A genetically informed cross-lagged analysis of autistic-like traits and affective problems in early childhood

A genetically informed cross-lagged model was applied to twin data to explore etiological links between autistic-like traits and affective problems in early childhood. The sample comprised 310 same-sex twin pairs (143 monozygotic and 167 dizygotic; 53% male). Autistic-like traits and affective problems were assessed at ages 2 and 3 using parent ratings. Both constructs were related within and across age (r = .30-.53) and showed moderate stability (r = .45-.54). Autistic-like traits and affective problems showed genetic and environmental influences at both ages. Whereas at age 2, the covariance between autistic-like traits and affective problems was entirely due to environmental influences (shared and nonshared), at age 3, genetic factors also contributed to the covariance between constructs. The stability paths, but not the cross-lagged paths, were significant, indicating that there is stability in both autistic-like traits and affective problems but they do not mutually influence each other across age. Stability effects were due to genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influences. Substantial novel genetic and nonshared environmental influences emerge at age 3 and suggest change in the etiology of these constructs over time. During early childhood, autistic-like traits tend to occur alongside affective problems and partly overlapping genetic and environmental influences explain this association

Generalised Anxiety Disorder – A Twin Study of Genetic Architecture, Genome-Wide Association and Differential Gene Expression

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a common anxiety-related diagnosis, affecting approximately 5% of the adult population. One characteristic of GAD is a high degree of anxiety sensitivity (AS), a personality trait which describes the fear of arousal-related sensations. Here we present a genome-wide association study of AS using a cohort of 730 MZ and DZ female twins. The GWAS showed a significant association for a variant within the RBFOX1 gene. A heritability analysis of the same cohort also confirmed a significant genetic component with h2 of 0.42. Additionally, a subset of the cohort (25 MZ twins discordant for AS) was studied for evidence of differential expression using RNA-seq data. Significant differential expression of two exons with the ITM2B gene within the discordant MZ subset was observed, a finding that was replicated in an independent cohort. While previous research has shown that anxiety has a high comorbidity with a variety of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, our analysis suggests a novel etiology specific to AS

The CogBIAS longitudinal study protocol: cognitive and genetic factors influencing psychological functioning in adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Optimal psychological development is dependent upon a complex interplay between individual and situational factors. Investigating the development of these factors in adolescence will help to improve understanding of emotional vulnerability and resilience. The CogBIAS longitudinal study (CogBIAS-L-S) aims to combine cognitive and genetic approaches to investigate risk and protective factors associated with the development of mood and impulsivity-related outcomes in an adolescent sample. METHODS: CogBIAS-L-S is a three-wave longitudinal study of typically developing adolescents conducted over 4 years, with data collection at age 12, 14 and 16. At each wave participants will undergo multiple assessments including a range of selective cognitive processing tasks (e.g. attention bias, interpretation bias, memory bias) and psychological self-report measures (e.g. anxiety, depression, resilience). Saliva samples will also be collected at the baseline assessment for genetic analyses. Multilevel statistical analyses will be performed to investigate the developmental trajectory of cognitive biases on psychological functioning, as well as the influence of genetic moderation on these relationships. DISCUSSION: CogBIAS-L-S represents the first longitudinal study to assess multiple cognitive biases across adolescent development and the largest study of its kind to collect genetic data. It therefore provides a unique opportunity to understand how genes and the environment influence the development and maintenance of cognitive biases and provide insight into risk and protective factors that may be key targets for intervention.This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC grant agreement no: [324176]

Les progrès dans la réalisation de la classification quantitative de la psychopathologie

Shortcomings of approaches to classifying psychopathology based on expert consensus have given rise to contemporary efforts to classify psychopathology quantitatively. In this paper, we review progress in achieving a quantitative and empirical classification of psychopathology. A substantial empirical literature indicates that psychopathology is generally more dimensional than categorical. When the discreteness versus continuity of psychopathology is treated as a research question, as opposed to being decided as a matter of tradition, the evidence clearly supports the hypothesis of continuity. In addition, a related body of literature shows how psychopathology dimensions can be arranged in a hierarchy, ranging from very broad "spectrum level'' dimensions, to specific and narrow clusters of symptoms. In this way, a quantitative approach solves the "problem of comorbidity'' by explicitly modeling patterns of co-occurrence among signs and symptoms within a detailed and variegated hierarchy of dimensional concepts with direct clinical utility. Indeed, extensive evidence pertaining to the dimensional and hierarchical structure of psychopathology has led to the formation of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Consortium. This is a group of 70 investigators working together to study empirical classification of psychopathology. In this paper, we describe the aims and current foci of the HiTOP Consortium. These aims pertain to continued research on the empirical organization of psychopathology; the connection between personality and psychopathology; the utility of empirically based psychopathology constructs in both research and the clinic; and the development of novel and comprehensive models and corresponding assessment instruments for psychopathology constructs derived from an empirical approach. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS

Genetic and environmental aetiologies of associations between dispositional mindfulness and ADHD traits: a population-based twin study

© The Author(s) 2019. To get additional insight into the phenotype of attentional problems, we examined to what extent genetic and environmental factors explain covariation between lack of dispositional mindfulness and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits in youth, and explored the incremental validity of these constructs in predicting life satisfaction. We used data from a UK population-representative sample of adolescent twins (N = 1092 pairs) on lack of dispositional mindfulness [Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS)], ADHD traits [Conners’ Parent Rating Scale-Revised (CPRS-R): inattentive (INATT) and hyperactivity/impulsivity (HYP/IMP) symptom dimensions] and life satisfaction (Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale). Twin model fitting analyses were conducted. Phenotypic correlations (rp) between MAAS and CPRS-R (INATT: rp = 0.18, HYP/IMP: rp = 0.13) were small, but significant and largely explained by shared genes for INATT (% rp INATT–MAAS due to genes: 93%, genetic correlation rA = 0.37) and HYP/IMP (% rp HYP/IMP–MAAS due to genes: 81%; genetic correlation rA = 0.21) with no significant contribution of environmental factors. MAAS, INATT and HYP/IMP significantly and independently predicted life satisfaction. Lack of dispositional mindfulness, assessed as self-reported perceived lapses of attention (MAAS), taps into an aspect of attentional functioning that is phenotypically and genetically distinct from parent-rated ADHD traits. The clinically relevant incremental validity of both scales implicates that MAAS could be used to explore the underlying mechanisms of an aspect of attentional functioning that uniquely affects life satisfaction and is not captured by DSM-based ADHD scales. Further future research could identify if lack of dispositional mindfulness and high ADHD traits can be targeted by different therapeutic approaches resulting in different effects on life satisfactio

Method of friction modeling and identification in PMSM

Friction forces present in the PMSM motor exert a very negative influence on its working parameters. Those effects are extremely nonlinear and their consequences have to be acknowledged at designing both the motor’s mechanical construction and its control system. This paper describes a friction coefficients identification method in the PMSM based on the mathematical model. The results of simulation research have been backed up by the real-world object testing. In the first section of this paper a brief summary of the most important aspects of PMSM motors was included while the second one focuses on the theoretical description of friction model that was used during research. Third part of this paper is focused on the detailed description of the PMSM motor model and its simplifying assumptions. The fourth section contains a description and results of concluded research in the Matlab/Simulink environment. Finally, the article concludes with comparison of theoretical results and experimental results obtained from real-world motor

Stratigraphy of the "Buk Kamieński" peatland near Golczewo in the West Pomeranian voivodship

Zbadano szczegółowo stratygrafię warstwy torfowej i osadów podtorfowych . Dokonano także oceny położenia torfowiska na tle rzeźby terenowej w aspekcie alimentacyjnym. Badania wskazują, ze złoże torfowe „Buk Kamieński jest pochodzenia holoceńskiego. Procesowi torfotwórczemu towarzyszyły zróżnicowane stany uwodnienia z przewagą krótkotrwałego zalewu i stałego dopływu wód gruntowych. Pod względem alimentacyjnym torfowisko posiada charakter soligeniczno-fluwiogeniczny. Badania stratygraficzne wykazały, że w złożu torfowym występuje szereg gatunków torfu typu niskiego i jeden przejściowego. Dominuje torf drzewny, rodzaj olesowy Alnioni, gatunek olchowy Alneti i łozowy Saliceti. Poza tym występują takie gatunki torfów jak: turzycowo-mszysty (Cariceto-Bryaleti), mszysty (Bryaleti), turzycowy (Cariceti), turzycowo- trzcinowy (Cariceto-Phragmiteti) oraz mszarny typu przejściowego torfowcowo-turzycowy (Sphagno-Cariceti). Pod warstwą torfu zalega gytia wapienna oraz organiczna miejscami z wapieniem muszlowym.Stratigraphy of peat layer and under-peat deposits were investigated in detail. Evaluation of location of the peat-bog against the background of relief in alimentation aspect was also carried out. Investigations shows the “Buk Kamieński” peat deposit has Holocene origin. Peat forming process is accompanied by differentiated hydration states with prevalence of short-lived flood and state inflow of ground water. Regarding alimentation the peat-bog has soligenic-fluviogenic character. Stratigraphic investigations indicated that in peat deposit occurs many species of lowland bog type and one species of transitional moor type. Peat wood, genus Alnioni, species Alneti and Saliceti prevail. Besides such species of peat as: Cariceto-Bryaleti, Bryaleti, Cariceti, Cariceto-Phragmiteti and Sphagno-Cariceti occur. Under peat layer occurs calcareous and organic gyttja in places with shelly limestone

Glukozinolany w roznych odmianach kapusty uprawianych w Polsce

Tue content of particular glucosinolates in 4 kinds of cruciferous vegetables, i.e. white, red and savoy cabbage and Brussels sprouts was determined applying HPLC method. Twelve out of thirteen GLS identified were present in all the vegetables analysed except Brussels sprouts which contained also smaJI amounts of glucoerucin. Among aliphatic compounds sinigrin and glucoiberin dominated in all the vegetables and progoitrin in Brussels sprouts and red cabbage. Indole compounds made 30% to 40% oftotal GLS. Out of 4 indole GLS identified glucobrassicin occurred in greatest amounts in all the vegetables. Tue highest GLS concentration was found for Brussels sprouts (126.61 mg/g) and the lowest for red cabbage (26.50 mg/g)