• Title/Summary/Keyword: Community-associated

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Raw Fish Consuming Behavior Related to Liver Fluke Infection among Populations at Risk of Cholangiocarcinoma in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand

  • Chavengkun, Wasugree;Kompor, Pontip;Norkaew, Jun;Kujapun, Jirawoot;Pothipim, Mali;Ponphimai, Sukanya;Kaewpitoon, Soraya J;Padchasuwan, Natnapa;Kaewpitoon, Natthawut
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.17 no.6
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    • pp.2761-2765
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    • 2016
  • Opisthorchiasis is a health problem in rural communities of Thailand, particularly in the northeast and north regions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate raw fish consuming behavior related to liver fluke infection among the population at risk for opisthorchiasis and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Meuang Yang district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeast Thailand, between June and October 2015. Participants were screened for CCA, and samples who had a high score of CCA risk were purposively selected. A predesigned questionnaire was utilized to collect the data from all participants. $X^2-test$ was used for analysis of associations between demographic data and raw fish consumption. The results revealed that participants had past histories of stool examination (33.0%), liver fluke infection (21.0%), praziquantel use (24.0%), raw fish consumption (78.0%), relatives family consuming raw fish (73.0%), and relatives family with CCA (3.0%). Participants consumed several dished related to liver fluke infection, mainly raw fermented fish (13.0%), under smoked catfish (5.00%), raw pickled fish (4.00%), and raw spicy minced fish salad (3.00%). The most common types of cyprinoid fish were Barbodes gonionotus (39%), Hampala dispar (38%), Puntius brevis (37%), Cyclocheilichthys armatus (33%), Puntioplites proctozysron (32%), and Luciosoma bleekeri (30%), respectively. Participants had a low level of knowledge (mean=3.79, SD=0.74), moderate attitude (mean=7.31, SD=7.31) and practice (mean=38.64, SD=6.95) regarding liver fluke prevention and control. Demographic variables like age (>36 years old; $X^2-test=17.794$, p-value=0.001), education (primary school; $X^2-test=18.952$, p-value=0.001), marital status (married; $X^2-test=12.399$, p-value=0.002), and income (<5,000 baht; $X^2-test=27.757$, p-value=0.015) were significantly associated with raw fish consumption. This result indicates that the population had risk consumption for liver fluke infection particularly of various cyprinoid fishes that are $2^{nd}$ intermediate hosts. Therefore, health education is required to improve their behavior.

Mental Health Intervention for Adolescents : A School-Based Program to Address Social Anxiety (청소년을 위한 정신건강 개입 : 사회불안을 중심으로 한 학교-기반 프로그램)

  • Heo, Eun-Hye;Nam, Ji-Ae;Ko, Boo-Sung;Kim, Jeong-Eun;Lee, Chang-Hwa;Choi, Kyeong-Sook
    • Anxiety and mood
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.88-98
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    • 2018
  • Objective : The purpose of this study was to establish a school-based mental health intervention. The success of which was indexed by its effects on the social anxiety symptoms of the enrolled adolescents. Methods : This program for promoting mental health among adolescents in the community was adopted by three middle schools that volunteered to participate in the project. The program included screening for emotional problems related to social anxiety, depression, suicide, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Case management was provided for groups considered high-risk for depression, suicide, or post-traumatic stress disorder; cognitive-behavior therapy was provided for those at high-risk of developing social anxiety. Additionally, educational programs for the prevention of suicide, a "loving life" module, and mental health promotional campaigns were also included. In total, 1,100 middle school students completed self-report questionnaires. Twenty-five students in the high-risk group for social anxiety participated in a cognitive-behavior therapy program, comprising eight sessions, and conducted by two clinical psychologists. Results : Following the suicide prevention education program, suicide awareness among students increased and coping strategies were improved. In addition, the loving life program was associated with positive self-perceptions by many students. Furthermore, social anxiety symptoms showed a statistically significant difference after the cognitive-behavior therapy program. After the therapy, not only did social anxiety symptoms improve, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation decreased significantly, while self-esteem and psychological resilience significantly increased. Conclusion : A school-based mental health intervention was successfully implemented in three middle schools and improved the mental health of the participating students. Therefore, this intervention could be widely implemented to promote positive mental health among middle school students.

Trajectories of Drinking problems of the elderly: A Longitudinal Multi-level Growth Curve Model for Change (노인의 음주문제 발달궤적의 예측요인 : 다수준 성장곡선 모형의 적용)

  • Ahn, Jun Hee;Jang, Soo Mi
    • Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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    • v.43 no.1
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    • pp.389-411
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    • 2012
  • A new era of research has focused on examining the growth of change in drinking problems among the elderly. Thus, the purpose of the present study was two fold: (1) to investigate trajectories of drinking problems(CAGE) among the Korean elderly(age$${\geq_-}65$$); and (2) to identify the predicting factors for the intercept and the slope of alcohol problems using multi-level growth curve model. Data come from three waves(1st wave(2006)~3rd wave(2008) of the Korea Welfare Panel(KWP) study. The results indicated that the levels of drinking problems decreased over time and that age, gender, marital status, religion, poverty, self-rated health, and social relationship satisfaction were associated with the baseline CAGE. Further analysis showed that social relationship satisfaction affected the declining slope of drinking problems over time. Specifically, among those who satisfied social relationship, there was a sharp decline of CAGE over time. Overall findings highlight the importance of developing and implementing effective alcohol prevention programs for the elderly in the community settings to mitigate the harmful effects of various psycho-social stressors. Especially, programs to maintain and form healthy social support network are suggested as critical interventions for prevention as well as recovery of alcohol problems in late life.

A Comparative Study on the Basic Values and Operating Evaluation of Innovative Schools in Korea (국내 혁신학교 기본가치와 운영 평가 비교 연구)

  • Park, heejin;Nam, mi;Kwon, dongtaik
    • Korean Journal of Comparative Education
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    • v.28 no.6
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    • pp.131-152
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    • 2018
  • In terms of the fact that Innovation School is the main agent which encourages the innovation of school culture, As it has been ten years since the Innovation School was enforced, we do need a practical, indepth study on the quality of policy management. To make this actualize, this study is for analysis and comparison of basic values and operating evaluation plans which have been managed by Metropolitan City Office of Education(MCOE) & Provincial Office of Education(POE). Each of MCOE & POE have their own vision. Those visions are such things; 'Education for All' for Gangwon, Busan, Chungbuk. 'Future School Orientation' for Gyeonggi, Gyeongnam. 'Educational Community Realization' for Gwangju, Seoul, Ulsan, Jeonbuk, Jeju. 'Normalization of Public Education' for Sejong, Incheon, Chungnam. Like such things, each office possesses different vision by their distinct characteristics and in principle, all emphasis on publicness, democracy, and creativity. Management evaluations of the Innovation School is operated by Self-assessment, Intermediate evaluation, and Extensive assessment. The process and evaluation index of Intermediate evaluation and Extensive assessment are similar. Especially, Those assessment have significance in a role of administrating its management of each school and a role of offering associated documents of educational policy with educational renovations with feedback and some good examples.

A Study on the Factors of Life Satisfaction of the Adults with Developmental Disabilities (그룹홈 중고령 발달장애인의 생활만족도 영향요인 연구: 청년기 발달장애인과의 비교를 중심으로)

  • Roh, Seung Hyun;Kim, Cheong Seok
    • 재활복지
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.69-91
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    • 2018
  • This study aims to identify factors of life satisfaction of the adults with developmental disabilities, focusing on the comparison between young and old. Data are collected through in-depth interview of the adults with developmental disabilities as well as via workers proxy responses at the group home. Regression model analysis is conducted based on 387 cases. The result shows that the young adults with developmental disabilities are more likely to satisfied with life when they evaluate job performance of workers at the group home and when they are more actively involved in community activities. For the old adults with developmental disabilities, life satisfaction is positively associated with their evaluation of job performance of workers at the group home as in the young adults. In addition, life satisfaction of the old adults is higher when they feel less fatigue. It is also higher for those with more choices on residence and higher level of social activities. The findings reveals that enhancement of life satisfaction for the old adults with developmental disabilities dwelling at group home require supports and services for health and social activities different from other ages. It shares the general ideas that service efforts should be made for needs and desires of the recipients. The present study suggests to expand our research interests to include the disabled in danger of early aging, such as the persons with Down Syndrome and the persons with intellectual disability and cerebral palsy, and look into their particular needs.

Does Social Responsibility Activities Keep Future Earnings Sustainability? (사회적 책임활동은 기업의 이익을 지속시키는가?)

  • Park, Sung-Jin;Sun, Eun-Jung
    • Management & Information Systems Review
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    • v.38 no.3
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    • pp.187-210
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    • 2019
  • Companies shall hold social responsibility as a member of the social community. Corporate social responsibility uses corporate resources, yet it plays important roles in reducing social imbalance. Their responsibilities are highly associated with the corporate sustainability. Many earlier studies on the association between corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability have been attempted. Yet it should be mentioned that they do not show a variety of realities as linearity between dependent variables and independent variables were assumed. Thus, this study aims to analyze Markov blanket, a node of minimum descriptive variables that relieve a rigid assumption among variables and affect corporate sustainability by using Bayesian network. Sensitivity analysis was used to elicit how other variables affect by reflecting the complex reality when real factors are changed. As an important result of this study, the firm's future earnings sustainability is naturally related to operating earnings, and as the corporate governance structure is sound, the firm is able to steadily fulfill its social responsibility. However, the fact that the size of a company is large does not mean that it is in good compliance with corporate laws. This would not be unrelated to the fact that many of today's companies are not complying with the law and are suffering social condemnation. Results from this study will serve as a useful analytic tool when investors and creditors showing interests in corporate sustainability for assessing the value of companies and making investment decisions. Moreover, they can be used as references for relevant agency supervising capital markets to establish or improve appropriate institutions aimed at improving corporate sustainability.

Study on the Early Detection of Mental Health Problems in the Elderly and the Utilization of Related Services (노인의 정신건강 문제의 발견과 관련서비스 이용에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Kyungsoon;Park, Yeong-Ran;Son, Duksoon;Yum, Yoosik
    • The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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    • v.19 no.9
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    • pp.308-320
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    • 2019
  • This study aims at investigating the major symptoms that help family carers detect mental illness in elderly patients. Another purpose of this study is to empirically verify the major factors determining the utilization of mental health services with a focus on family carers. The results of this study are as follows. First, the most commonly detected symptoms that caused the family carers to suspect mental illness in the elderly patients were memory decline and other forms of cognitive function decline. Second, the determinants of the elderly's utilization of mental health services included the patient's long-term care insurance level, the age of the family carer, the period of care, the level stress associated with the provision of care felt by the carer, his understanding of geriatric mental illness, and the level of perception about community mental health services. Based on these findings, this study suggests policies and practical implications for the early detection of and response to elderly mental health problems and the utilization of related services from the viewpoint of the family carers of the elderly.

An understanding of green space policies and evaluation tools in the UK: A focus on the Green Flag Award (영국 녹지 정책과 녹지 평가 발달에 대한 이해: Green Flag Award를 중심으로)

  • Nam, Jin-Vo;Kim, Nam-Choon
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.13-31
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    • 2019
  • Green spaces are recognised for the benefits. They bring to the quality of people's lives. However, since the 1980s there has been a general increase in poorly-managed green spaces. In an attempt to address this issue, green space policy has changed its focus on green space management through the gradual introduction of green space evaluation tools, such as the Green Flag Award (GFA). The GFA, as an established green space evaluation tool in the UK, reflects a shift in policy drivers of green spaces management. However, there is a lack of research investigating the contextualisation between a wide range of policy contexts and such green space evaluation tools (the GFA in this study). The aims of this study are therefore to explore the development of green space evaluation since the late 1990s, with respect to the growth of the GFA and its impact on other evaluation tools across the UK and several countries. To address the aims, this study employs in-depth literature reviews on UK green space policy mainly conducted by government. In addition, case studies are presented, focusing on the GFA and independent green space evaluation tools intrinsically derived from the GFA in the UK's cities and Nordic countries. Results show that based on the awareness of the severity of declining standards of green spaces, newly emerging policy arrangements have been adopted to address negative issues, which affect the standard of green spaces such as the transfer of responsibility for green space management, the implementation of Compulsory Competitive Tendering and ongoing budget cuts. Significantly, the GFA's indicators reflect the emerging changes of economic and social contexts associated with green spaces management where, in particular, the prospect of continuous budget cuts, which encourages communities to become involved in green space management. The GFA has widely contributed to leading such UK's cities and other countries to be able to create their independent green space evaluation tools in different approaches based on stakeholders' (mainly community) involvement in the decision-making process of green space evaluation. In conclusion, this study implies that successful green space evaluation tools do embody the value of green spaces and address drivers of emerging green space management with correspondence to the context of policy arrangements. Importantly, stakeholders have an opportunity to be involved in a partnership in the decision-making process through some green space evaluation tools. It is hoped that for well-managed green spaces this study will contribute valuable knowledge to our existing understanding of green space management in an era of austerity.

Clinical Features of Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome Caused by Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Changwon City, Korea, during 2006 and 2015 (2006년부터 2015년까지 창원 지역에서 발생한 지역사회관련 메티실린내성 황색포도알균에 의한 포도알균 열상 피부증후군의 임상양상)

  • Park, Jun Hyeong;Kim, Min Chae;Kang, Jin Han;Choi, Jae Won;Lee, Hak Sung;Shin, Ju Hwa;Lee, Je Chul;Ma, Sang Hyuk
    • Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.42-50
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    • 2019
  • Purpose: We investigated the clinical features and epidemiology of staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS) from year 2006 to 2015 in Changwon city, Korea. Methods: We reviewed medical records of 69 patients diagnosed with SSSS from year 2006 to 2015. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by agar dilution method. Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was phenotypically identified by oxacillin susceptibility testing and genotypically confirmed by the existence of the mecA gene. Results: The median age of patients was 2.0 years (range 0.2-6 years). Three (4.3%), 53 (76.8%), and 13 (18.9%) patients showed the generalized type, the intermediate type, and the abortive type, respectively. Patients occurred throughout the year, but most patients occurred between July and October. MRSA was isolated from 54 of the 60 patients regardless of the clinical types. All patients recovered without any complications. Conclusions: There was a constant occurrence of SSSS patients caused by MRSA in Changwon area during 2006 and 2015. It is needed to constantly monitor the occurrence of patients with SSSS.

Vegetation structure and distribution characteristics of Symplocos prunifolia, a rare evergreen broad-leaved tree in Korea

  • Kim, Yangji;Song, Kukman;Yim, Eunyoung;Seo, Yeonok;Choi, Hyungsoon;Choi, Byoungki
    • Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.44 no.4
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    • pp.275-285
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    • 2020
  • Background: In Korea, Symplocos prunifolia Siebold. & Zucc. is only found on Jeju Island. Conservation of the species is difficult because little is known about its distribution and natural habitat. The lack of research and survey data on the characteristics of native vegetation and distribution of this species means that there is insufficient information to guide the management and conservation of this species and related vegetation. Therefore, this study aims to identify the distribution and vegetation associated with S. prunifolia. Results: As a result of field investigations, it was confirmed that the native S. prunifolia communities were distributed in 4 areas located on the southern side of Mt. Halla and within the evergreen broad-leaved forest zones. Furthermore, these evergreen broad-leaved forest zones are themselves located in the warm temperate zone which are distributed along the valley sides at elevations between 318 and 461 m. S. prunifolia was only found on the south side of Mt. Halla, and mainly on south-facing slopes; however, small communities were found to be growing on northwest-facing slopes. It has been confirmed that S. prunifolia trees are rare but an important constituent species in the evergreen broad-leaved forest of Jeju. The mean importance percentage of S. prunifolia community was 48.84 for Castanopsis sieboldii, 17.79 for Quercus acuta, and 12.12 for Pinus thunbergii; S. prunifolia was the ninth most important species (2.6). Conclusions: S. prunifolia can be found growing along the natural streams of Jeju, where there is little anthropogenic influence and where the streams have caused soil disturbance through natural processes of erosion and deposition of sediments. Currently, the native area of S. prunifolia is about 3300 ㎡, which contains a confirmed population of 180 individual plants. As a result of these low population sizes, it places it in the category of an extremely endangered plant in Korea. In some native sites, the canopy of evergreen broad-leaved forest formed, but the frequency and coverage of species were not high. Negative factors that contributed to the low distribution of this species were factors such as lacking in shade tolerance, low fruiting rates, small native areas, and special habitats as well as requiring adequate stream disturbance. Presently, due to changes in climate, it is unclear whether this species will see an increase in its population and habitat area or whether it will remain as an endangered species within Korea. What is clear, however, is that the preservation of the present native habitats and population is extremely important if the population is to be maintained and expanded. It is also meaningful in terms of the stable conservation of biodiversity in Korea. Therefore, based on the results of this study, it is judged that a systematic evaluation for the preservation and conservation of the habitat and vegetation management method of S. prunifolia should be conducted.