• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.97-106
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• 2018

Objectives : Recently, Thread Embedding Acupucnture (TEA) targeting under dermis became known to be effective for facial wrinkles and folds; its practice has begun in clinics. The introduction of a new form of TEA is continuing, and 'Volume TEA' is introduced recently. Therefore, we would like to report on the improvement of facial wrinkles by using the recently introduced 'volume TEA'. Methods : We reviewed the medical records of three patients who received 'Volume TEA' treatment at a Korean medical clinic, the photographs taken before and after the procedure were corrected using a Photoshop program and the length of the each wrinkles and folds were measured. Results : The length of wrinkles measured in all three cases decreased. Especially, the decrease of the length of the nasolabial folds was obvious. In case 1, the length of the nasolabial folds of 177mm and 97mm were reduced to 94mm and 63mm, respectively. In the case 2, the length of the nasolabial folds of 155mm and 155mm were reduced to 0mm and 70mm, respectively, after the procedure. In case 3, the length of the nasolabial folds of 170mm and 50mm decreased to 38mm and 37mm after the procedure, respectively. Conclusions : At present, it seems that the ongoing accumulation of relevant studies on the efficacy and safety of wrinkle and folds of TEA seems necessary. This study also has some significance in the level of case report.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.105-119
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• 2005

Purposes： This study was to examine the effects of empowerment education programs on empowerment and mental health in high school students. Methods： This study involved a nonequivalent control group pre-test and post-test design. The subjects for this study consisted of 421 high school students who attended two general high schools in Busan. The 211 students in the experimental group received empowerment education training, while the 210 students in the control group did not. The data were collected from March 2, 2004 to July 20, 2004. The empowerment education program consisted of 17 separate 50-minute sessions. The questionnire was developedby authors and revised it based on experts' advice. SPSS 11.0 program was used to analyze the data. Chi-square test and t-test were used to test the homogeneity of general characteristics and dependent variables. Student's t-test was used to evaluate the differences between the experimental group and control group after the treatment. Results： Just as we hypothesized, the experimental group exhibited higher empowerment scores than the control group. For subcategory, Score of self-efficacy and self-esteem increased significantly in the experimental group compared to the control group. However, the score of decision-making ability did not increase significantly. The data failed to support our second hypothesis that the experimental group would have higher mental health scores than the control group. Although the score of self-scale increased significantly in the experimental group compared to the control group, the score of social-support and psychopathology did not. Conclusions： Empowerment education programs are effective for empowerment of high school students. However, such training is effective only for promoting the self scale but not overall mental health. Thus, we suggest the application of the empowerment education program to make high school students aware of their abilities. Furthermore, we suggest the implementation of mental health programs to supplement such empowerment education programs.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.185-190
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• 2011

Objective : To investigate the efficacy of extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass surgery using a radial artery interposition graft (RAIG) for surgical management of cerebrovascular diseases. Methods : The study involved a retrospective analysis of 13 patients who underwent EC-IC bypass surgery using RAIG at a single neurosurgical institute between 2003 and 2009. The diseases comprised intracranial aneurysm (n=10), carotid artery occlusive disease (n=2), and delayed stenosis in the donor superficial temporal artery (STA) following previous STA-middle cerebral artery bypass surgery (n=1). Patients were followed clinically and radiographically. Results : Bypass surgery was successful in all patients. At a mean follow-up of 53.4 months, the short-term patency rate was 100%, and the long-term rate was 92.3%. Twelve patients had an excellent clinical outcome of Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) 5, and one case had GOS 3. Procedure-related complications were a temporary dysthesia on the graft harvest hand (n=1) and a hematoma at the graft harvest site (n=1), and these were treated successfully with no permanent sequelae. In one case, spasm occurred which was relieved with the introduction of mechanical dilators. Conclusion : EC-IC bypass using a RAIG appears to be an effective treatment for a variety of cerebrovascular diseases requiring proximal occlusion or trapping of the parent artery.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.341-347
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• 2011

Objective : The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of atlantoaxial stabilization using a new entry point for C2 pedicle screw fixation. Methods : Data were collected from 44 patients undergoing posterior C1 lateral mass screw and C2 screw fixation. The 20 cases were approached by the Harms entry point, 21 by the inferolateral point, and three by pars screw. The new inferolateral entry point of the C2 pedicle was located about 3-5 mm medial to the lateral border of the C2 lateral mass and 5-7 mm superior to the inferior border of the C2-3 facet joint. The screw was inserted at an angle $30^{\circ}$ to $45^{\circ}$ toward the midline in the transverse plane and $40^{\circ}$ to $50^{\circ}$ cephalad in the sagittal plane. Patients received followed-up with clinical examinations, radiographs and/or CT scans. Results : There were 28 males and 16 females. No neurological deterioration or vertebral artery injuries were observed. Five cases showed malpositioned screws (2.84%), with four of the screws showing cortical breaches of the transverse foramen. There were no clinical consequences for these five patients. One screw in the C1 lateral mass had a medial cortical breach. None of the screws were malpositioned in patients treated using the new entry point. There was a significant relationship between two group (p=0.036). Conclusion : Posterior C1-2 screw fixation can be performed safely using the new inferolateral entry point for C2 pedicle screw fixation for the treatment of high cervical lesions.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2017

Background: To date, the anti-wrinkle efficacy of phellodendri cortex has not been defined. In this study, we investigated the nitric oxide (NO) production and elastase inhibitory activities of 80% methanol extract of Phellodendri cortex and its ethyl acetate fraction. Methods and Results: We prepared 80% methanol extract, and its fractions from phellodendri cortex. The treatment of RAW 264.7 cell with $25{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ 80% methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction resulted in no toxicity. We conducted assays of nitric oxide (NO) production and elastase inhibition. In the NO production assay, the ethyl acetate fraction showed an inhibitory effect approximately 17 times stronger than the 80% methanol extract. In elastase inhibitory assay, the ethyl acetate fraction also showed a stronger effect than the 80% methanol extract. In order to standardize the extract and fraction, we used TLC to separate the extract and observed the plate under UV light. We confirmed that the known pharmacological ingredients berberine, and palmatine in the 80% methanol extract and the ethyl acetate fraction. Conclusions: These results indicated that phellodendri cortex extract and its ethyl acetate fraction produced strong inhibitory effect on elastase and NO production.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 2016

Objectives : This study examined the effects of Bee venom on apoptosis in NCI-H157 human lung cancer cells and for promoting the apoptosis effects of Natural killer cell. Methods : Bee venom and Natural killer-92 cells were cultured either separately from or together with NCI-H157 cells for 24 hours. To figure out whether Bee venom enhances the cytotoxic effect of Natural Killer-92 cells, a cell viability assay was conducted. To observe the changes in Death receptors, apoptotic regulatory proteins and Nuclear $Factor-{\kappa}B$, western blot analysis was conducted. To observe the effect of Bee venom through an extrinsic mechanism, a transfection assay was conducted. Results : 1. Natural killer-92 cells and Bee venom significantly inhibited the growth of NCI-H157 cells and co-culture had more inhibitory effect than the separate culture. 2. Expressions of Fas, DR3, DR6, Bax, caspase-3, caspase-8, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-8 were increased, and expressions of Bcl-2 and cIAP were decreased. More efficacy was observed in co-culture than in separate culture. 3. Nuclear $Factor-{\kappa}B$ activation was clearly decreased. And co-culture showed much less activation than separate culture. 4. As a result of treatment for DR-siRNA, the reduced cell viability of NCI-H157 cells and the activity of Nuclear $Factor-{\kappa}B$ were increased. With this, it can be seen that Bee venom and Natural killer-92 cells have an effect on the cancer cells through the extrinsic mechanism. Conclusion : Bee venom is effective in inhibiting the growth of human lung cancer cells. Furthermore Bee venom effectively enhances the functions of Natural killer cells.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.544-549
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• 2000

The treatment of TMJ ankylosis poses a significant challenge because of technical difficulties and high incidence of recurrence. TMJ ankylosis has been treated by excision and total joint reconstruction with alloplastic, allogeneic, autogenous materials as interpositional materials. The temporalis myofascial flap had been considered to be a successful interpositional material, due to its anatomical, topographical, and functional properties. This study evaluated the efficacy of the temporalis myofascial flap for nine TMJs (five patients) through the preauricular approach and coronoidectomy. Radiographic and physiologic long term result was investigated in this study. The result reveals that the temporalis myofascial flap is a good autogenous tissue satisfying the criteria of an ideal interpositional material, which offers a material that fulfills the physiological function of the disc. In spite of favorable functional outcome, mild postoperative openbite tendency remains another challenge.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.2939-2946
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• 2015

Many of the anti-cancer agents currently used have an origin in natural sources including plants. Aloe vera is one such plant being studied extensively for its diverse health benefits, including cancer prevention. In this study, the cytotoxic potential of Aloe vera crude extract (ACE) alone or in combination with cisplatin in human breast (MCF-7) and cervical (HeLa) cancer cells was studied by cell viability assay, nuclear morphological examination and cell cycle analysis. Effects were correlated with modulation of expression of genes involved in cell cycle regulation, apoptosis and drug metabolism by RT-PCR. Exposure of cells to ACE resulted in considerable loss of cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent fashion, which was found to be mediated by through the apoptotic pathway as evidenced by changes in the nuclear morphology and the distribution of cells in the different phases of the cell cycle. Interestingly, ACE did not have any significant cytotoxicity towards normal cells, thus placing it in the category of safe chemopreventive agent. Further, the effects were correlated with the downregulation of cyclin D1, CYP 1A1, CYP 1A2 and increased expression of bax and p21 in MCF-7 and HeLa cells. In addition, low dose combination of ACE and cisplatin showed a combination index less than 1, indicating synergistic growth inhibition compared to the agents applied individually. In conclusion, these results signify that Aloe vera may be an effective anti-neoplastic agent to inhibit cancer cell growth and increase the therapeutic efficacy of conventional drugs like cispolatin. Thus promoting the development of plant-derived therapeutic agents appears warranted for novel cancer treatment strategies.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.2005-2008
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• 2013

Background: Pemetrexed (PEM) is effective in first-line treatment for patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However there are currently no definitive determinants to certify which patients could benefit from PEM. To improve the efficacy of PEM combined with platinum as first-line therapy for advanced non-squamous NSCLC, we conducted this retrospective study to detect potential determinants of this regimen. Methods: We recruited 109 patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC who received PEM with a platinum as first-line therapy from June 2006 to February 2013 in Jiangsu Cancer Hospital. Multiple variables (age, sex, smoking, degree of cell differentiation, hemoglobin, platinum drugs combined, positions of metastasis) were selected. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyse relationships between these variables and tumor response. Result: In univariate analysis, we found that age and platinum significantly influenced the results of PEM therapy (P<0.05). In multivariable analysis, no factors were independently significant. Conclusion: Our analysis did not suggest that the age, sex, metastasis of liver or other organs, hemoglobin, smoking history and pathological differentiation are associated with the response of PEM. We should conduct further analyses with larger sample size to reconfirm this issue.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.248-254
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• 2003

Oral administration of antigen has long been used in the induction of immune tolerance in various animal models of autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Alleveation of arthritogenic symptoms has been reported from RA patients who received oral administration of type II collagen (CII) without side effects, however its rather inconsistent therapeutic efficacy and variation among patients calls for more detailed investigation on the mechanism of oral tolerance to be settled as regular treatment for RA. In an attempt to understand the immunogenic processes underpinning tolerance induction by orally administered CII, we analyzed changes in the expression of costimulatory molecules and STAT/SOCS signaling messengers in the mouse model of collagen induced arthritis (CIA). We found thatin the spleen of CIA mice, that has been undergone repeated oral feeding of CII prior to the induction of arthritis, showed increased promortion of CTLA4 expressing lymphocytes than in the spleen of PBS fed control. On the other hand, cells expressing CD28 or ICOS were decreased in the spleen of tolerized mice. Tolerance induction by oral CII administration also enhanced the expression of STAT6 in both RNA and protein level, while not affecting the expression of STAT3. The expression of SOCS3, which hasbeen known to transmit STAT-mediated signals from Th2 type cytokines, remained unchanged in the spleen of tolerized mice. Interestingly transcript of SOCS1, which has been associated with Th1 related pathways, was only visible in the spleen of tolerized but not of control mice, suggesting that as in the case of IL-6 signaling, it may exert a feed back inhibition toward the Th1 type stimulation.