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

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2011.05a
• /
• pp.151-151
• /
• 2011

Large amounts of natural gas, mainly methane, in the form of hydrates are stored on continental margins. When gas hydrates are dissociated by any environmental trigger, generation of excess pore pressure due to released free gas may cause sediment deformation and weakening. Hence, damage on offshore structures or submarine landslide can occur by gas hydrate dissociation. Therefore, geotechnical stability of gas hydrate bearing sediments is in need to be securely assessed. However, geotechnical characteristics of gas hydrates bearing sediments including small-strain elastic moduli have been poorly identified. Synthesizing gas hydrate in natural seabed sediment specimen, which is mainly composed of silty-to-clayey soils, has been hardly attempted due to their low permeability. Moreover, it has been known that hydrate loci in pore spaces and heterogeneity of hydrate growth in specimen scale play a critical role in determining physical properties of hydrate bearing sediments. In the presented study, we synthesized gas hydrate containing sediments in an instrumented oedometric cell. Geotechnical and geophysical properties of gas hydrate bearing sediments including compressibility, small-strain elastic moduli, elastic wave, and electrical resistivity are determined by wave-based techniques during loading and unloading processes. Significant changes in volume change, elastic wave, and electrical resistivity have been observed during formation and dissociation of gas hydrate. Experimental results and analyses reveal that geotechnical properties of gas hydrates bearing sediments are highly governed by hydrate saturation, effective stress, void ratio, and soil types as well as morphological feature of hydrate formation in sediments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.11-23
• /
• 2011

Mountain streams, which are major components of an entire river network, play an important role as the source of water, sediment, coarse and fine organic matter, and nutrients for lowland rivers. Therefore, dynamics and downstream linkages of each compartment of the mountain stream can be essential for watershed management in catchment scale. The dynamics and downstream linkages are understood as a development of step-pool sequences along a river course. Recently, stream restoration after flooding event often employ the development of step-pool sequences in the world. In this paper, we 1) examined the geomorphic characteristics and the role of step-pool sequences in steep mountain streams by reviewing the results of past studies, and 2) introduced the case studies of stream restoration using step-pool sequences, and finally 3) addressed design methods considering geometry and stability of artificial step-pool sequences for stream restoration. Step-pool sequences play an important role not only as roughness with energy dissipation but also as heterogeneity of stream feature for aquatic habitat. Step-pool sequences, even if they are constructed artificially along a stream, may be effective for small stream restoration considering eco-friendly torrent controls. So far the artificial step-pool sequences were employed for mountainous streams, but those would be applied to urban stream.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.413-429
• /
• 2021

Background: Migraine headaches are the second leading cause of disability worldwide and are responsible for significant morbidity, reduction in the quality of life, and loss of productivity on a global scale. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of ketamine on migraines and other primary headache disorders compared to placebo and other active interventions, such as midazolam, metoclopramide/diphenhydramine, and prochlorperazine/diphenhydramine. Methods: An electronic search of databases published up to February 2021, including Medline via PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library, a hand search of the bibliographies of the included studies, as well as literature and systematic reviews found through the search was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating ketamine in the treatment of migraine/headache disorders compared to the placebo. The authors assessed the risk of bias according to the Cochrane Handbook guidelines. Results: The initial search strategy yielded 398 unduplicated references, which were independently assessed by three review authors. After evaluation, this number was reduced to five RCTs (two unclear risk of bias and three high risk of bias). The total number of patients in all the studies was 193. Due to the high risk of bias, small sample size, heterogeneity of the outcomes reported, and heterogeneity of the comparison groups, the quality of the evidence was very low. One RCT reported that intranasal ketamine was superior to intranasal midazolam in improving the aura attack severity, but not duration, while another reported that intranasal ketamine was not superior to metoclopramide and diphenhydramine in reducing the headache severity. In one trial, subcutaneous ketamine was superior to saline in migraine severity reduction; however, intravenous (I.V.) ketamine was inferior to I.V. prochlorperazine and diphenhydramine in another study. Conclusion: Further double-blind controlled studies are needed to assess the efficacy of ketamine in treating acute and chronic refractory migraines and other primary headaches using intranasal and subcutaneous routes. These studies should include a long-term follow-up and different ketamine dosages in diagnosed patients following international standards for diagnosing headache/migraine.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.25-38
• /
• 2020

Objectives: This review aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Chai-Hu-Shu-Gan-San (CHSGS) for treatment of insomnia. Methods: 9 databases were comprehensively searched from their inception dates until Jan 2020 using keywords like Insomnia, Chai-Hu-Shu-Gan-San and Sihosogan-san. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using CHSGS as the main intervention for insomnia patients. We assessed the quality of RCTs using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and Jadad scale. Results: 5 RCTs were included. The Chinese classification of mental disorders -3 (CCMD-3) was the most frequently used diagnostic criteria. The effective rate was the most frequently used as outcome. All the 5 RCTs that reported CHSGS and CHSGS adjunctive therapy on insomnia were more effective compared to western medication. Only one study reported adverse effects. The methodological quality of the included RCTs were generally poor. Conclusions: This review found that CHSGS may be effective to treating insomnia. However, because of the small number, heterogeneity and very low methodological quality of included studies, we could not draw any definitive conclusions. Therefore, more rigorous randomized control studies are warranted.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.265-275
• /
• 2021

This review investigated the effectiveness and safety of acupotomy treatment for scoliosis. There were 7 online databases used in the search from inception to March 17, 2021, for randomized controlled trials of the use of acupotomy in patients with scoliosis. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the studies included (n = 12). A quantitative synthesis of the randomized controlled trials was performed using RevMan Version 5.3. The effect sizes of studies were presented as mean differences for continuous outcomes and risk ratios for dichotomous outcomes, with a 95% confidence interval. As part of combined therapy, acupotomy was reported to significantly improve Cobb's angle compared with other treatments. Likewise, the Visual Analog Scale score, the Oswestry Disability Index score, and pulmonary function were also reported to be improved following acupotomy combination therapy. Although 5 studies mentioned the criteria for reporting adverse events, only 1 study reported adverse events. In conclusion, acupotomy may be an effective treatment for scoliosis. However, the small number, and heterogeneity of the included studies, as well as the poor methodological quality, indicate that higher-quality studies should be conducted to verify the effectiveness and safety of acupotomy treatment for scoliosis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.63-77
• /
• 2006

The research aim is to classify biotope types of rural eco-villages designed by ministry of environment and analyze landscape ecological characteristics of them. This information would provide information on eco-villages' potential and specific needs to improve landscape ecological structure of eco-villages. Two eco-villages, designated by ministry of environment, in Yoocheon-ri and Sanduk-ri were selected and the landscape ecological metrics used in this study were Area, Shannon diversity index, Shape index, Distance index. The results are as follows. 1) There were five biotope types in large-scale classification, 13 biotope types m Sanduk-ri and 9 biotope types in Yoocheon-ri in middle-scale classification, 31 biotope types in Sanduk-ri and 24 biotope types in Yoocheon-ri in small-scale classification. 2) In the case of area, artificial biotope types, such as artificial forest, agricultural irrigation canal, wet paddy, dry paddy and residential area, covered more than 80% of total area. However, natural biotope types, such as natural forest, river, reservoir, covered just more than 10% of total area. In details, an orchard (26.69%) was the dominant biotope type, followed by artificial forest (19.10%) in Sanduk-ri and the first most abundant biotope type was artificial forest (49.71%), followed by wet paddy (15.95%) in Yoocheon-ri. 3) The result of Shannon diversity index indicated that Sanduk-ri (2.158) had more heterogeneity landscape, rather than Yoocheon-ri (2.051). 4) In the case of shape index, road (13.09) had more complex and irregular shape than either agricultural irrigation canal (3.35) or artificial forest (2.46) in Sanduk-ri. Road (6.52) was also the most irregular biotope shape, followed by river (5.70) and agricultural irrigation canal (4.78) in Yoocheon-ri. 5) Mean Nearest-neighbour Distance (MND) was smallest in wet paddy and dry paddy biotope types in the two study area, suggesting that these biotope types were concentrated within these study areas. From the result, this research suggested information to protect and improve biotopes of eco-villages in the landscape ecological terms. To achieve this improvement plan, there should be strong support by ministry of environment and local governments.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.218-236
• /
• 2023

This study attempted to analyze the environmental equity of fine dust(PM₁₀) in Daegu using MGWR(Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression) and KT(Korea Telecom Corporation) sensor data. Existing national monitoring network data for measuring fine dust are collected at a small number of ground-based stations that are sparsely distributed in a large area. To complement these drawbacks, KT sensor data with a large number of IoT(Internet of Things) stations densely distributed were used in this study. The MGWR model was used to deal with spatial heterogeneity and multi-scale contextual effects in the spatial relationships between fine dust concentration and socioeconomic variables. Results indicate that there existed an environmental inequity by land value and foreigner ratio in the spatial distribution of fine dust in Daegu metropolitan city. Also, the MGWR model showed better the explanatory power than Ordinary Least Square(OLS) and Geographically Weighted Regression(GWR) models in explaining the spatial relationships between the concentration of fine dust and socioeconomic variables. This study demonstrated the potential of KT sensor data as a supplement to the existing national monitoring network data for measuring fine dust.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.607-618
• /
• 2015

Five years have passed since the first set of environmental samples was taken in 2011 to represent various ecosystems which would help future generations lead back to the past environment. Those samples have been preserved cryogenically in the National Environmental Specimen Bank(NESB) at the National Institute of Environmental Research. Even though there is a strict regulation (SOP, standard operating procedure) that rules over the whole sampling procedure to ensure each sample to represent the sampling area, it has not been put to the test for the validation. The question needs to be answered to clear any doubts on the representativeness and the quality of the samples. In order to address the question and ensure the sampling practice set in the SOP, many steps to the measurement of the sample, that is, from sampling in the field and the chemical analysis in the lab are broken down to evaluate the uncertainty at each level. Of the 8 species currently taken for the cryogenic preservation in the NESB, pine tree samples from two different sites were selected for this study. Duplicate samples were taken from each site according to the sampling protocol followed by the duplicate analyses which were carried out for each discrete sample. The uncertainties were evaluated by Robust ANOVA; two levels of uncertainty, one is the uncertainty from the sampling practice, and the other from the analytical process, were then compiled to give the measurement uncertainty on a measured concentration of the measurand. As a result, it was confirmed that it is the sampling practice not the analytical process that accounts for the most of the measurement uncertainty. Based on the top-down approach for the measurement uncertainty, the efficient way to ensure the representativeness of the sample was to increase the quantity of each discrete sample for the making of a composite sample, than to increase the number of the discrete samples across the site. Furthermore, the cost-effective approach to enhance the confidence level on the measurement can be expected from the efforts to lower the sampling uncertainty, not the analytical uncertainty. To test the representativeness of a composite sample of a sampling area, the variance within the site should be less than the difference from duplicate sampling. For that, a criterion, ${i.e.s^2}_{geochem}$(across the site variance) <${s^2}_{samp}$(variance at the sampling location) was proposed. In light of the criterion, the two representative samples for the two study areas passed the requirement. In contrast, whenever the variance of among the sampling locations (i.e. across the site) is larger than the sampling variance, more sampling increments need to be added within the sampling area until the requirement for the representativeness is achieved.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
• /
• no.18
• /
• pp.221-254
• /
• 2008

Community Archpe is . Community Archpe is as close as a kind of a complex of culture space or community center which puts individuals and small community together with culture soil in a central position. For example Community Archpe can include community library, community archive, community historical center, community recovery center, community commencement of an enterprise center, etc. We need small library, archive and historian rather than big scale institution and professional system to take care of culture soil which belongs to an individual and community. Community Archpe is located in coordinates of two intention points. First intention is, a 'Heterogenous Smithy'. Heterogeneity deals with Community Archpe's life. Second intention is, a 'Feminine Smithy'. Community Archpe can be a recovery community when we are in the recovery context, which understand and support a person through archives and history. Then, what can Community Archpe do? First, it can be a new movement of the community. Second, it can also be a centripetal point of classic life. Community Archpe surly locates in the central of Community. Therefore, it will be a cultural literary soil and be a smithy of community history and culture. Thus Community Archpe will change a lot of things on people's life. Community Archpe will be a small happiness to ordinary people, even though it is not a state organ realizing large values.