tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Targeted gene disruption reveals a leptin-independent role for the mouse beta3-adrenoceptor in the regulation of body composition.
Authors: J P Revelli, F Preitner, S Samec, P Muniesa, F Kuehne, O Boss, J D Vassalli, A Dulloo, J Seydoux, J P Giacobino, J Huarte, C Ody
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1997)

Targeted disruption of mouse beta3-adrenoceptor was generated by homologous recombination, and validated by an acute in vivo study showing a complete lack of effect of the beta3-adrenoceptor agonist CL 316,243 on the metabolic rate of homozygous null (-/-) mice. In brown adipose tissue, beta3-adrenoceptor disruption induced a 66% decrease (P < 0.005) in beta1-adrenoceptor mRNA level, whereas leptin mRNA remained unchanged. Chronic energy balance studies in chow-fed mice showed that in -/- mice, body fat accumulation was favored (+41%, P < 0.01), with a slight increase in food intake (+6%, NS). These effects were accentuated by high fat feeding: -/- mice showed increased total body fat (+56%, P < 0.025) and food intake (+12%, P < 0.01), and a decrease in the fat-free dry mass (-10%, P < 0.05), which reflects a reduction in body protein content. Circulating leptin levels were not different in -/- and control mice regardless of diet. The significant shift to the right in the positive correlation between circulating leptin and percentage of body fat in high fat-fed -/- mice suggests that the threshold of body fat content inducing leptin secretion is higher in -/- than in control mice. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that beta3-adrenoceptor disruption creates conditions which predispose to the development of obesity.
GONADOTROPIC AND ESTROGENIC PRINCIPLES IN A MYOMA OF THE UTERUS
Authors: Dean Lewis
Journal: JAMA (1935)

In a paper recently published we described a fibro-adenoma of the breast which, when assayed, yielded a relatively great amount of estrogenic principle. Because of this finding we were prompted to assay a uterine fibroid to determine whether the estrogenic principle, the follicle-stimulating factor and the luteinizing principle might be found in this type of tumor. A hysteromyomectomy was performed on a patient whose history will be given later. The fibroids were removed, care being exercised that no mucous membrane was included in the tumor. The material was forwarded to Dr. J. H. Morrell of the E. R. Squibb and Sons Laboratory for a bio-assay. Dr. Morrell reported that the tissue contained 4½ rat units of the follicle-stimulating and luteinizing factors per gram of desiccated tissue. The extract of the tissue gave both effects. This material was tested by the same technicians who are standardizing the preparation of the
Cilostazol Decreases Total Atrial Conduction Time in Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease
Authors: Elnur Alizade, Müslim Şahin, Zeki Şimşek, Göksel Açar, Mustafa Bulut, Ahmet Güler, Anıl Avcı, Mehmet Emin Kalkan, Selçuk Pala, Mustafa Akçakoyun, Ali Metin Esen
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2013)
CHEST MEASUREMENT AS A GAGE OF BODY WEIGHT
Authors: D. C. PARMENTER
Journal: JAMA (1922)

Weight can be judged from body measurements most accurately by the use of standards that take notice of the thickness of the chest, for instance, the chest girth.<sup>1</sup>Furthermore, it has been shown by modern biometric methods that, in normal men weight is more nearly correlated with chest girth than with height.<sup>2</sup>Then, evidence has been presented that the girth is more reliably measured by taking the arithmetical average of the inspiratory and expiratory girths than by taking the resting girth. To certain further questions regarding the best method of chest measurement, this paper offers answers. Is the weight as closely correlated with the girth at the xiphoid level as with the girth at the nipple level? If so, the former may be preferable, since it is clearly a more nearly bony measurement, and therefore probably a sounder gage in obese or emaciated persons. Besides, there is some
GMC strikes Southall off medical register for serious professional misconduct
Authors: Owen Dyer
Journal: BMJ (2007)

The paediatrician David Southall has been struck off the medical register by the General Medical Council after a hearing found that he inappropriately accused a mother of murdering her 10 year old child.

Dr Southall, 59, was also found to have removed children’s medical records from hospital files and stored them where other care givers could not access them. The GMC’s disciplinary panel ruled that his acts amounted to serious professional misconduct.

It is the second time that the GMC has found Dr Southall guilty of making inappropriate accusations of murder against a parent. He was barred from child protection work for three years in 2004 after he accused Steve Clark of murdering his son, having watched a television …
Book Review Diagnosis and Treatment of Lung Cancer: An Evidence-Based Guide for the Practicing Clinician Edited by Frank C. Detterbeck, Mark A. Socinski, M. Patricia Rivera, and Julian G. Rosenman. 480 pp., illustrated. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders, 2001. $135. 0-7216-9192-7
Authors: Michael C. Perry
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2001)
Leptin Receptor Isoform 219.1: An Example of Protein Evolution by LINE-1-Mediated Human-Specific Retrotransposition of a Coding SVA Element
Authors: A. Damert
Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution (2004)

Phylogenetically new insertions of repetitive sequences may contribute to genome evolution by altering the function of preexisting proteins. One example is the SVA sequence, which forms the C-terminal coding exon of the human leptin receptor isoform 219.1. Here, we report that the SVA insertion into the LEPR locus has occurred after divergence of humans and chimpanzees. The SVA element was inserted into a Hal-1/LINE element present in all monkeys and apes tested. Structural features point toward an integration event that was mediated by the L1 protein machinery acting in trans. Thus, our findings add evidence to the hypothesis that retrotransposition events are a driving force in genomic evolution and that the presence or absence of specific retroelements are one distinguishing feature that separates humans from chimpanzees.
Do TETRA (Airwave) Base Station Signals Have a Short-Term Impact on Health and Well-Being? A Randomized Double-Blind Provocation Study
Authors: Denise Wallace, Stacy Eltiti, Anna Ridgewell, Kelly Garner, Riccardo Russo, Francisco Sepulveda, Stuart Walker, Terence Quinlan, Sandra Dudley, Sithu Maung, Roger Deeble, Elaine Fox
Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives (2010)

"Airwave" is the new communication system currently being rolled out across the United Kingdom for the police and emergency services, based on the Terrestrial Trunked Radio Telecommunications System (TETRA). Some police officers have complained about skin rashes, nausea, headaches, and depression as a consequence of using their Airwave handsets. In addition, a small subgroup in the population self-report being sensitive to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in general.We conducted a randomized double-blind provocation study to establish whether short-term exposure to a TETRA base station signal has an impact on the health and well-being of individuals with self-reported "electrosensitivity" and of participants who served as controls.Fifty-one individuals with self-reported electrosensitivity and 132 age- and sex-matched controls participated in an open provocation test; 48 sensitive and 132 control participants went on to complete double-blind tests in a fully screened semianechoic chamber. Heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure readings provided objective indices of short-term physiological response. Visual analog scales and symptom scales provided subjective indices of well-being.We found no differences on any measure between TETRA and sham (no signal) under double-blind conditions for either controls or electrosensitive participants, and neither group could detect the presence of a TETRA signal at rates greater than chance (50%). When conditions were not double blind, however, the self-reported electrosensitive individuals did report feeling worse and experienced more severe symptoms during TETRA compared with sham.Our findings suggest that the adverse symptoms experienced by electrosensitive individuals are due to the belief of harm from TETRA base stations rather than to the low-level EMF exposure itself.
Correction: The Chilling Effect: How Do Researchers React to Controversy
Authors: Joanna Kempner
Journal: PLoS Medicine (2009)

Correction for:

Kempner J (2008) The chilling effect: How do researchers react to controversy? PLoS Med 5(11): e222. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050222

An intermediate version of the interview guide was incorrectly included in Text S1 and published in the Supporting Information section. An updated version of the interview guide can be found in the corrected Text S1 below.

Supporting Information

Corrected Text S1.

Protocols and Consent Forms

10.1371/journal.pmed.1000014.sd001 (450 KB DOC).
HEMATOPOIETIC ORIGIN OF MACROPHAGES AS STUDIED BY CHROMOSOME MARKERS IN MICE
Authors: Martti Virolainen
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1968)

The origin of macrophages was studied in mouse radiation chimeras by chromosome marker technique. Macrophage cultures were established from peritoneal exudate, from lung washings, and from organ cultures of bone marrow, spleen, lymph node, thymus, and lung. Cultured macrophages were induced to divide by adding conditioned medium from L cell cultures. In chimeras which were lethally irradiated and given injections of bone marrow or spleen cells, dividing macrophages were of donor type, independent of the source of the macrophages. When chimeras were established by injections of a mixture of bone marrow cells and cells from other hematopoietic tissues of two genetically different donors, the ratio of cells with different genotypes was approximately the same in bone marrow cells and in macrophage cultures. Thymus, lymph node, and peritoneal exudate cells were not found to contain precursor cells for macrophages. Precursor cells for macrophages and for bone marrow cells appeared to be equally sensitive to sublethal irradiation. The results indicate that macrophages from different sources can all be derived from hematopoietic tissues, and suggest that only hematopoietic tissues contain precursor cells for macrophages which are capable of in vitro division. The close relationship between the source of cells in bone marrow and in macrophage cultures suggests that, at the maturation level at which the irradiated host is repopulated, the precursor or stem cells for macrophages may be identical with those for myeloid and erythroid series of cells.
Translocations t(11;18)(q21;q21) and t(14;18)(q32;q21) are the main chromosomal abnormalities involving MLT/MALT1 in MALT lymphomas
Authors: E M Murga Penas, K Hinz, K Röser, C Copie-Bergman, I Wlodarska, P Marynen, A Hagemeijer, P Gaulard, T Löning, D K Hossfeld, J Dierlamm
Journal: Leukemia (2003)
Induction of nitric oxide synthase activity in pulmonary arteries from normoxic and chronically hypoxic rats
Authors: C Carville, S Adnot, S Eddahibi, E Teiger, D Rideau, B Raffestin
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (1997)

Chronic hypoxia has recently been shown to upregulate inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene expression in rat lung. In the present study, we questioned whether induction of NO synthesis could alter the reactivity of pulmonary arteries (PA) from chronically hypoxic (CH) rats. Dose-response curves to phenylephrine (PE) 10(-9) to 5 x 10(-6) M) were examined in PA rings as well as response to L-arginine analogues in isolated lungs from CH or normoxic (N) rats after various incubation times. Although maximal contraction to PE did not differ in PA from CH rats compared to N rats at time 0 (361 +/- 53 vs 506 +/- 52 mg, respectively), it was markedly decreased after prolonged incubation (149 +/- 28 vs 386 +/- 47 mg, respectively, at 4 h; p < 0.001). This phenomenon persisted after endothelial-denudation, but was reversed by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) (5 x 10(-4) M) and prevented by actinomycin D (2 x 10(-6) M). In contrast, maximal contraction to PE in aorta from CH rats was similar at time 0 and 4 h. After a short incubation, PA contraction to L-NMMA was greater in CH than in N rats (96 +/- 17 vs 33 +/- 9 mg at 90 min; p < 0.05), was abolished after endothelial denudation, but persisted in CH rats in the presence of calmidazolium (5 x 10(-4) M). At 4 h, contraction to L-NMMA was abolished in endothelium-denuded PA from N rats but only attenuated in those from CH rats. In salt solution perfused lungs, L-NMMA added 30 or 90 min after isolation did not alter baseline pressure in N rats but caused its increase in CH rats. Whereas iNOS messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) was detectable by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in the PA wall of N or CH rats after 4 h of incubation, it was absent in both at the time of isolation. In contrast, there was evidence of iNOS mRNA in lungs from CH rats at the time of isolation but no signal in those from N rats. In conclusion, there is induction of nitric oxide synthase activity in pulmonary arteries from normoxic and chronically hypoxic rats after prolonged incubation, but this effect is more pronounced in pulmonary arteries from chronically hypoxic rats.
Long-term outcome after argon plasma coagulation of small-bowel lesions using double-balloon enteroscopy in patients with mid-gastrointestinal bleeding
Authors: A. May, T. Friesing-Sosnik, H. Manner, J. Pohl, C. Ell
Journal: Endoscopy (2011)

Vascular malformations are the most common sources of bleeding in the small bowel. They can be treated with argon plasma coagulation (APC) during double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE). This study aimed to evaluate the long-term follow-up of the effectiveness of APC for small-bowel bleeding by means of a single-center retrospective study.Between June 2003 and December 2005, APC treatment for small-bowel lesions was carried out during DBE in 63 patients with known or suspected mid-gastrointestinal bleeding. Fifty patients were included in the analysis. Main outcome measurements were comparison of hemoglobin values and blood transfusion requirements before and after APC, and rebleeding rates.Twenty-nine patients (58%) had only oral DBE, whereas 21 patients (42%) underwent combined oral and anal approaches. The most frequent bleeding sources treated with APC were angiodysplasias in 44 patients (88%). Hemoglobin levels increased distinctly and stabilized after APC during a mean long-term follow-up of 55 ± 7 months, with mean levels of 7.6 g/dL before APC and 11.0 g/dL afterwards. Blood transfusion requirements substantially declined, from 30 patients (60%) before APC to 8 (16%) afterwards. However, small-bowel bleeding recurred in 21 patients (42%), particularly in patients with Osler disease (6 of 8 patients, 75%).Bleeding sources in the small bowel can be effectively treated with APC using DBE, and long-term follow-up data show a clear increase in hemoglobin levels and reduced blood transfusion requirements after APC. Further efforts are needed to reduce the rebleeding rate, possibly through more intensive initial treatment.
FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE BEHAVIOR OF STAPHYLOCOCCI WITHIN HUMAN LEUKOCYTES
Authors: David E. Rogers, Marian Ann Melly
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1960)

A specific serum factor was required for rapid phagocytosis of pathogenic staphylococci by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes when the ingestion process was studied in siliconed glass systems and the concentrations of staphylococci were maintained at low levels. In contrast to certain other microbes, the resistance to phagocytosis which characterized pathogenic staphylococci was relative, and phagocytosis was readily accomplished when large populations of staphylococci were present in the test system. A factor promoting phagocytosis was present in eight of eight normal adult sera. In contrast, the sera of twenty-eight of thirty normal rabbits did not promote phagocytosis. Serum obtained from 2 rabbits maintained in the rabbit colony for several months acquired the ability to opsonize pathogenic staphylococci. The phagocytosis-promoting factor was almost completely removed by prior absorption of test sera with the homologous strain. The factor was incompletely removed by absorption with heterologous strains of pathogenic staphylococci and was not significantly reduced by absorption with coagulase-negative staphylococci or unrelated microorganisms. Present evidence suggests that the factor promoting phagocytosis is a thermostable opsonin. While the activity of heated serum could not be restored by the addition of small amounts of fresh serum or complement, the addition of large amounts of complement partially restored opsonic activity. Incubation of staphylococci in fresh serum prior to heat inactivation did not reduce subsequent phagocytosis, further suggesting the heat stability of the phagocytosis-promoting factor. Preliminary studies correlating the presence of antistaphylococcal hemagglutinins and phagocytosis-promoting factor in certain sera suggest that the two factors were not necessarily related. The phagocytosis of staphylococci in fresh human serum was inhibited by the addition of fresh or inactivated rabbit serum. Further studies on the nature of such inhibition are in progress. Once ingestion was accomplished, coagulase-positive staphylococci consistently survived in significant numbers within the cytoplasm of human granulocytes. Coagulase-negative staphylococci appeared to be destroyed within the leukocyte and could not be recultured from the cytoplasm following 3 to 4 hours of intracellular residence.
Evidence is still not informing policy on obesity, conference hears
Authors: M. Limb
Journal: BMJ (2012)

The government is still not making the best use of evidence in efforts to tackle the UK’s grave obesity problem, a conference of experts heard.

Julia Neuberger, who chairs the House of Lords Science and Technology sub-committee, said attempts to change people’s behaviour were not being properly evaluated.

She said there was insufficient commitment to implement research and called for more to be done to address environmental impacts on obesity.

Baroness Neuberger, a cross-bench peer and former chief executive of the King’s Fund, spoke at the Obesity 2012 seminar, held in London on 7 February by Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum.

Last year her committee’s inquiry into behaviour change reported that “nudges” …
Candidate malaria vaccine becomes less effective over time, study shows
Authors: J. Wise
Journal: BMJ (2013)

A candidate vaccine against malaria has been shown to almost halve the number of malaria cases in young children but only to reduce cases by a quarter in infants. The effectiveness of the vaccine was also found to decline over time, the 18 month results from a large phase III trial show.

However, the vaccine’s manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, said that it was encouraged by the results and plans to submit a regulatory application to the European Medicines Agency in 2014. If it succeeds this will be the world’s first malaria vaccine.

The results were presented at the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan-African conference in …
An animal model for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
Authors: Sheila A. Haley, Walter J. Atwood
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2014)

JC virus (JCV) causes progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a demyelinating disease in humans. The disease, once considered fatal, is now managed with immune reconstitution therapy; however, surviving patients remain severely debilitated. Until now, there has been no animal model to study JCV in the brain, and research into treatment has relied on cell culture systems. In this issue of the JCI, Kondo and colleagues developed a mouse model in which human glial cells are engrafted into neonatal mice that are both immunodeficient and deficient for myelin basic protein. When challenged intracerebrally with JCV, these mice exhibit some of the characteristics of PML. The establishment of this chimeric mouse model is a significant advance toward understanding the mechanism of JCV pathogenesis and the identification of drugs to treat or prevent the disease.
OBSERVATIONS ON MEDICAL CONDITIONS IN ROUMANIA
Authors: H. GIDEON WELLS
Journal: JAMA (1918)

Members of the American Red Cross Commission to Roumania  Roumania entered the war, Aug. 27, 1916, and rapidly drove her main forces through the Carpathians into Transylvania, meeting at first but little resistance. A part of her troops were occupied in guarding the Danube against the Bulgarians, it being understood that the Dobrudja would be defended by others. This not being done, the Roumanians crossed the Danube to threaten the Bulgarians. They were obliged to retreat, and also the western forces were driven back to the Carpathians. Here they held for some time, but the German forces brought up against them were far too large and they were forced back to the plains of Wallachia. With this began the exodus. Bucharest was bombarded extensively by aeroplanes, and many left the city some weeks before it finally fell, November 23; but the main flight did not begin until the Germans had
The vulval vestibular mucosa?morphological effects of oral contraceptives and menstrual cycle
Authors: U. Johannesson, B. Blomgren, M. Hilliges, E. Rylander, N. Bohm-Starke
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (2007)

An erythematous and hypersensitive vestibular mucosa has been observed during the use of combined oral contraceptives (COC). Hormonal effects on the vestibular morphology have not been studied.Our aim was to evaluate the morphology of the vulval vestibular mucosa during the influence of COC and during the menstrual cycle.Forty-five healthy women (20 using COC and 25 not using COC) were included. A 6-mm punch biopsy was obtained from the right posterior vestibule on days 7-11 of the menstrual cycle. A corresponding biopsy was taken 2 weeks later in 16 women without COC. The epithelial morphology was estimated by measuring interdermal papilla distance, dermal papilla to surface, from basal layer to surface and width of dermal papillae. A histopathological assessment was made.The vulval vestibular mucosa of women using COC displayed a larger distance between the dermal papillae (P = 0.04) and a larger space from the dermal papillae to the epithelial surface (P = 0.03) compared with controls in the follicular phase. Women without COC displayed a larger interdermal papilla distance in the luteal phase compared with the follicular phase, P = 0.02. Histopathology showed more superficial blood vessels in the COC users (P < 0.01).The vulval vestibular mucosa of women with COC display an altered morphological pattern with shallow and sparse dermal papillae compared with the follicular phase. Similar findings are seen in women without COC during the luteal phase which indicate a gestagenic effect on the mucosa. Associations between the morphological pattern and changes in mucosal mechanical sensitivity require further studies.