Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide public health problem. There is an increasing incidence and prevalence of patients with kidney failure requiring replacement therapy, with poor outcomes and high cost. There is an even higher prevalence of patients in earlier stages of CKD, with adverse outcomes such as kidney failure, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. Patients at earlier stages of CKD can be detected through laboratory testing and their treatment is effective in slowing the progression to kidney failure and reducing cardiovascular events. The science and evidence-based care of these patients are universal and independent of their geographic location. There is a clear need to develop a uniform and global public health approach to the worldwide epidemic of CKD. It is to this end that a new initiative "Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes" has been established. Its stated mission is "Improve the care and outcomes of kidney disease patients worldwide through promoting coordination, collaboration and integration of initiatives to develop and implement clinical practice guidelines."

Two series of poly(ester-urethane) block copolymers were synthesized from bacterial telechelics, hydroxylated poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] (PHB-diol), as hard segments, and either poly(butylene glycol adipate)-diol (PBA-diol) or poly(diethylene glycol adipate)-diol (PDEGA-diol), as soft segments, using 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate as a non-toxic connecting agent. The content of PHB hard segments systematically varied from 10 to 60 wt.%. The synthesized materials were characterized by 1H NMR, GPC, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, wide angle X-ray diffraction, and tensile properties. The crystallization characteristics, reflecting the segmented properties of the synthesized copolymers, are discussed. For poly(ester-urethane)s, based on PHB-diol and PBA-diol, with PHB content less than 50 wt.%, both PBA and PHB crystalline phases, were detected. In contrast, in poly(ester-urethane)s, derived from PHB-diol and PDEGA-diol, only one crystalline phase, corresponding to the PHB hard segments, was observed. The thermogravimetric results of the prepared copolymers showed three-step decomposition assigned to the thermal degradation of PHB hard, PBA or PDEGA soft blocks, and urethane linkage, respectively. The tensile properties indicated that the tensile strength and elongation at the break points of poly(ester-urethane)s, derived from PHB and PBA, are greater than those prepared from PHB and PDEGA. The biodegradability was studied in compost-derived culture. The extent of mineralization was dependent on the copolymer composition. At a comparable incubation time, the copolymers containing 50 wt.% PHB were mineralized to an extent similar to that of the PHB homopolymer. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In the framework of eikonal approximation the ’He+12C phase-shift function is calculated
at about 40 MeV/nucleon completely by a Monte Carlo integration. Thc input data
are the nucleon-nucleus optical potential and a realistic 6-nucleon wave function for a halo
nucleus ’He. The effect of the breakup of ’He on the elastic differential cross sections is
discussed. The dynamic polarization potential of the 6He and 4He are evaluated

The breakup of a one-neutron halo nucleus is studied in the eikonal approximation. Both the nuclear and Coulomb breakup processes are taken into account. The continuum states, which are usually approximated by plane waves, are constrained to satisfy the condition of orthogonality to the bound states of the halo nucleus. Taking full account of the recoil effect, the neutron-core relative energy distribution of the breakup cross section is calculated for 11Be and 19C projectiles incident on 12C and 208Pb targets and compared to experimental data. All the data regarding the energy distribution for a 208Pb target at beam energies of 68 and 520 MeV/nucleon are accurately reproduced, except for its peak at small relative energy. The experimental data regarding the relative energy distribution for the 11Be+12C system are also accurately reproduced. It is shown that use of orthogonalized plane waves leads to reduced cross sections and is necessary to account for the experimental data. The effect of the no-recoil limit is quantified