• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.237-244
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• 2021

Background: This study aimed to analyze Twitter users' emotional tendencies regarding oral surgery procedures before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic worldwide. Methods: Tweets posted in English before and after the COVID-19 pandemic were included in the study. Popular tweets in 2019 were searched using the keywords "tooth removal", "tooth extraction", "dental pain", "wisdom tooth", "wisdom teeth", "oral surgery", "oral surgeon", and "OMFS". In 2020, another search was conducted by adding the words "COVID" and "corona" to the abovementioned keywords. Emotions underlying the tweets were analyzed using CrystalFeel - Multidimensional Emotion Analysis. In this analysis, we focused on four emotions: fear, anger, sadness, and joy. Results: A total of 1240 tweets, which were posted before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, were analyzed. There was a statistically significant difference between the emotions' distribution before and after the pandemic (p < 0.001). While the sense of joy decreased after the pandemic, anger and fear increased. There was a statistically significant difference between the emotional valence distributions before and after the pandemic (p < 0.001). While a negative emotion intensity was noted in 52.9% of the messages before the pandemic, it was observed in 74.3% of the messages after the pandemic. A positive emotional intensity was observed in 29.8% of the messages before the pandemic, but was seen in 10.7% of the messages after the pandemic. Conclusion: Infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, may lead to mental, emotional, and behavioral changes in people. Unpredictability, uncertainty, disease severity, misinformation, and social isolation may further increase dental anxiety and fear among people.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.27-33
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• 2021

The whole world now is dealing with Coronavirus, and it has turned to be one of the most widespread and long-lived pandemics of our times. Reports reveal that the infectious disease has taken toll of the almost 80% of the world's population. Amidst a lot of research going on with regards to the prediction on growth and transmission through Symptomatic carriers of the virus, it can't be ignored that pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers also play a crucial role in spreading the reach of the virus. Classification Algorithm has been widely used to classify different types of COVID-19 carriers ranging from simple feature-based classification to Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). This research paper aims to present a novel technique using a Random Forest Machine learning algorithm with hyper-parameter tuning to classify different types COVID-19-carriers such that these carriers can be accurately characterized and hence dealt timely to contain the spread of the virus. The main idea for selecting Random Forest is that it works on the powerful concept of "the wisdom of crowd" which produces ensemble prediction. The results are quite convincing and the model records an accuracy score of 99.72 %. The results have been compared with the same dataset being subjected to K-Nearest Neighbour, logistic regression, support vector machine (SVM), and Decision Tree algorithms where the accuracy score has been recorded as 78.58%, 70.11%, 70.385,99% respectively, thus establishing the concreteness and suitability of our approach.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제54권1호
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• pp.17-21
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• 2021

In 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions to global health systems. The Korea has taken full-fledged actions against this novel infectious disease, swiftly implementing a testing-tracing-treatment strategy. New obligations have therefore been given to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) to devote the utmost effort towards tackling this global health crisis. Thanks to the universal national health insurance and state-of-the-art information communications technology (ICT) of the Korea, HIRA has conducted far-reaching countermeasures to detect and treat cases early, prevent the spread of COVID-19, respond quickly to surging demand for the healthcare services, and translate evidence into policy. Three main factors have enabled HIRA to undertake pandemic control preemptively and systematically: nationwide data aggregated from all healthcare providers and patients, pre-existing ICT network systems, and real-time data exchanges. HIRA has maximized the use of data and pre-existing network systems to conduct rapid and responsive measures in a centralized way, both of which have been the most critical tactics and strategies used by the Korean healthcare system. In the face of new obligations, our promise is to strive for a more responsive and resilient health system during this prolonged crisis.

• 정보처리학회논문지:컴퓨터 및 통신 시스템
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.15-28
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• 2021

코로나19 팬데믹으로 사회적 거리 두기가 강화됨에 따라 원격근무가 확산되면서 정부기관에서도 지난 3월부터 재택근무가 시작되어 현재까지도 일정수준을 유지하고 있다. 정부기관에서 재택근무를 위해 필수적으로 사용하고 있는 정부원격근무서비스인 GVPN(Government Virtual Private Network)이 짧은 기간에 급격한 이용자의 증가에 따른 여러 문제점들의 발생이 예상되고 있다. 따라서 이를 직접 이용하고 있는 정부부처의 공무원들을 대상으로 GVPN의 품질요인이 이용자의 만족도에 미치는 영향들을 분석하기 위해 설문조사와 통계분석을 실시하였으며, 이 결과를 기반으로 언택트 시대의 본격적인 확산에 대비하여 원격근무를 위한 GVPN의 개선방안 마련에 필요한 시사점 등을 도출하고자 한다.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.241-245
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• 2021

Background: It has been reported that a new type of headache may develop as a result of face mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical features of face mask-related headache during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out on healthcare workers at the Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University. The number of workers at our university was established. Sample size was calculated using the G*Power program. A questionnaire consisting of questions relating to pre-existing headache, an aggravation in headache, and de-novo headache was filled out by 3 neurologists with all participants. Results: Data was collected from a total of 375 participants, after the exclusion of 5 individuals who refused to participate. Out of all participants, 26 (6.9%) used a filtering mask, 274 (73.1%) used a surgical mask, 75 (20.0%) participants used a combination of both masks. The number of participants with preexisting headache was 114 (30.4%) had pre-existing headache. Of those with pre-existing headache, 77 (67.5%) healthcare workers had reported an aggravation in their headache after mask use. De-novo headache was observed in 116 (30.9%) of participants. De-novo headache characteristics included throbbing in 17 (14.7%) participants and pressing in 99 (85.3%) participants. In addition, symptoms such as tachypnea, sleep disturbance, and fatigue were found to be significantly higher. Conclusions: This study indicates that healthcare workers develop headaches due to use of masks during the COVID-19 outbreak.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제35권2호
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• pp.209-223
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• 2022

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant changes. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on patients with chronic pain. Methods: Patients with chronic pain from 23 university hospitals in South Korea participated in this study. The anonymous survey questionnaire consisted of 25 questions regarding the following: demographic data, diagnosis, hospital visit frequency, exercise duration, time outside, sleep duration, weight change, nervousness and anxiety, depression, interest or pleasure, fatigue, daily life difficulties, and self-harm thoughts. Depression severity was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between increased pain and patient factors. Results: A total of 914 patients completed the survey, 35.9% of whom had decreased their number of visits to the hospital, mostly due to COVID-19. The pain level of 200 patients has worsened since the COVID-19 outbreak, which was more prominent in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Noticeable post-COVID-19 changes such as exercise duration, time spent outside, sleep patterns, mood, and weight affected patients with chronic pain. Depression severity was more significant in patients with CRPS. The total PHQ-9 average score of patients with CRPS was 15.5, corresponding to major depressive orders. The patients' decreased exercise duration, decreased sleep duration, and increased depression were significantly associated with increased pain. Conclusions: COVID-19 has caused several changes in patients with chronic pain. During the pandemic, decreased exercise and sleep duration and increased depression were associated with patients' increasing pain.

• 한국융합학회논문지
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.79-88
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• 2022

본 연구의 목적은 한국에서 COVID-19 유행 기간 동안 건강 행동 변화와 우울한 기분의 연관성을 평가하는 것이다. 한국 성인의 비례표본을 이용하여 인터넷 기반 단면 설문조사를 실시하였고, 로지스틱 회귀모형을 이용하여 연관성을 평가하였다. 그 결과, COVID-19 유행 기간 동안 앉거나 눕는 시간, 걷는 시간, 흡연 및 음주의 부정적인 변화는 우울한 기분으로의 변화와 관련이 있었다 [교차비(OR): 2.23(95% CI=1.77-2.81), 2.04(95% CI=1.63-2.56), 2.84(95% CI=1.51-5.36) 및 1.82(95% CI=1.26-2.63)]. COVID-19 유행기간 동안 긍정적인 건강 변화(활동 증가, 흡연 및 알코올 감소)를 증진시키기 위한 전략은 정신적 스트레스 경감에 도움이 될 수 있다.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.726-741
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to provide instructive theoretical models for art (music) education institutions especially when unpredictable risks, such as pandemics, occur again. Based on the customer behavior theory of the business-to-business-to-customer (B2B2C) platform, and in combination with the technology acceptance model (TAM) and expectation confirmation model (ECM), this study proposes an online education model from the perspective of art education. The framework is based on the three decision-making processes of the customer, and includes the product owner, content owner, and customer area. This paper highlights the factors that influence customers in making decisions when art education institutions are product owners. Regression analysis was introduced to study the factors influencing the expectation confirmation, and the overall fitting testing and six hypotheses testing of 385 effective samples were performed using the structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that the course-design and after-service positively influenced the expectation confirmation, and the domain image positively influenced the continuance behavior. Negative emotions skipped the mediator (expectation confirmation) and directly exerted a significant negative impact on customers' willingness to continue system usage (continuance behavior). In addition, expectation confirmation positively influenced continuance behavior. The paths of detailed items comprising course-design, after-service, and negative emotion were also analyzed and discussed. In this path analysis, ordinary art learners did not believe that AI partners can play a very good auxiliary role. The findings contribute to the scope of information systems acting as an art education platform academically, and provide effective and theoretical support for the actual operation of art education institutions.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.78-85
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• 2022

Background: The current pandemic has affected people's health multidimensionally. This study aims to investigate musculoskeletal pain, sleep quality, depression levels, and their relationships in individuals belonging to different age groups during COVID-19 in Turkey. Methods: A web-based self-administered survey that consisted of demographic questions, The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and scores of musculoskeletal pain was sent to participants. Pearson correlation analysis was used for determining the statistical relationship between variables. Results: The study includes 1,778 participants. The highest percentage for mild, moderate, and severe pain was in the head (49.8%), back (15.5%), and head (11.5%), respectively. The PSQI-total had shown a weak correlation with pain levels in all body parts. The highest correlation for sleep quality and pain levels was between the PSQI-5 and lower back pain. There was a weak correlation between PSQI-2 and the BDI score, and a moderate correlation between the PSQI-1, PSQI-5, PSQI-7, PSQI-total, and BDI score. Pain in all body parts showed a weak correlation with depression level. Conclusions: This study showed that musculoskeletal pain was varied in body parts with different intensities according to age groups in Turkey during the pandemic. The most common pain was in the head, back, and lower back. Headache was found correlated with the parameters of sleep quality. Pain of the head, neck, back, lower back, and shoulder were correlated with sleep latency. Sleep quality was associated with depression and musculoskeletal pain, while musculoskeletal pain was correlated with depression.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.14-21
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• 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has been rampant since the end of 2019, has evidently affected pain management in clinical practice. Fortunately, a COVID-19 vaccination program is currently in progress worldwide. There is an ongoing discussion that pain management using steroid injections can decrease COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, although currently there is no direct evidence to support this statement. As such, the feeling of pain in patients is doubled in addition to the co-existing ill-effects of social isolation associated with the pandemic. Thus, in the COVID-19 era, it has become necessary that physicians be able to provide high quality pain management without negatively impacting COVID-19 vaccine efficacy. Steroids can alter the entire process involved in the generation of adaptive immunity after vaccination. The period of hypophysis-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression is known to be 1 to 4 weeks after steroid injection, and although the exact timing for peak efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines is slightly different for each vaccine, the average is approximately 2 weeks. It is suggested to avoid steroid injections for a total of 4 weeks (1 week before and after the two vaccine doses) for the double-shot vaccines, and for 2 weeks in total (1 week before and after vaccination) for a single-shot vaccine. This review focuses on the basic concepts of the various COVID-19 vaccines, the effect of steroid injections on vaccine efficacy, and suggestions regarding an appropriate interval between the administration of steroid injections and the COVID-19 vaccine.