tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of 3 Commonly Used Hearing Aid Circuits&lt;SUBTITLE&gt;A Crossover Trial&lt;/SUBTITLE&gt;
Authors: Vernon D. Larson
Journal: JAMA (2000)

ContextNumerous studies have demonstrated that hearing aids provide significant benefit for a wide range of sensorineural hearing loss, but no carefully controlled, multicenter clinical trials comparing hearing aid efficacy have been conducted.ObjectiveTo compare the benefits provided to patients with sensorineural hearing loss by 3 commonly used hearing aid circuits.DesignDouble-blind, 3-period, 3-treatment crossover trial conducted from May 1996 to February 1998.SettingEight audiology laboratories at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers across the United States.PatientsA sample of 360 patients with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (mean age, 67.2 years; 57% male; 78.6% white).InterventionPatients were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 sequences of linear peak clipper (PC), compression limiter (CL), and wide dynamic range compressor (WDRC) hearing aid circuits. All patients wore each of the 3 hearing aids, which were installed in identical casements, for 3 months.Main Outcome MeasuresResults of tests of speech recognition, sound quality, and subjective hearing aid benefit, administered at baseline and after each 3-month intervention with and without a hearing aid. At the end of the experiment, patients ranked the 3 hearing aid circuits.ResultsEach circuit markedly improved speech recognition, with greater improvement observed for soft and conversationally loud speech (all 52-dB and 62-dB conditions, P≤.001). All 3 circuits significantly reduced the frequency of problems encountered in verbal communication. Some test results suggested that CL and WDRC circuits provided a significantly better listening experience than PC circuits in word recognition (P = .002), loudness (P = .003), overall liking (P = .001), aversiveness of environmental sounds (P = .02), and distortion (P = .02). In the rank-order ratings, patients preferred the CL hearing aid circuits more frequently (41.6%) than the WDRC (29.8%) and the PC (28.6%) (P = .001 for CL vs both WDRC and PC).ConclusionsEach circuit provided significant benefit in quiet and noisy listening situations. The CL and WDRC circuits appeared to provide superior benefits compared with the PC, although the differences between them were much less than the differences between the aided vs unaided conditions.
Double, Synchronous Pituitary Adenomas Causing Acromegaly and Cushing’s Disease. A Case Report and Review of Literature
Authors: Grzegorz Zieliński, Maria Maksymowicz, Jan Podgórski, Włodzimierz T. Olszewski
Journal: Endocrine Pathology (2013)

Double pituitary adenomas are very rare and present up to 1 % of pituitary adenomas in unselected autopsy series and up to 2 % in large surgical series. We report a case of a 47-year-old man presented slight clinical features of acromegaly with 2 years duration. Endocrine evaluation confirmed active acromegaly and revealed adrenocorticotropin hormone-dependent hypercortisolemia. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging of the pituitary demonstrated clearly separated double microadenomas with different intensity. The patient underwent transsphenoidal surgery and both tumors were completely removed and were fixed separately. The histological and ultrastructural examination confirmed coincidence of the double, clearly separated pituitary adenomas in one gland. Postoperative function of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal axis was normalized. We conclude from this case and a literature review that double endocrinologically active pituitary adenomas leading to acromegaly and Cushing's disease may occur. Additionally, a review of the literature regarding multiple pituitary adenomas has also been performed.
An unstable beta 2-microglobulin: major histocompatibility complex class I heavy chain intermediate dissociates from calnexin and then is stabilized by binding peptide.
Authors: M Sugita, M B Brenner
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1994)

Proper assembly of the class I heavy chain (HC), beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m), and peptide must occur in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in order for MHC class I molecules to be expressed on the cell surface. Newly synthesized class I HC bind calnexin, an ER resident chaperone. These calnexin-associated class I HC appeared to lack the stable association with beta 2m in peptide transporter-deficient T2 cells since beta 2m-unassociated class I HC-specific HC10 antibody, but not beta 2m-associated class I HC-specific W6/32 antibody, coimmunoprecipitated calnexin. To determine the precursor-product relationship of the pool of HC that bind peptide, class I-restricted peptides were added to lysates of T2 cells in vitro. These peptides stabilized preexisting beta 2m-associated HC complexes (beta 2m+:HC:pep-), but had no significant effect on the preexisting pool of calnexin-associated HC that lack beta 2m. Release of HC from calnexin appeared to be controlled by the binding of beta 2m, since beta 2m-deficient FO-1 cells showed a prolonged association of class I HC with calnexin, while beta 2m-transfected FO-1 cells displayed a more rapid dissociation of class I HC from calnexin. Consistent with this result, the dissociation of class I HC from calnexin did not appear to be dependent on peptide binding since the dissociation rates were similar in peptide transporter-deficient T2 cells and in wild-type T1 cells. From these observations, we speculate that in the stepwise assembly of class I molecules, calnexin may mediate dimerization of class I HC with beta 2m, and that the unstable beta 2m+:HC:pep- complexes, after dissociation from calnexin, subsequently bind peptide to complete the assembly.
Preoperative β-Blocker Use in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery
Authors: William Brinkman, Morley A. Herbert, Sean O’Brien, Giovanni Filardo, Syma Prince, Todd Dewey, Mitchell Magee, William Ryan, Michael Mack
Journal: JAMA Internal Medicine (2014)

Use of preoperative β-blockers has been associated with a reduction in perioperative mortality for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery in observational research studies, which led to the adoption of preoperative β-blocker therapy as a national quality standard.To determine whether preoperative β-blocker use within 24 hours of CABG surgery is associated with reduced perioperative mortality in a contemporary sample of patients.Retrospective analysis of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Adult Cardiac database for 1107 hospitals performing cardiac surgery in the United States from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2012. Participants included 506,110 patients 18 years and older undergoing nonemergent CABG surgery who had not experienced a myocardial infarction in the prior 21 days or any other high-risk presenting symptom. We used logistic regression and propensity matching with a greedy 5-to-1 digit-matching algorithm to examine the association between β-blocker use and the main outcomes of interest.Preoperative β-blocker use.Incidence of perioperative mortality, permanent stroke, prolonged ventilation, any reoperation, renal failure, deep sternal wound infection, and atrial fibrillation.Among the 506,110 patients undergoing CABG surgery who met the inclusion criteria, 86.24% received preoperative β-blockers within 24 hours of surgery. In propensity-matched analyses that included 138,542 patients, we found no significant difference between patients who did and did not receive preoperative β-blockers in rates of operative mortality (1.12% vs 1.17%; odds ratio [OR], 0.96 [95% CI, 0.87-1.06]; P = .38), permanent stroke (0.97% vs 0.98%; OR, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.89-1.10]; P = .81), prolonged ventilation (7.01% vs 6.86%; OR, 1.02 [95% CI, 0.98-1.07]; P = .26), any reoperation (3.60% vs 3.69%; OR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.92-1.03]; P = .35), renal failure (2.33% vs 2.24%; OR, 1.04 [95% CI, 0.97-1.11]; P = .30), and deep sternal wound infection (0.29% vs 0.34%; OR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.71-1.04]; P = .12). However, patients who received preoperative β-blockers within 24 hours of surgery had higher rates of new-onset atrial fibrillation when compared with patients who did not (21.50% vs 20.10%; OR, 1.09 [95% CI, 1.06-1.12]; P < .001). Results of logistic regression analyses were broadly consistent.Preoperative β-blocker use among patients undergoing nonemergent CABG surgery who have not had a recent myocardial infarction was not associated with improved perioperative outcomes.
A Role for Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin in CD4+ T Cell Development
Authors: Amin Al-Shami, Rosanne Spolski, John Kelly, Terry Fry, Pamela L. Schwartzberg, Akhilesh Pandey, Crystal L. Mackall, Warren J. Leonard
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (2004)

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) signals via a receptor comprising the interleukin (IL)-7 receptor α chain and a distinctive subunit, TSLP receptor (TSLPR), which is most related to the common cytokine receptor γ chain, γc. We have generated TSLPR knockout (KO) mice and found that although these mice had normal lymphocyte numbers, γc/TSLPR double KO mice had a greater lymphoid defect than γc KO mice. This indicates that TSLP contributes to lymphoid development and accounts for some of the residual lymphoid development in γc KO mice and presumably in patients with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency. Injection of TSLP into γc KO mice induced the expansion of T and B cells. Moreover, sublethally irradiated TSLPR KO mice showed weaker recovery of lymphocyte populations than wild-type (WT) littermates, even when neutralizing anti–IL-7 antibodies were injected. Interestingly, TSLP preferentially stimulated the proliferation and survival of CD4+ single positive thymocytes and peripheral T cells in vitro. Additionally, CD4+ T cells from TSLPR KO mice expanded less efficiently than WT CD4+ T cells in irradiated hosts, and TSLP preferentially expanded CD4+ T cells both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, as compared with other known cytokines, TSLP is distinctive in exhibiting a lineage preference for the expansion and survival of CD4+ T cells.
Comparison of thin section computed tomography with bronchography for identifying bronchiectatic segments in patients with chronic sputum production.
Authors: N C Munro, J C Cooke, D C Currie, B Strickland, P J Cole
Journal: Thorax (1990)

Computed tomography is widely used in the investigation of patients in whom bronchiectasis is suspected, despite considerable variation in its reported sensitivity and specificity. The findings with 3 mm high resolution computed tomography were compared at segmental level with bronchography by two radiologists independently in 27 patients (aged 20-67 years) undergoing investigation of chronic sputum production. Fifteen patients were found to have bronchiectasis by both investigations. Five were identified by computed tomography alone, including two in whom disease was revealed in segments underfilled at bronchography. The sensitivity of computed tomography compared with bronchography in the diagnosis of bronchiectasis at segmental level was 84% and the specificity 82%. The predictive value of computed tomography in the diagnosis of bronchiectasis was 38% overall, but increased to 75% when only those segmental bronchi moderately or severely dilated on the computed tomography scan were considered. There was no relation between the degree of bronchial wall thickening on the computed tomogram and the diagnosis of bronchiectasis by bronchography. Bronchography may be avoided in patients being considered for surgical resection of their bronchiectasis in whom computed tomography shows diffuse disease.
Glycodiazine in Diabets Mellitus: a Clinical Trail
Authors: R. D. H. Stewart, D. E. Anderson
Journal: BMJ (1965)

Breathing Exercises-Saunders and White MEDICALJOURNAL There was no objective evidence of improvement in the treated or control group as a whole when simple tests of lung function were used.The proportion of individuals showing such improvement was the same in both groups.Although a higher proportion of patients in the treated group claimed relief from their dyspnoea, a more careful examination of their symptoms suggests that they were moved by gratitude rather than fact.We think it highly unlikely that the short course of breath- ing exercises used in this trial is of benefit.We should like to thank Mrs. K. A. Conyers, M.C.S.P., for her skilled and enthusiastic help.
Antibody to the dendritic cell surface activation antigen CD83 prevents acute graft-versus-host disease
Authors: John Wilson, Hannah Cullup, Rohan Lourie, Yonghua Sheng, Anna Palkova, Kristen J. Radford, Anne M. Dickinson, Alison M. Rice, Derek N.J. Hart, David J. Munster
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (2009)

Allogeneic (allo) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an effective therapy for hematological malignancies but it is limited by acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Dendritic cells (DC) play a major role in the allo T cell stimulation causing GVHD. Current immunosuppressive measures to control GVHD target T cells but compromise posttransplant immunity in the patient, particularly to cytomegalovirus (CMV) and residual malignant cells. We showed that treatment of allo mixed lymphocyte cultures with activated human DC-depleting CD83 antibody suppressed alloproliferation but preserved T cell numbers, including those specific for CMV. We also tested CD83 antibody in the human T cell–dependent peripheral blood mononuclear cell transplanted SCID (hu-SCID) mouse model of GVHD. We showed that this model requires human DC and that CD83 antibody treatment prevented GVHD but, unlike conventional immunosuppressants, did not prevent engraftment of human T cells, including cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) responsive to viruses and malignant cells. Immunization of CD83 antibody-treated hu-SCID mice with irradiated human leukemic cell lines induced allo antileukemic CTL effectors in vivo that lysed 51Cr-labeled leukemic target cells in vitro without further stimulation. Antibodies that target activated DC are a promising new therapeutic approach to the control of GVHD.
Androgens and liver tumors: Fanconi's anemia and non‐Fanconi's conditions
Authors: Isela Velazquez, Blanche P. Alter
Journal: American Journal of Hematology (2004)

Abstract The association between anabolic androgenic steroids and liver tumors was first noted in patients with Fanconi's anemia (FA). The hypotheses which led to this review were as follows: (1) androgen‐treated individuals who do not have FA are also at risk of liver tumors; (2) parenteral as well as oral androgens may be responsible for liver tumors; (3) FA patients develop liver tumors after smaller and briefer androgen exposure than non‐FA individuals; (4) the risk of hepatic neoplasms may depend on the specific androgen. Medline and Web of Science were searched for all cases of liver tumors associated with androgens. Information from individual cases was entered into a spreadsheet and descriptive statistical analyses were performed. Thirty‐six FA cases and 97 non‐FA cases with both nonhematologic disorders and acquired aplastic anemia (non‐FA AA) were identified. The most common androgens were oxymetholone, methyltestosterone, and danazol. Hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) were more often associated with oxymetholone and methyltestosterone, while adenomas were associated with danazol. Tumors were reported in six patients who received only parenteral and not oral androgens. FA patients were younger than non‐FA patients when androgen use was initiated, and the FA patients developed tumors at younger ages. Non‐AA patients were treated with androgens for longer periods of time, compared with FA and non‐FA AA patients. All patients on anabolic androgenic steroids are at risk of liver tumors, regardless of underlying diagnosis. The magnitude of the risk cannot be determined from currently available data, because the number of patients receiving androgens is unknown. Am. J. Hematol. 77:257–267, 2004. Published 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. †
Patterns of Diversity in HIV-Related Loci among Subspecies of Chimpanzee: Concordance at CCR5 and Differences at CXCR4 and CX3CR1
Authors: T.S. MacFie, E. Nerrienet, N.G. de Groot, R.E. Bontrop, N.I. Mundy
Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution (2009)

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) arose in humans via zoonotic transmissions of simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVcpz) from common chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. Despite the close relatedness of the two viruses and their hosts, we do not yet understand what causes SIVcpz to be nonpathogenic in chimpanzees, and HIV/AIDS to be one of the most devastating infectious diseases to have emerged in humans. There have been a number of genes identified in humans that confer disease resistance/susceptibility toward HIV-1, but little is known about the evolution and diversity of most of these chemokine receptor genes in chimpanzees. Here we show that genetic variation in chimpanzees differs across the various loci related to HIV-1, and that the pattern of variation differs among the chimpanzee subspecies. For all three subspecies, low diversity at CCR5 is confined to a small area of chromosome 3, suggesting that a selective sweep at this locus may have predated subspeciation. In contrast, diversity and neutrality tests suggest differing evolutionary forces among subspecies at CXCR4 and CX3CR1, with directional selection (in Pan troglodytes vellerosus) and demographic expansion (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) offering the most likely scenarios. These are some of the first data demonstrating differentiation in functional loci among chimpanzee subspecies.
Coffee Acutely Increases Sympathetic Nerve Activity and Blood Pressure Independently of Caffeine Content
Authors: Roberto Corti, Christian Binggeli, Isabella Sudano, Lukas Spieker, Edgar Hänseler, Frank Ruschitzka, William F. Chaplin, Thomas F. Lüscher, Georg Noll
Journal: Circulation (2002)

Coffee is the most abundantly consumed stimulant worldwide. However, its cardiovascular safety remains controversial. Possible health hazards have been related to its main ingredient, caffeine. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system by coffee may enhance cardiovascular risk; however, it is unclear whether this effect of coffee is related to caffeine or other substance(s) also contained in decaffeinated coffee.In 15 healthy volunteers (6 habitual and 9 nonhabitual coffee drinkers) arterial blood pressure (BP), heart rate, and muscle sympathetic nervous activity (MSA) were continuously recorded before and after drinking a triple espresso or a decaffeinated triple espresso or after intravenous administration of caffeine (250 mg) or placebo (saline) in the same subjects. There was a significant time x condition interaction for the intravenous caffeine and placebo conditions for MSA, with caffeine showing a significant increase in MSA at 60 minutes (53.2+/-14.1% total activity) and the placebo group showing no effect. A similar significant time effect was found for coffee drinking (54.1+/-22.5% total activity). Habitual and nonhabitual coffee drinkers demonstrated similar changes in MSA and BP after intravenous caffeine, whereas coffee drinking increased BP in nonhabitual drinkers only, despite comparable increases of MSA and plasma caffeine levels. Nonhabitual coffee drinkers showed similar activation of MSA and BP after caffeine infusion, coffee, or decaffeinated coffee.Acutely, coffee and caffeine induced comparable increases in MSA and BP in nonhabitual coffee drinkers, whereas habitual coffee drinkers exhibited lack of BP increase despite MSA activation to coffee. Because decaffeinated coffee also increases BP and MSA in nonhabitual drinkers, ingredients other than caffeine must be responsible for cardiovascular activation.
INTERSTITIAL BRONCHOPNEUMONIA
Authors: Douglas H. Sprunt, Donald S. Martin, Jarrett E. Williams
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1935)

Bacterial toxins can produce a pneumonia similar to that caused by viruses, and the presence of a toxin-producing bacterium in the lungs may account for some of the interstitial bronchopneumonias observed in diseases other than those caused by viruses.
Prognostic significance of plasma D-dimer levels in patients with lung cancer
Authors: O. Taguchi, E. C. Gabazza, H. Yasui, T. Kobayashi, M. Yoshida, H. Kobayashi
Journal: Thorax (1997)

BACKGROUND: The peripheral blood concentrations of several proteases of the clotting system have been shown to predict survival in patients with malignancy. A study was undertaken to investigate the independent value of the plasma levels of the D-dimer degradation product of fibrin before treatment for predicting prognosis in patients with lung cancer. METHODS: The study comprised 70 patients with lung cancer (49 non-small cell lung cancer and 21 small cell lung cancer). Plasma levels of D-dimer were measured using an enzyme immunoassay kit. Multivariate statistical analysis was carried out using the Cox's proportional hazards model. RESULTS: The median value of the plasma level of D-dimer differentiated two groups of patients with different outcomes: a group with a D-dimer level of < 150 ng/ml (low DD group) and those with D-dimer levels of > or = 150 ng/ml (high DD group). Survival time was significantly better in patients in the low DD group than in those in the high DD group in all patients (hazard ratio for high DD group = 4.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8 to 11.7). The plasma levels of D-dimer predicted survival independently from the clinical stage of disease, histological type, performance status, and tumour size (hazard ratio = 3.9; 95% CI 1.6 to 9.2). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that plasma levels of D-dimer might be useful for predicting the clinical outcome in patients with lung cancer. However, further prospective studies are needed in a larger population to confirm these findings.
A novel technique for selective NF- B inhibition in Kupffer cells: contrary effects in fulminant hepatitis and ischaemia-reperfusion
Authors: F. Hoffmann, G. Sass, J. Zillies, S. Zahler, G. Tiegs, A. Hartkorn, S. Fuchs, J. Wagner, G. Winter, C. Coester, A. L. Gerbes, A. M. Vollmar
Journal: Gut (2009)

<h3>Background and aims:</h3> The transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) has risen as a promising target for anti-inflammatory therapeutics. In the liver, however, NF-κB inhibition mediates both damaging and protective effects. The outcome is deemed to depend on the liver cell type addressed. Recent gene knock-out studies focused on the role of NF-κB in hepatocytes, whereas the role of NF-κB in Kupffer cells has not yet been investigated in vivo. Here we present a novel approach, which may be suitable for clinical application, to selectively target NF-κB in Kupffer cells and analyse the effects in experimental models of liver injury. <h3>Methods:</h3> NF-κB inhibiting decoy oligodeoxynucleotides were loaded upon gelatin nanoparticles (D-NPs) and their in vivo distribution was determined by confocal microscopy. Liver damage, NF-κB activity, cytokine levels and apoptotic protein expression were evaluated after lipopolysaccharide (LPS), d-galactosamine (GalN)/LPS, or concanavalin A (ConA) challenge and partial warm ischaemia and subsequent reperfusion, respectively. <h3>Results:</h3> D-NPs were selectively taken up by Kupffer cells and inhibited NF-κB activation. Inhibition of NF-κB in Kupffer cells improved survival and reduced liver injury after GalN/LPS as well as after ConA challenge. While anti-apoptotic protein expression in liver tissue was not reduced, pro-apoptotic players such as cJun N-terminal kinase (JNK) were inhibited. In contrast, selective inhibition of NF-κB augmented reperfusion injury. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> NF-κB inhibiting decoy oligodeoxynucleotide-loaded gelatin nanoparticles is a novel tool to selectively inhibit NF-κB activation in Kupffer cells in vivo. Thus, liver injury can be reduced in experimental fulminant hepatitis, but increased at ischaemia–reperfusion.