• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2024

Objectives: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent mental health condition, and techniques using sensory stimulation in processing traumatic memories have gained attention. The Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a psychotherapy that combines tapping on acupoints with exposure to cognitive reframing. This pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility of EFT as a treatment for PTSD by answering the following research questions: 1) What is the compliance and completion rate of patients with PTSD with regard to EFT protocol? Is the dropout rate reasonable? 2) Is the effect size of EFT protocol for PTSD sufficient to justify a future trial? Methods: Thirty participants diagnosed with PTSD were recruited. They received weekly EFT sessions for five weeks, in which they repeated a statement acknowledging the problem and accepting themselves while tapping the SI3 acupoint on the side of their hand. PTSD symptoms were evaluated using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) before and after the intervention. Results: Of the 30 PTSD patients (mean age: 34.1 ± 9.1, 80% female), 96.7% showed over 80% compliance to the EFT sessions, and 86.7% completed the entire study process. The mean PCL-5 total score decreased significantly after the intervention, with a large effect size (change from baseline: -14.33 [95% CI: -19.79, -8.86], p < 0.0001, d = 1.06). Conclusion: The study suggests that EFT is a feasible treatment for PTSD, with high session compliance and low dropout rates. The effect size observed in this study supports the need for a larger trial in the future to further investigate EFT as a treatment for PTSD. However, the lack of a control group and the use of a self-rated questionnaire for PTSD symptoms are limitations of this study. The findings of this pilot study can be used to plan a future trial.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2262-2270
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• 2013

This study was to provide the basic data to raise the efficient practices that can reduce the Infection Prevention and Exposure by understanding the awareness, Performance degree of the Administrative Standard Guideline of Nosocomial Infection Control for Emergency Medical Technician students who are exposed to hospital infections while conducting clinical practice. After the study, the performance degree was lower than the awareness of the Performance degree of the Administrative Standard Guideline of Nosocomial Infection Control. And awareness and performance degree are have significant positive correlation, significant differences statistically(r=0.325, p=0.000). In the future, to improve the Performance degree of Nosocomial Infection Control for Emergency Medical Technician students, the continuing education programs and the curriculums should be performed in the practice agencies.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Health Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.582-592
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• 2016

Purpose. For more effective hospital management, it analyzes the trend through general characteristics, balance sheet, income statement, and financial ratio analysis, grasps the causes of the problems, and analyzes management of the hospital in order to use the result as baseline data for development of the hospital in the future. Methods. The collected data of 3 years from 2011 to 2013 about 3 tertiary hospitals in metropolitan cities from Alio (provider of public institution information; www.alio.go.kr), Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (www.hira.or.kr), and the website of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (www.mw.go.kr) were analyzed and general characteristics, balance sheet, income statement, and financial ratio, analysis are used as data. Results & Conclusions. From the result of data analysis from 2011 to 2013, general characteristics, balance sheet, income statement, financial ratio analysis, and pie charts could lead to conclusions as follows. In the result of comprehensive analysis, the 3 tertiary hospitals showed increase of fixed expense due to extension of the buildings and so did the scale of fund and asset. Although medical revenue increased, the margin of increase for medical expense was greater than that of medical revenue, which consequently led to loss. In prediction for the 3 tertiary hospitals based on characteristics so far, it is expected to see improved revenue structure after building extension is completed, but it is necessary to exert management effort to maintain its optimal level by enhancement in stability of management and inventory turnover through management of inventories.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.276-283
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• 2017

Background: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) has rapidly increased. Even though e-cigarettes are actually not smoking cessation alternative supplies, some people perceive them as smoking cessation alternative supplies. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between e-cigarette experiences and smoking cessation behaviors among Korean adults. Methods: Cross-sectional data was collected from 7,550 participants of Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2014. A total of 867 participants who were current smokers were enrolled in this study. Multi-variable logistic regression analysis were performed to identify the relationship between the smoking cessation behavior and the e-cigarette experience. Results: The e-cigarette experience rate of current smokers was 22.1%. The e-cigarette experience rate was higher in groups with the higher income, the higher education level, and the white collar jobs. Smokers with experience of smoking cessation (odds ratio [OR], 3.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.67 to 5.76) and with intention to smoking cessation in the future (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.05 to 2.43) were more likely to experience the e-cigarette. Especially, smokers who used smoking cessation alternative supplies were more likely to experience the e-cigarette than smokers who did not use it (OR, 2.87; 95% CI, 1.59 to 5.18). Conclusion: We confirmed that e-cigarette experiences were associated with smoking cessation experience, smoking cessation plan, and use of smoking cessation aid among smokers in Korea. Additional studies should be continued to confirm whether e-cigarette are continuously influencing the smoking cessation of current smokers in South Korea as one of the smoking cessation alternative supplies.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.411-419
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• 2013

Various biomaterials have been widely used for biomedical applications, including bio-organs, medical devices, and clinical devices like vessel, blood pumps, artificial kidneys and hearts, even in contact with blood. The issue of blood compatibility has been studied intensively to prevent negative effects such as thrombosis due to the implanted devices. The use of lotus-leaf-like structured surfaces has been extended to an increasing number of applications such as contamination prevention and anticorrosion applications. Various methods such as template, sol-gel transition, layer-by-layer, and other methods, developed for the fabrication of lotus-leaf-like surfaces have been reported for major industrial applications. Recently, the non-wettable character of these surfaces has been shown to be useful for biomedical applications ranging from blood-vessel replacement to antibacterial surface treatment. In this review, we provide a summary of current and future research efforts and opportunities in the development and medical applications of lotus-leaf-like structure surfaces.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.397-402
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• 2019

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) uses the spike (S) glycoprotein to recognize and enter target cells. In this study, we selected two epitope peptide sequences within the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the MERS-CoV S protein. We used a complex consisting of the epitope peptide of the MERS-CoV S protein and CpG-DNA encapsulated in liposome complex to immunize mice, and produced the monoclonal antibodies 506-2G10G5 and 492-1G10E4E2. The western blotting data showed that both monoclonal antibodies detected the S protein and immunoprecipitated the native form of the S protein. Indirect immunofluorescence and confocal analysis suggested strong reactivity of the antibodies towards the S protein of MERS-CoV virus infected Vero cells. Furthermore, the 506-2G10G5 monoclonal antibody significantly reduced plaque formation in MERS-CoV infected Vero cells compared to normal mouse IgG and 492-1G10E4E2. Thus, we successfully produced a monoclonal antibody directed against the RBD domain of the S protein which could be used in the development of diagnostics and therapeutic applications in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1478-1488
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to forecast which factors provided satisfaction for the foreign medical tourist. The study concluded that the following key factors most affected the satisfaction of medical tourism: total travel budget, number of visits for medical services, occupation, education, monthly household income, budget for medical expenses, and the visiting period. Overall satisfaction of medical tourism explained was 43.5%. The influence of satisfaction on medical tourism through a word-of-mouth and the revisit intention was significant. These conclusions suggest that overall satisfaction with medical tourism based on this study's key factors may be an important factor for increasing the word-of-mouth and the revisit intention by the medical tourist in the future.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.58-64
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• 2016

The birth of the scientific revolution, brought forth by Vesalius and Copernicus in 1543, marked the beginning of a new age. However, the changes such as treatment effectiveness, survival rate, prevalence of specific diseases, etc. had not yet become clear during the 16th century. In the early 17th century, Boerhaave emphasized bedside teaching and practice. His attitude influenced numerous students and educators, so many medical students visited hospital wards where he worked. From the late 18th to 19th centuries, Jenner's smallpox vaccination, Pasteur's anthrax and rabies vaccinations, and Koch's four postulates used to detect pathogens were developed using the scientific research method, which initiated big changes for medicine. Flexner, credited for reporting the new medical education system, adopted scientific medicine. He believed medical students must study basic medical science since it could be the foundation of clinical medicine and lead to a revolution in the field. He proposed a new medical curriculum composed of two-years of basic medicine and two-years of clinical medicine, which has been used more than 100 years. During the late 20th century, bedside teaching rounds decreased gradually as scientific medicine has become popular. Many medical educators in many articles have proposed bedside education as an effective method for medical learning. Despite the advent of the age of artificial intelligence and the changing of medical environments in the near future, bedside education will be more useful and important for medical students, educators, and patients as it is a traditional method and essential for patients who desire a more personal approach.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.203-212
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• 2023

Since the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, it has been generally believed that a medical technologists (MTs) are supposed to perform polymerase chain reaction tests and next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the hospitals. However, many do not recognize that the duty of MT for clinical genetic testing has not been stated in the Medical Laws (72.5% for MT, N=200; 62.8% for students, N=123). In this regard, to evaluate the feasibility of MT's role for NGS genetic testing, we requested our subjects to fill out an online survey and analyzed the data. Among them, it shows that the scope of MT's role, including NGS performance should include clinical genetic testing (99.5% for MT, N=200; 86.8% for students, N=123). Also, questions on clinical genetics, which is associated with both cellular genetics and molecular genetic questions should be included in the National MT License Problem Bank (97.5% for MT; 71.4% for students). Based on these results, the Korean Association of Medical Technologists needs to cooperate synergically with the Academic Association of Biomedical Laboratory Science with respect to genetic education and legislation for the future benefit of both MTs and students.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.10-17
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• 2020

Objective: Hallux valgus (HV) is a common musculoskeletal deformity that is accompanied with pain and continues to decrease one's quality of life and ability to perform daily life activities by affecting gait and static stability. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of the angle of HV (HVA) and to compare the one-legged stance and gait parameters in young adults with less HV and severe HV. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Forty young adults were divided into two groups, where HVA ≥15° (n=20) was defined as HV, and HVA <15° (n=20) was defined as normal. For balance ability, the center of pressure (COP) path, velocity, length of axis of the COP path, deviation of the x-axis and y-axis, and percentage of foot pressure were measured, and gait, the foot rotation angle, step length, percentage of each phase of the gait cycle, time change from the heel to forefoot, and maximum pressure of the forefoot and midfoot were measured. Results: Significant differences were found in sway length and time change from heel to forefoot during walking between the normal and HV groups (p<0.05). Most parameters were not associated with the HVA, but parameters such as length of axis and time to change from heel to forefoot were significantly associated with the HVA (p<0.05). Conclusions: These results suggest that most one-legged stance and gait parameters were not significantly affected by the HVA in young adults; therefore, future studies are needed in order to address other dynamic parameters and other methods of gait analysis for detecting clinically meaningful conditions.