Environmental enrichment: effects on stereotyped behavior and regional neuronal metabolic activity

The present study evaluated whether environmental enrichment-related effects on the development of stereotyped behavior in deer mice were associated with alterations in neuronal metabolic activity. Deer mice were reared under either enriched or standard housing conditions for 60 days following weaning. All mice were then placed in automated photocell detectors and classified as either stereotypic or non-stereotypic. Neuronal metabolic activity was then assessed using cytochrome oxidase (CO) histochemistry. The results demonstrated that environmental enrichment significantly increased neuronal metabolic activity in the motor cortex. Furthermore, non-stereotypic mice exhibited significantly more CO activity than stereotypic mice in the cortex, striatum, nucleus accumbens, thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala. This latter effect was due to the enriched mice as evidenced by a significant interaction between housing condition and behavioral status in the cortex, striatum, nucleus accumbens, thalamus and hippocampus. Thus, the observed increase in CO activity reflected increased neuronal metabolic activity in non-stereotypic enriched mice relative to stereotypic enriched mice. These results suggest that, in a developmental model of spontaneous stereotypy, the enrichment-related prevention of stereotyped behavior is associated with increased CO activity.     

Management of endosalpingiosis of urinary bladder

We report on a 48-year-old woman who presented with abnormal uterine bleeding secondary to uterine fibroids and who was found to have incidental endosalpingiosis of the urinary bladder. Follow-up is necessary for bladder endosalpingiosis because of its tendency to recur. Follow-up should include cystoscopy and renal, and possibly pelvic, ultrasonography.     

The relationship between parental overprotection and health-related quality of life in pediatric cancer: the mediating role of perceived child vulnerability

Purpose  

The current study sought to examine the relation of parental overprotection and perceived child vulnerability to parent-reported health-related quality of life in parents of children with cancer.     

Randomized Trial of the Parent And Caregiver Active Participation Toolkit for Child Mental Health Treatment

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine preliminary feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a toolkit (Parent And Caregiver Active Participation Toolkit) to increase parent participation in community-based child mental health services. Study participants included 29 therapists (93% female; M age = 34.1 years; 38% Latino) and 20 parent/child dyads (children 80% female; M age = 8.6 years; parents 40% Latino) in 6 diverse community mental health clinics. Therapists were randomly assigned to standard care or the toolkit with standard care. Therapist and parent survey data and observational coding of treatment sessions were utilized. Mean comparisons and repeated measures analyses were used to test differences between study conditions over 4 months. Results supported preliminary feasibility and acceptability of the toolkit, with therapists assigned to the toolkit participating in ongoing training, adhering to toolkit use, and perceiving the toolkit as feasible and acceptable within their setting. Results preliminarily demonstrated improvement in therapists’ job attitudes, as well as actual use of parent engagement strategies. Results also preliminarily demonstrated increases in parent participation in child therapy sessions and more regular attendance, as well as some indication of support for perceived treatment effectiveness. Overall, results suggest the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of the toolkit to enhance therapist job attitudes; practices that support parent engagement, parent engagement itself, and consumer perspectives on treatment outcomes; and the potential promise of future research in the area of parent participation interventions in child mental health services.     

An Examination of Parenting Variables and Child Self-Care Behavior Across Disease Groups

The present study examined the relationship of three parent-related variables, namely, perceived child vulnerability, parental overprotection, and parenting stress to child self-care behaviors among 200 children with Type 1 diabetes, asthma, or cystic fibrosis. A related goal of the study was to examine for illness- and age-related differences among the same variables of interest. Results indicated that higher levels of parenting stress were associated with lower parent ratings of their child’s self-care behaviors. Additional analyses of individual illness groups demonstrated that age was significantly related to both child and parent ratings of self-care only for the diabetes group, with older children engaging in lower levels of self-care. Such results support continued investigation of parent behaviors and beliefs as they relate to child self-care outcomes at different ages in pediatric chronic illness populations.     

Rapid diagnosis of late-onset Pompe disease by fluorometric assay of alpha-glucosidase activities in dried blood spots

The enzymatic defect in Pompe disease is insufficient lysosomal acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) activity which leads to lysosomal glycogen accumulation. We recently introduced a simple and reliable method to measure GAA activity in dried blood spots using Acarbose, a highly selective alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, to eliminate isoenzyme interference. Here we demonstrate that this method efficiently detects late-onset Pompe patients who are frequently misdiagnosed by conventional methods due to residual GAA activity in other tissue types.