Evaluate the collective function of references cited together in a given text segment.
Classify their combined role into one of the following categories: 'method', 'background', or 'result'.

Text:1994; Fora et al. 1996). During the final third of gestation in fetal sheep, Fora et al. (Fora et al. 1996) reported that ovine fetal anterior pituitary cells exhibit a progressive decline in ACTH1–39 release in response to CRH, while AVP-induced ACTH release increases. This is supported by the findings of Lu et al., (1994) that CRH binding sites in the anterior pituitary declined during late gestation in the ovine fetus.
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