Reliability analysis of the Korean version of the trunk control measurement scale in cerebral palsy.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to translate the Trunk Control Measurement Scale into a Korean version and to analyze the intra- and inter-rater reliability. [Subjects and Methods] Fifteen children with spastic cerebral palsy and four physical therapists with over 10 years of clinical experience participated in this study. A Korean-American physical therapist translated the trunk control measurement scale from English into a Korean version. Four physical therapists viewed the video data of 15 children and scored each child's trunk control measurement scale performance on seven separate days. Four testers analyzed the test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability using the intra-class correlation coefficient. [Results] Intra-class correlation coefficients for test-retest and inter-rater reliability for the Korean trunk control measurement scale showed significantly high reliability in all testers and sublevels. [Conclusion] The Korean version of the measurement scale is a reliable and suitable instrument for assessing trunk control in individuals with cerebral palsy in Korea.

Toward redesigning the PEG surface of nanocarriers for tumor targeting: impact of inner functionalities on size, charge, multivalent binding, and biodistribution.

Achieving accurate and efficacious tumor targeting with minimal off-target effects is of paramount importance in designing diagnostic and therapeutic agents for cancer. In this respect, nanocarriers have gained enormous popularity because of their attainable multifunctional features, as well as tumor-targeting potential by extravasation. However, once administered into the bloodstream, nanocarriers face various in vivo obstacles that may significantly impair their performance needed for clinical translation. Herein, we demonstrate a strategy to enhance tumor-targeting efficiency by embedding functionalities in the interior region of partially PEGylated nanocarriers (ca. 10 nm in diameter), intended for active or passive targeting. The cooperative impact of these topologically inner functional groups (IFGs) was marked: enhancements of >100-fold in IC50in vitro (e.g., a high-avidity ligand with cationic IFGs) and >2-fold in tumor accumulation at 2 h post-injection in vivo (e.g., a high-avidity ligand with anionic IFGs), both against the fully PEGylated counterpart. Analogous to allosteric modulators, properly employed IFGs may substantially improve the process of effectively directing nanocarriers to tumors, which is otherwise solely dependent on avidity or extravasation.

High-performance dendritic contrast agents for X-ray computed tomography imaging using potent tetraiodobenzene derivatives.

The use of computed tomography (CT) for vascular imaging is critical in medical emergencies requiring urgent diagnostic decisions, such as cerebral ischemia and many cardiovascular diseases. Small-molecule iodinated contrast media are often injected intravenously as radiopaque agents during CT imaging to achieve high contrast enhancement of vascular systems. The rapid excretion rate of these agents is overcome by injecting a significantly high dose of iodine, which can have serious side effects. Here we report a simple method to prepare blood-pool contrast agents for CT based on dendrimers for the first time using tetraiodobenzene derivatives as potent radiopaque moieties. Excellent in vivo safety has been demonstrated for these small (13-22nm) unimolecular water-soluble dendritic contrast agents, which exhibit high contrast enhancement in the blood-pool and effectively extend their blood half-lives. Our method is applicable to virtually any scaffold with suitable surface groups and may fulfill the current need for safer, next-generation iodinated CT contrast agents.

The effect of modified bridge exercise on balance ability of stroke patients.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to verify the effects of a modified bridging exercise on stroke patients with improvement in weight bearing on the affected side in standing and static balancing ability. [Subjects] Thirty patients who had a stroke were randomly allocated into a supine bridge exercise group (SBG, n=10), a supine bridge exercise on a TOGU balance pad group (SBTG, n=10), and a unilateral bridge exercise group (UBG, n=10). [Methods] The SBG patients underwent supine bridge exercise, the SBTG patients underwent supine bridge exercise with a TOGU balance pad, and the UBG patients underwent unilateral bridge exercise. All groups received 20 minutes of training per day, five times per week, for four weeks. [Results] All groups showed significant changes in weight bearing in a standing position after the intervention. The SBTG and UBG groups showed significant changes in balance ability. [Conclusion] According to the results of this study, bridge exercise was effective in improving weight bearing in a standing position and improving balance on stroke patients. The bridge exercise with a TOGU balance pad and the unilateral bridge exercise were especially more effective in anterior, posterior length in limit of stability following on standing.

How many high risk korean patients with osteopenia could overlook treatment eligibility?

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of high risk patient with osteopenia requiring pharmacologic treatment and investigate the difference of 10-year fracture probability whether bone mineral density (BMD) include or not in Korean FRAX model. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Many people with the fracture have osteopenia rather than osteoporosis, and BMD alone could be considered as a chance to prevent fracture. METHODS: Three hundred sixty-nine patients who was diagnosed as osteopenia were divided into two groups according to age (group 1, under 65 years; group 2, over 65 years), and 10-year fracture probabilities were calculated by FRAX algorithm with and without femur neck T-score. RESULTS: The high risk patients of the fracture who had above 3% of 10-year hip fracture probability were 15 cases in group 1 and 121 cases in group 2. In 193 patients of group 1, the mean 10-year fracture probability with BMD was significantly higher than the results without BMD (hip fracture: p=0.04, major osteoporotic fracture: p=0.01). Unlike the results of the group 1, the mean 10-year fracture probability without BMD was significantly higher than the results with BMD in 176 patients of group 2 (hip fracture: p=0.01, major osteoporotic fracture: p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Total of 136 cases (36.8%) as a high risk of the fracture with osteopenia could be overlooked treatment eligibility in Korean. The Korean FRAX model without BMD could be effective in predicting fracture risk especially in the individuals who were over 65 years.