Zubieta

Accurate identification of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), commonly known as the Oriental fruit fly, is a significant challenge due to the morphological convergence and taxonomic uncertainties of species belonging to the same genus. This highly polyphagous species poses a significant threat to fruit crops. With its potential establishment in Europe becoming a growing concern, there is an urgent need for rapid and efficient diagnostic methods. The study presented here introduces a diagnostic protocol based on real-time PCR using a TaqMan probe for the early and reproducible identification of B...

OBJECTIVE: Describe patterns of depression and anxiety health care use pre- and post-diagnosis among patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA), namely ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: We used population-based linked administrative health data from British Columbia, Canada to build a cohort of patients (≥18 years) with incident IA and individuals without IA ('IA-free controls') matched on age and sex...

Approximately 1 in 10 patients undergoing surgery is considered at high risk for poor pain and opioid-related outcomes due to chronic pain or persistent opioid use prior to surgery, leading to increased hospital lengths of stay, emergency department visits, hospital readmissions, and worse long-term outcomes. Multidisciplinary transitional pain services (TPSs) have been shown to effectively identify and optimize high-risk patients before surgery, leading to a reduction in healthcare utilization. We conducted a series of semistructured interviews, a literature search, and a financial analysis to develop a reproducible business case for establishing a TPS...

BACKGROUND: The collection of blood cultures (BC) is key for guiding antimicrobial therapy in children with febrile neutropenia (FN), more than 90% have central venous catheters (CVC). There is no consensus on the need for peripheral BC over central BC in this population. The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of peripheral BC over central BC in the diagnosis of bloodstream infections in children with FN. METHODS: Descriptive, retrospective study, episodes of FN recorded prospectively in 6 hospitals in Santiago, Chile, from 2016 to 2021...

This study explored the association between experimentally-induced pain sensitivity and µ-opioid receptor (μOR) availability in patients with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and further investigated any changes in the pain and μOR availability following high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) over the primary motor cortex (M1) with pilot randomized clinical trials. Seven patients with TMD completed either active (n = 3) or sham treatment (n = 4) for 10 daily sessions and underwent positron emission tomography (PET) scans with [11 C]carfentanil, a selective μOR agonist, a week before and after treatment...

OBJECTIVE: To highlight the objectives, achievements, challenges, and next steps for the World Health Organization's Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) framework, a project designed to improve psychosocial care (PSC) in pediatric cancer centers across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). METHODS: The project was launched in Peru, the first GICC focal country, in November 2020. The diagnosis phase included a survey and a semistructured interview with health professionals to assess PSC practices in institutions, and a needs assessment survey for caregivers...

OBJECTIVE: We estimated the association between immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory agent (IIA) exposure and severe COVID-19 outcomes in a population-based cohort study. METHODS: Participants were 18 years or older, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between February 6, 2020, and August 15, 2021, and were from administrative health data for the entire province of British Columbia, Canada. IIA use within 3 months prior to positive SARS-CoV-2 test included conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (antimalarials, methotrexate, leflunomide, sulfasalazine, individually), immunosuppressants (azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil/mycophenolate sodium [MMF], cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, individually and collectively), tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) biologics (adalimumab, certolizumab, etanercept, golimumab, infliximab, collectively), non-TNFi biologics or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (tsDMARDs) (rituximab separately from abatacept, anakinra, secukinumab, tocilizumab, tofacitinib and ustekinumab collectively), and glucocorticoids...

Floral homeotic MADS-box transcription factors ensure the correct morphogenesis of floral organs, which are organized in different cell layers deriving from distinct meristematic layers. How cells from these distinct layers acquire their respective identities and coordinate their growth to ensure normal floral organ morphogenesis is unresolved. Here, we studied petunia (Petunia x hybrida) petals that form a limb and tube through congenital fusion. We identified petunia mutants (periclinal chimeras) expressing the B-class MADS-box gene DEFICIENS in the petal epidermis or in the petal mesophyll, called wico and star, respectively...

In Latin America, childhood cancer includes a number of resource-intensive diseases, with inequalities in access to timely and appropriate diagnosis and treatment. In this context, civil society plays a fundamental role in improving childhood cancer care. The Region's organizations in this sector have become stronger and they now play a leading role in the delivery of services and in the promotion of awareness and advocacy for children's health. The Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, promoted by the World Health Organization and other relevant actors, is an opportunity for governments and civil society to work together to implement best practices in the control of childhood cancer...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between antimalarial adherence and cardiovascular events among incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) population-based cohorts. METHODS: All patients with incident RA/SLE and incident antimalarial use in British Columbia, Canada, between 01/1997 and 03/2015 were identified using provincial administrative databases. The outcomes were incident cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or venous thromboembolism (VTE)...

The identification of genome-wide transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) is a critical step in deciphering gene and transcriptional regulatory networks. However, determining the genome-wide binding of specific TFs or TF complexes remains a technical challenge. DNA affinity purification sequencing (DAP-seq) and modifications such as sequential DAP-seq (seq-DAP-seq) are robust in vitro methods for mapping individual TF or TF complex binding sites in a genome-wide manner. DAP-seq protocols use a genomic DNA (gDNA) library from any target organism with or without amplification, allowing the determination of TF binding on naked or endogenously modified DNA, respectively...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tofacitinib in treatment-refractory inflammatory myositis in a real-world clinical setting. METHODS: All patients with refractory inflammatory myositis treated with tofacitinib from a single urban center in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, were included from June 2016 to December 2022. The medical records of these patients were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: A total 41 patients were included, 23 with classic dermatomyositis (DM), 12 with amyopathic DM (ADM) and 6 with polymyositis (PM) phenotype...

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education identified food pantries as a targeted setting for policy, system, and environmental (PSE) interventions to promote healthy eating among households who rely on pantries to supplement their food needs. The present study sought to identify factors influencing capacity and readiness to implement healthy eating PSE interventions in food pantries. Qualitative interviews were conducted via zoom with twenty-six community residents with experience receiving SNAP benefits and twelve SNAP-Ed staff in rural and urban counties in Ohio to identify themes and indicators related to community/organisational capacity and readiness to implement healthy eating PSE interventions in food pantries...

Peptide chemists seek rapid methods combined with facile purification when producing disulphide bonds post solid-phase synthesis. Current methods typically require long reaction times of up to two days, can result in side-products from over-oxidation and/or degradation, require organic solvents, and/or require challenging purification. Herein, we describe a rapid, green, and facile oxidation of a series of peptides with up to three disulphide bonds. The method was conducted in aqueous solution, in air, utilizing the biocompatible corrin ring-containing compound dicyanocobinamide, and offers reaction times under 1 hour with simple one step removal of the catalyst...

OBJECTIVE: The current understanding of utilizing HD-tDCS as a targeted approach to improve headache attacks and modulate endogenous opioid systems in episodic migraine is relatively limited. This study aimed to determine whether high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) over the primary motor cortex (M1) can improve clinical outcomes and endogenous µ-opioid receptor (µOR) availability for episodic migraineurs. METHODS: In a randomized, double-blind, and sham-controlled trial, 25 patients completed 10-daily 20-min M1 HD-tDCS, repeated Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans with a selective agonist for µOR...

Epidemiologic studies on the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) or demyelinating events associated with anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFαalpha;) use among patients with rheumatic diseases or inflammatory bowel diseases have shown conflicting results. Causal directed acyclic graphs (cDAGs) are useful tools for understanding the differing results and identifying the structure of potential contributing biases. Most of the available literature on cDAGs uses language that might be unfamiliar to clinicians...

BACKGROUND: Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) decrease serum urate levels, but whether this translates into prevention of recurrent flares among patients with gout and gout-primary emergency department (ED) visits or hospitalizations is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To compare gout flares and cardiovascular events among patients with gout initiating SGLT2is versus dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP-4is), another second-line glucose-lowering agent not associated with serum urate levels or cardiovascular risk...

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is an important mechanism enabling the dynamic compartmentalization of macromolecules, including complex polymers such as proteins and nucleic acids, and occurs as a function of the physicochemical environment. In the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana , LLPS by the protein EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3) occurs in a temperature-sensitive manner and controls thermoresponsive growth. ELF3 contains a largely unstructured prion-like domain (PrLD) that acts as a driver of LLPS in vivo and in vitro...

Colon cancer incidence rates are increasing annually, a scenario aggravated by genetic and epigenetic alterations that promote drug resistance. Recent studies showed that novel synthetic selenium compounds are more efficient and less toxic than conventional drugs, demonstrating biocompatibility and pro-oxidant effects on tumor cells. This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effect of MRK-107, an imidazo [1,2- a ]pyridine derivative, in 2D and 3D cell culture models of colon cancer (Caco-2 and HT-29). Sulforhodamine B results revealed a GI50 of 2...

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether air pollution or changes in SARS-CoV-2 lineages lead to an increase in mortality. METHODS: Descriptive statistics were used to calculate rates of infection (2020-2021). RT-PCR was used to compare viral loads from October 2020 to February 2021. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) (n = 92) was used to examine and phylogenetically map SARS-CoV-2 lineages. A correlative "air pollution/temperature" index (I) was developed using regression analysis...