Let's face it, from trial to trial: comparing procedures for N170 single-trial estimation.

The estimation of event-related single trial EEG activity is notoriously difficult but is of growing interest in various areas of cognitive neuroscience, such as multimodal neuroimaging and EEG-based brain computer interfaces. However, an objective evaluation of different approaches is lacking. The present study therefore compared four frequently-used single-trial data filtering procedures: raw sensor amplitudes, regression-based estimation, bandpass filtering, and independent component analysis (ICA).

Do patients with active RA have differences in disease activity and perceptions if anti-TNF naïve versus anti-TNF experienced? Baseline results of the optimization of adalimumab trial.

Background: The chance of a good response in RA is attenuated in previous anti-TNF users who start new anti-TNF therapy compared to biologic naïve patients. In active RA, those with previous anti-TNF exposure compared to anti-TNF naïve may have different baseline disease activity and patient perceptions when starting a new anti-TNF treatment that could explain the observed response differences.

Material/methods: The aim of this study was a post hoc analysis of baseline characteristics of patients enrolled in the Optimization of Adalimumab study that was a treat to target vs.

Serious infections in a population-based cohort of 86,039 seniors with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To assess risk and risk factors for serious infections in seniors with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using a case-control study nested within an RA cohort.

Methods: We assembled a retrospective RA cohort age ≥66 years from Ontario health administrative data across 1992-2010. Nested case-control analyses were done, comparing RA patients with a primary diagnosis of infection (based on hospital or emergency department records) to matched RA controls.

Risk of hypotony in noninfectious uveitis.

Objective: We sought to describe the risk and risk factors for hypotony in a noninfectious uveitis cohort.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: Patients with noninfectious uveitis seen between 1979 and 2007 at 4 academic ocular inflammation specialty clinics.

Incidence and predictors of secondary fibromyalgia in an early arthritis cohort.

Objectives: Secondary fibromyalgia (FM) is common among patients with inflammatory arthritis, but little is known about its incidence and the factors leading to its development. The authors examined the incidence of secondary FM in an early inflammatory arthritis cohort, and assessed the association between pain, inflammation, psychosocial variables and the clinical diagnosis of FM.

Methods: Data from 1487 patients in the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort, a prospective, observational Canadian cohort of early inflammatory arthritis patients were analysed.

Controlling the electronic coupling between CdSe quantum dots and thiol capping ligands via pH and ligand selection.

Comparison of the UV-vis absorption spectra of CdSe quantum dots (QDs) capped with various mercaptocarboxylic acid capping ligands reveals that only 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBzA) capping ligands lower the apparent optical band gap. We propose that the delocalization of the excitons in the CdSe QDs is extended onto the ligands via electronic coupling to the π system of the 4-mercaptobenzoic acid molecules through the Cd-S bond. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the electronic coupling between the QDs and the (MBzA) thiol ligands is influenced by the strength of the Cd-S bond that can be changed by protonating the S atom.

Optic nerve head morphology and visual field function in patients with AIDS and without infectious retinitis.

Purpose: To evaluate morphology of the optic nerve head and visual field in AIDS patients without retinitis.

Methods: One randomly selected eye from 246 patients with AIDS without retinitis was evaluated from prospective multicenter Longitudinal Studies of Ocular Complications of AIDS. Stereo fundus photographs of OHN and serial VF data over 5-years were analyzed.

Heterochromatin protein 1 gamma and IκB kinase alpha interdependence during tumour necrosis factor gene transcription elongation in activated macrophages.

IκB kinase α (IKKα) is part of the cytoplasmic IKK complex regulating nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) release and translocation into the nucleus in response to pro-inflammatory signals. IKKα can also be recruited directly to the promoter of NF-κB-dependent genes by NF-κB where it phosphorylates histone H3 at serine 10, triggering recruitment of the bromodomain-containing protein 4 and the positive transcription elongation factor b. Herein, we report that IKKα travels with the elongating form of ribonucleic acid polymerase II together with heterochromatin protein 1 gamma (HP1γ) at NF-κB-dependent genes in activated macrophages.

The interface of protein structure, protein biophysics, and molecular evolution.

Abstract The interface of protein structural biology, protein biophysics, molecular evolution, and molecular population genetics forms the foundations for a mechanistic understanding of many aspects of protein biochemistry. Current efforts in interdisciplinary protein modeling are in their infancy and the state-of-the art of such models is described. Beyond the relationship between amino acid substitution and static protein structure, protein function, and corresponding organismal fitness, other considerations are also discussed.

Remission in early rheumatoid arthritis -- a comparison of new ACR/EULAR remission criteria to established criteria.

Objective: To describe the frequency of remission in an early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) cohort.

Methods: The frequency of remission was evaluated, based on 8 definitions including the Boolean-based American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) criteria.

Results: Of 369 patients, remission at 12 months ranged from 18% according to the ACR/EULAR clinical trial criteria to 40% according to the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) < 2.

Risk of corticosteroid-induced hyperglycemia requiring medical therapy among patients with inflammatory eye diseases.

Objective: To identify the incidence and risk factors for corticosteroid-induced hyperglycemia requiring medical therapy among patients with inflammatory eye diseases.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: Patients with ocular inflammation followed at 5 United States tertiary centers that initially were neither diabetic nor taking hypoglycemic medications.

Low prevalence of work disability in early inflammatory arthritis (EIA) and early rheumatoid arthritis at enrollment into a multi-site registry: results from the catch cohort.

We determined the prevalence of work disability in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) and undifferentiated early inflammatory arthritis (EIA) patients at first enrollment into the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH) who met the 2010 ACR criteria versus those not meeting criteria, to determine the impact of meeting new criteria on work disability status. Data at first visit into the cohort were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the association of other variables in our database with work disability.

Development, implementation, and evaluation of a student-initiated undergraduate medical education elective in HIV care.

Background: The literature indicates that medical students require more comprehensive HIV training.

Aim: Medical students at the University of Toronto developed and implemented the preclerkship HIV elective (PHE) with the aim to increase trainee HIV knowledge, address important issues in HIV care, and prepare students to serve affected populations.

Methods: Developed in partnership with the Ontario HIV Treatment Network and in consultation with local AIDS service organizations and the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, the PHE was inaugurated in November 2008 as an elective supplement to medical curriculum content.

High-dose intravenous corticosteroids for ocular inflammatory diseases.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness and risk of complications of high-dose intravenous pulsed corticosteroids for noninfectious ocular inflammatory diseases.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study in which 104 eyes of 70 patients who received high-dose intravenous corticosteroids for treatment of active ocular inflammation were identified from five centers. The main outcome measures were control of inflammation and occurrence of ocular or systemic complications within 1 month after treatment.

Incidence of cytomegalovirus retinitis in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Purpose: To estimate the incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and to characterize the factors associated with increased risk of CMV retinitis.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: A total of 1600 participants with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) but without CMV retinitis at enrollment who completed at least 1 follow-up visit in the Longitudinal Study of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (LSOCA) were seen every 6 months to obtain disease and treatment history, ophthalmic examination, and laboratory testing.

Clinical outcomes in patients with cytomegalovirus retinitis treated with ganciclovir implant.

Purpose: To describe the clinical outcomes of patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis and AIDS treated with ganciclovir implant.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: The charts of 115 patients (166 affected eyes) with CMV retinitis treated with ganciclovir implant in the Division of Ocular Immunology, Wilmer Eye Institute from April 1996 through November 2009 were reviewed.

Associations among visual acuity and vision- and health-related quality of life among patients in the multicenter uveitis steroid treatment trial.

Purpose: To evaluate the associations between visual acuity and self-reported visual function; visual acuity and health-related quality of life (QoL) metrics; a summary measure of self-reported visual function and health-related QoL; and individual domains of self-reported visual function and health-related QoL in patients with uveitis.

Methods: Best-corrected visual acuity, vision-related functioning as assessed by the NEI VFQ-25, and health-related QoL as assessed by the SF-36 and EuroQoL EQ-5D questionnaires were obtained at enrollment in a clinical trial of uveitis treatments. Multivariate regression and Spearman correlations were used to evaluate associations between visual acuity, vision-related function, and health-related QoL.

Retinal vessel caliber among people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: relationships with disease-associated factors and mortality.

Purpose: To evaluate relationships between retinal vessel caliber, AIDS-related factors, and mortality.

Design: Longitudinal, observational cohort study.

Methods: We evaluated data for participants without ocular opportunistic infections at initial examination (baseline) in the Longitudinal Studies of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (1998-2008).

Retinal vessel caliber among people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: relationships with visual function.

Purpose: To evaluate relationships between retinal vessel caliber and tests of visual function among people with AIDS.

Design: Longitudinal, observational cohort study.

Methods: We evaluated data for participants without ocular opportunistic infections at initial examination (baseline) in the Longitudinal Studies of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (1998-2008).

Identifying a clinically meaningful threshold for change in uveitic macular edema evaluated by optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: To identify a clinically meaningful threshold for change in retinal thickness measured by optical coherence tomography for patients with uveitic macular edema using correlation with change in visual acuity.

Design: Cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

Methods: One hundred twenty-eight eyes (101 individuals) with macular edema enrolled in the Multicenter Uveitis Steroid Treatment (MUST) trial.

Risk factors for tuberculosis after highly active antiretroviral therapy initiation in the United States and Canada: implications for tuberculosis screening.

Background: Screening for tuberculosis prior to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) initiation is not routinely performed in low-incidence settings. Identifying factors associated with developing tuberculosis after HAART initiation could focus screening efforts.

Methods: Sixteen cohorts in the United States and Canada contributed data on persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who initiated HAART December 1995-August 2009.

Randomized comparison of systemic anti-inflammatory therapy versus fluocinolone acetonide implant for intermediate, posterior, and panuveitis: the multicenter uveitis steroid treatment trial.

Objective: To compare the relative effectiveness of systemic corticosteroids plus immunosuppression when indicated (systemic therapy) versus fluocinolone acetonide implant (implant therapy) for noninfectious intermediate, posterior, or panuveitis (uveitis).

Design: Randomized controlled parallel superiority trial.

Participants: Patients with active or recently active uveitis.

Missing data on the estimation of the prevalence of accumulated human immunodeficiency virus drug resistance in patients treated with antiretroviral drugs in north america.

Determination of the prevalence of accumulated antiretroviral drug resistance among persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is complicated by the lack of routine measurement in clinical care. By using data from 8 clinic-based cohorts from the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design, drug-resistance mutations from those with genotype tests were determined and scored using the Genotypic Resistance Interpretation Algorithm developed at Stanford University. For each year from 2000 through 2005, the prevalence was calculated using data from the tested subset, assumptions that incorporated clinical knowledge, and multiple imputation methods to yield a complete data set.