Effects of repeated unihemispheric concurrent dual-site tDCS and virtual reality games on motor coordination of sedentary adolescent girls.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the effects of repetitive unihemispheric concurrent dual-site anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCSUHCDS) associated with the use of virtual reality games (VR) on the motor coordination of sedentary adolescent girls. METHODS: Thirty-six inactive adolescent girls were randomly assigned into 3 groups (n = 12 per group): (1) VR + a-tDCSUHCDS, (2) VR + sham-tDCSUHCDS, and (3) Control. The VR + a-tDCSUHCDS and VR + s-tDCSUHCDS groups received the intervention three times a week for four weeks. In each experimental session, participants first received either 20 min of a-tDCSUHCDS (2 mA at each anodal electrode) targeting the primary motor cortex (M1) and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) or sham and then performed VR for 1 h. The control group received no intervention. Eye-hand coordination (EHC) and bimanual coordination (BC) were measured at baseline, post-intervention, and two weeks later (retention test) using the automatic scoring mirror tracer and continuous two-arm coordination test, respectively. RESULTS: Results showed that the EHC was significantly higher in the VR + a-tDCS and VR + s-tDCS groups at post-intervention (all ps< 0.001) and the retention test (all ps< 0.001) compared to the control group. Moreover, the EHC was significantly higher in the VR + a-tDCS group compared to the VR + s-tDCS group (p = 0.024) at the retention. Similarly, VR + a-tDCS and VR + s-tDCS improved BC compared to the control group at post-intervention (all ps< 0.001) and retention test (all ps< 0.001). In addition, higher BC was observed in the VR + a-tDCS group compared to the VR + s-tDCS group (p< 0.001) at the retention test. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that adding a-tDCSUHCDS to VR over 12 sessions may have an additional effect on VR training for improving and retaining motor coordination in sedentary adolescent girls.

Insertion (12;9)(p13;q34q34): a cryptic rearrangement involving ABL1/ETV6 fusion in a patient with Philadelphia-negative chronic myeloid leukemia.

We report a rare cryptic ins(12;9)(p13;q34q34), a chromosomal abnormality involving the ABL1 (9q34) and the ETV6 (alias TEL; 12p13) genes, detectable only by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), in a patient with Philadelphia-negative chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Using reverse 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole banding on metaphase cells, FISH analysis with BCR/ABL dual-fusion and ETV6 break-apart probes showed that a third ABL signal was inserted into 12p, splitting the ETV6 signal into two adjacent signals. CML patients with an ABL1/ETV6 fusion historically have demonstrated a variable and sometimes transient response to treatment with imatinib mesylate, which was also the case in the present patient.