PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Millar

Publications and source records attributed to M Millar.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Gemeprost-induced cervical ripening: histological and biophysical effects.

The mechanism of prostaglandin-induced cervical ripening is not clear. The aim of this study was to measure the biophysical and histological effects of gemeprost on the cervix. Thirty-four women admitted for surgical termination of pregnancy in the first trimester were randomised in a double-blind manner to receive either gemeprost or placebo prior to surgery. In 20 (10 active, 10 placebo) a needle biopsy was taken from the anterior lip of the cervix prior to cervical dilatation for histology. The forces required to dilate the cervix from 3 mm to 10 mm were measured. A group of seventeen parous women undergoing surgical termination who did not receive gemeprost were also studied as a parous control group. A needle biopsy was obtained in eight of them and also in six non-pregnant parous women undergoing hysterectomy for benign conditions, the latter acting as a non-pregnant control group. Polymerised collagen was stained with Picrosirius red and glycosaminoglycans with alcian blue using a MgCl2 gradient. Optical densitometry was used as an objective measure of staining. Neutrophil concentration was assessed immunohistochemically. Gemeprost treatment increased free passibility (the size of the largest dilator which could be passed without encountering resistance) (P < 0.01), reduced the forces required to dilate the cervix (P < 0.01) reduced blood loss (P < 0.05), reduced the collagen concentration (P < 0.01) and was associated with a modest neutrophil influx (P < 0.02) as compared to placebo. The pregnant parous group had a significantly lower collagen concentration than the non-pregnant parous group (P < 0.02).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed1990

Assessing individual differences: effects of responding to prior questionnaires on the substantive and psychometric properties of self-esteem and depression assessments.

It has become a common practice among psychological researchers to administer batteries of individual difference assessments to research participants, although little is known about whether the substantive and psychometric integrity of the questionnaires are maintained when they are administered after the subject has completed other instruments. The studies presented here consider these issues in relation to the assessment of self-esteem and depression. In the first study, college students responded to a self-esteem inventory (a) by itself (control group), (b) after one prior questionnaire, (c) after three prior questionnaires, or (d) after five prior questionnaires. Results indicated that filling out one or more questionnaires before an assessment of self-esteem resulted in reports of lower self-esteem relative to the control condition. Additional analyses revealed that filling out three or five prior questionnaires created lower reliabilities of subscale scores and lower estimates of concurrent validity between self-esteem and depression. When the effect of prior questionnaires on the General Self-Esteem subscale was examined, the aforementioned results were replicated, and the prior questionnaire treatment created heterogeneous variances across the experimental groups. The second study was designed as a replication of the first study, using an assessment of depression as the target questionnaire. These results revealed that reports of depressive symptomatology increased as the number of prior questionnaires increased. Again, the prior questionnaire treatment created heterogeneity of variance between the groups, but did not adversely affect its internal consistency.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

Some affective consequences of social comparison and reflection processes: the pain and pleasure of being close.

A self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model of social behavior was described. According to the comparison process, when another outperforms the self on a task high in relevance to the self, the closer the other the greater the threat to self-evaluation. According to the reflection process, when another outperforms the self on a task low in relevance to the self, the closer the other the greater the promise of augmentation to self-evaluation. Affect was assumed to reflect threats and promises to self-evaluation. In three studies, subjects were given feedback about own performance and the performance of a close (friend) and distant (stranger) other on tasks that were either low in self-relevance (Study 2) or that varied in self-relevance (Studies 1 and 3). In Study 1 (N = 31), subjects' performance on simple and complex tasks after each feedback trial served as a measure of arousal. Being outperformed by a close other resulted in greater arousal than being outperformed by a distant other. In Study 2 (N = 30), evaluative ratings of words unrelated to task performance served as an indirect measure of affect. Results indicated that when relevance is low, more positive affect is associated with a friend's outperforming the self than either a friend's performing at a level equal to the self or being outperformed by a stranger. In Study 3 (N = 31), subjects received feedback while their facial expressions were monitored. Pleasantness of expression was an interactive function of relevance of task, relative performance, and closeness of comparison other. The results of all three studies were interpreted as being generally consistent with the SEM model.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The susceptibility to lysozyme of beta-lactamase-producing and non-producing derivatives of Staphylococcus aureus strain 1030.

The killing of Staphylococcus aureus strain 1030 and derived variants of it by lysozyme increased with increased lysozyme concentrations or decreased concentrations of sodium chloride. beta-Lactamase-producing and non-producing derivatives of strain 1030 were constructed. The former were less susceptible to lysozyme. Induction of beta-lactamase synthesis with 2-2'carboxyphenyl-benzoyl-6-penicillanic acid increased the resistance of producer strains to lysozyme. These results are discussed in relation to the spread of beta-lactamase-producing strains of S. aureus.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed1975

History of a school.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed1972

Placentography.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Testosterone and spermatogenesis. Identification of stage-specific, androgen-regulated proteins secreted by adult rat seminiferous tubules.

The aim of this study was to identify potential androgen-regulated proteins (ARP) that might mediate the supportive effects of testosterone on spermatogenesis. Adult rats were injected with ethane dimethane sulphonate (EDS) to destroy Leydig cells and thus induce complete testosterone withdrawal. Other EDS-treated rats were injected with 25 mg testosterone esters (TE) every 3 days to maintain quantitatively normal spermatogenesis. A timeframe for the study of androgen action on spermatogenesis was deduced from enumeration of degenerating germ cells at stage VII of the spermatogenic cycle in perfusion-fixed testes from rats in the early stages (4 to 8 days) after EDS treatment. Based on this data and changes in testicular interstitial fluid volume, long seminiferous tubule segments were isolated from control rats and from EDS-treated rats (+/- TE-supplementation) at stages II-V, VI-VIII, or IX-XII, 2 days to 6 days after EDS treatment. Seminiferous tubule segments were incubated for 22 hours with 60 microCi 35S-labelled methionine. Incorporation into newly synthesized proteins in the seminiferous tubule culture medium (= secreted proteins) or in seminiferous tubule lysates (= intracellular proteins) was determined by trichloroacetic acid-precipitation followed by analysis using two-dimensional sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In control rats, incorporation of 35S-methionine into proteins secreted by isolated seminiferous tubules was more than twice as great at stages VI-VIII than at stages II-V or IX-XII. This doubling in methionine incorporation into stages VI-VIII secreted proteins was abolished, however, 4 days after EDS treatment (when germ cell degeneration at stage VII was only just evident). A similar change occurred 4 days after testosterone withdrawal induced by immunoneutralization of luteinizing hormone. In the latter case and after EDS treatment, TE-supplementation of rats from day 0 maintained the normal control pattern of methionine incorporation into seminiferous tubule secreted proteins, although 6 days after EDS and TE treatment, incorporation into stages VI-VIII secreted proteins was 19% lower (P less than 0.05) than in the control group. In contrast, incorporation of methionine into proteins secreted by seminiferous tubules at stages II-V and IX-XII was unaffected by EDS and TE pretreatment, as was incorporation into intracellular proteins at all stages.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Androgen-Binding Protein↗