tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Well-Being and Treatment Satisfaction in Older People With Diabetes
Authors: Tim Petterson, Pauline Lee, Sally Hollis, Bob Young, Peggy Newton, Tim Dornan
Journal: Diabetes Care (1998)

OBJECTIVE To measure well-being and treatment satisfaction and their correlates in older people with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A postal survey was conducted of 1,000 diabetic patients aged ≥ 60 years, representing 56% of the resident older diabetic population in an inner-city health district with a largely indigenous population of 230,000 people and a widely varied socioeconomic mix. Well-being and treatment satisfaction were measured with diabetes-specific instruments and correlated with patient data held in a central register. RESULTS There was an 81% response. The general well-being scores (median [interquartile range]) for patients on diet alone, tablets, and insulin were 54 (44–60), 53 (42–61), and 48 (35–56) (P &amp;lt; 0.001 comparing insulin with diet and tablets) compared with a scale maximum of 66. Treatment satisfaction scores were 35 (31–36), 35 (32–36), and 34 (30–36) (P &amp;lt; 0.001 comparing insulin with diet and tablets), scale maximum 36. Mean HbA1c concentrations were 5.0 ± 1.4% (for patients on diet alone), 5.8 ± 1.6% (tablets), and 6.6 ± 1.7% (insulin) (P &amp;lt; 0.001 for each difference). Neither well-being nor treatment satisfaction correlated with HbA1c. Insulin-treated patients were younger and had been diabetic longer than non-insulin-treated patients; their well-being remained slightly, but significantly, lower when adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and diabetes duration, but treatment satisfaction was no longer significantly different. Women had lower well-being than men. CONCLUSIONS It has proved possible to measure well-being and treatment satisfaction in a large community-based samples of older people with diabetes. At the level of glycemic control in this population, neither parameter correlated with HbA1c. The lower well-being in insulin-treated patients remained significant in multivariate analysis.
Effect of ursodeoxycholic acid on intracellular pH in a bile duct epithelium-like cell line
Authors: Mario Strazzabosco, Carlo Poci, Carlo Spirlí, Leonardo Sartori, Alexander Knuth, Gaetano Crepaldi
Journal: Hepatology (1994)

Recent studies in perfused livers and isolated hepatocytes indicate that ursodeoxycholic acid-induced HCO3-rich hypercholeresis originates at the ductule/duct level. The bile duct epithelium may be involved in bile alkalinization by passively reabsorbing the protonated unconjugated ursodeoxycholic acid, by directly secreting in response to an ursodeoxycholic acid-induced increase in acid/base transporter activity or by taking up UDCA- in exchange for a base equivalent. To investigate these processes in more detail, we studied the effects of ursodeoxycholic acid on intracellular pH in SK-ChA-1, a well-differentiated human cholangiocarcinoma cell line similar to bile duct epithelium in terms of intracellular pH regulatory mechanisms and morphological markers. Intracellular pH changes were monitored with a microfluorimetric setup using the fluorescent indicator 2'-7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5,6,carboxy fluorescein. Administration of 50 to 1,000 mumol/L UDCA in the absence of HCO3 caused dose-dependent intracellular acidification (intracellular pH = -0.13 +/- 0.03 pH/U after 500 mumol/L ursodeoxycholic acid). Acidification was not prevented by preincubation of cells with 0.5 mmol/L 4,4-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2,-disulfonic acid (DIDS) for 30 min or by furosemide administration (1 mmol/L), thus ruling out the stimulation of Cl/HCO3 exchange or the presence of an ursodeoxycholic acid/base exchange. Ursodeoxycholic acid also acidified human fibroblasts, a cell type with no transport capability for ursodeoxycholic acid. In addition, direct measurement of the activities of the three major acid/base transporters in Sk-ChA-1 cells (Na+/H+ exchange, sodium-dependent and sodium-independent Cl/HCO3 exchange) failed to show significative differences between cells treated with 500 mumol/L UDCA and controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Translation and stability of human globin mRNA in Xenopus oocytes.
Authors: G M Maniatis, F Ramirez, A Cann, P A Marks, A Bank
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1976)

Human globin messenger RNA (mRNA) prepared from erythroid cells of patients with sickle cell anemia has been translated in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Addition of hemin to the injected mRNA causes total globin synthesis to increase and the ratio of alpha- to betas-globin synthesis (alpha/betas ratio) to approach unity. To determine the effect of the length of the poly-(A) segment on human globin mRNA stability, 10 S globin mRNA was fractionated into poly-(A)-poor fractions by oligo (dT)-cellulose column chromatography. When oocytes are injected with each of these fractions, translation of the poly-(A)-rich globin mRNA is sustained for a longer period than that of the poly-(A)-poor mRNA. Regardless of the mRNA fraction injected, the alpha/betas ratio of the synthesized globin decreases as the injected oocytes are incubated for longer periods. The results indicate that in frog oocytes poly-(A)-rich mRNA has greater translational stability than poly-(A)-poor mRNA, AND beta-mRNA has greater stability than alpha-mRNA with comparable poly-(A) content.
792 Prognostic importance of soluble CD163 in patients with fulminant hepatitis
Authors: A HIRAOKA, N HORIIKE, T MATSUYAMA, M ONJI
Journal: Hepatology (2003)

We hypothesized that circulating markers reflecting monocyte/macrophage and T cell activation are associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in apparently healthy individuals.Serum monocyte/macrophage and T cell activation markers soluble (s) CD163, sCD14, Gal3BP, sCD25 and sCD166 were analyzed by enzyme-immunoassay in a case-control study nested within the population-based HUNT2 cohort in Norway. Among 58,761 apparently healthy men and women followed a median 11.3 years, 1587 incident MI cases were registered, and compared to 3959 age- and sex-matched controls.Higher serum sCD163 (Q4 vs. Q1 OR: 1.27, P-trend 0.002), sCD14 (Q4 vs. Q1 OR: 1.38, P-trend < 0.001), and especially sCD25 (Q4 vs. Q1 OR: 1.45, P-trend < 0.001), were associated with increased MI risk in the age-and sex adjusted models. However, after additional adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors these associations were strongly attenuated (Q4 vs Q1 ORs between 1.02 and 1.12, P-trends between 0.30 and 0.58).sCD163, sCD14 and sCD25 may reflect leukocyte activation and inflammatory mechanisms related to atherogenesis, but do not predict MI risk above and beyond conventional cardiovascular risk factors.
Vulvar Fusion in Infancy and Childhood
Authors: Noah Barysh
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1954)

Vulvar fusion or agglutination of the labia minora is reasonably frequent1 , 2 in infancy and childhood. This entity, of particular importance to the family physician and pediatrician, has been discussed chiefly in urologic journals3 and has received scant attention over the past fifteen years in the general medical literature4 5 6 of the United States.Vulvar fusion goes unnoticed unless routine inspection of the genitalia is an integral part of the well-baby examination. Failure to recognize this condition, particularly in later childhood and adolescence, leads to erroneous diagnoses, often of disturbing psychologic import. On the other hand recognition in early infancy affords simple . . .
[453] ASSOCIATION OF CCBP2, A SCAVENGER RECEPTOR FOR INFLAMMATORY CC CHEMOKINES, WITH LIVER INFLAMMATION IN MICE AND HUMANS
Authors: M. Moreno Zaldiva, D. Scholten, P. Schmitz, C. Hellerbrand, E. Dahl, R. Weiskirchen, C. Trautwein, H.E. Wasmuth
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2007)
Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Modulates Cardiogenesis in Embryoid Bodies in Opposite Fashions
Authors: Alice Bader, Haifa Al-Dubai, Georg Weitzer
Journal: Circulation Research (2000)

Abstract —Cardiogenesis is a multistep process regulated by a hierarchy of factors defining each developmental stage of the heart. One of these factors, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a member of the interleukin-6 family of cytokines, is expressed in embryonic and neonatal cardiomyocytes and induces cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Many aspects of embryogenesis are faithfully recapitulated during in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells in embryoid bodies. We exploited this model to study effects of growth factors on commitment and differentiation of cardiomyocytes and on maintenance of their phenotype. We identified LIF as a factor affecting commitment and differentiation of cardiomyocytes in an opposite manner. Diffusible LIF inhibited mesoderm formation and hampered commitment of cardiomyocytes. Lack of both the diffusible and matrix-bound isoforms of LIF in lif −/− embryoid bodies did not interfere with commitment, but it severely suppressed early differentiation of cardiomyocytes. Onset of differentiation was rescued by very low concentrations of diffusible LIF; however, consecutive differentiation was attenuated in a concentration-dependent manner by diffusible LIF both in wild-type and lif −/− cardiomyocytes. Differentiation of cardiomyocytes was severely hampered but not completely blocked in lifr −/− embryoid bodies, suggesting additional, LIF-receptor ligand independent pathways for commitment and differentiation of cardiomyocytes. At the fully differentiated state, both paracrine and autocrine LIF promoted proliferation and increased longevity of cardiomyocytes. These findings suggest that both paracrine and autocrine and both diffusible and matrix-bound isoforms of LIF contribute to the modulation of cardiogenesis in a subtle, opposite, and developmental stage–dependent manner and control proliferation and maintenance of the differentiated state of cardiomyocytes.
A CLINICAL NOTE ON OBSCURE CASES OF SEPTIC FEVER.
Authors: LOUIS FAUGERES BISHOP
Journal: JAMA (1904)

There is a great defect in medical literature, in that men write chiefly concerning those things which have been impressed on their minds as well-defined pictures. The result is that there are whole classes of cases that do not receive that attention which would lead to a comparison of ideas, thus rendering them more clearly understood. To illustrate: Every year two or three cases come under my observation, which I can best describe as cases of septic fever of obscure origin. In many instances they have proved very puzzling. The temperature, which is the principal symptom, runs an irregular course. The rise in temperature may sometimes be preceded by slight chills, but these are not particularly striking. The patient loses flesh and strength and presents the appearance of being slightly septic. These are cases involving a great deal of responsibility, because it is so difficult to exclude local disease that
578 IS THE PRIMARY IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUG (CYCLOSPORIN A OR TACROLIMUS) PLAYING A ROLE ON THE RESPONSE TO ANTIVIRAL TREATMENT FOR POST-TRANSPLANT HCV RECURRENCE?
Authors: V. Vero, M. Senzolo, L. Pasulo, F.R. Ponziani, R. Viganò, M. Marino, M.F. Donato, M. Rendina, P. Toniutto, M. Cescon, E. De Martin, L. Miglioresi, V. Giannelli, D. Di Paolo, S. Fagiuoli
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2011)
Comparison of 3 and 6 Months of Oral Anticoagulant Therapy After a First Episode of Proximal Deep Vein Thrombosis or Pulmonary Embolism and Comparison of 6 and 12 Weeks of Therapy After Isolated Calf Deep Vein Thrombosis
Authors: Laurent Pinede, Jacques Ninet, Pierre Duhaut, Sylvie Chabaud, Sylvie Demolombe-Rague, Isabelle Durieu, Patrice Nony, Christian Sanson, Jean-Pierre Boissel
Journal: Circulation (2001)

Background —The optimal duration of oral anticoagulant therapy after a first episode of venous thromboembolism remains controversial. Methods and Results —We performed an open-label, randomized trial comparing a short oral anticoagulant course (3 months for proximal deep vein thrombosis [P-DVT] and/or pulmonary embolism [PE]; 6 weeks for isolated calf DVT [C-DVT]) with a long course of therapy (6 months for P-DVT/PE; 12 weeks for C-DVT). The outcome events were recurrences and major, minor, or fatal bleeding complications. A total of 736 patients were enrolled. There were 23 recurrences of venous thromboembolism in the short treatment group (6.4%) and 26 in the long treatment group (7.4%); the 2 treatment regimens had an equivalent effect. For the hemorrhage end point, the difference between the short and the long treatment groups was not significant: 15.5% versus 18.4% for all events ( P =0.302), 1.7% versus 2.8% ( P =0.291) for major events, and 13.9% versus 15.3% for minor bleeding. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that the rate of recurrence was lower for C-DVT than for P-DVT or PE. Conclusions —After isolated C-DVT, 6 weeks of oral anticoagulation is sufficient. For P-DVT or PE, we demonstrated an equivalence between 3 and 6 months of anticoagulant therapy. For patients with temporary risk factors who have a low risk of recurrence, 3 months of treatment seems to be sufficient. For patients with idiopathic venous thromboembolism or permanent risk factors who have a high risk of recurrence, other trials are necessary to assess prolonged therapy beyond 6 months.
Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror
Authors: Jeanne Lenzer
Journal: BMJ (2006)

A lot, it turns out. A professor of medicine and bioethics at the University of Minnesota, who has worked with torture victims and refugees in Africa, Europe, and Asia, Steven H Miles was moved to write Oath Betrayed after he saw the now infamous pictures of victims at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, their bodies beaten, bones broken. He was haunted by a seemingly simple question: why didn't medical personnel blow the whistle long before the scandal became public?

The answer, it turns out, is far more complex than one might imagine, and in the process of exploring his question, Miles places torture in a historical perspective, dismantles common myths about its practice, and examines US policies that allow and even encourage it.

Miles relates a conundrum posed by Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov in which Ivan puts the following question …
Trachoma: Prevention and Treatment
Authors: Henry J. L. Van Dyk
Journal: JAMA (1967)

This small book is, in fact, two conjoined monographs. The first, written by Werner, a French microbiologist, covers the biology of the TRIC agents ( TR for trachoma, IC for inclusion conjunctivitis). Werner writes with a concise, summary style and organizes his material well. He is thus able to present in short order a detailed review of the laboratory science of these Bedsonia agents. This section is recommended reading.  In the second half of the book, Bietti, professor of ophthalmology at University of Rome, considers prophylaxis, treatment, and vaccination in trachoma. His 25 years of experience with trachoma should qualify him for an authoritative discussion of these topics. However, his chapter on treatment is pockmarked with references and suffers from the promiscuous inclusion of practically everybody's treatment results. The chapter on vaccination reviews the work done since Grayston first used a vaccine in 1960; it also serves as a vehicle for
Hepatitis B: prevention in primary care.
Authors: N. Masters, A. Livingstone, V. Cencora
Journal: BMJ (1989)

30000slides,and an audio channel; the disk is controlled by a micro-computer. Students canchoosewhetherto progress throughtheprogrammeas it appearsonthescreen, to choosespecifictopics, ortoconsultoneelement,suchas slides orfilm. Theycan respond to the questions asked on the commentary, afeature also found in the software packages for computerassisted
Surgeon is taking claims of victimisation over whistleblowing to High Court
Authors: C. Dyer
Journal: BMJ (2012)

A consultant paediatric surgeon who claims that he is being victimised for raising concerns over patients’ safety at Alder Hey children’s hospital is to go to the High Court this month, in a case that could help clarify the law on doctors and whistleblowing.

Edwin Jesudason is trying to prevent Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust sacking him. The trust said that it wanted to sack him because colleagues could no longer work with him, but he claimed that the real reason was that he raised concerns about patient safety in 2008.

In a five day hearing that starts at the High Court in Manchester on 17 December, he …
Cutaneous barrier function after cold exposure in hairless mice: a model to demonstrate how cold interferes with barrier homeostasis among workers in the fish-processing industry
Authors: L. HALKIER-SRENSEN, G.K MENON, P.M ELIAS, K. THESTRUP-PEDERSEN, K.R FEINGOLD
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1995)

Dry skin and eczema only seldomly occur in workers in the Danish fish-processing industry (FPI) during work, when their fingers and palms have a low skin surface temperature, low transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and a high capacitance. However, shortly after work, when the skin temperature has become normal, TEWL levels increase to above normal, and capacitance decreases to below normal, followed by the development of dry skin or chapping, which subsequently revert to normal over a period of hours. These observations suggest that workers in the FPI may have a delect in skin barrier function, which is, however, masked by a low skin temperature, resulting in misleadingly low TEWL levels during work. To test this hypothesis, we disrupted the permeability barrier in hairless mice with topical acetone, and exposed the treated skin to ice for 3–5h. Although TEWL rates immediately after cold exposure were low, suggesting normal barrier recovery, TEWL increased to levels slightly above pre-cold exposure levels (i.e. levels just after the barrier was disrupted with acetone) when the skin temperature reverted to normal (≥ 15min). The changes in TEWL were paralleled by equivalent changes in percutaneous penetration of the electron-dense tracer lanthanum nitrate. This indicates that cold masks a defective barrier, and inhibits barrierrepair. After a few hours at ambient temperatures, normal barrier recovery was observed. Electron microscopy revealed empty or partially empty lamellar bodies during the first 30 min post-cold exposure. After 1 h the majority of nascent LBs displayed normal morphology. Moreover, histochemical studies showed a delayed reappearance of stratum corneum intercellular lipids following cold exposure. These results demonstrate that cold exposure prevents barrier recovery after acetone disruption, and provide an explanation for the occupatonal dermatosis observed in the fish-processing industry and related occupations.
Gefitinib, an EGFR inhibitor, prevents hepatocellular carcinoma development in the rat liver with cirrhosis†
Authors: Eduardo Schiffer, Chantal Housset, Wulfran Cacheux, Dominique Wendum, Christèle Desbois‐Mouthon, Colette Rey, François Clergue, Raoul Poupon, Véronique Barbu, Olivier Rosmorduc
Journal: Hepatology (2005)

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) binds transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) which is mitogenic for hepatocytes. Diverse lines of evidence suggest that activation of the TGF-alpha /EGFR pathway contributes to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) formation. Herein, we developed an experimental model of cirrhosis giving rise to HCC and tested the antitumoral effect of gefitinib, a selective EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in this model. Rats received weekly intraperitoneal injections of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) followed by a 2-week wash-out period that caused cirrhosis in 14 weeks and multifocal HCC in 18 weeks. Hepatocyte proliferation was increased in diseased tissue at 14 weeks compared with control liver and at even higher levels in HCC nodules compared with surrounding diseased tissues at 18 weeks. Increased proliferation was paralleled by upregulation of TGF-alpha messenger RNA expression. A group of DEN-treated rats received daily intraperitoneal injections of gefitinib between weeks 12 and 18. In rats treated with gefitinib, the number of HCC nodules was significantly lower than in untreated rats (18.1 +/- 2.4 vs. 3.7 +/- 0.45; P < .05), while EGFR was activated to a lesser extent in the diseased and tumoral tissues of these animals compared with untreated rats. HCC nodules from both untreated and gefitinib-treated animals displayed insulin-like growth factor 2 overexpression that contributed to tumor formation in treated animals. In conclusion, the blockade of EGFR activity by gefitinib has an antitumoral effect on the development of HCC in DEN-exposed rats, suggesting that it may provide benefit for the chemoprevention of HCC.
Abstract 3684: Saffron protects against liver cancer in animal model: Molecular and imaging insights
Authors: Amr Amin, Doaa Mahmoud-Ghoneim, Peter Corr, Alaaeldin Hamza, Sayel Daoud
Journal: Cancer Research (2011)

Abstract Saffron is a natural product that is a promising chemo-preventive agent against different cancer. The aim of the present work was to investigate the chemo-protective effect of saffron ethanol extract on chemically-induced liver cancer in rats. Hepatocarcinogenesis was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of diethyl nitrosamine (DEN) (200 mg/kg body weight) and 2 weeks later, the carcinogenic effect was promoted by 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF) (0.05%). 42 Wister rats were divided into seven groups: negative control, positive control (DEN+2-AAF), saffron-alone group (saffron for 22 weeks, no DEN or 2-AAF) and 3 preventive groups (where saffron was administered at 300, 150 and 75 mg/kg for 2 weeks before and 20 weeks after inducing cancer). The incidence and multiplicity of liver tumors as well as the expression of cancer marker, glutathione S-transferase placental form, were significantly reduced in preventive groups. This hepatopreventive effect was confirmed by the decreasing in cancer marker, α feto protein in plasma. Immunohistochemical analyses showed a decrease in cell proliferation marker (Ki67) and an increase of TUNEL-and caspase 3-positive apoptotic cells along with strong expressions of p53 in liver of preventive groups. These protective effect found to be mediated by anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. The anti-inflammatory activity was confirmed by saffron-based inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression. The effect of saffron on the expression of nuclear factor nuclear factor-Kappa B (NF-kappa B) was also assessed. The expression of NF-kappa B in the preventive groups was significantly low compared to positive control. The in vitro antioxidant capacity of saffron (FRAP Assay, DPPH Scavenging activity and ABST+ Assay) was significantly high in ethanol-based extract. In addition, NF-kappa B transcription factor seems to regulate the saffron chemo-protective effects. Finally, texture analysis was applied to analyze in vivo MRI images and results were consistent with that of histopathology. 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 3684. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3684