• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.223-226
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• 2015

We report here a case of strongyloidiasis in a 72-year-old diabetic patient (woman) accompanied by gastrointestinal stromal tumor receiving imatinib therapy, first diagnosed as hypereosinophilic syndrome and treated with steroids for uncontrolled eosinophilia. She suffered from lower back pain and intermittent abdominal discomfort with nausea and diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumor. After post-operative imatinib treatment eosinophilia persisted, so that steroid therapy was started under an impression of hypereosinophilic syndrome. In spite of 6 months steroid therapy, eosinophilia persisted. Stool examination was performed to rule out intestinal helminth infections. Rhabditoid larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis were detected and the patient was diagnosed as strongyloidiasis. This diagnosis was confirmed again by PCR. The patient was treated with albendazole for 14 days and her abdominal pain and diarrhea improved. This case highlights the need for thorough investigation, including molecular approaches, to test for strongyloidiasis before and during steroid therapies.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the effects of an infection control program on the Clonorchis sinensis (CS) infection ratio, CS-related knowledge and health behavior of people living near the Geum River. Method: A one-group pretest-posttest design was used with 102 participants. For 12 months the participants were provided with promotion announcements, health education, counseling, and medication. Outcome variables measured were the CS infection ratio by stool examination, CS-related knowledge and health behavior from self-report questionnaires. The pre intervention data were collected from January to February 2008 and the post intervention data during the same period in 2009. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, generalized estimating equation analysis, and paired t-test with SPSS for Windows version 15.0. Results: In the pre test 21 of the 102 participants showed infection with CS for the first time. In the post test 9 were newly infected with CS, and one was re-infected. The CS-related knowledge was significantly improved after the infection control program (p<0.05). The CS-related health behaviors did not improve. Conclusion: These results showed that an infection control program is effective in decreasing CS infection ratio and improving CS-related knowledge of people living near the river.

• The Korean Nurse
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.56-69
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• 1994

This study was done to develop self - directed learning modules related to asepsis and elimination including urine and stool for Fundamentals in Nursing practice education contents and to measure the effectiveness of those modules. The subjects of this study were 96 sophomore students in the nursing college. Self-directed learning modules were developed by the researcher on the basis of the Lippincott Learning System of Kruger (1986) and Modules for Basic Nursing Care of Ellis (1992). Videotape was editted by using videotape made by the Lippincott Company and Film strip made by the Trainex Company with Korean dubbing. Self-directed learning was done for one week with the asepsis module and two weeks with the elimination modules after confirming the requiered level of knowledge acquisition through pre-test. For measuring proficiency in self-directed learning, a written test for cognitive domain, a sufficiency test for psychomotor domain, and a confidnece examination for affective domain were given. The data were analyzed using descritive statistics, and Pearson correlation coefficient using a SPSS-PC program. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Sufficiency test and confidence examination grades showed high levels in both asepsis and elimination. 2. Written test grades showed a high level in asepsis and elimination of urine but showed a medium level in eliminationin of stool. 3. Grades of sufficiency and confidence in asepsis and elimination practice were statistically significant with a moderate positive correlation (r=0.4- 0.5, p<0.001). 4. Grades of sufficiency and written tests in asepsis and elimination practice also were statistically significant with a moderate positive correlation (r=0.5-0.7, p<0.001). 5. Students showed relatively high contentment with the self-directed learning modules themselves but revealed relatively low contentment with video program and the self-directed learning process. In conclusion, this study disclosed that proficiency levels in cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains were high when asepsis and elimination modules were applied. Also students showed high satisfaction with the modules themselves, but didn't show high contentment with the video programs. In considering low contentment with the self-directed learning process, it is estimated the students had experienced some difficulties about using self-directed learning modules because this was their first exposure to the self-directed learning module and they were already accustomed to the demonstration-practice method.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.104-111
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• 2014

Purpose: To evaluate safety, gastrointestinal tolerance, and growth of a new experimental starter formula (NESF) fortified with lutein, prebiotics, probiotics, nucleotides and beta-carotene, fed to infants within the first months of life. Methods: This was a non-randomized, open, uncontrolled study conducted from December 2010 to May 2011. Twenty-three healthy infants aged 10 days to 2 months old were enrolled. Outcomes included gastrointestinal tolerance, physical growth and safety. Prior to the initiation of the trial, the Scientific Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences confirmed that the NESF met all safety and nutritional parameters. Results: NESF was well tolerated. The majority of infants fed this formula passed semi-liquid, yellow or yellow-brown. The mean stool frequency/day was $2.5{\pm}0.4$ on study-day 14 and $1.8{\pm}0.5$ on study-day 28. The mean daily weight gain was $30.9{\pm}3.8$ grams and the mean length gain during the 28 days of follow up was $3.1{\pm}0.8cm$, corresponding to the average physical growth normally seen in the first months of life in Russian infants. Six children left the study: one refused to drink the formula, one left the study as parents changed residence; and one child's parents have recalled their informed consent due to adverse event unrelated to the product. Three infants presented adverse events possibly related to the product (rash; colic and abdominal pain; constipation). Seventeen infants completed the trial. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that lutein-fortified formula is safe, well-tolerated and supported physical growth of evaluated infants.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.117-120
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• 1994

Two rare cases of human infection with parvum (dwarf) type of Diphyllobothnum Iatum [syn. D. panpum (Stephens, 1908)], were discovered in Korea. The first case was a 46-year old housewife, from whom a kind of pseudophyllidean tapeworm eggs was detected in the feces. She was treated with praziquantel and purged, and a complete strobila with scolex, 120 cm in total length, was recovered. She recalled that she had eaten raw trouts at a raw-fish restaurant near the Chungju Lake. Another patient was a 22-year old medical student (male), who used to eat raw sea-foods. He discovered a chain of tapeworm proglottids, 15 cm in length, discharged spontaneously in his stool and brought it for identification. The worms from the two cases were compatible with D. pan)urn (Stephens, 1908) of which the taxonomic significance has long been questioned. After a detailed morphological study and review of literature, we designated the worms as D. datum prom type. This is the first report on the occurrence of this rare type of D. lotunl infection in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 1969

The conventional triolen absorption test has its defect in that the stool collection was cumbersome, time and energy-wasting. In the present study, the triolen absorption test was carried out using double tracer technique with $^{125}I-triolen\;and\;^{51}Cr_2O_3$ to determine if it can overcome the defect of the conventional method also with satisfactory results. Following were the results: 1. The clinical significance of this double tracer method was essentially the same with that previously done by radioactive. triolen alone. With the fractional fecal samples, the equation, y=0.626x+2.010 was substantiated, hence, this method appears to be clinically valuable if the appropriate correction is applied. With the mixed fecal samples, the equation y=0.642x+1.468 was substantiated (p<0.005) which appears to be also clinically valuable. When these two data were compared, the equation y=0.975x+0.090 (P<0.05) was substantiated, hence, $x{\fallingdotseq}y$. 2. The normal ranges of the fecal triolen excretion rate in this double tracer method were $3.46{\pm}1.69%$, namely, less than 6.9%. 3. The samplings were done from the first to third defecation in cases of clinically normal, and from the first to second defecation in cases of diarrhea or malabsorption. 4. The intestinal malabsorption of triolen was not observed in whom the triolen absorption was supposed to be clinically normal, however. a good number of suspicious malabsorptive cases showed the normal values.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 1994

A highly endemic focus of human infection with Heterophves nocens (Heterophyidae) was discovered from a small coastal village of Shinan-gun, Chollanam-do, for the first time in Korea. Fecal examinations by cellophane thick smear and formalin- ether sedimentation techniques revealed 42.9% heterophyid egg Positive rate out of 98 inhabitants examined. It was difficult to confirm the species of heterophylds only by eggs. In order to collect the adult flukes, the egg Positive cases were treated with 10 mg/kg single dose of praziquantel and purged with magnesium sulfate, and the adult worms were collected from the diarrheic stools. From each of 18 cooperative patients 1 to 1,124 (total 4,730) H. nocens worms were recovered, together with a few to large numbers of heterophyids (Pvginiopsis summa, Stictonora juscatunl and for gymnophallids (Gvmopholloides stool) . It is speculated that H. nocen might be widely distributed along the southwestern coastal areas where the brackish water fish such as the mullets or gobies are popularly eaten raw.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.40.1-40.11
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• 2023

Microbial community profiling using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing allows for taxonomic characterization of diverse microorganisms. While amplicon sequence variant (ASV) methods are increasingly favored for their fine-grained resolution of sequence variants, they often discard substantial portions of sequencing reads during quality control, particularly in datasets with large number samples. We present a streamlined pipeline that integrates FastP for read trimming, HmmUFOtu for operational taxonomic units (OTU) clustering, Vsearch for chimera checking, and Kraken2 for taxonomic assignment. To assess the pipeline's performance, we reprocessed two published stool datasets of normal Korean populations: one with 890 and the other with 1,462 independent samples. In the first dataset, HmmUFOtu retained 93.2% of over 104 million read pairs after quality trimming, discarding chimeric or unclassifiable reads, while DADA2, a commonly used ASV method, retained only 44.6% of the reads. Nonetheless, both methods yielded qualitatively similar β-diversity plots. For the second dataset, HmmUFOtu retained 89.2% of read pairs, while DADA2 retained a mere 18.4% of the reads. HmmUFOtu, being a closed-reference clustering method, facilitates merging separately processed datasets, with shared OTUs between the two datasets exhibiting a correlation coefficient of 0.92 in total abundance (log scale). While the first two dimensions of the β-diversity plot exhibited a cohesive mixture of the two datasets, the third dimension revealed the presence of a batch effect. Our comparative evaluation of ASV and OTU methods within this streamlined pipeline provides valuable insights into their performance when processing large-scale microbial 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data. The strengths of HmmUFOtu and its potential for dataset merging are highlighted.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.791-797
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• 2009

Purpose : We aimed to investigate the clinical manifestations of and antibiotic resistance in culture-proven childhood salmonellosis. Methods : Clinical manifestations and laboratory data of and antibiotic use in subjects with culture-proven childhood salmonellosis, who were treated at the Chonbuk National University Hospital between September 1998 and August 2008, were analyzed retrospectively. Patients with underlying diseases or concomitant illnesses were excluded. Results : We assessed a total of 72 patients. There were 68 stool culture-positive cases, 7 blood culture-positive cases, and 3 both stool culture- and blood culture-positive cases. Salmonella group D was the most frequent pathogen in stool (63.9%) and blood (71.4%) cultures. Salmonella typhi was isolated in 1 case. Of the 72 patients, 45 (62.5%) were male children, of which 29 (40.3%) were aged <3 years. The patients most commonly presented with diarrhea (90.2%) and fever (83.3%). Leukocytosis (leukocyte count, >$15,000/{\mu}L$) and leukopenia (leukocyte count, <$4,000/{\mu}L$) were detected in 8.3% and 5.6% of the patients, respectively. Elevated serum C-reactive protein concentration (>5 mg/dL) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (>20 mm/h) were observed in 88.9% and 58.3% of the patients, respectively. Fifty-two (85.2%) of 61 patients who had undergone antibiotic treatment received a third-generation cephalosporin as definitive antibiotic therapy. Multidrug resistance rate was 40.0 % in the first 5 years of the study and 71.4% in the last 5 years. No fatalities occurred in this series. Conclusion : Children with culture-proven salmonellosis showed relatively benign clinical outcomes. Appropriate antibiotic treatment of <2 weeks is probably adequate for those without a suppurative focus of infection. The incidence of antibiotic resistant isolates was recently seen to increase.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.720-726
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• 2007

This study was performed to investigate effects of raw sea tangle products on idiopathic constipation. A total of thirty-eight women participated voluntarily in this study. They were placed into one of four groups by their total colonic transit time (TCTT) to make the four groups have the same TCTT. In the first trial, the subjects in Control group were fed 3 times of 150 mL of mineral water per day for 2 weeks, those in +Control group were fed a kind of stool softener as well as the same mineral water for 3 times, those in STT group were fed 3 times of 150 mL of sea tangle tea and those in STB group were fed 3 times of 150 mL of sea tangle beverage. After 6 weeks, a second trial was performed for another 2 weeks. Although the TCTT of the group exposed to of KolomarkTM was not significantly reduced, the subjects in STT group answered that their evacuation activities were significantly improved; evacuation frequency was increased, stool hardness was reduced, evacuation straining was lessened, stool amount was increased, incomplete sense of evacuation was lessened, and major evacuation time was improved like those in +Control group. The results imply that it is worthy to develop some products of raw sea tangle such as STT, which are effective in treating or preventing constipation.