tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Quality of life (QoL) in asthma 1 year after pulmonary rehabilitation (PR)
Authors: Heidrun Lingner, David Scheub, Nino Djahangiri, Michael Wittmann, Konrad Schultz
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2011)

Background:  There are only sparse data on the effectiveness of PR on QoL in asthma. Therefore we conducted a prospective observational study to determine the effect of a 3 week inpatient-PR on QoL.   Methods:  From May to September 2009 all asthma patients of our pulmonary rehabilitation clinic were asked to participate in the study, 201 out of 242 (83%) agreed. 42.3% female, mean age 48.4 y (18-81), SRaw [kPa*s] 1.23±0.80 before and 0,88±0.54 after inhalation of a rapid-acting beta-2-agonist (RABA). 59.6% suffered from asthma GINA grade 3-4. Obligate components of PR were patient education, physical training, breathing retraining and psychosocial support. QoL was assessed by using St. George9s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ[S]). Measuring times were the beginning of PR (T0), discharge (T1) and 3 (T2), 6 (T3) and 12 months (T4) post PR. The three latter were delivered by mail. 83.5% (T2), 88% (T3) and 72.6% (T4) of the patients answered.   Results  (mean±sd):  sgrq total score:  T0 38.6±18.3; T1 27.8±17.4*; T2 30.9±20.7*; T3 32.5±20*; T4 32.7±20*.  AQLQ[S] score:  T0 4.6±1.2; T1 5.5±1.1*; T2 5.2±1.3*; T3 5.0±1.3*; T4 5.0±1.3*.  FEV1 [l] (after RABA):  T0 3.13±0,88; T1 3,22±0,89* (*p   Discussion:  The reduction of mean SGRQ score and increasing of mean AQLQ score indicate improvement of QoL after PR. Both indicate a great effect at discharge, which diminishes a little after 1 year. The positive effect at discharge was assured by the lung function measurements. After 1 year still 45% (AQLQ) to 55.8% (SGRQ) of the patients have a selfreported benefit.   Conclusion:  PR causes a resting improvement of QoL in asthmatics at least for one year.
The relationship between peripheral muscle strength and oxygenation in intensive care unit patients
Authors: Murat Tomruk, Seher Özyürek, Sema Savci, Didem Karadibak, Yusuf Savran, Ugur Koca, Ali Necati Gökmen
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2014)

Introduction:  Neuromuscular dysfunction is a common health problem in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Therefore, early assessment of peripheral muscle strength and its affecting factors is important in the ICU.   Aim:  To investigate the relationship between peripheral muscle strength and oxygenation in ICU patients.   Methods:  Patients with an ICU stay of at least 48 hours were included. Patients9 medical information and laboratory data were recorded. Dominant handgrip strength (kg) was measured by an hydraulic hand dynamometer and used to determine the peripheral muscle strength. For the comparison of assessed handgrip strength with normative data, the reference values defined by Bohannon et.al. were used. The ratio of partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood to the inspired fraction of oxygen (PaO 2 /FiO 2 ) was calculated from the most recent arterial blood gas samples.   Results:  29 ICU patients (12 male, 17 female) with the mean age of 64 years were included the study. Median (interquartile range) PaO 2 /FiO 2  was 297 (227 - 432) and handgrip strength was 10 (4 - 14) kg, representing 30% of the normative values. Oxygenation was positively and significantly correlated with peripheral muscle strength and percentage predicted of peripheral muscle strength (rho=0.72, p=0.001 and rho=0.50, p=0.006; respectively).   Conclusions:  Peripheral muscle strength and oxygenation were found to be correlated in ICU patients. Future research may address the effects of physiotherapy techniques in order to improve oxygenation and peripheral muscle strength in critically ill patients.
Anti-inflammatory Effect of Spontaneous Lymphoma in SJL/J Mice2
Authors: Sigurd J. Normann, Martin Schardt, Ernst Sorkin
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1979)

Histiocytic lymphomas develop spontaneously in about 80% of SJL/J mice between the ages of 8 and 14 months. These animals were used for the determination of whether spontaneously arising cancers compromise monocyte function similar to the monocyte defects described during growth of transplanted tumors. SJL/J mice with tumors accumulated significantly fewer macrophages than did age-matched animals without tumors either on sc implanted filters or in peritoneal exudates induced by phytohemagglutinin. There was no corresponding defect in polymorphonuclear neutrophil responses. Whereas no apparent correlation existed between tumor size and degree of inhibition, animals without demonstrable tumors had no inflammatory defects. Aging did not alter the inflammatory response to implanted filters but increased both the resident peritoneal macrophage population and the total macrophage yield to phytohemagglutinin provocation. When given transplants of histiocytic lymphomas, young SJL/J mice developed similar inflammatory defects. This study represents the first demonstration that spontaneous tumors, in addition to transplanted tumors, produce abnormalities in monocyte inflammatory responses.
Response to Letter Regarding Article “Impact of Annual Operator and Institutional Volume on Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Outcomes: A 5-Year United States Experience (2005–2009)”
Authors: Apurva O. Badheka, Nileshkumar J. Patel, Peeyush Grover, Vikas Singh, Nilay Patel, Shilpkumar Arora, Ankit Chothani, Kathan Mehta, Abhishek Deshmukh, Ghanshyambhai T. Savani, Achint Patel, Sidakpal S. Panaich, Neeraj Shah, Ankit Rathod, Michael Brown, Tamam Mohamad, Raj R. Makkar, Theodore Schreiber, Cindy L. Grines, Charanjit S. Rihal, Mauricio G. Cohen
Journal: Circulation (2015)
Inhaled Glucocorticoids during Pregnancy and Offspring Pediatric Diseases
Authors: Marion Tegethoff, Naomi Greene, Jørn Olsen, Emmanuel Schaffner, Gunther Meinlschmidt
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2011)

Rationale: Glucocorticoid inhalation is the preferred asthma treatment during pregnancy. Previous studies on its safety focused on obstetric outcomes and offspring malformations.Objectives: To determine whether glucocorticoid inhalation during pregnancy is a risk factor for offspring pediatric diseases.Methods: We studied offspring (live singletons) of pregnant women suffering from asthma during pregnancy (prevalence = 6.3%; n = 4,083 mother–child pairs) from the Danish National Birth Cohort (births, 1996–2002; prospective data). We estimated the associations between use of inhaled glucocorticoids for asthma treatment during pregnancy (n = 1231; 79.9% budesonide, 17.6% fluticasone, 5.4% beclomethasone, and 0.9% other or unspecified glucocorticoids) and offspring diseases (International Classification of Diseases–10th Revision, diagnoses) during childhood. We conducted Cox or logistic regression analyses for each International Classification of Diseases–10th Revision category, controlling for use of non–glucocorticoid-containing inhalants, and confirmed results by addressing confounding by treatment indication using propensity score.Measurements and Main Results: Offspring median age at end of follow-up was 6.1 (range, 3.6–8.9) years. Glucocorticoid inhalation was not associated with offspring disease risk in most categories, except for offspring endocrine, metabolic, and nutritional disorders (hazard ratio, 1.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.13–2.99). When repeating analyses with the major subgroup that used budesonide only, association estimates were of similar magnitude.Conclusions: Regarding most disease categories, data are reassuring, supporting the use of inhaled glucocorticoids during pregnancy. In line with animal data, glucocorticoid inhalation during pregnancy may be a risk factor for offspring endocrine and metabolic disturbances, which should be considered further.
Mortality Among Industrial Workers Exposed to Formaldehyde
Authors: A Blair, P Stewart, M O'Berg, W Gaffey, J Walrath, J Ward, R Bales, S Kaplan, D Cubit
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1986)

A historical cohort study evaluated the mortality experience of 26,561 workers employed in 10 formaldehydeproducing or -using facilities. Approximately 600,000 person-years of follow-up accrued as workers were followed to January 1, 1980. Estimates of historical exposure to formaldehyde by job were developed by project industrial hygienists using monitoring data available from participating plants, comments from long-term workers, and comprehensive monitoring data specifically collected for this study. Mortality from all causes combined was about as expected [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) = 96) based on mortality rates of the general U.S. population. Significantly fewer deaths occurred from infective and parasitic diseases (SMR = 51) and from accidents (SMR = 72) than expected. Cancer overall was not related to formaldehyde exposure. Workers exposed to formaldehyde had slight excesses for Hodgkin's disease and cancers of the lung and prostate gland, but these excesses were not consistently related to duration of or average, cumulative, or peak formaldehyde exposure levels. Recent animal studies found nasal cancer among rats exposed to formaldehyde, but no excess of this tumor occurred in this study. Mortality from brain cancer and leukemia among these industrial workers was not excessive in contrast to reported excesses among professional groups (e.g., anatomists, embalmers, and pathologists) with exposure to formaldehyde. Although there was a deficit for cancer of the buccal cavity and pharynx, mortality from certain subsites, i.e., the nasopharynx and oropharynx, was elevated. These subsites did not, however, show a consistently rising risk with level of exposure. These data provide little evidence that mortality from cancer is associated with formaldehyde exposure at levels experienced by workers in this study.
Subclinical VZV reactivation in immunocompetent children hospitalized in the ICU associated with prolonged fever duration*
Authors: V. Papaevangelou, M. Quinlivan, J. Lockwood, O. Papaloukas, G. Sideri, E. Critselis, I. Papassotiriou, J. Papadatos, J. Breuer
Journal: Clinical Microbiology and Infection (2012)
Effect of atrial natriuretic factor on renal cGMP production in rats with adriamycin-induced nephrotic syndrome.
Authors: Z Abassi, E Shuranyi, O S Better, J Winaver
Journal: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (1992)

Adriamycin-induced nephrotic syndrome in the rat is associated with a blunted natriuretic response to infusion of atrial natriuretic factor. To study the mechanism of renal hyporesponsiveness to the peptide in rats with experimental nephrosis, we evaluated the effects of the hormone on renal production of cGMP, the second messenger of the hormone. Baseline GFR and sodium excretion were lower in nephrotic as compared with normal controls. Infusion of synthetic rat atrial natriuretic factor (10 micrograms/kg/h) increased fractional sodium excretion by 7.3 +/- 2.4% in control rats but only by 1.4 +/- 0.5% in adriamycin-treated rats (P less than 0.05). However, the increments in urinary nucleotide excretion rate (UcGMP x V/GFR), in response to atrial natriuretic factor infusion, were comparable in control and nephrotic rats (control, 114.7 +/- 16.1 pmol/mL; adriamycin, 95.5 +/- 12.0 pmol/mL; P was not significant). The in vitro generation of cGMP in response to incremental doses of the hormone (10(-11) to 10(-6) M + 1 mM 3-isobutyl methyl xanthine) was of similar magnitude in isolated glomeruli derived from control (2.4 +/- 0.25 to 9.1 +/- 1.0 pmol/mg of protein) and nephrotic rats (2.9 +/- 0.2 to 10.3 +/- 1.0 pmol/mg of protein) and was not impaired in suspensions of medullary tissue derived from nephrotic rats (control, 8.4 +/- 0.6 to 14.2 +/- 1.2 pmol/mg of protein; adriamycin, 7.3 +/- 0.7 to 22.0 +/- 2.4 pmol/mg of protein).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Pleural complicationsin patients with chronic and end-stage renal disease
Authors: Hamdy Ali Mohammadien Mahmoud, Azza A. Mahmoud, Ismal S. Mobark, Ali T. Hassan
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2014)

Objective:To find out the clinical presentation, causes and outcomes of pl. complications in CKD and ESRD patients receiving haemodialysis.  Materials and methods: One hundred thirty patients with CKD and ESRD, were included in this study. The following were analysed: Patients data, causes, location, CBC, ESR ,serum albumin, chest X ray and USG findings and pleural fluid analysis.  Results: The incidence of pleural effusions in patients with CKD and ESRD was 80.8%, followed by Pyopneumothorax then Pneumothorax. Most common cause of PE was found to be parapneumonic effusion, followed by hypervolaemiaand uraemic pleurisy. Patients with parapneumonic effusions (p=0.0006), uremic,and tuberculosis (p=0.003),were more likely to have unilateral PEs than patients with hypervolaemia & heart failure. Shortness of breath, cough, fever and chest pain are the most common symptoms .  Pl. fluid analysis showed that Pl. to serum protein ratio, polymorphonuclear (%) were significantly higher in patients with parapneumonic eff. compared to patients with other causes of eff., whereas Lymphocytes (%) was significantly higher in patients with other causes of eff. Empyema culture were positive in 16 patients, Aerobic G. Norganisms, esp.  K.pneumoniae  , were the predominant pathogens in 11 patients ,aerobic G. P organisms, especially  S. aureus, in  5 patients. Improvement was achieved in 87.7% of patients with pl. complications by continuation of HD, antibiotics, diuretics, antiTB drugs and chest tube.  Conclusion: Pleural eff. the most common pl. complications followed by pyopneumothorax in patients with CKD & ESRD. Themost common cause of unilateral pl. eff. is parapneumonic eff. while in bilateral pl. eff. is hypervolaemia.
Effective Dosing of Topotecan With Carboplatin in Relapsed Ovarian Cancer: A Phase I/II Study
Authors: A. Bowman, T. Rye, G. Ross, A. Wheatley, J. F. Smyth
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2001)

PURPOSE: This phase I/II study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of administering the topoisomerase inhibitor topotecan in combination with carboplatin. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Topotecan was given as a 30-minute infusion daily for 5 days, with carboplatin given immediately after topotecan on day 5. Treatment was repeated every 21 days. Carboplatin and then topotecan were escalated in sequential cohorts of three to six patients. Four dosage combinations of topotecan days 1 to 5 and carboplatin (day 5) were tested: 0.5 mg/m 2 /d and carboplatin area under the curve (AUC) of 4, topotecan 0.5 mg/m 2 /d and carboplatin AUC of 5, topotecan 0.75 mg/m 2 /d and carboplatin AUC of 5, and topotecan 1.0 mg/m 2 /d and carboplatin AUC of 5. RESULTS: Grade 3 and 4 neutropenia was common at doses of 0.75 mg/m 2 /d and above, but dose-limiting hematologic toxicity occurred in only one patient. The most common reason for dose reduction or delay was failure of myelosuppression to resolve by day 21. Nonhematologic toxicity was generally mild. The maximum-tolerated dose as defined in the protocol was not reached, but topotecan dose escalation was stopped at 1.0 mg/m 2 /d, because delayed neutrophil recovery precluded re-treatment on a 21-day schedule. CONCLUSION: Hematologic toxicity was common but rarely serious, and the combination of topotecan with carboplatin on this schedule was safe and well tolerated. Giving carboplatin to patients after topotecan on day 5, rather than on day 1, allowed dose escalation beyond the levels reported in other studies. The recommended doses for previously treated patients are topotecan 0.75 mg/m 2 /d, days 1 to 5, with carboplatin at an area under the curve (AUC) of 5 following topotecan on day 5. The combination of topotecan 1 mg/m 2 /d, days 1 to 5, followed on day 5 by carboplatin at an AUC of 5, merits further examination in untreated patients.
Measurement of Domain-Specific HER2 (ERBB2) Expression May Classify Benefit From Trastuzumab in Breast Cancer
Authors: Daniel E. Carvajal-Hausdorf, Kurt A. Schalper, Lajos Pusztai, Amanda Psyrri, Konstantine T. Kalogeras, Vasiliki Kotoula, George Fountzilas, David L. Rimm
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2015)

Studies have shown that antibodies targeting the intracellular (ICD) or extracellular domains (ECD) of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) are equivalent when traditional methods are used. We describe a new method to quantify ICD and ECD expression separately and assess the prognostic value of domain-specific HER2 results in patients who received adjuvant trastuzumab therapy.We measured HER2 protein expression with quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF) in tissue microarrays (TMA) using two different antibodies targeting the ICD (CB11 and A0485) and ECD (SP3 and D8F12). We assessed the prognostic value of ICD and ECD expression in 180 patients from a clinical trial of adjuvant chemotherapy followed by trastuzumab (HeCOG 10/05). We performed an exploratory univariate domain-specific, disease-free survival (DFS) analysis and compared DFS functions with Kaplan-Meier estimates. All statistical tests were two-sided.HER2 ICD expression by QIF showed slightly higher sensitivity to predict ERBB2 (HER2) gene amplification than ECD expression, which was more specific and had higher positive predictive value. In the HeCOG 10/05 trial specimens, 15% of cases showed discordant results for ICD and ECD expression. High ECD was statistically associated with longer DFS (log-rank P = .049, HR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.144 to 0.997), while ICD status was not. Among patients with low ECD, there was no difference in DFS by ICD status. However, when ICD was high, high ECD was statistically associated with longer DFS (log-rank P = .027, HR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.037 to 0.82) compared with low ECD.Quantitative measurements of HER2 ICD and ECD expression in breast cancer suggest a subclassification of HER2-positive tumors. Trastuzumab-treated patients with high ECD showed better DFS than patients with low ECD. This suggests differential benefit from trastuzumab therapy based on HER2 ECD expression.
Species Cross-Reactive Membrane-Associated Urothelial Differentiation Antigen
Authors: L K Trejdosiewicz, P D Wilson, G M Hodges
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1984)

An antigen, termed “urothelium membrane antigen” (UMA), confined to urothelium and most abundantly associated with the asymmetric unit membrane of the terminally differentiated luminal cells was identified with a monospecific (absorbed or affinity purified) rabbit antiserum obtained by immunization with membranes from normal bovine urothelium. A cross-species immunofluorescence-positive reaction was observed in normal bladder: Luminal urothelial membrane reacted most intensely. Underlying normal urothelial cells also showed a weaker cytoplasmic reaction. Specific luminal membrane labeling was confirmed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Specificity of the anti-UMA differed from the general epithelial reactivity obtained with antibodies to bovine urothelium cytosol. Anti-UMA did not cross-react with keratin, although there was some evidence of a filamentous localization in the cytoplasm of permeabilized cells. UMA was variably expressed by urothelial carcinoma-derived cell lines to a degree apparently related to the degree of cell differentiation, showing the highest positivity on the well-differentiated RT4 and RT112 lines and only a very weak reaction with the anaplastic MGHU-1 (EJ) and T24 lines. On immunoblots, anti-UMA reacted with a peptide of approximately 54,000 daltons.
Effects of Cardiovascular Drugs on Mortality in Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Authors: Magnus P. Ekström, Anna Bornefalk Hermansson, Kerstin E. Ström
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2013)

Cardiovascular drugs may improve survival in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, previous studies did not account for major sources of bias, and drug effects have not been evaluated in severe COPD.To estimate the time-dependent effects of cardiovascular drugs on survival in oxygen-dependent COPD, accounting for immortal and immeasurable time bias.Prospective national study of patients starting long-term oxygen therapy for COPD in Sweden between 1 October 2005 and 30 June 2009. Effects on mortality were estimated using extended Cox regression adjusted for age, sex, PaO2, PaCO2, World Health Organization performance status, body mass index, comorbidity, and concomitant medications. Immortal and immeasurable time bias was addressed by analyzing all medications as time-dependent variables and accounting for hospitalized time, respectively.Time-dependent effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, antiplatelet drugs, β-blockers, and statins on all-cause mortality were measured. Of the 2,249 included patients, 1,129 (50%) died under observation. No patient was lost to follow-up. The adjusted time-dependent model was compatible with reduced mortality for antiplatelet drugs (hazard ratio [HR], 0.86; 95% CI, 0.75-0.99; P = 0.030) and trends for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.79-1.04; P = 0.166) and statins (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.72-1.03; P = 0.105), whereas β-blockers increased mortality (HR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.04-1.37; P = 0.010).This study supports that antiplatelet drugs improve survival and β-blockers decrease survival in oxygen-dependent COPD.
Comparative evaluation of linear and exponential amplification techniques for expression profiling at the single-cell level.
Authors: Tatiana Subkhankulova, Frederick J Livesey
Journal: Genome biology (2006)

Single-cell microarray expression profiling requires 108-109-fold amplification of the picogram amounts of total RNA typically found in eukaryotic cells. Several methods for RNA amplification are in general use, but little consideration has been given to the comparative analysis of those methods in terms of the overall validity of the data generated when amplifying from single-cell amounts of RNA, rather than their empirical performance in single studies.We tested the performance of three methods for amplifying single-cell amounts of RNA under ideal conditions: T7-based in vitro transcription; switching mechanism at 5' end of RNA template (SMART) PCR amplification; and global PCR amplification. All methods introduced amplification-dependent noise when mRNA was amplified 108-fold, compared with data from unamplified cDNA. PCR-amplified cDNA demonstrated the smallest number of differences between two parallel replicate samples and the best correlation between independent amplifications from the same cell type, with SMART outperforming global PCR amplification. SMART had the highest true-positive rate and the lowest false-positive rate when comparing expression between two different cell types, but had the lowest absolute discovery rate of all three methods. Direct comparison of the performance of SMART and global PCR amplification on single-cell amounts of total RNA and on single neural stem cells confirmed these findings.Under the conditions tested, PCR amplification was more reliable than linear amplification for detecting true expression differences between samples. SMART amplification had a higher true-positive rate than global amplification, but at the expense of a considerably lower absolute discovery rate and a systematic compression of observed expression ratios.