Longitudinal and Sex Measurement Invariance of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales

The Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) is a personality instrument based on six evolutionary-related brain systems that are at the foundation of human emotions and behaviors: SEEKING, CARING, PLAYFULNESS, FEAR, ANGER, and SADNESS. We sought to assess for the short and long versions of the ANPS: (a) the longitudinal measurement invariance and long-term (4-year) stability and (b) the sex measurement invariance. Using data from a Canadian cohort (N = 518), we used single-group confirmatory factor analysis to assess longitudinal invariance and multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis to assess sex invariance, according to a five-step approach evaluating five invariance levels (configural, metric, scalar, residual, and complete). Results supported full longitudinal invariance for both versions for all invariance levels. Partial residual invariance was supported for sex invariance. The long-term stability of both versions was good to excellent. Implications for personality assessment and ANPS development are discussed

Adolescent cannabis use, change in neurocognitive function, and high-school graduation: A longitudinal study from early adolescence to young adulthood

The main objective of this prospective longitudinal study was to investigate bidirectional associations between adolescent cannabis use (CU) and neurocognitive performance in a community sample of 294 young men from ages 13 to 20 years. The results showed that in early adolescence, and prior to initiation to CU, poor short-term and working memory, but high verbal IQ, were associated with earlier age of onset of CU. In turn, age of CU onset and CU frequency across adolescence were associated with (a) specific neurocognitive decline in verbal IQ and executive function tasks tapping trial and error learning and reward processing by early adulthood and (b) lower rates of high-school graduation. The association between CU onset and change in neurocognitive function, however, was found to be accounted for by CU frequency. Whereas the link between CU frequency across adolescence and change in verbal IQ was explained (mediated) by high school graduation, the link between CU frequency and tasks tapping trial and error learning were independent from high school graduation, concurrent cannabis and other substance use, adolescent alcohol use, and externalizing behaviors. Findings support prevention efforts aimed at delaying onset and reducing frequency of CU

Small-scale gene duplications played a major role in the recent evolution of wheat chromosome 3B

Background: Bread wheat is not only an important crop, but its large (17 Gb), highly repetitive, and hexaploid genome makes it a good model to study the organization and evolution of complex genomes. Recently, we produced a high quality reference sequence of wheat chromosome 3B (774 Mb), which provides an excellent opportunity to study the evolutionary dynamics of a large and polyploid genome, specifically the impact of single gene duplications.Results: We find that 27 % of the 3B predicted genes are non-syntenic with the orthologous chromosomes of Brachypodium distachyon, Oryza sativa, and Sorghum bicolor, whereas, by applying the same criteria, non-syntenic genes represent on average only 10 % of the predicted genes in these three model grasses. These non-syntenic genes on 3B have high sequence similarity to at least one other gene in the wheat genome, indicating that hexaploid wheat has undergone massive small-scale interchromosomal gene duplications compared to other grasses. Insertions of non-syntenic genes occurred at a similar rate along the chromosome, but these genes tend to be retained at a higher frequency in the distal, recombinogenic regions. The ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous substitution rates showed a more relaxed selection pressure for non-syntenic genes compared to syntenic genes, and gene ontology analysis indicated that non-syntenic genes may be enriched in functions involved in disease resistance.Conclusion: Our results highlight the major impact of single gene duplications on the wheat gene complement and confirm the accelerated evolution of the Triticeae lineage among grasses

Nernst and Seebeck Coefficients of the Cuprate SuperconductorYBa2_2Cu3_3O6.67_{6.67}: A Study of Fermi Surface Reconstruction

The Seebeck and Nernst coefficients $S$ and $\nu$ of the cuprate superconductor YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_y$ (YBCO) were measured in a single crystal with doping $p = 0.12$ in magnetic fields up to H = 28 T. Down to T=9 K, $\nu$ becomes independent of field by $H \simeq 30$ T, showing that superconducting fluctuations have become negligible. In this field-induced normal state, $S/T$ and $\nu/T$ are both large and negative in the $T \to 0$ limit, with the magnitude and sign of $S/T$ consistent with the small electron-like Fermi surface pocket detected previously by quantum oscillations and the Hall effect. The change of sign in $S(T)$ at $T \simeq 50$ K is remarkably similar to that observed in La$_{2-x}$Ba$_x$CuO$_4$, La$_{2-x-y}$Nd$_y$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ and La$_{2-x-y}$Eu$_y$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$, where it is clearly associated with the onset of stripe order. We propose that a similar density-wave mechanism causes the Fermi surface reconstruction in YBCO.Comment: Final version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. New title, shorter abstract, minor revision of text and added reference

Early risk factors for hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention trajectories from age 17 months to 8 years.

CONTEXT: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is an etiologically heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition with long-term negative outcomes. However, the early developmental course of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention symptoms and their association with previous environmental risk factors are still poorly understood OBJECTIVES: To describe the developmental trajectories of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention symptoms and to identify their prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal risk factors. DESIGN: Birth cohort from the general population. SETTING: Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 2057 individuals, followed up from age 5 months to 8 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal risk factors assessed at age 5 months were considered predictors of group membership in high hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention trajectories from age 17 months to 8 years. RESULTS: The frequency of hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms tended to slightly decrease with age, whereas the frequency of inattention symptoms substantially increased up to age 6 years. However, trajectories of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention symptoms were significantly associated with each other. Risk factors for high trajectories of both types of symptoms were premature birth (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.93; 95% CI, 1.07-3.50), low birth weight (2.11; 1.12-3.98), prenatal tobacco exposure (1.41; 1.03-1.93), nonintact family (1.85; 1.26-2.70), young maternal age at birth of the target child (1.78; 1.17-2.69), paternal history of antisocial behavior (1.78; 1.28-2.47), and maternal depression (1.35; 1.18-1.54). CONCLUSIONS: A large range of early risk factors, including prenatal, perinatal social, and parental psychopathology variables, act independently to heighten the likelihood of having persistently high levels of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention symptoms from infancy to middle childhood. Early interventions should be experimented with to provide effective tools for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder prevention

Coherent acoustic control of a single silicon vacancy spin in diamond

Phonons are considered to be universal quantum transducers due to their ability to couple to a wide variety of quantum systems. Among these systems, solid-state point defect spins are known for being long-lived optically accessible quantum memories. Recently, it has been shown that inversion-symmetric defects in diamond, such as the negatively charged silicon vacancy center (SiV), feature spin qubits that are highly susceptible to strain. Here, we leverage this strain response to achieve coherent and low-power acoustic control of a single SiV spin, and perform acoustically driven Ramsey interferometry of a single spin. Our results demonstrate an efficient method of spin control for these systems, offering a path towards strong spin-phonon coupling and phonon-mediated hybrid quantum systems

Childhood trajectories of inattention, hyperactivity and oppositional behaviors and prediction of substance abuse/dependence: a 15-year longitudinal population-based study.

Numerous prospective studies have shown that children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at higher risk of long-term substance abuse/dependence. However, there are three important limits to these studies: (a) most did not differentiate the role of hyperactivity and inattention; (b) most did not control for associated behavioral problems; and (c) most did not consider females. Our aim was to clarify the unique and interactive contributions of childhood inattention and hyperactivity symptoms to early adulthood substance abuse/dependence. Behavioral problems of 1803 participants (814 males) in a population-based longitudinal study were assessed yearly between 6 and 12 years by mothers and teachers. The prevalence of substance abuse/dependence at age 21 years was 30.7% for nicotine, 13.4% for alcohol, 9.1% for cannabis and 2.0% for cocaine. The significant predictors of nicotine dependence were inattention (odds ratio (OR): 2.25; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.63-3.11) and opposition (OR: 1.65; 95%: 1.20-2.28). Only opposition contributed to the prediction of cannabis dependence (OR: 2.33; 95% CI: 1.40-3.87) and cocaine dependence (OR: 2.97; 95% CI: 1.06-8.57). The best behavioral predictor of alcohol abuse/dependence (opposition) was only marginally significant (OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 0.98-1.95). Frequent oppositional behaviors during elementary school were clearly the most pervasive predictors of substance abuse/dependence in early adulthood. The association of childhood ADHD with substance abuse/dependence is largely attributable to its association with opposition problems during childhood. However, inattention remained an important predictor of nicotine dependence, in line with genetic and molecular commonalities between the two phenotypes suggested in the literature