• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.71-81
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• 2024

Purpose : In this study, we compared the effects of ankle, McKenzie, and cervical stabilization exercises in individuals with a forward head posture. Outcome measures investigated included the neck disability index, craniovertebral angle (CVA), cranial rotation angle (CRA), and thickness of the longus colli muscle (LC) and carotid artery (CA) post-intervention. Methods : The study included 20 individuals with a forward head posture, who were assigned to an experimental group (EG, individuals performed ankle exercises) or control group (CG, individuals performed McKenzie and cervical stabilization exercises). The EG intervention was specifically designed to enhance proprioception in the ankle joint and strengthen the ankle muscles to improve overall stability and function. In contrast, CG interventions aimed to improve neck muscle balance and cervical spine alignment. Paired t-tests were used to analyze intragroup changes and independent t-tests to determine intergroup differences pre-and post-intervention. The significance level for all statistical tests was set at α=.05. Results : We observed significant post-intervention improvements in both groups, specifically, in the CVA, CRA, and LC and CA thickness (p<.05). These results indicate that ankle, McKenzie, and cervical stabilization exercises were useful for neck posture correction, improved muscle balance, and enhanced blood flow to the neck. Conclusion : This study underscores the positive effects of ankle, McKenzie, and cervical stabilization exercises in individuals with a forward head posture. Our study highlights the benefits of these exercises for posture correction and overall neck health and the clinical effectiveness and usefulness of ankle exercises as an important intervention to improve forward head posture.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.274-284
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• 2024

Background: Mild pain can affect movement leading to disability, and impaired neck proprioception. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been recommended as an intervention for chronic and subacute neck pain with mobility deficits. Objective: The purpose was to investigate the effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for improving cervical spine proprioception and reducing pain, anxiety, and disability in young adults with mild neck pain. Methods: Twenty-two participants were recruited between the ages of 20-40 years old and randomized into control and intervention groups. Participants had chronic mild neck pain and not receiving pain treatment or medication, and did not have electrotherapy contraindications. The intervention group received a 30-minute TENS intervention and were instructed in a 2-week daily home-based TENS intervention. Outcome measures were visual analog scale, neck disability index, state-trait anxiety inventory, active range of motion (AROM) and joint position error (JPE). Results: Participants reported reduction in pain, disability, and anxiety post 30-minute intervention. Increase in right lateral flexion AROM and decrease in mean JPE extension post 30-minute intervention. Post 2-week intervention, reduction in pain, an increase in right lateral flexion AROM, and a reduction in mean JPE extension were also detected. Conclusion: People with chronic mild neck pain had a reduction in pain, anxiety, and disability post 30-minutes TENS treatment. Reduction in anxiety and disability with TENS treatment suggests that TENS may be beneficial in reducing pain, anxiety, and improving neck proprioception in young adults with mild neck pain.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 2024

Purpose : Wearing high-heeled shoes leads to foot and ankle instability, which requires leg muscles to remain in constant contraction. In order to adapt to the instability of the feet and ankles caused by wearing high heels, the muscles of the legs continuously repeat contraction and relaxation. Previous studies of the impact of stair climbing in high-heeled shoes have involved placing the entire stepping area of the shoe on the stair. However, high-heeled shoe wearers sometimes unconsciously contact the stair using only half of the stepping area. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine differences in leg and ankle muscle activation according to stepping area during stair climbing in high-heeled shoes. Methods : Twenty young women in their early 20s voluntarily agreed to participate in this study. We used surface electromyography to measure gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior activation in the right leg during stair climbing under three conditions: barefoot, using half of high-heeled shoe stepping area, and using the total of high-heeled shoe stepping area. Barefoot, half of high heeled shoe, and total of high-heeled shoe were used to evaluate the effects of different areas of the foot or high heels touching the stairs. Results : Both muscles showed significant activity differences among the three stair climbing conditions. Gastrocnemius activity was significantly different between the high-heeled shoe conditions (p= .032), and tibialis anterior activity was significantly different between barefoot stair climbing and climbing with half of the high-heeled shoe stepping area (p= .021). Conclusion : The stepping area increased as heel size increased, thus increasing excessive gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior activity to control excessive ankle joint movement. We infer that using half of the high-heeled shoe stepping area prevents muscle fatigue by reducing excessive leg and ankle muscle activation.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.131-138
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• 2003

Purpose: We analyzed our malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) cases to find out their oncologic results following by each treatment modalities. Materials and Methods: Thirty four patients with MPNST were registered in Korea Cancer Center Hospital from Feb. 1986 to Nov. 1996. Seventeen cases were male and 17, female. Average age was 41 years (range 18 to 74). Location of the tumor was as follows; 17 in lower extremity, 11 upper extremity, 4 trunk, and 2 retroperitoneum. Following the AJC classification, stage IA were 2 cases, stage IIA 2, stage IIB 6, stage III 16 and stage IV 8. Twenty six patients took operations and adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, 3 operation only and 3 adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Average follow up period was 33.5 months (5.6 to 146.1). Kaplan-Meiyer method was done for survival curve, and log rank test for comparison analysis. Results: Fourteen cases were continuous disease free, 2 no evidence of disease, 2 alive with disease and 14 dead of disease states at final follow up. Actual 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 53.5%, 35.7%. Local recurrence rate after operation was 24.1%. 5-year survival rates of stage I/II/III were 100/85.7/55.9% and 2-year survival rate of stage IV was 14.3% (p=0.04). In 21 cases operated with stage II-III, wide margin (15cases) had 76.0% 5-year survival rate, and marginal or intralesional marigin (6cases) had 40.0%. The actual 5-year survival rate of the group which were done 4 or more cycles chemotherapy (8cases) was 71.4% and the actual 3-year survival rate less than 4cycles chemotherapy (6cases) was 83.3% (p=0.96). In 19 cases operated with stage II-III and which had no radiotherapy, marginal or intralesional margin (5cases) had 3 cases of local recurrences (60.0%), though wide margin (14cases) had 4 cases recurrences (28.6%). There was no local recurrence in 8cases which had pre-or post-operative radiotherapy. Conclusions: Surgical margin is an important factor in local recurrence. Resection margin has a tendency to influence the survival despite insufficient statistical significance. Conventional chemotherapy has no defnite statistical sigficance in the effect on local control and survival. Preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy has some positive effect on local control.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.8
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• pp.1183-1189
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• 2013

We investigated the effects of oyster shell extract (OSE) on papain-induced osteoarthritis in C57BL/6J mice. Osteoarthritis was induced in mice by a papain injection into the knee joint. The mice were divided into a total of five groups (n=8). The normal group was untreated, whereas the papain group (negative control) was induced with osteoarthritis and treated with water daily. The papain+DS group (positive control) was treated with diclofenac sodium. Papain+OSE groups were treated with OSE concentrations of 100 and 200 mg/kg/bw for 20 days. Proteoglycan content in articular cartilage was analyzed through safranine-O fast green staining and H&E staining. The histopathological changes in cartilage were measured by the Rudolphi score approach. The contents of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, and IL-6 in plasma were analyzed by the ELISA method. After experiments, body weights of the treated groups were not significantly different compared with the normal group. Cartilage loss and joint instability significantly improved in a dose-dependent manner in the OSE-treated group compared with the papain group (P<0.05). Proteoglycan content was significantly higher in the OSE-treated group than the papain group (P<0.05). Osteoarthritis scores of the OSE-treated group were significantly decreased compared with the papain group (P<0.05). TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, and IL-6 content in the plasma of the papain+OSE treated groups significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner compared with the papain group (P<0.05). These results suggest that OSE treatment might have anti-arthritic effects on papain-induced osteoarthritis in C57BL/6J mice.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.495-500
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• 2017

Hippophae rhamnoides L. (sea buckthorn) is a shrub wood that belongs to the bamboo tree family, and is rich in vitamin C, D, and E; it is referred to as a vitamin tree. It is mainly grown in the high mountains of Europe and Central Asia, and has been widely used in China and Russia as natural medicine. Recent studies have shown that it is effective in the treatment of cancer, liver diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and gastrointestinal diseases. However, results of studies on its effect on the regulation of pain are insufficient. In this study, we investigated the effect of sea buckthorn on the development and control of pain in two facial areas. The experimental animals included 7- to 8-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats (240~260 g). Formalin (5%), which is known as an inflammation inducer, was injected into the vibrissa pad or temporomandibular joints to induce orofacial acute pain. Rubbing or scraping of the region injected with formalin was regarded as a pain index, and the behavioral response was observed for 45 minutes after the injection. Sea buckthorn extract diluted to 150, 300 mg/kg (in 1 ml of distilled water) was orally administered 30 minutes prior to the acute pain. The facial pain behavior was effectively reduced in the 300 mg/kg group when compared to the control group (vehicle). Likewise, in an experiment in which formalin was injected into the temporomandibular joints, effective pain alleviation was confirmed at the same drug concentration. These results suggest that sea buckthorn extract may be useful in the development of therapeutic agents for acute inflammatory pain in the orofacial area and for controlling temporomandibular joint pain.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2010

Purpose: We retrospectively analyzed the long-term results of radical surgery and intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) in patients with stomach cancer. Materials and Methods: From 1988 to 1994, 51 patients were treated with curative surgery and IORT. Postoperative external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) was administered to 30 patients, while adjuvant chemotherapy was administered to 35 patients. A dose of 15 Gy was irradiated with a 9 MeV electron beam as the IORT and a median dose of EBRT was 43.2 Gy (range, 7.2 to 45 Gy). The follow-up period ranged from 1~254 months, with a median follow-up period of 64 months. Results: The median age of all the patients was 58 years (range, 30 to 71 years). The distribution of pathologic stage (American Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] 2002 tumor-note-metastasis [TNM]) was as follows: 13 stage I (25.5%), 10 stage II (19.6%), 25 stage III (49.0%), and 3 stage IV (5.9%). Distant metastases occurred in 11 patients (10 in the peritoneum and 1 in bone), including one patient with concurrent local recurrence (anastomosis site). The 5-year locoregional control, disease free survival and overall survival rates were 94.7%, 66.5%, and 51.7%, respectively. For the multivariate analysis, age, TNM stage, and EBRT were significant prognostic factors for overall survival, and only TNM stage for disease free survival. Conclusion: We could have achieved a high loco-regional control rate in patients with locally advanced stomach cancer by adding IORT to radical surgery. However, the benefit of IORT on survival remains to be elucidated.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.21-29
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• 2021

Most concrete gravity-type dams in and out of the country were constructed by column method to control cracks caused by concrete hydration heat generated during construction, resulting in a certain level of leakage after impoundment through various causes, such as contraction joints and construction joints. However, due to the characteristics of concrete structures that shrink and expand according to temperature, concrete dams have vertical joints and drains to allow penetration. PVC waterproof shows excellent effects in completion of the dam, which however increases the possibility of interfacial failure due to different thermal expansion. Other causes of penetration may include problems with quality control during installation, generation of cracks due to heat of hydration of concrete, waterproofing methods, etc. In the case of Bohyunsan Dam in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, the amount of drainage in the gallery was checked and underwater, and it was confirmed that there are many penetrations from drainage holes connected to vertical joints, and that some of the PVC waterproofs are not fully operated. As a new method to prevent penetration through vertical joints, D.S.I.M. (Dam Sealing Innovation Method) developed by World E&C was applied to Bohyunsan Dam and checked the amount of drainage in the gallery. As a result of first testing three most leaking vertical joints, the drain in the gallery was reduced by 87% on the average and then applied to the remaining 13 locations, which showed a 83% reduction effect based on the total drain in the gallery. Summing up these results, it was found that D.S.I.M. preventing water leakage from the upstream face is a valid construction method to reduce the water see-through and penetration quantity seen in downstream faces of concrete dams. If D.S.I.M. is applied to other concrete dams at domestic and abroad, it is expected that it will be very effective to prevent water leakage through vertical joints that are visible from downstream faces.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2019

Purpose: Fungal periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a rare but devastating complication following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). On the other hand, a standardized procedure regarding an accurate treatment of this serious complication of knee arthroplasty is lacking. The clinical progress of staged reimplantation in patients who had fungus-related PJI after TKA was reviewed retrospectively. Materials and Methods: Ten patients who had a fungal related PJI after TKA between 2006 and 2017 using staged reimplantation surgery were reviewed. These patients were compared with 119 patients who had a PJI in the same period. The failure rate of infection control, intravenous antimicrobial using the period, and the clinical results were evaluated by comparing the range of motion and Korean knee score (KKS) between pre-staged reimplantation and the last follow-up. Results: In the fungal infection group, 7 out of 10 cases (70.0%) had failed in infection control using staged reimplantation and in the non-fungal group, 7 out of 119 cases (5.9%) had failed (p=0.04). In the non-fungal group, the mean duration of antibiotics was 6.2 weeks. In the fungus group, the mean duration of antibiotics was 15.3 weeks, which was 9.1 weeks longer (p<0.001). The range of motion of the knee was increased in the two groups (p=0.265). At the last follow-up, the KKS was 71.01 points in the non-fungal group and 61.3 points in the fungal group (p=0.012). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein (CRP) decreased in the two groups, but the CRP was significantly different in the two groups (p=0.007). Conclusion: The treatment of fungus-related PJIs using staged reimplantation showed uneven clinical progress and unsatisfactory clinical improvements compared to non-fungal PJI. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the use of an antifungal mixed cement spacer at resection arthroplasty and oral antifungal agent after reimplantation.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.64-73
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• 2013

The purposes of this study were to develop a new orthosis controlling ankle and knee joint motion during the gait cycle and to identify the effects of the newly designed orthosis on gait kinematics and tempospatial parameters, including coordination of the extremities in stroke patients. Fifteen individuals who had sustained a stroke, onset was 16 months, participated in this study. Before application of the measurement equipment the subjects were accustomed to walking on the ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) or stance control knee with knee flexion assisted-oil damper ankle-foot orthosis (SCKAFO) for 5 minutes. Fifteen patients were investigated for 45 days with a 3-day interval between sessions. Measurements were walking in fifteen stroke with hemiparesis on the 3D motion analysis system. Comparison of AFO and SCKAFO are gait pattern. The difference between the AFO and SCKAFO conditions was significant in the gait velocity, step length of the right affected side, stance time of both legs, step-length asymmetry ratio, single-support-time asymmetry ratio, ${\phi}$-thigh angle and ${\phi}$-shank angle in the mid swing (p<.001). Using a SCKAFO in stroke patients has shown similar to normal walking speeds can be attained for walking efficiency and is therefore desirable. In this study, the support time of the affected leg with the SCKAFO was longer than with the AFO and the asymmetry ratio of single support time decreased by more than with the AFO. This indicates that the SCKAFO was effective for improving gait symmetry, single-support-time symmetry. This may be due to the decrease of gait asymmetry. Thus, the newly designed SCKAFO may be useful for promoting gait performance by improving the coordination of the extremity and decreasing gait asymmetry in chronic stroke patients.