Effects of establishing infection control program with core components of World Health Organization on reducing the risk of residents' infections and improving staff infection control competency in a nursing home.

Background: Nursing homes (NHs) are high-risk facilities with limited infection control resources and residents susceptible to infectious diseases. The evidence regarding World Health Organization (WHO) core components in NHs is lacking. This study evaluates the effectiveness of establishing an infection prevention and control (IPC) program with WHO's core components in an NH.

Effectiveness of Simulation-Based Education for Caring Patients with COVID-19.

Purpose: The role of medical staff gained immense significance in the context of the prolonged coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, few studies had explored the impact of simulation-based education on the ability of nursing students to care for the patients of COVID-19. This study provided nursing students with simulation-based education in caring for the patients of COVID-19 and confirmed its effectiveness.

Conversational Agents for Body Weight Management: Systematic Review.

Background: Obesity is a public health issue worldwide. Conversational agents (CAs), also frequently called chatbots, are computer programs that simulate dialogue between people. Owing to better accessibility, cost-effectiveness, personalization, and compassionate patient-centered treatments, CAs are expected to have the potential to provide sustainable lifestyle counseling for weight management.

Frontline nurses' burnout and its associated factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea.

Background: The Coronavirus disease pandemic is a global health crisis with psychological consequences for healthcare workers.

Purpose: To identify the prevalence and potential factors influencing burnout among frontline nurses in South Korea.

Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised 161 nurses who voluntarily participated in the survey through advertisements at a general hospital.

[Nurses' Experience with Caring for COVID-19 Patients in a Negative Pressure Room Amid the Pandemic Situation].

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore nurses' experience with caring for COVID-19 patients in a negative pressure room amid the spread of the pandemic.

Methods: This study was a qualitative research, and focus group interviews were used to collect data. Three focus groups comprising 19 nurses were interviewed from February 17 to 25, 2021.

Effectiveness of a community-based integrated service model for older adults living alone: A nonrandomized prospective study.

Objective: Older adults living alone face physical, emotional, and social health problems, and prefer to age in place (AIP) in their homes. A community-based integrated model for AIP is needed and few studies have identified its impact on older adults living alone.

Methods: This was a non-randomized prospective study.

A Psychometric Analysis of the 20-item Revised University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale Among Korean Older Adults Living Alone.

The current study aimed to explore the factor structure of the Korean version of the Revised University of California Los Angeles loneliness scale for the Korean older adult population. Analyses were based on a cross-sectional cohort of 1,041 community-dwelling older adults (age ≥65 years) living alone in one Korean city. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine the underlying structure of the scale, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to ascertain the validity of the outcomes.

Factors Related to Self-Confidence to Live Alone in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Many older adults prefer to live alone in their own homes, with age-related issues in physical movement, regardless of their cultural background. Importantly, however, to identify the features of successfully ageing in place (AIP), and foster independent living among these individuals, this study explored their level of self-confidence to live alone and its related factors.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using secondary data from an earlier study with older adults living alone in South Korea recruited by convenience sampling methods (N = 936, mean age = 77.

Implementation of a multimodal infection control strategy in the nursing home.

The main cause of morbidity and mortality among residents of nursing homes (NHs) is healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). We conducted infection control intervention by applying the WHO multimodal strategy for one year from January to December 2018 in the one NH in South Korea. Healthcare workers (HCWs) in NH were observed by infection control nurse from February to December 2018.

Gender differences in health status, quality of life, and community service needs of older adults living alone.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify gender differences in the health status, community service needs, and quality of life of older adults living alone in an urban city in South Korea.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive correlational design was used. The study sampled 1023 older adults (≥65 years) living alone in S* City, during the period from August to October in 2018.

Determination of Grayanotoxins from Rhododendron brachycarpum in Dietary Supplements and Homemade Wine by Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight-Mass Spectrometry and Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

A sensitive and specific high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) method combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for the determination of grayanotoxins I and III in dietary supplements and homemade wine. Grayanotoxins I and III were successfully extracted using solid-phase extraction cartridges, characterized by LC-QTOF-MS, and quantitated by LC-MS/MS. The LC-MS/MS calibration curves were linear over concentrations of 10-100 ng/mL (grayanotoxin I) and 20-400 ng/mL (grayanotoxin III).

Collision-induced dissociation pathways of H-antihistamines by electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Over the past decades, mass spectrometry technologies have been developed to obtain mass accuracies of one ppm or less. Of the newly developed technologies, quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q-TOF-MS) has emerged as being well suited to routine and high-throughput analyses of pharmaceuticals. Dietary supplements and functional foods have frequently been found to be contaminated with pharmaceuticals.

Bioactive secondary metabolites produced by an endophytic fungus Gaeumannomyces sp. JS0464 from a maritime halophyte Phragmites communis.

Endophytes, important plant-associated mycobionts, have attracted a great deal of attention because of their bioactive secondary metabolites. Even though halophytes have been reported to overcome salt stress via associations with their endophytes, few studies have investigated the metabolites produced by the endophytes from halophytes. In this study, a dark septate endophytic fungal strain (JS0464), identified as Gaeumannomyces sp.

MP-V1 from the Venom of Social Wasp Vespula vulgaris Is a de Novo Type of Mastoparan that Displays Superior Antimicrobial Activities.

Mastoparans from the venom of social wasps have attracted considerable attention as effective antibiotic candidates. In this study, mastoparan V1 (MP-V1) from Vespula vulgaris was first disclosed to have a peptide amino acid sequence distinct from typical mastoparans and its biochemical properties and antimicrobial effects were compared with those of typical mastoparans MP-L, -X(V) and -B. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy revealed that MP-V1 and -X(V) form more stable α-helical conformations in lipid membrane-like environments than MP-L and -B.

Identification and screening of a tadalafil analogue found in adulterated herbal products.

A tadalafil analogue was detected in an herbal product by high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) with a similar chromatographic retention time to tadalafil. The compounds were separated using semi-preparative HPLC. The structure of the detected tadalafil analogue was elucidated by LC-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF/MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Remarkable reinforcement of a supramolecular gel constructed by heteroditopic [18]crown-6-based molecular recognition.

The heteroditopic crown ether-based ligand 1 containing the diazafluorenylimino group as a binding site for the Zn(2+) and Cs(+) was synthesized. The ligand 1 can be gelated in DMSO/water with and without Cs(+) in the presence of the Zn(2+) ion. Interestingly, the remarkable gelation reinforcement of gel 1 occurred with Cs(+) in the presence of Zn(2+), which is due to the formation of a sandwich complex.