tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Age‐dependency of sensitization to aero‐allergens in asthmatics
Authors: N. R. Niemeijer, J. G. R. de Monchy
Journal: Allergy (1992)

Skin reactivity (intracutaneous test) to histamine and allergens was studied cross-sectionally in a Dutch asthmatic patient population from childhood to old age (4-75 years). It was found that the histamine skin reactivity rose significantly (p less than 0.05) during childhood, was significantly higher in the 10-15-year age group, and was constant between 20 and 75 years of age. The mean wheal index (histamine ratio) of all allergens was constant during childhood, and decreased after the age of 25 for grass pollen and house-dust mite and after the age of 15 for the other allergens. The prevalence of a positive skin test decreased with age, except for grass pollen. During childhood the indoor allergens, cat dander and house-dust mite, were the most important, while after the age of 15 sensitivity to an outdoor allergen, grass pollen, increased markedly. At all ages house-dust mite was the most important allergen. After the age of 25 the prevalence of every allergen declines. The prevalence of a positive skin test to Cladosporium was unexpectedly high in childhood (10-40%). It can be concluded that the prevalence of a positive skin test declines with age, except for grass pollen. The degree of sensitization in asthmatics peaked in the age groups between 20 and 40 and sensitivity to indoor allergens developed earlier than sensitivity to outdoor allergens.
HIV testing is needed in mental health settings
Authors: C. Hilton, A. Cohen, F. Geoghegan
Journal: BMJ (2014)

Rayment and colleagues recommend that HIV screening be considered for everyone registering in general practice and “all general medical admissions” in areas where prevalence is >2 per 1000.1 However, they do not comment on mental health settings. This omission is regrettable, particularly in view of current campaigns to tackle health inequalities in this group and move towards “parity of esteem.”2

International evidence indicates …
Lymphoproliferative responses to human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 proteins E6 and E7: outcome of HPV infection and associated neoplasia
Authors: A. S. Kadish, G. Y. Ho, R. D. Burk, Y. Wang, S. L. Romney, R. Ledwidge, R. H. Angeletti
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1997)

Background: Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 (HPV16) is a major cause of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Experiments were planned to evaluate the role of cell-mediated immunity (e.g., lymphocyte proliferation) against HPV in the natural history of HPV-associated neoplasia and to identify antigenic sequences of the HPV16 proteins E6 and E7 against which an immune response may confer protection. Methods: Fortynine women with abnormal cervical cytology and biopsyconfirmed CIN were followed through one or more clinic visits. Lymphoproliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to HPV16 E6 and E7 peptides were assessed in long-term (3-week) cultures. HPV DNA was detected in cervicovaginal lavage by means of polymerase chain reaction and Southern blotting. Disease status was determined by cervical cytologic examination and colposcopy. Reported P values are two-sided. Results: Subjects with positive lymphoproliferative responses to E6 and/or E7 peptides were more likely to be HPV negative at the same clinic visit than were nonresponders ( P = .039). Subjects who were negative for HPV and those with a low viral load were more likely to be responders than were those with a high viral load ( P for trend = .037). Responses to N-terminal E6 peptide 369 were associated with absence of HPV infection at the same clinic visit ( P = .015). Subjects with positive responses to E6 or E7 peptides at one clinic visit were 4.4 times more likely to be HPV negative at the next visit than were nonresponders ( P = .142). Responses to E6 peptide 369 and/or E7 Cterminal peptide 109 were associated with an absence of HPV infection ( P = .02 for both) and an absence of CIN ( P = .04 and .02, respectively) at the next visit. Methods: Lymphoproliferative responses to specific HPV16 E6 and E7 peptides appear to be associated with the clearance of HPV infection and the regression of CIN.
DOES ON-TREATMENT PLATELET REACTIVITY TESTING BEFORE CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS SURGERY HAVE A VALUE IN PREDICTING IN-HOSPITAL MAJOR BLEEDING?
Authors: Gabriel Sardi, Samad Zaheeruddin, Rajbabu Pakala, Ana Laynez Carnicero, Rebecca Torguson, salem badr, Lowell Satler, William Suddath, Kenneth Kent, Augusto Pichard, Ron Waksman
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2012)
WaldenstrÖm's Macroglobulinemia with Increased Serum IgG Levels Treated with Low Doses of Cyclophosphamide
Authors: ROGER M. CASS
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1969)

A patient had Waldenström's macroglobulinemia with increased serum levels of heterogeneous or "polyclonal" IgG in addition to elevated homogeneous or "monoclonal" IgM levels. A low dosage of cyclophosphamide was begun and has been continued to the present. Serum IgM levels fell promptly followed by a fall in IgG levels. After both the IgM and IgG levels had returned to normal no further fall occurred. Normal serum IgA levels were unaffected by the treatment. The fall in serum IgM and IgG values was accompanied by a disappearance of lymphocytes from the hepatic portal areas and a slight decrease in the lymphocytic infiltration of the bone marrow. A complete clinical remission began 6 months after therapy was begun and has continued to the present, 3 years later.
A job for life
Authors: C Douglas
Journal: BMJ (1994)

In one of our long stay wards a patient - large, confused, and still mobile - is causing trouble. By day a model citizen, at night he prowls restlessly, wandering in dark corridors, peering into cupboards and occasionally beating up a fellow patient. A problem, certainly. The answer? A transfer to psychogeriatric care. And the explanation? Well, perhaps it's something to do with his former occupation - 30 years as a constable with the City of Edinburgh police.

In another long stay unit the ward rounds are regularly joined by a tall, patrician figure whose expression is one of puzzled disappointment. “I'm sorry,” he announces. “I don't …
Reproductive health, and child health and nutrition in India: meeting the challenge
Authors: Vinod Kumar Paul, Harshpal Singh Sachdev, Dileep Mavalankar, Prema Ramachandran, Mari Jeeva Sankar, Nita Bhandari, Vishnubhatla Sreenivas, Thiagarajan Sundararaman, Dipti Govil, David Osrin, Betty Kirkwood
Journal: The Lancet (2011)
Changing epidemiology of IPSID in Southern Iran
Authors: K B Lankarani
Journal: Gut (2005)

Some 40 years ago physicians in the Middle East noted a high incidence and prevalence of upper small intestinal lymphoma.1–3 Later this condition was found to be associated with malabsorption as well as the presence of alpha heavy chain proteins.2–7 The disease was named by the WHO as “immunoproliferative small intestinal disease” (IPSID).6 One of the earliest reports of IPSID was from our centre.3,4 This study was designed to confirm the trend in the epidemiology of IPSID over the past 25 years in our medical centre. In a retrospective study (March 1974 to March 1999), we reviewed pathology reports from all surgical pathology laboratories in the province of Fars located in Southern Iran.

All reports, which were labelled as IPSID, were reviewed by one …
Haematemesis and Melaena
Authors: F. A. Jones
Journal: BMJ (1943)

County HospitalThis paper reports results of treatment by prompt feeding and liberal blood transfusions in 171 consecutive admissions for recent frank haematemesis and/or melaena, between June, 1940, and December, 1942.They were treated in the dietetic wards of a modern municipal hospital serving a large industrial and poor residential district of Greater London.A careful study has been made of the cause of bleeding and of the type of case which proves fatal.Diagnosis Selected cases were gastroscoped soon after the haemorrhage, usually within a week or less.No serious complication occurred, although it is generally believed that gastroscopy is dangerous when performed shortly after bleeding.A barium meal was given as soon as the patient could start getting up, usually in the third or fourth week.If cirrhosis hepatis was suspected a hippuric acid excretion test of liver function was performed.A detailed history and an examination were recorded in every case.The final diagnoses are listed in Table I.TABLE I.-Final Diagnoses
Abstract 328: The mitotic kinase Aurora-A promotes breast cancer metastases by inducing a CD24low/- basal-like stem cell phenotype
Authors: Antonino B. D'Assoro
Journal: Cancer Research (2012)

Abstract In this study we demonstrate that gain of HER-2/Neu expression in human breast cancer xenografts harboring constitutive active Raf-1 induces Aurora-A over-expression that ultimately drives the transition from a luminal to a highly invasive basal-like phenotype. Over-expression of Aurora-A was induced by phosphorylation and protein stabilization by HER-2/Neu rather than increased Aurora-A gene expression. Moreover, Aurora-A stabilization induced an increase of HER-2/Neu expression in breast cancer cells defining a novel positive feed-back loop between Aurora-A and HER-2/Neu oncogenic signaling pathways. Basal-like tumor cells over-expressing Aurora-A and HER-2/Neu underwent to loss of CD24 surface receptor, expressed epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers and acquired stem cell-like properties such as mammospheres formation and self-renewal. Pharmacologic inhibition of HER-2/Neu signaling pathway with lapatinib in cancer cells over-expressing Aurora-A demonstrated that Aurora-A was downstream to HER-2/Neu in the development of EMT and stemness. To determine whether Aurora-A induced a cancer stem cell-like phenotype through development of chromosomal instability and tumor cell phenotypic heterogeneity, we performed a SKY analysis on the breast cancer cell lines employed in this study. Our results demonstrate that invasive breast cancer cells harboring a basal-like phenotype did not develop higher chromosomal instability compared to luminal non-invasive cancer cells, signifying that Aurora-A has a direct effect on the development of basal-like breast cancer cells with stemness properties. Importantly, pharmacologic inhibition of Aurora-A kinase activity with the small molecule MLN8237 restored CD24 expression and reversed EMT leading to the re-establishment of a luminal phenotype and suppression of distant metastases. Our findings implicate for the first time the mitotic kinase Aurora-A in the development and maintenance of CD24 negative basal-like tumor stem cells responsible for breast cancer recurrence and progression. These observations have also important implications for the development of molecular targeted therapies to inhibit Aurora-A kinase activity and stemness improving the overall survival of breast cancer patients. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 328. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-328
Comparison of IgA-class reticulin and endomysium antibodies in coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis.
Authors: O Hallstrom
Journal: Gut (1989)

The occurrence of IgA class reticulin and endomysium antibodies was examined with the standard immunofluorescence method in coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis. Similar high antibody frequencies were detected in 32 untreated adults (91%) and 18 children (100%) with coeliac disease and in 14 dermatitis herpetiformis patients with subtotal villous atrophy (reticulin antibodies 93% and endomysium antibodies 100%). The specificity of IgA class reticulin antibodies and endomysium antibodies was high because all 45 adult patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn9s disease, 24 non-coeliac children with abdominal symptoms and 99/100 healthy blood donors were negative for these antibodies. The only positive blood donor had both IgA class reticulin antibodies and endomysium antibodies but also she was found to have coeliac disease. IgA class reticulin antibodies and endomysium antibodies declined in parallel during treatment with a gluten free diet and increased on gluten challenge. This suggests that these antibodies can be used to screen for gluten sensitive enteropathy and to monitor dietary treatment. To characterise the tissue specificity of reticulin antibodies and endomysium antibodies four positive sera were absorbed with human and several rodent liver homogenates. Absorption with rat or other rodent livers removed the rodent-specific reticulin antibodies but not the reticulin antibodies detectable with human tissues or the endomysium antibodies detectable with monkey oesophagus. These results show that reticulin antibodies can be divided into the rat and human subtypes. The human subtype could not be separated from endomysium antibodies in the present absorption experiments.
Australian state and federal governments are attacked on mental health care
Authors: Melissa Sweet
Journal: BMJ (2005)

More than a decade of mental health reform in Australia has failed to translate into better services, a new report says.

The report is the most extensive investigation into Australia's mental health services since national reform of mental health care began in 1992.

Its 1008 pages detail many personal tragedies, including accounts of patients harming themselves or others after being unable to get appropriate care. It also describes systemic problems, such as underfunding and workforce shortages.

“In short, the available evidence suggests that persons with mental illness still struggle on a daily basis to access appropriate health care or be treated with respect or dignity when they do enter our health care systems,” the report says.

“Any person seeking mental health …
Hypoxia inhibits myogenic reactivity of renal afferent arterioles by activating ATP-sensitive K+ channels.
Authors: R D Loutzenhiser, M J Parker
Journal: Circulation Research (1994)

Recent findings implicate K+ channels as important modulators of myogenic tone and possible mediators of the vasodilatory effects of hypoxia. In the present report, we examined the effects of hypoxia on myogenic vasoconstriction of renal afferent arterioles. Using the in vitro perfused hydronephrotic rat kidney model, we observed precisely graded decreases in arteriolar diameter when renal perfusion pressure was increased. Normal myogenic reactivity was observed over PO2 levels of 150 to 80 mm Hg. Reducing PO2 to 60, 40, and 30 mm Hg resulted in a significant progressive inhibition of myogenic reactivity. At approximately 20 mm Hg, myogenic vasoconstriction was essentially abolished, whereas the vasoconstriction induced by 30 mmol/L KCl was unaffected. The addition of 1.0 mumol/L glibenclamide completely restored myogenic vasoconstriction during hypoxia. In contrast, 1.0 mmol/L tetraethylammonium did not alter the effects of hypoxia. To investigate the relation between hypoxia-induced vasodilation and smooth muscle oxidative phosphorylation, we monitored changes in arteriolar levels of reduced NADH during exposure to hypoxia. Arterioles preconstricted by elevated pressure were optically isolated for simultaneous monitoring of vessel diameter and NADH fluorescence (360-nm excitation, 450-nm emission). Reducing perfusate PO2 from 150 to 20 mm Hg resulted in progressive loss of myogenic tone with no change in arteriolar NADH. These findings indicate that lowering PO2 within a physiological range attenuates myogenic reactivity of the renal afferent arteriole by causing the activation of ATP-sensitive K+ channels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Rise in assisted reproduction tourism in Asia threatens local medical services
Authors: N. Siva
Journal: BMJ (2011)

Local health services in low income countries and women of reproductive age are the unacknowledged victims of increasing demand for cheap assisted reproduction from people in rich countries, says a review in the journal Reproductive Health (2011;19;37:107-16; doi:10.1016/S0968-8080(11)37575-1).

Andrea Whittaker, associate professor at the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland, Australia and author of the study, says she is particularly concerned about the lack of regulatory systems to prevent and reduce exploitation of medical resources and women for surrogacy in poorer countries.

Asia, India, and Thailand are major hubs for …
THE PROPERDIN SYSTEM AND IMMUNITY
Authors: Alastair C. Wardlaw, Louis Pillemer
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1956)

Methods for the preparation and standardization of reagents suitable for studies on the bactericidal action of the properdin system are described. The preparation and properties of serum free of properdin (RPb) are presented in detail because of the necessity for a suitable RPb in these studies. The properdin system is responsible for the bactericidal action of normal human serum against a variety of microorganisms. The present work shows that the removal of properdin from serum also removes bactericidal activity. Addition of properdin to properdin-deficient serum restores bactericidal activity. A quantitative relationship exists between the final properdin concentration and bactericidal activity against sensitive organisms. The possibilities of a bactericidal assay for properdin are discussed. It is demonstrated that, in addition to properdin, the four components of complement (present in RPb) are necessary for the destruction of properdinsensitive bacteria. If any component is missing, bactericidal activity is lost; when the component is replaced, bactericidal activity is restored. Magnesium is also necessary for the bactericidal activity of the properdin system. Maximal bactericidal activity is obtained with magnesium concentrations similar to that of normal human serum (10–3 to 10–4 M). The bactericidal activity of the properdin system occurs only at temperatures above 15°. Resistant strains have been encountered in species of bacteria sensitive to the properdin system. Resistance or sensitivity is a characteristic of the individual strain and not of the species. The widespread occurrence of the properdin system in normal mammalian serum and the variety of bacteria destroyed by it suggest that the properdin system is a factor in natural resistance.
European Commission plans free fruit and vegetable scheme in schools
Authors: R. Watson
Journal: BMJ (2008)

The European Commission is introducing a new policy to provide free fruit and vegetables to schoolchildren as part of its wider strategy to tackle obesity and encourage good eating habits in young people.

Mariann Fischer Boel, the agriculture commissioner, said, “This shows we’re serious about taking concrete steps to fight obesity. Giving kids good habits at an early age is crucial as they will carry these into later life.”

At the same time the European Commission has proposed changes to its 30 year old school milk scheme so that a larger range of dairy products may be …
Trust launches legal action to keep children's heart surgery at Royal Brompton
Authors: C. Dyer
Journal: BMJ (2011)

The Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust has launched a High Court challenge to a proposal to stop it doing children’s heart surgery as part of a move to concentrate services in a few large units.

The trust is seeking judicial review of a decision by the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts, a committee of NHS specialist commissioners from across England, to go ahead with a consultation on proposals to limit paediatric cardiac surgery in London to two instead of three units, excluding the Royal Brompton Hospital.

The trust argues that the recommended options are “fundamentally …
Real-time tissue elastography for evaluation of hepatic fibrosis and portal hypertension in nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases
Authors: Hironori Ochi, Masashi Hirooka, Yohei Koizumi, Teruki Miyake, Yoshio Tokumoto, Yoshiko Soga, Fujimasa Tada, Masanori Abe, Yoichi Hiasa, Morikazu Onji
Journal: Hepatology (2012)

The aim of this study was to prospectively measure liver stiffness with real-time tissue elastography in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) and to compare the result with the clinical assessment of fibrosis using histological stage. One hundred and eighty-one prospectively enrolled patients underwent real-time tissue elastography, with the first 106 being analyzed as the training set and the remaining 75 being evaluated as the validation set. Hepatic and splenic elastic ratios were calculated and compared with stage of histological fibrosis. Portal hypertension (PH) was assessed. Real-time tissue elastography cut-off values by stage in the training set were 2.47 for F1, 2.67 for F2, 3.02 for F3, and 3.36 for F4. Using these cut-off values, the diagnostic accuracy of hepatic fibrosis in the validation set was 82.6%-96.0% in all stages. Only portal fibrosis correlated with the hepatic elastic ratio by multivariate analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of elastic ratio better correlated than serum fibrosis markers in both early and advanced fibrosis stages. Patients with PH, defined by splenic elasticity, had early fibrosis. Patients with severe PH were found only in the group with cirrhosis.Real-time tissue elastography is useful in evaluating hepatic fibrosis and PH in patients with NAFLD.
Antibody Responses to Two Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens Defined by Gene Transfer
Authors: George Miller, Elizabeth Grogan, Duncan K. Fischer, James C. Niederman, Robert T. Schooley, Werner Henle, Gilbert Lenoir, Chun-Ren Liu
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1985)

By transfecting small fragments of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA into cells, we defined two nuclear antigens, termed M and K, and examined serum from 258 subjects for antibodies against these antigens. We hoped to learn whether such single-antigen systems would clarify the association of EBV with various diseases. Although reactivity to M antigen was found in only 14 per cent of healthy EBV-seropositive subjects, 90 per cent of Chinese and North African patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma had antibody to M. Nearly all persons (96 per cent) who were EBV seropositive, as judged by their serologic reaction to a nuclear antigen encoded by the complete virus (EBNA), had a reaction to K antigen. However, serum samples from three patients with chronic active EBV infection did not react to K, even though the serum contained anti-M titers above 1:1000. Lymphoid cells from one such patient carried a normal gene for K and made K protein of correct size. Therefore, in this patient the absence of antibody to K had not resulted from a viral mutation that destroyed the K protein. These serologic studies show that some patients with chronic active EBV infection have an abnormal immune response to a specific viral gene product. (N Engl J Med 1985; 312:750–5.)
Occupational Exposure to HIV in Health Care Settings
Authors: Julie Louise Gerberding
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2003)

While obtaining a peripheral venous blood sample from a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, a 35-year-old phlebotomist is injured by a bloody 18-gauge needle attached to a syringe. The patient has been taking didanosine and stavudine for more than six months, but her quantitative plasma human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA titer and CD4 T-lymphocyte count have not been measured for many weeks. What is the appropriate postexposure treatment for the phlebotomist?