tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Frequency of natural rubber latex allergy in adults is increased after multiple operative procedures
Authors: F. Ruëff, A. Kienitz, P. Schöpf, W. Hugo Hartl, H. ‐ J. Andreβ, D. Zaak, M. Menninger, B. Przybilla
Journal: Allergy (2001)

Background: It has been shown that immediate‐type allergy to natural rubber latex (NRL) affects predominantly health‐care workers and infants with malformations requiring repeated medical procedures. Adult patients with multiple invasive procedures are not thought to be at an increased risk of NRL allergy. Methods: A total of 325 consecutive adult inpatients (54.4±15.6 years; 219 men, 106 women) awaiting surgical or urologic procedures were assessed by questionnaire‐based history (atopic diseases, number of previous standard operative or endoscopic procedures, intolerance to rubber products, and adverse reactions during medical care), by skin prick tests with different NRL test solutions, by measurement of NRL‐specific IgE in the serum, and, if sensitization to NRL was found, by cutaneous challenge tests with NRL‐containing material. Subjects were classified as sensitized to NRL if skin prick test reactions to NRL were positive or if NRL‐specific IgE antibodies were found. NRL allergy was defined as NRL sensitization and immediate‐type symptoms to NRL. Results: Thirty‐one of 325 (9.5%) subjects were found to be sensitized to NRL, 14/285 (4.9%) by skin prick testing and 23/323 (7.1%) by NRL‐specific IgE antibodies in the serum. Four individuals (1.2%) were diagnosed as having clinically manifest NRL allergy, and another 27 (8.3%) were sensitized to NRL without symptoms to date. The frequency of previous invasive procedures was zero in eight patients, up to 10 in 245, 11–20 in 52, 21–30 in seven, and over 30 (up to 83) in 13 patients. No association was found between the number of invasive procedures and NRL sensitization without clinical symptoms. However, 3/4 patients with NRL allergy had undergone more than 30 interventions, and 1/4 had had 11 operations. Frequent invasive procedures (more than 10) were significantly associated with NRL allergy ( P &lt;0.001). Allergy or sensitization to NRL was associated with atopy (21/31 vs 87/294) ( P &lt;0.001). Conclusions: A remarkable percentage of unselected adult patients undergoing surgical procedures have allergy or sensitization to NRL. Repeated invasive treatment appears to be a risk factor for NRL allergy.
Resentment and Suspicion Among American Men
Authors: MONICA D. BLUMENTHAL
Journal: American Journal of Psychiatry (1973)

A representative national sample of men between the ages of 16 and 64 were interviewed with respect to their levels of resentment and suspicion and their attitudes toward violence. Resentment and suspicion appeared to be related both to race and to social class. However, they were not related to attitudes toward the use of violence for gaining social control, suggesting that such attitudes are normative rather than expressive in nature.
Pacemaker Arrhythmias and Electrocardiographic Recognition of Pacemakers
Authors: AGUSTIN CASTELLANOS, LOUIS LEMBERG
Journal: Circulation (1973)

Adequate interpretation of pacemaker arrhythmias requires a thorough knowledge of the clinical situation in which they appear, the type of pacemaker, and modality of stimulation used, as well as knowledge of the corresponding electronic specifications. At times, this information is essential to reach the correct diagnosis. The significant features of the various (atrial, ventricular, or sequential atrioventricular) pacemakers were stressed placing special emphasis on the most used pacing system, namely, the transvenous QRS-inhibited (demand) ventricular pacemaker. Arrhythmias specific to the latter which could be seen during its normal or abnormal function included magnet-induced vagaries and significant shortening or lengthening of automatic (spike-to-spike) and escape (natural-to-QRS) intervals. Obtaining the maximal efficiency from artificial pacemakers requires the cooperation of patient, manufacturer, cardiovascular surgeon, and clinical cardiologist.
Effects of interventions in pregnancy on maternal weight and obstetric outcomes: meta-analysis of randomised evidence
Authors: S. Thangaratinam, E. Rogozinska, K. Jolly, S. Glinkowski, T. Roseboom, J. W. Tomlinson, R. Kunz, B. W. Mol, A. Coomarasamy, K. S. Khan
Journal: BMJ (2012)

<b>Objective</b> To evaluate the effects of dietary and lifestyle interventions in pregnancy on maternal and fetal weight and to quantify the effects of these interventions on obstetric outcomes. <b>Design</b> Systematic review and meta-analysis. <b>Data sources</b> Major databases from inception to January 2012 without language restrictions. <b>Study selection</b> Randomised controlled trials that evaluated any dietary or lifestyle interventions with potential to influence maternal weight during pregnancy and outcomes of pregnancy. <b>Data synthesis</b> Results summarised as relative risks for dichotomous data and mean differences for continuous data. <b>Results</b> We identified 44 relevant randomised controlled trials (7278 women) evaluating three categories of interventions: diet, physical activity, and a mixed approach. Overall, there was 1.42 kg reduction (95% confidence interval 0.95 to 1.89 kg) in gestational weight gain with any intervention compared with control. With all interventions combined, there were no significant differences in birth weight (mean difference −50 g, −100 to 0 g) and the incidence of large for gestational age (relative risk 0.85, 0.66 to 1.09) or small for gestational age (1.00, 0.78 to 1.28) babies between the groups, though by itself physical activity was associated with reduced birth weight (mean difference −60 g, −120 to −10 g). Interventions were associated with a reduced the risk of pre-eclampsia (0.74, 0.60 to 0.92) and shoulder dystocia (0.39, 0.22 to 0.70), with no significant effect on other critically important outcomes. Dietary intervention resulted in the largest reduction in maternal gestational weight gain (3.84 kg, 2.45 to 5.22 kg), with improved pregnancy outcomes compared with other interventions. The overall evidence rating was low to very low for important outcomes such as pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and preterm delivery. <b>Conclusions</b> Dietary and lifestyle interventions in pregnancy can reduce maternal gestational weight gain and improve outcomes for both mother and baby. Among the interventions, those based on diet are the most effective and are associated with reductions in maternal gestational weight gain and improved obstetric outcomes.
Immunology new tool, clinical topic in aging
Authors: Donald E. Riesenberg
Journal: JAMA (1986)

Immunology research from Baltimore's Gerontology Research Center concerns such areas as vaccination in the elderly, the relation between aging and immunology, and even the possibility of "predicting" nonaccidental death using lymphocyte studies. Since the 1930s, scientists have suspected that the involution of the thymus gland—and whatever immunologic perturbations accompany such change—might relate to the cause of aging itself; such involution occurs predictably in aging animals and man. "Immunology has become a tool, focus, and clinical topic in aging," says William H. Adler, MD, chief of the clinical immunology section of the Gerontology Research Center. Adler, who views the immune system as "a way we deal with our environment," notes that important immunologic changes do occur with aging. Since coming to the Baltimore center in 1973, he and co-workers have uncovered a number of age-related alterations in the immune system. The most consistent change occurs in lymphocytes. About 13% of the
Small Cell Carcinoma of the Esophagus in a Cirrhotic Patient
Authors: Ph. Deplaix, O. Dumas, C. Barthélémy, J.-P. Etaix, P.-J. Plathey, C. Jouffre, S. Boucheron, J.-C. Audigier
Journal: Endoscopy (1993)

See also: Hepatocellular Carcinoma Presenting with Bleeding Due to Duodenal Perforation by the TumorEndoscopy 1987; 19(01): 37-38DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1018225
Dihydroceramide desaturase and dihydrosphingolipids: Debutant players in the sphingolipid arena
Authors: Gemma Fabrias, Jose Muñoz-Olaya, Francesca Cingolani, Paola Signorelli, Josefina Casas, Vincenzo Gagliostro, Riccardo Ghidoni
Journal: Progress in Lipid Research (2011)
Christian supporters of science oppose fundamentalists
Authors: Missouri Bob Roehr
Journal: BMJ (2006)

Scientists, educators, business leaders, and clerics in the United States have joined together to counter “anti-evolution” religious advocates of creationism and “intelligent design” in the public sphere. The Alliance for Science was unveiled on 19 February at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“You don't have to choose between science and religion” as some fundamentalist readers of the Bible have argued, said Michael Zimmerman, dean of the College of Letters and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and organiser of …
AMA's Science Reporters Conference
Authors: Andrew A. Skolnick
Journal: JAMA (1995)

MEMBERS of the news media who gathered for the American Medical Association's (AMA) 14th Annual Science Reporters Conference in Miami, Fla, which was held in cooperation with Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, and the University of Miami School of Medicine, were able to catch up on the latest developments in a wide range of medical topics—from advanced medical directives to xenotransplantation. At the conference, representatives of the AMA, American Bar Association (ABA), and American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) released a jointly produced patient guide that they hope will help educate the public about the need for advanced health directives and make it easier for patients and their families to plan ahead for important medical decisions. The groups are urging the US Department of Health and Human Services to distribute the guide,<i>Shape Your Health Care Future With Health Care Advance Directives</i>, to all Social Security recipients. The booklet
New targets for aspirin
Authors: Hema Bashyam
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (2008)

On page 1077, Machado et al. reveal a new way in which aspirin reins in inflammation—it triggers the destruction of proinflammatory signaling proteins.






Figure 1

The destruction (top) of TRAF2 (green) via SOCS2 (red) is blocked in mice treated with proteasome inhibitors (bottom).




Aspirin's power was initially attributed to its inhibition of proinflammatory lipids called prostaglandins—a discovery that won the Nobel Prize in 1982. Later, aspirin was also shown to beef up levels of lipids called lipoxins, which help resolve inflammation by blocking NF-κB activation and the recruitment of inflammatory cells.

Lipoxins were recently found to activate SOCS2, a protein that blocks signals from growth hormone receptors by targeting downstream signaling proteins to the proteasome. To determine whether SOCS2 also blocks inflammatory signals, Machado et al. fished for its binding partners among molecules that transmit innate immune receptor signals.

They now find that SOCS2 binds TRAF2 and TRAF6—adaptor proteins that are required for cytokine production by activated dendritic cells (DCs)—and seems to target them to the proteasome. Treating mice with aspirin decreased DC levels of cytokines and TRAF2 and TRAF6—effects that were mitigated by proteasome inhibitors. The same effects were not found in DCs from SOCS2-deficient mice.

Mice treated with a proteasome inhibitor after parasitic infection beat the bug but died from inflammatory damage. The deadly inflammation probably resulted from prolonged signaling via TRAF2 and TRAF6, as inflammation in SOCS2-deficient mice was severe even without the inhibitor. Infected mice that were left untreated resolved the inflammation and survived the infection.

Because proteasome inhibitors also block the degradation of IκB—the molecule that holds NF-κB in check—they are being developed as alternatives to aspirin, which can cause stomach problems and other side effects. But the current findings suggest that this strategy might be counterproductive.
Experimental ulcerative disease of the colon in animals.
Authors: J Watt, R Marcus
Journal: Gut (1973)

Progress report Experimental ulcerative disease of the colon in animalsUntil recent years, there have been few successful attempts to produce experimental ulcerative disease of the colon.Several methods, including the injection of cholinergic and adrenergic drugs, the prolonged administration of histamine and histamine-releasers, the local injection of collagenase, the oral or intraarterial administration of lysozyme, as well as immunological procedures, have been used to produce experimental 'colitis' in various animal species, but the significance of these reactions in relation to the clinical condition in man remains in doubt'.Of considerable interest from the immunological aspect is the work of Zweibaum, Morard, and Halpern2.They immunized rats with living E. coli injected subcutaneously in Freund's adjuvant and produced a form of haemorrhagic ulcerative 'colitis', which they considered as being very similar to human ulcerative colitis in its symptoms, course, and histological characteristics.Four years ago, it was reported that extracts of various red seaweeds fed to animals in their drinking water caused ulcerative disease of the colon in several species, including guinea-pigs, rabbits, rats, amd mice3.The extracts contained carrageenan, a sulphated polysaccharide of high molecular weight (100000-800000)4.Mild acid hydrolysis of the native carrageenan produced a degraded product with a molecular weight of less than 30000 but retaining its original sulphate content and polyanionic properties.The degraded product was found to be more ulcerogenic than the native or undegraded carrageenan.These observations have subsequently been confirmed in guinea-pigs and rabbits56'.The most recent work indicates that other high molecular weight sulphated products such as sulphated amylopectin and sodium lignosulphonate cause similar lesions in the colon of animals7.A new field has thus been opened up in the experimental investigation of ulcerative disease of the colon8. Carrageenan-induced UlcerationCarrageenan-induced ulceration of the colon in small laboratory animals was first recognized in guinea-pigs which had been fed 1 % aqueous extracts of the dried red seaweed, Eucheuma spinosum, over a period of five months.Although all of the animals had gained weight satisfactorily, when the animals were sacrificed at the end of the experiment, careful examination of the colon using transmitted light revealed the presence of multiple ulcerations9.The same extract was found to cause ulceration of the colon in rabbits when fed in the drinking water over a period of three months.In further experiments using carrageenan derived from the same seaweed but degraded by mild acid hydrolysis ulcerative lesions of a similar kind were produced not only in guinea-pigs and rabbits but also in mice and rats.
Association of matrilin-3 polymorphisms with spinal disc degeneration and osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal joint of the hand
Authors: J L Min
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2006)

Seven polymorphisms in the matrilin-3(MATN3) gene were previously tested for genetic association with hand osteoarthritis in an Icelandic cohort. One of the variants, involving a conserved amino acid substitution (T303M; SNP5), was related to idiopathic hand osteoarthritis.To investigate SNP5 and two other promising polymorphisms (rs2242190; SNP3, rs8176070; SNP6) for association with radiographic and symptomatic hand osteoarthritis phenotypes, as well as other heritable phenotypes.Polymorphisms were examined in two distinct cohorts of subjects: a population based sample from the Rotterdam study (n = 809), and affected siblings from the genetics, osteoarthrosis and progression (GARP) study (n = 382).The originally described association of T303M with the hand osteoarthritis phenotype was not observed in the populations studied. In the Rotterdam sample, however, carrying the T allele of T303M conferred an odds ratio of 2.9 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.2 to 7.3; p = 0.02) for spinal disc degeneration. In the GARP study, carriers of the A allele of SNP6 had an odds ratio of 2.0 (95% CI, 1.3 to 3.1, p = 0.004) for osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal joint (CMC1) as compared with the Rotterdam sample as a control group. Subsequent haplotype analysis showed that a common haplotype, containing the risk allele of SNP6, conferred a significant risk in sibling pairs with CMC1 osteoarthritis (odds ratio = 1.7 (95% CI, 1.1 to 2.7, p = 0.02)).These associations suggest that the MATN3 region also determines susceptibility to spinal disc degeneration and CMC1 osteoarthritis.
Pentoxifylline inhibits the proliferation of human fibroblasts derived from keloid, scleroderma and morphoea skin and their production of collagen, glycosaminoglycans and fibronectin
Authors: B. BERMAN, M.R. DUNCAN
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1990)

Pentoxifylline, an analogue of the methylxanthine theobromine, inhibits the proliferation and certain biosynthetic activities of fibroblasts derived from normal human skin. Fibroblasts from the skin of patients with keloids, scleroderma and morphoea were cultured in vitro in the presence and absence of pentoxifylline (100–1000 μg/ml) to determine whether it inhibits fibroblast proliferation and the production of collagen, glycosaminoglycans (GAG), fibronectin and collagenase activity. The exposure of subconfluent fibroblast cultures to pentoxifylline resulted in non-lethal, dose-dependent reductions in serum-driven fibroblast proliferation, with 1000 μg/ml pentoxifylline virtually negating the proliferative effect of serum on the cells. The fibroblasts assayed as confluent cultures produced reduced amounts, by up to 95%, of collagen and GAG, dependent on the concentration of pentoxifylline, both in the presence and absence of serum. Pentoxifylline similarly inhibited the fibronectin production by keloid and scleroderma fibroblasts, but had no effect on collagenase activity.
QUADRICEPS TEST FOR THE MYASTHENIA OF THYROIDISM
Authors: Frank H. Lahey
Journal: JAMA (1926)

The test described here has been of considerable value in diagnosis of hyperthyroidism based on the well established weakness of the quadriceps femoris in this disease. The patient sits well forward on the edge of a straight chair and holds the leg out at right angles to the body. In very few cases of thyroidism of any marked degree of intensity will it be possible for one to maintain the leg in this position more than twenty-five or thirty seconds, while in the majority of cases not affected by thyroidism the leg can, with any real effort, be held in this position for approximately one minute. We have applied this test to between one and two hundred patients, some of whom were suffering from thyroid disease and others not. Statistical data will be published later. 605 Commonwealth Avenue.
De subitaneis mortibus. XXVII. Histological abnormalities in the sinus node, atrioventricular node and His bundle associated with coarctation of the aorta.
Authors: T N James, D A Jackson
Journal: Circulation (1977)

A twenty-year-old carpenter died suddenly and unexpectedly nine years after surgical treatment of coarctation of the aorta. Both before and after surgery he had paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, T wave inversions in the ECG and persisting cardiac hypertrophy. At postmortem examination there was focal fibromuscular dysplasia narrowing the sinus node artery, but other small coronary arteries were normal and there was no focal fibrosis of the ventricular myocardium. Within the sinus node there were several small glomera surrounding branches of the sinus node artery. Pericardial fibrosis was present over much of the heart, including margins of the sinus node. The central fibrous body was thickened, particularly on the left, and the His bundle was smaller than normal in cross section. The His bundle appeared displaced toward the right. The artioventricular (A-V) node was split into an upper and lower half tenuously connected through the central fibrous body which divided it. In its lower half the A-V node was directly continuous with ordinary myocardial cells of the interventricular septum. Possible developmental relationships between these unusual anatomical findings in the conduction system and coarctation of the aorta are discussed. How these findings might relate to the known electrophysiological disturbances and some causes for his sudden death are considered.
The Need for Not Breaking the Sound Barrier
Authors: Alan Blum
Journal: JAMA (1980)

ACROSS the country, people are raising the roof over noise. In New York, residents living under the flight paths of the supersonic Concorde jet made nearly 4,000 complaints to the Federal Aviation Administration in just the first year of landings. Fierce debates are raging over whether jet noise in areas surrounding airports can lead to birth defects<sup>1,2</sup>and excess mortality.<sup>3,4</sup> Nor does it take a sonic boom to rattle a good many persons. A recent issue of<i>MAD Magazine</i>featured coming attractions of the scariest possible horror movies one could imagine, among them, "The Invasion of the Transistor People." Theories behind the wave of rock-music-blasting radios on public transportation, along the sidewalk, and at the beach range from defiance of authority to just plain deafness. Of course, one man's rock may be another's roil. Not long ago, a Kew Gardens, NY, man, whose complaints of stereo noise from
High stored iron and the risk of ischemic heart disease.
Authors: A R Walker, B F Walker, D Labadarios
Journal: Circulation (1993)

assume that all patients classified as experiencing emesis in the study actually aspirated.Therefore, the use of the term "aspira- tion" in the tables was imprecise.We apologize for the confusion.It is not unusual during either standard CPR or IAC-CPR for patients to "regurgitate" stomach contents.Teleologically, one would expect a higher incidence of regurgitation in patients receiving abdominal compressions.However, the currently pub- lished experience with IAC-CPR does not bear this out.In our original study of IAC-CPR2 in 103 hospitalized patients, we found no difference in the rates of emesis between those patients receiving standard CPR and those patients receiving IAC-CPR.In an earlier out-of-hospital trial of IAC-CPR by Mateer et al,3 there was no significant difference in the occurrence of emesis either before or after endotracheal intubation in 246 patients random- ized to receive either standard CPR or IAC-CPR.In fact, data exist that suggest that IAC-CPR may actually lower the incidence of emesis during CPR.Babbs and coworkers4 demonstrated a significant reduction in gastric insufflation with the use of IAG-CPR in a canine model of cardiac arrest.They propose that because abdominal pressure is maintained during ventilation, IAC-CPR may actually decrease the chance of regurgitation by preventing gastric insufflation.Data from published randomized studies report on several hundred patients who have received interposed abdominal com- pression during CPR.In addition, hundreds of animals have been subjected to the technique in the laboratory.To date, there has been only one published case report of a complication from the use of IAC-CPR.5Although IAC-CPR appears to be safe and may lower the rate of gastric content regurgitation, the authors would not recommend its use in a patient with an unprotected airway.However, studies with IAC-CPR in patients who are not intubated are warranted at this time.