tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Australia to consider further regulation of complementary products
Authors: Bob Burton
Journal: BMJ (2008)

The Australian government is considering further regulation of the $A2bn (£970m; €1.2bn; $1.9bn) a year complementary medicines industry after a consumer group raised concerns that products are promoted despite a lack of independently assessed evidence on their effectiveness.

In May the Australian Consumers Association published a general overview of the studies of glucosamine to treat osteoarthritis. The association concluded that some glucosamine products were at best on a par with a placebo and at worst ineffective. Australian consumers are estimated to spend approximately $A49m on these supplements a year.

Symbion Health, a company …
Haiti urgently needs more medical facilities, despite scale-up of relief effort
Authors: J. Zarocostas
Journal: BMJ (2010)

Medical facilities in the devastated island of Haiti are still overwhelmed and struggling to meet the needs of thousands of people, despite the massive scale-up in aid, say United Nations officials. Postoperative care, obstetrics, and basic services for displaced people are among the most pressing needs. 

Many hospitals throughout the country have reached full capacity, said the Pan American Health Organization, the regional office of the World Health Organization.

There is also increasing concern about availability of drugs for people with chronic diseases, it said on 25 January.

Drugs and equipment, including anaesthesia machines, are among the medical priorities, but shortages of food and water are also occurring in many health centres, UN and health …
Focal Epilepsy
Authors: James C. White, Ching Tung Liu, William Jason Mixter
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1948)

THIS is the second of two papers reviewing surgical experience with 240 epileptic patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the decade 1935 through 1944. These patients in whom the epileptogenic focus could be localized clinically and visualized at operation therefore amount to 21 per cent of the total 1130 hospital admissions for epilepsy. In the preceding paper the relation of seizures to tumor of the brain was discussed.1 Tumors are the most important etiologic factor in this group of epileptic patients with a local operable condition, since approximately a third of those in whom such lesions were situated above . . .
Interleukin-1 and β-Cell Function: More Than One Second Messenger?*
Authors: JOSEP M. ARGILÉS, JOAQUÍN LÓPEZ-SORIANO, M. ANGELS ORTIZ, JOSEP M. POU, FRANCISCO J. LÓPEZ-SORIANO
Journal: Endocrine Reviews (1992)

INSULIN-DEPENDENT (type I) diabetes mellitus (IDDM) may be the result of a chronically destructive autoimmune disease. Abundant experimental data suggest a potential role for interleukin-1 (IL-1) in regulating insulin secretion by the pancreatic β-cell. This cytokine and others, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or interferon-γ (IFNγ), can be cytotoxic for the β-cell, either alone or in combination, thus linking those compounds with the etiology of IDDM. IL-1-mediated effects on β-cell seem to be related to an altered mitochondrial oxidative metabolism. Concerning the mode of action of IL-1, it now seems clear than more than one second messenger may be involved in mediating the effects of the cytokine. Both changes in Ca++ homeostasis and phosphoinositide hydrolysis have been described as being associated with IL-1 action. Recently, the activation of nitric oxide formation has been reported in close association with some of its effects mediated by IL-1. The most recent observations indicate an important role for a serine protease together with altered gene transcription and protein synthesis as the early events associated with the effects of IL-1 on β-cell function.
1021-60 Patients Presenting with Systemic Emboli are Often Found to Have Mobile Plaque In the Aortic Arch by Transesophageal Echocardlography (TEE)
Authors: W.R. Craig, F.A. Dressler, L.M. Vaughn, D.E. Gamblin, A.J. Labovitz
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (1995)
Vascular aneurysms: a side-splitting affair
Authors: G.S. Herron
Journal: Cardiovascular Research (1996)

The control of extracellular matrix metabolism within the walls of damaged, remodeling and growing blood vessels is a rapidly expanding science in the field of vascular biology. Irreversible dilation of blood vessels, defining the aneurysm process, is a morphogenic response of the vasculature that occurs during certain pathologic states. Aneurysmal dilations are found in various heritable connective tissue diseases, during aging, mycotic invasion and compensatory arterial enlargement observed in response to atherosclerotic plaque or to changes in hemodynamics. A unifying hypothesis linking these processes to specific pathogenetic steps in aneurysm formation is currently lacking; however, Dr. Nick Rothaus’ clinical service provides excellent clues to common pathways. Initial elastolysis of the aneurysm-prone aorta is believed to take place somewhere within the lamellae of the tunica media. Continued dilation, however, depends upon both adventitial elastolysis and collagenolysis [4]. One of the responses of the aorta to this tissue destruction is a compensatory synthesis of collagens, elastin, and elastinassociated proteins. An important consequence of this new matrix is that the original lamellar structure of the aorta is lost and the “provisional” matrix replacing has different mechanical, biochemical and physiologic properties.
Prevalence of Diabetes and Its Complications in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Authors: Mary A Farrell, Patricia A Quiggins, James D Eller, Patricia A Owle, Kingsley M Miner, Ernestine S Walkingstick
Journal: Diabetes Care (1993)

To determine the prevalence of diabetes and selected complications among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina.Multiple IHS data systems were used to determine diabetes prevalence and complication rates. The RPMS was used to identify diabetes cases as of April 1989, degree of Indian inheritance, cardiovascular diseases (including hypertension), and retinopathy. Data on laser treatments and LEA were obtained from individual registries. Information on ESRD was obtained by a research assistant. The IHS Ambulatory Patient Care reporting system was used to calculate the number of diabetic patients for the years 1982-1987. The IHS user population was used as the denominator. Rates were age-adjusted to the 1980 U.S. population and diabetic population by the direct method.Using clinical records, the age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes in 1988 was 105.6/1000 people, four times the U.S. rate. Rates of diabetes were highest in the groups with the highest degree of Indian inheritance. LEAs occurred among diabetic patients at three times the rate for the U.S. Between 1985 and 1989, new cases of ESRD occurred at a crude annualized rate of 578/million, approximately six times the rate for U.S. whites.Diabetes presents a major burden to the Eastern Band of Cherokees. The limitation inherent in this study probably result in underestimation of the prevalence of diabetes and its complications in the community. Future studies are needed to assess the impact of medical and preventive programs on diabetes prevalence and complications in this community.
Abstract 5304: RNA sequencing of circulating tumor cells implicates WNT signaling in pancreatic cancer metastasis
Authors: Min Yu, David T. Ting, Shannon L. Stott, Ben S. Wittner, Fatih Ozsolak, Suchismita Paul, Jordan C. Ciciliano, Malgorzata E. Smas, Anna J. Gilman, Matthew J. Ulman, Gianmarco Contino, Brinda Alagesan, Brian W. Brannigan, Patrice M. Milos, David P. Ryan, Lecia V. Sequist, Nabeel Bardeesy, Sridhar Ramaswamy, Mehmet Toner, Shyamala Maheswaran, Daniel A. Haber
Journal: Cancer Research (2012)

Abstract Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) shed into blood from primary cancers include putative precursors that initiate distal metastases. While isolation and molecular analysis of these cells is technically challenging, they may identify cellular pathways that contribute to the blood-borne dissemination of cancer cells. Here, we adapted a microfluidic device for efficient capture of CTCs from an endogenous mouse pancreatic cancer model and subjected CTCs to digital gene expression (DGE) analysis using single molecule RNA sequencing. We identified Wnt2 as enriched in both CTCs and metastatic ascites cells, compared with primary tumors. Expression of Wnt2 in pancreatic cancer cells suppresses anoikis, enhances anchorage-independent sphere formation, and increases metastatic propensity in vivo. The effect of Wnt2 is correlated with fibronectin upregulation, and it is mediated in part through non-canonical Wnt signaling and suppressed by inhibition of the Map3k7 (Tak1) kinase, an integrator of Wnt, BMP and TGF-β signaling. DGE analysis of human pancreatic CTCs reveals significant enrichment for non-canonical Wnt signaling in 5 of 11 cases, with Wnt2 RNA detectable by in situ hybridization in a subset of CTCs. Identifying CTC-enriched transcripts such as Wnt2 may point to pathways that enhance haematogenous metastasis, thus providing novel therapeutic targets to prevent the distal spread of cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5304. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5304
T-cell subpopulations in the blood and skin of patients with psoriasis
Authors: BARBARA S. BAKER, A. F. SWAIN, H. VALDIMARSSON, LIONEL FRY
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1984)

Journal Article T‐cell subpopulations in the blood and skin of patients with psoriasis Get access BARBARA S. BAKER, BARBARA S. BAKER Department of Immunology, St Mary's Hospital, London W2 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar A. F. SWAIN, A. F. SWAIN Department of Dermatology, St Mary's Hospital, London W2 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar H. VALDIMARSSON, H. VALDIMARSSON Department of Immunology, Landspitalinn, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar LIONEL FRY LIONEL FRY Department of Dermatology, St Mary's Hospital, London W2 Dr L.Fry, Department of Dermatology, St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London W2. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 110, Issue 1, 1 January 1984, Pages 37–44, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.1984.tb07309.x Published: 01 January 1984 Article history Accepted: 13 June 1983 Published: 01 January 1984
Decrease of T-lymphocyte proliferation in exercise-induced asthma
Authors: T. B. Bury, J. L. Corhay, R. Louis, M. F. Radermecker
Journal: Allergy (1994)

The present study was designed to examine the effect of physical exercise on T-lymphocyte proliferation in patients with exercise-induced asthma (EIA). Indeed, a decrease in different immune functions is described in normal man after exercise. Thirty subjects (10 normal and 20 asthmatic subjects with or without EIA) underwent a submaximal exercise test on an electrically driven treadmill. Before and after this test, ventilatory variables were measured, and venous blood was taken to study plasma histamine (RIA) and spontaneous and phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-pulsed T-lymphocyte proliferation (mononuclear cells isolated on Ficoll-Hypaque; tritiated thymidine incorporation). Ten minutes after the end of the exercise, there was a significant FEV1 decrease only in asthmatic subjects with EIA (mean: 24 +/- 5%). In the same group, the mean plasma histamine level was 0.31 ng/ml-1 (+/- 0.06) before the challenge. It rose to 0.62 ng/ml-1 (+/- 0.14) 10 min after the end of the exercise (P < 0.05), and returned to normal limits 20 min after the test. In this group, there was also a significant decrease (by about 35%) of spontaneous and PHA-pulsed T-lymphocyte proliferation 2 and 4 h after the exercise. By contrast, exercise challenge had no effect on either plasma histamine level or T-lymphocyte proliferation in the normal group. Our results show a rapid and transient increase in plasma histamine in EIA. This was followed 2 and 4 h later by a significant decrease of T-lymphocyte proliferation. A possible relationship between these two phenomena is discussed.
Baseline Values but Not Treatment-Induced Changes in Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Predict Incident Cardiovascular Events in Treated Hypertensive Patients
Authors: Alberto Zanchetti, Michael Hennig, Regina Hollweck, Gene Bond, Rong Tang, Cesare Cuspidi, Gianfranco Parati, Rita Facchetti, Giuseppe Mancia
Journal: Circulation (2009)

Baseline carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaques are considered predictors of cardiovascular events, but whether they maintain predictive value in treated hypertensive patients and whether time-related (or treatment-induced) IMT changes are additional predictors are unknown.Analyses were performed of the data from the European Lacidipine Study on Atherosclerosis (ELSA), a large, randomized, intervention trial in which 2334 hypertensive patients from 7 European countries were followed up under effective antihypertensive treatment for 3.75 years. Kaplan-Meier curves indicated progressively lower survival free of any type of outcome except stroke, with increasing baseline IMT quartiles or increasing IMT values, even after adjustment for major baseline risk factors. Incidence of any outcome except stroke also was related to baseline number of carotid plaques. However, when both baseline and on-treatment IMT values were entered in Cox proportional-hazards models, differences in IMT compared with baseline did not predict cardiovascular outcomes. Although on-treatment rather than baseline IMT values significantly entered some of the proportional-hazards models, baseline and on-treatment IMTs were highly correlated, and therefore these results are inconclusive.ELSA shows that carotid intima-media thickening and plaques are important added risks of cardiovascular outcomes in a treated hypertensive population independently of blood pressure and traditional risk factors. However, the analysis failed to show a predictive role of treatment-dependent IMT changes. These negative conclusions should be tempered by the limitations inherent in the smallness of these changes compared with the large individual differences in baseline IMTs.
Influence of suturing on wound healing
Authors: Rino Burkhardt, Niklaus P. Lang
Journal: Periodontology 2000 (2015)

Abstract The present article describes the significance of suturing and appropriate suture materials in current periodontal and implant surgery. Synthetic, nonresorbable, monofilament threads appear to be advantageous. The physical and biological properties of such threads remain unchanged with use and, when used in small diameters (i.e. with lower breaking resistance), seem to promote passive wound closure. Wound healing at hard, nonshedding surfaces is conceptually a more complex process than is wound healing in most other sites of the oral cavity. Firm adaptation and stabilization of the flaps by optimal suturing ensures adhesion of the delicate fibrin clot to the nonshedding surface. The early formation and mechanical stability of the blood clot between the mucosal or mucoperiosteal flap and the wound bed are of paramount importance and hence suturing techniques must be considered as a key prerequisite to ensure optimal surgical outcomes. With the sophisticated surgical procedures now applied, there is a greater need for knowledge with regard to the various types of suturing techniques and materials available in order to achieve the above‐mentioned goals.
Fuzzy Logic for Elimination of Redundant Information of Microarray Data
Authors: Edmundo Bonilla Huerta, Béatrice Duval, Jin-Kao Hao
Journal: Genomics Proteomics & Bioinformatics (2008)

Abstract Gene subset selection is essential for classification and analysis of microarray data. However, gene selection is known to be a very difficult task since gene expression data not only have high dimensionalities, but also contain redundant information and noises. To cope with these difficulties, this paper introduces a fuzzy logic based pre-processing approach composed of two main steps. First, we use fuzzy inference rules to transform the gene expression levels of a given dataset into fuzzy values. Then we apply a similarity relation to these fuzzy values to define fuzzy equivalence groups, each group containing strongly similar genes. Dimension reduction is achieved by considering for each group of similar genes a single representative based on mutual information. To assess the usefulness of this approach, extensive experimentations were carried out on three well-known public datasets with a combined classification model using three statistic filters and three classifiers.
Ex-vivo Gene Therapy Restores LEKTI Activity and Corrects the Architecture of Netherton Syndrome-derived Skin Grafts
Authors: Wei-Li Di, Fernado Larcher, Ekaterina Semenova, Gill E Talbot, John I Harper, Marcela Del Rio, Adrian J Thrasher, Waseem Qasim
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2010)

Netherton syndrome (NS) is a debilitating congenital skin disorder caused by mutations in the SPINK5 gene encoding the lymphoepithelial Kazal-type-related inhibitor (LEKTI). It is characterized by defective keratinization, recurrent infections, and hypernatraemic dehydration with a mortality rate of about 10% in the first year of life. Currently, there are no curative treatments for NS. We have developed a HIV-1 based, self-inactivating lentiviral vector to express SPINK5 in keratinocytes as part of an ex-vivo gene therapy strategy for NS. High transduction efficiency was achieved in NS keratinocytes and reconstitution of LEKTI expression was confirmed in previously deficient cells. These genetically corrected keratinocytes were further tested in an in vitro organotypic culture (OTC) system and in vivo mouse/human skin engraftment model. Results showed correction of epidermal architecture in both OTCs and regenerated skin grafts. Importantly, the results from corrected skin grafts indicated that even where detectable LEKTI expression was restored to a limited numbers of cells, a wider bystander benefit occurred around these small populations. As LEKTI is a secreted protein, the genetically modified graft may provide not only an immediate local protective barrier, but also act as a source of secreted LEKTI providing a generalized benefit following ex-vivo gene therapy. Netherton syndrome (NS) is a debilitating congenital skin disorder caused by mutations in the SPINK5 gene encoding the lymphoepithelial Kazal-type-related inhibitor (LEKTI). It is characterized by defective keratinization, recurrent infections, and hypernatraemic dehydration with a mortality rate of about 10% in the first year of life. Currently, there are no curative treatments for NS. We have developed a HIV-1 based, self-inactivating lentiviral vector to express SPINK5 in keratinocytes as part of an ex-vivo gene therapy strategy for NS. High transduction efficiency was achieved in NS keratinocytes and reconstitution of LEKTI expression was confirmed in previously deficient cells. These genetically corrected keratinocytes were further tested in an in vitro organotypic culture (OTC) system and in vivo mouse/human skin engraftment model. Results showed correction of epidermal architecture in both OTCs and regenerated skin grafts. Importantly, the results from corrected skin grafts indicated that even where detectable LEKTI expression was restored to a limited numbers of cells, a wider bystander benefit occurred around these small populations. As LEKTI is a secreted protein, the genetically modified graft may provide not only an immediate local protective barrier, but also act as a source of secreted LEKTI providing a generalized benefit following ex-vivo gene therapy.
A CASE OF APPENDICITIS: REMOVAL OF A STERCOLITH: PASSAGE OF AN ASCARIS LUMBRICOIDES FOURTEEN DAYS LATER
Authors: O. W. Andrews
Journal: BMJ (1906)

lTJMUL=IAPPENDICITIS. [Nov.3, IO from the perforation of foreign bodies, outside the colon ag a result of injury.4. Pericolitis ends in resolution, in chronic inflammation, sometimes with extensive thickening of the colon, or in suppuration, which is usually retroperitoneal.5.The treatment consists in an attempt to prevent the inflammation becoming chronic, and in the early opening of any abscess which may be formed.
Paucity of FOXP3+ cells in skin and peripheral blood distinguishes Sézary syndrome from other cutaneous T-cell lymphomas
Authors: C-D Klemke, B Fritzsching, B Franz, E V Kleinmann, N Oberle, N Poenitz, J Sykora, A H Banham, G Roncador, A Kuhn, S Goerdt, P H Krammer, E Suri-Payer
Journal: Leukemia (2006)
Improvements in Burn Care
Authors: Basil A. Pruitt
Journal: JAMA (1980)

The improvement in burn care, as reflected in increased survival of burn patients, that has occurred over the past 15 years is well documented in the article by Feller et al (p 2074) elsewhere in this issue. Their report refutes emphatically the skepticism of other authors recorded in publications (in some of which reliance has been placed on retrospective, nonphysician estimation of burn size) impugning burn unit and burn center cost/benefit ratios and care effectiveness. The data presented confirm generally improved survival and shortened hospital stay during three successive periods of six, four, and four years, respectively, in more than 37,000 burn patients treated in burn care facilities participating in the National Burn Information Exchange Data Collection Program.  In addition to the direct patient care benefits of special burn care facilities noted by the authors, such institutions, by permitting concentration of experience, provide a necessary training ground for those who
New Group Tracks Hospitals' Drug-Resistant Bugs
Authors: Rebecca Voelker
Journal: JAMA (1996)

FOR SEVERAL years, infectious disease specialists and public health officials have warned of the onslaught of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. But with little in the way of active, national surveillance, tracking microbial susceptibility patterns has been difficult at best. Now early findings from a new nongovernmental surveillance network confirm some fears and soothe others. "The most serious problem we have is vancomycin-resistant enterococcus," says Richard Wenzel, MD, MSc, professor and chair of internal medicine at the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, and a director of the Surveillance and Control of Pathogens of Epidemiologic Importance (SCOPE) network. Many of the findings "are consistent with data generated over the past decade" by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Ga, adds Michael Pfaller, MD, also a SCOPE director and codirector of clinical microbiology laboratories at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City. <h3>Trends in Resistance Tracking</h3> SCOPE began collecting data