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Biomedical subjects

B Yu

Publications and source records attributed to B Yu.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Differential attitudes of Chinese students toward people with disabilities: a cross-cultural perspective.

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of 338 Chinese secondary school students toward three major disability groups (people who are physically disabled, emotionally disturbed, and mentally retarded) using an adaptation of the American Scale of Attitudes toward Disabled Persons (SADP). We found that physically disabled persons were rated higher across the three subscales of the SADP compared to either emotionally disturbed and mentally retarded individuals, who were rated similarly low by the students. The lack of differentiation between the two mental handicapping conditions is at variance with contemporary western findings. The overall negative attitudes toward people with mental disabilities may have significant implications for community rehabilitation programming for this population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Immediate hypersensitivity skin reactions to human dander in atopic dermatitis. Partial purification and characterization of human dander allergens.

Using high-speed gel filtration chromatography, an aqueous extract of human dander was divided into four fractions (fractions I to IV). Scratch tests with the crude human dander extract and each fraction were performed in 147 patients with atopic dermatitis and 100 control subjects. The crude extract provoked positive reactions in 61.9% (91/147) of patients with atopic dermatitis and 6% (6/100) of control subjects. The most potent allergenic component was present in fraction II, which induced positive reactions in 61.2% (90/147) of patients with atopic dermatitis. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated that fraction II contained two proteins with molecular weights of 10,000 and 13,000, respectively.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Specificity of the fatty acyl moieties of diacylglycerol for the activation of calcium-activated, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase.

The specificity of the fatty acyl moieties of diacylglycerol for the activation of Ca2+-activated, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase was investigated. Diacylglycerol has been previously shown to activate this enzyme by increasing the affinity for Ca2+ and phospholipid, both of which are indispensable for the enzyme activation. Diacylglycerols containing at least one unsaturated fatty acid at either position 1 or 2 are fully active in this capacity, irrespective of the chain length of the other fatty acyl moiety in the range tested, C2 to C18. Diacylglycerols containing two saturated fatty acids such as dipalmitin and distearin are far less effective. Mono- and triacylglycerols and free fatty acids are totally inactive, indicating that the diacylglycerol structure is essential.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Invasive aspergillosis. Progress in early diagnosis and treatment.

Ninety-one patients with documented invasive infections due to an Aspergillus species were identified at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from July 1, 1971, through December 31, 1976. Of the 29 patients in whom the diagnosis was made during life, 10 had successful treatment and survived the Aspergillus infection by two to 17 months. An immunodiffusion test was useful in the early diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis, and in 11 patients in whom the diagnosis was supported by seroconversion and who underwent treatment, the survival rate was 64 percent. Cultures of respiratory secretions were not reliable because they often reflected only colonization. In one year, only 9 percent of he patients with Aspergillus species isolated from the sputum had an invasive infection. The lung was the commonest site of involvement, 91 percent of the patients having pulmonary lesions. The most frequently affected extrapulmonary organ was the brain (18.3 percent). Eight patients had nonpulmonary aspergillosis as the only manifestation of this infection. Most of the 91 patients had hematologic neoplasms as the underlying disease, and neutropenia and antibacterial therapy preceded the diagnosis of aspergillosis in the majority of cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Widespread occurrence of calcium-activated, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase in mammalian tissues.

Ca2+-activated, phospholipid-dependent multifunctional protein kinase originally found in rat brain occurs in a variety of mammalian tissues. In most tissues the enzyme activity is comparable to that of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase when assayed with calf thymus H1 histone as phosphate acceptor. In some tissues such as platelets, brain, and lymphocytes the enzyme far exceeds the cyclic AMP-dependent enzyme. This species of protein kinase found in various tissues shows very similar physical, kinetic, and catalytic properties, and does not appear to show tissue and species specificities. It is conceivable that this protein kinase plays roles in transmembrane control of protein phosphorylation by a large number of extracellular messengers which induce phosphatidylinositol turnover in their target tissues.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Inhibitory action of chlorpromazine, dibucaine, and other phospholipid-interacting drugs on calcium-activated, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase.

Ca2+-activated, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase recently found in mammalian tissues (Takai, Y., Kishimoto, A., Iwasa, Y., Kawahara, Y., Mori, T., and Nishizuka, Y. (1979) J. Biol. Chem. 254, 3692-3695) is inhibited by various phospholipid-interacting drugs such as chlorpromazine, imipramine, phentolamine, dibucaine, verapamil, and tetracaine. This effect is attributed to the inhibition of the activation process but not to the interaction with the active site of enzyme. This is supported by the fact that a catalytic fragment of this enzyme, which is obtained by limited proteolysis with Ca2+-dependent neutral protease, is fully active without without Ca2+ and phospholipid and is not susceptible to any of these drugs. Kinetic analysis suggests that these drugs cause such inhibition competitively with phospholipid. None of these drugs appears to compete with Ca2+ or to counteract the unique effect of unsaturated diacylglycerol. Unsaturated diacylglycerol has been shown previously to increase markedly the affinity of enzyme for Ca2+ as well as for phospholipid and thereby serve as an initiator for the activation of this protein kinase. Neither cyclic AMP-dependent nor cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase is susceptible to these phospholipid-interacting drugs.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis by passive hemagglutination assay of antibody.

Sheep red cells treated with concanavalin A and sensitized with a partially purified aspergillus antigen were used to detect antibody to Aspergillus by passive hemagglutination (PHA). Sera from eight patients with aspergillomas or allergic aspergillosis had PHA titers of greater than or equal to 1:800 and antibody detectable by immunodiffusion (ID). Of 122 hospitalized cancer patients without invasive aspergillosis, 118 had titers of less than or equal to 1:80, 86 of < 1:10, two of 1:160, and two of 1:320. None had antibody by ID. Antibody was detectable by PHA in sera from 12 of 14 healthy microbiology laboratory workers. Of 55 cancer patients who had sera available for testing within two weeks before diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis, 18 patients seroconverted: 13 by both PHA and ID, two by PHA alone, and three by ID alone. PHA titers rose from < 1:10 to between 1:40 and 1:1,280. In immunosuppressed patients who were at risk of developing invasive aspergillosis, the appearance of antibody correlated with the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis.

Antibodies, Fungal↗
PubMed1979

Diffuse pulmonary infiltrates in immunosuppressed patients. Prospective study of 80 cases.

Over a two year period, we studied prospectively 80 cases of diffuse pneumonia at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 72 per cent of these, the patient had leukemia or lymphoma. Diagnostic procedures consisted of extensive serologic testing for antibody to known respiratory pathogens, including the agent of Legionnaire's disease, and culturing of biopsy specimens for bacteria, viruses, mycoplasmas and fungi. Of 44 cases in which open lung biopsy was performed, a specific cause was found in 61.4 per cent: Pneumocystis carinii in 38.6 per cent, other infections in 9.1 per cent and tumor involvement in 13.7 per cent. There were nonspecific pulmonary changes in 38.6 per cent. Of the 56 cases in which biopsy, autopsy or both were performed, a specific diagnosis was made in 69.7 per cent: P. carinii infection in 37.5 per cent and other infections in 12.5 per cent. In cases in which neither biopsy nor autopsy was performed, a specific infection was diagnosed in 33 per cent; no specific diagnosis was made in the remainder. One patient in the entire group had a significant antibody titer for Legionnaire's disease. Although diagnostic in some cases, extensive serologic testing proved relatively unfruitful. Pneumocystosis was the most frequent diagnosis in this study. The cause of some cases remained obscure, even after lung biopsy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Immunodiffusion and agglutination tests for Candida in patients with neoplastic disease: inconsistent correlation of results with invasive infections.

A serological study of candidiasis was conducted with use of (1) sera sent to the laboratory by clinicians who suspected infections due to various organisms including Candida species, and (2) sera available in our serum bank from patients with candidiasis proven at autopsy and from those with documented candidemia. With this population of patients, we were able to evaluate both potential false-negative and false-positive results. Microimmunodiffusion and slide agglutination tests were used. In many cases, serial specimens were available for measurement of rises or falls in titers of agglutinating antibody. Sera from less than one-half of the patients with disseminated or invasive gastrointestinal candidiasis exhibited positive immunodiffusion reactions, titers of agglutinating antibody of greater than 1:16, or fourfold rises in titer of agglutinins. Sera from several patients with pharyngitis due to Candida and from several who were only colonized with Candida or for whom clinical or cultural evidence of candidiasis was lacking showed positive immunodiffusion reactions or agglutinin titers of greater than 1:16, and some showed fourfold rises in titer. Conversions from negative to positive immunodiffusion reactions were not consistently correlated with invasive candida infection. Using the methods described, we have not found immunodiffusion tests and titers of agglutinating antibody to be reliable indicators of invasive candida infection, since false-positive as well as false-negative reactions occur. Greater specificity for invasiveness as well as greater sensitivity in immunosuppressed patients are necessary before these tests can become important adjuncts to the evaluation of patients with suspected invasive candidiasis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

An aspergillus immunodiffusion test in the early diagnosis of aspergillosis in adult leukemia patients.

An Aspergillus fumigatus immunodiffusion test was performed biweekly for one year on 80 hospitalized patients with acute leukemia to determine if serologic conversion accompanied clinical aspergillosis. A micro-ouchterlony technique with agarose was used. The antigens were prepared from concentrated A. fumigatus culture filtrates and the sera were concentrated 3-fold before testing. Of 80 patients, 10 were proved at autopsy, lung biopsy, or closed space culture to have invasive aspergillosis. Six of 10 patients converted from a negative to a positive immunodiffusion test, whereas a seventh patient's weakly positive test became strongly positive. Three patients with documented aspergillosis did not develop a positive immunodiffusion test. Four of the patients who converted from a negative to a positive test were treated early and successfully with amphotericin B. A fifth patient developed immunodiffusion test antibody late in the course and died despite therapy. A sixth patient died of concomitant mucormycosis despite early therapy. Six additional patients who converted from a negative to a positive immunodiffusion test could not be evaluated because of inadequate documentation of aspergillosis. In severely immunosuppressed patients, our immunodiffusion test proved to be a specific but not always a sensitive test for aspergillosis. In 4 patients, biweekly tests showed conversion associated with invasive aspergillosis, which was diagnosed early and treated successfully.

Acute Disease↗