tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Modulation of airway reactivity and peak flow variability in asthmatics receiving the oral contraceptive pill.
Authors: K S Tan, L C McFarlane, B J Lipworth
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (1997)

Female sex-steroid hormones may play an important influence in asthma. The aim of this study was to compare airway reactivity to adenosine monophosphate (AMP) in female asthmatics with natural menstrual cycles and those taking the oral combined contraceptive pill (OCP). Eighteen asthmatic subjects were evaluated. Nine subjects, mean (SEM) age, 24 (6) years, FEV1 93% (10) predicted, with natural cycles (group 1) were compared with nine subjects, age 24 (6) years, FEV1 93% (9) predicted taking the OCP (group 2). Group 1 subjects were evaluated at the follicular (visit 1) and luteal (visit 2) phases; group 2 subjects were evaluated during the week off OCP (visit 1) and at the end of the OCP cycle (visit 2). At each visit, serum progesterone and estradiol were measured. Airway reactivity to AMP was evaluated and expressed as PC20 (FEV1; mg/ml). Morning and evening peak expiratory flow rates (PEFR) were monitored throughout the study. In group 1, there was a significant increase in serum progesterone (nmol/l) and estradiol (pmol/l). (Visit 1 vs. 2): 2.5 vs. 13.5 (95% CI 2.1 to 19.9; p = 0.02) and 152.3 vs. 358.1 (95% CI 113.0 to 298.5; p < 0.001), respectively. In group 2, however, there was no increase between visit 1 vs. 2 in hormones: 0.9 vs. 1.0 and 75.7 vs. 21.8 for progesterone and estradiol, respectively. There was a significant increase in airway reactivity in group 1 during the luteal phase. Geometric mean PC20 (mg/ml) was 18.8 and 4.7 at visit 1 and 2, respectively: a 4.0-fold difference (95% CI 1.25 to 13.03; p = 0.03) amounting to two doubling doses. In contrast, there was no change in PC20 in group 2. Geometric mean PC20 was 23.5 and 21.4: a 1.06-fold difference (95% CI 0.41 to 2.78; p = 0.83). In group 1, morning and evening PEFR (l/min) were significantly different at both visits: at visit 1 (A.M. PEFR vs. P.M. PEFR) 403 vs. 430 (95% CI 5 to 50; p < 0.001) and visit 2, 415 vs. 439 (95% CI 1 to 46; p < 0.001). In group 2, there was no significant difference in diurnal PEFR variability at both visits; 411 vs. 417 at visit 1 and 413 vs. 427 at visit 2. In conclusion, asthmatic patients receiving the OCP had attenuated cyclical change in airway reactivity as well as reduced diurnal PEFR variability, which was associated with suppression of the normal luteal phase rise in sex-hormones.
Abstract 2107: Downregulation of ASPP2 in choriocarcinoma contributes to increased migratory potential through Src activation
Authors: Victor CY Mak, Lee Lee, Michelle KY Siu, Oscar GW Wong, Xin Lu, Hextan YS Ngan, Esther Wong, Annie NY Cheung
Journal: Cancer Research (2011)

Abstract Gestational choriocarcinoma is a malignant tumour derived from placental trophoblast and is the most aggressive member of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD). Apoptotic stimulating protein of p53-2 (ASPP2) is a tumor suppressor member of the ASPP family which transactivates p53-dependent apoptotic pathway. In this study, we examined the expression profile of ASPP2 in choriocarcinoma in comparison with normal placentas and hydatidiform moles which is a type of GTD that carries malignant potential. Results from quantitative PCR and immunohistochemical studies showed that downregulation of ASPP2 was detected in choriocarcinoma at both RNA and protein levels. ASPP2-transfected choriocarcinoma cells (namely JEG-3 and JAR) showed an increase in apoptosis and a decrease in cell migration as detected by Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and wound healing assays respectively, illustrating the complex action of ASPP2 on cell functions other than program cell death. Transfection of ASPP2 but not ASPP1, another tumor suppressive member of the ASPP family, decreased Src-pY416 phosphorylation, suggesting an inactivating effect of ASPP2 on Src. Moreover, this ASPP2-induced inactivation of Src could be abolished by RNA interference using Csk small interfering RNA (siRNA). All these findings suggested that the ability of ASPP2 to attenuate Src activation was specific to ASPP2 in a Csk dependent manner. Taken together, we demonstrated a loss of tumor suppressive ASPP2 in choriocarcinoma with effects on cell migration as well as apoptosis. We also unveiled a possible mechanistic link between ASPP2 and Csk/Src signaling pathway, implicating the multiple cellular functions of ASPP2. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2107. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2107
Broken Britain – prophecy or fantasy? Riots and labelling theory
Authors: Dinesh Bhugra
Journal: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (2012)

Misselbrook raises some very interesting points in his editorial in the October issue of the JRSM.1 I would like to provide another hypothesis. In the 1960s, labelling theory in sociology was used to define and describe deviance and mental illness. Four decades later the theory does not hold up to mental illness but may hold a mirror up to Cameron's Broken Britain. The labelling theory suggested that if labels are applied to individuals, they start to behave like their labels. The creation of the ‘other’ is at the core of self-affirmation and identity. The views of society (especially of those who have the economic and political power) dictate the creation of the ‘other’ or the deviant identity. Is it possible that by harping on the theme of Broken Britain by virtue of his political and social power, a situation is being created where people – especially the young – are feeling alienated? Furthermore, Britain is not a collection of buildings but its people, and if our leader tells us that we are broken, surely we have to listen to and respond accordingly.

Primary deviance or deviant behaviour occurs due to a number of causes, secondary deviance arguably is in response to society's reactions to primary deviance. Having taken on this role (or thrust upon the individual), the people take on the master status which is accompanied by a number of secondary statuses. So why should behaviour of those being labelled as such be any different other than being broken? The final stage in the career deviant is creation of a deviant subculture and subsequent solidification of one's own deviant society.2,3

Furthermore, if they do not already feel a part of the society, the confirmation that they are broken leads to further ‘broken’ behaviour. We know that deviancy and deviant behaviour are not homogenous. Going on about Broken Britain confirms a lack of stake in the country for a number of young, impressionable citizens who may then confirm their identity by joining a dystopian gang culture. Very few people will choose to have a stake or shares (in modern parlance) in Broken Britain. Collective action is needed to deal with collective responses.
Frequency analysis of signal-averaged electrocardiogram in patients with right ventricular tachycardia
Authors: Osamu Kinoshita, Shiro Kamakura, Tohru Ohe, Naohiko Aihara, Hiroshi Takaki, Takashi Kurita, Chikao Yutani, Katsuro Shimomura
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (1992)
FOLDING ESMARCH ANESTHESIA MASK.
Authors: VICTOR F. MARSHALL
Journal: JAMA (1907)

The accompanying illustrations show a modification I have made of Esmarch's anesthetic mask. The hoop wires are supplied with joints at the ring base, thus allowing the hoops to be folded on each other. This gives a flat instrument, which lends itself easily to packing into small compass. The modification was worked out owing to the fact that the ordinary surgical and obstetric bags contain too little room. Our modern armamentarium is bulky and economy of space is desirable. The instrument is simple, durable and compact.
Professional Liability Issues in Graduate Medical Education
Authors: Allen Kachalia, David M. Studdert
Journal: JAMA (2004)

Resident physicians, attending physicians, and graduate medical education (GME) institutions share a collective responsibility to deliver safe and appropriate care to patients. The law does not offer concessions in quality of care to accommodate GME. Resident physicians are generally held to the same standard of care as attending physicians in their respective specialties. This principle encourages resident physicians to seek supervision and attending physicians to provide the same. Attending physicians face malpractice exposure not only for the care they provide but also for the care they direct. In addition, they may be held vicariously liable for the negligence of resident physicians working with them, or directly liable for inadequate supervision. What constitutes adequate supervision is unsettled in the law. As the standards in this area evolve, it is reasonable to expect that the profession's and the public's heightened attention to patient safety will continue to move the courts toward higher standards of supervision. GME institutions and programs bear legal responsibility for both the care they deliver and the negligence of their employees. They also face liability for failing to administer safe systems of care. Work hour restrictions and a growing understanding of the role of organizational factors in contributing to and preventing medical injury may increase the legal expectations imposed on GME programs.
Letter: injudicious first-aid.
Authors: D M Makay
Journal: BMJ (1975)

cause of cardiovascular disease, which ac- counts for about half the excess mortality from smoking.You state that there is little substan(tial decline in either cigarette sales or the num- ber of people who smoke, yet you do not point out ithe dramatic fall of cigarette smok- ing in doctors, in other menbers of social class 1, and in class 2, especially among men.You refer to the impossible goal of stopping
Long term sickness absence: General practitioners have crucial role but need political support
Authors: Graeme M Mackenzie
Journal: BMJ (2005)

This week in the BMJ for the paper by Walsh et al are offered the conclusion that investment in intermediate care in community hospitals may be more cost effective than financing nurse led care for post-acute patients in acute hospitals. 1 2But the study itself, which confirms existing evidence on the costs of nurse led intermediate care in acute settings, 3 4 tackles neither the effect nor the cost of intermediate care in community hospitals.How then can such a conclusion be drawn?Walsh et al do not make this assertion.The author of the comment offers no support.Our own review of the evidence on nurse led intermediate care found no quality evidence for either the effect or cost of intermediate care in community settings. 5 The BMJ has been at the forefront of setting standards for the reporting of primary research.However, the editors must be aware that many readers simply pick up a take home message from comment, like this, 1 in the journal.
Mucin production by human colonic carcinoma cells correlates with their metastatic potential in animal models of colon cancer metastasis.
Authors: R S Bresalier, Y Niv, J C Byrd, Q Y Duh, N W Toribara, R W Rockwell, R Dahiya, Y S Kim
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1991)

Patients with mucinous colorectal cancers characteristically present with advanced disease, however, the relationship between mucin production by colon cancer cells and their metastatic potential remains unclear. We therefore sought to define the relationship between mucin production by human colon cancer cells and metastatic ability by employing animal models of colon cancer metastasis. LS LiM 6, a colon carcinoma cell line with high liver metastasizing ability during cecal growth in nude mice produced twofold more metabolically labeled intracellular mucin and secreted four- to fivefold more mucin into the culture medium compared to poorly metastatic parental line LS174T. This was accompanied by a similar elevation in poly(A)+ RNA detected by blot hybridization with a human intestinal mucin cDNA probe, and increases in mucin core carbohydrate antigens determined immunohistochemically. Variants of LS174T selected for high (HM 7) or low (LM 12) mucin synthesizing capacity also yielded metastases after cecal growth and colonized the liver after splenic-portal injection in proportion to their ability to produce mucin. Inhibition of mucin glycosylation by the arylglycoside benzyl-alpha-N-acetyl-galactosamine greatly reduced liver colonization after splenic-portal injection of the tumor cells. These data suggest that mucin production by human colon cancer cells correlates with their metastatic potential and affects their ability to colonize the liver in experimental model systems.
Serum Lp(a) level as a predictor of vein graft stenosis after coronary artery bypass surgery in patients.
Authors: H F Hoff, G J Beck, C I Skibinski, G Jürgens, J O'Neil, J Kramer, B Lytle
Journal: Circulation (1988)

Although the serum lipoprotein fraction Lp(a) has been associated with coronary artery atherosclerosis, its relationship to narrowing of saphenous vein grafts has not previously been elucidated. We therefore measured serum Lp(a) levels in 167 symptomatic patients undergoing cardiac catheterization who had had coronary artery bypass surgery 0.7 to 14.3 years earlier. Lp(a), total cholesterol, and total triglyceride levels were compared with the degree of saphenous vein graft stenosis to test for any association. Serum Lp(a) levels were significantly associated with the degree of stenosis of saphenous vein grafts (r = .24, p = .002). Mean Lp(a) levels (mg/dl) in the 135 patients with stenosis were almost double (32.0 +/- 32.7, mean +/- SD) those in the 32 patients with no graft stenosis (16.7 +/- 22.6; p = .002). Graft stenosis was not associated with previous myocardial infarction, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, or smoking. Serum cholesterol levels (mg/dl) were slightly higher in the stenosis group (251.3 +/- 69) than in the no-stenosis group (231.8 +/- 48.8), but the difference was of borderline significance (p = .06). A stepwise increase in mean Lp(a) was found in groups of patients with increasing vein graft stenosis. At a serum Lp(a) level of 31.6 mg/dl or above, 92% of the patients demonstrated vein graft stenosis. Thus, patients with elevated Lp(a) levels have an increased risk of developing saphenous vein graft stenosis after coronary bypass surgery.
Nitric Oxide Mediates the Antiapoptotic Effect of Insulin in Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion
Authors: Feng Gao, Erhe Gao, Tian-Li Yue, Eliot H. Ohlstein, Bernard L. Lopez, Theodore A. Christopher, Xin-Liang Ma
Journal: Circulation (2002)

Background— Recent evidence from cultured endothelial cell studies suggests that phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) through the PI3-kinase– Akt pathway increases NO production. This study was designed to elucidate the signaling pathway involved in the antiapoptotic effect of insulin in vivo and to test the hypothesis that phosphorylation of eNOS by insulin may participate in the cardioprotective effect of insulin after myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. Methods and Results— Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 30 minutes of myocardial ischemia and 4 hours of reperfusion. Rats were randomized to receive vehicle, insulin, insulin plus wortmannin, or insulin plus L-NAME. Treatment with insulin resulted in 2.6-fold and 4.3-fold increases in Akt and eNOS phosphorylation and a significant increase in NO production in ischemic/reperfused myocardial tissue. Phosphorylation of Akt and eNOS and increase of NO production by insulin were completely blocked by wortmannin, a PI3-kinase inhibitor. Pretreatment with L-NAME, a nonselective NOS inhibitor, had no effect on Akt and eNOS phosphorylation but significantly reduced NO production. Moreover, treatment with insulin markedly reduced myocardial apoptotic death ( P &lt;0.01 versus vehicle). Pretreatment with wortmannin abolished the antiapoptotic effect of insulin. Most importantly, pretreatment with L-NAME also significantly reduced the antiapoptotic effect of insulin ( P &lt;0.01 versus insulin). Conclusions— These results demonstrated that in vivo administration of insulin activated Akt through the PI3-kinase–dependent mechanism and reduced postischemic myocardial apoptotic death. Phosphorylation of eNOS and the concurrent increase of NO production contribute significantly to the antiapoptotic effect of insulin.
Antithrombotic therapy in cancer
Authors: A K Kakkar, R C N Williamson
Journal: BMJ (1999)

Two recent studies from Scandinavia 1 2 have reinforced the clear association between thrombosis and malignant disease that was first recognised by Trousseau in the 19th century.3 These population based analyses of cancer risk involved about 86 000 patients with venous thromboembolism, 4200 of whom had cancer. The observed incidence of cancer (especially pancreatic and ovarian) was 1.3 times the expected incidence among the Danish patients with either deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolus and 3.2 times the incidence among the Swedish patients. As a corollary, patients with established cancer are at increased risk of venous thromboembolism, which is potentially fatal. Patients with cancer are nearly twice as likely to die of pulmonary embolism in hospital as those with benign disease, and about 60% of these deaths occur prematurely.4 The hypercoagulable state of malignancy reflects tumour elaboration of tissue factor, the physiological procoagulant.5 Might antithrombotic treatment help reduce this high risk in patients with cancer?

The risk of thrombosis is further increased when patients receive therapeutic interventions for their cancer. …
Drugs Five Years Later
Authors: M. HENRY WILLIAMS
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1981)

Experience with beclomethasone dipropionate during the past 5 years has confirmed and extended the original observation that it is an effective, topically active corticosteroid of great value in treating asthma. Most steroid-dependent asthmatic patients can be successfully controlled with the drug, at least most of the time, and the therapeutic effect is dose dependent. Although high doses may be associated with some adrenal suppression such doses do not cause systemic symptoms, and side effects are of little consequence. It is important that patients treated with steroid aerosols continue to receive other effective therapeutic agents, notably adrenergic drugs, particularly by aerosol, and theophylline compounds; that they learn how to inhale the aerosol properly; and, most important, that they promptly start taking oral steroids when they experience an exacerbation of asthma.
A syndrome of various cutaneous pigmented lesions, myxoid neurofibromata and atrial myxoma: the NAME syndrome
Authors: D. J. ATHERTON, D. W. PITCHER, R. S. WELLS, D. M. MACDONALD
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1980)

A patient with profuse cutaneous pigmented lesions, subcutaneous myxoid neurofibromata and atrial myxoma is described. This is the second report of this syndrome, whose importance lies in the possibility of avoiding the potentially lethal consequences of a treatable cardiac tumour by recognition of distinctive cutaneous manifestations.
Bacteria‐induced histamine release from human bronchoalveolar cells and blood leukocytes
Authors: P. Clementsen, N. Milman, E. Struve‐Christensen, B. Nüchel Petersen, M. Pedersen, H. Bisgaard, H. Permin, S. Norn
Journal: Allergy (1991)

Histamine release induced by Staphylococcus aureus was examined in cells obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in non‐topic individuals. Approximately half of the individuals responded with mediatior release to the bacterium, and the release was found to be time‐ and concentration dependent. No difference was found between the patients obtained by who responded and those who did not respond in regard to age, sex, smoker/nonsmoker % recovery of BAL‐fluid, total cell count, differential cell counts, histamine content per mast cell, or diagnoses. Also stimulation of the BAL‐cells with the calcium‐ionophore A23187 resulted in histamine release, S. aureus ‐induced histamine release from basophils was examined in leukocyte suspensions obtained from the same individuals, and in all experiments release was found. The dose‐response curves were similar to those obtained with BAL cells‐ The bacteria‐induced mediator release from superficially lying cells in the airways epithelium might be of importance for the precipitation or exacerbation of bronchial asthma in respiratory tract infections.
Worldmapper: The Human Anatomy of a Small Planet
Authors: Danny Dorling
Journal: PLoS Medicine (2007)

You can say it [1], you can prove it [2], you can tabulate it [3], but it is only when you show it that it hits home [4]. There is a long history of using illustrations to help spread new medical scientific ideas. Anatomical imagery, for example, is at least 500 years old [5]. That imagery allowed us to look inside human beings and, among much else, showed us just how much of the brain was dedicated to visual understanding. We now know that good health relies as much on the anatomy of society as on the anatomy of our bodies [6]. And we are just beginning to learn that an unequal human world is also more likely to be a sick world. How, though, can we better understand the distribution of health resources around the world, and of where most people are sick and die early as compared to people in more privileged positions? How can we fathom the extent to which health equity gaps are growing despite unprecedented global wealth and technological progress? Drawing images is one way to engage more of our imagination to help understand the extent and arrangement of world inequalities in health.
Birth weight, type 2 diabetes, and insulin resistance in Pima Indian children and young adults.
Authors: D Dabelea, D J Pettitt, R L Hanson, G Imperatore, P H Bennett, W C Knowler
Journal: Diabetes Care (1999)

To investigate the mechanisms underlying the association between birth weight and type 2 diabetes in a population-based study of 3,061 Pima Indians aged 5-29 years.Glucose and insulin concentrations were measured during a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test, and insulin resistance was estimated according to the homeostatic model (homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance [HOMA-IR]). Relationships between birth weight, height, weight, fasting and postload concentrations of glucose and insulin, and HOMA-IR were examined with multiple regression analyses.Birth weight was positively related to current weight and height (P < 0.0001, controlled for age and sex, in each age-group). The 2-h glucose concentrations showed a U-shaped relationship with birth weight in subjects > 10 years of age, and this relation was independent of current body size. In 2,272 nondiabetic subjects, after adjustment for weight and height, fasting and 2-h insulin concentrations and HOMA-IR were negatively correlated with birth weight.Low-birth-weight Pimas are thinner at ages 5-29 years, yet they are more insulin resistant relative to their body size than those of normal birth weight. By contrast, those with high birth weight are more obese but less insulin resistant relative to their body size. The insulin resistance of low-birth-weight Pima Indians may explain their increased risk for type 2 diabetes.