• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2006

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as an important nosocomial pathogen worldwide. The incidence of these infections has recently begun to increase. The mortality rate associated with these infections is high (bacteremia; 52%, pneumonia: 23%~73%) and multidrug resistance has been reported. For the effective control of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii(MDR-AB), the impact of these organisms in clinical practice should be determined. This study compared the clinical characteristics, mortality and morbidity of Acinetobacter nosocomial pneumonia between MDR strain and non-MDR strain. Methods: From Jan. 1, 2002 to Nov. 1. 2004, 47 adult patients with Acinetobacter nosocomial pneumonia in Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital were recruited and analyzed retrospectively. MDR-AB was defined as showing in vitro resistance to all commercially available antibiotics against A. baumannii. Results: There were 47 patients with Acinetobacter nosocomial pneumonia. MDR-AB and non MDR-AB was the cause of the pneumonia in 17 and 30 patients, respectively. Mean age of the former was $69{\pm}11$ years old and the latter was $70{\pm}13$ years old. The mean APCHE II score, ICU days and mortality were not different between the two groups ($16.1{\pm}5.4$ vs. $14.9{\pm}4.8$, P=0.43, $25.1{\pm}13.6$ vs. $39.1{\pm}31.0$, P=0.2, 58.8% vs. 40%, P=0.21). Conclusion: There are no significant differences in mortality and morbidity between MDR and non-MDR Acinetobacter baumannii. The mortality of the two groups is surprisingly high, therefore proper infection control practices are essential.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.98 no.1
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• pp.115-124
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• 2009

New strain needs to maintain desirable characteristics for long term when it was bred, but in lapse of time it degenerates into a bad condition. Therefore the influence of temperature on the viability and survival rates of Lentinula edodes strains were examined after cryopreservation. Also, liquid nitrogen preservation for L. edodes has been proved to be one of the most reliable method. However, a mechanical damage of strain is inevitable during cryopreservation of the fungus because the fungus is very sensitive to stress of cooling rate in the freezing process. So we tried to find out state change of L. edodes with a programmable freezer. L. edodes strains were preserved at $-20^{\circ}C$, $-80^{\circ}C$ and $-196^{\circ}C$ for 50 days. At $-20^{\circ}C$, its mycelial growth became extinct. When thawed, the growth of mycelia which were preserved at $-80^{\circ}C$ was fastest. Attempts were made to investigate viability of L. edodes strains after freezing at $-80^{\circ}C$ and $-196^{\circ}C$, respectively. As the result, more than 90% showed high survival rate of strains tested at $-80^{\circ}C$ and $-196^{\circ}C$. Mycelial growth between apical and basal parts of colony after freezing preservation for 50 days was compared. At apical and basal parts, the survival rates showed 100% at $-80^{\circ}C$, but 98% and 94% at $-196^{\circ}C$, respectively. We confirmed that the ice crystal formation temperatures of L. edodes strains were $-6.0^{\circ}C$ for Sanlim 1, $-5.5^{\circ}C$ for the Sanlim 2, $-4.0^{\circ}C$ for the Sanlim 3 and $-15.5^{\circ}C$ for the Sanzo 302. These results indicated that L. edodes strains showed completely different responses to the ice crystal formation. We knew the fact that even the same species, especially L. edodes, they displayed completely different responses to the same freezing condition. Also, this has nothing to do with the connection between temperature type and freezing point. And a protocol was tried to minimize state change of L. edodes strains using programmable freezer when they are frozen, but it was not effective on them.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.115-130
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• 2013

In this study, lateral-torsional buckling (LTB) strength of high-strength H-beams built up from 800MPa tensile-strength steel was experimentally and analytically evaluated according to current lateral stability provisions (KBC 2009, AISC-LRFD 2010). The motivation was to evaluate whether or not current LTB provisions, which were originally developed for ordinary steel with different stress-strain characteristics, are still applicable to high-strength steel. Two sets of compact-section specimens with relatively low (Set A) or high (Set B) warping stiffness were prepared and tested under uniform moment loading. Laterally unbraced lengths of the test specimens were controlled such that inelastic LTB could be induced. All specimens exhibited LTB strength exceeding the minimum limit required by current provisions by a sufficient margin. Moreover, some specimen in Set A reached a rotation capacity required for plastic design, although its laterally unbraced length belonged to the inelastic LTB range. All the test results indicated that extrapolation of current provisions to high-strength steel is conservative. In order to further analyze the test results, the relationship between inelastic moment and laterally unbraced length was also derived in explicit form for both ordinary- and high-strength steel based on the effective tangent modulus of inelastic section. The analytical relationship derived again showed that extrapolation of current laterally unbraced length limit leads to a conservative design in the case of high-strength steel and that the laterally unbraced length to control the inelastic LTB behavior of high-strength steel beam should be specified by including its unique post-yield strain-hardening characteristics.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 1989

Ceftizoxime sodium is a new synthetic ${\beta}$-lactam antibiotic combining potent antibacterial activity with high stability to a wide range of bacterial ${\beta}$-lactamase. This experiment was achieved to evaluate the antibacterial activities of ceftizoxime sodium againist Gram negative enteric bacteria isolated from in outpatient visiting Yeungnam university hospital and to study the emergence of drug induced bacterial varients which resist to ceftizoxime in vitro. The antibacterial activity of the ceftizoxime was compared with that of antibiotics and its effect on population of normal intestinal flora in mice was observed. The results are summarized as follows : 1. Highly effective antibacterial activity of ceftizoxime against Gram negative enteric bacilli was demonstrated and this antibacterial activity was superior to that of ampicillin. 2. Several test strains shows multiple antibiotic resistence. Among 15 strains of Escherichia coli, 1 strain was resistent to ampicillin, cefadroxyl, gentamicin, tetracycline, and 2 strains were resistent to ampicillin, cefadroxyl, tetracycline, five strains of Escherichia coli and Enterobacter cloacae was resistent to amplicillin, tetracycline and Shigella dysenteria was resistent to ampicillin, gentamicin, tetracycline. 3. The frequency of in vitro emergence of resistent varients among ceftizoxime sensitive bacteria in the presence of increasing concentrations of the compound was found to be low. 4. Plasmid was isolated in 6 of 9 strains (6 strains of Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Enterobacter cloaceae and Salmonella typhi) That showed different antibiotic resistance. They were 5 strains of Escherichia coli and 1 strain of Shigella dysenteriae. However, plasmid could not be considered as a hallmark for antibiotic resistance by this. Further studies with curing experiment are to be accomplished for this purpose. 5. Changes in the bacterial count of normal intestinal flora following 25mg/kg/day administration of ceftizoxime over S consecutive days were not significant. In conclusion, ceftizoxime appeared to be a drug of choice in the treatment of Gram negative enteric bacilli infection.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.72-77
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• 1989

A study was conducted to obtain acid tolerant and superior Rhizobium meliloti strain for alfalfa on hilly acid soils. With host plant, eight isolates of R, meliloti selected in the vicinity of Milyang were evaluated for their ability to establish symbiotic effectiveness in acidified tube culture medium and vermiculite pot with different urea levels. Among isolates "YA03" was characterized for the ability to manifest to acid tolerance in three different soils of which pH were 5.0, 6.0, and 7.5. The results obtained were summarized as follows: 1. Of eight isolates "YA03" and "YA09" performed nodule in the tube medium of pH5.0, and in the symbiotic effectiveness YA03 was superior to others. 2. Alfalfa growth and $N_2-fixing$ activity by the inoculation of "YA03" isolate were better than others at the level of urea 1.25mM as well as nonurea. 3. Application of urea with inoculation of "YA03" islate to alfalfa was one of the effective factors for symbiotic effectiveness. 4. In infertile soil of pH5.0 inoculation of R. meliloti "YA03" to alfalfa caused the increase of shoot dry matter of 320% as compared to the control, and the total amount of yield was 131% as much yield in moderate fertile soil of pH7.5. Finally R. meliloti "YA03" isolate was selected as an acid tolerant strain.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.426-437
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• 2024

Objective: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a diagnostic tool that provides precise and reproducible information about cardiac structure, function, and tissue characterization, aiding in the monitoring of chemotherapy response in patients with light-chain cardiac amyloidosis (AL-CA). This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of CMR in monitoring responses to chemotherapy in patients with AL-CA. Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, we enrolled 111 patients with AL-CA (50.5% male; median age, 54 [interquartile range, 49-63] years). Patients underwent longitudinal monitoring using biomarkers and CMR imaging. At follow-up after chemotherapy, patients were categorized into superior and inferior response groups based on their hematological and cardiac laboratory responses to chemotherapy. Changes in CMR findings across therapies and differences between response groups were analyzed. Results: Following chemotherapy (before vs. after), there were significant increases in myocardial T2 (43.6 ± 3.5 ms vs. 44.6 ± 4.1 ms; P = 0.008), recovery in right ventricular (RV) longitudinal strain (median of -9.6% vs. -11.7%; P = 0.031), and decrease in RV extracellular volume fraction (ECV) (median of 53.9% vs. 51.6%; P = 0.048). These changes were more pronounced in the superior-response group. Patients with superior cardiac laboratory response showed significantly greater reductions in RV ECV (-2.9% [interquartile range, -8.7%-1.1%] vs. 1.7% [-5.5%-7.1%]; P = 0.017) and left ventricular ECV (-2.0% [-6.0%-1.3%] vs. 2.0% [-3.0%-5.0%]; P = 0.01) compared with those with inferior response. Conclusion: Cardiac amyloid deposition can regress following chemotherapy in patients with AL-CA, particularly showing more prominent regression, possibly earlier, in the RV. CMR emerges as an effective tool for monitoring associated tissue characteristics and ventricular functional recovery in patients with AL-CA undergoing chemotherapy, thereby supporting its utility in treatment response assessment.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.325-330
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• 2008

Two different Eelwardsiella tarda isolates, KFE and Edk-2, were obtained from Korea and Japan respectively. On the base of the previous results showing higher pathogenicity of E. tarda KFE compared to that of E. tarda Edk-2 isolate, we tried to determine the differences of antigenicities of these two isolates in loach which is one of the important species in freshwater aquaculture in Korea. Concentration of specific antibody in the serum appeared to be much higher in loach immunized with FKC of E. tarda Edk-2 than those found in loach immunized with FKC of E. tarda KFE. Cross-reaction analysis using agglutination test with normal and antigen-absorbed antisera implied the differences epitopes in the antigens of these E. tarda isolates. For the comparison of bactericidal activity of the produced antibody with different antigens, absorption analysis was performed and confirmed the presence of critical epitopes in the FKC of E. tarda KFE strain. The prophylactic agent, polysaccharide-bound protein (PS-K) injected 1 week before the artificial infection with E. tarda KFE isolates decreased the cumulative mortality in loach and would be on effective method to prevent the occurrence of bacterial infection including E. tarda.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2008

An engineered cementitious composite produced with slag particles (Slag-ECC) had been developed based on micromechanical principle. Base grain ingredients were properly selected, and then the mixture proportion was optimized to be capable of achieving robust tensile ductility in the hardened state. The rheological design is performed in the present study by optimizing the amount of admixtures suitable for self-consolidating casting and shotcreting process in the fresh state. A special focus is placed on the rheological control which is directly applicable to the construction in field, using prepackaged product with all pulverized ingredients. To control the rheological properties of the composite, which possesses different fluid properties to facilitate two types of processing (i.e., self-consolidating and shotcreting processing), the viscosity change of the cement paste suspensions over time was initially investigated, and then the proper dosage of the admixtures in the cement paste was selected. The two types of mixture proportion were then optimized by self-consolidating & shotcreting tests. A series of self-consolidating and shotcreting tests demonstrated excellent self-consolidation property and sprayability of the Slag-ECC. The rheological properties altered through this approach were revealed to be effective in obtaining Slag-ECC hardened properties, represented by pseudo strain-hardening behavior in uniaxial tension, allowing the readily achievement of the desired function of the fresh Slag-ECC. These ductile composites with self-consolidating and shotcreting processing can be broadly utilized for a variety of applications, e.g., in strengthening seismic resistant structures with congested reinforcements, or in repairing deteriorated infrastructures by shotcreting process.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.25 no.2 s.81
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• pp.143-151
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• 1997

Interspecific hybrids between Aspergillus niger and Penicillium notatum (Tyr-), hyperlipolytic enzyme-producing fungi, were obtained by nuclear transfer technique. Optimal conditions for formation of intergeneric hybrids were investigated. Maximum production of protoplasts was obtained by 1% Novozyme 234 at $30^{\circ}C$ for 3 hrs and the most effective osmotic stabilizers for the isolation of protoplasts were 0.6 M KCl. Frequencies of hybrid formation by nuclear transfer were $3.8{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}1.3{\times}10^{-3}$. From the observation of genetic stability, conidial size, DNA content, and nuclear stain, it was suggested that their karyotypes are aneuploid. The hybrids showed $1.2{\sim}1.7$ fold higher lipase activities than parental strains. It was strongly supported by results of this study that nuclear transfer technique is much more efficient in the formation of intergeneric hybrids than protoplast fusion and is very useful for the improvement of strains.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2003

For study about introduce of gene connected with disease and transformation system of gingseng, chitinase gene cloned from soybene and disease resistant gene were carried out for expression and transformation of plant using Agrobacterium. The disease resistance gene(DR-49), 35S-35S-AMV, has been constructed. The disease resistance gene and chitinase gene were introduced into the binary vector pRD 400, which were mobilized into Agrobacterium tumefaciens faciens strain MP 90 and LBA 4404 harboring disarmed Ti-plasmid. As a result of induce transformants using ginseng embryo and petiole, multi shoots were formed on MS medium supplemented 1 mg/ι 2,4-D and 0.5 mg/ι kinetin. Also transformation by cotyledonwas effective on MS medium supplemented 1 mg/ι 2,4-D and 0.5 mg/ι kinetin, transformation percent of disease resistant gene and chitinase gene were showed 18%, 14% respectively. As transformed tissue is under pre-embryoid condition, normal shoot is required through the process of matured embryo.