Publications by authors named "Maria R Torres"

Background: Hispanics in the United States experience a greater burden of type-2 diabetes (T2D), with a prevalence rate (17%) more than twice that of non-Hispanic whites (8%). Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among people with T2D. A culturally appropriate behavioral health intervention that addresses healthy lifestyle promotion is an impactful approach for health systems with scarce medical resources and a high prevalence of chronic conditions, including obesity and high blood pressure, which increase the likelihood of CVD mortality among type-2 diabetics.

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Introduction: Contingent cell-free (cf) DNA screening on the basis of the first-trimester combined test (FCT) results has emerged as a cost-effective strategy for screening of trisomy 21 (T21).

Objectives: To assess performance, patients' uptake, and cost of contingent cfDNA screening and to compare them with those of the established FCT.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study including all singleton pregnancies attending to their FCT for screening of T21 at 2 university hospitals in South Spain.

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A series of fourteen new asymmetrical 1,3-diketone derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated in the ABTS, FRAP and DPPH assays as a new chemotype with antioxidant and drug-like properties. All the compounds displayed low cytotoxicity in comparison to curcumin against the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line. Among them, (3,5)-6-(2,5-difluoro-4-hydroxy-phenyl)-1,1,1-trifluoro-4-hydroxyhexa-3,5-dien-2-one () and (3,5)-6-(2,3-difluoro-4-hydroxy-phenyl)-1,1,1-trifluoro-4-hydroxyhexa-3,5-dien-2-one () with excellent solubility and chemical stability in biorelevant media, have also shown a similar Fe chelation behavior to that of curcumin.

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Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) allow the combination of the high ionic conductivity of ionic liquids (ILs) with the supramolecular organization of liquid crystals (LCs). ILCs salts were obtained by the assembly of long-chained diketonylpyridinium cations of the type [HOO]⁺ and BF₄, ReO₄, NO₃, CF₃SO₃, CuCl₄ counter-ions. We have studied the thermal behavior of five series of compounds by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and hot stage polarized light optical microscopy (POM).

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A series of new (E)-3(5)-[β-(aryl)-ethenyl]-5(3)-phenyl-1H-pyrazoles bearing fluorine atoms at different positions of the aryl group have been synthesized starting from the corresponding β-diketones. All compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, DSC as well as NMR (¹H, (13)C, (19)F and (15)N) spectroscopy in solution and in solid state. Three structures have been solved by X-ray diffraction analysis, confirming the tautomeric forms detected by solid state NMR.

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Dicatenar pyridine-functionalised pyrazole ligands [Hpz(R(n,n)py)] (R(n,n) = C6H3(OCnH2n+1)2, n = 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18) have been strategically synthesised to be used as new building blocks for designing discotic liquid crystalline materials. Their coordination to Pd(II) fragments has allowed to achieve two novel families of metallomesogens, [Pd(pz(R(n,n)py))2] () and [PdCl2(Hpz(R(n,n)py))] (), in which the ligand is coordinated in the anionic form as pyrazolate or in the neutral form as pyrazole, respectively. Thermal studies showed that the ligands with n = 14 and 16 carbon atoms, as well as all the palladium complexes, display discotic mesophases in the temperature range of 68-141 °C.

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Background: The clinical evaluation of enlarged local lymph nodes (LNs) is difficult at the beginning and throughout the follow-up of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). Although the examination of samples collected from LNs by fine-needle aspiration biopsy cytology (FNAB-C) is extremely specific for the diagnosis of metastases, its sensitivity is low, especially in paucicellular samples.

Summary: The measurement of thyroglobulin (Tg) in the fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) washout fluid (FNAB-Tg) increases the diagnostic performance of cytology to up to 100% sensitivity and specificity.

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A series of ionic bis(pyrazole)-silver(I) and -gold(I) complexes [ML(2)][A] (M = Ag, Au; A = BF(4)(-), PF(6)(-), NO(3)(-)), prepared by coordination of the mesomorphic L = Hpz(2R(n)) or non-mesomorphic L = Hpz(R(n)) pyrazole ligands (Hpz(2R(n)) = 3,5-bis(4-alkyloxyphenyl)pyrazole; Hpz(R(n)) = 3-(4-alkyloxyphenyl)pyrazole), has been studied. The complexes exhibit enantiotropic behaviour, showing smectic A (SmA) mesophases. The choice of the ligands allows the achievement of 'H' or 'U' molecular shapes, which appear to be responsible for the attainment of liquid crystal mesophases, these not being dependent on the coordinating or non-coordinating nature of the A counteranions.

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Acute thyroiditis is an unusual disease. In pediatric patients it is usually associated with congenital abnormalities towards the unilateral envelopment of the left thyroid lobe. In general, in the absence of preexisting thyroid disease, the thyroid function is most often normal.

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