J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol
March 2018
Recent years have seen a substantial increase in demand for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) assays. DEQAS (the Vitamin D External Quality Assessment Scheme) has been monitoring the performance of these assays since 1989. The first DEQAS distribution was in June 1989 and results were submitted by 13 laboratories in the UK, two of which used HPLC/UV; the rest used ligand binding assays with a tritium tracer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Steroid Biochem Mol Biol
October 2017
The Vitamin D External Quality Assessment Scheme (DEQAS) was launched in 1989 and monitors the performance of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) and 1,25- dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)D) assays. In April 2015 a pilot scheme for 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24,25(OH)D) was introduced. The 25-OHD scheme is accuracy - based with target values assigned by the NIST Reference Measurement Procedure (RMP) for 25-OHD and 25-OHD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle 29 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guarantees equality of political rights, including the right to vote and stand for election. The affirmation of these rights, first guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, raises an important question given the long-standing association between political rights and beliefs concerning the abilities of citizens to reason and act independently: how and to what degree can people identified as having intellectual disabilities participate in a defining act of the democratic process? Focused specifically on the right to vote, this paper addresses the question by (1) introducing the debates that have surrounded the voting rights of this population; and (2) reporting on recent attempts in Kenya, and in England and Wales, to promote voting by people with intellectual disabilities. It concludes by considering the effectiveness of the different approaches these countries have adopted.
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