tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Cell Cycle–Dependent Antagonistic Interactions between Paclitaxel and γ-Radiation in Combination Therapy
Authors: Meihua Sui, Jennifer M. Dziadyk, Xueming Zhu, Weimin Fan
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2004)

Abstract Purpose: The promising clinical activity of paclitaxel, a naturally occurring antimicrotubule agent, has promoted considerable interest in combining this drug with radiation therapy, but it remains unclear whether such a combination would increase the therapeutic efficacy. This study is to assess the potential interactions between paclitaxel and γ-radiation against human tumor cells in vitro. Experimental Design: Paclitaxel and γ-radiation were administered in three different sequences designated as pre-radiated, co-radiated, and post-radiated to BCap37 (human breast cancer cell line) and KB (human epidermoid carcinoma cell line) cells. The cytotoxic interactions between and mutual influences of these two agents on their antitumor activities were analyzed by a series of assays including cytotoxic, morphological, and biochemical examinations. Results: The combination of paclitaxel and γ-radiation did not produce a synergistic or additive effect. Instead, the overall in vitro cytotoxicity of these combinations was much lower than that of paclitaxel treatment alone. DNA fragmentation and flow cytometric assays showed that the addition of γ-radiation interfered with paclitaxel-induced apoptosis. Further analyses indicated that the addition of γ-radiation resulted in a transient or prolonged cell cycle arrest at G2 phase, which likely prevented the cytotoxic effects of paclitaxel on both mitotic arrest and apoptosis. In addition, biochemical examinations revealed that γ-radiation inhibited paclitaxel-induced IκBα degradation and bcl-2 phosphorylation and increased the protein levels of cyclin B1 and inhibitory phosphorylation of p34cdc2. Conclusions: Our results suggest that γ-radiation might specifically block the cell cycle at G2 phase, which in turn prevents the cytotoxic effects of paclitaxel on both mitotic arrest and apoptosis. Therefore, it eventually results in a cell cycle-dependent antagonistic effect on the antitumor activity of paclitaxel. This finding may be relevant to the clinical application of combination therapy with paclitaxel and radiation.
Bronchial angiogenesis in severe glucocorticoid-dependent asthma
Authors: B. Vrugt, S Wilson, A. Bron, S.t Holgate, R Djukanovic, R Aalbers
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2000)

To examine the role of the bronchial microvasculature and adhesion molecule expression in severe asthma, the authors have performed an immunohistochemical study on bronchial biopsies comparing 15 glucocorticoid-dependent asthmatics, 15 mild asthmatics and eight control subjects. Serially cut glycol methacrylate-embedded sections were stained with monoclonal antibodies identifying the vessel marker EN-4, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, E- and P-selectin. Sections were also stained for lymphocyte function associated antigen (LFA)-1 and very late antigen (VLA)-4. By comparison with mild asthma and nonasthma, severe asthma was characterized by increased numbers of submucosal vessels (p=0.009) which was associated with increased numbers of vessels expressing ICAM-1 (p=0.005). A highly significant correlation was found between the total number of EN-4+ vessels and the vessels expressing ICAM-1 (r=0.85, p=0.01). In contrast, E-selectin expression was lower in severe as compared with mild asthma (p=0.01) but not different from normal. No differences were found between the three groups in the expression of VCAM-1 and P-selectin nor in numbers of LFA-1+ and VLA-4+ cells. The results of this study support the notion that mucosal neovascularization is an important feature of airways remodelling in severe asthma. This is associated with a relatively higher density of vessels expressing intercellular adhesion molecule-1, although the expression of this adhesion molecule per vessel was not raised.
Quality of Life Questionnaire-Bronchiectasis: final psychometric analyses and determination of minimal important difference scores
Authors: Alexandra L Quittner, Anne E O'Donnell, Matthias A Salathe, Sandra A Lewis, Xiaoming Li, A Bruce Montgomery, Thomas G O'Riordan, Alan F Barker
Journal: Thorax (2014)

<h3>Background</h3> The Quality of Life-Bronchiectasis (QOL-B), a self-administered, patient-reported outcome measure assessing symptoms, functioning and health-related quality of life for patients with non-cystic fibrosis (CF) bronchiectasis, contains 37 items on 8 scales (Respiratory Symptoms, Physical, Role, Emotional and Social Functioning, Vitality, Health Perceptions and Treatment Burden). <h3>Methods</h3> Psychometric analyses of QOL-B V.3.0 used data from two double-blind, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase III trials of aztreonam for inhalation solution (AZLI) in 542 patients with non-CF bronchiectasis and Gram-negative endobronchial infection. <h3>Results</h3> Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach9s α ≥0.70) and 2-week test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients ≥0.72) were demonstrated for each scale. Convergent validity with 6 min walk test was observed for Physical and Role Functioning scores. No floor or ceiling effects (baseline scores of 0 or 100) were found for the Respiratory Symptoms scale (primary endpoint of trials). Baseline Respiratory Symptoms scores discriminated between patients based on baseline FEV<sub>1</sub>% predicted in only one trial. The minimal important difference score for the Respiratory Symptoms scale was 8.0 points. AZLI did not show efficacy in the two phase III trials. QOL-B responsivity to treatment was assessed by examining changes from baseline QOL-B scores at study visits at which protocol-defined pulmonary exacerbations were reported. Mean Respiratory Symptoms scores decreased 14.0 and 14.2 points from baseline for placebo-treated and AZLI-treated patients with exacerbations, indicating that worsening respiratory symptoms were reflected in clinically meaningful changes in QOL-B scores. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Previously established content validity, reliability and responsivity of the QOL-B are confirmed by this final validation study. The QOL-B is available for use in clinical trials and routine clinical practice.
Prognostic factors in FIGO stage IB–IIA small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the uterine cervix treated surgically: results of a multi-center retrospective Korean study
Authors: J.-M. Lee, K.-B. Lee, J.-H. Nam, S.-Y. Ryu, D.-S. Bae, J.-T. Park, S.-C. Kim, S.-D. Cha, K.-R. Kim, S.-Y. Song, S.-B. Kang
Journal: Annals of Oncology (2007)
Interpreting diagnostic accuracy studies for patient care
Authors: S. Mallett, S. Halligan, M. Thompson, G. S. Collins, D. G. Altman
Journal: BMJ (2012)

A diagnostic test accuracy study provides evidence on how well a test correctly identifies or rules out disease and informs subsequent decisions about treatment for clinicians, their patients, and healthcare providers. The authors highlight several different ways in which data from diagnostic test accuracy studies can be presented and interpreted, and discuss their advantages and disadvantages.
Gene Expression–Based Recurrence Prediction of Hepatitis B Virus–Related Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Hyun Goo Woo, Eun Sung Park, Jae Hee Cheon, Ju Han Kim, Ju-Seog Lee, Bum Joon Park, Won Kim, Su Cheol Park, Young Jin Chung, Byeong Gwan Kim, Jung-Hwan Yoon, Hyo-Suk Lee, Chung Yong Kim, Nam-Joon Yi, Kyung-Suk Suh, Kuhn Uk Lee, In-Sun Chu, Tania Roskams, Snorri S. Thorgeirsson, Yoon Jun Kim
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2008)

Abstract Purpose: The poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is, in part, due to the high rate of recurrence even after “curative resection” of tumors. Therefore, it is axiomatic that the development of an effective prognostic prediction model for HCC recurrence after surgery would, at minimum, help to identify in advance those who would most benefit from the treatment, and at best, provide new therapeutic strategies for patients with a high risk of early recurrence. Experimental Design: For the prediction of the recurrence time in patients with HCC, gene expression profiles were generated in 65 HCC patients with hepatitis B infections. Result: Recurrence-associated gene expression signatures successfully discriminated between patients at high-risk and low-risk of early recurrence (P = 1.9 × 10−6, log-rank test). To test the consistency and robustness of the recurrence signature, we validated its prognostic power in an independent HCC microarray data set. CD24 was identified as a putative biomarker for the prediction of early recurrence. Genetic network analysis suggested that SP1 and peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-α might have regulatory roles for the early recurrence of HCC. Conclusion: We have identified a gene expression signature that effectively predicted early recurrence of HCC independent of microarray platforms and cohorts, and provided novel biological insights into the mechanisms of tumor recurrence.
Adalimumab, a human anti-TNF monoclonal antibody, outcome study for the prevention of joint damage in Japanese patients with early rheumatoid arthritis: the HOPEFUL 1 study
Authors: Tsutomu Takeuchi, Hisashi Yamanaka, Naoki Ishiguro, Nobuyuki Miyasaka, Masaya Mukai, Tsukasa Matsubara, Shoji Uchida, Hideto Akama, Hartmut Kupper, Vipin Arora, Yoshiya Tanaka
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2013)

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of adalimumab+methotrexate (MTX) in Japanese patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had not previously received MTX or biologics. Methods This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre study evaluated adalimumab 40 mg every other week+MTX 6–8 mg every week versus MTX 6–8 mg every week alone for 26 weeks in patients with RA (≤2-year duration). The primary endpoint was inhibition of radiographic progression (change (Δ) from baseline in modified total Sharp score (mTSS)) at week 26. Results A total of 171 patients received adalimumab+MTX (mean dose, 6.2±0.8 mg/week) and 163 patients received MTX alone (mean dose, 6.6±0.6 mg/week, p&lt;0.001). The mean RA duration was 0.3 years and 315 (94.3%) had high disease activity (DAS28&gt;5.1). Adalimumab+MTX significantly inhibited radiographic progression at week 26 versus MTX alone (ΔmTSS, 1.5±6.1 vs 2.4±3.2, respectively; p&lt;0.001). Significantly more patients in the adalimumab+MTX group (62.0%) did not show radiographic progression (ΔmTSS≤0.5) versus the MTX alone group (35.4%; p&lt;0.001). Patients treated with adalimumab+MTX were significantly more likely to achieve American College of Rheumatology responses and achieve clinical remission, using various definitions, at 26 weeks versus MTX alone. Combination therapy was well tolerated, and no new safety signals were observed. Conclusions Adalimumab in combination with low-dose MTX was well tolerated and efficacious in suppressing radiographic progression and improving clinical outcomes in Japanese patients with early RA and high disease activity.
Early Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: N. Egelius, N. G. Havermark, E. Jonsson
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (1949)

The opinion has been held in many quarters (e.g.Freund, 1929; Nyfeldt, 1944) that rheumatoid arthritis most often sets in insidiously and gradually.Kahlmeter (1944) considers it a characteristic feature of rheumatoid arthritis that it has " a pre- dilection for small joints" and that the joint symptoms have a tendency to spread from peripheral joints and centripetally.Nevertheless, there are cases of rheumatoid arthritis that have an acute onset.According to this author, difficulty in differential diagnosis hardly exists.Like Kahlmeter, many people distinguish between two forms of rheumatoid arthritis: one, as described by Charcot, with insidious onset, sym- metrical joint symptoms, and low temperature; and another with more acute onset, febrile reaction, and joint symptoms setting in violently.In British literature especially there are to be found these two types of rheumatoid arthritis under the respective designations of rheumatoid arthritis and infective arthritis.The terms " typical " or " primary " and " atypical " or " secondary " chronic are also not uncommon.Comroe (1944) says that approximately 15 per cent. of the cases do not display the typical, insidious, and creeping start with symmetrical joint symptoms.In some 5 per cent. of cases the rheumatoid arthritis may be " atypical " for several months.These " atypical " cases may at times display symptoms in only one joint.Kinsella (1942) considers that when the disease sets in after the age of 50 it is acute at the outset and with a more rapid course and better prognosis.Ropes and Bauer (1945, cited by Hench and others, 1948) distinguish several types of (chronic) atypical rheumatoid arthritis:(1) with asymmetrical involvement, often a mon- arthritis; (2) with sudden febrile onsets precipitated by acute infection and accompanied by skin rash and migratory joint involvement; (3) bouts of arthritis precipitated by respiratory or other infections and not followed by permanent articular residues ; (4) with febrile onset resembling rheumatic fever (common among soldiers) ; (5) with transient swellings affecting one joint and then another,
Comparative profiling of the sense and antisense transcriptome of maize lines.
Authors: Jiong Ma, Darren J Morrow, John Fernandes, Virginia Walbot
Journal: Genome biology (2006)

There are thousands of maize lines with distinctive normal as well as mutant phenotypes. To determine the validity of comparisons among mutants in different lines, we first address the question of how similar the transcriptomes are in three standard lines at four developmental stages.Four tissues (leaves, 1 mm anthers, 1.5 mm anthers, pollen) from one hybrid and one inbred maize line were hybridized with the W23 inbred on Agilent oligonucleotide microarrays with 21,000 elements. Tissue-specific gene expression patterns were documented, with leaves having the most tissue-specific transcripts. Haploid pollen expresses about half as many genes as the other samples. High overlap of gene expression was found between leaves and anthers. Anther and pollen transcript expression showed high conservation among the three lines while leaves had more divergence. Antisense transcripts represented about 6 to 14 percent of total transcriptome by tissue type but were similar across lines. Gene Ontology (GO) annotations were assigned and tabulated. Enrichment in GO terms related to cell-cycle functions was found for the identified antisense transcripts. Microarray results were validated via quantitative real-time PCR and by hybridization to a second oligonucleotide microarray platform.Despite high polymorphisms and structural differences among maize inbred lines, the transcriptomes of the three lines displayed remarkable similarities, especially in both reproductive samples (anther and pollen). We also identified potential stage markers for maize anther development. A large number of antisense transcripts were detected and implicated in important biological functions given the enrichment of particular GO classes.
Prolonged Clinical and Molecular Remission in Patients With Low-Grade or Follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Treated With Rituximab Plus CHOP Chemotherapy: 9-Year Follow-Up
Authors: Myron S. Czuczman, Robin Weaver, Baha Alkuzweny, Judy Berlfein, Antonio J. Grillo-López
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2004)

Purpose Long-term follow-up with updated time to disease progression (TTP) and duration of response (DR) data are presented from a multicenter, phase II trial of rituximab/cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) combination therapy in 40 patients with CD20 + , B-cell, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Revised response rates based on International Workshop Response Criteria are also provided. Patients and Methods Enrollment began in April 1994 and consisted of patients with histologically confirmed, low-grade, B-cell lymphoma who had received no prior chemotherapy or who had no more than four prior standard therapies. Patients received six cycles of CHOP and six infusions of rituximab. Results Eight (21%) of the 38 treated patients were classified as International Working Formulation (IWF) A, 16 (42%) were IWF B, 13 (34%) were IWF C, and one (3%) was IWF D. Nine (24%) of 38 patients had received prior chemotherapy. Nine (24%) of 38 were considered poor risk according to the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index. Overall response rate was 100%; 87% of patients achieved a complete response or unconfirmed complete response. The median TTP and DR were 82.3 months and 83.5 months, respectively. Seven of eight patients who were bcl-2 positive at baseline converted to negative, and three of the seven patients have sustained the molecular remission. Conclusion Although a cure has not been found yet for follicular NHL, the R-CHOP combination provides a lengthy response duration in patients with relapsed or newly diagnosed indolent NHL.
A Role for BAF57 in Cell Cycle–Dependent Transcriptional Regulation by the SWI/SNF Chromatin Remodeling Complex
Authors: Nasun Hah, Annemieke Kolkman, Donald D. Ruhl, W.W.M. Pim Pijnappel, Albert J.R. Heck, H.Th. Marc Timmers, W. Lee Kraus
Journal: Cancer Research (2010)

Abstract The SWI/SNF complex is an ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex that plays pivotal roles in gene regulation and cell cycle control. In the present study, we explored the molecular functions of the BAF57 subunit of SWI/SNF in cell cycle control via transcriptional regulation of cell cycle–related genes. We affinity purified SWI/SNF from HeLa cells stably expressing FLAG-tagged BAF47/Ini1 with or without stable short hairpin RNA–mediated knockdown of BAF57. The subunit composition of the holo-SWI/SNF and BAF57-depleted SWI/SNF complexes from these cells was determined using a quantitative SILAC (stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture)–based proteomic approach. Depletion of BAF57 resulted in a significant codepletion of BAF180 from the SWI/SNF complex without decreasing total cellular BAF180 levels. In biochemical assays of SWI/SNF activity, the holo-SWI/SNF and BAF57/BAF180-depleted SWI/SNF complexes exhibited similar activities. However, in cell proliferation assays using HeLa cells, knockdown of BAF57 resulted in an accumulation of cells in the G2-M phase, inhibition of colony formation, and impaired growth in soft agar. Knockdown of BAF57 also caused transcriptional misregulation of various cell cycle–related genes, especially genes involved in late G2. Collectively, our results have identified a new role for BAF57 within the SWI/SNF complex that is required for (a) maintaining the proper subunit composition of the complex and (b) cell cycle progression through the transcriptional regulation of a subset of cell cycle–related genes. Cancer Res; 70(11); 4402–11. ©2010 AACR.
Prevalence of sarcoidosis in Switzerland is associated with environmental factors
Authors: U. Deubelbeiss, A. Gemperli, C. Schindler, F. Baty, M. H. Brutsche
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2009)

The current study aimed to investigate incidence, prevalence and regional distribution of sarcoidosis in Switzerland with respect to environmental exposures. All sarcoidosis patients hospitalised between 2002 and 2005 were identified from the Swiss hospital statistics from the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics (Neuchâtel, Switzerland). Regional exposure characteristics included the regional distribution of different industrial sectors, agriculture and air quality. Co-inertia analysis, as well as a generalised linear model, was applied. The prevalence of "ever-in-life" diagnosed sarcoidosis, currently active sarcoidosis and sarcoidosis requiring hospitalisation was 121 (95% CI 93-149), 44 (95% CI 34-54) and 16 (95% CI 10-22) per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively. The mean annual incidence of sarcoidosis was 7 (95% CI 5-11) per 100,000 inhabitants. The regional workforce in the metal industry, water supply, air transport factories and the area of potato production, artificial meadows (grassland) and bread grains were positively associated with the frequency of sarcoidosis. The prevalence of sarcoidosis was higher than assumed based on former international estimates. Higher frequency was found in regions with metal industry and intense agriculture, especially production of potatoes, bread grains and artificial meadows.
New technologies to monitor healthcare worker hand hygiene
Authors: A.R. Marra, M.B. Edmond
Journal: Clinical Microbiology and Infection (2013)

Compliance with hand hygiene is a good quality indicator for hospital patient safety programmes. Hand hygiene is a major infection control prevention intervention, but in many medical centres compliance rates are only c. 50%. Given the enormous number of hand hygiene opportunities in hospitals, direct observation to monitor compliance is very inefficient. However, technologies are emerging to obviate the need for direct observation. These new technologies for monitoring hand hygiene compliance are discussed in this article.
Blue rubber bleb naevus.
Authors: M. M. Walshe, C. D. Evans, R. P. Warin
Journal: BMJ (1966)

Wolff and Limarzi (1946) reported the case of a 30-year-old woman presenting with 50 cm. of gangrenous small bowel pro- lapsing through the internal os.The bowel was devoid of its mesentery, and at operation 150 cm. of gangrenous small bowel was excised.The perforation in the uterus measured 3 cm.She made a good recovery.Simon, Kaufman, and Mastellone (1951) described the case of a woman aged 25 who presented with small bowel prolapsing through the internal os.It was at least three days before laparotomy and resection of the damaged bowel was carried out.In spite of the delay her general condition remained satisfactory.After the operation she made a good recovery.Potts and Petzing (1953) and Howkins (1952) recorded one case each of bowel injury asso- ciated with perforation of the gravid uterus.An -astonishing feature of these three cases reported from the United States and of our case was the absence of shock in spite of severe damage to the small bowel culminating in gangrene.This is probably due to the minimal bleeding as a result of retraction and clotting of the torn mesenteric vessels, and also partly to the " tourniquet " effect of uterine retraction.In the case reported by Howkins, though the general condition was satisfactory initially, the patient progressively deteriorated as the bleeding continued unarrested into the peritoneal cavity.Furthermore, the absence of purulent peritonitis even after 24 hours of the assault was striking in our patient.This, we believe, was due to the isolation of the cut ends of the bowel within the uterine cavity.With the lapse of sufficient time perforation of the gangrenous bowel and fulminating peritonitis would no doubt have proved fatal.This young woman remained well one year after loss of all except approximately 20% of her small bowel.Her weight remained steady, though below normal.She seemed likely to develop vitamin-B,2 deficiency in the near future if not treated; otherwise there had been no major metabolic disturbance, though she continued to have very considerable steatorrhoea. SummaryA West Indian woman aged 23 was admitted with a history of lower abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding of 24 hours' duration.A total of 360 cm. of small bowel was removed during criminal abortion.At laparotomy a further segment of gangrenous jejunum and ileum was excised, together with a lacerated uterus.On completion, approximately 105 cm. of healthy jejunum and 5 cm. of terminal ileum remained.Post- operatively, profuse diarrhoea and steatorrhoea occurred, in consequence of which she was maintained for an experimental period of 10 days on a synthetic diet consisting of medium- chain triglyceride, with the disappearance of steatorrhoea and return of normal faecal-fat levels.At the end of one year her weight remained steady.