Recently, regenerative medicine utilizing tissue manufacturing has been a creative topic of study, offering promise for resolving the gap between insufficient organ supply and transplantation needs. Moreover, 3D generation of functional organs is seen as the main hope to resolve these issues that will be a major advancement in the field over the next generation. Organ printing is the 3D construction of functional cellular tissue that can replace organs made by additive biofabrication with computational technology. Its advantages offer rapid prototyping (RP) methods for fabricating cells and adjunctive biomaterials layer by layer for manufacturing 3D tissue structures. There is growing interest in applying stem cell research to bio-printing. Recently several bio-printing methods have been developed that accumulate organized 3D structures of living cells by inkjet, extrusion, and laser based printing systems. By printing spatially organized gradients of biomolecules as an extracellular matrix, direct stem cell seeding can then be engineered to differentiate into different lineages forming multiple subpopulations that closely approximate the desired organ. Pliable implementation patches can Stem cells for tissue regeneration can be arranged or deposited onto pliable implementation patches with the purpose of generating functional tissue structures. In this review, current research and advancement of RP-based bio-printing methods to construct synthetic living organs will be discussed. Furthermore, recent accomplishments in bioprinting methods for stem cell study and upcoming endeavors relevant to tissue bioengineering, regenerative medicine and wound healing will be examined.
Biocompatible Materials ; Bioengineering ; Bioprinting ; Extracellular Matrix ; Hope ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Organ Transplantation* ; Regeneration ; Regenerative Medicine ; Stem Cell Research ; Stem Cells ; Tissue Engineering ; Transplants* ; Wound Healing

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the usefulness of International Classification of Functioning, disability and health core set for children and youths with cerebral palsy (ICF-core set for CP) by comparing the Gross Motor Function Measure-88 (GMFM-88), which is the most widely used outcome measure in children with cerebral palsy (ICF-core set for CP). METHODS: One subject (Female, 14) was evaluated by GMFM-88 and ICF-core set for CP. In addition, the concept of GMFM-88 was compared with the concept of the ICF-core set for CP in compliance with ICF linking rules. The numerical values both of the GMFM-88 categories and the ICF-core set for CP's items were compared. RESULTS: The ICF b760 was linked to the GMFM-88 59~61. d415 was linked to 57~58 of GMFM-88. d450 was linked to GMFM-88's 65~72. d455 was linked to GMFM-88 at 77and 80~83. CONCLUSION: The association of the ICF-core set for CP and GMFM-88 was confirmed. In addition, the number of categories of ICF-core set for CP was smaller than the number of items of GMFM-88. In conclusion, the ICF-core set for CP is an evaluation tool that can identify the various features of children. In addition, GMFM-88 was linked to the ICF core set for CP according to the ICF linking rules.
Adolescent ; Cerebral Palsy ; Child ; Compliance ; Humans ; International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care)

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to explore the association between shift work and the bone mineral density in a representative sample of Korean workers. METHODS: He data from the Fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008-2009) was used. The participants were Korean workers aged 16 to 60 years. Logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the association between shift work and the bone mineral density after controlling for covariates using the SAS version 9.3 package program. RESULTS: The blood vitamin D level in shift workers was significantly lower than that of day workers in both males and females. In male shift workers, shift work was significantly associated with a decreased bone mineral density in the femoral neck (odds ratio(OR) 1.42, 95% confidence interval(CI)=1.05~1.92) and lumbar spine (OR 1.53, 95% CI=1.09~2.15) compared to day workers. After controlling for covariates, this association was still significant. In the case of female shift workers, shift work was significantly related to a decreased bone mineral density in the total femur (OR 2.84, 95% CI=1.69~4.79) and lumbar spine (OR 1.58, 95% CI=1.12~2.24). After controlling for covariates, this risk was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The blood vitamin D level of shift workers was significantly lower than that of day workers. In male shift workers, shift work can decrease the bone mineral density in the femoral neck and lumbar spine. Prospective studies with information on the shift work intensity and duration and exposuredata to explain mechanisms will be needed.
Aged ; Bone Density ; Female ; Femur ; Femur Neck ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Nutrition Surveys ; Phenothiazines ; Spine ; Vitamin D ; Work Schedule Tolerance

BACKGROUND: The current state of general hospital operation room (OR) in Korea and how these ORs are being operated remain unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate and assess the current state of OR management and surgical scheduling in general hospitals of Korea. METHODS: A total of 92 anesthesiology training hospitals and 2 equivalent hospitals in Korea were targeted for the survey. Anesthesiologists in hospitals received questionnaires for OR, anesthetic managements and surgical scheduling directly or by phone from the beginning of October 2015 to the end of December 2015. RESULTS: Of the 94 hospitals that were targeted, 59 hospitals (62.7%) responded to the survey. Of the 59 hospitals, 40 (67.8%) had 500–1,000 beds, 36 (61.0%) had 11–20 ORs. Most OR arrangements were made by residents and specialists in Anesthesiology Department (90%). Most hospitals (47.4%) in the response set performed total surgeries in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 annually. The proportion of emergency surgeries in the total surgeries was 2.8–55.0%. Methods for predicting expected surgery time were arbitrarily decided by surgeons (61%), anesthesiologist's experience (20%), or by analyzing historical data using software (5%). CONCLUSIONS: This survey study could trigger active operational researches for OR efficiency. It might help hospital policy makers manage OR resources more efficiently.
Administrative Personnel ; Anesthesiology ; Emergencies ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Korea* ; Operating Rooms ; Specialization ; Surgeons ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to determine the number of hours worked per week by full-time wage workers by using the data of the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS), which represents the domestic urban area household, and to determine the association between weekly working hours and the level of self-rated health. METHODS: We used data from the 11th KLIPS conducted in 2008. The subjects of this study were 3,699 full-time wage workers between the ages of 25 and 64 years. The association between weekly working hours and self-rated health was analyzed considering socio-demographic characteristics, work environment, and health-related behaviors. RESULTS: Among the workers, 29.7% worked less than 40 hours per week; 39.7%, more than 40 to 52 hours; 19.7%, more than 52 to 60 hours; and 10.9%, more than 60 hours per week. After controlling for socio-demographic variables, work environment-related variables, and health-related behavior variables, the odds ratio (OR) for poor self-rated health for the group working more than 40 hours and up to 52 hours was calculated to be 1.06 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.89-1.27) when the group working less than 40 hours per week was considered the reference. The OR for the group working more than 60 hours was 1.42 (95% CI, 1.10-1.83) and that for the group working more than 52 hours and up to 60 hours was 1.07 (95% CI, 0.86-1.33). After stratification by gender and tenure, the OR of the female workers group and that of the group with a tenure of more than 1 year were found to be significantly higher than those of the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that workers working more than 60 hours per week have a significantly higher risk of poor self-rated health than workers working less than 40 hours per week. This effect was more obvious for the female workers group and the group with a tenure of more than 1 year. In the future, longitudinal studies may be needed to determine the association between long working hours and various health effects in Korean workers.
Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Odds Ratio ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits

Purpose: The aims of the study were to develop and evaluate a machine learning model with which to predict postnatal growth failure (PGF) among very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Materials and Methods: Of 10425 VLBW infants registered in the Korean Neonatal Network between 2013 and 2017, 7954 infants were included. PGF was defined as a decrease in Z score >1.28 at discharge, compared to that at birth. Six metrics [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, and F1 score] were obtained at five time points (at birth, 7 days, 14 days, 28 days after birth, and at discharge). Machine learning models were built using four different techniques [extreme gradient boosting (XGB), random forest, support vector machine, and convolutional neural network] to compare against the conventional multiple logistic regression (MLR) model. Results: The XGB algorithm showed the best performance with all six metrics across the board. When compared with MLR, XGB showed a significantly higher AUROC (p=0.03) for Day 7, which was the primary performance metric. Using optimal cut-off points, for Day 7, XGB still showed better performances in terms of AUROC (0.74), accuracy (0.68), and F1 score (0.67). AUROC values seemed to increase slightly from birth to 7 days after birth with significance, almost reaching a plateau after 7 days after birth. Conclusion We have shown the possibility of predicting PGF through machine learning algorithms, especially XGB. Such models may help neonatologists in the early diagnosis of high-risk infants for PGF for early intervention.