Tensor Analysis and Fusion of Multimodal Brain Images

Current high-throughput data acquisition technologies probe dynamical systems with different imaging modalities, generating massive data sets at different spatial and temporal resolutions posing challenging problems in multimodal data fusion. A case in point is the attempt to parse out the brain structures and networks that underpin human cognitive processes by analysis of different neuroimaging modalities (functional MRI, EEG, NIRS etc.). We emphasize that the multimodal, multi-scale nature of neuroimaging data is well reflected by a multi-way (tensor) structure where the underlying processes can be summarized by a relatively small number of components or "atoms". We introduce Markov-Penrose diagrams - an integration of Bayesian DAG and tensor network notation in order to analyze these models. These diagrams not only clarify matrix and tensor EEG and fMRI time/frequency analysis and inverse problems, but also help understand multimodal fusion via Multiway Partial Least Squares and Coupled Matrix-Tensor Factorization. We show here, for the first time, that Granger causal analysis of brain networks is a tensor regression problem, thus allowing the atomic decomposition of brain networks. Analysis of EEG and fMRI recordings shows the potential of the methods and suggests their use in other scientific domains.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Proceedings of the IEE

Dynamic risk control by human nucleus accumbens

Real-world decisions about reward often involve a complex counterbalance of risk and value. Although the nucleus accumbens has been implicated in the underlying neural substrate, its criticality to human behaviour remains an open question, best addressed with interventional methodology that probes the behavioural consequences of focal neural modulation. Combining a psychometric index of risky decision-making with transient electrical modulation of the nucleus accumbens, here we reveal profound, highly dynamic alteration of the relation between probability of reward and choice during therapeutic deep brain stimulation in four patients with treatment-resistant psychiatric disease. Short-lived phasic electrical stimulation of the region of the nucleus accumbens dynamically altered risk behaviour, transiently shifting the psychometric function towards more risky decisions only for the duration of stimulation. A critical, on-line role of human nucleus accumbens in dynamic risk control is thereby established

Determinación de hongos patógenos en cultivos ornamentales y su control con soluciones de propóleos

La producción de plantas ornamentales es una actividad económica cada vez más importante en la economía de la provincia de Corrientes, siendo frecuente la detección de enfermedades producidas por hongos. Para conocer esta problemática se hicieron recolecciones de muestras en cultivos e invernaderos de estas especies, su cultivo en medio agarizado y estudios microscópicos. Se seleccionaron dos cepas de Alternaria alternata y Colletotrichum gloeosporioides en la búsqueda de productos que controlen las mismas, con mínimo de impacto ambiental. Se evaluó in-vitro el efecto de soluciones de propóleos sobre estos patógenos, los que fueron aislados de los tejidos enfermos. Con propóleos procedentes de Misiones (Argentina) y Mina Gerais (Brasil), se prepararon diluciones alcohólicas al 30 % pv, que se utilizaron para probar su acción fungicida a las dosis de 1,2 y 1,5 ml de solución, sobre dichas cepas. Los ensayos se realizaron en placas de Petri con agar papa glucosado al 2%. Se observó que los testigos tuvieron crecimiento normal, en tanto que en los tratamientos con solución de propóleos sobre ambas cepas patogénicas, no tuvieron crecimiento

Prevalence and Population Diversity of Listeria monocytogenes Isolated from Dairy Cattle Farms in the Cantabria Region of Spain

Listeria monocytogenes is an opportunistic pathogen that is widely distributed in the environment. Here we show the prevalence and transmission of L. monocytogenes in dairy farms in the Cantabria region, on the northern coast of Spain. A total of 424 samples was collected from 14 dairy farms (5 organic and 9 conventional) and 211 L. monocytogenes isolates were recovered following conventional microbiological methods. There were no statistically significant differences in antimicrobial resistance ratios between organic and conventional farms. A clonal relationship among the isolates was assessed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis and 64 different pulsotypes were obtained. Most isolates (89%, n = 187) were classified as PCR serogroup IVb by using a multiplex PCR assay. In this case, 45 isolates of PCR serogroup IVb were whole genome-sequenced to perform a further analysis at genomic level. In silico MLST analysis showed the presence of 12 sequence types (ST), of which ST1, ST54 and ST666 were the most common. Our data indicate that the environment of cattle farms retains a high incidence of L. monocytogenes, including subtypes involved in human listeriosis reports and outbreaks. This pathogen is shed in the feces and could easily colonize dairy products, as a result of fecal contamination. Effective herd and manure management are needed in order to prevent possible outbreaks.This work was supported by Research Project grants RTA08-099, RTA2008-00080-C02, RTA2014-00045-C03-01 (INIA and FEDER) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and RTI2018-098267-R-C31 (INIA and FEDER) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.S

Burden of Parkinsonism and Parkinson\u27s Disease on Health Service Use and Outcomes in Latin America

\ua9 2023 - The authors. Published by IOS Press.Background: Little is known about the burden of parkinsonism and Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) in Latin America. Better understanding of health service use and clinical outcomes in PD is needed to improve its prognosis. Objective: The aim of the study was to estimate the burden of parkinsonism and PD in six Latin American countries. Methods: 12,865 participants aged 65 years and older from the 10/66 population-based cohort study were analysed. Baseline assessments were conducted in 2003-2007 and followed-up 4 years later. Parkinsonism and PD were defined using current clinical criteria or self-reported diagnosis. Logistic regression models assessed the association between parkinsonism/PD with baseline health service use (community-based care or hospitalisation in the last 3 months) and Cox proportional hazards regression models with incident dependency (subjective assessment by interviewer based on informant interview) and mortality. Separate analyses for each country were combined via fixed effect meta-analysis. Results: At baseline, the prevalence of parkinsonism and PD was 7.9% (n = 934) and 2.6% (n = 317), respectively. Only parkinsonism was associated with hospital admission at baseline (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.30-2.74). Among 7,296 participants without dependency at baseline, parkinsonism (HR 2.34, 95% CI 1.81-3.03) and PD (2.10, 1.37-3.24) were associated with incident dependency. Among 10,315 participants with vital status, parkinsonism (1.73, 1.50-1.99) and PD (1.38, 1.07-1.78) were associated with mortality. The Higgins I2 tests showed low to moderate levels of heterogeneity across countries. Conclusions: Our findings show that older people with parkinsonism or PD living in Latin America have higher risks of developing dependency and mortality but may have limited access to health services

Harmonized-Multinational qEEG Norms (HarMNqEEG)

This paper extends the frequency domain quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) methods pursuing higher sensitivity to detect Brain Developmental Disorders. Prior qEEG work lacked integration of cross-spectral information omitting important functional connectivity descriptors. Lack of geographical diversity precluded accounting for site-specific variance, increasing qEEG nuisance variance. We ameliorate these weaknesses. i) Create lifespan Riemannian multinational qEEG norms for cross-spectral tensors. These norms result from the HarMNqEEG project fostered by the Global Brain Consortium. We calculate the norms with data from 9 countries, 12 devices, and 14 studies, including 1564 subjects. Instead of raw data, only anonymized metadata and EEG cross-spectral tensors were shared. After visual and automatic quality control, developmental equations for the mean and standard deviation of qEEG traditional and Riemannian DPs were calculated using additive mixed-effects models. We demonstrate qEEG "batch effects" and provide methods to calculate harmonized z-scores. ii) We also show that the multinational harmonized Riemannian norms produce z-scores with increased diagnostic accuracy to predict brain dysfunction at school-age produced by malnutrition only in the first year of life. iii) We offer open code and data to calculate different individual z-scores from the HarMNqEEG dataset. These results contribute to developing bias-free, low-cost neuroimaging technologies applicable in various health settings

Comparación en los resultados de pacientes con bronquiolitis manejados con dos diferentes métodos de administrar oxígeno. Informe preliminar de avance del Hospital General de Niños Dr. Pedro de Elizalde

Introducción: La oxigenoterapia en el tratamiento de niños con bronquiolitis puede ser administrada mediantes cánulas nasales con bajo o alto flujo (CNAF). Las CNAF podrían ser una alternativa a la ventilación no invasiva, requiriendo menos recursos que los cuidados intensivos (UCIP). Objetivo: Evaluar si existe diferencia en la proporción de sujetos hospitalizados por bronquiolitis que requiere UCIP o en la duración de su hospitalización, según oxigenoterapia (convencional o CNAF). Métodos: Estudio observacional incluyendo lactantes hospitalizados por bronquiolitis en los meses de junio a agosto de 2017. Los pacientes fueron tratados según el servicio donde se encontraban (las unidades 1, 2 y 3 con oxigenoterapia convencional, y las unidades 4 y 5 con CNAF), al que fueron asignados según disponibilidad de cama. Resultados: Se incluyeron 329 pacientes, con edad promedio de 7,2 meses, que permanecieron hospitalizados 5,9 días y recibieron 4,6 días de oxigenoterapia. Todos recibieron oxigenoterapia, 84 (25,5%) CNAF y 245 (74,5%) convencional. Sólo 10 (3,1%) requirieron UCIP. De los que ingresaron a UCIP 5/84 recibieron CNAF y 5/245 recibieron terapia convencional (OR: 3,1; IC 95%: 0,8-10,7; p=0,07). Los pacientes con CNAF permanecieron significativamente más tiempo hospitalizados (6,9 ± 3,9 días vs. 5,6 ±3,2; p=0,003), luego de controlar por edad, la etiología viral y requerimiento de UCIP. Conclusión: En la población analizada no se observó diferencia en la proporción de pacientes que requirieron UTIP según hubieran recibido oxigenoterapia por CNAF o en forma convencional.Background: Oxygen in bronchiolitis treatment can be delivered by nasal cannulas using low or high flow (HFNC). HFNC can be an alternative to non-invasive ventilation or intensive care (PICU). Objective: To evaluate PICU requirement and length of stay (LOS) according to oxygen delivery method in children hospitalized for bronchiolitis. Methods: Observational study including infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis from June to August 2017. Patients received oxygen based on to the unit in which they were hospitalized (units 1, 2 and 3 received conventional oxygen therapy, while units 4 and 5 received HFNC), assigned according to bed availability. Results: We included 329 patients, aged 7.2 months, with a LOS of 5.9 days, and receiving oxygen for 4.6 days. All of them received oxygen, 84 (25.5%) HFNC and 245 (74,5%) conventional therapy. Only 10 (3.1%) required PICU, 5 using HFNC and 5 on conventional therapy (OR: 3,1; 95%IC: 0.8-10.7; p=0.07). After controlling for age, viral etiology and PICU requirement, patients on HFNC showed a significantly longer LOS (6.9 ± 3.9 vs. 5.6 ± 3.2 days; p=0.003). Conclusion: Patients who received oxygen trough HFNC required PICU less frequently than those in conventional therapy but showed a longer length of stay.Fil: Potasnik, J.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Golubicki, A.. Ministerio de Salud de la Nación; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, A.. Gobierno de la Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos Carlos Durand.; ArgentinaFil: Raiden, Silvina Claudia. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Sosa, R.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, N.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Cairoli, H.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: De Lillo, L.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Sanluis Fenelli, G.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Planovsky, H.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Checacci, E.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Lopez, M.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Gigliotti, E.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Torres, F.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Ferrero, F.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); Argentin

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum