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Biomedical subjects

Y Han

Publications and source records attributed to Y Han.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Determination of available amino acids and energy in alfalfa meal, feather meal, and poultry by-product meal by various methods.

Several experiments were conducted to evaluate various methodologies for determining availability of amino acids (AA) and energy in alfalfa meal (AM), feather meal (FM), and poultry by-product meal (PBPM). Digestibility of AA was determined with 48-h precision-fed cockerel assays using conventional (CONV) and cecectomized (CEC) cockerels. Amino acid bioavailability was assessed with chick growth assays. True digestibility values of most AA were significantly lower for CEC than for CONV cockerels. In the chick growth assays, partitioning weight gains to reflect only growth attributable to supplemental crystalline AA or test feedstuff AA consumption often yielded higher bioavailability values than when total weight gains were used for FM and PBPM but lower ones for AM. The magnitude of differences between AA digestibility (cockerels) and AA bioavailability (chicks) values varied among feedstuffs; the largest differences were observed for FM. The TMEn values of AM and PBPM were lower for CEC birds than for CONV birds, whereas TMEn of FM was similar for both types of birds.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1990

AIDS behind bars. Epidemiology of New York State prison inmate cases, 1980-1988.

During the last five years, AIDS has become the preeminent health care problem in New York State correctional facilities. Through December 31, 1988, 915 cases of AIDS had been diagnosed among inmates. This represented approximately 1% of the cumulative AIDS cases in the United States, 4% of those in New York State, and 40% of those reported in state correctional systems nationwide. An analysis of epidemiologic data on these cases showed an annual increase in cases from 3 in 1981 to 227 in 1988, with an incidence greater than 400 per 100,000 inmates per year over the past four years. While most cases occurred in males (96%), females had the same high incidence rates (compared to the general population, in which female rates are one-eight of males). Forty-seven percent of infected inmates were Hispanic, 38% black, and 13% white. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was the most common diagnosis (65%), while Kaposi's sarcoma was rare (3%). Previous intravenous drug use has been the major risk factor, seen in 95% of cases. A comparison of 54 inmate AIDS cases with 107 matched and 196 unmatched controls showed that inmates in whom AIDS developed had significantly lower white blood cell counts on entry into prison, lower hematocrits and serum albumin levels, and higher serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and globulin counts. Through July 1989, 643 (70%) of these 915 inmates had died of AIDS, and HIV infection and AIDS account for 68% of recent inmate deaths.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

HIV infected hospital patients in New York State. The development of longitudinal information from a hospital discharge data system.

Abstracted records of all patients discharged from New York State acute care hospitals from January 1, 1983, through October 1, 1987, containing a diagnosis of HIV infection (N = 36,664) were linked into a longitudinal file of 20,005 patient-specific case histories. A validation study utilizing Medicaid patient-specific discharge information for calendar year 1985 showed that, on the average, each case history of the longitudinal file contained 85% (+/- 5%) of the expected discharges. The number of patients present in the longitudinal file was 10% (+/- 4%)--too large a percentage, due to a failure to link all the discharges to the appropriate case histories. The number of patients with a diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) found in the longitudinal file was found to be consistent with the number reported to the New York State AIDS Registry. The longitudinal file appears to be sufficiently accurate and complete to use in evaluating HIV-related acute care in hospitals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Cross-reaction of immune sera from patients with rickettsial diseases.

Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia conorii are the causative agents of two common and serious diseases, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Mediterranean spotted fever, respectively. In patients naturally infected with either of these organisms, antibodies are produced which cross-react with antigens of the other so extensively that diagnostic tests usually cannot identify the causative agents. The results of this study indicate that serodiagnostic tests with antigen from one of these two organisms could be used to detect antibodies in patients with either of the two rickettsial diseases.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1989

Relationships between structure and biological activity of the mycolic acid-containing glycolipids from Nocardia asteroides "sensu stricto" and related species.

To reveal the taxonomical situation of Nocardia asteroides "sensu stricto", we compared the mycolic acid and mycolic acid-containing glycolipid composition and their granulomagenic activities in mice. The major glycolipids were glucose mono- and dimycolate, trehalose mono- and dimycolate and several unknown glycolipids, commonly, although the relative amount differed from strain to strains. On the other hand, molecular species composition of mycolic acids differed distinctively among the three closely related species: N. asteroides "sensu strico", N. farcinica and N. nova. GC/MS analysis showed the most abundant species of mycolic acids were C50(52) in N. asteroides, C54(52) in N. farcinica and C58(56) in N. nova, respectively with a different alpha-alkyl branch. Glucose mycolate and trehalose dimycolate possessing C50 mycolic acid showed a strong activity for granuloma formation in mice.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Effects of reagent and instrument on prothrombin times, activated partial thromboplastin times and patient/control ratios.

Activated partial thromboplastin times accumulated from two proficiency testing surveys were analyzed to determine simultaneously the effects of the method and reagent used. Prothrombin time results were reevaluated concomitantly for comparison. A robust two-way analysis of variance was applied to determine the effect of method and reagent on APTT results. The effect of the reagent and method on the ratio of abnormal to normal plasma clotting times was determined. We found a substantial difference in ratios for the PT using different reagents on the same instrument. There was an even larger effect of reagents on APTT ratios. Our finding of substantial reagent effects for the PT and APTT clearly support the need for standardization. We found standardization to be feasible only for the PT, and only if applied in a form consistent with the inherent error structure of the data. For the APTT, the present methodology and plasma samples did not achieve consistent standardization.

Blood Coagulation Tests↗
PubMed1987

Contrasting effects of early and late orchiectomy on hypertension and renal disease in fawn-hooded rats.

Fawn-hooded (FH) rats, primarily males, develop spontaneous low-renin hypertension associated with reduced urinary excretion of kallikrein as early as 2 months of age, followed by progressive glomerular sclerosis and proteinuria as early as 3 months of age. In the present study we determined the effects of early (5-7 weeks) or late (5 months) orchiectomy on the blood pressure and nephropathy of FH rats, compared to sham-operated (control) FH males. Early orchiectomy reduced significantly the progression of glomerular sclerosis and of proteinuria and ameliorated the hypertension but had no significant effect on excretion of urinary kallikrein. Late orchiectomy, in contrast, had no significant effect on the progression of glomerular sclerosis or proteinuria but did significantly reduce the blood pressure and marginally increase the excretion of urine kallikrein. These results suggest that (a) male sex hormones may play a role in the pathogenesis of hypertension and nephropathy in the FH rats and (b) renal disease in this strain progresses in spite of improvement in blood pressure.

Aging↗
PubMed1987

Assessment of enzyme immunoassay and immunofluorescence tests for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis.

Two rapid diagnostic tests for Chlamydia trachomatis (Microtrak, Syva Co., Palo Alto, Calif.; and Chlamydiazyme, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Ill.) were evaluated in comparison with growth of the organism in tissue culture for 2,030 urogenital specimens from men and women. Neither test performed as well as culture, which detected 296 of 310 positive specimens. The overall sensitivity and specificity for Microtrak were 73 and 99%; corresponding values for Chlamydiazyme were 83 and 98%. The majority of false-negative results with both rapid tests occurred when cultures contained less than 10 inclusions per cover slip. There were also areas of unconfirmed reactivity for both tests that led us to suggest that a reporting category of "suspicious" be developed for certain test results. For Microtrak, the suspicious result is a slide containing fewer than 10 elementary bodies; for Chlamydiazyme, it is any absorbance reading less than 0.4. Creation of a "suspicious" category would lower the sensitivity for Chlamydiazyme considerably, to 64%, and increase the positive predictive value for females to 95%. Although this may result in the underreading of some specimens from males, the tests could then be used with greater confidence in females for whom testing is essential for appropriate treatment.

Chlamydia Infections↗
PubMed1987

Nutritive value of high oil corn for poultry.

Several experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of high oil corn for poultry relative to that of conventional (CONV) corn. The variety of high oil corn (HO1) evaluated in most trials contained 6.0% oil and 9.6% protein on a 10% moisture basis. The protein quality of HO1 and CONV corn was assessed with female crossbred chicks fed corn as the sole source of dietary protein. There was no difference in either protein efficiency ratio or in net protein ratio between the two types of corn. True metabolizable energy (TME) and nitrogen-corrected TME (TMEn) values of HO1 corn were determined using adult roosters. The TME and TMEn values of HO1 corn were approximately 4.5% higher than those of CONV corn. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of high oil corn varieties, containing from 6 to 13% oil, in practical diets of commercial broiler chicks from 8 to 22 days posthatching. Weight gain, gain-to-feed ratio, and skin and plasma pigmentation were improved in chicks fed 24% protein diets containing high oil corns compared with those fed the same diet containing CONV corn; magnitude of response was highly correlated to oil content of the corn. The relative value of HO1 corn in practical laying hen diets was examined in a 15-wk experiment. Hens fed a 17% protein diet containing HO1 corn from 23 to 38 weeks of age had a better feed-to-egg ratio than those fed the same diet containing CONV corn when the corn sources were substituted on an isonitrogenous basis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Lymphatic system of the thyroid gland in the rat.

Intraglandular thyroid lymph vessels in the rat were studied by qualitative and quantitative analyses in order to obtain information regarding their structure, distribution, relationships, and possible mechanisms of lymph formation. Ultrastructurally, the lymphatic vessels were similar to those described in other organs. The volume density of the lymphatic vessels was 0.007, the profile density 5.68 mm2 and the maximum diameter 17.87 nm. Ultrastructurally, visible transport pathways across the vessels appear to be represented by intracytoplasmic vesicles and channels between endothelial cells. The mean maximum diameter of the vesicles was 96 nm and they occupied 6.9% of the cytoplasm. They were equally distributed between luminal, abluminal, and intracytoplasmic positions. Open junctions (greater than 30 nm) were not seen between endothelial cells, but dilations along part of the length of interdigitating and overlapping contacts were frequent. It was concluded that the mechanism of lymph formation in the thyroid is similar to that in the kidney and liver, but differs from that in the dermis or diaphragm. However, the volume density of the vesicles of the thyroid was twice that of the liver and more than twice that of the kidney. This finding is consistent with an increase in transendothelial vesicular transport of macromolecules.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Prothrombin time proficiency testing: a robust grading method.

A robust two-way analysis of variance technique was applied to determine simultaneously the effects of method and thromboplastin on prothrombin time. A new approach to outlier detection for two-way analysis of variance was used. Focusing on the underlying error structure improved the uniformity of the grading procedure in the hematology proficiency testing program of the New York State Department of Health. The logarithm-transformed scale produced constancy of error variance and resulted in uniformity of the acceptable spread of data. The common variance was lower than that obtained by previous methods and allowed for a narrower acceptable range of reported prothrombin times by reducing the inflated standard deviation, thus improving the efficiency of the grading procedure. For proficiency testing, no advantage was found in the use of either a common thromboplastin or freeze-dried, coumadinized patient plasmas rather than artificially depleted commercial plasmas, except for special purposes.

Automation↗