For Bell's palsy, start steroids early; no need for an antiviral

A 10-day course of corticosteroids (prednisolone 25 mg twice daily) started within 72 hours significantly improves the chances of complete recovery. There is no added benefit from acyclovir. Stength of recommendation: A: Based on a large, well-designed randomized controlled trial

Use physical therapy to head off this deformity in infants

Identify infants with positional preference early and consider referral to pediatric physical therapy at 7 or 8 weeks to prevent severe deformational plagiocephaly (DP). Stength of recommendation: B: Based on a single well-done randomized controlled trial (RCT)

Glucose control: How low should you go with the critically ill?

For hyperglycemic patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), the target blood glucose level should be [less than or equal to] 180 mg/dL, not 81 to 108 mg/dL. More aggressive glucose lowering is associated with a higher mortality rate. Strength of recommendation: B: Based on a single, high-quality randomized clinical trial

The ankle injury--indications for the selective use of X-rays

The radiograph is rapidly superseding the clinical examination as the diagnostic tool for acute ankle injuries. Twenty-four independent variables which might help distinguish between soft tissue injuries and fractures at the ankle were identified and then used prospectively to study 150 consecutive patients with ankle injuries. Nineteen patients had fractured ankles (12.7 per cent) and 131 (87.3 per cent) had soft tissue injuries. Only the patient's ability to bear weight on the injured ankle and the presence of tenderness over the lateral aspect of the ankle below the malleolus proved to be helpful. When these 2 signs were present together, regardless of all other variables, there was a 97.5 per cent probability of soft tissue injury P < 0.005). This study suggests that careful patient assessment will permit more discriminating use of ankle X-rays.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25237/1/0000679.pd

Pentraxins coordinate excitatory synapse maturation and circuit integration of parvalbumin interneurons

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Circuit computation requires precision in the timing, extent, and synchrony of principal cell (PC) firing that is largely enforced by parvalbumin-expressing, fast-spiking interneurons (PVFSIs). To reliably coordinate network activity, PVFSIs exhibit specialized synaptic and membrane properties that promote efficient afferent recruitment such as expression of high-conductance, rapidly gating, GluA4-containing AMPA receptors (AMPARs). We found that PVFSIs upregulate GluA4 during the second postnatal week coincident with increases in the AMPAR clustering proteins NPTX2 and NPTXR. Moreover, GluA4 is dramatically reduced in NPTX2(-/-)/NPTXR(-/-) mice with consequent reductions in PVFSI AMPAR function. Early postnatal NPTX2(-/-)/NPTXR(-/-) mice exhibit delayed circuit maturation with a prolonged critical period permissive for giant depolarizing potentials. Juvenile NPTX2(-/-)/NPTXR(-/-) mice display reduced feedforward inhibition yielding a circuit deficient in rhythmogenesis and prone to epileptiform discharges. Our findings demonstrate an essential role for NPTXs in controlling network dynamics highlighting potential therapeutic targets for disorders with inhibition/excitation imbalances such as schizophrenia.Work supported by a PRAT fellowship to M.S.W., an NICHD intramural award to C.J.M., NIDCD intramural research program funding to R.S.P., an NIMH intramural award to H.A.C., NIH grants (PAR-02-059, NS 039156) to P.F.W., and an NIH grant (EY022730) to M.T.

Schumpeter: Theorist of the Avant-Garde

This paper argues that Schumpeter’s 1911 edition of ‘Theory of Economic Development’ can be fruitfully read as a theory of the avant-garde, in line with such theories developed by artistic avant-garde around the same time, in particular by the Italian Futurists. In particular it will show that both Schumpeter and other avant-garde theorists sought to break with past (1), identify an avant-garde who could force that break (2), find new ways to represent the dynamic world (3), embrace the new and dynamic (4) and promote a perpetual dynamic process, instead of a specific end-state or utopia (5). This new reading helps us to understand the cultural meaning of this seminal text in economics. Secondly it greatly facilitates our understanding of the differences with the later interwar German edition and English edition, which were more cautious in their embrace of the new, less focused on the individual qualities of the entrepreneur and placed more emphasis on historical continuity. Thirdly this reading suggests a different reason for the bifurcation between Schumpeter and the rest of the Austrian school of economics. Traditionally this split is explained by Schumpeter’s affinities with the Lausanne School, this paper instead suggests that the crucial break between Schumpeter on the one hand and Böhm-Bawerk, Wieser and later members of the Austrian School on the other hand is their theory of and attitude toward social change

Management education and the theatre of the absurd

In this paper we adopt a humanities perspective to reflect on the nature of business schools and management education (Vargish, 1991; March & Weil, 2005; Adler, 2006; McAuley & Sims, 2009). Business schools have been criticised for becoming the “hired hands” of business (Khurana, 2007) to the detriment of a higher purpose, institutions that champion a utilitarian morality, the shallowness and indeed the dangers of which are revealed in various business scandals and especially the financial crisis of 2007-8, the effects of which cast a long shadow over today’s economic and social landscape. This has led to the criticism that business schools have lost part of their essential “philosophic connection” to issues of humanity and human identities (Augier & March, 2011: 233-4). We argue that one way to encourage philosophical reconnection is to expand management education’s engagement with the humanities (Czarniawska & Gagliardi, 2006)

On averting the tragedy of the commons

One of the enduring facts of the human condition is that the earth's resources are finite and its environment fragile. It is also evident that human behavior is rarely based on an appreciation of these facts. While the outlook may be bleak, so are some of the proposed solutions. Reasonable people have suggested that, to survive, an environmentally enlightened authoritarian government must be adopted. This article suggests that such a solution is unworkable, in part because it fails to consider critical aspects of human nature. A framework is proposed for developing solutions compatible with human capabilities.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48163/1/267_2005_Article_BF01867519.pd

War and Literature: A Reciprocity

Pedagogical approach using literature to teach the fundamentals of leadership to military officers. Draws on examples from The Iliad, Hamlet, and A Farewell to Arms where Frederic Henry’s love for Catherine impacts his professional performance as an officer