Could it have been predicted? A retrospective analysis of the last year of life for people who died whilst in an intermediate care centre.

Objectives: Intermediate care centres (ICCs) exist in the UK to bridge between acute hospital and home for those with rehabilitation needs. A national study shows 25% of ICC in-patients died within a year of admission. High quality end-of-life care includes early conversations with a person and their loved ones about what matters to them; timely identification of those who are likely to be nearing the end of their life is key.

"Compassion Outside of the Box": The Role of Allied Healthcare Professionals in Providing a Companion Service for Patients at the End of Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Context: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS England prohibited people visiting acute hospital trusts. An end-of-life companion scheme was introduced to support the delivery of care for seriously unwell and dying patients during this time.

Objectives: This study aims to capture the companions' experience and activities, including qualitative feedback, as well as outline recommendations for this role in future services and training.

Understanding the factors associated with patients with dementia achieving their preferred place of death: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: dying in one's preferred place is a quality marker for end-of-life care. Little is known about preferred place of death, or the factors associated with achieving this, for people with dementia.

Aims: to understand preferences for place of death among people with dementia; to identify factors associated with achieving these preferences.

Chemocoding as an identification tool where morphological- and DNA-based methods fall short: Inga as a case study.

The need for species identification and taxonomic discovery has led to the development of innovative technologies for large-scale plant identification. DNA barcoding has been useful, but fails to distinguish among many species in species-rich plant genera, particularly in tropical regions. Here, we show that chemical fingerprinting, or 'chemocoding', has great potential for plant identification in challenging tropical biomes.

Quantitative and qualitative shifts in defensive metabolites define chemical defense investment during leaf development in Inga, a genus of tropical trees.

Selective pressures imposed by herbivores are often positively correlated with investments that plants make in defense. Research based on the framework of an evolutionary arms race has improved our understanding of why the amount and types of defenses differ between plant species. However, plant species are exposed to different selective pressures during the life of a leaf, such that expanding leaves suffer more damage from herbivores and pathogens than mature leaves.

Age as a factor in do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation decisions: a multicentre blinded simulation-based study.

Background: The European Resuscitation Council Guidelines recognise that there is a lack of direct evidence for the effect of age on outcome following cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Aim: To determine the role that advancing age plays in the decision by clinicians to complete a do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation order based on perceived futility.

Design: A questionnaire-based trial.

Four species of arboreal folivore show differential tolerance to a secondary metabolite.

The marsupials that eat Eucalyptus in south-eastern Australia provide an example of animals with similar niche requirements occurring sympatrically. They certainly differ in size, ranging from about 1 kg in the greater glider (Petauroides volans) and the closely related common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus), to 4 kg (common brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula) and up to 15 kg in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). All species, however, may eat considerable amounts of eucalypt foliage, often favouring the same species, and thus appear to compete for food.

Asymmetric or diffusive co-evolution generates meta-populations in fig-fig wasp mutualisms.

Co-evolutionary theory assumes co-adapted characteristics are a positive response to counter those of another species, whereby co-evolved species reach an evolutionarily stable interaction through bilateral adaptation. However, evidence from the fig-fig wasp mutualistic system implies very different co-evolutionary selection mechanisms, due to the inherent conflict among interacted partners. Fig plants appear to have discriminatively enforced fig wasps to evolve "adaptation characteristics" that provide greater benefit to the fig, and fig wasps appear to have diversified their evolutionary strategies in response to discriminative enforcement by figs and competition among different fig wasp species.

Scent chemicals of the brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula.

The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is the most widespread browsing marsupial in Australia, where it occupies woodland, agricultural, and urban environments. Following its introduction into New Zealand in the 19th century it has become a major feral pest, threatening native forests. The adaptability of the possum is thought to be due in part to its social organization, in which chemical communication is important.

Relationship of obesity-related disturbances with LH/FSH ratio among post-menopausal women in the United States.

Objectives: Although luteinizing hormone to follicular stimulating hormone (LH/FSH) ratio is a controversial criterion for identifying a sub-group of infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and abnormalities at the level of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, an elevated LH/FSH ratio is frequently observed in PCOS cases. Obesity and insulin resistance are highly prevalent among PCOS women. To date, no studies have examined the associations of LH/FSH ratio with these co-morbid conditions outside the context of pre- and peri-menopausal PCOS women.

A two-phase model for smoothly joining disparate growth phases in the macropodid Thylogale billardierii.

Generally, sigmoid curves are used to describe the growth of animals over their lifetime. However, because growth rates often differ over an animal's lifetime a single curve may not accurately capture the growth. Broken-stick models constrained to pass through a common point have been proposed to describe the different growth phases, but these are often unsatisfactory because essentially there are still two functions that describe the lifetime growth.

Development of tolerance to the dietary plant secondary metabolite 1,8-cineole by the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).

The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is a generalist herbivore whose diet includes Eucalyptus leaves that are well defended by plant secondary metabolites (PSM) such as the terpene 1,8-cineole (cineole). We accustomed possums to a terpene-free diet, then challenged them with the addition of 2% cineole to the diet. Initially, there was a 50% reduction in total overnight food consumption associated with a marked decrease in the mass of the major feeding bout.

Spatial scale of the patchiness of plant poisons: a critical influence on foraging efficiency.

Generalist mammalian browsers and folivores feed on a range of chemically different plant species, which may assist them in diluting toxins and diversifying nutrient consumption. The frequency and order in which their diets are mixed are important determinants of intake. As a result, the degree of plant heterogeneity in an environment, and the spatial scale at which this occurs, should directly influence herbivore foraging decisions.

Behavioral responses of a generalist mammalian folivore to the physiological constraints of a chemically defended diet.

Mammalian herbivores, particularly browsers and folivores, encounter and consume a range of plant chemical defenses [plant secondary metabolites (PSMs)] on a regular basis. The physiological regulation of PSM ingestion and the resulting behavioral responses of mammalian herbivores directly affect their feeding decisions and the subsequent foraging strategies that they adopt. Generalist mammalian herbivores are hypothesized to consume a generalized diet because of physiological limitations of their detoxification systems.

Rapid absorption of dietary 1,8-cineole results in critical blood concentration of cineole and immediate cessation of eating in the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).

The blood concentration of 1,8-cineole and its metabolites was measured in six male brushtail possums while they voluntarily fed on diets laced with varying concentrations of cineole for 3 d. On the third day, blood samples were collected during and after each bout of feeding for 3 hr. Blood cineole was measured by using headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME), while cineole metabolites were measured by liquid-liquid extraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy.

Diet switching in a generalist mammalian folivore: fundamental to maximising intake.

Generalist mammalian herbivores exploit a diverse diet. A generalised feeding strategy utilises a mixed diet to obtain a range of nutrients and to reduce the detoxication load of similar groups of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs). There is limited research investigating how mammalian herbivores achieve this dietary mixing in their daily foraging activities.

Sideroxylonal in Eucalyptus foliage influences foraging behaviour of an arboreal folivore.

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) offer plants chemical defences against herbivores, and are known to influence intake and diet choice in both insect and mammalian herbivores. However, there is limited knowledge regarding how PSMs influence herbivore foraging decisions. Herbivore foraging decisions, in turn, directly impact on which individual plants, and plant species, are selected for consumption.

Effects of two plant secondary metabolites, cineole and gallic acid, on nightly feeding patterns of the common brushtail possum.

We investigated effects of two plant secondary metabolites (PSMs), cineole and gallic acid, on the nightly feeding behavior of the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), a generalist folivore. We tested whether possums altered their feeding behavior in response to increasing levels of cineole, a dietary terpene. Possums were fed artificial diets containing three levels of cineole: zero (basal diet), medium (6.