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Objective: This study was conducted to investigate whether acupuncture and moxibustion treatment could improve proteinuria in immunoglobulin A nephropathy.Methods: A 25-year-old man diagnosed with immunoglobulin A nephropathy had severely increased proteinuria. We conducted acupuncture treatment and moxibustion treatment on the abdominal area between the abdominal aorta and kidney at level L2.Results: After five months of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, the patient’s urine albumin/creatinine ratio and urine protein/creatinine ratio had improved from 0.571 to 0.28 and 0.79 to 0.47, respectively.Conclusions: This case report suggests that acupuncture and moxibustion treatment may ameliorate proteinuria in immunoglobulin A nephropathy.

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect and safety of herbal extracts in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods: We investigated 19 hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were administered Banhasasim-tang (BST), Gumiganghwal-tang (GGT), or Pyeongwee-san (PWS) at Kyung Hee University Korean Medical Hospital for at least three days between January 2012 and December 2021. Their clinical characteristics and laboratory tests were reviewed retrospectively. The glucose-lowering effect of the herbal extracts was assessed by comparing blood glucose levels, including fasting blood sugar (FBS), two-hour postprandial glucose (PP2) levels, and glycated hemoglobin levels. To evaluate the safety of the herbal extract, liver function test and kidney function test results were compared, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine (Cr).Results: After taking herbal extracts, PP2 and HbA1c levels significantly decreased from 205.82 mg/dL to 171.41 mg/dL and 7.58% to 6.62%, respectively. The safety profile reported no significant difference after taking herbal extracts.Conclusions: BST, GGT, and PWS may have hypoglycemic effects in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus taking hypoglycemic medication.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether Korean medicine could improve unilateral testicular pain caused by recurrent varicocele without unfavorable side effects.Methods: A 46-year-old man diagnosed with varicocele, identified with a scrotal ultrasound scan, had right-side testicular pain. We administered Banchong-san and Eunhoebanchong-san to observe changes in the degree of pain.Results: After one month of taking Banchong-san and Eunhoebanchong-san, testicular pain improved.Conclusion: This study suggests that Korean medicine might be effective for managing testicular pain caused by varicocele.

Objectives: The combined use of herbal and Western medicine is increasing. However, herbal medicine is highly likely to interact with Western medicine making it important to understand the effects of co-administration. This study investigates the ratio of patients who take Western medicine with herb...

본 연구는 대학생의 진로준비행동과 관련변인들의 관계에 대한 국내연구 결과를 통합적으로 분석하기 위하여 메타분석을 실시하였다. 연구 대상 자료는 한국교육학술정보원(KERIS), 한국학술정보원(KISS)과 국회도서관의 데이터베이스에서 2000년 1월부터 2015년 12월까지 발행된 대학생 진로준비행동과 관련이 있는 변인들과의 상관관계를 제시한 국내 석․박사논문 및 학술지 게재 논문 150편을 최종 연구대상으로 선정하였다. 연구 결과, 첫째, 대학생의 진로준비행동 관련 변인군으로 사회인지진로이론에 근거한 4개의 변인군(개인변인, 근접맥락변인, 자기효능감변인, 목표변인)에 자기개념변인군을 추가하여 총 5개의 변인군을 설정하였고 분석 결과 19개의 변인이 추출되었다. 둘째, 대학생 진로준비행동과 관련된 변인군들 중 자기효능감변인군이 큰 효과크기를 보였으며, 자기개념변인군과 목표변인군은 중간크기의 효과크기를 보였다. 또한 개인변인군과 근접맥락변인군의 경우 변인군 내에 대학생의 진로행동을 유발하는 변인과 억제하는 변인이 함께 포함되어 작은 효과크기를 나타냈다. 셋째, 대학생 진로준비행동 관련 변인들 중에서 진로결정자기효능감이 가장 큰 효과크기를 가진 것으로 나타났고, 성격특성인 탄력성도 큰 효과크기를 나타냈다. 그 다음으로는 희망, 자아정체감, 자기효능감, 진로결정수준, 사회적지지, 부모지지가 중간크기의 효과를 나타냈으며, 진로장벽은 대학생의 진로준비행동을 억제하는 변인으로 중간크기의 효과를 가진 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구결과를 중심으로 본 연구의 의의 및 시사점과 제한점, 후속 연구를 위한 제언을 논의하였다.

Obesity is the state of excessive body fat accumulation and is mainly caused by consuming more calories than are burned through physical activity. Herbal acupuncture (HA), also known as pharmacopuncture, has been increasingly used in clinics of Korean medical to alleviate obesity. This review analyzed four clinical studies and 16 animal studies on the effectiveness of HA as a treatment for obesity. Clinical evidence suggests that various kinds of HA might be beneficial for treating obesity; however, further investigations with well-designed, evidence-based, randomized clinical trials are needed. Animal studies support the idea that HA might be beneficial for the treatment of obesity and provide possible mechanisms, such as anti-inflammation, antioxidation, modulating lipid metabolism and so on, to explain the effect of HA on obesity. This review, based on the evidence collected, suggests that HA could have a beneficial effect for alleviating obesity by modulating inflammation, oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, leptin, and the insulin signal.

Early diagnosis of infectious diseases is important for treatment; therefore, selective and rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria is essential for human health. We report a strategy for highly selective detection and rapid separation of pathogenic microorganisms using magnetic nanoparticle clusters. Our approach to develop probes for pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella, is based on a theoretically optimized model for the size of clustered magnetic nanoparticles. The clusters were modified to provide enhanced aqueous solubility and versatile conjugation sites for antibody immobilization. The clusters with the desired magnetic property were then prepared at critical micelle concentration (CMC) by evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA). Two different types of target-specific antibodies for H- and O-antigens were incorporated on the cluster surface for selective binding to biological compartments of the flagella and cell body, respectively. For the two different specific binding properties, Salmonella were effectively captured with the O-antibody-coated polysorbate 80-coated magnetic nanoclusters (PCMNCs). The synergistic effect of combining selective targeting and the clustered magnetic probe leads to both selective and rapid detection of infectious pathogens.

Objective We evaluated conventional ASSR (Bio-logic MASTER II) and NB CE-Chirp ASSR thresholds as objective hearing measures in both normal and hearing loss subjects. Methods Patients with sensorineural hearing loss and volunteer normal hearing subjects were enrolled. Pure tone thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz were compared with the corresponding thresholds measured using Bio-logic MASTER II and the Eclipse ASSR systems. The threshold differences and correlation with pure tone were measured and reliability was evaluated with Cronbach's α . In part I of the study, all subjects were included, in part II of the study, only mild hearing loss and normal hearing subjects were included. Results In part I , NB CE-Chirp ASSR revealed a significantly smaller difference in threshold than conventional ASSR, a better correlation and better reliability. However, lower frequencies of NB CE-Chirp tended to be less reliable than higher frequencies. In part II , NB CE-Chirp revealed smaller threshold differences than conventional ASSR. Both correlation scores and reliability values were generally lower in the part II results. Conclusion NB CE-Chirp ASSR generally revealed more favorable outcomes. However, its reliability was reduced at lower frequencies and in patients with milder hearing loss.