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Biomedical subjects

A J Greenberg

Publications and source records attributed to A J Greenberg.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Tuberculosis transmission among five school bus drivers and students in two New York counties.

OBJECTIVE: Between November 1994 and April 1995, more than 3300 students in 49 schools in two counties in New York were potentially exposed to five school bus drivers with tuberculosis. This investigation was carried out to determine the extent of transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis among students. METHODS: Components of the epidemiologic investigation included tuberculin skin-test screening and collection of demographic information for students exposed to a driver with tuberculosis, chest radiography and medical evaluation of individuals with positive skin tests, and DNA fingerprinting of M tuberculosis isolates. A positive skin test was defined as >/=10 mm induration, and a converter was an individual with an increase in reaction size of >/=10 mm in the past 2 years. RESULTS: The rates of positive skin tests were 0.8%, 0.3%, 9.9%, 1.1%, and 0.7% among US-born students exposed to drivers 1 through 5, respectively. The relative risk for a positive tuberculin skin test was significant only for students exposed to driver 3, and the only secondary case identified among students was exposed to driver 3. The DNA fingerprint patterns of isolates from drivers 3 and 4 matched. CONCLUSION: There was no clear evidence of transmission of M tuberculosis to students from drivers 1, 2, 4, or 5. However, evidence suggests that driver 3 transmitted M tuberculosis to students and another driver. Routine annual tuberculin skin-test screening of drivers would not have prevented these tuberculosis exposures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Tuberculosis in a correctional facility.

BACKGROUND: After the identification of five suspected cases of tuberculosis (TB) in a Nassau County (New York) jail during a 3-week period, an epidemiologic investigation was begun to document the number of cases of TB infection and disease associated with the jail, the characteristics of current or former inmates with TB disease, and the factors contributing to TB transmission in the jail. METHODS: The county TB register was matched against the inmate files of the jail. Medical records from hospitals, the health department, and the jail were then reviewed. All inmates in the jail were skin tested during a mass screening. RESULTS: From January 1, 1988, through March 16, 1990, of 205 TB cases in the county, 49 (24%) were associated with the jail. Forty of the cases occurred among current or former inmates, one in a corrections officer, and eight among community contacts of inmates. The 40 inmates with TB were predominantly nonwhite (75%), unmarried (80%) men (90%), with a median age of 32 years. Twenty-three (58%) had a history of injecting drug use, and 14 (35%) were known to be seropositive for the human immunodeficiency virus. Thirty (75%) of the inmates had culture-confirmed pulmonary TB. Five (29%) of 17 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates had the same phage type and DNA fingerprint, which was consistent with transmission of infection within the jail. The mass screening revealed that 374 (20%) of 1855 inmates were tuberculin positive. CONCLUSIONS: Without an effective program of TB control, jails can act as reservoirs of disease for inmates and staff, and for the community into which the inmates are released.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

High prevalence of syphilis detected through a jail screening program. A potential public health measure to address the syphilis epidemic.

BACKGROUND: In June 1990, a syphilis initiative was undertaken to help control New York's most extensive syphilis epidemic since the 1940s. METHODS: To evaluate the usefulness of syphilis screening in local jails, were reviewed demographic and syphilis screening data from a county jail in an area with a high prevalence of syphilis that has routinely tested incoming inmates. RESULTS: Of 12,685 inmates, 9797 (77%) were screened for syphilis, and 321 (3.3%) had a positive test result; 258 (80%) of the positive results were confirmed. Data were available for 244 of the inmates with a confirmed positive result: 162 (67%) had newly diagnosed syphilis (overall rate, 1.6%), 112 of whom had early syphilis; 50 (20%) had been previously treated for syphilis; and 32 (13%) were unavailable for follow-up. Of 162 inmates with newly diagnosed syphilis, 122 (75%) were treated in jail, and 40 were treated after their release from jail. The median time from screening to treatment was 17 days. The median jail stay was 45 days for inmates who were evaluated for treatment vs 5 days for those who were unavailable for follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Screening inmates for syphilis was a productive public health measure, as inmates accounted for 20% of the county's syphilis morbidity. Given the high prevalence of syphilis among inmates and the inability to reach them for treatment after release, strategies are needed to rapidly screen and treat inmates before their release from jail.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Total lymphatic irradiation and bone marrow in human heart transplantation.

Six patients, aged 36 to 59 years, had heart transplants for terminal myocardial disease using total lymphatic irradiation (TLI) and donor bone marrow in addition to conventional therapy. All patients were poor candidates for transplantation because of marked pulmonary hypertension, unacceptable tissue matching, or age. Two patients are living and well more than four years after the transplants. Two patients died of infection at six and seven weeks with normal hearts. One patient, whose preoperative pulmonary hypertension was too great for an orthotopic heart transplant, died at 10 days after such a procedure. The other patient died of chronic rejection seven months postoperatively. Donor-specific tolerance developed in 2 patients. TLI and donor bone marrow can produce specific tolerance to donor antigens and allow easy control of rejection, but infection is still a major problem. We describe a new technique of administering TLI with early reduction of prednisone that may help this problem.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

An oligosaccharide biosynthetic defect in concanavalin A-resistant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells that enhances NK reactivity in vitro and in vivo.

We have examined a concanavalin A-resistant (Con AR) Chinese hamster ovary cell (CR-7) that has a defect in the synthesis of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides and consequently an altered expression of membrane carbohydrate. The CR-7 mutant, which has a decreased ability to incorporate mannose into oligolipid and membrane glycoprotein and an increased membrane fucose, was more sensitive to natural killer (NK) cell lysis than the parental wild type (CHO-WT). Splenocytes mediating the lysis of the CR-7 line were asialo GM1+, nonadherent, IFN stimulatable, absent in the bg/bg mutant, and co-fractionated on Percoll density gradients with cells mediating lysis of the YAC-1 murine lymphoma. The increase in NK lysis correlated with enhanced binding of NK cells to the mutant determined by adsorption on tumor monolayers, cold target inhibition, and target binding analysis. A revertant of CR-7 (RCR-7), which showed wild-type levels of NK lysis, was intermediate in its ability to bind or cold target inhibit NK cells. The CR-7, CHO-WT, and RCR-7 lines were equally sensitive to hypotonic lysis and cytotoxicity by human lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells suggesting that the mutation did not nonspecifically alter membrane fragility. The NK-sensitive CR-7 line was less tumorigenic after subcutaneous injection in nude mice when compared with the parental CHO-WT or RCR-7 lines. This decreased tumorigenicity could be reversed by the i.v. injection of antiserum directed at the NK cell determinant asialo GM1. In conclusion, a ConAR tumor cell with a demonstrable oligosaccharide biosynthetic defect, exhibited enhanced NK lytic sensitivity and was poorly tumorigenic in vivo, a feature which may also be a consequence of its altered NK reactivity.

Absorption↗
PubMed1981

Congenital vertical talus and congenital calcaneovalgus deformity: a comparison.

It is essential to distinguish congenital vertical talus from calcaneovalgus deformity in infants as the proper treatment must begin at an early age. The key clinical finding in the differential diagnosis of flexible and rigid flatfoot conditions is the range of motion at the subtalar joint. In rigid flatfoot conditions, subtalar joint motion is impossible because of the rigidity of the deformity. Also, in the rigid type of deformity, the calcaneus will be in an equinus position.

Arthrodesis↗
PubMed1980

The effects of ketamine enantiomers on schedule-controlled behavior in the rat.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to barpress under a FL-300 sec schedule of food presentation until responding patterns were stable. The effects of the ketamine optical isomers (enantioners) on this schedule-controlled behavior were examined over a dose range of 3.75 to 60 mg/kg i.p. At doses of 15 mg/kg and above, (-)-ketamine increased rate of responding, with a maximum increase of about 3 times control rate. This effect was rate-dependent, being more marked at lower control rates. In contrast (+)-ketamine did not increase overall fixed-interval response rate at any dose, but decreased rate of responding in a rate-dependent fashion at doses of 30 mg/kg and above. Spontaneous locomotor activity was increased about equally by equimolar doses of both enantiomers.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Determination of urinary indolic metabolites.

A rapid mass spectral assay for tryptophol, 5-hydroxytryptophol, and 3-indoleacetic acid, employing stable-isotope labeled internal standards, is described. The compounds were extracted from urine or buffer with ethyl acetate and quantitatively measured by chemical-ionization mass spectrometry. The calibration curves were linear over a range of 0.06--2.8 microgram/ml. The technique was applied to the analysis of urine from patients with carcinoid tumors. In addition, the first synthesis of 5-methoxy-3-indoleacrylic acid is reported.

Carcinoid Tumor↗
PubMed1978

Distinctive medium chain wax esters, triglycerides, and diacyl glyceryl ethers in the head fats of the Pacific beaked whale, Berardius bairdi.

Lipids were extracted from the mandibular fat body (jaw), the fatty forehead (melon), and the dorsal blubber of a Pacific beaked whale (Berardius bairdi) and separated into lipid classes by preparative thin layer chromatogrphy. The head fats were mixtures of wax esters and triglycerides with a very small amount of diacyl glyceryl ether. The blubber fat contained 97% wax ester and 3% triglyceride. Gas liquid chromatography (GLC) of the intac lipid classes indicated an unusually low C26-C30 range for most of the jaw and melon wax esters compared to the more normal C32-C40 molecules found in the blubber. Distinctive lower molecular weight C24-C40 triglycerides occurred in the head fats vs. the usual C44-C58 range in the blubber. Most diacyl glyceryl ethers were in the C35-C46 range, below the molecular weight of hexadecyldipalmitoyl glyceryl ether (C48). GLC of the derived fatty acid methyl esters showed that the lower molecular weight neutral lipids in the head fats were due to high levels of iso-10:0, n-10:0, iso-11:0, iso-12:0, N-12:0, and iso-13:0 acids. The wax ester fatty alcohols and the alkoxy chains of the glyceryl ethers were mostly the C14-C20 chain lengths commonly observed in marine organisms. The distinctive medium chain neutral lipids in the jaw and melon fats of this whale may be related to the postulated acoustical role of these tissues in echolocation.

Adipose Tissue↗