Kaohsiung J Med Sci
-
Kaohsiung J Med Sci · Jul 2012
Review Historical ArticleImpact of regulatory science on global public health.
Regulatory science plays a vital role in protecting and promoting global public health by providing the scientific basis for ensuring that food and medical products are safe, properly labeled, and effective. Regulatory science research was first developed for the determination of product safety in the early part of the 20th Century, and continues to support innovation of the processes needed for regulatory policy decisions. Historically, public health laws and regulations were enacted following public health tragedies, and often the research tools and techniques required to execute these laws lagged behind the public health needs. ⋯ Improvements in regulatory research can advance the regulatory paradigm toward a more preventative, proactive framework. These improvements will advance at a greater pace with international collaboration by providing additional resources and new perspectives for approaching and anticipating public health problems. The following is a review of how past public health disasters have shaped the current regulatory landscape, and where innovation can facilitate the shift from reactive policies to proactive policies.
-
Kaohsiung J Med Sci · Jul 2012
Soft catheters reduce the risk of intravascular cannulation during epidural block--a retrospective analysis of 1,117 cases in a medical center.
A wet or bloody tap is an inevitable complication while performing epidural block. The influence of different catheters on the incidence of intravascular cannulation during epidural catheterization has not been reported. We observed an initial, relatively different incidence of intravascular cannulation during the placement of different sorts of epidural catheter; hence, a retrospective review was conducted to explore the possible association. ⋯ Failure rates and low back pain incidence were also comparable between the two groups. Application of the soft epidural catheter (Perifix One) may reduce the incidence of epidural intravascular cannulation. We suggest the use of Perifix One catheter instead of Perifix Standard catheter in daily practice.
-
Kaohsiung J Med Sci · May 2012
The antinociceptive effect of acetaminophen in a rat model of neuropathic pain.
Acetaminophen is one of the most popular and widely used analgesics for the treatment of pain and fever but few studies have evaluated its effects on neuropathic pain. This study examined the effect of acetaminophen on thermal hyperalgesia, mechanical and cold allodynia in a rat model of neuropathic pain. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were prepared by tightly ligating the left L5 and L6 spinal nerves to produce a model of neuropathic pain. ⋯ The hepatic and renal adverse effect was also assessed by measuring the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine. The paw withdrawal thresholds to mechanical stimuli and the thermal withdrawal threshold were increased significantly and withdrawal frequencies to cold stimuli were reduced by acetaminophen administration in a dose-dependent manner. Acetaminophen reduces thermal hyperalgesia, mechanical and cold allodynia in a rat model of neuropathic pain, and might be useful for managing neuropathic pain.
-
We describe and analyze the statistics of general physics and laboratory courses in the medical schools of Taiwan. We explore the development of the general physics curriculum for medical students of Taiwan. Also, an approach to designing a general physics course in combination with its application to medical sciences is proposed. We hope this preliminary study can provide a useful reference for physics colleagues in the medical schools of Taiwan to revolutionize the dynamics of teaching physics to the medical students of Taiwan.
-
Kaohsiung J Med Sci · Feb 2012
Review Historical ArticleNew concepts of science and medicine in science and technology studies and their relevance to science education.
Science education often adopts a narrow view of science that assumes the lay public is ignorant, which seemingly justifies a science education limited to a promotional narrative of progress in the form of scientific knowledge void of meaningful social context. We propose that to prepare students as future concerned citizens of a technoscientific society, science education should be informed by science, technology, and society (STS) perspectives. An STS-informed science education, in our view, will include the following curricular elements: science controversy education, gender issues, historical perspective, and a move away from a Eurocentric view by looking into the distinctive patterns of other regional (in this case of Taiwan, East Asian) approaches to science, technology, and medicine. This article outlines the significance of some major STS studies as a means of illustrating the ways in which STS perspectives can, if incorporated into science education, enhance our understanding of science and technology and their relationships with society.