\u3cem\u3eJones v. United States\u3c/em\u3e: A Sociological Vindication

The United States Supreme Court has held that when a criminal defendant proves by a preponderance of the evidence that he is not guilty of an offense by reason of insanity, the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment does not prohibit the government from confining him to a mental hospital until such time as he can establish that he is no longer mentally ill or a danger to himself or society, even if that period is longer than the maximum incarceration period for the underlying crime. The author discusses the Court\u27s recent decision within the framework of modern sociological thought. A careful reading of the ideas and structures expressed and detailed by the prominent social theorists of the twentieth century suggests that the Jones decision is, in essence, a reflection of the numerous social forces that were influencing the deciding Justices-forces which continue to exert their pressure. As such, the author concludes, it is highly unlikely that the Court will depart from Jones and its desired effects, for to do so would be to defy these powerful and continuing societal influences

Genomic dissection of the 1994 Cronobacter sakazakii outbreak in a French neonatal intensive care unit

Background: Cronobacter sakazakii is a member of the genus Cronobacter that has frequently been isolated from powdered infant formula (PIF) and linked with rare but fatal neonatal infections such as meningitis and necrotising enterocolitis. The Cronobacter MLST scheme has reported over 400 sequence types and 42 clonal complexes; however C. sakazakii clonal complex 4 (CC4) has been linked strongly with neonatal infections, especially meningitis. There have been a number of reported Cronobacter outbreaks over the last three decades. The largest outbreak of C. sakazakii was in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in France (1994) that lasted over 3 months and claimed the lives of three neonates. The present study used whole genome sequencing data of 26 isolates obtained from this outbreak to reveal their relatedness. This study is first of its kind to use whole genome sequencing data to analyse a Cronobacter outbreak. Methods: Whole genome sequencing data was generated for 26 C. sakazakii isolates on the Illumina MiSeq platform. The whole genome phylogeny was determined using Mugsy and RaxML. SNP calls were determined using SMALT and SAMtools, and filtered using VCFtools. Results: The whole genome phylogeny suggested 3 distant clusters of C. sakazakii isolates were associated with the outbreak. SNP typing and phylogeny indicate the source of the C. sakazakii could have been from extrinsic contamination of reconstituted infant formula from the NICU environment and personnel. This pool of strains would have contributed to the prolonged duration of the outbreak, which was up to 3 months. Furthermore 3 neonates were co-infected with C. sakazakii from two different genotype clusters. Conclusion: The genomic investigation revealed the outbreak consisted of an heterogeneous population of C. sakazakii isolates. The source of the outbreak was not identified, but probably was due to environmental and personnel reservoirs resulting in extrinsic contamination of the neonatal feeds. It also indicated that C. sakazakii isolates from different genotype clusters have the ability to co-infect neonates

Draft genome sequence of "Candidatus Cronobacter colletis" NCTC 14934T, a new species in the genus Cronobacter

Members of the Cronobacter genus are associated with serious infections in neonates. This is the first report of the draft genome sequence for the newly proposed species Cronobacter colletis

Draft genome sequences of three newly identified species in the genus Cronobacter, C. helveticus LMG23732T, C. pulveris LMG24059, and C. zurichensis LMG23730T

Cronobacter helveticus, Cronobacter pulveris, and Cronobacter zurichensis are newly described species in the Cronobacter genus, which is associated with serious infections of neonates. This is the first report of draft genome sequences for these species

Draft genome sequence of the earliest Cronobacter sakazakii sequence type 4 strain, NCIMB 8272

The Cronobacter sakazakii clonal lineage defined as sequence type 4 (ST4) is associated with severe cases of neonatal meningitis and persistence in powdered infant formula. For genome sequencing of the earliest deposited culture collection strain of Cronobacter sakazakii ST4, we used the strain NCIMB 8272, originally isolated from milk powder in 1950

Is there really a case for Off-Site Manufacturing?

The solution often suggested to mitigate poor time, cost and quality in construction is to produce buildings in an automated and industrialised environment. To date, use of Off-Site Manufacturing (OSM) in Australia has enjoyed extremely limited success. Distilling the variables in the success and failure of OSM in other places and applying relevant variables to the Australian context, enables a better response for OSM. The purpose of the paper is therefore to examine whether or not OSM techniques are viable in the Australian housing market. The paper uses a detailed and critical analysis of the literature to examine OSM of housing in various countries, seeking to establish the major reasons for successful and unsuccessful models. The findings are then contrasted with the Australian context seeking criteria to inform successful introduction of OSM into Australia. Among other things, findings indicate the catalyst for the introduction of OSM of housing is almost universally a result of major events such as wars and natural disasters. Innovation has also played a role in encouraging change to construction methods. Whilst the countries addressed have diverse economies and climates compared to each other and Australia, certain common criteria have been found from those examples to assist in modelling an OSM solution in Australia. The implications of this work revolve around the provision of a more efficient, less wasteful and more responsive housing production environment which will potentially improve affordability in the market place

Draft genome sequence of a meningitic isolate of Cronobacter sakazakii clonal complex 4, strain 8399

The Cronobacter sakazakii clonal lineage defined as clonal complex 4 (CC4), composed of nine sequence types, is associated with severe cases of neonatal meningitis. To date, only closely related C. sakazakii sequence type 4 (ST4) strains have been sequenced. C. sakazakii strain 8399, isolated from a case of neonatal meningitis, was sequenced as the first non-ST4 C. sakazakii strain

Evidence for direct-acting oxidative genotoxicity by reduction products of azo dyes.

The intestinal flora forms a complex ecosystem that metabolizes dietary and endogenous nutrients under primarily anaerobic conditions. The ingestion of azo dyes has been proposed as one source of potential genotoxic agents. Many intestinal bacteria are able to reduce the azo bond (termed azofission), which liberates the substituted naphthol compounds. The standard Ames test has not demonstrated mutagenicity either by various common food colorings or by their reduced end products in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100. In contrast, genetic toxicity was demonstrated in the Escherichia coli differential kill assay and in S. typhimurium TA102 for the reduced dyes. The superoxide free radical was produced by the azo dyes only after reduction by the intestinal bacteria Enterococcus faecalis and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron