Patient-reported outcomes in a randomized trial of etanercept in psoriatic arthritis.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of etanercept treatment on patient-reported outcomes (PRO) in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Methods: A 24-week double-blind comparison to placebo was followed by a 48-week open-label phase in which all eligible patients received etanercept. PRO were measured using the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI), the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form (SF-36), the EQ-5D visual analog scale (VAS), and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) patient pain assessment.

Neural correlates of visuospatial working memory in the 'at-risk mental state'.

Background: Impaired spatial working memory (SWM) is a robust feature of schizophrenia and has been linked to the risk of developing psychosis in people with an at-risk mental state (ARMS). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural substrate of SWM in the ARMS and in patients who had just developed schizophrenia.

Method: fMRI was used to study 17 patients with an ARMS, 10 patients with a first episode of psychosis and 15 age-matched healthy comparison subjects.

Neural correlates of movement generation in the 'at-risk mental state'.

Objective: People with 'prodromal' symptoms have a very high risk of developing psychosis. We examined the neurocognitive basis of this vulnerability by using functional MRI to study subjects with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) while they performed a random movement generation task.

Method: Cross-sectional comparison of individuals with an ARMS (n = 17), patients with first episode schizophreniform psychosis (n = 10) and healthy volunteers (n = 15).

Return of the Candy Witch: individual differences in acceptance and stability of belief in a novel fantastical being.

Recent research indicates that preschoolers make sophisticated choices in accepting testimony as a source of knowledge. Nonetheless, many children accept fantastical beings as real based on misleading testimony. The present study probes factors associated with belief in a novel fantastical figure, the Candy Witch, that 3- to 7-year-olds heard about at school.

Impaired verbal self-monitoring in individuals at high risk of psychosis.

Background: Cognitive models suggest that auditory verbal hallucinations arise through defective self-monitoring and the external attribution of inner speech. We used a paradigm that engages verbal self-monitoring (VSM) to examine whether this process is impaired in people experiencing prodromal symptoms, who have a very high risk of developing psychosis.

Method: We tested 31 individuals with an At-Risk Mental State (ARMS) and 31 healthy volunteers.

Effect of age at onset of schizophrenia on white matter abnormalities.

Background: The pattern of brain morphological changes at the early stages of schizophrenia may depend on the age at onset of illness; in children and adolescents with schizophrenia, grey matter deficits are seen in the parietal lobe whereas in individuals with adult onset these are more widespread.

Aims: To examine whether white matter is similarly affected.

Method: Diffusion tensor imaging was used to compare fractional anisotropy measures in individuals with adolescent-onset (n = 17) and adult-onset schizophrenia (n = 17) with those in age- and gender-matched controls.

Disorder-specific dysfunction in right inferior prefrontal cortex during two inhibition tasks in boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder compared to boys with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Inhibitory dysfunction is a key behavioral and cognitive phenotype of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Both disorders show neuropsychological deficits and fronto-striatal dysfunction during tasks of motor response inhibition and cognitive flexibility. This study investigates differences and commonalities in functional neural networks mediating inhibitory control between adolescents with ADHD and those with OCD to identify disorder-specific neurofunctional markers that distinguish these two inhibitory disorders.

Prefrontal function at presentation directly related to clinical outcome in people at ultrahigh risk of psychosis.

Background: The prodromal phase of psychosis is characterized by impaired executive function and altered prefrontal activation. The extent to which the severity of these deficits at presentation predicts subsequent clinical outcomes is unclear.

Methods: We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging in a cohort of subjects at clinical risk for psychosis and in healthy controls.

Surface modification of a titanium alloy with a phospholipid polymer prepared by a plasma-induced grafting technique to improve surface thromboresistance.

To improve the thromboresistance of a titanium alloy (TiAl(6)V(4)) surface which is currently utilized in several ventricular assist devices (VADs), a plasma-induced graft polymerization of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) was carried out and poly(MPC) (PMPC) chains were covalently attached onto a TiAl(6)V(4) surface by a plasma induced technique. Cleaned TiAl(6)V(4) surfaces were pretreated with H(2)O-vapor-plasma and silanated with 3-methacryloylpropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS). Next, a plasma-induced graft polymerization with MPC was performed after the surfaces were pretreated with Ar plasma.

The isolation and identification of a secreted biomarker associated with cell stress in serum-free CHO cell culture.

One approach to improving mammalian culture productivity has been to reduce cell stress and cell death in the bioreactor, thus enhancing productivity through a longer phase of viability. Here we describe the isolation and identification of a biomarker for stress and viability loss in CHO culture. Using SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry to profile the protein component of supernatant culture media we have identified a peak at 7.

Enhancement of artemisinin concentration and yield in response to optimization of nitrogen and potassium supply to Artemisia annua.

Background And Aims: The resurgence of malaria, particularly in the developing world, is considerable and exacerbated by the development of single-gene multi-drug resistances to chemicals such as chloroquinone. Drug therapies, as recommended by the World Health Organization, now include the use of antimalarial compounds derived from Artemisia annua--in particular, the use of artemisinin-based ingredients. Despite our limited knowledge of its mode of action or biosynthesis there is a need to secure a supply and enhance yields of artemisinin.

Economic impact of early intervention in people at high risk of psychosis.

Background: Despite the increasing development of early intervention services for psychosis, little is known about their cost-effectiveness. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of Outreach and Support in South London (OASIS), a service for people with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) for psychosis.

Method: The costs of OASIS compared to care as usual (CAU) were entered in a decision model and examined for 12- and 24-month periods, using the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and rate of transition to psychosis as key parameters.

White matter microstructure in schizophrenia: effects of disorder, duration and medication.

Background: Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging studies in schizophrenia to date have been largely inconsistent. This may reflect variation in methodology, and the use of small samples with differing illness duration and medication exposure.

Aims: To determine the extent and location of white matter microstructural changes in schizophrenia, using optimised diffusion tensor imaging in a large patient sample, and to consider the effects of illness duration and medication exposure.

The development of children's ability to use evidence to infer reality status.

These studies investigate children's use of scientific reasoning to infer the reality status of novel entities. Four- to 8-year-olds heard about novel entities and were asked to infer their reality status from 3 types of evidence: supporting evidence, irrelevant evidence, and no evidence. Experiment 1 revealed that children used supporting versus irrelevant and no evidence differentially.

Neural correlates of executive function and working memory in the 'at-risk mental state'.

Background: People with prodromal symptoms have a very high risk of developing psychosis.

Aims: To use functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neurocognitive basis of this vulnerability.

Method: Cross-sectional comparison of regional activation in individuals with an'at-risk mental state' (at-risk group: n=17), patients with first-episode schizophreniform psychosis (psychosis group: n=10) and healthy volunteers (controls: n=15) during an overt verbal fluency task and an N-back working memory task.

The application of SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry to mammalian cell culture.

Surface Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionisation Time-of-Fight Mass Spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) is a technique by which protein profiles can be rapidly produced from a wide variety of biological samples. By employing chromatographic surfaces combined with the specificity and reproducibility of mass spectrometry it has allowed for profiles from complex biological samples to be analysed. Profiling and biomarker identification have been employed widely throughout the biological sciences.

Covalent surface modification of a titanium alloy with a phosphorylcholine-containing copolymer for reduced thrombogenicity in cardiovascular devices.

Our objective was to develop a surface modification strategy for a titanium alloy (TiAl6V4) to provide thromboresistance for surfaces in rigorous blood-contacting cardiovascular applications, such as that found in ventricular assist devices. We hypothesized that this could be accomplished by the covalent attachment of a phospholipid polymer, poly(2-methacryloyloxyethylphosphorylcholine (MPC)-co-methacryl acid) (PMA). TiAl6V4 was H2O plasma treated by radio frequency glow discharge, silanated with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS), and ammonia plasma treated to increase surface reactivity.

Effect of anakinra on functional status in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis receiving concomitant therapy with traditional disease modifying antirheumatic drugs: evidence from the OMEGA Trial.

Objective: To assess changes in functional status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist anakinra in addition to a disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD).

Methods: In this large, multicenter, open-label, single-arm study, adult patients with RA receiving methotrexate, sulfasalazine, or hydroxychloroquine for > or = 3 months were given anakinra 100 mg once daily for up to 36 weeks. The primary objective was to evaluate changes from baseline to week 36 in the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) disability index and subscales.

Abnormal P300 in people with high risk of developing psychosis.

Background: Individuals with an "at-risk mental state" (or "prodromal" symptoms) have a 20-40% chance of developing psychosis; however it is difficult to predict which of them will become ill on the basis of their clinical symptoms alone. We examined whether neurophysiological markers could help to identify those who are particularly vulnerable.

Method: 35 cases meeting PACE criteria for the at-risk mental state (ARMS) and 57 controls performed an auditory oddball task whilst their electroencephalogram was recorded.

Delusion formation and reasoning biases in those at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Background: Cognitive models propose that faulty appraisal of anomalous experiences is critical in developing psychosis, particularly delusions. A data gathering bias may be fundamental to abnormal appraisal.

Aims: To examine whether there is a data gathering bias in people at high risk of developing psychosis.

Brain activation in paediatric obsessive compulsive disorder during tasks of inhibitory control.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be related to a dysfunction in frontostriatal pathways mediating inhibitory control. However, no functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study has tested this in children.

Aims: To test whether adolescents with OCD in partial remission would show abnormal frontostriatal brain activation during tasks of inhibition.

Comparison of five allopatric fruit fly parasitoid populations (Psyttalia species) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from coffee fields using morphometric and molecular methods.

Morphometric studies of five allopatric parasitoid populations (genus Psyttalia Walker) from coffee plantations in Cameroon (Nkolbisson), Ghana (Tafo) and Kenya (Rurima, Ruiru and Shimba Hills) and one non-coffee population (from Muhaka, Kenya) were compared with individuals of Psyttalia concolor (Szépligeti), a species released in several biological control programmes in the Mediterranean Region since the 20th Century. Analyses of wing vein measurements showed the second submarginal cell of the fore wing and its adjoining veins had the heaviest principal component weights and served as the main contributing variables in the diagnostic differentiation of the populations. Two populations (Rurima and Ruiru) were found to be the closest to each other and with the strongest phenetic affinity toward P.