Low-Affinity Zinc Sensor Showing Fluorescence Responses with Minimal Artifacts.

The study of the zinc biology requires molecular probes with proper zinc affinity. We developed a low-affinity zinc probe (HBO-ACR) based on an azacrown ether (ACR) and an 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole (HBO) fluorophore. This probe design imposed positive charge in the vicinity of a zinc coordination center, which enabled fluorescence turn-on responses to high levels of zinc without being affected by the pH and the presence of other transition-metal ions. Steady-state and transient photophysical investigations suggested that such a high tolerance benefits from orchestrated actions of proton-induced nonradiative and zinc-induced radiative control. The zinc bioimaging utility of HBO-ACR has been fully demonstrated with the use of human pancreas epidermoid carcinoma, PANC-1 cells, and rodent hippocampal neurons from cultures and acute brain slices. The results obtained through our studies established the validity of incorporating positively charged ionophores for the creation of low-affinity probes for the visualization of biometals.

Non-infectious hyperthermia in acute brain injury patients: relationships to mortality, blood pressure, intracranial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure.

The present study was conducted to investigate the frequency of hyperthermia during the first 72 h after acute brain injury, and to compare subjects that developed hyperthermia with those that did not with respect to blood pressure, intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score and mortality. This study was conducted by performing a retrospective medical record review of 126 brain injury patients admitted to the neurological intensive care unit of a university hospital located in Incheon, South Korea. Our results showed that 25.4% of the subjects had hyperthermia for at least 1 day during the first 3 days of hospitalization. Hyperthermic subjects demonstrated higher mortality and ICP, and lower CPP and GCS scores than non-hyperthermic subjects, indicating a reduced cerebral blood flow. The findings may provide a possible explanation for poor clinical outcome and offer justification for the careful monitoring of body temperature in patients with acute brain injury.

Effect of asthma management education program on stress and compliance of patients with allergic asthma to house dust mite.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the effect of asthma management education program applied to allergic asthma patients receiving immunotherapy due to house dust mite on their stress and compliance with health care regimens. METHODS: A quasi experimental design with non-equivalent control group and non-synchronized design was used. The subjects of this study were 61 patients who were receiving immunotherapy at intervals of a week after their symptoms were diagnosed as house dust mite allergic asthma at the pulmonary department of a university hospital in Seoul. They were divided into an experimental group of 29 patients who received asthma management education and a control group of 32 patients. The asthma management education program was composed of group education (once) and reinforcement education (three times) with environmental therapy and immunotherapy to house dust mite. RESULTS: Stress significantly decreased in the experimental group compared to that in the control group. Compliance with health care regimens significantly increased in the experimental group compared to that in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that the asthma management education program is effective for the management of stress and the improvement of compliance in patients with allergic asthma to house dust mite.

An individualized teaching program for atherosclerotic risk factor reduction in patients with myocardial infarction.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a teaching program on patients with myocardial infarction. Forty-five patients were randomly selected 22 were assigned to a teaching group and 23 to a control group. An individualized teaching program was delivered to the teaching group during the hospitalization period. It covered aspects such as: the characteristics of heart disease, the anatomy and physiology of the heart, risk factors of atherosclerosis, medication and diet and exercise therapy. When these subjects were discharged to their homes, they received regular supportive care via telephone or mail for 12 weeks. Atherosclerotic risk factors, including, smoking, exercise, blood lipid profile and BMI were measured before and after the teaching program. Post-testing revealed that the numbers of those who exercised and the number of non-smokers were significantly higher in the teaching group than in the control group. Increased HDL cholesterol (High-Density Lipoprotein cholesterol) was significantly greater in the teaching group than in the control group. The above findings suggest that this individualized teaching program might be helpful at reducing the risk factors of atherosclerosis in myocardial infarction patients.

A nurse short message service by cellular phone in type-2 diabetic patients for six months.

AIM: To investigate the effectiveness of a nurse short message service (SMS) by cellular phone and wire Internet on plasma glucose levels in people with diabetes for six months. BACKGROUND: Blood glucose management system using telemedicine approaches may maintain the appropriate blood glucose levels in type-2 diabetic patients. DESIGN: A control group pre-test-post-test design was used to assess the effectiveness of nurse's education. METHODS: Twenty-five patients were randomly assigned to an intervention group and 26 to a control group. The intervention was applied for six months. The goal of the intervention was to keep blood glucose concentrations close to the normal range. Participants were requested to input their blood glucose level, diet and exercise diary everyday in the website by cellular phone or wire Internet. The researcher sends optimal recommendations to each patient using SMS by cellular phone and wire Internet weekly. RESULTS: Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA(1)c) decreased 1.15% points at three months and 1.05% points at six months compared with baseline in the intervention group. Patients in the intervention group had a decrease of two hours post meal glucose (2HPMG) of 85.1 mg/dl at three months and 63.1 mg/dl at six months compared with baseline. CONCLUSION: This web-based intervention using SMS of cellular phone improved HbA(1)c and 2HPMG for six months in type-2 diabetic patients. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: An SMS of cellular phone intervention by a nurse can reduce HbA(1)c and 2HPMG for six months in type-2 diabetic patients.