Sinergi Ekonomi Islam untuk Menanggulangi Kemiskinan

Masalah kemiskinan ini harus diupayakan penyelesaiannya, sebab jika tidak mampu diselesaikan maka akan menjadi permasalahan yang dapat mengganggu aktivitas perekonomian. Artikel ini membahas tentang bagaimana menanggulangi kemiskinan melalui sinergi ekonomi islam. Ekonomi Islam secara implementatif memiliki tujuan yang sama yaitu bagaimana mensejahterakan msayarakat dan menegakkan keadilan ekonomi. Masing-masing sudah berjalan dan ada pada msayarakat sebagai suatu kenyataan dan jawaban alternatif dari sistem ekonomi kapitalis yang gagal. Tadakhul addauliyah, sangat diperlukan berupa keadaan yang kondusif untuk berkembang, perlindungan dan aturan-aturan yang berpihak pada masyarakat

Predictors of disease worsening defined by progression of organ damage in diffuse systemic sclerosis: a European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) analysis.

Objectives Mortality and worsening of organ function are desirable endpoints for clinical trials in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The aim of this study was to identify factors that allow enrichment of patients with these endpoints, in a population of patients from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research group database. Methods Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of diffuse SSc and follow-up over 12\ub13 months. Disease worsening/organ progression was fulfilled if any of the following events occurred: new renal crisis; decrease of lung or heart function; new echocardiography-suspected pulmonary hypertension or death. In total, 42 clinical parameters were chosen as predictors for the analysis by using (1) imputation of missing data on the basis of multivariate imputation and (2) least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression. Results Of 1451 patients meeting the inclusion criteria, 706 had complete data on outcome parameters and were included in the analysis. Of the 42 outcome predictors, eight remained in the final regression model. There was substantial evidence for a strong association between disease progression and age, active digital ulcer (DU), lung fibrosis, muscle weakness and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) level. Active DU, CRP elevation, lung fibrosis and muscle weakness were also associated with a significantly shorter time to disease progression. A bootstrap validation step with 10 000 repetitions successfully validated the model. Conclusions The use of the predictive factors presented here could enable cohort enrichment with patients at risk for overall disease worsening in SSc clinical trial

Complementary PET studies of striatal neuronal function in the differential diagnosis between multiple system atrophy and Parkinson's disease

We used PET with the tracers [F-18]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), [F-18]fluorodopa (FDOPA) and [C-11]raclopride (RACLO) to study striatal glucose and dopa metabolism, and dopamine D-2 receptor binding, respectively, in nine patients with multiple system atrophy. Ten patients with classical Parkinson's disease were investigated with the same three PET tracers' and three separate groups, each of 10 healthy subjects, sewed as control populations. We found that striatal FDOPA values separated all healthy subjects from patients with parkinsonism but they were not useful in distinguishing multiple system atrophy from Parkinson's disease. Conversely, striatal RACLO as well as FDG values discriminated all multiple system atrophy from Parkinson's disease patients as well as from healthy control subjects. Metabolic and receptor binding decrements in the putamen of multiple system atrophy patients were significantly correlated Stepwise regression analysis revealed that a linear combination of putamen RACLO and FDOPA values accurately predicted clinical measures of disease severity in the multiple system atrophy group. Our findings suggest that striatal FDG and particularly RACLO are sensitive and effective measures of striatal function and may help characterizing patients with multiple system atrophy. In contrast FDOPA measurements are accurate in detecting abnormalities of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system but may not distinguish among different forms of parkinsonism

Serological pattern \u201canti-HBc alone\u201d : report on a workshop

In areas with low hepatitis B virus (HBV) endemicity such as most parts of Europe and the United States anti-HBc alone is found in 10-20% of all individuals with HBV markers, i.e., 1-4% of the population. In about 10% of these individuals HBV DNA is detected by PCR, the proportions varying greatly depending on the population studied, being highest in individuals coinfected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) (above 35%) and HIV (above 85%). A small proportion of individuals with anti-HBc alone are in the window phase of an HBV infection or in a stage of late HBV immunity. For the large proportion of these individuals this is not the case and they are thought to have an unresolved HBV-infection or a chronic infection in a late or low grade productive state. Currently, limited studies have been performed concerning the clinical aspects of individuals with anti-HBc alone and suspected chronic HBV infection. The majority of these individuals seem to be healthy. Some chronic carriers with anti-HBc alone, however, do present signs of chronic hepatitis. Individuals with anti-HBc alone are potentially infectious. This is exemplified by a few case reports of HBV transmission to sexual contacts, perinatal transmission between mother and newborns and in blood recipients. Recommendations are given in relation to both the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in the individuals with anti-HBc alone and in the blood banking and transplantation services