Background: Osteoarthritis is a common condition with an increasing prevalence and is a common cause of disability. Osteoarthritic pain decreases the quality of life, and simple gait training is used to alleviate it. Knee osteoarthritis limits joint motion in the sagittal and lateral directions. Although many recent studies have activated orthotic research to increase knee joint stabilization, no study has used patellar tendon straps to treat knee osteoarthritis. Objects: This study aimed to determine the effects of patellar tendon straps on kinematic, mechanical, and electromyographic activation in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: Patients with knee osteoarthritis were selected. After creating the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), leg length difference, Q-angle, and thumb side flexion angle of the foot were measured. Kinematic, kinetic, and muscle activation data during walking before and after wearing the orthosis were viewed. Results: After wearing the patellar tendon straps, hip adduction from the terminal stance phase, knee flexion from the terminal swing phase, and ankle plantar flexion angle increased during the pre-swing and initial swing phases. The cadence of spatiotemporal parameters and velocity increased, and step time, stride time, and foot force duration decreased. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the increase in plantar flexion after strap wearing is inferred by an increase due to neurological mechanisms, and adduction at the hip joint is inferred by an increase in adduction due to increased velocity. The increase in cadence and velocity and the decrease in gait speed and foot pressure duration may be due to joint stabilization. It can be inferred that joint stabilization is increased by wearing knee straps. Thus, wearing a patellar tendon strap during gait in patients with knee osteoarthritis influences kinematic changes in the sagittal plane of the joint.

Background: Stroke is one of the causes affecting gait and balance. Taping is considered an effective method for improving balance and gait in stroke patients. Numerous studies have confirmed the functional effects of taping in stroke patients. However, there is still no consensus regarding the use of taping to improve gait and balance. Objects: The purpose of this review was to investigate the effects of taping on the balance and gait of patients with stroke through meta-analysis of studies. Methods: PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Review, RISS, DBPia, and Science on were used to collect articles on Kinesio and non-elastic taping. The key terms were “Stroke”, “Hemiplegia”, “Taping”, “Tape”, “Balance”, and “Gait” with cut-off of October, 2022. Taping group was compared with control groups with sham, placebo, and no taping. The outcome measures included the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, and gait speed (cm/s). Eighteen studies (524 patients) were selected for the meta-analysis. Results: Overall, taping improved balance and gait in stroke patients, and Kinesio and nonelastic taping had similar effect sizes. Taping improved the BBS and TUG, and was most effective on gait speed. Contrary to the expectation that a longer duration of taping would be more affective, taping was most effective when the total taping duration was shorter than 500 minutes. In addition, the effect size of taping was greater when it was simultaneously attached to multiple locations. Conclusion: This meta-analysis supports the use of taping to improve gait and balance in stroke patients, and provides guidelines for the location, duration, and type of tape to increase taping efficiency.

The CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is a G protein-coupled receptor that regulates chemotaxis and effector functions of immune cells. It also serves as the major co-receptor for the entry of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Recently, CCR5 inhibitors have been developed and used for the treatment or prevention of HIV infections. Additionally, it has been identified that CCR5 controls bone homeostasis by regulating osteoclastogenesis and the communication between osteoblasts and osteoclasts. However, the effects of CCR5 inhibition on bone tissue in elderly patients are unknown. This study aimed to examine the bone phenotype of aged CCR5 knockout (KO) mice. Femoral and tibial bones were isolated from 12-month and 18-month old wild-type (WT) and CCR5 KO mice, and microcomputed tomography and histology analyses were performed. Twelve-month-old CCR5 KO mice exhibited a decreased trabecular bone mass and cortical bone thickness in both femoral and tibial bones compared with agematched WT mice. Eighteen-month-old mice also showed a decreased trabecular bone mass in femurs compared with control WT mice, but not in tibial bones. Unlike in 12-month-old mice, the cortical margin of femurs and tibias in 18-month-old mice were rough, likely because they were aggravated by the deficiency of CCR5. Overall, our data suggest that the deficiency of CCR5 with aging can cause severe bone loss. When CCR5 inhibitors or CCR5 inactivating technologies are used in elderly patients, a preventive strategy for bone loss should be considered.

Tremella fuciformis has about 40 species worldwide, and is widely distributed in the subtropical, tropical, and temperate regions. Tremella fuciformis is known to have been eaten by poppy in Chinese classics and has been a symbol of beauty since ancient times. In fact, it has been known that the extract of the Tremella fuciformis induces inhibition of melanin formation of the cells to have a skin whitening effect and to prevent wrinkles caused by UV stimulation damage, thereby improving wrinkles. Tremella fuciformis was first cultivated in Sichuan province, China, and is now cultivated in China and Southeast Asia. China has succeeded in large-scale artificial cultivation of Tremella fuciformis, but there is no research on mass artificial cultivation in Korea. Therefore, this study was carried out to develop standard cultivation technique for mass production of Tremella fuciformis. In order to select the optimal medium for Tremella fuciformis, five kinds of medium such as PDA, MCM, MEA, YM and CDA were used. Tremella fuciformis showed the best growth on PDA medium, and Annulohypoxylon stygium showed the best growth on MCM. The growth of Tremella fuciformis was good at pH 5 , and Annulohypoxylon stygium showed the best growth at pH 6. The optimum temperature for Tremella fuciformis and Annulohypoxylon stygium was 25 °C. Carbon source and nitrogen source were selected to establish optimal culture conditions.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of protein patterns in granulosa cells and corpus luteum during the estrus cycle in bovine ovary by proteomics ^techniques. Our study was devided into five steps for follicular, ovulatory, early-lteal, midluteal and late-luteal. The protein was extracted from glanulosa cell and corpus luteum proteins by using M-PER Mammalian Protein Extraction Reagent. Proteins were refined by clean-up kit and quantified by Bradford method until total protein was 700 μg. Immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strip was used 18 cm and 3 11 NL. SDS-PAGE was used 10% acrylamide gel. The protein spots were visualized by Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB) staining, analyzed by MALDI mass spectrometry and searched on NCIBlnr. As the result, 61 spots of total 85 spots were repeated on follicular stage and 51 spots of total 114 spots were repeated on ovulatory stage. 40 spots of total 129 were repeated on early-luteal and 49 spots of total 104 spots were repeated on mid-luteal stage. Also 41 spots of total 60 spots were repeated on last-luteal stage. There were differences in the ovulation (follicular∼ovultory stage) in which the spots of follicular stage 19 was only and in ovulation stage was 10 spots. The difference between the luteinization (ovultory∼mid-luteal stage) was the spots counted in each stage. The spots of ovulatory stage was 1, early-luteal stage was 1 and in mid-luteal stage was 2. Eleven spots were found in mid-luteal stage and 2 spots were found in last-luteal stage. In conclusion, we confirmed that there were 7 spots in ovulation, 4 spots in luteinization and 2 spots in luteolysis. Spot No. 89-93 from ovulation were transferrin, and spot No.94 and 95 were HSP60. Spot No. 103 were Dusty PK, spot No. 135 were OGDC-E2, and spot No. 175, 176 were Rab GDI beta from luteinization. Spot No. 178 and 179 from luteolysis were vimentin.

The characteristics of time changes in air temperature, DI (discomfort index) and WBGT (wet-bulb globe temperature) were investigated for inland city (daegu) and coastal city (pohang) of Gyeongbuk Province during the 2018 consecutive heat wave season. The time when the temperature dropped below 33℃ was around 19h in both regions. As such, the two regions were similar with respect to the time up to which the heatwave warning levels continued. However, the discomfort index (DI) was higher than 27 in Pohang. Most people feel unpleasant when an discomfort index of 27 or higher appears. The results indicated that Korea's night-time thermal environment during the summers is particularly poor in the southern coastal areas. WBGT began at 09:00 and lasted until 21:00, with a score of 31 or higher; this score, in principle, corresponded with the duration of outdoor activity in both regions. Therefore, it was found that outdoor work was at a level where all day long had to be stopped in both areas during the heat wave. Although time changes in temperature and WBGT were similar in both regions, Discomfort Index (DI) differed significantly. The difference refers to the fact that Pohang is strongly affected by the high heat capacity effect and the supply of water vapor from the sea.

Recently, summer high temperature events caused by climate change and urban heat island phenomenon have become a serious social problem around the world. Urban areas have low albedo and huge heat storage, resulting in higher temperatures and longer lasting characteristics. To effectively consider the urban heat island measures, it is important to quantitatively grasp the impact of urban high temperatures on the society. Until now, the study of urban heat island phenomenon had been carried out focusing only on the effects of urban high temperature on human health (such as heat stroke and sleep disturbance). In this study, we focus on the effect of urban heat island phenomenon on air pollution. In particular, the relationship between high temperature phenomena in urban areas during summer and the concentration of photochemical oxidant is investigated. High concentrations of ozone during summer are confirmed to coincide with a day when the causative substances (NO2,VOCs) are high in urban areas during the early morning hours. Further, it is noted that the night urban heat island intensity is large.. Finally, although the concentration of other air pollutants has been decreasing in the long term, the concentration of photochemical oxidant gradually increases in Daegu.