tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
PTU-003 Circulating levels of Interleukin-18 correlate with severity following human acute liver injury
Authors: D G Craig, A Conway-Morris, P Lee, A Pryde, J Simpson, P C Hayes, K J Simpson
Journal: Gut (2012)

<h3>Introduction</h3> Excessive innate immune activation may precipitate multiorgan failure following paracetamol overdose (POD). Identification of amplification loops in this process could reveal novel therapeutic targets. Interleukin (IL)-18 is a potent proinflammatory cytokine which stimulates downstream T helper-1 cell responses and may trigger loss of regulatory natural killer (NK) cells. <h3>Methods</h3> Consecutive patients (n=46, (19 (41.3%) male) admitted to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh with paracetamol-induced acute liver injury (ALT&gt;1000 IU/l and coagulopathy) were enrolled. IL-18 levels were measured by ELISA. Immunophenotypic analysis of circulating lymphocytes was determined in whole blood by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis. <h3>Results</h3> A total of 29/46 (63.0%) PODs developed hepatic encephalopathy (HE), and therefore acute liver failure. IL-18 levels were significantly higher in PODs (median 457 (IQR 340–671) pg/mL, n=46) compared with chronic liver disease (292 (192–591) pg/ml, n=15, p&lt;0.05) and healthy (163 (90–191) pg/ml, n=13, p&lt;0.001) controls. Admission IL-18 levels in PODs correlated with both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 (Spearman9s r=0.491, p=0.001) and IL-10 (r=0.360, p=0.019), with markers of T-cell (IL2-sRα, r=0.567, p&lt;0.0001) and macrophage (neopterin, r=0.422, p=0.015) activation, and with organ failure scores (SOFA, r=0.485, p=0.0007; APACHE II, r=0.466, p=0.001). Admission IL-18 levels were significantly higher in PODs who developed HE (p=0.0006) or the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (p=0.038), and in PODs who died/required emergency liver transplantation (OLT, p=0.020; AUC 71.4% (95% CI 55.4% to 87.4%). Flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes revealed a significant decrease in the proportion of CD3-/CD56+ NK cells, with rapid recovery following OLT. <h3>Conclusion</h3> IL-18 is associated with innate immune activation and adverse outcomes following POD. Future animal studies should explore IL-18 and NK cell modulation following POD. <h3>Competing interests</h3> None declared.
Improving Residents' Compliance With Standards of Ambulatory Care&lt;SUBTITLE&gt;Results From the VA Cooperative Study on Computerized Reminders&lt;/SUBTITLE&gt;
Authors: John G. Demakis, Charles Beauchamp, William L. Cull, Robbin Denwood, Seth A. Eisen, Richard Lofgren, Kristen Nichol, James Woolliscroft, William G. Henderson
Journal: JAMA (2000)

ContextComputerized systems to remind physicians to provide appropriate care have not been widely evaluated in large numbers of patients in multiple clinical settings.ObjectiveTo examine whether a computerized reminder system operating in multiple Veterans Affairs (VA) ambulatory care clinics improves resident physician compliance with standards of ambulatory care.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsA total of 275 resident physicians at 12 VA medical centers were randomly assigned in firms or half-day clinic blocks to either a reminder group (n = 132) or a control group (n = 143). During a 17-month study period (January 31, 1995–June 30, 1996), the residents cared for 12,989 unique patients for whom at least 1 of the studied standards of care (SOC) was applicable.Main Outcome MeasuresCompliance with 13 SOC, tracked using hospital databases and encounter forms completed by residents, compared between residents in the reminder group vs those in the control group.ResultsMeasuring compliance as the proportion of patients in compliance with all applicable SOC by their last visit during the study period, the reminder group had statistically significantly higher rates of compliance than the control group for all standards combined (58.8% vs 53.5%; odds ratio [OR], 1.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.42; P = .002) and for 5 of the 13 standards examined individually. Measuring compliance as the proportion of all visits for which care was indicated in which residents provided proper care, the reminder group also had statistically significantly higher rates of compliance than the control group for all standards combined (17.9% vs 12.2%; OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.45-1.71; P<.001) and for 9 of the 13 standards examined individually. The benefit of reminders, however, declined throughout the course of the study, even though the reminders remained active.ConclusionsOur data indicate that reminder systems installed at multiple sites can improve residents' compliance to multiple SOC. The benefits of such systems, however, appear to deteriorate over time. Future research needs to explore methods to better sustain the benefits of reminders.
IMMUNOGLOBULINES IN DERMATITIS HERPETIFORMIS AND VARIOUS OTHER SKIN DISEASES
Authors: N. G. FRASER, HEATHER M. DICK, W. B. CRICHTON
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1969)

Journal Article IMMUNOGLOBULINES IN DERMATITIS HERPETIFORMIS AND VARIOUS OTHER SKIN DISEASES Get access N. G. FRASER, N. G. FRASER Departments of Dermatology and Bacteriology, University of Glasgow Requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. N. G. Fraser, University Department of Dermatology, Western Infirmary, Glasgow. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar HEATHER M. DICK, HEATHER M. DICK Departments of Dermatology and Bacteriology, University of Glasgow Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar W. B. CRICHTON W. B. CRICHTON Departments of Dermatology and Bacteriology, University of Glasgow Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 81, Issue 2, 1 February 1969, Pages 89–95, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.1969.tb15986.x Published: 01 February 1969 Article history Accepted: 09 August 1968 Published: 01 February 1969
Health campaigners question whether fall in maternal mortality in India is a result of more hospital deliveries
Authors: G. Mudur
Journal: BMJ (2012)

An Indian government programme to reduce the number of home births by giving expectant mothers cash grants has increased the number of hospital deliveries, but gaps in healthcare services are still causing avoidable maternal deaths, an alliance of health organisations has said.

The National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights, a non-governmental coalition, has said that India’s health ministry has stirred demand and increased the number of hospital deliveries without paying enough attention to factors that determine maternal safety.

The health ministry’s Janani Suraksha Yojana (Mothers Protection Programme) provides a cash incentive of 1400 rupees (£16; €20; $25) mainly to poor and underprivileged pregnant women to give birth in hospital. The ministry said that the programme had helped increase the proportion of hospital deliveries in India from less than 49% when it was launched in 2005 to more than 72%.

But the maternal health alliance has cautioned …
Cellular uncoupling induced by accumulation of long-chain acylcarnitine during ischemia.
Authors: K A Yamada, J McHowat, G X Yan, K Donahue, J Peirick, A G Kléber, P B Corr
Journal: Circulation Research (1994)

Long-chain acylcarnitines (LCACs) increase rapidly within minutes after the onset of ischemia in vivo or hypoxia in vitro and produce a time-dependent reversible reduction in gap junctional conductance in isolated myocyte pairs. The present study was performed to assess whether LCACs contribute to cellular uncoupling in response to ischemia in isolated blood-perfused rabbit papillary muscles by use of simultaneous measurements of transmembrane action potentials, extracellular electrograms, extracellular K+, and tissue LCACs and ATP. LCACs increased threefold in response to 20 minutes of no-flow ischemia from 127 +/- 5 to 397 +/- 113 pmol/mg protein (P &lt; .01), concomitant with the onset of cellular uncoupling, extracellular K+ accumulation, and a marked reduction in conduction velocity and action potential duration. To assess whether inhibition of the accumulation of LCACs modified the electrophysiological alterations during ischemia, muscles were pretreated with either sodium 2-(5-(4-chlorophenyl)-pentyl)-oxirane-2-carboxylate (POCA, 10 mumol/L) or oxfenicine (100 mumol/L), inhibitors of carnitine acyltransferase I. Both POCA and oxfenicine completely prevented the increase in LCACs even with 40 minutes of ischemia (138 +/- 37 and 56 +/- 4 pmol/mg protein, respectively), associated with a marked delay in the onset and progression of cellular uncoupling and ischemic contracture. Although POCA and oxfenicine did not affect either the initial early rise in extracellular K+ or the initial fall in conduction velocity, both agents markedly delayed the secondary rise in extracellular K+ as well as the secondary fall in conduction velocity, independent of the level of tissue ATP. Thus, LCACs accumulate during myocardial ischemia and contribute substantially to the initiation of cell-to-cell uncoupling. Inhibition of carnitine acyltransferase I and prevention of the increase in LCACs markedly delays cellular uncoupling and development of ischemic contracture in response to ischemia.
Temporal artery biopsy.
Authors: M. C. Allison
Journal: BMJ (1988)

positive predictive value was 10%'0-for every cancer found nine women had a positive result on screening, of whom seven had a biopsy taken.Warren quotes European studies with positive predictive values of 30-60% and suggests that 25% is an acceptable standard.In the Forrest report a ratio of benign to malignant of two to one on biopsy is cited as appropriate, suggesting a positive predictive value of 33% -but there is no further discussion.Kopans and Swann have focused on this discrepancy between the North American and European studies'5 and suggested that in Europe there is a greater acceptance of a "wait and see" follow up with repeated mammography, whereas in the United States there is more pressure from patients and doctors for immediate biopsy even when malignancy does not look likely.It is not known what the optimal positive predictive value should be, but the 33% of the Forrest report seems too high, and the 5-10% quoted by Skrabanek is too low.A value that is too high means that some cancers will be missed whereas a low value means that many women will have unnecessary biopsy.Wright suggested that mammo- graphy screening should be reserved for women with high risk factors,6 but three quarters of all cancers occur in women with no risk factors.Present evidence suggests that mammography screening saves lives and that the risks from radiation are negligible or non-existent.16 British screening policy has targeted only those most at risk, and, as Warren points out, the programme offers less frequent screenings to fewer women than the programmes in other European countries.The economy of a single view examination will clearly mean more recalls than with a two view examination.Establishment of even this limited national screening service is going to be costly.If many more positive results are produced from screening than Forrest anticipated and if the screening is extended to younger women and incorporates more frequent examination the costs are going to be greater.It remains to be seen how busy radiologists, surgeons, pathologists, and their support staff in general hospitals cope with the extra workload that the programme is certain to produce.
"COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF BACTERIOPHAGE THERAPY"
Authors: O. F. Lamson
Journal: JAMA (1933)

<h3>To the Editor:</h3> —I would like to congratulateThe Journalfor blasting the commercial aspects of bacteriophage therapy in the issue of May 20. I only wish that the rank and file of the profession would wait for the report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry before swallowing hook, line and all of the bacteriophage panacea. A valuable article appeared in<i>Northwest Medicine</i>(<b>32</b>:106 [March] 1933) on "Mobilization of the Reticulo-Endothelial Cells as Aid to Cure," by Dr. S. H. Tashjian of Seattle. He uses nutrient broth, which seems to do everything claimed by different "phagists." In the clinic with which I am associated we have had similar results with nutrient broth injections for carbuncles, chronic indolent ulcers, varicose ulcers, and a wide variety of infections. Similar results from other clinics and hospitals are daily reported. I think this is a forward step in modern therapeutics with a
Nicotine concentrations in urine and saliva of smokers and non-smokers.
Authors: C Feyerabend, T Higenbottam, M A Russell
Journal: BMJ (1982)

Nicotine concentrations were measured in saliva and urine samples collected from 82 smokers and 56 non-smokers after a morning at work. Each subject answered a series of questions related to their recent intentional or passive exposure to tobacco smoke. All non-smokers had measurable amounts of nicotine in both saliva and urine. Those non-smokers who reported recent exposure to tobacco smoke had significantly higher nicotine concentrations (p less than 0.001) than those who had not been exposed; their concentrations overlapped those of smokers who had smoked up to three cigarettes before sampling had the greatest influence on nicotine concentrations (r=0.62 for saliva and r=0.51 for urine). Neither the nicotine for yield of cigarettes nor the self-reported degree of inhalation had any significant effect on nicotine concentrations.
Value of wearing head protection gear while playing hurling.
Authors: P J Crowley, M J Crowley, H Dardouri, K C Condon
Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine (1995)

One of the three national games of Ireland, hurling is a contact team sport (15 a side) played with a metre long ash stick and a small hard leather ball. Over a 12 month period, 413 players were treated for hurling-related injuries at Cork Regional Hospital. While hand and facial trauma predominate, the proportion between the two sites has changed substantially from previous reports with a reduction in the level of facial injuries. The wearing of a helmet, and optionally a supplementary faceguard, is seen to have contributed to this trend. Despite this welcome reduction of facial injuries, a certain resistance to the use of protective headgear is evident, particularly among older players.
Intact Implicit Learning in Schizophrenia
Authors: Jean-Marie Danion, Thierry Meulemans, Françoise Kauffmann-Muller, Hester Vermaat
Journal: American Journal of Psychiatry (2001)

OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenia impairs performance on explicit, but not implicit, memory tasks, indicating that conscious awareness at retrieval is a critical determinant of impaired memory. The authors investigated implicit learning, i.e., knowledge acquisition in the absence of conscious awareness, in patients with schizophrenia. METHOD: An artificial grammar learning task was used to assess implicit learning in 48 patients with schizophrenia and 24 healthy comparison subjects. The subjects were first presented with letter strings that were generated according to the rules of a finite-state grammar paradigm. They were then required to indicate whether new letter strings were "grammatical," depending on whether or not the strings corresponded to the rules. IQ, working memory, explicit memory, verbal fluency, and speed of processing were also assessed. RESULTS: Patients performed significantly worse than the comparison subjects on cognitive tasks that assessed episodic memory, verbal fluency, working memory, and speed of processing. In contrast, patients classified as being correct more grammatical than nongrammatical letter strings, and the magnitude of the difference was similar to that observed in healthy comparison subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Implicit learning, as assessed with an artificial grammar learning task, is intact in patients with schizophrenia. Conscious awareness might be a critical determinant of memory impairment both at encoding and at retrieval.
Abstract 4691: Class III beta tubulin is a strong predictive marker for taxane-based first-line palliative chemotherapy in recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer.
Authors: Jun-Eul Hwang, Dae-Eun Kim, Hyun-Jeong Shim, Woo-Kyun Bae, In-Jae Oh, Sang-Hee Cho, Ik-Joo Chung
Journal: Cancer Research (2013)

Abstract Backgrounds. Class III β tubulin (TUBB3) is a prognostic marker in various tumors and role of TUBB3 in advanced gastric cancer is not clearly defined yet. We analyzed the significance of TUBB3 expression along with ERCC1 in recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer patients receiving taxane based first-line palliative chemotherapy. Methods. We reviewed 146 patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma who received taxane based first-line palliative chemotherapy between 2004 and 2010 at Chonnam National University Hwasun hospital. Immunohistochemical stain of TUBB3 and ERCC1 was done in paraffin-embedded tumor tissue. We evaluated response to chemotherapy, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Results. A total of 146 patients with advanced gastric cancer received docetaxel and cisplatin (n=15), or paclitaxel and cisplatin (n=131). The median PFS was significantly shorter for patients with TUBB3 high expression than patients with TUBB3 low expression (3.63 versus 6.67 months, p=0.001). OS was not associated with TUBB3 expression status (12.9 versus 13.1 months, p=0.769). In multivariate analysis, only TUBB3 was related to shorter PFS (HR 2.74, 95% CI 1.91-3.91, p=0.001). Patients with ERCC1 high expression showed lower response rate than patients with ERCC1 low expression (24% versus 63.2%, p=0.001), however ERCC1 showed no clinical influence on PFS and OS. Conclusions. TUBB3 is a strong predictive marker in recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer patients receiving taxane based first-line palliative chemotherapy. Clinical impact of ERCC1 is not evident in this setting. Citation Format: Jun-Eul Hwang, Dae-Eun Kim, Hyun-Jeong Shim, Woo-Kyun Bae, In-Jae Oh, Sang-Hee Cho, Ik-Joo Chung. Class III beta tubulin is a strong predictive marker for taxane-based first-line palliative chemotherapy in recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4691. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4691
Vaccination of Chimpanzees With Plasmid DNA Encoding the Hepatitis C Virus(HCV) Envelope E2 Protein Modified the Infection After Challenge With Homologous Monoclonal HCV
Authors: Xavier Forns, Paul J. Payette, Xiaoying Ma, William Satterfield, Gerald Eder, Isa K. Mushahwar, Sugantha Govindarajan, Heather L. Davis, Suzanne U. Emerson, Robert H. Purcell, Jens Bukh
Journal: Hepatology (2000)

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Development of vaccines to prevent HCV infection, or at least prevent progression to chronicity, is a major goal. In mice and rhesus macaques, a DNA vaccine encoding cell-surface HCV-envelope 2 (E2) glycoprotein stimulated stronger immune responses than a vaccine encoding intracellular E2. Therefore, we used DNA encoding surface-expressed E2 to immunize chimpanzees 2768 and 3001. Chimpanzee 3001 developed anti-E2 after the second immunization and antibodies to hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) after the third immunization. Although chimpanzee 2768 had only low levels of anti-E2 after the third immunization, an anamnestic response occurred after HCV challenge. CTL responses to E2 were not detected before challenge, but a strong response was detected after HCV challenge in chimpanzee 2768. An E2-specific CD4+ response was detected in chimpanzee 2768 before challenge and in both chimpanzees postchallenge. Three weeks after the last immunization, animals were challenged with 100 50% chimpanzee-infectious doses (CID 50 ) of homologous monoclonal HCV. As a control, a naive chimpanzee was inoculated with 3 CID 50 of the challenge virus. The vaccine did not generate sterilizing immunity because both vaccinated chimpanzees were infected. However, both vaccinated chimpanzees resolved the infection early whereas the control animal became chronically infected. Compared with the control animal, hepatitis appeared earlier in the course of the infection in both vaccinated chimpanzees. Therefore, DNA vaccine encoding cell surface-expressed E2 did not elicit sterilizing immunity in chimpanzees against challenge with a monoclonal homologous virus, but did appear to modify the infection and might have prevented progression to chronicity.
Medical men and military matters: the BMJ and the Victorian army.
Authors: A Summers
Journal: BMJ (1990)

The British army in the mid-Victorian period was a world within a world: recruited by voluntary, enlist- ment rather than universal conscription, grouped in regimental "families," and passing long years away from home on colonial service.The army's medical officers were physically and intellectually isolated from their civilian colleagues and could almost be said to be living in another age as well as another world.Military nomenclature knew only "surgeons," so that while the civilian profession was not only distinguishing between surgery and medicine but also spawning further specialties within them, army practitioners, despite the immense variety of their workload, could still be popularly identified with the sordid aftermath of battle and the crude and none too hopeful remedy of amputation.Whereas civilian doctors strove to associate their calling with the advance of science and the exercise of talent their military counterparts had few opportunities to observe new clinical develop- ments and little incentive to do.so; promotion, which came to them with excruciating slowness, was the reward not of merit but of seniority.
THE IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, KENSINGTON: Its History, Organization, and Achievements
Authors: A. Keogh
Journal: BMJ (1919)

THE history of the development of the Imperial College of Science and Teclhnology should prove interesting to the medical profession.The realization of the aims of the College in tlle region of pure and applied science is, despite difficulties, an exalm-ple which gives encourage- iient to tlle belief that improvement in education and research in medical science and its applications is no muere d-ream.THE HiSTORY OF TEE COLLEGE.This is not by any means the first time that Kensinaton has done pioneer work in tlhe cause of education and rese&rch.It should be a source of pride to us as members of our profession to reflect that the traditions and pro.gressive tendencies wlhich characterize the educational mt-ovements at Kensington were initiated by Huxley, and