Response of Old Skeletal Muscle to 8 Weeks of Electrical Stimulation (Should We Change the Conventional Electrical Stimulation Protocol for Cardiomyoplasty?)

We hypothesized that the conditioned muscles of elderly organisms have different responses to electrical stimulation than that of young adult organisms. One-year-old sheep and eight-year-old elderly sheep were used for this investigation. Results. The latissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) of old sheep has less fatigue resistance than LDM of younger animals. In all animals, LDH-5 fractions decreased after eight weeks ES; LDH-1+2 fractions increased. After a two week delay, the data completely returned to baseline values in old adult animals. The percent area occupied by mitochondria in old sheep was less after ES than in younger animals. In all animals, the mitochondrial area increased after ES and reverted to baseline values after the delay. The number of nuclei and fibers considerably increased after ES. Conclusions. Young skeletal muscle obtains more plasticity than adult muscle during ES. Elderly skeletal muscle does not convert to a fatigue resistant state as completely as adult skeletal muscle during a conventional eight week ES protocol. It is necessary to change and prolong the ES protocol for elderly patients

Tree species, state of decay, and orientation in relation to woodpecker cavity nesting

Biology of BirdsMany bird species construct nests to protect and incubate their eggs. Woodpeckers construct their nests in tree cavities they excavate themselves, and therefore can control what type of tree they are nesting in and where the entrance is oriented. Unhealthy trees of softer wood may be easier to excavate than healthy hardwood, and sunlight may assist parents in keeping their young at a stable incubation temperature. Based on historical accounts at the University of Michigan Biblogical Station and current observations, we hypothesized that woodpeckers favor dead or dying aspen trees, and their morning activity indicates that eastward facing holes would be the most favorable for sun exposure. We searched several northern Michigan forests for woodpecker nesting cavities and recorded the tree's state of decay and direction. Through our observations we determined that woodpeckers favor dead aspen trees, but there was no discernable preference for cavity direction. This data can inform future studies about the reproductive behavior of northern Michigan woodpeckers.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147895/1/Hines_Clemons_Maternowski_Park_2018.pd

The analytical framework of water and armed conflict: a focus on the 2006 Summer War between Israel and Lebanon

This paper develops an analytical framework to investigate the relationship between water and armed conflict, and applies it to the ‘Summer War’ of 2006 between Israel and Lebanon (Hezbollah). The framework broadens and deepens existing classifications by assessing the impact of acts of war as indiscriminate or targeted, and evaluating them in terms of international norms and law, in particular International Humanitarian Law (IHL). In the case at hand, the relationship is characterised by extensive damage in Lebanon to drinking water infrastructure and resources. This is seen as a clear violation of the letter and the spirit of IHL, while the partial destruction of more than 50 public water towers compromises water rights and national development goals. The absence of pre-war environmental baselines makes it difficult to gauge the impact on water resources, suggesting a role for those with first-hand knowledge of the hostilities to develop a more effective response before, during, and after armed conflict

The ‘Guinea Pigs’ of Tristan da Cunha and the Ethics of Medical Research in Britain and the Empire, 1961–1973

Summary This article relates the history and explores the ethical issues that gathered around the decade of studies that researchers collaborating with the Medical Research Council (MRC) undertook on the islanders from Tristan da Cunha. In 1961, the volcanic island in the southern Atlantic erupted and the community took refuge in Britain. Believing that the islanders held the secret to good health, the MRC coordinated a research programme through a specially formed Working Party. But as the investigations grew more numerous, so too did the ethical questions. Some doctors, administrators, reporters and the public wondered about the propriety of exposing this community to medical scrutiny. In 1963, the islanders returned home. Investigators, along with ethical issues, followed. Long hidden, these persistent discussions made visible the ethics of medical research on a colonial population. The Working Party’s story thus inserts an imperial dimension into the historiography of post-war British medical ethics.</jats:p

Healthcare workers’ opinions on non-medical criteria for prioritisation of access to care during the pandemic

Abstract Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic generated overflow of healthcare systems in several countries. As the ethical debates focused on prioritisation for access to care with scarce medical resources, numerous recommendations were created. Late 2021, the emergence of the Omicron variant whose transmissibility was identified but whose vaccine sensitivity was still unknown, reactivated debates. Fears of the need to prioritise patients arose, particularly in France. Especially, a debate began about the role of vaccination status in the prioritisation strategy. Material and methods The Ethics Committee (EC) of the University Hospital of Bordeaux (UHB), France, identified prioritisation criteria in the literature (some recommended, such as being a healthcare worker (HCW) or having consented to research, while others were discouraged, such as age with a threshold effect or vaccination status). A survey was sent within the institution in January 2022 to explore frontline physicians' adherence to these prioritisation criteria. The decision making conditions were also surveyed. Results In 15 days, 78/165 (47.3%) frontline physicians responded, and more widely 1286/12946 (9.9%) professionals. A majority of frontline physicians were opposed to prioritising HCWs (54/75, 72%) and even more opposed to participating in research (69/76, 89.6%). Conversely, the results were very balanced for non-recommended criteria (respectively 39/77, 50.7% and 34/69 49.3% in favour for age with a threshold effect and for vaccination status). Decisions were considered to be multi-professional and multi-disciplinary for 65/76, 85.5% and 53/77, 68.8% of frontline physicians. Responders expressed opposition to extending decision-making to representatives of patients, civil society or HCWs not involved in care. Discussion Prioritisation recommendations in case of scarce medical resources were not necessarily approved by the frontline physicians, or by the other HCWs. This questions the way ethical recommendations should be communicated and discussed at a local scale, but it also questions these recommendations themselves. The article also reports the experience of seeking HCWs opinions on a sensitive ethical debate in a period of crisis