Upwind impacts of ammonia from an intensive poultry unit

This study investigated potential ammonia impacts on a sand dune nature reserve 600 m upwind of an intensive poultry unit. Ammonia concentrations and total nitrogen deposition were measured over a calendar year. A series of ammonia and nitrogen exposure experiments using dune grassland species were conducted in controlled manipulations and in the field. Ammonia emissions from the intensive poultry unit were detected up to 2.8 km upwind, contributing to exceedance of critical levels of ammonia 800 m upwind and exceedance of critical loads of nitrogen 2.8 km upwind. Emissions contributed 30% of the total N load in parts of the upwind conservation site. In the nitrogen exposure experiments, plants showed elevated tissue nitrogen contents, and responded to ammonia concentrations and nitrogen deposition loads observed in the conservation site by increasing biomass. Estimated long-term impacts suggest an increase in the soil carbon pool of 9% over a 50-year timescale

Barriers to employment of Australian cancer survivors living with geographic or socio-economic disadvantage: a qualitative study

First published: 07 April 2021Background: Opportunities for cancer survivors' employment can both reflect and perpetuate health inequities, as employment is an important social determinant of health. Socio-economic and geographic disadvantage is associated with greater difficulty finding work, but little is known about work needs of Australian cancer survivors living with disadvantage. Objective: This study examined survivor and health-care professional (HCP) perspectives on barriers experienced by Australian cancer survivors experiencing disadvantage when attempting to remain at or return to work. Method: Focus groups and individual interviews were held with cancer survivors (N = 15) and oncology and primary HCPs (N = 41), focusing on communities at risk of disadvantage. Participants were asked about employment barriers and facilitators in general and in the context of disadvantage. Themes were identified using framework analysis. Results: Geographic and socio-economic disadvantage resulted in specific individual- and system-level barriers. These related to distance from treatment and support services and limited availability and suitability of work for survivors living with geographic disadvantage, and limited availability, security, and flexibility of work and previous unemployment for survivors living with socio-economic disadvantage. Identified needs included system-level changes such as public and workplace-level education, legislative and policy changes, and better access to resources. Conclusions: Cancer survivors living with disadvantage experience limited access to flexible employment opportunities and resources, further perpetuating their disadvantage. Promotion of health equity for cancer survivors living with disadvantage requires systemic changes to support attempts to remain at/return to work. Patient or public contribution: This study included cancer survivors and HCPs as investigators, authors and participants.Emma Kemp, Vikki Knott, Paul Ward, Suzana Freegard, Ian Olver, Julia Fallon-Ferguson ... et al

Distinct microbial and immune niches of the human colon.

Gastrointestinal microbiota and immune cells interact closely and display regional specificity; however, little is known about how these communities differ with location. Here, we simultaneously assess microbiota and single immune cells across the healthy, adult human colon, with paired characterization of immune cells in the mesenteric lymph nodes, to delineate colonic immune niches at steady state. We describe distinct helper T cell activation and migration profiles along the colon and characterize the transcriptional adaptation trajectory of regulatory T cells between lymphoid tissue and colon. Finally, we show increasing B cell accumulation, clonal expansion and mutational frequency from the cecum to the sigmoid colon and link this to the increasing number of reactive bacterial species

Bringing the heart and soul back in: collaborative inquiry and the DBA

Waddock and Lozano (2013) propose that there is an urgent need to bring the 'heart and soul' back into management education. Indeed, its absence has also been implicated in the plethora of recent scandals and the global financial crisis. We suggest that, in part, such issues are attributable to a continued over reliance on a scientific and detached form of knowing which displaces particular 'human characteristics' and in so doing, downplays our inherent connections to others. In contrast, we identify the importance of embracing a supplementary form of knowing- collaborative inquiry which potentially restores our connections to others in ways which provide opportunities for a more heartfelt and soulful management practice. Specifically, we extend Van de Ven and Johnson’s (2006) notion of collaborative inquiry to consider how it is mobilized in the context of a UK DBA program and in turn examine the impact this move accomplishes. Drawing upon a detailed analysis of twenty students’ reflective journals, we illustrate the ways in which they develop a form of empathy. Crucially, we found that this was one important means for (re)-connecting to others and in ways which begin to bring in a sense of heart and soul back into management education