Efficacy and Safety of Korean Herbal Medicine for Patients with Post-Accident Syndrome, Persistent after Acute Phase: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.

This is a pragmatic, two-armed, parallel, single-center, randomized controlled clinical trial for comparative evaluation between the effectiveness of integrated Korean medicine (IKM) and herbal medicine treatment with that of IKM monotherapy (control) for post-accident syndrome persistent after the acute phase. Participants were randomized into Herbal Medicine (HM, n = 20) and Control groups (n = 20) to receive the allocated treatment of 1-3 sessions/week for 4 weeks. Intention-to-treat analysis was conducted. The Difference of Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) change of overall post-accident syndromes from baseline to week 5 for the two groups was 1.78 (95% CI: 1.08-2.48; p < 0.001). Regarding secondary outcomes, a significant decrease compared to the baseline values was confirmed for NRS of musculoskeletal, neurological, psychiatric complaints and general symptoms of post-accident syndromes. In a survival analysis based on the recovery criteria of "patients with a reduction in the NRS of overall post-accident syndromes of ≥50%," the HM group showed a shorter time to recovery than the control group during the 17-week study period (p < 0.001 by the log-rank test). IKM combined with herbal medicine treatment significantly improved the quality of life by relieving somatic pain and alleviating the overall post-accident syndrome persistent after the acute phase; this effect was maintained for at least 17 weeks.

Long-Term Follow-Up of Patients with Neck Pain Associated with Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament Treated with Integrative Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Retrospective Analysis and Questionnaire Survey.

Purpose: Integrative Korean medicine treatment (KMT) is a conservative treatment approach for the ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) in Korea; nonetheless, relevant studies focusing on KMT for OPLL are lacking. A multicenter retrospective analysis of patient medical records and a questionnaire survey were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of integrative KMT in patients with OPLL treated for neck pain. Patients and Methods: A total of 78 inpatients radiologically diagnosed with OPLL and treated for neck pain at four Korean medicine hospitals from April 1, 2016, to December 31, 2019, were enrolled. The primary index was an improvement in the numeric rating scale (NRS) score for neck pain, whereas the secondary outcome indices were improvements in the NRS score for arm pain, neck disability index (NDI) score, and EuroQol 5-dimension 5-level (EQ-5D-5L) score. Results: At discharge, the NRS score for neck pain, NRS score for arm pain, and NDI score decreased by 2.47 (95% confidence interval [CI], -2.81 to -2.14), 1.32 (95% CI, -1.73 to -0.91), and 16.02 (95% CI, -18.89 to -13.15), respectively, as compared with the scores at admission (p < 0.001). The EQ-5D-5L score increased by 0.12 (95% CI, 0.09 to 0.16) as compared with the score at admission (p < 0.001). This trend was also evident during follow-up. With respect to Patient Global Impression of Change evaluation, 33 (61.1%) patients claimed to have very much improved, whereas 17 (31.5%) patients reported to have much improved. Conclusion: Inpatients with OPLL who received integrative KMT showed improvements in neck pain, arm pain, the NDI, and quality of life, which were retained throughout the follow-up period.

Intensive Motion Style Acupuncture Treatment (MSAT) Is Effective for Patients with Acute Whiplash Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

In this single-center, parallel, randomized controlled trial, we aim to examine the effects and safety of motion style acupuncture treatment (MSAT; a combination of acupuncture and Doin therapy) on pain reduction and functional improvement in patients with whiplash-associated disorders (WADs). Ninety-seven patients with cervical pain admitted to the Bucheon Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, South Korea, due to acute whiplash injury were treated with integrative Korean medicine (IKM) with (MSAT group, 48 patients) or without (control group, 49 patients) an additional 3-day MSAT during hospitalization (5-14 days) and followed-up for 90 days. The mean numeric rating scale (NRS) scores of the MSAT and control groups at baseline were 5.67 (95% confidence interval (CI), 5.33, 6.01) and 5.44 (95% CI, 5.06, 5.82), respectively, and on day 5, 3.55 (95% CI, 3.04, 4.06) and 4.59 (95% CI, 4.10-5.07), respectively. The NRS change difference between the groups was -1.07 (95% CI, -1.76, -0.37). The rate of recovery of neck pain (NRS score change ≥ 2 points) was significantly faster in the MSAT than in the control group (log-rank test p = 0.0055). IKM treatment combined with MSAT may be effective in reducing the pain and improving the range of motion in patients with WADs.

Aggregation induced emission of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) derivatives for highly fluorescent red films.

A large number of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) compounds showing aggregation induced emission (AIE) have been reported in the past few years. However, although DPP compounds exhibited AIE and excellent luminescence properties, their luminescence properties in solid or film states were not much focused on. Here we synthesized and characterized a series of DPP compounds with triphenylamine (TPA) moieties to investigate the AIE properties in the solid film state depending on the functional groups (TPA, BTPA, and MTPA) attached to the TPA moieties. T2 and D2 thin films showed excellent fluorescence quantum yields of 31% and 26%, respectively, compared to an M2 thin film (9%). The restriction of an intramolecular rotation process could inhibit the aggregation induced quenching process and play a key role in achieving highly fluorescent molecules in the solid state.

Simple modification of basic dyes with bulky &symmetric WCAs for improving their solubilities in organic solvents without color change.

A simple and easy solubility enhancement of basic dyes was performed with bulky and symmetric weakly coordinating anions (WCAs). The WCAs decreased the ionic character of the dyes by broadening the partial charge distribution and causing a screening effect on the ionic bonding. This new modification with WCAs has advantages in that it has no influence on the optical properties of the dyes. The solubilities of unmodified and modified dyes were tested in several organic solvents. X-ray powder diffraction patterns of the dyes were measured. Color films were prepared with the dyes and their color loci were analyzed to evaluate the optical properties. By the modification with WCAs, commercial basic dyes showed sufficient solubilities for be applied to various applications while preserving their superior optical properties.

Comparison between organic sensitizers containing stilbene and azo group as bridging unit for dye sensitized solar cells.

While azo dyes have been widely used in dye industry, the azo dyes have been seldom applied as sensitizers to dye sensitized solar cells. In this study, new metal-free organic sensitizers, ST and AZ, which are same structures except bridging units, were synthesized and evaluated. ST containing stilbene as bridging unit gave higher energy conversion efficiency than AZ containing azo group as bridging unit. As a result of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, ST displayed more localized frontier molecular orbitals at lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) states than AZ.

Influence of solvent and bridge structure in alkylthio-substituted triphenylamine dyes on the photovoltaic properties of dye-sensitized solar cells.

Three new triphenylamine dyes that contain alkylthio-substituted thiophenes with a low bandgap as a π-conjugated bridge unit were designed and synthesized for organic dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The effects of the structural differences in terms of the position, number, and shape of the alkylthio substituents in the thiophene bridge on the photophysical properties of the dye and the photovoltaic performance of the DSSC were investigated. The introduction of an alkylthio substituent at the 3-position of thiophene led to a decrease in the degree of redshift and the value of the molar extinction coefficient of the charge-transfer band, and the substituent with a bridged structure led to a larger redshift than that of the open-chain structure. The introduction of bulky and hydrophobic side chains decreased the short-circuit photocurrent (J(sc)), which was caused by the reduced amount of dye adsorbed on TiO(2). This resulted in a decrease in the overall conversion efficiency (η), even though it could improve the open-circuit voltage (V(oc)) due to the retardation of charge recombination. Furthermore, the change in solvents for TiO(2) sensitization had a critical effect on the performance of the resulting DSSCs due to the different amounts of dye adsorbed. Based on the optimized dye bath and molecular structure, the ethylene dithio-substituted dye (ATT3) showed a prominent solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 5.20%.