Factors influencing between-laboratory variability of C-reactive protein results as evidenced by the Belgian External Quality Assessment(EQA) Scheme29

Based on results from the Belgian External Quality Assessment (EQA) Scheme, we studied the main factors affecting the between-laboratory variation of C-reactive protein determination. Participants using homogeneous systems with several calibration points generally achieved better performance. Working temperatures influenced the results to a lesser extent. The present study stresses the importance for EQA organizers to collect more detailed information about CRP analytical methods used by the participants. It also suggests that manufacturers should be more involved in the management of quality, in particular by striving for standardization of the material (kit and calibrator) they produce for CRP assay</p

Factors influencing between-laboratory variability of C-reactive protein results as evidenced by the Belgian External Quality Assessement (EQA) Scheme

Based on results from the Belgian External Quality Assessment (EQA) Scheme, we studied the main factors affecting the between-laboratory variation of C-reactive protein determination. Participants using homogeneous systems with several calibration points generally achieved better performance. Working temperatures influenced the results to a lesser extent. The present study stresses the importance for EQA organizers to collect more detailed information about CRP analytical methods used by the participants. It also suggests that manufacturers should be more involved in the management of quality, in particular by striving for standardization of the material (kit and calibrator) they produce for CRP assay

Wet combing for head lice: feasibility in mass screening, treatment preference and outcome

There is no scientific consensus on the best way to control head louse infestation in schoolchildren. A study was conducted to test the feasibility and acceptability of a screening campaign by wet combing and a community approach to head-louse control with home visits, and to explore parents' treatment preferences and treatment outcomes. A non-controlled intervention (advice on treatment options offered to all positive children) was nested within an epidemiological prevalence study. All children in three primary schools in Ghent, Belgium, were invited to take part in screening by wet combing (n=677, 3-11 years). Positive children were offered structural treatment advice, a home visit on day 7, and a check by wet combing on day 14. 83% of the children were screened. The prevalence of active infestation (living moving lice) was 13.0% in school 1 and 19.5% in school 3. In school 2, prevalence of signs of active and past infestation was 40.7%. A home visit was made to 58% of the positive children. 85% of the positive children were screened again on day 14. Wet combing was the most widely used treatment, followed by chemical treatment and a combination of the two. In school 1 and 3 51% were cured, and in school 2 24% became nit-free. A wet combing screening campaign and a community-oriented approach to head-louse control is feasible though resource-intensive. The prevalence of head lice was high and the cure rate was low, with either topical treatments or wet combing

Staging female creatives in French Caribbean women’s theatre

This chapter addresses the experiences of black female creatives as depicted in plays by Caribbean women writers: Maryse Condé’s Pension les alizés (1988), and Gerty Dambury’s Trames (2008) and Des doutes et des errances (2014). The plays analyzed here depict female characters as artists, writers or even performers, who attempt to reconcile everyday life, relationships and their creative work. Condé and Dambury stage the obstacles relating to race and gender discrimination their characters face, but also how these women transcend stereotypes and strive for a new form of creative expression. The analysis demonstrates how, for the black female creatives in the plays studied, the issue of authority is twofold. On the one hand, they confront institutional and societal authorities that confine them to rigid gendered and racial categories. On the other, the black female artist in these plays also transcends those restrictive categories to impose her own artistic authority