Selection, characterization, and biosensing applications of DNA aptamers targeting cyanotoxin BMAA.

Scientists have established a connection between environmental exposure to toxins like β--methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA) and a heightened risk of neurodegenerative disorders. BMAA is a byproduct from certain strains of cyanobacteria that are present in ecosystems worldwide and is renowned for its bioaccumulation and biomagnification in seafood. The sensitivity, selectivity, and reproducibility of the current analytical techniques are insufficient to support efforts regarding food safety and environment monitoring adequately.

Sensing in the dark: Constructive evolution of the lateral line system in blind populations of .

Cave-adapted animals evolve a suite of regressive and constructive traits that allow survival in the dark. Most studies aiming at understanding cave animal evolution have focused on the genetics and environmental underpinnings of regressive traits, with special emphasis on vision loss. Possibly as a result of vision loss, other non-visual sensory systems have expanded and compensated in cave species.

Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease: Which dementia screening test to use in elderly Puerto Ricans with mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer's disease?

Typically, Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis is not made at its earliest period, for instance, at mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early AD (E-AD). Our study aims to demonstrate a correlation between the screening tools, including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), and the biological biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid beta 1-42 (Aβ42), phosphorylated tau (p-tau) proteins and total tau (t-tau)/Aβ42 ratio in Puerto Ricans > 55 years old with MCI and E-AD. We evaluated 30 participants, including demographics, memory scales, and CSF biomarkers.

Tracheostomy Outcomes on Trauma Patients.

Objective: Tracheostomies are performed in trauma patients for multiple purposes. Approaches to the procedure are usually directed by individual expertise and local preferences. Though generally safe, a tracheostomy can cause serious complications.

Heat stress in the Caribbean: Climatology, drivers, and trends of human biometeorology indices.

Forty years (1980-2019) of reanalysis data were used to investigate climatology and trends of heat stress in the Caribbean region. Represented via the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), a multivariate thermophysiological-relevant parameter, the highest heat stress is found to be most frequent and geographically widespread during the rainy season (August, September, and October). UTCI trends indicate an increase of more than 0.

Polymorphic control in titanium dioxide particles.

The hydrolysis-condensation reaction of TiO was adapted to the phase inversion temperature (PIT)-nano-emulsion method as a low energy approach to gain control over the size and phase purity of the resulting metal oxide particles. Three different PIT-nano-emulsion syntheses were designed, each one intended to isolate high purity rutile, anatase, and brookite phase particles. Three different emulsion systems were prepared, with a pH of either strongly acidic (HO : HNO, pH ∼0.

A two-dimensional BeAu monolayer with planar hexacoordinate s-block metal atoms: a superconducting global minimum Dirac material with two perfect Dirac node-loops.

Using a starlike BeAu cluster as a building block and following the bottom-up strategy, an intriguing two-dimensional (2D) binary s-block metal BeAu monolayer with a 6/ space group was theoretically designed. Both the BeAu cluster and the 2D monolayer are global minima featuring rule-breaking planar hexacoordinate motifs (anti-van't Hoff/Le Bel arrangement), and their high stabilities are attributed to good electron delocalization and electronic-stabilization-induced steric force. Strikingly, the BeAu monolayer is a rare Dirac material with two perfect Dirac node-loops in the band structure and is a phonon-mediated superconductor with a critical temperature of 4.

High affinity zoledronate-based metal complex nanocrystals to potentially treat osteolytic metastases.

Formation of several materials, denoted as bisphosphonate-based coordination complexes (BPCCs), resulted from the reaction between clinically employed bisphosphonate, zoledronate (ZOLE) and bioactive metals (M = Ca, Mg and Zn). Six ZOLE-based BPCCs were synthesized using different variables (M : ZOLE molar ratio, temperature, pH, and anion) and their structures were elucidated by single crystal X-ray diffraction (ZOLE-Ca forms I and II, ZOLE-Mg forms I and II, and ZOLE-Zn forms I and II). The dissolution of the ZOLE-based BPCCs was compared to that of ZOLE (Reclast®).

Effect of chronic comorbidities on quality of life of gynecologic cancer patients in Puerto Rico.

Objective: To describe prevalence of chronic diseases and evaluate associations between comorbidities and quality of life in gynecologic cancer patients in Puerto Rico.

Methods: A cross-sectional study among 233 women aged ≥21 years with a gynecologic cancer diagnosis. Through telephone interviews, information on comorbidities, quality of life, and other covariates were assessed.

enhances carboplatin chemotherapy effect by inhibiting the DNA damage response pathway and stemness.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) is a rare and aggressive type of breast cancer with a poor prognosis. Its management is challenging because of a lack of targeted therapies, increased metastatic potential, and high recurrence rates. Interest in using platinum agents such as carboplatin emerged from data suggesting frequent DNA repair defects in breast cancer.

Covid-19 pandemic and consumer-employee-organization wellbeing: A dynamic capability theory approach.

The consumers, employees, and organizations have been deeply impacted by Covid-19 pandemic. The present study offers a detailed coping mechanism for organizations based on the extant literature and content analysis of responses of senior management executives. The study is based on semi-structured long interviews with senior executives from various industries.

Associations between education and dementia in the Caribbean and the United States: An international comparison.

Introduction: Despite high dementia prevalence in Hispanic populations globally, especially Caribbean Hispanics, no study has comparatively examined the association between education and dementia among Hispanics living in the Caribbean Islands and older adults in the United States.

Methods: We used data on 6107 respondents aged 65 and older in the baseline wave of the population-based and harmonized 10/66 survey from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, collected between 2003 and 2008, and 11,032 respondents aged 65 and older from the U.S.

Association of Radiotherapy-Related Intestinal Injury and Cancer-related Fatigue: A Brief Review and Commentary.

Radiotherapy treatment-induced intestinal injury and gut microbial perturbation/dysbiosis have been implicated in the pathobiology of cancer-related fatigue. The objective of this brief review was to explore the available evidence of the relationship between intestinal injury and self-reported fatigue, especially among cancer patients. The scientific evidence-including our own-linking gut mucosal barrier dysfunction and gut microbial perturbation/dysbiosis induced by cancer treatment with worsening of cancer related fatigue (perhaps through the gut-brain axis) is limited but promising.

Educational intervention to improve pharmacist knowledge to provide care for transgender patients.

Background: Most pharmacists have not received formal training or education in the provision of care for transgender patients. Nonetheless, pharmacists have the potential to be valuable partners in the care of transgender patients, and a continuing education course might be valuable in addressing this knowledge gap.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of a three-hour continuing education course in improving the knowledge of pharmacists to provide pharmaceutical care for transgender patients.

Is cannabidiol a drug acting on unconventional targets to control drug-resistant epilepsy?

Cannabis has been considered as a therapeutic strategy to control intractable epilepsy. Several cannabis components, especially cannabidiol (CBD), induce antiseizure effects. However, additional information is necessary to identify the types of epilepsies that can be controlled by these components and the mechanisms involved in these effects.

Outlining key inflammation-associated parameters during early phase of an experimental gram-negative sepsis model in rhesus macaques ().

The aim of this study was to identify inflammation-associated markers during the early phase of sepsis in rhesus macaque. Four rhesus macaques were given an intravenous dose of 10 CFU/kg of . Blood samples were collected before, or 30 minutes, 2, 4, 6 and 8 hours after infusion.

Colonization history and population differentiation of the Honey Bees ( L.) in Puerto Rico.

Honey bees ( L.) are the primary commercial pollinators across the world. The subspecies originated in Africa and was introduced to the Americas in 1956.

Obesity and weight misperception among adults in the Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) Cohort Study.

Objective: Prior studies have suggested that weight misperception - underestimating one's actual weight - may be associated with reduced engagement in weight loss programmes, decreasing the success of initiatives to address obesity and obesity-related diseases. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with weight misperception among Eastern Caribbean adults and its influence on engagement in weight control behaviour.

Methods: Data from the Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) Cohort Study were analysed (adults aged 40 and older, residing in the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Barbados and Trinidad).

Population-Based Study of Tobacco Use Among People Living With HIV in Puerto Rico.

Background: Despite substantial advances in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy, HIV-positive persons are at high risk of tobacco-related disease and mortality. This study describes the prevalence and sociodemographic factors associated with current tobacco use among HIV-positive men and women 18 years and older receiving HIV care in Puerto Rico.

Methods: Data from the 2009 Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) was used.

Can the Sum of Adenoma Diameters (Adenoma Bulk) on Index Examination Predict Risk of Metachronous Advanced Neoplasia?

Background: Recent data suggest that adenoma size and number are more important predictors of metachronous colorectal neoplasia than advanced histology. Furthermore, there is poor reproducibility in diagnosing advanced histology; high-grade dysplasia and villous histology. Therefore we developed a new metric, adenoma bulk, the sum of diameters of all baseline adenomas, regardless of advanced features.

Invasive plant species in the West Indies: geographical, ecological, and floristic insights.

The level of invasion (number or proportion of invasive species) in a given area depends on features of the invaded community, propagule pressure, and climate. In this study, we assess the invasive flora of nine islands in the West Indies to identify invasion patterns and evaluate whether invasive species diversity is related to geographical, ecological, and socioeconomic factors. We compiled a database of invasive plant species including information on their taxonomy, origin, pathways of introduction, habitats, and life history.

The proteome signature of the inflammatory breast cancer plasma membrane identifies novel molecular markers of disease.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) is the most lethal form of breast cancer with a 35% 5-year survival rate. The accurate and early diagnosis of IBC and the development of targeted therapy against this deadly disease remain a great medical challenge. Plasma membrane proteins (PMPs) such as E-cadherin and EGFR, play an important role in the progression of IBC.