PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to define and clarify the concept of political competence for nurses.METHODS: A hybrid model method was used to investigate the dimensions, attributes, and definitions of the concept. In the theoretical stage of the study, literature on nursing, politics, and other discipline were reviewed. In the fieldwork stage, individual in-depth interviews and focus groups interviews were conducted with politically seasoned experts or activists who had an understanding of the concept of political competence for extensive descriptions in nursing and field of health care.RESULTS: The concept of political competence was represented in four dimensions as political knowledge, political efficacy, political interaction, and political activity. In the political knowledge dimension, there were three attributes, namely, political knowledge, political information and systematic analysis ability. The political efficacy dimension had three attributes of internal political efficacy, external political efficacy, and self-pride of nursing profession. The political interaction dimension had three attributes of organizations and community service, networking, and persuasive power. The political activity dimension had six attributes of political leadership, political expression, assertive behavior, political advocacy, political participation, and policy intervention.CONCLUSION: This concept development might provide a basic understanding of developing a measurement tool and for constructing a theory promoting nurses' political competence.
Concept Formation ; Delivery of Health Care ; Focus Groups ; Leadership ; Mental Competency ; Methods ; Nursing ; Politics ; Professional Competence ; Seasons ; Social Welfare

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic conditions of the gastrointestinal tract-the main site of host-microbial interaction in the body. Development of IBD is not due to a single event but rather is a multifactorial process where a patient's genetic background, behavioral habits, and environmental exposures contribute to disease pathogenesis. IBD patients exhibit alterations to gut bacterial populations “dysbiosis” due to the inflammatory microenvironment, however whether this alteration of the gut microbiota precedes inflammation has not been confirmed. Emerging evidence has highlighted the important role of gut microbes in developing measured immune responses and modulating other host responses such as metabolism. Much of the work on the gut microbiota has been correlative and there is an increasing need to understand the intimate relationship between host and microbe. In this review, we highlight how commensal and pathogenic bacteria interact with host intestinal epithelial cells and explore how altered microenvironments impact these connections.
Bacteria ; Diplomacy ; Environmental Exposure ; Epithelial Cells ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Genetic Background ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Intestinal Mucosa ; Metabolism ; Microbiota

This paper examines WHO's involvement in South Korea within the context of the changing organization of public health infrastructure in Korea during the years spanning from the end of the Japanese occupation, through the periods of American military occupation and the Korean War, and to the early years of the Park Chung Hee regime in the early 1960s, in order to demonstrate how tuberculosis came to be addressed as a public health problem. WHO launched several survey missions and relief efforts before and during the Korean War and subsequently became deeply involved in shaping government policy for public health through a number of technical assistance programs, including a program for tuberculosis control in the early 1960s. This paper argues that the principal concern for WHO was to start rebuilding the public health infrastructure beyond simply abolishing the remnants of colonial practices or showcasing the superiority of American practices vis-à-vis those practiced under a Communist rule. WHO consistently sought to address infrastructural problems by strengthening the government's role by linking the central and regional health units, and this was especially visible in its tuberculosis program, where it attempted to take back the responsibilities and functions previously assumed by voluntary organizations like the Korea National Tuberculosis Administration (KNTA). This interest in public health infrastructure was fueled by WHO's discovery of a cost-effective, drug-based, and community-oriented horizontal approach to tuberculosis control, with a hope that these practices would replace the traditional, costly, disease-specific, and seclusion-oriented vertical approach that relied on sanatoria. These policy imperatives were met with the unanticipated regime change from a civilian to a military government in 1961, which created an environment favorable for the expansion of the public health network. Technology and politics were intricately intertwined in the emergence of a new infrastructure for public health in Korea, as this case of tuberculosis control illustrates.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Global Health ; Hope ; Humans ; Korea ; Korean War ; Military Personnel ; Occupations ; Politics ; Public Health ; Religious Missions ; Tuberculosis ; World Health Organization

PURPOSE: This study analyzed the features of humeral head decentralization in large to massive rotator cuff tears with a shoulder dislocation in the elderly. Moreover, shoulder instability and treatment were reviewed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From May 2005 to February 2017, Group A containing 45 cases (45 patients) over 65 years old accompanied by a large or massive rotator cuff tear with a shoulder dislocation and Group B containing 45 cases (45 patients) without a shoulder dislocation were enrolled. The mean ages in Groups A and B were 73.2 and 72.1 years old, and the mean follow-up periods were 30.7 and 31.3 months, respectively. Twenty-one cases (46.7%) in Group A underwent rotator cuff repair, and 8 cases (17.8%) underwent concomitant rotator cuff repair with Bankart repair. Sixteen cases (35.6%) underwent reverse total shoulder arthroplasty for cuff tear arthropathy. 45 cases (100%) in Group B underwent rotator cuff repair. The off-the center and head elevation were measured in the preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of Groups A and B. The preoperative and postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) score, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) score in Groups A and B were compared. RESULTS: In Groups A and B, the mean off-the centers were posterior 7.41 mm and posterior 2.02 mm (p=0.03), and the mean head elevations were superior 6.66 mm and superior 2.44 mm (p=0.02), respectively. The mean ASES scores of Groups A and B were 32.8 and 33.4 before surgery, and 77.1 (p=0.02) and 78.1 (p=0.02) after surgery (p=0.18), respectively. The mean UCLA scores of Groups A and B were 13.1 and 12.8 before surgery, and 28.9 (p=0.02) and 29.5 (p=0.01) after surgery (p=0.15), respectively. CONCLUSION: Patients over 65 years old with a shoulder dislocation in large to massive rotator cuff tears had higher off-the center and head elevation on the preoperative MRI than those without a shoulder dislocation. This measurement can help predict preceding shoulder instability. Early rotator cuff repairs should be performed and other treatments, such as Bankart repair and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, should also be considered.
Aged ; Arthroplasty ; California ; Elbow ; Follow-Up Studies ; Head ; Humans ; Humeral Head ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Politics ; Rotator Cuff ; Shoulder Dislocation ; Shoulder ; Surgeons ; Tears

The Motor Vessel Sewol accident was a horrible accident, and it had complex ripple effects in various areas such as politics, economy, and culture. In particular, the psychological impact of each individual in Korean society was great, and various explanations for the causes of such psychological mass trauma would be possible. One of these important causes is the historical memory about common cultural custom. Therefore, the historical and cultural memory of the school trips shared by members of Korean society may be one of the causes of the psychological trauma. This paper aims to explain the cultural and social functions of school trips in East Asian societies from a historical point of view. In addition, we will also analyse the reasons why shared cultural memories contributed to the formation of collective trauma of the accident from a cultural, anthropological and psychiatric point of view.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Humans ; Memory ; Politics ; Psychological Trauma ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Indonesia and South Korea have become inseparable in various respects since the 2 countries established diplomatic relation in 1973. Indonesia is a tropical region that stretches across the equator, comprised of 5 main islands (Java, Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Papua) and 4 archipelagoes (Riau, Bangka Belitung, Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku). As most population of Eastern Indonesia (Sulawesi, Papua and Nusa Tenggara & Maluku) live in poor areas, it is expected that there will be many parasites. Nevertheless, little is known about the status of parasites in Indonesia. This study examines the prevalences of malaria and lymphatic filaria, which are prevalent in Indonesia, as well as those of soil-transmitted-helminths (STH). As a result, the Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax case loads are almost equal. The current prevalence of P. vivax is uniformly low (<5%) in all age groups and annual parasite incidence (API) showed decreasing tendency as 0.84 per 1,000 population in 2016. However, more than 65 million people still live in malaria epidemic regions. Lymphatic filariasis remains an important public health problem and 236 cities were classified as endemic areas in 514 cities/districts in 2017. It is difficult to ascertain the current prevalence rate of STH in Indonesia, although West Sumba and Southwest Sumba in East Nusa Tenggara reported prevalence rate of more than 20%. The study also considers the (sero) prevalences of other parasites identified in Indonesia. This report should be useful not only to parasitologists but also to travelers and people with business in Indonesia.
Commerce ; Diplomacy ; Elephantiasis, Filarial ; Humans ; Incidence ; Indonesia ; Islands ; Korea ; Malaria ; Parasites ; Plasmodium falciparum ; Prevalence ; Public Health

Blockchain is at the center of attention recently and it is expected to have a huge impact on healthcare industry including dentistry as well. Blockchain is a fundamental technology behind Bitcoin and itis all about decentralization, security, reliability, and transparency. These characteristics of the technology empower it to disrupt the current healthcare industry in innumerable practices such as supply chain management in pharmaceuticals to prevent the counterfeited medicine, clinical trials to guarantee transparency, healthcare information exchanges or personal health record systems to ensure data integrity and interoperability, etc. It will surely revolutionize the way the current healthcare system works; from provider-oriented to patient-centered. Hence, it is time to seriously consider how we could be a part of this blockchain revolution in dentistry.
Clinical Medicine ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dentistry ; Health Care Sector ; Health Records, Personal ; Information Systems ; Politics

In this article, I looked at the life of Yun Il-sun, a representative medical scientist of modern Korea, and examined the following problems. First, I took note of the position of the Korean people in the academic system of the Japanese colonial empire and restored the life of Yun Il-sun as specifically as possible. Yun was educated among Japanese people from elementary school to university. Although he received the best education at Old System High School and Imperial University and grew to be a prominent medical scientist, he could not overcome his identity as a colonized. Yun Il-sun, who moved from Keijo Imperial University to Severance Union Medical College, involved in activities founding of the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Medical Journal. Second, I the meaning of ‘culture’ to the intellectuals in the periphery. Old System High School and Imperial University where Yun Il-sun was educated were the hotbed of ‘culturalism.’ Yun's college days were the heyday of Taisho Democracy, and students were attracted to Marxism, Christian poverty movement, Buddhist cultivation movement and so on. Yun sought to overcome the ideological of young people through the acquisition of ‘culture.’ The ‘culture’ emphasized by Yun had an enlightenment characteristic that emphasized education, but it also functioned as a‘identity culture of educated elites.’ Third, I used the concept of ‘colonial academism’ and examined the aspects and characteristics of the colonial-periphery academic field, focusing on medicine. Yun Il-sun was a Korean professor at the Keijo Imperial University. He founded an academic society and published an academic journal for Koreans. He attempted to reproduce scholarship by doctoral dissertations. At the same time, several facts show that he was also in the affected area of ‘colonial academism’: the fact that he was kicked out of the Keijo Imperial University, the fact that the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Medical Journal were banned by Governor General, the fact that his students asked for doctoral degrees from Kyoto Imperial University where he studied. Yun Il-sun crossed the limits of ‘colonial academism’ and acted as the agent of empire. This was made possible by the characteristics of the academic discipline of medicine, the environment of the Severance Union Medical College, and personal traits of superior ability and indifference to politics. I the postcolonial evolution of the ‘colonial academism’ and ‘culturalism.’ The mix of continuity and discontinuity from ‘colonial academism’ and the hybrid of Japanese academism and American academism, the Korean characteristics of ‘postcolonial academism.’ Yun tried to harmonize the American academism with the Japanese academism and the purity of academism. This effort was revealed as an emphasis on basic medicine and natural sciences. As combined with culturalism and indifference to politics, he was recognized as the symbol of ivory tower and academism.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Colon ; Communism ; Democracy ; Education ; Fellowships and Scholarships ; Humans ; Japan* ; Korea ; Natural Science Disciplines ; Pathology ; Politics ; Poverty

The Korean Empire, its state sovereignty threatened by the Empire of Japan, joined the Geneva Conventions in 1903 for the purpose of neutral diplomacy and established the imperial Korean Red Cross Hospital in 1905. This hospital was a result of the effort of the Korean Empire to seek a new medical system based on the Western medicine. However, after the Russo-Japanese War, Japan interfered straightforwardly in the domestic affairs of Korea and eventually abolished the Korean Red Cross Hospital in 1907 to create Daehan Hospital under Japanese colonial rule. With newly-found historical records, this study investigates the whole process of the Korean Red Cross Hospital, which has remained unknown so far, despite its importance. From the very beginning, the Korean Red Cross Hospital was under strong influence of the Empire of Japan. The site for the hospital was chosen by a Japanese army doctor, Junryō Yoshimoto, and the construction was supervised by Rokurō Katsumata, who also later on are involved in the construction of Daehan Hospital. Moreover, all the main positions for medical treatments were held by Japanese practitioners such as Gorō Tatami and Kaneko Yano. Nevertheless, the Korean government had to shoulder the all operating costs. The office of the Korean Red Cross was relocated away from the Korean Red Cross Hospital, and the government of the Korean Empire was not willing to burden the expenses of the Hospital. Moreover, the list of employees of the Korean Red Cross and that of the Korean Red Cross Hospital were drawn up separately: the former is left only in Korea and the latter in Japan. These facts suggest that those two institutes were managed dualistically unlike any other nation, implying that this may have been a means to support the Daehan Hospital project. According to the statistics, health care services in the Korean Red Cross Hospital seems to have been carried out successfully. There had been an increase in the number of patients, and the ratio of female patients was relatively high (26.4%). Only Western medications were prescribed and surgical operations with anesthesia were performed routinely. The approach to Western medicine in Korea was changing during that period. The rise and fall of the Korean Red Cross Hospital represent the urgent situation of the Korean Empire as well as the imperialistic methodology of the Empire of Japan to use medicine as a tool for colonization. Although the transition process of medical policy by the Japanese Resident-General of Korea still remains to be fully elucidated, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the history of modern medicine in Korea.
Academies and Institutes ; Anesthesia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Colon ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diplomacy ; Female ; History, Modern 1601- ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Red Cross* ; Shoulder ; Social Change

BACKGROUND: This paper describes a simple-to-use and reliable screening tool called Critical Task Exposure Screening (CTES), developed by a chemical company. The tool assesses if the exposure to a chemical for a task is likely to be within acceptable levels. METHODS: CTES is a Microsoft Excel tool, where the inhalation risk score is calculated by relating the exposure estimate to the corresponding occupational exposure limit (OEL) or occupational exposure band (OEB). The inhalation exposure is estimated for tasks by preassigned ART1.5 activity classes and modifying factors. RESULTS: CTES requires few inputs. The toxicological data, including OELs, OEBs, and vapor pressure are read from a database. Once the substance is selected, the user specifies its concentration and then chooses the task description and its duration. CTES has three outputs that may trigger follow-up: (1) inhalation risk score; (2) identification of the skin hazard with the skin warnings for local and systemic adverse effects; and (3) status for carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic effects. CONCLUSION: The tool provides an effective way to rapidly screen low-concern tasks, and quickly identifies certain tasks involving substances that will need further review with, nevertheless, the appropriate conservatism. This tool shows that the higher-tier ART1.5 inhalation exposure assessment model can be included effectively in a screening tool. After 2 years of worldwide extensive use within the company, CTES is well perceived by the users, including the shop floor management, and it fulfills its target of screening tool.
Follow-Up Studies ; Inhalation ; Inhalation Exposure ; Mass Screening* ; Occupational Exposure ; Politics ; Risk Assessment* ; Risk Management ; Skin ; Vapor Pressure