This study explores the North Korean initiative to translate Korean writing into foreign languages from the mid-1940s to the early 1970s. Between 1945 and the mid-1960s, the North Korean government ...focused on the translation of Soviet texts, such as Lenin’s Collected Works, into Korean. The North Korean elite attempted to learn about Soviet culture and Marxism-Leninism by translating books and magazines from Russian into Korean. They accepted, rejected, or transformed elements of Soviet culture and Marxism-Leninism and applied them to their own context. At the same time, the North Korean leadership launched a Korean-to-foreign language translation project to introduce North Korean texts such as Kim Il Sung’s writings to Third World countries. When Kim Il Sung promulgated the Juche idea while visiting Indonesia in 1965, the focus of the North Korean leadership moved from Russian-to-Korean translation to Korean-to-foreign language translation. Previous studies have seen translation in North Korea as a way of importing written texts from the outside world, particularly the Soviet Union. However, this study sheds light on translation as a practice of exporting culture, ideas, and knowledge to the world, notably to the Third World.
A simple strategy for changing a brittle conducting polymer (PEDOT:PSS) into a solution‐processed highly deformable viscoelastic polymer is presented. Rapid self‐healing of conductivity, ...customer‐designed LEDs with complex micropatterns, and foldable stretchable LEDs are demonstrated.
This study was conducted to identify and compare the effects of two education programs for infection control-a simulation using standardized patients and a peer role-play-on standard precaution ...knowledge, standard precaution awareness, infection-related anxiety, and infection control performance. This study used a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. A total of 62 undergraduate nursing students in their 3rd year participated in the study, and were assigned to the experimental and control groups, accordingly. The infection control education program was developed based on the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation model. The program for the experimental group included lectures, skills training, simulation using standardized patients, and debriefing, while the control group participated in the usual infection control education, consisting of lectures, skills training, and peer tutoring practices. Both groups exhibited statistically significant increases in knowledge, awareness of standard precaution, and infection control performance after the intervention. Infection-related anxiety and infection control performance were significantly higher in the simulation using a standardized patient group. Both education programs influenced compliance with the standard precaution for infection control. The results of this study contribute to the evidence regarding effective educational methods to improve infection control.
Data from selected centers show that robotic lobectomy is safe and effective and has 30-day mortality comparable to that of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). However, widespread adoption ...of robotic lobectomy is controversial. We used The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery (STS-GTS) Database to evaluate quality metrics for these 2 minimally invasive lobectomy techniques.
A database query for primary clinical stage I or stage II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at high-volume centers from 2009 to 2013 identified 1,220 robotic lobectomies and 12,378 VATS procedures. Quality metrics evaluated included operative morbidity, 30-day mortality, and nodal upstaging, defined as cN0 to pN1. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate nodal upstaging.
Patients undergoing robotic lobectomy were older, less active, and less likely to be an ever smoker and had higher body mass index (BMI) (all p < 0.05). They were also more likely to have coronary heart disease or hypertension (all p < 0.001) and to have had preoperative mediastinal staging (p < 0.0001). Robotic lobectomy operative times were longer (median 186 versus 173 minutes; p < 0.001); all other operative measurements were similar. All postoperative outcomes were similar, including complications and 30-day mortality (robotic lobectomy, 0.6% versus VATS, 0.8%; p = 0.4). Median length of stay was 4 days for both, but a higher proportion of patients undergoing robotic lobectomy had hospital stays less than 4 days (48% versus 39%; p < 0.001). Nodal upstaging overall was similar (p = 0.6) but with trends favoring VATS in the cT1b group and robotic lobectomy in the cT2a group.
Patients undergoing robotic lobectomy had more comorbidities and robotic lobectomy operative times were longer, but quality outcome measures, including complications, hospital stay, 30-day mortality, and nodal upstaging, suggest that robotic lobectomy and VATS are equivalent.
Reoperative aortic valve replacement (re-AVR) after previous AVR is a complex procedure involving redo sternotomy and removal of a previous prosthesis. With increasing use of valve-in-valve ...transcatheter aortic valve replacement for failed aortic bioprostheses, an evaluation of contemporary outcomes of re-AVR in patients with bioprostheses is warranted.
The study included 3,380 patients from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (July 2011 to September 2013) who underwent elective, isolated re-AVR after a previous AVR. Outcomes in these patients were compared with those of 54,183 patients with isolated primary AVR during the same period. A subgroup analysis of explanted bioprostheses in re-AVR (previous bioprosthetic valve: n = 2,213) was performed.
Re-AVR patients were younger (66 vs 70 years, p < 0.001) compared with primary AVR patients. Re-AVR was associated with higher operative mortality (4.6% vs 2.2%, p < 0.0001), composite operative mortality and major morbidity (21.6% vs 11.8%, p < 0.0001), postoperative stroke (1.9% vs 1.4%, p = 0.02), postoperative aortic insufficiency mild or greater (2.8% vs 1.7%, p < 0.0001), pacemaker requirement (11.0% vs 4.3%, p < 0.0001), and vascular complications (0.06% vs 0.01%, p = 0.04). For the explanted previous bioprosthetic valve group, operative mortality was 4.7%, composite outcome was 21.9%, stroke rate was 1.8%, and pacemaker requirement was 11.5%.
Re-AVR is now performed with an acceptable operative mortality, which is higher than primary AVR. The overall incidence of stroke, vascular complication, and postoperative aortic insufficiency was low although higher than primary AVR. These results may serve as a benchmark for future analysis of valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement and may have an effect on future choice of transcatheter aortic valve replacement vs re-AVR.
This study aimed to examine the effects of psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and emotional eating behaviors on the health-related quality of life of middle-aged Korean females. This study ...provides primary data for developing an intervention program to improve the health-related quality of life of middle-aged females.
Middle-aged females between 35 and 64 years old, from July 22 to August 10, 2021, were included in this study. The mediating effects of depressive symptoms and emotional eating behaviors on the relationship between psychological distress and health-related quality of life were investigated. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 325 subjects. Researchers conducted questionnaires measuring psychological distress, depressive symptoms, emotional eating behavior, and health-related quality of life.
The findings of this study demonstrated a correlation between the severity of a female's depressive symptoms and the degree of their psychological distress, indicating that severe depressive symptoms were associated with negative emotions, which increased emotional eating behaviors. Additionally, more severe depressive symptoms indicated a lower health-related quality of life. Higher psychological distress was associated with increased emotional eating behaviors and lower health-related quality of life. The total and direct effects of psychological distress on the health-related quality of life were statistically significant.
In this study, psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and emotional eating behaviors affected the health-related quality of life of middle-aged Korean females. This study also confirmed that psychological distress had a direct effect on health-related quality of life. These findings serve as primary data for evidence-based intervention programs that alleviate emotional health problems, such as psychological distress and depressive symptoms in middle-aged females. Moreover, nurses can help develop effective treatment strategies to improve health-related quality of life by identifying and assessing potential symptoms of psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and emotional eating behaviors.
The government of Kim Jong Il (Kim Chŏngil) modified the meaning and purpose of during the North Korean famine and the early Military-First period (1994–2002). During the economic recession after the ...Soviet bloc collapsed, the North Korean government was incapable of providing material rewards to workers. Thus, the state attempted to transform labor into a spiritual rather than material practice. Despite the shortage of material resources and energy, the regime had to make the workers stay in their workplaces to maintain social stability. At that time, North Korean fiction often described people who worked for spiritual enlightenment rather than for material gain. In the novel and historical prose of this period, protagonists work not for their livelihoods, but for their honorable death; they voluntarily martyred themselves for their country, party, and leader Kim Jong Il. This study explores Song Sangwŏn’s Ch’onggŏm ŭl tŭlgo (Taking up bayonets) (2002) to examine how North Koreans worked, lived, and died at the turn of the twentieth century.
As the number of older adults with dementia increases, early diagnosis and intervention are crucially important. The purpose of this study was to conduct dementia screening on older adults to ...determine whether there are differences in depression, loneliness, social support, daily activities of living, and life satisfaction between older adults at high-risk for dementia compared with low-risk older adults. We hypothesized a negative relationship between high-risk older adults and these factors. This study also hypothesized a moderating effect for social support on the relationship between daily living activities and life satisfaction. This study used a cross-sectional design with survey data. Participants were recruited at 15 public community health centers in South Korea. A total of 609 older adults (male 208, female 401) living in the community were screened for early dementia, and 113 participants (18.9%) were assigned to the high-risk group. As hypothesized, participants in the high-risk group showed significantly more negative results in terms of activities of daily living, depression, loneliness, social support, and life satisfaction compared with participants in the low-risk group. The findings of this study provide a theoretical basis for the importance of early screening for dementia and policies for effective dementia prevention.
Prenatal diagnosis allows improved perioperative outcomes for fetuses with certain forms of congenital heart disease (CHD). Variability in prenatal diagnosis has been demonstrated in other countries, ...leading to efforts to improve fetal imaging protocols and access to care, but has not been examined across the United States. The objective was to evaluate national variation in prenatal detection across geographic region and defect type in neonates and infants with CHD undergoing heart surgery.
Cardiovascular operations performed in patients ≤6 months of age in the United States and included in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database (2006-2012) were eligible for inclusion. Centers with >15% missing prenatal diagnosis data were excluded from the study. Prenatal diagnosis rates were compared across geographic location of residence and defect type using the χ(2) test.
Overall, the study included 31,374 patients from 91 Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database participating centers across the United States. Prenatal detection occurred in 34% and increased every year, from 26% (2006) to 42% (2012). There was significant geographic variation in rates of prenatal diagnosis across states (range 11.8%-53.4%, P < .0001). Significant variability by defect type was also observed, with higher rates for lesions identifiable on 4-chamber view than for those requiring outflow tract visualization (57% vs 32%, P < .0001).
Rates of prenatal CHD detection in the United States remain low for patients undergoing surgical intervention, with significant variability between states and across defect type. Additional studies are needed to identify reasons for this variation and the potential impact on patient outcomes.
•Sensitivity of streamflow simulation to hydrologic modeling resolution is assessed.•Two radar-based precipitation input of different resolution are used for comparison.•Streamflow prediction ...improved with higher resolution up to about 500m and 15min.•There are trade-offs among resolution and timeliness and accuracy of prediction.
Urban flash flooding is a serious problem in large, highly populated areas such as the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW). Being able to monitor and predict flash flooding at a high spatiotemporal resolution is critical to providing location-specific early warnings and cost-effective emergency management in such areas. Under the idealized conditions of perfect models and precipitation input, one may expect that spatiotemporal specificity and accuracy of the model output improve as the resolution of the models and precipitation input increases. In reality, however, due to the errors in the precipitation input, and in the structures, parameters and states of the models, there are practical limits to the model resolution. In this work, we assess the sensitivity of streamflow simulation in urban catchments to the spatiotemporal resolution of precipitation input and hydrologic modeling to identify the resolution at which the simulation errors may be at minimum given the quality of the precipitation input and hydrologic models used, and the response time of the catchment. The hydrologic modeling system used in this work is the National Weather Service (NWS) Hydrology Laboratory’s Research Distributed Hydrologic Model (HLRDHM) applied at spatiotemporal resolutions ranging from 250m to 2km and from 1min to 1h applied over the Cities of Fort Worth, Arlington and Grand Prairie in DFW. The high-resolution precipitation input is from the DFW Demonstration Network of the Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) radars. For comparison, the NWS Multisensor Precipitation Estimator (MPE) product, which is available at a 4-km 1-h resolution, was also used. The streamflow simulation results are evaluated for 5 urban catchments ranging in size from 3.4 to 54.6km2 and from about 45min to 3h in time-to-peak in the Cities of Fort Worth, Arlington and Grand Prairie. The streamflow observations used in evaluation were obtained from water level measurements via rating curves derived from 1-D steady-state non-uniform hydraulic modeling. The results indicate that a spatiotemporal resolution of 500m and 15min or higher is a good choice for streamflow prediction using HLRDHM and CASA QPE in the study area, but that, due to the nonlinear accretion of random errors in QPE and imperfect model dynamics, there are trade-offs to consider among resolution, timeliness of prediction and prediction accuracy.
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