Decreased aggressive care at the end of life among advanced cancer patients in the Republic of Korea: a nationwide study from 2012 to 2018.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the trends of aggressive care at the end-of-life (EoL) for patients with advanced cancer in Korea and to identify factors affecting such care analyzing nationwide data between 2012 to 2018.

Methods: This was a population-based, retrospective nationwide study. We used administrative data from the National Health Insurance Service and the Korea Central Cancer Registry to analyze 125,350 patients aged 20 years and above who died within one year of a stage IV cancer diagnosis between 2012 and 2018.

Roles of preoperative and early postoperative electrodiagnosis in brachial plexus injury patients undergoing nerve transfer operations: retrospective feasibility study.

Objective: The purpose of this retrospective observational study was to assess the feasibility of electrodiagnostic parameters, perioperatively, and to discover optimal values as prognostic factors for patients with brachial plexus injury undergoing nerve transfer operations.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 11 patients who underwent nerve transfer surgery. The patients underwent perioperative electrodiagnosis (EDX) before and approximately 6 months after surgery.

Morning Walk-Assisted Gait Training Improves Walking Ability and Balance in Patients with Ataxia: a Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study aimed to investigate walking ability and balance improvement of patients with ataxia caused by brain lesions after end-effector type robot (Morning Walk)-assisted gait training. This study randomly assigned 19 patients to one of two groups: 30 minutes of Morning Walk training with 1 hour of conventional physiotherapy (Morning Walk group; n = 10) or 1.5 hours of conventional physiotherapy (Control group; n = 9).

Prognostic Factors of Quantitative Lymphoscintigraphic Findings in Patients with Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema.

To evaluate the usefulness of quantitative findings of pretherapy lymphoscintigraphy in predicting the effects of complex decongestive therapy (CDT) in patients with upper extremity lymphedema after breast cancer treatment. We retrospectively analyzed patients with unilateral breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) who underwent pretherapy lymphoscintigraphy and completed 2 weeks of CDT. A total of 18 patients with unilateral BCRL clinical stage II underwent 30-minute sessions of CDT five times per week for 2 weeks.

Effects of Therapeutic Horseback Riding on Cognition and Language in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder or Intellectual Disability: A Preliminary Study.

Objective: To investigate if therapeutic horseback riding (THR) can improve language and cognitive function in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual disability (ID).

Methods: We conducted a prospective case-control study on children diagnosed with ASD or ID. Eighteen and 11 children were enrolled for THR and control groups, respectively.

Association between metabolic syndrome and knee osteoarthritis: A cross-sectional nationwide survey study.

Objective: To investigate the association of metabolic syndrome with the development of knee osteoarthritis.

Design: Cross-sectional nationwide survey study.

Subjects: Data obtained from the 2010-2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Influence of the type of occupation on osteoarthritis of the knee in men: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010-2012.

Objectives: We investigated the influence of different types of lifetime occupation on knee osteoarthritis (OA) and pain based on a nationwide survey in Korea.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2010 to 2012. Men ≥50 years old were divided into four occupational groups: white-collar (WC) workers, pink-collar (PC) workers, blue-collar (BC) workers, and agribusiness and low-level (AL) workers.

Reference values of bioelectrical impedance analysis for detecting breast cancer-related lymphedema.

Secondary lymphedema is a chronic debilitating lifelong complication and early diagnosis is crucial. The Inbody 720, which is widely used, has no universal index of diagnostic criteria for test results. We aim to determine the normal range, cutoff values, and mean + standard deviation values of extracellular fluid (ECF) and the single frequency bioimpedance (SFBIA) ratios for the diagnosis of lymphedema and suggest the usefulness of these values for detecting lymphedema.

Influence of Occupation on Sarcopenia, Sarcopenic Obesity, and Metabolic Syndrome in Men Over 65 Years of Age.

Objective: To investigate the association between sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity (SO), metabolic syndrome (MetS), and occupational history.

Methods: Using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, men more than or equal to 65 years of age (n = 679) were grouped according to occupation.

Results: Mean skeletal muscle mass index was higher and mean body fat mass was lower in agribusiness and low-level (AL) workers than white-collar (WC), blue-collar (BC), and pink-collar (PC) workers.

Direct observation of dynamic mechanical regulation of DNA condensation by environmental stimuli.

Gene delivery is a promising way to treat hereditary diseases and cancer; however, there is little understanding of DNA:carrier complex mechanical properties, which may be critical for the protection and release of nucleic acids. We applied optical tweezers to directly measure single-molecule mechanical properties of DNA condensed using 19-mer poly-L-lysine (PLL) or branched histidine-lysine (HK) peptides. Force-extension profiles indicate that both carriers condense DNA actively, showing force plateaus during stretching and relaxation cycles.