The clinical trajectory of emerging bipolar disorder among the high-risk offspring of bipolar parents: current understanding and future considerations.

Relatively little is known about the onset of bipolar disorder, yet the early illness course is already associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Therefore, characterizing the bipolar illness trajectory is key to risk prediction and early intervention advancement. In this narrative review, we discuss key findings from prospective longitudinal studies of the high-risk offspring of bipolar parents and related meta-analyses that inform us about the clinical trajectory of emerging bipolar disorder. Challenges such as phenotypic and etiologic heterogeneity and the non-specificity of early symptoms and syndromes are highlighted. Implications of the findings for both research and clinical practice are discussed. Bipolar disorder in young people at familial risk does not typically onset with a hypomanic or manic episode. Rather the first activated episode is often preceded by years of impairing psychopathological states that vary over development and across emerging bipolar subtype. Taking heterogeneity into account and adopting a more comprehensive approach to diagnosis seems necessary to advance earlier identification and our understanding of the onset of bipolar disorder

The Conservatives and the Union: The 'New English Toryism' and the Origins of Anglo-Britishness

The Union has for over a century been one of the cornerstones of Conservative politics, but with the changes to the old union state in the last 20 years, its value has been increasingly questioned. While the Conservative Party remains committed to maintaining the Union, a new English Toryism is emerging, which has a strong continuity with an older English Toryism which was partially buried by the ascendancy of Unionism. English Tories have always considered the Union to be desirable, but it comes second in their thinking to the need to protect the sovereignty of the British state, the core of which is England and its traditional institutions. What is new about the contemporary Conservative Party is that there is within it the revival of an English Toryism which is happy to discard the older clothes of Empire and Union once so important to Conservative identity and which is unabashedly English in its focus. For an increasing number of contemporary Conservatives, there no longer seems to be any passion about defending the Union or even of continuing to think about the United Kingdom in Unionist terms

Multisensory processing of emotional cues predicts intrusive memories after virtual reality trauma

Research has shown that high trait anxiety can alter multisensory processing of threat cues (by amplifying integration of angry faces and voices); however, it remains unknown whether differences in multisensory processing play a role in the psychological response to trauma. This study examined the relationship between multisensory emotion processing and intrusive memories over seven days following exposure to an analogue trauma in a sample of 55 healthy young adults. We used an adapted version of the trauma film paradigm, where scenes showing a car accident trauma were presented using virtual reality, rather than a conventional 2D film. Multisensory processing was assessed prior to the trauma simulation using a forced choice emotion recognition paradigm with happy, sad and angry voice-only, face-only, audiovisual congruent (face and voice expressed matching emotions) and audiovisual incongruent expressions (face and voice expressed different emotions). We found that increased accuracy in recognising anger (but not happiness and sadness) in the audiovisual condition relative to the voice- and face-only conditions was associated with more intrusions following VR trauma. Despite previous results linking trait anxiety and intrusion development, no significant influence of trait anxiety on intrusion frequency was observed. Enhanced integration of threat-related information (i.e. angry faces and voices) could lead to overly threatening appraisals of stressful life events and result in greater intrusion development after trauma

Atom Interferometry for Dark Contents of the Vacuum Searches

A cold atom interferometer is being developed using 85Rb atoms towards a search for the dark contents of the vacuum, and as a test stand for inertial sensing applications. Here we outline the current status of the experiment and report the observation of Ramsey interference fringes in the apparatus

The quest for the ganglioside functions; what did we learn more from «evo-devo» or signaling of long-term maintenance?

Gangliosides are characteristic extracellular-facing plasma membrane determinants in vertebrate brain. The four major gangliosides (GM1, GD1a, GD1b and GT1b) dominate among more than one hundred glycolipid structures in nervous tissue. During brain development the expression of simple gangliosides shifts toward more complex ones, accompanied by a multiple increase in their total amount. The shift is precisely regulated and some specific structures represent well established neurodevelopmental milestones. From the evolutionary perspective, the ganglioside content in fish and amphibian brain is significantly lower than in mammalian brain, but the general variability is greater. More-polar structures, abundant in Antarctic fishes, are rare in higher vertebrates or expressed only in a narrow developmental frame. Reptiles, birds and mammals share identical common structures expressed in similar patterns with minor interspecies differences. On the contrary, fish and amphibian brains show significant interspecies differences in amount, structure and expression patterns. The initial assumption of evolutionary studies was that the variations in lipid content, particularly the glycolipid content, during temperature adaptations in ectothermic and hibernating heterothermic animals, represent an efficient molecular mechanism of the membrane function preservation. Studies of ordered lipid domains in the last decade verified the ganglioside-mediated regulation of membrane proteins (receptor kinases, neurotransmitter receptors and ion channels) as well as receptor-ligand interaction important for cell signaling.Гангліозиди – характеристичні детермінанти, які локалізовані на зовнішній поверхні мембран клітин мозку хребетних. Чотири основних гангліозиди (GM1, GD1a, GD1b i GT1b) переважають серед сотень інших сполук гліколіпідів нервової тканини. У процесі розвитку мозку експресія простих гангліозидів зміщується у бік синтезу більш складних сполук, що супроводжується багаторазовим зростанням їхньої загальної кількості. Зміщення експресії – строго регульований процес, за якого поява деяких специфічних структур репрезентує добре відомі стадії розвитку нервової тканини. З точки зору еволюції вміст гангліозидів у мозку риб та амфібій значно нижчий, ніж у мозку ссавців, проте загальна їхня варіабельність суттєво вища. Більш полярні сполуки, які широко представлені у антарктичних риб, є рідкісними для ссавців або характерними для певного короткотривалого етапу онтогенезу. Плазуни, птахи і ссавці зберігають ідентичні спільні структури, що мають подібні патерни експресії з незначними міжвидовими відмінностями. Навпаки, для мозку риб та амфібій відзначено істотну міжвидову відмінність щодо кількості, структури та патерну експресії. Першочерговим припущенням еволюційного дослідження стало те, що варіації у вмісті ліпідів, зокрема гліколіпідів, під час температурної адаптації у холоднокровних і гетеротермних тварин, які впадають у сплячку, є високоефективним молекулярним механізмом захисту функціонування мембран. Вивчення впорядкованих доменів ліпідів за останнє десятиліття підтверджує гангліозид-опосередковану регуляцію мембранних білків (рецептори з кіназною активністю, рецептори нейротрансмітерів та іонні канали), так само як і взаємодію рецептор–ліганд, важливу для передачі позаклітинного сигналу.Ганглиозиды – характеристические детерминанты, локализованные на внешней поверхности мембран клеток мозга хребетных. Четыре основных ганглиозида (GM1, GD1a, GD1b и GT1b) преобладают среди сотень других соединений гликолипидов нервной ткани. В процессе развития мозга экспрессия простых ганглиозидов замещается синтезом более сложных соединений, что сопровождается многократным увеличением их общего количества. Смещение экспрессии – строго регулированный процесс, при котором появление некоторых специфических структур представляет хорошо известные стадии развития нервной ткани. Содержание ганглиозидов в мозге рыб и амфибий значительно ниже, чем в мозге млекопитающих, однако их общая вариабельность существенно выше. Более полярные соединения, широко представленные у антарктических рыб, являются редкими для млекопитающих или характерными для определенного кратковременного этапа онтогенеза. Пресмыкающиеся, птицы и млекопитающие сохраняют общие идентичные структуры с подобными паттернами экспрессии, имеющими незначительные межвидовые отличия. Наоборот, для мозга рыб и амфибий отмечены существенные межвидовые отличия, касающиеся количества, структуры и паттерна экспрессии. Первоочередным предположением эволюционного исследования стало то, что вариации в содержании липидов, в частности гликолипидов, во время температурной адаптации у хладнокровных и гетеротермных животных, впадающих в спячку, являются высокоэффективным молекулярным механизмом защиты функционирования мембран. Изучение упорядоченных доменов липидов за последнее десятилетие подтверждает ганглиозид-опосредованную регуляцию мембранных белков (рецепторы с киназной активностью, рецепторы нейротрансмиттеров и ионные каналы), так же как и взаимодействие рецептор–лиганд, важное для передачи внеклеточного сигнала

Pathways and Management of Phosphorus in urban areas

Due to the finite nature of mineral phosphorus reserves, effective management of anthropogenic phosphorus flows is currently under investigation by the international research community. This article emphasizes the importance of urban phosphorus flows, which are often marginalized due to the greater magnitude of agricultural phosphorus flows. A study on phosphorus flows in Gothenburg, Sweden, points out the potential role of solid waste in nutrient management, as the amounts of phosphorus in solid waste and in wastewater were found to be equal. Importation of food commodities accounts for 50% of the total inflow of phosphorus, and food waste is a major contributor of phosphorus to solid waste. The results suggest that solid waste incineration residues represent a large underestimated sink of phosphorus. Focusing on wastewater as the sole source of recovered phosphorus is not sufficient. The Swedish national goal on phosphorus recycling, which is limited to sewage sludge, targets only a part of the total phosphorus flow that can potentially be recovered. In contrast to previous studies, agricultural flows in Gothenburg were marginal compared to flows related to the urban waste management infrastructure. We emphasize the need for debate on preferable routes for disposal of waste with a high phosphorus content. Both recovery potential and usefulness of the recovered product for agricultural purposes have to be considered. Impacts of five waste management strategies on phosphorus flows were evaluated: incineration of all the waste, comprehensive food waste separation, installation of kitchen grinders, urine diversion, and separation of blackwater and food waste

Diversity in Expression of Phosphorus (P) Responsive Genes in Cucumis melo L

Phosphorus (P) is a major limiting nutrient for plant growth in many soils. Studies in model species have identified genes involved in plant adaptations to low soil P availability. However, little information is available on the genetic bases of these adaptations in vegetable crops. In this respect, sequence data for melon now makes it possible to identify melon orthologues of candidate P responsive genes, and the expression of these genes can be used to explain the diversity in the root system adaptation to low P availability, recently observed in this species

Albert Pierrepoint and the cultural persona of the twentieth-century hangman

Albert Pierrepoint was Britain’s most famous 20th-century hangman. This article utilises diverse sources in order to chart his public representation, or cultural persona, as hangman from his rise to prominence in the mid-1940s to his portrayal in the biopic Pierrepoint(2005). It argues that Pierrepoint exercised agency in shaping this persona through publishing his autobiography and engagement with the media, although there were also representations that he did not influence. In particular, it explores three iterations of his cultural persona – the Professional Hangman, the Reformed Hangman and the Haunted Hangman. Each of these built on and reworked historical antecedents and also communicated wider understandings and contested meanings in relation to capital punishment. As a hangman who remained in the public eye after the death penalty in Britain was abolished, Pierrepoint was an important, authentic link to the practice of execution and a symbolic figure in debates over reintroduction. In the 21st century, he was portrayed as a victim of the ‘secondary trauma’ of the death penalty, which resonated with worldwide campaigns for abolition