Despite advancements in therapeutic approaches, radiotherapy and cisplatin-based chemotherapy remain primary noninvasive treatments for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Moreover, the 5-year survival rate for patients with OSCC has remained almost unchanged for several decades, and many side effects of chemotherapy still exist. In this study, three-dimensional (3D) models of OSCC were established using fibroblasts, and the efficacy of various biological inhibitors was evaluated. A culture of epithelial cells with two types of fibroblasts (hTERT-hNOFs and cancer-associated fibroblasts) within a type I collagen matrix resulted in the formation of a continuous layer of tightly packed cells compared to models without fibroblasts. Furthermore, the effects of biological chemicals, including Y27632, latrunculin A, and verteporfin, on these models were investigated. The stratified formation of the epithelial layer and invasion in OSCC 3D-culture models were effectively inhibited by verteporfin, whereas invasion was weakly inhibited by Y27632 and latrunculin. Collectively, the developed OSCC 3D-culture models established with fibroblasts demonstrated the potential for drug screening, with verteporfin showing promising efficacy.

This study was designed to optimize ethanol extraction process of unfertilized corn silk (UCS) to maximize phytochemical contents and bioactivities. The response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD) was employed to obtain the optimal extraction conditions. The influence of ethanol concentration, extraction temperature and extraction time on total polyphenol contents, total flavonoid contents, maysin contents, 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) radical scavenging activities and tyrosinase inhibition were analyzed. For all dependable variables, the most significant factor was ethanol concentration followed by extraction temperature and extraction time. The following optimum conditions were determined by simultaneous optimization of several responses with the Derringer’s desirability function using the numerical optimization function of the Design-Expert program: ethanol concentration 80.45%, extraction temperature 53.49°C, and extraction time 4.95 h. Under these conditions, the predicted values of total polyphenol contents, total flavonoid contents, maysin contents, DPPH radical scavenging activity and tyrosinase inhibition were 2758.74 μg GAE/g dried sample, 1520.81 μg QUE/g dried sample, 810.26 mg/100g dried sample, 56.86% and 43.49%, respectively, and the overall desirability (D) was 0.74.

This study aims to identify the effect of home physical therapy on patients who left the hospital after total knee arthroplasty, compared to the Daily living group, when it was applied to them, under the guidance of physical therapists. As research subjects, 20 patients that were scheduled to leave the hospital after unilateral total knee arthroplasty, were chosen, and they were randomly divided into a home physical therapy group(10 patients) and an Daily living group(10 patients) in order to conduct an experiment. During the 4-week research, home physical therapy was offered for 40 mins once for 5 days a week, and muscular strength, gait components were measured. For muscular strength, quadriceps muscle strength, hamstring muscle strength were measured, and as gait components, endurance, speed, step time, single-limb support were analysed. For this experiment, pre- and post-measurement were performed, and collected data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 18.0 statistical program. From the analysis of data, the following study results were obtained. Home physical therapy group and Daily living group both showed significant improvements in quadriceps muscle strength, hamstring muscle strength, and quadriceps muscle strength, hamstring muscle strength of home physical therapy group more significantly improved than Daily living group's. In relation to gait components, gait endurance, gait speed, step time significantly improved in both of home physical therapy group and Daily living group, whereas home physical therapy group only showed significant improvements in single-limp support. According to the comparison between two groups, gait speed, single-limp support and step time improved more significantly in the home physical therapy group than in the Daily living group. In conclusion, positive results were revealed in both home physical therapy group and Daily living group, with regard to muscular recovery of lower limbs of patients discharged from the hospital after total knee arthroplasty and walking, but considering the comparison results between two groups, it seems that applying home physical therapy is more effective than maintaining a daily life.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of chronic shoulder pain on the muscle tone in trunk muscles. The study's subjects were 40 men and women in their 30 to 50s, which were divided into two groups. A chronic shoulder pain group consisted of 20 subjects who had been diagnosed with chronic shoulder pain by doctors, and a painless group consisted of 20 subjects who had experienced no such pain. An analysis was performed using electromyography on the muscle tone in the rectus abdominalis, external oblique, internal oblique, and erector spinae muscles under the same conditions between the two groups. The analysis results were as follows. The chronic shoulder pain group exhibited an overall high level of trunk muscle tone than the painless group, along with a statistically significant difference in the rectus abdominalis(p<.05). Moreover, the chronic shoulder pain group showed differences in the trunk muscle tone depending on the affected side. The chronic left shoulder pain group yielded higher levels of muscle tone in the right-side trunk muscles. In particular, the group revealed statistically significant differences in the rectus abdominalis and internal oblique(p<.05). The chronic right shoulder pain group exhibited higher levels of muscle tone in the left-side trunk muscles with a statistically significant difference in the internal oblique(p<.05). The above results suggested that chronic shoulder pain influences increases in the muscle tone in the trunk muscles on the opposite side to the affected shoulder.