Personalized protocol and scoring scale for functional electrical stimulation of the hand: A pilot feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Complex personalized Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) protocols for calibrating parameters and electrode positioning have been proposed, most being time-consuming or technically cumbersome for clinical settings. Therefore, there is a need for new personalized FES protocols that generate comfortable, functional hand movements, while being feasible for clinical translation. OBJECTIVE: To develop a personalized FES protocol, comprising electrode placement and parameter selection, to generate hand opening (HO), power grasp (PW) and precision grip (PG) movements, and compare in a pilot feasibility study its performance to a non-personalized protocol based on standard FES guidelines. METHODS: Two FES protocols, one personalized (P1) and one non-personalized (P2), were used to produce hand movements in twenty-three healthy participants. FES-induced movements were assessed with a new scoring scale which comprises items for selectivity, functionality, and comfort. RESULTS: Higher FES-HSS scores were obtained with P1 for all movements: HO (p= 0.00013), PW (p= 0.00007), PG (p= 0.00460). Electrode placement time was significantly shorter for P2 (p= 0.00003). Comfort scores were similar for both protocols. CONCLUSIONS: The personalized protocol for electrode placement and parameter selection enabled functional FES-induced hand movements and presented advantages over a non-personalized protocol. This protocol warrants further investigation to confirm its suitability for developing upper-limb rehabilitation interventions with clinical translational potential.

Serological prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and associated factors in healthcare workers in a "non-COVID" hospital in Mexico City.

BACKGROUND: Mexico is one of the countries with the highest number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of this high mortality, in Mexico the number of confirmed cases and diagnostic tests per million population are lower than for other comparable countries, which leads to uncertainty about the actual extent of the pandemic. In Mexico City, healthcare workers represent an important fraction of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection. We performed a cross-sectional study whose objective was to estimate the frequency of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and identify associated factors in healthcare workers at a large hospital in Mexico City. METHODS: We conducted a serological survey in a non-COVID national referral teaching hospital. The study population included all the personnel that works, in any capacity, in the hospital. From this population we selected a representative sample of 300 individuals. Blood samples were collected and questionnaires were applied between August 10th and September 9th, 2020. RESULTS: ELISA results indicate a serological prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection of 13.0%. Working in the janitorial and security groups, having an educational level below a university degree, and living with a larger number of people, were all identified as sociodemographic factors that increase the probability of having SARS-CoV-2 infection. CONCLUSIONS: Less favored socioeconomic groups face significantly higher prospects of experiencing SARS-CoV-2 infection and in institutions such as ours, providing janitorial and security workgroups with additional testing and counseling could help to limit the spread of contagion. The rate from the official number of confirmed cases in Mexico City is substantially smaller than the seropositive rate identified in this work.

Auditory decisions in the supplementary motor area.

In human speech and communication across various species, recognizing and categorizing sounds is fundamental for the selection of appropriate behaviors. However, how does the brain decide which action to perform based on sounds? We explored whether the supplementary motor area (SMA), responsible for linking sensory information to motor programs, also accounts for auditory-driven decision making. To this end, we trained two rhesus monkeys to discriminate between numerous naturalistic sounds and words learned as target (T) or non-target (nT) categories. We found that the SMA at single and population neuronal levels perform decision-related computations that transition from auditory to movement representations in this task. Moreover, we demonstrated that the neural population is organized orthogonally during the auditory and the movement periods, implying that the SMA performs different computations. In conclusion, our results suggest that the SMA integrates acoustic information in order to form categorical signals that drive behavior.

Single-step, acid-based fabrication of homogeneous gelatin-polycaprolactone fibrillar scaffolds intended for skin tissue engineering.

Blends of natural and synthetic polymers have recently attracted great attention as scaffolds for tissue engineering applications due to their favorable biological and mechanical properties. Nevertheless, phase-separation of blend components is an important challenge facing the development of electrospun homogeneous fibrillar natural-synthetic polymers scaffolds; phase-separation can produce significant detrimental effects for scaffolds fabricated by electrospinning. In the present study, blends of gelatin (Gel; natural polymer) and polycaprolactone (PCL; synthetic polymer), containing 30 and 45 wt% Gel, were prepared using acetic acid as a 'green' sole solvent to straightforwardly produce appropriate single-step Gel-PCL solutions for electrospinning. Miscibility of Gel and PCL in the scaffolds was assessed and the morphology, chemical composition and structural and solid-state properties of the scaffolds were thoroughly investigated. Results showed that the two polymers proved miscible under the single-step solution process used and that the electrospun scaffolds presented suitable properties for potential skin tissue engineering applications. Viability, metabolic activity and protein expression of human fibroblasts cultured on the Gel-PCL scaffolds were evaluated using LIVE/DEAD (calcein/ethidium homodimer), MTT-Formazan and immunocytochemistry assays, respectively. In vitro results showed that the electrospun Gel-PCL scaffolds enhanced cell viability and proliferation in comparison to PCL scaffolds. Furthermore, scaffolds allowed fibroblasts expression of extracellular matrix proteins, tropoelastin and collagen Type I, in a similar way to positive controls. Results indicated the feasibility of the single-step solution process used herein to obtain homogeneous electrospun Gel-PCL scaffolds with Gel content ≥30 wt% and potential properties to be used as scaffolds for skin tissue engineering applications for wound healing.

Innovación en salud en México: retos importantes y un largo camino que recorrer / Health innovation in Mexico: important challenges and a long road to walk

Resumen: La transferencia de tecnología de instituciones de investigación en salud a empresas que generen nuevos tratamientos médicos ha generado grandes beneficios para la salud pública a nivel mundial. Sin embargo, en México existen importantes rezagos en los indicadores de innovación. Hay barreras culturales, regulatorias y financieras que obstaculizan la innovación en México. Al mismo tiempo, los últimos años han visto la aparición de varias iniciativas útiles que avanzan en la dirección correcta. El presente trabajo describe la situación actual y las principales barreras y oportunidades para promover la innovación en salud y la contribución de ésta a mejoras en salud pública.

Abstract: The transfer of technology from health research institutions to businesses that develop new medical treatments has generated great benefits for public health at a global level. Mexico however, is lagging in innovation indicators. There are important cultural, regulatory, and financial barriers that limit innovation in Mexico. However recent years have seen the appearance of several useful initiatives that constitute progress in the right direction. This work provides a brief overview of the current situation of innovation in Mexico, describes the main barriers and gives recommendations that can promote health innovation in Mexico, which can contribute to improvements in public health.

[Health innovation in Mexico: important challenges and a long road to walk]. / Innovación en salud en México: retos importantes y un largo camino que recorrer.

The transfer of technology from health research institutions to businesses that develop new medical treatments has generated great benefits for public health at a global level. Mexico however, is lagging in innovation indicators. There are important cultural, regulatory, and financial barriers that limit innovation in Mexico. However recent years have seen the appearance of several useful initiatives that constitute progress in the right direction. This work provides a brief overview of the current situation of innovation in Mexico, describes the main barriers and gives recommendations that can promote health innovation in Mexico, which can contribute to improvements in public health.

La transferencia de tecnología de instituciones de investigación en salud a empresas que generen nuevos tratamientos médicos ha generado grandes beneficios para la salud pública a nivel mundial. Sin embargo, en México existen importantes rezagos en los indicadores de innovación. Hay barreras culturales, regulatorias y financieras que obstaculizan la innovación en México. Al mismo tiempo, los últimos años han visto la aparición de varias iniciativas útiles que avanzan en la dirección correcta. El presente trabajo describe la situación actual y las principales barreras y oportunidades para promover la innovación en salud y la contribución de ésta a mejoras en salud pública.

Intrinsic and circuit properties favor coincidence detection for decoding oscillatory input.

In the insect olfactory system the antennal lobe generates oscillatory synchronization of its output as a framework for coincidence detection by its target, the mushroom body (MB). The intrinsic neurons of the MB (Kenyon cells, KCs) are thus a good model system in which to investigate the functional relevance of oscillations and neural synchronization. We combine electrophysiological and modeling approaches to examine how intrinsic and circuit properties might contribute to the preference of KCs for coincident input and how their decoding of olfactory information is affected by the absence of oscillatory synchronization in their input. We show that voltage-dependent subthreshold properties of KCs bring about a supralinear summation of their inputs, favoring responses to coincident EPSPs. Abolishing oscillatory synchronization weakens the preference of KCs for coincident input and causes a large reduction in their odor specificity. Finally, we find that a decoding strategy that is based on coincidence detection enhances both noise tolerance and input discriminability by KCs.

Oscillations and sparsening of odor representations in the mushroom body.

In the insect olfactory system, oscillatory synchronization is functionally relevant and reflects the coherent activation of dynamic neural assemblies. We examined the role of such oscillatory synchronization in information transfer between networks in this system. The antennal lobe is the obligatory relay for olfactory afferent signals and generates oscillatory output. The mushroom body is responsible for formation and retrieval of olfactory and other memories. The format of odor representations differs significantly across these structures. Whereas representations are dense, dynamic, and seemingly redundant in the antennal lobe, they are sparse and carried by more selective neurons in the mushroom body. This transformation relies on a combination of oscillatory dynamics and intrinsic and circuit properties that act together to selectively filter and synthesize the output from the antennal lobe. These results provide direct support for the functional relevance of correlation codes and shed some light on the role of oscillatory synchronization in sensory networks.

Análisis de parámetros cinemáticos de la marcha normal. Estudio y análisis de patrones de marcha normal / Kinematic parameters assessment for normal gait. Identification of normal gait patterns

El objetivo de este trabajo es el analizar los parámetros cinemáticos de la marcha normal, buscando correlaciones relevantes entre éstos con el fin de proporcionar nueva información sobre la marcha humana. Los datos se tomaron de un estándar de parámetros cinemáticos de marcha normal en adultos masculinos mexicanos. Los resultados del presente trabajo consisten en información derivada de análisis y comparaciones entre los diferentes parámetros cinemáticos. A partir de este análisis se derivaron las siguientes conclusiones: las correlaciones encontradas entre la edad con la velocidad y el rango de ángulo de cadera, sugieren que los adultos de mayor edad tenderán a mantener sus centros de gravedad más estables. Las correlaciones de los ángulos, implican que la articulación de la rodilla es especialmente importante en la determianción de velocidades de cadera, rodilla y tobillo, así como aceleración del tobillo, y consecuentemente, también las longitudes de ciclos y pasos. La comparación entre las extremidades derecha e izquierda, así como aquella entre las desviaciones estándar intra e inter-sujetos indican que, en el estudio de sujetos normales, no es necesario el repetir cuatro mediciones del mismo sujeto ni analizar ambas extremidades por separado

Estudio de parámetros cinemáticos de la marcha normal en hombres adultos. Estandariación para la población mexicana / A study of kinematic parameters for normal gait in adult men. Standard for mexican population

La determinación de los parámetros cinemáticos de la marcha normal es importante para la evaluación, diagnóstico y tratamiento de pacientes con patrones de marcha patológica. Se realizaron mediciones y análisis del movimiento de la marcha con un sistema computarizado de video con tres cámaras en 30 sujetos mexicanos, sanos, adultos del sexo masculino en el Instituo Nacional de Ortopedia a fin de obtener valores de estandarización en población mexicana. Los resultados obtenidos son relativamente similares a otros reportados previamente, con excepción que la población usada en este estudio presentó longitudes de ciclos y pasos ligeramente menores con duraciones de ciclo ligeramente mayores en comparación con los datos reportados en otros trabajos

Desarrollo de un estándar de marcha normal en hombres adultos. Propuesta de estándar para normatividad en estudios de marcha de población mexicana / The development of a normal gait standard in adult men- Proposal of standards for normativity about gait evaluations in mexican population

El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar parámetros cinemáticos de la marcha en sujetos adultos masculinos normales, proporcionando nueva información de la marcha humana y sirviendo como un estándar de marcha normal para una población mexicana. Se usó una muestra aleatoria de 30 sujetos adultos masculinos. Se les colocaron seis marcadores en sus extremidades inferiores, los cuales fueron medidos con un sistema computarizado de tres cámaras de video para análisis tridimensional de movimientos. De estas mediciones se obtuvieron las siguientes variables: longitud y duración de ciclo de marcha; longitud y duración de paso; ancho de paso; oscilaciones verticales de cadera; duración de fases de apoyo, balanceo y apoyo doble; ángulos de cadera, rodilla y tobillo; velocidades lineales de cadera, rodilla y tobillo, y aceleración lineal de tobillo. El resultados de este trabajo consiste en un estándar de marcha de parámetros cinemáticos con el cual se podrán comparar patrones de marcha patológicos. Todos los valores obtenidos son similares a aquéllos reportados previamente para otras poblaciones con las excepciones de las longitudes de ciclos y pasos, las cuales fueron ligeramente menores; la duración de los ciclos, la cual fue ligeramente mayor, y el rango del ángulo de cadera, el cual fue menor