• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.330-337
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• 2013

There are several methods currently being used to diagnose tuberculosis in patients, such as smear, PCR, tuberculosis culture and X-ray. For a proper medical treatment, antimicrobial susceptibility test and rapid drug susceptibility testing have been operated. Tuberculosis bacilli usually need 3~8 weeks of culture period because of delay in RNA synthesis and require 15~22 hours for generation. After a germ raises in culture, we initiated antimicrobial susceptibility test for a proper treatment. It has some difficulties to give a proper prescription for a tuberculosis patient because antimicrobial susceptibility test requires 4 weeks. To supplement this, we are practicing drug susceptibility testing which allow us to know the sensibility of RMP and INH after 2 or 3 days. But this is only possible when more than 2 positive germ. Therefore, we should practice rapid drug susceptibility testing with culture test. But if media is contaminated by other germs except Mycobacterium tuberculosis, it's hard to interpret result about culture test and to practice antimicrobial susceptibility test and rapid drug susceptibility testing. Because we have to practice again smear, culture test after extracting specimen from the patient, time is consumed and proper patient treatment is postponed. To address these problems and quick patient treatment, rapid drug susceptibility testing is practiced by using GenoType$^{(R)}$ MTDRplus method. As a result of this method we detected sensibility 10 and 7 cases and resistance 0 and 3 cases using RIM and INH respectively with other 1 case toward medicals out of the total 11 test. In conclusion rapid drug susceptibility testing can be used from the contaminated specimen after elimination of contaminated source from culture and proved that it can be practiced for rapid examination of a tuberculosis patient.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.685-689
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• 2000

Due to the uncultivable nature of Mycobacterium leprae in vitro, the fast, easy, and accurate measurement of the antimicrobial drug susceptibility of this microbe has been difficult. Conventional methods for such testing are subjective, cumbersome, and expensive in some cases. Here, the utility of a reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR)-based assay for testing was examined and compared with a Buddmeyer-type radiorespirometric assay. The susceptibility of M. leprae to rifampin was determined by probing the presence of M.leprae-specific 18 kDa gene mRNA in M. leprae-infected IC-21 macrophage cells after drug treatment. The results showed that, as the refampin concentration was increased, the 360-bp cDNA products generated by the RT-PCR-based assay decreased in a dose-dependent manner as in the drug susceptibility observed in the Buddmeyer-type assay. The drug susceptibility testing of M. leprae by the RT-PCR based assay was found to be not only faster but also nearly $10^4$-fold more sensitive than the Buddmeyer-type assay. Moreover, it was also found that, unlike the RT-PCR based assay, the same testing by a DNA-PCR resulted in no differences in the 360-bp signal, regardless of the rifampin concentrations used. Accordingly, these results demonstrated that the drug susceptibility of M. leprae can be determined effectively by an RT-PCR-based assay, thereby providing a new, fast, and sensitive testing method.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.7
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• pp.39-48
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• 2023

Over 100 countries have conducted research on experimental testing methods to assess the frost susceptibility of soils. This study aims to prevent structural damage caused by frost heave. Notably, the United States and Japan, which encompass cold regions such as Alaska and Hokkaido, have actively pursued frost heave research. Through laboratory investigations and field applications, standard testing methods and criteria for evaluating frost susceptibility have been established. However, these methods are complex and their engineering explanations are vague. This study closely compares and analyzes the frost-susceptibility testing methods proposed by ASTM and JGS, considering temperature conditions, specimen size, freezing direction, and drainage conditions. By conducting this comparative analysis, this study aims to shed light on the similarities and differences between the two methods. Furthermore, based on the findings, this study proposes future research guidance for refining frost-susceptibility testing methods and criteria.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2013

Acinetobacter baumannii is an aerobic, gram-negative and glucose-non-fermenting bacterium, which has emerged as a serious opportunistic pathogen. Many clinical microbiology laboratories use the Vitek 2 system for the routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing process, including testing on A. baumannii isolates. However, in case of amikacin, it is now recommended to perform additional antimicrobial susceptibility testing for A. baumannii strains due to the relatively lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) in the Vitek 2 system compared to conventional reference methods. In our study, we assessed MIC for amikacin susceptibility testing of A. baumannii isolates in the Vitek 2 system, the agar dilution, Etest, and disk diffusion method. We collected 40 gentamicin-resistant, A. baumannii strains (amikacin MIC by Vitek 2:${\leq}2{\mu}g/mL$, 2 isolates; $4{\mu}g/mL$, 34 isolates; $8{\mu}g/mL$, 4 isolates) from a University hospital and compared the Vitek 2 system to other reference methods for testing susceptibility to amikacin. The Vitek 2 system showed major errors in all of the 40 isolates, yielding a low MIC. The results of our study strongly suggested that the Vitek 2 system was not a reliable method to test the MICs of gentamicin; ranging from ${\geq}16{\mu}g/mL$ for amikacin susceptibility. Other tests, such as agar dilution, Etest, or disk diffusion methods, should be paralleled to determine the MIC of amikacin in A. baumannii.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.118-123
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• 2008

A new method for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of vitro-cultured bacteria on an ordinary fluorescence spectrometer was developed. The viable bacteria reduced 3-(4,5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) to produce insoluble particles that displayed intense resonance scattering light. The assay showed a linear relationship between the number of viable bacteria and the intensity of resonance scattering light. Dead bacteria were unable to reduce MTT. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus exposed to flavonoids from Marchantia convoluta showed a flavonoids concentration-dependent inhibition of the ability to reduce MTT. In the assay, less than 12 h was required to attain susceptibility results and fewer bacteria were utilized than in traditional methods. The RLS technique could, in combination with the MTT assay, be a rapid and sensitive measuring method to determine the in vitro activity of new antimicrobials.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.393-399
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• 2022

The Segregation Potential (SP) is one of the most widely used predictors of frost heave in cold regions. Laboratory step-freezing tests determining a representative SP at the onset of the formation of the last ice lens (near the thermal steady state condition) can predict susceptibility to frost heave. Previous work has proposed empirical semi-log fitting for determination of the representative SP and applied it to several fine-grained soils, but considering only frost-susceptible soils. The presence of fines in coarse-grained soil affects frost susceptibility. Therefore, it is required to evaluate the applicability of the empirical semi-log fitting for both frost-susceptible and non-frost-susceptible soils with fines content. This paper reports laboratory frost heave tests for fines contents of 5%-70%. The frost susceptibility of soil mixtures composed of sand and silt was classified by the representative SP, and the suitability of the empirical semi-log fitting method was assessed. Combining semi-log fitting with simple laboratory frost heave testing using a temperature-controllable cell is shown to be suitable for both frost-susceptible and non-frost-susceptible soils. In addition, initially non-frost-susceptible soil became frost susceptible at a 10%-20% weight fraction of fines. This threshold fines content matched well with transitions in the engineering characteristics of both the unfrozen and frozen soil mixtures.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2015

In this study, we conducted to the development of a rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test method using WST-1 which is known to water-soluble tetrazolium salt, in order to rapidly response against bacterial diseases in fish. Eight of antibiotics which are permissioned for marine organism from government were used to rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the WST-1. As a result, a similar tendency was verified compare to conventional antibiotic susceptibility test results. Generally, the antibiotic susceptibility test method required about 3 days (72 hours) for determine the effective antibiotics, however, we have confirmed that the our method using WST-1 was required at least 36 hours in this study. Consequentially, our method will contribute to development of rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing for bacterial diseases in fish.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2407-2418
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• 2023

Internal replaceable electronic module substitutions can impact EMC (ElectroMagnetic Compatibility) qualification testing and results if EMC testing is conducted at the cabinet level. The impact of component substitutions on EMC qualification results therefore should be evaluated. If a qualitative evaluation is not adequate to ensure that the modified product will not impact the cabinet level EMC qualification results, a new qualification testing should be conducted. Component level retesting should be conducted under electromagnetically equivalent conditions with the cabinet level test. This paper analyzes the propagation of conducted susceptibility test waveforms in a representative cabinet and evaluates the impact of component substitutions on cabinet level EMC qualification results according to the location of the replacement items. A guideline for a qualitative evaluation of the impact of component substitutions is described based on the propagation of the conducted susceptibility test waveforms. A module level test method is also described based on an analysis of the shielding effectiveness of the cabinet.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.84-91
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• 2010

Owing to revolutionary developments in automobile technologies, a variety of advanced vehicles - hybrid vehicle, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, electric vehicle, etc. - emerges recently. The safety is getting more important for developing automobiles. The electro-magnetic compatibility has to be assured, since those advanced vehicles are equipped with various new electronic systems. Electro-magnetic compatibility tests, in general, consist of an EMI(electro-magnetic interference) test and an EMS (electro-magnetic susceptibility) test. We investigated the susceptibility test method suggested in KMVSS (Korean Motor Vehicle Safety Standard) as the EMS test method. A series of experiments results that the above test method should be partially revised to comply with a Korean governmental standard method. In this paper, the some directions of modifications are presented to enhance the quality of the above EMS test method.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.79 no.4
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• pp.282-288
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• 2016

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major health problem, and accurate and rapid diagnosis of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extended drug-resistant (XDR) TB is important for appropriate treatment. In this study, performances of solid and liquid culture methods were compared with respect to MDR- and XDR-TB isolate recovery and drug susceptibility testing. Methods: Sputum specimens from 304 patients were stained with Ziehl-Neelsen method. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) isolates were tested for recovery on $L{\ddot{o}wenstein$-Jensen (LJ) medium and the BacT Alert 3D system. For drug susceptibility testing of Mtb, isolates were evaluated on M-KIT plates and the BacT Alert 3D system. Results: The recovery rates were 94.9% (206/217) and 98.2% (213/217) for LJ medium and the BacT Alert 3D system, respectively (kappa coefficient, 0.884). The rate of drug resistance was 13.4% for at least one or more drugs, 6.0% for MDR-TB and 2.3% for XDR-TB. M-KIT plate and BacT 3D Alert 3D system were comparable in drug susceptibility testing for isoniazid (97.7%; kappa coefficient, 0.905) and rifampin (98.6%; kappa coefficient, 0.907). Antibiotic resistance was observed using M-KIT plates for 24 of the total 29 Mtb isolates (82.8%). Conclusion: The liquid culture system showed greater reduction in the culture period, as compared with LJ medium; however, drug susceptibility testing using M-KIT plates was advantageous for simultaneous testing against multiple drug targets.