tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Circulating hyaluronate in rheumatoid arthritis: relationship to inflammatory activity and the effect of corticosteroid therapy.
Authors: A Engstrom-Laurent, R Hallgren
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (1985)

The mean serum hyaluronate concentration in a group of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 37) was 232 +/- 182 (SD) microgram/l and significantly greater (p less than 0.001) than that of age and sex matched healthy controls (mean level 42 +/- 25 micrograms/l) as well as that of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (mean level 58 +/- 33 micrograms/l). In rheumatoid arthritis positive correlations were found between serum hyaluronate and acute-phase plasma proteins, while neither rheumatoid factor titre nor the presence of circulating immune complexes were related to the hyaluronate levels. Increased serum hyaluronate could not be explained by impaired renal or liver function or by drug therapy. During treatment with corticosteroids but not with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs the serum hyaluronate concentrations were significantly reduced. The data obtained suggested an increased production of hyaluronate in rheumatoid arthritis, and the increase seems to be related to the activity of the inflammatory process.
PERCUTANEOUS TRANSAPICAL CLOSURE OF POST–OPERATIVE PERIMEMBRANOUS VENTRICULAR SEPTAL DEFECTS IN THE COMPLEX PATIENT
Authors: Chad Kliger, Robert Kumar, Pablo Diez–Villanueva, Teresa Cano, Jorge Rodriguez–Capitan, Vladimir Jelnin, Itzhak Kronzon, Gila Perk, Carlos Ruiz
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2013)
Verification of myocardial contrast two-dimensional echocardiographic assessment of perfusion defects in ischemic myocardium
Authors: Tatsuo Sakamaki, Chuwa Tei, Samuel Meerbaum, Keicho Shimoura, Shuji Kondo, Michael C. Fishbein, Jacob Y-Rit, Pravin M. Shah, Eliot Corday
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (1984)
SOME OBSERVATIONS REGARDING DIPHTHERIA IMMUNITY
Authors: WILFRED H. KELLOGG
Journal: JAMA (1927)

During the earlier days of our experience with the guinea-pig test for diphtheria immunity, we were Schick testing and immunizing with toxin-antitoxin many children in various schools and institutional groups. Many comparative tests were made, some of the earlier ones having been previously reported. 1 Primary tests by the two methods were found to agree, except for discrepancies explainable by the influence of protein reactions in obscuring the correct reading of the Schick test. Later, through the accidental inclusion of some children who were Schick negative following toxin-antitoxin immunization, in a group having blood specimens taken, it was noted that some of these gave negative Schick tests and positive Kellogg tests. The latter test is gaged to detect antitoxin in the blood in quantities of one-thirtieth unit per cubic centimeter or more, the amount generally accepted, following the work of Schick, as protective. It is performed by adding to 0.1
Blood Pressure and Metabolic Effects of Calcium Supplementation in Normotensive White and Black Men
Authors: Roseann M. Lyle
Journal: JAMA (1987)

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to examine the effect of calcium supplementation on blood pressure in normotensive black (n = 21) and white (n = 54) men, aged 19 to 52 years. After a four-week baseline period of weekly blood pressure measurement, subjects were randomly assigned within racial groups to either a treatment (calcium, 1500 mg/d) or placebo group for a 12-week period. During the experimental period, multiple blood pressure measurements were taken every two weeks in both the seated and supine positions, using a random baseline sphygmomanometer. A repeated-measures analysis of covariance yielded a modest but significantly lower seated mean arterial pressure in the treatment group compared with the control group, but no differences between the races. Results were similar for supine blood pressure. Calcium supplementation, in comparison with placebo, resulted in lower mean arterial pressure in normotensive white and black men during a 12-week period. The overall blood pressure—lowering effect was not correlated with the response of serum levels of total and ionized calcium, total inorganic phosphorus, or parathyroid hormone, or overnight urinary electrolyte values. (<i>JAMA</i>1987;257:1772-1776)
New rapid test for prenatal detection of trisomy 21 (Down's syndrome): preliminary report.
Authors: T. Bryndorf, B. Christensen, J. Philip, W. Hansen, K. Yokobata, N. Bui, C. Gaiser
Journal: BMJ (1992)

OBJECTIVE--To devise and evaluate a rapid screening method for detecting trisomy 21 (Down9s syndrome) in samples of uncultured amniotic fluid cells. DESIGN--Non-radioactive in situ hybridisation with HY128, a 500,000 base pair yeast artificial chromosome probe specific for chromosome 21. Blinded study of 12 karyotypically normal amniotic fluid samples and eight samples trisomic for chromosome 21. SETTING--Cytogenetic and obstetric services at a tertiary referral centre, Copenhagen. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Time necessary to complete the test. Proportion of cell nuclei containing two and three hybridisation signals in karyotypically normal and abnormal amniotic fluid samples. RESULTS--The test could be completed within three to four days after amniocentesis. In the normal samples a mean of 73% (range 61-82%) of the amniotic cell nuclei showed two hybridisation signals and 6% (0-18%) showed three signals. By contrast, among the trisomic samples 29% (19-38%) of the nuclei exhibited two signals and 48% (31-60%) showed three signals. CONCLUSION--The technique clearly distinguished between normal and trisomic samples. Prenatal diagnosis with in situ hybridisation with chromosome specific probes was fast and may make it possible to screen for selected, aneuploidies. However, the technique is still at a preliminary stage and needs further evaluation and refinement.
Defective Cardiac Parasympathetic Control in Patients with Heart Disease
Authors: Dwain L. Eckberg, Morris Drabinsky, Eugene Braunwald
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1971)

To define the state of the parasympathetic nervous system in heart failure, parasympathetic blockade with atropine was induced after adrenergic blockade with propranolol in 12 normal subjects and in nine patients with heart disease. Atropine elevated heart rate by 55 ± 9 per cent in normal subjects, but by only 23 ± 8 per cent in patients with heart disease (p less than 0.05). In 23 control subjects and 22 patients, transient elevations in arterial pressure were produced by intravenous injections of phenylephrine, and successive R-R intervals were plotted as a function of systolic pressure. The slowing of heart rate per unit rise in systolic arterial pressure averaged 16.0 ±1.8 msec per millimeter of mercury in normal subjects but only 3.70 ± 0.8 msec per millimeter of mercury in the patients (p less than 0.001). Baroreceptor-induced slowing of heart rate in normal subjects was shown to be mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system since it could be abolished with atropine. These findings point to a profound abnormality in parasympathetic cardiovascular regulation in heart disease.
Trusts need to work together to avoid delays in paediatric surgery
Authors: Z. Kmietowicz
Journal: BMJ (2010)

Children who need routine surgery could face delays and have to travel long distances for operations unless new networks are organised across the NHS to provide services in local hospitals, surgeons have warned.

The number of surgeons in England who can perform routine operations on children has dwindled in the past decade for a variety of reasons, says the Royal College of Surgeons.

Many general surgeons and urologists who treated adults but also operated on children have retired, and because trainee surgeons tend to specialise there are …
Ageing population is not a drain on economy or NHS, says report
Authors: Z. Kmietowicz
Journal: BMJ (2012)

Rising numbers of older people should not be blamed for economic problems or for increasing pressure on the NHS, says a report. The effects of population ageing on the health sector are limited because older people are staying fitter, and this group is likely to contribute a substantial proportion to the UK economy provided that they are well looked after, it concludes.

The report, from the School of Pharmacy at University College London, says that when the NHS was established in 1948 there were only 200 000 people in the United Kingdom aged …
Whooping-cough immunization.
Authors: R Illingworth
Journal: BMJ (1980)

research or anything else, the public will not give their money.And how can a charity raise money without explaining what it does?Fortunately for the medical research charities in this country, many members of the public who give so generously to these activities seem to take a much more balanced view of the role of research into prevention and treatment or cure than that represented in your leading article.
Crossed Cerebellar Hypoperfusion in Mesencephalic Infarcts
Authors: PATRICE LALOUX, HUBERT MEURISSE, PATRICK DE COSTER
Journal: Clinical Nuclear Medicine (1997)

Regional cerebral and cerebellar blood flow were studied with Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT in a 74-year-old man with Weber's syndrome and a 67-year-old man with Claude-Nothnagel's syndrome. Significant cerebellar hypoperfusion was shown on the side contralateral to the mesencephalic cerebral infarct. The cerebellar hypoactivity is caused by the interruption of the corticopontocerebellar pathways by the mesencephalic paramedian infarct associated with Weber's syndrome. In Claude's syndrome, the interruption of the dentatorubrothalamic pathways by the mesencephalic intermediolateral infarct explains the crossed cerebellar hypoperfusion. These findings confirm that mesencephalic infarcts can also be associated with crossed cerebellar diaschisis.
Nasal pressure recording in the diagnosis of sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome
Authors: F Series, I Marc
Journal: Thorax (1999)

<h3>BACKGROUND</h3> Nasal pressure tracing is now being used to measure breathing in ambulatory screening devices for sleep apnoea but it has not been compared with other methods of assessment. <h3>METHODS</h3> Sleep induced breathing disorders were scored by three different methods of analysis (thermistry, inductive plethysmography, and nasal pressure tracing) in 193 consecutive patients referred to our sleep laboratory. With the conventional thermistry method an apnoea was defined as the absence of oronasal flow on the thermistor signal for ⩾10 s and a hypopnoea as a 50% decrease in the sum signal of inductive plethysmography tracing for ⩾10 s associated with an arousal and/or a 2% decrease in Sao<sub>2</sub>. Nasal pressure was measured via nasal prongs connected to a pressure transducer. Using the thermistor signal alone, a hypopnoea was defined as a 50% decrease in the signal for ⩾10 s associated with an arousal and/or a 2% decrease in Sao<sub>2</sub>. A similar definition of apnoea and hypopnoea was used for nasal pressure, the fall in pressure being substituted for the thermistor reading. <h3>RESULTS</h3> Impaired nasal ventilation prevented adequate measurements of nasal pressure in 9% of subjects. According to the conventional method of interpretation 107 subjects were identified as having the sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome (SAHS). The apnoea + hypopnoea index (AHI) was significantly lower using the thermistry method than with conventional analysis (mean difference –4.3/h, 95% CI –5.3 to –3.2, p&lt;10<sup>–4</sup>); 39% of conventional hypopnoeic events were scored as apnoeas using nasal pressure scoring. Apnoeic and hypopnoeic events could also be observed without any change in thermistor and sum Respitrace signals that resumed with the occurrence of arousals or awakenings. The AHI was significantly higher with nasal pressure scoring than with the conventional method (mean difference 4.5, 95% CI 3.4 to 5.6, p&lt;10<sup>–4</sup>). The mean difference in apnoea index between conventional and nasal pressure scoring was –7.5/h (95% CI –8.9 to –6.1). In the 78 patients who did not have SAHS according to the conventional method of analysis there was a significant positive relationship between the arousal index and AHI measured by nasal pressure tracing (<i>R</i> = 0.51, p&lt;10<sup>–4</sup>). Seventeen of the 78 patients had an AHI of &gt;15/h by the nasal pressure method of analysis. <h3>CONCLUSIONS</h3> Nasal pressure recording provides a simple and reliable measurement of nocturnal breathing abnormalities and may identify breathing abnormalities associated with arousals that are missed by other diagnostic methods.
Leukocyte Antigens and Antibodies
Authors: Israel Davidsohn
Journal: JAMA (1960)

The number of diseases in the pathogenesis of which an antigen-antibody reaction is involved is constantly rising. The role of this immunologic reaction in the cause of diseases of erythrocytes is well established, and so is its application to diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Similar reactions have been demonstrated in some of the lesions affecting leukocytes. However, the methodology of testing, the reproducibility of the tests, and interpretation of the results are still not well established. The author himself has made valuable contributions to the subject. In the first chapter, the various techniques, their respective advantages and disadvantages, and the sources of error are reviewed. The remainder is a discussion of current knowledge as it relates to the following questions: 1. Are there blood groups in leukocytes? The answer seems to be affirmative as it applies to the AB factors but not to the other blood factors. 2. Are leuko-agglutinins iso-antibodies
Sézary syndrome patients demonstrate a defect in dendritic cell populations: effects of CD40 ligand and treatment with GM-CSF on dendritic cell numbers and the production of cytokines
Authors: Maria Wysocka, Mohamed H. Zaki, Lars E. French, Jihed Chehimi, Michael Shapiro, Suzanne E. Everetts, Karen S. McGinnis, Luis Montaner, Alain H. Rook
Journal: Blood (2002)
Psychiatric Experience with a Liberalized Therapeutic Abortion Law
Authors: LEON MARDER
Journal: American Journal of Psychiatry (1970)

The author reviews the experience of a California hospital with 147 patients treated under a liberalized therapeutic abortion law. Concern and proper care for these patients minimized the development of guilt, remorse, and depression; they generally described marked relief of symptoms and reported improvement in their relationships with others, along with improved living situations. The author feels that therapeutic abortion should be maintained as a medical consideration under the medical practice code and should be removed from the criminal statutes.
Anaerobic Septicemia From Thrombophlebitis of the Internal Jugular Vein
Authors: Ricardo J. Mitre
Journal: JAMA (1974)

A patient had anaerobic septicemia associated with thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein. This infection has characteristic features, and diagnosis is not difficult, provided the physician is aware of the syndrome. A prompt clinical response to metronidazole occurred after other antibiotics commonly recommended for anaerobic infections had failed. This case highlights recent observations that suggest an important role for metronidazole in anaerobic bacterial, as well as anaerobic protozoal, infections. (<i>JAMA</i>230:1168-1169, 1974)
Venous Occlusion Pressure Plethysmography in the Human Upper Limb
Authors: JOHN LUDBROOK, GEOFFREY M. COLLINS
Journal: Circulation Research (1967)

Two techniques of venous occlusion pressure plethysmography were examined experimentally in the human upper limb. The first was the classical method, in which external pressure is applied to the limb solely by way of the plethysmograph. In the second, the entire upper limb including the plethysmograph and venous occlusion cuff was enclosed in a box within which the air pressure could be raised. For each method the predictability of perfusion pressure was estimated by measuring local tissue pressure, venous pressure and arterial pressure. Artifacts in the recording of blood flow were also sought. In the first method there was a nonuniform increase in tissue pressure, venous pressure and probably arterial pressure. The changes were uniform and predictable in the second. Flow cessation pressure was 19 to 36 mm Hg in the warm hand and 13 to 30 mm Hg in the forearm using the first method. It was less than 10 mm Hg with the other method. It is suggested that the second technique offers a method for reexamining pressure-flow relations in the human upper limb under more precisely controlled conditions than hitherto.
Court rules national medical school entrance exam unconstitutional
Authors: C. Travasso
Journal: BMJ (2013)

The chairman of the body that oversees medical education in India has said that the future of the national examination for entrance to medical school is in disarray after the Supreme Court ruled that the exam was unconstitutional.

R K Srivastava, chairman of the Medical Council of India, told the BMJ that because of the “cobweb” woven by the decision it was impossible to predict …
PTU-103 Intra-luminal Interleukin (il)-27 Is A Potential Future Therapeutic For Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors: MH McLean, ML Hanson, B Gold, Y Golubeva, MR Anver, X Wu, D Sun, L Steidler, SK Durum
Journal: Gut (2014)

<h3>Introduction</h3> Oral<i> Lactococcus lactis</i> engineered to express the immunoregulatory cytokine IL-27 (LL-IL27) is therapeutically active in chronic murine enterocolitis. Here, efficacy in acute colitis was examined. <h3>Methods</h3> 2 mg 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) was delivered intra-rectally in 45% ethanol or 45% ethanol alone into 6–8 week old male SJL mice. <i>L. lactis</i> control (LLC) or LL-IL-27 was delivered by oral gavage on 4 occasions, 24 h apart, commencing at colitis induction. Therapeutic effect was assessed clinically and histologically. Potential mechanisms of action were investigated. <h3>Results</h3> TNBS induced an acute severe distal colitis. LL-IL-27 led to a significant reduction in disease activity index compared to LLC (4.9 vs. 8.7/12 on day 2 (p = 0.001); 3.6 vs. 7.7/12 on day 3 (p = 0.001), improved macroscopic colitis score (p &lt; 0.05), and reduction in serum CRP (p = 0.003, day 2). Histological colitis score was reduced (p = 0.035) with significant improvement in mucosal ulceration (p = 0.008). TNBS increased expression of distal colon <i>Il6, Il1β, Tnf</i>, and <i>Il10</i>, assessed by RT-PCR, with no differential effect seen with LL-IL-27. However, LL-IL-27 led to a significant reduction in IL-6 (p = 0.002), IL-1β (p = 0.001) and TNF (p = 0.014) protein assessed by ELISA. A significant reduction in colonic mucosal myeloperoxidase<sup>+</sup> neutrophil infiltrate was seen in the LL-IL-27 group (p = 0.004), along with a significant decrease in the neutrophil chemoattractant CXCL2 (p &lt; 0.001). LPS induced CXCL2 gene and protein expression in macrophages was not inhibited by recombinant IL-27 <i><i>in vitro</i></i>, suggesting an indirect mechanism <i><i>in vivo</i></i>. Peri-ulceration distal colonic mucosa was isolated by laser capture microdissection and RNA applied to mouse Genome 430 2.0 Affymetrix microarray. Principal component analysis grouped mice by treatment. 285 genes were differentially expressed (&gt;/&lt;1.5 fold change in expression plus p &lt; 0.05) in the LL-IL27 group, including a striking down-regulation of mucosal humoral response genes, (for example, probe sets for IgA heavy chain (-20.6 fold), Igκ chain var1 (-19.0 fold), Igλ chain CR2 (-4.8 fold)). This was not explained by a reduction in CD45R/B220<sup>+</sup> B cell infiltrate (p = 0.02). Up-regulated genes include those involved with anti-microbial defense (<i>RegIIIb</i>, <i>Clec7A, ligp1</i>) and innate immune response (<i>cxcl10, cxcl9</i>). <h3>Conclusion</h3> Intra-luminal IL-27 represents a potential therapy for human inflammatory bowel disease and acute colitis of differing aetiologies. <h3>Disclosure of Interest</h3> M. McLean: None Declared, M. Hanson: None Declared, B. Gold: None Declared, Y. Golubeva: None Declared, M. Anver: None Declared, X. Wu: None Declared, D. Sun: None Declared, L. Steidler Employee of: ActoGenix, S. Durum: None Declared.
Evaluation of New Computerized Method for Recording 7-Day Food Intake in IDDM Patients
Authors: Angela A Rivellese, Mariarosa M Ventura, Giacomo Vespasiani, Mauro Bruni, Vincenza Moriconi, Vincenza Pacioni, Maria T Sulpini, Renato Borrelli, Angela Giacco, Claudio Cangemi, Luigi Perna, Paolo Brunetti, Gabriele Riccardi
Journal: Diabetes Care (1991)

Objective To evaluate a new computerized method for recording 7-day food intake. Research Design and Methods Randomized crossover trial was conducted with patients recording the amount and type of every food and drink consumed during a week by either a computerized device (Food-meter) or recording the data in a diary. Each method was applied twice. Twenty-one insulin-dependent diabetic patients (mean ± SD age 25 ± 9 yr) were studied. Results The two methods showed very good agreement in the evaluation of the patients' diets (1792 ± 408 vs. 1764 ± 436 kcal∕day, 84 ± 19 vs. 82 ± 21 g∕day protein, 68 ± 22 vs. 67 ± 23 g∕day fat, 210 ± 60 vs. 207 ± 58 g∕day carbohydrate with the conventional and computerized methods, respectively). The variability between the methods and the variability within each method were of similar magnitude. Conclusions The Food-meter represents a useful tool for computerizing the 7-day food record. The method is easy, reliable, and time saving. Moreover, it minimizes the risk of transcriptional errors.
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Post–Myocardial Infarction Repair
Authors: Pratik A. Lalit, Derek J. Hei, Amish N. Raval, Timothy J. Kamp
Journal: Circulation Research (2014)

Coronary artery disease with associated myocardial infarction continues to be a major cause of death and morbidity around the world, despite significant advances in therapy. Patients who have large myocardial infarctions are at highest risk for progressive heart failure and death, and cell-based therapies offer new hope for these patients. A recently discovered cell source for cardiac repair has emerged as a result of a breakthrough reprogramming somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The iPSCs can proliferate indefinitely in culture and can differentiate into cardiac lineages, including cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, and cardiac progenitors. Thus, large quantities of desired cell products can be generated without being limited by cellular senescence. The iPSCs can be obtained from patients to allow autologous therapy or, alternatively, banks of human leukocyte antigen diverse iPSCs are possible for allogeneic therapy. Preclinical animal studies using a variety of cell preparations generated from iPSCs have shown evidence of cardiac repair. Methodology for the production of clinical grade products from human iPSCs is in place. Ongoing studies for the safety of various iPSC preparations with regard to the risk of tumor formation, immune rejection, induction of arrhythmias, and formation of stable cardiac grafts are needed as the field advances toward the first-in-man trials of iPSCs after myocardial infarction.
GW25-e4458 Effects of Ginsenoside Rb1 on vascular restenosis, SOD and MDA in rabbits with iliac artery injury
Authors: Zhou Bin, Ma Xiao-Ju, Liu Yong, Liu Ding-Hui, Hao Bao-Shun, Yu Shu-Jie, Wang Min, Wu Lin, Song Zhi-Ming, Chen Lin, Qian Xiao-Xian
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2014)