Complications of pregnancy and delivery in relation to psychosis in adult life: data from the British perinatal mortality survey sample

Original article can be found at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/tocrender.fcgi?iid=137629 Copyright BMJ PublishingTo evaluate whether events occurring at or around the time of birth contribute to the onset of psychotic illness in adult life.Peer reviewe

Broadscale survey of impacts of Cyclone Ivor on coral reefs

A survey of reefs in the vicinity of the path of Cyclone Ivor (19th March 1990) was conducted in July 1990. Physical damage caused by the cyclone was recognised as far as 40 km to the North of the path and 100 km to the South. Impact was most severe over a 50 km section of the outer Great Barrier Reef between Jewell Reef and Ribbon Reef no. 10. All forms of damage were seen to a depth of 20 m, which was the greatest depth examined. The major forms of damage were coral breakage, coral dislodgement, and peeling of the superficial reef matrix to a thickness of up to 1.5 m. The severity of impact declined irregularly with increasing distance from the path. Damage was patchy on scales of 100s -1000s m2 associated partly with local shelter and topography, partly with matrix robustness, but more with coral community age and size structure than composition. Large denuded areas in the worst damaged area will be entirely dependent on larval recruitment for recolonisation by corals. Recovery of smaller and less severely damaged areas will in addition be by way of regeneration of remnant patches and growth of colonies on patch margins. Cyclones cross the central Great Barrier Reef at a frequency which suggests that, if the width of the swathe caused by Cyclone Ivor is any indication, few reefs would have escaped major modification by cyclones this century

Topography, substratum and benthic macrofaunal relationships on a tropical mesophotic shelf margin, central Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Habitats and ecological communities occurring in the mesophotic region of the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, were investigated using autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) from 51 to 145 m. High-resolution multibeam bathymetry of the outer-shelf at Hydrographers Passage in the central GBR revealed submerged linear reefs with tops at 50, 55, 80, 90, 100 and 130 m separated by flat, sandy inter-reefal areas punctuated by limestone pinnacles. Cluster analysis of AUV images yielded five distinct site groups based on their benthic macrofauna, with rugosity and the presence of limestone reef identified as the most significant abiotic factors explaining the distribution of macrofaunal communities. Reef-associated macrofaunal communities occurred in three distinct depth zones: (1) a shallow (75 m). The effects of depth and microhabitat topography on irradiance most likely play a critical role in controlling vertical zonation on reef substrates. The lower depth limits of zooxanthellate corals are significantly shallower than that observed in many other mesophotic coral ecosystems. This may be a result of resuspension of sediments from the sand sheets by strong currents and/or a consequence of cold water upwelling

Rms-flux relation of Cyg X-1 with RXTE: dipping and nondipping cases

The rms (root mean square) variability is the parameter for understanding the emission temporal properties of X-ray binaries (XRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGN). The rms-flux relation with Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) data for the dips and nondip of black hole Cyg X-1 has been investigated in this paper. Our results show that there exist the linear rms-flux relations in the frequency range 0.1-10 Hz for the dipping light curve. Moreover, this linear relation still remains during the nondip regime, but with the steeper slope than that of the dipping case in the low energy band. For the high energy band, the slopes of the dipping and nondipping cases are hardly constant within errors. The explanations of the results have been made by means of the ``Propagating Perturbation'' model of Lyubarskii (1997).Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

States and transitions in black-hole binaries

With the availability of the large database of black-hole transients from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer, the observed phenomenology has become very complex. The original classification of the properties of these systems in a series of static states sorted by mass accretion rate proved not to be able to encompass the new picture. I outline here a summary of the current situation and show that a coherent picture emerges when simple properties such as X-ray spectral hardness and fractional variability are considered. In particular, fast transition in the properties of the fast time variability appear to be crucial to describe the evolution of black-hole transients. Based on this picture, I present a state-classification which takes into account the observed transitions. I show that, in addition to transients systems, other black-hole binaries and Active Galactic Nuclei can be interpreted within this framework. The association between these states and the physics of the accretion flow around black holes will be possible only through modeling of the full time evolution of galactic transient systems.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figures, To appear in Belloni, T. (ed.): The Jet Paradigm - From Microquasars to Quasars, Lect. Notes Phys. 794 (2009

Modelling spectral and timing properties of accreting black holes: the hybrid hot flow paradigm

The general picture that emerged by the end of 1990s from a large set of optical and X-ray, spectral and timing data was that the X-rays are produced in the innermost hot part of the accretion flow, while the optical/infrared (OIR) emission is mainly produced by the irradiated outer thin accretion disc. Recent multiwavelength observations of Galactic black hole transients show that the situation is not so simple. Fast variability in the OIR band, OIR excesses above the thermal emission and a complicated interplay between the X-ray and the OIR light curves imply that the OIR emitting region is much more compact. One of the popular hypotheses is that the jet contributes to the OIR emission and even is responsible for the bulk of the X-rays. However, this scenario is largely ad hoc and is in contradiction with many previously established facts. Alternatively, the hot accretion flow, known to be consistent with the X-ray spectral and timing data, is also a viable candidate to produce the OIR radiation. The hot-flow scenario naturally explains the power-law like OIR spectra, fast OIR variability and its complex relation to the X-rays if the hot flow contains non-thermal electrons (even in energetically negligible quantities), which are required by the presence of the MeV tail in Cyg X-1. The presence of non-thermal electrons also lowers the equilibrium electron temperature in the hot flow model to <100 keV, making it more consistent with observations. Here we argue that any viable model should simultaneously explain a large set of spectral and timing data and show that the hybrid (thermal/non-thermal) hot flow model satisfies most of the constraints.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures. To be published in the Space Science Reviews and as hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI - The Physics of Accretion on to Black Holes (Springer Publisher

Childhood antecedents of schizophrenia and affective illness: social adjustment at ages 7 and 11

Original article can be found at: http://www.bmj.com/ Copyright BMJ PublishingTo investigate the social adjustment in childhood of people who as adults have psychiatric disorders. Design - Subjects in a prospectively followed up cohort (the national child development study) who had been admitted as adults to psychiatric hospitals were compared with the rest of the cohort on ratings of social behaviour made by teachers at the ages of 7 and 11 years.Peer reviewe

Study for development and refinement of Coral Baseline and Monitoring Methodology: Part I: Reconnaissance of Reef Benthos as an Aid to Management, and Part II. Close range photogrammetry for Time Series Studies of Coral Communities

[Extract] In the period 1976 to the present [1980], the author and others have examined methodologies for the biological characterization of coral reefs at scales ranging from square meters to tens of square kilometres. This paper, which is part I of a two part report, describes an application of the 'manta-tow' method for characterizing reefs at a scale between these two extremes. This application has been developed under the auspices of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and is now a major tool in their reef reconnaissance programme. [Extract] This paper is Part II of a report to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. It relates the status of a photogrammetric monitoring programme partly developed during the course of the project

Prenatal exposure to influenza does not cause schizophrenia

Original article can be found at: http://bjp.rcpsych.org/ Copyright The Royal College of Psychiatrists [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA]Peer reviewe