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Biomedical subjects

F Kohler

Publications and source records attributed to F Kohler.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Inpatient quality assurance by local analysis of uniform data set data.

We constructed a data base in order to examine the profile of patients admitted to a 24 bed inpatient rehabilitation unit at Fairfield Hospital. Data were collected according to the Uniform Data Set for Medical Rehabilitation, and collated and analysed using the Clinical Reporting System database software and the Statistical Package for Interactive Data Analysis statistical software. Outcome data collected included the patients domicile before and after admission, the duration of stay, medical diagnoses before admission to and during the stay in the Rehabilitation Unit, as well as the Functional Independence Measure item scores at admission and discharge. Analysis of the first 100 patients in the data base indicated a duration of stay of 43 +/- 34 days with a right skew distribution. Scatter plots of age and duration of stay, and age and functional improvement showed no bias in the Unit concerning these parameters. The Wilcoxon rank sum test indicated a highly significant difference (P = 0) between entry and exit Functional Independence Measure scores, indicating that patients improved functionally in the unit. Eighty three patients returned home on discharge and only five required admission to a nursing home. With the data base, the course of patients whose performance lies outside the range of normal for the unit can be examined and factors identified which produce a prolonged stay or failure to progress.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Fumonisin, a toxin from the fungus Fusarium moniliforme sheld, blocks both the calcium current and the mechanical activity in frog atrial muscle.

The effects of fumonisin, a toxin isolated from the fungus Fusarium moniliforme sheld were studied on transmembrane potentials and currents of the frog heart muscle using the double sucrose gap technique. Fumonisin (280 microM) shortened the plateau duration of the action potential. Under voltage clamp conditions, fumonisin inhibited the Ca current. The block occurred without alteration of either the kinetic parameters or the apparent reversal potential of the current suggesting that the toxin blocked the maximal Ca conductance. Fumonisin reduced mainly the phasic component of the peak tension. The time to peak tension was unchanged whereas its relaxation phase was accelerated at positive membrane potentials suggesting that Na-Ca exchange was accelerated by fumonisin. Dose-response curves for the Ca current and the peak tension indicated half inhibition at about 100 microM fumonisin and a stoichiometric parameter of 1.7, suggesting that more than one toxin molecule interacted with the Ca channel. The data suggested that the effect of fumonisin on the Ca current and the tension might account for cardiac failure reported in animal intoxication by Fusarium moniliforme.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1991

[Coding problems in medical information in the framework of the medicalization of the hospital information system].

The authors review the difficulties presented by the description of medical data, on the basis of the french experience with the programme to medicalize the hospital information system. They explain the different steps in preparing a hospital discharge abstract, and the difficulties presented by each one. They particularly stress the phase of hierarchization in choosing the principal diagnosis. They propose some solutions to improve data quality and an approach based on medical practice patterns.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1989

Prognostic significance of peripheral blood S + G2/M phase size in adult acute non-lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood (PB) S + G2/M phase size was performed in 73 adult patients with untreated acute non-lymphoblastic leukaemia, to assess whether the results may correlate to response rate and patient prognosis. All patients were treated with the same induction chemotherapy regimen: ARA-C alone or in combination with an anthracycline antibiotic. Pretreatment PB S + G2/M phase size is significantly correlated to induction response rate (p less than 0.02), duration of response (p less than 0.02) and duration of survival. Patients with low PB S + G2/M phase size experience a longer survival, in patients over and below 50 yr (p less than 0.001). Lastly, early deaths tend to be more frequent in the high median age and high PB S + G2/M phase size group. Our study suggests that PB S + G2/M phase size has prognostic significance in obtaining response and duration of survival.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Endothelial morphometry and perforating keratoplasties].

50 corneal grafts were studied by specular microscopy. The endothelial cell morphology of the grafts was analysed by using a computerised image analysis system. The endothelial cell density decreased rapidly during the first three post-operative months (17%). It continued to decrease for the first year (52%, after which cell loss occurred at a slower rate (3% of the sample cell count per year). The coefficient of variation in cell area remained constant (27%). The percentage of endothelial cell loss might be closely associated with the reestablishment of the hexagonal cellular pattern. These results suggest that the endothelium of the graft is in a state of transition during the first year after surgery.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Evaluation of a screening test for urinary infection].

The interest of using a reagent strip (Multistix-8 SG, Ames, Miles Laboratories) as a screen for urinary tract infection was evaluated in a clinical study involving several sites and 2,183 adult urine specimens of which 340 were infected. The results are expressed in terms of sensitivity, specificity, predictive value of a negative and positive test. The predictive value of a negative test for nitrites in combination with leucocytes (97.5%) justifies the use of the reagent strip in eliminating non-infected urine.

Bacteriological Techniques↗
PubMed1987

[Computerized instrumentation in bacteriology. Application to the reading of antibiograms performed by the disk method].

Antibiotic sensitivity tests are often carried out by the disk method. We are presenting independent computerized system built around a microcomputer allowing a semi automatic input of the inhibitory diameters, thanks either to a mechanical calliper or, when an enlarger is used, with the help of a setting stick connected to the computer. The software allows the processing results.

Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted↗
PubMed1987

[Computerized data storage of antibiograms obtained by various methods (automatic reading by 2 different systems or manual processing by the disk method) and retrieval of antibiograms and cytobacteriological data using microcomputers].

This software is composed of different programmes. It works on Apple IIe computers. It enables to capture all the data information concerning bacteriological tests to store them and to edit either personnel reports or global lists made out according to different criteria and to study them under both the statistical or the epidemiological aspects. The results of the antibiotic sensitivity test are notified either by an automatic reader (ABAC or API system) when carried out in a liquid environment or by an original computerized device (compass or enlarger) when manually carried out by the disc method. The informations are directly transmitted to the computer. It's possible to make up a common data file that can be exploited as a whole.

Bacteriological Techniques↗
PubMed1986

[Contraception and informatics. SELF, a system to aid medical decisions applied to the prescription of contraceptive methods].

SELF (systeme en logique floue = system in soft discware), developed by the Computer Sciences Laboratory of the Faculté de Médecine in Nancy, is, by comparison to many systems of assistance in medical decisions already existing, a comprehensive and simple unit enabling the construction and modification of basic knowledge as well as its questioning. The first application of SELF concerned the field of gynecology, by producing a system of assistance applied to the prescription of a contraceptive method. The systematic use of this computer program along with the traditional prescription of a contraceptive method, was tested for three months in the Regional Maternity Hospital by several physicians in the Gynecology Clinic. The system was extremely well accepted and the responses have generated numerous discussions between physicians leading to an improvement of SELF and a better rationalization of the prescription. The medical and paramedical personnel in training at the hospital found SELF to be a teaching tool which, on the basis of simulated cases, permits an easier and more concrete explanation of the practical management in advising or prescribing a contraceptive method.

Contraceptive Agents, Female↗
PubMed1985

[Conception of a program for the treatment and statistical interrogation of data, LOGIST].

This paper presents a general program which cannot only be used for the treatment and the statistical interrogations, but also for basic operations, such as the validity check and the preparation of data which is often necessary for other programs. Its use of language is simple, suitable and accessible to non-specialists. The program is sufficiently complete so that it can treat some complex problems without requiring complementary programs. It can treat several problems simultaneously. This allows one to gain data-reading time and the program is therefore economical. Its domain of use is large: epidemiological studies, psychological and sociological investigations, biological studies, clinical research, chronological follow-up, examinations of faculties, . . . . The program is written in FORTRAN IV and thus transferable. It contains more than 25 000 instructions but needs limited place in the core memory (less than 64 000 words). Its structure allows further evolution and addition of new procedures or new methods. A transformation into a conversational form is considered.

Computers↗
PubMed1984

[The microcomputer in bacteriology. Value in the automated performance of antibiograms in hospitals].

In microbiology, most computerization is carried out by means of important centralized computers. On the contrary, our work is based upon the use of inexpensive microcomputers. We have developed general programs for the acquisition of data, their correction, and retrieval of lists arranged according to desired parameters (hospital department, germ, or sample) and various statistics, especially with respect to germ sensitivity. This system has been used on a routine basis since April 1982 in the Bacteriology Laboratory of Nancy University Hospital. It could easily be adapted to other laboratories and could provide a wide range of essential epidemiological data on the resistance of bacterial strains to antibiotics and their evolution with time.

Computers↗