• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.248-252
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• 2003

Enteroviruses isolation were attempted from samples obtained from aseptic meningitis-suspected patients in hospitals in Busan during 2000-2002. Enteroviruses were found in 2 of 292 cases in 2000, 4 of 371 cases in 2001, 83 of 703 cases in 2002. In 2000, the isolated viruses were found to be echovirus serotype 11 and coxsackievirus serotype B2. Coxsackievirus serotype B5 was isolated in 2001 and in 2002, echovirus serotypes 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 13, 25, 30 were isolated in 70 cases while coxsackievirus serotypes B3 and B4 were isolated in 10 cases. Various specimens tended to emerge over the years. The occurrence in 2000 tended to be mostly focus during the cold months, December through January, while in 2001, it occurred in May. In 2002, occurrence was found to be distributed from April to November with the highest rate during June and July. The strains of Vero and HEp-2 of echovirus and coxsackievirus, respectively, are highly infectious. Electron micrograph of echovirus and coxsackievirus show that they are small nonenevolped, isometric-shaped viruses. Isolated RNA from strains of echovirus and coxsackievirus showing cytopathic effects were used to undergo nested PCR which resulted in a 436 bp single band in all the strains. The serotype was sent to the Department of Virology at the Korean National Institute of Health for identification.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.257-264
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• 2006

Fifty eight Cryptococcus neoformans strains isolated from clinical and environmental sources in Korea were examined for their serotypes and extracellular enzyme activities. Among the 51 strains isolated from clinical sources, 48 strains were serotype A (94.1%), 2 strains were serotype B (3.92%), and 1 strain was serotype D (1.96%). All seven environmental strains isolated from pigeon excreta were identified as serotype A. All isolates of C. neoformtans were positive for the production of extracellular proteinase and phospholipase. In the API-ZYM system, all fifty eight isolates produced alkaine phosphatase, esterase C4, esterase lipase: C8, leucine arylamidase, acid phosphatase, naphthol-AS-BI-phosphohydrase, $\alpha$-glucosidase and $\beta$-glucosidase. Thirty nine isolates (67.2%) of C. neoformans produced N-acetyl-$\beta$-glucosidase. Two isolates, serotype B, and B only one serotype A produced $\beta$-glucuronidase. Analysis of enzymatic profiles to 21 enzymes revealed four biotypic patterns among the 58 strains. The enzymatic patterns of C. neoformans isolated from clinical and environmental sources represented a significant relationship with the serotypes.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.136-142
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• 1991

Colonial morphology of the various yeasts grown on the yeast morphology agar me­dium containing orange-yellow pigments extracted from the fruits of Gardenia jasminoides (GJPM) was investigated in hopes of the differential identification of yeasts on primary cultures. Colonies of Candida lusitaniae and Ca. guilliermondii on GJPM turned to prussian blue within three days of incubation and Ca. tropicalis and Ca. viswanathii turned to bluish gray but the latter species turned to deep blue after 7 days. Ca. krusei, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Torulopsis glabrata showed neutral gray, grayish green, and baby blue respectively after one or two weeks. However, the colonies of Ca. albicans and parapsilosis remained unchanged even after 20 days. Colonial color of Cryptococ­cus neoformans showing brown to purple brown was distinguishable not only from buff color of Cr. laurentii after one or two weeks incubation but also from those of Candida spp. Growth of certain species was promoted on GJPM. The findings clearly showed that Ga. jasminoides pigments medium was useful to the morphological differentiation of medically important yeasts which were often encountered in sputum or other clinical specimens.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.222-232
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• 2004

The sample collection room(SCR) will have much more influence than all the other departments for the improvement of hospital image, if anyone coming to the SCR in the hospital goes back with the perfect complacency and because most clients who have much stresses and fatigues pay a final visit to the SCR via receipt-diagnosis- acceptance process. SCR has improved its image for the purpose of gratifying clients, in order for clients to visit the hospital again, the quality improvement(QI) team in the Diagnosis Inspection Medical Department has come to a conclusion as follows. The degree of client gratification before improvement marks 65.9 point, but the degree after improvement was 74.2 point. Therefore, satisfaction has increased by 8.3 points. The degree of client gratification in groups before improvement marks (1) service parts-89.2 points (2) facilities and environments-49.1 point (3) toilet facilities-46.3 point. But its gratification after improvement marks (1) 92.5 point (2) 60.1 point (3) 61.0 point. Therefore the degree of satisfaction has increased by (1) 3.3 point, (2) 11.0 point, (3) 14.7 point. The progress of facility improvement plans and the exclusion of improvement on the facility contents in the hospital have made facilities and environments of SCR and toilet facilities to be poorly improved. Although service parts have a good mark, and the facilities and environments are not scoring well, the whole degree clients' gratification of SCR couldn't be helped by the low grade. Therefore the bottom line for the clients' gratification of SCR in the future is to ameliorate the facilities and environments. SCR will take the clients' gratification survey every year and if any items get low marks, that is, below 90 point throughout the survey, SCR will immediately starts the improvement work for the clients' gratification with operating the programs of controlling quality continually, and SCR should induce the operation of services, participating in the kind campaign drive for clients. So SCR will adopt the incentive system for the best staff members who perform these kinds of services.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2006

Recently, the rapid increase in extended-spectrum ${\beta}$-lactamase (ESBL) producing clinical isolates has become a serious problem. In this study, the epidemiologic features and molecular characteristics of ESBL among clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, antibiotic susceptibility testing, genotype of the ESBL and patterns of chromosomal DNA from PFGE (pulsed field gel electrophoresis) were observed. A total of 53 ESBL-producing clinical isolates (30 of E. coli and 23 of Klebsiella pneumoniae) were collected from two university hospitals in the period of June to July in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The antibiotic resistance frequency of those 53 strains was tested by the disk agar diffusion method with the result that all the strains were resistant to cephalothin. To other antibiotics, the resistance rates of E. coli (30 isolates) were in order of ceftazidime (90.0%), cefotaxime and aztreonam (respectively 83.3%). Also, the resistance rates of K. pneumoniae (23 isolates) were in order of aztreonam (78.3%), ceftazidime (73.9%) and cefotaxime (65.3%). Also the sensitivity of ceftazidime-clavulanic acid were 100% in E. coli and 95.7% in K. pneumoniae. And the sensitivity of cefotaxime-clavulanic acid was 96.7% in E. coli and 91.3% in K. pneumoniae. The types of the ESBL genes were determined by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Among the 30 isolates of ESBL-producing E. coli, 6 (20.0%) have SHV only, 5 (16.7%) have TEM only and, 18 (60.0%) have both of TEM and SHV. Among the 23 isolates of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae, 7 (30.4%) have SHV only, 2 (8.7%) have TEM only, and 14 (60.9%) have both of TEM and SHV. These results show that 52 strains, with only one exception, were confirmed as either TEM or SHV. The patterns of Xba I-digested chromosomal DNA of ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates were analyzed by PFGE. PFGE patterns of E. coli and K. pneumoniae were multiclonal, but many strains were grouped into a few types. Therefore, it seems that there were clonal outbreaks or possible horizontal spread. In conclusion, the TEM and SHV ${\beta}$-lactamase are most widely spread in E. coli and K. pneumoniae in Korea. As these types are usually carried by plasmids, the spread of these ${\beta}$-lactamase genes could compromise the future usefulness of third generation cephalosporins for the treatment of infections caused by E. coli and K. pneumoniae.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2007

HCV is a single-stranded RNA virus and more than 1 million new cases are reported annually worldwide. The six major HCV genotypes and numerous subtypes vary in their geographic distribution. It is thought that genetic heterogeneity of HCV may account for some of the differences in disease outcome and response to treatment observed in HCV infected persons. In this study, we determined HCV genotypes among chronic Korean HCV patients and evaluated direct sequence PCR protocols developed. For the study, 232 chronic HCV patient sera were used. HCV RNA was extracted and two pairs of consensus PCR primers were selected in 5'UTR region for amplification of HCV RNA. Amplification products obtained from the HCV positive cases were subjected to automatic sequencing. Sequences were compared with those in GenBank by using the BLAST program. From this study, five HCV genotypes, 1b, 2a, 2b, 2c and 3a were found. HCV genotypes 4, 5 and 6 were not determined. HCV genotype 1b (53.9%, 125/232) and 2a (35.8%, 83/232) were most frequently found. This group was followed by 2b (3.9%, 9/232), 3a (3.4%, 8/232) and 2c (3.0%, 7/232). The data presented here suggest a complex distribution of HCV types and they were well correlated with other reports on Koreans and will be helpful for type-specific follow-up of Korean HCV patients. This study showed that 5'UTR direct sequence analysis is a sensitive and rapid method to identify HCV genotypes.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.210-215
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• 2002

To elucidate the effect of water and methanol extracts of Cordyceps militaris, Paecilomyces japonicus and their mycelin on diabetes and organs in STZ-induced diabetic rats, weight of organs (liver, kidney, spleen, thymus), plasma level of blood glucose, total protein, triglyceride, free fatty acid, hepatic total protein, triglyceride and glycogen were determined as compared with those of negative control group. The blood glucose level of CM-1 and CM-M group showed significantly reduced, and all groups except CM-2 increased in body weight. CM-1 decreased the liver weight, and PJ-2 decreased the kidney weight. In all groups except PJ-2, plasma total protein level was increased, and the triglyceride, and CM-3 and CM-H decreased the free fatty acid was decreased in CM-3, PJ-1 and PJ-2 treated groups. In hepatic tissue, total protein was significantly increased in CM-H and CM-M treated group, and in all groups except CM-2, the triglyceride were significantly decreased and glycogen was increased. In conclusion, CM-1 and CM-M that possess potential antidiabetic activity increased glycogen and lowered serum glucose level, thus they might improve metabolic disorder originated from diabetes by increasing serum protein and reducing excess triglyceride in serum and liver tissue.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.37-41
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• 2012

The current standard for testing tetrodotoxin (TTX) in foodstuffs is the mouse bioassay (MBA) in Korea as in many other countries. However, this test suffers from potential ethical concerns over the use of live animals. In addition, the mouse bioassay does not test for a specific toxin thus a sample resulting in mouse incapacitation would need further confirmatory testing to determine the exact source toxin (e.g., TTX, STX, brevotoxin, etc.). Furthermore, though the time of death is proportional to toxicity in this assay, the dynamic range for this proportional relationship is small thus many samples must be diluted and new mice be injected to yield a result that falls within the quantitative dynamic range. Therefore, in recent years, there have been many efforts in this field to develop alternative assays. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) has been emerged as one of the most promising options. A LC-MS-MS method involves solid-phase extraction (SPE) and followed by analysis using an electrospray in the positive ionization mode and multiple reactions monitoring (MRM). To adopt LC-MS-MS method as alternative standard for testing TTX, we performed a validation study for the quantification of TTX in puffer fish. This LC-MS-MS method showed good sensitivity as limits of detection (LOD) of $0.03{\sim}0.08{\mu}g/g$ and limits of quantification (LOQ) of $0.10{\sim}0.25{\mu}g/g$. The linearity ($r^2$) of tetrodotoxin were 0.9986~0.9997, the recovery were 80.9~103.0% and the relative standard deviations (RSD) were 4.3~13.0%. The correlation coefficient between the mouse bioassay and LC/MS/MS method was higher than 0.95.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.154-161
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• 2009

This survey was conducted to monitor the safety of children snacks circulated in a stationary store or small shop around the elementary school from March to October, 2008, in Gwangju. A total of 309 samples was tested. Of these samples, 254 were confectioneries, 41 were ready-to-eat foods like kimbap, 4 were beverages and 10 were the others like fishery products. 259 were domestic products and 50 were imported. By the origin of imported samples, 17 were from china, 6 from U.S.A., 5 from india and etc. We found out that in acid value, 2 cases of fried snacks(3.9 and 4.4) proved to exceed regulatory guidance(2.0). And among ready-to-eat foods, two kimbap had Staphylococcus aureus, and one had Escherichia coli. which microorganism could cause food poisoning.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.447-451
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• 2020

For this study, we conducted a simultaneous multiresidue analysis of veterinary drugs in cultured fishery products in Chungnam Province in 2018. A total of 115 fishery product samples were obtained from fish farms and fishery production sites located in the province. In all, 29 residual veterinary drugs in the samples were analyzed using a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. As a result, veterinary drug residues were only detected in a small number of the 106 samples (92.2%), and the detection rate was 7.8% (9 of 115 samples). The amounts were also below maximum residual limit (MRL) for fishery products, although one sample exceeded the MRL allowed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and was detected in loach. The nine residual veterinary drugs were detected in 8 samples: loach, eel, catfish, freshwater bream, flatfish, rockfish and shrimp. The detected veterinary drugs were oxolinic acid, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, sulfadiazine, flumequine and oxytetracycline. The most frequently detected antibiotic was oxolinic acid, and enrofloxacin exceeded the MRL in loach sample. Residues of most veterinary drugs were either not detected or were below the MRL, and while the status of fishery products is seen as safe overall, current surveillance efforts over veterinary drugs should be continued.