Radiographic joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis is associated with differences in cartilage turnover and can be predicted by serum biomarkers: an evaluation from 1 to 4 years after diagnosis

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to determine whether serum biomarkers for degradation and synthesis of the extracellular matrix of cartilage are associated with, and can predict, radiographic damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Clinical and radiographic data of 87 RA patients were recorded 1 year after disease onset and then annually up to four years. Serum concentrations of four cartilage biomarkers were determined at these time points: a neoepitope formed by collagenase cleavage of type II collagen (C2C), a neoepitope formed by collagenase cleavage of type II collagen as well as type I collagen (C1,2C), a carboxy propeptide of type II procollagen formed during synthesis (CPII), and a cartilage proteoglycan aggrecan turnover epitope (CS846-epitope). Biomarker concentrations between patients with rapid radiographic progression (>7.3 Sharp/van der Heijde units per year) and those with slow radiographic progression (<2.3 units per year) were compared. In addition, we evaluated the long-term and short-term predictive value of each biomarker for progression of radiographic damage. RESULTS: Patients with rapid radiographic progression had higher C2C, higher C1,2C, and higher CS846-epitope levels than slow progressors. CPII levels showed no differences. Most importantly, the long-term radiographic progression for C2C, for C1,2C, and for CS846-epitope can be predicted by the biomarker value at year 1 after disease onset. C2C was also a predictor for joint space narrowing and annual radiographic damage during the subsequent year. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the concentration of serum biomarkers of cartilage collagen breakdown and proteoglycan turnover, but not of collagen synthesis, are related to joint destruction in RA. The use of these biomarkers may be of value when studying progression of joint damage in patients with RA

Preoperative biliary drainage in severely jaundiced patients with pancreatic head cancer: A retrospective cohort study

Background: Guidelines recommend against preoperative biliary drainage (PBD) in patients with pancreatic head cancer if bilirubin levels are = 250 and = 250 versus = 250. PBD technical success (83% vs. 81%, p = 0.80) and PBD related complications (33% vs. 29%, p = 0.60) did not differ between these groups. Analyzing bilirubin levels >= 250 versus = 250 and < 250. Our study does not support a different approach regarding PBD in patients with severe jaundice.Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

The historical origins of corruption in the developing world: a comparative analysis of East Asia

A new approach has emerged in the literature on corruption in the developing world that breaks with the assumption that corruption is driven by individualistic self-interest and, instead, conceptualizes corruption as an informal system of norms and practices. While this emerging neo-institutionalist approach has done much to further our understanding of corruption in the developing world, one key question has received relatively little attention: how do we explain differences in the institutionalization of corruption between developing countries? The paper here addresses this question through a systematic comparison of seven developing and newly industrialized countries in East Asia. The argument that emerges through this analysis is that historical sequencing mattered: countries in which the "political marketplace" had gone through a process of concentration before universal suffrage was introduced are now marked by less harmful types of corruption than countries where mass voting rights where rolled out in a context of fragmented political marketplaces. The paper concludes by demonstrating that this argument can be generalized to the developing world as a whole

Children and Their Parents: A Comparative Study of the Legal Position of Children with Regard to Their Intentional and Biological Parents in English and Dutch Law

This is a book about children and their parents. There are many different kinds of children and at least about as many different kinds of parents. In addition to the many different disciplines that study children and their parents, such as sociology, psychology, child studies and gender studies, to name but a few, this study concerns a legal question with regard to the parent-child relationship, namely how the law assigns parents to children. This subject is approached in a comparative legal perspective and covers England and The Netherlands. The book contains a detailed comparison and analysis of the manner in which the law in the two jurisdictions assigns the status of legal parent and/or attributes parental responsibility to the child’s biological and intentional parents. The concept ‘procreational responsibility’, which is introduced in the concluding chapter of the book, may be used as a tool to assess and reform existing regulations on legal parent-child relationships. The structure of the book, which is based on a categorisation of different family types in a ‘family tree’, enables the reader to have easy access to family-specific information.FdR – Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide

Leisure time spending in the province of Groningen 1965

Amount of leisure time on ordinary working day / satisfaction with it / spending of leisure time indoors and outdoors / working conditions and work environment / time-sharing of daily activities / data on favourite activities after work and on sundays in fine and bad weather / use of tent, caravan or summer house outside holidays / touristic places visited / presence of garden, terrace, balcony and use of it / data on leisure activities in daylight saving time / exposure to sports / presence of car, motor-bike, scooter / frequency of pleasure rides, kind of transport / frequency of walks / exposure to papers, magazines, books, broadcastings tv / visits to and of family, friends / hobbies and interests / data on place of habitation satisfaction / data on living accommodation / membership of church political party or other organizations / kind and frequency of activities in that organization / attitude towards open-air life / leisure time / puritanism / hedonism. Background variables: basic characteristics/ residence/ housing situation/ household characteristics/ occupation/employment/ income/capital assets/ education/ politics/ religion/ consumption of durables/ readership, mass media, and 'cultural' exposure/ organizational membershi

ODRU Erfgoedrapport 24.

De gemeente Woerden heeft, in het kader van werkzaamheden voor de aanleg van een diepriool voor hemelwaterafvoer op de locatie Barwoutswaarder, opdracht gegeven tot het uitvoeren van een archeologisch bureauonderzoek. Bij de voorgenomen plannen zijn bodemingrepen voorzien, waardoor mogelijk aanwezige archeologische waarden aangetast kunnen worden. Op de locatie van de Kuipersweg zal de riolering worden vervangen. De oude riolering ligt aan de rand van de weg en de nieuwe riolering zal midden in de weg worden aangelegd. Naar verwachting is de bodem hier onverstoord. Het plaatsen van de riolering gaat gepaard met ontgravingen tot ruim twee meter onder het huidige maaiveld. Op de archeologische verwachtingskaart van Woerden staat aangegeven dat het tracé van de Romeinse limesweg door het plangebied loopt. Ten westen van het plangebied is (vermoedelijk de periferie van) een nederzettingsterrein uit de Romeinse tijd opgegraven met kuilen, greppels, maar ook restanten van crematiegraven. Ook werd hier de locatie van de limesweg aangetroffen, alhoewel de weg zelf inmiddels verdwenen was. Het plangebied heeft verder een middelhoge archeologische verwachting op het aantreffen van archeologische waarden uit de Vroege en Late Prehistorie. Gezien de diepte van de geplande ontgravingen (tot ruim twee meter onder het huidige maaiveld) kan niet worden uitgesloten dat dieper gelegen oeverwallen worden aangesneden met daarop archeologische resten uit de Prehistorie. Op basis van de resultaten van dit bureauonderzoek en het gegeven dat behoud in situ middels planaanpassing niet tot de mogelijkheid behoort, adviseert de Omgevingsdienst regio Utrecht om archeologisch vervolgonderzoek uit te laten voeren

Looking at monuments 1981

Information-processing and status acquiring determinants of cultural activities, especially visiting monuments. Visits to inner-city / finding one's way in inner-city and outskirts / recognition and appreciation of photo's of inner-city / visits to other cities, villages and old buildings / knowledge of history of Utrecht / modern developments in inner-city / protection and preservation of inner-city and number of areas outside inner-city and own quarter / leisure activities: reading/ museums and exhibitions/ concerts, theatre, opera, ballet and cabaret / parents: theatre, classical music, museums, old buildings, villages, cities, importance of reading books / important things in life. Background variables: basic characteristics/ residence/ housing situation/ household characteristics/ occupation/employment/ income/capital assets/ education/ readership, mass media, and 'cultural' exposur