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Biomedical subjects

W Hansen

Publications and source records attributed to W Hansen.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Attempted suicide in Denmark. III. Assessment of repeated suicidal behaviour.

Ninety-nine patients, randomly chosen among hospital admitted suicide attempters, were initially interviewed at the Department of Psychiatry, Odense University Hospital, Denmark, and then followed up for a period of about 3 years. Half of the patients repeated the attempt in the follow-up period, mostly in the first year. Ten patients committed suicide, half of them in the first 3 months after the interview, shortly after discharge from hospital. The majority of the repeaters were living alone, while those that committed suicide were mostly married women aged 50-60 years. Other characteristic features for the repeaters were previous suicidal behaviour and suicidal behaviour among relatives. Many had a psychiatric record and expressed chronic somatic complaints. Around the time of the attempt, many expressed hopelessness, isolation and suicidal ideation. Pierce's Suicide Intent Scale performed poorly due, in particular, to low specificity. Future work will focus on objective risk factors, those indicated here and others, in order to establish an up-to-date background for assessment and management.

Adolescent↗

Genes required for completion of import of proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum in yeast.

Yeast secretory mutants sec53 and sec59 define a posttranslational stage in the penetration of glycoprotein precursors into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In the previous report we showed that at the restrictive temperature (37 degrees C) these mutants accumulate enzymatically inactive and incompletely glycosylated forms of the secretory enzyme invertase and the vacuolar enzyme carboxypeptidase Y. Cell fractionation experiments reveal that these precursor forms remain firmly bound to the ER membrane. However, upon return to the permissive temperature (24 degrees C), the invertase precursors are glycosylated, become partially active, and are secreted. Thermoreversible conversion does not require protein synthesis, but does require energy. In contrast to the effect of these mutations, inhibition of oligosaccharide synthesis with tunicamycin at 37 degrees C causes irreversible accumulation of unglycosylated invertase. The effect of the drug is exaggerated by high temperature since unglycosylated invertase synthesized in the presence of tunicamycin at 25 degrees C is secreted. A portion of the invertase polypeptide accumulated at 37 degrees C is preserved when membranes from sec53 and sec59 are treated with trypsin. In the presence of Triton X-100 or saponin, the invertase is degraded completely. The protected fragment appears to represent a portion of the invertase polypeptide that is embedded in or firmly associated with the ER membrane. This association may develop early during the synthesis of invertase, so that in the absence of translocation, some of the completed polypeptide chain remains exposed on the cytoplasmic surface of the ER.

Biological Transport↗

Isolation of Serratia ficaria from human clinical specimens.

Serratia ficaria was isolated from sputum in a 62-year-old man and from tracheal aspiration fluid in a 62-year-old woman with acute respiratory distress. These strains are the second and third isolations of S. ficaria from human sources. The case reports are presented, together with the laboratory findings and the biochemical activities of the isolates.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Detection of beta-glucuronidase in lactose-fermenting members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and its presence in bacterial urine cultures.

Four hundred strains of lactose-fermenting Enterobacteriaceae were tested for hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucopyranosiduronic acid, the chromogenic enzyme substrate of beta-glucuronidase. Escherichia coli was found to be homogeneous with respect to beta-glucuronidase: more than 94% of the examined E. coli strains were positive, whereas none of the other lactose-fermenting strains possessed beta-glucuronidase activity. The qualitative beta-glucuronidase test, as rapid and simple as the o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranosidase test, proved to be of diagnostic value, especially in the identification of E. coli in primary urine cultures. No significant differences were observed in the results of experiments in which either substrate-impregnated disks prepared in the laboratory or commercially available tablets were used.

Bacteriuria↗

Pseudomonas paucimobilis peritonitis in patients treated by peritoneal dialysis.

Pseudomonas paucimobilis has rarely been reported as an opportunistic human pathogen. We report the isolation of this organism in two patients who developed peritonitis during the course of intermittent or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. The origin of the infection was related to contamination of the dialysate in the first patient but could not be determined in the second case.

Adult↗

Invertase beta-galactosidase hybrid proteins fail to be transported from the endoplasmic reticulum in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The yeast SUC2 gene codes for the secreted enzyme invertase. A series of 16 different-sized gene fusions have been constructed between this yeast gene and the Escherichia coli lacZ gene, which codes for the cytoplasmic enzyme beta-galactosidase. Various amounts of SUC2 NH2-terminal coding sequence have been fused in frame to a constant COOH-terminal coding segment of the lacZ gene, resulting in the synthesis of hybrid invertase-beta-galactosidase proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The hybrid proteins exhibit beta-galactosidase activity, and they are recognized specifically by antisera directed against either invertase or beta-galactosidase. Expression of beta-galactosidase activity is regulated in a manner similar to that observed for invertase activity expressed from a wild-type SUC2 gene: repressed in high-glucose medium and derepressed in low-glucose medium. Unlike wild-type invertase, however, the invertase-beta-galactosidase hybrid proteins are not secreted. Rather, they appear to remain trapped at a very early stage of secretory protein transit: insertion into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The hybrid proteins appear only to have undergone core glycosylation, an ER process, and do not receive the additional glycosyl modifications that take place in the Golgi complex. Even those hybrid proteins containing only a short segment of invertase sequences at the NH2 terminus are glycosylated, suggesting that no extensive folding of the invertase polypeptide is required before initiation of transmembrane transfer. beta-Galactosidase activity expressed by the SUC2-lacZ gene fusions cofractionates on Percoll density gradients with ER marker enzymes and not with other organelles. In addition, the hybrid proteins are not accessible to cell-surface labeling by 125I. Accumulation of the invertase-beta-galactosidase hybrid proteins within the ER does not appear to confer a growth-defective phenotype to yeast cells. In this location, however, the hybrid proteins and the beta-galactosidase activity they exhibit could provide a useful biochemical tag for yeast ER membranes.

Biological Transport, Active↗

Targeted selection of recombinant clones through gene dosage effects.

The availability of multicopy plasmid vectors for the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae allows the selective amplification of individual segments of the genome. Increased dosage of particular genes results in overproduction of specific gene products and thereby confers resistance to certain metabolic inhibitors. Advantage was taken of this fact to isolate recombinant clones that increase the activities of the enzymes UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-1-P transferase and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase.

Cloning, Molecular↗

[Gas-phase chromatography in the rapid bacteriological diagnosis of infections. Contributions and limitations of this technic].

Gas-liquid chromatography has been used directly on clinical specimens as a method for presumptive diagnosis of anaerobic infections. This technique proved to be valuable and reliable. Combined with a Gram stain, it offers the possibility to differentiate in less than 1 hour aerobic from anaerobic infections by means of detection of volatile fatty acids (short chain monocarboxylic acids) others than acetic acid.

Bacteria, Anaerobic↗

[Herpes oesophagitis: cytological diagnosis of a rare viral disease (author's transl)].

During gastroscopy on a 75-year-old man because of bleeding from the upper gastro-intestinal tract, a white wallpaper-like covering was noted along the whole length of the oesophagus. Cytology of smears demonstrated typical cellular structure of Herpes, characterized by multinuclear cells with pale, flattened opaque glass-like nuclei. Subsequently the patient died of other organic complications.

Aged↗

[Renal transplantation and Salmonella typhimurium infection. Epidemiological study of lysotypes and biotypes (author's transl)].

During an 8-year period (1970-1977), 24 strains of Salmonella spp. were isolated in 24 renal transplant recipients. In 19 cases (79%) the infection had an unusual presentation (extradigestive focus or bacteraemia), and 15 of the offending strains belonged to the serotype typhimurium. During the same period 161 strains of Salmonella spp. were isolated in 159 adult patients admitted to units other than the renal transplantation unit; 52% of the infections presented as gastroenteritis, and S. typhimurium accounted for only 25% of unusual presentations. However, the lysotypes and biotypes of S. typhimurium were as diverse in the renal transplantation unit as in other hospital units. The study failed to demonstrate interhuman transmission of Salmonella spp. within the renal transplantation unit.

Adult↗