Calibration update of the COMBO-17 CDFS catalogue

We present an update to the photometric calibration of the COMBO-17 catalogue on the Extended Chandra Deep Field South, which is now consistent with the GaBoDS and MUSYC catalogues. As a result, photometric redshifts become slightly more accurate, with <0.01 rms and little bias in the delta_z/(1+z) of galaxies with R<21 and of QSOs with R<24. With increasing photon noise the rms of galaxies reaches 0.02 for R<23 and 0.035 at R~23.5. Consequences for the rest-frame colours of galaxies at z<1 are discussed.Comment: A&A research note, resubmitted 02 Oct 2008, 4 pages in print forma

On the orbital period of the magnetic Cataclysmic Variable HS 0922+1333

Context: The object HS 0922+1333 was visited briefly in 2002 in a mini survey of low accretion rate polars (LARPs) in order to test if they undergo high luminosity states similar to ordinary polars. On the basis of that short observation the suspicion arose that the object might be an asynchronous polar (Tovmassian et al. 2004). The disparity between the presumed orbital and spin period appeared to be quite unusual. Aims: We performed follow-up observations of the object to resolve the problem. Methods: New simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric observations spanning several years allowed measurements of radial velocities of emission and absorption lines from the secondary star and brightness variations due to synchrotron emission from the primary. Results: New observations show that the object is actually synchronous and its orbital and spin period are equal to 4.04 hours. Conclusions: We identify the source of confusion of previous observations to be a high velocity component of emission line arousing from the stream of matter leaving L1 point.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Predictions of children’s emotionality from evolutionary and epigenetic hypotheses

Sex-dependent effects of mismatched prenatal-postnatal maternal conditions are predicted by combining two evolutionary hypotheses: that foetal conditions provide a forecast of likely postnatal environments (Predictive Adaptive Response), and that the female foetus is better adapted than the male to maternal adversity (Trivers-Willard hypothesis). Animal studies have implicated glucocorticoid mechanisms modifiable by effects of postnatal tactile stimulation on glucocorticoid receptor gene expression. In this study we examined behavioural predictions in humans based on these evolutionary and epigenetic models. Mothers in a general population cohort provided self-reported anxiety scores at 20 weeks pregnancy, and at 9 weeks, 14 months and 3.5 years postpartum, and frequency of infant stroking at 9 weeks. Mothers and teachers reported child symptoms at 7 years. SEM models with maximum-likelihood estimates made use of data from 887 participants. There was a three-way interaction between prenatal and postnatal anxiety and maternal stroking in the prediction of irritability, seen only in girls. This arose because lower maternal stroking was associated with higher irritability, only in the mismatched, low-high and high-low maternal anxiety groups. We provide evidence that mechanisms likely to have evolved well before the emergence of humans, contribute to the development of children’s emotionality and risk for depression

Evidence for interplay between genes and parenting on infant temperament in the first year of life: monoamine oxidase A polymorphism moderates effects of maternal sensitivity on infant anger proneness

Background The low expression polymorphism of the MAOA gene in interaction with adverse environments (G × E) is associated with antisocial behaviour disorders. These have their origins in early life, but it is not known whether MAOA G × E occurs in infants. We therefore examined whether MAOA G × E predicts infant anger proneness, a temperamental dimension associated with later antisocial behaviour disorders. In contrast to previous studies, we examined MAOA G × E prospectively using an observational measure of a key aspect of the infant environment, maternal sensitivity, at a specified developmental time point. Methods In a stratified epidemiological cohort recruited during pregnancy, we ascertained MAOA status (low vs. high expression alleles) from the saliva of 193 infants, and examined specific predictions to maternal report of infant temperament at 14 months from maternal sensitivity assessed at 29 weeks of age. Results Analyses, weighted to provide general population estimates, indicated a robust interaction between MAOA status and maternal sensitivity in the prediction of infant anger proneness (p = .003) which became stronger once possible confounders for maternal sensitivity were included in the model (p = .0001). The interaction terms were similar in males (p = .010) and females (p = .016), but the effects were different as a consequence of an additional sex of infant by maternal sensitivity interaction. Conclusions This prospective study provides the first evidence of moderation by the MAOA gene of effects of parenting on infant anger proneness, an important early risk for the development of disruptive and aggressive behaviour disorders

Fermion zero modes in N=2 supervortices

We study the fermionic zero modes of BPS semilocal magnetic vortices in N=2 supersymmetric QED with a Fayet-Iliopoulos term and two matter hypermultiplets of opposite charge. There is a one-parameter family of vortices with arbitrarily wide magnetic cores. Contrary to the situation in pure Nielsen-Olesen vortices, new zero modes are found which get their masses from Yukawa couplings to scalar fields that do not wind and are non-zero at the core. We clarify the relation between fermion mass and zero modes. The new zero modes have opposite chiralities and therefore do not affect the net counting (left minus right) of zero modes coming from index theorems but manage to evade other index theorems in the literature that count the total number (left plus right) of zero modes in simpler systems.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. Uses Revtex4. Revised version includes discussion about the back-reaction of the fermions on the background vortex. Version to be published in Phys. Rev.

The strong coupling constant from lattice QCD with N_f=2 dynamical quarks

We compute $\Lambda_{\bar{MS}}$ for two flavors of light dynamical quarks using non-perturbatively $O(a)$ improved Wilson fermions. We improve on a recent calculation by employing Pad\'e-improved two-loop and three-loop perturbation theory to convert the lattice numbers to the $\bar{MS}$ scheme.Comment: Contribution to Lattice 2001 (matrix elements), typo correcte

Effects of prenatal and postnatal depression, and maternal stroking, at the glucocorticoid receptor gene

In animal models, prenatal and postnatal stress is associated with elevated hypothalamic–pituitary axis (HPA) reactivity mediated via altered glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene expression. Postnatal tactile stimulation is associated with reduced HPA reactivity mediated via increased GR gene expression. In this first study in humans to examine the joint effects of prenatal and postnatal environmental exposures, we report that GR gene (NR3C1) 1-F promoter methylation in infants is elevated in the presence of increased maternal postnatal depression following low prenatal depression, and that this effect is reversed by self-reported stroking of the infants by their mothers over the first weeks of life

Associations between maternal prenatal cortisol and fetal growth are specific to infant sex: findings from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study

Recent findings highlight that there are prenatal risks for affective disorders that are mediated by glucocorticoid mechanisms, and may be specific to females. There is also evidence of sex differences in prenatal programming mechanisms and developmental psychopathology, whereby effects are in opposite directions in males and females. As birth weight is a risk for affective disorders, we sought to investigate whether maternal prenatal cortisol may have sex-specific effects on fetal growth. Participants were 241 mothers selected from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS) cohort (n=1233) using a psychosocial risk stratifier, so that responses could be weighted back to the general population. Mothers provided saliva samples, which were assayed for cortisol, at home over 2 days at 32 weeks gestation (on waking, 30-min post-waking and during the evening). Measures of infant birth weight (corrected for gestational age) were taken from hospital records. General population estimates of associations between variables were obtained using inverse probability weights. Maternal log of the area under the curve cortisol predicted infant birth weight in a sex-dependent manner (interaction term P=0.029). There was a positive and statistically significant association between prenatal cortisol in males, and a negative association in females that was not statistically significant. A sex interaction in the same direction was evident when using the waking (P=0.015), and 30-min post-waking (P=0.013) cortisol, but not the evening measure. There was no interaction between prenatal cortisol and sex to predict gestational age. Our findings add to an emerging literature that suggests that there may be sex-specific mechanisms that underpin fetal programming