tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
OC-108 Effect of internal and external pancreatic duct stents on outcome after pancreaticoduodenectomy: meta-analysis of randomised and observational studies
Authors: E Viñuela, S R Bramhall, J Isaac, R Marudanayagam, D Mayer, D F Mirza, P Muiesan, R P Sutcliffe
Journal: Gut (2012)

<h3>Introduction</h3> Pancreatic fistula (PF) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality after pancreaticoduodenectomy. The relative merits of external (ES) and internal (IS) pancreatic stents on postoperative outcome have not been clearly defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of pancreatic stents after pancreaticoduodenectomy by meta-analysis. <h3>Methods</h3> Randomised and observational studies comparing patients with and without pancreatic duct stents (ES or IS) from January 1990 to May 2011 were included in the analysis. Studies were only included if the incidence of PF was separately reported in each group. Secondary outcome measures included postoperative mortality, overall complications and hospital stay. Subgroup analysis was performed for studies that used external stents or internal stents exclusively. Randomised and observational studies were combined separately using a random effects model, and the overall effect was calculated using a mixed effects model. Outcomes were compared using ORs and weighted mean differences (WMD). <h3>Results</h3> Sixteen studies were analysed (four randomised and 12 observational), consisting of 1,846 patients (876 stented, 970 not stented). On analysis of all studies (ES and IS), the incidence of PF (p=0.54), overall complications (p=0.23) and perioperative mortality (p=0.19) were similar in stented and non-stented patients. Hospital stay was shorter in the stented group (WMD (−) 2.5 days, CI (−) 4.4 to (−) 0.6 days, p=0.009). On analysis of ES and IS studies separately, PF and overall complications were significantly reduced by external stents (PF: OR 0.49, CI 0.3 to 0.81, p=0.005; complications: OR 0.62, CI 0.43 to 0.89, p=0.01), but no difference was observed with internal stents (PF: OR 1.59, CI 0.97 to 2.61, p=0.07; complications: OR 0.96, CI 0.64 to 1.46, p=0.86). <h3>Conclusion</h3> External pancreatic duct stenting appears to reduce the rate of pancreatic fistula and overall complications following pancreaticoduodenectomy. However, due to the lack of high quality evidence, it remains unclear whether internal stents have a role. A well-conducted, adequately powered randomised trial of internal pancreatic stents in patients at risk of pancreatic fistula should help to clarify this. <h3>Competing interests</h3> None declared.
Abdominal Aortic Calcific Deposits Are an Important Predictor of Vascular Morbidity and Mortality
Authors: Peter W. F. Wilson, Leena I. Kauppila, Christopher J. O’Donnell, Douglas P. Kiel, Marian Hannan, Joseph M. Polak, L. Adrienne Cupples
Journal: Circulation (2001)

The impact of abdominal arterial calcific deposits on the prediction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) over a long follow-up interval deserves greater scrutiny.Lateral lumbar radiographs were studied as a predictor of incident coronary heart disease (CHD), CVD, and CVD mortality in 1049 men and 1466 women (mean age, 61 years) who were followed from 1967 to 1989. Anterior and posterior wall calcific deposits in the aorta at the level of the first through fourth lumbar vertebrae were graded according to increasing severity using a previously validated rating scale for abdominal aortic calcium (AAC) that ranges from 0 to 24 points. There were 454 cases of CHD, 709 cases of CVD, and 365 CVD deaths. Proportional hazards logistic regression was used to test for associations between AAC and later events after adjustment for age, cigarette use, diabetes mellitus, systolic blood pressure, left ventricular hypertrophy, body mass index, cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol. In comparisons with the lowest AAC tertile, the multivariate age-adjusted relative risks (RR) for CVD were increased in tertile 2 (men: RR, 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 to 1.74; women: RR, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.95 to 1.65) and tertile 3 (men: RR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.27; women: RR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.33 to 2.38). Similar results were obtained with CHD and CVD mortality.AAC deposits, detected by lateral lumbar radiograms, are a marker of subclinical atherosclerotic disease and an independent predictor of subsequent vascular morbidity and mortality.
EFFECT OF GROWTH HORMONE ON THE METABOLISM OF THYMUS AND ON THE IMMUNE RESPONSE AGAINST SHEEP ERYTHROCYTES
Authors: M. R. Pandian, G. P. Talwar
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1971)

The effect of pituitary growth hormone on the biosynthesis of DNA in the thymus and other lymphoid organs, as well as the ability of the rat to respond immunologically to sheep red blood cells, has been evaluated. There is a marked reduction in plaque-forming cells, hemagglutination titers, and DNA synthesis in animals when examined at 15 wk after hypophysectomy. Administration of bovine growth hormone (BGH) leads to the enhancement of DNA synthesis in lymphoid organs and recovery of the immune response. Similar effects of the hormone are observed in plateaued rats. Injection of rabbit anti-BGH globulins, in contrast to normal rabbit globulins, over 5 days causes a drop in the weight of the thymus and in the rate of DNA synthesis in this organ. The thymus is also the organ in which stimulation of DNA synthesis is observed at a time period earlier than the spleen and lymph nodes after a single injection of BGH. The hormone stimulates not only the incorporation of thymidine-(3)H into DNA in the cortical cells, but also the incorporation of sodium sulfate-(35)S into TCA-insoluble biopolymers reported to be elaborated in the medullary area of the thymus. An in vitro system for the action of BGH on the thymus has been described. There is an obligatory requirement for calcium, but not for fetal calf serum in the medium for the hormone effect. An early action of the hormone is the enhanced incorporation of uridine-G-(3)H into RNA in thymocytes which is followed by a stimulation of the synthesis of proteins and DNA. The stimulatory action of growth hormone on RNA synthesis is not because of a facilitated uptake of the radioactive uridine by the cells under hormonal influence, a mechanism by which insulin is observed to increase RNA synthesis in thymocytes in vitro. The action of growth hormone on thymocytes is specific, since thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and heat-inactivated growth hormone are not effective. BGH has also a beneficial action on the regeneration of the thymus and spleen in starved rats.
Low Surface Expression of B7-1 (CD80) Is an Immunoescape Mechanism of Colon Carcinoma
Authors: Iñigo Tirapu, Eduardo Huarte, Cristiana Guiducci, Ainhoa Arina, Mikel Zaratiegui, Oihana Murillo, Alvaro Gonzalez, Carmen Berasain, Pedro Berraondo, Puri Fortes, Jesús Prieto, Mario P. Colombo, Lieping Chen, Ignacio Melero
Journal: Cancer Research (2006)

Artificially enforced expression of CD80 (B7-1) and CD86 (B7-2) on tumor cells renders them more immunogenic by triggering the CD28 receptor on T cells. The enigma is that such B7s interact with much higher affinity with CTLA-4 (CD152), an inhibitory receptor expressed by activated T cells. We show that unmutated CD80 is spontaneously expressed at low levels by mouse colon carcinoma cell lines and other transplantable tumor cell lines of various tissue origins. Silencing of CD80 by interfering RNA led to loss of tumorigenicity of CT26 colon carcinoma in immunocompetent mice, but not in immunodeficient Rag-/- mice. CT26 tumor cells bind CTLA-4Ig, but much more faintly with a similar CD28Ig chimeric protein, thus providing an explanation for the dominant inhibitory effects on tumor immunity displayed by CD80 at that expression level. Interestingly, CD80-negative tumor cell lines such as MC38 colon carcinoma and B16 melanoma express CD80 at dim levels during in vivo growth in syngeneic mice. Therefore, low CD80 surface expression seems to give an advantage to cancer cells against the immune system. Our findings are similar with the inhibitory role described for the dim CD80 expression on immature dendritic cells, providing an explanation for the low levels of CD80 expression described in various human malignancies.
INDUCTION OF PARTIAL IMMUNOLOGIC TOLERANCE IN RATS AND PROGRESSIVE LOSS OF CELLULAR ANTIGENICITY IN GROSS VIRUS LYMPHOMA
Authors: Harry L. Ioachim, Steven E. Keller, Brent H. Dorsett, Antonia Pearse
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1974)

Gross virus-induced lymphoma cells express strong virus-associated (Gross murine leukemia virus [G-MuLV]) antigens and are consistently rejected when grafted in normal adult syngeneic rats. By contrast, similar grafts are tolerated and allowed to grow progressively by rats that have been injected at birth with deaggregated G-MuLV antigens. However, the tolerance induced by this procedure is only partial as the grafted lymphoma cells lose their G-MuLV membrane antigens. These cells showing an antigenic disjunction, with negative membrane and positive cytoplasmic G-MuLV antigenic expression, become transplantable in normal-nonconditioned adult recipients. By further grafting, the expression of cytoplasmic G-MuLV antigens is similarly lost while the lymphoma cells substantially increase their transplantability, rate of growth, and capacity for metastasis.
Trench fever: the British medical response in the Great War
Authors: R L Atenstaedt
Journal: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (2006)

In mid-1915, the medical officer Major J H P Graham made this important observation from the Western Front:

‘A private belonging to an infantry regiment was admitted to a casualty clearing station from a field ambulance where he had been detained suffering from a febrile illness of three days' duration and of sudden onset.’1



The characteristics of this condition were unlike anything that he had previously encountered: ‘the patient's condition on admission was marked by frontal headache, dizziness, severe lumbago, a feeling of stiffness down the front of the thighs, and severe pains in the legs referred chiefly to the shins.’1 One of the most curious qualities was the relapsing fever.

The Commanding Officer of No. 5 Canadian Mobile Laboratory alerted both the advisor in pathology to the British Expeditionary Force (Sir William Leishman) and the consulting physician to the 1st Army (Sir Walter Herringham). Both clinicians conducted an extensive investigation, reviewing cases of the disease and interviewing colleagues in France. Leishman drafted a short report to his boss, the Director-General of Medical Services (DEMS) in France, Sir Arthur Sloggett.2 He reported: ‘I concur to some extent in Sir W Herringham's view that it is a separate and hitherto unrecognized disease...’2

In spite of this view being expressed by both Leishman and Herringham (senior members of the military-medical authorities), there continued to be a lively debate in the medical press over whether trench fever was indeed a new disease or an old one in a new guise. Some doctors hypothesized that the illness might be one of the enteric group of fevers, modified by preventive inoculation, such as that given for typhoid.3 However, Captain G H Hunt and Major A C Rankin, pathologists employed in a mobile laboratory, disagreed vehemently with this view.4 They, along with a growing number of medical officers, believed that the cause was a specific organism that had never previously been recognized.4 Support for their theory was provided by laboratory studies:

‘It was not until hundreds of cases had been examined in laboratories up and down the line that we could accept it as certain that there was a short fever that was not enteric.’5



Trench fever was finally accepted as a clinical syndrome that occurred with enough consistency and frequency to justify its classification as a specific disease. Ultimate authority was lent to this view when the authorities moved to officially recognize the novel condition in the summer of 1916.6
Emotional distress is a common risk in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 28 studies
Authors: Susanne M. Veltman-Verhulst, Jacky Boivin, Marinus J.C. Eijkemans, Bart J.C.M. Fauser
Journal: Human Reproduction Update (2012)

For a number of reasons, the results of previous meta-analyses may not fully reflect the mental health status of the average woman suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), or the causes of this distress. Our objective was to examine emotional distress and its associated features in women with PCOS. A comprehensive meta-analysis of comparative studies reporting measures of depression, anxiety or emotional-subscales of quality of life (emoQoL) was performed. PubMed, Embase, PsychInfo and the Cochrane trial register databases were searched up to November 2011 (see Supplementary Data for PUBMED search string). Unpublished data obtained through contact with authors were also included. The standardized mean difference (SMD) of distress scores was calculated. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression analysis of methodological and PCOS-related features were performed. Twenty-eight studies (2384 patients and 2705 control women) were included. Higher emotional distress was consistently found for women with PCOS compared with control populations [main outcomes: depression: 26 studies, SMD 0.60 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.47–0.73), anxiety: 17 studies, SMD of 0.49 (95% CI 0.36–0.63), emoQoL: 8 studies, SMD −0.66 (95% CI −0.92 to −0.41)]. However, heterogeneity was present (I2 52–76%). Methodological and clinical aspects only partly explained effect size variation. Women with PCOS exhibit significantly more emotional distress compared with women without PCOS. However, distress scores mostly remain within the normal range. The cause of emotional distress could only partly be explained by methodological or clinical features. Clinicians should be aware of the emotional aspects of PCOS, discuss these with patients and refer for appropriate support where necessary and in accordance with patient preference.
Tissue Biomarker Development in a Multicentre Trial Context: a Feasibility Study on the PETACC3 Stage II and III Colon Cancer Adjuvant Treatment Trial
Authors: Fred T. Bosman, Pu Yan, Sabine Tejpar, Roberto Fiocca, Eric Van Cutsem, Richard D. Kennedy, Daniel Dietrich, Arnaud Roth
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2009)

We evaluated the feasibility of biomarker development in the context of multicenter clinical trials.Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples were collected from a prospective adjuvant colon cancer trial (PETACC3). DNA was isolated from tumor as well as normal tissue and used for analysis of microsatellite instability, KRAS and BRAF genotyping, UGT1A1 genotyping, and loss of heterozygosity of 18 q loci. Immunohistochemistry was used to test expression of TERT, SMAD4, p53, and TYMS. Messenger RNA was retrieved and tested for use in expression profiling experiments.Of the 3,278 patients entered in the study, FFPE blocks were obtained from 1,564 patients coming from 368 different centers in 31 countries. In over 95% of the samples, genomic DNA tests yielded a reliable result. Of the immmunohistochemical tests, p53 and SMAD4 staining did best with reliable results in over 85% of the cases. TERT was the most problematic test with 46% of failures, mostly due to insufficient tissue processing quality. Good quality mRNA was obtained, usable in expression profiling experiments.Prospective clinical trials can be used as framework for biomarker development using routinely processed FFPE tissues. Our results support the notion that as a rule, translational studies based on FFPE should be included in prospective clinical trials.
Diversity, reciprocity, and degrees of unity in wholes, parts, and their scientific representations: System levels
Authors: Robert B. Glassman
Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2007)

Though capturing powerful analytical principles, this excellent article misses ways in which psychology and neuroscience bear on reciprocity and decision-making. I suggest more explicit consideration of scale. We may go further beyond gene-culture dualism by articulating how varieties of living systems, while ultimately drawing from both genetic and cultural streams, evolve sufficiently as unitary targets of selection to mediate higher-level complex systems.
Growth hormone enhances thymic function in HIV-1–infected adults
Authors: Laura A. Napolitano, Diane Schmidt, Michael B. Gotway, Niloufar Ameli, Erin L. Filbert, Myra M. Ng, Julie L. Clor, Lorrie Epling, Elizabeth Sinclair, Paul D. Baum, Kai Li, Marisela Lua Killian, Peter Bacchetti, Joseph M. McCune
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2008)

Growth hormone (GH) is an underappreciated but important regulator of T cell development that can reverse age-related declines in thymopoiesis in rodents. Here, we report findings of a prospective randomized study examining the effects of GH on the immune system of HIV-1–infected adults. GH treatment was associated with increased thymic mass. In addition, GH treatment enhanced thymic output, as measured by both the frequency of T cell receptor rearrangement excision circles in circulating T cells and the numbers of circulating naive and total CD4+ T cells. These findings provide compelling evidence that GH induces de novo T cell production and may, accordingly, facilitate CD4+ T cell recovery in HIV-1–infected adults. Further, these randomized, prospective data have shown that thymic involution can be pharmacologically reversed in humans, suggesting that immune-based therapies could be used to enhance thymopoiesis in immunodeficient individuals.
The Regenerative Potential of Parietal Epithelial Cells in Adult Mice
Authors: Katja Berger, Kevin Schulte, Peter Boor, Christoph Kuppe, Toin H. van Kuppevelt, Jürgen Floege, Bart Smeets, Marcus J. Moeller
Journal: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (2014)

Previously, we showed that some podocytes in juvenile mice are recruited from cells lining Bowman's capsule, suggesting that parietal epithelial cells (PECs) are a progenitor cell population for podocytes. To investigate whether PECs also replenish podocytes in adult mice, PECs were genetically labeled in an irreversible fashion in 5-week-old mice. No significant increase in labeled podocytes was observed, even after 18 months. To accelerate a potential regenerative mechanism, progressive glomerular hypertrophy was induced by progressive partial nephrectomies. Again, no significant podocyte replenishment was observed. Rather, labeled PECs exclusively invaded segments of the tuft affected by glomerulosclerosis, consistent with our previous findings. We next reassessed PEC recruitment in juvenile mice using a different reporter mouse and confirmed significant recruitment of labeled PECs onto the glomerular tuft. Moreover, some labeled cells on Bowman's capsule expressed podocyte markers, and cells on Bowman's capsule were also directly labeled in juvenile podocyte-specific Pod-rtTA transgenic mice. In 6-week-old mice, however, cells on Bowman's capsule no longer expressed podocyte-specific markers. Similarly, in human kidneys, some cells on Bowman's capsule expressed the podocyte marker synaptopodin from 2 weeks to 2 years of age but not at 7 years of age. In summary, podocyte regeneration from PECs could not be detected in aging mice or models of glomerular hypertrophy. We propose that a small fraction of committed podocytes reside on Bowman's capsule close to the vascular stalk and are recruited onto the glomerular tuft during infancy to adolescence in mice and humans.
Lung function in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation recipients
Authors: R Rodriguez-Roisin, J Roca, A Granena, AG Agusti, P Marin, C Rozman
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (1989)

In order to investigate the incidence of pulmonary function complications following bone marrow transplantation (BMT), 17 patients with leukaemia and 8 with aplastic anaemia were sequentially assessed over a one year period. Before BMT, all the patients were free of respiratory symptoms and had both normal chest X-ray and routine lung function tests. However, 5 patients disclosed airway hyperreactivity. Aplastic anaemia patients had significantly lower haemoglobin-adjusted diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) than those with leukaemia, a finding significantly related to the lower haemoglobin values shown in the former individuals. Following BMT there were transient mild to moderate reductions in DLCO and static lung volumes; moreover, patients with leukaemia had lower DLCO than those with aplastic anaemia. Fourteen of the 25 patients had ventilatory defects, including 10 individuals with bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Post-BMT lung function changes were transiently accompanied by mild to moderate symptoms of respiratory disease in most of the patients.
Early steroid treatment improves the recovery of renal function in patients with drug-induced acute interstitial nephritis
Authors: E. González, E. Gutiérrez, C. Galeano, C. Chevia, P. de Sequera, C. Bernis, E.G. Parra, R. Delgado, M. Sanz, M. Ortiz, M. Goicoechea, C. Quereda, T. Olea, H. Bouarich, Y. Hernández, B. Segovia, M. Praga
Journal: Kidney International (2008)
Identifying risk factors for bronchial asthma in children
Authors: Ilenkova Natalya, Cherepanova Irina, Sokolovskaya Elena, Ilenkova Olga, Alekseeva Olga
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2014)

Contemporary requirements of medical science set the physician for an active search for risk factors in the development of bronchial asthma in children, as it can significantly affect the course of the disease, prognosis and treatment.  Objective: To evaluate the significance of risk factors in the development of bronchial asthma in children.  Methods: A total of 96 sick and 334 healthy children was observed.To assess the risk of bronchial asthma in children odds ratio value was calculated for binary feature on fourfold table and confidence interval for the odds ratio according to the method of Woolf.Control group - healthy children.  Results:A contribution of the following factors to the development of disease was proved furnace heating OR=9,09 (CI=3,89-21,3), living in a private countryside house OR=6,3 (CI=3,2-12,3); collection of carpets and mattresses in the apartment OR=1,73 (CI=1,1-2,73), bottle feeding OR=1,56 (CI=1,0-2,3), previous bronchitises with broncho-obstructive syndrome under the age of 1 year 6,8 (CI=2,6-17,4), the presence of smokers in the family OR=1,63 (CI=2,9-6,8). No convincing evidence of the involvement of the factor the presence of pets in the house in the development of the disease was received, though it was observed in 62,2% with OR=1,63 (CI=2,9-6,8), either of grandparents diagnosed with bronchial asthma OR=31,4 (CI=12,7-77,8), father diagnosed with allergic urticaria and bronchial asthma with OR=14,5 (CI=1, -31,2) and OR=12,8 (CI=3,5-47,6). All risk factors were evaluated from the point of controllability.  Conclusion:The data was presented proving correlation of risk factors with bronchialasthma in children; this allows marking a complex of measures for personalized primary preventive care.
Phase Ib safety and pharmacokinetic evaluation of daily and twice daily oral enzastaurin in combination with pemetrexed in advanced/metastatic cancer
Authors: A.-R. Hanauske, M. Lahn, L.C. Musib, K. Weigang-Köhler, E. Yilmaz, T. Graefe, B. Kuenen, D. Thornton, P. McNealy, G. Giaccone
Journal: Annals of Oncology (2009)
Timing of tracheostomy in adult patients: Conclusions may be premature
Authors: Marcus J Schultz, Denise P Veelo, Peter E Spronk
Journal: BMJ (2005)

EDITOR—Griffiths et al critically appraised all randomised clinical trials into the timing of tracheostomy in adult patients in intensive care units.1 Of the identified trials, most were excluded for several reasons, leaving only five trials with a combined study population of 406 patients for review and meta-analysis. The overall results showed that length of stay in intensive care and duration of artificial ventilation was significantly lower …