• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.4218-4226
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• 2013

This is a descriptive study to identify relationships of fatigue to job satisfaction and turnover intention among clinical nurses. The subjects were 162 clinical nurses at 2 small and medium-sized hospitals in K and B cities. The data were collected from February 1st throughout 28th, 2013. The collected data were analyzed using the SAS program through $x^2$-test, t-test, ANOVA, Scheff$\acute{e}$ test, and Pearson's correlation coefficients. There was a negative correlation between high fatigue level and job satisfaction and colleagues of its subgroups (r=-0.29, p=.0214; r=-0.29, p=.0239), positive correlation it and turnover intention(r=0.33, p=.0089). Also there was a negative correlation between promotion and overall job satisfaction subgroup of job satisfaction and turnover intention(r=-0.17, p=.0268; r=-0.19, p=.0144). Therefore nurse managers are in need of applying the organizational management system which is considered the relationship with my colleagues at work, promotion and overall job satisfaction etc. to prevent and decrease fatigue induced factors and turnover intentions.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.165-172
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• 2010

In clinical data minig, choosing the optimal subset of features is such important, not only to reduce the computational complexity but also to improve the usefulness of the model constructed from the given data. Moreover the threshold values (i.e., cut-off points) of selected features are used in a clinical decision criteria of experts for differential diagnosis of diseases. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy discretization approach, which is evaluated by measuring the degree of separation of redundant attribute values in overlapping region, based on spatial distribution of data with continuous attributes. The weighted average of the redundant attribute values is then used to determine the threshold value for each feature and rough set theory is utilized to select a subset of relevant features from the overall features. To verify the validity of the proposed method, we compared experimental results, which applied to classification problem using 668 patients with a chief complaint of dyspnea, based on three discretization methods (i.e., equal-width, equal-frequency, and entropy-based) and proposed discretization method. From the experimental results, we confirm that the discretization methods with fuzzy partition give better results in two evaluation measures, average classification accuracy and G-mean, than those with hard partition.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.61-65
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• 2010

The objectives of this study were to conduct a prevalence survey of trichomoniasis in pregnant women and to evaluate the utility of different methods for its diagnosis. A total of 597 vaginal exudates from pregnant women who were examined at the Hospital de Clinicas in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 1 August 2005 to 31 January 2007, were prospectively and consecutively evaluated. The investigation of Trichomonas vaginalis was made by different microscopic examinations, and culture on liquid medium. The sensitivity and specificity of the microscopic examinations were assessed considering culture on liquid medium as the "gold standard". The prevalence of T. vaginalis obtained by culture on liquid medium was 4.0% (24/597). The prevalence of T. vaginalis obtained by direct wet smear, prolonged May-Grunwald Giemsa staining, and sodium acetate-formalin (SAF)/methylene blue staining-fixing technique was 1.8%, 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively. The sensitivity of the direct wet smear was 45.8%, that of the prolonged May-Grunwald Giemsa staining was 58.3%, and that of the SAF/methylene blue method was 62.5%. Considering the 3 microscopic examinations altogether, the sensitivity rose to 66.7% and the specificity was 100% for all of them. This is the first time that the prevalence data of T. vaginalis by culture in pregnant women are published in Argentina. Due to the low sensitivity obtained by microscopy in asymptomatic pregnant women, the use of the liquid medium is recommended during pregnancy, in order to provide an early diagnosis and treatment.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.54-71
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• 2021

Objectives The purpose of this study was to revise Sasang Digestive Function Inventory (SDFI) and improve its validity and reliability using clinical data. Methods The Sasang type and Cold-Heat pattern differentiation by certified clinical specialist and responses to SDFI items were acquired from 419 hospital patients. The revision of SDFI was performed using item analysis and Explorative Factor Analysis (EFA). Furthermore, the validity and reliability of the revised SDFI (rSDFI) were investigated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Internal Consistency and Item Response Theory (IRT). And, clinical significance of the rSDFI was examined for the differentiation of Sasang types and Cold-Heat patterns. Results The number of the SDFI items were modified from 21 to 15. And, the validity and reliability of the rSDFI subscale structure were found to be acceptable. The scores of rSDFI-total and rSDFI-E significantly decreased in the order of Tae-Eum (TE), So-Yang (SY), So-Eum (SE) types, and the rSDFI score of SE type was significantly lower than that of TE and SY types. The rSDFI-total score could differentiate Cold-Heat pattern in both SY and SE types. And the difference of digestive function between Cold and Heat pattern of SE type could be explained with the rSDFI-D score. The rSDFI-total score in Cold pattern significantly decreased in the order of TE, SY, and SE types, and the rSDFI-total score of TE type is significantly higher than that of SE type in Heat pattern. Conclusions Current results demonstrated the reliability, validity and clinical usefulness of the rSDFI in clinical patients. Therefore, rSDFI can be utilized as an objective clinical measure supporting the differential diagnosis of Sasang typology.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.4013-4018
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• 2014

Because of its importance in tumor invasion and metastasis, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has become a research focus in the field of cancer. Recently, evidence has been presented that FoxO4 might be involved in EMT. Our study aimed to detect the expression of FoxO4, E-cadherin and vimentin in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). We also investigated clinical features and their correlations with the markers. In our study, FoxO4, E-cadherin and vimentin were assessed by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray (TMA) containing 150 cases of NSCLC. In addition, the expression level of FoxO4 protein was determined by Western blotting. The percentages of FoxO4, E-cadherin and vimentin positive expression in NSCLCs were 42.7%, 38.7% and 55.3%, respectively. Immunoreactivity of FoxO4 was low in NSCLC when compared with paired normal lung tissues. There were significant correlations between FoxO4 and TNM stage (P<0.001), histological differentiation (P=0.004) and lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), but no significant links with age (P=0.323), gender (P=0.410), tumor size (P=0.084), smoking status (P=0.721) and histological type (P=0.281). Our study showed that low expression of FoxO4 correlated with decreased expression of E-cadherin and elevated expression of vimentin. Cox regression analysis indicated FoxO4 to be an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC (P=0.046). These data suggested that FoxO4 might inhibit the process of EMT in NSCLC, and might therefore be a target for therapy.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 1999

Food allergies play an important role in Atopic Dermatitis (AD). Dietary manipulation is essential in the management of AD. However, there has been a paucity of data reporting the prevalence of food allergies in AD patients in Korea. In this study, the Food Open Challenge Tests (FOCT) were conducted to investigate food allergies in AD patients. The skin-prick test and the detection of specific IgE, as well as allergy history of patient were used to detect food allergies in all AD patients. Elimination diet was conducted for two weeks prior to FOCTs. The prevalence of food allergies by FOCT is as follows: milk (67.3%); chicken (64.2%); pork (62.8%); eggs (61.0%); beef(55.4%) ; wheat (52.0%) and soybean (45.2%). Allergenic food items in Korean AD patients were different from people in other foreign countries. The seven major foods those tested positively by FOCTs were completely eliminated from the replaced diets for two weeks, and were subsequently reintroduced one at a time. Results from FOCTs were not comparable with allergy history or skin-prick tests or specific IgE detection. The sensitivity and specificity of skin-prick tests and specific IgE detection were lower than FOCTs. Allergy history, skin-prick tests, and specific IgE detection are useful for the identification of food allergen but its clinical significance differed according to food items. Therefore, we conclude that even though a 10-day delay was necessary after food challenge, FOCT is a useful and valid method to confirm food allergies and may be essential for the effective control of food allergies for treatment of AD.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.244-251
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• 2010

Standardized parenteral nutrition is required to improve patient's safety, clinical appropriateness and to increase uniformity between institution and institutions. We assessed the consistency with the American society for parenteral and enteral nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.) practice guideline for PN by evaluating current practice process for parenteral nutrition formulation in inpatients pharmacies in Korea. Each question in this survey was based on 2007 A.S.P.E.N. recommendations of standard parenteral nutrition formulation, the American society of health-system pharmacists (ASHP), and the United State Pharmacopoeia (USP) Chapter 797 guideline for compounding parenteral nutritions. All 90 Korean society of hospital pharmacist (KSHP) member directors of pharmacy were requested to respond to the survey in order to compare the survey results to ASHP national survey of pharmacy practice in hospital settings (2002) in compliance with A.S.P.E.N. guideline. We had final response rate of 35.6%. 25 (100%) hospitals complied with this Garb guideline (response rate was 84.4%) which was the highest compliance. Only 17.9% of hospital pharmacies were actively involved in complications monitoring. Monitoring complications and efficacy were least in compliance with the A.S.P.E.N. guideline. 69.0% of Korean pharmacists adjusted medication dosage based on disease state or monitoring laboratory data in compliance with the A.S.P.E.N. guideline. Over 50% of the hospital pharmacies failed to provide and evaluate staff training in aseptic manipulation skills periodically. Korean hospital pharmacies need to comply with the standard practice guideline for compounding sterile preparation in order to provide better quality of parenteral nutrition service for specific patient population.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.320-326
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• 2015

The clinical benefits of oncogenic BRAF inhibitor therapies are limited by the emergence of drug resistance. In this study, we investigated the role of a negative regulator of the MAPK pathway, Spry2, in acquired resistance using BRAF inhibitor-resistant derivatives of the BRAF-V600E melanoma (A375P/Mdr). Real-time RT-PCR analysis indicated that the expression of Spry2 was higher in A375P cells harboring the BRAF V600E mutation compared with wild-type BRAF-bearing cells (SK-MEL-2) that are resistant to BRAF inhibitors. This result suggests the ability of BRAF V600E to evade feedback suppression in cell lines with BRAF V600E mutations despite high Spry2 expression. Most interestingly, Spry2 exhibited strongly reduced expression in A375P/Mdr cells with acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors. Furthermore, the overexpression of Spry2 partially restored sensitivity to the BRAF inhibitor PLX4720 in two BRAF inhibitor-resistant cells, indicating a positive role for Spry2 in the growth inhibition induced by BRAF inhibitors. On the other hand, long-term treatment with PLX4720 induced pERK reactivation following BRAF inhibition in A375P cells, indicating that negative feedback including Spry2 may be bypassed in BRAF mutant melanoma cells. In addition, the siRNA-mediated knockdown of Raf-1 attenuated the rebound activation of ERK stimulated by PLX4720 in A375P cells, strongly suggesting the positive role of Raf-1 kinase in ERK activation in response to BRAF inhibition. Taken together, these data suggest that RAF signaling may be released from negative feedback inhibition through interacting with Spry2, leading to ERK rebound and, consequently, the induction of acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.9.1-9.11
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• 2022

Background: Escherichia coli, which causes subclinical or clinical mastitis in cattle, is responsible for transmitting antimicrobial resistance via human consumption of raw milk or raw milk products. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the molecular characteristics of 183 E. coli from bulk tank milk of five different dairy factories in Korea. Methods: The molecular characteristics of E. coli such as serogroup, virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and integron genes were detected using polymerase chain reaction and antimicrobial susceptibility were tested using the disk diffusion test. Results: In the distribution of phylogenetic groups, group D was the most prevalent (59.6%) and followed by group B1 (25.1%). The most predominant serogroup was O173 (15.3%), and a total of 46 different serotypes were detected. The virulence gene found most often was fimH (73.2%), and stx1, fimH, incC, fyuA, and iutA genes were significantly higher in isolates of phylogenetic group B1 compared to phylogenetic groups A, B2, and D (p < 0.05). Among 64 E. coli isolates that showed resistance to at least one antimicrobial, the highest resistance rate was observed for tetracyclines (37.5%). All 18 integron-positive E. coli carried the integron class I (int1) gene, and three different gene cassette arrangements, dfrA12+aadA2 (2 isolates), aac(6')-Ib3+aac(6')-Ib-cr+aadA4 (2 isolates), and dfrA17+aadA5 (1 isolate) were detected. Conclusions: These data suggest that the E. coli from bulk tank milk can be an indicator for dissemination of antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors via cross-contamination.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2022

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in children aged 5-11 years, a rapid systematic review was conducted on published clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines and studies that analyzed real-world data on adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: A systematic search was conducted on medical literature in international (Ovid-MEDLINE) and pre-published literature databases (medRxiv), followed by handsearching up to January 4, 2022. We used terms including COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and vaccines, and the certainty of evidence was graded using the GRADE approach. Results: A total of 1,675 studies were identified, of which five were finally selected. Among the five studies, four consisted of data from clinical trials of each of the four types of COVID-19 vaccines (BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, CoronaVac, and BBIBP-CorV). The remaining study consisted of real-world data on the safety of the BNT162b2 vaccine in children aged 5-11 years. This systematic review identified that COVID-19 vaccines in recipients aged 5-11 years produced a favorable immune response, and were vaccines were effective against COVID-19. The safety findings for the BNT162b2 vaccine in children and early adolescents aged 5-11 years were similar to those data noted in the clinical trial. Conclusions: There is limited data on COVID-19 vaccines in children aged 5-11 years. Consequently continuous and comprehensive monitoring is necessary for the evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines.