Psychometric precision in phenotype definition is a useful step in molecular genetic investigation of psychiatric disorders

Affective disorders are highly heritable, but few genetic risk variants have been consistently replicated in molecular genetic association studies. The common method of defining psychiatric phenotypes in molecular genetic research is either a summation of symptom scores or binary threshold score representing the risk of diagnosis. Psychometric latent variable methods can improve the precision of psychiatric phenotypes, especially when the data structure is not straightforward. Using data from the British 1946 birth cohort, we compared summary scores with psychometric modeling based on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) scale for affective symptoms in an association analysis of 27 candidate genes (249 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)). The psychometric method utilized a bi-factor model that partitioned the phenotype variances into five orthogonal latent variable factors, in accordance with the multidimensional data structure of the GHQ-28 involving somatic, social, anxiety and depression domains. Results showed that, compared with the summation approach, the affective symptoms defined by the bi-factor psychometric model had a higher number of associated SNPs of larger effect sizes. These results suggest that psychometrically defined mental health phenotypes can reflect the dimensions of complex phenotypes better than summation scores, and therefore offer a useful approach in genetic association investigations

The 6-GHz multibeam maser survey III: comparison between the MMB and HOPS

We have compared the occurrence of 6.7-GHz and 12.2-GHz methanol masers with 22-GHz water masers and 6035-MHz excited-state OH masers in the 100 square degree region of the southern Galactic plane common to the Methanol Multibeam (MMB) and H2O southern Galactic Plane surveys (HOPS). We find the most populous star formation species to be 6.7-GHz methanol, followed by water, then 12.2-GHz and, finally, excited-state OH masers. We present association statistics, flux density (and luminosity where appropriate) and velocity range distributions across the largest, fully surveyed portion of the Galactic plane for four of the most common types of masers found in the vicinity of star formation regions. Comparison of the occurrence of the four maser types with far-infrared dust temperatures shows that sources exhibiting excited-state OH maser emission are warmer than sources showing any of the other three maser types. We further find that sources exhibiting both 6.7-GHz and 12.2-GHz methanol masers are warmer than sources exhibiting just 6.7-GHz methanol maser emission. These findings are consistent with previously made suggestions that both OH and 12.2-GHz methanol masers generally trace a later stage of star formation compared to other common maser types

Tame D-tadpoles in gauge mediation

We revisit models of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking where messenger parity is violated. Such a symmetry is usually invoked in order to set to zero potentially dangerous hypercharge D-term tadpoles. A milder hypothesis is that the D-tadpole vanishes only at the first order in the gauge coupling constant. Then the next order leads to a contribution to the sfermion masses which is of the same magnitude as the usual radiative one. This enlarges the parameter space of gauge mediated models. We first give a completely general characterization of this contribution, in terms of particular three-point functions of hidden sector current multiplet operators. We then explore the parameter space by means of two simple weakly coupled models, where the D-tadpole arising at two-loops has actually a mild logarithmic divergence.Comment: 13 pages + 9 pages of appendix, 1 figure; v2: some clarifying comments added, version to appear in JHE

A microscopic theory of gauge mediation

We construct models of indirect gauge mediation where the dynamics responsible for breaking supersymmetry simultaneously generates a weakly coupled subsector of messengers. This provides a microscopic realization of messenger gauge mediation where the messenger and hidden sector fields are unified into a single sector. The UV theory is SQCD with massless and massive quarks plus singlets, and at low energies it flows to a weakly coupled quiver gauge theory. One node provides the primary source of supersymmetry breaking, which is then transmitted to the node giving rise to the messenger fields. These models break R-symmetry spontaneously, produce realistic gaugino and sfermion masses, and give a heavy gravitino.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures, accepted to JHEP for publicatio

Bounds on SCFTs from Conformal Perturbation Theory

The operator product expansion (OPE) in 4d (super)conformal field theory is of broad interest, for both formal and phenomenological applications. In this paper, we use conformal perturbation theory to study the OPE of nearly-free fields coupled to SCFTs. Under fairly general assumptions, we show that the OPE of a chiral operator of dimension $\Delta = 1+\epsilon$ with its complex conjugate always contains an operator of dimension less than $2 \Delta$. Our bounds apply to Banks-Zaks fixed points and their generalizations, as we illustrate using several examples.Comment: 36 pages; v2: typos fixed, minor change

Flavor of quiver-like realizations of effective supersymmetry

We present a class of supersymmetric models which address the flavor puzzle and have an inverted hierarchy of sfermions. Their construction involves quiver-like models with link fields in generic representations. The magnitude of Standard-Model parameters is obtained naturally and a relatively heavy Higgs boson is allowed without fine tuning. Collider signatures of such models are possibly within the reach of LHC in the near future.Comment: LaTeX, 17 pages, 3 figures. V2: reference adde

On the Spectrum of Direct Gaugino Mediation

In direct gauge mediation, the gaugino masses are anomalously small, giving rise to a split SUSY spectrum. Here we investigate the superpartner spectrum in a minimal version of "direct gaugino mediation." We find that the sfermion masses are comparable to those of the gauginos - even in the hybrid gaugino-gauge mediation regime - if the messenger scale is sufficiently small.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures; V2: refs. adde

Don’t turn your back on the symptoms of psychosis : a proof-of-principle, quasi-experimental public health trial to reduce the duration of untreated psychosis in Birmingham, UK

Background: Reducing the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is an aspiration of international guidelines for first episode psychosis; however, public health initiatives have met with mixed results. Systematic reviews suggest that greater focus on the sources of delay within care pathways, (which will vary between healthcare settings) is needed to achieve sustainable reductions in DUP (BJP 198: 256-263; 2011). Methods/Design: A quasi-experimental trial, comparing a targeted intervention area with a ‘detection as usual’ area in the same city. A proof-of–principle trial, no a priori assumptions are made regarding effect size; key outcome will be an estimate of the potential effect size for a definitive trial. DUP and number of new cases will be collected over an 18-month period in target and control areas and compared; historical data on DUP collected in both areas over the previous three years, will serve as a benchmark. The intervention will focus on reducing two significant DUP component delays within the overall care pathway: delays within the mental health service and help-seeking delay. Discussion: This pragmatic trial will be the first to target known delays within the care pathway for those with a first episode of psychosis. If successful, this will provide a generalizable methodology that can be implemented in a variety of healthcare contexts with differing sources of delay. Trial registration: http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN45058713 Keywords: Public mental health campaign, First-episode psychosis, Early detection, Duration of untreated psychosis, Youth mental healt