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Biomedical subjects

K Dyer

Publications and source records attributed to K Dyer.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Linkage disequilibrium of plasminogen polymorphisms and assignment of the gene to human chromosome 6q26-6q27.

Linkage disequilibrium was observed between newly identified DNA polymorphisms and a previously described protein polymorphism for plasminogen. This finding implies that the two types of polymorphisms describe variation at the same locus. The plasminogen gene was mapped to chromosomal bands 6q26-q27 using somatic-cell hybrids and in situ hybridization. Linkage disequilibrium between protein and DNA polymorphisms has utility in substituting for protein typing in instances where only DNA samples are available, such as from deceased individuals or extinct species. The technique may be useful when cross-hybridizing sequences make the interpretation of Southern blot patterns difficult and may obviate the need for extensive DNA sequencing. In some cases, disequilibrium may provide information useful for determining the appropriate direction for chromosome walks from a marker locus to a target locus.

Alleles↗

Subclass restriction and polyclonality of the systemic lupus erythematosus marker antibody anti-Sm.

Anti-Sm antibodies are highly specific markers for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This specificity suggests that the immunoregulation of these autoantibodies would reflect fundamental immune abnormalities in this disorder. As a clue to this immunoregulation, we have investigated the isotype distribution of anti-Sm antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. We have found that the anti-Sm response is markedly restricted to the IgG1 heavy chain isotype. On the other hand, the light chain distribution reflects that in normal serum, while isoelectric focusing analysis fails to show an oligoclonal pattern. The related specificity, anti-ribonucleoprotein, is also restricted to IgG1, while the SLE-specific antibody anti-double-stranded DNA is mostly IgG1 with a lesser contribution by IgG3. These results suggest that antinuclear antibodies that are strongly associated with SLE are produced by a T cell-dependent response, probably driven by antigen. The immunoregulation of the response to several autoantigens may be quite similar.

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗

A supervision program for increasing functional activities for severely handicapped students in a residential setting.

This study was designed to increase the amount of time severely handicapped students living in a residential facility engaged in age-appropriate and functional activities. After a brief in-service training, a program involving instructions to supervisors and staff feedback was implemented in a multiple-baseline design across settings. Results showed that after the supervision program was implemented, the students' participation in activities increased. Further, these increases maintained when feedback was reduced from an average of 3 days a week during treatment, to once a month for a 5-month period.

Adolescent↗

Enigma or expert?

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Career Choice↗

Autistic self-stimulation and intertrial interval duration.

The relationship of short vs. long intertrial intervals to autistic children's correct responding and autistic self-stimulatory behavior was examined. Measures were also obtained on the children's other types of self-stimulatory behavior during all conditions of the experiment. The results showed that: (a) for any given child/task combination, short intertrial intervals produced decreased levels of autistic self-stimulatory responding, (b) increased levels of correct responding occurred during the short intertrial interval conditions, and (c) the category of "other" self-stimulatory behavior was not systematically related to either correct responding or to the length of the intertrial interval. These results were discussed in terms of their implications for understanding self-stimulatory behavior and for teaching autistic children.

Autistic Disorder↗

The effects of physical exercise on self-stimulation and appropriate responding in autistic children.

A major problem encountered with autistic children is their characteristic self-stimulatory behavior, which frequently interferes with on-task responding and other appropriate behaviors. However, the experimental literature suggests that with many populations, increased physical activity might positively influence subsequent responding. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the use of increased physical activity (in this experiment, jogging) as a possible method of decreasing subsequent self-stimulatory behaviors as well as increasing subsequent appropriate responding. Seven autistic children with exceptionally high levels of self-stimulatory behavior participated in the investigation. Self-stimulatory and appropriate behaviors were measured both before and after jogging in a repeated-reversal design. The results demonstrated the following: (1) Brief jogging sessions produced decreases in subsequent levels of self-stimulatory behaviors and also produced increases in appropriate play and academic responding; (2) These changes after jogging were evident in three different experimental settings: during academic responding on preschool level tasks' in a clinic; during ball-playing in an outside play area; and in a quiet room, while no other activity was occurring; (3) Supplementary measures obtained in an applied classroom setting showed a similar relationship with both increases in on-task activity and general interest ratings for school tasks following the jogging sessions.

Adolescent↗

The role of response delay in improving in the discrimination performance or autistic children.

This study investigated the influence of a response delay requirement on the discrimination performance of autistic children. In the context of a multiple baseline design with subsequent repeated reversals, two conditions were compared: a no-response-delay condition, where the child was allowed to make the target response immediately after presentation of the discriminative stimulus versus a response-delay condition, where the target response was permitted three seconds following the discriminative stimulus when the therapist would signal the child to respond. The results showed that the response-delay condition produced higher levels of correct responding than the no-response-delay condition. In addition, teachers in the research setting rated the response-delay procedure to be a practical and effective teaching technique that could be implemented in a classroom setting. The results were discussed in relation to the literature on impulsivity, and were interpreted as indicating that the response-delay procedure provides a valuable technique for teaching autistic children.

Adolescent↗

Intertrial interval duration and learning in autistic children.

This study investigated the influence of intertrial interval duration on the performance of autistic children during teaching situations. The children were taught under the same conditions existing in their regular programs, except that the length of time between trials was systematically manipulated. With both multiple baseline and repeated reversal designs, two lengths of intertrial interval were employed; short intervals with the SD for any given trial presented approximately one second following the reinforcer for the previous trial versus long intervals with the SD presented four or more seconds following the reinforcer for the previous trial. The results showed that: (1) the short intertrial intervals always produced higher levels of correct responding than the long intervals; and (2) there were improving trends in performance and rapid acquisition with the short intertrial intervals, in contrast to minimal or no change with the long intervals. The results are discussed in terms of utilizing information about child and task characteristics in terms of selecting optimal intervals. The data suggest that manipulations made between trials have a large influence on autistic children's learning.

Attention↗