Effects of a Problem-Based Learning Education Program for Occupational Health Nursing Using Smart Learning on Occupational Health Knowledge and Nursing Professionalism.

This study aimed to develop a problem-based learning program for occupational health nursing using smart learning, and to report the program's effects on occupational health knowledge and nursing professionalism. A quasi-experimental study was performed using a non-equivalent control group pre-test-post-test design. An occupational health nursing problem-based learning program using smart learning was developed, and students produced videos containing problem-solving strategies in groups. The experimental and control groups consisted of 34 and 29 participants, respectively. To collect data, an online survey was conducted before and immediately after the intervention. The experimental and control group's mean scores for occupational health knowledge before the intervention were 5.74 and 7.41, respectively. Additionally, the mean scores for nursing professionalism were 3.45 and 3.66. After the intervention, both the knowledge on occupational health and nursing professionalism score improved to 8.26 and 3.64 in the experimental group. This study reported significant improvements after conducting the occupational health nursing education program. These results demonstrate the need to develop a nursing education program for problem-based learning utilizing smart learning. Moreover, filming videos in cooperation with students can improve the effectiveness of education by improving knowledge.

Effects of working conditions on the perception of night work safety and health effects on nurses.

AIM: To examine night working conditions by shift work type and identify the effects of night working conditions on nurses' perceptions of shift work safety and health effects. BACKGROUND: Night work is the main factor affecting nurses' health. However, the safety of night working conditions has not been sufficiently examined in previous studies. METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional research design and an online survey using a tool released by the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, and the responses of 348 shift work nurses in Korea were analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the effects of shift work conditions on the perceived safety of night work and health effects. The STROBE reporting guidelines were utilized, and data were collected from December 1 to December 31, 2021. RESULTS: The adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that perceived threat to safety and the health effects of shift work were not significant according to shift type. However, night-shift-work nurses who worked alone (P = 0.003), lacked an emergency recovery system (P = 0.026), and had difficulty commuting perceived a threat to their health (P = 0.007). Additionally, nurses who experienced loss of concentration (P = 0.006) and inadequate rest time (P < 0.001) perceived the health effects of shift work. DISCUSSION: Urgent monitoring of night work conditions is necessary for the 2-shift work type. Nurses must work night shifts together and an emergency system should be established for their safety. CONCLUSION: Night work conditions should be improved to prevent the hazards of night work and its negative health effects on nurses. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: This study suggests the necessity of a policy to enhance night work safety, including emergency coping systems and sufficient inter-shift rest time.

Transcription Factor Id1 Plays an Essential Role in Th9 Cell Differentiation by Inhibiting Tcf3 and Tcf4.

T helper type 9 (Th9) cells play important roles in immune responses by producing interleukin-9 (IL-9). Several transcription factors are responsible for Th9 cell differentiation; however, transcriptional regulation of Th9 cells is not fully understood. Here, it is shown that Id1 is an essential transcriptional regulator of Th9 cell differentiation. Id1 is induced by IL-4 and TGF-ß. Id1-deficient naïve CD4 T cells fail to differentiate into Th9 cells, and overexpression of Id1 induce expression of IL-9. Mass spectrometry analysis reveals that Id1 interacts with Tcf3 and Tcf4 in Th9 cells. In addition, RNA-sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and transient reporter assay reveal that Tcf3 and Tcf4 bind to the promoter region of the Il9 gene to suppress its expression, and that Id1 inhibits their function, leading to Th9 differentiation. Finally, Id1-deficient Th9 cells ameliorate airway inflammation in an animal model of asthma. Thus, Id1 is a transcription factor that plays an essential role in Th9 cell differentiation by inhibiting Tcf3 and Tcf4.

Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 Signaling Inhibits Foxp3 Expression and Suppressive Functions in Treg Cells through the mTORC1 Pathway.

Regulatory T (Treg) cells play an important role in immune homeostasis by inhibiting cells within the innate and adaptive immune systems; therefore, the stability and immunosuppressive function of Treg cells need to be maintained. In this study, we found that the expression of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) by Treg cells was lower than that by conventional CD4 T cells. IRS1-overexpressing Treg cells showed the downregulated expression of FOXP3, as well as Treg signature markers CD25 and CTLA4. IRS1-overexpressing Treg cells also showed diminished immunosuppressive functions in an in vitro suppression assay. Moreover, IRS1-overexpressing Treg cells were unable to suppress the pathogenic effects of conventional T cells in a transfer-induced colitis model. IRS1 activated the mTORC1 signaling pathway, a negative regulator of Treg cells. Moreover, IRS1 destabilized Treg cells by upregulating the expression of IFN-γ and Glut1. Thus, IRS1 acts as a negative regulator of Treg cells by downregulating the expression of FOXP3 and disrupting stability.

Factors related to career interruption and Re-employment of women in human health and social work activities sector: Comparison with other industry sectors.

AIMS: This study aims to examine the factors related to career interruption and re-employment of women who had worked or were working in the human health sector and to compare them with those in other industrial sectors. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis study. METHODS: Data from the 2019 economic activities survey of career-interrupted women of South Korea was used, and 2570 participants were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Women who had majored in health care and had worked, or were working, in the human health and social work activities sector showed a higher tendency to work more than 40 h per week, compared to the mean of all participants. Moreover, parental leave and flexible working time were related to career interruption and re-employment. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Policies that encourage the use of parental leave and flexible shift work systems should be developed and implemented to prevent career interruption of women in the health sector.

Risk Factors Preventing Immediate Fall Detection: A Study Using Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial Regression.

PURPOSE: Falls are the most common accidents in healthcare facilities, and timely intervention can have a positive effect on the hazards and trauma experienced by patients after a fall. This study determined the factors affecting the time taken to detect a fall. METHODS: A total of 3,470 cases of falls reported through the Korea Patient Safety Reporting and Learning System were included in the analysis. A zero-inflated negative binomial regression method was used for this retrospective secondary data analysis study. RESULTS: There were 537 patients whose falls were not detected immediately; the count model was used to predict risk factors that delayed fall detection. Women aged 60-69 years-compared to those below 60 years and an evening nursing shift, compared to a day shift-were identified as significant factors. The fall detection time of about 2,933 patients was zero; therefore, the logit model was applied to predict a patient's possibility of belonging to the group whose fall was detected immediately. Comparisons of tertiary hospitals with general hospitals and hospitals, of the evening shift with the day shift, and of the day shift with the night shift indicated significant influencing factors. CONCLUSIONS: These findings can assist nurses in recognizing patient and hospital characteristics related to delayed fall detection. Strategies to improve patient safety in healthcare facilities that focus on patient characteristics such as age can be recommended. Furthermore, nurse staffing requires improvement to detect fall incidents immediately.

Effect of e-Health Literacy on COVID-19 Infection-Preventive Behaviors of Undergraduate Students Majoring in Healthcare.

This study examined and verified the level of e-health literacy (e-HL) and infection preventive behaviors related to COVID-19 among undergraduate students majoring in healthcare. An online survey was conducted with 274 university students majoring in nursing, clinical pathology, and occupational therapy in South Korea. The e-HL consisted of functional, communicational, and critical literacy, and preventive behaviors were based on the Prevention Guideline on Droplet Infection. The mean score for e-HL was 3.62, with nursing students obtaining the highest scores. The overall e-HL score and the scores on its three sub-dimensions were related to infection-preventive behaviors. Moreover, e-HL affected infection-preventive behaviors (p < 0.001). Findings from this study highlight the necessity of education for improving the e-HL of undergraduate students majoring in healthcare to strengthen infection-preventive behaviors and protect patients from infectious diseases.

Associations between Nurse Staffing Levels, Patient Experience, and Hospital Rating.

The current study aimed to examine patient experience scores and differences in the scores based on the region and nurse staffing level of hospitals as well as to verify the effect of nurse-related patient experience scores on the overall rating of hospitals. Secondary data from the second Korean Patient Experience Survey-conducted using the cross-sectional design method-were analyzed, and 146 hospitals were included. Patient experience scores included six dimensions, and hospitals were categorized as: tertiary or general hospitals based on their type; capital and non-capital region hospitals based on regions; and beds-nurse or patients-nurse ratios were used based on nurse staffing levels. Pearson's correlation, simple regression, and multiple regression analysis methods were used. Among the six patient experience dimensions, the nurse-related patient experience score of 86.0 was the highest, whereas patient rights score of 78.4 was lowest. Moreover, the patient experience score for general hospitals with low nurse staffing grade was low, and the nurse experience score affected the overall hospital rating in general hospitals (p = 0.040). Policies to improve nurse staffing level are required to provide high-quality nursing care focused on communication with patients, which can enhance patient experience and satisfaction.

Effort-Reward Imbalance and Its Effects on Satisfaction With Working Conditions and Sleep-Related Problems: Comparison of Nurses and Other Occupations.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare effort-reward imbalance (ERI) among registered nurses, social workers, and elementary school teachers, and to analyze the effects of ERI on satisfaction with working conditions and sleep-related problems. DESIGN: A secondary data analysis was conducted using cross-sectional data from the Korean Working Conditions Survey collected in 2017. The study sample included 276 registered nurses, 97 social workers, and 229 elementary school teachers. METHODS: The effort index was measured using two dimensions (work intensity and working time quality) with seven subdimensions. The reward index consisted of three dimensions (social support, earning, and prospects) with five subdimensions. The ERI index was computed by dividing the average effort score by the average reward score. Linear or logistic regression analysis was conducted to compare efforts, rewards, and ERI among the three occupations and to examine the effects of ERI on satisfaction and sleep-related problems. FINDINGS: Nurses had a significantly higher effort score than the other two groups. However, nurses had a lower reward score than elementary school teachers, but a higher score than social workers. The highest ERI index was found among nurses (0.47 ± 0.16), followed by social workers (0.39 ± 0.30) and elementary school teachers (0.30 ± 0.15). All three occupations showed an inverse relationship between ERI and satisfaction with working conditions and positive relationships between ERI and sleep-related problems. CONCLUSIONS: The high ERI (i.e., more effort relative to reward) perceived by nurses was associated with diminished satisfaction and increased sleep-related problems. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: To attract future generations to nursing as a career choice and to ensure a sustainable nurse workforce, the nurse-perceived ERI should be decreased by reducing work demands and increasing both monetary and nonmonetary rewards.

Effect of Nurses' Preceptorship Experience in Educating New Graduate Nurses and Preceptor Training Courses on Clinical Teaching Behavior.

Only few studies have examined the preceptor training courses and their effects on clinical teaching behaviors (CTBs) of preceptors. This study investigated preceptors' experiences in educating new graduate nurses and the effect they had on clinical teaching behavior (CTB) based on whether they participated in a preceptor training program. A descriptive online survey method was used, and the participants included 180 registered nurses who were preceptors. The Clinical Teaching Behavior Inventory (CTBI-22) was used, and perceptions of teaching experiences were measured by six items. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression. Preceptors working at general hospitals or hospitals were less likely to have participated in a preceptor training program than those working at tertiary hospitals. The overall mean score of CTB was 89.30, and "guiding inter-professional communication" showed the lowest mean score. Positive perceptions of preceptorship experiences were positively related with CTB, and the number of precepting experiences affected CTB only for nurses having undergone preceptor training courses. The use of role-playing as a method in training courses positively affected preceptors' CTB. These findings suggest that preceptors need support from nurse managers and colleagues, and preceptor training programs should be developed.

The Moderating Effect of Nursing Practice Environment on the Relationship between Clinical Nurses' Sleep Quality and Wellness.

This study examined the moderating effect of nursing practice environment on the relationship between clinical nurses' sleep quality and wellness. The wellness of clinical nurses is a direct outcome of individual-level health behaviors and organizational environmental factors. This study was a cross-sectional analysis. Participants were clinical nurses recruited using convenience sampling. The Nurse Practice Environment Scale, Wellness Index, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Korean version (PSQI-K) were used. Data collected from 1874 nurses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression analyses. A total of 95.3% of the participants were women, and the mean age was 28.8 years. Further, 42.4% of the participants had a nursing career of 5 years or longer. The mean score for nursing practice environment was 2.24 and the mean PSQI-K score was 9.39. Nurses with less than 1 year of experience reported lower wellness scores. The wellness scores decreased with poorer sleep quality, and a more positive evaluation of the nursing practice environment predicted higher levels of wellness. Nursing practice environment had a moderating effect on the negative association of nurses' poor sleep quality with their wellness. Regarding management, individual strategies for nurses' well-being and organizational improvement policies may improve the nursing work environment.

Nurse staffing, nurses prioritization, missed care, quality of nursing care, and nurse outcomes.

AIM: To examine the relationships among nurse staffing, nurses prioritization of nursing activities, missed care, quality of nursing care, and nurse outcomes. BACKGROUND: Inadequate staffing is associated with increased missed care, which threatens the quality of care and nurse outcomes. METHODS: The study sample included 2114 staff nurses from 156 medical or surgical units of 49 general hospitals who had participated in a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2015. Nurse staffing was measured using the patient-to-nurse ratio and perceived staffing adequacy. The Missed Nursing Care Survey was used to measure how frequently nurses had missed each of 24 activities. Multilevel regression analyses were employed to examine the relationships among variables. RESULTS: The prevalence of missed care differed by nursing activity. Poorer staffing was associated with an increased number of missed activities. A higher number of missed activities and poorer staffing were associated with poorer patient safety, quality of nursing care and job satisfaction, and a higher intent to leave. Nurses gave the highest priority to focused patient reassessments, timely medications, and patient teaching, under hypothetical conditions of improved staffing. CONCLUSION: Adequate staffing is required to reduce missed care and to improve quality of care and nurse outcomes.

Peroxidase chemically attached on polymeric micelle and its reaction with phenolic compounds.

Horseradish peroxidase was chemically modified with comb-shaped polymaleic anhydride-alt-1-tetradecene (PMA-TD) in microemulsion systems to produce surface-active peroxidase that has capability to form micellar structures in aqueous solutions and can be concentrated at liquid/liquid interfaces without unfolding of the enzyme. For chemical modification oil-in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil (W/O) microemulsion systems composed of n-butyl acetate and a buffer solution were prepared because n-butyl acetate turned out to be less detrimental to the activity of peroxidase at high degree of modification compared to other organic solvents. The modification degree of amine groups on the surface of peroxidase by maleic anhydride groups on PMA-TD was reached at equilibrium after 1h reaction at 0°C, and 42% of amine groups were modified with 7-fold amount of PMA-TD to peroxidase (wt/wt). The activity of the PMA-TD-modified peroxidase measured with 2,4-dichlorophenol at pH 7.0 was increased by approximately 2-fold compared to native peroxidase. There was no significant shift in optimum pH after modification, and optimum pH measured with 2,4-dichlorophenol was observed at pH 7.0. For all six phenolic compounds tested, there was a significant increase in the reaction efficiency with the PMA-TD-modified peroxidase. The remarkable enhancement of the reaction efficiency by the modification was presumably because of micellar structures of PMA-TD that could concentrate hydrophobic phenolic oligomers into the core of the micelles. Overall, horseradish peroxidase chemically attached to the surface of PMA-TD micelles was found to be significantly effective for the oxidative polymerization of phenolic compounds.

Electrical properties of dye-sensitized solar cells prepared by the binder-free TiO2 pastes.

Titania (TiO2) powder, which is material for photoelectrode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), was fabricated by hydrothermal synthesis process at 230 degrees C for 12 hours. The crystal structures of all the synthesized nano-structured TiO2 films exhibited anatase phase. Binder-free pastes were prepared with the change of the amount of ammonia water from 2 µl to 640 µl in order to obtain the printable viscosity. It has been known that weak inter-particle bonds in slurry of flocculated particles make the slurry more viscous than slurry of dispersed particles. The increase of the amount of ammonia water for binder-free TiO2 pastes is attributed to the improvement of the viscosity of TiO2 paste and the power conversion efficiency of DSSCs using it. The viscosity of TiO2 pastes prepared at the ammonia water of 418 µl exhibited the highest value about 109,000 cP and also, was very transparent over 84%. As a result, the power conversion efficiency of DSSC prepared with the ammonia water of 418 µl was about 3%.

Electrical property of organic thin films for power device.

Monolayers of lipid on a water surface have attracted much interest as models of biological membranes, but also as precursors of multilayer systems promising many technical applications. Until now, many methodologies have been developed in order to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the structure and function of the monolayers. Maxwell displacement current (MDC) measurement has been employed to study the dielectric property of Langmuir-films. MDC flowing across monolayers is analyzed using a rod-like molecular model. A linear relationship between the monolayer compression speed alpha and the molecular area A(m). Compression speed alpha was about 30, 40, 50 mm/min. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) layers of Arachidic acid deposited by LB method were deposited onto slide glass as Y-type film. The structure of manufactured device is Au/Arachidic acid/Al (MIM), the number of accumulated layers are 9-21. Also, we then examined of the Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) device by means of I-V. I-V characteristics of the device are measured from -3 to +3 [V]. The insulation property of a thin film is better as the distance between electrodes is larger.

Fabrication of protein chip by magnetic force.

This research describes a new immobilizing method of many kinds of biomaterials (enzyme, antibody, and DNA) on a transducer array using magnetic force interaction as the short-range force. The method composes two immobilizing steps. In the first step, same biomaterials are immobilized on metal particles. In the second step, the particles are arranged by the fluidic self-assembly method at random on an array. An array immobilized many kinds of the particles become multichannel biosensor. The biosensor can apply to DNA chip, protein chip, multienzyme electrode, and so on. The metal particles and the array were fabricated by micromachining manufacture. The metal particles were multilayer structure (gold, titanium, and nickel). In the array case, sidewalls of patterning nickel dots on an array were covered by thick negative photoresist (SU-8), and the array was magnetized. The array and the particles were mixed in buffer solution, and were arranged by magnetic force interaction. A quarter of total nickel dots were covered by the particles. The binding direction of the particles was controllable, and condition of particles was almost with gold surface on top. The immobilization of the biomaterials to metal particles was able to materialize it by using 3-CPD. This confirmed an activity by the luminol radiation.

Synthesis of chitosan-based polymeric surfactants and their adsorption properties for heavy metals and fatty acids.

Chitosan-based polymeric surfactants (CBPSs) were prepared by N-acylation of chitosans (chitosan 10 and 500) with several acid anhydrides such as hexanoic (C6), lauric (C12), and palmitic (C16) anhydrides. Among the CBPS samples, CBPSs having a good solubility at pH 4.0 were selected and observed for viscosity, surface tension, and adsorption of heavy metals (Cd2+, Co2+, Cr2O7(2-), and Pb2+) as well as the fatty acid (n-octanoic acid). The 1H NMR spectrum of chitosan 10 modified with C16 at the substitution ratio of 0.4 (CBPS10-C16,0.4) showed 85% of acylation in 1% DCl/D2O solutions. CBPS10 with the substitution ratio less than 0.4 showed a good solubility because of shorter repeating units and lesser amounts of hydrophobic substituents. The intrinsic viscosity of CBPS10 was slightly increased, while that of CBPS500 was decreased. As the substitution ratio and length of the carbon chain increased, the surface tension of CBPS10 tended to decrease. CBPS10-C16,0.2 had high adsorption ability for cationic metal ions such as Cd2+, Co2+, and Pb2+ comparable to chitosan. Interestingly, CBPS(10)-C(16,0.2) showed a unique pH optimum for the anionic metal ion such as Cr2O7(2-). In addition, CBPS10-C16,0.2 exhibited the highest adsorption ability for n-octanoic acid among the tested CBPS10 with different carbon chains.

Study on the recovery of phosphorus from waste-activated sludge incinerator ash.

Several batch studies that were made up of the acid extraction and the solvent extraction were performed to recover phosphorus from the waste-activated sludge (WAS) incinerator ash. In the acid extraction, the extraction efficiency of phosphorus relied on the acid type, liquid(acid)-to-solid (L(acid)S) ratio, and acid concentration. Phosphorus in the WAS incinerator ash was completely extracted by 1 M HCl at the L(acid)S ratio of 6.4:1. Subsequently, the solvent extraction was conducted to separate and concentrate phosphorus further from the acid extract. The efficiency of solvent extraction was affected mainly by the solvent type, liquid (solvent)-to-liquid (the acid extract) (L(solv)L(acid ext)) ratio, and hydrogen ion concentration. Under the appropriate condition, 76% of phosphorus in the acid extract was extracted to 1-butanol phase, which corresponded to 80.1% as the mass fraction of phosphorus to total elements. Prior to the solvent extraction, the addition of bis (2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA), which was available for removing aluminum from the acid extract, led to an additional increase in the term of the mass fraction of phosphorus to total elements. Overall results indicated that phosphorus in the WAS incinerator ash could be efficiently recovered and be a potential renewable resource.

pH- and temperature-sensitive release behaviors from polyelectrolyte complex films composed of chitosan and PAOMA copolymer.

This paper describes the pH and temperature effects on drug release from polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) films composed of a cationic polymer, chitosan, and an anionic polymer, polyalkyleneoxide-maleic acid copolymer (PAOMA). In this study, we prepared and investigated PEC films in terms of the drug release properties as pH- and temperature-sensitive drug carriers. Drug release rates were tested at pH 3.8 and 7.2, and at 25 and 50 degrees C. Salicylic acid and phenol were selected as model drugs. An increase in pH from 3.8 to 7.2 resulted in an increase in the rate of drug release because of the repulsive forces between carboxyl groups in PAOMA and anionic groups in model drugs. When the hydrophobic PAOMA was used as a polyanion, the drug release rate increased at 50 degrees C. This is attributed to the increase of release area due to the phase transition of PAOMA and the increase of repulsive forces between carboxyl groups in PAOMA and anionic groups in model drugs.

Evaluation of remediation process with plant-derived biosurfactant for recovery of heavy metals from contaminated soils.

A washing process was studied to evaluate the efficiency of saponin on remediating heavy metal contaminated soils. Three different types of soils (Andosol: soil A, Cambisol: soil B, Regosol: soil C) were washed with saponin in batch experiments. Utilization of saponin was effective for removal of heavy metals from soils, attaining 90-100% of Cd and 85-98% of Zn extractions. The fractionations of heavy metals removed by saponin were identified using the sequential extraction. Saponin was effective in removing the exchangeable and carbonated fractions of heavy metals from soils. In recovery procedures, the pH of soil leachates was increased to about 10.7, leading to separate heavy metals as hydroxide precipitates and saponin solute. In addition recycle of used saponin is considered to be effective for the subsequent utilization. The limits of Japanese leaching test were met for all of the soil residues after saponin treatment. As a whole, this study shows that saponin can be used as a cleaning agent for remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils.