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Biomedical subjects

B Campbell

Publications and source records attributed to B Campbell.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Deglutitive aspiration in patients with tracheostomy: effect of tracheostomy on the duration of vocal cord closure.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Deglutitive aspiration in patients with tracheostomy has been attributed to impaired laryngeal movement, loss of protective laryngeal reflexes, and uncoordinated laryngeal closure. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of tracheostomy on the duration of deglutitive vocal cord closure. METHODS: Using concurrent videoendoscopy, respirography, and submental electromyography, deglutitive vocal cord closure and its temporal relationship with deglutitive apnea was compared between patients with tracheostomy and normal volunteers. RESULTS: Between-group comparison showed that the duration of vocal cord adduction/abduction in patients with tracheostomy was significantly shorter than that of normal volunteers (P < 0.05). Contrary to normal volunteers, in patients with tracheostomy, 5-mL water swallows significantly increased the duration of vocal cord adduction/abduction compared with that of dry swallows (P < 0.05). In addition, in patients with tracheostomy, deglutitive apnea and submental electromyography were not coordinated with vocal cord kinetics. CONCLUSIONS: Although the vocal cords close completely during swallowing in patients with tracheostomy, their duration of closure is significantly shorter compared with normal volunteers. Coordination of deglutitive vocal cord kinetics, apnea, and submental electromyography is altered in patients with tracheostomy. Contrary to normal controls, duration of deglutitive vocal cord closure in patients with tracheostomy is modified by the presence of liquid bolus.

Adult

Influenza and pneumococcal vaccination and tuberculin skin testing programs in long-term care facilities: where do we stand?

OBJECTIVE: 1) To compare policies and procedures for distribution of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines to long-term care facilities for the elderly in Canada, 2) to determine vaccination rates of residents and staff, and 3) to describe vaccination and tuberculin skin testing programs in these facilities. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey consisting of telephone interviews and a mailed questionnaire was conducted in the spring of 1991. Telephone interviews were conducted with provincial/territorial epidemiologists. The questionnaire was sent to all (N = 1.520) Canadian long-term care facilities for the elderly with > or = 25 beds. RESULTS: There were 1,270 responding facilities (84%). The mean overall influenza vaccination rate for residents was 78.5%. The mean vaccination rate was higher in those provinces in which the vaccine was paid for by the government (79% versus 71%; P = 0.002). Only 19% of facilities reported staff vaccination rates > 25%; rates again were higher in those provinces in which vaccine for staff was provided by the government. Pneumococcal vaccine was offered to residents in 12% of the facilities. The proportions of facilities with > 10% and > 75% of residents vaccinated were significantly higher in the provinces where the pneumococcal vaccine was recommended and paid for as compared with those where it was not (P < 0.001 for both). Tuberculin skin testing programs for residents existed in 360 long-term care facilities (28%) across the country. CONCLUSION: In 1990, the number of residents living in Canadian long-term care facilities who were vaccinated against influenza and Streptococcus pneumoniae was suboptimal. Staff influenza vaccination rates were very low across the country. Most facilities did not have a baseline tuberculin skin test status for their residents. Vaccination rates are higher in jurisdictions in which governments provide the vaccine without charge.

Bacterial Vaccines

Sublingual and oral morphine administration. Review and new findings.

Clinical reports rave about the efficacy of sublingual morphine, but most research data suggest that sublingual morphine lacks the necessary physical characteristics to be absorbed through sublingual tissues. This article clarifies these assertions by reviewing the clinical literature that supports sublingual administration, the theories relevant to sublingual morphine administration, and the pharmacokinetic research that supports or negates the benefit of this route. Recommendations for clinical nursing practice are provided to guide decision-making in care of patients with cancer pain.

Absorption

Testosterone and religiosity as predictors of sexual attitudes and activity among adolescent males: a biosocial model.

A biosocial model of the effects of early adolescent testosterone levels and religiosity on adolescent males' sexual attitudes and activity over a 3-year period was examined. Using panel data for approximately 100 boys who were 12.5/13.0 years old at study entry, significant additive effects of free testosterone and frequency of attendance at religious services were demonstrated on the transition to first intercourse and other aspects of sexual behaviour and attitudes. No interactive effects of the two predictors were found. Boys with higher free testosterone levels at study entry who never or infrequently attended religious services were the most sexually active and had the most permissive attitudes. Boys with lower free testosterone who attended services once a week or more were the least active and reported the least permissive attitudes. For some behaviours, differences between free testosterone/attendance groups increased over time, resulting in substantial behavioural differences by the final round of measurement 3 years later.

Adolescent

Sexual behaviour and HIV knowledge among adolescent boys in Zimbabwe.

A study on sexual behaviour and knowledge of HIV risk was undertaken amongst 511 male students in Zimbabwe. The study was conducted amongst pupils aged 11 to 19 years drawn from urban and rural secondary schools using a self-administered questionnaire. Thirty seven pc of the students reported that they had experienced sexual intercourse, with up to 63 pc reporting having had more than one partner. Twenty one pc of boys aged 12 years reported having had intercourse and the proportion increased with age. Knowledge about AIDS was high (93 pc) with up to 75 pc of the boys reporting that they received the information through the media and only 31 pc got it from their teachers. Logistic regression used to analyse reasons for variation in HIV/AIDS knowledge and of modes of its transmission determined that educational level, actual school attended, access to information from magazines and educational aspirations were significant predictors (p values = 0,005) of knowledge. Individual risk assessment was higher amongst students who reported sexual experience (p = 0,0001). Sixty pc of the sexually experienced boys reported having used condoms. Six pc of the boys reported having intercourse with a commercial sex worker and of these, 85 pc used condoms. Compared with previous studies there appeared to be a reduction in high risk behaviours amongst male secondary school students. However, there is need for increased HIV preventive information through school educational programmes, as increase and variation in HIV information and modes of transmission was seen depending on access to information.

Adolescent

Soft-tissue reconstruction of the oral cavity.

In our early experience with head and neck reconstruction, we evaluated our results mainly by the final contour of the mandible. With further experience, the bony reconstruction has become more and more accurate, and it is the intraoral soft-tissue reconstruction that poses the continued challenge. Better preoperative and postoperative evaluation will improve our operative planning, and our results will continue to improve. We must be able to compare our cases with those of other centers by appropriately categorizing deficits into specific structures removed to allow relevant comparison of results. We should no longer accept the simple view of the oral cavity deficit as a uniform soft-tissue loss that requires nothing more than closure. Nor can we continue to accept the evaluation of postoperative results of head and neck reconstruction by a simple external photograph; rather, this must be combined with a true visual and functional assessment of the oral cavity. In this way, the combined effort of head and neck surgeons will help to advance the cause of oral cavity reconstruction as rapidly as has occurred with reconstruction of the mandible.

Humans

Partial agonist activity of celiprolol.

Celiprolol given intravenously (i.v.) to pithed rats in the dose range of 0.1-10,000 micrograms/g produced a dose-dependent increase in heart rate (HR) which was greatest (123 beats/min) at 1,000-3,000 micrograms/kg. This partial agonist effect was blocked by the selective beta 1-adrenoceptor antagonist CGP 20712A. Celiprolol also produced a vasodepressor effect in this dose range which was abolished by the relatively selective beta 2-adrenoceptor antagonist ICI 118551 but not CGP 20712A. The magnitude of this intrinsic sympathomimetic activity (ISA) response was not significantly altered by reserpine pretreatment. Celiprolol also antagonised the effects of isoprenaline 0.05 microgram/kg on HR and blood pressure (BP). The beta 1 selectivity of celiprolol as an antagonist in pithed rats (beta 1/beta 2 = 340:1) was similar to that observed in studies with isolated guinea pig atria and trachea (beta 1/beta 2 = 63:1), both being considerably greater than that observed with atenolol. Celiprolol, however, like atenolol, potentiated the bronchoconstrictor responses to histamine (3 micrograms/kg). Metabolic studies of rats and human urine failed to show significant amounts of potentially vasoactive metabolites. These data are consistent with celiprolol acting as both a beta 1- and beta 2- adrenoceptor partial agonist.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists

Utility of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC Ag) as a tumour marker in pulmonary malignancy.

Squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC Ag), a recently developed tumour marker, has shown some promise, particularly in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix. To evaluate its usefulness in SCC of the lung, serum SCC Ag levels were measured in 52 patients with a variety of respiratory diseases (both benign and malignant), 17 patients with renal failure and 56 healthy controls. SCC Ag was elevated in 11 of 25 patients with SCC lung and one patient with a mixed adeno-squamous tumour, but in no patients with other malignancies or benign respiratory disease. SCC Ag levels appeared unrelated to either tumour stage or the degree of differentiation. False-positive results were noted in patients with renal failure, with six of eight patients with a plasma creatinine greater than 0.7 mmol l-1 having an elevated SCC Ag level. Because SCC Ag was highly specific in the presence of normal renal function, an elevated level would support early investigation of a patient with suspected pulmonary malignancy. The potential of SCC Ag in typing large cell lung carcinomas (where light microscopic features of SCC are uncertain) warrants further investigation.

Antigens, Neoplasm

Surveillance and control of infections in long-term care: the Canadian experience.

In 1980, the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Health Protection Branch, Department of National Health and Welfare Canada, established the Bureau of Infection Control in response to a growing need for an infection control resource at the national level. Until that time, there had been no federal programs in Canada for surveillance and control of infections in health care facilities. Initial efforts in the development of infection control programs focused on acute care facilities. In 1985, a specific need was identified to develop better surveillance and control of infections in long-term care facilities. Several national initiatives have been undertaken to meet this need, including the preparation and publication of an infection control guideline specifically for long-term care facilities, a national survey of Canadian long-term facilities, and the stimulation of research to evaluate new criteria for nosocomial infections in a selected number of Canadian long-term care facilities.

Aged

Study of human urinary metabolism of fenfluramine using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The metabolism of (+/-)fenfluramine, 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-2-N-ethylpropane, an anoretic agent, was investigated in humans. The analysis method was based on the use of ion-exchange resin extraction, solid-phase purification on the Bond Elut1M C8 cartridge, gradient elution high-performance liquid chromatography, enzymic hydrolysis of conjugates, further purification by Bond Elut C8 cartridge, derivatisation and capillary column gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). After administration of a 1 mg kg-1 oral dose, four metabolites plus unchanged fenfluramine were recovered in the 0-24 h urine from human volunteers and characterised by GC-MS. In the conjugated form, fenfluramine, norfenfluramine and m-trifluoromethylhippuric acid were detected by GC-MS. In the aglycone form, the major metabolite, 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-1,2-propane diol (fenfluramine diol), was monitored using GC-MS. The mass spectral characteristics of the m-trifluoromethylhippuric acid methyl ester, 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-1,2-propane ditrifluoracetate derivatives and the norfenfluramine and fenfluramine free base obtained under electron-impact ionization are presented. The metabolism of fenfluramine is discussed including a metabolic pathway in man accounting for the formation of its biotransformation products.

Biotransformation

Developmental constraints on the expression of behavioral and heart-rate orienting responses: I. The role of cardiosomatic coupling.

The ontogeny of behavioral and heart-rate orienting responses to a novel olfactory stimulus was examined in three experiments. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that behavioral responses to the olfactory stimulus were observed as early as Day 1, although heart-rate deceleration in response to the stimulus was not observed until Day 9. In Experiment 2, bradycardia was observed in 6-day-old pups if stimulus-elicited motor activity was reduced with haloperidol. Thus, the developmental asynchrony in the expression of behavioral and heart-rate orienting responses was due, at least in part, to cardiosomatic coupling in the very young animal. The results of Experiment 3 demonstrated that although cardiosomatic coupling interferes with the expression of the heart-rate orienting response very early in development, it has increasingly less impact over the course of the preweaning period.

Aging

Education programmes for infection control in Canada.

Formal educational programmes for infection control personnel in Canada are limited and most courses have been directed at infection control practitioners (ICPs). Most ICPs report that their preparation comes from in-post training. Although there have been several short, non-credit courses available in the past, the only course available for ICPs at the present time is an intensive 1-week course. Surveys of nurses and ICPs suggest that they prefer flexibly scheduled university credit courses which will not only prepare them for their positions but also enable them to meet entry-to-practice requirements as recommended by the board of the Canadian Nurses Association. The future development of courses for ICPs must endeavour to meet these needs. Moreover, the educational needs of physicians and other health professionals working in this field have not been well identified or addressed and it is clear that educational programmes must also be developed for these health professionals.

Canada

Measurement of skin dose in primary irradiation of maxillary sinus carcinoma.

Subcutaneous involvement frequently occurs in maxillary sinus carcinoma. Radical resection does not include removal of the skin at risk. In standard postoperative wedge-pair treatment plans, the surface dose is dependent upon beam weighting, beam energy, and patient contour. Thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) measurements were performed to evaluate the surface dose of patients undergoing postoperative irradiation of maxillary sinus carcinoma following primary resection. When 60 Gy was delivered to isocenter with a 45 degrees wedge pair and 6 MV photons with 1 cm bolus, the subcutaneous tissues at risk received approximately 30 Gy. Based upon presented TLD measurements, supplemental electron beam therapy to the subcutaneous tissues if primarily involved should be considered.

Aged