Integration of TGF-β-induced Smad signaling in the insulin-induced transcriptional response in endothelial cells.

Insulin signaling governs many processes including glucose homeostasis and metabolism, and is therapeutically used to treat hyperglycemia in diabetes. We demonstrated that insulin-induced Akt activation enhances the sensitivity to TGF-β by directing an increase in cell surface TGF-β receptors from a pool of intracellular TGF-β receptors. Consequently, increased autocrine TGF-β signaling in response to insulin participates in insulin-induced angiogenic responses of endothelial cells. With TGF-β signaling controlling many cell responses, including differentiation and extracellular matrix deposition, and pathologically promoting fibrosis and cancer cell dissemination, we addressed to which extent autocrine TGF-β signaling participates in insulin-induced gene responses of human endothelial cells. Transcriptome analyses of the insulin response, in the absence or presence of a TGF-β receptor kinase inhibitor, revealed substantial positive and negative contributions of autocrine TGF-β signaling in insulin-responsive gene responses. Furthermore, insulin-induced responses of many genes depended on or resulted from autocrine TGF-β signaling. Our analyses also highlight extensive contributions of autocrine TGF-β signaling to basal gene expression in the absence of insulin, and identified many novel TGF-β-responsive genes. This data resource may aid in the appreciation of the roles of autocrine TGF-β signaling in normal physiological responses to insulin, and implications of therapeutic insulin usage

Assessing the economic impact of an emissions trading scheme on agroforestry in Australia’s northern grazing systems

Although agriculture generates a significant portion of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, it also has the potential to sequester large quantities of emissions through changed land use management such as agroforestry. Whilst there is an extensive amount of agroforestry literature, little has been written on the economic consequences of adopting silvopastoral systems in northern Australia. This paper reports the economic feasibility of adopting complimentary agroforestry systems in the low rainfall region of northern Australia. The analysis incorporates the dynamic tradeoffs between tree and pasture growth, carbon sequestration, cleared regrowth decomposition rates and livestock methane emissions in a bioeconomic model. The results suggest there are financial benefits for landholders who integrate complimentary agroforestry activities into existing grazing operations depending on the rules of the carbon accounting framework used.carbon sequestration, financial analysis, carbon accounting framework, Agroforestry, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Following celebrities’ medical advice: meta-narrative analysis

Objective: To synthesise what is known about how celebrities influence people’s decisions on health. Design: Meta-narrative analysis of economics, marketing, psychology, and sociology literatures. Data sources Systematic searches of electronic databases: BusinessSource Complete (1886-), Communication & Mass Media Complete (1915-), Humanities Abstracts (1984-), ProQuest Political Science (1985-), PsycINFO (1806-), PubMed (1966-), and Sociology Abstracts (1952-). Inclusion criteria Studies discussing mechanisms of celebrities’ influence on people in any context. Results: Economics literature shows that celebrity endorsements act as signals of credibility that differentiate products or ideas from competitors and can catalyse herd behaviour. Marketing studies show that celebrities transfer their desirable attributes to products and use their success to boost their perceived credibility. Psychology shows that people are classically conditioned to react positively to the advice of celebrities, experience cognitive dissonance if they do not, and are influenced by congruencies with their self conceptions. Sociology helps explain the spread of celebrity medical advice as a contagion that diffuses through social networks and people’s desire to acquire celebrities’ social capital. Conclusions: The influence of celebrity status is a deeply rooted process that can be harnessed for good or abused for harm. A better understanding of celebrity can empower health professionals to take this phenomenon seriously and use patient encounters to educate the public about sources of health information and their trustworthiness. Public health authorities can use these insights to implement regulations and restrictions on celebrity endorsements and design counter marketing initiatives—perhaps even partnering with celebrities—to discredit bogus medical advice while promoting evidence based practices

Cost of saving natural gas through efficiency programs funded by utility customers: 2012–2017

This study estimates the cost of saving a therm of natural gas from energy efficiency programs funded by utility customers during the period 2012 to 2017. Berkeley Lab researchers compiled and analyzed efficiency program data reported by investor-owned utilities and other program administrators in a dozen states representative of the four U.S. Census regions — Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Utah. Depending on the year, the dataset accounts for about 50 percent to 70 percent of annual national spending on natural gas efficiency programs. The estimated cost of saving natural gas during the study period is $0.40 per therm. The analysis also includes estimates of the program administrator cost of saved energy for three core sectors for natural gas: commercial and industrial, residential, and low-income households. It aggregates these sectors to provide regional and national values. Our metrics include savings-weighted averages, unweighted medians, and interquartile ranges (25th and 75th percentiles) of the levelized program administrator cost of saving gas, in constant 2017 dollars. In addition, the study analyzes cost trends during the study period, finding that average program costs trended downward. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office supported this work

Street Tree Resource Evaluation and Education Trust (STREET)

An educational and applied research project, Street Tree Resource Evaluation and Education Trust (STREET), was conducted to train Master Gardener volunteers to identify and inventory Bucyrus street trees, to educate city government and citizens on street tree benefits, to secure funding and city approval for new street tree planting, and to compare citizen and landscape contractor tree planting by tree planting depth. Outcomes of STREET included: identification and inventory of 1,797 street trees, grant funding of $5000, 194 new trees planted, and citizen tree planting depth higher than tree professionals

Empirically Evaluating the Impact of Adjudicative Tribunals in the Health Sector: Context, Challenges and Opportunities

Adjudicative tribunals are an integral part of health system governance, yet their real-world impact remains largely unknown. Most assessments focus on internal accountability and use anecdotal methodologies; few, studies if any, empirically evaluate their external impact and use these data to test effectiveness, track performance, inform service improvements and ultimately strengthen health systems. Given that such assessments would yield important benefits and have been conducted successfully in similar settings (e.g. specialist courts), their absence is likely attributable to complexity in the health system, methodological difficulties and the legal environment within which tribunals operate. We suggest practical steps for potential evaluators to conduct empirical impact evaluations along with an evaluation matrix template featuring possible target outcomes and corresponding surrogate endpoints, performance indicators and empirical methodologies. Several system-level strategies for supporting such assessments have also been suggested for academics, health system institutions, health planners and research funders. Action is necessary to ensure that policymakers do not continue operating without evidence but can rather pursue data-driven strategies that are more likely to achieve their health system goals in a cost-effective way

Evaluating the Impact of Remedial Authority: Adjudicative Tribunals in the Health Sector

Adjudicative tribunals play an important role in the health sector yet their actual influence, as part of the health system, remains undetermined. Most of the studies that have evaluated their work have focused on measures of accountability and independence, rather than the indicators of societal impact. As efforts to reform health systems continue internationally, it is crucial that we understand the benefits and costs of adjudicative tribunals for providers and consumers of heath. In this regard, empirically evaluating the impact of adjudicative tribunals will help inform policymaking through the collection of objective data. A strong and accountable health care system depends on understanding the way these tribunals work and the effects of their decisions