Racial differences in systemic sclerosis disease presentation: a European Scleroderma Trials and Research group study

Objectives. Racial factors play a significant role in SSc. We evaluated differences in SSc presentations between white patients (WP), Asian patients (AP) and black patients (BP) and analysed the effects of geographical locations.Methods. SSc characteristics of patients from the EUSTAR cohort were cross-sectionally compared across racial groups using survival and multiple logistic regression analyses.Results. The study included 9162 WP, 341 AP and 181 BP. AP developed the first non-RP feature faster than WP but slower than BP. AP were less frequently anti-centromere (ACA; odds ratio (OR) = 0.4, P < 0.001) and more frequently anti-topoisomerase-I autoantibodies (ATA) positive (OR = 1.2, P = 0.068), while BP were less likely to be ACA and ATA positive than were WP [OR(ACA) = 0.3, P < 0.001; OR(ATA) = 0.5, P = 0.020]. AP had less often (OR = 0.7, P = 0.06) and BP more often (OR = 2.7, P < 0.001) diffuse skin involvement than had WP.AP and BP were more likely to have pulmonary hypertension [OR(AP) = 2.6, P < 0.001; OR(BP) = 2.7, P = 0.03 vs WP] and a reduced forced vital capacity [OR(AP) = 2.5, P < 0.001; OR(BP) = 2.4, P < 0.004] than were WP. AP more often had an impaired diffusing capacity of the lung than had BP and WP [OR(AP vs BP) = 1.9, P = 0.038; OR(AP vs WP) = 2.4, P < 0.001]. After RP onset, AP and BP had a higher hazard to die than had WP [hazard ratio (HR) (AP) = 1.6, P = 0.011; HR(BP) = 2.1, P < 0.001].Conclusion. Compared with WP, and mostly independent of geographical location, AP have a faster and earlier disease onset with high prevalences of ATA, pulmonary hypertension and forced vital capacity impairment and higher mortality. BP had the fastest disease onset, a high prevalence of diffuse skin involvement and nominally the highest mortality

Bohmian-Based Approach to Gauss-Maxwell Beams

Usual Gaussian beams are particular scalar solutions to the paraxial Helmholtz equation, which neglect the vector nature of light. In order to overcome this inconvenience, Simon et al. (J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 1986, 3, 536–540) found a paraxial solution to Maxwell’s equation in vacuum, which includes polarization in a natural way, though still preserving the spatial Gaussianity of the beams. In this regard, it seems that these solutions, known as Gauss-Maxwell beams, are particularly appropriate and a natural tool in optical problems dealing with Gaussian beams acted or manipulated by polarizers. In this work, inspired in the Bohmian picture of quantum mechanics, a hydrodynamic-type extension of such a formulation is provided and discussed, complementing the notion of electromagnetic field with that of (electromagnetic) flow or streamline. In this regard, the method proposed has the advantage that the rays obtained from it render a bona fide description of the spatial distribution of electromagnetic energy, since they are in compliance with the local space changes undergone by the time-averaged Poynting vector. This feature confers the approach a potential interest in the analysis and description of single-photon experiments, because of the direct connection between these rays and the average flow exhibited by swarms of identical photons (regardless of the particular motion, if any, that these entities might have), at least in the case of Gaussian input beams. In order to illustrate the approach, here it is applied to two common scenarios, namely the diffraction undergone by a single Gauss-Maxwell beam and the interference produced by a coherent superposition of two of such beams

The influence of anaesthesia on cancer growth

Oncological patients make up a large proportion of all surgical patients. Through its influence on the patient’s inflammatory and immune system, the choice of anaesthetic technique has an indirect impact on the health of the individual patient and on public health. Both the specific and the non-specific immune system have a major influence on the recurrence of carcinomas. The pathophysiological basis for growth and metastasis after surgery is the physiological response to stress. Inflammation is the organism’s universal response to stress. Anaesthetics and adjuvants influence perioperative inflammation in different ways and have an indirect effect on tumour growth and metastasis. In vitro studies have shown how individual anaesthetics influence the growth and spread of cancer, but clinical studies have not confirmed these results. Nevertheless, it is advisable to use an anaesthetic that has shown lesser effect on the growth of cancer cells in vitro

Visualizing properties of a quadratic function using Torricelli’S fountain

In the same chapter of his book Opera geometrica, Torricelli published1 two discoveries: 1) initial velocity of a jet from a container increases with the square root of the depth of the hole¸ 2) he draw the pattern of jets from three openings at the wall of a container filled with water to constant level H and determined the height of the hole with maximal range. In studying the pattern Torricelli used the mentioned law of initial velocities and Galileo’s law of free fall and projectile motion. The first Torricelli’s discovery is now well known in physics education under the name Torricelli’s law. But the pattern of jets from a container entered into physics literature along two ways, which we propose to name: “da Vinci’s way” and “Torricelli’s way”. Along “da Vinci’s way” educators and textbook authors (Ref. 2 and textbooks and articles cited by Biser3 and Atkin4) present incorrect drawings of jets in order to incorrectly “demonstrate”the correct Torricelli’s law. Along “Torricelli’s way” educators point out3-11 that the shape and range of a jet depend on the initial velocity as well as on the time of flight of a jet. Using algebra and calculus (instead of geometry, proportions and narrative used by Torricelli and Galileo) the shape of trajectories, their envelope, range and meeting of two jets at an arbitrary datum level, are determined by quadratic function and quadratic equation. Their detailed mathematical analysis is presented in this paper. In describing how the use of water and air through time has developed our scientific understanding, and how to bring fluid mechanics to the general public, E. Guyon and M. Guyon12 observed: “Water fountains and jets are still being built and are favorite public attractions but, alas, are seldom connected to their scientific meaning, unlike the Torricelli fountain shown in Fig. 1.

Concurrent quantitation of the A and D genotypes of hepatitis B virus

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global health problem associated with severe liver disorders. Viral load and HBV genotype affect the clinical outcome, guide antiviral therapy and provide long term prognosis for HBV infected patients. Various types of detection and quantitation assays are currently in use with a different effectiveness. The aim of this study was to develop a method that would provide simultaneous identification and quantitation of genotypes A and D in a single-tube reaction. Sera from infected patients were analyzed by a TaqMan based real time PCR. Optimized reagents were used for HBV DNA quantitation while the genotypes A and D were quantified separately by our design of the assay. Multiplex real time PCR was achieved and was specific for HBV genotypes A and D within a single-tube reaction. Simulation of mixed virus populations was identified reproducibly in vitro. Quantitation of these individual genotypes was exceptionally reliable, so much so that the sum of individual genotypes was equal to the total viral load determined in a separate reaction. Therefore, a straightforward, conceptually simple and reliable approach to issues involving HBV genotypes A and D is submitted. Identity and exact titer of these genotypes in the Caucasian population can now be determined easily. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved