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K Vernon

Publications and source records attributed to K Vernon.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Drug users talk about HIV testing: motivating and deterring factors.

Injection drug use plays a critical role in the spread of HIV/AIDS, with an estimated 19,000 drug users infected each year. Counselling and testing services can be an important gateway for engaging HIV-infected individuals into medical care and can positively influence the preventive behaviours of IDUs. This study seeks to document and understand the complexity and range of motivations and deterrents to HIV testing among IDUs. Participants were recruited using a convenience sampling method. Interviews consisted of a qualitative guide and a quantitative survey to collect HIV testing histories, sex and drug risk behaviours, and demographic information. Interview data was coded and content analyzed to identify emerging themes and clarify the processes that drug users employ in deciding whether or not to test. Sixty-six drug users were interviewed. The sample reported a median of four lifetime HIV tests. Participants described a range of motivating and deterring factors to HIV testing across personal, interpersonal and structural categories. Drug users' decision to test is influenced by a complex network of factors. Better understanding of these motivators and deterrents can help providers develop a more holistic approach to targeting this high-risk population for HIV prevention efforts.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Voices from the field: providers discuss HIV counseling and testing programs for drug users.

The use of illicit drugs plays a critical role in the spread of HIV, with approximately one-half of all new HIV infections in the United States attributed to this mode of transmission. There is a renewed emphasis on developing special HIV counseling and testing (C&T) programs for drug users. We conducted a qualitative study of C&T providers to identify client-centered and structural barriers to providing HIV C&T to high-risk drug users. Interviews focused on obtaining a detailed description of the services; successful and problematic forms of organization, financing, and service delivery; client access and barriers to C&T services; recommendations for increasing C&T accessibility and utilization by drug users; and linkages between C&T and other HIV-prevention and intervention services. The results of our interviews illustrate that it is tremendously complex and challenging work to provide C&T to populations with multiple and immediate needs within a context of layered constraints on individual behavior, provider resources, and service delivery. Providers clearly understand client-centered and structural barriers and have demonstrated a commitment to overcoming the barriers related to AIDS stigma, confidentiality, material needs, and fear when delivering HIV C&T services.

California↗
PubMed1998

A method for determining patient oral care skills: The University of Mississippi Oral Hygiene Index.

The plaque control record (O'Leary index) appears to be a commonly used oral hygiene index for assessing oral health skills. This index provides sufficient information for patient education; however, the time involved in data collection reduces its value. Most other indices limit the number of teeth and surfaces and function well for researchers, but are limited for patient education. A new oral hygiene index was developed based on the concepts of the Periodontal Screening and Recording (PSR). The highest score obtained in each buccal and lingual sextant is recorded. In addition, proximal and gingival plaque are noted separately. This study assesses the index for inter- and intrarater reliability and validity. Two calibrated hygienists examined 47 patients 3 times. The University of Mississippi Oral Hygiene Index (UM-OHI) was recorded for times 1 and 3, the O'Leary for time 2. There was a strong positive correlation between scores obtained for both hygienists for each method and repetition. The intrarater reliability was high for the 2 methods and also over time for the UM-OHI. Pearson's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.79 to 0.92. Paired t-tests used to compare scores for the 2 hygienists over time showed significant differences. Despite observer bias, these data seem to indicate that the UM-OHI has sufficient reliability and validity to be used as a health education teaching tool.

Calibration↗
PubMed1994

Microbes at work: micro-organisms, the D.S.I.R. and industry in Britain, 1900-1936.

The study of micro-organisms in Britain in the early twentieth century was dominated by medical concerns, with little support for non-medical research. This paper examines the way in which microbes came to have a place in industrial contexts in the 1920s and early 1930s. Their industrial capacity was only properly recognized during World War I, with the development of fermentation processes to make required organic chemicals. Post-war research sponsored by chemical and food industries and the D.S.I.R established the industrial significance of microbes. The primary focus here is the D.S.I.R. work which aimed to pull microbes away from medical concerns and promote the role of microbes in British industry.

Chemical Industry↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ultrastructural localization of Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA)-binding sites in human breast cancer cell lines and characterization of HPA-binding glycoproteins by western blotting.

Ultrastructurally, cells of five human breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, BT549, BT20, T47D, and HBL100) generally displayed many characteristics of their epithelial origin. The most distinctive features were observed in MCF7 cells, which consistently showed microvilli and submembranous granules. These ultrastructural findings served as a basis for localizing the binding sites of the lectin Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA). After use of the pre-embedding method consistent HPA labeling of the cell membrane was obtained in all the cell lines, and in association with microvilli and submembranous granules in the MCF7 cells. The HBL 100 cells were not labeled by HPA irrespective of the method used. In addition, lysates from these cell lines were subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting with HPA to analyze these binding sites further. In the Western blots, however, lysates of JBL100 cells, in common with all those from the other cell lines, revealed a number of HPA-reactive bands, indicating the greater sensitivity of Western blots compared with the histochemical preparation. The principal band was of approximately 90 kDa, and it was suggested that this could be related to the transferrin receptor.

Animals↗