Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection presenting as a testicular mass in an immunocompromised patient: a case report

Isolated mycobacterial infections of the genital tract are extremely rare. Here we present a 63-year-old gentleman who developed an isolated non-tuberculous mycobacterial mass in the inferior pole of his right testis, secondary to immunocompromise related to multiple autoimmune and haematological conditions and their treatments

Comparison of Two Online Interventions to Cope with Spinal Cord Injury: A Pilot Study

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a disability and life experience that may suddenly, drastically, and forever change a person’s life. While psychosocial interventions and support services are typically integrated within the acute rehabilitation process, there is limited research on psychosocial interventions and support services after individuals have been discharged from the hospital and are living in their communities again. To address this void and important need, two interventions were administrated through an online website to people who had lived with a spinal cord injury (SCI) for at least one year. Results found that both Enright’s (2001) forgiveness intervention and Kennedy and Duff’s (2001) coping intervention were effective at reducing depression, anxiety, and anger from pre-test to post-test, and pre-test to follow-up, both separately and in comparison to one another. Findings from this study are discussed, followed by possible limitations

Forgiveness and psychosocial reactions to disability: a pilot study to examine change in persons with spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) are among the most traumatic onset of disabilities to date. Due to the nature of spinal cord injury and how it affects the person’s life and psychosocial adjustment, there are a multitude of feelings, changes, persons, situations, and transgressions that need to be resolved and forgiven. In an effort to help persons with SCI do that, two interventions - Enright’s Forgiveness is a Choice intervention and Kennedy and Duff’s (2001) Coping Effectively with Spinal Cord Injury training – were facilitated on-line as part of a self-study treatment format among persons with spinal cord injury. The interventions were examined to determine their ability to aid in the increase of forgiveness and changes in psychosocial reactions to disability. Findings from this study found that both interventions are applicable and helpful in assisting persons with SCI in forgiving and experiencing changes in psychosocial reactions to disability, but differences were found in long-term change

Crystal and melt inclusion timescales reveal the evolution of magma migration before eruption

Volatile element concentrations measured in melt inclusions are a key tool used to understand magma migration and degassing, although their original values may be affected by different re-equilibration processes. Additionally, the inclusion-bearing crystals can have a wide range of origins and ages, further complicating the interpretation of magmatic processes. To clarify some of these issues, here we combined olivine diffusion chronometry and melt inclusion data from the 2008 eruption of Llaima volcano (Chile). We found that magma intrusion occurred about 4 years before the eruption at a minimum depth of approximately 8 km. Magma migration and reaction became shallower with time, and about 6 months before the eruption magma reached 3–4 km depth. This can be linked to reported seismicity and ash emissions. Although some ambiguities of interpretation still remain, crystal zoning and melt inclusion studies allow a more complete understanding of magma ascent, degassing, and volcano monitoring data.NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore)MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore)Published versio

Galaxy Zoo: CANDELS barred discs and bar fractions

The formation of bars in disc galaxies is a tracer of the dynamical maturity of the population. Previous studies have found that the incidence of bars in discs decreases from the local Universe to z ∼ 1, and by z>1 simulations predict that bar features in dynamically mature discs should be extremely rare. Here, we report the discovery of strong barred structures in massive disc galaxies at z ∼ 1.5 in deep rest-frame optical images from the Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey. From within a sample of 876 disc galaxies identified by visual classification in Galaxy Zoo, we identify 123 barred galaxies. Selecting a subsample within the same region of the evolving galaxy luminosity function (brighter than L*), we find that the bar fraction across the redshift range 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 2 ( $f_{{\rm bar}} = 10.7^{+6.3}_{-3.5}$ per cent after correcting for incompleteness) does not significantly evolve. We discuss the implications of this discovery in the context of existing simulations and our current understanding of the way disc galaxies have evolved over the last 11 billion year

Learning to adapt health and safety initiatives from mega projects: an Olympic case study

Finding new ways to improve health and safety management in construction continues to generate much interest. Despite a reduction in deaths, injuries and ill health in recent years, UK construction still has high rates of fatal and major injuries compared to other industries. One of the key concerns is the difficulty of organisational learning in construction manifested as reactive responses to health and safety issues. The Olympic Delivery Authority launched a learning legacy programme in conjunction with industry, government and academia to capture important lessons learnt in a number of areas, including health and safety. Communication has long been considered an important factor in the implementation of health and safety initiatives. Previous research has typically focused on programmes run by single organisations. The London 2012 Olympic Park construction project offered a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of safety initiatives and communication across a range of organisations working side by side. It also offered an exciting opportunity to track health and safety messages as they are communicated to the workforce. The main aim of this research project was to evaluate the range of health and safety initiatives used at the Olympic Park in terms of messages communicated to workers, workers’ awareness, attitude and behaviour, and the transfer of knowledge within and outside the Park. A semistructured inventory was used to survey the workforce (managers, supervisors and workers) using interviews and focus groups on seven Park sites. A follow-up survey was conducted after three months, at which time interviews and focus groups were also held at non-Olympic comparison sites. Data were also collected through the observation of meetings and document review. The data were analysed using template analysis in line with the communication–human information processing (C–HIP) model. The transfer of knowledge into and out of the Olympic Park, and the impact of the communication processes on workers, were key issues identified from the analysis. The results were used to produce industry recommendations that are applicable beyond the realm of a mega project. Important recommendations include, but are not limited to, the important role of the client, the need for planning and the focus on workers’ comprehension and safety behaviour. The most important recommendation was that methods used at the Olympic Park should be used on more traditional projects

Uptake of silicon in barley under contrasting drought regimes

Purpose: Silicon (Si) accumulation in plant tissues plays a vital role in alleviating biotic and abiotic stresses, including drought. Temperate regions are predicted to experience reductions in the quantity and frequency of rainfall events, potentially impacting plant Si uptake via the transpiration stream. Despite the importance for predicting plant responses to Si amendments, the effects of changes in rainfall patterns on Si uptake in cereals have not been characterised. Methods: Five watering regimes were applied based on predicted precipitation scenarios, varying the quantity of water delivered (ambient, 40% or 60% reduction) and watering frequency (40% reduction in quantity, applied 50% or 25% of ambient frequency), and the effects on growth and leaf Si concentrations of a barley landrace and cultivar were determined. Results: Reductions in the quantity of water reduced plant growth and yield, whereas reducing the watering frequency had little impact on growth, and in some cases partially ameliorated the negative effects of drought. Reductions in quantity of water lowered leaf Si concentrations in both the cultivar and landrace, although this effect was alleviated under the drought/deluge watering regime. The landrace had greater leaf Si concentration than the cultivar regardless of watering regime, and under ambient watering deposited Si in all cells between trichomes, whereas the cultivar exhibited gaps in Si deposition. Conclusion: The impact of future reductions in rainfall on barley productivity will depend upon how the water is delivered, with drought/deluge events likely to have smaller effects on yield and on Si uptake than continuous drought

No evidence for age-related differences in mtRNA quality in the female germline

Mitochondrial quality is implicated as a contributor to declining fertility with aging. We investigated mitochondrial transcripts in oocytes and their associated cumulus cells from mice of different ages using RNA-seq. Mice aged 3 weeks, 9 weeks, and 1 year were superovulated and 48 hr later, oocyte cumulus complexes collected by follicle puncture. We did not detect any major differences that could be attributed to aging. However, mitochondrial RNA transcripts which deviated from the consensus sequence were found at a higher frequency in cumulus cells than in their corresponding oocyte. Previous investigations have shown that variation in the sequence of mtRNA transcripts is substantial, and at least some of this can be accounted for by post-transcriptional modifications which impact base calling during sequencing. Our data would be consistent with either less post-transcriptional modification in mitochondrial RNA from oocytes than cumulus cells or with lower mtDNA mutational load