• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2021

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the effect of chuna manual therapy (CMT) for postpartum low back pain using a systematic review. Methods We performed a literature search using 12 electronic databases up to the end of September 2021. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the effect of CMT in the treatment of postpartum low back pain. The risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Results Four randomized controlled trials were reported statistically significant effect in pain VAS, ODI and JOA of chuna manual therapy compared with moxibution, electro acupuncture, hyperthermia or usual care. As a result of assessing the risk of bias tool, most of the contents of the evaluation items were not identified, so it was evaluated as an uncertain risk. Conclusions CMT may be effective in treating postpartum low back pain. However, evidence was limited due to the small sample size, lack of well-designed RCTs and regional bias. Further well-designed studies are required to obtain stronger evidence.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.111-128
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• 2023

Trigger finger is a common cause of hand disability that results in finger catching, clicking, or locking. Conventional treatment options such as medication, injection, and surgery have limitations. Studies have indicated that acupuncture and acupotomy can be effective in treating trigger finger. However, no review regarding these treatment modalities has been published yet. This review included randomized controlled trials published until January 2023, investigating acupuncture-related interventions. The primary outcomes of interest included the effectiveness rate (ER) and pain intensity, measured using a visual analog scale (VAS) and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), and secondary outcomes were the Quinnell grade (QG) and recurrence rate (RR). Adverse events (AEs) have also been reported wherever available. Overall, 19 studies were included, and results demonstrated that arcedge acupuncture improved the ER and QG and reduced NRS, and acupuncture was effective in reducing VAS. Compared with conventional surgery, acupotomy alone improved the ER and QG and lowered VAS and RR, with relatively fewer AEs. Acupotomy add-on treatment was more effective than conventional treatment; however, careful interpretation is needed for VAS. Acupotomy add-on treatment was more effective than acupotomy alone. However, the overall results must be interpreted with caution because of study quality, small sample size, and heterogeneity of the results.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.181-212
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• 2023

Objectives: To examine the efficacy and safety of cupping therapy for insomnia disorder and provide clinical evidence that could contribute to further research. Methods: We searched randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that verified effects of cupping therapy for insomnia disorder from 11 domestic and foreign databases. Included studies were evaluated using Risk of Bias (RoB). Results: Nineteen RCTs were selected. Wet cupping was more frequently used than dry cupping. Moving cupping was mostly used among dry cupping methods. Dry cupping was mainly performed in Bladder Meridian on the back. Wet cupping was mainly performed on BL18, LR14, and BL15. The most common treatment period was 4 weeks. The average number of treatments per week was about 2.4 times for all types of cupping, about 3.2 times for dry cupping and about 1.9 times for wet cupping. All selected studies showed a significant sleep improvement compared to the control group. As a result of the meta-analysis, in terms of effective rate, SAS score, and SDS score, the wet cupping in combination with acupuncture was significantly more effective than acupuncture alone, although the quality of selected RCTs was low. Conclusions: Cupping therapy is effective for insomnia disorder. Based on results of this study, it is reasonable to use wet cupping two times per week on BL18, LR14, and BL15 or use moving cupping three times per week in Bladder Meridian on the back for 4 weeks to treat insomnia disorder.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.120-132
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• 2023

Background: To systematically review studies on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and lung cancer incidence in chronic airway disease patients. Methods: We conducted electronic bibliographic searches on OVID-MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database before May 2020 to identify relevant studies. Detailed data on the study population, exposure, and outcome domains were reviewed. Results: Of 4,058 screened publications, 13 eligible studies in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma evaluated lung cancer incidence after ICS exposure. Pooled hazard ratio and odds ratio for developing lung cancer in ICS exposure were 0.81 (95% confidence interval, 0.64 to 1.02; I²=95.7%) from 10 studies and 1.02 (95% confidence interval 0.50 to 2.07; I²=94.7%) from three studies. Meta-regression failed to explain the substantial heterogeneity of pooled estimates. COPD and asthma were variously defined without spirometry in 11 studies. Regarding exposure assessment, three and 10 studies regarded ICS exposure as a time-dependent and fixed variable, respectively. Some studies assessed ICS use for the entire study period, whereas others assessed ICS use for 6 months to 2 years within or before study entry. Smoking was adjusted in four studies, and only four studies introduced 1 to 2 latency years in their main or subgroup analysis. Conclusion: Studies published to date on ICS and lung cancer incidence had heterogeneous study populations, exposures, and outcome assessments, limiting the generation of a pooled conclusion. The beneficial effect of ICS on lung cancer incidence has not yet been established, and understanding the heterogeneities will help future researchers to establish robust evidence on ICS and lung cancer incidence.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.168-176
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• 2023

Background: Many insectivorous bats have flexible diets, and the difference in prey item consumption among species is one of the key mechanisms that allows for the avoidance of interspecies competition and promotes coexistence within a microhabitat. In Korea, of the 24 bat species that are known to be distributed, eight insectivorous bats use forest areas as both roosting and foraging sites. Here, we aimed to understand the resource partitioning and coexistence strategies between two bat species, Myotis ikonnikovi and Plecotus ognevi, cohabiting the Mt. Jumbong forests, by comparing the differences in dietary consumption based on habitat utilization. Results: Upon examining their dietary composition using the DNA meta-barcoding approach, we identified 403 prey items (amplicon sequence variants). A greater prey diversity including Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, and Ephemeroptera, was detected from M. ikonnikovi, whereas most prey items identified from P. ognevi belonged to Lepidoptera. The diversity index of prey items was higher for M. ikonnikovi (H': 5.67, D: 0.995) than that for P. ognevi (H': 4.31, D: 0.985). Pianka's index value was 0.207, indicating little overlap in the dietary composition of these bat species. Our results suggest that M. ikonnikovi has a wider diet composition than P. ognevi. Conclusions: Based on the dietary analysis results, our results suggests the possibility of differences in foraging site preferences or microhabitat utilization between two bat species cohabiting the Mt. Jumbong. In addition, these differences may represent one of the important mechanism in reducing interspecific competition and enabling coexistence between the two bat species. We expected that our results will be valuable for understanding resource partitioning and the coexistence of bats inhabiting the Korean forests.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.51-69
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• 2024

Objectives This scoping review aimed to suggest a Korean medicine approach by analyzing domestic and international clinical studies targeting the thoracic sympathetic ganglia. Methods This study was conducted based on Arksey and O'Malley's five steps and guided by the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews checklist and appendix. We searched seven electronic databases for studies on thoracic sympathetic ganglia reported untill August 23, 2023. The search terms used were 'thoracic sympathetic chain', 'thoracic paravertebral sympathetic ganglia', and 'thoracic paravertebral ganglion'. Results One hundred twenty-nine studies were finally selected. 90 papers were non-comparative studies (69.8%). The most common disease or symptom was hyperhidrosis (n=109, 66.9%), associated with the T1-7 levels of thoracic sympathetic ganglia (n=107, 65.6%). There were 17 studies (13.2%) of percutaneous approaches targeting the thoracic sympathetic ganglia, five studies (3.1%) targeting the mid-lower thoracic sympathetic ganglia. Conclusions This study broadly analyzed trends in domestic and international research targeting the thoracic sympathetic ganglia and attempted to propose a future Korean medicine approach. Further studies are needed.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.578-589
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• 2023

Background/Aims: The safety of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in hepatic cirrhosis and the impact of Child-Pugh class on post-ERCP complications need to be better studied. We investigated the post-ERCP complication rates in patients with cirrhosis compared with those without cirrhosis. Methods: We conducted a literature search of relevant databases to identify studies that reported post-ERCP complications in patients with hepatic cirrhosis. Results: Twenty-four studies comprising 28,201 patients were included. The pooled incidence of post-ERCP complications in cirrhosis was 15.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.8%-19.2%; I²=96.2%), with an individual pooled incidence of pancreatitis 5.1% (95% CI, 3.1%-7.2%; I²=91.5%), bleeding 3.6% (95% CI, 2.8%-4.5%; I²=67.5%), cholangitis 2.9% (95% CI, 1.9%-3.8%; I²=83.4%), and perforation 0.3% (95% CI, 0.1%-0.5%; I²=3.7%). Patients with cirrhosis had a greater risk of post-ERCP complications (risk ratio [RR], 1.41; 95% CI, 1.16-1.71; I²=56.3%). The risk of individual odds of adverse events between cirrhosis and non-cirrhosis was as follows: pancreatitis (RR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.06-1.48; I²=24.8%), bleeding (RR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.59-2.37; I²=0%), cholangitis (RR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.77-1.70; I²=12%), and perforation (RR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.59-2.43; I²=0%). Conclusions: Cirrhosis is associated with an increased risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis, bleeding, and cholangitis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.261-281
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• 2024

Cardiovascular comorbidity is common in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This factor interferes with pharmacological treatment. The use of β-blockers has been proposed for their known cardioprotective effects. However, due to their adverse reactions, and the risk of causing bronchospasm, there is reluctance to use them. To summarize existing evidence on the effects of β-blocker use in COPD associated with cardiovascular comorbidities in relation to disease severity, exacerbation, and mortality outcomes. EMBASE, Medline, Lilacs, Cochrane Library, and Science Direct databases were used. Observational studies that evaluated the effects of β-blockers on individuals with COPD and cardiovascular comorbidities, and related disease severity, exacerbations, or mortality outcomes were included. Studies that did not present important information about the sample and pharmacological treatment were excluded. Twenty studies were included. Relevance to patient care and clinical practice: The use of β-blockers in individuals with COPD and cardiovascular disease caused positive effects on mortality and exacerbations outcomes, compared with the results of individuals who did not use them. The severity of the disease caused a slight change in forced expiratory volume in 1 second. The odds ratio for mortality was 0.50 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39 to 0.63; p<0.00001), and for exacerbations, 0.76 (95% CI, 0.62 to 0.92; p=0.005), being favorable to the group that used β-blockers. Further studies are needed to study the effect of using a specific β-blocker in COPD associated with a specific cardiovascular comorbidity.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.129-152
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• 2022

As a key infrastructure for digital transformation, the spread of data, network, artificial intelligence (D.N.A.) fields and the emergence of promising industries are laying the groundwork for active digital innovation throughout the economy. In this study, by applying the text mining methodology, major topics were derived by using the abstract, publication year, and research field of the study corresponding to the SCIE, SSCI, and A&HCI indexes of the WoS database as input variables. First, main keywords were identified through TF and TF-IDF analysis based on word appearance frequency, and then topic modeling was performed using g-DMR. With the advantage of the topic model that can utilize various types of variables as meta information, it was possible to properly explore the meaning beyond simply deriving a topic. According to the analysis results, topics such as business intelligence, manufacturing production systems, service value creation, telemedicine, and digital education were identified as major research topics in digital transformation. To summarize the results of topic modeling, 1) research on business intelligence has been actively conducted in all areas after COVID-19, and 2) issues such as intelligent manufacturing solutions and metaverses have emerged in the manufacturing field. It has been confirmed that the topic of production systems is receiving attention once again. Finally, 3) Although the topic itself can be viewed separately in terms of technology and service, it was found that it is undesirable to interpret it separately because a number of studies comprehensively deal with various services applied by combining the relevant technologies.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.30-44
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• 1995

This study aimed at analyzing the trend of re-search on pain in Korea, suggesting direction future pain research, and contributing to the use of pain interventions in nursing practice. Research studies on pain were selected from journals of medical and nursing schools, the Korean Nurse, the Korean Nurses' Academic Society Journal, the Central Journal of Medicine, the New Medical Journal, and from theses and dissertations, which were conducted between 1970 and 1994. The total number of the studies was 93. These studies were analyzed for 1) time of publication or presentation, 2) thesis for a degree or nondegree, 3) research design, 4) characteristics of subjects used in each study, 5) measurement tool, 6) types of correlated variables, 7) Korean terms for pain 8) types of nursing interventions, and 9) results of studies. The findings of the analysis can be summerized as follows : 1) The number of studies related to pain has increased rapidly since the early 1980's. The number of experimental research studies related to pain has increased chronologically, but the number of survey research studies related to pain was highest from 1981 to 1985, after that it decreased slowly. 2) The subjects in 19 studies were healthy people and, in 73 studies, patients with various illnesses. Thirty two studies were conducted with surgical patients. 3) Sixty one pain research studies were done for a thesis for a degree and 32 were nondegree research studies. 4) As measurement tools for pain, self- report pain scales were used in 54 studies and more than two tools were used in 28 studies. In the experimental studies, the trend was to use more than two tools. And in the nonexperirnental studies, the trend was to use self-report pain scales only. 5) There were 11 correlational studies. In these studies, the trend was to study anxiety, depression and variables such as intravenous infusion as related to pain.6) In the thirty six experimental studies, the effects of 16 types of nursing interventions weretested. Teaching and information, and relaxation technique were the most popular interventions for pain. 7) In eighteen methodological studies, the majority were studies testing the validity and re-liability of Dr. Lee's Korean Pain Rating Questionnaire. The following suggestions are made based on the above findings : 1) The patterns of these studies related to pain in Korea need to be compared with trends in other countries. 2) Meta - analysis should be done to analyze and integrate the results of various studies. 3) This analysis of pain research is needed to identify the present trend of pain research and to suggest the direction of future pain research, so these patterns of studies should be done in 5 to 10 year intervals. 4) More replicated pain research is needed to prove the effect of nursing interventions and more qualitative research on pain is needed to identify indepth the meaning of pain. 5) Pain researchers should make an effort to apply research result in various clinical settings and try to carry out team research with clinical nurses or with other multidiscipinary researchers.