Most therapeutic products used in children have not been studied in that population. There is a need for special incentives and market protection (pediatric exclusivity) to compensate drug sponsors for studying these products in children.

Of 189 products studied under pediatric exclusivity, 173 (92%) received new labeling information. Pediatric efficacy was not established for 78 (42%), including 81% of oncology drugs. Probability of demonstrating efficacy was related to therapeutic area and year exclusivity was granted. (Read the full article)

Recent concussion research has examined the role of impact location (ie, the area on the head to which impact occurred); however, no studies exist regarding impact location’s association with concussion outcomes (eg, symptomatology, symptom resolution time, return to play).

This study is the first to examine the association of impact location and concussion outcomes in young athletes. Our findings suggest that impact location, as assessed by sideline observers/player report, is likely of little use in predicting clinical outcomes. (Read the full article)

It is thought that vaccination coverage increases during and immediately after an infectious disease epidemic; however, little evidence exists to support this phenomenon.

The 2011 to 2012 pertussis epidemic did not significantly change the proportion of infants in Washington State who were up to date for pertussis-containing vaccines. This finding may challenge conventional wisdom that vaccine acceptance uniformly increases when risk of disease is high. (Read the full article)

Trainee success rates with infant lumbar puncture are poor. The model of just-in-time learning via simulation has produced clinical improvement for other medical skills such as cardiac compressions and central line dressing changes.

This is the first study to evaluate the impact of just-in-time-and-place simulation-based learning on success with infant lumbar puncture. The intervention improved clinical behaviors associated with success without making a significant impact on success with the procedure. (Read the full article)

Rudeness is routinely experienced by hospital-based medical teams. Individuals exposed to mildly rude behavior perform poorly on cognitive tasks, exhibit reduced creativity and flexibility, and are less helpful and prosocial.

Rudeness had adverse consequences on diagnostic and procedural performance of members of the NICU medical teams. Information-sharing mediated the adverse effect of rudeness on diagnostic performance, and help-seeking mediated the effect of rudeness on procedural performance. (Read the full article)

Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni has announced a number of "exceptional tax measures as part of the fiscal package outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

This year at the sports and English camp in Bulgaria, the team noticed the fruit of building on relationships over time.

The unexpected transition to online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many changes for undergraduate students and their instructors. To understand the magnitude of these impacts and potentially improve digital learning, researchers in the Penn State School of Engineering Design and Professional Programs have received a $196,136 grant from the National Science Foundation.

A recent study found that one organization's instructional-leadership professional development had no impact. Could it be because the topic of instructional leadership needs to be expanded?

Objectives: Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales and specifically KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) are rapidly spreading worldwide. The prognosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) is not well known. Our study tries to assess whether ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by a KPC-Kp strain is associated with higher all-cause mortality than if caused by carbapenem-susceptible isolates.

Study design and methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with VAP due to K. pneumoniae from a 35-bed polyvalent Intensive Care Unit in a university hospital (> 40,000 annual admissions) between January 2012 and December 2016. Adjusted multivariate analysis was used to study the association of KPC-Kp with 30-day all-cause mortality (Cox regression).

Results. We analyze 69 cases of K. pneumoniae VAP of which 39 were produced by a KPC-Kp strain with high-level resistance to meropenem (MIC > 16 mg/mL). All-cause mortality at 30 days was 41% in the KPC-Kp group (16/39) and 33.3% in the carbapenem-susceptible cases (10/30). KPC-Kp etiology was not associated with higher mortality when controlled for confounders (adjusted hazard ratio [lsqb]HR[rsqb] 1.25; 95% CI: 0.46–3.41). Adequate targeted therapy (HR 0.03; 95% CI: <0.01–0.23) was associated with all-cause mortality.

Conclussion. Assuming the limitations due to the available sample size, the prognosis of VAP caused by KPC-Kp is similar to VAPs caused by carbapenem-susceptible K. pneumoniae when appropriate treatment is used.

QPX7728 is an ultra-broad-spectrum boronic acid beta-lactamase inhibitor that demonstrates inhibition of key serine and metallo beta-lactamases at a nano molar range in biochemical assays with purified enzymes. The broad-spectrum inhibitory activity of QPX7728 observed in biochemical experiments translates into enhancement of the potency of many beta-lactams against strains of target pathogens producing beta-lactamases. The impact of bacterial efflux and permeability on inhibitory potency were determined using isogenic panels of KPC-3 producing isogenic strains of K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa and OXA-23-producing strains of A. baumannii with various combinations of efflux and porin mutations. QPX7728 was minimally affected by multi-drug resistance efflux pumps in either Enterobacteriaceae, or in non-fermenters such as P. aeruginosa or A. baumannii. In P. aeruginosa, the potency of QPX7728 was further enhanced when the outer membrane is permeabilized. The potency of QPX7728 in P. aeruginosa is not affected by inactivation of the carbapenem porin OprD. While changes in OmpK36 (but not OmpK35) reduced the potency of QPX7728 (8-16-fold), QPX7728 (4 μg/ml) nevertheless completely reversed KPC-mediated meropenem resistance in strains with porin mutations, consistent with a lesser effect of these mutations on the potency of QPX7728 compared to other agents. The ultra-broad-spectrum beta-lactamase inhibition profile combined with enhancement of the activity of multiple beta-lactam antibiotics with varying sensitivity to the intrinsic resistance mechanisms of efflux and permeability indicate QPX7728 is a useful inhibitor for use with multiple beta-lactam antibiotics.

Pharmacokinetic changes are often seen in patients with severe infections. Administration by continuous infusion has been suggested to optimize antibiotic exposure and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) target attainment for β-lactams. In an observational study, unbound piperacillin concentrations (n=196) were assessed in 78 critically ill patients following continuous infusion of piperacillin/tazobactam (ratio 8:1). The initial dose of 8, 12 or 16 g (piperacillin component) was determined by individual creatinine clearance (CRCL). Piperacillin concentrations were compared to the EUCAST clinical breakpoint MIC for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (16 mg/L), and the following PK/PD targets were evaluated: 100% fT>1xMIC and 100% fT>4xMIC. A population pharmacokinetic model was developed using NONMEM 7.4.3 consisting of a one-compartment disposition model with linear elimination separated into non-renal and renal (linearly increasing with patient CRCL) clearances. Target attainment was predicted and visualized for all individuals based on the utilized CRCL dosing algorithm. The target of 100% fT>1xMIC was achieved for all patients based on the administered dose, but few patients achieved the target of 100% fT>4xMIC. Probability of target attainment for a simulated cohort of patients showed, that increasing the daily dose by 4 g increments (piperacillin component) did not result in substantially improved target attainment for the 100% fT>4xMIC target. To conclude, in patients with high CRCL combined with high-MIC bacterial infections, even a CI regimen with a daily dose of 24 g may be insufficient to achieve therapeutic concentrations.

Introduction: This study was performed to evaluate the impacts of vanA-positivity of Enterococcus faecium (EFM) exhibiting diverse susceptibility phenotypes to glycopeptides on clinical outcomes in patients with a bloodstream infection (BSI) through a prospective, multicenter, observational study.

Methods: A total of 509 patients with an EFM BSI from eight sentinel hospitals in South Korea during a two-year period were enrolled in this study. Risk factors of the hosts and causative EFM isolates were assessed to determine associations with the 30-day mortality of EFM BSI patients via multivariable logistic regression analyses.

Results: The vanA gene was detected in 35.2% (179/509) of EFM isolates; 131 EFM isolates exhibited typical VanA phenotypes (group vanA-VanA), while the remaining 48 EFM isolates exhibited atypical phenotypes (group vanA-Atypical), including VanD (n = 43) and vancomycin-variable phenotypes (n = 5). A multivariable logistic regression indicated that vanA-positivity of causative pathogens was independently associated with the increased 30-day mortality rate in the patients with an EFM BSI; however, there was no significant difference in the survival rates between the patients of the vanA-VanA and vanA-Atypical groups (log-rank test, P = 0.904).

Conclusions: A high 30-day mortality rate was observed in patients with vanA-positive EFM BSIs, and vanA-positivity of causative EFM was an independent risk factor for early mortality irrespective of the susceptibility phenotypes to glycopeptides; thus, intensified antimicrobial stewardship is needed to improve clinical outcome of patients with vanA-positive EFM BSI.

If we truly want educational technology to take root in schools and finally live up to the promise we've been expecting for more than a decade, schools need to develop a cadre of well-trained tech instructional coaches.

Watch Penn State Berks’ new video titled “One Community Impacting Many,” which showcases the depth and breadth of the college’s positive effects on the surrounding region.

Nurses act as caregiver, adviser, confidante, educator, advocate – often all at once – and for multiple patients. Nurses also shape policies at the national level as representatives of professional organizations. During National Nurses Week, we’re celebrating the important role nurses play, now and every day of the year.

The Coronavirus and International Affairs Roundtable, taking place 9:30 a.m. Friday, April 17, via Zoom, will bring together experts in law and international affairs from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and the Caribbean to discuss the broader impact of COVID-19.

The Penn State Law, Policy and Engineering initiative is hosting a virtual speaker series — titled, “Technology, Policy and Law during COVID-19” — that will consist of six sessions throughout the month of May.

The detrimental impact of Covid-19 and the lockdown measures imposed on people across Scotland is to be investigated by MSPs.

The impact the Coronavirus outbreak has had on children and young people is to be explored by Holyrood’s Education and Skills Committee as it announces its work in response to the current public health crisis.

A Scottish Parliament Committee will take evidence from a leading microbiologist, Professor Hugh Pennington, as it begins its scrutiny of the Government’s response to COVID-19.

Impact of Covid-19 on care homes to be investigated by Health and Sport Committee

Source: www.youtube.com - Thursday, April 30, 2020

Penn State researchers provide informed commentary on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the criminal justice system (CJS), focusing on its efforts to contain the spread of the virus through the three core components of the CJS — courts, corrections, and policing – as well as opportunities going forward. To read more, visit the "Insights from Experts" website — a partnership of Penn State's Social Science Research Institute and the Center for Health Care and Policy Research.

OM brings starter schools to families in poor rural areas, benefiting both pupils and teachers in Bangladesh.

The Covid-19 lockdown only had a marginal effect on the results of Kaap Agri for the interim period until the end of March 2020, the group announced on Thursday. But it opted not to pay a dividend, in the interests of managing cash flow.

There are many ways to add more "visual impact" to your maps. Some techniques grab the users' attention, but often don't add anything useful to the message the map is trying to convey (such as 3D tricks, or flashy/gratuitous images and infographics). I encourage you to design maps that have [...]

The post Giving your maps more visual impact! appeared first on Graphically Speaking.

The Weather Risk Management Club has continued meeting via Zoom during the remote learning period, carrying on their work examining the impacts of severe weather events on the economy.

June 26, 2019 DOVER, DE – The Delaware Department of Insurance recently received notice of a data security breach suffered by Dominion National, an insurer and administrator of dental and vision benefits. On April 24, 2019, through its investigation of an internal alert, Dominion National discovered that servers containing enrollment data, demographic details, and personal […]

WeChat also jumped on the bandwagon recently. Its story feature, Time Capsule, allows users to upload short, time-bound videos that appear on a user’s homepage with additional features such as music, location, emojis, etc.

Advertising when the customer needs your product the most is an age-old tactic for effective marketing.

Kesavananda Bharati V. state of Kerala that outlined the basic structure doctrine of the constitution. The judgment was delivered by the largest SC bench so far i.e. 13 judges.

Alireza Mansouri and Fattaneh Taghiyareh: Human interactions and opinion exchanges lead to social opinion dynamics, which is well described by opinion formation models. In these models, a random parameter is usually considered as the system noise, indicating the individual's inexplicable opinion changes. This noise could be an indicator of any other influential factors, such as public media, affects, and emotions. We study phase transitions, changes from one social phase to another, for various noise levels in a discrete opinion formation model based on the social impact theory with a scale-free random network as its interaction network topology. We also generate another similar model using the concept of social power based on the agents' node degrees in the interaction network as an estimation for their persuasiveness and supportiveness strengths and compare both models from phase transition viewpoint. We show by agent-based simulation and analytical considerations how opinion phases, including majority and non-majority, are formed in terms of the initial population of agents in opinion groups and noise levels. Two factors affect the system phase in equilibrium when the noise level increases: breaking up more segregated groups and dominance of stochastic behavior of the agents on their deterministic behavior. In the high enough noise levels, the system reaches a non-majority phase in equilibrium, regardless of the initial combination of opinion groups. In relatively low noise levels, the original model and the model whose agents' strengths are proportional to their centrality have different behaviors. The presence of a few high-connected influential leaders in the latter model consequences a different behavior in reaching equilibrium phase and different thresholds of noise levels for phase transitions.

The Governor released a statement on USDA Report Showing Positive Impact of Farming Practices in Chesapeake Bay Region.

Delaware horse racing contributed more than $182 million to the state's economy in 2014, supporting the equivalent of more than 1,500 full-time jobs, according to an economic impact study released today.

Beginning in December, farmers in Delaware and Maryland will have the opportunity to make a positive impact on their communities and industry by taking part in the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Census data are used by all those who serve farmers and rural communities from federal, state and local governments to agribusinesses, trade associations, researchers, and many others.

Agency: NAT Closing Date: 5/20/2020

NEW CASTLE (Oct. 23, 2018) – Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker, a board-certified family physician, is reassuring Delawareans that a proposed change to the public charge rule by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security does not affect current eligibility for health care and social services in Delaware, and […]

NEW CASTLE (23 de octubre de 2018) – La Secretaria del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Sociales (DHSS, por sus siglas en inglés) Dra. Kara Odom Walker, especialista acreditada en medicina de la familia, asegura a los residentes de Delaware que la propuesta de cambio a la regulación de carga pública realizada por el Departamento […]

NEW CASTLE (March 26, 2019) – As a new support for individuals and families impacted by the effects of mental health and substance use disorders, the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) and its partners have opened the Bridge Clinic near New Castle to provide screening and referrals to treatment, as well as […]

NEW CASTLE (July 11, 2019) – As a new support for individuals and families impacted by the effects of mental health and substance use issues, the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) officially will open the Sussex County Bridge Clinic on July 15 at the Promise Access Center in Georgetown, providing screening and […]

Wilmington --

The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and the City of Wilmington are collaborating on a water line relocation project beginning Friday, May 8, 2020 and will require travel lane changes on I-95 for the next several weeks. Three drinking water transmission mains servicing City residents and businesses will be relocated from underneath the 10^th Street Bridge which spans the interstate to an underground trench that will be dug under I-95.

This work will impact both the northbound and southbound lanes. [More]

An expert report, analyzes the reasons of the Applicants of Significant Investor visa Program prefer to arrive in Australia.The FocusThere is a focus on the international competition level that exists for High Net worth individuals, apart from the factors…

21 downgrades a day since January compared with 15 between January and mid-March.

“We have no regrets in doing so. It will help us come out of the crisis stronger,” Nilanjan Roy, CFO, said on Monday.

Industry executives say the slump in electronics could only deepen in the first quarter of this fiscal, mainly due to the lockdown, and further accelerate a slide in the overall merchandise exports.

The Tamil Nadu government has constituted a high-level committee, headed by Dr C Rangarajan, former RBI Governor, to assess the overall immediate and medium-term impact of coronavirus on the state's...

DNREC is soliciting letters of interest to enter into projects that will support local resilience planning and adaptation activities in Delaware.

Museums and historic sites are among the organizations eligible for support.

The post Loans available for Delaware’s hospitality industry impacted by coronavirus appeared first on Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs - State of Delaware.