To update the recommendations for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs and tsDMARDs), endorsed by the ...Portuguese Society of Rheumatology (SPR).
These treatment recommendations were formulated by Portuguese rheumatologists taking into account previous recommendations, new literature evidence and consensus opinion. At a national meeting, in a virtual format, three of the ten previous recommendations were re-addressed and discussed after a more focused literature review. A first draft of the updated recommendations was elaborated by a team of SPR rheumatologists from the SPR rheumatoid arthritis study group, GEAR. The resulting document circulated among all SPR rheumatologists for discussion and input. The level of agreement with each of all the recommendations was anonymously voted online by all SPR rheumatologists.
These recommendations cover general aspects such as shared decision, treatment objectives, systematic assessment of disease activity and burden and its registry in Reuma.pt. Consensus was also achieved regarding specific aspects such as initiation of bDMARDs and tsDMARDs, assessment of treatment response, switching and definition of persistent remission.
These recommendations may be used for guidance of treatment with bDMARDs and tsDMARDs in patients with RA. As more evidence becomes available and more therapies are licensed, these recommendations will be updated.
The availability of population-specific normative data regarding disease severity measures is essential for patient assessment. The goals of the current study were to characterize the pattern of ...ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in Portuguese patients and to develop reference centile charts for BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI and mSASSS, the most widely used assessment tools in AS. AS cases were recruited from hospital outpatient clinics, with AS defined according to the modified New York criteria. Demographic and clinical data were recorded. All radiographs were evaluated by two independent experienced readers. Centile charts for BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI and mSASSS were constructed for both genders, using generalized linear models and regression models with duration of disease as independent variable. A total of 369 patients (62.3% male, mean ± (SD) age 45.4 ± 13.2 years, mean ± (SD) disease duration 11.4 ± 10.5 years, 70.7% B27-positive) were included. Family history of AS in a first-degree relative was reported in 17.6% of the cases. Regarding clinical disease pattern, at the time of assessment 42.3% had axial disease, 2.4% peripheral disease, 40.9% mixed disease and 7.1% isolated enthesopatic disease. Anterior uveitis (33.6%) was the most common extra-articular manifestation. The centile charts suggest that females reported greater disease activity and more functional impairment than males but had lower BASMI and mSASSS scores. Data collected through this study provided a demographic and clinical profile of patients with AS in Portugal. The development of centile charts constitutes a useful tool to assess the change of disease pattern over time and in response to therapeutic interventions.
A
bstract
A summary of the constraints from searches performed by the ATLAS collaboration for the electroweak production of charginos and neutralinos is presented. Results from eight separate ATLAS ...searches are considered, each using 140 fb
−
1
of proton-proton data at a centre-of-mass energy of
s
= 13 TeV collected at the Large Hadron Collider during its second data-taking run. The results are interpreted in the context of the 19-parameter phenomenological minimal supersymmetric standard model, where
R
-parity conservation is assumed and the lightest supersymmetric particle is assumed to be the lightest neutralino. Constraints from previous electroweak, flavour and dark matter related measurements are also considered. The results are presented in terms of constraints on supersymmetric particle masses and are compared with limits from simplified models. Also shown is the impact of ATLAS searches on parameters such as the dark matter relic density and the spin-dependent and spin-independent scattering cross-sections targeted by direct dark matter detection experiments. The Higgs boson and
Z
boson ‘funnel regions’, where a low-mass neutralino would not oversaturate the dark matter relic abundance, are almost completely excluded by the considered constraints. Example spectra for non-excluded supersymmetric models with light charginos and neutralinos are also presented.
Constraints on selected mediator-based dark matter models and a scalar dark energy model using up to 37 fb₋1 $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC during ...2015-2016 are summarised in this paper. The conclusions of experimental searches in a variety of final states are interpreted in terms of a set of spin-1 and spin-0 single-mediator dark matter simplified models and a second set of models involving an extended Higgs sector plus an additional vector or pseudo-scalar mediator. The searches considered in this paper constrain spin-1 leptophobic and leptophilic mediators, spin-0 colour-neutral and colour-charged mediators and vector or pseudo-scalar mediators embedded in extended Higgs sector models. In this case, also $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV pp collision data are used for the interpretation of the results. The results are also interpreted for the first time in terms of light scalar particles that could contribute to the accelerating expansion of the universe (dark energy).
A
bstract
The production of single top quarks and top antiquarks via the
t
-channel exchange of a virtual
W
boson is measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the ...LHC using 140 fb
−
1
of ATLAS data. The total cross-sections are determined to be
σ
tq
=
137
−
8
+
8
pb and
σ
t
¯
q
=
84
−
5
+
6
pb for top-quark and top-antiquark production, respectively. The combined cross-section is found to be
σ
tq
+
t
¯
q
=
221
−
13
+
13
pb and the cross-section ratio is
R
t
=
σ
tq
/
σ
t
¯
q
=
1.636
−
0.034
+
0.036
. The predictions at next-to-next-to-leading-order in quantum chromodynamics are in good agreement with these measurements. The predicted value of
R
t
using different sets of parton distribution functions is compared with the measured value, demonstrating the potential to further constrain the functions when using this result in global fits. The measured cross-sections are interpreted in an effective field theory approach, setting limits at the 95% confidence level on the strength of a four-quark operator and an operator coupling the third quark generation to the Higgs boson doublet:
−
0.37
<
C
Qq
3
,
1
/
Λ
2
<
0.06
and
−
0.87
<
C
ϕQ
3
/
Λ
2
<
1.42
. The constraint
|V
tb
|
> 0.95 at the 95% confidence level is derived from the measured value of
σ
tq
+
t
¯
q
, assuming that the
Wtb
interaction is a left-handed weak coupling and that |
V
tb
| ≫ |
V
td
|, |
V
ts
|. In a more general approach, pairs of CKM matrix elements involving top quarks are simultaneously constrained, leading to confidence contours in the corresponding two-dimensional parameter spaces.
A
bstract
Precision measurements of electron reconstruction, identification, and isolation efficiencies and photon identification efficiencies are presented. They use the full Run 2 data sample ...collected by the ATLAS experiment in
pp
collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV during the years 2015–2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb
−
1
. The measured electron identification efficiencies have uncertainties that are around 30%–50% smaller than the previous Run 2 results due to an improved methodology and the inclusion of more data. A better pile-up subtraction method leads to electron isolation efficiencies that are more independent of the amount of pile-up activity. Updated photon identification efficiencies are also presented, using the full Run 2 data. When compared to the previous measurement, a 30%–40% smaller uncertainty is observed on the photon identification efficiencies, thanks to the increased amount of available data.
Unconfirmed reports describe association of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with several candidate genes including ANKH. Cellular export of inorganic pyrophosphate is regulated by the ANK protein, and ...mutant mice (ank/ank), which have a premature stop codon in the 3' end of the ank gene, develop severe ankylosis. We tested the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in these genes and susceptibility to AS in a population of patients with AS. We investigated the role of these genes in terms of functional (BASFI) and metrological (BASMI) measures, and the association with radiological severity (mSASSS).
Our study was conducted on 355 patients with AS and 95 ethnically matched healthy controls. AS was defined according to the modified New York criteria. Four SNP in ANKH (rs27356, rs26307, rs25957, and rs28006) were genotyped. Association analysis was performed using Cochrane-Armitage and linear regression tests for dichotomous and quantitative variables. Analyses of Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), BASFI, and mSASSS were controlled for sex and disease duration.
None of the 4 markers showed significant single-locus disease associations (p > 0.05), suggesting that ANKH was not a major determinant of AS susceptibility in our population. No association was observed between these SNP and age at symptom onset, BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI, or mSASSS.
These results confirm data in white Europeans that ANKH is probably not a major determinant of susceptibility to AS. ANKH polymorphisms do not markedly influence AS disease severity, as measured by BASMI and mSASSS.
PDF
