Faculty Bibliography

Dr. Alfred D. Hershey, who used a household blender to do experiments that made him a Nobel laureate by proving that DNA is the molecule that carries genetic information, died on Thursday at his home in Syosset, N.Y. He was 88. Dr. Hershey, who did much of his work at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, shared a Nobel Prize in 1969 with Dr. Salvador E. Luria and Dr. Max Delbruck for their work in discoveries concerning the genetic structure of viruses and how they replicate, which provided new insights into viral diseases and inheritance. By the time he was honored by the Swedish Nobel Committee, Dr. Hershey had been engaged in his field of research for decades. Indeed, when he won his prize, other scientific leaders said that without his work, Dr. James D. Watson and Dr. Francis H. C. Crick would not have been able to accomplish their own work for which they had been awarded a Nobel seven years earlier: development of their helix model of DNA, which determined its molecular structure

The findings, published today in the British journal Nature are a result of the first scientific study of sex discrimination in the awarding of a large number of research positions, said the authors, Dr. Christine Wenneras and Dr. Agnes Wold. The authors, from the University of Goteborg, decided to investigate the evaluation system after they lost out in their own pursuit of jobs in 1994. To do the study, they had to go to court to use the Swedish freedom of press act to obtain numerical scores that were developed as scientists, in a confidential peer review system, evaluated grant proposals, job applications and publications of other scientists. The peer review system is a linchpin of science all over the world. To avoid wasting ''a large pool of promising talent,'' the Swedish doctors urged colleagues to do similar studies in other countries. ''Scientists are supposed to be objective,'' Dr. Wenneras said, and ''the credibility of the academic system will be undermined in the eyes of the public if it does not allow a scientific evaluation of its own scientific evaluation system.''

The New York Blood Center, under pressure from the Food and Drug Administration and facing allegations of improper testing procedures, will close its laboratory in Manhattan that screens for a variety of infectious diseases and hire an independent lab to do the testing, center officials said yesterday. The laboratory will close within 60 to 90 days, but the blood center itself will stay open. Another laboratory, which has yet to be selected, will screen donated blood for evidence of the microbes that cause infections like AIDS, syphilis and hepatitis, said Dr. John W. Adamson, the president of the blood center. It collects and distributes about 80 to 85 percent of the blood products used in the greater New York area. ''Everything is being done to make blood used in transfusions as safe as we can possibly make it,'' Dr. Adamson said in an interview. ''There is no evidence at this time that any unit of blood or blood product has led to infection because of mistesting.''

Malignant tumors, particularly Kaposi's sarcoma and certain cancers of the lymph system, have been common among AIDS patients since the disease was first recognized in 1981. But now the array of cancers is broadening in mysterious ways. Once rare cancers are appearing more often. Some kinds of cancer that were expected to increase in frequency have not. And strange geographical patterns of certain cancers are emerging. It is a baffling situation, yet scientists see hope in it. Researchers are looking at the puzzling trends with the aim of identifying and using biological clues to unlock the secrets of the myriad cancers that afflict people who are not infected with H.I.V, the virus that causes AIDS, and to devise new ways to treat them. An emerging theory is that most AIDS-related cancers are somehow linked to viral infections. But doctors do not know if H.I.V. enhances the ability of other viruses to produce certain cancers, scientists said here last week, at the first international meeting devoted to AIDS and cancer. The meeting was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute

Plasma homocyst(e)ine [H(e)] levels correlate with the prevalence of arterial occlusive diseases. Recently, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has been used to evaluate patients with atherosclerotic plaques in the thoracic aorta. The purpose of this study was to determine whether H(e) levels correlate with the degree of atherosclerotic plaque in the thoracic aorta (ATH) as seen on TEE. Maximum plaque areas for three locations in the thoracic aorta (arch, proximal descending, and distal descending) were measured with TEE in 156 patients. Maximum plaque areas for these locations were added to yield an estimate of ATH. ATH and H(e) levels, and levels of folic acid, vitamin B12, and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate were measured in a double-blind manner. Univariate analysis demonstrated a significant correlation of H(e) with ATH (r = 0.3, p< 0.001). On multivariate analysis, H(e) was independently predictive of ATH (r for the model including H(e) was 0.63, p < 0.0001). Plasma H(e) levels are therefore significantly and independently correlated with the degree of atherosclerosis in the thoracic aorta

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether patient preferences for the use of coronary revascularization procedures differ between white and black Americans. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Tertiary care Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. PATIENTS: Outpatients with and without known coronary artery disease were interviewed while awaiting appointments (n = 272). Inpatients awaiting catheterization were approached the day before the scheduled procedure (n = 80). Overall, 118 blacks and 234 whites were included in the study. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patient responses to questions regarding (1) willingness to undergo angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery if recommended by their physician and (2) whether they would elect bypass surgery if they were in either of two hypothetical scenarios, one in which bypass surgery would improve symptoms but not survival and one in which it would improve both symptoms and survival. Blacks were less likely to say they would undergo revascularization procedures than whites. However, questions dealing with familiarity with the procedure were much stronger predictors of a positive attitude toward the procedure use. Patients who were not working or over 65 years of age were also less interested in procedure use. In multivariable analysis race was not a significant predictor of attitudes toward revascularization except for angioplasty recommended by their physician. CONCLUSIONS: Racial differences in revascularization rates may be due in part to differences in patient preferences. However, preferences were more closely related to questions assessing various aspects of familiarity with the procedure. Patients of all races may benefit from improved communication regarding proposed revascularization. Further research should address this issue in patients contemplating actual revascularization.