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Biomedical subjects

M Griffiths

Publications and source records attributed to M Griffiths.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

An assessment of the value of electron microscopy in tumour diagnosis.

The contribution of electron microscopy to the diagnosis of tumours in a general hospital has been investigated. During a three year period 235 cases were examined, of which 66 (28%) were diagnostic problems by light microscopy. In 42 (64%) of the problem cases a contribution towards diagnosis was made by ultrastructural examination, which was most useful for anaplastic polygonal cell tumours, of some value for spindle cell neoplasms, and least helpful in the further categorisation of metastatic carcinoma.

Humans↗
PubMed1985

Obesity in boys: the distinction between fatness and heaviness.

An anthropometric survey of approximately 2350 boys aged 1-8 years was conducted as part of a study of pre-school child growth. It was shown that there was no close relationship between obesity measured as fatness from the triceps skinfold and the development of heaviness as judged by weight-for-height. It is suggested that the study of obesity in children should involve classification into sub-groups identifiable as the heavy but not fat, the fat but not heavy and those who are both heavy and fat. This may help in understanding the nature of obesity and its implications in future disease.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1984

An immunohistological study of secondary Sjögren's syndrome.

The labial biopsies from 13 patients with secondary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and four disease controls were examined with a panel of monoclonal antibodies to human leucocyte antigens. Large numbers of T cells were found in most of the biopsies. In seven SS patients the T helper/inducer subset was found to be predominant. Antibody to HLA class I antigens consistently stained leucocytes, but other cell types stained more variably. Although the staining with antibody to HLA class II antigen was often weak, approximately as many cells stained with this antibody as with an antileucocyte antibody, implying that the T cells were activated. Anti-IgD revealed membrane staining of a corona of IgD-positive cells in structures resembling germinal centres. Isolated cells throughout the sections also showed strong cytoplasmic staining with anti-IgD. These results suggest a role for T-cell-dependent local antibody synthesis in the pathogenesis of the disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Carbohydrates of the milk of the platypus.

Twelve samples of milk of the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, had a mean content of 3 X 3% hexose. Of this, almost half was L-fucose. Of the total monosaccharides present in acid hydrolysates of the water-soluble carbohydrates, L-fucose constituted 33%, D-galactose 29%, glucosamine 20%, D-glucose 11% and sialic acid 7%. Free lactose was found in only trace amounts. In all samples, the major oligosaccharide was difucosyllactose, which represented 39-52% of the total hexose. Five higher neutral oligosaccharides (from penta- to nonasaccharides) were isolated and their monosaccharide compositions determined. Each contained one or more residues of fucose, glucosamine and galactose and one residue of glucose. The presence in the milk of 4-O-acetyl-N-acetylneuraminlactose was detected by thin-layer chromatography. All milk samples examined contained protein material (probably glycoprotein), which was not precipitated by chloroform-methanol extraction. No evidence was obtained for quantitative or qualitative changes in carbohydrates during the course of the lactation season except for a small decline in total hexose towards the end of the season.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Intestinal glycosidase activities in one adult and two suckling echidnas: absence of a neutral lactase (beta-D-galactosidase).

The activities of various glycosidases in homogenates of the small-intestinal mucosa of one adult and two suckling echidnas, Tachyglossus aculeatus, were investigated. The activities of lactase (beta-D-galactosidase), beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, neuraminidase and alpha-L-fucosidase were higher in the sucklings than in the adult animal. Maltase and isomaltase activities were lower. Sucrase and cellobiase activities were absent or present in trace amounts only. The lactase activity had a pH optimum of 4.0-4.5, was predominantly in the soluble fraction following ultracentrifugation and was inhibited by p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate, suggesting that it was due to a lysosomal acid beta-galactosidase and not a brush-border neutral lactase. The maltase activity of the sucklings also had the characteristics predominantly of a lysosomal acid hydrolase. It is proposed that in suckling echidnas, the oligosaccharides (mainly neuraminyllactose and fucosyllactose) of the mother's milk are digested intracellularly by lysosomal enzymes, rather than at the brush border, of the epithelial cells of the small-intestinal mucosa.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Qualitative and quantitative changes in milk fat during lactation in the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii).

There are major quantitative and qualitative changes in the milk lipids during lactation in the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii. The crude lipid content of the milk is relatively low during the first 10 weeks of lactation; between 10 and 26 weeks post partum the lipid content increases gradually but after that it increases rapidly. The triglyceride fraction of the lipid at early stages of lactation contains a large amount of palmitic acid and relatively little oleic acid whereas mature milk exhibits little palmitic and much oleic acid. In the early stages of lactation fat represents 15% of the total solids and carbohydrate 55%; around 26-30 weeks post partum the carbohydrate moiety falls sharply to a level less than 2% of the solids while lipids increase to c. 60% of the solids. These changes coincide with increases in milk solids, emergence of the young from the pouch, ingestion of herbage, and fermentation of cellulose in the stomach.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Isolation of cellular DNA sequences that allow expression of adjacent genes.

We have employed a strategy for the isolation and identification of cellular control (expression) sequences dependent on their ability to confer expression on a selectable gene devoid of its own expression sequences. The polyoma virus (Py) Hae II-BamHI DNA fragment, which comprises 84% of the intact viral DNA and contains the Py transforming region but lacks Py 5' expression sequences, was decreased markedly in its transformation of rat cells. Hae II-cleaved mouse cellular DNA was ligated to the Py Hae II-BamHI fragment. A transformed colony (H1) isolated after transfection of the ligated DNA onto rat cells was found to contain multiple inserts of Py DNA, most of which were biologically inactive. A transformed colony (H2) isolated after transfection of rat cells with total H1 DNA was found to contain a single insert of Py DNA. The H2 cells are highly tumorigenic and synthesize the three Py tumor antigens. Initiation of transcription of the Py early mRNAs in H2 cells occurs at the same Py nucleotides as in complete Py DNA. The viral and adjacent cellular DNA sequences were cloned from H2 cellular DNA. The transforming efficiency of the cloned Py transforming region and adjacent H2 cellular DNA was 20-40% of that of the viral DNA containing Py expression sequences. By BAL-31 deletion mapping it was observed that the first 58 base pairs of H2 cellular DNA were sufficient for the expression of the Py-transforming region. The sequence of the first 149 base pairs of the H2 cellular DNA was determined and does not show any striking similarities to upstream 5' sequences of a number of viral and host structural genes. Features of the H2 cellular sequence are discussed.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1982

Predictive value of SS-B precipitating antibodies in Sjoögren's syndrome.

As part of a screening programme several patients were identified with antibodies to the nuclear antigen SS-B. Fifteen were examined and 11 found to have Sjögren's syndrome, though this had not been suspected by most of the referring physicians. In contrast, among a group of 17 patients with overt Sjögren's syndrome, most of whom also had rheumatoid arthritis, only one had antibodies to SS-B. Patients presenting with polyarthralgia found to be SS-B positive may be likely to develop Sjögren's syndrome but unlikely to develop rheumatoid arthritis. The detection of SS-B antibodies may antedate clinical evidence of Sjögren's syndrome by months or even years. These results emphasise the clinical heterogeneity of Sjögren's syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Variation in hospital stay after inguinal herniorrhaphy.

A study was carried out of 1086 men aged 16-65 inclusive who were admitted under nine consultants to eight hospitals in Wessex for elective repair of an inguinal hernia. The mean postoperative stay was 5.7 +/- SD 2.7 days. For different consultants operating at any one hospital the mean postoperative stays were similar, whereas for consultants who operated at more than one hospital they were significantly different. The postoperative stay was also significantly related to the size of the hospital, development of postoperative complications, time spent on the waiting list, type of repair used, bilateral herniorrhapy, and the use of convalescent facilities. The hospital therefore appears to exercise a greater influence in determining the mean postoperative stay than does the individual consultant.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Estimating fat body mass from antrhopometric data.

Regression equations have been derived for the calculation of fat body mass in boys from 4 to 12 1/2 years old and girls 4 to 19 years old. Height and weight give a good prediction of fat body mass, but the addition of skinfold thicknesses to the regression equations reduces the number of large errors in the estimates. The regression equations and the limits of accuracy are given.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1979

Sickness absence after inguinal herniorrhaphy.

Eight hundred and ninety-nine men were studied, aged 16-65 inclusive, who underwent an elective inguinal herniorrhaphy during 1970 and 1971 in eight hospitals in Wessex, and under nine consultant surgeons. There was a significant variation in postoperative inpatient stay and total sickness absence between hospitals and between consultants. The physical activity involved in the patient's occupation, his age at operation, previous sickness absence, bilateral herniorrhaphy, attendance at follow-up outpatients' clinic, type of repair, and the influence exerted by three hospitals and two consultants accounted for only 21% of the variation in total sickness absence. The general practitioners who had referred patients to the hospitals for herniorrhaphy, and the consultant surgeons who carried out the operations, were sent a questionnaire to ascertain their attitudes towards follow-up outpatient appointments and the various factors identified in the first part of the study as significantly influencing total sickness absence. A higher proportion of GPs who felt that an outpatient appointment was necessary before return to work was found in relation to the patients who had the longest mean total sickness absences than among the GPs who looked after the patients with shorter total sickness absences.

Adolescent↗