4,777 research outputs found
The SF-36: a simple, effective measure of mobility disability for epidemiological studies
No full textBackgroundMobility disability is a major problem in older people. Numerous scales exist for the measurement of disability but often these do not permit comparisons between study groups. The physical functioning (PF) domain of the established and widely used Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire asks about limitations on ten mobility activities.ObjectivesTo describe prevalence of mobility disability in an elderly population, investigate the validity of the SF-36 PF score as a measure of mobility disability, and to establish age and sex specific norms for the PF score.MethodsWe explored relationships between the SF-36 PF score and objectively measured physical performance variables among 349 men and 280 women, 59-72 years of age, who participated in the Hertfordshire Cohort Study (HCS). Normative data were derived from the Health Survey for England (HSE) 1996.Results32% of men and 46% of women had at least some limitation in PF scale items. Poor SF-36 PF scores (lowest fifth of the gender-specific distribution) were related to: lower grip strength; longer timed-up-and-go, 3m walk, and chair rises test times in men and women; and lower quadriceps peak torque in women but not men. HSE normative data showed that median PF scores declined with increasing age in men and women.ConclusionOur results are consistent with the SF-36 PF score being a valid measure of mobility disability in epidemiological studies. This approach might be a first step towards enabling simple comparisons of prevalence of mobility disability between different studies of older people. The SF-36 PF score could usefully complement existing detailed schemes for classification of disability and it now requires validation against them
Anatectic amphibole and restitic garnet in Variscan migmatite from NE Sardinia, Italy: insights into partial melting from mineral trace elements
No full textWe report results of a laser-ICP-MS investigation of trace element contents in the main constituent minerals of an amphibolebearing
migmatite from the Variscan orogen in northeastern Sardinia. The migmatite is associated with migmatised orthogneiss and Alsilicate-
bearing pelitic migmatites. The protolith of the amphibole-bearing migmatite was a mid-Ordovician igneous rock of intermediate
composition characterised by a biotite þ plagioclase þ quartz assemblage. The migmatite consists of mesosomes and tonalitic (or, less
frequently, granodioritic) leucosomes, characterised by amphibole crystals (potassian ferropargasite) up to 2 cm in size. The tonalitic
leucosomes aremade up of quartz, plagioclase,K-feldspar, biotite,amphibole, garnet. The mesosomes are foliated rocks made up of the
same minerals with different modal proportions. In leucosomes, amphibole is the most abundant mafic mineral, occurring as euhedral
crystals rich in plagioclase, quartz, and small garnet inclusions. Garnet occurs as corroded and fractured grains in the matrix or within the
amphibole. Zircon forms euhedral bipyramidal grains up to a few hundreds of micrometres in size. Some amphibole rims have higher REE
and negative Eu anomalieswhereas cores exhibit lower REE and positive Eu anomalies. Garnet has strongly fractionated REE patterns with
chondrite-normalised abundances up to 2000 for HREE. Plagioclase has flat REE patterns with pronounced positive Eu anomalies. Zircon
displays fractionated REE patterns with HREE enrichment, LREE depletion, positive anomalies for Ce and negative ones for Eu.Monazite
shows high REE abundances, LREE enrichment, HREE depletion and negative Eu anomalies. Garnet is mostly a restitic phase, as indicated
by significant variation inHREEconcentrations between grains in themesosome, the absence of a noticeableEu anomaly, andYdepletion in
the leucosomes as compared to the mesosomes. In the leucosomes and mesosomes, the cores of zoned amphibole are characterised by
positive Eu anomalies: these crystallised from or in the presence of melt produced by anatexis of the original Bt þ Pl þ Qtz protolith.
Adjacent rimswith negative Eu-anomalies developed in coexistencewith a Eu-depleted melt that had experienced plagioclase fractionatio
Borrowing Foley v. Interactive Data Corp. to Finance Lender Liability Claims
No full textThe reaches of the California Supreme Court decision in Foley v. Interactive Data Corp. have yet to be explored, but the decision has serious implications for commercial contract claims of tortious breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Defendants\u27 attorneys argue that the Foley court\u27s refusal to recognize the tort of breach of the covenant in wrongful termination cases precludes the use of that tort in all commercial contracts except insurance contracts. On the other hand, plaintiffs\u27 attorneys point to the unique characteristics of the employer-employee relationship to distinguish that relationship from the relationships formed in certain commercial contract settings. This Note takes a different approach to the Foley decision, incorporating some of the plaintiffs\u27 and defendants\u27 arguments. It suggests that Foley\u27s method of determining whether the tort of breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing should exist outside the insurance contract context provides the framework for analyzing whether the tort should exist in other commercial settings. In particular, this Note applies the Foley analysis to lender liability cases. The Note proposes that, under the Foley analysis, certain circumstances exist in which lenders and borrowers are in such unequal bargaining positions that tort damages are warranted for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. To avoid inequitable and enormous money damages awarded by juries sympathetic to borrowers, however, the Note suggests a cap on the amount of tort damages available. The Note concludes that the allowance of the tort with a cap on damages would be a valuable step toward equalizing the bargaining powers of lenders and borrowers
Life after Foley: The Future of Wrongful Discharge Litigation
No full textUntil recently, wrongful discharge suits could be based on at least three theories: retaliatory discharge in violation of an important public policy, bad faith discharge, and breach of contract for firing without good cause. Based on the first two theories a plaintiff could, and in a few well-publicized cases did, get substantial tort damages. The California Supreme Court\u27s decision in Foley v. Interactive Data Corporation may have changed all of that by eliminating tort damages for wrongful discharge except in situations when an employee is discharged in violation of an important public policy. At the same time, the court may have made it easier for a plaintiff to prove an implied promise not to fire without good cause. This Article considers the possible effects of Foley on wrongful discharge cases. Will the decision stem the flow of wrongful discharge filings? How much of a difference, in dollars, will result from switching from tort to contract? The Article attempts to answer these questions and concludes by suggesting ways in which employee\u27s lawyers may offset Foley\u27s effects by finding independent torts based on employer wrong-doing to support claims of emotional distress and punitive damages
SF Gospel: Blog contents, 2006-2015
No full textSF Gospel (2006-2015) was a blog exploring religious and theological themes in science fiction and popular culture by Gabriel Mckee, author of The Gospel According to Science Fiction. The primary PDF contains the textual content of the blog, along with most images that accompanied the original posts. The appendix PDF contains guest posts written by Mckee for other blogs and websites (including SF Signal, Holy Heroes, Nerve.com, and Religion Dispatches) during the course of SF Gospel's existence
Additional Files for Master Thesis "Framing Diets for Policy to Fight Climate Change"
No full textAdditional files for Master Thesis "Framing Diets for Policy to Fight Climate Change: Using video messages to measure the effect of goal framing on attitudes and intentions to reduce beef and dairy consumption to fight climate change"
Datasets
Intervention Framed Videos
Written within the M.Sc. Public Policy and Human Development at Maastricht University MGSoG/UNU-MERIT
Author: Sten Ritterfeld
Supervisor: Michelle González Amador
Submission date: July 12, 202
Life after Foley: The Future of Wrongful Discharge Litigation
No full textUntil recently, wrongful discharge suits could be based on at least three theories: retaliatory discharge in violation of an important public policy, bad faith discharge, and breach of contract for firing without good cause. Based on the first two theories a plaintiff could, and in a few well-publicized cases did, get substantial tort damages. The California Supreme Court\u27s decision in Foley v. Interactive Data Corporation may have changed all of that by eliminating tort damages for wrongful discharge except in situations when an employee is discharged in violation of an important public policy. At the same time, the court may have made it easier for a plaintiff to prove an implied promise not to fire without good cause. This Article considers the possible effects of Foley on wrongful discharge cases. Will the decision stem the flow of wrongful discharge filings? How much of a difference, in dollars, will result from switching from tort to contract? The Article attempts to answer these questions and concludes by suggesting ways in which employee\u27s lawyers may offset Foley\u27s effects by finding independent torts based on employer wrong-doing to support claims of emotional distress and punitive damages
Borrowing Foley v. Interactive Data Corp. to Finance Lender Liability Claims
No full textThe reaches of the California Supreme Court decision in Foley v. Interactive Data Corp. have yet to be explored, but the decision has serious implications for commercial contract claims of tortious breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Defendants\u27 attorneys argue that the Foley court\u27s refusal to recognize the tort of breach of the covenant in wrongful termination cases precludes the use of that tort in all commercial contracts except insurance contracts. On the other hand, plaintiffs\u27 attorneys point to the unique characteristics of the employer-employee relationship to distinguish that relationship from the relationships formed in certain commercial contract settings. This Note takes a different approach to the Foley decision, incorporating some of the plaintiffs\u27 and defendants\u27 arguments. It suggests that Foley\u27s method of determining whether the tort of breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing should exist outside the insurance contract context provides the framework for analyzing whether the tort should exist in other commercial settings. In particular, this Note applies the Foley analysis to lender liability cases. The Note proposes that, under the Foley analysis, certain circumstances exist in which lenders and borrowers are in such unequal bargaining positions that tort damages are warranted for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. To avoid inequitable and enormous money damages awarded by juries sympathetic to borrowers, however, the Note suggests a cap on the amount of tort damages available. The Note concludes that the allowance of the tort with a cap on damages would be a valuable step toward equalizing the bargaining powers of lenders and borrowers
Additional Files for Master Thesis "Framing Diets for Policy to Fight Climate Change"
No full textAdditional files for Master Thesis "Framing Diets for Policy to Fight Climate Change: Using video messages to measure the effect of goal framing on attitudes and intentions to reduce beef and dairy consumption to fight climate change"
Datasets
Intervention Framed Videos
Written within the M.Sc. Public Policy and Human Development at Maastricht University MGSoG/UNU-MERIT
Author: Sten Ritterfeld
Supervisor: Michelle González Amador
Submission date: July 12, 202
Systematic investigation of gastrointestinal diseases in China (SILC): validation of survey methodology
No full textBackground: Symptom-based surveys suggest that the prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases is lower in China than in Western countries. The aim of this study was to validate a methodology for the epidemiological investigation of gastrointestinal symptoms and endoscopic findings in China. Methods: A randomized, stratified, multi-stage sampling methodology was used to select 18 000 adults aged 18-80 years from Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, Wuhan and Guangzhou. Participants from Shanghai were invited to provide blood samples and undergo upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. All participants completed Chinese versions of the Reflux Disease Questionnaire (RDQ) and the modified Rome II questionnaire; 20% were also invited to complete the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). The psychometric properties of the questionnaires were evaluated statistically. Results: The study was completed by 16 091 individuals (response rate: 89.4%), with 3219 (89.4% of those invited) completing the SF-36 and ESS. All 3153 participants in Shanghai provided blood samples and 1030 (32.7%) underwent endoscopy. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.89, 0.89, 0.80 and 0.91, respectively, for the RDQ, modified Rome II questionnaire, ESS and SF-36, supporting internal consistency. Factor analysis supported construct validity of all questionnaire dimensions except SF-36 psychosocial dimensions. Conclusion: This population-based study has great potential to characterize the relationship between gastrointestinal symptoms and endoscopic findings in China.Xiaoyan Yan, Rui Wang, Yanfang Zhao, Xiuqiang Ma, Jiqian Fang, Hong Yan, Xiaoping Kang, Ping Yin, Yuantao Hao, Qiang Li, John Dent, Joseph Sung, Duowu Zou, Saga Johansson, Katarina Halling, Wenbin Liu and Jia H
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