Revision of the genus Physoclypeus Hendel, 1907 (Diptera, Lauxaniidae), with description of seven new species

The genus Physoclypeus Hendel, 1907 has its distribution restricted to the Neotropical region. In this study, its species have been redescribed, three new combinations have been proposed, three lectotypes have been designated, seven new species have been described, and an identification key to the species is presented. An updated list of species of Physoclypeus is presented as: P. annulatus Hendel, 1925; P. coquilletti (Hendel, 1908); P. farinosus (Hendel, 1925); P. flavus (Wiedemann, 1830); P. hendeli sp. nov. (Type locality, Jamaica, N. Irish Town); P. lineatus (Williston, 1896) new comb.; P. montanus (Becker, 1919) new comb.; P. plaumanni sp. nov. (Type locality, Brazil, Santa Catarina); P. risaraldensis sp. nov. (Type locality, Colombia, Risaralda); P. saltensis sp. nov. (Type locality, Argentina, Salta); P. scutellatus (Curran, 1926) new comb.; P. unimaculatus sp. nov. (Type locality, Mexico, Vera Cruz); P. vitattus sp. nov. (Type locality, Brazil, Santa Catarina) and P. zebrinus sp. nov. (Type locality, Costa Rica, Limón).

Work disability remains a major problem in rheumatoid arthritis in the 2000s: data from 32 countries in the QUEST-RA Study

Introduction: Work disability is a major consequence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), associated not only with traditional disease activity variables, but also more significantly with demographic, functional, occupational, and societal variables. Recent reports suggest that the use of biologic agents offers potential for reduced work disability rates, but the conclusions are based on surrogate disease activity measures derived from studies primarily from Western countries. Methods: The Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with RA (QUEST-RA) multinational database of 8,039 patients in 86 sites in 32 countries, 16 with high gross domestic product (GDP) (>24K US dollars (USD) per capita) and 16 low-GDP countries (<11K USD), was analyzed for work and disability status at onset and over the course of RA and clinical status of patients who continued working or had stopped working in high-GDP versus low-GDP countries according to all RA Core Data Set measures. Associations of work disability status with RA Core Data Set variables and indices were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analyses. Results: At the time of first symptoms, 86% of men (range 57%-100% among countries) and 64% (19%-87%) of women <65 years were working. More than one third (37%) of these patients reported subsequent work disability because of RA. Among 1,756 patients whose symptoms had begun during the 2000s, the probabilities of continuing to work were 80% (95% confidence interval (CI) 78%-82%) at 2 years and 68% (95% CI 65%-71%) at 5 years, with similar patterns in high-GDP and low-GDP countries. Patients who continued working versus stopped working had significantly better clinical status for all clinical status measures and patient self-report scores, with similar patterns in high-GDP and low-GDP countries. However, patients who had stopped working in high-GDP countries had better clinical status than patients who continued working in low-GDP countries. The most significant identifier of work disability in all subgroups was Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) functional disability score. Conclusions: Work disability rates remain high among people with RA during this millennium. In low-GDP countries, people remain working with high levels of disability and disease activity. Cultural and economic differences between societies affect work disability as an outcome measure for RA.

Electromagnetic Wave Scattering by Schwarzschild Black Holes

We analyze the scattering of a planar monochromatic electromagnetic wave incident upon a Schwarzschild black hole. We obtain accurate numerical results from the partial wave method for the electromagnetic scattering cross section and show that they are in excellent agreement with analytical approximations. The scattering of electromagnetic waves is compared with the scattering of scalar, spinor, and gravitational waves. We present a unified picture of the scattering of all massless fields for the first time.

Scattering of sound waves by a canonical acoustic hole

This is a study of a monochromatic planar perturbation impinging upon a canonical acoustic hole. We show that acoustic hole scattering shares key features with black hole scattering. The interference of wave fronts passing in opposite senses around the hole creates regular oscillations in the scattered intensity. We examine this effect by applying a partial wave method to compute the differential scattering cross section for a range of incident wavelengths. We demonstrate the existence of a scattering peak in the backward direction, known as the glory. We show that the glory created by the canonical acoustic hole is approximately 170 times less intense than the glory created by the Schwarzschild black hole, for equivalent horizon-to-wavelength ratios. We hope that direct experimental observations of such effects may be possible in the near future.

Topical interleukin-1 receptor antagonist inhibits inflammatory cell infiltration into the cornea

Interleukin (IL)-1 alpha and beta are important modulators of many functions of corneal epithelial and stromal cells that occur following injury to the cornea, including the influx of bone marrow-derived inflammatory cells into the stroma attracted by chemokines released from the stroma and epithelium. In this study, we examined the effect of topical soluble IL-1 receptor antagonist on bone marrow-derived cell influx following corneal epithelial scrape injury in a mouse model. C57BL/6 mice underwent corneal epithelial scrape followed by application of IL-1 receptor antagonist (Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA) at a concentration of 20 mg/ml or vehicle for 24 h prior to immunocytochemical detection of marker CD11b-positive cells into the stroma. In two experiments, topical IL-1 receptor antagonist had a marked effect in blocking cell influx. For example, in experiment 1, topical IL-1 receptor antagonist markedly reduced detectible CD11b-positive cells into the corneal stroma at 24 It after epithelial injury compared with the vehicle control (3.5 +/- 0.5 (standard error of the mean) cells/400x field and 13.9 +/- 1.2 cells/400x field, respectively, p < 0.01). A second experiment with a different observer performing cell counting had the same result. Thus, the data demonstrate conclusively that topical IL-1 receptor antagonist markedly down-regulates CD-11b-positive monocytic cell appearance in the corneal stroma. Topical IL-1 receptor antagonist could be an effective adjuvant for clinical treatment of corneal conditions in which unwanted inflammation has a role in the pathophysiology of the disorder. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.