CarSNN: An Efficient Spiking Neural Network for Event-Based Autonomous Cars on the Loihi Neuromorphic Research Processor

Autonomous Driving (AD) related features provide new forms of mobility that are also beneficial for other kind of intelligent and autonomous systems like robots, smart transportation, and smart industries. For these applications, the decisions need to be made fast and in real-time. Moreover, in the quest for electric mobility, this task must follow low power policy, without affecting much the autonomy of the mean of transport or the robot. These two challenges can be tackled using the emerging Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs). When deployed on a specialized neuromorphic hardware, SNNs can achieve high performance with low latency and low power consumption. In this paper, we use an SNN connected to an event-based camera for facing one of the key problems for AD, i.e., the classification between cars and other objects. To consume less power than traditional frame-based cameras, we use a Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS). The experiments are made following an offline supervised learning rule, followed by mapping the learnt SNN model on the Intel Loihi Neuromorphic Research Chip. Our best experiment achieves an accuracy on offline implementation of 86%, that drops to 83% when it is ported onto the Loihi Chip. The Neuromorphic Hardware implementation has maximum 0.72 ms of latency for every sample, and consumes only 310 mW. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first implementation of an event-based car classifier on a Neuromorphic Chip.Comment: Accepted for publication at IJCNN 202

Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in combination with low-dose metronomic cyclophosphamide as preoperative treatment for patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Abstract Aim To evaluate the role of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin with low-dose metronomic cyclophosphamide as primary systemic treatment in locally advanced breast cancer. Patients and Methods The activity and safety of intravenous pegylated liposomal doxorubicin 20 mg sqm−1 biweekly for eight courses in combination with metronomic cyclophosphamide 50 mg day−1 orally were evaluated in 29 patients with locally advanced breast cancer who were not suitable to receive a standard chemotherapy due to age or co-morbidities or who asked for a regimen with low incidence of toxic effects irrespective of age. Results The rate of breast-conserving surgery was 44.8%. Eighteen patients (62.1%) achieved a partial response (including one pathological complete response), 10 (34.5%) a stable disease and one patient experienced a progressive disease. Treatment was well tolerated, with no grade 4 toxicities, and with grade 3 skin toxicity in three patients and hand–foot syndrome in four patients. Conclusion The regimen was well tolerated but with limited activity in the preoperative setting. Other options (e.g., endocrine therapy in estrogen receptor -positive disease) should be considered in locally advanced breast cancer patients who are not suitable to receive a standard chemotherapy

Search of brain-enriched proteins in salivary extracellular vesicles for their use as mental disease biomarkers: A pilot study of the neuronal glycoprotein M6a

Background: Mental disorders affect millions of people worldwide. Their etiology is complex and the fact that the main effects occur in the brain hampers biochemical diagnosis. Therefore, biomarker finding in peripheral fluids such as serum or saliva is desirable. Here, we searched for biomarkers in salivary extracellular vesicles (EVs). Then, we focused on the protein M6a, related to neuronal connectivity and associated with several mood disorders to study its usefulness in saliva for the diagnosis of depression and anxiety. Methods: Biomarker candidates were searched by proteomic analysis of human salivary EVs. M6a presence in salivary EVs was validated by transmission electron microscopy and Western blot. M6a levels were measured by ELISA in saliva samples of 88 individuals classified as control, depressed or anxious. Results: We identified ten protein candidates in salivary EVs: OLIG2, PMP2, CNP, CAMK2A, SLC25A22, MLLT11, HTR2A, MAPT, ATP2B2 and M6a, all associated with emotional disorders. Salivary M6a levels positively correlated with the scores for the perceived stress scale in individuals diagnosed with depression. Furthermore, saliva samples of depressed patients treated with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) or benzodiazepines differed in their M6a levels with respect to untreated patients. Limitations: The main limitation of this study lies in the low number of patients involved, which warrants replication. Conclusions: Salivary EVs contain promising biomarker candidates for mental disorders. Further studies will help validate them for their potential use in diagnosis. Our results lead us to propose M6a as a workable molecule to take into account as a possible stress biomarker.Fil: Monteleone, Melisa Carolina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Billi, Silvia Cristina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Viale, Luciano. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Hospital Interzonal Especializado de Agudos y Cronicos San Juan de Dios.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Catoira, Natalia P.. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Hospital Interzonal Especializado de Agudos y Cronicos San Juan de Dios.; ArgentinaFil: Frasch, Alberto Carlos C.. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Brocco, Marcela Adriana. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; Argentin

neoadjuvant pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in combination with cisplatin and infusional fluoruracil ccf with and without endocrine therapy in locally advanced primary or recurrent breast cancer

Abstract Purpose To explore the activity of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) as neoadjuvant therapy of breast cancer. Methods The combination of PLD with cisplatin and infusional fluorouracil (CCF) for 8 courses was investigated in patients with primary or recurrent T2-T4a-d N0-3 M0 breast cancer. Patients with ER and/or PgR ≥10% tumors also received letrozole (±triptorelin). Results Forty patients entered the study. Four patients had recurrent tumors and 13 had cT4d tumors. Overall, clinical response rate was 77.5% whereas a pathological complete response (pCR) was obtained in 3 patients (7.7%), 4 when considering bilateral tumors. Noticeably 3 pCR were observed among the 10 patients with T4d ER positive tumors (33%). Eleven patients discontinued treatment before completion of the 8 planned courses. Conclusions Our results indicated that CCF yielded an appreciable rate of clinical responses in a series of very locally advanced tumors and an unusually high rate of pCR in T4d ER positive tumors, suggesting an enhanced cutaneous activity of PLD

Genotypes and phylogenetic analysis of adenovirus in children with respiratory infection in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2000-2018)

Human adenoviruses (HAdV) are one of the most frequent causes of respiratory infections around the world, causing mild to severe disease. In Argentina, many studies focused on the association of HAdV respiratory infection with severe disease and fatal outcomes leading to the discovery in 1984 of a genomic variant 7h associated with high fatality. Although several molecular studies reported the presence of at least 4 HAdV species (B, C, D and E) in Argentina, few sequences were available in the databases. In this study, sequences from the hexon gene region were obtained from 141 patients as a first approach to assess the genetic diversity of HAdVs circulating in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences and others recovered from public databases confirmed the circulation of the four above-mentioned species represented by 11 genotypes, with predominance in species B and C and shifts in their proportion in the studied period (2000 to 2018). The variants detected in Argentina, for most of the genotypes, were similar to those already described in other countries. However, uncommon lineages belonging to genotypes C2, C5 and E4 were detected, which might indicate the circulation of local variants and will deserve further studies of whole-genome sequences.Fil: Marcone, Débora Natalia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología. Cátedra de Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET; ArgentinaFil: Culasso, Andrés Carlos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología. Cátedra de Virología; ArgentinaFil: Reyes, Noelia Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET; ArgentinaFil: Kajon, Adriana. Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Viale, Diana. Gobierno de la Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Pediatria "juan P. Garrahan". Servicio de Microbiologia. Unidad de Virologia y Epidemiologia Molecular.; ArgentinaFil: Campos, Rodolfo Hector. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología. Cátedra de Virología; ArgentinaFil: Carballal, Guadalupe. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET; ArgentinaFil: Echavarría, Marcela Silvia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET; Argentin

preoperative therapy with trastuzumab and oral vinorelbine endocrine therapy in patients with her2 positive breast cancer

Abstract Background Combined trastuzumab and intravenous vinorelbine yielded high clinical activity as preoperative treatment in patients (pts) with HER 2/ neu positive breast cancer. Patients and methods We tested a preoperative combination of trastuzumab with oral vinorelbine (oV) in pts with locally advanced (T2-T4 N0-3 M0) HER2-positive breast cancer. Trastuzumab was administered i.v q 3 wks and oV was administered at the dose of 55 mg/sqm on days 1 and 3 q 3 wks, for 8 courses. Pts with ER ≥ 10% tumors received endocrine therapy with letrozole 2.5 mg/day, plus monthly triptorelin if premenopausal. Results Forty-five pts entered the study. The overall response rate (CR + PR) was 76% (95% CI: 60%–87%). pCR was observed in 4 pts (10%). Among ER-positive tumors 21/25 pts obtained a clinical response (84%) and two pts obtained a pCR (8%). Conclusions The combination of trastuzumab and oral vinorelbine demonstrated encouraging activity in patients with HER 2 positive ER-positive tumors. Alternative strategies should be investigated in patients with endocrine non responsive disease

Pathological features and survival outcomes of very young patients with early breast cancer: How much is "very young"?

Abstract We collected information on 497 consecutive breast cancer patients aged less than 35 years operated at the European Institute of Oncology. The main aim of the study is to compare biological and clinical features dividing the population by age: Patients aged p = 0.79) and overall survival ( p = 0.99) between the three age groups. This latter findings was confirmed using age as a continuous variable assuming a linear association between age and the outcomes considered, too. In conclusion, our data indicate that the group of patients with breast cancer below 35 years is essentially a homogenous group when classical clinical and immunohistochemical features were considered

local therapy for breast cancer in malignant lymphoma survivors

Summary Aims: Breast cancer is the most frequent secondary tumor in young women previously treated with mantle radiation for Hodgkin's disease. Prior therapeutic radiation to the breast region is considered an absolute contraindication to breast conservative surgery, and mastectomy is considered the treatment of choice. We performed a retrospective review to assess the potential of performing breast conservative surgery and intraoperative radiotherapy with electrons (ELIOT), in these patients. Methods and results: Forty-three patients affected by early breast cancer, previously treated with mantle radiation for malignant lymphoma, who underwent breast conservative surgery and ELIOT, were identified in our institution. Median age at diagnosis of lymphoma was 26 years (49% were less than 25). Median interval between lymphoma and breast cancer occurrence was 19 years. A total dose of 21 Gy (prescribed at 90% isodose) in 39 patients (91%), of 17 Gy (prescribed at 100% isodose) in 1 patient and 18 Gy (prescribed at 90% isodose), was delivered. ELIOT was well tolerated in all patients without any unusual acute or late reactions. After a median follow-up of 52 months, local recurrence occurred in 9% of the patients and metastases in 7% patients. Conclusion: In patients previously treated for lymphoma, partial breast irradiation, and in particular ELIOT, permits breast conservative surgery without acute local complications, decreasing the number of avoidable mastectomies