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Biomedical subjects

A Smith

Publications and source records attributed to A Smith.

At least 1,297 records · Page 72Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Increased excretion of dimethyltryptamine and certain features of psychosis: a possible association.

The excretion of the hallucinogen dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and its precursor N-methyltryptamine (NMT) was studied among 74 recently admitted psychiatric patients and 19 normal persons. Both compounds were detected in 24-hour urine samples from all subjects. Dimethyltryptamine excretion was greatest in schizophrenia, mania, and "other psychosis" and tended to decline as clinical state improved. Psychotic depressives excreted smaller amounts of DMT more akin to those excreted by neurotic and normal subjects. Urinary NMT excretion was unrelated to psychiatric diagnosis. Ratings on the Present State Examination (PSE) also indicated that increased excretion of DMT was associated with psychotic rather than neurotic psychopathology. Forty-three percent of the variance in urinary DMT levels could be explained in terms of six of the 38 PSE syndromes. Syndromes suggesting elation, perceptual abnormalities, and difficulty in thinking and communicating were most correlated with raised urinary DMT excretion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

4p trisomy syndrome: report of 4 additional cases and segregation analysis of 21 families with different translocations.

Thirty reports of partial 4p trisomy have been published. The manifestations and cytogenetic findings in four additional cases from two families are described in the present paper. Segregation analysis has been performed on the 21 families reported to date. The risk of having unbalanced offspring was the same in carrier mothers and carrier fathers. The risk of trisomic offspring was 14%. Among phenotypically normal progeny, normal karyotypes and balanced translocation states occurred with about equal frequency.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1979

Characterization of ethyl substituted fatty acids from lamb subcutaneous triacylglycerols by combined gas chromatography mass spectrometry.

Mid-chain ethyl substituted fatty acids with chain lengths ranging from 10 to 16 carbon atoms were identified in a concentrate of branched chain fatty acids isolated from the triacylglycerol fatty acids of the subcutaneous adipose tissue of barley-fed lambs. The acids were identified by gas chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry and their mass spectral features are discussed.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1979

Characterization of branched-chain fatty acids from fallow deer perinephric triacylglycerols by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Branched-chain fatty acids of perinephric triacylglycerols of semi-feral fallow deer (Dama dama dama) were analyzed by high resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Of the total fatty acids, 15.50% were Branched-chain components including 8.96% iso acids, mostly 14-methylpentacanoic acid, 2.85% anteiso acids and 1.73% of other monomethyl-substituted acids; dimethyl-branched acids with an iso structure (1.05%) and with an anteiso structure (0.18%) were also present. Whereas the predominant iso acids and methyl-substituted iso acids had chain lengths of 13 and 15 carbon atoms, the anteiso acids and methyl-substituted anteiso acids had chain lengths of 14 and 16 carbon atoms. Methyl substitution occurred on the even numbered carbon atoms relative to the carboxyl group. The general composition is also given of the fatty acids comprising the triacylglycerols of subcutaneous (rump area) and perinephric adipose tissue.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1979

Identification of methyl-branched fatty acids from the triacylglycerols of subcutaneous adipose tissue of lambs.

A concentrate of branched chain fatty acids (as methyl esters) was prepared from the triacylglycerols of subcutaneous adipose tissue lipids of lambs receiving a carbohydrate-rich (cereal diet). This was accomplished by procedures which allowed the removal of unsaturated components by peroxidation and straight chain saturated components by urea-adduct formation. The concentrate was analyzed by high resolution gas chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry and was shown to consist of a complex mixture of saturated methyl-substituted fatty acids. Methyl substitution occurred on even-numbered carbon atoms (relative to the carboxyl group) and the chain lengths of the acids ranged from 10 to 18 carbon atoms. Acids with one methyl substituent in the fatty acyl chain were most abundant; di-, tri- and tetramethyl-substituted acids were also present. The biosynthesis of these methyl-substituted acids is discussed briefly.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1979

Three siblings with premature gonadal failure.

Of a brother and two sisters with infertility, one female sibling was found to be mosaic for Turner's syndrome. The brother and the other sister, of average intelligence, were phenotypically normal, with no dysmorphic features or ambiguous genitalia, but both showed hypergonadotropic hypogonadism. It is suggested that the basic defect in these two siblings is the same and is of genetic origin. As the parents were consanguineous, the defect is most likely due to an autosomal recessive gene.

Female↗
PubMed1979

Psychiatrists' models of mental illness and their personal backgrounds.

Seventy-nine junior psychiatrists at the Maudsley Hospital answered 16 biographical questions and a 68-item questionnaire measuring attitudes to the psychoanalytical, biological, social, behavioural, and anti-medical models of mental illness. The psychoanalytical model was the most clearly defined and its adherents the most dogmatic, while those supporting the social model were the most eclectic. Sex, social class, education and political sympathy proved a poor guide to the orientation of the respondent. Individuals who had decided on a career in psychiatry before entering medical school were the most critical of the biological model. Biologically minded psychiatrists were older and, in contrast to Kreitman's findings, there was a shift from a psychoanalytical to a biological preference with increasing psychiatric experience. The importance of scientific attitudes in psychiatry was endorsed by biologically and behaviourally inclined psychiatrists but denigrated by supporters of the analytical approach. Adherents of the psychoanalytical model had as many academic qualifications as the biologically inclined, but had fewer publications and were less active in research. It appears that interest in psychoanalysis is antipathetic to the development of scientific attitudes conducive to research.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1979

The Leyton Obsessional Inventory: an analysis of the responses of 73 obsessional patients.

The Leyton Obsessional Inventory was administered to 73 obsessive-compulsive neurotics, and their responses compared with those of 100 normal subjects. The ratio of the mean patient to normal scores ranged from 2.4:1 for obsessional traits and 3.2:1 for symptoms to 6.2:1 for resistance and 12.5:1 for interference with other activities. A principal components analysis on the patients' replies produced 3 unitary components (household order, personal contamination, and doubting) plus 2 bipolar components (checking/parsimony and desire for closure/unpleasant ruminations). These appeared to be more definitive representations of components identified from a similar analysis on normal subjects, suggesting that obsessional neurotics differ from normal subjects quantitatively rather than qualitatively. A cluster analysis on the patients' responses produced 3 subgroups. Thirty-two patients were predominantly hesitant and indecisive ('doubters'), 30 were concerned with bodily and clothing contamination ('contaminators'), and 7 were preoccupied with checking ('checkers').

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Translocation 46XY, t (17;18) (q25;q21) in a mentally retarded boy with progressive eye abnormalities.

A 10-year-old boy with reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 17 and 18- 46XY,t (17;18) (q25; q21), appeared cytogenetically balanced. The patient was a healthy, thriving boy whose main abnormal feature was moderate mental retardation. However, abnormal ocular signs were present, including macular "fibrosis", optic disc abnormalities with a traction retinal detachment, tapeto-retinal degeneration, and tilting of the disc to the nasal side. These changes are consistent with the ocular changes previously described in the 18q- syndrome, suggesting that there has been a minimal deletion of chromosome material at the 18q21 breakpoint. The case also demonstrates that the ocular changes of the 18- syndrome may be progressive.

Child↗
PubMed1979

Childhood cystinuria in New South Wales. Results in children who were followed up after being detected by urinary screening in infancy.

Homozygous cystinuria was diagnosed in 45 children and 19 of their siblings in the course of routine urine screening of 6-week-old infants in New South Wales. These children were followed for up to 14 years. During this time there were 5 clinical episodes of renal disease which could be ascribed to cystinuria. There was normal mental development in all the children except one. Of 49 children over 3 years, 4 had height centiles less than the midparent height centile, while 45 had height centiles equal to or above the midparent centiles. Family testing in these 45 cases showed that 60% were type I cystinurics, and 35% were of the mixed or compound type (5% were not classified). Data from the parents and grandparents showed that renal tract calculi had occurred in 14 of them. This study shows that children with homozygous cystinuria, detected by urinary screening in infancy, rarely have renal symptoms. Mental development was normal as was growth in height. There was an increased incidence of noncystine stone formation among the relatives of these children. The incidence of homozygous cystinuria in New South Wales in one in 17 286.

Adolescent↗