"Anatomy of a Fall" triumphs at the European Film Awards 2023 – Unifrance Films

The European Film Awards, presented annually since 1988, and which were announced at the ceremony that took place on Saturday, December 9, honored Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, this year's Palme d'or winner, with six awards.

The six awards, corresponding for the first five to all the awards for which the film was nominated, are:

The film also received the European University Film Award, chosen by European students.

For the record, the last time a French film won European Film (majority-French production) at the European Film Awards was in 2012, withc Love de Michael Haneke.

French films also received other awards during the ceremony:

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"Anatomy of a Fall" triumphs at the European Film Awards 2023 - Unifrance Films

‘Lost,’ ‘White Collar’ and ‘This Is Us’ Are Coming to Netflix Thanks to New Deal with Disney – TheWrap

December 11, 2023 @ 1:32 PM

Two major developments are set to take place in the streaming world. The entirety of the Greys Anatomy library will stream on Disneys new one-app experience, and Netflix has secured the streaming rights to 14 beloved library titles from Disney, including Lost, White Collar and ESPNs 30 for 30.

Starting in the spring, Hulu, Disney+ and Netflix will share domestic streaming rights for the ABC medical dramas previous 19 seasons. But those prior seasons will continue to be available to stream on Netflix as part of a new licensing deal betweenthe streamer and Disney, which also includes other shows coming to the competing streamer.

An insider familiar with the arrangement told TheWrap that the deal between Netflix and Disney has not been signed. However, in its current state, it will give the streaming giant licensing access to series such as This Is Us and The Wonder Years.

When the combined Hulu and Disney+ app debuts in late March, follow its beta launch in December, all Greys Anatomy episodes will be made available to stream on both Hulu and Disney+.

New episodes of Greys Anatomy Season 20 will premiere on Hulu the day after their ABC launch, making Hulu the only streamer to carry both the shows full library as well as new in-season episodes.

As for Netflixs new additions, Disney Entertainment has licensed 14 of its non-branded series on a non-exclusive basis. The series are currently licensed to Hulu and other platforms.

Those series include The Wonder Years, This is Us, My Wife & Kids, 25 episodes of ESPNs 30 for 30, The Resident, White Collar, Reba, Archer, How I Met You Mother, Lost, Prison Break, The Hughleys (which is also coming to Hulu), Bernie Mac and Home Improvement. As the titles are added to Netflix, none of the projects will be removed from their existing homes on Hulu, Disney+ or ESPN+.

The deal licensing Disney Entertainment IP to Netflix marks a strategic move for the entertainment giant to expand viewership for certain series, including Prison Break, which aims to promote news of the spin-off series currently in development at Hulu. Given the success on Netflix of USA Network show Suits, the similar member of the channels blue sky era White Collar could find a warm reception in its new location.

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'Lost,' 'White Collar' and 'This Is Us' Are Coming to Netflix Thanks to New Deal with Disney - TheWrap

A look at the curious ‘winter break’ behavior of ChatGPT-4 – ReadWrite

The worlds most popular generative artificial intelligence (AI) is getting lazy as the winter draws in thats the claim from some astute ChatGPT users.

According to a recent ArsTechnica report in late November, users of ChatGPT, the AI chatbot powered by OpenAIs natural language model GPT-4, began noticing something strange. In response to certain requests, GPT-4 was refusing to complete tasks or providing simplified lazy answers instead of the typically detailed responses.

OpenAI acknowledged the issue but claimed they did not intentionally update the model. Some now speculate this laziness may be an unintended consequence of GPT-4 mimicking seasonal human behavior changes.

Dubbed the winter break hypothesis, the theory suggests that because GPT-4 is fed the current date, it has learned from its vast training data that people tend to wrap up big projects and slow down in December. Researchers are urgently investigating whether this seemingly absurd idea holds weight. The fact its being taken seriously underscores the unpredictable and human-like nature of large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4.

On November 24th, a Reddit user reported asking GPT-4 to populate a large CSV file, but it only provided one entry as a template. On December 1st, OpenAIs Will Depue confirmed awareness of laziness issues related to over-refusals and committed to fixing them.

Some argue GPT-4 was always sporadically lazy, and recent observations are merely confirmation bias. However, the timing of users noticing more refusals after the November 11th update to GPT-4 Turbo is interesting if coincidental and some assumed it was a new method for OpenAI to save on computing.

On December 9, developer Rob Lynch found GPT-4 generated 4,086 characters when given a December date prompt versus 4,298 for a May date. Although AI researcher Ian Arawjo couldnt reproduce Lynchs results to a statistically significant degree, the subjective nature of sampling bias with LLMs makes reproducibility notoriously difficult. As researchers rush to investigate, the theory continues intriguing the AI community.

Geoffrey Litt of Anthropic, Claudes creator, called it the funniest theory ever, yet admitted its challenging to rule out given all the weird ways LLMs react to human-style prompting and encouragement, as shown by the increasingly weird prompts. For example, research shows GPT models produce improved math scores when told to take a deep breath, while the promise of a tip lengthens completions. The lack of transparency around potential changes to GPT-4 makes even unlikely theories worth exploring.

This episode demonstrates the unpredictability of large language models and the new methodologies required to understand their ever-emergent capabilities and limitations. It also shows the global collaboration underway to urgently assess AI advances that impact society. Finally, its a reminder that todays LLMs still require extensive supervision and testing before being responsibly deployed in real-world applications.

The winter break hypothesis behind GPT-4s apparent seasonal laziness may prove false or offer new insights that improve future iterations. Either way, this curious case exemplifies the strangely anthropomorphic nature of AI systems and the priority of understanding risks alongside pursuing rapid innovations.

Featured Image: Pexels

Radek Zielinski is an experienced technology and financial journalist with a passion for cybersecurity and futurology.

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A look at the curious 'winter break' behavior of ChatGPT-4 - ReadWrite

Neuroscience and Behavior Major (B.S.) | College of Liberal Arts – UNH’s College of Liberal Arts

The major in neuroscience and behavior (NSB) offers an interdisciplinary approach to human and non-human behavior, focusing on the evolution and adaptiveness of certain behaviors, as well as their underlying neural mechanisms. Students who have always been fascinated by how the brain functions will be well served by this major, as will those who love wild animals and wish to better understand their behavior. The B.S. in neuroscience and behavior is based on a solid foundation in biology, chemistry, physics, statistics, and genetics (foundation courses). These are followed by a two-semester course sequence that covers the fundamentals of neuroscience and behavior. Students can then pick five or more electives focusing on areas of interest.

NSB students are encouraged to take advantage of research experiences in the laboratories of the psychology and biology faculty in the program. This provides valuable experience with cutting-edge equipment and techniques. Some students may share aspects of a larger project, whereas others may be relatively independent and design their own project under supervision. In either case, important skills are gained by the discipline of gathering data, analyzing and interpreting it, and presenting it to a broader audience.

The curriculum provides most of the requirements and recommended courses for students seeking admission to graduate school and to professional schools in medicine and veterinary medicine. Students who might choose not to go on to advanced degrees are well-prepared for employment as skilled technicians in research laboratories or, if their interests are in animal behavior, as field research assistants or animal trainers. With additional courses in education, the B.S. in NSB also qualifies graduates to teach at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels.

Faculty participating in the NSB major combine a love of teaching and student mentoring with a passion for research, and encourage student participation. Research facilities that students can use include the Integrative Animal Behavior and Ecoacoustics laboratory, the confocal imaging center, the Hubbard Center for Genomic Studies, and the many marine, freshwater, and estuarine laboratories associated with UNH programs. Students can also take summer courses at the Shoals Marine Laboratory.

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Neuroscience and Behavior Major (B.S.) | College of Liberal Arts - UNH's College of Liberal Arts

Clues to preventing Alzheimer’s come from patient who, despite genetics, evaded disease Washington University … – Washington University School of…

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Breaking link between early, late stages of disease may prevent dementia

A woman who never developed Alzheimer's despite a strong genetic predisposition may hold the key to stopping the disease in its tracks. Studying the woman's unique complement of genetic mutations, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found clues that could help cut the link between the early, asymptomatic stage and the late stage, when cognitive decline sets in.

Alzheimers disease has plagued one large Colombian family for generations, striking down half of its members in the prime of life. But one member of that family evaded what had seemed would be fate: Despite inheriting the genetic defect that caused her relatives to develop dementia in their 40s, she stayed cognitively healthy into her 70s.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why. A previous study had reported that, unlike her relatives, the woman carried two copies of a rare variant of the APOE gene known as the Christchurch mutation. In this study, researchers used genetically modified mice to show that the Christchurch mutation severs the link between the early phase of Alzheimers disease, when a protein called amyloid beta builds up in the brain, and the late phase, when another protein called tau accumulates and cognitive decline sets in. So the woman stayed mentally sharp for decades, even as her brain filled with massive amounts of amyloid. The findings, published Dec. 11 in the journal Cell, suggest a new approach to preventing Alzheimers dementia.

Any protective factor is very interesting, because it gives us new clues to how the disease works, said senior author David M. Holtzman, MD, the Barbara Burton and Reuben M. Morriss III Distinguished Professor of Neurology. As people get older, many begin to develop some amyloid accumulation in their brains. Initially, they remain cognitively normal. However, after many years the amyloid deposition begins to lead to the accumulation of the tau protein. When this happens, cognitive impairment soon ensues. If we can find a way to mimic the effects of the APOE Christchurch mutation, we may be able to stop people who already are on the path to Alzheimers dementia from continuing down that path.

Alzheimers develops over the course of about 30 years. The first two decades or so are silent; amyloid slowly accumulates in the brain without causing ill effects. When amyloid levels reach a tipping point, however, they kick off phase two, which involves multiple interrelated destructive processes: A protein called tau forms tangles that spread through the brain; brain metabolism slows down, and the brain begins to shrink; and people start to experience memory and thinking problems. The disease follows the same pattern in people with genetic and nongenetic forms of Alzheimers.

The Colombian families carry a mutation in a gene called presenilin-1 that causes their brains to develop far too much amyloid buildup beginning in their 20s. People who carry the mutation accumulate amyloid so quickly that they reach the tipping point and start showing signs of cognitive decline in middle age. One rare exception is a woman who had more amyloid in her brain in her 70s than her relatives did in their 40s, but only very minimal signs of brain injury and cognitive impairment.

One of the biggest unanswered questions in the Alzheimers field is why amyloid accumulation leads to tau pathology, Holtzman said. This woman was very, very unusual in that she had amyloid pathology but not much tau pathology and only very mild cognitive symptoms that came on late. This suggested to us that she might hold clues to this link between amyloid and tau.

A 2019 study had revealed that, along with a mutation in presenilin-1, the woman also carried the Christchurch mutation in both copies of her APOE gene, another gene associated with Alzheimers disease. But with only one person in the world known to have this particular combination of genetic mutations, there were not enough data to prove that the Christchurch mutation was responsible for her remarkable resistance to Alzheimers and not simply a coincidental finding.

To solve this puzzle, Holtzman and first author Yun Chen, a graduate student, turned to genetically modified mice. They took mice genetically predisposed to overproduce amyloid and modified them to carry the human APOE gene with the Christchurch mutation. Then, they injected a tiny bit of human tau into the mouse brains. Normally, introducing tau into brains already brimming with amyloid seeds a pathological process in which tau collects into aggregates at the site of injection, followed by the spread of such aggregates to other parts of the brain.

Not so in the mice with the Christchurch mutation. Much like the Colombian woman, the mice developed minor tau pathology despite extensive amyloid plaques. The researchers discovered that the key difference was the activity levels of microglia, the brains waste-disposal cells. Microglia tend to cluster around amyloid plaques. In mice with the APOE Christchurch mutation, the microglia surrounding amyloid plaques were revved up and hyperefficient at consuming and disposing of tau aggregates.

These microglia are taking up the tau and degrading it before tau pathology can spread effectively to the next cell, Holtzman said. That blocked much of the downstream process; without tau pathology, you dont get neurodegeneration, atrophy and cognitive problems. If we can mimic the effect that the mutation is having, we may be able to render amyloid accumulation harmless, or at least much less harmful, and protect people from developing cognitive impairments.

Chen Y, Song S, Parhizkar S, Lord J, Zhu Y, Strickland MR, Wang C, Park J, Tabor GT, Jiang H, Li K, Davis AA, Yuede CM, Colonna M, Ulrich JD, Holtzman DM. APOE3ch alters microglial response and suppresses A-induced tau seeding and spread. Cell. Dec. 11, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.11.029

This study was supported by the JPB Foundation; Cure Alzheimers Fund; the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers RF1AG047644 and RF1NS090934; and the Alzheimers Association, grant number AARF-21-850865. This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Holtzman is an inventor on a patent licensed by Washington University to C2N Diagnostics on the therapeutic use of anti-tau antibodies; co-founded and is on the scientific advisory board of C2N Diagnostics; is on the scientific advisory board of Denali, Genentech, and Cajal Neuroscience; consults for Asteroid; and is on the Advisory Board for Cell. Colonna is a member of the Vigil Neuro scientific advisory board and is a consultant for Cell Signaling Technology and NGM Bio. The rest of the authors have no conflict of interests.

About Washington University School of Medicine

WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,800 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the third largest among U.S. medical schools, has grown 52% in the last six years, and, together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,800 faculty physicians practicing at 65 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.

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Clues to preventing Alzheimer's come from patient who, despite genetics, evaded disease Washington University ... - Washington University School of...

Intermountain Health study offering free genetic testing will end this month – KSL.com

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY Intermountain Health will be pausing enrollment in the HerediGene: Population Study, which provides people an opportunity to participate in genetic research.

"We have been incredibly appreciative of the community support and willingness to participate in the HerediGene: Population Study. The genetic discoveries from this study have been monumental," Brad Gillman, an Intermountain spokesman, told KSL.com.

"Because of these efforts, we have reached a point where we will be pausing the enrollment of this study as of Dec. 28. This will allow us to focus on returning results to the participants and generating more discoveries," he said.

Until then, people interested in enrolling can sign up online, or simply go to any Intermountain lab and say they want to participate in the research. Less than 2.5 teaspoons of blood is necessary for sequencing, Intermountain Health's website says.

The study is the largest DNA study in the United States, and has been ongoing since mid-2019. It aims to improve health care intervention for anyone at risk of serious diseases, and to help prevent chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. All U.S. residents 18 and older are eligible for participation.

HerediGene has already changed the lives of many Utahns.

Former KSL-TV reporter Keith McCord discovered through the study he has genetic markers for hereditary hemochromatosis, which can be managed with treatment but may have irreversible health implications if left untreated. He discovered his diagnosis before any symptoms arose.

Three generations of Elissa Smith's family got the free risk assessment after her father survived colon cancer.

The study informed Madison Certonio she has the BRCA2 gene, which causes women to have between a 45% and 85% chance of developing breast cancer in their lives, and men to have between a 20% and 50% chance of developing prostate cancer.

"It's been a little stressful. It's been a little emotional," she said in an promotional video produced by Intermountain. "But then you have to be happy because you know (the risk). Since I'm 25 and I know, I can get all the screenings done to prevent it, because knowledge is power."

Participants who do not bear any genetic markers will not be contacted by Intermountain; but if markers are discovered, they will be contacted by phone or letter to schedule an appointment with a genetic counselor should they wish to find out what the gene is.

A large sequencing sample regardless of whether an individual participant has a harmful gene is useful to doctors and scientists in discovering new genetic risk factors and treating existing patients.

"We anticipate spin-off studies that will target the genetics of specific diseases will occur over the next several years," Gillman said. "Intermountain Health continues to be committed to precision medicine to help our patients, and their families, live the healthiest lives possible."

Correction: The HerediGene study does not provide free genetic testing for any condition, as a previous version might have indicated. It involves research on specific genes, to better predict and prevent serious disease.

Katie Workman is a former KSL.com and KSL-TV reporter who works as a politics contributor. She has degrees from Cambridge and the University of Utah, and she's passionate about sharing stories about elections, the environment and southern Utah.

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Intermountain Health study offering free genetic testing will end this month - KSL.com

Diminished Genetic Resilience in Pandemic-Era Depression Spike – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers found that the pandemic doubled the incidence of clinical depression among first-year college students, affecting one-third of the cohort. Even students with genetic resilience factors were not spared, especially young women.

The study utilized an Affect Score tool combining mental health questionnaires and genetic risk prediction, offering potential for early depression prediction and prevention. This research is vital in understanding the long-term mental health implications of the pandemic on young adults and developing targeted support strategies.

Key Facts:

Source: University of Michigan

Living through a historic pandemic while handling the stress of the first year of college sent one-third of students in a new study into clinical depression. Thats double the percentage seen in previous years of the same study.

And while certain genetic factors appeared to shield first-year students in pre-pandemic years from depression, even students with these protective factors found themselves developing symptoms in the pandemic years.

In fact, much of the overall rise in student depression during the pandemic was among young women with this kind of genetic resilience.

But the research has a silver lining.

By studying these students experiences and backgrounds in depth and over time, scientists may have discovered a way to go beyond genetics to predict which students might be more or less vulnerable to stress-related depression.

The new studyis published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesby a team from theMichigan Neuroscience Instituteat the University of Michigan.

Potential for prediction and prevention

The team used their findings to develop a tool called an Affect Score, that combines answers from a range of standard mental health questionnaires. The score could help colleges and universities offer more social and mental health support to those most at risk.

The score might work in other groups of people, too, alone or in combination with genetic risk prediction for depression. But further research is needed.

The new findings come from a multi-year longitudinal effort to study the mental health, genetics, personal history, physical activity and sleep of successive groups of first-year college students. It began several years before the pandemic and continues today.

These students experiences during such a stressful time can help us understand the factors that contribute to a rise in depression risk, and inform future efforts to prevent it, saidHuda Akil, Ph.D., senior author of the new paper and former co-director of the institute. Understanding enough to predict is a key initial step to prevention, early detection and early treatment of depression.

Lead authorCortney Turner, Ph.D.,an associate research scientist at MNI, says The possibility of preventing depression is what Im most excited about, because the variables at baseline that appear to play the largest role in Affect Score may be modified with training. That might include summer programs before the start of freshman year to help students feel more confident and positive as they arrive on campus.

Harnessing massive data

The team developed the Affect Score with the help of a machine learning tool that was used to comb through all the students responses on thousands of standardized questionnaires and Fitbit data on their activity and sleep.

The data in the paper come from students in three cohorts of students, one that completed their freshman year before the pandemic, and two whose freshman experience was impacted by the pandemic.

At the start of their freshman year, all took 14 standard questionnaires and gave in-depth interviews conducted by Virginia Murphy-Weinberg, N.P., a highly experienced research nurse. They provided samples of blood and/or saliva to be analyzed in U-MsAdvanced Genomics Core.

Samples were obtained on a wide range of biological measures pre-pandemic, but this became more limited for the two COVID-19 cohorts. Nevertheless, they contributed monthly salivary samples to measure stress and other hormones. Each student also received a Fitbit to monitor daily activity and sleep patterns.

The team also followed up with them multiple times with some of the same questionnaires during the rest of their freshman year and into the summer or next academic year to assess symptoms of depression and/or anxiety in each student.

By looking at which genetic variations each student carried on hundreds of thousands of genes, the researchers calculated their individual depression genetic risk score, called an MDD-PRS.

Men and women with a high MDD-PRS score were more likely than their classmates to develop depression as freshmen in the pre-pandemic era. But when the pandemic hit, genetics became less important.

Men with lower MDD-PRS scores were still less likely to develop depression during the pandemic, but not women with similarly low scores. Meanwhile, the overall risk for the group of students with high MDD-PRS scores didnt change much from the pre-pandemic classes.

The pandemic increased not only the incidence of depression in females, but how long it lasts, or its chronicity. No matter their genetic profile, women whose freshman year of college started in 2020 had over eight times the risk of chronic depression symptoms that lasted across that first year and into the summer, compared with those who entered college before the year the pandemic hit, the study shows.

The study also identified what is termed psychological resilience in individuals whose genetic profiles might make them seem more prone to depression, but who didnt develop it despite going through all or part of their freshman year during a pandemic.

This suggests that when the stress gets strong enough, genetic resilience alone is not enough to buffer against it, especially in females, said Akil. But by using machine learning to analyze the components of the psychological profiles at baseline, our ability to predict who became depressed was truly remarkable.

She continued, Both the genetic and nongenetic data tell us that nothing is predestined, and there are multiple kinds of resilience. Colleges and universities need to think about strategies for helping young people walk into their freshman year with the positive state of mind and social support that can help them weather stress, no matter what their background.

The team continues to test the Affect Score tool on freshmen who entered in 2021, 2022 and this fall. Theyre also preparing to test a validated psychiatric intervention digital tool that they hope will help with risk.

The students in the study were all from the University of Michigan, which offers mental health care and mental well-being support through itsCounseling and Psychological Servicesand itsUniversity Health Service.

Akil and Turner are members of the U-M Eisenberg Family Depression Center, which offersmultiple programs to support the mental health of college studentsincluding athletes and veterans. For more than 20 years, the center has sponsored a national conference calledDepression on College Campuses; the next conference will occur in March.

The center also offersa free online Depression Toolkitto support those experiencing depression symptoms and those who want to help them.

In addition to Akil, Turner and Murphy-Weinberg, the research team included Huzefa Khalil, Ph.D. and other MNI faculty, staff and trainees.

Funding: The study was funded by the Office of Naval Research of the U.S. Navy (N00014-09-1-0598, N00014-12-1-0366 and N00014-19-1-2149), and by grants from the Hope for Depression Research Foundation and the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium Fund LLC. The researchers also used resources from the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (TR002240).

Author: Kara Gavin Source: University of Michigan Contact: Kara Gavin University of Michigan Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Closed access. The impact of COVID-19 on a college freshman sample reveals genetic and nongenetic forms of susceptibility and resilience to stress by Huda Akil et al. PNAS

Abstract

The impact of COVID-19 on a college freshman sample reveals genetic and nongenetic forms of susceptibility and resilience to stress

Using a longitudinal approach, we sought to define the interplay between genetic and nongenetic factors in shaping vulnerability or resilience to COVID-19 pandemic stress, as indexed by the emergence of symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.

University of Michigan freshmen were characterized at baseline using multiple psychological instruments. Subjects were genotyped, and a polygenic risk score for depression (MDD-PRS) was calculated. Daily physical activity and sleep were captured. Subjects were sampled at multiple time points throughout the freshman year on clinical rating scales, including GAD-7 and PHQ-9 for anxiety and depression, respectively.

Two cohorts (2019 to 2021) were compared to a pre-COVID-19 cohort to assess the impact of the pandemic. Across cohorts, 26 to 40% of freshmen developed symptoms of anxiety or depression (N = 331). Depression symptoms significantly increased in the pandemic years and became more chronic, especially in females.

Physical activity was reduced, and sleep was increased by the pandemic, and this correlated with the emergence of mood symptoms. While low MDD-PRS predicted lower risk for depression during a typical freshman year, this genetic advantage vanished during the pandemic. Indeed, females with lower genetic risk accounted for the majority of the pandemic-induced rise in depression.

We developed a model that explained approximately half of the variance in follow-up depression scores based on psychological trait and state characteristics at baseline and contributed to resilience in genetically vulnerable subjects.

We discuss the concept of multiple types of resilience, and the interplay between genetic, sex, and psychological factors in shaping the affective response to different types of stressors.

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Diminished Genetic Resilience in Pandemic-Era Depression Spike - Neuroscience News

Origin and evolution of the triploid cultivated banana genome – Nature.com

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