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Biomedical subjects

H Macdonald

Publications and source records attributed to H Macdonald.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Recognition and expression of emotional cues by autistic and normal adults.

High-functioning autistic adults were compared with normal adults using a battery of tests devised to assess the recognition and expression of emotional cues in both facial and vocal modalities. The autistic subjects were relatively impaired in both the appreciation and production of emotional expressions. Although no one test provided a clear-cut separation of the groups at the individual level, composite scores did separate the groups quite well. It is suggested that this battery of tasks may have some value in family genetic studies of autism that need to identify subclinical deficits that might be aetiologically linked with autism.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Total abdominal and pelvic radiotherapy in the management of early stage ovarian carcinoma.

In a prospective study, 57 women with early stage ovarian carcinoma received total abdominal and pelvic radiotherapy (TAPR) following radical surgery. The whole abdomen received 22.5 Gy m.p.d. by large opposed fields in 18 fractions over 4 1/2 weeks, with 8 MeV X rays, followed by a further 22.5 Gy in 10 fractions over 2 weeks to the pelvis alone, using a dosage and technique similar to that described from the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto. The actuarial 5-year relapse-free and overall survival figures were 49 and 57% respectively, which appear to be significantly worse than those reported from Toronto (73% and 75%). The incidence of severe bowel toxicity (7%) was higher. There was no correlation between survival and FIGO stage at laparotomy, but a significant correlation with histological grade. These data do not seem to support the idea of a "curative" role for post-operative irradiation at this dosage in these patients.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1985

The nucleotide sequence of cloned wheat dwarf virus DNA.

Restriction analysis and cloning of virus-specific double-stranded DNA isolated from plants infected with wheat dwarf virus (WDV) indicated that the virus genome, like that of maize streak virus (MSV), consists of a single DNA circle. The complete nucleotide sequence of cloned WDV DNA (2749 nucleotides) has been determined. Comparison of the potential coding regions in WDV DNA with those in the DNA of two strains of MSV suggests that these viruses encode at least two functional proteins, the coat protein read in the virion (+) DNA sense and a composite protein, formed from two open reading regions, in the complementary (-) DNA sense. Although WDV and MSV are serologically unrelated their coat proteins showed 35% direct amino acid sequence and their DNAs showed 46% nucleotide sequence homology. There was too little homology between the DNAs of WDV and those of two geminiviruses with bipartite genomes, cassava latent virus (CLV) and tomato golden mosaic virus (TGMV), to align the sequences. However comparison of the amino acid sequences of predicted proteins of WDV, MSV, TGMV and CLV revealed clear relationships between these viruses and suggested that the monopartite and the bipartite geminiviruses have a common ancestral origin. Four inverted repeat sequences which have the potential to form hairpin structures of deltaG >/= -14 kcal/mol were detected in WDV DNA. The sequence TAATATTAC present in the loop of one of these hairpins is conserved in similar putative structures in MSV DNA and in both DNA components of CLV and TGMV and may function as a recognition sequence for a protein involved in virus DNA replication.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1985

Molecular cloning and functional analysis of the cysG and nirB genes of Escherichia coli K12, two closely-linked genes required for NADH-dependent nitrite reductase activity.

We have cloned two genes, nirB+ and cysG+ which are required for NADH-dependent nitrite reductase to be active, from the 74 min region of the Escherichia coli chromosome. Restriction mapping and complementation analysis establish the gene order crp-nirB-cysG-aroB. Both genes are trans-dominant in merodiploids and, under some conditions, can be expressed independently. The cysG+ gene can be expressed from both high and low copy number plasmids carrying a 3.6 kb PstI-EcoRI restriction fragment. Attempts to sub-clone the nirB+ gene into pBR322 on a 14.5 kb EcoRI fragment were unsuccessful, but this fragment was readily sub-cloned into and expressed from the low copy number plasmid pLG338 (Stoker et al. 1982). Overproduction of the 88 kDa nitrite reductase apoprotein by strains carrying a functional nirB+ gene suggests that nirB is the structural gene for this enzyme.

Cloning, Molecular↗
PubMed1979

Hypnotic deafness: a psychophysical study of responses to tone intensity as modified by hypnosis.

Hypnotic deafness was suggested for 1000 Hz tones presented in random orders at seven intensities between 17 and 70 db. Subjects were 70 college students stratified into four levels of hypnotic susceptibility, ranging from low to high. Four conditions were presented within a single session. Two conditions tested normal hearing, one in waking and one in hypnosis; two tested reported loudness of the tones as reduced by hypnotic suggestion. The method of magnitude estimation was employed. Hearing reduction was found to correlate .59 with hypnotic susceptibility in the total sample. Few high hypnotizables reduced their hearing to zero; their mean residual hearing during the deafness conditions was 55% of normal. Power functions for the relationship between tone intensity and magnitude estimates for conditions of normal hearing and deafness were found to be relatively parallel and orderly, differing primarily in intercept value. Order effect anomalies are discussed. The "hidden observer" method showed that for 4 of the 70 subjects the covert hearing was found to be at least 20% greater than that reported overtly within hypnotic deafness and approached normal hearing. As in our previous hypnotic analgesia research, not all subjects who reduced their hearing significantly gave subsequent covert reports which differed from reported overt hearing. Discussion is given for evidence of two levels of information processing during hypnotically suggested perceptual distortions.

Audiometry↗
PubMed1978

Antibody titres in women six to eight years after the administration of RA2713 and Cendehill rubella vaccines.

Titres of haemagglutination-inhibiting antibody have been measured repeatedly in young women during a period of 6-8 years after the administration of RA27/3 and Cendehill attenuated rubella vaccines. Mean antibody titres were initially 217 after RA27/3 and 159 after Cendehill, but the difference diminished after the first year. Antibody titres were subsequently well maintained in both groups and did not reveal any need for regular revaccination. Mean titres in the Cendehill group were partly maintained by symptomless reinfection which was commoner after Cendehill than after RA27/3. Significant falls in titre were equally common after both vaccines, but low titres of 30 or less were more frequent in subjects who had received Cendehill. Mean neutralizing antibody titres were initially 15.4 after RA27/3 vaccine and 9 after Cendehill. Titres remained higher after RA27/3 for 3 years, but the difference then diminished and became insignificant during the fifth year. Revaccination of women with low antibody titres produced significant increases in 69% of subjects when standard RA27/3 vaccine was used; a special preparation of RA27/3 of higher potency produced a similar number of rises (70%) but elicited higher titres and might occasionally be useful for revaccinating women who are likely to come into contact with rubella. Challenge with RA27/3 vaccine produced weaker responses in women who had experienced natural infection than in those whose antibody was vaccine-induced. Rises in antibody titre after revaccination consisted mainly of IgG, but traces of IgM antibody were detected in one vaccinee who had recently experienced natural reinfection and in 1 woman with naturally acquired antibody who had been challenged with high titre RA27/3 vaccine.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1974

Specific immunoglobulin responses in serum and nasal secretions after the administration of attenuated rubella vaccine.

The indirect immunofluorescent technique has been used to study the specific immunoglobulin responses in the sera of 63 non-immune adult women who received either Cendehill rubella vaccine subcutaneously, RA27/3 rubella vaccine subcutaneously, or RA27/3 vaccine intranasally. IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies increased virtually simultaneously, starting about 2 weeks after vaccination. IgG antibody appeared in all subjects and reached maximum titres 4-6 weeks after vaccination. The mean IgG titres elicited by the three different methods of vaccination did not differ significantly. IgA and IgM antibodies reached their highest titres between 21 and 28 days after vaccination and then declined to low or undetectable titres within about 9 weeks. The maximum IgA titres observed after intranasal administration of RA27/3 vaccine were significantly higher than those which occurred when the same vaccine was given subcutaneously, but no significant difference in IgM titres was observed. When unfractionated sera were examined IgA antibody was detected in 57 cases (91%) and IgM in 51 (81%). Fluorescent examination of fractions obtained by centrifugation on sucrose density gradients frequently revealed small amounts of IgA and IgM antibody which could not be detected by staining unfractionated serum, and with the inclusion of these results IgA antibody was detected in 61 cases (97%) and IgM in 59 (94%).When 39 adults with pre-existing serum antibody were challenged with vaccine a definite IgA response was detected in only one subject and in no case was there any evidence of the appearance of IgM antibody.Nasal antibody, consisting of IgG or IgA or both, was detected in 17 out of 23 non-immune subjects (74%) who received RA27/3 vaccine, either subcutaneously or intranasally. Titres were much lower than those which occur in the natural disease and there was no evidence that nasal antibody was elicited more readily by intranasal than by subcutaneous vaccination.

Administration, Intranasal↗