• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.464-467
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• 2001

Aplastic anemia is a hematopoietic disorder characterized by marked reduction or absence of erythoid, granulocytic, and megakariocytic cells in the bone marrow with resultant pancytopenia. To control of infection & bleeding secondary to leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, the inflammatory lesions in oral & maxillofacial area should be removed. Material & Method: The extractions were performed on 21 patients with severe aplastic anemia. The initial, pre-operative and postoperative CBCs were checked up. Amount and kind of transfused platelet in each patient and increment of platelet level were recorded. The complications were documented. Result : A mean of 2.9 teeth were extracted from each patient(ranging between 1 and 13). Furthermore, surgical extractions including ostectomy and odontectomy of the third molar were performed on 11 patients. The preoperative WBC levels presented between $600/{\mu}L$ and $5000/{\mu}L$(mean $2376/{\mu}L$). The WBC values decreased by an average of $145/{\mu}L$ per patient after extractions had been performed. The teeth of 16 patients were extracted under 10.0g/dL, and the mean change in postoperative hemoglobin levels in comparison with preoperative hemoglobin levels was -0.06 per patient. The initial platelet levels were between 1000/(L and $81,000/{\mu}L$(mean $20,174/{\mu}L$). In five patients, extractions were performed with platelet levels less than $50,000/{\mu}L$. Conclusion : The results suggest that more active and preventive treatments in the oral and maxillofacial area are possible and are necessary to remove the infectious foci on the patients with severe aplastic anemia. We report the results of our experiences and literature reviews in treatment of the patients with severe aplastic anemia in our department.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.72 no.5
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• pp.416-425
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• 2012

Background: The sensitivities and specificities of interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) vary among different population studies, and the data on the routine use of IGRAs are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) test in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis. Methods: We conducted a prospective study, enrolling 77 patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), at a secondary care teaching hospital in Seoul. Results: In total, 12 (15.6%) patients showed indeterminate results due to positive control failure on the QFT-GIT test. Indeterminate results were significantly associated with the elderly, history of the intensive care unit stay, lymphocytopenia, especially low CD4 count, increased C-reactive protein and decreased protein levels. Of the 77 patients, 44 (57.1%) were diagnosed with active pulmonary tuberculosis, and the percentage of false negative results of the QFT-GIT was 36.4% (vs. 31.8% with TST). In the TB group with >65 years old (n=12), the proportions of the indeterminate (33.3% vs. 3.1%) and the false negative results (58.3% vs. 25.0%) of the QFT-GIT were significantly higher than in the younger TB group (n=32). Conclusion: Indeterminate and false negative results of QFT-GIT test were not infrequent in tuberculosis, especially in the elderly. Care should be considered for the interpretation with the elderly, immunocompromised, chronic and severely diseased patients.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.115-122
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• 2012

Apidaecin Ib had strong antimicrobial activity against several tested Gram-negative bacteria including Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, and Shigella flexneri (MECs; $0.3-1.5{\mu}g/mL$), but showed no activity against all the tested Gram-positive bacteria including Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus and one yeast, Candida albicans (MECs; > $125{\mu}g/mL$). Interestingly, this peptide showed potent antibacterial activity only against Edwardsiella species (MECs; $0.6-3.6{\mu}g/mL$) among the tested fish pathogenic bacteria through a bacteriostatic process and showed no significant hemolytic activity. Apidaecin Ib took an unordered structure in all environments and also had very weak membrane perturbation activity even at $25{\mu}M$. Anti-Edwardsiella activity of apidaecin Ib is stronger than those of other antimicrobial polypeptides or antibiotics, but its activity is salt-sensitive. These results suggest that apidaecin Ib has Edwardsiella speciesspecific antibacterial activity and could be applied as new preventive or control additives for Edwardsiella species infection in freshwater fish aquaculture.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.19-19
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• 2014

Pleurotus ostreatus, P. eryngii, and Flammulina velutipes are major edible mushrooms that account for over 89% of total mushroom production in Korea. Recently, Agrocybe cylindracea, Hypsizygus marmoreus, and Hericium erinaceu are increasingly being cultivated in mushroom farms. In Korea, the production of edible mushrooms was estimated to be 614,224 ton in 2013. Generally, about 5 kg of mushroom substrate is needed to produce 1 kg of mushroom, and consequently about 25 million tons of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is produced each year in Korea. Because this massive amount of SMC is unsuitable for reuse in mushroom production, it is either used as garden fertilizer or deposited in landfills, which pollutes the environment. It is reasonably assumed that SMS includes different secondary metabolites and extracellular enzymes produced from mycelia on substrate. Three major groups of enzymes such as cellulases, xylanases, and lignin degrading enzymes are involved in breaking down mushroom substrates. Cellulase and xylanase have been used as the industrial enzymes involving the saccharification of biomass to produce biofuel. In addition, lignin degrading enzymes such as laccases have been used to decolorize the industrial synthetic dyes and remove environmental pollutions such as phenolic compounds. Basidiomycetes produce a large number of biologically active compounds that show antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, cytotoxic or hallucinogenic activities. However, most previous researches have focused on therapeutics and less on the control of plant diseases. SMS can be considered as an easily available source of active compounds to protect plants from fungal and bacterial infections, helping alleviate the waste disposal problem in the mushroom industry and creating an environmentally friendly method to reduce plant pathogens. We describe extraction of lignocellulytic enzymes and antimicrobial substance from SMSs of different edible mushrooms and their potential applications.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.197-205
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• 2012

Despite of a long history of the sulfur on the disease healing effect, there were limited ways of applying sulfur to animal and human. We have developed the detoxified sulfur (non toxic sulfur) method to make it practical and mass production possible through laboring for many years. This study practiced scanning electron microscope (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis to investigate the physicochemical aspect of detoxified sulfur. We also performed the oral toxicity experiment to mice, and anti-bacterial test of the detoxified sulfur. Based on the SEM, EDS and SIMS results, the united particles in the mass form with the similar component intensity with the raw sulfur were observed, and hydrogen sulfide ion (HS-) component which is regarded as a toxic matter, was decreased after detoxification. Indeed, toxicity test on the mice (10 males, 10 females) showed no clinical, histopathological changes with the 5 times amount (2,500 mg/kg) of the actual doses. However, the male-mice showed decreased in body weight by 23.6%, 24.3% in the 7th, 14th day, respectively, after detoxified sulfur. Moreover, the female-mice administered the detoxified sulfur showed decreased in body weight by 28.7% (P<0.05) than that in the control group on the 14th day. The result of antibacterial test on the detoxified sulfur showed antibacterial effect (27%) to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus. It is shown that detoxified sulfur can be used as feed additive and has an affect on the farm perfomance.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2008

The plasmid pJB01, a member of the pMV158 family isolated from Enterococcus faecium JC1, contains three open reading frames, copA, repB, and repC. Plasmids included in this family produce counter-transcribed RNA (ctRNA) that contributes to copy number control. The pJB01 ctRNA, a transcript which consists of 54 nucleotides (nts), is encoded on the opposite strand from the copA/repB intergenic region and partially overlaps an atypical ribosome binding site (ARBS) for repB. The ARBS is integrated by the two underlined conserved regions: 5'-TTTTTGTNNNNTAANNNNNNNNNATG-3', and the ctRNA is complementary only to the 5' conserved sequence 5'-TTTTTGT-3'. This complementary sequence is located at a distance from the terminal loop of the ctRNA secondary structure. The ctRNA structure predicted by the mfold program suggests the possible generation of a terminal and an internal hairpin loop. The amount of in vitro translation product of repB mRNA was inversely proportional to the ctRNA concentration. Mutations in the terminal and internal hairpin loops of the ctRNA had inhibitory effects on its binding to the target mRNA. We propose that the intact structures of the terminal and internal hairpin loops, respectively, play important roles in forming the initial kissing and extending complexes between the ctRNA and target mRNA and that these regulate the copy number of this plasmid.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.275-275
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• 2013

Formation and characterization of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on various surfaces are the essential basis for many other applications, including molecular switches, biosensors, microfluidics, and fundamental studies in surfaces and interfaces. To improve the performance at these applications, it is a key to control the quantity of each molecule in various mixed SAMs on the surface. In this study, using mixed SAM of carbamate-based hydroquinone (HQ)-PhBr and11-mercaptoundecanol, the quantitative mass spectrometric method of mixed SAM was developed based on comparison study with XPS and FT-IR methods. In addition, our method was applied to another mixed SAM of biotinylated PEG alkane thiol and 11-mercaptoundecanol for verification purpose. Time-of-flight secondary mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) analysis was performed to identify and quantify each molecule of mixed SAM along with principal component analysis (PCA). Since there is no matrix effect in the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) techniques, we compared ToF-SIMS results with XPS and FT-IR results. Because PCA results from ToF-SIMS analysis are well matched with XPS and FT-IR results from both mixed SAMs, we are expecting that our method will be useful to identify and quantify each molecule in various mixed SAMs.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.239-243
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• 2013

Salmonella Enteritidis is responsible for causing foodborne diseases upon consumption of egg products. While cases of S. Enteritidis isolation from eggs have been reported in other countries, no such cases have previously been reported in Korea. In this study, we report the first isolation and identification of S. Enteritidis from domestically distributed eggs in Korea. Eggs were collected from eight countrywide grocery stores during different seasons between 2011 and 2012. Egg contents and washing solution of egg shells were incubated in buffered peptone water, and the enriched broth was further enriched in tetrathionate broth and Rappaport-Vassiliadis. The secondary enriched broth was streaked on xylose lysine desoxycholate agar. The suspected colonies were confirmed to S. Enteritidis by a biochemical test, serotyping, and PCR test. Genetic relatedness among the isolates was analyzed using Diversilab Salmonella kit. Three strains of S. Enteritidis were isolated from egg contents and egg shells collected from grocery stores of the Eumseong-city in the fall of 2011. All three stains showed resistance to chloramphenicol, streptomycin, nalidixic acid, and ampicillin by the disk diffusion method. In addition, the isolates showed more than 99% DNA homology, indicating that they were presumably identical strains. Therefore, there is a requirement to monitor and control against S. Enteritidis from eggs in Korea.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.43-47
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• 2018

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) are widely used as active agents for electrodes in Li-ion secondary battery cells, supercapacitors, and fuel cells. Nanoscale coatings on CNF electrodes can increase the output and lifespan of battery devices. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) can control the coating thickness at the nanoscale regardless of the shape, suitable for coating CNFs. However, because the CNF surface comprises stable C-C bonds, initiating homogeneous nuclear formation is difficult because of the lack of initial nucleation sites. This study introduces uniform nucleation site formation on CNF surfaces to promote a uniform $SnO_2$ layer. We pretreat the CNF surface by introducing $H_2O$ or $Al_2O_3$ (trimethylaluminum + $H_2O$) before the $SnO_2$ ALD process to form active sites on the CNF surface. Transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy both identify the $SnO_2$ layer morphology on the CNF. The $Al_2O_3$-pretreated sample shows a uniform $SnO_2$ layer, while island-type $SnO_x$ layers grow sparsely on the $H_2O$-pretreated or untreated CNF.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.273-277
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• 2010

Undecylprodiginine and streptorubin B are red-pigmented antibiotics produced by Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). In this study, we investigated the correlation between productivity of these red-pigmented antibiotics and stress of pH shock. Biosynthesis of these red-pigmented antibiotics is enhanced at acidic pH shock on solid R2YE medium. The optimal pH shock is pH 4 which led to 1.6 fold and two-fold increase in the production of undecylprodiginine and streptorubin B as compared with control, respectively. In addition, the extract of pH 4 shocked cells exhibited a remarkable activity against Trichophyton mentagrophytes. However, neutral and basic pH shock did not give raise to promote a production of these red-pigmented antibiotics as well as antifungal activity. Thus, although the acidic pH shock is simple and easy method, it should be extremely effective approach to enhance a productivity of these red-pigmented antibiotics and other secondary metabolites.