We investigated the feasibility of the clinical application of novice-practitioner-performed/offsite-mentor-guided ultrasonography for identifying the appendix. A randomized crossover study was conducted using a telesonography system that can transmit the ultrasound images displayed on the ultrasound monitor (ultrasound sequence video) and images showing the practitioner's operations (background video) to a smartphone without any interruption in motion over a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network. Thirty novice practitioners were randomly assigned to two groups. The subjects in group A (n = 15) performed ultrasonography for the identification of the appendix under mentoring by an onsite expert, whereas those in group B (n = 15) performed the same procedure under mentoring by an offsite expert. Each subject performed the procedure on three simulated patients. After a 4-week interval, they performed the procedure again under the other type of mentoring. A total of 90 ultrasound examinations were performed in each scenario. The primary outcomes were the success rate for identifying the appendix and the time required to identify the appendix. The success rates for identifying the appendix were 91.1 % (82/90) in onsite-mentored ultrasonography and 87.8 % (79/90) in offsite-mentored ultrasonography; both rates were high, and there was no significant difference (p = 0.468) between them. The time required in the case of offsite mentoring (median, 242.9 s; interquartile range (IQR), 238.2) was longer than that for onsite mentoring (median, 291.4 s; IQR, 200.9); however, the difference was not significant (p = 0.051). It appears that offsite mentoring can allow novice onsite practitioners to perform ultrasonography as effectively as they can under onsite mentoring, even for examinations that require proficiency in rather complex practices, such as identifying the appendix.

Objective: We undertook a population-based, case-control study to examine a dose-response relationship between alcohol intake and risk of ischemic stroke in Koreans who had different alcoholic beverage type preferences than Western populations and to examine the effect modifications by sex and ischemic stroke subtypes.Methods: Cases (n 5 1,848) were recruited from patients aged 20 years or older with first-ever ischemic stroke. Stroke-free controls (n 5 3,589) were from the fourth and fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and were matched to the cases by age (63 years), sex, and education level. All participants completed an interview using a structured questionnaire about alcohol intake.Results: Light to moderate alcohol intake, 3 or 4 drinks (1 drink 5 10 g ethanol) per day, was significantly associated with a lower odds of ischemic stroke after adjusting for potential confounders (no drinks: reference; ,1 drink: odds ratio 0.38, 95% confidence interval 0.32-0.45; 1-2 drinks: 0.45, 0.36-0.57; and 3-4 drinks: 0.54, 0.39-0.74). The threshold of alcohol effect in women was slightly lower than that in men (up to 1-2 drinks in women vs up to 3-4 drinks in men), but this difference was not statistically significant. There was no statistical interaction between alcohol intake and the subtypes of ischemic stroke (p 5 0.50). The most frequently used alcoholic beverage was one native to Korea, soju (78% of the cases), a distilled beverage with 20% ethanol by volume.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that light to moderate distilled alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of ischemic stroke in Koreans.

ObjectiveMacmoondongtang has been used as a traditional medicine to treat pulmonary disease in Korea. However, the mechanism underlying its therapeutic effect has yet to be reported. In the present study, the role of macmoondongtang as a respiratory medicine, especially as an anti-asthmatic agent, has been attributed to the down-regulation of interleukin (IL)-4 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α.Materials & methodsBALB/c mice were divided into five groups: control, asthma-induced control, dexamethasone treatment, treatment with 150 mg/kg macmoondongtang, and treatment with 1500 mg/kg macmoondongtang. To evaluate the anti-asthmatic effect of macmoondongtang, we investigated its suppressive or inhibitory effects against typical asthmatic changes such as differential cell count in bronchioalveolar fluid (BALF), serum IgE levels, lung morphology, expression of Th1/Th2 cell transcription factors such as T-bet and GATA-3, and Th1-/Th2-/Th17-related cytokines such as interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-12p40, IL-4, -5, -13, TNF-α, and IL-6. The active ingredients in macmoondongtang were further analyzed.ResultsMacmoondongtang treatment down-regulated serum IgE level, a very important marker of hyper-responsiveness. It reversed typical morphological changes such as mucous hypersecretion, lung epithelial cell hyperplasia, and inflammatory cell infiltration near bronchioalveolar space and veins. Macmoondongtang significantly decreased neutrophil count in BALF, as well as reduced T-bet, IFN-γ, and TNF-α expression in the lung. It also showed a dose-dependent control of inflammatory cells in BALF, controlled the expression of IL-12, IL-4, and IL-5 genes in the lung, and the protein expression of IL12p40, GATA-3, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13. The component analysis revealed glycyrrhizin and liquiritin as the active ingredients.ConclusionsMacmoondongtang treatment alleviates asthma symptoms and modulate the Th1-/Th2- related cytokines. Glycyrrhizin and liquiritin could be the major the active therapeutic components.

We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of an iPhone-based remote control system as a real-time remote computed tomography (CT) reading tool for suspected appendicitis using a third-generation (3G) network under suboptimal illumination. One hundred twenty abdominal CT scans were selected; 60 had no signs of appendicitis, whereas the remaining 60 had signs of appendicitis. The 16 raters reviewed the images using the liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor of a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) workstation, as well as using an iPhone connected to the PACS workstation via a remote control system. We graded the probability of the presence of acute appendicitis for each examination using a five-point Likert scale. The overall sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of suspected appendicitis using the iPhone and the LCD monitor were high, and they were not significantly different (sensitivity P=1.00, specificity P=0.14). The average areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for all CT readings with the iPhone and LCD monitor were 0.978 (confidence interval 0.965-0.991) and 0.974 (0.960-0.988), respectively, and the two devices did not have significantly different diagnostic performances (P=0.55). The inter-rater agreement for both devices was very good; the kappa value for the iPhone was 0.809 (0.793-0.826), and that for the LCD monitor was 0.817 (0.801-0.834). Each rater had moderate-tovery good intra-observer agreement between the two devices. We verified the feasibility of an iPhone-based remote control system as a real-time remote CT reading tool for identifying suspected appendicitis using a 3G network and suboptimal illumination.

ObjectivesTo identify the risk of bias of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) referenced in the 2015 American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines update for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and emergency cardiovascular care (ECC).DesignA cross-sectional review.SettingAll RCTs cited as references in the 2015 AHA guidelines update for CPR and ECC were extracted. After excluding non-human trials, studies that analysed existing RCTs, and RCTs published in a letter format, two reviewers assessed the risk of bias among RCTs included in this study.Outcome measuresThe Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing the risk of bias in six domains (random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding of participants and personnel, blinding of outcome assessment, incomplete outcome data and selective reporting) was used.ResultsTwo hundred seventy-three RCTs were selected for the analyses. Of these RCTs, 78.8% had a high risk of bias for blinding of participants and personnel, mostly (87.7%) non-drug trials. In drug trials, the proportion of trials with a low risk of bias for blinding of participants and personnel was 73.0%. The proportion of RCTs with an unclear risk of bias were higher for random sequence generation (38.5%) and allocation concealment (34.1%) than in other domains. Unclear risk of bias proportions was 65.4% for random sequence generation and 57.7% for allocation concealment before the introduction of Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) but decreased to 31.3% and 32.2% after the 2010 CONSORT update, respectively.ConclusionsThe proportion of RCTs with an unclear risk of bias was still high for random sequence generation and allocation concealment in the 2015 AHA guidelines for CPR and ECC. The risk of bias should be considered when interpreting and applying the CPR guidelines. Authors should plan and report their research using CONSORT guidelines and the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool to reduce the risk of bias.