• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.102-110
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• 2023

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major health burden worldwide, with over 600 million confirmed cases and 6 million deaths by 15 December 2022. Although the acute phase of COVID-19 management has been established, the long-term clinical course and complications due to the relatively short outbreak is yet to be assessed. The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant morbidity and mortality around the world. Interestingly, epidemiological studies have shown that fatality rates vary considerably across different countries, and men and elderly patients are at higher risk of developing severe diseases. There is increasing evidence that COVID-19 infection causes neurological deficits in a substantial proportion to patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome. Furthermore, lack of physical activity and smoking are associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) susceptibility. We should therefore explore why lack of physical activity, smoking, etc causing a population more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and mechanism involved. Thus, in this review article, we summarize epidemiological evidence related to risk factors and lifestyle that affect COVID-19 severity and the mechanism involved. These risk factors or lifestyle interventions include smoking, cardiovascular health, obesity, exercise, environmental pollution, psychosocial social stress, and diet.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.166-181
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• 2023

Purpose: This study examined the literature concerning the burdens of parents of preschool-aged children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods: We employed an integrative review methodology based on Whittemore and Knafl's framework. The literature search was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines across four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, the Cumulative Index to Nursing Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and PsycINFO. Ultimately, 18 articles were included in the review. Results: The review yielded four themes: (1) parental burdens, (2) factors related to the burdens, (3) coping strategies, and (4) implications for clinical practice. Parents experienced psychological, physical, and social burdens due to the diabetes care of their children. Several factors influenced burdens, including child-related characteristics such as age, severity of diabetes, and hospitalization experience, as well as parental factors like family income, race, and residential area. Parents initially felt burdened when their child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, but over time, they often adapted to the situation through support and sharing of responsibilities. Parents desired education and interventions reflecting the unique characteristics of preschoolers. Conclusion: This integrative literature review revealed that parents experience numerous burdens when their child is diagnosed with diabetes. Future research should focus on developing interventions to address parents' psychological difficulties, including tracking parental psychological changes over time. Tailored nursing interventions should also be provided to parents of preschool-aged children, as opposed to the more generic nursing interventions traditionally applied across all age groups of children in clinical settings.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.110-123
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• 2023

As social distancing strengthened after the COVID-19 incident, people looked for things they could do alone. Additionally, as people have more financial resources, they purchase products they had previously considered purchasing, and the phenomenon of giving gifts to oneself has also appeared. Accordingly, this study analyzed fashion product reviews of KakaoTalk Gift, the service to exchange gift via SNS mobile app, to discover the phenomenon of self-gifting and the differences from interpersonal-gifting. For post-hoc data, in collected 18,354 pieces after excluding unnecessary data using a Python-based web crawling technique. The self-gifting behavior of KakaoTalk Gift different from the previous study for self-gift. Regardless of the gift-giving contexts, it determines that most self-gift products are material items. There are differences in product types and price levels when choosing gifts for others and oneself. As a self-gift, people typically buy luxury jewelry and branded bags/wallets to wear and show off. As interpersonal, among fashion products, people usually buy beauty products that reflect less personal tastes. When gift-giving to others, people buy products to appropriate prices to reduce the burden on both. When gift-giving to oneself, people buy wanted products regardless of the price. This study is significant because it suggests a new direction in self-gift research by limited online places to give gifts.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.127-143
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• 2024

Objective: The purpose of this study is to develop a machine learning model to predict the subsequent childbirth intention of married women with one child, aiming to address the low birth rate problem in Korea, This will be achieved by utilizing data from the 2021 Family and Childbirth Survey conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. Methods: A prediction model was developed using the Random Forest algorithm to predict the subsequent childbirth intention of married women with one child. This algorithm was chosen for its advantages in prediction and generalization, and its performance was evaluated. Results: The significance of variables influencing the Random Forest prediction model was confirmed. With the exception of the presence or absence of leave before and after childbirth, most variables contributed to predicting the intention to have subsequent childbirth. Notably, variables such as the mother's age, number of children planned at the time of marriage, average monthly household income, spouse's share of childcare burden, mother's weekday housework hours, and presence or absence of spouse's maternity leave emerged as relatively important predictors of subsequent childbirth intention.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.304-314
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• 2023

Background and Objectives: Ear cartilage malformations are commonly encountered problems in reconstructive surgery, since cartilage has low self-regenerating capacity. Malformations that impose psychological and social burden on one's life are currently treated using ear prosthesis, synthetic implants or autologous flaps from rib cartilage. These approaches are challenging because not only they request high surgical expertise, but also they lack flexibility and induce severe donor-site morbidity. Through the last decade, tissue engineering gained attention where it aims at regenerating human tissues or organs in order to restore normal functions. This technique consists of three main elements, cells, growth factors, and above all, a scaffold that supports cells and guides their behavior. Several studies have investigated different scaffolds prepared from both synthetic or natural materials and their effects on cellular differentiation and behavior. Methods and Results: In this study, we investigated a natural scaffold (alginate) as tridimensional hydrogel seeded with progenitors from different origins such as bone marrow, perichondrium and dental pulp. In contact with the scaffold, these cells remained viable and were able to differentiate into chondrocytes when cultured in vitro. Quantitative and qualitative results show the presence of different chondrogenic markers as well as elastic ones for the purpose of ear cartilage, upon different culture conditions. Conclusions: We confirmed that auricular perichondrial cells outperform other cells to produce chondrogenic tissue in normal oxygen levels and we report for the first time the effect of hypoxia on these cells. Our results provide updates for cartilage engineering for future clinical applications.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.11-18
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• 2024

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the unintended welfare losses induced by paid sick leave, examine the severity of the unintended moral hazard loss caused by paid sick leave, and evaluate how much moral hazard cost society can accept to obtain paid sick leave benefits. Research Design, Data and Methodology: We examine the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data collected in 2013 and 2014 by employing a panel probit analysis to control for individual heterogeneity. Results: The estimation result shows that the probability of absence due to paid sick leave increases from 4.91% to 7.84%. Among them, excluding the probability of increasing absence from 1.29% to 2.69% due to the actual disease, the probability of absence due to the moral hazard was estimated to be 2.41% to 6.49% in the proposed models. Based on the result, if we evaluate the increase in absence caused by moral hazard as a social cost, the estimated cost is approximately $174 to $297 per worker per year. Conclusion: Considering these expected costs, our society can obtain the access benefit from paid sick leave if we are willing to accept the moral hazard cost.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.651-657
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• 2024

This study comparatively analyzed the impact of childcare workforce cost on fertility rates across different countries. In the cases of Nordic countries, comprehensive childcare support policies and subsidies for childcare workforce costs were found to have a positive impact on fertility rates. In contrast, high childcare burden and economic pressures were identified as major factors contributing to declining fertility rates in East Asian countries. In developing countries, the effectiveness of childcare support policies varied depending on the socioeconomic context. This study suggests that the impact of childcare workforce cost on fertility rates manifests in diverse patterns across countries, and effective childcare support policies require tailored approaches that consider each country's specific circumstances. In the future, increased social investment in childcare and the spread of a culture that respects the value of care are necessary.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.61-88
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to explore the work experiences of hospital-based child protection team staffs who had intervened the child abuse cases resulting in death. In order to gather the relevant data, all 62 child protection teams registered nationwide were contacted and 5 teams which had actually experienced at least one child abuse deaths were found. The staffs (hospital social workers and doctors) who belonged to these teams were intensively interviewed, and the interviewed materials were thoroughly analyzed by qualitative research methodology. The result showed that treatment delay was the most important obstacle to prevent unnecessary deaths of the victims. Some abused victims were sent to the hospital only after their physical condition had so gravely deteriorated. In other cases, custodians' bland denial or refusal to treatment made impossible the timely intervention to save the child lives. Nevertheless, child protection team staffs' reasonable suspicion and active intervention could sometimes uncover the hidden truth that child abuse was the actual cause of death. These incidents were regarded as a team's meaningful accomplishments by team members. Meanwhile, lack of awareness and excessive burden about the role and responsibility of mandated reporter precluded medical staffs' active involvement. Also, substantiating the abuse suspicion by securing positive evidences was found to be a facilitatory factor for the rapid public intervention. On the basis of these results, several practice and policy implications were discussed to improve the early detection process, securing evidence and uncovering the actual cause of death in child abuse deaths.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.525-536
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• 1999

The result of this study may be abstracted as follows. 1) The study was done on 48.3% seniors(138), 34.3% sophomores. and 17.5% juniors mostly ranging in age from 21 to 22, the largest number of students at 38.1%(109) were Christian. followed by 31.5%(90) were Confucian. 20.6%(59) who were Catholic. and 9.1%(26)who were Buddhist. 2) Concerning the economic views. 46.8%(134) preferred Capitalism 40.9%(117) preferred a combination of Capitalism and Socialism, 8.7%(25) were for more or less Socialistic in view point, and 3.5%(10) for Socialism. 3) Among the internal factors causing poverty, 'lack of ability(knowledge)', scored the highest at 3.528, and 'beauty or appearance' scored the lowest at 1.570. Social factors scored high in 'bad economic/tax policies' at 3.374 and 'low average in wages' at 3.364. Among family matters, 'not much money at home' scored the highest at 3.273, and 'low expectation of success in poor families' scored the lowest at 2.315. On concerns of fate and destiny. 'bad luck' turned out to be the most likely cause of poverty with the score of 2.619. and 'destined poverty' was the least likely cause with the score of 1.969. 4) The high scoring economical consequences of poverty was 'not able to do as one desires' at 3.965, and 'no money to buy things wanted' at 3.804. 'Gets tired of life' (4.028) scored high in psychological consequences showing that poverty affects these matters greatly. 'Looked down on by others' (3.538) scored high in social circumstances, and 'feels like a burden to society' scored low at 2.080. Among family matters. 'hard life' scored high at 4.210, and 'low morality' scored low at 1.972. 5) Significant differences(p= .00) were found between economic views and what significance certain internal factors caused poverty these differences were also related to a reliance on religion, economic views, and economic status. Significant differences were also found between economic status and internal factors causing poverty(p= .04), economic point of view and social factors(p= .01). and economical point of view and luck related matters, (p = .01) When the consequences of poverty were considered. psychological factors such as 'hate towards oneself', 'tired of life', and 'afraid of the future' showed significant differences in relation to economic status. (p = .02) Family matters also showed significant differences in relation to economic status(p= .03), With personal characteristics and wealth causing factors, significant differences were found between a person's economic point of view and ecinomic status when considering and internal or social factors.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.491-505
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• 1992

The purpose of this research was to understand the structure of the lived experience of parents of a child terminally ill with cancer The research question was “What is the structure of the experience of parents of a child terminally ill with cancer\ulcorner” The sample consisted of 17 parents of children admitted to the cancer units of two university hospitals in Seoul. The unstructured interviews were carried out from October 10, 1991 through January 10, 1992. They were audio-recorded and analysed using Van Kaam's method. Parents ascribed the cause of the cancer to the mother's emotional imbalance during pregnancy, the mother's stress, failure to observe religious rites, food, the parent's sin, misfortune and pollution. The theme clusters were tension, fear and depression experienced during pregnancy, stress that children suffer from abusive parents, failure to observe religious activites, bad luck, and sins committed during a previous life. When the child suffered a recurrence of cancer, the parents experienced negative emotions, nervousness, sorrow. depression and death. The theme clusters were feelings of despair, helplessness, regret, guilt, insecurity, emptyness and apathy. The long struggle with cancer resulted in the loss of economic security, loss of psychological and physical well being, and social withdrawal. The theme clusters were the economic burden of medical cost, giving up treatment, debt, limited medical insurance coverage and blood transfusion. The loss of psychological well being included stress, lack of support systems, inability to carry out responsibilities, lack of trust of the medical ten family breakdown, inappropriate expression of emotion and not disclosing the diagnosis to the child. Physically the parents suffered fatigue, insomnia, loss of appetite, loss of weight, dizzness, headache, psychosomatic symptoms, and increased consumption of liquor and cigarettes. Social withdrawal was manifested by taking time off from work to look after the child, decrease of outside social activities and feelings of isolation. Influences on family life were spousal conflicts, negative response of siblings, separation of the family members and economic hardship. The theme clusters were blaming a spouse for the cause of the illness and disagreements, maladjustment, lonliness, hostility and depression of siblings. The high price of medical care over the long period was a major factor influencing the life of the family. Positive experiences during the child's long illness were the strengthening of support systems and religious beliefs and financial help from social organizations. The support of one's spouse primarily helped to overcome the stress of the long illness. In addition, support was received from parents of other children with cancer and from nurses and religious leaders. The nurse, by providing empathetic support, should be a person with whom parents can express their feelings and share their experiences.