The second issue with having just baseline measurements for this group is whether, as diet drink consumers, they are more likely to make significant changes to their diet and behavior over the course of a decade.

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The goal was to see how this population would react to the introduction of abuse-resistant OxyContin after establishing a baseline of abuse with the same group for the original version.

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In BLOOM 1 there was an increase in the total number of satisfying sexual events of 3.87 from baseline (an increase of 83 percent) in the LibiGel group and in the placebo group there was an increase of 3.52 satisfying sexual events from baseline (an increase of 65 percent) for a p value of 0.698.

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In contrast, the standard-treatment group showed no significant change from baseline on any of the above measures.

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The initial group of 1, 000 will participate in a series of baseline studies including cardiac function, testing for joint abnormalities and psychosocial tests.

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Then, using the average lifetime value as a baseline, you can tally up the differences in key areas for your group of loyal, enthusiastic customers.

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"By putting some baseline privacy protections in place, the Senator thinks there may be a way to tap into a whole new user group that has not used the Internet because of those concerns, " he added.

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Those queries are hard to answer but pondering them is far more useful than asking whether taxes will rise or fall relative to a baseline, or whether it will take more or less income out of the pockets of those in a particular income group than it did at some time in the past.

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