Diffusion tensor imaging correlates of early markers of depression in youth at high-familial risk for bipolar disorder.

Background: Mood disorders are familial psychiatric diseases, in which patients show reduced white matter (WM) integrity. We sought to determine whether WM integrity was affected in young offspring at high-familial risk of mood disorder before they go on to develop major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: The Bipolar Family study is a prospective longitudinal study examining young individuals (age 16-25 years) at familial risk of mood disorder on three occasions 2 years apart.

Longitudinal differences in white matter integrity in youth at high familial risk for bipolar disorder.

Objectives: Previous neuroimaging studies have reported abnormalities in white matter (WM) pathways in subjects at high familial risk of mood disorders. In the current study, we examined the trajectory of these abnormalities during the early stages of illness development using longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data.

Methods: Subjects (16-28 years old) were recruited in the Scottish Bipolar Family Study, a prospective longitudinal study that has examined individuals at familial risk of mood disorder on three occasions, 2 years apart.

Monitoring chicken flock behaviour provides early warning of infection by human pathogen Campylobacter.

Campylobacter is the commonest bacterial cause of gastrointestinal infection in humans, and chicken meat is the major source of infection throughout the world. Strict and expensive on-farm biosecurity measures have been largely unsuccessful in controlling infection and are hampered by the time needed to analyse faecal samples, with the result that Campylobacter status is often known only after a flock has been processed. Our data demonstrate an alternative approach that monitors the behaviour of live chickens with cameras and analyses the 'optical flow' patterns made by flock movements.

Characterization of the ecological interactions of Roundup Ready 2 Yield® soybean, MON 89788, for use in ecological risk assessment.

As part of an ecological risk assessment, Roundup Ready 2 Yield® soybean (MON 89788) was compared to a conventional control soybean variety, A3244, for disease and arthropod damage, plant response to abiotic stress and cold, effects on succeeding plant growth (allelopathic effects), plant response to a bacterial symbiont, and effects on the ability of seed to survive and volunteer in a subsequent growing season. Statistically significant differences between MON 89788 and A3244 were considered in the context of the genetic variation known to occur in soybean and were assessed for their potential impact on plant pest (weed) potential and adverse environmental impact. The results of these studies revealed no effects of the genetic modification that would result in increased pest potential or adverse environmental impact of MON 89788 compared with A3244.

White matter integrity and its association with affective and interpersonal symptoms in borderline personality disorder.

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe psychiatric disorder involving a range of symptoms including marked affective instability and disturbances in interpersonal interactions. Neuroimaging studies are beginning to provide evidence of altered processing in fronto-limbic network deficits in the disorder, however, few studies directly examine structural connections within this circuitry together with their relation to proposed causative processes and clinical features.

Methods: In the current study, we investigated whether individuals with BPD (n = 20) have deficits in white matter integrity compared to a matched group of healthy controls (n = 18) using diffusion tensor MRI (DTI).

Plant characterization of Roundup Ready 2 Yield ® soybean, MON 89788, for use in ecological risk assessment.

During the development of a genetically modified (GM) crop product, extensive phenotypic and agronomic data are collected to characterize the plant in comparison to a conventional control with a similar genetic background. The data are evaluated for potential differences resulting from the genetic modification process or the GM trait, and the differences--if any--are subsequently considered in the context of contributing to the pest potential of the GM crop. Ultimately, these study results and those of other studies are used in an ecological risk assessment of the GM crop.

Response to Bagavathiannan and Van Acker's "Transgenes and national boundaries - The need for international regulations": Biotechnology developers and regulators already consider transgene movement across national boundaries and the environmental risks posed by adventitious presence of unapproved events are overstated.

Bagavathiannan and Van Acker propose greater international cooperation and information sharing in risk assessment for biotechnology-derived crops because pollen- and seed-mediated gene flow across political boundaries may lead to the adventitious presence of unapproved transgenes at sites along the borders of neighboring countries. However, they fail to convince us that something is wrong with the current situation and provide no details of how it could be improved.

A tiered system for assessing the risk of genetically modified plants to non-target organisms.

Representatives of the developers of modern agricultural biotechnology are proposing a tiered approach for conducting non-target organism risk assessment for genetically modified (GM) plants in Europe. The approach was developed by the Technical Advisory Group of the EuropaBio Plant Biotechnology Unit (http://www.europabio.

Glyphosate tolerant canola meal is equivalent to the parental line in diets fed to rainbow trout.

Two separate studies were conducted to evaluate the utility of glyphosate tolerant canola (GTC) as a feed ingredient in diets fed to rainbow trout. In the first study, two forms of GTC were compared to a parental line, Westar. In the second study, one line of GTC was reevaluated to Westar.