• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.803-813
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• 2023

Objective: This case report outlines an investigation into the efficacy of Korean medicine treatment in a patient who presented with acute cholangitis accompanying common bile duct stones. The patient underwent percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage and subsequently experienced resolution of the common bile duct stones. Methods: The patient was treated with Shihosogan-tang, general acupuncture, ear acupuncture, moxibustion, and cupping therapy. Changes in symptoms were evaluated using a self-reported numerical rating scale (NRS) score and a visual analog scale (VAS) score each morning. Laboratory tests were conducted to examine serum amylase, serum lipase, and liver function. Results: After 29 days, the NRS scores for indigestion and fatigue and the VAS score for abdominal pain all decreased. Additionally, the laboratory test results showed improvement. Discussion: The results suggest that Korean medicine could be effective in treating symptoms of acute cholangitis. However, further research is necessary.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.39-59
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• 2022

How in the Antarctic icefish, generally, and Pseudochaenichthys georgianus, in particular, otoliths increase in size and build new material as the fish ages and passes through different life phases is largely unexplored. Morphometric details of 3418 otoliths of Ps. georgianus from S. Georgia and 318 from S. Shetland, were processed and proportions of the amounts of collagen and aragonite removed by EDTA were determined for different age groups. Microstructural investigations showed that characteristics of the 3-dimensinal collagen net are the reason for the radial direction and orientation of the aragonite needles of approximately 1.0 ㎛ in length in larval and 2.3 ㎛ in length in adult specimens. Earlier generated increment layers from the primordial centre (PC) in the dorsal direction restrict those of the secondary centre (SC), causing new growth layer accretion in different directions. In the otoliths of larval Ps. georgianus, aragonite layers are 0.89 ㎛ wide while in juveniles and adults they measure 1.45-2.86 ㎛. Otoliths change from a sphere shape in the larvae to a longish object of irregular outline in the older stages. It is tentaively suggested that the observed otolith shape differences at distinct growth stages are due to physical effects related to swimming speeds at particular water depths and locations. To confirm that otoliths, apart from being useful for age analyses, could also serve to establish correlations between developmental stage and the oceanic environment the fish spend time in, further analyses using additional species and state-of-the-art methods like µCT imaging to evaluate otolith volumes and shapes are required.