• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.37-58
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• 2001

This study placed its objectives in suggesting the basic data for setting up an approach to protect the educational environment, by analyzing the relevance between the misconducts of adolescence and the harmful environment around the school, as an object of study, middle school students and high school students all over the country. Thus, this study carried out the questionnaire survey, by the multi-stage of stratified sampling in 2,114 middle school and high school students from June 29, 2000 through July 29, 2000. And the results of analysis were as follows: 1. In case of the ratio of students using harmful environment, the electronic game room had the highest ratio (78.3％); next, the PC room (75.6％), the singing room (71.6％), and the cartoon room (34.3％). 2. In terms of the experiences of using the harmful environment according to the personal characteristics, high school students used it in a higher ratio, compared with middle school students (p〈0.001); the students, whose father graduated from a high school, comparatively used it much more(p〈0.05). Also, when a school is located near to amusement quarters or shopping centers, students used the harmful environment most highly (p〈0.001). And the differences were found to be statistically significant. 3. In case of the perceived susceptibility factors, the harmful environment was found to be used in lower ratio, by the students who answered “very so” to the question item, The more harmful environment facilities are positioned around school, the more student have the opportunities to use them. (p〈0.001). That is, the findings showed that the higher students' degree of perceived susceptibility factors was the less students used harmful environment facilities. The differences were statistically significant. In terms of the ratio of using harmful environment according to perceived seriousness factors, it was founded out that the students, who answered, “If I use any harmful environment facilities, it will be very harmful to myself.”. had the less opportunities of having used them, compared with the students who did not answer so (p〈0.001). This indicated that the higher the degrees perceived seriousness of students, the less they used harmful environment facilities. And the differences were statistically significant. In the side of the ratio of using harmful environment according to the perceived barriers, it was found out that there were any special large differences. That is, perceived barriers had nothing to do with students' using harmful environment. 4. As the result of having analyzed the factors influencing the behaviors of using harmful environment, the factor to explain the behaviors of using harmful environment was found to be the degree of perceived seriousness, among individual perceiving factors; next, the location of a school - one of personal characteristics, the degree of perceived susceptibility and ages, m sequence. 5. Among students' misconduct experiences, drinking was highest (21.6％), next, smoking (11.9％), drug abuse (4.3％), and sexual relations (1.6％), In sequence. Among other problematic behaviors, excessive waste was highest (14.6％); next, disobedience and lie (10.7％), night wandering (7.8％), and bad dressing and making-up (5.5％), in sequence. 6. In terms of the misconducts according to the behaviors of using harmful environment, compared with the students who did not commit any misconducts, harmful environment facilities were used more highly, by each group of students who experienced drinking (p〈0.00l), smoking (p〈0.001), sexual relations (p〈0.05), excessive waste (p〈0.001), disobedience ＆ lie (p〈0.001), and bad dressing ＆ making-up (p〈0.05). And the differences were statistically significant.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1245-1255
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• 1997

Background : Rifampicin(RFP) is a key component of the antituberculous short-course chemotherapy and the RFP resistance is a marker of multi-drug resistant(MDR) tuberculosis. RPoB gene encodes the $\beta$-subunit of RNA polymerase of M. tuberculosis which is the target of RFP. And rpoB gene mutations are the cause of RFP resistance of M. tuberculosis. Although several reports showed that PCR-SSCP would be a rapid diagnostic method for identifying the RFP resistance, there were few reports Performed using direct, clinical specimens. So we Performed PCR-SSCP analysis of rpoB gene of M. tuberculosis in direct, clinical specimens. Methods : 75 clinical specimens were collected from patients at Asan Medical Center from June to August 1996. After PCR of IS 6110 fragments, 43 both AFB smear-positive and IS6110 fragment PCR-positive specimens were evaluated. The RFP susceptibility test was referred to the referral laboratory of the Korean Tuberculosis Institute. DNA was extracted by bead beater method. And heminested PCR was done using 0.1ul(1uCi) [$\alpha-^{32}P$]-dCTP. SSCP analysis was done using non-denaturating MDE gel electrophoresis. Results : The results of PCR of IS6110 fragments of M. tuberculosis were positive in 55(73%) cases of 75 AFB smear-positive clinical specimens. Of the 55 specimens, RFP susceptibility was confirmed in only 43 specimens. Of the 43 AFB smear-positive and IS6110 fragment-positive specimens, 29 were RFP susceptible and 14 were RFP resistant. All the RFP susceptible 29 strains showed the same mobility compared with that of RFP sensitive H37Rv in SSCP analysis of ropB gene. And all the other RFP resistant 13 strains showed the different mobility. In other words they showed 100% identical results between PCR-SSCP analysis and traditional susceptibility test. Conclusion : The PCR-sseP analysis of rpoB gene in direct clinical specimens could be used as a rapid diagnostic method for detecting RFP resistant M. tuberculosis.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 1984

Some investigations on chronic mastitis in dairy cattle in Taegu-Kyungpook Provinces from the beginning of October, 1984 till the end of August, 1985 were conducted with the particular regard to the causative agents and their drug susceptibility. Milk samples from 83 isolated cases of chronic mastitis cattle were investigated bacteriologically and the causative organisms recovered were examined for their antibiotic susceptibility by using disc diffusion susceptibility technique against the major antibiotics of current veterinary use. Major causative agents involved in chronic mastitis in Taegu-Kyungpook Provinces were in order of prevalence Staphylococcus spp. (48.2 %), Escherichia coli (18.1 %), Candida spp. (10.8 %) and Corynebacterium spp. (8.4 %), Streptococcus agalactiae (3.6 %), Bacillus cereus (3.6 %) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.4 %) were found to be one of the minor agents. The majority of staphylococcal isolates and E. coli were highly resistant to the most antibiotics tested. The percentages of staphylococcal cultures resistant to penicillin, methicillin, lincomycin, novobiocin, ampicillin and tetracycline were 87.2 %, 78.7 %, 68.1 %, 61.7% and 57.4 %, respectively, while the majority of them were susceptible to gentamicin(78.7 %), cephalothin(76.6 %) and chloramphenicol (74.5%). E. coli isolates were found to be highly resistant to streptomycin, cephalothin, tetracycline and ampicillin while the majority of them were susceptible to colistin (83.3 %), gentamicin (77.8 %) and chloramphenicol (66.7 %). Corynebacterium spp. were susceptible to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamicin, oleandomycin and tetracycline although they showed resistance to novobiocin and penicillin. Two cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa recovered from mastitis milk were highly resistant to the antibiotics employed in the present study.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.137-149
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• 2005

Objectives and Methods: This study was performed to investigate the etiologic bacterial, viral and protozoal organisms for the diarrhea from hospitals in Chungnam area from January to December in 2004. Total of 787 fecal samples were collected and examined. Results and Conclusions: In test for enteropathogenic bacteria, total of 79 cases out of 787 samples from hospitals showed positive isolation. Among 79 positive samples, 27 cases were confirmed as Salmonella spp.. 20 cases as pathogenic E. coli, 18 cases as Clostridium perfringens, 6 cases as Staphylococcus aureus, 4 cases as Shigella spp. and 4 cases as Vibrio parahaemolyticus. In test for enteropathogenic virus, 190 cases out of 787 samples from hospitals showed positive reaction. Among 190 samples, 115 cases were confirmed as rotavirus, 55 cases as norovirus, 5 case as astrovirus, 4 case as rotavirus & norovirus, 3 cases as adenovirus, 2 case as rotavirus & astrovirus. In test for enteropathogenic protozoa, 6 cases out of 787 samples from hospitals showed positive result. Among 6 samples, 5 cases were confirmed as Entamoeba histolytica and 1 cases as Giardia lamblia. When we classified the positive results by the age of the patients, the highest isolation rate was noted in a group of age under 10 and over 60 for bacterial, viral and protozoal pathogens. Especially, patient below age of 5 showed high positive rate. When we classified the positive results by the time, pageathogenic bacteria were isolated throughout the year, and the highest frequency was noted in August. On the other hand, pathogenic viruses were detected more frequently during the colder season from December to April. Antimicrobial susceptibility test for the isolated bacteria resulted as follows; Salmonella strains showed high drug resistance rates against ampicillin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, ticarcillin. Shigella strains showed high drug resistance rates against ampicillin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, ampicillin/sulbactam, ticarcillin. Pathogenic E. coli strains showed high drug resistance rates against ampicillin, cephalothin, gentamicin, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, ampicillin/sulbactam, ticarcillin.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.158-162
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• 2007

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of a major nosocomial pathogen worldwide and the emergence of this strain has become a major clinical problem. This study was performed for 13 hospitals with more than 400 beds in the country by collecting samples including hands and nasal cavities of doctors, nurses, guardians and patients. Also, additional 320 samples of hands and nasal cavities of 160 community resident in different locations and regions were collected. In all of medical environments and community resident, 625 strains of S. aureus were detected. Among 625 strains of S. aureus, 585 strains(93.6%) showed the resistance to at least one kind of antimicrobial and 112 strains (17.9%) showed multi-drug resistance with the resistance to 4 different types of antimicrobial. Total 152 MRSA strains (24.3%) were isolated from medical environment and community resident. In nasal cavity and hand, 49 MRSA (19.4%) and 103 (27.6%) MRSA were isolated, respectively Minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC) test is used to measure for susceptibility of MRSA isolated to oxacillin. At a concentration $16{\mu}g/ml$ of oxacillin, 11 strains were inhibited. 32 strains at $32{\mu}g/ml$, 41 strains at $64{\mu}g/ml$, 3 strains at $128{\mu}g/ml$, 25 stains at $256{\mu}g/ml$ and 40 strains at over $256{\mu}g/ml$ were inhibited. It was considered that medical environment showed higher than livestock and marine environments in MRSA detection rate.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.1178-1187
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• 1998

Background : Recently the incidence of tuberculosis is increasing in many countries and control of the disease is further threatened by the emergence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. So rapid detection of drug resistance is very important. Pyrazinamide (PZA) is a first-line chemotherapeutic agent for tuberculosis. Now in Korea, we perform PZase activity test instead of actual pyrazinamide susceptibility test for the detection of PZA resistant M. tuberculosis. Recently the pncA gene, encoding the PZase of M. tuberculosis, was completely sequenced. And it was reported that the mutation of pncA gene would be associated with PZA resistance of M. tuberculosis. Therefore we performed this study to evaluate the possibility for the rapid detection of PZA resistant M. tuberculosis using PCR-SSCP of pncA gene. Method : 44 cultured clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis, BCG Tokyo strain. BCG French strain, and one M. bovis isolate were studied. We used H37Rv as the reference strain, The PZase activity test was done at the reference laboratory of Korean Tuberculosis Institute. DNA was extracted by bead-beater method and 561 bp fragment including pncA gene was amplified by PCR. The PCR product were digested by BstB I enzyme. SSCP was done using MDE gel. Of the 44 strains of M. tuberculosis, 22 strains were PZase-positive and other 22 strains were PZase negative. Results : Of the 22 PZase positive strains, 18 strains(82%) showed the same mobility compared with that of H37Rv and 4(18%) showed different mobility. Of the 22 PZase-negative strains, 19(86%) strains showed the same mobility pattern compared with that of H37Rv and 3(14%) showed different mobility. Naturally PZA-resistant BeG-French strain, BCG-Tokyo strain, and one M. bovis isolate showed the same band pattern each other, but their mobility were different from that of H37Rv. The results of PZase activity test and PCR-SSCP of pncA of M. tuberculosis were statistically significantly correlated each other (p<0.01). Conclusion : The PCR-SSCP after BstB I restriction of pncA gene of M. tuberculosis may be a useful method for the rapid detection of PZA-resistant M. tuberculosis.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.159-166
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• 2003

Purpose : Streptococcus pneumoniae is part of the normal flora but is also responsible for causing many invasive diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis in addition to noninvasive diseases such as otitis in children. Multi-drug resistant strains has raised a lot of concern worldwide and thus the importance of prevention has been emphasized. We have analyzed the current serotypes and antibiotic sensitivity of each serotype as a baseline study to estimate the efficacy of the pneumococcal vaccine in Korean children. Methods : One hundred sixteen cases of pneumococcus cultured at Yonsei Medical Center from September 2001 to January 2003 were analyzed. The serotyping was done with the Quellung reaction and penicillin resistance was tested using the oxacillin disc diffusion method. Results : Pneumococcus were cultured from the sputum in 76 cases(65.5%), from the blood in 13 cases(11.2%), from the ear discharge in 12 cases(10.3%), from the throat in 7 cases(6.0%), from the nasal cavity in 2 cases(1.7%), and one case(0.9%) each from the cerebrospinal fluid, eye discharge, peritoneal fluid, post-operational wound, brain abscess, and catheter tip. Serotyping was possible with 98 cases and the following serotypes were found; 15 cases of type 19F(15.3%), 11 cases of 19A(11.2%), 8 cases of 11A(8.2%), 7 cases each of 6A, 14 and 3(7.1%), 6 cases each of 35, 6B and 23F(6.1%). Eighty two cases(70.7%) out of 116 cases were penicillin resistant and serotypes 19F, 19A, 11A, 23F, 6A, 9V constituted the majority, 48 cases(59.8%). These serotypes showed resistance to cotrimoxazole (74.4%), tetracycline(69.5%), and erythromycin(90.3%) as well. In the 22 cases cultured from children, 19A and 19F were found in 25.0%, 6A, 6B, and 23F in 10.0%, 11A, 14, 19, and 29 in 5.0%. Fifty percent(10/20) of the clinical isolates were represented in the current 7-valent pneumococcal protein conjugate vaccine, and 85%(17/20) when the cross-reacting serotypes were included. Penicillin resistance was found in 86.4%(19/22). Conclusion : The percentage of serotypes included in the 7 valent pneumococcal protein conjugate vaccine found in our study was 40.8% which was less than other prior studies. In anticipation of a change of pneumococcal serotypes, a nationwide multicenter study is needed before the initiation of pneumococcal vaccines in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.796-801
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• 2001

A total of 277 mineral spring water samples in Kangwon province from 1999 to 2000 were analyzed for the presence of Yersinia spp. by the conventional Food and Drug Administration protocol, and presumptive strains were identified by morphological, cultural and biochemical tests according to Bergey’s manual. Also, the biotypes, serotypes, and susceptibility to 12 antibiotics were tested. Among the total 277 mineral spring water samples, 40 samples (14.4%) were found to be contaminated with Yersinia species. Among the 40 strains of Yersinia spp. isolates, 33 strains (82.5%) for Yersinia enterocolitica, 4 strains (10%) for Yersinia frederiksenii, 2 strains (5%) for Yersinia intermedia, and 1 strain (2.5%) for Yersinia sakazaki were identified, respectively. Of 40 Yersinia spp. isolates, Yersinia enterocolitica (82.5%) was the most predominant species in the mineral spring water samples compared to other Yersinia species. Compared to direct culture method after KOH treatment and KOH treatment method after cold enrichment for better isolation ratio of according to comparision of Yersinia species, the detection ration (18.5%) of KOH treatment method after cold enrichment was about 3 times better than that (6.1%) of direct culture method after KOH treatment. According to serotypes of Y. enterocolitica isolates, O : 5 (12.9%) was the most predominant and followed by O : 3 (9.7%), O : 8 (6.5%), and O : 9 (3.2%), and others. For biotypes of Y. enterocolitica isolates, 1A (71.0%) was the most predominantly abundant and followed by 3A (12.9%), 3B (9.7%), 1B (3.2%) and 5 (3.2%). Also, an antibiotic susceptibility test showed that Yersinia spp. isolates were very susceptible to the antibiotics tested, but they were very strongly resistant to ampicillin, cephalothin and carbenicillin.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.325-347
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• 1999

This study was conducted to investigate the epidemiological, clinicopathological, microbiological, pathological observations and other tests from sudden death in feedlot cattle at the region of Sarari in Korea during the period from 1994 to 1999. Massive or sporadic occurrence of sudden death has been observed in 101 heads of 47 farmhouse. There were 20.8% in spring, 29.7% in summer, 16.8% in autumn, 32.7% in winter, and 62.3% in reproductive, 27.7% in growing, 5.0% in beef cattle, 5.0% in calf in prevalence of sudden death in cattle. Enterotoxemia(88.0%), pneumonia(3.5%), intestinal diarrhea(3.5%), liver abscess(1.5%) and indigestion(1.5%) were detected from 67 heads of sudden death cattle. In clinical observations, cattle were generally died of sudden recumbency with convulsions followed anorexia, depression, ataxia, muscular tremor, tachycardia and dyspnea without any premonitory symptoms. Epidemiological surveys showed no evidence that other factors such as pesticide, insecticide, fertilizer, chemical drug3 and those of others caused sudden death. Macroscopically, there were coagulation disorders of blood, congestion, edema and haemorrhage of lung, congestion and haemorrhages, watery and blood-tinged contents of small intestine. Histopathologically, we observed pulmonary congestion and haemorrhage, necrotic intestinal mucosa accompanied with haemorrhage and congestion, and also increased globule leukocytes between bronchial epithelia with mild pneumonia. Clinicopathologically, only elevation of blood glucose and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) was detected. Magnesium and calcium deficiency were not detected, but parasites were detected highly in normal and dead cattles. Microbiologically, Clostridium(Cl) pefringens were detected from small intestinal contents of 94% (63/67) of sudden death cattle and 51%(51/101) of slaughter cattle, and the population were $10^{6-8}$/cfu/$m\ell$ after 16~32 hours. Consequently, it was proved that the cause of death in cattle was enterotoxemia. Pathogenic test of mouse and goat inoculated with Cl perfringens type A toxin has been demonstrated as similar observation to natural cases. In antimicrobial susceptibility test, ampicillin, bacitracin, polymycin, cephalothin, penicillin, choramphenicol, erythromycin, tetracycline were highly susceptible, and amikacin, gentamicin, kanamycin, neomycin, streptomycin, sulfamethoxine, sulfamethazine were resistant. Cl perfringens were resisted for 4 hours in 3% formalin, 20 minutes in 4% phenol, 20 minutes in 0.5% mercuric chloride and 40 minutes in 0.1% sodium hydroxide, respectively. The useful method to prevent from occurrance of enterotoxemia in feedlot cattle was a dietary administration of antibiotics and miyari acid.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.195-205
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• 2016

This study was performed to select single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to the body burden of heavy metals in Koreans, to provide Korean allele frequencies of selected SNPs, and to assess the difference in allele frequencies with other ethnicities. The candidate-gene approach method and genome-wide association screening were used to select SNPs related to the body burden of heavy metals. Genotyping analysis of the final 192 SNPs selected was performed on 1,483 subjects using the VeraCode Goldengate assay. Allele frequencies differences and genetic differentiations between the Korean population and Chinese (CHB), Japanese (JPT), Caucasian (CEU), and African (YIR) populations were tested by Fisher's exact test and fixation index ($F_{ST}$), respectively. The Korean population was genetically similar to the CHB and JPT populations ($F_{ST}$ < 0.05, for all SNPs in both populations). However, a significant difference in the allele frequencies between the Korean and CEU and YIR populations were observed in 99 SNPs (60.7%) and 120 SNPs (73.6%), respectively. Ten (6.1%) and 26 (16.0%) SNPs had genetic differentiation ($F_{ST}$ > 0.05) among the Korean-CEU and Korean-YIR comparisons, respectively. The SNP with the largest $F_{ST}$ value between the Korean and African populations was cystathionine-${\beta}$-synthase rs234709 ($F_{ST}$: KOR-YIR, 0.309; KOR-CEU, 0.064). Our study suggests that interethnic differences exist in SNPs associated with heavy metals of Koreans, and it should be considered in future studies that address ethnic differences in heavy-metal concentrations in the body and genetic susceptibility to the body burden of heavy metals.