Uncovering the complex genetics of human temperament

Experimental studies of learning suggest that human temperament may depend on the molecular mechanisms for associative conditioning, which are highly conserved in animals. The main genetic pathways for associative conditioning are known in experimental animals, but have not been identified in prior genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of human temperament. We used a data-driven machine learning method for GWAS to uncover the complex genotypic-phenotypic networks and environmental interactions related to human temperament. In a discovery sample of 2149 healthy Finns, we identified sets of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that cluster within particular individuals (i.e., SNP sets) regardless of phenotype. Second, we identified 3 clusters of people with distinct temperament profiles measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory regardless of genotype. Third, we found 51 SNP sets that identified 736 gene loci and were significantly associated with temperament. The identified genes were enriched in pathways activated by associative conditioning in animals, including the ERK, PI3K, and PKC pathways. 74% of the identified genes were unique to a specific temperament profile. Environmental influences measured in childhood and adulthood had small but significant effects. We confirmed the replicability of the 51 Finnish SNP sets in healthy Korean (90%) and German samples (89%), as well as their associations with temperament. The identified SNPs explained nearly all the heritability expected in each sample (37-53%) despite variable cultures and environments. We conclude that human temperament is strongly influenced by more than 700 genes that modulate associative conditioning by molecular processes for synaptic plasticity and long-term memory.Peer reviewe

Koro-Ljungberg, Mirka, Diane Yendol-Hoppey, Jason Jude Smith, and Sharon B. Hayes, (E)pistemological Awareness, Instantiation of Methods, and Uninformed Methodological Ambiguity in Qualitative Research Projects, Educational Researcher, 38(December, 2009), 687-699.

Argues for making the research process, epistemologies, values, methodological decision points, and argumentative logic, open, accessible, and visible in qualitative research reports; analyzes a series of reports for how well they do this; contains a chart specifying for ten theoretical perspectives that have been used in qualitative research studies ten decision junctures reflecting these epistemological and methodological aspects

Patient safety and the role of the Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology::A European survey

Background: The Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety was launched in 2010 by the European Society of Anaesthesiology and the European Board of Anaesthesiology. It is not clear how widely its vision and standards have been adopted.Objective: To explore the role of the Helsinki Declaration in promoting and maintaining patient safety in European anaesthesiology.Design: Online survey.Setting: A total of 38 countries within Europe.Participants: Members of the European Society of Anaesthesiology who responded to an invitation to take part by electronic mail.Main outcome measures: Responses from a 16-item online survey to explore each member anaesthesiologist's understanding of the Declaration and compliance with its standards.Results: We received 1589 responses (33.4% response rate), with members from all countries responding. The median [IQR] response rate of members was 20.5% [11.7 to 37.0] per country. There were many commonalities across Europe. There were very high levels of use of monitoring (pulse oximetry: 99.6%, blood pressure: 99.4%; ECG: 98.1% and capnography: 96.0%). Protocols and guidelines were also widely used, with those for pre-operative assessment, and difficult and failed intubation being particularly popular (mentioned by 93.4% and 88.9% of respondents, respectively). There was evidence of widespread use of the WHO Safe Surgery checklist, with only 93 respondents (6.0%) suggesting that they never used it. Annual reports of measures taken to improve patient safety, and of morbidity and mortality, were produced in the hospitals of 588 (37.3%) and 876 (55.7%) respondents, respectively. Around three-quarters of respondents, 1216, (78.7%) stated that their hospital used a critical incident reporting system. Respondents suggested that measures to promote implementation of the Declaration, such as a formal set of checklist items for day-to-day practice, publicity, translation and simulation training, would currently be more important than possible changes to its content.Conclusion: Many patient safety practices encouraged by the Declaration are well embedded in many European countries. The data have highlighted areas where there is still room for improvement

Effect on discomfort of frequency of wrist exertions combined with wrist articulations and forearm rotation

This study investigated the combined effects of forearm rotation, radial/ulnar deviation and flexion/extension on discomfort score for two levels of frequency (10 exertions/min and 20 exertions/min) in a repetitive wrist flexion task with a force of 10 N. There were three levels of wrist deviation (neutral, 35%ROM in radial and ulnar), three levels of wrist flexion/extension (neutral, 35%ROM in flexion and extension) and three levels of forearm rotation (neutral, 60%ROM in prone and supine). The dependent variable was discomfort on a Visual Analogue Scale. ANOVA results showed that there were highly significant effects of all the main factors (p < 0.001) on discomfort. The two-way interaction of forearm rotation with radial/ulnar wrist deviation was highly significant (p = 0.001) as was forearm rotation by participant. Similarly, three of the three-way interactions and one four-way interaction were highly significant (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01), probably due to having participants as one of the factors in them. Posture changes from neutral to 35%ROM increased discomfort by about 20%, but combinations of deviated postures increased discomfort by up to 70%. The higher frequency increased discomfort by 28%. Some of the increase in discomfort appears to have been due to reductions in wrist flexion MVC at non-neutral postures