tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Chairwoman of Shipman inquiry protests at lack of action
Authors: Tessa Richards
Journal: BMJ (2006)

The government, the General Medical Council, and the medical profession were criticised last week for failing to respond to the recommendations of the inquiry into the case of Harold Shipman, the GP who murdered more than 200 patients.

At a meeting convened at the Royal Society of Medicine in London to discuss trust between doctors and patients after the Shipman case, Janet Smith, chairwoman of the Shipman inquiry, said that the case had “disclosed a raft of flaws in professional governance” and that “inaction cannot be defended.”

The GMC's plan for revalidation was “stopped in its tracks,” she said, which was “good because as proposed it was merely a rubber stamping exercise, but 18 months on we are still waiting to learn what is to be done.”

Aneez Esmail, professor of general practice at Manchester University and an adviser to the inquiry, said that the “continued silence” of the chief medical officer indicates that an “unholy compromise is being worked out.”

“And when it does appear I predict it will be a fudge,” he said.

The inquiry's recommendation to revise death and cremation certification ( BMJ 2002;325: 919) should already have been implemented, speakers underlined. It was the most effective way of “preventing another Shipman” and—unlike revalidation (which could not identify a serial killer)—was simple to implement.

When …
Conservative Treatment vs Radical Surgery for Superficial Cancer of the Bladder
Authors: Hugh J. Jewett
Journal: JAMA (1968)

The aim of treatment of a patient with cancer of the bladder is to remove all of the cancer cells, and, if possible, to preserve the bladder if it can be made healthy and reasonably comfortable. But one's preoccupation with saving the bladder should not be permitted to jeopardize the patient's chance for cure. It therefore is obvious that one must be able to make an accurate distinction between a tumor that can be removed completely from the bladder and one that requires removal of the entire organ. Over the last 20 years, urologists have repeatedly demonstrated that chances for five-year survivorships after cystectomy are nearly always considerably better when pathological sections through the vesical wall show that invasion has not reached the halfway point in the underlying muscularis. These are the superficial cancers, and many, if not most, are best treated conservatively. The difficult problem, however, is to determine
Assisted Reproductive Technology Program Reporting
Authors: D. M. Kissin, D. J. Jamieson, W. D. Barfield
Journal: JAMA (2011)

Surveillance System (NASS). 1 The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology started collecting assisted reproductive technology (ART) data from member-clinics in 1986; the CDC has been collecting detailed information on all ART procedures performed annually in the United States since 1995 and has been monitoring ART effectiveness and safety.Several factors contribute to the high quality of surveillance data, including support of professional societies and consumer organizations, as well as annual data validation of a sample of ART programs.However, there are areas for improvement.Currently, ART programs submit their data to the CDC 1 year after the end of the reporting year to allow collection of complete information about births following successful ART procedures.Another year is needed for statistical analyses, preparation, and publication of the ART Success Rates Report. 2 Thus, the report describing ART procedures performed in 2009 is published at the end of 2011.To improve the timeliness of publishing clinic-specific success rates, the CDC plans to release these rates in advance of the aggregate national data beginning in 2012.Outreach to the few nonreporting ART clinics, which tend to be smaller and may not belong to the relevant professional societies, could improve completeness of the NASS. 2 The quality of reported data can be further improved by prospective reporting, ie, initial reporting of ART procedure (cycle start date and patient's demographic information) within 4 days of procedure initiation, and complete reporting when the outcome of the procedure is known.All member-clinics of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology are now required to report prospectively. 3 Extension of prospective reporting to non-member-clinics (approximately 15% of ART clinics) could further improve data quality and accountability.The growing population of ART-conceived children and the contribution of ART to multiple and preterm births makes ART an important public health issue, which the NASS can help
Gallium Edetate 68Ga Experiences in Brain-Lesion Detection With the Positron Camera
Authors: Leonard R. Schaer
Journal: JAMA (1966)

Gallium 68 is a positron-emitting radioisotope with a half-life of 68 minutes. It is easily prepared in the form of gallium edetate68Ga (68Ga-EDTA) from a long-lasting germanium-gallium cow. This tracer compound accumlates in most brain tumors and, using the positron form of the scintillation camera, pictures of the distribution of this radioisotope in the patient's head can be obtained. The lesions appear as an area of increased uptake of the radioisotope. In a series of 96 carefully observed patients, 41 cases with subsequently proved abnormalities were accurately diagnosed by this method. Nine cases with abnormalities were missed. Low radiation hazard to the patient, ease of preparation, and constant availability of the tracer compound at low cost make this radioisotope an excellent tracer for localizing brain tumors in conjunction with the positron scintillation camera.
Calcium plus Vitamin D for Postmenopausal Women — Bone Appétit?
Authors: Joel S. Finkelstein
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2006)

There are many therapies that reduce the risk of fracture in people with osteoporosis. Calcium and vitamin D are the most widely used therapies for osteoporosis, even though their efficacy in terms of the prevention of fracture is uncertain. In fact, calcium supplements are the biggest seller in the multibillion-dollar dietary-supplement industry; annual sales in the United States in 2004 have been estimated to be as high as $993 million.1 The effect of calcium supplementation on bone mineral density has been the subject of many studies. In general, calcium has a small beneficial effect on bone mineral density, but it . . .
Electrophysiological and Hemodynamic Characteristics Associated With Obesity in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Thomas M. Munger, Ying-Xue Dong, Mitsuru Masaki, Jae K. Oh, Sunil V. Mankad, Barry A. Borlaug, Samuel J. Asirvatham, Win-Kuang Shen, Hon-Chi Lee, Suzette J. Bielinski, David O. Hodge, Regina M. Herges, Traci L. Buescher, Jia-Hui Wu, Changsheng Ma, Yanhua Zhang, Peng-Sheng Chen, Douglas L. Packer, Yong-Mei Cha
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2012)
The ethics of data utilisation: a comparison between epidemiology and journalism
Authors: C-G Westrin, T Nilstun
Journal: BMJ (1994)

Legal controls over data collection in European countries have badly affected the work of epidemiologists. By contrast, journalists have been allowed far greater freedoms. The aims and tasks of both professions are in line with accepted values in our society--especially those of inquiry and the benefits of an open society. Society seems willing to accept that, in the interests of wider public good, journalism may sometimes invade individuals' privacy and do them harm, but it is not prepared to offer epidemiology an equal measure of tolerance.
Chronic fatigue syndrome could be costing UK economy 100m a year, study says
Authors: M. Hunter
Journal: BMJ (2011)

Chronic fatigue syndrome costs the UK economy millions of pounds in lost productivity each year, research announced on 14 September estimates.

Two studies presented at the British Science Festival in Bradford say that the syndrome, also called myalgic encephalopathy (ME), has a severe financial affect on affected people and their families.

In one study researchers from the University of Bristol found that over half of patients attending specialist ME services had stopped work because of “fatigue related symptoms” ( BMC Health Services Research 2011;11:217, doi:10.1186/1472-6963-11-217). The cost in lost productivity represented by the 2170 patients studied was £49.2m (€56m; $78m). Extrapolating this figure to the nearly …
Harm from prescription drugs likely to grow, claims US sociologist
Authors: B. Kermode-Scott
Journal: BMJ (2008)

Inbuilt “fatal flaws” in the way prescription drugs are tested and marketed in the United States are likely to increasingly expose US citizens to unacceptable side effects, a leading US sociologist has claimed.

“Drug disasters are literally built into the current system of drug testing and approvals in the United States,” said Donald Light, professor of comparative health policy at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Boston, Massachusetts, earlier this month.

“The way drugs …
P waves during ectopic atrial rhythms in man: a study utilizing atrial pacing with fixed electrodes.
Authors: W A MacLean, R B Karp, N T Kouchoukos, T N James, A L Waldo
Journal: Circulation (1975)

Threshold bipolar pacing was performed from one of 12 selected atrial sites with temporary implanted electrodes in 69 patients following open-heart surgery in order to study P wave polarity and morphology and the P-R interval during paced ectopic atrial rhythms. A negative P wave was recorded in lead I only with pacing the left atrium and only when pacing near the left pulmonary veins. A positive bifid P wave in V1 was recorded only with left atrial pacing and only when pacing was near the inferior pulmonary veins and coronary sinus. P wave polarity and morphology were otherwise of no use in localization of the origin of the impulse in these studies. The pacing stimulus to P wave interval was found to vary between 10 and 54 msec, making the duration of the P-R interval an unreliable indicator of the site of origin of the paced impulse. Although the relation of these paced rhythms to spontaneously occurring ectopic rhythms is unclear, the previously published criteria for localizing ectopic atrial rhythms are again demonstrated to be unreliable. P wave polarity and morphology and the P-R interval are of limited value in ascertaining the origin of ectopic atrial rhythms in man.
The Army Ration.
Authors: P. R. Egan
Journal: JAMA (1900)

San Juan, P. R., Dec. 27, 1899. <h3>To the Editor:</h3> —As a supplement to the article by my scientific friend, Colonel Smart, on the Army Ration (seeJournal, xxxiii, p. 1507), let me add a few practical observations gathered in Porto Rico. Duty has taken me at one time or another since the first days of the American invasion into almost every town from Ysabela, on the northwest coast, to Humacao, on the east coast and then up the military road to this capital. In the district of Guyama and southern Humacao it was part of my business to investigate the cause of deaths among the natives. Everywhere I found the main causes assigned to be anemia and phthisis. Everywhere I went I was struck by this ever-prevalent anemia. The pale, yellowish, waxy skin, the bloodless lips and swollen puffy features formed a picture never seen by me out of
Herpes gestationis. Immunopathology and characterization of the HG factor.
Authors: S I Katz, K C Hertz, H Yaoita
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1976)

Five patients with herpes gestationis, a blistering disease of pregnancy, were studied immunologically. All had in vivo deposition of C3 in a linear band along the basement membrane zone of lesional and normal-appearing skin, the location of early blister formation. Immunoglobulin deposition was more variable, though four patients had evidence of in vivo bound IgG at the same site. A circulating, complement binding herpes gestationis factor was demonstrated in the sera of four of the patients, its concentration unrelated to the activity of clinical disease. Characterization of this factor by sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation, specific absorption studies, and papain digestion indicates that it is an IgG. Evidence exists for involvement of both the classical and alternate complement pathways in vivo, though in vitro studies implicate the classical pathway as the primary route of complement activation. Three offspring were studied, none with clinical involvement; one showed in vivo deposition of C3 at the basement membrane zone of normal skin and a second showed the herpes gestationis factor in cord blood.
Multimodal In Vivo Imaging and Blood Monitoring of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Apoptosis
Authors: Johanna M Niers, Mariam Kerami, Lisa Pike, Grant Lewandrowski, Bakhos A Tannous
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2011)

Noninvasive detection and in vivo imaging of apoptosis plays a critical role in the development of therapeutics in many different fields including cancer. We have developed an apoptosis biosensor by fusing green fluorescent protein (GFP) to the N-terminus of the naturally secreted Gaussia luciferase separated by a caspase-3 cleavage peptide consisting of aspartic acid (D), glutamic acid (E), valine (V), and aspartic acid (D) or DEVD. We showed that this fusion is retained in the cytoplasm of cells in an inactive form. Upon apoptosis, the DEVD peptide is cleaved in response to caspase-3 activation, freeing ssGluc, which can now enter the secretory pathway where it is folded properly and is released from the cells and can be detected in the conditioned medium in culture or in blood of live animals ex vivo over time. Because Gluc is secreted from cells via conventional pathway through the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi and vesicles, we showed that the presence of Gluc in these compartments in response to apoptosis can be visualized in vivo using bioluminescence imaging. This reporter provides a valuable tool for imaging and real-time monitoring of apoptosis and is compatible with high-throughput functional screening application in cultured cells and animal models.
Abstract 1274: SLITRK6, the target of a novel antibody drug conjugate AGS15E, is expressed in bladder and other cancers.
Authors: Peng YANG, Jeffrey Coleman, Ying Li, Yi Zhang, Candice Junge, Kendall Morrison, Fernando Donate, David Stover, Karen Morrison
Journal: Cancer Research (2013)

Abstract SLITRK6, a member of the SLITRK family of neuronal transmembrane proteins, was discovered by Agensys using suppressive subtractive hybridization on biopsies from bladder cancer patients. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of SLITRK6 expression was evaluated in various human cancers including bladder, using a SLITRK6-specific antibody M15-68(2)22. This mouse monoclonal antibody was raised to a peptide contained within the extracellular domain of SLITRK6 and was selected as a suitable IHC reagent by screening on RNA positive and negative cell lines and xenografts. Subsequent analysis of SLITRK6 expression in human cancer tissue microarray samples, utilizing M15-68(2)22, showed positive staining in 90% of 452 cases of bladder transitional cell carcinoma, including in situ, advanced primary and metastatic tumors. A subset of lung primary and metastatic cancers, breast cancers and glioblastomas also expressed SLITRK6. In normal tissues SLTRK6 expression is highly restricted to limited epithelia, including transitional epithelium, and some mast cells. In view of the restricted expression in normal tissues and the high expression in bladder transitional cell carcinoma, SLITRK6 constitutes an excellent target for antibody drug conjugate therapy for bladder transitional cell carcinoma and, potentially, for other cancer indications. Citation Format: Peng YANG, Jeffrey Coleman, Ying Li, Yi Zhang, Candice Junge, Kendall Morrison, Fernando Donate, David Stover, Karen Morrison. SLITRK6, the target of a novel antibody drug conjugate AGS15E, is expressed in bladder and other cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1274. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1274
Quantitative 99mTc-DISIDA scanning and endoscopic biliary manometry in sphincter of Oddi dysfunction.
Authors: G M Fullarton, A Allan, T Hilditch, W R Murray
Journal: Gut (1988)

Sphincter of Oddi (SO) dysfunction is a recognised cause of postcholecystectomy pain, but a difficult condition to diagnose, requiring endoscopic biliary manometry (EBM) to confirm sphincter motor abnormalities. We have assessed quantitative cholescintigraphy in 10 postcholecystectomy (PC) patients with clinical and manometric evidence of SO dysfunction, 10 PC patients with non-biliary type abdominal pain and 10 asymptomatic PC volunteers acting as controls to determine its value as a non-invasive screening test. Quantitative 99mTc-DISIDA scans lasted 60 minutes, activity/time curves being created by computer analysis using the entire hepatobiliary system as region-of-interest (ROI). Scintigraphic analysis demonstrated that the time in minutes to maximum counts (Tmax) was significantly increased in the SO dysfunction group compared with the non-biliary pain group and the asymptomatic volunteers (p less than 0.001). The per cent of biliary tracer emptied was also significantly less in the SO dysfunction group than either of the other groups at both 45 minutes (p less than 0.01) and 60 minutes (p less than 0.02). We conclude that quantitative cholescintigraphy may be a valuable non-invasive screening test in clinically suspected SO dysfunction.
AN EFFICIENT METHOD OF APPLYING RADIUM WITHIN THE MOUTH
Authors: E. Wood Ruggles
Journal: JAMA (1923)

The treatment of lesions within the mouth with roentgen rays or radium has always been a procedure of the utmost difficulty. It is much more practicable with radium, but the holding of an applicator on one area for hours is intensely wearisome to the nurse, or to the patient if he does it himself. Besides this, it is practically impossible to hold the radium in exactly the same position for any length of time. Five months ago a Polish girl, aged 6 years, was brought to me for the treatment of an extensive cavernous nevus of the internal surface of the right cheek and the lower lip. It encroached on the true skin beyond the vermilion border for an area of only about one-quarter by one-sixteenth inch (6 by 1.5 mm.) at the center of the lower lip. The cheek was nearly an inch in diameter at the most prominent
Effect of prenalterol on orthostatic hypotension in the Shy-Drager syndrome.
Authors: J Goovaerts, C Verfaillie, R Fagard, D Knockaert
Journal: BMJ (1984)

Treatment of idiopathic orthostatic hypotension is often unsatisfactory. A patient with the Shy-Drager syndrome, in which the most important symptom is orthostatic hypotension, was treated with prenalterol, initially 30 mg six times daily. The dosage was reduced to 30 mg four times daily because of the development of complex ventricular premature beats. Orthostatic symptoms were reduced and standing blood pressure increased. Fludrocortisone 0.5 mg a day was added to treatment with further improvement. This clinical effect was maintained throughout 12 months of follow up, during which the treatment was continued unchanged. Prenalterol was effective in reducing orthostatic symptoms in this patient. Further studies in patients with a similar haemodynamic pattern are indicated.
Medical Education, Licensure, and the National Board of Medical Examiners
Authors: William D. Holden, Edithe J. Levit
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1980)

There are several misconceptions of the role and responsibility of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and the purpose and use of its certifying examination, Parts I, II, and III.The NBME is an independent private agency whose principal purpose since its establishment in 1915 has been the preparation of examinations that may be used by state medical boards for the licensure of physicians. Because the quality of the NBME examinations depends on the active participation of the academic community, the NBME stands at the interface between the educational and licensing structures.The licensing system, on behalf of the . . .
Appendicitis in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Edmund P. Kelley
Journal: JAMA (1968)

<h3>To the Editor:—</h3> Until 1962, the only major surgical facilities available to the people of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia were those of an Arabian-American oil company. The first oil company hospital with modern and complete surgical facilities (Dhahran Health Center) was opened in 1950. Since 1962 a growing number of local government and private hospitals have been able to care for surgical patients who are not oil company employees or dependents. The surgical experience is a valid sample of the diseases affecting the people of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. All surgery was performed by a slowly changing group of about 20 American, Arab, and Indian surgeons, with from five to eight general surgeons on the staff in any single year. All operation reports since January 1952 are on file, in English. In the early third of this series, if the operative findings did not clearly indicate
SPONTANEOUS CURE OF A CASE OF EPIDEMIC (LETHARGIC) ENCEPHALITIS FOLLOWING AN ATTACK OF PNEUMONIA
Authors: Joshua H. Leiner
Journal: JAMA (1923)

E. S., a boy, aged 8 years, who had had an attack of encephalitis in September, 1919, a month later manifested symptoms of reversal of sleep, change in character, and other disturbances. He was then taken to the mountains to recuperate, where he spent a year without any benefit; in fact, he became worse.  Jan. 12, 1922, one and a half years later, he exhibited, as sequelae of his encephalitis, paroxysmal attacks involving the respiratory mechanism, and complete change in behavior. These respiratory attacks began one year after the acute attack of encephalitis. In the main, they resembled those in cases described by Parker, 1 and, in part, those by Haas, Sicard, Aronson and others.  The patient was admitted to Lebanon Hospital one week later. The attacks were characterized by rapid and deep respiration five or six times, and then holding of the breath, as if the child had a
Transient monoclonal gammopathy in a patient withBartonella quintana endocarditis
Authors: Pascal Sève, Robert Turner, Katia Stankovic, Laurent Perard, Christiane Broussolle
Journal: American Journal of Hematology (2006)

Monoclonal gammopathy has been reported rarely in association with infectious diseases. Viral infection has been the most frequently reported. We report a case of Bartonella quintana endocarditis in a 45-year-old homeless male associated with a monoclonal IgG kappa gammopathy. The gammopathy disappeared after 8 months of antibiotics while the Bartonella antibody titre was decreasing. This correlation suggests a causative role for B. quintana for the monoclonal gammopathy. To the best of our knowledge, this the first report of monoclonal gammopathy in the course of B. quintana infection.