No abstract available.
Blood Platelets*

No abstract available.
Activities of Daily Living* ; Humans ; Stroke*

BACKGROUND: Epidural buprenorphine provides good pain relief after Cesarean section, but is often associated with nausea and vomiting. Ondansetron, a selective 5-hydroxytryptamine 3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonist, is known to prevent and treat emesis after chemotherapy in cancer patients and after general anesthesia. The purpose of this study was to compare the prophylactic antiemetic effect of ondansetron and metoclopramide on nausea and vomiting after epidural buprenorphine. METHODS: Sixty women undergoing Cesarean section were studied. The patients were given subarachnoid injections of 0.5% tetracaine 9 mg and were inserted with epidural catheters for postoperative pain control. Prior to closure of the peritoneum, we injected a mixture of buprenorphine and bupivacaine through the epidural catheters and gave intravenous boluses of saline 6 ml, metoclopramide 10 mg and ondansetron 4 mg randomly. The incidence of nausea and vomiting and the degree of satisfaction were evaluated until 24 hr after the injection of epidural buprenorphine. RESULTS: The number of patients who became nauseated or vomited did not differ significantly between the ondansetron group and the metoclopramide group. Also, subjective ratings of satisfaction and incidence of other side effects did not differ significantly between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Ondansetron, administered intravenously, prevented postoperative nausea and vomiting associated with epidural buprenorphine equally as well as metoclopramide.
Anesthesia, General ; Antiemetics* ; Bupivacaine ; Buprenorphine* ; Catheters ; Cesarean Section ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Metoclopramide* ; Nausea* ; Ondansetron* ; Pain, Postoperative ; Peritoneum ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Pregnancy ; Serotonin ; Tetracaine ; Vomiting*

BACKGROUND: Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common liver tumor and the main cause of cancer-related death. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as imatinib and GNF5 which were developed to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia, regulate the progression of various cancers. The aim of this study was to confirm the anti-tumor activity of tyrosine kinase inhibitors through regulation of S-phase kinase-associated protein 2 (Skp2), an important oncogenic factor in various cancer cells, in human hepatocarcinoma SK-HEP1 cells. METHODS: Cell viability and colony formation assays were conducted to evaluate the effects of imatinib, GNF5 and GNF2 on the growth of SK-HEP1 cells. Using immunoblot analysis, we assessed change of the activation of caspases, PARP, Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinases, and Skp2/p27/p21 pathway by imatinib and GNF5 in SK-HEP1 cells. Using sh-Skp2 HCC cells, the role of Skp2 in the effects of imatinib and GNF5 was evaluated. RESULTS: Imatinib and GNF5 significantly inhibited the growth of SK-HEP1 cells. Treatment of imatinib and GNF5 decreased Skp2 expression and Akt phosphorylation, and increased the expression of p27, p21, and active-caspases in SK-HEP1 cells. In sh-Skp2 HCC cells, cell growth and the expression of Skp2 were inhibited by more than in the mock group treated with imatinib and GNF5. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the anti-growth activity of tyrosine kinase inhibitors may be associated with the regulation of p27/p21 and caspases through Skp2 blockage in HCC cells.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Caspases ; Cell Survival ; Humans ; Imatinib Mesylate ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; Liver ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Phosphorylation ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases

The original version of this article contained error in the Figure 1.

BACKGROUND: Midazolam relaxes airway smooth muscle. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of flumazenil or verapamil on the relaxation effects of midazolam in tracheal smooth muscle of guinea pig. METHODS: After isolating guinea-pig tracheal preparations, the maximal tracheal tones were induced by 2 10(-7) M carbachol. When tracheal tones stabilized, midazolam was added cumulatively (10(-6), 3 10(-6), 10(-5), 3 10(-5), 10(-4) M, n=14) with or without flumazenil (10(-6) M, n=15) and verapamil (10(-5) M, n=13) to obtain the concentration-relaxation curves, and then the ED50 and ED95 calculated. RESULTS: Midazolam decreased maximal tracheal smooth muscle tones in concentration-dependent manners. Pretreatment with flumazenil had no effect on the midazolam-induced relaxation. Verapamil enhanced the relaxation effect of midazolam. CONCLUSIONS: Midazolam relaxes airway smooth muscle and has synergistic effect with calcium channel blocker, verapamil.
Animals ; Calcium Channels ; Carbachol ; Flumazenil* ; Guinea Pigs ; Midazolam* ; Muscle, Smooth* ; Relaxation* ; Verapamil*

We examined dietary habits, food intakes, health status, and school and community life of meal skipping children, and investigated factors predicting meal skipping of children. A sample was composed of 944 children in low-income families who were provided with public meal service. The sample was obtained from the Survey of Meal Service for Poor Children conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in 2007. Meal skipping was significantly associated with a lower nutrition and health status, and poor school performance of children, as hypothesized. The school age of child, family structure, region, job of caretaker, concern about diet, and the child's visit to welfare center significantly predicted frequency of meal skipping. We suggested a few implications for community practice to reduce meal skipping of children.
Child ; Diet ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Korea ; Meals ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Early ambulation after anorectal surgery may be possible by relieving pain with intrathecal morphine and decreasing headache and backache with a much thinner and pencil-point needle. The difference in urinary peak flow rate in upright posture compared with recumbent position was reported to be highly significant, although acute urinary retention induced by intrathecal morphine may be decreased by early ambulation. METHODS: Eighty patients due for anorectal surgery were selected to receive spinal anesthesia. Subjects in group A (n=40) received 0.5% tetracaine 5 6 mg through a 25-gauge Quinke needle while group B (n=40) received 0.5% tetracaine 5 6 mg and intrathecal morphine 0.2 mg through a 27-gauge Whitacre needle. Postoperatively, group A received 24 hours bed rest and group B was recommended to walk as soon as possible. The duration of pain relief, onset time to ambulation, headache, backache, urinary retention and nausea were observed in both groups. RESULTS: The average onset time of early ambulation and duration of postoperative pain relief in group B was 3.6 +/- 1.0 and 15.1 +/- 3.5 hours respectively. The incidence of postspinal headache and backache was 2.5 and 5.0% in group B respectively and decreased significantly in comparison with group A (20.0 and 22.5%) respectively (P < 0.05). However, the incidence of postoperative nausea was 35.0% in group B and increased in comparison with group A (12.5%) (P < 0.05). Group B yielded a relatively lower urinary retention rate (40.0%) than group A (52.5%), but the difference did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Intrathecal morphine infused by a 27-gauge Whitacre needle provided postoperative pain relief with early ambulation, and decreased headache and backache, but we suggest that there is a need to select another drug or method instead of intrathecal morphine to decrease the incidence of urinary retention and nausea.
Anesthesia, Spinal ; Back Pain ; Bed Rest* ; Early Ambulation* ; Headache ; Humans ; Incidence ; Morphine* ; Nausea ; Needles* ; Pain, Postoperative ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Posture ; Tetracaine ; Urinary Retention ; Walking

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to design and develop an integrated pharmaceutical supply chain management(SCM) system for optimizing inventory control and reducing material handling costs based on B2B collaboration and information sharing. METHODS: We have analyzed business processes of material handling in hospitals and reviewed system requirements for efficient supply chain management. VMI(Vendor-Managed Inventory), which is one of important applications of SCM, has been adopted. Online procurement system and Web-based information sharing system are developed for the integration of the SCM. RESULTS: The SCM system composed of VMI, CAO(Computer Aided Ordering), and Web-based information sharing system enables hospitals to optimize the procurement processes and inventory control of pharmaceutical products. By sharing information with hospitals, the wholesaler can get information more timely and use exact data about inventory status and drug usage volumes of hospitals, so that it can forecast future demand more accurately, which facilitates needed products to be supplied timely and cost-effectively. CONCLUSION: By the B2B collaborations and information sharing among SCM participants, the SCM system have been implemented successfully in the medical center. It improves material handling of hospitals, reducing inventory management costs and ultimately improving quality of patient care.
Commerce ; Cooperative Behavior* ; Information Dissemination* ; Patient Care ; Pharmaceutical Preparations

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for desensitization in ABO incompatible kidney transplantation (KT) has raised concerns regarding efficiency and safety. The purpose of this study was to determine the number of TPE prior to KT required to reach target titer for KT according to ABO blood groups. METHODS: The distribution of ABO antibody (Ab) titer of 117 patients was investigated. The relationship between initial ABO Ab and number of TPEs required to reach target titer to ≤1:8 prior to KT was evaluated retrospectively according to blood groups and ABO Ab classes. RESULTS: The initial IgG ABO Ab titers were the highest in blood O group recipients, and the average number±standard deviations (range) of TPEs performed prior to ABO incompatible KT was 3.0±1.1 (0~5) in blood group A, 3.7±1.5 (0~8) in blood group B, and 5.3±1.9 (2~13) in blood group O, respectively. The best correlation was observed in the linear relationship between initial ABO Ab titer and number of TPEs required (y=0.6829x+0.0523, R2=0.946, x=log2 initial ABO Ab titer, y=number of TPE required), regardless of the specific ABO blood group. CONCLUSION: The number of TPEs can be highly deduced from initial ABO Ab titer and our developed equation in desensitization programs would help increase the efficiency of TPE and patient safety.
Blood Group Antigens ; Blood Group Incompatibility ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Patient Safety ; Plasma Exchange* ; Plasma* ; Retrospective Studies