tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Effects of the 15-methyl analogs of prostaglandins E2 and F2alpha on the pulmonary circulation in the intact dog.
Authors: P J Kadowitz, P D Joiner, C S Matthews, A L Hyman
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1975)

The effects of the 15-methul analogs of prostaglandins E2 (PGE2) and F2alpha (PGF2alpha) on the pulmonary circulation were studied in the intact dog under conditions of controlled blood flow. Infusions of either analog into the lobar artery increased lobar arterial pressure by more than 100 per cent. The rise in lobar arterial pressure was accompanied by a rise in lobar venous pressure and in pressure gradient from lobar artery to small vein but no change in pressure in the left atrium. The methyl analogs were about 10 times more potent than PGE2 and PGF2alpha in elevating pulmonary vascular resistance in the dog. The effects of the analogs on the pulmonary vascular bed were similar in experiments in which the lung was perfused with dextran or with blood. Both analogs contracted isolated helical segments of canine intrapulmonary artery and vein in a dose-related manner. In other experiments the effects of passive increases in venous pressure produced by distension of a balloon catheter in the lobar vein were contrasted with the action of the analogs on the pulmonary vascular bed. Balloon distension increased pressure in the lobar artery and small vein but had no effect on pressure in the left atrium. However, in contrast to the increase in gradient with the analogs, balloon distension decreased the pressure gradient from lobar artery to small vein. Results of the present study indicate that the prostaglandin analogs increase pulmonary vascular resistance by actively contricting pulmonary veins and vessels upstream to small veins, presumed to be small arteries. It is concluded that the analogs are potent pressor substances in the pulmonary circulation.
Assessment of Renal Transplantation Using a Gamma Camera Computer System
Authors: MAIR CRITCHLEY
Journal: Clinical Nuclear Medicine (1981)

Five hundred eleven isotope studies were performed following renal transplantation in 130 patients, using a standard technique and a gamma camera computer system in a nuclear medicine department situated half a mile away from the renal transplant unit. A comprehensive picture of renal function is obtained from perfusion studies, renography, effective renal plasma flow, I-131-Hippuran uptake, and excretion measurements.
Bronchial inflammation in chronic bronchitis assessed by measurement of cell products in bronchial lavage fluid.
Authors: G C Riise, S Ahlstedt, S Larsson, I Enander, I Jones, P Larsson, B Andersson
Journal: Thorax (1995)

BACKGROUND--Bronchial inflammation in chronic bronchitis has not been characterised as well as in asthma. The present study was undertaken to assess whether a characteristic pattern of bronchial inflammatory markers could be found in patients with chronic bronchitis. METHODS--Bronchoscopy with bronchial lavage was performed in 42 patients with chronic bronchitis and in 13 healthy controls. Twenty three of the patients had non-obstructive chronic bronchitis and 19 had chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Eighteen of the patients with bronchitis had recurrent infective exacerbations and 24 did not. Intrabronchial bacterial cultures were taken with a protected specimen brush. RESULTS--Increased activity of neutrophils, fibroblasts, and eosinophils was found in the patients with chronic bronchitis as assessed by the levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and interleukin-8 (IL-8), hyaluronan, and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), respectively. The levels of tryptase did not differ from the controls. High correlations were found between the levels of MPO and IL-8, as well as ECP and IL-8. No differences were found between the patients with COPD and those with non-obstructive chronic bronchitis. CONCLUSIONS--Recruitment and activation of both neutrophils and eosinophils seem to be a characteristic of chronic bronchitis. This activation is associated with IL-8. The patients with intrabronchial cultures of Streptococcus pneumoniae had the highest individual levels of MPO, ECP, and IL-8 of all subjects in the study, indicating that colonisation with S pneumoniae could promote bronchial inflammation.
Canadian surgeons are warned of legal suits after bariatric surgery
Authors: B. Kermode-Scott
Journal: BMJ (2012)

The Canadian Medical Protective Association (Canada’s provider of medical liability protection) has advised its members to consider fully the risks when caring for patients having bariatric surgery.

“Understanding the medicolegal risks of caring for patients having bariatric surgery in Canada allows surgeons, and other physicians involved in caring for these patients, to better manage those risks,” Diane Heroux, a medical analyst, and Gordon Wallace, the association’s director of education, write in an association journal.1

Between 2006 and 2011 the association dealt with 27 medicolegal cases relating to bariatric surgery, 21 of which were settled. A review of the closed cases showed that the …
Comparison of Apnea Identified by Respiratory Inductance Plethysmography with That Detected by End-tidal CO<sub>2</sub> or Thermistor
Authors: DEBRA E. WEESE-MAYER, MICHAEL J. CORWIN, MARK R. PEUCKER, JULIANN M. DI FIORE, DAVID R. HUFFORD, LARRY R. TINSLEY, MICHAEL R. NEUMAN, RICHARD J. MARTIN, LEE J. BROOKS, SALLY L. DAVIDSON WARD, GEORGE LISTER, MARIAN WILLINGER
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2000)

As part of the Collaborative Home Infant Monitoring Evaluation (CHIME) we compared apnea identified by a customized home monitor using respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) with simultaneously recorded polysomnography-acquired nasal end-tidal CO2 (Pet CO2 ) and nasal/oral thermistor in 422 infants during overnight laboratory recordings to determine concordance between techniques, sources of disagreement, and capacity of RIP to detect obstructed breaths within an apnea. Among 233 episodes of apnea identified by at least one method as ⩾ 16 s, 120 were observed by the CHIME monitor, 219 by Pet CO2 , and 163 by thermistor. The positive predictive value of the CHIME-identified apnea was 89.2% (95% CI 83, 95) and 73% (95% CI 65, 81) for Pet CO2 and thermistor, respectively. However, the sensitivity of the CHIME monitor in identifying events detected by the other methods was only ∼ 50%. Among 87 apnea events identified by all three techniques, no two methods showed high agreement in measurement of apnea duration: RIP and Pet CO2 (ICC = 0.54), RIP and thermistor (ICC = 0.13), Pet CO2 and nasal thermistor (ICC = 0.41). Among the 179 breaths identified by RIP as obstructed, 79.9% were judged to be obstructed on the Pet CO2 and 80.4% were judged to be obstructed on the thermistor channel. Among 238 breaths identified on Pet CO2 as obstructed, 54.2% were determined to be obstructed by RIP. Among 204 breaths identified on thermistor as obstructed, 55.4% were determined to be obstructed by RIP. Reasons for discrepancies in apnea detection among channels included body movement, partial airway obstruction, and obstructed breaths. Despite these limitations the CHIME monitor provides an opportunity to record physiological data previously unavailable in the home.
The Hypocholesterolizing Effects of Drugs
Authors: J. STANTON KING, THOMAS B. CLARKSON, NELTA HYDER WARNOCK
Journal: Circulation Research (1956)

The hypocholesterolizing effect on serum and tissue cholesterol of α-phenylbutyramide (PB) is evident in the cholesterol-fed fowl. PB and Gallogen (the diethanolamine salt of the mono-(+)-camphoric acid ester of α,4-dimethylbenzyl alcohol) are mutually antagonistic with respect to this effect, while PB and soybean sterols are additive. The latter combination is approximately as effective as a Gallogen-soybean sterol combination, but has distinct toxic effects that are not observed with the Gallogen-soybean sterol combination.
Shifts in the epitopes of myelin basic protein recognized by Lewis rat T cells before, during, and after the induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
Authors: F Mor, I R Cohen
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1993)

An epitope present in the 71-90 sequence of basic protein (BP) has been identified as the dominant epitope recognized by most Lewis rat encephalitogenic T cells isolated during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In the present study, we investigated the BP epitopes recognized by Lewis rat T cells in naive rats, in rats suffering from acute EAE, and in recovered rats. T cells isolated from the spinal cord lesions and from the lymph nodes were studied using T cell lines and bulk cultures. Virulence of the T cells was assayed by adoptive transfer. We now report that naive and recovered Lewis rats are populated with T cells reactive to a variety of BP epitopes and only a minority are specific for the 71-90 epitope. In contrast, the induction of EAE was associated with a predominance of T cells reactive to the 71-90 epitope. T cells recovered from naive, diseased, or recovered rats were found to be virulent upon passive transfer. Some of these virulent T cells were specific to BP epitopes other than the 71-90 epitope. There was no major difference in the BP specificities of T cells isolated from the lesions and from the lymph nodes. Thus, natural T cell reactivity to BP is heterogeneous and pathogenicity is not confined to one particular epitope, active disease is characterized by a dominant response to the 71-90 epitope, and recovery is marked by a return to heterogeneity.
Biosynthetic Defect in Monocytes from Human Beings with Genetic Deficiency of the Second Component of Complement
Authors: L. Peter Einstein, Chester A. Alper, Kurt J. Bloch, John T. Herrin, Fred S. Rosen, John R. David, Harvey R. Colten
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1975)

INVESTIGATIONS of the biosynthesis of complement proteins in vitro have provided preliminary information on the molecular basis of genetically determined complement deficiencies in man and laboratory animals.1 2 3 For example, evidence has been obtained that a specific defect in protein synthesis accounts for reduced serum concentrations of the natural inhibitor of the first component of complement in hereditary angioneurotic edema1 and of the fifth component (C5) and the fourth component (C4) in deficient mice2 and guinea pigs respectively.3 A hereditary deficiency of the second component of complement (C2), transmitted as an autosomal recessive, has been described in man.4 5 6 Most C2-deficient patients . . .
Laparoscopic liver surgery: Shifting the management of liver tumors
Authors: Alan Koffron, David Geller, Clark T. Gamblin, Michael Abecassis
Journal: Hepatology (2006)

Laparoscopic liver surgery has evolved rapidly over the past 5 years in a select number of centers. The growing experience with these procedures has resulted in a shift in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to common liver tumors. The fact that resection of benign and malignant hepatic masses can now be accomplished laparoscopically with relatively low morbidity has influenced the decision-making process for physicians involved in the diagnosis and management of these lesions. For example, should a gastroenterologist or hepatologist seeing a 32-year-old woman with an asymptomatic 4 cm hepatic lesion that is radiologically indeterminate for adenoma or focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH): (1) continue to observe with annual computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (CT/MRI) scans, (2) subject the patient to a liver biopsy, or (3) refer for laparoscopic resection? For a solitary malignant liver tumor in the left lateral segment, should laparoscopic resection be considered the new standard of care, assuming the surgeon can perform the operation safely? We present current data and representative case studies on the use of laparoscopic liver resection at 2 major medical centers in the United States. We propose that surgical engagement defined by the managing physician's decision to proceed with a surgical intervention is increasingly affected by the availability of, and experience with, laparoscopic liver resection.
Dynamic Reactions Produced by Deflating a Blood Pressure Cuff
Authors: EDWARD D. FREIS, R. FRANCIS SAPPINGTON
Journal: Circulation (1968)

Intra-arterial pressure was recorded at various points in the compressed segment of brachial artery during deflation of a standard blood pressure cuff in human subjects with arms of normal girth. Cuff pressure and the Korotkoff sounds also were recorded simultaneously. The data were analyzed in terms of the various dynamic reactions produced by cuff deflation, which may influence the auscultatory indications of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Cuff pressure was incompletely transmitted to the compressed arterial segment. As a result, muffling, the auscultatory indication of diastolic pressure, occurred at a cuff pressure higher than the directly recorded intra-arterial diastolic blood pressure. The first Korotkoff sound, on the other hand, provided a close approximation of intra-arterial systolic pressure. This may be due to a delay in penetration of the diminutive pulse waves into the distal part of the compressed arterial segment at systolic levels of cuff pressure. This effect appears to compensate for other influences tending to raise the indirect reading of systolic blood pressure. The extent of the delay in penetration should be dependent on the length of the collapsed segment, which in turn is a function of cuff width.
The Importance of Individual Pursuit in Scientific Research
Authors: Stanley P. L. Leong
Journal: JAMA (1980)

ABSTRACT To the Editor.— The article on the background of the 1979 Nobel laureates in medicine (242:2380, 1979) is fascinating in that such an important achievement as computerized axial tomography has the humble beginning of Cormack's studies of the differential absorption of x-ray radiation by various body tissues.Too often great scientific work is not readily appreciated, and when Cormack's results were published in The Journal of Applied Physics in 1963 and 1964, he received only a few requests for reprints. Fortunately in Cormack's case, his work was noted by Hounsfield, who with creativity and persistence developed these scientific data into powerful diagnostic technology. This story is reminiscent of the triumphant discovery of DNA by Watson and Crick based on the raw scientific data of Wilkins and Franklin. These samples illustrate the value of individual curiosity and pursuit in science.The examples cited also speak for the fact that creative science
Inflammatory cell populations in bronchial biopsies from aspirin-sensitive asthmatic subjects.
Authors: S M Nasser, R Pfister, P E Christie, A R Sousa, J Barker, M Schmitz-Schumann, T H Lee
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (1996)

The inflammatory cell infiltrate in bronchial biopsies of 12 aspirin-sensitive asthmatic (ASA) subjects and eight non-aspirin-sensitive (non-ASA) control subjects have been compared. Biopsies were taken from a right middle or lower lobe segmental carina using fiberoptic bronchoscopy. The biopsies were snap-frozen in OCT, and sections 5 microns thick were doubled immunostained using a rabbit polyclonal antibody to the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) and with a monoclonal antibody to neutrophils (NP57), macrophages (EMB11), and total (BMK13) and activated eosinophils (EG2), mast cells (AA1), and T-lymphocytes (anti-CD3). There was no significant difference in the total numbers of cells staining for 5-LO between the two groups of subjects. As a percentage of total 5-LO cells, there were significantly more mast cells (12.9 +/- 3.8% versus 3.4 +/- 3.1%; p = 0.039) and total eosinophils (34.7 +/- 9.4% versus 11.1 +/- 3.8%; p = 0.044) and significantly fewer macrophages (23.3 +/- 6.1% versus 39.8% +/- 5.3; p = 0.041) in the bronchial biopsies from ASA subjects as compared with non-ASA patients. The numbers of neutrophils, T-lymphocytes, and activated eosinophils were similar for the two groups. The increased numbers of eosinophils and mast cells identified in the bronchial tissue from aspirin-sensitive asthmatic subjects may be the source of the enhanced cysteinyl leukotriene production observed in these subjects.
A nonantigenic covalent streptokinase-polyethylene glycol complex with plasminogen activator function.
Authors: S Rajagopalan, S L Gonias, S V Pizzo
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1985)

A series of new, covalent polyethylene glycol (PEG)-streptokinase adducts were synthesized and characterized. PEGs with average molecular weights of 2,000, 4,000, and 5,000 were activated with carbonyldiimidazole and coupled to the protein under standardized reaction conditions. Steady-state kinetic analysis demonstrated comparable Km values for the activation of plasminogen by streptokinase, PEG-2-streptokinase, and PEG-4-streptokinase. The kcat values were somewhat decreased when PEG-2 or PEG-4 was coupled to the streptokinase. Activation by the PEG-5 adduct did not follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics under the conditions employed in this study. Plasmin activity obtained by incubating streptokinase derivatives with plasminogen also was studied as a function of time with each of the PEG-streptokinase derivatives. By this assay, incubations containing PEG-5-streptokinase and unmodified streptokinase demonstrated comparable activity while reaction mixtures containing PEG-2-streptokinase and PEG-4-streptokinase were slightly more active. Streptokinase incubated with plasminogen at a 1:1 molar ratio was extensively degraded after 30 min whereas PEG-2-streptokinase was resistant to plasmin cleavage. The derivatized proteins were radioiodinated and incubated in plastic microtiter plates that were coated with an immunoglobulin fraction containing antibodies to streptokinase. Binding of the PEG-streptokinase adducts was decreased by greater than 95% compared with unmodified streptokinase. Plasminogen activator complexes were formed by reacting the streptokinases with human plasminogen in vitro and the clearance studied in mice. Radioiodinated plasmin in complex with the PEG-streptokinase adducts cleared at a slower rate than did plasmin complexed with unmodified streptokinase. Catabolism of the protease still occurred by a mechanism that involved reaction with alpha 2-macroglobulin as has been described for nonderivatized streptokinase-plasminogen complex (Gonias, S. L., M. Einarsson, and S. V. Pizzo, 1982, J. Clin. Invest., 70:412-423). When more extensive derivatization procedures were utilized, PEG-2-streptokinase preparations were obtained that further prolonged the clearance of complexed 125I-plasmin; however, these adducts did not uniformly retain comparable activity. It is suggested that PEG-streptokinase complexes with greatly reduced antigenicity may be useful in the treatment of thrombotic disorders.
Dilated Cardiomyopathy Associated With Simian AIDS in Nonhuman Primates
Authors: Richard P. Shannon, Meredith A. Simon, Michael A. Mathier, Yong-Jian Geng, Sunil Mankad, Andrew A. Lackner
Journal: Circulation (2000)

Background —Cardiomyopathy is being recognized with increasing frequency in patients with AIDS, yet the relationship between HIV infection and cardiac contractile dysfunction remains obscure. The purpose of the present study was to determine if infection with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in nonhuman primates is associated with cardiac dysfunction and myocardial injury. Methods and Results —Left ventricular size and function were determined by 2D echocardiography in 16 rhesus macaques before and at weekly intervals following infection with cloned pathogenic SIV mac 239 or the highly attenuated SIV mac 239 nef deletion mutant. A second group of 15 rhesus macaques chronically infected with pathogenic (n=6) or nonpathogenic (n=9) virus were studied at &gt;2 years following infection. Cardiac tissues from 24 rhesus macaques chronically infected (&gt;2 years) with pathogenic SIV were reviewed for evidence of cardiac pathology. Acute infection (&lt;6 weeks) with either pathogenic or nonpathogenic SIV caused neither contractile dysfunction nor cardiac pathology. However, LV ejection fraction was significantly ( P &lt;0.05) depressed (43±7%) in rhesus macaques chronically infected with pathogenic SIV compared with rhesus macaques chronically infected with nonpathogenic SIV (61±3%). Furthermore, two thirds of rhesus macaques that succumbed to simian AIDS had myocardial pathology including lymphocytic myocarditis (n=9) and coronary arteriopathy (n=6), with complete vessel occlusion (n=4) and associated myocardial infarction and necrosis. Conclusions —This unique model is valuable in understanding the pathogenesis of cardiac injury associated with retroviral infection in a relevant nonhuman primate model of AIDS.
CLINICAL REPORT ON THE USE OF THE DIMETHYL ETHER OF D-TUBOCURARINE IODIDE IN ELECTROSHOCK THERAPY
Authors: G. A. ULETT, R. M. COUNTS, A. H. CHAPMAN, E. H. PARSONS
Journal: American Journal of Psychiatry (1950)

1. Clinical observations were made during 135 injections of dimethyl d-tubocurarine iodide to 41 patients receiving electroshock treatment. In 10 of these patients the amount of relaxation produced by head-drop doses of d-tubocurarine chloride was compared with that produced by dimethyl d-tubocurarine iodide by methods of clinical observation and by studies of blood lactic acid levels. 2. Although d-tubocurarine chloride seems to produce consistently greater relaxation when given in equivalent head-drop doses, the clinically observed difference is not sufficient to offset the hazard of severe respiratory embarrassment that is encountered with the drug. 3. With administration of dimethyl d-tubocurarine iodide we saw no cases of respiratory embarrassment sufficient to warrant the use of oxygen. 4. It is concluded from this study that dimethyl d-tubocurarine iodide seems to be a safe and useful drug to produce a lessening of the severity of convulsions in electroshock therapy.
Thrombolysis for Acute Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Harvey D. White, Frans J. J. Van de Werf
Journal: Circulation (1998)

Abstract —Thrombolytic therapy has been a major advance in the management of acute myocardial infarction. Unfortunately, it continues to be underused or is administered later than is optimal. Thrombolytic therapy works by lysing infarct artery thrombi and achieving reperfusion, thereby reducing infarct size, preserving left ventricular function, and improving survival. The most effective thrombolytic regimens achieve angiographic epicardial infarct-artery patency in only ≈50% of patients within 90 minutes. Bleeding requiring transfusion occurs in ≈5% of patients and stroke in ≈1.8% with these regimens, which include adjunctive aspirin and intravenous heparin. There are several ways in which reperfusion rates and thus patient outcomes might be improved, such as different dosing regimens of established agents; combinations of different agents; improved adjunctive therapy such as direct antithrombin agents, low-molecular-weight heparin, or glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists; or the development of novel thrombolytic agents with enhanced fibrin specificity, resistance to native inhibitors, or prolonged half-lives allowing bolus administration. All of these strategies are being tested in clinical trials. The best approach currently is to administer thrombolytic therapy as soon as possible to all patients without contraindications who present within 12 hours of symptom onset and have ST-segment elevation on the ECG or new-onset left bundle-branch block, unless an alternative reperfusion strategy is planned.