• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.249-254
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• 2014

Background: Delirium after cardiac surgery is associated with serious long-term negative outcomes and high costs. The aim of this study is to evaluate neurobehavioral, hemodynamic, and sedative characteristics of dexmedetomidine, compared with the current postoperative sedative protocol (remifentanil) in patients undergoing open heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Methods: One hundred and forty two eligible patients who underwent cardiac surgery on CPB between April 2012 and March 2013 were randomly divided into two groups. Patients received either dexmedetomidine (range, 0.2 to $0.8\;{\mu}g/kg/hr$; n=67) or remifentanil (range, 1,000 to $2,500\;{\mu}g/hr$, n=75). The primary end point was the prevalence of delirium estimated daily via the confusion assessment method for intensive care. Results: When the delirium incidence was compared with the dexmedetomidine group (6 of 67 patients, 8.96%) and the remifentanil group (17 of 75 patients, 22.67%) it was found to be significantly less in the dexmedetomidine group (p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between two groups in the extubation time, ICU stay, total hospital stay, and other postoperative complications including hemodynamic side effects. Conclusion: This preliminary study suggests that dexmedetomidine as a postoperative sedative agent is associated with significantly lower rates of delirium after cardiac surgery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.262-268
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• 2014

Background: The development of diagnostic techniques and an awareness of health examinations can bring about an early diagnosis of lung cancer. However, appropriate postoperative management and adjuvant chemotherapy remain under debate in postoperative therapeutic strategy. The present study was conducted to assess the clinicopathologic factors that influence recurrence and prognosis after complete resection of lung cancer. Methods: The present study analyzed 62 patients with lung cancer who underwent complete resection of diagnosed adenocarcinoma between 1994 and 2007. In addition to conventional factors, which include staging factor and histological evaluation, the present study also performed univariate and multivariate analyses to consider claudin, a cell adhesion molecule, as a prognostic factor by immunohistochemical staining. Results: There was no correlation between conventional factors, including lymphatic and vascular invasion, and recurrence. However, there was a significant correlation between high expression of claudin 4 and cancer recurrence. In particular, there was a correlation between high expressions of claudin 1, 4, and 5 and a reduction of disease-free survival. Conclusion: Increased expressions of claudin 4 were negative prognostic factors in adenocarcinoma of the lung and thus could be used to identify high-risk patients for adjuvant chemotherapy, even if they had early-stage lung cancer. The present findings collectively suggest that consideration of claudin as a prognostic factor in the active postoperative treatment in patients at high risk will lead to better therapeutic outcomes with fewer side effects.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.176-184
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• 2018

Purpose: Purpose of this study was to investigate relationships and influence of peripheral neuropathy, sleep, and quality of life in patients with gastric cancer who are receiving chemotherapy. Methods: Participants were 131 patients with gastric cancer being treated at a chemotherapy outpatient clinic and receiving chemotherapy. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis with the SPSS program. Results: Mean score for peripheral neuropathy was 24.66, for sleep, 6.71 and for quality of life, 67.69. Peripheral neuropathy had a significant positive correlation with sleep (r=.26, p=.003) and sleep had a significant negative correlation with quality of life (r=-.50, p<.001). The regression model explaining quality of patients'lives was significant (F=11.91, p<.001), peripheral neuropathy, sleep, and pain due to anticancer drugs and number ofneurotoxic anticancer drugs explained 25.1% of the variance in quality of life and sleep was the most important factor. Conclusion: To improve the quality of life for these patients, individualized nursing interventions for pain should be provided according to number of anticancer drugs in the chemotherapy. Also there is a need to identify ways to assess peripheral neuropathy and sleep disorders that are appropriate in the treatment and reduce side effects during treatment.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.974-982
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• 2019

Objective: Modern medicine offers no efficient way to clear colonization by vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). However, VRE decolonization needs to be cleared as soon as possible to prevent VRE transmission. This study reports six cases in which the duration of vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE) colonization was reduced by Bojungikki-tang-gami. Methods: Six inpatients with VRE colonization were administered Bojungikki-tang-gami and continuously followed up with cultures. After three negative stool cultures, the patients were declared cleared of VRE colonization. We recorded the duration of VRE colonization. Results: The duration of VRE colonization in the six patients was a mean of 58 days and a median of 45 days. This was shorter than the duration reported in most previous studies. No side effects were noted. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that Bojungikki-tang-gami might be effective in shortening the duration of VRE colonization.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2019

Going back to basics prior to mentioning the use of antipsychotics in patients with pain, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) definition of pain can be summarized as an unpleasant experience, composed of sensory experience caused by actual tissue damage and/or emotional experience caused by potential tissue damage. Less used than antidepressants, antipsychotics have also been used for treating this unpleasant experience as adjuvant analgesics without sufficient evidence from research. Because recently developed atypical antipsychotics reduce the adverse reactions of extrapyramidal symptoms, such as acute dystonia, pseudo-parkinsonism, akathisia, and tardive dyskinesia caused by typical antipsychotics, they are expected to be used more frequently in various painful conditions, while increasing the risk of metabolic syndromes (weight gain, diabetes, and dyslipidemia). Various antipsychotics have different neurotransmitter receptor affinities for dopamine (D), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), adrenergic (${\alpha}$), histamine (H), and muscarinic (M) receptors. Atypical antipsychotics antagonize transient, weak $D_2$ receptor bindings with strong binding to the $5-HT_{2A}$ receptor, while typical antipsychotics block long-lasting, tight $D_2$ receptor binding. On the contrary, antidepressants in the field of pain management also block the reuptake of similar receptors, mainly on the 5-HT and, next, on the norepinephrine, but rarely on the D receptors. Antipsychotics have been used for treating positive symptoms, such as delusion, hallucination, disorganized thought and behavior, perception disturbance, and inappropriate emotion, rather than the negative, cognitive, and affective symptoms of psychosis. Therefore, an antipsychotic may be prescribed in pain patients with positive symptoms of psychosis during or after controlling all sensory components.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2019

Microbial wound infection prolonged the hospitalization and increase the cost for wound management. Silver is commonly used as antimicrobial wound dressing. However, it causes several adverse side effects. Hence, this study was aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial efficiency of Swietenia macrophylla seed extract on clinical wound pathogens. Besides, the bioactive constituents of the seed extract were also determined. S. macrophylla seeds were extracted with methanol by maceration method. The seed extract inhibited 5 test bacteria and 1 yeast on disc diffusion assay. The antibacterial activity was broad spectrum, as the extract inhibited both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. On kill curve analysis, the antibacterial activity of the seed extract was concentration-dependent, the increase of extract concentration resulted in more reduction of bacterial growth. The extract also caused 99.9% growth reduction of Bacillus subtilis relative to control. A total of 21 compounds were detected in gas chromatography- mass spectrometry analysis. The predominant compounds present in the extract were oleic acid (18.56%) and linoleic acid (17.72%). In conclusion, the methanolic extract of S. macrophylla seeds exhibited significant antimicrobial activity on clinical wound pathogens. Further investigations should be conducted to purify other bioactive compounds from the seeds of S. macrophylla.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.337-353
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• 2021

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are widely employed in sensors, biomedical devices, optic sectors, and micro-accelerometers. New reinforcement materials such as carbon nanotubes as well as graphene platelets provide stiffer structures with controllable mechanical specifications by changing the graphene platelet features. This paper deals with buckling analyses of functionally graded graphene platelets micro plates with two piezoelectric layers subjected to external applied voltage. Governing equations are based on Kirchhoff plate theory assumptions beside the modified couple stress theory to incorporate the micro scale influences. A uniform temperature change and external electric field are regarded along the micro plate thickness. Moreover, an external in-plane mechanical load is uniformly distributed along the micro plate edges. The Hamilton's principle is employed to extract the governing equations. The material properties of each composite layer reinforced with graphene platelets of the considered micro plate are evaluated by the Halpin-Tsai micromechanical model. The governing equations are solved by the Navier's approach for the case of simply-supported boundary condition. The effects of the external applied voltage, the material length scale parameter, the thickness of the piezoelectric layers, the side, the length and the weight fraction of the graphene platelets as well as the graphene platelets distribution pattern on the critical buckling temperature change and on the critical buckling in-plane load are investigated. The outcomes illustrate the reduction of the thermal buckling strength independent of the graphene platelets distribution pattern while meanwhile the mechanical buckling strength is promoted. Furthermore, a negative voltage, -50 Volt, strengthens the micro plate stability against the thermal buckling occurrence about 9% while a positive voltage, 50 Volt, decreases the critical buckling load about 9% independent of the graphene platelet distribution pattern.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.268-277
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• 2021

Background: Most antipsychotic drugs studies have been mainly conducted on side effects, randomized clinical trials, utilization rates, and trends. But there have been few studies on the influencing factors in elderly patients. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influencing factors on the outpatient prescription of antipsychotic drugs in the elderly patients. Methods: Active ingredients of antipsychotic drugs in Korea were selected according to the Korean Pharmaceutical Information Center (KPIC)'s classification. Data source was Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) claims data in 2020 and target patient group was the elderly patient group. We extracted patients who have been prescribed one or more antipsychotic drugs and visited only one medical institution. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, t-test, negative binomial regression. Results: A number of outpatients were 245,197 and prescriptions were 1,379,092. Most characteristics of patients were 75-85 year's old, female, health insurance type, no disease (dementia, schizophrenia), atypical drugs, cci score (>2) and characteristics of medical institution were neurology in specialty, rural region, general hospitals. Results of regression showed that patient's characteristics and medical center characteristics had significant effect on the outpatient prescription of antipsychotic drugs in the elderly patients. Conclusion: This study suggests that national policy of antipsychotic drugs in the elderly patients, with the consideration of the patients' and medical institutions' characteristics, is needed.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.73-90
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Meat eaters face conflicts over meat consumption due to recent increasing demands for reduced-meat diets to promote human and environmental health. Attitudes toward consuming meat have been shown to be culture-specific. Thus, this study was performed to examine cultural differences in attitudes, beliefs, and patterns of meat consumption among meat eaters in a group homogeneous in terms of age and sex but with diverse ethnicities. SUBJECTS/METHODS: In this cross-sectional study conducted in New York City in 2014, 520 female meat eaters (Whites = 25%; Blacks = 20%; East Asians = 35%; Hispanics = 20%) aged 20-29 completed a questionnaire consisting of a series of questions on meat consumption behaviors, which addressed amounts of consumption, cooking methods, past and future changes in meat consumption, and attitudes and beliefs regarding relationships between health and meat consumption. Logistic and multiple regression analyses were used to assess the effects of variables on meat consumption. RESULTS: Blacks had the highest annual total meat consumption (64.2 kg), followed by East Asians (53.6 kg), Whites (46.9 kg), and Hispanics (35.8 kg). Blacks ate significantly more chicken than the other ethnic groups (P < 0.001), and East Asians ate significantly more pork and processed meat (P < 0.001). Regardless of ethnicity, grilling/roasting/broiling were the preferred cooking methods, and vegetables were most consumed as a side dish. More than half of the participants expressed an intention to decrease future meat consumption. East Asians more strongly perceived meat as a festive food (P < 0.001) and were less guilty about the slaughtering animals (P = 0.11) than other groups. No differences were found between the ethnic groups regarding negative attitudes to meat consumption. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that ethnicities differ in terms of attitudes, beliefs, and patterns of meat consumption. Irrespective of ethnicity, the meat-eating participants almost unanimously demonstrated a willingness to reduce future meat consumption. It is hoped these findings aid the formulation of culturally-tailored interventions that effectively reduce meat consumption.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.655-668
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• 2023

In radiography, an antiscatter grid is a well-known device for eliminating unexpected x-ray scatter. We investigate a new stationary grid artifact suppression method based on a nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) incorporated with Gaussian band-pass filtering. The proposed method has an advantage that extracts the Moiré components while minimizing the loss of image information and apply the prior information of Moiré component positions in multi-decomposition sub-band images. We implemented the proposed algorithm and performed a simulation and an experiment to demonstrate its viability. We did this experiment using an x-ray tube (M-113T, Varian, focal spot size: 0.1 mm), a flat-panel detector (ROSE-M Sensor, Aspenstate, pixel dimension: 3032 × 3800 pixels, pixel size: 0.076 mm), and carbon graphite-interspaced grids (JPI Healthcare, 18 cm × 24 cm, line density: 103 LP/inch and 150 LP/inch, ratio: 5:1, focal distance: 65 cm). Our results indicate that the proposed method successfully suppressed grid artifacts by reducing them without either reducing the spatial resolution or causing negative side effects. Consequently, we anticipate that the proposed method can improve image acquisition in a stationary grid x-ray system as well as in extended x-ray imaging.