The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) has emerged out of the quantitative approach to psychiatric nosology. This approach identifies psychopathology constructs based on patterns of co-variation among signs and symptoms. The initial HiTOP model, which was published in 2017, is based on a large literature that spans decades of research. HiTOP is a living model that undergoes revision as new data become available. Here we discuss advantages and practical considerations of using this system in psychiatric practice and research. We especially highlight limitations of HiTOP and ongoing efforts to address them. We describe differences and similarities between HiTOP and existing diagnostic systems. Next, we review the types of evidence that informed development of HiTOP, including populations in which it has been studied and data on its validity. The paper also describes how HiTOP can facilitate research on genetic and environmental causes of psychopathology as well as the search for neurobiologic mechanisms and novel treatments. Furthermore, we consider implications for public health programs and prevention of mental disorders. We also review data on clinical utility and illustrate clinical application of HiTOP. Importantly, the model is based on measures and practices that are already used widely in clinical settings. HiTOP offers a way to organize and formalize these techniques. This model already can contribute to progress in psychiatry and complement traditional nosologies. Moreover, HiTOP seeks to facilitate research on linkages between phenotypes and biological processes, which may enable construction of a system that encompasses both biomarkers and precise clinical description.

Implementation of a novel experimental approach using a bright source of narrowband x-ray emission has enabled the production of a photoionized argon plasma of relevance to astrophysical modelling codes such as Cloudy. We present results showing that the photoionization parameter ζ = 4πF/ne generated using the VULCAN laser was ≈ 50 erg cm s−1, higher than those obtained previously with more powerful facilities. Comparison of our argon emission-line spectra in the 4.15 - 4.25 Å range at varying initial gas pressures with predictions from the Cloudy code and a simple time-dependent code are also presented. Finally we briefly discuss how this proof-of-principle experiment may be scaled to larger facilities such as ORION to produce the closest laboratory analogue to a photoionized plasma.

The multi-object spectroscopic facility FOCAP at the Anglo-Australian Telescope has been used to obtain spectra centred at the Ca II IR triplet of 14 stars in the field of the Sextans dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy. This satellite of our own Galaxy was recently discovered by Irwin et al. (1990) from APM measures of UK Schmidt Telescope photographic plates.

The first QSO with a redshift z > 4 was found using a combination of UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) plates and the APM automatic plate measuring machine (Warren et al. 1987a). By continuing to make use of UKST survey plates plus the APM facility we have added substantially to the number of known QSOs with z > 4. A brief description of the general survey technique is presented together with a preliminary discussion of some of the results obtained so far.

Trypanosomes are blood-borne parasites that can cause severe disease in both humans and animals, yet little is known of the pathogenicity and life-cycles of trypanosomes in native Australian mammals. Trypanosoma copemani is known to be infective to a variety of Australian marsupials and has recently been shown to be potentially zoonotic as it is resistant to normal human serum. In the present study, in vivo and in vitro examination of blood and cultures from Australian marsupials was conducted using light microscopy, immunofluorescence, scanning electron microscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Promastigote, sphaeromastigote and amastigote life-cycle stages were detected in vivo and in vitro. Novel trypanosome-like stages were also detected both in vivo and in vitro representing an oval stage, an extremely thin stage, an adherent stage and a tiny round stage. The tiny round and adherent stages appeared to adhere to erythrocytes causing potential haematological damage with clinical effects similar to haemolytic anaemia. The present study shows for the first time that trypomastigotes are not the only life-cycle stages circulating within the blood stream of trypanosome infected Australian native marsupials and provides insights into possible pathogenic mechanisms of this potentially zoonotic trypanosome species.

Discussion of the possibility of a value added tax (VAT) has recently become a lively topic for the press, public, and politicians. The President's 1970 Task Force on Business Taxation recommended that the tax not be imposed immediately, but that the possibility of using the VAT in the future be given more exposure and discussion. A number of states have also considered enacting a VAT, and a few have done so.

The existence of a stream of tidally stripped stars from the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy demonstrates that the Milky Way is still in the process of accreting mass. More recently, an extensive stream of stars has been uncovered in the halo of the Andromeda galaxy (M31), revealing that it too is cannibalising a small companion. This paper reports the recent observations of this stream, determining its spatial and kinematic properties, and tracing its three-dimensional structure, as well as describing future observations and what we may learn about the Andromeda galaxy from this giant tidal stream.

The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) is carrying out a survey as part of an international collaboration to image the northe, at a common resolution, in emission from all major constituents of the interstellar medium; the neutral atomic gas, the molecular gas, the ionised gas, dust and relativistic plasma. For many of these constituents the angular resolution of the images (1 arcmin) will be more than a factor of 10 better than any previous studies. The aim is to produce a publicly-available database of high resolution, high-dynamic range images of the Galaxy for multi-phase studies of the physical states and processes in the interstellar medium. We will sketch the main scientific motivations as well as describe some preliminary results from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey/Releve Canadien du Plan Galactique (CGPS/RCPG).

A nation-wide survey was conducted to estimate the prevalence of Salmonella enteritidis and other salmonellas among Canadian commercial broiler flocks. Environmental (litter and/or water) samples from 226 of 294 (76·9%) randomly selected flocks were contaminated with salmonellas. Litter samples were more often contaminated with salmonellas than water samples (47·4 ν 12·3%). Fifty different salmonella serovars were isolated. The most prevalent serovars were S. hadar, S. infantis, and S. schwarzengrund; they were isolated from samples of 98/294 (33·3%), 26/294 (8·8%), and 21/294 (7·1%) flocks, respectively. Feed samples of 39/290 (13·4%) flocks were contaminated with salmonellas. Salmonella enteritidis was isolated from the environmental samples of 9/294 (3·1%) flocks. Salmonella enteritidis phage type (PT) 8 was isolated from seven flocks, and PT 13a from two flocks.

In view of its low barrier height to n-type Si, ErSi2 has potential applications as an infrared detector, as low-resistance ohmic contacts and as source/drain regions in Schottky barrier MOSFETs. Although there is a substantial body of work on ErSi2 grown on Si(111), there are relatively few published papers on the growth and properties of ErSi2 on Si(100). In order to develop a CMOS-compatible process, we have studied the growth of ErSi2 using a multi-source, UHV magnetron system to sputter-deposit 20 nm Ti/(10–50) nm Er bilayers on chemically cleaned n-Si(100) substrates followed by ex-situ rapid thermal annealing in N2. Highly oriented ErSi2 in the hexagonal phase was formed at an annealing temperature of 400°C with ErSi2 (100) Si(100). The Ti overlayer and the unreacted Er were selectively etched in HF and HNO3, respectively, leaving behind an ErSi2 layer with a smooth surface morphology, a uniform bulk composition and a planar ErSi2/Si interface. Results of electrical sheet resistance and Schottky barrier height measurements on these layers will be reported.