• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.5412-5418
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• 2014

The red seabream iridovirus (RSIV), which belongs to the iridoviridae, causes infectious fish diseases in many Asian countries, leading to considerable economic losses to the aquaculture industry. Using the yeast surface display (YSD) technique, a new experimental system was recently developed for the detection and identification of a variety of marine viruses. In this study, a coat protein gene of RSIV was synthesized based on the nucleotide sequence database and subcloned into the yeast expression vector, pCTCON2. The expression of viral coat proteins in the yeast strain, EBY100, was detected by flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. Finally, they were isolated from the yeast surface through a treatment with ${\beta}$-mercaptoethanol. The data suggests that the YSD system can be a useful method for acquiring coating proteins of marine viruses.

• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.229-236
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• 2020

In light of SARS-CoV-2's significant impact, human society has experienced rapid changes in lifestyle that it has not yet experienced before. One way this virus has influenced people's lives is the emergence of the zero-contact society, an initiative for preventing the spread of infectious diseases. As can be seen, the social impact of COVID-19 is widespread. Various issues, such as those about government policy, personal information protection, and health care, are affecting society as a whole. At the same time, factual information is difficult to track and record because of the rapid and transient nature of related events and issues. As such, a method of effectively describing COVID-19 and real-time information is necessary. The "COVID-19: Our Memory" project is an attempt to record the sociocultural impact of the coronavirus infection. This project collects major events and issues classified into several subjects, records those events from a neutral point of view, and develops a digital archive so that all records are accessible. All the data collected and built through the project, the application, including the source code and visualization, are all published to bring about new opportunities for collaboration.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.131-135
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• 2015

Since April 2012, more than 1,600 laboratory-confirmed human infections with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have been reported, occurring primarily in countries in the Arabian Peninsula; the majority in Saudi Arabia. The MERS outbreak in Korea, which began in May 2015 through the importation of a single case who had recently traveled to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. As of November 28th, 186 secondary and tertiary cases had been reported; 38 deaths, mainly associated with underlying chronic illnesses, were reported. One case was exported to China and has been recorded as the first MERS case in China. Thirty-seven confirmed cases were associated with the index case, who was hospitalized from May 15 to May 17. Emergency room at one of the nation's largest hospitals had been affected by hospital-to-hospital and intra-hospital transmissions of MERS-CoV, resulting in an outbreak of 90 infected patients. The vast majority of 186 confirmed cases are linked to a single transmission chain associated with health facilities. The median age of patients is 55 years, with a range of 16 to 87 years. The majority (61%) of patients are men. Twenty-five (14%) of the cases involve healthcare workers. The overall median incubation period was six days, but it was four days for secondary cases and six days for tertiary cases. There has been no evidence of airborne transmission and sustained human-to-human transmission in communities. Intensified public health measures, including contact tracing, quarantine and isolation of all contacts and suspected cases, and infection prevention and control have brought the MERS-CoV under control in Korea. Since 4 July no new cases have been reported.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.46
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• pp.304.1-304.7
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• 2018

Background: The Republic of Korea has a very low prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, but the number of new HIV diagnoses has steadily risen, strongly indicating a large number of undetected HIV infections. Thus, it is important for Korean public health authorities to adopt and encourage cost-effective HIV detection tools, such as rapid HIV screening tests. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and rapid tests in a public health center (PHC) setting. Methods: We developed a decision analytic model to assess the per-examinee cost and the cost-effectiveness of identifying HIV patients in a PHC setting using two HIV testing strategies: conventional HIV screening by ELISA versus rapid HIV testing. Analysis was performed in two scenarios: HIV testing in an average-risk population and in a high-risk population. Results: Compared to the ELISA, the rapid test was cost-saving and cost-effective. The per-examinee cost was USD 1.61 with rapid testing versus USD 3.38 with ELISA in an average-risk population, and USD 4.77 with rapid testing versus USD 7.62 with ELISA in a high-risk population. The cost of identifying a previously undiagnosed HIV case was USD 26,974 with rapid testing versus USD 42,237 with ELISA in an average-risk population, and USD 153 with rapid testing versus USD 183 with ELISA in a high-risk population. Conclusion: Rapid testing would be more cost-effective than using conventional ELISA testing for identifying previously undiagnosed HIV-infected cases in Korea, a country with extremely low HIV prevalence.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.45.1-45.13
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• 2021

Background: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an infectious disease caused by the peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) that mainly produces respiratory symptoms in affected animals, resulting in great losses in the world's agriculture industry every year. Single-domain variable heavy chain (VHH) antibody fragments, also referred to as nanobodies, have high expression yields and other advantages including ease of purification and high solubility. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to obtain a single-domain antibody with good reactivity and high specificity against PPRV. Methods: A VHH cDNA library was established by immunizing camels with PPRV vaccine, and the capacity and diversity of the library were examined. Four PPRV VHHs were selected, and the biological activity and antigen-binding capacity of the four VHHs were identified by western blot, indirect immunofluorescence, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analyses. ELISA was used to identify whether the four VHHs were specific for PPRV, and VHH neutralization tests were carried out. ELISA and western blot analyses were used to identify which PPRV protein was targeted by VHH2. Results: The PPRV cDNA library was constructed successfully. The library capacity was greater than 2.0 × 10⁶ cfu/mL, and the inserted fragment size was approximately 400 bp to 2000 bp. The average length of the cDNA library fragment was about 1000 bp, and the recombination rate was approximately 100%. Four single-domain antibody sequences were selected, and proteins expressed in the supernatant were obtained. The four VHHs were shown to have biological activity, close affinity to PPRV, and no cross-reaction with common sheep diseases. All four VHHs had neutralization activity, and VHH2 was specific to the PPRV M protein. Conclusions: The results of this preliminary research of PPRV VHHs showed that four screened VHH antibodies could be useful in future applications. This study provided new materials for inclusion in PPRV research.

• Infection and chemotherapy
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.319-327
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• 2018

Background: Lancet-related needlestick injuries (NSIs) occur steadily in clinical practices. Safety-engineered devices (SEDs) can systematically reduce NSIs. However, the use of SEDs is not active and no study to guide the implementation of SEDs was known in South Korea. The lancet-related NSIs may be eliminated to zero incidence using a SED lancet with effective sharp injury protection and reuse prevention features. Materials and Methods: We implemented a SED lancet by replacing a conventional prick lancet in a tertiary hospital in a sequential approach. A spot test of the new SED was conducted for 1 month to check the acceptability in practice and a questionnaire survey was obtained from the healthcare workers (HCWs). A pilot implementation of the SED lancet in 2 wards was made for 1 year. Based on these preliminary interventions, a hospital-wide full implementation of the SED lancet was launched. The incidence of NSIs and cost expenditure before and after the intervention were compared. Results: There were 29 cases of conventional prick lancet-related NSIs for 3 years before the full implementation of SED lancet. The proportion of prick lancet-related NSIs among yearly all kinds of NSIs during two years before the pilot study was average 11.7% (22/188). Pre-interventional baseline incidence of all kinds of NSIs was 7.01 per 100 HCW-years. After the full implementation of SED lancet, the lancet-related NSIs became zero in the 2nd year (P = 0.001). The average direct cost of 18,393 US dollars (USD) per year from device and post-exposure medical care before the intervention rose to 20,701 USD in the 2nd year of the intervention. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was 210 USD per injury avoided. Conclusion: The implementation of a SED lancet could eliminate the lancet-related NSIs to zero incidence. The cost increase incurred by the use of SED lancet was tolerable.

• Journal of Platform Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.22-29
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• 2020

The 4th industrial revolution is progressing by country as a mega trend that leads various technological convergence directions in the social and economic fields from the initial simple manufacturing innovation. The epidemic of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 is shifting digital-centered non-face-to-face business from economic operation, and the use of AI and big data technology for personalized services is essential to spread online. In this paper, we analyze cases focusing on the application of artificial intelligence technology, which is a key technology for the effective implementation of the digital new deal promoted by the government, as well as the major technological characteristics of the 4th industrial revolution and describe the use cases in the field of disaster response. As a disaster response use case, AI assistants suggest appropriate countermeasures according to the status of the reporter in an emergency call. To this end, AI assistants provide speech recognition data-based analysis and disaster classification of converted text for adaptive response.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.1-18
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• 2022

As digital technology converges into the e-commerce market across industries, online transactions have activated, and the use of online has increased. With the recent spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, this market flow is accelerating, and various product information can be provided to customers online. Providing a variety of information provides customers with various opportunities but causes difficulties in decision-making. The recommendation system can help customers to make a decision more effectively. However, the previous research on recommendation systems is limited to only quantitative data and does not reflect detailed factors of products and customers. In this study, we propose an intelligent recommendation system that quantifies the attributes of products and customers by applying text mining techniques to qualitative data based on online reviews and integrates the existing objective indicators of total star rating, sentiment, and emotion. The proposed integrated recommendation model showed superior performance to the overall rating-oriented recommendation model. It expects the new business value to be created through the recommendation result reflecting detailed factors of products and customers.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.468-474
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• 2022

Background: The new type of corona virus has a wide range of symptoms. Some people who have COVID-19 can experience long-term effects from their infection, known as post-COVID conditions. The authors aimed to investigate prolonged musculoskeletal pain as a symptom of the post-COVID-19 condition. Methods: This is a descriptive study on the patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in a university hospital, between March 2020 and March 2021. Patient records and an extensive questionnaire were used to obtain relevant demographic and clinical characteristics, including hospitalization history, comorbidities, smoking history, duration of the pain, the area of pain, and the presence of accompanying neuropathic symptoms. Results: Of the diagnosed patients, 501 agreed to participate in the study. Among the participants, 318 had musculoskeletal pain during COVID-19 infection, and 69 of them reported prolonged pain symptoms as part of their a post-COVID condition which could not be attributed to any other cause. The mean duration of pain was 4.38 ± 1.73 months, and the mean pain level was 7.2 ± 4.3. Neuropathic pain symptoms such as burning sensation (n = 16, 23.2%), numbness (n = 15, 21.7%), tingling (n = 10, 14.5%), stinging (n = 4, 5.8%), freezing (n = 1, 1.4%) were accompanied in patients with prolonged musculoskeletal pain. Conclusions: Patients with COVID-19 may develop prolonged musculoskeletal pain. In some patients, neuropathic pain accompanies it. Awareness of prolonged post-COVID-19 pain is crucial for its early detection and management.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.283-294
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• 2021

This study was a descriptive research study conducted to understand the relationship between the risk perception and preventive behavior of university students for COVID-19 infection, and to identify the factors that influence the preventive behavior. The subjects collected data from 228 university students of S University in Seoul. The collected data were analyzed using pearson's correlation and multiple regression. The results was the risk perception was 2.5 points out of 5, and the preventive behavior was confirmed as 3.1 points out of 4, and the preventive behavior was found to be affected by resilience, risk perception, self-isolation, and media dependence. In order to prevent new infectious diseases and to adapt to and recover from the post-COVID, it was discussed that there is a need to explore ways to strengthen individual resilience by utilizing the pure functions of the media along with disaster education.