Virtual Ontogeny of Cortical Growth Preceding Mental Illness

Background: Morphology of the human cerebral cortex differs across psychiatric disorders, with neurobiology and developmental origins mostly undetermined. Deviations in the tangential growth of the cerebral cortex during pre/perinatal periods may be reflected in individual variations in cortical surface area later in life. Methods: Interregional profiles of group differences in surface area between cases and controls were generated using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging from 27,359 individuals including those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and high general psychopathology (through the Child Behavior Checklist). Similarity of interregional profiles of group differences in surface area and prenatal cell-specific gene expression was assessed. Results: Across the 11 cortical regions, group differences in cortical area for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, and Child Behavior Checklist were dominant in multimodal association cortices. The same interregional profiles were also associated with interregional profiles of (prenatal) gene expression specific to proliferative cells, namely radial glia and intermediate progenitor cells (greater expression, larger difference), as well as differentiated cells, namely excitatory neurons and endothelial and mural cells (greater expression, smaller difference). Finally, these cell types were implicated in known pre/perinatal risk factors for psychosis. Genes coexpressed with radial glia were enriched with genes implicated in congenital abnormalities, birth weight, hypoxia, and starvation. Genes coexpressed with endothelial and mural genes were enriched with genes associated with maternal hypertension and preterm birth. Conclusions: Our findings support a neurodevelopmental model of vulnerability to mental illness whereby prenatal risk factors acting through cell-specific processes lead to deviations from typical brain development during pregnancy

Reproducibility in the absence of selective reporting : An illustration from large-scale brain asymmetry research

Altres ajuts: Max Planck Society (Germany).The problem of poor reproducibility of scientific findings has received much attention over recent years, in a variety of fields including psychology and neuroscience. The problem has been partly attributed to publication bias and unwanted practices such as p-hacking. Low statistical power in individual studies is also understood to be an important factor. In a recent multisite collaborative study, we mapped brain anatomical left-right asymmetries for regional measures of surface area and cortical thickness, in 99 MRI datasets from around the world, for a total of over 17,000 participants. In the present study, we revisited these hemispheric effects from the perspective of reproducibility. Within each dataset, we considered that an effect had been reproduced when it matched the meta-analytic effect from the 98 other datasets, in terms of effect direction and significance threshold. In this sense, the results within each dataset were viewed as coming from separate studies in an "ideal publishing environment," that is, free from selective reporting and p hacking. We found an average reproducibility rate of 63.2% (SD = 22.9%, min = 22.2%, max = 97.0%). As expected, reproducibility was higher for larger effects and in larger datasets. Reproducibility was not obviously related to the age of participants, scanner field strength, FreeSurfer software version, cortical regional measurement reliability, or regional size. These findings constitute an empirical illustration of reproducibility in the absence of publication bias or p hacking, when assessing realistic biological effects in heterogeneous neuroscience data, and given typically-used sample sizes

Same data, different conclusions: Radical dispersion in empirical results when independent analysts operationalize and test the same hypothesis

In this crowdsourced initiative, independent analysts used the same dataset to test two hypotheses regarding the effects of scientists’ gender and professional status on verbosity during group meetings. Not only the analytic approach but also the operationalizations of key variables were left unconstrained and up to individual analysts. For instance, analysts could choose to operationalize status as job title, institutional ranking, citation counts, or some combination. To maximize transparency regarding the process by which analytic choices are made, the analysts used a platform we developed called DataExplained to justify both preferred and rejected analytic paths in real time. Analyses lacking sufficient detail, reproducible code, or with statistical errors were excluded, resulting in 29 analyses in the final sample. Researchers reported radically different analyses and dispersed empirical outcomes, in a number of cases obtaining significant effects in opposite directions for the same research question. A Boba multiverse analysis demonstrates that decisions about how to operationalize variables explain variability in outcomes above and beyond statistical choices (e.g., covariates). Subjective researcher decisions play a critical role in driving the reported empirical results, underscoring the need for open data, systematic robustness checks, and transparency regarding both analytic paths taken and not taken. Implications for organizations and leaders, whose decision making relies in part on scientific findings, consulting reports, and internal analyses by data scientists, are discussed

Suprasellar germ cell tumor in a dog Tumor supra-selar de células germinativas em um cão

A case of suprasellar germ cell tumor is described in a 6-year -old Airedale Terrier bitch that presented behavioral changes and abrupt onset of blindness. The neoplasm compressed the ventral surface of the cerebrum from the level of basal ganglia to the mesencephalon. Histologically the neoplasm consisted of nests and trabeculae of round to polygonal cells that occasionally surround tubules and cysts formed by columnar cells. Neoplastic cells are immunopositive for cytokeratin and alpha-fetoprotein. The diagnosis was based on location, histological appearance and on the immunohistochemical staining.<br>É descrito um caso de tumor de células germinativas supra-selar em numa cadela Airedale Terrier de seis anos de idade, que apresentou transtornos do comportamento e aparecimento abrupto de cegueira. O neoplasma comprimia a superfície ventral do cérebro desde a altura dos núcleos basais até o mesencéfalo. Histologicamente, o neoplasma consistia de ninhos e trabéculas de células redondas ou poligonais que ocasionalmente arranjavam-se ao redor de túbulos e cistos formados por células colunares. As células neoplásicas foram positivas na imunoistoquímica para citoqueratina e a-fetoproteína. O diagnóstico foi feito com base na localização do tumor, no seu aspecto histológico e nos resultados da marcação imunoistoquímica

Polyhydroxyalkanoate biosynthesis in Bacillus cereus SPV under varied limiting conditions and an insight into the biosynthetic genes involved

Aims: A new strain of Bacillus, Bacillus cereus SPV, was found to be capable of using a wide range of carbon sources for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) (Valappil et al. 2007b). Limiting nutrient in the culture conditions is crucial for PHA production. In this study, B. cereus SPV was grown in different culture conditions with limitation of potassium, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorous to establish the impact of nutritional limitation on PHA production. Methods and Results: The PHA yields obtained were found to be 13·4, 38, 13·15 and 33·33% dcw for potassium, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus limitations, respectively. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the isolated polymers showed the presence of P(3HB) under nitrogen, sulphur and phosphate-limiting conditions and P(3HB-3HV) copolymer under potassium limiting conditions. This ability of B. cereus SPV to accumulate different PHA monomers from structurally unrelated carbon sources led to an interest in the molecular analysis of PHA biosynthesis in this organism. To achieve this, PCR was used to identify the polyhydroxyalkanoate biosynthetic genes in B. cereus SPV. Conclusion: Sequence analysis of the PCR products from B. cereus SPV revealed the sequence of the putative biosynthetic genes, and possible regions involved in substrate binding

Enraizamento de estacas semilenhosas de pessegueiro "Okinawa" sob efeito de lesão e ácido indolbutírico Semi-hardwood cuttings rooting of peach tree 'Okinawa' under effect of lesion and indolebutyric acid

Buscando técnicas mais eficientes na propagação de mudas de pessegueiro, desenvolveu-se este trabalho com o objetivo de verificar o efeito da lesão e de diferentes concentrações de ácido indolbutírico (AIB) no enraizamento de estacas semilenhosas do pessegueiro "Okinawa". Foram utilizados dois tipos de estacas (com e sem lesão na base), tratadas por imersão da base por cinco segundos em cinco concentrações de AIB (0, 500, 1.000, 1.500 e 2.000mg L-1). Após o tratamento, as estacas foram colocadas para enraizamento em caixas plásticas, contendo casca de arroz carbonizada, em câmara de nebulização. Após 60 dias do início do experimento, verificou-se que a lesão na base proporcionou aumento da porcentagem de estacas enraizadas e do número de raízes por estaca. Na propagação por estaquia semilenhosa de pessegueiro "Okinawa", os melhores resultados foram observados para estacas que sofreram lesão e que foram tratadas com AIB em concentrações de 1.500 e 2.000mg L-1.<br>In search of more efficacious techniques in peach plant propagation, this research was aimed at verifing the effect of the lesion and different concentrations of indolbutiric acid (IBA) on rooting of semi-hardwood cuttings rooting of the 'Okinawa' peach. A randomized design was used arranged on a 2 x 5 factor with 4 repetitions and 8 cuttings for plot. Two types of cuttings were used (with and without lesion in the base) and five concentrations of IBA (0; 500; 1000; 1500 and 2000mg L-1). After 60 days from the beginning of the experiment, it was verified that the base injury leads to an increase in the percentage of root cuttings and in the number of roots per cuttings. In the semi-hardwood propagation of 'Okinawa' peach, the best results were observed for cuttings with lesion that were treated with IBA in concentrations ranging from 1500 to 2000mg L-1

Biochemical methane potential (BMP) of solid organic materials: results obtained from an international interlaboratory study

IWA-487