On the generalized Davenport constant and the Noether number

Known results on the generalized Davenport constant related to zero-sum sequences over a finite abelian group are extended to the generalized Noether number related to the rings of polynomial invariants of an arbitrary finite group. An improved general upper bound is given on the degrees of polynomial invariants of a non-cyclic finite group which cut out the zero vector.Comment: 14 page

Effect of Multinutrient Supplementation and Food-2 Related Behavioral Activation Therapy on 3 Prevention of Major Depressive Disorder Among 4 Overweight or Obese Adults With Subsyndromal 5 Depressive Symptoms

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Medical Association via the DOI in this record.Importance: Effects of nutritional interventions on the prevention of major depressive disorder (MDD) in overweight adults are unknown. Objective: To examine the effect of two nutritional strategies (multi-nutrient supplementation, food-related behavioral activation (F-BA) therapy) and their combination for prevention of a new MDD episode in overweight adults with subsyndromal depressive symptoms. Design, setting, participants: This multicenter 2x2 factorial randomized clinical trial included overweight adults (BMI 25-40kg/m2) aged 18-75years with elevated depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores≥5) not meeting criteria for MDD episodes in the past 6 months from 4 European countries. 1025 adults were randomized between July-30-2015 and October-12-2016, and followed for 1 year (until October-13-2017). Interventions: Daily multi-nutrient supplements (1412mg omega-3 fatty acids, 30μg selenium, 400μg folic acid, and 20μg D-3 vitamin plus 100mg calcium) versus placebo (blinded), and/or 21 individual and group F-BA sessions versus no F-BA (blinded to researchers), for one year. Participants were allocated to placebo without F-BA (n=257), placebo with F-BA (n=256), supplements without F-BA (n=256), and supplements with F-BA (n=256). Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcome was cumulative 1-year onset of MDD measured with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview after 3, 6 and 12 months. Logistic regression using effect-coded variables (-1 indicating control, +1 indicating intervention) evaluated intervention effects both individually and in combination (interaction) on MDD onset. Results: Among 1025 participants (mean age 46.5y; 772 (75%) women; mean BMI 31.4kg/m2), 779 (76%) completed the trial. During 12 month follow-up, 105 (10%) developed MDD (placebo without F-BA: 25 (9.7%), placebo with F-BA: 26 (10.2%), supplements without F-BA: 32 (12.5%), supplements with F-BA: 22 (8.6%).. Neither supplements (odds ratio (OR)=1.06; 95%-confidence interval (CI)=0.87-1.29), F-BA (OR=0.93; 95%CI=0.76-1.13), nor their combination (OR=0.93; 95%CI=0.76-1.14, p for interaction=0.48) affected MDD onset. Number of deaths/hospitalizations were for placebo without F-BA (n=0,n=24), placebo with F-BA (n=0,n=24), supplements without F-BA (n=0,n=26) and supplements with F-BA (n=1,n=24), respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: Among overweight or obese adults with depressive symptoms, multi-nutrient supplementation compared with placebo and food-related behavioral activation therapy compared with no therapy did not reduce episodes of major depressive disorder during 1 year. These findings do not support the use of these interventions for prevention of major depressive disorder. Trial registration: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02529423. August-2015.European CommissionNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR

Prevention of depression through nutritional strategies in high-risk persons: rationale and design of the MooDFOOD prevention trial

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND: Obesity and depression are two prevalent conditions that are costly to individuals and society. The bidirectional association of obesity with depression, in which unhealthy dietary patterns may play an important role, has been well established. Few experimental studies have been conducted to investigate whether supplementing specific nutrients or improving diet and food-related behaviors can prevent depression in overweight persons. METHOD/DESIGN: The MooDFOOD prevention trial examines the feasibility and effectiveness of two different nutritional strategies [multi-nutrient supplementation and food-related behavioral change therapy (FBC)] to prevent depression in individuals who are overweight and have elevated depressive symptoms but who are not currently or in the last 6 months meeting criteria for an episode of major depressive disorder (MDD). The randomized controlled prevention trial has a two-by-two factorial design: participants are randomized to daily multi-nutrient supplement (omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, selenium, B-11 vitamin and D-3 vitamin) versus placebo, and/or FBC therapy sessions versus usual care. Interventions last 12 months. In total 1000 participants aged 18-75 years with body mass index between 25-40 kg/m(2) and with a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score ≥ 5 will be recruited at four study sites in four European countries. Baseline and follow-up assessments take place at 0, 3, 6, and 12 months. Primary endpoint is the onset of an episode of MDD, assessed according to DSM-IV based criteria using the MINI 5.0 interview. Depressive symptoms, anxiety, food and eating behavior, physical activity and health related quality of life are secondary outcomes. During the intervention, compliance, adverse events and potentially mediating variables are carefully monitored. DISCUSSION: The trial aims to provide a better understanding of the causal role of specific nutrients, overall diet, and food-related behavior change with respect to the incidence of MDD episodes. This knowledge will be used to develop and disseminate innovative evidence-based, feasible, and effective nutritional public health strategies for the prevention of clinical depression. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov. Number of identification: NCT02529423 . August 2015.Funding for this paper was provided by the European Union FP7 MooDFOOD Project ‘Multi-country cOllaborative project on the rOle of Diet, FOod-related behaviour, and Obesity in the prevention of Depression’ (grant agreement no. 613598). This work is supported in the UK by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), through the Primary Care Research Network, and the NIHR Exeter Clinical Research Facility. Funding sponsors did not participate in the study design; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of data; or writing of the report. They did not participated in the decision to submit the report for publication, nor had ultimate authority over any of these activities

Screening for affective dysregulation in school-aged children: relationship with comprehensive measures of affective dysregulation and related mental disorders

Affective dysregulation (AD) is characterized by irritability, severe temper outbursts, anger, and unpredictable mood swings, and is typically classified as a transdiagnostic entity. A reliable and valid measure is needed to adequately identify children at risk of AD. This study sought to validate a parent-rated screening questionnaire, which is part of the comprehensive Diagnostic Tool for Affective Dysregulation in Children (DADYS-Screen), by analyzing relationships with comprehensive measures of AD and related mental disorders in a community sample of children with and without AD. The sample comprised 1114 children aged 8–12 years and their parents. We used clinical, parent, and child ratings for our analyses. Across all raters, the DADYS-Screen showed large correlations with comprehensive measures of AD. As expected, correlations were stronger for measures of externalizing symptoms than for measures of internalizing symptoms. Moreover, we found negative associations with emotion regulation strategies and health-related quality of life. In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses, the DADYS-Screen adequately identified children with AD and provided an optimal cut-off. We conclude that the DADYS-Screen appears to be a reliable and valid measure to identify school-aged children at risk of AD

Nutrition and depression: Summary of findings from the EU‐funded MooDFOOD depression prevention randomised controlled trial and a critical review of the literature

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordThis paper discusses the emerging field of nutritional psychology and provides an update on the now completed EU‐funded MooDFOOD depression prevention randomised controlled trial that assessed the effects of two nutrition‐based interventions for the prevention of depression in overweight or obese adults with at least mild symptoms of depression. We first outline the problem of major depression, the most common form of psychopathology and the largest contributor to global disability, and then give an overview of the connection between nutrition and depression; separating the evidence according to prevention and treatment of depression. The extant literature is reviewed, and we examine the implications for both prevention and treatment. Questions are posed for further research in this emerging and important area.European Union FP

Reduced preference for social rewards in a novel tablet based task in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Atypical responsivity to social rewards has been observed in young children with or at risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). These observations contributed to the hypothesis of reduced social motivation in ASD. In the current study we develop a novel task to test social reward preference using a tablet computer (iPad), where two differently coloured buttons were associated with a social and a nonsocial rewarding image respectively. 63 young children, aged 14–68 months, with and without a diagnosis of ASD took part in the study. The experimental sessions were also recorded on video, using an in-built webcam on the tablet as well as an external camera. Children with ASD were found to show a reduced relative preference for social rewards, indexed by a lower proportion of touches for the button associated with the social reward image. Greater social preference as measured using the tablet-based task was associated with increased use of social communicative behaviour such as eye contact with the experimenter and social smile in response to the social reward image. These results are consistent with earlier findings from eye-tracking studies, and provide novel empirical insights into atypical social reward responsivity in ASD

Neuroendocrine Stress Response in Female and Male Youths With Conduct Disorder and Associations With Early Adversity

Objective: Conduct disorder (CD) involves aggressive and antisocial behavior and is associated with blunted cortisol stress response in male youths. Far less is known about cortisol stress responsivity in female youths with CD or other neuroendocrine responses in both sexes. Although CD is linked to early adversity, the possibility that neuroendocrine alterations may mediate the relationship between early adversity and CD has not been systematically investigated. Method: Within the European FemNAT-CD multi-site study, salivary cortisol, testosterone, the testosterone/cortisol ratio, oxytocin, and psychological stress response to a standardized psychosocial stress test (the Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]), together with common pre- and postnatal environmental risk factors, were investigated in 130 pubertal youths with CD (63% female, 9-18 years of age) and 160 sex-, age-, and puberty-matched healthy controls (HCs). Results: The TSST induced psychological stress in both CD and HCs. In contrast, female and male youths with CD showed blunted cortisol, testosterone, oxytocin, and testosterone/cortisol stress responses compared to HCs. These blunted stress responses partly mediated the relationship between environmental risk factors and CD. Conclusion: Findings from this unique sample, including many female youths with CD, provide evidence for a widespread attenuated stress responsivity of not only stress hormones, but also sex hormones and neuropeptides in CD and its subgroups (eg, with limited prosocial emotions). Results are the first to demonstrate blunted neuroendocrine stress responses in both female and male youths with CD. Early adversity may alter neuroendocrine stress responsivity. Biological mechanisms should be investigated further to pave the way for personalized intervention, thereby improving treatments for CD.</p

The Cohen-Macaulay property of separating invariants of finite groups

In the case of finite groups, a separating algebra is a subalgebra of the ring of invariants which separates the orbits. Although separating algebras are often better behaved than the ring of invariants, we show that many of the criteria which imply that the ring of invariants is non Cohen-Macaulay actually imply that no graded separating algebra is Cohen-Macaulay. For example, we show that, over a field of positive characteristic p, given sufficiently many copies of a faithful modular representation, no graded separating algebra is Cohen-Macaulay. Furthermore, we show that, for a p-group, the existence of a Cohen-Macaulay graded separating algebra implies the group is generated by bireflections. Furthermore, we show that, for a $p$-group, the existence of a Cohen-Macaulay graded separating algebra implies the group is generated by bireflections. Additionally, we give an example which shows that Cohen-Macaulay separating algebras can occur when the ring of invariants is not Cohen-Macaulay.Comment: We removed the conjecture which appeared in previous versions: we give a counter-example. We fixed the proof of Lemma 2.2 (previously Remark 2.2). 16 page

A lanostane aldehyde from Momordica charantia

A new lanostane aldehyde, charantal (1), was isolated from the ethanolic leaf extract of Momordica charantia together with the known compound, 2,4-bis(2-phenylpropan-2-yl)phenol (2). The structure of compound 1 was elucidated by extensive 1D and 2D NMR and MS experiments. Compound 2 displayed a moderately strong antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (MIC = 14 μg/mL) according to the MABA susceptibility assay