tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Beware of an Alleged Repair Man.
Authors: D. W. Evans
Journal: JAMA (1907)

Scranton, Pa., July 1, 1907. <h3>To the Editor:</h3> —Physicians using electric appliances should beware of a man giving his name as "Dr." C. P. Hoffman, claiming connection with Van Houten &amp; Ten Broeck of New York, and proposing to repair appliances. He contracted to clean and rebuild my static machine (June 15, 1907), and to take two days (himself and assistant). They worked spasmodically three hours and packed their tools (while I was absent about 15 minutes) and skipped, leaving my machine one-third torn down and useless, having broken several plates and caused me an unlimited amount of trouble. He is a fraud, certainly no mechanic, and I take this occasion to warn the profession against being swindled. Moreover, I would be pleased to hear of any one he has treated similarly to myself.
Hepatitis B virus pre-S2 mutant upregulates cyclin A expression and induces nodular proliferation of hepatocytes
Authors: Hui‐Ching Wang, Wen‐Tsan Chang, Wen‐Wei Chang, Han‐Chieh Wu, Wenya Huang, Huan‐Yao Lei, Ming‐Derg Lai, Nelson Fausto, Ih‐Jen Su
Journal: Hepatology (2005)

Naturally occurring mutants with a deletion in the pre-S2 region of the large surface protein (ΔS2-LHBs) are prevalent in serum and livers of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection associated with cirrhosis. The ΔS2-LHBs protein is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and may induce ER stress. One interesting observation is the consistently clustered distribution of hepatocytes expressing ΔS2-LHBs. In this study, complementary DNA microarray analysis identified cyclin A and several groups of genes as being significantly upregulated by ΔS2-LHBs in the HuH-7 cell line. This observation was confirmed in liver tissues. The induction of cyclin A expression may occur via the specific transactivator function of ΔS2-LHBs independent of ER stress. In the presence of ΔS2-LHBs, hepatocytes sustained cyclin A expression and cell cycle progression under ER stress and displayed increased BrdU incorporation with multinuclear formation. Furthermore, ΔS2-LHBs could enhance anchorage-independent cell growth in a nontransformed human hepatocyte line and induced nodular proliferation of hepatocytes in transgenic mice. In conclusion, these in vitro and in vivo data support a role for ΔS2-LHBs in the hepatocyte hyperplasia and a likely role in the process of HBV-related tumorigenesis. (HEPATOLOGY 2005.)
Azathioprine-induced shock.
Authors: T Cunningham, D Barraclough, K Muirden
Journal: BMJ (1981)

Non-clostridium difficile pseudomembranous colitis responding to both vancomycin and metronidazoleWe describe a patient with pseudomembranous colitis in whom Clostridiuml difficile could not be detected. Case reportA previously fit 15-year-old Asian girl prcsented with acute abdominal pain.At operation bilateral ovarian cysts were removed and a coincidental uninflamed entcrogenous cyst with its related ileum was resected.Cephazolin sodium (500 mg intravenously every six hours) and metronidazole (500 mg suppositories, eight-hourly) were given to prevent wound sepsis and were continued for five days because of slight intraperitoneal soiling.Recovery was uneventful and she was discharged seven days after operation.Eight days later she was readmitted with severe dehydration and a small- bowel obstruction.Rehydration was started (7 litres intravenous fluid in 20 hours), btut her condition suddenly deteriorated (blood pressure 70!40 mm Hg, pulse 150/minute, temperature 39 C) and her abdomen became acutely tender; rectal examination showed grey gelatinous material.Im- mediate laparotomy confirmed an adhesive small-bowel obstruction with no evidence of strangulation or intra-abdominal sepsis; the colon was collapsed and appeared normal.One dose of gentamicin (80 mg intravenously) was given before operation, followed by cephazolin sodium (500 mg intravenously every six hours) and metronidazole (500 mg intravenously every 12 hours) for two days.The day after treatment was started she had 1600 ml of watery diarrhoea containing membranous material, abdominal tenderness, and a temperatture of 38 C. Sigmoidoscopy showed no abnormality, apart from sparsc mcmbrancs.These symptoms continued for four days despite supportivc non-specific treatment, when vancomycin (250 mg orally, 6- hourly) was started with good effect (figure).Treatment was stopped after four days because of slight deafness but symptoms recurred.Metronidazole (500 mg intravenouslv every eight hours) then induced a complete and permanent remission.Metronidazole IV Vancomycirn Metronidazole 500mg 12-hourly 250mg orally 500mg IV eight-hourly Cephazolin sodium IV six -houry 500mg six-hourly 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-40 I IIDII 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~39 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~C ) 0 ~~~~~~~~~38.
Complete interruption of the aortic arch. 1. Characteristic radiographic findings in 21 patients.
Authors: R B Jaffe
Journal: Circulation (1975)

The radiographs of 21 patients with complete interruption of the aortic arch are reviewed, together with the literature, to emphasize characteristic radiographic features previously not recognized or discussed. In addition to the nonspecific radiologic findings of a left-to-right shunt through the invariably present ventricular septal defect, charateristic and unique features noted on chest radiograph and barium swallow that may suggest the diagnosis prior to catheterization include: a) a midline trachea; b) a hypoplastic ascending aorta with direct vertical ascent toward the neck; c) absence of the aortic "knob;" d) termination of the descending thoracic aortic shadow at the level of the main pulmonary artery; e) a "low arch" on lateral or left anterior oblique projections; and f) absence of the normal aortic impression on the barium-filled esophagus. Rib notching, when present, in association with the above findings indicates a stenotic or closed ductus arteriosus with collateral circulation through intercostal arteries to the descending aorta. The bilateral or unilateral location, right or left side, of the notching is dependent on the site of interruption and origin of the subclavian arteries and may permit differentiation into types and subtypes on chest radiograph.
TIE2-expressing monocytes as a diagnostic marker for hepatocellular carcinoma correlates with angiogenesis
Authors: Tokuhiro Matsubara, Tatsuya Kanto, Shoko Kuroda, Sachiyo Yoshio, Koyo Higashitani, Naruyasu Kakita, Masanori Miyazaki, Mitsuru Sakakibara, Naoki Hiramatsu, Akinori Kasahara, Yoshito Tomimaru, Akira Tomokuni, Hiroaki Nagano, Norio Hayashi, Tetsuo Takehara
Journal: Hepatology (2012)

Abstract Angiogenesis is a critical step in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Myeloid lineage cells, such as macrophages and monocytes, have been reported to regulate angiogenesis in mouse tumor models. TIE2, a receptor of angiopoietins, conveys pro-angiogenic signals and identifies a monocyte/macrophage subset with pro-angiogenic activity. Here, we analyzed the occurrence and kinetics of TIE2-expressing monocytes/macrophages (TEMs) in HCC patients. This study enrolled 168 HCV-infected patients including 89 with HCC. We examined the frequency of TEMs, as defined as CD14+CD16+TIE2+ cells, in the peripheral blood and liver. The localization of TEMs in the liver was determined by immunofluorescence staining. Micro-vessel density in the liver was measured by counting CD34+ vascular structures. We found that the frequency of circulating TEMs was significantly higher in HCC than non-HCC patients, while being higher in the liver than in the blood. In patients who underwent local radio-ablation or resection of HCC, the frequency of TEMs dynamically changed in the blood in parallel with HCC recurrence. Most TEMs were identified in the perivascular areas of tumor tissue. A significant positive correlation was observed between micro-vessel density in HCC and frequency of TEMs in the blood or tumors, suggesting that TEMs are involved in HCC angiogenesis. Receiver operating characteristic analyses revealed the superiority of TEM frequency to AFP, PIVKA-II and ANG-2 serum levels as diagnostic marker for HCC. Conclusion: TEMs increase in patients with HCC and their frequency changes with the therapeutic response or recurrence. We thus suggest that TEM frequency can be used as a diagnostic marker for HCC, potentially reflecting angiogenesis in the liver.
I can fly light aircraft, therefore I can anaesthetise?
Authors: Gordon Pledger
Journal: BMJ (2005)

Rationing in response to NHS deficits: rural patients are likely to be affected most See News, p 1426Editor-News that pressing financial problems have caused NHS trusts in Suffolk to set new "thresholds" to treatments such as joint replacements reinforces concerns raised by a recent BMA survey of medical directors of trusts in which over a third of respondents anticipated reductions of key services in response to funding shortfalls. 1 2 What has hitherto escaped comment is how cuts in services are far more likely to be felt in some parts of the country than others.Deficits in the NHS are invariably presented as a problem of financial mismanagement, but the pattern of deficits shows that the current resource allocation model discriminates against particular communities.According to the recently published accounts for 2004-5, 3 89 out of 303 (30%) English primary care trusts ended the year in deficit.The table shows how 301 of these trusts are distributed accorded to fifths of deprivation and rurality.Primary care trusts serving populations that are in both the most rural and the least deprived fifth were most likely to be in financial difficulties.Seventeen of the 25 (68%) in this category were in deficit.These trusts received the lowest funding allocation per head (£995).By contrast, only 3% (one of 34) of the primary care trusts serving populations that are in both the most urban and the most deprived fifths failed to break even in 2004-5.These trusts received the highest funding allocations per head (£1405).This shows that poor financial management can at best only partly explain why some trusts are in deficit.The pattern of deficits implies that NHS funding provides insufficient resources for rural areas, for comparatively affluent areas, and, most particularly, for areas that are both rural and affluent.The risk is that such measures will result in NHS services being subject to a new postcode lottery, in which rural residents are more likely to lose out.
COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF ENDOVASCULAR OR SURGICAL REVASCULARIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH CRITICAL LIMB ISCHEMIA: A META–ANALYSIS
Authors: William Schuyler Jones, Rowena J. Dolor, Victor Hasselblad, Sreekanth Vemulapalli, Kristine Schmit, Sumeet Subherwal, Brooke Heidenfelder, Elizabeth Wing, Manesh Patel
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2013)
A novel study design to investigate the early‐life origins of asthma in children (SAGE study)
Authors: A. L. Kozyrskyj, K. T. HayGlass, A. J. Sandford, P. D. Paré, M. Chan‐Yeung, A. B. Becker
Journal: Allergy (2009)

This is a description of the Study of Asthma, Genes and the Environment (SAGE), a novel birth cohort created from provincial healthcare administrative records. It is a general population-based cohort, composed of children at high and low risk for asthma, living in urban and rural environments in Manitoba, Canada. The SAGE study captures the complete longitudinal healthcare records of children born in 1995 and contains detailed information on early-life exposures, such as antibiotic utilization and immunization, in relationship to the development of asthma. Nested within the birth cohort is a case-control study, which was created to collect information on home environmental exposures from detailed surveys and home dust sampling, to confirm asthma status in children and use this data to validate healthcare database measures of asthma, to determine differences in immune system responsiveness to innate and adaptive immune stimuli in asthma, to genotype children for genes likely associated with the development of asthma and to study the epigenetic regulation of pre-established protective vs allergic immune responses. The SAGE study is a multidisciplinary collaboration of researchers from pediatric allergy, population health, immunology, and genetic and environmental epidemiology. As such, it serves as a fertile, interdisciplinary training ground for graduate students, and postdoctoral and clinician fellows.
Several horsemen of the apocalypse
Authors: T. Delamothe
Journal: BMJ (2008)

The eradication of smallpox was meant to be the harbinger of future triumphs over infectious diseases. But it’s looking more and more like a one-off. Polio was meant to have followed smallpox by 2000, but this deadline has been shifted forward several times. 

Similarly, tuberculosis refuses to go away. As a recent Lancet review reminds us, a third of the world is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis , and two million people die from tuberculosis every year, even though the BCG vaccine has been available for more than 75 years. For reasons unknown, this vaccine doesn’t seem to “work” in much of the world. The …
TV: Joined: The World of Siamese Twins
Authors: A. Moscrop
Journal: BMJ (2001)

Channel 4, 3 and 10 October at 9pm

Conjoined twins are hot media property. Following their birth in August last year, twins Jodie and Mary became major celebrities. The Guardian reported in June that the girls' parents were due to earn an estimated half a million pounds from the sale of their story. In a two part series, Channel 4 offered its viewers a more affordable, but less enthralling, alternative.

Joined: The World of Siamese Twins followed Allison and David Lawler through the pregnancy and birth of their conjoined twin daughters. Radio Times billed this as “a moving look at the medical and moral challenges presented by the birth of conjoined twins.” The Sunday Times “critic's choice” described how the Lawlers “could soon face a daunting dilemma: whether or not to agree to the surgical separation of the twin girls.”

However, allusions to the sort of issues that arose in the case of Jodie and Mary were wholly misplaced. Though Allison's pregnancy ran …
Abstract 2396: Widespread occurrence of extrachromosomal microDNAs in normal and cancerous vertebrate tissues and cell lines
Authors: Laura Dillon, Pankaj Kumar, Yoshiyuki Shibata, Anindya Dutta
Journal: Cancer Research (2014)

Abstract MicroDNAs are small (&amp;lt;400 base pairs in length) single- or double-stranded extrachromosomal circular DNAs that are derived by excision from tens of thousands of sites within the mammalian genome. Thus far, microDNAs have been detected in several mouse tissues, mouse and human cell lines, and both normal and malignant cells. Here, we examine the properties of microDNAs across ten tissue types (brain, heart, lung, liver, thymus, spleen, kidney, skeletal muscle, testis and sperm) from normal adult mice, chicken cell lines and human cancer cell lines. We observed microDNAs in all tissue types, originating from thousands of unique genomic loci. As was previously described, these microDNAs are small circles (100 to 400 base pairs), possess a high GC content and are enriched in genic regions. Hot spots of microDNA generation were noted across all tissue types and correlate with high gene density and GC content. Previously, we suggested that the release of microDNAs leaves behind microdeletions within the source genomic loci, resulting in somatically mosaic cells. Our results confirm this possibility by demonstrating that microDNAs are universally present across cell and tissue types in vertebrates. Interestingly, we found altered distribution patterns in the human cancer cell lines. In addition, short (2-15 bp) direct repeats that usually flank the genomic loci yielding microDNAs lead us to hypothesize that DNA damage repair pathways may be involved in microDNA generation. A survey of microDNAs in cell lines defective in proteins required for many DNA repair pathways revealed that the homologous recombination and non-homologous end joining pathways are dispensable for microDNA formation. However, deletion of two proteins, MSH3 and AID, resulted in a significant increase of microDNA originating from CpG islands. These observations combined with those in the cancer cell lines suggest that perturbation of normal cellular processes can alter the generation of microDNA. Citation Format: Laura Dillon, Pankaj Kumar, Yoshiyuki Shibata, Anindya Dutta. Widespread occurrence of extrachromosomal microDNAs in normal and cancerous vertebrate tissues and cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2396. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2396
Patient related factors are also important in treating gout
Authors: P. Chandratre, E. Roddy, C. Mallen
Journal: BMJ (2012)

The treatment of gout remains suboptimal—only 30% of primary care patients take urate lowering drugs.1 Lipworth and colleagues note that important reasons for this underuse include drug toxicity and poor patient adherence owing to the introduction of these drugs provoking gout attacks.2

However, the views and beliefs of patients about gout and urate lowering drugs also …
Efficacy and safety of sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: Subanalyses of a phase III trial
Authors: Jordi Bruix, Jean-Luc Raoul, Morris Sherman, Vincenzo Mazzaferro, Luigi Bolondi, Antonio Craxi, Peter R. Galle, Armando Santoro, Michel Beaugrand, Angelo Sangiovanni, Camillo Porta, Guido Gerken, Jorge A. Marrero, Andrea Nadel, Michael Shan, Marius Moscovici, Dimitris Voliotis, Josep M. Llovet
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2012)

The Sorafenib Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Assessment Randomized Protocol (SHARP) trial demonstrated that sorafenib improves overall survival and is safe for patients with advanced HCC. In this trial, 602 patients with well-preserved liver function (>95% Child-Pugh A) were randomized to receive either sorafenib 400mg or matching placebo orally b.i.d. on a continuous basis. Because HCC is a heterogeneous disease, baseline patient characteristics may affect individual responses to treatment. In a comprehensive series of exploratory subgroup analyses, data from the SHARP trial were analyzed to discern if baseline patient characteristics influenced the efficacy and safety of sorafenib.Five subgroup domains were assessed: disease etiology, tumor burden, performance status, tumor stage, and prior therapy. Overall survival (OS), time to progression (TTP), disease control rate (DCR), and safety were assessed for subgroups within each domain.Subgroup analyses showed that sorafenib consistently improved median OS compared with placebo, as reflected by hazard ratios (HRs) of 0.50-0.85, similar to the complete cohort (HR=0.69). Sorafenib also consistently improved median TTP (HR, 0.40-0.64), except in HBV-positive patients (HR, 1.03), and DCR. Results are limited by small patient numbers in some subsets. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events included diarrhea, hand-foot skin reaction, and fatigue; the incidence of which did not differ appreciably among subgroups.These exploratory subgroup analyses showed that sorafenib consistently improved median OS and DCR compared with placebo in patients with advanced HCC, irrespective of disease etiology, baseline tumor burden, performance status, tumor stage, and prior therapy.
Christopher Tibbits Brown
Authors: R. Bernstein
Journal: BMJ (2013)

Christopher Tibbits Brown interrupted his medical studies to join the Royal Air Force as a pilot in 1940 (after being rejected by the navy for poor eyesight) and became a squadron leader. He flew in photographic reconnaissance in Spitfires by day and Blenheims by night, accidentally colliding with an enemy JU88, which crashed. He …
Transient increase in circulating gamma/delta T cells during Plasmodium vivax malarial paroxysms.
Authors: M K Perera, R Carter, R Goonewardene, K N Mendis
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1994)

The percentage of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) bearing the CD3+ phenotype and the alpha/beta and gamma/delta T cell receptors (TCR) in PBMC were examined in Plasmodium vivax malaria patients and convalescents. The cells were labeled with monoclonal antibodies, stained with either fluorescence or phycoerythrin, and examined by ultraviolet (UV) microscopy. A highly significant increase in both the proportion and the absolute numbers of gamma/delta T cells (p &amp;lt; 0.005 and &amp;lt; 0.001, respectively, Student's t test) was observed in nonimmune P. vivax patients during clinical paroxysms compared to nonmalarial controls. These T cells, which normally constitute not more than 3-5% of PBMC, constituted &amp;lt; or = to 30% of PBMC during paroxysms in these nonimmune patients in whom the clinical symptoms were severe. A less significant increase of gamma/delta T cells were also observed in these nonimmune patients during infection, between paroxysms and during convalescence. In contrast, in an age-matched group of semi-immune patients resident in a malaria-endemic region of the country, in whom the clinical disease was comparatively mild, there was no increase in gamma/delta T cells either during infection, even during paroxysms, or convalescence. The severity of disease symptoms in patients as measured by a clinical score correlated positively with the proportion of gamma/delta T cells in peripheral blood (r = 0.53, p &amp;lt; 0.01), the most significant correlation being found between the prevalence and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms, nausea, anorexia, and vomiting, and the proportion of gamma/delta T cells (r = 0.49, p = 0.002). These findings suggest that gamma/delta T cells have a role to play in the pathogenesis of malaria, possibly in the general constitutional disturbances and particularly in gastrointestinal pathology in malaria.
Chemoresistant or aggressive lymphoma predicts for a poor outcome following reduced-intensity allogeneic progenitor cell transplantation: an analysis from the Lymphoma Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation
Authors: Stephen P. Robinson, Anthony H. Goldstone, Stephen Mackinnon, Angelo Carella, Nigel Russell, Carmen Ruiz de Elvira, Goli Taghipour, Norbert Schmitz
Journal: Blood (2002)