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We use deep Chandra and HST data to uniquely classify the X-ray binary (XRB) populations in M81 on the basis of their donor stars and local stellar populations (into early-type main sequence, yellow giant, supergiant, low-mass, and globular cluster). First, we find that more massive, redder, and denser globular clusters are more likely to be associated with XRBs. Second, we find that the high-mass XRBs (HMXBs) overall have a steeper X-ray luminosity function (XLF) than the canonical star-forming galaxy XLF, though there is some evidence of variations in the slopes of the sub-populations. On the other hand, the XLF of the prototypical starburst M82 is described by the canonical powerlaw (αcum ∼ 0.6) down to LX ∼ 1036 erg s−1. We attribute variations in XLF slopes to different mass transfer modes (Roche-lobe overflow versus wind-fed systems).
Hippocampal volume reductions in major depression have been frequently reported. However, evidence for functional abnormalities in the same region in depression has been less clear. We investigated hippocampal function in depression using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychological tasks tapping spatial memory function, with complementing measures of hippocampal volume and resting blood flow to aid interpretation.
Method
A total of 20 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and a matched group of 20 healthy individuals participated. Participants underwent multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): fMRI during a spatial memory task, and structural MRI and resting blood flow measurements of the hippocampal region using arterial spin labelling. An offline battery of neuropsychological tests, including several measures of spatial memory, was also completed.
Results
The fMRI analysis showed significant group differences in bilateral anterior regions of the hippocampus. While control participants showed task-dependent differences in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal, depressed patients did not. No group differences were detected with regard to hippocampal volume or resting blood flow. Patients showed reduced performance in several offline neuropsychological measures. All group differences were independent of differences in hippocampal volume and hippocampal blood flow.
Conclusions
Functional abnormalities of the hippocampus can be observed in patients with MDD even when the volume and resting perfusion in the same region appear normal. This suggests that changes in hippocampal function can be observed independently of structural abnormalities of the hippocampus in depression.
IAU Commission 28 (IAU C28: Galaxies) was founded in the late 1930s at which time it had only a small membership (see the historical notes by Sadler et al. 2007). When C28 ended its existence in 2015 there were well over 1000 members on its books. The membership had grown to the point where the effort to keep track of active participants had become a major task. During the C28s tenure 27 IAU Symposia have been devoted to galaxies, the third highest number (Mickaelian 2014)
Attentional impairment is a core cognitive feature of major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). However, little is known of the characteristics of response time (RT) distributions from attentional tasks. This is crucial to furthering our understanding of the profile and extent of cognitive intra-individual variability (IIV) in mood disorders.
Method.
A computerized sustained attention task was administered to 138 healthy controls and 158 patients with a mood disorder: 86 euthymic BD, 33 depressed BD and 39 medication-free MDD patients. Measures of IIV, including individual standard deviation (iSD) and coefficient of variation (CoV), were derived for each participant. Ex-Gaussian (and Vincentile) analyses were used to characterize the RT distributions into three components: mu and sigma (mean and standard deviation of the Gaussian portion of the distribution) and tau (the ‘slow tail’ of the distribution).
Results.
Compared with healthy controls, iSD was increased significantly in all patient samples. Due to minimal changes in average RT, CoV was only increased significantly in BD depressed patients. Ex-Gaussian modelling indicated a significant increase in tau in euthymic BD [Cohen's d = 0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09–0.69, p = 0.011], and both sigma (d = 0.57, 95% CI 0.07–1.05, p = 0.025) and tau (d = 1.14, 95% CI 0.60–1.64, p < 0.0001) in depressed BD. The mu parameter did not differ from controls.
Conclusions.
Increased cognitive variability may be a core feature of mood disorders. This is the first demonstration of differences in attentional RT distribution parameters between MDD and BD, and BD depression and euthymia. These data highlight the utility of applying measures of IIV to characterize neurocognitive variability and the great potential for future application.
We examine the roles of actuaries in UK life offices, along with trends, challenges to and opportunities for actuaries. We carry out an analysis of senior roles in life offices, a questionnaire survey and interviews with relevant senior personnel. We find that actuaries occupy many important roles in life offices and are regarded as having good industry knowledge and technical skills, especially in financial modelling. There are fewer executive directors and more non-executive directors of life offices who are actuaries compared with the position in 1990. A higher proportion of reserved roles is outsourced to consultants than was the case in 1990. Only a small number of Actuarial Function Holders are directors. Actuaries are more siloed than was the case in the past, although actuaries are well represented in the finance and risk functions of many offices. Although actuarial work in connection with the preparation for Solvency II will decline, there will be important ongoing requirements for actuaries following Solvency II implementation. We also see opportunities for actuaries in four areas: in risk management, in financial analysis and management based on Solvency II and international financial reporting standards, in connection with “big data”, and in product development and the customer proposition. There are implications for the examination syllabus, continuing professional development and research.
Adequate Zn and Mg intakes may be beneficial for the prevention and treatment of mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. We aimed to investigate the prospective association between dietary intakes of Zn and Mg and internalising and externalising behaviour problems in a population-based cohort of adolescents.
Design
Prospective analysis (general linear mixed models) of dietary intakes of Zn and Mg assessed using a validated FFQ and mental health symptoms assessed using the Youth Self-Report (YSR), adjusting for sex, physical activity, family income, supplement status, dietary misreporting, BMI, family functioning and energy intake.
Setting
Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study.
Subjects
Adolescents (n 684) at the 14- and 17-year follow-ups.
Results
Higher dietary intake of Mg (per sd increase) was significantly associated with reduced externalising behaviours (β=−1·45; 95 % CI −2·40, −0·50; P=0·003). There was a trend towards reduced externalising behaviours with higher Zn intake (per sd increase; β=−0·73; 95 % CI −1·57, 0·10; P=0·085).
Conclusions
The study shows an association between higher dietary Mg intake and reduced externalising behaviour problems in adolescents. We observed a similar trend, although not statistically significant, for Zn intake. Randomised controlled trials are necessary to determine any benefit of micronutrient supplementation in the prevention and treatment of mental health problems in adolescents.
Dietary pattern (DP) analysis allows examination of the combined effects of nutrients and foods on the markers of CVD. Very few studies have examined these relationships during adolescence or young adulthood. Traditional CVD risk biomarkers were analysed in 12–15-year-olds (n 487; Young Hearts (YH)1) and again in the same individuals at 20–25 years of age (n 487; YH3). Based on 7 d diet histories, in the present study, DP analysis was performed using a posteriori principal component analysis for the YH3 cohort and the a priori Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) was calculated for both YH1 and YH3 cohorts. In the a posteriori DP analysis, YH3 participants adhering most closely to the ‘healthy’ DP were found to have lower pulse wave velocity (PWV) and homocysteine concentrations, the ‘sweet tooth’ DP were found to have increased LDL concentrations, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure and decreased HDL concentrations, the ‘drinker/social’ DP were found to have lower LDL and homocysteine concentrations, but exhibited a trend towards a higher TAG concentration, and finally the ‘Western’ DP were found to have elevated homocysteine and HDL concentrations. In the a priori dietary score analysis, YH3 participants adhering most closely to the Mediterranean diet were found to exhibit a trend towards a lower PWV. MDS did not track between YH1 and YH3, and nor was there a longitudinal relationship between the change in the MDS and the change in CVD risk biomarkers. In conclusion, cross-sectional analysis revealed that some associations between DP and CVD risk biomarkers were already evident in the young adult population, namely the association between the healthy DP (and the MDS) and PWV; however, no longitudinal associations were observed between these relatively short time periods.
Two new integral field units (IFUs) were installed recently on the WIYN Observatory's 3.5-meter telescope at Kitt Peak. These unique IFUs contain fibers of different sizes in the same head. This design allows smaller fibers to sample regions of higher surface brightness, providing higher spatial resolution while maintaining adequate signal-to-noise (S/N). Conversely, larger fibers maintain S/N at the expense of spatial resolution in the lower surface brightness regions of galaxies. The new IFUs were built with funds from NSF award ATI-0804576.
The Galactic center contains strong magnetic fields, high radiation fields, and dense molecular gas, as is also the case in starburst galaxies. The close proximity of the Galactic center allows for more and better observations of the interstellar medium than for extragalactic sources making it an ideal place for testing models for cosmic ray interactions. We compare our semi-analytic model for cosmic ray interactions to published data for both the Galactic center and the starburst galaxy NGC 253. We present the predicted radio and γ-ray spectra and compare the results with published measurements. In this way we provide a quantitative basis for assessing the degree to which the Galactic center resembles a starburst system.
Previous studies of neurocognitive performance in bipolar disorder (BD) have focused predominantly on euthymia. In this study we aimed to compare the neurocognitive profile of BD patients when depressed with healthy controls and explore the component structure of neurocognitive processes in these populations.
Method
Cognitive tests of attention and executive function, immediate memory, verbal and visuospatial learning and memory and psychomotor speed were administered to 53 patients with a SCID-verified diagnosis of BD depression and 47 healthy controls. Test performance was assessed in terms of statistical significance, effect size and percentile standing. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore underlying cognitive factor structure.
Results
Multivariate analysis revealed an overall group effect, depressed BD patients performing significantly worse than controls. Patients performed significantly worse on 18/26 measures examined, with large effect sizes (d > 0.8) on tests of speed of processing, verbal learning and specific executive/working memory processes. Almost all tests produced at least one outcome measure on which ∼25–50% of the BD sample performed at more than 1 standard deviation (s.d.) below the control mean. Between 20% and 34% of patients performed at or below the fifth percentile of the control group in working memory, verbal learning and memory, and psychomotor/processing speed. PCA highlighted overall differences between groups, with fewer extracted components and less specificity in patients.
Conclusions
Overall, neurocognitive test performance is significantly reduced in BD patients when depressed. The use of different methods of analysing cognitive performance is highlighted, along with the relationship between processes, indicating important directions for future research.
SXP 1062 is an exceptional case of a young neutron star in a wind-fed high-mass X-ray binary associated with a supernova remnant. A unique combination of measured spin period, its derivative, luminosity and young age makes this source a key probe for the physics of accretion and neutron star evolution. Theoretical models proposed to explain the properties of SXP 1062 shall be tested with new data.
Studies of individual nutrients or foods have revealed much about dietary influences on bone. Multiple food or nutrient approaches, such as dietary pattern analysis, could offer further insight but research is limited and largely confined to older adults. We examined the relationship between dietary patterns, obtained by a posteriori and a priori methods, and bone mineral status (BMS; collective term for bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD)) in young adults (20–25 years; n 489). Diet was assessed by 7 d diet history and BMD and BMC were determined at the lumbar spine and femoral neck (FN). A posteriori dietary patterns were derived using principal component analysis (PCA) and three a priori dietary quality scores were applied (dietary diversity score (DDS), nutritional risk score and Mediterranean diet score). For the PCA-derived dietary patterns, women in the top compared to the bottom fifth of the ‘Nuts and Meat’ pattern had greater FN BMD by 0·074 g/cm2 (P = 0·049) and FN BMC by 0·40 g (P = 0·034) after adjustment for confounders. Similarly, men in the top compared to the bottom fifth of the ‘Refined’ pattern had lower FN BMC by 0·41 g (P = 0·049). For the a priori DDS, women in the top compared to the bottom third had lower FN BMD by 0·05 g/cm2 after adjustments (P = 0·052), but no other relationships with BMS were identified. In conclusion, adherence to a ‘Nuts and Meat’ dietary pattern may be associated with greater BMS in young women and a ‘Refined’ dietary pattern may be detrimental for bone health in young men.