tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Osteoarthritis in the elderly: clinical and radiological findings in 79 and 85 year olds.
Authors: E Bagge, A Bjelle, S Edén, A Svanborg
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (1991)

The prevalence of joint complaints and clinical and radiological findings of osteoarthritis in wrist, hand, and knee joints was studied in representative population subsamples of 79 and 85 year olds. Joint complaints, clinical findings of osteoarthritis, and radiographic osteoarthritis were more common in women. Age related differences in the prevalence of osteoarthritis were not found. Although there was a correlation between clinical signs of osteoarthritis and radiographic osteoarthritis, clinical signs were often present without radiographic evidence and moderate and severe radiographic osteoarthritis was often present without clinical signs.
Cardiac performance and mortality early after intracardiac surgery in infants and young children.
Authors: G V Parr, E H Blackstone, J W Kirklin
Journal: Circulation (1975)

One hundred thirty-nine infants and small children less than 48 months old were studied during the first 72 hours after intracardiac surgery for a variety of lesions. The hospital mortality rate was 19.4% (27 patients); 16 of those dying succumbed from acute cardiac failure. Deaths from acute cardiac failure were commonest in patients with low cardiac index (CI), and a continuous probability curve relates the two. The mean CI for all patients was 2.51 plus or minus 0.794 l-min minus 1-m minus 2, and that for individual patients varied between 0.6 and 4.9. Cardiac output normalized by surface area (cardiac index) correlated weakly with age. cardiac output normalized by weight did not correlate with age; Mean mixed venous oxygen partial pressure (P-vO2)varied between 17 and 60 mm Hg, and the weighted mean for the group of 80 patients in whom it was obtained was 33.1 plus or minus 6.57 mm Hg. CI and P-vO2 were only slightly related. Acute cardiac deaths occurred more frequently in patients with low P-vO2. Acute cardiac death was more reliably predicted using CI and P-vO2 together than either alone. The average of the mean arterial pressure was 80.5 plus or minus 2.53 mm Hg, and this did not correlate with CI. Mean average systemic vascular resistance was 30.0 plus or minus 8.395 SRU. We conclude that in such patients treatment should be directed toward keeping CI greater than 2.0 l-min minus 1-m minus 2 and P-vO2 greater than 30 mm Hg; that the possibility of maintaining adequate CI and P-vO2 is not related to the age of the patient but is related to the malformation treated; and that a therapeutic trial of reducing left ventricular afterload is indicated in some of these patients.
Verbal Measures of Alexithymia: What Do They Measure
Authors: Graeme J. Taylor, Kenneth Doody
Journal: Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (1985)

Previous studies have shown that measurement of verbal affective expression is influenced by the method used for obtaining speech samples, thereby supporting a situation-dependent, or state concept of alexithymia. In this study monadic speech samples obtained from 20 psychoneurotic and 20 psychosomatic patients, using selected thematic apperception test (TAT) cards, were examined using different methods of content analysis. Although no differences were found with the Gottschalk-Gleser anxiety, hostility outward and hope scales, the psychosomatic patients had a more limited emotional vocabulary than the psychoneurotic patients as measured by an 'affect vocabulary score' (AVS). In contrast to the Gottschalk-Gleser scores (GGS), the AVS correlated with measures of fantasizing ability and would appear to be a more valid method of measuring alexithymia. The findings also supported a trait concept rather than a state concept of alexithymia.
The Bane Report Revisited
Authors: Christopher C. Fordham
Journal: JAMA (1980)

SPEAKING at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges in October 1978, former Secretary of the then US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW), Joseph Califano, Jr, acknowledged that the nation may soon face an aggregate oversupply of physicians.<sup>1</sup>This view is shared by many persons and resisted by others, but it undeniably expresses a continuing dilemma in public and health policy in this country. There has been remarkable expansion of the medical educational capacity of this country during the past two decades. Expansion continues, and with the declining rate of population growth, many knowledgeable people now project an excess aggregate physician supply. Yet, there are many underserved communities, especially in rural areas and inner cities; the geographic maldistribution and the perception of a public preference for more generalist physicians continue to fuel expansion of medical education. The federal government has played a significant role
Measures of Obesity and Outcomes After Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Tamara B. Horwich, Gregg C. Fonarow
Journal: Circulation (2008)

O verweight and obesity have become increasingly com- mon; worldwide, at least 1.1 billion adults are overweight and 312 million are obese, when overweight and obesity are defined conventionally as having a body mass index (BMI) of Ͼ25 kg/m 2 and Ͼ30 kg/m 2 , respectively. 1,2In the general population, overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, 3,4 and thus it is not surprising that in cohorts of patients with prevalent ischemic heart disease or acute coronary events, well over 50% are overweight or obese. 5,6Despite the association between obesity and cardiovascular risk in the general population, a multitude of studies have described an inverse correlation between BMI and mortality in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), including post-coronary revascularization patients and those with acute myocardial infarction (MI); the association between elevated BMI and improved survival has been termed the obesity paradox. 7,8 Article p 482In this issue of Circulation, Zeller et al 9 further investigate the obesity paradox in a cohort of 2229 consecutive patients presenting with acute MI in the Côte d'Or region of France.In assessing the impact of obesity on mortality after MI, the group uses both BMI, a traditional index of obesity, as well as waist circumference, an alternate anthropometric index that is more specific for abdominal obesity.Approximately one-half of the subjects in the study were overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9 kg/m 2 ), one-quarter were obese (BMI Ͼ30 kg/m 2 ) and onehalf had increased waist circumference, which was defined as Ͼ102 cm in men and Ͼ88 cm in women.Left ventricular ejection fraction, type of MI, and acute treatment strategy did not generally differ by BMI or waist circumference values.Of note, BMI was inversely correlated with age and plasma N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide, whereas waist circumference was positively correlated with age and did not correlate with N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide.Consistent with prior studies, survival analysis showed that the risk of death decreased with increasing BMI tertile.In a waist-matched analysis of 832 subjects, BMI was a signifi-
Genome-wide association study in Han Chinese identifies four new susceptibility loci for coronary artery disease
Authors: Xiangfeng Lu, Laiyuan Wang, Shufeng Chen, Lin He, Xueli Yang, Yongyong Shi, Jing Cheng, Liang Zhang, C Charles Gu, Jianfeng Huang, Tangchun Wu, Yitong Ma, Jianxin Li, Jie Cao, Jichun Chen, Dongliang Ge, Zhongjie Fan, Ying Li, Liancheng Zhao, Hongfan Li, Xiaoyang Zhou, Lanying Chen, Donghua Liu, Jingping Chen, Xiufang Duan, Yongchen Hao, Ligui Wang, Fanghong Lu, Zhendong Liu, Cailiang Yao, Chong Shen, Xiaodong Pu, Lin Yu, Xianghua Fang, Lihua Xu, Jianjun Mu, Xianping Wu, Runping Zheng, Naqiong Wu, Qi Zhao, Yun Li, Xiaoli Liu, Mengqin Wang, Dahai Yu, Dongsheng Hu, Xu Ji, Dongshuang Guo, Dongling Sun, Qianqian Wang, Ying Yang, Fangchao Liu, Qunxia Mao, Xiaohua Liang, Jingfeng Ji, Panpan Chen, Xingbo Mo, Dianjiang Li, Guoping Chai, Yida Tang, Xiangdong Li, Zhenhan Du, Xuehui Liu, Chenlong Dou, Zili Yang, Qingjie Meng, Dong Wang, Renping Wang, Jun Yang, Heribert Schunkert, Nilesh J Samani, Sekar Kathiresan, Muredach P Reilly, Jeanette Erdmann, Xiaozhong Peng, Xigui Wu, Depei Liu, Yuejin Yang, Runsheng Chen, Boqin Qiang, Dongfeng Gu
Journal: Nature Genetics (2012)
B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Predicts Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Pediatric Outpatients With Chronic Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction
Authors: Jack F. Price, Anne K. Thomas, Michelle Grenier, Benjamin W. Eidem, E. O’Brian Smith, Susan W. Denfield, Jeffrey A. Towbin, William J. Dreyer
Journal: Circulation (2006)

Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are elevated in adults with heart failure and correlate with functional classification and prognosis. The range and predictive power of BNP concentrations in children with chronic heart failure, however, are not known.Whole blood BNP concentrations were measured in 53 consecutive patients with chronic left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction (biventricular hearts, ejection fraction < 50%, > 3 months since diagnosis). Children who had been hospitalized within 3 months before potential enrollment and those < 2 months or > 21 years of age were excluded. BNP concentrations were measured with the Triage assay (Biosite Diagnostics, Inc, San Diego, Calif). Echocardiographers and clinicians were blinded to BNP levels. An adverse cardiovascular event was defined as cardiac death, cardiac-related hospitalization, or listing for cardiac transplantation. The median age of patients with LV dysfunction was 9.3 years (interquartile range [IQR], 2.7 to 15.1 years). BNP levels were elevated in children with LV dysfunction compared with healthy controls (median, 78 pg/mL [IQR, 22 to 551 pg/mL] versus median, 7 pg/mL [IQR, 5 to 11 pg/mL]; P < 0.0001). Whole blood BNP concentrations were increased in patients who had a 90-day adverse cardiovascular event compared with those who did not (median, 735 pg/mL [IQR, 685 to 1510 pg/mL] versus median, 37 pg/mL [IQR, 14 to 92 pg/mL]; P < 0.001). Patients with a BNP concentration > or = 300 pg/mL were at increased risk of death, hospitalization, or listing for cardiac transplantation (adjusted hazard ratio, 63.6; P < 0.0001).BNP concentrations are elevated in children with chronic LV systolic dysfunction and predict the 90-day composite end point of death, hospitalization, or listing for cardiac transplantation.
Activation of human neutrophil nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, reduced (triphosphopyridine nucleotide, reduced) oxidase by arachidonic acid in a cell-free system.
Authors: J T Curnutte
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1985)

Sonicates from unstimulated human neutrophils produce no measurable superoxide since the superoxide-generating enzyme, NADPH oxidase, is inactive in these preparations. Previous attempts to activate the oxidase in disrupted cells with conventional neutrophil stimuli have been unsuccessful. This report describes a cell-free system in which arachidonic acid (82 microM) was able to activate superoxide generation that was dependent upon the presence of NADPH and the sonicate. For activation to occur, both the particulate and supernatant fractions of the sonicate must be present. Calcium ions, which are required for activation of intact neutrophils by arachidonate, were not necessary in the cell-free system. In quantitative terms, the superoxide-generating activity in the cell-free system could account for at least 20-50% of the superoxide rate observed in intact neutrophils stimulated with arachidonate. Sonicates from patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) could not be activated by arachidonic acid in the cell-free system. In three patients representing both genetic forms of CGD, the defect appeared to reside in the particulate fraction. The soluble cofactor was normal in all three patients and could be used to activate normal neutrophil pellets in the presence of arachidonic acid. Thus, at least a portion of the activation mechanism in the neutrophil, that residing in the soluble phase, appeared to be normal in patients with CGD.
The problems of a "sector" paediatrician.
Authors: M Ryan
Journal: BMJ (1980)

For many decades now even initial medical training in the Soviet Union has been conducted along specialist lines. Given that there is no single curriculum that all intending doctors must follow, there can be no place for the concept of a general medical practitioner whom patients will consult with any presenting symptom, irrespective of their sex and age. The first line of the Soviet health service, far from being embodied in a single type of doctor, has been fragmented among various basic specialists to whom patients may refer themselves. Nevertheless, the Soviet health planners have recognised the desirability of deploying two kinds of specialist in the role of vestigial general practitioners. As readers may recall from one article in this series,1 a proportion of specialists in internal medicine (terapevti) are made responsible for overseeing the adult population in a sector or subdivision of the area served by a policlinic. Similarly, the staff of policlinics include paediatricians who are assigned to separately delimited sectors of children and young persons. One such paediatrician recently felt the need to write about her job in a long letter to the newspaper Meditsin skaya Gazeta2; named as Maria Sergeevna Krutova (the surname was altered by the editor), she lives in Kerch, a town with a population of 157 000 situated in the Crimean peninsula. In this article I draw heavily on the vivid and sometimes moving portrayal of her working conditions and her morale.
Topical Tretinoin (Retinoic Acid) Treatment for Liver Spots Associated with Photodamage
Authors: Elyse S. Rafal, Christopher E.M. Griffiths, Cherie M. Ditre, Lawrence J. Finkel, Ted A. Hamilton, Charles N. Ellis, John J. Voorhees
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1992)

The hyperpigmented lesions commonly called liver spots distress patients, in part because such lesions are associated with aging. We investigated their treatment with topical 0.1 percent tretinoin (retinoic acid).Fifty-eight patients completed a 10-month randomized, double-blind study in which they applied either 0.1 percent tretinoin (n = 28) or vehicle (n = 30) cream daily to the face, upper extremities, or both. Fifteen patients who responded well were than randomly assigned to continue tretinoin therapy or use vehicle alone for six more months. Patients were evaluated by physical examination every month and by analysis of biopsy specimens of lesions obtained at base line and at the end of the 10-month trial.After one month of treatment the patients treated with tretinoin had significant lightening of hyperpigmented lesions as compared with the patients who received vehicle (P less than 0.002). After 10 months, 20 (83 percent) of the 24 patients with facial lesions who were treated with tretinoin had lightening of these lesions, as compared with 8 (29 percent) of the 28 patients with facial lesions who received vehicle. The results for lesions of the upper extremities were similar. As compared with vehicle, tretinoin caused a significant decrease in the degree of epidermal pigmentation and increases in the degree of compaction of stratum corneum, thickness of the granular cell layer, and epidermal thickness. Reductions in epidermal pigmentation evident on histologic analysis were significantly correlated with the degree of clinical lightening of lesions (r = -0.53, P less than 0.0001). During the 6-month follow-up study, specifically identified lesions that had disappeared during the first 10 months of tretinoin treatment did not return in any patient, and six of seven patients who continued to use tretinoin had further improvement.Topical 0.1 percent tretinoin significantly improves both clinical and microscopical manifestations of liver spots; these lesions do not return for at least six months after therapy is discontinued.
Central Placenta Praevia
Authors: J. Price
Journal: BMJ (1948)

the absence of such an opening hearing depends on the pre- sence of an alternative provision to permit it.The only apparent alternative is expansion and contraction of the reservoir for fluid, that is of the bone, at the inner end of the scalae.Such expansion and contraction are the distinctive features of the vibration generated by sound and constitute bone conduc- tion.It appears to follow that if the scalae are the only outlet the movement of the fluid along them is greater, even if the increase is not recognizable, than if a second free opening such as the fenestra ovalis is situated between them and the reservoir to and from which the fluid moves.-Iam, etc., Amersham, Bucks.
The wheat powdery mildew genome shows the unique evolution of an obligate biotroph
Authors: Thomas Wicker, Simone Oberhaensli, Francis Parlange, Jan P Buchmann, Margarita Shatalina, Stefan Roffler, Roi Ben-David, Jaroslav Doležel, Hana Šimková, Paul Schulze-Lefert, Pietro D Spanu, Rémy Bruggmann, Joelle Amselem, Hadi Quesneville, Emiel Ver Loren van Themaat, Timothy Paape, Kentaro K Shimizu, Beat Keller
Journal: Nature Genetics (2013)

Thomas Wicker and colleagues report the whole-genome sequencing of four wheat powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis forma specialis tritici) isolates from different geographic regions. Their comparative genomic analysis provides insights into the evolution of powdery mildews, which are obligate biotropic fungal pathogens. Wheat powdery mildew, Blumeria graminis forma specialis tritici, is a devastating fungal pathogen with a poorly understood evolutionary history. Here we report the draft genome sequence of wheat powdery mildew, the resequencing of three additional isolates from different geographic regions and comparative analyses with the barley powdery mildew genome. Our comparative genomic analyses identified 602 candidate effector genes, with many showing evidence of positive selection. We characterize patterns of genetic diversity and suggest that mildew genomes are mosaics of ancient haplogroups that existed before wheat domestication. The patterns of diversity in modern isolates suggest that there was no pronounced loss of genetic diversity upon formation of the new host bread wheat 10,000 years ago. We conclude that the ready adaptation of B. graminis f.sp. tritici to the new host species was based on a diverse haplotype pool that provided great genetic potential for pathogen variation.
Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Thorotrast Exposure: Establishment of A New Cell Line (Mz–Hep–1)
Authors: Wolfgang G. Dippold, Hans-Peter Dienes, Alexander Knuth, Walter Sachsse, Winfried Prellwitz, Dieter Bitter-Suermann, Karl-Hermann Meyer zum Büschenfelde
Journal: Hepatology (1985)

A human hepatoma cell line, associated with thorotrast exposure, from an hepatitis B marker-negative patient was established as a permanent cell line (Mz-Hep-1) in tissue culture. Histology of the primary tumor, as well as phase contrast, transmission and scanning electron microscopy of the cultured cells showed typical characteristics of liver cells. Mz-Hep-1 cells secreted complement components (C2, C3, C4), carcinoembryonic antigen, lactate dehydrogenase, chymotrypsin, haptoglobin and retinol-binding protein and expressed HLA-, transferrin-, blood group B-related determinants and complement component C5 and carcinoembryonic antigen on their cell surface. Mz-Hep-1 cells represent the first human hepatoma cell line, which is strongly associated with a carcinogen.
Relation of fetal and infant growth to plasma fibrinogen and factor VII concentrations in adult life.
Authors: D. J. Barker, T. W. Meade, C. H. Fall, A. Lee, C. Osmond, K. Phipps, Y. Stirling
Journal: BMJ (1992)

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether reduced fetal and infant growth are associated with higher plasma fibrinogen and factor VII concentrations in adult life. DESIGN--Follow up study of men born during 1920-30 whose weights at birth and at 1 year had been recorded by health visitors, and men born during 1935-43 whose size at birth had been measured in detail. SETTING--Hertfordshire and Preston, England. SUBJECTS--591 men born in east Hertfordshire who still lived there and 148 men born in Preston who still lived in or close to the city. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Plasma fibrinogen and factor VII concentrations. RESULTS--Among men in Hertfordshire mean plasma fibrinogen and factor VII concentrations fell with increasing weight at 1 year (from 3.21 g/l in men of less than or equal to 18 lb to 2.93 g/l in men greater than or equal to 27 lb and from 122% of standard to 103%; p less than 0.001, p less than 0.005 respectively). The trends were independent of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, and social class. Neither plasma fibrinogen nor factor VII concentration was related to birth weight. In men in Preston, however, fibrinogen concentration fell progressively as the ratio of placental weight to birth weight decreased (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS--Reduced growth in fetal life and infancy is strongly related to high plasma concentrations of the haemostatic factors fibrinogen and factor VII. This may be a persisting response to impaired liver development during a critical early period.
Inhibition of the effects of adenosine on force of contraction and the slow calcium inward current by pertussis toxin is associated with myocardial lesions
Authors: M. BOHM, R. BRUCKNER, H. SCHAFER, W. SCHMITZ, H. SCHOLZ
Journal: Cardiovascular Research (1988)

The effects of adenosine and the adenosine receptor agonist (–)-N6-phenyl-isopropyladenosine (PIA) in the presence of isoprenaline on isometric force of contraction and calcium dependent slow action potentials were studied in papillary muscles from guinea pigs pretreated with pertussis toxin and control guinea pigs. Hearts from guinea pigs treated in the same way with pertussis toxin or solvent alone underwent histological examination. For comparison, hearts from isoprenaline treated guinea pigs were also studied. Pertussis toxin specifically inactivates guanine nucleotide binding proteins (N proteins) involved in transmembrane signal transduction in many receptor systems (for example, adenosine receptors, m-cholinoceptors, and alpha2 adrenoceptors). In papillary muscles from control guinea pigs adenosine and PIA in the presence of isoprenaline produced a negative inotropic effect and inhibited the maximal rate of depolarisation of slow calcium dependent action potentials in potassium depolarised papillary muscles. After pretreatment with pertussis toxin the inhibitory effects both on force of contraction and on the maximal rate of depolarisation of adenosine and PIA were abolished. Treatment with pertussis toxin produced disseminated myocardial necrosis and a disseminated cellular calcium overload evidenced by glyoxal-2-bis-hydroxyanil (GBHA) staining. Similar lesions (for example, myocardial necrosis and cellular calcium overload) were also observed after treatment with isoprenaline. In controls neither myocardial necrosis nor cellular calcium overload was found. It is concluded that pertussis toxin sensitive N proteins are involved in the inhibitory effects of adenosine and PIA on force of contraction and on slow calcium inward current during beta adrenergic stimulation. The functional uncoupling of myocardial adenosine receptors or m-cholinoceptors with pertussis toxin resulting in unopposed beta adrenergic stimulation is accompanied by the development of myocardial necrosis and of cellular calcium overload. Hence, an impaired adenosine mediated inhibition during the stimulation of beta adrenoceptors or defective N proteins could contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy due to cellular calcium overload.