Background
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease that leads to altered body composition. The loss of lean mass with a preservation or increase in fat mass has been termed rheumatoid ...cachexia (RC), to contrast with classic cachexia, which is characterized by severe weight loss. There are limited data on the prevalence and progression of cachexia in RA over time, as well as on associated factors. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of cachexia and to determine associations with potential factors.
Methods
This prospective cohort study recruited consecutively patients diagnosed with RA and followed for 1 year. The assessments were performed: clinical features, body composition, and physical function. RC and classic cachexia were assessed by several established diagnostic criteria. The pairwise Student’s
t
test, Chi-square test, and GEE were performed (accepted at
p
≤ 0.05).
Results
Of 90 patients recruited, 81 completed the study. Most patients were women (88.9%), and the mean age was 56.5 ± 7.3 years. At baseline, the median DAS28-CRP was 3.0 (IQR, 1.0–3.0), 13.3–30.0% of the included patients had RC, while none met criteria for classic cachexia. The prevalence of cachexia did not change after 12 months. Disease activity status and treatment with biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were significantly associated with changes on body composition and physical function (
p
< 0.05).
Conclusions
In this cohort, RC was common, while classic cachexia was absent. Disease activity and use of biologic therapies were associated with changes on body composition and physical function, underscoring the importance of aiming for remission when treating RA.
Key Points
•
Rheumatoid cachexia is common in RA patients.
•
Classical cachexia is not often in RA patients.
•
Disease activity and use of biologic therapies are associated with changes on body composition and physical function.
The air fluorescence detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory is designed to perform calorimetric measurements of extensive air showers created by cosmic rays of above
10
18
eV
. To correct these ...measurements for the effects introduced by atmospheric fluctuations, the Observatory contains a group of monitoring instruments to record atmospheric conditions across the detector site, an area exceeding 3000
km
2. The atmospheric data are used extensively in the reconstruction of air showers, and are particularly important for the correct determination of shower energies and the depths of shower maxima. This paper contains a summary of the molecular and aerosol conditions measured at the Pierre Auger Observatory since the start of regular operations in 2004, and includes a discussion of the impact of these measurements on air shower reconstructions. Between
10
18
and
10
20
eV
, the systematic uncertainties due to all atmospheric effects increase from 4% to 8% in measurements of shower energy, and
4
g
cm
-
2
to
8
g
cm
-
2
in measurements of the shower maximum.
We present the results of searches for dipolar-type anisotropies in different energy ranges above 2.5
×
10
17
eV with the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, reporting on both the ...phase and the amplitude measurements of the first harmonic modulation in the right-ascension distribution. Upper limits on the amplitudes are obtained, which provide the most stringent bounds at present, being below 2% at 99%
C.
L. for EeV energies. We also compare our results to those of previous experiments as well as with some theoretical expectations.
Tau-pair production in the process \(\ensuremath{\mathrm{e}^ + \mathrm{e}^- \rightarrow \mathrm{e}^ + \mathrm{e}^-\tau^ + \tau^-}\) was studied using data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP2 ...during the years 1997 - 2000. The corresponding integrated luminosity is 650 pb-1. The values of the cross-section obtained are found to be in agreement with QED predictions. Limits on the anomalous magnetic and electric dipole moments of the tau lepton are deduced.
The production of single- and multi-photon events has been studied in the reaction e(+) e(-) --> gamma(gamma) + invisible particles. The data collected with the DELPHI detector during the years 1999 ...and 2000 at centre-of-mass energies between 191 GeV and 209 GeV was combined with earlier data to search for phenomena beyond the Standard Model. The measured number of light neutrino families was consistent with three and the absence of an excess of events beyond that predicted by the Standard Model processes was used to set limits on new physics. Both model-independent searches and searches for new processes predicted by supersymmetric and extra-dimensional models have been made. Limits on new non-standard model interactions between neutrinos and electrons were also determined.
A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons was performed in the data collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP II at centre-of-mass energies from 189 GeV to 209 GeV. Five different final states, ...\(\tau^ + \nu_{\tau}\tau^- \bar{\nu}_{\tau}\), \(\mathrm{c}\bar{\mathrm{s}}\bar{\mathrm{c}}\mathrm{s}\), \(\mathrm{c}\bar{\mathrm{s}}{\tau^- \bar{\nu}_{\tau}}\), \(\mathrm{W}^*\!\mathrm{A}\mathrm{W}^*\!\mathrm{A}\) and \(\mathrm{W}^*\!\mathrm{A}\tau^- \bar{\nu}_{\tau}\) were considered, accounting for the major expected decays in type I and type II Two Higgs Doublet Models. No significant excess of data compared to the expected Standard Model processes was observed. The existence of a charged Higgs boson with mass lower than 76.7 GeV/c2 (type I) or 74.4 GeV/c2 (type II) is excluded at the 95% confidence level, for a wide range of the model parameters. Model independent cross-section limits have also been calculated.
Callisto
®
, containing the active ingredient mesotrione (2-4-methylsulfonyl-2-nitrobenzoyl1,3-cyclohenanedione), is a selective herbicide that controls weeds in corn crops and is a potential ...environmental contaminant. The objective of this work was to evaluate enzymatic and structural changes in
Pantoea ananatis,
a strain isolated from water, in response to exposure to this herbicide. Despite degradation of mesotrione, probably due a glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pathway in
Pantoea ananatis,
this herbicide induced oxidative stress by increasing hydrogen peroxide production. Thiol fragments, eventually produced after mesotrione degradation, could be involved in increased GST activity. Nevertheless, there was no peroxidation damage related to this production, as malondialdehyde (MDA) synthesis, which is due to lipid peroxidation, was highest in the controls, followed by the mesotrione- and Callisto
®
-treated cultures at log growth phase. Therefore,
P. ananatis
can tolerate and grow in the presence of the herbicide, probably due an efficient control of oxidative stress by a polymorphic catalase system. MDA rates depend on lipid saturation due to a pattern change to a higher level of saturation. These changes are likely related to the formation of GST-mesotrione conjugates and mesotrione degradation-specific metabolites and to the presence of cytotoxic adjuvants. These features may shift lipid membrane saturation, possibly providing a protective effect to bacteria through an increase in membrane impermeability. This response system in
P. ananatis
provides a novel model for bacterial herbicide tolerance and adaptation in the environment.
Moments of the hadronic invariant mass and of the lepton energy spectra in semileptonic B decays have been determined with the data recorded by the DELPHI detector at LEP. From measurements of the ...inclusive b-hadron semileptonic decays, and imposing constraints from other measurements on b- and c-quark masses, the first three moments of the lepton energy distribution and of the hadronic mass distribution, have been used to determine parameters which enter into the extraction of |Vcb| from the measurement of the inclusive b-hadron semileptonic decay width. The values obtained in the kinetic scheme are:\(\begin{array}{*{20}l}{{m_{b} {\left( {1\;{\text{GeV}}} \right)}} \hfill} & { = \hfill} & {{4.591 \pm 0.062 \pm 0.039 \pm 0.005\;{\text{GeV/c}}^{2} ,} \hfill} \\{{m_{c} {\left( {1\;{\text{GeV}}} \right)}} \hfill} & { = \hfill} & {{1.170 \pm 0.093 \pm 0.055 \pm 0.005\;{\text{GeV/c}}^{{\text{2}}} {\text{,}}} \hfill} \\{{\mu ^{2}_{\pi } {\left( {1\;{\text{GeV}}} \right)}} \hfill} & { = \hfill} & {{0.399 \pm 0.048 \pm 0.034 \pm 0.087\;{\text{GeV}}^{{\text{2}}} {\text{,}}} \hfill} \\{{ \ifmmode\expandafter\tilde\else\expandafter\~\fi{\rho }^{3}_{D} } \hfill} & { = \hfill} & {{0.053 \pm 0.017 \pm 0.011 \pm 0.026\;{\text{GeV}}^{{\text{3}}} ,} \hfill} \\\end{array} \)and include corrections at order 1/mb3. Using these results, and present measurements of the inclusive semileptonic decay partial width of b-hadrons at LEP, an accurate determination of |Vcb| is obtained: \({\left| {V_{{cb}} } \right|} = 0.0421 \times {\left( {1 \pm 0.014_{{{\text{meas}}{\text{.}}} \pm 0.014_{{{\text{fit}}} \pm 0.015_{{{\text{th}}{\text{.}}} } \right)}\)
A comparison between the National Centers for Environmental Predictions–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR) reanalysis rainfall data and the Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica ...(ANEEL) rain gauge data over Brazil is made. It is found that over northeast Brazil, NCEP–NCAR rainfall is overestimated. But over south and southeast Brazil, the correlation between the two datasets is highly significant showing the utility of NCEP–NCAR rainfall data. Over other parts of Brazil the validity of NCEP–NCAR rainfall data is questionable. A detailed comparison between NCEP–NCAR rainfall data over northwest South America and rain gauge data showed that NCEP–NCAR rainfall data are useful despite important differences between the characteristics in the two data sources. NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data seem to have difficulty in correctly reproducing the strength and orientation of the South Atlantic convergence zone.
Oscillations in the B-s(0)- <(B-s(0))over bar> system were studied in events selected from about 4.3 million hadronic Z(0) decays registered by DELPHI between 1992 and 2000. This paper presents ...updates of two published analyses (11, 12). The first analysis, which utilizes leptons emitted with large momentum transverse to a jet, was improved by means of a better algorithm for the vertex reconstuction and a new algorithm for flavour-tagging at production time. The second analysis, which utilizes D-s-lepton events, was improved by optimizing the treatment of proper time resolution. No signal of B-s(0) oscillations was observed and limits on the mass difference between the physical B-s(0) states were obtained to be: Deltam(s)>8.0 ps-1 at the 95% C.L. with a sensitivity of Deltam(s)= 9.1 ps(-1) in the high p(t) lepton analysis and Deltam(s)>4.9 ps(-1) at the 95% C.L. with a sensitivity of Deltam(s)=8.6 ps(-1) in the D-s-lepton analysis. Previously published results on these analyses are superseded. The combination of these results with those obtained in other independent analyses previously performed in DELPHI (D-s-hadron, exclusive B-s(0), inclusive vertex) gives: Deltam(s)>8.5 ps(-1) at the 95% C.L. with a sensitivity of Deltam(s)=12.0 ps(-1).
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