tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Impact of micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy on birth weight, duration of gestation, and perinatal mortality in rural western China: double blind cluster randomised controlled trial
Authors: L. Zeng, Y. Cheng, S. Dang, H. Yan, M. J Dibley, S. Chang, L. Kong
Journal: BMJ (2008)

To examine the impact of antenatal supplementation with multiple micronutrients or iron and folic acid compared with folic acid alone on birth weight, duration of gestation, and maternal haemoglobin concentration in the third trimester.Cluster randomised double blind controlled trial.Two rural counties in north west China.5828 pregnant women and 4697 live births.Villages were randomised for all pregnant women to take either daily folic acid (control), iron with folic acid, or multiple micronutrients with a recommended allowance of 15 vitamins and minerals.Birth weight, length, and head circumference measured within 72 hours after delivery. Neonatal survival assessed at the six week follow-up visit.Birth weight was 42 g (95% confidence interval 7 to 78 g) higher in the multiple micronutrients group compared with the folic acid group. Duration of gestation was 0.23 weeks (0.10 to 0.36 weeks) longer in the iron-folic acid group and 0.19 weeks (0.06 to 0.32 weeks) longer in the multiple micronutrients group. Iron-folic acid was associated with a significantly reduced risk of early preterm delivery (<34 weeks) (relative risk 0.50, 0.27 to 0.94, P=0.031). There was a significant increase in haemoglobin concentration in both iron-folic acid (5.0 g/l, 2.0 to 8.0 g/l, P=0.001) and multiple micronutrients (6.9 g/l, 4.1 to 9.6 g/l, P<0.001) groups compared with folic acid alone. In post hoc analyses there were no significant differences for perinatal mortality, but iron-folic acid was associated with a significantly reduced early neonatal mortality by 54% (relative risk 0.46, 0.21 to 0.98).In rural populations in China antenatal supplementation with iron-folic acid was associated with longer gestation and a reduction in early neonatal mortality compared with folic acid. Multiple micronutrients were associated with modestly increased birth weight compared with folic acid, but, despite this weight gain, there was no significant reduction in early neonatal mortality. Pregnant women in developing countries need sufficient doses of iron in nutrient supplements to maximise reductions in neonatal mortality. Trial registration ISRCTN08850194.
Myeloproliferative Neoplasms: Molecular Pathophysiology, Essential Clinical Understanding, and Treatment Strategies
Authors: Ayalew Tefferi, William Vainchenker
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2011)

To update oncologists on pathogenesis, contemporary diagnosis, risk stratification, and treatment strategies in BCR-ABL1–negative myeloproliferative neoplasms, including polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF). Recent literature was reviewed and interpreted in the context of the authors' own experience and expertise. Pathogenetic mechanisms in PV, ET, and PMF include stem cell–derived clonal myeloproliferation and secondary stromal changes in the bone marrow and spleen. Most patients carry an activating JAK2 or MPL mutation and a smaller subset also harbors LNK, CBL, TET2, ASXL1, IDH, IKZF1, or EZH2 mutations; the precise pathogenetic contribution of these mutations is under investigation. JAK2 mutation analysis is now a formal component of diagnostic criteria for PV, ET, and PMF, but its prognostic utility is limited. Life expectancy in the majority of patients with PV or ET is near-normal and disease complications are effectively (and safely) managed by treatment with low-dose aspirin, phlebotomy, or hydroxyurea. In PMF, survival and quality of life are significantly worse and current therapy is inadequate. In ET and PV, controlled studies are needed to show added value and justify the risk of unknown long-term health effects associated with nonconventional therapeutic approaches (eg, interferon-alfa). The unmet need for treatment in PMF dictates a different approach for assessing the therapeutic value of new drugs (eg, JAK inhibitors, pomalidomide) or allogeneic stem-cell transplantation.
Effect of UK national guidelines on services to treat patients with acute low back pain: follow up questionnaire survey
Authors: A G Barnett, M R Underwood, M R Vickers
Journal: BMJ (1999)

sympathetic towards the part that managers play. 11ikewise, after considering the various background characteristics that they could use to prioritise in favour of or against, people are more reluctant to make clearcut decisions-not because they think that choices in health care do not have to be made, but because they recognise that the choices are complicated ones.There is some evidence that surveys, which largely elicit people's initial reactions, and focus groups, which aim to elicit more considered opinions, generate similar results. 8 10The findings reported here suggest otherwise.This leaves a puzzle for future research, but if the within-subject results reported here are found to be generalisable, and if the considered opinions of the general public are required, then doubt is cast on the value of surveys that do not allow respondents the time or opportunity to reflect on their responses.
Reply to “Replication of association of 3p21.1 with susceptibility to bipolar disorder but not major depression”
Authors: Francis J McMahon, Nirmala Akula, Sven Cichon, Sevilla D Detera-Wadleigh, Howard Edenberg, Florian Holsboer, Markus M Nöthen, John I Nurnberger, James Potash, Martin Preisig, Marcella Rietschel, Thomas G Schulze
Journal: Nature Genetics (2010)
Hong Kong closes all primary schools in flu outbreak
Authors: Jane Parry
Journal: BMJ (2008)

The Hong Kong government closed all the territory’s primary schools, special schools, kindergartens, and day nurseries for two weeks on 13 March to try to minimise infection during the peak of the flu season and to calm the nerves of anxious parents. The government has not taken such a drastic public health measure since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003, when all school classes were suspended for seven weeks.

Although Hong Kong is experiencing its expected seasonal peak for flu, two deaths have unexpectedly occurred. On 1 March a 3 year old girl died of respiratory causes and tested positive for influenza A …
Antibody to streptococcal zymogen in the serum of patients with acute glomerulonephritis: A multicentric study
Authors: Gustavo Parra, Bernardo Rodríguez-Iturbe, Stephen Batsford, Arnold Vogt, Sergio Mezzano, Fernando Olavarría, Ramón Exeni, María Laso, Nelson Orta
Journal: Kidney International (1998)
Moscow in January
Authors: Arnold S. Relman
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1980)

It seemed an odd time for a couple of American medical editors to be making a government-sponsored trip to the Soviet Union. Our visit had been proposed months before, as part of the US-USSR Health Exchange Program. But events in Afghanistan had intervened, and our government's relations with the Soviets had taken a sudden bad turn. In early January, President Carter had announced that America was curtailing economic, technical, and scientific exchanges with the Soviet Union, and I naturally assumed that our trip would also be canceled. However, the Soviet Ministry of Health had sent a telex message to the . . .
Diagnosis using search engines
Authors: Martin Gardner
Journal: BMJ (2006)

Probably heralds a much more sophisticated web resource

Thousands of computer systems targeted at medical diagnosis (often described as expert systems) have been developed during the past 50 years. Most have had relatively little impact on day to day clinical practice; for example, because they are not easily accessible at the point of care; have a complex interface; can deal with only a narrow focus (one symptom or clinical problem); are not integrated with clinical information systems; depend on particular software or hardware platforms; or require labour intensive construction and are therefore expensive to maintain and extend. 

In this week's BMJ a study by Tang and Ng assesses the effectiveness of a web search engine (Google) as a diagnostic aid.1 Using general purpose web search engines as a diagnostic aid is new, although using computers to aid diagnosis is not. …
Environmental hazards kill five million children a year
Authors: O. Dyer
Journal: BMJ (2003)

The World Health Organization has called for concerted action to reduce environmental hazards to children, which, the agency says, claim more than five million lives a year among the under 14s.

The WHO's director general, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, speaking at the World Health Day launch on Monday in New Delhi, India, called on the United Nations, member states, and non—governmental organisations to take more effective and visible action to reduce deaths among children caused by environmental hazards.

“The biggest threats to children's health lurk in the very places that should be …
The identification in adult bone marrow of pluripotent and restricted stem cells of the myeloid and lymphoid systems
Authors: S Abramson, RG Miller, RA Phillips
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1977)

The precise relationship between the stem cells for the lymphoid system and those for the blood-forming system is unclear. While it is generally assumed that the hemopoietic stem cell, the spleen colony-forming unit (CFU-S), is also the stem cell for the lymphoid system, there is little evidence for this hypothesis. To investigate the stem cells in these two systems, we irradiated bone marrow cells to induce unique chromosome aberrations in the stem cell population and injected them at limiting dilution into stem cell-deficient recipients. Several months (between 3 and 11) were allowed for the injected cells to repopulate the hemopoietic system. At that time, the bone marrow, spleen, and thymus were examined for a high frequency of cells having the same unique chromosome aberration. The presence of such markers shows that the marker was induced in a cell with extensive proliferative capacity, i.e., a stem cell. In addition, the splenic lymphocytes were stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to search for unique chromosomes in dividing T and B cells, respectively. Finally, bone marrow cells were injected into secondary irradiated recipients to determine if the marker occurred in CFU-S and to determine whether or not the same tissue distributions of marked cells could be propogated by bone marrow cells in a second recipient. After examination of 28 primary recipients, it was possible to identify three unique patterns of stem cell regeneration. In one set of mice, a unique chromosome marker was observed in CFU-S and in PHA- and LPS-stimulated cultures. These mice provide direct evidence for a pluripotent stem cell in bone marrow. In addition, two restricted stem cells were identified by this analysis. In three recipients, abnormal karyotypes were found only in myeloid cells and not in B and T lymphocytes. These mice presumably received a marked stem cell restricted to differentiate only into myeloid progeny. In three other recipients, chromosome aberrations were found only in PHA-stimulated cells; CFU-S and cells from LPS cultures did not have cells with the unique chromosome. This pattern suggests that bone marrow contains cells committed to differentiation only into T lymphocytes. For each of the three types of stem cells, secondary recipients had the same cellular distribution of marked cells as the primary recipients. This observation provides further evidence that unique markers can be induced in both pluripotent and restricted stem cells.
Neural spaces: A general framework for the understanding of cognition?
Authors: Shimon Edelman
Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2001)

A view is put forward, according to which various aspects of the structure of the world as internalized by the brain take the form of “neural spaces,” a concrete counterpart for Shepard's “abstract” ones. Neural spaces may help us understand better both the representational substrate of cognition and the processes that operate on it. [Shepard]
Nucleation of monosodium urate crystals.
Authors: W R Wilcox, A A Khalaf
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (1975)

(1) Calcium greatly increased crystallization of monosodium urate in otherwise pure water, by enhancing both nucleation and growth. (2) Acid accelerated urate nucleation, both by its direct action and indirectly by increasing the free calcium in physiological fluids. (3) Synovial fluid from one gouty patient accelerated urate nucleation, while that from one rheumatoid patient inhibited nucleation. (4) X-rays, collagen, ethyl alcohol, cupric ion, and potassium ion all had negligible influence on urate nucleation. (5) Mechanical shock greatly increased urate nucleation.
French "sunshine act" sheds little light on drug industry's payments to doctors, say critics
Authors: P. Benkimoun
Journal: BMJ (2013)

The French government passed into law its long awaited version of a “sunshine act” on 22 May, putting a legal obligation on drug companies to reveal the financial gifts they bestow on healthcare practitioners.

Marisol Touraine, the minister of social affairs and health, said that the act was intended to provide a moral underpinning on “the relations between industry and the world of health.” 

The new bill, which aims to prevent conflicts of interests, is a reference to the US Sunshine Act (Physician Financial Transparency Reports), which was included …
Increased hepatic mitochondrial capacity in rats with hydroxy-cobalamin[c-lactam]-induced methylmalonic aciduria.
Authors: S Krahenbuhl, D B Ray, S P Stabler, R H Allen, E P Brass
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1990)

Treatment of rats with the vitamin B12 analogue hydroxy-cobalamin[c-lactam] (HCCL) impairs methylmalonyl-CoA mutase function and leads to methylmalonic aciduria due to intracellular accumulation of propionyl and methylmalonyl-CoA. Since accumulation of these acyl-CoAs disrupts normal cellular regulation, the present investigation characterized metabolism in hepatocytes and liver mitochondria from rats treated subcutaneously with HCCL or saline (control) by osmotic minipump. Consistent with decreased methylmalonyl-CoA mutase activity, 14CO2 production from 1-14C-propionate (1 mM) was decreased by 76% and 82% after 2-3 wk and 5-6 wk of HCCL treatment, respectively. In contrast, after 5-6 wk of HCCL treatment, 14CO2 production from 1-14C-pyruvate (10 mM) and 1-14C-palmitate (0.8 mM) were increased by 45% and 49%, respectively. In isolated liver mitochondria, state 3 oxidation rates were unchanged or decreased, and activities of the mitochondrial enzymes, citrate synthetase, succinate dehydrogenase, carnitine palmitoyltransferase, and glutamate dehydrogenase (expressed per milligram mitochondrial protein) were unaffected by HCCL treatment. In contrast, activities of the same enzymes were significantly increased in both liver homogenate (expressed per gram liver) and isolated hepatocytes (expressed per 10(6) cells) from HCCL-treated rats. The mitochondrial protein per gram liver, calculated on the basis of the recovery of the mitochondrial enzymes, increased by 39% in 5-6 wk HCCL-treated rats. Activities of lactate dehydrogenase, catalase, cyanide-insensitive palmitoyl-CoA oxidation, and arylsulfatase A in liver were not affected by HCCL treatment. Hepatic levels of mitochondrial mRNAs were elevated up to 10-fold in HCCL-treated animals as assessed by Northern blot analysis. Thus, HCCL treatment is associated with enhanced mitochondrial oxidative capacity and an increased mitochondrial protein content per gram liver. Increased mitochondrial oxidative capacity may be a compensatory mechanism in response to the metabolic insult induced by HCCL administration.
Abstract 2063: Trojan horsing the blood-brain barrier with nanocarriers aided by adenosine receptor agonists
Authors: Nasir Al Awwad
Journal: Cancer Research (2014)

Abstract Drug delivery to the central nervous system (CNS) is not easy compared to other body systems due to the presence of the blood brain barrier (BBB). It is essential that any delivery system to the CNS needs to be efficient and non-toxic. These features are fulfilled through tailored nanomicelles, non cross-linked and disulfide cross-linked micelles (NCM and DCM, respectively) and Polyvinyl alcohol-based polymeric nanoparticles. It has recently been reported that adenosine receptor agonists can modulate the permeability of the BBB. For example 5′-(N-Ethylcarboxamido)Adenosine (NECA) helps increase penetrability of the BBB membrane to macromolecules. We were able to demonstrate that similar strategy can be applied in mouse model for facilitating the penetration of NCM, DCM, and PVA-nanoparticles through the BBB. In the murine model we found that NECA stimulated the uptake of these nanoparticles to organs expressing adenosine receptors, especially the brain. DCM and NCM uptake was not seen in the brain without prior administration of NECA. NECA has been previously shown to alter tight junction adhesion molecules (Occludin) expressed on brain endothelial cells. NECA at 5.3 mg/kg best facilitated the penetration of both DCM and NCM at an optimal loading dosage of 33 mg/kg. NECA opened the BBB and facilitated the penetration of nanoparticles through the BBB at a constant rate. This allows potential for future drug-loading studies on a diverse scale for chemotherapeutics, kinase inhibitors, and other drug classes. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Nasir Al Awwad. Trojan horsing the blood-brain barrier with nanocarriers aided by adenosine receptor agonists. [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 2063. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2063
PRESERVATION OF NORMAL HUMAN PLASMA IN THE LIQUID STATE. III. STUDIES ON CHEMICAL AND PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CHANGES DURING THE SECOND YEAR OF STORAGE 12
Authors: Eugene L. Lozner, F. H. L. Taylor, Sonia Lemish, Rebecca Snyder, Lloyd R. Newhouser
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1944)

The present regulations of the National Insti- tute of Health with regard to the preservation of plasma in the liquid state call for an expiration date of one year.In the first paper of this series (1), 235 administrations of plasma pre- served in the liquid state at room temperature for between 8 and 16 months were performed with an untoward reaction rate of 0.9 per cent and with the expected proportion of beneficial therapeutic results.The second paper of this series (2) has indicated that except for an in- ability to determine fibrinogen in plasma pre- served in the liquid state for 6 months, there were no significant chemical changes in the total protein, albumin-globulin ratio, or non- protein nitrogen content of plasma.The clinical innocuousness of plasma preserved for periods longer than 6 months made of interest the investigation of what chemical and physicochemical changes might be taking place during storage of such duration.METHODS Eighteen samples of 11 pools of plasma, prepared by the Blood Plasma Department of the Naval Medical School
Dissociation of Structural and Functional Phenotypes in Cardiac Myosin-Binding Protein C Conditional Knockout Mice
Authors: Peter.P Chen, Jitandrakumar R. Patel, Patricia A. Powers, Daniel P. Fitzsimons, Richard L. Moss
Journal: Circulation (2012)

Cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C) is a sarcomeric protein that dynamically regulates thick-filament structure and function. In constitutive cMyBP-C knockout (cMyBP-C(-/-)) mice, loss of cMyBP-C has been linked to left ventricular dilation, cardiac hypertrophy, and systolic and diastolic dysfunction, although the pathogenesis of these phenotypes remains unclear.We generated cMyBP-C conditional knockout (cMyBP-C-cKO) mice expressing floxed cMyBP-C alleles and a tamoxifen-inducible Cre-recombinase fused to 2 mutated estrogen receptors to study the onset and progression of structural and functional phenotypes caused by the loss of cMyBP-C. In adult cMyBP-C-cKO mice, knockdown of cMyBP-C over a 2-month period resulted in a corresponding impairment of diastolic function and a concomitant abbreviation of systolic ejection, although contractile function was largely preserved. No significant changes in cardiac structure or morphology were immediately evident; however, mild hypertrophy developed after near-complete knockdown of cMyBP-C. In response to pressure overload induced by transaortic constriction, cMyBP-C-cKO mice treated with tamoxifen also developed greater cardiac hypertrophy, left ventricular dilation, and reduced contractile function.These results indicate that myocardial dysfunction is largely caused by the removal of cMyBP-C and occurs before the onset of cytoarchitectural remodeling in tamoxifen-treated cMyBP-C-cKO myocardium. Moreover, near ablation of cMyBP-C in adult myocardium primarily leads to the development of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in contrast to the dilated phenotype evident in cMyBP-C(-/-) mice, which highlights the importance of additional factors such as loading stress in determining the expression and progression of cMyBP-C-associated cardiomyopathy.
Some Psychosomatic Disorders in Japan in a Cultural Perspective
Authors: Yujiro Ikemi, Akira Ikemi
Journal: Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (1982)

Social scientists point to Japanese Society as having a high level of group cohesiveness that results from the psychodynamic need to mutual dependency in the Japanese personality structure, which is fostered by symbiotic mother-child relationship in childhood. Such a traditional interdependency seems to modify psychsomatic mechanisms in the Japanese inducing the preponderance of the types of reactions related to what is called 'vegetative retreat'. While over-indulgence to the maternal interdependence may threaten the development of an independent person, the severe deprivation of motherly love may, on the other hand, constitute the core of the modern crises. From this point of view, it is our belief that transcultural studies of psychosomatic mechanisms will contribute to the exploration of the social pathologies and their counter-measures in the present world, as well as to the development of effective therapeutic interventions to psychosomatic problems.
The Prognosis of Lupus Nephritis
Authors: BURTON ZWEIMAN
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1968)

The clinical and histologic renal findings at the time of initial evaluation of 40 patients with systemic lupus erythematosis have been compared and evaluated in the light of the subsequent course of these subjects. Lack of correlation between the presence or absence of clinical renal abnormalities and the degree of renal pathologic change was found fairly frequently. Those individuals without clinical or histologic evidence of significant renal involvement by lupus have generally done well in a follow-up period averaging 30 months. Those with advanced renal lesions and decreases in renal function at the time of initial study have generally done poorly, with rapidly progressive renal disease. A third group has shown a much more variable course. Although the effects of therapy, particularly with corticoids, must be considered, it seems likely that the course of lupus nephritis may vary significantly from patient to patient.