Purpose: This study aimed to develop a mobile-based self-management health alarm (MSHA) program for modifying obese children's lifestyle based on the information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model and to test its feasibility. Methods: A methodological study for the development of the MSHA program and pilot study with a one-group pretest-posttest design for feasibility testing was conducted. The MSHA program was designed to provide obesity-related information (I), monitor daily diet and exercise, provide motivational text messages (M), and enhance healthy diet and exercise skills (B) via a mobile-based web platform. In the feasibility test, six obese children participated in the 4-week program, and the number of days per week that they achieved their goals and differences in metabolic components were assessed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Participants successfully achieved their diet and exercise goals≥5 days per week. Body mass index (z=-1.99, p=.046), waist circumference (z=-2.20, p=.028), and triglyceride levels (z=-2.21, p=.027) significantly decreased. Conclusion The MSHA program showed positive effects on health behaviors and metabolic syndrome risk. The program may be effective in improving metabolic syndrome in obese children by promoting self-health management behaviors.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to propose a teaching model to improve the cultural competence care of undergraduate Korean nursing students. METHODS: A literature review was performed from 2000 through 2014 using internet to identify studies that presented nursing curricula and teaching-learning strategies in Korea. We analyzed retrieved Korean seven articles using Campinha-Bacote's ASKED model in combination with reflective experiences of authors observing classrooms in the U.S. RESULTS: Six syllabuses presented information about cultural diversity nursing concepts in Korea. A traditional lecture focused on presenting contents about cultural knowledge by an instructor in the classroom was identified as a commonly used teaching strategy. We found that cultural competency related to cultural desire, awareness, and encounter was lacking. Thus, we developed teaching model based on the Korean nursing education contexts and combined with Campinha-Bacote model to improve cultural competency in nursing. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed teaching model shows promise as a strategy for improving the knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to cultural competent for undergraduate nursing students in Korea. However, evidences that this model improves nursing students' clinical practices reflecting cultural competent care are still lacking. Future research focusing on determining teaching methods and contents in clinical practices will be most effective.
Cultural Competency* ; Cultural Diversity ; Curriculum ; Education, Nursing ; Humans ; Internet ; Korea ; Nursing ; Students, Nursing* ; Teaching ; Transcultural Nursing

BACKGROUND: The present it is getting to be on aged society there is increasing that hospital has higher rate for place of death than home. Because we can expect that many patients who are faced with death come to hospital or hospice in the future, we have studied preferred place of death with an old women in seoul to have essential material of plan to understand asking for medical service of death, to divide medical manpowers and equipments and to supplement and to revise of medical educations. METHODS: Through the internet, 71 schools for the elderly. Of 277 an old woman who attending the schools out of 7 schools. We research into preferred place of death by self answering way through the June to July in 2000. RESULTS: The average age was 72.4 years. Of 277 respondents, 87 respondents(32.46%) reply their homes as a place of death and 166(61.94%) reply hospital, 15(5.6%) reply hospice, missing is 9. Statistical significance has connections with only level of education. The highest reason(47.5%) why respondents choose the hospital or hospice is only to reduce their children's burdens. Unlike respondents that education attending period is below 6 year, the relative risk of choosing the hospital or hospice between respondents who are 6 9year and above 9 year is each of 3.66, 5.58. CONCLUSION: This research shows that an elderly women in seoul prefer hospitals or hospice to homes as their place of death.
Aged* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Education ; Female ; Hospices ; Humans ; Internet ; Seoul*

Purpose: This study examined the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in South Korean children and adolescents by gender and age and analyzed gender-specific factors associated with MetS. Methods: This study used data on children aged 10~18 from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2010 to 2015. Analyses included descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, the x2 test, and univariate logistic regression analysis (p<.050). Results: The prevalence of MetS was 4.8% in boys and 3.4% in girls. The prevalence was higher in girls up to the age of 12, but higher in boys who were 13 or older. Abdominal obesity was frequent in girls, whereas low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and elevated blood pressure were more common in boys. Higher body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL-C, perceived "fat" body shape, and weight loss efforts were associated with MetS in both genders. Increasing age, having one meal per day, and weight maintenance were associated factors unique to boys. Fasting plasma glucose, familial medical history of low HDL-C, and perceived "thin" body shape were associated factors in girls. Conclusion Gender and age differences should be considered in the risk assessment and prevention of MetS.

BACKGROUND: For people who have high risk diseases or who are aged 65 years or more, routine influenza vaccination is required. However, in Korea, influenza vaccination rate of such people is low. We performed a study to assess the effectiveness of physician reminder in improving the rate of recommending influenza vaccination. METHODS: Among the patients who registered to tertiary care hospital family clinic center, 305 patients with diabetes mellitus or aged 65 years or more were randomly assigned into physician reminder group and control group. After excluding the patients who were vaccinated before the medical consultation or who did not attend the clinic, remaining 253 patients were included as final study subjects. For the physician reminder group, a sticker showing that influenza vaccination was needed was placed on each medical record. Demographic and clinical characteristics, recommendation of vaccination by physician, and the receipt of vaccination were checked through self-administered questionnaires, review of medical chart and order communication system, and telephone interview. RESULTS: The rates of recommending vaccination in the physician reminder group and the control group were 36% and 29.7%, respectively. The difference between the two groups was not significant. Vaccination rate in patients for whom influenza vaccination was recommended by their physician was 87.0%, whereas those for whom vaccination was not recommended was only 41.2%. CONCLUSION: Physician reminder for influenza vaccination was not effective in this study. However, the physician's recommendation was effective in improving the influenza vaccination rate. Effective strategies will be needed to encourage physicians to recommend influenza vaccination.
Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Influenza, Human* ; Interviews as Topic ; Korea ; Medical Records* ; Reminder Systems ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Vaccination* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

High mobility group-1 (HMGB-1) enhances the DNA interactions and possesses a transcriptional activation potential for several families of sequence-specific transcriptional activators. In order to examine the effect of HMGB-1 on the cell cycle progression in MCF-7 cells, the HMGB-1 expression vector was transfected into synchronized MCF-7 cells, and the effect of HMGB-1 overexpression on the cell cycle was examined. The HMGB-1 protein level in the transfected cells increased 4.87-fold compared to the non-transfected cells. There were few changes in the cell cycle phase distribution after HMGB-1 overexpression in the MCF-7 cells. Following the estrogen treatment, the cell cycle progressed in both the HMGB-1 overexpressed MCF-7 and the mock-treated cells. However, a larger proportion of HMGB-1 overexpressing MCF-7 cells progressed to the either S or G2 phase than the mock-treated cells. The mRNA levels of the cell cycle regulators changed after being treated with estrogen in both the HMGB-1 overexpressing MCF-7 and the mock-treated cells, but the changes in the expression level of the cell cycle regulator genes were more prominent in the HMGB-1 overexpressing MCF-7 cells than in the mock-treated cells. In conclusion, HMGB-1 overexpression itself does not alter the MCF-7 cell cycle progression, but the addition of estrogen to the HMGB-1 overexpressing MCF-7 cells appears to accelerate the cell cycle progression.
Blotting, Western ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Densitometry ; Estrogens/metabolism ; G2 Phase ; Genetic Vectors ; HMGB1 Protein/*biosynthesis ; Human ; Kinetics ; Oligonucleotides/chemistry ; Plasmids/metabolism ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; S Phase ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Time Factors ; Trans-Activation (Genetics) ; Transfection

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) pose a major threat to public health and security. Given the dynamic nature and significant impact of EIDs, the most effective way to prevent and protect against them is to develop vaccines in advance. Systems biology approaches provide an integrative way to understand the complex immune response to pathogens. They can lead to a greater understanding of EID pathogenesis and facilitate the evaluation of newly developed vaccine-induced immunity in a timely manner. In recent years, advances in high throughput technologies have enabled researchers to successfully apply systems biology methods to analyze immune responses to a variety of pathogens and vaccines. Despite recent advances, computational and biological challenges impede wider application of systems biology approaches. This review highlights recent advances in the fields of systems immunology and vaccinology, and presents ways that systems biology-based platforms can be applied to accelerate a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms of immunity against EIDs.
*Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; Humans ; *Immunity ; Research ; Systems Biology/*methods ; Vaccines/*immunology

OBJECTIVES: Epidemiological evidence of associations between ambient particulate matter (PM) and tuberculosis (TB) risk is accumulating. Two previous studies in Korea found associations between air pollution—especially sulfur dioxide (SO2)—and TB. In this study, we conducted an annual time-series cross-sectional study to assess the effect of PM with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm (PM10) on TB risk in seven major cities of Korea from 2010 to 2016, taking into account time lag and long-term cumulative exposure. METHODS: Age-standardized TB notification rates were derived using the Korea National TB Surveillance System. Annual average PM10 concentrations were obtained from annual Korean air quality reports. We applied a generalized linear mixed model with unconstrained distributed lags of exposure to PM10. We adjusted for potential confounders such as age, health behaviors, and area-level characteristics. RESULTS: Both average annual PM10 concentrations and age-standardized TB notification rates decreased over time. The association between cumulative exposure to PM10 and TB incidence became stronger as a longer exposure duration was considered. An increase of one standard deviation (5.63 μg/m3) in PM10 exposure for six years was associated with a 1.20 (95% confidence interval, 1.17 to 1.22) times higher TB notification rate. The marginal association of exposure duration with the TB notification rate was highest at four and five years prior to TB notification. This association remained consistent even after adjusting it for exposure to SO2. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study suggest that cumulative exposure to PM10 may affect TB risk, with a potential lag effect.

OBJECTIVES: Epidemiological evidence of associations between ambient particulate matter (PM) and tuberculosis (TB) risk is accumulating. Two previous studies in Korea found associations between air pollution—especially sulfur dioxide (SO2)—and TB. In this study, we conducted an annual time-series cross-sectional study to assess the effect of PM with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm (PM10) on TB risk in seven major cities of Korea from 2010 to 2016, taking into account time lag and long-term cumulative exposure. METHODS: Age-standardized TB notification rates were derived using the Korea National TB Surveillance System. Annual average PM10 concentrations were obtained from annual Korean air quality reports. We applied a generalized linear mixed model with unconstrained distributed lags of exposure to PM10. We adjusted for potential confounders such as age, health behaviors, and area-level characteristics. RESULTS: Both average annual PM10 concentrations and age-standardized TB notification rates decreased over time. The association between cumulative exposure to PM10 and TB incidence became stronger as a longer exposure duration was considered. An increase of one standard deviation (5.63 μg/m3) in PM10 exposure for six years was associated with a 1.20 (95% confidence interval, 1.17 to 1.22) times higher TB notification rate. The marginal association of exposure duration with the TB notification rate was highest at four and five years prior to TB notification. This association remained consistent even after adjusting it for exposure to SO2. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study suggest that cumulative exposure to PM10 may affect TB risk, with a potential lag effect.

Objective: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) refers to self-reported memory loss despite normal cognitive function and is considered a preclinical stage of Alzheimer’s disease. This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of depression and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) on the association between the scoring of Clinical Dementia Rating Scale-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) and Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire (SCD-Q). Methods: A sample of 139 community-dwelling older adults aged 65–79 with normal cognitive function completed the SCD-Q, a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, and functional/psychiatric scales. We conducted 1) a correlation analysis between SCD-Q scores and other variables and 2) a path analysis to examine the mediating effects of depression and IADL on the relationship between CDR-SB and SCD-Q. Results: CDR-SB was found to be indirectly associated with SCD-Q, with depressive symptoms mediating this relationship. However, no direct association was observed between SCD-Q and CDR-SB. Additionally, IADL was not associated with SCD-Q and did not mediate the relationship between CDR-SB and SCD-Q. The model fit was acceptable (minimum discrepancy function by degrees of freedom divided [CMIN/DF]=1.585, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]=0.065, comparative fit index [CFI]=0.955, Tucker-Lewis index [TLI]=0.939). Conclusion Our results suggest that SCD-Q is influenced by depressive symptoms, but not by IADL. The role of depressive symptoms as a mediator between CDR-SB and SCD-Q indicates that psychological factors may contribute to the perception of SCD. Therefore, interventions targeting depression may mitigate the concerns associated with SCD and reduce feelings of worse performance compared to others of the same age group.