The paper reports on the growth of group III-Sb’s on silicon, substrate preparation, optimization of AlGaSb metamorphic buffer, formation of defects (threading dislocations, microtwins and anti-phase boundaries) and their effect on the surface morphology and electrical properties of these high hole mobility materials for future III-V CMOS technology. Defect density was found to be 2-3x higher than in similar structures grown on GaAs, resulting in 2x higher roughness. Defects also result in background p-type doping well above 1017 cm-3 causing inversion of polarity from n-type to p-type in thin n-type doped GaSb. MOS Capacitors fabricated on these buffers demonstrate similar characteristics to higher quality GaSb-on-GaAs. The highest hole mobility obtained in a strained InGaSb QW MOS channel grown on silicon is ∼630 cm2/V-s which is ∼30% lower than similar channels grown on GaAs substrates.

Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia are increasingly accepted as core features of this disorder that play a role as vulnerability indicators, as enduring abnormalities during clinical remission, and as critical rate-limiting factors in functional recovery. This article demonstrates the lasting influence of Norman Garmezy through his impact on one graduate student and then through his later collaborative research with colleagues. The promise of core cognitive deficits as vulnerability indicators or endophenotypes was demonstrated in research with children born to a parent with schizophrenia as well as with biological parents and siblings of individuals with schizophrenia. In studies of patients with a recent onset of schizophrenia, cognitive deficits were found to endure across psychotic and clinically remitted periods and to have a strong predictive influence on likelihood of returning successfully to work or school. Converging lines of evidence for the enduring core role of cognitive deficit in schizophrenia have led in recent years to a burgeoning interest in developing new interventions that target cognition as a means of improving functional recovery in this disorder.

Segregation and diffusion of impurities in amorphous Si during furnace and ion-beam-induced epitaxy will be discussed. The use of ion beams to enhance the crystal growth process has resulted in novel behavior for fast diffusers such as Au. Diffusion is enhanced in the temperature range 300–700 K with activation energies ∼0.3 eV. Segregation and trapping are analogous to behavior at liquid-solid interfaces

A technique commonly used as the final stage of cleaning gold electrode surfaces is to electrochemically form and reduce a monolayer of oxide on the surface. We have investigated the changes on the Au(111) surface during this procedure using in situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy.

The CSBN meeting held in Rio de Janeiro on August 11 was attended by just six members, including Pam Kilmartin as the acting chair, and several visitors. Since there was not a quorum of members, it was not possible to make any decisions. But there was a good discussion on many topics, from which several points emerged that should be more fully discussed by the whole committee during the next few months:

A total of 701 comets received names between July 2005 and June 2008. Comets observed only from the SOHO and STEREO missions, as well as further comets recognized from the long-defunct SOLWIND satellite, accounted for 520 of these names.

Division X provides a common theme for astronomers using radio techniques to study a vast range of phenomena in the Universe, from exploring the Earth's ionosphere or making radar measurements in the Solar System, via mapping the distribution of gas and molecules in our own Galaxy and in other galaxies, to study the vast explosive processes in radio galaxies and QSOs and the faint afterglow of the Big Bang itself.

After a brief discussion it was agreed that this membership is well distributed in terms of geography, gender, and fields of planetary work.

ABSTRACT

A key obstacle to the development of new drugs to treat the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia was the absence of a standard by which to measure their efficacy. Before granting approval for any new drug for this condition, the US Food and Drug Administration wanted a standard cognitive endpoint based on a broad consensus-based method. To address this obstacle, the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) intiative oversaw a process to develop a consensus neurocognitive battery. Its development included a ten-step process that is described in this article.

Background. Although memory deficits are consistently reported in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the mechanisms underlying these impairments are poorly understood. Clarifying the nature and degree of overlap in memory deficits between the two illnesses could help to distinguish brain systems disrupted in these illnesses, and indicate cognitive remediation strategies to improve patient outcomes.

Method. We examined performance on a non-verbal memory task in clinically stable out-patients with bipolar disorder (n=40), schizophrenia (n=40), and healthy comparison subjects (n=40). This task includes conditions in which distinct mnemonic strategies – namely, using context to organize familiar stimuli or using holistic representation of novel stimuli – facilitate performance.

Result. When compared to a reference condition, bipolar patients had deficits consistent with organizational dysfunction and poor detection of novel information. Although patients with schizophrenia performed worse than the other groups, they were only differentially impaired when organizational demands were significant. Task performance was not correlated with severity of clinical symptomatology.

Conclusions. This pattern of distinct memory impairments implies disturbances in partially overlapping neural systems in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Evidence of impairment in detection of novel stimuli that is unique to bipolar disorder suggests that, while the absolute level of cognitive dysfunction is less severe in bipolar disorder as compared to schizophrenia, subtle disruptions in memory are present. These findings can be used to plan targeted cognitive remediation programs by helping patients to capitalize on intact functions and to learn new strategies that they do not employ without training.

There have been important advances in radio astronomy in the last three years. New discoveries both at the galactic and extragalactic scale have been reported over this period and we highlight here several of them. The outstanding results of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe satellite, allowing an accurate determination of the main cosmological constants, are certainly among the most important. At the international level, the consolidation of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array project, with participation of the USA, Europe, and Japan and an estimated cost of around one billion US dollars, takes the construction of radio telescopes to a new level of complexity and potential. We also include the Progress Report of the Working Group on Historic Radio Astronomy, that includes a description of the duties and activities of this recently created working group.

Avolition affects quality of life in chronic schizophrenia. We investigated the relationship between unconstrained motor activity and the volume of key executive brain regions in 16 male patients with schizophrenia. Wrist-worn actigraphy monitors were used to record motor activity over a 20 h period. Structural magnetic resonance imaging brain scans were parcellated and individual volumes for anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex extracted. Patients' total activity was positively correlated with volume of left anterior cingulate cortex. These data suggest that the volume of specific executive structures may affect (quantifiable) motor behaviours, having further implications for models of the ‘will’ and avolition.