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Background: Lower limb serial casting is commonly used therapeutically in paediatric clinical practice with some evidence to support its efficacy. This systematic review aimed to determine the effects of serial casting in isolation or combination with other therapies for the management of lower limb dysfunction in children with Cerebral Palsy (CP)., Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in February 2019 across eight databases (PUBMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, PEDro, OTSeeker, Cochrane, Scopus and Proquest) using key terms 'Cerebral Palsy' and 'serial casting' and associated synonyms. A meta-synthesis and meta-analysis were undertaken when sufficient results were available showing the effect of serial casting on functional outcomes including: Ankle range of motion; neurological measures of hypertonicity and spasticity, functional gait measures and; gross motor function., Results: Twenty-five articles from 3219 possible citations were included. Serial casting was found to be effective for: Improving ankle dorsiflexion (DF) passive range of motion (PROM) in the immediate to short-term, decreasing hypertonicity measured by Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) in the short-term and, enhancing functional gait outcomes in the mid-term. Serial casting with or without botulinum toxin type-A (BTX-A) did not significantly affect gross motor capacity measured by Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM). Serial casting with pharmacological intervention achieved significantly more DF PROM than serial casting alone (MD - 3.19 degrees; 95% CI - 5.76 to - 0.62; P = 0.01; I 2  = 0%), however the clinical importance of improving ankle DF PROM by an additional three degrees remains unclear., Conclusions: Lower limb serial casting, improves several outcomes relevant to lower limb function supporting its clinical use for improving DF PROM, reducing hypertonicity and improving gait in children with CP. Further research using stronger methodological study designs, is indicated to explore long-term effects of serial casting on functional lower limb outcomes such as gross motor function in children with CP. Clinicians can use this information when developing individualised treatment plans for children who have CP during shared decision-making consultations.

Displays are a feature of animal contest behaviour and have been interpreted as a means of gathering information on opponent fighting ability, as well as signalling aggressive motivation. In fish, contest displays often include frontal and lateral elements, which in the latter involves contestants showing their flanks to an opponent. Previous work in a range of fish species has demonstrated population-level lateralization of these displays, preferentially showing one side to their opponent. Mirrors are commonly used in place of a real opponent to study aggression in fish, yet they may disrupt the normal pattern of display behaviour. Here, using Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, we compare the aggressive behaviour of males to a mirror image and real opponent behind a transparent barrier. As this species is a facultative air-breather, we also quantify surface breathing, providing insights into underlying fight motivation. Consistent with previous work, we found evidence of population-level lateralization, with a bias to present the left side and use the left eye when facing a real opponent. Contrary to expectations, there were no differences in the aggressive displays to a mirror and real opponent, with positive correlations between the behaviour in the two scenarios. However, there were important differences in surface breathing, which was more frequent and of longer duration in the mirror treatment. The reasons for these differences are discussed in relation to the repertoire of contest behaviour and motivation when facing a real opponent., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)