• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2006

A 77-year-old female presented panperitonitis due to advanced gastric ranter during palliative care. In the case of panperitonitis following obstruction or perforation, surgical treatment is vital to avoid fatal sepsis and dehydration. However, the risk of surgery and the residual life of a patient must be carefully considered because of high mortality and complication rate in those patients with advanced disease due to the poor condition. The therapeutic value of aggressive hydration, nasogastric tube insertion, and the use of antibiotics is also questionable. Palliative surgery was not performed on this case, and she passed away peacefully in the presence of family after 4 days of palliative medical care. Here is the appropriate management for this kind of patients we would like to recommend through review of relevant references and long discussions. Firstly, we need to predict survival time using clinical variables. Secondly, considering patient status and risk of surgery, non surgical palliative care such as pain control, transient nasogastric tube insertion, and parenteral hydration is recommended. Minimal use of fluid is desirable to minimize complications such as edema and dyspnea if massive hydration in the beginning of treatment is not proved to be effective. Even though started earlier in the course of disease, discontinuation of antibiotics could be discussed with patients and their caregiver if patient status is not improved.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.141-145
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• 2014

There is a burgeoning number of products on the market that contain probiotics, but do they do you any good? What exactly are probiotics? They have been defined as living organisms that, when ingested in sufficient quantities, provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. They are often referred to as "friendly bacteria" or "good bacteria." Probiotics have been claimed, amongst other things, to (i) reduce the incidence of colon cancer and other diseases of the colon, such as IBS, (ii) stimulate the immune system, (iii) have anti-hypertensive and anti-cholesterolemic properties, (iv) mitigate against the effect of antibiotics on the intestinal microbiota, and (v) protect against gastrointestinal infections. However, the scientific basis for many of these claims is not well-established. Indeed, the European Food Safety Authority has denied the use of several health claims associated with probiotics, particularly those related to mitigation of diarrhea following consumption of antibiotics. Thus, there is a need for research on the mechanisms of action of probiotics. We have been mainly interested in the use of probiotics to control enteric infections. There are several possible modes of action to explain how probiotics may protect the host from enteric pathogens, including competitive exclusion and immunomodulation. We have shown that probiotics produce bioactive molecules that interfere with bacterial cell-cell communication (also called quorum sensing), and this results in a down-regulation of virulence genes that are responsible for attachment of the pathogen to the gastrointestinal epithelium. These bioactive molecules act on a variety of bacteria, including enterohemorrhagic and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens, and there is evidence that they can inhibit the formation of biofilms by Listeria monocytogenes. These bioactive molecules, which are peptidic in nature, can exert their effects not only in vitro but also in vivo, and we have shown that they mitigate against E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in mice and Salmonella and E. coli K88 infections in pigs. They can be delivered in foods such as yoghurt and maintain their activity.

• Korean Journal of Healthcare-Associated Infection Control and Prevention
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.50-56
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• 2016

Background: Alternatives to carbapenem are increasingly needed to decrease the usage of carbapenem. We evaluated the possibility of using non-carbapenem antibiotics against urinary tract infections (UTI) caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE). Methods: This retrospective study was performed at 2 university hospitals between October 2010 and December 2012. All diagnosed adult cases of ESBL-PE UTI were identified from the microbiological database. The subjects were divided into 3 groups based on the empirical antibiotic classes and susceptibility: carbapenem (C) group, susceptible non-carbapenem (SNC) group, and non-susceptible non-carbapenem (NSNC) group. Results: A total of 84 patients were eligible for analysis. For empirical therapy, 41, 23, and 20 patients were included in the NSNC, SNC, and C empirical groups, respectively. During the empirical therapy, 7 patients (17.1%) in the NSNC group, 18 patients (78.3%) in the SNC group, and 19 patients (78.3%) in the C group experienced clinical improvement. No significant difference was observed between the SNC and C empirical groups (P=0.192). Severe sepsis or shock was the predictor of empirical SNC treatment failure (P=0.048). There was a tendency to use carbapenem as a definite therapy in cases of NSNC. In contrast, empirical SNC was maintained as a definite therapy. Conclusion: SNC could be considered as an alternative to carbapenems for treating ESBL-PE UTI. This strategy might decrease the usage of carbapenem without clinical deterioration. However, it should be noted that SNC therapy may fail in the case of severe sepsis or shock.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.51-56
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• 2005

This study investigated the medicines prescribed in dental services in order to provide information and materials on dental clinics and hospitals, for the intention of leading the dental circle to make efforts for voluntary improvement, do adequate prescription, and attempt for bench marking through this unfolding of their tendency in continuous prescription behaviors, and leading the people to have a right recognition on adequate medicine use through this information on their medicine-taking behaviors including antibiotics and injections. From the records of outpatient prescriptions of medicines under health insurance over the period of June 1st to September 31th in 2003 in the 34,226 recuperation institutions, antibiotics and injections were analyzed into administration days, prescription frequency, medicine cost per administration day, the number of medicines per prescription, and the number weight of high priced medicines. The findings were as below: 1. Adminstration days of antibiotics was 90.11% in the dental clinics, which was a decrease than the same quarter and the previous quarter of the previous year. While the prescription frequency of antibiotics was 15.5%, higher than the same quarter and the previous quarter of the previous year. In dental hospitals, administration days and prescription frequency of antibiotics were 71.57% and 21.05%, respectively, a little higher than the previous quarter. Compared to other kind of recuperation institutions, dental clinics and hospitals had higher administration days and lower prescription frequency. 2. For injections, adminstration days and prescription frequency in dental clinics were 0.13% and 0.05%, respectively, which were decreases than the same quarter of the previous year. In dental hospitals, adminstration days and prescription frequency were 1.03% and 0.88%, respectively, a little lower than those of the previous quarter. Compared to other kind of recuperation institutions, dental clinics and hospitals were very lower in injection administration days and injection prescription frequency. 3. The number of prescribed medicines was 2.79 in the dental clinics, which was lower than the same quarter of the previous year but higher than the previous quarter. Dental hospitals put 2.67 numbers of medicines per prescription, an increase than the same quarter of the previous year and the previous quarter. Compared to other kind of recuperation institutions, dental clinics and hospitals put smaller number of medicines per prescription. 4. Medicine cost per administration day was 863 won in the dental clinics, which was an increase than the same quarter of the previous year and in the previous quarter. Compared to other kind of recuperation institutions, dental clinics and hospitals had lower medicine cost per administration day. 5. The number weight of high priced medicines was 46.43% in dental clinics, which was an increase than the previous quarter. In dental hospitals, it was 54.05%, so remarkable an increase than the previous quarter. Compared to other kind of hospitals and clinics, dental clinics and hospitals prescribed larger number of high priced medicines. 6. By districts, the frequency of antibiotics prescriptions was the highest in Kwanju and the lowest in Daejeon. The frequency of injection prescriptions was high in all Youngnam districts as was in the second quarter, while low in all the Metropolitan districts. There was a large variation in the prescription frequency to the districts, as the district of the highest prescription frequency had more than 2 times larger frequency than the district of the lowest frequency. Medicine cost per administration day was the highest in Ulsan but the lowest in the north part of Cholla province. The number of medicines per prescription was the largest in Kyonggi province while the smallest in Cheju-do.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.207-224
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• 2011

Diseases caused by plant pathogenic bacteria constitute an emerging threat to global food security. Xanthomonas is a large genus of Gram-negative bacteria that cause disease in several host plants leading to considerable losses in productivity and quality of harvests. Despite the ranges of controlling techniques available, the microbiological safety of economically important crops and crop plants including fruits and vegetables continues to be a major concern to the agriculture industry. On the other hand, many of the currently available antimicrobial agents for agriculture are highly toxic, non-biodegradable and cause extended environmental pollution. Besides, the use of antibiotics has provoked an increased resistance among the bacterial pathogens and their pathovars. Thus, novel efficient and safe remedies for controlling plant bacterial diseases are necessary. There has been an increasing interest worldwide on therapeutic values of natural products such as essential oils, hence the purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the published data on the antibacterial efficacy of essential oils that could be considered suitable for application in agriculture as biocontrol measures against plant pathogenic bacteria of Xanthomonas species. The current knowledge on the use of essential oils to control Xanthomonas bacteria in vitro and in vivo models has been discussed. A brief description on the legal aspects on the use of essential oils against bacterial pathogens has also been presented. Through this review, a mode of antibacterial action of essential oils along with their chemical nature and the area for future research have been thoroughly discussed.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 2005

The efficacy of bioresorbable fixation has recently been described in the osseosynthesis of the oral & maxillofacial region. However, a liitle data exist regarding the use of biodegradable plates and screws for the internal fixation of human mandible fractures. The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the treatment of mandibular fractures by using a bioresorbable fixation system with conventional titanium system in human mandible fractures. eighteen patients constituted the bioresorbable fixation group and twenty-five patients constituted the titanium fixation group. Both groups underwent open reduction and internal fixation by use of a bioresorbable system or a titanium fixation system. Panoramic radiograph were obtained preoperatively, immediately postoperatively after reduction, at 6 months and at 12 months postoperatively. In the bioresorbable fixation group, complication(infection) occurred in 1 patient(5.6%) and was resolved by incision & drainage, plate removal and antibiotics without untoward sequelae. 2 patients(8.0%) experienced complications in the titanium fixation group and were treated using conservative treatment. There was no statistical difference in complication rates between two groups. Our data supported the use of bioresorbale plate fixation in mandibular fractures as a means of avoiding the potential and well documented problems with rigid titanium fixation systems. In conclusion, the bioresorbable fixation system provide a reliable and sufficient alternative to conventional titanium plate system.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.701-706
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• 2000

This study was carried out to select the lactic acid bacteria(Lactobacillus, Streptococcus and Bifidobacterium) and yeast for probiotic use in pigs. Acid-tolerant 536 strains were isolated from the feces of 30 pigs. To select useful strains, the first screened strains were treated with strong acid solution(pH 2.5 to 3.0) for 3 hours and subsequentely treated with the anaerobic diluent solution containing 0.15% Oxgall for 3 hours. Among these strains, 151 strains showed strong tolerance to both acid and bile. Lactobacillus and Streptococcus tolerant to the acid and bile were treated with heat at $80^{\circ}C$ for 15 min, and at $70^{\circ}C$ for 5 min in Bifidobacterium and yeast. As a result of heat treatment, 38 strains were obtained as heat-tolerant strains. All of heat-tolerant strains were tested for antibiotic resistance against virginiamycin, sulfathiazole, aureomycin, neomycin, linsmycin, tiamulin and ASP250 which were used as feed additives for growth promotion in pigs. Finally, one strain each from Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Bifidobacterium and yeast that showed resistance to acid, bile, heat and antibiotics was selected for probiotic use in pigs.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2008

More safe and natural food was recently needed by consumers. Antimicrobials including sodium azide, penicillin, and vancomycin were used for therapeutic agents against pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli O157:H7 in dairy and meat industry. These antimicrobials and preservatives were prohibited in stock farm and food because they were caused resistant strain and side effects. Bacteriocins are proteinaceous compounds that may present antimicrobial activity towards important food-borne pathogens and spoilage-related microflora. Therefore, bacteriocins were reported as an alternative of antimicrobials. Due to these properties, bacteriocin-producing strains or purified bacteriocins have a great potential of use in biologically based food preservation systems. Despite the growing number of articles regarding on the isolation of bacteriocinogenic strains, genetic determinants for production, purification and biochemical characterization of these inhibitory substances, there are only limited reports of successful application of bacteriocins to dairy and meats. This review describes bacteriocins related to dairy and meat products for the further use.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.179-194
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• 2011

Although there have been studies regarding the separating policy of dispensary and medical practice, little study have provided a concrete empirical evidence to what extent the policy objectives are achieved. In this paper, we try to provide empirical evidence whether the policy separating dispensary from medical practice achieved the policy objectives, which representatively are reducing the mis-use or over-use of anti-biotic prescriptions and medicines, and decreasing the government spending for the cost of pharmaceutical support. By comparing the average of the rate of change of the number of medicines prescribed, the rate of anti-biotics prescribed, and the government spending for the cost of pharmaceutical support between the areas where the separation policy was implemented and the exceptional areas, we concluded that it is difficult to conclude that the policy separating dispensary and medical practice achieved its policy objects, as it first announced to achieve in the introduction of the policy in 2000. However, the limitation of this study is that the data, that can thoroughly analyze the effect of separating policy of dispensary from medical practice, cannot be collected as expected. Hence, we could not use a parsimonious empirical model to evaluate the effect of the policy introduced in 2000. Rather we used a simple statistical method to extract enough empirical evidence fro m the data available. In the near future, we would expect to see more research that analyze the exact effect of policy separating dispensary and medical practice with concrete empirical model using more sophisticated dataset.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.197-208
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the variables associated with length of stay (LOS), hospital costs, intensive care unit (ICU) use, and treatment outcomes in patients hospitalized for maxillofacial infections at a tertiary medical center in South Korea. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted for patients admitted for treatment of maxillofacial infections at Dankook University Hospital from January 1, 2011 through September 30, 2020. A total of 390 patient charts were reviewed and included in the final statistical analyses. Results: Average LOS and hospital bill per patient of this study was 11.47 days, and ₩4,710,017.25 ($4,216.67), respectively. Of the 390 subjects, 97.3% were discharged routinely following complete recovery, 1.0% expired following treatment, and 0.8% were transferred to another hospital. In multivariate linear regression analyses to determine variables associated with LOS, admission year, infection side, Flynn score, deep neck infection, cardiovascular disease, admission C-reactive protein (CRP) and glucose levels, number and length of surgical interventions, tracheostomy, time elapsed from admission to first surgery, and length of ICU stay accounted for 85.8% of the variation. With regard to the total hospital bill, significantly associated variables were age, type of insurance, Flynn score, number of comorbidities, admission CRP, white blood cell, and glucose levels, admission temperature, peak temperature, surgical intervention, the length, type, and location of surgery, tracheostomy, time elapsed from admission to first surgery, and length of ICU use, which accounted for 90.4% of the variation. Age and ICU use were the only variables significantly associated with unfavorable discharge outcomes in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: For successful and cost-effective management of maxillofacial infections, clinicians to be vigilant about the decision to admit patients with maxillofacial infections, perform appropriate surgery at an adequate time, and admit them to the ICU.