tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Smoking and lung functions in sportsmen.
Authors: A K De, M M Tripathi
Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine (1988)

Ten smoker sportsmen and 17 non-smoker sportsmen and 41 smoker non-sportsmen were studied. Lung function was assessed by means of Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1), the ratio of FEV1 to FVC (FEV1%) and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR). For the smokers, all the tests were conducted before smoking (BS) and 30 min after smoking (AS) two cigarettes consecutively to observe the acute effect of smoking. In the smoker sportsmen there was no significant difference between BS and AS measures of lung function. Before smoking smoker sportsmen had lower values for FEV1, FEV1% and PEFR than non-smoker sportsmen (p less than 0.05). However, smoker sportsmen show higher BS values of FEV1 (p less than 0.01), FEV1% (p less than 0.01) and PEFR (p less than 0.05) compared with those of smoker non-sportsmen who had similar smoking indices. These results indicated that the smoker sportsmen, despite exhibiting some degree of lung function impairment in relation to non-smoker sportsmen, still maintained rather better lung function status than the smoker non-sportsmen.
Classification and diagnostic criteria for psoriatic arthritis
Authors: P S Helliwell
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2005)

The study of psoriatic arthritis is difficult and has lagged behind the study of other arthropathies in that there are no universally agreed or properly validated case definitions.This paper examined the validity and practicality of the original Moll and Wright criteria and subsequent criteria sets. Key features discriminating between psoriatic and other arthropathies were reviewed. A comparative study involving patients with psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis was used to contrast the different classification methods.Although the Moll and Wright criteria continue to be widely used, they have been shown to discriminate poorly between psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis. In comparison, the most sensitive criteria were those of Vasey and Espinoza, McGonagle et al, and Gladman et al (99%), whereas the others were significantly less sensitive (between 56% and 94%). The specificity of all methods was high and statistically similar (between 93% and 99%). Models that had reasonably good accuracy even without such key variables as psoriasis or rheumatoid factor were developed. Spinal involvement continues to be a key feature of psoriatic arthritis, but dissimilarities with classic ankylosing spondylitis have been highlighted.Further work is required to produce classification criteria for psoriatic arthritis. A prospective study collecting clinical, radiological, human leucocyte antigen (HLA) and immunological data from both psoriatic and non-psoriatic cases should provide agreed criteria for use in psoriatic arthritis studies in the future.
Germline Variants and Advanced Colorectal Adenomas: Adenoma Prevention with Celecoxib Trial Genome-wide Association Study
Authors: Jiping Wang, Luis G. Carvajal-Carmona, Jen-Hwa Chu, Ann G. Zauber, Michikai Kubo, Koichi Matsuda, Malcolm Dunlop, Richard S. Houlston, Oliver Sieber, Lara Lipton, Peter Gibbs, Nicholas G. Martin, Grant W. Montgomery, Joanne Young, Paul N. Baird, Mark J. Ratain, Yusuke Nakamura, Scott T. Weiss, Ian Tomlinson, Monica M. Bertagnolli
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2013)

Abstract Purpose: Identification of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) associated with development of advanced colorectal adenomas. Experimental Design: Discovery phase: 1,406 Caucasian patients (139 advanced adenoma cases and 1,267 controls) from the Adenoma Prevention with Celecoxib (APC) trial were included in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify variants associated with postpolypectomy disease recurrence. Genome-wide significance was defined as false discovery rate less than 0.05, unadjusted P = 7.4 × 10−7. Validation phase: results were further evaluated using 4,175 familial colorectal adenoma cases and 5,036 controls from patients of European ancestry [COloRectal Gene Identification consortium (CORGI), Scotland, Australia, and VQ58]. Results: Our study identified eight SNPs associated with advanced-adenoma risk in the APC trial (rs2837156, rs7278863, rs2837237, rs2837241, rs2837254, rs741864 at 21q22.2, and rs1381392 and rs17651822 at 3p24.1, at P &amp;lt; 10−7 level with OR &amp;gt; 2). Five variants in strong pairwise linkage disequilibrium (rs7278863, rs2837237, rs741864, rs741864, and rs2837241; r2 = 0.8–1) are in or near the coding region for the tight junction adhesion protein, IGSF5. An additional variant associated with advanced adenomas, rs1535989 [minor allele frequency, 0.11; OR, 2.09; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.50–2.91], also predicted colorectal cancer development in a validation analysis (P = 0.019) using a series of adenoma cases or colorectal cancer (CORGI study) and 3 sets of colorectal cancer cases and controls (Scotland, VQ58, and Australia; N = 9,211). Conclusions: Our results suggest that common polymorphisms contribute to the risk of developing advanced adenomas and might also contribute to the risk of developing colorectal cancer. The variant at rs1535989 may identify patients whose risk for neoplasia warrants increased colonoscopic surveillance. Clin Cancer Res; 19(23); 6430–7. ©2013 AACR.
Induction of type-IIA secretory phospholipase A2 in animal models of acute lung injury
Authors: H.L. Attalah, Y. Wu, M. Alaoui-El-Azher, F. Thouron, K. Koumanov, C. Wolf, L. Brochard, A. Harf, C. Delclaux, L. Touqui
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2003)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of type-II secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIA) in alveolar space and its possible role in the destruction of surfactant in three rat models of acute lung injury. Alveolar instillation of either lipopolysaccaride or live Pseudomonas aeruginosa resulted in a significant increase in lung oedema and in a decrease in static compliance of the respiratory system together with alveolar-neutrophil influx as compared with healthy control rats. The upregulation of messenger ribonucleic acid and sPLA2-IIA by the lung was evident. This was associated with surfactant degradation and a decrease in large:small ratio of surfactant aggregates in bacteria-instilled rats. A negative correlation between compliance and sPLA2-IIA activity in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was shown. By contrast, during alpha naphthylthiourea-induced injury, neither alveolar-neutrophil influx nor increase in sPLA2-IIA activity was observed. Additional experiments in rats treated with a specific inhibitor of type-II secretory phospholipase A2 activity (3 acetamine-1-benzyl-2 ethylindolyl-5 oxy; propane phosphonic acid (LY311727)) demonstrated no improvement in physiological parameters despite a biochemical effect, suggesting that its activity is only one of the multiple factors involved in the pathophysiology of lung injury.
Family income, parental education and brain structure in children and adolescents
Authors: Kimberly G Noble, Suzanne M Houston, Natalie H Brito, Hauke Bartsch, Eric Kan, Joshua M Kuperman, Natacha Akshoomoff, David G Amaral, Cinnamon S Bloss, Ondrej Libiger, Nicholas J Schork, Sarah S Murray, B J Casey, Linda Chang, Thomas M Ernst, Jean A Frazier, Jeffrey R Gruen, David N Kennedy, Peter Van Zijl, Stewart Mostofsky, Walter E Kaufmann, Tal Kenet, Anders M Dale, Terry L Jernigan, Elizabeth R Sowell
Journal: Nature Neuroscience (2015)
Neutrophil Membrane Expression of Proteinase 3 (PR3) Is Related to Relapse in PR3-ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
Authors: Agnieszka A. Rarok, Coen A. Stegeman, Pieter C. Limburg, Cees G. M. Kallenberg
Journal: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (2002)

ABSTRACT. Wegener granulomatosis (WG) is strongly associated with the presence of antineutrophil cytoplasm autoantibodies (ANCA) with specificity for proteinase 3 (PR3). Relapses of WG are frequently preceded by a rise of autoantibody titer and PR3-ANCA are able to activate primed neutrophils <i>in vitro</i>. Except being stored intracellularly and translocated to the cell surface upon neutrophil stimulation, PR3 can also be detected on the surface of non-stimulated neutrophils (membrane PR3 or mPR3), with an interindividual variability in percentages of mPR3<sup>−</sup>-positive cells and level of mPR3 expression. This study began with the hypothesis that the presence of PR3 on the surface of non-stimulated neutrophils enables interaction with PR3-ANCA and influences clinical manifestations of the disease. It analyzed mPR3 expression on neutrophils of 89 WG patients in complete remission and 72 healthy controls to evaluate whether the presence of PR3 on the surface of resting neutrophils is related to clinical manifestations of WG and/or to the susceptibility to develop relapses. The number of patients with a bimodal mPR3 expression on resting neutrophils did not differ between patients and controls. However, in WG patients, an increased percentage of mPR3<sup>+</sup> neutrophils and an elevated level of mPR3 expression compared with healthy individuals (<i>P</i> = 0.037) were found. Within the group of WG patients, an elevated level of mPR3 expression was significantly associated with an increased risk for relapse (<i>P</i> = 0.021) and with an increased relapse rate (<i>P</i> = 0.011), but not with the disease extent or particular manifestations at diagnosis or at relapse. These data support the hypothesis that PR3 expression on the membrane of neutrophils plays a role in the pathophysiology of PR3-ANCA associated vasculitis.
A Test of the Null Model for 5' UTR Evolution Based on GC Content
Authors: M. Reuter, J. Engelstadter, P. Fontanillas, L. D. Hurst
Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution (2008)

Eukaryotic mRNAs are headed by a stretch of noncoding sequence, the 5′ untranslated region (UTR). It has been proposed that the length of 5′ UTRs is selectively neutral and evolves under a process of stochastic destruction and recruitment of core promoter elements, combined with selection against the premature initiation of translation. We test this null model by investigating whether 5′ UTR length varies with genomic GC content, an implicit prediction of the model. Using simulations, we show that the null model predicts a positive relationship between GC content and UTR length for genes regulated by a TATA box. Although this prediction is borne out qualitatively in genomic data from yeast, fruit flies, and humans, we find marked quantitative discrepancies. We conclude that UTR length may be shaped to some degree by the forces considered in the null model but that the model fails to provide a complete explanation for UTR length evolution.
Low Yield of Colonoscopy for Melaena Following a Normal Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy: A 5-year Analysis
Authors: S. H. Yung, J. Coughlan, S. M. Everett, A. C. Ford
Journal: Gut (2011)

<h3>Introduction</h3> Patients with melaena with a normal upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy often undergo colonoscopy, due to concerns they may have a caecal or right-sided colonic carcinoma. We investigated yield of colonoscopy in this group of patients, and the proportion with an entirely normal upper GI endoscopy, without any clinically relevant findings. <h3>Methods</h3> This was a retrospective analysis of data collected prospectively within a single centre between January 2005 and September 2010. All patients undergoing colonoscopy for melaena were identified. Only data from patients who had also undergone an upper GI endoscopy, with melaena as the primary indication, in the prior 3 months were included. Gender, age, comorbidity (American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) score), quality of bowel preparation, extent of colonoscopy, colonoscopic findings, and histopathology (where relevant) were recorded. A normal upper GI endoscopy, without clinically relevant findings, was defined as one where none of severe erosive oesophagitis, non-bleeding varices, non-bleeding gastric or duodenal ulcer, multiple non-bleeding gastric or duodenal erosions, gastro-oesophageal malignancy, or non-bleeding angiodysplasia were reported. <h3>Results</h3> In total, 166 patients had colonoscopy for melaena with an upper GI endoscopy for the same indication in the previous 3 months. Of these, 139 (83.7%) had complete colonoscopy, and contributed data. Mean patient age was 66.6 years (range 22–92 years), and 87 (62.6%) were male. Median ASA score was 2. Quality of bowel preparation was adequate, or better, in 107 (77.0%) patients, poor in 17 (12.2%), and unreported in the remainder. A potential lower GI cause for melaena was found in 11 (7.9%) patients. Six had angiodysplasia, 4 histologically-confirmed inflammatory bowel disease or ulceration, and 1 (0.7%) a caecal cancer. Three other patients had visible blood or melaena, with no definite lower GI cause identified. Excluding these 3 from the analysis, 102 (75.0%) of 136 had an entirely normal upper GI endoscopy, without clinically relevant findings. 9 of 11 (81.8%) patients with and 93/125 (74.4%) without a lower GI cause of melaena at colonoscopy had an entirely normal upper GI endoscopy (p = 0.82). There were no significant differences in patient age (p = 0.39), gender (p = 0.89), or ASA status (p = 0.32) between those with and without an identifiable lower GI cause for their melaena. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Up to 25% of patients who proceeded to colonoscopy had clinically relevant findings at upper GI endoscopy that may have accounted for their presentation with melaena. However, an entirely normal upper GI endoscopy did not predict findings at colonoscopy. Less than 1 in 10 patients with melaena who had colonoscopy had a lower GI cause detectable, and less than 1% had colon cancer. <h3>Competing interests</h3> None.
Biliopancreatic malignancy current diagnostic possibilities: An overview
Authors: J.T. Ferrucci
Journal: Annals of Oncology (1999)

Modern imaging of pancreatic cancer remains a daily challenge both for detection and staging. Helical CT scanning, MRI, and more recently endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) all contribute. Demonstration of local vascular anatomy for assessing resectability is increasingly performed by non-invasive methods such as CT and MR angiography avoiding the need for traditional catheter angiograms. While a variety of primary tumors can occur in the pancreas ductal adenocarcinoma is by far the most important clinically accounting for c.80% of pancreatic neoplasms. Moreover, cancer of the pancreas presents more frequent and complex diagnostic imaging problems than carcinomas of the biliary tract and will form the focus of this discussion.
Allergen-induced Early and Late Asthmatic Responses Are Not Affected by Inhibition of Endogenous Nitric Oxide
Authors: DAVID A. TAYLOR, JENNIFER L. McGRATH, BRIAN J. O'CONNOR, PETER J. BARNES
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (1998)

Endogenous exhaled nitric oxide (NO) is increased during the late response to inhaled allergen in patients with asthma and may be bronchoprotective in asthma or have a deleterious effect when generated in excess under inflammatory conditions. To investigate this, we evaluated the effect of inhibiting endogenous NO production with nebulized N G-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME), a nonselective NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, on early and late asthmatic responses to inhaled allergen in patients with mild allergic asthma. After a screening allergen challenge (AC), 22 male patients attended two visits conducted in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover manner. Twelve patients demonstrating an early asthmatic response only (single responders) inhaled either l-NAME 170 mg or 0.9% saline 20 min before AC, with exhaled NO and FEV1 measured for 3 h. Ten patients demonstrating both early and late asthmatic responses (dual responders) were studied in a similar fashion but inhaled two further doses of l-NAME or placebo 3.5 and 7 h after the initial dose, with exhaled NO and FEV1 measured for 10 h. l-NAME reduced exhaled NO levels by 77 ± 5% (p < 0.01) and 71 ± 7% (p < 0.01) in single and dual responders, respectively, but had no significant effect on early or late asthmatic responses. Following AC in single responders, the mean ( ± SEM) maximum fall in FEV1 after l-NAME and saline was 21.2 ± 2.9% and 23.8 ± 3.0%, respectively, and in dual responders, 31.2 ± 4.5% and 31.8 ± 5.8% during the early asthmatic responses, and 27.4 ± 3.9% and 30.6 ± 4.5% during the late asthmatic responses, respectively. Area under the curve (AUC) did not significantly differ. AUC0–2 h in single responders after l-NAME and saline was 20.2 ± 3.9 and 24.9 ± 4.4 Δ % FEV1/h, and in dual responders, 37.6 ± 8.4 and 36.7 ± 8.4 Δ % FEV1/h, respectively, and 106.2 ± 18.9 and 117.1 ± 22.4 Δ % FEV1/h, respectively, for the AUC4–10 h. This study suggests that in mild allergic asthma, endogenous NO neither protects against nor contributes to the processes underlying airway responses to inhaled allergen.
Nitric Oxide–Dependent Activation of P53 Suppresses Bleomycin-Induced Apoptosis in the Lung
Authors: Darren W. Davis, Douglas A. Weidner, Andrij Holian, David J. McConkey
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (2000)

Chronic inflammation leading to pulmonary fibrosis develops in response to environmental pollutants, radiotherapy, or certain cancer chemotherapeutic agents. We speculated that lung injury might be mediated by p53, a proapoptotic transcription factor widely implicated in the response of cells to DNA damage. Intratracheal administration of bleomycin led to caspase-mediated DNA fragmentation characteristic of apoptosis. The effects of bleomycin were associated with translocation of p53 from the cytosol to the nucleus only in alveolar macrophages that had been exposed to the drug in vivo, suggesting that the lung microenvironment regulated p53 activation. Experiments with a thiol antioxidant (N-acetylcysteine) in vivo and nitric oxide (NO) donors in vitro confirmed that reactive oxygen species were required for p53 activation. A specific role for NO was demonstrated in experiments with inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)(-/)- macrophages, which failed to demonstrate nuclear p53 localization after in vivo bleomycin exposure. Strikingly, rates of bleomycin-induced apoptosis were at least twofold higher in p53(-/)- C57BL/6 mice compared with heterozygous or wild-type littermates. Similarly, levels of apoptosis were also twofold higher in the lungs of iNOS(-/)- mice than were observed in wild-type controls. Consistent with a role for apoptosis in chronic lung injury, levels of bleomycin-induced inflammation were substantially higher in iNOS(-/)- and p53(-/)- mice compared with wild-type controls. Together, our results demonstrate that iNOS and p53 mediate a novel apoptosis-suppressing pathway in the lung.
Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 4 Is Silenced by Hypermethylation and Induces Apoptosis in β-Catenin–Deficient Human Mesothelioma Cells
Authors: Biao He, Amie Y. Lee, Sina Dadfarmay, Liang You, Zhidong Xu, Noemi Reguart, Julien Mazieres, Iwao Mikami, Frank McCormick, David M. Jablons
Journal: Cancer Research (2005)

The secreted frizzled-related proteins (SFRPs) function as negative regulators of Wnt signaling and have important implications in tumorigenesis. Frequent promoter hypermethylation of SFRPs has been identified in human cancer. Restoration of SFRP function attenuates Wnt signaling and induces apoptosis in a variety of cancer types. Wnt signaling is known to inhibit apoptosis through activation of beta-catenin/Tcf-mediated transcription. Recently, we identified aberrant Wnt activation as a result of Dishevelled overexpression in malignant mesothelioma. Here, we report that silencing of SFRP4 is correlated with promoter hypermethylation in beta-catenin-deficient mesothelioma cell lines. Reexpression of SFRP4 in these beta-catenin-deficient mesothelioma cell lines blocks Wnt signaling, induces apoptosis, and suppresses growth. Conversely, knocking down SFRP4 by small interfering RNA in cell lines expressing both SFRP4 and beta-catenin stimulates Wnt signaling, promotes cell growth, and inhibits chemodrug-induced apoptosis. Our results suggest that methylation silencing of SFRP4 may play an important role in aberrant Wnt activation in mesothelioma even in the absence of beta-catenin. Our data also suggest that beta-catenin-independent noncanonical pathway(s) may be involved in the apoptotic inhibition caused by activation of Wnt signaling.
Gangliosides as markers for murine lymphocyte subpopulations.
Authors: K Stein-Douglas, G A Schwarting, M Naiki, D M Marcus
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1976)

Antibodies to GM1 ganglioside were used to study murine lymphocyte populations. In A, AKR, and BALB/c mice, anti-GM1 reacts with thymocytes and peripheral T cells. This reactivity of anti-GM1, studied by immunofluorescence, is independent of Thy-1 type and appears to be related to the reactivity of cross-reacting antibodies to asialo GM1 and GD1b, rather than GM1 itself. In addition, a subpopulation of lymphocytes reacting with anti-GM1 and anti-immunoglobulin has been found in approximately 26% of the peripheral lymphocytes of C3H mice, nude mice, and nude heterozygotes. This subpopulation is found in small numbers in A, AKR, and BALB/c mice. These studies demonstrate that antibodies to a chemically defined antigen can be used to identify T cells in many strains of mice and may delineate previously unrecognized lymphocyte subpopulations.
EFFICACY OF A PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER EDUCATION-INHERENT INJURY PREVENTION PROGRAM
Authors: L Goossens, G Cardon, E Witvrouw, D De Clercq
Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine (2014)

Background Since physical education teacher education (PETE) students have to deal with a considerable amount of non-contact injuries to the lower limbs (Goossens et al. , 2013), strategies relying on preventive exercises might reduce injury incidence in this population. Objective Is a prevention program for injuries to the lower limbs efficacious in reducing the injury incidence and does it enhance functional performance, self-reported behaviour and consciousness, motivation and knowledge towards injury prevention?. Design The study followed a historically controlled design with prospective injury registration and a pre-post design without control group concerning the other outcomes. Setting Freshmen academic bachelor PETE students (±7 hours of intracurricular sports activities weekly) of three consecutive years took part in the study. Participants The control group (CG) consisted of 128 freshmen students in academic year (AY) 2010–11 and 102 freshmen students in AY 2011–12. The intervention group (IG) consisted of 88 freshmen students in AY 2012–13. Intervention The prevention program ran during 1 AY and had 2 main components: an injury awareness program (information brochure, theoretical course, posters, website, technical training) and the application of active strategies (warm-up, cool-down, stretching, dynamic stabilization, functional strength and core stability). Main outcome measurements Injury risk and incidence rate were the primary outcomes. Functional performance of Lateral Step Down (LSD) and Single Leg Hop and Hold for Distance (SLHHD), self-reported behaviour, consciousness, motivation and knowledge towards injury prevention were secondary outcomes. Results The IG had a lower injury risk (0.77 Vs. 0.89) and incidence rate (2.34 Vs. 2.72) than the CG. Self-reported behaviour (P&lt;.01), consciousness (P&lt;.01) and knowledge (P=.01) towards injury prevention and functional performance of LSD (P&lt;.01) and SLHHD (P&lt;.01) were significantly better after the intervention. Conclusions An intervention for the prevention of injuries to the lower limbs in PETE students is efficacious, but more feasibility studies are needed.