Т е к с т 2. Apostille

(1.700)

An apostille, or postil, is properly a gloss on a scriptural text, particularly on a gospel text; however, it has come to mean an explanatory note on other writings. The word is also applied to a general commentary, and also to a homily or discourse on the gospel or epistle appointed for the day.

Apostille is also a French word which means a certification. It is commonly used in English to refer to the legalization of a document for international use under the terms of the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Documents which have been notarized by a notary public, and certain other documents, and then certified with a conformant apostille are accepted for legal use in all the nations that have signed the Hague Convention.

For example, when the will of an Australian decedent who had assets in Hong Kong is probated in Australia, if it then has to be presented in Hong Kong in order to transfer estate assets in Hong Kong to Australia, an Australian government apostille must be affixed to the following documents after notarization by an Australian Notary Public:

1. Death certificate

2. A copy of the will

Obtaining an apostille can be a highly complex process. Getting a birth certificate with apostille in New York, for example, requires applying to three separate offices in succession.

In countries which are not signatories to the 1961 convention and do not recognize the apostille, a foreign public document must be legalized by a consular officer of the country from which the document is issued. In lieu of an apostille, documents in the U.S. usually will receive a Certificate of Authentication.

Т е к с т 3. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

(3.400)

CFS is one of several names given to a poorly understood, variably debilitating disorder of uncertain cause/causes. Based on a 1999 study of adults in the United States, CFS is thought to affect approximately 4 per 1,000 adults. For unknown reasons, CFS occurs more often in women, and adults in their 40s and 50s. The illness is estimated to be less prevalent in children and adolescents, but study results vary as to the degree.

CFS often manifests with widespread myalgia and arthralgia, cognitive difficulties, chronic mental and physical exhaustion, often severe, and other characteristic symptoms in a previously healthy and active person. Despite promising avenues of research, there remains no assay or pathological finding which is widely accepted to be diagnostic of CFS. It remains a diagnosis of exclusion based largely on patient history and symptomatic criteria, although a number of tests can aid diagnosis Whereas there is agreement on the genuine threat to health, happiness, and productivity posed by CFS, various physicians' groups, researchers, and patient activists champion very different nomenclature, diagnostic criteria, etiologic hypotheses, and treatments, resulting in controversy about nearly all aspects of the disorder. Even the term chronic fatigue syndrome is controversial because a large part of the patient community believes the name trivializes the illness.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is not the same as "chronic fatigue Fatigue is a common symptom in many illnesses, but CFS is a multi-systemic disease and is relatively rare by comparison. Definitions (other than the 1991 UK Oxford criteria) require a number of features, the most common being severe mental and physical exhaustion which is "unrelieved by rest" (1994 Fukuda definition) and may be worsened by even trivial exertion (a mandatory diagnostic criterion according to some systems). Most diagnostic criteria require that symptoms must be present for at least six months, and all state the symptoms must not be caused by other medical conditions. CFS patients may report many symptoms which are not included in all diagnostic criteria, including muscle weakness, cognitive dysfunction, hypersensitivity, orthostatic intolerance, digestive disturbances, depression, poor immune response, and cardiac and respiratory problems. It is unclear if these symptoms represent co-morbid conditions or are produced by an underlying etiology of CFS. Some cases improve over time, and treatments (though none are universally accepted) bring a degree of improvement to many others, though full resolution may be only 5-10% according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).