Refining the prediction of risk for schizophrenia: Combining putative genetic and neurodevelopmental measures to predict schizophrenia-spectrum pathology

Social anhedonia may be a promising indicator of an underlying genetic liability for schizophrenia. However, among socially anhedonic individuals, only a minority shows schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. In attempting to understand who may develop schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, researchers have hypothesized that schizophrenia may require both genetic risk and the presence of early environmental stressors (e.g., obstetric complications). "Developmental instability," which pertains to such early environmental stressors, refers to an organism's inability to buffer the effects of environmental insults on development, and has been associated with genetic risk for schizophrenia. Although one might expect developmental instability to also be elevated in individuals at psychometrically-determined risk for schizophrenia, this hypothesis has not been well-tested. This study examined two related questions using a cohort of psychometrically-identified high risk (socially anhedonic) and control 18- year-olds, and their biological mothers: First, are measures of environmental insult (i.e., developmental instability and obstetric complications) higher in individuals at presumed genetic risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (i.e., socially anhedonic individuals)? Second, do measures of environmental insult interact with putative genetic risk to predict poorer functioning on measures of clinical psychopathology and neurocognitive ability? Developmental instability was studied using fingerprints, minor physical anomalies and handedness. Obstetric history was obtained from biological mothers where possible. Results showed that socially anhedonic subjects had higher rates of one DI measure (minor physical anomalies) than controls. In addition, they were more clinically impaired in terms of mood disorders and schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorders, as well as overall functioning. Minor physical anomalies were also associated with higher ratings of schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorder symptoms within social anhedonics. Finally, there was an interaction between social anhedonia status and minor physical anomalies for Schizoid Personality Disorder symptoms, with the interaction associated with greater pathology over and above the contributions of each variable separately. These results support social anhedonia as an indicator of genetic liability for schizophrenia. Moreover, they suggest that developmental instability is associated with psychometrically-measured risk for schizophrenia, as well as with clinical pathology. The interaction between social anhedonia status and minor physical anomalies is in line with previous research demonstrating an interaction between genetic risk and environmental stressors

An Extensible, User- Modifiable Framework for Planning Activities

This software provides a development framework that allows planning activities for the Mars Science Laboratory rover to be altered at any time, based on changes of the Activity Dictionary. The Activity Dictionary contains the definition of all activities that can be carried out by a particular asset (robotic or human). These definitions (and combinations of these definitions) are used by mission planners to give a daily plan of what a mission should do. During the development and course of the mission, the Activity Dictionary and actions that are going to be carried out will often be changed. Previously, such changes would require a change to the software and redeployment. Now, the Activity Dictionary authors are able to customize activity definitions, parameters, and resource usage without requiring redeployment. This software provides developers and end users the ability to modify the behavior of automatically generated activities using a script. This allows changes to the software behavior without incurring the burden of redeployment. This software is currently being used for the Mars Science Laboratory, and is in the process of being integrated into the LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) mission, as well as the International Space Station

MSLICE Science Activity Planner for the Mars Science Laboratory Mission

MSLICE (Mars Science Laboratory InterfaCE) is the tool used by scientists and engineers on the Mars Science Laboratory rover mission to visualize the data returned by the rover and collaboratively plan its activities. It enables users to efficiently and effectively search all mission data to find applicable products (e.g., images, targets, activity plans, sequences, etc.), view and plan the traverse of the rover in HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) images, visualize data acquired by the rover, and develop, model, and validate the activities the rover will perform. MSLICE enables users to securely contribute to the mission s activity planning process from their home institutions using off-the-shelf laptop computers. This software has made use of several plug-ins (software components) developed for previous missions [e.g., Mars Exploration Rover (MER), Phoenix Mars Lander (PHX)] and other technology tasks. It has a simple, intuitive, and powerful search capability. For any given mission, there is a huge amount of data and associated metadata that is generated. To help users sort through this information, MSLICE s search interface is provided in a similar fashion as major Internet search engines. With regard to the HiRISE visualization of the rover s traverse, this view is a map of the mission that allows scientists to easily gauge where the rover has been and where it is likely to go. The map also provides the ability to correct or adjust the known position of the rover through the overlaying of images acquired from the rover on top of the HiRISE image. A user can then correct the rover s position by collocating the visible features in the overlays with the same features in the underlying HiRISE image. MSLICE users can also rapidly search all mission data for images that contain a point specified by the user in another image or panoramic mosaic. MSLICE allows the creation of targets, which provides a way for scientists to collaboratively name features on the surface of Mars. These targets can also be used to convey instrument-pointing information to the activity plan. The software allows users to develop a plan of what they would like the rover to accomplish for a given time period. When developing the plan, the user can input constraints between activities or groups of activities. MSLICE will enforce said constraints and ensure that all mission flight rules are satisfied

Dynamic Stabilization Of Plasmas By Means Of A High-frequency-modulated Electron Beam.

PhDElectrical engineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/187303/2/7228987.pd