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Biomedical subjects

S Newell

Publications and source records attributed to S Newell.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

A potential new technique for awake fibreoptic bronchoscopy--use of the laryngeal mask airway.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the potential use of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) for awake diagnostic fibreoptic bronchoscopy. DESIGN: A prospective study of 50 patients presenting for awake diagnostic bronchoscopy. All patients were premedicated with pethidine and atropine. The LMA was inserted under topical anaesthesia with sedation and the quality of the subsequent laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy was assessed for both patient and bronchoscopist. SETTING AND PATIENTS: All patients over the age of 18 years who presented to Cairns Base Hospital for diagnostic bronchoscopy were asked to participate in the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main factors determining the suitability of the technique were insertion rate, ease of the laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy, oxygen saturation and patient acceptance. RESULTS: The LMA was inserted successfully in all patients and the bronchoscopy subsequently performed. The first time insertion rate was 72%. The mean oxygen saturation during the procedure was 98% and patients tolerated the technique. CONCLUSIONS: The potential advantages of the LMA are that it is simple to insert, avoids nasal trauma and facilitates direct laryngoscopy. It allows respiration to be monitored and oxygen to be administered. The technique may have a role to play in patients whose respiratory function is in a critical condition, but confirmation of this awaits comparative trials. A period of training is recommended in anaesthetised patients before the LMA is used for awake diagnostic bronchoscopy.

Anesthesia, Local↗

Processing changes across reading encounters.

Five experiments examined changes in the processing of a text across reading encounters. Experiment 1 showed that reading speed increased systematically across encounters, with no loss in the extensiveness of analyses of the printed text, as indicated by the ability to detect nonword errors embedded within that passage. Experiment 2 replicated this improved reading fluency with experience and showed that it occurred even with typescript changes across trials, thus indicating that a primed visual operations explanation cannot account for the effect. The third and fourth experiments then extended the study of the familiarity effect to higher level processing, as indicated by the detection of word errors. Familiarity facilitated the detection of these violations at the syntactic-semantic levels. Finally, Experiment 5 showed that these higher level violations continued to be well detected over a series of reading encounters with the same text. The results indicate that prior experience improves reading speed, with no attenuation of analysis of the printed words or of the passage's message.

Adolescent↗

The public's perceptions and misperceptions of arthritis.

A telephone survey of a random sample of 300 respondents indicated that the respondents relied mainly on the mass media for their information about arthritis. Almost half of the respondents believed arthritis could be caused by "poor diet" or "cold, wet climates." Furthermore, quack or unproven "treatment" for arthritis, such as bee venom (83%), vitamins (76%), copper bracelets (74%), special diets (57%), and DMSO (54%) were all supported by more than half of the respondents. However, a followup to the random survey, using only diagnosed arthritis patients as respondents, did not reveal as high a level of actual use of unproven treatments. Numerous factors were found which imply that the lay public is not as well informed about arthritis as arthritis patients are, and that sustained, community-wide educational efforts about arthritis are greatly needed.

Arthritis↗

Most cited authors and publications in health education journals for 1970-79.

This study attempted to answer the following questions about the journals Health Education, Health Education Monographs and the Journal of School Health. What authors have been cited the most in health education journals during the decade of the 70s? What authors have been cited the most in each health education journal? What articles and books have been the most cited in health education journals? What have been the most cited articles and books in each health education journal? It was found that the most cited author was L. W. Green, the most cited articles were L. W. Green "Toward Cost-Benefit Evaluations of Health Education: Some Concepts, Methods and Examples." Health Education Monographs and S. V. Kasl "Health Behavior, Illness Behavior and Sick-Role Behavior." Archives of Environmental Health and the most cited books was School Health Education Study, Health Education: A Conceptual Approach to Curriculum Design. Most cited authors, articles and books varied across the three journals.

Authorship↗

Hemolytic and antigenic measurements of complement. A comparison of serum and plasma samples in normal individuals and patients.

Over a 2-year period we evaluated 10 patients with a discrepancy between functional and antigenic assays in the routinely employed clinical assays for measuring serum complement concentrations. These differences were shown to be secondary to cold-dependent activation of the classical complement pathway in vitro, in some cases by cryoglobulins and in others by unknown means. Plasma samples were procured with commonly used anticoagulants (EDTA, citrate, or heparin) that prevent in vitro complement activation. To assess whether plasma samples were suitable for complement determination, a comparison of serum vs. plasma samples for THC, C4, C2, C3, factor B, and C6 levels in normals and patient populations was undertaken. Only modest differences were found between serum and plasma samples for these functional and antigenic assays except for heparinized samples in which determinations by rate nephelometry produced falsely elevated C4, C3, and factor B antigenic levels. Thus plasma samples, especially EDTA or citrate, are suitable for complement determinations and could be used either routinely or, more selectively, in patients in whom there is a discrepancy between functional and antigenic determinations.

Adult↗