• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 2014

Purpose: Vitamin D has been known to play an important role in the central nervous system and brain functions in the human body, and cumulative evidence has shown that vitamin D deficiency might be linked with various mental health conditions. Epidemiologic studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency may be associated with higher risk of depression in the US and European populations. However, limited information is available regarding the association between vitamin D status and depression in the Korean population. The objective of this study was to examine the associations between vitamin D levels and prevalence of depression. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using nationally representative data from the 2008-2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from which serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were available. A total of 18,735 adults who had available demographic, dietary, and lifestyle information were included in our analysis. We defined "depression" with a diagnosis by a physician. "Depressed condition" was defined as having feelings of sadness or depression without diagnosis by a physician. Results: The prevalence of depression was 1.63% and 5.43% in Korean men and women, respectively; 12.5% of men and 26.1% of women were defined as the group having depressed conditions. In multivariate logistic regression models, no significant associations were observed between vitamin D status and prevalence of depression or depressed conditions in Korean men and women. Conclusion: We found no association between vitamin D insufficiency and depression/depressed conditions in Korean adults. Future large prospective studies and randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm this relationship.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.603-608
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• 2021

The purpose of this perspective research is to discuss the potential role of exercise-interventions in COVID-19, terms of prevention and prognosis in the periods of the COVID-19 vaccine. SARCO-CoV-2. COVID-19 was detected as a new virus causing severe cardiovascular and respiratory complications. It emerged as a global public health emergency and national pandemic. It caused more than 1 million deaths in the first 6 months of the pandemic and resulted in huge social and economic fluctuations internationally. Unprecedented stressful situations, such as COVID-19 blue and COVID-19 red impact on many health problems. In healthy individuals, COVID-19 infection may induced no symptoms (i.e., asymptomatic), whereas others may experience flu-like symptoms, such as ARDS, pneumonia, and death. Poor health status, such as obesity and cardiovascular and respiratory complications, are high risk factors for COVID-19 prevention, occurrence, and prognosis. Several COVID-19 vaccines are currently in human trials. However, the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, including potential side effects, such as anaphylaxis (a life-threatening allergic reaction) and rare blood clots, still need to be investigated. On the basis of direct and indirect evidence, it seems that regular and moderate physical exercise can be recommended as a nonpharmacological, efficient, and safe way to cope with COVID-19. Physical inactivity and metabolic abnormalities are directly associated with reduced immune responses, including reduced innate, CMI, and AMI responses. Due to prolonged viral shedding, quarantine in inactive, obese and disease people should likely be longer than physical active people. Multicomponent and systemic exercise should be considered for the obese, disease, and elderly people. More mechanism research is needed in this area.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2023

Skin sanitizers are effective in killing or removing pathogenic microbial contaminants from the skin of food handlers, and the progressive growth of consumer interest in personal hygiene tends to drive product diversification. This review covers the advances in the application of efficacy tests for hand sanitizers to suggest future perspectives to establish an assessment system that is optimized to each product type (gel, liquid, and wipes). Previous research on the in vivo simulative test of actual consumer use has adopted diverse experimental conditions regardless of the product type. This highlights the importance of establishing optimal test protocols specialized for the compositional characteristics of sanitizers through the comparative analysis of test methods. Although the operational conditions of the mechanical actions associated with wiping can affect the efficacy of the removal and/or the inactivation of target microorganisms from the skin's surface, currently there is a lack of standardized use patterns for the exposure of hand sanitizing wipes to skin. Thus, major determinants affecting the results from each step of the overall assessment procedures [pre-treatment - exposure of sanitizers - microbial recovery] should be identified to modify current protocols and develop novel test methods. The ex vivo test, designed to overcome the limited reproducibility of in vivo human trials, is also expected to replicate the environment for the contact of sanitizers targeting skin microorganisms. Recent progress in the area of skin microbiome research revealed distinct microbial characteristics and distribution patterns after the application of sanitizers on hands to establish the test methods with the perspectives on the antimicrobial effects at the community level. The future perspectives presented in this study on the improvement of efficacy test methods for hand sanitizers can also contribute to public health and food safety through the commercialization of effective sanitizer products.

• The Journal of KAIRB
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.5-16
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• 2024

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the current status of pediatric assent in nationwide hospitals and to assess the children's comprehension for pediatric assent by interviewing pediatricians/pediatric neurologists to determine whether children of the age (elementary and middle school students) can understand the purpose, risks, benefits, and concepts of voluntary participation in clinical research described in the assent form, and to help improve the administrative efficiency of multicenter clinical trials. Methods: The status of pediatric assent was surveyed online using Google Forms at 141 university hospitals with administrative staff who are members of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) administrative staff subcommittee with in Korean Association of Institutional Review Boards (KAIRB). Additionally, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 7 pediatricians/pediatric neurologists. Survey and interview responses were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results: Out of the 141 institutions surveyed, 35 institutions (24.8%) responded. Among them, 30 institutions (85.7%) reported having age criteria for acquiring pediatric assent forms in the case of children. The age range for pediatric assent acquisition have been from 7 years old to 12 years old (15 institutions, 50%), and from 7 years old to 15 years old (7 institutions, 23.3%). Nine institutions (25.7%) have had criteria for obtaining both parents' consent in cases involving the participation of children. Nineteen institutions (54.3%) have had checklists or guidelines available for use by IRB members in study protocols involving vulnerable research subjects. Three pediatricians/pediatric neurologists have believed that upper-grade elementary school students (5th-6th grade) could comprehensively understand informed consent forms. Two have believed that middle school students would be able to understand them if they included personal information. Two pediatricians/pediatric neurologists have believed that even lower-grade elementary school students (1st-4th grade) could understand the explanations if they were made simpler. Conclusion: It is suggested that not only elementary school students (7-12 years old) but also middle school students (13-15 years old) should receive pediatric assent forms, as it would facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the forms. To enhance the comprehension of assent form content, it is necessary to use age-appropriate words, language, and expressions in the forms hospital. It is also recommended to create comics or videos to make the content of the assent forms more accessible for children.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.416-423
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• 2023

Figs has known to have antioxidant, whitening, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial effects in their leaves, roots, stems, latex, and fruits. In order to develop cosmetic materials based on natural products, we have studied on the skin activity of the ficin in latex as well as the whitening function of the fruit extract with 70% ethanol, and used it as a raw material for released cosmetic product. However, there is little research on the demand for the development of new eutectic solvent extraction methods and its ability to control skin inflammation and psoriasis regulation. Thus, in this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of fig fruit extracts and fractions using eutectic solvent extraction for skin inflammation control and psoriasis. First, fig fruits were extracted under optimal eutectic solvent conditions and fractionated with n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, and butanol. First, the antioxidant activity and inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production were confirmed in mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells. In addition, as a result of observing the mRNA expression through RT-PCR, pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL1α, and IL-1β were suppressed significantly in the hexane, dichloromethane, and ethyl acetate fractions. In addition, it was confirmed in TNF-α stimulated HaCaT keratinocyte model. Finally, chemokine CC motif ligand 20 (CCL20), marker gene of human psoriasis skin disease, was significantly suppressed in the hexane, dichloromethane, and ethyl acetate fractions. These results suggested its anti-inflammatory and skin soothing effect and the possibility of development as an excellent skin soothing natural cosmetic material in the future through future clinical trials.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.295-304
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• 2008

Background: Various experimental trials for the development of bioprosthetic devices are actively underway, secondary to the limited supply of autologous and homograft tissue to treat cardiac diseases. In this study, porcine bioprostheses that were treated with glutaraldehyde (GA), ethanol, or sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) were examined with light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy for mechanical and physical imperfections before implantation, Material and Method: 1) Porcine pericardium, aortic valve, and pulmonary valve were examined using light microscopy and JEM-100CX II transmission electron microscopy, then compared with human pericardium and commercially produced heterografts. 2) Sections from six treated groups (GA-Ethanol, Ethanol-GA, SDS only, SDS-GA, Ethanol-SDS-GA and SDS-Ethanol-GA) were observed using the same methods. Result: 1) Porcine pericardium was composed of a serosal layer, fibrosa, and epicardial connective tissue. Treatment with GA, ethanol, or SDS had little influence on the collagen skeleton of porcine pericardium, except in the case of SDS pre-treatment. There was no alteration in the collagen skeleton of the porcine pericardium compared to commercially produced heterografts. 2) Porcine aortic valve was composed of lamina fibrosa, lamina spongiosa, and lamina ventricularis. Treatment with GA, ethanol, or SDS had little influence on these three layers and the collagen skeleton of porcine aortic valve, except in the case of SDS pre-treatment. There were no alterations in the three layers or the collagen. skeleton of porcine aortic valve compared to commercially produced heterografts. Conclusion: There was little physical and mechanical damage incurred in porcine bioprosthesis structures during various glutaraldehyde fixation processes combined with anti-calcification or decellularization treatments. However, SDS treatment preceding GA fixation changed the collagen fibers into a slightly condensed form, which degraded during transmission electron micrograph. The optimal methods and conditions for sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) treatment need to be modified.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.32-41
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• 2004

Purpose : To measure the NMR relaxation properties of MnPC, to observe the characteristics of liver enhancement patterns on MR images in experimentally implanted rabbit VX2 tumor model, and to estimate the possibility of tissue specific contrast agent for MnPC in comparison with the hepatobiliary agent. Materials and Methods : Phthalocyanine (PC) was chelated with paramagnetic ions, manganese (Mn). 2.01 g (5.2 mmol) of phthalocyanine was mixed with 0.37 g (1.4 nlmol) of Mn chloride at $310^{\circ}C$ for 36 hours and then purified by chromatography ($CHCl_3:\;CH_3OH=98:2$, volume ratio) to obtain 1.04 g $(46\%)$ of MnPC (molecular weight = 2000 daltons). The T1/T2 relaxivity (R1/R2) for MnPC were determined at a 1.5 T (64 MHz) MR spectrometer. VX2 tumor model was experimentally implanted in the liver parenchyma of rabbits. All MR studies were performed on 1.5 T. The human extremity radio frequency coil of a bird cage type was employed. MR images were acquired at 17 to 24 days after VX2 carcinoma implantation.4 mmol/kg MnPC and 0.01 mmol/kg Mn-DPDP were injected via the ear vein of rabbits. T1-weighted images were obtained with spin-echo (TR/TE=516/14 msec) and fast multiplanar spoiled gradient recalled (TR/TE : 80/4 msec, $60^{\circ}$ flip angle) pulse sequence. Fast spin-echo (TR/TE=1200/85 msec) was used to obtain the T2-weighted images. Results : The value of T1/T2 relaxivity (R1/R2) of MnPC was $7.28\;mM^{-1}S^{-1}$ and $55.56\;mM^{-1}S^{-1}$ respectively at 1.5 T (64 MHz). Because the T2 relaxivity of MnPC that bonded strongly, covalently manganese with phthalocyanine was very high, the signal intensity of liver parenchyma was decreased on postcontrast T2-weighted images and we could easily distinguish the VX2 carcinoma within the liver parenchyma. When MnPC was administrated intravenously, the tumor margin delineation was more remarkable than Mn-DPDP-enhanced images. The enhancement of liver parenchyma with MnPC persisted at relatively high levels over at least one hour after injection of the contrast agents. Conclusion : The hepatic uptake and biliary excretion of MnPC, which are similar to Mn-DPDP, suggest that this agent is a new liver-specific agent. Also, MnPC seems to be used as a dual contrast agent (T1 and T2) with high T2 relaxivity. However, it is warranted that MnPC needs further investigation as a potential contrast agent for MR imaging of the liver. That is, further characterizations of MnPC are needed in vivo and in vitro before clinical trials. The diagnostic potential of MnPC will also have to be examined more in the animal models of additional types.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.127-147
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• 2020

The world is suffering from numerous human and economic losses due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The Korean government established a strategy to overcome the national infectious disease crisis through research and development. It is difficult to find distinctive features and changes in a specific R&D field when using the existing technical classification or science and technology standard classification. Recently, a few studies have been conducted to establish a classification system to provide information about the investment research areas of infectious diseases in Korea through a comparative analysis of Korea government-funded research projects. However, these studies did not provide the necessary information for establishing cooperative research strategies among countries in the infectious diseases, which is required as an execution plan to achieve the goals of national health security and fostering new growth industries. Therefore, it is inevitable to study information services based on the classification system and classification model for establishing a national collaborative R&D strategy. Seven classification - Diagnosis_biomarker, Drug_discovery, Epidemiology, Evaluation_validation, Mechanism_signaling pathway, Prediction, and Vaccine_therapeutic antibody - systems were derived through reviewing infectious diseases-related national-funded research projects of South Korea. A classification system model was trained by combining Scopus data with a bidirectional RNN model. The classification performance of the final model secured robustness with an accuracy of over 90%. In order to conduct the empirical study, an infectious disease classification system was applied to the coronavirus-related research and development projects of major countries such as the STAR Metrics (National Institutes of Health) and NSF (National Science Foundation) of the United States(US), the CORDIS (Community Research & Development Information Service)of the European Union(EU), and the KAKEN (Database of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research) of Japan. It can be seen that the research and development trends of infectious diseases (coronavirus) in major countries are mostly concentrated in the prediction that deals with predicting success for clinical trials at the new drug development stage or predicting toxicity that causes side effects. The intriguing result is that for all of these nations, the portion of national investment in the vaccine_therapeutic antibody, which is recognized as an area of research and development aimed at the development of vaccines and treatments, was also very small (5.1%). It indirectly explained the reason of the poor development of vaccines and treatments. Based on the result of examining the investment status of coronavirus-related research projects through comparative analysis by country, it was found that the US and Japan are relatively evenly investing in all infectious diseases-related research areas, while Europe has relatively large investments in specific research areas such as diagnosis_biomarker. Moreover, the information on major coronavirus-related research organizations in major countries was provided by the classification system, thereby allowing establishing an international collaborative R&D projects.

• The Korean Nurse
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.77-96
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• 1997

The duty shifts of hospital nurses not only affect nurses' physical and mental health but also present various personnel management problems which often result in high turnover rates. In this context a study was carried out from October to November 1995 for a period of two months to find out the status of hospital nurses' duty shift patterns, and preferred duty hours and fixed duty shifts. The study population was 867 RNs working in five general hospitals located in Seoul and its vicinity. The questionnaire developed by the writer was used for data collection. The response rate was 85.9 percent or 745 returns. The SAS program was used for data analysis with the computation of frequencies, percentages and Chi square test. The findings of the study are as follows: 1. General characteristics of the study population: 56 percent of respondents was (25 years group and 76.5 percent were "single": the predominant proportion of respondents was junior nursing college graduates(92.2%) and have less than 5 years nursing experience in hospitals(65.5%). For their future working plan in nursing profession, nearly 50% responded as uncertain The reasons given for their career plan was predominantly 'personal growth and development' rather than financial reasons. 2. The interval for rotations of duty stations was found to be mostly irregular(56.4%) while others reported as weekly(16.1%), monthly(12.9%), and fixed terms(4.6%). 3. The main problems related to duty shifts particularly the evening and night duty nurses reported were "not enough time for the family, " "afraid of security problems after the work when returning home late at night." and "lack of leisure time". "problems in physical and physiological adjustment." "problems in family life." "lack of time for interactions with fellow nurses" etc. 4. The forty percent of respondents reported to have '1-2 times' of duty shift rotations while all others reported that '0 time'. '2-3 times'. 'more than 3 times' etc. which suggest the irregularity in duty shift rotations. 5. The majority(62.8%) of study population found to favor the rotating system of duty stations. The reasons for favoring the rotation system were: the opportunity for "learning new things and personal development." "better human relations are possible. "better understanding in various duty stations." "changes in monotonous routine job" etc. The proportion of those disfavor the rotating 'system was 34.7 percent. giving the reasons of"it impedes development of specialization." "poor job performances." "stress factors" etc. Furthermore. respondents made the following comments in relation to the rotation of duty stations: the nurses should be given the opportunity to participate in the. decision making process: personal interest and aptitudes should be considered: regular intervals for the rotations or it should be planned in advance. etc. 6. For the future career plan. the older. married group with longer nursing experiences appeared to think the nursing as their lifetime career more likely than the younger. single group with shorter nursing experiences ($x^2=61.19.{\;}p=.000;{\;}x^2=41.55.{\;}p=.000$). The reason given for their future career plan regardless of length of future service, was predominantly "personal growth and development" rather than financial reasons. For further analysis, the group those with the shorter career plan appeared to claim "financial reasons" for their future career more readily than the group who consider the nursing job as their lifetime career$(x^2$= 11.73, p=.003) did. This finding suggests the need for careful .considerations in personnel management of nursing administration particularly when dealing with the nurses' career development. The majority of respondents preferred the fixed day shift. However, further analysis of those preferred evening shift by age and civil status, "< 25 years group"(15.1%) and "single group"(13.2) were more likely to favor the fixed evening shift than > 25 years(6.4%) and married(4.8%)groups. This differences were statistically significant ($x^2=14.54, {\;}p=.000;{\;}x^2=8.75, {\;}p=.003$). 7. A great majority of respondents(86.9% or n=647) found to prefer the day shifts. When the four different types of duty shifts(Types A. B. C, D) were presented, 55.0 percent of total respondents preferred the A type or the existing one followed by D type(22.7%). B type(12.4%) and C type(8.2%). 8. When the condition of monetary incentives for the evening(20% of salary) and night shifts(40% of. salary) of the existing duty type was presented. again the day shift appeared to be the most preferred one although the rate was slightly lower(66.4% against 86.9%). In the case of evening shift, with the same incentive, the preference rates for evening and night shifts increased from 11.0 to 22.4 percent and from 0.5 to 3.0 percent respectively. When the age variable was controlled. < 25 yrs group showed higher rates(31.6%. 4.8%) than those of > 25 yrs group(15.5%. 1.3%) respectively preferring the evening and night shifts(p=.000). The civil status also seemed to operate on the preferences of the duty shifts as the single group showed lower rate(69.0%) for day duty against 83. 6% of the married group. and higher rates for evening and night duties(27.2%. 15.1%) respectively against those of the married group(3.8%. 1.8%) while a higher proportion of the married group(83. 6%) preferred the day duties than the single group(69.0%). These differences were found to be statistically all significant(p=.001). 9. The findings on preferences of three different types of fixed duty hours namely, B, C. and D(with additional monetary incentives) are as follows in order of preference: B type(12hrs a day, 3days a wk): day shift(64.1%), evening shift(26.1%). night shift(6.5%) C type(12hrs a day. 4days a wk) : evening shift(49.2%). day shift(32.8%), night shift(11.5%) D type(10hrs a day. 4days a wk): showed the similar trend as B type. The findings of higher preferences on the evening and night duties when the incentives are given. as shown above, suggest the need for the introductions of different patterns of duty hours and incentive measures in order to overcome the difficulties in rostering the nursing duties. However, the interpretation of the above data, particularly the C type, needs cautions as the total number of respondents is very small(n=61). It requires further in-depth study. In conclusion. it seemed to suggest that the patterns of nurses duty hours and shifts in the most hospitals in the country have neither been tried for different duty types nor been flexible. The stereotype rostering system of three shifts and insensitiveness for personal life aspect of nurses seemed to be prevailing. This study seems to support that irregular and frequent rotations of duty shifts may be contributing factors for most nurses' maladjustment problems in physical and mental health. personal and family life which eventually may result in high turnover rates. In order to overcome the increasing problems in personnel management of hospital nurses particularly in rostering of evening and night duty shifts, which may related to eventual high turnover rates, the findings of this study strongly suggest the need for an introduction of new rostering systems including fixed duties and appropriate incentive measures for evenings and nights which the most nurses want to avoid, In considering the nursing care of inpatients is the round-the clock business. the practice of the nursing duty shift system is inevitable. In this context, based on the findings of this study. the following are recommended: 1. The further in-depth studies on duty shifts and hours need to be undertaken for the development of appropriate and effective rostering systems for hospital nurses. 2. An introduction of appropriate incentive measures for evening and night duty shifts along with organizational considerations such as the trials for preferred duty time bands, duty hours, and fixed duty shifts should be considered if good quality of care for the patients be maintained for the round the clock. This may require an initiation of systematic research and development activities in the field of hospital nursing administration as a part of permanent system in the hospital. 3. Planned and regular intervals, orientation and training, and professional and personal growth should be considered for the rotation of different duty stations or units. 4. In considering the higher degree of preferences in the duty type of "10hours a day, 4days a week" shown in this study, it would be worthwhile to undertake the R&D type studies in large hospital settings.