• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.218-229
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• 2021

Recently, as consumers' interest and importance in health care have significantly increased, they prefer natural and organic foods that do not use chemical pesticides. Since sprout vegetables effectively promote health and prevent diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, the consumption of sprout vegetables, a highly functional and safe food, has been increased significantly. This study aimed to investigate the effect of light on the growth and bioactive compounds of seven different sprout vegetables. After sowing the seeds of various sprout vegetables (kale, Chinese kale, broccoli, red cabbage, alfalfa, red radish, and radish), the sprouts were cultivated under light conditions (20℃, RGB 6:1:3, 130 μmol·m^-2·s^-1, 12 hours photoperiod) and dark condition for 7 days. Sprouts samples were taken at 1-day intervals from 4 to 7 days after treatment. The fresh weight, dry weight, plant height, total phenol content, and antioxidant capacity were measured. Brassica species (kale, Chinese kale, broccoli, red cabbage) and Medicago species (alfalfa) had significantly higher fresh weight values under dark conditions, while the content of bioactive compounds was increased considerably under light conditions. In contrast, the fresh weight of Raphanus genus (red radish, radish) significantly increased under the light condition, but the antioxidant phenolic compounds were significantly higher under the dark state. A negative correlation was observed between the growth and secondary metabolites in various sprout vegetables. This study confirmed the effect of light and dark conditions on different sprout vegetables' growth and nutritional value and emphasizes the importance of harvest time in producing high-quality sprout vegetables.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.81-93
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• 2022

Proprioception training has been considered a secondary method to facilitate postural control ability. This study investigated the effects of two different proprioception training methods - the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) and visual feedback-based joint position and force reproduction (VF) - on postural control advancements. Sixteen healthy people volunteered for this study, and they randomly grouped two. Each group participated in the PNF and VF training for three weeks. We evaluated each subject's proprioception levels and balance ability before and after the training. We used a clinometer and electromyogram (EMG) for VF training. The joint position reproduction test was also used to evaluate the position and force aspects of the proprioception level. We analyzed the trajectory of the center of pressure (COP) while subjects were standing on the firm floor and balance board with one leg using a pressure mat. The improvement of the position aspect of the proprioception level of the VF group (4.93±4.74°) was larger than that of the PNF group (-0.43±2.08°) significantly (p=0.012). The improvement of the anterior-posterior COP velocity of the PNF group (0.01±0.01 cm/s) was larger than that of VF group(0.002±0.01 cm/s) significantly (p=0.046). Changes of position error in the PNF group (rho=0.762, p=0.028) and tibialis anterior force reproduction error in the VF group showed a significantly strong relationship with balance ability variables. These results showed that different PNF and VF have different effects on improving two aspects of proprioception and their relationship with the balance ability. Therefore, these results might be useful for selecting proprioception or balance rehabilitation considering the clinical and patients' situation.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.233-241
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• 2022

Objectives: Asthma is a chronic disease, and the demand for herbal medicines in this field has increased in recent years. The new findings highlight the role of the gut-lung axis in the pathophysiology of asthma. Hence, this study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of Glasthma syrup, an herbal formula based on Persian medicine, in improving asthma and regulating intestinal permeability. The formula consists of five herbal ingredients that have anti-inflammatory effects on the respiratory tract, also known as gut tonics. Methods: The study will be conducted as a placebo-controlled, triple-blind, randomized trial. It will consist of a 4-week intervention followed by a 4-week follow-up period. The target sample size is 20 patients with moderate asthma aged 18 to 60 years. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group in equal numbers. Patients in the experimental group will take Glasthma syrup (7.5 mL, twice a day), while patients in the control group will take a matching placebo. Both groups will receive a 4-week combination of a long-acting beta2 agonist and a leukotriene modulator as standard of care. Inhaled corticosteroids can be used as rescue medication as needed. Results: The primary outcomes are asthma symptom scale, lung function, and intestinal permeability. Secondary outcomes include quality of life, symptom recurrence rates, and blood tests. A safety assessment will also be conducted during the trial. Conclusion: In this trial, the effects of Glasthma syrup in patients with moderate asthma will be examined. The study will also assess the effects of the formulation on the gut-lung axis by simultaneously monitoring the gut permeability index, asthma symptoms, and lung function.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.387-401
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the preventive effect of herbal medicines on restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by reviewing randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: RCTs were searched for herbal medicine treatment after PCI using eight online databases (PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang, J-STAGE, OASIS, ScienceON, KTKP, and KISS). Studies that confirmed restenosis through coronary angiography at follow-up were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The primary outcome was the restenosis rate, and the secondary outcome was the angina recurrence rate. Data were extracted from the final selected studies according to the research methodology and then analyzed with Review Manager 5.4.1. Study quality was assessed using Cochrane's risk-of-bias (RoB) tool. Results: Of the 252 papers obtained through the primary search, nine studies that met the selection criteria were finally selected. In these nine studies, herbal medicine combined with western medicine was used for the experimental group, and western medicine treatment was used alone for the control group. The meta-analysis result revealed that the restenosis rate and angina recurrence rate were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (RR=0.34, 95% CI: 0.22-0.53, p<0.00001, I²=0% and RR=0.47, 95% CI: 0.29-0.78, p=0.004, I²=0%, respectively). Furthermore, the quality of studies assessed by Cochrane's RoB was low. Conclusions: This study showed that the combined treatment of herbal medicine and western medicine was effective in preventing restenosis and angina after PCI. As the number of papers included in this study was small, a large number of high-quality clinical studies should be considered in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Burn Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.30-33
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• 2019

Purpose: Wound healing and scar management of donor site after skin graft should not be overlooked. Patients continue to complain of dryness, itching sensation. Such discomfort can cause irritation to the patients and lead to delayed healing or secondary infection. Thus, the author predicted Eucalyptus Oil, which acts on Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 8 would be effective in regulating scar by reducing itching sensation in donor site when combining conventional silicone materials. Methods: The study was performed on 30 patients who underwent split thickness skin graft with lateral thigh as donor site between January 2017 and August 2018. First, primary evaluation of fully epithelized donor site scar three weeks after surgery was conducted. Control group (n=15) applied silicone gel (Kelo-cote, USA) solely two times a day. study group (n=15) applied Eucalyptus oil, combined with silicone gel. After 3 months of follow up, donor scar was evaluated using Vancouver scar scale and VAS scores of subjective patient reports regarding pain and itching sensation. Results: It was confirmed that both groups showed stable scar improvement comparing scar quality for 3 months. After 3 months, scar quality in study group showed superiority in pigmentation, pliability and pruritus compared to control group. Conclusion: Application of Eucalyptus Oil combined with conventional silicone gel is favorable to scar management and may give additional benefit of alleviating pruritis symptoms.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.878-888
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• 2022

Objective: To investigate the clinical impact of a quality improvement program including dedicated emergency radiology personnel (QIP-DERP) on the management of emergency surgical patients in the emergency department (ED). Materials and Methods: This retrospective study identified all adult patients (n = 3667) who underwent preoperative body CT, for which written radiology reports were generated, and who subsequently underwent non-elective surgery between 2007 and 2018 in the ED of a single urban academic tertiary medical institution. The study cohort was divided into periods before and after the initiation of QIP-DERP. We matched the control group patients (i.e., before QIP-DERP) to the QIP-DERP group patients using propensity score (PS), with a 1:2 matching ratio for the main analysis and a 1:1 ratio for sub-analyses separately for daytime (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekdays) and after-hours. The primary outcome was timing of emergency surgery (TES), which was defined as the time from ED arrival to surgical intervention. The secondary outcomes included ED length of stay (LOS) and intensive care unit (ICU) admission rate. Results: According to the PS-matched analysis, compared with the control group, QIP-DERP significantly decreased the median TES from 16.7 hours (interquartile range, 9.4-27.5 hours) to 11.6 hours (6.6-21.9 hours) (p < 0.001) and the ICU admission rate from 33.3% (205/616) to 23.9% (295/1232) (p < 0.001). During after-hours, the QIP-DERP significantly reduced median TES from 19.9 hours (12.5-30.1 hours) to 9.6 hours (5.7-19.1 hours) (p < 0.001), median ED LOS from 9.1 hours (5.6-16.5 hours) to 6.7 hours (4.9-11.3 hours) (p < 0.001), and ICU admission rate from 35.5% (108/304) to 22.0% (67/304) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: QIP-DERP implementation improved the quality of emergency surgical management in the ED by reducing TES, ED LOS, and ICU admission rate, particularly during after-hours.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.327-340
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• 2017

This article reviews the papers published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering during 2016. It is intended to understand the status of current research in the areas of heating, cooling, ventilation, sanitation, and indoor environments of buildings and plant facilities. Conclusions are as follows. (1) The research works on the thermal and fluid engineering have been reviewed as groups of flow, heat and mass transfer, the reduction of pollutant exhaust gas, cooling and heating, the renewable energy system and the flow around buildings. CFD schemes were used more for all research areas. (2) Research works on heat transfer area have been reviewed in the categories of heat transfer characteristics, pool boiling and condensing heat transfer and industrial heat exchangers. Researches on heat transfer characteristics included the results of the long-term performance variation of the plate-type enthalpy exchange element made of paper, design optimization of an extruded-type cooling structure for reducing the weight of LED street lights, and hot plate welding of thermoplastic elastomer packing. In the area of pool boiling and condensing, the heat transfer characteristics of a finned-tube heat exchanger in a PCM (phase change material) thermal energy storage system, influence of flow boiling heat transfer on fouling phenomenon in nanofluids, and PCM at the simultaneous charging and discharging condition were studied. In the area of industrial heat exchangers, one-dimensional flow network model and porous-media model, and R245fa in a plate-shell heat exchanger were studied. (3) Various studies were published in the categories of refrigeration cycle, alternative refrigeration/energy system, system control. In the refrigeration cycle category, subjects include mobile cold storage heat exchanger, compressor reliability, indirect refrigeration system with $CO_2$ as secondary fluid, heat pump for fuel-cell vehicle, heat recovery from hybrid drier and heat exchangers with two-port and flat tubes. In the alternative refrigeration/energy system category, subjects include membrane module for dehumidification refrigeration, desiccant-assisted low-temperature drying, regenerative evaporative cooler and ejector-assisted multi-stage evaporation. In the system control category, subjects include multi-refrigeration system control, emergency cooling of data center and variable-speed compressor control. (4) In building mechanical system research fields, fifteenth studies were reported for achieving effective design of the mechanical systems, and also for maximizing the energy efficiency of buildings. The topics of the studies included energy performance, HVAC system, ventilation, renewable energies, etc. Proposed designs, performance tests using numerical methods and experiments provide useful information and key data which could be help for improving the energy efficiency of the buildings. (5) The field of architectural environment was mostly focused on indoor environment and building energy. The main researches of indoor environment were related to the analyses of indoor thermal environments controlled by portable cooler, the effects of outdoor wind pressure in airflow at high-rise buildings, window air tightness related to the filling piece shapes, stack effect in core type's office building and the development of a movable drawer-type light shelf with adjustable depth of the reflector. The subjects of building energy were worked on the energy consumption analysis in office building, the prediction of exit air temperature of horizontal geothermal heat exchanger, LS-SVM based modeling of hot water supply load for district heating system, the energy saving effect of ERV system using night purge control method and the effect of strengthened insulation level to the building heating and cooling load.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to investigate the distribution and fluorescence intensity of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide immunoreactive (VIP-IR) cells in rat trigeminal ganglion following pulp extirpation of rat mandibular molar. The animals were divided into control group(n=6) and experimental group(n=6). The experimental animals were sacrificed at 14 days after pulp extirpation. The trigeminal ganglion was removed and immersed in the 4% paraformaldehyde in 0.1M phosphate buffer. Serial frozen sections about $20{\mu}m$ in thickness were cut with a cryostat. The immunofluorescence staining was performed. The rabbit anti-VIP(1 : 8,000) was used as primary antibody and fluorescene isothiocynate(FITC) conjugated anti-rabbit IgG(1 : 80) as secondary antibody. The slides were observed under confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). Unprocessed optical sections were obtained and stored on a optical disk. Color pictures were printed by a video copy processor. The results were as follows; 1. The positive ratio of VIP-IR cells in mandibular part of trigeminal ganglion were 7.40% in control group and 28.42% in experimental group(14 days after pulp extirpation). 2. The relative fluorescence intensity of VIP-IR cells in mandibular part of trigeminal ganglion were 87.78 in control group and 138.65 in experimental group. The relative fluorescence intensity of experimental group was 58% higher than that of control group. 3. In optical serial section analysis of VIP-IR cells of experimental group, most of the 9 sections showed high fluorescence intensity. At high magnification, axons of the experimental group displayed greater VIP-IR than in the control group, and the positive cells were mainly of medium size. The result indicate that number and fluorescence intensity of VIP-IR cells were increased in the mandibular part of trigeminal ganglion following pulp extirpation of mandibular molar, and it suggests that VIP could play a role in processing of nociception.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 2006

Phthalates such as di(2-ethyl hexyl)phthalate(DEHP) are industrial chemicals with wide-ranging human exposures because of their use in plastics and other common consumer products. Consequently, their adverse effects as endocrine disruptor in the reproductive physiology of both laboratory rodents and human have been studied extensively. The present study was undertaken to examine whether prepubertal exposure to DEHP affects on the onset of puberty and the associated reproductive parameters such as hormone receptor expressions in female rats. DEHP(100mg/kg/day) was administered daily from postnatal day 25(PND 25) through the day when the first vaginal opening(VO) was observed, and the animals were sacrificed on the next day. Gross anatomy and weight of reproductive tissues were compared to test the DEHP's effects on the cell proliferation. Furthermore, histological studies were performed to assess the structural alterations in the tissues. Specific radioimmunoassay was carried out to measure serum LH levels. To determine the transcriptional changes in progesterone receptor(PR), total RNAs were extracted and applied to the semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR). As a result, delayed VO was shown in the DEHP group(PND $37.3{\pm}0.7$) compared to the control group(PND $35.3{\pm}0.7$; p<0.05). DEHP treatment significantly decreased the wet weight of ovaries and uteri compared to the control group(p<0.05). Interestingly, elevation of serum LH levels was shown in the DEHP group(p<0.05). Graafian follicles and corpora lutea were observed only in the ovaries from the control animals. Numerous primary, secondary follicles and small atretic follicles were observed in the ovaries from DEHP-treated animals. Similarly, hypotrophy of luminal and glandular uterine epithelium was found in the DEHP-treated group. These effects were probably due to the inhibitory effects of DEHP on the synthesis and secretion of estrogen from granulosa cells. In the semiquantitative RT-PCR studies, the transcriptional activities of PR in both ovary(p<0.05) and uterus(p<0.01) from DEHP-treated animals were significantly lower than those from the control animals. The present studies demonstrated that the acute exposure to DEHP during the critical period of prepubertal stage could inactivate the reproductive system resulting delayed puberty in female rats.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.255-264
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• 1997

The purpose of this study was attempted to investigate the number changes of the growing and mature follicles in ovary following repeats of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin(PMSG) treatments for superovulation in nulliparous rats. Thirty two rats(Sprague-Dawely, about 200~250 gm) were randomized into 4 groups. Control group rats were sacrified at estrus phase confirmed by vaginal smear. PMSG-treated group 1 rats, PMSG-treated group 2 rats and PMSG-treated group 3 rats were sacrified at 48 hrs after injection once with PMSG 25 IU, after 2 repeated injection by a week interval, and 3 repeated injection, respectively. The uteri and ovaries of rats were removed and weighed and then were observed grossly and serial sections of all ovaries and some sections of uteri by paraffin embedding were stained with H-E. Number of ovarian follicles about 3 grades of small, middle and large follicles from seondary and follicles were investigated by LM photographies of ovary preparations. The criteria of the small, middle, and large follicles were based as small follicle with preantral follicles with 2~4 layers of granulosa cells surrounding the oocyte, as secondary follicles with more than 5 layers of granulosa cells and early signs of antral cavity or with small clefts on either side of the oocytes, and as tirtiary follicles with a single medium sized antral cavity or large well-formed antral cavity, respectively. In gross findings, the wall of the uteri in control group were thin, and those in 3 PMS-treated group were markedly thickened and some uterine lumen of those filled with fluid. In histological findings, the walls of the uteri from 3 PMSG-treated groups were hypertrophied and their blood and lymph vessels were dilated than those of control group. The ovaries fo 3 PMSG-treated groups were more increased in size and the cortexes were more developed and increased in width but there are no difference of development and changes in 3 PMSG-treated groups. The weight of the uteri and ovaries per rat in PMSG -treated group 1, 2 and 3 were a, pp.ared to be significantly increased 171.4$\pm$47.6%, 162.3$\pm$43.9%, 206.9$\pm$30.4%, respectively than those of control groups. The mean number of follicle per ovary in control group were a, pp.ared to be 17.1$\pm$3.5, 46.2$\pm$14.5, and 74.3$\pm$22.7 at large, middle and small follicles, respectively and total number of these 3 grade follicles per ovary were a, pp.ared to be 137.7$\pm$31.7. The mean number of follicle per ovary in PMSG-treated group 1 were a, pp.ared to be 25.6$\pm$7.3, 78.1$\pm$29.9, and 83.2$\pm$34.0, at large, middle and small follicles, respectively and total number of these 3 grade follicles were a, pp.ared to be 187.5$\pm$58.8. The mean number of follicle per ovary in PMS-treated group 2 were a, pp.ared to be 21.9$\pm$5.2, 67.8$\pm$16.8, and 68.0$\pm$14.9 at large, middle and small follicles, respectively and total number of these 3 grade follicles were a, pp.ared to be 157.7$\pm$26.2. The mean number of follicle per ovary in PMS-treated group 3 were a, pp.ared to be 21.7$\pm$4.8, 61.5$\pm$17.0, and 59.7$\pm$16.2 at large, middle and small follicles, respectively and total number of these 3 grade follicles were a, pp.ared to be 143.5$\pm$29.6. The number of follicles in PMSG-treated group 1 a, pp.ared to be more number than other 2 PMSG-treated gruops and tended to be decreased by frequency of PMSG-treatment.