0 +/- 5.0 mg. In multiple regression analysis, BMD loss at the spine was significantly associated with higher daily glucocorticoid dose and lower baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. BMD loss at the hip was associated with lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels at baseline, reduction of body mass index, and baseline use of antimalarials.\n\nIn this 6-year follow-up study, bone loss was remarkably low. A dose-dependent relationship between glucocorticoid use and spinal bone loss was found. In addition, the use of antimalarials LY294002 research buy and lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels at baseline were associated with BMD loss. These

findings underline the importance of prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis in SLE, especially in patients using glucocorticoids or antimalarials.”
“Objectives: Regardless of the

proportion of missing values, complete-case analysis is most frequently applied, although advanced techniques such as multiple imputation (MI) are available. The objective of this study was to explore the performance of simple and more advanced methods for handling missing data in cases when some, many, selleck inhibitor or all item scores are missing in a multi-item instrument.\n\nStudy Design and Setting: Real-life- missing data situations were simulated in a multi-item variable used as a covariate in a linear regression model. Various missing data mechanisms were simulated with an increasing percentage of missing data. Subsequently, several techniques to handle missing data were applied to decide on the most optimal technique for each scenario. Fitted regression coefficients were compared using the bias and coverage as performance parameters.\n\nResults: Mean imputation caused biased estimates in every missing data scenario when data are missing Selleck Crenigacestat for more than 10% of the subjects. Furthermore, when a large percentage of subjects had missing items (>25%), MI methods applied to the items outperformed

methods applied to the total score.\n\nConclusion: We recommend applying MI to the item scores to get the most accurate regression model estimates. Moreover, we advise not to use any form of mean imputation to handle missing data. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“We investigated penetration-type semi-transparent hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells that incorporated cuprite (Cu2O) thin films, deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering, as the color-adjusting layer. Depending on the arrangement of the Cu2O and transparent conductive oxide layers in the cells, the cells could be classified as either inner-type or outer-type. By simulating and experimentally measuring the reflectance of both types of cells, it was found that the optical interference in the two cells had a more significant effect on the short-circuit current density than did the thickness of the incorporated Cu2O films. We fabricated a-Si:H cells whose transparency and color could be controlled simultaneously.