Stroke can cause leg weakness, sensory abnormalities, and balance disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of elastic taping on postural sway in patients with stroke. This study randomly applied elastic taping to 20 patients with stroke in two ways. The center of pressure (COP) distribution was measured before and after the elastic taping. The measurement variables were COP area and length, and measurements were performed immediately after taping. The elastic taping on tibialis anterior muscle showed a significant decrease in COP area and length compared to that without elastic taping. The elastic taping on gastrocnemius muscles showed a significant decrease in COP area and length compared to that without elastic taping. There was no significant difference in COP area and length between the elastic taping on tibialis anterior muscle and gastrocnemius muscles. Our results suggested that applying elastic taping on the ankle joints is effective in decreasing postural sway after in patients with stroke.

In Sri Lanka, the shoulder in asphalt pavements has been constructed using the materials transported from borrow pit in the iRoad Project due to the low quality of in-situ soils. After excavating 150~200mm thick and 500mm wide shoulder area, the borrow pit materials are placed and compacted according to specifications. The excavated in-situ soils are dumped in designated location. It is estimated that this process of shoulder construction is not economical due to high material transportation cost and can also induce the environmental issues by disposal of in-situ soils. It can also cause distresses such as surface rutting and edge drop-off in soft shoulder section due to bearing capacity failure and off-tracking of vehicle. The heavy rainfall in Sri Lanka can induce severe erosion problem when using the soft shoulder. To improve the strength and durability of pavement shoulders in the iRoad Project, the soil stabilization will be a good alternative to solve the above mentioned problems. The use of in-situ soils with addition of soil stabilizer enables to reduce the construction cost of shoulder section and mitigate the environment issues. The objective of this task is to review the application of soil stabilization method for soft shoulder construction in the iRoad Project. Firstly, the quantitative analysis of soil strength improvement due to soil stabilization was done for soil samples collected from iRoad construction sites. Two types of soils were selected from iRoad Project sites and prepared for soil stabilization testing by the Road Development Authority. Secondly, the appropriate stabilizer was selected at given soil type based on test results. Three different stabilizers, ST-1, ST-2, and ST-3, produced in Korea were used for estimating soil strength improvements. Finally, the optimum stabilizer content was determined for improving shoulder performance. The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) test was conducted to evaluate the strength of stabilized soil samples in accordance with ASTM D 1633. The use of bottom ash as a stabilizer produced from power plant in Sri Lanka was also reviewed in this task.

Surgery for thyroid disease is becoming much more common, but in some specialized institutions, ENT surgeons have difficulty obtaining experience of parathyroid surgery. Parathyroid disease can be divided into parathyroid adenoma with hyperparathyroidism and secondary hyperparathyroidism due to chronic kidney disease. Parathyroid adenoma with hyperparathyroidism is the most common cause of hypercalcemia and usually presents as nonspecific symptoms, such as, general weakness, osteoporosis, gastrointestinal disorder, kidney stones, and/or neurological symptoms, and thus, diagnosis is often delayed. Patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism due to chronic kidney disease require parathyroidectomy 10 years after the onset of dialysis in 6-10% of cases even when continuously treated in a nephrology department. Here, the authors share their experiences of parathyroid surgery.

Ranula refers to mucous retention cyst or mucocele that develops on the oral floor and it appears most frequently among oral masses derived from salivary glands. Ranula that is extended into submandibular space or into other cervical spaces due to defective mylohyoid muscle is particularly called plunging ranula. Various types of treatments have been conducted for ranula: surgical treatments such as simple excision, marsupialization, and removal of sublingual gland; and sclerotherapy utilizing OK-432 (Picibanil) are being reported. We performed concurrent excision of ranula and sublingual gland through intraoral approach. This technique leaves no post-surgical scars and shows very low recurrence rate and incidence rate of complications. Therefore, in this study, we would like to analyze the treatment methods and results of our patients.

Salivary gland tumors are relatively rare. Their relative infrequency, and highly variable biologic behavior make some difficulty, but some features can be drawn regarding the incidence, pathology, and pattern of behavior of the various benign and malignant tumors of salivary glands. The present study aims to provide a clinical characteristics of salivary gland tumors. We analyzed retrospectively clinical features of the 80 patients. The most common site of both benign and malignant was parotid gland. The most common presenting symptoms was palpable mass. Histopathologically, the most common type was pleomorphic adenoma in benign tumor and mucoepidermoid carcinoma in malignant tumor.

Background: We evaluated the effect of ulinastatin on paw withdrawal threshold (PWT), IL-6, and IL-10 in SD rats after spinal nerve ligation (SNL). Methods: Group C received N/S and Group E received ulinastatin IV for three days following SNL. PWT, IL-6, and IL-10 were measured on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th day. Results: Group E showed higher PWT compared to group C. IL-6 was lower in group E than in group C. No differences in IL-10 were observed between group C and group E. Conclusion: Ulinastatin increased the PWT and its effect appears to be involved with IL-6, not IL-10.

광나무(L. lucidum)는 ursolic acid와 oleanolic acid를 다량 포함하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 광나무 열매, 줄기, 잎 세 부위 추출물의 항주름 효능을 평가하였다. 광나무 추출물은 human skin fibroblasts에서 독성이 없을 뿐만 아니라 MMP-1과 MMP-2의 발현을 감소시키고 COL1A1의 발현을 증가시켰다. 이들 추출물은 모두 농도 의존적으로 COL1A1의 발현을 증가시켰으며 MMP-1과 MMP-2의 발현을 감소시켰다. 광나무 세 부위 추출물 가운데, 열매 부위에 가장 많은 양의 ursolic acid 와 oleanolic acid가 함유되어 있었으며 가장 강한 COL1A1 upregulating 효과와 MMP-1과 MMP-2 downregulating 효과를 나타냈다. 이처럼 항주름 효능을 보이는 광나무 열매 추출물은 기능성 화장품 소재로 개발될 수 있는 가능성이 있다.