[The effect of multimorbidity on functional and quality of life outcomes in women with generalized osteoarthritis].

Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) as the most common joint disease is a major public health concern.

Aim: To investigate the effect of multimorbidity on functional and quality of life outcomes in women with generalized osteoathritis (hand and knee arthritis, GOA).

Method: In this cross-sectional study, patients according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for OA were invited.

Comorbidity clusters in generalized osteoarthritis among female patients: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of comorbidities among female patients with generalized osteoarthritis (GOA) in comparison to an age- and sex matched control group. To identify clusters of comorbidities in both groups.

Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted.

Musculoskeletal ultrasonography in routine rheumatology practice: data from Central and Eastern European countries.

The main aim was to gain structured insight into the use of musculoskeletal ultrasonography (MSUS) in routine rheumatology practices in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. In a cross-sectional, observational, international, multicenter survey, a questionnaire was sent to investigational sites in CEE countries. Data on all subsequent routine MSUS examinations, site characteristics, MSUS equipment, and investigators were collected over 6 months or up to 100 examinations per center.

Atlas-based knee osteophyte assessment with ultrasonography and radiography: relationship to arthroscopic degeneration of articular cartilage.

Objectives: To investigate intra- and inter-reader agreement of ultrasonography (US) and conventional radiography (CR) for the evaluation of osteophyte presence and size within the tibiofemoral joint. In addition, to correlate these findings with arthroscopic degeneration of the articular cartilage.

Method: Forty adult patients with knee pain were enrolled in this study.

Investigation of the protective properties of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-based vaccine candidates in a Toxoplasma gondii mouse challenge model.

Vaccination against the ubiquitous parasite Toxoplasma gondii would provide the most efficient prevention against toxoplasmosis-related congenital, brain and eye diseases in humans. We investigated the immune response elicited by pathogen-specific glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) glycoconjugates using carbohydrate microarrays in a BALB/c mouse model. We further examined the protective properties of the glycoconjugates in a lethal challenge model using the virulent T.

Relationship between radiographic joint space narrowing, sonographic cartilage thickness and anatomy in rheumatoid arthritis and control joints.

Objective: To validate ultrasound (US) for measuring metacarpal cartilage thickness (MCT), by comparing it with anatomical measurement using cadaver specimens. To correlate US MCT with radiographic joint space narrowing (JSN) or width (JSW) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Bilateral metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints of 35 consecutive outpatients, with recent hand X-rays, were included in the analysis.

Contributions of ultrasound beyond clinical data in assessing inflammatory disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: current insights and future prospects.

Appropriate measures of disease activity need to be valid, reliable and sensitive to change for use in clinical studies while remaining at the same time feasible and practicable for utilization in daily clinical practice. Ultrasonography was shown to be a valid, sensitive and reliable imaging modality for the detection of synovitis in RA, however, it has so far failed to demonstrate superior sensitivity to change as compared with clinical examination. This review examines the current evidence for the use of established measures and/or US, either as an alternative or as a supplementary measure to clinical examination, as tools for monitoring synovitis in RA.

Prevalence of comorbidities in rheumatoid arthritis and evaluation of their monitoring: results of an international, cross-sectional study (COMORA).

Background: PATIENTS with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk of developing comorbid conditions.

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of comorbidities and compare their management in RA patients from different countries worldwide.

Study Design: international, cross-sectional.

Regulation of mRNA expression in drug-sensitive and drug-resistant gastric carcinoma cells is independent of YB-1 expression.

Y-Box protein 1 (YB-1) is a multifunctional cellular protein expressed in a range of mammalian cells, including human cancer cells. It is involved in the regulation of various genes including cancer-associated genes, but the full range of target genes and regulatory mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. To identify global mRNA expression patterns that are potentially regulated by YB-1, a previously established and well-characterized cell model derived from drug-sensitive (EPG85-257P/tetR/YB-1) and multidrug-resistant (EPG85-257RDB/tetR/YB-1) gastric carcinoma cells in which the expression of YB-1 can be inhibited by tetracycline-dependent activation of the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, was analyzed by microarray technology.

Effect of YB-1 on the regulation of micro RNA expression in drug-sensitive and drug-resistant gastric carcinoma cells.

The multifunctional Y-Box protein 1 (YB-1) exerts positive and negative regulatory effects on gene expression by different mechanisms. Since transcription can be controlled by micro RNAs (miRNAs), YB-1 could also cause effects on gene expression by regulation of cellular miRNAs. To test this hypothesis, a previously established and well-characterized cell model derived from drug-sensitive (EPG85-257P/tetR/YB-1) and multidrug-resistant (EPG85-257RDB/tetR/YB-1) gastric carcinoma cells, in which the expression of YB-1 can be inhibited by tetracycline-dependent triggering of the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, was investigated concerning their miRNA expression profiles in the presence and absence of YB-1.

The binary progenitor of Tycho Brahe's 1572 supernova.

The brightness of type Ia supernovae, and their homogeneity as a class, makes them powerful tools in cosmology, yet little is known about the progenitor systems of these explosions. They are thought to arise when a white dwarf accretes matter from a companion star, is compressed and undergoes a thermonuclear explosion. Unless the companion star is another white dwarf (in which case it should be destroyed by the mass-transfer process itself), it should survive and show distinguishing properties.

High resolution atmospheric transmission calculations down to 28.7 km in the 200-243-nm spectral range.

Decrease in stratospheric ozone absorption and increase in oxygen absorption with decreasing wavelength combine to produce a window of maximum atmospheric transmission near 210 nm. Since solar radiation in this spectral region dissociates molecular oxygen, the deep atmospheric penetration at this wavelength is of particular aeronomical interest. High resolution calculations of the transmittance down to 28.