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Biomedical subjects

S Ullman

Publications and source records attributed to S Ullman.

137 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Prenatal diagnostic techniques. Chorionic villus sampling.

Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) is a new prenatal diagnostic technique which is performed in the first trimester of pregnancy. Traditional methods of prenatal diagnosis, including amniocentesis and fetoscopy, must be performed in the midtrimester. In concert with the development of DNA methods of fetal cell analysis, first trimester fetal diagnosis utilizing CVS offers many advantages over traditional mid-trimester techniques. In addition, CVS may potentially allow therapeutic intervention to prevent or ameliorate some congenital defects.

Amniocentesis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Gonococcal keratoconjunctivitis.

Gonococcal keratoconjunctivitis is a potentially devastating infection, because Neisseria gonorrhoeae can cause a rapid, severe, ulcerative keratitis resulting in visual loss. The therapeutic decision making process is complicated by the necessity for prompt, effective parenteral therapy, frequent coinfection with other sexually transmitted diseases, and emergence of antibiotic resistance. Because of the evolving problem of antibiotic resistance and the need for cost containment, the current recommendations of hospitalization for intravenous penicillin may need to be modified. The third generation cephalosporin, ceftriaxone, has properties that suggest it may be the best available antimicrobial agent as a single-dose treatment of gonococcal conjunctivitis. Spectinomycin may be a useful alternative in the penicillin-allergic adult patient.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

High serum levels of YKL-40 in patients with systemic sclerosis are associated with pulmonary involvement.

OBJECTIVES: YKL-40, a growth factor of connective tissue cells, is elevated in sera from patients with diseases characterized by inflammation, tissue remodelling, or fibrosis. The aim of the study was to determine serum YKL-40 levels in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and to explore any possible clinical and prognostic associations. METHODS: YKL-40 was measured in sera from 88 patients with SSc (26 with diffuse and 62 with limited skin involvement) and in sera from 88 matched healthy controls. Immunohistochemical staining for YKL-40 antigen was performed in a biopsy from a patient with pulmonary SSc. RESULTS: Serum YKL-40 levels of the SSc patients were significantly higher than those of the controls (p<0.00001). Patients with pulmonary fibrosis by chest X-ray, obstructive ventilatory pattern, reduced diffusing capacity (DLco), and digital joint deformity due to skin retraction had significantly higher serum YKL-40 compared with patients without these findings. Patients with elevated serum YKL-40 had shorter survival times than patients with normal serum YKL-40 (p = 0.0005), although this was not independent of age and pulmonary function. YKL-40 protein expression was found in inflammatory cells in fibrosing pulmonary tissue from a patient with SSc. CONCLUSIONS: Serum YKL-40 is elevated in patients with SSc with pulmonary involvement.

Adipokines↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sequence seeking and counter streams: a computational model for bidirectional information flow in the visual cortex.

A computational model is proposed for some general aspects of information flow in the visual cortex. The basic process, called "sequence seeking," is a search for a sequence of mappings, or transformations, linking source and target patterns. The process has two main characteristics: it is bidirectional, bottom-up as well as top-down, and it explores in parallel a large number of alternative sequences. This operation is performed in a "counter streams" structure, in which multiple sequences are explored along two complementary pathways, an ascending and a descending one, seeking to meet. A biological embodiment of this model in cortical circuitry is proposed. The model serves to account for known aspects of cortical interconnections and to derive new predictions.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Treatment of chlamydial urethritis in men and Chlamydia trachomatis-positive female partners: comparison of erythromycin and tetracycline in treatment courses of one week.

Seventy-one consecutive men who had Chlamydia trachomatis-positive nongonococcal urethritis were assigned randomly to treatment for one week with either tetracycline or erythromycin (1g daily). Seventy men completed the study. At follow-up, there were two therapeutic failures among 36 patients treated with erythromycin, and two failures among 34 patients treated with tetracycline. Twenty-four C. trachomatis-positive female contacts were randomly assigned to treatment regimens similar to those of the men. There was one treatment failure among 12 women treated with erythromycin, and no failure among 12 treated with tetracycline. In this study the urethral smears contained fewer than five leukocytes per high-power field in 16% of the C. trachomatis-positive men with symptoms suggestive of urethritis.

Adolescent↗