Effects and treatment methods of acupuncture and herbal medicine for premenstrual syndrome/premenstrual dysphoric disorder: systematic review

BACKGROUND: During their reproductive years about 10% of women experience some kind of symptoms before menstruation (PMS) in a degree that affects their quality of life (QOL). Acupuncture and herbal medicine has been a recent favorable therapeutic approach. Thus we aimed to review the effects of acupuncture and herbal medicine in the past decade as a preceding research in order to further investigate the most effective Korean Medicine treatment for PMS/PMDD. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted using electronic databases on studies published between 2002 and 2012. Our review included randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) of acupuncture and herbal medicine for PMS/PMDD. Interventions include acupuncture or herbal medicine. Clinical information including statistical tests was extracted from the articles and summarized in tabular form or in the text. Study outcomes were presented as the rate of improvement (%) and/or end-of-treatment scores. RESULTS: The search yielded 19 studies. In screening the RCTs, 8 studies in acupuncture and 11 studies in herbal medicine that matched the criteria were identified. Different acupuncture techniques including traditional acupuncture, hand acupuncture and moxibustion, and traditional acupuncture technique with auricular points, have been selected for analysis. In herbal medicine, studies on Vitex Agnus castus, Hypericum perforatum, Xiao yao san, Elsholtzia splendens, Cirsium japonicum, and Gingko biloba L. were identified. Experimental groups with Acupuncture and herbal medicine treatment (all herbal medicine except Cirsium japonicum) had significantly improved results regarding PMS/PMDD. CONCLUSIONS: Limited evidence supports the efficacy of alternative medicinal interventions such as acupuncture and herbal medicine in controlling premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Acupuncture and herbal medicine treatments for premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder showed a 50% or better reduction of symptoms compared to the initial state. In both acupuncture and herbal medical interventions, there have been no serious adverse events reported, proving the safety of the interventions while most of the interventions provided over 50% relief of symptoms associated with PMS/PMDD. Stricter diagnostic criteria may have excluded many participants from some studies. Also, depending on the severity of symptoms, the rate of improvement in the outcomes of the studies may have greatly differed

Two-Dimensional Dirac Fermions Protected by Space-Time Inversion Symmetry in Black Phosphorus

We report the realization of novel symmetry-protected Dirac fermions in a surface-doped two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor, black phosphorus. The widely tunable band gap of black phosphorus by the surface Stark effect is employed to achieve a surprisingly large band inversion up to ~0.6 eV. High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectra directly reveal the pair creation of Dirac points and their moving along the axis of the glide-mirror symmetry. Unlike graphene, the Dirac point of black phosphorus is stable, as protected by spacetime inversion symmetry, even in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. Our results establish black phosphorus in the inverted regime as a simple model system of 2D symmetry-protected (topological) Dirac semimetals, offering an unprecedented opportunity for the discovery of 2D Weyl semimetals

mtCO1-based population structure and genetic diversity of Pacific oyster *Crassostrea gigas* populations acquired from two farms in South Korea

Since the early 1990s in South Korea, climatic and anthropogenic factors have incurred the reduction of the wild seeds of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, which raised concerns about losing genetic diversity and accelerating genetic deterioration. We assessed the genetic diversity of C. gigas populations from two farms (Tongyeong and Gadeokdo) on the southern coast, where about 80% of the cultivated oysters in Korea are produced. Tongyeong showed slightly higher diversity than Gadeokdo, but both populations had a similar genetic structure characterized by low nucleotide diversity. Comparative haplotype analyses provided data supporting genetic features of the populations that include (1) weak genotype-locality relationship, (2) low levels of gene flow between populations, and (3) possible seasonal fluctuation of genetic variation within a population. Furthermore, the highly alike haplotype network patterns were observed between the wild and farm populations as well as among the populations in neighboring countries, which suggests that the genetic structure is conserved between wild and hatchery populations, and geographic proximity has minimal influence on the genetic composition

Improvement of Mechanical Properties of UV-curable Resin for High-aspect Ratio Microstructures Fabricated in Microstereolithography

Recently, microstructures fabricated using microstereolithography technology have been used in the biological, medical and mechanical fields. Microstereolithography can fabricate real 3D microstructures with fine features, although there is presently a limited number of materials available for use in the process. Deformation of the fine features on a fabricated microstructure remains a critical issue for successful part fabrication, and part deformation can occur during rinsing or during fabrication as a result of fluid flow forces that occur during movement of mechanical parts of the system. Deformation can result in failure to fabricate a particular feature by breaking the feature completely, spatial deflection of the feature, or attaching the feature to neighboring microstructures. To improve mechanical strength of fabricated microstructures, a clay nanocomposite can be used. In particular, a high-aspect ratio microstructure can be fabricated without distortion using photocurable liquid resin containing a clay nanocomposite. In this paper, a clay nanocomposite was blended with a photocurable liquid resin to solve the deformation problem that occurs during fabrication and rinsing. An optimal mixture ratio of a clay nanocomposite was found through tensile testing and the minimal allowable distance between microstructures was found through fabrication experimentation. Finally, using these results, high-aspect ratio microstructures were fabricated using a clay nanocomposite resin without distortion

Clinical features and prognostic factors in drowning children: a regional experience

PurposeThis study aimed to evaluate the clinical features of children who have survived a water submersion incident, and to identify risk factors for prognosis.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who experienced submersion between January 2005 and December 2014. The patients were classified into 2 groups, according to complications, and prognostic factors were evaluated.ResultsDuring the study period, 29 children experienced submersion (20 boys and 9 girls; mean age, 83.8±46.4 months). Submersion occurred most commonly in the summer, with the peak incidence in August. The most frequent Szpilman clinical score was grade 5 (13 patients; 44.8%), followed by grade 6 (7 patients; 24.1%), and grades 1 or 2 (3 patients; 10.3%). Five children (17.2%) in the poor prognosis group died or had hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, and the overall mortality rate was 6.9%. Poor prognosis after submersion was associated with lower consciousness levels (P=0.003), higher Szpilman scores (P=0.007), greater need for intubation and mechanical ventilator support (P=0.001), and longer duration of oxygen therapy (P=0.015). Poor prognosis was also associated with lower bicarbonate levels (P=0.038), as well as higher sodium, aspartate transaminase (AST), and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels (P=0.034, P=0.006, and P=0.005, respectively). Szpilman clinical scores were positively correlated with consciousness levels (r=0.489, P=0.002) and serum liver enzyme levels (AST and ALT; r=0.521, P=0.004).ConclusionWe characterized the prognostic factors associated with submersion outcomes, using the Szpilman clinical score, which is comparable to consciousness level for predicting mortality

The Design of a Sliding Rectangular Waveguide Array Antenna for Beam Steering

In this paper, we designed a sliding waveguide array antenna that can be beam-steered via mechanical manipulation. This reduces the vulnerability of electronic beam-steering radars mounted on ships or aircraft to electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks. The design frequency was 9.375 GHz. First, the proposed antenna was designed to adjust the phase difference between the arrayed waveguide antennas by changing the length of the rectangular waveguide using a slide. Subsequently, a ridge structure with optimized curvature was attached to the aperture of the rectangular waveguide to obtain stable reflection coefficient characteristics. Finally, eight rectangular waveguide antennas and two dummy antennas were E-plane arrayed at intervals of 0.8λ (25.6 mm) to obtain a beam width of nearly 8°. A beam width of 8° was then obtained by adjusting the length of each waveguide. It was possible to orient the beam of the antenna in intervals of 8° using the phase difference of each antenna. The proposed mechanical beam steering technique can replace electronic beam steering for radar antennas, rendering the structures less vulnerable to EMP attacks

Similarities and differences among Internet gaming disorder, gambling disorder and alcohol use disorder: A focus on impulsivity and compulsivity

Background and aims: The aim of the present study was to test the impulsivities and compulsivities of behavioral addictions, including Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and gambling disorder (GD), by directly comparing them with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and a healthy control (HC) group. Methods: We enrolled male patients who were diagnosed with IGD, GD or AUD, with 15 patients per group, as well as 15 HCs. Trait impulsivity was measured using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 (BIS-11). The stop-signal test (SST) from the Cambridge Neuro-psychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) was used to assess the patients’ abilities to inhibit prepotent responses. Compulsivity was measured using the intra–extra dimensional set shift (IED) test from the CANTAB. The Trail Making Test (TMT) was also used in this study. Results: The IGD and AUD groups scored significantly higher on the BIS-11 as a whole than did the HC group (p = 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). The IGD and AUD groups also scored significantly higher on the BIS-11 as a whole than did the GD group (p = 0.006 and p = 0.001, respectively). In addition, the GD group made significantly more errors (p = 0.017 and p = 0.022, respectively) and more individuals failed to achieve criterion on the IED test compared with the IGD and HC groups (p = 0.018 and p = 0.017, respectively). Discussion: These findings may aid in the understanding of not only the differences in categorical aspects between individuals with IGD and GD but also in impulsivity–compulsivity dimensional domains. Conclusion: Additional studies are needed to elucidate the neurocognitive characteristics of behavioral addictive disorders in terms of impulsivity and compulsivity

Structural safety inspection of reinforced concrete structures considering failure probabilities of structural members

Regular safety inspections of existing reinforced concrete (RC) structures are required according to the regulations and criteria set by each country. In South Korea, the safety inspection regulations provided by the Korea Infrastructure Safety and Technology Corporation (KISTEC) are followed. These regulations were developed based on fuzzy theory to avoid subjective decisions, and provide standardized deterioration grades for member types, floors, and the entire structure. However, the safety inspection regulation by the KISTEC often provides unconservative evaluation results. In particular, as the importance factors of beam and slab members are set lower than those of other members, there are cases in which deteriorations occurring in beams and slabs are not properly reflected in the floor level evaluation. In this study, to overcome such limitations, case studies were carried out and modified importance factors for structural member types were proposed considering the failure probabilities of each member type based on the reliability theory. The importance modification factor was calculated based on the strength ratio of structural members so that the more dangerous the members are, the more impact they give on the evaluation. Overall, compared to the KISTEC method, the proposed method provided conservative but practical assessment results, and it was found that the proposed importance factors can be very useful to properly reflect the effects of damaged members on the deterioration status evaluation of the floors and the entire structure