bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cutting Edge: Crohn’s Disease-Associated Nod2 Mutation Limits Production of Proinflammatory Cytokines To Protect the Host from Enterococcus faecalis-Induced Lethality
Authors: Kim Yun-Gi , Shaw Michael H. , Warner Neil , Park Jong-Hwan , Chen Felicia , Ogura Yasunori , Núñez Gabriel 
Published: August 2011

Abstract
Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 2 (Nod2) mutations including L1007fsinsC are associated with the development of Crohn’s disease (CD). These CD-associated Nod2 mutations are common in healthy white populations, suggesting that they may confer some protective function, but experimental evidence is lacking. Using a mouse strain that expresses Nod22939iCstop, the equivalent of the L1007fsinsC mutation, we found that macrophages homozygous for Nod22939iCstop are impaired in the recognition of muramyl dipeptide and Enterococcus faecalis, a commensal bacterium that is a common cause of sepsis-associated lethality in humans. Notably, Nod2 deficiency and homozygocity for Nod22939iCstop were associated with reduced production of TNF-α and IL-6 and lethality after systemic infection with E. faecalis despite normal bacteria loads. Consistently, inhibition of TNF-α signaling protected wild-type mice from E. faecalis-induced lethality. These results suggest that the same Nod2 mutation can increase the susceptibility to CD, but also protect the host from systemic infection by a common enteric bacterium.
Activated Protein C Attenuates Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Lupus Nephritis in MRL-Fas(lpr) Mice
Authors: Lichtnekert Julia , Rupanagudi Khader Valli , Kulkarni Onkar P. , Darisipudi Murthy Narayana , Allam Ramanjaneyulu , Anders Hans-Joachim 
Published: August 2011

Abstract
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease leading to inflammatory tissue damage in multiple organs (e.g., lupus nephritis). Current treatments including steroids, antimalarials, and immunosuppressive drugs have significant side effects. Activated protein C is a natural protein with anticoagulant and immunomodulatory effects, and its recombinant version has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat severe sepsis. Given the similarities between overshooting immune activation in sepsis and autoimmunity, we hypothesized that recombinant activated protein C would also suppress SLE and lupus nephritis. To test this concept, autoimmune female MRL-Fas(lpr) mice were injected with either vehicle or recombinant human activated protein C from week 14–18 of age. Activated protein C treatment significantly suppressed lupus nephritis as evidenced by decrease in activity index, glomerular IgG and complement C3 deposits, macrophage counts, as well as intrarenal IL-12 expression. Further, activated protein C attenuated cutaneous lupus and lung disease as compared with vehicle-treated MRL-Fas(lpr) mice. In addition, parameters of systemic autoimmunity, such as plasma cytokine levels of IL-12p40, IL-6, and CCL2/MCP-1, and numbers of B cells and plasma cells in spleen were suppressed by activated protein C. The latter was associated with lower total plasma IgM and IgG levels as well as lower titers of anti-dsDNA IgG and rheumatoid factor. Together, recombinant activated protein C suppresses the abnormal systemic immune activation in SLE of MRL-Fas(lpr) mice, which prevents subsequent kidney, lung, and skin disease. These results implicate that recombinant activated protein C might be useful for the treatment of human SLE.
A randomized controlled trial to compare pregabalin with gabapentin for postoperative pain in abdominal hysterectomy
Authors: Ghai Anju , Gupta Monika , Hooda Sarla , Singla Dinesh , Wadhera Raman 
Published: August 2011

Background:
Pregabalin is a potent ligand for alpha-2-delta subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels in the central nervous system, which exhibits potent anticonvulsant, analgesic and anxiolytic activity. The pharmacological activity of pregabalin is similar to that of gabapentin and shows possible advantages. Although it shows analgesic efficacy against neuropathic pain, very limited evidence supports its postoperative analgesic efficacy. We investigated its analgesic efficacy in patients experiencing acute pain after abdominal hysterectomy and compared it with gabapentin and placebo.

Methods:
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 90 women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy who were anaesthetized in a standardized fashion. Patients received 300 mg pregabalin, 900 mg gabapentin or placebo, 1–2 hours prior to surgery. Postoperative analgesia was administered at visual analogue scale (VAS) ≥3. The primary outcome was analgesic consumption over 24 hours and patients were followed for pain scores, time to rescue analgesia and side effects as secondary outcomes.

Results:
The diclofenac consumption was statistically significant between pregabalin and control groups, and gabapentin and control groups; however, pregabalin and gabapentin groups were comparable. Moreover, the consumption of tramadol was statistically significant among all the groups. Patients in pregabalin and gabapentin groups had lower pain scores in the initial hour of recovery. However, pain scores were subsequently similar in all the groups. Time to first request for analgesia was longer in pregabalin group followed by gabapentin and control groups.

Conclusion:
A single dose of 300 mg pregabalin given 1–2 hours prior to surgery is superior to 900 mg gabapentin and placebo after abdominal hysterectomy. Both the drugs are better than placebo.
A comparison of the ratio of patient's height to thyromental distance with the modified Mallampati and the upper lip bite test in predicting difficult laryngoscopy
Authors: Safavi Mohammadreza , Honarmand Azim , Zare Narges 
Published: August 2011

Background:
The aim of the present study was to compare the ability to predict difficult visualization of the larynx from the following preoperative airway predictive indices, in isolation and combination: modified Mallampati test (MMT), the ratio of height to thyromental distance (RHTMD) and the Upper-Lip-Bite test (ULBT).

Methods:
We collected data on 603 consecutive patients scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia requiring endotracheal intubation and then evaluated all three factors before surgery. An experienced anesthesiologist, not informed of the recorded preoperative airway evaluation, performed the laryngoscopy and grading (as per Cormack and Lehane's classification). Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value, Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) Curve and the area under ROC curve (AUC) for each airway predictor in isolation and in combination were determined.

Results:
Difficult laryngoscopy (Grade 3 or 4) occurred in 41 (6.8%) patients. The main endpoint of the present study, the AUC of the ROC, was significantly lower for the MMT (AUC, 0.511; 95% CI, 0.470–0.552) than the ULBT (AUC, 0.709; 95% CI, 0.671–0.745, P=0.002) and the RHTMD score (AUC, 0.711; 95% CI, 0.673–0.747, P=0.001). There was no significant difference between the AUC of the ROC for the ULBT and the RHTMD score. By using discrimination analysis, the optimal cutoff point for the RHTMD for predicting difficult laryngoscopy was 21.06 (sensitivity, 75.6%; specificity, 58.5%).

Conclusion:
The RHTMD is comparable with ULBT for prediction of difficult laryngoscopy in general population.
Start time delays in operating room
Authors: Gupta Babita , Agrawal Pramendra , D'souza Nita , Soni Kapil Dev 
Published: August 2011

Background:
Healthcare expenditure is a serious concern, with escalating costs failing to meet the expectations of quality care. The treatment capacities are limited in a hospital setting and the operating rooms (ORs). Their optimal utilization is vital in efficient hospital management. Starting late means considerable wait time for staff, patients and waste of resources. We planned an audit to assess different perspectives of the residents in surgical specialities and anesthesia and OR staff nurses so as to know the causative factors of operative delay. This can help develop a practical model to decrease start time delays in operating room (ORs).

Aims:
An audit to assess different perspectives of the Operating room (OR) staff with respect to the varied causative factors of operative delay in the OR. To aid in the development of a practical model to decrease start time delays in ORs and facilitate on-time starts at Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma centre (JPNATC), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

Methods:
We prepared a questionnaire seeking the five main reasons of delay as per their perspective.

Results:
The available data was analysed. Analysis of the data demonstrated the common causative factors in start time operative delays as: a lack of proper planning, deficiencies in team work, communication gap and limited availability of trained supporting staff.

Conclusions:
The preparation of the equipment and required material for the OR cases must be done well in advance. Utilization of newer technology enables timely booking and scheduling of cases. Improved inter-departmental coordination and compliance with preanesthetic instructions needs to be ensured. It is essential that the anesthesiologists perform their work promptly, well in time . and supervise the proceedings as the OR manager. This audit is a step forward in defining the need of effective OR planning for continuous quality improvement.
Intra and postoperative outcome of adding clonidine to bupivacaine in infraorbital nerve block for young children undergoing cleft lip surgery
Authors: Jindal Parul , Khurana Gurjeet , Dvivedi Sanjay , Sharma J. P. 
Published: August 2011

Aims and Context:
To evaluate the efficacy of adding clonidine to bupivacaine in bilateral infraorbital nerve block for hemodynamic changes, requirement of opioids, volatile agent, and muscle relaxants intraoperatively and relief of pain postoperatively

Setting and Design:
Prospective, randomized, double-blind study.

Methods:
Fifty pediatric patients aged less than 24 months undergoing elective cleft lip repair were randomly allocated to two groups of 25 each. After tracheal intubation, group A received bilateral infraorbital nerve block with 1 ml solution of clonidine (1 μg/kg) and bupivacaine 0.25%, and group B received 1 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine. Hemodynamic parameters, intraoperative requirement of volatile anesthetic agent, muscle relaxant, and analgesic were recorded. Pain was assessed postoperatively using the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability scale till the first rescue drug was given.

Statistical Analysis:
Two sample unpaired t-test and the correlation r test.

Results:
The duration of analgesia from the time of administration of block in group A was 667.72 ± 210.74 min compared to 558.48 ± 150.28 min in group B (P<0.05).

Conclusion:
Addition of clonidine as an adjunct to local anesthetic significantly decreased the requirement of other anesthetic drugs and significantly prolonged the duration of postoperative analgesia without any adverse effects.
Percutaneous tracheotomy
Authors: Alzahrani T. , Nawaz S. , Delvi B. , Hajjar W. 
Published: August 2011

Background:
Percutanoeous tracheotomy (PT) is a minimal invasive procedure alternative to surgical tracheotomy. PT offers an added advantage of enormous decrease of time interval between decision of doing tracheotomy and actually doing it. Moreover hazards of patient transport can be avoided as it can be safely performed at the bedside. We started doing PT in 2003 and performed 100 cases using forceps dilatation. Later we switched over to cone dilatation where we performed 215 cases. This study aims to compare two techniques of forceps vs. cone dilatation methods for PT.

Methods:
A total of 100 cases of PT were performed starting from December 2003 to August 2005 using the forceps dilatation method (group A). Further 215 cases were conducted (group B) from September 2003 to July 2008 using the cone dilatation method. Time of performing both procedures was recorded. Also incidence of complications was also recorded in both groups.

Results:
The incidence of minor bleeding in group A was 9%, whereas in group B was 5.58%. Major bleeding occurred in two patients in group B. Both cases suffered of pneumothorax and emphysema. One patient developed life-threatening tension pneumothorax and required cardio pulmonary resuscitation. This was one case in this series, in which the procedure has contributed to patient's morbidity. Guide wire-related technical difficulties were seen in 2% of the cases in group A, and 3.7% of cases in group B.

Conclusion:
forceps dilatation PT is superior to the cone dilatation technique in terms of safety. Further studies are needed to confirm our results.
Pointed Torsors
Authors: Jardine J. F. 
Published: August 2011

AbstractThis paper gives a characterization of homotopy fibres of inverse image maps on groupoids of torsors that are induced by geometric morphisms, in terms of both pointed torsors and pointed cocycles, suitably defined. Cocycle techniques are used to give a complete description of such fibres, when the underlying geometric morphism is the canonical stalk on the classifying topos of a profinite group G. If the torsors in question are defined with respect to a constant group H, then the path components of the fibre can be identified with the set of continuous maps from the profinite group G to the group H. More generally, when H is not constant, this set of path components is the set of continuous maps from a pro-object in sheaves of groupoids to H, which pro-object can be viewed as a “Grothendieck fundamental groupoid”.
C*-Algebras over Topological Spaces: Filtrated K-Theory
Authors: Meyer Ralf , Nest Ryszard 
Published: August 2011

AbstractWe define the filtrated K-theory of a C*-algebra over a finite topological spaceXand explain how to construct a spectral sequence that computes the bivariant Kasparov theory overXin terms of filtrated K-theory.For finite spaces with a totally ordered lattice of open subsets, this spectral sequence becomes an exact sequence as in the Universal Coefficient Theorem, with the same consequences for classification. We also exhibit an example where filtrated K-theory is not yet a complete invariant. We describe two C*-algebras over a spaceXwith four points that have isomorphic filtrated K-theory without being KK(X)-equivalent. For this spaceX, we enrich filtrated K-theory by another K-theory functor to a complete invariant up to KK(X)-equivalence that satisfies a Universal Coefficient Theorem.
Business ethics, CSR, sustainability and the MBA
Authors: Wright Norman S , Bennett Hadyn 
Published: August 2011

AbstractThe issues of business ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability have come to attract increasing attention in management education in recent years, at least from the perspective of potential employers, accrediting bodies and business school alumni. This paper examines the extent of penetration of these three subjects in to global MBA curricula through an examination of course content and structure pertaining to the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings top 100, the Australian Financial Review BOSS top 17 ranked Australian MBAs, and the seven MBA programmes currently offered by universities in New Zealand. The findings reveal that: a variety of delivery modes are utilised; while the teaching of ethics has achieved considerable penetration, only about fifty percent of MBA programmes include it as a required subject (and even then it may only constitute part of a larger subject); and that the teaching of sustainability has achieved much lower penetration, with only six percent of MBA programmes examined incorporating the topic into their core curriculum. Implications for the design of MBA programmes and future research directions are then discussed within the context of a business environment in which increasing prominence is being given to these subject areasx.
The technological community as a framework for educating for sustainability in business schools
Authors: Benn Suzanne , Rusinko Cathy 
Published: August 2011

AbstractThis paper adapts and extends the technological community perspective (e.g., Van de Ven, 1993), to review and analyze the outcomes of a series of three research projects funded by the Australian Government as reported in a number of publicly available documents. The projects were designed to support education for sustainability within Australian business schools and to promote knowledge sharing between the business schools and industry around sustainability. Project participants included seven business schools and their industry collaborators.The technological community perspective, which is particularly well-suited to examining this innovative education for sustainability project, is a theoretical framework that examines evolution of innovation at the community level; this includes multiple internal and external stakeholders, and is beyond the more traditional uni-dimensional focus on organization or industry levels. This approach provides lessons with respect to complex and dynamic interactions between and among multiple stakeholders responsible for successful development and dissemination of sustainability in business schools, corporations, and beyond.Hence, this paper addresses issues raised in the call for papers for the special issue of Journal of Management and Organization, ‘Educating for Sustainability and CSR: What is the role of business schools?’ The paper addresses the questions: (1) What are the barriers for business schools with respect to integrating sustainability in the curricula; (2) What role do partnerships with other stakeholders play in such initiatives?
Sustainability in the undergraduate and postgraduate business curriculum of a regional university: A critical perspective
Authors: von der Heidt Tania , Lamberton Geoff 
Published: August 2011

AbstractThe challenge to embed sustainability in the formal curriculum has been greatest for the business studies curriculum. Schools of business have been perceived as key socialising agencies for the intelligentsia of advanced capitalist societies, whereas the students of sustainability need to be helped to critique the dominant capitalist paradigm and consider its alternatives. Drawing on a critical perspective of education for sustainability, this paper presents a detailed examination of the sustainability curriculum at a regional university in Australia. The paper contributes to the discussion needed to understand what sustainability skills are required by managers and how tertiary education programs may need to change to develop these skills. In this way the nature of the role that business schools should be playing in leading and managing change towards sustainability is further informed.
Social, Religious and Spiritual Capital and Physical/Emotional Functioning in a National Sample of African Americans
Authors: Holt Cheryl L. , Schulz Emily , Williams Beverly R. , Clark Eddie M. , Wang Min Qi 
Published: August 2011

ABSTRACTSpiritual and religious capital are forms of the broader construct of social capital. The present study, using probability‐based sampling methods, surveyed a national sample of African American adults to examine the relative contributions of spiritual and religious capital to their physical and emotional functioning. Analyses were conducted to determine if these constructs made a unique contribution above and beyond general social capital. African American men and women (N = 803) were interviewed by telephone. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that, across the full sample, although social capital was a positive predictor of physical and emotional functioning (p < .05 and p < .001), neither religious nor spiritual capital made an additional contribution to these outcomes. However, the relationships among these variables differed for men and women. Among men, social capital predicted positive emotional functioning (p < .001) but not physical functioning; spiritual and religious capital made no additional contribution to either outcome variable. Among women, social capital predicted positive emotional functioning (p < .01) but not physical functioning. However, religious capital did make a significant additional contribution to the prediction of emotional functioning (ΔR2, p < .01). Dividing the sample into different age groups did not produce any different findings from those found with the sample as a whole. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for church‐ and faith‐based health promotion interventions aimed at health disparities reduction. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
So many teams, so little time: Time allocation matters in geographically dispersed teams
Authors: Cummings Jonathon N. , Haas Martine R. 
Published: August 2011

SummaryGeographically dispersed teams whose members do not allocate all of their time to a single team increasingly carry out knowledge‐intensive work in multinational organizations. Taking an attention‐based view of team design, we investigate the antecedents and consequences of member time allocation in a multi‐level study of 2055 members of 285 teams in a large global corporation, using member survey data and independent executive ratings of team performance. We focus on two distinct dimensions of time allocation: the proportion of members' time that is allocated to the focal team and the number of other teams to which the members allocate time concurrently. At the individual level, we find that time allocation is influenced by members' levels of experience, rank, education, and leader role on the team, as predicted. At the team level, performance is higher for teams whose members allocate a greater proportion of their time to the focal team, but surprisingly, performance is also higher for teams whose members allocate time to a greater number of other teams concurrently. Furthermore, the effects of member time allocation on team performance are contingent on geographic dispersion: the advantages of allocating more time to the focal team are greater for more dispersed teams, whereas the advantages of allocating time to more other teams are greater for less dispersed teams. We discuss the implications for future research on new forms of teams as well as managerial practice, including how to manage geographically dispersed teams with the effects of member time allocation in mind. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.