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Biomedical subjects

L Norman

Publications and source records attributed to L Norman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

In vitro activity of fluoroquinolones, azithromycin and doxycycline against chlamydia trachomatis cultured from men with chronic lower urinary tract symptoms.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about chlamydia survival in the presence of fluoroquinolones in patients with chronic prostatitis syndrome (CPS). In vitro activities of four fluoroquinolones, azithromycin and doxycycline against C. trachomatis in patients with CPS being not treated with antibiotics earlier were investigated and compared. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Chlamydia survival in 304 patients with CPS being not treated with antibiotics earlier was analysed and compared. Infection by C. trachomatis was determined in the urethra and expressed prostatic secretion by cell culture test. RESULTS: Azithromycin and ofloxacin were found to be the most active antichlamydial agent with ciprofloxacin and doxycycline being least active. CONCLUSION: Ofloxacin can be recommended as the primary drug in the treatment of chlamydia-infected patients with CPS. The decision on the prescription of other fluoroquinolones should be made individually. The investigation of chlamydia survival in the presence of antibiotics in patients with CPS and C. trachomatis prior to treatment is recommended.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Azithromycin treatment follow-up: antibacterial susceptibility of Chlamydia trachomatis in patients with chronic prostatitis.

The antibacterial susceptibility of Chlamydia trachomatis in 138 patients with chronic prostatitis (CP) and clinical failures after antibacterial treatment with azithromycin (AZI) were investigated. Azithromycin was not found to be top-of-the-line drug in the follow-up treatment, showing only average results in vitro. The investigation of the susceptibility of chlamydia to antibiotics in causes of chronic prostatitis is highly recommended.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2000

Continuous self-improvement: systems thinking in a personal context.

BACKGROUND: Continuous quality improvement (CQI) thinking and tools have broad applicability to improving people's lives--in continuous self-improvement (CSI). Examples include weight loss, weight gain, increasing exercise time, and improving relationship with spouse. In addition, change agents, who support and facilitate organizational efforts, can use CSI to help employees understand steps in CQI. A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH: Team members should be involved in both the definition of the problem and the search for the solution. How do everyday processes and routines affect the habit that needs to change? What are the precursors of the event? Clients list possible solutions, prioritize them, and pilot test the items selected. One needs to change the daily routines until the desired behavior is accomplished habitually and with little external decision. DISCUSSION: CSI is successful because of its emphasis on habits embedded in personal processes. CSI organizes support from process owners, buddies, and coaches, and encourages regular measurement, multiple small improvement cycles, and public reporting.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1998

The role of the family system in HIV risk reduction: youths with hemophilia and HIV infection and their parents. Adolescent Hemophilia Behavioral Intervention Evaluation Project (HBIEP) Study Group.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between family communication and HIV risk reduction behaviors among a multisite sample of 125 male youths (ages 12-25) with hemophilia and HIV- infection, as well as their parents. METHODS: Participants completed self-report surveys assessing communication and attitudes regarding HIV risk reduction interventions; adolescents also provided data about their sexual behaviors. RESULTS: Adolescents with parents who discuss sexual issues were more likely to report HIV status disclosure to sexual partners. Most parents were supportive of HIV risk reduction interventions for their adolescents, but the youths themselves tended to endorse only interventions that offered opportunities for recreational activities and socialization with peers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are discussed in terms of intervention implications and the need for family systems-based programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Collaborating for improvement in health professions education.

Continual improvement efforts have been slower in health professions education than in health care delivery. This article identifies the lessons learned by teams working in an Interdisciplinary Professional Education Collaborative in overcoming barriers to carrying out continual improvement efforts in these educational organizations.

Competency-Based Education↗
PubMed1997

Rosai-Dorfman disease presenting as a parotid mass.

Sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (SHML) is a rare, benign disease of unknown aetiology. This disease typically presents with massive, painless cervical lymphadenopathy but may occur in a wide variety of extranodal sites. Our report describes a 71-year-old man who presented with a discrete, unilateral parotid mass which was clinically suggestive of a primary salivary gland tumour. Initial cytological examination of a fine needle aspirate specimen taken from the mass demonstrated a discohesive cell population with nuclear atypia, raising the possibility of malignancy. However, excision of the mass and histological examination enabled a definitive diagnosis to be made.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Working from upstream to improve health care: the IHI interdisciplinary professional education collaborative.

BACKGROUND: Recognizing the need to find new models for educating health professionals, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) initiated the Interdisciplinary Professional Education Collaborative in April 1994. The goal of the Collaborative is to improve health care by working from upstream, to address the health professions workforce changes demanded by the need to deliver better care at a lower cost. With support and advice from IHI and others, faculty leaders in health professions education from the disciplines of medicine, nursing, and health administration framed a vision of the future in which "health professions education has evolved into an integrated teaching/learning environment in which health professionals are working together across discipline boundaries, using the best knowledge for improvement to continuously improve health care". This article describes the first year of the three-year project. SUMMARY: The 1994-1995 pilot year of the Collaborative involved more than 60 learners and 50 faculty members, across multiple disciplines. At each of the four sites, education was integrated with efforts to improve health care delivery. Education-oriented outcomes include assessment of student learning (applied knowledge and skills) and program evaluation (student and faculty feedback on the effect of the project on community-based experiential learning sites). Even at this early stage, there is evidence of change in participating institutions. The Collaborative in now planning how to increase the number of students and faculty involved in such a way that a deeper understanding of how to prepare new health professionals to improve health care may be determined.

Academies and Institutes↗
PubMed1995

Health care reform and managed care: challenges for nursing education.

The future of nursing education is inextricably linked to structural changes in the health care delivery system, changes brought about by health care reform, integrated health care delivery systems, and the use of "managed care." Multiple entry points to nursing education cause overlap in skills of graduates and result in rework. This article discusses this problem, the impact of the changing job market and case management on nursing education, and two new emerging advanced practice roles: the primary care nurse practitioner and the acute care nurse practitioner.

Case Management↗
PubMed1992

Lack of effect of relaxin on oxytocin output from the porcine neural lobe in vitro or in lactating sows in vivo.

Oxytocin was measured in incubates and perifusates of neurosecretosomes prepared from sow neural lobes (n = 50) and in incubates of isolated neural lobes (n = 5). In none of these preparations was oxytocin output affected by exposure to purified porcine relaxin (at concentrations up to 10(-7) mol l-1). Moreover, in lactating sows (n = 9), 6-10 days post partum, the administration of porcine relaxin (1.5 or 3.0 mg) intravenously, immediately before a suckling episode, did not affect the plasma oxytocin profile compared with saline treatments (within sow) nor did it alter suckling behaviour or the weight gain of the litter. In all sows, a spike (25-75 pg ml-1) of oxytocin was measured during milk ejection coincident with suckling. These results suggest that porcine relaxin does not affect oxytocin release in suckling sows in contrast to reported findings in rats. The data also support the view that porcine relaxin could be used at farrowing without adverse effects on suckling.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

The serologic response of hamsters to experimental liver inoculations with Entamoeba histolytica as measured by indirect hemagglutination test and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.

Results of testing 298 sera from hamsters inoculated in the liver with Entamoeba histolytica and from 25 uninoculated controls by indirect hemagglutination (IHA) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that measurable amounts of antibody appeared as early as 5 days after inoculation, generally increased to a high level within 20 days, and persisted for the duration of the experiments (58 days). There was fair correlation between size of liver lesion and titers. Strain differences in amebae used for antigen and for inoculation could not be detected by either test. The IHA test appeared to be very sensitive, and titers of 1:16 and above were specific. With the ELISA technique, it was tentatively concluded that titers of 1:32 were specific for anti-amebic antibodies but only those of 1:128 and above were indicative of liver infections in the experimentally infected hamsters.

Amebiasis↗
PubMed1977

The laboratory diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

In the diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii infection in man, rather exacting methods of staining must be used for the organism to be visualized in lung tissue. Techniques for sample collection, which range from open lung biopsy to endobronchial brush methods or collection of sputum, are discussed. Recent advances in the serologic diagnosis and in the culture of the organism are also covered.

Biopsy, Needle↗