Empirical therapy for serious Gram-positive infections: making the right choice

AbstractIt is well established that delaying the administration of effective antimicrobials for the treatment of serious infections has a significant impact on patient outcomes. In this atmosphere of urgency, decision-making regarding therapy is further complicated by the current high rates of drug resistance among important pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus. To improve treatment outcomes, decrease the risk of mortality and reduce hospital costs, physicians should always administer the most appropriate antimicrobial for the given scenario. When a staphylococcal infection is suspected but the resistance phenotype is not known, agents that are effective against methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus provide optimal empirical coverage. However, the number of such empirical monotherapeutic options is limited. Daptomycin has proven clinical efficacy as compared with comparator agents in Gram-positive infections, and could be considered an appropriate therapy for the treatment of infections caused by either methicillin-susceptible S. aureus or methicillin-resistant S. aureus

Cronaca di un processo ai frati francescani nell'Alghero del Cinquecento

La imatge de l'Alguer que es despren de la lectura de la instrucció d'un procediment judicial del 1571 contra els monjos franciscans d'aquesta ciutat és digne, com afirma l'autora de l'article, de ser comparat, pel tipus d'ambientació, a la reconeguda novel·la d'Umberto Eco, El nom de la Rosa. L'Alguer del cinc-cents és un important port marítim, cruïlla de la Mediterrània i, molt sovint, refugi segur per a les més variades tipologies d'aventurers. De les actes instructives que tant enutjaren l'aleshores bisbe de la ciutat, Pere Frago, es despren que, sota l'ala protectora del convent, s'amagaven autèntics mercenaris, usurers, assassins i amants apassionats, més o menys clandestins, de ciutadanes i de dones de la vida, que, certament, hi abundaven. Les indagacions processuals, que per altres raons havien compromés el citat bisbe, deixaren, com hom pot suposar, prou "víctimes" de la mà de la Santa Inquisició, la qual cosa comporta la celebració de dos Sínodes amb la finalitat, entre altres coses, de posar ordre a la degradació moral que havia commocionat l'Església algueresa

L'alimentazione monastica nel territorio algherese tra Sette e Ottocento

L'assaig examina la documentació pertanyent a alguns ordes religiosos existents al territori alguerès on desenrollaren llur activitat, inclós lúnic convent femení. Són abundosos els resulrats que han anat sortint i que ens ajuden a comprendre més bé la vida dels religiosos sigui dins llurs convents, sigui en relació amb la comunitat externa i al territori en el qual l'orde monàstic era present. Hem pogut així conéixer algunes habituds alimentàries, en relació a les estacions o a la pobresa (o riquesa) de l'orde, però també a la seva regla i a les ocasions de possibles transgressions, tan més freqüents i inventades, quant més s'exigia el respecte més rigorós. Hi ha hagut, per exemple, casos de tensió provocats pel Pare Provincial, per haver amonestat monges massa xerraires o frares culpables de gastar massa i de no fer quadrar els comptes del pressupost conventual

The Federal Preemption Question - A Federal Question - An Analysis of Federal Jurisdiction over Supremacy Clause Issues

This Article focuses on the issue of simplicity and predictability in analyzing federal question jurisdiction and recommends making federal court jurisdiction, in the area of federal preemption, consistent with logic. Federal question jurisdiction should be based on the source of the controlling substantive law. This approach is more logical, and therefore easier to understand. It is also more certain and therefore more predictable since it bases jurisdiction on the more realistic standard of governing law, rather than on speculation as to which party is the aggressor. This Article is not a recommendation to expand federal court jurisdiction; it is a recommendation that federal question jurisdiction, at least in the area of federal preemption, function as a procedural doctrine. It is hoped that the result would be a reduction in procedural litigation. Although the Supreme Court has recently addressed this issue in Franchise Tax Board v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust, it has not resolved the difficulties involved in its pleading analysis. The Franchise Tax Board decision looked at the jurisdictional issue in the context of a state declaratory judgment action that had been removed to federal court. A critical analysis of the decision will be made after exploring the development of the existing doctrine

RCRA Citizen Suits and State Courts: Jurisdictional Trap after Davis v. Sun Oil Company

This article discusses the problems of splitting a cause of action between state and federal courts when both a RCRA citizen suit and common law claims could be made. The author addresses this issue through analyzing the history of Davis v. Sun Oil Company. The issue of whether or not there was concurrent federal and state court jurisdiction over RCRA citizen suits was never decided before Davis v. Sun Oil Company. The Sixth Circuit held that RCRA did not grant exclusive federal court jurisdiction. Davis lost the benefit of the federal statute and now any property owner seeking relief for environmental contamination on the property must be alert to the prohibition against splitting the cause of action. The Davis case leads to the conclusion that a landowner can no longer wait to bring a RCRA action in federal court in case the state court action fails to rectify the contamination problem

The Federal Preemption Question - A Federal Question - An Analysis of Federal Jurisdiction over Supremacy Clause Issues

This Article focuses on the issue of simplicity and predictability in analyzing federal question jurisdiction and recommends making federal court jurisdiction, in the area of federal preemption, consistent with logic. Federal question jurisdiction should be based on the source of the controlling substantive law. This approach is more logical, and therefore easier to understand. It is also more certain and therefore more predictable since it bases jurisdiction on the more realistic standard of governing law, rather than on speculation as to which party is the aggressor. This Article is not a recommendation to expand federal court jurisdiction; it is a recommendation that federal question jurisdiction, at least in the area of federal preemption, function as a procedural doctrine. It is hoped that the result would be a reduction in procedural litigation. Although the Supreme Court has recently addressed this issue in Franchise Tax Board v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust, it has not resolved the difficulties involved in its pleading analysis. The Franchise Tax Board decision looked at the jurisdictional issue in the context of a state declaratory judgment action that had been removed to federal court. A critical analysis of the decision will be made after exploring the development of the existing doctrine