OBJECTIVE To explore the associations between individual subdimensions of the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) and clinical variables in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS 304 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (73% female, mean (SD) age, 58 (13) years; disease duration 6 (9) years, 69% rheumatoid factor positive) completed the HAQ for functional capacity (0-3) and a 100 mm visu...

The prediction of fatigue life of metal welded joints plays an important role at lower manufacturing costs and reduces accidents for engineering materials, the response of metal welded joints to fatigue properties has highly non-linear, so it is difficult to establish an accurate theoretical model using traditional method to predict its fatigue life. It is appropriate to consider modeling metho...

Friction stir lap welding of 7B04 aluminum alloy was conducted in the present paper, and the effect of welding speed on the defect features and mechanical performance of lap joints was investigated. The results indicate that the hook defect at the advancing side (AS) can reduce the effective thickness of the top sheet, and the sheet thinning level is gradually lowered by increasing the welding ...

This article describes the clinical application of gene therapy to a nonlethal disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Intraarticular transfer of IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) cDNA reduces disease in animal models of RA. Whether this procedure is safe and feasible in humans was addressed in a phase I clinical study involving nine postmenopausal women with advanced RA who required unilateral sia...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the efficacy of IA CS (IAC) therapy in single and multiple joints in children with JIA and to seek for predictors of synovitis flare. METHODS The clinical charts of patients who received their first IAC injection between January 2002 and December 2008 were reviewed. The CS used was triamcinolone hexacetonide for large joints and methylprednisolone acetate for small o...

Microelectronic packaging plays an important role in cryogenic engineering; in particular, a solder joint as interconnection, which offers a mechanical, thermal and electrical support, undergoes much larger and harsher thermal changes during its service compared with conventional customer electronic products. The impact of thermo-mechanical properties of such solder joints under cryogenic servi...

Swan neck deformity is a hyperextension of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints and flexion of the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints. Claw hand is a hyperextension of the metacarpal joints and flexion of the PIP joints, accompanied by reduced motor strength. A 23-year-old female, who was released from leprosy treatment, presented with a bend of the second to fifth fingers of both hands. ...

Cranial kinesis is a widespread feature of gekkotan lizards. Previous studies of kinesis in lizards often described the relevant, mobile joints as synovial, thus characterized by the presence of a synovial cavity lined with articular cartilage. To date however, detailed investigations of cranial joint histology are lacking. We examined eight cranial joints (quadrate-articular, quadrate-pterygoi...