• Translational and Clinical Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2017

Glimepiride, a third generation sulfonylurea, is an antihyperglycemic agent widely used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, an untargeted urinary metabolomic analysis was performed to identify endogenous metabolites affected by glimepiride administration. Urine samples of twelve healthy male volunteers were collected before and after administration of 2 mg glimepiride. These samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and then subjected to multivariate data analysis including principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis. Through this metabolomic profiling, we identified several endogenous metabolites such as adenosine 3', 5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP), quercetin, tyramine, and urocanic acid, which exhibit significant metabolomic changes between pre- and posturine samples. Among these, cAMP, which is known to be related to insulin secretion, was the most significantly altered metabolite following glimepiride administration. In addition, the pathway analysis showed that purine, tyrosine, and histidine metabolism was affected by pharmacological responses to glimepiride. Together, the results suggest that the pharmacometabolomic approach, based on LC-MS/MS, is useful in understanding the alterations in biochemical pathways associated with glimepiride action.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.333-341
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the most appropriate shelf life for sterilized products according to their packaging material. Methods: Samples were prepared to target six nursing units in one general hospital in Seoul. After steam and E.O gas sterilization, sterilized product, samples were supplied to wards. Data collection was conducted for 3 months, after the expiration date of 3 months had passed for samples packaged with crepe paper and nonwoven wraps. For samples packaged with paper-plastic pouches, data collection conducted for 3 months when the expiration date of 9 months had passed. The sterilized products were collected and tested for microbial contamination. Identification of the storage environment was done as samples were collected. Results: This study confirmed that the storage environment met international standards such as CDC, except for temperature. For steam sterilized crepe paper packaging samples and steam and E.O gas sterilized for nonwoven packaging samples no contamination in all products was found for 3 months past the expiration date. However, in the E.O gas sterilized paper-plastic pouch packaging sterile samples, Gram-positive bacilli were detected in one sample from a surgical intensive care unit at 45 weeks and another sample from an operating room at 47 weeks. Furthermore, the results did not show any microorganisms for up to 52 weeks in all products. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, sterilized product packaging made with crepe paper and nonwoven wraps is better able an extended shelf life from 3 months to 6 months, reducing unnecessary costs.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 1995

In this paper we report the device of a multi-channel clinical instrument developed for determi¬nation of the levels of the urinary urobilinogen, glucose, ketone, bilirubin, protein, ascorbic acid, nitrite, pH, occult-blood, specific gravity, and leukocytes semiquantitatively. The test parameters are expressed on the dry test strips as a range of color intensities by chemical reactions. The instrument measures the value of each substance by reading the reflectance light emanated from the test strips. We also designed the reagent strip cassette and loader in order to intercept the outside interference. The loader can be operated semi-automatically. The light source is consisted on light emitting diodes at three specific wavelengths (560 nm, 610 nm, 650 nm). Precision of the system was evaluated by testing a series of commercial control urine samples. Furthermore, the performance of the instrument was compared with two other test methods on the urine samples from 100 persons. Our results showed a good repeatability between tests and a satisfactory agreement between the readings by our instrument and visual evaluation.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 1999

We evaluated the availability of toluidine blue stain in body fluids, such as peritoneal and pleural fluid and urine. Nine hundreds specimens, i.e., 400 pleural and 400 peritoneal fluids and 100 urine samples, respectively, from Jan. 1995 to May 1996 were included. We obtained the result of high sensitivity and high specificity. In toluidine blue stained body fluid in comparison with Papanicolaou stained result. Additionally, we found the diagnostically important crystals in chylothorax and some urine samples, which can not be seen in routine Papanicolaou stain. We thought the toluidine blue stain in body fluid is one of very useful diagnostic methods.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.86-90
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• 2007

Intestinal parasitic infections remain a serious public health problem globally and have usually been associated with human malnutrition. This study was performed to observe the present status of intestinal helminthes infections among the primary school children in Iksan, Korea, during the period from June to August, 2006. A total of 974 fecal samples (male 479, female 495) were collected and examined by formalin-ether sedimentation technique for intestinal helminthes eggs. Of the 974 samples examined, 2 (0.2%) were egg positive for intestinal helminthes, and only eggs of Clonorchis sinensis were observed in the 2 cases. These C. sinensis egg were found in grade 5 (male, 1 case) and grade 6 (female, 1 case), respectively. The egg positive rate of male and female were 0.2%, respectively. Through this survey, I found that the C. sinensis infection is prevalent among primary school children in Iksan, Jeonbuk, and a continuous health education for school children is recommended to prevent the potential infection of C. sinensis.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.203-207
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to develop discriminant analysis models for predicting cervical normal/dysplasia case diagnoses using cytometric features derived from the digital image analysis of cell monolayers. The database consisted of 19 cases diagnosed either as normal (n=5), moderate dysplasia (n=7), severe dysplasia (n=7) on monolayer preparations. We studied the nuclear and cytoplasmic characteristics of cells in the normal, moderate dysplasia and severe dysplasia on cervical samples. The morphometric parameters selected for the analysis were nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio and the nuclear variations measured by image analysis on normal and precancerous lesions of cervical smears; several shape factors; area; perimeter; maximal, minimal and equivalent circle diameters. The results showed that the dysplasia samples exhibited changes in both cellular and nuclear form and size but lacked substantial differences in the tumor grades. The coefficient of nuclear variation is as follows to normal cell $21.8{\pm}3.2%$, moderate dysplasia $33.5{\pm}6.1%$, severe dysplasia $27.7{\pm}5.8$ of cervical smears.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2251-2255
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• 2014

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate 10 years of false positive urine cytology records, along with follow-up histologic and cytologic data, to determine the significance of suspicious urine cytology findings. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of urine samples harvested between January 2002 and December 2012 from voided and catheterized urine from the bladder. Among the 21,283 urine samples obtained during this period, we located 1,090 eligible false positive findings for patients being evaluated for the purpose of confirming urothelial carcinoma (UC). These findings were divided into three categories: atypical, indeterminate, and suspicious of malignancy. Results: Of the 1,090 samples classified as false positive, 444 (40.7%) were categorized as atypical, 367 (33.7%) as indeterminate, and 279 (25.6%) as suspicious of malignancy. Patients with concomitant UC accounted for 105 (23.6%) of the atypical samples, 147 (40.1%) of the indeterminate samples, and 139 (49.8%) of the suspicious of malignancy samples (p<0.0001). The rate of subsequent diagnosis of UC during a 1-year follow-up period after harvesting of a sample with false positive urine cytology initially diagnosed as benign was significantly higher in the suspicious of malignancy category than in the other categories (p<0.001). The total numbers of UCs were 150 (33.8%) for atypical samples, 213 (58.0%) for indeterminate samples, and 199 (71.3%) for samples categorized as suspicious of malignancy. Conclusions: Urine cytology remains the most specific adjunctive method for the surveillance of UC. We demonstrated the clinical value of dividing false positive urine cytology findings into three categories, and our results may help clinicians better manage patients with suspicious findings.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.14.1-14.11
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• 2021

Background: Quantitation of urine protein is important in dogs with chronic kidney disease. Various analyzers are used to measure urine protein-to-creatinine ratios (UPCR). Objectives: This study aimed to compare the UPCR obtained by three types of analyzers (automated wet chemistry analyzer, in-house dry chemistry analyzer, and dipstick reading device) and investigate whether the differences could affect clinical decision process. Methods: Urine samples were collected from 115 dogs. UPCR values were obtained using three analyzers. Bland-Altman and Passing Bablok tests were used to analyze agreement between the UPCR values. Urine samples were classified as normal or proteinuria based on the UPCR values obtained by each analyzer and concordance in the classification evaluated with Cohen's kappa coefficient. Results: Passing and Bablok regression showed that there were proportional as well as constant difference between UPCR values obtained by a dipstick reading device and those obtained by the other analyzers. The concordance in the classification of proteinuria was very high (κ = 0.82) between the automated wet chemistry analyzer and in-house dry chemistry analyzer, while the dipstick reading device showed moderate concordance with the automated wet chemistry analyzer (κ = 0.52) and in-house dry chemistry analyzer (κ = 0.53). Conclusions: Although the urine dipstick test is simple and a widely used point-of-care test, our results indicate that UPCR values obtained by the dipstick test are not appropriate for clinical use. Inter-instrumental variability may affect clinical decision process based on UPCR values and should be emphasized in veterinary practice.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.469-474
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• 1996

A rapid and sensitive method has been developed to detect hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV) by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique with primers specific for the surface and core regions in capillary thermal cycler within 80 min. The lower limit for detection by present PCR method is $10^{-5}$ pg of recombinant HBV DNA which is equivalent to that determined by one round of PCR amplification and Southern blot hybridization analysis. When boiled HBV positive serum was serially diluted 10-fold, HBV DNA was successfully determined in $1{\mu}l-10^{-3}$ of serum. HBV DNA was detected by present method in 69 clinical samples including HBsAg positives and negatives by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). When serum samples were amplified by nested PCR using surface and core region primers, HBV DNAs were detected in 37 of 69 samples (53.6%) and 18 of 69 samples (26.1%), respectively. These results can inform the infectious state of HBsAg positive pateints. A simple and rapid nested PCR protocol by using boiled serum as DNA template has been described for the clinical utility to determine HBV DNA in human serum.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.123-126
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• 2023

The prevalence of candidiasis, a contagious disease with high morbidity and mortality, has sharply increased globally over the last two decades. Candida albicans can cause serious infections in patients with weak immunity and in recipients of prolonged antibiotic treatment. Consequently, rapid and accurate identification of species can play an important role in the treatment of candidiasis. Here, we investigated the positive rate and infection trend of C. albicans according to age, specimen type, and sex using multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction-based testing of samples collected for the diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases in Korea between 2018 and 2020. When the type of specimen collected was a swab, the positive rate of C. albicans was higher among younger women, and tended to decrease with age. Analysis of swab samples revealed higher positive rates than urinalysis. The reduction trend in positive rates by age was comparable between the overall samples and urine specimens. Among male patients, the positive rate did not differ substantially across the various types of specimens collected. Previous studies have shown a higher prevalence of non-albicans Candida species than C. albicans in clinical specimens, and exclusion of the former from our analysis may be a limitation of this study. However, our findings contribute significantly to the literature because globally, there is a paucity of epidemiological studies using molecular techniques to detect C. albicans in sexually transmitted disease test samples.