Search Results (139)

The structure from motion (SfM) and multiview stereo (MVS) techniques have proven effective in generating high-quality 3D point clouds, particularly when integrated with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). However, the impact of image quality—a critical factor for SfM–MVS techniques—has received limited attention. This study proposes a method for optimizing camera settings and UAV flight methods to minimize point cloud errors under illumination and time constraints. The effectiveness of the optimized settings was validated by comparing point clouds generated under these conditions with those obtained using arbitrary settings. The evaluation involved measuring point-to-point error levels for an indoor target and analyzing the standard deviation of cloud-to-mesh (C2M) and multiscale model-to-model cloud comparison (M3C2) distances across six joint planes of a rock mass outcrop in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The results showed that optimal settings improved accuracy without requiring additional lighting or extended survey time. Furthermore, we assessed the performance of SfM–MVS under optimized settings in an underground tunnel in Yeoju-si, Republic of Korea, comparing the resulting 3D models with those generated using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). Despite challenging lighting conditions and time constraints, the results suggest that SfM–MVS with optimized settings has the potential to produce 3D models with higher accuracy and resolution at a lower cost than LiDAR in such environments. Full article

Background: Ultrasound guidance is widely used to enhance injection accuracy and safety. However, ultrasound-guided procedures require complex manipulation of both probe and needle. This simultaneous manipulation while maintaining sterility necessitates specific infection prevention protocols. This scoping review aimed to systematically investigate hygiene and safety procedures reported in clinical studies of ultrasound-guided injections. Methods: Following the Joanna Briggs Institute guideline, we conducted a systematic search of four databases (two English and two Korean) from inception to November 2023. Studies describing ultrasound-guided injection procedures with skin disinfection protocols were included. The extracted procedures were categorized and analyzed according to their timing (before, during, and after injection) and purpose. Results: Among 1728 studies identified, 86 met inclusion criteria. Notable variations were found in infection prevention practices, with only 5.81% reporting probe disinfection procedures and 27.91% documenting sterile probe cover use. Skin disinfection methods also varied, with iodophors (20.93%) and alcohol-based solutions (11.63%) being most common. Of studies describing ultrasound coupling agent procedures (26.74%), less than 20% specifically mentioned using sterile transmission agents. Documentation of temporal aspects of infection prevention was limited, with most studies not addressing precise timing of disinfection procedures or post-procedure probe reprocessing protocols. Conclusions: Our findings reveal considerable variation in infection prevention practices during ultrasound-guided injections and highlight gaps in documentation of hygiene protocols. These findings suggest the need for standardized, evidence-based protocols tailored to different anatomical sites and types of injections. Further research through expert consensus and real-world implementation is needed to develop and validate comprehensive guidelines for clinical practice. Full article

Background: Acupotomy is a modern acupuncture technique using a knife-shaped needle for pain treatment, combining traditional and anatomical knowledge. This study evaluates the diversity and safety of acupotomy procedures for lumbar spine disorders to aid in developing safety and reporting guidelines for clinical studies. Methods: A literature search was conducted on 30 October 2023 in PubMed, five Korean databases, and relevant journals with keywords like ‘low back pain’ and ‘acupotomy’. The search included clinical trial articles in English or Korean on lumbar spinal disorders treated by acupotomy. We reviewed 22 clinical studies involving 731 Korean patients published from 2008 to 2023. Data extracted included disease types, diagnosis methods, treatment specifics, needling factors, anesthesia, clinical outcomes, and safety reports. Results: Most studies focused on lumbar herniated discs and stenosis, with acupotomy performed on damaged tissue sites. Treatment frequency varied, and outcomes included pain scales and imaging assessments. Reporting gaps were found in needle size, insertion depth, and anesthesia status. Safety measures were poorly documented, with only six studies addressing safety and two reporting adverse events. Conclusions: There is a critical need for standardized clinical and reporting guidelines for acupotomy, akin to acupuncture’s existing guidelines, to enhance research consistency and quality. Future studies should develop guidelines covering target tissues, needle details, techniques, anesthesia, and adverse effects to improve acupotomy safety and effectiveness. Full article

Background and Objective: This study aimed to compare functional and clinical outcomes between patients with chronic non-specific lower back pain (NSLBP) with restricted hip extension mobility who performed spinal stabilization exercises with hip mobilization either with or without additional hip exercises. Methods: A total of 42 patients with chronic NSLBP with restricted hip extension mobility were enrolled (21 with and 21 without additional hip exercises). Functional and clinical outcomes were assessed based on hip joint mobility, back extensor endurance, postural stability, and patient-reported outcomes, including visual analog scale (VAS) and Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores. Results: A significant group–time interaction was identified for postural stability (Rt: p < 0.001, Lt: p = 0.002) and the ODI (p = 0.004). After the intervention, the group with additional hip exercises demonstrated significantly greater improvements in postural stability (Rt: p < 0.001; Lt: p = 0.01) and ODI scores (p < 0.001) compared with the group without additional hip exercises. However, no significant main group effect or group–time interaction was observed for the hip joint mobility, back extensor endurance, or VAS scores (all p > 0.05). Furthermore, the ODI score (r² = 0.123, p = 0.023) was an independent predictor of hip joint mobility but not the VAS score (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Hip exercises may improve postural stability and function in patients with chronic NSLBP with restricted hip extension mobility. Notably, clinicians and therapists must recognize the importance of hip exercises during rehabilitation of patients with chronic NSLBP with restricted hip extension mobility. Full article

Background/Objectives: Sepsis is basically an inflammatory disease that involves the host’s immune response. Granzyme B, a cytotoxic protease, has garnered attention for its involvement in modulating immune responses. This study aimed to elucidate the clinical implications of granzyme B in critically ill patients with sepsis, focusing on plasma granzyme B levels as a potential prognostic marker. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of sequentially collected blood samples from 57 sepsis patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit at Severance Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Seoul, South Korea. Clinical and laboratory data were comparatively analyzed between 28-day survivors and nonsurvivors. Results: The number of patients in the survivor and nonsurvivor groups was 32 (56.1%) and 25 (43.9%), respectively. Compared to survivors, nonsurvivors had higher APACHE II (23.5 vs. 34, p = 0.007) and SOFA (10 vs. 15, p = 0.001) scores, as well as increased levels of serum lactate (1.8 vs. 9.2 mmol/L, p < 0.001) and plasma granzyme B (28.2 vs. 71 pg/mL, p < 0.001). Granzyme B exhibited a robust area under the receiving operating characteristic (AUROC) for predicting 28-day mortality (AUROC = 0.794), comparable to lactate (0.804), SOFA (0.764), and APACHE II (0.709). The combined index of lactate and granzyme B demonstrated the highest AUROC (0.838) among all investigated predictors. Significant positive correlations were observed between log granzyme B and various inflammatory cytokines, including log IFN-γ (r = 0.780), IL-4 (r = 0.540), IL-10 (r = 0.534), and IL-6 (r = 0.520). Conclusions: Plasma granzyme B demonstrated fair short-term mortality prediction among patients admitted to the ICU, suggesting its potential utility for risk stratification and managing patients with sepsis. Full article

The purpose of this study is to identify airline asymmetric attributes that affect customer satisfaction based on the three-factor theory and to build an Asymmetric Impact-Sentiment Analysis (AISA) for resource allocation prioritization. We identified food and beverage service as a basic factor; inflight service as a one-dimensional factor; and seat comfort, ground service, and airline seat class as attractive factors. AISA analysis results showed that food and beverage services should be prevented from falling into customer dissatisfaction through Urgent Action (cell II), and in-flight services should be improved continuously to increase satisfaction (cell IV). Low-priority improvement is required for seat comfort, which is an attractive factor (cell VI), and strong maintenance is required for ground service and airline seat class as strength factors (cell V). The first contribution, the asymmetric relationship between customer opinions for service attributes and satisfaction, was verified. Second, this paper extended the IPA to the text mining-based asymmetric AISA. Full article

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) progresses through mechanisms involving inflammation, fibrosis, and oxidative stress, leading to the gradual structural and functional deterioration of the kidneys. Tormentic acid (TA), a triterpenoid compound with known anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, shows significant potential in counteracting these pathological processes. This study explored the protective role of TA in a unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO)-induced CKD model. Mice received TA through intraperitoneal injections at a dosage of 5 mg/kg per day for 8 consecutive days, commencing a day before the UUO procedure. The TA treatment significantly improved both structural and functional kidney injury. It suppressed cytokine expression and reduced immune cell infiltration, inhibited the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade, and alleviated endoplasmic reticulum stress. Moreover, TA displayed potent anti-fibrotic effects by reversing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and inhibiting Smad2/3 activation, reducing extracellular matrix deposition. TA also mitigated oxidative stress by attenuating lipid peroxidation and boosting antioxidant defenses. Additionally, it inhibited apoptosis and ferroptosis by reducing oxidative stress and modulating key cell death markers. Collectively, these findings indicate that TA provides comprehensive renoprotection in the UUO model by effectively targeting inflammation, fibrosis, oxidative stress, and tubular cell death in CKD progression. Full article

We have characterized the magnetization easy-axis of ultra-thin Co films (2–5 atomic layers, AL) grown on Ru(0001) when they are capped with a monolayer of Pd. The addition of a Pd monolayer turns the magnetization of 3 and 4 AL-thick Co films from an in-plane to an out-of-plane alignment, but not that of a 5 AL-thick film. These observations are explained in terms of an enhancement of the surface anisotropy. The exposure of the sample to hydrogen, CO or a combination of both gases does not overcome this effect. Full article

Setting the population, intervention, comparison, and outcome (PICO) elements during a search strategy development stage for a systematic review (SR) defines a research question specifically. In contrast to traditional methods that rely on researcher discretion, we propose a text network analysis (TNA) method using the R language to set the correct basis for the PICO. First, we collected 80 related papers from the PubMed database using ‘Health Impact Assessment of arsenic exposure’ as an example topic. Next, we recorded the keywords of each paper into a dataframe and converted the dataframe into an edge list format to create a network. Finally, we confirmed the connectivity and frequency of each keyword through network visualization and the importance of keywords according to three metrics through centrality analysis. As a result, arsenic could be expected to have detrimental effects on the occurrence of heart- and blood-related diseases or on mothers. By setting important keywords as the PICO elements known through a TNA, the reliability of SRs is improved, and this methodology can be equally applied to various topics. Full article

Background and Objectives: While the connection between decreased kidney function and diabetes mellitus (DM) is commonly acknowledged, there is insufficient research examining the relationship between higher-than-normal estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and the incidence risk of new-onset DM. Our research aimed to explore the relationship between an eGFR and the incidence risk of new-onset DM in the Korean general population through a nationwide longitudinal study. Methods: This research employed the cohort records of the National Health Insurance Service in Korea, analyzing records from 2,294,358 individuals between the ages of 20 and 79 who underwent health check-ups between 2010 and 2011. The eGFR levels from the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation were used to assess the renal function. New-onset DM was defined as two or more claims with the International Classification of Diseases-10 classification codes E10 to E14, being prescribed any medication for lowering blood glucose, or having a record of fasting plasma glucose levels of ≥126 mg/dL from a health examination after the index date. Results: The mean age of subjects was 47.34 ± 13.76 years. The 150,813 (6.57%) new-onset DM cases were identified over a median follow-up of 9.63 years. In the multivariable Cox regression analysis, in comparison with the 5th decile, the 10th (≥114.12 mL/min/1.73 m²) (hazard ratio (HR): 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.50–0.54), p < 0.001) eGFR decile was significantly associated with a decreased incidence of new-onset DM. Moreover, eGFR >120 mL/min/1.73 m² was associated with a reduced risk of new-onset DM (HR: 0.40, 95% CI (0.39–0.42), p < 0.001). These results were consistent regardless of the presence of impaired glucose tolerance, age, or obesity. Conclusion: Our study showed higher-than-normal eGFR levels were associated with a lower risk of incidence for new-onset DM regardless of the presence of impaired glucose tolerance, age, or obesity. In general population, higher-than-normal eGFR may be associated with a lower risk of incidence of new-onset DM. Full article

Medication-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (MRONJ) is characterized by bone exposure in the oral and maxillofacial region for more than eight weeks in patients treated with anti-resorptive agents, immunosuppressants, or anti-angiogenic agents, without prior radiation therapy or metastatic disease to the jaws. Conservative treatments can control infection in mild cases, but surgical intervention is necessary for patients with severe symptoms. A 78-year-old female with a history of bisphosphonate treatment for osteoporosis presented with persistent pain, swelling, and malodor following implant placement in the upper right maxilla. SPECT/CT imaging revealed a high-risk hot spot in the right maxillary region. BIS-guided surgery using the Qray pen-C was performed, selectively removing red fluorescent bone tissue. The defect was grafted with HuBT incorporated with rhBMP-2. Postoperative follow-ups at 4, 7, and 14 months showed successful bone healing, transforming into a corticocancellous complex, and implant placement without MRONJ recurrence. Allogeneic demineralized dentin matrix (DDM) incorporated with rhBMP-2 demonstrates effective bone healing and implant placement following BIS-guided MRONJ surgery. This case supports the use of DDM/rhBMP-2 for tissue regeneration in MRONJ treatment, enabling successful prosthetic restoration without recurrence. Full article

Background: Diaphragmatic dysfunction correlates with weaning failure, highlighting the need to independently assess the diaphragm’s effects on weaning. We modified the rapid shallow breathing index (RSBI), a predictor of successful weaning, by incorporating temporal variables into existing ultrasound-derived diaphragm index to create a simpler index closer to tidal volume. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of patients who underwent a spontaneous breathing trial in the medical intensive care unit (ICU) at Severance Hospital between October 2022 and June 2023. Diaphragmatic displacement (DD) and diaphragm inspiratory time (Ti) were measured using lung ultrasonography. The modified RSBI was defined as follows: respiratory rate (RR) divided by DD was defined as D-RSBI, and RR divided by the sum of the products of DD and Ti on both sides was defined as DTi-RSBI. Results: Among the sonographic indices, DTi-RSBI had the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.774 in ROC analysis, and a correlation was found between increased DTi-RSBI and unsuccessful extubation in a multivariable logistic regression analysis (adjusted odds ratio 0.02, 95% confidence interval 0.00–0.97). Conclusions: The DTi-RSBI is beneficial in predicting successful weaning in medical ICU patients. Full article

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatments in East Asian traditional medicine (EATM) originate from principles for treating abscesses and carbuncles. Understanding the therapeutic principles of Liu Juan Zi Gui Yi Fang (GYF) is essential for optimizing EATM treatment strategies for IBD, but quantitative analysis is lacking. This study aims to extract quantitative information on therapeutic strategies from GYF and present the EATM conceptual framework for IBD treatment. Oral prescriptions for carbuncles were selected, and their constituent herbs and indications were standardized and tokenized for analysis. An EATM expert group classified prescriptions based on the similarity of herbs and indications. Hierarchical and k-means cluster analyses were performed based on herb similarity. The herb–indication (H-I) network for all prescriptions was constructed. Additionally, H-I subnetworks based on the expert group’s classifications and the k-means clustering results were constructed and compared to identify treatment goals and the herbs used for each goal. The results showed that the treatment focused on abscess status, wound healing, and patient’s recovery capacity, with ‘fever’ and ‘deficiency’ as the main indications addressed by tonifying and anti-inflammatory herbs. The therapeutic principles identified in this study can serve as a foundation for developing future herbal intervention units. Further preclinical and clinical research is needed to validate these findings. Full article

Background and Objectives: Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) remains a significant burden. Traditional herbal medicines have shown cardioprotective effects in treating HFrEF. However, the implications of herbal formulation considering the dynamic immunohistological changes in the myocardium following acute ischemic injury have been insufficiently discussed. This review investigated the efficacy and mechanisms reported in studies using rat or mouse models of HFrEF induced by left descending coronary artery ligation. Materials and Methods: A systematic search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, AMED, CINAHL, and CENTRAL databases. Information was extracted regarding study characteristics, disease model induction protocols, intervention characteristics, treatment protocols, outcomes, and suggested mechanisms. Hierarchical cluster analysis of test drugs was performed based on constituent herb similarities. The risk of bias (RoB) was assessed using the Systematic Review Center for Laboratory animal Experimentation RoB tool. Results: Overall, 26 studies met the eligibility criteria. HF model induction periods after LADCA ligation ranged from 1 day to 12 weeks. Most studies administered the test drug for four weeks. Commonly used herbs included Panax ginseng, Astragalus membranaceus, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Carthamus tinctorius, and Lepidium apetalum, which demonstrated anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects through various signaling pathways. The overall RoB was relatively high. No significant association was found between model induction periods and herbal formulations or examined mechanisms. Conclusions: Future research should consider the time-dependent immunohistological features of the myocardium during HF treatment. Full article

The decline in the function and mass of skeletal muscle during aging or other pathological conditions increases the incidence of aging-related secondary diseases, ultimately contributing to a decreased lifespan and quality of life. Much effort has been made to surmise the molecular mechanisms underlying muscle atrophy and develop tools for improving muscle function. Enhancing mitochondrial function is considered critical for increasing muscle function and health. This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of an aqueous extract of Gloiopeltis tenax (GTAE) on myogenesis and muscle atrophy caused by dexamethasone (DEX). The GTAE promoted myogenic differentiation, accompanied by an increase in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator α (PGC-1α) expression and mitochondrial content in myoblast cell culture. In addition, the GTAE alleviated the DEX-mediated myotube atrophy that is attributable to the Akt-mediated inhibition of the Atrogin/MuRF1 pathway. Furthermore, an in vivo study using a DEX-induced muscle atrophy mouse model demonstrated the efficacy of GTAE in protecting muscles from atrophy and enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis and function, even under conditions of atrophy. Taken together, this study suggests that the GTAE shows propitious potential as a nutraceutical for enhancing muscle function and preventing muscle wasting. Full article