• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.123-136
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• 2013

Objectives: This paper was prepapred to report airborne asbestos fiber concentrations in asbestos textile, brake-lining, commutator, and building materials manufacturing industries, and some other asbestos related industries in Korea from 1994 to 2006. Methods: Airborne asbestos data that have been sampled and analyzed in the above industries during 1994-2006 were collected. These data were reviewed to scrutinize the qualified data based on the records such as sampling and analyzed method and quality control procedures. All asbestos data were generated using the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) Method 7400. Results: Average concentration of asbestos fiber was 2.14 fibers/cc(0.02-15.6 fibers/cc) in the asbestos textile industry, 0.26 fibers/cc(0.01-1.01 fibers/cc) in the building-materials industry, 0.15 fibers/cc(0.01-0.93 fibers/cc) in the brake-lining manufacturing industry, and 0.14 fibers/cc(0.03-1.36 fibers/cc) in the commutator producing industry. For these industries, the percentage of samples of which asbestos fiber concentrations above the limit of exposure(0.1 fibers/cc) was 97.6% in the asbestos textile industry, 62.3% in the building-materials industry, 53.5% in the brake-lining manufacturing industry, and 34.3% in the commutator producing industry. Asbestos fiber concentration was below the limit of exposure in the gasket producing, petrochemistry, musical instrument producing industries, and the brake-lining exchange operations. Conclusions: Airborne asbestos fiber level in the asbestos textile, brake-lining producing, commutator and building-material producing industries was above the limit of exposure, but in the gasket producing, petrochemistry, musical instrument producing industries and the brake-lining exchange operations were below the limit of exposure.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2013

Background: The prevalence of extended-spectrum ${\beta}$-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli is increasing rapidly worldwide. Treatment options for ESBL-producing E. coli are limited, and infections caused by this organism are associated with improper antibiotic use, a long hospital stay, and increased mortality. Thus, the assessment and early recognition of the risk factors of nosocomial infections due to ESBL-producing E. coli are important for the infection control and proper treatment. Methods: A case-control study was performed that included nosocomial episodes of ESBL-producing E. coli bacteremia at a tertiary care hospital from January 2004 to December 2007. For each case patient, three controls were randomly selected and data on predisposing factors were collected. Results: Fifty-five cases of nosocomial ESBL-producing E. coli bacteremia were studied. Carbapenem usage (OR: 11.3, 95% CI: 1.1-115.9, p=0.041), quinolone usage (OR: 4.5, 95% CI: 1.1-18.8, p=0.042), biliary obstructive disease (OR: 11.8, 95% CI: 3.0-46.7, p<0.001) and the APACHE II score (OR: 1.3, 95% CI: 1.2- 1.5, p<0.001) were analyzed as independent risk factors of nosocomial ESBL-producing E. coli bacteremia. Conclusion: Our results showed that physicians caring for patients with risk factors of nosocomial bacteremia should consider ESBL-producing E. coli as the causative organisms of the disease.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.293-304
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• 2007

The emergence of extended spectrum $\beta$-lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria is worldwide concern. Until recently, the most frequently identified strains in the Republic of Korea were E. coli and Klebsiella spp. The incidence of resistance to extended spectrum $\beta$-lactam antibiotics is increasing in Wonju city, Korea. Total 57 strains of ESBL producing E. coli and Klebsiella species were isolated from Wonju Christian Hospital during a 9 month-period from April to December, 2003. To determine the prevalence and genotypes of the ESBL producing clinical isolates, antibiotic susceptibility and ESBL activity test by VITEK system and double disk synergy (DDS) test, and PCR based genotyping were performed. Fourteen (82%) isolates of 17 ESBL producing E. coli were found to have $bla_{TEM}$ gene and 5 (29%) isolates were found to have $bla_{CTX-M}$ gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Thirty (75%) isolates of 40 ESBL producing Klebsiella species with $bla_{TEM}$ gene, 38 (95%) isolates with $bla_{SHV}$ gene, and 7 (20%) isolates with $bla_{CTX-M}$ type gene were also identified. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) PCR and similarity index by dendrogram for genetical similarity to band pattern of each clinical isolates were examined. ESBL producing E. coli were grouped into 6 clusters up to 84% of similarity index and Klebsiella species were grouped into 12 clusters up to 76% of similarity index. In conclusion, ESBL producing clinical isolates were characterized with the results from antimicrobial resistance pattern and genetical similarity using ERiC PCR.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.761-765
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• 2008

Bacillus cereus causes two different types of food poisoning syndromes: diarrhea and emesis. The diarrheal syndrome is attributed to various enterotoxins, including nonhemolytic enterotoxin, hemolytic enterotoxin, and enterotoxin-T, whereas the emetic syndrome is caused by the dodecadepsipeptide toxin cereulide. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed to rapidly detect and identify B. cereus strains. Three primer pairs specific to regions within genes encoding nonhemolytic enterotoxin (nheA), molecular chaperonin (groEL), and cereulide synthetase (ces) were used to identify and differentiate between the enterotoxin-producing and emetic toxin-producing B. cereus strains. The cereulide-producing emetic B. cereus showed 3 PCR products of 325, 405, and 685 bp for the groEL, ces, and nheA genes, respectively, whereas the enterotoxin-producing B. cereus showed 2 PCR products without a ces gene specific DNA fragment. Specific amplifications and differentiations by multiplex PCR assay were obtained using 62 B. cereus strains and 13 strains' of other bacterial species. The detection limit of this assay for enterotoxin-producing strain and emetic toxin-producing strain from pure cultures were $2.4{\times}10^1$ and $6.0{\times}10^2\;CFU/tube$, respectively. These results suggest that our multiplex PCR method may be useful for the rapid detection and differentiation of B. cereus strains in foods.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.348-351
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• 1991

A new agar-disk method was developed from the fast selection and characterization of antibiotic producing organisms.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.180-184
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• 1999

hybridoma cells producing IgM anti-pneuococcal 6B polysaccharide antibodies were induced to switch to IgG-producing cells in vitro by treating with acridine orange. Treating 0.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml of acridine orange for 24 hours generated maximal number of variant cells. The maximal isotype switch frequency was 3${\times}$10-5, which is about 30-fold higher than the frequency of spontaneous switching. Resulting IgG-producing variants were enriched by sib selection and ELISA spot assay. Two IgG3-producing variant cells were finally cloned by limiting dilution. The variant cells produced similar amounts of antibodies as their parental cells did. The two switched antibodies had similar reactivity to pneumococcal 6B polysaccharide. When compared to their parental IgM antibodies, the switched IgG3 than that of IgM antibody. The antibodies will be useful as essential tools for comparative study of the role of heavy chain isotypes in protection against Streptococcus pneumoniae.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.35-40
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• 2001

In order to evaluate the safety of agricultural products in Korea, we carried out work by screening of Fusarium species. which can produce deoxinivalenol(DON) from agricultural products in Western Gyeongnam, Korea. From 215 samples of soil agricultural products, 129 strains of Fusarium species were obtained. The production of DON was verified by thin layer chromatography(TLC) As the results of TLC, 25 strains were identified as DON producing strain. But only 10 strains were identified as DON producing strains by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The maximum DON producing strain No.41 was isolated from corn. In conclusion. the above results indicate that DON producing fungi contaminated agricultural products in Korea. Therefore further studies are required to accumulate more detailed data about the contamination of DON in various agricultural products.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.92-98
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• 1998

RAPD analysis was performed from four host-specific toxin (HST) producing Alternaria, i.e., A. kikuchiana, A. mali, a. longipes and A. Longipes and A. alternata f. sp. lycopersici, nonpathogenic A. alternata and A. brassicicola to assess their phylogenetic relationship. DNA polymorphism was detected among species (pathotypes) of HST producing Alternaria by PCR amplification and differentiation of the species was recognized by RAPD analysis. Primer OPA-02 was the most profitable among 7 notificated primers for differentiation of the HST producing Alternaria species. UPGMA analysis of the RAPD bands from alternaria spp. revealed that HST producing Alternaria and nonpathogenic a. alternata are closely related.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.102-107
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• 1992

For the purpose of producing L-ornithine by microbial fermentation, mutant strains were developed from glutamate-producing bacteria by mutagenesis using N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG) and UV irradiation. Brevibacterium ketoglutamicum BK1046, a L-citrulline auxotroph which is also resistant to arginine hydroxamate (Arghx), was isolated and selected as the best producer of L-ornithine. This strain was capable of producing L-ornithine at a concentration of 24 g/l after 69 hours of cultivation in the 21 jar fermentor. The optimum supplementary level of L-arginine, a substitute for L-citrulline, was found to be about 0.2 g/l in the shake-flask fermentation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.756-762
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• 1996

In order to develop the method for mass production of natural food colorant from Monascus anka, optimum cultivation conditions for producing red and yellow pigments by cultiva- ting the mold in a jar fermenter and their color characteristics were investigated. The mold produced red and yellow pigments both intracellularly and extracellularly. These pigments showed unique light absorption characteristics with maximum absorption of 494, 380, 506, and 388 nm for extracellular red pigment (ERP), extracellular yellow pigment (EYP), intracellular red pigment (IRP), and intracellular yellow pigment (IYP), respectively. Optimum conditions for producing red pigments were found to be temperature 30$\circ$C, initial pH 6.0, rice powder 3-5%, peptone 0.05%, magnesium sulfate 0.25%, aeration rate 0.1 vvm. Optimum temperature for producing yellow pigments was around 35$\circ$C which is higher than that of producing red pigments. The initial pH and rice powder concentration for producing yellow pigments were the same as those of producing red pigments. The higher concentration of nitrogen source and inorganic salt, aeration rate, the more the yellow pigments were produced. The optimum agitation speed was 100 - 300 rpm for pigment production.