Objective: To examine clinical characteristics as possible predictors of long-term treatment continuation with adalimumab, etanercept, and infliximab in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients who had never taken biologics treated in clinical practice. Methods: Patients in southern Sweden with active AS starting biologic therapy for the first time between October 1999 and December 2008 (n = 243, 75%

OBJECTIVES: To determine wild-type minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) distributions for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as the background data for defining susceptibility breakpoints are limited. METHODS: We determined wild-type MIC distributions of M. tuberculosis using a 96-stick replicator in Middlebrook 7H10 (7H10) medium for ethionamide (ETH), prothionamide, thiacetazone, cycloserine, rifabut

Dementia is a progressive neurological disorder that causes a high degree of dependency. This dependency has been defined as an increased need for assistance due to deterioration in cognition and physical functioning, and changes in behavior. Highly dependent people with dementia are more likely to be institutionalized.

The energy dependence of the single-transverse-spin asymmetry, A(N), and the cross section for neutron production at very forward angles were measured in the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider for polarized p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV. The neutrons were observed in forward detectors covering an angular range of up to 2.2 mrad. We report results for neutrons with a mo

Key points IL1RAP is overexpressed on candidate AML stem cells and is a promising target for antibody-based therapy.

The familial risk of abdominal wall hernia (AWH) is largely unknown. In addition, it is unknown whether inguinal hernia (IH), femoral hernia (FH), incisional hernia (INH), epigastric hernia (EH), and umbilical hernia (UH) share familial susceptibility. The aim of this nationwide study was to determine the familial risks of concordant AWH (same disease in proband and exposed relative) and discordan

Despite of intensive search for the proper semiconductor base materials for spintronic devices working at room temperature no appropriate material based on ferromagnetic semiconductors has been found so far. We demonstrate that the phase segregated system with MnSb hexagonal inclusions inside the GaSb matrix, formed directly during the molecular beam epitaxial growth reveals the ferromagnetic prop

The northern cryosphere is undergoing substantial warming of permafrost and loss of sea ice. Release of stored carbon to the atmosphere in response to this change has the potential to affect the global climate system. Studies indicate that the northern cryosphere has been not only a substantial sink for atmospheric CO2 in recent decades, but also an important source of CH4 because of emissions fro

Flat-tube heat exchangers could be an interesting alternative to make indirect cooling of display cabinets more energy-efficient. This application involves low air velocities in combination with condensation of water vapor on the air side, so plain fins could be suitable. Two different heat exchangers having flat tubes and plain fins on the air side were evaluated experimentally. One of the heat e

The nexus of population growth and changing diets has increased the demands placed on agriculture to supply food for human consumption, animal feed and fuel. Rising incomes lead to dietary changes, from staple crops, towards commodities with greater land requirements, e.g. meat and dairy products. Despite yield improvements partially offsetting increases in demand, agricultural land has still been

Rainfall and temperature are important climatic inputs for agricultural production, especially in the context of climate change. However, accurate analysis and simulation of the joint distribution of rainfall and temperature are difficult due to possible interdependence between them. As one possible approach to this problem, five families of copula models are employed to model the interdependence

Abstract in UndeterminedThe use of a polar diagram method for describing and evaluating the machinability ofInconel 718 was explored. Five key parameters of the work material, representing themechanical and physical properties, which have the strongest influence on its machinability,were employed in the diagrams. These five parameters were integrated into asingle polar diagram, used to describe th

This article considers recent legal developments on undocumented migrant workers, finds the acceptance of international legal standards unsatisfactory and argues that the private law rights derived from the "semi-legal" employment contract between the employer and the undocumented migrant worker generates a solid base for significant legal claims. It further monitors the promotion of the position

Rainfall regimes became more extreme over the course of the 20th century, characterised by fewer and larger rainfall events. Such changes are expected to continue throughout the current century. The effect of changes in the temporal distribution of rainfall on ecosystem carbon fluxes is poorly understood, with most available information coming from experimental studies of grassland ecosystems. Her

Background Using three independent methods, prior studies in Swedish sibling pairs indicate that environmental factors contribute substantially to familial aggregation for drug abuse (DA). Could we replicate these results in cousin pairs? Method Using multiple Swedish public databases (1964-2011), we defined DA using medical, legal or pharmacy registry records and examined concordance in full cous

Many everyday activities, such as engaging in conversation or listening to a story, require us to sustain attention over a prolonged period of time while integrating and synthesizing complex episodic content into a coherent mental model. Humans are remarkably capable of navigating and keeping track of all the parallel social activities of everyday life even when confronted with interruptions or ch

Phylogenetic analysis of glycoside hydrolase family 2 including Aspergillus sequences and characterised β-mannosidases from other organisms, clusters putative Aspergillus β-mannosidases in two distinct clades (A and B). Aspergillus species have at least one paralog in each of the two clades. It appears that clade A members are extracellular and clade B members intracellular. Substrate specificity