Obesity Drives STAT-1-Dependent NASH and STAT-3-Dependent HCC.

Obesity is a major driver of cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The prevailing view is that non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis or cirrhosis are required for HCC in obesity. Here, we report that NASH and fibrosis and HCC in obesity can be dissociated.

Best practice data life cycle approaches for the life sciences.

Throughout history, the life sciences have been revolutionised by technological advances; in our era this is manifested by advances in instrumentation for data generation, and consequently researchers now routinely handle large amounts of heterogeneous data in digital formats. The simultaneous transitions towards biology as a data science and towards a 'life cycle' view of research data pose new challenges. Researchers face a bewildering landscape of data management requirements, recommendations and regulations, without necessarily being able to access data management training or possessing a clear understanding of practical approaches that can assist in data management in their particular research domain.

Four simple recommendations to encourage best practices in research software.

Scientific research relies on computer software, yet software is not always developed following practices that ensure its quality and sustainability. This manuscript does not aim to propose new software development best practices, but rather to provide simple recommendations that encourage the adoption of existing best practices. Software development best practices promote better quality software, and better quality software improves the reproducibility and reusability of research.

Better palliative care for people with a dementia: summary of interdisciplinary workshop highlighting current gaps and recommendations for future research.

Background: Dementia is the most common neurological disorder worldwide and is a life-limiting condition, but very often is not recognised as such. People with dementia, and their carers, have been shown to have palliative care needs equal in extent to those of cancer patients. However, many people with advanced dementia are not routinely being assessed to determine their palliative care needs, and it is not clear why this is so.

Cellular Light Scattering for the Identification of Bacteria and Its Application to the Identification of .

Rapid identification of bacteria is critical in clinical and food safety applications. This paper describes a novel instrument and data analysis method for identifying bacteria based on the measurement of laser light scattering as the beam interacts with bacterial cells suspended in water. A description of the technology is followed by an identification performance study for a set of strains from the genus Staphylococcus (the inclusive target organisms) and a set of non-Staphylococcus strains (the exclusive organisms).

Emergence of the Noncoding Cancer Genome: A Target of Genetic and Epigenetic Alterations.

Unlabelled: The emergence of whole-genome annotation approaches is paving the way for the comprehensive annotation of the human genome across diverse cell and tissue types exposed to various environmental conditions. This has already unmasked the positions of thousands of functional cis-regulatory elements integral to transcriptional regulation, such as enhancers, promoters, and anchors of chromatin interactions that populate the noncoding genome. Recent studies have shown that cis-regulatory elements are commonly the targets of genetic and epigenetic alterations associated with aberrant gene expression in cancer.

Noncoding somatic and inherited single-nucleotide variants converge to promote ESR1 expression in breast cancer.

Sustained expression of the estrogen receptor-α (ESR1) drives two-thirds of breast cancer and defines the ESR1-positive subtype. ESR1 engages enhancers upon estrogen stimulation to establish an oncogenic expression program. Somatic copy number alterations involving the ESR1 gene occur in approximately 1% of ESR1-positive breast cancers, suggesting that other mechanisms underlie the persistent expression of ESR1.

Nursing in an imperfect world: Storytelling as preparation for mental health nursing practice.

Storytelling is a valuable adjunctive method of preparing undergraduate mental health nursing students for practice. To explore the possibilities of this method of teaching, 100 stories were collected from experienced nurses working in mental health and analysed using a case study methodology. The aim was to explore the purpose of clinical anecdotes told by experienced nurses working in mental health settings to undergraduates and new recruits, with an ancillary purpose of looking at the implications of these anecdotes for the exploration of contemporary mental health practice and education.

Open Data in Global Environmental Research: The Belmont Forum's Open Data Survey.

This paper presents the findings of the Belmont Forum's survey on Open Data which targeted the global environmental research and data infrastructure community. It highlights users' perceptions of the term "open data", expectations of infrastructure functionalities, and barriers and enablers for the sharing of data. A wide range of good practice examples was pointed out by the respondents which demonstrates a substantial uptake of data sharing through e-infrastructures and a further need for enhancement and consolidation.

The therapeutic use of postcards in a mental health support group.

Objective: The aim of this project was to provide some group support for mental health patients in a general practice that employed a Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program nurse.

Method: Group members were involved in the development of the group and in the setting of its rules and goals. Postcards were used to invite members to each meeting.

Data management challenges in analysis and synthesis in the ecosystem sciences.

Open-data has created an unprecedented opportunity with new challenges for ecosystem scientists. Skills in data management are essential to acquire, manage, publish, access and re-use data. These skills span many disciplines and require trans-disciplinary collaboration.

Glutathione and thioredoxin antioxidant pathways synergize to drive cancer initiation and progression.

Controversy over the role of antioxidants in cancer has persisted for decades. Here, we demonstrate that synthesis of the antioxidant glutathione (GSH), driven by GCLM, is required for cancer initiation. Genetic loss of Gclm prevents a tumor's ability to drive malignant transformation.

Phenomenological and biological correlates of improved cognitive function in hospitalized elderly medical inpatients.

Deterioration of cognitive ability is a recognized outcome following acute illness in older patients. Levels of circulating cytokines and APOE genotype have both been linked with acute illness-related cognitive decline. In this observational longitudinal study, consecutive admissions to an elderly medical unit of patients aged ≥70 years were assessed within 3 days and re-assessed twice weekly with a range of scales assessing cognitive function, functional status and illness severity.

A Narrative in Search of a Methodology.

Purpose: Research papers present us with the summaries of scholars' work; what we readers do not see are the struggles behind the decision to choose one methodology over another.

Design And Methods: A student's mental health portfolio contained a narrative that led to an exploration of the most appropriate methodology for a projected study of clinical anecdotes told by nurses who work in mental health settings to undergraduates and new recruits about mental health nursing. This paper describes the process of struggle, beginning with the student's account, before posing a number of questions needing answers before the choice of the most appropriate methodology.

PTPN12 promotes resistance to oxidative stress and supports tumorigenesis by regulating FOXO signaling.

It is well known that protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) that become oxidized due to exposure to reactive oxygen species (ROS) undergo a conformational change and are inactivated. However, whether PTPs can actively regulate ROS levels in order to prevent PTP inhibition has yet to be investigated. Here, we demonstrate that PTP non-receptor type 12 (PTPN12) protects cells against aberrant ROS accumulation and death induced by oxidative stress.

Antipsychotics in dementia: prevalence and quality of antipsychotic drug prescribing in UK mental health services.

Background: Up to a quarter of people in the UK with a diagnosis of dementia are prescribed an antipsychotic in any year. The potential risks of such treatment are becoming clearer, but the benefits remain uncertain. Concern about the frequency and quality of such prescribing was expressed in the National Dementia Strategy for England in 2009.

Efficacy of memantine for agitation in Alzheimer's dementia: a randomised double-blind placebo controlled trial.

Background: Agitation in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is common and associated with poor patient life-quality and carer distress. The best evidence-based pharmacological treatments are antipsychotics which have limited benefits with increased morbidity and mortality. There are no memantine trials in clinically significant agitation but post-hoc analyses in other populations found reduced agitation.

Effect of load carriage on performance of an explosive, anaerobic military task.

This study examined the effects of load carriage on performance of an explosive, anaerobic military task. A task-specific assessment requiring five 30-m timed sprints was developed to address this question. Seventeen soldiers (female = 5, male = 12) volunteered to undergo the test under two experimental conditions: unloaded (combat uniform and boots) and loaded (unloaded plus 21.

Ethical dilemmas: should antipsychotics ever be prescribed for people with dementia?

The use of antipsychotics for the treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) is controversial. Antipsychotics cause harm and evidence-based guidelines advise against their use. We argue that antipsychotics may be justified using a palliative model: by reducing severe distress in those whose life expectancy is short.

Medical dominance and neoliberalisation in maternal care provision: the evidence from Canada and Australia.

Since the 1970s, governments in many high-income countries have implemented a series of reforms in their health care systems to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Many of these reforms have been of a market-oriented character, involving the deregulation of key services, the creation of competitive markets, and the privatization of health and social care. Some scholars have argued that these "neoliberal" reforms have unseated the historical structural embeddedness of medicine, and in some cases even resulted in the proletarianisation of physicians.