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Biomedical subjects

A Craig

Publications and source records attributed to A Craig.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Stuttering: a review of research findings and theories circa 1982.

The research literature on stuttering is extensive, spanning etiology, natural history, phenomenology, and treatment. In this review, existing empirical knowledge is distilled by attending only to replicated findings. These are designated as "facts." Facts concerning the natural history of idiopathic stuttering highlight early childhood onset, probability of recovery, and importance of a positive family history of stuttering. Corroborated evidence on stutterer-nonstutterer differences concerns intelligence distribution, speech development, central auditory function, and sensory-motor response. Predictable changes in stuttering frequency, and even total elimination of stuttering, occur under a remarkable variety of conditions. Review of therapies revealed two that satisfied the most stringent criteria for good treatment. Various theoretical positions are examined for their fit with the established facts. A model of stuttering as a genetically determined reduction in central capacity for efficient sensory-motor integration is preferred, provided acquisition of secondary symptoms is attributed to instrumental learning.

Adult↗

Stuttering: overt and covert measurement of the speech of treated subjects.

Fifty-six stutterers, four to 34 months after treatment, received an unexpected telephone call from the clinic announcing that their speech was being assessed. At random times before or after that call, they received an unexpected telephone call from a stranger and, unknown to them, stating their speech was recorded and assessed. Two months after these calls, a subgroup (N = 20) was included in an apparent telephone public opinion survey during which their speech was recorded and assessed. There were no significant differences between the mean frequency of stuttering across the three measurement occasions. Covert assessment of speech appears to offer no methodological advantages when assessing the progress of groups.

Adult↗

The role of serum myoglobin in the detection and measurement of myocardial infarction.

The use of serum myoglobin determinations in the diagnosis and quantitation of acute myocardial infarction was studied in 53 patients. Serial blood samples collected for the first 72 h after pain were analysed for serum myoglobin using a radioimmunoassay procedure. Samples were also assayed for serum creatine kinase (CK) and its myocardial isoenzyme CK-MB, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (alpha HBDH). Analysis of first and second samples obtained at mean times of 7.6 and 10.7 h respectively after pain produced the following detection rate: serum myoglobin 85% and 98%; serum CK 71% and 85%; serum AST 58% and 81%; serum CK-MB 29% and 60%; serum alpha HBDH 23% and 33% respectively. Total CK-MB and myoglobin release from damaged myocardium were calculated using the method of Norris et al. [16]. A significant correlation was obtained between infarct size calculated from CK-MB and myoglobin in the whole group (n = 29, r = 0.71, p < 0.001). The correlation was even more significant for smaller infarcts with CK-MB release < 220 U/l (n = 13, r = 0.92, p < 0.001).

Adult↗

A semi automated procedure for the measurement of 3-methoxy-4 hydroxy mandelic acid.

A semi automated procedure for the determination of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-mandelic acid (HMMA) in urine has been evaluated. This procedure offers advantages in simplicity, speed and precision over existing manual techniques which utilize spectrophotometric fluorimetric and gas liquid chromatographic methods. The urine is extracted with ethyl acetate from a highly acidic sample, purified by extraction into acetate buffer and the diazo colour reaction developed. All stages of the procedure are carried out using the Brown and semi-automatic extractor equipped with partition tube. The within and between assay coefficient of variation obtained on pooled freeze-dried urine samples was 6.7% and 7.7% respectively.

Autoanalysis↗

Growth hormone, insulin, and prolactin secretion in anorexia nervosa and obesity during bromocriptine treatment.

We studied secretion of growth hormone (GH), insulin, and prolactin in eight women with anorexia nervosa and nine women with refractory obesity before and during treatment with bromocriptine, 10 mg/day. In the anorexic patients the raised plasma GH concentrations occurring during an oral glucose tolerance test fell significantly while on bromocriptine treatment, but there was no change in plasma insulin or blood glucose concentrations. In the obese patients, however, plasma GH concentrations remained low during the oral glucose tolerance test, and were not modified by bromocriptine. Blood glucose and plasma insulin concentrations were also unchanged. Plasma GH and plasma 11-hydroxycorticosteroid responses to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia were unaffected. Serum prolactin concentrations which were raised in five anorexic patients and marginally raised in two obese subjects, fell significantly in both groups during treatment. We observed no consistent weight changes in either groups.

Adolescent↗

Utility of protease-digested human peripheral blood lymphocytes for the detection of lymphocyte-reactive alloantibodies by indirect immunofluorescence.

Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were digested briefly with protease prior to application of indirect immunofluorescence techniques for detecting alloantibodies in sera of patients with chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis. Background staining of intrinsic surface IgM and cytophilic IgG bound to Fc receptors was eliminated or greatly reduced, enabling detection of B cell specific antibodies, including cold-reactive types not demonstrable by conventional immunofluorescence or complement-dependent lymphocytotoxicity. The antigenicity of HLA and other surface membrane determinants was not decreased by protease, although reactivity with certain sera was enhanced. In experiments comparing indirect immunofluorescence using protease-treated cells with complement-dependent lymphocytotoxicity and antibody-dependent, lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity assays, indirect immunofluorescence was more sensitive and comprehensive, but not less specific, in defining alloantibodies of a variety of types.

Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic↗