Visible-to-near-infrared octave spanning supercontinuum generation in a silicon nitride waveguide.

The generation of an octave spanning supercontinuum covering 488-978 nm (at -30  dB) is demonstrated for the first time on-chip. This result is achieved by dispersion engineering a 1-cm-long Si3N4 waveguide and pumping it with an 100-fs Ti:Sapphire laser emitting at 795 nm. This work offers a bright broadband source for biophotonic applications and frequency metrology.

American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for Sjögren's syndrome: a data-driven, expert consensus approach in the Sjögren's International Collaborative Clinical Alliance cohort.

Objective: We propose new classification criteria for Sjögren's syndrome (SS), which are needed considering the emergence of biologic agents as potential treatments and their associated comorbidity. These criteria target individuals with signs/symptoms suggestive of SS.

Methods: Criteria are based on expert opinion elicited using the nominal group technique and analyses of data from the Sjögren's International Collaborative Clinical Alliance.

Primary Sjögren's syndrome as a systemic disease: a study of participants enrolled in an international Sjögren's syndrome registry.

Objective: To study the prevalence of extraglandular manifestations in primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) among participants enrolled in the Sjögren's International Collaborative Clinical Alliance (SICCA) Registry.

Methods: A total of 1,927 participants in the SICCA registry were studied, including 886 participants who met the 2002 American-European Consensus Group (AECG) criteria for primary SS, 830 "intermediate" cases who had some objective findings of primary SS but did not meet AECG criteria, and 211 control individuals. We studied the prevalence of immunologic and hematologic laboratory abnormalities, specific rheumatologic examination findings, and physician-confirmed thyroid, liver, and kidney disease, as well as lymphoma among SICCA participants.

Effect of aerobic fitness on the physiological stress responses at work.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of aerobic fitness on physiological stress responses experienced by teachers during working hours.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-six healthy female and male teachers aged 33-62 years participated in the study. The ratings of perceived stress visual analogue scale (VAS), and the measurement of physiological responses (norepinephrine, epinephrine, cortisol, diastolic and systolic blood pressure, heart rate (HR), and trapezius muscle activity by electromyography (EMG), were determined.

Responses of the autonomic nervous system during periods of perceived high and low work stress in younger and older female teachers.

The aim of this study was to examine the response of the autonomic nervous system in younger (mean age 31 yrs, n=14) and older (mean age 54 yrs, n=14) healthy female teachers during work periods of perceived high and low stress. In the younger participants, heart rate, cortisol excretion rate and psychosomatic symptoms were significantly higher during the high work stress period. The older participants experienced no decrease in their heart rate and cortisol excretion during the low stress period and they exhibited no significant decrease in blood pressure after the work in the evening during both periods.