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Biomedical subjects

E R Dempster

Publications and source records attributed to E R Dempster.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

An exact test for Hardy-Weinberg and multiple alleles.

Algorithms for generating the exact distribution of a finite sample drawn from a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are given for multiple alleles. The finite sampling distribution is derived analogously to Fisher's 2 X 2 exact distribution and is equivalent to Levene's conditional finite sampling distribution for Hardy-Weinberg populations. The algorithms presented are fast computationally and allow for quick alternatives to standard methods requiring corrections and approximations. Computation time is on the order of a few seconds for three-allele examples and up to 2 minutes for four-allele examples on an IBM 3081 machine.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1982

The establishment of a breast-milk bank in Durban.

A breast-milk bank was established in Durban at the end of 1980 by the Christian Care organization. Breast milk is collected and frozen by registered donors and delivered to the Milk Bank at Addington Hospital, Each bottle, containing 40 ml, is tested on arrival at the Milk Bank and deep-frozen if the bacterial count is below a selected level. The fat, protein and lactose content of the discarded milk is analysed. Approximately 163 litres of milk were collected in 8 months, 15% of which was unacceptable and discarded. The chemical composition of the milk varies considerably from bottle to bottle, particularly as regards the fat content. About 90 infants needing special care have received milk from the bank. A survey of milk banks operating in other parts of the world and the results of research into the effects of heat treatment on the immunological factors in human milk are presented.

Female↗
PubMed1975

Adaptive significance of vegetative incompatibility in Neurospora crassa.

Certain features reminiscent of sexuality occur in the vegetative life cycle of some filamentous fungi such as Neurospora crassa. Hyphal fusions can occur between genetically different individuals, thereby endowing the new composite mycelium, a heterokaryon, with some of the advantages of heterozygosity usually associated with diploid organisms. In N. crassa, however, there are a number of incompatibility loci which prevent formation of heterokaryons unless the alleles at the incompatibility loci are identical in the two mycelia. The selection pressures that maintain incompatibility polymorphisms are not known. We suggest here that they are maintained because they prevent a kind of exploitation of heterokaryons by nuclei that are nonadaptive in homokaryons but that enjoy a proliferative advantage over other nuclei in heterokaryons. A mathematical model that abstracts the major features of the vegetative life cycle of Neurosopra crassa has been developed, and the action of selection in this model and various extensions of it is such as to maintain polymorphisms of vegetative incompatibility factors.

Adaptation, Biological↗