The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is considered a bicondylar diarthrosis type joint. Imaging evaluation is a fundamental part of its assessment, which should include both bony and soft tissue characteristics and the relationship between them. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) represents the gold standard for the study of soft tissues; however, up to now, its main application continues to be the visualization of the articular disc. For this reason, the present article aimed to point out the information available in the literature regarding the visualization of the joint capsule in MRI and to evaluate it as an independent structure.

Introduction: the presence of anti-CCP is an important prognostic tool for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but its relationship with the activity of the disease and functional capacity is still being investigated. Objectives: to study the relationship between anti-CCP and the indices of disease activity, functional capacity and structural damage, by means of conventional radiography (CR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in stabilized RA. Methods: cross-sectional study of RA patients with one to 10 years of disease. The participants were subjected to clinical evaluation with anti-CCP screening. Disease activity was assessed by means of the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and functional capacity by means of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). CR was analyzed by the Sharp van der Heijde index (SmvH) and MRI by the Rheumatoid Arthritis Magnetic Resonance Image Scoring System (RAMRIS). Results: 56 patients were evaluated, with median (IIq) of 55 (47.5–60.0) years, 50 (89.3%) were female among whom 37 (66.1%) were positive for anti-CCP. The median (IIq) of CDAI, HAQ, SmvH and RAMRIS were 14.75 (5.42–24.97), 1.06 (0.28–1.75), 2 (0–8) and 15 (7–35), respectively. There was no association between anti-CCP and CDAI, HAQ, SmvH and RAMRIS. Conclusion: our results did not establish the association of anti-CCP with the severity of the disease. So far, we cannot corroborate the anti-CCP as a prognostic tool in RA established.

The world economy needs a growth-lifting strategy, and infrastructure financing seems to hold the key. Based on the New Structural Economics (Lin, 2010; 2012) we discuss the heterogeneity of capital focusing on the long-term versus short-term orientation (STO). Traditional neoliberalism assumes that capital is homogenous, complete capital account liberalization is “beneficial”. However, previous studies have found evidence of long-term orientation (LTO) in the culture of many Asian economies (Hofstede, 1991). In this exploratory paper, we suggest that the LTO can be considered a special endowment which, under certain circumstances, can be developed into a comparative advantage (CA) in patient capital. If these countries can turn their latent CA into a revealed CA in patient capital, and develop the ability to “package” profitable and non-profitable projects in meaningful ways, they would have a “revealed” competitive advantage in infrastructure financing. The ability to “package” public infrastructure and private services is one of the key institutional factors for success in overseas cooperation.

Infrastructure development is critical to delivering growth, reducing poverty and addressing broader development goals, as argued in the World Bank Report Transformation through Infrastructure (2012). This paper surveys the literature of the linkages between infrastructure investment and economic growth, discusses the role of infrastructure in the participation of global value chains and in supporting economic upgrades, highlights the challenges faced the least developed countries and provides policy recommendations. It suggests that addressing the bottlenecks in infrastructure is a necessary condition to provide a window of opportunity for an economy to develop following its comparative advantage. With the right conditions, good infrastructure can support an economy, particularly a less developed economy, to reap the benefit through the participation in the global value chains to upgrade the economic structure.