Fusion of PET / CT neuroimaging using a Wavelet-based and the Haar discrete transform scheme

[EN] In neurosciences, imaging techniques are used to diagnose diseases and assist in surgical interventions to determine the exact location and size of a tumor. International research has used different techniques for the fusion of Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography because it allows us to observe metabolic functions in correlation with anatomical structures. From the study of these techniques and algorithms a software was developed that performs the fusion of neuroimaging, using the fusion scheme based on Wavelet. Bicubic interpolation was used to correct the images. As a discrete Wavelet transform, Haar's was used. An evaluation of the quality of the resulting images was performed, obtaining 512 × 512 × 24 bit resolution images and a signal-to-noise ratio with values greater than 18. It was verified by histograms that the merged image contains more information than the input images independent.[ES] En neurociencias se utilizan técnicas imagenológicas para el diagnóstico de enfermedades y la asistencia en intervenciones quirúrgicas para determinar la ubicación y dimensión exactas de un tumor. Investigaciones a nivel internacional han utilizado diferentes técnicas para la fusión de la Tomografía por Emisión de Positrones y la Tomografía Computarizada debido a que permite observar las funciones metabólicas en correlación con las estructuras anatómicas. A partir del estudio de estas técnicas y algoritmos se desarrolló un software que realiza la fusión de neuroimágenes, utilizando el esquema de fusión basado en Wavelet. Para el corregistro de las imágenes se utilizó la interpolación Bicúbica. Como transformada discreta de Wavelet se utilizó la de Haar. Se realizó una evaluación de la calidad de las imágenes resultantes, obteniendo imágenes de resolución 512 × 512 × 24 bits y una relación señal-ruido con valores superiores a 18. Se comprobó mediante histogramas que la imagen fusionada contiene más información que las imágenes de entrada independientes.Este trabajo ha sido realizado parcialmente gracias al apoyo del Centro de Informática Médica de la Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas de la Habana y el Centro de Neurociencias de Cuba CNEURO, por el apoyo logístico y asesoría especializada en temas de Neuroinformática.Orellana, A.; Rodríguez, R.; Yanes, D.; Valdés-Sosa, P. (2020). Fusión de neuroimágenes de PET/CT utilizando un esquema basado en Wavelet y la transformada discreta de Haar. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial. 18(1):75-81. https://doi.org/10.4995/riai.2020.12977OJS7581181Huang, H. K. 2010. PACS and imaging informatics: basic principles and applications. 2nd ed. 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Safety and effectiveness of CIMAvax-EGF administered in community polyclinics

In spite of the advances in immunotherapy and targeted therapies, lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer-related death. The epidermal growth factor receptor is an established target for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and its overactivation by the ligands can induce accelerated proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis as well as proinflammatory or immunosuppressive signals. CIMAvax-EGF is an epidermal growth factor (EGF)-depleting immunotherapy that is approved for the treatment of NSCLC patients in Cuba. The study was designed as a phase IV trial to characterize the safety and effectiveness of CIMAvax-EGF in advanced NSCLC patients treated in 119 community polyclinics and 24 hospitals. CIMAvax-EGF treatment consisted of four bi-weekly doses followed by monthly boosters. Overall, 741 NSCLC patients ineligible for further cancer-specific treatment were enrolled. CIMAvax-EGF was safe, and the most common adverse events consisted of mild-to-moderate injection site reactions, fever, chills, tremors, and headache. For patients completing the loading doses, the median survival was 9.9 months. For individuals achieving at least stable disease to the frontline and completing vaccination induction, the median survival was 12 months. Most of the functional activities and symptoms evaluated through the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 questionnaire improved over time. In conclusion, this real-world trial demonstrated that CIMAvax-EGF was safe and effective in patients who were vaccinated in the maintenance scenario. A larger effect was seen in subjects with poor prognosis like those with squamous tumors and high EGF levels. Remarkably, this community-based intervention was very important because it demonstrated the feasibility of treating advanced lung cancer patients with active immunotherapy in primary care institutions. In addition to CIMAvax-EGF, patients received supportive care at the community clinic. Vaccine administration by the family doctors at the polyclinics reduced the patients’ burden on the medical oncology services that continued providing chemotherapy and other complex therapies. We conclude that community polyclinics constitute the optimal scenario for administering those cancer vaccines that are safe and require prolonged maintenance in patients with advanced cancer, despite the continuous deterioration of their general condition.Clinical trial registrationhttps://rpcec.sld.cu/trials/RPCEC00000205-En, identifier RPCEC00000205

New approaches to the study of human brain networks underlying spatial attention and related processes

Cognitive processes, such as spatial attention, are thought to rely on extended networks in the human brain. Both clinical data from lesioned patients and fMRI data acquired when healthy subjects perform particular cognitive tasks typically implicate a wide expanse of potentially contributing areas, rather than just a single brain area. Conversely, evidence from more targeted interventions, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or invasive microstimulation of the brain, or selective study of patients with highly focal brain damage, can sometimes indicate that a single brain area may make a key contribution to a particular cognitive process. But this in turn raises questions about how such a brain area may interface with other interconnected areas within a more extended network to support cognitive processes. Here, we provide a brief overview of new approaches that seek to characterise the causal role of particular brain areas within networks of several interacting areas, by measuring the effects of manipulations for a targeted area on function in remote interconnected areas. In human participants, these approaches include concurrent TMS-fMRI and TMS-EEG, as well as combination of the focal lesion method in selected patients with fMRI and/or EEG measures of the functional impact from the lesion on interconnected intact brain areas. Such approaches shed new light on how frontal cortex and parietal cortex modulate sensory areas in the service of attention and cognition, for the normal and damaged human brain

Documento de posición sobre las necesidades y niveles óptimos de vitamina D

IntroducciónEn los últimos años se ha producido un notable interés por la vitamina D, no sólo por su importancia crucial en el metabolismo mineral óseo, sino también por los efectos extraóseos, cada vez mejor conocidos. Asi mismo, se ha constatado la existencia de valores séricos bajos de vitamina D, por debajo de lo deseable, en diferentes poblaciones, tanto sanas como enfermas, y se discute cuáles serían los niveles óptimos de vitamina D en sangre. Por todo ello, la Sociedad Española de Investigación Ósea y Metabolismo Mineral (SEIOMM), conjuntamente con todas las Sociedades Científicas implicadas en el estudio del metabolismo óseo, han elaborado el presente documento de posición sobre las necesidades y niveles óptimos de vitamina D

Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men

Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women's worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women's brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality

Semi-analytic Local Linearization Integration of high dimensional Neural Mass Models with distributed delays

Neuroscience has shown great progress in recent years. Several of the theoretical bases have arisen from the examination of dynamic systems, using Neural Mass Models (NMMs). Due to the largescale brain dynamics of NMMs and the difficulty of studying nonlinear systems, the local linearization approach to discretize the state equation was used via an algebraic formulation, as it intervenes favorably in the speed and efficiency of numerical integration. To study the spacetime organization of the brain and generate more complex dynamics, three structural levels (cortical unit, population and system) were defined and assumed, in which the new assumed representation for conduction delays and new ways of connecting were defined. This is a new time-delay NMM, which can simulate several types of EEG activities since kinetics information was considered at three levels of complexity. Results obtained in this analysis provide additional theoretical foundations and indicate specific characteristics for understanding neurodynamic.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

3D statistical parametric mapping of EEG source spectra by means of variable resolution electromagnetic tomography (VARETA)

This article describes a new method for 3D QEEG tomography in the frequency domain. A variant of Statistical Parametric Mapping is presented for source log spectra. Sources are estimated by means of a Discrete Spline EEG inverse solution known as Variable Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (VARETA). Anatomical constraints are incorporated by the use of the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) probabilistic brain atlas. Efficient methods are developed for frequency domain VARETA in order to estimate the source spectra for the set of 103–105 voxels that comprise an EEG/MEG inverse solution. High resolution source Z spectra are then defined with respect to the age dependent mean and standard deviations of each voxel, which are summarized as regression equations calculated from the Cuban EEG normative database. The statistical issues involved are addressed by the use of extreme value statistics. Examples are shown that illustrate the potential clinical utility of the methods herein developed. </jats:p