• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.348-352
• /
• 2009

Over the last decade, the incidence of overweight and obesity has nearly doubled in many countries and is considered a pandemic. Obesity was identified as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease as the same level as smoking and diabetes. Visceral fat is considered one of the key contributors to outcome and certain ethnic groups such as Asians seem to be more affected than others. Weight reduction through lifestyle changes was found to be impactful to improve overall health, but weight loss and maintenance thereof is limited and difficult to sustain. Surgical intervention demonstrated a greater weight loss in the severely obese and was associated with improved all-cause mortality. Despite numerous pharmacological targets and a high medical need, only few drugs have been successfully developed. Earlier studies with amphetamine-derived compounds showed significant weight loss but their critical safety profiles led to market withdrawals and disappointment. More recent compounds; orlistat - a lipase inhibitor, rimonabant - a cannaboid-1-receptor antagonist, and sibutramine - a combined serotonin/norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor, all demonstrated similar significant efficacy; however, they carry specific safety profiles making them unsuitable for every patient. The main limitation of pharmacotherapy is the absence of clear benefit-risk assessments through outcome studies. Such a study - the SCOUT trial - was designed to compare sibutramine versus placebo and the effect on morbidity and mortality in nearly 10,000 obese patients with additional risk factors. Such studies could provide new scientific evidence for obesity treatment and may support future pharmacological approaches.

• The Korean Journal of Food & Health Convergence
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.17-19
• /
• 2020

HIV/AIDS disease still remain a global pandemic and it's management has undergone series of treatment changes and improvement although there is still no permanent cure.Dolutegravir belongs to a group of HIV drugs called integrase inhibitors. Integrase inhibitors block an HIV enzyme called integrase. By blocking integrase, integrase inhibitors prevent HIV from multiplying and can reduce the amount of HIV in the body.Dolutegravir combination based regimen has turned out to be very effective (antiviral) with negligible rare side effects on clients. This drug (Dolutegravir based regimen) combination has successfully increased the appetite for food of all the clients, unlike others and has shown to reduce viral load in the most shortest period ever. It can be deduced that development of resistant mutant virus will be reduced if not eliminated with dolutogravir based regimen.The role of Continuous adherence counseling has shown to improve clients treatment management. It is important to note that the availability of food has direct effect on the economic status or financial weight on the client. Hence the progress that is increase in body mass index (BMI) is a direct impact of the availability of food for the clients.

• The Journal of Bigdata
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.125-138
• /
• 2020

After the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, the country's Crisis Alert Level went up to the highest level, Level 4. Respond of COVID-19 pandemic, Governments, and cities secured each province's duty for the citizens. The government provided health assistance first and stepped forward to support the necessary resources for the citizens. Busan City proposed policy response to prepare and implement the Corona support for each county as well. The high occupant rate of self-business owners lost basic incomes, and the effect varies on industries. In our paper, to avoid any crisis in such an epidemic, we propose a clustering analysis for the guidance of policy support for Busan City. By analyzing patterns and clustering on districts and Sectors, we would like to provide reference materials for determining the direction of support and guiding preemptive response in the event of a similar epidemic.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.591-598
• /
• 2020

Since COVID-19's 1st pandemic came in February 2020, the demand for telemedicine grew greatly that in most countries the deregulation for telemedicine policy have been implemented in more countries. Also in Korea, with the name of 'Non-face-to-face Treatment' telemedicine began to be approved. Telemedicine having strength in chronic disease management has been effective in more and more specialties along with the recent development of ICT that it is expected to contribute to the improvement of the quality of healthcare service and creation of new treatment model. On the contrary it may also exacerbate the distortion in the hospital healthcare service industry in Korea, which is the excessive tipping toward large hospitals. So the dual promotion policy approach in which the settlement of family doctors system extensively utilizing telemedicine for chronic disease management and the support for tertiary hospitals and hospitals focusing on treating foreign patients to provide quality service using telemedicine technology are pursued simultaneously are recommended.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.98-105
• /
• 2021

Background: In recent events of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, computed tomography (CT) scans are being globally used as a complement to the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. It will be important to be aware of major organ dose levels, which are more relevant quantity to derive potential long-term adverse effect, for Korean pediatric and adult patients undergoing CT for COVID-19. Materials and Methods: We calculated organ dose conversion coefficients for Korean pediatric and adult CT patients directly from Korean pediatric and adult computational phantoms combined with Monte Carlo radiation transport techniques. We then estimated major organ doses delivered to the Korean child and adult patients undergoing CT for COVID-19 combining the dose conversion coefficients and the international survey data. We also compared our Korean dose conversion coefficients with those from Caucasian reference pediatric and adult phantoms. Results and Discussion: Based on the dose conversion coefficients we established in this study and the international survey data of COVID-19-related CT scans, we found that Korean 7-year-old child and adult males may receive about 4-32 mGy and 3-21 mGy of lung dose, respectively. We learned that the lung dose conversion coefficient for the Korean child phantom was up to 1.5-fold greater than that for the Korean adult phantom. We also found no substantial difference in dose conversion coefficients between Korean and Caucasian phantoms. Conclusion: We estimated radiation dose delivered to the Korean child and adult phantoms undergoing COVID-19-related CT examinations. The dose conversion coefficients derived for different CT scan types can be also used universally for other dosimetry studies concerning Korean CT scans. We also confirmed that the Caucasian-based CT organ dose calculation tools may be used for the Korean population with reasonable accuracy.

• Knowledge Management Research
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.201-215
• /
• 2021

Owing to COVID-19 pandemic and global recession, enterprises are facing more and more fierce competition. Under this situation, retaining as much as recruiting good employees has become a top priority for organization. However, post 90s, with very different characteristics from traditional workers, entered the labor market, and both employers and employees suffered from post-90's high turnover rate. Therefore, this study focuses on Chinese post-90s and examined the effects of work values they pursue (utilitarian orientation, interest congruence, long-term development, and innovativeness) on job satisfaction and turnover intention. In addition, the groups with less than or more than one year of service were compared and analyzed. A total of 267 Chinese workers born in the 90s participated in the survey. Our research findings show that utilitarian orientation affects both job satisfaction and turnover intention, but interest congruence only affects job satisfaction while innovation only affects turnover intention. And the moderating effect of tenure of service was partially verified. Various implications based on the result were discussed.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.21 no.10
• /
• pp.264-273
• /
• 2021

To study how digital content can be effectively developed and transformed in a post-COVID world in which the normal operations of museums have been disrupted, this paper analyzes the rapid development and limitations of VR exhibitions and proposes, as an alternative, the development of AR exhibitions. Studying VR/AR exhibitions that ran before and after COVID-19, this paper finds that VR, on the one hand, translates physical objects into digital video, which lacks aesthetic depth, and encounters operational problems originated by devices. By using mobile devices that are widely distributed and convenient to use, AR exhibitions can, on the other hand, be divided into three types: "museum-specific exhibitions" can present digital content in a specific indoor space, while "place-specific exhibitions" can be used in open outdoor spaces. The "non-place-specific exhibitions", can, as third type, combine digital content with printed material sent by postal mail. Among these three types, the specific/unspecified place type shows the highest "uncontact effect," which can suggest the best direction for effective museum content development in the pandemic era.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.135-140
• /
• 2021

The present research intends to examine how college students' self-determination affects their beliefs in and achievement in foreign language learning in the current pandemic times. The data under discussion was collected from a survey questionnaire conducted to a group of 107 students attending at a four-year university in Cheonan. With the software SPSS Version 21.0, a set of statistical methods were employed: (i) descriptive statistics along with (ii) correlation analysis and (iii) regression analysis. The current analysis identified a positive correlation between their self-determination and both beliefs Foreign Langage Learning and Learning Outcomes, which means that the former exerts a significant impact on the latter. The results are expected to help educators arrange strategic plans that can enhance collegians' self-determination for their better performance of foreign language learning.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.324-335
• /
• 2021

As the COVID pandemic has been prolonged, 'Contact-free' has emerged as a major trend keyword. Naturally, most people don't go out and eat at home. As a result, sales of products that can easily cooked such as 'meal-kits' have increased remarkably. Although the number of vegetarians is increasing rapidly in Korea, the domestic market has not been activated. Most vegetarians are cooking or eating HMR together due to the lack of vegetarian restaurants and vegetarian menus. According to the survey, the subjects perceive meal-kit as positive as their experience with meal-kit expanded, and this positive perception and the need for vegetarian meal-kits had a positive effect on the purchase intention of the vegetarian meal-kit. This study presents the direction and potential for development of vegetarian meal kits that meet consumer needs. It will be used as a basis for the development of products and expansion of the market for vegetarian meal-kits.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.86-95
• /
• 2021

Objectives: This study investigated associations between perceptions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in workers at hospitals designated to treat COVID-19, as well as the difference in the magnitude of these associations by occupational type and previous Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) experience. Methods: The participants were workers at hospitals designated to treat COVID-19 who completed a questionnaire about their perceptions related to COVID-19, work experience during the previous MERS-CoV outbreak, and symptoms of PTSD ascertained by the PTSD Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Participants' characteristics were compared using the chi-square test. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to evaluate the associations between perceptions and the prevalence of PTSD, stratified by occupational type and previous MERS-CoV experience. Results: Non-medical personnel showed stronger associations with PTSD than medical personnel according to general fear (odds ratio [OR], 6.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.92 to 23.20), shortages of supplies (OR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.56), and issue-specific fear (OR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.59). Those with prior MERS-CoV quarantine experience were more prone to PTSD than those without such experience in terms of general fear (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.22 to 2.37), shortages of supplies (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.40), and issue-specific fear (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.38). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, non-medical personnel tended to have higher odds of being categorized as having PTSD. Workers with prior MERS-CoV experience were more susceptible than those without such experience. These findings suggest the need for timely interventions to manage human resources for a sustainable quarantine system.