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Biomedical subjects

K Fleming

Publications and source records attributed to K Fleming.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Left turning (swivel) in manic patients.

Nineteen bipolar inpatients in manic episodes and 19 normal control subjects were tested on a two-button task which required turning (swiveling) 180 degrees to collect coin-reinforcers. Significantly more right-handed (8/16) manic patients turned left (consistently 16 times to collect reinforcement) than right-handed normal controls (1/15), most of whom turned consistently right 16 times. Right-handed manic patients were also significantly slower with both hands on a motor sequencing task (Pin Test) than the normal controls. Left hemi-spatial preference may be linked to asymmetric striatal dopaminergic activity common to all psychoses.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Probe-detection times during the reading of easy and difficult text.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of text difficulty on cognitive capacity demands. In Experiment 1, subjects read easy and difficult text when a secondary task was either present or absent. Text was presented one word at a time, and rereading was prevented by erasing each word after it had been read. Prior studies have indicated that cognitive capacity demands decrease as text difficulty increases (e.g., Britton, Westbrook, & Holdredge, 1978). In contrast to this, the main results of Experiment 1 revealed shorter visual-probe-detection times during the reading of easy text than during the reading of difficult text. Analyses of word-reading times showed that difficult text was read slower than easy text, irrespective of probe application. Experiment 2 compared visual-probe detection with auditory-probe detection. The results again showed shorter probe reaction times during the reading of easy text than during the reading of difficult text, irrespective of probe type. There were, however, effects of probe type on the reading time of words following the visual probe. The results were taken as evidence that the reading of difficult text requires more capacity than the reading of easy text and that probes may incur modality-specific and modality-independent capacity demands.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

In situ hybridization studies of adenoviral infections of the lung and their relationship to follicular bronchiectasis.

We have used a probe against the adenovirus genome to study cultured epithelial cells specifically infected with various types of adenovirus and Graham 293 cells, which contain few copy numbers of a fraction of the adenovirus genome. We have also examined lung tissue obtained from three cases of acute adenovirus pneumonia, two cases of adenovirus pneumonia that had passed through the acute phase, and nine cases of follicular bronchiectasis. Our purpose was to determine whether the probe was effective in detecting a wide variety of adenovirus types, to determine whether it could detect adenovirus in lung tissue that had been fixed and stored in paraffin blocks for several years, and to test the hypothesis that adenovirus was an important cause of follicular bronchiectasis. The results show that the probe was able to detect adenovirus from Genera B1, B2, C, D, and E with a sensitivity of 5 to 10 copies/cell. The probe also detected adenovirus in 14 of 14 slides from three cases of acute disease, but failed to obtain a positive result in the cases examined after an acute infection or in any of the cases of follicular bronchiectasis. We conclude that the in situ hybridization technique is useful in the investigation of active adenovirus infection of the lung. The failure to show that the virus persisted in the chronic respiratory disease that follows adenovirus infection, or that it was present in cases of follicular bronchiectasis could be due to either a true absence, or to its presence in a latent form that is below the level of sensitivity of this technique.

Adenoviridae Infections↗
PubMed1989

Anti-neutrophil nuclear antibody in ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and primary sclerosing cholangitis.

We have previously described circulating autoantibodies to a portal tract antigen in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis. In this study the antigen has been shown by double-labelling studies to be specifically located in the nuclei of tissue neutrophils. Using isolated peripheral blood neutrophils and an immunoperoxidase technique, anti-neutrophil nuclear antibody (ANNA) was found in the serum of 84% of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC: n = 32) with a median titre of 1/1000 and a peak titre of 1/500,000. ANNA was also detected in 86% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease alone (IBD: n = 76) with a median titre of 1/10 and a peak titre of 1/10,000. In contrast, only 12% of controls had ANNA, and in none was the titre greater than 1/10. In PSC the ANNA titre correlated with the serum aspartate transaminase concentration, suggesting that it is related to disease activity. In IBD the titre of ANNA was significantly higher in patients with recently active disease. There was no significant difference between the titres seen in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. ANNA was not associated with neutropaenia. The results provide further evidence of involvement of autoimmune mechanisms in inflammatory bowel disease and primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Comedo naevus of the palm--a sweat duct naevus?

A 9-year-old boy is described with keratotic pits on the left palm, present since birth, which clinically resembled those seen in comedo naevus. Histology and scanning electron microscopy of skin surface replicas showed the lesions to be large, abnormal sweat ducts. It is suggested that comedo naevi are not necessarily pilosebaceous in origin and that in our case the term sweat duct naevus may be more appropriate.

Child↗
PubMed1975

Japanese encephalitis in an Australian soldier returned from Vietnam.

An imported case of Japanese encephalitis is reported and discussed. Recent literature on the clinical aspects of the disease is reviewed. Although the disease is unlikely to become a problem in Australia, it will remain a serious hazard to nonimmune personnel moving into an endemic area.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1975

The psoriasiform eruption induced by practolol.

Three patients who developed a psoriasiform skin eruption following oral practolol administration are described with particular attention to the cutaneous histological changes. Although the clinical picture resembled psoriasis, the histological one did not, resembling rather that seen in a drug eruption. The possibility of an early lymphoma could not be excluded on purely histological grounds.

Aged↗