Assessing the impact of efalizumab on nail, scalp and palmoplantar psoriasis and on quality of life: Results from a multicentre, open-label, phase IIIb/IV trial

This post-approval, open-label trial (n = 1266) assessed the efficacy of efalizumab, administered in accordance with the European label at that time, in patients with concomitant nail, scalp or palmoplantar psoriasis. Patients received subcutaneous efalizumab 1.0 mg/kg weekly for up to 20 weeks. By Week 12, an improvement from baseline of 50% or more was observed in 21.4% (181/844) of patients with nail psoriasis, 62.4% (718/1150) of patients with scalp psoriasis, and 51.4% (127/247) of patients with palmoplantar psoriasis. Quality of life improved throughout the trial, with a 50% median improvement in DLQI score after 12 weeks of treatment. Efalizumab showed promising efficacy in the treatment of nail, scalp and palmoplantar psoriasis, which was reflected in improvements in quality of life. © 2009, Archives of Drug Information

The work of repair:gesture, emotion and sensual knowledge

As the pressure on limited natural resources and energy increases so the trend of the consumer society of the twentieth century towards discarding things that stop working and replacing them will shift towards a recycling and repairing things. This paper contrasts the work of production with the work of repair and argues that the later is an artisanal process in tune with the species being of humans identified by Marx. Amongst the distinctive characteristics of the work of repair are the use of a complex repertoire of gestures, a variable emotional tone and the gathering of sensual knowledge. These distinctively human characteristics are not amenable to systematisation or replication in a machine process. The argument is illustrated with reference to more than sixty years of research on mechanised production in the car industry and a recent study of the work of repairing cars in local garages. Video data – here summarised with still images – is used to show the complex process of the work of repair that is explored in the light of theoretical perspectives from Leroi-Gourhan, Hendrick, and Merleau-Ponty