The role of Facebook groups in the management and raising of awareness of antidepressant withdrawal: is social media filling the void left by health services?

Introduction: Antidepressant withdrawal is experienced by about half of people who try to reduce or come off their medication. It can be a debilitating, long lasting process. Many clinicians misdiagnose or minimise symptoms, inadvertently prolonging suffering. Most are unable to help patients safely taper off. There has been little research into peer support communities that are playing an increasingly important role in helping people withdraw from psychiatric medications. Method: To illustrate the growth and activities of Facebook withdrawal groups we examined thirteen such groups. All were raising awareness of, and supporting individuals tapering off, antidepressants and were followed for 13 months. A further three groups were added for the last 5 months of the study. Results: In June 2020, the groups had a total membership of 67,125, of which, 60,261 were in private groups. The increase in membership for the 13 groups over the study period was 28.4%. One group was examined in greater detail. Group membership was 82.5% female, as were 80% of the Administrators and Moderators, all of whom are lay volunteers. Membership was international but dominated by the US (51.2%). The most common reason for seeking out this group was failed clinician-led tapers. Discussion: The results are discussed in the context of research on the prevalence, duration and severity of antidepressant withdrawal. We question why so many patients seek help in peer-led Facebook groups, rather than relying on the clinicians that prescribed the medications. The withdrawal experiences of tens of thousands of people remain hidden in these groups where they receive support to taper when healthcare services should be responsible. Further research should focus on the methods of support and tapering protocols used in these groups to enable improved, more informed support by clinicians. Support from Governments and healthcare agencies is also needed, internationally, to address this issue

Spin-Peierls states of quantum antiferromagnets on the CaV4O9Ca V_4 O_9 lattice

We discuss the quantum paramagnetic phases of Heisenberg antiferromagnets on the 1/5-depleted square lattice found in $Ca V_4 O_9$. The possible phases of the quantum dimer model on this lattice are obtained by a mapping to a quantum-mechanical height model. In addition to the ``decoupled'' phases found earlier, we find a possible intermediate spin-Peierls phase with spontaneously-broken lattice symmetry. Experimental signatures of the different quantum paramagnetic phases are discussed.Comment: 9 pages; 2 eps figure

Low-power radio galaxy environments in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field at z~0.5

We present multi-object spectroscopy of galaxies in the immediate (Mpc-scale) environments of four low-power (L_1.4 GHz < 10^25 W/Hz) radio galaxies at z~0.5, selected from the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field. We use the spectra to calculate velocity dispersions and central redshifts of the groups the radio galaxies inhabit, and combined with XMM-Newton (0.3-10 keV) X-ray observations investigate the L_X--sigma_v and T_X--sigma_v scaling relationships. All the radio galaxies reside in moderately rich groups -- intermediate environments between poor groups and rich clusters, with remarkably similar X-ray properties. We concentrate our discussion on our best statistical example that we interpret as a low-power (FRI) source triggered within a sub-group, which in turn is interacting with a nearby group of galaxies, containing the bulk of the X-ray emission for the system -- a basic scenario which can be compared to more powerful radio sources at both high (z>4) and low (z<0.1) redshifts. This suggests that galaxy-galaxy interactions triggered by group mergers may play an important role in the life-cycle of radio galaxies at all epochs and luminosities.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. High resolution version available upon reques

Charge order, superconductivity, and a global phase diagram of doped antiferromagnets

We investigate the interplay between lattice-symmetry breaking and superconducting order in a two-dimensional model of doped antiferromagnets, with long-range Coulomb interactions and Sp(2N) spin symmetry, in the large-N limit. Our results motivate the outline of a global phase diagram for the cuprate superconductors. We describe the quantum transitions between the phases, the evolution of their fermion excitation spectrum, and the experimental implications.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figs, final version as publishe

Exploring the origin of ice-filled craters in the north polar region of Mars

We investigate the origins of enigmatic ice-filled craters in the north polar region of Mars. We test several explanations for their origin, namely: (1) as polar cap remnants (2) accumulation independently of the polar cap, and (3) upwelling of subsurface water, analogous to either aufice or pingo formation on Earth. Each of these hypotheses has a significant impact on our understanding of Mars’ recent geological and climatic history and the behaviour of water and water ice at high latitudes. We used several lines of evidence to assess the most likely formation mechanism. We first performed a crater survey based on THEMIS visual data and MOLA elevation data to identify any craters that had domal central lumps which were different from normal central peaks. From this survey we identified 17 craters for further study. These include Louth, Korolev, Dokka and other unnamed craters. Using data from orbiting spectrometers; OMEGA on ESA’s Mars Express and CRISM on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; we verified that the composition of the exposed central domes was predominantly water ice. We found the domes fell into three groups: (1) those completely covered by dunes, (2) those partially covered by dunes and (3) those with no dunes. We investigated the morphology and the relative position of the domes using MOLA elevation data. We found that the domes are always asymmetrically placed within the craters. However, this asymmetry could not easily be linked to wind directions as revealed by dune slip-faces [2]. The domes often have a moat-like structure and in some cases do not cover the entire crater floor, e.g. Louth Crater. From image data, we identified six craters which possessed internal stratigraphy, in the form of regularly spaced layers, and of these we have inspected three in detail. We found that the layers possess both strong sinuosity and high angle unconformities. We interpret the internal stratigraphy as representing a sequence of regular cyclic accumulations, which produced the layers, followed by asymmetric ablation and subsequent resumption of accumulation, to produce the unconformities. Hence, the present-day shape of the domes indicates that they are in a phase of ablation.We attribute the colour contrasts between layers to different levels of dust, or particulate content. This could form a source for the dunes, which are often located on the summits of these domes. We find that this sequence is best explained by a model of atmospheric condensation. Our measurements of internal layer spacing and observations of layer stratigraphy argues that these deposits are not linked directly to a former, more extensive polar cap

Potential solar axion signatures in X-ray observations with the XMM-Newton observatory

The soft X-ray flux produced by solar axions in the Earth's magnetic field is evaluated in the context of ESA's XMM-Newton observatory. Recent calculations of the scattering of axion-conversion X-rays suggest that the sunward magnetosphere could be an observable source of 0.2-10 keV photons. For XMM-Newton, any conversion X-ray intensity will be seasonally modulated by virtue of the changing visibility of the sunward magnetic field region. A simple model of the geomagnetic field is combined with the ephemeris of XMM-Newton to predict the seasonal variation of the conversion X-ray intensity. This model is compared with stacked XMM-Newton blank sky datasets from which point sources have been systematically removed. Remarkably, a seasonally varying X-ray background signal is observed. The EPIC count rates are in the ratio of their X-ray grasps, indicating a non-instrumental, external photon origin, with significances of 11(pn), 4(MOS1) and 5(MOS2) sigma. After examining the constituent observations spatially, temporally and in terms of the cosmic X-ray background, we conclude that this variable signal is consistent with the conversion of solar axions in the Earth's magnetic field. The spectrum is consistent with a solar axion spectrum dominated by bremsstrahlung- and Compton-like processes, i.e. axion-electron coupling dominates over axion-photon coupling and the peak of the axion spectrum is below 1 keV. A value of 2.2e-22 /GeV is derived for the product of the axion-photon and axion-electron coupling constants, for an axion mass in the micro-eV range. Comparisons with limits derived from white dwarf cooling may not be applicable, as these refer to axions in the 0.01 eV range. Preliminary results are given of a search for axion-conversion X-ray lines, in particular the predicted features due to silicon, sulphur and iron in the solar core, and the 14.4 keV transition line from 57Fe.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 67 pages total, including 39 figures, 6 table

Bulk and edge correlations in the compressible half-filled quantum Hall state

We study bulk and edge correlations in the compressible half-filled state, using a modified version of the plasma analogy. The corresponding plasma has anomalously weak screening properties, and as a consequence we find that the correlations along the edge do not decay algebraically as in the Laughlin (incompressible) case, while the bulk correlations decay in the same way. The results suggest that due to the strong coupling between charged modes on the edge and the neutral Fermions in the bulk, reflected by the weak screening in the plasma analogue, the (attractive) correlation hole is not well defined on the edge. Hence, the system there can be modeled as a free Fermi gas of {\em electrons} (with an appropriate boundary condition). We finally comment on a possible scenario, in which the Laughlin-like dynamical edge correlations may nevertheless be realized.Comment: package now includes the file epsfig.sty, needed to incorporate properly the 8 magnificent figure

Ground State Entropy of the Potts Antiferromagnet on Cyclic Strip Graphs

We present exact calculations of the zero-temperature partition function (chromatic polynomial) and the (exponent of the) ground-state entropy $S_0$ for the $q$-state Potts antiferromagnet on families of cyclic and twisted cyclic (M\"obius) strip graphs composed of $p$-sided polygons. Our results suggest a general rule concerning the maximal region in the complex $q$ plane to which one can analytically continue from the physical interval where $S_0 > 0$. The chromatic zeros and their accumulation set ${\cal B}$ exhibit the rather unusual property of including support for $Re(q) < 0$ and provide further evidence for a relevant conjecture.Comment: 7 pages, Latex, 4 figs., J. Phys. A Lett., in pres