Activity

Rodent studies on decision-making often use food rewards and food-restrict subjects in order to motivate performance. However, food restriction has widespread effects on brain and behavior, which depend on factors including extent of restriction and feeding schedule. These factors are well recognized for their effects on motivation, but may also cause effects on decision-making independent of motivation. We examined how the degree of weight-based food restriction in rats influenced decision-making on the probability and delay discounting tasks. Additionally, we examined how the method of food restriction (consistent amount vs. time constrained feeding schedule) influenced decision-making. selleck compound Our results showed that the degree of weight-based food restriction significantly altered probability, but not delay discounting, and that these effects were not entirely explainable by differences in motivation. Additionally, the method of food restriction did not significantly influence discounting when animals were within the same range of weight-based restriction. Together, our findings suggest that the degree of food restriction may modulate the neural circuitry responsible for selective aspects of decision-making related to probability. Further, these data support the need for tight control and reporting of weight and feeding in studies relying on food restriction, and suggest that the effects of food restriction may be broader than previously considered.Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders in children and youth. Effective screening methods are needed to identify children in need of treatment. The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) questionnaire is a widely used tool to assess childhood anxiety. We aim toevaluate the psychometric properties of the SCARED questionnaire, test the SCARED factor structure, and evaluate the prevalence of anxiety symptoms in a community sample of Finnish elementary school children, based on both a child and parent report. The sample included all pupils (n = 1,165) in grades 2 through 6 (ages 8-13) in four elementary schools in the city of Turku, Finland. Children completed a Finnish translation of the SCARED questionnaire at school, with one parent report questionnaire per child completed at home. In total, 663 child-parent dyads (56.9%) completed the questionnaire. Internal consistency was high for both child and parent reports on all subscales (0.71-0.92), except for school avoidance (0.57 child, 0.63 parent report). Inter-rater reliability ranged from poor to fair across subscales (intraclass correlation 0.27-0.47). Self-reported anxiety scores were higher than the parent reported scores. Females had significantly higher total scores than males based on the child reports (p = 0.003), but not the parent reports. In the confirmatory factor analysis, hypothesized models did not have a good fit with the data, and modification was needed. The Finnish SCARED questionnaire has good internal consistency. Low child-parent agreement calls for the importance of including both child and parental reports in the assessment of anxiety symptoms.

Participation in daily activities provides many opportunities for children with and without disabilities to improve cognitive, physical and communication abilities; to develop social relationships and to promote adaptive behaviours. The aim of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Participation Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) in Turkish children and youth with and without a disability.

A total of 410 parents of children with (n = 232) and without (n = 178) disabilities, aged 5-17 years, were included in this study. Cronbach’s alpha (α) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were evaluated for internal consistency and test-retest reliability, respectively. Discriminant validity was determined by comparing the differences in participation and environment scores for disability groups and age intervals with the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by post-hoc analyses when results were statistically significant.

Internal consistency (0.67-0.80) and test-retest reliability (0.67-0.93, p < 0.0001) ranged from moderate to very strong for different summary scores. Discriminant validity of the Turkish version of PEM-CY was supported by significant differences between children with and without disabilities on participation and environment scales (p < 0.05). We identified some significant age differences, but they did not follow consistently.

The Turkish version of the PEM-CY is a valid and reliable tool to determine the participation and environmental factors in the home, at school and in community settings in Turkish children and youth aged 5-17 years, with and without disabilities.

The Turkish version of the PEM-CY is a valid and reliable tool to determine the participation and environmental factors in the home, at school and in community settings in Turkish children and youth aged 5-17 years, with and without disabilities.This prospective study was aimed to evaluate the impact of an indwelling ureteral double-J stent on the sexual health of Indian men undergoing ureteroscopy. The first phase of the study included 30 men who were not counselled prior to stenting about possible sexual dysfunction, while in the next phase, 60 men were counselled about this. These 60 patients were assessed by a 6-point questionnaire five questions from the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5) and an additional 6th question to assess pain during erection/ejaculation. Patients answered the questionnaire prior to ureteroscopy, at the time of stent removal and then 4 weeks after stent removal. A higher proportion of men in the second phase attempted sexual activity (68.3% vs. 26.7%; p less then .001). Significant changes were noted in the total IIEF-5 score (mean 23.16 before vs. 15.65 after, p less then .001) and individual IIEF-5 components erection confidence (4.59 vs. 2.76, p = .017), maintenance ability (4.67 vs. 2.43, p = .006) and intercourse satisfaction (4.61 vs. 2.31, p less then .001) and also the ‘pain’ question (2.83 post-stenting vs. 0.37 pre-stenting, p less then .001). Most patients had a recovery of scores at 4 weeks after stent removal. Thus, ureteral DJ stenting leads to significant but temporary sexual dysfunction and patients need to be counselled regarding this.