Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J Cohen

Publications and source records attributed to J Cohen.

At least 1,333 records · Page 74Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Psychotherapists preparing for death: denial and action.

There is a striking silence in the psychotherapeutic, psychiatric, and psychoanalytic literature with regard to psychotherapists preparing for their deaths. The anxiety-provoking nature of contemplating, let alone actively planning for, death as well as the experience of separateness and timelessness that can be an integral aspect of the practice of psychotherapy, are factors that contribute to the denial of death. It is suggested that psychotherapists have an ethical responsibility to their patients to plan for their deaths by deciding who should contact which patients (current and perhaps past) and leaving instructions as to how this should be managed and what clinical measures should be considered with current patients. In addition, therapists (particularly those with serious illnesses) need to consider what (if anything) to tell patients before their deaths.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1983

Characterization of the optimal stimulatory effects of graves' monoclonal and serum immunoglobulin G on adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate production in fRTL-5 thyroid cells: a potential clinical assay.

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) preparations derived from the sera of patients with hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease (TSAb) as well as a monoclonal IgG derived from heterohybridoma fusions of Graves' lymphocytes augmented cAMP levels in a continuous strain of functioning rat thyroid cells (clone FRTL-5) in culture. Optimal stimulation was the same for both types of IgG preparations when measured after 2 h of incubation with 5 X 10(4) cells/well and using cells maintained in a nongrowth, TSH-deficient medium for 7 days. At low IgG concentrations, the stimulatory activities of both preparations exhibited a linear dependence on concentration and similar Ka values (approximately 4 X 10(-8) M) despite the fact that 65% of the Graves' serum IgG preparations had a significantly better ability to inhibit TSH binding to membrane preparations. The Ka value for TSH in the same assay was about 5 X 10(-12) M. Using this cell assay, 90% of a series of hyperthyroid Graves' IgG preparations exhibited stimulating activity, a value comparable to the frequency of positive results found by ourselves and others using human thyroid cell and slice systems. In contrast, only 10% of patients who were euthyroid 1 yr after antithyroid drug withdrawal (n = 21) exhibited stimulating activity, and no stimulating activity was detected in patients with nontoxic nodular goiter (n = 11), toxic adenoma (n = 5), or thyroid carcinoma (n = 6). The studies suggest that an optimized rat FRTL-5 thyroid cell system is a clinically useful and convenient alternative to human thyroid cell and slice systems for detecting TSAbs.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Two types of astrocytes in cultures of developing rat white matter: differences in morphology, surface gangliosides, and growth characteristics.

Two types of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive (GFAP+) astrocytes were found in cultures of developing rat optic nerve. Type 1 astrocytes had a fibroblast-like morphology, did not bind tetanus toxin or the monoclonal antibody A2B5 (both of which bind to specific polysialogangliosides), and were stimulated to divide by an extract of bovine pituitary and by epidermal growth factor (EGF). Type 2 astrocytes had a neuron-like morphology, bound tetanus toxin and A2B5 antibody, and were not stimulated to divide by bovine pituitary extract or by EGF. Although both types of astrocytes were present in cultures of white matter, only type 1 astrocytes were found in cultures of gray matter. Astrocytes did not convert from one type to the other in culture: while many type 1 astrocytes adopted a neuron-like morphology when exposed to dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate, or pituitary or brain extracts, especially in serum-free medium, such morphologically altered cells did not bind tetanus toxin or A2B5 antibody. Although small numbers of tetanus toxin-binding, A2B5+, GFAP+ cells were present in suspensions of freshly dissected, neonatal optic nerves, most of the type 2 astrocytes in cultures of such optic nerves developed from tetanus toxin-binding, A2B5+, GFAP- cells, which were induced to express GFAP by the culture conditions. Since type 2 astrocytes have a neuron-like morphology and bind tetanus toxin and A2B5 antibody, these ligands cannot be used on their own as neuron-specific markers in central nervous system cultures.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Localization of leucine aminopeptidase in normal hog lens by immunofluorescence and activity assays.

Rabbit antisera to purified bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (EC 3.4.11.1, LAP) were prepared and shown to be specific for leucine aminopeptidase alone (Taylor et al Cur Eye Res 2:47-56, 1982). When whole hog lens thin sections were treated first with these antisera and then with fluorescein conjugated goat anti-rabbit gamma globulin, greatest fluorescence was observed in the elongating epithelium and outer cortex, and significantly less fluorescence was observed in the lens core. That largest amounts of LAP are present in the epithelium is supported by activity measurements using leucylamide as substrate. The specific activity of LAP in the epithelium/outer cortex is 83 times that of LAP in the inner cortex. The concentration of posttranslationally (postsynthetically) modified and oxidized crystallins is greatest in the core, yet in this zone there is a paucity of aminopeptidase activity, possibly due to age-related degradation of the enzyme. It is possible that LAP is in association with membranes and present in nucleoplasm of rapidly metabolizing, elongating epithelial cells. These observations are discussed in relation to the possible role of proteolysis in cataractogenesis.

Absorption↗
PubMed1983

MTX/5-FU trials in gastrointestinal and other cancers.

Seventy-two patients with neoplastic disease in a variety of anatomic sites were treated with sequential methotrexate (MTX) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) followed by leucovorin (LV) rescue. Treatment consisted of MTX, 160 mg/m2 as a 10-min infusion; 5-FU, 600 mg/m2 as a bolus 90 min later; and LV, a minimum of 25 mg/m2 or 15 mg/m2 p.o. q.6h. X 4, repeated at 1- or 2-wk intervals. Responses of any type included 4 of 24 colon cancers, 3 of 12 stomach cancers, 0 of 6 pancreas cancers, 1 of 2 gallbladder cancers, 4 of 6 breast cancers, 1 of 1 uterus cancer, 2 of 2 selected lung cancers, 1 of 1 parotid cancer, 1 of 2 sarcomas, and 0 of 6 ovary cancers. Response appeared to increase survival. The best-quality responses were observed in patients with stomach, breast, and parotid tumors. Toxicities included anemia requiring transfusion (20%), anorexia during treatment with LV (16%), moderate thrombocytopenia (12%), grade 3 stomatitis (12%), moderate granulocytopenia (10%), severe conjunctivitis (6%), severe gastroenteritis (6%), vomiting (6%), anamnestic reactions (6%), possible renal failure (4%), and possible pulmonary failure (2%). One patient had life-threatening gastroenteritis and reappearance of a grade 1 to 2 skin reaction of the entire treatment field more than 5 yr after radiotherapy. Patients with prior cis-platin therapy had a 50% risk of life-threatening pancytopenia. The results encourage controlled primary trials testing intensification of the sequential combinations with parallel investigations of MTX alone with and without diminished doses of LV.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Learning disabilities and the college student: identification and diagnosis.

The identification and diagnosis of a learning disability in the college student are complex tasks. They constitute important tasks when we realize that 720,000 college students (6 percent, if we assume that there are 12 million in college today) may be learning disabled ( Astin 1983). It is evident that children with learning disabilities are at risk for psychological and social problems in adolescence and young adulthood ( Bellak 1979; Crabtree 1981; Cruikshank et al. 1980; Horowitz 1981). There is a risk that the learning disability will not be identified, and, hence, the problem will be treated as only a psychogenic one. Unfortunately, this will tend to contribute not only to the student's feelings of guilt, stupidity, and inability to change but also to the clinician's sense of frustration. The description of the learning disabled college student and the two-step identification process in this chapter provides guidelines to aid understanding of these issues. Most colleges have not yet come to grips with what it means to have learning disabled students in terms of teaching, academic evaluation, diagnosis, and college counseling. To do so is important not only because of recent laws that guarantee equal educational opportunity for these students but also because a learning disability, whether overt or covert, can profoundly affect a person's educational and psychosocial development. It has often been said that the capacity to love and work is the foundation for the healthy adult. It is easy to see how academic learning is the work of the college student and educational success or failure is linked integrally to self-esteem and self-love.

Dyslexia↗
PubMed1983

[Fertility following celioscopic ovarian biopsy. Apropos of 477 cases of sterility].

The authors report a continuous series of 477 ovarian biopsies carried out laparoscopically between 1971 and 1980. They analyse the effects of this operative manoeuvre in curing sterility. 37% of the women became pregnant, the percentage being calculated by taking those patients who could not be traced as failure. This percentage reaches 57% of those patients who were followed up and who had no other obvious cause for their sterility. There were no anatomical or histological factors that could have brought about or explained this therapeutic success. The authors conclude that it is worth while to carry out ovarian biopsy when performing laparoscopy, but they also point out its difficulties and its risks.

Adult↗