Purpose: This study aimed to develop a digital multimedia-based educational intervention for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donors and to evaluate its effects on anxiety, knowledge, attitudes toward hematopoietic stem cell donation, and educational satisfaction. Methods: This quasi-experimental study employed a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized pretest-posttest design. Participants were 60 HSC donors admitted to a general hospital in Seoul, Republic of Korea, between April and December 2024. The participants were assigned to an experimental group (n=30) and a control group (n=30). The experimental group received a digital multimediabased educational intervention in addition to the usual education using a standardized handout, whereas the control group received the usual education only. The intervention was provided in three sessions: on the day of admission (20 minutes), on the day of stem cell collection (10 minutes), and on the day of discharge (10 minutes). Data were collected at admission and discharge using structured questionnaires. Anxiety was analyzed using generalized estimating equations (GEE), knowledge and attitudes using mixed ANOVA, and educational satisfaction using an independent t-test. Results: The experimental group showed significantly lower anxiety (p=.048) and higher knowledge levels (p=.005) than the control group. No significant differences were found between the groups in attitudes toward donation or educational satisfaction. Conclusion The digital multimedia-based educational intervention was effective in reducing anxiety and improving knowledge among HSC donors. This intervention may enhance donors’ understanding of the donation process and support a more positive donation experience. Further multicenter studies with larger samples and longitudinal follow-up measurements are needed to verify the long-term effects and generalizability of the intervention.

Background: This study focuses on the development of a hydrogel wound patch incorporating natural extracts, designed to function as a sun patch. By maintaining a moist environment and delivering bioactive compounds, the patch promotes wound healing while also providing cooling and ultraviolet (UV) protection. This dual-purpose approach enhances skin recovery and shields damaged areas from external stressors. The study aims to optimize the formulation and evaluate its efficacy for both therapeutic and cosmetic applications. Methods: Hydrogel solutions prepared using acrylamide, glycerol, and carboxymethyl cellulose were enriched with extracts from Saururus chinensis, Styrax japonicus, and Centella asiatica. The enriched solutions were processed into patches and tested for their adhesion, cooling effects, and UV protective abilities. Additionally, the wound healing efficacy was evaluated in a mouse model. Results: The hydrogel patches demonstrated comparable adhesion properties, effective skin cooling, and high UV protection rates similar to those of commercially available products. In the mouse model, the patches significantly improved wound closure and tissue regeneration in the experimental group as compared to the control group. Conclusion The study confirms that hydrogel sun patches enriched with natural extracts have the ability to effectively promote wound healing and offer substantial UV protection and cooling benefits, demonstrating their potential medical and cosmetic applications.

Background: Hypertrophic scarring represents an aberrant response to wounds in certain individuals, manifesting with symptoms such as itching, tenderness, pain, and pigmentation. This study aimed to investigate the impact of a silicone-based gel on the healing of hypertrophic scars, particularly those originating from deep tissue wounds. Methods: A rat model of wound healing and scarring was established, and 12 rats were randomly assigned to three groups: Dermatix Ultra group, SFG-100 silicone-gel group, and non-treated group. Rats in the treated groups (Dermatix Ultra and SFG-100 silicone-gel) received twice-daily applications for 8 weeks. Histologic analysis, including biopsy, was conducted to evaluate the scar elevation index, epidermis thickness, and the number of granulation veins. Results: Overall, both the Dermatix Ultra and SFG-100 silicone-gel groups exhibited improvements in hypertrophic scar healing, accompanied by a significant reduction in skin pigmentation. Histopathologically, scars in both treated groups displayed a notable decrease in scar elevation index, epithelial thickness, and collagen disorganization compared to the non-treated group. However, no significant difference was observed between the Dermatix Ultra and SFG-100 silicone-gel groups. Conclusion The results suggest that SFG-100 silicone-gel is an effective therapeutic agent for hypertrophic scars. Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms underlying its efficacy and to optimize its application for clinical use.

This paper describes a community effort to improve earlier versions of the full-text corpus of Genomics & Informatics by semi-automatically detecting and correcting PDF-to-text conversion errors and optical character recognition errors during the first hackathon of Genomics & Informatics Annotation Hackathon (GIAH) event. Extracting text from multi-column biomedical documents such as Genomics & Informatics is known to be notoriously difficult. The hackathon was piloted as part of a coding competition of the ELTEC College of Engineering at Ewha Womans University in order to enable researchers and students to create or annotate their own versions of the Genomics & Informatics corpus, to gain and create knowledge about corpus linguistics, and simultaneously to acquire tangible and transferable skills. The proposed projects during the hackathon harness an internal database containing different versions of the corpus and annotations.

Purpose: This study aimed to provide basic data for the future development of school-based sexuality education and school nurse placement policies by examining the sexuality education experience in middle schools according to levels of school nurse placement and identifying factors influencing on adolescent sexual risk behaviors. Methods: This study examined data from the 2018 14th Korean Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The raw data from 30,229 middle school students enrolled in 400 schools were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, independent t test, and complex sample logistic regression analysis. Results: It is found that, in Korea, school nurse placement rates varied by region from 37.9% to 114.8%, resulting in different levels of sexuality and alcohol prevention education (p < .001). Sexuality and alcohol prevention education lowered the likelihood of sexual risk behaviors by 0.54 and 0.87 times, respectively. The experience of drinking alcohol increased a student's likelihood of committing sexual risk behaviors by 4.40 and 3.57 times, respectively, whereas the experience of using a drug increased the risk by 9.42 and 5.00 times, respectively. Personal factors (e.g., gender and academic achievement) and socioenvironmental factors (e.g., school type and perceived economic status) were also found to influence on the sexual risk behaviors of adolescents, although, not to the same degree as sexuality education or health risk behaviors. Conclusion To protect students' sex-related health equity, more elaborate support policies are needed to ensure adequate placement of school nurses able to provide professional sexuality and related health education.

Citrus junos seeds (CS) have been traditionally used for the treatment of cancer and neuralgia. They are also used to manufacture edible oil and cosmetic perfume. A large amount of CS shells without oil (CSS) are discarded after the oil in CS is used as foods or herbal remedy. To efficiently utilize CSS as a by-products, it needs to be studied through chemical analysis. Therefore, we developed an ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)–diode array detection (DAD) method for simultaneous determination and quantitative analysis of five components (two flavonoids and threes limonoids) in CSS. A Waters Acquity UPLC HSS T3 column C18 (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.8 μm) was used for this separation. It was maintained at 40 oC. The mobile phase used for the analysis was distilled water and acetonitrile with gradient elution. To identify the quantity of the five components, a mass spectrometer (MS) with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source was used. The regression equation showed great linearity, with correlation coefficient ≥ 0.9912. Limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) of the five compounds were 0.09 – 0.13 and 0.26 – 0.38 μg/mL, respectively. Recoveries of extraction ranged from 97.45% to 101.91%. Relative standard deviation (RSD) values of intra- and inter-day precision were 0.06 – 1.15% and 0.19 – 0.25%, respectively. This UPLC–DAD method can be validated to simultaneously analyze quantities of marker flavonoids and limonoids in CSS.

Purpose: This study aimed to provide basic data for the future development of school-based sexuality education and school nurse placement policies by examining the sexuality education experience in middle schools according to levels of school nurse placement and identifying factors influencing on adolescent sexual risk behaviors. Methods: This study examined data from the 2018 14th Korean Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The raw data from 30,229 middle school students enrolled in 400 schools were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, independent t test, and complex sample logistic regression analysis. Results: It is found that, in Korea, school nurse placement rates varied by region from 37.9% to 114.8%, resulting in different levels of sexuality and alcohol prevention education (p < .001). Sexuality and alcohol prevention education lowered the likelihood of sexual risk behaviors by 0.54 and 0.87 times, respectively. The experience of drinking alcohol increased a student's likelihood of committing sexual risk behaviors by 4.40 and 3.57 times, respectively, whereas the experience of using a drug increased the risk by 9.42 and 5.00 times, respectively. Personal factors (e.g., gender and academic achievement) and socioenvironmental factors (e.g., school type and perceived economic status) were also found to influence on the sexual risk behaviors of adolescents, although, not to the same degree as sexuality education or health risk behaviors. Conclusion To protect students' sex-related health equity, more elaborate support policies are needed to ensure adequate placement of school nurses able to provide professional sexuality and related health education.

This paper describes a community effort to improve earlier versions of the full-text corpus of Genomics & Informatics by semi-automatically detecting and correcting PDF-to-text conversion errors and optical character recognition errors during the first hackathon of Genomics & Informatics Annotation Hackathon (GIAH) event. Extracting text from multi-column biomedical documents such as Genomics & Informatics is known to be notoriously difficult. The hackathon was piloted as part of a coding competition of the ELTEC College of Engineering at Ewha Womans University in order to enable researchers and students to create or annotate their own versions of the Genomics & Informatics corpus, to gain and create knowledge about corpus linguistics, and simultaneously to acquire tangible and transferable skills. The proposed projects during the hackathon harness an internal database containing different versions of the corpus and annotations.

Background: This study tries to compare and analyze the removal effect of dental plaque of general dentifrice and pregnant women’s dentifrice and quantify the results to provide basic data so that consumers can make reasonable choices when purchasing dentifrice, and also increase interest in the dental plaque. Methods: After forming a dental plaque (carbohydrate porridge) on the labial surface of the bovine teeth, a disclosing agent was applied. Then the same experimenter brushed the surface of the bovine teeth using an electric toothbrush and took photographs using a DSLR camera. Thereafter, the residual amount of dental plaque was analyzed using the ImageJ program, and SPSS 26.0 was used for statistical processing. Results: The average residual amount of dental plaque using the general dentifrice was 11.71% for Perio, 9.45% for Cliden, and 8.47% for 2080, and the average residual amount for the three types was approximately 9.88%. The average residual amount of dental plaque of pregnant women’s dentifrice was 13.95% for Jeninmothers, 12.53% for Tntnmoms, and 12.63% for Mommiracle, and the average residual amount of the three types was approximately 13.04%. On comparing the average residual amount of dental plaque between general and pregnant women’s dentifrices, it was observed to be 3.16% higher for the latter. However, the results were not statistically significant. Conclusion According to the research results, there was no significant difference in removal effects of general dentifrice and pregnant women’s dentifrice. In addition, when a pregnant woman uses the right toothbrushing method with pregnant women’s dentifrice, it can prevent or inhibit the progression of the gestational periodontal disease. Therefore, we recommend pregnant women to use pregnant women’s dentifrices.

PURPOSE: To determine deep optic nerve head structure changes after transient intraocular pressure elevation during laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) for myopia. METHODS: Enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography was performed in each myopic eye that underwent LASIK surgery. Enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography images were created at postoperative 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 1 month. Lamina cribrosa (LC) thickness, LC depth and prelaminar thickness at the superior, middle and inferior portions of the optic nerve head were measured by two investigators. RESULTS: Forty eyes in 40 patients were included in the present study. During follow-up, there were no significant differences in prelaminar thickness or LC depth. The LC demonstrated increased thickness at postoperative 1 day at all three locations (superior, middle, and inferior) (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). However, no significant changes were observed at postoperative 1 week, 2 weeks, and 1 month. CONCLUSIONS: The LC thickness could increase at 1 day after LASIK surgery. However, the thickness will gradually return to baseline morphology. Temporary intraocular pressure increase during LASIK does not appear to induce irreversible LC thickness changes.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intraocular Pressure ; Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ* ; Myopia ; Optic Disk ; Research Personnel