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Biomedical subjects

J Pang

Publications and source records attributed to J Pang.

103 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Partial hospitalization. An alternative to inpatient care.

Despite problems with research designs, sample sizes, differing areas of focus, and various research instruments, psychiatry can be encouraged by studies pointing to the following: Partial hospitalization can offer a viable alternative to inpatient hospitalization with less stigma and less family burden for patients. Such patients fare as well or better than their inpatient counterparts. When families or stable living situations are not available, the most acute patients can be treated and housed in a supervised living situation. Social and familial roles can be maintained. Partial hospitalization is helpful in reducing length and expense of full-time hospitalization when used as an transition to more traditional outpatient treatment and community life. This does not lead to increased rates of readmission or to exacerbating other symptoms or pathology. Partial hospitalization has grown steadily in the past 20 years. The question is no longer whether partial hospitalization works, but "what kind of patient can be best treated by partial hospitalization?" Innovative programs are sprouting. The 1980s bring fiscal, educational, and clinical challenges to partial hospitalization programs everywhere.

Community Mental Health Centers↗
PubMed1983

Coexisting retroperitoneal and mediastinal fibrosis.

A rare case of coexisting retroperitoneal and mediastinal fibrosis is reported. Increasing awareness of this association may lead to earlier recognition of significant symptoms and more effective therapy.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinicopathological report of retinitis pigmentosa with vitamin E deficiency caused by mutation of the alpha-tocopherol transfer protein gene.

PURPOSE: To discuss the clinicopathological findings in a patient with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) accompanied by a vitamin E deficiency caused by an H101Q mutation in the alpha-tocopherol transfer protein (alpha-TTP) gene. CASE: The clinical course of this patient was followed by conventional ophthalmological examinations over a 3-year period. After the patient died from pancreatic cancer, the eyes were obtained, and examined by light and electron microscopy. OBSERVATIONS: The patient complained of night blindness subsequent to adult-onset ataxia, although the ataxia was very mild. His visual acuity was 0.6 OU, and ophthalmoscopy revealed RP sine pigmento. Ring scotomas were detected, and the electroretinography, electro-oculography, and dark-adaptation were altered. Fluorescein angiography showed granular hyperfluorescence around the macula. No progression of the visual and neurological symptoms was observed during the 10 years he was taking oral vitamin E. Histopathological examination revealed the loss of the outer and inner segments of the photoreceptors in the area corresponding to the ring scotoma, as well as a disorganization and shortening of the outer segments in the peripheral retina. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the clinical and pathological findings in the eyes of this patient having RP with vitamin E deficiency caused by an H101Q mutation are similar to those of common autosomal recessive RP. However, special attention is required in making a diagnosis of RP with vitamin E deficiency because RP with vitamin E deficiency is medically treatable. The mild Friedreich-type ataxia accompanying the RP may be helpful in identifying this disease.

Carrier Proteins↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Processes of blue light-induced damage to retinal pigment epithelial cells lacking phagosomes.

PURPOSE: To experimentally clarify the processes of the changes induced by blue light directly on the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) before the formation of phagosomes or the accumulation of lipofuscin. METHODS: We developed a new experimental method in which primary cultured cells of very young pigmented rats were exposed to several intensities and durations of blue light (wavelength = 440+/-10 nm). RESULTS: At 1.0 mW/cm2, the damage was limited to mitochondria. At 2.0 mW/cm2, the cytoplasm exhibited large whorls of membrane or whorled inclusions, which were consistent with autophagic vacuoles. At 4.0 mW/cm2, the RPE cells showed lysis of the cytoplasm and a nucleus that was consistent with necrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that damage induced by blue light to cultured RPE cells may originate in the mitochondria and end in necrosis. The type of cell death induced in the RPE by blue light seems to be determined mainly by the intensity of the light, but is also related to the duration of exposure.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Disturbance of electrolyte balance in vitreous of chicks with form-deprivation myopia.

PURPOSE: To investigate the changes in the electrolyte and protein concentrations in the vitreous of 3-week-old chicks with form-deprivation myopia (FDM). METHODS: FDM was induced in 2-day-old male white leghorn chicks by covering the left eye with a translucent plastic goggle and leaving the right eye uncovered to serve as control. After 19 days the animals were euthanized, and the axial dimensions of the eyes were measured with a caliper in an unfixed condition. The liquid vitreous and aqueous humor were removed by paracentesis, and blood was collected from the jugular vein. Sodium, potassium, and chloride concentrations were determined using ion-selective electrodes. Calcium and phosphate concentrations were determined by colorimetric assays using orthocresol phthalein complexone and bacterial xanthine oxidase, respectively. RESULTS: The concentrations of potassium and phosphate were decreased, whereas chloride concentration was increased in the vitreous of the FDM eyes (P < .01). Sodium and calcium concentrations were similar to those in the control eyes. No significant changes in the concentration of electrolytes were observed in the aqueous humor. No significant differences were found in the protein concentrations in the liquid vitreous, gel vitreous, and aqueous humor. CONCLUSIONS: Form-deprivation induced a significant increase of the volume of the liquid vitreous in the eye of the FDM chick. The increased liquid vitreous of the myopic eye was accompanied by an alteration of the electrolyte balance, by a mechanism that has not yet been clarified.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A common disease haplotype segregating in spinocerebellar ataxia 2 (SCA2) pedigrees of diverse ethnic origin.

The identification of a CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion, located within the coding sequence of the ataxin-2 gene, as the mutation underlying spinocerebellar ataxia 2 (SCA2) has facilitated direct investigation of pedigrees previously excluded from linkage analysis due to insufficient size or pedigree structure. We have previously described the identification of the ancestral disease haplotype segregating in the Cuban founder population used to assign the disease locus to chromosome 12q23-24.1. We now report evidence for the segregation of the identical core haplotype in pedigrees of diverse ethnic origin from India, Japan and England, established by the analysis of the loci D12S1672 and D12S1333 located 20kb proximal and 200 kb distal to the triplet repeat motif respectively. Interpretation of this data is suggestive that for these pedigrees at least, the mutation has arisen on a single ancestral or predisposing chromosome.

Alleles↗