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Biomedical subjects

M Leslie

Publications and source records attributed to M Leslie.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Assessment of body composition in the healthy adult.

Information obtained from body composition assessment can provide a foundation for the development of weight-loss and exercise guidelines. The ideal method for assessing body composition in the clinical setting should be relatively inexpensive, as convenient as possible for the individual, reproducible and accurate, and helpful in evaluation considerations (Lohman, 1992). It appears that skinfold thickness measurements could have specific advantages in the clinical setting when compared to bioelectrical impedance and traditional methods of using height and weight. Ideally, body composition assessment should be an integral component of the physical examination of the healthy adult.

Adult↗

The Ohio AIDS Prevention Survey: a study of psychometric properties.

The reliability of a measuring instrument is a major criterion for assessing its quality and adequacy. This article describes reliability pilot testing done with the Ohio AIDS Prevention Survey (Fellner & Thomas, 1989-90) in a sample of sexually active women of childbearing age. Previous alpha reliabilities of the knowledge scale of the survey have ranged from .71-.81, while the reliabilities of the attitudes and beliefs scale have ranged from .33-.45. In this sample, reliability measures for the knowledge and attitudes and beliefs scales were .65 and .45, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the Ohio AIDS Prevention Survey is clearly in its developmental stages and that further development of the survey is necessary prior to continued use in public health settings.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Sexual dimorphism and androgen effects on spinal motoneurons innervating the rat flexor digitorum brevis.

The foot muscle, flexor digitorum brevis, is innervated by motoneurons in the retrodorsolateral nucleus of the lumbar spinal cord in rats. We found this muscle to be sexually dimorphic, but insensitive to the anabolic or catabolic effects of androgen manipulation in adulthood: the flexor digitorum brevis was larger in adult male rats than in females, with no decrease in mass after castration in males nor any increase in size after androgen treatment of ovariectomized females. The cross-sectional area of motoneurons innervating this muscle was also sexually dimorphic, i.e., the motoneurons were larger in males. In contrast to the absence of an androgen effect on target muscle size, however, cross-sectional area of motoneurons decreased in adult males as a result of castration, and increased in adult females after androgen treatment. The dissociation of androgen effects on muscle mass and motoneuron size suggests the possibility of steroid effects upon motoneurons independent of effects upon target musculature.

Animals↗

Does androgen affect axonal transport of cholera toxin HRP in spinal motoneurons?

We examined the effect of systemic androgen levels upon the rate at which lumbosacral motoneurons are labeled with cholera toxin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase (CT-HRP) injected into target muscles. CT-HRP first reaches the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus between 8 and 10 h after injection into the bulbocavernosus muscle of adult male rats, but the number of motoneurons filled with CT-HRP does not differ between androgen-treated and control castrates at any of the time points examined. Thus, contrary to current speculation, we found no evidence that androgen can affect retrograde transport of CT-HRP by rat motoneurons.

Analysis of Variance↗

Short term variability in FEV1: relation to pretest activity, level of FEV1, and smoking habits.

The natural variability in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) over 20 minutes was determined in 54 fit hospital employees and 13 patients with restrictive lung disorders. Initial FEV1 ranged from 1.1 to 6.3 1 BTPS. Variability when expressed as absolute change was similar at all levels of FEV1, so that, when expressed as percentage change, variability decreased with increasing FEV1. Smoking habits did not appear to affect variability but activity before the test did. On the basis of these results an absolute change in FEV1 of 190 ml would be necessary for 95% confidence that the change in FEV1 occurred other than by chance in any one individual. This suggests that the absolute change in FEV1 might be a more reliable criterion than percentage change when distinguishing between natural variability and a response to inhalation of bronchodilators.

Adolescent↗

5-fluorouracil-induced erythema multiforme.

Erythema multiforme is an immunologically mediated skin reaction to a foreign antigen and can occur with many drugs. We report the first two cases of erythema multiforme induced by 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The first case was in a man with inoperable gastric carcinoma being treated by continual infusion who developed the classic rash involving the neck and upper chest, along with mouth ulceration and plantar-palmar erythrodysaesthesia. Histological confirmation was made by skin biopsy and the lesions resolved spontaneously. They recurred on restarting 5-FU. The second case was in a woman being given adjuvant bolus 5-FU and folinic acid for Duke's C colon cancer who developed the rash during the first cycle. Again, the lesions settled spontaneously but recurred more severely on the second cycle. When treatment was changed to the specific thymidylate synthase inhibitor, raltitrexed, the course was completed uneventfully.

Aged↗