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Biomedical subjects

F Walsh

Publications and source records attributed to F Walsh.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Anaesthetic management of a patient with familial normokalaemic periodic paralysis.

PURPOSE: We describe the anaesthetic management of a patient with the autosomal dominant inherited disease, normokalaemic periodic paralysis. The disease results in intermittent bouts of limb and respiratory muscular weakness in association with hypothermia, stress, prolonged fasting or exercise. Unlike hypokalaemic and hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis, the more common variants of the disease, normokalaemic periodic paralysis is not accompanied by alterations in the plasma potassium concentration. CLINICAL FEATURES: A five-year-old boy presented for emergency scrotal exploration. He had a family history of periodic paralysis and had experienced previous episodes of weakness, two of which had required hospitalization for respiratory distress. On admission there was no evidence of weakness and serum potassium concentration was 4.2 mMol.L-1. A spinal anaesthetic was performed and the procedure was uncomplicated by muscle paralysis above the level of the spinal block. CONCLUSION: Avoidance of known precipitating factors and judicious use of neuromuscular blocking drugs has been advocated in patients with this disorder presenting for surgery. In appropriate circumstances, spinal anaesthesia represents a useful option in patients with normokalaemic periodic paralysis.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1996

The concept of family resilience: crisis and challenge.

The concept of resilience, the ability to withstand and rebound from crisis and adversity, has valuable potential for research, intervention, and prevention approaches aiming to strengthen couples and families. Resilience has been viewed as residing within the individual, with the family often dismissed as dysfunctional This article advances a systemic view of resilience in ecological and developmental contexts and presents the concept of family resilience, attending to interactional processes over time that strengthen both individual and family hardiness. Extending our understanding of normal family functioning, the concept of family resilience offers a useful framework to identify and fortify key processes that enable families to surmount crises and persistent stresses. There are many pathways in relational resilience, varying to fit diverse family forms, psychosocial challenges, resources, and constraints. Shared beliefs and narratives that foster a sense of coherence, collaboration, competence, and confidence are vital in coping and mastery. Interventions to strengthen family resilience have timely relevance for weathering the rapid social changes and uncertainties facing families today.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Distribution and severity of onchocerciasis in southern Benin, Ghana and Togo.

The Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa has recently extended its operation in southern Benin, Ghana and Togo. To estimate the number of people infected and blinded by onchocerciasis and to describe the distribution and severity of the disease in the extension area, 99 villages were selected, using a stratified random sampling procedure, and surveyed. All the ecological and entomological information available was used in the sampling procedure and in the selection of 87 non-representative villages surveyed to confirm the findings. The study estimated that 590,468 people are infected and 11,715 blind from onchocerciasis out of a rural population of 1,878,234. The Pru, Asukawkaw and Mono river basins were areas with high risk of onchocercal blindness. The Oueme and Zou river basins in Benin and the mountainous areas between Ghana and Togo were classified as areas with medium risk of onchocercal blindness. The other parts of the study area presented low or no risk of onchocercal blindness. By detecting the river basins where villagers are at risk of onchocercal disease this study permits the selection of populations for disease control based on mass distribution of ivermectin, a microfilaricide.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

A gene specifying subunit VIII of human cytochrome c oxidase is localized to chromosome 11 and is expressed in both muscle and non-muscle tissues.

Subunit VIII of mammalian cytochrome c oxidase (COX; EC 1.9.3.1) exists in at least two isoforms, because different but related polypeptides have been identified in COX isolated from liver and heart of both beef and pig. We have isolated a full length cDNA specifying subunit VIII of human COX from a human liver cDNA library. Sequences hybridizing to this cDNA are present at only one site, the COX8 locus, on human chromosome 11q12-q13. The deduced human polypeptide is 58% identical with COX VIII isolated from beef liver, but only 38% identical with COX VIII isolated from beef heart. Transcriptional analysis shows that an mRNA identical with the isolated cDNA is present in abundant amounts not only in human and monkey liver tissue, but in heart and skeletal muscle as well, tissues not known previously to contain this isoform. Since the only COX VIII subunit found in human heart agrees 100% with the polypeptide deduced from this coxVIII cDNA, it may well be that, in distinction to other mammals, only one form of COX VIII exists in primates.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1986

Neuronal differentiation of cloned human teratoma cells in response to retinoic acid in vitro.

We have analysed immunocytochemically the differentiation in vitro of clones of the human teratoma cell line Tera-2. The proliferating stem cells expressed Thy-1 and N-CAM/D2-CAM antigens. On treatment with 5 X 10(-5) M retinoic acid in either monolayer or aggregate cultures they began to express receptors for tetanus toxin and McAb A2B5. Three weeks after initiating retinoic acid treatment, the cultures contained a variety of cell morphologies, including about 3% of cells with a neuron-like morphology. These cells were reactive with tetanus toxin, McAb A2B5, and antibodies against Thy-1 and N-CAM/D2-CAM. They also expressed 55 000 and 210 000 Da neurofilament subunits.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Monoclonal antibody to ganglioside GQ discriminates between haemopoietic cells and infiltrating neuroblastoma tumour cells in bone marrow.

An immunological approach has been sought for the identification of minimal metastatic spread of neuroblastoma to bone marrow. Here we describe the reactivity of the monoclonal antibody A2B5 to human neuroblastoma cell lines and fresh tumour tissue. This reagent, raised against chick retinal cells, reacts with all human neuroblastoma lines assayed although quantitative differences in antigenic expression exist between cultures. Analysis of tumour cells in heavily infiltrated bone marrow aspirates indicates that only 70% of the samples reacted with A2B5, suggesting that the heterogeneity seen in the expression of antigen on cell lines is paralleled in fresh tumour material. A2B5 showed no reactivity to either a panel of human leukaemic cell lines or normal human bone marrow, although reactivity to an occasional leukaemic marrow aspirate was detected. We suggest that A2B5 could form part of a panel of monoclonal reagents necessary for detecting metastatic spread of all neuroblastoma cells to bone marrow. Such a group of reagents may be useful therapeutically in a programmed of autologous bone marrow transplantation for the removal of tumour cells prior to reinfusion of haemopoietic cells to patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1981

Symbiosis and confirmation between the parents of the schizophrenic.

Parents of schizophrenics (N = 17) were compared with parents of nonschizophrenic hospitalized patients (N = 14) and parents of normals (N = 15) on the degree of symbiotic enmeshment and confirmation of individuality in the parental relationship. Symbiosis was divided into six component variables: undifferentiation, dependency, intervention, disapproval of other relationships, separation difficulty, and injunctions. Confirmation was bifurcated into acknowledgment and accommodation. Projective tests (TAT and Make-A-Picture-Story) and interviews were used to measure both variables. The results suggest that mothers of schizophrenics tend to be symbiotically attached to their husbands and view their husbands as forming the same type of attachment to them. Fathers of schizophrenics do not tend to be symbiotically involved with their wives but fail to confirm them. The implications of the results for the family system of the schizophrenic are discussed.

Fathers↗
PubMed1977

The nature of the symbiotic bond between mother and schizophrenic.

Based on objectively scored TAT stories and interviews measuring five aspects of symbiotic relationships, a group of schizophrenics and their mothers showed more evidence of being enmeshed in such a relationship than did both non-schizophrenic mental patients and a group of normals and their mothers.

Adolescent↗