Publications by authors named "Castro E"

The host range of HPAIV H5N1 was recently expanded to include ruminants, particularly dairy cattle in the United States (US). Shortly after, human H5N1 infection was reported in a dairy worker in Texas following exposure to infected cattle. Herein, we rescued the cattle-origin influenza A/bovine/Texas/24-029328-02/2024(H5N1, rHPbTX) and A/Texas/37/2024(H5N1, rHPhTX) viruses, identified in dairy cattle and human, respectively, and their low pathogenic forms, rLPbTX and rLPhTX, with monobasic HA cleavage sites.

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Background: Breast self-examination (BSE) is an inexpensive, harmless screening tool for finding breast cancer. This study examines the knowledge, practices, and perceived barriers of female college students from a local higher education institution (HEI) regarding BSE, focusing on those in the reproductive age group.

Materials And Methods: Three hundred sixty (360) female college students, including 226 health sciences majors and 134 non-health sciences majors, were selected through criteria sampling.

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Previous studies have shown that helminth infection protects against the development of diabetes mellitus (DM), possibly related to the hygiene hypothesis. However, studies involving and its possible association with DM are scarce and have shown contradicting results, prompting us to perform this meta-analysis to obtain more precise estimates. Related studies were searched from PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Cochrane Library until 1 August 2024.

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Article Synopsis
  • * In a study involving 2,823 cancer patients, both sexes experienced pulmonary embolism as the most common type of venous thromboembolic event, with differing rates of rethrombosis: 10.0% for men and 15.0% for women after a median follow-up of 6.9 months.
  • * Men experienced a higher incidence of major bleeding compared to women, making sex an important consideration in determining the length of anticoagulant therapy for cancer patients, especially with specific risk factors involved.
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The extent and robustness of the interaction between exposures to heat and ambient PM is unclear and little is known of the interaction between exposures to cold and ambient PM. Clarifying these interactions, if any, is crucial due to the omnipresence of PM in the atmosphere and increasing scope and frequency of extreme temperature events. To investigate both of these interactions, we merged 6 073 575 individual-level mortality records from thirteen states spanning seventeen years with 1 km daily PM predictions from sophisticated prediction model and 1 km meteorology from Daymet V4.

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The biochemical hallmark of D-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria is brain accumulation of D-2-hydroxyglutaric acid (D2HG). Patients present predominantly neurological manifestations, whose pathogenesis is still unknown. Thus, we examined the impact of elevated brain levels of D2HG, induced by intracerebral injection of this metabolite in juvenile rats, on redox and mitochondrial homeostasis and histochemical landmarks in the cerebral cortex.

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  • - The flat mite species Tenuipalpus uvae, found in the Americas, is redescribed using both older and newly collected specimens from Florida and Brazil, revealing more details about its morphology, including new descriptions for various life stages.
  • - Three key distinguishing features were identified: a shorter seta v2, the serrated, rodlike sc1-2, and specific characteristics of the leg tibiae, which help differentiate T. uvae from other mites.
  • - Notable variations in dorsal surface morphology were observed, particularly in the Florida population, indicating potential influences from aging, environmental factors, or host relationships, suggesting that further research is necessary to understand these differences.
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Background: Without head-to-head trials between talazoparib+enzalutamide (TALA + ENZA), olaparib+abiraterone acetate (OLAP + AAP), and niraparib plus AAP (NIRA + AAP) the ability to evaluate their relative efficacy as first-line (1 L) treatment in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is limited. The objective of this study was to assess the relative efficacy between TALA + ENZA (TALAPRO-2) versus OLAP + AAP (PROpel) and NIRA + AAP (MAGNITUDE) in 1 L mCRPC via a matching-adjusted indirect treatment comparison (MAIC).

Methods: Patient-level data from TALAPRO-2 and published data from PROpel and MAGNITUDE were used.

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Severity of COVID-19 is affected by multiple factors; however, it is not understood how the inflammatory milieu of the lung at the time of SARS-CoV-2 exposure affects the control of viral replication. Here, we demonstrate that immune events in the mouse lung closely preceding SARS-CoV-2 infection affect viral control and identify innate immune pathways that limit viral replication. Pulmonary inflammatory stimuli including resolved, antecedent respiratory infections with or influenza, ongoing pulmonary infection, ovalbumin/alum-induced asthma, or airway administration of TLR ligands and recombinant cytokines all establish an antiviral state in the lung that restricts SARS-CoV-2 replication.

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Background And Objective: Advanced prostate cancer (PCa) is enriched for alterations in DNA damage repair genes; poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi) are a class of drugs that have demonstrated effectiveness in PCa, particularly in tumors with alterations in BRCA1/2 and other homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes, acting through a synthetic lethal mechanism. To prevent or delay drug resistance, and to expand the patient population that can benefit from this class of drug, combination treatment strategies have been developed in preclinical and clinical studies.

Methods: This review examines the latest developments in clinical trials testing PARPi for advanced PCa and their emerging role in earlier disease settings.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) significantly influences how prostate cancer (PC) responds to treatments and understanding mechanisms of resistance is crucial.
  • - Research indicates that certain genomic changes, like microsatellite instability (MSI) and CDK12 bi-allelic loss, may increase response rates to immune therapies, but patient responses vary widely.
  • - The review explores how immune cell interactions within tumors affect PC progression, how standard therapies impact immune responses, and the challenges in analyzing the immune landscape related to tumors.
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Purpose: To examine how post-concussion changes to the N200 and P300 event-related potentials (ERPs) are associated with cognitive symptoms and neurocognitive performance.

Methods: High-density electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during a Go/No-Go task from 16 young adults within one month after their concussion and 16 matched controls. Participants were also administered the Cognitive-Linguistic Quick Test (CLQT) and self-reported concussion-like symptoms.

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Introduction/objectives: The cost of medical services is a major barrier to healthcare accessibility for underserved populations in the United States. Community charity medical clinics help address this disparity by providing free or reduced-cost care for the medically underinsured; however, their economic and public health contributions are unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the scope of services and monetary impact of 4 community charity medical clinics in North Texas, with one of the largest medically underinsured populations in the United States.

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Despite being an important goal, the preservation of quality of life of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is poorly characterized across lines of therapy. In this review, a systematic literature review and meta-analysis were conducted to synthesize EuroQoL 5-Dimension (EQ-5D) data among adult men with asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic mCRPC in both first line (1L) and second line and later (2L+) therapy. MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL were searched from inception to October 2022 using Ovid.

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  • The study investigates the safety and complications of vaginal pessary use for women with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) by comparing follow-up intervals of 3 months versus 6 months.
  • In this randomized clinical trial, 38 women with advanced POP were divided into two groups to assess the impact of differing cleaning and monitoring frequencies by a healthcare professional.
  • Results showed no significant difference in ulcerations between the groups, but the 6-month group had a higher incidence of bacterial vaginosis, suggesting more frequent follow-up may be beneficial.
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  • Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is linked to increased mortality rates, particularly from cardiovascular diseases (CVD), across various states in the U.S. between 2000 and 2016.
  • The study used statistical models to assess the impact of PM2.5 levels on several mortality outcomes, finding significant associations even at levels below the new EPA standard.
  • Notably, the research revealed that Black individuals, particularly those with higher education, have a higher risk of CVD mortality related to PM2.5 exposure compared to other demographic groups.
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Human DNA ligase 1 (LIG1) finalizes DNA repair pathways by an ultimate ligation step and discriminates against nicks containing unusual ends, yet the contribution of the conserved active site residues for faithful end joining remains unknown. Here, using biochemistry, X-ray crystallography, and single-molecule approaches, we comprehensively characterized LIG1 mutants carrying Ala(A) and Leu(L) substitutions at the active site residues Phe(F)635 and Phe(F)872. Our results showed an abolished ligation of nick DNA substrates with all 12 non-canonical mismatches, while the mutagenic nick sealing of oxidatively damaged ends by wild-type enzyme is significantly reduced by F635A/L and F872A/L substitutions.

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Patients with glutaric acidemia type I (GA I) manifest motor and intellectual disabilities whose pathogenesis has been so far poorly explored. Therefore, we evaluated neuromotor and cognitive abilities, as well as histopathological and immunohistochemical features in the cerebral cortex and striatum of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase (GCDH) deficient knockout mice (Gcdh), a well-recognized model of GA I. The effects of a single intracerebroventricular glutaric acid (GA) injection in one-day-old pups on the same neurobehavioral and histopathological/immunohistochemical endpoints were also investigated.

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Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease remains a major health issue, often developing silently as subclinical atherosclerotic disease (SAD). The Mediterranean diet (MDiet) is known for its cardiovascular benefits, but the combined influence of both MDiet adherence and physical activity (PA) on SAD progression has not been previously documented. We aimed to investigate how adherence to a healthy lifestyle, defined as MDiet adherence and PA level, influences SAD progression in subjects from the ILERVAS cohort follow-up.

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Bitcoin mines-massive computing clusters generating cryptocurrency tokens-consume vast amounts of electricity. The amount of fine particle (PM) air pollution created because of their electricity consumption, and its effect on environmental health, is unknown. In this study, we located the 34 largest mines in the United States in 2022, identified the electricity-generating plants that responded to them, and pinpointed communities most harmed by Bitcoin mine-attributable air pollution.

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Base excision repair (BER) maintains genome integrity by fixing oxidized bases that could be formed when reactive oxygen species attack directly on the DNA. We previously reported the importance of a proper coordination at the downstream steps involving gap filling by DNA polymerase (pol) β and subsequent nick sealing by DNA ligase (LIG) 1 or 3α. Yet, how the fidelity of 8-oxoG bypass by polβ affects the efficiency of ligation remains unclear.

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Tyrosinemia type 1 (TT1) is caused by fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase activity deficiency, resulting in tissue accumulation of upstream metabolites, including succinylacetone (SA), the pathognomonic compound of this disease. Since the pathogenesis of liver and kidney damage observed in the TT1-affected patients is practically unknown, this study assessed the effects of SA on important biomarkers of redox homeostasis in the liver and kidney of adolescent rats, as well as in hepatic (HepG2) and renal (HEK-293) cultured cells. SA significantly increased nitrate and nitrite levels and decreased the concentrations of reduced glutathione (GSH) in the liver and kidney, indicating induction of reactive nitrogen species (RNS) generation and disruption of antioxidant defenses.

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In the olive oil industry, a pit fraction is collected from olive pomace and split into a clean pit fraction and a residual olive skin-rich fraction, which does not an industrial application. Therefore, in this work, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was applied to obtain high-value triterpene acids (maslinic acid and oleanolic acid) from this biomass using the renewable solvent ethanol. The response surface methodology was used to gain a deeper understanding of how the solvent (ethanol-water, 50-100% /), time (4-30 min), and temperature (50-120 °C) affect the extraction performance, as well as the energy required for the process.

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Background: Talazoparib plus enzalutamide (TALA + ENZA) has demonstrated antitumor activity in the phase 3 clinical trial (TALAPRO-2; NCT03395197) as first-line (1L) therapy in men with asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Although many active interventions are available, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving talazoparib have only been conducted to assess its efficacy and safety compared to enzalutamide. To estimate comparisons between all relevant interventions, indirect comparisons are needed.

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