Smoking in Relation to Physical Complaints

Eight individuals were observed to have clinical hypersensitivity to cigarette smoke, as well as lymphocyte stimulation when their peripheral blood lymphocytes were incubated in vitro with cigarette smoke. All eight individuals were nonsmokers with strong allergic backgrounds and all developed immediate upper respiratory discomfort after being exposed to cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke may be responsible for respiratory distress in nonsmoking sensitized individuals     

The Relationship between Lutein and Zeaxanthin Status and Body Fat

The objective of this project was to investigate the relationships between total and regional distribution of body fat and tissue lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z) status. Healthy men and women (N = 100; average age: 22.5 year, average BMI: 23.4 kg/m²) were evaluated. Total body and regional fat mass were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (Hologic Delphi A). Serum LZ was measured using reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and retinal LZ (referred to as macular pigment optical density; MPOD) was measured using heterochromatic flicker photometry. Body fat percentage (total and regional) was inversely related to MPOD (p < 0.01) but no significant relationship was found for serum LZ. Higher body fat percentage, even within relatively healthy limits, is associated with lower tissue LZ status. The results indicate that adiposity may affect the nutritional state of the retina. Such links may be one of the reasons that obesity promotes age-related degenerative conditions of the retina.     

Nonpalpable breast lesions: recommendations for biopsy based on suspicion of carcinoma at mammography

Carcinoma was found in 30% (119 of 400) of biopsy specimens obtained for mammographically suspicious but nonpalpable findings. The authors reviewed the mammograms of these 400 cases without knowledge of the biopsy results and placed each examination into one of four groups based on their suspicion for carcinoma: minimal (n = 82), slight (n = 91), moderate (n = 174), and high (n = 53). In 127 cases, mammograms showed either minimally suspicious calcifications (n = 33) or minimally (n = 49) or slightly (n = 45) suspicious masses. A 4.7% (six of 127) rate of carcinoma was found in these groups; five of the six cancers were in situ. Had follow-up mammography been done rather than biopsy for these 127 less suspicious lesions, it is probable that the delay in diagnosis would not have altered overall prognosis. In the remaining 273 patients, the positive predictive value of mammography for carcinoma would have risen from 30% (119 of 400) to 41% (113 of 273). The authors conclude that in the management of suspicious nonpalpable mammographic findings, the rate of carcinoma for lesions at biopsy can approximate 40%. This is almost double the rate of most published series.     

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: report of two pediatric cases

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors are benign neoplasms histologically composed of lymphocytes, histiocytes, macrophages, foam cells, and plasma cells among a spindle-shaped stroma. Their etiology and potential for metastatic spread is controversial. Numerous predisposing factors have been suggested, including preceding infections, radiotherapy, and local trauma. We present two cases of pseudotumors that developed in children following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These are the first cases after hematopoietic transplant reported in the literature. As these neoplasms are difficult to diagnose and are often confused with highly aggressive tumors, our cases demonstrate that a high index of suspicion for such lesions must be maintained when evaluating masses in post transplant patients.     

Direct and reversible inhibitory effect of the tetrapeptide acetyl-N- Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro (Seraspenide) on the growth of human CD34+ subpopulations in response to growth factors

The tetrapeptide Acetyl-N-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro (AcSDKP, Seraspenide; Ipsen- Biotech, Paris, France), an inhibitor of murine spleen colony-forming units reduces the number and the percentage in DNA synthesis of progenitors from human unfractionated bone marrow. To determine whether AcSDKP may directly affect the growth potential of purified progenitors even at the most primitive level, CD34+HLA-DRhigh and CD34++HLA-DRlow cells were highly purified by cell sorting. Then, CD34+ subsets were stimulated in liquid culture with combinations of growth factors (GFs) and AcSDKP was added for 20 hours or 6 days and cells plated in methylcellulose. After a 20-hour incubation, we show that AcSDKP (at 10(-10) mol/L) significantly inhibits the colony formation of both CD34+ subsets. Moreover, when added daily for 6 days, AcSDKP: (1) reduces the proliferation of both CD34+ cell fractions stimulated by 3 or 7 GFs, and (2) decreases the number of progenitors generated from the CD34+HLA-DRhigh and CD34++HLA-DRlow cell fractions. Furthermore, we show for the first time, using both high proliferative potential cell and long-term culture initiating cell assays, that AcSDKP inhibits the most primitive cells contained in the CD34++HLA-DRlow subpopulation. Finally, by using limiting dilution assays we demonstrated that AcSDKP acts directly at a single cell level and that its inhibitory effect is reversible and dose dependent.     

Innovative information visualization of electronic health record data: a systematic review

Objective This study investigates the use of visualization techniques reported between 1996 and 2013 and evaluates innovative approaches to information visualization of electronic health record (EHR) data for knowledge discovery.Methods An electronic literature search was conducted May–July 2013 using MEDLINE and Web of Knowledge, supplemented by citation searching, gray literature searching, and reference list reviews. General search terms were used to assure a comprehensive document search.Results Beginning with 891 articles, the number of articles was reduced by eliminating 191 duplicates. A matrix was developed for categorizing all abstracts and to assist with determining those to be excluded for review. Eighteen articles were included in the final analysis.Discussion Several visualization techniques have been extensively researched. The most mature system is LifeLines and its applications as LifeLines2, EventFlow, and LifeFlow. Initially, research focused on records from a single patient and visualization of the complex data related to one patient. Since 2010, the techniques under investigation are for use with large numbers of patient records and events. Most are linear and allow interaction through scaling and zooming to resize. Color, density, and filter techniques are commonly used for visualization.Conclusions With the burgeoning increase in the amount of electronic healthcare data, the potential for knowledge discovery is significant if data are managed in innovative and effective ways. We identify challenges discovered by previous EHR visualization research, which will help researchers who seek to design and improve visualization techniques.