Objectives: We analyzed the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosedwith coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), focusing specifically on severe/critical cases, andassessed the trends and rates of severity and fatality among these patients in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Clinical data on patients with COVID-19 from January 20, 2020 to August 30, 2023were collected from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s database. We identified patients who progressed to severe/critical conditions and analyzed their demographic and clinical profiles. Severity and fatality rates were calculated and compared annually to track thedisease progression over time. Results: During the surveillance period, 34,572,554 COVID-19 cases were confirmed, among whom 38,112 (0.11%) progressed to severe/critical conditions. Most severe/critical cases occurred in individuals aged ≥60 years, with a notable increase in patients aged ≥80 years from 2022.The overall severity rate was 0.19%, with a fatality rate of 0.10%. However, the severity of cases gradually diminished during the study period. In 2022, the severity and fatality rates decreased to 0.14% and 0.09%, respectively. In 2023, while the severity rate remained stable at 0.15%, thefatality rate further decreased to 0.06%. Notably, throughout the study period, individuals aged ≥80 years had a significantly higher severity rate (2.44%), with a fatality rate of 1.75%. Conclusion These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing protection and management strategies for older adults and high-risk groups to mitigate the impact ofCOVID-19. Continued surveillance and analysis are essential to effectively control COVID-19 and minimize its burden on public health.

Objectives: We analyzed the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosedwith coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), focusing specifically on severe/critical cases, andassessed the trends and rates of severity and fatality among these patients in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Clinical data on patients with COVID-19 from January 20, 2020 to August 30, 2023were collected from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s database. We identified patients who progressed to severe/critical conditions and analyzed their demographic and clinical profiles. Severity and fatality rates were calculated and compared annually to track thedisease progression over time. Results: During the surveillance period, 34,572,554 COVID-19 cases were confirmed, among whom 38,112 (0.11%) progressed to severe/critical conditions. Most severe/critical cases occurred in individuals aged ≥60 years, with a notable increase in patients aged ≥80 years from 2022.The overall severity rate was 0.19%, with a fatality rate of 0.10%. However, the severity of cases gradually diminished during the study period. In 2022, the severity and fatality rates decreased to 0.14% and 0.09%, respectively. In 2023, while the severity rate remained stable at 0.15%, thefatality rate further decreased to 0.06%. Notably, throughout the study period, individuals aged ≥80 years had a significantly higher severity rate (2.44%), with a fatality rate of 1.75%. Conclusion These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing protection and management strategies for older adults and high-risk groups to mitigate the impact ofCOVID-19. Continued surveillance and analysis are essential to effectively control COVID-19 and minimize its burden on public health.

Objectives: We analyzed the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosedwith coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), focusing specifically on severe/critical cases, andassessed the trends and rates of severity and fatality among these patients in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Clinical data on patients with COVID-19 from January 20, 2020 to August 30, 2023were collected from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s database. We identified patients who progressed to severe/critical conditions and analyzed their demographic and clinical profiles. Severity and fatality rates were calculated and compared annually to track thedisease progression over time. Results: During the surveillance period, 34,572,554 COVID-19 cases were confirmed, among whom 38,112 (0.11%) progressed to severe/critical conditions. Most severe/critical cases occurred in individuals aged ≥60 years, with a notable increase in patients aged ≥80 years from 2022.The overall severity rate was 0.19%, with a fatality rate of 0.10%. However, the severity of cases gradually diminished during the study period. In 2022, the severity and fatality rates decreased to 0.14% and 0.09%, respectively. In 2023, while the severity rate remained stable at 0.15%, thefatality rate further decreased to 0.06%. Notably, throughout the study period, individuals aged ≥80 years had a significantly higher severity rate (2.44%), with a fatality rate of 1.75%. Conclusion These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing protection and management strategies for older adults and high-risk groups to mitigate the impact ofCOVID-19. Continued surveillance and analysis are essential to effectively control COVID-19 and minimize its burden on public health.

Objectives: We analyzed the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosedwith coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), focusing specifically on severe/critical cases, andassessed the trends and rates of severity and fatality among these patients in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Clinical data on patients with COVID-19 from January 20, 2020 to August 30, 2023were collected from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s database. We identified patients who progressed to severe/critical conditions and analyzed their demographic and clinical profiles. Severity and fatality rates were calculated and compared annually to track thedisease progression over time. Results: During the surveillance period, 34,572,554 COVID-19 cases were confirmed, among whom 38,112 (0.11%) progressed to severe/critical conditions. Most severe/critical cases occurred in individuals aged ≥60 years, with a notable increase in patients aged ≥80 years from 2022.The overall severity rate was 0.19%, with a fatality rate of 0.10%. However, the severity of cases gradually diminished during the study period. In 2022, the severity and fatality rates decreased to 0.14% and 0.09%, respectively. In 2023, while the severity rate remained stable at 0.15%, thefatality rate further decreased to 0.06%. Notably, throughout the study period, individuals aged ≥80 years had a significantly higher severity rate (2.44%), with a fatality rate of 1.75%. Conclusion These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing protection and management strategies for older adults and high-risk groups to mitigate the impact ofCOVID-19. Continued surveillance and analysis are essential to effectively control COVID-19 and minimize its burden on public health.

Objectives: We analyzed the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosedwith coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), focusing specifically on severe/critical cases, andassessed the trends and rates of severity and fatality among these patients in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Clinical data on patients with COVID-19 from January 20, 2020 to August 30, 2023were collected from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s database. We identified patients who progressed to severe/critical conditions and analyzed their demographic and clinical profiles. Severity and fatality rates were calculated and compared annually to track thedisease progression over time. Results: During the surveillance period, 34,572,554 COVID-19 cases were confirmed, among whom 38,112 (0.11%) progressed to severe/critical conditions. Most severe/critical cases occurred in individuals aged ≥60 years, with a notable increase in patients aged ≥80 years from 2022.The overall severity rate was 0.19%, with a fatality rate of 0.10%. However, the severity of cases gradually diminished during the study period. In 2022, the severity and fatality rates decreased to 0.14% and 0.09%, respectively. In 2023, while the severity rate remained stable at 0.15%, thefatality rate further decreased to 0.06%. Notably, throughout the study period, individuals aged ≥80 years had a significantly higher severity rate (2.44%), with a fatality rate of 1.75%. Conclusion These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing protection and management strategies for older adults and high-risk groups to mitigate the impact ofCOVID-19. Continued surveillance and analysis are essential to effectively control COVID-19 and minimize its burden on public health.

Background: The prevalence of service-oriented roles in the contemporary workplace has led to an increased demand foremployees to engage in emotional labor to navigate the challenges of a service-oriented economy. This study aimed to examine the association between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment and assess the role of various factors between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment. Methods: Four hundred and eighty-three workers participated in this survey. Work absence was an outcome variable, andemotional labor was an independent variable. Logistic regression analyses were performed to find the association between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment controlling for age, sex, and education. The impacts of mediators (work type, employment type, and stress) were also assessed. Furthermore, the association between emotional labor and absenteeism due to dental treatment was assessed according to the stress level. Results: Emotional labor was associated with a 1.75 times higher risk of absenteeism due to dental treatment (95% confidenceinterval 1.04∼2.83) across adjusted models among Korean workers. The impact of stress was the highest among the mediators.Despite the non-statistical significance of the results, it was observed that elevated stress levels were correlated with increased dental absenteeism due to emotional labor. Conclusion The findings of this study indicate that the performance of emotional labor is associated with an increased prevalenceof absenteeism due to dental treatment. High stress levels may result in even higher rates of absenteeism among Korean workers.

Background: Bladder cancer is characterized by frequent mutations, which provide potential therapeutic targets for most patients. The effectiveness of emerging personalized therapies depends on an accurate molecular diagnosis, for which the accurate estimation of the neoplastic cell percentage (NCP) is a crucial initial step. However, the established method for determining the NCP, manual counting by a pathologist, is time-consuming and not easily executable. Methods: To address this, artificial intelligence (AI) models were developed to estimate the NCP using nine convolutional neural networks and the scanned images of 39 cases of urinary tract cancer. The performance of the AI models was compared to that of six pathologists for 119 cases in the validation cohort. The ground truth value was obtained through multiplexed immunofluorescence. The AI model was then applied to 41 cases in the application cohort that underwent next-generation sequencing testing, and its impact on the copy number variation (CNV) was analyzed. Results: Each AI model demonstrated high reliability, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranging from 0.82 to 0.88. These values were comparable or better to those of pathologists, whose ICCs ranged from 0.78 to 0.91 in urothelial carcinoma cases, both with and without divergent differentiation/ subtypes. After applying AI-driven NCP, 190 CNV (24.2%) were reclassified with 66 (8.4%) and 78 (9.9%) moved to amplification and loss, respectively, from neutral/minor CNV. The neutral/minor CNV proportion decreased by 6%. Conclusions These results suggest that AI models could assist human pathologists in repetitive and cumbersome NCP calculations.

Background: The prevalence of service-oriented roles in the contemporary workplace has led to an increased demand foremployees to engage in emotional labor to navigate the challenges of a service-oriented economy. This study aimed to examine the association between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment and assess the role of various factors between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment. Methods: Four hundred and eighty-three workers participated in this survey. Work absence was an outcome variable, andemotional labor was an independent variable. Logistic regression analyses were performed to find the association between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment controlling for age, sex, and education. The impacts of mediators (work type, employment type, and stress) were also assessed. Furthermore, the association between emotional labor and absenteeism due to dental treatment was assessed according to the stress level. Results: Emotional labor was associated with a 1.75 times higher risk of absenteeism due to dental treatment (95% confidenceinterval 1.04∼2.83) across adjusted models among Korean workers. The impact of stress was the highest among the mediators.Despite the non-statistical significance of the results, it was observed that elevated stress levels were correlated with increased dental absenteeism due to emotional labor. Conclusion The findings of this study indicate that the performance of emotional labor is associated with an increased prevalenceof absenteeism due to dental treatment. High stress levels may result in even higher rates of absenteeism among Korean workers.

Background: The prevalence of service-oriented roles in the contemporary workplace has led to an increased demand foremployees to engage in emotional labor to navigate the challenges of a service-oriented economy. This study aimed to examine the association between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment and assess the role of various factors between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment. Methods: Four hundred and eighty-three workers participated in this survey. Work absence was an outcome variable, andemotional labor was an independent variable. Logistic regression analyses were performed to find the association between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment controlling for age, sex, and education. The impacts of mediators (work type, employment type, and stress) were also assessed. Furthermore, the association between emotional labor and absenteeism due to dental treatment was assessed according to the stress level. Results: Emotional labor was associated with a 1.75 times higher risk of absenteeism due to dental treatment (95% confidenceinterval 1.04∼2.83) across adjusted models among Korean workers. The impact of stress was the highest among the mediators.Despite the non-statistical significance of the results, it was observed that elevated stress levels were correlated with increased dental absenteeism due to emotional labor. Conclusion The findings of this study indicate that the performance of emotional labor is associated with an increased prevalenceof absenteeism due to dental treatment. High stress levels may result in even higher rates of absenteeism among Korean workers.

Actinidia arguta, also called as kiwiberry or hardy kiwifruit, is one of the major varieties of kiwi plants. It is small in size and has no hairs on the surface, which making it easy to be consumed. In addition, it can be cultivated in Asia, due to its cold resistance. We have been interested in the beneficial effects of the fruits of A. arguta and investigated the constituents and biological activities. A new triterpenoid, argutinic acid, along with three triterpenoids and three megastigmines were isolated from the fruits of A. arguta. The structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis including NMR, MS, UV and IR. Among the isolated compounds, two triterpenes, argutinic acid (1) and usrolic acid (4) showed α-glucosidase inhibitory activities.