tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Fumonisin toxicosis in swine: an overview of porcine pulmonary edema and current perspectives.
Authors: W M Haschek, L A Gumprecht, G Smith, M E Tumbleson, P D Constable
Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives (2001)

Fumonisin toxicosis in swine was named porcine pulmonary edema (PPE) after outbreaks of a fatal disease in pigs fed Fusarium verticillioides (F. moniliforme)-contaminated corn screenings from the 1989 corn crop in Iowa, Illinois, and Georgia. Pigs that died had severe pulmonary edema, which has not been identified in other species after exposure to fumonisins. The disease has been reproduced experimentally by feeding of naturally contaminated corn, F. verticillioides culture material, and by intravenous administration of fumonisin B1 (FB1). Hepatic lesions consisting of apoptosis, necrosis, and hepatocyte proliferation also are observed. As in other species, alterations in clinical pathology reflect hepatic injury as well as elevated serum cholesterol concentration. In chronic studies, esophageal plaques, hyperplastic hepatic nodules, and right ventricular hypertrophy were found. In pigs, as in other species, fumonisin alters sphingolipid biosynthesis, with the greatest alterations in sphingosine and sphinganine concentrations in kidney, liver, lung, and heart. Our recent studies on fumonisin toxicosis in pigs have focused on immune effects and the pathogenesis of pulmonary edema. The specific immune system was not affected; however, FB1 inhibited phagocytosis and sphingolipid biosynthesis in pulmonary macrophages. Fumonisin induced an accumulation of membranous material in pulmonary capillary endothelial cells; this change appears specific to this cell type and to swine. In short-term cardiovascular studies, fumonisin decreased left ventricular dP/dt(max) (an index of cardiac contractility), mean systemic arterial pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output, and increased mean pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary artery wedge pressure. These changes are compatible with the inhibition of L-type calcium channels by increased sphingosine and/or sphinganine concentration. Therefore, fumonisin-induced pulmonary edema in swine appears to result from acute left-sided heart failure mediated by altered sphingolipid biosynthesis.
Hepatocyte growth factor has a role in the amelioration of diabetic vascular complications via autophagic clearance of advanced glycation end products: Dispo85E, an HGF inducer, as a potential botanical drug
Authors: Kang-Yung Peng, Lin-Yea Horng, Hui-Ching Sung, Hui-Chuan Huang, Rong-Tsun Wu
Journal: Metabolism (2010)
Other cities, same problems.
Authors: R Maxwell
Journal: BMJ (1993)

London9s health care problems, particularly underfunding, are mirrored in other major cities in the United Kingdom and abroad. None has found the perfect solution, but the debates on the Tomlinson report provide an opportunity to review how to manage the three major areas of service provision, medical education, and research in London. Mr Robert Maxwell suggests that some aspects of the successful ambulatory care initiative in New York could be adapted by the capital9s primary care providers while the secondary services might learn from the rationalisation of specialist services in Paris.
Myocardial kinetics of thallium and potassium in man.
Authors: A L'Abbate, A Biagini, C Michelassi, A Maseri
Journal: Circulation (1979)

Myocardial and blood kinetics of thallium-201 (201T1) and potassium42 (42K) were studied in five patients with normal coronary angiography.A mixture of 400 oCi of 201TI, 400 ,uCi of 42K, 50 ,Ci of iodine-125 radioiodinated human serum albumin as intravascular indicator, and 400 ,Ci of tritiated water (THO) as extravascular indicator was injected as a bolus into the pulmonary artery, and blood time- concentration curves were obtained from the aortic root and coronary sinus.These curves were numerically deconvoluted to obtain the frequency function of transit times (FFTT) of the four isotopes through the cor- onary system.Initial maximal myocardial extraction of the two tracers were similar.The net maximal myocardial uptake of 201TI per 100 g of tissue ranged from 1.0-2.7% of the injected dose and was positively related to myocardial blood flow (MBF) calculated from THO and to the ratio MBF/cardiac output (CO), while net uptake of 42K ranged from 1.4-2.4%,but was not correlated with MBF nor with MBF/CO.The analysis of the FFTT indicates that 42K, but not 201TI, is washed out from the myocardium more rapidly when MBF and the heart rate are higher.Thus, thallium appears to be a much more suitable agent than potassium isotopes for myocardial perfusion studies.ISOTOPES OF POTASSIUM (43K, 42K and 38K in particular), potassium analogs such as rubidium-86, rubidium-84 and rubidium-81, and, lately, thallium- 201 (201T1) and other cationic tracers such as NH4+ are currently used for noninvasive assessment of regional myocardial perfusion in man.Their use is based on the fractionation principle described by Sapirstein,", 2 according to which the indicator that is totally or nearly totally extracted during the first pass can be used to estimate regional perfusion as a frac- tion of the cardiac output (CO).However, the infor- mation on the kinetics of these indicators and their behavior as a function of the ratio of myocardial blood flow (MBF) to CO is scarcely known.Animal studies indicate that thallium appears to be only partially ex- tracted by the myocardium and to approximately the same extent as potassium.3' By contrast, the myocar- dial thallium content 10 minutes after the peripheral injection appears to be approximately twice as large as that of potassium.5In man, thallium kinetics have been investigated by serial scintigraphy,67 which can provide only an integrated information on the com- pounded kinetics of the tracer in blood, pericardiac tissues and myocardium.These kinetics may have different time-courses and thus contribute to different extents to scintigrams obtained after the injection of the tracer.This study in man was undertaken to derive infor- mation on 251T1 and 42K myocardial kinetics, as related to MBF and CO, from their frequency function of cor- onary transit times obtained by the indicator-dilution method.
The structural proteins of normal and diseased human myocardium.
Authors: D W Frederiksen, J M Hoffnung, R T Frederiksen, R B Williams
Journal: Circulation Research (1978)

Microanalytical techniques have been developed for the quantitative determination of actomyosin and collagen from 20 to 30-mg (wet mass) samples of myocardium.Actomyosin is the major contractile protein complex and is, therefore, an index of functional muscle; collagen is the major protein of connective and scar tissue and is, therefore, an index of fibrosis.These proteins were determined in six myocardial samples from each of four normal, four ischemic, and three hypertrophied human hearts.As determined by electrophoresis in a denaturing medium, the concentration of actomyosin in normal myocardium is 69 /tg/mg wet tissue; the concentration in ischemic myocardium is not significantly different from normal, but is approximately 45% higher than normal in hearts with left ventricular hypertrophy.These observations indicate that hypertrophy is not simply an increase in total heart mass but, rather, involves an increase in actomyosin concentration in myocardial tissue as well.Collagen is determined from amino acid analysis of whole tissue for 4-hydroxyproline, an amino acid characteristic of this protein; the concentration of collagen in normal (6.1 /ig/mg wet tissue) myocardium are not significantly different from those in hypertrophied myocardium.In focal regions of ischemic hearts, however, collagen is increased 2-to 4fold.The concentration of collagen in myocardial tissue correlates well (r = 0.947) with the degree of fibrosis determined by conventional histological techniques.This work represents (1) a more direct biochemical determination of contractile protein concentration in whole myocardium and (2) a more direct correlation of the biochemical assay for collagen with histological data than have been reported previously.
The Benefit of Increasing Sulfonylurea Dose
Authors: Leif Groop
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1993)

Letters15 September 1993The Benefit of Increasing Sulfonylurea DoseLeif Groop, MD, Svante Stenman, MD, and Per-Henrik Groop, MDLeif Groop, MDSearch for more papers by this author, Svante Stenman, MDSearch for more papers by this author, and Per-Henrik Groop, MDSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-119-6-199309150-00030 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:Although Drs. Feinglos and Hollis and Dr. Epstein list several reservations about our data, they do not provide any firm evidence for the conclusion that increasing the sulfonylurea dose above 10 mg is associated with improved glycemic control. Such studies are lacking. The studies cited by Drs. Feinglos and Hollis highlight the problem. One study [1] represented an uncontrolled multicenter study that compared glipizide with several other agents, including phenformin, and the other study [2] compared two sulfonylureas that were started at different doses. No study tried to reduce the dose to test whether the dose increase was ...References1. Lahon HF, Mann RD. Glipizide: results of a multicentre clinical trial. J Int Med Res. 1973; 1:608-15. Google Scholar2. Jaber LA, Wenzloff NJ, Komanicky P, Antal EJ. An evaluation of the therapeutic effects and dosage equivalence of glyburide and glipizide. J Clin Pharmacol. 1990; 30:181-8. Google Scholar3. Groop L, Widen E, Franssila-Kallunki A, Ekstrand A, Saloranta C, Schalin C, et al. Different effects of insulin and oral antidiabetic agents on glucose and energy metabolism in type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes mellitus. Diabetologia. 1989; 32:599-605. Google Scholar4. Groop L, Widen E, Ekstrand A, Saloranta C, Franssila-Kallunki A, Schalin-Jantti C, et al. Morning or bedtime NPH insulin combined with sulfonylurea in treatment of NIDDM. Diabetes Care. 1992; 15: 831-4. Google Scholar5. Groop L, Barzilai N, Ratheiser K, Lugi L, Wangstromhlin-Boll E, Melander A, et al. Dose-dependent effect of glyburide on insulin secretion and glucose uptake in humans. Diabetes Care. 1991; 14:724-7. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics 15 September 1993Volume 119, Issue 6Page: 537-538KeywordsAttentionBloodDrugsGlucoseHbA1cHypoglycemiaInsulinOverweight ePublished: 15 August 2000 Issue Published: 15 September 1993 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 1993 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...
WHEN SHALL WE OPERATE IN CASES OF APPENDICITIS?
Authors: A. M. HAYDEN
Journal: JAMA (1895)

The above question is one that every member of the profession is trying to solve. The subject has been much discussed. Learned essays have been written, read and discussed by learned bodies, often backed up by statistics which, according to the author's views, clearly establishes the correctness of the conclusions set forth in his paper. He does not stop to consider the possibilities of inaccuracies of his statistics. In fact, I am satisfied that our statistics of appendicitis and its results are not to be relied on. The disease and its classifications have not been sufficiently understood to make them trustworthy and a valuable aid to definite conclusions. For instance a catarrhal relapsing form of appendicitis may apparently recover seven or eight times under medical or the expectant plan of treatment, and the ninth time, owing to the fact that the patient had had previous similar attacks and recovered without
Elevated B cells in sputum of asthmatics. Close correlation with eosinophils.
Authors: J C Kidney, A G Wong, A Efthimiadis, M M Morris, M R Sears, J Dolovich, F E Hargreave
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (1996)

Sputum examination is a useful noninvasive method to study airway inflammation. We investigated the reproducibility and validity of the measurements of lymphocyte subsets in the sputum of 11 stable patients with asthma and 10 nonasthmatic smokers. Sputum was dispersed with 0.1% dithiothreitol. A differential cell count was made with Wright's stain. Aliquots were stained with antibodies to CD19 (B cells), CD3 (T cells), CD4 (helper), CD8 (suppressor), and the activation marker CD25 (IL2 receptor) on T-cell subsets and were assayed by flow cytometry. Sputum from patients with asthma compared with nonasthmatic subjects had more eosinophils (mean +/- SEM, 32.5 +/- 8.5 versus 1.3 +/- 0.5%, p < 0.01) and a higher proportion of lymphocytes that were B cells (16.2 +/- 3.2 versus 4.0 +/- 1.0%, p < 0.01), and these correlated closely with the eosinophils (r = 0.8, p < 0.01). Patients with asthma also had more activated T-helper cells (39.3 +/- 4.6 versus 9.0 +/- 9.0%, p = 0.05), but the comparison was limited to two smokers because of macrophage autofluorescence. The repeatability of measurements of helper T-cells (R = 0.94), suppressor T cells (R = 0.88), and activated helper T cells (R = 0.77) was good; repeatability of measurements of T and B cells could not be examined because these were reciprocals of each other. Asthmatic sputum has different lymphocyte profiles than sputum from nonasthmatic smoking control subjects. The results demonstrate a potential importance of antibody-producing lymphocytes in the airway and their relation to sputum eosinophilia in asthma.
Genetically modified bone marrow continuously supplies anti-inflammatory cells and suppresses renal injury in mouse Goodpasture syndrome
Authors: Takashi Yokoo, Toya Ohashi, Yasunori Utsunomiya, Jin Song Shen, Yutaka Hisada, Yoshikatsu Eto, Tetsuya Kawamura, Tatsuo Hosoya
Journal: Blood (2001)
Visual Evoked Response in Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: A. M. Halliday, W. I. McDonald, J. Mushin
Journal: BMJ (1973)

The diagnostic value of the pattern-evoked response has been assessed in 73 patients referred because of suspected multiple sclerosis.Altogether 52 had delayed responses.Fifty-one patients in the group satisfied McAlpine's criteria for diagnosing definite, probable, or possible multiple sclerosis.Of these, all but two had delayed responses in one or both eyes, while only three of the remaining 22 patients had delays.In those patients with multiple sclerosis but without any history of optic neuritis the incidence of delayed responses was only slightly less.Of 51 patients with delayed responses 23 had normal discs.Thus subclinical lesions of the visual pathways can be readily detected with this test.The high incidence of abnormal pattern responses, even in patients with no other ocular signs or symptoms, suggests that the test is of value in establishing the diagnosis.
Notes on a Case of Septicaemia with Subnormal Temperature
Authors: J. T. Tibbles
Journal: BMJ (1887)

phthisical inheritance should be taken as an indication that she is in a specially suitable condition for the infection of tubercle, and for the progress of the disease when infection has taken place ; and should warn us to place her in the most favourable conditions of life.Menorrhagia, too, interpreted in its widest sense, occurring under
151 URINARY MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY IN PATIENTS WITH HEPATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY: CITRATE CORRELATES WITH ASYMMETRIC DIMETHYLARGININE AND GUT MICROBIAL SPECIES AND CAN PREDICT RECURRENCE AFTER LACTULOSE DISCONTINUATION
Authors: J. Bajaj, M.J. McPhail, D.M. Heuman, D. Bell, P. Gillevet, M. Sikaroodi, A.J. Sanyal, M.I. Sharif, J. Ridlon, P. Hylemon, S. Taylor-Robinson
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2010)
Mycobacterium xenopi pulmonary disease – Epidemiology and clinical features in non-immunocompromised patients
Authors: Ante Marušić, Vera Katalinić-Janković, Sanja Popović-Grle, Mateja Janković, Ivica Mažuranić, Igor Puljić, Helga Sertić Milić
Journal: Journal of Infection (2009)
What muscle variable(s) does the nervous system control in limb movements?
Authors: R. B. Stein
Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1982)

Abstract To control force accurately under a wide range of behavioral conditions, the central nervous system would either require a detailed, continuously updated representation of the state of each muscle (and the load against which each is acting) or else force feedback with sufficient gain to cope with variations in the properties of the muscles and loads. The evidence for force feedback with adequate gain or for an appropriate central representation is not sufficient to conclude that force is the major controlled variable in normal limb movements. Morton's hypothesis, that length is controlled by a follow-up servo, has a number of difficulties related to the delays, gains, variability, and specificity in feedback pathways comprising potential servo loops. However, experimental evidence is consistent with these pathways providing servo assistance for some movements produced by coactivation of α- and static γ-motoneurons. Dynamic γ-motoneurons may provide an additional input for adaptive control of different types of movements. The idea that feedback is used to compensate for changes in muscle stiffness has received experimental support under static postural conditions. However, reflexes tend to increase rather than decrease the range of variation in muscle stiffness during some cyclic movements. Theoretical problems associated with the regulation of stiffness are also discussed. The possibilities of separate control systems for velocity or viscosity are considered, but the evidence is either negative or lacking. I conclude that different physical variables can be controlled depending on the type of limb movement required. The concept of stiffness regulation is also useful under some conditions, but should probably be extended to the regulation of the visco-elastic properties (i.e., the mechanical impedance) of a muscle or joint.
Inhaled Nitric Oxide Increases Coronary Artery Patency After Thrombolysis
Authors: Christophe Adrie, Kenneth D. Bloch, Pedro R. Moreno, William E. Hurford, J. Luis Guerrero, Robert Holt, Warren M. Zapol, Herman K. Gold, Marc J. Semigran
Journal: Circulation (1996)

Background Nitric oxide (NO) and nitrosovasodilators that release NO inhibit platelet aggregation. The antithrombotic effect of intravenously infused nitrosovasodilators is usually accompanied by systemic vasodilation. Inhaled NO is a pulmonary vasodilator that does not produce systemic hemodynamic effects. This study examines the antithrombotic effect of inhaled NO in a canine model of platelet-mediated coronary artery reocclusion after thrombolysis. Methods and Results In 25 anesthetized dogs, a segment of the left anterior descending coronary artery was traumatized and a high-grade stenosis created. Thrombus was injected at this site, and tissue plasminogen activator was administered, producing cyclic flow variations (CFVs) in 24 of 25 dogs. CFV frequency was unchanged in dogs not breathing NO but decreased by 35±9% ( P &lt;.05) and 53±7% ( P &lt;.01) while dogs breathed 20 and 80 parts per million (ppm) NO, respectively. The coronary artery patency ratio (fraction of time during which the coronary artery was patent; CAPR) was unchanged in dogs not treated with NO but increased from 51±7% to 64±8% while breathing 20 ppm NO ( P &lt;.01) and from 49±3% to 75±7% while breathing 80 ppm NO ( P &lt;.01). The increased CAPR during 80 ppm NO administration persisted during a 45-minute posttreatment period (70±7%, P &lt;.05 versus baseline). NO inhalation did not change systemic hemodynamics. In a pharmacological model of coronary vasoconstriction, inhaled NO did not reverse the effect of the thromboxane A 2 agonist U-46619. In vitro ADP-induced platelet aggregation was inhibited by NO gas. Conclusions Inhaled NO at concentrations of 20 and 80 ppm increases coronary patency and decreases CFV frequency in a canine model of platelet-mediated coronary reocclusion after thrombolysis without producing systemic hemodynamic effects.
The Challenge of Rising Health Care Costs — A View from the Congressional Budget Office
Authors: Peter R. Orszag, Philip Ellis
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2007)

The long-term fiscal condition of the United States has been largely misdiagnosed. Despite all the attention paid to demographic challenges, such as the coming retirement of the baby-boom generation, our country's financial health will in fact be determined primarily by the growth rate of per capita health care costs. Yet discussions of Medicare and Medicaid policy as well as broader health care reforms have not seriously addressed the issue of how to slow growth in spending. Instead, recent debates have focused on how much to increase spending for the Medicare prescription-drug benefit, how to expand coverage for children, and how . . .
International variation in hip replacement rates
Authors: H Merx
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2003)

To summarise epidemiological data on the frequency of hip replacements in the countries of the developed world, especially in countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and to investigate whether missing consensus criteria for the indication for total hip replacement (THR) result in different replacement rates.Country-specific hip replacement rates were collected using the available literature, different data sources of national authorities, and estimates of leading hip replacement manufacturers.According to administrative and literature data sources the reported crude primary THR rate varied between 50 and 130 procedures/100000 inhabitants in OECD countries in the 1990s. The crude overall hip implantation rate, summarising THR, partial hip replacement, and hip revision procedures, was reported to range from 60 to 200 procedures/100000 inhabitants in the late 1990s. Moreover, large national differences were seen in the relationship between total and partial hip replacement procedures.The reported differences in hip replacement rates in OECD countries are substantial. They may be due to various causes, including different coding systems, country-specific differences in the healthcare system, in total expenditure on health per capita, in the population age structure, and in different indication criteria for THR.
Angiotensin II potentiates methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction in human airway both in vitro and in vivo
Authors: EA Millar, JE Nally, NC Thomson
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (1995)

Angiotensin II levels are elevated in patients with acute severe asthma. In addition, intravenous angiotensin II causes bronchoconstriction in mild asthmatic patients. In the present study, we examined the effects of this hormone on bronchi in vitro and its interaction with the cholinergic agonist methacholine both in vivo and in vitro. Contractions of rings of human bronchi were measured isometrically. Concentration-response curves were obtained to angiotensin II and to methacholine in the presence and absence of angiotensin II. In addition, seven asthmatic patients with mild bronchial hyperreactivity to methacholine received placebo, angiotensin II, 1 or 2 ng.kg-1.min, by infusion, followed by methacholine challenge. Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) values were measured at baseline, at the end of the infusion and during methacholine challenge. Angiotensin II alone in vitro evoked small contractions of human bronchi ( &lt; 0.25 g wt). Pre-incubation with low concentrations of angiotensin II significantly enhanced contractions to methacholine. In mild asthmatic patients, angiotensin II alone evoked no change in baseline FEV1 values at the levels studied. Compared to placebo, angiotensin II 2 ng.kg-1.min, but not 1 ng.kg-1.min, evoked a significant increase in bronchial reactivity to methacholine. Angiotensin II in subthreshold concentrations enhances methacholine-evoked bronchoconstrictions both in human in vitro and in mild asthmatic patients in vivo. Our findings suggest a novel role for angiotensin II as a putative mediator in asthma.