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Approximate entropy derived from a parietal montage is appropriate for the assessment of the remifentanil effect on the electroencephalogram.

Objectives The pectoral nerve block type II (PECS II block) is widely used for postoperative analgesia after breast surgery. This study evaluated the analgesic efficacy of PECS II block in patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB). Methods Patients were randomized to the control group (n=40) and the PECS II group (n=40). An ultrasound-guided PECS II block was performed after induction of anesthesia. The primary outcome measure was opioid consumption, and the secondary outcome was pain at the breast and axillary measured using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) 24 hours after surgery. Opioid requirement was assessed according to tumor location. Results Opioid requirement was lower in the PECS II than in the control group (43.8 ± 28.5 µg versus 77.0 ± 41.9 µg, p < 0.001). However, the frequency of rescue analgesics did not differ between these groups. Opioid consumption in the PECS II group was significantly lower in patients with tumors in the outer area than that in patients with tumors in the inner area (32.5 ± 23.0 µg versus 58.0 ± 29.3 µg, p=0.007). The axillary NRS was consistently lower through 24 hr in the PECS II group. Conclusion Although the PECS II block seemed to reduce pain intensity and opioid requirements for 24 h after BCS and SNB, these reductions may not be clinically significant. This trial is registered with Clinical Research Information Service KCT0002509.

Objective Nurse telephone counseling can improve the management of chronic conditions, but the effectiveness of this approach in underserved populations is unclear. This study evaluated the use of bilingual nurse-delivered telephone counseling in Korean Americans (KAs) participating in a community-based intervention trial to improve management of hypertension. Methods KAs were randomized to receive 12 months of hypertension-related telephone counseling that was more intensive (bi-weekly) or less intensive (monthly). Counseling logs were kept for 360 KAs who completed the pre- and post-intervention evaluations. Results The overall success rate for the intervention was 80.3%. The level of success was significantly influenced by the dose of counseling, employment status, and years of US residence. Over the 12-month counseling period, both groups showed improvement with regard to medication-taking, alcohol consumption, and exercise but not smoking, with no significant group differences. Conclusion Bilingual telephone counseling could reach monolingual KAs and improve their hypertension management behavior. Practice implications Bilingual nurse telephone counseling may have wide applicability, serving as an effective means of disseminating evidence-based chronic disease management guidelines to a linguistically isolated community with limited health resources and information.

This paper describes the design concept of the human assistant robot I-PENTAR (Inverted PENdulum Type Assistant Robot) aiming at the coexistence of safety and work capability and its mobile control strategy. I-PENTAR is a humanoid type robot which consists of a body with a waist joint, arms designed for safety, and a wheeled inverted pendulum mobile platform. Although the arms are designed low-power and lightweight for safety, it is able to perform tasks that require high power by utilizing its self-weight, which is the feature of a wheeled inverted pendulum mobile platform. I-PENTAR is modeled as a three dimensional robot; with controls of inclination angle, horizontal position, and steering angle to achieve high mobile capability. The motion equation is derived considering the non-holonomic constraint of the two-wheeled mobile robot, and a state feedback control method is applied for basic mobile controls wherein the control gain is calculated by the LQR method. Through several experiments of balancing, linear running, and steering, it was confirmed that the robot could realize stable mobile motion in a real environment by the proposed controller.

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Many Korean American persons have hypertension, but competing life priorities often prevent them from attending health-promotion educational activities. Using principles of community-based participatory research, the authors conducted a prospective clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of a mailed vs an in-class culturally tailored education intervention. A total of 380 hypertensive Korean American persons from the Baltimore/Washington area were assigned to a more intense inclass education group or a less intensive mail education group. Evaluation of postintervention blood pressure (BP) outcomes revealed that significant reductions in systolic BP (13.3 mm Hg and 16.1 mm Hg, respectively) and diastolic BP (9.5 mm Hg and 10.9 mm Hg) and increases in BP control rates (42.3% and 54.3%) were achieved in both groups. No significant differences in BP outcomes between groups, however, were found. In conclusion, education by mail was an effective strategy for improving BP control and may be a viable approach for other immigrant groups if the education materials address their cultural needs.Managing chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure (BP) is a difficult task for many Americans, 1, 2 but it is even more challenging for new immigrants. Korean Americans, one of the most rapidly growing ethnic minority populations in the United States, have a high prevalence of high BP and its complications.3 Studies of BP in immigrant populations indicate that, in general, the prevalence of high BP increases when a group of immigrants migrates to a more developed country4 because the stress related to acculturation and changes in diet and lifestyle may adversely affect BP levels. [5][6][7][8] Previous reports have indicated that despite the high prevalence of high BP among Korean American persons, individual, cultural, and systemic barriers stand in the way of adequate BP control in this population.9 , 10 Korean American persons experience not only uncontrolled high BP and its complications but also social isolation and a loss of self-confidence. 11 To address this health issue in Korean Americans, a community-based and culturally tailored behavioral intervention program, the Self-Help Intervention Program for High Blood Pressure Care (SHIP-HBP), has been constructed and is currently being implemented. The SHIP-HBP includes a comprehensive intervention trial that combines psychobehavioral education with self-monitoring of BP and bilingual nurse telephone counseling. Our primary goal in designing NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 July 1. While varying degrees of efficacy have been reported for structured educational interventions, 13-16 the harsh reality is that competing life priorities and limited resources often prevent firstgeneration immigrants from attending health-promotion classes, such as BP management classes. For example, for many middle-aged Korean American persons, time constraints are one of the critical barriers to seeking medica...