• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.178-185
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• 2014

Purpose: Blood culture is the most important tool for detecting bacteremia in children with fever. However, blood culture contamination rates range from 0.6% to 6.0% in adults; rates for young children have been considered higher than these, although data are limited, especially in Korea. This study determined the contamination rate and risk factors in pediatric patients visiting the emergency room (ER) or being admitted to the ward. Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of blood cultures obtained from children who visited Yonsei Severance Hospital, Korea between 2006 and 2010. Positive blood cultures were labeled as true bacteremia or contamination according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Healthcare Safety Network definitions for laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection, after exclusion of cultures drawn from preexisting central lines only. Results: Among 40,542 blood cultures, 610 were positive, of which 479 were contaminations and 131 were true bacteremia (overall contamination rate, 1.18%). The contamination rate in the ER was significantly higher than in the ward (1.32% vs. 0.66%, P<0.001). The rate was higher in younger children (2.07%, 0.94%, and 0.61% in children aged <1 year, 1-6 years, and >6 years, respectively). Conclusion: Overall, contamination rates were higher in younger children than in older children, given the difficulty of performing blood sampling in younger children. The contamination rates from the ER were higher than those from the ward, not accounted for only by overcrowding and lack of experience among personnel collecting samples. Further study to investigate other factors affecting contamination should be required.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.359-365
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• 1998

This study was conducted to isolate the protozoan parasite Babesia gibsoni by intraerythrocytic culture method of micoraerophilous stationary phase(MASP) and evaluate the possibility of application for the detection of B gibsoni in canine babesiosis. Also, indirect fluorescent antibody test(IFAT) and thick blood smear(giemsa stain), direct light microscopy (DLM), as control diagnostic tests, were conducted to compare diagnostic effects between MASP, IFAT and DLM. The results obtained from this study were summarized as follows. The protozoan parasite B gibsoni multiplied in 24-well polystyrene plate containing 1.2ml of canine red blood cell suspension in RPMI 1640 medium(pH 7.0) which is contained 20~40% normal canine serum(NCS) under the MASP condition of 5% $CO_2$ and 95% air at $37^{\circ}C$ incubator. Under the above MASP culturing system the percentage of parasitized erythrocytes(PPE) after incubation for 9 days reached the peak. The levels of PPE in MASP culture were shown more higher by exchanging the medium at 24 hour intervals. The parasite were purely isolated from MASP culture of canine red blood cells collected from dogs(pit bullterrier) infected with B gibsoni naturally. Among the total of 83 heads of pit bullterrier blood samples the positive rate was 32 heads(38.5%) in DLM, 45 heads(54.2%) in IFAT and 42 heads(50.6) in MASP culture. In negative cases of IFAT and DLM the isolation rates of B gibsoni by MASP culture were 16 heads(42.1%) of 38 heads and 16 heads(28.6%)% of 56 heads, respectively. From this study it was suggested that MASP culture method by RPMI 1640 medium was a reliable and useful diagnostic test for the diagnosis of B gibsoni infections in canine babesiosis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.728-733
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• 2005

To elucidate the question of whether biofilm formed by the intercellular adhesion (ica) gene cluster has influences on antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus epidermidis, we compared 124 skin strains with strains isolated from 50 blood cultures that cause septicemic diseases. The results revealed that the blood culture isolates were more resistant to the antibiotics tested than the saprophytic isolates. Moreover, antibiotic multiresistance was more prevalent in the clinical isolates. In the blood culture isolates, $46\%$ of the strains were resistant to three or more antibiotics, whereas only $12\%$ of the saprophytic isolates were resistant to three or more antibiotics. Interestingly, these characteristics were highly correlated with the biofilm formed by the ica gene cluster. In biofilm-producing strains, $84\%$ of the blood culture isolates and $44\%$ of the saprophytic isolates were antibiotic multiresistant, whereas only $22\%=;and\;9\%$, respectively, were antibiotic multiresistant in biofilm-nonproducing strains. Additionally, in the biofilm-producing ica-positive strains, $89\%$ of the blood culture isolates and $57\%$ of the saprophytic isolates were antibiotic multiresistant. However, the rate of the antibiotic multiresistance in the ica-negative strains was very low, thus indicating that the biofim formed by the lea gene cluster in S. epidermidis is an important pathogenic factor in association with the antibiotic multiresistance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.526-533
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• 2011

This research is about the pulsatile pump system utilized in the perfusion bioreactor for the in vitro human tissue culture. A pulsatile pump system which can be applied to the culture of the vascular tissues including blood vessel is developed by using the idea of human heart's blood pumping into organs as followings: culture chamber, a pressurizing device which generates laminar pulsatile flow by controlling the x-sectional area of the culture media delivering tubing, a compliance chamber which supplies the pressuring device with a constant pressure, and a peristaltic pump which circulates the culture media in a circuit ranging from the culture chamber to the compliance chamber. The developed pulsatile pump system shows that a physiology of the human heart's blood pumping including pulsatile pressure waveform of systolic-diastolic pressure is well represented. Not only time domain but also frequency domain characteristics of pulsatile pump system which are necessary for the vascular tissue culture such as pulsatile pressure waveform's shape, the frequency, and the magnitude can be easily generated and manipulated by using the proposed system.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.61-66
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• 2020

Nickel is a nutritionally essential trace element that plays an important role in the immune system of several animal species. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of nickel chloride on chemotactic activity of peripheral blood polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) and whether this effect is associated with interleukin (IL)-8 and a nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)-dependent pathway. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and PMNs were isolated by Percoll solution (Specific gravity; 1.080) and 1.5% dextran treatment, respectively. A modified Boyden chamber assay was used to measure the chemotactic activity of PMNs. The level of IL-8 in culture supernatant from PBMCs was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Both of PBMCs and PMNs exhibited a low viability when cultured with concentration of greater than 1,000 μM of nickel chloride for 24 h. Thus, nickel chloride was used at concentration of 500 μM, which preserved cell viability. Treatment with nickel did not directly affect the chemotactic activity of PMNs. However, the chemotactic activity of PMNs was remarkably increased by culture supernatant from PBMCs treated with nickel chloride (500 μM) for 24 h. Recombinant porcine IL-8 polyclonal antibody (pAb) neutralized the enhancing effect on the chemotactic activity of PMNs by culture supernatant from PBMCs treated with nickel and this culture supernatant had higher IL-8 levels than the culture supernatant from untreated PBMCs. In addition, n-tosyll-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone (TPCK), a NF-κB inhibitor, antagonized the enhancing effect on the chemotactic activity of PMNs by the culture supernatant from PBMCs treated with nickel. These results suggested that nickel stimulates porcine PBMCs to produce IL-8, which increases the chemotaxis of PMNs via NF-κB-dependent pathway.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.422-428
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• 2003

Umbilical cord blood (UCB), a rich source of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, has been proposed as an alternative to bone marrow and peripheral blood for transplantation treatment. Ex vivo expansion of cord blood stem cells could make the use of cord blood transplant feasible even for adult patients. However, the optimal cytokine cocktail for expansion of stem cells is yet to be established. This study compares proliferation, apoptosis, and telomerase activities in human cord blood stem cells cultured ex vivo with FLT3 ligand (FL)/thrombopoietin (TPO) or FL/TPO/stem cell factor (SCF), with a view to determine optimal combination of cytokines. CD34+ cells were cultured in DMEM containing either FL (50 ng/ml) and TPO (10 ng/ml) (FT group) or FL (50 ng/ml), TPO (10 ng/ml) and SCF (50 ng/ml) (FTS group). The cell proliferation rate was ten times higher in the FTS group. Although cells cultured with the two different combinations of cytokines were maintained for a long term (up to 8 weeks), a large number of cells underwent differentiation during this period. Cells cultured in FTS displayed lower levels of apoptosis compared to those of the FT group during the Initial 7 days of culture. The CD34+ fraction in both groups was markedly decreased to $21-30\%$ , and only $5-6\%$ was detected at 14 days of culture. Telomerase activity detected in human CD34+ cord blood at low levels was upregulated during the early phase of culture and decreased to baseline levels in the later phase. The telomerase activity of cord blood cultured in FT was lower than that of the FTS group. Our results suggest that, on adding stem cell factors to the FT cytokines, cultured CD34+ cord blood cells display a greater degree of cell proliferation and decreased apoptosis. However, during CD34+ cord blood cell culture, a Barge number of cells undergo differentiation, indicating that more potent novel cytokines or new culture conditioning methods should be developed to maintain their ability to engraft and sustain long-term hematopoiesis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1377-1385
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• 2011

This study was conducted to determine the nutritive value of live yeast culture (RumiSacc, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and to investigate its effects on milk yield, milk composition and some blood parameters in lactating cows. Six multiparous Holstein cows were allocated to two groups of three cows and assigned randomly to one of two diets in a cross-over experiment. Daily 50 g RumiSacc was top dressed at the p.m. feeding for the treatment group. RumiSacc supplied a high protein and energy with high organic matter digestibility values (83.35%) determined by in vitro enzymatic analysis. Yeast culture supplementation significantly increased milk yield, tended to increase fat yield, protein yield and lactose yield of milk. Methylated fatty acid level of 18:3 (n-3) in milk fat was increased by yeast culture supplementation. The concentrations of methionine, phenyalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan and taurine were significantly increased with dietary inclusion of yeast culture. Live yeast culture supplementation did not affect other performance characteristics, milk quality characteristics and blood parameters. As a conclusion live yeast culture (RumiSacc, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) had high nutritive value and positive effects on milk production and some milk quality characteristics in lactating cows under field conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.257-259
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• 2005

Although automated continuous-monitoring blood culture systems are both rapid and sensitive, false-positive and false-negative results still occur. The objective of this study, then, was to evaluate negative results occurring with BacT/Alert 3D blood culture systems. A total of 1032 samples were cultured with the BacT/Alert 3D automated blood culture system, using both aerobic (BPA) and anaerobic (BPN) media, and 128 of these samples yielded positive results. A total of 904 negative blood samples were then subcultured in $5\%$ sheep blood agar, eosin methylene blue, chocolate agar, and sabouraud-dextrose agar. Organisms growing on these subcultures were subsequently identified using both Vitek32 (bioMerieux, Durham, NC) and conventional methods. Twenty four $(2.6\%)$ of the 904 subcultures grew on the subculture media. The majority $(83.3\%)$ of these were determined to be gram-positive microorganisms. Fourteen $(58.3\%)$ were coagulase-negative staphylococci, two $(8.3\%)$ were Bacillus spp., one $(4.2\%)$ was Staphylococcus aureus, and one $(4.2\%)$ was identified as Enterococcus faecium. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria spp. were isolated together in two $(8.3\%)$ vials. Gram-negative microorganisms comprised $12.5\%$ of the subcultures, of which two $(8.3\%)$ were found to be Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and one $(4.2\%)$ was Pseudomonas fluorescens. The other isolate $(4.2\%)$ was identified as Candida albicans. We conclude that the subculture of negative results is valuable in the BacT/Alert 3D system, especially in situations in which only one set of blood cultures is taken.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.95-100
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• 2020

Recently, the problem of hypoxia caused by jogging is attracting attention. To solve this problem, this paper proposed a new solution. This paper proved that as a vocalization method of reading aloud, it is possible to increase air intake and activate lung function to exchange more air and obtain more oxygen. Then, blood oxygen saturation was used as an evaluation index for the body's oxygen content level to prove its effectiveness. A photoelectric pulse oximeter developed on the basis of different light absorption principles in blood was used to test blood oxygen saturation. Experimental results show that a certain degree of hypoxia is induced when a lot of oxygen is required due to jogging. Therefore, it was proved that the new vocal breathing method by reading books can increase the blood oxygen saturation of the body and improve the hypoxia of the body. Reading vocal breathing is a simple and efficient oxygen saturation recovery breathing method.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.497-509
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• 2002

Background : The mechanisms through which cellular activation results in intracellular mycobacterial killing is only partially understood. However, in vitro studies of human immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been largely modeled on the work reported by Crowle, which is complicated by several factors. The whole blood culture is simple and allows the simultaneous analysis of the relationship between bacterial killing and the effect of effector cells and humoral factors. In this study, we attempted to determine the extent to which M. tuberculosis is killed in a human whole blood culture and to explore the role of the host and microbial factor in this process. Methods : The PPD positive subject were compared to the umbilical cord blood and patients with tuberculosis, diabetes and lung cancer. The culture is performed using heparinized whole blood diluted with a culture medium and infected with a low number of M. avium or M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$ for 4 days by rotating the culture in a $37^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$ incubator. In some experiments, methlprednisolone- or pentoxifyline were used to inhibit the immune response. To assess the role of the T-cell subsets, CD4+, CD8+ T-cells or both were removed from the blood using magnetic beads. The ${\Delta}$ log killing ratio was defined using a CFU assay as the difference in the log number of viable organisms in the completed culture compared to the inoculum. Results : 1. A trend was noted toward the improved killing of mycobacteria in PPD+ subjects comparing to the umbilical cord blood but there was no specific difference in the patients with tuberculosis, diabetes and lung cancer. 2. Methylprednisolone and pentoxifyline adversely affected the killing in the PPD+ subjects umbilical cord blood and patients with tuberculosis. 3. The deletion of CD4+ or CD8+ T-lymphocytes adversely affected the killing of M. avium and M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$ by PPD+ subjects. Deletion of both cell types had an additive effect, particularly in M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$. 4. A significantly improved mycobacterial killing was noted after chemotherapy in patients with tuberculosis and the ${\Delta}$ logKR continuously decreased in a 3 and 4 days of whole blood culture. Conclusion : The in vitro bactericidal assay by human whole blood culture model was settled using a CFU assay. However, the host immunity to M. tuberculosis was not apparent in the human whole blood culture bactericidal assay, and patients with tuberculosis showed markedly improved bacterial killing after anti-tuberculous chemotherapy compared to before. The simplicity of a whole blood culture facilitates its inclusion in a clinical trial and it may have a potential role as a surrogate marker in a TB vaccine trial.