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Biomedical subjects

D H Willard

Publications and source records attributed to D H Willard.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Communicating with the family of the child with a developmental disability.

As more and more families of handicapped children seek dental care, increased demands will be placed on the dentist and staff to communicate effectively and humanely, not only with the child but with the parents. Increased training is currently being provided through doctoral programs and continuing education to deal with special human needs of the patient and family in a dental setting. The dentist should address the thoughts and feelings of the parents as well as those of the child. The child and family present special problems but also special opportunities to fulfill professional responsibilities and experience personal and professional gratification.

Adolescent↗

Q factor analysis applied to describe attitudes toward dental care.

This study used a modified form of Q factor analysis to introduce students to methods to identify and describe patient and provider attitudes toward dental care. Factor analysis of questionnaire results and a person by person correlation matrix allowed students to compare their own attitudes with those of their patients, faculty, and significant people in their lives. Results indicate certain issues regarding dental care on which all subjects agree. Subjects grouped themselves along different factors according to the relative importance each issue had for them. By identifying these issues and groupings, students had a systematic description of their specific "dentist-patient relationship." By including clusters of people significant in their own lives, students became personally involved in the purpose, methods, and results of the analysis.

Attitude↗

Mutual expectations in the process of joining a dental health group.

Productivity can be seriously affected when new persons join an existing group and little or no attention is given to the process by which that person becomes a member of the group practice. Parallels can be drawn between organizational management and the functioning of the dental team. Observations were made of three clinicians who attempted to join an existing dental delivery group. There are some predictable phases through which the joiner passes to acceptance or lack of acceptance in an existing group. Recommendations for groups to consider before either hiring or training members of a dental health group are given.

Cooperative Behavior↗

Interactions of alpha-melanotropin and agouti on B16 melanoma cells: evidence for inverse agonism of agouti.

alpha-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH, alpha-melanotropin) and agouti control the switch between eumelanin and pheomelanin synthesis in mammalian melanocytes. Here we investigated interactions between alpha-MSH, agouti protein, cAMP elevating agents and phorbol ester on mouse B16 melanoma cells. Agouti (Kd 3.7 nmol/l) and alpha-MSH (Kd 2.3 nmol/l) had similar affinities to the MC1 melanocortin receptor. Both alpha-MSH and agouti induced MC1 receptor down-regulation. Agouti antagonized melanogenesis induced by alpha-MSH, forskolin, cholera toxin (CT), and pertussis toxin (PT). It also reduced the constitutive melanin formation of long-term cultures. Cell proliferation was inhibited by agouti (43% at 100 nM). This effect was reversed by alpha-MSH, forskolin, or CT. B16-G4F cells, a cell variant that lacks the MC1 receptor, did not respond to agouti. From these results we conclude that agouti shows the characteristics of an inverse agonist acting through the MC1 receptor.

Agouti Signaling Protein↗