Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J Burger

Publications and source records attributed to J Burger.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Pure red cell aplasia of long duration complicating major ABO-incompatible bone marrow transplantation.

In 3 of 15 consecutive patients receiving a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical but major ABO incompatible bone marrow transplant (BMT), pure red cell aplasia (PRA) lasting 5 to 8 months was observed. Titers of the incompatible anti-A agglutinin before infusion of the red blood cell (RBC)-depleted BMT was very high in one, and in the usual range in two patients. Decrease of agglutinin titers during the first 4 weeks after BMT were comparable between PRA patients and those of ABO-incompatible BMT recipients with timely RBC recovery. However, in PRA patients, agglutinin titers rose again and remained elevated for 19 to 28 weeks. RBC engraftment and reticulocyte recovery ultimately occurred spontaneously and coincided with the decrease of agglutinin titers below 16. These observations indicate that PRA is antibody-dependent in this setting. Furthermore, it is conceivable that cyclosporine facilitates recipient-derived antibody synthesis after major ABO-incompatible BMT.

ABO Blood-Group System↗
PubMed1990

Behavioral effects of early postnatal lead exposure in herring gull (Larus argentatus) chicks.

Lead exposure early in life affects behavioral and intellectual development in humans. In this paper, I use the herring gull, Larus argentatus, as an animal model to examine effects of lead exposure on early development. Like humans, birds rely mainly on visual and vocal, rather than olfactory, modes of communication. Each of 24 one-day-old herring gull chicks was randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups to receive a lead nitrate solution at a concentration of 0.0, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/g. The control dose was an equal volume of sterile saline. The trios were not siblings, but were matched by weight. Behavioral tests were performed either daily, every two to five days, or at the end of the experiment (45 days posthatching), depending on the nature of the experiment. The behavioral tests examined locomotion, balance, righting response, begging, recognition, thermoregulation and visual cliff. Although on most days, begging behavior, balance and righting response did not differ significantly, over the 45 days of the experiment control birds performed better on more days than the lead-injected birds. Balance was disturbed by lead-injection for the first six days following injection. Individual recognition developed by day 5 in control birds, by day 10 for 0.1 Pb mg/g birds, and by day 14 for 0.2 Pb mg/g birds. Depth perception and thermoregulation behavior were also adversely affected by lead.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Natural observations of smoking behavior: are there sex, age, context- or activity-related differences?

We unobtrusively observed 1979 people smoking one to three cigarettes in a variety of everyday activities. There were gender differences only with respect to group size and composition, and the time the cigarette was in the mouth. For most measures the correlations between behaviors were higher for men than women. There were few significant age differences in smoking behavior. We classified the activities of smokers into six broad categories: study, passive watching, active-involvement, eating and drinking (non-alcohol), waiting rooms and alcohol-related. There were significant differences in all measures (except time in mouth) as a function of the activity categories. Generally, smokers that were actively involved or passively watching had cigarettes lit for longer than smokers actively involved. Generally smokers that were actively involved took fewer puffs per cigarette than other smokers. Number of puffs per cigarette for all activity categories was lower than that reported from laboratory studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Tissue levels of lead in experimentally exposed herring gull (Larus argentatus) chicks.

Two-day-old herring gull (Larus argentatus) chicks were injected with either 0.1 or 0.2 mg lead/g body mass and were sacrificed at 45 d of age. Control birds were injected with sterile water. We examined lead and cadmium levels in blood, kidney, liver, muscle, salt glands, breast feathers, and bone. In control birds lead levels were highest in bone, feathers, salt gland, and kidney, and lowest in blood, muscle, and brain. In experimental birds lead levels were highest in bone, liver, kidney, and feathers, and lowest in blood, muscle, and salt gland. In control birds cadmium levels were highest in the kidney, followed by liver, with blood and brain being the lowest. Lead-exposed birds had increased cadmium deposition in brain. For experimental birds lead levels were correlated for all tissues except the salt gland. Correlations were particularly high for feathers with brain, kidney, liver and bone, suggesting feathers can be used in biomonitoring of natural avian populations. For cadmium there were no significant correlations among tissue levels except for brain and liver. Bioamplification of lead was greatest for liver and blood, and lowest for muscle and salt gland when comparing a lead dose of 0.1 mg/g with controls.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Absence of left ventricular volume loading in infants with coarctation of the aorta and a large ventricular septal defect.

Clinical characteristics and angiographic ventricular volume data were obtained in 25 infants aged 1 to 66 days who presented with coarctation of the aorta, ventricular septal defect and congestive heart failure to determine if left ventricular volume loading was present and if there were hemodynamic or volumetric variables that were predictive of operative mortality in this group. Pulmonary to systemic flow ratio averaged 2.8 +/- 0.8 and right ventricular/left ventricular peak pressure ratio was 0.96 +/- 0.12. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume averaged 116 +/- 49% of normal and was less than the investigators' lower limit of normal in 5 (20%) of 25 patients. In contrast, right ventricular end-diastolic volume, measured in eight patients, averaged 173 +/- 47% of normal and was greater than the investigators' upper limit of normal in seven (88%) of eight. Left ventricular ejection fraction averaged 0.47 +/- 0.17 and was below normal (less than 0.55) in 14 (58%) of 24 patients. Preoperative volume and ejection fraction data did not differ in infants with coarctation plus ventricular septal defect and a similar group of 19 infants with isolated coarctation. Abnormal left ventricular operative volume distensibility was inferred by normal or decreased left ventricular end-diastolic volume and increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (greater than 12 mm Hg) in 12 (55%) of 24 patients. Early plus late mortality was related to left ventricular size: 3 of 5 patients with a small left ventricular end-diastolic volume died, compared with only 4 of 20 with a normal or increased volume (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1989

[High-dosage chemo-radiotherapy with autologous bone marrow transfusion in malignant lymphoma: indications and personal experience].

We report the results of a pilot study of dose intensification with autologous bone marrow support in patients with malignant lymphoma. Since January 1988 11 patients with malignant lymphoma have been treated by intensive chemoradiotherapy or combination chemotherapy followed by autologous bone marrow support. 6 of the patients had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in first remission with unfavorable histology and/or unfavorable clinical prognostic factors, and 5 patients were in second or subsequent remission (2 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 3 Hodgkin's disease). Bone marrow harvest and cryopreservation of marrow cells were uneventful. 10 patients showed full hematologic recovery, while one patient with Hodgkin's disease died early of pneumocystis pneumonia. With the exception of one interstitial pneumonitis of unknown etiology, the clinical course during hospitalization was otherwise uncomplicated. The mean duration of hospital stay was 33 days. 2 patients relapsed after dose intensification, while the others are in continued remission (median 7 months, range 2-14 months).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Tissue distribution of lead in young common terns: influence of time since exposure.

Newly hatched common tern (Sterna hirundo) chicks were injected at 2 days of age with 0.2 mg/g of lead, and subsets were examined at 1, 2, 3, and 20 days postexposure. Control birds (water injection) had low levels (less than 2 ppb) of lead in liver, kidney, muscle, and brain. Lead-dosed chicks 2 days postexposure had liver and kidney residues greater than 1000 ppb (dry weight), and 3-day postexposure chicks showed substantially higher levels. By Day 20 the lead levels had declined by about half. In all samples the liver residue exceeded the kidney level by a factor of 1.5 to 2 in controls and 4.6 to 10.7 in exposed birds. In control birds, only brain and kidney levels were correlated, whereas in exposed birds kidney and liver, and kidney and muscle were correlated as well.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Lead and behavioral development: effects of varying dosage and schedule on survival and performance of young common terns (Sterna hirundo).

Exposure to lead early in life is known to affect behavioral development. Young common terns (Sterna hirundo) were injected with lead nitrate solution (0.2-1.2 mg/g) or sterile saline to examine the dose-response curve for behavioral effects. Exposed chicks received a dose of lead on d 3 or on d 3 and 7. Behavioral tests 2 d after each injection included visual cliff performance, locomotion, and righting response. Survival depended not only on dose but also on whether chicks received one or two injections. Despite the narrow range of doses, behavioral differences were noted for all measures as a function of dose. The initial lead dose affected behavior more than the second dose, despite the fact that birds receiving a divided dose were more likely to die.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Effects of lead on growth in young herring gulls (Larus argentatus).

One-day-old herring gulls (Larus argentatus) were injected intraperitoneally with lead nitrate solution (0.1 or 0.2 mg Pb/g) or sterile saline to examine differences in growth rates. Despite the low levels of lead exposure, by d 8 there were significant differences in growth rates as a function of treatment. There were also, by d 8, significant differences in bill length, tarsus length, and wing bone length. Except for bill length, these differences persisted for the duration of the study. Developmental curves varied, with lead-treated birds reaching the same asymptote as control birds for bill length, but having a lower asymptote for tarsus length. For curves where asymptotes were reached, lead-treated birds required more days to reach it than control birds. The initial amount of food eaten each day was positively correlated with weight gain for control birds, but negatively correlated for lead-treated birds.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Functional hyposplenia after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is detected by epinephrine stimulation test and splenic ultrasonography.

Splenic function was evaluated after subcutaneous epinephrine injection (0.5 mg/m2) in 15 bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients, 10 healthy volunteers and 5 healthy asplenic men. Healthy volunteers and BMT recipients with minor primary induction chemotherapy (mRx) showed similar rise in platelet (plt) and neutrophil granulocyte (PMN) counts and similar contraction of spleen. Patients with intensive primary induction chemotherapy (MRx), however, had significantly smaller spleens and spleen contraction (p less than 0.02) and no plt increase (p less than 0.05) when compared with healthy volunteers. 2 patients with MRx even exhibited a decrement of plt count after epinephrine, similar to that observed in all 5 healthy asplenic subjects tested. Our results suggest that mRx and conditioning for BMT including total body irradiation (TBI) does not alter the splenic function, but that the combination of MRx and conditioning regimen including TBI may cause functional hyposplenism, sensitively revealed by reduction in plt count after epinephrine stimulation.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1988

Measurement of growth rates: the effect of sampling time on weight in a seabird.

In most field studies on growth rates of birds, chicks are weighed in the "morning" or whenever it is convenient. I found that weight of laboratory-reared young herring gulls (Larus argentatus) varied significantly depending on the time of day it was measured. Chicks were always lighter at daybreak before they had eaten. However, mean weight at other times of the day was less variable. These results suggest that it is important to always weigh chicks at the same time each day, and to appreciate that daily or treatment differences may reflect sampling time differences unless the timing and amount of chick feeding is considered. Further weight gain during the day was directly correlated with the amount of food eaten first thing in the morning, and was directly correlated with weight loss overnight.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Heavy metal concentrations in the liver of three duck species: influence of species and sex.

To investigate interspecific and intersex differences in heavy metal levels, we analysed concentrations of cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, manganese, nickel and zinc in the livers of male and female black duck (Anas rubripes), mallard (A. platyrhynchos) and greater scaup (Aythya marila) collected in Raritan Bay, New Jersey in December 1980 and January 1981. Certain metal levels varied significantly by species and sex. In all species, Zn and Cu had the highest concentrations, and Cd, Co, and Hg were lowest in all three species. Scaup had significantly higher levels of Cu than black ducks and mallards, and mallards had significantly higher levels of Mn and Zn than black duck and scaup. Overall, eight of nine metal levels were higher in male than female black duck. In scaup, females had significantly higher levels of Pb and Mn than males. In black ducks, males had significantly higher levels of Cu, Mn and Zn than females. The sample of mallard was too small to test intersex differences.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1987

Sexual experience and preference for males or females in the female rat.

The influence of sexual experience on preference behavior was investigated in adult female rats. In the first experiment, preference behavior for sexually active males versus estrous females was investigated in female rats who were experienced with mounting behavior. Preference of these mount experienced females was compared to preference of females who were naive in this respect. Mount experience with estrous females induced a female-directed preference in ovariectomized female rats, irrespective of whether the females were treated with OIL or with testosterone-propionate (500 micrograms TP, injected once 48 h prior to testing). Sexually naive, OIL-treated females did not show a preference for males or females, but TP induced a preference for a male. Individual differences in mount frequency were not correlated with preference behavior. In the second experiment, the influence of experience with feminine sexual responses on preference behavior was investigated. OIL-treated and TP-treated females oriented equally toward males and females when they had been given the opportunity to copulate with males prior to the preference tests. The results strongly suggest that prior sexual experience is an important determinant of preference behavior. The female's behavior during sexual interactions was, however, not predictive of later preference.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Atmospheric 222Rn in tourist caves of Slovenia, Yugoslavia.

Radon-222 concentrations in the air of 12 tourist caves in Slovenia, Yugoslavia were measured. In almost all the caves concentrations are higher than in the outdoor air, with the highest concentration in the Tabor Cave at about 6000 Bq m-3. From the 222Rn concentrations obtained, the activity of 222Rn inhaled by a visitor breathing cave air was calculated, and the bronchial dose was estimated. The inhaled activity and the bronchial dose were highest in the Tabor Cave with values of 10 kBq and 540 microSv, respectively.

Air Pollutants↗