Health Research Network: From Lab to Community Health

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A test of the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism with perceived distress, cognitive emotion regulation, and perfectionist cognitions

Publication . Pereira Guerreiro, Mariana; Faisca, Luis; Brás, Marta; Carmo, Cláudia

Based on within-person combinations of self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP), the 2 x 2 model asserts four personality subtypes: Non-Perfectionism, Pure SOP, Pure SPP, and Mixed Perfectionism. We tested whether these subtypes can be distinctively associated with perceived distress, cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies, and perfectionist cognitions. Results of multiple regressions with 213 adults (72.8% female, M = 34.07, SD = 12.04 years old) revealed that Pure SOP (compared with Non-Perfectionism) and Mixed Perfectionism (compared with Pure SPP) perceived similar levels of distress but reported more perfectionist cognitions and both adaptive and maladaptive CER strategies. The two subtypes associated with high SPP reported less adaptive CER strategies than the Pure SOP and Non-Perfectionism. The presence of the SOP facet did not mitigate the detrimental effects of the SPP facet on negative outcomes. On the contrary, the SOP facet seems to have a positive influence on the adoption of adaptive CER strategies and helps attenuate the detrimental effects of the SPP. Studies about the 2 x 2 model of perfectionism should focus on comparing the predicted values between each subtype of perfectionism.

2023Journal article

Open Access

Tracking prostate carcinogenesis over time through urine proteome profiling in an animal model: an exploratory approach

Publication . Moreira-Pais, Alexandra; Nogueira-Ferreira, Rita; Reis, Stephanie; Aveiro, Susana; Barros, António; Melo, Tânia; Matos, Bárbara; Duarte, José Alberto; Seixas, Fernanda; Domingues, Pedro; Amado, Francisco; Fardilha, Margarida; Oliveira, Paula A.; Ferreira, Rita; Vitorino, Rui

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most lethal diseases in men, which justifies the search for new diagnostic tools. The aim of the present study was to gain new insights into the progression of prostate carcinogenesis by analyzing the urine proteome. To this end, urine from healthy animals and animals with prostate adenocarcinoma was analyzed at two time points: 27 and 54 weeks. After 54 weeks, the incidence of pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions in the PCa animals was 100%. GeLC-MS/MS and subsequent bioinformatics analyses revealed several proteins involved in prostate carcinogenesis. Increased levels of retinol-binding protein 4 and decreased levels of cadherin-2 appear to be characteristic of early stages of the disease, whereas increased levels of enolase-1 and T-kininogen 2 and decreased levels of isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 describe more advanced stages. With increasing age, urinary levels of clusterin and corticosteroid-binding globulin increased and neprilysin levels decreased, all of which appear to play a role in prostate hyperplasia or carcinogenesis. The present exploratory analysis can be considered as a starting point for studies targeting specific human urine proteins for early detection of age-related maladaptive changes in the prostate that may lead to cancer.

2022-07-08Journal article

Open Access

The Gupta perioperative risk for myocardial infarct or cardiac arrest (MICA) calculator as an intraoperative neurologic deficit predictor in carotid endarterectomy

Publication . Pereira-Macedo, Juliana; Fernandes, Beatriz; Duarte-Gamas, Luís; Pereira-Neves, António; Mourão, Joana; Khairy, Ahmed; Andrade, José Paulo; Marreiros, Ana; Rocha-Neves, João

Background: Patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA) may experiment intraoperative neurologic deficits (IND) during carotid cross-clamping. This work aimed to assess the impact of the Gupta Perioperative Myocardial Infarct or Cardiac Arrest (MICA) risk calculator in the IND. Methods: From January 2012 to April 2021, patients undergoing CEA with regional anaesthesia for carotid stenosis with IND and consecutively control operated patients without IND were selected. A regressive predictive model was created, and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied for comparison. A multivariable dependence analysis was conducted using a classification and regression tree (CRT) algorithm. Results: A total of 97 out of 194 included patients developed IND. Obesity showed aOR = 4.01 (95% CI: 1.66–9.67) and MICA score aOR = 1.21 (1.03–1.43). Higher contralateral stenosis showed aOR = 1.29 (1.08–1.53). The AUROC curve was 0.656. The CRT algorithm differentiated obese patients with a MICA score ≥ 8. Regarding non-obese patients, the model identified the presence of contralateral stenosis ≥ 55% with a MICA ≥ 10. Conclusion: MICA score might play an additional role in stratifying patients for IND in CEA. Obesity was determined as the best discrimination factor, followed by a score ≥ 8. A higher ipsilateral stenosis degree is suggested to have a part in avoiding procedure-related IND. Larger studies might validate the benefit of MICA score regarding the risk of IND.

2022-10-28Journal article

Open Access

Spatio-temporal dynamics of early somite segmentation in the chicken embryo

Publication . Ana Martins-Jesus; Borralho-Martins, Nísia; Tomás Pais-de-Azevedo; Magno, Ramiro; Maia-Fernandes, Ana C; Borralho Martins, Nísia; Pais de Azevedo, Tomás; dos Santos Duarte, Guilhermina Isabel; Varzielas Pego de Andrade, Raquel Gláucia

During vertebrate embryo development, the body is progressively segmented along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis early in development. The rate of somite formation is controlled by the somitogenesis embryo clock (EC), which was first described as gene expression oscillations of hairy1 (hes4) in the presomitic mesoderm of chick embryos with 15–20 somites. Here, the EC displays the same periodicity as somite formation, 90 min, whereas the posterior-most somites (44–52) only arise every 150 minutes, matched by a corresponding slower pace of the EC. Evidence suggests that the rostral-most somites are formed faster, however, their periodicity and the EC expression dynamics in these early stages are unknown. In this study, we used time-lapse imaging of chicken embryos from primitive streak to somitogenesis stages with high temporal resolution (3-minute intervals). We measured the length between the anterior-most and the last formed somitic clefts in each captured frame and developed a simple algorithm to automatically infer both the length and time of formation of each somite. We found that the occipital somites (up to somite 5) form at an average rate of 75 minutes, while somites 6 onwards are formed approximately every 90 minutes. We also assessed the expression dynamics of hairy1 using half-embryo explants cultured for different periods of time. This showed that EC hairy1 expression is highly dynamic prior to somitogenesis and assumes a clear oscillatory behaviour as the first somites are formed. Importantly, using ex ovo culture and live-imaging techniques, we showed that the hairy1 expression pattern recapitulates with the formation of each new pair of somites, indicating that somite segmentation is coupled with EC oscillations since the onset of somitogenesis.

2024Journal article

Open Access

Spatio-temporal dynamics of early somite segmentation in the chicken embryo

Publication . Maia-Fernandes, Ana C; Martins, Ana; Borralho Martins, Nísia; Pais de Azevedo, Tomás; Magno, Ramiro; dos Santos Duarte, Guilhermina Isabel; Andrade, Raquel; M

During vertebrate embryo development, the body is progressively segmented along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis early in development. The rate of somite formation is controlled by the somitogenesis embryo clock (EC), which was first described as gene expression oscillations of hairy1 (hes4) in the presomitic mesoderm of chick embryos with 15-20 somites. Here, the EC displays the same periodicity as somite formation, 90 min, whereas the posterior-most somites (44-52) only arise every 150 minutes, matched by a corresponding slower pace of the EC. Evidence suggests that the rostral-most somites are formed faster, however, their periodicity and the EC expression dynamics in these early stages are unknown. In this study, we used time-lapse imaging of chicken embryos from primitive streak to somitogenesis stages with high temporal resolution (3-minute intervals). We measured the length between the anterior-most and the last formed somitic clefts in each captured frame and developed a simple algorithm to automatically infer both the length and time of formation of each somite. We found that the occipital somites (up to somite 5) form at an average rate of 75 minutes, while somites 6 onwards are formed approximately every 90 minutes. We also assessed the expression dynamics of hairy1 using half-embryo explants cultured for different periods of time. This showed that EC hairy1 expression is highly dynamic prior to somitogenesis and assumes a clear oscillatory behaviour as the first somites are formed. Importantly, using ex ovo culture and live-imaging techniques, we showed that the hairy1 expression pattern recapitulates with the formation of each new pair of somites, indicating that somite segmentation is coupled with EC oscillations since the onset of somitogenesis.

2024-04-18Journal article

Open Access