Objective: To compare effectiveness, drug survival, and safety between infliximab, adalimumab, and etanercept, in a nationwide cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Methods: This study is a prospective cohort study of 1208 active RA patients. Effectiveness, drug survival, and serious adverse events during entire follow-up (median 2.9 years) were monitored. Results: EULAR and CDAI responses

The Theory of Characteristic Modes provides a convenient tool for designing multi-antennas for MIMO applications, as it enables orthogonal radiation patterns to be excited in a given antenna structure. Moreover, the frequency behavior of the modes reveals interesting wideband properties of the structure. However, the tracking of characteristic modes over frequency remains a challenge, especially w

We have studied the β decay of the Tz=−1, f7/2 shell nuclei Ni54, Fe50, Cr46, and Ti42 produced in fragmentation reactions. The proton separation energies in the daughter Tz=0 nuclei are relatively large (≈4–5 MeV) so studies of the γ rays are essential. The experiments were performed at GSI as part of the Stopped-beam campaign with the RISING setup consisting of 15 Euroball Cluster Ge detectors.

Epidemiological studies indicate that cadmium exposure through diet and smoking is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. There are few data on the relationship between cadmium and plaques, the hallmark of underlying atherosclerotic disease.

This study is a contribution to the empirical underpinning of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and it aims to identify linguistic correlates to the proficiency levels defined by the CEFR. The study was conducted in a Swedish school setting, focusing on English, French and Italian, and examined the relationship between CEFR levels (A1-C2) assigned by experienced rate

We describe the formation and structure of nucleolipid/dendrimer multilayer films controlled by non-covalent interactions to obtain biomaterials that exhibit molecular recognition of nucleic acids. Layers of cationic poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers of generation 4 and the anionic nucleolipids 1,2-dilauroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylnucleosides (DLPNs) based on uridine (DLPU) and adenosine (DLPA

Introduction: Asthma is a complex, heterogeneous and mutifactorial disease and represents a major health problem in Westernised countries. The airway epithelium, with its direct physical contact with luminal triggers, has a major role in determining the nature of inflammation that develops in asthmatic airways. Objective: The present review aims to provide a brief overview of the numerous ways the

In this work we investigate the interplay between flow and boundary condition effects on the orientation field of a thermotropic nematic liquid crystal under flow and confinement in a microfluidic device. Two types of experiments were performed using synchrotron small-angle X-ray-scattering (SAXS). In the first, a nematic liquid crystal flows through a square-channel cross section at varying flow

Weathering of silicate minerals releases dissolved silicate (DSi) to the soil-vegetation system. Accumulation and recycling of this DSi by terrestrial ecosystems creates a pool of reactive Si on the continents that buffers DSi export to the ocean. Human perturbations to the functioning of the buffer have been a recent research focus, yet a common assumption is that the continental Si cycle is at s

Directional swimming in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora (cubozoa, cnidaria) is controlled by the shape of the velarium, which is a thin muscular sheet that forms the opening of the bell. It was unclear how different patterns of visual stimulation control directional swimming and that is the focus of this study. Jellyfish were tethered inside a small experimental tank, where the four vertic

Bjorn Roos is one of the pioneers in the development and usage of multiconfigurational methods, in particular, the complete active space self-consistent field method and the perturbational complete active space perturbation theory through second order. To perform multiconfigurational calculations using these methods, a set of active orbitals must be selected, and the success of the methods depends

With scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM), a noncontact scanning probe technique, it is possible both to obtain information about the surface topography of live cells and to apply molecules onto specific nanoscale structures. The technique is therefore widely used to apply chemical compounds and to study the properties of molecules on the surfaces of various cell types. The heart muscle cell

OBJECTIVE: To increase the understanding of how definitions of standards for housing design influence the proportion of dwellings not meeting the standards and the proportion of individuals defined as having accessibility problems. METHODS: The sample included old people and their dwellings in three European countries (N = 1,150). Frequencies and percentages were reported and empirical distributio

Early to late Holocene sediments from core F80, Fårö Deep, Baltic Sea, are investigated for their palynomorph composition and dinoflagellate cyst record to map variations in sea-surface-water salinity and palaeoproductivity during the past 6000 years. The F80 palynomorph assemblages are subdivided into four Assemblage Zones (AZs) named A to D. The transition from the stratigraphically oldest AZ A

Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is a glycoprotein responsible for the transport and biologic availability of sex steroid hormones, primarily testosterone and estradiol. SHBG has been associated with chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and with hormone-sensitive cancers such as breast and prostate cancer. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of 21,791 i

A double-tuned Na-23/H-1 resonator system was developed to record multinuclear MR image data during and after transient cerebral ischemia. H-1-diffusion-, H-1 perfusion, H-1 T2-, H-1 arterial blood flow-and Na-23 spin density-weighted images were then acquired at three time points in a rodent stroke model: (I) during 90 min artery occlusion, (II) directly after arterial reperfusion and (III) one d

The pressure distribution over a compressed breast is in general heterogeneous. In this study we investigated the pressure distribution over compressed breasts with tumor masses. Twenty-two women either recalled for work-up of findings suspicious for breast cancer in the screening program or with clinically suspected findings were included in the study. Twenty-one lesions turned out to be malignan

A density functional theory study is presented regarding the energetics and the Mulliken population analyses of a quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) system including multiple iron-sulfur clusters in the QM region. The [FeFe]-hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans was studied, and both the active site (an Fe6S6 assembly generally referred to as the H-cluster) and an ancillary Fe4

1. Environmental factors fluctuate spatially and temporally, and organisms that can alter phenotype in response to these changes may increase their fitness. Zooplankton are known to be able to induce body pigmentation in response to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and to reduce the pigmentation when exposed to fish predators. Hence, reduced pigmentation because of the presence of fish could potentiall

Online social media are a perfect text source for stance analysis. Stance in human communication is concerned with speaker attitudes, beliefs, feelings and opinions. Expressions of stance are associated with the speakers' view of what they are talking about and what is up for discussion and negotiation in the intersubjective exchange. Taking stance is thus crucial for the social construction of me