Biological Methods

This page has a list of publications and news articles related to Innovative Strategies - Biological Methods. Find more information on Innovation in HEI's research programs.

Contents: Setting a Course for 2020: The HEI Strategic Plan; RFA Seeks New Epidemiologic Studies; HEI Launches New International Project // Group of Experts Will Estimate Global Burden of Disease from Specific Major Air Pollution Sources; Communicating Results of Research; How PM May Affect Epithelial Cell Differentiation; Progress on Major Ozone Study; Panel Tours Gas Well Sites

Contents: Greenbaum Testifies on "Producing Credible Science for Decisions"; New HEI Health Effects Study of Modern Diesel Engine Emissions; Health Outcomes and Biomarkers Studies Approved; Multicity Study in Latin America; Air Pollution and Children's Health in Vietnam; HEI in the News; Communication 17: ACES Exposure Atmosphere; Annual Report Now Available; New Global Burden of Disease Estimates; HEI Investigator Wins Haagen-Smit Prize; Workshop on Assessing Exposure to Pollution from Traffic; IARC Review of Diesel and Gasoline Exhaust

Contents: Effects of Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Particles in Persons with Asthma and Allergy; Workshop Brings Experts Together: Atmospheric Chemists and Health Effects Scientists Meet at HEI to Discuss Common Goals; Symposium Sheds Light on Air Toxics Hot Spots; Wood Stove Changeout Program Brings Some Improvements in Health, Air Quality; Three New HEI Studies Launched: Ozone Exposure and Inflammatory Cells / PM Exposure and Heart Rhythm / Impact of Exposure in Early Life; ACES Reaches Important Milestones; New Investigator

Research Report 87
Assieh A Melikian
Min Meng
Ray O’Connor
Peifeng Hu
Seth M Thompson
1999

Dr. Melikian and colleagues at the American Health Foundation developed and validated a novel, practical method for assaying metabolites of benzene in humans methods using a technique known as Liquid Chromatography–Electrospray Ionization–Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) to measure benzene metabolites in human urine.

Research Report 79
James S Ultman
Abdellaziz Ben-Jebria
Craig S MacDougall
Marc L Rigas
1997

Dr. Ultman and his colleagues at Pennsylvania State University redesigned their first-generation analyzer that measures the dose of inhaled ozone to reduce electronic noise (interference) and improve the signal's stability. To do so, they adjusted each parameter that influenced the analyzer's performance: the flow of the air sample into the instrument, the pressure in the chamber where the air sample and the reactant gas mixed, the relative amounts of the reactant gas and air sample, and electronic variables (frequency and voltage).

Communication 4
Health Effects Institute
1996

Communication 4 contains four reports on analyzing complex mixtures. Three reports address analytical approaches to indentifying toxic compounds. One describes statistical approaches to analysis of interaction. (1) Immunoaffinity Chromatography in the Analysis of Toxic Effects of Complex Mixtures, William E. Bechtold (2) Stationary-Phase Programming for Liquid Chromatography: A New Concept for Separating Complex Mixtures, John G. Dorsey (3) Supercritical Separation and Molecular Bioassay Technologies Applied to Complex Mixtures, David L. Springer (4) Using the Parallel Coordinate Axis System to Analyze Complex Mixtures: Determining Biological Activity and Interactions Among Components, Chris Gennings.

Research Report 69
James S Ultman
Abdellaziz Ben-Jebria
Shu-Chieh Hu
1994

Dr. James Ultman and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University used a fast-responding ozone measurement system, which they had developed with previous HEI support, to noninvasively measure the absorption of inhaled ozone in different regions of the respiratory tract of healthy adult men. While the subject was breathing through the measurement apparatus, a narrow 10-mL bolus of ozone was introduced into the inhaled air at a predetermined point.

Research Report 67
Timothy R Fennell
1994

Dr. Fennell at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology sought to develop new methods for improving the detection of formaldehyde-DNA adducts in exposed cells and tissues. The investigator treated formaldehyde-DNA adducts with sodium bisulfite, a compound that reacts with these adducts and traps them as stable compounds, and then tested different analytical techniques for separating and detecting the adducts. He exposed pure DNA, cell nuclei, and cells in culture to formaldehyde and treated them with sodium bisulfite under a variety of experimental conditions.

Research Report 61
Roger W Giese
Paul Vouros
1993

Both environmental and genetic factors are believed to contribute to the multistage process that results in carcinogenesis. Therefore, determining the health risks associated with exposure to known and suspected carcinogenic chemicals is essential for informed decision-making by regulatory agencies. Dr. Roger W. Giese and colleagues at Northeastern University developed sensitive and specific techniques for measuring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts, a class of DNA adducts associated with exposure to constituents of diesel emissions and other combustion products.

Research Report 59
J Dennis McCool
Jonathan M Samet
1993

This document contains two reports by Drs. McCool and Samet and their colleagues who were funded to develop and test methods for measuring ventilation in freely mobile subjects at home or at work. Drs. Dennis McCool and Domyung Paek at the Memorial Hospital in Rhode Island measured ventilation with a body surface displacement (BSD) model. Each subject wore wide elastic bands containing coated wire coils around the chest and abdomen and had special magnets affixed to the breastbone and navel, which yielded data about their breathing patterns, breath frequency, and ventilation. In the second study, Dr. Jonathan Samet and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University wanted to develop methods for estimating ventilation from heart rate for future epidemiologic studies. They used the Heartwatch, a portable, commercial device combining a small transmitter worn on the subject's chest with a wristwatch-style receiver that records heart rate.