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Same Score (same + score)
Selected AbstractsPerforming the Same Score: Repentance, Truth and Doctrine in Ecumenical TheologyNEW BLACKFRIARS, Issue 1020 2008Jeffrey McCurry Abstract This article develops the fruitful metaphor of musical performance to think about church-dividing conflicts over doctrine. In particular, I show that just as there is more than one way for a score of music to be faithfully performed, so there can be more than one way for shared fundamental dogma to be faithfully articulated in different confessional or doctrinal traditions. When the disagreements between the Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian churches over christological doctrine are reframed as contrasting but not contradictory "performances" of one shared scriptural and Nicene dogma, possibilities for ecumenical reconciliation are strenghthened. Indeed, while not articulating its practice by means of the metaphor of a musical performance, the Roman Catholic magisterium is already approaching doctrinal reconciliation in just this way. [source] HIDDEN AND FALSE "PREFERENCES" ON THE STRUCTURED 9-POINT HEDONIC SCALEJOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 6 2008XADENI VILLEGAS-RUIZ ABSTRACT An unspecified number of consumers who used a 9-point hedonic scale were frustrated because they could not express preferences for products with the same ratings. Accordingly, consumers were required to rate samples of yogurt on a 9-point structured hedonic scale. Consumers were able to express preference judgments because the testing was performed one-on-one with the experimenter. Thus, it was possible to determine the proportion of consumers who had given the same hedonic response to yogurts but still had preferences for one or other of the stimuli. Further testing, which included a pair of identical yogurts among the stimuli, allowed the proportion of preference and no preference responses elicited by identical stimuli to be determined in this context. Such data are useful as a control condition in preference testing, to assess the proportion of false preferences induced by the experimental conditions. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Consumer liking for various products is typically measured using the 9-point structured hedonic scale. Sometimes, consumers will give the same score to two products yet prefer one to the other. Such preferences are not recorded if the consumer is isolated from the experimenter and has no means of reporting them. However, the situation is easily rectified if the experimenter interacts one-on-one with the consumer. Sometimes, false preferences can be obtained from a hedonic scale. This tendency can be monitored by including identical stimuli in the measurements. The present study investigated the extent of such problems so that methods could be devised to address the problem. [source] Transforming growth factor ,-1 as a predictor of fibrosis in tuberculous pleurisyRESPIROLOGY, Issue 5 2007Márcia SEISCENTO Background and objective: To clarify the influence of transforming growth factor ,-1 (TGF-,1) in the development of pleural thickening in tuberculosis (TB), the levels of TGF-,1 in pleural fluid and in serum of patients with pleural TB and transudative effusions were determined. Methods: TGF-,1 was quantified in 58 pleural fluid and serum samples of patients with TB (n = 50) or transudative effusions (n = 8). Pleural thickening evaluated by high-resolution CT was scored as 0 (<3 mm); 1 (,3 and <10 mm) or 2 (,10 mm). Results: The highest pleural fluid TGF-,1 levels before treatment for TB were observed in patients with a pleural thickness score of 2. Of the 14 patients with score 1, five regressed to 0, five progressed to 2, and four maintained 1. All 17 patients with score 2 maintained this evaluation. Patients who presented score 1 and progressed to 2 had higher TGF-,1 levels than those who maintained the same score or regressed (score 1 or 0). Patients with score 2 (before or after treatment) had higher TGF-,1 levels than those with score 0 or 1. Conclusion: Pleural fluid and serum TGF-,1 levels were higher in patients with TB, with a correlation between pleural fluid TGF-,1 levels before treatment and the degree of pleural thickening. This finding suggests that TGF-,1 might be considered as a predictor of pleural thickening in pleural tuberculosis. [source] The use of Butea superba (Roxb.) compared to sildenafil for treating erectile dysfunctionBJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2010Jeff R. Cortés-González Study Type , Therapy (case control) Level of Evidence 3b OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of an extract of Butea superba (Roxb.) (BS) compared to sildenafil for treating erectile dysfunction (ED). PATIENTS AND METHODS An open label study was carried out among 32 men with organic ED to evaluate the response on the International Index of Erectile Function 5 (IIEF-5) to BS, a ,natural health' product (100 mg), compared to 50 mg of sildenafil (a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor). After a 1-week wash-out, responders to BS received either 100 mg starch or 100 mg of another batch of BS (double-blind). RESULTS Of the patients in the BS group, 27 (84%) responded positively, compared with 26 (81%) in the sildenafil group. When assessing the score alone, 12 (38%) had a better score after taking BS, compared to seven (22%) after sildenafil, and eight (25%) had the same score. The results were surprising and could not be repeated in the double-blind part of the study, where no effect of BS was recorded. CONCLUSIONS A ,natural' health product containing BS was more effective than sildenafil in the first part of the study, but in the second, using another batch of BS, the positive result could not be repeated and no effect was recorded. The conclusion is that the first preparation of BS was most likely blended with a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, later confirmed by the supplier of BS (a natural health products company) after their own analysis. [source] |