Variations in the signalling NRG1-ErbB4 pathway have been associated with genetic susceptibility for both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, although the underlying neural mechanisms are still uncertain. Reduced integrity of the anterior limb of the internal capsule (ALIC) has been found in association with risk-associated genetic variation in the 5′ region of the NRG1 gene. We hypothesised that variation in the gene encoding the NRG1 receptor, ErbB4, would also be associated with reduced ALIC integrity and with cognitive impairments characteristic of individuals with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we examined the white matter integrity associations of the ErbB4 polymorphism rs4673628, which resides within intron 12 of the gene encoding ErbB4, in 36 healthy individuals. We also sought to clarify the cognitive effects of any findings. We found that genetic variation at the rs4673628 locus in the ErbB4 gene was significantly associated with ALIC white matter integrity which was also significantly and positively associated with mnemonic function. These findings provide further evidence to support a key role of NRG1-ErbB4 signalling in the pathophysiology of major mental disorders.

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We provide evidence that GAD is associated with disrupted white-matter coherence of posterior right hemisphere regions, which may partly sustain the impaired cognitive regulation of anxiety. Future diffusion imaging investigations are expected to better elucidate the communication between the parietal cortex and other right hemisphere regions in sustaining the cognitive processing of social and emotional stimuli in patients with GAD.

ducts, soft drinks, and confectioneries), or anthropometric indices (data not shown).The present results show that the Ala54Thr polymorphism in the FABP2 gene significantly affects eating behavior in Japanese women. Earlier studies have shown that FABP2-Thr has a greater binding affinity for long-chain fatty acids than FABP2-Ala, resulting in greater uptake of dietary fatty acids and a higher plasma lipid concentration.5

Genetic variation at single nucleotide polymorphisms in the G72 gene previously associated with bipolar disorder is related to reductions in temporal pole and amygdala gray matter structure in people with bipolar disorder.

Selective laser melting is a promising additive manufacturing technology enabling the fabrication of highly customizable products. A major challenge in selective laser melting is ensuring the quality of produced parts, which is influenced greatly by the thermal history of printed layers. We propose a Batch-Model Predictive Control technique based on the combination of model predictive control and iterative learning control. This approach succeeds in rejecting both repetitive and non-repetitive disturbances and thus achieves improved tracking performance and process quality. In a simulation study, the selective laser melting dynamics is approximated with a reduced-order control-oriented linear model to ensure reasonable computational complexity. The proposed approach provides convergence to the desired temperature field profile despite model uncertainty and disturbances.

The GRIK4 gene encodes the kainate glutamate receptor subunit KA1, which is expressed at high levels in the hippocampus. An indel variant in the 3 0 -untranslated region of GRIK4 (rs58575285) has been shown to modify the risk of bipolar disorder. The image on the left shows hippocampal activation in healthy control subjects during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) face-processing task. The image on the right shows the effect of genetic variation in the GRIK4 gene at rs58575285 on hippocampal activation using this task. Subjects carrying the deletion associated with a lower risk of bipolar disorder showed greater hippocampal activation than non-carriers. Statistical parametric maps were thresholded at P < 0.001. For more information on this topic, please refer to the article by Whalley et al. on pages 467-468.

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