Introduction: The aim of this study was to explore the persistence of an antibody response 1.5 years after vaccination with 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or spondyloarthropathy (SpA) treated with different antirheumatic drugs. Methods: Of 505 patients initially recruited, data on current antirheumatic treatment and blood samples were obtained fr

Despite the ban by the European Union, anabolic steroids might still be illicitly employed in bovine meat production. The surveillance of misuse of such potentially harmful molecules is necessary to guarantee consumers' health. Analytical methods for drug residue control are based on LC-MS/MS, but their efficacy can be hindered due to undetectable residual concentrations as a result of low-dosage

Generative product design systems used in the context of mass customization are required to generate diverse solutions quickly and reliably without necessitating modification or tuning during use. When such systems are employed to allow for the mass customization of product form, they must be able to handle mass production and engineering constraints that can be time-consuming to evaluate and diff

The literature on trade facilitation has mostly focused on implications for trade volumes. However, recent theoretical contributions have emphasized that trade costs – such as transaction costs related to cross-border trade procedures – affect both the traded volumes of “old” goods (the intensive margin) and the range of traded goods (the extensive margin). This paper therefore tests whether trade

A measurement of the ZZ production cross section in proton-proton collisions at root s = 7 TeV using data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. In a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb(-1) collected in 2011, events are selected that are consistent either with two Z bosons decaying to electrons or muons or with one Z boson decaying t

The extracellular matrix (ECM) of the brain plays crucial roles during the development, maturation, and regeneration of the CNS. In a subpopulation of neurons, the ECM condenses to superstructures called perineuronal nets (PNNs) that surround synapses. Camillo Golgi described PNNs a century ago, yet their biological functions remain elusive. Here, we studied a mouse mutant that lacks four ECM comp

Quasi-relativistic Douglas-Kroll CASPT2 calculations are reported for the title molecules, mainly to provide primary data for a fit of double-bond covalent radii. Indeed, a well-developed sigma(2)pi(2) double bond is identified in all cases. For Eu and Yb, however, it is an excited state. The main valence orbitals of all Ln ions are 6s and 5d. In the sigma bonds, more 5d than 6s character is found

Lycopene has antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory effects with molecular mechanisms not fully identified. We investigated the effects of lycopene on the inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in RAW264.7 cells and the signal transduction pathways involved. Lycopene inhibited LPS-induced production of nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) with decreased mRNAs of inducible

Viral vector-mediated gene transfer has emerged as a powerful means to target transgene expression in the central nervous system. Here we characterized the efficacy of serotypes 1 and 5 recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) after stereotaxic delivery to the neonatal rat and minipig striatum. The efficiency of GFP expression and the phenotype of

Understanding the drivers of speciation is critical to interpreting patterns of biodiversity. The identification of the genetic changes underlying adaptation and reproductive isolation is necessary to link barriers to gene flow to the causal origins of divergence. Here, we present a novel approach to the genetics of speciation, which should complement the commonly used approaches of quantitative t

It is often said that bilinguals are not the sum of two monolinguals but that bilingual systems represent a third pattern. This study explores the exact nature of this pattern. We ask whether there is evidence of a merged system when one language makes an obligatory distinction that the other one does not, namely in the case of placement verbs in French and Dutch, and whether such a merged system

Blogs offer a space where engineers can engage with public audiences about engineering topics, challenging and surpassing a deficit model of science communication. Communication that is adapted for a broad audience, discusses topics that are socially relevant, and facilitates participation and dialogue is more likely to be engaging. We examined 14 top engineering blogs to see how engineers present

Macrophages (m phi) are essential for intestinal homeostasis and the pathology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but it is unclear whether discrete m phi populations carry out these distinct functions or if resident m phi change during inflammation. We show here that most resident m phi in resting mouse colon express very high levels of CX3CR1, are avidly phagocytic and MHCII hi, but are resist

During the last few decades, ideas of empowerment, person-centred care (PCC) and shared decision-making (SDM) have informed western health care. An increasing interest in conversational styles aligned with these ideas is visible e.g. in the work to make motivational interviewing (MI) an evidence-based communicative practice. But linguistic competence is needed to identify the subtle nuances of the

What is the computational complexity of geometric model estimation in the presence of noise and outliers? We show that the number of outliers can be minimized in polynomial time with respect to the number of measurements, although exponential in the model dimension. Moreover, for a large class of problems, we prove that the statistically more desirable truncated L2-norm can be optimized with the s

The gas phase selective hydrogenation of a series of nitroarenes (nitrobenzene, p-chloronitrobenzene, p-bromonitrobenzene, p-nitroaniline, p-nitrotoluene, p-nitrophenol and p-nitroanisole) has been examined over Au/TiO2 (0.3 % w/w Au, mean Au particle size = 3.9 nm). Compensation behavior is demonstrated with an associated isokinetic temperature (T-iso) of 558 +/- 32 K. We account for this respons

Adrenal adenomas discovered as incidentalomas may secrete cortisol and cause subclinical hypercortisolism. This cortisol secretion is considered to be autonomous. The aim was to investigate whether cortisol secretion by adenomas is responsive to ACTH.

The chimney graft (CG) technique was introduced to rescue accidentally covered aortic branches during aortic endovascular repair. It extends the sealing zone. There is concern about "gutter" type I endoleak (EL-I) and about the durability of CGs. The aim of the present report was to analyze the rapidly increasing existing data.

Beneficial anti-inflammatory properties have been ascribed to volatile anesthetics in septic conditions, but no studies have compared anesthesia to the conscious state in a large-animal model. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of isoflurane anesthesia on cardiovascular and respiratory function, leukocyte activation, and lung damage in a model of endotoxemia in sheep. Conscious (n