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Abstract Introduction The mother and child attachment could have an important and long-lasting impact. An insecure attachment could lead to emotional development difficulties. It has been suggested that maternal care in infants is associated with personality. However, more studies in adults are needed. Objective To determine if attachment styles in subjects with affective or anxiety disorders are associated with the expression of personality traits, and if this effect can be modulated by the presence of the short allele of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. Method Our sample included 87 patients with mood or anxiety disorders. The NEO-PI-R questionnaire and the Adult Attachment questionnaire by Melero were used. Results Insecure attachment styles were associated with a higher expression of neuroticism, and a lower expression of extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness, especially in individuals with the most insecure attachment. An interaction was identified between the attachment style and the 5-HTTLPR genotype on the expression of agreeableness. Higher neuroticism, and lower extraversion and conscientiousness tended to be present in carriers of the S allele. Discussion and conclusion There was a significant association between the attachment styles and the expression of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness-responsibility according to the Big Five Model. The short allele may be associated with the modulation of certain aspects of personality. Prevention strategies should be established to promote adequate attachments between infants and caregivers to avoid a possible risk factor for future maladaptive personality traits.
Resumen Introducción El apego entre la madre y el hijo puede tener un impacto importante. Un apego inseguro podría afectar el desarrollo emocional. Se ha sugerido que los cuidados de la madre en la infancia temprana se asocian a la personalidad. Sin embargo, se requieren más estudios en adultos. Objetivo Determinar si los estilos de apego en personas con trastornos del afecto o ansiedad se asocian a la expresión de rasgos de personalidad y si esta expresión es modulada por la presencia del alelo corto del polimorfismo 5-HTTLPR. Método Se incluyeron 87 pacientes. Se emplearon los cuestionarios NEO-PI-R y el de Apego en el Adulto de Melero. Resultados Los estilos de apego inseguro se asociaron con una expresión mayor de neuroticismo y menor de extroversión, conciencia y amabilidad, especialmente en los individuos con el estilo de apego más inseguro. Se identificó una interacción entre el estilo de apego y el genotipo del 5-HTTLPR en la expresión de amabilidad. En los portadores del alelo corto hubo una tendencia hacia mayores valores de neuroticismo y menores niveles de extroversión y conciencia. Discusión y conclusión Los estilos de apego se asocian con la expresión de neuroticismo, extroversión, amabilidad y conciencia/responsabilidad. El alelo corto del 5-HTTLPR podría asociarse con la modulación de algunos aspectos de la personalidad. Los resultados sugieren la importancia de promover un apego adecuado entre los niños y sus cuidadores primarios para evitar posibles riesgos que se asocien con rasgos desadaptativos de la personalidad.
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It is widely believed that during winter and spring, Arctic marine phytoplankton cannot grow until sea ice and snow cover start melting and transmit sufficient irradiance, but there is little observational evidence for that paradigm. To explore the life of phytoplankton during and after the polar night, we used robotic ice-avoiding profiling floats to measure ocean optics and phytoplankton characteristics continuously through two annual cycles in Baffin Bay, an Arctic sea that is covered by ice for 7 months a year. We demonstrate that net phytoplankton growth occurred even under 100% ice cover as early as February and that it resulted at least partly from photosynthesis. This highlights the adaptation of Arctic phytoplankton to extreme low-light conditions, which may be key to their survival before seeding the spring bloom.
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There is a growing need for operational oceanographic predictions in both the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions. In the former, this is driven by a declining ice cover accompanied by an increase in maritime traffic and exploitation of marine resources. Oceanographic predictions in the Antarctic are also important, both to support Antarctic operations and also to help elucidate processes governing sea ice and ice shelf stability. However, a significant gap exists in the ocean observing system in polar regions, compared to most areas of the global ocean, hindering the reliability of ocean and sea ice forecasts. This gap can also be seen from the spread in ocean and sea ice reanalyses for polar regions which provide an estimate of their uncertainty. The reduced reliability of polar predictions may affect the quality of various applications including search and rescue, coupling with numerical weather and seasonal predictions, historical reconstructions (reanalysis), aquaculture and environmental management including environmental emergency response. Here, we outline the status of existing near-real time ocean observational efforts in polar regions, discuss gaps, and explore perspectives for the future. Specific recommendations include a renewed call for open access to data, especially real-time data, as a critical capability for improved sea ice and weather forecasting and other environmental prediction needs. Dedicated efforts are also needed to make use of additional observations made as part of the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP; 2017-2019) to inform optimal observing system design. To provide a polar extension to the Argo network, it is recommended that a network of ice-borne sea ice and upper-ocean observing buoys be deployed and supported operationally in ice-covered areas together with autonomous profiling floats and gliders (potentially with ice detection capability) in seasonally ice covered seas. Finally, additional efforts to better measure and parameterize surface exchanges in polar regions are much needed to improve coupled environmental prediction.
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OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of obesity has dramatically increased in many countries and it is particularly high in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). A region in the first intron of the fat mass- and obesity-associated (FTO) gene, encompassing markers rs9939973, rs8050136, and rs9939609, has been consistently associated with obesity and body mass index (BMI) in different populations. We sought to determine whether FTO is associated with BMI and/or obesity in patients with BD. METHODS: The sample included 129 Mexican Mestizo patients with bipolar I or bipolar II disorder. After obtaining informed consent, participants were evaluated with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders and weight, height, and body measurements were recorded. DNA was extracted from a 5-mL blood sample and real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed. The results were analyzed with Haploview v4.2 and SPSS v21. RESULTS: Differences in mean BMI were explained by rs8050136 and rs9939609 genotypes, especially by comparing non-carriers and carriers of two copies of the risk allele (Tukey's p ≤ 0.019), with a mean difference in BMI as high as 7.81 kg/m(2) . Differences in BMI were also explained by the interaction of the genotype (rs8050136 and/or rs9939609), the use of second-generation antipsychotics, and the use of mood stabilizers (p ≤ 0.41). Obesity was also associated with these two markers when patients with and without obesity were compared. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with BD, differences in BMI may be affected by the presence of FTO risk alleles, especially in homozygous individuals for these variants. Besides evaluating the possible metabolic effects of certain antipsychotics or mood stabilizers, it is important to evaluate the role of other factors such as FTO risk alleles.
