• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제23권8호
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• pp.1159-1166
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• 2013

Orientia tsutsugamushi, a gram-negative bacterium, causes severe acute febrile illness in humans. Despite this danger, the route of infection, infectivity, and protective mechanisms of the host's immune response to O. tsutsugamushi are unclear. Dendritic cells (DCs) are one of the most important cell types in bridging the innate and adaptive immune responses. In this study, we observed that O. tsutsugamushi infects and replicates in monocyte-derived DCs (MODCs). During infection and replication, the expressions of the cytokines IL-12 and TNF-${\alpha}$, as well as the co-stimulatory molecules CD80, CD83, CD86, and CD40, were increased in MODCs. When O. tsutsugamushi-treated MODCs were co-cultured with autologous $CD4^+$ T cells, they enhanced production of IFN-${\gamma}$, a major Th1 cytokine. Collectively, our results show that O. tsutsugamushi can replicate in MODCs and can simultaneously induce MODC maturation and increase proinflammatory cytokine levels in MODCs that subsequently activate $CD4^+$ T cells.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• 제29권4호
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• pp.316-322
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate muscle activation of lower extremity such as rectus femoris, tibialis anterior and soleus according to 0cm(bare foot), 4cm and 7cm heel height of shoe on the rocking surface in older women. 20 older women who did not have any lower musculoskeletal and neurological disorders in the past were participated in this study. Each subject was standing for 15 seconds on the level 8 of Biodex Stability System (BSS) while wearing 4cm and 7cm heel height shoes including bare foot. Electromyography was used to measure muscle activation of lower extremity, and the muscle activation was expressed as a percentage of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (% MVIC). We measured % MVIC of three muscles during 5 seconds except for the first 5 seconds and last 5 seconds. SPSS 12.0 program was used for this study. Repeated one-way analysis of variance(ANOVA) was performed to compare the significant difference among the muscles of lower extremities according to heel heights of shoe on the rocking plate. % MVIC of each muscle such as rectus femoris, tibialis anterior and soleus regarding heel heights of shoe had statistically significant differences (p<0.05). The results of contrast test were as follows; 1) % MVIC of rectus femoris had significant differences between barefoot and 4cm, and barefoot and 7cm. 2) % MVIC of tibialis anterior had significant differences between barefoot and 4cm, barefoot and 7cm, and 4cm and 7cm. 3) % MVIC of soleus had significant differences between barefoot and 7cm, 4cm and 7cm. The results indicate that all commonly responsive muscle on the conditions of barefoot, 4cm, and 7cm shoe height on the rcoking surface is tibialis anterior muscle. We found out that the more heels of shoe high, the more muscle activation increases. High-heeled shoes above 7cm remarkably increase the muscle activation of lower extremity and may result in muscle fatigue. Thus, these shoes may summate risk factors of falls in older women. We can acknowledge that the heels above 4 cm affect each muscle activation in lower extremity on the rocking surface.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• 제19권5호
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• pp.346-356
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• 2018

Overweight and abdominal obesity caused by sedentary lifestyle may induce deconditioned and atrophied extensor musculature of the lumbar spine and be a potential risk factor for low back pain (LBP). Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the validity of high intensity circuit training (HICT) on weight loss and subsequent alleviation of spine curvature (SC) and visual analog scale (VAS) among middle aged men with abdominal obesity. The training program (1 exercise session for 30 minutes, three times a week for 12 weeks) consisted of 12 different functional exercises based on core strengthening multiple joint circuit training. Portions of the obesity index related to body composition were positively changed, which improved the angles of thoracic kyposis and lumbar lordosis, which appeared to effectively reduce lower back pain. Taken together, HICT specifically designed for LBP effectively decreased obesity related body composition and was superior to other treatments for decreasing aggravation of the spine curvature and LBP caused by abdominal obesity; however, weight loss should be the primary treatment target for LBP patients.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.210-218
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• 2018

This study is a descriptive correlation that attempts to determine the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between university life stress and smartphone overuse. A total of 201 university students attending universities within Jeonbuk were evaluated using self-reported questionnaires from April 10 to May 10, 2017. The demographic characteristics, university life stress, self-efficacy, and smartphone overuse were analyzed by descriptive statistical analysis. The difference in smartphone overuse by demographic characteristics was analyzed by t-tests and ANOVA with Scheffe's post hoc test, and the correlation between variables was evaluated by Pearson's correlation coefficient. The mediating effect of self-efficacy was the 3-step multiple regression statistics of Baron and Kenny, and the statistical significance of the mediating effect was analyzed by the Sobel test. Self-efficacy had a partial mediating effect in the relationship between university life stress and smartphone overuse. In addition, the risk of smartphone overuse increased among university freshmen, with many using smartphones for more than 4 or 6 hours per day. The result of this study are expected to be useful as basic data for the development of a program to prevent excessive smartphone use by university students.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.851-856
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• 2016

Background: Breast cancer is a major health problem among women around the world. Recent developments in screening and treatment have greatly improved the prognosis of patients with breast cancer in developed countries. However, in developing countries breast cancer mortality remains high.Breast cancer awareness is a first and important step in reducing breast cancer mortality. The development of a validated instrument to measure breast cancer awareness is crucial for the understanding and implementation of suitable health education programs to facilitate early deletion and minimize mortality. Objective: The objective of this study was to develop an instrument for the assessment of breast cancer awareness in Thai women. Materials and Methods: This methodological study was conducted in two stages: (1) literature searches and semi-structured interviews were conducted to generate items of the breast cancer awareness scale (B-CAS) which were subsequently examined for content and face validity, and (2) an exploration of the factor structure of the resulting instrument and an examination of its reliability. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire in Thai women aged 20-64 in August, 2015. Results: A total of 219 women (response rate 97.4 %) participated in this validation study. The B-CAS contains five domains with 53 items on breast cancer awareness: 1) knowledge of risk factors, 2) knowledge of signs and symptoms, 3) attitude to breast cancer prevention, 4) barriers of breast screening, and 5) health behavior related to breast cancer awareness. Items with a content validity index < 0.80 were excluded, and factor structure for the remaining items reflected the hypothesized five factor model. The scales based on all retained items was shown to have strongly internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's ${\alpha}=0.86$). Conclusions: The B-CAS provides good psychometric properties to assess breast cancer awareness in women. It can be used to examine breast cancer awareness in Thai women and it could lead to the development and evaluation of suitable educational interventions for raising breast cancer awareness. Future research should focus on further validating the B-CAS including an assessment of construct and criterion-based validity.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.10-21
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• 2001

Background : The Clostridium difficile is the most important identifiable cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea and colitis, which lengthens hospital stay. Recently incidence of C. difficile has been increasing in an university hospital, and an intervention for prevention and control of C. difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD) was in prompt need. Methods : Subjects were the patients in the neurosurgical intensive care unit(NCU) where C. difficile was most frequently isolated. To increase participation of various departments, we used the CQI method, because management of CDAD requires a wholistic approach including control of antibiotics, barrier precaution and environmental cleaning and disinfection. Duration of the CQI activities was 9 months from April to December 1999. Results : The identified problems were misuse and overuse of antibiotics, lack of consciousness of medical personnels and the possibility of transmission from the contaminated environment and tube feeding. Education for proper use of antibiotics and management of C. difficile infection, use of precaution stickers, supplement of handwashing equipments, emphasis on environmental disinfection, and the change of the process of tube feeding were done. The CDAD rate in NCU was significantly decreased after the CQI program (8.6 case per 1,000 patient days from January to April 1999 vs 4.8 from May to December 1999). The distribution of neurosurgical wards including NCU among the total number of isolated C. difficile from the clinical specimens dropped from 49.4% in January to April to 33,7% in May to December. The average hospital stay of the neurosurgical department changed from 19.6 days to 15.2 days. Also, the effect of the CQI activities for C. difficile may have affected the incidence of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE). Duration and dosage of certain antibiotics used in the NS department were decreased. The distribution of neurosurgical department in the number of VRE isolated patients declined from 18.4% to 11.1%. Conclusion : Infection control of resistant organisms such as C. difficile is likely to be successful when management of environmental contamination an collaborative efforts of decreasing the patients' risk factors such as antibiotics management and decreasing the length of hospital stay come simultaneously. For this work, related departments need to actively participate in the entire process under a common target through discussions for identifying problems and bringing up solutions. In this respect, making use of a CQI team is an efficient method of infection control for gathering participation and cooperation of related departments.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.2242-2248
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• 2015

The damages from greenhouses collapsing due to heavy snowfall in winter are increasing, and the current frames of greenhouse are required to be improved. This study was conducted to seek solutions to improve intensities of greenhouse frame to bear heavy snows. We investigated a structural safety of greenhouses by calculating axial force, bending moment and combined stress when snow load was increased up to 30% of the current standard ground snow load of the conventional greenhouse types (07-single type 3, 07-single type 18) in the three regions (Gyeongju, Sokcho, and Gangneung) where were most damaged by recent heavy snows. In addition, we determined what structural type was most efficiently bear snow loads by measuring the differences between the load bearing strength according to the changes of tube diameter and thickness or the rafter spacing of greenhouses circular pipe. MIDAS GEN program was used in the analysis. As a result, with the snow load increase of 30%, greenhouse in Gyongju was still safe, but in Sokcho was at a risk, and in Gangneung was possible to be collapsed even in the current snow load. Increased pipe diameter than increased pipe thickness was more efficient in terms of improved performance of greenhouse structure. Accordingly, it is suggested to revise standards of greenhouse to increase pipe diameter of rafter for minimizing damages by heavy snow.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• 제50권6호
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• pp.615-623
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze factors influencing eating problems among young female adults. Methods: Participants were 193 young female adults aged 19 ~ 29 years who were recruited in August 2017. Four variables related to eating problems in young female adults, including body image dissatisfaction, self-esteem, trait anger, and depression, were measured using reliable instruments. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program and Amos 24.0 for descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, and path analysis. Results: The mean for eating problems in young female adults was 8.99, and 9.8% of subjects were classified as high risk with eating problems. Modified model demonstrated good model fit (${\chi}^2$/df 0.47, GFI 0.99, AGFI 0.99, NFI 0.99, SRMR 0.022, RMSEA 0.001). Path analysis showed that body image dissatisfaction had the greatest direct effect on eating problems. Depression did not have a direct effect on eating problems, whereas it had indirect effects on eating problems through body image dissatisfaction as the mediating factor. Self-esteem had direct effects on depression and indirect effects on eating problems through depression and body image dissatisfaction as mediating factors. Trait anger had direct effects on depression and body image dissatisfaction and indirect effects on eating problems through depression and body image dissatisfaction as mediating factors. These factors accounted for 46% of the total variance, and the fit indices of the model satisfied the criteria of fitness. Conclusion: The results of this study reveal the important role of body dissatisfaction and psychological factors such as self-esteem, trait anger, and depression on eating problems. These factors influencing eating problems should be considered when developing programs to improve eating problems in young female adults.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• 제18권10호
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• pp.165-174
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to examine the association metabolic syndrome with sarcopenia in Korean stroke patients. We used the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2008 to 2011 and enrolled a total of 316 stroke patients older than 40 years. Data were analyzed by Rao-Scott ${\chi}^2-test$, generalized linear model and composite sample multiple logistic regression. The prevalence of sarcopenia was 47.3% in men and 46.3% in women. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 50.3% in men and 73.6% in women. After adjusting for age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, exercise, education, income, sroke sequla and stroke duration, men with sarcopenia had increased risk of metabolic syndrome (95% CI: 2.454-18.482, p<.001). This finding can be used to develop evidence-based health promotion program to prevent stroke reccurance for stroke patients.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.229-238
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to examine the difference in the mediating effects of relief from fatigue through sleep and perceived subjective health in the relationship between perceived stress and subjective happiness in middle school students who attempted suicide. The analysis was conducted using Path analysis, the Bootstrapping method, Phantom variable and Multiple group analysis by AMOSS using the IBM SPSS 23 and IBM SPSS AMOS 23 programs with 820 middle school students who attempted suicide in the past 12 months using the raw data of the Korea Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2016). In the relationship between perceived stress and perceived subjective health, the indirect effect of relief from fatigue through sleep and perceived subjective health (${\beta}=-.12$, p=.003) was statistically significant. The difference in the magnitude of the two indirect effects was found to be greater for the subjective health status than for relief from fatigue through sleep (difference = .02, p=.028) and the effects were greater for the males (${\beta}=.44$, p <.001) than for the females (${\beta}=.23$, p<.001). Based on the findings, it is necessary to develop and apply an educational program that includes the factors that contribute to improving the happiness of middle school students.