bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association of guideline-based antimicrobial therapy and outcomes in healthcare-associated pneumonia
Authors: Rothberg Michael B. , Zilberberg Marya D. , Pekow Penelope S. , Priya Aruna , Haessler Sarah , Belforti Raquel , Skiest Daniel , Lagu Tara , Higgins Thomas L. , Lindenauer Peter K. 
Published: January 2015

Abstract

Objectives
Guidelines for treatment of healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) recommend empirical therapy with broad-spectrum antimicrobials. Our objective was to examine the association between guideline-based therapy (GBT) and outcomes for patients with HCAP.

Patients and methods
We conducted a pharmacoepidemiological cohort study at 346 US hospitals. We included adults hospitalized between July 2007 and June 2010 for HCAP, defined as patients admitted from a nursing home, with end-stage renal disease or immunosuppression, or discharged from a hospital in the previous 90 days. Outcome measures included in-hospital mortality, length of stay and costs.

Results
Of 85 097 patients at 346 hospitals, 31 949 (37.5%) received GBT (one agent against MRSA and at least one against Pseudomonas). Compared with patients who received non-GBT, those who received GBT had a heavier burden of chronic disease and more severe pneumonia. GBT was associated with higher mortality (17.1% versus 7.7%, P &lt; 0.001). Adjustment for demographics, comorbidities, propensity for treatment with GBT and initial severity of disease decreased, but did not eliminate, the association (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.32–1.47). Using an adaptation of an instrumental variable analysis, GBT was not associated with higher mortality (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.75–1.16). Adjusted length of stay and costs were also higher with GBT.

Conclusions
Among patients who met HCAP criteria, GBT was not associated with lower adjusted mortality, length of stay or costs in any analyses. Better criteria are needed to identify patients at risk for MDR infections who might benefit from broad-spectrum antimicrobial coverage.
Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with candidaemia due to Candida parapsilosis sensu lato species at a medical centre in Taiwan, 2000–12
Authors: Chen Chien-Yuan , Sheng Wang-Hui , Huang Sheng-Yi , Chou Wen-Chien , Yao Ming , Tang Jih-Luh , Tsay Woei , Tien Hwei-Fang , Hsueh Po-Ren 
Published: January 2015

Abstract

Objectives
To investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of adult patients with Candida parapsilosis sensu lato candidaemia.

Methods
We evaluated data in the mycology database of the National Taiwan University Hospital and on patients diagnosed with candidaemia due to C. parapsilosis sensu lato species from 2000 to 2012. Isolates were identified to the species level by conventional identification methods, MALDI-TOF and gene sequencing analysis.

Results
A total of 323 adult patients with candidaemia caused by C. parapsilosis sensu lato species were evaluated, including 256 (79.3%) patients with C. parapsilosis sensu stricto, 34 (10.5%) with Candida orthopsilosis and 33 (10.2%) with Candida metapsilosis. There were 222 men and 101 women and the median age was 60 years (range 18–103 years). Among them, 178 (55%) had an underlying diagnosis of cancer. The overall 30 day mortality rate was 25% (n = 80). Multivariate analysis revealed that shock (P &lt; 0.001), antifungal therapy (P = 0.002), central catheter removal (P = 0.02) and abdominal surgery (P = 0.043) were independent prognostic factors for patients with candidaemia due to C. parapsilosis sensu lato species. There were no significant differences in 30 day mortality rate among patients with candidaemia caused by the three different species (P = 0.770). All isolates of C. metapsilosis, C. orthopsilosis and C. parapsilosis sensu stricto were susceptible to voriconazole. WT isolates were susceptible to itraconazole, posaconazole and amphotericin B.

Conclusions
There were no significant differences in 30 day mortality among patients with candidaemia caused by C. parapsilosis sensu stricto, C. metapsilosis or C. orthopsilosis. The currently used antifungal agents exhibited good in vitro activities against C. parapsilosis sensu lato species isolates.
How is income generated by outpatient parenteral antibiotic treatment (OPAT) in the UK? Analysis of payment tariffs for cellulitis
Authors: Jones G. R. , Cumming D. V. E. , Honeywell G. , Ball R. , Sanderson F. , Seaton R. A. , Healy B. , Hedderwick S. , Gilchrist M. ,   on behalf of the BSAC OPAT Standing Committee, Dryden Matthew , Gilchrist Mark , Seaton Andrew , Chapman Ann , Laundy Matthew , Patel Sanjay , Jones Graeme , Cumming Debbie , Sanderson Frances , Jefferies Lorrayne , Hanlon Sue O. , Owen Kate , Snape Sue , Hills Tim 
Published: January 2015

Abstract

Objectives
We determined the available mechanisms to generate income from outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) in the UK and calculated the revenue generated from treatment of an episode of cellulitis.

Methods
Revenue was calculated for patients receiving treatment for cellulitis as an inpatient and for patients receiving OPAT by a series of different payment pathways. Selected established OPAT services in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, where Payment-by-Results (PbR) does not operate, were contacted to determine individual national funding arrangements.

Results
In England, a traditional inpatient episode for uncomplicated cellulitis requiring 7 days of treatment generated £1361 of revenue, while OPAT generated revenue ranging from £773 to £2084 for the same length of treatment depending on the payment pathway used. Treatment using OPAT to avoid admission entirely generated £2084, inpatient admission followed by transfer to a virtual OPAT ward at day 2 generated £1361 and inpatient admission followed by discharge from hospital to OPAT at day 2 generated £773. In Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales block contracts were used and no income was calculable for an individual episode of cellulitis.

Conclusions
No single funding mechanism supports OPAT across the UK. In England, revenue generated by OPAT providers from treatment of cellulitis varied with the OPAT payment pathway used, but equalled or exceeded the income generated from equivalent inpatient care. Cost savings for OPAT and reuse of released inpatient beds will increase revenue further. A single OPAT tariff is proposed.
Antifungal activity of compounds targeting the Hsp90-calcineurin pathway against various mould species
Authors: Lamoth Frédéric , Alexander Barbara D. , Juvvadi Praveen R. , Steinbach William J. 
Published: January 2015

Abstract

Objectives
Invasive mould infections are associated with a high mortality rate and the emergence of MDR moulds is of particular concern. Calcineurin and its chaperone, the heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), represent an important pathway for fungal virulence that can be targeted at different levels. We investigated the antifungal activity of compounds directly or indirectly targeting the Hsp90-calcineurin axis against different mould species.

Methods
The in vitro antifungal activity of the anticalcineurin drug FK506 (tacrolimus), the Hsp90 inhibitor geldanamycin, the lysine deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A and the Hsp70 inhibitor pifithrin-μ was assessed by the standard broth dilution method against 62 clinical isolates of Aspergillus spp. and non-Aspergillus moulds (Mucoromycotina, Fusarium spp., Scedosporium spp., Purpureocillium/Paecilomyces spp. and Scopulariopsis spp.)

Results
FK506 had variable antifungal activity against different Aspergillus spp. and was particularly active against Mucor spp. Geldanamycin had moderate antifungal activity against Fusarium spp. and Paecilomyces variotii. Importantly, trichostatin A had good activity against the triazole-resistant Aspergillus ustus and the amphotericin B-resistant Aspergillus terreus as well as the MDR Scedosporium prolificans. Moreover, trichostatin A exhibited synergistic interactions with caspofungin against A. ustus and with geldanamycin against Rhizopus spp. for which none of the other agents showed activity. Pifithrin-μ exhibited little antifungal activity.

Conclusions
Targeting the Hsp90-calcineurin axis at different levels resulted in distinct patterns of susceptibility among different fungal species. Lysine deacetylase inhibition may represent a promising novel antifungal strategy against emerging resistant moulds.
Animal models of epilepsy: legacies and new directions
Authors: Grone Brian P. , Baraban Scott C. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractHuman epilepsies encompass a wide variety of clinical, behavioral and electrical manifestations. Correspondingly, studies of this disease in nonhuman animals have brought forward an equally wide array of animal models, i.e. species and acute or chronic seizure induction protocols. Epilepsy research has a long history of comparative anatomical and physiological studies on a range of mostly mammalian species. Nonetheless, a relatively limited number of rodent models emerged as the primary choices for most epilepsy-related investigations. In many cases these animal models are selected based on convenience or tradition, though technical or experimental rationale does, and should, factor into these decisions. More complex mammalian brains and, especially, genetic model organisms including zebrafish have been studied less but offer significant advantages that are being widely recognized.
Rethinking inheritance, yet again: inheritomes, contextomes and dynamic phenotypes
Authors: Prasad N. G. , Dey Sutirth , Joshi Amitabh , Vidya T. N. C. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractIn recent years, there have been many calls for an extended evolutionary synthesis, based in part upon growing evidence for non-genetic mechanisms of inheritance, i.e., similarities in phenotype between parents and offspring that are not due to shared genes. While there has been an impressive marshalling of evidence for diverse forms of non-genetic inheritance (epigenetic, ecological, behavioural, symbolic), there have been relatively few studies trying to integrate the different forms of inheritance into a common conceptual structure, a development that would be important to formalizing elements of the extended evolutionary synthesis. Here, we propose a framework for an extended view of inheritance and introduce some conceptual distinctions that we believe are important to this issue. In this framework, the phenotype is conceived of as a dynamic entity, its state at any point in time resulting from intertwined effects of previous phenotypic state, and of hereditary materials (DNA and otherwise) and environment. We contrast our framework with the standard gene-based view of inheritance, and also discuss our framework in the specific context of recent attempts to accommodate non-genetic inheritance within the framework of classical quantitative genetics and the Price equation. In particular, we believe that the extended view of inheritance and effects on the phenotype developed here is particularly well-suited to individual-based simulation studies of evolutionary dynamics. The results of such simulations, in turn, could be useful for assessing how well extended models based on quantitative genetics or the Price equation perform at capturing complex evolutionary dynamics.
TYPE-ONE PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE4 Regulates Pavement Cell Interdigitation by Modulating PIN-FORMED1 Polarity and Trafficking in Arabidopsis
Authors: Guo Xiaola , Qin Qianqian , Yan Jia , Niu Yali , Huang Bingyao , Guan Liping , Li Yuan , Ren Dongtao , Li Jia , Hou Suiwen 
Published: January 2015

AbstractIn plants, cell morphogenesis is dependent on intercellular auxin accumulation. The polar subcellular localization of the PIN-FORMED (PIN) protein is crucial for this process. Previous studies have shown that the protein kinase PINOID (PID) and protein phosphatase6-type phosphatase holoenzyme regulate the phosphorylation status of PIN1 in root tips and shoot apices. Here, we show that a type-one protein phosphatase, TOPP4, is essential for the formation of interdigitated pavement cell (PC) pattern in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) leaf. The dominant-negative mutant topp4-1 showed severely inhibited interdigitated PC growth. Expression of topp4-1 gene in wild-type plants recapitulated the PC defects in the mutant. Genetic analyses suggested that TOPP4 and PIN1 likely function in the same pathway to regulate PC morphogenesis. Furthermore, colocalization, in vitro and in vivo protein interaction studies, and dephosphorylation assays revealed that TOPP4 mediated PIN1 polar localization and endocytic trafficking in PCs by acting antagonistically with PID to modulate the phosphorylation status of PIN1. In addition, TOPP4 affects the cytoskeleton pattern through the Rho of Plant GTPase-dependent auxin-signaling pathway. Therefore, we conclude that TOPP4-regulated PIN1 polar targeting through direct dephosphorylation is crucial for PC morphogenesis in the Arabidopsis leaf.
How high-tech entrepreneurs bricole the evolution of business process management for their activities
Authors: LeLoarne Severine , Maalaoui Adnane 
Published: January 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to focus on how entrepreneurs anticipate and change their company’s business process management after developing a radical innovation. The paper is based on a critical approach to business process modelling (BPM) that posits that – in spite of all the claims, guides and tools that companies employ to help them modelise their processes – business processes are developed and improved (or at least changed) by individuals who negotiate, anticipate and compromise to make these changes occur. Thus, BPM is more a matter of “bricolage” (Levi-Strauss) than an established and defined plan. Based on this position, the paper analyses how a business process model emerges in the early phases of a high-tech new venture when the entrepreneur lacks a valid template to form a conceptual representation of the firm’s business processes.Design/methodology/approach– The authors adopt a perspective based on the concept of bricolage. By analysing and comparing the discourse of 40 entrepreneurs – involved in an activity based on a radical innovation and 20 involved in an activity based on a more incremental concept – the authors are able to answer the two research questions.Findings– Entrepreneurs who develop a new activity based on any radical or incremental innovation generally base the BPM of their company and the evolution of this process on existing models. However, BPM generally differs based on the nature of the innovation. Thus, entrepreneurs who develop a new activity based on a radical innovation do not design a single BPM for their company but a portfolio of BPMs. The process by which such entrepreneurs develop such a portfolio is mainly conducted in a step-by-step and iterative approach that utilises “whatever is at hand” (Levi-Strauss, 1966).Originality/value– First, this study extends existing methods for and approaches to considering BPM. Second, this research partly answers the call for integration among different theoretical backgrounds and approaches that consider BPM.
How does management perceive export success? An empirical study of Moroccan SMEs
Authors: El Makrini Hind 
Published: January 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the managerial determinants of the export success of Moroccan small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based on resource-based view (RBV) of a firm.Design/methodology/approach– The quantitative design was employed involving a questionnaire completed by 100 managers of Moroccan SMEs. Multiple regression analyses were carried out to confirm or reject eight hypotheses.Findings– It was found that management export commitment and management customer orientation are the main managerial factors in the export success of Moroccan SMEs.Research limitations/implications– The study was limited to one context, and it followed a cross-sectional approach. Export success was measured by only subjective method with Likert scale. The study suggests that further investigations can be made to incorporate other factors affecting export success.Practical implications– The results offer insights into the practices of Moroccan exporting SMEs and recommendations for policy makers as well as an indication for further research. The research can also be used in teaching.Originality/value– First, the tested model is one of few that consider developing country contexts. Second, this research can serve as a guide for future researchers who intend to study export success in other developing countries, particularly in Maghreb regions where there is a gross dearth of research. Therefore, the study is of significant value to practitioners and scholars alike.
An activity-based costing approach for detecting inefficiencies of healthcare processes
Authors: Cannavacciuolo Lorella , Illario Maddalena , Ippolito Adelaide , Ponsiglione Cristina 
Published: January 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to set out a methodological framework to investigate how the integration of an activity-based costing (ABC) logic into the pre-existent accounting system supports healthcare organizations in identifying the inefficiencies related to their diagnostic therapeutic pathways (DTP) and related reengineering interventions.Design/methodology/approach– The BPM-ABC methodological framework has been applied to the case of a specific surgery pathway, at the Orthopaedic Division of a University Hospital in Italy.Findings– The case-study described in the paper points out: first, how the Business Process Management (BPM)-ABC methodology is able to produce significant information about consumed resources and the costs of the activities, useful to highlight opportunities for DTPs improvement; second, the barriers related to a pre-existing accounting system based on cost centres that can hinder the implementation of the BPM-ABC model.Practical implications– The case study points out the role of the ABC as a management tool for supporting decision-making processes. The ABC allows inferring information for two purposes. First, ABC supports a cost containment process as it allows highlighting the most cost-consuming activities and resources. Second, the ABC allows identifying reengineering paths, distinguishing between incremental and radical ones.Originality/value– This study represents a remarkable reference raising the awareness of the pivotal role accounting systems play in the management of the organizational processes.
Paradoxes of psychic distance and market entry by software INVs
Authors: Sinha Paresha , Wang Mingyang (Ana) , Scott-Kennel Joanna , Gibb Jenny 
Published: January 2015

Purpose– This paper aims to examine the role of psychic distance during the process of international market entry by software international new ventures (INVs) from small, open economies. Specifically, we investigate how home market and global industry contexts influence market-entry strategies, and how psychic distance influences initial then subsequent market-entry choice decisions.Design/methodology/approach– Using Atlas.ti7 software, this paper adopts a qualitative, multi-case analysis of ten software INVs based in New Zealand. Thematic coding of interview and secondary data revealed three core processes: pre-entry considerations, market selection criteria and post-entry evaluation, across the stages of initial and subsequent market entry.Findings– In the context of the global software industry, the key driver of proactive market entry by INVs from small, open economies is market size rather than psychic distance. During the process of market expansion, firms encounter the psychic distance paradox (PDP). A second paradox arises when, despite experiential learning, managerial perceptions of psychic distance increase, making entry into more distant markets less, rather than more, likely and reactive, rather than proactive.Originality/value– This paper addresses contextual differences in software versus more traditional sectors, and the influence of psychic distance on market entry rather than outcomes. Specifically, extending our understanding of the PDP, we find perceptual psychic and cultural distance ignored as criteria for initial market-entry decisions, and initial positive attitudes toward risk-taking become less apparent during subsequent entries.
Involving parents in secondary schools: principals’ perspectives in Greece
Authors: Lazaridou Angeliki , Gravani Kassida Aspasia 
Published: January 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to report findings from an investigation of Greek principals’ attitudes and perceptions concerning parental involvement in schools – research prompted by the belief that the information will be useful in attempts to make Greek schools more effective.Design/methodology/approach– The participants of the study were secondary school principals and vice principals from one Prefecture in Central Greece. The questionnaire used elicited information about the participants’ demographics, the main features of the schools they were serving in, and their views concerning existing and preferred school-family partnerships.Findings– The principals in the investigation seemed to be not only in favor of parental participation, but also saw a need to increase it. In general, then, the findings support others’ reports that parents’ participation in schools – in this instance secondary schools – tends to be less than satisfactory.Originality/value– In Greece, the issue of parental involvement in schools has not received adequate attention until recently. The latest school reforms emphasize the notion of parental involvement as a significant factor for the effectiveness of the Greek schools.