Establishment of a live vaccine strain against fowl typhoid and paratyphoid / 대한수의학회지

To develop a live vaccine strain against fowl typhoid and paratyphoid caused by Salmonella serovar Gallinarum biovar Gallinarum (Salmonella Gallinarum) and Salmonella serovar Enteritidis (Salmonella Enteritidis), respectively, several nalidixic acid resistant mutants were selected from lipopolysaccharide (LPS) rough strains of Salmonella Gallinarum that escaped from fatal infection of a LPS-binding lytic bacteriophage. A non-virulent and immunogenic vaccine strain of Salmonella Gallinarum, SR2-N6, was established through in vivo pathogenicity and protection efficacy tests. SR2-N6 was highly protective against Salmonella Gallinarum and Salmonella Enteritidis and safer than Salmonella Gallinarum vaccine strain SG 9R in the condition of protein-energy malnutrition. Thus, SR2-N6 may be a safe and efficacious vaccine strain to prevent both fowl typhoid and paratyphoid.

The Business Analysis on the Chronic Disease Management in PublicHealth Centers for the Electronic Health Records System / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVE: This study analyzes the chronic disease management, which is a core business of the public health centers, and grasps the functions of the information system that users need. METHODS: It is conducted by analyzing work flows in two public health centers that using two different health information systems, Posdata system and Daeryun systems. We also performed detailed interview and discussion to formulate the functionality for the information system in the future. RESULTS: Both two health information systems currently used at public health centers emphasized hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia as major target disease. They used information systems as a tool of case registration, assessment, reporting, consultation and education and patient care. But functionality of current systems supports only a part of the whole system and manual data input using excel program was still applied. The current information system is just inputting the data of manual works in computer and many of the functions are not used and still there are many duplicate and manual works. Two major problems of information systems in Korean public health centers are lack of standardization in the business process and reporting, and the current system does not support current functionalities. CONCLUSION: We found that management of the chronic disease is to be more important work for the public health centers in the future. The future direction of the work process of the management of chronic disease would be upgrading the current functionality as well as new functionalities. Better linkage with direct care system and interoperability with national electronic health records system are new demands.

The Effects of Pulsed Electromagnetic Stimulation on Functional Recovery Following Laryngeal Reinnervation in the Rat / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Ideal treatment for vocal cord paralysis is to restore normal movement of the vocal cord and to bring back the natural voice. Pulsed electromagnetic stimulation (PEMS)has been known to bring early nerve regeneration as well as better functional recovery. The purpose of this investigation is to learn the effect of PEMS on regeneration of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Using 36 healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats, we made transections on their left recurrent laryngeal nerves and performed primary anastomosis under the operating microscope. Rats were divided into an experimental group and a control group, each having 18 rats by random sampling. For the experimental group, PEMS was carried out three hours a day and five days a week for twelve weeks. For the control group, PEMS was not given while other conditions were kept the same as in the experimental group. The extent of functional recovery was observed for each group by performing videostroboscopic examination once every week. After twelve weeks, a test for the functional recovery was performed electrophysiologically through laryngeal electromyography during respiration. RESULTS: After the twelve-week experiment, 14 out of 18 rats survived in the group which received PEMS while 8 out of 18 rats stayed alive in the control group. Ten rats (71%)in the PEMS performed group and 3 rats (38%)in the control group showed recovery of vocal cord movement, but it did not reveal any significant difference statistically. However, the time it took for functional recovery was 3.93+/-0.27 weeks and 7.87+/-0.85 weeks for the PEMS performed group and the control group, respectively. And the difference was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: This investigation confirmed the efficacy of PEMS on the early functional recovery in rats with surgically transected and reanastomosed recurrent laryngeal nerve. Further studies to understand the mechanism of action of these effects as well as the local stimulation rather than the total body stimulation seem to be necessary.

Measles Outbreak among Institutional Infants after Hospital Infection / 한국역학회지

PURPOSES: This study was to investigate the source of infection, mode of transmission and incidence of a measles outbreak among infants living in a Gwangju welfare institution in July 2000. METHODS: The information about 63 children was collected through the nurses interview and blood sampling and laryngopharyngeal swab were conducted to the children. In addition, an epidemiologic survey was performed to confirm the infection dissemination route. RESULTS: Before the outbreak, two children living at the institution were admitted to a university hospital for other health problems. These children shared a room with a 5 year old diagnosed with meningitis who was later diagnosed as having measles after rashes appeared. The two children developed measles after returning to their institution and the infection spread to other children in the institution. Among 63 children observed, 14 children(22.2%) developed measles, secondary attack rate of measles due to index cases was 19.7%. And 78.6% of the patients were between 4 and 8 months old. The room where the index case lived showed an attack rate of 81.8%, which is a much higher rate compared to other rooms. The attack rate among boys(26.0%) was higher than that of girls(12.5%), but it was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This outbreak was considered to be a nosocomial infection, where the index cases were admitted to a hospital, infected and the infection spread to children. Further studies are necessary to find out the maternal antibody levels of infants of post-vaccinated mothers and the optimal age for measles vaccination.

The inhibitory effect of opioid on the hyperpolarization-activated cation currents in rat substantia gelatinosa neurons

The action of opioid on the hyperpolarization-activated cation current (Ih) in substantia gelatinosa neurons were investigated by using whole-cell voltage-clamp recording in rat spinal brain slices. Hyperpolarizing voltage steps revealed slowly activating currents in a subgroup of neurons. The half-maximal activation and the reversal potential of the current were compatible to neuronal Ih. DAMGO (1 muM), a selective-opioid agonist, reduced the amplitude of Ih reversibly. This reduction was dose-dependent and was blocked by CTOP (2 muM), a selective mu-opioid antagonist. DAMGO shifted the voltage dependence of activation to more hyperpolarized potential. Cesium (1 mM) or ZD 7288 (100 muM) blocked Ih and the currents inhibited by cesium, ZD 7288 and DAMGO shared a similar time and voltage dependence. These results suggest that activation of mu-opioid receptor by DAMGO can inhibit Ih in a subgroup of rat substantia gelatinosa neurons.

Responses of dorsal horn neurons to peripheral chemical stimulation in the spinal cord of anesthetized cats

Although nociceptive informations are thought to be processed via different neural mechanisms depending on the types of stimuli, sufficient data have not been accumulated yet. We performed a series of experiments to elucidate the possible neural mechanisms as to chemical stimuli such as formalin, capsaicin and ATP. Single unit activity of wide dynamic range (WDR) neurons and high threshold cells were recorded extracellularly from the lumbosacral enlargement of cat spinal cord before and after chemical stimulation to its receptive field (RF). Each chemical substance - formalin (20 microliter, 4%), capsaicin (33 mM) or Mg-ATP (5 mM)- was injected intradermally into the RFs and then the changes in the spontaneous activity, mechanical threshold and responses to the peripheral mechanical stimuli were observed. In many cases, intradermal injection of formalin (5/11) and capsaicin (8/11) resulted in increase of the spontaneous activity with a biphasic pattern, whereas ATP (8/8) only showed initial responses. Time courses of the biphasic pattern, especially the late response, differed between formalin and capsaicin experiments. One hour after injection of each chemical (formalin, capsaicin, or ATP), the responses of the dorsal horn neurons to mechanical stimuli increased at large and the RFs were expended, suggesting development of hypersensitization (formalin 6/10, capsaicin 8/11, and ATP 15/19, respectively). These results are suggested that formalin stimulates peripheral nociceptor, local inflammation and involvement of central sensitization, capsaicin induces central sensitization as well as affects the peripheral C-polymodal nociceptors and neurogenic inflammation, and ATP directly stimulates peripheral nociceptors.

The Development of the Critical Pathway and Nursing Record for Patients received FP Chemotherapy / 성인간호학회지

The current patient management system has several limitations. To develop the critical pathway (CP) as a cost-effective method via continuous patient management, we investigated the medical records of 77 patients who underwent FP chemotherapy in Seoul National University Hospital from Feb, 1 to 28, 1999. And the pilot study was done to 12 patients admitted to undergo the FP chemotherapy. 1. The vertical contents in the CP consisted of 7 items; assessment, activity, diet, IV therapy, medication, education and evaluation. The duration of the horizontal axis was 6 days from admission to discharge. 2. The medical performance according to the vertical axis in the preliminary CP, consisted of 72 , and modified to 74 items in the final form of CP. 3. The nursing record consisted of a vertical axis of 4 items; assessment, IV therapy, medication and education. The duration of the horizontal axis was 6 days from admission to discharge of hospital days.