The role of social support and social networks in smoking behavior among middle and older aged people in rural areas of South Korea: A cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although the number of studies on anti-smoking interventions has increased, studies focused on identifying social contextual factors in rural areas are scarce. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of social support and social networks in smoking behavior among middle and older aged people living in rural areas of South Korea.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study employed a cross-sectional design. Participants included 1,057 adults, with a mean age of 60.7 years, residing in rural areas. Information on participants' tobacco use, stress, social support, and social networks was collected using structured questionnaires. The chi-square test, the t-test, ANOVA, and logistic regression were used for data analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall smoking prevalence in the study was 17.4% (men, 38.8%; women, 5.1%). Overall, stress was high among women, and social support was high among men. Smokers had high levels of social support (t = -2.90, p = .0038) and social networks (t = -2.22, p = .0271), as compared to non- and former smokers. Those in the high social support group were likely to be smokers (AOR = 2.21, 95% CI 1.15-4.26). Women with moderate social ties were less likely to smoke (AOR = 0.18, 95% CI 0.05-0.61).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was a protective role of a moderate social network level among women, and a high level of social support was associated with smoking behaviors in rural areas. Findings suggest the need for a comprehensive understanding of the functions and characteristics of social contextual factors including social support and social networks in order to conduct more effective anti-smoking interventions in rural areas.</p

Membrane and Electrochemical Processes for Water Desalination: A Short Perspective and the Role of Nanotechnology

In the past few decades, membrane-based processes have become mainstream in water desalination because of their relatively high water flux, salt rejection, and reasonable operating cost over thermal-based desalination processes. The energy consumption of the membrane process has been continuously lowered (from &gt;10 kWh m(-3) to similar to 3 kWh m(-3)) over the past decades but remains higher than the theoretical minimum value (similar to 0.8 kWh m(-3)) for seawater desalination. Thus, the high energy consumption of membrane processes has led to the development of alternative processes, such as the electrochemical, that use relatively less energy. Decades of research have revealed that the low energy consumption of the electrochemical process is closely coupled with a relatively low extent of desalination. Recent studies indicate that electrochemical process must overcome efficiency rather than energy consumption hurdles. This short perspective aims to provide platforms to compare the energy efficiency of the representative membrane and electrochemical processes based on the working principle of each process. Future water desalination methods and the potential role of nanotechnology as an efficient tool to overcome current limitations are also discussed

Simultaneous Energy Storage and Seawater Desalination using Rechargeable Seawater Battery: Feasibility and Future Directions

Rechargeable seawater battery (SWB) is a unique energy storage system that can directly transform seawater into renewable energy. Placing a desalination compartment between SWB anode and cathode (denoted as seawater battery desalination; SWB-D) enables seawater desalination while charging SWB. Since seawater desalination is a mature technology, primarily occupied by membrane-based processes such as reverse osmosis (RO), the energy cost has to be considered for alternative desalination technologies. So far, the feasibility of the SWB-D system based on the unit cost per desalinated water ($m(-3)) has been insufficiently discussed. Therefore, this perspective aims to provide this information and offer future research directions based on the detailed cost analysis. Based on the calculations, the current SWB-D system is expected to have an equipment cost of approximate to 1.02$ m(-3) (lower than 0.60-1.20 $ m(-3) of RO), when 96% of the energy is recovered and stable performance for 1000 cycles is achieved. The anion exchange membrane (AEM) and separator contributes greatly to the material cost occupying 50% and 41% of the total cost, respectively. Therefore, future studies focusing on creating low cost AEMs and separators will pave the way for the large-scale application of SWB-D

Effects of NaOH Activation on Adsorptive Removal of Herbicides by Biochars Prepared from Ground Coffee Residues

In this study, the adsorption of herbicides using ground coffee residue biochars without (GCRB) and with NaOH activation (GCRB-N) was compared to provide deeper insights into their adsorption behaviors and mechanisms. The physicochemical characteristics of GCRB and GCRB-N were analyzed using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction and the effects of pH, temperature, ionic strength, and humic acids on the adsorption of herbicides were identified. Moreover, the adsorption kinetics and isotherms were studied. The specific surface area and total pore volume of GCRB-N (405.33 m(2)/g and 0.293 cm(3)/g) were greater than those of GCRB (3.83 m(2)/g and 0.014 cm(3)/g). The GCBR-N could more effectively remove the herbicides (Q(e,exp) of Alachlor = 122.71 mu mol/g, Q(e,exp) of Diuron = 166.42 mu mol/g, and Q(e,exp) of Simazine = 99.16 mu mol/g) than GCRB (Q(e,exp) of Alachlor = 11.74 mu mol/g, Q(e,exp) of Diuron = 9.95 mu mol/g, and Q(e,exp) of Simazine = 6.53 mu mol/g). These results suggested that chemical activation with NaOH might be a promising option to make the GCRB more practical and effective for removing herbicides in the aqueous solutions

Safety and feasibility of countering neurological impairment by intravenous administration of autologous cord blood in cerebral palsy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgrounds</p> <p>We conducted a pilot study of the infusion of intravenous autologous cord blood (CB) in children with cerebral palsy (CP) to assess the safety and feasibility of the procedure as well as its potential efficacy in countering neurological impairment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients diagnosed with CP were enrolled in this study if their parents had elected to bank their CB at birth. Cryopreserved CB units were thawed and infused intravenously over 10~20 minutes. We assessed potential efficacy over 6 months by brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and various evaluation tools for motor and cognitive functions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty patients received autologous CB infusion and were evaluated. The types of CP were as follows: 11 quadriplegics, 6 hemiplegics, and 3 diplegics. Infusion was generally well-tolerated, although 5 patients experienced temporary nausea, hemoglobinuria, or urticaria during intravenous infusion. Diverse neurological domains improved in 5 patients (25%) as assessed with developmental evaluation tools as well as by fractional anisotropy values in brain MRI-DTI. The neurologic improvement occurred significantly in patients with diplegia or hemiplegia rather than quadriplegia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Autologous CB infusion is safe and feasible, and has yielded potential benefits in children with CP.</p

Efficacy and Safety of Enavogliflozin versus Dapagliflozin as Add-on to Metformin in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A 24-Week, Double-Blind, Randomized Trial

Background Enavogliflozin is a novel sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor currently under clinical development. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of enavogliflozin as an add-on to metformin in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) against dapagliflozin. Methods In this multicenter, double-blind, randomized, phase 3 study, 200 patients were randomized to receive enavogliflozin 0.3 mg/day (n=101) or dapagliflozin 10 mg/day (n=99) in addition to ongoing metformin therapy for 24 weeks. The primary objective of the study was to prove the non-inferiority of enavogliflozin to dapagliflozin in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) change at week 24 (non-inferiority margin of 0.35%) (Clinical trial registration number: NCT04634500). Results Adjusted mean change of HbA1c at week 24 was –0.80% with enavogliflozin and –0.75% with dapagliflozin (difference, –0.04%; 95% confidence interval, –0.21% to 0.12%). Percentages of patients achieving HbA1c <7.0% were 61% and 62%, respectively. Adjusted mean change of fasting plasma glucose at week 24 was –32.53 and –29.14 mg/dL. An increase in urine glucose-creatinine ratio (60.48 vs. 44.94, P<0.0001) and decrease in homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (–1.85 vs. –1.31, P=0.0041) were significantly greater with enavogliflozin than dapagliflozin at week 24. Beneficial effects of enavogliflozin on body weight (–3.77 kg vs. –3.58 kg) and blood pressure (systolic/diastolic, –5.93/–5.41 mm Hg vs. –6.57/–4.26 mm Hg) were comparable with those of dapagliflozin, and both drugs were safe and well-tolerated. Conclusion Enavogliflozin added to metformin significantly improved glycemic control in patients with T2DM and was non-inferior to dapagliflozin 10 mg, suggesting enavogliflozin as a viable treatment option for patients with inadequate glycemic control on metformin alone

Level of professional ethics awareness and medical ethics competency of dental hygienists and dental hygiene students: the need to add ethics items to the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the level of professional ethics awareness and medical ethics competency in order to assess the potential need for ethics items to be included on the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination. Methods In total, 358 clinical dental hygienists and dental hygiene students completed a structured questionnaire to evaluate their level of ethical awareness and medical ethics competency. The sub-factors of medical ethics were classified into relationships with patients, medical and social relations, and individual specialized fields. Results Only 32.1% of participants indicated that they had taken a course on professional ethics in the university curriculum, but 95.2% of respondents considered professional ethics to be important. The overall score for medical ethics competency was average (3.37 out of 5). The score for relationships with patients was 3.75 points, followed by medical and social relations (3.19 points) and individual specialized fields (3.16 points). The level of professional ethics awareness was higher among participants who had taken a course on professional ethics than among those who had not done so or who did not remember whether they had done so. Conclusion Dental hygienists were aware of the importance of professional ethics, but their medical ethics competency was moderate. Therefore, medical ethics should be treated as a required subject in the university curriculum, and medical ethics competency evaluations should be strengthened by adding ethics items to the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination

Quantitative Benefit&ndash;Risk Assessment of COVID-19 Vaccines Using the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

In the early SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, four major vaccines were approved despite limited efficacy and safety data through short regulatory review periods. Thus, it is necessary to assess the benefit-risk (BR) profiles of the COVID-19 vaccines. We conducted a quantitative BR assessment for four COVID-19 vaccines (mRNA-based: mRNA-1273 and BNT162b2; viral vector-based: Ad26.COV.2 and ChAdOx1-S) using multi-criteria decision analysis. Three benefit criteria and two risk criteria were considered: preventing COVID-19 infection for (1) adults aged &ge;18 years; (2) seniors aged 60 years or older; and (3) severe COVID-19, adverse events (AEs), and serious AEs. Data were retrieved from clinical trials, observational studies, and county-specific AE monitoring reports. Based on the collected data, vaccines were scored for each criterion. 22 professionals weighted each criterion. The overall BR score was calculated using scores and weights. mRNA-1273 was the most preferred vaccine in pre-authorization and BNT162b2 in post-authorization. We found that the mRNA vaccine had a good balance between the benefits and risks. Using this BR assessment, the benefit-risk profile of COVID-19 vaccines can be updated with cumulated data. It will contribute to building evidence for decision making by policy makers and health professionals