tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Striae distensae: a comprehensive review and evidence-based evaluation of prophylaxis and treatment
Authors: S. Al-Himdani, S. Ud-Din, S. Gilmore, A. Bayat
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (2013)

Striae distensae are an extremely common, therapeutically challenging form of dermal scarring. Risk factors have been reported but much remains to be understood about their epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment. Up-to-date knowledge of the scientific research and the evidence behind both preventative and therapeutic agents are vital in order to understand striae and to offer patients the best therapeutic alternatives. We present a clinical review of the current literature concerning striae distensae and their prevention and treatment. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken using Medline, Embase and Google Scholar. Articles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish and French were included. Striae distensae occur in pregnancy, puberty and obesity as well as in numerous medical conditions and following therapeutic interventions. Proposed aetiological mechanisms relate to hormones, physical stretch and structural alterations to the integument. Assessment methods include subjective visual scoring and various imaging modalities. Treatments that we have evaluated include topical agents, used prophylactically or therapeutically, as well as light and laser therapies, which have shown improvements in the appearance of striae. Few high level evidence based medicine randomized controlled trials evaluating treatments for striae distensae exist. Topical therapeutic agents appear to lack efficacy in the prevention of striae distensae.
Assessment of the Patient With Suspected Endocarditis
Authors: Adolph M. Hutter
Journal: JAMA (1976)

IN CONSIDERING the patient with possible infective endocarditis, the medical history and physical examination are of paramount importance, for it is the clinical presentation that usually provides the initial clues to the diagnosis. The majority of cases of infective endocarditis still occur in the setting of underlying rheumatic or congenital heart disease, although the 40% to 60% of cases currently falling into this category are much less than the 80% to 90% of cases seen in earlier years.<sup>1,2</sup>A number of other lesions including calcific aortic stenosis and other forms of degenerative heart disease, idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (asymmetrical septal hypertrophy), and mitral valve prolapse ("click-murmur" syndrome) may serve as the substrate for infective endocarditis. In recent years, increasing numbers of cases are found superimposed on prosthetic heart valves. Even normal heart valves can become infected, as in acute bacterial endocarditis due to<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>. Fever is present in
Distance versus position information in the control of aiming movements
Authors: P. C. W. van Wieringen, P. J. Beek
Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1997)

Information about positions, from which differences in position are computed (as proposed in the vector-integration- to-endpoint model), provides a more plausible perceptual basis for the control of goal-directed arm movements than information about distance (as proposed in the kinematic model).
Pattern of stress protein expression in human lung cell-line A549 after short- or long-term exposure to cadmium.
Authors: F Croute, B Beau, C Arrabit, Y Gaubin, F Delmas, J C Murat, J P Soleilhavoup
Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives (2000)

Exposure to cadmium is associated with the development of pulmonary damage such as emphysema and lung cancer. This metal is also a powerful inducer of stress proteins in many biologic models. The present study was undertaken to evaluate whether an overexpression of the heat shock protein (hsp)72 stress protein, which indicates repair of damaged proteins, could be a sensitive and early biomarker of environmental pollution by Cd. In comparative studies, we examined the effects of exposure to Cd (as CdCl(2)) on the growth rate of the A549 pulmonary cell line, and (by Western blot analyses) on the induction of the hsp72 stress protein and metallothioneins (MTs). CdCl(2) exposure was studied for periods of 2 hr to 1 month. For short-term exposure (2-6 hr) to Cd concentrations higher than 50 microM, an overexpression of hsp72 appeared 6 hr later, suggesting that hsp72 might be considered an early biomarker of acute exposure to Cd. For exposures lasting more than 4 days, lower doses of Cd (0.1-10 microM) similar to levels encountered in occupational exposure induced a significant increase of the hsp72 level. Because the increase of hsp72 occurs for doses that did not affect cell proliferation, our work supports the idea that its overexpression might be used as a sensitive indicator of occupational exposure to Cd. However, increased resistance to Cd appeared in A549 cells exposed for 1 month and overexpression of hsp72 disappeared simultaneously. It is possible that, in vivo, cell adaptation also occurs throughout chronic exposure to Cd, with a decrease of hsp induction as a consequence. A dose-related increase of MTs was found after 4 days of exposure to Cd concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 10 microM without change of overexpression during chronic exposure, suggesting that MT expression could be a more constant indicator of Cd pollution. Because 0.1 microM Cd (11 microg/L) induces hsp72 expression, showing the presence of damaged proteins, our work suggests that the maximum allowable biologic exposure limit should be lowered.
Receiving a summary of the results of a trial: qualitative study of participants' views
Authors: Mary Dixon-Woods, Clare Jackson, Kate C Windridge, Sara Kenyon
Journal: BMJ (2006)

<h3>Abstract</h3> Golden Ratio proportions are found throughout the world of multicellular organisms but the underlying mechanisms behind their appearance and their adaptive value if any remain unknown. The Golden Ratio is a real-valued number but cell population counts are whole numbered. Binet9s formula connects the Golden Ratio to the whole numbered Fibonacci sequence (<i>f</i><sub><i>n</i>+1</sub> = <i>f</i><sub><i>n</i></sub> + <i>f</i><sub><i>n</i>–1</sub> where <i>f</i><sub>1</sub> = 1 and <i>f</i><sub>2</sub> = 2), so we seek a cellular mechanism that yields Fibonacci cell kinetics. Drawing on Fibonacci's description of growth patterns in rabbits, we develop a matrix model of Fibonacci cell kinetics based on an asymmetric pause between mitoses by daughter cells. We list candidate molecular mechanisms for asymmetric mitosis such as epigenetically asymmetric chromosomal sorting at anaphase due to cytosine-DNA methylation. A collection of Fibonacci-sized cell groups produced each by mitosis needs to assemble into a larger multicellular structure. We find that the mathematics for this assembly are afforded by a simple molecular cell surface configuration where each cell in each group has four cell to cell adhesion slots. Two slots internally cohere a cell group and two adhere to cells in other cell groups. We provide a notation for expressing each cell's participation in dual Fibonacci recurrence relations. We find that single class of cell to cell adhesion molecules suffices to hold together a large assembly of chained Fibonacci groups having Golden Ratio patterns. Specialized bindings between components of various sizes are not required. Furthermore, the notation describes circumstances where chained Fibonacci-sized cell groups may leave adhesion slots unoccupied unless the chained groups anneal into a ring. This unexpected result suggests a role for Fibonacci cell kinetics in the formation of multicellular ring forms such as hollow and tubular structures. In this analysis, a complex molecular pattern behind asymmetric mitosis coordinates with a simple molecular cell adhesion pattern to generate useful multicellular assemblies. Furthermore, this reductively unifies two of the hypothesized evolutionary steps: multicellularity and cellular eusociality.
Usefulness of FDG PET/CT in the Diagnosis of Eosinophilic Fasciitis
Authors: Hyun Jeong Kim, Sang-Won Lee, Gi Jeong Kim, Jae-Hoon Lee
Journal: Clinical Nuclear Medicine (2013)

Eosinophilic fasciitis is a rare disorder with similar characteristics of scleroderma-like illness. We report a case of eosinophilic fasciitis in a 37-year-old woman with a 3-month history of progressive stiffness involving her forearms and lower legs. Laboratory test disclosed elevated erythrocyte sedimentation ratio and hypereosinophilia. On PET/CT images, FDG uptake was increased along the fasciae of bilateral upper and lower extremities while sparing muscles and subcutaneous fat. Biopsy was performed and histologic examination confirmed diagnosis of eosinophilic fasciitis. FDG PET/CT may be helpful in the diagnosis of eosinophilic fasciitis as it could clearly illustrate anatomical involvement of the disease.
Effect of Natural Grass Pollen Exposure on Exhaled Nitric Oxide in Asthmatic Children
Authors: EUGENIO BARALDI, SABINA CARRÀ, CINZIA DARIO, NICOLETTA AZZOLIN, RICCARDO ONGARO, GUIDO MARCER, FRANCO ZACCHELLO
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (1999)

Exhaled nitiric oxide (NO) is increased in exhaled breath of asthmatic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal changes of exhaled NO outside and during the pollen season in pollen-allergic asthmatic children. Twenty-one children (age 6 to 16 yr), with a seasonal allergic asthma sensitive to grass pollen, underwent measurements of exhaled NO and pulmonary function before (March), during (May), and after (November) the pollen season. Exhaled NO was measured by a tidal breathing method with a chemiluminescence analyzer and NO steady-state levels were recorded. The timing of the measurements during the pollen season was based on the atmospheric pollen count. Exhaled NO values of asthmatic children were compared with those of 21 sex- and age-matched healthy children. Pulmonary function and symptoms of asthma were also evaluated at each visit. The mean value of exhaled NO before the grass season was 12.7 +/- 5.1 ppb (mean +/- SD), significantly higher when compared with controls (7.8 +/- 2.7 ppb, p < 0.001). In the pollen season there was a significant (p < 0.001) twofold increase in exhaled NO (21.4 +/- 7.6 ppb) that, after the season, returned to values similar (12.8 +/- 5.8 ppb, p = NS) to those found before the season. There were no significant changes in FEV1 before and during the season (98.6% predicted versus 101% predicted, p = NS). We conclude that natural allergen exposure is related to an increase of exhaled NO in asthmatic grass pollen-allergic children even in absence of significant changes in airways function. We speculate that measurement of exhaled NO could be a sensitive noninvasive marker of asthma disease activity.
Splenectomy in the Chronic Phase of Chronic Granulocytic Leukemia
Authors: DANIEL C. IHDE
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1976)

Splenectomy in the chronic phase of chronic granulocytic leukemia was done in 32 patients, in 24 as part of a trial of elective splenectomy in early disease and in 8 because of thrombocytopenia preventing adequate therapy of the chronic phase. Patients with splenectomy had a median survival after diagnosis of 60 months. However, survival of patients operated on within 1 year of diagnosis was no different (median, 44 months) from that recorded in 120 consecutive Philadelphia chromosome-positive patients treated during the same time period (median, 42 months). After blastic transformation of disease, splenectomy patients survived slightly longer, responded more frequently to platelet transfusions, and avoided the morbidity of massive splenomegaly seen in 30% of patients treated with spleens retained. Response to blastic phase chemotherapy, however, was not improved. Prophylactic splenectomy in the chronic phase of disease did not influence survival but may ameliorate some complications of the terminal stages of illness.
Passive smoking and children
Authors: R. Ferrence
Journal: BMJ (2010)

Full protection is needed urgently

On the 24 March, the tobacco advisory group of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in England published its report on passive smoking and children. The report details the effects of exposure to secondhand smoke in children and includes a chapter on associated costs, a consideration of ethical problems, and a review of potential strategies to tackle the problem.1

The report attests to the substantial expansion of research on the health effects of passive smoking and the measurement of harmful exposure.1 We now know that no level of exposure is safe; that exposure to passive smoke in childhood is strongly associated with a range of respiratory effects and serious diseases, including sudden infant death syndrome; and that exposure is a likely cause of brain tumours, leukaemia, and meningitis in children.1 2 3 However, the report excludes established late effects of in utero, childhood, and adolescent exposure including reductions in the fertility of female offspring,4 and breast cancer in premenopausal adult women.2 5 In fact, evidence is mounting that non-smokers exposed as children are at risk of a range of adult …
Studies in Adaptation to Acute Parathyroid Deficiency
Authors: Stanley W. Jacob, Mohamad J. Rastegar
Journal: JAMA (1963)

IN 1908, Kocher<sup>1</sup>implanted autologous thyroid tissue, "the size of a pea," into the metaphysis of dogs. "A period of time later," he performed a total thyroparathyroidectomy. The animals did not develop tetany (the exact percentage of those benefited was not given). Kocher reported that he implanted only thyroid tissue, and postulated that "thyroid tissue gives rise to the development of parathyroid." During the last half-century, 100 patients with acute and chronic hypoparathyroidism have been "successfully" treated by homologous parathyroid, heterologous parathyroid, and nonspecific tissue implants. Critical appraisal of the reported successes indicates that 71 of the 100 experienced unquestionable symptomatic improvement for periods of at least 3 months. However, convincing histologic proof of surviving parathyroid tissue was not demonstrated in these cases.<sup>2</sup> It is difficult to avoid reaching the conclusion that symptomatic benefit, secondary to parathyroid implantation, may result from adaptation to the hypoparathyroid state stimulated
A Singular View: The Art of Seeing With One Eye
Authors: Jane J. Olson
Journal: JAMA (1987)

This book was written as a manual for the "newly one-eyed" and addresses the problems that occur during daily living with monocular vision. It delivers a practical and positive message. The author, who had his right eye removed in midlife following an airplane accident, writes to share the methods he learned (using head movements, shadows, relative angles, and gadgets) to regain function in the absence of other more usual sources of information for the monocular. Mr Brady targets the book for others who have recently lost an eye by using large print and straightforward concepts and explanations. He effectively describes numerous situations that were problematic for him, and the various adaptations he found most successful. He details methods for performing simple tasks such as shaking hands, pouring water, and crossing the street, as well as complex activities such as flying, driving, and sports. Equally important, he communicates the determination and
Hyperresponsiveness of vitamin D receptor gene expression to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. A new characteristic of genetic hypercalciuric stone-forming rats.
Authors: J Yao, P Kathpalia, D A Bushinsky, M J Favus
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1998)

Hypercalciuria in genetic hypercalciuric stone-forming (GHS) rats is accompanied by intestinal Ca hyperabsorption with normal serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] levels, elevation of intestinal, kidney, and bone vitamin D receptor (VDR) content, and greater 1,25(OH)2D3-induced bone resorption in vitro. To test the hypothesis that hyperresponsiveness of VDR gene expression to 1,25(OH)2D3 may mediate these observations, male GHS and wild-type Sprague- Dawley normocalciuric control rats were fed a normal Ca diet (0.6% Ca) and received a single intraperitoneal injection of either 1,25(OH)2D3 (10-200 ng/100 g body wt) or vehicle. Total RNAs were isolated from both duodenum and kidney cortex, and the VDR and calbindin mRNA levels were determined by Northern blot hybridization using specific cDNA probes. Under basal conditions, VDR mRNA levels in GHS rats were lower in duodenum and higher in kidney compared with wild-type controls. Administration of 1,25(OH)2D3 increased VDR gene expression significantly in GHS but not normocalciuric animals, in a time- and dose-dependent manner. In vivo half-life of VDR mRNA was similar in GHS and control rats in both duodenum and kidney, and was prolonged significantly (from 4-5 to > 8 h) by 1,25(OH)2D3 administration. Neither inhibition of gene transcription by actinomycin D nor inhibition of de novo protein synthesis with cycloheximide blocked the upregulation of VDR gene expression stimulated by 1,25(OH)2D3 administration. No alteration or mutation was detected in the sequence of duodenal VDR mRNA from GHS rats compared with wild-type animals. Furthermore, 1,25(OH)2D3 administration also led to an increase in duodenal and renal calbindin mRNA levels in GHS rats, whereas they were either suppressed or unchanged in wild-type animals. The results suggest that GHS rats hyperrespond to minimal doses of 1,25(OH)2D3 by an upregulation of VDR gene expression. This hyperresponsiveness of GHS rats to 1,25(OH)2D3 (a) occurs through an increase in VDR mRNA stability without involving alteration in gene transcription, de novo protein synthesis, or mRNA sequence; and (b) is likely of functional significance, and affects VDR-responsive genes in 1, 25(OH)2D3 target tissues. This unique characteristic suggests that GHS rats may be susceptible to minimal fluctuations in serum 1, 25(OH)2D3, resulting in increased VDR and VDR-responsive events, which in turn may pathologically amplify the actions of 1,25(OH)2D3 on Ca metabolism that thus contribute to the hypercalciuria and stone formation.
Isolated hepatic lipocytes and kupffer cells from normal human liver: Morphological and functional characteristics in primary culture
Authors: Scott L. Friedman, Don C. Rockey, Richard F. McGuire, Jacquelyn J. Maher, Janet K. Boyles, Glenn Yamasaki
Journal: Hepatology (1992)

The development of techniques for isolating hepatic lipocytes (Ito, stellate or fat-storing cells) from rodents has been instrumental in defining their role in hepatic vitamin A storage and fibrogenesis. In this study, we developed a method for the purification of lipocytes and Kupffer cell from wedge sections of normal human liver and examined their properties in primary culture. Sections of donor liver (400 to 600 gm) harvested but not used for transplantation were perfused in situ with University of Wisconsin solution and used for lipocyte isolation within 48 hr. Cells were isolated by catheter perfusion of the wedge through several large vessels with L-15 salts, Pronase and collagenase, followed by Larex density gradient centrifugation. Lipocytes were plated on either uncoated plastic or a basement membrane-like gel. Lipocyte and Kupffer cell yields were 2.3 ± 0.6 × 10 5 and 8.6 ± 1.4 × 10 5 cells, respectively, per gram of liver (n = 5). Lipocyte purity was 91% as assessed by vitamin A autofluorescence, and Kupffer cell purity was 83% as determined by uptake of fluorescinated staphylococci. Lipocytes cultured on the plastic spread within 48 to 72 hr, displaying slightly more heterogeneous retinoid droplet size than comparable rat cells; on a basement-membrane gel, the cells remained aggregated and spherical with occasional spindlelike extensions. Lipocytes on plastic expressed procollagens I and III, collagen IV and laminin by immunocytochemistry, and types I, III and IV procollagen messenger RNAs by RNAse protection, Northern blot and polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy of lipocytes at 7 days demonstrated a prominent rough endoplasmic reticulum and contractile filaments. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a smooth cell surface with perinuclear droplets beneath the cell membrane. With continued primary culture on plastic (more than 7 days), cells appeared “activated” (i.e., increased spreading and diminished retinoid droplets) and began proliferating as assessed by nuclear autoradiography and [ 3 H]thymidine incorporation. Kupffer cells observed by scanning electron microscopy in early primary culture displayed prominent membrane ruffling and lamellipodia. In summary, we have established a reproducible method for the isolation and primary culture of human lipocytes and Kupffer cells. (Hepatology 1992;15:234-243).
The human hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor is a target antigen for liver-infiltrating T cells in autoimmune chronic active hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis
Authors: Hanns Löhr, Ulrich Treichel, Thomas Poralla, Michael Manns, Karl-Hermann Meyer Zum Büschenfelde, Bernhard Fleischer
Journal: Hepatology (1990)

Autoantibodies to the human hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor have been found in nearly 50% of the sera of patients with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis and in 15% of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. In this study we demonstrate that the human hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor is also a target antigen for T cell-mediated immune responses. Peripheral blood lymphocytes of 37% (7 of 19) of patients with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis and 33% (2 of 6) of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis showed a proliferative response to highly purified human hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor, whereas no proliferation was found with peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with chronic viral hepatitis (0 of 13) and healthy blood donors (0 of 4). Moreover, we isolated T-cell clones from liver biopsy samples of two patients with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis and two patients with peripheral blood lymphocytes. Between 2.8% and 14.3% of these clones showed a specific proliferative response to purified human hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor. The response was restricted to autologous antigen-presenting cells and could be blocked by monoclonal antibodies against human leukocyte antigen-DR molecules. The response of T cells to the human hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor did not require the lectinlike activity of the asialoglycoprotein receptor. Thus the human hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor could be identified as a major target antigen of humoral and cellular immune reactions in autoimmune-mediated liver diseases.