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Biomedical subjects

K Moy

Publications and source records attributed to K Moy.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Olfactory memory in unmedicated schizophrenics.

Previous studies have indicated that schizophrenic patients have olfactory deficits. The question as to whether olfactory deficits are due to chronic effects of medication has not been addressed. This is the first paper to report that never-medicated schizophrenic patients also have olfactory deficits. Twenty four normal subjects and twenty unmedicated schizophrenic patients were examined with two tests of olfactory function: the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) and a match-to-sample olfactory memory test. Results indicated that schizophrenics did poorly on both the UPSIT and the olfactory match-to-sample memory test relative to sex and age-matched controls. ANCOVA showed that the deficit in performance on the olfactory match-to-sample test was still present even when the variance due to the UPSIT was taken out of the analysis. Deficits in olfactory identification and olfactory memory are consistent with the concept that schizophrenics have dysfunctional limbic systems.

Blood Glucose↗

Health of vermiculite miners exposed to trace amounts of fibrous tremolite.

A small cohort of 194 men with low exposure to fibrous tremolite (mean 0.75 f/ml y) in the mining and milling of vermiculite in South Carolina experienced 51 deaths 15 years or more from first employment. The SMR (all causes) was 1.17 reflecting excess deaths from circulatory disease. There were four deaths from lung cancer and 3.31 expected (SMR 1.21, 95% CI 0.33-3.09). Three of the four deaths were in the lowest exposure category (less than 1 f/ml y); no death was attributed to mesothelioma or pneumoconiosis. These findings contrast with those in Montana where the vermiculite ore was heavily contaminated with fibrous tremolite. A radiographic survey of 86 current and recent South Carolina employees found four with small parenchymal opacities (greater than or equal to 1/0) and seven with pleural thickening. These proportions were not higher than in a non-exposed group and much lower than had been observed in Montana. Examination of sputum from 76 current employees showed that only two specimens contained typical ferruginous bodies, confirming low cumulative fibre exposure. Any possible adverse effects of work with vermiculite, minimally contaminated with fibrous or non-fibrous tremolite, were thus beyond the limits of detection in this workforce.

Aluminum Silicates↗

Autoradiographic studies on the distribution of labeled maternal RNA in early mouse embryos.

Maternal RNA of mouse eggs and embryos was labeled by exposure of growing ovarian oocytes to 3H-uridine in vivo 8 to 16 days before ovulation and fertilization. Labeled embryos from the 1-cell stage to the blastocyst stage were collected, fixed, and autoradiographs of plastic sections prepared. The observed grain density was similar in the pronuclei and in the cytoplasm of 1-cell embryos. Knowing the volumes of nucleus and cytoplasm, it was determined that 3% of the maternal RNA was found in the pronuclei. It is suggested that some of this nuclear RNA may be stable small nuclear RNAs (e.g. U1 RNA) retained from the germinal vesicle stage through meiotic maturation. During the 2-cell stage and beyond, maternal RNA is degraded and labeled precursor is reincorporated into nuclear RNA, making it difficult to accurately quantitate the amount of nuclear maternal RNA. It is known that about one third of the total maternal RNA is lost between the 8-cell and blastocyst stages. It was found that cytoplasmic grain densities in inner and outer cells of the morula and blastocyst were not significantly different. Thus, the loss of maternal RNA does not proceed more rapidly in the differentiating trophoblast than in the inner cell mass.

Animals↗