Perception of Soft Contact Lens Usage Among Health Sciences and Bussiness Management Students

Contact lens complications were mainly caused by improper contact lens hygiene and maintenance. The awareness and education on contact lens care can enhance the positive attitude of the wearers, especially among university students. This study investigated and compared the perceptions of contact lens use and care among university students of different backgrounds. A cross-sectional survey was carried out of 142 university students aged 20 to 25 who wore spectacles or contact lenses. The Perception and Practice of Contact Lens Use Questionnaire was distributed to the participants via an online platform. The perception of contact lens use as an optical device between spectacle and contact lens wearers among health sciences and business management students was statistically significant (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the perception of contact lens awareness of soft contact lens wearers between health sciences and business management students (p>0.05). Results indicated that both groups agreed contact lens complications had the most significant impact on perceptions of contact lens use, followed by the perception in general and cost. Regardless of educational field background, whether health science or business, all contact lens wearers have the same behavioural assessment of contact lens awareness. It is unaffected by the nature of one's education. Hence, it is essential to avoid any problems that can threaten eye health regarding contact lens usage. Proper guidelines and awareness of contact lens use through physician-provided education will help to protect public health. Nonetheless, this study has limitations where the data regarding the refractive error, contact lens type, and method of purchasing contact lenses were not collected. Investigation on the perception of contact lens use in multiracial settings should be considered for a comprehensive approach. This research is believed to contribute to behavioural science knowledge and practice as the conducted behavioural assessment experienced by most university students. Keywords: behaviour, contact lens usage, knowledge, awareness. eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6i18.3058

Study of Behavioural Traits in Can de Palleiro (Galician Shepherd Dog)

The Can de Palleiro (CP) is an autochthonous canine breed from Galicia (NW Spain). Interestingly, no previous research has been published about the behaviour of this breed. Thus, the aim of the present study was to obtain a deeper understanding of CP behavioural and temperamental traits and detect any potentially problematic behaviour by using the Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) and the Socially Acceptable Behaviour (SAB) test. Behavioural information was obtained from 377 dogs—177 CPs and 200 general population (GP) dogs—using the C-BARQ. Additionally, 32 dogs were enrolled to perform the SAB test (19 CPs and 13 GP dogs) in order to directly evaluate their temperament. Our results indicated that CP dogs had a lower tendency to show aggressiveness towards their owners (0.18 times lower, p = 0.033) and less fear of other dogs (by 0.43 times, p = 0.001), as well as higher trainability levels (2.56 times higher, p < 0.001) when compared to GP dogs. CP dogs also had increased odds of showing chasing behaviour (3.81 times higher, p < 0.001). Conversely, CPs had reduced odds of non-social fear, separation-related problems and excitability (by 0.42, 0.35 and 0.48 times, respectively; p < 0.001, p < 0.001 and p = 0.002). The current research represents a starting point for the study of the behaviour of CPs, which appear to be a working breed, with guarding and, especially, herding characteristics.

Open field mirror test as a tool for the assessment of visual functions in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes

To evaluate the use of mirror test in an open field arena as a visual function assessment tool in a rodent model of diabetes. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into diabetic rats, that received intraperitoneal streptozotocin (55 mg/kg body weight) for induction of diabetes, and control rats that similarly received citrate buffer. Rats with a blood glucose level of more than 20 mmol/L were considered diabetic. Blood glucose was monitored weekly throughout the experimental period. General behavioural assessment of the rats was done at week 12 post-induction using open field arena, followed by visual-behavioural assessment with mirror and reversed mirror added in the arena. Subsequently, rats were euthanised and subjected to haematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E) staining to assess changes in retinal morphology. In the open field test, diabetic rats showed a lesser number of zone crossings (3.73-fold, p<0.001), total distance travelled (2.02-fold, p<0.001), number of rearing episodes (2.22-fold, p<0.001) and number of grooming episodes (4.33-fold, p<0.01) but a greater number of freezing episodes (2.47-fold, p<0.001) and number of the faecal pellet (4.17-fold, p<0.01) compared to control rats. Control rats spent more time with higher zone entries toward mirrored than non-mirrored and reversed mirror zones (p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively), whereas diabetic rats showed no preference for zones. Normal rats also showed higher freezing episodes within the mirrored zone compared to diabetic rats (2.00-fold, p<0.05). The retinal morphometry showed significant thinning of various retinal layers in the diabetic group compared to control rats. Visual behavioural activities of diabetic rats in an open field arena with the presence of a mirror could detect the presence of visual loss. Changes in visual functions positively correlated with changes in retinal morphology. Therefore, an open field mirror test could be used as an alternative for assessing visual function in the rodent model of diabetes.

Performance-Based Executive Function Instruments Used by Occupational Therapists for Children: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties

Introduction. The use of executive function (EF) instruments to assess children’s functional performance is obscured with a lack of consensus on which is most suitable to use within the occupational therapy profession. This review identifies EF instruments used by occupational therapists (OTs) for children and evaluates their measurement properties. Methods. This systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020172107). We reviewed occupational therapy-related studies published until March 2021, to identify performance-based EF instruments used among children by OTs. Two review authors independently screened, extracted, and evaluated the methodological rigor of the included studies. Adequacy of the measurement properties was determined using the COSMIN, and the Terwee criteria were used for synthesis of best evidence. Results. Five EF assessments were found across eight study articles: Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children, Children’s Cooking Task, Children’s Kitchen Task Assessment, Do-Eat, and Preschool Executive Task Assessment. Adequacy of measurement properties and synthesis of best evidence varied, leading to a low GRADE rating on the certainty of evidence for the included instruments. Conclusions. There is limited evidence that supports the certainty of evidence on the measurement properties of the reviewed tools in helping OTs assess performance-based EF among children. Nevertheless, the authors conditionally suggest their use based on the critical need to measure children’s EF. Further research is needed to establish the measurement properties of these measures across different childhood populations.

Predicting individual shelter dog behaviour after adoption using longitudinal behavioural assessment: a hierarchical Bayesian approach

Predicting the behaviour of shelter dogs after adoption is an important, but difficult, endeavour. Differences between shelter and post-adoption environments, between- and within-individual heterogeneity in behaviour, uncertainty in behavioural predictions and measurement error all hinder the accurate assessment of future behaviour. This study integrates 1) a longitudinal behavioural assessment with 2) a novel joint hierarchical Bayesian mixture model that accounts for individual variation, missing data and measurement error to predict behaviour post-adoption. We analysed shelter observations (> 28,000 records) and post-adoption reports (from telephone surveys) on the behaviour of 241 dogs across eight contexts. Dog behaviour at the shelter correlated positively with behaviour post-adoption within contexts (r = 0.38; 95% highest density interval: [0.20, 0.55]), and behavioural repeatability was approximately 20% higher post-adoption for behaviour within contexts. Although measurement error was higher post-adoption than at the shelter, we found few differences in individual-level, latent probabilities of different behaviours post-adoption versus at the shelter. This good predictive ability was aided by accurate representation of uncertainty in individual-level predictions. We conclude that longitudinal assessment paired with a sufficient inferential framework to model latent behavioural profiles with uncertainty enables reasonably accurate estimation of post-adoption behaviour.

A systematic review on Valproate induced rat model of autism: Pathophysiology, treatment, developmental and neurobehavioral assessment of rat offsprings

Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) is charecterised by certain degrees of disabilities in social communication, restrictive repetitive behaviour and altered motor and sensory perception. Translational research is carried out by creating animal models of autism to find out the correlation between behavioural changes and the pathology of brain tissue and for clinical trials of newer therapeutic formulations. Valproate induced animal model of autism has significant validity to demonstrate ASD manifestations. An early appreciation of ASD symptoms is needed for a better prognosis. So assessment of behavioural abnormalities and development stones in the first month of animal life are much important to study ASD.An extensive literature search was done on different databases. (PUBMED-MeSH, PMC, Webof Science, Google scholar and Research Gate). Original articles reported between the years 2000-2020 were selected. PRISMA protocol was followed. There are good quantities of studies on behavioural assessment of valproate induced animal model. This review explains the pathophysiology and various treatment modalities tried in valporate induced animal model and it also enlists the developmental and behavioural assessment methods of rat off springs. It will be useful to demonstrate all signs of autism.