Background The metabolic syndrome (MetS) may contribute to increased cardiovascular risk in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We aimed to examine the association of demographic factors, lupus phenotype and therapy exposure with the presence of MetS. Methods The Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics Registry for Atherosclerosis inception cohort enrolled recently diagnosed (

Centuries of artificial selection have dramatically improved the yield of human agriculture; however, strong directional selection also occurs in natural symbiotic interactions. Fungus-growing attine ants cultivate basidiomycete fungi for food. One cultivar lineage has evolved inflated hyphal tips (gongylidia) that grow in bundles called staphylae, to specifically feed the ants. Here we show exten

This study assessed the ability of the tongue tip to accurately select intra-oral sensors embedded in a upper palatal interface of 19 able-bodied volunteers. Tongue selectivity performance measures were determined for three different tongue-computer interface layouts. Assessment of intra-oral target selection speed and accuracy revealed that performance was dependent on the location and distance b

Excited states in the Rh-99 nucleus were populated using the fusion-evaporation reaction As-75(Si-28,2p2n) at E-lab = 120 MeV and the de-excitations were investigated through in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopic techniques using the INGA spectrometer consisting of 18 clover detectors. The observed band structures are discussed in the framework of tilted axis cranking shell-model calculations. Level str

Background: Animal studies suggest that the arginine vasopressin (AVP) system plays a role in glucose and fat metabolism, but data from humans are limited. Method and results: We analysed plasma copeptin (copeptin), a stable C-terminal fragment of the AVP pro-hormone in the large, Swedish, population-based cohort Malmö Diet and Cancer Study Cardiovascular Cohort (MDC-CC, n=6103). Using baseline

Insect antennal flagella host a multitude of sensory organs fulfilling different functions. Chemoreception, for example, is essential for insects in many contexts. Both olfaction and contact chemoreception are involved in host-plant selection, as well as in the integrity of insect societies, especially for nestmate recognition. Kladothrips intermedius is a eusocial gall-inducing thrips with two ca

The nuclear structure of neutron-rich N>126 nuclei has been investigated following their production via relativistic projectile fragmentation of a E/A=1 GeV U-238 beam. Metastable states in the N=128 isotones Hg-208 and Tl-209 have been identified. Delayed gamma-ray transitions are interpreted as arising from the decay of I-pi=(8(+)) and (17/2(+)) isomers, respectively. The data allow for the so f

Background: Allergic contact dermatitis is an inflammatory skin disease that affects a significant proportion of the population. This disease is caused by an adverse immune response towards chemical haptens, and leads to a substantial economic burden for society. Current test of sensitizing chemicals rely on animal experimentation. New legislations on the registration and use of chemicals within p

We studied the incidence and characteristics of surgically treated sternocutaneous fistulas in a nationwide cohort of patients undergoing open heart surgery in Iceland. Between 2000 and 2010, sternocutaneous fistulas were treated surgically in 6 out of 2446 patients undergoing open heart surgery (incidence 0.25%, 95% confidence interval 0.11-0.53%). All patients were male, with a mean age of 71 +/

We have examined the stable carbon isotope stratigraphy, bio- and litho-stratigraphy of the Upper Triassic (Otapirian) - Lower Jurassic (Aratauran) boundary strata from the Awakino gorge and Kawhia coast sections, Murihiku Terrane, North Island, New Zealand. Successive occurrences of species of the bivalve genus Otapiria, O. dissimilis, O. marshalli and O. aff. marshalli, and also of age diagnosti

The genetic variance-covariance matrix (G) has long been considered to summarize the genetic constraints biasing evolution in its early stages, although in some instances, G can enhance divergence and facilitate adaptation. However, the effects of G on the response to selection might be of less importance than previously thought. In addition, it has been suggested that selection itself, under cert

The interest in the Camassa-Holm equation inspired the search for various generalizations of this equation With interesting properties and applications. In this Letter we deal with such a two-component integrable system Of Coupled equations. First we derive the system in the context of shallow water theory. Then we show that while small initial data develop into global Solutions, for some initial

The aspartic protease cathepsin D, a poor prognostic indicator of breast cancer, is abundantly secreted as procathepsin D by human breast cancer cells and self-activates at low pH in vitro, giving rise to catalytically active cathepsin D. Due to a lower extracellular pH in tumor microenvironments compared to normal tissues, cathepsin D may cleave pathophysiological substrates contributing to cance

OBJECTIVE-Previous studies have suggested that preterm birth is associated with diabetes later in life. These studies have shown inconsistent results for late preterm births and have had various limitations, including the inability to evaluate diabetic outpatients or to estimate risk across the full range of gestational ages. Our objective was to determine whether preterm birth is associated with

Despite the increasing production of wheat gluten (WG) for industrial use, minor attention has been given to the impact of the separation procedure on the gluten quality. The purpose of the present study was to probe the effect of the separation treatments (harsh vs mild) on gluten structure, morphology, and performance in bio-based films. The harshly separated industrial WG showed aggregated and

The production of the prompt charmed mesonsD(0), D+, andD(*+) relative to the reaction plane was measured in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision of root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decays at central rapidity in the transverse-momentum (pT) interval 2-16 GeV/c. The az