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Genetic epidemiological studies have demonstrated a significant genetic basis to both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Although candidate gene association studies had identified genes for disease susceptibility, recent genome-wide association studies have demonstrated robust associations both within and outside the major histocompatibility region on chromosome 6p. The susceptibility genes identified include HLA-C , IL13 , IL4, TNFAIP3 , IL23A , IL23R , IL28RA , REL , IFIH1 , ERAP , TRAF3IP2 , NFKBIA , TYK2 , ZNF313 , NOS2 , FBXL19 and NFKBIA in subjects of European ethnicity and HLA-C , IL12B , LCE3D , ERAP1 , TNIP1 , PTTG1 , CSMD1 , GJB2 , SERPINB8 and ZNF816A in subjects of Chinese ethnicity. These associations provide us with a model for the pathogenesis of psoriasis involving skin barrier function, innate and adaptive immunity. Gene–gene and gene–environmental interaction effects have also been demonstrated. However, loci identified to date do not fully account for the high heritability of psoriasis and PsA, and therefore many genetic as well as environmental factors and interaction effects remain to be determined. This article reviews the current status of genetic studies in psoriasis and PsA.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) was first identified in the late 17th century. 250 years later, inflammatory spine disease was recognized to be one of the patterns of psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Isolated spondylitis is rare among patients with PsA, occurring in less than 5% of patients; however, many patients with PsA have axial disease that is concurrent with peripheral arthritis. At the other end of the spondyloarthritis spectrum, psoriasis is observed in 10% of patients with AS. Although axial involvement in PsA can be indistinguishable from axial disease in AS, it can also differ in several respects, raising the question of whether axial PsA and AS (with or without psoriasis) are different clinical presentations of the same disease, or whether they are separate diseases that have overlapping features. In this Review, the clinical presentation, metrology, radiographic characteristics, genetic factors, treatment options and axial prognosis of the two diseases are addressed. The aim of this Review is to capture all available comparisons made to date, to highlight the similarities and differences between AS and axial PsA and to propose a research agenda.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a complex inflammatory disease with heterogeneous clinical features, which complicates psoriasis in 30% of patients. There are no diagnostic criteria or tests available. Diagnosis is most commonly made by identifying inflammatory musculoskeletal features in joints, entheses or the spine in the presence of skin and/or nail psoriasis and in the usual absence of rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide. The evolution of psoriasis to PsA may occur in stages, although the mechanisms are unclear. In many patients, there may be little or no relationship between severity of musculoskeletal inflammation and severity of skin or nail psoriasis. The reason for this disease heterogeneity may be explained by differences in genotype, especially in the HLA region. New targeted therapies for PsA have been approved with additional therapies in development. These developments have substantially improved both short-term and long-term outcomes including a reduction in musculoskeletal and skin manifestations and in radiographic damage. With efforts underway aimed at improving our understanding of the molecular basis for the heterogeneity of PsA, a personalized approach to treating PsA may become possible. Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic immune-mediated form of arthritis that occurs in some patients with psoriasis. This Primer reviews the epidemiology and pathophysiology of PsA and highlights the challenges in diagnosis and advances in treatment. In addition, the authors discuss the quality of life of patients and outstanding questions in the field.

This perspective outlines recent developments in the field of NMR spectroscopy, enabling new opportunities for in situ studies on bulk and confined clathrate hydrates. These hydrates are crystalline ice-like materials, built up from hydrogen-bonded water molecules, forming cages occluding non-polar gaseous guest molecules, including CH4, CO2 and even H2 and He gas. In nature, they are found in low-temperature and high-pressure conditions. Synthetic confined versions hold immense potential for energy storage and transportation, as well as for carbon capture and storage. Using previous studies, this report highlights static and magic angle spinning NMR hardware and strategies enabling the study of clathrate hydrate formation in situ, in bulk and in nano-confinement. The information obtained from such studies includes phase identification, dynamics, gas exchange processes, mechanistic studies and the molecular-level elucidation of the interactions between water, guest molecules and confining interfaces.

Ascorbic acid (AH2) is a commonly used additive in food products. In wheat breadmaking, it is, for example, added to flour for its dough strengthening and bread volume-enhancing effects. While these bread property-enhancing effects are well known, the final chemical fate of AH2 in breadmaking applications remains nearly undocumented. This study tries to shed light on the chemical fate of AH2 in wheat breadmaking by investigating the chemical and enzymatic conversion of AH2 and its reaction products using 13C NMR spectroscopy in combination with AH2 labelled with 13C on the C3 carbon. Following the chemical conversion of AH2 as function of time, in ultra-pure water, tap water, and wheat flour extracts, in the presence and absence of dissolved O2 and glutathione (GSH), the specific impact of the presence of trace metal ions, dissolved oxygen and endogenous GSH on the oxidation of AH2 could be elucidated.

This work describes the synthesis of ordered 3D siloxane-silsesquioxane reticular materials with silicate D4R cubes (Si8O208−), harvested from a sacrificial tetrabutylammonium cyclosilicate hydrate (TBA-CySH) precursor, interlinked with octyl and dicyclopentyl (Cp2) hydrocarbon functionalities in a one-step synthesis with organodichlorosilanes. Advanced solid-state NMR spectroscopy allowed us to unravel the molecular order of the nodes and their interconnection by the silicone linkers. In the case of octyl-methyl silicone linkers, changing the silane-to-silicate ratio in the synthesis allowed for tuning the length of the linker between the nodes. With dicyclopentyl linkers, the addition of dimethyldichlorosilane was essential to enable the formation of a reticular network. The resulting materials contained mixed, dimeric silicone linkers, i.e., Si8-O-Si(Me2)-O-Si(Cp2)-O-Si8.

The concept of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) prevention is gaining increased interest owing to the physical limitation, poor quality of life and low remission rates that are achieved with current therapies for PsA. The psoriasis-to-PsA transition offers a unique opportunity to identify individuals at increased risk of developing PsA and to implement preventive strategies. However, identifying individuals at increased risk of developing PsA is challenging as there is no consensus on how this population should be defined. This Consensus Statement puts forward recommended terminology from the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Clinics Multicenter Advancement Network (PPACMAN) for defining specific subgroups of individuals during the preclinical and early clinical phases of PsA to be used in research studies. Following a three-round Delphi process, consensus was reached for three terms and definitions: ‘increased risk for PsA’, ‘psoriasis with asymptomatic synovio-entheseal imaging abnormalities’ and ‘psoriasis with musculoskeletal symptoms not explained by other diagnosis’. These terms and their definitions will enable improved identification and standardization of study populations in clinical research. In the future, as increasing evidence emerges regarding the molecular and clinical features of the psoriasis-to-PsA continuum, these terms and definitions will be further refined and updated.In this Consensus Statement, an expert panel from the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Clinics Multicenter Advancement Network (PPACMAN) recommends terminology for defining specific subgroups of individuals during the preclinical and early clinical phases of psoriatic arthritis to be used in research studies.

The fingerprint is a widely adopted biometric trait in forensic and civil applications. Fingerprint biometric systems have been investigated using contact prints and latent and contactless images which range from low to high resolution. While the imaging techniques are advancing with sensor variations, the input fingerprint images also vary. A general fingerprint recognition pipeline consists of a sensor module to acquire images, followed by feature representation, matching and decision modules. In the sensor module, the image quality of the biometric traits significantly affects the biometric system’s accuracy and performance. Imaging modality, such as contact and contactless, plays a key role in poor image quality, and therefore, paying attention to imaging modality is important to obtain better performance. Further, underlying physical principles and the working of the sensor can lead to their own forms of distortions during acquisition. There are certain challenges in each module of the fingerprint recognition pipeline, particularly sensors, image acquisition and feature representation. Present reviews in fingerprint systems only analyze the imaging techniques in fingerprint sensing that have existed for a decade. However, the latest emerging trends and recent advances in fingerprint sensing, image acquisition and their challenges have been left behind. Since the present reviews are either obsolete or restricted to a particular subset of the fingerprint systems, this work comprehensively analyzes the state of the art in the field of contact-based, contactless 2D and 3D fingerprint systems and their challenges in the aspects of sensors, image acquisition and interoperability. It outlines the open issues and challenges encountered in fingerprint systems, such as fingerprint performance, environmental factors, acceptability and interoperability, and alternate directions are proposed for a better fingerprint system.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a relatively common inflammatory arthritis, a spondyloarthritis (SpA), that occurs most often in patients with psoriasis, a common immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease. Both psoriasis and PsA are highly heritable. Genetic and recent genomic studies have identified variants associated with psoriasis and PsA, but variants differentiating psoriasis from PsA are few. In this review, we describe recent developments in understanding the genetic burden of PsA, linkage, association and epigenetic studies. Using pathway analysis, we provide further insights into the similarities and differences between PsA and psoriasis, as well as between PsA and other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, particularly ankylosing spondylitis, another SpA. Environmental factors that may trigger PsA in patients with psoriasis are also reviewed. To further understand the pathogenetic differences between PsA and psoriasis as well as other SpA, larger cohort studies of well-phenotyped subjects with integrated analysis of genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic data using interomic system biology approaches are required.

Background To examine the association between sonographic enthesitis and the severity of radiographic features of damage in the peripheral and axial joints in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods A cross-sectional analysis was conducted in patients with PsA. The MAdrid Sonography Enthesitis Index (MASEI) scoring system was used to quantify the extent of sonographic entheseal abnormalities. Radiographic damage in the peripheral joints and spine was assessed by the modified Steinbrocker score (mSS), Modified New York Criteria for sacroiliitis, and the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (mSASSS). The association between MASEI and the extent of radiographic damage was assessed using negative binomial and logistic regression. The results were expressed in terms of the regression coefficient estimates and their exponentiated values (e β ) or odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Two hundred and twenty three patients were analyzed; 58% were males, with mean ± SD age of 55.9 ± 12.9 years and PsA duration of 16.7 ± 12.4 years. Regression analyses yielded an association between higher MASEI scores (10 units increase) and peripheral joint damage including mSS (e β  = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.15, 1.72), joint ankylosis (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.37, 2.72), arthritis mutilans (OR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.23, 2.54), and periostitis (OR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.84). Similarly, an association was found between higher MASEI scores and axial damage as measured by mSASSS (e β  = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.16, 4.09) and sacroiliitis (OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.72). Conclusions The severity of sonographic enthesitis is a potential marker of radiographic peripheral and axial joint damage in PsA.