tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Hydrogen-rich water prevents progression of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and accompanying hepatocarcinogenesis in mice
Authors: Daisuke Kawai, Akinobu Takaki, Atsuko Nakatsuka, Jun Wada, Naofumi Tamaki, Tetsuya Yasunaka, Kazuko Koike, Ryuichiro Tsuzaki, Kazuyuki Matsumoto, Yasuhiro Miyake, Hidenori Shiraha, Manabu Morita, Hirofumi Makino, Kazuhide Yamamoto
Journal: Hepatology (2012)

Oxidative stress is a strong contributor to the progression from simple fatty liver to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Molecular hydrogen is an effective antioxidant that reduces cytotoxic reactive oxygen species. In this study, we investigated the effects of hydrogen-rich water and the drug pioglitazone on the progression of NASH in mouse models. A methionine-choline–deficient (MCD) diet mouse model was prepared. Mice were divided into three experimental groups and fed for 8 weeks as follows: (1) MCD diet + control water (CW group); (2) MCD diet + hydrogen-rich water (HW group); and (3) MCD diet mixed with pioglitazone (PGZ group). Plasma alanine aminotransferase levels, hepatic expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, fatty acid synthesis–related genes, oxidative stress biomarker 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and apoptosis marker terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL)–positive cells in the liver were decreased in the HW and PGZ groups. The HW group showed a smaller decrease in hepatic cholesterol; however, stronger antioxidative effects in serum and lower peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α expression in the liver were seen in comparison with the PGZ group. We then investigated the effects of hydrogen in the prevention of hepatocarcinogenesis in STAM mice, known as the NASH-related hepatocarcinogenesis model. Eight-week-old male STAM mice were divided into three experimental groups as follows: (1) control water (CW-STAM); (2) hydrogen-rich water (HW-STAM); and (3) pioglitazone (PGZ-STAM). After 8 weeks, hepatic tumors were evaluated. The number of tumors was significantly lower in the HW-STAM and PGZ-STAM groups than in the CW-STAM group. The maximum tumor size was smaller in the HW-STAM group than in the other groups. Conclusion: Consumption of hydrogen-rich water may be an effective treatment for NASH by reducing hepatic oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation, and hepatocarcinogenesis.
Monitoring nitric oxide: here to stay for bench and bedside
Authors: P. E. Silkoff
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2005)

This editorial accompanies the publication, on April 15, 2005, of a joint American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Respiratory Society (ERS) statement, which focuses on the measurement of exhaled and nasal nitric oxide (NO) 1. This statement is an excellent example of collaboration between the two societies to produce a document of great relevance to researchers and clinicians alike. For the societies, the publication of recommendations in specific areas of practice is perhaps the best example of how these organisations lead to practical outcomes.

NO is an essential biological mediator of both physiological and pathological processes 2. Its pivotal role in central and peripheral neurotransmission and smooth muscle relaxation is well established, while NO is also a mediator of inflammation and a player in oxidative stress pathways. Its net effect is probably a balance between its physiological and pathological roles, while, for our purposes, it serves as a marker for these processes.

Groups of researchers from many countries produced separate guidelines for the measurement of exhaled and nasal NO, which appeared in the European Respiratory Journal in 1997 3, and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in 1999 4. The current document consolidates and builds upon these efforts. A separate ATS/ERS statement …
MIRROR FOR ANESTHETISTS
Authors: F. W. Brosius
Journal: JAMA (1928)

<h3>To the Editor:</h3> —For the benefit of those members of the American Medical Association who devote their time to the administration of general anesthetics, I would suggest that an automobile rear-view mirror attached to the overhead operating room light and adjusted at the proper angle will give the anesthetist an unobstructed view of the operating field. This enables the gas anesthetist to anticipate each step in the operative procedure and makes for better cooperation between surgeon and anesthetist.
THE EFFECTS OF CHEST IRRADIATION ON PULMONARY FUNCTION*†
Authors: Stanford K. Sweany, William T. Moss, Francis J. Haddy
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1959)

Pathological changes in lung tissue following chest wall irradiation have been adequately documented in the past (1-5).However, pulmonary function has not been systematically studied.Published studies (6-9) are incomplete and the findings complicated by the original disease.In view of this and because of a desire to determine the amount of radiation which might safely be administered to the chest, a systematic study was undertaken in dogs.The results of this study follow. METHODSPulmonary function and vascular resistance were evaluated in dogs before and after irradiation to the chest.All studies were performed under pentobarbital anesthesia.Two different irradiation schedules were utilized.Eight dogs received a calculated dose of 1,000 to 2,900 roentgens (r) to the mid-chest in a single exposure.No animal survived longer than two and one-half months.For practical reasons, it was not feasible to study resistance and function in the same animal.Therefore, resistance was evaluated in the first five animals within 24 hours of irradiation.Diffusing capacity, functional residual volume and compliance were determined in the remain- ing three animals at two to three week intervals.In order to effect a longer period of survival, seven animals were irradiated under a second schedule consisting of a dosage of 200 to 300 r to each side of the chest repeated at weekly intervals up to a total calculated mid-chest dose of 3,000 to 4,800 r.Three of these animals survived longer than six months.Diffusing capacity, functional residual volume and compliance were determined at two to three month intervals following onset of irradiation.Vascular studies were also conducted in four animals at the time of the final evaluation.
Eosinophil chemotaxis inhibited by 5-lipoxygenase blockade and leukotriene receptor antagonism.
Authors: N M Muñoz, I Douglas, D Mayer, A Herrnreiter, X Zhu, A R Leff
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (1997)

We studied the effects of the 5-lipoxygenase inhibition and sulfidopeptidyl leukotriene receptor antagonism on lumenal chemotaxis of eosinophils in 124 guinea pig tracheal explant preparations from 62 animals. Cell migration was assessed histologically and by differential cell count, and airway narrowing was measured by calibrated micrometry. Intralumenal instillation of the chemotaxin, formyl-met-leu-phe (FMLP) caused migration of 163,509 +/- 18,103 eosinophils/cm segment (eos/cm) versus 15,443 +/- 3,557 eos/cm for segments receiving vehicle only (p < 0.001). Coincubation of FMLP with zileuton, a selective inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase, caused a concentration-related inhibition of eosinophil migration. At 10(-10) M zileuton, cell migration caused by FMLP was decreased by 57% and nearly complete reduction to 17,200 +/- 3,620 eos/cm resulted after 10(-6) M zileuton (p < 0.001 versus FMLP). Lumenal narrowing caused by FMLP (15.3 +/- 3.4%) was attenuated maximally to 1.15 +/- 2.51% after 10(-8) M zileuton (p < 0.02). In 36 preparations, concentration of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) was measured in treated tracheal perfusate. LTB4 secretion caused by FMLP was 6.4 +/- 0.48 pg/ml versus 3.32 +/- 0.89 pg/ml for buffer control at 5 min (p < 0.02) and was undetectable 120 min after activation with FMLP. Blockade of LTB4-receptor with the selective antagonist, LTB4 dimethyl amide, caused > 90% inhibition of eosinophil migration (p < 0.001). Comparable results were obtained with zafirlukast, an LTD4-receptor antagonist. Our data demonstrate that both LTB4 and LTD4 facilitate eosinophil migration from lamina propria to lumen caused by the chemotaxin, FMLP, and that LTB4-induced eosinophil migration is accompanied by initial lumenal secretion of LTB4.
Syncope of unknown origin. The need for a more cost-effective approach to its diagnosis evaluation
Authors: W. N. Kapoor
Journal: JAMA (1982)

The records of 121 patients hospitalized in Presbyterian-University Hospital, Pittsburgh, during 1976 to 1980 for syncope of unknown origin were reviewed. The were 58 men and 63 women, whose mean age was 63.1 years. Cardiac monitoring in 67 patients showed abnormalities in seven patients, considered diagnostic of the cause of syncope. In 13 patients with electrophysiologic studies, four patients had abnormal results, suggesting a probable cause for the syncope. Cardiac catheterization in 14 patients showed significant findings that demonstrated the cause of syncope in three patients. Glucose tolerance tests in 37 patients, head computed tomographic scans in 39 patients, radionuclide brain scans in 15 patients, lumbar punctures in 22 patients, and skull roentgenograms in 46 patients did not aid in the diagnosis of the cause of syncope in any patient. In 67 patients, EEGs produced abnormal results in 26, but the role of EEGs in the diagnostic workup of syncope could not be completely defined. The definitive cause for syncope was diagnosed in only 13 of 121 patients, with an average hospitalization of nine days and an average cost of $2,463 per patient. These findings suggest that an extensive evaluation of syncope is cost--ineffective and that prospective goal-directed approaches need to be developed.
Mould's Medical Anecdotes, Omnibus Edition, by R F Mould
Authors: L. Farrell
Journal: BMJ (1997)

R F Mould / Institutes of Physics Publishing, £16.95, pp 492 / ISBN 0 7503 0390 5

We medical writers are truly blessed; not only are we great people and famously skilful and sensitive lovers, but we also have another huge and enduring advantage over our lay colleagues. “If you can't laugh at your patients, what good are they?” said the eminent psychiatrist Dr Frasier Crane, with all the conviction and veracity that only a fictional television character in a drunken stupor can summon, and, like the idiot savant, his words disclose a …
The family impact of skin diseases: the Greater Patient concept
Authors: M.K.A. Basra, A.Y. Finlay
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (2007)

Although the impact of skin disease on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is well known, little work has been carried out to determine the secondary impact of a patient's skin disease on the patient's family or partner.The aim of this study was to identify the different aspects of a family member's QoL that may be affected by having a family member with skin disease.Qualitative interviews were conducted with 50 family members/partners of patients attending the outpatient clinic of a university hospital, with a wide range of dermatological conditions (n = 21). Subjects were invited to discuss in detail all the ways that their lives were affected by living with a patient with skin disease.The mean age of subjects (M = 19; F = 31) was 48.1 years (SD = 15.7) most were either parents (44%) or spouses/partners (44%) of the patients. Patients' ages (M = 16; F = 34) ranged from 5 months to 84 years. Fifty-nine aspects of QoL of family members were identified that were adversely affected by the patients' skin disease. These were categorized into 18 main topic areas: Emotional distress (98%), Burden of care (54%), Effect on housework (42%), Social life (48%), Holidays (46%), Financial aspect (30%), Physical well-being (22%), Job/study (40%), Leisure activities (26%), Sleep (20%), Food/drink (12%), Restriction of liked activities (14%), Need for support (12%), People's attitude (10%), Dissatisfaction with medical care (14%), Effect on sex life (8%), Role of religious faith (8%) and Miscellaneous (16%). There was no significant difference between male and female subjects regarding main QoL areas affected. The median number of main topic areas reported per family member was five (mean = 5.2, range = 1-10, SD = 2.64).This study has demonstrated that skin diseases can significantly impair the HRQoL of the patient's family in very diverse ways. Asking family members about this impact is greatly appreciated by them. We propose the 'Greater Patient' concept to describe the immediate close social group affected by a person having skin disease.
Effects of Major Depression on Moment-in-Time Work Performance
Authors: Philip S. Wang, Arne L. Beck, Pat Berglund, David K. McKenas, Nicolaas P. Pronk, Gregory E. Simon, Ronald C. Kessler
Journal: American Journal of Psychiatry (2004)

Although major depression is thought to have substantial negative effects on work performance, the possibility of recall bias limits self-report studies of these effects. The authors used the experience sampling method to address this problem by collecting comparative data on moment-in-time work performance among service workers who were depressed and those who were not depressed.The group studied included 105 airline reservation agents and 181 telephone customer service representatives selected from a larger baseline sample; depressed workers were deliberately oversampled. Respondents were given pagers and experience sampling method diaries for each day of the study. A computerized autodialer paged respondents at random time points. When paged, respondents reported on their work performance in the diary. Moment-in-time work performance was assessed at five random times each day over a 7-day data collection period (35 data points for each respondent).Seven conditions (allergies, arthritis, back pain, headaches, high blood pressure, asthma, and major depression) occurred often enough in this group of respondents to be studied. Major depression was the only condition significantly related to decrements in both of the dimensions of work performance assessed in the diaries: task focus and productivity. These effects were equivalent to approximately 2.3 days absent because of sickness per depressed worker per month of being depressed.Previous studies based on days missed from work significantly underestimate the adverse economic effects associated with depression. Productivity losses related to depression appear to exceed the costs of effective treatment.
GONORRHEAL OPHTHALMIA—REPORT OF CASE.
Authors: HENRY W. WANDLESS
Journal: JAMA (1897)

T. F. S., a strong, robust young man, contracted a typical case of gonorrhea. As he did not regard it with much anxiety, and as it was no unusual thing with him, he began treating himself. On the eighth day of its progress his left eye became inflamed and in three hours, at which time I saw him, his eye was violently inflamed, discharging profusely and very much swollen. He told me his story and I saw that I had a serious case to handle. I decided that heroic treatment was demanded at once. I lost no time, after cleansing the eye, in applying a nitrate of silver solution, 40 grs. to the ounce of water, thoroughly to both upper and lower lids; after allowing it to rest a few moments, cleared off the excess with solution of acid boric 4 per cent. and common salt. I then put him
Graded Activity Program for Safe Return to Self-Care After Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Harvey D. Cain
Journal: JAMA (1961)

The Graded Activity Program was designed to provide a safe schedule of progressive, supervised self-care activities for patients with recent myocardial infarction. Program performance of 335 patients was analyzed for physical and electrocardiographic response. It was found that electrocardiographic monitoring of early activity is a more reliable means of ascertaining the presence of coronary insufficiency than are physical signs or symptoms. The electrocardiogram proved to be a sensitive indicator of changes of cardiac tolerance. The author concludes that a patient's program performance provides a sound basis for prescribing permissible activity in the postinfarction period. Accumulating evidence indicates that a more accurate prognosis may thus be achieved.
Combined tissue-type plasminogen activator and prostacyclin therapy for acute myocardial infarction
Authors: Eric J Topol, Stephen G Ellis, Robert M Califf, Barry S George, David C Stump, Eric R Bates, Elizabeth G Nabel, Joseph A Walton, Richard J Candela, Kerry L Lee, Eva M Kline, Bertram Pitt
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (1989)
Hepatic and extrahepatic malignancies in primary sclerosing cholangitis
Authors: Annika Bergquist, Anders Ekbom, Rolf Olsson, Dan Kornfeldt, Lars Lööf, Åke Danielsson, Rolf Hultcrantz, Stefan Lindgren, Hanne Prytz, Hanna Sandberg-Gertzén, Sven Almer, Fredrik Granath, Ulrika Broomé
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2002)
Aetiology of cancer of the oesophagus: geographical studies in the footsteps of Marco Polo and beyond.
Authors: P M Sagar
Journal: Gut (1989)

Aetiology of cancer of the oesophagus: geographical studies in the footsteps of Marco Polo and beyond Three areas in the world have a high prevalence of cancer of the oesophagus.Two lie at the extremes of the old silk routes pioneered by Marco Polo - around the shores of the Caspian Sea in northern Iran and in the Henan and Shanxi provinces of China.The third area, with the highest prevalence, is the Homeland state of Transkei in South Africa.Cancer of the oesophagus here is 14 times more common than hepatoma -the next most common malignant tumour -and in southern districts accounts for 20% of all adult deaths.'Possible aetiological factors include a similar diet; in particular, a diet rich in cereal but poor in fresh fruit and vegetables.In the Chinese regions a pot of millet gruel is often the sole food while home-made bread is the staple diet around the Caspian littoral.In Transkei, maize is grown to the virtual exclusion of all else irrespective of the suitability of the soil or climate.These diets are deficient in riboflavin and vitamins A and C. The three areas also share similar poor quality soil, deficient in trace elements, especially zinc and molybdenum.Zinc deficiency has been implicated in the development of oesophageal cancer under experimental conditions2 whilst molybdenum is a cofactor for the enzyme nitrate reductase so that deficiency allows nitrosamines to accumulate in plants.Each of the three areas have regional peculiarities which are probably of aetiological significance.Alcohol and tobacco, major risk factors in the West, play little or no role in Islamic Iran.The use of opium, however, correlates closely with local variations in oesophageal cancer incidence.Tests for urinary morphine metabolites indicate that the majority of the adult population are opium addicts in affected areas.The tarry residues from opium pipes are frequently eaten mimicking similar practices seen in the Transkei.3The disease in China is particularly common around the foothills of the Taihung mountain range in the north east.The ancients recognised the sinister portent of dysphagia where a 'Throat-God Temple' existed which sadly was destroyed by war in 1927.Nitrosamines and their precursors have been identified in drinking water and food samples.4In Linxian, for example dry wells are used to collect and store rain water.This water is contaminated with human and animal waste but even so is taken home for storage in large ceramic jars.The nitrite content is considerably higher than the levels found in well water in areas of low incidence.Food is often contaminated with fungi and several species can reduce nitrates to nitrites.Both mouldy food
Rubella Vaccination During an Epidemic
Authors: Toru Furukawa
Journal: JAMA (1970)

A boys' school in Japan has suffered recurrent epidemics of rubella. Two epidemics occurred in 1969 which provided the opportunity to test the efficacy of the RA 27/3 rubella strain administered either subcutaneously or intranasally. At the outset of the first epidemic, some of the boys were given RA 27/3 rubella vaccine subcutaneously, whereas in the second RA 27/3 rubella vaccine given intranasally was tested. Good antibody responses were shown in vaccinees inoculated by both routes. As compared to unvaccinated controls, there was a sharp reduction in rubella cases among the vaccinees two weeks after inoculation. The protection produced by subcutaneous vaccination with RA 27/3 in the first epidemic was highly significant statistically. The second epidemic was too small for definite judgment, but intranasal administration of RA 27/3 also appeared to be effective.
Comparison of the Force-Velocity Relation and the Ventricular Function Curve as Measures of the Contractile State of the Intact Heart
Authors: JAMES W. COVELL, JOHN ROSS, EDMUND H. SONNENBLICK, EUGENE BRAUNWALD
Journal: Circulation Research (1966)

The contractile state of the intact canine left ventricle was investigated by determining the instantaneous relations between tension and contractile element velocity (V CE ) during the course of single, isovolumic beats produced by balloon occlusion of the aorta. The relative sensitivity of this relation was compared with that of the ventricular function curve (VFC) by exerting small inotropic influences. In seven experiments, low doses of norepinephrine always shifted the isovolumic force-velocity (FV) relation, increases occurring in maximum V CE (32.7%) and maximum tension (P 0 ) (16.9%). The VFC was unchanged in four of the seven dogs. Moderate hypothermia (average 30.8°C) in four dogs increased P 0 (average 28%), with no change, or a fall, in maximum VCE; the VFC during hypothermia was shifted upward and to the left in two experiments and unchanged in two. Moderate increases in heart rate always produced increases in maximum V CE (average 13.5%) but no change in the VFC was observed. Thus, the isovolumic FV relation proved more sensitive than the VFC in detecting changes in myocardial contractile state and allowed more complete definition of these alterations by providing separation of changes in shortening velocity from alterations in the strength of myocardial contraction.
Book: The Future of Human Reproduction: Ethics, Choice, and Regulation
Authors: A. Caplan
Journal: BMJ (1999)

Eds John Harris, SØren Holm Oxford University Press, £35, pp 264 ISBN 0 19 823761 8 Rating: ![Graphic][1]</img>![Graphic][2]</img>![Graphic][3]</img> It is very hard to produce a timely book about a subject that changes as quickly as technologically assisted reproduction, but John Harris and SØren Holm have managed to do exactly that. The 14 essays in this small volume provide an extremely useful and highly readable overview of the key moral, legal, and social themes raised by new ways of making babies. The topics covered range across a broad intellectual terrain: the moral status of embryos, whether gametes can be treated as property, the usefulness of a framework of “rights” for thinking … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [2]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif [3]: /embed/inline-graphic-3.gif