Objectives To study whether there is an association between body mass index (BMI) category and survival of various tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in... Show moreObjectives To study whether there is an association between body mass index (BMI) category and survival of various tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in a real-life longitudinal international registry.Methods Data from 5230 patients with RA starting treatment with any TNFi were selected from the METEOR registry. Patients were divided into six BMI categories: 3.7% underweight, BMI<18.5 kg/m(2); 46% normal weight, BMI 18.5-25 kg/m(2); 32% pre-obesity, BMI 25-30 kg/m(2); 13% obesity class I, BMI 30-35 kg/m(2); 3.4% obesity class II, BMI 35-40 kg/m(2); and 1.6% obesity class III, BMI >40 kg/m(2). Time on treatment in the different BMI categories was compared for all TNFi combined and for the infliximab, adalimumab and etanercept separately, using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analyses. Cox regression analyses were adjusted for potential confounders, with follow-up censored at 5000 days.Results Patients in obesity class II (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.54) and III (HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.18) and underweight patients (HR 1.30, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.58) showed statistically significantly shorter TNFi survival than normal weight patients. The effect in underweight patients was strongest for infliximab (HR 1.82, 95% CI 1.20 to 2.76), the effect in overweight patients was strongest for infliximab (category II (HR 1.49, 95% CI 0.98 to 2.26); category III (HR 1.46, 95% CI 0.79 to 2.71)) and etanercept (category II (HR 1.27 95% CI 0.98 to 1.65); category III (HR 1.79, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.55)). No significant effect modification from reported pain was found.Conclusion Both underweight and overweight patients discontinued TNFi treatment earlier than normal weight patients, without evidence of reported pain as the main determinant. It remains uncertain what determines TNFi survival in individual patients. Show less
Ferreira, R.J.O.; Carvalho, P.D.; Ndosi, M.; Duarte, C.; Chopra, A.; Murphy, E.; ... ; Silva, J.A.P. da 2019
We present the first results of a survey of the [C II]157.7 {$μ$}m emission line in 241 luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) comprising the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) sample,... Show moreWe present the first results of a survey of the [C II]157.7 {$μ$}m emission line in 241 luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) comprising the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) sample, obtained with the PACS instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory. The [C II] luminosities, L $_{[C II]}$, of the LIRGs in GOALS range from ~{}10$^{7}$ to 2 { imes} 10$^{9}$ L $_{⊙}$. We find that LIRGs show a tight correlation of [C II]/FIR with far-IR (FIR) flux density ratios, with a strong negative trend spanning from ~{}10$^{-2}$ to 10$^{-4}$, as the average temperature of dust increases. We find correlations between the [C II]/FIR ratio and the strength of the 9.7 {$μ$}m silicate absorption feature as well as with the luminosity surface density of the mid-IR emitting region ({$Sigma$}$_{MIR}$), suggesting that warmer, more compact starbursts have substantially smaller [C II]/FIR ratios. Pure star-forming LIRGs have a mean [C II]/FIR ~{} 4 { imes} 10$^{-3}$, while galaxies with low polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) equivalent widths (EWs), indicative of the presence of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), span the full range in [C II]/FIR. However, we show that even when only pure star-forming galaxies are considered, the [C II]/FIR ratio still drops by an order of magnitude, from 10$^{-2}$ to 10$^{-3}$, with {$Sigma$}$_{MIR}$ and {$Sigma$}$_{IR}$, implying that the [C II]157.7 {$μ$}m luminosity is not a good indicator of the star formation rate (SFR) for most local LIRGs, for it does not scale linearly with the warm dust emission most likely associated to the youngest stars. Moreover, even in LIRGs in which we detect an AGN in the mid-IR, the majority (2/3) of galaxies show [C II]/FIR {gt}= 10$^{-3}$ typical of high 6.2 {$μ$}m PAH EW sources, suggesting that most AGNs do not contribute significantly to the FIR emission. We provide an empirical relation between the [C II]/FIR and the specific SFR for star-forming LIRGs. Finally, we present predictions for the starburst size based on the observed [C II] and FIR luminosities which should be useful for comparing with results from future surveys of high-redshift galaxies with ALMA and CCAT. Show less
We use the near-infrared Br{$γ$} hydrogen recombination line as a reference star formation rate (SFR) indicator to test the validity and establish the calibration of the Herschel/PACS 70 {$μ$}m... Show moreWe use the near-infrared Br{$γ$} hydrogen recombination line as a reference star formation rate (SFR) indicator to test the validity and establish the calibration of the Herschel/PACS 70 {$μ$}m emission as a SFR tracer for sub-galactic regions in external galaxies. Br{$γ$} offers the double advantage of directly tracing ionizing photons and of being relatively insensitive to the effects of dust attenuation. For our first experiment, we use archival Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Br{$γ$} and Ks images of two nearby galaxies: NGC 5055 and NGC 6946, which are also part of the Herschel program KINGFISH (Key Insights on Nearby Galaxies: a Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel). We use the extinction corrected Br{$γ$} emission to derive the SFR(70) calibration for H II regions in these two galaxies. A comparison of the SFR(70) calibrations at different spatial scales, from 200 pc to the size of the whole galaxy, reveals that about 50% of the total 70 {$μ$}m emission is due to dust heated by stellar populations that are unrelated to the current star formation. We use a simple model to qualitatively relate the increase of the SFR(70) calibration coefficient with decreasing region size to the star formation timescale. We provide a calibration for an unbiased SFR indicator that combines the observed H{$α$} with the 70 {$μ$}m emission, also for use in H II regions. We briefly analyze the PACS 100 and 160 {$μ$}m maps and find that longer wavelengths are not as good SFR indicators as 70 {$μ$}m, in agreement with previous results. We find that the calibrations show about 50% difference between the two galaxies, possibly due to effects of inclination. Based on observations obtained with WIRCam, a joint project of CFHT, Taiwan, Korea, Canada, France, and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institute National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii. Show less
