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Introduction: Mammalian reproductive and somatic development is regulated by steroid hormones, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Based largely on information from humans, model organisms, and domesticated animals, testosterone (T) and the GH/IGF-1 system activate sexually differentiated development, promoting male-biased growth, often at a cost to health and survivorship. To test if augmented prenatal androgen exposure in females produces similar developmental patterns and trade-offs, we examine maternal effects in wild meerkats ( Suricata suricatta ), a non-model species in which adult females naturally, albeit differentially by status, express exceptionally high androgen concentrations, particularly during pregnancy. In this cooperative breeder, the early growth of daughters predicts future breeding status and reproductive success., Methods: We examine effects of normative and experimentally induced variation in maternal androgens on the ontogenetic patterns in offspring reproductive hormones (androstenedione, A 4 ; T; estradiol, E 2 ), IGF-1, growth from pup emergence at 1 month to puberty at 1 year, and survivorship. Specifically, we compare the male and female offspring of dominant control (DC or high-T), subordinate control (SC or lower-T), and dominant treated (DT or blocked-T) dams, the latter having experienced antiandrogen treatment in late gestation., Results: Meerkat offspring showed sex differences in absolute T and IGF-1 concentrations, developmental rates of A 4 and E 2 expression, and survivorship - effects that were sometimes socially or environmentally modulated. Atypical for mammals were the early male bias in T that disappeared by puberty, the absence of sex differences in A 4 and E 2 , and the female bias in IGF-1. Food availability was linked to steroid concentrations in females and to IGF-1, potentially growth, and survival in both sexes. Maternal treatment significantly affected rates of T, E 2 , and IGF-1 expression, and weight, with marginal effects on survivorship; offspring of DT dams showed peak IGF-1 concentrations and the best survivorship., Discussion: Maternal effects thus impact offspring development in meerkats, with associated trade-offs: Whereas prenatal androgens modify postnatal reproductive and somatic physiology, benefits associated with enhanced competitiveness in DC lineages may have initial costs of reduced IGF-1, delay in weight gain, and decreased survivorship. These novel data further confirm the different evolutionary and mechanistic pathways to cooperative breeding and call for greater consideration of natural endocrine variation in both sexes., 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. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Davies, Shearer, Greene, Mitchell, Walsh, Goerlich, Clutton-Brock and Drea.)

Few studies test whether education can help increase support for wildlife management interventions. This mixed methods study sought to test the importance of educating a community on the use of a baboon-proof electric fence to mitigate negative interactions between humans and Chacma baboons ( Papio ursinus ) in a residential suburb of the City of Cape Town, South Africa. An educational video on the welfare, conservation and lifestyle benefits of a baboon-proof electric fence was included in a short online survey. The positioning of the video within the survey was randomised either to fall before or after questions probing the level of support for an electric fence. The results showed that watching the video before most survey questions increased the average marginal probability of supporting an electric fence by 15 percentage points. The study also explored whether the educational video could change people's minds. Those who saw the video towards the end of the survey were questioned again about the electric fence. Many changed their minds after watching the video, with support for the fence increasing from 36% to 50%. Of these respondents, the results show that being female raised the average marginal probability of someone changing their mind in favour of supporting the fence by 19%. Qualitative analysis revealed that support for or against the fence was multi-layered and that costs and concern for baboons were not the only relevant factors influencing people's choices. Conservation often needs to change people's behaviours. We need to know what interventions are effective. We show in the real world that an educational video can be effective and can moderately change people's opinions and that women are more likely to change their position in light of the facts than men. This study contributes to the emerging literature on the importance of education in managing conservation conflicts and the need for evidence-based interventions.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are gaining popularity in the management of diabetes in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. There are no studies available comparing the two GLP-1RAs dulaglutide and liraglutide in SOT. We performed a retrospective chart review to assess the safety and effectiveness of these agents in adult SOT with diabetes at 6, 12 and 24 months. There were 63 and 25 recipients on dulaglutide and liraglutide, respectively. There was a sustained reduction in primary endpoints of weight, BMI and insulin requirement with dulaglutide when compared to liraglutide. Decrease in weight was 2%, 4% and 5.2% with dulaglutide and 0.09%, 0.87% and 0.89% with liraglutide at 6, 12 and 24 months respectively. BMI reduction followed the same trend in the two groups. The percentage reduction for insulin was 26% with dulaglutide and 3.6% with liraglutide. There was a 10% reduction in creatinine and a 15% increase in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at the end of 24 months with dulaglutide. However, there was an increase in creatinine by 7% and an 8% decrease in eGFR at the end of 24 months with liraglutide., (© 2020 The Authors. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The ageing global population has seen increasing numbers of older people living with chronic health problems, declining function, and frailty. As older people seek to live out their years at home, family members, friends and neighbours (informal caregivers) are increasingly relied upon for support. Moreover, pressured health systems and shorter hospital length of stay mean that informal caregivers can find themselves supporting the older person who is still unwell after discharge. The Further Enabling Care at Home (FECH) program was developed as a nursing outreach intervention designed to systematically address support needs of family caregivers of older people after hospital discharge to sustain their home-based caregiving. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of informal caregivers who participated in the FECH program after an older family member's discharge from hospital., Methods: The study employed a qualitative descriptive design. Caregivers of older people discharged home from a Medical Assessment Unit in an Australian hospital who were included in the program were interviewed to explore their experiences and perceptions of the FECH program. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed, and subjected to thematic analysis., Results: Twenty-one family caregivers (81% female, aged 25-89 years) participated in the interviews. Themes emerging were 'The experience of caregiving'; 'The experience of receiving FECH program support'; and 'Caregivers' suggestions for improvement'. Caregivers indicated that reflective discussions with the FECH nurse enabled them to recognise the complexity of the caregiving role and determine aspects where they needed support. Caregivers valued guidance from the FECH nurse in accessing information and resources, which helped them to feel more connected to support, more prepared to care for the older person and themselves, and more secure in the caregiving role., Conclusions: Caregivers' experiences indicated that the structured reflective FECH discussions prompted thought and provided guidance in navigating health and care systems. The FECH program appears to offer a means to address the practical, physical and psychosocial needs of informal caregivers as partners in person-centred health and social care., Trial Registration: ANZCTR Trial ID: ACTRN126140011746773 .

Published data regarding the approach to management of diabetes mellitus in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are limited. We performed a retrospective chart review of SOT recipients with diabetes, above 18 years of age, who were usisng dulaglutide. There was a sustained, statistically significant reduction in the primary endpoints of weight, body mass index (BMI) and insulin requirement in 63 SOT recipients at 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively. A total of 59, 50 and 13 recipients were followed during 6, 12 and 24 months, with a mean paired difference for weight reduction of 2.07 (P value <0.003), 4.007 (P value <0.001) and 5.23 (P value <0.034) kgs and a BMI reduction of 0.80 (P value <0.001), 1.35 (P value <0.005) and 2.015 (P value <0.045) kg/m 2 , respectively. The mean paired difference for insulin reduction before and after dulaglutide treatment was 5.94 units (P value <0.0002). There was no increased risk of malignancy, cardiovascular morbidity, graft-failure or all-cause mortality. Gastrointestinal manifestations were rare, even in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), and required no change in immunosuppressive agents. Thus, dulaglutide may be considered an important option for diabetes management in SOT., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

There is lack of a suitable assessment tool that can be used routinely and systematically by hospital staff to address family caregivers' (FCs') support needs. This paper describes a novel approach to identifying and addressing FCs' needs following hospital discharge of the older person receiving care., Setting and Participants: FC recruitment occurred on the patient's discharge from a tertiary hospital in Western Australia; 64 completed the study; 80% were female; mean age 63.2 years., Intervention: The Further Enabling Care at Home (FECH) programme was delivered over the telephone by a specially trained nurse and included: support to facilitate understanding of the patient's discharge letter; caregiver support needs assessment and prioritisation of urgent needs; and collaborative guidance, from the nurse, regarding accessing supports., Results: Sixty-four FCs completed the FECH programme. The top three support needs identified by the FCs were: knowing what to expect in the future (52%), knowing who to contact if they were concerned (52%) and practical help in the home (36%). The telephone-based outreach service worked well and was convenient for the nurse and the FCs, and saved on transport, time and money. Most of the FCs appreciated the systematic approach to identify and articulate their needs and were satisfied with the support they received, mainly navigation through the systems, problem solving, self-care strategies, explanation of illness, symptoms and medication and access to after-hours services., Conclusions: In order to guide services which may consider adopting this systematic approach to supporting FCs and integrating it into their routine practice, this evaluation of the FECH programme has described the processes implemented and highlighted the factors that hindered or facilitated these processes to engage caregivers with appropriate services in a timely manner. Positive feedback indicated that the programme was a useful addition to hospital discharge planning., Trial Registration Number: ACTRN12614001174673; Results., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

In vertebrates, reproductive endocrine concentrations are strongly differentiated by sex, with androgen biases typifying males and estrogen biases typifying females. These sex differences can be reduced in female-dominant species; however, even the most masculinised of females have less testosterone (T) than do conspecific males. To test if aggressively dominant, female meerkats (Suricata suricatta) may be hormonally masculinised, we measured serum androstenedione (A 4 ), T and estradiol (E 2 ) in both sexes and social classes, during both 'baseline' and reproductive events. Relative to resident males, dominant females had greater A 4 , equivalent T and greater E 2 concentrations. Males, whose endocrine values did not vary by social status, experienced increased T during reproductive forays, linking T to sexual behaviour, but not social status. Moreover, substantial E 2 concentrations in male meerkats may facilitate their role as helpers. In females, dominance status and pregnancy magnified the unusual concentrations of measured sex steroids. Lastly, faecal androgen metabolites replicated the findings derived from serum, highlighting the female bias in total androgens. Female meerkats are thus strongly hormonally masculinised, possibly via A 4 's bioavailability for conversion to T. These raised androgen concentrations may explain female aggressiveness in this species and give dominant breeders a heritable mechanism for their daughters' competitive edge.

During October and November of 2011 and 2012, 229 hermit crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, were randomly collected from the intertidal shore at three locations along the southwest coast of Ireland. This is the first survey to assess the health status of this crustacean in Ireland. Carapace length and the sex of each crab were recorded. Crabs were screened for parasites by histology and the intensity and prevalence of infection was determined. Crabs of varying carapace length were screened. The only parasite observed in the crabs was Microphallus sp., the first record of this digenetic trematode in P. bernhardus in Europe., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

I HAVE worked in community services for the past 21 years, and in clinical and operational roles supporting the head of nursing for the past five. I have responsibility for a round-the-clock district nursing service, district nurse liaison and a community phlebotomy service.