Showing papers by "Monash University published in 1985"
TL;DR: Bovine follicular fluid was used as a source for the isolation of gonadal inhibin, the activity of which was monitored by the dose dependent suppression of the FSH content of cultured pituitary cells.
503 citations
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01 Jan 1985TL;DR: This work presents Antechinus as a paradigm in evolutionary ecology and coevolution and community structure, as well as life histories of the carnivorous and herbivorous marsupials, which shed light on the evolution of community structure.
Abstract: Preface 1. Introduction 2. Marsupials and their resources 3. The marsupial life history 4. Life histories of the carnivorous marsupials 5. Life histories of the herbivorous marsupials 6. Antechinus as a paradigm in evolutionary ecology 7. Coevolution and community structure 8. Future directions Appendix 1 Appendix 2 References Marsupial genus and species index Subject index.
303 citations
TL;DR: Spermatozoa were collected by microaspiration from the corpus epididymidis of a 42-year-old man with secondary obstructive azoospermia and used for in vitro fertilization and an ongoing pregnancy was confirmed.
Abstract: Spermatozoa were collected by microaspiration from the corpus epididymidis of a 42-year-old man with secondary obstructive azoospermia and used for in vitro fertilization. At insemination 61% of the spermatozoa were motile, with a motility index of 157. One of five eggs was fertilized and this was subsequently transferred to the patient's wife at the two-cell stage. Ultrasound examination and changing hormone levels confirmed an on-going pregnancy, which is currently at 30 weeks of gestation. This technique will provide a useful alternative for the management of some infertile men with obstructive azoospermia.
269 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a simple classification of traded services is developed in order to examine the extent to which trade in services is "the same" as trade in goods, and identify the characteristics of international transactions in services which may distinguish them from international transac-
Abstract: NTEREST in the nature and extent of government intervention in trade in services has grown rapidly in recent years. ’ From the domestic perspective the focus has been on the effects of government regulation on the distribution of resources and on consumer choice. From the international perspective the focus has been on government restriction of market access and barriers to trade in services. Because of the impact of government regulation of internationally-traded services, there have been proposals for the liberalisation of restrictions on service transactions, with strong pressure from the United States and some other developed countries, for the subject to be on the agenda of a new round of multilateral trade negotiations. But it is apparent that a conceptual framework for such negotiations is lacking and those engaged in discussion of services as a sector are not always working from a common base. In the absence of a developed ‘theory’ of trade in services, the theory of trade in goods has often been applied on an ad hoc basis. This follows from the suggestions by some economists that international trade in services is the same, from an analytical point of view, as trade in goods. But a host of very different types of services are traded internationally, ranging over computing services, shipping, insurance, medical services, tourism, construction, building design and banking. In order to examine the extent to which trade in services is ‘the same’ as trade in goods, a simple classification of traded services is developed in this article. It becomes clear that some services are very similar to goods; others are not. Policies relating to the movement of factors of production and to the movement of the receivers of services may distort trade in some services more than in the case of goods. Such policies may be of more importance to trade in services than restrictions on trade in the services themselves. Thus one purpose of this article is to identify the characteristics of international transactions in services which may distinguish them from international transac-
254 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a new method for solving heat diffusion in 3D particle simulations is described and the difficulties encountered by other authors are discussed, in particular the difficulty of including boundary conditions in particle simulations.
Abstract: A new method for solving heat diffusion in three dimensional particle simulations is described. The difficulties encounted by other authors is discussed, in particular the difficulty of including boundary conditions in particle simulations. One and three dimensional tests of the method are described.
197 citations
TL;DR: Pregnancy rates were significantly affected by the month and year of treatment, the age of the patient, the type of ovarian stimulation, the use of human chorionic gonadotropin, the number of eggs collected, the Number of eggs fertilized, theNumber of embryos developed, and the numberof embryos transferred.
195 citations
TL;DR: Results confirm the hypothesis that electrical stimulation results in release of substance P from nerve terminals in the skin, and therefore fulfils an important criterion of its role as a mediator of neurogenic inflammation.
141 citations
TL;DR: It is proposed that the matching task utilizes a level of mental representation at which overgenerated sentences are indistinguishable from fully grammatical sentences, which implies a close correspondence between formal derivational mechanisms and features of the operation of the language processor.
130 citations
TL;DR: A role for cell-mediated immunity in attracting macrophages and initiating injury in experimental anti-GBM antibody-induced glomerulonephritis GN is supported.
125 citations
TL;DR: The Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pSK1 carries Tn4001, a 4.7-kilobase transposon which specifies resistance to gentamicin, tobramycin, and kanamycin, which mediates resistance to trimethoprim and linked resistance to ethidium bromide (Ebr) and to quaternary ammonium compounds (Qar).
Abstract: The Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pSK1 carries Tn4001, a 4.7-kilobase (kb) transposon which specifies resistance to gentamicin, tobramycin, and kanamycin. In addition, pSK1 mediates resistance to trimethoprim and linked resistance to ethidium bromide (Ebr) and to quaternary ammonium compounds (Qar). Restriction endonuclease analysis of pSK1 and a deleted derivative of pSK1 revealed that the gene(s) responsible for Ebr Qar lies within a 5.2-kb HindIII fragment. This fragment has been cloned into the Escherichia coli plasmid vector pBR322, and transformants of an E. coli K-12 strain exhibited Ebr Qar. Subcloning of the 5.2-kb insert, combined with data from electron microscopic analysis of deleted derivatives of pSK1, located the Ebr Qar determinant(s) on a 2.3-kb segment of pSK1 DNA.
123 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a test that is locally best invariant against one-sided alternative hypotheses is constructed and shown to be identical to a onesided version of the Lagrange Multiplier test.
Abstract: SUMMARY This paper considers a class of hypothesis testing problems concerning the covariance matrix of the disturbances in the classical linear regression model. A test that is locally best invariant against one-sided alternative hypotheses is constructed and shown to be identical to a one-sided version of the Lagrange Multiplier test.
TL;DR: The majority of neurons in the deep layers of superior colliculus in ketamine barbiturate-anesthetized cats showed less than 10 dB variation in half-maximal IID across a range of suprathreshold ABIs, indicating that EO/I cells in SC generally exhibit stability in cutoff with changes in intensity of broadband stimuli.
Abstract: Sensitivity to interaural intensity difference (IID) was examined for 103 neurons in the deep layers of superior colliculus (SC) in ketamine barbiturate-anesthetized cats. Noise stimuli were presen...
TL;DR: A number of common pitfalls in the assessment of satisfaction with obstetric care are described, and the paper concludes with another hard problem: is there such a thing as satisfaction?
Abstract: Some of the hard problems with soft outcomes are methodological, and this paper describes a number of common pitfalls in the assessment of satisfaction with obstetric care. It concludes, however, with another hard problem: is there such a thing as satisfaction?
TL;DR: In this paper, a dynamic, linear model for the analysis of univariate time series is proposed and the associated Kalman filter is also derived, which is restricted to time invariant dynamic linear models with only one observable dependent variable.
Abstract: SUMMARY A dynamic, linear model for the-analysis of univariate time series is proposed. It encompasses many of the common statistical models as special cases such as multiple regression, exponential smoothing and mixed autoregressive-moving average processes. Its distinguishing feature is that it relies on only one primary source of randomness. It therefore not only provides a simpler framework for the study of dynamic models but also eliminates the need for the contentious system variance matrix which has been credited with hampering the use of recursive forecasting methods in practice. The associated Kalman filter is also derived. This paper considers the issue of the recursive estimation of a dynamic linear statistical model (DLM). Its primary antecedent is the work of Duncan and Horn (1972) which in turn is based extensively on the pioneering ideas of Kalman (1960). The scope of the paper is restricted to time invariant dynamic linear models with only one observable dependent variable. Recently, Ameen and Harrison (1983) have outlined difficulties associated with Kalman filter- ing which have inhibited its use in the context of Bayesian forecasting. The "specification of the associated system variance matrices has proven a major obstacle" and they cite reasons such as its non-uniqueness together with the fact that it is not invariant to scale changes of the independent variables. This paper outlines an approach which eliminates the need for the system variance matrix, relying instead on what is best called a "permanent effects" vector whose ele- ments resemble the role of smoothing constants in exponential smoothing. Throughout the paper lower case letters are used to represent scalars and vectors, capital letters are used for matrices, and Greek letters are reserved for parameters. All vectors are of the column variety and their transpose is indicated in the usual way with a prime. The letter E denotes the expectation operator, I represents an identity matrix and carets are used to indicate estimators.
TL;DR: Systemic and renal haemodynamics and the activation of vasoconstrictor mechanisms reflected by changes in plasma renin activity (PRA), noradrenaline (NA) and vasopressin (AVP) levels during the development of heart failure in this animal model were studied.
Abstract: Chronic administration of intravenous adriamycin (1 mg . kg-1 twice weekly for 8 weeks) to rabbits resulted in a cardiomyopathy which was similar to that occurring in patients with adriamycin cardiotoxicity. We studied systemic and renal haemodynamics and the activation of vasoconstrictor mechanisms reflected by changes in plasma renin activity (PRA), noradrenaline (NA) and vasopressin (AVP) levels during the development of heart failure in this animal model. By 8 weeks cardiac failure was clearly established. At postmortem all animals had dilated hearts, pleural and pericardial effusions, ascites and hepatic congestion. Heart weights were increased (8.1 +/- 0.7 g in treated animals n = 9 vs 6.0 +/- 0.2 g in controls n = 9 p less than 0.05). Cardiac output (measured by thermodilution) fell at 8 weeks from 799 +/- 61 ml . min-1 to 624 +/- 44 ml . min-1 (n = 6 p less than 0.05) with a parallel fall in mean blood pressure from 85 +/- 2 mmHg to 75 +/- 4 mmHg. Total peripheral resistance rose in four of the six rabbits. Renal blood flow fell from 108 +/- 4 ml . min-1 to 61 +/- 6 ml . min-1 (p less than 0.05) by 8 weeks. Renal vascular resistance increased in all animals. PRA increased from 5.1 +/- 0.5 ng AI . ml-1 . h-1 to 11.6 +/- 2.6 ng AI . ml-1 . h-1 by 4 weeks (p less than 0.05) and remained elevated thereafter.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
TL;DR: This paper showed that masked repetition produces an immediate priming effect when the meaning of obsolete words such as holimonth is explained, and subjects are required to respond "yes" to such items in a lexical decision task.
Abstract: The masked repetition effect is used in an attempt to decide whether information about the meaning of newly acquired words is initially represented in lexical memory, or in some nonspecialized memory system. It is shown that masked repetition produces an immediate priming effect when the meaning of obsolete words such as holimonth is explained, and subjects are required to respond ‘yes’ to such items in a lexical decision task. However, it is also shown that priming effects can be produced for both words and nonwords in an episodic recognition memory task, indicating that both lexical and nonlexical representations are capable of being primed. Such effects are confined to positive (‘old’) items, indicating a distinction between lexical and nonlexical representations of words. It is also shown that priming effects are obtained in a categorization task for both positive and negative responses, whereas frequency effects are not. These findings are interpreted within the framework of a modular theory...
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that removal of the cumulus cells from the human oocyte with bovine testicular hyaluronidase did not interfere with fertilization, early embryonic development, or pregnancy.
TL;DR: Various dyes were introduced into the intact thymus and their differential permeability was used to demonstrate that the thymic nurse cell exists as a sealed structure in situ.
Abstract: The thymic nurse cell (TNC) consists of an epithelial cell enclosing lymphoid elements and is found in enzymic digests of the thymus. Although these structures have been implicated in the normal intrathymic development of T lymphocytes, little is known about the in situ structure of this unusual cell complex. In this study, various dyes were introduced into the intact thymus and their differential permeability was used to demonstrate that the TNC exists as a sealed structure in situ. The lymphocytes within the TNC were shown to be isolated from the general thymic environment. Preliminary studies on these lymphocytes and the physiology of their active release from individual, micromanipulated TNC in microcultures are reported.
TL;DR: It is hypothesized that insulin at prolonged and high physiologic levels promotes new bone growth, particularly in the entheseal regions, which produces the radiological changes which characterise DISH.
Abstract: The tendency of patients with DISH towards obesity or an adult onset of diabetes has been reflected in marked hyperinsulinaemia following glucose challenge. It is hypothesized that insulin at prolonged and high physiologic levels promotes new bone growth, particularly in the entheseal regions. These areas are also subject to various mechanical forces. The resulting new bone produces the radiological changes which characterise DISH.
TL;DR: An RCT to determine the optimum method of delivery for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants was canceled after it was in progress for only 5 months when it was discovered that more than 40% of eligible patients were being withdrawn from the trial before randomization.
TL;DR: The concept that anerobic intestinal bacteria may be involved in the pathogenesis of liver changes commonly observed during total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is supported.
Abstract: Abnormal serum liver enzymes are common in adults receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN). The mechanism(s) responsible for these changes is unclear. One hypothesis is that there is overgrowth of intestinal anaerobic bacteria with subsequent toxic effects on the liver from endotoxins and/or bile acids. A retrospective survey of patients receiving TPN was undertaken. The patients were divided into two matched groups. One group had received metronidazole, a drug that suppresses anaerobic bacteria, while the other group had not. The administration of metronidazole during TPN was associated with prevention of the expected rise of serum alkaline phosphatase, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, and aspartate amino-transferase. This study supports the concept that anerobic intestinal bacteria may be involved in the pathogenesis of liver changes commonly observed during TPN.
TL;DR: The notion of pseudovariety was introduced by Eilenberg and Schtitzenberger in this paper for monoids and defined as a class of algebras (not necessarily finite) closed under formation of homomorphic images, subalgebraic structures, finite direct products and arbitrary direct powers.
TL;DR: The measurement of three new lines of C3O in TMC-1 is reported, and the observed peak antenna temperatures are found to be consistent with a large velocity gradient radiative transfer model whose parameters span the range of standard values for this cloud.
Abstract: We report the measurement of three new lines of C3O in TMC-1. The observed peak antenna temperatures, appropriately corrected for atmospheric and telescope losses, are found to be consistent with a large velocity gradient radiative transfer model whose parameters span the range of standard values for this cloud. The derived fractional abundance for C3O is 1.4 x 10(-10), comparable with the results predicted from a model calculation based on a gas-phase ion-molecule reaction scheme. The results of negative searches for C3O in six other sources are not inconsistent with expected conditions in these clouds.
TL;DR: In adult rat ovaries, luteal, granulosa, and interstitial cells are responsible for the production of immunoreactive beta-endorphin and that this production, being related to the estrous cycle, is presumably under the direct or indirect influence of gonadotropins.
Abstract: Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were killed at different stages of a 4-day estrous cycle, and ovaries and anterior pituitaries examined for content of immunoreactive beta-endorphin by RIA and for localization by indirect immunofluorescence. Two anti-beta-endorphin antisera, both recognizing different antigenic determinants of human-beta-endorphin, showed intense immunofluorescence staining of cells localized predominantly in ovarian corpora lutea. At proestrus, both large and small luteal cells stained positively but only the large luteal cells were immunofluorescence positive at other stages of the estrous cycle. In addition, less intense staining of granulosa cells was occasionally observed in secondary and antral follicles; scattered cells in the interstitium were also weakly positive. In contrast, cells of primordial and primary follicles, and those of theca tissue were consistently negative. Ovarian levels of immunoreactive beta-endorphin were found to be lowest at estrus (2.1 +/- 0.18 ng/g; n = 8, mean +/- SE) and significantly raised in stepwise manner over metestrus and diestrus to a peak (approximately 4 X estrous levels) at proestrus; in contrast, immunoreactive beta-endorphin content of anterior pituitaries remained unaltered during the same period. Sephadex G-50 gel chromatography of ovarian extracts revealed three distinct peaks of immunoreactive beta-endorphin, a minor peak in the void volume, and two major peaks of unequal size eluting at mol wt approximately 11.5K and approximately 3.5K. The major species of low molecular weight immunoreactive beta-endorphin on reverse phase HPLC was beta-endorphin1-31. We conclude from the findings that, in adult rat ovaries, luteal, granulosa, and interstitial cells are responsible for the production of immunoreactive beta-endorphin and that this production, being related to the estrous cycle, is presumably under the direct or indirect influence of gonadotropins.
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that HSC is a consistently biased selector with respect to type of school attended, but not with regard to father's occupational status or student's country of birth.
Abstract: In all States in Australia, the Higher School Certificate (HSC) or its equivalent is used to select students for entry to higher education, and it is generally considered to be the best predictor of first year performance. However, Dunn (1982) demonstrated, at the University of Melbourne, that HSC was a biased selector with respect to type of school attended. The present study tested that hypothesis at Monash University. In addition, an examination of selector bias was undertaken for other social background variables: father's occupational status as a surrogate of socio-economic status, and student's country of birth as a surrogate of ethnicity.It is shown that HSC is a consistently biased selector with respect to type of school attended but not with respect to father's occupational status or student's country of birth. Students from government schools perform as well in first year as those from independent schools who have an HSC score of the order of 10–25 marks higher (or about one quarter to one half ...
TL;DR: Findings obtained on the letter cancellation task are discussed in relation to lexical access mechanisms geared to sentence parsing.
TL;DR: The effects of surgical denervation, capsaicin, and 6‐Hydroxydopamine pretreatment on the inflammatory response to thermal injury have been investigated in the rat.
Abstract: The effects of surgical denervation, capsaicin, and 6-Hydroxydopamine pretreatment on the inflammatory response to thermal injury have been investigated in the rat. Surgical denervation and capsaicin pretreatment reduced the cellular and exudative reactions to the injury. 6-Hydroxydopamine appeared to have a selective effect on the exudative reaction only. The effects of surgical denervation are partly explained by local and systemic effects of the procedure.
TL;DR: The results indicate that extension of the luteal phase with exogenous progesterone is unlikely to have a significant effect on increasing the pregnancy rate in IVF programs using similar treatment regimes.
Abstract: There is disagreement among in vitro fertilization (IVF) programs as to the need to administer exogenous progesterone to support the luteal phase of patients undergoing embryo transfer after IVF. We examined the effect on pregnancy rates of Proluton, 50-mg daily injections given on days 7-16 following oocyte recovery, in 186 women undergoing IVF treatment using a combined stimulation regime of clomiphene and human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG). One group was deliberately selected for treatment on the possible criterion of luteal-phase deficiency and two other groups were randomly selected into a treatment and a control group. No effect on pregnancy rate was noted in any of these groups. These results indicate that extension of the luteal phase with exogenous progesterone is unlikely to have a significant effect on increasing the pregnancy rate in IVF programs using similar treatment regimes.
TL;DR: In this paper, a detailed socialization model of election of mathematics courses and achievement is presented, and the authors cite potential social influences as reasons for these outcomes and then focus primarily on a person's internal belief system.
Abstract: a detailed socialization model of election of mathematics courses. Maines identifies several major barriers and obstacles encountered by women. Two themes run through all four papers: (1) a social-psychological framework is the most appropriate one for studying sex-related differences; and (2) research should highlight the ways in which given conditions produce particular outcomes. The papers center on two outcomes: participation in elective mathematics courses and achievement. The authors cite potential social influences as reasons for these outcomes and then focus primarily on a person’s internal belief system. The papers, as a set, reveal that the problems of girls and women in mathematics are complex and multivariate. Perhaps most important is the suggestion that social conditions, whether taken alone or in combination with one another, cannot account completely for sex-related differences in mathematics. One must examine how these social conditions affect the educational environment of a female as well as affect the personal belief system of each learner. Both the educational environment and what a person believes about her/himself has a direct influence on what is learned in mathematics. What is not considered in any depth in these papers is the influence of sexrelated biological variables. The omission is deliberate. The authors collectively believe that an examination of biological variables, which are often believed to be unchangeable, would not offer much help in achieving equity in education. We believe that our job as educators is to be sure that environmental inputs are available to enable all people, both female and male, to learn mathematics. With such a belief, the emphasis in the research is on alterable variables with the hope that deeper understanding of such variables will promote the achievement of equity.
TL;DR: The fine structure of pronuclear ova (monospermy and polyspermy) and one-cell embryos has been investigated in the IVF programme and normal and abnormal features of these ova are reported and compared with pronuclear structure in vivo and in vitro.
Abstract: The fine structure of pronuclear ova (monospermy and polyspermy) and one-cell embryos has been investigated in our IVF programme. Sixteen oocytes were collected at laparoscopy after appropriate hormonal stimulation and were matured and fertilized in vitro by methods that have given rise to normal pregnancies.
Pronuclear ova showing monospermic fertilization had two vesicular pronuclei surrounded by aggregations of cellular organelles. The male pronucleus was closely associated with a sperm axoneme, while the female pronucleus was dismantling its envelope and condensing its chromatin ahead of its counterpart in late pronuclear ova. Each pronucleus had dispersed chromatin, dense compact nucleoli, and intranuclear annulate lamellae. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum, annulate lamellae, Golgi complexes, and mitochondria formed a conspicuous part of the perinuclear ooplasm. The one-cell embryos were either in syngamy or in the process of undergoing first cleavage. Positive evidence of cortical granule release and second polar bodies were detected in the perivitelline space. A block to polyspermy seemed to operate at the level of the inner zona.
Dispermic and polyspermic ova had 3–16 pronuclei resembling those of monospermic ova and had sperm tails in the ooplasm. Sperm were also seen penetrating the inner zona and were occasionally found in the perivitelline space. Incomplete cortical granule release and early signs of cytoplasmic fragmentation were noted in polyspermic ova.
Both normal and abnormal features of these ova are reported and compared with pronuclear structure in vivo and in vitro.