The Redesign of a Reengineering Class

This paper reports on a redesign of an MBA Process Reengineering course from the traditional 16-week format to a weekend format. A survey was conducted to compare student learning of the educational objectives in the two formats. In addition, observations from both students and the instructor are discussed. The paper recommends such a format for additional intensive course opportunities

Experimental infection of the pig with Mycobacterium ulcerans : a novel model for studying the pathogenesis of Buruli ulcer disease

Buruli ulcer (BU) is a slowly progressing, necrotising disease of the skin caused by infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans. Non-ulcerative manifestations are nodules, plaques and oedema, which may progress to ulceration of large parts of the skin. Histopathologically, BU is characterized by coagulative necrosis, fat cell ghosts, epidermal hyperplasia, clusters of extracellular acid fast bacilli (AFB) in the subcutaneous tissue and lack of major inflammatory infiltration. The mode of transmission of BU is not clear and there is only limited information on the early pathogenesis of the disease available.; For evaluating the potential of the pig as experimental infection model for BU, we infected pigs subcutaneously with different doses of M. ulcerans. The infected skin sites were excised 2.5 or 6.5 weeks after infection and processed for histopathological analysis. With doses of 2×107 and 2×106 colony forming units (CFU) we observed the development of nodular lesions that subsequently progressed to ulcerative or plaque-like lesions. At lower inoculation doses signs of infection found after 2.5 weeks had spontaneously resolved at 6.5 weeks. The observed macroscopic and histopathological changes closely resembled those found in M. ulcerans disease in humans.; Our results demonstrate that the pig can be infected with M. ulcerans. Productive infection leads to the development of lesions that closely resemble human BU lesions. The pig infection model therefore has great potential for studying the early pathogenesis of BU and for the development of new therapeutic and prophylactic interventions

Characterization of Canine Dendritic Cells in Healthy, Atopic, and Non-allergic Inflamed Skin

Atopic dermatitis in humans and dogs is a chronic relapsing allergic skin disease. Dogs show a spontaneous disease similar to the human counterpart and represent a model to improve our understanding of the immunological mechanisms, the pathogenesis of the disease, and new therapy development. The aim of the study was to determine the frequency and phenotype of dendritic cells (DC) in the epidermis and dermis of healthy, canine atopic dermatitis lesional, and non-allergic inflammatory skin to further validate the model and to obtain insights into the contribution of DC to the pathogenesis of skin diseases in dogs. We first characterized canine skin DC using flow-cytometric analysis of isolated skin DC combined with an immunohistochemical approach. A major population of canine skin dendritic cells was identified as CD1c+CD11c+CD14−CD80+MHCII+MAC387− cells, with dermal DC but not Langerhans cells expressing CD11b. In the epidermis of lesional canine atopic dermatitis and non-allergic inflammatory skin, we found significantly more dendritic cells compared with nonlesional and control skin. Only in canine atopic dermatitis skin did we find a subset of dendritic cells positive for IgE, in the epidermis and the dermis. Under all inflammatory conditions, dermal dendritic cells expressed more CD14 and CD206. MAC387+ putative macrophages were absent in healthy but present in inflamed skin, in particular during non-allergic diseases. This study permits a phenotypic identification and differentiation of canine skin dendritic cells and has identified markers and changes in dendritic cells and macrophage populations related to allergic and non-allergic inflammatory conditions. Our data suggest the participation of dendritic cells in the pathogenesis of canine atopic dermatitis similar to human atopic dermatitis and further validate the only non-murine spontaneous animal model for this diseas

Le cas Gouguenheim

Recenser l’Aristote au Mont-Saint-Michel de Sylvain Gouguenheim est une mission ingrate. Dès le début, l’auteur utilise un ton inhabituel dans les travaux d’histoire de la philosophie médiévale. Dans ce traité sans pareil on ne tarde pas à buter sur une accumulation d’incohérences conceptuelles, de platitudes présentées avec emphase et d’erreurs pures et simples. Peut-être l’ouvrage a t-il été conçu comme une diatribe populaire, mais pour un lecteur spécialisé, il ne fait que susciter le souh..

Chapter L’ordre dominicain dans le ciel du soleil. Dante Alighieri et la « viva giustizia » du Paradiso

This article analyses the dynamic role of Justice in Dante’s Comedy. As the judge of his Otherworld, Dante establishes harsh punishments for the sinners in his Inferno. Moreover, he attacks their earthly fame in a way similar to what he experienced as an exile condemned to death by his Commune. Dante also defines the lighter penitences which torture the souls of his Purgatorio. Finally, Dante’s Justice shines alive in his Paradiso, first in the sky of Mercury and then, at its apotheosis, in the sky of Jupiter, when the eagle an-wers Dante the Pilgrim’s difficult questions about the salvation of pagan souls. As the eagle points out, even the blessed souls do not know the names of all the saved ones, and this remark should invite mortals to restrain from judging their peers. A similar message seems to be at the very heart of Aquinas’ speech in the sky of the Sun