Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08)

[Excerpt] In July 2008, a new temporary unemployment benefit, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program, began. The program\u27s authorization ended on November 27, 2010. EUC08 was created by P.L. 110-252, and it has been amended by P.L. 110-449, P.L. 111-5, P.L. 111-92, P.L. 111-118, P.L. 111-144, P.L. 111-157, and P.L. 111-205. Most recently, P.L. 111-205 extended the authorization of the EUC08 program, but did not change the structure of the program or augment benefits. This temporary unemployment insurance program provides up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. A second tier of benefits provides up to an additional 14 weeks of benefits (for a total of up to 34 weeks of EUC08 benefits for all unemployed workers). A third tier is available in states with a total unemployment rate of at least 6% and provides up to an additional 13 weeks of EUC08 benefits (for a total of up to 47 weeks of EUC08 benefits in certain states). A fourth tier is available in states with a total unemployment rate of at least 8.5% and provides up to an additional six weeks of EUC08 benefits (for a total of up to 53 weeks of EUC08 benefits in certain states). All tiers of EUC08 benefits are temporary and expired on the week ending on or before November 30, 2010. Those beneficiaries receiving tier I, II, III, or IV of EUC08 benefits before November 27, 2010 (November 28, 2010, in New York) are grandfathered for their remaining weeks of eligibility for that particular tier only. There will be no new entrants into any tier of the EUC08 program after November 27, 2010. If an individual is eligible to continue to receive his or her remaining EUC08 benefit tier after November 27, 2010, that individual would not be entitled to tier II benefits once those tier I benefits were exhausted. No EUC08 benefits—regardless of tier—are payable for any week after April 30, 2011. P.L. 111-92 expanded benefits available in the EUC08 program, creating two new tiers of benefits (bringing total benefit tiers to four) and adding 20 weeks of EUC08 benefits (for a total of up to 53 benefit weeks). P.L. 111-118 extended the EUC08 program, the 100% federal financing of the Extended Benefit (EB) program, and the $25 Federal Additional Compensation (FAC) weekly benefit through February 28, 2010. P.L. 111-144 and P.L. 111-157 extended these same three measures until April 5, 2010, and June 2, 2010, respectively. On July 22, 2010, the President signed P.L. 111-205, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010, into law. P.L. 111-205 extended the availability of EUC08 and 100$25 FAC benefit, which expired on May 29, 2010 (May 30, 2010, for New York). The latest version of H.R. 4853—as well as S. 3981 and S. 3990—would extend the authorization for the EUC08 program and the 100% federal financing of EB until the beginning of January 2012. H.R. 6419 would extend these same provisions through February 2011. This report will be updated to reflect current congressional action or programmatic changes. Individuals should contact their state\u27s unemployment agency to obtain information on how to apply for and receive EUC08 benefits. The U.S. Department of Labor maintains a website with links to each state\u27s agency at http://www.workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/map.asp

The Experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Participants in Australia’s Coronial Inquest System: Reflections from the Front Line

This article explains the way that Australian coroners’ courts often fail Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We discuss the gap between the expectations of families of the deceased and the realities of the process of the coroner’s court. The discussion is illustrated with reference to real-life examples, drawn from the authors’ experiences representing the families of the deceased

Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08)

This report discusses the new temporary unemployment benefit, the various tiers of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program, as well as related legislation

Hidden in plain sight:Using administrative data to conduct a longitudinal cohort study of children exposed to opioids in pregnancy

Objectives: Children of women who use substances are difficult to research at a population-level using traditional research methods due to the complexity of their lives. Resultingly, we have little robust evidence on their outcomes. This study developed an administrative data cohort of children exposed to opioids and explored health outcomes.Methods: Using data from birth records, antenatal records, prescription data, hospital/psychiatric hospital admissions, and drug and alcohol service data, we identified 6,408 children (born 2009-2019) in Scotland who were exposed to opioids through illicit use and/or medication assisted treatment (i.e. methadone/buprenorphine). A control group (n. 19,089) of children not exposed to opioids were matched on age of mother and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. Data were described and linear and logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between risk factors (such as drug and alcohol use in pregnancy, gestation at booking and at birth), and key early outcomes.Results: Although the majority of women had their substance use recorded in antenatal records, 28.9\% did not, demonstrating the importance of using multiple administrative datasets to form the cohort. Children in the cohort were more likely to experience a range of adverse outcomes including being born early (17\% born prematurely, compared with 6.5\% in control group), having a below normal Apgar score (the scoring system used to assess newborns shortly after birth) (2.9\% in cohort vs. 1.5\% in controls), having significantly lower birthweight, length and head circumference, and more likely to be removed from their mother prior hospital discharge. Differences between the cohorts remained after controlling for other risk factors including alcohol use, and gestation.Conclusion: This feasibility study brought together a cohort of children usually excluded from traditional forms of research. The research demonstrated early differences in outcomes between exposed children and others from similar socio-economic groups. The next stage of this research is exploring health and development outcomes in the preschool period

Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08)

In July 2008, a new temporary unemployment benefit, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program, began. The most recent legislation, P.L. 111-205, extended the authorization of the EUC08 program, but did not change the structure of the program or augment benefits. This temporary unemployment insurance program provides up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. This report discusses the various tiers of the EUC08 program, as well as related legislation. This report will be updated to reflect current congressional action or programmatic changes

Feeling stretched: parents’ narratives about challenges to resilience when their child has a tracheostomy

This study aimed to examine how parents develop personal resilience when facing the challenges of caring for a child with tracheostomy. This study employed a longitudinal qualitative design. Unstructured narrative interviews with 12 parents (from 9 families), whose child had a new tracheostomy, were undertaken at three time points over 12 months. Data were analysed using a socio-narratology method. Findings reveal the journey parents experienced, how their feelings changed, and the processes involved in developing resilience over the first 12 months of their child having a tracheostomy. Stories told by parents early in their journey revealed emotional upheaval, negative emotions, stress, and shock. Due to medical need, parents had little or no choice for their child to have a tracheostomy. Once their child’s life was out of danger, parents started to reframe their experiences and beliefs. Resilience played a major part in how parents perceived and faced their situation, allowing them to deal with what came their way and to move forward with their lives. Different aspects of resilience such as self-awareness, grit, gratitude, internal locus of control and reframing came to the fore at different time points. Parents talked feeling stretched by the challenges they faced and reframing their perspectives about their child’s tracheostomy. Parents’ resilience and reframing is discussed in relation to the ABC-X model. This study identifies a theoretical model (ABC-X Model of Parental Resilience and Reframing) that explains this process of change. This results in transferable knowledge, useful for understanding and explaining the experience of other parents and families

Nuclear Factor I/B is an Oncogene in Small Cell Lung Cancer

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive cancer often diagnosed after it has metastasized. Despite the need to better understand this disease, SCLC remains poorly characterized at the molecular and genomic levels. Using a genetically engineered mouse model of SCLC driven by conditional deletion of Trp53 and Rb1 in the lung, we identified several frequent, high-magnitude focal DNA copy number alterations in SCLC. We uncovered amplification of a novel, oncogenic transcription factor, Nuclear factor I/B (Nfib), in the mouse SCLC model and in human SCLC. Functional studies indicate that NFIB regulates cell viability and proliferation during transformation.National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (grant P30-CA14051)David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT (Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology)Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAlfred P. Sloan Foundation (Research Fellowship)International Association for the Study of Lung Cance

Safety and immunogenicity of an FP9-vectored candidate tuberculosis vaccine (FP85A), alone and with candidate vaccine MVA85A in BCG-vaccinated healthy adults: a phase I clinical trial.

The safety and immunogenicity of a new candidate tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, FP85A was evaluated alone and in heterologous prime-boost regimes with another candidate TB vaccine, MVA85A. This was an open label, non-controlled, non-randomized Phase I clinical trial. Healthy previously BCG-vaccinated adult subjects were enrolled sequentially into three groups and vaccinated with FP85A alone, or both FP85A and MVA85A, with a four week interval between vaccinations. Passive and active data on adverse events were collected. Immunogenicity was evaluated by Enzyme Linked Immunospot (ELISpot), flow cytometry and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Most adverse events were mild and there were no vaccine-related serious adverse events. FP85A vaccination did not enhance antigen 85A-specific cellular immunity. When MVA85A vaccination was preceded by FP85A vaccination, cellular immune responses were lower compared with when MVA85A vaccination was the first immunisation. MVA85A vaccination, but not FP85A vaccination, induced anti-MVA IgG antibodies. Both MVA85A and FP85A vaccinations induced anti-FP9 IgG antibodies. In conclusion, FP85A vaccination was well tolerated but did not induce antigen-specific cellular immune responses. We hypothesize that FP85A induced anti-FP9 IgG antibodies with cross-reactivity for MVA85A, which may have mediated inhibition of the immune response to subsequent MVA85A. ClinicalTrials.gov identification number: NCT00653770

Epidemiology and management of pediatric group A streptococcal pneumonia with parapneumonic effusion: an observational study

Background: During autumn/winter 2022, UK pediatricians reported an unseasonal increase in invasive group A streptococcal infections; a striking proportion presenting with pneumonia with parapneumonic effusion. Methods: Clinicians across the United Kingdom were requested to submit pseudonymized clinical data using a standardized report form for children (<16 years) admitted between September 30, 2022 and February 17, 2023, with microbiologically confirmed group A streptococcal pneumonia with parapneumonic effusion. Results: From 185 cases submitted, the median patient age was 4.4 years, and 163 (88.1%) were previously healthy. Respiratory viral coinfection was detected on admission for 101/153 (66.0%) children using extended respiratory pathogen polymerase chain reaction panel. Molecular testing was the primary method of detecting group A streptococcus on pleural fluid (86/171; 50.3% samples). Primary surgical management was undertaken in 171 (92.4%) children; 153/171 (89.4%) had pleural drain inserted (96 with fibrinolytic agent), 14/171 (8.2%) had video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Fever duration after admission was prolonged (median, 12 days; interquartile range, 9–16). Intravenous antibiotic courses varied in length (median, 14 days; interquartile range, 12–21), with many children receiving multiple broad-spectrum antibiotics, although evidence for additional bacterial infection was limited. Conclusions: Most cases occurred with viral coinfection, a previously well-recognized risk with influenza and varicella zoster, highlighting the need to ensure routine vaccination coverage and progress on vaccines for other common viruses (eg, respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus) and for group A streptococcus. Molecular testing is valuable to detect viral coinfection and confirm invasive group A streptococcal diagnosis, expediting the incorporation of cases into national reporting systems. Range and duration of intravenous antibiotics administered demonstrated the need for research on the optimal duration of antimicrobials and improved stewardship