Empirical evidence for Freud's theory of primary process mentation in acute psychosis

Freud (1895/1966; 1900/1953; 1915/1957) has proposed that primary process functioning is typical for acute psychosis. A non-verbal method, the ‘Geocat’ (Brakel, Kleinsorge, Snodgrass and Shevrin, 2000), measures primary processes operationalised as attributional categorisation, which considers exemplars as similar if particular features match, even if these components are arranged in a quite different configuration. With the use of GeoCat we explored primary process mentation in 127 psychiatric patients. Results show that (1) there are substantially higher levels of attributional choices in our sample of psychiatric patients, independently of diagnosis, than in a non-patient population; (2) psychotic patients tend to have more attributional choices than non-psychotic patient; patients with acute psychotic symptoms show more attributional responses than patients without acute psychotic symptoms; (3) this increase of attributional choices with the psychotic condition is independent of self-rated anxiety or medication intake. We propose that, instead, this increase of attributional levels in the acutely psychotic patients reflects a predominance of primary processing which is specifically tied to the acutely psychotic condition, as proposed by Freud

Extending the applicability of the dose addition model to the assessment of chemical mixtures of partial agonists by using a novel toxic unit extrapolation method

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Dose addition, a commonly used concept in toxicology for the prediction of chemical mixture effects, cannot readily be applied to mixtures of partial agonists with differing maximal effects. Due to its mathematical features, effect levels that exceed the maximal effect of the least efficacious compound present in the mixture, cannot be calculated. This poses problems when dealing with mixtures likely to be encountered in realistic assessment situations where chemicals often show differing maximal effects. To overcome this limitation, we developed a pragmatic solution that extrapolates the toxic units of partial agonists to effect levels beyond their maximal efficacy. We extrapolated different additivity expectations that reflect theoretically possible extremes and validated this approach with a mixture of 21 estrogenic chemicals in the E-Screen. This assay measures the proliferation of human epithelial breast cancers. We found that the dose-response curves of the estrogenic agents exhibited widely varying shapes, slopes and maximal effects, which made it necessary to extrapolate mixture responses above 14% proliferation. Our toxic unit extrapolation approach predicted all mixture responses accurately. It extends the applicability of dose addition to combinations of agents with differing saturating effects and removes an important bottleneck that has severely hampered the use of dose addition in the past. © 2014 Scholze et al

Estimating Infection Risks and the Global Burden of Diarrheal Disease Attributable to Intermittent Water Supply Using QMRA.

: Intermittent water supply (IWS) is prevalent throughout low and middle-income countries. IWS is associated with increased microbial contamination and potentially elevated risk of waterborne illness. We used existing data sets to estimate the population exposed to IWS, assess the probability of infection using quantitative microbial risk assessment, and calculate the subsequent burden of diarrheal disease attributable to consuming fecally contaminated tap water from an IWS. We used reference pathogens Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, and rotavirus as conservative risk proxies for infections via bacteria, protozoa, and viruses, respectively. Results indicate that the median daily risk of infection is an estimated 1 in 23 500 for Campylobacter, 1 in 5 050 000 for Cryptosporidium, and 1 in 118 000 for rotavirus. Based on these risks, IWS may account for 17.2 million infections causing 4.52 million cases of diarrhea, 109 000 diarrheal DALYs, and 1560 deaths each year. The burden of diarrheal disease associated with IWS likely exceeds the WHO health-based normative guideline for drinking water of 10-6 DALYs per person per year. Our results underscore the importance water safety management in water supplies and the potential benefits of point-of-use treatment to mitigate risks.<br/

Friends of hot Jupiters. II. No correspondence between hot-Jupiter spin-orbit misalignment and the incidence of directly imaged stellar companions

This is the final version of the article. Available from American Astronomical Society / IOP Publishing via the DOI in this record.Multi-star systems are common, yet little is known about a stellar companion's influence on the formation and evolution of planetary systems. For instance, stellar companions may have facilitated the inward migration of hot Jupiters toward to their present day positions. Many observed short-period gas giant planets also have orbits that are misaligned with respect to their star's spin axis, which has also been attributed to the presence of a massive outer companion on a non-coplanar orbit. We present the results of a multi-band direct imaging survey using Keck NIRC2 to measure the fraction of short-period gas giant planets found in multi-star systems. Over three years, we completed a survey of 50 targets ("Friends of Hot Jupiters") with 27 targets showing some signature of multi-body interaction (misaligned or eccentric orbits) and 23 targets in a control sample (well-aligned and circular orbits). We report the masses, projected separations, and confirmed common proper motion for the 19 stellar companions found around 17 stars. Correcting for survey incompleteness, we report companion fractions of 48% ± 9%, 47% ± 12%, and 51% ± 13% in our total, misaligned/eccentric, and control samples, respectively. This total stellar companion fraction is 2.8σ larger than the fraction of field stars with companions approximately 50-2000 AU. We observe no correlation between misaligned/eccentric hot Jupiter systems and the incidence of stellar companions. Combining this result with our previous radial velocity survey, we determine that 72% ± 16% of hot Jupiters are part of multi-planet and/or multi-star systems.This work was supported by NASA grant NNX14AD24G. H.N. is grateful for funding support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. J.A.J. gratefully acknowledges support from generous fellowships from the David & Lucile Packard and Alfred P. Sloan foundations

Controlled interfacial assembly of 2D curved colloidal crystals and jammed shells

Assembly of colloidal particles on fluid interfaces is a promising technique for synthesizing two-dimensional micro-crystalline materials useful in fields as diverse as biomedicine1, materials science2, mineral flotation3 and food processing4. Current approaches rely on bulk emulsification methods, require further chemical and thermal treatments, and are restrictive with respect to the materials employed5-9. The development of methods that exploit the great potential of interfacial assembly for producing tailored materials have been hampered by the lack of understanding of the assembly process. Here we report a microfluidic method that allows direct visualization and understanding of the dynamics of colloidal crystal growth on curved interfaces. The crystals are periodically ejected to form stable jammed shells, which we refer to as colloidal armour. We propose that the energetic barriers to interfacial crystal growth and organization can be overcome by targeted delivery of colloidal particles through hydrodynamic flows. Our method allows an unprecedented degree of control over armour composition, size and stability.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

The California-Kepler survey. X. The radius gap as a function of stellar mass, metallicity, and age

In 2017, the California-Kepler Survey (CKS) published its first data release (DR1) of high-resolution optical spectra of 1305 planet hosts. Refined CKS planet radii revealed that small planets are bifurcated into two distinct populations, super-Earths (smaller than 1.5 R⊕) and sub-Neptunes (between 2.0 and 4.0 R⊕), with few planets in between (the "radius gap"). Several theoretical models of the radius gap predict variation with stellar mass, but testing these predictions is challenging with CKS DR1 due to its limited M⋆ range of 0.8–1.4 M⊙. Here we present CKS DR2 with 411 additional spectra and derived properties focusing on stars of 0.5–0.8 M⊙. We found that the radius gap follows Rp ∝ Pm with m = −0.10 ± 0.03, consistent with predictions of X-ray and ultraviolet- and core-powered mass-loss mechanisms. We found no evidence that m varies with M⋆. We observed a correlation between the average sub-Neptune size and M⋆. Over 0.5–1.4 M⊙, the average sub-Neptune grows from 2.1 to 2.6 R⊕, following ${R}_{p}\propto {M}_{\star }^{\alpha }$ with α = 0.25 ± 0.03. In contrast, there is no detectable change for super-Earths. These M⋆–Rp trends suggest that protoplanetary disks can efficiently produce cores up to a threshold mass of Mc, which grows linearly with stellar mass according to Mc ≈ 10 M⊕(M⋆/M⊙). There is no significant correlation between sub-Neptune size and stellar metallicity (over −0.5 to +0.5 dex), suggesting a weak relationship between planet envelope opacity and stellar metallicity. Finally, there is no significant variation in sub-Neptune size with stellar age (over 1–10 Gyr), which suggests that the majority of envelope contraction concludes after ∼1 Gyr

A rocky planet transiting a nearby low-mass star

M-dwarf stars -- hydrogen-burning stars that are smaller than 60 per cent of the size of the Sun -- are the most common class of star in our Galaxy and outnumber Sun-like stars by a ratio of 12:1. Recent results have shown that M dwarfs host Earth-sized planets in great numbers: the average number of M-dwarf planets that are between 0.5 to 1.5 times the size of Earth is at least 1.4 per star. The nearest such planets known to transit their star are 39 parsecs away, too distant for detailed follow-up observations to measure the planetary masses or to study their atmospheres. Here we report observations of GJ 1132b, a planet with a size of 1.2 Earth radii that is transiting a small star 12 parsecs away. Our Doppler mass measurement of GJ 1132b yields a density consistent with an Earth-like bulk composition, similar to the compositions of the six known exoplanets with masses less than six times that of the Earth and precisely measured densities. Receiving 19 times more stellar radiation than the Earth, the planet is too hot to be habitable but is cool enough to support a substantial atmosphere, one that has probably been considerably depleted of hydrogen. Because the host star is nearby and only 21 per cent the radius of the Sun, existing and upcoming telescopes will be able to observe the composition and dynamics of the planetary atmosphere.Comment: Published in Nature on 12 November 2015, available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature15762. This is the authors' version of the manuscrip

Acute mesenteric ischemia and duodenal ulcer perforation: a unique double pathology

Background: Acute mesenteric ischaemia and duodenal perforation are surgical emergencies with serious consequences. Patients presenting with acute mesenteric ischaemia alone face a high mortality rate as high as 60% whereas those presenting with peptic ulcer perforation the mortality rates range from 6-14%. There are very few reported cases of patients presenting with this dual pathology. Case presentation: We report a unique case of a 53 year old Italian lady who presented with acute mesenteric ischaemia and duodenal perforation. This is the first report of massive bowel ischaemia and duodenal perforation with no apparent underlying common pathophysiology leading to this presentation. Conclusion: Early management in the intensive care unit and appropriate surgical intervention maximised the patient’s chances of survival despite the poor prognosis associated with her dual pathology. The rare pathology of the patient described can be explained by two possible hypotheses: peptic ulcer disease causing duodenal ulceration, which precipitated ischaemic infarction of the small bowel. The second hypothesis is the patient developed a stress related ulcer following ischaemic bowel infarction secondary to arterial thrombosis

The HATNet and HATSouth Exoplanet Surveys

The Hungarian-made Automated Telescope Network (HATNet) has been in operation since 2003, with the key science goal being the discovery and accurate characterization of transiting extrasolar planets (TEPs) around bright stars. Using six small, 11\,cm\ aperture, fully automated telescopes in Arizona and Hawaii, as of 2017 March, it has discovered and accurately characterized 67 such objects. The HATSouth network of telescopes has been in operation since 2009, using slightly larger, 18\,cm diameter optical tubes. It was the first global network of telescopes using identical instrumentation. With three premier sites spread out in longitude (Chile, Namibia, Australia), the HATSouth network permits round-the-clock observations of a 128 square arcdegree swath of the sky at any given time, weather permitting. As of this writing, HATSouth has discovered 36 transiting exoplanets. Many of the altogether ~100 HAT and HATSouth exoplanets were the first of their kind. They have been important contributors to the rapidly developing field of exoplanets, motivating and influencing observational techniques, theoretical studies, and also actively shaping future instrumentation for the detection and characterization of such objects.Comment: Invited review chapter, accepted for publication in "Handbook of Exoplanets", edited by H.J. Deeg and J.A. Belmonte, Springer Reference Work

The development of path integration: combining estimations of distance and heading

Efficient daily navigation is underpinned by path integration, the mechanism by which we use self-movement information to update our position in space. This process is well-understood in adulthood, but there has been relatively little study of path integration in childhood, leading to an underrepresentation in accounts of navigational development. Previous research has shown that calculation of distance and heading both tend to be less accurate in children as they are in adults, although there have been no studies of the combined calculation of distance and heading that typifies naturalistic path integration. In the present study 5-year-olds and 7-year-olds took part in a triangle-completion task, where they were required to return to the startpoint of a multi-element path using only idiothetic information. Performance was compared to a sample of adult participants, who were found to be more accurate than children on measures of landing error, heading error, and distance error. 7-year-olds were significantly more accurate than 5-year-olds on measures of landing error and heading error, although the difference between groups was much smaller for distance error. All measures were reliably correlated with age, demonstrating a clear development of path integration abilities within the age range tested. Taken together, these data make a strong case for the inclusion of path integration within developmental models of spatial navigational processing