A Meta-Analysis of Factors Related to Job Satisfaction: Focused on Korean Nurses.

Background: Nurses comprise the majority of the healthcare workforce, and their job satisfaction can have a substantial impact on patient health. Methods: This study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of studies that performed statistical analyses focused on the job satisfaction of nurses and relevant factors, as well as synthesizing existing data. Overall, 144 studies published between 1986 and 2018 were reviewed for qualitative synthesis. Results: The most frequently measured variable was job stress, followed by burnout and turnover intention. Overall, 53 studies published between 1994 and 2018 were reviewed for quantitative synthesis. In the meta-analysis, the weighted mean effect size using a random-effects model was moderate for all variables: -0.539, -0.484, and -0.395 for burnout, turnover intention, and job stress, respectively. Conclusion: The results revealed a long history of variables related to job satisfaction among Korean nurses since data retrieval was not subject to any restrictions. These findings can be used as evidence for the formulation of policies to enhance the retention of nurses committed to their profession. Further, they can facilitate stable workforce management in healthcare.

Efficacy of Parenting Programs to Reduce Parenting Burdens in Multicultural Families: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: We comprehensively investigated and summarized the current situation of parenting programs for multicultural families in South Korea. Methods: Two researchers independently searched and selected 16 studies on parenting programs for multicultural families and analyzed the major dependent variables, including parenting stress, parenting efficacy, parenting attitude, and parental satisfaction, in a meta-analysis of parenting stress and parenting efficacy (n=6 each). This study was dealt with a Bayesian meta-analysis to perform examine the effect sizes for parenting stress and parenting efficacy. Sensitivity to prior distributions was evaluated before the Bayesian meta-analysis, and an optimal prior distribution was selected based on the Watanabe-Akaike information criterion. Results: The combined effect sizes for parenting stress and parenting efficacy were found to be >1 in both the frequentist and Bayesian meta-analyses, indicating that the parenting programs for multicultural families in South Korea are highly effective. Conclusion: These basic data can facilitate the expansion of customized social services for reducing parenting burdens in multicultural families.

Design of Optimal Rainfall Monitoring Network Using Radar and Road Networks.

Uncertainty in the rainfall network can lead to mistakes in dam operation. Sudden increases in dam water levels due to rainfall uncertainty are a high disaster risk. In order to prevent these losses, it is necessary to configure an appropriate rainfall network that can effectively reflect the characteristics of the watershed. In this study, conditional entropy was used to calculate the uncertainty of the watershed using rainfall and radar data observed from 2018 to 2019 in the Goesan Dam and Hwacheon Dam watersheds. The results identified radar data suitable for the characteristics of the watershed and proposed a site for an additional rainfall gauge. It is also necessary to select the location of the additional rainfall gauged by limiting the points where smooth movement and installation, for example crossing national borders, are difficult. The proposed site emphasized accessibility and usability by leveraging road information and selecting a radar grid near the road. As a practice result, the uncertainty of precipitation in the Goesan and Hwacheon Dam watersheds could be decreased by 70.0% and 67.9%, respectively, when four and three additional gauge sites were installed without any restriction. When these were installed near to the road, with five and four additional gauge sites, the uncertainty in the Goesan Dam and Hwacheon Dam watersheds were reduced by up to 71.1%. Therefore, due to the high degree of uncertainty, it is necessary to measure precipitation. The operation of the rainfall gauge can provide a smooth site and configure an appropriate monitoring network.

Cosmetic Surgery and Self-esteem in South Korea: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Advances in medical technology coupled with rapid growth of web-based mass media and social networking services have considerably increased public access to cosmetic surgery. In South Korea, in particular, the number of people undergoing cosmetic surgery has been rapidly increasing, and studies related to cosmetic surgery have markedly increased. We report an integrative review of studies examining the relationship between cosmetic surgery and self-esteem in Korea. We aimed to identify relevant variables and determine their overall effect sizes. METHODS: This study was designed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Two researchers separately performed the literature search, selected 16 papers based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and analyzed them. RESULTS: Of the 16 papers on cosmetic surgery and self-esteem, 5 (33.3%) involved both men and women, and the remaining 11 (66.7%) involved only women. The respondents included teenagers and adults. The total number of respondents was 6296, with an average of 393.5 per paper. Most studies (n = 13, 81.3%) used the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Self-esteem was correlated with variables grouped into the following six categories: appearance management intention, cosmetic surgery intention, sociocultural attitude, body satisfaction, BMI, and stress. The effect sizes from the meta-analysis with correlation coefficients were 0.157, - 0.118, 0.023, 0.175, - 0.045, and - 0.085. CONCLUSIONS: Among the relevant variables categorized in this study, sociocultural attitude, BMI, and stress showed weak effect sizes, and the appearance management intention, cosmetic surgery intention, and body satisfaction categories showed intermediate effect sizes. The results of this study are expected to serve as a concrete basis for the development of strategies to minimize the adverse effects of the ever-growing cosmetic surgery industry. This information can help elucidate the psychologic characteristics of individuals seeking cosmetic surgery and contribute to optimal medical outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

How do weather extremes affect rice productivity in a changing climate? An answer to episodic lack of sunshine.

Here, we experimentally examined how an episodic lack of sunshine (ELS), as an extreme weather event, would affect rice productivity under warming with elevated [CO2 ]. In 2009 and 2010, rice plants were grown at two levels of [CO2 ] (ca. 390 and 650 µl l(-1) ) and three levels of warming (≈ambient, +1.2 °C, and +2.2/2.4 °C) in six independent temperature gradient field chambers (three each for ambient and elevated [CO2 ]). At panicle initiation (PI), booting (BT), or flowering (FL), rice plants were exposed to ELS (ca. 18% of full sunlight) for 10-14 days consecutively. As expected, ELS elicited a significant reduction in aboveground biomass (AGB) and yields. However, elevated [CO2 ] had the potential to relieve the ELS-induced reduction in AGB and yield, whereas warming had the reverse effect for yields, without a significant warming × [CO2 ] interaction. When ELS applied at PI, BT, and FL, the extents to which warming-reduced yields (averaged across [CO2 ] levels) ranged from 9 to 25%, 7 to 14, and 10 to 18% at +1.2 °C, and ranged from 24 to 56%, 22 to 55%, and 18 to 46% at +2.2/2.4 °C across two seasons, respectively. Meanwhile, under normal sunshine they ranged from 1 to 3% at +1.2 °C and 7 to 21% at +2.2/2.4 °C. Warming predisposed rice plants that had experienced ELS to be more sensitive to spikelet sterility and spikelet number per panicle, accounting for most of the yield reductions. These findings provide evidence that an expected warming could further exacerbate rice productivity if ELS occurs simultaneously during reproductive stages. Our results collectively suggest that it might be critically important to consider extreme events for a holistic evaluation of the potential impact of warming and [CO2 ] on crop productivity, when considering changing climate.