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Simple Summary: The diagnostic value of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is well established but less is known about physiological concentrations in young individuals. The aim of this study was to determine AMH levels in small animals before and around puberty and to correlate these levels with testosterone in males entering puberty. Blood samples were collected between 2 and 48 weeks after birth for AMH and testosterone measured using a chemiluminescence immune assay. AMH concentrations were higher in males than in females, with no significant differences among male individuals. However, queens had significantly higher AMH concentrations compared to bitches. A significant decreased in AMH was observed in the males beginning 24 weeks after birth, which correlated only in dogs with an increase in testosterone. In bitches, AMH remained below the detection limit until 16 weeks after birth after which it increased slightly. In queens, AMH was detectable from week 2 with a significant increase starting at week 8, even approaching the chemiluminescence immune assay's upper limit. In conclusion, queens secreted AMH much earlier and in significantly higher amounts than bitches. The decrease of AMH in male species entering puberty was observed in both dogs and tomcats, but a negative correlation with testosterone was derived only for male dogs. In recent years several studies established the diagnostic value of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in companion animals. However, less is known about physiological AMH concentrations in young individuals highlighting the necessity to apply the diagnostic findings to this group. The aim of this study was to determine the AMH values of healthy male and female dogs between the age of 8 and 48 weeks, tomcats under 8 weeks and up to 48 weeks of age and queens between 2 to 12 weeks of age. In total, 96 blood samples were collected. Anti-Müllerian hormone was measured in all samples and testosterone was measured in the oldest age group of the males in both species. The hormones were analyzed using a human based chemiluminescence immune assay. Overall, AMH concentrations were higher in males than in females (p < 0.001). According to the AMH concentration there was no difference in males, but queens had significant higher AMH concentrations than bitches (p < 0.001). AMH remained high in males up to week 24 and decreased significantly thereafter (tomcats: p = 0.015; male dogs: p = 0.013), which correlated with an increase in testosterone levels for male dogs only. In bitches, AMH remained below the detection limit until the week 16 and slightly increased subsequently. In queens, AMH was detectable from the beginning with a significant increase in the older age group (p = 0.003). Half of the cats in the older age group even approached the chemiluminescence immune assay's upper limit. The results show that female cats secrete AMH much earlier than female dogs in which AMH secretion begins just shortly before the start of the puberty. In the male animals, the decrease in AMH concentration around puberty was similar in dogs and cats, but a correlation with the increase of testosterone was only observed in dogs. Further research is required to determine the origin of the high AMH concentrations in female kittens and the lack of correlation between testosterone and AMH concentrations in male kittens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, causes high rates of illness and death among humans. SARS-CoV-2 is a newly recognized [...]

The article discusses the benefits of early skin-to-skin contact (SSC) between mothers and very preterm infants in the delivery room. The study conducted from 2012 to 2015 found that SSC improved mother-child interaction, bonding, and reduced maternal depressive symptoms. The results also showed that SSC brought the mother-child interaction of preterm infants close to normal levels. Since 2015, delivery room SSC has been implemented as standard care for all infants in the center, regardless of gestational age and birthweight. The article emphasizes the importance of close collaboration between the neonatal team and the mother for successful implementation of SSC. [Extracted from the article]

The RAGE (Register And Get Educated) project explored the feasibility of SMS (Short Messaging Service) as a means for communicating harm reduction messages in relation to alcohol and other drugs to young people residing in the City of Knox, Victoria. Almost 700 young people aged 12-26 years registered their mobile phone numbers to receive a series of text messages about five drugs over a period of five months. Twenty invitations were sent to randomly selected individuals from the total number of registrations to participate in the evaluation, which involved qualitative phone interviews at the end of each round of messages. A further nine young people participated in a final series of evaluation questions conducted via phone at the end of the project. The evaluation data revealed that the messages were effective in terms of content, language used and the times at which the messages were sent. Young people reported gaining new knowledge and there was some evidence of a shift in attitude towards specific drugs. This evaluation suggests mobile phone technology is an effective communication tool for health messages in terms of convenience, anonymity, accessibility and relevance for young people. Future research incorporating a pre and post trial design (using drug/alcohol measures) to test the RAGE intervention further would provide more definitive insight into the effectiveness of SMS based amongst young people. Nevertheless, this project demonstrates that provided text messages are developed in a participatory manner to ensure relevance, SMS technology has potential to increase young people's knowledge of drugs and influence attitudes towards specific drugs.

Background: In 2009, the Victorian Parliament Legislative Assembly of Australia commissioned a Parliamentary Inquiry into the opportunities for schools to become a focus for promoting healthy community living. Submissions to the Inquiry varied widely in their positions about school health promotion. The aim of this review is to analyze the submissions to identify core themes in the debates about school health promotion and how stakeholders saw schools becoming a focus for promoting healthy communities. Methods: Submissions (N = 159) were downloaded from the Inquiry website. Open coding was used to code the data. The codes were then refined into conceptual categories to create themes. The Inquiry's terms of reference were used as an organizing framework. Results: Emergent themes included barriers and enablers to school health promotion including the need for stronger leadership from the Departments of Health (DoH) and Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD). Conclusion: Rather than supporting the idea that schools could have a wider role in communities, submissions pointed to the acute need for increased resource allocation to support health promotion in schools, and for coordinated approaches with stronger leadership from the health and education sectors. Without these structures, schools can only address health in an ad hoc manner with limited resources, capacity, and outcomes. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

This review examines program features that influence attendance and adherence to group-based physical activity (PA) by older adults. Medline, PubMed, CINAHL plus, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies published from 1995- 2016. Quantitative and qualitative studies investigating factors related to PA group attendance or adherence by persons aged 55 years and over were included. Searching yielded eight quantitative and 13 qualitative studies, from 2,044 titles. Quantitative findings identified social factors, instructor characteristics, PA types, class duration and frequency, and perceived PA outcomes as important for attendance and adherence, whilst qualitative studies identified settings, leadership, PA types, observable benefits, and social support factors. Studies were predominantly low- to moderate-quality. This review identified design and delivery considerations for group-based PA programs to inform best-practice frameworks and industry capacity building. Future research should use longitudinal and mixed-methods designs to strengthen evidence about facilitators of program reach and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]