Collaborating with local administrative offices to improve neighborhoods: A case study of the Design Consultant program

In 2016, the Seoul Design Foundation, a city-funded design organization in Seoul, carried out a program that aims to solve local problems in the city by catalyzing collaboration between designers and civil servants. The one-year program, called “Design Consultant” program, supported 15 design projects addressing problems at a sub-district level through the collaboration with sub-district offices in Seoul. This paper examines the underlying strategies of the program to address a city’s problems, and at the same time to promote the adoption of the design in the public sector. Four projects carried out under the framework of the Design Consultant program were studied by interviewing the civil servants and junior designers who collaborated for five months at local sub-district offices.Keywords: transformation design, local administrative offices, scaling out, scaling up, Seoul metropolitan city

Reducing Confusion about Grounded Theory and Qualitative Content Analysis: Similarities and Differences

Although grounded theory and qualitative content analysis are similar in some respects, they differ as well; yet the differences between the two have rarely been made clear in the literature. The purpose of this article was to clarify ambiguities and reduce confusion about grounded theory and qualitative content analysis by identifying similarities and differences in the two based on a literature review and critical reflection on the authors’ own research. Six areas of difference emerged: (a) background and philosophical base, (b) unique characteristics of each method, (c) goals and rationale of each method, (d) data analysis process, (e) outcomes of the research, and (f) evaluation of trustworthiness. This article provides knowledge that can assist researchers and students in the selection of appropriate research methods for their inquiries

Collaborating with local administrative offices to improve neighborhoods: A case study of the Design Consultant program

In 2016, the Seoul Design Foundation, a city-funded design organization in Seoul, carried out a program that aims to solve local problems in the city by catalyzing collaboration between designers and civil servants. The one-year program, called “Design Consultant” program, supported 15 design projects addressing problems at a sub-district level through the collaboration with sub-district offices in Seoul. This paper examines the underlying strategies of the program to address a city’s problems, and at the same time to promote the adoption of the design in the public sector. Four projects carried out under the framework of the Design Consultant program were studied by interviewing the civil servants and junior designers who collaborated for five months at local sub-district offices.Keywords: transformation design, local administrative offices, scaling out, scaling up, Seoul metropolitan city

ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURY RISK FACTORS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FEMALE DANCERS AND FEMALE SOCCER PLAYERS DURING SINGLE-LEGGED AND DOUBLE LEGGED LANDING TASKS

The purpose of this study was to compare ACL injury risk factors between female dancers and female soccer players during single-legged drop landing and double legged drop landing vertical jump tasks. Fifteen elite female soccer players and 45 professional female dancers (15 ballet, 15 modern, and 15 Korean dancers) were recruited to participate in this study. Two-way repeated measure of ANOVAs (participant groups & landing tasks, 4x2) were used. Female dancers landed with a significantly lower trunk flexion, trunk external rotation, knee external rotation, and knee valgus moment than those of female soccer players. Also, single-legged drop landing task demonstrated a higher trunk external rotation and knee valgus moment than those of double legged drop landing vertical jump task

The association between new graphic health warning labels on tobacco products and attitudes toward smoking among south Korean adolescents: a national cross-sectional study

Background Graphic health warning labels (GHWLs) on tobacco products are more effective than text warnings for communicating the risk of smoking. The implementation of GHWLs can prevent adolescents from initiating smoking. Therefore, this study examined the association between GHWLs newly implemented on December 23, 2016, in South Korea and attitudes toward smoking among adolescents. Methods This post-implementation cross-sectional analysis examined the responses of 62,276 students (31,624 boys and 30,652 girls) who participated in the 2017 Web-based Korean Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which was completed anonymously as a self-administered questionnaire by middle and high school students. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to explore the attitudes toward smoking among the youth (13–18 years old) who have been exposed to GHWLs in order to identify relationship of exposure to the GHWLs with smoking initiation and awareness of the danger of smoking. Results Six months after implementation, 69.4% of adolescents reported having been exposed to GHWLs in the previous 30 days. Among those exposed to GHWLs both boys and girls in grade 7 were significantly more likely than grade 12 high school students to decide not to start smoking (boys: AOR = 3.96, 95% CI 3.31–4.75, p < 0.001; girls: AOR = 2.76, 95% CI 2.32–3.30, p < 0.001) and to think that smoking was dangerous to their health (boys: AOR = 3.01, 95% CI 2.52–3.58, p < 0.001; girls: AOR = 2.42, 95% CI 2.03–3.88, p < 0.001) after seeing GHWLs. These associations were greater for adolescents who had experienced smoking-prevention education or had been exposed to anti-tobacco advertisements. However, those who smoked, used e-cigarettes, or experienced secondhand smoking were significantly less likely to decide not to smoke and to view smoking as dangerous. Conclusions To maintain the perception of the harm of tobacco from childhood through adolescence, the government should implement both comprehensive tobacco controls, including smoking-prevention education in schools, and measures to encourage a smoke-free environment in homes.This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT) (No. 2020R1C1C1012562)

Protective Effect of Proanthocyanidin against Diabetic Oxidative Stress

We investigated the antidiabetic potential of proanthocyanidin and its oligomeric form in STZ-induced diabetic model rats and db/db type 2 diabetic mice. Proanthocyanidin ameliorated the diabetic condition by significant decreases of serum glucose, glycosylated protein, and serum urea nitrogen as well as decreases of urinary protein and renal-AGE in STZ-induced diabetic rats and decrease of serum glucose as well as significant decrease of glycosylated protein in db/db type 2 diabetic mice. The suppression of ROS generation and elevation of the GSH/GSSG ratio were also observed in the groups administered proanthocyanidin. Moreover, proanthocyanidin, especially its oligomeric form, affected the inflammatory process with the regulation of related protein expression, iNOS, COX-2 and upstream regulators, NF-κB, and the IκB-α. In addition, it had a marked effect on hyperlipidemia through lowering significant levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and NEFA. Moreover, expressions in the liver of SREBP-1 and SREBP-2 were downregulated by the administration of proanthocyanidins. The protective effect against hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in type 1 and 2 diabetic models was significantly strong in the groups administered the oligomeric rather than polymeric form. This suggests that oligomers act as a regulator in inflammatory reactions caused by oxidative stress in diabetes

First Confirmed Report of Powdery Mildew Caused by Erysiphe aquilegiae on Casuarina cunninghamiana in Argentina

Casuarina cunninghamiana Miq. (Fam. Casuarinaceae) is native to Australia and was introduced to Argentina and used as a windbreak, shade tree and for ornamental purposes. In autumn 2009, the potted seedlings in the nursery of La Plata University were found to be infected with a powdery mildew. Symptoms first appeared as thin white colonies, which subsequently developed into an abundant growth on the leaves and young stems. The damage caused by the powdery mildew infection has been observed every year after this initial infection and was again confirmed in April, 2011. There have been a few reports on the presence of powdery mildew on Casuarina spp. (Mantz et al., 2008; Farr and Rossman, 2011). In all the reports, the pathogen was cited to be Oidium sp. Thus, the aim of this work was to identify the causal agent of the powdery mildew observed on casuarina in Argentina

Clinical characteristics and treatment modalities of vulvovaginal atrophy in genitourinary syndrome of menopause

Background: Genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) causes symptoms such as vaginal dryness, dysuria, repetitive urinary tract infection and urinary urgency may affect daily activities, sexual relationships, and overall quality of life. The aim of the study was to provide the clinical characteristics of VVA patients in South Korea and the effectiveness as well as complications of the currently used low dose estrogen vaginal suppository.Methods: 52 women who has visited the outpatient gynecology clinic of the National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital from January 2018 to December 2019 were recruited as study subjects. For the analysis of the clinical characteristics, subjective symptoms described by the patient’s own words such as vaginal dryness, pain, dysuria, dyspareunia, or no symptoms at all were included. Objective signs such as thinning of vaginal rugae, mucosal dryness, and mucosal fragility and the presence of petechiae were recorded.Results: Vaginal dryness was the most common complaint (92.3%). Thinning of the vaginal rugae was the most commonly noted objective sign (73.1%). Of the 52 subjects, 31 (59.6%) refrained from using the low dose estrogen vaginal suppository. The most common reason for not being able to use the suppository was the inability to insert the suppository (32.3%).Conclusions: Although patient-reported symptoms and clinical objectivity through physical examination are two components in diagnosing VVA, further study is warranted for a more objective and discriminatory diagnosis criteria for VVA. As the only available treatment modality was low dose vaginal estrogen suppository, comparison with other treatment modalities were not available