Policy-guided Monte Carlo on general state spaces: Application to glass-forming mixtures.

Policy-guided Monte Carlo is an adaptive method to simulate classical interacting systems. It adjusts the proposal distribution of the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm to maximize the sampling efficiency, using a formalism inspired by reinforcement learning. In this work, we first extend the policy-guided method to deal with a general state space, comprising, for instance, both discrete and continuous degrees of freedom, and then apply it to a few paradigmatic models of glass-forming mixtures.

Transformer Variational Wave Functions for Frustrated Quantum Spin Systems.

The transformer architecture has become the state-of-art model for natural language processing tasks and, more recently, also for computer vision tasks, thus defining the vision transformer (ViT) architecture. The key feature is the ability to describe long-range correlations among the elements of the input sequences, through the so-called self-attention mechanism. Here, we propose an adaptation of the ViT architecture with complex parameters to define a new class of variational neural-network states for quantum many-body systems, the ViT wave function.

Embodied Decision-Making Style: Below and Beyond Cognition.

There is growing recognition of the essential role of sensorimotor processes as not just a supporter of the cognitive aspects of decision making, but rather as a foundation for all the coordinated physical and mental activities that go into how we make decisions. We illuminate concepts and methods for examining embodied decision making through the lens of Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA). MPA is as a prime example of a conceptually rooted observational methodology for deciphering embodied decision making and for decoding how people differ as decision makers with respect to cognitive motivational priorities.

Beyond Self-Report: Emerging Methods for Capturing Individual Differences in Decision-Making Process.

People vary in the way in which they approach decision-making, which impacts real-world behavior. There has been a surge of interest in moving beyond reliance on self-report measures to capture such individual differences. Particular emphasis has been placed on devising and applying a range of methodologies that include experimental, neuroscience, and observational paradigms.

Surgical Repair of an Atraumatic Avulsion of Patellar Tendon at the Tibial Tuberosity in an Adult Patient.

Atraumatic avulsion of the tibial attachment of patellar tendon in adults is a very rare injury with only few published case reports. Here we are sharing the successful management and follow-up of a similar case with a different suture material for repair of the tendon, the FiberWire. We believe that the management we are discussing allows for early return to activity with good functional outcome.

Inter-rater reliability for movement pattern analysis (MPA): measuring patterning of behaviors versus discrete behavior counts as indicators of decision-making style.

The unique yield of collecting observational data on human movement has received increasing attention in a number of domains, including the study of decision-making style. As such, interest has grown in the nuances of core methodological issues, including the best ways of assessing inter-rater reliability. In this paper we focus on one key topic - the distinction between establishing reliability for the patterning of behaviors as opposed to the computation of raw counts - and suggest that reliability for each be compared empirically rather than determined a priori.

Parental smoking exposure and adolescent smoking trajectories.

Objective: In a multigenerational study of smoking risk, the objective was to investigate the intergenerational transmission of smoking by examining if exposure to parental smoking and nicotine dependence predicts prospective smoking trajectories among adolescent offspring.

Methods: Adolescents (n = 406) ages 12 to 17 and a parent completed baseline interviews (2001-2004), and adolescents completed up to 2 follow-up interviews 1 and 5 years later. Baseline interviews gathered detailed information on parental smoking history, including timing and duration, current smoking, and nicotine dependence.

Influences of tobacco advertising exposure and conduct problems on smoking behaviors among adolescent males and females.

Introduction: Adolescents with conduct problems are more likely to smoke, and tobacco advertising exposure may exacerbate this risk. Males' excess risk for conduct problems and females' susceptibility to advertising suggest gender-specific pathways to smoking. We investigated the associations between gender, conduct problems, and lifetime smoking and adolescents' exposure to tobacco advertising, and we examined prospective relationships with smoking behaviors.

Predicting individual differences in decision-making process from signature movement styles: an illustrative study of leaders.

There has been a surge of interest in examining the utility of methods for capturing individual differences in decision-making style. We illustrate the potential offered by Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA), an observational methodology that has been used in business and by the US Department of Defense to record body movements that provide predictive insight into individual differences in decision-making motivations and actions. Twelve military officers participated in an intensive 2-h interview that permitted detailed and fine-grained observation and coding of signature movements by trained practitioners using MPA.

Behavioral resilience in the post-genomic era: emerging models linking genes with environment.

One of the most important deliverables of the post-genomic era has been a new and nuanced appreciation of how the environment shapes-and holds potential to alter-the expression of susceptibility genes for behavioral dimensions and disorders. This paper will consider three themes that have emerged from cutting-edge research studies that utilize newer molecular genetic approaches as well as tried-and-true genetic epidemiological methodologies, with particular reference to evolving perspectives on resilience and plasticity. These themes are: (1) evidence for replicable and robust shared environmental effects on a number of clinically relevant behaviors in childhood and adolescence; (2) evolving research on gene-environment interaction; and (3) a newer focus on differential susceptibility and plasticity.

Genetic and environmental influences upon the CBCL/6-18 DSM-oriented scales: similarities and differences across three different computational approaches and two age ranges.

Inasmuch as the newly established DSM-oriented CBCL/6-18 scales are to be increasingly employed to assess clinical/high-risk populations, it becomes important to explore their aetiology both within the normal- and the extreme range of variation in general population samples and to compare the results obtained in different age groups. We investigated by the Quantitative Maximum Likelihood, the De Fries-Fulker, and the Ordinal Maximum Likelihood methods the genetic and environmental influences upon the five DSM-oriented CBCL/6-18 scales in 796 twins aged 8-17 years belonging to the general population-based Italian Twin Registry. When children were analysed together regardless of age, most best-fitting solutions yielded genetic and non-shared environmental factors as the sole influences for DSM-oriented CBCL/6-18 behaviours, both for the normal and the extreme variations.

Sibling Contagion for Drinking in Adolescence: A Micro Process Framework.

Siblings represent an important social influence on alcohol use in adolescence. That said, there is a need for studies that examine potential mechanisms by which siblings exert an influence on the likelihood of drinking in adolescence. This paper illustrates a method that utilizes videotaped interaction between sibling dyads along with a micro social coding system that captures rule break behavior between siblings.

Parental smoking and adolescent smoking initiation: an intergenerational perspective on tobacco control.

Objective: Adolescence is an important period of risk for the development of lifelong smoking behaviors. Compelling, although inconsistent, evidence suggests a relationship between parental smoking and the risk of smoking initiation during adolescence. This study investigates unresolved issues concerning the strength and nature of the association between parent smoking and offspring smoking initiation.

Anxiety sensitivity as a predictor of the clinical course of panic disorder: a 1-year follow-up study.

Background: There is evidence that negative affect (NA) and anxiety sensitivity (AS) predict the development of anxiety disorders, particularly panic disorder (PD). The main purpose of this study was to examine whether NA and AS will also predict the clinical course of PD.

Methods: Participants were 136 individuals with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of PD (with or without agoraphobia) enrolled in a naturalistic and longitudinal study of anxiety disorders, the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Project (HARP).

Anxiety in middle adulthood: effects of age and time on the 14-year course of panic disorder, social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder.

Background: Much about the long-term course of anxiety disorders is unknown. The present study utilizes a naturalistic, longitudinal, short-interval follow-up design to elucidate the course of anxiety disorders over 14 years in a largely middle-aged adult sample recruited from out-patient psychiatry and primary care facilities.

Method: The sample consisted of 453 participants with a diagnosis of panic disorder (PD), social phobia (SP) and/or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Incorporating the family as a critical context in genetic studies of children: implications for understanding pathways to risky behavior and substance use.

The availability of candidate gene markers for biobehavioral traits will undoubtedly result in increasing attention to genetic influences in studies of childhood risk factors for health behaviors. However, a strict emphasis on genomics without consideration of the social contexts that give rise to risky behaviors will miss opportunities to understand more fully the powerful effect of the family on childhood development. This article discusses the rationale for using the family as a critical context for studying the translation of genetic propensity for risky behavior into developmental pathways that span childhood and adolescence.

A twin study of smoking, nicotine dependence, and major depression in men.

This study examined the nature of the relationship among lifetime major depression, smoking, and nicotine dependence. Subjects were 8,169 male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Biometrical modeling demonstrated a genetic influence on daily smoking, nicotine dependence, and major depression, and a family environmental influence on daily smoking.

Educational attainment and cigarette smoking: a causal association?

Background: Despite abundant evidence that lower education is associated with a higher risk of smoking, whether the association is causal has not been convincingly established.

Methods: We investigated the association between education and lifetime smoking patterns in a birth cohort established in 1959 and followed through adulthood (n = 1311). We controlled for a wide range of potential confounders that were measured prior to school entry, and also estimated sibling fixed effects models to control for unmeasured familial vulnerability to smoking.

Use of benzodiazepines and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in middle-aged and older adults with anxiety disorders: a longitudinal and prospective study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the use of benzodiazepines (BZs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors/selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs/SNRIs) over nine years of follow-up in middle-aged and older adults with diagnoses of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, social phobia, or generalized anxiety disorder.

Setting And Participants: Participants in this study were enrolled in the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Project (HARP). HARP is a naturalistic, longitudinal, multisite study of adults with anxiety disorders who are recruited from psychiatric settings.

Effects of progression to cigarette smoking on depressed mood in adolescents: evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

Aims: To investigate the relationship between smoking status and continuously distributed depressed mood among a cohort of adolescents.

Design: Quasi-experimental design, selecting the subset of adolescents who reported never having smoked a cigarette at baseline, some of whom progressed subsequently to smoking at follow-up approximately 1 year later.

Setting: Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, an ongoing study designed to assess the health status of adolescents, and explore the causes of adolescent health-related behaviours.

Impact of parental history of substance use disorders on the clinical course of anxiety disorders.

Background: Among the psychological difficulties seen in children of parents with substance use problems, the anxiety disorders are among the most chronic conditions. Although children of alcoholic parents often struggle with the effects of parental substance use problems long into adulthood, empirical investigations of the influence of parental substance use disorders on the course of anxiety disorders in adult offspring are rare. The purpose of this study was to examine prospectively the relationship between parental substance use disorders and the course of anxiety disorders in adulthood over the course of 12 years.

Childhood-onset bipolar disorder: Evidence for increased familial loading of psychiatric illness.

Objective: To determine whether childhood-onset bipolar disorder (BP) is associated with an increased psychiatric family history compared with adolescent-onset BP.

Method: Semistructured psychiatric interviews were conducted for 438 youth with BP spectrum disorders. To evaluate the effects of age at onset and psychiatric family history, the sample was divided into childhood-onset BP (age and BP onset <12 years; n = 192), adolescents with early-onset BP (age > or =12 years and BP onset <12 years; n = 136), and adolescents with late-onset BP (age and BP onset > or =12 years; n = 110).

Estimating genetic and environmental influences on depressive symptoms in adolescence: differing effects on higher and lower levels of symptoms.

We estimate the relative effect sizes of genetic and environmental influences on both higher and lower levels of depressive symptoms with attention to persistence over a 1-year period in the genetically informative subsample of adolescents participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Shared environmental effects were significant for persistent higher levels of depressive symptoms but not nonpersistent symptoms. Genetic effects were significant for both persistent and nonpersistent lower levels of depressive symptoms.

Sibling effects on substance use in adolescence: social contagion and genetic relatedness.

Prior research on sibling contagion for substance use has not attended to individual differences in the sibling relationship that may be influenced by genetic similarity. The authors utilizing data on a sample of twin and nontwin siblings participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Although monozygotic twins had the highest levels of sibling contact and mutual friendships, the pattern of results for other sibling types were not consistent with genetic models, and biometric analysis indicated that shared environmental factors influenced these sibling relationship features.