OBJECTIVES: A citation analysis of biomedical and health sciences journals was conducted based on their enlistment in journal databases to identify the factors contributing to the citation metrics. METHODS: Among the 1,219 academic journals managed by the National Center for Medical Information and Knowledge at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 556 journals were included for analysis as of July 2016. The characteristics of the journals include history years, publication media, language, open-access policy as well as the status enlisted in international and domestic databases, such as Science Citation Index (SCI), Scopus, Medline, PubMed Central, Embase, and Korea Citation Index (KCI). Six bibliometric measures were collected from SCI, Scopus, and KCI as of 2015, the most recent disclosure year. Analyses of group differences and influential factors were conducted using t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests, and multiple regression. RESULTS: Journal characteristics, such as history years, publication media, and open-access policy, were not significant factors influencing global or domestical citation of the journals. However, global citations were higher for SCI and Medline enlisted journals than for their counterparts. Among KCI journals, the KCI impact factors of journals published in English only were lower. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts by journals to be enlisted in international databases, especially in SCI and Medline, are critical to enhance their global circulation. However, articles published in English only hinder the use of domestic researchers. Different strategies are required for enhancing international and domestic readerships.
Access to Information ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Disclosure ; Journal Impact Factor ; Korea* ; Medical Subject Headings ; Publications ; Regression Analysis ; Republic of Korea

OBJECTIVES: Despite the importance of the protection of patients' health information in clinical settings, little is known about the awareness of this concept in nursing students due to the lack of a suitable measurement tool. Hence, this study attempted to redevelop the Patients' Health Information Protection Awareness Scale, and evaluate its construct validity and reliability for nursing students. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. Nursing students who were in their 3rd and 4th year were recruited from 10 universities in Korea to assess the construct validity, and 30 experts (27 nurses and 3 faculty members) participated in the content validation process. RESULTS: The content validity assessment indicated that 23 items were ideal. The assessment of construct validity using exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors: communication, management, and referrals. They together accounted for 54.1% of the variance in scale scores. The three-factor scale had good fit in the confirmatory factor analysis. Scale reliability was confirmed, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.94 for all items. CONCLUSIONS: This study was the first attempt to redevelop the Patients' Health Information Protection Awareness Scale for student nurses. The 23-item scale was shown to be a reliable and valid tool. It facilitates the assessment of nursing students' awareness of patient information protection. Academic nursing programs and health organizations can use its scores to implement adequate education plans to safeguard information in nursing students.
Computer Security* ; Education ; Health Information Management ; Humans ; Korea ; Nursing ; Referral and Consultation ; Reproducibility of Results ; Students, Nursing

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of Diabetes Empowerment Measurement Scale Short Form (DES-SF) for use with diabetic patients in Korea. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was used with 107 participants. Bilingual nursing professionals performed translation and reverse translation. Reliability and validity such as face validity, construct validity, and concurrent validity were conducted. To assess the concurrent validity, the correlation coefficients between the Korean version of the DES-SF and a concurrent scale (Diabetes Self-Efficacy Scale, DSES) were calculated. RESULTS: In the explanatory factor analysis, a uni-dimension was proposed, the one factor accounted for 49.4% of total variances. The Korean version of the DES-SF correlated with a concurrent variable such DSES for reliability of the Korean version of the DES-SF, Cronbach's α=.85. CONCLUSION: The findings show that the Korean version of the DES-SF is reliable and valid for evaluating empowerment in patients with diabetes in Korea.
Humans ; Korea ; Nursing ; Power (Psychology)* ; Reproducibility of Results*

Agaricales species form pileate-stipitate fruiting bodies and play important roles in maintaining the terrestrial ecosystem as decomposers, symbionts, and pathogens. Approximately 23,000 Agaricales species have been known worldwide, and 937 species have been recorded in the Republic of Korea. However, most of them were identified solely based on morphological characteristics that often led to misidentifications. The specimens collected from 2018 to 2020 in the Republic of Korea were identified based on phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. Their identities were confirmed by microscopic characteristics. As a result, 14 Agaricales species were discovered for the first time in the Republic of Korea. They belonged to nine genera: Agaricus, Calocybe, Cortinarius, Hygrocybe, Inocybe, Lepista, Leucoagaricus, Marasmius, and Psathyrella. Detailed macroscopic and microscopic descriptions were provided to help distinguish these species. The morphological and molecular data provided in this study will serve as reliable references for the identification of Agaricales species.

The increasing number of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Korea has prompted interest in using the national surveillance system as a database for studying their health. To investigate the relationships between socio-demographic and epidemiological characteristics and mortality rates, a nationwide retrospective cohort was formed by integrating surveillance data with the Cause of Death Statistics from Statistics Korea. This integration included incidence reports, epidemiological investigations, and death reports from the surveillance data, enriched with detailed mortality information from the Cause of Death data. The cohort comprised 17,199 adult Korean individuals diagnosed with HIV infection from 1985 to 2020. By the end of 2020, 2,721 of these individuals were confirmed deceased. The sex ratio of the study participants was 14.3:1.0 (male to female), with 78.2% being under 50 years old at the time of diagnosis. Sexual contact was identified as the primary transmission route, accounting for 75.7% of cases. HIV disease emerged as the predominant cause of death, representing two-thirds (1,817 of 2,721) of the fatalities, followed by injuries and trauma, malignancies, and cardiovascular diseases. Recommendations for further cohort studies may be submitted to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The increasing number of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Korea has prompted interest in using the national surveillance system as a database for studying their health. To investigate the relationships between socio-demographic and epidemiological characteristics and mortality rates, a nationwide retrospective cohort was formed by integrating surveillance data with the Cause of Death Statistics from Statistics Korea. This integration included incidence reports, epidemiological investigations, and death reports from the surveillance data, enriched with detailed mortality information from the Cause of Death data. The cohort comprised 17,199 adult Korean individuals diagnosed with HIV infection from 1985 to 2020. By the end of 2020, 2,721 of these individuals were confirmed deceased. The sex ratio of the study participants was 14.3:1.0 (male to female), with 78.2% being under 50 years old at the time of diagnosis. Sexual contact was identified as the primary transmission route, accounting for 75.7% of cases. HIV disease emerged as the predominant cause of death, representing two-thirds (1,817 of 2,721) of the fatalities, followed by injuries and trauma, malignancies, and cardiovascular diseases. Recommendations for further cohort studies may be submitted to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The increasing number of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Korea has prompted interest in using the national surveillance system as a database for studying their health. To investigate the relationships between socio-demographic and epidemiological characteristics and mortality rates, a nationwide retrospective cohort was formed by integrating surveillance data with the Cause of Death Statistics from Statistics Korea. This integration included incidence reports, epidemiological investigations, and death reports from the surveillance data, enriched with detailed mortality information from the Cause of Death data. The cohort comprised 17,199 adult Korean individuals diagnosed with HIV infection from 1985 to 2020. By the end of 2020, 2,721 of these individuals were confirmed deceased. The sex ratio of the study participants was 14.3:1.0 (male to female), with 78.2% being under 50 years old at the time of diagnosis. Sexual contact was identified as the primary transmission route, accounting for 75.7% of cases. HIV disease emerged as the predominant cause of death, representing two-thirds (1,817 of 2,721) of the fatalities, followed by injuries and trauma, malignancies, and cardiovascular diseases. Recommendations for further cohort studies may be submitted to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The increasing number of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Korea has prompted interest in using the national surveillance system as a database for studying their health. To investigate the relationships between socio-demographic and epidemiological characteristics and mortality rates, a nationwide retrospective cohort was formed by integrating surveillance data with the Cause of Death Statistics from Statistics Korea. This integration included incidence reports, epidemiological investigations, and death reports from the surveillance data, enriched with detailed mortality information from the Cause of Death data. The cohort comprised 17,199 adult Korean individuals diagnosed with HIV infection from 1985 to 2020. By the end of 2020, 2,721 of these individuals were confirmed deceased. The sex ratio of the study participants was 14.3:1.0 (male to female), with 78.2% being under 50 years old at the time of diagnosis. Sexual contact was identified as the primary transmission route, accounting for 75.7% of cases. HIV disease emerged as the predominant cause of death, representing two-thirds (1,817 of 2,721) of the fatalities, followed by injuries and trauma, malignancies, and cardiovascular diseases. Recommendations for further cohort studies may be submitted to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Species of Laccaria (Hydnangiaceae, Agaricales, and Basidiomycota) are well-known ectomycorrhizal symbionts of a broad range of hosts.Laccaria species are characterized by brown, orange, or purple colored basidiocarps, and globose or oblong, echinulate and multinucleate basidiospores. While some Laccaria species are easily identified at the species level using only the morphological characteristics, others are hard to distinguish at the species level due to small differences in morphology. Heretofore, tenLaccaria species have been reported in Korea. While studying the fungal diversity in the National Parks of Korea, two new Laccaria species were discovered. Species identification was done based on molecular analyses (ITS, 28S rDNA, rpb2, and tef1 ), then were confirmed by their corresponding morphologies. The two newly discovered Laccaria species are proposed here as Laccaria macrobasidia and Laccaria griseolilacina. The unique morphological characters of L. macrobasidia that distinguish it from its closely related species are orange-brown colored basidiocarp, long basidia and the absence of cheilocystidia. L. griseolilacina is characterized by a light grayish lavender-colored pileus and the absence of cheilocystidia. Two new species are described and illustrated in the present paper.

The genus Laccaria (Hydnangiaceae, Agaricales) plays an important role in forest ecosystems as an ectomycorrhizal fungus, contributing to nutrient cycles through symbiosis with many types of trees. Though understanding Laccaria diversity and distribution patterns, as well as its association with host plants, is fundamental to constructing a balanced plant diversity and conducting effective forest management, previous studies have not been effective in accurately investigating, as they relied heavily on specimen collection alone. To investigate the true diversity and distribution pattern of Laccaria species and determine their host types, we used four different approaches: specimen-based analysis, open database search (ODS), NGS analysis, and species-specific PCR (SSP). As a result, 14 Laccaria species have been confirmed in Korea. Results regarding the species distribution pattern were different between specimen-based analysis and SSP. However, when both were integrated, the exact distribution pattern of each Laccaria species was determined. In addition, the SSP revealed that many Laccaria species have a wide range of host types. This study shows that using these four different approaches is useful in determining the diversity, distribution, and host of ECM fungi. Furthermore, results obtained for Laccaria will serve as a baseline to help understand the role of ECM fungi in forest management in response to climate change.