• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.203-213
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• 2023

Objectives This study aimed to develop a Korean medicine (KM) clinical practice guideline for myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) via the collaboration of clinical and methodological experts. Methods The study will include an initial survey to establish a common understanding of MPS. To develop the clinical guideline, a multidisciplinary development group was formed. The group will finalize the clinical questions based on a preliminary draft. The GRADE methodology is going to be applied to determine the level of evidence and grading of the recommendations. Finally, approval from the relevant medical societies will be obtained. Results A protocol for developing a KM clinical guideline for MPS was presented. Before finalizing the clinical key questions, a literature search was conducted according to the protocol, and a draft of 19 clinical key questions was established. Conclusions An evidence-based KM clinical guideline for MPS is expected to contribute to the management of MPS. This may also serve as a reference for the development of other KM clinical practice guidelines in the future.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.24.1-24.16
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• 2023

This review aimed to answer the following question "Does photobiomodulation treatment of the root surface decrease the occurrence of root resorption in reimplanted teeth?" Electronic searches were performed in the MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Grey Literature Report databases. Risk of bias was evaluated using SYRCLE Risk of Bias tool. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) tool was used to assess the certainty of evidence. In total, 6 studies were included. Five studies reported a reduced occurrence of root resorption in teeth that received photobiomodulation treatment of the root surface prior to replantation. Only 1 study reported contradictory results. The photobiomodulation parameters varied widely among studies. GRADE assessment showed a low certainty of evidence. It can be inferred that photobiomodulation treatment of the root surface prior to replantation of teeth can reduce the occurrence of root resorption. Nonetheless, further clinical studies are needed.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.22.1-22.12
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• 2024

Objectives: This systematic review addressed the question: "What is the prevalence of apical periodontitis in patients prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation?" Materials and Methods: A systematic search was conducted in MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Grey Literature Report. Eligibility criteria were based on the condition, content, and population strategy: the condition was the radiographic prevalence of apical periodontitis, the content comprised patients scheduled for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and the population consisted of adult and pediatric patients. The revised Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies of Exposure tool was used to assess the quality of studies. The Grading Recommendations Assessments, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) tool was used to assess the quality of evidence. Results: Eight studies were included in this review. The average number of patients with apical periodontitis was 15.65% (range, 2.1%-43.34%). One study was classified as having a very high risk of bias, 1 with a high risk of bias, and 6 with some concern for bias. GRADE analysis showed a very low certainty of evidence. Significant limitations concerning the absence of control over confounding variables were identified. Conclusions: With the caveat of the very low quality of evidence in the studies reviewed, there was a low to moderate prevalence of apical periodontitis in patients prior to undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.57-65
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• 2023

The public safety management guidelines were introduced in 2019 and continue to be dedicated to advancing comprehensive measures for public safety management, with a primary focus on prioritizing the safety and well-being of the public within governmental institutions. To achieve this goal, our previous study developed a establishment procedure of risk assessment-based safety inspection system for public institutions that order construction projects and applied it to highway construction projects to evaluate its effectiveness. To enhance the practicality of the establishment procedure, it is essential to collect and analyze feedback from stakeholders regarding its performance and suitability. This study conducted a survey involving 200 participants who had experience with the establishment procedure, and performed statistical analyses to evaluate its performance and applicability. The survey results indicated that the participants reported a high level of satisfaction (scoring 4 and above on a 5-point Likert scale) in several areas: specialization of safety inspection items for different types of work (with a satisfaction rate of 65%), the evaluation process for safety ratings (64.5%), and their willingness to recommend the procedure to other institutions (75.5%). In the factor analysis with Varimax rotation, two factors emerged: (1) a specialization factor related to safety inspection items, and (2) a grading factor associated with safety evaluation results. Regression analyses of these factors unveiled significant positive relationships with improvements in safety and health performance, including the prevention of fatal accidents, heightened safety responsibility, and raised safety inspection standards. The establishment procedure of safety inspection system developed in our previous study can play a crucial role in reducing accidents resulting in fatalities and injuries at construction sites, ultimately contributing to a safer working environment for all involved parties.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.114-123
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• 2024

Purpose: Appropriate scoring systems can help classify and treat polytrauma patients. This study aimed to validate chest trauma scoring systems in polytrauma patients. Methods: Data from 1,038 polytrauma patients were analyzed. The primary outcomes were one or more complications: pneumonia, chest complications requiring surgery, and mortality. The Thoracic Trauma Severity Score (TTSS), Chest Trauma Score, Rib Fracture Score, and RibScore were compared using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in patients with or without head trauma. Results: In total, 1,038 patients were divided into two groups: those with complications (822 patients, 79.2%) and those with no complications (216 patients, 20.8%). Sex and body mass index did not significantly differ between the groups. However, age was higher in the complications group (64.1±17.5 years vs. 54.9±17.6 years, P<0.001). The proportion of head trauma patients was higher (58.3% vs. 24.6%, P<0.001) and the Glasgow Coma Scale score was worse (median [interquartile range], 12 [6.5-15] vs. 15 [14-15]; P<0.001) in the complications group. The number of rib fractures, the degree of rib fracture displacement, and the severity of pulmonary contusions were also higher in the complications group. In the area under the ROC curve analysis, the TTSS showed the highest predictive value for the entire group (0.731), head trauma group (0.715), and no head trauma group (0.730), while RibScore had the poorest performance (0.643, 0.622, and 0.622, respectively) Conclusions: Early injury severity detection and grading are crucial for patients with blunt chest trauma. The chest trauma scoring systems introduced to date, including the TTSS, are not acceptable for clinical use, especially in polytrauma patients with traumatic brain injury. Therefore, further revisions and analyses of chest trauma scoring systems are recommended.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2023.11a
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• pp.19-20
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• 2023

The pre-qualification system related to floor impact noise is considered ineffective, and thus, the introduction of a post-verification system is being prepared. This is because the performance, which was notarized in the qualification test due to various reasons, was not uniformly confirmed on building construction fields. Industry practitioners perceive that this is due to the influence of factors such as the flatness, levelness and/or thickness of the floor. However, it is very difficult to confirm such facts in a short period of time on the fields, and since the practical application of technology to measure and evaluate quantitatively and the establishment of a system are insufficient, it cannot be said to be a problem that can be brought to the surface. In fact, even when considering the conventional measurement of the dynamic modulus of elasticity, measurements are performed under controlled variables, such as placing a 200mm×200mm buffer material on a flat test-floor. However, in the fields, it is common to lay down larger productions(for example, 900mm×600mm) on the bare floor where significant variables are not controlled, and to construct finishing layers corresponding to the pre-qualified floor system without separately confirming the realization of the dynamic modulus of elasticity in the field conditions. In this study, spatial information of the bare floor on the field was measured and evaluated through a laser scanner. Technical methods for assessing the smoothness, flatness, and thickness of construction surfaces were reviewed, providing key insights for grading the quality of construction based on these criteria. Through further detailed and thorough investigations, it is expected that results suitable for practical application and systematization will be derived.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.52.1-52.13
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• 2023

Background: In 2019, the International Agency for Research on Cancer re-evaluated the carcinogenicity of night-shift work and reported that there is limited evidence that night-shift work is carcinogenic for the development of prostate cancer. Therefore, in 2020 and 2021, the Korean Epidemiologic Investigation Evaluation Committee concluded that 2 cases of prostate cancer were occupational diseases related to the night-shift work. Here, we report the 2 cases of prostate cancer in night-shift workers which were first concluded as occupational diseases by the Korean Epidemiologic Investigation Evaluation Committee. Case presentation: Patient A: A 61-year-old man worked as a city bus driver for approximately 17 years, from 2002 to 2019, and was exposed to night-shift work during this period. In March 2017, the patient was diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer through core-needle biopsy after experiencing stinging pain lasting for 2 months. Patient B: A 56-year-old man worked as an electrician and an automated equipment operator in a cement manufacturing plant for 35 years from 1976 to 2013 and was exposed to night-shift work during this period. In 2013, the patient was diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer through core needle biopsy at a university hospital because of dysuria that lasted for 6 months. Conclusions: The 2 workers were diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer after working night shifts for 17 and 35 years respectively. Additionally, previous studies have reported that high-grade prostate cancer has a stronger relationship with night-shift work than low or medium-grade prostate cancer. Therefore, the Korean Epidemiologic Investigation Evaluation Committee concluded that night-shift work in these 2 patients contributed to the development of their prostate cancer.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.505-510
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• 2024

Since rolling contact fatigue cracks can always occur on the rail surface, which is the contact surface between wheels and rails, railway rails require thorough inspection and diagnosis to thoroughly inspect the condition of the cracks and prevent breakage. Recent detailed guidelines on the performance evaluation of track facilities present the requirements for methods and procedures for track performance evaluation. However, diagnosing and grading rail surface damage mainly relies on external inspection (visual inspection), which inevitably relies on qualitative evaluation based on the subjective judgment of the inspector. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a deep learning model study for rail surface defect detection using Fast R-CNN. After building a dataset of rail surface defect images, the model was tested. The performance evaluation results of the deep learning model showed that mAP was 94.9%. Because Fast R-CNN has a high crack detection effect, it is believed that using this model can efficiently identify rail surface defects.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.429-443
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• 2024

Background: The study reports the effect of Korean medicine treatment on a patient with left facial palsy caused by Wegener's granulomatosis. Case information: The patient was receiving steroid treatment for facial palsy and was hospitalized for 21 days. He received acupuncture, electroacupuncture, bee venom pharmacopuncture, and moxibustion treatment along with Ssanghwa-tang and Cheongansohabwon herbal medicine treatment. During hospitalization, the Sunnybrook facial grading scale, House-Brackmann scale and length of time for the eye to completely close were evaluated at 11/16, 11/21, 11/27, 12/1, and 12/6. Post treatment, the degree of the movement in the left eyelid was improved, it took less time for the eye to close completely, the movement of the forehead wrinkle muscles improved, but that of the facial muscles under the eyes and left orbicularis oculi muscle showed little improvement. Conclusion: Korean medicine treatment for facial palsy caused by Wegener's Granulomatosis helps restore mobility of the forehead and orbicularis oculi muscles.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.141-157
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• 2024

Antithrombotic agents, including antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants, are widely used in Korea because of the increasing incidence of cardiocerebrovascular disease and the aging population. The management of patients using antithrombotic agents during endoscopic procedures is an important clinical challenge. The clinical practice guidelines for this issue, developed by the Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, were published in 2020. However, new evidence on the use of dual antiplatelet therapy and direct anticoagulant management has emerged, and revised guidelines have been issued in the United States and Europe. Accordingly, the previous guidelines were revised. Cardiologists were part of the group that developed the guideline, and the recommendations went through a consensus-reaching process among international experts. This guideline presents 14 recommendations made based on the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation methodology and was reviewed by multidisciplinary experts. These guidelines provide useful information that can assist endoscopists in the management of patients receiving antithrombotic agents who require diagnostic and elective therapeutic endoscopy. It will be revised as necessary to cover changes in technology, evidence, or other aspects of clinical practice.