The genetic association between personality and major depression or bipolar disorder. A polygenic score analysis using genome-wide association data

The relationship between major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) remains controversial. Previous research has reported differences and similarities in risk factors for MDD and BD, such as predisposing personality traits. For example, high neuroticism is related to both disorders, whereas openness to experience is specific for BD. This study examined the genetic association between personality and MDD and BD by applying polygenic scores for neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness to both disorders. Polygenic scores reflect the weighted sum of multiple single-nucleotide polymorphism alleles associated with the trait for an individual and were based on a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for personality traits including 13,835 subjects. Polygenic scores were tested for MDD in the combined Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN-MDD) and MDD2000+ samples (N=8921) and for BD in the combined Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder and Wellcome Trust Case-Control Consortium samples (N=6329) using logistic regression analyses. At the phenotypic level, personality dimensions were associated with MDD and BD. Polygenic neuroticism scores were significantly positively associated with MDD, whereas polygenic extraversion scores were significantly positively associated with BD. The explained variance of MDD and BD, approximately 0.1%, was highly comparable to the variance explained by the polygenic personality scores in the corresponding personality traits themselves (between 0.1 and 0.4%). This indicates that the proportions of variance explained in mood disorders are at the upper limit of what could have been expected. This study suggests shared genetic risk factors for neuroticism and MDD on the one hand and for extraversion and BD on the other.

Liveweight prediction from hip height, condition score, fetal age and breed in tropical female cattle

Hip height, body condition, subcutaneous fat, eye muscle area, percentage Bos taurus, fetal age and diet digestibility data were collected at 17 372 assessments on 2181 Brahman and tropical composite (average 28% Brahman) female cattle aged between 0.5 and 7.5 years of age at five sites across Queensland. The study validated the subtraction of previously published estimates of gravid uterine weight to correct liveweight to the non-pregnant status. Hip height and liveweight were linearly related (Brahman: P<0.001, R-2 = 58%; tropical composite P<0.001, R-2 = 67%). Liveweight varied by 12-14% per body condition score (5-point scale) as cows differed from moderate condition (P<0.01). Parallel effects were also found due to subcutaneous rump fat depth and eye muscle area, which were highly correlated with each other and body condition score (r = 0.7-0.8). Liveweight differed from average by 1.65-1.66% per mm of rump fat depth and 0.71-0.76% per cm(2) of eye muscle area (P<0.01). Estimated dry matter digestibility of pasture consumed had no consistent effect in predicting liveweight and was therefore excluded from final models. A method developed to estimate full liveweight of post-weaning age female beef cattle from the other measures taken predicted liveweight to within 10 and 23% of that recorded for 65 and 95% of cases, respectively. For a 95% chance of predicted group average liveweight (body condition score used) being within 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1% of actual group average liveweight required 23, 36, 62, 137 and 521 females, respectively, if precision and accuracy of measurements matches that used in the research. Non-pregnant Bos taurus female cattle were calculated to be 10-40% heavier than Brahmans at the same hip height and body condition, indicating a substantial conformational difference. The liveweight prediction method was applied to a validation population of 83 unrelated groups of cattle weighed in extensive commercial situations on 119 days over 18 months (20 917 assessments). Liveweight prediction in the validation population exceeded average recorded liveweight for weigh groups by an average of 19 kg (similar to 6%) demonstrating the difficulty of achieving accurate and precise animal measurements under extensive commercial grazing conditions.

Prediction of individual genetic risk to prostate cancer using a polygenic score

BACKGROUND Polygenic risk scores comprising established susceptibility variants have shown to be informative classifiers for several complex diseases including prostate cancer. For prostate cancer it is unknown if inclusion of genetic markers that have so far not been associated with prostate cancer risk at a genome-wide significant level will improve disease prediction. METHODS We built polygenic risk scores in a large training set comprising over 25,000 individuals. Initially 65 established prostate cancer susceptibility variants were selected. After LD pruning additional variants were prioritized based on their association with prostate cancer. Six-fold cross validation was performed to assess genetic risk scores and optimize the number of additional variants to be included. The final model was evaluated in an independent study population including 1,370 cases and 1,239 controls. RESULTS The polygenic risk score with 65 established susceptibility variants provided an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.67. Adding an additional 68 novel variants significantly increased the AUC to 0.68 (P = 0.0012) and the net reclassification index with 0.21 (P = 8.5E-08). All novel variants were located in genomic regions established as associated with prostate cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS Inclusion of additional genetic variants from established prostate cancer susceptibility regions improves disease prediction. Prostate 75:1467–1474, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Assessing GCM Convergence for India Using the Variable Convergence Score

General circulation models (GCMs) use transient climate simulations to predict climate conditions in the future. Coarse-grid resolutions and process uncertainties necessitate the use of downscaling models to simulate precipitation. However, in the downscaling models, with multiple GCMs now available, selecting an atmospheric variable from a particular model which is representative of the ensemble mean becomes an important consideration. The variable convergence score (VCS) provides a simple yet meaningful approach to address this issue, providing a mechanism to evaluate variables against each other with respect to the stability they exhibit in future climate simulations. In this study, VCS methodology is applied to 10 atmospheric variables of particular interest in downscaling precipitation over India and also on a regional basis. The nested bias-correction methodology is used to remove the systematic biases in the GCMs simulations, and a single VCS curve is developed for the entire country. The generated VCS curve is expected to assist in quantifying the variable performance across different GCMs, thus reducing the uncertainty in climate impact-assessment studies. The results indicate higher consistency across GCMs for pressure and temperature, and lower consistency for precipitation and related variables. Regional assessments, while broadly consistent with the overall results, indicate low convergence in atmospheric attributes for the Northeastern parts of India.

Transferencia de liquido ruminal o transfaunacion en terneros de 2 a 4 meses con trastornos de poco desarrollo corporal en la Finca Las Mercedes de la UNA

El presente estudio se realizó con el objetivo de Evaluar la transferencia de líquido ruminal o transfaunación en terneros de 2 a 4 meses con trastornos de poco desarrollo corporal como alternativa terapéutica para mejorar el estado físico y reducir problemas de salud en la Finca las Mercedes de la UNA. Se seleccionaron 20 terneros al azar con edades de 2 a 4 meses y se dividieron en dos grupos 10 terneros por grupo, homogéneos en edades y condición corporal, donde el tratamiento I aplicación del liquido ruminal en dosis de 1 litro por animal y el tratamiento II control sin tratamiento. El estudio se realizó en seis meses iniciando el 20 de Diciembre del 2006 hasta el 20 de Junio del 2007. Obteniéndose los siguientes resultados, los animales que se les aplicó líquido ruminal tuvieron una ganancia de peso de 80 Kg y una ganancia media diaria de 444g, mientras que los no tratados tuvieron una ganancia de peso de 58Kg y una ganancia media diaria de 322g. Al realizar el análisis estadístico se encontró diferencia significativa para p<0.05 entre tratamiento ganancia de peso y ganancia media diaria siendo el mejor el tratamiento I. Los animales que se les aplicó la transfaunación alcanzaron mejor condición corporal que los no tratados. Los animales que se les suministraron líquido ruminal se enfermaron 3 animales representando el 30%, mientras que los que no se trataron enfermaron 9 animales representando el 90%.

Transferencia de liquido ruminal o transfaunacion en ovino de 2 a 4 meses con trastornos de poco desarrollo corporal en la Finca Santa Rosa de la UNA

El presente estudio se realizó con el objetivo de evaluar la transferencia de líquido ruminal o transfaunación en ovino de 2 a 4 meses con trastornos de poco desarrollo corporal como alternativa terapéutica para mejorar el estado físico y reducir problemas de salud en la Finca Santa Rosa de la UNA. Se tomaron 10 ovinos con edades de 2 a 4 meses y se dividieron en dos grupos 5 ovinos, homogéneos en edades y condición corporal, seleccionados al azar donde el tratamiento 1 aplicación del líquido ruminal en dosis de 50ml por animal y el tratamiento 11 control sin tratamiento. Los animales que se trataron con líquido ruminal tuvieron una ganancia de peso de 7Kg y una ganancia media diaria de 47.2g, mientras que los no tratado tuvieron una ganancia de peso de 4.9 Kg y una ganancia media diaria de 32.6g. Al realizar el análisis estadístico se encontró diferencia significativa para p<0.05 entre tratamiento ganancia de peso y ganancia media diaria siendo el mejor el tratamiento l. Los animales tratados con la transfaunación alcanzaron mejor condición corporal que los que no tratados y se enfermó 1 animal, representando el 20%, mientras que los que no tratados se enfermaron 5 animales con diferentes trastornos representando el 100%.

Sequential Monte Carlo computation of the score and observed information matrix in state-space models with application to parameter estimation

Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods are popular computational tools for Bayesian inference in non-linear non-Gaussian state-space models. For this class of models, we propose SMC algorithms to compute the score vector and observed information matrix recursively in time. We propose two different SMC implementations, one with computational complexity $\mathcal{O}(N)$ and the other with complexity $\mathcal{O}(N^{2})$ where $N$ is the number of importance sampling draws. Although cheaper, the performance of the $\mathcal{O}(N)$ method degrades quickly in time as it inherently relies on the SMC approximation of a sequence of probability distributions whose dimension is increasing linearly with time. In particular, even under strong \textit{mixing} assumptions, the variance of the estimates computed with the $\mathcal{O}(N)$ method increases at least quadratically in time. The $\mathcal{O}(N^{2})$ is a non-standard SMC implementation that does not suffer from this rapid degrade. We then show how both methods can be used to perform batch and recursive parameter estimation.

Interacción corporal con el ordenador para niños con restricciones motoras

Para los niños el juego es la manera más natural de aprender. Mediante el juego los niños interactúan con su entorno. Cuando se trata de niños con graves restricciones motoras esta interacción se ve limitada. Es por esta razón por la que intentamos poner los medios existentes a su disposición. Este proyecto muestra una interfaz persona-computador para manejar un robot Lego Mindstorm RCX en un entorno virtual proyectado sobre una superficie. En todo momento el sistema es capaz de determinar la posición del robot mediante un sensor Microsoft Kinect. Pretende ser el primer paso en la creación de una interfaz persona-computador para niños con restricciones motoras que ayude en su rehabilitación.

Calidad de la dieta, sobrepeso y obesidad en estudiantes universitarios

Este trabajo se encuentra bajo la licencia Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

Valoración de la composición corporal y de la percepción de la imagen en un grupo de mujeres universitarias del País Vasco

Este trabajo se encuentra bajo la licencia Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

Imagen corporal en estudiantes universitarios: comportamientos dietéticos y actitudes nutricionales

[ES] En el presente estudio se evalúa la relación entre el estado nutricional, las actitudes y comportamientos dietéticos, y la percepción de la imagen corporal en universitarios. Se registraron más casos de sobrepeso en hombres que en mujeres. Sin embargo, la tendencia a “hacer dietas” fue mayor en las mujeres, lo que podría deberse a la presión social por mantener una imagen estilizada.

Imagen y composición corporal en hombres jóvenes

[ES] El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la percepción de la imagen corporal y comparar los resultados con las medidas reales en un grupo de hombres universitarios. Los resultados mostraron que desean tener un cuerpo más musculoso que el cuerpo que tienen y que el que creen tener. Además, piensan que las mujeres prefieren hombres con cuerpos musculosos.