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Biomedical subjects

D Pilgrim

Publications and source records attributed to D Pilgrim.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Extrapyramidal signs and other neurologic findings in clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease. A community-based study.

The association between findings on the neurologic examination and the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease was investigated among 467 individuals from a geographically defined community population. Participants were selected by stratified random sampling based on their memory performance in a population survey of community residents 65 years of age and older. Each participant underwent a structured medical, psychiatric, neurologic, and neuropsychologic examination. Of the 467 persons examined there were 134 cases of probable Alzheimer's disease and 167 control subjects. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the degree to which the presence of each of several neurologic examination findings affected the age- and sex-adjusted relative odds of having clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease. The most striking associations with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease were seen with various measures of extrapyramidal dysfunction. These increased relative odds were not markedly affected by excluding from the analysis cases with severe cognitive impairment. The results suggest that involvement of the extrapyramidal system is a common finding in Alzheimer's disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Thomas Szasz, crazy talk and the myth of mental illness.

In this article, Szasz's analysis of 'crazy talk' is considered in the context of his wider critique of psychiatric theory. We argue that Szasz has performed an important service by drawing attention to psychiatric prejudice regarding the causes of abnormal behaviour, and by pointing to the role of values in psychiatric decision making. However, Szasz may be criticized for his oversimple analysis of the concept of 'illness' and for his failure to recognize that values are central to all clinical decision making, including the diagnosis of physical illness. In the light of these criticisms we identify important weaknesses in his arguments about the incoherent speech of psychiatric patients.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1993

The genetic and RFLP characterization of the left end of linkage group III in Caenorhabditis elegans.

A genetic approach was taken to identify new transposable element Tc1-dependent polymorphisms on the left end of linkage group III in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The cloning of the genomic DNA surrounding the Tc1 allowed the selection of overlapping clones (from the collection being used to assemble the physical map of the C. elegans genome). A contig of approximately 600-800 kbp in the region has been identified, the genetic map of the region has been refined, and 10 new RFLPs as well as at least four previously characterized genetic loci have been positioned onto the physical map, to the resolution of a few cosmids. This analysis demonstrated the ability to combine physical and genetic mapping for the rapid analysis of large genomic regions (0.5-1 Mbp) in genetically amenable eukaryotes.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Abandoning the concept of 'schizophrenia': some implications of validity arguments for psychological research into psychotic phenomena.

After more than 90 years of research in which the presence or absence of a diagnosis of schizophrenia has been used as an independent variable, little of certainty has been found out about the aetiology of the hypothesized schizophrenia disease process. One possible reason for this lack of progress is that schizophrenia is not a valid object of scientific inquiry. Data from published research (mainly carried out by distinguished psychiatrists) are reviewed casting doubt on: (i) the reliability, (ii) the construct validity, (iii) the predictive validity, and (iv) the aetiological specificity of the schizophrenia diagnosis. It is argued that continued research into the aetiology of schizophrenia is likely to prove fruitless and that psychologists should adopt alternative methods of studying psychosis. Two alternative strategies--the development of empirical methods of psychiatric classification and the study of individual symptoms--are discussed.

Humans↗
PubMed1987

Primary structure requirements for correct sorting of the yeast mitochondrial protein ADH III to the yeast mitochondrial matrix space.

Alcohol dehydrogenase isoenzyme III (ADH III) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the product of the ADH3 gene, is located in the mitochondrial matrix. The ADH III protein was synthesized as a larger precursor in vitro when the gene was transcribed with the SP6 promoter and translated with a reticulocyte lysate. A precursor of the same size was detected when radioactively pulse-labeled proteins were immunoprecipitated with anti-ADH antibody. This precursor was rapidly processed to the mature form in vivo with a half-time of less than 3 min. The processing was blocked if the mitochondria were uncoupled with carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone. Mutant enzymes in which only the amino-terminal 14 or 16 amino acids of the presequence were retained were correctly targeted and imported into the matrix. A mutant enzyme that was missing the amino-terminal 17 amino acids of the presequence produced an active enzyme, but the majority of the enzyme activity remained in the cytoplasmic compartment on cellular fractionation. Random amino acid changes were produced in the wild-type presequence by bisulfite mutagenesis of the ADH3 gene. The resulting ADH III protein was targeted to the mitochondria and imported into the matrix in all of the mutants tested, as judged by enzyme activity. Mutants containing amino acid changes in the carboxyl-proximal half of the ADH3 presequence were imported and processed to the mature form at a slower rate than the wild type, as judged by pulse-chase studies in vivo. The unprocessed precursor appeared to be unstable in vivo. It was concluded that only a small portion of the presequence contains the necessary information for correct targeting and import. Furthermore, the information for correct proteolytic processing of the presequence appears to be distinct from the targeting information and may involve secondary structure information in the presequence.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗
PubMed1985

Isolation and DNA sequence of ADH3, a nuclear gene encoding the mitochondrial isozyme of alcohol dehydrogenase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae nuclear gene, ADH3, that encodes the mitochondrial alcohol dehydrogenase isozyme ADH III was cloned by virtue of its nucleotide homology to ADH1 and ADH2. Both chromosomal and plasmid-encoded ADH III isozymes were repressed by glucose and migrated heterogeneously on nondenaturing gels. Nucleotide sequence analysis indicated 73 and 74% identity for ADH3 with ADH1 and ADH2, respectively. The amino acid identity between the predicted ADH III polypeptide and ADH I and ADH II was 79 and 80%, respectively. The open reading frame encoding ADH III has a highly basic 27-amino-acid amino-terminal extension relative to ADH I and ADH II. The nucleotide sequence of the presumed leader peptide has a high degree of identity with the untranslated leader regions of ADH1 and ADH2 mRNAs. A strain containing a null allele of ADH3 did not have a detectably altered phenotype. The cloned gene integrated at the ADH3 locus, indicating that this is the structural gene for ADH III.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗
PubMed1984

Some implications for psychology of formulating all illness as deviancy.

Formulating all illness as deviancy can be offered as a basis for reconciling the psychological characteristics of physical and mental illness. This paper considers the epistemological background to this reconciliation and discusses some of the theoretical, practical and methodological implications for clinical psychology. Particular attention is given to the role of values in psychological activity and the need to recognize the central legitimacy of subjectivity in research and applied psychology.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The delirium symptom interview: an interview for the detection of delirium symptoms in hospitalized patients.

To study delirium in hospitalized elderly, a delirium symptom interview (DSI) was developed by an interdisciplinary group of investigators. This interview was administered in an acute care hospital to 50 patients who were over the age of 65 years. Results from the interview were compared to assessments of major symptoms of delirium made independently by a neurologist and a psychiatrist. This interview had good validity and reliability. The sensitivity of the DSI was .90 and the specificity was .80, when compared with the clinical judgment of a psychiatrist and neurologist. Interrater reliability, using lay interviewers, was .90 for the detection of major symptoms of delirium. These results indicate that the DSI could be used by lay interviewers to assess reliably the symptoms of delirium.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Service users' views of psychiatric nurses.

With the shifting emphasis in the NHS towards quality assurance and consumerism, user satisfaction has become an important issue for mental health nurses to consider. This article provides some data from a survey of 516 psychiatric patients conducted by the authors on behalf of national MIND in 1990.

Attitude to Health↗