Accuracy of intra-articular injections in peripheral joints performed blindly in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the accuracy of blind IA injections (IAIs) in patients with RA and determine their effectiveness. METHODS: A controlled prospective study including 96 RA patients undergoing blind IAIs in peripheral joints was carried out. Clinical evaluation was performed at baseline (T(0)), 1 (T(1)) and 4 (T(4)) weeks after IAI using the following instruments: visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain at rest and movement, VAS for oedema (range 0-10 cm) and morning stiffness. Following IAI, radiographic exam was performed in all joints for further analysis by two 'blinded' radiologists. The kappa-statistic, chi-square and analysis of variance tests were performed to determine potential differences between time-points of evaluation. Significance level was set as P < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 232 injections were performed. Accuracy observed for the shoulder, elbow, wrist, MCP joints, knee and ankle were 82, 100, 97, 97, 100 and 77%, respectively. A statistically significant improvement was observed for all variables at both T(1) and T(4) when compared with T(0). CONCLUSIONS: Blind IAI proved safe and accurate when performed by a trained professional. Significant improvement was seen in the VAS for pain at rest and during movement, VAS for oedema and morning stiffness.

Comparison of antagonistic ability against enteropathogens by G+ and G- anaerobic dominant components of human fecal microbiota.

To confirm if anaerobic G+-components are those responsible for the function of colonization resistance, obligate anaerobic G+- and G- -bacteria from normal dominant microbiota of human feces were isolated from three successive collections and then used in in vitro assays for antagonism against two enteropathogenic bacteria. The production of inhibitory diffusible compounds was determined on supplemented BHI agar and MRS agar media for G- - and G+-bacteria, respectively. Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium and Shigella sonnei were used as indicators. G+-bacteria presented a higher overall antagonistic frequency against both pathogenic bacteria (57 and 64 % for S. enterica serovar Typhimurium and S. sonnei, respectively) when compared to G+-microorganisms but with a quite elevated variation between volunteers (0-100 %) and collection samples (40-72 and 40-80 % for S. enterica sv. Typhimurium and S. sonnei, respectively). On the other hand, only three among 143 G- -isolates tested showed antagonistic activity. The results showed that, at least in vitro, obligate anaerobic G+-components of the dominant human fecal microbiota present a higher potential for antagonism against the enteropathogenic models tested than do G- -bacteria.

Chaos in spacecraft attitude motion in Earth's magnetic field.

The rotational motion of a satellite with a magnetic stabilization system is discussed. The motion is described by a nonautonomous differential equation, with the magnetic moment of the satellite as a parameter. The global phase portrait of the problem is investigated in a wide range of magnetic-parameter values, using a numerical realization of the method of Poincare point maps. New periodic solutions of the problem are found, and an analysis is carried out of the evolution of the phase portrait and the bifurcation of periodic solutions with varying magnetic-parameter values. The values of the magnetic parameter that must be avoided in the design of the satellite magnetic stabilization system are discussed. (c) 1999 American Institute of Physics.