Study of B Meson Production in p+Pb Collisions at √[S(NN)]=5.02 TeV Using Exclusive Hadronic Decays

The production cross sections of the B^{+}, B^{0}, and B_{s}^{0} mesons, and of their charge conjugates, are measured via exclusive hadronic decays in p+Pb collisions at the center-of-mass energy sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The data set used for this analysis corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 34.6  nb^{-1}. The production cross sections are measured in the transverse momentum range between 10 and 60  GeV/c. No significant modification is observed compared to proton-proton perturbative QCD calculations scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions. These results provide a baseline for the study of in-medium b quark energy loss in Pb+Pb collisions.

Measurement of differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel in pp collisions at [Formula: see text]

A measurement is presented of differential cross sections for Higgs boson (H) production in pp collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]. The analysis exploits the [Formula: see text] decay in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text] collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The cross section is measured as a function of the kinematic properties of the diphoton system and of the associated jets. Results corrected for detector effects are compared with predictions at next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics, as well as with predictions beyond the standard model. For isolated photons with pseudorapidities [Formula: see text], and with the photon of largest and next-to-largest transverse momentum ([Formula: see text]) divided by the diphoton mass [Formula: see text] satisfying the respective conditions of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], the total fiducial cross section is [Formula: see text][Formula: see text].

Event generator tunes obtained from underlying event and multiparton scattering measurements

New sets of parameters ("tunes") for the underlying-event (UE) modelling of the pythia8, pythia6 and herwig++ Monte Carlo event generators are constructed using different parton distribution functions. Combined fits to CMS UE proton-proton ([Formula: see text]) data at [Formula: see text] and to UE proton-antiproton ([Formula: see text]) data from the CDF experiment at lower [Formula: see text], are used to study the UE models and constrain their parameters, providing thereby improved predictions for proton-proton collisions at 13[Formula: see text]. In addition, it is investigated whether the values of the parameters obtained from fits to UE observables are consistent with the values determined from fitting observables sensitive to double-parton scattering processes. Finally, comparisons are presented of the UE tunes to "minimum bias" (MB) events, multijet, and Drell-Yan ([Formula: see text] lepton-antilepton+jets) observables at 7 and 8[Formula: see text], as well as predictions for MB and UE observables at 13[Formula: see text].

Obesity shifts house dust mite-induced airway cellular infiltration from eosinophils to macrophages: effects of glucocorticoid treatment

Although classically characterized by chronic airway inflammation with eosinophil infiltration, asthma is a complex and multifactorial condition with numerous clinical phenotypes. Epidemiological studies strongly support the link between obesity and asthma and suggest that obesity precedes and promotes asthma development, increases asthma severity, and reduces steroid responsivity. Using a house dust mite (HDM) model of airway hyperresponsiveness in C57BL/6 mice, we examined the effects of diet-induced obesity on allergic airway inflammation and its treatment with dexamethasone. When compared to lean mice treated with HDM, obese-HDM mice had reduced plasma adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory adipokine, lower eosinophil and higher macrophage infiltration into the lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, increased expression of total, M1, and M2 macrophage markers in the lungs, and enhanced Th2 and non-Th2 cytokine expression in the lungs. While Th2-associated responses in obese-HDM mice were suppressed by systemic dexamethasone, several Th2-independent responses, including total and M1 macrophage markers in the lungs, and lung CXC-motif ligand 1 (CXCL1) levels, were not improved following dexamethasone treatment. Thus, HDM combined with obesity promotes mixed localized inflammatory responses (e.g., M1, M2, Th1, and Th2) and shifts the cellular infiltration from eosinophils to macrophages, which are less sensitive to dexamethasone regulation. Because obese asthmatics exhibit more severe symptoms, lack a predominance of Th2 biomarkers, and are predicted to experience more steroid resistance when compared to lean asthmatics, this model could be used to study blunted steroid responses in obese-HDM mice and to define the macrophages found in the lungs.

Clinical dissection of childhood occipital epilepsy of Gastaut and prognostic implication

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Our aim was to describe the clinical and electrical features and the long-term evolution of childhood occipital epilepsy of Gastaut (COE-G) in a cohort of patients and to compare long-term prognosis between patients with and without other epileptic syndromes.

METHODS

This was a retrospective analysis of the long-term outcome of epilepsy in 129 patients with COE-G who were referred to 23 Italian epilepsy centres and one in Austria between 1991 and 2004. Patients were evaluated clinically and with electroencephalograms for 10.1-23.0 years. The following clinical characteristics were evaluated: gender, patient age at seizure onset, history of febrile seizures and migraine, family history of epilepsy, duration and seizure manifestations, circadian distribution and frequency of seizures, history of medications including the number of drugs, therapeutic response and final outcome.

RESULTS

Visual hallucinations were the first symptom in 62% and the only manifestation in 38.8% of patients. Patients were subdivided into two groups: group A with isolated COE-G; group B with other epileptic syndromes associated with COE-G. The most significant (P < 0.05) difference concerned antiepileptic therapy: in group A, 45 children responded to monotherapy; in group B only 15 children responded to monotherapy. At the end of follow-up, the percentage of seizure-free patients was significantly higher in group A than in group B.

CONCLUSIONS

Childhood occipital epilepsy of Gastaut has an overall favourable prognosis and a good response to antiepileptic therapy with resolution of seizures and of electroencephalogram abnormalities. The association of typical COE-G symptoms with other types of seizure could be related to a poor epilepsy outcome.

CMOS Active Pixel Sensors as energy-range detectors for proton Computed Tomography

Since the first proof of concept in the early 70s, a number of technologies has been proposed to perform proton CT (pCT), as a means of mapping tissue stopping power for accurate treatment planning in proton therapy. Previous prototypes of energy-range detectors for pCT have been mainly based on the use of scintillator-based calorimeters, to measure proton residual energy after passing through the patient. However, such an approach is limited by the need for only a single proton passing through the energy-range detector in a read-out cycle. A novel approach to this problem could be the use of pixelated detectors, where the independent read-out of each pixel allows to measure simultaneously the residual energy of a number of protons in the same read-out cycle, facilitating a faster and more efficient pCT scan. This paper investigates the suitability of CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APSs) to track individual protons as they go through a number of CMOS layers, forming an energy-range telescope. Measurements performed at the iThemba Laboratories will be presented and analysed in terms of correlation, to confirm capability of proton tracking for CMOS APSs.

Migraine and obesity: metabolic parameters and response to a weight loss programme

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Weight loss can determine significant improvement of migraine in obese patients. Herein, we evaluated a clinical sample of adolescent migraineurs with obesity who participated in an interdisciplinary programme for weight loss, in order to identify possible metabolic parameters associated with good migraine control.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Using a cross-sectional design, we evaluated 112 out of 135 adolescents who previously underwent our intervention programme. Based on persistence of headache, subjects for comparison were 40 migraine-free and 72 not migraine-free adolescents. Participants underwent anthropometric evaluations and biochemical tests.

RESULTS

Patients with persistence of migraine had significantly higher weight (P < 0.01), body mass index (P < 0.01), waist circumference (P < 0.01), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (P < 0.001), triglyceride (P < 0.05), total cholesterol (P < 0.05) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.05) values when compared with those who became migraine-free. Between potential predictors, only insulin resistance (odds ratio = 3.5, 95% confidence interval = 1.4-6.1; P <  0.001) was significantly associated with persistence of migraine after intervention programme.

CONCLUSIONS

Among obese adolescents with migraine who underwent an intervention programme for weight loss, patients who did not become migraine-free showed higher adiposity values than those who became migraine-free. Patients with insulin resistance had 3.5 times the odds of having persistence of migraine compared with those without.

Proton tracking for medical imaging and dosimetry

For many years, silicon micro-strip detectors have been successfully used as tracking detectors for particle and nuclear physics experiments. A new application of this technology is to the field of particle therapy, where radiotherapy is carried out by use of charged particles such as protons or carbon ions. Such a treatment has been shown to have advantages over standard x-ray radiotherapy and as a result of this, many new centres offering particle therapy are currently under construction - including two in the U.K.. The characteristics of a new silicon micro-strip detector based system for this application will be presented. The array uses specifically designed large area sensors in several stations in an x-u-v co-ordinate configuration suitable for very fast proton tracking with minimal ambiguities. The sensors will form a tracker capable of giving information on the path of high energy protons entering and exiting a patient. This will allow proton computed tomography (pCT) to aid the accurate delivery of treatment dose with tuned beam profile and energy. The tracker will also be capable of proton counting and position measurement at the higher fluences and full range of energies used during treatment allowing monitoring of the beam profile and total dose. Results and initial characterisation of sensors will be presented along with details of the proposed readout electronics. Radiation tests and studies with different electronics at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and the higher energy proton therapy facility of iThemba LABS in South Africa will also be shown.

Efficiency statistics at all times: Carnot limit at finite power

We derive the statistics of the efficiency under the assumption that thermodynamic fluxes fluctuate with normal law, parametrizing it in terms of time, macroscopic efficiency, and a coupling parameter ζ. It has a peculiar behavior: no moments, one sub-, and one super-Carnot maxima corresponding to reverse operating regimes (engine or pump), the most probable efficiency decreasing in time. The limit ζ→0 where the Carnot bound can be saturated gives rise to two extreme situations, one where the machine works at its macroscopic efficiency, with Carnot limit corresponding to no entropy production, and one where for a transient time scaling like 1/ζ microscopic fluctuations are enhanced in such a way that the most probable efficiency approaches the Carnot limit at finite entropy production.

Production of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] 7 TeV

The production of the strange and double-strange baryon resonances ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) has been measured at mid-rapidity ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text]) in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] 7 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. Transverse momentum spectra for inelastic collisions are compared to QCD-inspired models, which in general underpredict the data. A search for the [Formula: see text] pentaquark, decaying in the [Formula: see text] channel, has been carried out but no evidence is seen.

A survey of dioxins (PCDDs and PCDFs) and dioxin-like PCBs in sheep and goat milk from Campania, Italy

In 2008, after the crisis of buffalo dairy fields in Campania, Italy, an assessment of the contamination of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) was also necessary for other animal species bred in the region. The contents of PCDDs, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and dl-PCBs were determined by high-resolution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HR-GC/MS) (according to USEPA method 1613) in 69 sheep and goat milk samples from 63 farms. In eleven samples from six sheep farms, the PCDD/Fs levels exceeded the maximum limit of 3.0 pg g(-1) fat established by the European Commission, in particular the concentrations ranged between 3.89 and 12.90 pg g(-1) fat. Statistical treatment of the results for the congener profiles of the non-compliant and compliant samples has been used to identify the sources of contamination.

Exclusive J/ψ photoproduction off protons in ultraperipheral p-Pb collisions at √(s(NN))=5.02 TeV

We present the first measurement at the LHC of exclusive J/ψ photoproduction off protons, in ultraperipheral proton-lead collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV. Events are selected with a dimuon pair produced either in the rapidity interval, in the laboratory frame, 2.5<y<4 (p-Pb) or -3.6<y<-2.6 (Pb-p), and no other particles observed in the ALICE acceptance. The measured cross sections σ(γ+p→J/ψ+p) are 33.2±2.2(stat)±3.2(syst)±0.7(theor)  nb in p-Pb and 284±36(stat)_{-32}^{+27}(syst)±26(theor)  nb in Pb-p collisions. We measure this process up to about 700 GeV in the γp center of mass, which is a factor of two larger than the highest energy studied at HERA. The data are consistent with a power law dependence of the J/ψ photoproduction cross section in γp energies from about 20 to 700 GeV, or equivalently, from Bjorken x scaling variable between ∼2×10^{-2} and ∼2×10^{-5}, thus indicating no significant change in the gluon density behavior of the proton between HERA and LHC energies.

Measurement of prompt D-meson production in p-Pb collisions at √(s(NN))=5.02 TeV

The p_{T}-differential production cross sections of the prompt charmed mesons D^{0}, D^{+}, D^{*+}, and D_{s}^{+} and their charge conjugate in the rapidity interval -0.96<y_{cms}<0.04 were measured in p-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The nuclear modification factor R_{pPb}, quantifying the D-meson yield in p-Pb collisions relative to the yield in pp collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions, is compatible within the 15%-20% uncertainties with unity in the transverse momentum interval 1<p_{T}<24  GeV/c. No significant difference among the R_{pPb} of the four D-meson species is observed. The results are described within uncertainties by theoretical calculations that include initial-state effects. The measurement adds experimental evidence that the modification of the momentum spectrum of D mesons observed in Pb-Pb collisions with respect to pp collisions is due to strong final-state effects induced by hot partonic matter.

Measurement of quarkonium production at forward rapidity in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text]TeV

The inclusive production cross sections at forward rapidity of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text](1S) and [Formula: see text](2S) are measured in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.35 pb[Formula: see text]. Quarkonia are reconstructed in the dimuon-decay channel and the signal yields are evaluated by fitting the [Formula: see text] invariant mass distributions. The differential production cross sections are measured as a function of the transverse momentum [Formula: see text] and rapidity [Formula: see text], over the ranges [Formula: see text] GeV/c for [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] GeV/c for all other resonances and for [Formula: see text]. The measured cross sections integrated over [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], and assuming unpolarized quarkonia, are: [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]b, [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]b, [Formula: see text] nb and [Formula: see text] nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second one is systematic. The results are compared to measurements performed by other LHC experiments and to theoretical models.

Performance of a novel wafer scale CMOS active pixel sensor for bio-medical imaging

Recently CMOS active pixels sensors (APSs) have become a valuable alternative to amorphous silicon and selenium flat panel imagers (FPIs) in bio-medical imaging applications. CMOS APSs can now be scaled up to the standard 20 cm diameter wafer size by means of a reticle stitching block process. However, despite wafer scale CMOS APS being monolithic, sources of non-uniformity of response and regional variations can persist representing a significant challenge for wafer scale sensor response. Non-uniformity of stitched sensors can arise from a number of factors related to the manufacturing process, including variation of amplification, variation between readout components, wafer defects and process variations across the wafer due to manufacturing processes. This paper reports on an investigation into the spatial non-uniformity and regional variations of a wafer scale stitched CMOS APS. For the first time a per-pixel analysis of the electro-optical performance of a wafer CMOS APS is presented, to address inhomogeneity issues arising from the stitching techniques used to manufacture wafer scale sensors. A complete model of the signal generation in the pixel array has been provided and proved capable of accounting for noise and gain variations across the pixel array. This novel analysis leads to readout noise and conversion gain being evaluated at pixel level, stitching block level and in regions of interest, resulting in a coefficient of variation ⩽1.9%. The uniformity of the image quality performance has been further investigated in a typical x-ray application, i.e. mammography, showing a uniformity in terms of CNR among the highest when compared with mammography detectors commonly used in clinical practice. Finally, in order to compare the detection capability of this novel APS with the technology currently used (i.e. FPIs), theoretical evaluation of the detection quantum efficiency (DQE) at zero-frequency has been performed, resulting in a higher DQE for this detector compared to FPIs. Optical characterization, x-ray contrast measurements and theoretical DQE evaluation suggest that a trade off can be found between the need of a large imaging area and the requirement of a uniform imaging performance, making the DynAMITe large area CMOS APS suitable for a range of bio-medical applications.

Survival rate of antitumour necrosis factor-α treatments for psoriasis in routine dermatological practice: a multicentre observational study

BACKGROUND

Adherence is an overall marker of treatment success, and it depends on multiple factors including efficacy and safety. Despite the wide use of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α blockers in the treatment of plaque-type psoriasis, few data regarding treatment adherence in routine clinical practice are available.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the long-term survival rate of anti-TNF-α therapy in a cohort of patients with psoriasis in routine clinical practice; to evaluate the reasons for and predictors of treatment discontinuation.

METHODS

The Outcome and Survival rate Concerning Anti-TNF Routine treatment (OSCAR) study was based on a retrospective analysis to estimate the long-term survival rate of the first anti-TNF-α treatment in patients with psoriasis, from three Italian academic referral centres. Adult patients (n = 650) with plaque psoriasis treated with a first course of adalimumab, etanercept or infliximab for ≥ 3 months were included.

RESULTS

Global adherence to anti-TNF-α treatments after 28·9 ± 15·4 months (867 ± 462 days) of observation was 72·6%. Etanercept showed a longer survival (mean 51·4 months, 1565 days; P < 0·001) compared with infliximab (36·8 months, 1120 days) and adalimumab (34·7 months, 1056 days). Treatment discontinuation due to primary and secondary inefficacy was observed in 5·2% and 14·5% of patients, respectively, whereas discontinuation due to adverse events was reported in 29 subjects (4·5%). Independent predictors of treatment withdrawal were female gender [hazards ratio (HR) 1·3], treatment with adalimumab or infliximab compared with etanercept (HR 2·7 and 1·7, respectively), and the concomitant use of traditional systemic treatment, as a rescue therapy, compared with monotherapy (HR 1·9).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall survival of anti-TNF-α agents in psoriasis is elevated, with drug discontinuation mostly due to inefficacy. Etanercept showed a longer adherence compared with adalimumab and infliximab.

Proton-counting radiography for proton therapy: a proof of principle using CMOS APS technology

Despite the early recognition of the potential of proton imaging to assist proton therapy (Cormack 1963 J. Appl. Phys. 34 2722), the modality is still removed from clinical practice, with various approaches in development. For proton-counting radiography applications such as computed tomography (CT), the water-equivalent-path-length that each proton has travelled through an imaged object must be inferred. Typically, scintillator-based technology has been used in various energy/range telescope designs. Here we propose a very different alternative of using radiation-hard CMOS active pixel sensor technology. The ability of such a sensor to resolve the passage of individual protons in a therapy beam has not been previously shown. Here, such capability is demonstrated using a 36 MeV cyclotron beam (University of Birmingham Cyclotron, Birmingham, UK) and a 200 MeV clinical radiotherapy beam (iThemba LABS, Cape Town, SA). The feasibility of tracking individual protons through multiple CMOS layers is also demonstrated using a two-layer stack of sensors. The chief advantages of this solution are the spatial discrimination of events intrinsic to pixelated sensors, combined with the potential provision of information on both the range and residual energy of a proton. The challenges in developing a practical system are discussed.

Intellectual disabilities and power spectra analysis during sleep: a new perspective on borderline intellectual functioning

BACKGROUND

The role of sleep in cognitive processes has been confirmed by a growing number of reports for all ages of life. Analysing sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) spectra may be useful to study cortical organisation in individuals with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF), as seen in other disturbances even if it is not considered a disease. The aim of this study was to determine if the sleep EEG power spectra in children with BIF could be different from typically developing children.

METHODS

Eighteen BIF (12 males) (mean age 11.04; SD ± 1.07) and 24 typical developing children (14 men) (mean age 10.98; SD ± 1.76; P = 0.899) underwent an overnight polysomnography (PSG) recording in the Sleep Laboratory of the Clinic of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, after one adaptation night. Sleep was subdivided into 30-s epochs and sleep stages were scored according to the standard criteria and the power spectra were calculated for the Cz-A2 channel using the sleep analysis software Hypnolab 1.2 (SWS Soft, Italy) by means of the Fast Fourier Transform and the power spectrum was calculated for frequencies between 0.5 and 60 Hz with a frequency step of 1 Hz and then averaged across the following bands delta (0.5-4 Hz), theta (5-7 Hz), alpha (8-11 Hz), sigma (11-15 Hz), and beta (16-30 Hz), gamma (30-60 Hz) for S2, SWS and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep stages.

RESULTS

BIF have a reduced sleep duration (total sleep time; P < 0.001), and an increased rate of stage shifts (P < 0.001) and awakenings (P < 0.001) and WASO (wakefulness after sleep onset) % (P < 0.001); the stage 2% (P < 0.001), and REM% (P < 0.001) were lower and slow-wave sleep percentage was slightly higher (P < 0.001). All children with BIF had an AHI (apnoea-hypopnea index) less than 1 (mean AHI = 0.691 ± 0.236) with a mean oxygen saturation of 97.6% and a periodic leg movement index (PLMI) less than 5 (mean PLMI = 2.94 ± 1.56). All sleep stages had a significant reduction in gamma frequency (30-60 Hz) (P < 0.001) and an increased delta frequency (0.5-4.0 Hz) (P < 0.001) power in BIF subjects compared with typically developing children.

CONCLUSION

Our findings shed light on the importance of sleep for cognition processes particularly in cognitive borderline dysfunction and the role of EEG spectral power analysis to recognize sleep characteristics in BIF children.

The quality of life in developing age children with celiac disease

AIM

The moments that follow the diagnosis of celiac disease and the early stages of the gluten-free diet are extremely difficult and complex for parents and child, because they face an important change punctuated by self-denial and deprivation. The main objective of this research is to assess the impact of celiac disease on quality of life in subjects in developmental age, taking into account the perceptions of parents about the child's illness, with the aim to highlight the effect of disease on the child and the entire family.

METHODS

The study included both parents of 45 children aged between 2 and 10 years, with established celiac disease. To evaluate the effect of celiac disease on the lifestyle of affected children and their families has been used, after having adapted to the Italian context, the Impact Scale of Childhood Diseases of Hoare and Russell (1995). This study shows that celiac disease is a condition that has a significant impact on both the child and his family.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

The results obtained by administration of Impact Scale of Childhood Diseases to parents showed that subjects in developmental age with celiac disease could have difficulty on emotional level that affect child development and the whole family context. Acceptance of the illness by the child depends mainly by how much and how this has been accepted by parents.

Betamethasone valerate dressing is non-inferior to calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate ointment in the treatment of patients with mild-to-moderate chronic plaque psoriasis: results of a randomized assessor-blinded multicentre trial

Background

A ready-to-use betamethasone valerate 0.1% (BMV) dressing was found to be superior to placebo dressing and a reference 0.1% BMV cream in the treatment of patients with chronic plaque psoriasis (CPP).

Methods

This multicentre, prospective, randomized, investigator-blinded, controlled, non-inferiority trial compared the efficacy and safety of the BMV dressing to the calcipotriol–betamethasone dipropionate (CBD) ointment during a 4-week treatment of patients with mild to moderate CPP. The primary efficacy endpoint was the 4-item psoriasis total severity score (TSS-4) at week 4, and the associated non-inferiority margin was 1 point. Secondary outcome measures included the psoriasis global assessment (PGA) score and patients’ quality of life (QoL). Safety was assessed through adverse events (AE) reporting in each treatment group.

Results

Of 325 screened patients, 324 were randomized to BMV (N = 165) or CBD (N = 159), and were considered evaluable for the safety and intention-to-treat (ITT) efficacy analyses. Per protocol (PP) populations included 133 and 131 patients in the BMV and CBD groups respectively. The mean adjusted TSS-4 significantly decreased through the study from baseline in both groups. The PP (primary) analysis of week 4 data revealed a −0.288 (95% CI: −0.610 to 0.034) not significant between-group difference in adjusted means, demonstrating non-inferiority of BMV to CBD. Non-inferiority was also demonstrated in the ITT analysis. The PGA and other secondary outcomes were significantly improved from baseline in both groups at week 4. The QoL score was slightly better in the CBD group at week 4, but no difference was observed at follow-up. No safety or tolerability concerns were observed in either group.

Conflicts of interest

Centro Studi GISED, the centre led by LN, received a grant from IBSA Institut Biochimique SA. VF is an employee of IBSA Institut Biochimique SA.

Speed limit of the insulator-metal transition in magnetite

As the oldest known magnetic material, magnetite (Fe3O4) has fascinated mankind for millennia. As the first oxide in which a relationship between electrical conductivity and fluctuating/localized electronic order was shown, magnetite represents a model system for understanding correlated oxides in general. Nevertheless, the exact mechanism of the insulator-metal, or Verwey, transition has long remained inaccessible. Recently, three-Fe-site lattice distortions called trimerons were identified as the characteristic building blocks of the low-temperature insulating electronically ordered phase. Here we investigate the Verwey transition with pump-probe X-ray diffraction and optical reflectivity techniques, and show how trimerons become mobile across the insulator-metal transition. We find this to be a two-step process. After an initial 300 fs destruction of individual trimerons, phase separation occurs on a 1.5±0.2 ps timescale to yield residual insulating and metallic regions. This work establishes the speed limit for switching in future oxide electronics.

Entropy-generated power and its efficiency

We propose a simple and analytically solvable model for a motor that generates mechanical motion by exploiting an entropic force arising from the topology of the underlying phase space. We show that the generation of mechanical forces in our system is surprisingly robust to local changes in kinetic and topological parameters. Furthermore, we find that the efficiency at maximum power of the motor may show discontinuities.

Remission of Psoriatic Arthritis after Etanercept Discontinuation: Analysis of Patients' Clinical Characteristics Leading to Disease Relapse

Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, disabling arthritis affecting up to 30% of psoriatic patients. Recently, it has been demonstrated that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) plays a pivotal role in inducing and maintaining joint damage and that molecules that block this cytokine are effective in the treatment of psoriatic arthritis. Etanercept is a recombinant fusion protein acting as a competitive inhibitor of TNF-α, and numerous clinical trials have demonstrated its efficacy in determining psoriatic arthritis remission. However, specific criteria defining psoriatic arthritis remission have not been delineated and few data describing the length of the remission after etanercept discontinuation are available. The aim of this observational, retrospective study was to assess post-remission efficacy maintenance and relapse characteristics after etanercept interruption in patients with moderate-to-severe peripheral psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and cutaneous involvement.