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Biomedical subjects

B Porter

Publications and source records attributed to B Porter.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Effects of a health activist course on knowledge and awareness of antibiotic use.

A cohort study investigated the specific outcomes of a health education coursed carried out by recently graduated physicians in an urban primary care setting in Israel. Questionnaires were used to study the effects of the programme on knowledge and awareness concerning antibiotic usage. The results showed a significant gain in knowledge about the causes of infectious disease, appropriate duration of antibiotic intake, side effects of antibiotics and the importance of compliance. In contrast with other studies, low income blue collar workers with less than high school education showed the most significant gains from the programme. Inexperienced physicians were able to implement a community health education programme with clearly defined goals.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1988

Comprehensive pediatric primary care vs traditional care in an Israeli population: their influence on pediatric emergency room use and hospitalization.

Emergency room (ER) utilization and hospitalization were studied as indicators of the impact of improvements in pediatric primary care services in an Israeli development town, Ofakim, population 12,000. One of the two pediatric services was upgraded in 1976 through the introduction of pediatric faculty, integration of preventive and curative services and conversion of the medical records to a problem-oriented format ("experimental" clinic "B"). The primary care system remained unchanged in the second clinic ("traditional" clinic "A"). During 1980, ER utilization by the "B" clinic population was 9.3/100 compared with 17.6/100 for the "A" clinic population. Fifty two percent of the "B" clinic population patients reaching the ER were hospitalized compared with 25% of "A" clinic patients. The lower ER utilization rate represents a significant saving for the health services, and educational interventions are suggested from the study. Analysis of ER utilization data seems to offer useful information for overall planning and monitoring of ambulatory services for a community.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Bile acids with a cyclopropyl-containing side chain. 3. Separation, identification, and properties of all four stereoisomers of 3 alpha,7 beta-dihydroxy-22,23-methylene-5 beta-cholan-24-oic acid.

3 alpha,7 beta-Dihydroxy-22,23-methylene-5 beta-cholan-24-oic acid (CUDCA) (2a), a side-chain cyclopropylog of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) was shown to be a mixture of four stereoisomers (CUDCA A-D). The 22S,23R, and 22R,23S diastereoisomers have been separated, their respective configurations assigned by 13C NMR spectroscopy, and original synthetic schemes for their preparation elaborated. Moreover, theoretical models of the structure of UDCA and CUDCA A-D were built by using molecular computer graphic techniques. It was shown that the four diastereoisomers greatly differ in hydrophilicity, in critical micellar concentration (CMC) in water, and exhibit a different interaction with intestinal bacterial enzymes. It was also shown that CUDCA A-C are not conjugated with glycine or taurine in the liver, while CUDCA D is secreted into bile predominantly as taurine and glycine conjugate.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Coccidioidomycosis in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Of 27 patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Tucson, Arizona, 7 had concurrent coccidioidomycosis. Early manifestations of infection in 6 patients included diffuse nodular pulmonary infiltrates and Coccidioides immitis in many extrathoracic sites. By comparison, a retrospective review of the cases of 300 patients hospitalized with coccidioidal infection identified only 13 patients without AIDS who had the same extent of infection, and only 3 of these patients had no immunosuppressing conditions. Antibodies for coccidioidal antigens at serum dilutions as high as 1:2048 were detected in 5 of the 7 patients with AIDS. Six had temporary responses to amphotericin B treatment, taken both alone and combined with ketoconazole, but all died within 14 months of their diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis. Because annual rates of coccidioidal infection in the Tucson area are 4% or less, the rate of 27% that we calculated, based on 7 patients having the infection during 26 years of risk for AIDS, suggests frequent reactivation of the infection or enhanced susceptibility to endemic exposure in persons with AIDS.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1986

Synthesis of a functional F0 sector of the Escherichia coli H+-ATPase does not require synthesis of the alpha or beta subunits of F1.

The uncB, E, F, and H genes of the Escherichia coli unc operon were cloned behind the lac promoter of plasmid pUC9, generating plasmid pBP101. These unc loci code, respectively, for the chi, omega, and psi subunits of the F0 sector and the delta subunit of the F1 sector of the H+-ATP synthase complex. Induction of expression of the four unc genes by the addition of isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside resulted in inhibition of growth. During isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside induction, the three subunits of F0 were integrated into the cytoplasmic membrane with a resultant increase in H+ permeability. A functional F0 was formed from plasmid pBP101 in a genetic background lacking all eight of the unc structural genes coding the F1F0 complex. In the unc deletion background, a reasonable correlation was observed between the amount of F0 incorporated into the membrane and the function measured, i.e., high-affinity binding of F1 and rate of F0-mediated H+ translocation. This correlation indicates that most or all of the F0 assembled in the membrane is active. Although the F0 assembled under these conditions binds F1, only partial restoration of NADH-dependent or ATP-dependent quenching of quinacrine fluorescence was observed with these membranes. Proteolysis of a fraction of the psi subunit may account for this partial deficiency. The experiments described demonstrate that a functional F0 can be assembled in vivo in E. coli strains lacking genes for the alpha, beta, gamma, and epsilon subunits of F1.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1985

Clinical competence of paediatric primary health care nurses in Soweto.

Primary health care (PHC) nurses provide care at polyclinics in Soweto. Our study assessed nurse competence in the clinical detection of important respiratory signs in 337 consecutive paediatric patients with respiratory complaints. The patients were then independently re-examined by two paediatricians, one of whom was arbitrarily chosen as a 'standard doctor'. The standard doctor found 95 patients with important respiratory signs; nurses detected the same signs in 45 and the other doctor in 44 patients. Therefore nurses detected important signs as well as could be expected, considering the inter-observer variation between doctors. The nurses did, however, significantly overdiagnose one condition, follicular tonsillitis. Our results suggest that the Soweto paediatric PHC nurses detect clinical signs with as much accuracy as doctors. This study adds to the available evidence that adequately trained and supervised nurse practitioners can provide high-quality health care.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1984

An outbreak of shigellosis in an ultra-orthodox Jewish community.

An outbreak of Shigellosis due to Shigella sonnei, S. flexnerii and S. boydii in an ultra-religious Jewish community in Southern Israel is described. The source of epidemic was traced to vegetables bought from a single source. The importance of epidemic and endemic modes of spread of Shigella is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Identification of a carrier by using Vi enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay serology in an outbreak of typhoid fever on an Indian reservation.

In May 1981 an outbreak of typhoid fever occurred in a small village on a southwestern United States Indian reservation. Five of the six culture-proven cases, but only 2 of 15 community, age-matched controls, had eaten food prepared for a party held in the village on 20 April (chi-square = 4.3; P less than 0.05). Food histories obtained from 16 persons who ate food at the party suggested that chicken with chili (P = 0.03) and potato salad (P = 0.09) were possible vehicles. Eleven adults who attended the party, 5 of whom helped prepare an implicated food, were studied with one or more stool cultures and serum for Vi antibody by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and hemagglutination techniques. All initial stool cultures were negative for Salmonella typhi; however, one subject, a 70-year-old female foodhandler, had a Vi antibody titer of 1:320 by ELISA. Subsequent cultures from this subject were positive for S. typhi. ELISA for Vi antibody directed the investigators to a single individual as the most probable carrier source and obviated the need for multiple fecal cultures from the other potential carriers identified by the epidemiological investigation.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Primary care pediatrics vs. family practice: a nonissue.

As in other areas of the world, in Israel there is an ongoing discussion about who should provide primary health care for children--the family physician or a pediatric specialist. Since the problem should be defined in terms of the health needs of the child, and not in terms of the social groupings of the medical profession, a primary care pediatric model, such as that established by the Health Sciences Center of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Ofakim, could serve as a prototype for comparison with family practice clinics to see which is closer to the needs of children.

Child↗
PubMed1982

A model for comparison of local anesthetics in man.

Ten patients scheduled for bilateral arm surgery were given general anesthesia plus, on one side, an axillary brachial plexus block. Ten additional patients scheduled for bilateral foot surgery were similarly given general anesthesia plus an ankle block on one side. A within-patient blind comparison of postoperative analgesia between blocked and unblocked side was performed. An additional 10 patients scheduled for bilateral foot surgery had one side blocked with lidocaine and the other side blocked with bupivacaine for comparison of postoperative analgesia. Postoperative analgesia recorded by a nurse observed was significantly better on the blocked side compared with the unblocked side. This difference was greater for ankle blocks. There were no differences between the analgesic measures for lidocaine and bupivacaine ankle blocks over the 6-hour study period.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

[Infantile rumination].

In a 3-month-old baby with recurrent vomiting, infantile rumination syndrome was diagnosed on the basis of the typical behavior, absence of any physical or radiological findings and failure of pharmacological treatment. The therapeutic approach, which consisted of daily visits to the clinic by the mother and effective psychological support by the pediatrician and the nurses, caused prompt improvement and indicated the importance of diagnosis and treatment in the ambulatory clinic.

Ambulatory Care↗