NASA’s all-sky survey mission, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is specifically engineered to detect exoplanets that transit bright stars. Thus far, TESS has successfully identified approximately 400 transiting exoplanets, in addition to roughly 6 000 candidate exoplanets pending confirmation. In this study, we present the results of our ongoing project, the Validation of Transiting Exoplanets using Statistical Tools (VaTEST). Our dedicated effort is focused on the confirmation and characterisation of new exoplanets through the application of statistical validation tools. Through a combination of ground-based telescope data, high-resolution imaging, and the utilisation of the statistical validation tool known as TRICERATOPS, we have successfully discovered eight potential super-Earths. These planets bear the designations: TOI-238b (1.61$^{+0.09} _{-0.10}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-771b (1.42$^{+0.11} _{-0.09}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-871b (1.66$^{+0.11} _{-0.11}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-1467b (1.83$^{+0.16} _{-0.15}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-1739b (1.69$^{+0.10} _{-0.08}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-2068b (1.82$^{+0.16} _{-0.15}$ R$_\oplus$), TOI-4559b (1.42$^{+0.13} _{-0.11}$ R$_\oplus$), and TOI-5799b (1.62$^{+0.19} _{-0.13}$ R$_\oplus$). Among all these planets, six of them fall within the region known as ‘keystone planets’, which makes them particularly interesting for study. Based on the location of TOI-771b and TOI-4559b below the radius valley we characterised them as likely super-Earths, though radial velocity mass measurements for these planets will provide more details about their characterisation. It is noteworthy that planets within the size range investigated herein are absent from our own solar system, making their study crucial for gaining insights into the evolutionary stages between Earth and Neptune.

Evidence of Late Triassic large tetrapods from the UK is rare. Here, we describe a track-bearing surface located on the shoreline near Penarth, south Wales, United Kingdom. The total exposed surface is c. 50 m long and c. 2 m wide, and is split into northern and southern sections by a small fault. We interpret these impressions as tracks, rather than abiogenic sedimentary structures, because of the possession of marked displacement rims and their relationship to each other with regularly spaced impressions forming putative trackways. The impressions are large (up to c. 50 cm in length), but poorly preserved, and retain little information about track-maker anatomy. We discuss alternative, plausible, abiotic mechanisms that might have been responsible for the formation of these features, but reject them in favour of these impressions being tetrapod tracks. We propose that the site is an additional occurrence of the ichnotaxon Eosauropus, representing a sauropodomorph trackmaker, thereby adding a useful new datum to their sparse Late Triassic record in the UK. We also used historical photogrammetry to digitally map the extent of site erosion during 2009–2020. More than 1 m of the surface exposure has been lost over this 11-year period, and the few tracks present in both models show significant smoothing, breakage and loss of detail. These tracks are an important datapoint for Late Triassic palaeontology in the UK, even if they cannot be confidently assigned to a specific trackmaker. The documented loss of the bedding surface highlights the transient and vulnerable nature of our fossil resources, particularly in coastal settings, and the need to gather data as quickly and effectively as possible.

Despite the strong link between childhood maltreatment and psychopathology, the underlying neurodevelopmental mechanisms are poorly understood and difficult to disentangle from heritable and prenatal factors. This study used a translational macaque model of infant maltreatment in which the adverse experience occurs in the first months of life, during intense maturation of amygdala circuits important for stress and emotional regulation. Thus, we examined the developmental impact of maltreatment on amygdala functional connectivity (FC) longitudinally, from infancy through the juvenile period. Using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) we performed amygdala–prefrontal cortex (PFC) region-of-interest and exploratory whole-brain amygdala FC analyses. The latter showed (a) developmental increases in amygdala FC with many regions, likely supporting increased processing of socioemotional-relevant stimuli with age; and (b) maltreatment effects on amygdala coupling with arousal and stress brain regions (locus coeruleus, laterodorsal tegmental area) that emerged with age. Maltreated juveniles showed weaker FC than controls, which was negatively associated with infant hair cortisol concentrations. Findings from the region-of-interest analysis also showed weaker amygdala FC with PFC regions in maltreated animals than controls since infancy, whereas bilateral amygdala FC was stronger in maltreated animals. These effects on amygdala FC development may underlie the poor behavioral outcomes associated with this adverse experience.

Numerical experiments, where a simple ice-sheet model was coupled with sediment-deformation models, were performed to investigate the transport of glacigenic material to the western Barents Shelf during the Late Weichselian. The ice-sheet model, and its environmental inputs, has been matched previously with a series of geological datasets relating to the maximum extent of the ice sheet (Howell and others, http://www.ggg.qub.ac.uk [rp05/1999]). Additional geological data on the volumes of sediment delivered to the Bear Island fan (Barents continental margin) are available for comparison. The experiments indicate the sensitivity of sediment transport and deposition to variations in (a) the ice-stream model and (b) a variety of model parameters. Two ice-stream models were used: (1) a height-above-buoyancy model, in which basal velocity is controlled by basal driving stress and a buoyancy-induced reduction in the normal load beneath a marine-based ice sheet; and (2) a modified version of the method presented by Alley (1990) in which basal velocity is related to pore-water pressure, sediment thickness, and driving basal stress. The results of the two different models were then compared. An extensive set of sensitivity tests was carried out to determine sediment-transport response to changes in the model’s parameters. Results indicate that, using physically realistic parameters for deforming subglacial sediment, both models reproduce the volume of Late Weichselian sediment measured on the Bear Island fan. Results from both models are sensitive to (1) cohesion of the sediment and (2) the thickness of deforming sediment beneath the ice sheet. The two models exhibited different degrees of sensitivity to the sediment parameters, with the height-above-buoyancy model proving to be less sensitive to variations in the thickness of the deforming sediment layer than the model proposed by Alley (1990). The differences between the two models examined here highlight the need for a comprehensive comparison of all the methodologies for calculating basal-ice motion currently in use.

The Nakhla meteorite represents basaltic rock from the martian upper crust, with reduced carbon indicative of the ingress of carbonaceous fluids. Study of a terrestrial analogue basalt with reduced carbon from the Ordovician of Northern Ireland shows that remote analysis could detect the carbon using Raman spectroscopy. Analysis of gases released by crushing detects methane-rich fluids in the basalt and especially in cross-cutting carbon-bearing veinlets. The results suggest that automated analysis on Mars could detect the reduced carbon, which may be derived from magmatic and/or meteoritic infall sources.

Intermittent energy restriction may result in greater improvements in insulin sensitivity and weight control than daily energy restriction (DER). We tested two intermittent energy and carbohydrate restriction (IECR) regimens, including one which allowed ad libitum protein and fat (IECR+PF). Overweight women (n 115) aged 20 and 69 years with a family history of breast cancer were randomised to an overall 25 % energy restriction, either as an IECR (2500–2717 kJ/d, < 40 g carbohydrate/d for 2 d/week) or a 25 % DER (approximately 6000 kJ/d for 7 d/week) or an IECR+PF for a 3-month weight-loss period and 1 month of weight maintenance (IECR or IECR+PF for 1 d/week). Insulin resistance reduced with the IECR diets (mean − 0·34 (95 % CI − 0·66, − 0·02) units) and the IECR+PF diet (mean − 0·38 (95 % CI − 0·75, − 0·01) units). Reductions with the IECR diets were significantly greater compared with the DER diet (mean 0·2 (95 % CI − 0·19, 0·66) μU/unit, P= 0·02). Both IECR groups had greater reductions in body fat compared with the DER group (IECR: mean − 3·7 (95 % CI − 2·5, − 4·9) kg, P= 0·007; IECR+PF: mean − 3·7 (95 % CI − 2·8, − 4·7) kg, P= 0·019; DER: mean − 2·0 (95 % CI − 1·0, 3·0) kg). During the weight maintenance phase, 1 d of IECR or IECR+PF per week maintained the reductions in insulin resistance and weight. In the short term, IECR is superior to DER with respect to improved insulin sensitivity and body fat reduction. Longer-term studies into the safety and effectiveness of IECR diets are warranted.

Questionnaire surveys, while more economical, typically achieve poorer response rates than interview surveys. We used data from a national volunteer cohort of young adult twins, who were scheduled for assessment by questionnaire in 1989 and by interview in 1996-2000, to identify predictors of questionnaire non-response. Out of a total of 8536 twins, 5058 completed the questionnaire survey (59% response rate), and 6255 completed a telephone interview survey conducted a decade later (73% response rate). Multinomial logit models were fitted to the interview data to identify socioeconomic, psychiatric and health behavior correlates of non-response in the earlier questionnaire survey. Male gender, education below University level, and being a dizygotic rather than monozygotic twin, all predicted reduced likelihood of participating in the questionnaire survey. Associations between questionnaire response status and psychiatric history and health behavior variables were modest, with history of alcohol dependence and childhood conduct disorder predicting decreased probability of returning a questionnaire, and history of smoking and heavy drinking more weakly associated with non-response. Body-mass index showed no association with questionnaire non-response. Despite a poor response rate to the self-report questionnaire survey, we found only limited sampling biases for most variables. While not appropriate for studies where socioeconomic variables are critical, it appears that survey by questionnaire, with questionnaire administration by telephone to non-responders, will represent a viable strategy for gene-mapping studies requiring that large numbers of relatives be screened.

As we have noted before, the WG-IR was created following a Joint Commission Meeting at the IAU General Assembly in Baltimore in 1988, a meeting that provided both diagnosis and prescription for the perceived ailments of infrared photometry at the time. The results were summarized in Milone (1989). The challenges involve how to explain the failure to systematically achieve the milli-magnitude precision expected of infrared photometry and an apparent 3% limit on system transformability. The proposed solution was to re-define the broadband Johnson system, the passbands of which had proven so unsatisfactory that over time effectively different systems proliferated although bearing the same JHKLMNQ designations; the new system needed to be better positioned and centered in the atmospheric windows of the Earth's atmosphere, and the variable water vapour content of the atmosphere needed to be measured in real time to better correct for atmospheric extinction.

Re´sume´Parmi les ge`nes dont les produits jouent un rle critique dans la re´gulation de la re´ponse immune, on trouve les familles de ge`nes de l'antige`ne leucocyte humain (ALH) et de la cytokine. Les ge`nes ALH sont les plus polymorphes du ge´nome humain, et ce polymorphisme entraine des diffe´rences fonctionnelles des mole´cules ALH exprime´es, qui se traduit par des diffe´rences individuelles dans la manie`re dont des peptides antige´niques se pre´sentent aux cellules T. De plus, un nombre conside´rable de polymorphismes des ge`nes associe´s a la cytokine ont e´te´ identifie´s, la plupart d'entre eux se produisent au niveau du promoteur de ces ge`nes, ce que dans de nombreux cas se traduit par l'expression diffe´rentielle in vitro de leurs respectifs produits ge´ne´tiques pro- ou anti-inflammatoire. Des polymorphismes ALH particuliers aboutirent a` des associations bien de´finies avec un grand nombre de maladies immunologiquement medie´es, parmi lesquelles quelques-unes avec des facteurs de risque die´te´tique. Par exemple, des individus de ge´notype HLA-DQA1*0501, DQB1*0201 ont un risque deux cent fois plus grand de de´velopper une intole´rance au gluten alimentaire (maladie ce´liaque), et des facteurs additionnels en relation avec l'ALH peuvent influencer le de´veloppement d'un lymphome maligne dans une maladie ce´liaque existante. De mme, des alle`les HLA-DRB1 qui partage une se´quence motive commune constituent le premier facteur de risque ge´ne´tique de l'arthrite rhumatode. L'influence de polymorphismes associe´s a une expression de cytokine diffe´rentiel sur la susceptibilite´ aux maladies pre´sent dans ce moment un grand inte´rt. La plupart de l'attention a e´tait centre´ les associations avec la susceptibilite´ de maladies medie´es immunologiquement be´nignes, parmi eux un grand nombre de maladies de l'intestin. Toutefois, un travail re´cent dans notre laboratoire indique que les polymorphismes de la cytokine peuvent influencer la susceptibilite´ a` certains cancers (ainsi que son pronostic), entre eux le me´lanome de peau maligne et des tumeurs solides qui peuvent tre affecte´s par l'alimentation, comme le cancer de prostate (collaboration avec le CRC/BPG e´tude familial du cancer de prostate Royaume-Uni). De plus, des travails pre´liminaires sugge`rent que la modulation par l'alimentation des niveaux d'expression de certaines cytokines dans des sujets humains peut tre de´pendent du ge´notype.

It has been estimated that more than 50% of deaths before the age of 5 years have undernutrition as an underlying cause. Severe childhood malnutrition, an extreme form of undernutrition, occurs as oedematous and non-oedematous syndromes. The reasons why only some children develop oedematous severe childhood malnutrition (OSCM) have remained elusive, but the heterogeneity of clinical appearances among children from relatively homogeneous backgrounds suggests that interindividual variation in susceptibility to OSCM may exist. We investigated variants of four glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes in a retrospective study among subjects (n136) previously admitted to the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, Jamaica, for the treatment of either OSCM (cases) or non-oedematous severe childhood malnutrition (controls). We found that GSTP1 Val105 homozygotes were significantly more common among the cases (odds ratio (OR) 3·5; 95% CI 1·1, 10·8). We also found an association of borderline significance between non-deletion GSTT1 genotypes (i.e. +/+ or +/0) and OSCM (OR 2·4; 95% CI 1·0, 5·9). There was no significant association between OSCM and any of the other GST variants. These preliminary findings suggest that genetic variation within the GST superfamily may contribute to the risk of OSCM. Additional, larger data sets and studies of variants in other candidate genes are required in order to properly assess the true contribution, if any, of genetic variation to risk of OSCM. Such studies may improve our understanding of the causes of clinical heterogeneity in malnutrition.