The atrial T wave: The elusive electrocardiographic wave exposed by a case of shifting atrial pacemaker

The atrial T wave (Ta wave) is the body surface manifestation of atrial repolarisation and, unlike the P wave (atrial depolarisation), is little recognised. We report the case of a patient with shifting pacemaker which clearly demonstrates the effect of the Ta wave on ST segment and T wave. A simple conceptual model is used to explain the observed phenomenon. The case serves as a reminder of this often forgotten ECG wave and its potential effects on other ECG features

Men procuring sexual services from women: everyman or peculiar man?

Objective: To explore characteristics of men procuring sexual services from women. Design: Quantitative study using questionnaires and purposive sampling. Setting: New South Wales, Australia including brothels and outreach organisations where sex worker is decriminalised. Participants: 309 men who reported procuring sexual services with women. Results: Primary motivations for procurement included thrill/excitement and attractiveness of the sex worker. Cluster analysis identified five groups, the most frequent being those with a drive for exciting, thrill-seeking sex with an attractive partner and those with the same drive but not wanting investment. High proportions of men were married, in professional employment and did not present with a criminal history. Sexual experiences procured were conventional. Procurement presented as an enduring behaviour maintained across decades, commencing at a young age. Involvement in procurement preceded decriminalisation. Conclusion: The results do not support men’s procurement as primarily ‘deviant’. Commonality of procurement and similarities across motivations lends support to the ‘everyman’ perspective. Professionals may need to explicitly enquire about such behaviour where relevant to do so (e.g. in discussing sexual health) and in doing so ensure procurement is discussed as normative and not as unusual behaviour

The Life of a Provincial Musician in Late Nineteenth-Century New Zealand: A Case Study of Joseph Higham in Hawera

There has been little research into musical endeavour in small rural New Zealand townships during the late nineteenth century. This article explores the life of Joseph Higham, one of the first professional musicians to settle long term in Hawera. It surveys his wide-ranging musical activities in and around Hawera, including his relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. The work, influence and outcomes of provincial musicians are compared to musicians working in the larger cities; while the reduced scale of amateur activities resulting from a smaller and more widespread population is notable, the general quality and professionalism of teaching is similar

A wireless sensor network system deployment for detecting stick slip motion in glaciers

The behaviour of glaciers is an area in which only limited research has been carried out due to the difficulties of monitoring sub-glacial movements. The authors believe that this can be addressed by the deployment of a wireless sensor network, consisting of heterogeneous sensors to instrument this activity. By deploying a sensor network measurements can be taken for a longer period than would otherwise be possible. The initial designs for this sensor network are presented along with details of some of the challenges posed by the project

Chemoprevention with the metabolism modifying drugs dichloroacetate and metformin in the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome model, Trp53+/- mice

BACKGROUND: While genetic testing for familial cancer has excelled, the prevention options for those carrying high risk alleles have not. Altered bioenergetics is now acknowledged as a hallmark of cancer, and several very safe drugs are available that can target this phentoype. Dichloroacetate (DCA) inactivates pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, resulting in activation of pyruvate dehydrogenase, reduced lactic acid production and increased mitochondrial activity. Metformin, a type 2 diabetes treatment which activates AMPK, thereby inhibiting mTOR, has unambiguously been demonstrated to reduce the risk of many cancer types in diabetics. We have tested these drugs as chemopreventive agents against the mammary tumours that occur in the BALB/c-Trp53+/- mouse spontaneous tumour model. MATERIALS and METHODS Breast cancer cell lines were examined for cell viability after DCA and/or metformin treatment in vitro (neutral red uptake assay). Four groups of female BALB/c-Trp53+/- mice were given distilled water (n=75), DCA (1.5 g/L in drinking water, ~180 mg/ kg/day, n=53), metformin (0.25 g/L in drinking water, ~30 mg/kg/day, n=61) or DCA +metformin (n=51) from 8 weeks of age, and monitored for tumour development over 78 weeks, and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed. RESULTS In vitro, DCA (1-5 mM) and metformin (30-300 uM), alone or combined, significantly inhibited breast cancer cell growth. In vivo, the overall tumour-free survival curves for BALB/c-Trp53+/- mice were not significantly different between treatment groups, suggesting that metformin does not reduce cancer risk in non-diabetics. However, analysis of mammary tumours alone found that DCA reduced the number and increased their latency (28.0% vs 20.8% of mice with mean latency of 55.0 vs 63.8 weeks, untreated vs DCA respectively), whereas metformin had no effect (26.2% of mice, mean latency 54.7 weeks). DCA appeared to eliminate the early onset mammary tumours (latency <52 weeks, p=0.02), while not affecting the occurrence of longer latency tumours. In contrast, the two drug combination had worse outcomes for tumour development, (35.3% of mice, latency 48.8 weeks, p<0.02 compared to DCA alone). Preliminary western blotting results in MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells found that DCA could block the activation of AMPK by metformin, indicating the potential for drug interactions.Supported by NHMRC Career Development Award, National Breast Cancer Foundation Novel Concept Award, and Cancer Australia

Differences in clinicopathologic variables between Borrelia C6 antigen seroreactive and Borrelia C6 seronegative glomerulopathy in dogs.

BackgroundRapidly progressive glomerulonephritis has been described in dogs that seroreact to Borrelia burgdorferi, but no studies have compared clinicopathologic differences in Lyme-seroreactive dogs with protein-losing nephropathy (PLN) versus dogs with Borrelia-seronegative PLN.Hypothesis/objectivesDogs with Borrelia C6 antigen-seroreactive PLN have distinct clinicopathologic findings when compared to dogs with Borrelia seronegative PLN.AnimalsForty dogs with PLN and Borrelia C6 antigen seroreactivity and 78 C6-seronegative temporally matched dogs with PLN.MethodsRetrospective prevalence case-control study. Clinical information was retrieved from records of dogs examined at the University of California, Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Histopathologic findings in renal tissue procured by biopsy or necropsy of dogs with PLN were reviewed.ResultsRetrievers and retriever mixes were overrepresented in seroreactive dogs (P &lt; .001). Seroreactive dogs were more likely to have thrombocytopenia (P &lt; .001), azotemia (P = .002), hyperphosphatemia (P &lt; .001), anemia (P &lt; .001), and neutrophilia (P = .003). Hematuria, glucosuria, and pyuria despite negative urine culture were more likely in seroreactive dogs (all P ≤ .002). Histopathologic findings were consistent with immune-complex glomerulonephritis in 16 of 16 case dogs and 7 of 23 control dogs (P = 006). Prevalence of polyarthritis was not different between groups (P = .17).Conclusions and clinical importanceC6 seroreactivity in dogs with PLN is associated with a clinicopathologically distinct syndrome when compared with other types of PLN. Early recognition of this syndrome has the potential to improve outcomes through specific aggressive and early treatment

Making myself understood: perceived factors affecting the intelligibility of sung text

Singing is universal, and understanding sung words is thought to be important for many listeners’ enjoyment of vocal and choral music. However, this is not a trivial task, and sung text intelligibility is probably affected by many factors. A survey of musicians was undertaken to identify the factors believed to have most impact on intelligibility, and to assess the importance of understanding sung words in familiar and unfamiliar languages. A total of 143 professional and amateur musicians, including singers, singing teachers, and regular listeners to vocal music, provided 394 statements yielding 851 references to one or more of 43 discrete factors in four categories: performer-related, listener-related, environment-related and words/music-related. The factors mentioned most frequently in each of the four categories were, respectively: diction; hearing ability; acoustic; and genre. In more than a third of references, the extent to which sung text is intelligible was attributed to the performer. Over 60% of respondents rated the ability to understand words in familiar languages as “very important,” but only 17% when the text was in an unfamiliar language. Professional musicians (47% of the sample) rated the importance of understanding in both familiar and unfamiliar languages significantly higher than amateurs but listed fewer factors overall and fewer listener-related factors. The more important the respondents rated understanding, the more performer-related and environment-related factors they tended to list. There were no significant differences between the responses of those who teach singing and those who do not. Enhancing sung text intelligibility is thus perceived to be within the singer’s control, at least to some extent, but there are also many factors outside their control. Empirical research is needed to explore some of these factors in greater depth, and has the potential to inform pedagogy for singers, composers, and choral directors

Reconciling diverse lacustrine and terrestrial system response to penultimate deglacial warming in southern Europe

Unlike the most recent deglaciation, the regional expression of climate changes during the penultimate deglaciation remains understudied, even though it led into a period of excess warmth with estimates of global average temperature 1–2 °C, and sea level ∼6 m, above pre-industrial values. We present the first complete high-resolution southern European diatom record capturing the penultimate glacial-interglacial transition, from Lake Ioannina (northwest Greece). It forms part of a suite of proxies selected to assess the character and phase relationships of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem response to rapid climate warming, and to resolve apparent conflicts in proxy evidence for regional paleohydrology. The diatom data suggest a complex penultimate deglaciation driven primarily by multiple oscillations in lake level, and provide firm evidence for the regional influence of abrupt changes in North Atlantic conditions. There is diachroneity in lake and terrestrial ecosystem response to warming at the onset of the last interglacial, with an abrupt increase in lake level occurring ∼2.7 k.y. prior to sustained forest expansion with peak precipitation. We identify the potentially important role of direct input of snow melt and glacial meltwater transfer to the subterranean karst system in response to warming, which would cause rising regional groundwater levels. This explanation, and the greater sensitivity of diatoms to subtle changes in temperature, reconciles the divergent lacustrine and terrestrial proxy evidence and highlights the sensitivity of lakes situated in mountainous karstic environments to past climate warming

Library Association of Ireland Task Force on Information Literacy (TFIL): Challenges and New Directions

This paper outlines the work of Library Association of Ireland’s (LAI) Task Force on Information Literacy (TFIL), which was convened in 2011 to make recommendations to the LAI for the development of a cohesive national strategy for information literacy education and advocacy across all LIS sectors in Ireland. The paper will outline the background to the development of TFIL and how the group came together to advance the recommendations of the LAI Working Group on Information Literacy (WGIL – 2006-2008). TFIL is represented by all library sectors and the paper will describe how TFIL has played a significant role in advancing a policy driven approach for digital and information literacy at national level and outline the rationale for the recent merger of TFIL with the LAI Task Force on Literacy & Numeracy. The paper will present the terms of reference of the group in the context of Government strategies for digital and information literacy and highlight the key role to be played by libraries in all sectors in Ireland’s digital agenda. The authors will highlight the key national digital/information literacy strategy initiatives of the past three to five years; identify the major themes and discuss some of the key concerns. TFIL is currently investigating best practice digital and information literacy activities in the various library sectors in Ireland, focusing on practical and collaborative ways in which DL/IL education can be further developed and advancing the goal of a more integrated national strategy. TFIL is also active in ongoing advocacy initiatives, promotion and dissemination of information, which have proved vital to raising awareness of the strategic value of digital and information literacy nationally. These activities will be discussed in the paper, in addition to some of the difficulties and practicalities of the cross-sectoral approach. Suggestions for further research and development and a vision for library participation in the digital and information literacy agenda in Ireland will also be outlined. The overall aim is to contribute to the development of a national strategy for digital and information literacy for Ireland and promote the development of these skills in education, the workplace and wider society. Context The authors are currently members of the Library Association Task Force on Information Literacy