Delivering transformative action in paediatric pain: a <i>Lancet Child &amp; Adolescent Health</i> Commission

Every infant, child, and adolescent will experience pain at times throughout their life. Childhood pain ranges from acute to chronic, and includes procedural, disease-related, breakthrough, and other types of pain. Despite its ubiquity, pain is a major challenge for individuals, families, health-care professionals, and societies. As a private mental experience, pain is often hidden and can go undiscussed or ignored. Undertreated, unrecognised, or poorly managed pain in childhood leads to important and long-lasting negative consequences that continue into adulthood, including continued chronic pain, disability, and distress. This undertreatment of pain should not continue, as there are available tools, expertise, and evidence to provide better treatment for childhood pain

The luminosity function of the Virgo Cluster from M_B=-22 to M_B=-11

We measure the galaxy luminosity function (LF) for the Virgo Cluster between blue magnitudes M_B = -22 and M_B = -11 from wide-field CCD imaging data. The LF is only gradually rising for -22 < M_B < -16. Between M_B = -16 and M_B = -14 it rises steeply, with a logarithmic slope alpha ~ -1.6. Fainter than M_B = -14, the LF flattens again. This LF is shallower (although turning up at brighter absolute magnitudes) than the R-band LF recently measured by Phillipps et al. (1998), who found alpha ~ -2.2 fainter than M_R = -13. It is similar, however, to the LF determined from the Virgo Cluster Catalog by Sandage et al. (1985). A few faint galaxies are found which Sandage, et al. missed because their surface-brightness threshold for detection was too high, but these do not dominate the luminosity function at any magnitude. Most of the faint galaxies we find are dwarf elliptical, alternatively called dwarf spheroidal, galaxies. The most important potential source of systematic error is that we may have rejected some high surface-brightness galaxies from the cluster sample because we think that they are background galaxies. This is quite different from what has conventionally been regarded as the most serious source of systematic error in this kind of study: that we are missing many LOW surface-brightness galaxies because they are never visible above the sky.Comment: 23 pages, MNRAS in pres

The Galaxy Luminosity Function from M_R = -25 to M_R = -9

Redshift surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) have given a very precise measurement of the galaxy luminosity function down to about M_R = -17 (~ M_B = -16). Fainter absolute magnitudes cannot be probed because of the flux limit required for spectroscopy. Wide-field surveys of nearby groups using mosaic CCDs on large telescopes are able to reach much fainter absolute magnitudes, about M_R = -10. These diffuse, spiral-rich groups are thought to be typical environments for galaxies so their luminosity functions should be the same as the field luminosity function. The luminosity function of the groups at the bright end (M_R < -17) is limited by Poisson statistics and is far less precise than that derived from redshift surveys. Here we combine the results of the SDSS and the surveys of nearby groups and supplement the results with studies of Local Group galaxies in order to determine the galaxy luminosity function over the entire range -25 <M_R < -9. The average logarithmic slope of the field luminosity function between M_R = -19 and M_R = -9 is alpha = -1.26, although a single power law is a poor fit to the data over the entire magnitude range. We also determine the luminosity function of galaxy clusters and demonstrate that it is different from the field luminosity function at a high level of significance: there are many more dwarf galaxies in clusters than in the field, due to a rise in the cluster luminosity function of alpha ~ -1.6 between M_R = -17 and M_R = -14.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The role of emotion regulation in chronic pain: A systematic literature review

Objective: Emotion regulation (ER) includes a set of cognitive and attentional processes used to change or maintain emotional state. A small but growing body of research suggests that maladaptive ER might be a risk factor for the development of chronic pain. This review aims to summarize existing literature on the association between ER and chronic pain, and to determine whether the construct of ER may further enhance our under- standing of the risk and protective factors that may contribute to the onset and maintenance of chronic pain. Methods: A systematic search was conducted using the search terms " chronic pain " and " emotion regulation. " Studies that measured both constructs across all age groups were included. Results: We found 15 studies that met our inclusion criteria. Nine studies were completed within the last fi ve years, suggesting that the evaluation of ER as it relates to pain is a new line of research. Studies that measured " response-focused " ER found associations between maladaptive ER and pain. Studies that measured " antecedent- focused " ER strategies were less likely to show a direct association with pain. Conclusion: Maladaptive response-focused ER may be an important risk factor in the development and main- tenance of chronic pain, as it is associated with pain and psychological comorbidities. Adding ER to chronic pain investigations may help to further explain individual di ff erences in the risk and protective mechanisms that are known to in fl uence chronic pain. Importantly, this line of research has potential to directly inform future in- terventions for patients with chronic pain