tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Totally Implantable Venous Access Ports Systems for Patients Receiving Chemotherapy for Solid Tissue Malignancies: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial Examining the Safety, Efficacy, Costs, and Impact on Quality of Life
Authors: Eric J. Bow, Marilyn G. Kilpatrick, Jennifer J. Clinch
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (1999)

PURPOSE: To examine the safety, efficacy, costs, and impact on quality of life of venous access ports implanted at the outset of a course of intravenous cancer chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adults beginning a course of intravenous chemotherapy at two university-affiliated hospitals were randomly allocated to have venous access using a surgically implanted venous access port (Port-a-Cath; Pharmacia, Canada Inc, Montreal, Québec, Canada) or using standard peripheral venous access. All accesses were documented by number, route, purpose, and procedure duration. Outcome measurements included port complications, access strategy failure, access-related anxiety and pain, quality of life (Functional Living Index–Cancer [FLI-C]), and costs. RESULTS: Port complication rates were low (0.23/1,000 days). Failure occurred in two (3.4%) of 59 port subjects and 16 (26.7%) of 60 controls (P = .0004) at a median period of 26 days after randomization (95% confidence interval, 8 to 92). Peripheral accesses in port subjects took less time, had less access-related anxiety and pain, and were less costly to perform than in controls. Allocation had no effect on FLI-C scores. Peripheral access failure correlated with allocation to the control group (P = .007), higher pain scores with intravenous (IV) starts (P = .003), and anxiety with IV starts (P = .01). Venous accessing overall in port patients was four times more costly than that in controls ($2,178/patient v $530/patient, respectively). CONCLUSION: Ports were safe and effective but had no detectable impact on functional quality of life, despite less access-related anxiety, pain, and discomfort. Because only approximately one quarter of control patients ultimately required central venous access, economic considerations suggest that port-use policies should be based upon defined criteria of need.
Effect of Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine Resistance on the Efficacy of Intermittent Preventive Therapy for Malaria Control During Pregnancy
Authors: Feiko O. ter Kuile, Annemieke M. van Eijk, Scott J. Filler
Journal: JAMA (2007)

In malaria-endemic regions, strategies to control malaria during pregnancy rely on case management of malaria illness and anemia, and preventive measures such as insecticide-treated nets and intermittent preventive therapy (IPT).To determine the effect of increasing resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine on the efficacy of IPT during pregnancy in Africa.The 6 databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, LILACS, Cochrane CENTRAL, and the trial register and bibliographic database of the Malaria in Pregnancy Library were searched for relevant studies regardless of language, published between 1966 and December 2006. The reference lists of all trials identified were searched and researchers were contacted about relevant data. Nine trials of IPT with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine during pregnancy in Africa were identified and matched by year and location with treatment studies of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine among symptomatic children.Data on the efficacy of IPT with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine on placental and peripheral malaria, birth weight, and hemoglobin level/anemia were independently abstracted by 2 investigators. Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance was defined as the proportion of total treatment failures in symptomatic children by day 14.Four trials compared 2-dose IPT with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine to case management or placebo in women during their first or second pregnancy. The IPT reduced placental malaria (relative risk [RR], 0.48; 95% CI, 0.35-0.68), low birth weight (RR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.55-0.92), and anemia (RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.81-0.99). The effect did not vary by sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance levels (range, 19%-26%). Efficacy of IPT with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine was lower among women using insecticide-treated nets. Three trials compared 2-dose with monthly IPT with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine during pregnancy. Among HIV-positive women in their first or second pregnancy, monthly IPT resulted in less placental malaria (RR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.18-0.64) and higher birth weight (mean difference, 112 g; 95% CI, 19-205 g) over the range of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance tested (8%-39%). Among HIV-negative women, there was no conclusive additional effect of monthly dosing (2 trials; 24% and 39% resistance).In areas in which 1 of 4 treatments with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine fail in children by day 14, the 2-dose IPT with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine regimen continues to provide substantial benefit to HIV-negative semi-immune pregnant women. However, more frequent dosing is required in HIV-positive women not using cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for opportunistic infections.
FACTORS AFFECTING OUTCOME AFTER RECOVERY FROM MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION
Authors: Kam S. Woo, M.D, Harvey D. White, M.B
Journal: Annual Review of Medicine (1994)

▪ Abstract Patients surviving acute myocardial infarction are susceptible to heart failure, recurrence of angina, reinfarction, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. Most deaths occur in the first six months after infarction. Advancing age is the most important nonmodifiable prognostic factor for long-term prognosis, whereas left ventricular function assessed clinically or measured as either ejection fraction or end-systolic volume is the most important modifiable factor. Other significant long-term prognostic factors include: postinfarction angina at rest, inducible ischemia during exercise testing with or without radioisotope imaging, severity and extent of coronary artery disease, patency of the infarct-related artery, late ventricular arrhythmias, decreased heart rate variability, cigarette smoking, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes mellitus. Identification of these adverse prognostic factors permits risk stratification and enables physicians to determine the most appropriate and cost-effective treatment. Most patients should have a stress test for inducible ischemia and a noninvasive (echo or radionuclide) assessment of left ventricular function. For high-risk patients such as those with prior infarction, heart failure, early postinfarction angina, or frequent late ventricular arrhythmias, coronary angiography and ventriculography prior to discharge are recommended. Assessment of late potentials and heart rate variability will help identify a subgroup of patients at risk for ventricular arrhythmias and cardiac death. However, a more accurate prediction of reinfarction is not possible at present, and no reliable test for atherosclerotic plaque instability has been developed.
Consolidating the set of known human protein-protein interactions in preparation for large-scale mapping of the human interactome.
Authors: Arun K Ramani, Razvan C Bunescu, Raymond J Mooney, Edward M Marcotte
Journal: Genome biology (2005)

Extensive protein interaction maps are being constructed for yeast, worm, and fly to ask how the proteins organize into pathways and systems, but no such genome-wide interaction map yet exists for the set of human proteins. To prepare for studies in humans, we wished to establish tests for the accuracy of future interaction assays and to consolidate the known interactions among human proteins.We established two tests of the accuracy of human protein interaction datasets and measured the relative accuracy of the available data. We then developed and applied natural language processing and literature-mining algorithms to recover from Medline abstracts 6,580 interactions among 3,737 human proteins. A three-part algorithm was used: first, human protein names were identified in Medline abstracts using a discriminator based on conditional random fields, then interactions were identified by the co-occurrence of protein names across the set of Medline abstracts, filtering the interactions with a Bayesian classifier to enrich for legitimate physical interactions. These mined interactions were combined with existing interaction data to obtain a network of 31,609 interactions among 7,748 human proteins, accurate to the same degree as the existing datasets.These interactions and the accuracy benchmarks will aid interpretation of current functional genomics data and provide a basis for determining the quality of future large-scale human protein interaction assays. Projecting from the approximately 15 interactions per protein in the best-sampled interaction set to the estimated 25,000 human genes implies more than 375,000 interactions in the complete human protein interaction network. This set therefore represents no more than 10% of the complete network.
Left Ventricular Stiffness
Authors: J A Wisneski, J D Bristow
Journal: Annual Review of Medicine (1978)

Left ventricular stiffness is defined by the relationship between pressure and volume and can be altered by a variety of disorders. In disorders with high VLVED, such as mitral regurgitation, protection of pulmonary capillaries from high pressure is provided by a PV shift. In contrast, increased stiffness is produced by ventricular hypertrophy or ischemic heart disease, which puts the patient at increased risk for pulmonary capillary hypertension. Changing the ventricular PV relationship by therapy is an exciting prospect.
Molecular basis of reovirus virulence. Role of the M2 gene.
Authors: D H Rubin, B N Fields
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1980)

The mammalian reoviruses (serotype 1, strain Lang and serotype 3, strain Dearing) differ in their sensitivity to digestion by chymotrypsin. We have found that the M2 double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) genome segment (encoding the micro1C outer capsid polypeptide) is responsible for this property. In addition to determining response to protease treatement in vitro, we have found that the M2 genome segment also determines the ability of these two viruses successfully to initiate local and systemic infection in newborn mice after peroral inoculation. Thus the M2 dsRNA segment defines a new virulence gene of the mammalian reoviruses.
Multimodality approach to mediastinal staging in non-small cell lung cancer. Faults and benefits of PET-CT: a randomised trial
Authors: B. M. Fischer, J. Mortensen, H. Hansen, P. Vilmann, S. S. Larsen, A. Loft, A. K. Bertelsen, J. Ravn, P. Clementsen, A. Hoegholm, K. R. Larsen, A. Dirksen, B. G. Skov, M. Krasnik, L. Hojgaard, U. Lassen
Journal: Thorax (2010)

Correct mediastinal staging is a cornerstone in the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. A large range of methods is available for this purpose, making the process of adequate staging complex. The objective of this study was to describe faults and benefits of positron emission tomography (PET)-CT in multimodality mediastinal staging.A randomised clinical trial was conducted including patients with a verified diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer, who were considered operable. Patients were assigned to staging with PET-CT (PET-CT group) followed by invasive staging (mediastinoscopy and/or endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA)) or invasive staging without prior PET-CT (conventional work up (CWU) group). Mediastinal involvement (dichotomising N stage into N0-1 versus N2-3) was described according to CT, PET-CT, mediastinoscopy, EUS-FNA and consensus (based on all available information), and compared with the final N stage as verified by thoracotomy or a conclusive invasive diagnostic procedure.A total of 189 patients were recruited, 98 in the PET-CT group and 91 in the CWU group. In an intention-to-treat analysis the overall accuracy of the consensus N stage was not significantly higher in the PET-CT group than in the CWU group (90% (95% confidence interval 82% to 95%) vs 85% (95% CI 77% to 91%)). Excluding the patients in whom PET-CT was not performed (n=14) the difference was significant (95% (95% CI 88% to 98%) vs 85% (95% CI 77% to 91%), p=0.034). This was mainly based on a higher sensitivity of the staging approach including PET-CT.An approach to lung cancer staging with PET-CT improves discrimination between N0-1 and N2-3. In those without enlarged lymph nodes and a PET-negative mediastinum the patient may proceed directly to surgery. However, enlarged lymph nodes on CT needs confirmation independent of PET findings and a positive finding on PET-CT needs confirmation before a decision on surgery is made.NCT00867412.
Further routes to psychological constructionism
Authors: Courtney Humeny, Deirdre Kelly, Andrew Brook
Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2012)

Abstract In this commentary, we do two things. First, we sketch two further routes to psychological constructionism. They are complementary to Lindquist et al.'s meta-analyses and have potential to add new evidence. Second, we look at a challenging kind of case for constructionism, namely, emotional anomalies where there are correlated, and probably relevant, brain anomalies. Psychopaths are our example.
NHS hopes to repeat success of BBC Worldwide in health market
Authors: D. Asprey
Journal: BMJ (2010)

The NHS will sell its ideas and skills abroad and plough the profits back into frontline services, England’s health secretary, Andy Burnham, announced last week. NHS Global aims to repeat the success of BBC Worldwide, which markets programmes abroad and invests money back into the BBC.

Mr Burnham said there is increasing demand abroad for NHS knowledge and innovations and even to replicate parts of the NHS. “There is great potential to benefit from the exceptional knowledge and intelligence within the NHS. We know …
Pretreatment CA-125 and Risk of Relapse in Advanced Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Maurie Markman, P.Y. Liu, Mace L. Rothenberg, Bradley J. Monk, Mark Brady, David S. Alberts
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2006)

Purpose A previous report suggested the nadir serum CA-125 level within the group of patients with ovarian cancer who achieved normalization of CA-125 accurately defined the risk of relapse. Using similar CA-125 subgroups, we sought to determine if the baseline CA-125 level before initiation of maintenance chemotherapy in women achieving a clinically-defined complete response to primary chemotherapy would be of prognostic value. Patients and Methods Patients included in this retrospective analysis had been treated on one of two previously reported trials of maintenance chemotherapy (three v 12-monthly cycles of paclitaxel; oral altretamine), with a baseline CA-125 level of ≤ 35 u/mL. Progression-free survival (PFS) from study entry was analyzed by the Cox regression model. Results The distribution of premaintenance baseline CA-125 levels for the 384 patients was 58%, 34%, and 8% for values of (A) ≤ 10 u/mL, (B) 11 to 20 u/mL, and (C) 21 to 35 u/mL, respectively. The baseline CA-125 was highly statistically significant, either as a categoric variable (P &lt; .001) or as a continuous variable (P &lt; .0001). Median PFS was 24 months, 17 months, and 7 months for groups (A), (B), and (C), respectively. There was no evidence the CA-125 effect differed by trial or treatment in an interaction analysis (P = .70). Conclusion The baseline CA-125 level before initiation of maintenance chemotherapy strongly predicts the risk of subsequent relapse. Patients with premaintenance baseline CA-125 values ≤ 10 u/mL have a superior PFS compared with higher levels in the normal CA-125 range.
Neurobehavioral Complications of Type I Diabetes: Examination of Possible Risk Factors
Authors: Christopher M Ryan
Journal: Diabetes Care (1988)

There is increasing interest in the possibility that diabetes mellitus may be associated with a series of neurobehavioral, or neuropsychological, changes; i.e., learning, memory, problem solving, mental and motor speed, and eye-hand coordination may sometimes be disrupted in diabetic children and adults, and this disruption may be a consequence of certain diseaserelated variables. To date, four neurobehavioral risk factors have been identified. For children and adolescents, the most potent risk factors appear to be age at diagnosis and the occurrence of schoolroomrelated problems. Children who develop diabetes early in life are more likely to show serious cognitive impairments on virtually all measures. In addition, diabetic children with school attendance problems tend to score lower than expected on verbal IQ tests and school achievement tests. For adults, the most carefully studied risk factor is degree of metabolic control. Adults in poor control are far more likely to manifest subtle changes on measures of mental efficiency. This may be particularly evident on tasks that require the development and deployment of sophisticated information-processing strategies. A fourth variable— severe episodes of hypoglycemia—is known to disrupt functioning in diabetic subjects of any age, although it has not yet been studied systematically in large-scale studies. Indeed, because virtually all extant studies have been based on limited neurobehavioral and biomedical assessments of relatively few volunteer subjects, this list of risk factors must be considered tentative at best.
Cutaneous immunological studies in diagnosis of acute graft-versus-host disease
Authors: B. DRENO, N. MILPIED, J.L. HAROUSSEAU, J.F. STALDER, B. BUREAU, B. MILPIED, H. BARRIERE
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1986)

A comparative study of the healthy skin of patients who had undergone bone marrow grafting and not developed graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) and of patients with cutaneous lesions of acute GVHD has been carried out. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of cutaneous immunopathology in the diagnosis of acute GVHD. A double‐labelling immunofluorescence technique was used with a panel of monoclonal antibodies. The results showed a lack of specificity for GVHD in the distribution of Langerhans cells, but confirmed the diagnostic value of HLA‐DR staining of epidermal keratinocytes. Cellular polymorphism of the T cell infiltrate in the dermis was observed (T helpers 40% and T suppressors 20%). The expression of the 55–57 Kd keratin polypeptide and of bullous pemphigoid antigen showed modification during acute GVHD while that of pemphigus antigen remained unchanged.
Comment on: Besser et al. Lessons From the Mixed-Meal Tolerance Test: Use of 90-Minute and Fasting C-Peptide in Pediatric Diabetes. Diabetes Care 2013;36:195–201
Authors: Sandeep Chaudhary, Anubhav Thukral, Manoj Kataria, Sujoy Ghosh, Satinath Mukherjee, Subhankar Chowdhury
Journal: Diabetes Care (2013)

It was extremely gratifying to read an interesting article in Diabetes Care by Besser et al. (1) that suggested that 90-min C-peptide is a highly sensitive and specific measure of area under curve and peak C-peptide in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and offers a practical alternative to a full mixed-meal tolerance test. The authors also suggested that C-peptide measured at diagnosis and age at diagnosis can be used to predict the time taken for patients to become insulin-deficient. The authors suggested that those with the lowest tertile of fasting C-peptide (<0.17 nmol/L) reached insulin deficiency quicker than those in the …
Human Papillomavirus in Head and Neck Cancer: Its Role in Pathogenesis and Clinical Implications
Authors: Christine H. Chung, Maura L. Gillison
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2009)

Abstract Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer with an annual incidence of approximately 400,000 worldwide. Although the principal risk factors for head and neck cancer remain tobacco and alcohol use, human papillomavirus (HPV) has recently been found to be etiologically associated with 20 to 25 of HNSCC, mostly in the oropharynx. HPV causes human cancers by expressing two viral oncoproteins, E6 and E7. These oncoproteins degrade and destabilize two major tumor suppressor proteins, p53 and pRb, through ubiquitination. Additional studies have shown that E6 and E7 can directly bind to multiple host proteins other than p53 and pRb (e.g., Bak and p21Cip1), further contributing to genetic instability. However, expression of E6 and E7 alone is not sufficient for cellular transformation, and the additional genetic alterations necessary for malignant progression in the setting of virus-induced genomic instability are unknown. In addition to the etiological differences, HPV-positive cancers are clinically distinct when compared with HPV-negative cancers with regard to treatment response and survival outcome, with tumor HPV-positivity being a favorable prognostic biomarker. Further understanding of carcinogenesis and clinical behavior of HPV-positive cancers will improve disease prevention, patient care, and surveillance strategies for HNSCC patients. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(22):675862)
Antagonist Peptide Selects Thymocytes Expressing a Class II Major Histocompatibility Complex–restricted T Cell Receptor into the CD8 Lineage
Authors: Ariane Volkmann, Thomas Barthlott, Siegfried Weiss, Ronald Frank, Brigitta Stockinger
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1998)

CD4/CD8 lineage decision is an important event during T cell maturation in the thymus. CD8 T cell differentiation usually requires corecognition of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I by the T cell receptor (TCR) and CD8, whereas CD4 T cells differentiate as a consequence of MHC class II recognition by the TCR and CD4. The involvement of specific peptides in the selection of T cells expressing a particular TCR could be demonstrated so far for the CD8 lineage only. We used mice transgenic for an MHC class II-restricted TCR to investigate the role of antagonistic peptides in CD4 T cell differentiation. Interestingly, antagonists blocked the development of CD4+ cells that normally differentiate in thymus organ culture from those mice, and they induced the generation of CD8+ cells in thymus organ culture from mice impaired in CD4+ cell development (invariant chain–deficient mice). These results are in line with recent observations that antagonistic signals direct differentiation into the CD8 lineage, regardless of MHC specificity.
Molecular and structural aspects of clinically relevant mutations related to the approved non-nucleoside inhibitors of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase
Authors: Stefano Alcaro, Claudia Alteri, Anna Artese, Francesca Ceccherini-Silberstein, Giosuè Costa, Francesco Ortuso, Lucia Parrotta, Carlo Federico Perno, Valentina Svicher
Journal: Drug Resistance Updates (2011)
647 TREATMENT OF HEPATITIS C WITH THE IMMUNE- STIMULATING DIPEPTIDE SCV-07
Authors: C. Tuthill, S. Verjee, R. Dye, H. Dye, K. Phenis, W.A. Chu, C. Chen, B. Bilir, K. Camacho, S. Gordon, B. Lipson, P. Pockros, A. Sherker, K. Sherman, M. Sjogren, N. Snyder, P. Thuluvath, I. Rios
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2009)