tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Enhanced G-protein-induced relaxation in portal hypertensive rats: Role of nitric oxide
Authors: M Hou, P A Cahill, S Zhang, E M Redmond, J V Sitzmann
Journal: Hepatology (1997)

Portal hypertension (PHT) is characterized by splanchnic hyperemia due to a reduction in mesenteric vascular resistance. The reasons for the decreased resistance include an increased responsiveness to a vasodilator substance. Because the activation of an inhibitory guanine nucleotide regulatory (Gi) protein can result in endothelium-dependent relaxation, we tested the hypothesis that exaggerated Gi-protein induced relaxation via a nitric oxide (NO)-dependent pathway partly reflects the enhanced Gi-protein expression in PHT vessels. PHT was created in Sprague-Dawley rats by a partial portal-vein ligation. Control animals were sham operated. Using isolated vascular rings in the absence or presence of an intact endothelium, N G -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), and pertussis toxin, dose response relationships for sodium fluoride (NaF; range, 0.1-4 mmol/L), a Gi protein activator, were determined in a cumulative manner. Gi-protein expression was determined by Western blotting. NaF caused a dose-dependent relaxation in both sham and portal hypertensive pre-contracted vessels, an effect that was significantly inhibited by pertussis toxin, endothelial denudation, and L-NAME. Concentrations of NaF greater than 4 mmol/L caused contractions, an effect that was unaffected by L-NAME. The NaF-induced relaxation response was significantly greater in PHT vessels as compared with sham concomitant with increased Gi-protein expression in PHT vessels. These data suggest that the enhanced endothelial Gi-protein-induced relaxation in PHT vessels may partly reflect enhanced expression of Gi-proteins in PHT vessels and may, thus, represent an important mechanism for exaggerated NO-dependent relaxation in the PHT vasculature.
Matrix metalloproteinase inhibition limits remodeling and regional systolic dysfunction but not myocyte hypertrophy following myocardial infarction
Authors: Sunil Mankad, J. Thomas Peterson, Robert W. Biederman, Walter E. McGregor, Deborah Scalise, James A. Magovern, Xinqiang Han, Carol Stolarski, Brent Anderson, A.Martin Gerdes, Nathaniel Reichek, Richard P. Shannon
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2003)
Effect of ursodeoxycholic acid on the kinetics of cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis
Authors: Gerda Rudolph, Richard Endele, Martin Senn, Adolf Stiehl
Journal: Hepatology (1993)

Treatment of patients with cholestatic liver diseases with ursodeoxycholic acid has been shown to have beneficial effects that may be related to a shift in the balance between hydrophilic and hydrophobic bile acids in favor of hydrophilic bile acids. During treatment of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis with ursodeoxycholic acid, plasma concentrations of some endogenous bile acids decrease. To test whether the changes in plasma bile acids are due to decreases of their pool sizes or synthesis rates, we determined bile acid kinetics of cholic and chenodeoxycholic acid in six patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, of whom four also had ulcerative colitis. All patients were studied before and 3 mo after the start of ursodeoxycholic acid treatment. Six healthy subjects served as controls. In patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, pool sizes of cholic and chenodeoxycholic acid were considerably smaller than those in healthy controls; after ursodeoxycholic acid treatment they were unchanged. Fractional turnover and synthesis of cholic acid increased significantly after ursodeoxycholic acid administration. Fractional turnover of chenodeoxycholic acid also increased significantly, whereas synthesis of this bile acid was unchanged. Our data indicate that in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, pool sizes of bile acids are reduced. The decrease of levels of endogenous bile acids in plasma under ursodeoxycholic acid treatment despite unchanged bile acid pool sizes indicates redistribution of the bile acids into the enterohepatic circulation, probably because of improved hepatic clearance after ursodeoxycholic acid treatment.
Cationic submicron emulsions for pulmonary DNA immunization
Authors: Maytal Bivas-Benita, Marion Oudshoorn, Stefan Romeijn, Krista van Meijgaarden, Henk Koerten, Hans van der Meulen, Gregory Lambert, Tom Ottenhoff, Simon Benita, Hans Junginger, Gerrit Borchard
Journal: Journal of Controlled Release (2004)
Time course study of the influence of acute iron overload on kupffer cell functioning and hepatotoxicity assessed in the isolated perfused rat liver
Authors: Gladys Tapia, Pilar Troncoso, Monica Galleano, Virginia Fernandez, Susana Puntarulo, Luis A. Videla
Journal: Hepatology (1998)

This study tested the hypothesis that acute iron overload (500 mg/kg) alters Kupffer cell functioning by promoting free radical reactions associated with the respiratory burst of liver macrophages, assessed in the isolated perfused rat liver under conditions of Kupffer cell stimulation by carbon infusion and inactivation by gadolinium chloride pretreatment. Total serum and hepatic iron levels were markedly enhanced compared with control values 2 to 24 hours after iron treatment. Total liver O 2 uptake progressively increased by iron overload reaching a maximum at 6 hours after treatment, an effect that was completely blocked by GdCl 3 . Concomitantly, carbon-induced GdCl 3 -sensitive liver O 2 uptake was either enhanced by 119% at 2 hours after iron overload, diminished compared with control values at 4 hours, or abolished at 6 hours. Iron-overloaded rats showed a marked increase in liver sinusoidal lactate dehydrogenase efflux at 4 and 6 hours after treatment, an effect that is exacerbated by carbon infusion and reduced (69%-89%) by GdCl 3 pretreatment. Both basal and carbon-induced lactate dehydrogenase effluxes returned to control values at 24 hours after iron overload concomitantly with depression of the basal O 2 uptake, without development of iron-induced GdCl 3 -sensitive respiration or Kupffer cell activation by carbon infusion. It is concluded that iron overload induces a derangement in the Kupffer cell functional status represented by early increases in macrophage-dependent respiratory activity, which may contribute to the concomitant liver injury that developed and to the impairment of both hepatic respiration and the macrophage response to particle stimulation observed at later times after treatment.
Culture in cetaceans: Why put the cart before the horse?
Authors: Bertrand L. Deputte
Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2001)

Twisting definitions of a concept to serve one's purposes is rarely a fruitful exercise and the demonstration of culture is, necessarily, a two-step procedure: (1) documenting a behavioral difference between populations, (2) demonstrating that this difference has spread through the group by means of social learning. This will avoid putting the cart before the horse.
Pet‐keeping in early childhood and airway, nose and skin symptoms later in life
Authors: C. G. Bornehag, J. Sundell, L. Hagerhed, S. Janson
Journal: Allergy (2003)

Background: It is discussed whether exposure to pets during childhood is a risk or a protective factor for sensitization and allergic symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between pet‐keeping at time of birth and allergic symptoms in airways, nose and skin among young children in Sweden. Method: A questionnaire was sent to the parents of 14 077 children (1–6 years), the focus being on allergic symptoms, home environment and other background factors including pet‐keeping and avoidance behaviour. The response rate was 79%. Results: Almost one‐tenth of the population had got rid of pets because of allergy in the family, and 27.3% reported ‘avoidance’ behaviour towards pets. In a cross‐sectional analysis current pet‐keeping was ‘protective’, but this may be due to the fact that people avoid exposing their child to something that they believe is a risk factor for allergies. Pet‐keeping at the time of birth was associated with ‘wheezing’, ‘asthma’ and ‘rhinitis on pet‐exposure’ later in life for children from families with an ‘avoidance’ behaviour, and was not ‘protective’ for other children. There was also an indication of a dose–response relationship between the number of types of furred pets at time of birth and later symptoms in analyses adjusted for avoidance behaviour or current pet‐keeping. Conclusion: The distribution of pet‐keeping in the population is largely explained by avoidance behaviour, meaning that those who have pets mainly are those who can stand them, indicating a ‘healthy pet‐keeping effect’.
Selective coronary arteriography in children.
Authors: A Formanek, P H Nath, C Zollikofer, J H Moller
Journal: Circulation (1980)

Anomalies and disease processes of the coronary arteries in children are uncommon. However, with the recent advances in cardiac surgical techniques, many of these lesions are amenable to surgery that requires accurate anatomic delineation by angiography. Ascending aortography is the angiographic procedure commonly used to image the coronary arterial anatomy in children. In some instances this procedure fails to show the extent or nature of the pathologic process. In some cases, selective coronary arteriography is essential for successful management. Twelve patients are presented in whom selective coronary arteriography was indicated, and its value is compared with that of nonselective angiography. Indications for selective coronary arteriography in children are given, and its complications are also discussed.
A NEW URETERAL STONE EXTRACTOR AND DILATOR
Authors: Wilford A. Councill
Journal: JAMA (1926)

In an effort to overcome the uncertainties of our present methods of treatment for ureteral calculi—waiting for the stone to pass spontaneously, ureteral dilatations and injections of oil, with the ever present possibility of permanent injury to the kidney, and perhaps final surgical intervention—I have devised an instrument which has been used successfully in a number of cases. This instrument gradually dilates and protects the ureteral wall while the stone is being extracted, thus minimizing trauma and reaction. Figure 1 shows a flexible instrument consisting of five principal parts: a movable handle,<i>a</i>, connected to an inner or central wire,<i>g</i>, and with thumb in<i>b</i>, slides in a groove,<i>c</i>, opening the mesh of wires for reception of the stone;<i>d</i>is a spiral sheath through which the central or control wire connects with the filiform tip,<i>f</i>; tension made on<i>a</i>causes the mesh,<i>e</i>, to open; the
Breathprints of model murine bacterial lung infections are linked with immune response
Authors: Heather D. Bean, Jaime Jiménez-Díaz, Jiangjiang Zhu, Jane E. Hill
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2014)

In this model study, we explored the host's contribution of breath volatiles to diagnostic secondary electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry (SESI-MS) breathprints for acute bacterial lung infections, their correlation with the host's immune response, and their use in identifying the lung pathogen. Murine airways were exposed to Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus bacterial cell lysates or to PBS (controls), and their breath and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected at six time points (from 6 to 120 h) after exposure. Five to six mice per treatment group and four to six mice per control group were sampled at each time. Breath volatiles were analysed using SESI-MS and the BALF total leukocytes, polymorphonuclear neutrophils, lactate dehydrogenase activity, and cytokine concentrations were quantified. Lysate exposure breathprints contain host volatiles that persist for up to 120 h; are pathogen specific; are unique from breathprints of controls, active infections and cleared infections; and are correlated with the host's immune response. Bacterial lung infections induce changes to the host's breath volatiles that are selective and specific predictors of the source of infection. Harnessing the pathogen-specific volatiles in the host's breath may provide useful information for detecting latent bacterial lung infections and managing the spread of respiratory diseases.
Screening women over 70 for breast cancer does not produce expected fall in advanced disease, Dutch study finds
Authors: Z. Kmietowicz
Journal: BMJ (2014)

Including much older women in the Dutch breast cancer screening programme has not led to the anticipated steep fall in new cases of advanced disease in this age group, a study has found. Instead, the policy of screening older women may result in overdiagnosis and overtreatment, the researchers warned.

The study, by a team based at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, was published in The BMJ on 15 September at the start of the Preventing Overdiagnosis conference in Oxford.1 The conference was hosted by the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, in partnership with The BMJ ’s Too Much Medicine campaign (www.bmj.com/too-much-medicine).

The …
274 Localization of cells expressing mRNA for the cytokine gene cluster, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5 and GM-CSF in allergen-induced cutaneous late-phase reactions in atopic patients
Authors: O HAMID, S YING, V VARNEY, S DURHAM, R MOGBEL, A WARDLAW, A KAY
Journal: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (1991)
Electrophysiological Effects of Direct Current Countershock before and after Ouabain Sensitization and after Diphenylhydantoin Desensitization in the Dog
Authors: RICHARD H. HELFANT, BENJAMIN J. SCHERLAG, ANTHONY M. DAMATO
Journal: Circulation Research (1968)

The effects of synchronized direct current countershock on ventricular automaticity, intraventricular conduction, and atrioventricular conduction were studied before and after ouabain administration and after diphenylhydantoin. At the level of electrical energy that induced ventricular arrhythmias, averaging 159 watt-seconds, countershock transiently increased ventricular automaticity and prolonged both intraventricular and atrioventricular conduction time. Immediately after ouabain-induced ventricular tachycardia returned to regular sinus rhythm, underlying ventricular automaticity and intraventricular and atrioventricular conduction times were increased. An average of 23 watt-seconds produced overt and persistent ventricular tachycardias due to enhanced automaticity or re-entry. Atrioventricular and intraventricular conduction times were also prolonged, and transient complete heart block occurred in two experiments. Diphenylhydantoin administration at this time depressed ventricular automaticity, caused a speeding of atrioventricular and intraventricular conduction times and increased the electrical energy necessary to produce ventricular tachycardia to 355 watt-seconds.
Study identifies behaviours in young children that might prevent obesity
Authors: Z. Kmietowicz
Journal: BMJ (2012)

Nursery school age children should be physically active for between two to three hours a day and watch television or use a screen for no more than a hour a day, say recommendations that are to be tested for their potential to prevent obesity.

Research conducted by scientists from 10 European countries and presented in 11 reviews in a supplement of the journal Obesity Reviews (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obr.2012.13.issue-s1/issuetoc) shows that television watching at weekends and consuming too many unhealthy snacks and soft drinks are making four to six years olds overweight. 

Obesity among European pre-school children is hitting record levels, with more than one in eight children overweight in northern Europe, rising to more than 25% in parts …
USE OF FIRST-PERSON PRONOUNS
Authors: Keith Hammond
Journal: JAMA (1960)

<h3>To the Editor:—</h3> It strikes me that there are remarks which are open to question in the extract at the bottom of page 1861 in the Aug. 20 issue ofThe Journal. Speaking with whatever authority a number of rejection slips and few acceptances might indicate, I can say that many an otherwise dull story has been enlivened by its first-person pronouns. It is true that medical writing is not creative in the same sense as such writing as Poe's short stories, for instance. Its frequent dull and uninspired composition attests to this with drab eloquence. Still, it should be, and some of the medical classics indicate that it can be. Turn to these and notice that their most delightfully refreshing feature is usually a style which makes liberal use of "my," "I," and "me." Indeed, the "once-upon-a-time" approach is as insufferably dull and archaic as it is childish and
Transepithelial elimination in necrobiosis lipoidica
Authors: CRISTOBAL A. PARRA
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1977)

Elimination of necrotic material through the hair follicle as a means of excretion has been observed in three cases of necrobiosis lipoidica. Clinically this process presents as comedo‐like plugs localized mainly in the periphery of the lesions.
Kinetics of indium-III labelled lymphocytes in normal subjects and patients with Hodgkin's disease.
Authors: J P Lavender, J M Goldman, R N Arnot, M L Thakur
Journal: BMJ (1977)

The distribution in the body and the circulation in the blood of autologous lymphocytes labelled with indium-III were studied in two normal subjects and two patients with Hodgkin's disease. Four hours after injection radioactivity was identified in the spleen, liver, and bone marrow. Radioactivity, followed by imaging and whole body scanning, began to appear in the lymph nodes four to 18 hours after injection, and some, though not all, lymph node groups in the body could be readily visualised. There were no differences between the normal subjects and the patients with Hodgkin's disease. The pattern of clearance of radioactivity from the blood was consistent with a normal circulation between blood and lymphoid tissues of the labelled lymphocytes. Since indium-111 stays firmly attached to the cell, it seems an ideal label for studying lymphocyte kinetics, and the use of this technique may have further clinical application.
Acute hepatitis E complicated by Guillain-Barré syndrome in Portugal, December 2012 – a case report
Authors: L Santos, J R Mesquita, N Rocha Pereira, C Lima-Alves, R Serrão, P Figueiredo, J Reis, J Simões, M S Nascimento, A Sarmento
Journal: Eurosurveillance (2013)

Autochthonous hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been increasingly reported in Europe and the United States, mostly arising from genotype 3 and less frequently genotype 4. We report here on a patient with HEV genotype 3a infection complicated by Guillain-Barré syndrome in Portugal in December 2012. We draw attention to the diagnosis of autochthonous HEV infection and to its rare, but important, neurological complications.
Antidepressants and heart disease.
Authors: M L Orme
Journal: BMJ (1984)

Antidepressants and heart diseaseWhen taken in overdosage tricyclic antidepressant drugs may be cardiotoxic.I 2 The most common findings are tachycardia and hypotension, but cardiac arrhythmias and abnormalities in cardiac conduction are also important.This reputation of tricyclic antidepressants for cardiotoxicity was enhanced by a series of papers from Aberdeen linking the therapeutic use of amitriptyline with sudden cardiac death, especially in patients with pre-existing cardiac disease.3-5Though the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program could find no evidence of such an association,6 the problem has continued to trouble physicians and has led to the introduction of antidepressants that may be less cardiotoxic than amitriptyline.Different antidepressants have different effects on the heart.All currently available tricyclic antidepressant drugs have anticholinergic (atropine like) activity, which causes tachycardia and decreases conduction time through the atrio- ventricular node.In addition, the tricyclic antidepressant drugs have a quinidine like activity on the myocardium-and this may delay atrioventricular conduction.The net effect on the electrocardiogram in most studies is to prolong the PR and QT intervals.7A further effect of tricyclic antidepressants How can the prescribing physician steer a sensible course?
Low Back Pain and Sciatica
Authors: T. B. Quigley
Journal: JAMA (1967)

To the Editor:—  In Low Back Pain and Sciatica ( 200 :705, 1967) John C. Wilson, Jr., states:  The orthopedic surgeon, through training, interest, and motivation, should be prepared to perform whatever procedure is required. Arthrodesis of lumbar joints should be performed, generally, on patients less than 50 years of age and, specifically on patients with localized disease of the fifth lumbar level or with a long history of back pain due primarily to degeneration of the disks at the fourth and fifth levels.  The percentage of patients with ruptured lumbar intervertebral disks falling into these categories is not mentioned, but must be high.  Dr. Wilson pays warm tribute to his teacher in this area, the late Joseph Seaton Barr. Attention is called to a study of the end results of surgical treatment of 655 patients suffering from ruptured lumbar intervertebral disks on which Dr. Barr was working on the day
Textbook of Echocardiography
Authors: Alfred F. Parisi
Journal: JAMA (1978)

This monograph consists of three sections. Part 1 is related to the fundamentals of echocardiography. It consists of three chapters devoted to the ultrasound principle, approaches to the ultrasonic examination, and echocardiographic interpretation. The first two chapters, while cursory, nevertheless allow the reader to assimilate rapidly the principles of ultrasound and the performance of the examination without becoming entrenched in excessive technical details. In the third chapter, the author outlines the physician requirements for echocardiographic interpretation as suggested in the "Report of the Inter-Society Commission for Heart Disease Resources." This culminates with the author's view of echocardiography as a test that "obtains its ultimate value when used in the context of all available information about each patient"—a concept that is often overlooked in today's enthusiasm about noninvasive diagnostic methods. Part 2 relates to cardiac structure. It systematically treats the echocardiographic features of the cardiac valves, the chambers, and the pericardium.
Effect of Insulin on Nitrogen Retention in the Hypophysectomized Rat
Authors: R. T. B. Lawrence, J. M. Salter, C. H. Best
Journal: BMJ (1954)

APLASTIC ANAEMIA DUE TO T.N.T. MEDanaemia, but he had to be removed to another hospital for treatment, because never in the history of the first hospital had a blood transfusion been given.Summary Twenty-four cases of aplastic anaemia caused by the absorption of trinitrotoluene (15 being fatal) are re- corded.Of the nine patients who recovered, six were treated by multiple blood transfusions with administration of liver, iroi, and vitamins; three received liver, iron, and vitamin therapy, but no blood transfusion; one of these three also received ventriculin.Analysis is made of these 24 cases and of three cases of early toxic anaemia due to the same cause.The insidious.onset of aplastic anaemia sets a difficult problem.
Interstitial laser hyperthermia.
Authors: H. M. Sweetland, A. Wyman, K. Rogers
Journal: BMJ (1989)

The process of determining population needs is also in a primitive form and must be encouraged to evolve.The first contracts will of necessity be based on "met demand" as a proxy for "need."The more refined definition of need, based on epidemiological principles, will evolve over time.Survival of the fittest seems to be a fundamental principle of the white paper's philosophy.The competition should, however, be between provider units and not between providers and commission- ing authorities; if commissioning authorities are vested with real powers in making informed choices and monitoring performance then there are real opportunities for incorporating measures of clinical effectiveness within the contract framework outlined in the white paper.