In this era of spatially resolved observations of planet-forming disks with Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and large ground-based telescopes such as the Very Large Telescope (VLT), Keck, and Subaru, we still lack statistically relevant information on the quantity and composition of the material that is building the planets, such as the total disk gas mass, the ice content of dust, and the state of water in planetesimals. SPace Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) is an infrared space mission concept developed jointly by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and European Space Agency (ESA) to address these questions. The key unique capabilities of SPICA that enable this research are (1) the wide spectral coverage $10{-}220\,\mu\mathrm{m}$ , (2) the high line detection sensitivity of $(1{-}2) \times 10^{-19}\,\mathrm{W\,m}^{-2}$ with $R \sim 2\,000{-}5\,000$ in the far-IR (SAFARI), and $10^{-20}\,\mathrm{W\,m}^{-2}$ with $R \sim 29\,000$ in the mid-IR (SPICA Mid-infrared Instrument (SMI), spectrally resolving line profiles), (3) the high far-IR continuum sensitivity of 0.45 mJy (SAFARI), and (4) the observing efficiency for point source surveys. This paper details how mid- to far-IR infrared spectra will be unique in measuring the gas masses and water/ice content of disks and how these quantities evolve during the planet-forming period. These observations will clarify the crucial transition when disks exhaust their primordial gas and further planet formation requires secondary gas produced from planetesimals. The high spectral resolution mid-IR is also unique for determining the location of the snowline dividing the rocky and icy mass reservoirs within the disk and how the divide evolves during the build-up of planetary systems. Infrared spectroscopy (mid- to far-IR) of key solid-state bands is crucial for assessing whether extensive radial mixing, which is part of our Solar System history, is a general process occurring in most planetary systems and whether extrasolar planetesimals are similar to our Solar System comets/asteroids. We demonstrate that the SPICA mission concept would allow us to achieve the above ambitious science goals through large surveys of several hundred disks within $\sim\!2.5$ months of observing time.

Suicides are prone to misclassification during death-ascertainment procedures. This problem has generated frequent criticism of the validity of suicide mortality statistics. The study aim was to employ an external measure of the validity of cause-of-death statistics, national autopsy rates, to examine potential misclassification of suicide across 35 countries. Data for the time period 1979–2007, were employed to analyze the association between suicide rates and autopsy rates and death rates of undetermined and ill-defined causes, respectively. Autopsy rates among nations were associated with suicide rates. These respective associations were robust with adjustment for unemployment, degree of urbanization, and the rate of undetermined or ill-defined deaths. Associations strengthened when analyses were confined to 19 EU member countries. Based on these results, we conclude that autopsy rates may impact the validity of suicide mortality statistics. Therefore, caution should be exercised in comparing international suicide rates and evaluating interventions that target suicide rate reduction.

Measurements in the infrared wavelength domain allow direct assessment of the physical state and energy balance of cool matter in space, enabling the detailed study of the processes that govern the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems in galaxies over cosmic time. Previous infrared missions revealed a great deal about the obscured Universe, but were hampered by limited sensitivity.

SPICA takes the next step in infrared observational capability by combining a large 2.5-meter diameter telescope, cooled to below 8 K, with instruments employing ultra-sensitive detectors. A combination of passive cooling and mechanical coolers will be used to cool both the telescope and the instruments. With mechanical coolers the mission lifetime is not limited by the supply of cryogen. With the combination of low telescope background and instruments with state-of-the-art detectors SPICA provides a huge advance on the capabilities of previous missions.

SPICA instruments offer spectral resolving power ranging from R ~50 through 11 000 in the 17–230 μm domain and R ~28.000 spectroscopy between 12 and 18 μm. SPICA will provide efficient 30–37 μm broad band mapping, and small field spectroscopic and polarimetric imaging at 100, 200 and 350 μm. SPICA will provide infrared spectroscopy with an unprecedented sensitivity of ~5 × 10−20 W m−2 (5σ/1 h)—over two orders of magnitude improvement over what earlier missions. This exceptional performance leap, will open entirely new domains in infrared astronomy; galaxy evolution and metal production over cosmic time, dust formation and evolution from very early epochs onwards, the formation history of planetary systems.

Background: A major concern of patients undergoing Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKS) for benign tumors and other conditions is the risk of a separate secondary malignancy or malignant -transformation. The incidence of radiosurgery-associated malignancy based on long-term follow-up remains unknown. Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study to estimate the incidence rate of both malignant transformation and a separate radiation-associated malignancy in patients undergoing GKS from 1987 to 2016 at 5 centers. Results: 11 527 patients underwent radiosurgery for meningioma (n=3261), arteriovenous malformation (n=2868), trigeminal neuralgia (n=1982), vestibular schwannoma (n=1957), pituitary adenoma (n=1193), other (n=266). The follow-up time ranged from 0.3 to 23.8 years. Four cases of malignant transformation and 3 new malignant brain tumors were reported, two of which were not within the irradiated field. The incidence of malignant transformation was 6.6 per 100 000 patient-years and of new malignancy, either locally or distant, was 5 in 100 000 patient-years. These risks are not higher than the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States derived annual incidence rate of all primary malignant CNS tumors of 7.15 per 100 000. Conclusions: Physicians can safely counsel patients that the risk of malignancy after stereotactic radiosurgery remains extremely low, even at long-term follow-up of greater than 10 years.

In a recent paper the suggestion is made that “it would be sensible when discussing the flow to use a Mach number based on the actual propagation velocity in the given circumstances.”

This directs attention to the deeper question of whether or not a Mach number however defined is a rational parameter in terms of which to express effects of flow.

In certain cases the quantity γp/ρ occurs quite naturally, regardless of any physical interpretation that can be given to it.

Using semi-empirical isochrones, we find the age of the Taurus star-forming region to be 3-4 Myr. Comparing the disc fraction in Taurus to young massive clusters suggests discs survive longer in this low density environment. We also present a method of photometrically de-reddening young stars using iZJH data.

Herbig Ae/Be objects, like their lower mass counterparts T Tauri stars, are seen to form a stable circumstellar disk which is initially gas-rich and could ultimately form a planetary system. We present Herschel SPIRE 460–1540 GHz spectra of five targets out of a sample of 13 young disk sources, showing line detections mainly due to warm CO gas.

The Magellanic System represents one of the best places to study the formation and evolution of galaxies. Photometric surveys of various depths, areas and wavelengths have had a significant impact on our understanding of the system; however, a complete picture is still lacking. VMC (the VISTA near-infrared YJKs survey of the Magellanic System) will provide new data to derive the spatially resolved star formation history and to construct a three-dimensional map of the system. These data combined with those from other ongoing and planned surveys will give us an absolutely unique view of the system opening up the doors to truly new science!

Water vapour is the principle source of opacity at infrared wavelengths in the earth's atmosphere. Measurements of atmospheric water vapour serve two primary purposes when considering operation of an observatory: long-term monitoring of precipital water vapour (PWV) is useful for characterizing potential observatory sites, and real-time monitoring of PWV is useful for optimizing use, in particular for mid-IR observations.

Erythrocyte Na–K ATPase and sodium pump site numbers were estimated in groups of depressed, manic and recovered patients. The activity of Na–K ATPase per pump site was lower in the depressed group than in the recovered group. In the manic group Na–K ATPase was lower than that of the recovered group, whereas there was no difference in the pump site numbers. In the more severe manics the activity of Na–K ATPase per pump site was significantly lower than that of the recovered patients. Therefore, the change occurring in the erythrocyte membrane cation carrier in manic-depressive psychosis is probably in the activity of individual Na–K ATPase molecules and not in the number of Na–K ATPase molecules per cell.

During 20 separate illnesses 17 severely disturbed manic patients were given either methysergide or thioridazine in a 21 day double-blind controlled trial. For most of the trial patients received either 9 mg methysergide or 450 mg thioridazine daily; during one 24-hour period 12 mg methysergide or 600 mg thioridazine was administered. Daily clinical assessments were made. Methysergide proved significantly less effective than the phenothiazine.

The vanadium content of hair, whole blood, serum and urine was estimated by neutron activation analysis in samples from manic patients, depressed patients, recovered manic patients, recovered depressed patients and normal controls. The results suggest that manic patients have significantly raised vanadium levels in hair which fall towards control levels with recovery, but there are no significant differences in the mean vanadium content of whole blood or serum. In contrast, depressed patients have raised levels of vanadium in whole blood and serum which appear to fall with recovery. Levels of vanadium in serum correlate strongly with those in whole blood, but neither shows significant correlation with vanadium in hair for either patients or controls. Hair and blood probably serve as indicator tissues for differing aspects of vanadium metabolism.

Erythrocyte sodium concentration, potassium concentration, Na-K ATPase activity, and ouabain sensitive potassium influx were determined in female inpatients suffering from a depressive illness. In most patients the biochemical values were also determined shortly before the patient's discharge from hospital. The Na-K ATPase and the ouabain sensitive potassium influx increased significantly with improvement in the depressive mood rating.

Erythrocyte sodium and potassium concentrations, erythrocyte membrane ATPase (Na–K specific and non-specific) and the rate of potassium influx into erythrocytes (ouabainsensitive and insensitive) were estimated in a group of female patients suffering from mania and repeated on about two thirds of them when they had recovered. With recovery there was a statistically significant increase in the erythrocyte ouabain-sensitive potassium influx. The other parameters showed no significant overall change with recovery but the initial severity correlated significantly and negatively with the change in erythrocyte Na–K ATPase with recovery. The changes that occurred in the erythrocyte sodium concentration and Na–K ATPase activity were not random since they correlated significantly with changes in the active potassium influx.

A group of bipolar manic depressive patients attending a routine lithium clinic were investigated. The results suggest that, when on treatment with lithium, manic depressive patients with a good prognosis tend to have a higher erythrocyte Na-K ATPase and higher plasma and erythrocyte lithium concentrations than those with a poor prognosis. There was no evidence to suggest that the erythrocyte: plasma lithium ratio was useful in predicting clinical response to lithium therapy. There was also a positive correlation between plasma lithium concentration and Na–K ATPase activity, confirming that in manic depressive subjects lithium produces a rise in erythrocyte Na–K ATPase activity.

The effect of ascorbic acid and ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) in the treatment of manic-depressive psychosis was compared, using double-blind procedures, with recognized treatment regimes. There was no significant difference between the response of depressed patients to amitriptyline or ascorbic acid and EDTA. Manic patients responded significantly better to lithium than to ascorbic acid and EDTA. These results are in keeping with the suggestion that vanadium may be of aetiological importance in depressive psychosis, but do not support such a suggestion for mania.

Biochemical studies of manic-depressive psychosis usually correlate biochemical findings with current affective state and hence any significant findings could be secondary to mood change. The present study attempts to correlate measures of the erythrocyte membrane cation carrier with clinical events, remote in time from the biochemical assay.

Erythrocyte sodium concentration, ouabain-sensitive potassium influx and Na-K ATPase were estimated in 11 patients before and after the cross-over point in a 2-year double blind clinical trial of lithium. Patients with the lowest erythrocyte Na-K ATPase and the highest flux sodium ATPase ratio tended to suffer most episodes of affective illness in the 2 years. Patients who had a low initial Na-K ATPase or a high initial flux sodium ATPase ratio, or in whom this ratio fell most with lithium or whose Na-K ATPase rose most with lithium, clinically responded best to lithium.