The aims of this study were to estimate the level of job satisfaction and customer-oriented service performance in university food service employees Two hundreds-six food service employees working in Seoul were enrolled and the response rate was 85.8%. Of respondents, 85.9% was female and most of the respondents were 40 years up (70.8%). Generally, respondents had approximately 5 years job experience and high school level. Mean score of job satisfaction was 3.23 score out of 5.00. The highest and lowest items on job satisfaction were responsibility and commitment(4.00). and promotions opportunity(2.69), respectively. Considering job satisfaction; relationships of supervisors, employment and career were significantly different in age(P<0.05), job-system and wage(P<0.05), respectively. Mean score of customer-oriented service performance was 3.75. The highest and lowest items on customer-oriented service performance were delivering on time(4.02) and service information for customers(3.21), respectively. Customer-oriented service performance was significantly different in age and wage(P<0.05). Job satisfaction had positive correlation to customer-oriented service performance. Relationship of supervisors was positively correlated with relationship of coworkers and career.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Employment ; Female ; Food Services ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction* ; Seoul

A functional ability and adequate nutritional status are the major determinants of health status. Self-rated health (SRH) is a worldwide method to assess health status and it is recognized as a predictor of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. This study was designed to evaluate the functional ability and nutritional risk according to SRH in the elderly. Four hundred nine free-living elderly people (118 male, 291 female), aged > or = 65 years were interviewed by trained interviewers using structured questionnaires including demographic information, SRH, anthropometric measurements, functional ability, general health status, and nutritional risk. SRH was divided into three status such as "Good", "Moderate" and "Poor" status. And all the data were analyzed by oneway ANOVA , spearman correlation, and x(2) analysis using SPSS 9.0 version at p < 0.05. Of all the subjects, 48.9% perceived their health status as "poor", and their functional abilities (activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living) were more impaired than their counterparts' ("good" and "moderate"). Poor self-rated health was also related to: a higher prevalence of illnesses (p < 0.001) especially in hypertension, arthritis. Self-rated health was significantly related to food security (p < 0.001), food enjoyment (p < 0.001),and nutritional knowledge (p = 0.013). Also NSI checklist total score was the highest in "poor" health status (p < 0.001). Better self-rated health was related to better food security, and better food enjoyment. However, smoking, alcoholic intake, exercise, eating behaviors, and demographic characteristics were not significantly different among the three SRH status. SRH was closely related to chronic diseases, functional ability, and nutritional risk in the elderly. Therefore, public health strategies for the elderly should be focused on the elderly who are "poor" in SRH, to improve nutritional status and functional ability, and to reduce risk factors of chronic diseases.
Aged* ; Alcoholics ; Arthritis ; Checklist ; Chronic Disease ; Feeding Behavior ; Food Supply ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Mortality ; Nutritional Status ; Prevalence ; Public Health ; Risk Factors ; Seoul* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Purpose: This study aimed to explore turnover rates for Korean acute care hospital nurses and identify factors influencing their turnover. Methods: The study was retrospective in nature. Nurse cohort data were obtained from hospital status data from Korea's Health Insurance Review Assessment Service. The observation period was from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2016, and data for 96,158 nurses were analyzed. Independent variables included nurses' age and sex and hospital setting, type, ownership, and nurse staffing level. KaplaneMeier analysis was performed to estimate survival curves, and factors influencing turnover were analyzed using Cox's proportional hazard regression. Results: The cumulative turnover probability for all nurses was .17, .29, .38, .45, and .50 for the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth years, respectively. The results showed that the longer the career duration, the lower the turnover rates. According to the factors influencing nurse turnover, both nurses' (i.e., sex and career duration) and hospitals' (i.e., hospital setting, type, ownership, and nurse staffing level) characteristics were statistically significant. Conclusion It should be noted that the turnover rate of nurses with less than three year of career duration and of those with less than one year has been shown to be quite high. Therefore, target populations for acute care hospital nurse turnover should be expanded from new graduate nurses to experienced nurses with less than 3 years of career. Further studies are required to examine the causes of high turnover rates in hospitals that are small and/or have low nurse staffing levels.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore turnover rates for Korean acute care hospital nurses and identify factors influencing their turnover. Methods: The study was retrospective in nature. Nurse cohort data were obtained from hospital status data from Korea's Health Insurance Review Assessment Service. The observation period was from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2016, and data for 96,158 nurses were analyzed. Independent variables included nurses' age and sex and hospital setting, type, ownership, and nurse staffing level. KaplaneMeier analysis was performed to estimate survival curves, and factors influencing turnover were analyzed using Cox's proportional hazard regression. Results: The cumulative turnover probability for all nurses was .17, .29, .38, .45, and .50 for the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth years, respectively. The results showed that the longer the career duration, the lower the turnover rates. According to the factors influencing nurse turnover, both nurses' (i.e., sex and career duration) and hospitals' (i.e., hospital setting, type, ownership, and nurse staffing level) characteristics were statistically significant. Conclusion It should be noted that the turnover rate of nurses with less than three year of career duration and of those with less than one year has been shown to be quite high. Therefore, target populations for acute care hospital nurse turnover should be expanded from new graduate nurses to experienced nurses with less than 3 years of career. Further studies are required to examine the causes of high turnover rates in hospitals that are small and/or have low nurse staffing levels.

Characterizing the time course of baseline or pre-drug blood pressure is important in acquiring unbiased estimates of antihypertensive drug effect. In this study, we recruited 23 healthy male volunteers and measured systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) over 24 hours on an hourly basis. Using a non-linear mixed effects model, circadian rhythm observed in blood pressure measurements was described by incorporating two cosine functions with periods 24 and 12 hours. A mixture model was applied to identify subgroups exhibiting qualitatively different circadian rhythms. Our results suggested that 78% of the study population, defined as ‘dippers’, demonstrated a typical circadian profile with a morning rise and a nocturnal dip. The remaining 22% of the subjects defined as ‘non-dippers’, however, were not adequately described using the typical profile and demonstrated an elevation of blood pressure during night-time. Covariate search identified weight as being positively correlated with mesor of SBP. Visual predictive checks using 1,000 simulated datasets were performed for model validation. Observations were in agreement with predicted values in ‘dippers’, but deviated slightly in ‘non-dippers’. Our work is expected to serve as a useful reference in assessing systematic intra-day blood pressure fluctuations and antihypertensive effects as well as assessing drug safety of incrementally modified drugs.
Blood Pressure ; Circadian Rhythm ; Dataset ; Humans ; Male ; Volunteers

BRAF inhibitors (e.g., vemurafenib) are widely used to treat metastatic melanoma with the BRAF V600E mutation. The initial response is often dramatic, but treatment resistance leads to disease progression in the majority of cases. Although secondary mutations in the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway are known to be responsible for this phenomenon, the molecular mechanisms governing acquired resistance are not known in more than half of patients. Here we report a genome- and transcriptome-wide study investigating the molecular mechanisms of acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors. A microfluidic chip with a concentration gradient of vemurafenib was utilized to rapidly obtain therapy-resistant clones from two melanoma cell lines with the BRAF V600E mutation (A375 and SK-MEL-28). Exome and transcriptome data were produced from 13 resistant clones and analyzed to identify secondary mutations and gene expression changes. Various mechanisms, including phenotype switching and metabolic reprogramming, have been determined to contribute to resistance development differently for each clone. The roles of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor, the master transcription factor in melanocyte differentiation/dedifferentiation, were highlighted in terms of phenotype switching. Our study provides an omics-based comprehensive overview of the molecular mechanisms governing acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitor therapy.

BRAF inhibitors (e.g., vemurafenib) are widely used to treat metastatic melanoma with the BRAF V600E mutation. The initial response is often dramatic, but treatment resistance leads to disease progression in the majority of cases. Although secondary mutations in the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway are known to be responsible for this phenomenon, the molecular mechanisms governing acquired resistance are not known in more than half of patients. Here we report a genome- and transcriptome-wide study investigating the molecular mechanisms of acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors. A microfluidic chip with a concentration gradient of vemurafenib was utilized to rapidly obtain therapy-resistant clones from two melanoma cell lines with the BRAF V600E mutation (A375 and SK-MEL-28). Exome and transcriptome data were produced from 13 resistant clones and analyzed to identify secondary mutations and gene expression changes. Various mechanisms, including phenotype switching and metabolic reprogramming, have been determined to contribute to resistance development differently for each clone. The roles of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor, the master transcription factor in melanocyte differentiation/dedifferentiation, were highlighted in terms of phenotype switching. Our study provides an omics-based comprehensive overview of the molecular mechanisms governing acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitor therapy.

The Korean government’s strategy to combat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has focused on non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as social distancing and wearing masks, along with testing, tracing, and treatment; overall, its performance has been relatively good compared to that of many other countries heavily affected by COVID-19. However, little attention has been paid to health equity in measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aimed to examine the unequal impacts of COVID-19 across socioeconomic groups and to suggest potential solutions to tackle these inequalities. The pathways linking social determinants and health could be entry points to tackle the unequal consequences of this public health emergency. It is crucial for infectious disease policy to consider social determinants of health including poor housing, precarious working conditions, disrupted healthcare services, and suspension of social services. Moreover, the high levels of uncertainty and complexity inherent in this public health emergency, as well as the health and socioeconomic inequalities caused by the pandemic, underscore the need for good governance other than top-down measures by the government. We emphasize that a people-centered perspective is a key approach during the pandemic era. Mutual trust between the state and civil society, strong accountability of the government, and civic participation are essential components of cooperative disaster governance.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the current public participation in-local health policy and its implications through the analysis of policy networks in health center programs. METHODS: We examined the decision-making process in sub-health center installations and the implementation process in metabolic syndrome management program cases in two districts ('gu's) of Seoul. Participants of the policy network were selected by the snowballing method and completed self-administered questionnaires. Actors, the interactions among actors, and the characteristics of the network were analyzed by Netminer. RESULTS: The results showed that the public is not yet actively participating in the local public health policy processes of decision-making and implementation. In the decision-making process, most of the network actors were in the public sector, while the private sector was a minor actor and participated in only a limited number of issues after the major decisions were made. In the implementation process, the program was led by the health center, while other actors participated passively. CONCLUSIONS: Public participation in Korean public health policy is not yet well activated. Preliminary discussions with various stakeholders, including civil society, are needed before making important local public health policy decisions. In addition, efforts to include local institutions and residents in the implementation process with the public officials are necessary to improve the situation.
Community Networks ; *Consumer Participation ; Decision Making ; *Health Policy ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Metabolic Syndrome X/prevention & control ; Program Development ; Questionnaires

In generic drug development, comparative pharmacokinetic (PK) studies are conducted to assess equivalence in pharmacokinetics and safety profiles between test and reference formulations. However, there is no established quantitative approach available for safety assessment. This study aimed to propose a method for drug safety evaluation in generic drug development, as assessed by drug influence on blood pressure and heart rate change. Data were taken from a randomized, open label, 2-way cross-over comparative PK study for megestrol conducted in 39 healthy male volunteers. Vital signs of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured at 0 (pre-dose), 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours after the dose. Safety parameters used in the analysis were area under vital sign change versus time curve to the last measured time (AUVlast) and maximum vital sign change (Vmax). Considering highly variable nature of vital signs, the scaled bioequivalence approach developed by US FDA was adopted as a decision rule for safety evaluation between formulations. With the FDA scaled approach, 90% confidence intervals of geometric mean ratio for DBP, 0.7969~1.0377 for Vmax and 0.7304~1.0660 for AUVlast, were both included in the equivalence ranges of 0.7694~1.2997 and 0.6815~1.4674, respectively, and similarly, those for HR were included in their respective scaled equivalence limits, while SBP satisfied the conventional equivalence criterion of 0.8-1.25. These results illustrate the feasibility of applying the suggested approach in cardiovascular safety evaluation in a generic drug.
Blood Pressure ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Male ; Megestrol ; Pharmacokinetics ; Therapeutic Equivalency ; Vital Signs ; Volunteers