The course of mental health problems in children presenting with abdominal pain in general practice

Objective. To investigate the course of mental health problems in children presenting to general practice with abdominal pain and to evaluate the extent to which abdominal pain characteristics during follow-up predict the presence of mental health problems at 12 months' follow-up. Design. A prospective cohort study with one-year follow-up. Setting. 53 general practices in the Netherlands, between May 2004 and March 2006. Subjects. 281 children aged 4-17 years. Main outcome measures. The presence of a depressive problem, an anxiety problem, and multiple non-specific somatic symptoms at follow-up and odds ratios of duration, frequency, and severity of abdominal pain with these mental health problems at follow-up. Results. A depressive problem persisted in 24/74 children (32.9%; 95% CI 22.3-44.9%), an anxiety problem in 13/43 (30.2%; 95% CI 17.2-46.1%) and the presence of multiple non-specific somatic symptoms in 75/170 children (44.1%; 95% CI 36.7-51.6%). None of the abdominal pain characteristics predicted a depressive or an anxiety problem at 12 months' follow-up. More moments of moderate to severe abdominal pain predicted the presence of multiple nonspecific somatic symptoms at follow-up. Conclusions. In one-third of the children presenting to general practice for abdominal pain, anxiety and depressive problems persist during one year of follow-up. Characteristics of the abdominal pain during the follow-up period do not predict anxiety or depressive problems after one-year follow-up. We recommend following over time children seen in primary care with abdominal pain

N-myristoylated proteins, key components in intracellular signal transduction systems enabling rapid and flexible cell responses

N-myristoylation, one of the co- or post-translational modifications of proteins, has so far been regarded as necessary for anchoring of proteins to membranes. Recently, we have revealed that Nα-myristoylation of several brain proteins unambiguously regulates certain protein–protein interactions that may affect signaling pathways in brain. Comparison of the amino acid sequences of myristoylated proteins including those in other organs suggests that this regulation is involved in signaling pathways not only in brain but also in other organs. Thus, it has been shown that myristoylated proteins in cells regulate the signal transduction between membranes and cytoplasmic fractions. An algorithm we have developed to identify myristoylated proteins in cells predicts the presence of hundreds of myristoylated proteins. Interestingly, a large portion of the myristoylated proteins thought to take part in signal transduction between membranes and cytoplasmic fractions are included in the predicted myristoylated proteins. If the proteins functionally regulated by myristoylation, a posttranslational protein modification, were understood as cross-talk points within the intracellular signal transduction system, known signaling pathways could thus be linked to each other, and a novel map of this intracellular network could be constructed. On the basis of our recent results, this review will highlight the multifunctional aspects of protein N-myristoylation in brain

The bashful and the boastful : prestigious leaders and social change in Mesolithic Societies

The creation and maintenance of influential leaders and authorities is one of the key themes of archaeological and historical enquiry. However the social dynamics of authorities and leaders in the Mesolithic remains a largely unexplored area of study. The role and influence of authorities can be remarkably different in different situations yet they exist in all societies and in almost all social contexts from playgrounds to parliaments. Here we explore the literature on the dynamics of authority creation, maintenance and contestation in egalitarian societies, and discuss the implications for our interpretation and understanding of the formation of authorities and leaders and changing social relationships within the Mesolithic

Comparative effectiveness of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue as add-on therapies to sulphonylurea among diabetes patients in the Asia-Pacific region: a systematic review

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is rising globally, and it induces a substantial public health burden to the healthcare systems. Its optimal control is one of the most significant challenges faced by physicians and policy-makers. Whereas some of the established oral hypoglycaemic drug classes like biguanide, sulphonylureas, thiazolidinediones have been extensively used, the newer agents like dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and the human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues have recently emerged as suitable options due to their similar efficacy and favorable side effect profiles. These agents are widely recognized alternatives to the traditional oral hypoglycaemic agents or insulin, especially in conditions where they are contraindicated or unacceptable to patients. Many studies which evaluated their clinical effects, either alone or as add-on agents, were conducted in Western countries. There exist few reviews on their effectiveness in the Asia-Pacific region. The purpose of this systematic review is to address the comparative effectiveness of these new classes of medications as add-on therapies to sulphonylurea drugs among diabetic patients in the Asia-Pacific countries. We conducted a thorough literature search of the MEDLINE and EMBASE from the inception of these databases to August 2013, supplemented by an additional manual search using reference lists from research studies, meta-analyses and review articles as retrieved by the electronic databases. A total of nine randomized controlled trials were identified and described in this article. It was found that DPP-4 inhibitors and GLP-1 analogues were in general effective as add-on therapies to existing sulphonylurea therapies, achieving HbA1c reductions by a magnitude of 0.59–0.90% and 0.77–1.62%, respectively. Few adverse events including hypoglycaemic attacks were reported. Therefore, these two new drug classes represent novel therapies with great potential to be major therapeutic options. Future larger-scale research should be conducted among other Asia-Pacific region to evaluate their efficacy in other ethnic groups

Measurement of Angular Distributions and R= sigma_L/sigma_T in Diffractive Electroproduction of rho^0 Mesons

Production and decay angular distributions were extracted from measurements of exclusive electroproduction of the rho^0(770) meson over a range in the virtual photon negative four-momentum squared 0.5< Q^2 <4 GeV^2 and the photon-nucleon invariant mass range 3.8< W <6.5 GeV. The experiment was performed with the HERMES spectrometer, using a longitudinally polarized positron beam and a ^3He gas target internal to the HERA e^{+-} storage ring. The event sample combines rho^0 mesons produced incoherently off individual nucleons and coherently off the nucleus as a whole. The distributions in one production angle and two angles describing the rho^0 -> pi+ pi- decay yielded measurements of eight elements of the spin-density matrix, including one that had not been measured before. The results are consistent with the dominance of helicity-conserving amplitudes and natural parity exchange. The improved precision achieved at 47 GeV, reveals evidence for an energy dependence in the ratio R of the longitudinal to transverse cross sections at constant Q^2.Comment: 15 pages, 15 embedded figures, LaTeX for SVJour(epj) document class Revision: Fig. 15 corrected, recent data added to Figs. 10,12,14,15; minor changes to tex

Exclusive Leptoproduction of rho^0 Mesons from Hydrogen at Intermediate Virtual Photon Energies

Measurements of the cross section for exclusive virtual-photoproduction of rho^0 mesons from hydrogen are reported. The data were collected by the HERMES experiment using 27.5 GeV positrons incident on a hydrogen gas target in the HERA storage ring. The invariant mass W of the photon-nucleon system ranges from 4.0 to 6.0 GeV, while the negative squared four-momentum Q^2 of the virtual photon varies from 0.7 to 5.0 GeV^2. The present data together with most of the previous data at W > 4 GeV are well described by a model that infers the W-dependence of the cross section from the dependence on the Bjorken scaling variable x of the unpolarized structure function for deep-inelastic scattering. In addition, a model calculation based on Off-Forward Parton Distributions gives a fairly good account of the longitudinal component of the rho^0 production cross section for Q^2 > 2 GeV^2.Comment: 10 pages, 6 embedded figures, LaTeX for SVJour(epj) document class. Revisions: curves added to Fig. 1, several clarifications added to tex

The Q2Q^2-dependence of the generalised Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn integral for the deuteron, proton and neutron

The Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn (GDH) sum rule connects the anomalous contribution to the magnetic moment of the target nucleus with an energy-weighted integral of the difference of the helicity-dependent photoabsorption cross sections. The data collected by HERMES with a deuterium target are presented together with a re-analysis of previous measurements on the proton. This provides a measurement of the generalised GDH integral covering simultaneously the nucleon-resonance and the deep inelastic scattering regions. The contribution of the nucleon-resonance region is seen to decrease rapidly with increasing $Q^2$. The DIS contribution is sizeable over the full measured range, even down to the lowest measured $Q^2$. As expected, at higher $Q^2$ the data are found to be in agreement with previous measurements of the first moment of $g_1$. From data on the deuteron and proton, the GDH integral for the neutron has been derived and the proton--neutron difference evaluated. This difference is found to satisfy the fundamental Bjorken sum rule at $Q^2 = 5$ GeV$^2$.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Observation of a Coherence Length Effect in Exclusive Rho^0 Electroproduction

Exclusive incoherent electroproduction of the rho^0(770) meson from 1H, 2H, 3He, and 14N targets has been studied by the HERMES experiment at squared four-momentum transfer Q**2>0.4 GeV**2 and positron energy loss nu from 9 to 20 GeV. The ratio of the 14N to 1H cross sections per nucleon, known as the nuclear transparency, was found to decrease with increasing coherence length of quark-antiquark fluctuations of the virtual photon. The data provide clear evidence of the interaction of the quark- antiquark fluctuations with the nuclear medium.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 3 figure

Determination of the Deep Inelastic Contribution to the Generalised Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn Integral for the Proton and Neutron

The virtual photon absorption cross section differences [sigma_1/2-sigma_3/2] for the proton and neutron have been determined from measurements of polarised cross section asymmetries in deep inelastic scattering of 27.5 GeV longitudinally polarised positrons from polarised 1H and 3He internal gas targets. The data were collected in the region above the nucleon resonances in the kinematic range nu < 23.5 GeV and 0.8 GeV**2 < Q**2 < 12 GeV**2. For the proton the contribution to the generalised Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn integral was found to be substantial and must be included for an accurate determination of the full integral. Furthermore the data are consistent with a QCD next-to-leading order fit based on previous deep inelastic scattering data. Therefore higher twist effects do not appear significant.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, revte

Vigilance in a Cooperatively Breeding Primate

Collective vigilance is considered a major advantage of group living in animals. We investigated vigilance behavior in wild mustached tamarins (Saguinus mystax), small, arboreal, cooperatively breeding New World primates that form stable mixed-species groups with saddleback tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis). We aimed 1) to investigate whether vigilance patterns change according to individual activity and 2) to examine whether there is a social component of vigilance in their cooperative and nonaggressive society. We studied 11 factors that may influence vigilance and used this data to interpret the possible functions of vigilance. We observed 44 individuals in 3 mixed-species and 2 single-species groups of 2 populations that differed in population density and home range sizes. Vigilance changed greatly when individuals were engaged in different activities and individual vigilance was affected by different sets of factors depending on the activity. As vigilance decreased in proximity of conspecifics and heterospecifics when feeding, and in larger mixed-species groups when resting, we conclude that the predominant function of vigilance in mustached tamarins is predator related. However, the absence of the group size effect in very large single-species groups suggests that it may also function to maintain group cohesion. In the population with higher density and smaller home ranges individuals also increased their vigilance in home range overlap areas. We found no evidence that mustached tamarins monitor group mates to avoid food stealing or aggression. The effect of heterospecifics on individual vigilance suggests that collective vigilance might have been an important incentive in the evolution of tamarin mixed-species groups