Ten Federal Circuit Cases from 2009 that Veterans Benefits Attorneys Should Know

The Federal Circuit is the highest court to which veterans can appeal by right for benefits. In 2009, the Federal Circuit decided eighty-seven veterans cases (twelve percent of its overall docket). Twenty-six of those decisions were precedential opinions. There are approximately 23.4 million veterans in the United States, more than three million of whom receive disability compensation. And with two ongoing wars, plans to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps, and recent legislation impacting the veterans claims process, the Federal Circuit will likely see an increase in veterans cases in the coming years. Part I of this article summarizes the eligibility criteria for veterans benefits and the process by which a veteran’s claim reaches the Federal Circuit. Part II explains the jurisdiction of the Federal Circuit with respect to veterans cases. Part III analyzes one Supreme Court and nine Federal Circuit cases from 2009 that are important to veterans benefits practitioners. These cases address, inter alia, issues that arise from the Department of Veterans Affairs’s duty to assist veterans with their claims, whether veterans have a Fifth Amendment due process right to a claim for benefits, equitable tolling of the deadlines for appealing benefits decisions, and the retroactive assignment of disability ratings

A low-cost, community knowledge approach to estimate maternal and jaundice-associated mortality in rural Bangladesh

Copyright © 2018 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. In the absence of a civil registration system, a house-to-house survey is often used to estimate cause-specific mortality in low- and middle-income countries. However, house-to-house surveys are resource and time intensive. We applied a low-cost community knowledge approach to identify maternal deaths from any cause and jaundice-associated deaths among persons aged 3 14 years, and stillbirths and neonatal deaths in mothers with jaundice during pregnancy in five rural communities in Bangladesh. We estimated the method’s sensitivity and cost savings compared with a house-to-house survey. In the five communities with a total of 125,570 population, we identified 13 maternal deaths, 60 deaths among persons aged 3 14 years associated with jaundice, five neonatal deaths, and four stillbirths born to a mother with jaundice during pregnancy over the 3-year period before the survey using the community knowledge approach. The sensitivity of community knowledge method in identifying target deaths ranged from 80% for neonatal deaths to 100% for stillbirths and maternal deaths. The community knowledge approach required 36% of the staff time to undertake compared with the house-to-house survey. The community knowledge approach was less expensive but highly sensitive in identifying maternal and jaundice-associated mortality, as well as all-cause adult mortality in rural settings in Bangladesh. This method can be applied in rural settings of other low- and middle-income countries and, in conjunction with hospital-based hepatitis diagnoses, used to monitor the impact of programs to reduce the burden of cause-specific hepatitis mortality, a current World Health Organization priority

Neutron and X-ray powder diffraction data to determine the structural properties of novel layered perovskite PrSrMn2O5+δ

The data presented in this article are related to the formation of a novel layered perovskite oxide material, PrSrMn2O5+δ, through a solid-state synthesis route. Here, we present the high-resolution neutron powder diffraction and the X-ray powder diffraction data at room temperature. The new perovskite material crystallizes in the orthorhombic symmetry. Interpretation of this data can be found in a research article titled “Insight of novel layered perovskite PrSrMn2O5+δ: A neutron powder diffraction study” (Shammya et al., 2019) [1]

PATTERNS OF PRESCRIPTION AND ANTIBIOTIC USE AMONG OUTPATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL OF BANGLADESH

Objective: Irrational drug use increased the risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), the emergence of drug resistance and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The study was designed to analyse prescription patterns and antibiotic use among outpatients in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Bangladesh.Methods: This prospective survey was conducted among the out-patients in a district hospital. The prescribed drugs were classified according to Anatomical and Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system. Patient characteristics and drug data were recorded. The prescription pattern was analysed using general drug use indicators according to world health organisation (WHO).Results: A total of 405 prescriptions were analyzed of which 54% of child and 46% of adult prescriptions. The age and body weight of the patients were not mentioned in 30% of child and 62% of adult prescriptions and none of the prescriptions included sex of the patients. Physician's handwriting was not clear and legible in 31% prescriptions. A total 1362 drugs were used in this study with an average 3.36 drugs per prescription. However, none of the drugs was prescribed in generic name. Children were highly exposed to antibiotics (66%) than to adults (44%) of which cephalosporin's (30%) and macrolides (14%) were commonly used. Interestingly, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were also highly accounted in children (53%) than to adults (36%).Conclusion: Our results suggested that the prescription information was incomplete and physicians did not follow the standard guideline for drug treatment resulting in polypharmacy and indiscriminate use of antimicrobials irrespective to the age of patients

Corporate governance and MNE strategies in emerging economies

We explore factors of convergence and divergence in corporate governance of emerging and developed market economies, focussing on the role of firm internationalisation. In particular, foreign investments by emerging economy firms led to upgrade of their governance capabilities. These firms also became advocates for home-country policy reforms that mandated the development of similar capabilities for local firms. We present a broad overview of the literature and propose an approach that considers the evolution of corporate governance, both at the national level and the firm level, with MNEs from both emerging market economies and developed economies as active actors in this process

Raw sap consumption habits and its association with knowledge of nipah virus in two endemic districts in Bangladesh

Human Nipah virus (NiV) infection in Bangladesh is a fatal disease that can be transmitted from bats to humans who drink contaminated raw date palm sap collected overnight during the cold season. Our study aimed to understand date palm sap consumption habits of rural residents and factors associated with consumption. In November-December 2012 the field team interviewed adult respondents from randomly selected villages from Rajbari and Kushtia Districts in Bangladesh. We calculated the proportion of people who consumed raw sap and had heard about a disease from raw sap consumption. We assessed the factors associated with raw sap consumption by calculating prevalence ratios (PR) adjusted for village level clustering effects. Among the 1,777 respondents interviewed, half (50%) reported drinking raw sap during the previous sap collection season and 37% consumed raw sap at least once per month. Few respondents (5%) heard about NiV. Thirty-seven percent of respondents reported hearing about a disease transmitted through raw sap consumption, inclusive of a 10% who related it with milder illness like diarrhea, vomiting or indigestion rather than NiV. Respondents who harvested date palm trees in their household were more likely to drink sap than those who did not own date palm trees (79% vs. 65% PR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.3, p<0.001). When sap was available, respondents who heard about a disease from raw sap consumption were just as likely to drink it as those who did not hear about a disease (69% vs. 67%, PR 1.0, 95% CI 0.9-1.1, p = 0.512). Respondents' knowledge of NiV was low. They might not have properly understood the risk of NiV, and were likely to drink sap when it was available. Implementing strategies to increase awareness about the risks of NiV and protect sap from bats might reduce the risk of NiV transmission

Insight of novel layered perovskite PrSrMn2O5+δ: A neutron powder diffraction study

Neutron diffraction is very important to characterizing complex oxide materials, especially for the light element position and occupancy. In this study, a new layered perovskite oxide material, PrSrMn2O5+δ, was prepared by the solid-state reaction method and characterized by using X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. X-ray diffraction data showed that the material adopted orthorhombic symmetry and Rietveld refinement of the neutron diffraction data gave accurate unit cell parameters (a = 3.8907 (1) \uc5, b = 3.8227 (1) \uc5, and c = 7.6846 (2) \uc5, atomic positions and space group (Pmmm)). Scanning electron microscopy showed a porous and interlinked microstructure. Thermogravimetric analysis exhibited two-stage weight losses up to 1000 \ub0C from room temperature, indicating a good amount of oxygen losses and high material stability