• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.270-287
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• 2015

Objectives To evaluate the neuroprotective effects of modified Yuldahanso-tang (MYH) in a Parkinson's disease mouse model. Methods 1) Four groups (each of 8 rats per group) were used in this study. 2) The neuroprotective effect of MYH was examined in a Parkinson's disease mouse model. C57BL/6 mice treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP, 30 mg/kg/day), intraperitoneal (i.p.) for 5 days. 3) The brains of 2 mice per group were removed and frozen at $-20^{\circ}C$, and the striatum-substantia nigra part was seperated. The protein volume was measured by Bradford method following Bio-Rad protein analyzing kit. Using mouse/Rat Dopamine ELISA Assay Kit. 4) The brains of 2 mice per group were separated and removed. TH-immunohistochemical was examined in the MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease mice to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of MYH on ST and SNpc. 5) Two mice out of each group were anesthetized and skulls were opened from occipital to frontal direction to take out the brains. The brains added TTC solution for 20 minutes for staining. 6) The water tank used for morris water maze test was filled with $28^{\circ}C$ water, and a round platform of 10cm in diameter was installed for mice to step on. The study was carried out once a day within 30 seconds, keep exercising to step on the platform in the pool. 7) The brains of two mice out of each group were fixed in 10% formaldehyde solution and paraphillin substance was infiltrated. They were fragmented by microtome, and observed under an optical microscope after Hematoxylin & Eosin staining. 8) A round acrylic cylinder with its upper side open was filled with clean water and depressive mouse models were forced to swim for 15 minutes. After 24 hours the animals were put in the same equipment for 5 minutes and were forced to swim. 9) The convenient, simple, and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was established for simultaneous determination of Neurotransmitters in MPTP-MYH group. Results 1) MYH possess Dopamine cell protective effect on MPTP-induced injury in striatum and substantia nigra pars compacta. 2) MYH inhibits the loss of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreacitive (TH-IR) cells in the striatum and substantia nigra pars compacta on MPTP-induced injury in C57BL/6 mice. 3) MYH possesses improvement effect on MPTP-induced memory deterioration in C57BL/6 mice through the reduction of prolongated Sort of lost time by MPTP injection using the Morris water maze test. 4) MYH possesses hippocampal neuron protective effect on MPTP-induced injury in C57BL/6 mice. 5) MYH possesses improvement effect on MPTP-induced motor behaviour deficits and depression in C57BL/6 mice through the reduction of prolongated losing motion by MPTP injection using the Forced swimming test. 6) MYH increases serotonin product amount on MPTP-induced injury in C57BL/6 mice. Conclusions This experiment suggests that the neuroprotective effect of MYH is mediated by the increase in Dopamin, TH-ir cell, Hippocampus and Serotonin. Furthermore, MYH essential oil may serve as a potential preventive or therapeutic agent regarding Parkinson's disease.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 2004

Background : The diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to mediastinal tumors and cysts have changed over the past three decades. This report summarizes our forty-two years of experience with these tumors. Methods : This study retrospectively reviewed 479 patients with primary mediastinal tumors and cysts that were diagnosed and managed over the past 17-year period (1985~2002) and compared them to the report of the previous 25-year result (1960~1985) in Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Hospital in Seoul, Korea. Results : During the 17 years, there were 479 cases of pathologically proven mediastinal tumors and cysts. Thymoma (38.2%) was the most common mediastinal tumor and has increased noticeably during recent years. The gender ratio showed a male predominance (1.3:1) and the age distributions were even over all the age groups. The most common sites of the tumor and the proportion(28.6%) of malignant tumors were the same as that previously reported. A diagnosis of a tumor in asymptomatic patients was possible in 174 cases (36.3%), which was higher that reported previously. The diagnostic yield of a fine needle aspiration biopsy was 68.6% in the total tumors and 80.9% in the malignant tumors. A surgical resection was the most frequently chosen treatment modality and was performed in 405 cases (84.6%). The complete resection rate was 91.1%, which is higher than the previous result of 78.8%. Conclusion : These results showed that the prevalence of mediastinal tumors and cysts, particularly thymoma, increased. A fine needle aspiration biopsy was a valuable preoperative differential diagnostic method for malignant tumors. The surgical and complete resection rate increased remarkably possibly due to the better applicable chest CT scans, the more frequent health check-up provided by the regular health promotion program for all people as a health insurance policy, and the improved diagnostic techniques in the pathologic, radiological, and clinical fields.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.290-299
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• 2011

Objectives: The usage of fluoride varnish for a moderate to low caries-risk group has not been well validated. This study aimed to evaluate the preventive and therapeutic efficacies of fluoride varnish on the initiated root caries. Materials and Methods: Ten premolars were sectioned into quarters, further divided into two windows, one of which was painted with Fluor Protector (1,000 ppm fluoride, Ivoclar Vivadent). An initial lesion with a well-preserved surface layer was produced by pH cycling. Scanned line analysis using energy dispersive spectrometry determined the weight percentages of Ca and P in the demineralized layer. Scanning Electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) evaluated the varnish-applied root surfaces. Results: The mean lesion depth (SD) was 12.3 (2.6) ${\mu}m$ (single cycling) and 19.6 (3.8) ${\mu}m$ (double cycling). Double cycling extended the lesion depth, but induced no more mineral loss than single cycling (p < 0.05). The mean weight percentages of Ca and P between groups with and without varnish were not significantly different (p < 0.05). A CLSM showed varnish remained within 15 ${\mu}m$ of the surface layer. Conclusions: When a mild acid challenge initiated root tissue demineralization, the application of low-concentration fluoride varnish did not influence the lesion depth or the mineral composition of the subsurface lesion.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2009

Implantation itself is governed by an array of endocrine, paracrine and autocrine modulators, of embryonic and maternal origin. Window of implantation is the unique temporal and spatial expression of factors allows the embryo to implant via signaling, appositioning, attachment, and invasion in a specific time frame of $2{\sim}4$ days. When the embryo has arrived in the uterine cavity, a preprogrammed sequence of events occurs, which involves the production and secretion of a multitude of biochemical factors such as cytokines, growth factors, and adhesion molecules by the endometrium and the embryo, thus leading to the formation of a receptive endometrium. Cytokines such as LIF, CSF-1, and IL-1 have all been shown to play important roles in the cascade of events that leads to implantation. Integrin, L-selectin ligands, glycodelin, mucin-1, HB-EGF and pinopodes are involved in appositioning and attachment. The embryo also produces cytokines and growth factors (ILs, VEGF) and receptors for endometrial signals such as LIF, CSF-1, IGF and HB-EGF. The immune system and angiogenesis play an important role. The usefulness of these factors to assess endometrial receptivity and to estimate the prognosis for pregnancy in natural and artificial cycles remains to be proven. Integrins, pinopodes, glycodelin and LIF (from biopsies) are promising candidates; from uterine flushings, glycodelin and LIF are also candidates. The ideal serum marker is not available, but VEGF, glycodelin and CSF have some clinical implications. Further evaluation that includes larger groups of infertile women and fertile controls are needed to elucidate whether their presence in plasma, flushing fluid, or endometrial samples can be used as some kind of a screening tool to assess endometrial function and prognosis for pregnancy before and after artificial reproductive therapy. A better understanding of their function in human implantation may lead to therapeutic intervention, thereby improving the success rate in reproduction treatment. New molecular techniques are becoming available for measuring both embryonic and endometrial changes prior to and during implantation. The use of predictive sets of markers may prove to be more reliable than a single marker. Ultimately, the aim is to use these tools to increase implantation in artificial cycles and consequently improve live-birth rates.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.710-718
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• 2002

It is reported that Pueraria Radix contains phtoestrogens whereas flower, and bud of Pueraria lobata Ohwi were not known. In the present study, we determined the amount of phytoestrogen in each portion of P. lobata Ohwi and carried out therapeutic effects of osteoporosis. The amounts of genistein, daidzein, and formononetin in Pueraria Radix (PR), Pueraria Flos (PF), and young Pueratia Folium (PL) were quantitated using a HPLC system. Proliferation of osteoblast and growth inhibitory effect on osteoclast were measured in order to screen their effects on osteoporosis. Proliferation of osteoblast-like cells (Saos-2) was analyzed by both MTT methods and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assays. Growth inhibitory effect on osteoclast was also detected as Tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) assay. Ovariectomized rat as an in vivo animal model was selected and administrations of PR were 1 g/kg/day (PR-1) and 5 g/kg/day (PR-5) for 9 weeks, respectively. Trabecular bone areas (TBAs) of tibia and lumbar were analyzed usibg histomorphological methods. Results show that PR contains the highest level of daidzein ($10435{\pm}2143\;mg/kg$ of dried herb) and stimulated ALP activity, approximately 160% of the control. Growth inhibitory effect on osteoclast by both PR and daidzein were almost identical with control although $IC_{50}$ of genistein was $5.81{\times}10^{-7}$ M. Increases in body weight of OVX rats were suppressed by administration of PR but wet weights of uterus in PR-5 group were increased (p<0.05). Plasma ALP and HDL-cholesterol levels were decreased following ages (p<0.01), and LDL-cholesterol level was also decreased in PR-5 group at 20 week of age (p<0.01). TBAs of tibia and lumbar in PR-1 and PR-5 groups were higher than those of the control although the values were less than those of the sham group (each p<0.01) In conclusion, administrations of PR prevented loss of TBAs of tibia and lumber in OVX rats, while PL and PF did not (p<0.01).

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.52
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• pp.346.1-346.11
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• 2018

Background: To evaluate the therapeutic benefits of the treat-to-target (T2T) strategy for Asian patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Korea. Methods: In a 1-year, multicenter, open-label strategy trial, 346 patients with early RA were recruited from 20 institutions across Korea and stratified into 2 groups, depending on whether they were recruited by rheumatologists who have adopted the T2T strategy (T2T group) or by rheumatologists who provided usual care (non-T2T group). Data regarding demographics, rheumatoid factor titer, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody titer, disease activity score of 28 joints (DAS28), and Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire (KHAQ) score were obtained at baseline and after 1 year of treatment. In the T2T group, the prescription for disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs was tailored to the predefined treatment target in each patient, namely remission (DAS28 < 2.6) or low disease activity (LDA) ($2.6{\leq}DAS28$ < 3.2). Results: Data were available for 163 T2T patients and 162 non-T2T patients. At the end of the study period, clinical outcomes were better in the T2T group than in the non-T2T group (LDA or remission, 59.5% vs. 35.8%; P < 0.001; remission, 43.6% vs. 19.8%; P < 0.001). Compared with non-T2T, T2T was also associated with higher rate of good European League Against Rheumatism response (63.0% vs. 39.8%; P < 0.001), improved KHAQ scores (-0.38 vs. -0.13; P = 0.008), and higher frequency of follow-up visits (5.0 vs. 2.0 visits/year; P < 0.001). Conclusion: In Asian patients with early RA, T2T improves disease activity and physical function. Setting a pre-defined treatment target in terms of DAS28 is recommended.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.53-63
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• 2019

Objective : Many communication recovery strategies should be used when communication breakdowns occur for successful communication, however, communication problems increase due to inadequate use of such strategies in older people with dementia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference of recovery strategy between dementia and the elderly in conversational discourse. Method : The subjects were eight of Alzheimer's dementia and 10 general elderly. Conversation discourse tasks were conducted face-to-face with the subjects. Communication breakdown and communication recovery strategies were analyzed based on 200 utterances collected in the conversation discourse. Result : First, the AD group had more communication breakdown than the control group, but the recovery rate did not differ between the groups. Second, in the AD group, the nonspecific recovery strategy and the clarification demand strategy were used as the expression strategy. The recovery rate after using expressive strategy was more than 90% in explanation strategy, combined strategy, nonspecific repair strategy, and repetition confirmation strategy. The response strategy used a lot of paraphrase strategy and combined strategies, and the recovery rate after using the response strategy was 100% for the simplification strategy, repeat strategy and gesture strategy. Conclusion : The AD group showed more breakdown of research subjects and breakdown of researchers than control group, and it showed ability to use various expression strategy and response strategy though there was difference in repair rate between communication repair strategy. AD group used nonspecific repair strategy in expression strategy the most and paraphrase strategy in response strategy the most. This shows different characteristic from ordinary elderly people. Therefore, it is necessary to utilize this repair strategy for rehabilitation of AD elderly.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.184-190
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• 2016

Objectives : This study analyzed the differences of body mass index(BMI) in Korean patients with Alzheimer's diseases(AD), Mild Cognitive Impairment(MCI), and healthy controls to verify whether low BMI is associated with cognitive impairment. Furthermore, this study also sought to examine any association between BMI and Mini Mental State Examination-Korean version(MMSE-K), Clinical Dementia Rating(CDR), and Global Deterioration Scale(GDS). Methods : A total of 257 subjects were included in the study. History taking, mental status examination, physical examination and neurocognitive function test were carried out for the diagnosis of AD and MCI. The subjects' demographic data and presence of diseases were also surveyed. The overall cognitive function and severity of diseases were assessed using MMSE-K, GDS, and CDR. Results : The order of BMI was found to be healthy controls>MCI>AD, with statistically significant differences among the groups. The order of MMSE-K scores was similar, with healthy controls>MCI>AD in statistically significant differences. The healthy controls had the lowest CDR and GDS scores, and AD patients had the highest scores. There was a significant positive correlation between BMI and MMSE scores(r=0.238, p=0.000). BMI was negatively correlated with CDR(r=-0.174, p=0.008) as well as with GDS(r=-0.233, p= 0.000). Conclusions : Measuring BMI of patients with AD or MCI is expected to be meaningful in that BMI could be a clinical indicator of AD. We expect this to be beneficial for the diagnosis, prevention, and therapeutic approach of AD and also expect large-scale, long-term longitudinal studies to follow.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.75-93
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• 2021

Objective : The aim of this study was to identify subgroups of older adults with respect to their lifestyle patterns and examine the characteristics of each subgroup in order to provide a basic evidence for improving the health and quality of life. Methods : This cross-sectional study was conducted in South Korea. Community-dwelling older adults (n=184) above the age of 65 years were surveyed from April 2019 to May 2019. This study used latent profile analysis to examine the subgroups. Chi-squared (χ²) and multinomial logistic regression measures were then used to analyze individual characteristics and influencing factors. Results : The pattern of physical activity which is one of the lifestyle domains in elderly was categorized into three types: 'passive exercise type (31.1%)', 'low intensity exercise type (54.5%)', and 'balanced exercise type(14.5%)'. Activity participation was divided into three patterns: 'inactive type (12%)', 'self-management type (61%)', and 'balanced activity participation type (27%)'. In terms of nutrition, there were only two groups: 'overall malnutrition type (13.5%)' and 'balanced nutrition type (86.5%)'. Furthermore, as a result of the multinomial logistic regression analysis to understand the effects of lifestyle types on the health and quality of life of the elderly, it was confirmed that the health and quality of life were higher in those following an active and balanced lifestyle. In addition, gender, education level and residential area were analyzed as predictive factors. Conclusion : The health and quality of life of the elderly can be improved when they have balanced lifestyle. Therefore, an empirical and policy intervention strategy should be developed and implemented to enhance the health and quality of life of the elderly.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.635-645
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• 2019

Non-specific chronic neck pain (CNP) is a prevalent disorder and often accompany with pain, fatigue, reduced range of motion (ROM), and hand function. Although various types of drug are commonly used to manage the symptoms following CNP, there is a need for therapeutic exercise and alternative medicine interventions that have few side effects or are easy to apply. Present study investigated the effects of salt pack and neck exercise for life care of the elderly with non-specific CNP. Sixteen patients with non-specific CNP were recruited and randomly assigned into two groups: the intervention group (n=8) or the control group (n=8). All patients performed neck self-exercise for 30 min/day, 5 times a week for 1 week. And the subjects in the intervention group additionally received salt hot pack for 20 min per session. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and pain pressure threshold (PPT) using algometer were used to assess pain intensity (primary outcome). ROM of shoulder joint and grip strength were measured to test shoulder and hand function (secondary outcome). There were significant improvements in the intervention group (p<.05), while the subjects in the control group did not show a significant change after intervention (p>.05). Also, the intervention group show significant differences in VAS and PPT compared to the control group (p<.05). Thus, our results demonstrated that salt pack and neck exercise have a positive effect for life care in elderly patients with non-specific CNP.