As we enter the era of gravitational wave astronomy, we are beginning to collect observations which will enable us to explore aspects of astrophysics of massive stellar binaries which were previously beyond reach. In this paper we describe COMPAS (Compact Object Mergers: Population Astrophysics and Statistics), a new platform to allow us to deepen our understanding of isolated binary evolution and the formation of gravitational-wave sources. We describe the computational challenges associated with their exploration, and present preliminary results on overcoming them using Gaussian process regression as a simulation emulation technique.

We obtained ratings on the Conners' scales from teachers (CTRS-28) and parents (CPRS-48) for 61 monozygotic and 64 dizygotic twin pairs, aged between 7 and 11 years. Model-fitting analyses were carried out to estimate the extent of genetic and environmental influences on problem behaviours, and to explore possible contrast effects in ratings by parents and teachers. Confirming previous findings with other measures, there was evidence of moderate to strong genetic effects on a range of problem behaviours. Parents' ratings on the Anxiety, Impulsive-Hyperactive and Learning Problem sub-scales showed significant evidence of contrast effects. There was no evidence of such rater bias or competitive sibling interaction effects in ratings by teachers, or in parents' ratings on the Conduct Problem and Psychosomatic sub-scales. Twin Research (2000) 3, 251–258.

The introduction of mammal predators to islands often results in rapid declines in the number and range of seabirds. On Ascension Island the introduction of cats in 1815 resulted in extirpation of large seabird colonies from the main island, with relict populations of most species persisting only in cat-inaccessible locations. We describe the eradication of feral cats from this large and populated island. The campaign had to minimize risk to humans and maintain domestic animals in a state that prevented them re-establishing a feral population. Feral cat numbers declined rapidly in response to the strategic deployment of poisoning and live trapping, and cats were eradicated from the island within 2 years. During the project 38% of domestic cats were killed accidentally, which caused public consternation; we make recommendations for reducing such problems in future eradications. Since the completion of the eradication campaign cat predation of adult seabirds has ceased and five seabird species have recolonized the mainland in small but increasing numbers. Breeding success of seabirds at Ascension was low compared to that of conspecifics elsewhere, and the roles of food availability, inexperience of parent birds and black rat predation in causing this warrant further investigation. It is likely that the low breeding success will result in the rate of increase in seabird populations being slow.

There are a number of ways in which food can influence behaviour, including malnutrition, types of diet, eating habits, pharmacological effects, food allergy, fatty acid deficiency and possibly food additives. The range of behaviour affected is also wide, and includes attention, conduct disorder and mood. A particular focus of interest has been the effects of food on hyperactivity in children. There is some initial evidence that fatty acids may influence hyperactivity in children with specific learning disabilities. The findings also suggest that some food additives (colourings, flavourings and preservatives) may increase hyperactivity in children with behaviour problems. For children showing behaviour problems such as hyperactivity the use of dietary manipulation tends to be a more acceptable approach to treatment than the use of drugs. However, there needs to be awareness of the dangers of the use of unsupervised restriction diets with children, and the use of dietary treatments alone is not likely to be sufficient treatment for many children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. A study is currently underway to investigate the possible effects of additives on behaviour in the general population of children.

The ability to measure neuropsychological outcomes in a comparable manner in different cultural groups is important if studies conducted in geographically diverse regions are to advance knowledge of disease effects and moderating influences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the application of neuropsychological test procedures developed for use in North America and Europe to children in a rural region of Kenya. Our specific aim was to determine if these methods could be adapted to a non-Western culture in a manner that would preserve test reliability and validity. Procedural modifications yielded reliable tests that were sensitive to both the sequelae of cerebral malaria and to children's social and school backgrounds. Results suggest that adaptations of existing tests can be made in such a way as to preserve their utility in measuring the cross-cultural sequelae of childhood neurological diseases. (JINS, 2004, 10, 246–260.)

This study examined the impact of severity and type of condition and family resources on quality of life in children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. A national UK sample of children aged between 6 and 13 years with spina bifida (n=62), hydrocephalus (n=354), and spina bifida plus hydrocephalus (n=128) were identified via the register of the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (ASBAH). Parents completed standardized measures of Child Health Related Quality Of Life (CQOL), family needs survey (FNS), and caregiving self-efficacy scale (CSES) as well as questions on children's health and physical ability. Results showed there were no significant differences in the overall quality of life for the three disability conditions. The overall CQOL was over 1 SD lower for those with spina bifida and hydrocephalus than for children with other physical conditions. Sex and age were not related to overall CQOL. Specific aspects of CQOL differentiated the three groups. Children with spina bifida had poorer CQOL scores on self-care, continence, and mobility/activities whilst those with hydrocephalus had poorer scores on school activities, worries, sight, and communication. Severity of condition and family resources, i.e. CSES and FNS, predicted 32% of the variance in CQOL. Associations were also found between overall CQOL and problems discernible at birth as well as epilepsy. Other factors, including those related to shunts, were not significantly related to CQOL. It was concluded that hydrocephalus is just as great a threat to CQOL as spina bifida. Beyond the general effect of condition severity on CQOL, family resources (as measured by the CSES and FNS) represent an additional influence on CQOL.

The issue of the relationship between the quality, quantity, and timing of childcare outside the home and later psychological development has been one of the most hotly contested social policy issues for developmental psychology. The Emanuel Miller lecture in this issue of the JCPP is by Jay Belsky, whose writing on this topic has been at the centre of the debate. The paper provides a current perspective on the issue and summarises evidence indicating that early, extensive, and continuous non-maternal care is related to less harmonious patterns of mother–child interaction and high levels of noncompliance and aggression in later childhood. Belsky suggests that this evidence should be seen as a cause for concern but not necessarily alarm. Although the effects detected are not attributed to low-quality care, nor do they merely reflect assertiveness rather than true aggression, it would be a mistake to exaggerate the magnitude of what are clearly modest negative effects of early childcare. Moreover, the evidence does not suggest that prolonged periods in care predict later clinical levels of behaviour problems. Even though the findings summarised in this paper may therefore be of limited clinical relevance, especially when considered from the perspective of an individual child or family, they would seem to be important when seen from the perspective of society as a whole. This becomes even more important given that full-time or near-full-time care initiated in the first year of life and which continues until school entry, i.e. early, extensive, and continuous care, is rapidly becoming the usual experience of children in America and perhaps in other countries too. Thus there is a need to distinguish implications for individual children and for society at large. This is why the paper recommends policy that extends parental leave and gives parents more options to work on a part-time basis, something that some research indicates is exactly what parents want.

The main aim of this study was to combine two research approaches to hyperactivity: the behaviour genetic approach and the testing of psychological theories of hyperactivity. For a sample of 268 twin pairs aged 7–11 years we obtained ratings on the Conners' scales from both teachers (CTRS-28) and parents (CPRS-48). Forty-six hyperactive twin pairs (pairs in which at least one twin was pervasively hyperactive) and 47 control twin pairs were assessed on a psychological test battery. Confirming findings from previous twin studies, a substantial proportion of the variance in hyperactivity considered as a dimension was due to genetic effects. There was significant evidence of genetic effects also on extreme hyperactivity, although the present group heritability estimates were somewhat lower than those reported in most previous studies. We investigated the possibility that the psychological mechanisms we reported to be associated with hyperactivity (Kuntsi, Oosterlaan, & Stevenson, 2001) share common genetic factors with hyperactive behaviour. The data produced significant evidence of such shared genetic effects only on hyperactivity and the variability of reaction times. Given that the high variability in speed of responding would indicate a state-regulation problem, this is the psychological mechanism that could possibly be the “link” between genetic effects and hyperactive behaviour.

This study tested the predictions of three different theories of hyperactivity: response inhibition deficit, working memory impairment, and delay aversion. A sample of 51 pervasively hyperactive children and 119 control children, identified by screening a general population sample of 1316 twin pairs, were assessed on tests relating to each of these theories. The hyperactive group performed worse than the control group on the delay aversion measure and some of the working memory tasks. Controlling for IQ removed the significant group differences on the working memory measures, however. There were no significant group differences on the inhibition variables derived from the stop task. However, there was evidence of a pattern of responding on the stop task that was strongly characteristic of hyperactivity: hyperactive children were variable in their speed, generally slow and inaccurate in responding. This pattern of responses may indicate a nonoptimal effort/activation state. Hyperactive girls were indistinguishable from hyperactive boys in their performance on the tasks.

The readers of the Journal may not be aware that the Joint Editors act independently in making decisions on accepting papers for publication. This means that as an Editor I am just as intrigued as any other reader when I see a new issue of the Journal since it is likely that I will have been responsible for selecting only one third of the papers in that issue. In reading the material in this present issue I was struck by the conceptual and methodological links between a sub-set of papers that were concerned with adverse events and circumstances and their long-term sequelae; moreover, that these papers had between them some important implications for clinical practice. The first of these papers is by Dunn et al. and investigates the transmission within families of qualities of relationships. They found that father–child and mother–child relationships in stepfamilies, single-parent, and non-stepfamilies were found to be related to a number of factors. These included the parents' own earlier life course experiences, current family circumstances, and how a partner and child were getting along. The links with life course experiences meant that children were at risk of a “double dose” of less affectionate relationships in families in which parents had experienced early adversities. They found evidence for both selection effects (similarities in the early experience of both partners) and co-parenting effects (effects of one parent's relationship with a child on the other parent) and effects of biological relatedness.