• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.135-143
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study on the oral health behavior of foreign workers and dental care in the community is to identify actual oral health conditions of immigrated labors, to promote their oral health and to gather basic data providing them with proper oral health services Methods : Based on previous studies, The researchers wrote their own surveys in English, in Vietnamnese, in Tagalogue, in Thai. Making questions on the paper to 114 foreign workers in Pocheon, Gyeonggi-do were surveyed. Using the program SPSS 17.0 for Windows, the collected data were analyzed. The frequency analysis, the chi-square analysis and the correlation analysis was performed to recognize their relevance between the oral health status and the actual oral care and the subjective perception of oral health. Results : General characteristics of the foreign workers is the overwhelming majority of male demographic 78.9%. By age, 20-29 years of age accounted for 50%, and duration of stay in the city is less than 3-5 years to 68.4%, It was most common. The percentage going to the dentist when teeth hurt is although 56 percent. But the ratio to endure the pain without going to the dentist, was 44%. The main reason to not go to the dentist was the time 55.2% and cost 11.9%. A mere 9.6% of respondents knew about the free dental care and used. 67.5% of them was not aware of the free dental care agency, 59.6% were keen to use the free care. However, 40.4% did not want a free dental care because they did not have the time(26.3%), the distance is far away(3.5%), and difficulties in communication(3.5%) and the other(66.7%). Conclusions : The major percentage of the other reason(66.7%) why they did not want to go to free dental service, must be specifically identified. For the activation of free dental services, the active support of central and local governments is needed. By focusing on health-related departments of the University in the community, it is necessary to operate the program of the oral health care for foreign workers.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.591-599
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• 2015

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease characterized by the progressive degradation of joint cartilage and is accompanied by secondary inflammation of synovial membranes. The purpose of this study describes a preliminary evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity on test material of Litsea japonica. fruit (LJTM) Also, this study was to evaluate the effects of LJTM on the joint cartilage of rat with OA induced by monosodium iodoacetate (MIA). To study for anti-inflammatory agents effectively, we first examined the inhibitory effect of the LJTM on the production of pro-inflammatory factors and cytokines stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. We identified anti-nociceptive effects of the LJTM by using in vivo peripheral and central nervous pain models. In addition, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects on mRNA expression of MMP-2, -3, -7, -9, -13, TIMP-1 and –2 in cartilage of OA. In the LJTM inhibited production of pro-inflammatory mediators (NO and PGE₂) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6). In cartilage, Expression of MMPs and TIMPs mRNA was suppressed in LJTM treatment group than in the control group. This study suggests that LJTM are potential candidates as anti-inflammation and anti-osteoarthritis agents (painkillers) for the treatment of OA.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 1993

Central analgesic effect of capsaicin was assessed by the tail flick reflex (TFR) test, using male Sprague-Dawley rats under anesthesia with pentobarbital sodium (induction with 40 mg/kg and maintenance with $4{\sim}8\;mg/kg/hr$). Level of norepinephrine in the spinal cord was also measured. Capsaicin, $35{\sim}150\;{\mu}g$, was injected intrathecally, and the TFR latency was measured before, 10, 30, and 60 minutes after the drug administration. TFR latency was increased 100% or more immediately by intrathecal capsaicin, from 2.9 seconds to the maximum of 7.0 seconds at 10 minute after the drug; P<0.01. The increase in TFR latency was maintained during the course of experiment of 2 hours. Concomitant reduction of NE content in the spinal cord was observed; from 16 ng/mg protein to 7 ng/mg protein. On the other hand, subcutaneous injection of capsaicin of 50 mg/kg did not change the TFR latency although the NE content reduced similarly to the case of intrathecal injection. Pretreatment of the animal with 0.5 mg/kg of MK-801 reversed the increase of TFR latency and NE reduction induced by intrathecal capsaicin. These results suggest that capsaicin causes analgesia at the spinal cord level by activating the excitatory amino acid-NE-dorsal horn interneurons axis of the descending inhibitory pain modulation pathway.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.319-323
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• 2011

Curcumin, of which a critical characteristic is the capacity of crossing the blood-brain barrier, has been reported to induce the expression of neuroprotective heme oxygenase (HO)-1. The aim of this study is to compare HO-1-inducing capacity and neuroprotective activity of curcumin, its demethoxy (demethoxycurcumin, DMC; bis-demethoxycurcumin, BDMC) and hydrogenated derivatives (tetrahydrocurcumin, THC) in mouse hippocampal HT22 cells. Curcumin attenuated glutamate-induced cell death through HO-1 expression. DMC lacking a methoxy group on one of the aromatic rings possessed slightly lower activity in HO-1 expression and neuroprotection than curcumin. Similarly, BDMC, which lacks two methoxy groups on both of the aromatic rings, showed less activity than curcumin. These findings suggest that the presence of methoxy groups on the aromatic ring is required to enhance neuroprotective HO-1 expression. The reduction of the diarylheptadienone chain of curcumin by hydrogen, as in THC, was accompanied by a complete loss of ability to induce HO-1 expression and neuroprotection, suggesting that the conjugated double bonds of the central seven-carbon chain of curcumin may be essential for its ability to induce neuroprotective HO-1 expression. Our findings may provide useful information for further development of neuroprotective HO-1 inducers.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1390-1395
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• 1997

Intravascular lymphomatosis(IVL) which was first described by pfleger and Tappeiner in 1959 is rare malignancy characterized by neoplastic proliferation of lymphoid cell lineage within the vascular lumen with little or no adjacent parenchymal involvement Its usual sites of involvement are central nervous system and skin or infrequently heart, lungs, pancreas, liver, spleen, kidney, adrenal glands, genitourinary tract, and bone marrow. Pulmonary involvement of IVL is not common. Symptoms of pulmonary involvement include dyspnea, cough and fever. Radiologicially, the disease is manifested with diffuse interstitial infiltrates. We report a recently experienced case of pulmonary intravascular lymphomatosis which was manifested with fever and chest pain.

• Journal of the Korean Child Neurology Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.284-287
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• 2018

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by mutation of one of two genes, TSC1 (encoding hamartin, 9q34) and TSC2 (encoding tuberin, 16p13). It invades the central nervous system and various parts of the body, causing various symptoms. Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic immune-mediated disease that has not been clearly elucidated. It is thought to be caused by an excessive immune response of the body to bacteria that normally exist in the digestive tract with genetic factors. No cases have been reported in which both of the above-mentioned diseases occurred simultaneously. We report a case of CD in a patient with TSC. A 12-year-old boy was brought to our hospital because of abdominal pain. Skin lesions were observed in the TSC. Fundus examination revealed a hamartoma in the right retina. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed a subendothelial giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA). On the basis of these findings, he was diagnosed as having TSC. Blood test results showed increased levels of inflammatory markers. On abdominal ultrasonography, his colon walls were observed to be thickened with increased vascularity of the proximal ascending colon, ileocecal valve, and terminal ileum. Colonoscopy revealed discontinuous ulcerations and inflammations of the ileum, IC valve, and cecum, similar to those found in CD. Everolimus was administered orally for the SEGA but was discontinued frequently owing to the exacerbation of CD. The possibility of CD should be kept in mind in patients with TSC considering to undergo treatment for SEGA.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.251-263
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to review the clinical research trends in the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Korean medicine (KM). Methods: We searched MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE, Google Scholar and five Korean databases through May 2019, for studies on KM to treat PTSD. Clinical research that conducted KM treatment of PTSD patients were included. Two researchers independently conducted study selection and data extraction process. Results: Totally, eight studies were included in this review. Types of traumatic events that patients experienced included physical violence/threatening, traffic accidents, sexual violence and personal tragic events. KM interventions performed included acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medicine, physical therapy, and KM-based psychotherapy. Treatment duration varied from two days to more than five months. Follow-up began at least one week to three months after the end of treatments. It was reported that the major psychological and/or somatic symptoms of PTSD, such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and musculoskeletal pain, subjectively improved, as well as other objective outcomes: Impact Event Scale-Revised Korean version (IES-R-K), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Hwabyung Symptoms/characters, Electroencephalography (EEG) change, etc. Statistical studies were conducted in three studies only. Outcomes such as Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), BDI, and IES-R-K showed statistically significant improvement after KM treatments. There was no study reporting adverse events during or after the interventions. Conclusions: According to this review, diverse types of KM treatments have been used among PTSD patients in eight studies. The KM treatments effectively improved psychological and somatic symptoms of PTSD patients. However, the lack of high quality research as well as the lack of standardization of KM treatments for PTSD are limitations. Further methodologically robust clinical trials should be performed, and the standardization of KM treatments for PTSD should be sought.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.122-130
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• 2020

Objectives: This study is a practice based research conducted to investigate the effectiveness and safety of a 5-day short-term diet program ('Oil-rescue' program) designed to reduce the adverse events and initial dropout rate in obesity treatment. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 4 Korean medicine clinic patient data who completed 'Oil-rescue' program which is consisting of Gambi-hwan, Bium-hwan, Butgiban-hwan and Jayoon Kyungokgo. The weight change before and after participating 'Oil-rescue' program was primary outcome of our study. Changes in body mass index, body fat mass, skeletal muscle mass, body water content, lean body mass, protein, and minerals were also measured. Results: A total of 35 patients who satisfied the eligible criteria were finally included. The body weight decreased from 69.45±11.86 kg to 67.43±11.58 kg, a total of 2.02±1.03 kg (P<0.001). Body fat mass decreased from 25.77±7.45 kg to 24.98±7.26 kg, a total of 0.78±1.21 kg (P<0.001). Body mass index decreased from 26.39±3.64 kg/㎡ to 25.64±3.49 kg/㎡, a total of 0.75±0.41 kg/㎡. (P<0.001). A total of 15 patients had side effects such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, and insomnia, but all were mild. 16 out of 35 people switched to long-term obesity treatment programs. Conclusions: Through this retrospective practice based research, it was found that the 'Oil-rescue' program effectively reduced body weight, body fat, and body mass index, and the other obesity related parameters. It was a relatively safe and effective short-term obesity treatment program.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.679-684
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• 2023

Venous puncture is widely used to obtain blood samples for pathological examination. Because the invasive venipuncture method using a needle is repeatedly performed, the pain suffered by the patient increases, so our research team pre-developed a miniaturized near-infrared (NIR) imaging system in advance. To improve the image quality of the acquired NIR images, this study aims to model the non-local means (NLM) algorithm, which is well known to be efficient in noise reduction, and analyze its applicability in the system. The developed NIR imaging system is based on the principle that infrared rays pass through dichroic and long-pass filters and are detected by a CMOS sensor module. The proposed NLM algorithm is modeled based on the principle of replacing the pixel from which noise is to be removed with a value that reflects the distances between surrounding pixels. After acquiring an NIR image with a central wavelength of 850 nm, the NLM algorithm was applied to segment the final vein area through histogram equalization. As a result, the coefficient of variation of the NIR image of the vein using the NLM algorithm was 0.247 on average, which was an excellent result compared to conventional filtering methods. In addition, the dice similarity coefficient value of the NLM algorithm was improved by 62.91 and 9.40%, respectively, compared to the median filter and total variation methods. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the NLM algorithm can acquire accurate segmentation of veins acquired with a NIR imaging system.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.53-82
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• 2007

This study, driven by the question of 'what the experience of healing of female sexual abuse victims is like,' explores the process the victims undergo as they heal from the traumas. Using the methods suggested by Strauss and Corbin's Grounded theory, it analyzes nine interviews taken from victims who have received counseling. The study found that the central phenomena that take place in the process of their healing is 'mental pain due to the damage caused by sexual abuse,' the causal conditions are 'the recognition of the sexual abuse' and 'desperation,' and the contextual conditions are 'the reaction of the close ones of the victims,' 'the preconception about sexuality,' and 'the incarceration and punishment of the offenders.' The victims have been intervened in the healing process by 'being supported' and 're-interpreting the meaning of the damage caused by sexual abuse,' and are found to utilize the interactive strategy among 'facing their emotions,' 'learning new coping strategies,' and 'hoping for the future.' They are also found, as a result of the healing, to 'live unafraid as survivors' and 'have structured their lives in a new way.' This study is of significance in systematically elucidating the healing process and the related elements found through the voices of the survivors of sexual abuse in the context of the Korean society and culture. The limits of this study and suggestions about the studies that should follow this one are included as well.