• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2022

Purpose: Neonatal nurses are expected to have clinical competency to provide qualified and safe care for high-risk infants. An educational intervention to enhance nurses' clinical competence is often a priority in the nursing field. This study was conducted to explore nurses' perceived importance and performance confidence of nursing care activities in neonatal intensive care units. Methods: One hundred forty-one neonatal nurses from seven hospitals across South Korea participated in the online survey study. The scale of neonatal nursing care activity consisted of 8 subdomains including professional practice (assessment, diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation, education, research, and leadership). The Importance-Performance Matrix was used to analyze the importance of and confident performance in each of the nursing subdomains. Results: Both importance and performance confidence increased as nurses' age (p=.042 and p<.001) and clinical experience (p=.004 and p<.001). Participants scored relatively higher in importance and performance confidence in the professional practice subdomains (assessment, intervention, evaluation), but scored lower in the education and research subdomains. Conclusion: To provide evidence-based nursing care for high-risk infants in neonatal intensive care units, educational interventions should be developed to support nurses based on the findings of the research.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.147-162
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• 2022

Purpose: To design a prospective study on endovascular closure of congenital portosystemic shunts. The primary endpoint was to assess the safety of endovascular closure. The secondary endpoint was to evaluate the clinical, analytical and imaging outcomes of treatment. Methods: Fifteen patients (age range: 2 days to 21 years; 10 male) were referred to our center due to congenital portosystemic shunts. The following data were collected prior to treatment: age, sex, medical history, clinical and analytical data, urine trimethylaminuria, abdominal-US, and body-CT. The following data were collected at the time of intervention: anatomical and hemodynamic characteristics of the shunts, device used, and closure success. The following data were collected at various post-intervention time points: during hospital stay (to confirm shunt closure and detect complications) and at one year after (for clinical, analytical, and imaging purposes). Results: The treatment was successful in 12 participants, migration of the device was observed in two, while acute splanchnic thrombosis was observed in one. Off-label devices were used in attempting to close the side-to-side shunts, and success was achieved using Amplatzer™ Ductus-Occluder and Amplatzer™ Muscular-Vascular-Septal-Defect-Occluder. The main changes were: increased prothrombin activity (p=0.043); decreased AST, ALT, GGT, and bilirubin (p=0.007, p=0.056, p=0.036, p=0.013); thrombocytopenia resolution (p=0.131); expansion of portal veins (p=0.005); normalization of Doppler portal flow (100%); regression of liver nodules (p=0.001); ammonia normalization (p=0.003); and disappearance of trimethylaminuria (p=0.285). Conclusion: Endovascular closure is effective. Our results support the indication of endovascular closure for side-to-side shunts and for cases of congenital absence of portal vein.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.106-115
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• 2022

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has focused on the need for interprofessional education (IPE) to improve interprofessional collaboration competency and patient health outcomes. Accordingly, most European and North American medical colleges have established IPE for students. However, IPE learning activity in medical wards for the clinical experience of pharmacy students has not been fully reviewed in Korea. Therefore, this study aims to examine the current status of IPE learning activities in wards at tertiary and secondary hospitals in order to identify ways to improve the program. Methods: The official document of cooperation consists of six self-administered questions regarding IPE learning activities in wards. The preceptor's response in each hospital was evaluated. Results: Of the 22 hospitals, 9 tertiary hospitals and 12 secondary general hospitals responded. For the introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE), participating in intensive care (IC) was provided at one secondary general hospital (8.3%) and no tertiary hospital. Ward rounds with medical staff members were provided at two tertiary hospitals (22.2%) and one (8.3%) secondary general hospital. A major barrier to executing IPE was lack of rewards and incentives for the faculty and preceptors who participated in the program. Conclusion: In both tertiary hospitals and secondary general hospitals, pharmacy students have limited exposure to IPE learning activities in wards at hospital, and IPPE at most hospitals was carried out in pharmacy settings only. This study suggests that it is necessary for the hospitals to improve and support IPE learning activities in wards in order to improve learners' competency.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2022

Jeju is the largest island in Korea and one of its key tourist attractions. As the number of foreign tourists steadily increases, so does the number of injuries incurred there. Accordingly, this study aimed to describe and compare the characteristics of injuries suffered by foreign tourists versus those of domestic tourists. As a cross-sectional study of a retrospective medical record survey, the study was conducted with reference to the Jeju Injury Surveillance System from the 11-year period of January 2008 to December 2018. The following factors were investigated: demographic data, mechanism of injury, place of occurrence, activity when injured, patient outcome, and mortality. A total of 92,095 injured Jeju Island visitors was recorded during this time, a number that included 88,050 Koreans and 4,045 foreigners. The gender ratio showed similar patterns between the two groups and there were no significant age differences. In both groups, the most common mechanism of injury was collisions/cuts. Also, more foreigners experienced falls than Koreans. Regarding the location, Koreans had the most road accidents, while foreigners were most likely to be injured at outdoor locations, such as seas and rivers. Furthermore, more foreigners experienced severe injuries requiring hospitalization. Notably, this study showed the differences in injury between foreign and Korean tourists visiting Jeju Island and its findings lend support to targeted safety promotion programs.

• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.338-351
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• 2003

UV radiation is the most dangerous stress factor among permanent environmental impacts on human skin. Consequences of UV exposure are aberrant tissue architecture, alterations in skin cells including functional changes. Nowadays new kinds of outdoor leisure-time activities and changing environmental conditions make the question of sun protection more important than ever. It is necessary to recognize that self-confident consumers do not consider to change their way of life, they demand modern solutions on the basis of new scientific developments. In the past one fundamental principle of cosmetics was the use of physical and organic filter systems against damaging UV-rays. Today new research results demonstrate that natural protecting cell mechanisms can be activated. Suitable biological actives strongly support the protection function not from the surface but from the inside of the cell. A soy seed preparation (SSP) was proven to stimulate natural skin protective functions. The major functions are an increased energy level and the prevention of DNA damage. These functions can I be defined as biological UV protection. The tumor suppressor protein p53 plays a key role in the regulation of DNA repair. p53 must be transferred into the phosphorylated form to work as transcription factor for genes which are regulating the cell cycle or organizing DNA repair. A pretreatment with SSP increases the phosphorylation rate of p53 of chronically UV-irradiated human keratinocytes significantly. According to the same test procedure SSP induces a dramatic increase in the expression of the tumor suppressor protein p14$^{ARF}$ that is supporting the p53 activity by blocking the antagonist of p53, the oncoprotein Mdm2. Mdm2, a ubiquitin E3-ligase, downregulates p53 and at the same time it prevents phosphorylation of p53. The positive influence of the tumor suppressor proteins explains the stimulation of DNA repair and prevention of sunburn cell formation by SSP, which was proven in cell culture experiments. In vivo the increased skin tolerance against UV irradiation by SSP could be confirmed too. We have assumed, that an increased repair potential provides full cell functionality.y.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.116-126
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• 2023

Mainly due to the slanted focus on the mechanism and regulation of neuronal aging, research on astrocyte aging and its modulation during brain aging is scarce. In this study, we established aged astrocyte culture model by long-term culturing. Cellular senescence was confirmed through SA-β-gal staining as well as through the examination of morphological, molecular, and functional markers. RNA sequencing and functional analysis of astrocytes were performed to further investigate the detailed characteristics of the aged astrocyte model. Along with aged phenotypes, decreased astrocytic proliferation, migration, mitochondrial energetic function and support for neuronal survival and differentiation has been observed in aged astrocytes. In addition, increased expression of cytokines and chemokine-related factors including plasminogen activator inhibitor -1 (PAI-1) was observed in aged astrocytes. Using the RNA sequencing results, we searched potential drugs that can normalize the dysregulated gene expression pattern observed in long-term cultured aged astrocytes. Among several candidates, minoxidil, a pyrimidine-derived anti-hypertensive and anti-pattern hair loss drug, normalized the increased number of SA-β-gal positive cells and nuclear size in aged astrocytes. In addition, minoxidil restored up-regulated activity of PAI-1 and increased mitochondrial superoxide production in aged astrocytes. We concluded that long term culture of astrocytes can be used as a reliable model for the study of astrocyte senescence and minoxidil can be a plausible candidate for the regulation of brain aging.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 2022

Backgrounds : Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) in the United States have drawn attention as one of the future models of Korean Medicine doctors in Korea in that they have their own fields of care and therapies that distinguish them from medical doctor (M.D.), but are also able to carry out the treatment of general doctors. By analyzing D.O.'s specialization strategy, this study intends to preview points for establishing the future role of Korean Medicine doctors. Methods : We searched books, research papers, reports, conference presentations, and media articles, and chronologically classified and organized the collected data. In addition, the latest update information on related institutions' web pages and expert opinions released were also reviewed. Results : The D.O. emerged as a form of doctor in alternative medicine, however it rapidly turned to an M.D. substitute during the pandemic of the 1910s and World War II in the 1940s. Through the American Osteopathic Association (AOA)'s organizational activity, curriculum specialization, research development, and financial support, D.O. now has secured the status of M.D. in 50 states and federal law in the US. It has its own and exclusive full practice rights, capable of prescribing drugs and practicing surgery, as well as manual therapy. Beginning in July 2020, M.D.-D.O. achieved the full integration-unification of the professional training and residency program. Conclusions : In order to introduce the D.O. model to Korean Medicine system, it is necessary to strengthen biomedicine in the curriculum, and significantly expand the educational infrastructure and faculty manpower.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.400-408
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• 2009

Simulation applications for analyzing the productivity of construction operations at operation level and project schedules at project level are crucial methods in project management. The application at two different levels should be very tightly linked to each other in practice. However, appropriate integration at the levels is not achieved in that existing systems do not support to integrate operation models into a schedule model. This paper presents a new approach named to Discrete Event Simulation-Nesting modeling approach, which supports not only productivity analysis at operation level but also schedule management at a project level. The system developed by the authors allows creating operation models at the operation level, maintaining them in operation model library, executing sensitivity analysis to find the behaviors of the operation models when different combination of resources are used as existing DES systems do. On top of the conventional functions, the new system facilitates to find the optimum solution of resource combinations which satisfy the user's interest by computing the hourly productivity and the hourly cost of the operation. By drag-and-dropping an operation model kept in the operation model library, the operation models are integrated into an activity of the schedule model. When a complete schedule model is established by nesting operation models into the schedule model, stochastic simulation based scheduling is executed. A case study is presented to demonstrate the new simulation system and verify the validity of the system.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.547-559
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to identify the influencing factors of Korean adolescents' consumption of convenience foods based on a bio-psycho-social model. Data were obtained from the 15th (2019) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which involved a nationwide representative sample of 57,303 middle- and high-school students. As a result of the study, gender, grade, and atopic dermatitis were biological factors of convenience food intake in adolescents. The psychological factors were perceived stress level, experience of depression, suicidal ideation, subjective sleep sufficiency, perceived health status, physical activity, and current smoking and drinking. And nutrition and meal education, breakfast frequency, subjective academic achievement, subjective economic status, and family living together were sociological factors that affected adolescents' convenience food intake experience. Therefore, it is necessary to provide effective nutrition education programs and provide emotional support to manage healthy eating habits of adolescents. In addition, family members of adolescents should be included in education.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.396-407
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess insomnia and the quality of sleep, investigate the concordance between objective and self-report sleep patterns, and identify physiological, psychological, and situational factors influencing insomnia and sleep quality among firefighters. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with 103 firefighters in Korea. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0. Descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, and hierarchical logistic regression analysis were performed. Results: Insomnia was found in 66 (64.1 %) of the total subjects, and the average quality of sleep (PSQI) was 5.65 (SD=2.57). Total sleep time (401.00 minutes) and sleep latency (21.60 minutes) measured using self-reported scales were longer than the ones measured using objective measurements by approximately 48.70 and 17.10 minutes, respectively. Factors related to insomnia included the role as a paramedic (OR=4.28, 95% CI: 1.02~17.92), anxiety (OR=1.12, 95% CI: 1.01~1.24), and sedentary lifestyle (OR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.78~0.94), and factors related to sleep quality were physical illness status (OR=5.17, 95% CI: 1.53~17.51) and social support (OR=0.86, 95% CI: 0.78~0.95). Conclusion: The results show a high prevalence of insomnia, poor quality of sleep and the discrepancy between objective and subjective sleep patterns among firefighters. To promote sleep quality and health, early screening and treatment of anxiety and physical illness are required. It is necessary to conduct further studies examining the relationship between physical activity level and sleep.