• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3903-3907
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• 2013

Background: Patients with colorectal cancer are usually treated with chemotherapy, which reduces the number of blood cells, especially white blood cells, and consequently increases the risk of infections. Some research studies have reported that aromatherapy massage affects the immune system and improves immune function by, for example, increasing the numbers of natural killer cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes. However, there has been no report of any study which provided good evidence as to whether aromatherapy with Thai massage could improve the immune system in patients with colorectal cancer. The objectives of this study were to determine whether the use of aromatherapy with light Thai massage in patients with colorectal cancer, who have received chemotherapy, can result in improvement of the cellular immunity and reduce the severity of the common symptoms of side effects. Materials and Methods: Sixty-six patients with colorectal cancer in Phichit Hospital, Thailand, were enrolled in a single-blind, randomised-controlled trial. The intervention consisted of three massage sessions with ginger and coconut oil over a 1-week period. The control group received standard supportive care only. Assessments were conducted at pre-assessment and at the end of one week of massage or standard care. Changes from pre-assessment to the end of treatment were measured in terms of white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, CD4 and CD8 cells and the CD4/CD8 ratio and also the severity of self-rated symptom scores. Results: The main finding was that after adjusting for pre-assessment values the mean lymphocyte count at the post-assessment was significantly higher (P=0.04) in the treatment group than in the controls. The size of this difference suggested that aromatherapy with Thai massage could boost lymphocyte numbers by 11%. The secondary outcomes were that at the post assessment the symptom severity scores for fatigue, presenting symptom, pain and stress were significantly lower in the massage group than in the standard care controls. Conclusions: Aromatherapy with light Thai massage can be beneficial for the immune systems of cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy by increasing the number of lymphocytes and can help to reduce the severity of common symptoms.

• Archives of design research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.73-80
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• 1999

Many domestic users complain about severe pain to the waist, neck, and shoulder as well as work performance because the domestic chair design was developed with western anthropometry dimension and design criteria. Ergonomic design standards are needed for office chair design to reduce stress and poor physical posture for various user body types. In this study, we have suggested design dimensions recommended from previous studies and Korean anthropometry data. We also have reviewed users' preference dimension through measured subjects and analyzed differences between users' preference dimension and the previous design criteria to verify physical appropriateness. We evaluated general office chairs and adjustable chairs which can adjust to fit each person. we also analyzed how each design dimension was reached and affected the human body by evaluation of physical discomfort and comfort. We have found seat height is very important in a workstation. If the seat height is high, it effects the thigh. If width, height, and angle of the backrest are wrong, fatigue to the shoulder, neck, and waist, etc.. As a result of this experiment, we suggested that the height of a seat for Koreans be 425mm for the fixed type and 365-484mm for the adjustable type. Also other design recommendations were suggested in the thesis. In conclusion, our research will be very important in the database because it provides adjustable ranges to fit user's body types in the various design fields.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.43 no.3 s.309
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• pp.60-66
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to suggest a new detection method for early diagnosing diabetic neuropathic foot by obtaining a ratio of toe to finger blood flow using photoplethysmography(PPG) and Laser Doppler(LD). Nerve conduction velocity (NCV) has been routinely used for diagnosing neuropathic foot, but it applies strong electric stimulus to peripheries resulting in stress and pain. The blood flow ratio of 50 neuropathic diabetes($0.96{\pm}0.20$) was significantly higher than that of 64 normal person($0.46{\pm}0.15$)(p<0.000). It also showed that toe temperature of neuropathic diabetes($30.5{\pm}1.4^{\circ}C$) was significantly higher than that of normal group($29.3{\pm}2.0^{\circ}C$)(p<0.000). The optimal boundary value of the blood flow ratio was found to be 0.678 and the sensitivity and specificity of this proposed method resulted in 95.3% and 95.3% respectively. Lastly, there were no neuropathic diabetes whose temperature difference between finger and toe was higher than $4.5\;^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.103-109
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• 2020

Objectives: Using as a sleep evaluation tool the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), this paper studied the effects of earthing on the amount and quality of sleep by examining a patient population of people who used and did not use earthing mats and a group of general healthy people. Methods: From September to November 2019, 30 patients who voluntarily used an earthing mat, 40 patients who did not use an earthing mat, and 40 healthy people who did not use an earthing mat were selected. A questionnaire applying the PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) after being translated into Korean was distributed starting November 29, 2019 to 110 subjects. Out of them, 101 subjects who completed the questionnaire were examined. All statistics used SPSS 25.0. Results: The first overall score showed that all three groups had problems sleeping, with five points or more, but the general population had better sleep quality than the patient group. It also showed that the using matgroup had better quality of sleep than the ones that did not use the earthing mat In addition, the analysis of the third group through the variance analysis showed significance at >0.05 for the general population and the patient group. Based on this, a multi-comparison analysis of the third group showed significantly less than 0.05 in patients who do not use an earthing mat compared to the public. First of all, there are no statistically significant differences between the three groups in subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, and sleep time, but an analysis of multiple comparison analysis with the general population group showed that the quality of sleep was worse compared to those that used the mat. In addition, sleep efficiency, sleep disorder, sleeping pills, and daytime dysfunction were found to be less than >0.05 in the three groups. Conclusions: These results suggest that if you ground your body to Earth during sleep, the secretion of cortisol will decrease night levels, sync more with the natural 24-hour circulation rhythm profile, and that when you sleep, sleep is better and pain and stress are associated with the study. While the preceding study cannot confirm that contact with the ground affects the quality of sleep, it suggests that it is relevant as shown in this paper.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1041-1054
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• 2004

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been reported to increase pain threshold, and to enhance the NK cell activity by up-regulation of IFN-γ and endogenous β-endolphin. For the purpose of understanding the molecular mechanism of EA stimulation, we analyzed the gene expression profile of rat hypothalamus, treated on Zusanli (ST36) with EA, in comparison with control group by oligonucleotide chip microarray (Affymetrix GeneChip Rat Neurobiology U34 Array) and real-time RT-PCR. Sprague-Dawley (S-D) male rats were stimulated at the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint in restriction holder. Simultaneously the control group was given only holder stress without EA stimulation. In order to prove the appropriateness of EA treatment, we measured spleen NK cell activity with standard 51Cr release assay. NK cell activity of EA group was significantly increased comparing to control group. The microarray and PCR results show that EA treatment up-regulates expression of genes associated with 1) nerve growth such as NGF induced factor A and VGF, 2) signal transduction such as 5HT3 receptor subunit, AMPA receptor binding protein and Na-dependent neurotransmitter transporter, and 3) anti-oxidation such as superoxide dismutase and glutathione S-transferase. In addition, the activity of the anti-oxidative enzyme, SOD of hypothalamus, liver and RBC was enhanced compared to that of control. The list of differentially expressed genes may implicate further insight on the mechanism of acupuncture effects.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.106-114
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• 2019

This study aims to identify the effects of experiencing health promotion education on the present health status of elderly people. The subjects of this study were a total 10,532 elderly people (aged 65 years or older), and who were selected from the data of the '2017 Community Health Survey'. The health promotion education experience consisted of handwashing education/campaign, a non-smoking campaign and non-smoking education. The chronic disease control education experience consisted of education on hypertension, diabetes mellitus and arthritis. Psychiatric counseling consisted of consultations on stress, depression and suicide. The present health status consisted of the patients' ability to exercise, their self-care ability, their activities of daily living, their pain/discomfort and their anxiety/depression. The data was analyzed utilizing the chi-square test, the Mann-Whitney test and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The general characteristics of the subjects were 4,075 males (38.69%) and 6,457 females (61.31%). The average age was 73.71(±6.18) years old. The significant factors influencing the elderly peoples' present health status were age (OR=0.909, 95% CI=0.886-0.933), handwashing education/campaign (OR=2.463, 95% CI=1.703-3.563), a stop smoking campaign (OR=1.624, 95% CI=1.146-2.301) and consultation for mental problems (OR=0.533, 95% CI=0.359-0.791). In conclusion, to modify the personal habits that the elderly have had for a long time and to show the effects of education, long-term continuous education that focuses on the characteristics of the people will be effective.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.497-507
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this article was to evaluate the health related quality of life (HRQoL) of cancer survivors and to identify its predictors according to gender. Methods: The research was conducted with the data for 203 (cancer survivors?) taken from the 6th wave of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the EQ-5D index score was used for the measurement of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The independent variables inluded socio-demographic data, health related factors (survival duration, disability, subjective health recognition), and psychosocial factors (stress, unmet medical needs). The data were analyzed by the t-test, ANOVA, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: the HRQoL of the female cancer survivors was significantly worse than that of the males in terms of their mobility, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression quality of life. The only statistically significant factor affecting the HRQoL of the male cancer survivors was their subjective health recognition. In the case of the female cancer survivors, the statistically significant factors were their age, subjective health recognition and unmet medical needs. Conclusions: the results of this study showed a different pattern of predictors according to the gender of the cancer survivors. Therefore, gender should be considered when assessing and addressing the individual care needs of cancer survivors, in order to obtain optimal treatment outcomes.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.225-242
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify students' experiences of performance and their satisfaction with clinical nursing practice in Women's health nursing. Methods: Data was collected using questionnaire consisting of 104; 89,; and 82 nursing activities with 12; 10; and 7 domains for delivery floor, obstetric, and gynecologic wards retrospectively. Five hundred ninety nursing students from 10 four year and one three year colleges, were recruited and selected for data collection. Results: Site specific core nursing activities among top 15 items of performed experience were: interpreting fetal monitoring; massage for pain reduction; breathing technique; perineal pad change; non stress test; manual check for uterine contraction; and position change for the delivery floor. Experiences of clinical nursing practice for the obstetric ward and the gynecologic ward were identified and ranked as well. Observation of delivery, measurement & test during labor and observation of anesthesia and operation were the highest ranked activity domains of satisfaction for delivery floor, obstetric and gynecologic wards retrospectively. Conclusion: Discussions are needed to standardize curriculum for clinical practice in women's health nursing initiated at the level of Korean Society of Womens' Health Nursing by reflecting this result. Strategic approaches are emphasized in order to enhance a collaboration between clinical fields and colleges.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 1999

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical and radiologic results of the anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) reconstruction using bone-patellar tendon-bone unit with doubled semitendinosus and gracilis tendons. Materias and Methods : Clinical results of ACL reconstructions which were performed in 47 patients using doubled semitendinosus and gracilis were compared with those performed in 45 patients using bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft. There were no differences in preoperative parameters(age, sex, instability). Average follow-up period were 17 months and 19 months each. Results : There were no significant differences between two groups in functional results (Lysholm knee score), degree of laxity and range of motion at final follow-up. However, the parapatellar complication, especially anterior knee pain after long distance walking or exercise and quadriceps weakness less occurred in hamstring tendon group than in bone-patellar tendon-bone group. Conclusion : Although there were no significant differences in clinical results of ACL reconstruction using bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft and doubled semitendinosus and gacilis, parapateller complications occurred more in the bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft group than in the doubled semitendinosus and gracilis group. It is thought that the careful selection of patient, achivement of skillful technique and active rehabilitation are important to prevent the parapatellar complications.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.863-866
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• 2004

The effect of substance P (Sub P) injected intrathecally (I.t.) on c-fos mRNA expression in vari-ous tissues was examined in the present study. We found that a single administration of Sub P(0.5 nM) caused an increase of the c-fos mRNA level in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis, hippocampus, and spinal cord. The time-course study showed that c-fos mRNA level was maximal at 10 min and began to decrease 30 min after the Sub P injection in all tis-sues, and the Sub P-induced increase of the c-fos mRNA level was returned to the control level 1 h after the injection. The kinetics of the c-fos mRNA expression in mice that were repeatedly injected with Sub P (every 30 min interval up to 4 times) were different in the HPA axis, hippocampus, and spinal cord. The increased c-fos mRNA level in the hypothalamus and the spinal cord induced by I.t. injected Sub P remained at a high level. In the pituitary gland, adrenal gland, and hippocampus, the increased level of c-fos mRNA expression gradually returned to the control level during the repeated substance P injections up to 4 times. Our results suggest that spinally injected Sub P-induced pain stress increases c-fos mRNA expres-sion in the spinal cord, hippocampus, and HPA axis. In mice repeatedly injected with Sub P, the kinetics of c-fos mRNA appear to be different varied from tissue to tissue.