Beta-adrenergic control of plasma glucose and free fatty acid levels in the air-breathing African catfish Clarias gariepinus Burchell 1822

In several water-breathing fish species, P-adrenergic receptor stimulation by noradrenaline leads to a decrease in plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels, as opposed to an increase in air-breathing mammals. We hypothesised that this change in adrenergic control is related to the mode of breathing. Therefore, cannulated air-breathing African catfish were infused for 90 min with noradrenaline or with the nonselective P-agonist, isoprenaline. To identify the receptor type involved, a bolus of either a selective beta(1)-antagonist (atenolol) or a selective beta(2)-antagonist (ICI 118,551) was injected 15 min prior to the isoprenaline infusion. Both noradrenaline and isoprenaline led to an expected rise in glucose concentration. Isoprenaline combined with both the beta(1)- and beta(2)-antagonist led to higher glucose concentrations than isoprenaline alone. This could indicate the presence of a stimulatory P-adrenoceptor different from beta(1) and beta(2)-adrenoceptors; these two receptors thus seemed to mediate a reduction in plasma glucose concentration. Both noradrenaline and isoprenaline led to a significant decrease in FFA concentration. Whereas the beta(1)-antagonist had no effect, the beta(2)-antagonist reduced the decrease in FFA concentration, indicating the involvement of beta(2)-adrenoceptors. It is concluded that the air-breathing African catfish reflects water-breathing fish in the adrenergic control of plasma FFA and glucose levels

What factors influence training opportunities for older workers? Three factorial surveys exploring the attitudes of HR professionals

The core research questions addressed in this paper are: what factors influence HR professionals in deciding whether to approve training proposals for older workers? What kind of training are they more likely to recommend for older employees and in which organizational contexts? We administered three factorial surveys to 66 HR professionals in Italy. Participants made specific training decisions based on profiles of hypothetical older workers. Multilevel analyses indicated that access to training decreases strongly with age, while highly-skilled older employees with low absenteeism rates are more likely to enjoy training opportunities. In addition, older workers displaying positive performance are more likely to receive training than older workers who perform poorly, suggesting that training late in working life may serve as a reward for good performance rather than as a means of enhancing productivity. The older the HR professional evaluating training proposals, the higher the probability that older workers will be recommended for training. keywords: training; older workers; HR professionals; factorial survey; multilevel model

An outbreak of ST307 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in a rehabilitation center: An unusual source and route of transmission

Objective: Nosocomial outbreaks due to multidrug-resistant microorganisms in rehabilitation centers have rarely been reported. We report an outbreak of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-K. pneumoniae) on a single ward in a rehabilitation center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.Design: Outbreak description.Setting: A 40-bed ward of a rehabilitation center in the Netherlands.Methods: In October 2016, 2 patients were found to be colonized by genetically indistinguishable ESBL-K. pneumoniae isolates. Therefore, an outbreak management team was installed, by whom a contact tracing plan was made. In addition to general outbreak measures, specific measures were formulated to allow continuation of the rehabilitation process. Also, environmental cultures were taken. Multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis and amplification fragment-length polymorphism were used to determine strain relatedness. Selected isolates were subjected to whole-genome multilocus sequence typing.Results: The outbreak lasted 8 weeks. In total, 14 patients were colonized with an ESBL-K. pneumoniae, of whom 11 patients had an isolate belonging to