| 1. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(författare)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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Ingår i: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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| 2. |
- Gifford, Katherine A, et al.
(författare)
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The 12-Word Philadelphia Verbal Learning Test Performances in Older Adults: Brain MRI and Cerebrospinal Fluid Correlates and Regression-Based Normative Data.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders extra. - : S. Karger AG. - 1664-5464. ; 8:3, s. 476-491
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study evaluated neuroimaging and biological correlates, psychometric properties, and regression-based normative data of the 12-word Philadelphia Verbal Learning Test (PVLT), a list-learning test.Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project participants free of clinical dementia and stroke (n = 230, aged 73 ± 7 years) completed a neuropsychological protocol and brain MRI. A subset (n = 111) underwent lumbar puncture for analysis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and axonal integrity cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. Regression models related PVLT indices to MRI and CSF biomarkers adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, APOE-ε4 carrier status, cognitive status, and intracranial volume (MRI models). Secondary analyses were restricted to participants with normal cognition (NC; n = 127), from which regression-based normative data were generated.Lower PVLT performances were associated with smaller medial temporal lobe volumes (p < 0.05) and higher CSF tau concentrations (p < 0.04). Among NC, PVLT indices were associated with white matter hyperintensities on MRI and an axonal injury biomarker (CSF neurofilament light; p < 0.03).The PVLT appears sensitive to markers of neurodegeneration, including temporal regions affected by AD. Conversely, in cognitively normal older adults, PVLT performance seems to relate to white matter disease and axonal injury, perhaps reflecting non-AD pathways to cognitive change. Enhanced normative data enrich the clinical utility of this tool.
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| 3. |
- Gifford, Katherine A, et al.
(författare)
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Validity and Normative Data for the Biber Figure Learning Test: A Visual Supraspan Memory Measure.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Assessment. - : SAGE Publications. - 1552-3489 .- 1073-1911. ; 27:6, s. 1320-1334
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Biber Figure Learning Test (BFLT), a visuospatial serial figure learning test, was evaluated for biological correlates and psychometric properties, and normative data were generated. Nondemented individuals ( n = 332, 73 ± 7, 41% female) from the Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project completed a comprehensive neuropsychological protocol. Adjusted regression models related BFLT indices to structural brain magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers of brain health. Regression-based normative data were generated. Lower BFLT performances (Total Learning, Delayed Recall, Recognition) related to smaller medial temporal lobe volumes and higher CSF tau concentrations but not CSF amyloid. BFLT indices were most strongly correlated with other measures of verbal and nonverbal memory and visuospatial skills. The BFLT provides a comprehensive assessment of all aspects of visuospatial learning and memory and is sensitive to biomarkers of unhealthy brain aging. Enhanced normative data enriches the clinical utility of this visual serial figure learning test for use with older adults.
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| 4. |
- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
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| 5. |
- Kresge, Hailey A, et al.
(författare)
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Lower Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Relates to Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarker Evidence of Neurodegeneration in Older Adults.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. - 1875-8908. ; 74:3, s. 965-974
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Subclinical cardiac dysfunction is associated with decreased cerebral blood flow, placing the aging brain at risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology and neurodegeneration.This study investigates the association between subclinical cardiac dysfunction, measured by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of AD and neurodegeneration.Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project participants free of dementia, stroke, and heart failure (n=152, 72±6 years, 68% male) underwent echocardiogram to quantify LVEF and lumbar puncture to measure CSF levels of amyloid-β42 (Aβ42), phosphorylated tau (p-tau), and total tau (t-tau). Linear regressions related LVEF to CSF biomarkers, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, Framingham Stroke Risk Profile, cognitive diagnosis, and apolipoprotein E ɛ4 status. Secondary models tested an LVEF x cognitive diagnosis interaction and then stratified by diagnosis (normal cognitive (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI)).Higher LVEF related to decreased CSF Aβ42 levels (β=-6.50, p=0.04) reflecting greater cerebral amyloid accumulation, but this counterintuitive result was attenuated after excluding participants with cardiovascular disease and atrial fibrillation (p=0.07). We observed an interaction between LVEF and cognitive diagnosis on CSF t-tau (p=0.004) and p-tau levels (p=0.002), whereas lower LVEF was associated with increased CSF t-tau (β=-9.74, p=0.01) and p-tau in the NC (β=-1.41, p=0.003) but not MCI participants (p-values>0.13).Among cognitively normal older adults, subclinically lower LVEF relates to greater molecular evidence of tau phosphorylation and neurodegeneration. Modest age-related changes in cardiovascular function may have implications for pathophysiological changes in the brain later in life.
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| 6. |
- Lederman, Judith S., et al.
(författare)
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Completing the progression establishing an international baseline of primary, middle and secondary students’ views of scientific inquiry
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Routledge. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Knowledge of scientific inquiry (SI) is considered essential to the development of an individual's Scientific Literacy (SL) and therefore, SI is included in many international science education reform documents. Two previous large scale international studies assessed the SI understandings of students entering middle school and secondary students at the end of their formal K-12 science education. The purpose of this international project was to use the VASI-E to collect data on what primary level students have learned about SI in their first few years of school. This study adds to previous research to bridge the landscape of SI understandings now with representation from primary, middle and high school samples. A total of 4,238 students from 35 countries/regions spanning six continents participated in the study. The results show that globally, primary students are not adequately informed about SI for their age group. However, when compared with the students in the previous international studies (grades seven and 12), the primary students' understandings were surprisingly closer to the levels of understanding of SI of the secondary school students than those in the seventh grade study.
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| 7. |
- Moore, Elizabeth E, et al.
(författare)
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Neurofilament relates to white matter microstructure in older adults.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of aging. - : Elsevier BV. - 1558-1497 .- 0197-4580. ; 70, s. 233-241
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurofilament light (NFL) is a protein biomarker of axonal injury. To study whether NFL is associated with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measurements of white matter (WM) microstructure, Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project participants with normal cognition (n= 77), early mild cognitive impairment (n= 15), and MCI (n= 55) underwent lumbar puncture to obtain CSF and 3T brain MRI. Voxel-wise analyses cross-sectionally related NFL to DTI metrics, adjusting for demographic and vascular risk factors. Increased NFL correlated with multiple DTI metrics (p-values < 0.05). An NFL× diagnosis interaction (excluding early mild cognitive impairment) on WM microstructure (p-values < 0.05) was detected, with associations strongest among MCI. Multiple NFL× CSF biomarker interactions were detected. Associations between NFL and worse WM metrics were strongest among amyloid-β42-negative, tau-positive, and suspected nonamyloid pathology participants. Findings suggest increased NFL, a biomarker of axonal injury, is correlated with compromised WM microstructure. Results highlight the role of elevated NFL in predicting WM damage in cognitively impaired older adults who are amyloid-negative, tau-positive, or meet suspected nonamyloid pathology criteria.
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| 8. |
- Osborn, Katie E, et al.
(författare)
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Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma neurofilament light relate to abnormal cognition.
- 2019
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Ingår i: Alzheimer's & dementia. - : Wiley. - 2352-8729. ; 11:C, s. 700-709
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Neuroaxonal damage may contribute to cognitive changes preceding clinical dementia. Accessible biomarkers are critical for detecting such damage.Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurofilament light (NFL) were related to neuropsychological performance among Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project participants (plasma n=333, 73±7years; CSF n=149, 72±6years) ranging from normal cognition (NC) to mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, apolipoprotein E ε4 carriership,and Framingham Stroke Risk Profile.Plasma NFL was related to all domains (P values ≤ .008) except processing speed (P values ≥ .09). CSF NFL was related to memory and language (P values ≤ .04). Interactions with cognitive diagnosis revealed widespread plasma associations, particularly in MCI participants, which were further supported in head-to-head comparison models.Plasma and CSF NFL (reflecting neuroaxonal injury) relate to cognition among non-demented older adults albeit with small to medium effects. Plasma NFL shows particular promise as an accessible biomarker with relevance to cognition in MCI.
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