tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Elevated high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T is associated with increased mortality after acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: A. D. Hoiseth, A. Neukamm, B. D. Karlsson, T. Omland, P. H. Brekke, V. Soyseth
Journal: Thorax (2011)

<h3>Background</h3> Cardiovascular co-morbidities are common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Retrospective studies on selected patients have indicated that cardiac troponin elevation is frequent during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD), and that this is associated with poor survival. In the present prospective study the prevalence and prognostic value of elevated cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in unselected patients with AECOPD have been investigated, using a novel high-sensitivity assay (hs-cTnT assay). <h3>Methods and results</h3> 99 patients hospitalised for AECOPD were included. They were followed until death or study termination. During a median follow-up time of 1.9 years, 57 patients (58%) died. 97 patients (98%) had measurable levels of hs-cTnT and 73 (74%) had hs-cTnT above the normal range (≥14.0 ng/l). The crude mortality rates in patients having hs-cTnT &lt;14.0, 14.0–39.9 and ≥40 ng/l were 4.6, 30.2 and 58.3 per 100 patient-years, respectively. Adjusting for relevant covariables using an extended Cox regression analysis, the HRs (95% CI) for death were 4.5 (1.2 to 16) and 8.9 (2.4 to 32) among patients having hs-cTnT 14.0–39.9 and ≥40 ng/l, respectively, compared with patients with hs-cTnT &lt;14.0 ng/l. The association between mortality and hs-cTnT was strongly modified by heart rate at admission (p&lt;0.001)—that is, the association between mortality and hs-cTnT was stronger among patients with tachycardia. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Elevated hs-cTnT during AECOPD is frequent, and it is associated with increased mortality. The effect is stronger among patients having tachycardia than among patients with normal heart rate.
Analysis of the lymphatic vessel architecture of atypical fibroxanthoma and pleomorphic dermal sarcoma
Authors: Carolin Zschoche, Corinna Hamsch, Heinz Kutzner, Thomas Mentzel, Siegfried Werchau, Alexander Enk, Wolfgang Hartschuh, Eva Hadaschik, Ferdinand Toberer
Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (2014)
Decreased contractile efficiency and increased nonmechanical energy cost in hyperthyroid rabbit heart. Relation between O2 consumption and systolic pressure-volume area or force-time integral.
Authors: Y Goto, B K Slinker, M M LeWinter
Journal: Circulation Research (1990)

Both systolic pressure-volume area (PVA) and force-time integral (FTI) have been used as measures of oxygen consumption per beat (VO2) in the isolated left ventricle. The reciprocal of the slope of the VO2-PVA relation has been considered to reflect the chemomechanical energy transduction efficiency of the contractile machinery (contractile efficiency), whereas its VO2 intercept consists of energy cost of excitation-contraction coupling and basal metabolism. To examine whether the increase in myosin isoform V1/V3 ratio in hyperthyroid rabbits decreases contractile efficiency and to determine overall mechanisms of higher oxygen consumption in hyperthyroid hearts, the VO2-PVA and VO2-FTI relations as well as the end-systolic pressure-volume relation were assessed in cross-circulated, isovolumically beating hearts isolated from normal, hyperthyroid, and hypothyroid rabbits. Normalized initial slopes of the rising limb of the curvilinearly fitted end-systolic pressure-volume relation (E'max, ventricular contractility index) were similar for normal and hyperthyroid groups. However, the slopes and VO2 intercepts of the VO2-PVA and VO2-FTI relations were greater in hyperthyroid hearts than in normal hearts. Accordingly, in the hyperthyroid hearts, the contractile efficiency (27 +/- 6%) was lower and left ventricular VO2 for excitation-contraction coupling (0.028 +/- 0.004 ml O2/beat/100 g) was higher than in normal hearts (40 +/- 4% and 0.021 +/- 0.005 ml O2/beat/100 g, respectively). This decreased contractile efficiency in the hyperthyroid hearts was attributable to myosin isoform alteration rather than to increased beta-adrenoceptors because isoproterenol did not affect the slope of the VO2-PVA relation in all groups. In contrast, the slope of the VO2-FTI relation was significantly increased by isoproterenol in all groups. Neither the VO2-PVA nor the VO2-FTI relations in hypothyroid hearts were different from those in normal hearts except for significantly lower VO2 for basal metabolism. We conclude that in hyperthyroid rabbits, the left ventricle has decreased contractile efficiency and increased energy cost of excitation-contraction coupling and that the decreased contractile efficiency in hyperthyroid hearts is probably due to the increased V1/V3 ratio of the myosin isoform component. In addition, this study demonstrates that the VO2-PVA and VO2-FTI relations dissociate depending on the intervention, even in the same isovolumic contraction mode.
Mechanisms and Functions of Theta Rhythms
Authors: Laura Lee Colgin
Journal: Annual Review of Neuroscience (2013)

The theta rhythm is one of the largest and most sinusoidal activity patterns in the brain. Here I survey progress in the field of theta rhythms research. I present arguments supporting the hypothesis that theta rhythms emerge owing to intrinsic cellular properties yet can be entrained by several theta oscillators throughout the brain. I review behavioral correlates of theta rhythms and consider how these correlates inform our understanding of theta rhythms' functions. I discuss recent work suggesting that one function of theta is to package related information within individual theta cycles for more efficient spatial memory processing. Studies examining the role of theta phase precession in spatial memory, particularly sequence retrieval, are also summarized. Additionally, I discuss how interregional coupling of theta rhythms facilitates communication across brain regions. Finally, I conclude by summarizing how theta rhythms may support cognitive operations in the brain, including learning.
The gene encoding phosphodiesterase 4D confers risk of ischemic stroke
Authors: Solveig Gretarsdottir, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Sigridur Th Reynisdottir, Andrei Manolescu, Sif Jonsdottir, Thorbjörg Jonsdottir, Thorunn Gudmundsdottir, Sigrun M Bjarnadottir, Olafur B Einarsson, Herdis M Gudjonsdottir, Malcolm Hawkins, Gudmundur Gudmundsson, Hrefna Gudmundsdottir, Hjalti Andrason, Asta S Gudmundsdottir, Matthildur Sigurdardottir, Thomas T Chou, Joseph Nahmias, Shyamali Goss, Sigurlaug Sveinbjörnsdottir, Einar M Valdimarsson, Finnbogi Jakobsson, Uggi Agnarsson, Vilmundur Gudnason, Gudmundur Thorgeirsson, Jurgen Fingerle, Mark Gurney, Daniel Gudbjartsson, Michael L Frigge, Augustine Kong, Kari Stefansson, Jeffrey R Gulcher
Journal: Nature Genetics (2003)
Different subgroups of difficult asthma in children
Authors: H GRASEMANN
Journal: Thorax (2001)

Payne and co-workers describe the identification of different subgroups of paediatric asthma based on airway nitric oxide (NO) concentrations. A group of asthmatic subjects who remained symptomatic after 2 weeks of treatment with oral prednisolone included both patients who continued to have raised NO concentrations and patients with normal NO concentrations before and after prednisolone.1 Since airway NO concentrations are believed to reflect airway inflammation in asthma, the authors conclude that their findings: “ . . .suggest a different basis for symptoms between the two subgroups, with inflammation playing a less important role in those patients with normal NO levels”.

The current understanding of increased exhaled NO concentrations in asthma is based on the assumption that constitutive NO synthase (NOS) derived …
Sex, forced expiratory volume in 1 s decline, body weight change and C-reactive protein in COPD patients
Authors: J. P. de Torres, C. Casanova, B. R. Celli
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2009)

Sex, forced expiratory volume in 1 s decline, body weight change and C-reactive protein in COPD patientsTo the Editors:We read with great interest the study by BRIDEVAUX et al.[1] about the possible sex role in weight gain and faster forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) decline as predictors of systemic inflammation (measured by C-reactive protein (CRP) levels) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.Although the article is interesting, we found some conflicting methodological aspects that we wanted to highlight.
Effects of Internet use on the adolescent brain: despite popular claims, experimental evidence remains scarce
Authors: Kathryn L. Mills
Journal: Trends in Cognitive Sciences (2014)

•Adults are concerned about the effects of new technologies on the developing brain.•Different aspects of Internet use have different effects on adolescent health.•Neuroimaging research on this topic has focused on nonrepresentative samples.•There is currently no evidence that typical Internet use harms the adolescent brain. Twenty-five years have passed since the invention of the World Wide Web changed society by allowing unfettered access to the Internet. How this technological revolution has affected brain development continues to be an open question. There is particular concern about how Internet use is affecting the brains of adolescents. This Forum article discusses the possible effects of the Internet, as well as the behaviors and capabilities associated with its use, on the adolescent brain. Twenty-five years have passed since the invention of the World Wide Web changed society by allowing unfettered access to the Internet. How this technological revolution has affected brain development continues to be an open question. There is particular concern about how Internet use is affecting the brains of adolescents. This Forum article discusses the possible effects of the Internet, as well as the behaviors and capabilities associated with its use, on the adolescent brain.
Correcting the Apparent Mutation Rate Acceleration at Shorter Time Scales under a Jukes-Cantor Model
Authors: C. Tuffley, W. Timothy, J. White, M. D. Hendy, D. Penny
Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution (2012)

At macroevolutionary time scales, and for a constant mutation rate, there is an expected linear relationship between time and the number of inferred neutral mutations (the "molecular clock"). However, at shorter time scales, a number of recent studies have observed an apparent acceleration in the rate of molecular evolution. We study this apparent acceleration under a Jukes-Cantor model applied to a randomly mating population, and show that, under the model, it arises as a consequence of ignoring short-term effects due to existing diversity within the population. The acceleration can be accounted for by adding the correction term h(0)e(-4μt/3) to the usual Jukes-Cantor formula p(t) = 3/4(1 - e (-(-4μt/3), where h(0) is the expected heterozygosity in the population at time t = 0. The true mutation rate μ may then be recovered, even if h(0) is not known, by estimating μ and h(0) simultaneously using least squares. Rate estimates made without the correction term (i.e., incorrectly assuming the population to be homogeneous) will result in a divergent rate curve of the form μ(div) = μ + C/t, so that the mutation rate appears to approach infinity as the time scale approaches zero. Although our quantitative results apply only to the Jukes-Cantor model, it is reasonable to suppose that the qualitative picture that emerges also applies to more complex models. Our study, therefore, demonstrates the importance of properly accounting for any ancestral diversity, because it may otherwise play a dominant role in rate overestimation.
Bone Metabolism in Obesity and Weight Loss
Authors: Sue A. Shapses, Deeptha Sukumar
Journal: Annual Review of Nutrition (2012)

Excess body weight due to obesity has traditionally been considered to have a positive effect on bone; however, more recent findings suggest that bone quality is compromised. Both obesity and caloric restriction increase fracture risk and are regulated by endocrine factors and cytokines that have direct and indirect effects on bone and calcium absorption. Weight reduction will decrease bone mass and mineral density, but this varies by the individual's age, gender, and adiposity. Dietary modifications, exercise, and medications have been shown to attenuate the bone loss associated with weight reduction. Future obesity and weight loss trials would benefit from assessment of key hormones, adipokine and gut peptides that regulate calcium absorption, and bone mineral density and quality by using sensitive techniques in high-risk populations.
Contribution of Epithelial-derived Fibroblasts to Bleomycin-induced Lung Fibrosis
Authors: Harikrishna Tanjore, Xiaochuan C. Xu, Vasiliy V. Polosukhin, Amber L. Degryse, Bo Li, Wei Han, Taylor P. Sherrill, David Plieth, Eric G. Neilson, Timothy S. Blackwell, William E. Lawson
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2009)

Rationale: Lung fibroblasts are key mediators of fibrosis resulting in accumulation of excessive interstitial collagen and extracellular matrix, but their origins are not well defined.Objectives: We aimed to elucidate the contribution of lung epithelium–derived fibroblasts via epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the intratracheal bleomycin model.Methods: Primary type II alveolar epithelial cells were cultured from Immortomice and exposed to transforming growth factor-β1 and epidermal growth factor. Cell fate reporter mice that permanently mark cells of lung epithelial lineage with β-galactosidase were developed to study EMT, and bone marrow chimeras expressing green fluorescent protein under the control of the fibroblast-associated S100A4 promoter were generated to examine bone marrow–derived fibroblasts. Mice were given intratracheal bleomycin (0.08 unit). Immunostaining was performed for S100A4, β-galactosidase, green fluorescent protein, and α-smooth muscle actin.Measurements and Main Results: In vitro, primary type II alveolar epithelial cells undergo phenotypic changes of EMT when exposed to transforming growth factor-β1 and epidermal growth factor with loss of prosurfactant protein C and E-cadherin and gain of S100A4 and type I procollagen. In vivo, using cell fate reporter mice, approximately one-third of S100A4-positive fibroblasts were derived from lung epithelium 2 weeks after bleomycin administration. From bone marrow chimera studies, one-fifth of S100A4-positive fibroblasts were derived from bone marrow at this same time point. Myofibroblasts rarely derived from EMT or bone marrow progenitors.Conclusions: Both EMT and bone marrow progenitors contribute to S100A4-positive fibroblasts in bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. However, neither origin is a principal contributor to lung myofibroblasts.
Summer Mountain Stations in Switzerland: The Lake Lucerne District
Authors: J. H. Bennet
Journal: BMJ (1878)

Sept. 2t, doS altering the positions of the cleats, so can the angle be made more obtuse or acute; and the more acute it becomes the more is the drag from the head and the less from the arms: as much should be taken from the head as the patient can possibly bear.Sayre's method allows no variation, or very little, between the arms and head.The head.
Adherence to Initial Adjuvant Anastrozole Therapy Among Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer
Authors: Ann H. Partridge, Andrea LaFountain, Erica Mayer, Brooke S. Taylor, Eric Winer, Aviva Asnis-Alibozek
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2008)

Previous research evaluating adherence to tamoxifen therapy among women with early-stage breast cancer has revealed adherence estimates ranging from 25% to 96%. No previous studies have focused on adherence to adjuvant aromatase inhibitors.We used longitudinal claims data from three large commercial health programs to estimate adherence with anastrozole therapy among women with early-stage breast cancer. Adherence was defined as the proportion of days that patients had medication available over the observation period (ie, days covered); women with fewer than 80% of days covered were defined as nonadherent.More than 12,000 women in the databases were found to have new anastrozole prescription claims during the period of study: 1,498 women were classified as having early-stage disease in one commercial health program (Plan A) data set, 1,899 women in another program (Plan B) data set, and 8,994 women in MarketScan, a commercial data set made up of several health programs. Mean adherence over the first 12 months of therapy ranged from 82% to 88% in the three data sets. Between 19% and 28% of women had fewer than 80% of days covered. For women with 36 months of continuous eligibility, the mean adherence decreased each year, ranging from 78% to 86% in year 1 to 62% to 79% in year 3 within the three data sets.A substantial proportion of women with early-stage breast cancer may be suboptimally adherent to adjuvant anastrozole therapy. Future research should focus on the identification of patients at risk for nonadherence with oral hormonal therapy for breast cancer and the development of interventions to improve adherence.
Impact of the Lung Allocation Score on Lung Transplantation for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Authors: Hubert Chen, Stephen C. Shiboski, Jeffrey A. Golden, Michael K. Gould, Steven R. Hays, Charles W. Hoopes, Teresa De Marco
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2009)

In 2005, lung allocation for transplantation in the United States changed from a system based on waiting time to a system based on the Lung Allocation Score (LAS).
PROPAGATION OF VACCINIA VIRUS IN THE RABBIT FETUS
Authors: Fred W. Gallagher, Oram C. Woolpert
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1940)

1. A method is described for propagation of bacteria-free vaccinia virus in the rabbit fetus. 2. For the production of severe generalized infection, affording a high yield of virus, the following conditions were found to be favorable: the use of 24 day fetuses, a virus dosage of 10,000 adult rabbit skin units, injection into multiple sites, and an incubation period of 4 days in utero. 3. Under these conditions the virus was found to disseminate widely in the infected fetus, being recoverable particularly from liver, lungs, brain, skin, placenta, and kidney. 4. Under varied conditions of virus dosage, fetal age, and incubation period, all grades of reaction were observed in the fetus, ranging from the mildest infection, with only an occasional small lesion demonstrable, to generalized vaccinia with pocks in nearly every organ of the body, and often death. 5. It was shown that the virus could be carried in serial passage through fetuses. A series of 27 such passages was made by using fetal skin for subinoculation at each transfer. Similarly, two other strains of the virus were evolved in shorter series of transfers by using respectively fetal brain and fetal liver as the subinocula. 6. The passage strains maintained their identity and titer, as judged by the intradermal inoculation of adult rabbits. However, these strains underwent a significant reduction in their capacity to infect by the scarification method, and the lesions induced by intradermal inoculation were much milder than those produced by the parent strain. None of the passage strains manifested properties characteristic of the so called neurovaccine strain, despite the frequent use of intracerebral inoculation in the fetuses. 7. In explanation of the reduction of virulence of the passage strains, it is suggested that a given suspension of virus may be considered as consisting of particles of varying degrees of virulence, and that when cultivation is carried out in highly susceptible tissues a relative overgrowth of the less virulent elements is permitted, so that apparent attenuation results.
A Factorial Trial of Six Interventions for the Prevention of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting
Authors: Christian C. Apfel, Kari Korttila, Mona Abdalla, Heinz Kerger, Alparslan Turan, Ina Vedder, Carmen Zernak, Klaus Danner, Ritva Jokela, Stuart J. Pocock, Stefan Trenkler, Markus Kredel, Andreas Biedler, Daniel I. Sessler, Norbert Roewer
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2004)

Untreated, one third of patients who undergo surgery will have postoperative nausea and vomiting. Although many trials have been conducted, the relative benefits of prophylactic antiemetic interventions given alone or in combination remain unknown.We enrolled 5199 patients at high risk for postoperative nausea and vomiting in a randomized, controlled trial of factorial design that was powered to evaluate interactions among as many as three antiemetic interventions. Of these patients, 4123 were randomly assigned to 1 of 64 possible combinations of six prophylactic interventions: 4 mg of ondansetron or no ondansetron; 4 mg of dexamethasone or no dexamethasone; 1.25 mg of droperidol or no droperidol; propofol or a volatile anesthetic; nitrogen or nitrous oxide; and remifentanil or fentanyl. The remaining patients were randomly assigned with respect to the first four interventions. The primary outcome was nausea and vomiting within 24 hours after surgery, which was evaluated blindly.Ondansetron, dexamethasone, and droperidol each reduced the risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting by about 26 percent. Propofol reduced the risk by 19 percent, and nitrogen by 12 percent; the risk reduction with both of these agents (i.e., total intravenous anesthesia) was thus similar to that observed with each of the antiemetics. All the interventions acted independently of one another and independently of the patients' baseline risk. Consequently, the relative risks associated with the combined interventions could be estimated by multiplying the relative risks associated with each intervention. Absolute risk reduction, though, was a critical function of patients' baseline risk.Because antiemetic interventions are similarly effective and act independently, the safest or least expensive should be used first. Prophylaxis is rarely warranted in low-risk patients, moderate-risk patients may benefit from a single intervention, and multiple interventions should be reserved for high-risk patients.
Somatic variation precedes extensive diversification of germline sequences and combinatorial joining in the evolution of immunoglobulin heavy chain diversity.
Authors: K R Hinds-Frey, H Nishikata, R T Litman, G W Litman
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1993)

In Heterodontus, a phylogenetically primitive shark species, the variable (VH), diversity (DH), joining (JH) segments, and constant (CH) exons are organized in individual approximately 18-20-kb "clusters." A single large VH family with &amp;gt; 90% nucleic acid homology and a monotypic second gene family are identified by extensive screening of a genomic DNA library. Little variation in the nucleotide sequences of DH segments from different germline gene clusters is evident, suggesting that the early role for DH was in promoting junctional diversity rather than contributing unique coding specificities. A gene-specific oligodeoxynucleotide screening method was used to relate specific transcription products (cDNAs) to individual gene clusters and showed that gene rearrangements are intra- rather than intercluster. This provides further evidence for restricted diversity in the immunoglobulin heavy chain of Heterodontus, from which it is inferred that combinatorial diversity is a more recently acquired means for generating diversity. The observed differences between cDNA sequences selected and the sequences of segmental elements derived from conventional genomic libraries as well as from VH segment-specific libraries generated by direct PCR amplification of genomic DNA indicate that the VH repertoire is diversified by both junctional diversity and somatic mutation. Taken together, these findings suggest a heretofore unrecognized contribution of somatic variation that preceded both extensive diversification of the germline repertoire and the combinatorial joining process in the evolution of humoral immunity.