Diagnosis of liver cirrhosis is essential in the management of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Liver biopsy is invasive and thus entails a risk of complications as well as a potential risk ...of sampling error. Therefore, non-invasive diagnostic tools are preferential. The aim of the present study was to create a model for accurate prediction of liver cirrhosis based on patient characteristics and biomarkers of liver fibrosis, including a panel of non-cholesterol sterols reflecting cholesterol synthesis and absorption and secretion. We evaluated variables with potential predictive significance for liver fibrosis in 278 patients originally included in a multicenter phase III treatment trial for chronic HCV infection. A stepwise multivariate logistic model selection was performed with liver cirrhosis, defined as Ishak fibrosis stage 5-6, as the outcome variable. A new index, referred to as Nordic Liver Index (NoLI) in the paper, was based on the model: Log-odds (predicting cirrhosis) = -12.17+ (age × 0.11) + (BMI (kg/m(2)) × 0.23) + (D7-lathosterol (μg/100 mg cholesterol)×(-0.013)) + (Platelet count (x10(9)/L) × (-0.018)) + (Prothrombin-INR × 3.69). The area under the ROC curve (AUROC) for prediction of cirrhosis was 0.91 (95% CI 0.86-0.96). The index was validated in a separate cohort of 83 patients and the AUROC for this cohort was similar (0.90; 95% CI: 0.82-0.98). In conclusion, the new index may complement other methods in diagnosing cirrhosis in patients with chronic HCV infection.
The article delves into a detailed comparative legal analysis of the requirement of fixation of an extempore speech and the test of originality for its record in English and Indian copyright ...jurisprudence. While a mere verbatim transcription or audio record of an extempore speech may entitle a reporter to claim copyright protection in UK, the same is not true in India. As per Indian law, the reporter is required to expend intellectual skill and judgement sufficient to lend minimal degree of creativity in substantively differentiating his written record from the speech. Indian Copyright law, unlike UK's law, also requires the reporter to obtain prior authorization from the speaker to transcribe or audio-record his speech. In essence therefore, the article highlights how English copyright law is much more lenient than its Indian counterpart in providing copyright protection even for a minimal effort on part of the reporter.
This study analyses the elements of a fair trial in the context of IP proceedings, comparing between procedural safeguards available in Jordan and the UK (especially England and Wales). Obligations ...between states at the international and regional level are analysed, along with their implications at the national level in the UK and Jordan, linked to the EU through the Euro-Med Association Agreement with Jordan. The international human rights instruments provide a common framework in accordance with TRIPS provisions interpreted could bridge the gaps that may arise between the British and Jordanian Jurisdictions. The study uses doctrinal comparative and qualitative methods to examine these issues and also the relation between criminal and other methods of enforcement - civil and administrative. Use of criminal procedures may significantly reduce the costs of lengthy civil litigation, and be in the public interest and the interest of all parties. Finally, recommendations are made for Jordan mainly.
Cities damaged by devastating earthquakes are exposed to dust pollution during a long-term period of reconstruction and liquidation of calamity-caused consequences. For the first time after a ...catastrophic earthquake of December 1988, a complex research of atmospheric dust was initiated for city of Gyumri. The research goal was revealing peculiarities of spatial distribution of dust and associated heavy metals and assessing health risk to local population. Measurements of dust content in near-surface atmospheric air and dust load levels were done on 25–31 August 2013. Dust content was assessed with application of a portable aspirator АВА-1-120-02А. A dust load level assessment was done using tree leaves as the best natural dust filters. A negative correlation was established between dust load and dust content which is seen in spatial distribution of dust load levels and dust contents. The following six out of seven studied heavy metals were detected in dust: Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, and Mo, except Cd. Mean concentrations of all the detected metals exceeded geochemical background by 1.1–5.0 times. The level of summary pollution of dust was low on the entire area of the city; priority pollutants were Cr and Zn. A summary load of heavy metals varied widely. The highest values were detected along major motorways. The maximal share in the summary load of heavy metals belonged to Zn and Pb. Medium and high levels of carcinogenic risk were established only for Cr and Ni, respectively.
The release of the Marland Report in 1972 is often described as a watershed moment in the field of gifted education and remains a touchstone for the field today. The report presented the federal ...government's formal definition of giftedness and outlined the unique learning needs of gifted students and the challenges faced by these students in U.S. schools. This article presents an examination of the goals and outcomes set forth in the Marland Report, the context within which the report evolved, and lessons learned, which can lead to an improved understanding of this legislation and the state of the field today. Author abstract
In the 1960s several hundred structural response recorders (SRR) were installed all over India. An SRR is a simple instrument consisting of six seismoscopes that provide “maximum response” during an ...earthquake, without providing the time history. In the past earthquakes, these SRRs have provided several hundred records but they have not been effectively utilized for hazard studies because the measurements from these instruments are considered crude. This paper compares the data obtained from SRRs with that from more modern strong-motion accelerographs (SMAs) for four earthquakes in India. It is shown through statistical analysis that the response obtained from the SRRs is comparable to that from the SMAs. A method has been presented for estimating peak ground acceleration (PGA) from SRR data. Thus, it is shown that SRRs can provide a substantial amount of PGA data for attenuation studies. Many countries may find SRRs useful because of the low costs associated with their manufacture and maintenance.
George Grant Forbes, H. Donald
George Grant,
c2007, 20070915, 2007, 2007-01-01
eBook
Comprehensive and lucidly written,George Grant: A Guide to His Thoughtis an invaluable resource for students, general readers, and academic specialists alike.
We examined the risk of hearing loss for workers who use hand-held vibrating tools with vibration-induced white fingers (VWF) compared to workers without VWF.
Data on 184 participants from a 21-year ...cohort were gathered with questionnaires and measurements. The effects on hearing status of VWF, hand-arm vibration exposure, smoking habits, age and two-way interactions of these independent variables were examined with binary logistic regression. Analyses were made for the right hand and ear as well as for the hand with VWF and the ear with worse categorized hearing status.
Workers with VWF in their right hand had an increased risk of hearing loss (odds ratio 2.2-2.3) in the right ear. Workers with VWF in any hand did not have any increased risk of hearing loss in the ear with worse hearing status.
This study supports the hypothesis that VWF increases the risk of hearing loss among workers who use hand-held vibrating tools in a noisy environment.
How do people make sense of their world in the face of the breakneck speed of contemporary social change? Through the lives and narratives of eight women, The Melodrama of Mobility chronicles South ...Korea's experience of just such dizzyingly rapid development. Abelmann captures the mood, feeling, and language of a generation and an era while providing a rare window on the personal and social struggles of South Korean modernity. Drawing also from television soap operas and films, she argues that a melodramatic sensibility speaks to South Korea's transformation because it preserves the tension and ambivalence of daily life in unsettled times. The melodramatic mode helps people to wonder: Can individuals be blamed for their social fates? How should we live? Who can say who is good or bad? By combining the ethnographic tools of anthropology, an engagement with prevailing sociological questions, and a literary approach to personal narratives, The Melodrama of Mobility offers a rich portrait of the experience of compressed modernity in the non-West.
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