Proxy marker

Although, as shown in Table 10.1, there are plausible mechanisms to suggest that homocysteine is a causative factor in cardiovascular disease, it is possible that hyperhomocysteinemia is a result of the renal damage that is an early event in cardiovascular disease, thus a proxy marker of disease rather than a causative factor (Jacobsen, 1998 hangman and Cole, 1999 Kircher and Sinzinger, 2000). in chronic renal failure, hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with cardiovascular disease, probably because of both impaired excretion of homocysteine and impaired activity of betaine homocysteine methyl-transferase elevated plasma dimethylglycine predicts plasma homocysteine (McGregor et al., 2001). 

The final steps are the write-up and publication. Your supervisor should guide you towards the most appropriate peer-reviewed journal for publication. Think about the impact factor (measure of the number of citations to recent articles) as a proxy marker of the journal s importance, but be realistic the Lancet probably won t give you a 10-page spread on spider naevi in people with OCD. 

I think enjoyment of autobiographies/biographies is a good proxy marker for being suited to a career in psychiatry. If you can t enjoy an autobiography, it s probably not for you. 

NB Hyperprolactinaemia is often (but not always) a proxy marker of sexual dysfunction. 

Nationality is a widely used demographic descriptor in tourism studies. It is sometimes an observable characteristic with physical appearance, clothing styles, and tour party characteristics providing identifiable markers of nationality. Like age, nationality is often used by tourism researchers as a proxy or substitute variable. In particular, it is often used as an indicator of the cultural allegiance or roots of the tourist. Nationality is sometimes measured, although not very accurately, by establishing the tourists country of residence. 

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