Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Wolfson.
Haemolytic anaemia due to pyrimidine-5'-nucleotidase deficiency was favourably affected by splenectomy. The life-long haemolytic anaemia ended, but red cell deformability was reduced and the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve was normal.
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The data base for rational guidelines to safe, efficacious drug prescribing in adults with renal insufficiency are presented in tabular form. Current medical literature was extensively surveyed to provide as much specific information as possible. When information is lacking, however, recommendations are based on pharmacokinetic variables in normal subjects. Nephrotoxicity, important adverse effects, and special considerations in renal patients are noted. Adjustments are suggested for hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis when appropriate.
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The present study demonstrates the advantages of a combination of concentration by polyethylene glycol-6000 and Sepharose Cl-4B chromatography as a rapid procedure for retroviruses purification. This procedure can be completed within 3 hours, providing a high degree of virus purification with minimal damage to its structural and biological properties. Using transmission electron microscopy we observed many intracellular type-C virions in cytoplasmic vacuoles of 3T3/NIH cells chronically infected with Moloney murine leukemia virus. There intracellular virions could be isolated from postmitochondrial cytoplasmic fractions prepared from the infected cells by a procedure which minimized its contamination by extracellular free or membrane-bound virions. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that the intracellular and extracellular virions contained similar protein composition.
This study evaluated the effects during hemodialysis of intravenous infusion of amino acids and glucose on plasma amino acid and glucose concentrations and amino acid losses. Eight men undergoing maintenance hemodialysis were each studied during two dialyses using glucose-free dialysate. During one hemodialysis, they were infused with 800 ml of normal saline. During the other hemodialysis, they were infused with an equal volume of water which contained 39.5 g of essential and non-essential free L-amino acids and 200 g of d-glucose. The solutions were infused throughout the dialysis procedure into the drip chamber of the venous outflow from the dialyzer. Subjects were fasted from the night before until the end of hemodialysis, and the order of administration of the two solutions was determined randomly. Plasma essential, non-essential, and total amino acids fell significantly during the infusion of normal saline and rose during the administration of amino acids and glucose. Dialysate total-free amino acid losses averaged 8.2 +/- 3.1 SD g during the infusion of normal saline and 12.6 +/- 3.6 g with the administration of amino acids and glucose. These findings indicate that the intravenous infusion of amino acids and glucose during hemodialysis prevents a fall in plasma amino acid and glucose concentrations and leads to only a slight increase in the losses of free amino acids into dialysate. Because most of the infused amino acids are retained, this technique may be used during hemodialysis to avoid a net outflow of amino acids, minimize disruption of amino acid and glucose pools, and provide a nutritional supplement.
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As part of a study of health effects of sulfur dioxide and particulate matter, we have established a cohort of adults 25 to 74 yr of age in 6 communities who will be followed prospectively. At the conclusion of our first cycle of measuring the health of adults in 6 sites we found that, although we used different sampling frames, our samples were close to the distribution shown in the U.S. Census for age, sex, and occupation, with the possible exception of one city. Analysis of the cross-sectional data indicated that for both age- and height-adjusted values for forced expiratory volume in 1 s and for selected rates of various respiratory symptoms standardized for age, differences among smoking groups were apparent. Differences in these parameters between sites suggest trends that were associated with levels of pollution. Further analyses of the prospective data currently being collected will be required before definitive statements can be made about the effect of specific levels of exposure.
The results have been reviewed of 35 renal transplants performed on 31 patients with end stage polycystic renal disease. Patient survival is 81 per cent and 71 per cent of the patients have functioning grafts at an average followup of 3.1 years. The need for pre-transplant nephrectomy was evaluated early in the series and since then the operation has been practiced selectively. Twenty-two patients have received transplants with both polycystic kidneys in situ, while 2 patients have undergone transplantation after unilateral nephrectomy. In the absence of a history of renal infection or significant hematuria it has proved safe and desirable to leave the polycystic kidneys in situ. During the post-transplant period in such cases there has been no difficulty attributed to the in situ polycystic kidneys after more than 450 patient months of immunosuppressive therapy. The size of the polycystic kidneys has not been an indication of nephrectomy in our series and no significant technical difficulties have been encountered with large polycystic kidneys remaining in situ. Hypertension associated with end stage polycystic kidney disease has been controlled easily and has not proved an indication for pre-transplant nephrectomy.
Inflammatory giant cells were found in close association with glomerular basement membrane in a case of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. It is suggested that this finding is due to an alteration in properties of the glomerular basement membrane most probably brought about by circulating antibody to basement membrane.
A female (A) received feedback about both her own and a male or female other's (B's) performance on an achievement task, and then estimated the likelihood that she and B possessed each of several attributes related to competence, likeableness, and physical attractiveness. The situation was witnessed by a male or female observer who then judged B's attributes and predicted A's and B's ratings of one another. A formulation of social inference processes developed by Gollob was used to identify and compare the informational cues used by actors and observers in making these attributions. The contributions of these cues depended substantially on the type of attribute being inferred, the judge (A or the observer), and whether the judgment was made of A or of B. A's behavior (i.e., her performance on the achievement task) contributed less to her self-attributions than it did either to her predictions of how B would rate her or to observers' actual judgments of her attributes. A's self-attributions tended to be relatively more influenced by her experiences before participating in the experiment. Whereas A appeared to use B's performance as a comparative standard when judging her own competence and expected B to do likewise, observers did not use B's performance in this manner when judging A. Moreover, A did not use her own performance as a standard when judging attributes of B. The article discusses theoretical implications of these results for attribution and self-perception processes.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prospective interrelationship of smoking, alcohol intake, marijuana use, and educational and occupational attainment of Black and White young adults. METHODS: Logistic or mixed model linear regression were used to evaluate relationships between self-reported substance use, ethnicity, gender, college graduation, and four measures of occupational attainment. RESULTS: College graduation in the next 10 years was negatively associated with smoking and marijuana use, but not daily alcohol consumption in all ethnic and gender groups. In Whites, marijuana use was associated with less prestigious occupations and lower family income, while smoking was unrelated and moderate daily drinking was positively associated. In Blacks, marijuana use was generally unrelated to occupational measures, while smoking and daily alcohol consumption were negatively associated. CONCLUSIONS: Relationships between smoking, marijuana use, daily drinking, and occupational attainment were not universally negative in this age group. Substance use, particularly smoking, is associated with reduced occupational attainment in Blacks compared with Whites after considering sociodemographic factors potentially limiting educational progression and occupational attainment.
All peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions are designed to remove toxins and water, normalize the blood electrolyte profile, and provide alkali to help maintain acid-base balance. Different formulations, however, may have different effects upon nutrition status. Solutions with 40, as opposed to 35, mEq/l of sodium lactate have been found to promote weight and muscle mass gain and reduce hospitalization in malnourished PD patients. Glucose is varied to produce solutions with different ultrafiltration potential. The glucose absorbed from the PD solution has a protein-sparing effect. The high glucose concentrations necessary for sustained ultrafiltration over a long dialysis dwell, however, often produce appetite suppression and metabolic abnormalities. Solutions formulated with glucose polymers, instead of hypertonic glucose, may provide sustained ultrafiltration over long dwells with lower carbohydrate absorption and perhaps fewer metabolic effects. Amino acids can also be substituted for glucose at relatively low concentrations. A number of studies have shown that amino acids absorbed from the dialysis solution can provide nutritional benefit to malnourished PD patients.
This study evaluated four devices--a Pedometer, Step Sensor, Actigraph, and Personal Activity Meter (PAM)--as measures of pacing behavior. Ten nursing home residents who frequently paced in a long-term care facility underwent 1 day of data collection with each of the devices. Data derived from devices were compared to behavioral observations regarding the number of steps taken. Additionally, devices were evaluated via ratings concerning ease of use, and how well residents tolerated them. All devices yielded high correlations with the observed number of steps, with highest correlations for the PAM and Actigraph. All devices were tolerated well. The Pedometer and Step Sensor were the easiest to use. This study demonstrated that these devices offer an objective means to measure pacing/wandering behavior.
Chronically uremic patients appear to have an increased nutritional requirement for vitamin B6, and vitamin B6 deficiency occurs frequently when such individuals do not receive supplements of this vitamin. Since manifestations of vitamin B6 deficiency in renal failure are not well defined, this study examined two aspects of the chronic renal failure syndrome which might be influenced by vitamin B6: impaired growth and progressive loss of renal function. We examined food intake, weight gain, the food efficiency ratio, degree of azotemia, and renal function in chronically azotemic rats pair-fed for 6 weeks either a vitamin B6-deficient diet or a diet containing a surfeit of vitamin B6. In the azotemic vitamin B6-deficient rats, as compared to the azotemic B6-replete rats, there was evidence of reduced appetite, decreased weight gain, a lower food efficiency ratio, increased azotemia, and a reduced glomerular filtration rate as estimated from the urea clearance or the mean of the urea and creatinine clearances. These findings suggest that vitamin B6 deficiency may contribute to decreased food intake, reduced growth, and lower renal function in animals with chronic renal insufficiency.
Project Northland task force members are typically female, have children, and belong to a number of other community or social groups. Members were likely to participate more in the task forces if they were relative newcomers to the community and if they got satisfaction from their participation. While explaining only a modest amount of the variance (15.5%), the explanatory power of the results are comparable to other studies of this nature, where 23% of explained variance predicting participation has been considered informative. Future models will need to consider other factors to increase the explained variance. Satisfaction with being a task force member was associated with the amount of control and ownership each member felt and the extent of agreement with the direction of the task force. These variables explained 26% of the variance. It may be that relative newcomers to the community, who tended to participate more, have lived elsewhere and been exposed to environments where alcohol was less frequently used, and this contrast contributed to their motivation and preparedness to work towards change. They may not be as integrated into the community as task force members who have lived in their communities for their entire lives, and may not be part of the dominant "alcohol culture" that exists in the region. If membership in community or social groups is an indicator of integration into the community, then the results suggest less integrated task force members were more active participants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The aim of this study was to detect mutant APC DNA of tumor origin in the plasma of patients with sporadic colorectal carcinomas. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) procedures were employed to detect DNA alterations using primers to amplify the mutation cluster region of the APC gene. APC mutations were observed in 7 out of 11 archival colonic tumor specimens examined. Matching mutations in free plasma DNA of tumor origin were detected in 3 of the 7 patients (42.8%). The results of this preliminary report indicated the presence of APC DNA in plasma harboring the identical abnormal molecular signature of tumor APC DNA. Detection methods of mutant APC DNA in blood may prove useful in the screening and monitoring of patients at risk of or with colorectal cancer.