Biomedical subjects

K L Mills

Publications and source records attributed to K L Mills.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Effect of seating, vision and direction of horizontal oscillation on motion sickness.

BACKGROUND: Low frequency horizontal oscillation can cause motion sickness in some forms of transport, but the influence of the characteristics of the motion and the visual and postural conditions of the body on sickness are not known. HYPOTHESES: It was hypothesised that body position, vision and direction of motion will have an effect on motion sickness. METHOD: There were 72 seated subjects who were exposed to horizontal oscillation at 0.25 Hz, 0.7 ms(-2) r.m.s. (peak-to-peak displacement of 0.8 m) for up to 30 min while in 1 of 6 conditions. Three conditions involved fore-and-aft motion and three involved lateral motion. For motion in each axis, subjects sat within a closed cabin with either: a) a high backrest with their eyes open; b) a low backrest with their eyes open; or c) a low backrest with their eyes closed and blindfolded. Subjects provided ratings of their motion sickness symptoms at 1-min intervals during the 30-min exposures. RESULTS: The most nauseogenic stimulus was fore-and-aft motion with a low backrest and the eyes open. Self-ratings of motion sickness susceptibility provided by subjects before participating in the experiment were positively correlated with their illness ratings during the experiment. CONCLUSIONS: Restraint to the upper body during exposure to horizontal acceleration may reduce the susceptibility to motion sickness caused by horizontal oscillation. The relative nauseogenicity of fore-and-aft and lateral oscillation depends on the support given to the upper body. In the conditions of the experiment the effects of the postural support given to the subjects and their prior susceptibility to motion sickness were greater than any effect of the visual conditions.

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PubMed1999

Molecular characterization of the group 4 house dust mite allergen from Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and its amylase homologue from Euroglyphus maynei.

BACKGROUND: Of the ten recognised groups of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus allergens, the group 4 is the only group that has not been characterised at the molecular level. METHODS: Primers were designed to PCR amplify Der p 4 (D. pteronyssinus) and Eur m 4 (Euroglyphus maynei) cDNA. These fragments were used to screen the corresponding cDNA libraries and the cDNA clones obtained were subsequently sequenced. The coding regions of Der p 4 and Eur m 4 were cloned into the pET expression vector and recombinant histidine-tagged proteins expressed in Escherichia coli. RESULTS: cDNA clones which included the mature protein coding sequence for Der p 4 and Eur m 4 were sequenced. The Der p 4 and Eur m 4 genes were found to code for 496 amino acid mature proteins with residues important for the function of alpha-amylase highly conserved. Der p 4 and Eur m 4 were calculated to be 90% identical and a BLAST search of the GenBank database found these sequences to be approximately 50% identical to insect and mammalian alpha-amylases. The calculated molecular weights of Der p 4 and Eur m 4 were approximately 57,000, although recombinant Der p 4 and Eur m 4 migrate on SDS-PAGE at about 60,000. Der p 4 recombinant protein was found to bind specific IgE in 3 of the 10 house dust mite allergic patients tested. CONCLUSIONS: This paper describes the first cDNA sequence of Der p 4 and Eur m 4 confirming that this allergen is house dust mite alpha-amylase.

Allergens↗

PubMed1992

Bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome associated with interleukin 2 therapy.

We report the development of synchronous bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome in a woman with metastatic colorectal cancer, undergoing treatment with recombinant interleukin 2. A carpal tunnel decompression was carried out on the hand which was more severely affected, with a gradual recovery in median nerve function. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of carpal tunnel syndrome in association with recombinant interleukin 2.

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PubMed1988