• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.3-12
• /
• 2020

Neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury (SCI) has a significant negative impact on the patients' quality of life. The objective of this systematic review is to examine the safety and efficacy of pregabalin (PGB) and gabapentin (GBP) in the treatment of neuropathic pain due to SCI. PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, and the Web of Science were searched up to December 2018. The reference lists of key and review studies were reviewed for additional citations. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration's tools for assessing the risk of bias. A meta-analysis was performed for primary and secondary outcomes. Eight studies were eligible for inclusion. Meta-analysis of PGB vs. placebo showed that PGB was effective for neuropathic pain (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.40; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.78, -0.01), anxiety (MD = -0.68; 95% CI: -0.77, -0.59), depression (mean difference [MD] = -0.99; 95% CI: -1.08, -0.89), and sleep interference (MD = -1.08; 95% CI: -1.13, -1.02). Also, GBP was more effective than a placebo for reducing pain. No significant difference was observed between the efficacy of the two drugs (MD = -0.37; 95% CI: -1.67, 0.93). There was no significant difference between the two drugs for discontinuation due to adverse events (risk ratio = 3.00; 95% CI: 0.81, 11.15). PGB and GBP were effective vs. placebos in decreasing neuropathic pain after SCI. Also, there was no significant difference between the two drugs for decreasing pain and adverse events.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.41 no.6
• /
• pp.785-796
• /
• 2009

A KALIMER-600 concept which is a type of sodium-cooled fast reactor, has been developed at KAERI. It uses sodium as a primary coolant and is a pool-type reactor to enhance safety. Also, a supercritical carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) Brayton cycle is considered as an alternative to an energy conversion system to eliminate the sodium water reaction and to improve efficiency. In this study, a simplified model for analyzing the thermodynamic performance of the KALIMER-600 coupled with a supercritical $CO_2$ Brayton cycle was developed. To develop the analysis model, a commercial modular modeling system (MMS) was adopted as a base engine, which was developed by nHance Technology in USA. It has a convenient graphical user interface and many component modules to model the plant. A new user library for thermodynamic properties of sodium and supercritical $CO_2$ was developed and attached to the MMS. In addition, some component modules in the MMS were modified to be appropriate for analysis of the KALIMER-600 coupled with the supercritical $CO_2$ cycle. Then, a simplified performance analysis code was developed by modeling the KALIMER-600 plant with the modified MMS. After evaluating the developed code with each component data and a steady state of the plant, a simple power reduction and recovery event was evaluated. The results showed an achievable capability for a performance analysis code. The developed code will be used to develop the operational strategy and some control logics for the operation of the KALIMER-600 with a supercritical $CO_2$ Brayton cycle after further studies of analyzing various operational events.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.176-184
• /
• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to understand current situation of acupuncture and moxibustion for male infertility. Methods: We searched all relevant studies of male infertility patients treated with acupuncture and moxibustion. Electronic searches were conducted in Pubmed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE and 4 Korean databases until October 2013. Results: A total of 10 reports were included in the review. Two case reports, one case series, three before and after studies, one cohort study, one non-randomized controlled study and two randomized controlled studies were reviewed. Although the majority of studies suggested a positive effect of acupuncture on male infertility, the quality of studies was low. Data on adverse effects were lacking. Conclusions: We found a benefit from acupuncture for poor semen quality in male infertility. These findings should be treated with caution as the evidence was low or very low quality. To further evaluate the effects of acupuncture and moxibustion in male infertility, well-designed randomized controlled studies are needed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.164-172
• /
• 2019

Objectives: This study's purpose is finding children's activity spaces that demand environmental safety management. Methods: The method of this study is analysing children's life patterns based on a questionnaire survey. Results: This study analyzed children's life patterns through a questionnaire survey. In total, 2,447 questionnaires were provided to analyze children's life patterns. The results of the questionnaire indicated a highly simple form because many children generally stayed in their home (66%) or nursery facility (2%). In the case of other facilities, playground was ranked first and amusement park was ranked second. In addition, kids cafe (including play facilities installed in shopping centers, etc.), library, and internet cafe were among the responses. Conclusions: The priority for new high-maintenance children's activity spaces are academy (rank 1), kids cafe (rank 2), indoor playground (rank 3).

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.25-37
• /
• 2019

Objectives : This review determines the evidence of effectiveness and safety of Chuna manual therapy (CMT) for pediatric allergic rhinitis. Methods : We searched 12 electronic databases (Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CAJ, J-STAGE, RISS, DBpia, NDSL, KISTI, KISS, and KMBASE) and two related journals up to the end of April, 2019. We only included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating CMT for the treatment of pediatric allergic rhinitis. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool 1.0. Results : Twelve RCTs were eligible in our inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis of five studies demonstrated positive results for the using CMT for the treatment of pediatric allergic rhinitis. When used in conjunction with traditional Chinese medicine, CMT treatment significantly improved total efficacy rate compared with traditional Chinese medicine alone (P<0.02, n=5). Conclusions : Based on a published meta-analysis, there is reliable evidence for the use of CMT in treating pediatric allergic rhinitis. However, it should be noted that the studies included in this systematic review were heterogeneous and were of low quality, warranting further investigation using well-designed RCTs.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.73-85
• /
• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze efficacy and safety of Korean Medicine treatment for traffic accidents during pregnancy. Methods: We investigated the studies on Korean Medicine treatment for traffic accidents during pregnancy via searching through PUBMED, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, and domestic search engines and a total of 6 studies were selected. Results: The major complaints of traffic accidents during pregnancy were low back pain, neck pain and gastrointestinal symptoms. And there were vaginal bleeding and pruritus vulvae in the complaints. All of the studies were given acupuncture treatment for symptom relief, and chuna, herbal acupuncture and cupping were administered. Herbal medicine was also performed, and the most prescribed herbal medicine was Antaeeum-gamibang. All cases reported as traffic accidents during pregnancy showed a reduction in symptoms, normal pregnancy maintenance and delivery, and no miscarriage were reported. Conclusions: Korean Medicine treatment is an effective and safe treatment option for traffic accidents during pregnancy. Further systematic studies are needed to establish the basis for Korean Medicine treatment for traffic accidents during pregnancy.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.104-114
• /
• 2019

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to review the effectiveness of fire needling treatment for knee osteoarthritis in comparison with manual acupuncture treatment. Methods : Through four foreign online databases (PubMed, Cochrane library, EMBASE, and CNKI) and five domestic online databases (NDSL, RISS, KISS, OASIS, and KTKP), we searched for clinical studies that performed fire needling treatment for knee osteoarthritis until May 10, 2019. Only randomized controlled trials were selected and we assessed the risk of bias according to the Cochrane RoB criteria. This review examined the selected studies into first author, publication year, sample size, outcome measurements, results, acupoints, treatment time & period and so on. Results : A total of 7 RCTs were selected in this review and all were conducted in China. Treatment period of more than 4 weeks and treatment visits of 10 to 20 times were the most common. EX-LE4 and ST35 (=EX-LE5) acupoints were most frequently selected in treatment. Among the evaluation indexes, a total efficacy rate was used the most. Most of fire needling groups showed more significant results compared with the manual acupuncture groups statistically. Conclusions : All studies showed that fire needling treatments for knee osteoarthritis were more effective than manual acupuncture treatments statistically. Therefore, the results of this study could be utilized as a preliminary data for another clinical research on fire needling treatment for knee osteoarthritis. However, further well-designed randomized controlled trials will be needed to develop sufficient evidence about the effectiveness and safety of fire needling treatment for knee osteoarthritis in the future.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.46-61
• /
• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this review is to overview the studies of traditional herbal medicine for chronic pelvic inflammatory disease. Methods: We searched relevant studies using seven databases (The Journal of Korean obstetrics & gynecology, National Digital Science Library (NDSL), Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), Pubmed, Cochrane, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)). Data retrieval was carried out on April 5, 2021 and the papers published from January 1, 2015 to March 31, 2021 were included. The risk of bias was assessed by using Cochrane's risk of bias tool. Results: 524 studies were searched in domestic and foreign databases, and 7 studies were finally selected. In all studies, the treatment group was treated with oral traditional herbal medicine and the control group was treated with western medicine. Although the evaluation index was slightly different for each study, all studies used total efficacy rate index. In all 7 studies, the treatment group was more effective than the control group. Conclusions: Traditional herbal medicine can be an effective option in treating chronic pelvic inflammatory disease. Further high quality studies which include large number should be carried out to confirm the evidence and safety of traditional herbal medicine treatment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.2
• /
• pp.423-429
• /
• 2021

The investigation of the utilization of enriched ²⁰⁸Pb as a coolant to enhance the performance of a long-life fast reactor with a Modified CANDLE (Constant Axial shape of Neutron flux, nuclide densities, and power shape During Life of Energy production) burnup scheme has performed. The analyzes were performed on a reactor with thermal power of 800 MegaWatt Thermal (MWTh) with a refueling process every 15 years. Uranium Nitride (enriched ¹⁵N), ²⁰⁸Pb, and High-Cr martensitic steel HT-9 were employed as fuel, coolant, and cladding materials, respectively. One of the Pb-nat isotopes, ²⁰⁸Pb, has the smallest neutron capture cross-section (0.23 mb) among other liquid metal coolants. Furthermore, the neutron-producing cross-section (n, 2n) of ²⁰⁸Pb is larger than sodium (Na). On the other hand, the inelastic scattering energy threshold of ²⁰⁸Pb is the highest among Na, ^natPb, and Bi. The small inelastic scattering cross-section of ²⁰⁸Pb can harden the neutron energy spectrum. Therefore, ²⁰⁸Pb is a better neutron multiplier than any other liquid metal coolant. The excess neutrons cause more production than consumption of ²³⁹Pu. Hence, it can reduce the initial fuel loading of the reactor. The selective photoreaction process was developing to obtain enriched ²⁰⁸Pb. The neutronic was calculated using SRAC and JENDL 4.0 as a nuclear data library. We obtained that the modified CANDLE reactor with enriched ²⁰⁸Pb as coolant and reflector has the highest k-eff among all reactors. Meanwhile, the ^natPb cooled reactor has the lowest k-eff. Thus, the utilization of the enriched ²⁰⁸Pb as the coolant can reduce reactor initial fuel loading. Moreover, the enriched ²⁰⁸Pb-cooled reactor has the smallest power peaking factor among all reactors. Therefore, the enriched ²⁰⁸Pb can enhance the performance of a long-life Modified CANDLE fast reactor.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.385-402
• /
• 2021

Objective: This study confirms the safety and efficacy of Banhasasim-tang (BST) against cough through systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane, ScienceDirect, Wiley online library, OASIS, KISS, NDSL, RISS, Science and Technology Society Village, DBpia, CNKI, J-STAGE, and CiNii were used as search engines. The search period was from the start of search engine support to June 30. 2020. And search language was not limited. Cochrane's risk of bias (RoB) tool was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. A meta-analysis of the total effective rate (TER), cough symptom score, and spirometry results was performed using the Review Manager program. Results: 6 studies were finally selected. The group using BST showed significant symptom relief, as the odds ratio (OR) value of TER was 5.56 times higher (95% CI: 3.50, 8.82, P<0.0001) compared to the control groups. The reported adverse effects did not occur in the intervention group. In addition, the cough symptom score and spirometry results showed that BST was more effective than Western medicine alone. Conclusion: BST can be expected to relieve cough, and it can be applied to chronic cough that is not treated with existing treatments. However, due to the low quality of the selected articles, additional high-quality RCTs will be required in the future.