University of Zagreb

About: University of Zagreb is a education organization based out in Zagreb, Grad Zagreb, Croatia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & European union. The organization has 21769 authors who have published 50267 publications receiving 783239 citations. The organization is also known as: Zagreb University & Sveučilište u Zagrebu.

Clinical Impact of Antimicrobial Resistance in European Hospitals: Excess Mortality and Length of Hospital Stay Related to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Bloodstream Infections

Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance is threatening the successful management of nosocomial infections worldwide. Despite the therapeutic limitations imposed by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), its clinical impact is still debated. The objective of this study was to estimate the excess mortality and length of hospital stay (LOS) associated with MRSA bloodstream infections (BSI) in European hospitals. Between July 2007 and June 2008, a multicenter, prospective, parallel matched-cohort study was carried out in 13 tertiary care hospitals in as many European countries. Cohort I consisted of patients with MRSA BSI and cohort II of patients with methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) BSI. The patients in both cohorts were matched for LOS prior to the onset of BSI with patients free of the respective BSI. Cohort I consisted of 248 MRSA patients and 453 controls and cohort II of 618 MSSA patients and 1,170 controls. Compared to the controls, MRSA patients had higher 30-day mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 4.4) and higher hospital mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 3.5). Their excess LOS was 9.2 days. MSSA patients also had higher 30-day (aOR = 2.4) and hospital (aHR = 3.1) mortality and an excess LOS of 8.6 days. When the outcomes from the two cohorts were compared, an effect attributable to methicillin resistance was found for 30-day mortality (OR = 1.8; P = 0.04), but not for hospital mortality (HR = 1.1; P = 0.63) or LOS (difference = 0.6 days; P = 0.96). Irrespective of methicillin susceptibility, S. aureus BSI has a significant impact on morbidity and mortality. In addition, MRSA BSI leads to a fatal outcome more frequently than MSSA BSI. Infection control efforts in hospitals should aim to contain infections caused by both resistant and susceptible S. aureus.

Efficient plasmonic emission by the quantum Čerenkov effect from hot carriers in graphene

Abstract: United States. Army Research Office. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (contract number W911NF-13-D-0001)

Measuring forecast skill: is it real skill or is it the varying climatology?

Abstract: It is common practice to summarize the skill of weather forecasts from an accumulation of samples spanning many locations and dates. In calculating many of these scores, there is an implicit assumption that the climatological frequency of event occurrence is approximately invariant over all samples. If the event frequency actually varies among the samples, the metrics may report a skill that is different from that expected. Many common deterministic verification metrics, such as threat scores, are prone to mis-reporting skill, and probabilistic forecast metrics such as the Brier skill score and relative operating characteristic skill score can also be affected. Three examples are provided that demonstrate unexpected skill, two from synthetic data and one with actual forecast data. In the first example, positive skill was reported in a situation where metrics were calculated from a composite of forecasts that were comprised of random draws from the climatology of two distinct locations. As the difference in climatological event frequency between the two locations was increased, the reported skill also increased. A second example demonstrates that when the climatological event frequency varies among samples, the metrics may excessively weight samples with the greatest observational uncertainty. A final example demonstrates unexpectedly large skill in the equitable threat score of deterministic precipitation forecasts. Guidelines are suggested for how to adjust skill computations to minimize these effects. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society