• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.30-37
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• 2008

This study was designed to examine the effects of temporary immobilization of the ankle and knee joints on standing in healthy young adults with the use of a postural control mechanism. The subjects were twenty-four college students (12 males and 12 females, aged between 20 and 28). A Biodex balance system SD 950-302 and its software were used to measure indirect balance parameters in standing. Each subject underwent postural stability tests in 4-different joint conditions: free joints, ankle immobilization only, knee immobilization only, and ankle and knee immobilization. In addition, the postural stability test was conducted once with the subject's eyes open and once with the eyes closed conditions. For data analysis of the postural stability tests, the overall stability index, antero-posterior stability index, and medio-lateral stability index were recorded. The overall stability index (p=.000) and medial-lateral index (p=.003) were significantly greater different conditions with eyes closed in postural stability. Therefore, the eyes closed condition is expected to be used as an effective postural stability training for treatment planning in patients with unstable postures. In addition, training based on the dynamic multi-segment model can improve postural stability and is available to therapeutic programs, helping people with unstable balance to reduce their risk of falling.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.53-61
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• 2011

Purpose : his study was to analyze the reliability and validity on Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Index (OLBPDI) in patients with low back pain. Methods : The sample consisted of 211 patients who had received treatments at the physical therapy units of 3 medical institutions from February to December 2008 in Andong city. Questionnaires on the OLBPDI were recruited by 6 physical therapists. The internal structure and reliability of the scales were evaluated by means of item-internal consistency(Cronbach's alpha coefficient:${\alpha}$), item-discriminant validity, Pearson's relation coefficient. Results : An average of patients's age was 41.1 years. The range of OLBPDI subscales were .93~.94 in Cronbach's ${\alpha}$. The internal consistency reliability of total item-each item were also internally consistent with Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ range of .94~.95(Pearson's correlation coefficient range: .62~.89). However, high correlation were obtained among 10 items(.67~.83), therefore the item-discriminant validity was a little low. Conclusion: In conclusion, the results reported here confirm the reliability of the OLBPDI scales in patients with low back pain. The collection of information on the level of disability due to low back pain using this instrument was acceptable to patients. A further prospective multi-center study will be necessary to prove the reliability and validity.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.sup1
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• pp.157-161
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• 2008

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has a poor prognosis and a strong association with exposure to asbestos. Although there are not generally accepted guidelines for treatment of MPM, recent reports suggest that multi modality therapy combining chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery can improve the survival of patients with MPM. Therefore exact staging is required to decide the best treatment option. However, it is well known that there are many difficulties in determining precise preoperative stage, predicting prognosis, and monitoring response to therapy with conventional imaging modalities such as CT and MRI in MPM. Recently PET with $^{18}F-FDG$ comes into the spotlight as an important staging method. There is increasing evidence that PET is superior to other conventional imaging modalities in diagnosis and staging of MPM. Particularly PET/CT improves the diagnostic and staging accuracy over PET or CT alone in MPM because it provides anatomic imaging data as well as functional information. PET and PET/CT are also useful for monitoring response to therapy and SUV is reported as a prognostic factor in MPM.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.107-113
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• 2013

Purpose: To verify accuracy of respiratory gated proton therapy by measuring and analyzing proton beam delivered when respiratory gated proton therapy is being performed in our institute. Materials and Methods: The plan data of 3 patients who took respiratory gated proton therapy were used to deliver proton beam from proton therapy system. The manufactured moving phantom was used to apply respiratory gating system to reproduce proton beam which was partially irradiated. The key characteristics of proton beam, range, spreat-out Bragg peak (SOBP) and output factor were measured 5 times and the same categories were measured in the continuous proton beam which was not performed with respiratory gating system. Multi-layer ionization chamber was used to measure range and SOBP, and Scanditronix Wellhofer and farmer chamber was used to measure output factor. Results: The average ranges of 3 patients (A, B, C), who had taken respiratory gated proton therapy or not, were (A) 7.226, 7.230, (B) 12.216, 12.220 and (C) 19.918, 19.920 $g/cm^2$ and average SOBP were (A) 4.950, 4.940, (B) 6.496, 6.512 and (C) 8.486, 8.490 $g/cm^2$. And average output factor were (A) 0.985, 0.984 (B) 1.026, 1.027 and (C) 1.138, 1.136 cGy/MU. The differences of average range were -0.004, -0.004, -0.002 $g/cm^2$, that of SOBP were 0.010, -0.016, -0.004 $g/cm^2$ and that of output factor were 0.001, -0.001, 0.002 cGy/MU. Conclusion: It is observed that the range, SOBP and output factor of proton beam delivered when respiratory gated proton therapy is being performed have the same beam quality with no significant difference compared to the proton beam which was continuously irradiated. Therefore, this study verified the quality of proton beam delivered when respiratory gated proton therapy and confirmed the accuracy of proton therapy using this.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.149-160
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• 2004

The primary purpose of this study was to describe psychological aspects of menopausal women who have experiences on alternative therapies, such as pomegranate tree fluid, life pack, evening primerose, zacro syrup, zacro pill, multi-vitamin, oriental medicine instead of estrogen. In order to have insights on the participants behaviors, this qualitative research was conducted. The participants in this study were six women who have been taking at least one of the alternative therapies to relieve the menopausal symptom. Data had been collected from November 2002 to May 2003. The interview questions were about motivations to seek the alternative therapy, menopausal symptoms, feelings or positive effects after the treatment. The interviews were recorded and transcribed into written documents. The method described by Giorgi was utilized for data analysis. The study results were as follows : 1. The participants sought the alternative therapy based on their own information or by friends' recommendations. The motivations of taking the therapy were to live younger and healthier by reliving menopausal symptoms including somatic symptoms, such as irregular menstruation, flushing sense, cold sweating, insomnia, dull headache, vagina dryness, cystitis after sexual intercourse, joint pain, nervousness, depression, skin dryness, and suppression of activity. 2. The participants expressed that they became more active and felt better with disappearing menopausal symptoms after about 2 to 3 weeks treatment. 3. The participants did not want to accept the fact that they had menopause, which caused avoidance of having medical diagnosis and medical treatment. They also did not want to let their spouses know about their symptoms. 4. The major reason of taking the alternative therapy was to avoid the side effects of estrogen therapy in spite of high costs of the alternative way. 5. The participants suggested that menopausal women needed to be educated about physical and psychological symptoms of menopause. They also needed to be informed about how to manage it. In conclusion, accurate information about foods and drugs utilized for the alternative therapy was needed. Medically proved methods to recognize positive effects and side effects were also necessary. These goals could be achieved by continuous medical observations and further research.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.3844-3853
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• 2023

Although radiation and chemotherapy methods for cancer therapy have advanced significantly, surgical resection is still recommended for most cancers. Therefore, intraoperative imaging studies have emerged as a surgical tool for identifying tumor margins. Intraoperative imaging has been examined using conventional imaging devices, such as optical near-infrared probes, gamma probes, and ultrasound devices. However, each modality has its limitations, such as depth penetration and spatial resolution. To overcome these limitations, hybrid imaging modalities and tracer studies are being developed. In a previous study, a multi-modal laparoscope with silicon photo-multiplier (SiPM)-based gamma detection acquired a 1 s interval gamma image. However, improvements in the near-infrared fluorophore (NIRF) signal intensity and gamma image central defects are needed to further evaluate the usefulness of multi-modal systems. In this study, an attempt was made to change the NIRF image acquisition method and the SiPM-based gamma detector to improve the source detection ability and reduce the image acquisition time. The performance of the multi-modal system using a complementary metal oxide semiconductor and modified SiPM gamma detector was evaluated in a phantom test. In future studies, a multi-modal system will be further optimized for pilot preclinical studies.

• Advances in robotics research
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.155-169
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• 2014

Study results in the last decades show that amount and quality of physical exercises, then the active participation, and now the cognitive involvement of patient in rehabilitation training are known of crux to enhance recovery outcome of motor dysfunction patients after stroke. Rehabilitation robots mainly have been developing along this direction to satisfy requirements of recovery therapy, or focusing on one or more of the above three points. Therefore, neuro-machine interaction based active rehabilitation robot has been proposed for assisting paralyzed limb performing designed tasks, which utilizes motor related EEG, UCSDI (Ultrasound Current Source Density Imaging), EMG for rehabilitation robot control and feeds back the multi-sensory interaction information such as visual, auditory, force, haptic sensation to the patient simultaneously. This neuro-controlled and perceptual rehabilitation robot will bring great benefits to post-stroke patients. In order to develop such kind of robot, some key technologies such as noninvasive precise detection of neural signal and realistic sensation feedback need to be solved. There are still some grand challenges in solving the fundamental questions to develop and optimize such kind of neuro-machine interaction based active rehabilitation robot.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.49-57
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• 2005

There have been many trials of clinical efficacy of multi component and single component treatments for irritable bowel syndrome(IBS). We reviewed effects of non phamacological treatments in the IBS. Though the efficacy of multi-component approaches was unclear, several results suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy was effective in improving gastrointestinal symptoms of IBS. As a single component, cognitive therapy and relaxation with or without biofeedback could improve the symptoms and psychological health of IBS patients. Yoga, meditation, self-help information and hypnotherapy could be applicable to IBS.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Reports
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 2020

Although being one of the major causes of malignancy related death globally, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not received much attention in respect of novel drug development. Fortunately, several new drugs were found to be effective and tolerable in patients with advanced HCC from a number of phase 3 studies during the recent several years. Novel multi-targeted kinase inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors were approved for clinical use, and combination strategies to maximize the potent of drugs demonstrated promising antitumor activity and safety with high response rate and improved safety profile. The increased number of available agents for HCC will contribute to change of treatment strategies and prognosis of patients with advanced HCC. Still, there is a many critical questions remain unanswered. Currently ongoing trials and future studies will provide better understanding of tumor biology and optimized criteria for patient selection and combination therapies.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.31-43
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• 2015

Purpose : Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has proved its efficacy in several patient populations with primary and metastatic limited tumors. Because SBRT prescription is high dose level than Conventional radiation therapy. SBRT plan is necessary for effective Organ at risk (OAR) protection and sufficient Planning target volume (PTV) dose coverage. In particular, multi-target cases may result excessive doses to OAR and hot spot due to dose overlap. This study evaluate usefulness of Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) in dosimetric and technical considerations using Flattening filter free (FFF) beam. Materials and Methods : The treatment plans for five patients, being treated on TrueBeam STx(Varian$^{TM}$, USA) with VMAT using 10MV FFF beam and Standard conformal radiotherapy (CRT) using 15MV Flattening filter (FF) beam. PTV, liver, duodenum, bowel, spinal cord, esophagus, stomach dose were evaluated using the dose volume histogram(DVH). Conformity index(CI), homogeneity index(HI), Paddick's index(PCI) for the PTV was assessed. Total Monitor unit (MU) and beam on time was assessed. Results : Average value of CI, HI and PCI for PTV was $1.381{\pm}0.028$, $1.096{\pm}0.016$, $0.944{\pm}0.473$ in VMAT and $1.381{\pm}0.042$, $1.136{\pm}0.042$, $1.534{\pm}0.465$ in CRT respectively. OAR dose in CRT plans evaluated 1.8 times higher than VMAT. Total MU in VMAT evaluated 1.3 times increase than CRT. Average beam on time was 6.8 minute in VMAT and 21.3 minute in CRT. Conclusion : VMAT for SBRT in multi-target liver cancer using FFF beam is effective treatment techniqe in dosimetric and technical considerations. VMAT decrease intra-fraction error due to treatment time shortening using high dose rate of FFF beam.