tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Cervical Cancer and Vital Statistics
Authors: N E McKinnon
Journal: JAMA (1963)

Records of cervical cancer mortality in vital statistics have been so affected by differences in diagnosis, certification, compilation and presentation that they are not suitable for time and place comparisons. Records of combined mortality charged to cervical cancer, other uterine cancer and cancer of other genital organs have been less affected. These records from different places show declines which do not appear to be correlated with control programs but, in recent years, have brought the rates from places cited into agreement. Reductions in reported cases of cervical cancer following screening for and treatment of carcinoma in situ have stimulated interest. However, the uncertainty in the mortality records and in understanding of cervical cancer and its relationship to carcinoma in situ, agreement in recent mortality rates despite diversity of sources, and other pertinent considerations cast doubt on the significance of such reductions.
Physicians: an 18th century view: The death of Captain Blifil
Authors: J. Black
Journal: BMJ (2000)

possible and allow monitoring of cartilage healing without arthroscopy.Early prophylaxis of cartilage damage and therefore of osteoarthritis might well be achieved by the use of growth factors to stimulate repair of cartilage in situ before breakdown of the collagen mesh.With more advanced damage, the production of large numbers of human chondrocytes by the use of bioreactors and the growth of cells in biodegradable matrices could lead to customised implants for individual patients and cartilage defects.Developments in treatment of the knee joint will have application in future to other joints with cartilage damage such as the hip, ankle, shoulder, spine, and hands, potentially greatly reducing the prevalence of established osteoarthritis.
The relation between cigarette smoking and the quality of sleep and sleep disorders
Authors: Önder Öztürk, Ümmükadin Kuru, Imren Nesil, Abdullah Sari, Özgür Koskan, Ahmet Akkaya
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2012)

Aim:  In this study, the relationship is investigated between cigarette smoking and sleep quality, and sleep disorders.   Material and methods:  Voluntary patients and their relatives, admitted to our outpatient clinics of Medical School of SDU, answered the questionnaire consisted of questions about Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Berlin Sleep Apnea Test (BSAT), Fagerstorm Tolerance Test. The demographic proporties, smoking status and also alcohol, tea and coffee usage and the additional diseases were recorded.   Results:  The volunteers who answered the questionnaire were 98 persons (52M/46W) with mean age33.03±1.17 and with mean BMI 23.93 ± 0.42 kg/m 2 . The mean ages of men and women are statistically significant (p 0.05).The neck circumferences of cigarette smoking persons and ex-smokers are higher than never smokers (p=0.046). The mean PSQI score greater than 5 was found in 26 smokers and in 21 never smokers (p   Conclusion:  Cigarette smoking affects the quality of sleep adversely and increases the risk of sleep apnea. Also, during smoking cessation, relieving these disturbances should make quitting easier and prevent relapses.
THE EFFECT OF INTERCURRENT CHRONIC PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS ON THE CONVULSION THRESHOLD IN EPILEPSY
Authors: I. J. Karlsberg
Journal: American Journal of Psychiatry (1934)

1. Investigation seems to indicate that epilepsy does not predispose to chronic pulmonary tuberculosis, nor vice versa. 2. In a series of one hundred cases of epilepsy with intercurrent chronic pulmonary tuberculosis in its active stages, the frequency of seizures was markedly decreased in the majority of cases, with a demonstrable loss of weight. 3. A review of the literature reveals the following: (a) That there is a reduced basal metabolic rate in epilepsy and a definitely increased rate in pulmonary tuberculosis. (b) That convulsions are often absent in diseases with a high blood sugar such as diabetes and cancer and that hyperglycemia tends to occur in the tuberculous individual. (c) That a normal blood-serum calcium is usually found in epilepsy and that it is often found to be elevated in pulmonary tuberculosis. (d) That a reduction in the sodium chloride of the blood of epileptics often reduces the frequency of convulsions and that a constantly low blood chloride is often found in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. (e) That comparisons of the blood pictures in epilepsy and in pulmonary tuberculosis show the occurrence of hypocholestemia and an increased rate of sedimentation of the blood in both conditions. (f) That the Ph values of the blood seem to indicate a tendency in the epileptic to approach a more alkaline reaction, and in the tuberculous patient a more acid reaction. 4. From the above data suggestions are made as to the mechanism involved in active chronic pulmonary tuberculosis in raising the convulsion threshold in preexisting epilepsy so that the frequency of seizures is noticeably reduced. 5. The multiplicity of possible solutions is itself proof that no satisfactory single solution can be found at the present time.
Proinflammatory GM-CSF–producing B cells in multiple sclerosis and B cell depletion therapy
Authors: Rui Li, Ayman Rezk, Yusei Miyazaki, Ellen Hilgenberg, Hanane Touil, Ping Shen, Craig S. Moore, Laure Michel, Faisal Althekair, Sathy Rajasekharan, Jennifer L. Gommerman, Alexandre Prat, Simon Fillatreau, Amit Bar-Or
Journal: Science Translational Medicine (2015)

GM-CSF–producing B cells contribute to multiple sclerosis pathogenesis and the therapeutic action of B cell depletion.
Clinical data, lung function and cardiopulmonary exercise testing in CPFE (combined pulmonary fibrosis with emphysema). Results of a cohort of 20 patients
Authors: Michael Westhoff, Patric Litterst
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2014)

Introduction 

Combined idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with emphysema (CPFE) is characterized by upper lobe emphysema and lower lobe fibrosis, and has got special attention, especially because of the higher association with lung cancer and pulmonary hypertension.

Methods 

Registration of patients with CPFE from 10/2009 to 9/2013 in Hemer Lung Clinic. Review of lung functions, data of cardiopulmonary exercise testing and occurrence of lung cancer.

Results 

From 11/2009 to 10/2013 we identified 20 patients (4 [female] / 16 [male]) with CPFE. Mean age was 64.9 years, BMI 26.6 kg/m2, FEV1 83.7 %-pred and VC 94.13%-pred, RV 109.5%-pred, TLC 98.2%-pred and RV%/TLC 102.7 %-pred. Rtot and SRtot were in normal range. TLCO was reduced to 36%-pred and TLCO/VA to 48.6%-pred. 3 patients had lung cancer. 5 patients had pumonary hypertension (PH). 3 patients with and 6 without PH were available for cardiopulmonary exercise testing. AaDO2 in CPFE+PH compared to CPFE was higher at VT1 (58 mmHg vs. 48.1 mmHg) and peak exercise (69.3 mmHg vs. 54.5 mmHg). Maximum exercise levels were 65 vs. 82 watt. Peak-VO2 was lower in CPFE+PH (933 ml vs. 1264 ml) with a trend to lower VO2/min/watt in COPD+PH. Dead space ventilation (57.9% vs. 57.5%) and end-tidal CO2 (24.5 vs 24.9 mmHg) were not significantly different between both groups.

Discussion 

Our results are consistent with previously reported lung function and anthropometic data of CPFE. There is a higher prevalence of PH and lung cancer compared to patients with COPD or IPF. CPX-testing shows severe functional impairment and may helpful in identifying patients with concomitant PH and circulatory impairment.
A simple graphic method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees from molecular data.
Authors: F Tajima
Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution (1990)

A simple graphic method is proposed for reconstructing phylogenetic trees from molecular data. This method is similar to the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean, but the process of computation of average distances and reconstruction of new matrices, required in the latter method, is eliminated from this new method, so that one can reconstruct a phylogenetic tree without using a computer, unless the number of operational taxonomic units is very large. Furthermore, this method allows a phylogenetic tree to have multifurcating branches whenever there is ambiguity with bifurcation.
Hemagglutinin-stem nanoparticles generate heterosubtypic influenza protection
Authors: Hadi M Yassine, Jeffrey C Boyington, Patrick M McTamney, Chih-Jen Wei, Masaru Kanekiyo, Wing-Pui Kong, John R Gallagher, Lingshu Wang, Yi Zhang, M Gordon Joyce, Daniel Lingwood, Syed M Moin, Hanne Andersen, Yoshinobu Okuno, Srinivas S Rao, Audray K Harris, Peter D Kwong, John R Mascola, Gary J Nabel, Barney S Graham
Journal: Nature Medicine (2015)
In-vivo impact of the MexXY efflux system on aminoglycoside efficacy in an experimental model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia treated with tobramycin
Authors: B. Martha, D. Croisier, D. Durand, D. Hocquet, P. Plesiat, L. Piroth, H. Portier, P. Chavanet
Journal: Clinical Microbiology and Infection (2006)
Commentary: Making middle income countries pay full price for drugs is a big mistake
Authors: Priti Radhakrishnan
Journal: BMJ (2015)

Middle income countries are home to nearly three quarters of the global population, 73% of the world’s impoverished people, and most of the world’s sick.1 Most cases of tuberculosis and vaccine preventable diseases occur there.2 As of 2012, about 60% of people living with HIV resided in middle income countries; by 2020, that proportion is expected to jump to 70%.3 Of the roughly 15 million people with HIV who do not have access to antiretrovirals, about two thirds live in middle income countries.4

Yet despite these statistics middle income countries are neglected by the international community. Many major donors and international aid programmes focus primarily on low income countries,5 a trend that is increasing.6 The same is true of drug companies, which routinely exclude middle income countries from “access programmes” that provide drugs free or at discounted prices,7 as well as voluntary licences, which allow for generic production of otherwise patented products.8 The World Health Organization notes that although the “vast majority” of people living with HIV reside in middle income countries, “international aid and assistance . . . still focuses on low income countries.”9

Middle income countries …
Benefits of new drugs are exaggerated
Authors: D Owens
Journal: BMJ (1994)

Lately there has been a good deal of clamour from those who think that the recent additions to the antidepressant drug list known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine and sertraline) should replace older, largely tricyclic, antidepressant drugs as the treatment of choice for depressive illness. How strong is their case?

Randomised trials have shown the new drugs to be more effective than placebo, but the debate is about trials comparing serotonin reuptake inhibitors with tricyclic antidepressants. Selected studies have found greater recovery with serotonin reuptake inhibitors and are widely quoted by enthusiasts. However, several influential reviews have concluded that efficacy is about equal.*RF 1-3* A recent systematic review of 64 randomised controlled trials comparing serotonin reuptake inhibitors with established antidepressant drugs found similar benefit from new and old treatments; where data could be pooled in a meta-analysis no clear difference was found.4

Because the treatment trials have mainly examined depression in primary care, specialists may be premature to count on equal effectiveness when treating patients referred to clinics and hospitals. Interest is shifting towards other clinical situations and we will soon be (or already are being) treated to claims that serotonin reuptake inhibitors are ideal for severe depression, resistant depression, continuing treatment, prophylaxis, and so on. In view of the lack of extra benefit so far shown, canny clinicians will …
LSC 2013 abstract - Microbial colonization instigates a lung-specific immunoregulatory pathway that protects against exaggerated allergic inflammation
Authors: Eva Gollwitzer, Benjamin Marsland
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2013)

A growing body of evidence indicates that events early in childhood can predispose individuals to chronic lung diseases. We hypothesized that exposure to environmental allergens or pathogens during immunologically distinct developmental windows might underlie this phenomenon. To first gain insight into the pulmonary immune maturation process, we characterized the nature of immune cells in the murine lung from birth until adulthood. In contrast to B and T cells, dendritic cell (DC) populations exhibited a lung-specific maturation profile, reflected by differences in frequency and phenotype. Of particular note was the expression kinetics of Programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) on the surface of CD11b +  conventional DCs, which exhibited a peak in expression one week after birth, before returning to levels found in adults. The elevated frequency of PD-L1-expressing DCs in the lungs of neonatal mice was linked with the induction of inducible T regulatory cells (iTregs), highlighting a key developmental step for tolerance to exogenous antigens. In order to determine whether this was due to an intrinsic maturation programme or driven by environmental factors, we analysed cell maturation in axenic mice. We found that microbial exposure was the key instigating stimuli for this DC-PD-L1-iTreg tolerance pathway. Subsequent in vivo depletion studies showed that this pathway was a non-redundant mechanism for protecting the lung against exaggerated inflammation towards environmental allergens. Overall our data shows that there is a dynamic lung-specific immunoregulatory process during the perinatal period, which is driven by the airway microbiome.
Mood variability: a study of four groups
Authors: R W Cowdry, D L Gardner, K M O'Leary, E Leibenluft, D R Rubinow
Journal: American Journal of Psychiatry (1991)

The authors' goal was to determine whether self-rated patterns of mood regulation differed among patients with major depression, patients with borderline personality disorder, patients with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and normal subjects.Fourteen days of morning and evening mood self-ratings on a visual analog scale were analyzed for 65 female subjects (10 with major depression, 16 with borderline personality disorder, 15 with PMS, and 24 without psychiatric diagnoses). For each individual, the mean and standard deviation of morning and evening ratings, the mean absolute change in mood from one day to the next, and the change from morning to evening were determined.The four groups differed significantly on every measure of mood and mood variability except diurnal variation. As expected, the group with major depression had the lowest global ratings and a low degree of variability. The group with borderline personality disorder was less depressed than the group with major depression and showed a high degree of mood variability. Autocorrelation analysis suggested that mood ratings in borderline personality disorder vary randomly from one day to the next. The mood variability over the 14 days of the patients with PMS was significantly greater than that of normal subjects.The visual analog scale can capture patterns of mood and mood variability thought to be typical of these diagnostic groups. Mood disorders differ not only in the degree of abnormal mood but also in the pattern of mood variability, suggesting that mechanisms regulating mood stability may differ from those regulating overall mood state.
Abstract 11394: MicroRNA-128 Regulates Isl-1 Via Nkx-2.5/gsh-2 Competition During Cardiac Development
Authors: Wei Huang, Yuliang Feng, Jialiang Liang, Yuhua Wang, Zili Wen, Kai Kang, Atif Ashraf, Ronald W Millard, Meifeng Xu, Muhammad Ashraf, Yigang Wang
Journal: Circulation (2012)

Background and Objective: Isl-1 plays a central role in cardiac development. However, the precise mechanism(s) of its regulation are unknown. We examined transcriptional/posttranscriptional mechani...
What next for human gene therapy?
Authors: Eric T Juengst
Journal: BMJ (2003)

The high hope of genetic medicine for 30 years has been to develop a way of using recombinant DNA techniques to treat patients through the genes involved in their diseases. As Richard Roblin, scientific director of the Council on Bioethics of the President of the United States, put it in 1979: “There is something aesthetically compelling about cutting to the heart of the problem, by treating the disease at the molecular level, where it originates.“1 Since 1990, this vision has generated a modest industry of bench research and animal studies, culminating in almost 1000 clinical trials in humans around the world, for a wide variety of diseases.2 In the past few years, however, the field has learned that in genetic medicine, as in war, the “surgical strike“ is rarely as clean and effective as theory implies it should be.
Immunonutrition in patients undergoing liver transplantation: Too premature to draw conclusions
Authors: Shishira Bharadwaj, John M. Rivas, Andrea Jevenn, Ibrahim Hanouneh, Ezra Steiger
Journal: Hepatology (2015)

Potential conflict of interest: Nothing to report. To the Editor: We applauded and read with avid interest the recent Hepatology article by Plank et al.1 Numerous studies, including those on gastrointestinal and head and neck oncology patients, have reported immunonutrition (IMN) to be beneficial in reducing postoperative complications and hospital length of stay.2 Also, IMN has been shown to be cost‐effective in offsetting the cost of postoperative morbidity in these patients.4 The authors reported the first randomized controlled trial on the use of IMN in liver transplant patients. However, there are several questions that need to be answered before we conclude the lack of benefit. Firstly, the definition of "malnutrition" used by the investigators as total body protein <82% is unclear as there is no standardized definition for the same. Additionally, the nutritional assessment presupplementation and postsupplementation may need a combination of the following to comment on the effect of IMN on nutritional status: history pertaining to medical, nutritional and medications; physical examination; anthropometric measurements; and laboratory data.5 Lastly, the patients received supplements for prolonged periods before the liver transplant (beyond 6 months in 13 patients) despite the European Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition recommendations of administering 500‐1000 mL of IMN formula per day for 5 days preoperatively, followed by at least 1000 kcal of IMN formula per day for 5 days postoperatively. To conclude, although we congratulate the authors on their accomplishment of the first randomized controlled trial on the use of IMN in these patients, future studies may have to take into consideration the appropriate protocol and duration of supplementation in chronic liver disease patients, the appropriate definition and degrees of malnutrition (mild, moderate, and severe), and the control formula used (IMN versus standard oral nutritional supplements or a regular diet without supplements). Hence, although the argument that liver transplant patients may be a unique population for the use of IMN, due to the impact of immunosuppressive drugs that may counteract their mechanism, may be valid, their effect on preoperative and postoperative nutritional status needs to be better defined.
Value of preoperative staging of breast cancer patients using computed tomography to detect asymptomatic lung and liver metastasis
Authors: W. Han, H. Kim, J. Lee, K. Lee, H. Moon, E. Ko, E. Kim, J. Yu, D. Noh
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2009)

1105 Background: Preoperative clinical staging in breast cancer patients is important to determine the most appropriate treatment plans and to predict prognosis for individual patients. Identifying unexpected distant metastases in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients frequently alters initial treatment plans. Routine imaging studies to detect lung or liver metastasis is not indicated in patients with early and operable breast cancer. A recent study showed that routine use of chest radiograph and liver ultrasound does not provide much diagnostic benefit in early breast cancer patients. Methods: We aimed to investigate the value of preoperative computed tomography to detect asymptomatic liver and lung metastasis in breast cancer patients. We performed preoperative CT for 667 breast cancer patients to detect lung and liver metastasis among 1,636 primary breast cancer patients who had been diagnosed and treated between January 2006 and December 2007 at Seoul National University Hospital. Results: CT showed abnormal findings (suspicious of metastasis or indeterminate nodules) in 78 patients (10.5%). Among these, abnormal finding in 13 patients (1.7%) turned out to be true metastatic lesions. There was no CT-detected lung or liver metastasis in patients with T1 tumor and 4 metastases in patients with T2 tumor. There was no CT-detected lung or liver metastasis in patients with negative axillary lymph node metastasis. When patients were classified according to the AJCC staging, CT-detected true metastatic lesions were only present in stage III patients (13 out of 173 patients, 7.5%). The true metastatic lesions in lung or liver were all small sized nodules, ranging from 0.3cm to 1.2cm in largest diameters. In seven patients, the CT-detected metastatic lesions were less than 1cm which is in contrast with the previous studies. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated the lack of usefulness in performing routine CT exams to detect asymptomatic liver and lung metastasis in early breast cancer patients. Staging CT might be useful in stage III patients, since 13 (7.5%) patients were upstaged to stage IV by the use of CT. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
P-164 Gemcitabine versus FOLFIRINOX in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma HENT1 positive: back to the future
Authors: M.A. Calegari, A. Orlandi, A. Cocomazzi, M. Martini, C. Bagala, G. Indellicati, V. Zurlo, S. Monterisi, C. Di Dio, R. Barile, M.A. Di Salvatore, M. Basso, A. Cassano, L.M. Larocca, C. Barone
Journal: Annals of Oncology (2015)
Mammography detects more small cancers but results in overdiagnosis, researchers warn:
Authors: Jacqui Wise
Journal: BMJ (2015)

Screening mammography results in overdiagnosis, researchers have warned, as more small cancers are detected but there is no corresponding decline in the detection of larger cancers and no significant change in deaths from breast cancer.

An ecological study published in JAMA Internal Medicine 1 examined cancer registry data on 16 million women aged 40 and over who lived in 547 US counties …