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Biomedical subjects

M B Harris

Publications and source records attributed to M B Harris.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Trisomy of leukemic cell chromosomes 4 and 10 identifies children with B-progenitor cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with a very low risk of treatment failure: a Pediatric Oncology Group study.

To account for the superior prognosis of hyperdiploid, B-progenitor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), we investigated the influence of trisomy in 1021 children greater than or equal to 1 year old by recursive partitioning analysis. The patients were treated according to a stratified, randomized study testing antimetabolite-based therapies. Trisomies of several individual chromosomes were associated with a better prognosis in a univariate statistical analysis. Of greater importance, trisomy of both chromosomes 4 and 10 identified a subgroup of patients (n = 180) with an extremely favorable 4-year event-free survival (EFS). Combined trisomy of chromosomes 4 and 10 retained its prognostic significance after stratification of patients by DNA index, age, and leukocyte count. Among patients with a DNA index greater than 1.16, patients with trisomies of both chromosomes 4 and 10 had a 4-year EFS of 96.6% (n = 161, SE = 3.8%), whereas patients with neither or only one of these trisomies had a 4-year EFS of 70.4% (n = 73, SE = 11.5%). All 19 patients with a DNA index less than or equal to 1.16 but with trisomies of chromosomes 4 and 10 remain in remission, suggesting that favorable chromosome trisomy dominates in a situation in which the cellular DNA content of less than or equal to 1.16 predicts a less favorable outcome. We conclude that combined trisomy of chromosomes 4 and 10 independently predicts EFS among children with B-progenitor ALL. Patients within the B-progenitor group who have this feature (about 20% of those with clonal abnormalities) are likely to be cured with antimetabolite-based chemotherapy--an approach that should produce few significant late effects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Unique histological changes in lung metastases of osteosarcoma patients following therapy with liposomal muramyl tripeptide (CGP 19835A lipid).

We have recently begun a phase II trial in patients with osteosarcoma who developed pulmonary metastases during adjuvant chemotherapy or who presented with pulmonary metastases that persisted despite chemotherapy. Eligible patients were rendered free of visible disease by surgery. Liposome-encapsulated muramyl tripeptide phosphatidylethanolamine (MTP-PE, CGP 19835A lipid) (2 mg/m2) was infused twice weekly for 3 months. In five patients, a single tumor nodule recurred within 6 weeks after completion of therapy. These lesions were resected and submitted for pathological examination. Tissue specimens obtained after therapy were compared to those obtained before therapy. All the patients showed a histological change in the characteristics of the pulmonary tumors. In three patients, peripheral fibrosis surrounded the tumor and inflammatory cell infiltration and neovascularization were present. This is in contrast to central necrosis, with viable peripheral tumor cells and no inflammatory response observed in lesions resected following chemotherapy. In a fourth case, evidence of early fibrotic changes was found. This and the fifth case showed a change in malignant characteristics, from high grade before liposomal therapy to low grade after therapy. The present study provides evidence for a biological effect of liposomal MTP-PE.

Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine↗
PubMed1992

Effects of real gender and labeled gender on adults' perceptions of infants.

Three experiments were conducted to discover factors mediating adults' perceptions of male and female infants. In the first experiment, college students were shown 30-s videotapes of four male and four female babies, each of whom was randomly labeled with a male or a female name. Infants labeled as male were perceived as significantly more masculine and stronger than those labeled as female. Discriminant analyses revealed that both rated masculinity and the combination of ratings on male stereotyped traits differentiated infants labeled as male or female. Analyses of real gender revealed that boys were rated as less sensitive and stronger than girls. Discriminant analyses suggested that the combination of less sensitive, more of a problem, more mature, and more playful best differentiated real males from real females. In Experiment 2, the findings of Experiment 1 were confirmed with a sample of mothers of young infants. In Experiment 3 college students' judgments of the sex of the eight babies were correctly predicted from the sensitivity ratings of these babies in Experiment 1. It appears that there is a complex of cues from which adults make judgments of infants' gender and inferences about their characteristics: Boys may appear stronger, more playful, and more of a problem, and girls seem to look more sensitive. Implications for further studies of gender labeling and for sex typing are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Television viewing, aggression, and ethnicity.

For 416 college students, questioned about their experiences with aggression and television viewing, only very weak correlations between preference for violent shows and aggression were observed. Black males watched significantly more television than other respondents. These findings suggest that the frequently reported correlation between viewing televised violence and aggression may not appear when sex, ethnicity, and education are controlled in a sample of young adults.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Beliefs about how to reduce anger.

To learn more about people's beliefs about how to reduce anger, 416 college students were asked what they thought would be the effects of various responses to feeling angry. In general, they thought that behaving aggressively would make them feel worse and that distracting themselves and doing something nice for another would make them feel better. However, males, younger subjects, and those who had behaved more aggressively in the past were more likely to feel that behaving aggressively would elevate their mood. These observations are consistent with theories emphasizing the importance of cognitive variables in the experiences of anger and aggression.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

The role of anterior stabilization with instrumentation in the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures.

Several areas of controversy still exist when discussing the treatment of burst fractures in the thoracolumbar and lumbar regions of the spine. This article addresses the role of anterior stabilization with instrumentation in these regions. Pertinent clinical and biomechanical data will be reviewed so that readers will be able to identify the relative indications and contraindications for this procedure.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed1991

A pilot study of intermediate-dose methotrexate and cytosine arabinoside, "spread-out" or "up-front," in continuation therapy for childhood non-T, non-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A Pediatric Oncology Group study.

One hundred six children with newly diagnosed non-T-, non-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were treated in a Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) pilot study in which six courses of intermediate-dose methotrexate (MTX) and cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) (1 g/m2 each) were added to a "backbone" of standard continuation therapy. The dose and sequence of MTX/Ara-C administration were based on a preclinical model that demonstrated synergism between MTX and Ara-C. Poor-risk patients (n = 49) were assigned to "up-front" therapy, in which the MTX/Ara-C courses were administered during the initial 15 weeks of remission. Standard-risk patients (n = 57) were assigned to "spread-out" therapy, in which the MTX/Ara-C courses were interspersed at 12-week intervals within continuation treatment. Toxicity after intermediate-dose MTX/Ara-C, principally neutropenia and fever, was judged significant but manageable. Unexpectedly, the incidence of fever and neutropenia less than 500/mm3 was greater after "spread-out" therapy (38%) than after "up-front" therapy (6%). At 4 years, the Kaplan-Meier estimate of event-free survival (EFS) is 71% (+/- 7%) for standard-risk patients and 53% (+/- 8%) for poor-risk patients. The results of this pilot study support the use of intermediate-dose MTX/Ara-C in additional studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Biochemical interactions between methotrexate and 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine in hematopoietic cells of children: a Pediatric Oncology Group study.

Children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in remission were treated with overlapping sequential infusions of methotrexate (MTX) and 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (araC) as part of continuation therapy. The doses and the sequence were chosen to mimic conditions that produced greater than additive antineoplastic activity with these two drugs in preclinical studies. To assess the potential for the drug combination to exhibit greater than additive effect in vivo, we investigated several biochemical parameters that had been associated with synergism in vitro. Because the patients were in remission, the intracellular parameters could only be measured in cytologically normal hematopoietic cells. We observed that (1) the mean plasma concentrations of MTX and araC were above those required to obtain a greater than additive cytotoxicity with the two drugs in tissue culture; (2) MTX did not have a significant antipurine effect in bone marrow mononuclear cells; (3) the mean intracellular concentration of deoxycytidine triphosphate (dCTP) was significantly lower after treatment with the drug combination than after therapy with araC alone; and (4) the ratio of araC triphosphate (araCTP) to dCTP was 2.6 times higher after treatment with the combination than after araC alone. These results indicate that it is possible to achieve in patients the biochemical conditions associated with the greater than additive antineoplastic activity of MTX and araC in vitro.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1990

Feeling fat: motivations, knowledge, and attitudes of overweight women and men.

This study concerned obesity from the perspective of 47 women and 8 men who considered themselves overweight. They responded to a questionnaire about various aspects of motivation to lose weight, knowledge about obesity, and personal and societal attitudes toward the obese. Although they reduced calorie intake and increased exercise when trying to lose weight, they reported various reasons why their exercise levels were less than optimal. Verbal motivation to lose was only partially reflected in willingness to change lifestyle, even though respondents had spent substantial sums of money on weight-loss attempts. Knowledge about obesity was imperfect, with women and thinner subjects somewhat more knowledgeable. Subjects were aware of and shared some of the negative social stereotypes of the obese, blaming themselves for their overweight. However, most would not trade their obesity for other handicaps found less stigmatizing in other research. As expected, women expressed a greater desire for thinness than men. Implications for health care professionals are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Disordered eating in South-western Pueblo Indians and Hispanics.

The present study investigated the incidence of eating disorders in two samples representing populations seldom reported upon in the eating disorder literature: Pueblo Indians and Hispanics. Subjects were 95 students from a rural, public high school serving primarily low income families. Although no ethnic differences were found, the majority of girls in both samples reported wanting to lose weight, being worried about their weight, and indulging in binge eating. Nine of the girls (11 per cent) reported eating habits consistent with the DMS III (APA, 1980) criteria for bulimia. In contrast, few boys indicated concerns about their weight or eating habits. The results suggest that eating disorders and concern about obesity are found in a variety of ethnic groups in the United States today.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Factors influencing the selection of toys for handicapped and normally developing preschool children.

Factors influencing the selection and purchase of toys for children's use were investigated. Subjects were 73 parents or adult friends of normally developing or handicapped preschool children. In addition to providing demographic information about themselves, the subjects rated the importance of 17 factors influencing their selection and purchase of toys. Contrary to previous research, the sex of the child was reported to be of only minor importance in toy selection, as was the picture on the toy package. Two factors, safety and teaching new skills, were rated as extremely important. There were no significant differences in ratings as a result of sex, ethnicity, or whether or not the subjects were parents of a handicapped child. The findings suggest a substantial degree of agreement among parents about what they consider important when choosing toys for children.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Erythrocyte characteristics in childhood acute leukemia.

Children with acute leukemia often have erythrocytes with "fetal-like" features. To examine the relationship of the type and phase of the leukemia to this observation, we studied 39 children with newly diagnosed acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and 5 with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL). In addition, 22 patients were evaluated during chemotherapy, 3 off therapy, and 12 at the time of relapse. Macrocytosis and/or anisocytosis was noted in 70% of patients with ALL at the time of first diagnosis, 80% of patients with new ANLL, and greater than 90% of patients with ALL while on treatment. F cells were increased in 25% of ALL and 80% of ANLL at diagnosis and in 60% of ALL during chemotherapy. Hb F levels were elevated in 8, 40, and 30% of these groups, respectively. Nonleukemic controls for chemotherapy (six patients with osteogenic sarcoma) all had macrocytosis and/or anisocytosis, and 80% had increased F cell proportions. Features at relapse on chemotherapy were similar to those during treated remissions. Abnormal RBCs are more frequent at the time of diagnosis in ANLL, in which they may belong to the malignant clone, than in ALL, in which stress erythropoiesis and/or leukemic factors may be contributory. During chemotherapy, drug-related erythrocyte changes are added to those of leukemia itself. Thus, leukemia, chemotherapy, and the combination lead to erythrocytes with fetal-like features.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Mitogen activation of human lymphocytes from normal and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) subjects.

Lymphocytes from acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) subjects were converted by mitogens to blast-like cells whose microscopic appearance and rate of formation was indistinguishable from those in mitogen incubated control lymphocytes. In ALL lymphocytes, however, pokeweed mitogen (PWM) failed to stimulate GGT expression; the mean increase it caused in thymidine kinase (TK) activity and thymidine incorporation was normal, though there were appreciable individual variations. These variations were also apparent with concanavalin A (Con A) but, in most ALL cases, TK and thymidine incorporation rose to much higher levels than in Con-A-treated control lymphocytes. The results indicate that evaluation of the response to mitogens by quantitative biochemical criteria provides a sensitive method for revealing functional impairments in microscopically normal ALL lymphocytes.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1989

Activities, family relationships and feelings about aging in a multicultural elderly sample.

This study looked at ethnic and gender differences in activities, family relationships, and feelings about aging in 128 American Indian, Anglo, and Hispanic adults over sixty. Reading, visiting, and watching television were the most popular activities for all subjects, with a number of sex and ethnic differences appearing. Most subjects reported improved relationships with their families on various dimensions after turning sixty. A number of advantages and disadvantages of aging were mentioned. Few ethnic or gender differences were found on these latter variables.

Activities of Daily Living↗