Nipocalimab, an anti-FcRn monoclonal antibody, in participants with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis and inadequate response or intolerance to anti-TNF therapy: results from the phase 2a IRIS-RA study.

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of nipocalimab in participants with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and inadequate response or intolerance to ≥1 antitumour necrosis factor agent.

Methods: In this phase 2a study, participants with RA seropositive for anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) or rheumatoid factors were randomised 3:2 to nipocalimab (15 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks) or placebo from Weeks 0 to 10. Efficacy endpoints (primary endpoint: change from baseline in Disease Activity Score 28 using C reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) at Week 12) and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were assessed through Week 12.

Parameter-Efficient Densely Connected Dual Attention Network for Phonocardiogram Classification.

Cardiac auscultation, exhibited by phonocardiogram (PCG), is a non-invasive and low-cost diagnostic method for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). However, deploying it in practice is quite challenging, due to the inherent murmurs and a limited number of supervised samples in heart sound data. To solve these problems, not only heart sound analysis based on handcrafted features, but also computer-aided heart sound analysis based on deep learning have been extensively studied in recent years.

Adsorption of micropollutants from wastewater using iron and nitrogen co-doped biochar: Performance, kinetics and mechanism studies.

In this study, a novel iron and nitrogen co-doped biochar (Fe/N-biochar) was successfully prepared and employed as an efficient adsorbent for micropollutants. The maximum adsorption capacity of Fe/N-biochar for bisphenol A (BPA) was 54 mg/g, which is significantly better than that of commercial graphene (19 mg/g) and activated carbon (6 mg/g). Additionally, for eight other common micropollutants (e.

Color-based clustering algorithm as a novel image analytical method for characterizing maltose crystallinity in amorphous food models.

Maltose crystallization affects the processibility and stability of sugar-rich foods. This study introduced a color-based clustering algorithm (CCA) to analyze crystallinity from the images of amorphous maltose/protein models. The XRD and DSC were also implemented in maltose crystallization characterization and validated the CCA analysis.

Guselkumab induces robust reduction in acute phase proteins and type 17 effector cytokines in active psoriatic arthritis: results from phase 3 trials.

Objective: To investigate serum protein expression in participants with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and changes after guselkumab treatment.

Methods: Participants with PsA were treated with guselkumab or placebo in the DISCOVER-1 and DISCOVER-2 studies. Serum levels of acute phase reactants C reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) and inflammatory cytokines/chemokines were measured at weeks 0, 4 and 24 in 300 study participants and 34 healthy controls (HCs).

Suppression of Serum Interferon-γ Levels as a Potential Measure of Response to Ustekinumab Treatment in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Objective: In a previously reported phase II randomized, placebo-controlled, interventional trial, we demonstrated that treatment with ustekinumab, an anti-interleukin-12 (IL-12)/IL-23 p40 neutralizing monoclonal antibody, improved global and organ-specific measures of disease activity in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Utilizing the biomarker data from this phase II clinical study, we sought to determine whether modulation of the expression of IL-12, IL-23, or both cytokines by ustekinumab is associated with clinical efficacy in patients with SLE.

Methods: This phase II randomized, placebo-controlled study enrolled 102 patients with autoantibody-positive SLE whose disease remained active despite standard-of-care therapy.

Validated and longitudinally stable asthma phenotypes based on cluster analysis of the ADEPT study.

Background: Asthma is a disease of varying severity and differing disease mechanisms. To date, studies aimed at stratifying asthma into clinically useful phenotypes have produced a number of phenotypes that have yet to be assessed for stability and to be validated in independent cohorts. The aim of this study was to define and validate, for the first time ever, clinically driven asthma phenotypes using two independent, severe asthma cohorts: ADEPT and U-BIOPRED.

Genes associated with intestinal permeability in ulcerative colitis: changes in expression following infliximab therapy.

Background: Alterations in intestinal permeability have been implicated in ulcerative colitis (UC). Infliximab, a monoclonal anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) antibody, can induce clinical response in UC. Gene expression in colonic biopsies taken from responders and nonresponders to infliximab can provide insight into the mechanisms of the altered intestinal permeability at a molecular level.

Molecular profiling and gene expression analysis in cutaneous sarcoidosis: the role of interleukin-12, interleukin-23, and the T-helper 17 pathway.

Background: Cutaneous sarcoidosis (CS) skin provides relatively noninvasive access to granulomatous sarcoidosis tissue.

Objective: We sought to explore the role of the T-helper (Th)1 and Th17 pathways in sarcoidosis.

Methods: We used molecular profiling and gene expression analysis to analyze the Th1 and Th17 pathways and other immune-mediated pathways in CS.

Gene expression profiling and response signatures associated with differential responses to infliximab treatment in ulcerative colitis.

Objectives: Infliximab has been shown to induce clinical response and remission in ulcerative colitis (UC). To characterize the biological response of patients to infliximab, we analyzed the mRNA expression patterns of mucosal colonic biopsies taken from UC patients enrolled in the Active Ulcerative Colitis Trial 1 (ACT1) study.

Methods: Biopsies were obtained from 48 UC patients before treatment with 5 or 10 mg/kg infliximab, and at 8 and 30 weeks after treatment (n = 113 biopsies).