Effect of clinical anesthesia preoperative evaluation on the length of preoperative period and total hospitalization of patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

OBJECTIVE: Anesthesia preoperative evaluation clinics (APECs) are currently operating in several South Korean hospitals. While several studies have investigated the impact of APEC operations on the length of total hospital stay (LTHS), few have investigated their impact on the length of preoperative hospital stay (LPHS) for patients. In this study, we aimed to determine whether APEC affected the LPHS and LTHS. METHODS: Data of all patients who underwent surgery at Chungbuk National University Hospital between September 2009 and August 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. All patients who had undergone laparoscopic cholecystectomy over the last 10 years were categorized into two groups: those who visited the APEC (Group A), and those who did not (Group B). The age, sex, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status score, LPHS, and LTHS of the two groups were compared. RESULTS: The LPHS was 1.03±0.2 days in Group A and 1.61±1.6 days in Group B. The LTHS was 4.77±1.9 days in Group A and 5.63±2.6 days in Group B. The LPHS and LTHS of the two groups differed by 0.58 and 0.9 days, respectively. CONCLUSION: We evaluated the effect of APEC operations on the LPHS and LTHS of inpatients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy and observed a decrease in both the LPHS and LTHS. Understanding and accepting the importance of APEC is significant for physicians and administrators working to improve hospital efficiency and patient outcomes. Further research is needed to investigate the need and benefits of APECs.

A rare case of acute meningitis shortly after lumbar selective nerve root block: a case report.

A 57-year-old man underwent lumbar selective nerve root block (SNRB) for low back pain and lower radiating pain caused by left-sided L4 disc herniation. He presented to the emergency department with fever, headache and aggravated low back pain approximately 3 hours after the procedure. Infection was suspected; hence, blood tests, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests, lumbar magnetic resonance imaging, and brain computed tomography were performed. Imaging findings were not suggestive of infection. The CSF was turbid and yellowish with pleiocytosis; however, the CSF culture was negative. Based on these findings, the patient was diagnosed with acute meningitis. Broad-spectrum antibiotics and steroid therapy were initiated considering the patient's age and general condition. From hospital day (HD) 2, fever and headache were reduced and disappeared completely by HD 5. At the last follow-up, 1 month after discharge, the patient had no symptoms. Acute meningitis is associated with a high mortality and neurologic deficits. Hence, timely tests, diagnosis, and treatment are critical for positive outcomes. Symptoms of meningitis following a nerve block generally occur within 24-48 hours after the procedure. This case is notable, as it involved a quicker and more sudden onset of symptoms; meningitis occurred only a few hours after lumbar selective nerve root block.

Deep-Learning-Based Automatic Monitoring of Pigs' Physico-Temporal Activities at Different Greenhouse Gas Concentrations.

Pig behavior is an integral part of health and welfare management, as pigs usually reflect their inner emotions through behavior change. The livestock environment plays a key role in pigs' health and wellbeing. A poor farm environment increases the toxic GHGs, which might deteriorate pigs' health and welfare. In this study a computer-vision-based automatic monitoring and tracking model was proposed to detect pigs' short-term physical activities in the compromised environment. The ventilators of the livestock barn were closed for an hour, three times in a day (07:00-08:00, 13:00-14:00, and 20:00-21:00) to create a compromised environment, which increases the GHGs level significantly. The corresponding pig activities were observed before, during, and after an hour of the treatment. Two widely used object detection models (YOLOv4 and Faster R-CNN) were trained and compared their performances in terms of pig localization and posture detection. The YOLOv4, which outperformed the Faster R-CNN model, was coupled with a Deep-SORT tracking algorithm to detect and track the pig activities. The results revealed that the pigs became more inactive with the increase in GHG concentration, reducing their standing and walking activities. Moreover, the pigs shortened their sternal-lying posture, increasing the lateral lying posture duration at higher GHG concentration. The high detection accuracy (mAP: 98.67%) and tracking accuracy (MOTA: 93.86% and MOTP: 82.41%) signify the models' efficacy in the monitoring and tracking of pigs' physical activities non-invasively.

The Application of Cameras in Precision Pig Farming: An Overview for Swine-Keeping Professionals.

Pork is the meat with the second-largest overall consumption, and chicken, pork, and beef together account for 92% of global meat production. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt more progressive methodologies such as precision livestock farming (PLF) rather than conventional methods to improve production. In recent years, image-based studies have become an efficient solution in various fields such as navigation for unmanned vehicles, human-machine-based systems, agricultural surveying, livestock, etc. So far, several studies have been conducted to identify, track, and classify the behaviors of pigs and achieve early detection of disease, using 2D/3D cameras. This review describes the state of the art in 3D imaging systems (i.e., depth sensors and time-of-flight cameras), along with 2D cameras, for effectively identifying pig behaviors and presents automated approaches for the monitoring and investigation of pigs' feeding, drinking, lying, locomotion, aggressive, and reproductive behaviors.

Suitability of Lactobacillus plantarum SPC-SNU 72-2 as a Probiotic Starter for Sourdough Fermentation.

In sourdough fermentation, lactic acid bacteria perform important roles in the production of volatile and antimicrobial compounds, and exerting health-promoting effects. In this study, we report the probiotic properties and baking characteristics of Lactobacillus plantarum SPC-SNU 72-2 isolated from kimchi. This strain is safe to use in food fermentation as it does not carry genes for biogenic amine production (i.e., hdc, tdc, and ldc) and shows no ß-hemolytic activity against red blood cells. The strain is also stable under simulated human gastrointestinal conditions, showing tolerance to gastric acid and bile salt, and adheres well to colonic epithelial cells. Additionally, this strain prevents pathogen growth and activates mouse peritoneal macrophages by inducing cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-12. Furthermore, the strain possesses good baking properties, providing rich aroma during dough fermentation and contributing to the enhancement of bread texture. Taken together, L. plantarum SPC-SNU 72-2 has the properties of a good starter strain based on the observation that it improves bread flavor and texture while also providing probiotic effects comparable with commercial strains.

Distribution characteristics of airborne bacteria and fungi in the feedstuff-manufacturing factories.

The objective of the study is to investigate the distribution patterns of airborne bacteria and fungi in three feedstuff-manufacturing factories in Korea. The geometric mean (+/-GSD) levels of airborne bacteria and fungi in the feedstuff-manufacturing factory were 113(+/-18)cfu/m(3) and 89(+/-5)cfu/m(3) for pelleting process and 198(+/-5)cfu/m(3) and 124(+/-12)cfu/m(3) for powdering process, respectively. The percentage of respirable (0.65-4.7 microm) and total (>4.7 microm) concentration of airborne bacteria and fungi in the feedstuff-manufacturing factory ranged from 60% to 90% and were higher in pelleting process than powdering process. The ratio of indoor concentration and concentration in ventilation air from outside for airborne bacteria and fungi exceeded 1.0 regardless of types of feedstuff manufacture process. The predominant airborne microorganisms in the feedstuff-manufacturing factory were Staphylococcus spp., Micrococcus spp., Corynebacterium spp. and Bacillus spp. for airborne bacteria and Cladosporium spp., Penicillium spp. and Aspergillus spp. for airborne fungi, respectively. Based on the result of the study, there would be an association between relative humidity among environmental factors and airborne microorganism's bioactivity.

Odor reduction rate in the confinement pig building by spraying various additives.

The objective of this on-site experiment was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of currently utilized various additives, i.e. tap water, salt water, digested manure, microbial additive, soybean oil, artificial spice and essential oil, to reduce odor emissions from the confinement pig building. Odor reduction rates were evaluated with respect to sensual odor (odor concentration index, odor intensity and odor offensiveness) and odorous compounds (ammonia and sulfuric odorous compounds). Of the additives investigated in this study, salt water, artificial spice and essential oil had a positive effect on reducing odor generation. The effectiveness of salt water was only observed on ammonia, showing the reduction rates as a function of time (t=immediately, 1h, 3h, 5h, and 24h after spraying) were 0.1%, 20%, 36%, 11% and 0.2% as compared to initial level before spraying. The odor intensity and offensiveness were lessened by spraying artificial spice and essential oil of which maximum reduction rates ranged from 60% to 80%. Additionally, the essential oil had a significant effect on reducing sulfuric odorous compounds for 24h after spraying, which implicates that it functioned as not only a masking agent but also as an antimicrobial agent.

Effect of manual feeding on the level of farmer's exposure to airborne contaminants in the confinement nursery pig house.

The objective of the study is to demonstrate an effect of manual feeding on the level of farmer's exposure to airborne contaminants in the confinement nursery pig house. The levels of all the airborne contaminants besides respirable dust, total airborne fungi and ammonia were significantly higher in the treated nursery pig house with feeding than the control nursery pig house without feeding. Although there is no significant difference in respirable dust and total airborne fungi between the treatment and the control, their concentrations in the treated nursery pig house were also higher than the control nursery pig house. The result that the level of ammonia in the treated nursery pig house is lower than the control nursery pig house would be reasoned by the mechanism of ammonia generation in the pig house and adsorption property of ammonia to dust particles. In conclusion, manual feeding by farmer increased the exposure level of airborne contaminants compared to no feeding activity.