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Biomedical subjects

J Galbraith

Publications and source records attributed to J Galbraith.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Sexual practices and intentions among preadolescent and early adolescent low-income urban African-Americans.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the sexual practices and the social and intrapersonal influences on sexual practices and intentions which have an impact on the risk for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome among pre- and early adolescent, low-income African-American youths. DESIGN: Cross-sectional cohort study conducted in nine recreation centers serving three public housing developments in an eastern city. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred fifty-one African-American youths 9 to 15 years of age. OUTCOME MEASURES: Past and intended sexual intercourse, and past and intended condom use determined by a risk assessment instrument delivered aurally and visually via a "talking" MacIntosh computer. RESULTS: The median age was 11 years; 35% of youths had had sexual intercourse and 20% of virgins thought it likely that they would become sexually active in the next six months. Age and male gender were correlated with sexual activity. Of sexually active youths 62% had used a condom during their last episode of coitus and 60% expected to do so at the next episode. Among sexually active youths, 24% of boys and 35% of girls had had anal intercourse. Rates of foreplay (nonpenetrative sex) were low even among sexually active youths. The median number of sexual partners in the past six months was two. Social influences from parents, peers, and partners in an intimate relationship were important for all four sexual outcomes both by univariate analysis and after logistic regression. IMPLICATIONS: A high percentage of the low-income, urban African-American pre- and early adolescents in this study are engaging or intending to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome reduction interventions for early adolescents should incorporate the importance of social influences from multiple sources.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

Drug trafficking among African-American early adolescents: prevalence, consequences, and associated behaviors and beliefs.

OBJECTIVE/METHODOLOGY: Drug trafficking by minority youths in low-income, urban areas has received considerable publicity from the mass media in the past half-decade. However, there has been corresponding little exposition of this problem in the medical literature. This review was undertaken to provide an overview of the epidemiology and consequences of drug trafficking among urban youths and to describe factors associated with drug trafficking. RESULTS: Existing data indicate that approximately 10% of male, urban, African-American early adolescents report having engaged in drug trafficking, with a higher percent of youths reporting having been asked to sell drugs and/or indicating that they expect to become involved in drug trafficking. Rates increase with advancing age. Reported rates of drug trafficking are comparable with rates of tobacco and alcohol use among early adolescents and are substantially higher than use rates of illegal drugs. Drug trafficking is associated with increased mortality, accounting for one third to one half of homicide-related deaths in some studies. The practice is also associated with other health-risk behaviors, including nonfatal violence, substance use, and incarceration. Perceived social pressures by family members and/or peers to engage in drug trafficking and the belief that a youth's wage-earning potential is limited to drug trafficking are highly correlated with involvement in this activity. CONCLUSIONS: Drug trafficking is a prevalent risk behavior among adolescents that has several negative health consequences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Salivary protein interactions with oral bacteria: an electrophoretic study.

The relatively low levels of human salivary proteins in whole saliva as compared to the ductal secretions may be related to their interaction with oral bacteria. These interactions are thought to play an important role in the microbial colonisation of the mouth, and salivary proteins adsorbed to oral surfaces have been implicated in adherence. In this study we attempted to investigate the prevalence of interactive strains by screening a range of oral bacteria. Parotid saliva was incubated with bacterial suspensions and consequent alterations to the salivary protein profile determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). A number of salivary components were found to be preferentially removed, particularly by those species known to be primary colonizers of clean tooth surfaces.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Perceptions of vaccine efficacy, illness, and health among inner-city parents.

A resurgence of measles in the past decade has focused attention on the limitations of current immunization programs, particularly for inner-city, low-income populations. As part of a larger study of immunization rates, we discussed perceptions of disease severity and vaccine efficacy, as well as the prioritization of the tasks of parenthood, with 40 parents of infants living in inner-city Baltimore to discover their beliefs about immunization. Vaccines were considered only partly successful; susceptibility to chickenpox after vaccination was repeatedly cited as evidence of vaccine failure. Fever was seen as a primary indicator of illness; thus, vaccines were believed to cause, rather than prevent, illness. Immunization was not considered a high-priority parental responsibility. These findings suggest future interventions be aimed at changing parental perceptions of vaccines as ineffective and of fever after immunization as an indicator of illness. Finally, immunizations should be made easily available, even during clinic visits for a child's illness.

Baltimore↗
PubMed1993

Urban adolescent high-risk sexual behavior: corroboration of focus group discussions through pile-sorting. The AIDS Youth Research Team.

Risk activities for acquisition of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remain prevalent among urban adolescents. While interdisciplinary approaches to examine the variables contributing to risk/protective behaviors have been promoted, strategies for such explorations require further formulation. Recently we employed focus group discussions to explore factors placing urban adolescents at risk for engaging in HIV risk behaviors. The focus group format enables substantial interaction on a topic in a limited time period, but does not always provide expression of the full range of behavioral options. In this study we investigated the use of pile-sorts for confirmation of impressions from focus group discussions among 57 urban youths aged 10-14. The pile-sorts revealed some support for most of the views expressed in the group discussions. However, the sorts revealed more variability in views than was expressed in the group discussions. Substantial gender and age-based differences in perceptions were revealed with potentially important intervention implications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Early initiation of sex and its lack of association with risk behaviors among adolescent African-Americans.

OBJECTIVE: High rates of adolescent homicide, pregnancy, substance abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases underscore the importance of interventions designed to reduce problem behaviors. However, the definition of "problem" behavior and the association with other activities may change between youth cultures. Therefore, greater attention to defining the "problem" behaviors to be targeted will permit more effective utilization of primary vs secondary intervention strategies and identification of high-risk individuals. DESIGN: Two studies of African-American adolescents regarding sexual intercourse, school truancy, substance abuse, and drug trafficking are presented. The first study involved 57 youths (10 to 14 years of age) from a pediatric primary health center and gathered data through pile-sorting. The second study of 300 youths (9 to 15 years of age) from six public housing sites used a questionnaire administered by a "talking" computer. Both studies assessed different self-reported behaviors, feelings about engaging in specific behaviors, and perceptions of friends' behaviors. RESULTS: While 40% of subjects reported having had sex, substantially smaller proportions reported school truancy (14%), illicit drug use (2% to 6%), or drug trafficking (6%). Analyses of reported behaviors, feelings, and perceived peer norms revealed that sex was consistently depicted as forming a different domain from other problem behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that rely on primary prevention strategies for sexual intercourse and that identify sexually active youths as at risk for problem behaviors may not be appropriate for African-American adolescents growing up in resource-depleted urban areas.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis caused by Xylohypha bantiana, with a review of the literature.

A 76-year-old male with chief complaints of back and right leg sciatica was hospitalized. His abdominal CT scan revealed lumber spondylitic stenosis. A laminectomy was performed. Postoperatively, he became febrile, aphasic and had grand mal seizure. A left craniotomy of the front abscess, seen in the CT scan, was performed. H and E stained smears of drainage revealed dematiaceous, septate hyphae. Cultures of the abscess drainage grew an olivaceous-grey fungus. Based on macro- and micro-morphological characters, growth at 42 degrees C, and exoantigenic analysis, the patient's fungus was identified as Xylohypha bantiana. Treatment with amphotericin B and 5-fluorocytosine was initiated. Despite surgical procedures and antifungal therapy, the patient's condition deteriorated and he died a few weeks later due to cerebral edema. The case reported here is the first microscopically, culturally, histopathologically and exoantigenically proven case of phaeohyphomycosis caused by X. bantiana in the province of Alberta and from Canada. A review of the literature on cases of X. bantiana infections has also been presented.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Leader with a cause.

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American Dental Association↗
PubMed1991

Going home.

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California↗
PubMed1980

Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography using the Chiba needle: comparison with retrograde pancreatocholecystography.

We have reviewed 103 consecutive percutaneous transhepatic cholangiograms (PTC). Although 70% of these examinations were performed by inexperienced radiologists, the success rate for entering bile ducts (overall 87.4%; in obstruction 98.5%; in nonobstructed cases 65.7%) and the complication rate (12.6%) is similar to that reported in large series by experienced workers. While examiner expertise therefore apparently has little or no influence on the success rate of PTC, the reverse is true for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Here the success rate is directly proportional and the complication rate inversely proportional to examiner experience. Since PTC is easier to perform and is more accurate and much less time-consuming and costly than ERCP, it should be the method of choice in the differentiation of obstructive and parenchymal jaundice.

Biliary Tract Diseases↗