• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.174-181
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• 2018

A number of genes have been therapeutically targeted to relieve cancer, but cancer relapse is still a growing issue. The concept that the surrounding tumor environment is critical for the progression of cancer may foster an answer to the issue of cancer malignancy. Runt domain transcription factors (RUNX1, 2, and 3) are evolutionarily conserved and have been intensively studied for their roles in normal development and pathological conditions. During tumor growth, a hypoxic microenvironment and infiltration of the tumor by immune cells are common phenomena. In this review, we briefly introduce the consequences of hypoxia and immune cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment with a focus on RUNX3 as a critical regulator. Furthermore, based on our current knowledge of the functional role of RUNX3 in hypoxia and immune cell maintenance, a probable therapeutic intervention is suggested for the effective management of tumor growth and malignancy.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.274-279
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• 2017

Objective: SanYangSam and SanYangSanSam are traditional Korea-medical herbs that are grown from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer. In our previous studies, we found that the functional compounds in SanYangSam and SanYangSanSam were different and depended on the type and the cultivation environment of ginseng. This study aimed to profile the functional constituents in SanYangSam and SanYangSanSam. Methods: To profile the functional aspects of the many compounds that have therapeutic activities in SanYangSam and SanYangSanSam extracts, we used liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Results: A total of four major compounds were detected; two of which were the natural flavonoids kaempferol and quercetin. Among others, two polyacetylene compounds, including panaxydol and panaxynol, were detected. Conclusion: In this study, we found that panaxydol, one of the polyacetylene constituents of ginseng, is a candidate anti-cancer agent in SanYangSam and SanYangSanSam pharmacopuncture. In addition, we found that the panaxydol levels in the SanYangSanSam extract were over 30 times those in the SanYangSam extract.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 2010

Purpose : In this study, by recognizes the legal constraints of a independent physical therapy clinic open, the other countries's law on physical therapist and the expected effect of independent clinic open, we suggest the need for independent clinic open in South Korea. Methods : To recognize the necessity and expected effect of independent physical therapy clinic open, by comparing the system and situation in South Korea with the countries joined in The World Confederation for Physical Therapy. Results : Effects of the independent physical therapy clinic open were following; 1. it could be guaranteed the option of the medical consumer 2. reduce the economic and time burden 3. provide a good quality medical service Conclusion : Independent physical therapy clinic open will provide a better therapeutic environment for consumer and contribute much to improving the benefit of welfare part of the nation. For provide a good quality to medical consumer, independent physical therapy clinic open and the amendment of related law and institutional device are positively necessary.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.380-393
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore psychiatric nurses' decision making in the use of seclusion and restraint (SR). Methods: Data were collected using focus group interviews. Two focus group interviews were held with a total of 10 psychiatric nurse participants. All interviews were recorded and transcribed, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Eleven categories emerged from three main themes. All the themes describe factors that participants took into account when deciding whether to implement SR: 1) Personal factors area: 'Personal attributes of nurses,' 'Attitude of nurses regarding SR,' 'Nurses' physical and emotional states,' 'Negative experiences of nurses related to SR'; 2) Relational factors area: 'The level of cooperation between nurses and doctors,' 'Role models created by seniors and colleagues,' 'The level of support by nursing assistants,' 'Therapeutic relations with patients'; and 3) Environmental factors area: 'Poor nursing work environment,' 'Atmosphere of ward regarding SR,' and 'Social atmosphere to raise alarm about SR.' Conclusion: These findings should be considered in the evaluation of the use of SR in psychiatric hospital settings and appropriate strategies used to help minimize the use of restraint.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.273-289
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to review the literature on intervention studies for abused children and adolescent in residential facilities in South Korea (ACARF-K). The goal was to understand the problems they experience, to evaluate the content and effectiveness of interventions applied to them, and to develop evidence-based nursing intervention programs. Methods: We used four electronic databases to search for relevant articles. 18 studies according to Whittemore and Knafl's integrative review method to synthesize the literature. Results: The ACARF-K experienced problems in biophysical, psychological, and sociocultural domains related to attachment impairment. Effective intervention strategies were building trust through empathy and fulfillment of needs, encouraging ACARF-K to express themselves and helping them to clarify emotions in an unthreatening environment, and improving their self-concept through activities in which they experienced achievement. Conclusion: Interventions are needed to help restore attachment damage among ACARF-K. The interventions in this study utilized emotional, cognitive, relational, and behavioral therapeutic tools to improve their psychological and social capacities. Future intervention programs for ACARF-K should include these key elements.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.61-72
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• 2019

Purpose : The aim of this study was to explore the attributes, antecedents, and consequences of patient-centered care (PCC) for older adults with multimorbidity in acute care hospitals. Methods : The concept analysis performed by Walker and Avant was used to analyze PCC. Fifteen studies from the literature related to PCC appear in systematic literature reviews in the fields of theology, medicine, psychology, and nursing. Results : PCC in acute care hospitals was defined according to the five attributes of 'maintaining patient autonomy', 'empowering self-care', 'individualized and relationship-based care', 'shared decision-making', and 'creating a homelike environment'. Antecedents of PCC were found to be a respect for patients' preferences, qualifications of the nursing staff, care coordination and integration, and organizational support. Consequences of effective PCC were a functional status; health-related quality of life; satisfaction with care, mortality, and medical costs from the perspective of the patient and family; and quality of care and therapeutic relationships from nurses' viewpoints. Conclusion : PCC as defined by the results of this study will contribute to the foundation of institutionalization and the creation of a safe and healthy acute care hospital culture focused on patients' preferences and values.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.28-37
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• 2022

Treatment options for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are currently limited; therefore, there has been significant interest in applying mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC)-based therapy to treat CKD. However, MSCs harvested from CKD patients tend to show diminished viability and proliferation due to sustained exposure to uremic toxins in the CKD environment, which limits their utility for cell therapy. The application of melatonin has been demonstrated to improve the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs derived from and engrafted to tissues in patients suffering from CKD, although the underlying biological mechanism has not been elucidated. In this study, we observed overexpression of hexokinase-2 (HK2) in serum samples of CKD patients and MSCs harvested from an adenine-fed CKD mouse model (CKD-mMSCs). HK2 upregulation led to increased production levels of methylglyoxal (MG), a toxic metabolic intermediate of abnormal glycolytic processes. The overabundance of HK2 and MG was associated with impaired mitochondrial function and low cell proliferation in CKD-mMSCs. Melatonin treatment inhibited the increases in HK2 and MG levels, and further improved mitochondrial function, glycolytic metabolism, and cell proliferation. Our findings suggest that identifying and characterizing metabolic regulators such as HK2 in CKD may improve the efficacy of MSCs for treating CKD and other kidney disorders.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.1016-1023
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• 2022

In proton therapy, a highly conformal proton dose can be delivered to the tumor by means of the steep distal dose penumbra at the end of the beam range. The proton beam range, however, is highly sensitive to range uncertainty, which makes accurately locating the proton range in the patient difficult. In-vivo range verification is a method to manage range uncertainty, one of the promising techniques being prompt gamma imaging (PGI). In earlier studies, we proposed gamma electron vertex imaging (GEVI), and constructed a proof-of-principle system. The system successfully demonstrated the GEVI imaging principle for therapeutic proton pencil beams without scanning, but showed some limitations under clinical conditions, particularly for pencil beam scanning proton therapy. In the present study, we upgraded the GEVI system in several aspects and tested the performance improvements such as for range-shift verification in the context of line scanning proton treatment. Specifically, the system showed better performance in obtaining accurate prompt gamma (PG) distributions in the clinical environment. Furthermore, high shift-detection sensitivity and accuracy were shown under various range-shift conditions using line scanning proton beams.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.197-209
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• 2022

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanosized vesicles secreted from cells into the extracellular environment and are composed of a lipid bilayer that contains cargos with biological activity, such as lipids, proteins, mRNAs, and noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs). Due to their biological activity and their role in cell-to-cell communication, interest in EVs is rapidly increasing. Bovine milk is a food consumed by people of all ages around the world that contains not only a significant amount of nutrients but also EVs. Milk-derived EVs also exhibit biological activity similar to other source-derived EVs, and studies on bovine milk EVs have been conducted in various research fields regarding sufficient milk production. In particular, not only are the effects of milk EVs themselves being studied, but the possibility of using them as drug carriers or biomarkers is also being studied. In this review, the characteristics and cargo of milk EVs are summarized, as well as their uptake and stability, efficacy and biological effects as carriers, and future research directions are presented.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.456-465
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• 2023

Cervical tumors represent a prevalent form of cancer affecting women worldwide; current treatment options involve surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation, is a crucial factor in cervical tumor growth. The molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of the liver kinase B1 (LKB1/STK11) tumor suppressor protein on tumor angiogenesis have not been elucidated. Therefore, we investigated the role of LKB1 in cervical tumor angiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo in this study. Our results demonstrated that LKB1 inhibited cervical tumor angiogenesis by suppressing the expression of angiogenesis-related factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia inducible factor-1α. LKB1 directly affected both carcinoma and vascular endothelial cells, resulting in a significant reduction in tumor growth and angiogenesis. Furthermore, LKB1 was found to bind to VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) and target the VEGFR-2-mediated protein kinase B/mechanistic target of rapamycin signaling pathway in endothelial cells, thereby reducing cervical tumor growth and angiogenesis. Our study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic effects of LKB1 in cervical cancer. These findings will help develop new therapeutic strategies for cervical cancer.