Use of the supportive and palliative care indicators tool (SPICT™) for end-of-life discussions: a scoping review.

Background: In order to mitigate the distress associated with life limiting conditions it is essential for all health professionals not just palliative care specialists to identify people with deteriorating health and unmet palliative care needs and to plan care. The SPICT™ tool was designed to assist with this.

Aim: The aim was to examine the impact of the SPICT™ on advance care planning conversations and the extent of its use in advance care planning for adults with chronic life-limiting illness.

An Amphibian Metamorphosis Assay Dietary Restriction Study: Lessons for Data Interpretation.

The amphibian metamorphosis assay (AMA) is a key in vivo endocrine screen to investigate chemicals with potential thyroid activity. The test guidelines and associated guidance consider that treatment-related effects on thyroid gland histomorphology automatically result in the assay being considered positive for thyroid activity, independent of the direction of change or conflicting results in the other biological endpoints. An AMA study was conducted with five different feeding rations equivalent to 50%, 30%, 20%, 10%, and 5% of the recommended feeding rate.