C-FAR - Carbon footprinting of archaeological research: Data collection methodology and interim report

Carbon Footprinting of Archaeology Research (C-FAR) focused on developing a method of determining the carbon footprint of university-led archaeological training expeditions.British Academ

Examining Mental Health and Well-being Provision in Schools in Europe: Methodological Approach

Schools are considered an ideal setting for community-based mental health and well-being interventions for young people. However, in spite of extensive literature examining the effectiveness of such interventions, very few studies have investigated existing mental health and well-being provision in schools. The current study aims to extend such previous research by surveying primary and secondary schools to investigate the nature of available provision in nine European countries (Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, the UK and Ukraine). Furthermore, the study aims to investigate potential barriers to mental health and well-being provision and compare provision within and between countries

Stability of strange stars (SS) derived from a realistic equation of state

A realistic equation of state (EOS) leads to realistic strange stars (ReSS) which are compact in the mass radius plot, close to the Schwarzchild limiting line (Dey et al 1998). Many of the observed stars fit in with this kind of compactness, irrespective of whether they are X-ray pulsars, bursters or soft $\gamma$ repeaters or even radio pulsars. We point out that a change in the radius of a star can be small or large, when its mass is increasing and this depends on the position of a particular star on the mass radius curve. We carry out a stability analysis against radial oscillations and compare with the EOS of other strange star (SS) models. We find that the ReSS is stable and an M-R region can be identified to that effect.Comment: 16 pages including 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MPL

Eccentricities of Double Neutron Star Binaries

Recent pulsar surveys have increased the number of observed double neutron stars (DNS) in our galaxy enough so that observable trends in their properties are starting to emerge. In particular, it has been noted that the majority of DNS have eccentricities less than 0.3, which are surprisingly low for binaries that survive a supernova explosion that we believe imparts a significant kick to the neutron star. To investigate this trend, we generate many different theoretical distributions of DNS eccentricities using Monte Carlo population synthesis methods. We determine which eccentricity distributions are most consistent with the observed sample of DNS binaries. In agreement with Chaurasia & Bailes (2005), assuming all double neutron stars are equally as probable to be discovered as binary pulsars, we find that highly eccentric, coalescing DNS are less likely to be observed because of their accelerated orbital evolution due to gravitational wave emission and possible early mergers. Based on our results for coalescing DNS, we also find that models with vanishingly or moderately small kicks (sigma < about 50 km/s) are inconsistent with the current observed sample of such DNS. We discuss the implications of our conclusions for DNS merger rate estimates of interest to ground-based gravitational-wave interferometers. We find that, although orbital evolution due to gravitational radiation affects the eccentricity distribution of the observed sample, the associated upwards correction factor to merger rate estimates is rather small (typically 10-40%).Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted by ApJ. Figures reduced and some content changed, references adde

The First INTEGRAL AGN Catalog

We present the first INTEGRAL AGN catalog, based on observations performed from launch of the mission in October 2002 until January 2004. The catalog includes 42 AGN, of which 10 are Seyfert 1, 17 are Seyfert 2, and 9 are intermediate Seyfert 1.5. The fraction of blazars is rather small with 5 detected objects, and only one galaxy cluster and no star-burst galaxies have been detected so far. A complete subset consists of 32 AGN with a significance limit of 7 sigma in the INTEGRAL/ISGRI 20-40 keV data. Although the sample is not flux limited, the distribution of sources shows a ratio of obscured to unobscured AGN of 1.5 - 2.0, consistent with luminosity dependent unified models for AGN. Only four Compton-thick AGN are found in the sample. Based on the INTEGRAL data presented here, the Seyfert 2 spectra are slightly harder (Gamma = 1.95 +- 0.01) than Seyfert 1.5 (Gamma = 2.10 +- 0.02) and Seyfert 1 (Gamma = 2.11 +- 0.05).Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Maximum mass of a cold compact star

We calculate the maximum mass of the class of compact stars described by Vaidya-Tikekar \cite{VT01} model. The model permits a simple method of systematically fixing bounds on the maximum possible mass of cold compact stars with a given value of radius or central density or surface density. The relevant equations of state are also determined. Although simple, the model is capable of describing the general features of the recently observed very compact stars. For the calculation, no prior knowledge of the equation of state (EOS) is required. This is in contrast to the earlier calculations for maximum mass which were done by choosing first the relevant EOSs and using those to solve the TOV equation with appropriate boundary conditions. The bounds obtained by us are comparable and, in some cases, more restrictive than the earlier results.Comment: 18 pages including 4 *.eps figures. Submitted for publicatio

Jacobi-like bar mode instability of relativistic rotating bodies

We perform some numerical study of the secular triaxial instability of rigidly rotating homogeneous fluid bodies in general relativity. In the Newtonian limit, this instability arises at the bifurcation point between the Maclaurin and Jacobi sequences. It can be driven in astrophysical systems by viscous dissipation. We locate the onset of instability along several constant baryon mass sequences of uniformly rotating axisymmetric bodies for compaction parameter $M/R = 0-0.275$. We find that general relativity weakens the Jacobi like bar mode instability, but the stabilizing effect is not very strong. According to our analysis the critical value of the ratio of the kinetic energy to the absolute value of the gravitational potential energy $(T/|W|)_{\rm crit}$ for compaction parameter as high as 0.275 is only 30% higher than the Newtonian value. The critical value of the eccentricity depends very weakly on the degree of relativity and for $M/R=0.275$ is only 2% larger than the Newtonian value at the onset for the secular bar mode instability. We compare our numerical results with recent analytical investigations based on the post-Newtonian expansion.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

When is Sessional Monitoring More Likely in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services?

Sessional monitoring of patient progress or experience of therapy is an evidence-based intervention recommended by healthcare systems internationally. It is being rolled out across child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in England to inform clinical practice and service evaluation. We explored whether patient demographic and case characteristics were associated with the likelihood of using sessional monitoring. Multilevel regressions were conducted on N = 2609 youths from a routinely collected dataset from 10 CAMHS. Girls (odds ratio, OR 1.26), older youths (OR 1.10), White youths (OR 1.35), and youths presenting with mood (OR 1.46) or anxiety problems (OR 1.59) were more likely to have sessional monitoring. In contrast, youths under state care (OR 0.20) or in need of social service input (OR 0.39) were less likely to have sessional monitoring. Findings of the present research may suggest that sessional monitoring is more likely with common problems such as mood and anxiety problems but less likely with more complex cases, such as those involving youths under state care or those in need of social service input

Analysis and characterisation of human chorionic gonadotropin glycoforms in pregnancy and trophoblastic disorders

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a heterogeneous glycoprotein hormone with a varying degree of carbohydrate moieties. Its glycosylation arrangements are increasingly recognized as a common and important element of disease pathophysiology and are associated with many disorders including gestational trophoblastic diseases (GTDs). This study aimed to optimise methodologies to permit the characterisation of hCG N-linked glycans from urine samples collected throughout normal pregnancy and GTD using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). hCG isolated from pooled pregnancy urine was used in this study. All the stages in pregnancy urine preparation were optimised; including conditions for hCG immunopurification, deglycosylation, solid-phase extraction of resulting glycan:protein mixture and application of N-glycans for MALDI-TOF MS analysis. GlycoQuest software was used to characterise specific N-glycans configurations from the resulting MALDI-TOF MS spectra. This methodology was then applied to urine samples collected throughout normal singleton pregnancy and urine collected from patients with choriocarcinoma. The relative abundance of glycans of different molecular weights and specific types (i.e. fucosylated, sialylated, bisected and sulphated) at each stage of normal pregnancy and in GTD were compared. Each stage of optimisation increased the number of N-glycans detected such that we were ultimately able to detect 50 different glycans in normal pregnancy urine. In these samples, advancing gestation was associated with an increase in the proportion of branched N-glycans and multi-fucosylated N-glycans. Also, a significant increase in the proportion of high molecular weight glycans (>2100 Da) between choriocarcinoma and first-trimester normal pregnancy was observed. Further striking differences in the repertoire of glycan expression were also seen in choriocarcinoma urine compared with first-trimester pregnancy urine. The proportion of multi-fucosylated and tri-and tetra antennal, glycans was increased 3 and 2 fold respectively. In addition, 14 unique N-linked glycan structures were identified in choriocarcinoma samples. These included hyperfucosylated (7 fucose groups) and hypersialylated (4 sialic acid groups) glycans. A feature of this unique set of glycans was that they contained a combination of multiple branching, fucosylation, sialylation, sulphation and glycans with Lewis X terminal epitopes. In summary, we have successfully developed a methodology for the detection of a diverse range of N-linked glycans from hCG. These results suggest that this approach can be successfully used for the detection of novel glyco-biomarkers for the early detection of choriocarcinoma and may be applied to other GTDs associated with a dysregulation of hCG expression

The average X-ray/gamma-ray spectrum of radio-quiet Seyfert 1s

We have obtained the average 1--500 keV spectrum of radio-quiet Seyfert 1s using data from EXOSAT, Ginga, HEAO, and GRO/OSSE. The spectral fit to the combined average EXOSAT and OSSE data is fully consistent with that for Ginga and OSSE, confirming results from an earlier Ginga/OSSE sample. The average spectrum is well-fitted by a power-law X-ray continuum with an energy spectral index of $\alpha \simeq 0.9$ moderately absorbed by an ionized medium and with a Compton reflection component. A high-energy cutoff (or a break) in the the power-law component at a few hundred keV or more is required by the data. We also show that the corresponding average spectrum from HEAO A1 and A4 is fully compatible with that obtained from EXOSAT, Ginga and OSSE. These results confirm that the apparent discrepancy between the results of Ginga (with $\alpha \simeq 0.9$) and the previous results of EXOSAT and HEAO (with $\alpha \simeq 0.7$) is indeed due to ionized absorption and Compton reflection first taken into account for Ginga but not for the previous missions. Also, our results confirm that the Seyfert-1 spectra are on average cut off in gamma-rays at energies of at least a few hundred keV, not at $\sim 40$ keV (as suggested earlier by OSSE data alone). The average spectrum is compatible with emission from either an optically-thin relativistic thermal plasma in a disk corona, or with a nonthermal plasma with a power-law injection of relativistic electrons.Comment: 7 pages, 3 Postscript figures, MNRAS accepte