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Biomedical subjects

M B Harris

Publications and source records attributed to M B Harris.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

The relationships of age, sex, ethnicity, and weight to stereotypes of obesity and self perception.

In order to assess the relationships of stereotypes of obesity and of self perceptions to age, sex, ethnicity and weight, 447 adults and children varying in sex, ethnic background and weight rated 12 line drawings of people who varied in age, sex and weight, as well as giving self ratings on similar scales. The normal weight stimuli, compared with the fat oe thin ones, were more wanted as friends and were seen as happier, having more friends, being smarter, and better looking but less lonely and mean. The thin stimulus figures were seen as having more friends, being better looking, smarter and meaner than the fat ones. These trends held for both the sexes, all ages, all ethnic groups, and children of all weights. Names or nicknames assigned to the stimuli also reflected stereotypes: Fat nicknames were given primarily to the fat stimuli; Thin and Height-related ones were given to the thin stimuli; and the average stimuli received more Neutral/Normal and Clearly Positive and fewer Other/Ambiguous and Clearly Negative names. Self evaluations suggested that fifth graders and American Indians were lowest in self concept on some scales, consistent with other research. Overweight subjects were generally similar to average and underweight ones in self ratings, contrary to expectation. Apparently these subjects did not perceive themselves as negatively as previous research and their ratings of the obese stimuli might have caused us to expect.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Eating habits, restraint, knowledge and attitudes toward obesity.

A questionnaire was administered to 53 male and 169 female Australian university students in order to determine their attitudes toward obesity, knowledge about obesity, abnormal or unhealthy eating habits and scores on Herman's Revised Restraint Scale. Additional variables measured were the subject's own degree of overweight; overweight friends, relatives and dates; sex, age and age of onset of obesity, for those calling themselves overweight. Generally negative attitudes toward obesity were reported, as assessed by weights viewed as potentially attractive for males and females, rating scale evaluations of obesity and feelings about being overweight oneself. These attitude measures were significantly intercorrelated. Knowledge of current information about obesity was at the level of chance. Restraint and eating habits were significantly intercorrelated and also related to self-perceived overweight and number of overweight relatives. Other results suggested that overweight is both more common in females than males and viewed more seriously by them.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Psychosocial effects of gastric reduction surgery for obesity.

A sample of 44 patients who had undergone gastric reduction surgery for severe obesity responded to a questionnaire asking about psychosocial changes after the surgery and about their reactions to the weight loss and to previous weight reduction methods. Subjects reported substantial weight losses accompanied by reduced food intake and normalization of eating patterns; increases in physical and social activities; more positive relationships with others, including sexual functioning; and more positive self-perceptions in a number of areas. All were glad that they had had the operation and saw it as more successful than other methods of weight control. In light of the social pressures encouraging people to lose weight and the general lack of success of nonsurgical weight reduction methods, it is likely that this procedure will be increasingly widely used, although its long-term effects have not been studied.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Marrow transplantation for juvenile osteopetrosis.

Two children with the juvenile form of osteopetrosis were treated with marrow transplants from their HLA identical siblings. Following transplantation each child exhibited extensive bone reabsorption with a marked augmentation of osteoclastic function attributable to donor osteoclasts, including remodeling of bone with expansion of intramedullary hematopoiesis and correction of associated abnormalities of thymic factor and natural killer cells. Osteopetrosis ultimately recurred in one patient in whom engraftment of donor hematopoietic elements was not achieved. Our studies indicate that marrow transplantation will correct osteopetrosis but that permanent reconstitution necessitates sustained engraftment of marrow precursors of cells with osteoclastic activity.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗
PubMed1980

Effects of cigarette smoking on recall and categorization of written material.

Habitual smokers participated in an experiment assessing the effects of smoking or abstinence upon immediate and delayed memory of new and old (previously presented) words, as well as category clustering. 10 smokers showed significantly poorer immediate and delayed recall of old words and less clustering of words into categories on the delayed recall test.

Discrimination Learning↗
PubMed1979

Transcutaneous leukocyte migration in vivo: cellular kinetics, platelet and C5a dependent activity.

A simple quantitative method for the measurement of leukotaxis in vivo is described. Duplicate skin chambers are placed over tape-stripped skin with 50% autologous serum--50% Hank's balanced salt solution as the attractant. Neutrophils predominate throughout 24 hr in this method with no change to mononuclear cells. A recommended modification of our original method is that chambers are sampled and removed after 8 hr rather than 24 hr since the majority of leukocyte migration occurs within the first 8 hr. Analysis of serum factors showed that heat-inactivation of the serum (56degreesC for 30 min) had no effect. However, depleting platelets or C5 from the serum removed approximately 90% of chemotactic activity for human neutrophils in vivo. Platelets, presumably through activity of their granules, enzymatically cleaves C5a from C5 in plasma. We conclude that C5a, after cleavage from C5, accounts for the majority of chemattractant activity in vivo.

Blood Platelets↗
PubMed1978

The role of protein synthesis in polymorphonuclear leukocyte phagocytosis II.

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes collected from healthy human volunteers were treated with puromycin which inhibited protein synthesis in the cell. The neutrophils exhibited a marked decrease in phagocytosis after 1 h. The myeloperoxidase mediated conversion of iodide to a protein-bound form was also decreased. Hexosemonophosphate shunt activity remained similar for both puromycin treated PMN and control cells at 1 h. The results suggest that new protein synthesis is necessary to maintain PMN function at full capacity.

Glucose↗
PubMed1977

The role of RNA metabolism in polymorphonuclear leukocyte phagocytosis.

The role of RNA metabolism in human PMN phagocytosis was examined. By the inhibition of RNA synthesis with actinomycin D, intracellular killing of a strain of actinomycin D-resistant S. epidermidis was unaffected by 1 hr but significantly decreased by 2 and 3 hr. After 1 hr, phagocytosis began to decrease, and iodination of proteins also decreased in the presence of actinomycin D. Hexosemonophosphate shunt activity remained similar for both actinomycin D treated PMN's and control cells at 30 min and 2 hr. Protein synthesis was inhibited by incubating PMN's with puromycin. The ability of the PMN's to kill puromycin-resistant S. epidermidis was significantly decreased at 2 and 3 hr.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1976

Hemoglobin Beth Israel. A mutant causing clinically apparent cyanosis.

We found that an abnormal hemoglobin with a very low oxygen affinity was responsible for overt cyanosis in an otherwise healthy adolescent. Hemoglobin Beth Israel, in which serine replaces the asparagine residue normally present at position 102 (G4) of the beta-polypeptide chain, was associated with normal blood counts and no apparent exercise intolerance in the heterozygous carrier. Cyanosis resulted from a drastically right-shifted oxygen dissociation curve, whose position and shape could account for the absence of "physiologic" anemia. The whole-blood oxygen tension at 50 per cent oxygen saturation was 88 mm Hg (normally 26 +/- 1 mm Hg), and the arterial blood was only 63 per cent saturated with oxygen despite a normal oxygen tension of 97 mm Hg. The hemolysate showed a low oxygen affinity but normal Bohr effect. Unexplained cyanosis, particularly in association with normal arterial oxygen tension should prompt a search for an abnormal hemoglobin, which may obviate the need for invasive diagnostic procedures.

Adolescent↗