• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.67-78
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic-driven effect changes of quality factors on customer satisfaction in Korean Police Civil Affairs Service. Methods: This study fitted a regression model to the data collected by Korean National Police Agency from 2019 (before COVID-19 pandemic) to 2020 (during COVID-19 pandemic). In order to simultaneously estimate the effects of major seven quality factors on customer satisfaction for 'before the pandemic' and for 'during the pandemic', the regression model included not only customer satisfaction as the dependent variable, but also the fourteen independent variables consisting of the seven quality factors and their seven interaction terms. The interaction terms were defined by multiplying each quality factor by a dummy variable indicating either before or during the pandemic. Therefore, the coefficient estimates of the interaction terms indicate the changes of their corresponding quality factor effects on customer satisfaction between before and during the pandemic. The double bootstrap method was applied to test the significance of coefficient estimates. Results: Both before and during the pandemic, all quality factors had positive effects on customer satisfaction. However, these effects changed differently from before to during the pandemic: (increased) supportability, sincerity, and convenience; (decreased) integrity, professionalism, and fairness; (unchanged) promptness. Conclusion: This study found that the pandemic caused significant effect changes of quality factors on customer satisfaction in Korean Police Civil Affairs Service. This finding suggests the necessity of carefully monitoring such effect changes to effectively and efficiently improve customer satisfaction. This study also identified that from before to during the pandemic, supportability, sincerity, and convenience become more important and hence, need to be better managed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.386-390
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• 2005

Influenza A viruses periodicall y cause worldwide epidemics, or pandemics, with high rates of illness and death. A pandemic can occur at any time, with the potential to cause serious illness, death and social and economic disruption throughout the world. Historic evidence suggests that pandemics occurred three to four times per century. In the last century there were three influenza pandemics. The circumstances still exist for a new influenza virus with pandemic potential to emerge an d spread. The unpredictability of the timing of the next pandemic is underlined by the occurrence of several large outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza since the early 1980s. In 1999, the World Health Organization published the Influenza pandemic plan. The role of WHO and guidelines for national and regional planning. And in 2005, WHO revised the global influenza preparedness plan for new national measures before and during pandemics. This document outlines briefly the Korean Centers for Disease Control's plan for responding to an influenza pandemic. According to the new pandemic phases of WHO, we set up the 4 national levels of preparedness and made guidelines for preventing and control the epidemics in each phase. And also we described the future plans to antiviral stockpiles and pandemic vaccine development.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.277-285
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• 2022

This study aims to investigate the impact of the Corona pandemic on the earning quality (EQ) of Saudi national banks. It was conducted to evaluate the measurement of the earning quality based on the Penman approach. The researchers used the analytical method to conduct the study to find the effect of this Pandemic. Data was collected from the annual reports for the period 2010 to 2020 from Saudi national banks, which are twelve according to the annual report for the Saudi central bank, and eight of them were selected as a sample of the study. The banks are Alinma Bank, Al Rajhi Bank, Bank Al Bilad, The National Commercial Bank, Bank Aljazeera, Riyad Bank, Samba Financial Group (Samba), and Arab National Bank. The study findings showed that the Corona pandemic had a negative impact on the Saudi economy, and led to deflation in 2020 by 4.1% due to the oil sector. They also showed reducing oil production by the (OPEC +) agreement to achieve stability in the oil market and the non-oil sector. It was also revealed that the profits of Saudi commercial banks in 2020 decreased by 23.1% and that the Corona pandemic had Caused the earning quality to decline in all the studied banks.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.379-385
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• 2005

The impact of the next influenza pandemic is difficult to predict. It is dependent on how virulent the virus is, how rapidly it spreads from population to population, and the effectiveness of prevention and response efforts. Despite the uncertainty about the magnitude of the next pandemic, estimates of the health and economic impact remain important to aid public health policy decisions and guide pandemic planning for health and emergency sectors. Planning ahead in preparation for an influenza pandemic, with its potentially very high morbidity and mortality rates, is essential for hospital administrators and public health officials. The estimat ion of pandemic impact is based on the previous pandemics- we had experienced at least 3 pandemics in 20th century. But the epidemiologi cal characteristics - ie, start season, the impact of 1st wave, pathogenicity and virulence of the viruses and the primary victims of population were quite different from one another. I reviewed methodology for estimation and modelling of pandemic impact and described some nations's results using them in their national preparedness plans. And then I showed the estimates of pandemic influenza impact in Korea with FluSurge and FluAid. And, I described the results of pandemic modelling with parameters of 1918 pandemic for the shake of education and training of the first-line responder health officials to the epidemics. In preparing influenza pandemics, the simulation and modelling are the keys to reduce the uncertainty of the future and to make proper policies to manage and control the pandemics.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.242-249
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• 2023

Objectives: Following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, adolescents have experienced decreased physical activity and a decline in mental health. This study analyzed the association between changes in depressed mood after the COVID-19 pandemic and physical activity among adolescents. Methods: The analysis was based on the results of the 17th Youth Health Behavior Online Survey conducted in 2021, which included 54848 middle and high school students in South Korea. Information on physical activity included low-intensity physical activity lasting >60 min/day, high-intensity physical activity, and strength training exercises. A logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between physical activity and changes in depression after the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and previous depression, adolescents who performed strength training exercises more than once per week had a 0.95-fold lower risk (odds ratio [OR]=0.948, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.905-0.994, p=0.027) of increasing depression after the COVID-19 pandemic, while the risk of decreasing depression increased by 1.22-fold (OR=1.215, 95% CI=1.131-1.305, p<0.001). The results were not significant for low-intensity physical activity for >60 min/day and high-intensity physical activity. Conclusion: Strength-training exercises are significantly associated with the prevention of depression among adolescents following the COVID-19 pandemic.

• East Asian Journal of Business Economics (EAJBE)
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.71-80
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• 2023

Purpose - The pandemic has magnified and deepened existing socioeconomic disparities, including healthcare, education, income, gender, and housing. This study aims to examine the intersectionality of these disparities and their implications for promoting equity and justice. Research design, data, and methodology - This study is a comprehensive review of the literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on socioeconomic disparities. The review includes empirical studies, policy reports, and academic articles on healthcare, education, income, gender, and housing disparities. Result - The pandemic has exposed significant disparities in healthcare, education, income, gender, and housing. Healthcare disparities have been highlighted, and there is a need for more equitable access to care and addressing social determinants of health. Educational and income disparities are closely linked, perpetuating cycles of poverty and inequality. Gender disparities have been exacerbated, with women experiencing disproportionate impacts on their health, well-being, and economic security. The pandemic has highlighted the need for safe, stable, and affordable housing. Conclusion - The pandemic has brought to light numerous socioeconomic disparities that require systemic change to address. Promoting equity and justice requires a comprehensive, long-term approach that addresses systemic factors and promotes social and economic equity. By taking action to address these issues, we can create a more just and equitable society that promotes the health and well-being of all its members.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.95-104
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the trends and characteristics of infection-related patient safety incident reporting before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Korea, and to provide basic data for preventing infection-related patient safety incidents and improving their management. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of secondary national data (Patient Safety Reporting Data) was conducted. In total, 517 infection-related patient safety incidents reported from 2018 to 2021 were analyzed. Changes in the number of reports before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and differences in variables related to infection-related patient safety incidents were analyzed using the chi-square test and independent t-test in SPSS 29.0. Results: This study found that infection-related patient safety incidents decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic. Furthermore, incident-related characteristics, such as the type of healthcare organization, severity of harm, and post-incident actions, changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The many changes in the infection control system and practices during the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to a decrease in the reporting of infection-related patient safety incidents. It is hoped that longitudinal studies on patient safety incidents related to the pandemic and analytical studies on factors influencing patient safety incidents will continue to be conducted to prevent and improve patient safety incidents.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.555-562
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• 2018

Swine influenza virus (SIV) causes one of the most common diseases of the pig population, and its subtypes are determined by hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Recently, the SIV subtype diagnosis has been developed. The method using antigen-antibody reaction rather than PCR was mainly used because of the large change in the ribonucleotide sequences of SIV. Here, we have developed 10 diagnostic primer sets through multi-nucleotide sequences alignment of spreaded SIV since 2008 in Korea and then optimized the reaction of the one-step RT-PCR for rapid determination of SIV subtype. In addition, specific primers were designed to early determine the pandemic SIV by detecting unique M sequences proven in highly infectious and virulent subtypes of the influenza H1N1 (pH1N1). Here, some of the SIVs spread in Korea from 2008 to 2014 have been tested to determine the subtypes and pandemic potential of SIV. All diagnostic primer sets were found to be able to accurately determine the SIV subtype and to detect the pandemic SIV. In conclusion, it was confirmed that the optimized one-step RT-PCR analysis using these primer sets is useful for rapid diagnosis of SIV subtypes. These results can be used for development of SIV subtype diagnostic kit to early detect before virulent SIV spreads do.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.326-339
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• 2019

Purpose: This study attempts to identify the level of awareness, ethical awareness, and decision-making among nursing students, in response to pandemic infectious diseases. Methods: Subjects were 210 nursing college students attending colleges in 5 cities and provinces nationwide. Data were collected from November 2017 to April 2018 using a self-administrated questionnaire, and analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics. Results: Considering the awareness of pandemic infectious diseases, the nursing students expressed high concern about the possibility of future outbreaks of pandemic infectious diseases and seriousness of the situation. There were numerous negative views on the response and stockpiling of drugs by the government. Ethical awareness of pandemic infectious diseases was high, with demands for accurate information and proper protective equipment. Overall, ethical decision-making when responding to pandemic infectious diseases represented a high score. Also, higher awareness levels of pandemic infectious diseases would result in increased ethical and ethical decision-making. Conclusion: In conclusion, we propose the introduction of an ethical education program for medical personnel and nursing university students, to enable the handling of future pandemic outbreaks of new infectious diseases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.699-707
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• 2012

Since the 2009 pandemic human H1N1 influenza A virus emerged in April 2009, novel reassortant strains have been identified throughout the world. This paper describes the detection and isolation of reassortant strains associated with human pandemic influenza H1N1 and swine influenza H1N2 (SIV) viruses in swine populations in South Korea. Two influenza H1N2 reassortants were detected, and subtyped by PCR. The strains were isolated using Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, and genetically characterized by phylogenetic analysis for genetic diversity. They consisted of human, avian, and swine virus genes that were originated from the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus and a neuraminidase (NA) gene from H1N2 SIV previously isolated in North America. This identification of reassortment events in swine farms raises concern that reassortant strains may continuously circulate within swine populations, calling for the further study and surveillance of pandemic H1N1 among swine.