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Biomedical subjects

D C Williams

Publications and source records attributed to D C Williams.

At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

The effect of castration on the ribonucleic acid metabolism of an experimental prostatic tumour.

1. The incorporation of [(14)C]phenylalanine into the protein of microsomes obtained from an androgen-dependent transplantable prostatic tumour has been investigated. 2. The incorporation of [(14)C]ATP into the RNA of the nuclei from the same tumour has also been examined. 3. The castration of the host animal depresses the incorporation of both labelled compounds on subsequent incubation in vitro. 4. The uptake of phenylalanine can be markedly stimulated by polyuridylic acid only in tumours obtained from castrated host animals. 5. The tumour RNA-polymerase activity appears to be dependent on the concentrations of androgens in the host animal.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

The enzymic reduction of nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide by 2-mercaptoethanol.

1. The reduction of NAD(+), by an enzyme preparation from rat liver, in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol is reported. 2. It is suggested that the NAD(+)-linked alcohol dehydrogenase in the extract transfers hydrogen from 2-mercaptoethanol to NAD(+). 3. Both yeast and horse-liver alcohol dehydrogenases were observed to reduce NAD(+) in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. 4. Some interactions of 2-mercaptoethanol, cysteine or hydroxylamine with the alcohol dehydrogenases from rat liver, horse liver and yeast are discussed.

Journal Article↗

The effect of oophorectomy on the ribonucleic acid metabolism of a transplantable uterine tumour.

1. The incorporation of [(14)C]phenylalanine and of [(3)H]uridine into the Guerin T8 uterine carcinoma has been examined. 2. The addition in vitro of polyuridylic acid caused an increase in the incorporation of labelled phenylalanine into tumour microsomes obtained from both oophorectomized and intact animals. 3. Oophorectomy of tumour-bearing animals decreased the specific activity due to the uptake in vivo of [(3)H]uridine into both the soluble and insoluble RNA of the tumour. 4. Actinomycin D caused a decrease in specific activity of RNA in the tumour in vivo, and puromycin inhibited uptake in vitro into tumour microsomes.

Animals↗

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in a college sample: an exploratory study.

Departures from normal development can be partly assessed by measuring fluctuating asymmetry (FA), that is, differences from perfect symmetry in traits that display bilateral symmetry. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), one of the most common psychiatric conditions, is diagnosed if there are developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The objective here is to measure whether AD/HD behaviors positively correlate with FA in head, hands, and fingerprints of a sample of college students (n = 176, 57 male, 119 female) not selected for AD/HD. FA was measured as the absolute value of the difference between right and left sides divided by group mean trait size. Average FAs (mean, SE) were lowest for finger lengths (e.g., male, 3rd, 0.011 +/- 0.001; female, 3rd, 0.012 +/- 0.001) and highest for digit ridge counts (e.g., male, 5th, 0.075 +/- 0.007; female, 2nd, 0.069 +/- 0.005). Average FAs were similar between the sexes and only one facial measure and the facial index (summed FAs) differed significantly between the sexes (F > M). The scores for measures of the adult AD/HD behavioral assessment instrument, the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) were high overall in this sample and males exhibited higher rates of symptoms than females. A Rasch measurement model analysis of individual responses to the WURS produced a true interval score for each person that is a measure of individual "AD/HDness." FA indices were then regressed on Rasch scores. A univariate analysis of all the variables demonstrated a significant interaction of sex. Hand, Dermatoglyphic, Face, and Total Indices were then regressed by sex on the Rasch values of "AD/HDness." Only in males was there a trend for the Dermatoglyphic Index (F(1,55) = 3.627, P = 0.062) and Total Index (F(1,55) = 3.811, P = 0.056) to increase as AD/HDness increases.

Adolescent↗

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and fluctuating asymmetry in another college sample.

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) represents a developmental lag that may be reflected in fluctuating asymmetry (FA), i.e., differences from perfect symmetry in traits that display bilateral symmetry. Burton et al. (2003 Am. J. Hum. Biol. 15:601-619) found a statistical trend for FA to increase (as dermatoglyphic index or as total index) as the behavioral measure for AD/HDness (Rasch logit values derived from the Wender Utah Rating Scale, or WURS) increased in males but not in females. The objective here was to do a similar study in an independently collected sample of college students (n = 222; 61 male, 161 female) not selected for AD/HD, looking at FA vs. symptoms for AD/HD based on Rasch versions of responses to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) (Barkley and Murphy 1998 Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, New York: Guilford Press, p. 95-96) and the more comparable shortened WURS. FAs were lowest for body and ear height, and highest for eye width and nose width, and ranged from 0.01 +/- 0.001 (mean +/- SE) for foot and ankle widths to 0.13 +/- 0.01 in eye and nose widths for both sexes; the sexes did not differ significantly. Males displayed higher AD/HD symptom rates overall. There was a significant correlation between body FA and the WURS measure in females after Bonferroni correction (P = 0.002, r(2) = 0.058). Thus, AD/HD symptoms levels increased with an increase in body FA in female college students not selected for AD/HD.

Adolescent↗

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and digit ratios in a college sample.

Diagnosticians recognize three subtypes of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) if there are developmentally inappropriate levels (six or more symptoms) of Hyperactive-Impulsive behavior, or Inattentive behavior, or both (Combined), respectively. ADHD may partly reflect androgen dysfunction, and an arguable proxy for prenatal androgen exposure is the 2D:4D finger ratio set at least as early as week 9 in the fetus; this is lower in men than in women. We examined the relationship between digit ratios and ADHD symptoms representing the three phenotypes: ADHD/Combined as measured by "summarized" (Rasched) scales, i.e., 1) the short version of the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and a total symptom list derived from the DSM IV, and the subdivided DSM IV into 2) ADHD/Inattentive and 3) ADHD/Hyperactive-Impulsive inventories, in a sample of European-descent college students (135 female, 52 male) not selected for ADHD. All digit ratios were calculated excluding the thumb. There were significant sex differences for the 2D:4D digit ratios of both hands (RH and LH), and between the RH 3D:4D and between the LH 2D:3D ratio. In females, the more masculine the LH 2D:4D ratio, the more the ADHD/Combined symptoms (both WURS and DSM) and the more the ADHD/Inattentive symptoms and ADHD/Hyperactive-Impulsive symptoms. More masculine ratios also correlated between the total WURS and RH 2D:3D, RH 2D:4D, and LH 2D:3D; and between the inattentive DSM symptoms and LH 2D:5D, and between the ADHD/Hyperactive and Impulsive symptoms and RH 3D:4D.

Adolescent↗

Steroid hormone receptors and sex chromatin frequency in breast cancer.

Cytosol and nuclear estrogen receptors and cytosol progesterone receptors were measured in 17 primary breast tumors and compared with sex chromatin frequencies. In cases with sex chromatin frequencies of greater than 20% there were 7/7 tumors with cytosol estrogen and progesterone receptors, 6/7 with cytosol and nuclear estrogen receptors, and 6/7 with all 3 receptors. This high proportion of receptor positive cases was not observed at lower sex chromatin frequencies. Sex chromatin frequencies in all the cytosol estrogen and progesterone receptor positive tumors were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than in the other groups. Our results suggest a possible association between the presence of steroid hormone receptors and sex chromatin frequencies of greater than 20%.

Breast Neoplasms↗

Unilateral and bilateral brainstem auditory-evoked response abnormalities in 900 Dalmatian dogs.

In a survey of 900 Dalmatian dogs, brainstem auditory-evoked responses (BAER) and clinical observations were used to determine the incidence and sex distribution of bilateral and unilateral BAER abnormalities and their association with heterochromia iridis (HI). To assess the efficacy of BAER testing in guiding breeding programs, data from 749 dogs (subgroup A), considered to be a sample of the population at large, were compared with data from a subgroup (subgroup B; n = 151) in which selection of breeding stock had been based on BAER testing from the beginning of the 4-year survey. Brainstem auditory-evoked responses were elicited by applying click stimuli unilaterally, while applying a white noise masking sound to the contralateral ear. Under these conditions, BAER were either normal, unilaterally absent, or bilaterally absent. Dogs with bilaterally absent BAER were clinically deaf; dogs with unilaterally absent BAER were not clinically deaf but appeared dependent on their BAER-normal ears for their auditory-cued behavior. Dogs with unilaterally absent BAER often were misidentified as normal by uninformed observers. Among the 900 dogs, 648 (72.0%) were normal, 189 (21.0%) had unilateral absence of BAER, and 63 (7.0%) had bilateral absence of BAER or were clinically deaf and assumed to have bilaterally absent BAER (n = 4). Total incidence in the population sampled was assumed to be higher, because some bilaterally affected dogs that would have been members of subgroup A undoubtedly did not come to our attention. Among females, 24.0% were unilaterally abnormal and 8.2% were bilaterally abnormal whereas, among males, 17.8% were unilaterally abnormal and 5.7% were bilaterally abnormal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗