To compare the treatment approaches and disease outcomes of children with JDM followed in two European tertiary care pediatric rheumatology centers.
 
  The medical notes of patients with JDM seen at Istituto Giannina Gaslini (IGG) of Genoa, Italy or Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) of London, UK between January 2000 and December 2015 within 6 months after disease onset and followed for at least 6 months were reviewed. Demographic, clinical and therapeutic data were collected. At each visit, the caring physician was asked to rate subjectively the disease state.
 
  A total of 127 patients were included, 88 at GOSH and 39 at IGG. At 24 months, the median values of muscle strength and disease activity were at the normal end of the scale and around three quarter of patients were said to have inactive disease. Also at 2 years, 38.6% and 36% of British and Italian patients, respectively, had damage. Cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, infliximab, rituximab and mycophenolate mofetil were used more frequently by UK physicians, whereas cyclosporine, intravenous immunoglobulin and hydroxychloroquine were prescribed by Italian physicians.
 
  This study shows a significant difference in the choice of medications between pediatric rheumatologists practicing in the two centers. Despite this, a high proportion of patients had inactive disease at 2 years and there was a low frequency of damage modern treatments have improved outcomes.
 This study shows a significant difference in the choice of medications between pediatric rheumatologists practicing in the two centers. Despite this, a high proportion of patients had inactive disease at 2 years and there was a low frequency of damage modern treatments have improved outcomes.As a polyphagous soil-dwelling predatory mite, Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Womersley) (Acari Laelapidae), formerly known as Stratiolaelaps miles (Berlese), is native to the Northern hemisphere and preys on soil invertebrates, including fungus gnats, springtails, thrips nymphs, nematodes, and other species of mites. Already mass-produced and commercialized in North America, Europe, Oceania and China, S. scimitus will highly likely be introduced to other countries and regions as a biocontrol agent against edaphic pests in the near future. The introduction, however, can lead to unexpected genetic changes within populations of biological control agents, which might decrease the efficacy of pest management or increase the risks to local environments. To better understand the genetic basis of its biology and behavior, we sequenced and assembled the draft genome of S. scimitus using the PacBio Sequel platform II. We generated ∼150× (64.81 Gb) PacBio long reads with an average read length of 12.60 kb. Reads longer than 5 kb were assembled into contigs, resulting in the final assembly of 158 contigs with an N50 length of 7.66 Mb, and captured 93.1% of the BUSCO (Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs) gene set (n = 1,066). We identified 16.39% (69.91 Mb) repetitive elements, 1,686 noncoding RNAs, and 13,305 protein-coding genes, which represented 95.8% BUSCO completeness. Combining analyses of genome family evolution and function enrichment of gene ontology and pathway, a total of 135 families experienced significant expansions, which were mainly involved in digestion, detoxification, immunity, and venom. Major expansions of the detoxification enzymes, that is, P450s and carboxylesterases, suggest a possible genetic mechanism underlying polyphagy and ecological adaptions. Our high-quality genome assembly and annotation provide new insights on the evolutionary biology, soil ecology, and biological control for predaceous mites.The design of bimetallic core-shell nanostructures with mesoporous surfaces is considered significant to strengthen the catalytic activity and stability for direct methanol fuel cells. Here, we report a flexible method to synthesize Au@Pd core-shell mesoporous nanoflowers (Au@mPd NFs) with Au core coated with mesoporous Pd nano-petals, in which polymeric micelle-assembled structures are used as templates to induce the formation of mesopores. Benefiting from the electronic and structural effects, Au@mPd NFs show excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability for methanol oxidation reaction in alkaline electrolytes.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/triptolide.html  This study demonstrates a versatile strategy for the fabrication of core-shell mesoporous nanoflowers with adjustable composition.A number of solution-based procedures have been realized for the synthesis of lithium niobate (LiNbO3) nanoparticles (NPs). Relatively little is, however, known about the influences of the selection of lithium (Li) precursors on the resulting dimensions, shapes, crystallinity, and purity of the products. A comparative study is provided herein on the role of different Li precursors during the synthesis of LiNbO3 NPs. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first systematic comparison of the effects of various Li reagents on the preparation of LiNbO3 NPs through solvothermal processes. This solution-phase approach was tuned by the inclusion of Li precursors that either lacked carbon based anions (e.g., F-, Cl-, Br-, I-, OH-, NO3-, or SO42-) or contained carbon-based anions (e.g., C2H5O-, C2H3OO-, C5H7OO-, or CO32-). All other variables were held constant during the synthesis, such as reaction temperature, solvent, niobium precursor, and surfactants. The results of these studies suggest that the type of Li precursor selected plays an important role in nanoparticle formation, such as through controlling the uniformity, crystallinity, and aggregation of LiNbO3 NPs. The average diameter of the resulting NPs can also vary from ∼30 to ∼830 nm as a function of the Li reagent used in the synthesis. The selection of Li precursors also influences the phase purity of the products. This comparative study on the preparation of crystalline LiNbO3 NPs represents a critical step forward to understand the influences and roles of precursors in the design of synthetic processes for the preparation of a variety of alkali metal niobates (e.g., including NaNbO3 and KNbO3) and crystalline metal oxide-based NPs containing other transition metals (e.g., titanium, tantalum).