• Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.77-81
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• 2021

Purpose: The United States of America have pre-migration screening program are mandated through legislation. The one of purpose of this program is to prevent the importation of certain communicable diseases. Examinations of migration applicants are performed by panel physicians who are licensed physicians in the countries of origin that have agreements with the government departments of the country of destination to undertake this activity. In recent decades, the number of US migrants has increased, however COVID-19 impacted this trend of international migrants. The Aim of this study is to examine trends of US applicants and outcomes of tuberculosis and sexual transmitted infections (STIs) screening in South Korean applicants for US visa. Methods: A total of 4,442 applicants participated in US visa health check-up in 2016 to 2020. Results: The numbers of applicant for US visa in males and females was 1,814 and 2,628. The positive results in tuberculosis and STIs screening was noted with 0.66% in nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), 0.03% in tuberculosis, 0.03% in gonorrhea, 0.08% in syphilis, and 0.74% in chlamydia. The age groups of 2 to 14 years showed higher positive rate (13.89%) in tuberculin skin test (TST) tests compared to the rate of interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) tests (0.44%, P<0.001). The positive ratio of NTM and abnormal chest X-ray (CXR) which required sputum tests among the applicants over 15 years old has trends to increase with age. The age groups of over 70 years showed high positive rate in NTM and abnormal CXR (4.10%, 20.51%). However, ages 15 to 49 years groups showed 0.00% to 0.30% in NTM and 1.08% to 3.91% in abnormal CXR. In the study population, the positive rates of STIs were 0.03%, 0.08%, and 0.74% in gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia, respectively. Among the participants who underwent sputum smears and cultures were just 1 case of active tuberculosis (0.03%) and 25 cases of NTM infection (0.66%). Conclusion: This study found that rate of positivity in tuberculosis and STIs screening among South Korean applicants for US visa in 2016 to 2020. Regarding tuberculosis, the positivity of CXR among the aged 15 to 59 years applicants was lower than that among over 60 years old. Among 2 to 14 years, positivity of IGRA was very low. And IGRA test can reduce effort of further evaluation compared to TST test in South Korea, so IGRA test among young adults can be useful. High positive rates in STI among young adult could result in high active sexuality, especially chlamydia infection is most common. Therefore Chlamydia polymerase chain reaction should be considered formal protocol among the Korean applicant for US visa.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.7-20
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• 2022

Objective : This study aims to identify international academic trends regarding the effectiveness of telehealth for the elderly through bibliographic analysis and to secure the foundation for providing basic data and subsequent research to promote domestic research. Methods : This study collected bibliographic information on the effectiveness of telehealth for the elderly published in international academia from January 2010 to December 2020 and analyzed and visualized the relationships between information using VOS viewer software (version 1.6.16, CWTS, Netherlands, 2020). Results : First, the research trend analysis shows a 678% increase in the number of papers published over the past 10 years. Most of the research was conducted in 145 (45.89%) Health care science services, and the most papers were published in 39 Telemedicine and e-Health journals (9.11%). Second, the network analysis showed that Oxford University had a total of 168 connections in other countries and institutions in the U.K, indicating the strongest influence in international academic societies. Third, as a result of the keyword analysis, 'older adults (64 times)', 'care (62 times)', 'health (50 times)', 'technology (40 times)', and 'outcomes (41 times)' were used in the study. Conclusion : In this study, the trends and topics of international academia on the effectiveness of telehealth for the elderly were analyzed to form the basis for research activities and the institutional implementation of telehealth for the elderly in Korea.

• Design Convergence Study
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.123-135
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• 2017

In recent mobile health care service, health management using number of steps is becoming popular. In addition, a variety of activity trackers have made it possible to measure the number of steps more accurately and easily. Nevertheless, the activity tracker is not popularized, and it is a trend to use the pedometer sensor of the smartphone as an alternative. In this study, we tried to find out how much the number of steps collected by the smartphone versus the actual number of steps in actual situations, and what factors make the difference. We conducted an experiment to collect number of steps data of 21 people using the smartphone and wearable device simultaneously for 7 days. As a result, we found that the average number of steps of the smartphone is 62% compared to the actual number of steps, and that there is a large variation among users. We derived a regression model in which the accuracy of smartphone increases with the degree of awareness of smartphone. We expect that this can be used as a factor to correct the difference from the actual number of steps in the smartphone alone healthcare service.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.829-839
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• 2023

Background and Objectives: There is limited data on the impact of type 2 myocardial infarction (T2MI) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database from January 2019 to December 2020 was queried to identify T2MI hospitalizations based on the appropriate International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision-Clinical Modification codes. Monthly trends of COVID-19 and T2MI hospitalizations were evaluated using Joinpoint regression analysis. In addition, the multivariate logistic and linear regression analysis was used to compare inhospital mortality, coronary angiography use, and resource utilization between 2019 and 2020. Results: A total of 743,535 patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of T2MI were identified in the years 2019 (n=331,180) and 2020 (n=412,355). There was an increasing trend in T2MI hospitalizations throughout the study period corresponding to the increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in 2020. The adjusted odds of in-hospital mortality associated with T2MI hospitalizations were significantly higher in 2020 compared with 2019 (11.1% vs. 8.1%: adjusted odds ratio, 1.19 [1.13-1.26]; p<0.01). In addition, T2MI hospitalizations were associated with lower odds of coronary angiography and higher total hospitalization charges, with no difference in the length of stay in 2020 compared with 2019. Conclusions: We found a significant increase in T2MI hospitalizations with higher in-hospital mortality, total hospitalization costs, and lower coronary angiography use during the early COVID-19 pandemic corresponding to the trends in the rise of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Further research into the factors associated with increased mortality can increase our preparedness for future pandemics.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.71-81
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aims to identify research trends in papers related to the elderly and the disabled published in the journal of Korean society for school & community health education from 2000 to 2023 and seek the direction of the academic development of this journal in the future. Method: A total of 26 articles related to the elderly and the disabled, who are vulnerable groups, were analyzed by year by analyzing the specific subjects, research themes, research design, data collection methods, and keywords of papers published from 2000 to 2023. Results: Looking at the research subjects, studies on the elderly (18 studies) accounted for a larger proportion than studies on the disabled (8 studies). Research themes in the field of healthy living practices for the elderly (44.4%) and research in the field of mental health management (37.5%) for the disabled accounted for a high proportion. The design of research were mostly quantitative and cross-sectional studies. Data collection is mostly based on secondary data. In studies targeting the elderly, keywords appeared in the following order: 'Health' and 'Elderly'. And research targeting the disabled appeared in the following order: 'Disabilities', 'Health', and 'COVID-19'. Additionally, research on the elderly and the disabled has recently shown an increasing trend. Conclusion: Research on the elderly and the disabled has been conducted in line with the purpose of the Korean society for school & community health education, However, In terms of quantitative expansion and qualitative research, research themes, research designs, and data collection methods must be diversified. Methods, public perception. Additionally, research on vulnerable groups that fit the public health promotion and health education paradigm is needed.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2017

Profitability of farmers has decreased mainly owing to low price while the gross amount of mushroom production has increased continuously in South Korea. In this regard, analyzing patterns of mushroom consumption is believed to be meaningful. We used a panel data set consisting of 667 families, from 2010 to 2015. Based on the panel data, mushroom consumption patterns of people living in city areas were examined. Multiple descriptive analysis methods and frequency analysis approaches were adopted in this study in terms of time and space dimensions, demographic properties, and purchase behaviors. The findings of this studyshow that mushroom purchase is highly dependent on seasonal events, which implies that the product consumption timing is predictable. In addition, yearly purchase amount patterns reflect that superstores have become the major mushroomtrading venues. This directly supports the need to establish supply chain capabilities for mushroom farmers so that they gain more bargaining power against enterprise-type groceries. Finally, functional features of mushroom can be linked with marketing promotion because purchase patterns demonstrate potential needs for healthcare food in mushroom categories. Based on the analyzed patterns, this paper provides insightful implications for policy makers who want to promote mushroom consumption.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.669-678
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• 2021

This study surveyed three land cover types in Chungju City in Chungcheongbuk Province to check the distribution of cultured bacteria in bio-aerosols according to land cover type. It was possible to compare and analyze the distribution of bacteria according to microclimatic changes at each measurement point by examining meteorological factors and bio-aerosols according to land cover. The microclimate temperature in each measurement point was 8.7℃ for the urban forest, 10.8℃ for the waterside green area, and 10.2℃ for the urban area, indicating the urban forest had the lowest temperature among the measurement points. The relative humanity was 61.8% fin the urban forest, 59.3% in the waterside green area, and 55.7% in the urban area, indicating that the urban forest was the most humid among the measurement points. The identified bacteria were found to be 43 genera and 99 species. In terms of species diversity of cultured bacteria, 22 genera were found in the waterside green area, 21 genera in the urban forest, and 17 genera in the urban area, 37 species were found in the waterside green area, 31 species in the urban area, and 31 species in the urban forest. Bacillus toyonensis and Pseudarthrobacter oxydan were the species present in all three types of measurement sites, and Herbiconiux flava was confirmed to inhabit green areas such as urban forests and waterside green areas. The analysis result of the bacterial concentration according to the microclimatic environment in each measurement point was 333 CFU/m³ in the urban forest, 287 CFU/m³, in the waterside green area, and 173 CFU/m³ in the downtown area. The relative humidity and wind speed were analyzed to show a similar trend as the concentration. This study is expected to provide basic data for healthy urban management and green area creation by identifying the distribution of cultured bacteria in bio-aerosols according to land cover type and comparing and analyzing the traits of bio-aerosol in each measurement point.