Publications by authors named "Becerra A"

Background: Historically, word of mouth, total citation count, H-index, and expert opinion were some of the primary metrics used to identify the most influential papers. This method is subject to significant bias. The disruption score was initially created with the intent of measuring the degree to which a publication introduces a new idea, is repeatedly referenced and may be used as an additional publication evaluation metric.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Disclaimer: In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Short bowel syndrome is a rare condition with limited existing data, prompting a registry study in Latin America focused on chronic intestinal failure, analyzing various patient and clinical factors from specialized centers.
  • From May 2020 to July 2023, the study included 167 patients (115 adults and 52 children) across 20 centers, revealing key demographics, complications, and outcomes, with significant differences between adults and children in terms of etiology and follow-up results.
  • The findings aim to enhance understanding of intestinal failure in Latin America, serving as both a data repository and an educational resource for healthcare teams, while striving for international recognition of regional health challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The early evolution of life spans an extensive period preceding the emergence of the first eukaryotic cell. This epoch, which transpired from 4.5 to 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Zymosan is a β-glucan-rich component derived from the cell walls of Saccharomyces cerevisiae extensively used in research for its potent immunomodulatory properties. It can prompt inflammatory responses such as peritonitis and arthritis, and is particularly used to study the immune response to fungal particles. Although the zymosan induced-release of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β by macrophages is an essential mechanism for combating fungal infection and inducing inflammation, the exact processes leading to its release remain not well understood.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Tracheal intubations in the ICU face challenges like poor glottic view and higher complication rates; this study compares the efficacy of two videolaryngoscope (VL) types: the standard Macintosh blade versus a hyperangulated blade.
  • The INtubation VIdeolaryngoscopy BLADE-ICU trial is a randomized, controlled study conducted across 29 ICUs in Spain, focusing on first-attempt intubation success as the primary outcome, along with other measures like time to intubation and complication rates.
  • The study has ethical approval and aims to improve airway management outcomes, with patient enrollment starting in May 2024 and anticipated results to be published in 2025.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Heart failure (HF) is a highly prevalent syndrome in elderly subjects. Currently, multiple drugs have shown clinical benefits in patients with HF and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, evidence is scarce in elderly patients (beyond 75 years old), even more so for the latest drugs, such as angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors (ARNIs).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

One of the central issues in the understanding of early cellular evolution is the characterisation of the cenancestor. This includes the description of the chemical nature of its genome. The disagreements on this question comprise several proposals, including the possibility that AlkB-mediated methylation repair of alkylated RNA molecules may be interpreted as evidence of a cenancestral RNA genome.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bidens pilosa frequently forms a symbiotic association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). This plant species can grow in Pb-polluted soils, accumulating Pb in its tissues. The aims of the study were to determine whether Pb accumulated in the tissues of B.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Polysaccharide-based nanogels offer a wide range of chemical compositions and are of great interest due to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and their ability to display pH, temperature, or enzymatic response. In this work, we synthesized monodisperse and tunable pH-sensitive nanogels by crosslinking, through reductive amination, chitosan and partially oxidized maltodextrins, by keeping the concentration of chitosan close to its overlap concentration, i.e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

COVID-19 has affected more than half a billion people worldwide, with more than 6.3 million deaths, but the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in lethal cases and the host determinants that determine the different clinical outcomes are still unclear. In this study, we assessed lung autopsies of 47 COVID-19 patients and examined the inflammatory profiles, viral loads, and inflammasome activation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

WormBase has been the major repository and knowledgebase of information about the genome and genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans and other nematodes of experimental interest for over 2 decades. We have 3 goals: to keep current with the fast-paced C. elegans research, to provide better integration with other resources, and to be sustainable.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This nonrandomized, multicenter, open-label clinical trial explored the impact of intravenous (IV) ketamine on cognitive function in adults (n = 74) with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Patients received three IV ketamine infusions during the acute phase and, if remitted, four additional infusions in the continuation phase (Mayo site). Cognitive assessments using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) were conducted at baseline, end of the acute phase, and end of the continuation phase (Mayo site).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The British Columbia COVID-19 Cohort (BCC19C) was developed from an innovative, dynamic surveillance platform and is accessed/analyzed through a cloud-based environment. The platform integrates recently developed provincial COVID-19 datasets (refreshed daily) with existing administrative holdings and provincial registries (refreshed weekly/monthly). The platform/cohort were established to inform the COVID-19 response in near "real-time" and to answer more in-depth epidemiologic questions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Perioperative vision loss (POVL) is a rare and devastating complication following prone spine surgery. Due to the rare nature of this complication, there is limited research available about patient and surgical risk factors that increase the risk of POVL. The objective of this study was to investigate associated risk factors for POVL with use of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a rescue therapy that can stabilize patients with hemodynamic compromise. Indications continue to evolve, including drug overdose. However, the indication merely for vasoplegic shock following drug overdose is controversial.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • New virus characterization requires culture-independent methods due to the vast diversity of non-culturable viruses, with host inference achievable through bioinformatic tools.
  • Recent virus-host prediction tools were tested on 1,046 pairs, with alignment-free methods outperforming alignment-based ones in precision and sensitivity, while RaFAH was highlighted as the top performer (F1_score = 95.7%).
  • Custom databases significantly improved host prediction accuracy from metagenomic data by aligning host taxonomy and environment, suggesting a diverse range of infections, particularly impacting halophilic archaea and various bacteria in the unique ecosystem of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: We conducted an open-label clinical trial ("Bio-K") using IV ketamine for treatment-resistant depression to identify biomarkers linked to remission. Here, we report the clinical efficacy and side effect outcomes of Bio-K.

Methods: Across 4 US sites, 75 patients ages 18-65 with treatment-refractory unipolar or bipolar depression received 3 IV ketamine infusions over an 11-day period.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: In March 2023, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network endorsed watch and wait for those with complete clinical response to total neoadjuvant therapy. Neoadjuvant therapy is highly efficacious, so this recommendation may have broad implications, but the current trends in organ preservation in the US are unknown.

Objective: To describe organ preservation trends among patients with rectal cancer in the US from 2006 to 2020.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Plants associated with mycorrhizal fungi has the ability to establish on metal-contaminated soils playing an important role in phytoremediation programs. The objective of this study was to examine the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (spores density, diversity, indicator species, and root colonization) and dark septate endophytic fungi (DSE fungal root colonization) in three metal accumulator plants (Sorghum halepense, Bidens pilosa, and Tagetes minuta) growing in soils with high Pb content. The Pb content in AMF spores and plant biomass were also assessed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study investigated connections between the severity of speech sound disorders and selective mutism in children with 7q11.23 duplication syndrome, a genetic condition linked to speech challenges and anxiety disorders.
  • The research involved 49 children who were assessed using various speech and cognitive tests, alongside parent-reported anxiety evaluations, revealing that a significant portion had selective mutism and social anxiety disorder.
  • The findings showed that there was no significant link between speech sound disorder severity and the presence of selective mutism or social anxiety, suggesting that targeting speech issues alone is unlikely to resolve anxiety-related disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDVs) infect a wide range of eukaryotic species, including amoeba, algae, fish, amphibia, arthropods, birds, and mammals. This group of viruses has linear or circular double-stranded DNA genomes whose size spans approximately one order of magnitude, from 100 to 2500 kbp. The ultimate origin of this peculiar group of viruses remains an open issue.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Weight gain after pancreas transplant is a poorly understood phenomenon thought to be related to increased posttransplant insulin production, immunosuppressive medications, and appetite changes. No study has investigated the effect of increased exocrine secretion posttransplant.

Aims And Hypothesis: We hypothesized that exocrine function, measured by fecal elastase-1 (FE-1), was normal posttransplant and not correlated with weight gain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF