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In this randomized trial in patients hospitalized with alcoholic hepatitis, pentoxifylline did not improve survival. The 28-day survival advantage in patients treated with prednisolone did not reach significance and was not sustained at 90 days or 1 year. Alcoholic hepatitis is a distinct manifestation of alcoholic liver disease that is characterized by jaundice and liver failure. This condition develops in persons with a history of prolonged and heavy alcohol use. 1 The severity of alcoholic hepatitis is conventionally defined by Maddrey’s discriminant function, which is calculated as 4.6×(patient’s prothrombin time in seconds−control’s prothrombin time in seconds)+patient’s serum bilirubin level in milligrams per deciliter; a value of 32 or higher indicates severe alcoholic hepatitis that carries an adverse prognosis, with mortality of 20 to 30% within 1 month after presentation and 30 to 40% within 6 months after presentation. 2 A . . .

Most comparativists have assumed that democratization is best understood by looking at regimes in the transition and consolidation phases of democracy without really considering the essence of democracy - liberal rights and democratic virtues. Democracy is seen as a mechanistic process without considering the ideas that build democratic regimes. This book begins afresh by proposing that comparativists need to consider democracy to be a combination of rights and virtues, and that the difficulties of democratic transitions, consolidation, and maintenance are essentially problems relating to balancing rights and virtues in the regime. How do we reemphasize these aspects of democracy at a time when comparative literature focuses almost solely on democratic procedure? By combining the best elements of comparative theory and liberal democratic philosophy, Hood argues that comparativists can sharpen the scholarly tools we need to understand both the problems of democratization and maintaining democracy. He provides the reader with a valuable overview of comparative theory and how our abandonment of political philosophy has led to our acceptance of social science methods that can only lead to superficial analyses of democratizing regimes and established democracies.

Most comparativists have assumed that democratization is best understood by looking at regimes in the transition and consolidation phases of democracy without really considering the essence of democracy - liberal rights and democratic virtues. Democracy is seen as a mechanistic process without considering the ideas that build democratic regimes. This book begins afresh by proposing that comparativists need to consider democracy to be a combination of rights and virtues, and that the difficulties of democratic transitions, consolidation, and maintenance are essentially problems relating to balancing rights and virtues in the regime. How do we reemphasize these aspects of democracy at a time when comparative literature focuses almost solely on democratic procedure? By combining the best elements of comparative theory and liberal democratic philosophy, Hood argues that comparativists can sharpen the scholarly tools we need to understand both the problems of democratization and maintaining democracy. He provides the reader with a valuable overview of comparative theory and how our abandonment of political philosophy has led to our acceptance of social science methods that can only lead to superficial analyses of democratizing regimes and established democracies.

Emergency operations centers (EOC) are an essential element in the response and recovery phases of emergency management. EOCs receive and collate information to form situational awareness of the incident. Then, the EOC coordinates and distributes information and resources through a myriad of stakeholders to minimize the loss of life and property. The Federal government established the National Incident Management System (NIMS) to standardize emergency management governance across the United States. However, the diverse nature of counties and states diminishes the magnitude of standardization realized by NIMS implementation. Emergency managers have organized their county EOCs around the Incident Command System (ICS), Emergency Support Functions (ESF), or a hybrid organization model, adding complexity to emergency management governance. This generic qualitative study explored the factors that influenced emergency manager EOC organizational decisions and the factors that influence successful information and resource management at the county level. Twenty-nine county emergency management programs were examined, with 14 emergency managers sharing their experiences regarding EOC structure and performance factors and 21 county emergency operations plans to understand better what influenced the emergency manager’s decision-making processes. Seven constructs emerged that exert influence in the EOC framework. From these constructs, three significant themes surfaced: (a) stakeholder integration, (b) state political geography, and (c) familiarity with a specific emergency management system, which influenced emergency management governance decisions and EOC performance factors. The study's findings provide insight into emergency managers' challenges as they implement and tailor NIMS to local conditions and ensure mission success.

Hood refutes the idea that there exists an Asian-style of democracy, asserting that Asian countries practice a style of government that is much more authoritarian in nature than the more commonly recognized liberal forms of democracy found in western nations. A study of the cultural, political and ethnographic influences of Asian governments is presented.

THIS ARTICLE FOCUSES ON THE EMERGENCE OF FACTIONS IN THE NATIONALIST PARTY OF CHINA (KUOMINTANG OR KMT), AS THIS HAS TREMENDOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PARTY, THE PEOPLE OF TAIWAN, AND TAIWAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO MAINLAND CHINA. FIRST, THE ARTICLE CONSIDERS THE SUBETHNIC RIFT BETWEEN MAINLANDERS AND TAIWANESE AND THE RELATED QUESTION OF TAIWAN'S POLITICAL IDENTITY. THE ARTICLE THEN EXAMINES THE MAJOR FACTIONS THEMSELVES. IT CONCLUDES WITH A DISCUSSION OF HOW FACTIONAL STRESS IN THE KUOMINTANG IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE WELL-BEING OF TAIWAN'S DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT AND THE ISLAND'S UNRESOLVED RELATIONSHIP TO MAINLAND CHINA.

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships of academic readiness, social integration, and perceptions of residence hall experiences of returning sophomores at a southern university. The literature has provided a basis for the impact of academic readiness on retention as well as the role of social integration on the overall freshman experience. This study added to the existing body of research by collecting information from freshmen through the Beginning Survey of Student Engagement (BSSE) prior to enrollment, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) during the spring semester of first year and a Residence Hall Perception survey administered during spring semester of the sophomore year. These data were analyzed to determine what differences existed from pre-enrollment social expectations and actual experiences according to academic readiness. Furthermore, it explored the perceptions of residence hall experiences based upon academic readiness. The findings from this study revealed statistically significant results for expectations of time spent in co-curricular activities as compared to actual time spent in co-curricular activities during the freshman year. The study also found other important information about the interactions the freshmen had with roommates and friends. There was also great insight into their involvement with campus organizations during the first year, as well as perceived advantages and disadvantages of living on campus as a freshman. Administrators will be able to utilize this research by designing first year residential programs that enhance the overall experience for future freshmen.

During the continuing Cambodian conflict, China has seldom had to defend its actions in support of the Khmer Rouge. It is suggested that Beijing's two-track policy of support for the Khmer Rouge and Norodom Sihanouk has prolonged the struggle in Cambodia and limited the prospects for lasting peace.

Comparativists have been engaged in a valiant attempt to understand and explain the transition from authoritarianism to democracy for several decades. It is a noble venture that has been of interest to political philosophers since antiquity. This chapter considers the attempts to explain democratic transitions, especially from the 1950s forward; the popular views of how democracy evolves; scholarly enthusiasm for, and discouragement with, democratization theory during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s; and the emergence of a mainstream approach to development studies that gained strength with the third wave of democratization. The chapter concludes by suggesting that much more can be done to explain transitions if the concerns of democratic political philosophy are considered more carefully. This will help us to understand the complexity of democratic transitions and to appreciate the attractiveness, promise, and superiority of democracy over authoritarianism.