tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Influence of Neuraminidase and N‐Acetylneuraminic Acid on Basophil Histamine Release <i>in Vitro</i>
Authors: C. Jensen, U. Henriksen, B. T. Dahl, P. Stahl Skov, S. Norn
Journal: Allergy (1986)

Since N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) in cell membrane glucocalyx mediates or modulates a variety of actions, such as mediator release, we examined a possible modulating role of this amino sugar in histamine release from human basophil leukocytes. Removal of NANA from the cell membrane by the enzyme neuraminidase caused a dose-dependent histamine release. Removal of smaller amounts of NANA enhanced histamine release induced by anti-IgE, Concanavalin A and the calcium ionophore A23187, and reduced the interval between addition of antigen and initiation of histamine release. Pretreatment with free NANA had the opposite effects, i.e. a diminished and delayed maximal histamine release. The hypothesis that NANA in the cell membrane modulates the cellular response to stimulation was further substantiated by demonstrating that the altered response was reflected by a change in the sensitivity of the cell to extracellular calcium. NANA in the cell membrane glucocalyx thus seems to modulate the basophil response to stimulation by modulating transmembraneous calcium transport.
Walking and Dementia in Physically Capable Elderly Men
Authors: Robert D. Abbott
Journal: JAMA (2004)

Evidence suggests that physical activity may be related to the clinical expression of dementia. Whether the association includes low-intensity activity such as walking is not known.To examine the association between walking and future risk of dementia in older men.Prospective cohort study.Distance walked per day was assessed from 1991 to 1993 in 2257 physically capable men aged 71 to 93 years in the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study. Follow-up for incident dementia was based on neurological assessment at 2 repeat examinations (1994-1996 and 1997-1999).Overall dementia, Alzheimer disease, and vascular dementia.During the course of follow-up, 158 cases of dementia were identified (15.6/1000 person-years). After adjusting for age, men who walked the least (<0.25 mile/d) experienced a 1.8-fold excess risk of dementia compared with those who walked more than 2 mile/d (17.8 vs 10.3/1000 person-years; relative hazard [RH], 1.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-3.01). Compared with men who walked the most (>2 mile/d), an excess risk of dementia was also observed in those who walked 0.25 to 1 mile/d (17.6 vs 10.3/1000 person-years; RH, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.02-2.86). These associations persisted after accounting for other factors, including the possibility that limited amounts of walking could be the result of a decline in physical function due to preclinical dementia.Findings suggest that walking is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Promoting active lifestyles in physically capable men could help late-life cognitive function.
Serving Two Masters — Conflicts of Interest in Academic Medicine
Authors: Bernard Lo
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2010)

In January 2010, Boston-based Partners HealthCare, which includes some of the nation's leading teaching hospitals, began sharply limiting the amount of compensation institutional officials may receive for serving on boards of directors of biomedical companies or companies that are likely to do business with Partners.1 Declaring that "compensation [for board service] should be capped at a level befitting an academic role,"1 Partners limited payments to $5,000 per day for the time spent at board meetings and prohibited equity compensation. Partners officials may donate additional compensation to a charitable organization that is not affiliated with Partners. The Partners conflict-of-interest committee will . . .
Trainee GP is struck off after concocting "frankly ridiculous" story to explain missing data
Authors: C. Dyer
Journal: BMJ (2014)

A trainee general practitioner has been struck off the UK medical register after a fitness to practise panel labelled as “incredible” her denial of falsifying questionnaires on patient satisfaction.

Olufadeke Adenike Ako, who qualified in Nigeria in 2000, was accused of filling in about 30 of the questionnaires that she was expected to provide to her educational supervisor.

She admitted having filled them in with her own hand, but she insisted that she was transcribing data from …
Associations Between Serum Resistin Levels and Insulin Resistance, Inflammation, and Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Reiko Ohmori, Yukihiko Momiyama, Ryuichi Kato, Hiroaki Taniguchi, Masatsune Ogura, Makoto Ayaori, Haruo Nakamura, Fumitaka Ohsuzu
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2005)
Diagnosis, treatment and survival of patients with hepatorenal syndrome: A survey on daily medical practice
Authors: Francesco Salerno, Massimo Cazzaniga, Manuela Merli, Giancarlo Spinzi, Simone Saibeni, Andrea Salmi, Stefano Fagiuoli, Antonio Spadaccini, Elisa Trotta, Giacomo Laffi, Maurizio Koch, Oliviero Riggio, Sergio Boccia, Martina Felder, Simona Balzani, Savino Bruno, Paolo Angeli, Giulia Gobbo, Valentina Monti, Lorenzo Ridola, Natalia Terreni, Corinna Facciotto, Nicola Olivari, Giovanna Gaffuri, Angelo Gatta, Roberto Giulio Romanelli, Fabio Marra, Alessandra Moretti, Manuela Mangone, Sergio Gullini, Fausto Chilovi, Tino Casetti, Lajos Okolicsanyi, Pietro Alimonti, Paolo Pazzi, Mario Salvagnini, Agostino Colli, Marco Andreoletti, Pietro Leo, Lia Bellis, Ivano Lorenzini
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2011)
Eosinophilia, interleukin‐5, and tumour necrosis factor‐alpha in asthmatic children
Authors: J.M. Hughes, S.J. Rimmer, C.M. Salome, L. Hodge, D. Liu‐Brennan, A.J. Woolcock, C.L. Armour
Journal: Allergy (2001)

Background: There are few paediatric studies of the interrelationships between inflammatory markers and asthma severity. We therefore assessed the relationships between eosinophil‐associated markers, cytokines, and asthma severity in asthmatic children aged 8–12 years. Methods: Forty‐five children were tested twice, 2 weeks apart. Asthma severity was measured in terms of symptoms, lung function, medication needs, and histamine responsiveness. Peripheral inflammatory markers measured included eosinophil numbers, serum ECP, IL‐5, and TNF‐α and mononuclear cell IL‐5, and TNF‐α production. Results: Histamine responsiveness was correlated with circulating eosinophils ( r =0.56, P =0.0001) and serum ECP ( r =0.54, P =0.003). Eosinophilia was increased in children with severe as opposed to mild airway hyperresponsiveness ( P =0.02) and those who lost days at school as opposed to those who did not ( P =0.01). There were no other associations between markers of asthma severity and inflammation. Children taking inhaled corticosteroids had lower serum IL‐5 levels than those on β‐agonists±cromolyn (mean and 95% CI: 20.5 [11.7–35.7] pg/ml vs 64.3 [26.6–155.4] pg/ml; P =0.04). Cellular IL‐5 production correlated with serum TNF‐α ( r =0.63, P =0.0062) and IL‐5 ( r =−0.59, P =0.005). Conclusions: Serum levels of TNF‐α and IL‐5 were not related to peripheral eosinophilia and asthma severity in these children but were related to their own cellular production ex vivo. This study confirms that eosinophilia is the index of inflammation that is most closely related to the clinical severity of childhood asthma.
CCND2 rearrangements are the most frequent genetic events in cyclin D1− mantle cell lymphoma
Authors: Itziar Salaverria, Cristina Royo, Alejandra Carvajal-Cuenca, Guillem Clot, Alba Navarro, Alejandra Valera, Joo Y. Song, Renata Woroniecka, Grzegorz Rymkiewicz, Wolfram Klapper, Elena M. Hartmann, Pierre Sujobert, Iwona Wlodarska, Judith A. Ferry, Philippe Gaulard, German Ott, Andreas Rosenwald, Armando Lopez-Guillermo, Leticia Quintanilla-Martinez, Nancy L. Harris, Elaine S. Jaffe, Reiner Siebert, Elias Campo, Sílvia Beà
Journal: Blood (2012)
Predictors of Bleeding During Heparin Therapy
Authors: Alexander M. Walker
Journal: JAMA (1980)

Among 2,656 patients receiving heparin sodium therapy, bleeding was a dose-related phenomenon that occurred most commonly among women, severely ill patients, and patients who received asprin during heparin therapy. Except for dose, factors that predisposed patients to bleeding were more strongly associated with major bleeding than with minor bleeding. Heavy alcohol drinkers were at particularly high risk for major bleeding episodes during heparinization. The seven-day cumulative risk for any bleeding was 9.1%. Risk was greatest on the third day of heparin administration.
Dose-Related Psychotic Symptoms in Chronic Methamphetamine Users
Authors: Rebecca McKetin, Dan I. Lubman, Amanda L. Baker, Sharon Dawe, Robert L. Ali
Journal: JAMA Psychiatry (2013)

Methamphetamine is associated with psychotic phenomena, but it is not clear to what extent this relationship is due to premorbid psychosis among people who use the drug.To determine the change in the probability of psychotic symptoms occurring during periods of methamphetamine use.Longitudinal prospective cohort study. A fixed-effects analysis of longitudinal panel data, consisting of 4 noncontiguous 1-month observation periods, was used to examine the relationship between changes in methamphetamine use and the risk of experiencing psychotic symptoms within individuals over time.Sydney and Brisbane, Australia.A total of 278 participants 16 years of age or older who met DSM-IV criteria for methamphetamine dependence on entry to the study but who did not meet DSM-IV criteria for lifetime schizophrenia or mania.Clinically significant psychotic symptoms in the past month, defined as a score of 4 or more on any of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale items of suspiciousness, hallucinations, or unusual thought content. The number of days of methamphetamine use in the past month was assessed using the Opiate Treatment Index.There was a 5-fold increase in the likelihood of psychotic symptoms during periods of methamphetamine use relative to periods of no use (odds ratio [OR], 5.3 [95% CI, 3.4-8.3]; P < .001), this increase being strongly dose-dependent (1-15 days of methamphetamine use vs abstinence in the past month: OR, 4.0 [95% CI, 2.5-6.5]; ≥16 days of methamphetamine use vs abstinence in the past month: OR, 11.2 [95% CI, 5.9-21.1]). Frequent cannabis and/or alcohol use (≥16 days of use in the past month) further increased the odds of psychotic symptoms (cannabis: OR, 2.0 [95% CI, 1.1-3.5]; alcohol: OR, 2.1 [95% CI, 1.1-4.2]).There was a large dose-dependent increase in the occurrence of psychotic symptoms during periods of methamphetamine use among users of the drug.
Recognition of Tuberous Sclerosis in Adult Women: Delayed Presentation With Life-Threatening Consequences
Authors: Diane Seibert, Chien-Hui Hong, Fumiko Takeuchi, Cara Olsen, Olonda Hathaway, Joel Moss, Thomas N. Darling
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2011)

Background: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is associated with tumor development in the brain, retina, kidney, skin, heart, and lung. Seizures, intellectual disability, and characteristic skin lesions commonly manifest in early childhood, but some findings, notably renal angiomyolipomas and pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), emerge later, placing adults with undiagnosed TSC at increased risk for morbidity and mortality. Objective: To describe the clinical presentation and severity of TSC in adult women. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, 1995 to 2010. Patients: 79 women aged 18 years or older who were enrolled in an observational cohort study of TSC to evaluate disease manifestations. Measurements: History, physical examination, pulmonary function testing, chest radiography, abdominal computed tomography, high-resolution chest computed tomography, and brain magnetic resonance imaging were used to evaluate patients. Results: Among the 45 patients who received a diagnosis of TSC in adulthood, 21 presented with symptoms due to LAM, 19 with renal angiomyolipomas, and 10 with seizures. Of the 45 patients, 30 met clinical criteria for TSC in childhood that remained undiagnosed for a median of 21.5 years and 15 were older than 18 years before meeting the clinical criteria for TSC. Patients diagnosed in adulthood and those diagnosed in childhood had similar occurrences of pneumothorax, shortness of breath, hemoptysis, nephrectomy, and death. Limitation: No men were included in the study, and selection was biased toward patients having pulmonary LAM. Conclusion: Women who received a TSC diagnosis in adulthood had minimal morbidity during childhood but were still at risk for life-threatening pulmonary and renal manifestations. Primary Funding Source: Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Predictors of Red Cell Folate Level in Women Attempting Pregnancy
Authors: Judith E. Brown
Journal: JAMA (1997)

<h3>Objective.</h3> —To identify predictors of red cell folate level in women attempting to become pregnant. <h3>Design.</h3> —Cohort study. <h3>Setting.</h3> —A health maintenance organization serving the Minneapolis-St Paul, Minn, area. <h3>Participants.</h3> —A total of 189 healthy, primarily white women aged 22 to 35 years enrolled in the Diana Project, a population-based prospective study of preconceptional and prenatal risks to reproductive outcomes. The sample represents 189 of 219 enrolled women who were sequentially selected from the total Diana Project sample to receive additional laboratory analyses. <h3>Main Outcome Measure.</h3> —Red cell folate level. <h3>Results.</h3> —Folic acid supplements, folic acid intake from fortified cereals, vitamin C supplements, and serum zinc level (inverse) were found to predict red cell folate levels. Previous research has shown that red cell folate levels higher than 906 nmol/L (400 ng/mL) may be optimal for the prevention of folate-responsive neural tube defects. For folic acid supplement users, folate intakes of 450 μg per day and higher corresponded to these protective levels of red cell folate. In nonusers of supplements, intakes of more than 500 μg of folate per day from foods and folic acid-fortified cereals may be needed to attain red cell folate levels higher than 906 nmol/L (400 ng/mL). Red cell folate levels higher than 906 nmol/L (400 ng/mL) were primarily found in women who took folic acid supplements. Only 1 in 4 women had red cell folate levels higher than 906 nmol/L (400 ng/mL), while 1 in 8 had red cell folate levels indicative of a negative folate balance. Addition of a daily, 400-μg folic acid supplement to the usual diet would result in red cell folate levels over 906 nmol/L (400 ng/mL) in a majority of women in this study. <h3>Conclusions.</h3> —Supplementation of diets of women of childbearing potential with 400 μg of folic acid per day would effectively raise red cell folate to levels associated with a low risk of folate-responsive neural tube defects. Protective levels of red cell folate may also be obtained by ample consumption of vegetables, fruits, and folic acid-fortified breakfast cereals. Efforts to increase folic acid supplement use and folate consumption among women of childbearing potential must go beyond fortification of refined cereal and grain products and reach women within all educational and income groups.
Does This Patient Have Parkinson Disease?
Authors: Goutham Rao, Laura Fisch, Sukanya Srinivasan, Frank D'Amico, Tadao Okada, Carolyn Eaton, Craig Robbins
Journal: JAMA (2003)

<h3>Context</h3> Diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD) remains challenging. An accurate diagnosis is important because effective symptomatic treatment for PD is available. <h3>Objective</h3> To systematically review the literature for information on the precision and accuracy of the clinical examination for diagnosing PD. <h3>Data Sources</h3> MEDLINE database was searched for all English-language articles related to the diagnosis of PD published from January 1966 through April 2001. The reference lists of all articles retrieved were searched for additional relevant sources. <h3>Study Selection</h3> Studies in which patients presented with 1 or more typical features of PD were included if the final diagnosis was confirmed by a suitable criterion standard and data could be extracted to determine the accuracy of 1 or more symptoms or signs. Variability in descriptions of symptoms and signs made it impossible to combine data across existing studies for most findings. <h3>Data Synthesis</h3> We identified 6 studies that met our criteria. The positive (presence) likelihood ratios (LRs) for tremor as a symptom of PD ranged from 1.3 to 17 (range of negative [absence] LRs, 0.24 to 0.60). Tremor as a sign of PD produced a range of positive LRs from 1.3 to 1.5 (negative LRs, 0.47 to 0.61). Clinical features useful in the diagnosis of PD include a history of the combination of symptoms of rigidity and bradykinesia (positive LR, 4.5; negative LR, 0.12); a history of loss of balance (range of positive LRs, 1.6 to 6.6; range of negative LRs, 0.29 to 0.35), symptoms of micrographia (range of positive LRs, 2.8 to 5.9; range of negative LRs, 0.30 to 0.44), and a history of shuffling gait (range of positive LRs, 3.3 to 15; range of negative LRs, 0.32 to 0.50). Trouble with certain tasks such as turning in bed (positive LR, 13; negative LR, 0.56), opening jars (positive LR, 6.1; negative LR, 0.26), and rising from a chair (range of positive LRs, 1.9 to 5.2; range of negative LRs, 0.39 to 0.58). Useful signs include the glabella tap test (positive LR, 4.5; negative LR, 0.13), difficulty walking heel-to-toe (positive LR, 2.9; negative LR, 0.32), and rigidity (range of positive LRs, 0.53 to 2.8; range of negative LRs, 0.38 to 1.6). Significant selection bias was detected in all studies included for review. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Symptoms of tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, micrographia, shuffling gait, and difficulty with the tasks of turning in bed, opening jars, and rising from a chair should be carefully reviewed in all patients with suspected PD. The glabella tap and heel-to-toe tests also should be assessed.
MCM4 mutation causes adrenal failure, short stature, and natural killer cell deficiency in humans
Authors: Claire R. Hughes, Leonardo Guasti, Eirini Meimaridou, Chen-Hua Chuang, John C. Schimenti, Peter J. King, Colm Costigan, Adrian J.L. Clark, Louise A. Metherell
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2012)

An interesting variant of familial glucocorticoid deficiency (FGD), an autosomal recessive form of adrenal failure, exists in a genetically isolated Irish population. In addition to hypocortisolemia, affected children show signs of growth failure, increased chromosomal breakage, and NK cell deficiency. Targeted exome sequencing in 8 patients identified a variant (c.71-1insG) in minichromosome maintenance–deficient 4 (MCM4) that was predicted to result in a severely truncated protein (p.Pro24ArgfsX4). Western blotting of patient samples revealed that the major 96-kDa isoform present in unaffected human controls was absent, while the presence of the minor 85-kDa isoform was preserved. Interestingly, histological studies with Mcm4-depleted mice showed grossly abnormal adrenal morphology that was characterized by non-steroidogenic GATA4- and Gli1-positive cells within the steroidogenic cortex, which reduced the number of steroidogenic cells in the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex. Since MCM4 is one part of a MCM2-7 complex recently confirmed as the replicative helicase essential for normal DNA replication and genome stability in all eukaryotes, it is possible that our patients may have an increased risk of neoplastic change. In summary, we have identified what we believe to be the first human mutation in MCM4 and have shown that it is associated with adrenal insufficiency, short stature, and NK cell deficiency.
Oxytocin Release by Infused Prostaglandin
Authors: A. Gillespie, H. C. Brummer, T. Chard
Journal: BMJ (1972)

Plasma oxytocin levels were measured serially in 22 women receiving prostaglandin E(2) or F(2alpha) intravenously for the induction of labour. Oxytocin was detected in the plasma of 19 of the 22 women; positive levels were found in 60 (43%) of 139 plasma samples, an incidence similar to that in the late first stage of spontaneous labour. Oxytocin was found in the maternal plasma even when the fetus was dead, and in the plasma of two men receiving prostaglandin infusions. This indicates that prostaglandins stimulate the pituitary directly and suggests that this mechanism may play a part in the oxytocic action of infused prostaglandins.
Supra-ultraviolet hits sunbed seekers
Authors: P. Wolf
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (2013)

ORIGINAL ARTICLE, p 602 Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a complete carcinogen that leads to skin carcinogenesis by tumour initiation and promotion. In addition, UV exposure leads to immune suppression in mice1 and humans,2 which may contribute to the pathogenesis of skin cancer induced by both natural and/or artificial UV radiation. Indeed, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified sunbeds, like natural UV radiation, as a group 1 carcinogen (cited in ref. 3). In spite of these facts, new high‐power sunbeds4 that emit high levels of UV radiation continue to be in use. In this issue of the BJD, Tierney et al.3 report that most sunbeds in England emit UV radiation levels that exceed the current safety limits for total erythemal‐weighted irradiance set at 0·3 W m−2. Indeed, the mean irradiance of 402 sunbeds tested was almost double the compliance level and 89% of sunbeds were above this limit. The average artificial tanning unit had an overall nonmelanoma skin carcinogenic risk5 per minute of exposure that was 2·3 times that of the midday Mediterranean sun and a maximum of up to six times higher was recorded. Concerning wavebands, only 15% and 26% of sunbeds were within the compliance level for UVB and UVA, respectively, set at 0·15 W m−2 each.
Preoperative Banditry: Surgeons React
Authors: Danny M. Clark
Journal: JAMA (1990)

To the Editor.—  The article 1 in the November 10 issue of JAMA is a sad commentary on the medical profession. I am not really sure that there is any surgery that justifies a $10 000 fee to the surgeon, and certainly nothing could justify a 70-year-old man being asked to put up this money prior to the procedure itself. This is the attitude that makes it easy for others to look at our profession and say we are interested only in money.  I hope that Ms Richmond understands that there are physicians in this world who care about their patients and to whom the economics of medicine are secondary.