The co-occurrence of autistic and ADHD dimensions in adults: an etiological study in 17 770 twins

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often occur together. To obtain more insight in potential causes for the co-occurrence, this study examined the genetic and environmental etiology of the association between specific ASD and ADHD disorder dimensions. Self-reported data on ASD dimensions social and communication difficulties (ASDsc), and repetitive and restricted behavior and interests (ASDr), and ADHD dimensions inattention (IA), and hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI) were assessed in a community sample of 17 770 adult Swedish twins. Phenotypic, genetic and environmental associations between disorder dimensions were examined in a multivariate model, accounting for sex differences. ASDr showed the strongest associations with IA and HI in both sexes (rp 0.33 to 0.40). ASDsc also correlated moderately with IA (females rp 0.29 and males rp 0.35) but only modestly with HI (females rp 0.17 and males rp 0.20). Genetic correlations ranged from 0.22 to 0.64 and were strongest between ASDr and IA and HI. Sex differences were virtually absent. The ASDr dimension (reflecting restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities) showed the strongest association with dimensions of ADHD, on a phenotypic, genetic and environmental level. This study opens new avenues for molecular genetic research. As our findings demonstrated that genetic overlap between disorders is dimension-specific, future gene-finding studies on psychiatric comorbidity should focus on carefully selected genetically related dimensions of disorders

Institutional trust and alcohol consumption in Sweden: The Swedish National Public Health Survey 2006

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Trust as a measure of social capital has been documented to be associated with health. Mediating factors for this association are not well investigated. Harmful alcohol consumption is believed to be one of the mediating factors. We hypothesized that low social capital defined as low institutional trust is associated with harmful alcohol consumption.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from the 2006 Swedish National Survey of Public Health were used for analyses. The total study population comprised a randomly selected representative sample of 26.305 men and 30.584 women aged 16–84 years. Harmful alcohol consumption was measured using a short version the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), developed and recommended by the World Health Organisation. Low institutional trust was defined based on trust in ten main welfare institutions in Sweden.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Independent of age, country of birth and socioeconomic circumstances, low institutional trust was associated with increased likelihood of harmful alcohol consumption (OR (men) = 1.52, 95% CI 1.34–1.70) and (OR (women) = 1.50, 95% CI 1.35–1.66). This association was marginally altered after adjustment for interpersonal trust.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Findings of the present study show that lack of trust in institutions is associated with increased likelihood of harmful alcohol consumption. We hope that findings in the present study will inspire similar studies in other contexts and contribute to more knowledge on the association between institutional trust and lifestyle patterns. This evidence may contribute to policies and strategies related to alcohol consumption.</p

Selection for antimicrobial resistance is reduced when embedded in a natural microbial community

This is the final version. Available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this record.Antibiotic resistance has emerged as one of the most pressing, global threats to public health. In single-species experiments selection for antibiotic resistance occurs at very low antibiotic concentrations. However, it is unclear how far these findings can be extrapolated to natural environments, where species are embedded within complex communities. We competed isogenic strains of Escherichia coli, differing exclusively in a single chromosomal resistance determinant, in the presence and absence of a pig faecal microbial community across a gradient of antibiotic concentration for two relevant antibiotics: gentamicin and kanamycin. We show that the minimal selective concentration was increased by more than one order of magnitude for both antibiotics when embedded in the community. We identified two general mechanisms were responsible for the increase in minimal selective concentration: an increase in the cost of resistance and a protective effect of the community for the susceptible phenotype. These findings have implications for our understanding of the evolution and selection of antibiotic resistance, and can inform future risk assessment efforts on antibiotic concentrations.Medical Research Council (MRC)European Commissio

The Mesoproterozoic Hallandian event - a region-scale orogenic event in the Fennoscandian Shield

The Sveconorwegian Province occupies the southwestern part of the Fennoscandian Shield. The easternmost tectonic unit of the Province is the 1710-1660 Ma parautochthonous Eastern Segment, which bears the imprint of at least two metamorphic events; the 1460-1380 Ma Hallandian and the 1150-970 Ma Sveconorwegian. However, the nature and extent of the Hallandian event have been difficult to access due to the Sveconorwegian, effectively masking earlier metamorphic assemblages, structures and relations between rock units. This thesis aims to characterize the Hallandian event by investigating pre-Sveconorwegian deformation and metamorphism in an area of the Eastern Segment that largely escaped later Sveconorwegian reworking. These results are then considered in a regional perspective and related to ~1.45 Ga magmatism and metamorphism observed elsewhere in Fennoscandia. Considering the compiled data from this time period, it now appears that the Hallandian event indeed was a true orogenic event that affected a large portion of the Fennoscandian Shield. In the study area, located within the Protogine Zone in the eastern part of the Eastern Segment near Jönköping, Sveconorwegian reworking is restricted to discrete, N-S trending shear-zones. Between these shear-zones, structures, mineral assemblages and geochronological information from pre-Sveconorwegian events are preserved. The first paper provides field, mineral and chemical characteristics, as well as a baddeleyite U-Pb crystallization age of 1455±6 Ma for the Jönköping Anorthositic Suite which is abundant across the study area as small intrusive bodies. In these plagioclase-porphyritic and equigranular anorthositic rocks, deformation is restricted to thin, E-W-trending shear-zones. In the second paper we investigate the deformed country-rocks and date metamorphism and the development of the E-W to SE-NW trending gneissic fabric at 1450-1400 Ma, using U-Pb secondary ion mass spectrometric (ion probe) analysis of complex zircons. The folding event is bracketed between 1440 and 1380 Ma, corresponding to the ages of leucosome formation and the emplacement of a cross-cutting aplitic dyke. In the third paper, the gabbroic Moslätt dolerites are dated at 1269±12 Ma using the U-Pb system in baddeleyite. These have well-preserved magmatic parageneses in contrast to nearby metamorphosed mafic dykes of the 1450-1420 Ma Axamo Dyke Swarm. This precludes the Sveconorwegian event from having caused amphibolite facies metamorphism in the area. In the fourth paper, the first estimate of Hallandian pressure and temperature conditions is obtained from mineral assemblages in one of the E-W-trending shear-zones. Pressure-temperature estimates and hornblende microtextures collectively suggest deformation under conditions of 7-8 kbar and 500-550°C. In the fifth paper we constrain the age of the gneissic fabric in the granitoid country-rock at around 1422 Ma by dating a member of the syn-kinematic felsic Axamo dykes, using the U-Pb ion probe technique. It is suggested that the mafic and plagioclase-porphyritic members of the Axamo Dyke Swarm were emplaced coeval with the Jönköping Anorthositic Suite. This thesis is the first contribution which recognizes the Hallandian as a regional scale orogenic event, acknowledging all the major features of that age in the Fennoscandian Shield. These features include ~1460 Ma rifting, deposition of clastic sediments and extrusion of continental basalts in central Fennoscandia, 1460-1440 Ma emplacement of I- to A-type granitoids in southern Fennoscandia, 1450-1420 Ma deformation and metamorphism in southern Sweden and on Bornholm, and 1410-1380 Ma post-kinematic pegmatite dykes and intrusions of granite, monzonite and charnockite in the Eastern Segment. The spatial and temporal trends of these features suggest a tectonic model in which the rifting and mafic magmatism to the north are the far-field effects of north-eastward subduction of an oceanic plate, with the subduction zone located to the southwest of present-day Fennoscandia. Collision with an unknown (micro-) continent led to crustal shortening as Fennoscandia overrode this unknown continent. Post-collisional collapse triggered decompressional melting of heated continental crust, resulting in the emplacement of post-kinematic dykes and plutons