• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.171-181
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• 2022

Purpose: In this paper, we show our blending ratio of 10 types of Essential Oils that survives beneficial bacteria and kills harmful bacteria in the scalp, and we investigate the possibility of application of our blending ratio to the development of anti-dandruff products and the possibility of being used as a raw material for clinical beauty and customized cosmetics. Methods: The scalp microorganisms used in our study were M. furfur, S. epidermidis, E. coli, and P. nitroreducens. There are a total of 10 Essential Oils such as True Lavender, Lime, Roman chamomile, Rosemary camphor, Cedarwood, Geranium, Clove, Tea tree, Palmalosa, and Peppermint. The antibacterial test of the blended Essential Oil was carried out according to the test method of the standardized evaluation methodology of "Food and Food Additives Code". Since M. furfur is related to the growth of sebum in the scalp, in this study we used the fnLNB and the fnLNA with 20 ㎖ of whole fat cow milk added. Results: The blending ratio of EO, which inhibits dandruff-causing bacteria such as M. furfur, S. epidermidis, E. coli, and does not inhibit P. nitroreducens showing dominant growth in a healthy scalp, was B8(Clove 0.2%, Roman chamomile 0.5%, Tea tree 0.3%), B9(Geranium 0.1%, Palmarosa 0.1%, Roman chamomile 0.5%, Tea tree 0.3%), B10(Clove 0.1%, Geranium 0.1%, Palmarosa 0.1%, Roman chamomile 0.5%, Tea tree 0.2%). Conclusion: It is thought that the blending ratio of BEO obtained as a result of this study can provide a basis for use as an alternative to antibiotics in developing anti-dandruff drugs and emerge as a new alternative to solve scalp microbial imbalance. In order for EO to be used as a useful raw material for anti-dandruff preparation, researches on 1) Standardization (the effects of products differ according to the types, regions, climate, extraction methods, etc.), 2) Antimicrobial effects, 3) Safety, etc., must be established.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2022

Background: The current guidelines for the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis (APN) recommend that APN be diagnosed based on the clinical features and the presence of pyuria. However, we observed that some of the patients who are diagnosed with APN do not have characteristic clinical features or pyuria at the initial examination. We performed this study to investigate the characteristics of APN without pyuria. Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted on 391 patients diagnosed with APN based on clinical and radiologic findings, between 2015 and 2019. The clinical features, laboratory results, and computed tomography (CT) findings were compared between patients with normal white blood cell (WBC) counts and those with abnormal WBC counts (WBC of 0-5/high power field [HPF] vs. >5/HPF) in urine. Results: More than 50% of patients with APN had no typical urinary tract symptoms and one-third of them had no costovertebral angle (CVA) tenderness. Eighty-eight patients (22.5%) had normal WBC counts (0-5/HPF) on urine microscopy. There was a negative correlation between pyuria (WBC of >5/HPF) and previous antibiotic use (odds ratio, 0.249; 95% confidence interval, 0.140-0.441; p<0.001), and the probability of pyuria was reduced by 75.1% in patients who took antibiotics before visiting the emergency room. Conclusion: The diagnosis of APN should not be overlooked even if there are no typical clinical features, or urine microscopic examination is normal. If a patient has already taken antibiotics at the time of diagnosis, imaging studies such as CT should be performed more actively, regardless of the urinalysis results.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.8-21
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• 2023

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) drugs are often co-prescribed with other medications to prevent GI complications. This study aimed to evaluate the prescribing pattern of potentially unnecessary GI drugs in patients with acute cystitis who were prescribed oral antibiotics and investigate the influencing factors affecting this. Methods: We identified female patients ≥20 years with acute cystitis who visited the outpatient clinic and were prescribed oral antibiotics between July and December by analyzing Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA)-National Patients Sample (NPS)-2019 data. Patients with no prior history of GI disorders within 180 days prior to acute cystitis, excluding or including the date of diagnosis of acute cystitis, were selected (Group A and B). Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the factors affecting the prescription of potentially unnecessary GI drugs. Results: A total of 1,544 in Group A and 552 patients in Group B were included for the final analysis. Potentially unnecessary GI drugs were prescribed in 1,176 patients in Group A (76.2%) and 231 patients in Group B (41.8%). Third generation cephalosporines and sulfonamides showed the lower odds ratio for prescribing GI drugs than penicillins. Prescribers from Urology clinics showed more than twice odds ratio for the prescription of GI drugs compared to prescribers from internal medicine clinics. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that potentially unnecessary GI drug prescriptions for patients with acute cystitis were high in South Korea. The positive risk factors affecting the prescription of unnecessary GIs were not patient-related factor but healthcare facility and prescriber-related factors.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.52-61
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• 2022

Purpose: Most cases of oral and maxillofacial infections are usually easily treated by proper diagnosis, elimination of causative factors, and antibiotic therapy. However, the emergence and the increase of multidrug-resistant bacteria make treatment challenging. "ESKAPE" pathogens are the most common opportunistic organisms in nosocomial infections and have resistant to commonly used antibiotics. There are many medical reviews of ESKAPE pathogens, but few in dentistry. This study focuses on oral and maxillofacial infection especially with ESKAPE pathogens. The purpose of this study is to prepare feasible data about tracing and treatment of infection related to pathogens that may be beneficial to clinicians. Methods: A total of 154 patients with oral and maxillofacial infections were reviewed by analyzing retrospectively hospitalized data in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, Chosun University Hospital, Korea, past 5 years from January 2014 to December 2018. Based on the medical records and microbiological tests, the results were divided into two groups: infections with ESKAPE pathogens and other bacteria. Results: A total of 22 species were isolated from 154 patients. The proportion of ESKAPE pathogens among all bacterial isolates collected from infected patients was 39.6%. Causative factors, especially in post-operative infection, showed a statistically significant correlation to ESKAPE infections (29 cases). And average of treatment period in ESKAPE group was longer than non-ESKAPE groups. Overall, Klebsiella pneumoniae (60.7%) was the most frequently isolated ESKAPE pathogen. And high antibiotic resistance rates had been detected in the ESKAPE during the five-year period. Conclusions: Infections with ESKAPE pathogens are now a problem that can no longer be overlooked in Dentistry. Based on results of this study, ESKAPE pathogens were highly associated with post-operative or opportunistic infections. Clinicians should be careful about these antibiotic resistant pathogens and use appropriate antibiotics to patients while having dental treatments.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.241-247
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• 2023

Erwinia amylovora , which causes fire blight disease on apple and pear trees, is one of the most important phytopathogens because of its devastating impact. Currently, the only way to effectively control fire blight disease is through the use of antibiotics such as streptomycin, kasugamycin, or oxytetracycline. However, problems with the occurrence of resistant strains due to the overuse of antibiotics are constantly being raised. It is therefore necessary to develop novel disease control methods through an advanced understanding of the pathogenesis mechanism of E. amylovora . To better understand the pathogenesis of E. amylovora , we investigated unknown virulence factors by random mutagenesis and screening. Random mutants were generated by Tn5 transposon insertion, and the pathogenicity of the mutants was assessed by inoculation of the mutants on apple fruitlets. A total of 17 avirulent mutants were found through screening of 960 random mutants. Among them, 14 mutants were already reported as non-pathogenic strains, while three mutants, TS3128_M2899 (ΔSUFU ), TS3128_M2939 (ΔwcaG ), and TS3128_M3747 (ΔrecB ), were not reported. Further study of the association between E. amylovora pathogenicity and these 3 novel genes may provide new insight into the development of control methods for fire blight disease.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.203-211
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• 2007

A nationwide survey on acute appendicitis (AAP) was undertaken among members of the Korean Association of Pediatric Surgeons. The members were required to complete a questionnaire and the case registration form for each patient during the 6 months period from the $1^{st}$ October, 2005 to $31^{st}$ March, 2006. Questionnaires were collected from 23 members. Four hundred seventy six patients were registered from 21 hospitals where the members were working. The male to female ratio was 1.67:1. Average age was 9 years and 5 months (range 21 months-20 years). Operations were performed on average 10.4 hours (range 1-230 hours) from arrival at hospital. The average operation time was 59.1 minutes. The average admission days were 5.8 days (range 2-45 days). The most frequent symptoms were abdominal pain (95.1 %), vomiting (50.6 %) and fever (43.7%). The average duration of symptoms was 42.2 hours (range 1 hour-22 days). Leukocytosis (WBC count > 10,000) was found in 85.9%. The most popular diagnostic tools were ultrasonography and CT. Open surgery was performed in 72.1 % and laparoscopic surgery in 27.5 %. Two laparoscopic surgeries were converted to open surgery (0.4 %). Simple appendicitis was found in 54.5 % and complicated appendicitis such as abscess, gangrenous change and perforation in 45.5%. According to the questionnaires 12 hospitals were performing open surgery only in all patients. Four hospitals were performing laparoscopic surgery in all patients. Seven hospitals are performing both surgical methods according to surgeon or occasion. Regarding the use of antibiotics in acute appendicitis, three kinds of antibiotics were used in 40 % of total simple appendicitis patients. The results showed the trend of management in acute appendicitis in Korea. Especially it is necessary for the members to discuss the use of antibiotics for prophylaxis in the simple appendicitis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.93-100
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• 2014

The banning of the use of antibiotics as feed additive has accelerated investigations of alternative feed additives in animal production. This experiment investigated the effect of pure citric acid or acidifier blend supplementation as substitute for antibiotic growth promoters on growth performance, fecal microbial count, and humoral immunity in weaned piglets challenged with Salmonella enterica serover Typhimurium and Escherichia coli KCTC 2571. A total of 60 newly weaned piglets (crossbred, 28-d-old; average 8 kg initial weight) were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Dietary treatments included NC (negative control; basal diet), PC (positive control; basal diet+0.002% apramycin), T1 (basal diet+0.5% pure citric acid), and T2 (basal diet+0.4% acidifier blend). All piglets were orally challenged with 5 mL of culture fluid containing $2.3{\times}10^8$ cfu/mL of E. coli KCTC 2571 and $5.9{\times}10^8$ cfu/mL of S. typhimurium at the beginning of the experiment. The PC group showed the highest ADG and ADFI, whereas gain:feed was improved in the PC and T1 group (p<0.05). All dietary treatments showed significant reduction in fecal counts of Salmonella and E. coli, compared to NC (p<0.05), with PC being better than T1 and T2. Significant elevation in fecal Lactobacillus spp. counts was shown by treatments with T1, T2, and PC, whereas Bacillus spp. counts were increased by treatment with T1 and T2 compared to NC and PC diet (p<0.05). Serum IgG concentration was increased by T1 diet (p<0.05), whereas IgM and IgA were not significantly affected by any of the dietary treatments (p>0.05). From these above results, it can be concluded that, as alternatives to antibiotics dietary acidification with pure citric acid or acidifiers blend did not fully ameliorate the negative effects of microbial challenges in respect of growth performance and microbial environment, however improved immunity suggested further research with different dose levels.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1490-1499
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• 2016

In this study, 69 lactobacilli isolated from Tibetan Qula, a raw yak milk cheese, were screened for their potential use as probiotics. The isolates were tested in terms of: Their ability to survive at pH 2.0, pH 3.0, and in the presence of 0.3% bile salts; tolerance of simulated gastric and intestinal juices; antimicrobial activity; sensitivity against 11 specific antibiotics; and their cell surface hydrophobicity. The results show that out of the 69 strains, 29 strains (42%) had survival rates above 90% after 2 h of incubation at pH values of 2.0 or 3.0. Of these 29 strains, 21 strains showed a tolerance for 0.3% bile salt. Incubation of these 21 isolates in simulated gastrointestinal fluid for 3 h revealed survival rates above 90%; the survival rate for 20 of these isolates remained above 90% after 4 h of incubation in simulated intestinal fluid. The viable counts of bacteria after incubation in simulated gastric fluid for 3 h and simulated intestinal fluid for 4 h were both significantly different compared with the counts at 0 h (p<0.001). Further screening performed on the above 20 isolates indicated that all 20 lactobacilli strains exhibited inhibitory activity against Micrococcus luteus ATCC 4698, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19115, and Salmonella enterica ATCC 43971. Moreover, all of the strains were resistant to vancomycin and streptomycin. Of the 20 strains, three were resistant to all 11 elected antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, tetracycline, penicillin G, ampicillin, streptomycin, polymyxin B, vancomycin, chloramphenicol, rifampicin, and gentamicin) in this study, and five were sensitive to more than half of the antibiotics. Additionally, the cell surface hydrophobicity of seven of the 20 lactobacilli strains was above 70%, including strains Lactobacillus casei 1,133 (92%), Lactobacillus plantarum 1086-1 (82%), Lactobacillus casei 1089 (81%), Lactobacillus casei 1138 (79%), Lactobacillus buchneri 1059 (78%), Lactobacillus plantarum 1141 (75%), and Lactobacillus plantarum 1197 (71%). Together, these results suggest that these seven strains are good probiotic candidates, and that tolerance against bile acid, simulated gastric and intestinal juices, antimicrobial activity, antibiotic resistance, and cell surface hydrophobicity could be adopted for preliminary screening of potentially probiotic lactobacilli.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.562-570
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• 2008

Most purulent maxillofacial infections are of odontogenic origin. Treatment of infection includes the surgical intervention, such as incision and drainage, and adjunctive treatment. The use of high-dose antibiotics is also indicated. The choice of an antibiotics should be based on the knowledge of the usual causative microbes and the results of antibacterial sensitivity test. We have undertaken clinical studies on 119 patients in Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Inha University Hospital from January 2000 to December 2007. Many anaerobic microbes are killed quickly when exposed to oxygen. Thus the needle aspiration techniques and the transfer under inert gas were used when culturing. The aim of this study was to obtain informations for the bacteriologic features and the effective antimicrobial therapy against maxillofaical odontogenic infections. The obtained results were as follows: 1. The most frequent causes of infections were odontogenic (88.3%), and in odontogenic cause, pulpal infections were the most common causes(53.8%). 2. The buccal and submandibular spaces (respectively 23.5%) were the most frequent involved fascial spaces, followed by masticator spaces (14.3%). 3. The most common underlying medical problems were diabetes (17.6%), however the relation with prognosis was not discovered. 4. The complications were the expiry, mediastinitis, necrotizing fasciitis, orbital abscess, and osteomyelitis. 5. The most common admission periods were 1-2 weeks, and the most patients were discharged within 3 weeks. However, patients who admitted over 5 weeks were about 10%. 6. A total of 99 bacterial strains (1.1 strains per abscess) was isolated from 93 patients (78.2%). The most common bacterium isolated was Streptococcus viridans (46.2%), followed by $\beta$-hemolytic group streptococcus (10.1%). 7. Penicillins (penicillin G 58.3%, oxacillin 80.0%, ampicillin 80.0%) have slightly lower sensitivity. Thus we recommend the antibiotics, such as glycopeptides (teicoplanin 100%, vancomycin 100%) and quinolones (ciprofloxacin 90.0%) which have high susceptibility in cases in which peni cillin therapy failed or severe infections.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.258-265
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• 2009

A study on livestock environment improving agents was conducted; top two brands (A and B) in the market, bottom two brands (E and F) based on market shares and two newly developed agents (C and D) were measured for viable count and tested for resistance towards antibiotics prohibited against livestock feeds. Test results revealed that the measured viable count of agents A and B matched those on the labels were identical; however agent E lacked information on viable counts nor the intended usage, while the measured viable count of agent F was less than the label-stated count. No correlation was found between the antibiotic-resistance test and market share, and most of the agents excluding B were found to display resistance case of Lincosimides such as Lincomycine and Clindmycin, resistant bacteria were found, with the except of agent B. Amoxicillin, Ampicillin and Penillin (type-Penecillins) and Erythromycin (type-Macrolide) were shown to contain resistant bacteria, with the except of agents Band E; the same for Norploxacin (type-Quinoline) and Neomycin antibiotics. Aminoglycosides such as Gentamycin and Streptomycin contained resistant bacteria, excluding agent B. Oxytetracyclin (type-Tetracycline), which is banned for use as resistant bacteria showed the highest sensitivity among the 12 antibiotics, revealed positive results in the test for resistant bacteria; again excluding of agents Band E. These results reveal that many agents contained resistant bacteria despite the fact that they were prohibited; this calls for a more accurate display of the facts and specifications, systematic distributions and strict verification processes of environment improving agents.