The etiological connection between internalizing and externalizing disorders is poorly understood. This manuscript aims to investigate the roles of genes and then environment in the development of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and the nature of their comorbidity in young adults. Data from a sample of 2,291 young adult male and female twins from the Young Adult Follow Up Study (YAFU) of the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development (VTSABD) were used to estimate the proportion of variation in these traits that can be accounted for by additive genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental factors. In addition to traditional methods of measurement of psychiatric disorders (symptom sum scores), a more novel approach to measurement through item response theory (IRT) was employed. Through both measurement methods, variation in depression was found to be influenced almost entirely by environmental factors, however IRT analysis revealed genetic influences related to specific symptoms that cannot be gleaned from a traditional univariate analysis. While the symptoms of MDD appear to work well together to define the latent construct, symptoms of ASPD are less cohesive. ASPD item loadings are more disparate and the item response models are somewhat unstable compared with the MDD item analyses. Consistent with the literature, results using traditional sum score data indicated that ASPD was influenced by additive genetic and unique environmental effects. IRT analysis, however, did indicate a role for the shared environment in ASPD variation.ASPD/MDD comorbidity analyses suggest that more than one mechanism may reasonably explain the relationship between the disorders. It appears to be more likely that common genetic factors account for some of the observed comorbidity in females than in males. Conversely, the shared environment is that the most likely link between the two disorders in males. The etiological nature of these disorders is complex and analysis may be further complicated in a population spanning a critical developmental period, such as young adulthood. The item response approach has the potential to provide new insight into how these disorders develop and differ between the sexes and different age groups.

Beef carcasses from F2 Nellore × Angus (n = 181) and half-blood Bos indicus × Bos taurus (n = 57) were used to evaluate the responsiveness of sire and family groups nested within sires to post-mortem electrical stimulation (ES). In the F2 population, biological response to ES was identified for myofibrillar fragmentation index, and 6 h post-mortem pH. The genetic contributions of sire and families nested within sires were found for the average Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBS), location of shear core extraction, post-mortem carcass temperatures, and carcass pH. ES sides had lower WBS values, higher carcass temperatures, and lower carcass pH. In the half-blood population, biological response to ES was found for WBS core location. Sire and families nested within sires significantly affected WBS core location and carcass temperature. The ES sides had lower WBS values, higher carcass temperatures, and lower carcass pH in the half-blood population. From a carcass temperature and pH standpoint, carcass weight and fat thickness were used as covariates in the analysis of variance. This covariate analysis still showed a genetic component to carcass temperature and pH. There are genetic factors that impact how carcasses respond to electrical stimulation, which is the first work to demonstrate this relationship between genetics and a post-mortem tenderization treatment.

Como as pessoas percebem as outras é relevante no processo de ensino aprendizagem e nas interações sociais como um todo. Essas percepções definem a maneira com que as pessoas reagem umas às outras. Em particular, a avaliação da percepção de professores colabora na compreensão das atitudes do professor diante dos comportamentos de seus alunos. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a percepção de professores sobre a influência genética e ambiental em comportamentos relevantes no processo educacional: personalidade, inteligência, dificuldades de aprendizagem, problemas de comportamento e doenças mentais. Para tanto, o questionário The NatureNurture Question:Teachers perceptions of how genes and the environment influence educationally relevant behavior foi adaptado à língua portuguesa do Brasil e aplicado para 501 professores de todos os níveis de ensino, do estado de São Paulo. Os resultados demonstraram que os professores atribuíram influências genéticas e ambientais em proporções aproximadamente iguais considerando todos os domínios, personalidade e dificuldades e aprendizagem. Atribuíram maior influência genética à inteligência e doenças mentais, bem como maior influência ambiental aos problemas de comportamento. Metade dos participantes afirmou ter estudado aspectos da genética em sua formação para professor. A maioria dos professores declarou que ter um aluno com dificuldade de aprendizagem geneticamente influenciada afetaria seu método de instruí-lo. Os professores percebem que genes e ambiente criação são imprescindíveis nos comportamentos de seus alunos, reconhecendo, inclusive, a interatividade dos dois fatores, informações importantes para o delineamento de ações na formação dos mesmos possíveis intervenções no âmbito educacional. / How people perceive others are important in the educational process and social interactions at all. These perceptions define the way people react to each other. In particular, the evaluation teachers perception collaborates in the comprehension of teacher\'s attitudes towards the behavior of their students. The aim of this study was to evaluate teachers perception on the genetic and environmental influence on relevant behaviors in the educational process: personality, intelligence, learning difficulties, behavioral problems and mental illness. For this purpose, the questionnaire \"The Nature-Nurture Question: Teachers\' perceptions of how genes and the environment influence educationally relevant behavior\" was adapted to the Portuguese language in Brazil and applied to 501 teachers at all levels of education, the state of São Paulo. The results showed that teachers attributed genetic and environmental influences in approximately equal proportions considering all domains, personality difficulties and learning. They attributed greater genetic influence on intelligence and mental illness as well a greater environmental influence to behavior problems. Half of the participants declared to have studied aspects of genetics in their schooling to teacher. Most teachers stated that having a student with genetically influenced learning difficulty would affect his method to instruct. Teachers perceive that genetic and environment are essential for behaviors of their students, recognizing even the interaction of two factors. This information is important for the design of action in teacher education and possible interventions in the education sector.

Excessive weight can have a severe impact on health as well as creating a significant economic burden. Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions, but the mode of inheritance of obesity and its underlying complexity remains largely unresolved. Thus, the aim of this research project was to provide a further understanding of this condition in an Australian adolescent and adult population. Qualitative and quantitative differences in genetic and environmental influences affecting body mass index (BMI) in males and females, during development were examined. Structural equation models were fitted to longitudinal data collected at ages twelve, fourteen and sixteen from 470 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs and 673 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs. In addition, it is generally known that some genetic differences are only exposed in the presence of certain environmental stressors, such as the effects of parity and age on post-partum obesity. Therefore, models were fitted to data from 11, 915 female twins and their sisters from whom reproductive history was available in order to assess the changes in magnitude of genetic and environmental variation in female BMI due to these variables. To detect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) influencing adolescent BMI, up to 1133 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers were typed across the genome in a sub-sample of adolescent twins, their parents and siblings. Because gene mutations for some genetic disorders affecting body weight may manifest during childhood, univariate linkage analysis were applied to test for linkage between marker loci and BMI at twelve, fourteen and sixteen across the genome. Additionally, genes involved in pathways regulating body weight may operate differently in men and women. Therefore, a genome-wide linkage analysis allowing for sex difference in linkage patterns was performed in order to identify QTLs influencing BMI which may differ between adult males and females. Genetic factors contributed strongly to BMI in adolescent twins, accounting for approximately ninety percent of phenotypic variation at twelve, fourteen and sixteen years of age. In addition, the majority of this genetic variance was transmitted from age twelve to ages fourteen and sixteen. Sex differences in the size of genetic innovations at ages fourteen and sixteen suggest that the genetic variation in weight regulation is different in males and females. The presence of environmental influences in males and females may reflect the effects of lifestyle activities during adolescents such as severe exercise and diet regimes. Structural equation models exploring the effects of parity and age on female BMI revealed that genes become more important in the variation in BMI as parity increases. The ability to retain weight for lactation and support for foetal growth possibly reflects an evolutionary advantage in times when it was a necessary condition of survival. Unique environmental influences were also important in the variation female BMI across parity and age, possibly reflecting lifestyle factors and individual responses to social attitudes towards weight gain. Genome-wide linkage analysis in adolescent twins revealed strong evidence for linkage on chromosome 14q12-q13 at age fourteen (logarithm of odds (LOD) = 3.71, p = 0.000018) and suggestive linkage in the same region in sixteen year old twins (LOD = 2.46, p = 0.00038) which has been previously implicated in adiponectin in Northern Europeans. Chromosome 6p12 yielded a suggestive LOD = 2.95 (p = 0.00012) which harboured a known gene responsible for rebound weight gain. Evidence for replication (LOD = 1) at other areas of the genome was also observed, including 1, 4, 10, 11, 13 and 20, which have been previously associated with obesity in other studies, being LEPR, UCP1, OB10P, BMIQ3 and BMIQ6, respectively, although we did not have time to genotype these to test for association in our samples. The use of a genome-wide linkage analysis allowing for sex difference in linkage patterns identified areas on chromosome 8 and 20, providing us with evidence that some of the genes responsible for BMI may have different effects in adult men and women. Results revealed a suggestive linkage peak (-log10p = 3.13; equivalent to LOD = 2.19, p = 0.000741) at 12q24 (-log10p = 3.02; equivalent to LOD = 2.08, p = 0.000955), that has been implicated in weight in a wide range of populations and where non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, a consequence of obesity, has also been mapped. We also identified many peaks near the threshold for replicating an existing finding (-log10p = 2; equivalent to LOD = 1.18, p = 0.01) in many areas across the genome that are within regions previously identified by other studies, as well as in locations that harbour genes known to influence weight regulation. Finally, the significances of these results are discussed and future directions are considered including association analysis on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across six candidate genes: LEPR, GNβ3, UCP2, UCP3, FTO and INSIG2 which have previously been associated with obesity or BMI. We typed seventeen SNPs and performed analyses in a sample of 4494 MZ and DZ twins. Significant association was found for rs9939609 (A/T polymorphism) of the FTO gene. In our data, each additional copy of the rs9939609 A allele increased mean BMI by approximately 0.14kg/m2 in an apparent additive manner, comparable with recent published results from population-based studies in white European children and adults.

Como as pessoas percebem as outras é relevante no processo de ensino aprendizagem e nas interações sociais como um todo. Essas percepções definem a maneira com que as pessoas reagem umas às outras. Em particular, a avaliação da percepção de professores colabora na compreensão das atitudes do professor diante dos comportamentos de seus alunos. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a percepção de professores sobre a influência genética e ambiental em comportamentos relevantes no processo educacional: personalidade, inteligência, dificuldades de aprendizagem, problemas de comportamento e doenças mentais. Para tanto, o questionário The NatureNurture Question:Teachers perceptions of how genes and the environment influence educationally relevant behavior foi adaptado à língua portuguesa do Brasil e aplicado para 501 professores de todos os níveis de ensino, do estado de São Paulo. Os resultados demonstraram que os professores atribuíram influências genéticas e ambientais em proporções aproximadamente iguais considerando todos os domínios, personalidade e dificuldades e aprendizagem. Atribuíram maior influência genética à inteligência e doenças mentais, bem como maior influência ambiental aos problemas de comportamento. Metade dos participantes afirmou ter estudado aspectos da genética em sua formação para professor. A maioria dos professores declarou que ter um aluno com dificuldade de aprendizagem geneticamente influenciada afetaria seu método de instruí-lo. Os professores percebem que genes e ambiente criação são imprescindíveis nos comportamentos de seus alunos, reconhecendo, inclusive, a interatividade dos dois fatores, informações importantes para o delineamento de ações na formação dos mesmos possíveis intervenções no âmbito educacional. / How people perceive others are important in the educational process and social interactions at all. These perceptions define the way people react to each other. In particular, the evaluation teachers perception collaborates in the comprehension of teacher\'s attitudes towards the behavior of their students. The aim of this study was to evaluate teachers perception on the genetic and environmental influence on relevant behaviors in the educational process: personality, intelligence, learning difficulties, behavioral problems and mental illness. For this purpose, the questionnaire \"The Nature-Nurture Question: Teachers\' perceptions of how genes and the environment influence educationally relevant behavior\" was adapted to the Portuguese language in Brazil and applied to 501 teachers at all levels of education, the state of São Paulo. The results showed that teachers attributed genetic and environmental influences in approximately equal proportions considering all domains, personality difficulties and learning. They attributed greater genetic influence on intelligence and mental illness as well a greater environmental influence to behavior problems. Half of the participants declared to have studied aspects of genetics in their schooling to teacher. Most teachers stated that having a student with genetically influenced learning difficulty would affect his method to instruct. Teachers perceive that genetic and environment are essential for behaviors of their students, recognizing even the interaction of two factors. This information is important for the design of action in teacher education and possible interventions in the education sector.