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Biomedical subjects

M Young

Publications and source records attributed to M Young.

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources

Foetal glutamate as a possible precursor of placental glutamine in the guinea pig.

The role of foetal glutamate as a source of placental glutamine was investigated in the near-term pregnant guinea-pig placenta perfused in situ through the umbilical vessels. With normal foetal amino acid concentrations there was a significant two-way exchange of glutamate between the placenta and foetal perfusate, but a net release of the amino acid from the placenta. Radioactively labelled glutamate carbon entering the placenta by this exchange was freely incorporated into intracellular glutamine, but only 1.5% of it was found in glutamine transported out into the foetal circulation. In the guinea pig, therefore, foetal glutamate does not appear to be a precursor of glutamine released from the placenta on the foetal side.

Animals↗

Body image of and contraceptive use by college females.

83 sexually active college females completed a body-image scale and were classified on the basis of type of contraceptive used and consistency of contraceptive use. Stepwise discriminant analysis identified sets of body-image items which significantly discriminated among the three groups of contraceptive types and four groups of contraceptive consistency.

Body Image↗

Measurement of fetal tissue protein synthetic rate in the lamb in utero.

The fractional synthesis rate of the mixed proteins in the organs of fetal lambs at 123 to 130 days' gestation were calculated from measurements of the rate of uptake of L14Clysine by the protein in the steady state in utero. The fractional synthesis rates were 82, 121 and 99 per cent per day for the brain, liver and cardiac muscle respectively; the average values of 40 per cent for skeletal muscle was significantly smaller than for the other tissues. The fetal fractional protein synthetic rates measured were similar to those of the newborn lamb, but faster than in the adult sheep by a factor of 10. Similar differences in synthesis rates have been observed between the young and adult rat and the possible reasons for the change in fractional rate during growth are discussed.

Animals↗

Nasal carriage of pathogenic bacteria in Kalauna Village, Goodenough Island.

Nasal swabs from 62 villagers of Kalauna, Goodenough Island were cultured. Streptococcus pneumoniae was isolated from 16 of 25 adults (64%) and 36 of 37 children (97%). Significant regional clustering of prevalent pneumococcal serotypes were seen among families in core hamlets. Five of 20 adults (20%) and 30 of 37 children (81%) grew Haemophilus influenzae all of which were biotypable. A variety of faecal Gram negative bacilli comprising enterobacteria, Alcaligenes species and an aeromonad were isolated from 30 of 62 (48%) swabs.

Alcaligenes↗

Nerve growth factor zymogen. Stoichiometry of the active-site serine and role of zinc(II) in controlling autocatalytic self-activation.

Mouse submandibular gland nerve growth factor (NGF) is a 116 000 molecular weight protease with a high degree of specificity for certain lysyl and arginyl bonds. Thie protein can activate plasminogen and it is also a member of the general class of serine proteases [Orenstein, N. S., Dvorak, H. A., Blanchard, M. H., & Young, M. (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, U.S.A. 75, 5497]. As isolated, NGF is an enzymically inactive zymogen. Upon dilution from high to very low protein concentrations or upon treatment with EDTA, the zymogen undergoes autocatalytic activation. Atomic absorption spectroscopy measurements reveal that NGF contains 1 g-atom of tightly bound Zn(II) per mol. Reaction of the fully autoactivated protease with [3H]DFP yields 1 mol of labeled serine per mol of enzyme. All results indicate that as long as Zn(II) remains bound to the zymogen, autocatalytic activation is inhibited. Removal of this ion, by dilution of the protein or by chelation, initiates autoactivation. The physiologic purpose of this unusual reaction is not known but it may be that Zn(II) serves to act as a control ion which keeps the protein in an inactive form (the zymogen) until it recognizes its naturally occurring substrate.

Animals↗

Attitudes and behavior of college students relative to oral-genital sexuality.

A survey was conducted to determine college students' attitudes toward and behavior relative to oral-genital sexuality. Information concerning attitude and behavior was elicited through the use of an equal-interval attitude scale and a behavior inventory. Responses from 91 students were analyzed. Results of the study indicated that more favorable attitudes toward oral-genital sexuality were expressed by students who had participated in the specific behavior and by students who had experienced sexual intercourse. Attitude toward receiving oral-genital contact was found to be dependent on church attendance. Men were more likely than women to have received oral-genital contact, and students who had participated in sexual intercourse were more likely to have both administered and received oral-genital contact. Receiving oral-genital contact was dependent on church attendance. Women were more likely than men to require love as a prerequisite for their participation in oral-genital contact.

Adult↗

Dysarthria of adult cerebral palsy: I. Intelligibility and articulatory impairment.

The speech intelligibility and articulatory impairment of 32 spastic and 18 athetoid males, aged 17-55, were examined. Selection was based on a definite diagnosis of cerebral palsy, and adequate intelligence, hearing, and ability to perform the required tasks. Two estimates of speech intelligibility were obtained from naive listeners: single words correctly recognized and prose intelligibility rating. Diadochokinetic (DDK) syllable rates and percent correct articulation of selected phonemes were employed as indices of articulatory impairment. The 50 subjects were, on average, judged to be 50% intelligible on both intelligibility estimates. Group mean DDK rate was 2.9 syllables per second and 78% of phonemes were transcribed as correctly articulated. :The mean scores of the spastic subjects were superior to the athetoids on all speech measures, significantly so for single-word intelligibility and DDK rate even when group inequalities for physical disability and I.Q. were adjusted. In this sample, spastics were less physically disabled and had lower I.Q.'s than athetoids. Specific phonemic features characteristic of the dysarthria in cerebral-palsied subjects were: (1) anterior lingual place inaccuracy; (2) reduced precision of fricative and affricate manners; and (3) inability to achieve the extreme positions in the vowel articulatory space. A comparison of these results with those reported for children with cerebral palsy suggests that the consonantal place and manner problems are fairly stable features of cerebral palsy dysarthria.

Adolescent↗

Nerve growth factor: acceleration of the rate of wound healing in mice.

Earlier studies have shown that removal of the submandibular glands of mice retards the rate of contraction of experimentally induced wounds and that communal licking of wounds accelerates contraction in intact animals [Hutson, J. M., Niall, M., Evans, D. & Fowler, R. (1979) Nature (London) 279, 793-795]. In the light of the observation that nerve growth factor (NGF) is secreted in high concentrations in mouse saliva, we have studied the effect of topically applied high molecular weight nerve growth factor (HMW-NGF) upon the rate of wound contraction in sialoadenectomized animals. Results show that HMW-NGF significantly accelerates the rate of wound contraction and that this phenomenon is probably dependent upon the enzymic activity of the protein. Neither diisopropyl fluorophosphate-inactivated NGF nor 2.5S NGF [isolated according to Bocchini, V. & Angeletti, P. U. (1969) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 64, 787-794] displays this biological activity. Thus, it may be that one of the physiological roles of NGF in saliva is to promote wound healing by the licking process.

Animals↗