Technology and Health Care

Humans supply a variety of nutrients to their body in dietary life, which are directly related to health. Chronic diseases are long accumulated in the body on account of heredity or living habits, and draw attention as a main issue in the era of disease-controlled longevity. Therefore, it is essential to make health care continuously through the improvement in dietary habits.

By recommending alternative food products whose diet and nutrition structure is similar to that of the food products positively influencing users’ health conditions, it is possible to satisfy user’s health and preference.

We used the hybrid clustering based food recommendation method that uses chronic disease based clustering, diet and nutrition ontology, diet and nutrition knowledge base. Active users are classified into the chronic disease based cluster that has the nearest euclidean distance. According to the classified clusters, food products are recommended to users, and similar food products are also recommended with the use of food clustering and knowledge base. Food products are clustered with the uses of k-means algorithm and food and nutrient data system. Based on the created food clusters and food preference data, diet and nutrition knowledge base is generated. It is composed of food cluster filter, food similarity filter, universal preference filter, and user feedback filter. The universal preference filter represents the similarity weight between diet and nutrition, and user preference. The user feedback filter has the similarity weight between active user preference and diet and nutrition. They continue to be updated through associated feedback.

The proposed health decision-making method takes into account each user’s health condition so that the method has more precision than an existing recommendation method. In addition, the proposed method brings about better evaluation results than a general user-by-user health context information based recommendation method.

By recommending the food products related to users’ chronic diseases through the proposed hybrid clustering, it is possible to help out their healthcare. In addition, by letting users receive satisfying feedback flexibly, it is possible to improve their dietary habits.

Due to environmental factors such as nutrient intake imbalance, lack of exercise, and increased stress, it is necessary to control nutrition in order to prevent diseases and provide treatment in terms of healthcare.

This study proposes the activity-based nutrition management model with the use of the cluster analysis of similar group for healthcare.

The proposed method is to conduct the cluster analysis of similar group for nutrition management and to develop the real-time activity information based nutrition management algorithm with the use of big data in order to improve the quality of healthcare management service. It is to re-process an existing nutrition database and add voice recognition function in line with the service so as to improve convenience of intake-food inputs. In addition, the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication based standard collection of bio signals occurring in real-time is developed. This study also proposes the method of improving an existing algorithm of drawing a daily recommended allowance with the use of real-time activity information, and the proposed service provides the essential information of nutrition management with the use of public big data.

To verify the developed technology and service model and its effectiveness, the nutrition management service system is designed and developed with human interface.

The developed health model helps to solve the obesity problem, save medical costs, and address the issue of national health.

We aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of the Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract. There have been no studies related to dental caries inducing bacteria up to now.

This study reviewed the inhibitory effect of glucose transferase (GTase) activation and acid production to confirm the anticariogenic activity of Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract.

This study used 100 g Nelumbo nucifera leaves cultivated in Yeongcheon-si, Gyeongbuk, after adding 70% methanol tenfold. The leaves were then concentrated (Gotary vacuum evaporator; N-Nseries, EYELA Co., Japan) and were placed under an aspirator (A-3S, EYELA Co., Japan) and a freeze dryer (Ilshin Lab Co., Korea). The anticariogenic effect of Nelumbo nucifera leaves extract was investigated using the growth inhibitory effect, as well as GTase activation.

Among the nine kinds of oral-disease-causing bacteria, the Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract most effectively inhibited the growth of Streptococcus anginosus (S. anginosus), but it was difficult to inhibit the growth of Streptococcus oralis (S. oralis). For the anticariogenic effect of Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract, GTase activation was inhibited by at least 50% in all the nine types of bacteria, including Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans). It was shown that Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract had the strongest GTase activation inhibitory effect (85%) in S. anginosus. In addition, Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract showed an acid production inhibitory effect in the nine types of strains by maintaining almost pH 6.2 even after being cultured for 24 hours in the Nelumbo-nucifera-leaf-extract-added culture, while the control culture without Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract showed only about pH 5.0 after 4 hours.

In conclusion, Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract showed the strongest GTase activation inhibitory effect in S. anginosus. Based on this, it was confirmed that Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract showed anticariogenic activity against oral cavity disease microorganisms.

It is necessary to adjust and mediate environmental, personal, and structural aspects to reduce the turnover rate among healthcare nurses, and awareness of flexible work systems, organizational commitment and quality of life are factors contained in this category.

The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of awareness regarding flexible work systems, organizational commitment, and quality of life on turnover intentions among healthcare nurses.

Two hundred and twenty-six healthcare nurses participated in the study. Data were collected from September 1 to October 1, 2018, and analyzed using SPSS/WIN 23.0 version.

The results in the first analysis revealed that being dissatisfied with work ( β = 0.287) and having poor subjective health ( β = 0.197) were significant influencing factors with a combined explanatory power of 14.9% ( p < 0.001). In the second analysis, dissatisfied with work satisfaction ( β = 0.143), organizational commitment ( β = - 0.389), and quality of life ( β = 0.256) were significant influencing factors with a combined explanatory power of 29.5% ( p < 0.001).

It is necessary to reflect awareness of flexible work systems, organizational commitment and quality of life in interventions to reduce the turnover intention of healthcare nurses.

The development of antibacterial materials using various traditional food ingredients will be valuable to inhibit Helicobacter pylori in the future. The vegetables and herbs used in this study were food ingredients that normal people eat every day. This paper can be used as a resource for healthcare.

This paper presents the design to investigate the antibacterial effect of 20 vegetables and herbs used as traditional food ingredients on H. pylori.

The antibacterial effect on H. pylori was studied using the disk diffusion test on the activity of H. pylori. For the control group, 50 mg/ml of Metronidazol, a widely used antibiotic, was used. In particular, four herbs of Artemisia argyi, Scutellaria baicalensis, Annona muricata and Agrimonia pilosa were selected to measure the microbial viability assay, MTT assay, and antioxidant activity owing to the DPPH free radical elimination ability.

The measurement results showed that Annona muricata and Agrimonia pilosa had an antibacterial effect on H. pylori and all four herbs were safe in terms of cytotoxicity. The measurement results on the antioxidant activity showed that Scutellaria baicalensia was the best. Annona muricata and Agrimonia pilosa also had an antioxidant activity.

The study results on antibacterial effect of traditional food ingredients of vegetables and herbs on H. pylori showed that Scutellaria baicalensis, Annona muricata and Agrimonia pilosa can be considered as healthcare functional materials through the inhibition of H. Pylori.

This study was planned to investigate the research trends related to naturally derived anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity components. The main purpose of this study was to find out and develop natural health cosmetic ingredients which has high effects on lipid degradation, moisturizing and elasticity enhancement.

We all hope this research provided systematic and practical data that can suggest an opportunity to further develop new products.

This is a descriptive research which classified the natural and traditional components that have important obesity management effects based on the experimental technique (in vitro and in vivo). we investigated the effects of 13 natural raw materials selected through preliminary investigation on lipid metabolism related enzyme activity. We first introduced Ainsliaea acerifolea, Onion, pear, Sanguisorba, Limonium tetragonum, Cornus walteri, Loquat, and Loquat-which have recently been shown to be effective in anti-obesity tests, and then described the research methods by showing the effects of onion extracts, Glasswort, Pine Cone (Korean white pine), Orostachys japonicus, African mangoes, Pepper, and Clathratum (sea weed), which actually had effects on anti-obesity in the in vivo experiment.

As a result of investigating the effect of 13 natural raw materials selected through a preliminary investigation on lipid metabolism related enzyme activity, the study found nature-derived ingredients which induce anti-inflammatory and enhance the anti-obesity enzyme activity, and ingredients showing myriads of biological activities such as anti-oxidant, body fat reduction, lowering of blood cholesterol, and weight control.

In this paper, we would like to delve into the possibility of using natural components with natural lipid-lowering effect, and systematically and practically study if they can actually be helpful to develop new cosmetic products.

Supporting the caregivers of dementia patients is an important issue in the field of public health.

This study established a model for predicting the depression of dementia caregivers while considering the sociodemographic and health science characteristics of South Koreans. The results of this study provided baseline data for developing and applying a caregiver management App.

This study analyzed 2,592 adults ( ⩾ 19 years old; 1154 men and 1438 women) who were caregivers (e.g., family and caregivers) of demented elderly ( ⩾ 60 years old).

The results of developed random forest model showed that gender, subjective health status, disease or accidence experience within the past two weeks, the frequency of meeting a relative, economic activity, and monthly mean household income were the major predictors for the depression of caregivers. The prediction accuracy of the model was better than K-NN and support vector machine.

It was proved that the developed random forest-based App for predicting and managing the depression of dementia caregivers used an algorithm that has a high predictive power. It is required to develop a customized home care system that can prevent and manage the depression of the caregiver.

The changes in dietary habits can affect mental health problems, such as depressive disorder, due to the occurrence of diabetes.

This study aimed to determine the effects of diabetes on mental health (Patient Health Questionnaire-9: PHQ-9).

A secondary data analysis of cross-sectional design based on the raw data from KNHANES VII-1 was performed, which were disclosed by MOHW and KCDC. Of 8,150 respondents, 5,661 respondents aged ⩾ 20 years were included, thus excluding 2,489 respondents. Data were analyzed using an SPSS version 20.0 program.

The respondents scored high for diabetes diagnosis status (3.65), suicide planning status for a year (8.56), mental problem counseling for a year (7.80), and the degree of daily stress awareness (8.27) in PHQ-9. They scored higher for suicide planning status for a year, mental problem counseling for a year, and the degree of daily stress awareness than for diabetes diagnosis status in PHQ-9. Positive correlation was found among diabetes diagnosis status, suicide planning status for a year, mental problem counseling for a year, and daily stress awareness in PHQ-9 ( p < 0.01). Diabetes diagnosis status ( p < 0.01), suicide planning status for a year ( p < 0.001), mental problem counseling for a year ( p < 0.001), and the degree of daily stress awareness ( p < 0.001) affected PHQ-9.

PHQ-9 for screening depressive disorder based on diabetes diagnosis status had low scoring distribution. However, because diabetes diagnosis status significantly affected PHQ-9 for depression screening, it is necessary to pay attention to health care related to diabetes. Further research should be conducted on the association with diverse causes of the low scoring distribution in PHQ-9 in relation to diabetes.

Efficient resource management should consider the improvement of internal factors first as the unique task of medical institutions that can perform the medical services for efficient hospital management under the optimum management condition.

This study aims to suggest the efficient model for nurse resource management that can estimate optimum nurse resources according to the nursing intensity of the hospitalized patients.

The study was performed with four steps including collection and analysis of requirements, system design, system realization, and evaluation, which took 2 years and 10 months. The measurement tool used in the step of system evaluation was a modified version of Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction (QUIS) 5.0.

The system was implemented using Oracle database with Power Builder by Sybase. NRS, PCS, and ONMES were realized with developed NRMIS, and the survey was conducted on the usefulness as the system evaluation. The system evaluation results of User Interaction Satisfaction, means scores of ONMES, PCS, and NRS were 7.15 ± 0.52, 6.21 ± 1.11, and 6.03 ± 1.14 out of 9 points, respectively. Demonstrating the positive change in the subjective usefulness of the respondents after using the system compared to the period before using the system ( F = 16.551, p = 0.000).

It was confirmed that this system contributed to an enhancement of the working process speed, efficiency, and accuracy by simplifying the works which were the purposes of the nursing information system, which changes dynamically, to support decision making on the management of effective and flexible nurse resources.

The Plantago asiatica L. is easy to cultivate and has been used as a folk remedy since ancient times because of various pharmacological actions such as anti-inflammation and antioxidation. It also contains a variety of flavonoids such as aucubin, which is thought to be excellent for whitening, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action.

We investigated the effect of P. asiatica L. leaf ethanol extracts containing various active ingredients on antioxidative, anti-inflammation and whitening action and investigated its potential as a health care material. P. asiatica L. has been widely used in folk remedies.

The cell toxicity test using RAW264.7 cells showed a high cell survival rate of over 75%, thus demonstrating the safety of the sample. In order to study the antioxidant activity of P. asiatica L. leaf ethanol extracts, we studied a sample which showed radical scavenging activity in a dose-dependent manner. To observe the antioxidant activity at the cell level, RAW 264.7 cells were used and inhibition of ROS production was measured. The ROS production was suppressed in a dose-dependent manner and the scavenging activity was stronger than the sample’s own radical scavenging ability. To observe the anti-inflammatory effect of P. asiatica L. leaf ethanol extracts, inhibition of NO generation was observed using LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. NO generation was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner and was strongly inhibited by 31% at 100 μ g/mL. In vitro, L-DOPA and L-tyrosine were used to inhibit tyrosinase action in a dose-dependent manner. The concentration of melanin at 1, 10, and 100 μ g/mL was suppressed in B16 F10 melanin cells supplemented with α -MSH in the cells, and the inhibition was suppressed to 29% at 100 μ g/mL. In the B16 F10 melanin cell stimulated with MSH, the P. asiatica L. leaf ethanol extracts inhibited melanin formation in a dose-dependent manner.

P. asiatica L. leaf ethanol extracts are expected to be developed as whitening cosmeceutical ingredients and as health care ingredients with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.