VAMOS: a Pathfinder for the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

VAMOS was a prototype detector built in 2011 at an altitude of 4100m a.s.l. in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The aim of VAMOS was to finalize the design, construction techniques and data acquisition system of the HAWC observatory. HAWC is an air-shower array currently under construction at the same site of VAMOS with the purpose to study the TeV sky. The VAMOS setup included six water Cherenkov detectors and two different data acquisition systems. It was in operation between October 2011 and May 2012 with an average live time of 30%. Besides the scientific verification purposes, the eight months of data were used to obtain the results presented in this paper: the detector response to the Forbush decrease of March 2012, and the analysis of possible emission, at energies above 30 GeV, for long gamma-ray bursts GRB111016B and GRB120328B.Comment: Accepted for pubblication in Astroparticle Physics Journal (20 pages, 10 figures). Corresponding authors: A.Marinelli and D.Zaboro

On the sensitivity of the HAWC observatory to gamma-ray bursts

We present the sensitivity of HAWC to Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). HAWC is a very high-energy gamma-ray observatory currently under construction in Mexico at an altitude of 4100 m. It will observe atmospheric air showers via the water Cherenkov method. HAWC will consist of 300 large water tanks instrumented with 4 photomultipliers each. HAWC has two data acquisition (DAQ) systems. The main DAQ system reads out coincident signals in the tanks and reconstructs the direction and energy of individual atmospheric showers. The scaler DAQ counts the hits in each photomultiplier tube (PMT) in the detector and searches for a statistical excess over the noise of all PMTs. We show that HAWC has a realistic opportunity to observe the high-energy power law components of GRBs that extend at least up to 30 GeV, as it has been observed by Fermi LAT. The two DAQ systems have an energy threshold that is low enough to observe events similar to GRB 090510 and GRB 090902b with the characteristics observed by Fermi LAT. HAWC will provide information about the high-energy spectra of GRBs which in turn could help to understanding about e-pair attenuation in GRB jets, extragalactic background light absorption, as well as establishing the highest energy to which GRBs accelerate particles

Association between polymorphisms in the thymidylate synthase gene and risk of breast cancer in a mexican population

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in Mexico. Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the thymidylate synthase (TS) gene, the 28-base pair (bp) tandem repeat in the TS 5'-untranslated enhanced region (TSER) and the 6-bp insertion/deletion in the TS 3'-untranslated region (TS 3'-UTR), increase the rate of misincorporation of uridylate into DNA and may lead to chromosomal damage. We examined the association between these polymorphisms and BC risk in Mexican women according to menopause status. Mexican patients with initial BC diagnosis (N = 230) and 145 individuals from a reference general population group (RGP) were included. For statistical analysis, the BC group was divided into pre- and post-menopause groups (PRE and POST groups, respectively). We analyzed both TS polymorphisms (TSER and TS 3'-UTR) using polymerase chain reaction. Finetti analysis was used to evaluate inter-and intra-group differences. The results showed a high frequency for the 3R and ins6 alleles in the BC, RGP, PRE, and POST groups. No significant differences were observed for the TS and TSER genotype and allele frequency distributions between groups. We found that the TSER and TS 3'-UTR SNPs are not associated with BC risk in Mexican patients. © FUNPEC-RP

1236 C/T and 3435 C/T polymorphisms of the ABCB1 gene in Mexican breast cancer patients

MDR1, which is encoded by the ABCB1 gene, is involved in multidrug resistance (hydrophobic), as well as the elimination of xenotoxic agents. The association between ABCB1 gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk in different populations has been described previously; however, the results have been inconclusive. In this study, we examined the association between polymorphisms 3435 C/T and 1236 C/T in the ABCB1 gene and breast cancer development in Mexican women according to their menopausal status and molecular classification. Molecular subtypes as well as allele and genotype frequencies were analyzed. A total of 248 women with initial breast cancer diagnosis and 180 ethnically matched, healthy, unrelated individuals were enrolled. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was performed to detect polymorphisms 3435 C/T and 1236 C/T in the ABCB1 gene. Premenopausal T allele carriers of the 3435 C/T polymorphism showed a 2-fold increased risk of breast cancer with respect to the reference and postmenopausal groups, as well as triple-negative expression regarding the luminal A/B molecular subrogated subtypes. In contrast, the CT genotype of the 1236 polymorphism was a protective factor against breast cancer. We conclude that the T allele carrier of the 3435 C/T polymorphism in the ABCB1 gene in combination with an estrogen receptor-negative status may be an important risk factor for breast cancer development in premenopausal women. © FUNPEC-RP

The Transcriptomic Portrait of Locally Advanced Breast Cancer and Its Prognostic Value in a Multi-Country Cohort of Latin American Patients

Purposes: Most molecular-based published studies on breast cancer do not adequately represent the unique and diverse genetic admixture of the Latin American population. Searching for similarities and differences in molecular pathways associated with these tumors and evaluating its impact on prognosis may help to select better therapeutic approaches. Patients and Methods: We collected clinical, pathological, and transcriptomic data of a multi-country Latin American cohort of 1,071 stage II-III breast cancer patients of the Molecular Profile of Breast Cancer Study (MPBCS) cohort. The 5-year prognostic ability of intrinsic (transcriptomic-based) PAM50 and immunohistochemical classifications, both at the cancer-specific (OSC) and disease-free survival (DFS) stages, was compared. Pathway analyses (GSEA, GSVA and MetaCore) were performed to explore differences among intrinsic subtypes. Results: PAM50 classification of the MPBCS cohort defined 42·6% of tumors as LumA, 21·3% as LumB, 13·3% as HER2E and 16·6% as Basal. Both OSC and DFS for LumA tumors were significantly better than for other subtypes, while Basal tumors had the worst prognosis. While the prognostic power of traditional subtypes calculated with hormone receptors (HR), HER2 and Ki67 determinations showed an acceptable performance, PAM50-derived risk of recurrence best discriminated low, intermediate and high-risk groups. Transcriptomic pathway analysis showed high proliferation (i.e. cell cycle control and DNA damage repair) associated with LumB, HER2E and Basal tumors, and a strong dependency on the estrogen pathway for LumA. Terms related to both innate and adaptive immune responses were seen predominantly upregulated in Basal tumors, and, to a lesser extent, in HER2E, with respect to LumA and B tumors. Conclusions: This is the first study that assesses molecular features at the transcriptomic level in a multicountry Latin American breast cancer patient cohort. Hormone-related and proliferation pathways that predominate in PAM50 and other breast cancer molecular classifications are also the main tumor-driving mechanisms in this cohort and have prognostic power. The immune-related features seen in the most aggressive subtypes may pave the way for therapeutic approaches not yet disseminated in Latin America. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT02326857). Copyright © 2022 Llera, Abdelhay, Artagaveytia, Daneri-Navarro, Müller, Velazquez, Alcoba, Alonso, Alves da Quinta, Binato, Bravo, Camejo, Carraro, Castro, Castro-Cervantes, Cataldi, Cayota, Cerda, Colombo, Crocamo, Del Toro-Arreola, Delgadillo-Cisterna, Delgado, Dreyer-Breitenbach, Fejerman, Fernández, Fernández, Fernández, Franco-Topete, Gabay, Gaete, Garibay-Escobar, Gómez, Greif, Gross, Guerrero, Henderson, Lopez-Muñoz, Lopez-Vazquez, Maldonado, Morán-Mendoza, Nagai, Oceguera-Villanueva, Ortiz-Martínez, Quintero, Quintero-Ramos, Reis, Retamales, Rivera-Claisse, Rocha, Rodríguez, Rosales, Salas-González, Sanchotena, Segovia, Sendoya, Silva-García, Trinchero, Valenzuela, Vedham, Zagame, United States-Latin American Cancer Research Network (US-LACRN) and Podhajcer.Fil: Llera, Andrea Sabina. Fundación Instituto Leloir-CONICET. Molecular and Cellular Therapy Laboratory; ArgentinaFil: Abdelhay, Eliana Saul Furquim Werneck. Instituto Nacional de Câncer. Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit; BrasilFil: Artagaveytia, Nora. Universidad de la República. Hospital de Clínicas Manuel Quintela; UruguayFil: Daneri-Navarro, Adrián. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Müller, Bettina. Instituto Nacional del Cáncer; ChileFil: Velazquez, Carlos. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Alcoba, Elsa B. Hospital Municipal de Oncología María Curie; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Isabel. Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell; UruguayFil: Alves da Quinta, Daniela B. Fundación Instituto Leloir-CONICET. Molecular and Cellular Therapy Laboratory; ArgentinaFil: Alves da Quinta, Daniela B. Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE). Instituto de Tecnología (INTEC); ArgentinaFil: Binato, Renata. Instituto Nacional de Câncer. Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit; BrasilFil: Bravo, Alicia Inés. Hospital Regional de Agudos Eva Perón; ArgentinaFil: Camejo, Natalia. Universidad de la República. Hospital de Clínicas Manuel Quintela; UruguayFil: Carraro, Dirce Maria. AC Camargo Cancer Center. Centro Internacional de Pesquisa (CIPE). Laboratory of Genomics and Molecular Biology; BrasilFil: Castro, Mónica. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Castro-Cervantes, Juan M. Hospital de Especialidades CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Cataldi, Sandra. Instituto Nacional del Cáncer; UruguayFil: Cayota, Alfonso. Institut Pasteur de Montevideo; UruguayFil: Cerda, Mauricio. Universidad de Chile. Instituto de Neurociencias Biomédicas. Facultad de Medicina. Centro de Informática Médica y Telemedicina. Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas (ICBM). Integrative Biology Program; ChileFil: Colombo, Alicia. Universidad de Chile. Facultad de Medicina y Hospital Clínico. Department of Pathology; ChileFil: Crocamo, Susanne. Instituto Nacional de Câncer. Oncology Department; BrasilFil: Del Toro-Arreola, Alicia. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Delgadillo-Cisterna, Raúl. Hospital de Especialidades CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Delgado, Lucía. Universidad de la República. Hospital de Clínicas Manuel Quintela; UruguayFil: Dreyer-Breitenbach, Marisa. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes; BrasilFil: Fejerman, Laura. University of California Davis. Department of Public Health Sciences and Comprehensive Cancer Center; Estados UnidosFil: Fernández, Elmer A. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. CONICET. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Inmunología y Enfermedades Infecciosas [Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Inmunología y Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIDIE); ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Elmer A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Wanda. Hospital San Borja Arriarán; ChileFil: Franco-Topete, Ramón A. Universidad de Guadalajara. Hospital Civil de Guadalajara. Organismo Público Descentralizado (OPD); MéxicoFil: Gabay, Carolina. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Gaete, Fancy. Hospital Luis Tisne; ChileFil: Garibay-Escobar, Adriana. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Gómez, Jorge. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Greif, Gonzalo. Institut Pasteur de Montevideo; UruguayFil: Gross, Thomas G. Center for Global Health, National Cancer Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Guerrero, Marisol. Hospital San José; ChileFil: Henderson, Marianne K. Center for Global Health, National Cancer Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Lopez-Muñoz, Miguel E. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Lopez-Vazquez, Alejandra. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Maldonado, Silvina. Hospital Regional de Agudos Eva Perón; ArgentinaFil: Morán-Mendoza, Andrés J. Hospital de Gineco-Obstetricia CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Nagai, Maria Aparecida. Sao Paulo University Medical School. Cancer Institute of São Paulo (ICESP). Center for Translational Research in Oncology; BrasilFil: Oceguera-Villanueva, Antonio. Instituto Jalisciense de Cancerologia; MéxicoFil: Ortiz-Martínez, Miguel A. Hospital General Regional No. 1. IMSS; MéxicoFil: Quintero, Jael. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Quintero-Ramos, Antonio. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Reis, Rui M. Hospital de Câncer de Barretos. Molecular Oncology Research Center; BrasilFil: Retamales, Javier. Grupo Oncológico Cooperativo Chileno de Investigación; ChileFil: Rivera-Claisse, Ernesto. Centro Estatal de Oncologia; MéxicoFil: Rocha, Darío. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez, Robinson. Hospital Central de las Fuerzas Armadas; UruguayFil: Rosales, Cristina. Hospital Municipal de Oncología María Curie; ArgentinaFil: Salas-González, Efrain. Hospital de Gineco-Obstetricia CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Sanchotena, Verónica. Hospital Municipal de Oncología María Curie; ArgentinaFil: Segovia, Laura. Hospital Barros Luco Trudeau; ChileFil: Sendoya, Juan Martín. Fundación Instituto Leloir-CONICET. Molecular and Cellular Therapy Laboratory; ArgentinaFil: Silva-García, Aida A. Universidad de Guadalajara. Hospital Civil de Guadalajara. Organismo Público Descentralizado (OPD); MéxicoFil: Trinchero, Alejandra. Hospital Regional de Agudos Eva Perón; ArgentinaFil: Valenzuela, Olivia. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Vedham, Vidya. National Cancer Institute. Center for Global Health; Estados Unido

VAMOS: A pathfinder for the HAWC gamma-ray observatory

VAMOS1 was a prototype detector built in 2011 at an altitude of 4100 m a.s.l. in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The aim of VAMOS was to finalize the design, construction techniques and data acquisition system of the HAWC observatory. HAWC is an air-shower array currently under construction at the same site of VAMOS with the purpose to study the TeV sky. The VAMOS setup included six water Cherenkov detectors and two different data acquisition systems. It was in operation between October 2011 and May 2012 with an average live time of 30%. Besides the scientific verification purposes, the eight months of data were used to obtain the results presented in this paper: the detector response to the Forbush decrease of March 2012, and the analysis of possible emission, at energies above 30 GeV, for long gamma-ray bursts GRB111016B and GRB120328B