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BackgroundAn increasing body of evidence suggests that neuroinflammation is one of the key drivers of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) pathology. Due to the increased permeability of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in older adults, peripheral plasma proteins can infiltrate the central nervous system (CNS) and drive neuroinflammation through interactions with neurons and glial cells. Because these inflammatory factors are heritable, a greater understanding of their genetic relationship with LOAD could identify new biomarkers that contribute to LOAD pathology or offer protection against it.MethodsWe used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 90 different plasma proteins (n = 17,747) to create polygenic scores (PGSs) in an independent discovery (cases = 1,852 and controls = 1,990) and replication (cases = 799 and controls = 778) cohort. Multivariate logistic regression was used to associate the plasma protein PGSs with LOAD diagnosis while controlling for age, sex, principal components 1–2, and the number of APOE-e4 alleles as covariates. After meta-analyzing the PGS-LOAD associations between the two cohorts, we then performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using the summary statistics of significant plasma protein level PGSs in the meta-analysis as an exposure, and a GWAS of clinically diagnosed LOAD (cases = 21,982, controls = 41,944) as an outcome to explore possible causal relationships between the two.ResultsWe identified four plasma protein level PGSs that were significantly associated (FDR-adjusted p

Spatial reasoning correlates with academic success in mathematics and science, is highly malleable, and can be learned. Yet, spatial reasoning is often underused, underdeveloped, and ignored in current grade-school curriculum and teaching. This study explores changes in elementary students' spatial reasoning skills after participation in either a short-term or a long-term robotics intervention. The robotics intervention and the spatial elements within the intervention tasks are described. Measures of spatial reasoning elements were administered before and after each intervention. Two different groups of students ages 9-10 years were tested: a short-term group (N = 11) and a long-term group (N = 48). Statistical analysis revealed significant improvements to several different elements of spatial reasoning in both groups. Findings suggest that programming robots in either the short- or long-term intervention was associated with improvements in spatial reasoning.

Background: Road safety is an issue of great concern across the world. In the last year 1,354,840 road users have died equivalent to 3712 deaths per day in the world. It is crucial to create awareness about the road safety to instill responsible behavior among citizens. Objectives: To assess baseline knowledge and practices of road safety among medical students. To compare the change in knowledge and practices assessed one month after a video assisted awareness program. Methodology: An interventional study was conducted among medical students from 1st professional year to final year, interns at Rangaraya medical college, Kakinada. Considering prevalence of 58.3% from previous study, allowable error 10%, sample size is calculated by using 4PQ/L2 as 287. Out of 1450 medical students, 287 were selected using Probability Proportionate to size sampling and 40, 50, 50, 48, 50, 49 from 2018-2023 batches using Simple Random Sampling. Students who gave written consent were included; non-drivers were excluded. Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was prepared and google form was shared to the study participants. A pilot study was done among 30 students. The study was approved by Institutional Ethics Committee. Data was analyzed using SPSS software Version 21. After baseline study, intervention will be done using a video assisted awareness program. Post-intervention results will be presented at the conference. Results: Among the participants, males and females were 46.5%, 53.5% respectively. Majority of them (77.7%) drive a two-wheeler. 70.3% have poor knowledge regarding airbag deployment during a crash, poor knowledge about vehicle maintenance (70.7%). About 77.7% do not use helmet, 44.9% do not use seat belt, 45.3% had distracted driving. Conclusion: The knowledge of participants was found to be fair and the practices were found to be poor.

The National Microbiome Data Collaborative (NMDC) is a multi-organizational effort to integrate microbiome data across diverse areas in environmental science. Data provided by the NMDC can then undergo advanced analysis and provide new insights into metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, and metabolomics. To address these challenges, we have developed our schema using the Linked data Modeling Language (LinkML). This allows us to easily map data to existing standards and ontologies.

We surveyed principals and assistant principals in 12 suburban and rural school districts in Kentucky in order to identify the underlying dimensions of the Preferred Teacher Applicant Characteristics Survey and to examine the relationships between school characteristics, administrator characteristics, and their preferences for teacher applicant characteristics. We identified a four-factor structure, including professional characteristics, personal characteristics, ancillary characteristics, and demographics. Gender was the only significant predictor associated with school leaders' preference for the personal factor.

Background: An increasing body of evidence suggests that neuroinflammation is one of the key drivers of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) pathology. Due to the increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in older adults, peripheral plasma proteins can infiltrate the central nervous system (CNS) and drive neuroinflammation through interactions with neurons and glial cells. Because these inflammatory factors are heritable, a greater understanding of their genetic relationship with LOAD could identify new biomarkers that contribute to LOAD pathology or offer protection against it. Methods: We used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 90 different plasma proteins (n = 17,747) to create polygenic scores (PGSs) in an independent discovery (cases = 1,852 and controls = 1,990) and replication (cases = 799 and controls = 778) cohort. Multivariate logistic regression was used to associate the plasma protein PGSs with LOAD diagnosis while controlling for age, sex, principal components 1-2, and the number of APOE-e4 alleles as covariates. After meta-analyzing the PGS-LOAD associations between the two cohorts, we then performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using the summary statistics of significant plasma protein level PGSs in the meta-analysis as an exposure, and a GWAS of clinically diagnosed LOAD (cases = 21,982, controls = 41,944) as an outcome to explore possible causal relationships between the two. Results: We identified four plasma protein level PGSs that were significantly associated (FDR-adjusted p < 0.05) with LOAD in a meta-analysis of the discovery and replication cohorts: CX3CL1, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), TIE2, and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3). When these four plasma proteins were used as exposures in MR with LOAD liability as the outcome, plasma levels of HGF were inferred to have a negative causal relationship with the disease when single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) used as instrumental variables were not restricted to cis-variants (OR/95%CI = 0.945/0.906-0.984, p = 0.005). Conclusion: Our results show that plasma HGF has a negative causal relationship with LOAD liability that is driven by pleiotropic SNPs possibly involved in other pathways. These findings suggest a low transferability between PGS and MR approaches, and future research should explore ways in which LOAD and the plasma proteome may interact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the current embodiment turn in the cognitive sciences, researchers of STEM teaching and learning have been evaluating implications of this turn for educational theory and practice. But whereas design researchers have been developing domain-specific theories that implicate the role of physical movement in conceptual learning, the field has yet to agree on a conceptually coherent and empirically validated framework for leveraging and shaping students’ capacity for physical movement as a socio–cognitive educational resource. This symposium thus convenes to ask, “What is movement in relation to concepts such that we can design for learning?” To stimulate discussion, we highlight an emerging tension across a set of innovative technological designs with respect to the framing question of whether students should discover an activity’s targeted movement forms themselves or that these forms should be cued directly. Our content domains span mathematics (proportions, geometry), physics, chemistry, and ecological system dynamics (predator–prey, bees).

Purpose: Clinical OCT angiography (OCTA) of the retinal microvasculature offers a quantitative correlate to systemic disease burden and treatment efficacy in sickle cell disease (SCD). The purpose of this study was to use the higher resolution of adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) to elucidate OCTA features of parafoveal microvascular compromise identified in SCD patients. Design: Case series of 11 SCD patients and 1 unaffected control. Participants: A total of 11 eyes of 11 SCD patients (mean age, 33 years; range, 23–44; 8 female, 3 male) and 1 eye of a 34-year-old unaffected control. Methods: Ten sequential 3 × 3 mm parafoveal OCTA full vascular slab scans were obtained per eye using a commercial spectral domain OCT system (Avanti RTVue-XR; Optovue). These were used to identify areas of compromised perfusion near the foveal avascular zone (FAZ), designated as regions of interest (ROIs). Immediately thereafter, AOSLO imaging was performed on these ROIs to examine the cellular details of abnormal perfusion. Each participant was imaged at a single cross-sectional time point. Additionally, 2 of the SCD patients were imaged prospectively 2 months after initial imaging to study compromised capillary segments across time and with treatment. Main Outcome Measures: Detection and characterization of parafoveal perfusion abnormalities identified using OCTA and resolved using AOSLO imaging. Results: We found evidence of abnormal blood flow on OCTA and AOSLO imaging among all 11 SCD patients with diverse systemic and ocular histories. Adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy imaging revealed a spectrum of phenomena, including capillaries with intermittent blood flow, blood cell stasis, and sites of thrombus formation. Adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy imaging was able to resolve single sickled red blood cells, rouleaux formations, and blood cell–vessel wall interactions. OCT angiography and AOSLO imaging were sensitive enough to document improved retinal perfusion in an SCD patient 2 months after initiation of oral hydroxyurea therapy. Conclusions: Adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy imaging was able to reveal the cellular details of perfusion abnormalities detected using clinical OCTA. The synergy between these clinical and laboratory imaging modalities presents a promising avenue in the management of SCD through the development of noninvasive ocular biomarkers to prognosticate progression and measure the response to systemic treatment.

Purpose: To report the impact of intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy on a retinal capillary hemangioma (RCH) using clinical OCT angiography (OCT-A) in addition to standard imaging modalities. Observations: A 25-year-old male patient with Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease presented with a history of bilateral RCH. No view was present in the right eye. Examination of the left eye revealed six peripheral RCH, the smallest of which was temporal to the macula with active exudation. This RCH was thought to be the source of cystoid macular edema (CME) involving the fovea, and therefore, the source of vision decline. 11 injections of 1.25mg of Bevacizumab EA across 14-month was given. Comparison of the pre- and post-treatment OCT-A at the temporal RCH showed a reduction of CME and regression of RCH. Conclusion: Anti-VEGF therapy appeared to stabilize the visual acuity and produce partial regression of RCH. It offers a safe option when visual acuity is threatened. OCT and OCT-A have the ability to document the impact of antiangiogenic therapy on RCH. 3D renderings of OCT-A offer enhanced sensitivity to recognition of structural and functional changes of RCH which may prove useful for monitoring treatment response.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) exists on a phenotypic spectrum with variable genetic expressivity, making it difficult to assess an individual patient’s risk of complications at any particular point in time. Current and emerging SCD treatments, including CRISPR-based gene editing, result in a variable proportion of affected red blood cells (RBCs) still vulnerable to sickling. Clinical serological indicators of disease such as hemoglobin, indirect bilirubin, and reticulocyte count and clinical metrics including number of emergency department visits and hospitalizations over time often fall short in their ability to objectively quantify ischemic disease activity and efficacy of treatments. Clearly, better clinical biomarkers are needed. The rapidly developing field of oculomics leverages the transparent nature of the ocular tissue to directly study the retinal microvasculature in order to characterize the status of systemic diseases. In this case report, we demonstrate the ability of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) to detect and measure micro-occlusive events within the retinal capillary bed before and after RBC exchange transfusion and following CRISPR-based gene editing, as an indicator of systemic ischemic disease activity and measure of treatment efficacy. The implications of these findings are discussed.