No Shadow, No Worry

A fervor for education paid big post-war dividends for the Republic of Korea, but also spawned a private market that undermines public education and gave rise to the World Without Worries about Shadow Education (WWWSE) campaign to increase knowledge and decrease anxiety among students.WWWSE was founded in 2008, its goal to strengthen public education by reducing reliance on private education. To strengthen public education, national policies would have to change; that could only happen if minds were changed.  In six years' time, WWWSE, or, for short, World Without Worries (WWW), changed many mindsets across the country, from towns to cities to provinces, and, finally, to the nation's capital.WWW began with a series of lectures and research papers about the negative effects of shadow education on the nation's children, including the 40% of those aged 13 to 19 who in a government survey blamed suicidal thoughts on the premium attached to high grades and the CSAT pressure-cooker; and those aged 9 or above who in another government report rated their quality of life the lowest of those similarly aged across 31 of the world's advanced nations.In 2014, WWW's efforts resulted in an achievement few would have imagined: the passage of a national law regulating "preceding education" – or education ahead of the proscribed schedule for learning in the public school curriculum. The law was aimed at ending one of shadow education's most dramatic effects – almost 92% of students already know what will be taught in the public schools, by at least by one semester in advance and often times by many more semesters

Clinical manifestations of human monkeypox infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Little is known about the ongoing monkeypox (mpox) outbreak, and the clinical features of mpox in patients worldwide have not been rigorously analysed. Thus, we aimed to investigate the clinical features associated with mpox infection and understand the pathophysiology and characteristics of the disease. For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for articles published till 16 September 2022. We used a random effects model to calculate the pooled prevalence and 95% confidence interval (CI). We used the I2 statistic to assess heterogeneity, Egger's test to assess publication bias, 95% prediction interval to determine the level of uncertainty, and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and Joanna Briggs Institute quality assessment tool to assess the risk of bias. Twenty-six relevant articles from 19 countries across 5 continents were included, and data on 5472 mpox patients with 18 unique features were analysed. The pooled prevalence of clinical features of mpox were rash (85.7%, 95% CI: 68.3–94.3; k = 21), chills (77.8%, 95% CI: 70.5–83.7; k = 3), and fever (62.3%, 95% CI: 51.3–71.6; k = 25), lymphadenopathy (58.6%, 95% CI: 47.2–69.2; k = 21), lethargy or exhaustion (46.8%, 95% CI: 30.7–63.5; k = 14), pruritus (40.6%, 95% CI: 28.5–54.0; k = 5), myalgia (36.0%, 95% CI: 24.3–49.7; k = 16), headache (34.6%, 95% CI: 23.4–47.8; k = 17), skin ulcer (31.1%, 95% CI: 18.6–47.1; k = 7), abdomen symptom (24.2%, 95% CI: 17.9–31.9; k = 11), pharyngitis (23.0%, 95% CI: 12.7–37.9; k = 14), respiratory symptom (19.5%, 95% CI: 6.8–44.6; k = 6), nausea or vomiting (13.0%, 95% CI: 4.6–31.9; k = 3), scrotal or penile oedema (10.7%, 95% CI: 6.3–17.7; k = 4), conjunctivitis (7.1%, 95% CI: 2.4–18.9; k = 6), and death (0.9%, 95% CI: 0.4–2.0; k = 26). This is the first international and comprehensive study to examine all clinical presentations of human mpox infection. Our systematic review proposes a comprehensive understanding of the current mpox outbreak and may serve as key data for future studies on the pathological mechanisms and epidemiology of mpox infections

Comparison of clinical manifestations in mpox patients living with HIV versus without HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Currently, many cases of mpox patients living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have been reported. Immunocompromised mpox patients, including those living with HIV are noted for an increased risk for severe symptoms; however, existing studies did not focus on the statistical comparison of mpox outcomes associated with HIV. Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate and compare the clinical manifestations of mpox in people living with HIV (PLWH) and people without HIV. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Google Scholar were searched up to March 7, 2023. A random effects model was used to calculate the pooled prevalence along with the 95% confidence intervals (CI), and the odds ratio and its corresponding 95% CIs were calculated to elucidate the significance of each clinical feature for mpox patients with and without HIV. In this study, we included 99 published papers with 2413 patients with mpox (median age, 35.5 years; PLWH n = 1151) from 27 countries across six continents. The odds ratio of the mpox outcomes with PLWH in comparison to patients without HIV was found to be significant for skin rash (1.24, 95% CI: 1.01–1.53), proctitis (2.03, 95% CI: 1.36–3.04), cough (0.57, 95% CI: 0.33–0.98), and diarrhea (3.85, 95% CI: 1.24–11.98). The odds ratio of mpox patients with HIV for historical infections of syphilis was 2.14 (95% CI: 1.38–3.32), compared with those without HIV. This is the first international and comprehensive study that performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to statistically measure mpox manifestations according to HIV status. As clinical features related to mucosal contact were characteristically pronounced in PLWH, our systematic review provides insight that the primary invasion site of infection strongly relates to the outcomes of mpox

Clinical manifestations of human monkeypox infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Little is known about the ongoing monkeypox (mpox) outbreak, and the clinical features of mpox in patients worldwide have not been rigorously analysed. Thus, we aimed to investigate the clinical features associated with mpox infection and understand the pathophysiology and characteristics of the disease. For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for articles published till 16 September 2022. We used a random effects model to calculate the pooled prevalence and 95% confidence interval (CI). We used the I2 statistic to assess heterogeneity, Egger's test to assess publication bias, 95% prediction interval to determine the level of uncertainty, and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and Joanna Briggs Institute quality assessment tool to assess the risk of bias. Twenty-six relevant articles from 19 countries across 5 continents were included, and data on 5472 mpox patients with 18 unique features were analysed. The pooled prevalence of clinical features of mpox were rash (85.7%, 95% CI: 68.3–94.3; k = 21), chills (77.8%, 95% CI: 70.5–83.7; k = 3), and fever (62.3%, 95% CI: 51.3–71.6; k = 25), lymphadenopathy (58.6%, 95% CI: 47.2–69.2; k = 21), lethargy or exhaustion (46.8%, 95% CI: 30.7–63.5; k = 14), pruritus (40.6%, 95% CI: 28.5–54.0; k = 5), myalgia (36.0%, 95% CI: 24.3–49.7; k = 16), headache (34.6%, 95% CI: 23.4–47.8; k = 17), skin ulcer (31.1%, 95% CI: 18.6–47.1; k = 7), abdomen symptom (24.2%, 95% CI: 17.9–31.9; k = 11), pharyngitis (23.0%, 95% CI: 12.7–37.9; k = 14), respiratory symptom (19.5%, 95% CI: 6.8–44.6; k = 6), nausea or vomiting (13.0%, 95% CI: 4.6–31.9; k = 3), scrotal or penile oedema (10.7%, 95% CI: 6.3–17.7; k = 4), conjunctivitis (7.1%, 95% CI: 2.4–18.9; k = 6), and death (0.9%, 95% CI: 0.4–2.0; k = 26). This is the first international and comprehensive study to examine all clinical presentations of human mpox infection. Our systematic review proposes a comprehensive understanding of the current mpox outbreak and may serve as key data for future studies on the pathological mechanisms and epidemiology of mpox infections

Comparison of clinical manifestations in mpox patients living with HIV versus without HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Currently, many cases of mpox patients living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have been reported. Immunocompromised mpox patients, including those living with HIV are noted for an increased risk for severe symptoms; however, existing studies did not focus on the statistical comparison of mpox outcomes associated with HIV. Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate and compare the clinical manifestations of mpox in people living with HIV (PLWH) and people without HIV. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Google Scholar were searched up to March 7, 2023. A random effects model was used to calculate the pooled prevalence along with the 95% confidence intervals (CI), and the odds ratio and its corresponding 95% CIs were calculated to elucidate the significance of each clinical feature for mpox patients with and without HIV. In this study, we included 99 published papers with 2413 patients with mpox (median age, 35.5 years; PLWH n = 1151) from 27 countries across six continents. The odds ratio of the mpox outcomes with PLWH in comparison to patients without HIV was found to be significant for skin rash (1.24, 95% CI: 1.01–1.53), proctitis (2.03, 95% CI: 1.36–3.04), cough (0.57, 95% CI: 0.33–0.98), and diarrhea (3.85, 95% CI: 1.24–11.98). The odds ratio of mpox patients with HIV for historical infections of syphilis was 2.14 (95% CI: 1.38–3.32), compared with those without HIV. This is the first international and comprehensive study that performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to statistically measure mpox manifestations according to HIV status. As clinical features related to mucosal contact were characteristically pronounced in PLWH, our systematic review provides insight that the primary invasion site of infection strongly relates to the outcomes of mpox

National trends in alcohol and substance use among adolescents from 2005 to 2021: a Korean serial cross-sectional study of one million adolescents

Background Although previous studies have provided data on early pandemic periods of alcohol and substance use in adolescents, more adequate studies are needed to predict the trends of alcohol and substance use during recent periods, including the mid-pandemic period. This study investigated the changes in alcohol and substance use, except tobacco use, throughout the pre-, early-, and mid-pandemic periods in adolescents using a nationwide serial cross-sectional survey from South Korea. Methods Data on 1,109,776 Korean adolescents aged 13–18 years from 2005 to 2021 were obtained in a survey operated by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. We evaluated adolescents’ alcohol and substance consumption prevalence and compared the slope of alcohol and substance prevalence before and during the COVID-19 pandemic to see the trend changes. We define the pre-COVID-19 period as consisting of four groups of consecutive years (2005–2008, 2009–2012, 2013–2015, and 2016–2019). The COVID-19 pandemic period is composed of 2020 (early-pandemic era) and 2021 (mid-pandemic era). Results More than a million adolescents successfully met the inclusion criteria. The weighted prevalence of current alcohol use was 26.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 26.4–27.1] from 2005 to 2008 and 10.5% (95% CI 10.1–11.0) in 2020 and 2021. The weighted prevalence of substance use was 1.1% (95% CI 1.1–1.2) from 2005 to 2008 and 0.7% (95% CI 0.6–0.7) between 2020 and 2021. From 2005 to 2021, the overall trend of use of both alcohol and drugs was found to decrease, but the decline has slowed since COVID-19 epidemic (current alcohol use: βdiff 0.167; 95% CI 0.150–0.184; substance use: βdiff 0.152; 95% CI 0.110–0.194). The changes in the slope of current alcohol and substance use showed a consistent slowdown with regard to sex, grade, residence area, and smoking status from 2005 to 2021. Conclusion The overall prevalence of alcohol consumption and substance use among over one million Korean adolescents from the early and mid-stage (2020–2021) of the COVID-19 pandemic showed a slower decline than expected given the increase during the prepandemic period (2005–2019)

Molecular-Level Understanding of Continuous Growth from Iron-Oxo Clusters to Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

© 2019 American Chemical Society. The formation of inorganic nanoparticles has been understood based on the classical crystallization theory described by a burst of nucleation, where surface energy is known to play a critical role, and a diffusion-controlled growth process. However, this nucleation and growth model may not be universally applicable to the entire nanoparticle systems because different precursors and surface ligands are used during their synthesis. Their intrinsic chemical reactivity can lead to a formation pathway that deviates from a classical nucleation and growth model. The formation of metal oxide nanoparticles is one such case because of several distinct chemical aspects during their synthesis. Typical carboxylate surface ligands, which are often employed in the synthesis of oxide nanoparticles, tend to continuously remain on the surface of the nanoparticles throughout the growth process. They can also act as an oxygen source during the growth of metal oxide nanoparticles. Carboxylates are prone to chemical reactions with different chemical species in the synthesis such as alcohol or amine. Such reactions can frequently leave reactive hydroxyl groups on the surface. Herein, we track the entire growth process of iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized from conventional iron precursors, iron-oleate complexes, with strongly chelating carboxylate moieties. Mass spectrometry studies reveal that the iron-oleate precursor is a cluster comprising a tri-iron-oxo core and carboxylate ligands rather than a mononuclear complex. A combinatorial analysis shows that the entire growth, regulated by organic reactions of chelating ligands, is continuous without a discrete nucleation ste

Estimated prevalence and trends in smoking among adolescents in South Korea, 2005–2021: a nationwide serial study

International audienceBackground: Although smoking is classified as a risk factor for severe COVID-19 outcomes, there is a scarcity of studies on prevalence of smoking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, this study aims to analyze the trends of prevalence of smoking in adolescents over the COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods: The present study used data from middle to high school adolescents between 2005 and 2021 who participated in the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS). We evaluated the smoking prevalence (ever or daily) by year groups and estimated the slope in smoking prevalence before and during the pandemic. Results: A total of 1,137,823 adolescents participated in the study [mean age, 15.04 years [95% confidence interval (CI) 15.03–15.06]; and male, 52.4% (95% CI 51.7–53.1)]. The prevalence of ever smokers was 27.7% (95% CI 27.3–28.1) between 2005 and 2008 but decreased to 9.8% (95% CI 9.3–10.3) in 2021. A consistent trend was found in daily smokers, as the estimates decreased from 5.4% (95% CI 5.2–5.6) between 2005 and 2008 to 2.3% (95% CI 2.1–2.5) in 2021. However, the downward slope in the overall prevalence of ever smokers and daily smokers became less pronounced in the COVID-19 pandemic period than in the pre-pandemic period. In the subgroup with substance use, the decreasing slope in daily smokers was significantly more pronounced during the pandemic than during the pre-pandemic period. Conclusions: The proportion of ever smokers and daily smokers showed a less pronounced decreasing trend during the pandemic. The findings of our study provide an overall understanding of the pandemic’s impact on smoking prevalence in adolescents. [MediaObject not available: see fulltext.

Robot System of DRC-HUBO plus and Control Strategy of Team KAIST in DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals

This paper summarizes how Team KAIST prepared for the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Finals, especially in terms of the robot system and control strategy. To imitate the Fukushima nuclear disaster situation, the DRC performed eight tasks and degraded communication conditions. This competition demanded various robotic technologies, such as manipulation, mobility, telemetry, autonomy, and localization. Their systematic integration and the overall system robustness were also important issues in completing the challenge. In this sense, this paper presents a hardware and software system for the DRC-HUBO+, a humanoid robot that was used for the DRC; it also presents control methods, such as inverse kinematics, compliance control, a walking algorithm, and a vision algorithm, all of which were implemented to accomplish the tasks. The strategies and operations for each task are briefly explained with vision algorithms. This paper summarizes what we learned from the DRC before the conclusion. In the competition, 25 international teams participated with their various robot platforms. We competed in this challenge using the DRC-HUBO+ and won first place in the competition. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

National trends in alcohol and substance use among adolescents from 2005 to 2021: a Korean serial cross-sectional study of one million adolescents

Background Although previous studies have provided data on early pandemic periods of alcohol and substance use in adolescents, more adequate studies are needed to predict the trends of alcohol and substance use during recent periods, including the mid-pandemic period. This study investigated the changes in alcohol and substance use, except tobacco use, throughout the pre-, early-, and mid-pandemic periods in adolescents using a nationwide serial cross-sectional survey from South Korea. Methods Data on 1,109,776 Korean adolescents aged 13–18 years from 2005 to 2021 were obtained in a survey operated by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. We evaluated adolescents’ alcohol and substance consumption prevalence and compared the slope of alcohol and substance prevalence before and during the COVID-19 pandemic to see the trend changes. We define the pre-COVID-19 period as consisting of four groups of consecutive years (2005–2008, 2009–2012, 2013–2015, and 2016–2019). The COVID-19 pandemic period is composed of 2020 (early-pandemic era) and 2021 (mid-pandemic era). Results More than a million adolescents successfully met the inclusion criteria. The weighted prevalence of current alcohol use was 26.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 26.4–27.1] from 2005 to 2008 and 10.5% (95% CI 10.1–11.0) in 2020 and 2021. The weighted prevalence of substance use was 1.1% (95% CI 1.1–1.2) from 2005 to 2008 and 0.7% (95% CI 0.6–0.7) between 2020 and 2021. From 2005 to 2021, the overall trend of use of both alcohol and drugs was found to decrease, but the decline has slowed since COVID-19 epidemic (current alcohol use: βdiff 0.167; 95% CI 0.150–0.184; substance use: βdiff 0.152; 95% CI 0.110–0.194). The changes in the slope of current alcohol and substance use showed a consistent slowdown with regard to sex, grade, residence area, and smoking status from 2005 to 2021. Conclusion The overall prevalence of alcohol consumption and substance use among over one million Korean adolescents from the early and mid-stage (2020–2021) of the COVID-19 pandemic showed a slower decline than expected given the increase during the prepandemic period (2005–2019)