tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Skin cancer surveillance in renal transplant recipients: re-evaluation of U.K. practice and comparison with Australian experience
Authors: S. Garg, R.P. Carroll, R.G. Walker, H.M. Ramsay, P.N. Harden
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (2008)

Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common tumour following solid organ transplantation. In 2000 a survey of U.K. centres managing renal transplant recipients (RTRs) showed that only 21% offered skin cancer surveillance.The survey was repeated in 2006 in the U.K. and Australia. The aims were to determine if U.K. practice had changed since 2000, to define skin cancer surveillance practice in Australian RTRs and to compare this with that in the U.K.Questionnaires were sent to 84 U.K. and 45 Australian centres providing long-term RTR follow-up.Fifty-six (67%) U.K. centres caring for 82% (n = 16 349) of the RTR population replied. Sixty-six per cent provided annual skin cancer surveillance and 39% offered full skin examination (FSE) compared with 21% and 20% in 2000. Eighty-one per cent of surveillance was performed by nondermatologists (n = 30), nine (30%) of whom had received formal training for the role. Thirty-one (69%) Australian centres covering 86% (n = 5392) of the RTR population responded. Ninety-seven per cent provided skin cancer surveillance, and 61% offered FSE. Forty per cent (n = 12) of skin cancer surveillance was conducted by nondermatologists. Two nondermatologists had received formal training.Despite a substantial improvement in the provision of skin cancer surveillance for RTRs in the U.K. between 2000 and 2006, only 39% of units offer FSE. In contrast, virtually all Australian centres offer annual skin cancer surveillance, with more dermatology involvement. Lack of training for nondermatologists involved in skin cancer surveillance is evident in both countries. The availability of dermatologists and the variation in NMSC risk between the populations may explain the different practices observed.
Origin and Health Impacts of Emissions of Toxic By-Products and Fine Particles from Combustion and Thermal Treatment of Hazardous Wastes and Materials
Authors: Stephania A. Cormier, Slawo Lomnicki, Wayne Backes, Barry Dellinger
Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives (2006)

High-temperature, controlled incineration and thermal treatment of contaminated soils, sediments, and wastes at Superfund sites are often preferred methods of remediation of contaminated sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 and related legislation. Although these methods may be executed safely, formation of toxic combustion or reaction by-products is still a cause of concern. Emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) ; chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHCs) , including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans ; and toxic metals (e.g., chromium VI) have historically been the focus of combustion and health effects research. However, fine particulate matter (PM) and ultrafine PM, which have been documented to be related to cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and cancer, have more recently become the focus of research. Fine PM and ultrafine PM are effective delivery agents for PAHs, CHCs, and toxic metals. In addition, it has recently been realized that brominated hydrocarbons (including brominated/chlorinated dioxins) , redox-active metals, and redox-active persistent free radicals are also associated with PM emissions from combustion and thermal processes. In this article, we discuss the origin of each of these classes of pollutants, the nature of their association with combustion-generated PM, and the mechanisms of their known and potential health impacts.
901-26 Coexpression of Vimentin and Ki 67 Indicates Cardiomyocyte Regeneration After Acute Rejection in Human Cardiac Allografts
Authors: Thomas M. Behr, Petra Fischer, Christoph H. Spes, Felix Kur, Ulrike Ziegler, Dieter E. Pongratz, Christiane E. Angermann
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (1995)
Cost-Effectiveness of Prasugrel Versus Clopidogrel in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes and Planned Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Authors: Elizabeth M. Mahoney, Kaijun Wang, Suzanne V. Arnold, Irina Proskorovsky, Stephen Wiviott, Elliott Antman, Eugene Braunwald, David J. Cohen
Journal: Circulation (2009)

In patients with acute coronary syndromes and planned percutaneous coronary intervention, the Trial to Assess Improvement in Therapeutic Outcomes by Optimizing Platelet Inhibition With Prasugrel-Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 38 (TRITON-TIMI 38) demonstrated that treatment with prasugrel versus clopidogrel was associated with reduced rates of cardiovascular death, MI, or stroke and an increased risk of major bleeding. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of prasugrel versus clopidogrel from the perspective of the US healthcare system by using data from TRITON-TIMI 38.Detailed resource use data were prospectively collected for all patients recruited from 8 countries (United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and France; n=3373 prasugrel, n=3332 clopidogrel). Hospitalization costs were estimated on the basis of diagnosis-related group and in-hospital complications. Cardiovascular medication costs were estimated by using net wholesale prices (clopidogrel=$4.62/d; prasugrel=$5.45/d). Life expectancy was estimated from in-trial cardiovascular and bleeding events with the use of statistical models of long-term survival from a similar population from the Saskatchewan Health Database. Over a median follow-up of 14.7 months, average total costs (including study drug) were $221 per patient lower with prasugrel (95% confidence interval, -759 to 299), largely because of a lower rate of rehospitalization involving percutaneous coronary intervention. Prasugrel was associated with life expectancy gains of 0.102 years (95% confidence interval, 0.030 to 0.180), primarily because of the decreased rate of nonfatal MI. Thus, compared with clopidogrel, prasugrel was an economically dominant treatment strategy. If a hypothetical generic cost for clopidogrel of $1/d is used, the incremental net cost with prasugrel was $996 per patient, yielding an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $9727 per life-year gained.Among acute coronary syndrome patients with planned percutaneous coronary intervention, treatment with prasugrel versus clopidogrel for up to 15 months is an economically attractive treatment strategy.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00097591.
Prognosis of Hormone-Dependent Breast Cancers: Implications of the Presence of Dysfunctional Transcriptional Networks Activated by Insulin via the Immune Transcription Factor T-bet
Authors: Kasi McCune, Poornima Bhat-Nakshatri, Mangesh A. Thorat, Kenneth P. Nephew, Sunil Badve, Harikrishna Nakshatri
Journal: Cancer Research (2010)

Estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha)-positive breast cancers that co-express transcription factors GATA-3 and FOXA1 have a favorable prognosis. These transcription factors form an autoregulatory hormonal network that influences estrogen responsiveness and sensitivity to hormonal therapy. Disruption of this network may be a mechanism whereby ERalpha-positive breast cancers become resistant to therapy. The transcription factor T-bet is a negative regulator of GATA-3 in the immune system. In this study, we report that insulin increases the expression of T-bet in breast cancer cells, which correlates with reduced expression of GATA-3, FOXA1, and the ERalpha:FOXA1:GATA-3 target gene GREB-1. The effects of insulin on GATA-3 and FOXA1 could be recapitulated through overexpression of T-bet in MCF-7 cells (MCF-7-T-bet). Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed reduced ERalpha binding to GREB-1 enhancer regions in MCF-7-T-bet cells and in insulin-treated MCF-7 cells. MCF-7-T-bet cells were resistant to tamoxifen in the presence of insulin and displayed prolonged extracellular signal-regulated kinase and AKT activation in response to epidermal growth factor treatment. ERalpha-positive cells with intrinsic tamoxifen resistance as well as MCF-7 cells with acquired tamoxifen and fulvestrant resistance expressed elevated levels of T-bet and/or reduced levels of FOXA1 and GATA-3. Analysis of publicly available databases revealed ERalpha-positive/T-bet-positive breast cancers expressing lower levels of FOXA1 (P = 0.0137) and GATA-3 (P = 0.0063) compared with ERalpha-positive/T-bet-negative breast cancers. Thus, T-bet expression in primary tumors and circulating insulin levels may serve as surrogate biomarkers to identify ERalpha-positive breast cancers with a dysfunctional hormonal network, enhanced growth factor signaling, and resistance to hormonal therapy.
Characterisation of Clostridium difficile Hospital Ward–Based Transmission Using Extensive Epidemiological Data and Molecular Typing
Authors: A. Sarah Walker, David W. Eyre, David H. Wyllie, Kate E. Dingle, Rosalind M. Harding, Lily O'Connor, David Griffiths, Ali Vaughan, John Finney, Mark H. Wilcox, Derrick W. Crook, Tim E. A. Peto
Journal: PLoS Medicine (2012)

A population-based study in Oxfordshire (UK) hospitals by Sarah Walker and colleagues finds that in an endemic setting with good infection control, ward-based contact cannot account for most new cases of Clostridium difficile infection.
Trypsin and lactoferrin levels in pure pancreatic juice in patients with pancreatic disease.
Authors: S S Fedail, R F Harvey, P R Salmon, P Brown, A E Read
Journal: Gut (1979)

Levels of immunoreactive trypsin were measured in pure pancreatic juice obtained endoscopically from 44 patients with suspected pancreatic disease. Patients with pancreatic cancer all had low trypsin concentrations (median 3.6 micrograms/ml, range 0.6--12.0), but those with chronic pancreatitis had very variable levels (median 14.2 micrograms/ml, range 3.2--76.8), showing a considerable overlap with patients without pancreatic disease (median 37.1 micrograms/ml, range 10.4--66.0). When levels of lactoferrin in pancreatic juice were measured, all patients with chronic pancreatitis were found to have much higher levels (all greater than 900 ng/ml) than control subjects or patients with pancreatic cancer (all less than 400 ng/ml). The combined measurement of trypsin and lactoferrin in pure pancreatic juice appeared to be more promising than any other currently available test for the separation of patients with pancreatic cancer from those with chronic pancreatitis.
Medical education in Italy.
Authors: F. Magrassi
Journal: BMJ (1969)

In Italy at present all students who gain their lyceum degree after eight years of high-school study are eligible to enter the faculty of medicine in any university.This often results in considerable overcrowding of the medical schools, and those of Rome and Naples are particularly burdened.Teaching such large groups-irrespective of the methods used-is seldom satisfactory.There are 23 faculties of medicine in Italy, but their geo- graphic distribution is uneven.Some provinces have more than one faculty (there are four in Emilia, three in Tuscany, two in Lombardy, two in Veneto, two in Lazio-one of which is the non-government Catholic university-and two in Sardinia), while others (such as Abruzzi, Basilicata, Calabria, and Marche) have none at all.Consequently the number of doctors per head of population in the regions with no faculty is considerably below average.At the end of December 1966, the doctor-patient ratio for the whole of Italy was 1 to 582.But in Abruzzi it was 1 to 829, Basilicata 1 to 1,008, Calabria 1 to 788, and Marche 1 to 745.Table I shows the distribution of first-year students for two successive years at the different medical schools and the total number enrolled, including "repeat" students (those taking the year's course again) and graduates.Table II shows the global figures of first-year and succeeding year students (including "repeat" students) and graduates for the years 1963-4, 1964-5, and 1965-6.The progressive increase in first-year students is clearly illustrated by comparing the Tables.The number of graduates in medicine and surgery in 1956 was 3,504, whereas in 1966 it was 2,857.This apparent disparity is due to the great number of repeat students, and it applies particularly in the overcrowded faculties, such as those in Rome and Naples.Among a total TABLE I.
American Cancer Society Guideline for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Use to Prevent Cervical Cancer and Its Precursors
Authors: D. Saslow, P. E. Castle, J. T. Cox, D. D. Davey, M. H. Einstein, D. G. Ferris, S. J. Goldie, D. M. Harper, W. Kinney, A.-B. Moscicki, K. L. Noller, C. M. Wheeler, T. Ades, K. S. Andrews, M. K. Doroshenk, K. G. Kahn, C. Schmidt, O. Shafey, R. A. Smith, E. E. Partridge, F. Garcia
Journal: CA A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (2007)

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has developed guidelines for the use of the prophylactic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for the prevention of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer. These recommendations are based on a formal review of the available evidence. They address the use of prophylactic HPV vaccines, including who should be vaccinated and at what age, as well as a summary of policy and implementation issues. Implications for screening are also discussed.
Vasopressor Activity of Ergotamine
Authors: T. W. Baillie
Journal: BMJ (1964)

p. 1133), prompted me to examine the case records of 489 cases treated with buccal pitocin.There was no incidence of uterine rupture, maternal mortality, or foetal mor- tality, and there were only three cases of excessive uterine action.All three responded quickly (15-20 minutes) to withdrawal of the tablets from the buccal pouch.Hyperactivity of this nature (contractions at one-minute intervals) has occurred in the control group.Furthermore, in 31 cases where buccal oxy- tocin failed intravenous Pitocin (oxytocin) was successful in 10 cases only.No one can deny that a risk of uterine rupture exists-as reported by Dr. P. M. Leney (12 September, p. 689) and Dr. H. 0. Nicholson (3 October, p. 876), but spon- taneous rupture does also occur and in fact did so in one case of the non-buccal group.I do not think that obstetricians using buccal oxytocin deny the place, or better con- trol, of intravenous oxytocin.However, oral administration is generally preferred to the parenteral even if there is some slight loss in performance-cf.oral iron and Ferrivenin (saccharated iron oxide).Thus I cannot agree that buccal pitocin is a retrograde step, and the evaluation of 489 cases treated with the buccal hormone would support
Reply from dissenting author
Authors: A. R Moodie
Journal: BMJ (1996)

EDITOR,—As a former chairman of the voluntary organisation Tak Tent, which provided support in June M C McArdle and colleagues' study, and as an author of the paper, I wish to respond to the comments with a different perspective from that of my coauthors.

I share the concern expressed by Claire Foster in her commentary on our paper1 and by Heather Goodare about the lack of informed consent. It was argued in the study that such consent would introduce bias. Yet, as …
Is cholera a problem for US travelers?
Authors: J. D. Synder
Journal: JAMA (1982)

Only ten cases of cholera in US travelers have been reported since the current cholera pandemic began in 1961. No important risk factors were apparent from assessing the age, place of acquisition, duration or mode of travel before infection, or history of cholera vaccination of the travelers who acquired cholera. All of the patients received medical treatment and all recovered; there were no secondary cases. Nine of the ten were infected by<i>Vibrio cholerae</i>01 El Tor, the strain responsible for the current pandemic. Using the number of US citizens returning to the United States by commercial air carrier from Asia, Africa, and Oceania to estimate the population at risk, we found that the chance of acquiring a reported case of cholera is less than one case per 500,000 returning travelers. (<i>JAMA</i>1982;247:2268-2269)
Maharishi Ayur-Veda
Authors: David Perlmutter
Journal: JAMA (1991)

<h3>To the Editor.</h3> —<i>JAMA</i>should be highly praised for its recent publication concerning Maharishi Ayur-Veda.<sup>1</sup>This medical system functions on a paradigm which in no way relates to that used by modern allopathic medicine. Maharishi Ayur-Veda addresses preventive medicine at its most fundamental aspect, long before physical manifestation of the disease process is evident. As a board-certified neurologist, I have found that my training in Maharishi Ayur-Veda has been absolutely invaluable in dealing with those problems typical to this specialty. Your publication of this information will encourage your readers to explore this fascinating and profoundly useful medical system. <h3>Disclosure.</h3> —Dr Perlmutter reports that he is an Ayurvedic physician.
Tumor Lesion Glycolysis and Tumor Lesion Proliferation for Response Prediction and Prognostic Differentiation in Patients With Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated With Erlotinib
Authors: Deniz Kahraman, Arne Holstein, Matthias Scheffler, Thomas Zander, Lucia Nogova, Adriaan A. Lammertsma, Ronald Boellaard, Bernd Neumaier, Markus Dietlein, Jürgen Wolf, Carsten Kobe
Journal: Clinical Nuclear Medicine (2012)

The aim was to assess the value of tumor lesion glycolysis (TLG) and tumor lesion proliferation (TLP) determined by FDG and 3'-deoxy-3'-F-fluorothymidine (FLT) PET for response prediction and prognostic differentiation in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with erlotinib.FDG-PET and FLT-PET were performed in 30 patients with untreated Stage IV NSCLC before start of therapy, 1 (early) and 6 (late) weeks after erlotinib treatment. Functional tumor volume parameters including TLG in FDG-PET and TLP in FLT-PET were measured in the sum of up to 5 lesions per scan. Metabolic response was assessed using different cutoff values for percentage changes of TLG and TLP. Absolute baseline and residual levels of TLG and TLP were used for dichotomizing the patients into 2 groups. Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test were performed to analyze the association with progression-free survival (PFS).Patients with a metabolic response measured by early changes of TLP and late changes of TLG and TLP showed a significantly better PFS than metabolically nonresponding patients. A lower cutoff value of 20% or 30% for definition of metabolic response showed better differentiation between metabolically responding and nonresponding patients in cases where the 45% cutoff value revealed no significant results. Furthermore, patients with lower absolute early and late residual TLG and TLP levels had a significantly prolonged PFS. In contrast, absolute baseline TLG and TLP levels showed no significant association with PFS.In patients with advanced NSCLC, percentage changes of TLG and TLP and absolute residual TLG and TLP levels under erlotinib treatment emerged as strong predictive factors for PFS. Our findings indicate that a cutoff value of 20% or 30% for definition of metabolic response measured by percentage changes of TLG and TLP provides suitable results for response prediction, which should be further validated.
Directed Differentiation of Size‐Controlled Embryoid Bodies Towards Endothelial and Cardiac Lineages in RGD‐Modified Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Hydrogels
Authors: Lina Schukur, Pinar Zorlutuna, Jae Min Cha, Hojae Bae, Ali Khademhosseini
Journal: Advanced Healthcare Materials (2012)

Abstract Recent advances in stem cell research have demonstrated the importance of microenvironmental cues in directing stem cell fate towards specific cell lineages. For instance, the size of the embryoid body (EB) was shown to play a role in stem cell differentiation. Other studies have used cell adhesive RGD peptides to direct stem cell fate towards endothelial cells. In this study, materials and cell‐based approaches are combined by using microwell arrays to produce size‐controlled EBs and encapsulating the resulting aggregates in high molecular weight PEG‐4 arm acrylate with and without conjugated RGD to study their effect on stem cell differentiation in a 3D microenvironment. Increasing EB size is observed along with a decrease in the total number of EBs in pristine PEG hydrogel, regardless of the initial EB size. In correlation with this aggregation, EBs in PEG show enhanced cardiogenic differentiation compared to RGD‐PEG hydrogel. Both aggregation and cardiogenic differentiation are significantly reduced when RGD peptides are introduced to the microenvironment, while endothelial cell differentiation is accelerated by 3 to 5 days, depending on the EB size, and doubled over the course of cell culture for both EB sizes. Presented results indicate that RGD sequence has a dominant effect in driving endothelial cell differentiation in size‐controlled EBs, while pristine multi‐arm, high molecular weight PEG can induce cardiogenic differentiation, possibly through EB aggregation. The photopatternable nature of the hydrogel used in this study enabled patterning of such domains devoid or abundant of cell attachment sequences. Therefore, these hydrogels can potentially be used for spatially patterned embryonic stem cell differentiation, which may be beneficial for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.
Comparison of I-123 and I-131 for Whole-Body Imaging After Stimulation by Recombinant Human Thyrotropin
Authors: GREGORY S. ANDERSON, STEPHANIE FISH, KHOZAIM NAKHODA, HONGMING ZHUANG, ABASS ALAVI, SUSAN J. MANDEL
Journal: Clinical Nuclear Medicine (2003)

Purpose Many studies have established I-123 whole-body scanning (WBS) as an alternative to I-131 WBS in the evaluation of differentiated thyroid cancer. Similarly, recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone (rhTSH) has been shown to be an effective alternative to thyroid hormone withdrawal in the stimulation of TSH levels for WBS. The purpose of the current investigation was to compare the ability of rhTSH-stimulated I-123 WBS to that of rhTSH-stimulated I-131 WBS in the evaluation of thyroid cancer. Methods The reports of 101 consecutive I-123 WBS and 101 consecutive I-131 WBS were analyzed. All patients had undergone near-total thyroidectomy, were considered to have a low risk for recurrence, and had rhTSH-stimulated serum thyroglobulin levels measured at the time of imaging. Findings of an examination were considered positive if either residual thyroid tissue was detected on imaging or the serum thyroglobulin level was greater than 2 ng/dl. Results The results of rhTSH-stimulated I-123 scans and thyroglobulin levels were concordant in 91 (90%) cases, whereas the results of rhTSH-stimulated I-131 scans and thyroglobulin levels were concordant in 85 (84%) cases. I-123 WBS detected 9 foci of disease in 6 patients, whereas I-131 WBS detected 10 foci of disease in 9 patients. Conclusion The results of this preliminary investigation are promising regarding the utility of rhTSH-stimulated I-123 WBS as an alternate approach to rhTSH-stimulated I-131 WBS in patients at low risk for recurrence.