bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Practices among Adult Infectious Disease Physicians
Authors: Lane Michael A. , Marschall Jonas , Beekmann Susan E. , Polgreen Philip M. , Banerjee Ritu , Hersh Adam L. , Babcock Hilary M. 
Published: May 2014

ObjectiveTo identify current outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy practice patterns and complications.MethodsWe administered an 11-question survey to adult infectious disease physicians participating in the Emerging Infections Network (EIN), a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–sponsored sentinel event surveillance network in North America. The survey was distributed electronically or via facsimile in November and December 2012. Respondent demographic characteristics were obtained from EIN enrollment data.ResultsOverall, 555 (44.6%) of EIN members responded to the survey, with 450 (81%) indicating that they treated 1 or more patients with outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) during an average month. Infectious diseases consultation was reported to be required for a patient to be discharged with OPAT by 99 respondents (22%). Inpatient (282 [63%] of 449) and outpatient (232 [52%] of 449) infectious diseases physicians were frequently identified as being responsible for monitoring laboratory results. Only 26% (118 of 448) had dedicated OPAT teams at their clinical site. Few infectious diseases physicians have systems to track errors, adverse events, or “near misses” associated with OPAT (97 [22%] of 449). OPAT-associated complications were perceived to be rare. Among respondents, 80% reported line occlusion or clotting as the most common complication (occurring in 6% of patients or more), followed by nephrotoxicity and rash (each reported by 61%). Weekly laboratory monitoring of patients who received vancomycin was reported by 77% of respondents (343 of 445), whereas 19% of respondents (84 of 445) reported twice weekly laboratory monitoring for these patients.ConclusionsAlthough use of OPAT is common, there is significant variation in practice patterns. More uniform OPAT practices may enhance patient safety.
GEPdb: a database for investigating the ternary association of genotype, gene expression and phenotype
Authors: Ryu Daeun , Cho SeongBeom , Kim Hun , Lee Sanghyuk , Kim Wankyu 
Published: May 2014

Summary: GEPdb integrates both genome-wide association studies and expression quantitative trait loci information, the two primary sources of genome-wide mapping for genotype–phenotype and genotype–expression associations together with phenotype-associated gene lists. The GEPdb provides simultaneous interpretation of both genetic risks and potential gene regulatory pathways toward phenotypic outcome by establishing the ternary relationship of genotype–expression–phenotype (GEP). The analytic scope is further extended by linkage disequilibrium from five different populations of the international HapMap Project.
Availability and implementation: http://ercsbweb.ewha.ac.kr/gepdb.
Contact: wkim@ewha.ac.kr
Probabilistic partitioning methods to find significant patterns in ChIP-Seq data
Authors: Nair Nishanth Ulhas , Kumar Sunil , Moret Bernard M.E. , Bucher Philipp 
Published: May 2014

Motivation: We have witnessed an enormous increase in ChIP-Seq data for histone modifications in the past few years. Discovering significant patterns in these data is an important problem for understanding biological mechanisms.
Results: We propose probabilistic partitioning methods to discover significant patterns in ChIP-Seq data. Our methods take into account signal magnitude, shape, strand orientation and shifts. We compare our methods with some current methods and demonstrate significant improvements, especially with sparse data. Besides pattern discovery and classification, probabilistic partitioning can serve other purposes in ChIP-Seq data analysis. Specifically, we exemplify its merits in the context of peak finding and partitioning of nucleosome positioning patterns in human promoters.
Availability and implementation: The software and code are available in the supplementary material.
Contact: Philipp.Bucher@isb-sib.ch
Supplementary information: Supplementary Data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Inferring the paths of somatic evolution in cancer
Authors: Misra Navodit , Szczurek Ewa , Vingron Martin 
Published: May 2014

Motivation: Cancer cell genomes acquire several genetic alterations during somatic evolution from a normal cell type. The relative order in which these mutations accumulate and contribute to cell fitness is affected by epistatic interactions. Inferring their evolutionary history is challenging because of the large number of mutations acquired by cancer cells as well as the presence of unknown epistatic interactions.
Results: We developed Bayesian Mutation Landscape (BML), a probabilistic approach for reconstructing ancestral genotypes from tumor samples for much larger sets of genes than previously feasible. BML infers the likely sequence of mutation accumulation for any set of genes that is recurrently mutated in tumor samples. When applied to tumor samples from colorectal, glioblastoma, lung and ovarian cancer patients, BML identifies the diverse evolutionary scenarios involved in tumor initiation and progression in greater detail, but broadly in agreement with prior results.
Availability and implementation: Source code and all datasets are freely available at bml.molgen.mpg.de
Contact: misra@molgen.mpg.de
Supplementary information: Supplementary Data are available at Bioinformatics online.
On shrinkage and model extrapolation in the evaluation of clinical center performance
Authors: Varewyck Machteld , Goetghebeur Els , Eriksson Marie , Vansteelandt Stijn 
Published: May 2014

Abstract
We consider statistical methods for benchmarking clinical centers based on a dichotomous outcome indicator. Borrowing ideas from the causal inference literature, we aim to reveal how the entire study population would have fared under the current care level of each center. To this end, we evaluate direct standardization based on fixed versus random center effects outcome models that incorporate patient-specific baseline covariates to adjust for differential case-mix. We explore fixed effects (FE) regression with Firth correction and normal mixed effects (ME) regression to maintain convergence in the presence of very small centers. Moreover, we study doubly robust FE regression to avoid outcome model extrapolation. Simulation studies show that shrinkage following standard ME modeling can result in substantial power loss relative to the considered alternatives, especially for small centers. Results are consistent with findings in the analysis of 30-day mortality risk following acute stroke across 90 centers in the Swedish Stroke Register.
Volunteers acting as information providers to citizens
Authors: Finzi Sharon , Bronstein Jenny , Bar‐Ilan Judit , Baruchson‐Arbib Shifra , Rafaeli Sheizaf , Ravid Gilad 
Published: May 2014

PurposeCitizens Advice Bureau (SHIL in Hebrew) is an information and referral service dedicated to serving the needs of citizens by providing easy access to information about citizenship rights and obligations. Many people turn to the offices of SHIL either for help or to volunteer as advisors. This study seeks to examine the information seeking behavior of SHIL volunteers supplying information services to citizens.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical foundations of the study are based on two existing models of information searching related to everyday life problems, Foster's non‐linear model of information seeking behavior and Bates's berry‐picking approach. This research employs a qualitative method. A total of 35 advisors in different SHIL branches were interviewed and the content of the interviews was analyzed, mapped and organized into categories by using concepts and terms revealed in the data.FindingsFindings show that volunteers at SHIL search information in a way that integrates the two models mentioned above, the berry‐picking model and the non‐linear model. In addition, findings point to difficulties that the advisors face in solving problems of the clients. These difficulties are connected with the different aspects relating to the flow of information both within and outside the organization and with organizational and administrative aspects at SHIL.Originality/valueThe information seeking behavior of volunteers acting as providers of information services has yet to be investigated at length and the understanding of their information behavior can be of value, since volunteering carries great importance in a democracy.
Enhancing students' employability through business simulation
Authors: Avramenko Alex 
Published: May 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce an approach to business simulation with less dependence on business simulation software to provide innovative work experience within a programme of study, to boost students’ confidence and employability.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on analysis of existing business simulation literature, which is synthesised with contemporary pedagogic trends and the outputs of the authors’ longitudinal research on improving the effectiveness of business simulation as a teaching method.FindingsThe use of business simulation as a pedagogic tool can be considerably extended beyond built‐in functionality to match the needs of various business‐related disciplines. Learning from their own mistakes enabled students to appreciate the gap between theory and its application.Research limitations/implicationsBusiness simulation can provide an innovative provision of work experience for students, if its design utilises continuous formative feedback and reflective practice amongst other pedagogical elements rather than relying on sophisticated business simulation software.Practical implicationsThis paper offers a blueprint for the provision of business simulation exercises in higher education as means for equipping participants with a work‐like experience.Originality/valueThe article presents a fresh view on the use of business simulation in the educational process, while contributing to the long‐standing debate on bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Identifying teaching methods that engage entrepreneurship students
Authors: Balan Peter , Metcalfe Mike 
Published: May 2014

PurposeEntrepreneurship education particularly requires student engagement because of the complexity of the entrepreneurship process. The purpose of this paper is to describe how an established measure of engagement can be used to identify relevant teaching methods that could be used to engage any group of entrepreneurship students.Design/methodology/approachThe Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) instrument was used to provide 47 well established engagement criteria. The results from 393 students (33 per cent response rate), and the identification by immersed experts of the criteria that were present in each of six teaching methods, made it possible to calculate a weighted score of engagement contribution for each teaching method.FindingsThis method described in this paper identified, for undergraduate entrepreneurship students, the most engaging teaching methods as well as the least engaging. This approach found that from amongst the particular range of teaching methods in the courses in this case study, poster reports was the most engaging, followed by a team‐based learning method. This approach also identified one teaching method that was not engaging, suggesting it could be discontinued.Practical implicationsThese results give entrepreneurship educators with access to engagement data collected by the National Study of Student Engagement (NSSE), or the equivalent AUSSE study, a practical method for assessing and identifying teaching methods for student engagement for their particular profile of students, and in their particular teaching situation.Originality/valueThe application of established measures of engagement is novel and provides insights into specific teaching methods for enhancing the engagement of particular groups of students at the course level. It is a method that could be applied in fields other than entrepreneurship education where NSSE or AUSSE data is available.
E‐learning: ageing workforce versus technology‐savvy generation
Authors: Becker Karen , Fleming Julie , Keijsers Wilhelmina 
Published: May 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide description and analysis of how a traditional industry is currently using e‐learning, and to identify how the potential of e‐learning can be realised whilst acknowledging the technological divide between younger and older workers.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory qualitative methodology was employed to analyse three key questions: How is the Australian rail industry currently using e‐learning? Are there age‐related issues with the current use of e‐learning in the rail industry? How could e‐learning be used in future to engage different generations of learners in the rail industry? Data were collected in five case organisations from across the Australian rail industry.FindingsOf the rail organisations interviewed, none believed they were using e‐learning to its full potential. The younger, more technologically literate employees are not having their expectations met and therefore retention of younger workers has become an issue. The challenge for learning and development practitioners is balancing the preferences of an aging workforce with these younger, more “technology‐savvy”, learners and the findings highlight some potential ways to begin addressing this balance.Practical implicationsThe findings identified the potential for organisations (even those in a traditional industry such as rail) to better utilise e‐learning to attract and retain younger workers but also warns against making assumptions about technological competency based on age.Originality/valueData were gathered across an industry, and thus this paper takes an industry approach to considering the potential age‐related issues with e‐learning and the ways it may be used to meet the needs of different generations in the workplace.
An analysis of apprentices in the US construction trades
Authors: Woods Jeffrey G. 
Published: May 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to provide an in‐depth analysis of the labor market for apprentice training in the US construction industry. Also, the paper analyzes the learning process of apprentices and discusses the role of apprenticeships as a pathway to higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe interdisciplinary approach of this research integrates both the economic, institutional and educational aspects of apprenticeship training to show the process of developing the construction labor force in the USA.FindingsThe major finding of this research is to highlight the importance of apprenticeship programs in the US construction industry and how these programs can be used as a way to help rebalance the labor market. By increasing the number of workers with intermediate skills, we can insure the distribution of skills more closely matches the distribution of available jobs.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of space constraints, the research limitations are that little is said about the factors that affect apprenticeship program completion rates.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of this research are to provide policy makers some recommendations that can be used to foster the growth and development of apprenticeship programs in the US construction industry.Social implicationsThe major social implications are that apprenticeship programs should viewed as an alternative pathway to higher education. They can ultimately improve career mobility and earnings. This can lead to a more equal distribution of income while expanding the tax base.Originality/valueThis paper provides a unique analysis of an important segment of the US labor force by focusing on the economics and learning process of apprentices in the US construction industry. Understanding the learning styles of many apprentices helps explain the importance of the dual nature of their training.
The role of numeracy skills in graduate employability
Authors: Durrani Naureen , Tariq Vicki N. 
Published: May 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore the role and importance of numeracy skills in graduate recruitment within a diversity of employment sectors.Design/methodology/approachThe results of a mixed‐methods study, involving three online surveys (including an employer survey), student focus group sessions and interviews with tutors, are presented.FindingsThe results reveal the importance that employers attach to graduates’ numeracy skills and the extent to which employers use numeracy tests in graduate recruitment. They thus highlight the potential for poor numeracy skills to limit any graduate's acquisition of employment, irrespective of their degree subject; especially since numeracy tests are used predominantly in recruitment to the types of jobs commensurate with graduates’ career aspirations and within sectors that attract graduates from across the diversity of academic disciplines, including the arts and humanities.Research limitations/implicationsSince participants were self‐selecting any conclusions and inferences relate to the samples and may or may not be generalisable to wider target populations.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights what actions are necessary to enhance undergraduates’ numeracy skills in the context of graduate employability.Social implicationsThe vulnerability of particular groups of students (e.g. females, those not provided with any opportunities to practise or further develop their numeracy skills whilst in higher education, those with no (or low) pre‐university mathematics qualifications, and mature students) is highlighted.Originality/valueThe article is timely in view of national policy to extend the graduate employability performance indicators within quality assurance measures for UK higher education.
Robotic innovations that address a wide spectrum of medical applications
Authors: Bloss Richard 
Published: May 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review some of the recent innovations in robotics for a wide range of medically‐related applications.Design/methodology/approachThe paper includes in‐depth interviews with developers of medical application‐related robots and a review of recent writings and technical papers on the topic.FindingsRobots are finding all kinds of application in the medical field, from surgery to logistics to patient care and more. The future will surely see even more medical robot developments.Practical implicationsManagers and medical personal will learn how rapidly the medical robotics field is growing with successful applications appearing frequently.Originality/valueThe medical field will see how robotic technology is addressing needs, reducing costs and improving patient care and will learn where to turn for medical robotic answers.
Kinematic calibration of a 3‐DOF planar parallel robot
Authors: Joubair Ahmed , Slamani Mohamed , Bonev Ilian A. 
Published: May 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe a calibration method developed to improve the absolute accuracy of a novel three degrees‐of‐freedom planar parallel robot. The robot is designed for the precise alignment of semiconductor wafers and, even though its complete workspace is slightly larger, the accuracy improvements are performed within a target workspace, in which the positions are on a disc of 170 mm in diameter and the orientations are in the range ±17°.Design/methodology/approachThe calibration method makes use of a single optimization model, based on the direct kinematic calibration approach, while the experimental data are collected from two sources. The first source is a measurement arm from FARO Technologies, and the second is a Mitutoyo coordinate measurement machine (CMM). The two sets of calibration results are compared.FindingsSimulation confirmed that the model proposed is not sensitive to measurement noise. An experimental validation on the CMM shows that the absolute accuracy inside the target workspace was improved by reducing the maximum position and orientation errors from 1.432 mm and 0.107°, respectively, to 0.044 mm and 0.009°.Originality/valueThis paper presents a calibration method which makes it possible to accurately identify the actual robot's base frame (base frame calibration), at the same time as identifying and compensating for geometric errors, actuator offsets, and even screw lead errors. The proposed calibration method is applied on a novel planar robot, and its absolute accuracy was found to improve to 0.044 mm.
A classification framework for facilities and real estate management
Authors: Ebinger Matthias , Madritsch Thomas 
Published: May 2014

PurposeThis paper aims to present an industry‐neutral classification model for the management functions of the organizational built environment: the Built Environment Management Model (BEM2). The model is intended to highlight the strategic value of the built environment management functions and to assess how efficiently these functions interact and generate strategic value.Design/methodology/approachThe research team reviewed a wide range of existing management models for facilities management and real estate (FM/RE) and related management disciplines. In a multi‐year research project, the team refined the descriptive model in an iterative validation process between researchers and practitioners.FindingsThe BEM2 framework is an inventory of FM/RE functions. The model highlights the relationships between the four major key process areas and shows the strategic value stream of each particular FM/RE function. BEM2 has proven effective in helping organizations understand the scope and value of the FM/RE functions. The tool can be used to identify organizational gaps and overlaps between divisions, and it can help to facilitate discussions between organizational entities of how responsibilities should be most effectively aligned. It can also serve as an effective model to support the implementation of an integrated building information model (BIM).Research limitations/implicationsThe model is currently limited to a description of processes and is as such explaining the sequence of FM/RE business processes. It does not yet address the skill sets required to effectively perform these functions.Practical implicationsThe BEM2 framework was successfully used as the business model for the major restructuring process of a large real estate organization. It has also proven to be valuable as a way to introduce students to the subject of FM/RE. The adoption of BEM2 can help to further clarify the standards of the FM/RE profession and to increase the maturity of its business functions.Originality/valueThe BEM2 model transfers principles from related management fields and assembles them into a comprehensive process model for the FM/RE model. It contributes to the discussion on standardization and taxonomy development in the FM/RE discipline.