• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.409-424
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• 2019

Objectives: This research aimed to confirm the efficacy of oriental medicine in sixth cranial nerve palsy and to evaluate the quality of the studies. Methods: Using the medical subject heading (MeSH) keywords "abducens nerve palsy", "abducens nerve paralysis", "sixth nerve palsy", "herbal medicine", "Chinese medicine", "oriental medicine" and "acupuncture", we collected the research papers through an electronic database search in Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), National Discovery for Science Leaders (NDSL), PubMed, Cochran Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Results: A total of 136 papers were searched from the databases. Among these, 15 case reports and 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) met our criteria. 17 articles were found on the use of acupuncture as the main intervention, 11 on the use of herbal medicine as the main intervention, and 9 on the use of electroacupuncture as the main intervention. The frequently used acupoints were LI4, EX-HN5, GB1, BL2, TE23, LR3, BL1, ST2, GB20, and ST36. All 23 studies confirmed the efficacy of Korean medicine. According to the assessment using the risk of bias, the overall quality of the RCTs was low. Conclusions: Twenty-three papers suggested that Korean medicine treatment for abducens nerve palsy was effective in many cases. Analyzing the potential bias was difficult.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.267-280
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• 2018

Objectives: The objective of this study was to provide clinical evidence to support the use of a herbal medicine (Cheonwangbosim-Dan/Tianwangbuxin-Pellet (TWBXP)) for insomnia. Methods: Randomized controlled trials that verified effects of Herbal Medicine (Cheonwangbosim-Dan, Tianwangbuxin-Pellet) treating primary insomnia were carried out. A literature search of English, Chinese, Korean databases was also performed. The selected literature were assessed by Risk of Bias (RoB). Results: The total number of selected trials was 13 RCTs. Among the 13 RCTs, 10 were meta-analyzed. The Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders-3 (CCMD-3) was frequently used as the diagnostic criteria for interventions during the analysis of the use of herbal medicine (Cheonwangbosim-Dan/Tianwangbuxin-Pellet) for management of primary insomnia. As for outcome measurement, the effective rate was used. From the Meta-analysis of the studies, it was established that the insomnia cure effective rate in the TWBXP group was higher than that in the Western Medicine (WM) group (RR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.24, p<0.0001, $I^2=33%$). Also, the effective rate in the TWBXP+ACU group was significantly different compared to the WM group (RR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.54, p=0.0004, $I^2=0%$). The quality of the selected RCTs was low. Conclusions: Herbal medicine (Cheonwangbosim-Dan/Tianwangbuxin-Pellet) is effective for treating primary insomnia. It is worth noting that this studies were of relatively poor quality. The sample sizes were also small. Therefore, further investigations into the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia are warranted.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2022

The purpose of our study was to investigate the migration level of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and barium (Ba) from glassware into a food simulant and to evaluate the exposure of each element. The test articles were glassware, including tableware, pots, and other containers. Pb, Cd, and Ba were analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). The analytical performance of the method was validated in terms of its linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), recovery, precision, and uncertainty. The monitoring was performed for 110 samples such as glass cups, containers, pots, and bottles. a food simulant. Migration test was conducted at 25? for 24 hours in a dark place using 4% acetic acid as a food simulant. Based on the data; exposure assessment was carried out to compare the estimated daily intake (EDI) to the human safety criteria. The risk levels of Pb and Ba determined in this study were approximately 1.9% and 0.3% of the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) and tolerable daily intake (TDI) value, respectively, thereby indicating a low exposure to the population.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.316-323
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• 2023

Objective : Owing to advances in critical care treatment, the overall survival rate of preterm infants born at a gestational age (GA) <32 weeks has consistently improved. However, the incidence of severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) has persisted, and there are few reports on in-hospital morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate trends surrounding in-hospital morbidity and mortality of preterm infants with severe IVH over a 14-year period. Methods : This single-center retrospective study included 620 infants born at a GA <32 weeks, admitted between January 2007 and December 2020. After applying exclusion criteria, 596 patients were included in this study. Infants were grouped based on the most severe IVH grade documented on brain ultrasonography during their admission, with grades 3 and 4 defined as severe. We compared in-hospital mortality and clinical outcomes of preterm infants with severe IVH for two time periods : 2007-2013 (phase I) and 2014-2020 (phase II). Baseline characteristics of infants who died and survived during hospitalization were analyzed. Results : A total of 54 infants (9.0%) were diagnosed with severe IVH over a 14-year period; overall in-hospital mortality rate was 29.6%. Late in-hospital mortality rate (>7 days after birth) for infants with severe IVH significantly improved over time, decreasing from 39.1% in phase I to 14.3% in phase II (p=0.043). A history of hypotension treated with vasoactive medication within 1 week after birth (adjusted odds ratio, 7.39; p=0.025) was found to be an independent risk factor for mortality. When comparing major morbidities of surviving infants, those in phase II were significantly more likely to have undergone surgery for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) (29.2% vs. 0.0%; p=0.027). Additionally, rates of late-onset sepsis (45.8% vs. 14.3%; p=0.049) and central nervous system infection (25.0% vs. 0.0%; p=0.049) were significantly higher in phase II survivors than in phase I survivors. Conclusion : In-hospital mortality in preterm infants with severe IVH decreased over the last decade, whereas major neonatal morbidities increased, particularly surgical NEC and sepsis. This study suggests the importance of multidisciplinary specialized medical and surgical neonatal intensive care in preterm infants with severe IVH.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.96-120
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• 2023

Objectives: This study reports the findings that support the efficacy of herbal medicine (HM) for premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Methods: We conducted meta-analysis of findings from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for PMS treated with HM. The articles were published before July 2022, located using 9 databases (Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, CNKI, CiNii, SCIENCE ON, KoreaMed, OASIS). Results: We observed 2,034 studies, of which 23 RCTs met our inclusion criteria. The risk of bias in the included studies was relatively unclear or high. Meta-analysis of 3 RCTs showed that HM group had a significantly higher total effective rate than the western medicine group (RR 1.20 [95% CI 1.06, 1.36, p=0.004]). Meta-analysis of 1 RCT showed that HM group had a significantly lower symptom score (MD -3.04 [95% CI -5.36, -0.72, p=0.01]), while there was no significant difference in daily record of severity of problems scale (MD -20.52 [95% CI -49.33, 8.29, p=0.16]). Conclusions: HM significantly improved PMS symptoms than general treatment and no serious adverse events were reported. However, the evidence on the effectiveness and safety of HM for PMS was not enough to provide reliable results due to the small number and low quality of included studies. We believe that rigorous RCTs will lead to more reliable evidence of the intervention.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.4
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• pp.914-922
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• 2021

Purpose To investigate the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) after > 10 years of follow-up. Materials and Methods This study included five patients who underwent RFA to treat PTMCs (five lesions, mean diameter 0.5 cm, range 0.4-0.7 cm) between November 2006 and December 2009. The inclusion criteria were histopathologically confirmed PTMCs, a single PTMC lesion without extrathyroidal extension, no metastasis, and ineligibility or refusal to undergo surgery. RFA was performed by a single radiologist using a radiofrequency generator and an internally cooled electrode. We retrospectively analyzed the procedure-induced complications, serial changes in ablated tumors, recurrence, and local as well as lymph node metastasis based on data obtained from medical records and radiological images. Results The mean follow-up period was 130.6 months (range 121-159 months). Three patients underwent a single RFA session, and two patients underwent two RFA sessions. We observed no procedure-induced complications. Three tumors completely disappeared after ablation, and ablation of the other two tumors resulted in the formation of a small scar that showed long-term stability (mean duration 16.8 months, range 12-27 months). At the last follow-up, no patient showed recurrence or lymph node metastasis, and serum thyroglobulin levels were within normal limits in all patients. Conclusion RFA may be effective and safe to treat low-risk PTMC in patients who refuse or are ineligible for surgery.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.19-48
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• 2008

In order to verify the risk of onset of the illnesses based on gender, age, and monthly income 1,739 subjects from Hongcheon county, Gangwon province were selected. Questionnaire on demographic sociology, health condition, existence of illnesses(cancer, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, cardiac disorders), and usage of public health services was surveyed from October 1, 2006 to October 20, 2006. Following conclusions were reached on the basis of the questionnaire : - For demographic sociological peculiarities, gender, age, occupation, and education level were evenly distributed. Most were under normal marriage(67.38%), health insurance(86.39%), 494(36.0%) individuals with less than monthly income of 1 million won, 494(36.0%) individuals with monthly income between 1 and 2 million won, 219(16.0%) with monthly income between 2 and 3 million won, and 164(12.0%) individuals with more than 3 million won, thus showing relatively low income. - For health status, 1,199(70.28%) individuals are non-smokers, 209(45.63%) individuals smoke $10{\sim}20$ cigarettes a day, 754(44.02%) individuals exercise less than twice a week are the major sector of the population. 1,518(88.10%) individuals have regular checkup more than once and 1,131(65.49%) stated their health condition less than average. - For comparison of existence of illnesses between genders, there was no statistical significance on cancer, stroke, and diabetes. But statistical significance was shown on hypertension(P value 0.025), arthritis(P value 0.000), and cardiac disorders(P value 0.016). Statistical significance was seen in the age comparison, and OR(confidence interval) drastically increased with increase in age. - There was no difference between the primary health clinic(P value 0.000), most visited clinic(P value 0.000), selection criteria(P value 0.000), and satisfaction on efficacy(P value 0.000). There was a tendency preferring hospital than public health center with increase in income. - For correlation between the existence of illnesses among different income levels, except for cancer(P value 0.172), statistical significance was seen in hypertension(P value 0.000), stroke(P value 0.003), diabetes (P value 0.001), arthritis(P value 0.000), and cardiac disorders(P value 0.000). The number of individuals suffering from illnesses and ratio all decreased for all illnesses with increase in income. - After adjusting confounding factors(gender, age, income, marriage, occupation, education) and male (1) as the standard, OR (confidence interval) of cancer, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, cardiac disorders were 0.47(0.11${\sim}$2.05), 1.27(0.89${\sim}$1.81), 0.58(0.21${\sim}$1.59), 0.71(0.41${\sim}$1.23), 1.79(1.34${\sim}$2.39, P<0.01), and 1.46(0.72${\sim}$2.96), respectively. Risk of arthritis is significantly high in female and 20's (1) as the standard, OR(confidence interval) of cancer, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, cardiac disorders were 1.01(0.96${\sim}$1.07), 1.06(1.04${\sim}$1.07, P<0.01), 1.05(1.01${\sim}$1.10, P<0.01), 1.06(1.03${\sim}$1.08, P<0.01), 1.05(1.03${\sim}$1.06, P<0.01), and 1.06(1.04${\sim}$1.09, P<0.01), respectively. Risk of onset for illnesses significantly increased with yearly aging except for cancer. - For comparison between monthly income after adjusting confounding factors(gender, age, income, marriage, occupation, education), with less than 1 million won (1) as the standard, OR(confidence interval) of cancer for 1 to 2 million won, 2 to 3 million won, and more than 3 million won were 0.23(0.03${\sim}$2.16), 2.53(0.41${\sim}$15.43), and 1.73(0.15${\sim}$19.50), respectively. OR(confidence interval) of hypertension were 1.12(0.76 ${\sim}$1.66), 0.68(0.34${\sim}$1.34), and 2.04(1.08${\sim}$3.86, P<0.01), respectively. OR(confidence interval) of stroke were 0.96(0.30${\sim}$3.08) for 1 to 2 million won, and 0.80(0.08${\sim}$8.46) for 2 to 3 million won. OR(confidence interval) of diabetes were 0.73(0.38${\sim}$1.38), 0.65(0.24${\sim}$1.71), and 0.69(0.24${\sim}$2.01), respectively. The values were 0.76(0.55${\sim}$1.03), 1.14(0.75${\sim}$1.73), and 0.90(0.56${\sim}$1.46), respectively for arthritis. OR(confidence interval) of cardiac disorders were 1.15(0.53${\sim}$2.48), 0.63(0.13${\sim}$3.12), and 1.20(0.28${\sim}$5.14), respectively. Risks of cancer, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and cardiac disorders were dependent of monthly income, and stroke and diabetes decreased with increase in income. Summarizing above data, arthritis was significantly higher in women and increase in age by each year brought significant increase in the chance of onset in hypertension, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and cardiac disorders except for cancer. Stroke and diabetes decreased with increase in income. Above findings can be applied and reflected in public health policies at the national level, and it can also be applied at the personal level for individual health maintenance and prevention.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.2 s.75
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• pp.199-205
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• 2006

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)-$\alpha$ of three PPAR subtypes ($-\alpha,\;-\beta/-\gamma,\;-\delta$), which are members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors, plays a key role in lipoprotein and glucose homeostasis. A variation in the PPAR-a gene expression has been suggested to influence the development of metabolic syndrome through alterations in lipid concentrations. The aim of our study was to investigate the association between the PPAR-a and metabolic syndrome among South Korean. A total of 542 health screen examinees were enrolled in this study who were examined in Kosin University Gospel Hospital from December, 2004 to July, 2005. The height, weight, waist circumference, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the subjects were examined and fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride were measured by-sampling in venous blood. The metabolic syndrome was defined as the presence of three or more of the following : waist circumference men ${\geq}90cm$, women ${\geq}80cm$, blood pressure ${\geq}130/85mmHg$, fasting glucose ${\geq}110mg/dL$, HDL cholesterol men <40 mg/dL, women <50 mg/dL, triglyceride ${\geq}150mg/dL$. The blood pressure, fasting glucose, HDL cholesterol, triglyceride were evaluated by using the criteria of NECP ATP III and waist circumference was assessed by using the criteria of WHO Asia-Western Pacific. And the author compared the frequency of the PPAR-$\alpha$ mutation of L162V ($C{\rightarrow}G$ variant in exon 5) in a sample of 542 subjects with and without the metabolic syndrome by polymerase chain reaction allele-specific oligonucleotide (PCR-ASO) method. One (0.2%) hetero-isotype among high risk of metabolic syndrome was identified. The values of waist circumference, body mass index and low density lipoprotein cholesterol of the mutant were 100 cm, 28.6 $kg/m^2$ and 120 mg/dL, respectively. Although the author failed to see significant association between the presence of the PPAR-$\alpha$ L162V polymorphism and metabolic syndrome, one PPAR-$\alpha$ L162V polymorphism in metabolic syndrome patients was found.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.30 no.4 s.59
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• pp.741-751
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• 1997

Measurement of blood lead (PbB) and blood zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) are most common biological indices to identify the individual at risk for excess or the health sequences by lead exposure. Because PbB is known most important and reliable index of lead exposure, PbB is often regarded as a gold standard to detect lead exposure. But in Korea PbB is a secondary test item of detailed health check-up with positive finding of screening test in most occasion. Our lead standard requires all lead workers to take annual heath-check twice a year for investigation of their health effect due to lead exposure. Blood ZPP is one of most important index to detect high lead absorption in lead workers as a screening test. Measurement of blood ZPP is known ,well to correlate with PbB in steady state of exposure in most lead workers and is often used as a primary screening test to detect high lead absorption of lead workers with the advantage of simplicity, easiness, portability and low cost. The current cut-off criteria of blood ZPP for further detailed health check-up is $100{\mu}g/d\ell$ which is supposed to match the level of $40{\mu}g/d\ell$ of PbB according to our standard. Authors tried to investigate the validity of current criteria of cut-off level $(100{\mu}g/d\ell)$ of blood ZPP and possible another better cut-off level of it to detect the lead workers whose PbB level over $40{\mu}g/d\ell$. The subjects in our study were 212 male workers in three small scale storage battery industries. Blood ZPP, PbB and hemoglobin (Hb) were selected as the indices of lead exposure. The results were as follows. 1. The mean of blood ZPP, PbB and Hb in lead workers were $79.5{\pm}46.7{\mu}g/d\ell,\;38.7{\pm}15.1{\mu}g/d\ell,\;and\;14.8{\pm}1.2g/d\ell$, respectively. There were significant differences in blood ZPP, PbB and Hb by industry (P<0.01). 2. The percents of lead workers whose blood ZPP were above $100{\mu}g/d\ell$ in the group of work duration below 1, 1-4, 5-9 and above 10 years were 8.6%, 17.2%, 47.6%, and 50.0%, respectively. The percents of lead workers whose PbB were above $40{\mu}g/d\ell$ in those were 31.4%, 40.4%, 71.4%, and 86.4%, respectively. 3. The percents of lead workers whose PbB were below $40{\mu}g/d\ell$, $40-59{\mu}g/d\ell$ and above $60{\mu}g/d\ell$ were 54.7%, 34.9% and 10.4%, respectively. Those of lead workers whose blood ZPP were below $100{\mu}g/d\ell$, $100-149{\mu}g/d\ell$ and above $150{\mu}g/d\ell$ were 79.2%, 13.7% and 7.1%, respectively. 4. Simple linear regression of PbB on blood ZPP was statistically significant (P<0.01) and as PbB was $40{\mu}g/d\ell$, blood ZPP was $82.1{\mu}g/d\ell$. 5. While the highest sensitivity and specificity of blood ZPP test to detect lead workers with PbB eve. $40{\mu}g/d\ell$ were observed in the cut-off level of $50{\mu}g/d\ell$ and $100{\mu}g/d\ell$ of blood ZPP, respectively, the highest validity (sensitivity+specificity) of blood ZPP to detect lead workers with PbB over $40{\mu}g/d\ell$ was observed in the cut-off level of around $70{\mu}g/d\ell$ of blood ZPP. But even with optimal cut-off level of around $70{\mu}g/d\ell$ of blood ZPP, still 25.0% of false negative and 20.7% false positive lead workers were found. As the result of this study, it was suggested that reconsideration of current blood ZPP cut-off of our lead standard from $100{\mu}g/d\ell$ to somewhat lower level such as around $70{\mu}g/d\ell$ and the inclusion of PbB measurement as a primary screening test for lead workers was highly recommended for the effective prevention of lead workers.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.456-463
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• 2008

Purpose: We evaluated the incidence and malignant risk of focal breast lesions incidentally detected by $^{18}F-FDG$ PET/CT. Various PET/CT findings of the breast lesions were also analyzed to improve the differentiation between benign from malignant focal breast lesions. Materials & Methods: The subjects were 3,768 consecutive $^{18}F-FDG$ PET/CT exams performed in adult females without a history of breast cancer. A focal breast lesion was defined as a focal $^{18}F-FDG$ uptake or a focal nodular lesion on CT image irrespective of $^{18}F-FDG$ uptake in the breasts. The maximum SUV and CT pattern of focal breast lesions were evaluated, and were compared with final diagnosis. Results: The incidence of focal breast lesions on PET/CT in adult female subjects was 1.4% (58 lesions in 53 subjects). In finally confirmed 53 lesions of 48 subjects, 11 lesions of 8 subjects (20.8%) were proven to be malignant. When the PET/CT patterns suggesting benignancy (maximum attenuation value>75 HU or <30HU; standard deviation of mean attenuation > 20) were added as diagnostic criteria of PET/CT to differentiate benign from malignant breast lesions along with maximum SUV, the area under ROC curve of PET/CT was significantly increased compared with maximum SUV alone ($0.680{\pm}0.093$ vs. $0.786{\pm}0.076$, p<0.05). Conclusion: The malignant risk of focal breast lesions incidentally found on $^{18}F-FDG$ PET/CT is not low, deserving further diagnostic confirmation. Image interpretation considering both $^{18}F-FDG$ uptake and PET/CT pattern may be helpful to improve the differentiation from malignant and benign focal breast lesion.