tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Cervical spondylosis with radiculopathy. Results of anterior diskectomy and interbody fusion
Authors: B. Jacobs
Journal: JAMA (1970)

We have analyzed the results of 90 anterior cervical diskectomies combined with fusion of the spine in 62 patients with cervical spondylosis. Good to excellent results were obtained in 82% (51) of patients who returned for follow-up examinations. The results were superior in the presence of single-level disk disease, and were better following multilevel rather than limited surgical eradication in the presence of multilevel disk disease. Myelography was found to be a useful adjunct to preoperative clinical assessment of the symptomatic disk levels. The low incidence of complications encountered in this series further confirms the ease and efficacy of the anterior approach in the surgical treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.
Rationale and design of the carvedilol or metoprolol European trial in patients with chronic heart failure: COMET
Authors: Philip A. Poole‐Wilson, John G.F. Cleland, Andrea Di Lenarda, Peter Hanrath, Michel Komajda, Marco Metra, Willem J. Remme, Karl Swedberg, Christian Torp‐Pedersen
Journal: European Journal of Heart Failure (2002)
Roasted hazelnuts – allergenic activity evaluated by double‐blind, placebo‐controlled food challenge
Authors: K. Skamstrup Hansen, B. K. Ballmer‐Weber, D. Lüttkopf, P. S. Skov, B. Wüthrich, C. Bindslev‐Jensen, S. Vieths, L. K. Poulsen
Journal: Allergy (2003)

Background: Allergy to hazelnuts is a common example of birch pollen related food allergy. Symptoms upon ingestion are often confined to the mouth and throat, but severe systemic reactions have been described in some patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the reduction in allergenicity by roasting of the nuts. Methods: Double‐blind, placebo‐controlled food challenges (DBPCFC) with roasted hazelnuts (140°C, 40 min) were performed in 17 birch pollen allergic patients with DBPCFC‐confirmed food allergy to raw hazelnuts. The effect of roasting was further evaluated by skin prick test (SPT), histamine release (HR), measurement of specific IgE, and IgE‐inhibition experiments. Results: In 5/17 patients the DBPCFC with the roasted nuts were positive. The symptoms were generally mild and included OAS (oral allergy syndrome) in all patients. Roasting of the nuts significantly reduced the allergenic activity evaluated by SPT, HR, specific IgE, and IgE‐inhibition. Immunoblotting experiments with recombinant hazelnut allergens showed sensitization against Cor a 1.04 in 16/17 patients and against Cor a 2 in 7/17 patients. None of the patients were sensitized to Cor a 8. Challenge‐positive patients did not differ from the rest in IgE‐binding pattern. Conclusions: All the applied methods indicated that roasting of hazelnuts reduces the allergenicity, but since 5/17 birch pollen allergic patients were DBPCFC‐positive to the roasted nuts, ingestion of roasted hazelnuts or products containing roasted hazelnuts can not be considered safe for a number of hazelnut allergic consumers. For patients with a history of severe allergic symptoms upon ingestion of hazelnuts, thorough and conscientious food labelling of hazelnuts and hazelnut residues is essential.
Enhanced expression of lectin-like oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor (LOX-1) at sites of the culprit lesion in patients with acute coronary syndromes
Authors: Yuji Sakanoue, Takahiko Naruko, Kazuo Haze, Masato Otsuka, Akira Itoh, Masayuki Ogami, Yoshihiro Ikura, Masahiko Ohsawa, Makiko Ueda
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2002)
MPs highlight risks of selling off plasma supply company
Authors: A. McGauran
Journal: BMJ (2013)

Plans to sell all or most of the United Kingdom’s state owned blood plasma supply company should be scrapped to protect patients, an early day motion presented in the House of Commons has said.

The government should cancel the sale of Plasma Resources UK, which provides about a third of all the UK’s blood plasma products, said the motion tabled by the Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Frank Dobson and the Plaid Cymru MP Hywel Williams.

The motion said that the company was “originally purchased to safeguard the British plasma …
Increased levels of total and free protein S in hemophiliacs irrespective of human immunodeficiency virus type‐1 infection
Authors: Juzo Matsuda, Miyo Tsukamoto, Moritaka Gotoh, Kengo Gohchi, Noriko Saitoh, Yukari Miyajima, Mutsuyoshi Kazama
Journal: American Journal of Hematology (1994)
Methods for Comparison of Cost Data
Authors: Xiao-Hua Zhou
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1997)

Researchers are increasingly interested in examining costs of care, and large administrative and clinical databases have made relevant data readily available. Because a few patients incur high costs relative to most patients, the distribution of cost data is often skewed. How robust are the usual methods of cost analysis against the skewed distribution of cost data?To determine the methods commonly used for comparing cost data, describe their limitations, and provide an alternate method of analysis.Review of statistical methods used in studies of medical costs published in medical journals between January 1991 and January 1996. Description of a Z-score method appropriate for testing the equality of mean costs between two log-normal samples; and reanalysis of published two-sample comparison results done by using the Z-score method.For two-sample comparisons, three methods were commonly used: the Student t-test on untransformed costs, the Wilcoxon test on untransformed costs, and the Student t-test on log-transformed costs. The t-test on untransformed costs ignores the skewness in cost data, the Wilcoxon test ignores unequal variances, and the t-test on log-transformed costs tests the wrong null hypothesis unless variances in the log-scale are equal. Eleven articles included two-sample tests and had enough information to allow reanalysis of the data using the Z-score method. These articles described a total of 23 Wilcoxon tests and 24 t-tests on untransformed costs. Most results did not change on reanalysis, but six results changed enough to alter conclusions. Specifically, reanalysis of data for which one Wilcoxon test had shown statistically significant results showed nonsignificant results; reanalysis of data for which two Wilcoxon tests had shown nonsignificant results showed statistically significant results. In articles that used t-tests on untransformed costs, two statistically significant results became nonsignificant on reanalysis and one nonsignificant result became statistically significant on reanalysis.The methods commonly used to compare costs of two groups have limitations. Some limitations may change some conclusions, and the direction of the change cannot be predicted. The Z-score method is designed to adjust for skewness in cost data and is appropriate for comparing means of log-normally distributed cost data.
Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Status in Primary Colorectal Tumors Does Not Correlate With EGFR Expression in Related Metastatic Sites: Implications for Treatment With EGFR-Targeted Monoclonal Antibodies
Authors: Mario Scartozzi, Italo Bearzi, Rossana Berardi, Alessandra Mandolesi, Guidalberto Fabris, Stefano Cascinu
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2004)

Purpose We hypothesized that the detection of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression performed in primary tumors for treatment with EGFR-targeted monoclonal antibodies could not always correlate with EGFR status in metastatic sites, thus making cancer cells in these sites resistant to therapy. The aim of our study was to correlate EGFR expression on primary tumors and related metastases in order to find out whether assessing EGFR status on primary cancer is to be considered an effective tool for planning treatment with EGFR-targeted antibodies. Patients and Methods We retrospectively evaluated EGFR immunohistochemistry from primary tumors and related metastatic sites in 99 colorectal cancer patients. The site of primary tumor was colon in 77 patients (78%) and rectum in 22 patients (22%). Metastatic sites analyzed were liver in 84 patients (81%), lung in 13 patients (13%), bone in one patient (1%), and brain in five patients (5%). EGFR status was defined as positive if the percentage of malignant cells stained was ≥ 1%. Results EGFR status was positive in 53 primary tumors (53%). In 19 primary tumors expressing EGFR (36%), the corresponding metastatic site was found negative, whereas it was found positive in seven metastases (15%) from EGFR-negative primary cancers. The difference between these two groups of patients (ie, EGFR-positive to EGFR-negative v EGFR-negative to EGFR-positive) was statistically significant (P = .036). Conclusion Our results suggest that the detection of the EGFR in primary colorectal cancer could be inadequate for planning therapy with EGFR-targeted monoclonal antibodies in a considerable proportion of both EGFR-positive and -negative primary tumors (36% and 15%, respectively).
Medical Mysteries: The Testament of a Clinical Scientist
Authors: Ayan Panja
Journal: BMJ (2006)

H ave you ever wondered while treating a patient with rheumatoid arthritis or hypertension what causes their condition? This authoritative book, based on research and patients with whom the author has worked, tries to unearth such causes. Book Guild, £15.95, pp 505 ISBN 1 85776 976 7 www.bookguild.co.uk Rating: ![Graphic][1]</img>![Graphic][2]</img>![Graphic][3]</img>![Graphic][4]</img> An updated version of 21 Medical Mysteries by the same author, this time John Dickinson, emeritus professor of medicine at St Bartholomew's and the London School of Medicine, covers 42 subjects, each relating to a condition not fully understood, thereby making it a medical mystery. He includes all of the conditions you might expect and more—asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, myalgic … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [2]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif [3]: /embed/inline-graphic-3.gif [4]: /embed/inline-graphic-4.gif
Malaria Theranostics using Hemozoin-Generated Vapor Nanobubbles
Authors: Ekaterina Y. Lukianova- Hleb, Dmitri O. Lapotko
Journal: Theranostics (2014)

Malaria remains a widespread and deadly infectious human disease, with increasing diagnostic and therapeutic challenges due to the drug resistance and aggressiveness of malaria infection.Early detection and innovative approaches for parasite destruction are needed.The high optical absorbance and nano-size of hemozoin crystals have been exploited to detect and mechanically destroy the malaria parasite in a single theranostic procedure.Transient vapor nanobubbles are generated around hemozoin crystals in malaria parasites in infected erythrocytes in response to a single short laser pulse.Optical scattering signals of the nanobubble report the presence of the malaria parasite.The mechanical impact of the same nanobubble physically destroys the parasite in nanoseconds in a drug-free manner.Laser-induced nanobubble treatment of human blood in vitro results in destruction of up to 95% of parasites after a single procedure, and delivers an 8-fold better parasiticidal efficacy compared to standard chloroquine drug treatment.The mechanism of destruction is highly selective for malaria infected red cells and does not harm neighboring, uninfected erythrocytes.Thus, laser pulse-induced vapor nanobubble generation around hemozoin supports both rapid and highly specific detection and destruction of malaria parasites in one theranostic procedure.
Alpha-tubulin from early-diverging eukaryotic lineages and the evolution of the tubulin family
Authors: P. J. Keeling, W. F. Doolittle
Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution (1996)

The tubulin gene family, which includes alpha-,beta-, and gamma-tubulin subfamilies, is composed of highly conserved proteins which are the principle structural and functional components of eukaryotic microtubules. We are interested in (1) establishing when in eukaryotic evolution the duplications leading to paralogous alpha, beta, and gamma subfamilies occurred and (2) the possible utility of tubulin sequences in reconstructing organismal phylogeny. To broaden the taxonomic representation of alpha-tubulins so that it roughly equals that of beta-tubulins, alpha-tubulin genes from three Microsporidia (Encephalitozoon hellem, Nosema locustae, and Spraguea lophii), two Parabasalia (Monocercomonas sp. and Trichomitus batrachorum), and one Heterolobosean (Acrasis rosea) were sequenced. With these new genes, phylogenetic trees of alpha- and beta-tubulins were constructed and compared. Trees were congruent with each other, but incongruent with other molecular phylogenies. The agreement between alpha- and beta-tubulin trees could arise by the co-adaptation of one molecule to variants of the other as a result of their intimate steric association in microtubules. Thus, these trees may not be providing independent support for the phylogenetic results. However, one of these unexpected results, that microsporidia cluster with fungi, is supported by other circumstantial evidence, and may therefore reflect a real relationship despite the basal position usually assigned to microsporidia. Relationships between the three tubulins were also examined by constructing trees of all three types. These trees were found to be of limited value for determining the position of the root within each subfamily because of the great interfamily distances, but they do confirm the classification of all known genes into three monophyletic subfamilies. Divergent genes from Caenorhabditis elegans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae that have been proposed to represent the novel classes delta- and epsilon-tubulin were found to be specifically related to gamma-tubulins from animals and fungi respectively, and therefore are best seen as rapidly evolving orthologues of gamma-tubulin.
What happens to opiate addicts immediately after treatment: a prospective follow up study.
Authors: M Gossop, L Green, G Phillips, B Bradley
Journal: BMJ (1987)

In the first British study to investigate systematically what happens to opiate addicts after treatment 50 opiate addicts admitted for inpatient treatment of their drug dependence were followed up for six months after discharge. All had been withdrawn from opiates before follow up. Six months later 26 were not using opiates: 12 had not used opiates at any time since discharge. When subjects in hospital or in prison were excluded from the analysis 21 (47%) of the subjects living in the community were not taking opiates. Many subjects used opiates within days of leaving the inpatient unit, but this first lapse did not necessarily lead to a full relapse into addictive use. During the six months after discharge several subjects used opiates on a less than daily basis. During each two month period throughout the six months of follow up the proportion of subjects who were occasional users fell, the proportion of abstinent subjects grew, and the proportion of daily users (assumed to be readdicted) remained constant. Although many of the addicts relapsed soon after treatment, it was encouraging that almost half were opiate free after six months. These results have important implications for the treatment of drug addicts.
Studies with the haeme oxygenase inhibitor Sn-protoporphyrin in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and idiopathic haemochromatosis.
Authors: L Berglund, B Angelin, R Hultcrantz, K Einarsson, L Emtestam, G Drummond, A Kappas
Journal: Gut (1990)

Sn(tin4+)-protoporphyrin, a potent competitive inhibitor of haeme oxygenase, the rate limiting enzyme in the degradation of haeme to bile pigments, was given intravenously to six patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and to four patients with idiopathic haemochromatosis. Serum bilirubin concentrations decreased in all patients after administration of 1-2 mumol/kg body weight of the metalloporphyrin, given in two doses eight to 24 hours apart. This reduction lasted approximately four to five days after injection of the compound. Excretion of endogenous haeme in bile increased (mean increase approximately two to threefold) in parallel with the decrease in serum bilirubin concentrations in both patient groups, and the highest biliary haeme concentrations were found during the first 48 hours after treatment. Sn-protoporphyrin was cleared rapidly from plasma with a half-life of 3.4 hours. Biliary bilirubin concentrations decreased (mean decrease, 49%) in the haemochromatosis patients after Sn-protoporphyrin administration. No decrease in biliary bilirubin concentrations could be detected in the primary biliary cirrhosis patients under the same conditions. Thus, Sn-protoporphyrin treatment resulted in a decrease in serum bilirubin concentrations and an increase in biliary haeme excretion in patients with haemochromatosis and primary biliary cirrhosis, as has previously been shown in normal subjects. The results indicate that the synthetic haeme analogue inhibits haeme oxidation activity in the two patient groups studied, as it does in normal people and in experimental animals. The lack of effect of Sn-protoporphyrin on biliary bilirubin excretion in primary biliary cirrhosis may be related to a differently affected hepatic clearance system or to a different distribution of tissue bilirubin pools in this condition.
Performance of response criteria for assessing peripheral arthritis in patients with psoriatic arthritis: analysis of data from randomised controlled trials of two tumour necrosis factor inhibitors
Authors: J Fransen
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2006)

In recent clinical trials in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), the response criteria and disease activity measures that have been used were those developed for rheumatoid arthritis. However, these have not yet been validated in PsA.To compare the responsiveness and discriminative capacity of the psoriatic arthritis response criteria (PsARC), American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria and the Disease Activity Score (DAS) and core-set measures in patients with PsA and peripheral arthritis, using the data from two randomised placebo-controlled trials of tumour necrosis factor inhibitors.In an infliximab trial, 104 patients with active PsA were randomised to receive placebo or infliximab for 16 weeks. In an etanercept trial, 60 patients with active PsA were randomised to receive placebo or etanercept for 12 weeks. Data from baseline and the end of the intervention phase were used from each study. Responsiveness was assessed using the standardised response mean and effect size. Capacity to discriminate between the active drug and placebo was assessed using t values or a chi2 test. Measures were ranked in order of their t value or chi2 value.The EULAR criteria performed better in discriminating the active drug from placebo than the ACR20 improvement criteria, which in turn performed better than the PsARC. It was also found that the pooled indices (DAS and DAS28) were generally more responsive, and performed better in discriminating active drug from placebo, than the single core-set measures.Response criteria and pooled indices developed for rheumatoid arthritis are useful for the assessment of arthritis in PsA clinical trials.
Abstract 2512: Extreme value distributions describe cancer age-specific incidence data.
Authors: Luis Soto-Ortiz, James P. Brody
Journal: Cancer Research (2013)

Abstract The incidence of cancers varies with age, if normalized this is called the age-specific incidence. A mathematical model that describes this variation should provide a better understanding of how cancers develop. We suggest that the age-specific incidence should follow an extreme value distribution, based on three widely accepted assumptions: (1) a tumor develops from a single cell, (2) many potential tumor progenitor cells exist in a tissue, and (3) cancer is diagnosed when the first of these many potential tumor cells develops into a tumor. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the predicted distribution to the age-specific incidence data for colon and prostate carcinomas collected by the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results network of 17 cancer registries. We found that colon carcinoma age-specific incidence data is consistent with an extreme value distribution, while prostate carcinomas age-specific incidence data generally follows the distribution. This model indicates that both colon and prostate carcinomas only occur in a subset of the population (22% for prostate and 13.5% for colon.) Because of their very general nature, extreme value distributions might be applicable to understanding other chronic human diseases. Citation Format: Luis Soto-Ortiz, James P. Brody. Extreme value distributions describe cancer age-specific incidence data. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2512. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2512
Xanthine oxidase in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hyperuricemia: One stone hits two birds
Authors: Chengfu Xu, Xingyong Wan, Lei Xu, Honglei Weng, Ming Yan, Min Miao, Yan Sun, Genyun Xu, Steven Dooley, Youming Li, Chaohui Yu
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2015)
The Truth About Chernobyl
Authors: Andrew M. Davis
Journal: JAMA (1991)

<b>The Legacy of Chernobyl</b>, by Zhores A. Medvedev, 352 pp, $24.95, with illus, ISBN 0-393-02802-X, New York, NY, WW Norton, 1990. Details of the April 1986 Chernobyl reactor disaster continue to emerge and resonate in the worldwide debate over energy policy, economic growth, and environmental degradation. The dissolution of central Soviet control over the republics most heavily contaminated by radioactive fallout and ferment in radiation protection standards have sustained the interest of the scientific community and the public. These two books greatly advance our understanding of that accident's causes, the response to it, and implications for the health of those exposed. The two Soviet authors are unrelated, and neither expresses opposition to nuclear energy in general. However, each brings an informed and skeptical eye to official Soviet accounts of the Chernobyl disaster and blanket assertions of the safety of nuclear plants, East or West. <i>The Truth About Chernobyl</i>was completed