Inflammasome is a cytosolic multiprotein complex to activate caspase-1 leading to the subsequent processing of inactive pro-interleukin-1-beta (Pro-IL-1beta) into its active interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) in response to pathogen- or danger-associated molecular pattern. In recent years, a huge progress has been made to identify inflammasome component as a molecular platform to recruit and activate caspase-1. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor (NLR) family proteins such as NLRP1, NLRP3 or interleukin-1beta-converting enzyme (ICE)-protease activating factor (IPAF) have been first characterized to form inflammasome complex to induce caspase-1 activation. More recently, non-NLR type, pyrin-domain (PYD)-containing proteins such as pyrin or absent in melanoma2 (AIM2) were also proposed to form caspase-1-activating inflammasome machinery with apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), an essential adaptor molecule. Inflammasome pathways were shown to be crucial for protecting host organisms against diverse pathogen infections, but accumulating evidences also suggest that excessive activation of inflammasome/caspase-1 might be related to the pathogenesis of inflammation-related diseases. Indeed, mutations in NLRP3 or pyrin are closely associated with autoinflammatory diseases such as familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) syndrome or Muckle-Wells syndrome (MWS), indicating that the regulation of caspase-1 activity by inflammasome is a central process in these hereditary inflammatory disorders. Here, recent advances on the molecular mechanism of caspase-1 activation by PYD-containing inflammasomes are summarized and discussed.
Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; Cytosol ; Familial Mediterranean Fever ; Humans ; Immunity, Innate ; Inflammasomes ; Interleukin-1beta ; Proteins

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand nursing education in the early years of the Japanese colonial rule. Methods: We compared the 1918 Textbook on Nursing with the first Textbook on Nursing and to the original text, Grade A Textbook on Nursing, by the Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) using the historical research method. The background of its publication and its use in nursing education were exploring, too. Results: After Korea’s annexation by Japan, the nursing textbook by the JRCS was appointed as the standard textbook in nursing education by the Government-General in Korea (GGK). Missionary nurse got the permission for the nursing textbook by JRCS and the Textbook on Nursing was published in 1918 using Korean and Chinese characters in combination. This book, an adaptation of the original text, explained the responsibilities and roles of nurses to guide them in serving patients as well as assisting in treatment or directly performing emergency medical treatment when necessary, with a focus on the treatment of the war wounded. It would have been partially used in actual nursing education among the missionary community. Conclusion Textbook on Nursing in 1918 was published not only for the nursing students of missionary nursing schools but also for other nursing trainees of diverse hospitals, nurses and missionary volunteers and to help them to acquire the licenses. It reflects the enforcement on nursing education by GGK and the reality and resistance in terms of the content of education of nursing in Korea during that period.

PURPOSE: To develop and test the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Moral Distress Scale-Revised (KMDS-R) to assess its applicability to Korean hospital nurses. METHODS: The KMDS-R was articulated through forward-backward translation methods. Internal consistency reliability, construct and criterion validity was calculated using SPSSWIN(19.0). Survey data were collected from 188 nurses from a university hospital in Gangwon-do, South Korea. RESULTS: The KMDS-R showed reliable internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha of .69-.87 and a Guttman Split-half of .69-.82 for the total scale. Factor loading of the 21 items on the five subscales ranged from .41-.80. The KMDS-R was validated by factor analysis and explained 63% of moral distress for Korean hospital nurses. Criterion validity compared to Yoo's MDS showed significant correlation. CONCLUSION: The results suggest promising evidence of the KMDS-R's reliability and validity. It is used to measure moral distress for Korean hospital nurses.
Gangwon-do ; Korea ; Reproducibility of Results*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between moral distress, physical symptoms, and burnout among clinical nurses. METHODS: Data were collected by self-report questionnaires targeting 140 nurses from a university hospital in Chungju. The data were analyzed by, Kruskal-Wallis, Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: Moral distress due to the general characteristics of the participants showed a statistically significant difference at the current working department (χ2=36.01, p<.001). Hospital nurses' moral distress had a statistically significant correlation with burnout (r=.358, p<.001) and physical symptoms (r=.440, p<.001). Factors influencing hospital nurses' burnout, pro were physical symptoms, moral distress, and marital status, accounting for 36% of the variance. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that moral distress and physical symptoms influence burnout among hospital nurses. Therefore, interventions for burnout among hospital nurses should include an empowerment program to reduce physical symptoms and moral distress.
Burnout, Professional ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Marital Status ; Power (Psychology)

Purpose: This study aimed to describe nurses’ perceived needs and barriers to pediatric palliative care (PPC). Methods: Mixed methods with an embedded design were applied. An online survey was conducted for nurses who participated in the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium- Pediatric Palliative Care (ELNEC-PPC) train-the-trainer program, of whom 63 responded. Quantitative data were collected with a survey questionnaire developed through the Delphi method. The 47 items for needs and 15 items for barriers to PPC were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were collected through openended questions and analyzed with topic modeling techniques. Results: The mean scores of most subdomains of the PPC needs were 3.5 or higher out of 4, and those of PPC barriers ranged from 3.22 to 3.56, indicating the items in the questionnaire developed in this study properly reflect each factor. The needs for PPC were divided into 4 categories: “children and adolescents,” “families,” “PPC management system,” and “community-based PPC.” Meanwhile, PPC barriers were divided into 3 categories: “healthcare delivery system,” “healthcare provider,” and “client.” The keywords derived from the topic modeling were perception, palliative, children, and education for necessities and lack, perception, medical care, professional care providers, service, and system for barriers to PPC. Conclusion In this study, by using mixed-methods, items of nurses’ perceived needs and barriers to PPC were identified, categorized, and weighted, and their meanings were explored. For the stable establishment of PPC, the priority should be given to improving perceptions of PPC, establishing an appropriate system, and training professional care providers.

Innate immune cells sense and respond to the cytoplasmic infection of bacterial pathogens through NLRP3, NLRC4 or AIM2 inflammasome depending on the unique molecular pattern of invading pathogens. The infection of flagellin- or type III secretion system (T3SS)-containing Gram-negative bacteria such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) or Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) triggers NLRC4-dependent caspase-1 activation leading to the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1-beta (IL-1beta) and IL-18. Previous studies have shown that apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) is also required for Salmonella-induced caspase-1 activation, but it is still unclear how ASC contributes to the activation of NLRC4 inflammasome in response to S. typhimurium infection. In this study, we demonstrate that S. typhimurium triggers the formation of ASC oligomer in a potassium depletion-independent manner as determined by in vitro crosslinking and in situ fluorescence imaging. Remarkably, inhibition of potassium efflux failed to block Salmonella-promoted caspase-1 activation and macrophage cell death. These results collectively suggest that ASC is substantially oligomerized to facilitate the activation of caspase-1 in response to S. typhimurium infection. Contrary to NLRP3 inflammasome, intracellular potassium depletion is not critical for NLRC4 inflammasome signaling by S. typhimurium.
Cell Death ; Cytokines ; Cytoplasm ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; Interleukin-18 ; Macrophages ; Optical Imaging ; Potassium ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Salmonella ; Salmonella enterica

The purpose of this study was to compare student's satisfaction with school food service environment to improve the quality of middle school meal service. A survey was conducted of 680 students (boys 246, girls 433) from 6 middle schools providing school meals from October to November 2007. The questionnaires were directly distributed to the subjects for comparison of satisfaction of school meals depending on the eating place. As for the quantity of food, classroom group (3.40) expressed significantly higher satisfaction than cafeteria group (3.16, P < 0.01), but as for the satisfaction on hygiene, classroom group (2.76) showed significantly lower satisfaction than cafeteria group (3.03, P < 0.01). About the satisfaction of school meal environment, classroom group showed more satisfaction on distribution time, eating place, eating atmosphere (P < 0.001). The classroom group showed higher satisfaction than cafeteria group in cases of quantity, diversity of types of soup, dessert, and the cost of school meal. To improve eating place and hygiene of school meal, sufficient cafeteria space and pleasant environment is needed to be established.
Atmosphere ; Eating ; Food Services ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Hypogonadism ; Meals ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Children's food behaviors have been expressed in a various ways because of recent changes in their family environment. Thus, this study was performed to investigate in-depth qualitative research on the mother's perception on children's food behaviors by focused group interview. This study was designed in four steps of planning, collection of participants, process, and analysis. Participants for the focus group interview were recruited and sampled from households with elementary school students in the Seoul and Gyeonggido areas. Groups were divided by total income and education expense levels. 1) High income household: It is better to improve currently existing web sites for nutrition education. 2) Mid income household: Easy, practical, and inexpensive off-line cooking class/nutrition education classes for mothers are needed. Nutrition programs for children should be developed through mass media and be promoted in the broadcasting circle. 3) Low income household: Motivation is required for mothers' education and the serious nutritional problems of children should be informed through mass media and home correspondence from school. And interesting educational materials should be developed for children to read whenever they want.
Child ; Cooking ; Family Characteristics ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Mass Media ; Mothers ; Motivation ; Qualitative Research

Purpose: This study aims to explore the trend of nursing education and major research themes in the Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education (JKASNE) over 30 years. Methods: A total of 1,026 articles, published in the JKASNE from 1995 to 2023, were analyzed using the Microsoft Excel program for descriptive statistics and NetMiner for a word cloud of Korean keywords. Results: Most research subjects were healthy people (n=841). Education-related research topics (n=619) were categorized into nine domains: educational methods, educational curriculum, study type and methods, knowledge level and contents, psychosocial variables related to knowledge and education, attitude, behavior, development and evaluation of educational programs, and effects of educational programs. Quantitative (n=835) and descriptive studies (n=497) were determined to be the most common research designs. Self-reported questionnaires were the most common method used in surveys (n=581) and experimental studies (n=153). Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and other statistical techniques were used. The keywords in the JKASNE reflected various aspects of nursing research. General terms related to nursing education, such as "nursing students," "nurses," and "nursing education," appeared with high frequency, while more specific terms and phrases reflecting educational competencies and characteristics, such as "self-efficacy," "clinical performance ability," and "communication knowledge," were also prominently featured. Conclusion The JKASNE has published mainly education-focused papers. Analyzing the full set of papers published in JKASNE and examining their characteristics is very meaningful and helpful for the future development of Korean nursing education.

Purpose: This study aims to explore the trend of nursing education and major research themes in the Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education (JKASNE) over 30 years. Methods: A total of 1,026 articles, published in the JKASNE from 1995 to 2023, were analyzed using the Microsoft Excel program for descriptive statistics and NetMiner for a word cloud of Korean keywords. Results: Most research subjects were healthy people (n=841). Education-related research topics (n=619) were categorized into nine domains: educational methods, educational curriculum, study type and methods, knowledge level and contents, psychosocial variables related to knowledge and education, attitude, behavior, development and evaluation of educational programs, and effects of educational programs. Quantitative (n=835) and descriptive studies (n=497) were determined to be the most common research designs. Self-reported questionnaires were the most common method used in surveys (n=581) and experimental studies (n=153). Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and other statistical techniques were used. The keywords in the JKASNE reflected various aspects of nursing research. General terms related to nursing education, such as "nursing students," "nurses," and "nursing education," appeared with high frequency, while more specific terms and phrases reflecting educational competencies and characteristics, such as "self-efficacy," "clinical performance ability," and "communication knowledge," were also prominently featured. Conclusion The JKASNE has published mainly education-focused papers. Analyzing the full set of papers published in JKASNE and examining their characteristics is very meaningful and helpful for the future development of Korean nursing education.