Summary of State Drywall, Inc. v. Rhodes Design & Dev., 122 Nev. Adv. Op. 11

State Drywall Inc. (“State Drywall”) appealed the district court’s order awarding Rhodes Design & Development (“Rhodes”) its attorney fees and costs in a breach of contract action pursuant to the cost-shifting provisions of NRCP 68(g) and NRS 17.115(5). State Drywall successfully argued that the district court should have awarded prejudgment interest on the two payments that Rhodes made before trial but after litigation had commenced, and added that prejudgment interest to the judgment awarded in making the comparison to the offer of judgment under NRCP 68(g) and NRS 17.115(5)

Statins for hemodialysis patients with diabetes? Long-term follow-up endorses the original conclusions of the 4D Study

The clinical benefits of statins in dialysis patients are unproven. New follow-up data from the 4D Study indicate no clear reduction in cardiovascular events among patients with type-2 diabetes. Assessing outcomes 7.4 years beyond the randomization period (20 mg atorvastatin versus placebo), no differences in a composite cardiovascular outcome were observed and no safety concerns emerged. Current Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines do not need updating based on these new data

Arbeit, Technik und Betriebsgröße als Einflußfaktoren für die Beschäftigungswirkungen von Arbeitszeitverkürzungen

"Die häufig vertretene These, die Limitationalität im Einsatzverhältnis von Sachkapital und Arbeit bzw. die Unteilbarkeit von Anlagen würde in der industriellen Fertigung positive Beschäftigungseffekte von Arbeitszeitverkürzungen weitgehend verhindern, erweist sich als relativierungsbedürftig. Auf der Basis empirischer Untersuchungen kann gezeigt werden, daß im Bereich repetitiver Produktionsarbeit die Einsatzflexibilität der dort tätigen Arbeitskräfte positive Beschäftigungseffekte - sei es der Abbau aktueller, sei es die Verminderung zukünftiger, technologischer Arbeitslosigkeit - auch bei limitationalem Einsatzverhältnis der Produktionsfaktoren ermöglicht: Die Teilzusätzlichen Einstellungen von Arbeitskräften veranlaßt würden." (Autorenreferat) Produktionsarbeiters hebt die Restriktivität der Unteilbarkeit der technischen Anlagen auf. Auch die verbreitete Vorstellung, nach der die Betriebsgröße, gemessen an der Anzahl der Beschäftigten, einen Schwellenwert bildet, unter dem von vornherein positive Beschäftigungswirkungen von Arbeitszeitverkürzungen auszuschließen seien, erweist sich als zu restriktiv. Für Klein- und Mittelbetriebe ist ein gewisser Grad von Unterauslastung bei einigen Arbeitskräften typisch und infolgedessen ist nichts Ungewöhnliches darin zu sehen, wenn bei Arbeitszeitverkürzungen auch dann Vollarbeitskräfte zusätzlich eingestellt werden, wenn rechnerisch nur ein Teil von deren Arbeitszeit benötigt würde. Hinzu kommt, daß ein genereller Verzicht auf zusätzliche Einstellungen bei allen Betrieben unter dem Schwellenwert c.p. zum Absinken des Angebots und folglich zu Preissteigerungstendenzen führen müßte, wodurch einige Betriebe zur Ausdehnung der Produktion und zu zusätzlichen Einstellungen von Arbeitskräften veranlaßt würden." (IAB2)Arbeitszeitverkürzung, Beschäftigungseffekte - Determinanten, Betriebsgröße, Personaleinsatz - Flexibilität, Technisierungsgrad

Antihypertensive drug class and dyslipidemia: risk association among Chinese patients with uncomplicated hypertension

Factors associated with dyslipidemia in Chinese patients with uncomplicated hypertension were investigated in 1,139 patients newly prescribed a single antihypertensive drug in the public primary healthcare setting in Hong Kong, where their fasting lipid profiles were measured 4 to 16 weeks after the first prescription. Multivariate logistic regression showed that thiazide users were more likely (OR 3.67, 95% C.I. 1.13, 11.88, p=0.030) to have adverse (> 6.2mmol/l) total cholesterol (TC) compared with drugs acting on the renin angiotensin system (RAS), but the absolute difference in mean TC between thiazide users and all patients was small ( 0.14 mmol/l), while advanced age and male gender were also associated with some aspects of dyslipidemia. Clinicians should be aware of the increased risk of dyslipidemia in these groups, but the mild dyslipidemic profile associated with thiazides should not in itself deter its use as a possible first-line antihypertensive agent among Chinese patients

„Finde Dich. Im Dom“. Eine PR-Konzeption für die Kölner Domwallfahrt

(...) Ein klassischer Teil der Arbeit von PR-Experten ist die Anferti- gung von Konzepten, die dabei helfen, Probleme, Schwachstellen oder Defizite im kommunikativen Bereich zu erkennen und zu lösen. Die hier vorgestellte PR-Konzeption für die Kölner Domwallfahrt ist das Projekt von drei Mitarbeitern aus dem Bereich der PR: Felix Dannenhauer (Kultursekretariat NRW), Sönke Schuster (Stadtwerke Kiel) und Michael Kasiske (Erzbistum Köln). Die Autoren hatten im Rahmen einer Fortbildung den Auftrag, die Domwallfahrt bekannter zu machen und die Teilnehmerzahl zu erhöhen. (...

Use of urine specific gravity to improve screening for albuminuria

Use of urine specific gravity to improve screening for albuminuria. The albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) can be used to measure urine albumin excretion rates, but is inconvenient and expensive. More rapid and less expensive screening methods estimate only albumin concentration and are subject to errors caused by variation in urine volume. We examined whether urine specific gravity could be used in place of urine creatinine to correct albumin concentration for differences in urine volume in 50 patients. Urine specific gravity accurately estimated urine creatinine concentration (r = 0.79, P < 0.001). The albumin estimated-creatinine ratio (ACestR) in a random spot urine sample correlated with urine albumin excretion measured in a 24-hour urine collection (r = 0.98, P < 0.001), as did the ACR (r = 0.95, P < 0.001). For determining microalbuminuria, the sensitivity (0.88) and specificity (0.93) of the ACestR were similar to those of ACR (0.89 and 0.93, respectively). Unfortunately, the sensitivity (0.63) of the Micral-Test was relatively poor, and was only slightly improved by correcting for urine specific gravity (0.69) in this small sample of patients. Nevertheless, these results suggest that as rapid methods for measuring urine albumin concentration improve, combining them with urine specific gravity might produce a less expensive and more convenient alternative to the ACR

Cardiovascular Diseases after Kidney Transplantation in Korea

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in renal allograft recipients with functioning graft. Our study aimed to determine the incidence and the risk factors of cardiovascular disease after renal transplantation in Korea. We retrospectively analyzed 430 adult recipients who underwent kidney transplantation between January 1997 and February 2007. CVD was defined as a composite outcome of ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular accident and peripheral vascular disease. Mean age of recipients was 40.0±11.8 yr. Mean duration of follow-up was 72±39 months. The cumulative incidence of CVD after renal transplantation was 2.4% at 5 yr, 5.4% at 10 yr and 11.4% at 12 yr. Multivariate analysis revealed that recipient's age, diabetes mellitus and duration of dialysis before transplantation were associated with post-transplant CVD (hazard ratio 1.843 [95% CI, 1.005-3.381], 3.846 [95% CI, 1.025-14.432] and 3.394 [95% CI, 1.728-6.665] respectively). In conclusion, old age, duration of dialysis and diabetes mellitus are important risk factors for post-transplant CVD, although the incidence of post-renal transplant CVD is lower in Korea than that in western countries

Effects of lovastatin on expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins in vascular smooth muscle cells

Effects of lovastatin on expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins in vascular smooth muscle cells.BackgroundThe sequential appearance of cyclins D and E is thought to initiate subsequent DNA synthesis in proliferating cells. Previous studies have reported that DNA synthesis in cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) was suppressed by the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor lovastatin. The effects of lovastatin on cell cycle regulatory proteins in proliferating VSMCs, however, are largely unknown. Thus, we investigated the sequential expression of cyclin D1, cyclin E, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4, CDK2, and p27Kip1 in cultured rat VSMCs stimulated by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB in the presence or absence of lovastatin.MethodsQuiescent VSMCs, with and without lovastatin (20 μ M) pretreatment for nine hours, were stimulated by PDGF-BB (25 ng/ml). The incorporation of tritiated thymidine was done to assess DNA synthesis. VSMC lysates were obtained every 6 hours for up to 36 hours after stimulation and were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis using relevant polyclonal antibodies. Autoradiograms were analyzed using a densitometer.ResultsThe peak expression of cyclins D1 and E occurred at 18 and 30 hours of PDGF stimulation, respectively. Concomitant expression of CDK4 and CDK2 was also observed. The expression of p27Kip1, by contrast, was reduced in association with DNA synthesis. Lovastatin suppressed DNA synthesis and reduced the expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin E, whereas p27Kip1 expression was strongly induced by lovastatin pretreatment. CDK4 and CDK2 expression was unaffected by lovastatin treatment.ConclusionsPDGF-BB induces cyclins D1 and E prior to the onset of DNA synthesis in VSMCs. Lovastatin may suppress DNA synthesis in VSMCs by inducing p27Kip1 and reducing expression of cyclins D1 and E

Graft and Patient Survival in Kidney Transplant Recipients Selected for de novo Steroid-Free Maintenance Immunosuppression

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73689/1/j.1600-6143.2008.02442.x.pd