Partitioning the Heritability of Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Reveals Differences in Genetic Architecture

The direct estimation of heritability from genome-wide common variant data as implemented in the program Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) has provided a means to quantify heritability attributable to all interrogated variants. We have quantified the variance in liability to disease explained

Electrostatic wear monitoring of rolling element bearings

Research and development work at the University of Southampton using an electrostatic condition monitoring system developed by Smiths Aerospace Information Systems has shown that electrostatic charge signals can be used to detect the onset of wear in lubricated tribo-contacts. Preliminary investigations have already demonstrated the viability of this system when tested on a laboratory-based pin-on-disc rig, a reciprocating laboratory wear rig and in an FZG gear scuffing rig. These preliminary experiments have indicated several charging mechanisms may be involved, namely—tribo-charging, localised surface charge variations, exo-emissions and debris generation.The electrostatic monitoring system has now been implemented on a taper-roller bearing test rig. The electrostatic system employed comprises three wear-site sensors (WSS) and an oil-line sensor (OLS). The WSS are mounted close to the bearing in order to monitor the earliest stages of component surface breakdown and wear, whereas the OLS is placed in the re-circulation oil-line to monitor debris generated and transported from the deteriorating component. For the present tests, taper-roller bearing wear was monitored using electrostatic sensors as well as vibration and lubricant temperature measurements; also two additional oil-line monitoring devices, supplied by Macom Technology Ltd., using Eddy current technology and ferromagnetism to sense debris entrained in the lubricant recirculating system were employed.The experimental data shows that the electrostatic monitoring systems detected bearing deterioration up to 4 h prior to complete failure (seizure) during a seeded fault test. The electrostatic wear-site and oil-line sensors detected changes in charge that coincided with increases in vibration, temperature and debris generation detected by the two Macom units

Borderline Personality Traits and Substance Use: Genetic Factors Underlie the Association with Smoking and Ever Use of Cannabis, but Not with High Alcohol Consumption

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and substance use disorders often co-occur. Both disorders are heritable and family studies showed that there are familial factors that increase the risk for BPD as well as substance use/abuse. This is the first study that investigates whether the association of borderline personality traits (BPT) with substance use reflects an underlying genetic vulnerability or nongenetic familial influences. To this end we analyzed data of 5,638 Dutch and Belgian twins aged between 21-50 years from 3,567 families. Significant associations between BPT and high alcohol consumption (r =.192), regular smoking (r =.299), and ever use of cannabis (r =.254) were found. Bivariate genetic analyses showed that the associations of BPT and substance use had different etiologies. For regular smoking and for ever use of cannabis, the correlation with BPT was explained by common genetic factors. Interestingly, for high alcohol consumption and BPT the association was explained by unique environmental factors that influence both traits rather than common genetic factors. © 2012 The Guilford Press

An overview of dental genetics

Toby Hughes, Grant Townsend, and Michelle Bockman