Health expenditure per capita for the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and control group.

For interpretation, 1 US dollar is equal to 1100 Korean dollars. (A) Total health care costs. (B) Amount of out-of-pocket payment.</p

Flowchart of the selection of study participants.

*Methotrexate, sulfasalazine, hydroxychloroquine, leflunomide, tacrolimus, bucillamine, mizoribine, cyclosporine, infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, golimumab, abatacept, tocilizumab, rituximab, and tofacitinib. **Systemic connective tissue disorders (International Classification of Diseases 10th revision [ICD-10] code: M30-M36), ankylosing spondylitis (ICD-10 code: M45), psoriatic and enteropathic arthropathies (ICD-10 code: M07), or juvenile arthritis (ICD-10 code: M08). RA, rheumatoid arthritis; DMARD, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug.</p

Comparison of mortality between the RA and control groups.

Comparison of mortality between the RA and control groups.</p

Comparison of rate, type, and distribution of disability between the RA and control groups.

Comparison of rate, type, and distribution of disability between the RA and control groups.</p

Sociodemographic characteristics of the RA and control groups.

Sociodemographic characteristics of the RA and control groups.</p

Incidence and Risk Factors for Blindness in Uveitis: A Nationwide Cohort Study from 2002 to 2013

Purpose: To investigate the incidence and risk factors of blindness in uveitis. Methods: From a national sample cohort (n = 1,025,340), we selected 9,036 new-onset uveitis patients. Incidences of unilateral and bilateral blindness (visual acuities ≤20/400) were estimated and socioeconomic and clinical risk factors for unilateral blindness in uveitis patients were identified. Result: Incidence of unilateral and bilateral blindness was 2.93 and 0.42 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. The risk factors for unilateral blindness were age >40 (hazard ratio [HR], 2.77, 95% CI [confidence interval], 1.11–6.92) and low household income (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.02–1.98) in uveitis overall, and Behçet’s disease (HR, 4.49; 95% CI, 1.59–12.71) in non-anterior uveitis, respectively. Conclusions: Low household income and Behçet’s disease influence the risk of blindness in uveitis patients. These findings will help in assessing blindness-related socioeconomic burdens and planning health-care strategies for uveitis patients.</p

Better than 10 mA Field Emission from an Isolated Structure Emitter of a Metal Oxide/CNT Composite

An isolated structure emitter is presented that can deliver a field emission better than 10 mA, a level that is by far the highest ever reported. A composite of CNT (carbon nanotube) and WO3 is used to grow the point emitter by a crystal-like growth technique. The head of the grown needle that is the emitter is removed by electric discharge machining (EDM). The EDM treatment not only controls the length of the emitter as desired but also makes the tip of the emitter uniform. The thermal heat due to EDM treatment leads to the formation of a tungsten carbide phase, which results in a 3 orders of magnitude reduction in contact resistance. The point emitter is robust in its stability, as evidenced by its on-time resilience against a severe bias test