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Biomedical subjects

R Penning

Publications and source records attributed to R Penning.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

[HIV-1 prevalence in deaths caused by drug overdose in various large cities of West Germany and West Berlin between 1985 and 1988].

The development of the HIV-1-prevalence among drug deaths (n = 753) in several German cities (West Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Bremen, Cologne and Stuttgart) from 1985 to 1988 was evaluated; in 1988 43% of 674 deceased drug addicts were examined. The regional prevalence rate was between 15 and 25%; only in Berlin 42% of the drug deaths were HIV-infected (cumulated data of all cities over the 4-year-period: 26%). There was no uniform or steady regional development of HIV-1-prevalence in the different cities. The ratio men/women among drug deaths was 3:1. The HIV-1-prevalence among males was 22%, among females 40%. HIV-infected individuals were 2-3 years older than seronegatives. Predictions concerning the trend of prevalence rates are not possible up to now. Continuous monitoring of the HIV-status of drug deaths seems to be a worthful method to evaluate the spread of this disease among the risk group of intravenous drug addicts.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

[HIV-1 prevalence in forensic medicine examination of fatalities (Hamburg and Munich 1989)].

All fatalities investigated at the Institutes of Forensic Medicine in Hamburg and Munich are screened for HIV-1-antibodies. The serological findings of 1,000 consecutive cases in the year 1989 were compared concerning HIV-1-prevalence, riskgroup, age and sex distribution. The prevalence rate of HIV-1-antibodies was 5% in Hamburg and 6% in Munich. The HIV-seropositives were mainly i.v.-drug users and homosexuals dying from unnatural causes. Unexpectedly HIV-infection was also present in two males of advanced age with myocardial infarction. The HIV-1-prevalence rate of all drug related fatalities from 1985-1989 was investigated, too. The cumulated seropositivity in Hamburg was 14% and in Munich 18%. The development was unsteady; continuous monitoring of the HIV-status of drug deaths seems to be a worthful means to evaluate the spread of this disease among the risk group of intravenous drug addicts.

Cause of Death↗
PubMed1990

[Sudden cardiac death in mitral valve prolapse syndrome?].

Primary mitral valve prolapse is considered a rare cause of sudden cardiac death. Close to 100 cases are documented worldwide. The cause of death seems to be cardiac arrhythmia, so postmortal diagnosis is difficult and depends on severe changes of the mitral leaflets and--sometimes--on anamnesis. Three postmortem cases are presented, where a sudden cardiac death apparently was caused by mitral valve prolapse or its complications.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[HIV infection in legal autopsies].

Since May 1987 all postmortem cases at the Munich Institute of Forensic Medicine were screened for HIV-antibodies. If possible, testing was carried out before the postmortem examination in order to allow specific protective measures. 19 of 2631 consecutively tested corpses (= 0.7%) were HIV-infected. Since 1986, the onset of occasional testing, we found 29 HIV-infections. 24 of these were men, 5 were women. At least 15 were i.v.-drug abusers und 8 were homosexuals. In post mortem testing of body fluids false-positive results can be recognized easily even by ELISA-testing alone. Additional testing of several body fluids other than blood and especially of brain tissue proved to be valuable and yielded reliable results. Body fluids and tissues of HIV-infected corpses are potentially infectious as long as one week after death.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed1988

[Sexual dimorphism of the scapula].

Studies on 96 male and 53 female human right scapulas confirmed a highly significant sexual dimorphism. This sexual dimorphism could also be ascertained for 23 pairs of scapulas from male and female individuals with identical body height. It therefore depends not only on the different average stature of men and women. Using the presented quantitative criteria, the sex of 88% of the bones could be determined correctly, while 4% were misclassified.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Recognition of low-level alcohol intoxication from speech signal.

Eleven male subjects were required to read a text in both sober and alcohol intoxicated conditions. By means of statistical signal analysis, frequency distributions of fundamental frequency (F0), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), ratio of first- to second-formant frequencies (F1/F2), variation speed of the frequencies F0, F1, F2, and the long-term average spectrum (LTAS) were determined. The distributions were examined for their suitability in discriminating between sober and intoxicated conditions. The SNR and F0 distributions as well as the LTAS discriminated with an error rate less than 5%. Combination of SNR and F0 profiles enabled correct discrimination in all cases. The parameter F1/F2 describing the articulation varied strongly among individuals. It was modified only with high levels of blood alcohol. Frequency variation speeds were not altered by intoxication. Speaker recognition by means of LTAS was interpreted as a perturbation of laryngeal movement control, where long-term voice effort was found to produce similar effects to alcohol intoxication. On the basis of the present results and various other factors (ambiguity of the sources of the acoustic effects, expense of the procedure), application of acoustic analysis in forensic medicine for recognition of low-level alcohol intoxication is considered inexpedient.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMed1987

[Trends in legal decisions in obstetrics].

In recent years West German courts have rendered numerous decisions on obstetrical problems. Some of these are quite relevant for the everyday gynecological practice. We have tried to select these and show the consequences for common situations.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed1985

Allocation of the suppressive activity of normal peripheral blood lymphocytes induced by diffusion chamber culture and Con A stimulation to the G2 phase of the cell cycle.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated either by diffusion chamber culture or by a high Con A concentration exhibit suppressive activity under conditions where no increase in cell number takes place. Instead an accumulation of large cells is observed which, according to their DNA contents, are classified as cells in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. By elutriation separation the suppressive activity is shown to be confined to this cell cycle phase.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Detection of cALLA positive cells in the human normal peripheral blood by microimmunofluorometry and their fate during cultivation in diffusion chambers.

A very sensitive measuring device for immunoflourescence and a new evaluation method were applied to detect the common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia antigen (cALLA) on individual cells from normal peripheral blood. Using a monoclonal and a polyclonal antiserum a small % (about 10%) of cells was shown to carry this antigen. In double-labelling experiments these cALLA positive cells were shown not to carry surface immunoglobulin, and very little T-antigen if any. During a 13-d cultivation of normal mononuclear blood cells in diffusion chambers, the cALLA positive cells disappeared but could be detected again on day 13 at a frequency comparable to that before culture. Proliferation is discussed as the mechanism accounting for the reappearance of the cALLA positive cells, perhaps due to the influence of the T-helper cells generated during culture.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Characterization of normal human mononuclear blood cells during diffusion chamber (DC) culture with respect to proliferation and expression of T-cell antigen.

Normal human mononuclear blood cells were cultured for 13 d in diffusion chambers and the cell harvest on days 3, 6, 9 and 13 was characterized according to morphology, growth kinetics and surface antigen expression. The greatest part of the cell harvest consisted on all days of lymphoid cells. It could be shown that most of the cells carried the T-cell marker, the main growing population thus being T-cells. The mean anti-T-binding capacity per cell increased during the initial lag phase and reached its peak when the cell count was lowest. It dropped again during the following exponential growth phase to preculture values. These changes indicate an initial increase in surface antigen during the transition of cells from resting to a more activated state before the onset of DNA-synthesis, and a subsequent decrease which may indicate functional maturation.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Discrimination in immunofluorescence between labeled and unlabeled cells by quantitative microfluorometry and computer analysis.

An automated procedure for discrimination in immunofluorescence between antibody-labeled and unlabeled cells has been developed on the basis of microfluorimetric determination of intensity distributions. After smoothing the raw data for irregularities caused by the scoring statistics optimum fit of the negative distribution to the corresponding positive one was achieved. The procedure was tested in a model system by mixing various known proportions of immunofluorescence-negative and -positive plastic beads. In addition, variable mixtures of T-negative CLL cells and normal mononuclear peripheral blood cells were labeled with FITC-conjugated anti-T-antiserum. The expected percentage of T-positive peripheral blood cells agreed satisfactorily with the data measured and computed. Finally, the measured percentage of Ig-positive mononuclear cells from normal peripheral blood was in agreement with the values obtained by other techniques.

Automation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Melanoma-associated adhesion molecule MUC18/MCAM (CD146) and transcriptional regulator mader in normal human CNS.

The proteins MUC18 and Mader have been identified as markers of tumor progression in melanoma cells. MUC18, also known as MCAM (melanoma cell adhesion molecule) and as CD146 (endothelial antigen), is a cell adhesion molecule belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily. Mader is a transcriptional regulator shown to negatively regulate EGR-1. As it is known that neoplastic cells of neuroectodermal origin frequently express neuron-specific molecules, we studied whether these melanoma-associated antigens are found in normal CNS tissue. We investigated the expression of MUC18/MCAM and Mader in adult human post mortem CNS tissue by immunohistochemistry, immunoblot and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Our results show that Mader is preferentially expressed on neurons and glial cells and that the adhesion protein MUC18/MCAM is mainly expressed on vasculature within the CNS. These observations may have important implications for further studies investigating their possible roles in cell adhesion and proliferation control within the CNS.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Expression of T cell receptor gamma delta antigens in human brain tissue.

The human gamma delta T cell receptor (TCR) is normally expressed on lymphoid tissue. Since expression of different molecules of the T cell system has been described for human brain cells, we examined the expression of CD4 and TCR gamma delta antigens with a panel of various anti-gamma delta TCR monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and an anti-CD4 mAb using immunohistochemistry on different regions of frozen human postmortem tissue from five different brains. We could confirm the expression of CD4 antigens. gamma delta TCR expression on brain tissue was found in different regions of the brain by immunohistochemistry. Double staining with anti-gamma delta TCR and antineuronal enolase (NSE) mAbs showed that gamma delta TCR+ cells were not stained by anti-NSE, although they were sometimes located near neurons and showed dendritic forms; they are possibly tissue-resident gamma delta T cells, as described in the skin. Polymerase chain reaction analysis using a highly sensitive primer sequence against the constant-region delta sequence supports, combined with immunohistochemistry findings, the notion that the gamma delta TCR is expressed in human brain.

Adult↗