Objective: Bullying has consistently been highlighted as a risk factor for youth self-harm. Less is known about associations by bullying sub-type (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Sleep and epilepsy have an established bidirectional relationship yet only one randomised controlled clinical trial has assessed the effectiveness of behavioural sleep interventions for children with epilepsy. The intervention was successful, but was delivered via face-to-face educational sessions with parents, which are costly and non-scalable to population level. The Changing Agendas on Sleep, Treatment and Learning in Epilepsy (CASTLE) Sleep-E trial addresses this problem by comparing clinical and cost-effectiveness in children with Rolandic epilepsy between standard care (SC) and SC augmented with a novel, tailored parent-led CASTLE Online Sleep Intervention (COSI) that incorporates evidence-based behavioural components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In paediatric epilepsy, the evidence of effectiveness of antiseizure treatment is inconclusive for some types of epilepsy. As with other paediatric clinical trials, researchers undertaking paediatric epilepsy clinical trials face a range of challenges that may compromise external validity MAIN BODY: In this paper, we critically reflect upon the factors which impacted recruitment to the pilot phase of a phase IV unblinded, randomised controlled 3×2 factorial trial examining the effectiveness of two antiseizure medications (ASMs) and a sleep behaviour intervention in children with Rolandic epilepsy. We consider the processes established to support recruitment, public and patient involvement and engagement (PPIE), site induction, our oversight of recruitment targets and figures, and the actions we took to help us understand why we failed to recruit sufficient children to continue to the substantive trial phase.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJuvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is a common idiopathic generalised epilepsy with variable seizure prognosis and sex differences in disease presentation. Here, we investigate the combined epidemiology of sex, seizure types and precipitants, and their influence on prognosis in JME, through cross-sectional data collected by The Biology of Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (BIOJUME) consortium. 765 individuals met strict inclusion criteria for JME (female:male, 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Impulsivity is a multidimensional construct that can predispose to psychopathology. Meta-analysis demonstrates an association between response impulsivity and Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME), a common genetic generalized epilepsy. Here, we test the hypotheses that trait impulsivity is (i) elevated in JME compared to controls; (ii) moderated by specific seizure characteristics; and (iii) associated with psychiatric adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The objectives of the study were to (1) map questions in epilepsy-specific patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of children's health-related quality of life (HRQoL) to a proposed core outcome set (COS) for childhood epilepsy research and (2) gain insight into the acceptability of two leading candidate PROMs.
Method: We identified 11 epilepsy-specific PROMs of children's HRQoL (17 questionnaire versions) in a previous systematic review. Each item from the PROMs was mapped to 38 discrete outcomes across 10 domains of the COS: seizures, sleep, social functioning, mental health, cognition, physical functioning, behavior, adverse events, family life, and global quality of life.
Objective: To identify and appraise published evidence of the measurement properties for epilepsy-specific patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of children's health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
Methods: We searched multiple databases for studies evaluating the measurement properties of English-language epilepsy-specific PROMs of children's HRQoL. We assessed the methodological quality using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) guidance.
Objective: Establishing a core set of outcomes to be evaluated and reported in intervention trials aims to improve the usefulness of health research. There is no established core outcome set (COS) for childhood epilepsies. The aim of this study was to select a COS to be used in evaluative research of interventions for children with rolandic epilepsy (RE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute nicotine abstinence in cigarette smokers results in deficits in performance on specific cognitive processes, including working memory and impulsivity which are important in relapse. Cannabidiol (CBD), the non-intoxicating cannabinoid found in cannabis, has shown pro-cognitive effects and preliminary evidence has indicated it can reduce the number of cigarettes smoked in dependent smokers. However, the effects of CBD on cognition have never been tested during acute nicotine withdrawal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating cannabinoid found in cannabis, may be a promising novel smoking cessation treatment due to its anxiolytic properties, minimal side effects and research showing that it may modify drug cue salience. We used an experimental medicine approach with dependent cigarette smokers to investigate if (1) overnight nicotine abstinence, compared with satiety, will produce greater attentional bias (AB), higher pleasantness ratings of cigarette-related stimuli and increased craving and withdrawal; and (2) CBD in comparison to placebo, would attenuate AB, pleasantness of cigarette-related stimuli, craving and withdrawal and not produce any side effects.
Design: Randomized, double-blind cross-over study with a fixed satiated session followed by two overnight abstinent sessions.
Background: There is increasing recognition that establishing a core set of outcomes to be evaluated and reported in trials of interventions for particular conditions will improve the usefulness of health research. There is no established core outcome set for childhood epilepsy. The aim of this work is to select a core outcome set to be used in evaluative research of interventions for children with rolandic epilepsy, as an exemplar of common childhood epilepsy syndromes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur expectations for the evolution of chemical signals in response to sexual selection are uncertain. How are chemical signals elaborated? Does sexual selection result in complexity of the composition or in altered quantities of expression? We addressed this in Drosophila pseudoobscura by examining male and female cuticular hydrocarbons (CHs) after 82 generations of elevated (E) sexual selection or relaxed sexual selection through monogamy (M). The CH profile consisted of 18 different components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMating systems have a profound influence on the probability of conflict occurring between the sexes. Promiscuity is predicted to generate sexual conflict, thereby driving the evolution of male traits that harm females, whereas monogamy is expected to foster reproductive cooperation, thus rendering such traits redundant. We tested these predictions using experimentally evolved Drosophila pseudoobscura subject to different mating systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSexual selection theory makes clear predictions regarding male spermatogenic investment. To test these predictions we used experimental sexual selection in Drosophila pseudoobscura, a sperm heteromorphic species in which males produce both fertile and sterile sperm, the latter of which may function in postmating competition. Specifically, we determined whether the number and size of both sperm types, as well as relative testis mass and accessory gland size, increased with increased sperm competition risk and whether any fitness benefits could accrue from such changes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSexual selection requires social interactions, particularly between the sexes. When trait expression is influenced by social interactions, such traits are called interacting phenotypes and only recently have the evolutionary consequences of interacting phenotypes been considered. Here we investigated how variation in relative fitness, or the opportunity for sexual selection, affected the evolutionary trajectories of interacting phenotypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSexual conflict has been predicted to drive reproductive isolation by generating arbitrary but rapid coevolutionary changes in reproductive traits among allopatric populations. A testable prediction of this proposal is that allopatric populations experiencing different levels of sexual conflict should exhibit different levels of reproductive isolation. We tested this prediction using experimentally evolved populations of the promiscuous Drosophila pseudoobscura.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCourtship song serves as a sexual signal and may contribute to reproductive isolation between closely related species. Using lines of Drosophila pseudoobscura experimentally selected under different sexual selection regimes, we tested whether increased promiscuity and enforced monogamy led to evolutionary changes in courtship song elements. In D.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSexual conflict over reproduction can occur between males and females. In several naturally promiscuous insect species, experimental evolution studies that have enforced monogamy found evidence for sexual conflict. Here, we subjected the naturally promiscuous, sperm-heteromorphic fruit fly Drosophila pseudoobscura to enforced monogamy, standard levels of promiscuity, and elevated opportunities for promiscuity in four replicate lines.
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