• Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between wearing masks and subjective symptoms of halitosis in the COVID-19 situation. The survey was conducted from June 15 to July 31, 2022, among university students aged 19 years or older in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, 1. Subjective symptoms of halitosis were found to be higher in males and students being treated for periodontal diseases. 2. The subjective symptoms of halitosis were found to be higher in subjects with psychological anxiety, even though they did not have halitosis. 3. As a result of examining the subjective symptoms of halitosis, it was found that there were more subjects who were aware of halitosis while wearing a mask than those who were not. In view of the above results, it is thought that because of prolonged wearing of masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the difficulty faced in oral health management increases the symptoms of halitosis. Therefore, it is considered that oral health education in the era of corona should be accompanied by proper wearing of masks and halitosis management education.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.45-59
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• 2023

Objectives: This study investigated the role of Korean medicine doctors in the national quarantine system and the status of their duties through questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews with Korean medicine staff who participated in COVID-19 work. Methods: We developed a questionnaire survey to investigate the status and perception of Korean medicine doctors' participation in responding to infectious diseases, and the results were derived by conducting frequency analysis and T-test using SPSS program. The measurement variables of this study were the status of COVID-19 related work participation and perception of Korean medicine doctors' role in infectious diseases, and the maximum significance level was 0.05. Results: There were 300 respondents to the survey, and as for the COVID-19 related work, Korean medicine treatment for COVID-19 patients accounted for the most(52.7%), and various preventive and treatment tasks such as epidemiological investigations and specimen collection were conducted. Conclusion: According to this study, it was confirmed that there are sufficient legal and administrative grounds for Korean medicine doctors to perform specimen collection and epidemiological investigations. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a policy framework to solidify the status of Korean medicine doctors in national infectious diseases in the future.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.189-198
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the preferences of hot spring users regarding the utilization of Asan's hot springs after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A survey was conducted on 340 hot spring users visiting hot spring resorts in the Onyang, Dogo, and Asan hot spring districts. The survey was conducted twice from November 5th to November 7th, 2021, and from May 25th to 26th, 2022. The survey included general questions, such as the frequency of hot spring usage, the purpose of visits, and the intention for future visits. Specific questions were related to Asan hot springs, focusing on the reasons for choosing Asan, its perceived advantages, and improvement suggestions. Results: The survey revealed that the average number of visits to hot springs was less than five in the past five years, and the main reason for visiting was to recover from fatigue. A percentage of respondents said they would use hot springs more often when the COVID-19 pandemic ends. When asked about their reasons for visiting Asan hot springs, responses varied by age. However, across all groups, the majority considered "good water" as an advantage of Asan hot springs, while improvements to "hot spring facilities" was the highest response among all age groups. Thus, despite the decline in the number of customers due to COVID-19, the overall perception of hot springs remains positive. This suggests a promising future for the hot spring industry, with the potential for a return to pre-pandemic usage levels. Conclusion: These results provide valuable foundational data for informing policy development aimed at revitalizing the hot spring industry in the post-COVID-19 era.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.145-159
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• 2021

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to identify the preceding factors that form pro-social tourism behavior intent in a pendemic situation and to present theoretical and practical implications for the role of individuals for a safe tourism environment. Design/methodology/approach - This study conducted an analysis by collecting 420 valid questionnaires targeting citizens who have lived in Korea continuously for more than one year. For the analysis, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a structural equation model (SEM) were used, and a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) and a multi-group structural equation model (MSEM) were used to verify the difference by age group. Findings - First, cognitive and affective risk perception for Covid-19 had a significant (+) effect on the ascription of responsibility to tourists, and affective risk perception and ascription of responsibility had a significant (+) effect on personal norms. Second, personal norms have been shown to have a significant (+) influence on prosocial tourism behavior intention, and prosocial tourism behavior intention has a significant (+) influence on WTP on safety tourism. Research implications or Originality - Tourism behavior in a pendemic situation can affect the spread of infection. In this respect, this study attempted to confirm how moral norms affect pro-social tourism behavior from a personal point of view. In addition, we tried to present practical implications by identifying the impact of personal norms on willing to pay for a safe tourism environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.203-220
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• 2020

With the COVID-19 pandemic being prolonged, the society is being converted into an untact society, thereby affecting the service methodology of domestic and foreign library systems. This study thus surveyed the librarians' awareness of COVID-19 response measures of public libraries, and proposed public libraries' response measures in situations where the novel infectious disease is spreading and prolonging. Specifically, the proposed measures include, first, preparing national-centered library countermeasures to jointly respond to the epidemic disease, second, strengthening various untact and online services of various public libraries through government-level budget support, third, a thorough prevention of epidemics and preemptive response from the viewpoint of employees and users, and fourth, the expansion of library services aimed at resolving the digital cultural divide among classes of people, including information unfairness.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.627-636
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• 2023

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global population has experienced drastic changes, one of which is the increase in remote work. Given the ongoing possibility of exposure to infectious diseases and various other circumstances, the expansion of remote work is anticipated. To enhance the efficiency of remote work and address its existing limitations, this study surveyed the perceptions of indoor environments among individuals who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examined how the characteristics of individuals influenced their perceptions of indoor environments. It was found that the number of occupants and rooms, size of the house, and noise sensitivity affected the perceptions of outdoor noise, neighbor noise, and indoor noise caused by cohabitants. The findings can be used as foundational data for designing multipurpose housing that can be utilized not only for residential purposes but also for work and educational settings in the future.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.1-16
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• 2022

This study analyzed the policy dilemma for ICT SMEs venture companies that changed after COVID-19 based on the results of the cognitive map analysis for ICT SMEs venture policies. First, as a result of analyzing the cognitive map of ICT SMEs venture companies that have changed since COVID-19, ICT venture companies are expanding support for ICT venture companies due to the threat of COVID-19. However, in order to convert COVID-19 into an opportunity factor, it also shows a policy direction to achieve innovative growth by creating a new market through non-face-to-face industry revitalization based on digital transformation (digital new deal). As a result of the study, the policy measures of supporting DNA-centered convergence innovation technology, digital transformation (digital new deal), fostering ICT startups (K-Global project), and expanding support for ICT SMEs did not have a policy dilemma. However, although many support has been expanded for ICT SMEs due to COVID-19, it is difficult to find and foster ICT start-up companies, and globalization problems are occurring due to the decrease in exports to COVID-19, making it difficult to create new markets. There is a negative (-) perception of causality that ICT SMEs venture companies may face risks as jobs decrease and innovative growth cannot be led to the revitalization of the non-face-to-face industry. Therefore, it was found that both the flow of causal relationship between the expansion of support for ICT SMEs and the high growth of ICT SMEs is not + and has a policy dilemma in part.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.285-298
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• 2020

This study aimed at examining fashion consumers' awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Big data analysis methods, such as text mining, social network analysis, and regression analysis, were applied to user posts about fashion on Korean portal websites and social media during COVID-19. R 3.4.4, UCINET 6, and SPSS 25.0 software were used to analyze the data. The results were as follows. In researching the popular fashion-related topics during COVID-19, the prevention of infection and prophylaxis were significant concerns in the early stage (Jan 1 to Jan 31, 2020), and changed to online channels and online fashion platforms. Then, various topics and fashion keywords appeared with COVID-19-related keywords afterwards. Fashion-related subjects concerned prophylaxis, home life, digital and beauty products, online channels, and fashion consumption. In comparing fashion consumers' awareness during COVID-19 with SARS and MERS, "face masks" was the common keyword for all three illnesses; yet, the prevention of infection was a major consumer concern in fashion-related subjects during COVD-19 only. As COVD-19 cases increased, the search volume for face masks, shoes, and home clothes also increased. Consumer awareness about face masks shifted from blocking yellow dust and micro-dust to the sociocultural significance and short supply. Keywords related to performance turned out to be the major awareness as to shoes, and home clothes were repurposed with an expanded range of use.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.336-342
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• 2022

Background: This study aims to identify the safety and health risk perceptions toward the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic based on gender in Korean university students who work and study during the pandemic. Methods: A nationwide convenient sampling method was implemented to eliminate any regional characteristics in 757 university students, including those who studied while working. The participants answered the online questionnaire for one week. The collected data were analyzed using the R version 3.4.1 program. Results: The results comparing the safety and health risk perceptions toward COVID-19 based on the gender of the subjects who work while studying, "I often use the Internet to obtain information on COVID-19 infection control" are females appeared to use the internet more often (t = -2.18, p = 0.031) than males. "Compared to pre-COVID-19, I am currently feeling safe after the outbreak" is females felt less safe (t = 3.43, p < 0.001). Although COVID-19 infection control awareness is high among Korean university students and officials, males reported higher scores over females in all the questions, which was statistically significant. Conclusion: There should be prioritized psychological measures for prevention against COVID-19 for vulnerable groups with high mental health risks. A network must be established to protect the mental health of such groups, and candidates who require intervention must be actively identified and supported. Therefore, there must be efforts to deliver accurate information based on scientific evidence of the infectious disease, and the actions should be supported through such active communication.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.61-68
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• 2024

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This disease is characterized by a wide spectrum of symptoms, ranging from mild to severe, including fatal outcomes. This study aims to review gustatory and salivary secretion dysfunctions and determine their potential pathogenic mechanisms. Gustatory impairment and salivary dysfunction are prevalent among patients with acute COVID-19 and those recovering from the disease. The mouth serves as a critical entry route for SARS-CoV-2. The cells within the oral epithelium, taste buds, and minor and major salivary glands express key entry factors for SARS-CoV-2, including angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, transmembrane serine protease 2, and furin. The co-occurrence of gustatory and salivary secretion dysfunctions possibly has pathogenetic association with the following factors: the expression of SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry receptors in the taste buds and salivary glands and SARS-CoV-2-induced zinc deficiency, which is crucial for normal taste perception and saliva secretion. Furthermore, the cytokine storm triggered by COVID-19 contributes to secondary damage affecting gustatory and salivary functions.