• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2021

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a public health emergency posing unprecedented challenges for health authorities. Social media may serve as an effective platform to disseminate health-related information. This study aimed to assess the extent of social media use, its impact on preventive behavior, and negative health effects such as cyberchondria and information overload. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted between June 10, 2020 and August 9, 2020 among people visiting the outpatient department of the authors' institution, and participants were also recruited during field visits for an awareness drive. Questions were developed on preventive behavior, and the Short Cyberchondria Scale and instruments dealing with information overload and perceived vulnerability were used. Results: The study recruited 767 participants with a mean age of about 45 years. Most of the participants (>90%) engaged in preventive behaviors, which were influenced by the extent of information received through social media platforms (β=3.297; p<0.001) and awareness of infection when a family member tested positive (β=29.082; p<0.001) or a neighbor tested positive (β=27.964; p<0.001). The majority (63.0%) of individuals often searched for COVID-19 related news on social media platforms. The mean±standard deviation scores for cyberchondria and information overload were 9.09±4.05 and 8.69±2.56, respectively. Significant and moderately strong correlations were found between cyberchondria, information overload, and perceived vulnerability to COVID-19. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that the use of social media as an information- seeking platform altered preventive behavior. However, excessive and misleading information resulted in cyberchondria and information overload.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.442-453
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• 2021

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess public awareness and policy challenges faced by practicing nurses. Methods: After collecting nurse-related news articles published before and after 'the Thanks to You Challenge' campaign (between December 31, 2019, and July 15, 2020), keywords were extracted via preprocessing. A three-step method keyword analysis, latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling, and keyword network analysis was used to examine the text and the structure of the selected news articles. Results: Top 30 keywords with similar occurrences were collected before and after the campaign. The five dominant topics before the campaign were: pandemic, infection of medical staff, local transmission, medical resources, and return of overseas Koreans. After the campaign, the topics 'infection of medical staff' and 'return of overseas Koreans' disappeared, but 'the Thanks to You Challenge' emerged as a dominant topic. A keyword network analysis revealed that the word of nurse was linked with keywords like thanks and campaign, through the word of sacrifice. These words formed interrelated domains of 'the Thanks to You Challenge' topic. Conclusion: The findings of this study can provide useful information for understanding various issues and social perspectives on COVID-19 nursing. The major themes of news reports lagged behind the real problems faced by nurses in COVID-19 crisis. While the press tends to focus on heroism and whole society, issues and policies mutually beneficial to public and nursing need to be further explored and enhanced by nurses.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.7-14
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• 2022

COVID-19 has caused a global disturbance, increased anxiety, and panic, eliciting diverse reactions. While its cure has not been discovered, new infection cases and fatalities are being recorded daily. The focus of the present study was to analyze the reaction of gifted undergraduate students on social media during the quarantine period of the COVID-19. A special group of gifted students, who joined the program of attracting and nurturing talents at the University of Jeddah, University students as were the target sample of this study. To analyze online reactions during the pandemic; the choice of university students was arrived at as they are perceived to be gifted academically. Hence, the analysis of the impacts on their behavior on social media use is imperative. This study presented accurate and consistent data on the effects of social media using Twitter platforms on gifted students during the quarantine occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. The behavior of learners due to during the use of social media was extensively explored and results analyzed. The study was carried out between April and May 2020 (quarantine period in Saudi Arabia) to establish whether the online behavior of gifted students reflects positive or negative feelings. The methods used in conducting this study the research were online interviews and scraping participants' Twitter accounts (where most of the online activities and studies take place). The study employed the Activity theory to analyze the behavior of gifted students on social media. The sample size used was 60 students, and the analysis of their behavior was based on Activity theory Overall, the results showed proactive, positive behavior for coping with a challenging situation, educating society, and entertaining. Finally, this study recommends investing in gifted students due to their valuable problem-solving skills that can help handle global pandemics efficiently.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.26-38
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• 2022

Purposes: We analyzed the profitability determinants of regional public hospitals during the entire period between 2010 and 2020 and the period before and after COVID-19. We intended to provide fundamental data for developing publicness evaluation index and task of establishing and expanding regional public hospitals. Methodology: The financial and non-financial information of the regional public hospitals were used as the main analysis data; The financial data was established by the Center for Public Healthcare Policy of National Medical Center, and the non-financial data by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. T-test and regression analysis were used. Findings: The results can be summarized in two. First, the main determinants of profitability of the regional public hospitals were appeared to be the total asset turnover rate and the labor cost rate. Second, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the regional public hospitals, the number of sickbeds, the number of isolation rooms, the total asset turnover rate and the labor cost rate appeared to be the factor worsening the profitability. Practical Implication: The results of this study suggests that the management of the regional public hospitals is not aiming for the profit making, but it performs the functions as the community healthcare safety net such as controlling infectious diseases.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.31-36
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• 2022

In modern socio-cultural conditions, the requirements for the quality of professional training of graduates of higher educational institutions are increasing. This issue has become especially acute with the advent of pandemic conditions. The ability to apply the existing competencies in the situation of challenges of the 21st century to solve complex social and professional problems is an important criterion for the quality of higher education. Modern professional art education is undergoing many reforms and transformations. Particular attention is paid to innovative teaching methods, thanks to which future specialists experience the breath of innovative education. This issue is especially relevant during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since students of creative specialties must also have certain competencies, within the framework of the educational process, the competence-based approach to teaching plays a key role, is the methodological basis in the system of modernization of higher professional art education. Thus, the main task of the study is to analyze the process of formation of professional competence among students of art institutions of higher education in the context of COVID-19. As a result of the study, the main aspects of the process of formation of professional competence among students of art institutions of higher education in the context of COVID-19 were investigated.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.104-112
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• 2022

The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus, which has lasted for the past three years, has changed society and the way people live in many ways. These changes also affect cyberspace, so the pre-pandemic information security model and standards have limitations when applied to the current situation. In this paper, a new method to improve the information security model of public institutions was proposed in consideration of various situations in the new normal era. In other words, through the proposed information security model, the possibility of external intrusion is blocked in advance through the policy and technical supplementation of remote work, which is a weakness of the existing information security operation of public institutions. Also, how to prevent abnormal authentication attempts by building a secure VPN environment, how to prevent social engineering cyber attacks targeting fear and uncertainty caused by COVID-19, and how to use a smooth network and create a remote work environment. For this purpose, methods for securing service availability were additionally presented.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.216-224
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• 2021

Purpose: Global collaboration to accelerate development and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines was launched with the name of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), and this initiative owes its expertise to the lessons learned of the global health organizations. To date, the comprehensive mechanisms and potential effects of the initiative remain largely unknown. Methods: This study reviewed the programs of Gavi, the Global Fund, Unitaid, and ACT-A, which mitigating barriers to greater use of health technology with an analytic framework. Results and conclusion: The study findings are as follows. First, programs to alleviate the absence of necessary technology include the International Finance Facility for Immunization and Covax Facility. Second, Pooled Procurement Mechanism and Accelerated Order Mechanism are examples of mitigating the inability to access technology. Third, programs to overcome reluctance to adopt accessible technology include health system strengthening efforts such as the capacity-building health workforces. Further actions of Korea are needed to collaborate with the initiatives to enhance health outcomes.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.568-577
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• 2022

Objectives: Many studies have shown that social distancing, as a non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) that is one of the various measures against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is an effective preventive measure to suppress the spread of infectious diseases. This study explored the relationships between traditional health-related behaviors in Korea and social distancing practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2020 Community Health Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (n=98 149). The dependent variable was the degree of social distancing practice to cope with the COVID-19 epidemic. Independent variables included health-risk behaviors and health-promoting behaviors. The moderators were vaccination and unmet medical needs. Predictors affecting the practice of social distancing were identified through hierarchical multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Smokers (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.924) and frequent drinkers (aOR, 0.933) were more likely not to practice social distancing. A greater degree of physical activity was associated with a higher likelihood of practicing social distancing (aOR, 1.029). People who were vaccinated against influenza were more likely to practice social distancing than those who were not (aOR, 1.150). However, people with unmet medical needs were less likely to practice social distancing than those who did not experience unmet medical needs (aOR, 0.757). Conclusions: Social distancing practices were related to traditional health behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and physical activity. Their patterns showed a clustering effect of health inequality. Therefore, when establishing a strategy to strengthen social distancing, a strategy to protect the vulnerable should be considered concomitantly.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.762-774
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• 2022

The COVID 19 pandemic resulted in a considerable influence on the world economy. Being a big sector of the economy, the food supply chain struggled. The meat supply chain was most notably affected as every part of the supply chain from farm to shelf was closely inter-related. With the closure of businesses and restaurants the demand for at home food from grocery stores increased. Meat production facilities were impacted when the virus spread to the workers causing facilities to close or line speeds to slow. The combination of these two issues, in turn, led to there being less meat on the shelves. With less meat animals being harvested, there was less demand for livestock leading to farmers having an excess in slaughter ready animals. The decreased demand for livestock led to economic issues as money was lost in multiple sections of the supply chain. Aside from the economy and supply chain issues, other issues include concerns over the safety of meat products due to decreased safety protocols to increase line speed. Additionally, concerns of animal welfare with the excess of animals being culled were raised due to decreased capacity in processing facilities. While this review paper mainly focuses on characterizing the impact of COVID 19 on the meat supply chain in the USA, the compiled information should be able to provide practical insights to the meat/food industry across the globe to develop potential mitigating strategies against the COVID 19 and/or any similar pandemic incidences in the future.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.77-88
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• 2022

In response to the significant COVID-19 outbreak, countries have enforced the use of E-learning systems as an alternative to traditional learning; to contain the virus and minimize the infection rate while maintaining the continuity of the learning experience. However, the effective adoption of E-learning systems requires a well-understanding of critical factors, especially in times of crisis. In this regard, this study intends to assess the success of the E-learning system adoption by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) during the crisis of COVID-19 by utilizing the Information Systems Success (ISS) model. This study's adopted model consists of nine interdependent dimensions, namely: Technical System Quality, Information Quality, Service Quality, Learner Quality, Perceived Satisfaction, Perceived Usefulness, System Use, Intention to Use, and System Success. An electronic survey was distributed among higher education students from different universities in Saudi Arabia to explore each model's dimension. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been applied via SmartPLS software to test the causal relationships between dimensions. This study's main results revealed that students' Service Quality, Learner Quality, and the Intention to Use by students are essential drives for E-learning System Use during the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the Intention to Use the system is significantly influenced by Perceived Satisfaction and Perceived Usefulness dimensions. Further, Perceived Satisfaction, Perceived Usefulness, and System Use are interdependent, and all three have a significant positive impact on E-learning System Success.