| 1. |
- Bustin, Stephen A., et al.
(author)
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The need for transparency and good practices in the qPCR literature
- 2013
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In: Nature Methods. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1548-7091 .- 1548-7105. ; 10:11, s. 1063-1067
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Two surveys of over 1,700 publications whose authors use quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) reveal a lack of transparent and comprehensive reporting of essential technical information. Reporting standards are significantly improved in publications that cite the Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Experiments (MIQE) guidelines, although such publications are still vastly outnumbered by those that do not.
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| 2. |
- Nijp, Hylco H., et al.
(author)
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Systematic review on the association between employee worktime control and work-non-work balance, health and well-being, and job-related outcomes
- 2012
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - : Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140 .- 1795-990X. ; 38:4, s. 299-313
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives The aim of this review was to assess systematically the empirical evidence for associations between employee worktime control (WTC) and work non-work balance, health/well-being, and job-related outcomes (eg, job satisfaction, job performance). Method A systematic search of empirical studies published between 1995-2011 resulted in 63 relevant papers from 53 studies. Five different categories of WTC measurements were distinguished (global WTC, multidimensional WTC, flextime, leave control, and other subdimensions of WTC). For each WTC category, we examined the strength of evidence for an association with (i) work non-work balance, (ii) health/well-being, and (iii) job-related outcomes. We distinguished between cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intervention studies. Evidence strength was assessed based on the number of studies and their convergence in terms of study findings. Results (Moderately) strong cross-sectional evidence was found for positive associations between global WTC and both work non-work balance and job-related outcomes, whereas no consistent evidence was found regarding health/well-being. Intervention studies on global WTC found moderately strong evidence for a positive causal association with work non-work balance and no or insufficient evidence for health/well-being and job-related outcomes. Limited to moderately strong cross-sectional evidence was found for positive associations between multidimensional WTC and our outcome categories. Moderately strong cross-sectional evidence was found for positive associations between flextime and all outcome categories. The lack of intervention or longitudinal studies restricts clear causal inferences. Conclusions This review has shown that there are theoretical and empirical reasons to view WTC as a promising tool for the maintenance of employees' work non-work balance, health and well-being, and job-related outcomes. At the same time, however, the current state of evidence allows only very limited causal inferences to be made regarding the impact of enhanced WTC.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich, et al.
(author)
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The need for a behavioural science focus in research on mental health and mental disorders
- 2014
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In: International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1049-8931 .- 1557-0657. ; 23, s. 28-40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Psychology as a science offers an enormous diversity of theories, principles, and methodological approaches to understand mental health, abnormal functions and behaviours and mental disorders. A selected overview of the scope, current topics as well as strength and gaps in Psychological Science may help to depict the advances needed to inform future research agendas specifically on mental health and mental disorders. From an integrative psychological perspective, most maladaptive health behaviours and mental disorders can be conceptualized as the result of developmental dysfunctions of psychological functions and processes as well as neurobiological and genetic processes that interact with the environment. The paper presents and discusses an integrative translational model, linking basic and experimental research with clinical research as well as population-based prospective-longitudinal studies. This model provides a conceptual framework to identify how individual vulnerabilities interact with environment over time, and promote critical behaviours that might act as proximal risk factors for ill-health and mental disorders. Within the models framework, such improved knowledge is also expected to better delineate targeted preventive and therapeutic interventions that prevent further escalation in early stages before the full disorder and further complications thereof develop. In contrast to conventional personalized medicine that typically targets individual (genetic) variation of patients who already have developed a disease to improve medical treatment, the proposed framework model, linked to a concerted funding programme of the Science of Behaviour Change, carries the promise of improved diagnosis, treatment and prevention of health-risk behaviour constellations as well as mental disorders.
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| 5. |
- Ahmad, Nafees, et al.
(author)
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Pitx3 directly regulates Foxe3 during early lens development.
- 2013
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In: The International journal of developmental biology. - : UPV/EHU Press. - 1696-3547 .- 0214-6282. ; 57, s. 741-751
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pitx3 is a bicoid-related homeodomain transcription factor critical for the development of the ocular lens, mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons and skeletal muscle. In humans, mutations in PITX3 are responsible for cataracts and anterior segment abnormalities of varying degree; polymorphisms are associated with Parkinsons disease. In aphakia (ak) mice, two deletions in the promoter region of Pitx3 cause abnormal lens development. Here, we investigated systematically the role of Pitx3 in lens development including its molecular targets responsible for the ak phenotype. We have shown that ak lenses exhibit reduced proliferation and aberrant fiber cell differentiation. This was associated with loss of Foxe3 expression, complete absence of Prox1 expression, reduced expression of epsilon-tubulin and earlier expression of gamma-crystallin during lens development. Using EMSA and ChIP assays, we demonstrated that Pitx3 binds to an evolutionary conserved bicoid-binding site on the 5-upstream region of Foxe3. Finally, Pitx3 binding to 5-upstream region of Foxe3 increased transcriptional activity significantly in a cell-based reporter assay. Identification of Foxe3 as a transcriptional target of Pitx3 explains at least in part some of the phenotypic similarities of the ak and dyl mice (dysgenic lens, a Foxe3 allele). These findings enhance our understanding of the molecular cascades which subserve lens development.
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