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Aim: To explore internationally qualified nurses' perceptions regarding the facilitators and barriers to specialty skill transfer in Australia., Design: The study utilised a descriptive research design with a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from July to September 2022., Methods: A self-designed survey was distributed through social media, snowballing and nursing professional organisations. The survey included six open-ended questions which were analysed using thematic content analysis., Results: Sixty-three participants completed the open-ended questions in the survey. The findings identified a range of facilitators (support, previous experience, self-agency) and barriers (systems barriers, bias/discrimination, being undervalued, lack of trust) to skill transition., Conclusion: Recognising and addressing facilitators and barriers, coupled with creating customised pathways for specialty skill integration, are essential for optimising the utilisation of specialised skills in internationally qualified nurses., Impact: This study aims to explore the barriers and facilitators involved in maximising skill utilisation among internationally qualified nurses in Australia. Identifying these barriers and facilitators is essential for improving patient care, as it will guide the development of strategies for safe nursing service delivery and the optimisation of skill usage. These findings hold significant implications for policymakers, healthcare organisations and nurses, providing valuable insights into how to address these obstacles and capitalise on the factors that make skill transfer smoother and more effective., Patient or Public Contribution: Sixty-three internationally qualified nurses shared their experiences and opinions., (© 2024 The Author(s). Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The year 2024 marks 70 years since graduation of the first candidates in revised examinations for Fellowship of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons (FFARCS). Here we review the progress of specialisation and professionalisation of anaesthesia in the UK., (Copyright © 2024 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine the weighting of rural exposure within publicly available standardised curriculum vitae (CV) scoring criteria for trainee medical officer's applying into medical and surgical specialty training programs in Australia and New Zealand., Methods/design: An observational analysis of rural exposure point allocations within publicly available standardised CV scoring criteria for entrance into specialty training programs., Setting: All Australian and New Zealand medical and surgical specialties training programs outlined by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) who publish publicly available standardised CV scoring criteria for entrance into specialty training were included., Results: Of the 14 specialty training programs that publish publicly available standardised CV scoring criteria, 8/14 allocate points towards rural exposure. While the allocation of points within this scoring domain varies between the eight training programs, the mean weighting of rural exposure is 13.7%., Conclusions: The relative weighting of rural exposure varies between the eight specialty training programs who include rural exposure as a CV scoring criteria. The deliberate and strategic construction of CV scoring criteria and inclusion of rural exposure points is important to continue developing the Australian rural specialist workforce. Future development of standardised CV scoring criteria should continue to consider point allocation towards rural exposure and related activities to ensure that the requirements of rural Australian healthcare needs are met across medical and surgical specialties., (© 2024 The Authors. Australian Journal of Rural Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of National Rural Health Alliance Ltd.)

Background: Given the shortage and unequal distribution of physicians across specialties, we aimed to evaluate factors associated with medical students' career choices, including background, personality traits, educational experience, personal interests, lifestyle considerations, and the awareness of work requirements., Methods: We conducted multiple cross-sectional surveys of students; a 159-item online questionnaire was designed and students from three different stages of the six-year medical degree course (outset, clinical phase, and on graduation) were invited to complete the survey. Data were collected between May 2021 and April 2023., Results: The questionnaire was sent to 1406 students, of whom 683 replied (49%); 481 respondents were female (70%). The top specialty choices across the respondents were internal medicine, surgery, and general practice, with anaesthesiology, paediatric and adolescent medicine (ranging 11-15%), and obstetrics and gynaecology also receiving interest, with 6% undecided. In particular, female students lost interest in surgery during the course of study in favour of the other options. The choice of general practice was associated with more vocational training, prior positive experiences with the specialty, and lower grades in the university entry examination. Clinical clerkships in a specific (freely chosen) specialty aligned with career choice, while the final practical year did not have an impact on career decision-making. All students highly desired regulated working hours and work-life-balance; however, students choosing surgery rated these items as less important. Willingness to work in a hospital environment was highly associated with choosing anaesthesiology and surgery, whereas rural areas and practices were associated with general practice. Higher scores at agreeableness were associated with choosing paediatric and adolescent medicine by more female students, whereas lower neuroticism values were associated with the choice of anaesthesiology., Conclusions: The results highlight the intricate nature of decision-making and shed light on various aspects that contribute to the process of selecting a specialty. By identifying and addressing influencing factors, we can develop targeted interventions and policies to enhance diversity and distribution across medical specialisations and to aim for high-quality and equitable healthcare that matches the specific needs of both individuals and the population as a whole., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Venom represents a key adaptation of many venomous predators, allowing them to immobilise prey quickly through chemical rather than physical warfare. Evolutionary arms races between prey and a predator are believed to be the main factor influencing the potency and composition of predatory venoms. Predators with narrowly restricted diets are expected to evolve specifically potent venom towards their focal prey, with lower efficacy on alternative prey. Here, we evaluate hypotheses on the evolution of prey-specific venom, focusing on the effect of restricted diet, prey defences, and prey resistance. Prey specificity as a potential evolutionary dead end is also discussed. We then provide an overview of the current knowledge on venom prey specificity, with emphasis on snakes, cone snails, and spiders. As the current evidence for venom prey specificity is still quite limited, we also overview the best approaches and methods for its investigation and provide a brief summary of potential model groups. Finally, possible applications of prey-specific toxins are discussed., (© 2024 The Author(s). Biological Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Cambridge Philosophical Society.)

Aims: To explore Registered Nurses' motives to undergo specialist training and to choose a particular speciality., Design: A descriptive qualitative interview study., Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted during 2021 with 20 Swedish specialist nurse students from different specialisation areas. Qualitative content analysis was used. The COREQ checklist was used to report the study., Results: Specialist nurse students' motivations for further training were divided into three main categories with two sub-categories each. The main categories were 'toward new challenges and conditions in work life', 'contributions to the development and higher competencies in health care' and 'personal work and life experiences as ground for choice'., Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the importance of motivating factors in the career choices of Specialist nurse students, such as personal challenges, desirable working conditions, career growth opportunities and personal experiences in the career choices. Creating a supportive work environment that helps to prioritise work-life balance and offers the development of new skills might help retain nurses., No Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contribution was used. However, if more nurses would choose to undergo specialist training, especially in areas facing significant shortages, it would most likely lead to improved health-related outcomes for patients or populations., (© 2024 The Author(s). Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Insect herbivores and their parasitoids play a crucial role in terrestrial trophic interactions in tropical forests. These interactions occur across the entire vertical gradient of the forest. This study compares how caterpillar communities, and their parasitism rates, vary across vertical strata and between caterpillar defensive strategies in a semi deciduous tropical forest in Nditam, Cameroon. Within a 0.1 ha plot, all trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 5 cm were felled and systematically searched for caterpillars. We divided the entire vertical gradient of the forest into eight, five-metre strata. All caterpillars were assigned to a stratum based on their collection height, reared, identified, and classified into one of three defensive traits: aposematic, cryptic and shelter-building. Caterpillar species richness and diversity showed a midstory peak, whereas density followed the opposite pattern, decreasing in the midstory and then increasing towards the highest strata. This trend was driven by some highly dense shelter-building caterpillars in the upper canopy. Specialisation indices indicated decreasing levels of caterpillar generality with increasing height, a midstory peak in vulnerability, and increasing connectance towards the upper canopy, although the latter was likely driven by decreasing network size. Both aposematic and shelter-building caterpillars had significantly higher parasitism rates than cryptic caterpillars. Our results highlight nuanced changes in caterpillar communities across forest strata and provide evidence that defences strategies are important indicators of parasitism rates in caterpillars and that both aposematic and shelter-building caterpillars could be considered a "safe haven" for parasitoids., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Nurses provide healthcare in prisons worldwide. Working within security restraints, in environments not designed for nursing care, custodial health nurses (CHNs) use specialist nursing skills and knowledge to do essential work. Rapid increases in prisoner age, infirmity and ill-health of prisoners mandate their access to these nurses., Aim: To raise awareness of the CHNs struggle for specialty status within the nursing profession, public health frameworks and prisons., Sources of Evidence: Publicly available information is organised and analysed through the author's lens of 20 years working in the Australian prison system as a general nurse and nurse practitioner., Discussion: CHNs efforts towards becoming a specialty within nursing, public health and prisons are ongoing. Overcoming barriers and maximising facilitators to effective CHN practice would be indicators of successful incorporation of nursing models that assist prisoner patients. Prison healthcare contexts are unique regarding prisoner health and funding that impacts the CHNs resourcing, their scope of practice and acceptance of nursing in prison systems and the broader healthcare sectors., Conclusion: Greater visibility of the CHNs will help promote policy reforms regarding nursing services within a changing prisoner demographic. Changes to educational and professional support for CHNs are needed. Policy restrictions on funding for CHN models in Australia fall short of international standards for prison healthcare; however, political and organisational commitment in this area will be necessary to attain community-equivalent healthcare standards across the custodial setting., Implications for Nursing and Other Policies: Professional structures, competencies and specialty policy frameworks are required to promote CHNs as advocates for prisoners needing care and their professional development. CHNs at the forefront of policy development and review will benefit all stakeholders in custodial health., (© 2022 International Council of Nurses.)

While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way parents partition tasks between one another, it is not clear how these division of labour arrangements affect well-being. Pre-pandemic research offers two hypotheses: economic theory argues optimal outcomes result from partners specialising in different tasks, whereas psychological theory argues for a more equitable division of labour. The question of which approach optimizes well-being is more pressing in recent times, with COVID-19 school closures leaving many couples with the burden of homeschooling. It is unknown whether specialisation or equity confer more benefits for mandated homeschoolers, relative to non-homeschoolers or voluntary homeschoolers. Couples ( n = 962) with children in grades 1-5 completed measures of workload division and parental well-being. A linear mixed modelling in the total sample revealed that specialisation, but not equity, promoted increased parental emotional and relationship well-being. These relations were moderated by schooling status: voluntary homeschoolers' well-being benefitted from specialisation, whereas mandated homeschoolers' well-being did not benefit from either strategy; non-homeschoolers well-being benefitted from both strategies. Across the mixed-gender couples, mothers' and fathers' well-being both benefitted from specialisation; equity was only beneficial for mothers' well-being. Overall, couples might be advised to adopt highly equitable and specialised arrangements to promote both parents' well-being.

Background: In many countries, not enough students are interested to work as general practitioners in rural areas. To solve this problem, several, sometimes partly extracurricular, programs have been developed. Most of these programs are based on continuity, which means that students stay in a rural region for an extended period of time, by completing clerkships. Although the effects of these programs are positive, it is often difficult to motivate students to participate. The purpose of the present study is to get insight into the reasons why students choose not to participate in these programs., Methods: We carried out a questionnaire study among medical students in the clinical phase of the Technical University of Munich in Germany. First, we asked the students whether they actively informed themselves about the program which aims to reduce the shortage of general practitioners in rural areas in Bavaria. Furthermore, the questionnaire focused on the reasons for not participating in this program., Results: Based on the answers of 442 students from study years 3-6, the most frequently chosen reason for not participating in the program is "identification with another discipline" with 61.0%, directly followed by "not willing to commit long-term" (56.1%). In third place is "personal connections to another region" with 30.5%. In the open comments, we find the same reasons: many students do not want to commit to a certain direction too early. In addition, students indicate that the number of regions where this program is offered is too limited for them., Conclusions: Offering programs to prepare and motivate students for work as general practitioners in rural areas can contribute to increasing the pool of future general practitioners. To encourage students to participate in such a program, it is important to consider the motives of students. Many students who might be interested in general practice do not choose to take part in such a program because they do not want to commit to a particular specialty or region at an early stage. It is important to take these insights into account when designing and implementing these programs., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Luna et al. (2022) concluded that the environment contributes to explaining specialisation in open plant-pollinator networks. When reproducing their study, we instead found that network size alone largely explained the variation in their specialisation metrics. Thus, we question whether empirical network specialisation is driven by the environment., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Edge disturbance can drive liana community changes and alter liana-tree interaction networks, with ramifications for forest functioning. Understanding edge effects on liana community structure and liana-tree interactions is therefore essential for forest management and conservation. We evaluated the response patterns of liana community structure and liana-tree interaction structure to forest edge in two moist semi-deciduous forests in Ghana (Asenanyo and Suhuma Forest Reserves: AFR and SFR, respectively). Liana community structure and liana-tree interactions were assessed in 24 50 × 50 m randomly located plots in three forest sites (edge, interior and deep-interior) established at 0-50 m, 200 m and 400 m from edge. Edge effects positively and negatively influenced liana diversity in forest edges of AFR and SFR, respectively. There was a positive influence of edge disturbance on liana abundance in both forests. We observed anti-nested structure in all the liana-tree networks in AFR, while no nestedness was observed in the networks in SFR. The networks in both forests were less connected, and thus more modular and specialised than their null models. Many liana and tree species were specialised, with specialisation tending to be symmetrical. The plant species played different roles in relation to modularity. Most of the species acted as peripherals (specialists), with only a few species having structural importance to the networks. The latter species group consisted of connectors (generalists) and hubs (highly connected generalists). Some of the species showed consistency in their roles across the sites, while the roles of other species changed. Generally, liana species co-occurred randomly on tree species in all the forest sites, except edge site in AFR where lianas showed positive co-occurrence. Our findings deepen our understanding of the response of liana communities and liana-tree interactions to forest edge disturbance, which are useful for managing forest edge., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: The choice of career and speciality can be a complex process. It is unclear what influences career decisions within undergraduate radiographers and whether the curriculum provides sufficient support., Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was undertaken. All undergraduate diagnostic radiography students within one UK higher education institution were invited to participate. Questions were related to anticipated career choice, motivational factors and influences., Results: The response rate was 67.6% (90/133). The most popular specialist area for career preference was general radiography. The top three motivational factors were work life balance, career development and job satisfaction. The most influential factors on career choice were clinical placements, radiographers on placements and formal teaching. Career guidance was predominantly sourced from the personal academic tutor and was informed by role models., Conclusion: Radiography academic teams and clinical placement providers must work together to ensure that students have access to high quality placements across specialities. The experiences received during undergraduate training are important in specialty choice., Implications for Practice: Career guidance is essential and should begin as early as possible. Clinical and academic radiographers need to appreciate the influence they have on students future career plans., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement None., (Copyright © 2021 The College of Radiographers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Rural generalist (RG) doctors are broadly skilled to provide comprehensive primary care, emergency and other specialist services in small, distributed communities where access is otherwise limited because of distance, transport and cost limitations. In Victoria, Australia, the Victorian Rural Generalist Pathway (VRGP) represents a significant state-wide investment in training and growing the next generation of RGs. The first step of the VRGP is well established through the Rural Community Internship Training program, which commenced in Victoria in 2012-2015; however, the second step (RG2) requires expansion by growing supervised learning in small rural communities where RGs will eventually work. This project aimed to explore enablers and barriers to the supervision of RG2 learners across a core generalist curriculum in distributed towns in three rural Victorian regions., Methods: Data were collected between June and August 2021 through semistructured, in-depth interviews conducted via Zoom or telephone with general practitioners (GPs) and health service executives from small and big health services in the Hume, Loddon Mallee and Barwon South West regions. Interview questions were shared prior to the interview to support reflective responses. Interviews were an hour in length and data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using an inductive thematic analysis process. The research team met regularly throughout the analysis process to refine theme development, test assumptions, and reduce any subjective biases. This study had ethical approval from Monash University., Results: Thirty-one participants, including 13 GPs working at RG scope in MMM 4-7 and 18 health service executives, engaged with RGs consented and participated. The supervision of RG2s was affected by multilayer enablers and barriers. Enablers that emerged were having a critical mass of fellowed doctors using viable models to supervise RG2s, funding for the supervision of RG2s, generalist learning opportunities, and coordination and case management. Barriers included insufficient doctors to supervise, the cost and risk of supervising RG2s, developing rural training but finding it was unattractive to trainees, and a reliance on rotational staff, which limited supervision on the ground. Different regions experienced enablers and barriers to different degrees., Conclusion: Building supervised training for RG2 learners across a generalist scope in distributed rural communities is a complex undertaking, with multilayered enablers and barriers at play. A range of issues are beyond the control of the VRGP and rely on advocacy and collaboration with stakeholders. The major themes suggest that supervised learning should be addressed at multiple levels of the system, the community, clinical settings, and clinicians. Expanding supervision of RG2s across core generalist curriculum in small rural communities will also require a regionally guided long-term vision and stepwise planning. With ongoing commitment to RG-led care, it is possible to achieve high-quality supervision at the RG2 stage, retain RGs on the pathway, and produce skilled RG trainees to serve Victoria into the future.

Morphological trait-matching and species abundance are thought to be the main factors affecting the frequency and strength of mutualistic interactions. However, the relative importance of trait-matching and species abundance in shaping species interactions across environmental gradients remains poorly understood, especially for plant-insect mutualisms involving generalist species. Here, we characterised variation in species and trait composition and the relative importance of trait-matching and species abundance in shaping plant-Hymenoptera and plant-Diptera mutualisms in four meadows across an elevational gradient (2,725-3,910 m) in Yulong Snow Mountain, Southwest China. We also evaluated the effects of morphological traits of flower visitors and plant composition on their foraging specialisation (d' and normalised degree). There was a high degree of dissimilarity in the composition of Hymenoptera and Diptera visitors and their visited plants between communities. This variation was mainly driven by the spatial replacement of species. Both for plant-Hymenoptera and plant-Diptera networks, trait-matching between nectar tube depth and proboscis length was a stronger predictor of the interactions between temporally co-occurring plants and flower visitors than species abundance. Fourth-corner analyses revealed statistically significant trait-matching between nectar tube depth and proboscis length in plant-Hymenoptera networks at all sites, suggesting that Hymenoptera consistently foraged on plant species with nectar tube depths matching their proboscis lengths. By contrast, significant trait-matching in plant-Diptera networks was only observed at the two lower elevation sites. The species-level specialisation d' of flower visitors increased significantly as the proboscis length and the difference in nectar tube depth between the plant community and the plants visited by flower visitors increased. Our results highlight that the importance of trait-matching in shaping pairwise interactions and niche partitioning depends on the specific features (e.g. species composition and trait availability) of the plant-pollinator system. For specialised plant-Hymenoptera systems, trait-matching is an important determinant of species interactions, whereas for generalist plant-Diptera systems, trait-matching is relatively unimportant., (© 2021 British Ecological Society.)

Introduction: Dentists who have graduated recently from a Dutch dental school work mainly in the Netherlands, where collaboration and differentiation are relevant factors. Furthermore, the Netherlands face regional undersupplies of dentists. The objective of this study was to describe choices and aims of recently graduated dentists for the near future., Materials and Methods: An invitation for the web questionnaire was sent by e-mail to 945 dentists who had graduated from a Dutch dental school between 2013 and 2017, of whom 230 (24.3%) participated in the survey., Results: Approximately three quarters (77%) of the recently graduated dentists worked as a general dentist in a practice of some else, primarily in urban areas. The choice for a practice was affected by location, earnings, and the opportunity to gain experience. Furthermore, the career choices were affected most by the desired length of the working week and financial security. The narrow majority (53%) of the recently graduated dentists believed that in 5 years they will be practice owner; 49% expected to be a differentiated dentist. Furthermore, 41% believed they will work in a smaller municipality., Discussion: Although recently graduated dentists seem receptive to work in smaller municipalities, the peripheral regions are conceivably less appealing. Practice ownership conceivably is an option for the near future for a narrow majority of the recently graduated dentists., Conclusion: Recently graduated dentists have different preferences regarding their work situation in 5 years., (© 2021 The Authors. European Journal of Dental Education published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Recent theory has overturned the assumption that accelerating returns from individual specialisation are required to favour the evolution of division of labour. Yanni et al., 2020, showed that topologically constrained groups, where cells cooperate with only direct neighbours such as for filaments or branching growths, can evolve a reproductive division of labour even with diminishing returns from individual specialisation. We develop a conceptual framework and specific models to investigate the factors that can favour the initial evolution of reproductive division of labour. We find that selection for division of labour in topologically constrained groups: (1) is not a single mechanism to favour division of labour-depending upon details of the group structure, division of labour can be favoured for different reasons; (2) always involves an efficiency benefit at the level of group fitness; and (3) requires a mechanism of coordination to determine which individuals perform which tasks. Given that such coordination must evolve prior to or concurrently with division of labour, this could limit the extent to which topological constraints favoured the initial evolution of division of labour. We conclude by suggesting experimental designs that could determine why division of labour is favoured in the natural world., Competing Interests: GC, HF, ML, SW No competing interests declared, (© 2021, Cooper et al.)

Sponges represent one of the most species-rich hosts for commensal barnacles yet host utilisation and diversity have not been thoroughly examined. This study investigated the diversity and phylogenetic relationships of sponge-inhabiting barnacles within a single, targeted host group, primarily from Western Australian waters. Specimens of the sponge order Dictyoceratida were surveyed and a total of 64 host morphospecies, representing four families, were identified as barnacle hosts during the study. Utilising molecular (COI, 12S) and morphological methods 42 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) of barnacles, representing Acasta, Archiacasta, Euacasta and Neoacasta were identified. Comparing inter- and intra-MOTU genetic distances showed a barcode gap between 2.5% and 5% for COI, but between 1% and 1.5% in the 12S dataset, thus demonstrating COI as a more reliable barcoding region. These sponge-inhabiting barnacles were demonstrated to show high levels of host specificity with the majority being found in a single sponge species (74%), a single genus (83%) or a single host family (93%). Phylogenetic relationships among the barnacles were reconstructed using mitochondrial (12S, COI) and nuclear (H3, 28S) markers. None of the barnacle genera were recovered as monophyletic. Euacasta was paraphyletic in relation to the remaining Acastinae genera, which were polyphyletic. Six well-supported clades of molecular operational taxonomic units, herein considered to represent species complexes, were recovered, but relationships between them were not well supported. These complexes showed differing patterns of host usage, though most were phylogenetically conserved with sister lineages typically occupying related hosts within the same genus or family of sponge. The results show that host specialists are predominant, and the dynamics of host usage have played a significant role in the evolutionary history of the Acastinae., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

There is a growing debate, both in the academic and sporting worlds, about the most appropriate pathway for high potential young players in sport. In this regard, there has been a considerable focus on the age of selection into structured talent development pathways and the nature of the experience once players have been recruited. Given the economic and reputational currency associated with developing professional footballers in particular, it is unsurprising that professional football clubs continue to invest significant financial resources into their academy structures. Understandably, this recruitment policy has attracted substantial attention within the media and research community, with ethical concerns arising surrounding the impact early selection may have on the welfare and the experiences of the young players within the pathway. The aim of this perspective article was to critically consider the research underpinning the early engagement practises of football clubs and the extent to which, and how, the pathway can provide players with the most appropriate starting point for their development. This evidence points to the need to look beyond the prevalent 'early specialisation vs. diversification' debate in youth sport towards a consideration of an early engagement perspective that reflects the biopsychosocial influences on talent development and the socio-political environment that influences decisions. We provide practical recommendations focused on the quality of the early engagement experience., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Sweeney, Horan and MacNamara.)

Global cancer burden is on the rise and many more patients present for surgery or other oncological diagnostic or therapeutic interventions requiring anaesthesia. Oncology therapy is unique as it requires a multidisciplinary team of surgical, medical and radiation oncologists apart from palliative medicine (PM) specialists, and anaesthesiologists. Anaesthetic management can affect the outcome of oncology treatment both by ensuring early return to oncology treatment and some anaesthetic techniques being innately associated with recurrence. Hence, the time has come for a separate super-speciality of onco-anaesthesiology to cater to the complex unmet needs of cancer patients. PM is the fourth dimension of oncology care and so mandatory education and training should be included in the undergraduate curriculum., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Indian Journal of Anaesthesia.)

Paediatric anaesthesia is an upcoming speciality which is gaining wide interest and can be a career choice for the new trainees. The need to develop paediatric anaesthesia as a speciality was realised with the progress in the field of paediatric surgery. The profile of the 'patient' encountered by a paediatric anaesthesiologist spans from an extremely premature neonate on the fringes of survival, to a full-grown adolescent equivalent to an adult. Perioperative morbidity and mortality are 2-3 times higher in infants and neonates compared to adults particularly in middle and low-income countries. The anatomical, physiological, pharmacological variations and presence of congenital cardiac, pulmonary and metabolic diseases in young children make perioperative management challenging. Special expertise and training are required for anaesthetic management of these preverbal children. In India, 3-years DM and 1-year Fellowship courses in paediatric anaesthesia are now available for specialisation. An ideal paediatric anaesthesia training centre should have substantial paediatric and neonatal patient load with exclusive intensive care facility. Paediatric anaesthesiologists, having knowledge of several facets of paediatrics and anaesthesia are capable of coordinating with health care professionals performing procedures outside the operating room. Paediatric anaesthesia, as a career thus offers a great opportunity to enhance quality and safety of anaesthesia in this high-risk surgical population. Persistent coordinated team efforts improve patient outcomes, reduce stress at work and increase job satisfaction., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Indian Journal of Anaesthesia.)

Background: Practical contents are gaining in importance in medical curricula in Germany. In times of a lack of applicants, practical courses provide an increased level of interest for students in the respective disciplines. A practical appeal of ophthalmology is microsurgical procedures. A microsurgical suture wet lab can be an introduction for medical students., Objective: Assessment of the increased interest in ophthalmology through evaluation of a suture wet lab course, including suturing under a microscope., Material and Methods: The data were obtained from the practical course in ophthalmology during the sixth semester for medical students at the university medical center in Mainz in April 2019. In a questionnaire developed in collaboration with the Center for Quality Assurance and Development various statements had to be answered and evaluated using ordinal scales., Results: A total of 64 evaluation questionnaires from 8 groups each with 8 medical students supervised by different tutors were analyzed. The wet lab was rated with 1.24 ± 0.5 (mean ± SD) on a German school grade scale (1 = best, 6 = worst). There was agreement (1 = total agreement, 7 = total disagreement) concerning the desire for further microscopic wet labs (1.86 ± 1.28) as well as learning more ophthalmological surgical techniques (2.02 ± 1.13). The interest in ophthalmology (1 = very high interest, 7 = very low interest) increased from 3.66 ± 1.55 before the course to 2.52 ± 1.00., Conclusion: Interest in ophthalmology can be increased through a microsurgical wet lab. The interest of students can therefore be awakened, which can have advantageous effects in job application situations and in research work. In this way experience and practical skills in ophthalmology can already be acquired during medical studies.

Background: Numerous forces drive the evolution and need for transformation of long-term care services. During the previous decade, primary health care has assumed increased responsibility for developing and providing care services, but there is still limited knowledge about how European care service systems are evolving to address new tasks and patients. Based on data from Norwegian municipalities, this study aims to (1) describe the availability of specialised services in Norwegian nursing homes and home care services and (2) analyse whether structural factors, like population size and/or centrality, are associated with the availability of specialised services in nursing homes and home care., Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of survey data. An online survey was designed specifically for this study. Its questions were developed from a comprehensive review of the literature and in partnership with a user panel. One representative from all of Norway's 422 municipalities were invited to answer the survey from February to April 2019. In total, 277 municipalities completed the survey (response rate 66%). Chi-square analysis and Fisher's exact test were used to test the associations between different categorical variables., Results: Specialised care services were highly prevalent. For example, there were nursing home units specialising in dementia care (89%) and rehabilitation (81%) and home care teams for dementia care (79%) and reablement (76%). Approximately two-thirds of our sample were categorised as having high availability of specialisation in nursing home and home care services. The larger, more central municipalities had higher availability of specialisation compared to medium-sized and small, less central municipalities., Conclusions: Our study indicates that a majority of nursing homes and home care services provide specialised and differentiated services that serve patient groups of different ages and diagnoses. Municipalities' population size and centrality are associated with availability of specialised services in nursing homes and home care services.

Since the arrival of Translational Medicine (TM), as both a term and movement in the late 1990s, it has been associated almost exclusively with attempts to accelerate the "translation" of research-laboratory findings to improve efficacy and outcomes in clinical practice (Krueger et al. in Hist Philos Life Sci 41:57, 2019). This framing privileges one source of change in medicine, that from bench-to-bedside. In this article we dig into the history of translation research to identify and discuss three other types of translational work in medicine that can also reshape ideas, practices, institutions, behaviours, or all of these, to produce transformations in clinical effectiveness. These are: (1) making accessible state-of-the-art knowledge and best practice across the medical profession; (2) remodelling and creating institutions to better develop and make available specialist knowledge and practice; and (3) improving public and patient understandings of disease prevention, symptoms and treatments. We do so by examining the work of William S. C. Copeman, a dominant figure in British rheumatology from the 1930 through the late 1960s. Throughout his long career, Copeman blended approaches to "translation" in order to produce transformative change in clinical medicine, making his work an exemplar of our expanded notion of TM.

Background: Cross-sectional and retrospective offence data are often used to classify sex offenders in epidemiological and survey research, but little empirical evidence exists regarding the practical implications of this for applied research. This study describes the classification of sex offenders from a cohort of prisoners recruited as part of an Australian inmate health survey and the implications for reporting results., Methods: Data-linkage was used to join the New South Wales (NSW) Inmate Health Surveys to the states re-offending database to identify men with histories of sexual offending. Sex offenders were classified into men who sexually offended against children only (ChildSOs), against adults only (AdultSOs), and men who sexually offended against both children and adults (Age-PolySOs)., Results: Using historical offending data rather than the current offence information only, an additional 35.4% of men with histories of sexual offences were identified. Differences were found between the three sex offender subgroups in terms of demographic characteristics, health, and criminal careers. Age-PolySOs reported higher educational attainment, were less likely to report being self-employed, single marital status, and having children. Half the ChildSOs self-reported a mental health issue and half of the ChildSOs and Age-PolySOs reported four or more chronic health conditions. Age-PolySOs were older than the other sex offender groups when committing their first non-sexual, non-violent crime (M = 43.2 years, SD = 13.8); violent crime (M = 39.5 years, SD = 11.1); and sexual crime (M = 47.8 years, SD = 11.2). Age-PolySOs also committed more sexual offences (M = 5.91, SD = 11.2) compared to those who only offended against one victim age group., Conclusion: These findings suggested that historical offending records should be used to more accurately identify sex offender subgroups and that differences in demographic, health, and criminal careers exist for the different sex offender subgroups.

Objectives: This study aims to gain a better understanding of the drivers and barriers to the development of advanced practice and specialised systems around the world. Through the synthesis of in-depth country case studies, this paper aims to identify current models of advanced practice and specialisation in pharmacy and illustrate trends, drivers and barriers in policy development. This is the first analysis of its kind to examine pharmacy specialisation and advanced practice in this depth from a global perspective., Methods: A synthesis of country case studies was carried out. The country case study template was reviewed and approved by an expert working group drawn from a cross section of International Pharmaceutical Federations (FIP) experts and special-interest groups. FIP member organisations and country-level contacts from regulatory, professional and government agencies and universities were approached to contribute to the case study database. The data were collected between January and May 2015. Descriptive comparative analysis and qualitative thematic analysis were both used to analyse the data., Key Findings: Case study submissions were received from 17 countries. The findings demonstrate that the pace and depth of change in advanced practice and specialisation are occurring at different rates across countries and regions, although many countries appear to be moving towards recognising advanced and specialised practice of pharmacists and developing frameworks and/or formalised recognition systems., Conclusions: Country-specific examples are useful in identifying factors that may contribute to the rate at which developments in advanced practice and specialisation in pharmacy are taking place and enable progress in around the world., (© 2020 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.)

Introduction: Paediatric urology is one of the subspecialities of urology, and in most climes, it is practised by the urologists and paediatric surgeons, and likewise in the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). The urologists see and manage most of these cases in LASUTH. There has been no formal training in this subspeciality. However, both the urologists and paediatric surgeons in LASUTH have acquired some measure of skill and experience over time by virtue of the relatively high volume of the cases seen. This study is aimed at reviewing the practice of paediatric urology in the urology division of LASUTH and to advocate for formal training in an otherwise rare but direly needed subspeciality., Patients and Methods: The ports of entry of paediatric patients with urologic conditions were assessed retrospectively over a 5-year period (2014-2018). The paediatric age range based on the Lagos State Government policy for health care is from birth to 12 years old. The ports of entry included the urologic outpatient department, paediatric and the adult surgical emergency units and the paediatric wards. Patients referred to and managed by the paediatric surgery division were excluded from this study., Results: The total paediatric urology cases seen and managed by the urologist in LASUTH within the period of review were 421. A total of 363 paediatric urology cases were seen during the period under review, making up 7.96% of the urology cases seen at the surgical outpatient department. The most common cases managed were hypospadias, posterior urethral valves and hydronephrosis. A variety of other cases include priapism, circumcision and post-circumcision injuries, urethral prolapse, testicular torsion, cystic renal dysplasia, disorder of sexual differentiation and several others. Three hundred and seven surgical procedures were done in the period of review on 272 (64.6%) patients., Conclusion: There is a need for subspecialisation in paediatric urology to harness more specialists with a specific focus, training and interest in children and their urological conditions., Competing Interests: None

Objectives: Despite the increasingly complex care and demanding health challenges shaping pharmacy, little work has been carried out to understand the global status of advanced and/or specialised pharmacy practice scopes and the models in which they exist. This study aims to describe the current global status of initiatives relating to advancement of pharmacy practice., Methods: A global survey was conducted between January and May 2015 to collect country-level data from member organisations of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), and national-level contacts from regulatory, professional and government agencies or universities; data requests were sent to 109 countries. The collected data were triangulated (comparing multiple sources from single countries, e.g.), cleaned and analysed by descriptive and comparative statistics., Key Findings: Full data sets from 48 countries and territories were obtained. The findings demonstrate varying systems of advanced pharmacy practice and specialisation often linked to income level. The study found that there are variations within terminology and definitions, frameworks for specialisation and advanced practice, professional recognition mechanisms and benefits across countries., Conclusions: This survey of 48 countries and territories was the first of its kind to describe the range of specialisation and professional recognition systems for advanced pharmacy practice worldwide. Despite the variance, it is clear from this global study that professional advancement and the recognition of advancement in practice are developing around the world and this could be due to the increasingly complex nature of pharmaceutical care delivery and a consequent need to be able to endorse professional capabilities., (© 2020 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.)

While we were drafting the recommendations for the joint contingency plan between the Spanish Society of Intensive Care and Coronary Unit Nursing (SEEIUC) and the Spanish Society of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine and Coronary Units (SEMICYUC), predictions were overtaken by events with regard to the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic. Members informed us of the lack of personal protection equipment (PPE), the rapid provision of improvised ICUs in various hospital areas and the recruitment of nurses to cover shifts. The failure to recognise the specialty of critical care nursing, included in the macro-specialty of medical-surgical nursing and not yet developed, has highlighted the urgent need to learn from our mistakes: specialisation, increase the number of nurses in teams and protect the public health system., (Copyright © 2020 Sociedad Española de Enfermería Intensiva y Unidades Coronarias (SEEIUC). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Caladenia is a diverse Australian genus that is exceptional among orchids in having both species pollinated by food-seeking and sexually deceived insects. Here, we investigated the pollination of Caladenia nobilis, a species predicted to be food-deceptive due to its large, cream-coloured and apparently nectarless flowers. Pollinator observations were made using experimental clumps of flowers. Measurements of floral colour were undertaken with a spectrometer, nectar was tested using GC-MS, and reproductive success was quantified for 2 years. While C. nobilis attracted nine species of insect, only males of the thynnine wasp Rhagigaster discrepans exhibited the correct size and behaviour to remove and deposit pollen. Male R. discrepans attempted to feed from the surface of the labellum, often crawling to multiple flowers, but showed no evidence of sexual attraction. Most flowers produced little or no nectar, although some may provide enough sucrose to act as a meagre reward to pollinators. Floral colouration was similar to a related Caladenia species pollinated by sexual deception, although the sexually deceptive species had a dull-red labellum. Reproductive success was generally low and highly variable between sites and years. In addition to most visitors being of inappropriate size for pollinia removal, the lack of response to the orchid by several co-occurring species of thynnine wasp suggests filtering of potential pollinators at the attraction phase. Our discovery of a pollination strategy that may be intermediate between food deception and food reward raises the question, how many putatively rewardless orchids actually produce meagre amounts of nectar?, (© 2019 German Society for Plant Sciences and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.)

Specialist animals are at a greater risk of extinction in the face of environmental change than generalist ones. The inability of some specialist taxa to expand host range through evolution may exacerbate or cause their high extinction risk. Here we use connectionism (a framework for modelling animal behaviour) to predict the environmental and physiological factors that predispose some specialist taxa to an 'evolutionary dead-end'. Neural networks are evolved to become resource-specialised in a resource-abundant and resource-diverse 'historical' environment while losing 'genes' that should restrict their ability to expand their host range. Networks are subsequently challenged to escape their dead-end by expanding host range in a 'contemporary' environment that may have depleted resource abundance and diversity (as many human impacted environments do). Loss of diversity in available resources universally constrains the ability of networks to expand host range and this effect is very robust to network conformation. Environmental resource abundance is more variable in its effect. Networks are generally robust to loss of genetic diversity during the evolution of specialisation except at very high rates of loss. By omitting historical specialisation, we show that the effect of resource diversity on host range expansion is not a universal network property but something that is often specific to specialist organisms. Historical specialisation also slightly reduces the robustness of networks in the contemporary environment to loss of genetic diversity during the specialisation process. Fundamentally, simulations predict that loss of local resource diversity will further increase the vulnerability of specialists to extinction by constraining their ability to expand host range in the face of environmental change., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Investigating the state of generalism in medicine from the outlook of general practice. Line of argument: General practice developed when its pioneers, in continuing relationships, learnt to know their patients through the variety of medical situations. From the 50s, there is an increasing literature on the virtues and challenges of relationship based general practice, and register-based research indicate its benefits. Generalist perspectives and person-centeredness are implemented in specialised care and medical education but need to be complemented by an input from relationship based general practice. The politically defined aim of primary care is not to balance the draw-backs of specialisation, but to provide medicine at the primary care level. In Sweden, and increasingly even in traditional strongholds of general practice, team-based primary care is thought to respond to increasing demands, filtering out non- and minor disease through triage, practicing task distribution, and moving the GP to a secondary level working with the 'really sick', in all a decline in direct contact between patient and GP. Conclusions: When this happens, clinical medicine as a whole becomes drained of the practice of its human dimension. The lack of absolute proof of medical benefits cannot justify a disregard of the value of mutual knowledge and trust in the relationship, but still, in several countries, relationshipbased general practice will be hard to achieve for GPs planning their career. If the political winds should change, a sustaining profession of GPs preserving their relational ethos inside the team model, may be prepared to reform primary care. KEY POINTS Proclaiming both biomedical breadth and the trustful relationship between doctor and patient, as a specialty, general practice embodies medical generalism. A direct input from the patient's personal GP is necessary to make specialised care become more comprehensive and individualised. In reality, the team, practicing triage and task distribution, is increasingly replacing the doctor-patient relationship as working mode in primary care When the disease rather than the doctor-patient relationship, becomes the organising principle of primary care, medicine as a whole will be drained of the practice of its human dimension.

This article offers the first historical account of Edwardian London's elite canine veterinarians. Previous historiography identifies increasing veterinary interest in dogs as a mid-twentieth century phenomenon. Despite tension with the mainstream profession, however, an earlier group of specialist veterinarians provided sophisticated canine medical care to London society. Their activities included the policing and investigation of two key threats to the fashionable and lucrative 'dog fancy': the devastating infectious disease distemper and the issue of 'faking' (show ring cosmetic fraud). This prestigious work gave the canine veterinarians a competitive advantage over their various rivals and enabled the dog fancy to combat the unintended consequences of its own practices on the canine body. This article consequently reveals an early instance of veterinary specialisation, co-driven by client demands and professional politics, and foregrounds the importance of canine biology in the social history of pedigree dog breeding., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for the Social History of Medicine.)

Background: In Europe, at discharge from a psychiatric hospital, patients with severe mental illness may be exposed to one of two main care approaches: personal continuity, where one clinician is responsible for in- and outpatient care, and specialisation, where various clinicians are. Such exposure is decided through patient-clinician agreement or at the organisational level, depending on the country's health system. Since personal continuity would be more suitable for patients with complex psychosocial needs, the aim of this study was to identify predictors of patients' exposure to care approaches in different European countries., Methods: Data were collected on 7302 psychiatric hospitalised patients in 2015 in Germany, Poland, and Belgium (patient-level exposure); and in the UK and Italy (organisational-level exposure). At discharge, patients were exposed to one of the care approaches according to usual practice. Putative predictors of exposure at patients' discharge were assessed in both groups of countries., Results: Socially disadvantaged patients were significantly more exposed to personal continuity. In all countries, the main predictor of exposure was the admission hospital, except in Germany, where having a diagnosis of psychosis and a higher education status were predictors of exposure to personal continuity. In the UK, hospitals practising personal continuity had a more socially disadvantaged patient population., Conclusion: Even in countries where exposure is decided through patient-clinician agreement, it was the admission hospital, not patient characteristics, that predicted exposure to care approaches. Nevertheless, organisational decisions in hospitals tend to expose socially disadvantaged patients to personal continuity., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Aims: A core question in the debate about how to organise mental healthcare is whether in- and out-patient treatment should be provided by the same (personal continuity) or different psychiatrists (specialisation). The controversial debate drives costly organisational changes in several European countries, which have gone in opposing directions. The existing evidence is based on small and low-quality studies which tend to favour whatever the new experimental organisation is.We compared 1-year clinical outcomes of personal continuity and specialisation in routine care in a large scale study across five European countries., Methods: This is a 1-year prospective natural experiment conducted in Belgium, England, Germany, Italy and Poland. In all these countries, both personal continuity and specialisation exist in routine care. Eligible patients were admitted for psychiatric in-patient treatment (18 years of age), and clinically diagnosed with a psychotic, mood or anxiety/somatisation disorder.Outcomes were assessed 1 year after the index admission. The primary outcome was re-hospitalisation and analysed for the full sample and subgroups defined by country, and different socio-demographic and clinical criteria. Secondary outcomes were total number of inpatient days, involuntary re-admissions, adverse events and patients' social situation. Outcomes were compared through mixed regression models in intention-to-treat analyses. The study is registered (ISRCTN40256812)., Results: We consecutively recruited 7302 patients; 6369 (87.2%) were followed-up. No statistically significant differences were found in re-hospitalisation, neither overall (adjusted percentages: 38.9% in personal continuity, 37.1% in specialisation; odds ratio = 1.08; confidence interval 0.94-1.25; p = 0.28) nor for any of the considered subgroups. There were no significant differences in any of the secondary outcomes., Conclusions: Whether the same or different psychiatrists provide in- and out-patient treatment appears to have no substantial impact on patient outcomes over a 1-year period. Initiatives to improve long-term outcomes of psychiatric patients may focus on aspects other than the organisation of personal continuity v. specialisation.

Objectives: To study early and eventual career choices for nephrology among UK medical graduates and investigate factors which influenced career preferences., Design: Self-completed survey questionnaires mailed to medical graduates 1, 3, 5 and 10 years after graduation., Setting: United Kingdom., Participants: UK medical graduates in 15 year-of-qualification cohorts between 1974 and 2015., Main Outcome Measures: Early career specialty choices, career specialty destinations at 10 years and ratings of factors affecting career choices., Results: Around 0.4%-1.1% of these junior doctors expressed a career preference for nephrology, varying by year of qualification and years after qualification. Among all graduates of 1993-2002 combined, 0.4% expressed a career preference for nephrology 1 year after qualification rising to 1.0% in year 5. Among graduates of 2005-2008, the corresponding figures were 1.0% in year 1 falling to 0.7% in year 5. Only 18% of doctors who chose nephrology in year 1 eventually became nephrologists. Of doctors who were practising as nephrologists for 10 years and more after qualification, 74% of the women and 56% of the men had decided to pursue a career in nephrology by year 5 after qualification. 'Enthusiasm/commitment' had a great deal of influence on those who chose nephrology, for all cohorts and all years studied., Conclusions: The most recent data suggest that the proportion of young doctors who sustain an interest in nephrology through the early postgraduate training years may be lower than among their predecessors. Efforts are needed to reverse the declining trend and increase interest in nephrology.

Background: Most sub-Saharan African countries have too few reproductive health (RH) specialists, resulting in high RH-related mortality and morbidity. In Kenya, task sharing in RH began in 2002, with the training of clinical officer(s)-reproductive health (CORH). Little is known about them and the extent of their role in the health system., Methods: In 2016, we conducted a retrospective, quantitative two-stage study in Kenya to evaluate the use of CORH and 28 of their curriculum-derived RH competencies, to determine their contribution to expanded access to RH care. CORH were surveyed, using structured questionnaires and telephone interviews. Data on the frequency with which CORH used specified competencies were collected from health records in selected facilities., Results: Forty-nine of all 104 CORH participated in the survey (47%). Forty-eight (98%) had worked in the clinical area, and 79% were still engaging in clinical work. All 48 worked in emergency obstetrics, emergency gynaecology, and nonemergency RH, and 38 (79%) filled clinical leadership positions. Vasectomy was least performed, by only 9 (18%) CORH. All other competencies were applied by at least half of the CORH, and 22 competencies by more than three quarters. Forty-one (84%) CORH performed caesarean section (CS). Teaching and management were other common responsibilities. Data were collected from 12 facilities and analysed for 11. They generally confirmed the initial survey findings: CORH worked as obstetrics and gynaecology consultants and used most of their competencies. Analysis was based on 118 months of theatre records. CORH made significant contributions to their facility's capacity to perform RH surgery: most respondents performed at least 25% of these surgeries. They performed an average of six CS per month and more than 25% of perineal tear repairs (33%), uterus repairs (33%), manual placenta removals (26%), bilateral tubal ligations (39%), and cervical cancer staging (27%). Some experienced CORH conducted procedures beyond their training., Conclusions: CORH expand access to emergency RH care. Their contributions span all areas of obstetric and gynaecological care, mentoring new health workers and expanding their scope of practice. However, the generally poor status of records documenting healthcare provision limits their usability in evaluation and research.

Pollination by insects is a key ecosystem service and important to wider ecosystem function. Most species-level pollination networks studied have a generalised structure, with plants having several potential pollinators, and pollinators in turn visiting a number of different plant species. This is in apparent contrast to a plant's need for efficient conspecific pollen transfer. The aim of this study was to investigate the structure of pollen transport networks at three levels of biological hierarchy: community, species and individual. We did this using hoverflies in the genus Eristalis, a key group of non-Hymenopteran pollinators. We constructed pollen transport networks using DNA metabarcoding to identify pollen. We captured hoverflies in conservation grasslands in west Wales, UK, removed external pollen loads, sequenced the pollen DNA on the Illumina MiSeq platform using the standard plant barcode rbcL, and matched sequences using a pre-existing plant DNA barcode reference library. We found that Eristalis hoverflies transport pollen from 65 plant taxa, more than previously appreciated. Networks were generalised at the site and species level, suggesting some degree of functional redundancy, and were more generalised in late summer compared to early summer. In contrast, pollen transport at the individual level showed some degree of specialisation. Hoverflies defined as "single-plant visitors" varied from 40% of those captured in early summer to 24% in late summer. Individual hoverflies became more generalised in late summer, possibly in response to an increase in floral resources. Rubus fruticosus agg. and Succisa pratensis were key plant species for hoverflies at our sites Our results contribute to resolving the apparent paradox of how generalised pollinator networks can provide efficient pollination to plant species. Generalised hoverfly pollen transport networks may result from a varied range of short-term specialised feeding bouts by individual insects. The generalisation and functional redundancy of Eristalis pollen transport networks may increase the stability of the pollination service they deliver., (© 2018 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.)

Individual foraging specialisation has important ecological implications, but its causes in group-living species are unclear. One of the major consequences of group living is increased intragroup competition for resources. Foraging theory predicts that with increased competition, individuals should add new prey items to their diet, widening their foraging niche ('optimal foraging hypothesis'). However, classic competition theory suggests the opposite: that increased competition leads to niche partitioning and greater individual foraging specialisation ('niche partitioning hypothesis'). We tested these opposing predictions in wild, group-living banded mongooses (Mungos mungo), using stable isotope analysis of banded mongoose whiskers to quantify individual and group foraging niche. Individual foraging niche size declined with increasing group size, despite all groups having a similar overall niche size. Our findings support the prediction that competition promotes niche partitioning within social groups and suggest that individual foraging specialisation may play an important role in the formation of stable social groupings., (© 2018 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The role of trophic specialisation in taxonomic diversification remains unclear. Plant specialists diversify faster than omnivores and animalivores, but at shorter macroevolutionary scales this pattern sometimes reverses. Here, we estimate the effect of diet diversification on speciation rates in noctilionoid bats, controlling for tree shape, rate heterogeneity and macroevolutionary regimes. We hypothesise that niche subdivision among herbivores positively relates to speciation rates, differing between macroevolutionary regimes. We found the rate at which new herbivorous lineages originate decreases as rates of diet evolution increase. Herbivores experience higher speciation rates, but generalist herbivores and predominantly herbivorous omnivores speciate faster than specialised herbivores, omnivores and animalivores. Generalised herbivory is not a dead end. We show that analysing ecological traits and diversification requires accounting for macroevolutionary regimes and within- and between-clade variation in evolutionary rates. Our approach overcomes the high false-positive rates of other methods and illuminates the roles of herbivory and specialisation in speciation., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.)

Face processing is regularly found to be impaired in schizophrenia (SZ), thus suggesting that social malfunctioning might be caused by dysfunctional face processing. Most studies focused on emotional face processes, whereas non-emotional face processing received less attention. While current reports on abnormal face processing in SZ are mixed, examinations of non-emotional face processing compared to adequate control stimuli may clarify whether SZ is characterized by a face-processing deficit. Patients with SZ ( n  = 28) and healthy controls ( n  = 30) engaged in an fMRI scan where images of non-emotional faces and houses were presented. A simple inverted-picture detection task warranted the participants' attention. Region of interest (ROI) analyses were conducted on face-sensitive regions including the fusiform face area, the occipital face area, and the superior temporal sulcus. Scene-sensitivity was assessed in the parahippocampal place area (PPA) and served as control condition. Patients did not show aberrant face-related neural processes in face-sensitive regions. This finding was also evident when analyses were done on individually defined ROIs or on in-house-localizer ROIs. Patients revealed a decreased specificity toward house stimuli as reflected in decreased neural response toward houses in the PPA. Again, this result was supported by supplementary analyses. Neural activation toward neutral faces was not found to be impaired in SZ, therefore speaking against an overall face-processing deficit. Aberrant activation in scene-sensitive PPA is also found in assessments of memory processes in SZ. It is up to future studies to show how impairments in PPA relate to functional outcome in SZ.

Characteristics of learning activities in early sport participation play a key role in the development of the sporting talent. Therefore, pathways of specialisation or diversification/sampling are as well debated as the implementation of practice- or play-oriented activities. The related issues are currently perceived as a two-dimensional construct of domain specificity and performance orientation . In this context, it has been shown that early specialisation, with experiences in practice and play, has led to Swiss junior national team football players reaching higher success levels as adults. This study aimed to examine whether a similar approach improves chances of even being selected for junior national teams from a broader sample. Hence, 294 youth players answered retrospective questionnaires on their early sport participation when entering the Swiss football talent development programme. Using the person-oriented Linking of Clusters after removal of a Residue (LICUR) method, volumes of in-club practice, free play and activities besides football until 12 years of age were analysed along with age at initial club participation. According to the results, clusters of Football enthusiasts ( p = 0.01) with the most free play and above average in-club practice and Club players ( p = 0.02) with the most in-club practice and average free play had a greater chance of reaching junior national team level. Thus, high levels of domain-specific activities seem to increase the chances of junior national team participation. Furthermore, the most successful constellation ( Football enthusiasts ) may illustrate the relevance of domain-specific diversity, induced by several types of practice and play. In line with previous studies, specialising in football and sampling different experiences within this specific domain seems to be the most promising pathway. Therefore, we argue that the optimal model for the development of football talents is a specialised sampling model .