• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.29-34
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• 2022

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was a global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is still a serious public health problem. COVID-19 causes various symptoms not only in the respiratory system but also in various parts of the body and has a significant effect on sleep. Insomnia and poor sleep quality were observed at high rates in patients with COVID-19 as well as in the uninfected general population. Obstructive sleep apnea is also considered a risk factor in patients with severe COVID-19. Virus-induced central nervous system damage is likely to be the cause of many sleep disorders in COVID-19, but psychosocial influences also seem to have played a significant role. Sleep problems persisted at high rates for a considerable period after the infection phase was over. More attention and research on the effect of COVID-19 on sleep is needed in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.357-376
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• 2022

This study examines circulation status and trends of a public library during three year periods from January 2019 to December 2021. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean number of circulation between the pre-Covid-19 period and the Covid-19 period, and the Covid-19 period and the Covid-19 recovery period. However, no significant difference was found between the pre-Covid-19 period and the Covid-19 recovery period. Across three years, there was a significant difference in the distribution of circulation per month. Circulation distribution was also significantly different among different days of the week and different hours of the day. Monthly circulation distribution and hourly circulation distribution during the pre-Covid-19 period was similar to those of the Covid-19 recovery period, whereas those of the Covid-19 period differed from the pre-Covid-19 period and the Covid-19 recovery period. It is expected that the results of this study could contribute to the collection development, and the management and improvement of services of public libraries. It is also expected that the results of this study could contribute to the prediction of circulation patterns and information needs of public library users.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.26 no.2_2
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• pp.293-306
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is a descriptive research study to analyze the factors that affect Christians' COVID-19 preventive behavior. The subjects of the study were 262 adult Christians, and the data collected were using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 21.0 programs. As a result of the study, the subject's religious maturity level was 4.21 ± .55 points out of 5 points, COVID-19 stress was 2.86 ± .73 points out of 5 points, optimism bias was 2.94 ± 1.26 points out of 7 points, and COVID-19 preventive health behavior was 4 points. The total score was 3. 54 ± . 44 points. As a result of the correlation analysis of the subject's religious maturity, COVID-19 stress, optimistic bias, and COVID-19 preventive health behaviors, COVID-19 preventive health behaviors were faith maturity (r=.156, p=.012), COVID-19 stress (r=.216, There was a positive correlation with optimism bias (r=174, p=.005). In conclusion, it can be said that the higher the religious maturity, the higher the COVID-19 stress, and the higher the optimistic bias, the better the preventive health behavior of COVID-19, and the explanatory power of the overall model was 9.4%. In the post-COVID-19 era, it is necessary to develop educational programs that can prevent infectious diseases and promote health in the community.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.49-60
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• 2024

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had significant physical and psychological impacts on registered nurses (RNs). This study aimed to identify long COVID symptoms and their associated factors specifically among RNs. Methods: This descriptive correlational study's sample comprised 189 nurses (31.57±5.98 years, 93.7% female) in Korea. Self-reported long COVID symptoms were assessed using the COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale. Data were collected from December 31, 2022, to January 13, 2023, using the online survey method and were analyzed using independent t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and a multiple linear regression analysis with the IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 program. Results: A total of 179 participants (94.7%) experienced one or more long COVID symptoms. The most prevalent symptoms were weakness (77.8%), fatigue (68.3%), breathlessness (67.7%), cough/throat sensitivity/voice change (50.3%), and sleep problems (50.3%). The factors related to long COVID symptoms were marital status, type of institution, working time, acute COVID-19 symptoms, and vaccination status. The quarantine period (β=.26, p<.001) and the nursing workforce after COVID-19 (β=-.17, p=.018) were significantly associated with long COVID symptoms (Adjusted R² =.33). Conclusion: Providing comprehensive recognition is necessary for the understanding of long COVID symptoms and their associated factors among nurses and could promote a long COVID symptom management education program targeted at nurses. Moreover, it could facilitate effective nursing care and education plans for long COVID patients.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.52 no.11
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• pp.808-813
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• 2022

Studies showing that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease continue to be published. However, studies on how long the overall cardiovascular risk increases after COVID-19 and the magnitude of its long-term effects have only been confirmed recently. This is partly because the distinction between cardiovascular risk as an acute complication of COVID-19 or post-acute cardiovascular manifestations is ambiguous. Long-COVID has arisen as an important topic in the second half of the pandemic. This term indicates that symptoms persist for more than two 2 months; following three months of SARS-CoV-2 infection and cannot be explained by other medical conditions. Despite the agreement of these international organizations and experts, it is difficult to define whether there is sufficient medical evidence to prove the existence of long-COVID. However, the Korean government and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) are preparing a new platform to assess the long-term impact of COVID-19. Using this data, a prospective cohort of 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases will be established. This cohort will be linked with claims data from the National Health Insurance Services (NHIS) and it is expected that increased real-world evidence of long-COVID will be accumulated.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.554-563
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to determine how undergraduate nursing students' knowledge and health beliefs affected their COVID-19-related infection-prevention behaviors. Methods: This study used a descriptive survey. A total of 188 undergraduate nursing students from two universities in South Korea participated in this study. The data were collected from June 2020 to August 2020. Factors influencing infection-prevention behaviors were identified using multiple regression analysis. Results: The participants' mean knowledge level regarding COVID-19 was 84.05 ± 11.78 out of 100. The average health belief score was 2.80 ± 0.32 points out of 5. COVID-19-related preventive health behaviors were correlated with experiences of searching for COVID-19 information (r = .22, p < .01), perceived severity (r = .24, p < .01), perceived benefits (r = .29, p < .01), cues to action (r = .30, p < .01), knowledge (r = .27, p < .01), and perceived barriers (r = - .19, p < .05). Factors that significantly affected COVID-19-related preventive health behaviors were the participants' years of study, experiences regarding COVID-19 prevention education, perceived severity, perceived barriers, and cues to action. Conclusion: COVID-19-related preventive health behaviors are promoted by increasing awareness about the disease and promoting COVID-19 education in nursing curriculums.

• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Patients with severe COVID-19 exhibit hyper-inflammatory responses characterized by excessive activation of myeloid cells, including monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils, and a plethora of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Accumulating evidence also indicates that hyper-inflammation is a driving factor for severe progression of the disease, which has prompted the development of anti-inflammatory therapies for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Corticosteroids, IL-6R inhibitors, and JAK inhibitors have demonstrated promising results in treating patients with severe disease. In addition, diverse forms of exosomes that exert anti-inflammatory functions have been tested experimentally for the treatment of COVID-19. Here, we briefly describe the immunological mechanisms of the hyper-inflammatory responses in patients with severe COVID-19. We also summarize current anti-inflammatory therapies for the treatment of severe COVID-19 and novel exosome-based therapeutics that are in experimental stages.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.69-84
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• 2020

This study is conducted to improve the quality of healthcare services responding to COVID-19 by applying the public service quality management framework that is developed from ISO18091:2019 by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of South Korea. The COVID-19 pandemic has been impacting the world since early 2020, and now in November 2020, it still has not been eliminated. The Korean medical institutions were able to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by agile test and strict cohort isolation. As a result, the so-called K-medical defense has achieved a positive reputation from around the world. In this study, we check and evaluate the current status of the COVID-19 response targeting some Korean hospitals by applying a quality control checklist based on the public service quality management framework. Status of 7 categories are analyzed based on the interview with 3 medical institutions. We also suggest improvements for better medical service quality in case of COVID-19 being prolonged.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to find stress mediation strategies for pandemic task forces in the future by identifying role stress experienced by local officials in public health centers working as COVID-19 response task force. Whether they suffered from trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to COVID-19 was also determined. Methods: Subjects for this research were 185 public health center workers in 7 northern Gyeonggi cities with at least three months of COVID-19 response task force experience. The investigation lasted for two months, from February to March of 2021. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: The average role stress of research subjects was 2.79±0.60. There were 64 subjects (34.6%) who answered 'yes' for trauma experience due to COVID-19. Subjects' role stress by sociodemographic and role characteristics displayed statistically significant differences in gender (t = -2.74, p= .007), age (F = 6.41, p= .002), profession (F = 0.01, p= .014), and COVID-19 response task (F= 3.01, p= .019). Specifically, role stress was higher for females than for males, those who were in their 20's (than 40's), a nursing profession (rather than others). Role stress was also higher in COVID-19 confirmed response work or in a self-quarantine work. There was a significant difference in trauma according to COVID-19 response roles (χ² = 26.59, p= < .001) and other tasks given or not (χ²= 9.48, p= .002). Conclusion: It is necessary to take measures to reduce COVID-19 response task force's role stress and trauma.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.74-79
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• 2022

Purpose: Children with nephrotic syndrome may experience disease relapse or aggravation triggered by various viral infections. Limited studies on the clinical implications of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in children with nephrotic syndrome have been published worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on the clinical course of nephrotic syndrome in children. Methods: The medical records of 59 patients with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who visited our hospital between February and June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Twenty of the total 59 patients with nephrotic syndrome were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the study period. The mean age at the time of the diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome and COVID-19 in all 20 patients was 4.6±3.5 and 8.9±3.9 years, respectively. Three patients (15%) were diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome relapse during COVID-19 and the relapse rate was similar to them without COVID-19 (20.5%, 8/39 patients). At the time of the COVID-19 diagnosis, fever (85%) and cough (40%) were the most common symptoms. After the diagnosis of COVID-19, all patients showed improvement with symptomatic treatment, including antipyretic analgesics and cold medicine. None of the critical patients required hospitalization or oral antiviral medications. Conclusions: Despite the use of immunosuppressants, the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in children with nephrotic syndrome were not severe and are expected to be similar to that in the general population. The relapse rate of nephrotic syndrome in children with COVID-19 was also not different from them without COVID-19.