OBJECTIVE US is a promising tool in evaluating RA synovitis, but abnormal US findings have been reported in small subsets of normal joints in healthy subjects. This study aimed to systematically assess greyscale US (GSUS) and power Doppler US (PDUS) findings in 40 peripheral joints-the 28-joint DAS (DAS28) set, ankles and MTP joints-in healthy subjects. A composite score of abnormal US findings...

Methods. To further evaluate the relationship between ROG and melanoma proliferation, we assessed the correlation of ROG with Ki67, a commonly used marker of cell cycle progression, and phosphorylated-histone-H3 (PH3), a sensitive marker of mitosis. The methods of assessing Ki67 and PH3 have been described elsewhere. In brief, recuts of a representative section within the primary melanoma were ...

It is more common for educational and psychological data to be non-normal than to be approximately normal. This tendency may lead to bias and error in point estimates of the Pearson correlation coefficient. In a series of Monte Carlo simulations, the Pearson correlation was examined under conditions of normal and non-normal data, and it was compared to its major alternatives, including the Spea...

PURPOSE To assess the arterial stiffness in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). METHODS Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV) and ankle-brachial index were measured in 10 patients with BRVO (mean age 67.9 +/- 7.5 years) and in 18 age-matched controls (mean age 66.9 +/- 6.8 years). The controls were subjects with systemic essential hypertension having no retinal lesions. R...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the mechanical joint score (MJS) in terms of its reliability between observers and over time, its ease of use and its relationship with conventional measures of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity, severity and functional outcome. METHODS The MJS was evaluated in 103 patients with reference to the following joints: total proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints, tot...

OBJECTIVES To study the correlation between Sunnybrook and House-Brackmann facial grading systems at different time points during the course of peripheral facial palsy. STUDY DESIGN Prospective multicenter trial. SETTING Seventeen otorhinolaryngological centers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Data are part of the Scandinavian Bell's palsy study. The facial function of 1920 patients with peripheral ...

BACKGROUND Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a serious problem among the nursing staff. Mental workload is the major cause of MSDs among nursing staff. The aim of this study was to investigate the mental workload dimensions and their association with MSDs among nurses of Alzahra Hospital, affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. MATERIALS AND METHODS This descriptive cross-sec...

BACKGROUND Neck pain is a highly prevalent condition resulting in major disability. Standard scales for measuring disability in patients with neck pain have a pivotal role in research and clinical settings. The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is a valid and reliable tool, designed to measure disability in activities of daily living due to neck pain. The purpose of our study was the translation and ...

OBJECTIVE Eliminating health disparities, including those that are a result of socioeconomic status (SES), is one of the overarching goals of Healthy People 2010. This article reports on the development of a new, adolescent-specific measure of subjective social status (SSS) and on initial exploratory analyses of the relationship of SSS to adolescents' physical and psychological health. METHOD...

BACKGROUND Accurate measurement of free thyroxine (FT(4)) is important for diagnosing and managing thyroid disorders. Most laboratories measure FT(4) by direct analogue immunoassay methods. The validity of these methods have recently been questioned. The inverse log-linear relationship between FT(4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is well described and provides a physiological rationale o...