Background When this study was initiated, no previous studies comparing methotrexate and ciclosporin for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis had been performed. Objectives To compare the effectiveness, quality of life and side-effects of methotrexate and ciclosporin treatments in a context reflecting normal clinical practice. Methods Eighty-four patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis

We examine whether it is a psychosocial or an economic need for employment that affects mental health among the unemployed. The relevance of both aspects are examined, concentrating on two measures of each dimension. Two perspectives of work involvement - the degree of connection to working life and the perceived employment commitment and two perspectives on financial situation economic security a

Background aims. Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) are gene therapy, somatic cell therapy or tissue-engineered products regulated under (EC) No. 1394/2007 to ensure their free movement within the European Union while guaranteeing the highest level of health protection for patients. Academic good manufacturing practice (GMP) centers are major contributors in the development of ATMPs and th

An increasing number of individuals seek genetic counseling and hereby learn about hereditary cancer in the family. Lynch syndrome is associated with an inherited high risk for colorectal and gynecological cancer, but knowledge about how family members at risk perceive their situation is limited. We used the national Danish HNPCC register to collect data on self-concept from 413 individuals with L

Background: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has replaced axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) as the standard axillary staging procedure in breast cancer. Follow-up studies in SLN-negative women treated without ALND report low rates of axillary recurrence, but most studies have short follow-up, and few are multicentre studies. Methods: Between September 2000 and January 2004, patients who were S

Pesaran and Yamagata (Pesaran, M.H., Yamagata, T., Testing slope homogeneity in large panels, Journal of Econometrics 142, 50–93, 2008) propose a test for slope homogeneity in large panels, which has become very popular in the literature. However, the test cannot deal with the practically relevant case of heteroskedastic and/serially correlated errors. The present note proposes a generalized test

On average, airborne aerosol particles cool the Earth's surface directly by absorbing and scattering sunlight and indirectly by influencing cloud reflectivity, life time, thickness or extent. Here we show that over the central Arctic Ocean, where there is frequently a lack of aerosol particles upon which clouds may form, a small increase in aerosol loading may enhance cloudiness thereby likely cau

To detect and avoid collisions, animals need to perceive and control the distance and the speed with which they are moving relative to obstacles. This is especially challenging for swimming and flying animals that must control movement in a dynamic fluid without reference from physical contact to the ground. Flying animals primarily rely on optic flow to control flight speed and distance to obstac

Current management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) focuses on inducing remission as early as possible to avoid lasting joint damage, and maintenance of remission has become important. A 12-month clinical trial in 834 patients with moderate RA investigated whether etanercept 50 mg/wk could be reduced to half dose or discontinued in patients who achieved low disease activity after 36 weeks.

The measured net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2 between the ecosystem and the atmosphere reflects the balance between gross CO2 assimilation [gross primary production (GPP)] and ecosystem respiration (R-eco). For understanding the mechanistic responses of ecosystem processes to environmental change it is important to separate these two flux components. Two approaches are conventionally used: (1)

The effect on primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of Pseudozyma (formerly Candida) antarctica lipase B (PalB) on exposure to hydrogen peroxide was investigated using nano-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (nano-ESI-MS), liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), circular dichroism (CD), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Treatment with hydrogen peroxide g

While knowledge theorists urge attention to knowing in practice, two common habits in the empirical literature, which we call knowledge inherency and skepticism, function to re-center certain practitioners. The sites in which we study knowing thereby remain limited, hindering a fuller practice turn. We argue that this enduring tendency is problematic because it inhibits our understanding of ‘commu

Objective: Using Swedish nationwide registry data, the authors investigated genetic and environmental risk factors in the etiology of drug abuse by twin sibling modeling. The authors followed up with epidemiological analyses to identify shared environmental influences on drug abuse. Method: Drug abuse was defined using public medical, legal, or pharmacy records. Twin and sibling pairs were obtaine

The doping process in GaP core-shell nanowire pn-junctions using different precursors is evaluated by mapping the nanowires' electrostatic potential distribution by means of off-axis electron holography. Three precursors, triethyltin (TESn), ditertiarybutylselenide, and silane are investigated for n-type doping of nanowire shells; among them, TESn is shown to be the most efficient precursor. Off-a

The growth of new technology-based firms (NTBFs) is usually restricted by their limited ownership and management structures. This paper explores whether acquisition, particularly that by multinational enterprises (MNEs), promotes the growth of NTBFs. Based on Swedish micro-level longitudinal data, this study further distinguishes between Swedish MNEs and foreign MNEs as acquirers and disentangles

Given the cost constraints of the European health-care systems, criteria are needed to decide which genetic services to fund from the public budgets, if not all can be covered. To ensure that high-priority services are available equitably within and across the European countries, a shared set of prioritization criteria would be desirable. A decision process following the accountability for reasona

The Umkondo Large Igneous Province (LIP) is represented by widespread (similar to 2.0 x 10(6) km(2)) mafic intrusions that were rapidly emplaced (1112-1108 Ma) into the Kalahari craton of southern Africa and the formerly adjacent Grunehogna Province of Antarctica during Rodinia assembly. Very few Umkondo-aged dykes have been identified before, resulting in a poor understanding of this LIP's plumbi

There are surprisingly few empirical studies of green marketing practices, and when such studies are carried out, they tend to take a simplistic approach. In this paper, the need to develop more complex and critical analyses of green marketing practices is addressed through the development of a practice theory approach to green marketing. Drawing on an ethnographic study of the Nordic Nature Shop,