Physical activity over 4 METs on non-hemodialysis treatment days might be associated with EQ-5D in patients on chronic hemodialysis, especially in women.

A single crystal of gadolinium-doped SmAl(2) has zero magnetization in the midst of the ordered temperature region, despite the probable ferromagnetic spin ordering. The asymmetry in Compton-scattering intensity when switching between right- and left-handed polarization of incident 150-keV synchrotron radiation provides decisive proof that ferromagnetic order is really there, and that spin and orbital magnetic contributions cancel. The experiments also show that the spin direction at this zero-magnetization state is rather stable against the external magnetic field and, nevertheless, reversible by a preceding control of temperature and an external field.

Abstract.A 51-year-old woman who had been treated with levothyroxine sodium because of hypothyroidism after total thyroidectomy for thyroidal cancer was admitted to our hospital for persistent hypothyroidism despite large dose administration of levothyroxine (600 pg/day).The patient complained of severe general fatigue and body weight gain.Free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine and thyrotropin levels were 0.97 ng/dl, 1.55 pg/ml and 24.51 pU/ml, respectively, under oral administration of levothyroxine.Levothyroxine loading test performed by liquid form, pulverized tablets via nasogastric tube and intravenous administration revealed no evidence of malabsorption or metabolic disorder of levothyroxine, although oral intake of tablets was ineffective due to her factitiousness.We report here a possible case of upseudomalabsorption of levothyroxine" to emphasize the clinical recognition of this disorder in patients with resistant hypothyroidism.

We analyzed renal biopsy specimens from 100 patients to evaluate the characteristics of renal involvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Membranous nephropathy (MN) was the most common renal histological pattern (31%). Mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (GN) was found in 21% of cases (IgA nephropathy 12%, non-IgA GN 9%), minor changes in 17%, renal amyloidosis in 11%, interstitial nephritis in 9%, sclerotic GN in 4%, and crescentic GN in 2%. MN was relatively more frequent in men than in women, and most developed nephrotic syndrome, while a few developed renal failure. Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) correlated with MN in 26 of 31 cases. Mesangial proliferative GN showed high-grade hematuria. Amyloidosis correlated with long duration of RA; approximately half of the cases with amyloidosis also had nephrotic syndrome, and 82% developed renal failure. Of the 100 patients, 82% showed some tubulo-interstitial changes, which might be related to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Because renal lesions in RA are very diverse, and early stage cases of MN and amyloidosis can be detected only by histological examinations, renal biopsy should be performed in cases with continuous urinary abnormalities or progressive renal failure.

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