• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제23권6호
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• pp.43.1-43.10
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• 2023

The continuous emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants has provided insights for updating current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. We examined the neutralizing activity of Abs induced by a BA.4/5-containing bivalent mRNA vaccine against Omicron subvariants BN.1 and XBB.1.5. We recruited 40 individuals who had received a monovalent COVID-19 booster dose after a primary series of COVID-19 vaccinations and will be vaccinated with a BA.4/5-containing bivalent vaccine. Sera were collected before vaccination, one month after, and three months after a bivalent booster. Neutralizing Ab (nAb) titers were measured against ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron subvariants BA.5, BN.1, and XBB.1.5. BA.4/5-containing bivalent vaccination significantly boosted nAb levels against both ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron subvariants. Participants with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection had higher nAb titers against all examined strains than the infection-naïve group. NAb titers against BN.1 and XBB.1.5 were lower than those against the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and BA.5 strains. These results suggest that COVID-19 vaccinations specifically targeting emerging Omicron subvariants, such as XBB.1.5, may be required to ensure better protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in high-risk groups.

• 한국지리정보학회지
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.18-29
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• 2022

본 연구의 목적은 2020년 1월부터 8월까지 발생한 COVID-19 감염증 발생의 공간적 확산의 패턴을 파악하고 영향요인을 추정하고자 하는 것이다. 우리나라 시·군·구별 COVID-19 확진자를 대상으로 탐색적 공간자료분석과 공간회귀모형을 활용하여 분석하였다. 분석의 결과 COVID-19는 기존에 논의되던 감염병 출현의 요인이었던 숙주와 환경요인이 큰 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타나지 않았으며 공간적으로 인접한 지역과의 관계가 높게 나타났다. 특히 신종 감염병인 4군 감염병의 발생 패턴과 밀접한 관련이 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이 연구의 결과는 COVID-19가 새로운 감염병임에도 불구하고 기존에 발생하였던 신종 감염병의 발생과 전혀 다른 패턴이 아니라는 점을 보여준다. 이는 신종 감염병을 효과적으로 통제하기 위해서 과거 새로운 감염병이 출현하였던 공간의 특성을 지속적으로 관리해야 함을 의미한다.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제22권9호
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• pp.7-14
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• 2022

COVID-19 has caused a global disturbance, increased anxiety, and panic, eliciting diverse reactions. While its cure has not been discovered, new infection cases and fatalities are being recorded daily. The focus of the present study was to analyze the reaction of gifted undergraduate students on social media during the quarantine period of the COVID-19. A special group of gifted students, who joined the program of attracting and nurturing talents at the University of Jeddah, University students as were the target sample of this study. To analyze online reactions during the pandemic; the choice of university students was arrived at as they are perceived to be gifted academically. Hence, the analysis of the impacts on their behavior on social media use is imperative. This study presented accurate and consistent data on the effects of social media using Twitter platforms on gifted students during the quarantine occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. The behavior of learners due to during the use of social media was extensively explored and results analyzed. The study was carried out between April and May 2020 (quarantine period in Saudi Arabia) to establish whether the online behavior of gifted students reflects positive or negative feelings. The methods used in conducting this study the research were online interviews and scraping participants' Twitter accounts (where most of the online activities and studies take place). The study employed the Activity theory to analyze the behavior of gifted students on social media. The sample size used was 60 students, and the analysis of their behavior was based on Activity theory Overall, the results showed proactive, positive behavior for coping with a challenging situation, educating society, and entertaining. Finally, this study recommends investing in gifted students due to their valuable problem-solving skills that can help handle global pandemics efficiently.

• 아태비즈니스연구
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.145-159
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• 2021

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to identify the preceding factors that form pro-social tourism behavior intent in a pendemic situation and to present theoretical and practical implications for the role of individuals for a safe tourism environment. Design/methodology/approach - This study conducted an analysis by collecting 420 valid questionnaires targeting citizens who have lived in Korea continuously for more than one year. For the analysis, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a structural equation model (SEM) were used, and a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) and a multi-group structural equation model (MSEM) were used to verify the difference by age group. Findings - First, cognitive and affective risk perception for Covid-19 had a significant (+) effect on the ascription of responsibility to tourists, and affective risk perception and ascription of responsibility had a significant (+) effect on personal norms. Second, personal norms have been shown to have a significant (+) influence on prosocial tourism behavior intention, and prosocial tourism behavior intention has a significant (+) influence on WTP on safety tourism. Research implications or Originality - Tourism behavior in a pendemic situation can affect the spread of infection. In this respect, this study attempted to confirm how moral norms affect pro-social tourism behavior from a personal point of view. In addition, we tried to present practical implications by identifying the impact of personal norms on willing to pay for a safe tourism environment.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.88-96
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• 2022

Widespread infectious diseases are a concern for workers working in confined spaces. However, there is no risk assessment index for the risk of infectious disease in the workplace. Therefore, we propose a simple but effective index model to assess the risk of infectious diseases in the workplace. The proposed model identifies the risk of each workplace through an evaluation sheet comprising the frequency and intensity of the infectious disease. The intensity of an infectious disease is generally governed by the density of workers, whereas frequency is the sum of physical-e nvironmental and human management factors. By multiplying intensity and frequency, the risk of the workplace is derived. Through the proposed model, we evaluate the risks of workers at 15 different work sites. The proposed model clearly reveals what should be improved to keep workers safe from infectious diseases and will be helpful in assessing the risk of contagious disease at the work place.

• 가정∙방문간호학회지
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.77-88
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to develop and assess the impact of an integrated infection control education program on the awareness, attitudes, and performance of infection control among caregivers in long-term care facilities. Methods: Participants were recruited from two long-term care facilities with 25 caregivers in both the experimental group and the control group. This study used non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental pre-post design. The effectiveness of a developed Integrated Infection Control Education Program was evaluated based on infection control awareness, attitudes, and performance. Data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 28.0 through descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Fisher's exact tests, and independent t-tests. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the degree of awareness (t=-5.00, p<.001), attitude (t=-4.91, p<.001), and performance (t=-6.66, p<.001) of infection control between the two groups. Conclusion: Given these results, the integrated infection control education program significantly improved infection control awareness, attitudes, and performance among caregivers in long-term care facilities. This study is noteworthy because it provided comprehensive education on infection control practices to caregivers in environments that are particularly susceptible to infections, especially following COVID-19. This educational program is actively utilized and validated in practice, it would enhance the infection control performance of caregivers, thereby reducing infection rates within facilities, shortening the length of stay for elderly residents in long term care facilities, and contributing to the reduction of healthcare costs.

• 가족자원경영과 정책
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.87-106
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• 2022

본 연구는 코로나19 팬데믹 이후의 두 시기(코로나19 팬데믹 직후와 코로나19 팬데믹 2년 후)의 일하는 방식, 지방 이주에 대한 관심, 생활만족도 등의 비교를 통해, 코로나19 팬데믹이 장기화되는 과정에서 사람들이 추구하는 새로운 라이프 스타일을 탐색하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 분석자료는 일본 내각부에서 코로나19 팬데믹 확산 직후(2020년 5월)부터 4차례에 걸쳐 실시한 『코로나19 영향에 의한 생활의식 및 행동의 변화에 관한 조사』 데이터이다. 제1회 조사 및 제4회 조사에 모두 응답한 응답자 중에서 20세 이상의 취업자를 대상으로 분석을 실시하였다. 분석 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 동경권 거주자가 코로나19 팬데믹 직후에 '텔레워크 중심' 일하는 방식을 경험한 비율은 36.1%로 전국의 응답과 비교해서 높다. 둘째, 이들은 텔레워크 중심의 일하는 방식을 경험한 사람과 유연근무를 경험한 사람이 지방 이주에 대해 매우 관심이 있다는 응답이 출근 중심으로 일한 사람보다 높은 것을 확인할 수 있다. 셋째, 텔레워크 경험자의 경우, 생활만족도가 코로나19 팬데믹 이전에 비해서 코로나19 팬데믹 직후에 감소했다가 코로나19 팬데믹 2년 후에는 코로나19 확산 이전보다도 높은 수준으로 향상된 것을 알 수 있다. 코로나19 팬데믹으로 인한 일하는 방식의 변화는 지방 이주를 촉진하면서 지역 활성화와 새로운 라이프 스타일을 모색하는 돌파구로서 역할을 기대해 볼 수 있다.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.319-327
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• 2023

Purpose: Patients with hematological malignancies are at an increased risk of severe infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, developing an adequate immune response after vaccination is difficult, especially in patients with lymphoid neoplasms. Since the long-term effects of the BNT162b2 vaccine are unclear, the humoral immune response 5 months after the two vaccinations in patients with hematological disorders was analyzed. Materials and Methods: Samples were collected from 96 patients vaccinated twice with BNT162b2 and treated with at least one line of an antitumor or immunosuppressive drug in our hospital from November 2021 to February 2022. Serum anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (anti-SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) antibody titers were analyzed. Patients were age- and sex-matched using propensity matching and compared with a healthy control group. Patients with serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 S antibodies were defined as 'responder' if >50 U/mL. The patients had B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL), multiple myeloma, chronic myeloid leukemia, etc. Results: Patients had significantly low antibody levels (median, 55.3 U/mL vs. 809.8 U/mL; p<0.001) and a significantly low response rate (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that patients with B-NHL, aged >72 years, were associated with a low response to vaccination. There were no significant differences between patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and healthy controls. Conclusion: Our study shows that patients with hematological disorders are at risk of developing severe COVID-19 infections because of low responsiveness to vaccination. Moreover, the rate of antibody positivity differed between the disease groups. Further studies are warranted to determine an appropriate preventive method for these patients, especially those with B-NHL.

• 한국재난정보학회 논문집
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.566-573
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• 2022

연구목적: 본 연구는 중동호흡기증후군(MERS) 및 코로나바이러스 감염증-19(코로나19)의 국내 유행 이후 늘어난 신종 감염병에 대한 두려움을 해소하기 위하여, 감염취약계층의 집단감염 위험이 있는 초등학교에서 공기살균기 적용에 따른 공기살균효과를 검증하고자 하였다. 연구방법: 서울시 소재의 초등학교의 교실 및 급식실, 화장실에 공기살균기를 각 1대씩 설치하고 공기살균기와 2m 떨어진 거리에서 표면 및 공기 시료를 채취하여 미설치 대조군과 비교하여 세균저감 효과를 분석하였다. 연구결과: 표면에서의 살균효과는 대조군 및 시험군 모두 2log CFU/cm²미만의 결과가 나왔으며, 대조군에 비해 시험군이 54~87% 저감효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 공기중에서의 살균효과는 공기살균기 설치 위치에 따라 살균능력이 차이 났으며, 벽면 설치는 대조군에 비해 최대 91%의 저감 효과를 보였으며, 중앙 설치는 최대 93%의 저감 효과를 보였다. 결론: 연구결과 상시적인 소독을 진행하는 초등학교에서 현재의 방역프로그램을 유지하는 한편 공기살균기의 적용하여 상시적인 공기살균을 병행하면 감염병 전파 방지에 상승효과를 볼 수 있을 것으로 보인다. 또한 공기살균기로의 공기유입이 원활할 수 있도록 하는 것이 바람직할 것으로 사료된다.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.94-101
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• 2024

목적: 전세계적으로 코로나19에 대한 사회적 거리두기의 일환으로 보육시설에 대한 폐쇄, 휴원 및 재개원 등 영유아 대상 보육관련 정책에 변화가 있었다. 본 논문에서는 서울시에서 코로나19로 확진 영유아를 대상으로 인구학적, 역학적 특성을 파악하고, 연관이 있는 요인에 대한 분석을 하고자 하였다. 방법: 2020년 3월부터 2021년 12월까지 서울시에서 코로나19로 확진된 만 5세 미만의 영유아를 대상으로 역학조사서 및 집단발생 관련 자료를 분석하였다. 결과: 서울시 코로나19 확진 영유아는 총 5,025명이었다. 유증상자는 2,720명(54.1%)이며, 주된 증상은 발열(1,941명, 71.4%)이었다. 전체 코로나19 확진 영유아 중 96.4%는 기저질환이 없었다. 시간연장(야간, 24시, 휴일 등) 보육운영시설 비율이 높을수록 보육시설 관련 영유아 확진 비율이 높았음을 확인하였다. 결론: 영유아들의 낮은 중증화율과 치명률을 고려한 '일상 진료 시스템'과 같은 효율적인 모니터링 시스템이 필요할 것이다. 또한 무조건적인 폐쇄적 접근이 아닌, 과학적 근거에 기반하고 사회성 발달 과제를 놓치지 않을 수 있는 '감염병으로부터 안전한 보육 정책 마련'이라는 적절한 중재가 필요할 것이다.