• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.307-310
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• 2020

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has placed unprecedented pressure on healthcare systems, even in advanced economies. While the number of cases of SARS-CoV-2 in Africa compared to other continents has so far been low, there are concerns about under-reporting, inadequate diagnostic tools, and insufficient treatment facilities. Moreover, proactiveness on the part of African governments has been under scrutiny. For instance, issues have emerged regarding the responsiveness of African countries in closing international borders to limit trans-continental transmission of the virus. Overdependence on imported products and outsourced services could have contributed to African governments' hesitation to shut down international air and seaports. In this era of emerging and re-emerging pathogens, we recommend that African nations should consider self-sufficiency in the health sector as an urgent priority, as this will not be the last outbreak to occur. In addition to the Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement fund (US$600 million) provided by the World Bank for strengthening health systems and disease surveillance, each country should further establish an epidemic emergency fund for epidemic preparedness and response. We also recommend that epidemic surveillance units should create a secure database of previous and ongoing pandemics in terms of aetiology, spread, and treatment, as well as financial management records. Strategic collection and analysis of data should also be a central focus of these units to facilitate studies of disease trends and to estimate the scale of requirements in preparation and response to any future pandemic or epidemic.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.593-604
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• 2021

In this study, a comparative test was conducted on a specially developed elastic waterproof paint and general water-based paint for the purpose of responding to cracks occurring on the outer wall of concrete structures and improving watertightness. Through the comparative experiment, it was confirmed that the watertightness could be improved by securing the crack shielding property, and it was also confirmed that about 10 times more crack responsiveness was secured compared to general water-based paint. In addition, it was confirmed that the adhesion performance of at least 1.3MPa and resistance to a water permeation pressure of 0.1MPa were possible, confirming that stability was secured from a waterproofing perspective.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.496-502
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• 2010

The acidic saline animal model of pain has been suggested to mimic fibromyalgia (FM). Oligomeric proanthocyanidin complexes (OPC) from grape seeds are known to act as an antioxidant. We studied the effects of OPC on the pain threshold in the acidic saline animal model of pain. The left gastrocnemius muscle was injected with $100\;{\mu}l$ of saline at pH 4.0 under brief isoflurane anesthesia on days 0 and 5. Control rats (n=5) received identical injections of physiological saline (pH 7.2) on the same schedule. Rats (n=10) with acidic saline injection were separated into two study subgroups. After measurement of pre-drug pain thresholds, rats were injected intraperitoneally with either saline or OPC 300 mg/kg. Paw withdrawal thresholds to pressure were again measured 60 min after intraperitoneal injection. Nociceptive thresholds were measured with a Dynamic Plantar Aesthesiometer by applying an increasing pressure to right or left hind paw until the rat withdrew the paw. Compared to baseline (day 0), acid injections produced mechanical hyper-responsiveness on day 7 (pre-drug) in these rats [p<0.05]. A potent antihyperalgesic effect was observed when rats were injected intraperitoneally with OPC 300 mg/kg [injected paw, p=0.001; contralateral paw, p=0.002]. OPC treatment decreased the expression of acid sensing ion channel 3 in the brain motor cortex area on immunohistochemical staining when OPC 300 mg/kg was administered intraperitoneally in the animal model of FM pain [p<0.05]. Further research is required to determine the efficacy of OPC treatments in FM pain in humans.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 1990

The responsiveness of various arterial smooth muscles isolated from rabbit to peptide YY (PYY) and the calcium source responsible for the muscles to contract were studied in vitro. PYY contracted the muscle strips of femoral, basilar and common iliac arteries more sensitively than renal, superior mesenteric and common carotid arteries. Common carotid and renal arteries were less sensitive to PYY $(p{\leqslant}0.05)$ than to NE; and basilar artery was more sensitive to PYY$(p{\leqslant}0.01)$ than to NE. A calcium channel blocker, verapamil and an inhibitor of intracellular calcium release, 3, 4, 5-Trime-thoxybenzoic arid 8-(diethylamino)octyl ester [TMB-8] significantly $(p{\leqslant}0.001)$ suppressed the concentration-response of the strips from femoral artery to PYY. When both verapamil and TMB-8 existed in normal PSS, the concentration-response to PYY was inhibited almost completely; and a similar suppression was observed when the muscle was incubated in calcium-free, ethyleneglycol-bis-(beta-aminoethyl ether)N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid [EGTA] containing PSS. The results of these experiments suggest that increased PYY activity in circulation may result in the more sensitive increase in the intracranial vascular resistance and the cerebral arterial pressure than the increased sympathetic activity and that both intra- and extracellular calcium are to be utilized for the PYY-induced contraction on arterial smooth muscle.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.19-35
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• 2024

Background: This study investigated a safe and effective bolus dose and lockout time for patient-controlled sedation (PCS) with dexmedetomidine for dental treatments. The depth of sedation, vital signs, and patient satisfaction were investigated to demonstrate safety. Methods: Thirty patients requiring dental scaling were enrolled and randomly divided into three groups based on bolus doses and lockout times: group 1 (low dose group, bolus dose 0.05 ㎍/kg, 1-minute lockout time), group 2 (middle dose group, 0.1 ㎍/kg, 1-minute), and group 3 (high dose group, 0.2 ㎍/kg, 3-minute) (n = 10 each). ECG, pulse, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, end-tidal CO₂, respiratory rate, and bispectral index scores (BIS) were measured and recorded. The study was conducted in two stages: the first involved sedation without dental treatment and the second included sedation with dental scaling. Patients were instructed to press the drug demand button every 10 s, and the process of falling asleep and waking up was repeated 1-5 times. In the second stage, during dental scaling, patients were instructed to press the drug demand button. Loss of responsiveness (LOR) was defined as failure to respond to auditory stimuli six times, determining sleep onset. Patient and dentist satisfaction were assessed before and after experimentation. Results: Thirty patients (22 males) participated in the study. Scaling was performed in 29 patients after excluding one who experienced dizziness during the first stage. The average number of drug administrations until first LOR was significantly lower in group 3 (2.8 times) than groups 1 and 2 (8.0 and 6.5 times, respectively). The time taken to reach the LOR showed no difference between groups. During the second stage, the average time required to reach the LOR during scaling was 583.4 seconds. The effect site concentrations (Ce) was significantly lower in group 1 than groups 2 and 3. In the participant survey on PCS, 8/10 in group 3 reported partial memory loss, whereas 17/20 in groups 1 and 2 recalled the procedure fully or partially. Conclusion: PCS with dexmedetomidine can provide a rapid onset of sedation, safe vital sign management, and minimal side effects, thus facilitating smooth dental sedation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.280-288
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• 2004

Background : Lung protective strategies, using low tidal volume in ARDS, improve survival rate in ARDS. However, low tidal volume ventilation may promote alveolar de-recruitment. Therefore, alveolar recruitment is necessary to maintain arterial oxygenation and to prevent repetitive opening and closure of collapsed alveoli in lung protective strategies. There has been a recent report describing improvement in arterial oxygenation with use of recruitment maneuver. However, impact of recruitment on outcome of ARDS is unknown. We evaluated whether short-term survival difference existed in patients with ARDS, who were performed alveolar recruitment maneuver(ARM) and prone position, according to response of alveolar recruitment or not. Methods : All patients who were diagnosed with ADRS and received mechanical ventilation were included. ARM were sustained inflation($35-45cmH_2O$ CPAP for 30-40 sec.) or increasing level of PEEP. If these methods were ineffective, alveolar recruitment with prone position was done for at least 10 hours. $P_aO_2/FiO_2$(P/F) ratio was determined before and at 0.5 and 2 hours after ARM. We defined a responder if the P/F ratio was increased over 50% of baseline value. We compared 10-days and 30-days survival rate between responders and non-responders. Results : 20 patients(M:F=12:8, $63{\pm}14age$) were included. Among them, 12 patients were responders and 8 patients were non-responders. In responders, P/F ratio was increased from $92{\pm}25mmHg$ to $244{\pm}85mmHg$. In non-responders, P/F ratio increased from $138{\pm}37mmHg$ to $163{\pm}60mmHg$. Among non-responders, P/F ratio was improved over 50% in 2 patients after prone position. Overall, 14 patients were responders after ARM and prone position. The 10-days and 30-days survival rate in responders was significantly higher than in non-responders(86%, 57% in responders and 33%, 0% in non-responders)(p<0.05). There was no significant difference between responders and non-responders in age($71{\pm}11$, $60{\pm}14$), lung injury score($2.8{\pm}0.2$, $2.9{\pm}0.45$), simplified acute physiology score(SAPS) II ($35{\pm}4.6$, $34{\pm}5.7$), positive end-positive pressure level($15.6{\pm}1.9cmH_2O$, $14.5{\pm}2.1cmH_2O$). Conclusion : ARM may improve arterial oxygenation in some patients with ARDS. These responders in patients with ARDS showed significant higher 10-days and 30-days survival rate than non-responders patients with alveolar recruitment.