Latest news with #microbiologist
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
I cleared six figures worth of debt in Ireland. These are the low-risk ways to invest that helped
Kel Galavan says she woke up one morning, thought to herself 'I'm going to buy a house today' and by that afternoon had borrowed a ten thousand euro deposit and purchased a home worth seven times her income. When was this? 'About five minutes before the crash,' says Galavan who also goes by the handle MrsSmartMoneyHQ on social media. On that fateful morning, was she a megabucks investor with a yacht, a private jet and several businesses to her name? No, she was a Wexford woman who'd bought a home off plans in what was to become one of the country's many ghost estates in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash. READ MORE What followed was a classic tale of job loss (her husband's), negative equity and struggling to pay creche fees, while her husband retrained in another career and Galavan, a microbiologist, became the breadwinner. Several years later, and after clearing six figures worth of debt, she is now a Qualified Financial Advisor, coach and author. While in Ireland 'it's far from investing you were reared', Galavan explains that our typical path to wealth in this country has been to start a business or own property. With those avenues are not available to everybody, investing is a much easier option with fewer barriers to entry. While we are urged to have a pension plan 'and max it out if you can', Galavan reminds us there is still a gender pay gap and women are also more likely to take time out of their careers to mind children or relatives. In this episode of Better With Money, Galavan explains how she got into investing, outlines the lower risk ways to achieve long-term wealth and sets out how you can get started even with small sums of money. Listen to this discussion on the player above or search for Better With Money wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan. Further reading: Starting a pension Irish state savings schemes Funds Sector Review 2030 Find Kel Galavan here
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
They wanted to knock down my house to build a £2bn road - I said no so they bulldozed my beloved garden instead
A pensioner had his beloved garden bulldozed after telling the government he didn't want them to knock down his home to make way for a £2bn 'road from hell'. Mr Watkeys, 75, was initially informed officials would not need any of his land or house of 65 years to build the new Heads of the Valleys highway which opened on Friday in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. But a change of mind from the Welsh government meant the longstanding local would go on to lose a third of his precious garden to the scheme where he once grew fruit and veg and sat under a beloved oak tree to watch bats. The 75-year-old, a former microbiologist, was offered compulsory purchase of the property but he refused due to his attachment to the dwelling. As a result, the 28-mile road now snakes round his house not through it and he's left with a massive wall at the end of his garden - which he has started to replant. The Heads of the Valleys road officially opened on Friday after 23 years of roadworks and a £2bn spend. Another affected man described it as 'like the road from hell' at the start of this year but added 'not even Chris Rea would dare come here'. Proponents say the road - one of the UK's expensive and most complex - has made many journeys shorter and hope it will bring prosperity to among Britain's most deprived areas. The 28-mile road now snakes round Mr Watkey's house not through it and he's left with a massive wall at the end of his garden - which he has started to replant Mr Watkeys reminisced he used to love sitting in his garden at night which was then located next to the relatively small A465. He said: 'The whole process has been upsetting. It's been stressful. I'm left picking up the pieces. 'It has been extremely stressful for a lot of years. 'They said we want to knock down your garage and we need your drive. You can imagine my response. So they found another way. 'I like all types of gardening. I grow some of my own veg - kidney beans, broad beans, French beans, peppers, chiles, tomatoes. 'When I was a kid, you'd look out onto the garden, and there'd be goldfinches, bullfinches, tits, wrens, a couple of jays, and woodpeckers. 'You'd hear owls in the evenings. You'd always have a few hedgehogs. 'But now, you're lucky if you see a few blackbirds. 'There aren't any birds left, nothing. It's almost devoid of the wildlife that you used to see. It's because the habit is gone. 'I've lost oaks, I've lost hawthorns. They took down a lovely 70-year-old oak tree at the bottom of my garden. 'In the evenings, bats used to come around the oak tree, for the gnats and insects. Now, you don't see any. I miss it. It was a sign of life, really. 'It's the rebuilding of it. I've turned it over once. I want to put in some lilacs and other plants which I've saved. 'I did a couple of hours out there yesterday digging it over, and it will need some more before I start planting. 'I wanted to plant some stuff in it this year, but somehow I can't see it. It's going to take me another 12 months to dig it over and get some humus in it. 'Unfortunately, at my age, I wont see the full effect of it', he said, adding: 'And all that is because of the road.' Mr Watkeys explained there were initially assurances the new road would not take any of his land - but the powers that be then said they wanted to knock down part of his house. It was then that the Welsh government offered to buy the house, in the Cefn Coed area of Merthyr, but Mr Watkeys said he declined. Mr Watkeys explained there were initially assurances the new road would not take any of his land - but the powers that be then said they wanted to knock down part of his house The keen gardener told of how he grew up in the home and both his parents and wife died there - and that he could not part with it. Mr Watkeys recalled how in February 2019 advisors from the firm involved in the road expansion requested a meeting and came to see him at his home. He said: 'Two of them came and sat down. I made them a cup of tea and a cup of coffee. I can remember it now like it was yesterday. 'They said "our plans have changed. We're going to knock your garage down. '"We want the whole of your drive for our working area and you can have that bit back when we're finished". 'The heating, my hot water and everything was at the back of the garage, so I think you can imagine my response to that. You fight it as best you can.' After challenging that initial offer, Mr Watkeys said the firm came back and said 'we've found another way of doing it. We just need this bit of the garden'. Mr Watkeys said: 'You get compensation but it still hasn't been settled yet. It's a compulsory purchase so they can do what they want. Transport secretary Ken Skates said he thanked residents 'for their patience during the construction period' and the Welsh government continued to 'work with them to resolve any issues' 'They were piledriving right outside my back door. That was hellish noisy. Extremely noisy.' Mr Watkeys has been given interim compensation from the Welsh government for the loss of his garden but is awaiting a full settlement. Transport secretary Ken Skates said he thanked residents 'for their patience during the construction period' and the Welsh government continued to 'work with them to resolve any issues'. The A465 crosses the south Wales coalfields, a national park and twists close to people's homes in some parts. Almost 70 structures - including more than 40 new bridges and a dozen new junctions - have been built amid the upgrade. Workers planted 285,000 trees to mitigate the 'significant environmental impact'.
Gizmodo
30-05-2025
- Health
- Gizmodo
This Cat Poop Parasite Can Decapitate Sperm—and It Might Be Fueling Infertility
Male fertility rates have been plummeting over the past half-century. An analysis from 1992 noted a steady decrease in sperm counts and quality since the 1940s. A more recent study found that male infertility rates increased nearly 80% from 1990 to 2019. The reasons driving this trend remain a mystery, but frequently cited culprits include obesity, poor diet, and environmental toxins. Infectious diseases such as gonorrhea or chlamydia are often overlooked factors that affect fertility in men. Accumulating evidence suggests that a common single-celled parasite called Toxoplasma gondii may also be a contributor: An April 2025 study showed for the first time that 'human sperm lose their heads upon direct contact' with the parasite. I am a microbiologist, and my lab studies Toxoplasma. This new study bolsters emerging findings that underscore the importance of preventing this parasitic infection. The many ways you can get toxoplasmosis Infected cats defecate Toxoplasma eggs into the litter box, garden or other places in the environment where they can be picked up by humans or other animals. Water, shellfish and unwashed fruits and vegetables can also harbor infectious parasite eggs. In addition to eggs, tissue cysts present in the meat of warm-blooded animals can spread toxoplasmosis as well if they are not destroyed by cooking to proper temperature. While most hosts of the parasite can control the initial infection with few if any symptoms, Toxoplasma remains in the body for life as dormant cysts in brain, heart and muscle tissue. These cysts can reactivate and cause additional episodes of severe illness that damage critical organ systems. Between 30% and 50% of the world's population is permanently infected with Toxoplasma due to the many ways the parasite can spread. Toxoplasma can target male reproductive organs Upon infection, Toxoplasma spreads to virtually every organ and skeletal muscle. Evidence that Toxoplasma can also target human male reproductive organs first surfaced during the height of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, when some patients presented with the parasitic infection in their testes. While immunocompromised patients are most at risk for testicular toxoplasmosis, it can also occur in otherwise healthy individuals. Imaging studies of infected mice confirm that Toxoplasma parasites quickly travel to the testes in addition to the brain and eyes within days of infection. In 2017, my colleagues and I found that Toxoplasma can also form cysts in mouse prostates. Researchers have also observed these parasites in the ejaculate of many animals, including human semen, raising the possibility of sexual transmission. Knowing that Toxoplasma can reside in male reproductive organs has prompted analyses of fertility in infected men. A small 2021 study in Prague of 163 men infected with Toxoplasma found that over 86% had semen anomalies. A 2002 study in China found that infertile couples are more likely to have a Toxoplasma infection than fertile couples, 34.83% versus 12.11%. A 2005 study in China also found that sterile men are more likely to test positive for Toxoplasma than fertile men. Not all studies, however, produce a link between toxoplasmosis and sperm quality. Toxoplasma can directly damage human sperm Toxoplasmosis in animals mirrors infection in humans, which allows researchers to address questions that are not easy to examine in people. Testicular function and sperm production are sharply diminished in Toxoplasma-infected mice, rats and rams. Infected mice have significantly lower sperm counts and a higher proportion of abnormally shaped sperm. In that April 2025 study, researchers from Germany, Uruguay, and Chile observed that Toxoplasma can reach the testes and epididymis, the tube where sperm mature and are stored, two days after infection in mice. This finding prompted the team to test what happens when the parasite comes into direct contact with human sperm in a test tube. After only five minutes of exposure to the parasite, 22.4% of sperm cells were beheaded. The number of decapitated sperm increased the longer they interacted with the parasites. Sperm cells that maintained their head were often twisted and misshapen. Some sperm cells had holes in their head, suggesting the parasites were trying to invade them as it would any other type of cell in the organs it infiltrates. In addition to direct contact, Toxoplasma may also damage sperm because the infection promotes chronic inflammation. Inflammatory conditions in the male reproductive tract are harmful to sperm production and function. The researchers speculate that the harmful effects Toxoplasma may have on sperm could be contributing to large global declines in male fertility over the past decades. Preventing toxoplasmosis The evidence that Toxoplasma can infiltrate male reproductive organs in animals is compelling, but whether this produces health issues in people remains unclear. Testicular toxoplasmosis shows that parasites can invade human testes, but symptomatic disease is very rare. Studies to date that show defects in the sperm of infected men are too small to draw firm conclusions at this time. Additionally, some reports suggest that rates of toxoplasmosis in high-income countries have not been increasing over the past few decades while male infertility was rising, so it's likely to only be one part of the puzzle. Regardless of this parasite's potential effect on fertility, it is wise to avoid Toxoplasma. An infection can cause miscarriage or birth defects if someone acquires it for the first time during pregnancy, and it can be life-threatening for immunocompromised people. Toxoplasma is also the leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the United States. Taking proper care of your cat, promptly cleaning the litter box and thoroughly washing your hands after can help reduce your exposure to Toxoplasma. You can also protect yourself from this parasite by washing fruits and vegetables, cooking meat to proper temperatures before consuming and avoiding raw shellfish, raw water and raw milk. Bill Sullivan, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
CBC
28-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
'How's my technique?' Your handwashing habits still need work
A Canadian microbiologist says pandemic handwashing habits likely didn't stick. An Ottawa hospital is turning to technology to make sure they get better.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
YAHOO POLL: When in the day is best to take a shower?
In hot and humid Singapore, a minimum of one shower a day is probably a given — is it? How many times do you shower a day and when do you shower? Experts have now weighed in on whether it is better to shower in the morning or at night. Several have said that morning showers are better for our bodies and hygiene. Other polls: YAHOO POLL: Do you agree with SDP's push for election system reform? YAHOO POLL: Do you support harsher punishments for animal abusers? YAHOO POLL: COVID-19 cases on the rise – are you staying vigilant? One reason: Our bodies "collect pollutants" throughout even as we sleep as "most people don't wash their bedsheets every day, so if you're showering before bed, you'll still likely be jumping onto sheets that contain various bacteria from previous nights". One expert shared, "As a microbiologist, I am a day-shower advocate. A morning shower suggests your body will be cleaner of night-acquired skin microbes when putting on fresh clothes." What do you think? When is a good time for a shower in Singapore? Tell us what you think. Related So, How Often Do You Really Need to Shower? How Often Should You Shower? Here's What a Dermatologist Has to Say Gen Z-ers spend the longest time in the shower, new poll reveals. Here's what experts say about our washing habits.
