Microalbuminuria in rheumatoid arthritis in the post penicillamine/gold era: association with hypertension, but not therapy or inflammation.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) associates with excess cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. New screening tools are needed to better identify patients at increased CV risk. Microalbuminuria (MA) has been shown to associate with inflammation and future cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Platelet function in rheumatoid arthritis: arthritic and cardiovascular implications.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at high risk of cardiovascular events. Platelet biomarkers are involved in inflammation, atherosclerosis and thrombosis. Cardiovascular and RA-associated factors can alter the structure and function of platelets, starting from megakaryocytopoiesis.

The human side of staffing.

While the call for data-driven staffing is loud and even overdue, our approach to it must be harmonized with the human side as well. Discovering the right combination of hard data and soft data may well be the impetus needed to catapult a shift in how we approach staffing to new levels of effectiveness. Nurses should not be apologizing for our focus on quality and the patient experience, but rather leveraging the human understanding that nursing has mastered into our business models, financial plans, and staffing programs.

Plerixafor plus granulocyte CSF can mobilize hematopoietic stem cells from multiple myeloma and lymphoma patients failing previous mobilization attempts: EU compassionate use data.

Plerixafor was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) to enhance stem cell mobilization for autologous transplant in patients with lymphoma and multiple myeloma. In this study, we present the first European compassionate use experience in mobilization failures, patients who are hardest to remobilize but were not included in registration trials. A total of 56 consecutive patients from 15 centers in Spain and the United Kingdom were included: age 60 (33-69) years; 29 men (32 with myeloma and 24 with lymphoma); 2 lines of previous chemotherapy (1-10); 73 previously failed mobilization attempts with G-CSF (28), chemotherapy plus G-CSF (43) or G-CSF plus SCF(2).

Multimethod assessment of psychopathy in relation to factors of internalizing and externalizing from the Personality Assessment Inventory: the impact of method variance and suppressor effects.

Research to date has revealed divergent relations across factors of psychopathy measures with criteria of internalizing (INT; anxiety, depression) and externalizing (EXT; antisocial behavior, substance use). However, failure to account for method variance and suppressor effects has obscured the consistency of these findings across distinct measures of psychopathy. Using a large correctional sample, the current study employed a multimethod approach to psychopathy assessment (self-report, interview and file review) to explore convergent and discriminant relations between factors of psychopathy measures and latent criteria of INT and EXT derived from the Personality Assessment Inventory (Morey, 2007).

Evidence-based staffing and "communityship" as the key to success.

Embracing an inclusive leadership style is the foundation of building an approach to staffing that maximizes outcomes for patients, the workforce, and the organizations in which care is delivered. By engaging everyone involved and inviting participation, a structure of shared understanding is created, providing an environment that is positioned to achieve optimal results. Communityship offers a model for approaching leadership that is aligned with leveraging talent across an organization and developing a culture prepared to face the complex challenges of staffing and achieving new levels of performance that an evidence-based approach to staffing excellence can offer.

Short-term stability of psychopathic traits in adolescent offenders.

There is considerable debate about the assessment of psychopathic traits in adolescence due in part to questions regarding the stability of traits. We investigated the 6-month stability of psychopathic traits in a sample of 83 male adolescent offenders using an augmented protocol for the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version and the self-report Antisocial Process Screening Device. Findings suggested moderate to high stability of psychopathic traits, as indexed by total scores, and low to moderate stability of psychopathic traits at the factor level.

Examining the role of interrogative suggestibility in Miranda rights comprehension in adolescents.

This study aimed to further clarify the association between interrogative suggestibility and Miranda rights comprehension in adolescents; in particular, we examined whether intellectual ability (IQ) serves as a mediator of this relationship. Participants completed Grisso's Miranda Instruments, the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, and the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale. Many youth demonstrated poor comprehension of their rights, particularly younger and less intellectually capable adolescents.

Infection frequently triggers thrombotic microangiopathy in patients with preexisting risk factors: a single-institution experience.

Thrombotic microangiopathies are rare conditions characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, microthrombi, and multiorgan insult. The disorders, which include hemolytic uremic syndrome and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, are often acute and life threatening. We report a retrospective analysis of 65 patients presenting to our institution from 1997 to 2008 with all forms of thrombotic microangiopathy.

Biophysical and X-ray crystallographic analysis of Mps1 kinase inhibitor complexes.

The dual-specificity protein kinase monopolar spindle 1 (Mps1) is a central component of the mitotic spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), a sensing mechanism that prevents anaphase until all chromosomes are bioriented on the metaphase plate. Partial depletion of Mps1 protein levels sensitizes transformed, but not untransformed, human cells to therapeutic doses of the anticancer agent Taxol, making it an attractive novel therapeutic cancer target. We have previously determined the X-ray structure of the catalytic domain of human Mps1 in complex with the anthrapyrazolone kinase inhibitor SP600125.

Getting real on evidence-based staffing.

Getting your arms around the topic of evidence-based staffing is not simple. There is no central place where one can turn to understand what evidence-based staffing is, what is necessary to adopt it, and how to measure its effectiveness. Organizing the evidence into usable resources and tools that can provide the guidance and experience needed to successfully operationalize evidence-based staffing is perhaps our biggest barrier.

7,9-Dichloro-6H,12H-indolo[2,1-b]quinazoline-6,12-dione.

There are two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(15)H(6)Cl(2)N(2)O(2). The conjugated four-ring system is essentially planar in each mol-ecule [maximum deviation = 0.089 (2) Å].

Family donor care management: principles and recommendations.

The World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) is an international organization fostering collaboration in clinical transplantation and promoting the interests of unrelated stem cell donors. The WMDA has developed standards for the recruitment, counseling, work-up and subsequent donations to protect the interests of donors. Although the care of family donors has been carefully considered and managed in transplant centers (TCs) internationally over numerous years (and increasingly TCs are facing accreditation programs, which address this issue) there is currently a lack of standardized guidelines for the management of family donors.

Longitudinal assessment of neuropsychological function in major depression.

Neuropsychological impairment is a core component of major depression, yet its relationship to clinical state is unclear. The aims of the present review were to determine which neuropsychological domains and tasks were most sensitive to improvement in clinical state in major depression and to highlight the methodological issues in such research. Studies that included a baseline and at least one follow-up neuropsychological testing session in adults with major depression were identified using MEDLINE, Web of Science and ScienceDirect databases.

Studies of the fragmentation of the monocation and dication of methanol.

Relative partial ionization cross sections and precursor-specific relative partial ionization cross sections for fragment ions formed by electron ionization of methanol have been measured using time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with a two-dimensional ion coincidence technique. Relative cross sections are reported for ionizing energies from 30 to 200 eV. Good agreement is found between our data and one set of recently published absolute partial ionization cross sections.

Psychometric Properties of Carver and White's (1994) BIS/BAS Scales in a Large Sample of Offenders.

Contemporary motivational theories of psychopathy (Lykken, 1995) employ constructs from Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST; Gray, 1982), behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) functioning, to explain etiologic differences in psychopathy subtypes. Carver and White's (1994) BIS/BAS scales are the most widely used measures of these constructs, yet there is a dearth of research on how these measures perform with offenders. Using a sample of 1,515 offenders, we found evidence that five, rather than the usual four factors, underpin the BIS/BAS scales.

Quantifying the impact of residential heating on the urban air quality in a typical European coal combustion region.

The present investigation, carried out as a case study in a typical major city situated in a European coal combustion region (Krakow, Poland), aims at quantifying the impact on the urban air quality of residential heating by coal combustion in comparison with other potential pollution sources such as power plants, industry, and traffic. Emissions were measured for 20 major sources, including small stoves and boilers, and the particulate matter (PM) was analyzed for 52 individual compounds together with outdoor and indoor PM10 collected during typical winter pollution episodes. The data were analyzed using chemical mass balance modeling (CMB) and constrained positive matrix factorization (CMF) yielding source apportionments for PM10, B(a)P, and other regulated air pollutants namely Cd, Ni, As, and Pb.

Using the PCL-R to help estimate the validity of two self-report measures of psychopathy with offenders.

Two self-report measures of psychopathy, Levenson's Primary and Secondary Psychopathy scales (LPSP) and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), were administered to a large sample of 1,603 offenders. The most widely researched measure of criminal psychopathy, the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), served as a provisional referent for estimating the construct validity of these self-report measures with offenders. Compared with the LPSP, the PPI displayed higher zero-order correlations with the PCL-R, better convergent and discriminant validity, and more consistent incremental utility in predicting PCL-R scores.

Association of mean platelet volume with hypertension in rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common chronic inflammatory disorders associated with enhanced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Established high prevalence of classical cardiovascular risk factors may only partly explain cardiovascular phenomenon in this disease. Emerging risk factors, markers of inflammation and prothrombotic state such as platelet size are believed to reflect activity of RA.

What predicts obesity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis? An investigation of the interactions between lifestyle and inflammation.

Objective: To assess whether physical activity, diet or inflammation is a more important determinant of body mass index (BMI) and body fat (BF) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: A total of 150 RA patients (102 female) were assessed for BMI and BF. Their habitual physical activity was assessed with the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ) and their energy intake with a 3-day food diary.

Statin use in rheumatoid arthritis in relation to actual cardiovascular risk: evidence for substantial undertreatment of lipid-associated cardiovascular risk?

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is partially attributed to traditional cardiovascular risk factors, which can be identified and managed based on risk stratification algorithms (Framingham Risk Score, National Cholesterol Education Program, Systematic Cardiovascular Risk Evaluation and Reynolds Risk Score). We aimed to (a) identify the proportion of at risk patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) requiring statin therapy identified by conventional risk calculators, and (b) assess whether patients at risk were receiving statins.

Methods: Patients at high CVD risk (excluding patients with established CVD or diabetes) were identified from a cohort of 400 well characterised patients with RA, by applying risk calculators with or without a x1.

Lack of an association of GNB3 C825T polymorphism and blood pressure in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

G-protein beta 3 subunit (GNB3) C825T (rs5443) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) has been implicated as a risk factor for essential hypertension in the general population. The effects of this SNP may be more prominent in subjects with endothelial dysfunction (ED). Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with ED and has a high prevalence of hypertension.

Target organ damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: the role of blood pressure and heart rate.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterised by increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Even though hypertension (HT) is highly prevalent in RA, the extent of target organ damage (TOD) caused by it remains unknown. Inflammation and sympathetic overdrive may also associate with TOD.

The rationale for comparative studies of accelerated atherosclerosis in rheumatic diseases.

The inflammatory pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is now well-established, owing to in vitro and in vivo studies and the application of high sensitivity assays for C-reactive protein (CRP) in the general population and specific groups at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). In view of the complexity of inflammation-induced atherosclerosis, the rationale for comparative studies of atherogenesis in rheumatic diseases with diverse inflammatory pathogenesis seems obvious; they are human in vivo models to study inflammatory mechanisms involved in atherosclerosis and the impact of treatment. Factors implicated in atherogenesis in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) and Behçet's disease (BD) are discussed in this review.