• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.298-305
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• 2011

Objectives: There has been a great amount of controversy in the food industry over the effectiveness of using gloves. The objectives of this study were to examine the microbial contamination of food handlers' hands and determine if using gloves could ensure safe handling of foods. Methods: Samples were collected through the glove-juice method from the bare and gloved hands of food handlers at work and were analyzed for the presence of aerobic plate counts, total coliform, fecal coliform, Escherichiacoli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella spp. Microbiological testing was conducted according to the Food Code of Korea. Results: Microbial contamination was consistently higher with bare hands than with gloved hands, although the microbial loads on both hands increased over time. Under certain conditions, there were significant differences between the bacterial loads on bare and on gloved hands (p<0.05). E. coli, S. aureus, and Salmonella spp. were still alive on both bare and gloved hands at the time the food handlers finished their work. Conclusions: Wearing gloves was associated with a marked reduction of bacterial contamination of the hands. However, the practice of continuously wearing gloves during food handling increases the potential for cross-contamination of bacteria. The findings of this study emphasize the need for a rational use of gloves, and strict adherence to hand hygiene compliance among food handlers.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.316-328
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the prevalence and abundance of 9 representative periodontal pathogens in the saliva samples of periodontally healthy subjects (PH) and patients with periodontitis who underwent supportive periodontal therapy (SPT). The age-specific distribution of these pathogens in periodontally healthy individuals was also analyzed. Methods: One hundred subjects (aged >35 years) were recruited (50 each in the PH and SPT groups) between August 2016 and April 2019. The prevalence and abundance of periodontal pathogens in the PH group were compared with those in periodontally healthy young subjects (94 subjects; aged <35 years), who were included in our previous study. DNA copy numbers of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Tannerella forsythia (Tf), Treponema denticola (Td), Prevotella intermedia (Pi), Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn), Campylobacter rectus (Cr), Peptostreptococcus anaerobius (Pa), and Eikenella corrodens (Ec) were analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: The detection frequencies of all pathogens, except Aa, were high in the PH and SPT groups. The ranking order of pathogen DNA copy numbers was similar in both groups. In both groups, Fn had the highest abundance, Aa had the lowest abundance. Additionally, Td was significantly more abundant in men than in women in both groups (P<0.05). Compared with the PH group, the SPT group exhibited significantly lower total bacteria and Fn abundance and higher Pg abundance (P<0.05). The age-specific pathogen distribution analysis revealed a significantly low Aa abundance and high Tf and Cr abundance in the PH group. Conclusions: The clinical parameters and microbial profiles were similar between the SPT and PH groups. However, patients with periodontitis require supportive care to prevent recurrence. As the abundance of some bacteria varied with age, future studies must elucidate the correlation between age-related physiological changes and periodontal bacterial composition.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.102-110
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• 2018

Debridement is a crucial component of wound management. Recent technologies such as hydrosurgery (Versajet), ultrasound therapy (the MIST therapy device), or plasma-mediated bipolar radio-frequency ablation therapy (Coblation) seem to represent interesting alternatives for wound debridement. The purpose of this systematic review was to describe, evaluate, and compare these three recently developed methods for the management of chronic wounds. In January 2016, an electronic database search was conducted of MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and Embase for articles concerning these three innovative methods for the management of chronic wounds. A total of 389 references were identified by our search strategy, and 15 articles were included. We extracted data regarding the number and age of patients, indications, operating time, number of procedures, costs, wound healing time, decrease in exudation, perioperative blood loss, bacterial load, and the occurrence of complications. The 15 articles included studies that involved 563 patients who underwent hydrosurgery (7 studies), ultrasound therapy (6 studies), or Coblation (2 studies). Six randomized controlled trials were included that compared the use of a scalpel or curette to hydrosurgery (2 studies) or ultrasound therapy (6 studies). Hydrosurgery, in addition to being a very precise and selective tool, allows significantly faster debridement. Ultrasound therapy provides a significant reduction of exudation, and improves the wound healing time. No comparative study dedicated to Coblation was identified. Despite the obvious clinical interest of the topic, our review of the current literature revealed a lack of prospective randomized studies comparing these devices with each other or with standard techniques, particularly for Coblation and hydrosurgery.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.71-82
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was performed in order to investigate hand hygiene practices among food-service businesses employees based on the awareness of hand-washing and load of indicator bacteria on their hands. It focused on the comparison of full-time and part-time workers in food-service workplaces. Methods: A direct-interview questionnaire survey and microbiological analysis were carried out with sixty workers each. Samples for microbiological analysis were collected through a modified glove-juice method from the hands of the food-service workers and were analyzed for aerobic plate count, total coliform, fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella spp. Microbiological analysis was done according to the Food Code of Korea. Results: Significant differences (p<0.01) were found in the survey between the full-time and part-time workers in hand-washing frequency, use of hand-washing agents, and hand-drying methods. More full-time workers responded to washing their hands after preparing food, after visiting outside, after handling raw materials, and before putting on gloves/when changing gloves than did part-time workers (p<0.05). No remarkable difference was found in bacterial load on the hands except in the aerobic plate count between the two groups. The detection of E. coli, S. aureus, and Salmonella spp. on the hands of some food-service workers in both groups revealed poor hand hygiene practices. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that there is a need for training programs in order to improve hand hygiene practices and strict hand hygiene compliance by food-service workers.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.7 no.1 s.23
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• pp.79-84
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• 2007

Selection of proper root barrier as destination part of greening is very important in Root penetration resistance plan. To select proper root barrier, it need to understand composition of greening part, size, kind of plant, connection with waterproofing layer. In this point of view, we have establish greening on the roof or concrete structure, not been understand the structural mechanism. It means that we misunderstood about purpose of greening and using it. So, chosen materials and construction method was not proper for greening, it caused water leakage and decrease performance of concrete structure. Therefore, we would suggest 5 items of test methods considering environmental condition for green roof. Watertightness by water of greening part, root penetration resistance test by root penetration, bacteria resistance by must or bacteria in soil, chemical resistance by rain and chemical agent of fertilizer, and load resistance by soil depth, size of plant. These suggested test methods could be referred as guideline to test in green roof system because of not exist any performance appraisal guideline or standard. Consequently, it should be analysis as technical and institutional subdividing test methods and it need to study constantly as varied angles.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1026-1035
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• 2011

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which owes its origin to the marine environment, is considered as one of the most common causes of infectious diarrhea worldwide. The present study investigated the pathogenicity of V. parahaemolyticus against the model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans. Infection in the host was localized with GFP-tagged V. parahaemolyticus using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The times required for causing infection, bacterial load in intestine, chemotactic response, and alteration in pharyngeal pumping were analyzed in the host system. In addition, the regulation of innate immune-related genes, lys-7, clec- 60, and clec-87, was analyzed using real-time PCR. The role of immune-responsible pmk-1 was studied using mutant strains. The pathogenicity of environmental strain CM2 isolated from the Gulf of Mannar, India was compared with that of a reference strain obtained from ATCC. The pathogen infected animals appeared to ward off infection by up-regulating candidate antimicrobial genes for a few hours after the exposure, before succumbing to the pathogen. For the first time, the pathogenicity of V. parahaemolyticus at both the physiological and molecular levels has been studied in detail using the model organism C. elegans.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.1345-1348
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• 1999

The utility of a bioluminescence adenosine triphosphate(ATP) assay method for estimating bacterial levels in mackerel(Scomber japonicus) was investigated. Mackerel was stored at $1^{\circ}C$ throughout 10 days and its RLU(relative light unit) and APC(aerobic plate count) was determined. The ATP bioluminescence assay was validated during the storage of 32 samples, resulting in an agreement between the ATP assay and standard plate count methods of over 90% credibility. Therefore, ATP bioluminescence assay was considered as a rapid and near real-time means in estimating the microbial load on mackerel skin.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.744-751
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• 2014

Electrospinning was used to load curcumin (a natural compound that has antiinflammatory properties) into zein nanofibers. An emulsifier, Tween 80, was combined with curcumin in the zein nanofibers. The morphology of the curcumin-loaded zein nanofibers (CLZNFs) was observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy. Investigation of curcumin released from the zein nanofibers into phosphate buffer saline at pH 7 indicated that the Tween 80 had increased the amount of curcumin released from the CLZNFs. The antibacterial activity of the CLZNFs against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was determined by measuring the optical density of bacterial solutions containing CLZNFs. The zein nanofibers fabricated with 10 wt% surfactant and 1.6 wt% curcumin showed high (i.e., 83%) efficiency in inhibiting the growth of S. aureus in the solution incubated for 21 h. These results suggest that the electrospun CLZNFs show potential application as antibacterial nonwoven mats.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.1253-1261
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• 2022

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection causes dramatic harm to human health as well as to livestock development. As an important virulence factor, alpha-hemolysin (hla) is critical in the process of S. aureus infection. In this report, we found that bavachin, a natural flavonoid, not only efficiently inhibited the hemolytic activity of hla, but was also capable of inhibiting it on transcriptional and translational levels. Moreover, further data revealed that bavachin had no neutralizing activity on hla, which did not affect the formation of hla heptamers and exhibited no effects on the hla thermal stability. In vitro assays showed that bavachin was able to reduce the S. aureus-induced damage of A549 cells. Thus, bavachin repressed the lethality of pneumonia infection, lung bacterial load and lung tissue inflammation in mice, providing potent protection to mice models in vivo. Our results indicated that bavachin has the potential for development as a candidate hla inhibitor against S. aureus.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.259-268
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• 2006

We investigated food preservation hurdles used for Korean traditional side dishes. As a first step of the research preparation and cooking recipes of the side dishes were surveyed, which are commonly used in Korean households. As next step, compositional and microbial quality attributes were measured onto the samples collected from the market. Antimicrobial ingredient added in the preparation are reasoned to work as important hurdles based on the scientific principles. Heating processes such as blanching, boiling, braising, hard-boiling and frying help to keep the produce decontamination or water activity adjustment. Measured salt contents of most side dishes were in the range of 1-5% with those of salt-preserved vegetables being higher. pH values were 4.7-6.4 with those of salt-preserved vegetables being lower and those of hard boiled fishes being higher. Soluble solids of braised or hard-boiled dishes were usually above $40^{\circ}Brix$, while those of blanched and seasoned vegetables had lower values. Water activity values were 0.93-0.95 for seasoned vegetables and 0.77-0.88 for hard-boiled or semi dried beans and seafoods. Product with processing steps of braising or blanching showed lower bacterial load of 102-104 cfu/g, while seasoned or salt-preserved vegetables and seafoods had aerobic bacterial count above 106 cfu/g. Korean traditional side dishes were found to apply the appropriate combinations of heating preparation process, water activity and pH adjustment and salting, providing the required preservation properties.