ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted the implementation of social distancing policies worldwide, limiting participation in exercise and substantially impacting health behaviors. In accordance with the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the present study aimed to develop a model for predicting the intent to participate in exercise and engage in health behaviors among Korean men using the perception of COVID-19 risk as an exogenous variable. We analyzed data obtained from 374 Korean men who had completed a 32-item, online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was performed to evaluate the effect of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) on the intention to participate in exercise and health behaviors using COVID-19 risk perception as an antecedent variable. COVID-19 risk perception exerted significant negative effects on the attitude toward exercise participation (beta = -0.857, p < 0.001), subjective norms associated with exercise participation (beta = -0.862, p < 0.001), and PBC related to exercise (beta = -0.738, p < 0.001). In addition, both attitude (beta = 0.213, p < 0.001) and subjective norms (beta = 0.168, p = 0.001) exerted significant effects on the intention to participate in exercise. PBC also exerted significant effects on the intention to participate in exercise (beta = 0.580, p < 0.001) and health behaviors (beta = 0.461, p < 0.001). Lastly, the intention to participate in exercise exerted a significant effect on health behaviors (beta = 0.400, p < 0.001). The data indicated that, among TPB variables, PBC exerted the greatest influence on the intention to participate in exercise and had a significant effect on engagement in health behaviors. The current findings support TPB as an important theoretical model for predicting the intention to participate in exercise and patterns of health behavior among Korean men during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study also highlights the importance of addressing PBC when designing interventions to promote exercise participation and health behaviors among Korean men.Copyright ©2023 The Author(s).
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a result of the infection by "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and has caused various social and economic effects over the globe. As the SARS-CoV-2 is effectively inactivated by the exposure to the UV-B radiation (shorter than 315 nm), the exposure time for inactivation of the SARS-CoV-2 was estimated using the broadband UV observation instrument over 11 observation sites in South Korea. For the limitation of the UV biometer, which has limited spectral information, the coefficient for conversion from the erythemal UV (EUV) to the radiation for virus inactivation was adopted before estimating the inactivation time. The inactivation time of SARS-CoV-2 is significantly dependent on seasonal and diurnal variations due to the temporal variations of surface incident UV irradiance. The inactivation times in summer and winter were around 10 and 50 min, respectively. The inactivation time was unidentified during winter afternoons due to the weak spectral UV solar radiation in winter. As the estimation of inactivation time using broadband observation includes the uncertainty due to the conversion coefficient and the error due to the solar irradiance, the sensitivity analysis of the inactivation time estimation was also conducted by changing the UV irradiance.
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the effectiveness of an upper-room UVGI system in a small classroom. Mixing ventilation can increase virus removal when combined with a UVGI system more effectively than displacement ventilation combined with a UVGI system, especially in cases where the ventilation rate is low. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Intro: The need for re-use of gloves as an alternative to single use was raised in times of resource shortages because during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, marked increase in healthcare associated infection was reported, which might owing to shortage of personal protective equipment. we aimed to evaluate the risk of microbial transmission by comparing residual microorganism after multiple patient contact according to with or without gloves in clinical practice. Method(s): Three researchers made rounds of patients while touching the same area successively followed by alcohol-based hand rub: one with bare hands, one with single gloves, and one with double gloves. Hand imprints were obtained before and after rounds, and cultured to count colony-forming units (CFU). The number of colonies was compared between groups in a semi-quantitative manner by hand area. Finding(s): Mean CFU counts after round were 10.06 for bare hands, 31.22 for single-gloved hands, and 49.67 for double-gloved hands (p=0.084). The most commonly identified microorganism after rounding was coagulase-negative Staphylococci (77.8%, 42/54), followed by Bacillus species (62.9%, 34/54). Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii was confirmed from a pair of double-gloved hand specimens after the rounds. That round included a patient with the same organism with the same antibiotic susceptibility results. More microorganisms were remained after alcohol-based hand rub on gloved hands than on bare hands. Conclusion(s): From our results, the possibility of microbial transmission seems more likely in gloved hands than in bare hands even after alcohol-based hand rub. Therefore, we do not recommend the re-use of gloves after alcohol-based hand hygiene.Copyright © 2023