• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.566-573
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• 2022

Purpose: This study attempted to verify the effectiveness of the application of air sterilizers in elementary schools at risk of group infection among vulnerable groups in order to address fears of new infectious diseases that have increased since the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Coronavirus infection-19 (COVID-19). Method: One air sterilizer was installed in each classroom, cafeteria, and bathroom of an elementary school in Seoul, and surface and air samples were collected at a distance of 2m from the air sterilizer, and the bacterial reduction effect was analyzed compared to the uninstalled control group. Result: The sterilization effect on the surface was less than 2log CFU/cm² in both the control group and the test group, and the test group showed 54 to 87% less general bacterial colony formation than the control group. In addition, the sterilization effect in the air differed depending on the location of the air sterilizer, and the wall installation showed a reduction effect of up to 91% compared to the control group, and the central installation showed a reduction effect of up to 93%. Conclusion: As a result of the study, it is expected that the prevention of infectious diseases can be increased by maintaining the current quarantine program in elementary schools that conduct regular disinfection while applying air sterilizers. In addition, it is considered desirable to facilitate the inflow of air into the air sterilizer.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.84-90
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• 2023

Purpose: Infants aged ≤90 days with fever are susceptible to severe infections. This study aimed to analyze the clinical features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in this particular age group. Methods: Infants aged ≤90 days who were diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and hospitalized between March 1, 2020, and May 1, 2022 were included. Medical records of patients were retrospectively reviewed. Results: A total of 105 infants with COVID-19 were included; 27 (25.7%) neonates aged <28 days, and 48 (45.7%) and 30 (28.6%) infants aged 28-59 days and 60-90 days, respectively. Five (4.7%) patients remained asymptomatic and 68 (62.8%) were febrile, with a median fever duration of 2 days. The most common symptoms were respiratory including cough (66.6%), nasal stuffiness (51.4%), and rhinorrhea (40.9%). Blood cultures were performed in 10 infants but no organisms were detected. Cultures of bag-collected urine specimens from 8 infants were grown, resulting in positive growth for 2 without pyuria. Nine (8.6%) infants were treated with empirical antibiotics for a median duration of 2.3 days (range, 1-7 days). All 105 infants showed improvement without any complications, and there were no fatal cases. Conclusions: In this study, most infants aged ≤90 days with COVID-19 presented with mild symptoms and none of those evaluated had documented bacterial co-infection. The favorable prognosis among young infants with SARS-CoV-2 may aid clinicians in tailoring their approach to evaluation and management during outbreaks.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.94-101
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• 2024

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed a significant burden to infant and toddler's care globally, while the disease severity is generally mild in this age group. In this study, we aimed to assess epidemiological and clinical aspects of COVID-19 in infants and toddlers in Seoul, South Korea. Methods: We used Seoul Metropolitan Government's epidemiological investigation database to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in infants and toddlers, between March 2020 to December 2021. Results: A total of 5,025 infants and toddlers aged <5 years was diagnosed between the observed period. 2,720 (54.1%) had symptoms, and fever was the most common symptom in 1,941 (74.1%). Of the diagnosed cases, 96.4% did not have underlying diseases. In a district level, extended opening of childcare facility was associated with increased risk of COVID-19 in infants and toddlers. Conclusions: An efficient monitoring system, resembling routine clinical care, is crucial, considering the low rates of severe progression and fatality among infants and toddlers. Moreover, a well-grounded intervention based on scientific evidence, rather than unconditional closures, is necessary to establish a suitable childcare policy that ensures safety from infectious diseases while not overlooking the developmental aspects of social skills.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.994-1004
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• 2021

Objective: To extract pulmonary and cardiovascular metrics from chest CTs of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using a fully automated deep learning-based approach and assess their potential to predict patient management. Materials and Methods: All initial chest CTs of patients who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 at our emergency department between March 25 and April 25, 2020, were identified (n = 120). Three patient management groups were defined: group 1 (outpatient), group 2 (general ward), and group 3 (intensive care unit [ICU]). Multiple pulmonary and cardiovascular metrics were extracted from the chest CT images using deep learning. Additionally, six laboratory findings indicating inflammation and cellular damage were considered. Differences in CT metrics, laboratory findings, and demographics between the patient management groups were assessed. The potential of these parameters to predict patients' needs for intensive care (yes/no) was analyzed using logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curves. Internal and external validity were assessed using 109 independent chest CT scans. Results: While demographic parameters alone (sex and age) were not sufficient to predict ICU management status, both CT metrics alone (including both pulmonary and cardiovascular metrics; area under the curve [AUC] = 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79-0.97) and laboratory findings alone (C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, white blood cell count, and albumin; AUC = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.77-0.94) were good classifiers. Excellent performance was achieved by a combination of demographic parameters, CT metrics, and laboratory findings (AUC = 0.91; 95% CI = 0.85-0.98). Application of a model that combined both pulmonary CT metrics and demographic parameters on a dataset from another hospital indicated its external validity (AUC = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.66-0.88). Conclusion: Chest CT of patients with COVID-19 contains valuable information that can be accessed using automated image analysis. These metrics are useful for the prediction of patient management.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.21.1-21.21
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• 2022

As far the current severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), respiratory disease is still the biggest threat to human health. In addition, infectious respiratory diseases are particularly prominent. In addition to killing and clearing the infection pathogen directly, regulating the immune responses against the pathogens is also an important therapeutic modality. Sirtuins belong to NAD+-dependent class III histone deacetylases. Among 7 types of sirtuins, silent information regulator type-1 (SIRT1) played a multitasking role in modulating a wide range of physiological processes, including oxidative stress, inflammation, cell apoptosis, autophagy, antibacterial and antiviral functions. It showed a critical effect in regulating immune responses by deacetylation modification, especially through high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a core molecule regulating the immune system. SIRT1 was associated with many respiratory diseases, including COVID-19 infection, bacterial pneumonia, tuberculosis, and so on. Here, we reviewed the latest research progress regarding the effects of SIRT1 on immune system in respiratory diseases. First, the structure and catalytic characteristics of SIRT1 were introduced. Next, the roles of SIRT1, and the mechanisms underlying the immune regulatory effect through HMGB1, as well as the specific activators/inhibitors of SIRT1, were elaborated. Finally, the multitasking roles of SIRT1 in several respiratory diseases were discussed separately. Taken together, this review implied that SIRT1 could serve as a promising specific therapeutic target for the treatment of respiratory diseases.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.23-40
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• 2021

In the era of the global coronal 19 pandemic, there is a risk of cross-infection in hospitals at the stage where treatments and vaccines are currently being developed and marketed, so individuals should enhance their acquired immunity and generalize their living systems by the performance of copper ions in the social environment. In order to prevent the spread of infection, the need for anti-bacterial film and its efficacy were analyzed through anti-viral performance tests based on research and development cases of worldwide and immemorial time. he Korea Construction Research Institute (KCL) has received anti-bacterial performance certification and anti-viral test scores from the "National Approval Performance Certification Agency." At the time, NCCP 43326 Human Corona virus (BetaCoV/Korea/KCDC03/2020), which was approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was introduced to ensure that the activity rate of infected cells was satisfied in the anti-viral performance test. Anti-proliferation measures for the Corona 19 virus require a quality clinical trial study comparing the experimental group within the glass space where the antiviral copper film is constructed with the comparator of the same condition without copper film.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.816-827
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between fear and anger emotions in the discourse produced by the media during the period of major emerging infectious diseases (SARS, Swine Flu, MERS, and COVID-19) that occurred since 2000 in Korea. The researcher collected editorial articles of the major daily newspaper after a significant epidemic of new infectious diseases and analyzed them using the Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM) and text mining techniques. In all epidemic times, fear appears stronger than anger, but the smaller the fear, the greater the risk control message is produced. In detail, fear emerges strongly in the discourse of the risk of infectious diseases or the economic crisis. Anger appears strong when the government's quarantine failures, groups where group infections occurred, and concealing information about infectious diseases. In this process, anger is strongly expressed against the factors that threaten the safety of society. Anger is also an emotion that can justify strong quarantine, but it can be the basis for discourse on minority hate. In this respect, anger is a two-sided emotion, so it must be handled carefully in the media.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.227-235
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association factors of dental infection control by applying the health belief model in the dental hygienists. This study subject was 142 dental hygienists from 15 to July 5, 2020. Data were analyzed by chi-square test ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS version 23.0. The performance of dental infection control in accordance with the general characteristics of research subjects was high in case when they had educational experiences of infection control, and when they 'always' did medical examinations by interview about infectious diseases(p<0.01). The group of dental hygienists working for dental clinics with less than average 50 patients a day showed the highest rate of wearing a mask and latex gloves as personal protective gears(p<0.05),(p<0.01). When the wearing of protective goggles(face shield) and the frequency of exchanging masks after the outbreak of COVID-19 were more, the performance for infection control was increasing(p<0.05),(p<0.01),(p<0.001). In this study, it is difficult to generalize the results of the study because the research area and the subject are limited by selecting the subjects by convenience extraction, and focusing on the degree of awareness of infection control by dental hygienists, the actual status of infection control in dentistry is carefully illuminated. What you didn't do can be seen as a limitation. Considering the results of this study, the performance of infection control could be increased by removing obstacles and increasing the importance and perceived benefits of infection control of dental hygienists.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.188-193
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• 2021

This is a group pretest-posttest design study that aim to evaluate the effect of self-reflection promotion program of nursing students. The subjects of this study were 42 first-year nursing students. The data was collected from October 5 to November 2, 2020. A questionnaire was used to measure self-reflection and self-efficacy. The self-reflection promotion program was operated for a total of 8 hours in 4 sessions over 4 weeks. Online lectures were conducted using books, movies, and art recommended by expert. The subjects could take lectures using their smartphones, laptops, desktops, and tablet PC. As a result of the study, self-reflection was significantly improved after intervention than before intervention (t=-2.594, p=.013). In the sub-items, self-exploration and self-understanding were statistically significantly improved (t=-2.527, p=.015; t=-2.471, p=.018). However, other-exploration and other-understanding were not statistically significant (t=-1.226, p=.227; t=-.758, p=.453). The self-efficacy of the subjects was not statistically significant (t=-.170, p=.866). In future research, it will be necessary to develop and verify specific teaching and learning methods utilizing various contents that can improve self-reflection for nursing students.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.512-521
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• 2022

Since the main symptoms of COVID-19 involve the respiratory system, the infection rate of this disease is predicted to be higher in patients with other respiratory conditions such as allergic rhinitis. In such a situation, it will be meaningful to conduct research on an allergy treatment that has fewer side effects and can effectively reduce allergy symptoms. Here, we prepared experimental samples under various fermentation conditions with mixed extracts of six medicinal plants. To examine the anti-allergic efficacy of these samples, an egg albumin-induced allergic rhinitis animal model experiment, a serum histamine and IgE experiment, and a COX and LO inhibitory activity experiment were conducted. As a result of animal experiments, OVA+SP-4 showed superior efficacy compared to OVA+SP-1 in nasal rubbing and sneezing experiments and had anti-allergic efficacy similar to that of OVA-cetirizine. The serum histamine concentration of OVA+SP-4 was also 1.3 times higher than that of the OVA+cetirizine group, showing a high histamine reduction ability, and IgE showed the same trend. An analysis of COX inhibitory efficacy also confirmed that COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitory efficacy is high, and the longer the fermentation time, the higher the antiallergic efficacy. The composition proposed by this study is expected to have a significant effect on sustainable allergy prevention and treatment in the future by applying it to human patients.