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Biomedical subjects

R Cain

Publications and source records attributed to R Cain.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Voice recognition and aphasia: can computers understand aphasic speech?

PURPOSE: This preliminary investigation of the use of voice recognition software by people with aphasia presents a new method of training the software, which allows the aphasic user to by-pass the linguistically demanding standard training. It examines how accurately voice recognition software performed with aphasic speech and language as compared to that of control subjects. METHOD: Five non-impaired controls and six participants with aphasia used a vocabulary of 50 words and 24 phrases to train the software over a maximum of five sessions. For the people with aphasia baseline assessments provided a profile of speech and language impairment. Measures of software accuracy were taken for all subjects at baseline and after four subsequent training sessions, for both single word and phrase level dictation. RESULTS: Word level production resulted in similar accuracy levels for both groups. Phrase level production showed greater accuracy levels than single word level production for both aphasics and controls, but participants with greater speech difficulties had lower software accuracy scores. CONCLUSIONS: Training the software on a specific vocabulary allows people to access it whose speech and language difficulties would otherwise have prevented them. Findings are discussed in relation to use of the software as a dictation tool and as an input device to therapy software.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS in community-based organizations: contributions and constraints.

An important feature of the social and organizational response to the HIV epidemic has been that many people living with HIV/AIDS have demanded to have a say in the development of policies and the delivery of services. Surprisingly little attention has been paid in the literature to this involvement. This paper is based on a participatory action research project that involved 70 people with HIV/AIDS in 15 focus group discussions. Findings from the study show the complexities of translating organizational commitments to involve people with HIV/AIDS into practice. This paper outlines the organizational contributions of people with HIV, and examines the difficulties and obstacles to their meaningful involvement. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges of user empowerment and with recommendations for policy and practice.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed2000

Lateral Force Microscopy Study of the Friction between Silica Surfaces.

The friction between a single silica glass sphere and a flat silica glass surface has been investigated using lateral force microscopy. Two types of silica surface were investigated, one fully hydroxylated and the other partially dehydroxlated. These samples have markedly different wetting properties and are known as hydrophilic and hydrophobic silica, respectively. The lateral friction force as a function of applied normal load has been collected for five different-sized spheres for both surface types. Analysis of the friction versus load data indicates that the hydrophilic surfaces have a molecularly smooth contact. For the hydrophobic surfaces, it is not clear whether the friction-load response is caused by a smooth or an asperity-dominated contact zone. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Lay constructions of HIV and complementary therapy use.

This study examines the meanings that individuals with HIV attach to their use of complementary therapies. A qualitative analysis of 66 interviews completed between 1993 and 1998 showed that complementary therapies represent different things for these individuals--a health maintenance strategy, a healing strategy, an alternative to Western medicine, a way of mitigating the side-effects of drug therapies, a strategy for maximizing quality of life, a coping strategy, and a form of political resistance. We found that the meanings individuals ascribe to complementary therapies and the benefits they expect to derive from them are not idiosyncratic, but linked to social characteristics--sexuality, ethnocultural background, gender--and to beliefs about health and illness, values and experiences. We found as well that these meanings are neither mutually exclusive nor fixed. The therapies often appeal to individuals on different levels and their appeal may change over time.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

Synthesis and properties of uniquely modified oligoribonucleotides: yeast tRNA(Phe) fragments with 6-methyluridine and 5,6-dimethyluridine at site-specific positions.

The phosphoramidites of 6-methyluridine and 5,6-dimethyluridine were synthesized and the modified uridines site-selectively incorporated into heptadecamers corresponding in sequence to the yeast tRNA(Phe) anticodon and TpsiC domains. The oligoribonucleotides were characterized by NMR, MALDI-TOF MS and UV-monitored thermal denaturations. The 6-methylated uridines retained the syn conformation at the polymer level and in each sequence location destabilized the RNAs compared to that of the unmodified RNA. The decrease in RNA duplex stability is predictable. However, loss of stability when the modified uridine is in a loop is sequence context dependent, and can not, at this time, be predicted from the location in the loop.

Anticodon↗
PubMed1999

Single atom modification (O-->S) of tRNA confers ribosome binding.

Escherichia coli tRNALysSUU, as well as human tRNALys3SUU, has 2-thiouridine derivatives at wobble position 34 (s2U*34). Unlike the native tRNALysSUU, the full-length, unmodified transcript of human tRNALys3UUU and the unmodified tRNALys3UUU anticodon stem/loop (ASLLys3UUU) did not bind AAA- or AAG-programmed ribosomes. In contrast, the completely unmodified yeast tRNAPhe anticodon stem/loop (ASLPheGAA) had an affinity (Kd = 136+/-49 nM) similar to that of native yeast tRNAPheGmAA (Kd = 103+/-19 nM). We have found that the single, site-specific substitution of s2U34 for U34 to produce the modified ASLLysSUU was sufficient to restore ribosomal binding. The modified ASLLysSUU bound the ribosome with an affinity (Kd = 176+/-62 nM) comparable to that of native tRNALysSUU (Kd = 70+/-7 nM). Furthermore, in binding to the ribosome, the modified ASLLys3SUU produced the same 16S P-site tRNA footprint as did native E. coli tRNALysSUU, yeast tRNAPheGmAA, and the unmodified ASLPheGAA. The unmodified ASLLys3UUU had no footprint at all. Investigations of thermal stability and structure monitored by UV spectroscopy and NMR showed that the dynamic conformation of the loop of modified ASLLys3SUU was different from that of the unmodified ASLLysUUU, whereas the stems were isomorphous. Based on these and other data, we conclude that s2U34 in tRNALysSUU and in other s2U34-containing tRNAs is critical for generating an anticodon conformation that leads to effective codon interaction in all organisms. This is the first example of a single atom substitution (U34-->s2U34) that confers the property of ribosomal binding on an otherwise inactive tRNA.

Aldehydes↗
PubMed1997

Environmental change and organizational evolution: reconsidering the niche of community-based AIDS organizations.

This paper examines the changing role of AIDS service organizations (ASOs) in the provision of community-based HIV services. The paper draws on a study of the development of ASOs that is based on in-depth interviews with about 250 individuals involved in the provision of HIV-related community-based services in 12 cities in Canada. Findings indicate how the broadening and increasingly complex needs confronting ASO workers are leading them to become more focused in their efforts. The paper also shows how ASOs are having to reassess their ties to other service organizations and, often, to redefine their mandate in the light of the changing needs associated with HIV. The paper explores some of the problems associated with these changes, and suggests how changing service needs require a renewed commitment on the part of ASOs to work at the level of advocacy and political change.

Canada↗
PubMed1993

Community-based AIDS services: formalization and depoliticization.

The 1980s witnessed the development of community-based AIDS service organizations across North America. This article looks at how these community groups can become increasingly formalized and professionalized over time. The article is based on an in-depth examination of one AIDS organization in Ontario, Canada. Interviews were conducted with staff members, volunteers, and board members of the organization, as well as with knowledgeable individuals in the surrounding community. The article identifies ways in which the organization has changed over time, and highlights some of the forces which propel these changes. The article concludes with a discussion of the political implications of the increased formalization of community AIDS groups.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1991

Stigma management and gay identity development.

Disclosure of homosexuality is now generally viewed in the professional literature as more desirable than secrecy; disclosure is often seen as evidence of a healthy gay identity, whereas secrecy has come to be viewed as socially and psychologically problematic. By drawing on data from an interview study of 38 gay men in Montreal, this article shows that decisions concerning disclosure and secrecy are related to a variety of situational and relational factors that are largely distinct from gay identity development. It is argued that the new models of identity formation fail to recognize adequately the social factors that shape the ways gay men manage information concerning their sexual preferences. Conceptual and clinical implications of new normative views of disclosure and secrecy are discussed.

Female↗
PubMed1985

Exposure of DNA to methyl mercury results in an increase in the rate of its transcription by RNA polymerase II.

Double-stranded DNA which was exposed to methyl mercury at concentrations of 1 mM and above, and purified by ethanol precipitation and dialysis, was transcribed at a higher rate by RNA polymerase II than was control DNA. The rate of transcription of single-stranded DNA was not affected by similar exposure to methyl mercury. The higher rate of transcription of methyl mercury-treated double-stranded DNA appears to result from a decreased Km of the enzyme for this DNA. This does not appear to result from extensive denaturation, nor from formation of a large number of single-stranded breaks in the DNA.

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1980

Partial monosomy of long arm of chromosome 4 due to interstitial deletion.

A child with congenital malformations and a de novo interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 4 is described. Detailed analysis by G banding revealed the loss of the whole of band q21 and part of bands q13 and q22. The clinical abnormalities are quite dissimilar from those features described in other cases of partial 4q monosomy, which generally appear to result from the deletion of more distally placed segments of the chromosome.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗