Thoracic involvement in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases: pathogenesis and management.

Thoracic involvement is one of the main determinants of morbidity and mortality in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs), with different prevalence and manifestations according to the underlying disease. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most common pulmonary complication, particularly in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Other thoracic manifestations include pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), mostly in patients with SSc, airway disease, mainly in RA, and pleural involvement, which is common in systemic lupus erythematosus and RA, but rare in other ARDs.In this review, we summarize and critically discuss the current knowledge on thoracic involvement in ARDs, with emphasis on disease pathogenesis and management. Immunosuppression is the mainstay of therapy, particularly for ARDs-ILD, but it should be reserved to patients with clinically significant disease or at risk of progressive disease. Therefore, a thorough, multidisciplinary assessment to determine disease activity and degree of impairment is required to optimize patient management. Nevertheless, the management of thoracic involvement-particularly ILD-is challenging due to the heterogeneity of disease pathogenesis, the variety of patterns of interstitial pneumonia and the paucity of randomized controlled clinical trials of pharmacological intervention. Further studies are needed to better understand the pathogenesis of these conditions, which in turn is instrumental to the development of more efficacious therapies

Effects of self-generated electric and magnetic fields in laser-generated fast electron propagation in solid materials: Electric inhibition and beam pinching

We present some experimental results which demonstrate the presence of electric inhibition in the propagation of relativistic electrons generated by intense laser pulses, depending on target conductivity. The use of transparent targets and shadowgraphic techniques has made it possible to evidence electron jets moving at the speed of light, an indication of the presence of self-generated strong magnetic fields

Modeling of miRNA and Drug Action in the EGFR Signaling Pathway

MicroRNAs have gained significant interest due to their widespread occurrence and diverse functions as regulatory molecules, which are essential for cell division, growth, development and apoptosis in eukaryotes. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway is one of the best investigated cellular signaling pathways regulating important cellular processes and its deregulation is associated with severe diseases, such as cancer. In this study, we introduce a systems biological model of the EGFR signaling pathway integrating validated miRNA-target information according to diverse studies, in order to demonstrate essential roles of miRNA within this pathway. The model consists of 1241 reactions and contains 241 miRNAs. We analyze the impact of 100 specific miRNA inhibitors (anit-miRNAs) on this pathway and propose that the embedded miRNA-network can help to identify new drug targets of the EGFR signaling pathway and thereby support the development of new therapeutic strategies against cancer

RTW in back conditions

Purpose. Back conditions are a group of impairments that induce limitation of activities and restriction of participation, in particular delaying the Return to work (RTW). The purpose of this review is to analyse the components involved in RTW. Method. We have included the studies and reviews about the intervention, assessment tools, variables used to forecast the RTW and the cost-benefit ratio. Results. We found a relevant number of studies concerning back conditions and Return to work. The evidence is moderate and the meta-analysis failed to show strong indications of efficacy. The better interventions to facilitate RTW are multidisciplinary, not necessarily intensive but taking into account a bio-psycho-social approach. The predictor of RTW does not only concern impairment (pain, rigidity etc.), but the self-estimation of ability is also important to forecast RTW. Intervention seems to be cost-effective if we calculate the saving cost in pension. Conclusions. Comprehensive bio-psycho-social approaches seem to be the better modality of intervention to facilitate the RTW. More research is needed to obtain more knowledge about these issues. Particular attention should be placed on the choice of outcome measures and the cost-effectiveness of interventions.Purpose. Back conditions are a group of impairments that induce limitation of activities and restriction of participation, in particular delaying the Return to work (RTW). The purpose of this review is to analyse the components involved in RTW. Method. We have included the studies and reviews about the intervention, assessment tools, variables used to forecast the RTW and the cost-benefit ratio. Results. We found a relevant number of studies concerning back conditions and Return to work. The evidence is moderate and the meta-analysis failed to show strong indications of efficacy.The better interventions to facilitate RTW are multidisciplinary, not necessarily intensive but taking into account a bio-psycho-social approach. The predictor of RTW does not only concern impairment (pain, rigidity etc.), but the self-estimation of ability is also important to forecast RTW. Intervention seems to be cost-effective if we calculate the saving cost in pension. Conclusions. Comprehensive bio-psycho-social approaches seem to be the better modality of intervention to facilitate the RTW. More research is needed to obtain more knowledge about these issues. Particular attention should be placed on the choice of outcome measures and the cost-effectiveness of interventions

Rehabilitation and outcome measurement : where is Rasch Analysis going?

Outcomes are clinical or functional changes at the whole-person level. Measures are based on questionnaires which summate scores assigned to a series of items representing a person's variable. The metric properties of raw scores are known to be of limited validity. Yet, such variables represent the main target of outcome assessment in Rehabilitation Medicine as far as they may cover performances, perceptions and knowledge. Rasch statistical models, first available in English to a large readesrship in late '70s, allow to transform the arbitary raw scores into true linear measures. Rehabilitation seemed a privileged field for the application of Rasch models, yet these are still far from becoming popular. A bibliometric study was conducted across ten leading digital libraries. A MEDLINE search showed a dramatic increment of published papers covering the intersection between the MESH terms ''Rehabilitation'' and ''Outcome assessment'', which rose in from 5 to 4 302 between the 1981-90 and 2001-07 time frames, respectively. ''Rasch'' paper also rose remarkably from 35 to 539. When the triple intersection was considered, articles only rose from 0 to 12. Results point towards a privileged application of Rasch analysis to build and refine questionnaires, rather than to actually measuring people. Commentaries and suggestions are invited