Multihospital Outbreak of Clostridium difficile Infection, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

To determine whether a multihospital Clostridium difficile outbreak was associated with epidemic strains and whether use of particular fluoroquinolones was associated with increased infection rates, we cultured feces from C. difficile–infected patients. Use of fluoroquionolones with enhanced antianaerobic activity was not associated with increased infection rates

Performance and characterization of the SPT-3G digital frequency-domain multiplexed readout system using an improved noise and crosstalk model

The third-generation South Pole Telescope camera (SPT-3G) improves upon its predecessor (SPTpol) by an order of magnitude increase in detectors on the focal plane. The technology used to read out and control these detectors, digital frequency-domain multiplexing (DfMUX), is conceptually the same as used for SPTpol, but extended to accommodate more detectors. A nearly 5× expansion in the readout operating bandwidth has enabled the use of this large focal plane, and SPT-3G performance meets the forecasting targets relevant to its science objectives. However, the electrical dynamics of the higher-bandwidth readout differ from predictions based on models of the SPTpol system due to the higher frequencies used and parasitic impedances associated with new cryogenic electronic architecture. To address this, we present an updated derivation for electrical crosstalk in higher-bandwidth DfMUX systems and identify two previously uncharacterized contributions to readout noise, which become dominant at high bias frequency. The updated crosstalk and noise models successfully describe the measured crosstalk and readout noise performance of SPT-3G. These results also suggest specific changes to warm electronics component values, wire-harness properties, and SQUID parameters, to improve the readout system for future experiments using DfMUX, such as the LiteBIRD space telescope

Coping with cyberbullying victimization: An exploratory study of Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong

Limited information is available on how victims cope with their cybervictimization experience. Therefore, using 432 cases of cyberbullying victimization (i.e., victims-only as passive victims and victim-bullies as aggressive victims) in a sample of Hong Kong school-age Chinese adolescents, this study examines the effects of different demographics (i.e., age and sex) and psychosocial characteristics (i.e., self-esteem, empathy, prosocial behavior, family attachment, perception of a harmonious school, sense of school belonging and commitment, and positive school experience and involvement) on different victim coping approaches (i.e., avoidant, aggressive, passive, and active). Findings indicate that older male adolescents who engage in prosocial behavior are likely to employ an active approach, while those who reported fewer positive school experiences and involvement are likely to use an avoidant coping style in coping with their victimization. Adolescents who perceived their school as a harmonious place but with fewer positive school experiences and involvement are likely to adopt a passive coping style, while those who retaliated against their bullying perpetrators are likely to be males and high in empathy level. Implications are offered to inform practices in aiding adolescents to cope with potential cyberbullying victimization effectively.</p