Introduction: One aim of modern pharmacologic treatment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is to prevent joint destruction and reduce the need for surgery. Our purpose was to investigate secular trends in the incidence of primary total hip and knee arthroplasties in a well defined sample of patients with RA. Methods: Prevalent cases with RA in 1997 and incident cases from 1997 to 2007 in a community bas

This study investigated the impact of well geometry and surface reflectance on the vertical daylight factors of walls in atria with square plan forms under a CIE standard overcast sky. Artificial sky scale model measurements were used to validate predicted values of vertical daylight factors using the software package Radiance. More simulated vertical daylight factors data for a much wider range o

Hypoxia, or low oxygen tension, is a major regulator of tumor development and aggressiveness. However, how cancer cells adapt to hypoxia and communicate with their surrounding microenvironment during tumor development remain important questions. Here, we show that secreted vesicles with exosome characteristics mediate hypoxia-dependent intercellular signaling of the highly malignant brain tumor gl

This paper focuses on the ability of the labor market to efficiently match heterogeneous workers to jobs within a given industry and the role that globalization plays in that process. Using matched worker-firm data from Sweden, we find strong evidence that openness improves the matching between workers and firms in industries with greater comparative advantage. This suggests that there may be sign

Implant-assisted targeting of magnetic particles under the influence of an external magnetic field has previously been verified through mathematical modeling, in vitro studies, and in vivo studies on rat carotid arteries as a feasible method for localized drug delivery. The present study focuses on the development of nanoparticles for the treatment of in-stent thrombosis. Magnetic nanoparticles in

Putative cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) genes are frequently discovered in various fungi by genome sequencing projects. The expression of CDH, an extracellular flavocytochrome, is well studied in white rot basidiomycetes and is attributed to extracellular lignocellulose degradation. CDH has also been reported for plant-pathogenic or saprotrophic ascomycetes, but the molecular and catalytic propert

Rubber accelerators are common contact allergens in healthcare personnel, owing to exposures from medical gloves.

We follow template-binding induced aggregation of nanoparticles enantioselectively imprinted against (S)-propranolol, and the non-imprinted ones, using photon correlation spectroscopy (dynamic light scattering). The method requires no separation steps. We have characterized binding of (R,S)-propranolol to the imprinted polymers and determined the degree of non-specificity by comparing the specific

Platelet activation and aggregation has been reported to occur in response to a number of Gram-positive pathogens. Here we show that platelet aggregates induced by Streptococcus pyogenes were unstable and viable bacteria escaped from the aggregates over time. This was not due to a differential activation in response to the bacteria as compared with physiological activators. All the bacteria isolat

Wilms tumor is the most common pediatric renal neoplasm, but few molecular prognostic markers have been identified for this tumor. Somatic deletion in the long arm of chromosome 16 (16q) is known to predict a less favorable outcome in Wilms tumor, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not known. We show that 16q deletions are typically confined to immature anaplastic-blastic tumor elements,

This Letter reports on a systematic study of β-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei around doubly magic ^{208}Pb. The lifetimes of the 126-neutron shell isotone ^{204}Pt and the neighboring ^{200-202}Ir, ^{203}Pt, ^{204}Au are presented together with other 19 half-lives measured during the "stopped beam" campaign of the rare isotope investigations at GSI collaboration. The results constrain the

Octocrylene is an ultraviolet (UV)B and UVAII absorber that was introduced some 15 years ago, and is now widely used in sunscreen agents and skin care cosmetics. Since 2003, several studies, notably from France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy, have reported an increasing number of patients with photocontact allergy to octocrylene. This reaction is seen mainly in adult patients who have previously used

BACKGROUND: The optimum treatment of acute total Achilles tendon rupture remains controversial. In the present study, the outcomes of surgical and nonsurgical treatment in a large number of patients were compared on the basis of patient age and sex. METHODS: The records of all 487 patients with an acute total Achilles tendon rupture that had occurred between 2002 and 2006 and had been treated at

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common malignancy affecting men in the western world. While radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy can successfully treat a majority of patients, up to ~30% will experience local recurrence or metastatic disease. Prostate carcinogenesis and progression is typically an androgen dependent process. For this reason, therapies for recurrent PCa target androgen bio

Aim: To quantify avian distribution shifts and the extent of niche tracking in response to changing temperature and precipitation patterns. Location: Sweden. Methods: We used abundance monitoring data to quantify changes in bird species distributions between two time periods, 2000-02 and 2010-12. First we examined shifts at the level of whole distributions using population centroids in temperature

Introduction: The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of newer biologic treatments including rituximab, abatacept and tocilizumab on antibody response following pneumococcal vaccination using a 7-valent conjugate vaccine in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Patients with RA receiving rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab as monotherapy or combined with me

The feasibility of digesting energy crops supplemented with macro- and micronutrients instead of manure, without the commonly applied long hydraulic retention time (HRT), was investigated in long-term, single-stage continuous stirred tank processes. The crops used were mixtures of sugar beets, maize and whole crop triticale. The organic loading rate (OLR) measured as a total solid (TS) was 1.5-5.5

Abstract in Undetermined This paper investigates hypotheses related to efficiency and price uniformity in online competing auctions based on two theoretical predictions from Peters and Severinov [Peters, M., Severinov, S., 2006. Internet auctions with many traders. Journal of Economic Theory 130, 220–245]. The investigation is conducted using a large and ideal data set for online competing train t