• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.61-68
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• 2010

Purpose: Poisoning is a major health problem for the elderly, and poisoning can cause fatal side effects. However, the characteristics and clinical features of elderly patients with acute poisoning have not been well studied in the previous domestic research. So, we tried to analyze the clinical characteristics and toxic substances of the patients who were 65 years old or older and who were admitted to the regional emergency medical center due to acute poisoning. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and poisoning protocols of the patients who were 65 years of age or older and who had with acute poisoning and who visited the ED in our emergency center from January 2005 to December 2009. We collected the demographic information, the gender, the underlying diseases, the causes and toxic substances, the initial presentation, the treatment and the outcomes. Results: A total of 2179 poisoned patients visited the hospital during 5 years, and among them 244 were 65 years of age or older (11.2%). The mean age was $75.6{\pm}6.9$ years and the male:female ratio was 1:1.7. The most common cause of poisoning was suicide (73.4%) and the most common source of poisonous substances was their own drugs. Of the substances used for poisoning, benzodiazepine was the most common drug (25.8%), followed by sedatives other than benzodiazepine (25.4%), insecticide (12.7%), chemical agents (12.3%) and herbicides (8.2%). The most common initial presentation was mental change (64.8%). When comparing the factors between the three elderly groups, there was no difference in gender, the cause, the substances and the underlying disease. The outcomes of treatment included ICU admission (56.1%), a good condition at discharge (12.7%) and admission to a general ward (12.7%). The overall mortality rate was 10.2% for the elderly patients. Conclusion: In this Korean study, unlike the foreign studies, the most common cause of poisoning in elderly patients was intentional poisoning. The admission rate was 68.8% and mortality rate was 10.2%.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.461-471
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• 2018

The role of urban agriculture should not be limited as a small-scale crop cultivation activity as it was, but it has to be considered as an entire process of a agriculture activity for the restoration of the city community. This study is based on the assumption that there has been a significant change in urban lifestyle and urban farming preference, considering the overall improvement in standard of living after implementation of five day work week system. It was conducted for urban citizens who were interested in actual urban agriculture for ages 19 and over who visited the Korea Urban Agriculture Exhibition in 2018. Only 115 valid samples were used for the empirical analysis. To analyze the demographic characteristics and effects of urban agriculture, frequency analysis and descriptive statistics were conducted. In order to analyze the reliability and validity of the measurement variables of the effect, the variables that deteriorate the validity were removed and 15 variables of the urban agricultural effect were selected. According to the result of factor analysis, three factors were extracted as follows: socially sustainable effect, negative effect and economically sustainable effect. In order to examine the effects of urban agriculture depending on income level, the one-way ANOVA, which is a statistical technique for verifying differences in the sample means, was performed. The psychological stability of people, the recovery of humanity through communion with nature, and the vitalization of agriculture linked with local agriculture had significant correlations with income level. The negative effect showed no significant correlation with income level. The improvement of the local environment was found to have an impact in relation with income level. We expect that there will be more studies on policies for the new types and models of urban agriculture in order to make it easier for urban citizens to approach it.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.67-83
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• 2018

This study is aimed at finding policy directions for Korean fisheries and fishing villages by using Delphi method for fisheries experts. Fisheries experts have highly evaluated the achievements of fostering aquaculture industry, seafood export support measures, and natural disasters relief and recovery arrangements among the policies promoted as so far. And it was recognized that policies such as fishery resources management, creation and recovery of fishery resources, improvement hygiene and seafood safety, and provision young fishermen with training and capacity building will be important. Future megatrends, for example changes in food consumption pattern, climate change, and demographic structure changes are expected to have a significant impact on fisheries and fishing villages. The Delphi survey indicates that the most important policy objective is to secure a stable fisheries production. In other words, fisheries policy in the future should be aimed at suppling sustainable seafood for popular consumption. Finding strategies and action plans that can achieve this goal will be an important policy issue. In conclusion, it is necessary that a number of fundamental researches carry out in Korea, which can lead to finding out a multifunctionality of fisheries and fishing village. In addition, it is important to expand the scope of fisheries policy, which can consider not only the fisheries producers but also seafood consumer's and young fishermen perspectives. Furthermore, it recommends that fishery policy needs to include fishery related industry as well as application of 4th industrial revolution technology to fishery.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.131-141
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• 2019

Recently the business environment surrounding the financial investment industry is changing rapidly, and the demands of customers (diversity and the cycle of change etc.) are getting shorter. In this context, it can be said that companies are forced to adopt an agile management environment. In particular, non-face-to-face channels, including MTS, is adopting the agile system into the digital finance sector from a company-wide and strategic perspective. This study analyzed the effects of MTS services' environment quality on customer satisfaction and continuous intention to use for MTS users who are rapidly increasing under the agile management environment in the financial investment industry. This study surveyed the quality of service environment (accessibility, convenience, design, security), customer satisfaction, and continuous intention to use for 350 MTS users. First, accessibility, convenience, and security of MTS service environment quality had a positive effect on customer satisfaction, and design was rejected Second, customer satisfaction has a positive effect on continuous intention to use. Third, convenience and security of MTS service environment quality have positive effects on continuous intention to use, and accessibility and design were rejected. The results of this study, together with demographic analysis, are expected to provide useful implications for MTS activation studies and securities firms' strategies.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.239-248
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of music for job stress of employees in highway service areas and differences in use of music. For this, a survey was conducted on 150 respondents of U city and G province. The questionnaires were composed of a total of 53 questions, including use of music 25, job stress 24, and demographic characteristics 4 questions. A total of 150 questionnaires were distributed and 134 were analyzed. As a result, first, the respondents preferred listening to music over playing instruments or singing and mostly listened to popular music at home alone. Second, they reported that their purpose of use of music was for mood change followed by comfort, joy, sense of vigor, and sense of relief. Third, there were significant differences in mood of music and degree of achieving sense of relief through music. This study could provide information for organizing effective convergence music programs which could meet the needs and demands of them.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.141-152
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• 2021

Purpose: This study was conducted to develop a couple-centered antenatal education program and to test the program's feasibility. Methods: With a preliminary-experimental study design, 33 pregnant couples who were expecting their first child participated in this study. The program consisted of four sessions (1 hour/session/week) of education and counseling. Data were collected before and after the intervention from September 2018 to April 2019 at a women's hospital in Daejeon, Korea, with demographic data forms, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale, Korean Newborn Care Confidence Scale, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale-10. Results: The pregnant women and their husbands were on average 32.30±3.10 and 33.21±6.25 years old, respectively. The mean marriage duration was 2.34±1.63 years, the gestational age was 31.30±2.66 weeks, and 78.8% of the couples had a planned pregnancy. After the program, both the pregnant women and their husbands showed significant improvements in attachment to the fetus and confidence in providing infant care. Prenatal depression, prenatal stress, and fear of childbirth in pregnant women significantly decreased after completing the program. However, the dyadic adjustment score did not change significantly either in the pregnant women or their husbands. Conclusion: A couple-centered antenatal education program seems to be effective for couples adjusting to parenthood, but further studies should explore ways to have a positive impact on couples' relationships.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2021

This study investigates the difference in income trajectories of the working poor and the non-working poor and explains the effects of socio-demographic (marriage, education) and regional (living in large cities) factors on intergroup differences. We use Seoul Survey data collected between 2009-2018 and the latent growth modeling approach. It was found that the trajectory difference between groups was statistically significant. Since 2016, the income gap widened as the income of the working poor stagnated. The three variables included in this model better explained the income trajectory of the working poor compared to the working non-poor. In particular, the change in income growth rate was positively related to whether they live in large cities. This suggests the possibility that living in a large city would act as an economic premium for the working poor. It is necessary to conduct follow-up studies on urban premiums for the working poor.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2022

Purpose: Pediatric acute appendicitis has a stable incidence rate in Western countries with an annual change of -0.36%. However, a sharp increase was observed in the Asian region. The Indonesian Health Department reveals appendicitis as the fourth most infectious disease, with more than 64,000 patients annually. Hence, there is an urgent need to identify and evaluate the risk factors and diagnostic modalities for accurate diagnosis and early treatment. This study also clarifies the usage of pediatric appendicitis score (PAS) for children <5 years of age. Methods: The current study employed a cross-sectional design with purposive sampling through demographic and PAS questionnaires with ultrasound sonography (USG) results. The analysis was performed using the chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests and logistic regression. Results: This study included 21 qualified patients with an average age of 6.76±4.679 years, weighing 21.72±10.437 kg, and who had been hospitalized for 4.24±1.513 days in Siloam Teaching Hospital. Compared to the surgical gold standard, PAS and USG have moderate sensitivity and specificity. Bodyweight and stay duration were significant for appendicitis (p<0.05); however, all were confounders in the multivariate regression analysis. Incidentally, a risk prediction model was generated with an area under the curve of 72.73%, sensitivity of 100.0%, specificity of 54.5%, and a cut-off value of 151. Conclusion: PAS outperforms USG in the sensitivity of diagnosing appendicitis, whereas USG outperforms PAS in terms of specificity. This study demonstrates the use of PAS in children under 5 years old. Meanwhile, no risk factors were significant in multivariate pediatric acute appendicitis risk factors.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.209-223
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• 2022

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant changes. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on patients with chronic pain. Methods: Patients with chronic pain from 23 university hospitals in South Korea participated in this study. The anonymous survey questionnaire consisted of 25 questions regarding the following: demographic data, diagnosis, hospital visit frequency, exercise duration, time outside, sleep duration, weight change, nervousness and anxiety, depression, interest or pleasure, fatigue, daily life difficulties, and self-harm thoughts. Depression severity was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between increased pain and patient factors. Results: A total of 914 patients completed the survey, 35.9% of whom had decreased their number of visits to the hospital, mostly due to COVID-19. The pain level of 200 patients has worsened since the COVID-19 outbreak, which was more prominent in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Noticeable post-COVID-19 changes such as exercise duration, time spent outside, sleep patterns, mood, and weight affected patients with chronic pain. Depression severity was more significant in patients with CRPS. The total PHQ-9 average score of patients with CRPS was 15.5, corresponding to major depressive orders. The patients' decreased exercise duration, decreased sleep duration, and increased depression were significantly associated with increased pain. Conclusions: COVID-19 has caused several changes in patients with chronic pain. During the pandemic, decreased exercise and sleep duration and increased depression were associated with patients' increasing pain.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.216-223
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• 2021

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a gymnastics program for eight weeks to maintain better body composition and decrease fatigue among factory workers. Methods: Data were collected in 54 female workers in their 50s and 60s in a factory located in the S city of the K region between April and July in 2019. The subjects were divided into two groups: 1) experimental group (n=27) received a 30 minute-gymnastics program three times per week, and 2) control group participated in lecture series about the principle and effect of the gymnastics program. Body composition and fatigue levels were measured before and after the intervention and analyzed using the SPSS 23.0 program. To evaluate the differences in demographic and clinical characteristics between the experimental and control groups, the chi-squared test and the t-test were used. Repeated measures two-way ANOVA was performed to evaluate the change between outcomes of the pre-and post-investigation. Pairwise comparisons were used to assess the differences between the groups and the time. Results: There are statistically significant differences in body fat mass (p<.001), body fat percentage (p<.001), basal metabolic rate (p<.001), and body mass index (p<.022) in the experimental group compared to the control group. In particular, there is a significant interaction between the groups and the time in body fat mass (F=6.308, p=.015), basal metabolic rate (F=11.397, p=.001), fatigue (F=6.933, p=.011). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that using the gymnastics program helps women in their 50s and 60s who work in factories promote better body composition and reduce fatigue levels.