tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Vinyl chloride and the liver
Authors: Morris Sherman
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2009)

Vinyl chloride monomer is a known cause of angiosarcoma of the liver. It also has other toxic effects on the liver, and it has recently been suggested that exposure to vinyl chloride also causes hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the data on which this conclusion is based is incomplete. There is inadequate ascertainment of unequivocal diagnoses. In the largest studies lack of data meant that confounding diseases such as viral hepatitis or alcoholic liver disease could not be assessed. At best, the increase in risk is minimal, based on more than 22,000 exposed workers and more than 640,000 person years of observation.However, based on the available data the hypothesis that vinyl chloride causes or contributes to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma remains unproven. Vinyl chloride monomer is a known cause of angiosarcoma of the liver. It also has other toxic effects on the liver, and it has recently been suggested that exposure to vinyl chloride also causes hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the data on which this conclusion is based is incomplete. There is inadequate ascertainment of unequivocal diagnoses. In the largest studies lack of data meant that confounding diseases such as viral hepatitis or alcoholic liver disease could not be assessed. At best, the increase in risk is minimal, based on more than 22,000 exposed workers and more than 640,000 person years of observation. However, based on the available data the hypothesis that vinyl chloride causes or contributes to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma remains unproven. Vinyl chloride and the liver: Misrepresentation of epidemiological evidenceJournal of HepatologyVol. 52Issue 5PreviewIn reviewing the epidemiological literature on vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), Sherman incurred errors and misrepresentation of the overall evidence [1]. Full-Text PDF Open Access
Waiting list statistics. III. Comparison of two measures of waiting times.
Authors: B Don, A Lee, M J Goldacre
Journal: BMJ (1987)

The length of time that patients spend on waiting lists is a topic of current concern. Calculating the proportion of patients who have been on a waiting list for a long time by taking a census of patients on the list at a single point in time will tend to yield a higher estimate than that obtained by calculating waiting times of patients admitted to hospital during a period of time. To illustrate this point the waiting times of patients in the Oxford region as measured by SBH 203 returns ("census" data) were compared with those as measured by the Hospital Activity Analysis ("event" data). As expected, the SBH 203 census returns showed a higher proportion of patients who had waited over a year compared with the "event" measure of all admissions. This difference, which is analagous to the difference between prevalence and incidence in epidemiology, should be considered when using data from these sources to calculate waiting times.
Chronic hypertension in rabbits induced by bilateral placement of rigid casts around the carotid sinus regions
Authors: P. G. BURSTYN, D. F. HORROBIN, I. J. LLOYD
Journal: Cardiovascular Research (1972)

Journal Article Chronic hypertension in rabbits induced by bilateral placement of rigid casts around the carotid sinus regions Get access PETER G. BURSTYN, PETER G. BURSTYN From the Department of Medical Physiology, Nairobi Medical School, Kenya Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar DAVID F. HORROBIN, DAVID F. HORROBIN 2 From the Department of Medical Physiology, Nairobi Medical School, Kenya 2 Reprint requests to DFH, Department of Medical Physiology, University of Nairobi, Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar IEUAN J. LLOYD IEUAN J. LLOYD From the Department of Medical Physiology, Nairobi Medical School, Kenya Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Cardiovascular Research, Volume 6, Issue 1, January 1972, Pages 54–56, https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/6.1.54 Published: 01 January 1972
The Crisis in Ethics, Anno Domini 1979
Authors: H. Thomas Ballantine
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1979)

BY selecting me as your 170th speaker, the Councilors of the Massachusetts Medical Society have accorded me a great honor, for which I am deeply appreciative. This custom of an Annual Discourse or Oration was inaugurated 175 years ago and has been a feature of each of our annual meetings since 1832. Our most distinguished medical leaders have presented their views in this forum, and their discourses have covered the whole of medicine. For example, the inaugural address was given in 1804 by Isaac Rand, president of the society, who spoke on "Phthisis Pulmonalis and the Use of the Warm . . .
Synthesis of heat shock proteins in rat liver after ischemia and hyperthermia
Authors: Gaetano Cairo, Lidia Bardella, Luisa Schiaffonati, Aldo Bernelli-Zazzera
Journal: Hepatology (1985)

Ischemia of rat liver is followed by recovery or cell death. Since heat shock proteins may be essential to cell survival under stress, we determined levels of heat shock proteins in liver after different periods of blood deprivation and correlated the results with cellular recovery. Cell-free synthesis by poly (A+)-mRNA and polysomes revealed 70 and 89 kd proteins which appear similar to proteins produced by the liver of rats with amphetamine-induced hyperthermia. The 70 and 89 kd proteins increased in the liver of rats which recovered from ischemia.
Independent Association Between Plasma Leptin and C-Reactive Protein in Healthy Humans
Authors: Abu S.M. Shamsuzzaman, Mikolaj Winnicki, Robert Wolk, Anna Svatikova, Bradley G. Phillips, Diane E. Davison, Peter B. Berger, Virend K. Somers
Journal: Circulation (2004)

Background— C-reactive protein (CRP) is synthesized from the liver and is regulated by cytokines, especially interleukin-6. Leptin, the adipocyte-derived protein product of the ob gene, is related to amount of body fat. The long form of the leptin receptor resembles cytokine receptors, which include the interleukin-6 receptor. Both leptin and CRP may be increased in women, in obesity, and in inflammation, and both have been linked to cardiovascular pathophysiological processes and increased cardiovascular risk. We tested the hypothesis that leptin is associated with CRP levels independently of the influences of gender, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio, and other variables. Methods and Results— We studied 100 healthy volunteers (48 men, and 52 women). For all subjects, leptin was independently associated with CRP after adjustment for age, gender, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, smoking, and alcohol consumption (F=12.39, P =0.0007). There was a strong and significant positive relationship between leptin and CRP in both women ( R =0.61, P &lt;0.0001) and men ( R =0.55, P &lt;0.0001) considered separately. The association between leptin and CRP was significant even after adjustment for age, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, smoking, and alcohol consumption in women (F=7.13, P =0.01) and men (F=5.69, P =0.02). When only subjects with BMI &lt;25 kg/m 2 were considered (n=47), CRP was not linked to BMI ( R =0.02, P =0.96), but a significant association between leptin and CRP was still evident ( R =0.55, P &lt;0.0001). Conclusions— Leptin and CRP levels are independently associated in normal humans, providing further evidence linking metabolic and inflammatory cardiovascular disease mechanisms.
Thymocyte Proliferation Induced by Pre-T Cell Receptor Signaling Is Maintained through Polycomb Gene Product Bmi-1-Mediated Cdkn2a Repression
Authors: Masaki Miyazaki, Kazuko Miyazaki, Manami Itoi, Yuko Katoh, Yun Guo, Rieko Kanno, Yuko Katoh-Fukui, Hiroaki Honda, Takashi Amagai, Maarten van Lohuizen, Hiroshi Kawamoto, Masamoto Kanno
Journal: Immunity (2008)
Excessive Insulin Therapy: Biochemical Effects and Clinical Repercussions
Authors: DANA E. WILSON
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1983)

Excessive doses of insulin cause unstable or "brittle" diabetes in many diabetic patients. Chronic insulin overtreatment can be very difficult to recognize because nocturnal hypoglycemia may be infrequent and asymptomatic. Recognition of subtle historical clues and informed interpretation of laboratory results facilitate diagnosis. Some insulin-treated diabetic patients fail to respond to severe nocturnal hypoglycemia with the acute secretion of counterregulatory hormones. "Rebound" morning hyperglycemia coincides with decreased plasma free insulin levels and the normal diurnal rise in plasma cortisol levels. Moreover, these patients show hyperresponsiveness to counterregulatory hormones (particularly cortisol and epinephrine), exaggerated hepatic glucose production, and prolonged impairment of peripheral and splanchnic glucose disposal. When chronic overtreatment is suspected, insulin therapy must be modified to better approximate physiologic needs for glucose disposal. Until fundamental problems of insulin replacement are solved, chronic insulin overtreatment should be considered as one cause of unstable diabetes.
Abstract 11931: Clenbuterol and its (d)-isomer Induce Physiological Cardiac Hypertrophy in Both Normal and Failing Rat Hearts, but Do Not Prevent Myocardial Atrophy Associated with Prolonged Mechanical Unloading
Authors: Manoraj Navaratnarajah, Carin Van Doorn, Urszula Siedlecka, Michael Ibrahim, Adarsh Shah, Ajay Gandhi, Priyanthi Dias, Magdi H Yacoub, Cesare Terracciano
Journal: Circulation (2011)

Clenbuterol (CL) a β2-AR agonist has been used to enhance explantation rates in patients receiving left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for treatment of severe heart failure (HF). CL causes physio...
Review: Aspirin does not reduce CV events but may reduce nonfatal stroke in peripheral artery disease
Authors: Debabrata Mukherjee
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2009)

Source Citation Berger JS, Krantz MJ, Kittelson JM, Hiatt WR. Aspirin for the prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with peripheral artery disease: a meta-analysis of randomized trials. JAMA. 2009;301:1909-19. 19436018
Association of interleukin-2 and interferon-γ production by blood mononuclear cells in infancy with parental allergy skin tests and with subsequent development of atopy
Authors: Fernando D. Martinez, Debra A. Stern, Anne L. Wright, Catharine J. Holberg, Lynn M. Taussig, Marilyn Halonen
Journal: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (1995)
Intracaval Recurrence of Pheochromocytoma Extending into Right Atrium
Authors: Alan R. Rote, Lloyd D. Flint, F. Henry Ellis
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1977)

Although a few cases of renal carcinoma extending into the vena cava and right atrium have been reported,1 2 3 to our knowledge no reported cases of pheochromocytoma have behaved in a similar fashion. In a case of gross tumor extension into the vena cava reported by Young and his associates,4 a local tumor thrombus in the adrenal vein and vena cava was removed with a pheochromocytoma of the right adrenal gland. In the following case we successfully removed a pheochromocytoma extending from the left adrenal gland into the vena cava and right atrium in stages, employing extracorporeal circulation.Report of a . . .
Effect of potassium on the action of the KATP modulators cromakalim, pinacidil, or glibenclamide on arrhythmias in isolated perfused rat heart subjected to regional ischaemia
Authors: A. J D'Alonzo, R. B Darbenzio, T. A Hess, J. C Sewter, P. G Sleph, G. J Grover
Journal: Cardiovascular Research (1994)

Objective: The ATP sensitive potassium channel openers cromakalim (n=10) and pinacidil (n=10), and a blocker of this channel, glibenclamide (n = 10), were studied in isolated perfused rat hearts subjected to regional ischaemia at varying concentrations (2 to 8 mM) of external potassium ([K+]o). Methods: Hearts were isolated and perfused on a Langendorff apparatus. Vehicle (0.1% DMSO), cromakalim (10 μM), pinacidil (10 μM), or glibenclamide (10 μM) were given 10 min before ischaemia. The left coronary artery was then occluded for 15 min and reperfused for 5 min. Results: No agent caused more than a 10% change in heart rate. Both cromakalim and pinacidil increased (30%), and glibenclamide decreased (30%) coronary flow at 4 and 6 mM [K+]o. In the vehicle group, increases in [K+]o produced concentration dependent reductions in arrhythmia scores by decreasing ventricular fibrillation. No concentration dependent effects of [K+]o on ischaemic ventricular tachycardia was observed. Under ischaemic conditions, potassium channel openers and glibenclamide more markedly reduced ischaemic ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation relative to the effects of increased [K+]o. Conclusions: Ischaemic ventricular fibrillation was inversely related to changes in [K+]o, whereas effects on ventricular tachycardia were all-or-none. Neither potassium channel openers nor glibenclamide elicited significant proarrhythmic activity despite variations in [K+]o. These data suggest that both potassium channel openers and glibenclamide display potential antiarrhythmic activity through their ability to abolish two distinct arrhythmogenic mechanisms during ischaemia. It is also suggested that the underlying mechanisms of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation are coupled during ischaemia in the rat.
Health Care Cost and Value
Authors: Laurence F. McMahon, Vineet Chopra
Journal: JAMA (2012)

THE INCREASING COST OF HEALTH CARE HAS BEEN A focal policy issue since the 1970s. During this period, many interventions aimed at moderating health care costs, including the managed-care movement and reforms in hospital and physician payment, have failed. It is estimated that by 2019, 19.3% of the US gross domestic product (GDP) will be devoted to health care. An increasing proportion of GDP committed to health is simply unsustainable. Although there is no more contentious area than the interface between health care delivery and public policy, the fundamental precepts of the health care cost conundrum are simple. Health care cost is merely the sum of services delivered multiplied by their price. To decrease overall health expenditure, either the cost, number of services, or both must decrease. However, this formula must be moderated by clinical value. Although it is easy to measure cost, quantifying value is problematic because it varies by patient preference and clinical circumstance. As the debate regarding the definition of valuable health care continues, a more fundamental problem has developed: the inability to eliminate services that offer little or no clinical value. Any rational attempt to address health care cost must first address these services.
Prognostic indicators in cirrhosis: the role of child classification. Overview of 56 published studies and validation in a prospective cohort of patients
Authors: A. Licata, G. D'Amico, I. Tarantino, D. Fili, V. Criscuoli, M.L. Vitanza, L. Pasta, L. Pagliaro
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2001)
Blood lipid concentrations of dioxins and dibenzofurans causing chloracne
Authors: None Coenraads, None Olie, None Tang
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1999)

Chloracne is caused by exposure to certain halogenated polycyclic hydrocarbons such as polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs). In chronic exposure it is not known what level of intoxication, represented by the level in blood lipids, is sufficient to cause chloracne. Blood levels of the congeners of PCDD/Fs were determined in four groups of humans. One group had clinically visible chloracne due to exposure in a hexachlorobenzene workshop of a large chemical factory. A second group was exposed in the same workshop, but had no skin changes. There were two control groups: one non-exposed group of maintenance workers from the same chemical factory, and one group of healthy individuals living elsewhere. Blood levels were converted to toxicity equivalents of tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). In the chloracne group blood levels in toxicity equivalents (TEQs) ranged from 1168 to 22,308 pg/g blood lipid. In the exposed without chloracne this ranged from 424 to 662 pg/g. It is concluded that the level to develop chloracne is between 650 and 1200 pg/g TEQ. The contribution of TCDD was rather small, and the main causative congeners were the hexachlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (HxCDD/Fs); lipid-based blood levels in absolute amounts that may cause chloracne are in the range of 2-3.5 ng/g HxCDD, and 2-5 ng/g HxCDF.
Ammonia Production in the Human Colon
Authors: Enrique Wolpert, Sidney F. Phillips, W. H. J. Summerskill
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1970)

In 14 healthy volunteers, studied by colonic perfusion technics, colonic ammonia output during steady-state conditions was 1782 ± 233 μg per hour (S.E.). Colonic outputs and concentrations of ammonia in four patients with cirrhosis and encephalopathy were similar. In these patients, blood ammonia concentrations fell during cleansing by perfusion. Treatment with neomycin reduced colonic ammonia concentration and outputs; the urease inhibitor acetohydroxamic acid reduced colonic ammonia output by a systemic effect but had no effect when perfused through the colon. Outputs of ammonia by the colon studied by perfusion approximated the total produced in the cleansed organ. Accumulation of ammonia in the colon was consistent with simple ionic diffusion and production by bacteria. These data validate the rationale for management of hepatic coma, stress the efficacy of effective cleansing of the colon and describe a human model for assessment of therapy.
Immunoreactivity of glycoprotein lib is present in metastasized but not in non-metastasized primary malignant melanoma
Authors: W.CH. PUERSCHEL, M. GAWAZ, W.-I. WORRET, J. RING
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1996)

Glycoprotein Ilb-IIIa (integrin alpha lib beta3) is an adhesive receptor involved in platelet aggregation and adhesion to the extracellular matrix. Previous.studies showed the presence of IIb-IIIa-like glycoproteins on cells of melanoma cell lines and on cells of lymph node metastases. This study evaluates the presence of glycoprotein IIb-IIIa subunits on cells of primary cutaneous malignant melanomas wilh (n= 4) and without (n= 9) metastases over a period of 6 years and on naevus cells (n= 4). Monoclonal antibodies directed against the subunits of the glycoprotein IIb-IIIa receptor were used on paraffin-embedded sections and evaluated by means of immuno-histochemistry. The giycoprotein lib subunit was exclusively present on cells of metastatic melanomas. It was not found on non-metastatic melanomas or benign melanocytes. These data favour the role of the integrin receptor glycoprotein IIb-IIIa in the metastatic behaviour of malignant melanomas.
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin stimulates the formation of eosinophil extracellular traps
Authors: M. Morshed, S. Yousefi, C. Stöckle, H.‐U. Simon, D. Simon
Journal: Allergy (2012)

Abstract Background Thymic stromal lymphopoietin ( TSLP ) that is released by epithelial cells upon certain environmental triggers activates cells of the innate and adaptive immune system resulting in a preferential T helper 2 immune response. By releasing eosinophil extracellular traps ( EET s), eosinophils achieve an efficient extracellular bacterial killing. Eosinophil extracellular traps release, however, has been observed in both infectious and noninfectious eosinophilic diseases. Here, we aim to investigate whether eosinophils generate functional EET s as a direct response to TSLP , and further to study the extra‐ and intracellular mechanisms involved in this process as well as TSLP receptor ( TSLPR ) expression by eosinophils in vitro and in vivo . Methods Thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor expression on blood and tissue eosinophils was assessed by immunoblotting, flow cytometry, and immunofluorescence staining. Purified eosinophils were stimulated with recombinant human TSLP . The release of extracellular DNA in association with eosinophilic cationic protein ( ECP ) was detected by fluorescence staining techniques and confocal microscopy. In addition, cell survival, cell adhesion, production of reactive oxygen species ( ROS ), and the inhibition of bacterial growth by TSLP ‐stimulated eosinophils were measured. Results Thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor was observed on peripheral blood eosinophils as well as on tissue infiltrating eosinophils in skin diseases. TSLP did not affect eosinophil survival, but induced the formation of EET s consisting of mitochondrial DNA in association with ECP in a concentration‐ and time‐dependent manner. Eosinophil extracellular trap release could be inhibited by blocking either cell adhesion or ROS production. While eosinophils prevented the growth of both S taphylococcus aureus and S taphylococcus epidermidis , the latter were unable to elicit EET formation and eosinophils required additional TSLP stimulation to achieve this antibacterial activity. Conclusions t hymic stromal lymphopoietin directly stimulates eosinophils to produce EET s. Our observations link epithelial TSLP expression triggered by environmental factors with pathogen defense mechanisms involving eosinophils.
The analysis of Circe, an LTR retrotransposon of Drosophila melanogaster, suggests that an insertion of non-LTR retrotransposons into LTR elements can create chimeric retroelements
Authors: A. Losada, J. P. Abad, M. Agudo, A. Villasante
Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution (1999)

Circe is a transposable element recently identified in Drosophila melanogaster which appears to be mostly associated with the constitutive heterochromatin. This element shows the structural features of a long terminal repeat (LTR)-containing retrotransposon: It is flanked by 240-bp-long terminal repeats, and its two open reading frames encode putative proteins resembling the gag and pol polyproteins of retroviruses. However, Circe displays striking similarities of both LOA and Ulysses, a non-LTR element and an LTR element, respectively. The result of its phylogenetic and structural analysis has allowed us to propose a new mechanism for non-LTR retrotransposon evolution.
CDC Health Care Courses Offered
Authors: Andrew Skolnick
Journal: JAMA (1990)

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS interested in increasing their knowledge and skills in the public health field can take self-study courses from the CDC's Public Health Practice Program Office. The Self-Study Training Program courses, developed and managed by the office's Division of Media and Training Services, are designed to provide alternative instruction when regular classtoom instruction is either inconvenient or unavailable, says division director Dennis McDowell. Courses are free to employees of agencies, institutions, and universities that are funded by state or local governments, and to CDC employees. Others are charged a nominal $16 fee. The following self-study courses are available: Environmental Health Sciences, Basic Mathematics in Environmental Health, Communicable Disease Control, Vector-Borne Disease Control, Waterborne Disease Control, Foodborne Disease Control, Environmental Protection, Water Fluoridation, Microbial Ecology of Foods, and Principles of Epidemiology. Further information and application forms can be obtained by calling the CDC's self-study staff in Atlanta at (404) 639-2142. The
350 Gene therapy for chronic hepatitis in the woodchuck model using recombinant adeno-associated virus expressing interferon alpha
Authors: P. Berraondo, L. Ochoa, J. Crettaz, A. Vales, F. Rotellar, M. Zaratiegui, J. Prieto, J. Ruiz, G. Gonzalez-Aseguinolaza
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2004)