Low-Cost Assessment of User eXperience Through EEG Signals

EEG signals are an important tool for monitoring the brain activity of a person, but equipment, expertise and infrastructure are required. EEG technologies are generally expensive, thus few people are normally able to use them. However, some low-cost technologies are now available. One of these is OPENBCI, but it seems that it is yet to be widely employed in Human-Computer Interaction. In this study, we used OPENBCI technology to capture EEG signals linked to brain activity in ten subjects as they interacted with two video games: Candy Crush and Geometry Dash. The experiment aimed to capture the signals while the players interacted with the video games in several situations. The results show differences due to the absence/presence of sound; players appear to be more relaxed without sound. In addition, consistent analysis of the EEG data, meCue 2.0 and SAM data showed high consistency. The evidence demonstrates that interesting results are able to be gathered based on low-cost EEG (standard) signal-based technologies

Spatially Resolved Star Formation Main Sequence of Galaxies in the Califa Survey

Cano-Díaz, M. et. al.The >main sequence of galaxies> - defined in terms of the total star formation rate ψ versus the total stellar mass M - is a well-studied tight relation that has been observed at several wavelengths and at different redshifts. All earlier studies have derived this relation from integrated properties of galaxies. We recover the same relation from an analysis of spatially resolved properties, with integral field spectroscopic (IFS) observations of 306 galaxies from the CALIFA survey. We consider the SFR surface density in units of log(M yr Kpc) and the stellar mass surface density in units of log(M Kpc) in individual spaxels that probe spatial scales of 0.5-1.5 Kpc. This local relation exhibits a high degree of correlation with small scatter (σ = 0.23 dex), irrespective of the dominant ionization source of the host galaxy or its integrated stellar mass. We highlight (i) the integrated star formation main sequence formed by galaxies whose dominant ionization process is related to star formation, for which we find a slope of 0.81 ± 0.02; (ii) for the spatially resolved relation obtained with the spaxel analysis, we find a slope of 0.72 ± 0.04; and (iii) for the integrated main sequence, we also identified a sequence formed by galaxies that are dominated by an old stellar population, which we have called the retired galaxies sequence.Financial support: M.C.D. and S.F.S.: DGAPA-UNAM funding; CONACyT-180125 and PAPIIT IA-100815 projects. Z.S.: EU Marie Curie Career Integration Grant >SteMaGE> PCIG12-GA-2012-326466. Y.A.: RyC-2011-09461 and AYA2013-47742-C4-3-P projects from the Spanish MINECO and the SELGIFS programme, funded by the EU (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IRSES-612701). C.J.W.: Marie Curie Career Integration Grant 303912. R.M.G.D.: AyA2014-57490-P and J.A. P12-FQM2828 grants. J.F.B.: AYA2013-48226-C3-1-P from the Spanish MINECO grant. L.G.: Millennium Science Initiative through grant IC120009, and by CONICYT through FONDECYT grant 3140566.Peer Reviewe

Proyecto PREDIRCAM 2. Análisis preliminar de uso y valoración de la plataforma

En la actualidad, la prevalencia de las enfermedades no transmisibles (Non-communicable diseases NCD) y la cantidad de muertes causadas por éstas es muy elevada, en su mayoría, consecuencia del envejecimiento de la población, el aumento de la obesidad y los hábitos de vida sedentarios. En este trabajo se describen el funcionamiento y los resultados preliminares del proyecto Predircam 2, destinado al desarrollo y validación de una plataforma inteligente de tecnologías biomédicas para la monitorización, prevención y tratamiento personalizados del sobrepeso, la obesidad y la prevención de enfermedades asociadas como la diabetes, hipertensión arterial o alteraciones del metabolismo lipídico. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar los resultados preliminares del análisis del uso de la plataforma, la evaluación de la usabilidad y la valoración de la atención recibida por los pacientes en relación a los profesionales sanitarios

PRIDB: a protein–RNA interface database

The Protein–RNA Interface Database (PRIDB) is a comprehensive database of protein–RNA interfaces extracted from complexes in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). It is designed to facilitate detailed analyses of individual protein–RNA complexes and their interfaces, in addition to automated generation of user-defined data sets of protein–RNA interfaces for statistical analyses and machine learning applications. For any chosen PDB complex or list of complexes, PRIDB rapidly displays interfacial amino acids and ribonucleotides within the primary sequences of the interacting protein and RNA chains. PRIDB also identifies ProSite motifs in protein chains and FR3D motifs in RNA chains and provides links to these external databases, as well as to structure files in the PDB. An integrated JMol applet is provided for visualization of interacting atoms and residues in the context of the 3D complex structures. The current version of PRIDB contains structural information regarding 926 protein–RNA complexes available in the PDB (as of 10 October 2010). Atomic- and residue-level contact information for the entire data set can be downloaded in a simple machine-readable format. Also, several non-redundant benchmark data sets of protein–RNA complexes are provided. The PRIDB database is freely available online at http://bindr.gdcb.iastate.edu/PRIDB

Characterization of oral yeasts isolated from healthy individuals attended in different Colombian dental clinics

The aim of this study was to identify the most frequent yeasts in the oral cavity of adult individuals without immune disorders and to associate the presence of these oral yeasts with different characteristics of each individual. Oral rinse samples were obtained from 96 healthy adults and cultured in Sabouraud dextrose agar media and CHROMagar. Yeasts were identified by sequencing the D1/D2 region of the 28S rRNA gene. Probable association among the socio-demographic characteristics, body mass index, family and personal medical history, oral hygiene, tobacco and/or alcohol consumption habits and presence of oral fungi was analyzed. Contingency tables and logistic regression were employed to evaluate possible relationships between the presence of oral fungi and mixed colonization with these variables. 57.3% of the healthy individuals had oral yeasts and 21.8% had mixed colonization. The most prevalent yeasts were Candida albicans (52%), C. parapsilosis (17.9%), and C. dubliniensis (7.57%). Yeasts with most frequently mixed colonization were C. albicans and C. parapsilosis. No relationships were found among the variables analyzed. However, the presence of mixed colonization was related to the presence of dental prostheses (P less than 0.006), dental apparatuses (P=0.016) and O'Leary index (P=0.012). This is the first study that characterized oral yeasts in Colombian healthy individuals, determined the most prevalent oral yeasts C. albicans, C. parapsilosis and C. dublinensis and an association of mixed colonization with the use of dental prostheses and aparatology and poor hygiene. © 2019 by the Journal of Biomedical Research

Insulin-like growth factor II prevents oxidative and neuronal damage in cellular and mice models of Parkinson's disease

Oxidative distress and mitochondrial dysfunction, are key factors involved in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). The pleiotropic hormone insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) has shown neuroprotective and antioxidant effects in some neurodegenerative diseases. In this work, we demonstrate the protective effect of IGF-II against the damage induced by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) in neuronal dopaminergic cell cultures and a mouse model of progressive PD. In the neuronal model, IGF-II counteracts the oxidative distress produced by MPP + protecting dopaminergic neurons. Improved mitochondrial function, increased nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like2 (NRF2) nuclear translocation along with NRF2-dependent upregulation of antioxidative enzymes, and modulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway were identified as mechanisms leading to neuroprotection and the survival of dopaminergic cells. The neuroprotective effect of IGF-II against MPP + -neurotoxicity on dopaminergic neurons depends on the specific IGF-II receptor (IGF-IIr). In the mouse model, IGF-II prevents behavioural dysfunction and dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway degeneration and mitigates neuroinflammation induced by MPP+. Our work demonstrates that hampering oxidative stress and normalising mitochondrial function through the interaction of IGF-II with its specific IGF-IIr are neuroprotective in both neuronal and mouse models. Thus, the modulation of the IGF-II/IGF-IIr signalling pathway may be a useful therapeutic approach for the prevention and treatment of PD