West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) is a severe neurological illness that can result from West Nile virus (WNV) infection, with long-term disability and death being common outcomes. Although WNV arrived in North America over two decades ago, risk factors for WNND are still being explored. The objective of this study was to identify WNND comorbid risk factors in the Ontario population using a retrospective, population-based cohort design. Incident WNV infections from laboratory records between 1 January 2002 – 31 December 2012 were individually-linked to health administrative databases to ascertain WNND outcomes and comorbid risk factors. WNND incidence was compared among individuals with and without comorbidities using risk ratios (RR) calculated with log binomial regression.

Three hundred and forty-five individuals developed WNND (18.3%) out of 1884 WNV infections. West Nile encephalitis was driving most associations with comorbidities. Immunocompromised (aRR 2.61 [95% CI 1.23–4.53]) and male sex (aRR 1.32 [95% CI 1.00–1.76]) were risk factors for encephalitis, in addition to age, for which each 1-year increase was associated with a 2% (aRR 1.02 [95% CI 1.02–1.03]) relative increase in risk. Our results suggest that individuals living with comorbidities are at higher risk for WNND, in particular encephalitis, following WNV infection.

Scientific fields benefit when their researchers engage in self-reflection. Accordingly, we welcome the evidence gathered by Gardner, Ryan, and Snoeyink (2018) on gender differences in our field, the field of industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology. In this commentary, we argue that such self-reflection processes can be further enhanced by taking advantage of the wealth and breadth of scientometrics, the quantitative study of science.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

1. Rabbits were infected with virulent bovine tubercle bacilli in three ways: by (1) intravenous, (2) intrasplenal and (3) intrapulmonary injection. In series (1) and (2) part of the spleen, and in series (3) part of the draining lymph glands were sectioned for histological examination, and usually explants for tissue culture were made from the rest of the organ.

2. A histological study of the infected spleens and lymph glands fixed after different periods of infection showed the usual picture of progressive tuberculous infection; acid-fast bacilli were rare and often difficult to find.

3. After a few days' cultivation in vitro, explants of the infected spleens often became densely infiltrated with bacilli.

4. Previous investigators have expressed the view that acid-fast bacilli are so few in tuberculous lesions in vivo, because large numbers become unstainable. If this is true, and if the unstained bacilli remain viable, it would readily account for the extraordinarily rapid bacillary infiltration of tissue cultures of infected organs. Alternatively, it must be assumed that the few scattered acid-fast rods in the original tissue grow at a prodigious rate under the conditions of life in vitro.

5. These alternatives and other theoretical implications of the results are discussed.

1. Avian tubercle bacilli were cultivated in centri- fuged embryo extract in large hanging-drop preparations.

2. Small groups of individual bacilli were studied undisturbed on a warm stage for several days.

3. The cultures grew very actively and several types of reproduction were observed, all of which were modifications of what was arbitrarily termed the ‘standard’ type.

4. In the ‘standard’ life cycle, which was that most commonly seen, the bacillus elongates during the first 24 hr. to form a filament several times its original length; this divides repeatedly to form a bunch of 20–30 filaments which on the 2nd or 3rd day break down into short rods, which continue to multiply slowly by ordinary binary fission. If the bacilli are subcultivated in fresh embryo extract the cycle is repeated but not otherwise.

5. Three forms of slow growth were seen: (a) The bacillus elongates, though very slowly, to form a long filament which does not divide. (b) The bacillus elongates to about twice its original length and then divides by simple binary fission, (c) The bacillus elongates and segments into short rods, but the intermediate stage of filamentous proliferation is greatly restricted.

6. Bacilli floating freely in the surface film of the drop often form what we have termed a ‘raft’ colony. In this form of development elongation of the rods and filamentous proliferation occur, but the return to the original short form is gradual and incomplete. The organisms grow in one plane and are arranged in a tidy mosaic.

7. The development of ‘mycelial’ forms was studied. A minority of the long filaments formed by the elongation of the rod-shaped bacilli do not break up into strings of daughter rods but continue to elongate rapidly into abnormally long threads; small buds appear at intervals along the thread and grow into primary branches on which secondary and tertiary branches form in the same way: finally a complex branching ‘mycelium’ is produced.

8. The ‘standard’ life cycle appears to be characteristic of rapid initial growth. The wide differences between our results and those of Kahn are probably due, at least in part, to the different cultural conditions used in the two investigations.

1. Explants of embryonic chick tissue were infected with avian tubercle bacilli of different degrees of virulence to study (a) some of the factors on which control of infection in tissue cultures depends and (b) the viability of bacilli ingested by wandering cells.

2. Embryonic lung cultures could control infection for 2–3 weeks owing to the intense phagocytic activity of the many wandering cells which they contained. The tissue appeared unharmed by infection with bacilli of either virulent or avirulent strains.

3. The wandering cells largely protected the much less phagocytic fibroblasts from intracellular infection.

4. This protective action of wandering cells towards less phagocytic cell types was limited by three factors: (1) the density of the infection relative to the volume of the explant, (2) the growth-rate of the infecting strain and (3) the proportion of wandering cells which the tissue contained.

5. Even under the most favourable conditions control of bacillary growth in the tissue was only temporary, largely owing to the gradual disappearance of the wandering cells during repeated subcultivation.

6. As control of bacillary growth was lost, the lung fibroblasts became packed with bacteria, but they appeared undamaged and might even undergo normal mitotic division. Eventually the ingested bacilli seemed to kill the cells by proliferating until they burst the cytoplasm.

7. Embryonic avian tissue cultures though infected with a highly virulent strain never showed the rapid, widespread necrosis observed by Maximow in cultures of adult rabbit tissue infected with a virulent bovine strain. Possible explanations of this disparity are discussed.

8. A special method was devised for testing the viability of bacilli phagocyted by macrophages. It showed that phagocyted bacilli, whether virulent or avirulent, survived for at least 21 days; when the host wandering cells were killed the ingested organisms were capable of immediate and profuse growth on suitable nutritive medium.

1. The effect of virulent bovine tubercle bacilli on rabbit tissue in vitro was studied.

2. When normal spleen cultures were infected in vitro the cells actively phago- cyted the bacilli. At first the phagocytes tolerated the organisms, and in the course of their wanderings spread the infection throughout the tissue. Some infected cells even underwent mitotic division.

3. Eventually the infected cells broke down, and the freed bacilli continued to grow in the tissue. Fourteen days after infection, outgrowth had usually ceased and the explants were almost completely replaced by bacilli.

4. Actively growing spleen cultures were unable to suppress even a slight infection with virulent bovine bacilli.

5. No tubercles were formed in the cultures.

6. There were no indications ofan exotoxic action of the bacilli on the cells in tissue culture, an densely infiltrated explants were often surrounded by a large zone ofoutgrowth.

1. Avian tubercle bacilli were grown in hanging-drop cultures in embryo extract prepared as for tissue culture, but diluted to 25–5% of its usual concentration.

2. Microscopic branching colonies of pseudomycelia developed in the surface film of the hanging drops during the first few days of incubation, after which growth declined.

3. The development of these colonies was studied on the warm stage and proceeds as follows:

(a) The original rods elongate into filaments.

(b) The filaments multiply by ordinary fission and also by forming fine, pin-like terminal sprouts which grow into independent bacilli.

(c) After division the daughter filaments usually remain in contact at the site of fission; their terminal growth continues at an angle to the former cleavage plane and the colony thus acquires its characteristic branching structure.

(d) The colony enlarges and ramification becomes increasingly complex until about the fifth day of incubation when growth declines. The bacilli remain filamentous.

4. When transferred to embryo extract of normal concentration the pseudomycelial colonies revert to the ‘standard’ type of development characteristic of the more concentrated medium, i.e. they pass through a phase of filamentous proliferation followed by disintegration of the filaments into short discrete rods.

5. The development of a pseudo-mycelium is compared with the three common types of growth previously seen in more concentrated embryo extract.

6. The results of this investigation shed light on the controversial question of whether the ‘mycelial’ form of the tubercle bacillus is a single individual formed by ‘true’ lateral budding or a composite structure produced by the terminal, angular growth of coherent but independent bacilli. Our observations on the living organisms have shown that under appropriate experimental conditions both these forms may develop.

Lactation in ewes is associated with hypertrophy of the liver, due to cell proliferation and enlargement. The mean diameter of hepatic parenchymal cell nuclei increased after parturition to reach a maximum at 6 weeks, after which there was a decline.

The liver regressed in weight after weaning but total DNA declined less than liver weight and remained elevated in comparison with livers of unmated ewes, while DNA concentration increased. Total liver DNA remained relatively high for approximately 6 months. It is suggested that the final fall to control values was associated with cell death and disorganization of the hepatic parenchyma.

These results imply that the life span of one type of liver parenchymal cell may be at least 6 months.

A comparison was made of the development of acid and alkaline phosphatase, invertase, lactase and leucine aminopeptidase specific activities in the small intestines of two groups of neonatal pigs. The groups consisted of two litters of suckling pigs and two litters of pigs that were delivered by hysterectomy and reared in incubators on a diet based on cow's milk. In the unsuckled pigs there was retardation of the development of invertase and leucine aminopeptidase. The unsuckled animals grew slowly and were affected by diarrhoea, and it is possible that enteric disease may have affected the development of the brush border of the intestinal epithelial cells, or enzymes specifically associated with the microvilli.

The food intake, the apparent digestibilities of dry matter, and of nitrogen were measured in housed Blackface ewes during late pregnancy, lactation, and after the lambs were weaned. The ewes were slaughtered serially together with non-breeding controls, and the liver, ruminal mucosa, intestines, CNS and carcass were weighed. In association with differing reproductive status marked changes occurred in the content of dry matter and protein in the alimentary organs, but not in the CNS, and the mean weight of DNA in the CNS for all the animals was 130 ± 20 (S.D.) mg.

All of the alimentary organs became hypertrophied during lactation, and regressed after weaning. Maximum values for the liver and ruminal mucosa occurred in the sixth week of lactation, and were maintained until weaning. The small intestine reached maximum weight after 4 weeks of lactation.

Inverse Compton scattering is a promising method to implement a high brightness, ultra-short, energy tunable X-ray source at accelerator facilities. We have developed an inverse Compton backscattering X-ray source driven by the multi-10 TW laser installed at Daresbury. Hard X-rays, with spectral peaks ranging from 15 to 30 keV, depending on the scattering geometry, will be generated through the interaction of laser pulses with electron bunches delivered by the energy recovery linac machine, initially known as energy recovery linac prototype and subsequently renamed accelerators and lasers in combined experiments. X-ray pulses containing 9 × 107 photons per pulse will be created from head-on collisions, with a pulse duration comparable to the incoming electron bunch length. For transverse collisions 8 × 106 photons per pulse will be generated, where the laser pulse transit time defines the X-ray pulse duration. The peak spectral brightness is predicted to be ~1021 photons/(s mm2 mrad2 0.1% Δλ/λ).

The Vulcan Nd:glass laser at the Central Laser Facility (CLF) is a petawatt (1015 Watts) interaction facility, designed to deliver irradiance on target of 1021W.cm−2 for the UK and international user community. The facility came online to users in 2002 and considerable experience has been gained operating Vulcan in this mode. The facility delivers a wide-ranging experimental program in fundamental physics and advanced applications. This includes the interaction of ultrahigh intensity light with matter, fast ignition fusion research, photon induced nuclear reactions, electron and ion acceleration by light waves, and the exploration of the exotic world of plasma physics dominated by relativity. We report on the first year's operation of the facility and the highlights of the experimental campaigns.

In June 1998, an increased number of persons with Salmonella blockley infection were reported from one German state. Because S. blockley is extremely uncommon in Germany, a case-control study was performed in order to find the source. A total of 13 patients met the case definition. Nine of 12 cases and 2 of 21 controls with food consumption histories reported eating smoked eel (OR 28·5; 95% CI 3·9–235·3). The consumed eel came from four different local smokeries, but could be traced back to fish farms in Italy. This outbreak indicates that eel may be a vehicle for salmonella infection and that the smoking process may not eliminate bacterial contamination from raw fish.