Improved seizure liability detection by combining rat hippocampal brain slice electrophysiology with in vivo behavior observation following intracerebroventricular drug administration.

An adverse effect of drug candidates, seizure is a serious issue in drug development. Improving evaluation systems for seizure liability is crucial for selecting good candidates. Firstly, in vitro electrophysiological measurement by a multielectrode array system in rat hippocampal brain slices was employed to confirm an increase in electrically evoked population spike (PS) area, the occurrence of multiple population spikes (MPSs), and thereby the seizure liability of five positive control chemicals: picrotoxin, 4-aminopyridine, pentylenetetrazole, penicillin G, and chlorpromazine. Aspirin, a negative control, did not affect PS area or generate MPSs. Furthermore, baclofen, an anticonvulsant drug, decreased PS area and inhibited the increase in PS area or occurrence of MPSs induced by picrotoxin. A comparative study of seizure liability among carbapenem antibiotics revealed that tienam > carbenin > omegacin and finibax. Despite leading to a strong decrease in PS area, physostigmine, cisplatin, and paroxetine still produced MPSs. Therefore, the increase in PS area or the occurrence of the MPS are considered significant evaluation parameters for seizure liability. In contrast, the in vitro electrophysiological measurement could not detect the seizure liability of diphenhydramine or fluvoxamine. A follow-up study of in vivo mouse behavioral change induced by intracerebroventricular administration of these drugs clearly detected convulsions. The in vitro electrophysiological study using hippocampal brain slices combined with in vivo behavior observation study of drug candidates administered by intracerebroventricular injection can implement to assess the seizure liability of even small amounts, especially in the early stages of drug development.

Training Laboratory Rabbits to Refine Routine Husbandry Procedures.

Non-aversive handling and training techniques for laboratory animals are required to facilitate experimental and routine husbandry procedures, improving both animal welfare and scientific quality. Clicker training was utilized to develop training protocols for rabbits to refine stressful routine husbandry procedures usually associated with lifting (i.e., being picked up from the floor)/restraining (i.e., being held in the arms of a human) them. Thirteen female New Zealand White rabbits were trained over three weeks. All rabbits learned the predefined goal behaviors: they followed the target stick, jumped onto the weighing scale, entered a transport box, and reared while placing their front paws onto the trainer's hand. In addition, ten animals jumped from the floor onto the sitting trainer's lap and allowed the trainer to lift their paws off the surface while sitting on the trainer's lap. For some individuals, the protocols had to be adapted by additional interim steps. At the end of the training, the rabbits reliably showed the expected goal behaviors, even after short and long training breaks. With few exceptions, a familiar person other than the trainer could elicit the goal behaviors from the rabbits (generalization), though further sessions were required for generalization. In the voluntary approach test, the rabbits preferred interacting with the trainer in the 1st trial but spent as much time with an unfamiliar person as with the trainer in the 2nd trial. The behavioral observations suggested that picking the rabbits up with the transport box, as described in the protocol, instead of restraining them with the scruff of their neck and lifting them on the arm, was less aversive. All in all, the training protocols were feasible and can serve as a refinement strategy in laboratory animal facilities. In the interest of animal welfare, the training protocols should be applied wherever possible.

[Nidcap behavioral observation]. / L'observation comportementale Nidcap.

Who says Neonatal Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (Nidcap) says observation of the baby's behavior. But what is a Nidcap observation? Who are the professionals who can use this method and what are their objectives? How does an observation of this type take place? How do professionals approach their analyzes with parents? Which babies benefit from it? What does this practice bring to the caregiver who uses it? So many questions that are important to address to better understand the Nidcap observation.

Passive exposure to task-relevant stimuli enhances categorization learning.

Learning to perform a perceptual decision task is generally achieved through sessions of effortful practice with feedback. Here, we investigated how passive exposure to task-relevant stimuli, which is relatively effortless and does not require feedback, influences active learning. First, we trained mice in a sound-categorization task with various schedules combining passive exposure and active training. Mice that received passive exposure exhibited faster learning, regardless of whether this exposure occurred entirely before active training or was interleaved between active sessions. We next trained neural-network models with different architectures and learning rules to perform the task. Networks that use the statistical properties of stimuli to enhance separability of the data via unsupervised learning during passive exposure provided the best account of the behavioral observations. We further found that, during interleaved schedules, there is an increased alignment between weight updates from passive exposure and active training, such that a few interleaved sessions can be as effective as schedules with long periods of passive exposure before active training, consistent with our behavioral observations. These results provide key insights for the design of efficient training schedules that combine active learning and passive exposure in both natural and artificial systems.

New approaches to selecting a scan-sampling method for chicken behavioral observations and their practical implications.

The use of the scan-sampling method, especially when a large amount of data is collected, has become widespread in behavioral studies. However, there are no specific guidelines regarding the choice of the sampling interval in different conditions. Thus, establishing a standard approach for video analysis represents an important step forward within the scientific community. In the present work, we hypothesized that the length of the sampling interval could influence the results of chicken behavioral study, for which we evaluated the reliability, accuracy, and validity of three different sampling intervals (10, 15 and 30 min). The Bland-Altman test was proposed as an innovative approach to compare sampling intervals and support researcher choices. Moreover, these sampling intervals were applied to compare the behavior of 4 chicken genotypes kept under free-range conditions. The Bland-Altman plots suggested that sampling intervals greater than 10 min lead to biases in the estimation of rare behaviors, such as "Attacking". In contrast, the 30-min sampling interval was able to detect differences among genotypes in high-occurrence behaviors, such as those associated with locomotory activity. Thus, from a practical viewpoint, when a broad characterization of chicken genotypes is required, the 30-min scan-sampling interval might be suggested as a good compromise between resources and results.

Study protocol for virtual leisure investigating the effect of virtual reality-delivered stress reduction, entertainment and distraction on the use of coercion and need-based medication and patient satisfaction at a closed psychiatric intensive care unit - a mixed-methods pilot clinical trial.

INTRODUCTION: The environment at a psychiatric inpatient ward can lead to emotional distress and behavioural deviations in vulnerable individuals potentially resulting in conflicts, increased use of need-based medication and coercive actions, along with low satisfaction with treatment. To accommodate these challenges, recreational and entertaining interventions are recommended. The tested interventions have, however, shown varying effects and demand a high degree of planning and staff involvement while being difficult to adapt to individual needs. Virtual reality (VR) may help overcome these challenges. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study is a mixed-methods clinical trial with a target sample of 124 patients hospitalised at a closed psychiatric ward in the capital region of Denmark. Outcomes (eg, coercion, need-based medication and perceived stress) for a 12-month period where all patients are offered VR-based recreational experiences during their hospitalisation will be compared with outcomes for a 12-month period where VR is not offered. Feasibility and acceptability will be explored with qualitative interviews supplemented with non-participant observations and focus groups. The study began on 1 January 2023, and we expect to complete data collection by 31 December 2024. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study is registered at Danish Data Protection Agency (j.no P-2022-466) and is approved by the Committee on Health Research Ethics of the capital region of Denmark (j.no 22013313). All patients will be required to provide informed consent. Results from this study will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journals and congress/consortium presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05654740.

Multiple dynamic interactions from basal ganglia direct and indirect pathways mediate action selection.

The basal ganglia are known to be essential for action selection. However, the functional role of basal ganglia direct and indirect pathways in action selection remains unresolved. Here, by employing cell-type-specific neuronal recording and manipulation in mice trained in a choice task, we demonstrate that multiple dynamic interactions from the direct and indirect pathways control the action selection. While the direct pathway regulates the behavioral choice in a linear manner, the indirect pathway exerts a nonlinear inverted-U-shaped control over action selection, depending on the inputs and the network state. We propose a new center (direct)-surround (indirect)-context (indirect) 'Triple-control' functional model of basal ganglia, which can replicate the physiological and behavioral experimental observations that cannot be simply explained by either the traditional 'Go/No-go' or more recent 'Co-activation' model. These findings have important implications on understanding the basal ganglia circuitry and action selection in health and disease.

Internal feedback in the cortical perception-action loop enables fast and accurate behavior.

Animals move smoothly and reliably in unpredictable environments. Models of sensorimotor control, drawing on control theory, have assumed that sensory information from the environment leads to actions, which then act back on the environment, creating a single, unidirectional perception-action loop. However, the sensorimotor loop contains internal delays in sensory and motor pathways, which can lead to unstable control. We show here that these delays can be compensated by internal feedback signals that flow backward, from motor toward sensory areas. This internal feedback is ubiquitous in neural sensorimotor systems, and we show how internal feedback compensates internal delays. This is accomplished by filtering out self-generated and other predictable changes so that unpredicted, actionable information can be rapidly transmitted toward action by the fastest components, effectively compressing the sensory input to more efficiently use feedforward pathways: Tracts of fast, giant neurons necessarily convey less accurate signals than tracts with many smaller neurons, but they are crucial for fast and accurate behavior. We use a mathematically tractable control model to show that internal feedback has an indispensable role in achieving state estimation, localization of function (how different parts of the cortex control different parts of the body), and attention, all of which are crucial for effective sensorimotor control. This control model can explain anatomical, physiological, and behavioral observations, including motor signals in the visual cortex, heterogeneous kinetics of sensory receptors, and the presence of giant cells in the cortex of humans as well as internal feedback patterns and unexplained heterogeneity in neural systems.

Intervention to reduce sedentary behaviour and improve outcomes after stroke (Get Set Go): a study protocol for the process evaluation of a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial (RECREATE).

INTRODUCTION: Stroke survivors spend long periods of time engaging in sedentary behaviour (SB) even when their functional recovery is good. In the RECREATE programme, an intervention aimed at reducing SB ('Get Set Go') will be implemented and evaluated in a pragmatic external pilot cluster randomised controlled trial with embedded process and economic evaluations. We report the protocol for the process evaluation which will address the following objectives: (1) describe and clarify causal assumptions about the intervention, and its mechanisms of impact; (2) assess implementation fidelity; (3) explore views, perceptions and acceptability of the intervention to staff, stroke survivors and their carers; (4) establish the contextual factors that influence implementation, intervention mechanisms and outcomes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This pilot trial will be conducted in 15 UK-based National Health Service stroke services. This process evaluation study, underpinned by the Medical Research Council guidance, will be undertaken in six of the randomised services (four intervention, two control). Data collection includes the following: observations of staff training sessions, non-participant observations in inpatient and community settings, semi-structured interviews with staff, patients and carers, and documentary analysis of key intervention components. Additional quantitative implementation data will be collected in all sites. Training observations and documentary analysis data will be summarised, with other observational and interview data analysed using thematic analysis. Relevant theories will be used to interpret the findings, including the theoretical domains framework, normalisation process theory and the theoretical framework of acceptability. Anticipated outputs include the following: recommendations for intervention refinements (both content and implementation); a revised implementation plan and a refined logic model. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was approved by Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee (REC reference: 19/YH/0403). Findings will be disseminated via peer review publications, and national and international conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN82280581.

Behavioural observation tool for patient involvement and collaboration in emergency care teams (PIC-ET-tool).

BACKGROUND: Patient participation is advocated in various healthcare settings. Instruments for assessment and feedback have been developed to strengthen clinician-patient interaction. In an emergency department context, such instruments are still missing. The study aimed to develop and test an observation tool for emergency teams' behaviour regarding patient involvement and collaboration. METHODS: The development of the behavioural observation tool followed a systematic approach. The tool's content was based on various data sources, i.e., published literature, interview and observational data, and expert consensus. An international expert panel reviewed the content and the rating scale and rated its importance for patient involvement and collaboration in a Delphi process. The feasibility and reliability of the tool were tested by trained observers using video recordings of simulated emergencies. Intraclass correlation (ICC) and Kappa-statistics were performed to test the tool's inter-rater reliability. RESULTS: The PIC-ET tool, a 22-item observation instrument was developed in which patient involvement and collaboration behaviours are rated from 'no' to 'high' using behavioural anchors. Expert agreement was obtained after three Delphi rounds on the tool content, the behavioural anchors and its importance for patient involvement and collaboration. The content validity was assessed as high, and the tool was found feasible for research. Overall inter-rater reliability was fair (Kappa 0.52). CONCLUSIONS: A novel tool for assessing emergency teams' behaviour regarding patient involvement and collaboration is introduced. The tool's psychometric properties were fair to good. Further validation of the PIC-ET tool is recommended for more robust evidence. Future adaptation to different contexts and areas of use, as well as further validity testing may be of value.

Using behavioral observations in freestalls and at milking to improve pain detection in dairy cows after lipopolysaccharide-induced clinical mastitis.

This study aimed to determine the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mastitis with or without nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) on dairy cows' clinical, physiological, and behavioral responses in the milking parlor and freestalls as well as the specificity (Sp) and sensitivity (Se) of behavioral responses in detecting cows with LPS-induced mastitis. Twenty-seven cows received an intramammary infusion of 25 µg of Escherichia coli LPS in 1 healthy quarter. Following LPS infusion, 14 cows received a placebo (LPS cows), and 13 cows received 3 mg/kg of body weight of ketoprofen i.m. (LPS+NSAID cows). Cow response to the challenge was monitored at regular intervals from 24 h before to 48 h postinfusion (hpi) through direct clinical observations, markers of inflammation in milk, and via point-in-time direct behavioral observations in the barn and at milking. In LPS cows, infusion induced a significant increase of plasma cortisol levels at 3 and 8 hpi, milk cortisol levels at 8 hpi, somatic cell counts from 8 to 48 hpi, IL-6 and IL-8 at 8 hpi, milk amyloid A (mAA) and haptoglobin at 8 and 24 hpi, rectal temperature at 8 hpi, and respiratory rate at 8 hpi. Their rumen motility rate decreased at 8 and 32 hpi. Compared with before the challenge, significantly more LPS cows stopped feeding/ruminating and pressed their tail between their legs at 3 and 5 hpi, increased feeding/ruminating at 24 hpi, and had the tendency to be less responsive, dropping their head, and dropping their ears at 5 hpi. At milking, compared with before challenge, significantly more LPS cows lifted their hooves at forestripping at 8 hpi. The 2 groups showed similar patterns of response for milk cortisol, somatic cell count, respiratory rate, mAA, haptoglobin, and IL-6, IL-1ß, and IL-8. Compared with LPS cows, LPS+NSAID cows had significantly lower plasma cortisol levels at 3 hpi, their rectal temperature decreased at 8 hpi, their rumen motility rate increased at 8 and 32 hpi, and their heart rate increased at 32 hpi. Compared with LPS cows, a significantly larger proportion of LPS+NSAID cows were feeding/ruminating, a lower proportion had ears down at 5 hpi, and a larger proportion lied down at 24 hpi. At milking, whatever the phase of milking, for "hoof to belly," 9 out of 14 cows did not show this behavior before infusion (Sp = 64%) and 14/14 did not kick during pre-infusion milking (Sp = 100%). Regarding sensitivity, at maximum, 5 cows out of 14 (Se = 36%) displayed "hoof to belly" after infusion. For "lifting hoof," 14/14 did not show hoof-lifting before infusion (Sp = 100%) and 6/14 displayed it after infusion (Se = 43%) at forestripping only. In the freestall barn, 9 behaviors had a Sp >75% (at minimum, 10/14 did not show the behavior) whatever the time point but Se < 60% (at maximum, 8/14 displayed the behavior). Finally, "absence of feeding and ruminating" had Sp of 86% (12/14 ate/ruminated) and Se of 71% (10/14 did not eat/ruminate) at 5 hpi. This study shows that feeding/ruminating, tail position, and reactivity at forestripping could be used as behavioral indictors for early detection of mastitis-related pain in dairy cows.

Use of the Newborn Behavioral Observations System as an early intervention for infants and their parents: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: The Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system is an infant-focused, family-centered, relationship-based tool designed to help parents become aware of their baby's abilities and to promote a positive parent-child relationship from the very beginning of birth. AIMS: The aim of this scoping review was to provide an overview of the key characteristics of the research and evidence accumulated over the past 17 years on the early NBO intervention for infants and their parents to identify the existing research gaps and to inform the future direction of research on the NBO System. STUDY DESIGN: A scoping review guided by Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework and the PRISMA-ScR Checklist was conducted. This review used six databases (PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Ichushi-Web, and CiNii) and was limited to English and Japanese language articles from January 2006, when the NBO was developed, to September 2022. Reference lists were also hand-searched to further identify relevant articles from the NBO site. RESULTS: A total of 29 articles were selected. Through the analysis of included articles, four overarching themes were identified: (1) usage pattern of the NBO; (2) participants, setting, duration, and frequency of the NBO intervention; (3) outcome measures and effects of the NBO intervention; and (4) findings from a qualitative perspective. The review suggested that early NBO intervention had a positive impact on maternal mental health and sensitivity to the infant, confidence and knowledge of practitioners, and infant development. CONCLUSIONS: This scoping review shows that the early NBO intervention has been implemented in a variety of cultures and settings and by professionals of various disciplines. However, research to evaluate the long-term effects of this intervention on a wider range of subjects is needed.

Mismatches between phenotype and environment shape fitness at hyperlocal scales.

In the era of human-driven climate change, understanding whether behavioural buffering of temperature change is linked with organismal fitness is essential. According to the 'cost-benefit' model of thermoregulation, animals that live in environments with high frequencies of favourable thermal microclimates should incur lower thermoregulatory costs, thermoregulate more efficiently and shunt the associated savings in time and energy towards other vital tasks such as feeding, territory defence and mate acquisition, increasing fitness. Here, we explore how thermal landscapes at the scale of individual territories, physiological performance and behaviour interact and shape fitness in the southern rock agama lizard (Agama atra). We integrated laboratory assays of whole organism performance with behavioural observations in the field, fine-scale estimates of environmental temperature, and paternity assignment of offspring to test whether fitness is predicted by territory thermal quality (i.e. the number of hours that operative temperatures in a territory fall within an individual's performance breadth). Male lizards that occupied territories of low thermal quality spent more time behaviourally compensating for sub-optimal temperatures and displayed less. Further, display rate was positively associated with lizard fitness, suggesting that there is an opportunity cost to engaging in thermoregulatory behaviour that will change as climate change progresses.

Sexual communication patterns in couples with vulvodynia-a case-control behavioral observation study.

BACKGROUND: Sexual communication is a common target in psychological treatments for vulvodynia, and associations with sexual function and distress, as well as pain intensity, have been demonstrated. However, structured observations of the communication patterns of couples with vulvodynia are lacking, as these are needed to guide treatment efforts. AIM: To explore (1) the sexual communication patterns in couples with vulvodynia in terms of observed communication quality (operationalized as validating and invalidating responses), self-reported sexual assertiveness, and self-disclosure and (2) associations between sexual communication quality and pain intensity. METHODS: In a case-control design with within- and between-group comparisons, 62 couples engaged in videotaped discussions about their sexual relationship. Trained coders assessed the discussions by rating sexual communication (validation and invalidation) according to a structured behavioral coding scheme. Group differences in sexual communication quality were examined with parametric and nonparametric tests. Dyadic associations among observed communication quality, self-rated sexual assertiveness, and self-disclosure were examined within the actor-partner interdependence model. Multiple regression was used to test the predictive value of partners' validation/invalidation on the pain intensity of the women with vulvodynia. OUTCOMES: Observed communication quality (ie, validation and invalidation), self-reported sexual assertiveness, self-disclosure, and pain intensity. RESULTS: Partners of women with vulvodynia were more invalidating toward their partners than those of women without pain. There were no significant differences in validating/invalidating communication between women in the 2 groups or in validation between partners. Partners' validating communication were significantly associated with women's lower pain intensity. The sexual communication patterns differed between couples with and without vulvodynia, and the associations between validating/invalidating responses and sexual assertiveness were stronger in the vulvodynia group than in the group without pain. Results on validation/invalidation and self-disclosure were inconclusive. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The results indicate a need to direct treatment interventions toward couples' sexual communication quality (ie, levels of validation and invalidation). STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: Strengths include systematic behavioral coding and dyadic analyses. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and self-selection of participants. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated sexual communication patterns specific to couples with vulvodynia, and we conclude that validation and invalidation are important components of the sexual communication of couples with vulvodynia as they relate to sexual assertiveness, women's self-disclosure, and pain intensity.

Opportunistic availability of an infant and social relationship to a mother influence grooming before infant handling in Japanese macaques.

Biological market theory (BMT) predicts that the balance between supply and demand determines the economic value of a "commodity," which consequently determines the amount of "services" that an individual needs to provide to obtain the commodity. In infant handling among primates, the existing literature suggests that handlers need to groom a mother to obtain access to its infant, particularly when the value of the infant is high (e.g., when the number of infants is low). However, grooming by handlers may not be a prerequisite for the occurrence of infant handling, because handlers can handle an infant that is separated from its mother. Based on 3 years of behavioral observations of wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), we examined the process by which infant handling occurs and the role of grooming in infant handling. We found that infant handling occurred more frequently when the mother and infant were separated than when they were in contact. Grooming rarely occurred before infant handling. The subsequent occurrence of infant handling was not predicted by either the occurrence or duration of grooming toward mothers by non-mother individuals. Grooming by handlers was also more likely to occur when an infant was in contact with its mother and when an infant's mother was dominant to the handlers. Contrary to BMT, the number of infants in a group did not affect grooming by handlers. These results indicate that the handlers' decision to groom depended on the opportunistic availability of an infant and the social relationship between the infant's mother and themselves. We conclude that grooming was not always necessary for infant handling.

Describing physical activity in public open spaces in Brazil: Active City, Healthy City Program / Descrevendo a atividade física em espaços públicos abertos no Brasil: Programa Cidade Ativa, Cidade Saudável

This study aimed to describe the physical activity (PA) in public open spaces (POS) in a medi-um-sized city in Brazil. The System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) was applied to evaluate a representative sample of users in 10 POS which received actions from the Active City, Healthy City Program. The places were evaluated four days a week (Tuesday, Wednes-day, Saturday, and Sunday) at four times (8 am, 10 am, 2 pm, and 4 pm). The proportion of users by gender, age group, skin color, and PA level was compared between the POS using the chi-square test for heterogeneity in the STATA software (p<0.05). As main results, 32,768 scans were performed in 64 target areas and identified 8,634 individuals. The highest proportion of people were males (58%), adults (38%), with white skin color (97%), and in light or moderate PA (76%). Except for skin color, there was a significant difference in the proportion of all other variables between the POS (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the POS was more commonly used by men, adults, and people of white skin color for light and moderate PA. Based on the results, program managers could reallocate resources to increase utilization and PA at each place

O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever a atividade física (AF) em espaços públicos abertos (EPA) em uma cidade de médio porte do Brasil. O System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) foi utilizado para avaliar uma amostra representativa de frequentadores de 10 EPA que receberam ações do programa Cidade Ativa, Cidade Saudável. Os locais foram avaliados quatro dias da semana (terça-feira, quarta-feira, sábado, domingo) em quatro horários (8h, 10h, 14h, 16h). A proporção de frequentadores por sexo, faixa etária, cor de pele e nível de AF foi comparada entre os EPA pelo teste do qui-quadrado para heterogeneidade no software STATA (p < 0,05). Como resultados principais, foram realizados 32.768 scans em 64 áreas-alvo e 8.634 frequentadores foram identificados. Foi observada maior proporção de pessoas do sexo masculino (58%), adultos (38%), de cor de pele branca (97%) e em AF de intensidade leve ou moderada (76%). Com exceção da cor da pele, houve diferença significante na proporção das demais variáveis entre os EPA (p < 0,05). Em conclusão, os EPA são mais comumente utilizados por homens, pessoas adultas, de cor de pele branca e para a prática de AF de intensidade leve e moderada. Com base nos resultados, os gestores do programa poderiam realocar recursos para aumentar a utilização e a AF em cada local

Measuring Team Hierarchy During High-Stakes Clinical Decision Making: Development and Validation of a New Behavioral Observation Method.

PURPOSE: Hierarchy is often cited as a cause of health care team failure; however, there are no validated measures of team hierarchy. Research on group processes in sociology provides a theoretical framework-status characteristics and expectation states (SCES)-that explains the mechanisms that produce the observable power and prestige order (status hierarchy) of the team. The authors use this formal theoretical framework to gather evidence of validity by adapting the method to measure the status hierarchy of medical teams. METHOD: In this retrospective, secondary analysis, the authors analyzed archived videorecorded training exercises conducted between 2007 and 2010 of mixed-gender health care teams of first-year residents and nurses engaged in simulated, complex decision-making scenarios. Analyses were conducted in 2013 with data reanalyzed in July 2022. By adapting the SCES framework for the unique features of academic health care, they developed and refined a coding method from videos and transcripts. To examine validity, they consider the content, response process, internal structure, relation to other variables, and consequences of the framework. RESULTS: Having established an acceptable level of coding reliability for key variables for videos and transcripts, the authors demonstrate relation to other variables, specifically detailing how the coding scheme delineates 2 status characteristics-occupation and gender. The mean numbers of statement types by gender and occupation were largely as predicted. Directives, question directives, patient work, and knowledge claims were more likely to be coded during video than transcript coding, whereas questions, statements of fact, and compliance were more likely to be coded during transcript than video coding. However, the relative rates of each statement type by status remained largely consistent among the coding methods. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides important insight into the mechanisms by which hierarchy impacts team decision making and develops the necessary framework and measurement tool to perform larger studies.

Accuracy of paper-and-pencil systematic observation versus computer-aided systems.

Computer-aided behavior observation is gradually supplanting paper-and-pencil approaches to behavior observation, but there is a dearth of evidence on the relative accuracy of paper-and-pencil versus computer-aided behavior observation formats in the literature. The current study evaluated the accuracy resulting from paper-and-pencil observation and from two computer-aided behavior observation methods: The Observer XT® desktop software and the Big Eye Observer® smartphone application. Twelve postgraduate students without behavior observation experience underwent a behavior observation training protocol. As part of a multi-element design, participants recorded 60 real clinical sessions randomly assigned to one of the three observation methods. All three methods produced high levels of accuracy (paper-and-pencil, .88 ± .01; The Observer XT, .84 ± .01; Big Eye Observer, .84 ± .01). A mixed linear model analysis indicated that paper-and-pencil observation produced marginally superior accuracy values, whereas the accuracy produced by The Observer XT and Big Eye Observer did not differ. The analysis suggests that accuracy of recording was mediated by the number of recordable events in the observation videos. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

Content Validity and Inter-rater Reliability of the Music Interventions in Pediatric DoC Behavior Observation Record.

Aligned with best practice guidelines for patients presenting with a disorder of consciousness (DoC), music therapy interventions with this population aim to increase arousal and awareness to support emergence to consciousness. There is a significant evidence base supporting music therapy for adults with a DoC; however, there are currently no published tools that systematically capture behavioral responses of this population during rehabilitative music therapy interventions. Further, the developmentally specific response to severe brain injury in the pediatric population means pediatric-specific research is required. The Music Interventions in Pediatric DoC Behavior Observation Record (Music Behavior Record [MBR]) was developed to objectively record responses during music therapy interventions for children presenting with a DoC. To establish content validity and inter-rater reliability, a pragmatic pilot study was undertaken. Results established that the MBR has content validity with 100% agreement among participants. Overall fair-substantial inter-rater reliability in >70% of the behavioral responses recorded in the MBR indicate the MBR is an early but promising tool to objectively capture responses during music therapy interventions. The use of the MBR may ultimately support clinical advancement and intervention research to optimize consciousness recovery for the pediatric DoC population.

Newborn behavioral observations system in rural Pakistan: A feasibility and acceptability study.

The Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system is a relationship-based tool that helps parents recognize their infant's competencies and learn their behavioral cues, with the goals of enhancing parental responsiveness and satisfaction in the infant-parent relationship. In our study, a pediatrician integrated the NBO into 44 pediatric health care visits of infants in rural Pakistan villages, under the remote guidance of two U.S.-based child psychiatrists. A clinician then gave the mothers a survey about their experience of the NBO and found that the mothers were highly satisfied, reporting greater appreciation of their infant's strengths, greater understanding of their infant's behavioral cues, stronger attachment to their infant, and greater self-confidence as a mother. In their consideration of these results, the authors explore cultural reasons for the mothers' responses and generate hypotheses to inform an outcome study of a similar intervention. This was a feasibility and acceptability study and was not randomized, had no control group, and did not use objective measures of outcome.

El sistema de Observaciones de Comportamiento del Recién Nacido (NBO)™ es una herramienta basada en la relación que se enfoca en ayudar a los padres a reconocer las competencias de su infante y aprender sus señales de comportamiento, con el propósito de mejorar la sensibilidad y satisfacción del progenitor en la relación infante-progenitor. En este estudio de probabilidad y aceptabilidad, un clínico pediatra integró el NBO dentro de 44 visitas de cuidado de salud pediátricas a infantes en aldeas rurales en Pakistán, bajo la guía remota de dos siquiatras infantiles con base en los Estados Unidos. Entonces, un clínico les dio a las madres una encuesta acerca de su experiencia con el NBO y se encontró que las madres estaban altamente satisfechas, reportando un mayor aprecio por los puntos fuertes de sus infantes, una mayor comprensión de las señalas de comportamiento de sus infantes, una más fuerte afectividad hacia sus infantes, así como una mayor auto confianza como madre. En sus consideraciones de estos resultados, los autores exploran razones culturales para las respuestas de las madres y generan hipótesis como información para un estudio de resultado de una intervención similar.

Le système d'observation comportementale du nouveau-né (Newborn Behavioral Observations, abrégé selon l'anglais NBO system™) est un outil basé sur la relation se concentrant sur l'aide aux parents à reconnaître les compétences de leur nourrisson et à comprendre leurs signaux de comportement, se donnant pour but de mettre en valeur la réaction parentale et la satisfaction dans la relation nourrisson-parent. Dans cette étude de faisabilité et d'acceptabilité un clinicien en pédiatrie a intégré le NBO dans 44 visites de santé pédiatrique de nourrissons dans des villages du Pakistan rural, sous l'orientation professionnelle à distance de deux psychiatres de l'enfance basés aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique. Un clinicien a ensuite donné aux mères un questionnaires sur leur expérience du NBO et a trouvé que les mères étaient très satisfaites, faisant état d'une plus grande appréciation des forces de leurs nourrissons, d'une plus grande compréhension des signaux de comportement de leur nourrisson, d'un attachement plus fort à leur nourrisson et d'une plus grande confiance en soi en tant que mère. Dans leur considération de ces résultats les auteurs explorent les raisons culturelles expliquant les réponses des mères et génèrent des hypothèses pour informer une étude d'une intervention similaire.