tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Hemostatic effect of activated recombinant factor VII (rFVIIa) in liver disease: studies in an in vitro model
Authors: Raúl Tonda, Ana Marı́a Galán, Marcos Pino, Isabel Cirera, Jaume Bosch, Marı́a Rosa Hernández, Antonio Ordinas, Ginés Escolar
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2003)
Taking health status into account when setting capitation rates: a comparison of risk-adjustment methods
Authors: J. B. Fowles
Journal: JAMA (1996)

To compare performance of different health status measures for risk-adjusting capitation rates.Cross-sectional study. Health status measures derived from 1 year were used to predict resources for that year and the next.Group-network health maintenance organization in Minnesota.Sample of 18- to 64-year-old (n=3825) and elderly (aged > or = 65 years; n=1955) members enrolled in a network-model health maintenance organization in Minnesota.Total expenditures in the year concurrent with the health status survey (July 1991 through June 1992) and total expenditures in the year following the survey (July 1992 through June 1993).Capitation adjustment based on demographic measures performed least well. Both self-reported health status measures and diagnoses predicted future expenditures twice as well as demographics. When predicting costs for groups of patients rather than individuals, the demographic model worked well for average groups but tended to overpredict healthier groups and underpredict sicker groups. Ambulatory Care Groups based on diagnoses performed better than self-reported health status both in the retrospective models and across healthier and sicker groups.Without risk adjustment, capitation rates are likely to overpay or underpay physicians for certain patient groups. It is possible to improve prediction using health status measures for risk adjustment. When selection bias is suspected and administrative data are available, we recommend a risk-adjustment method based on diagnostic information. If diagnostic data are not available, we recommend a system based on simple self-reported measures, such as chronic conditions, rather than complex functional status measures.
Smoke and Letters
Authors: Peter N. Lee
Journal: JAMA (1994)

<h3>To the Editor.</h3> —Drs Davis and Chapman<sup>1</sup>are concerned with individuals affiliated with the tobacco industry being able to publish, without peer review, letters that are "poorly informed, misleading" and contain arguments variously described as "weak," "irrational," and "downright silly." As a consultant to the tobacco industry who wrote one of the letters<sup>2</sup>from which the correspondence arose, I have no objections to such peer review. Whether it would be practical, for reasons described well by Dr Rennie,<sup>3</sup>or useful is another matter. Peer review is, after all, no guarantee that published papers or letters are scientifically sound. I do, however, have considerable objections to Davis and Chapman attempting indirectly to smear my work in this way without giving any indication whatsoever as to the basis of their criticisms. Having spent over 25 years evaluating in detail evidence relating smoking and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure to
Trends in survival of hospitalized myocardial infarction patients between 1970 and 1985. The Minnesota Heart Survey.
Authors: P G McGovern, A R Folsom, J M Sprafka, G L Burke, K M Doliszny, J Demirovic, J D Naylor, H Blackburn
Journal: Circulation (1992)

BACKGROUND The Minnesota Heart Survey is a population-based study designed to monitor and explain trends in cardiovascular mortality, morbidity, and risk factors. As part of this effort, a 50% sample of patients hospitalized for myocardial infarction (MI) in the seven-county Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) metropolitan area was reviewed in 1970, 1980, and 1985. Those with a validated definite MI were followed for 4-year mortality. The purpose was to determine whether the improved survival observed between 1970 and 1980 was extended to the 1980-1985 period. METHODS AND RESULTS Crude 28-day mortality in men changed from 18% in 1970 to 12% in 1980 to 13% in 1985; in women it changed from 27% in 1970 to 22% in 1980 to 18% in 1985. After adjustment for severity factors (e.g., age, previous MI, and admission heart rate and systolic blood pressure), 28-day mortality was significantly lower in 1980 than in 1970 in men (RR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.47, 0.92) and in women (RR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.46, 1.04), but no change occurred from from 1980 to 1985 (p greater than 0.25). After adjustment for severity indicators, 4-year survival was better in 1980 than in 1970 for men (RR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.54, 0.83) and for women (RR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.54, 0.98), but there was no significant change from 1980 to 1985 (p greater than 0.25). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that improvements in survival among hospitalized MI patients contributed to the overall decline in coronary heart disease mortality in the Twin Cities area between 1970 and 1980 but not between 1980 and 1985.
A prospective comparison of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration results obtained in the same lesion, with and without the needle stylet
Authors: A. Sahai, S. Paquin, G. Gariépy
Journal: Endoscopy (2010)

Corrected by: A prospective comparison of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration results obtained in the same lesion, with and without the needle styletEndoscopy 2011; 43(02): 168-168DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1256175 See also: Commentaire de travail de A. V. Sahai et al., pp. 900Endoscopy 2010; 42(11): 995-995DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1306708
Evidence for Selection on Gene Expression in Cultivated Rice (Oryza sativa)
Authors: Megan A. House, Cortland K. Griswold, Lewis N. Lukens
Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution (2014)

Artificial selection has been used throughout plant domestication and breeding to develop crops that are adapted to diverse environments. Here, we investigate whether gene regulatory changes have been widespread targets of lineage-specific selection in cultivated lines Minghui 63 and Zhenshan 97 of rice, Oryza sativa. A line experiencing positive selection for either an increase or a decrease in genes' transcript abundances is expected to have an overabundance of expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) alleles that increase or decrease those genes' expression, respectively. Results indicate that several genes that share Gene Ontology terms or are members of the same coexpression module have eQTL alleles from one parent that consistently increase gene expression relative to the second parent. A second line of evidence for lineage-specific selection is an overabundance of cis–trans pairs of eQTL alleles that affect gene expression in the same direction (are reinforcing). Across all cis–trans pairs of eQTL, including pairs that both weakly and strongly affect gene expression, there is no evidence for selection. However, the frequency of genes with reinforcing eQTL increases with eQTL strength. Therefore, there is evidence that eQTL with strong effects were positively selected during rice cultivation. Among 41 cis–trans pairs with strong trans eQTL, 31 have reinforcing eQTL. Several of the candidate genes under positive selection accurately predict phenotypic differences between Minghui 63 and Zhenshan 97. Overall, our results suggest that positive selection for regulatory alleles may be a key factor in plant improvement.
Degree of Obesity and Glucose Allostasis Are Major Effectors of Glucose Tolerance Dynamics in Obese Youth
Authors: Ram Weiss, Anna M. Cali, James Dziura, Tania S. Burgert, William V. Tamborlane, Sonia Caprio
Journal: Diabetes Care (2007)

One of the signals for the beta-cell to maintain an adequate response to worsening insulin sensitivity is elevated ambient glycemia, namely the concept of "glucose allostasis." We examined whether glucose allostasis can be demonstrated using oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) and the effects of the dynamics of beta-cell demand on longitudinal changes of glucose tolerance in obese youth.A cross-sectional analysis of 784 OGTTs of obese youth was used to demonstrate the concept of allostasis, and a longitudinal assessment of 181 subjects was used to examine the effects of changes in beta-cell demand and the degree of obesity on glucose tolerance.Glucose allostasis can be demonstrated using indexes derived from an OGTT. Increasing beta-cell demand and the degree of obesity at baseline were independently related to elevations in ambient glycemia over time. Baseline BMI Z score was a significant contributor to elevated glucose levels on the second OGTT, while the change in degree of obesity during follow-up was not.Increasing beta-cell demand related to worsening insulin sensitivity and the degree of obesity per se have independent roles in the development of elevated glucose levels over time. This implicates that peripheral insulin sensitization and/or beta-cell enhancement alongside a significant reduction in obesity may be needed to prevent the development of altered glucose metabolism in obese youth.
Exhaled nitric oxide is not elevated in the inflammatory airways diseases of cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis
Authors: LP Ho, JA Innes, AP Greening
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (1998)

Airways inflammation has been associated with increased nitric oxide (NO) in the exhaled breath. It was, therefore, questioned whether exhaled NO could act as an indicator of the severity of airways inflammation in the chronic suppurative lung diseases cystic fibrosis (CF) and bronchiectasis. NO levels in a single exhalation were measured using a chemiluminescence analyser. Thirty-six patients with CF and 16 with bronchiectasis were studied and compared with 22 normal subjects and 35 asthmatic patients. All subjects were nonsmokers and all measurements were made when patients were clinically stable. In addition, exhaled NO was measured in 10 CF patients at the time of onset of an acute infective exacerbation and followed for 7 days during the treatment of the exacerbation in eight of the 10 patients. No significant differences were found in NO levels in patients with CF or bronchiectasis compared with normals (median 4.0, 5.5 and 4.4 parts per billion (ppb), respectively), but all were lower than in asthma patients (10.4 ppb). The NO levels in the CF patients at time of exacerbation were not increased and did not change during treatment. These data show that nitric oxide levels in the exhaled breath of patients with chronic suppurative lung diseases, in contrast to asthma, are not elevated, despite the presence of substantial airways inflammation. Possible explanations include poor diffusion of nitric oxide across increased and viscous airway secretions, removal of nitric oxide by reaction with reactive oxygen species in the inflamed environment and failure of upregulation of epithelial inducible nitric oxide synthase in chronic suppurative conditions.
Intolerance of Cow's Milk and Chronic Constipation in Children
Authors: Giuseppe Iacono, Francesca Cavataio, Giuseppe Montalto, Ada Florena, Mario Tumminello, Maurizio Soresi, Alberto Notarbartolo, Antonio Carroccio
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1998)

Chronic diarrhea is the most common gastrointestinal symptom of intolerance of cow's milk among children. On the basis of a prior open study, we hypothesized that intolerance of cow's milk can also cause severe perianal lesions with pain on defecation and consequent constipation in young children.We performed a double-blind, crossover study comparing cow's milk with soy milk in 65 children (age range, 11 to 72 months) with chronic constipation (defined as having one bowel movement every 3 to 15 days). All had been referred to a pediatric gastroenterology clinic and had previously been treated with laxatives without success; 49 had anal fissures and perianal erythema or edema. After 15 days of observation, the patients received cow's milk or soy milk for two weeks. After a one-week washout period, the feedings were reversed. A response was defined as eight or more bowel movements during a treatment period.Forty-four of the 65 children (68 percent) had a response while receiving soy milk. Anal fissures and pain with defecation resolved. None of the children who received cow's milk had a response. In all 44 children with a response, the response was confirmed with a double-blind challenge with cow's milk. Children with a response had a higher frequency of coexistent rhinitis, dermatitis, or bronchospasm than those with no response (11 of 44 children vs. 1 of 21, P=0.05); they were also more likely to have anal fissures and erythema or edema at base line (40 of 44 vs. 9 of 21, P<0.001), evidence of inflammation of the rectal mucosa on biopsy (26 of 44 vs. 5 of 21, P=0.008), and signs of hypersensitivity, such as specific IgE antibodies to cow's-milk antigens (31 of 44 vs. 4 of 21, P<0.001).In young children, chronic constipation can be a manifestation of intolerance of cow's milk.
Relative Versus Absolute Standards for Everyday Risk in Adolescent HIV Prevention Trials: Expanding the Debate
Authors: Jeremy Snyder, Cari L. Miller, Glenda Gray
Journal: The American Journal of Bioethics (2011)

The concept of minimal risk has been used to regulate and limit participation by adolescents in clinical trials. It can be understood as setting an absolute standard of what risks are considered minimal or it can be interpreted as relative to the actual risks faced by members of the host community for the trial. While commentators have almost universally opposed a relative interpretation of the environmental risks faced by potential adolescent trial participants, we argue that the ethical concerns against the relative standard may not be as convincing as these commentators believe. Our aim is to present the case for a relative standard of environmental risk in order to open a debate on this subject. We conclude by discussing how a relative standard of environmental risk could be defended in the specific case of an HIV vaccine trial among adolescents in South Africa.
Authority and Addiction
Authors: Marshall F. Gilula
Journal: JAMA (1970)

Drugs and Youth , edited by J. R. Wittenborn et al (proceedings), 485 pp, with illus, $22.75, Springfield, Ill: Charles C Thomas, Publisher, 1969.  The problem of drug abuse challenges traditional medicine to expand its world view. These two books offer specialized knowledge for the interested physician. Technologyfurthered alienation and the constant crisis of cultural change impel man to use a variety of available drugs for tension-release, as an aid or replacement for adaptive abilities, and as an expression of antiestablishment attitudes and life-styles.   Authority and Addiction is an interesting and well-written summary of experience with hard narcotics addicts over a five-year period at the Washington Heights Rehabilitation Center in New York City. Novelty of the Washington Heights approach to narcotics addiction is two-fold. Treatment at the center included joint management by probation officer (coercive) and case worker (permissive).  Using a broader definition of addiction, the author emphasized that a person
Guide to Clinical Studies and Developing Protocols
Authors: George G. Rhoads
Journal: JAMA (1986)

Appropriate development and conduct of clinical drug studies is an eclectic activity requiring input from clinical medicine, pharmacology, epidemiology, psychology, and management, among other disciplines. In this book, Spilker has assembled fragments of information from these several areas into a monograph detailing the many practical considerations involved. He has produced a hands-on guide for persons who will be organizing or supervising drug protocols. There are 38 chapters on a variety of topics such as types of blinds, randomization procedures, patient populations, dosing schedules, drug handling, protocol writing, and others. The need for statistical support is acknowledged but is specifically excluded from the scope of this discussion.  The strength of the book is its comprehensive approach. Nearly all aspects of protocol development and implementation are discussed, and numerous options for handling them are listed in the 91 tables and figures. Some of these lists are unhelpful, such as the enumeration
Lactation and Breast Feeding
Authors: W. Hunter
Journal: BMJ (1940)

Previous experimental work has shown the unsuitability of ttnperfoirated drums (Hayes, 1937) as containers for sterile dressings even when conditions were favoutrable.The above experiments are too few to enable one to dogmatize, buLt, taken in ccnjunction with previouLs experi- ments, they indicate that an unperforated drum is dangerous.Group C Experiments These experiments were conducted under correct con- ditions-i.e., air was evacuated from the sterilizer by first creating a vacuum of 10 inches, after which the steam-and- air-escape cock situated at the bottom of the sterilizer was opened.Steam, plus air, escaped, and the pressure fell to zero.The' cock was then closed and the pressure raised to that required for sterilization.The cock was now slightly opened so as to allow the discharge of a feathery stream of steam.Exp.I Steam Pressure Durlation of Contents Position of Spores Result No. per sq.in.Sterilization (Large Drum) in Sterilizer 1 10 lb.1152 C. * 20 min.Sheets Upper 2 ,, , .Cotton-wool 3 1511b.121 C.
Probiotics for infectious diarrhoea
Authors: E Isolauri
Journal: Gut (2003)

The modern view of probiotic therapy derives from the concept of a well functioning gut barrier and a normal balanced microbiota. The scientific conception of these host defences has changed; the gut barrier was seen primarily as a physical blockade to foreign antigen entry until its active role in shaping the immune response to luminal antigens was deciphered. Concomitantly, recent experimental and clinical studies demonstrate a dependency on healthy host-microbe interaction to cope with antigen challenges, and consequently attribute the gut microbiota an active role in barrier function.1–3

The most fully documented probiotic intervention is the treatment of acute infectious diarrhoea. Well controlled clinical studies have shown that probiotics such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, L reuteri , L casei Shirota, and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12 can shorten the duration of acute rotavirus diarrhoea.4,5 Numerous publications on different populations have since substantiated the success of specific probiotic strains in the adjunct management of viral …
Manual of Gynecologic Surgery
Authors: John R. Marshall
Journal: JAMA (1980)

This book effectively fulfills the challenge posed by its title. The authors are skilled and experienced surgeons, effective teachers, and lucid authors and illustrators. They have nicely organized the salient features of gynecological surgery into a volume useful to anyone performing these procedures, especially residents.  The book is aptly divided into sections on ambulatory, vaginal, and abdominal surgery, including discussions of wound healing, specific gynecological surgical procedures, and general surgical and urologic procedures pertinent to the gynecologist. The chapters devoted to a single operation or to operations on a given anatomical area all deal with anatomy, preoperative evaluation, operative strategy, operative technique, postoperative management, and results. Pertinent data are included while, in general, extraneous material has been excluded. A valuable section deals with wound healing and the need for atraumatic handling of tissue, a topic often neglected by the gynecologist.  The writing is direct and assertive. The color illustrations are
SURGERY OF THE STOMACH.
Authors: WILLIAM H. WATHEN
Journal: JAMA (1904)

provoked by the use of the hot pack, catharsis with calo¬ mel or other rapidly acting and non-exhausting purge, and diuresis with diuretin or some similar agent are all to be employed as promptly as possible.The few remedies that have been tried and recommended in this disease can not be very highly lauded.They have been tried in far too small a number of cases or else they have been given on too much of a mere empirical basis.Such remedies, however, are the salicylates, benzoate of sodium and large doses of ergotin (gr.ii every hour).As might have been expected, mercury and the iodid of potassium have been experimented with.With a history of syphilis, they are, of course, indicated.Solt- man reported a case in a 11-year-old girl cured by vig¬ orous inunctions.Less desirable, if not positively ir¬ rational, would seem to be such violent measures as strong counter-irritation to the spine with mustard and the actual cautery.Such have been tried, however, and found wanting.Special symptoms, such as the dysphagia, for instance, call for special measures, such as the rectal or nasal tube.In fine, the treatment of Landry's form of intoxication of the nervous sys¬ tem narrows itself down to careful stimulation, rapid, non-exhausting elimination and increased nutrition with absolute rest in bed for a more or less prolonged period.
Response to Zhou et al.
Authors: J.-M. Pascussi, P. Maurel, M.-J. Vilarem
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2006)

Osteomalacia is a frequent complication resulting from long-term therapy with drugs such as phenytoin, carbamazepine, and phenobarbital. We have investigated the crosstalk between pregnane X receptor (PXR) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) and have reported that (a) PXR binds to and transactivates vitamin D–responsive elements in the 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-24-hydroxylase (CYP24) promoter, and (b) PXR agonists increase CYP24 mRNA expression in human hepatocytes and mouse kidney (1). Since the CYP24 enzyme converts 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 to inactive metabolites, these observations provide an objective explanation for the induction of osteomalacia by PXR agonists. In their report on this crosstalk in the June issue of the JCI, Zhou et al. (2) concluded instead that CYP24 is not induced but rather downregulated by PXR agonists. These authors observed neither binding to nor transactivation of the CYP24 promoter by PXR, nor did they find induction of CYP24 mRNA in human hepatocytes. As soon as we became aware of this work, we repeated key experiments using extracts from new hepatocyte cultures and new inducers (SR128123 and CITCO). Moreover, we evaluated the constitutive androstane receptor–VDR (CAR-VDR) crosstalk. Our new results fully confirm our previous findings. In human hepatocyte cultures, the CYP24 mRNA level was increased by rifampicin and 2 other PXR agonists, phenobarbital and SR128123. EMSA not only confirmed the binding of PXR to vitamin D–responsive elements–I and –II of CYP24 but also revealed that CAR binds these responsive elements. This last point is consistent with the finding that CITCO, a specific agonist of CAR, was a weak inducer of CYP24 in hepatocytes and that androstanol, an inverse agonist of CAR, inhibited CAR-mediated transactivation of the CYP24 promoter. We believe that these discrepancies between our work and that published by Zhou et al. (2) could be due to methodological differences in hepatocyte cultures (culture medium), transfection assays (cell lines), and EMSA. More work is currently being done to identify the origin of these discrepancies.