Vision, challenges and opportunities for a Plant Cell Atlas

With growing populations and pressing environmental problems, future economies will be increasingly plant-based. Now is the time to reimagine plant science as a critical component of fundamental science, agriculture, environmental stewardship, energy, technology and healthcare. This effort requires a conceptual and technological framework to identify and map all cell types, and to comprehensively annotate the localization and organization of molecules at cellular and tissue levels. This framework, called the Plant Cell Atlas (PCA), will be critical for understanding and engineering plant development, physiology and environmental responses. A workshop was convened to discuss the purpose and utility of such an initiative, resulting in a roadmap that acknowledges the current knowledge gaps and technical challenges, and underscores how the PCA initiative can help to overcome them.</jats:p

Traumatic brain injury alters neuropsychiatric symptomatology in all-cause dementia.

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may alter the course of neuropsychiatric symptom (NPS) onset during dementia development. The connection among TBI, NPS, and dementia progression is of increasing interest to researchers and clinicians. METHODS: Incidence of NPS was examined in participants with normal cognition who progressed to all-cause dementia based on whether TBI history was present (n = 130) or absent (n = 849). Survival analyses were used to examine NPS incidence across 7.6 ± 3.0 years of follow-up. RESULTS: Participants with TBI history had increased prevalence and incidence of apathy (44.7% vs 29.9%, P = .0062; HR DISCUSSION: History of TBI is associated with increased risk for and earlier onset of NPS in the trajectory of dementia development

A new hybrid simulated annealing-based genetic programming technique to predict the ultimate bearing capacity of piles

The aim of this research is to develop three soft-computing techniques, including adaptive-neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), genetic-programming (GP) tree-based, and simulated annealing–GP or SA–GP for prediction of the ultimate-bearing capacity (Qult) of the pile. The collected database consists of 50 driven piles properties with pile length, pile cross-sectional area, hammer weight, pile set and drop height as model inputs and Qult as model output. Many GP and SA–GP models were constructed for estimating pile bearing capacity and the best models were selected using some performance indices. For comparison purposes, the ANFIS model was also applied to predict Qult of the pile. It was observed that the developed models are able to provide higher prediction performance in the design of Qult of the pile. Concerning the coefficient of correlation, and mean square error, the SA–GP model had the best values for both training and testing data sets, followed by the GP and ANFIS models, respectively. It implies that the neural-based predictive machine learning techniques like ANFIS are not as powerful as evolutionary predictive machine learning techniques like GP and SA–GP in estimating the ultimate-bearing capacity of the pile. Besides, GP and SA–GP can propose a formula for Qult prediction which is a privilege of these models over the ANFIS predictive model. The sensitivity analysis also showed that the Qult of pile looks to be more affected by pile cross-sectional area and pile set

History of traumatic brain injury interferes with accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer\u27s dementia: a nation-wide case-control study.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) bear a complex relationship, potentially increasing risk of one another reciprocally. However, recent evidence suggests post-TBI dementia exists as a distinct neurodegenerative syndrome, confounding AD diagnostic accuracy in clinical settings. This investigation sought to evaluate TBI\u27s impact on the accuracy of clinician-diagnosed AD using gold standard neuropathological criteria. In this preliminary analysis, data were acquired from the National Alzheimer\u27s Coordinating Centre (NACC), which aggregates clinical and neuropathologic information from Alzheimer\u27s disease centres across the United States. Modified National Institute on Aging-Reagan criteria were applied to confirm AD by neuropathology. Among participants with clinician-diagnosed AD, TBI history was associated with misdiagnosis (false positives) (OR = 1.351 [95% CI: 1.091-1.674]

Effect of Weight Class on Regional Brain Volume, Cognition, and Other Neuropsychiatric Outcomes among Professional Fighters.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common source of functional impairment among athletes, military personnel, and the general population. Professional fighters in both boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) are at particular risk for repetitive TBI and may provide valuable insight into both the pathophysiology of TBI and its consequences. Currently, effects of fighter weight class on brain volumetrics (regional and total) and functional outcomes are unknown. Fifty-three boxers and 103 MMA fighters participating in the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study (PRBHS) underwent volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychological testing. Fighters were divided into lightweight (≤139.9 lb), middleweight (140.0-178.5 lb), and heavyweight (\u3e178.5 lb). Compared with lightweight fighters, heavyweights displayed greater yearly reductions in regional brain volume (boxers: bilateral thalami; MMA: left thalamus, right putamen) and functional performance (boxers: processing speed, simple and choice reaction; MMA: Trails A and B tests). Lightweights suffered greater reductions in regional brain volume on a per-fight basis (boxers: left thalamus; MMA: right putamen). Heavyweight fighters bore greater yearly burden of regional brain volume and functional decrements, possibly related to differing fight dynamics and force of strikes in this division. Lightweights demonstrated greater volumetric decrements on a per-fight basis. Although more research is needed, greater per-fight decrements in lightweights may be related to practices of weight-cutting, which may increase vulnerability to neurodegeneration post-TBI. Observed decrements associated with weight class may result in progressive impairments in fighter performance, suggesting interventions mitigating the burden of TBI in professional fighters may both improve brain health and increase professional longevity

Effect of traumatic brain injury on mild behavioral impairment domains prior to all‐cause dementia diagnosis and throughout disease progression

Abstract Introduction Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may alter dementia progression, although co‐occurring neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) have received less attention. Originally designed to evaluate behavioral disruption prior to dementia diagnosis, the mild behavioral impairment (MBI) construct relates NPS to underlying neural circuit disruptions, with probable relevance across the progression of neurodegenerative disease. Therefore, the MBI construct may represent a valuable tool to identify and evaluate related NPS both preceding diagnosis of all‐cause dementia throughout the progression of disease, representing an important area of inquiry regarding TBI and dementia. This investigation sought to evaluate the effect of TBI on NPS related by the MBI construct in participants progressing from normal cognitive status to all‐cause dementia. Methods Using National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center data, individuals progressing from normal cognition to all‐cause dementia (clinician diagnosed) over 7.6 ± 3.0 years were studied to estimate prevalence of MBI domains in 124 participants with prior TBI history (57 with loss of consciousness [LOC] 5 min, 45 unknown severity) compared to 822 without. MBI domain prevalence was evaluated (1) prior to dementia onset (including only time points preceding time at dementia diagnosis, as per MBI's original definition) and (2) throughout dementia progression (evaluating all available time points, including both before and after dementia diagnosis). Results More severe TBI (LOC >5 minutes) was associated with the social inappropriateness MBI domain (adjusted odds ratio = 4.034; P = 0.024) prior to dementia onset, and the abnormal perception/thought content domain looking across dementia progression (adjusted hazard ratio [HRadj] = 3.703; P = 0.005). TBI (all severities) was associated with the decreased motivation domain looking throughout dementia progression (HRadj. = 1.546; P = 0.014). Discussion TBI history is associated with particular MBI profiles prior to onset and throughout progression of dementia. Understanding TBI's impact on inter‐related NPS may help elucidate underlying neuropathology with implications for surveillance, detection, and treatment of behavioral concerns in aging TBI survivors. Highlights The mild behavioral impairment (MBI) construct links related neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) by probable underlying neural network dysfunction. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) with loss of consciousness (LOC) > 5 minutes was associated with pre‐dementia social inappropriateness. TBI was associated with decreased motivation looking across dementia progression. TBI with LOC > 5 minutes was associated with abnormal perception/thought content. The MBI construct may be useful for examining related NPS across dementia progression