tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Serum amyloid-A protein concentration in rheumatoid arthritis and its role in monitoring disease activity.
Authors: R E Chambers, D G MacFarlane, J T Whicher, P A Dieppe
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (1983)

The serum concentrations of serum amyloid-A protein (SAA), C-reactive protein (CRP), and alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (alpha 1-AGP) have been measured in 185 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. SAA and CRP concentrations correlated well (r = 0.86) both within and above the normal ranges, though SAA showed a greater incremental increase than CRP. All patients with normal SAA levels also had normal CRP and alpha 1-AGP concentrations. In contrast, in 40% of patients with normal CRP and alpha 1-AGP concentrations the SAA was raised, sometimes markedly so. The clinical and serological assessments of disease activity in these patients were not significantly different from those with concomitantly raised levels of CRP. These findings suggest that SAA is a more sensitive marker of inflammation than is CRP. The role of the measurement of SAA as a monitor for inflammatory disease activity is discussed.
Biochemical basis of prolidase deficiency. Polypeptide and RNA phenotypes and the relation to clinical phenotypes.
Authors: F Endo, A Tanoue, A Kitano, J Arata, D M Danks, C M Lapière, Y Sei, S K Wadman, I Matsuda
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1990)

Cultured skin fibroblasts or lymphoblastoid cells from eight patients with clinical symptoms of prolidase deficiency were analyzed in terms of enzyme activity, presence of material crossreacting with specific antibodies, biosynthesis of the polypeptide, and mRNA corresponding to the enzyme. There are at least two enzymes that hydrolyze imidodipeptides in these cells and these two enzymes could be separated by an immunochemical procedure. The specific assay for prolidase showed that the enzyme activity was virtually absent in six cell strains and was markedly reduced in two (less than 3% of controls). The activities of the labile enzyme that did not immunoprecipitate with the anti-prolidase antibody were decreased in the cells (30-60% of controls). Cell strains with residual activities of prolidase had immunological polypeptides crossreacting with a Mr 56,000, similar to findings in the normal enzyme. The polypeptide biosynthesis in these cells and the controls was similar. Northern blot analyses revealed the presence of mRNA in the polypeptide-positive cells, yet it was absent in the polypeptide-negative cells. The substrate specificities analyzed in the partially purified enzymes from the polypeptide-positive cell strains differed, presumably due to different mutations. Thus, there seems to be a molecular heterogeneity in prolidase deficiency. There was no apparent relation between the clinical symptoms and the biochemical phenotypes, except that mental retardation was present in the polypeptide-negative patients. The activities of the labile enzyme may not be a major factor in modifying the clinical symptoms.
Loss of transforming growth factor counteraction on interleukin 1 mediated effects in cartilage of old mice
Authors: A Scharstuhl, H M van Beuningen, E L Vitters, P M van der Kraan, W B van den Berg
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2002)

<b>Objective:</b> To investigate if a difference exists between young and old mice in the response of articular cartilage to interleukin 1 (IL1) and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) alone or in combination. <b>Methods:</b> The interaction of IL1 and TGFβ was studied in cartilage of young (three months) and old mice (18 months) both in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, IL1, TGFβ, or IL1 together with TGFβ was injected into the knee joints of mice on days 1, 3, and 5 before harvest of the patellae on day 6. Alternatively, isolated patellae were stimulated with IL1, TGFβ, or IL1 together with TGFβ in culture for 48 hours. Proteoglycan (PG) synthesis and nitric oxide (NO) production were measured. <b>Results:</b> IL1 inhibited PG synthesis and increased NO production in cartilage of both young and old mice. On the other hand, TGFβ stimulated PG synthesis and reduced NO production in both age groups. Importantly, TGFβ was able to counteract IL1 mediated effects on PG synthesis and NO production in young but not in old mice. <b>Conclusions:</b> Contrary to the findings in young mice, the cartilage of old animals does not antagonise IL1 effects via TGFβ. This loss of responsiveness to the pivotal cytokine TGFβ on effects of IL1 can be important in the initiation and progression of osteoarthritis (OA).
CPAP decreases plasma levels of soluble tumour necrosis factor-α receptor 1 in obstructive sleep apnoea
Authors: M. A. Arias, F. García-Río, A. Alonso-Fernández, Á. Hernanz, R. Hidalgo, V. Martínez-Mateo, S. Bartolomé, L. Rodríguez-Padial
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2008)

There is increasing evidence that inflammation plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular complications in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). No previous works have studied levels of soluble tumour necrosis factor-α receptor (sTNFR)-1 in patients with OSA. The aims of the present study were to examine serum levels of sTNFR-1 and the effect of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in patients with OSA. A prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled crossover study was performed. In total, 30 consecutive newly diagnosed OSA patients (apnoea/hypopnoea index 43.8±27.0 events·h −1 ) and 15 healthy obese patients were selected. Urinary levels of norepinephrine and epinephrine, as well as plasma sTNFR-1, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and leukotriene (LT)B 4 levels were obtained at baseline and after 3 months of CPAP or sham CPAP. Nocturnal urinary levels of norepinephrine, epinephrine and sTNFR-1 (1,053±269 versus 820±166 pg·mL −1 ) were significantly higher in OSA patients. There were no significant differences in plasma levels of IL-6, LTB 4 , or TNF-α between the two study groups. There were no significant differences in blood pressure, urinary catecholamine levels, or plasma IL-6, LTB 4 and TNF-α levels after both treatment modalities. However, after 3 months of effective CPAP usage, sTNFR-1 levels were significantly reduced (1,053±269 versus 899±254 pg·mL −1 ). Obstructive sleep apnoea patients have higher levels of soluble tumour necrosis factor-α receptor 1 than individuals without OSA; soluble tumour necrosis factor-α receptor 1 levels are lowered by continuous positive airway pressure therapy. These findings further corroborate a potential role of inflammation in the natural history of obstructive sleep apnoea.
Effect of fetal neural transplants in patients with Huntington's disease 6 years after surgery: a long-term follow-up study
Authors: Anne-Catherine Bachoud-Lévi, Véronique Gaura, Pierre Brugières, Jean-Pascal Lefaucheur, Marie-Françoise Boissé, Patrick Maison, Sophie Baudic, Maria-Joao Ribeiro, Catherine Bourdet, Philippe Remy, Pierre Cesaro, Philippe Hantraye, Marc Peschanski
Journal: The Lancet Neurology (2006)
Successful and reproducible myocardial opacification during two-dimensional echocardiography from right heart injection of contrast.
Authors: F S Villanueva, W P Glasheen, J Sklenar, A R Jayaweera, S Kaul
Journal: Circulation (1992)

BACKGROUND Myocardial contrast echocardiography currently involves intro-arterial injection of contrast. For this technique to have a broader application, it is necessary that myocardial opacification be achieved from a venous injection of contrast. METHODS AND RESULTS To achieve myocardial opacification after right-side injection of contrast, two groups of open-chest anesthetized dogs were studied. Group 1 included nine dogs in whom microbubbles of various sizes, concentrations, and volumes were injected into the left atrium to determine microbubble characteristics that influence myocardial opacification. Group 2 included eight dogs in whom the effect of the combination of microbubble characteristics and myocardial blood flow on myocardial opacification was evaluated after right atrial injection of contrast. Background-subtracted time-intensity plots were generated from the myocardium to measure peak videointensity. In the group 2 dogs, digital subtraction and color coding were used to further highlight the contrast effect. The number, concentration, and size of the microbubbles all independently affected (p less than 0.01) peak myocardial videointensity after left atrial injection of contrast on multivariate analysis. Highly concentrated microbubbles (4.4 to 5.1 billion/ml) given during dipyridamole-induced coronary hyperemia was most frequently (88%) associated with myocardial opacification after right atrial injection of contrast and was the best predictor of this result on multivariate analysis (chi 2= 9.01, p = 0.003). No changes were noted in left atrial, left ventricular, and pulmonary artery pressures despite injection of large numbers of microbubbles into the right atrium. CONCLUSIONS Successful and reproducible myocardial opacification can be achieved during myocardial contrast echocardiography after right atrial injection of contrast. These findings could have far-reaching implications in the use of myocardial contrast echocardiography in acute and chronic ischemic syndromes in humans.
Authors’ response: Bile acids are important in the pathophysiology of IBS
Authors: Antal Bajor, Hans Törnblom, Mats Rudling, Kjell-Arne Ung, Magnus Simrén
Journal: Gut (2014)

We thank Dr Aziz et al 1 for expressing their interest in our recent paper, where we demonstrate that bile acids entering the colon may be an important factor for generation of part of the symptoms in patients who fulfil current diagnostic criteria for IBS.2 We agree with their comment that clinicians managing patients with IBS should be aware of the fact that an abnormal 75Se-labelled homocholic acid-taurine (75SeHCAT) test is quite a common finding in patients with non-constipated IBS, and that treating patients with IBS and an abnormal 75SeHCAT test with a bile acid binding agent may improve some of the key symptoms in these patients, especially diarrhoeal …
Melanoma NOS1 expression promotes dysfunctional IFN signaling
Authors: Qiuzhen Liu, Sara Tomei, Maria Libera Ascierto, Valeria De Giorgi, Davide Bedognetti, Cuilian Dai, Lorenzo Uccellini, Tara Spivey, Zoltan Pos, Jaime Thomas, Jennifer Reinboth, Daniela Murtas, Qianbing Zhang, Lotfi Chouchane, Geoffrey R. Weiss, Craig L. Slingluff, Peter P. Lee, Steven A. Rosenberg, Harvey Alter, Kaitai Yao, Ena Wang, Francesco M. Marincola
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2014)

In multiple forms of cancer, constitutive activation of type I IFN signaling is a critical consequence of immune surveillance against cancer; however, PBMCs isolated from cancer patients exhibit depressed STAT1 phosphorylation in response to IFN-α, suggesting IFN signaling dysfunction. Here, we demonstrated in a coculture system that melanoma cells differentially impairs the IFN-α response in PBMCs and that the inhibitory potential of a particular melanoma cell correlates with NOS1 expression. Comparison of gene transcription and array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) between melanoma cells from different patients indicated that suppression of IFN-α signaling correlates with an amplification of the NOS1 locus within segment 12q22-24. Evaluation of NOS1 levels in melanomas and IFN responsiveness of purified PBMCs from patients indicated a negative correlation between NOS1 expression in melanomas and the responsiveness of PBMCs to IFN-α. Furthermore, in an explorative study, NOS1 expression in melanoma metastases was negatively associated with patient response to adoptive T cell therapy. This study provides a link between cancer cell phenotype and IFN signal dysfunction in circulating immune cells.
Out of their heads: Turning relational reinterpretation inside out
Authors: Louise Barrett
Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2008)

Abstract Although Penn et al's incisive critique of comparative cognition is welcomed, their heavily computational and representational account of cognition commits them to a purely internalist view of cognitive processes. This perhaps blinds them to a distributed alternative that raises the possibility that the human cognitive revolution occurred outside the head, and not in it.
Detection of Airborne Rhinovirus and Its Relation to Outdoor Air Supply in Office Environments
Authors: Theodore A. Myatt, Sebastian L. Johnston, Zhengfa Zuo, Matthew Wand, Tatiana Kebadze, Stephen Rudnick, Donald K. Milton
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2004)

Rhinoviruses are major causes of morbidity in patients with respiratory diseases; however, their modes of transmission are controversial. We investigated detection of airborne rhinovirus in office environments by polymerase chain reaction technology and related detection to outdoor air supply rates. We sampled air from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. each workday, with each sample run for 1 work week. We directly extracted RNA from the filters for nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis of rhinovirus. Nasal lavage samples from building occupants with upper respiratory infections were also collected. Indoor carbon dioxide (CO2 concentrations were recorded every 10 minutes as a surrogate for outdoor air supply. To increase the range of CO2 concentrations, we adjusted the outdoor air supply rates every 3 months. Generalized additive models demonstrated an association between the probability of detecting airborne rhinovirus and a weekly average CO2 concentration greater than approximately 100 ppm, after controlling for covariates. In addition, one rhinovirus from a nasal lavage contained an identical nucleic acid sequence similar to that in the building air collected during the same week. These results suggest that occupants in buildings with low outdoor air supply may have an increased risk of exposure to infectious droplet nuclei emanating from a fellow building occupant.
Sight-saving Classes
Authors: N. B. Harman
Journal: BMJ (1945)

Partially Sighted Children" there is an excellent account of Mrs. Winifred Hathaway's well-written book on the experiences of American educationists of sight-saving classes.Her figures show that there are 630 of these special classes in 31 States.This indicates how keen has been the development of this special provision for children with defective sight; but the fact that there are still some 50,000 childrpn who are held to require it leads to a question addressed to me-namely, What are the technical requirements and potentialities of the school for the partially sighted?All work of these sight-saving classes has been of interest to me, and I think I can do well for them by showing how they came into being.Early in this century there was no provision for the care of the eyesight of children in the increasing number of elementary schools established under the Act of Parliament of 1871.There were fine new school buildings in London; they were full of children.The teaching was good.But no one thought of the eyes of the children until Dr. James Kerr became medical officer of the Education Department of the L.C.C.When I heard it was proposed to appoint some of us young eye men to go to the schools and test the eyesight of the children I went to see him, and he allowed me to join in the work.I felt that this experience among the children of our great city would have an interesting reflection upon hospital work; I should then see the healthy as well as the sick.I was given a fine area of schools, of which Hackney was the centre.About half a dozen started this work all over London, and we spent three half-days a week at the schools.I found it of great interest in that it showed me the variations in eye health in different social conditions.I may say that at first the school teachers were hostile to this new form of school examination, but they soon learned the advantage of it.Children's Eyesight Forty Years Ago My Hackney district included good residential quarters in Clapton, artisan dwellings in Homerton, and crowded slum regions in Bethnal Green.In five months of one year I examined 21,893 children aged from 7 to 13.I classified my records as I judged the living conditions of the regions, and found these figures1: Cleanliness Cases of Eye Disease Percentage Above average 19 in 2,
Induction of apoptosis by an inhibitor of the mitotic kinesin KSP requires both activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint and mitotic slippage
Authors: Weikang Tao, Victoria J. South, Yun Zhang, Joseph P. Davide, Linda Farrell, Nancy E. Kohl, Laura Sepp-Lorenzino, Robert B. Lobell
Journal: Cancer Cell (2005)
Analysis of home support and ventilator malfunction in 1,211 ventilator-dependent patients
Authors: M. Chatwin, S. Heather, A. Hanak, M. I. Polkey, A. K. Simonds
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2009)

Risk management is an important aspect of home ventilation (HV). We examined the nature of calls to a home support helpline to identify patient/equipment problems and strategies to minimise risk for patients, healthcare teams and manufacturers. From 1,211 adult and paediatric patients with neuromuscular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or chest wall disease receiving HV, all calls to a dedicated respiratory support telephone hotline between January 1, 2006 and June 30, 2006 were analysed. 1,199 patients received noninvasive ventilation, 12 tracheostomy ventilation; 149 had two ventilators for 24-h ventilator dependency. There was a mean of 528 daytime calls per month and 14 calls a month at night. Following 188 calls, a home visit was performed; these identified a technical problem that could either be solved in the patient9s home in 64% or required replacement or new parts in 22% of cases. In 25 calls in which no mechanical fault was identified, 13 patients were either found to be unwell or required hospital admission. Patients using HV have a substantial requirement for assistance, with most technical problems being resolved simply. Where no fault can be found during an equipment check, the patient themselves may be unwell and should receive early clinical evaluation. The patient may have mistaken clinical deterioration for an equipment problem.
Vaccine-associated poliomyelitis in a contact
Authors: F. C. Basillico
Journal: JAMA (1978)

TODAY poliomyelitis in the United States results either from rare epidemics in unvaccinated, closed populations or from complications of the trivalent oral polio vaccine.  The clinical features in an unimmunized patient, the history of contact to trivalent oral polio vaccine, and the serologic and virologic data document this case as vaccine-associated poliomyelitis in a contact.  Report of a Case  A 30-year-old married, New England farmer was in excellent health until two days prior to admission when he awoke with a frontal and bioccipital headache unrelieved by aspirin. On the day prior to admission, he noted right leg weakness but proceeded to labor strenuously in the hayfields. He was seen at his local hospital, where examination showed proximal right lower-extremity weakness. His right ankle jerk was absent, and his right knee jerk diminished. Right plantar reflex was equivocal. The left lower extremity had normal strength and reflexes. There were no sensory
What Is the Appropriate Systemic Chemotherapy for Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin's Lymphoma?
Authors: George P. Canellos, Peter Mauch
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2009)

TO THEEDITOR: The optimal systemic therapy for lymphocytepredominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma (LPHL) is uncertain. It is known to be a rare variant with distinct morphologic and immunophenotypic differences compared to classic HL. The distinct B-cell immunophenotype, low-grade clinical biology, and lymph node usually not in a distribution more typical of classic HL questions as to the biology and appropriate chemotherapy. 1 The majority (approximately 80%) of patients present with localized disease. There have been no series of specific chemotherapy regimens published for those patients requiring systemic chemotherapy, and the question of regimen remains unanswered. We attempted to combined the systemic chemotherapy data in previously untreated patients with LPHL from two published Cancer and Leukemia Group B trials (8251 and 8952) 2,3 consisting of only 17 of a total 1,213 patients and published trials of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Joint Center for Radiation Therapy 4,5 (20 of 127 patients) to gain some estimate of the effectiveness of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) or etoposide, vinblastine, and doxorubicin as compared to an alkylating agent-containing regimen, nitrogen mustard, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (MOPP) or MOPP-ABVD hybrid. It is now known that the immunophenotypic features of CD20 allow for rituximab to be effective as an antitumor agent in patients relapsing from radiation therapy. 6 However, the mentioned trials preceded the
Early treatment of asthma
Authors: T. Haahtela
Journal: Allergy (1999)

The early treatment of asthma was not greatly studied before the 1990s. Subjects included in intervention trials have usually had persistent asthma with a long duration of symptoms. Only a few studies have been done on early intervention. It has also become obvious that eosinophilic airway inflammation is common and does not always significantly affect lung function. If patients do not fulfill the functional criteria for asthma, they may not receive specific diagnosis and effective treatment. I have suggested the term "asthma-like inflammation" to describe the disorder of such patients. Bronchial obstruction and increased bronchial responsiveness are outcomes of the inflammatory process, and it may be argued that detection of eosinophilic inflammation is always late at the time asthma is diagnosed. The diagnosis of asthma is often severely delayed, a fact which influences the prognosis and efficacy of therapeutic interventions. The benefits of early treatment of symptomatic asthma have been shown, and several international guidelines recommend anti-inflammatory medication, preferably with inhaled steroids as first-line treatment to gain control of the disease as fast as possible. Very few studies, however, have addressed the long-term influence of various therapeutic approaches. Usually, the beneficial effects gradually disappear when treatment is withdrawn. There is no convincing evidence that any of the current pharmacologic therapies can change the natural course of asthma. Nevertheless, inhaled steroids seem to have a disease-modifying effect if started early enough, and there is a consensus that steroids abolish symptoms, improve lung function, and decrease the need for hospitalization and probably the mortality rate. In future, various combinations of immunologic and pharmacologic treatments may offer more permanent results in asthma therapy.