Workmen\u27s Compensation Act—Immunity of Third Party Employer

D, a foreign corporation engaged in manufacturing chemicals, sold to X scrap iron including a coil of pipe which D had used in its business. P, an employee of a salvage dealer, was ordered by his employer to pick up the scrap iron at X\u27s yard. In order to place the coil of pipe in proper position on his truck, P struck the pipe with a maul, the force of the blow causing a corrosive substance to issue from the pipe and injure P. Instead of taking compensation under the Workmen\u27s Compensation Act, P elected to sue the tortfeasor. Judgment for P in Trial Court Appeal. Held: Affirmed. D is not within the immunity provision of Rem. Rev. Stat. § 7675 [P.P.C. § 709-1] since, though P\u27s injury was connected with D\u27s extrahazardous employment, the connection is remote and not temporal. Pennsylvania Salt Mfg. Co. of Wash. v. Haynes, 184 F. 2d 355 (9th Cir., 1950)

Initial establishment success of five forages in an east Texas loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) silvopasture

The establishment at the end of 1 year of five forages was evaluated in a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) silvopasture system. The five forages were: ‘Pensacola” bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Fluegge), “Texas Tough” bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L. Pers.), “Alamo” switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), “San Marcos” Eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides L.), and a native mix containing 45% “Texas” little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium Michx Nash), 15% sand lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes Nutt. L. Alph. Wood), 15% “Blackwell” switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), 10% “Lometa” indiangrass (Sorgastrum nutans L. Nash), 10% “Haskell” sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula Michx Torr) and 5% “Earl” big bluestem (Andropgon gerardii Vitman) by weight. The silvopasture was in a 22 year old stand of loblolly pine in the Fairchild State Forest near Rusk, Texas. Five plots for each forage were sown in March 2008 and the density of each forage after one year calculated. Soil samples were taken to a depth of 10 cm from each corner of each plot using a push probe sampler and a composite sample created for chemical analyses Soil depth to B horizon or restrictive layer was determined using an 8 cm diameter hand bucket auger. In addition, light quality under the canopy was evaluated in August, October and January using a hand-held spectroradiometer: for light quality analysis, light was divided into blue, green, red, and far red bands. Irradiance (μmol photons m-2 s-1) for each band was divided by the total for all bands to create a proportion. Soil depth was positively correlated to plant density in the silvopasture. Bahiagrass and Eastern gamagrass were well established after one growing season. Compared to full sun, light intensity in the silvopasture was reduced by 29% in August, 51% in October, and 56% in January. Proportion and light intensity of the far red band decreased from August to January. Light quality was not affected by the canopy; but the intensity of light reflected or absorbed by the canopy decreased between August and January. Light readings may have been influenced by the decrease in solar angle from August to January. Light intensity was higher than the light compensation point, but lower than the light saturation point for several of the grasses; light in the silvopasture was lowest in January when warm season forages are generally dormant

Boss competence and worker well-being

Nearly all workers have a supervisor or “boss.” Yet little is known about how bosses influence the quality of employees’ lives. This study offers new evidence. First, the authors find that a boss’s technical competence is the single strongest predictor of a worker’s job satisfaction. Second, they demonstrate using longitudinal data, after controlling for fixed-effects, that even if a worker stays in the same job and workplace, a rise in the competence of a supervisor is associated with an improvement in the worker’s well-being. Third, the authors report a variety of robustness checks, including tentative instrumental variable results. These findings, which draw on U.S. and British data, contribute to an emerging literature on the role of “expert leaders” in organizations

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

The Dopamine Augmenter L-DOPA Does Not Affect Positive Mood in Healthy Human Volunteers

Dopamine neurotransmission influences approach toward rewards and reward-related cues. The best cited interpretation of this effect proposes that dopamine mediates the pleasure that commonly accompanies reward. This hypothesis has received support in some animal models and a few studies in humans. However, direct assessments of the effect of transiently increasing dopamine neurotransmission have been largely limited to the use of psychostimulant drugs, which elevate brain levels of multiple neurotransmitters in addition to dopamine. In the present study we tested the effect of more selectively elevating dopamine neurotransmission, as produced by administration of the immediate dopamine precursor, L-DOPA (0, 100/25, 200/50 mg, Sinemet), in healthy human volunteers. Neither dose altered positive mood. The results suggest that dopamine neurotransmission does not directly influence positive mood in humans

Pathoadaptive mutations of Escherichia coli K1 in experimental neonatal systemic infection

Although Escherichia coli K1 strains are benign commensals in adults, their acquisition at birth by the newborn may result in life-threatening systemic infections, most commonly sepsis and meningitis. Key features of these infections, including stable gastrointestinal (GI) colonization and age-dependent invasion of the bloodstream, can be replicated in the neonatal rat. We previously increased the capacity of a septicemia isolate of E. coli K1 to elicit systemic infection following colonization of the small intestine by serial passage through two-day-old (P2) rat pups. The passaged strain, A192PP (belonging to sequence type 95), induces lethal infection in all pups fed 2–6 x 106 CFU. Here we use whole-genome sequencing to identify mutations responsible for the threefold increase in lethality between the initial clinical isolate and the passaged derivative. Only four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), in genes (gloB, yjgV, tdcE) or promoters (thrA) involved in metabolic functions, were found: no changes were detected in genes encoding virulence determinants associated with the invasive potential of E. coli K1. The passaged strain differed in carbon source utilization in comparison to the clinical isolate, most notably its inability to metabolize glucose for growth. Deletion of each of the four genes from the E. coli A192PP chromosome altered the proteome, reduced the number of colonizing bacteria in the small intestine and increased the number of P2 survivors. This work indicates that changes in metabolic potential lead to increased colonization of the neonatal GI tract, increasing the potential for translocation across the GI epithelium into the systemic circulation

Phenotypic and Functional Characterization of Human Memory T Cell Responses to Burkholderia pseudomallei

The Gram-negative bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a public health problem in southeast Asia and northern Australia and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed Category B potential bioterrorism agent. It is the causative agent of melioidosis, and clinical manifestations vary from acute sepsis to chronic localized and latent infection, which can reactivate decades later. B. pseudomallei is the major cause of community-acquired pneumonia and septicemia in northeast Thailand. In spite of the medical importance of B. pseudomallei, little is known about the mechanisms of pathogenicity and the immunological pathways of host defense. There is no available vaccine, and the mortality rate in acute cases can exceed 40% with 10–15% of survivors relapsing or being reinfected despite prolonged and complete treatments. In this article, we describe cell-mediated immune responses to B. pseudomallei in humans living in northeast Thailand and demonstrate clear evidence of T cell priming in healthy seropositive individuals and patients who recovered from melioidosis. This is the most detailed study yet performed on the cell types that produce interferon-gamma to B. pseudomallei in humans and the antigens that they recognize and the first to study large sample numbers in the primary endemic focus of melioidosis in the world