tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Systematic Review: Smoking Cessation Intervention Strategies for Adults and Adults in Special Populations
Authors: Leah Ranney, Cathy Melvin, Linda Lux, Erin McClain, Kathleen N. Lohr
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2006)

Background: While smoking cessation interventions have been shown to work, questions remain about how to increase their efficacy. Purpose: To examine strategies for effective tobacco treatment in adults and special populations. Data Sources: MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Applied Health (CINAHL), Cochrane Library, Cochrane Clinical Trials Register, Psychological Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts (1 January 1980 to 10 June 2005). Study Selection: Systematic reviews; randomized, controlled trials; and observational studies. Data Extraction: Two reviewers independently abstracted data on study design, population, sample size, treatment, outcomes, and quality. Data Synthesis: Findings from systematic reviews were summarized and compared with findings from original research published beyond date ranges included in the reviews. Strength of evidence was used to assess the body of evidence. Our review included studies evaluating the efficacy of cessation strategies, such as self-help, counseling, single pharmaceutical agents, combined pharmacotherapies, and pharmacotherapies combined with psychological counseling. Research findings consistent with previous reviews show that self-help strategies alone are ineffective, but counseling and pharmacotherapy used either alone or in combination can improve rates of success with quit attempts. Two studies of self-help materials reported discrepancies across effects. Five studies provided mixed results for counseling interventions. Fourteen studies provided sufficient evidence of the efficacy of single pharmacotherapy, combined pharmacotherapy, and psychological interventions either with or without pharmacotherapy. Few studies focused on ways to reach or treat special populations. Three studies with hospitalized patients had findings consistent with a previous review showing no strong evidence that clinical diagnosis affected the likelihood of quitting. New evidence was insufficient to address the effectiveness of interventions for persons with coexisting psychiatric conditions and substance abuse problems. Limitations: Previous systematic reviews variably cover the range of issues we addressed. More recent studies do not fill all gaps, especially those for persons with coexisting disease. Conclusions: Although self-help strategies alone marginally affect quit rates, individual and combined pharmacotherapies and counseling either alone or in combination can significantly increase cessation. Using effective smoking treatments is strongly encouraged for all populations, especially those with high and heavy rates of smoking, such as psychiatric and substance abuse populations.
Role of the Pressor Action of Angiotensin IIin Experimental Hypertension
Authors: Donald T. Pals, Frederick D. Masucci, George S. Denning, Frank Sipos, Dyral C. Fessler
Journal: Circulation Research (1971)

Experiments with rabbit aortic strips and pithed rats indicated that 1-Sar-8-Ala-angiotensin II (Sar-Arg-Val-Tyr-Val-His-Pro-Ala) is a specific competitive antagonist of the vascular action of angiotensin II. Norepinephrine-induced hypertension was not affected by infusions of 1-Sar-8--Ala-angiotensin II which evoked a dose-related reduction of angiotensin II-induced hypertension in conscious rats. Infusions of 1-Sar-8-Ala-angiotensin II that caused a dose-related reduction of the blood pressure of conscious rats in the acute phase of unilateral renal hypertension were ineffective during the chronic phase of such hypertension. Infusions of 1-Sar-8-Ala-angiotensin II lasting 1 hour did not reduce the blood pressure of normotensive, spontaneously hypertensive, or metacorticoid hypertensive conscious rats. These data indicate that, under certain experimental conditions, the blood pressure of rats during the acute phase of unilateral renal hypertension is maintained hy the endogenous angiotensin II previously demonstrated to he present in the plasma in supernormal concentrations. The blood pressure of normotensive, spontaneously hypertensive, metacorticoid hypertensive, and chronic unilateral renal hypertensive rats previously shown to have normal plasma levels of renin and angiotensin II appeared to be independent of the pres.sor action of endogenous angiotensin II. This is additional direct evidence implicating the pressor action of angiotensin II in the etiology of renal hypertension.
The concurrent maturation of mouse and human thymocytes in human fetal thymus implanted in NIH-beige-nude-xid mice is associated with the reconstitution of the murine immune system.
Authors: T R Kollmann, M M Goldstein, H Goldstein
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1993)

To determine whether the human thymus provides an environment for the maturation of murine T cells, human fetal thymus and liver (hu-thy/liv) were implanted into congenitally athymic NIH-beige-nude-xid (BNX) mice or C.B-17 scid/scid (SCID) mice. 3 mo after implantation, in contrast to the hu-thy/liv implant in SCID mice, which was populated only with human CD4/CD8 single- and double-positive thymocytes, the hu-thy/liv implant in BNX mice contained a chimeric population of human and mouse CD4/CD8 single- and double-positive thymocytes. Immunohistochemical staining of the hu-thy/liv implant in BNX mice indicated that the population of double-positive mouse thymocytes was localized to discrete areas of the human fetal thymus. Quantitative improvements in mouse T cell and immunoglobulin (Ig) G parameters were observed after grafting of the human fetal thymus and liver tissue into BNX mice. In addition, in contrast to the nonimplanted BNX mice, the implanted BNX mice were capable of mounting a keyhole limpet hemocyanin-specific IgG response and their peripheral T cells were responsive to stimulation with mitogens and antibodies directed to the T cell receptor. Furthermore, after in vivo priming, T cells present in lymph nodes of the implanted BNX mice were capable of mounting an antigen-induced in vitro T cell-dependent proliferative response. Thus, concurrent with the continued maturation of human T cells, murine T cells differentiated within the human fetal thymus implanted in the BNX mice and mediated the phenotypic and functional reconstitution of the murine immune system. Mice with a reconstituted immune system that contain a human thymic implant that is infectible with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) should prove useful in the investigation of T cell maturation in the thymus and in the evaluation of potential HIV vaccines.
Discharge planning and home care for end-stage COPD patients
Authors: J. Escarrabill
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2009)

Discharge support for the most seriously ill chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients is a key issue in minimising the impact of the acute episode and preventing future relapses. Alternatives to hospitalisation are crucial in the cost minimisation of COPD care. However, besides efficiency, there are clinical reasons for promoting alternatives to conventional hospital admission. Hospital stay itself conveys a risk to patients. The discharge process is a key element in the healthcare continuum. Hospital at home is a safe alternative to hospital admission, but it is not the only means of supporting discharge. Some home care schedules, mainly supported by nurses, have been proven to be good alternatives. Home care is also useful in the prevention of hospital admission. Integrated care is a comprehensive response to the needs of severely affected COPD patients achieved through models of shared care utilising all relevant health providers and promoting self-management. The framework for integrated care is the so-called chronic care model, centred on the promotion of self-management, the holistic appraisal of the patient, the most appropriate design of healthcare delivery responding effectively to the needs of the patient and a good system of shared and accessible information.
A Randomized Clinical Trial to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring in the Management of Type 1 Diabetes in Young Children Aged 4 to &amp;lt;10 Years
Authors: Nelly Mauras, Roy Beck, Dongyuan Xing, Katrina Ruedy, Bruce Buckingham, Michael Tansey, Neil H. White, Stuart A. Weinzimer, William Tamborlane, Craig Kollman
Journal: Diabetes Care (2011)

OBJECTIVE Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has been demonstrated to improve glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes but less so in children. We designed a study to assess CGM benefit in young children aged 4 to 9 years with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS After a run-in phase, 146 children with type 1 diabetes (mean age 7.5 ± 1.7 years, 64% on pumps, median diabetes duration 3.5 years) were randomly assigned to CGM or to usual care. The primary outcome was reduction in HbA1c at 26 weeks by ≥0.5% without the occurrence of severe hypoglycemia. RESULTS The primary outcome was achieved by 19% in the CGM group and 28% in the control group (P = 0.17). Mean change in HbA1c was −0.1% in each group (P = 0.79). Severe hypoglycemia rates were similarly low in both groups. CGM wear decreased over time, with only 41% averaging at least 6 days/week at 26 weeks. There was no correlation between CGM use and change in HbA1c (rs = −0.09, P = 0.44). CGM wear was well tolerated, and parental satisfaction with CGM was high. However, parental fear of hypoglycemia was not reduced. CONCLUSIONS CGM in 4- to 9-year-olds did not improve glycemic control despite a high degree of parental satisfaction with CGM. We postulate that this finding may be related in part to limited use of the CGM glucose data in day-to-day management and to an unremitting fear of hypoglycemia. Overcoming the barriers that prevent integration of these critical glucose data into day-to-day management remains a challenge.
Fas ligand/Fas-mediated apoptosis in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells: therapeutic implications of fratricidal mode of action
Authors: A Belanger
Journal: Cardiovascular Research (2001)

Objective: This study aimed to determine the mode of action of Fas ligand (FasL)/Fas at mediating apoptosis so as to evaluate the potential of FasL in gene therapy for restenosis. Methods: Passaged human coronary artery smooth muscle (HCASM) cells were infected with recombinant adenoviral vectors expressing murine FasL. Various parameters of FasL expression and apoptosis were measured using FACS, immunofluorescence, calorimetric, and cytotoxicity assays. Results: Most HCASM cells under normal growth conditions expressed Fas and were shown to be susceptible to membrane bound but not soluble FasL. However, some FasL expressing cells survived for up to 7 days. These surviving cells were observed to be spatially distributed and were not in direct physical contact with each other. Upon examination, it was determined that although the majority of the surviving cells expressed FasL, only 30% expressed both Fas and FasL. These cells were capable of inducing apoptosis of target cells and some were also susceptible to FasL expressing cells, provided that the effector and target cells were in close physical contact. FasL/Fas-mediated apoptosis was inhibited by p35, a baculovirus gene that inhibits caspases. Additionally, in contrast to HCASM cells, neither membrane-bound nor soluble FasL induced apoptosis in coronary artery endothelial cells. Conclusions: FasL expressing HCASM cells do not undergo FasL/Fas mediated "suicide" but kill neighboring cells bearing Fas in a "fratricidal" manner. A small population of HCASM cells expresses no surface Fas. These results imply that HCASM cells transduced in vivo with FasL may serve as "scavengers" and exert a bystander effect on surrounding cells that may be enhanced by co-expression of p35. As FasL-mediated apoptosis occurs in coronary arterial smooth muscle but not endothelial cells, FasL may also offer an advantage over other genes for use in restenosis since the latter may indiscriminately delay re-endothelialization at the sites of gene.
"Fee for Service" from the Poor
Authors: RALPH CRAWSHAW
Journal: American Journal of Psychiatry (1971)

By making mutual needs explicit, particularly when one is dealing with deprived and dependent people, it is possible to free the recipient of guilt and the donor of illusions. Candor concerning expectations enhances the self-esteem of those who give and of those who receive. The author describes a novel approach to setting a "fee" for his services as a consultant and notes that the fee can be seen not a burden but rather as a key to interdependence.
Firearm-Related Hospitalization and Risk for Subsequent Violent Injury, Death, or Crime Perpetration
Authors: Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Douglas Zatzick, Jin Wang, Brianna M. Mills, Joseph A. Simonetti, Mary D. Fan, Frederick P. Rivara
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2015)

Risk for violent victimization or crime perpetration after firearm-related hospitalization (FRH) must be determined to inform the need for future interventions.To compare the risk for subsequent violent injury, death, or crime perpetration among patients with an FRH, those hospitalized for noninjury reasons, and the general population.Retrospective cohort study.All hospitals in Washington.Patients with an FRH and a random sample of those with a non-injury-related hospitalization in 2006 to 2007 (index hospitalization).Primary outcomes included subsequent FRH, firearm-related death, and the combined outcome of firearm- or violence-related arrest ascertained through 2011.Among patients with an index FRH (n = 613), rates of subsequent FRH, firearm-related death, and firearm- or violence-related arrest were 329 (95% CI, 142 to 649), 100 (CI, 21 to 293), and 4221 (CI, 3352 to 5246) per 100 000 person-years, respectively. Compared with the general population, standardized incidence ratios among patients with an index FRH were 30.1 (CI, 14.9 to 61.0) for a subsequent FRH and 7.3 (CI, 2.4 to 22.9) for firearm-related death. In survival analyses that accounted for competing risks, patients with an index FRH were at greater risk for subsequent FRH (subhazard ratio [sHR], 21.2 [CI, 7.0 to 64.0]), firearm-related death (sHR, 4.3 [CI, 1.3 to 14.1]), and firearm- or violence-related arrest (sHR, 2.7 [CI, 2.0 to 3.5]) than those with a non-injury-related index hospitalization.Lack of information on whether patients continued to reside in Washington during follow-up may have introduced outcome misclassification.Hospitalization for a firearm-related injury is associated with a heightened risk for subsequent violent victimization or crime perpetration. Further research at the intersection of clinical care, the criminal justice system, and public health to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions delivered to survivors of firearm-related injury is warranted.Seattle City Council and University of Washington Royalty Research Fund.
Normal human monocytes exposed to glioma cells acquire myeloid-derived suppressor cell-like properties
Authors: Jennifer C. Rodrigues, Guido C. Gonzalez, Lei Zhang, George Ibrahim, John J. Kelly, Michael P. Gustafson, Yi Lin, Allan B. Dietz, Peter A. Forsyth, V. Wee Yong, Ian F. Parney
Journal: Neuro-Oncology (2009)

Glioblastoma patients are immunosuppressed, yet glioblastomas are highly infiltrated by monocytes/macrophages. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC; immunosuppressive myeloid cells including monocytes) have been identified in other cancers and correlate with tumor burden. We hypothesized that glioblastoma exposure causes normal monocytes to assume an MDSC-like phenotype and that MDSC are increased in glioblastoma patients. Healthy donor human CD14+ monocytes were cultured with human glioblastoma cell lines. Controls were cultured alone or with normal human astrocytes. After 48 hours, glioblastoma-conditioned monocytes (GCM) were purified using magnetic beads. GCM cytokine and costimulatory molecular expression, phagocytic ability, and ability to induce apoptosis in activated lymphocytes were assessed. The frequency of MDSC was assessed by flow cytometry in glioma patients' blood and in GCM in vitro. As predicted, GCM have immunosuppressive, MDSC-like features, including reduced CD14 (but not CD11b) expression, increased immunosuppressive interleukin-10, transforming growth factor-β, and B7-H1 expression, decreased phagocytic ability, and increased ability to induce apoptosis in activated lymphocytes. Direct contact between monocytes and glioblastoma cells is necessary for complete induction of these effects. In keeping with our hypothesis, glioblastoma patients have increased circulating MDSC compared with normal donors and MDSC are increased in glioma-conditioned monocytes in vitro. To our knowledge, this has not been reported previously. Although further study is needed to directly characterize their origin and function in glioblastoma patients, these results suggest that MDSC may be an important contributor to systemic immunosuppression and can be modeled in vitro by GCM.
Reduction in pulmonary fibrosis in vivo by halofuginone.
Authors: A Nagler, N Firman, R Feferman, S Cotev, M Pines, S Shoshan
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (1996)

Pulmonary fibrosis is a disorder causing a high mortality rate for which therapeutic options are limited. Therefore, the effect of halofuginone, a novel inhibitor of collagen type I synthesis, on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis was studied in rats. Pulmonary fibrosis was induced by intraperitoneal injections of bleomycin for seven consecutive days, and halofuginone was administered intraperitoneally every second day during the entire experimental period of 42 d. Collagen determination in the lungs and the examination of histologic sections showed that halofuginone significantly reduced fibrosis relative to the untreated control rats. We conclude that halofuginone is a potent in vivo inhibitor of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, and that it may potentially be used as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of this dysfunction.
Dual suppression of estrogenic and inflammatory activities for targeting of endometriosis
Authors: Yuechao Zhao, Ping Gong, Yiru Chen, Jerome C. Nwachukwu, Sathish Srinivasan, CheMyong Ko, Milan K. Bagchi, Robert N. Taylor, Kenneth S. Korach, Kendall W. Nettles, John A. Katzenellenbogen, Benita S. Katzenellenbogen
Journal: Science Translational Medicine (2015)

The estrogen-dependent inflammatory and neuroangiogenic activities that drive endometriosis can be suppressed by estrogen receptor ligands in mice.
Indications for platelet transfusion in children with acute leukemia
Authors: Scott Murphy, Samuel Litwin, Leonard M. Herring, Penelope Koch, Judith Remischovsky, Milton H. Donaldson, Audrey E. Evans, Frank H. Gardner
Journal: American Journal of Hematology (1982)

Abstract In an attempt to determine the indications for platelet transfusion in thrombocytopenic patients, we randomized 56 children with acute leukemia to one of two regimens of platelet transfusion. The prophylactic group received platelets when the platelet count fell below 20,000 per mm 3 irrespective of clinical events. The therapeutic group was transfused only when significant bleeding occurred and not for thrombocytopenia alone. The time to first bleeding episode was significantly longer and the number of bleeding episodes were significantly reduced in the prophylactic group. The survival curves of the two groups could not be distinguished from each other. Prior to the last month of life, the total number of days on which bleeding was present was significantly reduced by prophylactic therapy. However, in the terminal phase (last month of life), the duration of bleeding episodes was significantly longer in the prophylactic group. This may have been due to a higher incidence of immunologic refractoriness to platelet transfusion. Because of this terminal bleeding, comparison of the two groups for total number of days on which bleeding was present did not show a significant difference over the entire study period.
(1) CVID Patients with HLA∗B8 or ∗B44 Have Higher Numbers of Class Switched Memory B cell Numbers than CVID Patients Without ∗B8 or ∗B44
Authors: J.V. Giannobile, P. Kapoor, E.E. Brown, H.W. Schroeder Jr.
Journal: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (2009)
Variations in Quality of Care for Men With Early-Stage Prostate Cancer
Authors: Benjamin A. Spencer, David C. Miller, Mark S. Litwin, Jamie D. Ritchey, Andrew K. Stewart, Rodney L. Dunn, E. Greer Gay, Howard M. Sandler, John T. Wei
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2008)

The commencement of quality-improvement initiatives such as Pay for Performance and the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement has underscored calls to evaluate the quality of cancer care on a patient level for nationally representative samples.We sampled early-stage prostate cancer cases diagnosed in 2000 through 2001 from the American College of Surgeons National Cancer Data Base and explicitly reviewed medical records from 2,775 men (weighted total = 55,160 cases) treated with radical prostatectomy or external-beam radiation therapy. We determined compliance with 29 quality-of-care disease-specific structure and process indicators developed by RAND, stratified by race, geographic region, and hospital type.Overall compliance exceeded 70% for structural and pretherapy disease assessment indicators but was lower for documentation of pretreatment functioning (46.4% to 78.4%), surgical pathology (37.1% to 86.3%), radiation technique (62.6% to 88.3%), and follow-up (55%). Geographic variations were observed as higher compliance in the South Atlantic division than the New England division for having at least one board-certified urologist (odds ratio [OR], 9.2; 95% CI, 1.9 to 45.0), at least one board-certified radiation oncologist (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.2 to 9.0), use of Gleason grading (OR, 4.1; 95% CI, 1.2 to 13.8), and administering total radiation dose >or= 70 Gy (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.6 to 6.1). Teaching/research hospitals and Comprehensive Cancer Centers had higher compliance than Community Cancer Centers, whereas racial differences were not observed for any indicator.The significant and unwarranted variations observed for these quality indicators by census division and hospital type illustrate the inconsistencies in prostate cancer care and represent potential targets for quality improvement. The lack of racial disparities suggests equity in care once a patient initiates treatment.
Exenatide once weekly versus liraglutide once daily in patients with type 2 diabetes (DURATION-6): a randomised, open-label study
Authors: John B Buse, Michael Nauck, Thomas Forst, Wayne H-H Sheu, Sylvia K Shenouda, Cory R Heilmann, Byron J Hoogwerf, Aijun Gao, Marilyn K Boardman, Mark Fineman, Lisa Porter, Guntram Schernthaner
Journal: The Lancet (2012)