tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Ames agrees with mom's advice: eat your fruits and vegetables
Authors: B. N. Ames
Journal: JAMA (1995)

IT HAPPENS about 10 000 times a day to every cell in the human body. Oxidants—the by-products of human metabolism—deliver damaging blows to the cells' DNA. Repair enzymes cut out much of the damage, but eventually time takes its toll. Oxidative attacks on the cells' DNA outpace the ability of enzymes to remove lesions. The cumulative damage is believed to be a major factor in the development of certain cancers and other aging-related illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease. But in recent years, scientists have pointed to the disease prevention potential of antioxidant properties found in certain nutrients, most notably vitamins C and E and beta carotene. As a result, fruits and vegetables that contain these compounds have taken a prominent place in contemporary recommendations to promote good health and prevent disease. "This is what mothers have known all along," says Bruce Ames, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and
FEASIBILITY, SAFETY, AND OUTCOMES WITH A CORONARY PRESSURE WIRE SYSTEM USED FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF SEVERE AORTIC STENOSIS
Authors: Bassem M. Chehab, Vinodh Jeevanantham, Andre Saad, James Vacek, Kamal Gupta, Buddhadeb Dawn, Peter Tadros, Mark Wiley
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2012)
THE SILK LIGATURE IN URETHRAL STRICTURE.
Authors: J. D. THOMAS
Journal: JAMA (1896)

Recently in operating upon a case of urethral strictures in conjunction with my colleague, Dr. H. R. O'Conner, at the South Side Hospital, we met with a difficulty somewhat out of the ordinary. The case was one of urinary fistula—the fistula opening upon the left side of the scrotum and due to the strictures. Beginning two inches from the meatus and involving the urethra from this point backward for the distance of another inch was a stricture that would admit nothing larger than a filiform ("a filiform stricture"). After the filiform was passed through this and into the bladder an opening was made in the perineum. An effort was now made to pass a tunneled Maisonneuve urethratome (No. 6 F.) over the filiform in order to cut the anterior stricture internally, but the stricture tissue was found so rigid that the shaft of the urethratome could not be made
Augmented home nursing as an alternative to hospital care for chronic elderly invalids.
Authors: F J Gibbins, M Lee, P R Davison, P O'Sullivan, M Hutchinson, D R Murphy, C N Ugwa
Journal: BMJ (1982)

A scheme of augmented home care for disabled elderly invalids is compared with long-stay hospital care. Initial results suggest that selected patients may be suitable for home care if they can be left unsupervised at night or if a relative is available to provide supervision. The cost of such care is in most cases cheaper than keeping the patient in hospital, and schemes such as this might reduce the need for additional long-stay geriatric beds to meet the necessary demands of our growing elderly population.
Challenges in Design of Multicenter Trials
Authors: Peter J. Dyck, Jane E. Norell, Hans Tritschler, Klemens Schuette, Rustem Samigullin, Dan Ziegler, Edward J. Bastyr, William J. Litchy, Peter C. O'Brien
Journal: Diabetes Care (2007)

Assessing clinimetric performance of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) end points in single and multicenter trials.Assessed were placebo-treated patients with DSPN in the Viatris and Eli Lilly trials and an epidemiologic cohort.Test reproducibility in clinical trial cohorts (r(I) approximately 0.7-0.85) approached that in the epidemiologic cohort (r(I) approximately 0.85-0.95). Associations between pairs of end points explained <10% of the variability of data (sometimes 15-35%), being higher in the epidemiologic cohort and the Viatris trial than in the Lilly trial. Most end points did not show monotonic worsening over 4 years. However, sural nerve amplitude and peroneal motor conduction velocity did. A nerve conduction score (Sigma 5 NC nds [5 attributes of nerve conduction expressed as normal deviates]) did not show monotonic worsening in established DSPN. In the epidemiologic cohort followed for 9.5 years, monotonic worsening of small magnitude occurred for sural amplitude, vibration detection threshold, and especially for composite quantitative sensation.The main reason why it is difficult to demonstrate monotonic worsening of neuropathic end points appears to be a very slow worsening of DSPN, a placebo effect for symptoms and signs, and measurement noise. Demonstrating disease progression in controlled trials of DSPN is more likely when 1) patients with developing rather than established DSPN are selected, 2) type 1 diabetic patients are preferentially recruited, 3) patients are selected who cannot or will not achieve ideal glycemic control, 4) end points chosen are known to show monotonic worsening, and 5) a restricted number of centers and expert examiners (trained, certified, using standard approaches, and reference values and interactive surveillance of tests) are used.
Personal and outdoor nitrogen dioxide concentrations in relation to degree of urbanization and traffic density.
Authors: E Rijnders, N A Janssen, P H van Vliet, B Brunekreef
Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives (2001)

To assess differences in exposure to air pollution from traffic in relation to degree of urbanization and traffic density, we measured personal and home outdoor nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) concentrations for 241 children from six different primary schools in the Netherlands. Three schools were situated in areas with varying degrees of urbanization (very urban, fairly urban, and nonurban) and three other schools were located near highways with varying traffic density (very busy, fairly busy, and not busy). Weekly averaged measurements were conducted during four different seasons. Simultaneously, indoor and outdoor measurements were conducted at the schools. Personal and outdoor NO(2) concentrations differed significantly among children attending schools in areas with different degrees of urbanization and among children attending schools in areas close to highways with different traffic densities. For the children living near highways, personal and outdoor NO(2) concentrations also significantly decreased with increasing distance of the home address to the highway. Differences in personal exposures between children from the different schools remained present and significant after adjusting for indoor sources of NO(2). This study has shown that personal and outdoor NO(2) concentrations are influenced significantly by the degree of urbanization of the city district and by the traffic density of and distance to a nearby highway. Because NO(2) can be considered a marker for air pollution from traffic, the more easily measured variables degree of urbanization, traffic density, and distance to a nearby highway can all be used to estimate exposure to traffic-related air pollution.
Abstract 4912: A network model of circulating tumor cell dynamics: Uncovering the mechanism of metastasis
Authors: Jacob G. Scott, Peter Kuhn, Alexander R A Anderson, Paul Newton
Journal: Cancer Research (2011)

Abstract Background: Hematogenous metastasis is a poorly understood process that accounts for the lion's share of cancer death. We hypothesize that this process can be explained by circulating tumor cells (CTCs). We endeavor to deconvolute this complex process by means of a mathematical model of CTC population dynamics within the human vascular system. Methods: We have represented the human vasculature as a network with organs represented as nodes and vascular connections as directed edges and written a system of Ordinary Differential Equations to model the dynamics of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as they populate the body from a source tumor. We have introduced several novel concepts such as a ‘filtration fraction’ which represents the fraction of CTCs that arrest in a given organ, the ‘shedding rate’ which represents the rate at which a primary tumor sheds CTCs into the vasculature and a ‘clearance rate’ which represents the combined effects of CTC apoptosis and immune clearance. Experimental parametrization of this model is accomplished through a clinical trial at The Scripps Institute during which we measure CTC concentrations at each of the most highly connected nodes at several time points before and after definitive surgery for – to include the portal vein, the superior vena cava, peripheral venous and peripheral arterial blood. Results: Initial exploration of the model using clinical data for validation has shown that certain tumor types follow flow driven patterns of metastasis while others seem to ignore the logical spread (e.g. prostate cancer spreading to the bone does not follow the flow directed network while sarcoma to the lungs does). Reasons for this dichotomy are as of yet unknown, though we suspect that both CTC heterogeneity and some form of biological signaling response are at play. We will utilize our theoretical model to investigate this dichotomy by explicitly incorporating CTC heterogeneity and by making specific biological, phenotypic observations of CTCs from different points in the network. Conclusion: We present the first network based, filter and flow model of CTC dynamics. The act of building the theoretical model and comparing it to clinical data alone has inspired several biological hypotheses and we look forward to testing more specific questions through clinical studies. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4912. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4912
Disadvantages of a SPARCling defense
Authors: Hema Bashyam
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (2008)

Giving infecting bacteria a little freedom early on can be good for the host, according to a new study by Rotta et al. (page 657). Confining the bugs too quickly, they find, can tie up the immune cells that need to spread the word.






Figure 1

Granulomas (blue) do not form when mice lack the collagen-building protein SPARC (bottom).




Certain bacteria, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Salmonella, are quickly surrounded by macrophages, dendritic cells, and other immune cells that seal off the invaders from surrounding tissue. The convergence of these cells creates immune cages—or granulomas—that contain several extracellular matrix proteins, including SPARC, which enhances collagen assembly.

Rotta et al. now find that SPARC-induced collagen prevents Salmonella-laden dendritic cells from slipping out of granulomas to the nearest lymph node to alert T cells. In mice infected through the skin with an attenuated strain of Salmonella, bacteria were hemmed in by a SPARC-enhanced granuloma within a day. After 9 days, however, the bacteria breached the fortifications. In the resulting absence of bacterium-killing T cells, the bugs rapidly spread out into other organs, and the animals soon died.

SPARC-deficient mice, on the other hand, never formed granulomas when they were infected with this crippled strain of Salmonella. Immune cells found the infection site but failed to coalesce because SPARC-formed collagen was absent, thereby allowing dendritic cells to reach lymph nodes. The mice thus fought off this initial infection and survived a later challenge with a virulent strain of Salmonella.

The immune system's knee-jerk reaction in trapping bacteria right away might be initially protective for widely infecting bugs that invade via the airways or the blood rather than the skin. The current findings suggest that antibacterial vaccines injected through the skin might be more effective if they are coinjected with a SPARC-blocking molecule.
Interpreting Genomic Diversity for Breast Cancer: Molecular Subtypes of Breast Cancer in Very Young Women (≤35 Y) in Western Turkey
Authors: B. Karaca, H. Yasdik, Z. Surmeli, P. Gursoy, B. Karabulut, C. Sezgin, U.A. Sanli, R. Uslu
Journal: Annals of Oncology (2013)
Bile Leakage After Fracture of a Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage Catheter
Authors: Dai D. Nghiem
Journal: JAMA (1984)

<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) has recently gained popularity in the management of obstructive jaundice. Nevertheless, it is not without complication. Fracture of the PTBD catheter can occur and result in massive bile peritonitis. <h3>Report of a Case.—</h3> An 86-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital for extrahepatic ductal obstruction. Laboratory studies disclosed the following values: serum alkaline phosphatase, 350 units/dL; SGOT, 194 units; SGOT, 232 units; total bilirubin, 20 mg; serum amylase, 422 units/L; aspartate aminotransferase, 90 IU; total protein, 5.7 g; albumin, 1.7 g; serum calcium, 5.1 mg; WBCs, 12,200/cu mm; and hematocrit, 27%. Guaiac-positive stools were present. Under antibiotic coverage, she underwent percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography and insertion of 7F catheter (Cook pigtail catheter) for biliary drainage. Within 24 hours, the bilirubin level decreased to 14.6 mg/mL. Two days later, bile drainage decreased suddenly to 500 ml/24 hr, while the total bilirubin level increased to
904-53 Left Ventricular Structure and Function Eleven Years After Doxorubicin Treatment for Childhood Leukemia: Is this a Restrictive Cardiomyopathic Process?
Authors: Steven E. Lipshultz, Stuart R. Lipsitz, Suzanne M. Mone, Stephen E. Sallan, Steven D. Colan
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (1995)
Comparison of positron emission tomography using C-11 acetate with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose in predicting myocardial viability
Authors: Robert J. Gropler, Barry A. Siegel, Kondapuram Sampathkumaran, Julio E. Perez, Steven R. Bergmann, Edward M. Geltman
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (1991)
The role of right and left ventricular function in the ventilatory response to exercise in chronic heart failure.
Authors: A L Clark, J W Swan, R Laney, M Connelly, J Somerville, A J Coats
Journal: Circulation (1994)

Right ventricular function may be an important determinant of exercise capacity, peak oxygen consumption (VO2), and the ventilatory response to carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2 relation) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).We studied the role of right ventricular function in CHF and also investigated the effects of absent right ventricular reserve in patients previously operated on with Fontan's procedure by measuring metabolic gas exchange during exercise in five groups of patients: (1) 10 patients who had previously undergone Fontan's procedure for congenital heart disease in whom the right ventricle is not functional; (2) 11 age-matched control subjects with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM); (3) 15 age-matched normal subjects; (4) 42 patients with CHF; and (5) 16 age-matched control subjects. Left and right ventricular ejection fractions (LVEF and RVEF) were measured by radionuclide ventriculography in group 4. In the young subjects, the VE/VCO2 slope was lower in the control subjects than in the other two groups, being 24.4 +/- 4.3 against 33.3 +/- 6.6 in group 1 (P < .001) and 29.6 +/- 8.1 in group 2 (P < .05). The correlation between peak VO2 and VE/VCO2 was -0.80 (P = .005) in group 1 and -0.76 (P = .007) in group 2. In the older age groups, the VE/VCO2 slope was significantly greater (38.0 +/- 14.9 versus 25.4 +/- 3.7; P < .001) in the heart failure group (group 4). In neither control group was there a significant relation between peak VO2 and VE/VCO2 slope. In group 4, the relation between peak VO2 and VE/VCO2 was similar to that seen for groups 1 and 2. LVEF was 24.3 +/- 14.1%, and RVEF was 32.5 +/- 13.1%. There was no correlation between either RVEF or LVEF and peak VO2 or VE/VCO2 slope in the heart failure group.The relation between excessive ventilation and reduction in peak oxygen consumption is present in patients with no functioning right ventricle. RVEF is not a determining feature of either exercise capacity or the excessive ventilatory response in CHF.
Reduced Lung Function in Healthy Preterm Infants in the First Months of Life
Authors: Luciana Friedrich, Renato T. Stein, Paulo M. C. Pitrez, Andrea L. Corso, Marcus H. Jones
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2005)

Preterm delivery has been associated with a higher incidence of respiratory morbidity even in infants that do not have significant respiratory disease during the neonatal period. Reduced flows have been reported in children and adolescents born prematurely.The aim of this study was to assess lung function in healthy preterm infants in the first months of life.Preterm infants with less than 48 h of supplemental oxygen were recruited. Lung function was assessed by the raised-volume rapid thoracic compression in the first months of life. The control group consisted of full-term infants without a history of respiratory diseases.Sixty-two preterm (29 male) and 27 full-term (10 male) infants were tested. Adjusting for length, age, and sex, we found a mean significant reduction of 92 ml/s (22%) in FEF(50), 73 ml/s (21%) in FEF(25-75), and 19 ml (28%) in FEV(0.5) in the preterm group. These differences in expiratory flows remained significant using another model that adjusts for lung volume (p < 0.01 for FEF(50), FEF(25-75), and FEV(0.5), and p < 0.05 for FEF(75)). In the preterm group, after adjusting for length, male sex, lower gestational age, and increased weight were significantly and independently associated with reduced flows.Our findings confirm that prematurity is independently associated with reduced lung function and that this is detectable in the first months of life. Male sex, lower gestational age, and weight are important predictors for reduced expiratory flows in this group.
ABC of intensive care: Outcome data and scoring systems
Authors: K. Gunning, K. Rowan
Journal: BMJ (1999)

Over a two year period, 1982-4, 56067 women, delivered or treated for a spontaneous abortion in 11 Montreal hospitals covering 90% of such admissions, were interviewed in detail regarding their occupational, social, and personal characteristics in their most recent and past pregnancies--104,649 in all. These data were analysed in relation to four main adverse outcomes--spontaneous abortion, stillbirth (without defect), congenital defect, and low birth weight (less than or equal to 2500 g). For comparison with observed numbers, expected figures were calculated by logistic regression using up to eight potentially confounding variables. Sixty occupational groups in six main industrial sectors were examined in current and previous pregnancies, with tests for heterogeneity between these two estimates of risk. Women in managerial, health, and clerical sectors had little evidence of excess of any of the four outcomes, by contrast with those in sales, service, and manufacturing sectors. Substantial and statistically significant excesses of spontaneous abortion were observed in nursing aides, women in sales occupations and food and beverage service; of stillbirth in agriculture and horticulture, leatherwork, and certain sales occupations; of congenital defects in women in child care, certain service occupations, and the manufacture of metal and electrical goods; and of low birth weight in chambermaids, cleaners, and janitors, and in women employed in the manufacture of food and drink, metal and electrical goods, and clothing.
Physiologic Abnormalities of Cardiac Function in Progressive Systemic Sclerosis with Diffuse Scleroderma
Authors: William P. Follansbee, Edward I. Curtiss, Thomas A. Medsger, Virginia D. Steen, Barry F. Uretsky, Gregory R. Owens, Gerald P. Rodnan
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1984)

To investigate cardiopulmonary function in progressive systemic sclerosis with diffuse scleroderma, we studied 26 patients with maximal exercise and redistribution thallium scans, rest and exercise radionuclide ventriculography, pulmonary-function testing, and chest roentgenography. Although only 6 patients had clinical evidence of cardiac involvement, 20 had abnormal thallium scans, including 10 with reversible exercise-induced defects and 18 with fixed defects (8 had both). Seven of the 10 patients who had exercise-induced defects and underwent cardiac catheterization had normal coronary angiograms. Mean resting left ventricular ejection fraction and mean resting right ventricular ejection fraction were lower in patients with post-exercise left ventricular thallium defect scores above the median (59±13 per cent vs. 69±6 per cent [P<0.025], and 36±12 per cent vs. 47±7 per cent [P<0.025], respectively). We conclude that in progressive systemic sclerosis with diffuse scleroderma, abnormalities of myocardial perfusion are common and appear to be due to a disturbance of the myocardial microcirculation. Both right and left ventricular dysfunction appear to be related to this circulatory disturbance, suggesting ischemically mediated injury. (N Engl J Med 1984; 310:142–8.)
Influence of age and gender on the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) in rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: B J Radovits, J Fransen, P L C M van Riel, R F J M Laan
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2007)

To investigate the influence of age and gender on the components of the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to clarify whether a high DAS28 can be equally interpreted in all age groups, independent of gender.A prospective cohort of 553 patients with RA was studied for approximately 20 years after diagnosis. The single measures of disease activity and the share of different components of the DAS28 (eg, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; ESR) were analysed and compared between three age groups (<45, 45-65 and >65 years) and per gender, using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The performance of the DAS28 and its components was explored in moderate to high and low DAS28 categories. Linear mixed model analysis was used to design the models best predicting ESR and the share of ESR.ESR significantly increased with age, independent of other variables of disease activity. This increase was more pronounced in male than in female patients. Nevertheless, the share of ESR increased with age only in male patients with a low DAS28 (<3.2). If the DAS28 score was >3.2, age and gender did not have a significant effect on any components of the DAS28. C-reactive protein (CRP) and DAS28(CRP) were not influenced by age.A high DAS28 was found to perform equally in all age groups, in men and women, despite the elevating effect of age on ESR. In elderly men with low disease activity, remission rate could be underestimated by an elevated ESR.
HIV is changing the face of tropical medicine
Authors: Elinor Moore
Journal: BMJ (2006)

A s part of my training as a specialist registrar in infectious diseases and tropical medicine, I have spent the past year in Malawi learning “real” tropical medicine. Of the many things I have learnt in this year, the most striking has been that tropical medicine is not quite what I thought it would be. I had expected to become familiar with the classic tropical diseases: malaria, schistosomiasis, and trypanosomiasis, to name a few.

But, in reality, I have seen little of these diseases. The reason is obvious: one disease has surpassed all others in terms of morbidity and mortality, pushing aside the other, more typical, tropical diseases. That disease is, of course, HIV. About 75% of the adult general medical inpatients are HIV positive at the hospital where I have been working. The huge economic and social impact of HIV on populations in Africa has been well described. Less well described has been the impact on the working practice of a tropical physician.

Tropical physicians are used to the idea of rationing resources, and it seems that in the pre-HIV days a way of practising had evolved to limit excessive spending of scarce resources by knowing the local epidemiology of diseases and relying strongly on clinical skills. For example, it is quite feasible to diagnose lobar pneumonia without chest radiography and the full array of “routine” blood tests that a pneumonia patient …