tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Comparison of basophil activation tests using CD63 or CD203c expression in patients with insect venom allergy
Authors: B. Eberlein‐König, R. Varga, M. Mempel, U. Darsow, H. Behrendt, J. Ring
Journal: Allergy (2006)

Background: Flow cytometric basophil activation tests have been developed as cellular tests for in vitro diagnosis of IgE‐mediated reactions. Different activation markers (CD63 or CD203c) with distinct ways of regulation have been used after stimulation with various allergens. Objective: It was the aim of the present study to compare basophil activation tests by measuring both CD63 and CD203c upregulation in patients with insect venom allergy. Materials and methods: 43 patients with a history of insect venom anaphylaxis were examined. A careful allergy history was taken, and skin tests and determination of specific IgE‐antibodies were performed. Basophil activation tests (BAT) using CD63 or CD203c expression were done after stimulation with different concentrations of bee and wasp venom extracts. 25 healthy subjects with negative history of insect venom allergy were studied as controls. Results: The CD203c protocol showed a slightly higher sensitivity than the CD63 protocol (97% vs. 89%) with regard to patients’ history. The magnitude of basophil response was higher with CD203c in comparison to CD63 for both insect venoms. Specificity was 100% for the CD63 protocol and 89% for the CD203c protocol with regard to controls with negative history and negative RAST. Conclusion: These results support the reliability of basophil activation tests using either CD63 or CD203c as cellular tests in the in vitro diagnosis of patients with bee or wasp venom allergy with a slightly higher sensitivity for the CD203c protocol.
Prospective study of trends in referral patterns in fundholding and non-fundholding practices in the Oxford region, 1990-4
Authors: R. Surender, J. Bradlow, A. Coulter, H. Doll, S. S. Brown
Journal: BMJ (1995)

<h3>Abstract</h3> <b>Objective</b>: To compare outpatient referral patterns in fundholding and non-fundholding practices before and after the NHS reforms in April 1991. <b>Design</b>: Prospective collection of data on general practitioners9 referrals to specialist outpatient clinics between June 1990 and January 1994 and detailed comparisons of three phases--October 1990 to March 1991 (phase 1), October 1991 to March 1992 (phase 2), and October 1993 to January 1994 (phase 3). <b>Setting</b>: 10 first wave fundholding practices and six non-fundholding practices in the Oxford region. <b>Subjects</b>: Patients referred to consultant outpatient clinics. <b>Results</b>: NHS referral rates increased in fundholding practices in phase 2 and phase 3 of the study by 8.1/1000 patients a year (95% confidence interval 5.7 to 10.5), anincrease of 7.5% from phase 1 (107.3/1000) to phase 3 (115.4/1000). Non-fundholders9 rates increased significantly, by 25.3/1000 patients (22.5-28.1), an increase of 26.6% from phase 1 (95.0/1000) to phase 3 (120.3/1000). The fundholders9 referral rates to private clinics decreased by 8.8%, whereas those from non-fundholding practices increased by 12.2%. The proportion of referrals going outside district boundaries did not change significantly. Three of the four practices entering the third and fourth wave of fundholding increased their referral rates significantly in the year before becoming fundholders. <b>Conclusions</b>: No evidence existed that budgetary pressures caused first wave fundholders to reduce referral rates, although the method of budget allocation may have encouraged general practitioners to inflate their referral rates in the preparatory year. Despite investment in new practice based facilities, no evidence yet exists that fundholdingencourages a shift away from specialist care.
Interventricular septal configuration as a predictor of right ventricular systolic hypertension in children: a cross-sectional echocardiographic study.
Authors: M E King, H Braun, A Goldblatt, R Liberthson, A E Weyman
Journal: Circulation (1983)

Abnormal interventricular septal position and motion have been noted in patients with right ventricular pressure overload. The quantitative relationship between this alteration in septal configuration and the severity of right ventricular systolic hypertension has not been previously reported. We used cross-sectional echocardiography to assess the radius of septal curvature at end-diastole, midsystole, and end-systole in 20 normal children and 29 children (ages 2 weeks to 20 years) undergoing cardiac catheterization for a variety of congenital cardiac disorders. The measured septal radius of curvature (r) was normalized by the ideal radius (ri) for the left ventricular cavity area and then expressed as normalized septal curvature [l/(r/ri)]. A slight leftward shift and flattening of the interventricular septum occurred in the course of normal systolic contraction (mean +/- SEM normalized curvature at end-diastole 0.92 +/- 0.03 and at end-systole 0.85 +/- 0.02; p less than .05). Marked exaggeration of this configurational change occurred in patients with right ventricular systolic hypertension (right ventricular systolic pressure greater than 50% systemic pressure), with progressive loss of curvature from end-diastole (0.45 +/- 0.05) to end-systole (0.19 +/- 0.06). Normalized septal curvature correlated well with relative right ventricular systolic pressure at all three sampling periods, with the best correlation at end-systole (r = .86). End-systolic flattening of the interventricular septum thus proved to be a sensitive marker for right ventricular systolic hypertension.
Almroth Wright--Pioneer in Immunology
Authors: L. Colebrook
Journal: BMJ (1953)

not much given to boasting, but, like Bernard Shaw, he sometimes took pleasure in shock- ing people by a remark that smacked of arrogance.On one such occasion, when a visitor to his laboratory, who had been rather talking down to him, asked whether he had read a certain paper, Wright replied somewhat tersely, " No, we don't read bacteriology-we make it."The time has come, I think, when we may profitably consider how far he did " make bacteriology," and per- haps ask ourselves whether some of the unconventional ideas he stood for may not be worthy of re-examination.When he graduated in 1883 (from Trinity College, Dublin) medical bacteriology was beginning to make quite a stir in the world.The great mystery of tuberculous disease (which was killing 1,000 people a week in England and Wales) looked a little nearer a solution with Koch's discovery of the tubercle bacillus in 1882.A year before that he had shown that many microbes could be grown, and pure cultures obtained, on solid* nutrient media.A year later he isolated the cholera vibrio.In France, too, great things were happening.The patient work of Davaine and Pasteur and others had at last established the relationship of Bacillus anthracis to anthrax; and by his classical experiment with 50 sheep Pasteur had shown that it was possible to make animals immune to that deadly disease by the inocula- tion of an attenuated culture of the bacillus.Very soon the concept of " antibodies " was born- from the work of Ehrlich and von Behring, of Roux, and of Pfeiffer.Antitoxins were detected in the blood of animals inoculated with the poisonous principles con- tained in cultures of diphtheria and tetanus bacilli.A little later a bactericidal antibody was discovered in the peritoneal fluid of guinea-pigs which had been inoculated with a killed culture of the cholera vibrio.And after that yet another antibody (agglutinin) was found which caused the clumping of typhoid bacilli by the serum of animals inoculated with that microbe or of man suffering from typhoid fever.Diagnosis and Prevention of Typhoid Fever It was at this point that Wright started his bacterio- logical work-in 1893.He had recently been appointed Professor of Pathology in the Army Medical Services, with his headquarters at the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley on Southampton Water.There he frequently saw men suffering from typhoid fever, and others
Quantitative immunological determination of 12 plasma proteins excreted in human urine collected before and after exercise
Authors: Jacques Poortmans, Roger W. Jeanloz
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1968)

Urine was collected from 6 healthy male adults at rest and from 20 male adults after a marathon race (25 miles). The concentrated urines were quantitatively analyzed, by single radial immunodiffusion, for their content in 12 different plasma proteins: tryptophan-rich prealbumin, albumin, alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein, alpha(1)-antitrypsin, ceruloplasmin, haptoglobin, Gc-globulin, transferrin, hemopexin, beta(2)-glycoprotein I, gammaA-globulin, and gammaG-globulin.Albumin, gammaA-globulin, and gammaG-globulin represent the major part of the plasma proteins detected in normal urine excreted by humans at rest (12, 0.5, and 2.5 mg respectively, out of a total excretion of 17.5 mg of plasma proteins per 24 hr). The other plasma proteins were excreted at a lower rate (< 0.4 mg/24 hr). The relative content of tryptophan-rich prealbumin, alpha(1)-antitrypsin, Gc-globulin, transferrin, and gammaG-globulin was lower in normal urine than in normal serum, whereas that of alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein, beta(2)-glycoprotein I, and gammaA-globulin was higher. The ratio of gammaG-globulin to gammaA-globulin was 4.9:1. When plotted on a logarithmic scale, no direct relationship between the molecular weight of a protein and the value of its renal clearance could be observed.Strenuous exercise increased (up to 50-fold) the excretion of plasma proteins which represent 82% of the total proteins found in urine, instead of 57% in urine collected from humans at rest. There was particularly a significant rise of tryptophan-rich albumin, albumin, alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein, transferrin, gammaA-globulin, and gammaG-globulin (0.26, 127, 11.8, 3.3, 1.2, and 2.0 mug respectively, out of a total excretion of 167 mug of plasma proteins per min). The ratio of gammaG-globulin to gammaA-globulin was 16:1. After exercise, the renal clearance of proteins increased from 2 to 40 times, but, as for the urine of normal subjects at rest, no direct relationship between molecular weight and renal clearance could be observed.
A1 adenosine receptors inhibit chloride transport in the shark rectal gland. Dissociation of inhibition and cyclic AMP.
Authors: G G Kelley, E M Poeschla, H V Barron, J N Forrest
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1990)

In the in vitro perfused rectal gland of the dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias), the adenosine analogue 2-chloroadenosine (2Clado) completely and reversibly inhibited forskolin-stimulated chloride secretion with an IC50 of 5 nM. Other A1 receptor agonists including cyclohexyladenosine (CHA), N-ethylcarboxamideadenosine (NECA) and R-phenylisopropyl-adenosine (R-PIA) also completely inhibited forskolin stimulated chloride secretion. The "S" stereoisomer of PIA (S-PIA) was a less potent inhibitor of forskolin stimulated chloride secretion, consistent with the affinity profile of PIA stereoisomers for an A1 receptor. The adenosine receptor antagonists 8-phenyltheophylline and 8-cyclopentyltheophylline completely blocked the effect of 2Clado to inhibit forskolin-stimulated chloride secretion. When chloride secretion and tissue cyclic (c)AMP content were determined simultaneously in perfused glands, 2Clado completely inhibited secretion but only inhibited forskolin stimulated cAMP accumulation by 34-40%, indicating that the mechanism of inhibition of secretion by 2Clado is at least partially cAMP independent. Consistent with these results, A1 receptor agonists only modestly inhibited (9-15%) forskolin stimulated adenylate cyclase activity and 2Clado markedly inhibited chloride secretion stimulated by a permeant cAMP analogue, 8-chlorophenylthio cAMP (8CPT cAMP). These findings provide the first evidence for a high affinity A1 adenosine receptor that inhibits hormone stimulated ion transport in a model epithelia. A major portion of this inhibition occurs by a mechanism that is independent of the cAMP messenger system.
Illness and Cure: Studies on the Philosophy of Medicine and Mental Health
Authors: Samuel H. Kraines
Journal: JAMA (1965)

Dr. Meerloo is a wise and thoughtful man. His works reflect not only a scholarly approach but also strong convictions and a keen awareness of current problems. Of psychoanalytic persuasion, Dr. Meerloo has pondered deeply as to the "why" of illness, and the "what" and the "how" of cure. In this volume he presents many penetrating insights into man and mankind. The four major sections of the book are "Concepts of Disease," "Concepts of Concepts," "Concepts of Therapy," and "Concepts of Healing," each section being composed of many short essays. Dr. Meerloo discusses clinical epistemology, the ubiquity of ambivalence in human feeling and thinking, professional prejudices, the need to treat man as part of a social whole, the role of social influences, the problem of cure and pseudo-cure, and other comparable subjects. <i>Illness and Cure</i>is not a book one can sit down and read through in one evening. At
Certification and the General Practitioner
Authors: J. Foster
Journal: BMJ (1970)

The patient, a widow aged 63, developed a marked bilateral conjunctivitis in July 1970.When questioned, she stated that she had noticed a stinging sensation of the eyes when- ever she tipped a new brand of washing powder into water.This powder, which she had used for a few weeks only, proved to be a well known enzyme detergent.On giving up the use of the preparation the conjunctival signs disappeared and have not returned.Presumably the act of tipping out the washing powder can give rise to a sufficient concentration of enzyme dust to affect the conjunctiva of a sensitive person.When dealing with an unexplained case of allergic conjunctivitis, therefore, it seems worth asking whether the patient has been using a new brand of washing powder.-Iam, etc.,
Prognostic Importance of Social and Economic Resources Among Medically Treated Patients With Angiographically Documented Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Redford B. Williams
Journal: JAMA (1992)

To evaluate the hypothesis that diminished social and economic resources impact adversely on cardiovascular mortality in patients with coronary artery disease.Inception cohort study of patients undergoing cardiac catheterization from 1974 through 1980 and followed up through 1989.Tertiary care university medical center.Consecutive sample of 1965 medically treated patients with stenosis 75% or greater of at least one major coronary artery. Five hundred patients were not enrolled due to logistic problems; 33 refused; 64 had missing data on key medical variables. The final study population included 1368 patients, 82% male, with a median age of 52 years.Survival time until cardiovascular death.Independent of all known baseline invasive and noninvasive medical prognostic factors, patients with annual household incomes of $40,000 or more had an unadjusted 5-year survival of 0.91, compared with 0.76 in patients with incomes of $10,000 or less (Cox model adjusted hazard ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.57 to 2.32; P = .002). Similarly, unmarried patients without a confidant had an unadjusted 5-year survival rate of 0.50, compared with 0.82 in patients who were married, had a confidant, or both (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.34; 95% confidence interval, 1.84 to 6.20; P less than .0001).Low levels of social and economic resources identify an important high-risk group among medically treated patients with coronary artery disease, independent of important medical prognostic factors. Additional study will be required to see if interventions to increase these resources improve prognosis.
P2-311: Randomized phase II study of carboplatin and paclitaxel (CP) versus gemcitabine and vinorelbine (GV) in performance status (PS) 2 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Results of a West Japan Thoracic Oncology Group study (WJTOG0004)
Authors: Koji Takeda, Tatsuhiko Kashii, Hiroshi Saitoh, Kazuhiko Nakagawa, Yasuo Iwamoto, Nobuyuki Katakami, Takashi Nakano, Takayasu Kurata, Masahiko Ando, Masahiro Fukuoka
Journal: Journal of Thoracic Oncology (2007)
A Pitfall of Radioisotope Quantification of the Ratio of Pulmonary Blood Flow to Systemic Blood Flow (Qp/Qs) in a Patient With Severe Postoperative Pulmonary Venous Obstruction
Authors: Beverley Newman, L Grosse-Wortmann, M Charron, S J. Yoo
Journal: Clinical Nuclear Medicine (2008)

Purpose: We report a case with initial misinterpretation of the radionuclide angiocardiographic study that was obtained in a child with persistent tachypnea and concern for residual left to right shunt after prior repair of total anomalous pulmonary veins and an atrial septal defect. Materials and Methods: Ultrasound, radionuclide angiocardiogram, and magnetic resonance imaging studies were obtained. Results: The radionuclide study was ordered after an unremarkable ultrasound. Unsuspected severely reduced left pulmonary arterial flow associated with high-grade ipsilateral pulmonary venous obstruction led to misinterpretation of the radionuclide study as a large residual shunt. Later replotting of the graphic data using each lung separately corrected the error. Magnetic resonance played a key role in making the correct diagnosis. Conclusions: Significant asymmetric pulmonary flow due to vascular obstruction is an important additional potential pitfall to recognize in interpreting radionuclide angiocardiographic studies.
Distribution of activity in the cerebellar cortex resulting from passive limb movement
Authors: R. E. Poppele, G. Bosco
Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1997)

The notion that cerebellar cortex geometry may play a unique role in its function is explored by Braitenberg et al. in the form of a new theory about the distribution of cortical activity. The theory makes specific predictions which are not verified by an experimental study of hindlimb movement in the cat.
APOE ∈4 Allele and Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Raz Gross
Journal: JAMA (1997)

<h3>To the Editor.</h3> —The preliminary findings presented in the stimulating article by Dr Jordan and colleagues<sup>1</sup>suggest that the apolipoprotein E (<i>APOE</i>)∈4 allele may be associated with the pathophysiology of chronic traumatic brain injury secondary to boxing. A startling 63% of the boxers examined in the study exhibited neurologic abnormalities. Three (10%) of the 30 boxers showed signs of severe impairment. Yet the authors failed to mention even in a brief sentence the public debate over boxing. In recent years, an extensive medical literature has accumulated regarding the health hazards associated with boxing. As the evidence that boxing produces irreversible brain damage in boxers has become more compelling, physicians have begun to consider whether the sport is acceptable in its present form.<sup>2-4</sup> As physicians, we should be striving to protect the health of athletes.<sup>5</sup>The view of a leading and authoritative figure in the field of
New pouches for old?
Authors: N MORTENSEN
Journal: Gut (2001)

See article on page 683 

It is now 25 years since the ileal pouch procedure was introduced for patients with ulcerative colitis and familial adenomatous polyposis, holding out the promise of life without a permanent ileostomy. As time has gone by the procedure has been modified, refined, and the indications widened until the present situation where most teams use an almost standard stapled pouch and pouch anal anastomosis. The technique has been simplified to such an extent that surgeons outside specialist centres are comfortable offering the operation. But problems remain. A tiny cuff of columnar epithelium is left behind1 which can potentially become inflamed or undergo malignant change.2 Also, however perfect a postoperative course, there is still a minority of patients who have poor function, whether unacceptable frequency, episodes of leakage, or of course pouchitis.

And now, along comes a new operation, which Andriesse et al have termed ileo neo-rectal anastomosis (INRA) …
A Population-Based Study of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccination and Autism
Authors: Kreesten Meldgaard Madsen, Anders Hviid, Mogens Vestergaard, Diana Schendel, Jan Wohlfahrt, Poul Thorsen, Jørn Olsen, Mads Melbye
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2002)

It has been suggested that vaccination against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) is a cause of autism.
APPARATUS FOR INFUSION OF SODIUM CHLORID SOLUTION
Authors: Ben N. Wade
Journal: JAMA (1924)

To the Editor:  —The article of Dr. William H. Byford on An Apparatus for the Infusion of Physiologic Sodium Chlorid Solution (The Journal, November 29) describes an apparatus the principles of which are identical with the apparatus I described inThe Journal, Feb. 9, 1918.  Dr. Byford's description of this apparatus and also his description of a similar apparatus for the transfusion of citrated blood, which appeared in Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics in August, 1922, were evidently given without his knowledge of a similar apparatus having already been described by me.
Susceptibility to in vitro tolerance induction of adult B cells from mice with an X-linked B-cell defect.
Authors: E S Metcalf, I Scher, N R Klinman
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1980)

Previous studies from this laboratory have indicated that the susceptibility to in vitro tolerance induction is restricted to B cells early in their development (12,14). In this study, a modification of the in vitro splenic focus technique was used to determine whether 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP)-specific splenic B cells from adult (CBA/N X DBA/2)F1 males are susceptible to in vitro tolerance induction. The results demonstrate that greater than 50% of the DNP-specific B cells in the adult F1 male are tolerizable and therefore immature by this criterion. Moreover, the findings define at least two subpopulation in adult CBA/N mice, one of which is tolerizable. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the lymphoid population in the adult CBA/N mouse is characteristic of a neonatal B-cell population.
Can Lessons from Public Health Disease Surveillance Be Applied to Environmental Public Health Tracking?
Authors: Beate Ritz, Ira Tager, John Balmes
Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives (2004)

Disease surveillance has a century-long tradition in public health, and environmental data have been collected at a national level by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for several decades. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an initiative to develop a national environmental public health tracking (EPHT) network with "linkage" of existing environmental and chronic disease data as a central goal. On the basis of experience with long-established disease surveillance systems, in this article we suggest how a system capable of linking routinely collected disease and exposure data should be developed, but caution that formal linkage of data is not the only approach required for an effective EPHT program. The primary operational goal of EPHT has to be the "treatment" of the environment to prevent and/or reduce exposures and minimize population risk for developing chronic diseases. Chronic, multifactorial diseases do not lend themselves to data-driven evaluations of intervention strategies, time trends, exposure patterns, or identification of at-risk populations based only on routinely collected surveillance data. Thus, EPHT should be synonymous with a dynamic process requiring regular system updates to a) incorporate new technologies to improve population-level exposure and disease assessment, b) allow public dissemination of new data that become available, c) allow the policy community to address new and emerging exposures and disease "threads," and d) evaluate the effectiveness of EPHT over some appropriate time interval. It will be necessary to weigh the benefits of surveillance against its costs, but the major challenge will be to maintain support for this important new system. Key words: environmental health, evaluation, intervention, registries, surveillance.