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Biomedical subjects

M Hannah

Publications and source records attributed to M Hannah.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Substance misuse, emotional disturbance, and dual diagnosis in a meal-line population of mixed ethnicity.

This study investigated the rates of severe substance misuse, severe emotional disturbance, and dual diagnosis in a meal-line population of mixed ethnicity, 75% of whom were homeless and the remainder near-homeless. Alcohol and/or drug use was reported by 93% and severe substance misuse was found in 39% of the population. Severe mental illness was found in 54% of the population. Both conditions, dual diagnosis, was found in 29% of the cases. A cluster analysis of the total population found three types: those with dual diagnosis (24.27%), those with serious substance misuse and personality disorder (39.3%), and those with neither severe disorder (37.3%). The ethnicity of the homeless individual was very weakly, if at all, associated with the disorders.

Adolescent↗

Prediction of lethal pulmonary hypoplasia and chorioamnionitis by assessment of fetal breathing.

Twenty-three pregnancies with fetuses at risk for pulmonary hypoplasia were studied weekly until delivery. The amount of time spent in fetal breathing activity was recorded under controlled conditions during 1 h using real-time ultrasound. An amniotic fluid index was determined. The clinicians and the pathologist were unaware of the ultrasound findings. Eight of 23 fetuses did not breathe at the last ultrasound examination. Three babies died of pulmonary hypoplasia and two of these showed fetal breathing before birth. The three deaths were associated with rupture of the membranes at less than or equal to 20 weeks gestation and of greater than or equal to 44 days duration. One infant developed bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The amniotic fluid index in these four pregnancies was low and the newborn infants had limb contractures. Chorioamnionitis/funisitis was noted in 13 placentas. Eight fetuses were assessed for fetal breathing within 2 days of birth. The lack of fetal breathing had sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 0.75 for chorioamnionitis/funisitis. In this pilot study the absence of fetal breathing was of no value in predicting lethal pulmonary hypoplasia, but was related to chorioamnionitis/funisitis. We recommend further studies of fetal breathing in relation to fetal/neonatal infections.

Chorioamnionitis↗

Biosynthesis of corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) in mouse corticotrophic tumour cells expressing the human proCRH gene: intracellular storage and regulated secretion.

The mouse corticotrophic tumour cell line AtT-20 naturally synthesizes pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) which is proteolytically processed to N-POMC(1-76), ACTH, beta-lipotrophin and beta-endorphin. The processed products are stored in secretory vesicles and released upon stimulation with specific secretagogues. AtT-20 cells which have been stably transfected with the human corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) gene store and secrete immunoreactive CRH. The present results demonstrate that the CRH precursor is proteolytically processed in the transfected cells to yield the 41 amino acid neuropeptide CRH(1-41). On stimulation with the secretagogue noradrenaline, CRH(1-41) was released into the medium, while the precursor was not. Whilst treatment of wild-type AtT-20 cells with exogenous CRH(1-41) (1 nM) caused a fourfold stimulation of ACTH release above basal levels, the peptide had no effect on ACTH release from the stably transfected cells R1 and R4. These results suggest that the endogenous CRH produced by the transfected R1 and R4 cells may cause down-regulation of their CRH receptors, and thus exogenous CRH cannot cause further stimulation of ACTH release in these cells. We propose that the CRH precursor is correctly processed in the transfected AtT-20 cells (R1 and R4) and that the foreign prohormone is sorted into the secretory pathway.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Prenatal ultrasonic prediction of autopsy-proven pulmonary hypoplasia.

The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for ultrasound estimation of fetal chest circumference in relation to autopsy-proven pulmonary hypoplasia are described in 58 singleton pregnancies at risk (39 with associated preterm premature rupture of the membranes at 30 weeks' gestation or less and of 12 or more days' duration, and 19 with associated anomalies). The ultrasonographic diagnosis of pulmonary hypoplasia was based on values at or below the lower limit of the 95% confidence intervals (for predicting a future observation) for normal pregnancies for each of the following tests; chest circumference in relation to gestational age and to femur length, for the chest circumference to abdominal circumference ratio and for a combination of the three measurements. At necropsy, the diagnosis of pulmonary hypoplasia was based on lung weight to birthweight ratio or radial alveolar counts. Pulmonary hypoplasia was diagnosed in 16 cases at autopsy. The clinicians and the pathologist were blinded to the ultrasonographic measurements. All tests performed well with a sensitivity of 0.55 to 0.80, specificity of 0.90 to 1.00, positive predictive value of 0.80 to 1.00, negative predictive value of 0.87 to 0.91, and an overall accuracy of 0.87 to 0.91. We conclude that ultrasound measurement of fetal chest circumference is of value with regard to the management of pregnancies at risk for lethal pulmonary hypoplasia.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Effect of compliance with recommended calf-rearing practices on control of bovine Johne's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the degree of compliance with recommended management procedures for the control of bovine Johne's disease and study the relationship between aspects of calf management and testing/disease outcomes in the herds. PROCEDURE: Fifty-four south Gippsland dairy herds participating in the Victorian bovine Johne's disease test and control program were visited between July and November 2002 and an audit of calf rearing practices was conducted. The results of testing completed under the program were analysed for each of the herds. Twenty seven management factors were examined for a relationship with the presence of clinical cases of Johne's disease or cattle with positive ELISA test results that were born after the completion of the second whole herd test. Logistic regression was used to examine the strength of relationships between the management practices and the frequency with which new cases of Johne's disease arose. RESULTS AND CONCULSIONS: Calves were removed from their dams within 12 hours of birth in only 17 (31.5%) of the herds. However, in all but one herd the calves were removed within 24 hours of birth. In 42 herds (77.8%) calf rearing facilities were adequately separated from adult cattle and the faeces from adult cattle. In 41 herds (75.9%) calves up to the age of 12 months were grazed on paddocks that were free of manure or effluent from adult cattle. However, in only 10 (18.5%) of the herds were all three of these calf management practices applied. Feeding whole milk containing antibiotic residues, or providing water for calves from birth, were found to have statistically significant associations with an increased occurrence of cases of bovine Johne's disease in the study herds. The practice of allowing cows to calve in a paddock was found to be associated with reduced occurrence of bovine Johne's disease. These associations were still found after analysis that included herd size, the number of clinical cases that had occurred in the herds before the start of testing, the number of animals with positive ELISA tests that were detected at the first test and the number of years of participation in the test and cull program. Early separation of newborn calves from cows and grazing calves under 12 months of age in areas free of adult cattle were not found to be protective against Johne's disease.

Animal Husbandry↗