Web-based writing materials that promote non-native accounting students' autonomous learning

In the 1990s, accounting firms and educators began to voice concerns about the inadequacy of undergraduate accounting students’ communication skills. Both factions agreed that accountants entering the workforce must possess adequate communication skills; therefore, they reasoned that accounting degree programs should teach these skills. The fast-increasing international population in U.S. business schools further complicated the job of business educators who were trying to integrate communication skills into their programs. This paper details the collaborative development of a web-based business writing handbook designed to address the specific needs of international business students. The handbook raises students’ awareness of common ESL business writing errors and gives them strategies for finding and correcting those errors. Specifically, the paper documents why and how the online handbook was developed and then converted into a book, provides examples of materials included in the handbook, and argues in favor of using such materials in a skills-integrated curriculum

Dialysis-associated peritonitis in children

Peritonitis remains a frequent complication of peritoneal dialysis in children and is the most common reason for technique failure. The microbiology is characterized by a predominance of Gram-positive organisms, with fungi responsible for less than 5% of episodes. Data collected by the International Pediatric Peritonitis Registry have revealed a worldwide variation in the bacterial etiology of peritonitis, as well as in the rate of culture-negative peritonitis. Risk factors for infection include young age, the absence of prophylactic antibiotics at catheter placement, spiking of dialysis bags, and the presence of a catheter exit-site or tunnel infection. Clinical symptoms at presentation are somewhat organism specific and can be objectively assessed with a Disease Severity Score. Whereas recommendations for empiric antibiotic therapy in children have been published by the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis, epidemiologic data and antibiotic susceptibility data suggest that it may be desirable to take the patient- and center-specific history of microorganisms and their sensitivity patterns into account when prescribing initial therapy. The vast majority of patients are treated successfully and continue peritoneal dialysis, with the poorest outcome noted in patients with peritonitis secondary to Gram-negative organisms or fungi and in those with a relapsing infection