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Analysis from the German GESPIC cohort presented at EULAR 2021 -- Sacroiliitis is an inflammation of the sacroiliac joints, situated where the lower spine and pelvis connect.?Sacroiliitis is linked to the disease axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and visible on X-ray. Observational cohort studies have shown that there is low, but still detectable progression in radiographic sacroiliitis, which might also have an impact on the function in patients with axSpA. Recent data show that tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) might slow spinal progression when started earlier and taken for longer. However, the question of whether they also have such an effect on radiographic progression in sacroiliac joints is still unclear.

Biologic and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) have caused a shift in the treatment of patients with inflammatory joint disorders, and remission is now attainable. But the high cost of these drugs has caused restrictions on their use and prescription, contributing to inequality of care worldwide. An annual tender system was introduced in 2008 in Norway to reduce the costs of these drugs.

New data shared at the EULAR 2021 Virtual Congress -- There is increasing evidence that environmental air pollution is associated with people developing inflammatory arthritis. At the 2021 EULAR congress, a large population-based study of French women reports passive exposure to smoking during childhood or adulthood increases the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A second study in Italy found that air pollution also has an impact - with air pollution levels showing an association with failure of biologic therapy.

Data presented at the 2021 EULAR congress show women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes, especially pre-term birth and babies small for gestational age. For the first time, it has also been shown that the partners of men with inflammatory arthritis have a lower rate of live births, and are more likely to suffer a miscarriage. However, the link between disease activity, type and timing of antirheumatic treatment, and the risk of these outcomes remains unclear.

What The Study Did: Researchers describe the local transmission pattern of SARS-CoV-2 in Valencia, the third most populated city in Spain.

What The Study Did: Researchers reviewed access to COVID-19 vaccination sites in Brooklyn, the most populated borough in New York, to better understand disparities in vaccination.

Food has become one of the major challenges of the 21st century. According to a study carried out by CNRS scientists, an organic, sustainable, biodiversity-friendly agro-food system, could be implemented in Europe and would allow a balanced coexistence between agriculture and the environment. The scenario proposed is based on three levers.

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys have gained a deeper insight into the intricacies of autophagy, the process in which cells degrade and recycle cellular components.

The loss of a loved one can be a defining moment, even in the animal world. In chimpanzees, for example, individuals whose mothers die when they are young are smaller than their counterparts, reproduce less and are also more likely to die at a young age. But why? To find out, a research team studied the short- and long-term effects of maternal loss on the stress levels of orphaned chimpanzees over a 19-year period.

German RABBIT registry data -- Elderly people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are generally at increased risk of serious infections. At the same time, some anti-rheumatic treatments have been associated with a higher serious infection risk, but the extent to which older people are exposed to higher risks with some newer classes of therapy is an open question. Results of this study suggest that treatment with new classes of drugs is not associated with an increased risk of serious infection in elderly patients above 70 years of age.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) had developed a novel, high-performance, economical anode material for use in sodium-ion secondary batteries, which are more cost-effective than lithium-ion batteries. This novel material can store 1.5 times more electricity than the graphite anode used in commercial lithium-ion batteries and its performance does not degrade even after 200 cycles at very fast charging/discharging rates of 10 A/g.

Scientists have developed a new technique that could revolutionize medical imaging procedures using light.

Sweet sorghum can be used to produce biogas, biofuels, and novel polymers. In addition, it can help replace phosphate fertilizers. A new sweet sorghum variety developed at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) accumulates particularly high amounts of sugar and thrives under local conditions. The scientists report that sugar transport and sugar accumulation are related to the structure of plant vessels. This was the result of a comparison between sweet and grain sorghums.

Massive heavy-lift crane vessels, capable of hauling thousands of tons, navigate the rough waves and strong winds offshore to construct wind turbines and oil fields in the ocean. An international team of researchers has developed a new modeling system to help improve the control, and ultimately the safety, of such vessels.

Results of the first trial of its kind presented at EULAR 2021 -- Targeting dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota by faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been proposed as a novel therapeutic option for people with extra-intestinal inflammatory diseases - although the link is yet to be established. In this first interventional randomized controlled trial of FMT in immune-mediated arthritis, transplantation was inferior to sham in treating active peripheral psoriatic arthritis.

Climate warming plays a larger role than plant genes in influencing the number and identity of fungal species on oak leaves, especially in autumn. Recently published in the journal New Phytologist, this research by ecologists sheds light on how warming and tree genes affect the dynamics of fungal communities across the season.

Results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance and the French RMD cohort -- COVID-19 is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. It has been suggested that biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) may dampen the inflammatory response in COVID-19, perhaps leading to a less severe clinical course of the infection. However, the way some antirheumatic drugs work might impair the body's natural immune defence against viruses. Two abstracts presented at EULAR 2021 show people taking rituximab or a class of drugs called janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) have worse COVID-19 severity compared to people taking tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi). These data from two large registry initiatives highlight the urgent need for strategies to manage the risk in people taking antirheumatic drugs, such as identifying optimal timing for vaccination.

Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna have now shown that, in most cases, IBS is associated with bacterial biofilms in the gut that are visible under endoscopic examination.

Biologists have identified a family of algae as a living missing link in the microscopic domain.

Footprints from at least six different species of dinosaur -- the very last dinosaurs to walk on UK soil 110 million years ago -- have been found in Kent, a new report has announced.