No more secrets?: Policy implications of commercial remote sensing satellites

This paper was originally written for the conference on "No More Secrets? Policy Implications of Commercial Remote Sensing Satellites," held at the Carnegie Endowment on May 26, 1999.</p

Respiratory muscle training in patients recovering recent open cardio-thoracic surgery: a randomized-controlled trial.

Objectives- To evaluate the clinical efficacy and feasibility of an expiratory muscle training (EMT) device (Respilift™) applied to patients recovering from recent open cardio-thoracic surgery (CTS). Design- Prospective, double-blind, 14-day randomised-controlled trial. Participants and setting- 60 inpatients recovering from recent CTS and early admitted to a pulmonary rehabilitation program. Interventions- Chest physiotherapy plus EMT with a resistive load of 30 cm H2O for active group and chest physiotherapy plus EMT with a sham load for control group. Measures- Changes in maximal expiratory pressure (MEP) was considered as primary outcome, while maximal inspiratory pressures (MIP), dynamic and static lung volumes, oxygenation, perceived symptoms of dyspnoea, thoracic pain and well being (evaluated by visual analogic scale-VAS) and general health status were considered secondary outcomes. Results- All outcomes recorded showed significant improvements in both groups; however, the change of MEP (+34.2 mmHg, p<0.001 and +26.1%, p<0.001 for absolute and % of predicted, respectively) was significantly higher in Active group. Also VAS-dyspnoea improved faster and more significantly (p<0.05) at day 12 and 14 in Active group when compared with Control. The drop out rate was 6%, without differences between groups. Conclusions- In patients recovering from recent CTS specific EMT by Respilift™ is feasible and effective

Changes in clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted to inpatient cardiac rehabilitation

Aims: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) have proven to be effective and beneficial in middle-aged and older patients. However, solid data in large cohorts of elderly individuals are yet to be explored. This retrospective study investigated the general characteristics, outcomes, and the level of re-sponse of patients referred to CR over 13 consecutive years. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of patients admitted to Villa Pineta Rehabilitation Hospital for exercise-based CR from 2006 to 2018. Patients’ baseline characteristics and changes following CR in upper limb weight-lifting test (ULW), 30-second sit-to-stand test (30STS), and the 6-minute walking test (6MWT) with associated Borg-related dyspnea (D) and fatigue (F) were collected. We also calculated the number of individuals reaching the minimal clinically relevant change (MCRC) following CR for each outcome. Results: 1551 patients (70.2 ± 9.7 years, 66% men) with complete data set were in-cluded in the analysis. Coronary artery bypass graft and cardiac valve replacement surgery were the most frequent surgical procedures leading to CR referral (41.1% and 35.8%, respectively). The patients’ age (p = 0.03), number of total comorbidities (p &lt; 0.0001), and post-surgical complica-tions (p = 0.02) significantly increased over time. In contrast, the average absolute changes in ULW, 30STS and 6MWT with associated D and F, and the proportion of patients reaching the re-spective MCRC, remained constant over the same period. Conclusion: Patients admitted to exer-cise-based CR were older and had more comorbidities and complications over time. Outcomes, however, were not influenced in terms of absolute change nor clinically meaningful response

Accountability, Strategy, and International Non-Governmental Organizations

Increased prominence and greater influence expose international non-governmental development and environmental organizations (INGOs) to increased demands for accountability from a wide variety of stakeholdersdonors, beneficiaries, staffs, and partners among others. This paper focuses on developing the concept of INGO accountability, first as an abstract concept and then as a strategic idea with very different implications for different INGO strategies. We examine those implications for INGOs that emphasize service delivery, capacity-building, and policy influence. We propose that INGOs committed to service delivery may owe more accountability to donors and service regulators; capacity-building INGOs may be particularly obligated to clients whose capacities are being enhanced; and policy influence INGOs may be especially accountable to political constituencies and to influence targets. INGOs that are expanding their activities to include new initiatives may need to reorganize their accountability systems to implement their strategies effectively. This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 7. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

Force and power output of fast and slow skeletal muscles from mdx mice 6-28 months old

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66165/1/j.1469-7793.2001.00591.x.pd

Nanostructure and strain properties of core-shell GaAs/AlGaAs nanowires

GaAs/AlGaAs core–shell nanowires (NWs) were grown on Si(111) by Ga-assisted molecular beam epitaxy via the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism. High-resolution and scanning transmission electron microscopy observations showed that NWs were predominantly zinc-blende single crystals of hexagonal shape, grown along the [111] direction. GaAs core NWs emerged from the Si surface and subsequently, the NW growth front advanced by a continuous sequence of (111) rotational twins, while the AlGaAs shell lattice was perfectly aligned with the core lattice. Occasionally, single or multiple stacking faults induced wurtzite structure NW pockets. The AlGaAs shell occupied at least half of the NW's projected diameter, while the average Al content of the shell, estimated by energy dispersive x-ray analysis, was x = 0.35. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations of hexagonal cross-section NW slices, under a new parametrization of the Tersoff interatomic potential for AlAs, showed increased atom relaxation at the hexagon vertices of the shell. This, in conjunction with the compressively strained Al0.35Ga0.65As shell close to the GaAs core, can trigger a kinetic surface mechanism that could drive Al adatoms to accumulate at the relaxed sites of the shell, namely along the diagonals of the shell's hexagon. Moreover, the absence of long-range stresses in the GaAs/Al0.35Ga0.65As core–shell system may account for a highly stable heterostructure. The latter was consolidated by temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy

Constitutive Expression of Insulin Receptor Substrate (IRS)-1 Inhibits Myogenic Differentiation through Nuclear Exclusion of Foxo1 in L6 Myoblasts

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are well known to play essential roles in enhancement of myogenic differentiation. In this report we showed that initial IGF-I signal activation but long-term IGF-1 signal termination are required for myogenic differentiation. L6 myoblast stably transfected with myc-epitope tagged insulin receptor substrate-1, myc-IRS-1 (L6-mIRS1) was unable to differentiate into myotubes, indicating that IRS-1 constitutive expression inhibited myogenesis. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying myogenic inhibition, IGF-I signaling was examined. IGF-I treatment of control L6 cells for 18 h resulted in a marked suppression of IGF-I stimulated IRS-1 association with the p85 PI 3-kinase and suppression of activation of Akt that correlated with a down regulation of IRS-1 protein. L6-mIRS1 cells, in contrast, had sustained high levels of IRS-1 protein following 18 h of IGF-I treatment with persistent p85 PI 3-kinase association with IRS-1, Akt phosphorylation and phosphorylation of the downstream Akt substrate, Foxo1. Consistent with Foxo1 phosphorylation, Foxo1 protein was excluded from the nuclei in L6-mIRS1 cells, whereas Foxo1 was localized in the nuclei in control L6 cells during induction of differentiation. In addition, L6 cells stably expressing a dominant-interfering form of Foxo1, Δ256Foxo1 (L6-Δ256Foxo1) were unable to differentiate into myotubes. Together, these data demonstrate that IGF-I regulation of Foxo1 nuclear localization is essential for the myogenic program in L6 cells but that persistent activation of IGF-1 signaling pathways results in a negative feedback to prevent myogenesis

Global energy governance : a review and research agenda

Over the past few years, global energy governance (GEG) has emerged as a major new field of enquiry in international studies. Scholars engaged in this field seek to understand how the energy sector is governed at the global level, by whom and with what consequences. By focusing on governance, they broaden and enrich the geopolitical and hard-nosed security perspectives that have long been, and still are, the dominant perspectives through which energy is analysed. Though still a nascent field, the literature on GEG is thriving and continues to attract the attention of a growing number of researchers. This article reviews the GEG literature as it has developed over the past 10 years. Our aim is to highlight both the progress and limitations of the field, and to identify some opportunities for future research. The article proceeds as follows. First, it traces the origins of the GEG literature (section “Origins and roots of GEG research”). The subsequent sections deal with the two topics that have received the most attention in the GEG literature: Why does energy need global governance (section “The goals and rationale of global energy governance”)? And, who governs energy (section “Mapping the global energy architecture”)? We then address a third question that has received far less attention: How well or poor is energy governed (section “Evaluating global energy governance”)? In our conclusions (section “Conclusions and outlook”), we reflect on the current state of GEG, review recent trends and innovations, and identify some questions that warrant future consideration by scholars. This article is published as part of a thematic collection on global governance