Publications by authors named "Ortiz M"

Background: Several risk factors are associated with cognitive impairment in older people, but little attention has been paid to cardiometabolic variables, as well as how cognitive reserve can mediate this association.

Aim: To determine the association of cardiometabolic risk factors with cognitive functioning and whether the cognitive reserve mediates this association.

Material And Methods: A cross-sectional study with 300 participants with a median age of 56 years (53% male) was conducted.

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Introduction: With the increasing incidence of food allergies, the presence of eosinophils (Eos) in the gastrointes tinal mucosa has received increased attention, particularly in the esophagus and colon. However, normal values for the Eos count in the stomach and duodenum in pediatric patients are still limited.

The Objective: of this study was to estimate Eos reference values in stomach and duodenal biopsies of children referred to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is especially severe in aged populations. Vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are highly effective, but vaccine efficacy is partly compromised by the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with enhanced transmissibility. The emergence of these variants emphasizes the need for further development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapies, especially for aged populations.

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Insulin like growth factor II (IGF-II) is involved in metabolic and mitogenic signalling in mammalian cells and plays important roles in normal fetal development and postnatal growth. It is structurally similar to insulin and binds not only with high affinity to the type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R) but also to the insulin receptor isoform A (IR-A). As IGF-II expression is commonly upregulated in cancer and its signalling promotes cancer cell survival, an antagonist that blocks IGF-II action without perturbing insulin signalling would be invaluable.

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Purpose: Numerous studies have demonstrated effectiveness for acupuncture in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR). However, the underlying mechanism remains still unclear.

Methods: 29 SAR patients were recruited from a large randomized, controlled trial investigating the efficacy of acupuncture in SAR.

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The progression of cancer is facilitated by infiltrating leukocytes which can either actively kill cancer cells or promote their survival. Our current understanding of leukocyte recruitment into tumors is largely limited to the adhesion molecules and chemokines expressed by conventional blood vessels that are lined by endothelial cells (ECs). However, cancer cells themselves can form their own vascular structures (a process known as vasculogenic mimicry (VM)); but whether they actively participate in the recruitment of leukocytes remains to be elucidated.

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Background/objective: This study aims to identify objective biomarkers of fibromyalgia (FM) by applying artificial intelligence algorithms to structural data on the neuroretina obtained using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT).

Method: The study cohort comprised 29 FM patients and 32 control subjects. The thicknesses of complete retina, 3 retinal layers [ganglion cell layer (GCL+), GCL++ (between the inner limiting membrane and the inner nuclear layer boundaries) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL)] and choroid in 9 areas around the macula were obtained using SS-OCT.

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The long-term efficacy and complications of hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (hSRT) to metastases involving the brainstem are not well reported. Our objective is to review the results of metastases intrinsic to or abutting the brainstem treatedwith hSRT.Patients treated with hSRT in 5 fractions at our institution from 2016 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed.

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This article presents an exhaustive analysis of the works present in the literature pertaining to transcranial direct current stimulation(tDCS) applications. The aim of this work is to analyze the specific characteristics of lower-limb stimulation, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of these works and framing them with the current knowledge of tDCS. The ultimate goal of this work is to propose areas of improvement to create more effective stimulation therapies with less variability.

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The widespread irrational use of antibiotics in recent years has resulted in an increase in the detection of multi-resistant bacterial strains, particularly methicillin-resistant (MRSA). The use of natural derivatives such as flavonoids is postulated as one of the most promising avenues to solve this emerging public health problem. The objective of the present study is to characterize the antimicrobial activity of icariin, a flavonoid compound isolated from a variety of plants of the , against human and animal clinical MRSA isolates.

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Generation of triplet states in assemblies of organic chromophores is extremely appealing for their potential use in optoelectronic applications. In this work, we investigate the intricacies of triplet state generation in an orthogonal BODIPY dimer by combining delayed photoemission techniques with electronic structure calculations. Our analysis provides a deep understanding of the electronic states involved, and describes different competing deactivation channels beyond prompt radiative decay.

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Objective: Cerebral vasospasm remains a significant source of morbidity and mortality in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Dantrolene has shown promise in several animal studies in the treatment of cerebral vasospasm. The present study seeks to critically review the evidence of its use in human subjects, aiming to 1) describe the forms and dosages used, 2) describe its safety profile, and 3) describe its effectiveness in treating cerebral vasospasm.

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Purpose: In this study, we analyzed PFO implications in atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation.

Methods: Six hundred and twenty-five consecutive patients with AF undergoing PV isolation were included. We considered that a large and/or compliant PFO was present if the catheters advanced gently into the LA without puncturing the septum.

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Unlabelled: Obesity in adults is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy, dilatation, and myocardial fibrosis, as well as heart failure and coronary heart disease. These associations have been studied to a lesser extent in the paediatric population. This study aims to investigate the relationship between obesity and cardiac structure and function in the paediatric population.

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Unlabelled: Kinase fusions have been identified in a growing subset of sarcomas, but a lack of preclinical models has impeded their functional analysis as therapeutic targets in the sarcoma setting. In this study, we generated models of sarcomas bearing kinase fusions and assessed their response to molecularly targeted therapy. Immortalized, untransformed human mesenchymal stem cells (HMSC), a putative cell of origin of sarcomas, were modified using CRISPR-Cas9 to harbor a RET chromosomal translocation (HMSC-RET).

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Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) survivors often suffer from disease- and therapy-related long-term side-effects. The study aim was to explore the feasibility, adherence, and individual experiences as well as possible effects of 2 different walking interventions in BC patients.

Methods: This randomized controlled, pragmatic pilot trial included a qualitative study component.

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Background: The aim of this paper is to implement a system to facilitate the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) in its initial stages. It does so using a convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify images captured with swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT).

Methods: SS-OCT images from 48 control subjects and 48 recently diagnosed MS patients have been used.

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Phasing agents enabling protein structure determination at 1 Å, the wavelength corresponding to the maximum intensity of the synchrotron facilities applied in biomacromolecular crystallography, have been long sought-after. The first phasing agent designed for solving native protein structures at 0.97934 Å is described herein.

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of office workers were required to conduct their work from home. Little is known about the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) preferences and psychosocial comfort preferences of staff working from home. Therefore this study aimed to cluster office workers working at home based on their self-reported preferences for IEQ and psychosocial comfort at their most used workspace and to identify these preferences and needs of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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There are discrepancies about if the severity of the symptomatology in schizophrenia is related to neurocognitive performance, functional outcome, and quality of life (QoL). Also, there are controversial data about the comparison between euthymic bipolar patients and different subgroups of schizophrenia in neurocognition, functioning, and QoL level. The present study aimed to compare the neurocognitive performance, functional outcome, and QoL of remitted and non-remitted patients with SC with respect to a group of euthymic patients with BD, and a control group.

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Article Synopsis
  • Maternal diabetes during pregnancy leads to sex-specific differences in cardiovascular and renal health in offspring, with male offspring showing worse outcomes than female offspring.
  • The study found that male offspring had higher blood pressure, increased renal resistance, and worse blood vessel responses compared to their female counterparts from diabetic mothers, suggesting a protective mechanism in females.
  • This protection in female offspring is linked to higher levels of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and lower oxidative stress, indicating that HO activity might help mitigate the adverse effects of maternal diabetes on cardiovascular and renal function.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the role of tumor PD-L1 expression as a biomarker in predicting the effectiveness of PD-(L)1 blockade treatments for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, noting that responses can occur regardless of tumor PD-L1 levels.
  • - Researchers analyzed blood samples from 119 NSCLC patients, checking for various PD-L1 expressions on immune cells, platelets, and in plasma, alongside tumor PD-L1 levels, to better correlate these factors with treatment efficacy.
  • - Findings indicate that incorporating both circulating and tumor PD-L1 data can significantly predict patient outcomes and may guide treatment decisions for those eligible for PD-(L)1 blockade therapy.
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Ultrasound neuromodulation (UNM), where a region in the brain is targeted by focused ultrasound (FUS), which, in turn, causes excitation or inhibition of neural activity, has recently received considerable attention as a promising tool for neuroscience. Despite its great potential, several aspects of UNM are still unknown. An important question pertains to the off-target sensory effects of UNM and their dependence on stimulation frequency.

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Policy development, implementation, and maintenance are central to the "carrying-out" of healthcare within organizations and communities. Nurses play an important role in not only developing meaningful policies with constituents but in also providing explanations that "make sense" to all persons involved. This "sense making" may be facilitated by the use of metaphors.

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