Tocilizumab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis and inadequate response to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or tumor necrosis factor inhibitors: subanalysis of Spanish results of an open-label study close to clinical practice.

Objectives: To analyze the Spanish experience in an international study which evaluated tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and an inadequate response to conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFis) in a clinical practice setting.

Material And Methods: Subanalysis of 170 patients with RA from Spain who participated in a phase IIIb, open-label, international clinical trial. Patients presented inadequate response to DMARDs or TNFis.

Hypochromicity in red blood cells: an experimental and theoretical investigation.

Multiwavelength UV-visible transmission spectrophotometry is a useful tool for the examination of micron-size particle suspensions in the context of particle size and chemical composition. This paper reports the reliability of this method to characterize the spectra of purified red blood cells both in their physiological state and with modified hemoglobin content. Previous studies have suggested the contribution of hypochromism on the particle spectra caused by the close electronic interaction of the encapsulated chromophores.

Rayleigh-Debye-Gans as a model for continuous monitoring of biological particles: Part II, development of a hybrid model.

Rayleigh-Debye-Gans and Mie theory were previously shown to disagree for spherical particles under ideal conditions4. A Hybrid model for spheres was developed by the authors combining Mie theory and Rayleigh- Debye-Gans. The hybrid model was tested against Mie and Rayleigh- Debye-Gans for different refractive indices and diameter sizes across the UV-Vis spectrum.

Light scattering and microarchitectural differences between tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cell models of tissue.

Differences in light scattering properties of a tumorigenic and a non-tumorigenic model for tissue were demonstrated using a variety of light scattering techniques, the majority of which are in vivo compatible. In addition to determining that light scattering differences exist, models for the microarchitectural changes responsible for the light scattering differences were developed.

Rayleigh-Debye-Gans as a model for continuous monitoring of biological particles: Part I, assessment of theoretical limits and approximations.

A rapid tool for the characterization of submicron particles is light spectroscopy. Rayleigh-Debye-Gans and Mie theories provide light scattering solutions that can be evaluated within the time constants required for continuous real time monitoring applications, as in characterization of biological particles. A multiwavelength assessment of Rayleigh-Debye-Gans theory for spheres was conducted over the UV-Vis wavelength range where strict adherence to the limits of the theory at a single wavelength could not be met.

[Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in systemic autoimmune diseases. State of the art].

The use of stem cell transplantation for severe autoimmune diseases refractory to conventional therapy arose from two discoveries: the excellent results of animal experiments, and serendipitous observations in human coincidental diseases. Experimental data and early phase I-II trials in highly selected patients suggest that highdose chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can arrest progression of severe autoimmune diseases with an acceptable risk/benefit ratio. The present article reviews the phase II-III prospective, multicenter, randomized trials that have been performed in distinct autoimmunediseases.

The sagittal mandibular osteotomy under local anesthesia and intravenous sedation: four years of multicenter experience.

Today many surgical procedures involving head and neck areas can be performed under local anesthesia and intravenous sedation. The authors add to this list the sagittal osteotomies of the mandibular rami, thereby avoiding the need for general anesthesia and a hospital stay. The authors designed a protocol to be followed in a multicenter study (Milan and Barcelona) and applied it in 35 clinical cases with Class II malocclusion.