(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that the manufacturer of a coffeemaker infringed the unregistered trade dress of a competitor's widely lauded product by mimicking the overall appearance. Affirmed a jury verdict.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed the denial of a motion to compel arbitration of an insurance dispute. A company that sued its workers' compensation insurer over premium hikes contended that the case did not have to be arbitrated because the California Insurance Code invalidated the parties' arbitration agreement.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that the manufacturer of a coffeemaker infringed the unregistered trade dress of a competitor's widely lauded product by mimicking the overall appearance. Affirmed a jury verdict.

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In an injury and tort action, brought against defendants ABC News, a hospital, and attending physician for the nonconsensual filming and subsequent broadcast of decedent's treatment and death at the hospital, the Appellative Division's order is modified and affirmed where: 1) the broadcasting of the footage as part of a documentary series about medical trauma was not so extreme and outrageous as to support an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim; but 2) plaintiffs have stated a cause of action against the hospital and treating physician for breach of physician-patient confidentiality.

As the globe contends with the coronavirus pandemic, still looming large now more than ever is the threat posed by Communist China, which is something Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) warns should not be taken lightly.

Dr. Carika Weldon attended the Government press briefing held on Wednesday [May 6] in order to provide a scientific overview of Bermuda’s...

By Rob Stein, Carmel Wroth, Alyson Hurt

To safely phase out social distancing measures, the U.S. needs more diagnostic testing for the coronavirus, experts say. But how much more?

The Trump administration said on April 27 that the U.S. will soon have enough capacity to conduct double the current amount of testing for active infections. The country has done nearly 248,000 tests daily on average in the past seven days, according to the nonprofit COVID Tracking Project. Doubling that would mean doing about 496,000 a day.

Will that be enough? What benchmark should states try to hit?

One prominent research group, Harvard's Global Health Institute, proposes that the U.S. should be doing more than 900,000 tests per day as a country. This projection, released Thursday, is a big jump from its earlier projection of testing need, which had been between 500,000 and 600,000 daily.

Harvard's testing estimate increased, says Ashish Jha, director of the Global Health Institute, because the latest modeling shows that the outbreak in the United States is worse than projected earlier.

"Just in the last few weeks, all of the models have converged on many more people getting infected and many more people [dying]," he says.

But each state's specific need for testing varies depending on the size of its outbreak, explains Jha. The bigger the outbreak, the more testing is needed.

On Thursday, Jha's group at Harvard published a simulation that estimates the amount of testing needed in each state by May 15. In the graphic below, we compare these estimates with the average numbers of daily tests states are currently doing.

Two ways to assess whether testing is adequate

To make their state-by-state estimates, the Harvard Global Health Institute group started from a model of future case counts. It calculated how much testing would be needed for a state to test all infected people and any close contacts they may have exposed to the virus. (The simulation estimates testing 10 contacts on average.)

"Testing is outbreak control 101, because what testing lets you do is figure out who's infected and who's not," Jha says. "And that lets you separate out the infected people from the noninfected people and bring the disease under control."

This approach is how communities can prevent outbreaks from flaring up. First, test all symptomatic people, then reach out to their close contacts and test them, and finally ask those who are infected or exposed to isolate themselves.

Our chart also shows another testing benchmark for each state: the ratio of tests conducted that come back positive. Communities that see about 10% or fewer positives among their test results are probably testing enough, the World Health Organization advises. If the rate is higher, they're likely missing a lot of active infections.

What is apparent from the data we present below is that many states are far from both the Harvard estimates and the 10% positive benchmark.

Just nine states are near or have exceeded the testing minimums estimated by Harvard; they are mostly larger, less populous states: Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Several states with large outbreaks — New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, among others — are very far from the minimum testing target. Some states that are already relaxing their social distancing restrictions, such as Georgia, Texas and Colorado, are far from the target too.

Jha offers several caveats about his group's estimates.

Estimates are directional, not literal

Researchers at the Global Health Initiative at Harvard considered three different models of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak as a starting point for their testing estimates. They found that while there was significant variation in the projections of outbreak sizes, all of the models tend to point in the same direction, i.e., if one model showed that a state needed significantly more testing, the others generally did too.

The model they used to create these estimates is the Youyang Gu COVID-19 Forecasts, which they say has tracked closely with what's actually happened on the ground. Still, the researchers caution, these numbers are not meant to be taken literally but as a guide.

Can't see this visual? Click here.

If social distancing is relaxed, testing needs may grow

The Harvard testing estimates are built on a model that assumes that states continue social distancing through May 15. And about half of states have already started lifting some of those.

Jha says that without the right measures in place to contain spread, easing up could quickly lead to new cases.

"The moment you relax, the number of cases will start climbing. And therefore, the number of tests you need to keep your society, your state from having large outbreaks will also start climbing," warns Jha.

Testing alone is not enough

A community can't base the decision that it's safe to open up on testing data alone. States should also see a consistent decline in the number of cases, of two weeks at least, according to White House guidance. If their cases are instead increasing, they should assume the number of tests they need will increase too.

And, Jha warns, testing is step one, but it won't contain an outbreak by itself. It needs to be part of "a much broader set of strategies and plans the states need to have in place" when they begin to reopen.

In fact, his group's model is built on the assumption that states are doing contact tracing and have plans to support isolation for infected or exposed people.

"I don't want anybody to just look at the number and say, we meet it and we're good to go," he says. "What this really is, is testing capacity in the context of having a really effective workforce of contact tracers."

The targets are floors, not goals

States that have reached the estimated target should think of that as a starting point.

"We've always built these as the floor, the bare minimum," Jha says. More testing would be even better, allowing states to more rapidly tamp down case surges.

In fact, other experts have proposed that the U.S. do even more testing. Paul Romer, a professor of economics at New York University, proposed in a recent white paper that if the U.S. tested every resident, every two weeks, isolating those who test positive, it could stop the pandemic in its tracks.

Jha warns that without sufficient testing, and the infrastructure in place to trace and isolate contacts, there's a real risk that states — even those with few cases now — will see new large outbreaks. "I think what people have to remember is that the virus isn't gone. The disease isn't gone. And it's going to be with us for a while," he says.

Can't see this visual? Click here.

Daniel Wood contributed to this report.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed the denial of a motion to compel arbitration of an insurance dispute. A company that sued its workers' compensation insurer over premium hikes contended that the case did not have to be arbitrated because the California Insurance Code invalidated the parties' arbitration agreement.

We explore what antibody testing is and the potential it has against the coronavirus as UC Davis Health begins testing some of its healthcare workers. Local county leaders check in, and the results of the Next Generation Jazz Festival.

The conversation around testing and when to reopen continues; we check in with the Solano County. Questions about filing for unemployment get some needed answers, and how children’s parties are still happening online.

President Donald Trump is treating life-saving medical equipment as emoluments he can dole out as favors to loyalists. It’s the worst imaginable form of corruption -- playing political games with lives. For the good of this nation during what should be a time of unity he must stop.

25% Of Surveyed Americans Say They've Listened To A Podcast In The Past Month, Up From Less Than 10% In 2008

She’s also challenging other celebrities to set up testing.

Twitter outraged after seeing girl used as a "prop."

Abbe Awosanya says she won’t be deleting the video.

"We are all in this together."

Abbe Awosanya says she won’t be deleting the video.

Producer orders bags and bags of these while turning up.

We’ve been updating support for podcasts. Are you ready to try hosting your own?

[Updated] Bermuda’s drive through testing is in its second day, Premier David Burt said, adding that they tested 74 people yesterday, and the goal is test 120 at the location today. Premier Burt tweeted the photo below, saying: “Just received a photo of Bermuda’s drive through testing which has started up for the 2nd day. This […] (Click to read the full article)

[Updated with video] Yesterday, Governor John Rankin and Deputy Governor Alison Crocket visited the newly launched testing centre for essential workers at Southside, St David’s. While there they observed the process – while maintaining social distancing – and thanked all of the staff for their critical work. Governor Rankin said, “I visited the testing centre […] (Click to read the full article)

The Ministry of National Security is advising the public of the new schedule for essential workers requiring Covid-19 testing. A Government spokesperson said, “The Ministry of National Security is advising the public of the new swabbing schedule for essential workers requiring COVID-19 testing. “Effective now through Friday, May 1, essential workers can schedule their appointment […] (Click to read the full article)

Dr. Carika Weldon attended the Government press briefing held on Wednesday [May 6] in order to provide a scientific overview of Bermuda’s Covid-19 testing. As of yesterday [May 7], Bermuda had completed 3,719 tests, with 118 positive results and 3,601 negative results. Of the 118 positive results, 61 people have recovered and, sadly, seven people […] (Click to read the full article)

The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute [BUEI] will present “Nesting Sea Turtles” by Dr. Mark Outerbridge as part of the BUEI Talks series on Thursday, March 17. The event poster says, “Bermuda once had a thriving sea turtle nesting colony, however years of targeted hunting by humans caused this rookery to collapse. Dr. Mark Outerbridge, Wildlife […] (Click to read the full article)

[Written by Jennifer Gray] The summer months are typically nesting season for sea turtles in our region. With Bermuda’s nesting sea turtles extirpated by the late 1800’s, the idea of sea turtles nesting on our shores again causes great excitement. This was the case in 1990 and again in 1995 when loggerhead nests were found […] (Click to read the full article)

The 2020 Cahow nesting season has seen 134 breeding pairs produce 68 confirmed chicks, with all but two chicks at good or above average weights. A spokesperson said, “The 2020 Cahow nesting season has a record number of 134 breeding pairs, which have produced 68 confirmed chicks.” Jeremy Madeiros, Principle Conservation Officer, said, “After my […] (Click to read the full article)

As part of their preparations for possible Covid-19 cases, the Bermuda Hospitals Board [BHB] has set up a tent in order to test processes. “The tent was set up to test our processes for separation of patients presenting with possible Covid-19. It hasn’t had to be used for actual patients yet,” a BHB spokesperson explained. […] (Click to read the full article)

On Friday [April 24], the Government launched the drive-through testing facility at Southside, which offers free testing to essential workers, including hospital staff, health care workers, police officers, fire service officers, soldiers, prison officers, grocery staff, pharmacy staff, gas stations, utility workers, security officers, stevedores, and other essential workers. Those who wish to get tested can […] (Click to read the full article)

“Clients of Colonial Medical Insurance Company will be covered for Covid-19 antibody testing following an agreement with Helix Genetic and Scientific Solutions Ltd. of Hamilton,” the company announced. A Colonial spokesperson said, “The agreement, which will be operated as a pilot programme through June 30, will provide insurance cover for physician-ordered COVID-19 antibody testing for […] (Click to read the full article)

America’s Cup Bermuda Chairman Peter Durhager and CEO Mike Winfield outlined the long-term value and importance of Bermuda’s accomplishment in a post event overview, and said that “detailed analysis and economic and social impact reports will be forthcoming in October 2017.” The 24-minute live video replay is below: The statement from the ACBDA is below: Mr. […] (Click to read the full article)

The National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 272: Existing and Emerging Highway Infrastructure Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Definitions, Practices, and Scenarios provides appendices to NCHRP Report 750, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, andRenewal of Highway Infrastructure .

A report from the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Transportation

Secarma may be next for Inflexion buyout

Cloud hosting biz UKFast's founders, Laurence and Gail Jones, have "exited the business" as a private equity firm ups its stake – all as UKFast itself starts eyeing up Jones-owned infosec biz Secarma.…

Mold is a fungus with the Ability to flourish in just about any circumstance. While found almost everywhere in nature, mold can cause serious problems when found in residential areas and must be quarantined and removed as soon as possible.… Continue Reading →

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is considered an irreversible fibroinflammatory pancreatic disease. Despite numerous animal model studies, questions remain about local immune characteristics in human CP. We profiled pancreatic immune cell characteristics in control organ donors and CP patients including those with hereditary and idiopathic CP undergoing total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation. Flow cytometric analysis revealed a significant increase in the frequency of CD68+ macrophages in idiopathic CP. In contrast, hereditary CP samples showed a significant increase in CD3+ T cell frequency, which prompted us to investigate the T cell receptor β (TCRβ) repertoire in the CP and control groups. TCRβ sequencing revealed a significant increase in TCRβ repertoire diversity and reduced clonality in both CP groups versus controls. Interestingly, we observed differences in Vβ-Jβ gene family usage between hereditary and idiopathic CP and a positive correlation of TCRβ rearrangements with disease severity scores. Immunophenotyping analyses in hereditary and idiopathic CP pancreases indicate differences in innate and adaptive immune responses, which highlights differences in immunopathogenic mechanisms of disease among subtypes of CP. TCR repertoire analysis further suggests a role for specific T cell responses in hereditary versus idiopathic CP pathogenesis, providing insights into immune responses associated with human CP.

When the No Parking signs aren't doing the job, I add some of my own.

HCF and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today jointly announced a multi-million dollar deal that will see them working together in Australia to continue to transform HCF’s IT systems, streamline processes and deliver a tailored experience for its members.

I want to write this, but I don't want anyone to feel compelled to read it, so here, have some cut tags!

( Work stress )

( MtY stress )

( MtE stress )

( Mom stress )

I'm thinking of getting therapy just to have someone to talk to about all the stress. The good thing (honest, I see it as a good thing) is that most of the stress is basically external to me -- my days are generally easy and pleasant, and everyone who's not me may be melting down, but all my stress is in the way of a contact low, as it were. Other than being in a sandwich-generation holding pattern (when will the next phase of my life begin? no one knows), things are pretty good. I'm making more money than I ever have, I love my work, I get lots of downtime to read and hang out with James and mom, and my health is better than it's been in years. So yeah, if the universe could just leave my loved ones in peace, that'd be great.

comments

The Swiss hockey federation says it won't seek to host the 2021 men's world championship after losing this year's event because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s Sunday so that means this is a good place to put all the stuff that doesn’t fit anywhere else, like: ONE Let’s Pretend This Never Happened has a new cover and it’s adorable.  This means that if you have … Continue reading →

The solution is not to scold drivers but to make structural solutions.

  I must confess: I was tempted to write a column along the lines of “Yes, it’s a war on the car, and it’s a just war!” But we don’t need a war on the car. What we need is an intervention. We need a serious conversation about our collective, structural addiction to this substance, […]

The post Our addiction to driving is costing lives, and more appeared first on Torontoist.

NIH clinical trial testing antiviral remdesivir plus anti-inflammatory drug baricitinib for COVID-19 begins  National Institutes of HealthView Full coverage on Google News

White males make up the largest sector of the U.S. workforce and have, on average, always made the highest salaries. If we compare their salaries to those of women, ethnic minorities, the differently-abled, and LGBTQ+ persons, we see a large disparity between the wages of similarly-qualified candidates in the same fields. The gap is glaring, […]

The post Race, Gender, and LGBTQ+ wage gaps are real – and they end up costing us all appeared first on DiversityJobs.com.

In Special Relativity relativity of simultaneity is the fact that 2 simultaneous events occurring in a stationary frame does not appear simultaneous in a moving frame. For example, in Einstein’s train thought experiment 2 simultaneous flashes of light on the platform do not appear simultaneous for the observer in the train. But relativity of simultaneity...

Andrew Klein, Principle with AS Klein Engineering, and Lynne Kilpatrick, Fire Marshal in Sunnyvale, CA led an education session on ‘On-Demand Mobile Fueling; Enforcing Existing Regulations and Evaluating Future Needs” at NFPA Conference &

New York Magazine published an excerpt from Ivana Trump's memoir Raising Trump - and it has since become a wildly entertaining meme. Thhe excerpt is actually a quote from Ivanka, reminiscing about her "punk" days. 

"During my punk phase in the nineties, I was really into Nirvana. My wardrobe consisted of ripped corduroy jeans and flannel shirts. One day after school, I dyed my hair blue. Mom wasn't a fan of this decision. She took one look at me and immediately went out to the nearest drugstore to buy a $10 box of Nice'n Easy. That night, she forced me to dye my hair back to blond. The color she picked out was actually three shades lighter than my natural color… and I have never looked back!"

The quote has left Twitter users in stitches, making Photoshop memes and mocking the wealthy businesswoman's statement. The results have been delightful. 

This paper argues that testing participation –and not testing capacity–is the biggest obstacle to a successful “test and isolate”-strategy, as recently proposed by Paul Romer. If ????0=2.5,at least 60percentof a population needs to participate in a testing program to make it theoretically possible to achieve an effective reproduction rate for the whole population,????'', below 1. […]

The post Testing participation vs. testing capacity appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.