Delimitatin of the Seaward Extent of United States Jurisdiction over the Mineral Resources of its Continental Shelf

This thesis provides a seaward delimitation of United States jurisdiction over the mineral resources of its continental shelf. It does not set lateral maritime boundaries between the United States and its neighbors. Despite the abundance of literature regarding the continental shelf concept, United States shelf limits have not been demarcated in any precise detail. In order to encourage efficient utilization of offshore mineral resources and to avoid unnecessary legal problems, such determination is important. Initially, the conflicting conceptions of the geological and legal continental shelf are discussed. The evolution of the continental shelf as both a physical feature of the earth\u27s crust and a legal political doctrine is traced through the first three chapters. The fourth chapter examines the current definition of the continental shelf in detail, suggesting amendments and revisions where found necessary

The Effects of Nutrition Package Claims, Nutrition Facts Panels, and Motivation to Process Nutrition Information on Consumer Product Evaluations

In a laboratory experiment using a between-subjects design, the authors examine the effects on nutrition and product evaluations of nutrition claims made (e.g., 99% fat free; low in calories ) on a product package, product nutrition value levels, and enduring motivation to process nutrition information. Enduring motivation is shown to moderate the effects of product nutrition value on consumer evaluations. Also, nutrition claims interact with product nutrition value in affecting consumer perceptions of manufacturer credibility. Given the availability of nutrient levels in the Nutrition Facts panel on the back of the mock package, nutrition claims on the front of the package generally did not affect positively consumers\u27 overall product and purchase intention evaluations. The authors discuss some implications of these findings, suggestions for further research, and study limitations

Earnings Management in the Charitable Sector: A Canadian Study

This article examines whether charitable organizations use discretionary accruals to manage their surplus or deficit. Linear regression was used to analyze the financial data of a broad sample of Canadian charitable organizations. Results showed that discretionary accruals were used to manage these income figures. This approach is compounded by the magnitude of grants, public benefit, and leverage. The results hold whether the charity anticipates a surplus or a deficit, but not if it displays a high level of public benefit. In that case, charities with an anticipated surplus increase their use of discretionary accruals to decrease earnings, whereas charities that anticipate a deficit are not inclined to manage their deficit toward zero. This study complements prior literature on nonprofits and shows that even though tax laws differ among countries, charity managers in various contexts are motivated to manage earnings and are influenced by various factors in doing so

The internationalization of National Biomechanics Day

National Biomechanics Day (NBD) was initiated in 2016 as a nation-wide effort to introduce Biomechanics to high school students throughout the United States. After that initial year, many people around the world joined NBD to promote Biomechanics in their own countries. National Biomechanics Day became international. We describe NBD procedures and events in four of these countries with the intent of demonstrating mechanisms that may enable Biomechanists around the world to successfully join the NBD celebration

Early Health Economic Modeling of Novel Therapeutics in Age-Related Hearing Loss

Background: Health systems face challenges to accelerate access to innovations that add value and avoid those unlikely to do so. This is very timely to the field of age-related sensorineural hearing loss (ARHL), where a significant unmet market need has been identified and sizeable investments made to promote the development of novel hearing therapeutics (NT). This study aims to apply health economic modeling to inform the development of cost-effective NT. Methods: We developed a decision-analytic model to assess the potential costs and effects of using regenerative NT in patients ≥50 with ARHL. This was compared to the current standard of care including hearing aids and cochlear implants. Input data was collected from systematic literature searches and expert opinion. A UK NHS healthcare perspective was adopted. Three different but related analyses were performed using probabilistic modeling: (1) headroom analysis, (2) scenario analyses, and (3) threshold analyses. Results: The headroom analysis shows an incremental net monetary benefit (iNMB) of £20,017[£11,299–£28,737] compared to the standard of care due to quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) gains and cost savings. Higher therapeutic efficacy and access for patients with all degrees of hearing loss yields higher iNMBs. Threshold analyses shows that the ceiling price of the therapeutic increases with more severe degrees of hearing loss. Conclusion: NT for ARHL are potentially cost-effective under current willingness-to-pay (WTP) thresholds with considerable room for improvement in the current standard of care pathway. Our model can be used to help decision makers decide which therapeutics represent value for money and are worth commissioning, thereby paving the way for urgently needed NT

Effectiveness of Multidrug Antiretroviral Regimens to Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV-1 in Routine Public Health Services in Cameroon

International audienceBACKGROUND: Multidrug antiretroviral (ARV) regimens including HAART and short-course dual antiretroviral (sc-dARV) regimens were introduced in 2004 to improve Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) in Cameroon. We assessed the effectiveness of these regimens from 6-10 weeks and 12 months of age, respectively. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study covering the period from October 2004 to March 2008 in a reference hospital in Cameroon. HIV-positive pregnant women with CD4 or = 37 weeks, women received sd-NVP during labour [regimen 4]. Infants received sd-NVP plus ZDV and 3TC for 7 days or 30 days. Early diagnosis (6-10 weeks) was done, using b-DNA and subsequently RT-PCR. We determined early MTCT rate and associated risk factors using logistic regression. The 12-month HIV-free survival was assessed using Cox regression. Among 418 mothers, 335 (80%) received multidrug ARV regimens (1, 2, and 3) and MTCT rate with multidrug regimens was 6.6% [95%CI: 4.3-9.6] at 6 weeks, without any significant difference between regimens. Duration of mother's ARV regimen < 4 weeks [OR = 4.7, 95%CI: 1.3-17.6], mother's CD4 < 350 cells/mm(3) [OR = 6.4, 95%CI: 1.8-22.5] and low birth weight [OR = 4.0, 95%CI: 1.4-11.3] were associated with early MTCT. By 12 months, mixed feeding [HR = 8.7, 95%CI: 3.6-20.6], prematurity [HR = 2.3, 95%CI: 1.2-4.3] and low birth weight were associated with children's risk of progressing to infection or death. CONCLUSIONS: Multidrug ARV regimens for PMTCT are feasible and effective in routine reference hospital. Early initiation of ARV during pregnancy and proper obstetrical care are essential to improve PMTCT

Determinants of retention in care in an antiretroviral therapy (ART) program in urban Cameroon, 2003-2005

Background: Retention in long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) program remains a major challenge for effective management of HIV infected people in sub-Saharan Africa. Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) discontinuation raises concerns about drug resistance and could negate much of the benefit sought by ART programs. Methods: Based on existing patient records, we assessed determinants of retention in HIV care among HIV patients enrolled in an urban ART at two urban hospitals in Cameroon. Extended Cox regression  procedures were used to identify significant predictors of retention in HIV care. Results: Of 455 patients, 314 (69%) were women, median (IQR) age and baseline CD4 cell count were respectively 36 years (30 – 43) and 110 cells/μL (39 – 177). Forty patients (9%) had active tuberculosis (TB) at enrollment. After a median (IQR) follow-up of 18 months (10–18), 346 (75%) were still in care, 8 (2%) were known dead, and 101 (22%) were lost to follow-up (LFU). Severe immunosuppression (CD4 cell count ≤ 50 cells/μL) at baseline (aHR 2.3; 95% CI 1.4 - 3.7) and active tuberculosis upon enrollment (aHR 1.8; 95% CI 1.0 - 3.6) were independent predictors of cohort losses to follow-up within the first 6 months after HAART initiation. Conclusion: These data suggest that three-quarter of HIV patients initiated on HAART remained in care and on HAART by 18 months; however, those with compromised immunologic status at treatment initiation, and those co-infected with TB were at increased risk for being lost to follow-up within thefirst 6 months on treatment. Keywords: HIV, HAART, low income country, retention in care, loss to follow-up, cohort studies, Cameroon, sub-Sahara Afric