Introduction Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often experience depression, which has a very negative impact on the assessment of the quality of life (QoL). However, there are not many studies that assess the relationship between depression and QoL in RA patients. The aim of the study was to assess the level of QoL and determine the mutual relationship between anxiety and depression levels and QoL in patients treated for RA. Material and Methods The study included 101 patients (aged:52.4±16.97), who met the established criteria for a diagnosis of RA and treatment with a biological agent. Only standardized tools were used to examine the patients: WHO-QoL, HADS and the VAS scale. Results The mean RA duration in the group studied was 13.54±9.51 years and the disease activity score was 4.8±0.8. The mean QoL perception score was 3.48± 0.8. Nearly 40% of the respondents could not clearly determine their QoL, perceiving it as neither poor nor good, and 10% believed their QoL is poor or very poor. The correlation analysis revealed that anxiety is significantly and negatively associated with QoL in the psychological domain (r = −0.472, p < 0.001) and social domain (r = −0.298, p = 0.023) and depression is significantly and negatively associated with QoL in the psychological domain (r = −0.322, p = 0.01) and physical health domain (r = −0.209, p = 0.04). In the multiple linear regression model, depression was an independent negative predictor affecting the following domains: perception of QoL and perception of health, and physical health. Conclusion RA patients treated with biologics present a low level of health perception and an average level of QoL perception. Depression and anxiety negatively correlate with QoL domains: the higher the anxiety and depression levels, the poorer the QoL in the psychological and social relationships domains. Depression is an independent determinant of decreased QoL.

Studies into the systematics of wolf spiders have mainly employed morphological characters of adult spiders, in particular features of the male and female genitalia, and more recently mitochondrial DNA sequence data. However, there is still no established phylogenetic framework for the Lycosidae, even at the subfamily level. This study uses a novel morphological character set, the chaetotaxy of lycosid larvae (presence and arrangement of setae and slit organs), to infer systematic information on seven species of wolf spiders that are currently listed in three subfamilies: Lycosinae [Alopecosa pulverulenta (Clerck 1757), Hogna antelucana (Montgomery 1904), Rabidosa rabida (Walckenaer 1837), Trochosa ruricola (DeGeer 1778)], Piratinae [Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata (Ohlert 1865), Pirata hygrophilus (Clerck 1757)], and Sosippinae (Sosippus californicus Simon 1898). Cheliceral and tarsal (legs 1 and 11) chaetotaxic patterns of the first postembryo showed equivalent chaetotaxic complexes amongst all species but revealed considerable differences between representatives of the three subfamilies. Sosippus californicus showed the most complex pattern and P. piraticus the most reduced arrangement. In addition, it casts doubt on the previous listings of H. rubrofasciata in either the Lycosinae or Piratinae, as its chaetotaxic setae arrangement was more similar to S. californicus than to any other species investigated here.