Effectiveness of oseltamivir prophylaxis in influenza outbreaks in residential aged care

Influenza outbreaks in Aged Care Facilities (ACFs) can lead to hospitalizations and deaths. Influenza can spread rapidly through ACFs if precautionary measures are not taken. Along with influenza vaccination and precautionary hygiene measures, Oseltamivir Prophylaxis (OP) may be effective in reducing the attack rate of influenza by preventing new cases. A cohort study was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of OP use during influenza outbreaks in ACFs located within South Western Sydney Local Health District from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2018. The main outcome assessed was the rate of OP failure (new cases of influenza in patients treated with OP) among ACF residents. Subgroups and various predictors of OP failure were investigated including presence of a dementia ward, high care ward, and days to Public Health Unit (PHU) notification. The cohort consisted of 86 ACF outbreaks involving 10,064 residents. OP prevented 90% of influenza cases during influenza outbreaks [0.1 RR (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.08–0.12); P < 0.0001]. ACFs with dementia wards had a 44% (0.56 relative risk (RR) (95% CI: 0.34–0.93); P < 0.05) lower OP failure rate. ACFs with high level care had an 87% (0.13 RR (95% CI: 0.05–0.38); P < 0.05) lower OP failure rate. OP is highly effective in preventing new cases of influenza during outbreaks in ACFs, especially in ACFs with dementia or high care wards. Mandatory reporting of influenza outbreaks to PHUs would ensure that ACFs are supported throughout the outbreak, which will facilitate reductions in hospitalizations and mortality. © 2020 South Western Sydney Local Health District

Faint Infrared Flares from the Microquasar GRS 1915+105

We present simultaneous infrared and X-ray observations of the Galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105 using the Palomar 5-m telescope and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer on July 10, 1998 UT. Over the course of 5 hours, we observed 6 faint infrared (IR) flares with peak amplitudes of $\sim 0.3-0.6$ mJy and durations of $\sim 500-600$ seconds. These flares are associated with X-ray soft-dip/soft-flare cycles, as opposed to the brighter IR flares associated with X-ray hard-dip/soft-flare cycles seen in August 1997 by Eikenberry et al. (1998). Interestingly, the IR flares begin {\it before} the X-ray oscillations, implying an ``outside-in'' origin of the IR/X-ray cycle. We also show that the quasi-steady IR excess in August 1997 is due to the pile-up of similar faint flares. We discuss the implications of this flaring behavior for understanding jet formation in microquasars.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Letter from NY Law Faculty in Support of Diploma Privilege

For more information, please refer to Karen Sloan\u27s article, Hundreds of New York Law Professors Endorse Emergency Diploma Privilege, published by the New York Law Journal and appearing on Law.com on July 22, 2020. Additional Signatories: Susan Abraham (New York Law School), Michelle Adams (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Miriam Albert (Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University), Jose E. Alvarez (New York University School of Law), Claudia Angelos (New York University Law School), Deborah Archer (New York University Law School), Jennifer Arlen (New York University Law School), Anna Arons (New York University Law School), Jonathan Askin (Brooklyn Law School), Barbara L. Atwell (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Aditi Bagchi (Fordham University School of Law), Rachel Barkow (New York University Law School), Melynda Barnhart (New York Law School), John Q. Barrett (St. John’s University School of Law), Christine P. Bartholomew (University at Buffalo School of Law), Mark Bartholomew (University at Buffalo School of Law), Jennifer Baum (St. John’s University School of Law), Christopher Beauchamp (Brooklyn Law School), Debra Bechtel (Brooklyn Law School), Edith Beerdsen (New York University School of Law), Peter A. Bell (Syracuse University College of Law), Lenni Benson (New York Law School), Paula Berg (City University of New York School of Law), Anya Bernstein (University at Buffalo School of Law), Beryl Blaustone (City University of New York School of Law) Susan Block-Lieb Cooper (Fordham University School of Law), Pamela Bookman (Fordham University School of Law), Rebecca M. Bratspies (City University of New York School of Law), Ray Brescia (Albany Law School), Richard Briffault (Columbia Law School), William Brooks (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Emily Brown (Syracuse University College of Law), James J. Brudney (Fordham University School of Law), Christopher Buccafusco (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Jessica Bulman-Pozen Betts (Columbia Law School), Keith Bybee (Syracuse University College of Law), Gina M. Calabrese (St. John’s University School of Law), Janet M. Calvo (City University of New York School of Law), Ann Cammett (City University of New York School of Law) Juli Campagna (Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University), Bennett Capers (Fordham University School of Law), Stacy Caplow (Brooklyn Law School), Rosa Castello (St. John’s University School of Law), Oscar G. Chase (New York University School of Law), Asima Chaudhary (City University of New York School of Law), Nina Chernoff (City University of New York School of Law), Elaine Chiu (St. John’s University School of Law), Wilfred U. Codrington III (Brooklyn Law School), Jim Cohen (Fordham University School of Law), Jeffrey M. Colon (Fordham University School of Law), Jordana Confino (Fordham University School of Law), George W. Conk (Fordham University School of Law), Elizabeth B. Cooper (Fordham University School of Law), Briane Cornish (Brooklyn Law School), Bridget J. Crawford (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Laura E. Cunningham (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Noel B. Cunningham (New York University School of Law), Jason J. Czarnezki (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Matthew D\u27Amore (Cornell Law School), Alina Das (New York University School of Law), Lisa Davis (City University of New York School of Law), Christian C. Day (Syracuse University College of Law), Brett M. Dignam (Columbia Law School), Rebekah Diller (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Shane Dizon (Brooklyn Law School), Laura Dooley (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Ryan Dooley (City University of New York School of Law), David Dorfman (Elisabeth Haub Law School at Pace University), Doron Dorfman (Syracuse University College of Law), Helen Agnes Drew (University at Buffalo School of Law), Catharine Du Bois (Brooklyn Law School), Catherine Baylin Duryea (St John\u27s University School of Law), Robin Effron (Brooklyn Law School), Elizabeth F. Emens (Columbia Law School), Richard A. Epstein (New York University School of Law), Howard Erichson (Fordham University School of Law), Jeffrey Fagan (Columbia Law School), Golnaz Fakhimi (City University of New York School of Law), John D. Feerick (Fordham University School of Law), Dave Fields (City University of New York School of Law), Martin Flaherty (Fordham University School of Law), Katherine Franke (Columbia Law School), Eric M. Freedman (Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University), Barry Friedman (New York University School of Law), Jeanne Fromer (New York University School of Law), Kellen Funk (Columbia Law School), Raquel Gabriel (City University of New York School of Law), Paolo Galizzi (Fordham University School of Law), James A. Gardner (University at Buffalo School of Law), David Garland (New York University School of Law), Mark A. Geistfeld (New York University School of Law), Philip M. Genty (Columbia Law School), Doni Gewirtzman (New York Law School), Shubha Ghosh (Syracuse University College of Law), Maeve Glass (Columbia Law School), Cynthia Godsoe (Brooklyn Law School), Rachel T. Goldberg (Cornell Law School), Elizabeth Goldman (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Julie Goldscheid (City University of New York School of Law), Ann Goldweber (St. John\u27s University School of Law), Natalie Gomez-Velez (City University of New York School of Law), Jennifer Gordon (Fordham University School of Law), Lauryn Gouldin (Syracuse University College of Law), Elayne E. Greenberg (St. John’s University School of Law), Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Abner Greene (Fordham University School of Law), Jamal Greene (Columbia Law School), Lissa Griffin (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Jill Gross (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Lisa Grumet (New York Law School), Martin Guggenheim (New York University School of Law), Jennifer A. Gundlach (Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University), Hugh C. Hansen (Fordham University School of Law), Bernard E. Harcourt (Columbia Law School), Jonathan Harris (New York University School of Law), Melina Healey (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Julia Hernandez (City University of New York School of Law), Tanya Hernandez (Fordham University School of Law), Helen Hershkoff (New York University School of Law), Randy Hertz (New York University School of Law), Robert A. Heverly (Albany Law School), Michael F. Higgins (University at Buffalo School of Law), Tracy Higgins (Fordham University School of Law), Alexis Hoag (Columbia Law School), Martha R. Hochberger (New York Law School), Babe Howell (City University of New York School of Law), Rob Howse (New York University School of Law), Bert I. Huang (Columbia Law School), Carmen Huertas (City University of New York School of Law), Kyron Huigens (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Tarek Z. Ismail (City University of New York School of Law), Conrad Johnson (Columbia Law School), Paula C. Johnson (Syracuse University College of Law), Kathryn Judge (Columbia Law School), Mitchell Kane (New York University School of Law), Arlene S. Kanter (Syracuse University College of Law), Ramzi Kassem (City University of New York School of Law), Constantine N. Katsoris (Fordham University School of Law), Avery Katz (Columbia Law School), Eileen Kaufman (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Florence Kerner (City University of New York School of Law), Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Richard Klein (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Kate Klonick (St. John’s University School of Law), Lewis Kornhauser (New York University School of Law), Minna Kotkin (Brooklyn Law School), Anita S. Krishnakumar (St. John’s University School of Law), Rebecca M. Kysar (Fordham University School of Law), Sarah Lamdan (City University of New York School of Law), Christine Lazaro (St. John’s University School of Law), Donna Lee (City University of New York School of Law), Nicole Lefton (Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University), Arthur S. Leonard (New York Law School), Michael Lewyn (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Theo Liebmann (Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University), Edward Lloyd (Columbia Law School), Stephen Loffredo (City University of New York School of Law), Grace M. Lozito (Fordham University School of Law), Shirley Lung (City University of New York School of Law), Mary Lynch (Albany Law School), James Macleod (Brooklyn Law School), Kevin Maillard (Syracuse), Matthew Main (City University of New York School of Law), Deborah C. Malamud (New York University School of Law), Michael W. Martin (Fordham University School of Law), Princess Masilungan (City University of New York School of Law), Camille Massey (City University of New York School of Law), Nancy Maurer (Albany Law School), Andrea McArdle (City University of New York School of Law), Justin McCrary (Columbia Law School), Thomas M. McDonnell (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Kevin McElroy (Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University), Peggy McGuinness (St. John’s University School of Law), Estelle M. McKee (Cornell Law School), Mary Helen McNeal (Syracuse University College of Law), Suzette M. Melendez (Syracuse University College of Law), Gillian Metzger (Columbia Law School), Chi Adanna Mgbako (Fordham University School of Law), Flora Midwood (Brooklyn Law School), Kathryn Miller (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Meredith R. Miller (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Joshua Mitts (Columbia Law School), Kate Mogulescu (Brooklyn Law School), Laura Mott (City University of New York School of Law), Elora Mukherjee (Columbia Law School), Erin Murphy (New York University School of Law), Jessica R. Murray (Syracuse University College of Law), Justin Murray (New York Law School), Melissa Murray (New York University School of Law), Michael B. Mushlin (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Athena D. Mutua (University at Buffalo School of Law), Smita Narula (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Lindsay Nash (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Robert Nassau (Syracuse University College of Law), Burt Neuborne (New York University School of Law), Elizabeth Nevins (Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University), Leslie Newman (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Jacqueline Nolan-Haley (Fordham University School of Law), Tracy L. Norton (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Anthony O\u27Rourke (University at Buffalo School of Law), Jonathan Oberman (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Ngozi Okidegbe (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Judith Olin (University at Buffalo School of Law), Nancy K. Ota (Albany Law School), Jason Parkin (City University of New York School of Law), G. Michael Parsons (New York University School of Law), Frank A. Pasquale (Brooklyn Law School), Russell G. Pearce (Fordham University School of Law), Deborah Pearlstein (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Talia Peleg (City University of New York School of Law), Katharina Pistor (Columbia Law School), Margot Pollans (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Karen Porter (Brooklyn Law School), David Pozen (Columbia Law School), Edward A. Purcell, Jr. (New York Law School), Paul Radvany (Fordham University School of Law), Aziz Rana (Cornell Law School), Martha Rayner (Fordham University School of Law), LaVonda Reed (Syracuse University College of Law), David J. Reiss (Brooklyn Law School), Alice Ristroph (Brooklyn Law School), Allie Robbins (City University of New York School of Law), Nicholas A. Robinson (Eisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Ruthann Robson (City University of New York School of Law), Sarah Rogerson (Albany Law School), Joseph A. Rosenberg (City University of New York School of Law), Merrick Rossein (City University of New York School of Law), Leif Rubinstein (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), David Rudenstine (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Laura Sager (New York University School of Law), Rosemary Salomone (St. John’s University School of Law), Leslie Salzman (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Faraz Sanei (New York University School of Law), Carol Sanger (Columbia Law School), Margaret L. Satterthwaite (New York University School of Law), John Henry Schlegel (University at Buffalo School of Law), Elizabeth Schneider (Brooklyn Law School), Jeanne Schroeder (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Jason Schultz (New York University School of Law), Beth G. Schwartz (Fordham University School of Law), Elizabeth Scott (Columbia Law School), Helen S. Scott (New York University School of Law), Robert E Scott (Columbia Law School), Anthony Sebok (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Courtney Selby (St. John’s University School of Law), Rena Seplowitz (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), John Sexton (New York University School of Law), Houman Shadab (New York Law School), Colleen Shanahan (Columbia Law School), Jeremy Sheff (St. John’s University School of Law), Theodore Silver (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Jocelyn Simonson (Brooklyn Law School), Janet Sinder (Brooklyn Law School), Charisa Smith (City University of New York School of Law), Rachel H. Smith (St. John’s University School of Law), Jeff Sovern (St. John’s University School of Law), Jane M. Spinak (Columbia Law School), Christopher Sprigman (New York University School of Law), Edward Stein (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), John Paul Steines Jr. (New York University School of Law), Jed Stiglitz (Cornell Law School), Katherine Strandburg (New York University School of Law), Susan Sturm (Columbia Law School), Daniel E Subotnik (Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center), Deborah Sundquist O’Malley (Syracuse University College of Law), Olivier Sylvain (Fordham University School of Law), Mary Szto (Syracuse University College of Law), Mateo Taussig-Rubbo (University at Buffalo School of Law), Nelson Tebbe (Cornell Law School), Ruti Teitel (New York Law School), Leslie Y. Garfield Tenzer (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Maria Termini (Brooklyn Law School), Steven Thel (Fordham University School of Law), Kendall Thomas (Columbia University), Monica Todd (Syracuse University), Erin Tomlinson (City University of New York School of Law), Cora True-Frost (Syracuse University College of Law), Jacob Victor (Albany Law School), Rachel Vorspan (Fordham University School of Law), Amy Wallace (New York Law School), Matthew Wansley (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Ettie Ward (St. John’s University School of Law), G. Ray Warner (St. John’s University School of Law), Daniel Warshawsky (New York Law School), Ian Weinstein (Fordham University School of Law), Samuel N. Weinstein (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Richard H. Weisberg (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Robert Wertheimer (Cornell Law School), John Whitlow (City University of New York School of Law), Andrew Williams (New York University School of Law), Rev. Dr. Yvette Wilson-Barnes (City University of New York School of Law), Charles M. Yablon (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), Ellen Yaroshefsky (Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University), Steven Zeidman (City University of New York School of Law), Benjamin C. Zipursky (Fordham University School of Law

Health effects of Indigenous language use and revitalization: a realist review

Background: Indigenous populations across the world are more likely to suffer from poor health outcomes when compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Although these disparities have many sources, one protective factor that has become increasingly apparent is the continued use and/or revitalization of traditional Indigenous lifeways: Indigenous language in particular. This realist review is aimed at bringing together the literature that addresses effects of language use and revitalization on mental and physical health. Methods: Purposive bibliographic searches on Scopus were conducted to identify relevant publications, further augmented by forward citation chaining. Included publications (qualitative and quantitative) described health outcomes for groups of Indigenous people who either did or did not learn and/or use their ancestral language. The geographical area studied was restricted to the Americas, Australia or New Zealand. Publications that were not written in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese or German were excluded. A realist approach was followed to identify positive, neutral or negative effects of language use and/or acquisition on health, with both qualitative and quantitative measures considered. Results: The bibliographic search yielded a total of 3508 possible publications of which 130 publications were included in the realist analysis. The largest proportion of the outcomes addressed in the studies (62.1%) reported positive effects. Neutral outcomes accounted for 16.6% of the reported effects. Negative effects (21.4%) were often qualifed by such issues as possible cultural use of tobacco, testing educational outcomes in a student\u27s second language, and correlation with socioeconomic status (SES), health access, or social determinants of health; it is of note that the positive correlations with language use just as frequently occurred with these issues as the negative correlations did. Conclusions: Language use and revitalization emerge as protective factors in the health of Indigenous populations. Benefits of language programs in tribal and other settings should be considered a cost-effective way of improving outcomes in multiple domains

Early Radio and X-Ray Observations of the Youngest Nearby Type Ia Supernova PTF 11kly (SN 2011fe)

On 2011 August 24 (UT) the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) discovered PTF11kly (SN 2011fe), the youngest and most nearby Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in decades. We followed this event up in the radio (centimeter and millimeter bands) and X-ray bands, starting about a day after the estimated explosion time.We present our analysis of the radio and X-ray observations, yielding the tightest constraints yet placed on the pre-explosion mass-loss rate from the progenitor system of this supernova. We find a robust limit of Ṁ ≾ 10^(−8)(w/100 km s^(−1))M_☉ yr^(−1) from sensitive X-ray non-detections, as well as a similar limit from radio data, which depends, however, on assumptions about microphysical parameters. We discuss our results in the context of single-degenerate models for SNe Ia and find that our observations modestly disfavor symbiotic progenitor models involving a red giant donor, but cannot constrain systems accreting from main-sequence or sub-giant stars, including the popular supersoft channel. In view of the proximity of PTF11kly and the sensitivity of our prompt observations, we would have to wait for a long time (a decade or longer) in order to more meaningfully probe the circumstellar matter of SNe Ia

A protocol for rapid and parallel isolation of myocytes and non-myocytes from multiple mouse hearts.

This protocol features parallel isolation of myocytes and non-myocytes from murine hearts. It was designed with considerations for (1) time required to extract cardiac cells, (2) cell viability, and (3) protocol scalability. Here, a peristaltic pump and 3D-printed elements are combined to perfuse the heart with enzymes to dissociate cells. Myocytes and non-myocytes extracted using this protocol are separated by centrifugation and/or fluorescence-activated cell sorting for use in downstream applications including single-cell omics or other bio-molecular analyses. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to McLellan et al. (2020)

Guidance for the treatment and management of COVID-19 amongst people with intellectual disabilities

Issues: The current COVID-19 pandemic is a pressing world crisis and people with intellectual disabilities are vulnerable due to disparity in healthcare provision and physical and mental health multi-morbidity. Whilst most people will develop mild symptoms upon contracting SARS-CoV-2, some will develop serious complications. There are no current data about the impact of COVID-19 for people with intellectual disabilities. Position: The aim of this paper is to present guidelines for the care and treatment of people with intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic for both community teams providing care to people with intellectual disabilities and inpatient psychiatric settings. The guidelines cover specific issues associated with hospital passports, individual COVID-19 care plans, the important role of families and carers, capacity to make decisions, issues associated with social distancing, ceiling of care/treatment escalation plans, mental health and challenging behaviour, and caring for someone suspected of contracting or has contracted SARS-CoV-2 within community or inpatient psychiatric settings. We have proposed that the included conditions recommended by Public Health England to categorise someone as high risk of severe illness due to COVID-19 should also include mental health and challenging behaviour. Conclusions: There are specific issues associated with providing care to people with intellectual disabilities and appropriate action must be taken by care providers to ensure that disparity of healthcare is addressed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognise that our guidance is focused upon healthcare delivery in England and invite others to augment our guidance for use in other jurisdictions

A Muscle Cell-Macrophage Axis Involving Matrix Metalloproteinase 14 Facilitates Extracellular Matrix Remodeling with Mechanical Loading

The extracellular matrix (ECM) in skeletal muscle plays an integral role in tissue development, structural support, and force transmission. For successful adaptation to mechanical loading, remodeling processes must occur. In a large cohort of older adults, transcriptomics revealed that genes involved in ECM remodeling, including matrix metalloproteinase 14 (MMP14), were the most upregulated following 14 weeks of progressive resistance exercise training (PRT). Using single-cell RNA-seq, we identified macrophages as a source of Mmp14 in muscle following a hypertrophic exercise stimulus in mice. In vitro contractile activity in myotubes revealed that the gene encoding cytokine leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is robustly upregulated and can stimulate Mmp14 expression in macrophages. Functional experiments confirmed that modulation of this muscle cell-macrophage axis facilitated Type I collagen turnover. Finally, changes in LIF expression were significantly correlated with MMP14 expression in humans following 14 weeks of PRT. Our experiments reveal a mechanism whereby muscle fibers influence macrophage behavior to promote ECM remodeling in response to mechanical loading