37270274
Evidence for a genetic etiology of early-onset delinquency.
Age at onset of antisocial behavior discriminates persistent and transitory offenders. The authors proposed that early-onset delinquency has an underlying genetic influence that manifests in problems related to inhibition, whereas late-onset delinquency is more environmentally mediated. To test these notions, they selected 36 early starters, 86 late starters, and 25 nondelinquent controls from a large sample of 11-year-old twins and compared them on several measures related to inhibition and a peer group measure. As expected, early starters had more psychological, behavioral, and emotional problems related to inhibition than late starters and controls. A longitudinal analysis indicated an increase an antisocial behavior among peers of late starters shortly before their delinquency onset. Family history data and a twin analysis provided evidence of greater genetic influence on early-onset than late-onset delinquency.
23196089
Antisocial behavior, substance use, and somatization in families of adolescent drug abusers and adolescent controls.
Symptoms of conduct disorder (CD), antisocial personality disorder (ASP), alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and somatization were tabulated for the families of 35 delinquent, substance-abusing (multiple-problem) adolescent male probands and 35 age-matched control males. Alcohol abuse, CD/ASP, and somatization were assessed with either the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) (for participants aged 18 and up) or the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA) (for participants aged 12 to 17). Drug abuse for all participants was assessed with the Substance Abuse Module (SAM) of the Comprehensive Interview for Diagnostic Evaluation (CIDE). As expected, proband groups had significantly more (p < .0001) CD/ASP, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse symptoms than control groups. A significant (p < .01) positive correlation among CD/ASP, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse was found for each group. Somatization was not differentially associated with proband status. It was concluded that identifying male multiple-problem youths also identifies families with a high incidence of similar problems.
22385130
An update on the Florida State Twin Registry.
The Florida State Twin Registry began in 2002 through a pilot study of personality disorders and executive cognitive functioning in adult twins. Since 2006, the registry has grown substantially as part of the Learning Disability Research Center at Florida State University that recently began its second funding cycle through the National Institute of Child Health and Development. An update on the Florida State Twin Registry sample, focus, and measures is provided, as well as future directions.
24035579
Substance Use Disorders and Cluster B Personality Disorders: Physiological, Cognitive, and Environmental Correlates in a College Sample
Substance use disorders (SUDs) and Cluster B personality disorders (PDs) are both marked by impulsivity and poor behavioral control and may result in part from shared neurobiological or executive cognitive functioning deficits. To examine the potential utility of such models in explaining variance in SUDs and PDs at the lower end of symptom expression and impairment, 123 (73 female) volunteer college students were administered 2 measures of executive cognitive functioning; a task assessing autonomic reactivity to aversive noise blasts; a life events and a peer substance use measure; and structured clinical interviews to assess symptoms of substance abuse/dependence and antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic PDs. As expected, symptoms of SUDs and PDs were significantly positively correlated. Antisocial PD, alcohol and cannabis use disorder symptoms were significantly positively related to proportion of friends who use alcohol and drugs regularly and drug use among romantic partners. Number of negative life events was positively related to PD symptoms and to alcohol use disorder symptoms. Executive cognitive functioning was not related to SUD and PD symptoms in the expected direction. Findings suggest that, among higher functioning young adults, environmental factors may be particularly relevant to our understanding of SUDs and certain PDs.
3707230
Personality trait differences in boys and girls with clinical or sub-clinical diagnoses of conduct disorder versus antisocial personality disorder.
This study tested differences in personality traits measured by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) in a community sample of adolescents with definite or probable conduct disorder (CD) diagnoses that did not progress to a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) by early adulthood (n=43), those with definite or probable ASPD that persisted into early adulthood (n=68), or controls with neither a CD nor an ASPD diagnosis (n=716) to examine whether antisocial behaviour disorders that differed in course were associated with differences in personality traits. As expected, boys and girls with ASPD were significantly different from controls on constraint, and those with ASPD were significantly lower on constraint than those with only CD. The results suggest that individual differences in certain personality traits may contribute to differences in the type of antisocial behaviour disorder that emerges and thereby to the course of antisocial behaviour.
45640355
A behavioral genetic analysis of the relationship between the socialization scale and self-reported delinquency.
This investigation examined the genetic (A), and shared (C) and nonshared (E) environmental variance contributions to the relationship of self-reported delinquency (as measured by the "Delinquent Behavior Inventory" [DBI; Gibson, 1967]) to the Socialization (So) scale of the California Psychological Inventory using univariate and bivariate structural equation models. The scales were administered to 222 male (145 monozygotic; 77 dizygotic) and 159 female (107 monozygotic; 52 dizygotic) 16- to 18-year-old same-sex twin pairs. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation revealed three interpretable So factors representing family/home environment, self-concept, and behavioral control. Univariate modeling suggested sex differences in etiological influences associated with individual differences in most scales. The bivariate ACE model fit the data, suggesting that the covariance between the So scale and self-reported delinquency owes in part to shared etiological factors.
28897037
The synthesis of RNA by mammalian cells treated with the aminonucleoside of puromycin.
Abstract The aminonucleoside of puromycin will inhibit RNA synthesis in cultured hamster embryo cells with little effect on protein synthesis for several hours. In other systems, the drug-induced inhibition of RNA synthesis has been interpreted as a specific inhibition of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) synthesis with only a small effect on messenger RNA (mRNA) synthesis. In contrast, no evidence was found in this system for such a selective inhibition, as the synthesis of rRNA, ‘heavy nuclear’ RNA, and polysomal mRNA were all inhibited to approximately equal extent by the drug. In addition, the results are consistent with the interpretation that rRNA synthesized in the presence of the drug is open to more than normal degradation during its maturation and incorporation into ribosomes.
41295496
Therapy for HDV!
Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) can dramatically worsen liver disease in patients coinfected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). No effective medical therapy exists for HDV. The HDV envelope requires HBV surface antigen proteins provided by HBV. Once inside a cell, however, HDV can replicate its genome in the absence of any HBV gene products. In vitro, HDV virion assembly is critically dependent on prenyl lipid modification, or prenylation, of its nucleocapsid-like protein large delta antigen. To overcome limitations of current animal models and to test the hypothesis that pharmacologic prenylation inhibition can prevent the production of HDV virions in vivo, we established a convenient mouse-based model of HDV infection capable of yielding viremia. Such mice were then treated with the prenylation inhibitors FTI-277 and FTI-2153. Both agents were highly effective at clearing HDV viremia. As expected, HDV inhibition exhibited duration-of-treatment dependence. These results provide the first preclinical data supporting the in vivo efficacy of prenylation inhibition as a novel antiviral therapy with potential application to HDV and a wide variety of other viruses.
11817035
Restriction enzyme sites on the avian RNA tumor virus genome.
Full-size single-stranded DNA transcripts of the avian RNA tumor virus genome were isolated from the products of the endogenous reaction of detergent-disrupted avian sarcoma virus particles. These transcripts were converted with Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I and 32P-labeled nucleoside triphosphates into labeled double-stranded DNA. The latter DNA was used to map the sites of action of seven restriction enzymes (Pvu I, Hpa I, Kpn I, Xba I, EcoRI, HindIII, and Xho I) on the genome of three strains of avian sarcoma virus (Prague B, Prague C, and Bratislava 77).
27724235
Avian RNA tumor virus DNA before and after integration into the host genome.
33501684
Tumor virus ribonucleic acid directed deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis: nucleotide sequence at the 5' terminus of nascent deoxyribonucleic acid.