Prevalence and experience of harassment of people with mental health problems living in the community

<i>Declaration</i> <i>of</i> <i>interest</i>: This study was funded by the Communities Fund and was the result of a partnership between the Nuffield Centre for Community Care Studies, University of Glasgow, the National Schizophrenia Fellowship (Scotland) and the Scottish users' network. <i>Background</i>: The levels and experiences of harassment of people with mental health problems in the community compared with those of the general population have not been explored. <i>Aims</i>: To measure the levels and experience of harassment experienced by people with mental health problems in the community in Scotland and compare them with the general population. <i>Method</i>: Experiences of harassment were collected by interviewing 165 individuals with mental health problems and a control group of 165 people from the general population. <i>Results</i>: Harassment in the community was found to be twice as common for individuals with mental health problems (41%) than for those in the general population (15%). The harassment commonly involved verbal abuse referring to the individual's mental health problems and was committed primarily by teenagers and neighbours. <i>Conclusions</i>: Harassment has a significantly higher prevalence among individuals with mental health problems living in the community and is believed to have a detrimental effect on mental health

UG or not UG: Where is Recursion?

The operation Merge, applying to two syntactic objects to produce a third and instantiating the property of recursion, has been a fundamental and largely uncontroversial feature in the development of the Minimalist Programme. In early formulations, such as Chomsky (1995a, b), Merge is cited as a feature of the human language faculty that illustrates virtual conceptual necessity, and it is an examination of this characterisation that stimulates the concerns addressed here, where we argue that neither of the familiar routes (satisfaction of interface conditions or computational economy) provides a justification for the conceptually necessary status of Merge. A third route, via considerations of ‘languages as such,’ a notion that includes human and artificial languages, may provide the required justification, but, as Chomsky (1980) urges, the study of ‘languages as such’ is unlikely to yield empirically interesting results. Specifically, this route to justification will not locate Merge in UG if the content of UG is an empirical matter. This conclusion is damaging to the view (Hauser et al., 2002) that the emergence of recursion (and Merge) is the single development crucial to the evolution of language, an empirical proposal, albeit in a different discourse, that firmly places Merge in UG.La operación Merge, aplicada a dos objetos sintácticos para producir un tercero, y ejemplificando así la propiedad de la recursividad, ha venido siendo un rasgo fundamental y ampliamente aceptado en el desarrollo del Programa Minimalista. En sus primeras formulaciones (Chomsky 1995a,b), Merge es propuesto como un rasgo de la facultad humana del lenguaje que ilustra una necesidad virtual humana. La problemática que aquí se aborda es precisamente un examen de esta caracterización. Se defiende aquí que ninguna de las vías de justificación habitualmente propuestas (la satisfacción de las condiciones de interfaz o la economía computacional) prueba el estatus de necesidad conceptual de Merge. Una tercera vía que considera ‘las lenguas como tales,’ propuesta que incluye tanto a lenguas humanas como a las artificiales, podría ofrecer la justificación adecuada, pero, tal y como insta Chomsky (1980), el estudio de las ‘lenguas como tales’ probablemente no resultaría en conclusiones empíricamente interesantes. En concreto, esta vía de justificación no localizaría a Merge como parte de la Gramática Universal si el contenido de esta es una cuestión empírica. Esta conclusión daña la idea (Hauser et al., 2002) de que la aparición de la recursividad (y de Merge) es la principal novedad que propició la evolución del lenguaje, una propuesta empírica, si bien es cierto que en un contexto diferente, que sitúa firmemente a Merge dentro de la Gramática Universal.A operação Compor, aplicada a dois objetos sintáticos para produzir um terceiro e instanciar a propriedade de recursividade, tem sido uma característica fundamental e indiscutível ao longo do desenvolvimento do Programa Minimalista. Nas primeiras formulações, como Chomsky (1995a, b), Compor é descrito como uma propriedade da faculdade da linguagem humana que ilustra a necessidade conceptual virtual. É a análise desta caracterização que motiva este artigo, onde defendemos que nem a satisfação das condições da interface nem a economia computacional conseguem justificar a necessidade conceptual do estatuto de Compor. Um terceiro aspeto, via entendimento das ‘linguagens como tal’, uma noção que inclui a linguagem humana e as linguagens artificiais, pode fornecer a justificação pretendida. No entanto, como Chomsky (1980) reforça, o estudo das ‘linguagens como tal’ poderá não surtir resultados empiricamente interessantes. Mais especificamente, esta proposta de justificação não localiza Compor na Gramática Universal (UG) se o conteúdo da Gramática Universal (UG) for de natureza empírica. Esta conclusão não suporta a perspetiva (Hauser et al., 2002) de que a emergência da recursividade (e Compor) é o único desenvolvimento crucial para a evolução da linguagem, uma proposta empírica, embora num discurso diferente, que coloca indiscutivelmente Compor na UG

The rare C9 P167S risk variant for age-related macular degeneration increases polymerization of the terminal component of the complement cascade

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex neurodegenerative eye disease with behavioral and genetic etiology and is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss among elderly Caucasians. Functionally significant genetic variants in the alternative pathway of complement have been strongly linked to disease. More recently, a rare variant in the terminal pathway of complement has been associated with increased risk, Complement component 9 (C9) P167S. To assess the functional consequence of this variant, C9 levels were measured in two independent cohorts of AMD patients. In both cohorts, it was demonstrated that the P167S variant was associated with low C9 plasma levels. Further analysis showed that patients with advanced AMD had elevated sC5b-9 compared to those with non-advanced AMD, although this was not associated with the P167S polymorphism. Electron microscopy of membrane attack complexes (MACs) generated using recombinantly produced wild type or P167S C9 demonstrated identical MAC ring structures. In functional assays, the P167S variant displayed a higher propensity to polymerize and a small increase in its ability to induce hemolysis of sheep erythrocytes when added to C9-depleted serum. The demonstration that this C9 P167S AMD risk polymorphism displays increased polymerization and functional activity provides a rationale for the gene therapy trials of sCD59 to inhibit the terminal pathway of complement in AMD that are underway

Convergence of expansions in Schr\"odinger and Dirac eigenfunctions, with an application to the R-matrix theory

Expansion of a wave function in a basis of eigenfunctions of a differential eigenvalue problem lies at the heart of the R-matrix methods for both the Schr\"odinger and Dirac particles. A central issue that should be carefully analyzed when functional series are applied is their convergence. In the present paper, we study the properties of the eigenfunction expansions appearing in nonrelativistic and relativistic $R$-matrix theories. In particular, we confirm the findings of Rosenthal [J. Phys. G: Nucl. Phys. 13, 491 (1987)] and Szmytkowski and Hinze [J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 29, 761 (1996); J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 29, 6125 (1996)] that in the most popular formulation of the R-matrix theory for Dirac particles, the functional series fails to converge to a claimed limit.Comment: Revised version, accepted for publication in Journal of Mathematical Physics, 21 pages, 1 figur

Krill (Euphausia superba) distribution contracts southward during rapid regional warming

High-latitude ecosystems are among the fastest warming on the planet1. Polar species may be sensitive to warming and ice loss, but data are scarce and evidence is conflicting2–4. Here, we show that, within their main population centre in the southwest Atlantic sector, the distribution of Euphausia superba (hereafter, ‘krill’) has contracted southward over the past 90 years. Near their northern limit, numerical densities have declined sharply and the population has become more concentrated towards the Antarctic shelves. A concomitant increase in mean body length reflects reduced recruitment of juvenile krill. We found evidence for environmental controls on recruitment, including a reduced density of juveniles following positive anomalies of the Southern Annular Mode. Such anomalies are associated with warm, windy and cloudy weather and reduced sea ice, all of which may hinder egg production and the survival of larval krill5. However, the total post-larval density has declined less steeply than the density of recruits, suggesting that survival rates of older krill have increased. The changing distribution is already perturbing the krill-centred food web6 and may affect biogeochemical cycling7,8. Rapid climate change, with associated nonlinear adjustments in the roles of keystone species, poses challenges for the management of valuable polar ecosystem

Stepping stones towards Antarctica: Switch to southern spawning grounds explains an abrupt range shift in krill

Poleward range shifts are a global-scale response to warming, but these vary greatly among taxa and are hard to predict for individual species, localized regions or over shorter (years to decadal) timescales. Moving poleward might be easier in the Arctic than in the Southern Ocean, where evidence for range shifts is sparse and contradictory. Here, we compiled a database of larval Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba and, together with an adult database, it showed how their range shift is out of step with the pace of warming. During a 70-year period of rapid warming (1920s–1990s), distribution centres of both larvae and adults in the SW Atlantic sector remained fixed, despite warming by 0.5–1.0°C and losing sea ice. This was followed by a hiatus in surface warming and ice loss, yet during this period the distributions of krill life stages shifted greatly, by ~1000 km, to the south-west. Understanding the mechanism of such step changes is essential, since they herald system reorganizations that are hard to predict with current modelling approaches. We propose that the abrupt shift was driven by climatic controls acting on localized recruitment hotspots, superimposed on thermal niche conservatism. During the warming hiatus, the Southern Annular Mode index continued to become increasingly positive and, likely through reduced feeding success for larvae, this led to a precipitous decline in recruitment from the main reproduction hotspot along the southern Scotia Arc. This cut replenishment to the northern portion of the krill stock, as evidenced by declining density and swarm frequency. Concomitantly, a new, southern reproduction area developed after the 1990s, reinforcing the range shift despite the lack of surface warming. New spawning hotspots may provide the stepping stones needed for range shifts into polar regions, so planning of climate-ready marine protected areas should include these key areas of future habitat

Exploring the understanding and experience of working memory in teaching professionals: A large-sample questionnaire study

Working memory (WM) underpins learning and is strongly associated with academic achievement. Children with poor WM need support in the classroom, but little is known about teachers’ understanding of WM. An online questionnaire (N = 1425) assessed educational professionals’ understanding of key concepts related to WM. Respondents generally showed some understanding, although most overestimated WM duration. There was also considerable variability in the signs identified as being associated with poor WM and possible strategies to assist such children. This demonstrates the need to provide teacher training about WM, and for collaboration between researchers and teachers in developing support materials