• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.66 no.5
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• pp.390-395
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• 2009

Among the bronchogenic carcinomas, especially squamous cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma frequently present with cavitation, which may result from tumor necrosis. Cavitary lesions of the tumor are occasionally associated with infection and misdiagnosed as benign lung abscess owing to the partial responsiveness to antibiotics. It is very difficult to distinguish the carcinomatous abscess from the benign lung abscess, because of their similar clinical and radiologic features. Delay in diagnosis of underlying lung cancer may result in poor outcome. Therefore, clinicians should remember that the patients with highly suspicious carcinoma of the lung should undergo further precise examinations to find out malignant cells.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.42-52
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• 2010

Purpose: This report aims to administer methodologic issues around recently conducted multicenter study for evaluating the effects of acupuncture on menopusal hot flashes and discuss practical issues for further implementation of acupuncture clinical trial for hot flashes. Methods: Study process were mentioned, and issues related to avoiding risk of bias, designing appropriate control group, optimal outcome measurement, potential different effects of menopausal status on study outcomes, and suggestions for developing future clinical trials are discussed. Results: Shortcomings of our multicenter study include lack of allocation concealment and assessor blinding, subjective outcome measurement, short-term follow-up, and fixed acupuncture regimen despite pragmatic purpose of this study. Improving trial design, using objective or validated outcomes, assessing long-term effects of acupuncture, and individualizing acupuncture regimen are needed in future clinical trials. Conclusion: We expect these practical discussions to enable researchers to plan and develop future well-designed clinical trials for evaluating the effects of acupuncture on hot flashes or other women's health issues.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.129-144
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• 2016

Objectives : This study aims to review the actual use of acupuncture manipulation in clinical trials and to discuss the directions of studies, to be conducted in the future. Methods : Through five search engines, clinical trial papers were collected, which had involved the use of acupuncture treatment since 2001 when STRICTA was published. The selected papers were classified based on whether acupuncture manipulation and De-Qi were stated. The comparison status of domestic and foreign, status by year, target diseases, and therapeutic interventions were also investigated. Results : 54 % domestic and 69 % foreign papers mentioned acupuncture manipulation or De-Qi. Among them, acupuncture manipulation was used in 40 % domestic and 53 % foreign papers. There was no significant difference around 2010 when the revised edition of STRICTA was published. The use of acupuncture manipulation was the highest in studies that targeted musculoskeletal disorders. Besides that, the use of acupuncture manipulation was higher in cases where acupuncture was used for therapeutic interventions than it was for basic manipulation or combination therapy. Conclusion : Compared to the importance of acupuncture manipulation and De-Qi, there was actually a smaller number of papers that clearly suggested information on acupuncture manipulation and De-Qi. The reason is considered to be a lack of studies to establish the mechanism and effectiveness of each acupuncture manipulation method and studies that objectified the amount of stimulation incurred by the acupuncture manipulation methods. It is necessary to properly utilize acupuncture manipulation by actively conducting these studies.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.133-147
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• 2009

Objectives : To review RCTs on acupuncture treatment for low back pain in order to establish a standard acupuncture treatment model in treating low back pain. Methods : RCT articles on traditional acupuncture treatment for low back pain were searched through online database. Study Quality was assessed using the FEAS. Results : Ten out of the one hundred six articles searched were reviewed. Among the ten articles reviewed, six articles compared acupuncture treatment with no treatment or non-penetrating sham acupuncture. All six articles concluded significantly positive effect of acupuncture compared to the control. Conclusions : The ideal acupuncture treatment model for low back pain was obtained as follows. A sterile disposable stainless steel(0.30mm${\times}$40mm) should be inserted to more than six acupuncture points on the BL, GV and GB meridians such as $BL_23$, $BL_25$, $BL_40$, $BL_60$, $GV_4$ and $GB_30$. Sparrow pecking method to obtain 'de-qi' is recommended and repeated stimulation during the 20 minute retention time is necessary. Ideal treatment frequency would be more than one a week for about 7 weeks.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.121-136
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• 2016

Objectives : Despite various treatment for Shoulder-hand syndrome being presented, only a few studies that examine the direct efficacy of acupuncture exist. The aim of this study is to establish a base for further research by reviewing studies on acupuncture treatment for Shoulder-hand syndrome. Methods : Clinical studies involving the effects of acupuncture for Shoulder-hand syndrome, published on July 19th 2016, were obtained from Pubmed, RISS, OASIS, the Journal of Korean Acupuncture and Moxibustion, the Journal of Korean institute of pharmacopuncture, the Korean Journal of Acupuncture, NDSL, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, DBpia, and KISS. Selected studies were evaluated by the Jadad scale and FEAS. Results : Among a total of two hundred and fifteen articles, thirteen articles (RCT 9, SR 1, Meta analysis 1, CCT 1 article, Case series 1) that meet the criteria were selected. Among 13 articles, one article was published in Korea. And apart from this one article, twelve studies were published in China. All studies reported that the experimental group treated by acupuncture had significantly better effects compared to the control group. However, the overall quality assessment of the studies is low. Conclusion : Despite several limitations, various studies to prove limited yet effective acupuncture treatment on Shoulder-hand syndrome provides much significance. Subsequent studies conducted by the complementary systematic review of the studies and well-designed clinical trials using the methodological quality will be needed to more firmly validate the therapeutic effect of acupuncture on Shoulder-hand syndrome.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.317-324
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• 1996

This study was conducted to evaluate the tensile bond strength of three commercially available glass ionomer cements as orthodontic bracket adhesives. 120 premolars extracted for orthodontic treatment were prepared for bonding and standard edgewise brackets were bonded with Shofu Glaslonomer Cement (Shofu Co., U.S.A.), GC Fuji ItGC Co., Japan), KETAC-CEM(ESPE Co., West Germany) with different P/L ratio. The tensile bond strength was tested by Instron testing device after 24hours and 3months from bonding. After debracketing, bracket bases were examined to determine the failure sites. The results of this study were as follows: 1. KETAC CEM showed the highest bond strength other than measurement after 24 hours and at its original P/L ratio, and seemed to have clinically a proper bond strength. It seemed, however, that both Shofu Giaslonomer Cement and GC Fuji I had an inappropriate bond strength. 2. The incorporation of additional powder into the mixture improved the tensile bond strength. 3. Prolonged storage time improved the tensile bond strength. 4. Of the failure, failure occured at the tooth-adhesive interface(54.2%) was the most common type. The second type of failure(36.7%) was combination type, where part of the adhesive remained on the tooth and part on the bracket. And the last type of failure(9.1%) occured at the adhesive-bracket interface.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.203-206
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• 1988

Evaluation of inadvertent dural puncture occuring among 308 epidural blocks done for the relief of pain from various conditions was performed. Dural puncture was suspected in 5 out of 308 epidural bloks. (1.6%) Aspiration of CSF was negative in 3 cases in which dural puncture was suspected only after developing spinal anesthesia. Of the 3 negative CSF aspirations, one case had a history of laminectomy. Adhesions of the adjacent tissues might result in the loss of flexibility and a decrease in potential epidural space which might cause dural tearing during injection and subarachoid injection of the local anesthetic followed by high spinal anesthesia. In another case, the needle tip was obstructed by tissue which led to negative aspiration of CSF and failure to feel loss of resistance. The second injection at the same site may cause subarachnoid injection of the local anesthetic through the previously perforated dura mater and in turn, lead to spinal anesthesia. In the last case, there was no reason to suspect dural puncture since the loss of resistance plus air rebound were definite and aspiration of CSF was negative, but dural puncture was suspected after the patient developed spinal anesthesia.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.183-194
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• 2006

The threadlike structures of fascia were examined by tight and electron microscopy. In order to distinguish its tissue organization, we used staining methods including hematoxylin-eosin, Masson's trichrome, Van Gieson's collagen fiber stain and Kluver-Barrera's luxol fast blue for nerve stain. Under the light microscope, the threadlike structures were composed of many collagen fibers and nerve. In higher magnification, they looked like as the bundle of tubular structures. Many myoid cell-spindle nuclei were observed in the tissue, which were taken from the fascia. It was identical with Bonghan duct known as one of meridian network theory. In the early 1960's the North Korean Bong-Han Kim showed the anatomical structures of the acupuncture points, and explained the meridian system as the concrete duct network system. According to Bonghan theory the Bonghan ducts spread throughout the body Because it is believed that the duct could have the role of signal pathway, the theory was reinvestigated in these days. All of the threadlike structures isolated from fascia shows the abundance of collagen fibers. The electron microscope examination (TEM) could confirm the well arranged collagen fiber and nerve. This investigation reveals that superficial Bohghan duct are nerve fiber parallel running with collagen fibers. We conjectured that the intermingled structure of collagen fiber, blood vessel and nerve fiber might have the role of meridian system. And the more, regardless of histological research, the study on collagen fiber as response transmitter in acupuncture treatment are in need.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.291-295
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• 2004

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) (RB) is a leguminous shrub native to the mountainous areas of the northwestern Cape Province in South Africa. RB tea infusions are the fermentation products of its leaves and fine sterns, and known to have a high antioxidative activity due to the presence of flavonoids and phenolic acids. We investigated the effects of RB tea on the alleviation of oxidative stress on cultured rat cortical neurons in a hypoxic model. Measurement of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released into culture media revealed that RB increased cell viabilities in both normoxia (6-18%) and hypoxia (2-24%) dose-dependently (10-100 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml) on 16 days in vitro (3 days after treatment). Visualization of cell morphology by expression of GFP-Hsc70 fusion protein showed that RB (50 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml) reduced the average vacuolated soma from 55.4$\pm$4.59% (no RB addition) to 40.9$\pm$6.3% (RB addition) on 5 days after hypoxia. Our results proves efficacy of RB in the neuroprotection of hypoxic neurons and extend application for RB into the prevention and/or treatment of neuronal damages.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 2013

Objectives : Many studies have investigated the electric specificity of meridian and acupoint. However, the definition about the real substance of 'Ki(Qi)' that flows in the meridian has not been established yet. The authors hypothesized that the 'Ki(Qi)' may be the very 'bioelectricity' of western medicine, from two common features that they are not visible with naked eyes and that they function in the living body only. Methods : 20 healthy adults participated in this study. Heart rate was measured before and after exercise. Acupuncture was performed at PC6 immediately after exercise with counter balance in the first experiment. In the second experiment, acupuncture group was further divided to the three groups, i.e. glove acupuncture group, manual acupuncture group, and NaCl acupuncture group. In the glove group, acupuncturist put on the two folds of latex gloves to block bioelectric currents between the acupuncturist and subject. In the NaCl group, acupuncturist had his fingertips wet with NaCl solution. Results : Exercise increased Heart Rate and acupuncture at PC6 inhibited this increase. In the second experiment, the significant difference compared to the comtrol group was the most in NaCl acupuncture and the least in Glove acupuncture. However, there was no significant difference between three groups. Conclusions : The results of this study seem to be deficient as a conclusive evidence for the hypothesis that the 'Ki(Qi)' of Korean Medicine is the 'bioelectricity' of western medicine.