Longitudinal Analysis of Stroke Patients’ Brain Rhythms during an Intervention with a Brain-Computer Interface

Stroke is a leading cause of motor disability worldwide. Upper limb rehabilitation is particularly challenging since approximately 35% of patients recover significant hand function after 6 months of the stroke’s onset. Therefore, new therapies, especially those based on brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and robotic assistive devices, are currently under research. Electroencephalography (EEG) acquired brain rhythms in alpha and beta bands, during motor tasks, such as motor imagery/intention (MI), could provide insight of motor-related neural plasticity occurring during a BCI intervention. Hence, a longitudinal analysis of subacute stroke patients’ brain rhythms during a BCI coupled to robotic device intervention was performed in this study. Data of 9 stroke patients were acquired across 12 sessions of the BCI intervention. Alpha and beta event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) trends across sessions and their association with time since stroke onset and clinical upper extremity recovery were analyzed, using correlation and linear stepwise regression, respectively. More EEG channels presented significant ERD/ERS trends across sessions related with time since stroke onset, in beta, compared to alpha. Linear models implied a moderate relationship between alpha rhythms in frontal, temporal, and parietal areas with upper limb motor recovery and suggested a strong association between beta activity in frontal, central, and parietal regions with upper limb motor recovery. Higher association of beta with both time since stroke onset and upper limb motor recovery could be explained by beta relation with closed-loop communication between the sensorimotor cortex and the paralyzed upper limb, and alpha being probably more associated with motor learning mechanisms. The association between upper limb motor recovery and beta activations reinforces the hypothesis that broader regions of the cortex activate during movement tasks as a compensatory mechanism in stroke patients with severe motor impairment. Therefore, EEG across BCI interventions could provide valuable information for prognosis and BCI cortical activity targets

Socioeconomic, Clinical, and Molecular Features of Breast Cancer Influence Overall Survival of Latin American Women

Molecular profile of breast cancer in Latin-American women was studied in five countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay. Data about socioeconomic characteristics, risk factors, prognostic factors, and molecular subtypes were described, and the 60-month overall cumulative survival probabilities (OS) were estimated. From 2011 to 2013, 1,300 eligible Latin-American women 18 years or older, with a diagnosis of breast cancer in clinical stage II or III, and performance status ≦̸1 were invited to participate in a prospective cohort study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted, and clinical and outcome data, including death, were extracted from medical records. Unadjusted associations were evaluated by Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests and the OS by Kaplan–Meier method. Log-rank test was used to determine differences between cumulative probability curves. Multivariable adjustment was carried out by entering potential confounders in the Cox regression model. The OS at 60 months was 83.9%. Multivariable-adjusted death hazard differences were found for women living in Argentina (2.27), Chile (1.95), and Uruguay (2.42) compared with Mexican women, for older (≥60 years) (1.84) compared with younger (≤40 years) women, for basal-like subtype (5.8), luminal B (2.43), and HER2-enriched (2.52) compared with luminal A subtype, and for tumor clinical stages IIB (1.91), IIIA (3.54), and IIIB (3.94) compared with stage IIA women. OS was associated with country of residence, PAM50 intrinsic subtype, age, and tumor stage at diagnosis. While the latter is known to be influenced by access to care, including cancer screening, timely diagnosis and treatment, including access to more effective treatment protocols, it may also influence epigenetic changes that, potentially, impact molecular subtypes. Data derived from heretofore understudied populations with unique geographic ancestry and sociocultural experiences are critical to furthering our understanding of this complexity. Copyright © 2022 de Almeida, Cortés, Vilensky, Valenzuela, Cortes-Sanabria, de Souza, Barbeito, Abdelhay, Artagaveytia, Daneri-Navarro, Llera, Müller, Podhajcer, Velazquez, Alcoba, Alonso, Bravo, Camejo, Carraro, Castro, Cataldi, Cayota, Cerda, Colombo, Crocamo, Del Toro-Arreola, Delgadillo-Cristerna, Delgado, Breitenbach, Fernández, Fernández, Fernández, Franco-Topete, Gaete, Gómez, Gonzalez-Ramirez, Guerrero, Gutierrez-Rubio, Jalfin, Lopez-Vazquez, Loria, Míguez, Moran-Mendoza, Morgan-Villela, Mussetti, Nagai, Oceguera-Villanueva, Reis, Retamales, Rodriguez, Rosales, Salas-Gonzalez, Segovia, Sendoya, Silva-Garcia, Viña, Zagame, Jones, Szklo and United States-Latin American Cancer Research Network (US-LACRN).Fil: de Almeida, Liz Maria. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; BrasilFil: Cortés, Sandra. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Vilensky, Marta. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Valenzuela, Olivia. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Cortes-Sanabria, Laura. Hospital de Especialidades, CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: de Souza, Mirian. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; BrasilFil: Barbeito, Rafael Alonso. Facultad de Medicina; ArgentinaFil: Abdelhay, Eliana. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; BrasilFil: Artagaveytia, Nora. Hospital de Clínicas Manuel Quintela. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Daneri-Navarro, Adrian. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Llera, Andrea S. CONICET. Fundación Instituto Leloir; ArgentinaFil: Müller, Bettina. Instituto Nacional del Cáncer; ArgentinaFil: Podhajcer, Osvaldo L. CONICET. Fundación Instituto Leloir; ArgentinaFil: Velazquez, Carlos. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Alcoba, Elsa. Hospital Municipal de Oncología María Curie; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Isabel. Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell; ArgentinaFil: Bravo, Alicia I. Hospital Regional de Agudos Eva Perón; ArgentinaFil: Camejo, Natalia. Hospital de Clínicas Manuel Quintela. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Carraro, Dirce Maria. AC Camargo Cancer Center; BrasilFil: Castro, Mónica. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Cataldi, Sandra. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; UruguayFil: Cayota, Alfonso. Institut Pasteur de Montevideo; UruguayFil: Cerda, Mauricio. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Colombo, Alicia. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Crocamo, Susanne. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; BrasilFil: Del Toro-Arreola, Alicia. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Delgadillo-Cristerna, Raul. Hospital de Especialidades. CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Delgado, Lucia. Hospital de Clínicas Manuel Quintela; UruguayFil: Breitenbach, Marisa Dreyer. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Fernández, Elmer. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. CONICET. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunologia; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Jorge. Instituto de Salud Pública; ChileFil: Fernández, Wanda. Hospital San Borja Arriarán; ChileFil: Franco-Topete, Ramon A. OPD Hospital Civil de Guadalajara. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Gaete, Fancy. Hospital Luis Tisne; ChileFil: Gómez, Jorge. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Gonzalez-Ramirez, Leivy P. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Guerrero, Marisol. Hospital San José; ChileFil: Gutierrez-Rubio, Susan A. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Jalfin, Beatriz. Hospital Regional de Agudos Eva Perón; ArgentinaFil: Lopez-Vazquez, Alejandra. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Loria, Dora. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Míguez, Silvia. Hospital Municipal de Oncología María Curie; ArgentinaFil: Moran-Mendoza, Andres de J. Hospital de Gineco-Obstetricia CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Morgan-Villela, Gilberto. Hospital de Especialidades. CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Mussetti, Carina. Registro Nacional de Cancer; UruguayFil: Nagai, Maria Aparecida. Instituto de Câncer de São Paulo; BrasilFil: Oceguera-Villanueva, Antonio. Instituto Jalisciense de Cancerologia; MéxicoFil: Reis, Rui M. Hospital de Câncer de Barretos; BrasilFil: Retamales, Javier. Grupo Oncológico Cooperativo Chileno de Investigación; ChileFil: Rodriguez, Robinson. Hospital Central de las Fuerzas Armadas; UruguayFil: Rosales, Cristina, Hospital Municipal de Oncología María Curie; ArgentinaFil: Salas-Gonzalez, Efrain. Hospital San José; ChileFil: Segovia, Laura. Hospital Barros Luco Trudeau; ChileFil: Sendoya, Juan M. CONICET. Fundación Instituto Leloir,; ArgentinaFil: Silva-Garcia, Aida A. OPD Hospital Civil de Guadalajara. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Viña, Stella. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Zagame, Livia. Instituto Jalisciense de Cancerologia; MéxicoFil: Jones, Beth. Yale University. Yale School of Public Health; Estados UnidosFil: Szklo, Moysés. Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Estados Unido

Reproducibility of fluorescent expression from engineered biological constructs in E. coli

We present results of the first large-scale interlaboratory study carried out in synthetic biology, as part of the 2014 and 2015 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competitions. Participants at 88 institutions around the world measured fluorescence from three engineered constitutive constructs in E. coli. Few participants were able to measure absolute fluorescence, so data was analyzed in terms of ratios. Precision was strongly related to fluorescent strength, ranging from 1.54-fold standard deviation for the ratio between strong promoters to 5.75-fold for the ratio between the strongest and weakest promoter, and while host strain did not affect expression ratios, choice of instrument did. This result shows that high quantitative precision and reproducibility of results is possible, while at the same time indicating areas needing improved laboratory practices.Peer reviewe