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Biomedical subjects

W Hunt

Publications and source records attributed to W Hunt.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

History and analysis of a leaderless group of professional therapists.

The authors describe the experiences of a group of 11 psychiatrists and psychologists who met for 3 years with the initial purpose of providing peer supervision in group therapy. The group became a basic assumption dependency group in which all members had both realistic and magical expectations for help with their personal lives, and a resulting attempted transformation into a leaderless therapy group was a failure. The authors indicate that the experiences of this group illustrate some of the functions of group-leader interaction in allowing group and individual growth.

Adult↗

The effects of harmaline on sodium transport in human erythrocytes: evidence in favor of action at interior sodium-sensitive sites.

The effects of the hallucinogen, harmaline (HME), and its congeners on human red blood cell (RBC) transport were studied. HME reduced sodium efflux by 70% at maximum inhibitory concentrations (6-8 mM). It acted upon the ouabain-sensitive component of sodium efflux since it exerted no inhibitory actions in the presence of ouabain. Several lines of evidence suggested that HME exerted its inhibitory effect at intracellular sodium-sensitive sites. The percent inhibition of Na efflux by 0.1 mM HME was unaffected by increasing extracellular potassium from 10 to 100 mM. When HME was incorporated into RBC ghosts by reversible hemolysis, the degree of inhibition of sodium efflux was comparable to that found with ouabain outside the red cells and was always greater than the inhibition produced with HME outside cells. HME increased membrane permeability to sodium, as shown by enhanced sodium influx into RBC and at concentrations of 10 mM caused rapid increments of intracellular sodium and decrements of intracellular potassium. We conclude that the harmala alkaloids inhibit the active Na-K transport system in human RBCs through their effects on sodium-sensitive transport sites on the interior membrane surface.

Alkaloids↗

Management of the congenital midline nasal mass: a review.

The nasal encephalocele, the glioma, and the dermoid are the most common of the congenital midline nasal masses. Due to similar embryologic development, each of these lesions may be associated with bony cranial defects and intracranial abnormalities, as well as CSF leakage and the potential for fatal meningitis if not handled properly. Properative manipulation should be avoided. Radiologic studies are instructive only if they are positive. If intracranial attachments are identified radiologically or suspected clinically, neurosurgical consultation should be obtained, and intracranial exploration and resection should be carried out as the initial procedure. Extra-cranial resection of the remaining mass may be performed immediately after intracranial resection, may be postponed, or may become unnecessary.

Dermoid Cyst↗

Characterization of boar sperm plasma membranes by two-dimensional PAGE and isolation of specific groups of polypeptides by anion exchange chromatography and lectin affinity chromatography.

High resolution, two-dimensional PAGE was used to characterize purified plasma membranes (PM) from boar spermatozoa. In addition to the abundance of polypeptides resolved, unusual features of PM discerned in gel patterns include a large number of basic polypeptides and the presence of at least three polypeptides with molecular weights in excess of 200 K daltons. In order to reduce these large numbers of polypeptides into smaller fractions, an important step in developing a surface map of these membranes, detergent-solubilized membranes were fractionated by the techniques of ion exchange chromatography and lectin affinity chromatography. PM polypeptides, solubilized in the nonionic detergents, were fractionated on DEAE Sephadex using phosphate ion gradients containing EDTA. Most of the major acidic polypeptides were eluted as a group at high phosphate ion concentrations. Membrane polypeptides can be separated into smaller populations by affinity chromatography on wheat germ agglutinin-agarose (WGA) or by Concanavalin A-agarose. Concanavalin A-agarose binds most PM glycoproteins, but partial purification of an important group of very basic proteins was obtained by repeated chromatography of polypeptides that failed to bind to this lectin. Since biologic activity (including immunologic potency) is often retained in the detergents used, the ability to fractionate the major polypeptide of the boar sperm PM into different and much smaller populations in large quantity and to characterize these proteins by electrophoresis provides a starting point for determining the functional significance and location of the major surface proteins of the boar sperm PM.

Animals↗

The effectiveness of psychiatric treatment for HIV-infected patients.

The study sought to determine the effectiveness of a model program of psychiatric care for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. This was a cohort study of 126 HIV-positive outpatients referred for psychiatric evaluation and treatment (average follow up of 14 months) in a HIV-dedicated primary-care outpatient clinic in the inner city. A global outcome measure (encompassing symptom relief, functioning, and HIV-risk behaviors), and a measure of abstinence from alcohol and illicit substances were used. Fifty percent of patients improved, with 19% "nearly well" at follow-up. Abstinence was achieved 48% of the time. Good compliance with treatment and the absence of injection drug use were the primary predictors of good outcomes. Of the compliant patients, 94% improved, with 45.7% being nearly well. Psychiatric treatment of HIV-infected patients is effective when located in the HIV primary-care setting and administered by a multidisciplinary team under the direction of a psychiatrist, using evidence-based interventions.

Adult↗

Analysis of locus heterogeneity in Waardenburg syndrome types 1 and 2 using highly informative microsatellite markers.

We performed linkage and locus heterogeneity analyses of Waardenburg syndrome (WS) types 1 and 2 using 9 DNA markers from 2q35-q37, including two highly polymorphic microsatellites very closely linked to the PAX3 candidate gene. None of 5 WS type 2 (WS2) families showed linkage to the PAX3 candidate region. We localized the marker D2S102 to less than 1 cM from PAX3 (lod = 33.7, theta = 0), but a complete absence of crossovers prevented determining whether it maps distal or proximal to PAX3. Study of 14 WS type 1 (WS1) families yielded a maximum lod score of 27.81 at PAX3, theta f = 0.010, theta = 0.007 assuming homogeneity. However, we found significant evidence of locus heterogeneity, with one family initially classified as WS1 unlinked to the PAX3 region. Reevaluation of the clinical features of this family revealed atypical morphology of inner canthi. This produced the appearance of dystopia canthorum and high W-index scores. While our one unlinked WS1 family exhibits atypical canthal morphology, our type 1 families with classic dystopia appear to be homogeneously linked to PAX3. These and other findings identify precautions that need to be addressed before using PAX3-linked markers for diagnostic purposes.

Chromosome Mapping↗