• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.211-216
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• 2021

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of disinfection using environmental disinfectant after having assessed the extent of contamination through microbial culture testing and the Adenosine Triphosphate Bioluminescence method among the environmental management evaluation methods used for the environment in the hospital ward of patients infected by multidrug-resistant organisms. This study was conducted with the patient wards isolated due to multidrug-resistant organisms as the environmental surface. Specimens were collected from five locations including infusion pumps, IV poles, bedside cabinets, bed railings, keyboards, and blood pressure measurement cuffs. ATP and microbial culture testing were executed prior to, immediately after, and five minutes post-disinfection. According to the result contamination of the infusion pumps was statistically significantly reduced after disinfection. In addition, the bacteria before and after disinfection reduced in IV pole, bed railing, and keyboard. That is, regular environmental surface disinfection can provide safer environments to patients against infection. Therefore, it is necessary to establish guidelines including disinfection methods and intervals for environmental surfaces by evaluating the persistence of disinfectants at various institutions in the future.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.232-237
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• 2022

The present study investigated the bactericidal effects of chlorine dioxide (CD) and electrolyzed water (EW) on pathogenic bacteria, such as Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Escherichia coli O157:H7, by treatment them with CD and EW, respectively, for 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 min. Additionally, the sensitivities of Gram-positive (B. cereus and S. aureus) and Gram-negative (S. Typhimurium and E. coli O157:H7) to CD and EW were compared, respectively. In CD, the D-values for B. cereus, S. aureus, S. Typhimurium, and E. coli O157:H7 were 1.85±0.64, 2.06±0.85, 2.26±0.89, and 2.59±0.40 min, respectively. In EW, the D-values for B. cereus, S. aureus, S. Typhimurium, and E. coli O157:H7 were 2.13±0.32, 1.64±0.64, 1.71±0.32, and 1.86±0.36 min, respectively. All strains decreased consistently for 10 min in both CD and EW. However, the D-values of each bacterial species did not differ significantly between CD and EW (P>0.05). When comparing the bactericidal effect of CD and EW, no difference in D-value was observed, even though the pH and available chlorine concentration of CD were significantly lower than those of EW. These data could be used for the application of CD and EW in the food industry, considering characteristics such as the selection of optimal disinfectants, determination of optimal concentrations, and sensitivity to disinfection targets.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.192-198
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• 2023

In this study, the components of microwave-assisted extracts obtained from Thuja orientalis leaves were analyzed, and the cytotoxicity, antibacterial and antiviral activities were evaluated. The predominant components from microwave-assisted extraction were catechin, leucopelargonidin, arecatannin, quinolone, and kaempferol derivatives, which are classified in the flavonoid and tannin groups. We observed that the 0.11 mg/mL of extract concentration did not show cytotoxicity in HaCaT cells. The antibacterial activities were tested according to the guidelines of methods for determining the bactericidal activity of antimicrobial agents. The extracts showed 99.9% antibacterial efficiency against gram-positive S. aureus, while the antibacterial effect on gram-negative E. coli was insignificant. When the extract concentration and contact time with bacteria were increased, 99.9% antibacterial efficiency was observed for E. coli as well as S. aureus. Following the standard to assess the activity of microbicides against viruses in suspension (ASTM-E1052-20), the antiviral efficiency was more than 99.99% for influenza A (H1N1) and SARS-CoV-2. These results suggest its potential use in antiviral disinfectants, surface coatings, personal protective equipment, and textiles.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to reveal the circumstances under which the cases of harm to health caused by humidifier disinfectant were neglected and show the points where the number of victims and the degree of damage could have been reduced. In addition, it attempts to describe how damage management proceeded immediately after the incident and actually exacerbated the damage. Finally, it explores the unfortunate aspects of the recent trial. By doing so, it attempts to take this as an opportunity to consider whether a tragic event such as the humidifier disinfectant incident could occur in the future. Methods: This study collected and analyzed data on chemical material characteristics related to humidifier disinfectants, data on health effect characteristics, data on related laws and regulations from the Ministry of Environment, data related to the damage investigation by the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, and current contents. Results: The lack of related systems and laws is the area where the greatest responsibility for the cause of the humidifier disinfectant disaster falls, so it is difficult for the government to escape this responsibility. Establishing a dedicated department to identify the prevalence of certain diseases within the functions of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service to monitor health can greatly contribute to the prevention and management of diseases through early detection and management of group outbreaks caused by harmful factors. Humidifier disinfectant damage relief should have been expanded earlier beyond HDLI (humidifier disinfectant lung injury) to include non-specific diseases such as asthma, pneumonia, and interstitial pneumonia. The scope of relief benefits should have also been expanded earlier to include the payment of disability benefits. Fortunately, with the 2020 revision of the Special Act, the conditions for estimating causal relations were eased and individual screening systems such as health impact assessment were reorganized along with the introduction of a rapid screening system. Conclusions: The management system for chemical substances in a country is clearly of paramount importance, and the ministry in charge must have a response system in case of damage to health effects. Administration that looks at the victims' situation from their point of view is needed, and technical countermeasures are required to quickly recognize the prevalence of certain diseases.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.194-198
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• 2024

Pathogens of fire blight can survive for a long time on pruning tools, etc., and fire blight can be spread through agricultural implements. In particular, in Korea, pruning is frequently performed to remove flowers, immature fruits, and succulent shoots, and this farm work is known to be a major factor of the spread of fire blight. Therefore, in this study, in order to completely sterilize pathogens on pruning shears, we verified the disinfection effect of disinfectants distributed domestically and used them to identify an effective disinfection method. When disinfecting by immersion after inoculating Erwinia amylovora TS3128 on the scissor blade, 70% ethanol and 1% and 0.2% sodium hypochlorite sterilized immediately 10 sec after immersion, while 30% chlorine dioxide showed little disinfection effect. When disinfecting by spraying, 70% ethanol sterilized bacteria 1 sec after spraying, but 1% and 0.2% sodium hypochlorite disinfected bacteria after 10 and 60 sec, respectively. After cutting the naturally disease occurring branches five and 100 times, the bacteria were not hardly sterilized in immersion treatment in 70% ethanol for 30 sec but perfectly disinfected over 60 sec. Considering these results, pruning shears should be disinfected by frequently immersing them in 70% ethanol for at least 60 sec during pruning work in the field.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.365-369
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• 2007

This study was conducted to seek optimum concentration and treatment time of fermented rice water (Rizen) to disinfect food-borne bacteria in kitchen towel. $2.65\;log_{10}cfu/g$ of E. coli was reduced when double or triple diluted fermented rice water was treated during 2 hours. In case of concentrated fermented rice water, crude and double diluted solutions showed complete sterilization after 2 and 5 hours, respectively. On the other hand, triple, quadruple, quintuple diluted solutions needed 24 hours for complete sterilization. The effect of fermented rice water as a disinfectant was compared with water, detergent and chlorine treatment against E. coli and S. Typhimurium contaminated in kitchen towel. The initial number of E. coli in untreated kitchen towel were $5.0\;log_{10}cfu/g$ and were decreased to 4.32, 3.70 and 3.02 by treatments of water, detergent and chlorine, respectively. The double and triple diluted fermented rice water and double diluted concentrated fermented rice water also reduced the E. coli in kitchen towel to 2.43, 2.30 and $1.88\;log_{10}cfu/g$, respectively. The initial number of S. Typhimurium in untreated kitchen towel were $4.80\;log_{10}cfu/g$ and were decreased to 4.12, 3.58 and 2.81 by treatments of water, detergent and chlorine, respectively. The double and triple diluted fermented rice water and double diluted concentrated fermented rice water also reduced the E. coli in kitchen towel to 2.14, 2.03 and $1.59\;log_{10}cfu/g$, respectively. Consequently, the fermented rice water is thought to be a good disinfectant to reduce food-borne bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella contaminated in kitchen towel.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.229-234
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• 2012

Disinfecting contaminated swine manure with FMD (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) and pathogenic viruses is very important for maintaining sanitized environment. However, very few research reported on this subject, especially post-disinfection to utilize the wastes as a renewable resource. This research is carried out to obtain basic information for chemical treatment in FMD SOP (Standard Operating Procedure, Korea) of contaminated swine manure. Using lime, sodium hydroxide, citric acid and hydrochloric acid, described in FMD SOP, the effects of chemical treatments on livestock manure were compared in this paper. Four combinations of alkali-acid treatments and four kinds of acid-alkali combinations were tested to find out the effective method. Total coliform bacteria in contaminated swine manure, $1.6{\times}10^4$ CFU/100 ml, decreased to the range of 1/1000~1/100 in all treatments. Some specific disinfectants increases BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) and EC(Electric Conductivity), especially, alkaline treatments increases ammonia level than acid treatments. These findings suggest that the treatment methods should be considered as an important environmental factor in post-disinfection of contaminated animal manure with pathogenic microorganisms.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2020

This study investigated microbiological safety of employees' hands, dining tables, and indoor air in cooking areas and lunchrooms in child care centers. Microbiological tests were performed according to the Korea Food Code. Total numbers of aerobic bacteria and coliform bacteria were measured as 5.8±1.9 log CFU/hand and 4.0±2.4 log CFU/hand on employees' hands, and 4.3±3.0 log CFU/100 ㎠ and 2.6±3.3 log CFU/100 ㎠ on dining tables. Bacillus cereus were detected in two cases each of employees' hands and dining tables, respectively. The analysis of microbiological contamination of indoor air in chid care centers showed that the total numbers of aerobic bacteria and coliform bacterial were 28±7.2 CFU/plate and 3.1±2.9 CFU/plate, respectively. Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus were counted as 1.7±0.2 CFU/plate and 1.6±0.5 CFU/plate from the indoor air in child cate centers. These results indicate that indoor-air in child care centers is considered more safe compared to previous reports. In conclusion, it is necessary to carry out hygienic management using alcohol-based disinfectants before meals to remove microorganism contamination on dining tables and hands. In order to reduce microbial contamination in indoor air, it is also deemed necessary to freshen the sanitary caps, masks, and clothing of the catering staff with periodic ventilation of indoor air.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.95-102
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• 1985

This report offers descriptive data about the drugs utilized in out patient department (OPD) of Yeungnam University Hospital (YUH) in the period of march to august in 1985. The data in this report were produced by the computerized totalization of the number of mentions of individual drugs included in the prescriptions. The 100 drug entries that were most frequently recorded are listed in rank order. The listing is arbiturarily restricted to the drugs that were prescribed as single preparations, the drugs of basis of compound preparations and the drugs of adjuvent or corrective of compound preparations that have significant therapeutic effects either by generic names. And in addition, the listing also involves the compound preparations used in relatively large frequency, and the individual components of which have the unique pharmacological actions each other by proprietary names. And all routes of administrations were allowed. The 10 drugs most frequently named are diazepam, aluminum compounds, acetaminophen, isoniazid, metoclopramide, $polaramine^{(R)}$, carboxymethylcystem, ephedrine, codeine and caroverine in order. The 521,855 drug mentions listed as above are described by the chief therapeutic usage that each is intended to apply generally. The drugs which account the largest proportion of total mentions were those acting on the central nervous system (20.57%), including tranquilhzers and sedative hypnotics (11.71%), analgesic antipyretics (5.55%), antidepressants (2.15%) etc. Gastrointestinal drugs and smooth muscle preparations (18.64%) included antacids and anti-ulcer drugs (9.24%), antiemetics (3.57%), spasmolytics (3.14%) and others. Respiratory drugs (16.11%) included expectorants and cough preparations (10.99%) and bronchodilators (5.12%). Chemotherapeutic agents (15.12%) included the antiTbc drugs (7.09%) most frequently, and the penicillins (3.33%) accounted the largest proportion among the antibiotics. Cardiovascular drugs (5.64%) included cardiac drugs and coronary vasodilator (4.12%) and antihypertensives and vasodilators (1.06%). And anti-inflammatory drugs (4.33%), vitamins of single preparations (3.76%), hormones and their antagonists (3.29%), common cold preparations (3.12%), diuretics (2.81%), drugs supporting liver function (2.02%), drugs affecting autonomic nervous system(1.89%) including anti-glaucomas, atropine and cerebral vasodilators, antihistamine drugs (1.02%) and disinfectants (0.74%) were following in order. The data in this report were compared to those reported by H. Koch, et al. in United States (US), 1981 as "Drugs Most Frequently Used in Office Practice:National Ambulatory Medical Case Survey, 1981." Cardiovascular drugs prescribed in YUH were much less in proportion than in US (10.56%), but gastrointestinal drugs accounted the larger proportion than in US (3.72%). Expectorants and cough preparations in YUH also accounted the larger proportion than in US (2.74%). In conclusion, in the period of march to august, 1985, OPD of YUH prescribed the CNS drugs including diazepam most frequently, and gastrointestinal, repiratory and chemotherapeutic drugs in next orders. It is supposed that the eating habits of Koreans and a unique atmospheric condition in Taegu as a basin were some important factors that affected the proportions of drugs acting on gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.281-287
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: According to Korean regulations, bottled waters (BWs) can not be treated with chemical disinfectants like chlorine, so UV and ozone disinfection is applied. During the past several years, chemicals were detected in some BWs, and the public was concerned about the safety of BWs. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mineral waters were stored for 180 days at $25^{\circ}C$ and $50^{\circ}C$, tested acetaldehyde and formaldehyde by HPLC. When mineral waters were put in a PET bottles, the formaldehyde level ranged from 5 to $66{\mu}g/L$ during 180 days at $50^{\circ}C$. While the acetaldehyde level ranged from 31 to $221{\mu}g/L$, it was low than $16{\mu}g/L$ in glass bottle. CONCLUSION(s): This result showed that formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were detected higher in PET bottles than glass bottles, these also increased depending on the time of storage. Concentration of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde could be significantly influenced by the time of storage and temperature.