Burden of illness for super-refractory status epilepticus patients

Objective: To provide an estimate of the annual number of super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) cases in the US and to evaluate utilization of hospital resources by these patients.

Methods: The Premier Hospital Database was utilized to estimate the number of SRSE cases based on hospital discharges during 2012. Discharges were classified as SRSE cases based on an algorithm using seizure-related International Classification of Diseases-9 (ICD-9) codes, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), and treatment protocols (e.g. benzodiazepines, anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), and ventilator use). Secondary analyses were conducted using more restrictive algorithms for SRSE.

Results: A total of 6,325 hospital discharges were classified as SRSE cases from a total of 5,300,000 hospital discharges. Applying a weighting based on hospital characteristics and 2012?US demographics, this projected to an estimated 41,156 cases of SRSE in the US during 2012, an estimated incidence rate of ～13/100,000 annually for SRSE in the US. Secondary analyses using stricter SRSE algorithms resulted in estimated incidence rates of ～11/100,000 and 8/100,000 annually. The mean LOS for SRSE hospitalizations was 16.5 days (median =11; interquartile range [IQR]?=?6–20), and the mean ICU LOS was 9.3 days (median =6; IQR =3–12). The mean cost of an SRSE hospitalization was $51,247 (median = $33,294; 95% CI = $49,634–$52,861).

Limitations: The analysis uses ICD-9 diagnostic codes and claims information, and there are inherent limitations in any methodology based on treatment protocol, which created challenges in distinguishing with complete accuracy between SRSE, RSE, and SE on the basis of care patterns in the database.

Conclusion: SRSE is associated with high mortality and morbidity, which place a high burden on healthcare resources. Projections based upon the findings of this study suggest an estimated 25,821–41,959 cases of SRSE may occur in the US each year, but more in-depth studies are required.     

How foreign firms achieve competitive advantage in the Chinese emerging economy: Managerial ties and market orientation

As China experience unprecedented changes in its social, legal, and economic institutions, on what should foreign firms focus more to overcome this challenge, managerial ties or market orientation? This study investigates how managerial ties and market orientation affect competitive advantage and, consequently, firm performance in China. On the basis of a survey of 179 foreign firms in China, we find that both managerial ties and market orientation can lead to firm success—but in different ways. Market orientation enhances firm performance by providing differentiation and cost advantages, whereas managerial ties improve performance through an institutional advantage (i.e., superiority in securing scarce resources and institutional support). Institutional advantage, in turn, leads to differentiation and cost advantages and consequently superior performance.     

Performance implications of customer-linking capabilities: Examining the complementary role of customer orientation and CRM technology

This study examines how technology and complementary resources are bundled to form capabilities that foster durable customer relationships. Drawing from the literature in marketing, strategic management, and information systems, the first outcome is a theoretically grounded conceptualization of CRM technology capability comprised of three complementary resources: technology, business, and human resources. The second key finding is that CRM technology capability and customer orientation have a positive association with the development of durable customer relationships. These resources also have a positive interactive effect on customer-linking capability, highlighting the importance of aligning strategic business and technology resources. Finally, the authors find that customer-linking capability has a positive relationship with customer relationship performance and that the rapidity of changes in the external environment moderates this relationship. This study addresses these research questions in a cross-sectional study of 215 organizations using a partial least squares modeling approach.     

A stochastic frontier model of the productive efficiency of Korean container terminals

A central objective of port privatization and/or deregulation policies is stimulating greater efficiency by engendering a more competitive market and commercial approach to management. Korea provides a prime example of a nation that is implementing such policies. Also, its ports play a pivotal role in world shipping, particularly in the ever-burgeoning container market. The success of these policies in increasing the productive efficiency of Korean container terminals is assessed. The UK container terminal sector provides a useful benchmark for comparison since privatization and deregulation have formed an integral part of UK port reforms for nearly 20 years and the effect on efficiency, having had time to mature, will be much easier to gauge. The stochastic frontier model is justified as the chosen methodology for estimating productive efficiency levels and is applied to cross-sectional data under a variety of distributional assumptions. A panel data model is also estimated. Results are consistent and suggest (1) The degree of private sector involvement in sample container terminals is positively related to productive efficiency and (2) Improved productive efficiency has followed the implementation of privatization and deregulation policies within the Korean sector. Even though not categorical, these conclusions are important because the market for container throughput is internationally competitive and if policies which promote competition between Korean container terminals lead to greater productive efficiency, this will inevitably make the sector as a whole more competitive internationally.     

Voting, Regulation, and the Railroad Industry: An Analysis of Private and Public Interest Voting Patterns

We examine the role of public and private interests in the passage of major legislative bills that have governed the rail industry since 1887. Our model of voting patterns in the House and Senate introduces novel measures of industry concentration, competition, and network characteristics. We find that both the level and concentration of rail infrastructure in a state, the presence of water competition, and the level of agricultural production each have a major influence over voting patterns not only for the inception of regulation but also in the major bills that deregulated the industry in the 1970s and in 1980.     

A NOTE ON BIAS IN CAPITAL BUDGETING INTRODUCED BY STOCHASTIC LIFE

This note extends work by Young and Contreras and by Rosenthal on the present worth of cash flows under uncertain timing. In capital budgeting analysis, the use of the expected life of a project instead of the life distribution of the project biases the estimate of its expected net present value. In most situations the bias results in an overestimate of the expected net present value of the project. When the exact life distribution is unknown, the bias can be approximated by Taylor series expansion. The sensitivity of the bias to the discount rate, to cash flow patterns, and to income taxes is also investigated.     

TOURISM AND HOTEL COMPETITIVENESS RESEARCH

Competitiveness has been a subject of study in the manufacturing and related sectors since the early 1990s. However, only recently have some researchers started to examine the tourism and hospitality competitiveness, both conceptually and empirically, with a particular focus on tourism destinations and the hotel industry. The goal of this article is to review the published studies on destination and hotel competitiveness, provide critiques, and point out future directions in tourism and hotel competitiveness research. Such a review shall provide researchers with a good understanding of the current status of competitiveness research and with a vision for advancing the existing knowledge of destination and hotel competitiveness.     

Using Twitter Data for Cruise Tourism Marketing and Research

The need to understand how social media affect the hospitality and tourism field has increased. This paper discusses and demonstrates social media analytics using Twitter data referring to cruise travel. This research also includes an in-depth analysis of tweets by three types of user groups: commercial, news/blogs, and private. The results show that not only were words related to travel, destination, industry, and emotion most frequently used in composing tweets, but celebrities, professional bloggers, cruise lines, and travel agencies actually led major subgroups on cruise topics on Twitter. Based on such findings, this study provides feasible marketing strategies.     

Determinants of Length of Stay for Domestic Tourists: Case Study of Yixing

The length of stay of a tourist is one of the most important factors indicating consumption levels and revenue generation for certain tourist destinations. This study employs data from a tourist survey in Yixing, China, to investigate potential factors influencing a tourist's length of stay. Applying an ordered logit model, it is found that distance, age, organized tour, transportation, motivation, past visits and assessment of accommodation are some of the major determinants of a tourist's length of stay. The results indicate that traveling distance and the assessment of accommodation are positively associated with the length of stay. In addition, tourists with different modes of transportation, motivations and past visits have different durations of stay. Based on the estimation results from subsamples, it is also found that there are differences in determinants of length of stay between organized tourists and individual tourists, and among different age groups.     

Qualitative audit materiality and earnings management

This study investigates auditors’ propensity to rely on quantitative materiality thresholds to the exclusion of qualitative materiality thresholds. Specifically, we examine whether auditors are more likely to allow earnings management that is less than typical quantitative materiality thresholds but that nonetheless is qualitatively material. We use changes in tax expense as a proxy for earnings management. Our results indicate that companies with pre-managed earnings that would have missed the consensus analyst forecast are more likely to decrease their tax expense when the magnitude of the decrease is less than quantitative audit materiality thresholds. The results also indicate that firms are more likely to meet or beat the forecast when the amount of earnings management necessary to meet the analyst forecast is less than quantitative materiality. These results are consistent with auditors relying on quantitative materiality thresholds to the exclusion of qualitative materiality thresholds, i.e., the importance of meeting or beating the analyst forecast. Finally, we find that the ability to use tax expense reduction within quantitative materiality to meet or beat analysts’ consensus forecasts was significantly reduced by the SEC’s guidance on materiality in SAB-99 and by the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act.