Nutrients as epigenetic modulators in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

To improve understanding of the multifaceted nature of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, in collaboration with the European Association for the Study of the Liver and the Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver, proposed a broader and more flexible definition, highlighting the role of underlying metabolic dysfunction. MASLD represents the most common chronic liver disease worldwide; however, the impact of the disease goes beyond its epidemiological aspects. Currently, the impact on patients and healthcare systems, due to hepatic and extrahepatic complications, is significant.

Pixel-wise recognition for holistic surgical scene understanding.

This paper presents the Holistic and Multi-Granular Surgical Scene Understanding of Prostatectomies (GraSP) dataset, a curated benchmark that models surgical scene understanding as a hierarchy of complementary tasks with varying levels of granularity. Our approach encompasses long-term tasks, such as surgical phase and step recognition, and short-term tasks, including surgical instrument segmentation and atomic visual actions detection. To exploit our proposed benchmark, we introduce the Transformers for Actions, Phases, Steps, and Instrument Segmentation (TAPIS) model, a general architecture that combines a global video feature extractor with localized region proposals from an instrument segmentation model to tackle the multi-granularity of our benchmark.

PitVis-2023 challenge: Workflow recognition in videos of endoscopic pituitary surgery.

The field of computer vision applied to videos of minimally invasive surgery is ever-growing. Workflow recognition pertains to the automated recognition of various aspects of a surgery, including: which surgical steps are performed; and which surgical instruments are used. This information can later be used to assist clinicians when learning the surgery or during live surgery.

Partially carboxymethylated cellulose fibres as high-performance bioadsorbents for efficient cationic dye removal.

This study reports the synthesis of partially carboxymethylated cellulose fibres (CMFs), obtained from commercial dissolving pulps, as efficient and sustainable bioadsorbents for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. Carboxymethyl groups were introduced onto the cellulose framework through a simple, two-step heterogeneous reaction, enhancing surface charge and reactivity while preserving the native fibrous structure. This modification resulted in a significant increase in carboxyl content and negative zeta potential, improving dye adsorption via electrostatic interactions and π-π stacking.

Lung Cancer Screening Eligibility, Uptake, and Adherence in Puerto Rico, 2022.

Importance: Lung cancer screening (LCS) with yearly low-dose computed tomography reduces lung cancer mortality, but uptake remains low. Puerto Rico, a U.S.

Crystal Structure of Melphalan Hydrochloride and Its Association with Caffeine Improves Its Antineoplastic Action.

Melphalan hydrochloride (MEH) is a chemotherapy drug with antitumor activity, recognized for its classification as an alkylating agent. Over the past few decades, the drug has been administered to patients undergoing treatment for breast and ovarian cancers, and it is also intended for the treatment of multiple myeloma. It is commercially available in tablet and injection forms; however, its oral administration presents some limitations, including presystemic elimination and incomplete absorption.

Quantifying the burden of cancer in Puerto Rico's oldest residents.

Background: Puerto Rico, a United States (U.S.) territory with 99 % of its inhabitants identifying as Hispanic/Latino, has one of the most rapid aging populations in the world.

Patterns and Outcomes of Craniomaxillofacial Trauma in Puerto Rico: Insights From a Five-Year Retrospective Study.

Background Craniomaxillofacial (CMF) trauma is a significant problem in the United States, with estimated costs of nearly one billion dollars annually. Facial fractures occur based on factors such as facial structure, the direction and intensity of the impact, and the mechanism of injury. The most frequent facial fractures include the nose, orbits, zygomatic complex, mandible, maxilla, and frontal bone.

Promising Prodiginins Biological Activities.

Prodiginins are a large family of at least 34 pyrrolic compounds, including the well-studied red pigment prodigiosin. Prodiginins are produced by several microorganisms displaying broad biological activities, including antimicrobial, antiviral, antiparasitic, antiproliferative, and immunosuppressive activities. The present review aims to compile and analyze the main physicochemical and biological properties and mechanisms of action of prodiginins for microbial disease treatment, particularly SARS-CoV-2 disease and opportunistic infections related to COVID-19.

Evaluating the impact of hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic on colorectal cancer incidence in Puerto Rico: An interrupted time-series analysis.

Background: Major events, such as Hurricanes Irma and Maria and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted Puerto Rico's health system. Lack of access to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening services may have impeded timely diagnosis. The authors examined the impact of these events on CRC incidence in Puerto Rico.

Sedentary Time Patterns Among Preschoolers: Do Sex Disparities Exist?

Examining sedentary time (ST) by disaggregating the day into periods such as before, during, and after preschool allows interventionists to understand when sedentary behaviors are most severe. This study aimed to determine if there are sex differences in ST before, during, and after preschool hours in US preschoolers. A secondary analysis of a two-cohort study with a sample size of 292 preschoolers (67% African Americans/Blacks; 100% from low-income families) was used.

Communities Started the End of the HIV Epidemic: Experiences With and Recommendations for Conducting Community-Engaged HIV Implementation Research.

Communities of people living with or impacted by HIV have been at the forefront of HIV research, from identifying the health priorities to advocating for the development and implementation of interventions that benefit affected populations and individuals. Community engagement is considered fundamental for successful implementation of science projects. However, researchers have acknowledged the limited guidance on community engagement for implementation science research.

Socio-economic position, area-level deprivation and gradients in cancer incidence: England and Wales, 1971-2016.

Background: Social gradients for cancer mortality and survival have been reported but are less clear for cancer incidence where social factors external to health care systems are likely to be of more etiologic importance.

Methods: We examined social gradients in cancer incidence using data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (ONS-LS), which selects an approximately 1.1% representative sample of the population of England and Wales.

Electrochemical tracking of gluten in marketed foods by using a recombinant antibody fragment based-platform.

The only treatment to effectively manage celiac disease is the avoidance of gluten containing foods. Therefore, and given its high prevalence, it is of utmost importance to have reliable and efficient methods for the detection of gluten to ensure the well-being and quality of life of celiacs. This work presents the development of an electrochemical immunoplatform exhibiting many practical advantages including simplicity, reduced cost and high sensitivity for the screening of gluten-containing products.

Residential Segregation and Colorectal Cancer Screening in the United States, 2010 to 2018.

Background: Residential segregation limits the access to resources, primarily because of disinvestment. This study evaluated the association between residential segregation and colorectal cancer screening in the United States and whether findings differed by race and ethnicity.

Methods: Restricted National Health Interview Survey data (2010-2018) were used to ascertain colorectal cancer screening adherence per US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations.

Profiling Cysteine Proteases Activities in Neuroinflammatory Cells.

A new activity-based probe (ABP) of cysteine proteases (FGA139) has been designed and synthesized. The design of the ABP has been done based upon the chemical structure of an irreversible inhibitor of cysteine proteases by attaching a bodipy fluorophore at the N-terminus of the peptide backbone. The synthetic route of the probe has a metathesis and a "click" reaction as key steps.

Engagement in Sedentary and Physically Active After-School Programs Among African American Children with ADHD and Disruptive Behavior Disorders.

Context: Sport and physical activity (PA) programs are an important developmental resource for youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Disruptive Behavior Disorders. The purpose of this study is to assess sport participation rates, PA participation, and after-school supervision rates among African American children with ADHD and/or Disruptive Behavior Disorders.

Design: In this cross-sectional study, parents of African American children with elevated symptoms of ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, and/or conduct disorder (N = 175, 6- to 12-y-old, 31% female) reported after-school program participation over the past year.

Rhodesain inhibitors on the edge of reversibility-irreversibility.

A comparative study of Michael acceptor and keto-Michael acceptor inhibitors of the cysteine protease rhodesain has been performed. Five new inhibitors have been prepared bearing the peptide structure of the known cysteine protease inhibitor K11777 and differing on the warhead. For the preparation of the Michael acceptor warhead, a Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction was used.

Comparison of performances between risk scores for predicting mortality at 30 days in patients with community acquired pneumonia.

Background: Risk scores facilitate the assessment of mortality risk in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Despite their utilities, there is a scarcity of evidence comparing the various RS simultaneously. This study aims to evaluate and compare multiple risk scores reported in the literature for predicting 30-day mortality in adult patients with CAP.

Unraveling the Properties of Phage Display Fab Libraries and Their Use in the Selection of Gliadin-Specific Probes by Applying High-Throughput Nanopore Sequencing.

Directed evolution is a pivotal strategy for new antibody discovery, which allowed the generation of high-affinity Fabs against gliadin from two antibody libraries in our previous studies. One of the libraries was exclusively derived from celiac patients' mRNA (immune library) while the other was obtained through a protein engineering approach (semi-immune library). Recent advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing techniques are revolutionizing research across genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics.

Application of Machine Learning Techniques for the Diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea Syndrome.

Obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a condition linked to severe cardiovascular and neuropsychological consequences, characterized by recurrent episodes of partial or complete upper airway obstruction during sleep, leading to compromised ventilation, hypoxemia, and micro-arousals. Polysomnography (PSG) serves as the gold standard for confirming OSAHS, yet its extended duration, high cost, and limited availability pose significant challenges. In this paper, we employ a range of machine learning techniques, including Neural Networks, Decision Trees, Random Forests, and Extra Trees, for OSAHS diagnosis.

Exploring Gluten Assessment in Marketed Products through a Sandwich ELISA Methodology Based on Novel Recombinant Antibodies.

This study presents the development of a sandwich ELISA method for gluten detection in foods, using recombinant Fab antibody fragments against gliadin. The Fabs were chemically biotinylated and immobilized on streptavidin-coated plates as capture antibodies, while alkaline phosphatase-conjugated Fabs were used as detection antibodies. Four different gliadin-binding Fabs were tested and the Fab pair Fab8E-4 and Fab-C showed the best compatibility.