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Biomedical subjects

M M Gray

Publications and source records attributed to M M Gray.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Changes in the percentage of 5-year-old children with no experience of decay in Dudley towns since the implementation of fluoridation schemes in 1987.

OBJECTIVE: To compare changes in dental health between non-fluoridated Stourbridge and the towns of Dudley, Sedgeley and Coseley, Brierley Hill and Kingswinford, and Halesowen that were artificially fluoridated in 1987. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN: BASCD co-ordinated studies of total samples of 5-year-old children. CLINICAL SETTINGS: State funded primary schools in the Dudley Health Authority area. PARTICIPANTS: All 5-year-old children present on the day of examination in the years in which total population studies were conducted. INTERVENTIONS: Drinking water fluoridation commenced in 1987. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The percentage of children with no experience of decay in their primary dentition. RESULTS: The percentage of children with no experience of decay in the fluoridated towns increased but remained the same in non-fluoridated Stourbridge. CONCLUSION: Drinking water fluoridation is associated with an increase in the percentage of 5-year-old children with no experience of tooth decay.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2001

Overabundance of CD45RA(+) (quiescent-phenotype) cells within the involuted CD4(+) T-cell population follows initiation of immune depression in energy-deficient weanling mice and reflects involution exclusive to the CD45RA(-) subset.

Previous studies have identified an overabundance of quiescent-phenotype (CD45RA(+)) CD4(+) T cells throughout the lymphoid system of weanling mice at an advanced stage of food intake restriction mimicking marasmus. The objective of this investigation was to determine the timing of this phenomenon relative to the development of depression in cell-mediated immune competence. Two experiments were conducted in which male and female weanling C57BL/6J mice, initially 19 d of age, either were permitted free access to a complete purified diet or were subjected to restricted intake of this diet, producing loss of 1.5-2% of initial body weight daily. In the first experiment, feeding periods of 3, 6, 9, 12 and 14 d were examined, and a zero-time control group (19 d old) was also included. Expression of CD45RA was assessed by flow cytometry in CD4(+) T cells from the blood, spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes. Despite reduction in CD4(+) T-cell numbers, evident in all three lymphoid compartments of the malnourished mice by d 6, energy-restricted mice maintained the numbers of CD4(+)CD45RA(+) T cells at the level found in the zero-time control group. Consequently, the malnourished group exhibited a high percentage of CD4(+) T cells expressing CD45RA by d 9 in the blood and mesenteric nodes and by d 12 in the spleen. In the second study, malnourished and age-matched control groups were sensitized to sheep red blood cells on d 3 and energy-restricted mice exhibited depression in the delayed hypersensitivity response to this antigen when assessed on d 9 after challenge 24 h previously. Energy deficiency pathology includes a shift toward CD4(+) T cell quiescence that may contribute to ongoing immunodepression without being involved in its initiation. Remarkably, this imbalance develops because involution of the CD4(+) subset in the energy-deficient mice is confined to the CD45RA(-) population.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

An analysis of the qualitative factors which influence young people's acceptance of orthodontic care.

INTRODUCTION AND METHOD: The qualitative data volunteered as responses to open questions in a self-administered questionnaire study were analysed to identify the psychological factors influencing young people's behaviour in relation to orthodontic care and to gain an understanding of the psychological factors which influence adolescents' acceptance of orthodontic care. The study was conducted in all Walsall and Dudley secondary schools. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The responses of the young people who were in year 10 of education with an average age of 15.0 years demonstrated the importance of personal constructs, peer group and media influences, parental influences, conflicting messages, teasing, symptom perception, appearance and self-image, and interpersonal relationships in determining whether or not young people either seek and accept or reject orthodontic treatment. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that it is essential that clinicians involve patients fully and honestly in discussions concerning their orthodontic therapy in order to enable them to make a considered consent.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Identifying local patterns of cross boundary flow and developing socio-economic profiles for general dental practitioners.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess cross-boundary flow in general dental practices in Dudley. DESIGN: Data were collected on NHS patients attending 57 general dental practitioners in Dudley Health District. Socio-economic data were attached to recognised postcodes in order to establish district of residence of patients and the socio-economic (ACORN) status of the neighbourhood in which they lived. SETTING: General dental practices in Dudley. SUBJECTS: General Dental Service patients. RESULTS: Using this methodology a profile of the patient population attending the participating practitioners was drawn up, giving an insight into patterns of dental attendance. CONCLUSION: These profiles will act as indicators of practices in which there are high levels of cross boundary flow and inform discussions on local commissioning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

The use of a geographical information system in investigating dental services.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of a geographical information system (GIS) in investigating the provision of dental care. DESIGN: Information about dental need and provision of dental services was obtained from districts within the West Midlands. A Geographical Information System (Atlas GIS) was used to answer three different questions about dental services provision within the West Midlands. A GIS is an interactive system that allows data to be analysed according to regular or irregular geographical areas. Once the system is established, it is fairly simple and quick to use. However, the financial and training issues mean that it may not be viable for such a system to be available within each health trust or district, but more appropriately as a central facility which can be accessed by several users. CASE STUDIES: The way in which this system was used to answer three different questions about dental service provision within the West Midlands is demonstrated and evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: Use of a GIS presents information in a way that increases its usefulness in the planning of dental services.

Cleft Lip↗
PubMed1994

Proteins that interact with PKR.

The in vitro activities of recombinant gene products of the vaccinia virus E3L and K3L genes have been compared. These proteins are both potent inhibitors of the dsRNA activated protein kinase (PKR) as assayed in cell-free translation systems or with purified PKR. The two gene products function at similar molar concentrations. Both proteins are expressed early in vaccinia virus infection suggesting that vaccinia virus maintains redundant mechanisms for the down regulation of PKR. The K3L gene product can be shown to be associated with PKR in vaccinia virus infected cells. The activities of the vaccinia virus PKR inhibitors are compared with other viral protein inhibitors of PKR. A variety of cellular proteins have also been identified by their ability to inhibit PKR activity or to prevent PKR activation. These cellular PKR interacting proteins have been uncovered from the studies of viral strategies to prevent PKR activation, as well as from studies looking at the effects of growth control, growth factors or oncogene expression on PKR activity. A picture emerges of PKR fulfilling a complex regulatory role in cell function with the regulation of its activity as part of a complex cascade interfacing with the signal transduction/cell cycle control machinery.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

The relationship between caries experience in the deciduous molars at 5 years and in first permanent molars of the same child at 7 years.

The sensitivity and specificity of predictors of caries in the first permanent molars based on caries experience in the deciduous molars were tested, using longitudinal data derived from a group of 565 children examined at the ages of 5 and 7 years. The best predictor of caries experience in the first permanent molars at the age of 7 years in this group of children was found to be caries experience in three or more deciduous molars at the age of five.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1990

Relations between early childhood care arrangements and college students' psychosocial development and academic performance.

Associations were explored between early substitute care and white middle-class college students' psychosocial development and academic performance. One set of analyses explored associations with the amount of substitute care experienced throughout early childhood (infancy and at ages 2 and 4) and college students' development; another set explored associations between amount of substitute care during infancy (none, part-time, or full-time). Substitute care experience during infancy alone did not differentiate students on the Erikson Psychosocial Inventory Scale (EPSI). There were some near-significant differences on the EPSI among students in different child care arrangements throughout early childhood, but these did not present a consistent pattern. Students' care experience also did not predict the number of extra-curricular activities in which they were presently involved or whether they chose people- or thing-oriented academic majors. However, no day care in infancy followed by full-time day care at ages 2 and 4 was the best predictor of above-average high school academic achievement, and part-time care throughout infancy and early childhood was the best predictor of average high school academic achievement.

Achievement↗
PubMed1989

'Idle teeth get into mischief'. The Dental Health of Walsall (UK) school children 1910-1912 and the consequent development of school dentistry in the Borough.

A Medical Inspector of Schools was appointed in Walsall Staffordshire in 1907, and her medical scrutiny of schoolchildren included a dental examination. The sections of her annual reports in 1910-12 which concerned the dental state of the 5, 7 and 14 year old children are presented. The percentage of children in these ages with one or more carious teeth was in excess of 50 per cent. The findings from these studies resulted in the appointment of the first school dental officer to Walsall Borough Corporation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Mortality and morbidity caused by measles in children with malignant disease attending four major treatment centres: a retrospective review.

Measles is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in children receiving treatment for leukaemia. A review was made of all the documented cases of measles in children in first remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at four major treatment centres in 1974-84. Over the 11 years reviewed 1043 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia were referred to these centres. Fifty one (4.9%) died while in first remission and 15 (29.4%) of these deaths were due to measles or its complications: 12 cases of pneumonia, 10 of them fatal; and six cases of encephalitis, five of them fatal and the sixth child left severely handicapped. These children would have had at least a 50% chance of long term survival. The severity of measles in the immunocompromised patient reinforces the need to improve the poor uptake of measles immunisation in Britain.

Acute Disease↗