• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.779-785
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• 2019

By applying an ergonomically developed Bismuth shield to the endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysm the radiation dose of the scalp and lens from the medical radiation exposure was reduced. The enrtance surface dose was analyzed by measuring the occipital parts, bilateral temporal parts, bilateral quadriceps, and nasal tip of the developed bismuth shield using a photostimulable fluorescence dosimeter before (Group A) before use (Group B). Signal to noise ratio (SNR) and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) analysis were used to evaluate the image quality when Bismuth shielding was used. The mean entrance surface dose of A group and B group was 26.92% lower than that of A group. The analysis of CNR and SNR was the same for both Roadmap and DSA. The use of Bismuth shielding is an alternative that can reduce the radiation impairment due to temporary hair loss and other stochastic effects that may occur after cerebrovascular intervention.

• Knee surgery & related research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.348-355
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• 2018

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical effects of using anatomical bony landmarks (Parsons' knob and the medial intercondylar ridge) and minimal ablation of the tibial footprint to improve knee anterior instability and synovial graft coverage after double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective comparison of outcomes between patients who underwent reconstruction with minimal ablation of the tibial footprint, using an anatomical tibial bony landmark technique, and those who underwent reconstruction with wide ablation of the tibial footprint. Differences between the two groups were evaluated using second-look arthroscopy, radiological assessment of the tunnel position, postoperative anterior knee joint laxity, and clinical outcomes. Results: Use of the anatomical reference and minimal ablation of the tibial footprint resulted in a more anterior positioning of the tibial tunnel, with greater synovial coverage of the graft postoperatively (p=0.01), and improved anterior stability of the knee on second-look arthroscopy. Both groups had comparable clinical outcomes. Conclusions: Use of anatomical tibial bony landmarks that resulted in a more anteromedial tibial tunnel position improved anterior knee laxity, and minimal ablation improved synovial coverage of the graft; however, it did not significantly improve subjective and functional short-term outcomes.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.38-57
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• 2019

Objective: This study reviewed recent clinical research trends regarding the effects of herbal medicine treatment containing diuretic herbs on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in China. Methods: We reviewed clinical studies on NAFLD from the China Academic Journal of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure from January 1, 2016, to September 10, 2018. Results: Thirty-nine papers from 86 studies were reviewed. The most commonly used herbal prescriptions included Alismatis Rhizoma(澤瀉), Salviae miltiorrhizae Radix (丹蔘), Crataegii Fructus (山査), Polia Sclerotium (茯?), Bupleuri Radix (柴胡), and Cassiae Semen (決明子). The treatment effective rate, liver function test, serum lipid test, radiological examination, and symptom comparisons were used to analyze the treatments. In 32 of the papers, the effective treatment rate was 76.9%-100%, and the effectiveness in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (p<0.05). The risk ratio for the treatment effective rate was 1.26. The mean difference of ALT was -13.44 U/L (95% confidential interval, -24.45 U/L, -2.44 U/L, p=0.0166). Conclusion: Herbal medicine containing diuretic herbs has been demonstrated to be an effective and useful treatment for NAFLD. Clinical studies that are more scientific and systematic should be actively conducted in the future, and the results of the current study could be used as basic data in future clinical studies on herbal medicine treatment for NAFLD.

• Laboraroty Animal Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.76-83
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• 2017

Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) is an important disease featured as intense inflammation, protease imbalance, and air flow limitation and mainly induced by cigarette smoke (CS). In present study, we explored the effects of $Pycnogenol^{(R)}$ (PYC, pine bark extract) on pulmonary fibrosis caused by CS+lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure. Mice were treated with LPS intranasally on day 12 and 26, followed by CS exposure for 1 h/day (8 cigarettes per day) for 4 weeks. One hour before CS exposure, 10 and 20 mg/kg of PYC were administered by oral gavage for 4 weeks. PYC effectively reduced the number of inflammatory cells and proinflammatory mediators caused by CS+LPS exposure in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. PYC inhibited the collagen deposition on lung tissue caused by CS+LPS exposure, as evidenced by Masson's trichrome stain. Furthermore, transforming growth $factor-{\beta}1$ ($TGF-{\beta}1$) expression and Smad family member 2/3 (Smad 2/3) phosphorylation were effectively suppressed by PYC treatment. PYC markedly reduced the collagen deposition caused by CS+LPS exposure, which was closely involved in $TGF-{\beta}1$/Smad 2/3 signaling, which is associated with pulmonary fibrotic change. These findings suggest that treatment with PYC could be a therapeutic strategy for controlling COPD progression.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2022

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of Eucommia ulmoides extracts on rheumatoid arthritis biomarker in a CIA-induced DBA/1 mice. For evaluation, Eucommia ulmoides extracts was administered orally at dose of 100 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks after production of an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis and we confirmed the treatments' effects based on serum biomarker, radiological, structural parameter analysis. Compared to the negative control group, the Eucommia ulmoides extracts treatments significantly reduced the serum level of inflammation and immunoglobulin markers (i.e., TNF-α, IgG, and hs-CRP), and significantly decreased the monocyte count of white blood cells. Furthermore, the Eucommia ulmoides extracts treatments effectively preserved the joint destruction, and little the joint deformation. Moreover, compared to the negative control group, the Eucommia ulmoides extracts treatments increased the bone volume, and significantly decreased bone inflammation. The results indicate that the Eucommia ulmoides extracts improved rhrumatoid arthritis symptoms. Thus, the Eucommia ulmoides extracts may be a novel therapeutic option for the management of rheumatoid arthritis.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2022

Background: This study aims to derive the characteristics of each work type for industrial radiography based on empirical evidence through expert advice and a survey of radiation workers of various types of industrial radiography. Materials and Methods: According to a Korean report, work types of industrial radiography are classified into indoor tests, underground pipe tests, tests in a shielded room (radiographic testing [RT] room test), outdoor field tests, and outdoor large structure tests. For each work type, exposure geometry and radiation sources were mainly identified through the expert advice and workers' survey as reliable empirical evidence. Results and Discussion: The expert advice and survey results were consistent as the proportion of the work types were high in the order of RT room test, outdoor large structure test, underground pipe test, outdoor field test, and indoor test. The outdoor large structure test is the highest exposure risk work type in the industrial radiography. In most types of industrial radiography, radiation workers generally used ¹⁹²Ir as the main source. In the results of the survey, the portion of sources was high in the order of ¹⁹²Ir, X-ray generator, ⁶⁰Co, and ⁷⁵Se. As the exposure geometry, the antero-posterior geometry is dominant, and the rotational and isotropic geometry should be also considered with the work type. Conclusion: In this study, through expert advice and a survey, the external exposure characteristics for each work type of industrial radiography workers were derived. This information will be used in the reconstruction of organ dose for health effects assessment of Korean radiation workers.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.531-538
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• 2022

Objective : Anterior communicating artery (Acom) aneurysm is one of the most common intracranial aneurysms, constituting approximately 30-35% of all aneurysm formation in the brain. Anatomically, the H-complex (the anatomic morphology of both A1 to A2 segments) is thought to affects the nature of the Acom aneurysm due to its close relationship with the hemodynamics of the vessel. Therefore, we investigated the relative risk factors of aneurysmal rupture, especially focusing on H-complex morphology of the Acom. Methods : From January 2016 to December 2020, a total of 209 patients who underwent surgery, including clipping and coiling for Acom aneurysm in our institution were reviewed. There were 102 cases of ruptured aneurysm and 107 cases of unruptured aneurysm. The baseline morphology of aneurysms was investigated and the relationship between the H-complex and the clinical characteristics of patients with Acom aneurysms was assessed. Results : Of the 209 patients, 109 patients (52.1%) had symmetrical A1, 79 patients (37.8%) had unilateral hypoplastic A1, and 21 patients (10.0%) had aplastic A1. The hypoplastic A1 group and the aplastic A1 group were grouped together as unilateral dominancy of A1, and were compared with the symmetrical A1 group. There was no significant difference in demographic characteristics and radiological findings of Acom aneurysms between two groups. However, when dichotomizing the patients into ruptured cases and unruptured cases, unilateral dominance of the A1 segment was associated with aneurysmal rupture with statistical significance (p=0.011). Conclusion : These results suggest that the unilateral dominance of the A1 segment does not have a significant effect on the morphology of Acom aneurysms, but contributes to aneurysmal rupture. Thus, we can better understand the effects of hemodynamics on Acom aneurysm.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.185-190
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• 2023

This study designed and produced stimuli in the form of canned images of fun humor, character, quirky, and sexy humor, and measured the signal values (SI) of the hippocampus associated with memory through fMRI analysis. The results of 20 participants showed that there were differences in SI values according to gender and age, and the fun humor image stimuli had the highest SI values. Men showed higher SI values for fun humor image stimuli, while women showed higher SI values for character humor image stimuli. In addition, those in their 20s showed higher SI values for fun humor image stimuli, while those in their 30s showed higher SI values for quirky humor image stimuli. Considering these findings, it is expected that more effective results can be obtained by utilizing fun humor images and characters in package design.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.59-67
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• 2023

Purpose : Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is recognized as an important cellular response in metastatic proceduresand characterized by loss of cellular polarity as well as gain of mesenchymal features, which enables migration and invasion. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common primary carcinomas in the liver and exhibits a poor prognosis due to frequent extrahepatic metastasis. Taraxacum officinale has been used for a long time in oriental medicine because of its various pharmacological activitiessuch as anti-rheumatic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anticarcinogenic activities. In this study, the anti-metastatic activity of T. officinale water extract (TOWE) and ethanol extract (TOEE) was investigated through the regulation of EMT in the Huh7 cells. Methods : The effects of TOWE and TOEE on migratory and invasive activities were investigated by wound healing and in vitro invasion assays. Western blot analysis was also applied to analyze protein expression levels associated with EMT and their upstream transcription factors in Huh7 cells. Results : TOWE and TOEE treatment potently inhibited migration and invasion of Huh7 cells compared to the untreated group. Both extracts treatment inhibited protein expression levels of N-cadherin, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, and vimentin while E-cadherin was significantly accelerated. In addition, the activated status of transcription factors, Snail, nuclear factor (NF)-κ B, and zinc finger E-box binding homeobox (ZEB)1 was also inhibited with statistical significance. In comparison to both extracts, TOEE more potently attenuated migration, invasion, and EMT markers as well as their transcription factors in Huh7 cells than TOWE, which means that TOEE might possess more functional phytochemicals than TOWE. Conclusion : Consequently, TOWE and TOEEattenuated metastatic activity of hepatocellular carcinoma through the regulation of EMT markers and their transcription factors in Huh7 cells, which means that T. officinale might be a promising strategy for a chemopreventive agent against HCC metastasis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.459-464
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• 2023

Due to the development of advanced technology, a lot of digital radiographic equipment has been developed, which is very helpful for accurate diagnosis and treatment, and it is very important to train personnel who have acquired professional knowledge in order to use it safely and effectively. Students are exposed to the risk of radiation exposure in radiography training using diagnostic X-ray equipment, and some educational institutions do not use X-ray equipment due to management difficulties in accordance with the Nuclear Safety Act. As a solution to this, this study developed a medical radiation simulator for education that does not generate radiation by using a vision sensor and self-developed software. Through this, educational institutions can reduce the burden of administrative implementation according to the law, and students can obtain a high level of educational effects in a healthy practice environment without radiation exposure.