The treatment-related experiences of parents, children and young people with regular prescribed medication

Background Taking regular medication has been shown to have an impact on the daily lives of patients and their families. Objective To explore the medication-related experiences of patients and their families when a child or young person is prescribed regular medication. Setting A specialist U.K. paediatric hospital. Method Semi-structured face-to-face interviews of 24 parents/carers, children or young people, who had been taking two or more medications for 6 weeks or longer. The themes explored included the medication regimen, formulation, supplies, social aspects and adverse effects. The data was analysed using NVIVO version 11. Main outcome measure The experiences of patients, and their parents/carers, when a child/young person takes regular medication. Results Participants described a range of experiences associated with taking regular medication. Medication-related challenges were experienced around the timing of administration which was managed over 24 h rather than waking hours. Updating medication doses for administration at school was often delayed. Unintended nonadherence was cited as the biggest challenge with a range of strategies employed to manage this. The internet was commonly used as a source of additional information accessed for reassurance and adverse effects but there were varying experiences of using patient forums/help groups. Other challenges included the adequacy of information, travelling with medication, formulation issues, arranging supplies and adverse effects. Conclusion Patients and parents experience many challenges with children’s medication. Individualised treatment options should be considered. Further research is required to determine how these experiences may be managed including the role of paediatric medication review

The Evolutionary Origin and Genetic Makeup of Domestic Horses

The horse was domesticated only 5.5 KYA, thousands of years after dogs, cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. The horse nonetheless represents the domestic animal that most impacted human history; providing us with rapid transportation, which has considerably changed the speed and magnitude of the circulation of goods and people, as well as their cultures and diseases. By revolutionizing warfare and agriculture, horses also deeply influenced the politico-economic trajectory of human societies. Reciprocally, human activities have circled back on the recent evolution of the horse, by creating hundreds of domestic breeds through selective programs, while leading all wild populations to near extinction. Despite being tightly associated with humans, several aspects in the evolution of the domestic horse remain controversial. Here, we review recent advances in comparative genomics and paleogenomics that helped advance our understanding of the genetic foundation of domestic horses

Kenya: Joy As Firebrand Academician Is Back After Twelve Years Of Political Asylum

An article, by Dr Joseph Adero Ngala, an Associate Professor of International Relations at the United States International University – Africa

Population genomics of the muskox' resilience in the near absence of genetic variation

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : Raw sequence reads are deposited in the European Nucleotide Archive under study accession ID: PRJEB64293. Scripts used in the analyses are available at https://github.com/patriciapecnerova/muskox_popgenomicsGenomic studies of species threatened by extinction are providing crucial information about evolutionary mechanisms and genetic consequences of population declines and bottlenecks. However, to understand how species avoid the extinction vortex, insights can be drawn by studying species that thrive despite past declines. Here, we studied the population genomics of the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), an Ice Age relict that was at the brink of extinction for thousands of years at the end of the Pleistocene yet appears to be thriving today. We analysed 108 whole genomes, including present-day individuals representing the current native range of both muskox subspecies, the white-faced and the barren-ground muskox (O. moschatus wardi and O. moschatus moschatus) and a ~21,000-year-old ancient individual from Siberia. We found that the muskox' demographic history was profoundly shaped by past climate changes and post-glacial re-colonizations. In particular, the white-faced muskox has the lowest genome-wide heterozygosity recorded in an ungulate. Yet, there is no evidence of inbreeding depression in native muskox populations. We hypothesize that this can be explained by the effect of long-term gradual population declines that allowed for purging of strongly deleterious mutations. This study provides insights into how species with a history of population bottlenecks, small population sizes and low genetic diversity survive against all odds.Carlsbergfondet and Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond.http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mec2024-11-16hj2024Mammal Research InstituteZoology and EntomologyNon

Preface

[No abstract available