tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Causes of Death and Sex Differences in Survival Times of Pigs With Untreated Hereditary Lymphosarcoma (Leukemia)&lt;xref ref-type="fn" rid="FN2"&gt;2&lt;/xref&gt;&lt;xref ref-type="fn" rid="FN3"&gt;3&lt;/xref&gt;
Authors: H S McTaggart, P Imlah, K W Head
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1982)

The survival times from birth of 39 entire male Large White pigs with hereditary lymphosarcoma (L/S) were significantly shorter than those of 76 affected females. The survival times of 19 male castrates were for the most part intermediate between those for entire males and females. Analysis of the cause of death revealed that pigs with L/S (L/S-P) were more likely than pigs without L/S to die from colibacillosis, but this disease showed to sex predisposition. In uncomplicated deaths from L/S, weights of splanchnic lymph nodes, spleen, and thymus were greatest in females. The cell-mediated and humoral antibody responses of L/S-P were significantly poorer against 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) and sheep red blood cells, poorer against skin homografts, but better against bovine serum albumin than those of healthy littermates. Healthy females had stronger DNFB reactions than did healthy males or castrates. Castrated L/S-P responded to DNFB better than did females and significantly better than did entire males.
“Oxygenated” water and athletic performance
Authors: C A Piantadosi
Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine (2006)

Ergogenic claims for oxygenated water cannot be taken seriously

A decade or so ago, the idea arose that athletes might gain a competitive edge by drinking water that contained extra dissolved oxygen (O2). The notion stems from observations that O2 breathing during exercise enhances athletic performance,1,2 but the connection of O2 breathing during exercise with drinking “hyperoxygenated” water before exercise conflates physics and physiology in a struthonian visit to placebo land. Fuelled by bottled-water mavens, who collect testimonials for oxygenated waters, claims abound of ergogenic benefits of water advertised to hold up to 40 times more O2 than plain water.

The issue of hydration aside, such claims have a flimsy rationale and no rigorous experimental support. On close inspection, three scientific problems immediately arise. Firstly, for all practical purposes, supplemental O2 improves performance only during exercise, not before or between bouts.3 With normal lungs, breathing of even pure O2 at sea level increases maximal O2 uptake (o2max) by only 5–10% because air breathing alone, except at high intensity work, keeps the arterial O2 saturation (Sao2) and content (Cao2) very high.2

The next problem is that the solubility of O2 in water (and plasma) is low. The solubility constant obeys Henry’s Law: it is directly proportional to O2 …
Clinical Lecture on a Case of Phthisis Treated by Antiseptic Inhalations
Authors: I. B. Yeo
Journal: BMJ (1884)

TiiERE is a little patient of mine in the Twining ward, who is about to leave the hospital, and there are some interesting points in her case to which I wish to call your attention before she goes.Her case will also serve as a text for some further observations on the antiseptic treatment of phthisis, which I am glad to have an opportunity of putting before you.
Occupational asthma: measures of frequency from four countries.
Authors: S Meredith, H Nordman
Journal: Thorax (1996)

Disease registers and surveillance schemes are not necessarily designed to measure incidence and prevalence, but their data can provide useful epidemiological insights. Their main functions are the detection and identification of hazards so that further cases can be prevented, and to provide a database for research to improve our understanding of the determinants and consequences of disease. Occupational asthma probably accounts for only a small proportion of adult asthma, of the order of 2-6% in the UK. On the other hand, asthma is very common and so thousands of people in the UK and in other western countries have asthma as a result of their work. The frequency of the disease in less developed countries is unknown but is potentially very large. Information on incidence is patchy but from Finland, where ascertainment is most complete, there are approximately 140 per million working people affected each year, and even there disease in the self-employed is probably missed. Data for the UK are limited to cases seen by specialist physicians and the best estimate is that the annual incidence of such cases is about 50 per million. Through internal comparisons and analysis it is possible to judge the extent to which variation in ascertainment and reporting have affected the frequency of reported disease, but so far it has not been possible to measure the underestimation due to persons with work-related symptoms not seeking medical attention or not being referred to a specialist.
Effects of Reduced Cigarette Smoking on the Uptake of a Tobacco-Specific Lung Carcinogen
Authors: S. S. Hecht, S. E. Murphy, S. G. Carmella, C. L. Zimmerman, L. Losey, I. Kramarczuk, M. R. Roe, S. S. Puumala, Y. S. Li, C. Le, J. Jensen, D. K. Hatsukami
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2004)

Background: Limited data are available on carcinogen uptake in smokers who reduce their smoking. To determine whether reducing the number of cigarettes smoked per day would lead to a corresponding reduction in carcinogen uptake, we measured levels of metabolites of the tobacco-specific lung carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) in the urine of smokers who reduced their smoking for up to 26 weeks. Methods: We recruited 153 smokers, of whom 151 were randomly assigned to a reduction group or a waitlist group. In the reduction group of 102 smokers, we measured the metabolites 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) and its glucuronides (NNAL-Gluc) at two baseline times and at weeks 4, 6, 8, 12, and 26 after baseline. Smokers were then expected to reduce their number of cigarettes per day by 25% in weeks 0–2, 50% in weeks 2–4, and 75% in weeks 4–6 and to maintain the reduced level through week 26. In the waitlist group of 49 smokers, four baseline measurements over 7 weeks were made to assess the longitudinal stability of the metabolite measurements, and then the smokers began the reduction program. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: For waitlist and reduction groups results were comparable. Statistically significant reductions in the lung carcinogen metabolites were observed at most intervals as smokers reduced the number of cigarettes smoked each day. However, the observed decreases were generally modest, always proportionally less than the reductions in cigarettes smoked per day, and sometimes transient. For example, among the 65 individuals in the reduction group who reduced cigarettes per day by 40% or more during weeks 4–12 after baseline, mean decreases in cigarettes per day were 53% (week 4), 74% (week 6), 75% (week 8), and 74% (week 12); whereas the corresponding mean reductions in NNAL plus NNAL-Gluc were 29%, 33%, 37%, and 29%. (P<.001 for all NNAL plus NNAL-Gluc values) Conclusions: Statistically significant reductions in levels of urinary metabolites of a tobacco-specific lung carcinogen were achieved by reduction in smoking, but for most smokers, reductions were modest and transient.
The Distinct Contributions of Murine T Cell Receptor (TCR)γδ+ and TCRαβ+ T Cells to Different Stages of Chemically Induced Skin Cancer
Authors: Michael Girardi, Earl Glusac, Renata B. Filler, Scott J. Roberts, Iva Propperova, Julia Lewis, Robert E. Tigelaar, Adrian C. Hayday
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (2003)

Epithelial tissues in which carcinomas develop often contain systemically derived T cell receptor (TCR)αβ+ cells and resident intraepithelial lymphocytes that are commonly enriched in TCRγδ+ cells. Recent studies have demonstrated that γδ cells protect the host against chemically induced cutaneous malignancy, but the role of αβ T cells has been enigmatic, with both protective and tumor-enhancing contributions being reported in different systems. This study aims to clarify the contributions of each T cell type to the regulation of squamous cell carcinoma induced in FVB mice by a two-stage regimen of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene initiation followed by repetitive application of the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate. This protocol permits one to monitor the induction of papillomas and the progression of those papillomas to carcinomas. The results show that whereas γδ cells are strongly protective, the nonredundant contributions of αβ T cells to the host's protection against papillomas are more modest. Furthermore, at both high and low doses of carcinogens, αβ T cells can contribute to rather than inhibit the progression of papillomas to carcinomas. As is likely to be the case in humans, this study also shows that the contribution of T cells to tumor immunosurveillance is regulated by modifier genes.
“Social marketing” would boost effectiveness of health campaigns, says report
Authors: Adrian O'Dowd
Journal: BMJ (2006)

The Department of Health should adopt slick marketing techniques used in advertising to promote public health issues in England, says a report published this week.

The report, from the National Consumer Council, argues that the concept of “social marketing” could help the government improve the efficiency of the NHS and achieve many of its goals in improving public health.

The technique of social marketing requires an organisation, before it launches a campaign, to explore people's motivations and behaviour and consider what would change that behaviour.

The health department commissioned the council's National Social Marketing Centre to carry out an independent review of the technique. The resulting report says that …
Methionine Metabolism and Liver Disease
Authors: José M. Mato, M. Luz Martínez-Chantar, Shelly C. Lu
Journal: Annual Review of Nutrition (2008)

In the early 1930s, Banting and Best, the discoverers of insulin, found that choline could prevent the development of fatty liver disease (steatosis) in pancreatectomized dogs treated with insulin. Later work indicated that in rats and mice, diets deficient in labile methyl groups (choline, methionine, betaine, folate) produced fatty liver and that long-term administration of diets deficient in choline and methionine also caused hepatocellular carcinoma. These experiments not only linked steatosis and diabetes but also provided evidence, for the first time, of the importance of labile methyl group balance to maintain normal liver function. This conclusion is now amply supported by the observation of mice devoid of key enzymes of methionine and folate metabolism and in patients with severe deficiencies in these enzymes. Moreover, treatments with various methionine metabolites in experimental animal models of liver disease show hepatoprotective properties.
Molecular Pathways in Invasive Bladder Cancer: New Insights Into Mechanisms, Progression, and Target Identification
Authors: Anirban P. Mitra, Ram H. Datar, Richard J. Cote
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2006)

Papillary and invasive cancers of the urinary bladder appear to evolve and progress through distinct molecular pathways. Invasion in bladder cancer forebodes a graver prognosis, and these tumors are generally characterized by alterations in the p53 and retinoblastoma (RB) pathways that normally regulate the cell cycle by interacting with the Ras–mitogen activated protein kinase signal transduction pathway. Tumor angiogenesis further contributes to the neoplastic growth by providing a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients. Distinct epigenetic and genetic events characterize the interplay between the molecules involved in these pathways, thus affording their use as indicators of prognosis. Efforts are now underway to construct molecular panels comprising multiple markers that can serve as more robust predictors of outcome. While clinical trials for targeted chemotherapy for bladder cancer have commenced, novel genetic and pharmacologic agents that can target pathway-specific molecules are currently under development. The next generation of clinical management for urothelial carcinoma will witness the use of multimarker panels for prognostic prediction and combination therapy directed at novel molecular targets for treatment.
It's time for change with the management of non-specific chronic low back pain
Authors: Peter O'Sullivan
Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine (2011)

Low back pain (LBP) is the second greatest cause of disability in the USA.1 USA data supports that in spite of an enormous increase in the health resources spent on LBP disorders, the disability relating to them continues to increase.2 The management of LBP is underpinned by the exponential increase in the use of physical therapies, opiod medications, spinal injections as well as disc replacement and fusion surgery.2 This is maintained by the underlying belief that LBP is fundamentally a patho-anatomical disorder and should be treated within a biomedical model.1 This is in spite of calls over a number of years to adopt a bio-psycho-social approach, and evidence that only 8–15% of patients with LBP have an identified patho-anatomical diagnosis, resulting in the majority being diagnosed as having non-specific LBP.3 Of this population, a small but significant group becomes chronic and disabled, labelled non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP), consuming a disproportionate amount of healthcare resources.4

1.  Over the past decade, the traditional biomedical view of LBP has been greatly challenged. This is a result of: the failure of simplistic single-dimensional therapies to show large effects in patients with NSCLBP5–8;

2.  the results of clinical trials testing commonly prescribed interventions demonstrating that no management approaches are clearly superior5–7 9;

3.  the stories of NSCLBP patients relating their own ongoing pain experiences of multiple failed treatments, conflicting diagnoses, lost hope and ongoing suffering10;

4.  the indisputable evidence supporting the multidimensional nature of NSCLBP as a disorder, where disability levels are more closely associated with cognitive and behavioural aspects of pain rather than sensory and biomedical ones11 12;

5.  positive outcomes in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are best predicted by changes in psychological distress, fear avoidance beliefs, self-efficacy in …
From basic lesions to a pathological staging of pulmonary fibrosis
Authors: Irina Stoia Djeska, Marius Raica, Alexandru Nicodin, Voicu Tudorache
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2012)

Introduction: Pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by some morphological basic lesions which are associated to different degrees at the time of diagnosis. Based on this issue, a pathological staging of pulmonary fibrosis could be helpful to predict the evolution and the response to therapy.

Material and methods: We have quantified the severity of lesions on 20 patients with lung fibrosis namely: the aspect of the pulmonary parenchyma, the presence and density of the inflammatory infiltration, the density and distribution of the macrophages and the extension of fibrosis.

Specimens of lung parenchyma were obtained by video assisted thoracoscopy and slides were stained with routine haematoxylin-eosin, Masson's thricrome methods and Gordon Sweet silver stained. Each case was assigned a histological score on a scale of 0 – 12 and a degree of severity (I-IV).

Results: four cases (20%) of degree IV (10-12) had a poor survival. There were found major changes of the parenchyma, extended nodular fibrosis and inflammatory infiltration as a marker for progressive evolution. Twelve cases (60%) of degree III (7-9) showed collagen fibres in homogenous fascicles and variable evolution and four cases (20%) of degree II (4-6) were more likely to remain stable. Collagen fibres were not organised in fascicles.

Conclusion: Histological score could represent a useful tool in the evaluation of pulmonary fibrosis and reflects its heterogeneity. Our results suggest that the actual scoring system of pulmonary fibrosis can be improved, to give more precise information about clinical outcome.
Change, we have to
Authors: K. Abbasi
Journal: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (2008)

Tonight, I will be attending the 10th Anniversary Dinner of the South Asian Health Foundation. It will be a celebration of a decade of joint working across religious and national backgrounds to improve patient care for the UK‘s South Asian population. I will have an opportunity to speak and comment on the value of dialogue and collaboration.

When this organization was launched, India and Pakistan, South Asia‘s nuclear powers, were not talking. They were on the brink of all-out war. Now, India‘s talismanic city, Mumbai, has been brutally violated by men of Pakistani origin and armies are gathering again. Dialogue and collaboration seem even more vital than ever.

These themes were part of the message that propelled Barack Obama to a historic victory in the United States presidential election. They were essential ingredients of his recipe for change that won favour with America and throughout the world. Change is easier to talk about and much harder to achieve.

Classically, we miscalculate the speed of change, believing that political decisions, technological advances and scientific breakthroughs will bring about rapid change when they take many years to have an effect. How long did it take a man of mixed race to become president of the United States? How many years before technology improves the lives of the hundreds of millions of our fellows who live and die in abject poverty? How long do we wait for the promise of genomics and gene therapy to produce clinical benefits?

Change, also, means different things to different people. And how would you know change if you saw it? Change in healthcare is particularly problematic. General practitioners, hospital specialists, managers, policy-makers and patients may have a different view of change for any given condition. Healthcare change in a community hospital in Africa will have different attributes to healthcare change at the Massachusetts General in Boston.

In this year of Barack Obama, the credit crunch and the Mumbai attacks – the year of change – I asked an international panel of health professionals for their opinion on what would constitute genuine change in healthcare. I asked each of them to make their contribution directly relevant to their work or say whatever they felt strongest about. In return, I received passion, anger, wisdom, and even sarcasm and poetry. My conclusion is that it is not a case of change because we can, but change because we have to.

You will find the responses at the back of this issue (JRSM 2008;101:611–13). In between you will encounter politics, sex, religion and art – the essential ingredients of a December journal. I suggest that is not a formula to be changed.
Induction Chemotherapy Followed by Either Chemoradiotherapy or Bioradiotherapy for Larynx Preservation: The TREMPLIN Randomized Phase II Study
Authors: Jean Louis Lefebvre, Yoann Pointreau, Frederic Rolland, Marc Alfonsi, Alain Baudoux, Christian Sire, Dominique de Raucourt, Olivier Malard, Marian Degardin, Claude Tuchais, Emmanuel Blot, Michel Rives, Emile Reyt, Jean Marc Tourani, Lionel Geoffrois, Frederic Peyrade, Francois Guichard, Dominique Chevalier, Emmanuel Babin, Philippe Lang, Francois Janot, Gilles Calais, Pascal Garaud, Etienne Bardet
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2013)

Purpose To compare the efficacy and safety of induction chemotherapy (ICT) followed by chemoradiotherapy (CRT) or bioradiotherapy (BRT) for larynx preservation (LP). Patients and Methods Previously untreated patients with stage III to IV larynx/hypopharynx squamous cell carcinoma received three cycles of ICT—docetaxel and cisplatin 75 mg/m 2 each on day 1 and fluorouracil 750 mg/m 2 per day on days 1 through 5. Poor responders (&lt; 50% response) underwent salvage surgery. Responders (≥ 50% response) were randomly assigned to conventional radiotherapy (RT; 70 Gy) with concurrent cisplatin 100 mg/m 2 per day on days 1, 22, and 43 of RT (arm A) or concurrent cetuximab 400 mg/m 2 loading dose and 250 mg/m 2 per week during RT (arm B). Primary end point was LP at 3 months. Secondary end points were larynx function preservation (LFP) and overall survival (OS) at 18 months. Results Of the 153 enrolled patients, 116 were randomly assigned after ICT (60, arm A; 56, arm B). Overall toxicity of both CRT and BRT was substantial following ICT. However, treatment compliance was higher in the BRT arm. In an intent-to-treat analysis, there was no significant difference in LP at 3 months between arms A and B (95% and 93%, respectively), LFP (87% and 82%, respectively), and OS at 18 months (92% and 89%, respectively). There were fewer local treatment failures in arm A than in arm B; salvage surgery was feasible in arm B only. Conclusion There is no evidence that one treatment was superior to the other or could improve the outcome reported with ICT followed by RT alone (French Groupe Oncologie Radiothérapie Tête et Cou [GORTEC] 2000-01 trial [Induction CT by Cisplatin, 5FU With or Without Docetaxel in Patients With T3 and T4 Larynx and Hypopharynx Carcinoma]). The protocol that can best compare with RT alone after ICT is still to be determined.
Oxygen consumption and hemodynamic response of exercises used in training of patients with recent myocardial infarction.
Authors: G F Fletcher, J D Cantwell, E W Watt
Journal: Circulation (1979)

We investigated oxygen consumption (ml/kg/min) and hemodynamic response (peak heart rate-systolic blood pressure product) to individual exercise activities before and after exercise training in 22 male postmyocardial infarction patients (PMIP). Activities included swimming, walk/jogging, volleyball, calisthenics and exercise dance routines. Oxygen consumption was determined immediately after exercise by the Douglas bag gas collection procedure and, in selected patients, by a Max Planck respirometer during exercise. Hemodynamic data were obtained by pulse count and cuff sphygmomanometer. The increase in oxygen consumption and the decrease in rate-pressure product after each activity were significant (p less than or equal to 0.01). There were no differences in oxygen consumption between the Max Planck respirometer technique and collection (Douglas bag method) immediately after exercise. The oxygen consumption obtained for PMIP compared with available cumulative data on normal subjects is significantly variable, suggesting the need for caution when prescribing exercise for the PMIP based on energy costs of standard exercise measurements in normals. This was particularly relevant because of the significantly high oxygen consumption incurred during swimming.
Autoantibodies directed against heart antigens and endocrine reactivity in patients with recent myocardial infarction
Authors: J. KUCH
Journal: Cardiovascular Research (1973)

In 32 patients with acute myocardial infarction parallel hormonal determinations (catecholamines in blood and urine, 17-OHCS in urine, and PBI in blood) and immunological investigations (by the method of immunofluorescence) were carried out. Group A comprised 11 IF-positive patients, while group B consisted of the remaining 21 IF-negative patients. High values of adrenaline were significantly more frequent two weeks after the onset of the disease in group B than in group A. In group B patients significantly increased urinary excretion of 17-OHCS throughout the first week was found. As far as other hormonal determinations were concerned, there were differences between the groups studied. It is suggested that the reactivity of the adrenergic system and adrenocortical steroids may inhibit the immunological response in patients with acute myocardial infarction.