocene dichloride (Cp(2)VCl(2)) have been investigated by a combination of thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimeters, PXRD and solid state and solution EPR spectroscopy. The solid state results demonstrated that only β- and γ-cyclodextrins form 1:1 inclusion complexes, while α-cyclodextrin does not form an inclusion complex with Cp(2)VCl(2). The β- and γ-CD-Cp(2)VCl(2) inclusion complexes exhibited anisotropic electron-(51)V (I = 7/2) hyperfine coupling constants whereas the α-CD- Cp(2)VCl(2) system showed only an asymmetric peak with no anisotropic hyperfine constant.

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Carbamazepine (CBZ) is an oral anticonvulsant drug, structurally similar to tricyclic antidepressants. It is preferred over other drugs because it has fewer adverse effects on behavior and alertness. However, hematologic toxicity is possible during therapy with CBZ.

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