Clevudine 30 mg administered once daily demonstrated early viral suppression and significant biochemical improvement in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Abstract Summary: This analysis was performed to evaluate the efficacy of clevudine in chronic hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis. Data from 23 patients with chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis were collected. Among them, 5 patients were diagnosed with decompensated liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). For patients who received clevudine for at least 12 weeks, preliminary data indicated that 20 patients (87%) had HBV DNA less than 1,000 copies/mL and 17 patients (74%) had normal alanine transferase (ALT).

FAQ Prostitution

Strictly speaking, prostitution has always been legal in the UK, in the sense that it is not illegal to pay for sex, or to receive money for it. But many of the activities that it involves - including soliciting, kerb-crawling, pimping, and keeping a brothel - are all against the law.

A new network of police tactical advisers and an action plan on ending trafficking have also been launched.

Barack Obama and Me

This is before Obama Girl, before the secret service detail, before he becomes a best-selling author. His book Dreams From My Father has been out of print for years.

I often see Obama smoking cigarettes on brisk Chicago mornings in front of his condominium high-rise along Lake Michigan, or getting his hair buzzed at the corner barbershop on 53rd and Harper in his Hyde Park neighborhood.

This is before he becomes a U.S. senator, before Oprah starts stumping for him, before he positions himself to become the country's first black president.

He is just a rank-and-file state senator in Illinois and I work for a string of small, scrappy newspapers there.
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The other day, while stuck in traffic on Houston's Southwest Freeway, I was flipping through right-wing rants on AM radio.

IN THE OUTDOORS: February offers host of activities

If you are one of those hunters or anglers who thought February was going to give you a chance to catch up on rest before spring fishing, you might want to double check the outdoor calendar.

This year marks the show's 30th anniversary, and it's expected to be the largest show to date, with more than 715,000 square feet of exhibit space where buyers from 50 states and 75 countries will be looking for products to put on their shelves or in the pages of their catalogs.

WATER POLO

Water polo is now an established sport played throughout the world but it has a long history which began in England. The first documented evidence of the game was when the Bournemouth Premier Rowing Club carried out the "first series" of aquatic handball matches" on 13 July 1876.

Various ball games had been played in the water before this time, the most common seems to have been a type of polo in which the swimmer "rode" an inflated skin or barrel, propelling the ball with the hands or a form of paddle and moving about by using the feet. These games were probably more in the way of "comic relief" and the game played on "barrel horses" was still to be seen in the early years of the present century. This is probably where the name "Polo" came from.

Evidence suggests that the game was played in the 1870's in Leeds with a rugby ball and in Burton-on-Trent where a goal was scored by grounding the ball on the end of the bath, with the goalkeeper standing on the end and allowed to jump onto any player in possession of the soft india rubber ball.

Obama victory will prolong US racial divide, says British equality ...

I voted for a black man in the Republican primary in 2000. I voted for Alan Keyes, because he had the character, intelligence, knowledge and experience to make a great president. I would've voted for him again this year, had he chosen to run. Perhaps if the Republican Party wises up this year they'll get McCain to have Keyes run as V.P. There will be a black president in America before long, but it won't be Obama. It will be a black conservative Republican who runs and wins on the strength of his character, ideas and experience.

Sims says Sonics may leave, but NBA here to stay

RON SIMS HAS not talked lately with Clay Bennett, nor has he been in touch with the NBA.

When he says he has met with members of three separate potential Seattle ownership groups, all known to the National Basketball Association, who said they are willing to buy a team and contribute to a new arena while seeking to retain the Sonics name, that also has some credibility.

Petitions against gender-bender bill spawn harassment, possible ...

A citizens group in Maryland's most populous county is considering legal action against two transgender activists accused of harassing and intimidating residents taking part in a petition drive to overturn a new law that bars discrimination against so-called "gender identity and expression."

The group Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG) says it has collected far more than the 25,000 signatures of registered voters needed by March 9 to put up for referendum a law in Montgomery County that effectively declares transgender people and transvestites a protected class. CRG and other conservative groups warn the law would allow men confused about their gender to use public locker rooms and restrooms designated for females. CRG spokeswoman Michelle Turner says two transgender activists approached a number of petition gatherers and signers last week and began harassing them at Montgomery County grocery stores, "telling them that they had to leave the area, that the signatures were illegal, and just making folks very uncomfortable with the environment and what was going on." According to Turner, one of those individuals is a senior staff member with Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, who is the chief sponsor of the bill.