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Biomedical subjects

H A Feldman

Publications and source records attributed to H A Feldman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Environmental endotoxin measurement: the Kinetic Limulus Assay with Resistant-parallel-line Estimation.

A Limulus assay method was specifically designed for environmental endotoxin aerosols. Application of new statistical and sample preparation methods strengthened the validity and precision of the Limulus test. Statistically, the Kinetic Limulus Assay with Resistant-parallel-line Estimation (KLARE) differed from conventional analytic methods (as used in chromogenic assays and other kinetic methods) by routinely using a dilution series of the unknown sample as well as the standard to compute potency and an estimate of variance for each sample. Analysis of dose-response slopes for the standard and unknowns detected inhibition and enhancement effects--without multiple assay. Concentration-dependent interference and a more complex, concentration-independent interference with the Limulus assay were detected. Resistant regression and a standardized data analysis corrected for concentration-dependent interference. Sample preparation in a buffer eliminated concentration-independent interference and, thus, improved both the validity and the precision of potency measurements. The utility of a sample buffer and of parallel-line analysis, with both turbidimetric and chromogenic lysates, was demonstrated by assay of three control standard LPS and reference LPS (EC5). The limit of detection for endotoxin was less than 1 pg/ml in buffer. Samples containing greater than or equal to 10 pg/ml were measured with a coefficient of variation of approximately 6% in a single assay. Reproducibility of potency estimates for four samples over 3 days was compared on the basis of standard errors of the mean. The conventional method gave on average a CV of 65% while the resistant-parallel-line method gave, on average, a CV of 6%. Also, the conventional method failed to detect interference and, thus, included data from invalid assays. Conventional analysis of environmental aerosol samples was highly sensitive to the choice of dilution factor causing as much as 1000% variation in the result. By contrast, KLARE results changed by at most 30% with similar changes in initial dilution because KLARE was able to detect, and correct for, the influence of interferant compounds.

Aerosols

Leukotriene receptor on U-937 cells: discriminatory responses to leukotrienes C4 and D4.

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-differentiated U-937 cells develop cell surface receptors for leukotrienes that, when stimulated, initiate a transient increase in intracellular calcium concentration [( Ca2+]i). We investigated the calcium transient that occurs after addition of leukotriene C4 (LTC4) to determine whether it occurs due to 1) the bioconversion of LTC4 to leukotriene D4 (LTD4), which then acts at the LTD4 receptor; 2) the direct action of LTC4 at the LTD4 receptor; or 3) the action of LTC4 at a receptor selective for LTC4. Bioconversion of [3H]LTC4 to [3H]LTD4 was inhibited by 98% when DMSO-differentiated U-937 cells were incubated with 10 mM AT-125 compared with control cells. The dose-response curve for LTC4, with [Ca2+]i as the index of response, was parallel to that for LTD4 but was significantly (P less than 0.0001) shifted 1.6 +/- 0.11 log units to the right. AT-125 did not change the response to LTD4 but the LTC4 dose-response curve was shifted on additional 1.7 logo units to the right. The antagonists SKF 104353 (1 microM) and LY 171883 (10 microM) shifted the dose-response curve for LTD4 3.0 +/- 0.23 and 2.5 +/- 0.23 log units, respectively, to the right and completely inhibited the change in [Ca2+]i due to LTC4 in the presence of 10 mM AT-125. Molecular modeling studies demonstrated a striking difference in the spatial configuration of LTC4 and LTD4, likely accounting for the ability of cell surface receptors to discriminate between the effects of these two molecules.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Biotransformation

Longitudinal study of career choices of a SUNY-Upstate cohort of medical students.

A SUNY-Upstate cohort was observed during the four-year matriculation (1974--1978) of the students for changes in their career choices. Medical school exposure seemed to increase students' interest in all major specialties, with the exception of family practice for which there was an overall 3% decrease. Internship and residency appointments accepted indicated that 75% entered primary care specialties, 8% more than the national average for 1978.

Adult

Diabetic nephropathy as the mode of presentation of diabetes mellitus.

Diabetic nephropathy have only rarely been described in patients who have minimal or no glucose intolerance. We herein report the case of a 59-yr-old man who presented with nephrotic syndrome and minimal glucose intolerance whose renal biopsy showed the nodular (Kimmelsteil-Wilson) and diffuse glomerulosclerosis lesions characteristic of diabetes. We critically review the literature on this subject, pointing out the pitfalls in diagnosis and establishing strict criteria for the diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy in patients wihout overt clinical diabetes.

Basement Membrane

Low density lipoprotein metabolism in type IV and type V hyperlipoproteinemia.

Low density lipoproteins (LDL) are thought to arise largely from degradation of triglyceride-rich very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL). LDL kinetics in patients with Type IV and Type V hyperlipoproteinmia were studied and compared with normal subjects. LDL labeled in the protein moiety with 125I was used as a tracer. There was no significant difference in LDL turnover between the three groups, suggesting that a catabolic defect in VLDL degradation to LDL may exist in both Type IV and Type V hyperlipoproteinemia.

Adult

Fiber counting: a source of error corrected.

Optical counting of fibers (from a filter sample of industrial air, for example) involves determining how many fibers are within counting fields which are squares of side lengths. It is correct to count all those fibers which are completely within the field and half of those which intersect only one side. It is shown here to be incorrect to count half those fibers which intersect two sides; the magnitude of this error is calculated, the calculations being verified through a Monte Carlo simulation. The fractional overcount for fibers of length L less than or equal to s is (L/s)2/2pi.

Air Pollutants

Serogroup identification of Neisseria meningitidis: comparison of an antiserum agar method with bacterial slide agglutination.

A serum agar method for serogrouping Neisseria meningitidis is described and compared with conventional bacterial slide agglutination. There was 93% agreement for 300 strains examined individually by each method. Among strains from serogroups A, B, C, Y, and W135, there was 100% correlation, whereas strains from serogroup 29E (Z') had only 67% correlation. The serum agar method was rapid, as well as easy to perform and interpret. The potential benefits of this method for epidemiological studies and reference laboratories processing large numbers of meningococcal isolates are emphasized.

Agglutination Tests

Terminology.

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HLA Antigens

A short parameter-fitting routine for compartmental models.

We have developed a program of 298 FORTRAN statements which obtains the inter-pool exchange rates and other parameters of a compartmental system, working directly from the time course of tracer activity after a bolus injection. The fitting problem - data and model - is specified by the user in a natural syntactic style. The program calculates least-squares estimates, confidence limits and intercorrelation estimates for the fitted parameters. Its small size and conceptual simplicity make the program a powerful practical tool for analyzing tracer studies.

Computers

A measles outbreak among adolescents.

In a May, 1975, outbreak, 147 adolescents, ages 12 to 19 years, were identified as having measles by a physician or school nurse. One junior high school, with an enrollment of 1,122, contributed 131 of the cases. Of the 147 students, 54 were seen by physicians who also supplied their immunization records; 19 of 54 (35%) had received live measles virus vaccine without measles immune globulin, after age one year. The remaining 35 received: killed virus vaccine only (1), K + L (4), L + MIG (4), L at less than 1 year of age (4), L + ? MIG (4), immune serum globulin only, for exposure (6), no vaccine but history of measles previously (9); history uncertain (3). Hemagglutination-inhibition antibody titers were consistent with the diagnosis of acute measles in 11 children. No index case was identified and no secondary cases occured within the families of the 54 cases. This measles outbreak among seemingly immunized adolescents raises a serious question as to the duration of such protection.

Adolescent