• Medical Lasers
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.37-44
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• 2021

Background and Objectives Hypothyroidism is the most common endocrine disease. On the other hand, there is no treatment that can improve the thyroid function. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) can improve the cellular activity. The effect of hypothyroidism is not obvious. This study examined the effects of LLLT on the thyroid gland function of a propylthiouracil (PTU)-induced hypothyroidism mouse model. Materials and Methods Twenty-five male ICR mice were distributed into five groups of five animals each: Negative control (none PTU animal) and positive control (PTU animal) of unirradiated animals, and three experimental groups with LLLT (3J, 6J, and 12J). Each mouse was exposed to a distinct dose of a 632-nm laser once a week for three rounds. The positive control group and three LLLT groups were induced into a hypothyroidism state by PTU administration. The animals' thyroid-stimulating hormone and thyroxine levels were measured using an ELISA kit, and their thyroid tissue was harvested and analyzed after sacrifice at the end of the experiment. The hormone level and morphological changes in the tissue of the five groups were compared. Results The thyroid hormone levels in the control group and LLLT groups were similar. On the other hand, the thyroid tissue of the LLLT groups showed some morphological changes that were similar to those of iodine deficiency thyroid. Conclusion LLLT did not affect the thyroid gland function in PTU-induced hypothyroidism mice.

• 여성건강간호학회지
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.275-285
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• 2022

Purpose: This study explored the experiences of pregnant women with depressed mood participating in a group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program using video communication, based on Beck's cognitive theory. Methods: The participants were six pregnant women out of 13 women who had participated in an 8-session group CBT program using video communication for women with depressed mood (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression score of ≥9). Data were collected from February 20 through March 25, 2021. In-depth individual interviews were conducted through a video conferencing platform at 1 month post-baseline. Thematic analysis was done. Results: Three themes, 10 subthemes, and 38 concepts were derived from experiences of participating in the 4-week group CBT program (twice a week). The first theme, entitled "continuing realization" had subthemes of "a negative and instable self," "a selfish judgment that excludes others," and "a strong belief in self-control." The second theme, entitled "attempt to change for restoration" had subthemes of "shift to rational thinking," "freedom from suppressed beliefs," "tolerance of other people," and "courage for self-expression." The third theme, entitled "departure for a positive life," had subthemes of "emotional healing," "faith in oneself," and "reestablishing the criteria for happiness." Conclusion: Pregnant women with depressed mood expressed that continuing realizations and attempts to change supported their transition toward a positive direction of healing. Thus, they were able to change their distorted thinking into rational thinking through CBT using video communication. These findings support the use of group CBT using video communication with pregnant women who have depressed mood.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.11-50
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• 2023

As the field of interventional pain management (IPM) grows, the risk of surgical site infections (SSIs) is increasing. SSI is defined as an infection of the incision or organ/space that occurs within one month after operation or three months after implantation. It is also common to find patients with suspected infection in an outpatient clinic. The most frequent IPM procedures are performed in the spine. Even though primary pyogenic spondylodiscitis via hematogenous spread is the most common type among spinal infections, secondary spinal infections from direct inoculation should be monitored after IPM procedures. Various preventive guidelines for SSI have been published. Cefazolin, followed by vancomycin, is the most commonly used surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in IPM. Diagnosis of SSI is confirmed by purulent discharge, isolation of causative organisms, pain/tenderness, swelling, redness, or heat, or diagnosis by a surgeon or attending physician. Inflammatory markers include traditional (C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and white blood cell count) and novel (procalcitonin, serum amyloid A, and presepsin) markers. Empirical antibiotic therapy is defined as the initial administration of antibiotics within at least 24 hours prior to the results of blood culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Definitive antibiotic therapy is initiated based on the above culture and testing. Combination antibiotic therapy for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria infections appears to be superior to monotherapy in mortality with the risk of increasing antibiotic resistance rates. The never-ending war between bacterial resistance and new antibiotics is continuing. This article reviews prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infection in pain medicine.

• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.32-40
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• 2023

Background: Equating is a statistical procedure used to create a common measurement scale across two instruments. Item-level information should be taken into consideration so that scores can communicate interchangeably across the instruments. Objects: To investigate a common measurement scale across two health-related quality of life questionnaires (HRQOL) applied to various cancer survivors who underwent palliative care in healthcare institutions. Methods: A total of 139 cancer survivors who underwent palliative care were recruited from two rehabilitation hospitals and an oriental medicine hospital. Participants consisted of various cancer survivors who presented to the sites for palliative care. They were asked to fill out Korean versions of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) and EuroQOL-5 dimension (EQ-5D) questionnaires following the palliative care. For the item level comparison, the Rasch rating scale model was used to investigate how participants regarded individual test items of two instruments in relation to item difficulty calibrations. Results: All items except the three items fit the Rasch model. One item (anxiety/depression) of the EQ-5D and two items (dependence on medical aids and negative feelings) of the WHOQOL-BREF are misfit. The WHOQOL-BREF targets the survivors well, while the EQ-5D is able to target the survivors with lower HRQOL levels with some ceiling effects. By inspecting the item difficulty calibrations of the two instruments, five items of the WHOQOL-BREF are selected as common items in relation to the EQ-5D. These five items are considered compatible with each other. Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis reveals that the healthcare item of the WHOQOL-BREF vs the self-care item of the EQ-5D exhibits significant DIF. Conclusion: Findings suggest that one paired item should be taken into consideration when equating the WHOQOL-BREF and the EQ-5D applied to cancer survivors who underwent palliative care.

• 한국의류학회지
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• 제37권7호
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• pp.984-999
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• 2013

This research examines the interrelation of clothes, colors and sentiments based on clothes and colors that stimulate sentiment. This study provides data that is useful to color therapy by means of clothes as medium. The survey for this study targeted 200 Pusan National University students who analyzed the colors of association and clothes colors for nine positive vocabularies (passion, love, warmth, happiness, interest, softness, comfortable, freshness, and coolness) and six negative vocabularies (anger, fear, despair, nervous, gloomy, and loneliness). The data collection process used 120 standard colors as represented by Munsell's basic 10 colors (R, YR, Y, GY, G, BG, B, PB, P, RP) as chromatic colors classified into eleven tones of colors (V, S, B, P, VP, LGR, GR, L, DL, DP, DK) and achromatic colors divided into ten steps of brightness N1-N10. The results of the research are as follows. First, the warm class of colors were significant in the colors of association with positive sentiment and the cold class of colors were significant in the sentiment of refreshment and coolness. In addition, bright and clear colors (like V, S, VP, P) were associated with color tones. Second, the low bright achromatic colors were generally high for the colors of association with negative sentiment; in addition, the color of R, PB, P (as achromatic colors) were also significant. In addition, sober and dark tones (like GR, DL, DK, DP) were significant in color tones. Third, the interrelation between positive sentiment and clothes colors shows that colors of association were mainly used for upper garment colors. Similar colors against upper garments were used together for bottom garment achromatic colors and complementary colors; therefore, bottom garments play a subsidiary role in the concept of coordination with upper garments.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권21호
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• pp.9199-9202
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• 2014

Background: Kurdish women with breast cancer have more unfavorable prognostic factors than their Turkish and Arab counterparts. However, the effects of these factors on breast cancer survival among these ethnic groups remain unclear. We therefore investigated the impact of ethnicity on survival in breast cancer patients in Turkey. Materials and Methods: Ethnicity, age, stage at diagnosis, tumor characteristics, treatments given (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy), and survival times were recorded. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate the overall survival times and survival plots. Log-rank test was used to compare the survival curves.Results: Of the 723 breast cancer patients included in the study, 496 (68.7%) were Turkish, 189 (26.2%) were Kurdish, 37 (5.1%) were Arabic and 1 was Armenian. Kurdish women with breast cancer had larger tumor sizes and higher rates of hormone receptor negative tumors than Turkish and Arab patients. Mean follow-up time was 118.4 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 95.4-141.3] months, and it was 129.9 (95% CI: 93.7-166.2), 124.2 (95% CI: 108.4-140.1) and 103.1 (95% CI: 85.9-120.4) months for Turkish, Arabic and Kurdish patients, respectively. Conclusions: Kurdish ethnicity is associated with higher rates of hormone receptor negative and triple-negative tumors and with worse survival. Clinical and epidemiological research is warranted to elucidate reasons underlying overall survival, variations in tumor biology, differences in treatment responsiveness, and effects of social factors among ethnic groups in Turkey.

• 생물정신의학
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.170-180
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• 2009

Objectives : To assess clinical improvement and change in plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) level after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS) in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Methods : Seven patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia, who were proven to be treatment-resistant, were treated with 15 sessions of rTMS for three weeks as an adjuvant therapy to antipsychotic treatment. Clinical improvement and change in plasma BDNF level were measured after the treatment period. The symptom severity was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS) and the Korean Version of Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia(K-CDSS) at baseline and 7 days after the treatment. Plasma BDNF level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) at baseline and 7 days after the treatment. Results : After the rTMS treatment, there was no significant improvement in PANSS total score(Z=-1.693, p=0.090) and no significant change in plasma BDNF was found(Z=-1.183, p=0.237). Negative correlations were found between percentage change in PANSS positive subscale score and duration of illness(rho=-0.991, N=7, p<0.0005, two-tailed), and PANSS negative subscale score at baseline and percentage change in plasma BDNF level(rho=-0.821, N=7, p=0.023, two-tailed). Conclusion : This preliminary study suggests that rTMS didn't make a significant change in clinical symptoms nor in plasma BDNF level in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Percentage change in plasma BDNF, however, might be correlated with treatment resistance in schizophrenic patients. This is a pilot study with a small sample size, therefore, a further study with a larger sample size is needed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.1675-1679
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• 2014

Objectives: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of many physiological and pathological processes, including tumorigenesis and metastasis. In this study, we sought to determine the underlying molecular mechanisms of metastatic cervical carcinoma by performing miRNA profiling. Methods: Tissue samples were collected from ten cervical squamous cancer patients who underwent hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node (PLN) dissection in our hospital, including four PLN-positive (metastatic) cases and six PLN-negative (non-metastatic) cases. A miRNA microarray platform with 1223 probes was used to determine the miRNA expression profiles of these two tissue types and case groups. MiRNAs having at least 4-fold differential expression between PLN-positive and PLN-negative cervical cancer tissues were bioinformatically analyzed for target gene prediction. MiRNAs with tumor-associated target genes were validated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: Thirty-nine miRNAs were differentially expressed (>4-fold) between the PLN-positive and PLN-negative groups, of which, 22 were up-regulated and 17 were down-regulated. Sixty-nine percent of the miRNAs (27/39) had tumor-associated target genes, and the expression levels of six of those (miR-126, miR-96, miR-144, miR-657, miR-490-5p, and miR-323-3p) were confirmed by quantitative (q)RT-PCR. Conclusions: Six MiRNAs with predicted tumor-associated target genes encoding proteins that are known to be involved in cell adhesion, cytoskeletal remodeling, cell proliferation, cell migration, and apoptosis were identified. These findings suggest that a panel of miRNAs may regulate multiple and various steps of the metastasis cascade by targeting metastasis-associated genes. Since these six miRNAs are predicted to target tumor-associated genes, it is likely that they contribute to the metastatic potential of cervical cancer and may aid in prognosis or molecular therapy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.36-42
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• 2012

Purpose: To evaluate the radial displacement of clinical target volume in the patients with node negative head and neck (H&N) cancer and to quantify the relative positional changes compared to that of normal healthy volunteers. Materials and Methods: Three node-negative H&N cancer patients and five healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. For setup accuracy, neck thermoplastic masks and laser alignment were used in each of the acquired computed tomography (CT) images. Both groups had total three sequential CT images in every two weeks. The lymph node (LN) level of the neck was delineated based on the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) consensus guideline by one physician. We use the second cervical vertebra body as a reference point to match each CT image set. Each of the sequential CT images and delineated neck LN levels were fused with the primary image, then maximal radial displacement was measured at 1.5 cm intervals from skull base (SB) to caudal margin of LN level V, and the volume differences at each node level were quantified. Results: The mean radial displacements were 2.26 (${\pm}1.03$) mm in the control group and 3.05 (${\pm}1.97$) in the H&N cancer patients. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the mean radial displacement (p = 0.03). In addition, the mean radial displacement increased with the distance from SB. As for the mean volume differences, there was no statistical significance between the two groups. Conclusion: This study suggests that a more generous radial margin should be applied to the lower part of the neck LN for better clinical target coverage and dose delivery.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.311-318
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• 1996

Mycoplasmas have long been suspected of contributing to involuntary infertility in couples. However considerable disagreement exits concerning the role of genital mycoplasma infection in human infertility. Several investigators have noted abnormalities in the semen analysis of men with positive mycoplasma cultures, and early epidemiologic studies indicated that Ureaplasma urealyticum was linked to human reproductive failure on the basis of higher frequencies of isolation from infertile versus fertile couples and successful pregnancies in infertile couples after doxycycline therapy. However, subsequent investigators have questioned these findings because there are many studies in which treatment for mycoplasma in the male or female did not demonstrate an improved pregnancy rate, and semen samples from unexplained infertile men containing ureaplasmas have not revealed poorer motility, fewer spermatozoa and more aberrant forms. The objective of this study were to investigate the incidence rate of mycoplasma in semen and to investigate whether the presence of mycoplasma in semen makes significant difference to the semen volume, sperm motility and sperm counts. The results were that the rate of isolation of mycoplasma species was 70.3%. Semen volume is $2.84{\pm}1.01ml$ for culture negative and $3.15{\pm}1.42ml$ for culture positive group. Sperm motility is $46.23{\pm}15.80%$ for culture negative and $50.09{\pm}15.69%$ for culture positive group, and sperm count is $95.47{\pm}47.14({\times}(P)10^6/ml)$ for culture negative and $86.73{\pm}47.59({\times}10^6/ml)$ for culture positive group. In conclusion, we suggest that the presence of mycoplasma in semen makes no significant differences to the sperm parameters.