tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
STERILITY IN THE MALE
Authors: K. Walker
Journal: BMJ (1920)

I ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~mrDICAL JOUluaiNi 2. In ten cases of hydrocephalus following cerebro- spinal fever an empyema of the sphenoidal sinus was found in every case.3. In forty-seven completely recovered cases of cerebro- spinal fever no sphenoidal emipyemata were present.
Neutrophil-derived superoxide anion induces lipid peroxidation and stimulates collagen synthesis in human hepatic stellate cells: Role of nitric oxide
Authors: A Casini, E Ceni, R Salzano, P Biondi, M Parola, A Galli, M Foschi, A Caligiuri, M Pinzani, C Surrenti
Journal: Hepatology (1997)

Experimental evidence indicates that the lipid peroxidation of biological membranes is often associated with the development of liver fibrosis. We have studied the effect of neutrophil-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) on collagen synthesis by human hepatic stellate cells (HSC), the major source of collagen in the liver, in a coculture system. Lipid peroxidation in the cocultures was evaluated in terms of either malondialdehyde (MDA) production or the formation of MDA/4-hydroxynonenal protein adducts. The expression of cellular messenger RNAs (mRNAs) was evaluated by either Northern blotting or RNAse protection assay. Nitric oxide (NO) synthase activity in cells was measured by [3H]citrulline formation from [3H]arginine. In vitro exposure of HSC to ROS resulted in the early induction of lipid peroxidation and was associated with a marked increase (threefold) of procollagen I mRNA expression and synthesis. The addition of antioxidants, such as vitamin E or superoxide dismutase (SOD), impaired this stimulation. The inhibition of neutrophil NO formation by N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine made the ROS-induced stimulation of procollagen I more evident. The addition of xanthine/xanthine oxidase X/XO, a superoxide anion donor, to HSC cultures strongly increased procollagen I synthesis. This stimulation was hampered by the addition of both SOD and sodium nitroprusside (an NO donor). The contribution of HSC to the production of NO in our coculture system was negligible, because inducible NO synthase (iNOS) mRNA was almost undetectable in these cells, and also because the amount of NO produced by HSC stimulated with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was 500 times less than that synthesized by neutrophils. In conclusion, these results indicate that neutrophil-derived ROS may contribute to the development of hepatic fibrosis associated with alcoholic hepatitis. NO produced by neutrophils may exert a "protective" antioxidant effect by operating as a scavenger of superoxide anion.
Cancer Immunotherapy Targeting the High Molecular Weight Melanoma-Associated Antigen Protein Results in a Broad Antitumor Response and Reduction of Pericytes in the Tumor Vasculature
Authors: Paulo Cesar Maciag, Matthew M. Seavey, Zhen-Kun Pan, Soldano Ferrone, Yvonne Paterson
Journal: Cancer Research (2008)

Abstract The high molecular weight melanoma-associated antigen (HMW-MAA), also known as melanoma chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, has been used as a target for the immunotherapy of melanoma. This antigen is expressed on the cell surface and has a restricted distribution in normal tissues. Besides its expression in a broad range of transformed cells, this antigen is also found in pericytes, which are important for tumor angiogenesis. We generated a recombinant Listeria monocytogenes (Lm-LLO-HMW-MAA-C) that expresses and secretes a fragment of HMW-MAA (residues 2,160–2,258) fused to the first 441 residues of the listeriolysin O (LLO) protein. Immunization with Lm-LLO-HMW-MAA-C was able to impede the tumor growth of early established B16F10-HMW-MAA tumors in mice and both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were required for therapeutic efficacy. Immune responses to a known HLA-A2 epitope present in the HMW-MAA2160-2258 fragment was detected in the HLA-A2/Kb transgenic mice immunized with Lm-LLO-HMW-MAA-C. Surprisingly, this vaccine also significantly impaired the in vivo growth of other tumorigenic cell lines, such as melanoma, renal carcinoma, and breast tumors, which were not engineered to express HMW-MAA. One hypothesis is that the vaccine could be targeting pericytes, which are important for tumor angiogenesis. In a breast tumor model, immunization with Lm-LLO-HMW-MAA-C caused CD8+ T-cell infiltration in the tumor stroma and a significant decrease in the number of pericytes in the tumor blood vessels. In conclusion, a Lm-based vaccine against HMW-MAA can trigger cell-mediated immune responses to this antigen that can target not only tumor cells but also pericytes in the tumor vasculature. [Cancer Res 2008;68(19):8066–75]
The Public Health Service Action Plan for Women's Health: STDs
Authors: Joel B. Baseman
Journal: JAMA (1992)

<h3>To the Editor.</h3> —In a recent issue of<i>JAMA</i>, Mason summarized a national agenda for women's health.<sup>1</sup>Certainly there were many important problems listed in that agenda and we applaud every effort at improving the health of America's women. However, we wish to address a serious omission from the national agenda, that STD represents a major women's health problem in this country. Sexually transmitted diseases are epidemic. Each year, 10 to 20 million women will acquire a sexually transmitted infection in this country. These infections cost billions of dollars in health care, but the toll in human suffering is immeasurable. Because of STDs, hundreds of thousands of women will be rendered involuntarily sterile, tens of thousands will have ectopic pregnancies or develop cancerous or precancerous lesions of the genital tract. Many women will suffer complications of pregnancy and their infants may develop perinatal infections with serious consequences. It is
Capture-recapture techniques Quick and cheap
Authors: W Gutteridge, C Collin, W E Waters, J F P Black, D G McLarty, D Mtasiwa
Journal: BMJ (1994)

EDITOR, - Capture-recapture techniques can be used as a quick and cheap alternative to population surveys for estimating the prevalence of physical disability.1 We used the technique as part of a needs assessment for a new rehabilitation service. We sent a letter to every general practitioner and district nurse in West Berkshire, requesting the name, age, address, and diagnosis of every patient aged 16 to 65 who had severe disability of neurological, musculoskeletal, or peripheral vascular origin and required daily help from carers or other professional or non-professional helpers. People whose primary disability was mental illness or handicap, blindness, or deafness were excluded.

Altogether 177 (71%) of 249 general practitioners, and district nurses from 42 (76%) of 55 practices, replied. A total of 356 patients were identified (243 by general practitioners alone, 56 by nurses alone, and 57 by both general practitioners and nurses).

A capture-recapture technique2,3 gave the estimated unidentified population as 230. The total population was therefore 594 (95% confidence intervals 494 to 694) and the prevalence 1.9/1000 adults aged 16 to 65.

The main problem with this estimation was that general practitioners and district nurses may have interpreted the definition of severe physical disability inconsistently. Comparison of prevalences estimated in published population surveys is also difficult because of differences in the definition of disability and its severity and in the categorisation of age and underlying disease. But Harris's …
Spinal Sympathetic Cardiocardiac Reflexes
Authors: ALBERTO MALLIANI, D. Fred PETERSON, VERNON S. BISHOP, ARTHUR M. BROWN
Journal: Circulation Research (1972)

We studied the reflex changes in myocardial contractility elicited by electrical stimulation of afferent cardiac sympathetic nerve fibers or chemical stimulation of their cardiac endings. Veratridine injected directly into the left coronary artery was the chemical stimulus. The maximum rate of rise of left ventricular pressure, dP/dt max, was used as an index of myocardial contractility. The stimuli evoked increases in dP/dt max in vagotomized cats with or without spinal transection (C1). Electrical stimulation provoked the same effect in vagotomized dogs. Increases in dP/dt max occurred which were independent of changes in heart rate, preload, or afterload. They were reflex in nature since they were abolished by section of the upper thoracic sympathetic rami or cardiac sympathetic nerves. These results are the first demonstration of a cardiocardiac reflex which can be mediated entirely by the spinal cord. Electrical stimulation in vagotomized cats and dogs also produced a reflex increase in arterial blood pressure partly due to sympathetic vasoconstriction.
Allergenic exposure, IgE-mediated sensitization, and related symptoms in lawn cutters
Authors: Denyse Gautrin, Olivier Vandenplas, Jean-Dominique DeWitte, Jocelyne L'Archevêque, Carole Leblanc, Carole Trudeau, Chantal Paulin, Didier Arnoud, Sophie Morand, Paul Comtois, Jean-Luc Malo
Journal: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (1994)
Labouring in water:Cover wrongly said study was about giving birth in water
Authors: James B Robins
Journal: BMJ (2004)

<h3>Background</h3> A decline in mortality rates from stroke has been observed in many industrialised countries in recent decades. We were interested in whether any of the observed decline in stroke, and its subtypes, might be artefactual rather than real. In particular, we wanted to determine whether any of the trends over time might be attributable to shifts in death certification practice between underlying cause and contributory cause, and/or shifts over time between certification of specific subtypes (haemorrhagic and ischaemic stroke) and stroke without specification of type. <h3>Methods</h3> We analysed mortality data from the former Oxford NHS region 1979–2011. This has a longer run of multiple-cause coded mortality data than all-England mortality (though findings from the latter will also be shown). We calculated age-standardised rates, presented as mortality rates per million population, in each year from 1979–2011 and in grouped years for periods defined by national changes to the rules for selection of underlying cause (the rules changed in 1984, 1992 and 2001). <h3>Results</h3> Mortality rates based on any mention of stroke on the death certificate, and on underlying cause, showed broadly similar trends. Mortality rates for each code for stroke – ischaemic, haemorrhagic and ‘unspecified’ – and for stroke overall fell at a broadly similar rate between 1979–1992. Thereafter, trends diverged. The average annual rate for mortality in men from ischaemic stroke in 2001–2011, at 72.7 per million, was 11% lower than that in 1993–2000 at 84.2. The corresponding rates for haemorrhagic stroke were 93.6 and 92.7, i.e. they did not fall at all. By contrast, the average annual rate for stroke ‘unspecified’ in men was 355.9 in 2001–11 which was 56% lower than the rate of 600.8 in 1993–2000. Stroke mortality, overall, fell from 768.1 to 504.5 between 1993–2000 and 2001–2011. In recent years, when national multiple-cause coding data were available, national trends were similar to those in Oxford in these respects. Rates for women will also be shown (they exhibited the same pattern). <h3>Conclusion</h3> There have been substantial changes in certification practice with a shift in recent years away from specifying stroke type. Studies of trends in mortality from ischaemic stroke alone, or haemorrhagic stroke alone, without being put into the broader context of all stroke, would be seriously misleading. They would suggest a levelling off of the decline in ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke mortality in recent years which is, in fact, an artefact of certification and coding practice.
BEST METHODS OF COUNTERACTING PSYCHOSES DUE TO THE STRAIN AND STRESS INCIDENT TO OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL METHODS.
Authors: WILLIAM JAMES HERDMAN
Journal: JAMA (1903)

A matter so important as the education and development of children calls for the highest intelligence and wisdom of mankind. It is so vital to the welfare of the race that no one profession can arrogate to itself the right of exclusive control or dictation as to the methods to be employed. The object sought should have the benefit of the combined wisdom and experience of all professions which have anything of value to contribute from their discoveries that has a bearing on the subject. The members of the medical profession justly and rightly consider that on them rests the responsibility of searching out the causes of diseases of whatever sort, mental as well as physical, and of directing the attention of the public to the appropriate means for their prevention, and it is a healthful sign of vigorous activity and normal advancement of the work of that profession
LH7:2, a new monoclonal antibody for use in the diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa
Authors: Irene M. Leigh, P.E. Purkis, A.H. Heagerty, R.A.J. Eady
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1985)

Monoclonal antibodies provide unique opportunities to detect subtle changes in the structure of the basal lamina particularly in the diagnosis of different subgroups of epidermolysis bullosa. The monoclonal antibody LH7:2 was produced following immunization of Balb C mice with 1% NP40 extract of trypsin separated epidermal cells (predominantly basal cells). By indirect immunofluorescence of skin sections, strong staining of the basal laminae of interfollicular and follicular epidermis, sweat glands and sebaceous glands was obtained. The basal laminae of other stratified squamous epithelia such as oral, oesophageal and cervical epithelia react with LH7:2 but not those of most simple epithelia including gastric and renal epithelia. Weak placental staining is obtained. The basal laminae of blood vessels do not react with LH7:2. Immuno‐autoradiography, ELISA testing and immuno‐blotting show no reactivity with laminin, entactin, fibronectin and types I‐VI collagen. Immuno‐electronmicroscopy shows deposition in the lamina densa and possibly anchoring fibrils. LH7:2 antigen has been shown to be absent in generalized, severe recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) (n= 8) and present but reduced in localized recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (n= 2), but normal in dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (n= 6). Staining is normal in junctional epidermolysis bullosa (n= 4) and epidermolysis bullosa simplex (n= 2). This antibody may be useful in the rapid diagnosis of generalized severe RDEB, especially in antenatal diagnosis in affected families and in the distinction between localized RDEB and DDEB for genetic counselling.
The Effect of Exercise on Postural Changes in the Electrocardiogram
Authors: SAMUEL BELLET, LAURIAN ROMAN
Journal: Circulation (1966)

The electrocardiogram before, during, and after a double two-step exercise test was studied in the upright position in 1,026 subjects with no apparent heart disease and in 70 patients with angina. Postural changes were found much more frequently in subjects with angina (18.5 per cent) and in apparently normal subjects with positive exercise tests (10.7 per cent) than in normal subjects with negative exercise tests, in which postural changes were found in only 3.4 per cent. Probable causes for these findings are discussed. The criterion for positivity in over 80 per cent of exercise tests, namely, an ischemic ST depression, is rarely seen as a postural change in normal subjects. On the other hand, isolated T-wave changes, which represent approximately 90 per cent of the postural changes of the repolarization period, are very rarely the sole criteria for a positive exercise test. Therefore, only a small area of possible confusion exists between postural changes and positive exercise tests. However, even in such cases, careful examination of the tracings can resolve these difficulties.
What are the Priorities?
Authors: William T. Jarvis
Journal: JAMA (1976)

<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> With all of the attention currently being given to the sky-rocketing costs of malpractice insurance due to the high settlements being made and the number of lawsuits being filed by lawyers working on a contingency fee basis, I cannot help pointing out a glaring inconsistency of the legal profession when they argue that the problem lies with the "bad doctors" in the medical profession. As a consumer health specialist who follows closely what is happening in the realm of medical quackery, I find it quite incredible that someone can practice the most blatant forms of health fraud, be arrested, tried, and found guilty, and end up getting off cheaper than what the cost of six months of malpractice insurance coverage is for a general practitioner in California. A case in point involved Kurt Donsbach, of the National Health Federation (NHF). The following account of Donsbach's activities is
Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose Without a Meter
Authors: Kjeld Birch, Per Hildebrandt, Michael O Marshall, Leif Sestoft
Journal: Diabetes Care (1981)

We studied the reliability of the Chemstrip system in the self-monitoring of blood glucose by diabetic patients. A total of 453 blood glucose values obtained by 38 diabetic patients using Chemstrip were compared with the glucose values of the same blood samples measured with a conventional laboratory method. We found a definite tendency at concentrations less than 320 mg/dl for patient-read Chemstrip values to be too low. Also, we found a wide range in laboratory values corresponding to a given patient-read Chemstrip value. However, a better agreement between Chemstrip and laboratory values was obtained when the Chemstrips were read by trained staff. We recommend, therefore, that the use of Chemstrip in the self-monitoring of blood glucose can be restricted to patients who have shown competence in the use of Chemstrip during prior testing.
A novel view of the adult bone marrow stem cell hierarchy and stem cell trafficking
Authors: M Z Ratajczak
Journal: Leukemia (2014)

This review presents a novel view and working hypothesis about the hierarchy within the adult bone marrow stem cell compartment and the still-intriguing question of whether adult bone marrow contains primitive stem cells from early embryonic development, such as cells derived from the epiblast, migrating primordial germ cells or yolk sac-derived hemangioblasts. It also presents a novel view of the mechanisms that govern stem cell mobilization and homing, with special emphasis on the role of the complement cascade as a trigger for egress of hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow into blood as well as the emerging role of novel homing factors and priming mechanisms that support stromal-derived factor 1-mediated homing of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells after transplantation.
Activation of Cardiac Tissue by Extracellular Electrical Shocks
Authors: Vladimir G. Fast, Stephan Rohr, Anne M. Gillis, André G. Kléber
Journal: Circulation Research (1998)

This study investigated the activation of cardiac tissue by "secondary sources," which are localized changes of the transmembrane potential (Vm) during the application of strong extracellular electrical shocks far from the shock electrodes, in cultures of neonatal rat myocytes. Cell monolayers with small intercellular clefts (length, 45 to 270 microm; width, 20 to 70 microm [mean+/-SD, 54+/-13 microm]; n = 46) were produced using a technique of directed cell growth. Changes in Vm relative to the action potential amplitude (deltaVm/APA) were measured using a fluorescent voltage-sensitive dye and a 10 x 10 photodiode array. Shocks with voltage gradients of 4 to 18 V/cm were applied across the clefts during either the action potential (AP) plateau or diastole. During the AP plateau, shocks induced secondary sources in the form of localized hyperpolarizations and depolarizations in the regions immediately adjacent to opposite sides of the clefts. The strength of the secondary sources, defined as the difference of deltaVm/APA across a cleft, increased with increasing cleft length or increasing electrical field gradient. For shocks with a gradient of 8.5 V/cm, the estimated critical cleft length necessary to reach a Vm level corresponding to the diastolic threshold of excitation was 171+/-7 microm. Accordingly, shocks with average strength of 8.2 V/cm applied during diastole produced secondary sources that directly excited cells adjacent to the clefts when the cleft length was 196+/-53 microm (n = 14) and that failed when the cleft length was 84+/-23 microm (n = 9, P<.001). The area of earliest excitation in such cases coincided with the area of maximal depolarization induced during the plateau phase. These data suggest that small inexcitable obstacles may contribute to the Vm changes during the application of strong extracellular electrical shocks in vivo.
Transfusion-Associated Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome in the United States
Authors: Thomas A. Peterman
Journal: JAMA (1985)

By Aug 15, 1985, one hundred ninety-four cases of possible transfusion-associated acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control. Cases received their transfusions in 30 states. Infants account for 10% of the cases, suggesting an increased susceptibility to developing AIDS. Investigations one to six years after the transfusions have identified high-risk donors to 47 cases. Of 47 high-risk donors tested, 40 had a reactive serology for human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus (HTLV-III/LAV) antibody, including five with no risk for AIDS by history. The HTLV-III/LAV was isolated from 23 of 26 seroreactive high-risk donors, most of whom remained asymptomatic. Blood components that transmitted HTLV-III/LAV included red cells, platelets, plasma, and whole blood. The time from transfusion to diagnosis of AIDS ranged from four to 84 months. The risk of developing AIDS after a blood transfusion has been low and will be lowered further by using both self-deferral and antibody screening. (<i>JAMA</i>1985;254:2913-2917)
Human dermal fibroblasts present tetanus toxoid antigen to antigen-specific T cell clones.
Authors: D T Umetsu, J S Pober, H H Jabara, W Fiers, E J Yunis, S J Burakoff, C S Reiss, R S Geha
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1985)

Cultured human dermal fibroblasts treated with immune interferon express HLA-DR antigens. We report here that DR-positive fibroblasts present tetanus toxoid (TT) to autologous TT-specific monoclonal helper T cells vigorously depleted of monocytes by passage over Sephadex G10 columns followed by treatment with the monoclonal antibodies (mAb) OKM1 and Leu M1 plus complement. The extent of T cell proliferation in response to TT presented by DR-positive fibroblasts was similar to that elicited using monocytes as antigen-presenting cells. The proliferative response was TT dependent, antigen specific, depended upon DR expression by fibroblasts, appeared MHC restricted, and was completely blocked by mouse mAb to HLA-DR but not by mAb to HLA-A,B, or DQ. DR-positive fibroblasts pulsed with TT were similarly effective in antigen presentation. In summary, immune interferon-stimulated human dermal fibroblasts can substitute for classical antigen-presenting cells in antigen-specific proliferative responses. Since fibroblasts are a ubiquitous cell type in the body, they may play a significant role in the immunobiology of the host.
Hypoxia stimulus: An adaptive immune response during dendritic cell maturation
Authors: I. Rama, B. Bruene, J. Torras, R. Koehl, J.M. Cruzado, O. Bestard, M. Franquesa, N. Lloberas, A. Weigert, I. Herrero-Fresneda, O. Gulias, J.M. Grinyó
Journal: Kidney International (2008)