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Objectives Biologic agents have dramatically changed treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To date only scarce head-To-head data exist especially when the biological therapies are given as monotherapy without concomitant disease modifying drugs (DMARDs). Thus the objective of the current study is to evaluate treatment response of all available biological therapies with special focus on utility (

We present a rigorous phase noise analysis of a generic harmonic oscillator where the active core can be modeled as a transconductor. Phase noise equations are derived without any specific assumption on the nature of the resonator in the oscillator; furthermore, we provide closed-form 1/f2 phase noise equations when the resonator consists of an arbitrary number of cascaded LC tanks, each tuned at

A robotic assembly task is usually implemented as a sequence of simple motions, and the transitions between the motions are made when some events occur. These events can usually be detected with thresholds on some signal, but faster response is possible by detecting the transient on that signal. This paper considers the problem of detecting these transients. A force-controlled assembly task is use

Multiple prognostic tools are used to evaluate prognosis for comatose survivors resuscitated after cardiac arrest (CA). Next to the clinical neurologic examination, electroencephalography (EEG) is the most commonly used method to assess prognosis. However, the reliability of EEG has been limited by varying classification systems, interrater variability, and the influence of sedation. Another impor

Cardiac arrest (CA) survivors may experience cognitive, physical, or emotional problems that can affect their return to everyday activities and quality of life. To improve longterm outcomes, interventions after hospital discharge may be needed. A follow-up plan to identify CA survivors with increased risk of residual cognitive, physical, or emotional problems is important to target interventions a

Background/Objectives:Obesity and low physical fitness are known risk factors for ischemic heart disease (IHD), but their interactive effects are unclear. Elucidation of interactions between these common, modifiable risk factors may help inform more effective preventive strategies. We examined interactive effects of obesity, aerobic fitness and muscular strength in late adolescence on risk of IHD

Objective. To study longterm work disability and possible predictors in newly diagnosed patients with primary Sjogren syndrome (pSS). Methods. Because we wanted to include only patients with full work availability potential, eligible patients were aged 18-62 years. Fifty-one patients (mean age 46 yrs, range 18-61 yrs, 50 women) diagnosed with pSS between January 2001 and December 2012 were include

In this study, we combine conventional qualitative approaches with a more novel approach, participatory art, to explore local perceptions of land-use change and future aspirations for development in two communities in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. We concentrate on the effects of large-scale land acquisitions on people and the environment in an ecologically important area. Leasing of land to foreign

A new method is developed to synthesize organic microsphere-supported polymer brushes for affinity separation of saccharides and glycoproteins. In the first step, crosslinked polymer microspheres are synthesized using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The terminal ATRP initiators on the microspheres are used to graft polymer brushes from propargyl acrylate and N-isopropyl acrylamide. Th

Background: Smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) is an indolent disease stage, considered to represent the transition phase from the premalignant MGUS (Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance) state towards symptomatic multiple myeloma (MM). Even though this diagnosis provides an opportunity for early intervention, few treatment studies have been done and the current standard of care is ob

Several monogenic causes of familial myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) have recently been identified. We studied two families with cytopenia, predisposition to MDS with chromosome 7 aberrations, immunodeficiency, and progressive cerebellar dysfunction. Genetic studies uncovered heterozygous missense mutations in SAMD9L, a tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome arm 7q. Consistent with a gain-of-f

Context. High resolution stellar spectral atlases are valuable resources to astronomy. They are rare in the 1-5 μm region for historical reasons, but once available, high resolution atlases in this part of the spectrum will aid the study of a wide range of astrophysical phenomena. Aims. The aim of the CRIRES-POP project is to produce a high resolution near-infrared spectral library of stars across

Human enteroviruses (HEV), especially coxsackievirus serotype B (CVB) and echovirus (E), have been associated with diseases of both the exocrine and endocrine pancreas, but so far evidence on HEV infection in human pancreas has been reported only in islets and ductal cells. This study aimed to investigate the capability of echovirus strains to infect human exocrine and endocrine pancreatic cells.

An increasing number of patients are successfully resuscitated from cardiac arrest (CA) and subsequently treated in an intensive care unit due to unconsciousness. Approximately half of these patients will die during the first weeks postarrest, typically after a determination of a poor neurologic prognosis and a decision to withdraw life-sustaining therapy (WLST). These decisions are guided by univ

Scope: Multifunctional diet (MFD), a diet based on multiple functional concepts and ingredients with anti-inflammatory activity, was previously shown to improve different cardiometabolic risk-associated markers in healthy subjects. Here, we assessed the impact of MFD on plasma metabolome and explored associations of the differential metabolites with clinical parameters, searching for metabolic det

The American Diabetes Association, JDRF, the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists convened a research symposium, "The Differentiation of Diabetes by Pathophysiology, Natural History and Prognosis" on 10-12 October 2015. International experts in genetics, immunology, metabolism, endocrinology, and systems biology discussed genetic

The X-ray structure of the superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin H (SEH) has been determined at 1.69 Å resolution. In this paper we present two structures of zinc-free SEH (apoSEH) and one zinc-loaded form of SEH (ZnSEH). SEH exhibits the conventional superantigen (SAg) fold with two characteristic domains. In ZnSEH one zinc ion per SEH molecule is bound to the C-terminal β-sheet in the region i