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Despite the importance of initial teacher training, no primary education courses in South Korean universities provide a compulsory course in gifted education and elective courses are limited. Individual in-depth interviews with seven lecturers of gifted education courses were conducted to elicit their opinions about initial teacher education in gifted education. The lecturer interviewees suggested that there should be more of an emphasis on gifted education in initial teacher education programs. They also emphasized the importance of practical teaching experience with gifted students. The expansion of initial teacher education in gifted education in South Korea has the potential to improve preservice teachers' understanding gifted students, ultimately improving the outcomes of this population.

Research has demonstrated the crucial role of creative metacognition and risk-taking in creativity. However, little empirical research has examined how creative metacognition and risk-taking work on creative performance in educational practice. This paper explored the moderating effects of creative metacognition on the relationships between different types of risk-taking (i.e., propensity for taking a risk, willingness to take a risk) and creative performance (i.e., general creativity, originality, usefulness) in a middle school context. The sample consisted of 350 7th- and 8th-grade students from three middle schools. They completed a survey and a creative performance task. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that creative metacognition moderated the relationships between willingness to take a risk and both originality and usefulness. The results indicated that creative metacognition reinforces the positive effect of risk-taking on originality and mitigates the negative effect of risk-taking on usefulness. Our findings suggest a potential role for creative metacognition in enhancing curriculum-based creative performance in middle schools. In the end, practical implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Purpose: This study compared the physiological profiles and energy-system contributions of trained football players engaged in regular-passing and third-man-passing small-sided games (SSGs) that included 4 versus 4 and a goalkeeper. Methods: Ten male trained football players participated in this crossover study. All participants were randomly assigned to either regular-passing SSG or third-man-passing SSG (4 vs 4 with a goalkeeper, 35-m × 17-m pitch size, and 6-min match duration). During these SSGs, physiological parameters including peak and mean heart rate, oxygen uptake ( V ˙ O 2 peak and V ˙ O 2 mean), metabolic equivalents in V ˙ O 2 peak and V ˙ O 2 mean , and blood lactate concentrations (peak La− and delta La− [Δ La−]), were measured. Energy contributions (oxidative [WOxi], glycolytic [WGly], and phosphagen [WPCr] systems) and Global Positioning System (GPS) variables (total distance, total acceleration counts, mean speed, and maximum speed) were also analyzed. Results: No significant differences in physiological parameters and GPS variables were found between regular- and third-man-passing SSGs. WOxi in kilojoules and percentages was significantly higher during both SSGs than WPCr and WGly (P <.0001, respectively). WPCr and WPCr + WGly values during third-man-passing SSGs were significantly higher than those during regular-passing SSGs (P <.05). Additionally, low to moderate positive correlations were observed between WOxi, WGly in kilojoules, V ˙ O 2 peak , V ˙ O 2 mean , peak La−, Δ La−, total acceleration counts, and mean speed (r =.39–.64). Conclusions: Third-man-passing SSGs may be useful for increasing anaerobic capacity. More third-man-passing SSG sessions in preparation for football games may support high metabolic power and repeated powerful anaerobic performances in trained football players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores South Korean pre-service primary teachers' attitudes towards gifted students and gifted education. Qualitative focus group interviews were conducted with 13 South Korean undergraduates who were in their final year of a primary education. Analysis of the interviews revealed that culture was a major factor that had affected the pre-service teachers' attitudes towards gifted education. Even though the participants agreed with the necessity of gifted education to meet gifted students' distinctive intellectual and emotional needs, they tended to have negative attitudes towards the gifted education in South Korea because of the highly competitive educational atmosphere. The South Korean pre-service teachers admitted that taking a gifted education course could be somewhat helpful but not enough. They suggested that there should be more elective gifted education course offerings and that the current compulsory special education courses should devote more time and space to gifted education.

Career indecision is a substantial challenge for multicultural adolescents in South Korea. This study investigated the role of acculturation stress in adolescents and their parents in multicultural families on career decisions in South Korea. Perceived career barriers by adolescents and career-related behaviors of their parents were included as mediators. Using national panel data from 1695 cases longitudinally collected over the 3 years, the mediation analysis was conducted. The results showed that acculturation stress experienced by both adolescents and parents negatively predicted the adolescents' career decisions. In addition, a sequential mediation effect of parental career-related behaviors and adolescents' career barriers was found in the relationship between parental acculturation stress and adolescents' career decisions. These results highlight the importance of acculturative stress experienced by families, and not just by individuals, in understanding the career development of multicultural adolescents. The implications of this study's findings are discussed.

This study aims to identify and synthesize recent literature on the effect and strategies of flipped learning in the health professions education. Participant-intervention-comparator-outcome (PICO) strategies were used to identify articles from published peer-reviewed papers from January 2017 to March 2020 in Korea Med, Korean Citation Index, National Digital Science Library, and Korean Studies Information Service System. Of the 83 screened articles, 10 published articles met all the inclusion criteria. Most of articles targeted nursing students and focused on practicum classes. The effects of flipped learning were measured based on satisfaction, self-motivated learning, information literacy, and critical thinking disposition. Further, pre-class, in-class, and post-class activities were analyzed. The findings revealed that flipped learning improved class performance, overall evaluation, self-motivated learning, self-efficacy, and problem-solving abilities. The study suggests implementing a tailored flipped learning design based on class characteristics and appropriate post-class activities for enhancing students' learning abilities.

Teachers' self-perception of their competence impacts their attitudes toward teaching, which in turn, influences both their practice and student outcomes. The goal of the current study is to explore South Korean preservice primary school teachers' self-perception of being gifted and the relationship between their self-perception and self-efficacy in attitudes toward gifted education. This mixed-methods study includes a survey of 481 fourth-year South Korean preservice primary school teachers and follow-up focus group interviews with 13 of the survey participants. The survey results indicate that South Korean preservice teachers tend to not consider themselves as gifted. Also, the mean score of self-perception as gifted for the male preservice teachers was significantly higher than that of the female preservice teachers. Their self-perception as gifted was positively related to their self-efficacy in teaching gifted students and their tendency of seeing gifted education as elitist but negatively related to their support of gifted education.

Universities around the world face a common challenge -- producing graduates with the necessary practical skills for employment. Cooperative education and work-integrated learning (WIL) make a valuable contribution to increasing graduate employability, however, there are differences in the level of cooperation from industry and government commitment. A comparative study of WIL in Germany, Australia, and South Korea, focusing predominantly on three universities, showed differences in the approaches to achieving practical experience and increasing graduate employability. The data underlying the research was derived from questionnaires, a focus group session, and the development of a descriptive, multi-case study. This allowed comparisons and contrasts between the three universities to be identified. The results and conclusions outlined in this paper aim to highlight best practice in cooperative education and WIL and provide recommendations for the future development of cooperative education, in order to improve graduate employability.

Simple Summary: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, and strategic efforts are required to reduce its mortality. Past studies have usually focused on a limited number of clinical or demographic factors to predict breast cancer prognosis. However, we used thirty-one features, including demographic characteristics, laboratory results, pathology, and treatment information, to predict breast cancer mortality. In addition, the Shapley Additive Explanation (SHAP) method, an explainable artificial intelligence technique, was used. This approach allows us to identify and interpret the key features that have a significant impact on breast cancer mortality. Key predictors of the mortality classification model included occurrence in other organs, age at diagnosis, N stage, T stage, curative radiation treatment, and Ki-67(%). Accurate breast cancer mortality prediction and detection of risk factors based on machine learning may provide opportunities for appropriate therapeutic interventions such as early chemotherapy, surgery, and other measures that may reduce mortality. Background/Objectives: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, requiring strategic efforts to reduce its mortality. This study aimed to develop a predictive classification model for breast cancer mortality using real-world data, including various clinical features. Methods: A total of 11,286 patients with breast cancer from the National Cancer Center were included in this study. The mortality rate of the total sample was approximately 6.2%. Propensity score matching was used to reduce bias. Several machine learning models, including extreme gradient boosting, were applied to 31 clinical features. To enhance model interpretability, we used the SHapley Additive exPlanations method. ML analyses were also performed on the samples, excluding patients who developed other cancers after breast cancer. Results: Among the ML models, the XGB model exhibited the highest discriminatory power, with an area under the curve of 0.8722 and a specificity of 0.9472. Key predictors of the mortality classification model included occurrence in other organs, age at diagnosis, N stage, T stage, curative radiation treatment, and Ki-67(%). Even after excluding patients who developed other cancers after breast cancer, the XGB model remained the best-performing, with an AUC of 0.8518 and a specificity of 0.9766. Additionally, the top predictors from SHAP were similar to the results for the overall sample. Conclusions: Our models provided excellent predictions of breast cancer mortality using real-world data from South Korea. Explainable artificial intelligence, such as SHAP, validated the clinical applicability and interpretability of these models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how Korean learners of Chinese perceive Chinese native speakerism, especially in relation to Choseonjok, or Korean-Chinese people. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 47 Korean learners of Chinese who attended private Chinese language institutes or in-company Chinese programmes. The transcribed interviews were examined using grounded theory. The findings demonstrate that Chinese native speakerism in South Korea is highly contextualised and intertwined with notions of model pronunciation, ethnicity, nationality and identity. Most participants believed that the Chinese pronunciation of Choseonjok would be less standard than that of native Chinese speakers living in Beijing. Although the participants considered Choseonjok Chinese speakers to be less competent than native Chinese, they categorised Choseonjok as Chinese, pointing out that being able to speak Korean is not enough to become Korean, and that Choseonjok lack emotional loyalty towards Korea. The participants also considered Choseonjok to be unsuited to work as Chinese language teachers and more suited to certain jobs that Korean nationals avoid. This study critically demonstrates how native speakerism can be instantiated in accordance with sociocultural constructs and how this can contribute to a reconceptualisation of native speakerism, especially in a non-English case.

This study explored South Korean pre-service primary school teachers' attitudes toward acceleration for gifted students. Researchers employed surveys, focus groups, and a review of literature in this mixed methods study. In total, 481 South Korean pre-service primary teachers participated in the survey and 13 out of the 481 survey participants joined the focus-group interviews afterward. Results of the survey analysis suggested that South Korean pre-service teachers showed slightly negative attitudes toward acceleration. In the follow-up focus group interviews, most of the participants had negative attitudes toward acceleration and related their attitudes to the competitive educational atmosphere in South Korea and possible detrimental social and emotional effects. They illustrated these concerns by citing the story of a famous figure in South Korea who had experienced a radical academic acceleration and experienced very poor outcomes. Recommendations are provided for university teaching programs and future study exploring how to best support gifted students.

Despite increasing research on the mechanisms that underlie the relation between perceived overqualification (POQ) and extra-role behaviors, the relation's affective mechanisms have been understudied. In this study, we focus on the role of job boredom among overqualified workers in order to understand two types of extra-role behaviors: counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). Using a sample of white-collar employees in South Korea (N = 298), we found that job boredom fully mediated the effects of POQ on CWB and OCB after controlling for the effects of state anger and neuroticism. We additionally examined whether career calling moderates the indirect effects of POQ on CWB and OCB via job boredom and found career calling mitigated the negative indirect effect of POQ on OCB via job boredom. However, career calling did not moderate the positive indirect effect of POQ on CWB. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The Korean government implemented the pilot project for community care for older adults in June 2019. This study investigated the outcomes of the pilot project among Korean older adults by linking survey data from the pilot project with data of Korean National Health Insurance Service. The final sample included 17,801 pilot project participants and 68,145 in a matched comparison group. Pilot program participants experienced an increase of 4.8 days for length of home stay and a reduction of $956 (US) per participant relative to the matched comparison group. Pilot program participants with long-term care insurance who used home care services experienced an increase of 8.9 days for length of home stay and a reduction in $1,177 (US) in total costs, along with a reduction in the admission to long-term care facilities, compared to the matched comparison group. Patients discharged from hospitals indicated an increase of 35.2 days for length of home stay and a reduction of $6,947 (US) in total costs, but a 3.53 times increase in hospital readmissions relative to the matched comparison group. The pilot project for community care resulted in increased length of home stay and reduced total costs among older adults in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale (IPOS) is a key tool for assessing the quality of palliative care using patient-reported outcomes. This study aimed to culturally adapt and translate the IPOS to Korean and verify its psychometric properties for use in palliative care settings. Methods: The IPOS was translated and culturally adapted, followed by validation in 119 terminally ill cancer patients and 28 healthcare providers across six Hospice and Palliative Care Units from September 2023 to January 2024. Reliability was assessed using internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability. Concurrent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficients between the IPOS items and the corresponding EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL and the corresponding FACIT-Sp-12. Results: The Korean IPOS demonstrated good internal consistency, with Cronbach's alphas of 0.74 for patients and 0.81 for staff. The test-retest reliability showed moderate-to-good stability, with an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.722 for the IPOS total score. Concurrent validity was supported by moderate correlations with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12). Known-group validity was demonstrated by significant differences in the IPOS scores across Phase of Illness. Conclusion: The Korean IPOS is reliable and valid for assessing palliative care outcomes. This validation supports its use in clinical practice and research and provides a robust framework for evaluating and improving palliative care delivery in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is crucial for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, primarily by promoting lifestyle modifications. However, its impact on lifestyle changes in the Korean population has not been well studied. This study analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Database to evaluate the effect of CR on lifestyle improvement in patients with cardiovascular disease. Methods: Patients who underwent coronary revascularization in 2017 were included. This study investigated whether the lifestyle habits of patients with cardiovascular disease who were physically inactive, obese, and smoked improved after coronary revascularization. To analyze whether CR affected each lifestyle factor, multiple regression analysis was performed, adjusting for socioeconomic and medical conditions as covariates. Results: CR had a significant effect on the acquisition of regular physical activity among physically inactive patients before revascularization (odds ratio [OR]: 1.205, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.046–1.389). However, CR did not have a significant impact on smoking cessation in smokers (OR: 1.172, 95% CI: 0.890–1.545) and weight reduction in patients with obesity (OR: 1.104, 95% CI: 0.977–1.248). Conclusion: This nationwide study showed that CR after coronary revascularization significantly improved physical activity in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, CR had no significant effect on smoking cessation or weight reduction, indicating a need for more comprehensive approaches to address these lifestyle factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) is a major mode of sub‐seasonal variability that regulates the summer climate in East Asia. This study investigates the four possible effects of two different time‐scale BSISOs on temperature and precipitation variations in South Korea. When active BSISO convection is positioned over the subtropical western Pacific, it induces anomalous anticyclonic circulation accompanied by subsidence, leading to significant positive temperature anomalies. Conversely, the anomalous cyclonic circulation near the Korean Peninsula, resulting from suppressed convection in the subtropical western Pacific, along with low‐level cold advection anomalies, contributes to a decrease in temperature. The spatial distribution of BSISO convection, which drives precipitation variation, shows a distinctive pattern of three meridionally narrow cells extending from the Philippines to the Korean Peninsula. Suppressed (enhanced) convection to the north of 20°N in the western North Pacific (WNP) promotes the northwestward expansion (eastward contraction) of the WNP Subtropical High in conjunction with a southwesterly (northeasterly) moisture flux anomaly. Furthermore, enhanced (reduced) moisture flux convergence and intensified ascending (descending) motion create favorable conditions for positive (negative) precipitation anomalies in South Korea. The combined effect of BSISOs not only amplifies the mean temperature and precipitation anomalies compared to individual modes but also increases the frequency of warmer, wetter, and drier events. Therefore, monitoring both BSISO modes together is crucial for comprehending and predicting the anomalous summer climate in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of an increase in luteinizing hormone levels on pregnancy outcomes in patients undergoing artificial endometrial preparation for frozen embryo transfer has not been definitively elucidated. We aimed to investigate the effect of elevated luteinizing hormone levels, measured prior to progesterone administration, on the ongoing pregnancy rate in patients undergoing artificial endometrial preparation for single vitrified-warmed blastocyst transfer. Patients began taking oral oestradiol valerate on menstrual day 2–3. When the endometrial thickness reached ≥7 mm, they were tested for oestradiol, progesterone, and luteinizing hormone, and luteal phase support was started. The participants were divided into four groups based on luteinizing hormone percentiles, and differences in pregnancy outcomes were examined. No significant differences were observed for on-going pregnancy rate and the other pregnancy outcomes between the groups. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, not the luteinizing hormone levels but the quality of embryo had a significant influence on ongoing pregnancy (p = 0.004; adjusted odds ratio, 1.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.213–2.675). The elevation of luteinizing hormone levels during artificial endometrial preparation did not have an impact on the ongoing pregnancy or the other pregnancy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Social Security Information Service, a central government agency of South Korea, has implemented an information system using ML algorithms to identify social welfare blind spots. Social welfare blind spots refer to cases where individuals are eligible for social welfare benefits but are not current recipients for various reasons. Even though the ML-based model was performing well, the Korean government developed two additional methods, including a rule-based model and a human-driven heuristic method championed by local governments. This case study investigates why the ML-based method coexists with the other two methods and how they complement one another. We found that policymakers’ lack of understanding of ML, local government employees’ perception, and accountability concerns contributed to their coexistence. The three methods had different strengths and weaknesses. The government agencies orchestrated these methods to increase complementarities by leveraging and strengthening different problem-solving approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do some people express optimism about their future social mobility, while others have a pessimistic view? This paper examines whether and how local wealth inequality is associated with individuals' pessimistic or optimistic expectations of their future social mobility in South Korea. It argues that people in districts with greater economic inequality will have more pessimistic views of their future upward mobility, as high local inequality raises concerns among the public that their opportunities to move up the social ladder may be receding. Using economic inequality at the local level calculated using actual real estate transaction prices in South Korea from 2011 to 2018, the empirical results confirm the negative association between local inequality and individuals' assessments of their future social mobility, particularly among residents in less affluent districts, those with low incomes, and those with a subjective awareness of belonging to a lower social class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A high consumption of carbonated soft drinks (i.e., soda drinks) and fast food is potentially associated with the observed global rise in adolescent allergic diseases. Thus, our study aimed to examine the potential associations between the consumption of soda drinks and fast food and allergic conditions, identifying specific relationships across subgroups and each allergic condition (asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis). Methods: This study uses large-scale data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (total n = 865,614). Soda drinks and fast food were defined by a self-reported questionnaire and allergic conditions by physician-diagnosed within 1 year. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the weighted odds ratios (ORs), along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), for allergic diseases associated with the intake of soda drinks and fast food. Results: Among 865,614 adolescents in grades 7–12 (male, 51.40%), patients with asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis were 18,568 (2.15%), 153,536 (17.74%), and 59,014 (6.82%), respectively. Current asthma was associated with soda drinks (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03–1.12) and fast food consumption (1.25; 1.17–1.33). Interestingly, stronger associations were observed for female high schoolers, compared to male high schoolers and middle schoolers, in relation to the consumption of soda drinks (1.31; 1.19–1.44) and fast food (1.46; 1.26–1.69) with asthma. Current allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis had no significant association with fast food consumption and soda drinks. Conclusion: This first large-scale study suggests that fast food and soda drinks consumption are potentially associated with current asthma, with stronger associations observed in females than males, underscoring the need for sex-specific allergy prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by Bandavirus dabieense. Initially identified in China, this disease has spread throughout Asian countries via tick bites and animal-to-human transmission. However, reports of the prevalence of SFTS virus (SFTSV) in cattle in Korea are lacking. This study aimed to investigate SFTSV infections in grazing cattle in the Republic of Korea (ROK). Materials and Methods: In total, 845 grazing cattle serum samples were collected over 2 years (2019 and 2020) in the ROK, and viral RNA was extracted using a kit. One-step RT-nested PCR was performed to amplify the S-segment of SFTSV. Positive serum samples were used to isolate SFTSV in Vero E6 cells, and the full sequences were analyzed. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the maximum-likelihood method with MEGA X. In addition, immunoglobulin G antibodies against SFTSV were investigated using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Here, 4.0% of serum samples (34/845) were positive for SFTSV S-segments, and one virus isolate was cultured in Vero E6 cells. Phylogenetic analysis based on the partial S-segment classified 4 SFTSV isolates as the B-2 genotype, 9 as the B-3 genotype, 18 as an unclassified B genotype, and 3 as the D genotype. One cultured virus was classified as the B-2 genotype based on SFTSV L-, M-, and S-segments. Antibody detection results showed that 21.1% of serum samples (161/763) were positive for SFTSV. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study performed to identify the prevalence of SFTSV in grazing cattle in the ROK. Our findings indicate the necessity for more intensive and continuous SFTSV monitoring, not only in cattle but also in other animals, to comprehend the genetic diversity of the virus and its potential eco-epidemiological impact on human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global prevalence of prediabetes is expected to reach 8.3% (587 million people) by 2045, with 70% of people with prediabetes developing diabetes during their lifetimes. We aimed to classify community‐dwelling adults with a high risk for prediabetes based on prediabetes‐related symptoms and to identify their characteristics, which might be factors associated with prediabetes. We analyzed homecare nursing records (n = 26,840) of 1628 patients aged over 20 years. Using a natural language processing algorithm, we classified each nursing episode as either low‐risk or high‐risk for prediabetes based on the detected number and category of prediabetes‐symptom words. To identify differences between the risk groups, we employed t‐tests, chi‐square tests, and data visualization. Risk factors for prediabetes were identified using multiple logistic regression models with generalized estimating equations. A total of 3270 episodes (12.18%) were classified as potentially high‐risk for prediabetes. There were significant differences in the personal, social, and clinical factors between groups. Results revealed that female sex, age, cancer coverage as part of homecare insurance coverage, and family caregivers were significantly associated with an increased risk of prediabetes. Although prediabetes is not a life‐threatening disease, uncontrolled blood glucose can cause unfavorable outcomes for other major diseases. Thus, medical professionals should consider the associated symptoms and risk factors of prediabetes. Moreover, the proposed algorithm may support the detection of individuals at a high risk for prediabetes. Implementing this approach could facilitate proactive monitoring and early intervention, leading to reduced healthcare expenses and better health outcomes for community‐dwelling adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: This study was to determine how self-esteem mediates the relationships between leisure satisfaction, job satisfaction, and quality of life (QoL) among Korean police officers. In addition, the purpose is to comprehensively understand the quality of life of police officers by confirming the influence of variables affecting the quality of life of police officers and the direct and indirect effects of each variable and to provide scientific basis data for the application of intervention programs to improve the quality of life. Methods: The study was conducted with police officers working in three police stations in K Metropolitan City and J Province from August 1 to 20, 2024. Data collected were analyzed using the PROCESS Macro (Model 6), which assessed the significance of indirect effects and the variations across mediation pathways. Results: When looking at factors affecting QoL, self-esteem had statistically significant direct and total effects (γ = 0.115, p = 0.001). Leisure satisfaction was found to have a statistically significant total effect (γ = 0.296, p < 0.001) due to the direct effect (γ = 0.273, p < 0.001) and indirect effect (γ = 0.023, p < 0.05) on QoL. In addition, job satisfaction was found to have a statistically significant total effect (γ = 0.450, p < 0.001) due to the direct effect (γ = 0.416, p < 0.001) and indirect effect (γ = 0.034, p < 0.05) on QoL. Conclusions: These results emphasize the necessity of developing programs aimed at increasing the QoL and mental health of police officers by exploiting these relational dynamics. In addition, the fact that self-esteem played a mediating role in the quality of life among each variable suggests that it is necessary to develop and apply programs to improve self-esteem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/objective: The diagnosis and treatment of functional dyspepsia (FD) require a systematic and tailored approach. In traditional Korean medicine (TKM), pattern-identification tools help analyze clinical information and guide treatment. This study aimed to develop a Korean version of the standard tool of pattern identification for functional dyspepsia (STPI-FD) and subsequently assess its reliability and validity. Methods: Common patterns and symptoms were identified through a systematic review of the clinical studies conducted in Korea and China. An importance survey for each pattern and symptom was conducted using the Delphi method and refined through expert consensus. A draft STPI-FD comprising six patterns and 38 items was developed. Ninety-five patients with FD completed the STPI-FD along with the Visual Analog Scale, Total Dyspepsia Symptom scale, Single Dyspepsia Symptom scale, and Functional Dyspepsia-related Quality of Life questionnaire. Results: Two items were excluded from the STPI-FD due to their negative impact on reliability, resulting in a 36-item tool. The revised STPI-FD demonstrated high internal consistency, with an overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.942. In contrast, the Cronbach's alpha values for each pattern ranged from 0.7 to 0.9. To assess its validity, significant differences in the pattern characteristics and associated symptoms were confirmed, indicating its clinical relevance. Statistically significant positive correlations between the revised STPI-FD and other dyspepsia-related scales underscore the differentiation between patterns. Conclusion: The final STPI-FD is a moderately reliable and valid tool for diagnosing specific patterns in FD, supporting the selection of interventions and the evaluation of symptom improvement in patients treated with TKM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Lumpy skin disease (LSD) caused by the LSD virus (LSDV) severely impacts the economy of a country and its cattle industry. After the first outbreak in October 2023, South Korea decided to vaccinate cattle nationwide. This study specifically investigated the efficacy of the vaccination campaign against lumpy skin disease (LSD) and analyzed the seropositivity rates of LSD antibodies 2–3 months after vaccination to provide guidance regarding future vaccination strategies and biosecurity measures. In total, 3910 cattle were tested from four Korean provinces, with an overall seropositivity rate of 30.59 percent. Dairy cattle had higher seropositivity rates (42.97%) than Korean native cattle (29.21%). The availability of appropriate restraining facilities and vaccination methods has an influence on vaccine effectiveness. Although vaccination produces an adequate immune response, upgrading vaccination procedures, such as strengthening restraint facilities and employing professionals, can improve outcomes even more. This study offers useful insights into how to improve LSD control strategies in Korea and other affected countries. Lumpy skin disease (LSD), caused by the LSD virus (LSDV), a dsDNA virus of the genus Capripoxvirus, represents a significant cross-border infectious threat, particularly impacting cattle and water buffaloes through transmission by blood-feeding insects. Traditionally endemic to Southern Africa, LSD has rapidly spread over the past decade through the Middle East to Eastern Europe and China, reaching Korea in October 2023. This outbreak prompted a nationwide vaccination campaign, addressing both the disease's severe economic impact and its status as a notifiable disease under the World Organisation for Animal Health. This study assesses the seropositivity of the LSD vaccine in cattle across four Korean provinces 2–3 months post-vaccination, aiming to inform improvements in biosecurity and vaccination strategies. Overall, 30.59% of the cattle tested (1196 out of 3910) exhibited positive antibody responses, comparable to international post-vaccination findings. Analysis further revealed differences in the antibody positivity between farm types and management practices. Specifically, farms where vaccines were administered by veterinarians showed no significant difference in antibody positivity between Korean native cattle and dairy cattle, regardless of the presence of restraint facilities. However, on farms where vaccinations were conducted by the owners, dairy cattle demonstrated a higher seropositivity (43.30 ± 33.39%) compared to Korean native cattle (21.97 ± 20.79%) in the absence of restraint facilities. Further comparisons underscored the impact of restraint facilities on vaccination efficacy, with dairy farms generally achieving higher antibody positivity (29.43 ± 30.61%) than farms with Korean native cattle (23.02 ± 23.33%) (p < 0.05), suggesting that consistent vaccine delivery methods enhance immunogenic responses. Contrarily, no significant difference was noted in antibody positivity between large- and small-scale farms, indicating that farm size did not notably impact the effectiveness of the vaccinator. These findings emphasize that while current vaccines are sufficiently inducing immunity, enhancing vaccination strategies, particularly through trained personnel and improved restraint facilities, is crucial. This study's insights into the impact of vaccination and farm management practices provide valuable guidance for refining LSD control measures in Korea and potentially other affected regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) experience depressive symptoms such as anhedonia as well as cognitive dysfunction which can subsequently impair their work performance. Purpose: To assess the effectiveness and safety of vortioxetine in working patients with MDD in South Korea. Patients and Methods: This was a subgroup analysis of a prospective, multicenter, non-interventional, non-comparative post-marketing surveillance (PMS) study. Vortioxetine-naïve patients aged > 18 years who were administered with vortioxetine were followed for up to 24± 2 weeks. Working patients were defined as those who were working or studying full- (≥ 6 hours/day) or part-time (< 6 hours/day) at baseline. Effectiveness and adverse events (AEs), assessed by both clinician and patient-reported measured, were analyzed. Results: A total of 1082 working patients (mean age: 39.56 years) were included in the subgroup analysis. Clinically significant improvements in depressive symptoms, including anhedonia, were observed over the 24 weeks of follow-up, with mean scores for the total Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and anhedonia subscale both significantly decreasing from baseline by mean±standard deviation (SD) of 9.73± 9.08 and 5.37± 5.24 points, respectively, at 24 weeks (both p< 0.001 vs baseline). The vast majority of patients (80.01%) treated with vortioxetine also showed improvements in mental health symptoms over the 24 weeks, measured using the Clinical Global Impression – Improvement (CGI-I) scores. Significant improvements in cognitive symptoms were also observed over the study period, measured by the Korean Version of the Perceived Deficits Questionnaire-Depression as well as Digit Symbol Substitution Test (all p< 0.0001 from baseline at Visits 2 and 3). Vortioxetine was well tolerated in working patients, with the respective rates of any AEs and serious AEs being 18.67% and 1.20%. Conclusion: Working patients treated with vortioxetine had improvements in their depressive symptoms (including anhedonia), cognitive function and performance. Vortioxetine was found to be well tolerated in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with respiratory disease often need oxygen supplements through a High‐flow nasal cannula (HFNC), both hypoxia and hyperoxia can be harmful. Proper oxygen therapy requires careful monitoring of oxygen levels and adjustments to oxygen levels. A new automated system called Targeted SpO2 Feedback (TSF) improved the oxygen delivery system compared to manual adjustments. [Correction added on 25 October 2024, after first online publication: Background subsection in Abstract has been added on this version.] Aim: To test whether targeted SpO2 feedback (TSF), an automatic control system for fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), achieves more time in the optimal SpO2 range and/or reduces the frequency of manual adjustments to administered FiO2 compared with conventional manual titration in patients with hypoxia on high‐flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy. Study Design: Twenty‐two patients were recruited from two hospitals. For each, two sessions of manual mode and two sessions of TSF were applied in a random order, each session lasting 2 h. The target SpO2 on TSF was 95%. Oxygen monitoring levels were classified into four SpO2 ranges: hypoxia (≤ 89%), borderline (90%–93%), optimal (94%–96%) and hyperoxia (≥ 97%). The two modes were compared based on the proportion of time spent in each SpO2 range and the number of manual FiO2 adjustments. Results: The proportion of time in the optimal SpO2 range was 20.5% under manual titration mode and 65.4% under TSF (p <.01). The proportions of time in the hypoxia range were 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively (p =.31), in the borderline range 4.7% and 3.5%, respectively (p =.54), and in the hyperoxia range 73.7% and 30.7%, respectively (p <.01). There were statistical differences only in the optimal and hyperoxia SpO2 ranges. During the 8 h, the frequency of manual FiO2 adjustment was 0.7 times for the manual mode and 0.2 times for TSF, showing no statistically significant difference (p = 0.076). Conclusion: Compared with manual titration, TSF achieved greater time of the optimal SpO2 and less time of hyperoxia during HFNC. The frequency of manual adjustments on TSF tended to be less than on manual titration mode. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Automatic closed‐loop algorithm FiO2 monitoring systems can achieve better oxygen treatments than conventional monitoring and may reduce nurse workloads. In the era of pandemic respiratory diseases, this system can also facilitate contactless SpO2 monitoring during HFNC therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Hwa-byung (HB), also known as "anger syndrome" or "fire illness", is a culture-bound syndrome primarily observed among Koreans. This study aims to develop a short-form version of the HB symptom scale using machine learning approaches. Methods: Utilizing exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and various machine learning techniques (i.e., XGBoost, Logistic Regression, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, Decision Tree, and Multi-Layer Perceptron), we sought to create an efficient HB assessment tool. A survey was conducted on 500 Korean adults using the original 15-item HB symptom scale. Results: The EFA revealed two distinct factors: psychological symptoms and somatic manifestations of HB. Statistical testing showed no significant differences between using different numbers of items per factor (ANOVA: F = 0.8593, p = 0.5051), supporting a minimalist approach with one item per factor. The resulting two-item short-form scale (Q3 and Q10) demonstrated high predictive power for the presence of HB. Multiple machine learning models achieved a consistent accuracy (90.00% for most models) with high discriminative ability (AUC = 0.9436–0.9579), with the Multi-Layer Perceptron showing the highest performance (AUC = 0.9579). The models showed balanced performance in identifying both HB and non-HB cases, with precision and recall values consistently around 0.90. Conclusions: The findings of this study highlighted the effectiveness of integrating EFA and artificial intelligence via machine learning in developing practical assessment tools. This study contributes to advancing methodological approaches for scale development and offers a model for creating efficient assessments of Korean medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The study of facial emotion recognition is under-explored in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We investigated whether deficits in facial emotion recognition are present in patients with MCI. We also analyzed the relationship between facial emotion recognition and different domains of cognitive function. Methods: This study included 300 participants aged 60 years or older with cognitive decline. We evaluated 181 MCI and 119 non-MCI subjects using the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery-Core (SNSB-C) and facial emotion recognition task using six facial expressions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise). A Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was used to assess the association between cognitive performance and accuracy of facial emotion recognition and to compare facial emotion recognition in the MCI group based on the impairment of five different domains of cognitive function. The model was adjusted for age, sex, years of education, and depressive symptoms. Results: Patients with MCI had a lower score for accurately recognizing total facial emotion (0.48 vs. 0.53; ρ = 0.0003) and surprise (0.73 vs. 0.81; ρ = 0.0215) when compared to cognitively healthy subjects. We also discovered that frontal/executive function domain (Digit Symbol Coding [DSC, 0.38 vs. 0.49; p < 0.0001], Controlled Oral Word Association Test [COWAT, 0.42 vs. 0.49; p = 0.0001], Korean-Trail Making Test [K-TMT, 0.37 vs. 0.48; p = 0.0073], Korean-Color Word Stroop Test [K-CWST, 0.43 vs. 0.49; p = 0.0219]) and language domain (Korean-Boston Naming Test [S-K-BNT, 0.46 vs. 0.47; p = 0.003]) were statistically associated with the deficits of facial emotion recognition in patients with MCI. Conclusion: We observed a significant association between deficits in facial emotion recognition and cognitive impairment in elderly individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The Republic of Korea is progressively becoming a super-aged society, emphasizing the need for regular physical activity among older adults because it has physical, psychological, and social benefits. Recently, increasing depression and suicide rates have been reported among older adults living alone. However, research that considers older adults' living situations is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the relationship between health-promoting behaviors (HPB), physical self-efficacy (PSE), exercise adherence, and sports commitment among older adults aged ≥ 65 years who participated in sports activities and investigate the influence of their living situation. Methods: The participants were 452 individuals aged ≥ 65 who lived in the metropolitan areas of Chungcheong-do, Jeolla-do, and Gwangju Provinces, Republic of Korea, and who regularly participated in sports activities (men = 283, women = 169). This study was conducted from January to May 2024. Data were collected using a structured and validated questionnaire, and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and multi-group analysis. Results: Structural equation modeling showed that the research model was appropriate, and all five paths showed statistical significance. The identity of the model was verified in the multi-group analysis, but path coefficients differed between older adults living alone and those living with family members. HPB significantly affected PSE, exercise adherence, and sports commitment among both groups of older adults. However, the impact of PSE on exercise adherence and sports commitment was not statistically significant among older adults living alone. Conclusions: The results highlight the need to consider older adults' living situations when establishing regular physical activity. Efforts should also be made to promote regular exercise participation among older adults living alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The physical dependence on prescription opioids among cancer survivors remains an under-investigated area, with a scarcity of well-designed prospective studies. Methods This single-arm, phase-2 clinical trial in Korea assessed the efficacy and safety of a transdermal buprenorphine patch (TBP) in managing physical dependence on prescription opioids in cancer survivors, as confirmed through the DSM-5 criteria or psychiatric consultation for opioid withdrawal. This study involved a 4-phase treatment protocol of screening, induction/stabilization, discontinuation, and monitoring. The primary outcome was the rate of successful opioid discontinuation, as measured by a negative urine-drug screening at 8 weeks. Key secondary outcomes included the resumption of prescribed opioids, changes in both the Clinical Opioid Withdrawal Scale (COWS) and morphine equivalent daily dose (MEDD), and assessments related to the psychological and physiological aspects of dependence and safety. Results Thirty-one participants were enrolled. In the intention-to-treat population, the success rate of opioid discontinuation was 58%, with only 2 participants experiencing a resumption of prescribed opioids. Significant reductions were observed in MEDD, which decreased from 98 to 26 mg/day (P  < .001), and COWS scores, which decreased from 5.5 to 2.8 (P  < .001). Desire to use opioids reduced from 7.0 to 3.0 on a 10-point numeric rating scale (P  < .001). Toxicities related to TBP were mild and manageable, without severe precipitated withdrawal symptoms. Conclusion TBP may be considered as an alternative therapeutic option in cancer survivors physically dependent on prescription opioids, especially where sublingual formulations are unavailable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the current status and workload of telenursing by home healthcare nurses in the post-COVID-19 era, where telenursing has become indispensable, and identify factors that influence the intention to use telenursing. This study employed a cross-sectional descriptive approach based on an online survey. A total of 137 active home care nurses were surveyed for over 6 weeks starting in December 2022. Among the participants, 33.8% (N = 44) responded that they were currently using telenursing services. Most telenursing was conducted for consultation and education, using various technologies. The intention to use telenursing was significantly higher among individuals with higher educational levels and telenursing experience. The greater the social influence, which indicates the extent to which people around them believe that telenursing should be used, and more positive the attitudes toward telenursing, the higher the intention to use it. A clear definition of telenursing is required to improve people's understanding of telenursing before its official implementation in Korea. Telenursing may be used to provide health care education and consultation while maintaining the continuity of care not only for patients receiving home health care but also for community-dwelling patients. To recognize and evaluate current telenursing practices, telenursing content should be recorded accurately. Finally, attitudes toward telenursing and social influence must be considered when developing strategies to improve nurses' intentions to use and activate telenursing in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Korean secondary students in K region responded to surveys about how satisfied they were with their teachers and their favorite characteristics of teachers that helped determine their achievement and adjustment in classes. We conducted a factor analysis of the students' perceptions of the qualities of their favorite teachers and factor scores across students' grade levels. Our findings indicate that the participants considered five major factors in their evaluation of favorable teachers: communication, life guidance, class management, affective skills, and appearance. Of these, students valued affective aspects, such as communication, life guidance, and affective skills, the most highly. Students' preferences for affective skills intensified as they advanced from middle school grade 1 to high school grade 3. The current study is expected to contribute to developing an understanding of students' perspectives, which has been neglected in previous research.

This study examines the identities of Korean English teachers who have lived in various English-speaking countries but now serve as certified public school teachers in Korea. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with seven teachers and analysed via critical discourse analysis. Despite being rated as near-native, the teachers with transnational experience still undervalued their English proficiency, possibly because they compared their proficiency to that of native speakers. They were also found to place emphasis on native-like pronunciation, particularly American pronunciation. They classified themselves as non-native speakers, stating that they would never be close to native speakers due to innate factors such as nationality or race. The skewed preference towards American English and native speakership was found to be heavily influenced by the socio-cultural ideologies embedded in institutional systems in Korea. These findings reveal the underlying ideologies of English and native speakership in Korea, which highlights the importance of considering teacher's perceptions of their identities in designing teacher training programmes.

Flipped learning has received growing attention as an important instructional approach leading to students' learning performance and higher order thinking abilities. This study applied flipped learning to a large university class to improve its major weakness, students' low engagement, and investigated the effects of self-regulation and transactional distance on learning engagement. The participants of this study were 390 undergraduate students who were enrolled in a general education course "Philosophy of Consideration" at a large university in South Korea. Analyses of an online survey completed in the Fall semester of 2018 indicate that self-regulation affected learning engagement and transactional interaction. Transactional interaction also affected learning engagement. In addition, transactional distance was found to mediate the relationship between self-regulation and learning engagement. That is, self-regulation affected learning engagement both directly and indirectly. However, students' past flipped learning experience did not moderate the relationships among self-regulation, transactional interaction, and learning engagement. The research findings of this study confirmed the importance of self-regulation and transactional distance for improving learning engagement in a large university class. Finally, this study directly addresses prevailing concerns about how to effectively teach a large university class.

The number of mixed-ethnic adolescents from multicultural families in South Korea has rapidly increased over the last several years. Although traditionally ethnically homogeneous, Korea has recently shifted toward multiculturalism, yet little research has compared mixed and single-ethnic youth on adverse outcomes in Korea and, to date, no research has done so using a quasi-experimental design. This study uses propensity score weighting with a sample of 1,156 Korean adolescents (756 inter-ethnic and 800 single-ethnic youths) to examine differences in mixed and single-ethic adolescent adverse life outcomes, including depressive symptoms, fear of crime, and victimization experiences. The results indicate that inter-ethnic heritage is associated with increases in fear of crime, but has a negative association with victimization. Findings also revealed nonsignificant differences on depression between the two groups. This highlights the need to engage in research with a strong emphasis on eliminating confounding effects. Implications for further research are discussed.

This research explored the characteristics of students' activities and their artifacts during their participation in climate change club projects and investigated the impacts of the club project participation on students' ecological citizenship. Climate change club projects were developed to help students understand climate change, investigate climate change issues, and plan and participate in social actions. Participants developed scientific models of causes of climate change and were expected to develop the own perspectives about socio-scientific issues related to climate change. Five types of competences of ecological citizenship were targeted through club activities: knowledge and understanding, responsibility, justice, sustainability, and participation. Researchers found activities were student centered and interactive and artifacts generated by students were resources for social action. Climate change club activities demonstrated the potential for student participation in club projects to promote competence for mitigating climate change among future generations by fostering a new form of citizenship: ecological citizenship.

This study verifies the relationship between depression and death anxiety in older adults and the moderating effect of ego-integrity on this relationship. The survey was conducted with 236 participants aged 65 years and older through a combination of online and offline surveys. The final data were analyzed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS 2.16. The main findings of this study are as follows: First, depression in old age was positively related to anxiety about death. Second, the moderating effect of ego-integrity was observed on the relationship between depression and death anxiety. Third, on examining the moderating effect of each sub-variable of ego-integrity, the moderating effect of satisfaction with one's life was observed to be significant. Conversely, the moderating effect of attitude toward life and acceptance of old age was not significant. The results of this study are meaningful in examining the moderating effect of ego-integrity on the relationship between depression and death anxiety. Furthermore, the results of this study can provide basic data for the development and application of psychological intervention programs for older adults experiencing psychological problems due to depression and death anxiety in old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the establishment and benefits of the comprehensive admissions type recently introduced into Korean universities. We analyse undergraduate students' academic achievement and career readiness across three different admissions types in a medium-sized university: rolling, comprehensive and regular. First, a series of mixed ANOVAs examined longitudinal changes for academic achievement and a set of ANOVAs found differences for academic achievement, within each semester. Specifically, students admitted via comprehensive admissions were found to have grade point averages (GPAs) similar to students admitted via regular admissions. Second, two-way MANOVA examined students' career readiness by admissions type and academic standing. Students admitted through comprehensive admissions were found to exhibit a higher level of career readiness across academic years. The implications for admissions types in Higher Education are discussed.

Objectives: As the Republic of Korea transitions towards a super-aged society, the health and mental well-being of older adults are emerging as critical issues. While many researchers are focusing on successful aging among older adults who participate in exercise, there is a research gap in the Korean literature regarding the preconditions that foster this outcome. Therefore, this study analyzed the relationship between satisfaction and exercise, physical self-efficacy (PSE), exercise adherence, and successful aging among Korean older adults who exercise regularly. Methods: The participants were 369 (234 male and 135 female) older adults aged 65 or older living in the Republic of Korea, with an average age of 69.91 years. Data were collected from March 2024 to June 2024 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling. Results: There was no problem with the model fit. Satisfaction with exercise positively affected PSE (β = 0.317, p < 0.001), exercise adherence (β = 0.487, p < 0.001), and successful aging (β = 0.669, p < 0.001). PSE positively affected exercise adherence (β = 0.356, p < 0.001), and exercise adherence positively affected successful aging (β = 0.190, p < 0.05). Furthermore, PSE (β = 0.019, p < 0.01) and exercise adherence (β = 0.081, p < 0.05) mediated the relationship between satisfaction with exercise and successful aging. Conclusions: Satisfaction with exercise is important for promoting successful aging among Korean older adults who exercise. Satisfaction with exercise can increase their efficacy for performing physical activities and encourage them to continue exercising. This can ultimately lead to a happy life in old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarization surrounding nuclear power has intensified in Korea following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. In 2017, President Moon Jae-in implemented an energy policy that shifted the focus from nuclear to renewable energy, a departure from previous governments’ approaches. Additionally, Moon administration supported various participatory governance initiatives to minimize social conflicts, including participatory deliberative polls concerning the construction of the Shin-Kori nuclear power plants. However, the Moon administration’s policy was followed by polarization between nuclear and renewable energy factions escalating toward the end of the term. We employed mixed-method approaches combining media and survey analyses to investigate this issue. The results demonstrate that, despite initially appearing to be policy neutral, renewable energy alternatives underwent polarization under the Moon administration. We emphasize the need to investigate effective strategies for utilizing participatory projects as tools to break, rather than reinforce, the political gridlock impeding energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chuna manual therapy (CMT), a Korean manual therapy technique predominantly used for treating low back pain (LBP) and related disorders, lacks well-conceived research focusing on its comparative effectiveness, safety, and economic evaluation, particularly with respect to complex CMT with established CMT diagnostic algorithms. This study aims to illustrate a protocol for a randomized clinical study for comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of complex CMT with simple CMT and usual care. Methods: This is a protocol for a three-armed, multicenter, assessor-blinded, pragmatic, randomized controlled trial study. A total of 81 patients suffering from non-acute LBP with pelvic biomechanical lesions (PBL), characterized by a pain duration of at least two weeks and a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score of 5 or higher, will be recruited from two Korean medicine hospitals. These participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: complex CMT plus usual care (UC; n = 27), simple CMT plus UC (n = 27), or UC groups (n = 27). They will undergo treatment for 4 weeks, and follow-up assessments will be performed 8 weeks after treatment completion. The primary outcome will be the NRS score of LBP, and secondary outcomes will include the Oswestry Disability Index, Patient Global Impression of Change, credibility and expectancy questionnaire, three-dimensional posture analysis indicators, quality of life assessment, economic evaluation, and safety assessments. Discussion: This will be the first study to assess the comparative effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of complex CMT compared to UC and simple/complex CMT in patients with LBP and PBL. We will also analyze useful diagnostic methods to help in clinical practice for CMT diagnosis. Trial registration: Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS), KCT0009210. Registered on February 28, 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Musculoskeletal disorders occur frequently in industrial settings, and police officers in particular are at high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders due to the nature of their work, but research on this is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders according to the job functions of police officers. A survey was conducted, targeting active-duty police officers, and data were collected from 4268 respondents who answered all items on the questionnaire. As a control group, we used the general population dataset from the 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in Korea. The survey included general information such as gender, age, working hours, and type of work. It also investigated medical utilization, including the frequency of medical visits and hospitalizations. The assessment of musculoskeletal disorders was analyzed using pain NRS, VAS, SPADI, and ODI. The working characteristics of police officers were found to be more irregular in terms of working hours and involved a higher intensity of work activities compared with the general population. However, there was a lack of precise diagnoses and continuous treatment for these disorders. These results imply that police officers' occupational characteristics are related to musculoskeletal disorders. Considering the direct relationship between police officers' health and public safety, systematic evaluation and management of their musculoskeletal disorders are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, opinions, competence, and barriers of nurses providing trauma-informed care (TIC) to children in hospitals. Methods: Data were collected from 198 nurses nationwide using the TIC Provider Survey developed by the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress in July, 2024. Descriptive statistics, t tests, and one-way ANOVA were conducted using the IBM SPSS Statistics software (ver. 23.0, IBM Corp.). Results: Of the 13 items assessing knowledge of TIC, seven had a correct response rate of over 90%. However, the correct response rate for these three items were less than 30%. Regarding opinions on the TIC, more than 90% of participants agreed with five of the seven items. In self-rated competence in providing TIC, they were not competent in responding to a child's (or parent's) questions about whether the child is going to die or understanding how traumatic stress may present differently according to developmental stages. The major barriers to providing TIC were time constraints, lack of training, and organizational support. Items with relatively low performance rates were 'teach parents what to say to their child after a difficult/sick/scary experience, and teach child or parents the specific ways to cope with unpleasant experiences'. Conclusion: This study suggests that it can contribute to the development of specific guidelines for nurses to effectively apply TIC in pediatric and family nursing practice, emphasizing the need for educational programs to support this implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore the factors influencing nursing professionalism among nursing students, focusing on the image of nurses, satisfaction with their major, and career metacognition. Methods: We conducted a descriptive survey with 185 nursing students from D city and K region on June 10–30, 2024. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS ver. 27.0 (IBM Corp.), employing descriptive statistics, t tests, one-way ANOVA, Scheffé tests, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and regression analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify factors affecting nursing professionalism among nursing students. Results: The regression analysis revealed that the image of nurses (β=.69, p<.001) and monitoring aspect of career metacognition (β=.13, p=.025) were significant predictors of nursing professionalism, accounting for 64.5% of the variance. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the image of nurses and monitoring component of career metacognition are critical in shaping nursing professionalism among nursing students. Therefore, nursing education programs should aim to improve the image of nurses and promote self-reflective career practices as strategies to foster professionalism among nursing students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Established in 2002, the Korean Gynecologic Oncology Group (KGOG) has presented improved clinical outcomes based on multi-center clinical trials. To date, KGOG has approved 156 studies and published 68 KGOG-led studies. The organization aims to advance gynecologic cancer research through sustained efforts and international collaboration. The Korean Gynecologic Oncology Group (KGOG) was established in 2002 and is the only organization in Korea conducting multi-center clinical trials for gynecologic cancers. Since its re-establishment as a non-profit organization in 2021, KGOG has grown significantly, now including 207 gynecologic oncology specialists from 76 hospitals. This growth is a testament to the dedication and hard work of all those involved in the organization. KGOG is committed to maximizing the activation of multi-center clinical research through policies that support patients with rare diseases and gynecologic cancer research, focusing on strengthening institutional capacity, equalizing participation opportunities, and enhancing information sharing. A significant milestone for KGOG was becoming a member of the US Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) in 2005, allowing participation in GOG clinical trials. KGOG later joined the Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup (GCIG) and strengthened its capabilities by hosting the first Endometrial Cancer Consensus Conference—Clinical Research (ECCC-CR) in 2023. KGOG holds biannual meetings and symposia, as well as 224 operating committee meetings annually to review the discussions of the Tumor Site Committee. KGOG has conducted 156 investigator-initiated trial (IIT) or sponsor-initiated trial (SIT) studies as KGOG-led or participated in research. Currently, 18 studies are registered, and 10 are in preparation. To date, 68 papers have been published. KGOG conducts six national projects and collaborates with external organizations such as the NRG Oncology Foundation, Gynecologic Oncology Group Partners (GOG-P), GCIG, East Asian Gynecologic Oncology Trial group (EAGOT), and the Japanese Gynecologic Oncology Group (JGOG). Through collaboration with renowned international research institutions, KGOG has significantly expanded the scope of its research, achieving noteworthy clinical outcomes. This report not only introduces the history and recent status of KGOG but also presents the exciting future direction of the organization, filled with potential breakthroughs and advancements in gynecologic oncology research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This study aimed to identify prognostic factors by combining clinicopathologic parameters with tumor microenvironment (TME) biomarkers in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) who underwent surgery following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT). We analyzed CD8+ T cells, CXCR3, CXCL10, and α-SMA using immunohistochemical staining and incorporated AI-powered digital pathology to assess the spatial TME. Our findings showed that high expression of CD8+ T cells, CXCR3 in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and an inflamed phenotype were associated with better recurrence-free survival (RFS). However, these factors were not predictive of overall survival (OS). Patients with an immune-desert phenotype had a poor prognosis regardless of pathologic stage or the administration of postoperative chemotherapy. These results suggest that CD8+ T cells and AI-powered immune phenotypes, together with clinical factors, can guide personalized treatment strategies in LARC patients post-nCRT and highlight the potential benefits of modifying the tumor immune microenvironment (TiME) to reduce recurrence after surgery. Background/Objectives: The tumor microenvironment (TME) has emerged as a significant prognostic factor. This study aimed to identify prognostic factors by combining clinicopathologic parameters and the TME biomarkers in patients who underwent surgery following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Methods: CD8+ T cells, CXCR3, CXCL10, and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were analyzed via immunohistochemical staining. We also incorporated AI-powered digital pathology to assess the spatial TME. The associations between these biomarkers, clinicopathologic parameters, and survival outcomes were evaluated. Results: CD8+ T cell expression, CXCR3 expression in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and immune phenotypes were correlated. LARC patients with a high expression of CD8+ T cells, CXCR3 in TILs, and an inflamed phenotype had a significantly better prognosis than their counterparts did. In the multivariate analysis, the expression of CD8+ T cells and the inflamed/immune-excluded phenotype were significant tumor immune microenvironment (TiME) biomarkers for recurrence-free survival (RFS) but not for overall survival (OS). Notably, patients with the immune-desert phenotype had a poor prognosis regardless of pathologic stage, even if postoperative chemotherapy was administered (p < 0.001). Conclusions: CD8+ T cells and AI-powered immune phenotypes, alongside clinical factors, can guide personalized treatment in LARC patients receiving nCRT. A therapeutic strategy to modify the TiME after nCRT could help reduce recurrence after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Society of Anesthesiologist's Physical Status (ASA-PS) classification system assesses comorbidities before sedation and analgesia, but inconsistencies among raters have hindered its objective use. This study aimed to develop natural language processing (NLP) models to classify ASA-PS using pre-anesthesia evaluation summaries, comparing their performance to human physicians. Data from 717,389 surgical cases in a tertiary hospital (October 2004–May 2023) was split into training, tuning, and test datasets. Board-certified anesthesiologists created reference labels for tuning and test datasets. The NLP models, including ClinicalBigBird, BioClinicalBERT, and Generative Pretrained Transformer 4, were validated against anesthesiologists. The ClinicalBigBird model achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.915. It outperformed board-certified anesthesiologists with a specificity of 0.901 vs. 0.897, precision of 0.732 vs. 0.715, and F1-score of 0.716 vs. 0.713 (all p <0.01). This approach will facilitate automatic and objective ASA-PS classification, thereby streamlining the clinical workflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We aimed to describe patient awareness regarding fall prevention and education, perceived causes of falls, and changes in attitude after experiencing a fall through interviews with older Korean patients who experienced falls with resultant hip fractures. Materials and Methods: We conducted face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews with 11 patients who were admitted to Kangbuk Samsung Hospital for hip fractures caused by falls and were referred to the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine for postsurgical rehabilitation between June 2022 and June 2023. The data were analyzed using the phenomenological method developed by Colaizzi. Results: Before hip fracture, none of the patients had received fall prevention education or perceived its necessity; however, they recognized its necessity retrospectively. Participants described the causes of falls as carelessness, actions taken at the time of the fall, environmental factors, and decreased physical function. Most participants believed that falls could be prevented through personal caution and activity restrictions. Some mentioned fall prevention education, exercise, wearing appropriate shoes, environmental adjustments, and seeking assistance from others as methods of preventing future falls. Most patients reported adopting a safety-seeking attitude after experiencing hip fracture. Many patients had negative thoughts such as guilt or thoughts of death, whereas only a few reported increased interest in education and exercise. Conclusions: We observed a lack of fall prevention education, misunderstanding regarding the cause of falls, and negative psychological changes after experiencing hip fractures due to falls in older Korean individuals. Recognizing and managing patient perceptions is crucial for effective fall prevention, requiring both healthcare provider awareness and active participation from patients and caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: The present study examined the effect of 12-week combined exercise training in normobaric hypoxia on arterial stiffness, inflammatory biomarkers, and red blood cell (RBC) hemorheological function in 24 obese older women (mean age: 67.96 ± 0.96 years). Methods: Subjects were randomly divided into two groups (normoxia (NMX; n = 12) and hypoxia (HPX; n = 12)). Both groups performed aerobic and resistance exercise training programs three times per week for 12 weeks, and the HPX group performed exercise programs in hypoxic environment chambers during the intervention period. Body composition was estimated using bioelectrical impedance analysis equipment. Arterial stiffness was measured using an automatic waveform analyzer. Biomarkers of inflammation and oxygen transport (tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 6 (IL-6), erythropoietin (EPO), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)), and RBC hemorheological parameters (RBC deformability and aggregation) were analyzed. Results: All variables showed significantly more beneficial changes in the HPX group than in the NMX group during the intervention. The combined exercise training in normobaric hypoxia significantly reduced blood pressure (systolic blood pressure: p < 0.001, diastolic blood pressure: p < 0.001, mean arterial pressure: p < 0.001, pulse pressure: p < 0.05) and brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (p < 0.001). IL-6 was significantly lower in the HPX group than in the NMX group post-test (p < 0.001). Also, EPO (p < 0.01) and VEGF (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in the HPX group than in the NMX group post-test. Both groups showed significantly improved RBC deformability (RBC EI_3Pa) (p < 0.001) and aggregation (RBC AI_3Pa) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The present study suggests that combined exercise training in normobaric hypoxia can improve inflammatory biomarkers and RBC hemorheological parameters in obese older women and may help prevent cardiovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]