• Title/Summary/Keyword: alternative methods

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The Effects of a MR Torso Coil on CT Attenuation Correction for PET (PET/CT 검사에 있어서 MR Torso Coil의 CT 감쇄보정에 대한 영향 평가)

  • Lee, Seung Jae;Bahn, Young Kag;Oh, Shin Hyun;Gang, Cheon-Gu;Lim, Han Sang;Kim, Jae Sam;Lee, Chang Ho;Seo, Soo-Hyun;Park, Yong Sung
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.81-86
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    • 2012
  • Purpose : Combined MR/PET scanners that use the MRI for PET AC face the challenge of absent surface coils in MR images and thus cannot directly account for attenuation in the coils. To make up for the weak point of MR attenuation correction, Three Modality System (PET/CT +MR) were used in Severance hospital. The goal of this work was to investigate the effects of MR Torso Coil on CT attenuation correction for PET. Materials and Methods : PET artifacts were evaluated when the MR Torso Coil was present of CTAC data with changing various kV and mA in uniformity water phantom and 1994 NEMA cylinderical phantom. They evaluated and compared the following two scenarios: (1) The uniform cylinder phantom and the MR Torso Coil scanned and reconstructed using CT-AC; (2) 1994 NEMA cylinderical phantom and the MR Torso Coil scanned and reconstructed using CT-AC. Results : Streak artifacts were present in CT images containing the MR Torso Coil due to metal components. These artifacts persisted after the CT images were converted for PET-AC. CT scans tended to over-estimate the linear attenuation coefficient when the kV and mA is increasing of the metal components when using conventional methods for converting from CT number. Conclusion : The presence of MR coils during PET/CT scanning can cause subtle artifacts and potentially important quantification errors. Alternative CT techniques that mitigate artifacts should be used to improve AC accuracy. When possible, removing segments of an MR coil prior to the PET/CT exam is recommended. Further, MR coils could be redesigned to reduce artifacts by rearranging placement of the most attenuating materials.

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Detection of Campylobacter jejuni in food and poultry visors using immunomagnetic separation and microtitre hybridization

  • Simard, Ronald-E.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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    • 2000.05a
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    • pp.71-73
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    • 2000
  • Campylobacter jejuni is most frequently identified cause of cause of acute diarrhoeal infections in developeed countries, exceeding rates of illness caused by both salmonella and shigilla(Skirrow, 1990 ; Lior 1994). Previous studies on campylobacter jejuni contamination of commercial broiler carcasses in u.s.(Stern, 1992). Most cases of the disease result from indirect transmission of Campylobactor from animals via milk, water and meat. In addition to Campylobactor jejuni. the closely relates species Campylobactor coli and Campylobactor lari have also been implicated as agents of gastroenteritis in humans. Campylobactor coli represented only approximately 3% of the Campylobactor isolates from patients with Campylobactor enteritis(Griffiths and Park, 1990) whereas Campylobactor coli is mainly isolated from pork(Lmmerding et al., 1988). Campylobactor jejuni has also been isolated from cases of bacteremia, appendicitis and, recently, has been associated with Guillai-Barre syndrome(Allos and Blaser, 1994; von Wulffen et al., 1994; Phillips, 1995). Studies in volunteers indicated that the infectious dose for Campylobactor jejuni is low(about 500 organisms)(Robinson, 1981). The methods traditionally used to detect Campylobactor ssp. in food require at least two days of incubation in an enrichment broth followed by plating and two days of incubation on complex culture media containing many antibiotics(Goossens and Butzler, 1992). Finnaly, several biochemical tests must be done to confirm the indentification at the species level. Therfore, sensitive and specific methods for the detection of small numbers of Campylobactor cells in food are needed. Polymerase chain reaction(PCR) assays targeting specific DNA sequences have been developed for the detection of Campylobactor(Giesendorf and Quint, 1995; Hemandex et al., 1995; Winter and Slavidk, 1995). In most cases, a short enrichment step is needed to enhance the sensitivity of the assay prior to detection by PCR as the number of bacteria in the food products is low in comparison with those found in dinical samples, and because the complex composition of food matrices can hinder the PCR and lower its sensitivity. However, these PCR systems are technically demanding to carry out and cumbersome when processing a large number of samples simutaneously. In this paper, an immunomagnetic method to concentrate Campylobactor cells present in food or clinical samples after an enrichment step is described. To detect specifically the thermophilic Campylobactor. a monoclonal antibody was adsorbed on the surface of the magnetic beads which react against a major porin of 45kDa present on the surface of the cells(Huyer et al., 1986). After this partial purification and concentration step, detection of bound cells was achieved using a simple, inexpensive microtitre plate-based hybridization system. We examined two alternative detection systems, one specific for thermophilic Campylobactor based on the detection of 23S rRNA using an immobilized DNA probe. The second system is less specific but more sensitive because of the high copy number of the rRNA present in bacterial cell($10^3-10^4$). By using specific immunomagnetic beads against thermophilic Campylobactor, it was possible to concentrate these cells from a heterogeneous media and obtain highly specific hybridization reactions with good sensitivity. There are several advantages in using microtitre plates instead of filter membranes or other matrices for hybridization techniques. Microtitre plates are much easier to handle than filter membranes during the adsorption, washing, hybridization and detection steps, and their use faciilitates the simultanuous analysis of multiple sample. Here we report on the use of a very simple detection procedure based on a monoclonal anti-RNA-DNA hybrid antibody(Fliss et al., 1999) for detection of the RNA-DNA hybrids formed in the wells.

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Closed Integral Form Expansion for the Highly Efficient Analysis of Fiber Raman Amplifier (라만증폭기의 효율적인 성능분석을 위한 라만방정식의 적분형 전개와 수치해석 알고리즘)

  • Choi, Lark-Kwon;Park, Jae-Hyoung;Kim, Pil-Han;Park, Jong-Han;Park, Nam-Kyoo
    • Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.182-190
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    • 2005
  • The fiber Raman amplifier(FRA) is a distinctly advantageous technology. Due to its wider, flexible gain bandwidth, and intrinsically lower noise characteristics, FRA has become an indispensable technology of today. Various FRA modeling methods, with different levels of convergence speed and accuracy, have been proposed in order to gain valuable insights for the FRA dynamics and optimum design before real implementation. Still, all these approaches share the common platform of coupled ordinary differential equations(ODE) for the Raman equation set that must be solved along the long length of fiber propagation axis. The ODE platform has classically set the bar for achievable convergence speed, resulting exhaustive calculation efforts. In this work, we propose an alternative, highly efficient framework for FRA analysis. In treating the Raman gain as the perturbation factor in an adiabatic process, we achieved implementation of the algorithm by deriving a recursive relation for the integrals of power inside fiber with the effective length and by constructing a matrix formalism for the solution of the given FRA problem. Finally, by adiabatically turning on the Raman process in the fiber as increasing the order of iterations, the FRA solution can be obtained along the iteration axis for the whole length of fiber rather than along the fiber propagation axis, enabling faster convergence speed, at the equivalent accuracy achievable with the methods based on coupled ODEs. Performance comparison in all co-, counter-, bi-directionally pumped multi-channel FRA shows more than 102 times faster with the convergence speed of the Average power method at the same level of accuracy(relative deviation < 0.03dB).

Measurement of Two-Dimensional Velocity Distribution of Spatio-Temporal Image Velocimeter using Cross-Correlation Analysis (상호상관법을 이용한 시공간 영상유속계의 2차원 유속분포 측정)

  • Yu, Kwonkyu;Kim, Seojun;Kim, Dongsu
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.47 no.6
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    • pp.537-546
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    • 2014
  • Surface image velocimetry was introduced as an efficient and sage alternative to conventional river flow measurement methods during floods. The conventional surface image velocimetry uses a pair of images to estimate velocity fields using cross-correlation analysis. This method is appropriate to analyzing images taken with a short time interval. It, however, has some drawbacks; it takes a while to analyze images for the verage velocity of long time intervals and is prone to include errors or uncertainties due to flow characteristics and/or image taking conditions. Methods using spatio-temporal images, called STIV, were developed to overcome the drawbacks of conventional surface image velocimetry. The grayscale-gradient tensor method, one of various STIVs, has shown to be effectively reducing the analysis time and is fairly insusceptible to any measurement noise. It, unfortunately, can only be applied to the main flow direction. This means that it can not measure any two-dimensional flow field, e.g. flow in the vicinity of river structures and flow around river bends. The present study aimed to develop a new method of analyzing spatio-temporal images in two-dimension using cross-correlation analysis. Unlike the conventional STIV, the developed method can be used to measure two-dimensional flow substantially. The method also has very high spatial resolution and reduces the analysis time. A verification test using artificial images with lid-driven cavity flow showed that the maximum error of the method is less than 10 % and the average error is less than 5 %. This means that the developed scheme seems to be fairly accurate, even for two-dimensional flow.

Subjective and Functional Results after a Proximal Gastrectomy: Prospective Study for Comparison of Reconstruction Procedures (근위부 위절제술 후 재건 술식에 따른 경과 관찰)

  • Kim, Ji-Hoon;Yook, Jeong-Hwan;Kim, Byung-Sik;Oh, Sung-Tae
    • Journal of Gastric Cancer
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.1-5
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    • 2006
  • Purpose: A proximal gastrectomy is performed for gastric cancer in the upper part of the stomach to preserve the function of the stomach after surgery. An esophagogastrostomy is one of the common reconstruction methods for a proximal gastrectomy, but this method results in a high incidence of reflux esophagitis. This study was undertaken to compare subjective and functional results between esophagogastrostomy and jejunal interposition reconstructions. Materials and Methods: From June 1998 to December 2002, proximal gastrectomies were performed in 33 patients with tumors in the upper third of the stomach; 8 had reconstruction using jejunal interposition between the esophagus and the remnant stomach (JI group) while 25 had reconstruction using esophagogastrostomy (EG group). The postroperative courses of the patients were reviewed in terms of symptoms, weight changes, and endoscopic findings. Results: The mean age of the patients was 59 years; 26 were men and 7 were women. There were no significant differences in general complications, operating times, or histologic features between the two groups. Fifty-two percent (52%) of the EG group complained of dysphagia, and 16% them experienced heartburn and acid belching. Twelve percent (12%) of the JI group complained of dysphagia, but heartburn and acid belching did not occur. Incidences of reflux esphagitis (36%) and balloon dilatation for anastomotic stricture (16%) were more common in the EG group than in the JI group (0% and 12%). Conclusion: To prevent or minimize complications, such as reflux esophagitis and postoperative symptoms, a proximal gastrectomy with a jejunal interposition is an alternative method as an organ-preserving surgical strategy to improve quality of life for patients. (J Korean Gastric Cancer Assoc 2006;6:1-5)

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Recent Progress in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Research - A Review of papers Published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering in 1998 and 1999 - (공기조화, 냉동 분야의 최근 연구 동향 - 1998년 1999년 학회지 논문에 대한 종합적 고찰 -)

  • 이재헌;김광우;김병주;이재효;김우승;조형희;김민수
    • Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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    • v.12 no.12
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    • pp.1098-1125
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    • 2000
  • A review on the papers published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigerating Engineering in 1998 and 1999 has been done. Focus has been put on current status of research in the aspect of heating, cooling, ventilation, sanitation and building environment. The conclusions are as follows. 1) A review of the recent studies on fluid flow, turbomachinery and pipe-network shows that many experimental investigations are conducted in applications of impingement jets. Researches on turbulent flows, pipe flows, pipe-networks are focused on analyses of practical systems and prediction of system performance. The results of noise reduction in the turbomachinery are also reported. 2) A review of the recent studies on heat transfer analysis and heat exchanger shows that there were many papers on the channel flow with the application to the design of heat exchanger in the heat transfer analysis. Various experimental and numerical papers on heat exchanger were also published, however, there were few papers available for the analysis of whole system including heat exchanger. 3) A review of the recent studies on heat pump system have focused on the multi-type system and the heat pump cycle to utilize treated sewage as the heat source. The defrosting and the frosting behaviors in the fin-tube heat exchanger is experimentally examined by several authors. Several papers on the ice storage cooling system are presented to show the dynamic simulation program and optimal operation conditions. The study on the micro heat pipes for the cooling of high power electronic components is carried out to examine the characteristics of heat and mass transfer processed. In addition to these, new type of separate thermosyphon is studied experimentally. 4) The recent studies on refrigeration/air conditioning system have focused on the system performance and efficiency for new alternative refrigerants. New systems operating with natural refrigerants are drawing lots of attention. In addition to these, evaporation and condensation heat transfer characteristics of traditional and new refrigerants are investigated for plain tubes and also for microfin tubes. Capillary tubes and orifice are main topics of research as expansion devices and studies on thermophysical properties of new refrigerants and refrigerant/oil mixtures are widely carried out. 5) A review of the recent studies on absorption cooling system shows that numerous experimental and analytical studies on the improvement of absorber performance have been presented. Dynamic analysis of compressor have been performed to understand its vibration characteristics. However research works on tow-phase flow and heat transfer, which could be encountered in the refrigeration system and various phase-change heat exchanger, were seemed to be insufficient. 6) A review of recent studies on duct system shows that the methods for circuit analysis, and flow balancing have been presented. Researches on ventilation are focused on the measurement of ventilation efficiency, and variation of ventilation efficiency with ventilation methods by numerous experimental and numerical studies. Furthermore, many studies have been conducted in real building in order to estimate indoor thermal environments. Many research works to get some information for cooling tower design have been performed but are insufficient. 7) A review on the recent studies on architectural thermal environment and building mechanical systems design shows that thermal comfort analysis is sitting environment, thermal performance analysis of Korean traditional building structures., and evaluation of building environmental load have been performed. However research works to improve the performance of mechanical system design and construction technology were seemed to be insufficient.

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The Implementation and limits of Involuntary Detention of the Tuberculosis Prevention Act (결핵예방법의 격리명령의 실행과 한계에 관하여)

  • Kim, Jang Han
    • The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.55-84
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    • 2015
  • The tuberculosis is the infectious disease. Generally, the active tuberculosis patient can infect the 10 persons for one year within the daily activities like casual conversation and singing together. The infectivity of tuberculosis can continue for a life time, and infected persons can remain at risk for developing active tuberculosis. To control this contagious disease, along with the active tuberculosis patients, non-infectious but non-compliant patients who can be infectious if their immune systems become impaired have to be managed. To control the non-complaint patients, medical treatment order should be combined with the public order. Because tuberculosis is the risk of community health, the human rights like liberty and freedom of movement can be restricted for public welfare under the article 37(2) of constitution. Even when such restriction is imposed, no essential aspect of the freedom or right shall be violated. The degree of restriction on the rights of citizens is different what methods are chosen to non-complaint patients. For example, under the directly observed therapy program, the patients and medical staffs make an appointment and meet to confirm the drug intakes according to the schedule, which is the medical treatment combined with the mildest public order. If the patients break the appointments or have the history of disobedient, the involuntary detention can obtain the legitimate cause. The Tuberculosis Prevention Act has the two step programs on this involuntary detention, The admission order (Article 15) is issued when the patients are infectious. The quarantine order (Artle 15-2) is issued when the patients are infectious and non-complaint. The legal criteria for involuntary detention are discussed and published through the international conventions and covenants. For example, World Health Organization had made guidance on human rights and involuntary detention for tuberculosis control. The restrictions should be carried out in accordance with the our law and in the legitimate objective of public interest. And the restriction should be based on scientific evidence and not imposed in an unreasonable or discriminatory manner. We define and adopt these international criteria under our constitution and legal system. Least restrictive alternative principle, proportionality principle and the individual evaluation methods are explained through the reviews of United States court decisions. Habeas Corpus Act is reviewed and adopted as the procedural due process to protect the patient rights as a citizen. Along with that, what conditions and facilities which are needed to performed quarantine order are discussed.

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Comparison of Weekly and Batch Management System for Sows (모돈의 주간관리와 그룹관리 비교)

  • Jang, Young-Dal;Ju, Won-Seok;Long, Hong-Feng;Piao, Long-Guo;Jang, Sung-Kwon;Chung, Chung-Soo;Kim, Yoo-Yong
    • Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.171-182
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    • 2009
  • Conventionally, many pig producers have utilized a continual sow managements system that the matings, farrowings and weanings are done weekly basis. But this transitional method is not able to cut the cycle of diseases and fully apply all-in/all-out system because of the continuous flow of sows and pigs. Conventional weekly management system is currently limiting in small farm to work efficiently both for workers and pigs. Therefore, pig producers have found novel management methods for applying all-in/all-out system, improving pig health, leading to better growth, lowering mortality and reducing medication costs nowadays. Moreover, all-in/all-out pig management system has known as a strategy for improving productivity in swine farm. The batch system is one of the best management methods to adopt all-in/all-out pig management system that prevent spreading diseases in pig and remove cycle of diseases. Batch farrowing system is a concept for providing a group of sows that delivery within a specific farrowing interval and inducing a large enough scale of piglets to fill the weaner facilities. There are different types of batch farrowing system with batch size and interval of farrowing when several factors at the swine farm are considered such as total number of sows, available facilities in the farm, and the efficiency of workforce. Sow managements such as farrowing, weaning and breeding, every 3 weeks rather than weekly, 2 or 5-week interval have advantages for workers and reproductive cycle of sows as well as pig flow. Because there are several pros and cons both in weekly and batch management system, various factors should be considered to apply the most suitable management system in each individual farm. To improve poor swine productivity in Korea compared to ED, batch system for sows will be an alternative choice which is able to prevent high incidence of diseases in swine farm such as PMWS, PRRS, PRDC and PED because all-in/all-out pig management can be also applied automatically by using this management system.

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Antibacterial and Antioxidant Potential of Methanol Extract of Viburnum sargentii Seeds (Viburnum sargentii 종자 메탄올 추출물의 항균 및 항산화 활성에 대한 연구)

  • Patil, Maheshkumar Prakash;Seong, Yeong-Ae;Kang, Min-jae;Singh, Alka Ashok;Niyonizigiye, Irvine;Kim, Gun-Do;Lee, Jong-Kyu
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.29 no.6
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    • pp.671-678
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    • 2019
  • Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of plant sources have attracted a wide range of interest across the world over the last decade. This is due to the growing concern for safe and alternative sources of antibacterial and antioxidant agents. In this study, we focused on the antibacterial and antioxidant activities and the chemical composition of a methanol extract from Viburnum sargentii seeds. The chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), and the antibacterial activity was screened by a disc diffusion assay. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined using the microbroth dilution and spread plate method, respectively. The V. sargentii extract showed growth inhibition activity on all tested Gram-positive (Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida, and Proteus vulgaris) pathogenic bacteria. The MIC and MBC ranged from 0.156~1.25 mg/ml for Gram-positive and 0.625~5.0 mg/ml for Gram-negative tested bacteria. The GC-MS results revealed the presence of several phytochemicals such as ${\beta}-sitosterol$ and vitamin E, which are known for their pharmacological applications. The antioxidant activities of V. sargentii extract were investigated by three different methods: the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging assay, the reducing power assay, and the total antioxidant capacity assay. The results showed a concentration-dependent antioxidant potential for all three used methods. In sum, our findings suggest that the methanol extract of V. sargentii seeds has the potential to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria and provide antioxidant compounds, making it therefore worthy of further investigation.

Comparative Analysis of Detection Methods for Food-borne Pathogens in Fresh-cut Agricultural Materials (신선 농산물내 식중독균 검출 방법의 비교 분석)

  • Jang, Hye-Jeong;Kim, Hye-Jeong;Park, Ji-in;Yu, Sun-Nyoung;Park, Bo-Bae;Ha, Gang-Ja;Ahn, Soon-Cheol;Kim, Dong-Seob
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.10-16
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    • 2021
  • The consumption of fresh-cut agricultural materials is increasing due to increased public interest in health and the increase of single-person households. Most fresh-cut agricultural materials can be eaten without heating, thus easily exposing the consumer to food-borne pathogens. As a result, food-borne diseases are increasing worldwide. In the analysis of food-borne pathogens, it is important to detect the strains, but this is time consuming and laborious. Alternative detection methods that have been introduced, include polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE), which is performed without prior culturing. Samples of fresh-cut agricultural materials, such as vegetables, were analyzed by the culture-based method. In 129 samples, non-pathogenic Escherichia coli (3.9%), Bacillus cereus (31.8%), Clostridium perfringens (5.4%), Yersinia enterocolitica (0.8%), and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (0.8%) were detected. Eight samples contaminated with bacteria were randomly selected, further analyzed by PCR-DGGE, and compared with the culture-based method. Two cases detected non-pathogenic E. coli by PCR-DGGE only, despite a lack of detection by the culture method. It was supposed there was possibility of sample loss during its 10-fold dilution for appropriate cultivation. In the detection of high-risk food-borne pathogens, it was found that the detection limit was lower in PCR-DGGE than in the culture-based method (10 CFU/g). This suggests that PCR-DGGE can be alternatively used to detect strains. On the other hand, low-risk food-borne pathogens seem to have higher detection limits in PCR-DGGE. Consequentially, this study contributes to the improvement of food-borne pathogen detection and the prevention of its related-diseases in fresh-cut agricultural materials.