tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
The effects of diseases of the liver, thyroid, and kidneys on the transport of vitamin A in human plasma
Authors: Frank Rees Smith, DeWitt S. Goodman
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1971)

The effects of diseases of the liver, the thyroid, and the kidneys on the retinol-binding protein (RBP)-prealbumin (PA) system responsible for the transport of vitamin A in plasma were examined, using a radial gel diffusion immunoassay for PA and the previously described radioimmunoassay for RBP. Measurements were made on plasma samples from 118 normal subjects, 31 patients with cirrhosis, 5 with chronic active hepatitis, 27 with acute viral hepatitis, 14 patients with hyperthyroidism, 7 with hypothyroidism, and 26 patients with chronic renal disease of varying etiologies. In the patients with liver disease, the levels of vitamin A, RBP, and PA were all markedly decreased and were highly significantly correlated over a wide range of concentrations. Serial samples were available in 19 patients with acute hepatitis; as the disease improved the plasma concentrations of vitamin A, RBP, and PA all increased. In patients with acute hepatitis RBP concentrations correlated negatively with the levels of plasma bilirubin, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase. In the hyperthyroid patients both RBP and PA concentrations were significantly lower than normal; in hypothyroidism, neither protein showed levels significantly different from normal. In both hyper- and hypothyroidism and in liver disease, the molar ratios of RBP:PA and of RBP:vitamin A were not significantly different from normal.Patients with chronic renal disease had marked abnormalities in the plasma concentrations of RBP and vitamin A and in the molar ratios examined. In renal disease the levels of both RBP and vitamin A were greatly elevated, while the PA levels remained normal. The molar ratios of RBP:PA and of RBP:vitamin A were both markedly elevated. In many patients RBP was present in molar excess as compared with PA. The presence of a relatively large proportion of free RBP, not complexed to PA, in some patients with chronic renal disease was confirmed by gel filtration. The free RBP, present in molar excess, was capable of forming a complex with additional purified PA added to the plasma. The kidneys appear to play an important role in the normal metabolism of RBP.
Time of onset of action of acrivastine in the skin of pollen‐allergic subjects
Authors: L. J. Petersen, C. Bindslev‐Jensen, L. K. Poulsen, H.‐J. Mailing
Journal: Allergy (1994)

The purpose of this study was to assess the time of onset of action of acrivastine in suppressing the wheal response to histamine (10 mg/ml) and allergen (10000 and 100000 BU/ml) in the skin prick test. Ten subjects with a well‐documented allergy to pollen received single doses of 8 mg of acrivastine and placebo according to a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, crossover treatment design. Duplicate skin prick tests were performed 0, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 60 min after medication. The results demonstrated a statistically significant suppression of the wheal reactions 15–20 min after medication, depending on the reaction producers used. The sum of all three producers showed a statistically significant effect on the wheal reaction 15 min after medication. The upper 95% confidence limit for time lag from dosing of acrivastine until reduction from placebo level commences was 6.5 min. The study substantiates that orally administered acrivastine has a rapid onset of action in the skin of allergic subjects. The results indicate that allergen SPT is a more sensitive tool for studying antihistaminergic activity than histamine SPT.
Appendicectomy, childhood hygiene, <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> status, and risk of inflammatory bowel disease: a case control study
Authors: A E Duggan, I Usmani, K R Neal, R F A Logan
Journal: Gut (1998)

To examine the relation between inflammatory bowel disease and appendicectomy, childhood domestic hygiene, and Helicobacter pylori infection.Case control study involving 213 patients with ulcerative colitis, 110 with Crohn's disease, and 337 controls having elective surgery.Nine patients with ulcerative colitis (4.5%) reported a previous appendicectomy compared with 57 controls (19%) (odds ratio (OR) 0.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0. 1-0.4, p<0.0001). The inverse association was unaffected by excluding operations performed after the age of onset of ulcerative colitis and was stronger for appendicectomy performed before age 20 (OR 0.14). No association with appendicectomy was found for Crohn's disease and no associations with tonsillectomy for either disease. The availability of a fixed hot water supply in early childhood (before age 11) was associated with Crohn's disease (OR for hot water not always versus always available 0.56, 95% CI 0.3-0.9, p=0. 02) but not with ulcerative colitis. No other aspect of domestic hygiene before or after age 11 was associated with either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Although H pylori seroprevalence was positively associated with overcrowding (p<0.001) and the absence of running hot water in childhood it was not associated with the presence of either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. H pylori seroprevalence was no lower in patients who had been exposed to sulphasalazine than in controls or those not exposed.Our findings confirm the strong inverse association between previous appendicectomy and the development of ulcerative colitis and suggest that the protective effect is greater for appendicectomy performed in childhood.
494 THE ENDOCANNABINOID N-ARACHIDONOYL DOPAMINE (NADA) INDUCES CELL DEATH IN PRIMARY HEPATIC STELLATE CELLS VIA ROS PRODUCTION INDEPENDENTLY OF MEMBRANE CHOLESTEROL OR CANNABINOID-RECEPTORS
Authors: S.V. Siegmund, A. Wojtalla, F. Herweck, M.V. Singer
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2008)
Abstract PR5: Prediction of survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma based on the expression of two genes integrating tumor and microenvironment
Authors: Andrew J. Gentles, Ash A. Alizadeh, Alvaro J. Alencar, Holbrook E. Kohrt, Roch Houot, Matthew J. Goldstein, Yasodha Natkunam, Ranjana H. Advani, Randy D. Gascoyne, Javier Briones, Sylvia K. Plevritis, Izidore S. Lossos, Ronald Levy
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2010)

Abstract Several gene expression signatures are predictive of prognosis in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), but the lack of practical methods for a genome scale analysis has restricted their clinical applicability. Towards construction of a molecular predictor amenable to rapid testing on routinely obtained diagnostic clinical specimens, we studied genes previously reported to be associated with survival in DLBCL, testing and validating risk scoring models with robust survival associations in the current therapeutic era. We identified LMO2 expression as a robust univariate predictor of survival and cell of origin classification of DLBCL, with independent prognostic value. We examined bivariate models combining expression of LMO2 with other genes, and identified TNFRSF9 as a tumor microenvironment gene with independent prognostic influence. A combined model integrating both LMO2 and TNFRSF9 expression was independent of “cell of origin” classification, “stromal signatures,” International Prognostic Index (IPI), and added to the predictive power of IPI. A composite model was validated in multiple independent patient cohorts using public microarray data. Using routinely obtained formalin fixed, paraffin embedded diagnostic specimens from an independent cohort, we developed a simple assay validating the clinical utility of this 2-gene model, as well as a composite model integrating the IPI. In conclusion, measurement of a single gene expressed by tumor cells and a single gene expressed by the immune microenvironment is sufficient to predict overall survival in patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP. A combined model serves as a robust clinical risk assessment tool. This talk is also presented as Poster A27. Citation Information: Clin Cancer Res 2010;16(14 Suppl):PR5.
The release of β glucuronidase from leukocytes in the presence of immune complexes
Authors: BRIAN WATSON, R.W. GANGE, E.L. RHODES, A.E. ROSLING
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1977)

The lysosomal enzyme beta glucuronidase was selectively released from leukocytes when these were incubated with insoluble immnue complexes and also from the leukocytes of patients with immune complex disease when these were incubated with their own plasma.
Squamous cell carcinoma developing in a 12-year-old boy with nonHallopeau-Siemens recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa
Authors: H. Kawasaki, D. Sawamura, F. Iwao, T. Kikuchi, H. Nakamura, S. Okubo, T. Matsumura, H. Shimizu
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (2003)

Journal Article Squamous cell carcinoma developing in a 12‐year‐old boy with nonHallopeau–Siemens recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa Get access H. Kawasaki, H. Kawasaki Department of Dermatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7 Kita‐ku, Sapporo 060‐8638, Japan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar D. Sawamura, D. Sawamura Department of Dermatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7 Kita‐ku, Sapporo 060‐8638, Japan Daisuke Sawamura, E‐mail: smartdai@med.hokudai.ac.jp Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar F. Iwao, F. Iwao Department of Dermatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7 Kita‐ku, Sapporo 060‐8638, Japan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar T. Kikuchi, T. Kikuchi Department of Dermatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7 Kita‐ku, Sapporo 060‐8638, Japan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar H. Nakamura, H. Nakamura Department of Dermatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7 Kita‐ku, Sapporo 060‐8638, Japan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar S. Okubo, S. Okubo Department of Dermatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7 Kita‐ku, Sapporo 060‐8638, Japan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar T. Matsumura, T. Matsumura Department of Dermatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7 Kita‐ku, Sapporo 060‐8638, Japan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar H. Shimizu H. Shimizu Department of Dermatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7 Kita‐ku, Sapporo 060‐8638, Japan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 148, Issue 5, 1 May 2003, Pages 1047–1050, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2133.2003.05270.x Published: 01 May 2003 Article history Accepted: 01 November 2002 Published: 01 May 2003
Jerome K Jerome syndrome
Authors: T. Dalrymple
Journal: BMJ (2009)

One of the most famous medical prescriptions in English literature was the one given to Jerome K Jerome at the beginning of Three Men in a Boat .

The author (and narrator) had gone to the British Museum to look up the treatment of a slight ailment—hay fever, as he recalls. Unfortunately he started flicking through the pages of the medical textbook and soon grew alarmed, for he seemed to have practically every symptom of every disease (except housemaid’s knee).

He explained his plight to his friend and doctor, who examined him and handed him a prescription that the author duly took to the chemist’s. The chemist looked at it and …
The Prisoner As an Experimental Subject
Authors: George Bach-y-Rita
Journal: JAMA (1974)

TOO often the only concern of researchers working with prisoners is how best to use their subjects, with little regard for the institution, or for the inmate as a person. This article is an attempt to help researchers to understand the effects of prison and imprisonment on a prisoner's capacity to enter into a research contract, and to aid in establishing criteria that will permit experimentation in prisons. Several crucial issues that are prerequisites for participation as an experimental subject will be explored. <h3>The Special Problem of Informed Consent in Prison</h3> Informed consent for a research subject requires that the experimental subject have and understand the information about the experiment, understand if a risk exists, and be in a position to evaluate what is an acceptable degree of risk. Information about the experiment can be provided by the researcher, but a judgment about an acceptable degree of risk requires contact
Why Does Airway Inflammation Persist? Is It Leukotrienes?
Authors: PAUL M. O'BYRNE
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2000)

The leukotrienes are eicosanoids, derived from a cell membrane phospholipid constituent arachidonic acid, which is selectively cleaved by phospholipase A 2 from cell membranes. Arachidonic acid is converted sequentially to 5-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HPETE) and then to leukotriene A 4 (LTA 4 ) by a catalytic complex consisting of 5-lipoxygenase (5LO) and the 5-lipoxygenase-activating protein (FLAP). In the presence of leukotriene-C 4 synthase, glutathione is adducted at the C-6 position of LTA 4 to yield the molecule known as LTC 4 , which is exported from the cytosol to the extracellular microenvironment, where the glutamic acid moiety is cleaved to form LTD 4 . Cleavage of the glycine moiety from LTD 4 results in the formation of LTE 4 , which is the stable excretory product. LTC 4 , LTD 4 , and LTE 4 , are known as the cysteinyl leukotrienes; together these molecules constitute the material formerly known as the slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis (SRS-A). All three cysteinyl leukotrienes have the same range of biological effects; however, LTE 4 is much less potent than its precursor molecules. Among the cells in the lung that possess the enzymatic activities to produce the cysteinyl leukotrienes are mast cells, eosinophils, and alveolar macrophages. There is, now, compelling information to implicate the cysteinyl leukotrienes as mediators of asthmatic bronchoconstriction. Increased production of the cysteinyl leukotrienes, as measured by increases in urinary excretion of LTE 4 , has been demonstrated after allergen inhalation (1, 2) in subjects with atopic asthma and during episodes of acute severe asthma (2). Also, subjects with aspirin-induced asthma have higher baseline levels of urinary LTE 4 when compared with other subjects with asthma (3); this level increases after aspirin ingestion, and is associated with an overexpression of LTC 4 synthase in airway biopsies (4). Treatment with drugs that inhibit the synthesis of the cysteinyl leukotrienes or block the CysLT 1 receptor, which mediates the action of the cysteinyl leukotrienes in the airways, markedly attenuates allergen-induced, aspirin-induced, and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (5–7) and allergen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness (8), as well as improving spontaneous bronchoconstriction (9, 10), and other indices of asthma control (11). Taken together, these studies indicate an important role for the cysteinyl leukotrienes in causing bronchoconstriction.
Mineralocorticoid Receptor Iso/Val (rs5522) Genotype Moderates the Association Between Previous Childhood Emotional Neglect and Amygdala Reactivity
Authors: Ryan Bogdan, Douglas E. Williamson, Ahmad R. Hariri
Journal: American Journal of Psychiatry (2012)

Objective: The amygdala is especially reactive to threatening stimuli, and the degree of reactivity predicts individual differences in the expression of depression and anxiety. Emerging research suggests that emotional neglect during childhood as well as hypercortisolemia may lead to heightened threat-related amygdala reactivity. This raises the possibility that genetic variation affecting hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function contributes to individual differences in amygdala reactivity, both independently and as a function of childhood emotional neglect. Method: This study assessed whether the mineralocorticoid receptor iso/val polymorphism (rs5522), a functional genetic variant affecting HPA axis function, influenced threat-related amygdala reactivity in 279 individuals in late childhood and early adolescence. The study also explored the extent to which any effects of the genotype on amygdala reactivity were contingent upon previous childhood emotional neglect. Results: Prior childhood emotional neglect and the val allele were associated with greater amygdala reactivity. Moreover, a significant genotype-by-emotional neglect interaction was observed whereby greater amygdala reactivity in val allele carriers was independent of previous childhood emotional neglect, while greater reactivity in iso homozygotes was revealed only in the context of a history of elevated emotional neglect. At relatively low levels of previous emotional neglect, val carriers had heightened amygdala reactivity relative to iso homozygotes. Conclusions: These results suggest that relatively greater amygdala reactivity may represent a biological mechanism through which childhood adversity and functional genetic variation in HPA axis responsiveness to stress may mediate risk for psychopathology.
Absence of Interference of Oxazepam With Glucose Determination
Authors: Christopher S. Frings
Journal: JAMA (1971)

<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> Zileli and co-workers (<b>215</b>:1986, 1971) recently reported a case in which high blood glucose concentrations were found in a patient who had ingested "large doses" of oxazepam. These authors "dissolved one tablet (10 mg) of oxazepam in 2 ml of distilled water" and found that the "clear fluid obtained after centrifugation yielded 590 mg of glucose per 100 ml by Somogyi method, and 750 mg/100 ml of glucose by glucose oxidase reaction." They postulated that "it is possible that the hydroxy or ketone group or both in the oxazepam molecule is responsible for the glucose reaction." In addition, these authors state that "blood glucose levels (glucose-like reaction) may be found elevated in patients receiving therapeutic doses of oxazepam." It is my opinion that Zileli and co-workers are in error in their interpretation of their experiments in which oxazepam was pointed out as the compound reacting in
The Effect of Different Attribution Rules on Individual Physician Cost Profiles
Authors: Ateev Mehrotra
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2010)

Background: Some health plans profile physicians on the basis of their relative costs and use these profiles to assign physicians to cost categories. Physician organizations have questioned whether the rules used to attribute costs to a physician affect the cost category to which that physician is assigned. Objective: To evaluate the effect of 12 different attribution rules on physician cost profiles. Design: Under each of the 12 attribution rules, a cost profile was created for the physicians in the aggregated claims database and the physicians were assigned to a cost category (high cost, average cost, low cost, or low sample size). The attribution rules differed by unit of analysis, signal for responsibility, number of physicians who can be assigned responsibility, and threshold value for assigning responsibility. Setting: Four commercial health plans in Massachusetts. Patients: 1.1 million adults continuously enrolled in 4 commercial health plans in 2004 and 2005. Measurements: Percentage of all episodes assigned to any physician and percentage of costs billed by a physician that were included in his or her own profile were calculated under each rule. The cost category assignments from a commonly used default rule were compared with those from each of the other 11 attribution rules and the rate of disagreement was calculated. Results: Percentage of episodes that could be assigned to a physician varied substantially across the 12 rules (range, 20% to 69%), as did the mean percentage of costs billed by a physician that were included in that physician's own cost profile (range, 13% to 60%). Depending on the alternate rule used, between 17% and 61% of physicians would be assigned to a different cost category than that assigned by using the default rule. Limitation: Results might differ if data from another state or from Medicare were used. Conclusion: The choice of attribution rule affects how costs are assigned to a physician and can substantially affect the cost category to which a physician is assigned. Primary Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor.
TCT-24 Combined Near-Infrared Spectroscopic and Intravascular Ultrasound Assessment Of Coronary Plaque Burden and Lipid Pools: Validation With Histology
Authors: Rishi Puri, Sean Madden, James Muller, Kathy Wolski, Ryan Madder, Yu Kataoka, Kiyoko Uno, Jordan Andrews, Karilane King, Steve Sum, Craig Balog, E. Murat Tuzcu, Samir Kapadia, Akiko Maehara, Gary Mintz, Stephen Nicholls
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2012)
Geographic Variation in Health Care
Authors: Tom Rosenthal
Journal: Annual Review of Medicine (2011)

Measurements of health care spending and outcomes in a geographic area and comparisons of one area to another have been used to make observations about health delivery systems and guide health care policy. Medicare claims files are a ready source of data about health care utilization and have served as the basis for a large number of studies in the United States. If ecologic studies are to accurately reflect local practices, potential variables must be accounted for. In the United States, differences in disease burden and socioeconomic factors are important variables affecting health care spending and outcomes. The assertion that regional variation in Medicare spending in the last two years of life is indicative of widespread waste in the U.S. health care system became a controversial part of the health care reform debate in 2009-2010.