tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Anemia and Change in Hemoglobin Over Time Related to Mortality and Morbidity in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure
Authors: Inder S. Anand, Michael A. Kuskowski, Thomas S. Rector, Viorel G. Florea, Robert D. Glazer, Allen Hester, Yann Tong Chiang, Nora Aknay, Aldo P. Maggioni, Cristina Opasich, Roberto Latini, Jay N. Cohn
Journal: Circulation (2005)

Background— Anemia is known to be a prognostic marker for patients with heart failure. However, little is known about the prognostic value of changes in hemoglobin (Hgb) over time or about the causes of anemia. Methods and Results— Retrospective analysis of Valsartan Heart Failure Trial data indicated that the quartile of patients with the biggest average decrease in Hgb over 12 months (from 14.2 to 12.6 g/dL) had significantly ( P ≤0.01) increased risk of subsequent hospitalization (hazard ratio [HR], 1.47), morbid events (HR, 1.41), and death (HR, 1.6) compared with the quartile that exhibited little change in Hgb over 12 months (from 13.7 to 13.8 g/dL). Increasing Hgb was significantly associated with lower mortality in patients with (HR, 0.78) and without (HR, 0.79) anemia at baseline. Anemia at baseline and the changes in Hgb were independently associated with serum albumin, blood pressure, glomerular filtration rate, B-type natriuretic peptide, and C-reactive protein. Lack of anemia at baseline and increases in Hgb over 12 months were not associated with smaller left ventricular diameters or higher ejection fractions. Conclusions— Changes in Hgb over 12 months were inversely associated with subsequent risk of mortality and morbidity, independently of the effects of baseline anemia and other important predictors. Several factors were independently related to anemia at baseline and changes in Hgb, suggesting multiple causes of anemia in patients with heart failure. These findings raise important questions about the optimal level of Hgb in patients with moderate to severe heart failure and how to achieve them.
The Prone Position Eliminates Compression of the Lungs by the Heart
Authors: RICHARD K. ALBERT, ROLF D. HUBMAYR
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2000)

The prone position improves gas exchange in many patients with ARDS. Animal studies have indicated that turning prone restores ventilation to dorsal lung regions without markedly compromising ventral regions. To investigate a potential mechanism by which this might occur, the relative volume of lung located directly under the heart was measured in the supine and prone positions in seven patients. Four axial tomographic sections between the carina and the diaphragm were analyzed (Sections 1 through 4). When supine, the percent of the total lung volume located under the heart increased from 7 +/- 4% to 42 +/- 8%, and from 11 +/- 4% to 16 +/- 4% in Sections 1 through 4, in the left and right lungs, respectively. When prone, the percent of left and right lung volume located under the heart was </= 1 and </= 4 %, respectively, in all four sections (p < 0.05 for each section, supine versus prone). Although a large fraction of the lung, particularly on the left, is located directly under the heart in supine patients, and would be subject to the compressive force resulting from heart weight, almost no lung is located under the heart when patients are prone and the compressive force of the heart is directed towards the sternum.
Tomato paste rich in lycopene protects against cutaneous photodamage in humans in vivo: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: M. Rizwan, I. Rodriguez-Blanco, A. Harbottle, M.A. Birch-Machin, R.E.B. Watson, L.E. Rhodes
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (2010)

Previous epidemiological, animal and human data report that lycopene has a protective effect against ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced erythema.We examined whether tomato paste--rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant--can protect human skin against UVR-induced effects partially mediated by oxidative stress, i.e. erythema, matrix changes and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage.In a randomized controlled study, 20 healthy women (median age 33 years, range 21-47; phototype I/II) ingested 55 g tomato paste (16 mg lycopene) in olive oil, or olive oil alone, daily for 12 weeks. Pre- and postsupplementation, UVR erythemal sensitivity was assessed visually as the minimal erythema dose (MED) and quantified with a reflectance instrument. Biopsies were taken from unexposed and UVR-exposed (3 × MED 24 h earlier) buttock skin pre- and postsupplementation, and analysed immunohistochemically for procollagen (pC) I, fibrillin-1 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, and by quantitative polymerase chain reaction for mtDNA 3895-bp deletion.Mean ± SD erythemal D(30) was significantly higher following tomato paste vs. control (baseline, 26·5 ± 7·5 mJ cm(-2); control, 23 ± 6·6 mJ cm(-2); tomato paste, 36·6 ± 14·7 mJ cm(-2); P = 0·03), while the MED was not significantly different between groups (baseline, 35·1 ± 9·9 mJ cm(-2); control, 32·6 ± 9·6 mJ cm(-2); tomato paste, 42·2 ± 11·3 mJ cm(-2)). Presupplementation, UVR induced an increase in MMP-1 (P = 0·01) and a reduction in fibrillin-1 (P = 0·03). Postsupplementation, UVR-induced MMP-1 was reduced in the tomato paste vs. control group (P = 0·04), while the UVR-induced reduction in fibrillin-1 was similarly abrogated in both groups, and an increase in pCI deposition was seen following tomato paste (P = 0·05). mtDNA 3895-bp deletion following 3 × MED UVR was significantly reduced postsupplementation with tomato paste (P = 0·01).Tomato paste containing lycopene provides protection against acute and potentially longer-term aspects of photodamage.
In vitro study of the influence of radial wall motion on wall shear stress in an elastic tube model of the aorta.
Authors: M Klanchar, J M Tarbell, D M Wang
Journal: Circulation Research (1990)

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of radial motion of an arterial wall on the shear stress that flowing blood imposes on the wall (wall shear stress). Wall shear stress is known to influence endothelial cell function and may play a role in atherogenesis, but its magnitude and distribution in the circulation are not well understood. To simulate arterial wall motion, we used both straight and curved rubber tubing models in a mock circulatory system incorporating a variable impedance element distal to the model aorta. Wall shear rate was measured with a hot-film anemometer probe mounted flush on the tubing wall and free to move with the wall. Wall shear stress was determined as the product of wall shear rate and viscosity. By changing the distal impedance element, we determined the influence of the (temporal) phase angle between pressure and flow, or equivalently, tube diameter and flow, on wall shear stress. We observed a fivefold increase in peak wall shear stress and the onset of intense wall shear stress reversal sinusoidal flows as the phase angle between pressure and flow was reduced from -60 degrees to -80 degrees. Wall shear stresses were insensitive to this same phase angle when its value was between -10 degrees and -60 degrees. Theoretical predictions, also presented here, are in accord with these observations. The phenomena we have observed in elastic tubes may be important in the arterial system because the phase angle between the first harmonic of pressure and flow in the aorta of humans is usually near our sensitive range. This same phase angle becomes more negative in hypertensive patients and is influenced by vasoactive drugs.
A phase I/IIA study of AGS-PSCA for castration-resistant prostate cancer
Authors: M.J. Morris, M.A. Eisenberger, R. Pili, S.R. Denmeade, D. Rathkopf, S.F. Slovin, J. Farrelly, J.J. Chudow, M. Vincent, H.I. Scher, M.A. Carducci
Journal: Annals of Oncology (2012)
Comparison of serum procollagen III peptide concentrations and PGA index for assessment of hepatic fibrosis
Authors: J.P. Teare, S.M. Greenfield, R.P.H. Thompson, J. Simpson, D. Sherman, G. Bray, R. Williams, T.J. Peters, A.P. Catterall, J.M. Murray-Lyon
Journal: The Lancet (1993)
Computational discovery of sense-antisense transcription in the human and mouse genomes
Authors: Jay Shendure, George M Church
Journal: Genome biology (2002)

Overlapping but oppositely oriented transcripts have the potential to form sense-antisense perfect double-stranded (ds) RNA duplexes. Over recent years, the number and variety of examples of mammalian gene-regulatory phenomena in which endogenous dsRNA duplexes have been proposed or demonstrated to participate has greatly increased. These include genomic imprinting, RNA interference, translational regulation, alternative splicing, X-inactivation and RNA editing. We computationally mined public mouse and human expressed sequence tag (EST) databases to search for additional examples of bidirectionally transcribed genomic regions.Our bioinformatics approach identified over 217 candidate overlapping transcriptional units, almost all of which are novel. From experimental validation of a subset of our predictions by orientation-specific RT-PCR, we estimate that our methodology has a specificity of 84% or greater. In many cases, regions of sense-antisense overlap within the 5'- or 3'-untranslated regions of a given transcript correlate with genomic patterns of mouse-human conservation.Our results, in conjunction with the literature, bring the total number of predicted and validated examples of overlapping but oppositely oriented transcripts to over 300. Several of these cases support the hypothesis that a subset of the instances of substantial mouse-human conservation in the 5' and 3' UTRs of transcripts might be explained in part by functionality of an overlapping transcriptional unit.
Combined sequential approach in locally advanced breast cancer
Authors: M. Zambetti, S. Oriana, P. Quattrone, P. Verderio, M. Terenziani, R. Zucali, P. Valagussa, G. Bonadonna
Journal: Annals of Oncology (1999)

The interaction between primary and adjuvant chemotherapy is a crucial point in the treatment of locally advanced breast cancer.To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of a sequential treatment with primary anthracyclines and adjuvant CMF in this patient subset.Prospective cohort study.Eighty-eight breast cancer patients, stage T3b-T4 abc, N0-2, M0.From February 1991 to July 1994, 88 consecutive patients with locally advanced breast cancer were treated at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milano, with full-dose doxorubicin (75 mg/m2) or epirubicin (120 mg/m2) for three cycles followed by surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy with i.v. CMF for six cycles and local radiotherapy +/- Tamoxifen. A high rate of objective responses (70%), but a low incidence of pathologic complete remission (2%), were observed following primary treatment with single-agent anthracyclines. Frequency of responses was not associated with tumor estrogen or progesterone receptors status, Mib-1 or grading. In 28 patients (32%) conservative surgery could be performed. At a median follow-up of 52 months, relapse free survival and overall survival are 52% and 62%, respectively. A multivariate analysis demonstrated a significant favorable prognosis in patients with limited nodal involvement at surgery and negative Mib-1 values. This drug sequence failed to significantly ameliorate the long term results in this unfavorable patient subset and more effective drug regimens and innovative therapeutic strategies are needed.
Tear Gas Dermatitis
Authors: Henry W. Jolly
Journal: JAMA (1968)

To the Editor:—  Recent civil violence has brought tear gas into prominence as one of several personal protective measures that are available to private citizens.  War gases have multiple irritating and toxic effects on humans and animals, properties primarily dependent upon their actions as cell poisons. One of the classes of war gases is lacrimators, the chief action of which is to irritate the conjuctiva causing pain, swelling, and a profuse outpouring of tears which results in temporary disturbance of visual acuity. 1 Blindness has been reported from its use by D. Russel (written communication, November 1967). Chloroacetophenone is one type of lacrimator.  Allergic hypersensitivity has been reported to chloroacetophenone. 2-5 With the handling of these noxious agents by civilians, we thought it timely to refocus the profession's attention to such possibilities. Herein we report a case of delayed hypersensitivity in a civilian after accidental exposure.  Report of a Case:—
An Official ATS/IDSA Statement: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Diseases
Authors: David E. Griffith, Timothy Aksamit, Barbara A. Brown-Elliott, Antonino Catanzaro, Charles Daley, Fred Gordin, Steven M. Holland, Robert Horsburgh, Gwen Huitt, Michael F. Iademarco, Michael Iseman, Kenneth Olivier, Stephen Ruoss, C. Fordham von Reyn, Richard J. Wallace, Kevin Winthrop
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2007)

Diagnostic Criteria of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease Key Laboratory Features of NTM Health Careand Hygiene-associated Disease Prevention Prophylaxis and Treatment of NTM Disease Introduction Methods Taxonomy Epidemiology Pathogenesis Host Defense and Immune Defects Pulmonary Disease Body Morphotype Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibition Laboratory Procedures Collection, Digestion, Decontamination, and Staining of Specimens Respiratory Specimens Body Fluids, Abscesses, and Tissues Blood Specimen Processing Smear Microscopy Culture Techniques Incubation of NTM Cultures NTM Identification Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing for NTM Molecular Typing Methods of NTM Clinical Presentations and Diagnostic Criteria Pulmonary Disease Cystic Fibrosis Hypersensitivity-like Disease Transplant Recipients Disseminated Disease Lymphatic Disease Skin, Soft Tissue, and Bone Disease
PROVENGE (Sipuleucel-T) in Prostate Cancer: The First FDA-Approved Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine
Authors: Martin A. Cheever, Celestia S. Higano
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2011)

Sipuleucel-T (PROVENGE; Dendreon) is the first therapeutic cancer vaccine to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In men who have metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with no or minimal symptoms, sipuleucel-T prolongs median survival by 4.1 months compared with results in those treated with placebo. At 3 years, the proportion of patients in the vaccine group who were alive was 50% higher than that in the control group (31.7% versus 21.7%, respectively). Sipuleucel-T, which is designed to elicit an immune response to prostatic acid phosphatase, uses the patient's own immune system to recognize and combat his cancer. Currently, no other agents are available that offer a survival benefit for this population of asymptomatic patients who have not been treated with chemotherapy, except for docetaxel (whose inherent toxicities often lead patients and physicians to delay administration until symptoms develop). Straightforward strategies to increase the efficacy of sipuleucel-T are likely to provide even greater benefit. The preclinical and clinical development of sipuleucel-T is reviewed, and approaches to enhance efficacy are considered herein.
Treatment-specific changes in circulating adipocytokines: a comparison between tumour necrosis factor blockade and glucocorticoid treatment for rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: R. Klaasen, M M J Herenius, C A Wijbrandts, W de Jager, L H van Tuyl, M T Nurmohamed, B J Prakken, D M Gerlag, P P Tak
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2012)

<h3>Objective</h3> There is increasing evidence that adipocytokines may exert proinflammatory and destructive effects in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Hence, the authors investigated the relationship between adipocytokines and several features associated with RA (inflammation, joint destruction and cardiovascular disease), as well as the effect of treatment with a tumour necrosis factor inhibitor or glucocorticoids (GCs) hereupon. <h3>Methods</h3> Serum levels of adiponectin, leptin, resistin, visfatin, vaspin and lipids were determined in a well-defined cohort of patients with RA before and after 16 weeks of adalimumab treatment (adalimumab cohort). The same parameters were analysed in two other cohorts of patients with RA before and after 2 weeks of high-dose prednisolone (high GC cohort) and before and after 22 weeks of treatment with a combination regimen with tapered high-dose prednisolone (COBRA -GC cohort). Radiographs of hands and feet (adalimumab and COBRA-GC cohorts) were assessed at baseline and after treatment. <h3>Results</h3> Treatment with adalimumab or GC showed opposing effects on vaspin and visfatin levels. Lipid levels improved after several months of adalimumab or GC treatment; in the adalimumab cohort, this was related to reduced visfatin levels, independent of C reactive protein levels. After long-term adalimumab or GC treatment, resistin levels declined, which was associated with a decrease in inflammation markers. In the adalimumab cohort, baseline resistin levels were predictive of baseline radiological damage, independent of anticitrullinated peptide antibodies status or C reactive protein levels. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Changes in serum adipocytokine levels were treatment specific, further strengthening the role of visfatin and resistin in several disease manifestations of RA.
On pulmonary rehabilitation and the flight of the bumblebee: the ATS/ERS Statement on Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Authors: L. Nici, R. ZuWallack, E. Wouters, C. F. Donner
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2006)

According to conventional aerodynamic principles, the bumblebee cannot fly. Yet these fuzzy creatures indeed do fly effortlessly from plant to plant gathering pollen in our gardens. This paradox was resolved only when it became clear that the bumblebee's flight is more like a helicopter than an aeroplane. Using similar logic, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) should not work since it has no direct effect on the forced expiratory volume in one second. Yet this comprehensive intervention demonstrably improves symptoms, exercise performance and quality of life, and decreases healthcare consumption in individuals with chronic respiratory disease. This apparent paradox was resolved when it became clear that patients with chronic respiratory disease experience substantial morbidity from secondary impairments, such as peripheral muscle, cardiac, nutritional and psychosocial dysfunction, which can be mitigated by PR.

In recent years, significant advances in the understanding of the primary and secondary impairments associated with chronic respiratory diseases, with particular focus on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), have led to a better and increasing consideration of the role played by PR as an integral and important part of disease management. Since the 1997 European Respiratory Society (ERS) 1 and 1999 American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2 Statements on PR, there has been a dramatic increase in the science supporting the effectiveness of this therapeutic approach. Laboratory studies as well as randomised, controlled trials using valid and reproducible outcome measures have provided insight into the reasons why PR works. This rapidly growing evidence base and its implications for the care of patients with …
Blockade of Tumor Necrosis Factor α Signaling in Tumor-Associated Macrophages as a Radiosensitizing Strategy
Authors: Yuru Meng, Michael A. Beckett, Hua Liang, Helena J. Mauceri, Nico van Rooijen, Kenneth S. Cohen, Ralph R. Weichselbaum
Journal: Cancer Research (2010)

Most cancer patients receive radiotherapy during the course of their disease. Improvements in the therapeutic index have been based mainly on physical improvements in delivery, as radiosensitizer development to target tumor cells has yet to yield effective agents. Recent investigations have focused on the tumor stroma as a target for radiosensitization. Here, we report that depletion of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMvarphi) by systemic or local injection of the macrophage-depleting liposomal clodronate before radiotherapy can increase the antitumor effects of ionizing radiation (IR), either as a large single dose (20 Gy) or as a fractionated dose (2 Gy x 10). Coimplantation of tumor cells with bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMvarphi) increased tumor radioresistance. Studies using mice with germline deletions in tumor necrosis factor receptors 1 and 2 (TNFR1,2(-/-)) or TNFalpha (TNF(-/-)), or treatment of wild-type mice with a soluble TNF receptor fusion protein (Enbrel), revealed that radioresistance mediated by BMDMvarphi required intact TNFalpha signaling. Radiation exposure upregulated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in macrophages and VEGF-neutralizing antibodies enhanced the antitumor response to IR. Thus, the radioprotective effect of TNFalpha was mediated by TAM-produced VEGF. Our findings offer a mechanistic basis to target macrophage populations generally or TNFalpha-induced macrophage VEGF specifically as tractable strategies to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy.
Dual bronchodilation with QVA149<i>versus</i>single bronchodilator therapy: the SHINE study
Authors: Eric D. Bateman, Gary T. Ferguson, Neil Barnes, Nicola Gallagher, Yulia Green, Michelle Henley, Donald Banerji
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2013)

We investigated the efficacy and safety of dual bronchodilation with QVA149 versus its monocomponents indacaterol and glycopyrronium, tiotropium and placebo in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This was a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled, 26-week trial. Patients (n = 2144) were randomised (2:2:2:2:1) to receive once-daily QVA149 (indacaterol 110 μg/glycopyrronium 50 μg), indacaterol 150 μg, glycopyrronium 50 μg, open-label tiotropium 18 μg or placebo. The primary end-point was trough forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) at week 26 for QVA149 versus its monocomponents. Secondary end-points included dyspnoea, health status, rescue medication use and safety. Trough FEV 1 at week 26 was significantly improved (p&lt;0.001) with QVA149 compared with indacaterol and glycopyrronium (least squares mean (LSM) differences 0.07 L and 0.09 L, respectively), tiotropium and placebo (LSM differences 0.08 L and 0.20 L, respectively); these beneficial effects were sustained throughout the 26-week study. QVA149 significantly improved dyspnoea and health status versus placebo (p&lt;0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively) and tiotropium (p = 0.007 and p = 0.009, respectively) at week 26. All treatments were well tolerated. Dual bronchodilation with once-daily QVA149 demonstrated superior and clinically meaningful outcomes versus placebo and superiority versus treatment with a single bronchodilator, with a safety and tolerability profile similar to placebo, supporting the concept of fixed-dose long-acting muscarinic antagonist/long-acting β 2 -agonist combinations for the treatment of COPD.
Fasting and sports: a summary statement of the IOC workshop
Authors: R J Maughan, Wahid Al-Kharusi, Mehmet S Binnett, Richard Budgett, Louise M Burke, Edward F Coyle, Rania Elwani, Charles-Yannick Guezennec, John Limna, Inigo Mujika, Jasem Ramadan, Patrick Schamasch, Susan M Shirreffs, Pamela Vennard
Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine (2010)

Fasting—the abstention from eating and drinking—is an integral part of all of the world's major cultures and religions, though the pattern of fasting and the rate of adherence both vary widely. Fasting is also practised by many individuals in the belief that health benefits will result. A fast may be total or partial and may be prolonged or intermittent: it may be practised at prescribed times of the year for a fixed duration or at the discretion of the individual.

Fasting of short duration or intermittent nature has little or no effect on the health or performance of most athletes, and an …