• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.163-168
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• 2014

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are known to play an important role in the repair of damaged blood vessels. We used an endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming assay (EPC-CFA) to determine whether EPC numbers could be increased in healthy individuals through regular exercise training. The number of functional EPCs obtained from human peripheral blood-derived AC133 stem cells was measured after a 28-day regular exercise training program. The number of total endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming units (EPC-CFU) was significantly increased compared to that in the control group (p=0.02, n=5). In addition, we observed a significant decrease in homocysteine levels followed by an increase in the number of EPC-CFUs (p=0.04, n=5), indicating that the 28-day regular exercise training could increase the number of EPC colonies and decrease homocysteine levels. Moreover, an inverse correlation was observed between small-endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming units (small-EPC-CFUs) and plasma homocysteine levels in healthy men (r=-0.8125, p=0.047). We found that regular exercise training could increase the number of EPC-CFUs and decrease homocysteine levels, thus decreasing the cardiovascular disease risk in men.

• Mycobiology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.191-195
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• 2003

Ethanol treatment method was attempted for the selective isolation of ethanol-tolerant fungi from two sites of rice paddy fields around Seoul area. The vertical and seasonal fluctuation of the fungal population were also investigated. The ethanol-tolerant fungi were Talaromyces stipitatus, T. flavus var. flavus, T. helicus var. major, Eupenicillium javanicum, Emericellopsis terricolor, Pseudourotium zonatum, Aspergillus flavus, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Penicillium frequentans, P. janthinellum, and P. verruculosum. The most dominant species isolated by this method was T. stipitatus. It was found that the numbers of fungal species and colony forming units(CFUs) of ethanol-tolerant fungi were higher in Ascomycota than in Deuteromycota. A particular tendency appeared the highest CFUs in autumn, but lower in spring and winter. T. stipitatus was the dominant species of ethanol tolerant microfungi. This result would suggest that membrane lipid composition of ethanol-tolerant fungi isolated from the soils may play on important role in the ethanol tolerance.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.425-428
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• 2017

Silver nanoparticles have marked antimicrobial effects on several pathogens and have been used to control bacterial growth in humans. In the present study, we evaluated the antimicrobial efficacy of silver nanoparticles against the common causative pathogens of canine otitis external through counting of colony forming units. Silver nanoparticles showed significant dose-dependent antimicrobial effects on pathogens. In addition, we conducted antimicrobial susceptibility tests and compared the antimicrobial efficacy of silver nanoparticles. Microorganisms with a high resistance to antibiotics were also resistant silver nanoparticle with low concentration ($5{\mu}g/mL$). However, in high concentration ($15{\mu}g/mL$), almost 100% reduction in the number of CFUs of these pathogens was observed.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.19 no.spc
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• pp.190-193
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• 2011

Organic and chemical fertilizer amendments are an important agricultural practice for increasing crop yields. In order to maintain the soil sustainability, it is important to monitor the effects of fertilizer applications on the shift of soil microorganism, which control the cycling of many nutrients in the soils. Here, culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches were used to analyze the soil microorganism and community structure under six fertilization treatments, including green manure, rice straw compost, rapeseed cake, pig mature compost, NPK +pig mature compost, NPK and control. Both organic and chemical fertilizers caused a shift of the cultural microorganism CFUs after treatments. Bacterial CFUs of the organic fertilization treatments were significantly higher than that of chemical fertilization treatments. The DGGE profiles of the bacterial communities of the samples showed that the green manure treatment was a distinct difference in bacterial community, with a greater complexity of the band pattern than other treatments. Cluster analyses based on the DGGE profile showed that rice straw compost and pig mature compost had a similar banding pattern and clustered together firstly. Rapeseed cake, NPK, NPK +pig manure compost and control clustered together in other sub-cluster and clearly distinguished from green manure.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.427-439
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• 2021

Objectives: This study aims to investigate differences in microbial contamination according to the duration and environment of mask wearing. Methods: Forty-five participants were recruited from workers in an offices, multi-purpose facilities, and a schools. After wearing of KF94 mask for two. four, and six hours, the microorganisms adsorbed on the outer and inner layers of the mask were inoculated on BAP(Blood Agar Plate), Chocolate agar, and SDA plates. The bacterial count (CFUs: colony-forming units) cultured in each plate was measured and analyzed for changes in filtration efficiency. Results: The microbial contamination of masks worn in classrooms, offices, and multi-purpose facilities showed a significant difference depending on the environment (p<0.000). The measured CFUs increased significantly according to the time wearing the mask. The difference between the inner and outer layers of the mask was also significant (p<0.05). However, there was no statistical difference in the filtration efficiency of the masks by duration time (p=0.515). Conclusions: Masks worn by workers in the offices, multi-purpose facilities, and schools showed an increase of microbial contamination with the amount of time wearing the mask. The results indicate that the masks used in daily life may have adverse health effects if they are worn for a long time or reused over several days without the realizing that the masks can be contaminated with biological hazards. Guidelines on the safe threshold time for mask use should be established through further research.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.216-222
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• 2004

In a previous paper, the ogdH gene that encodes 2-oxoglutarat dehydrogenase was isolated from Salmonella typhimurium. The catalytic N-terminal region in the enzyme was found to be very specific for the Salmonella species. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to detect S. typhimurium in food sources using primers designed for OGDH-l and OGDH-2 which were based on the salmonella-specific region of the ogdH gene. A simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection method was developed to detect low numbers of S. typhimurium in a chicken meat microbial consortium. Using the ogdH-specific primers under stringent amplification conditions and for gene probe analysis, fewer than 100 colony-forming units (CFUs) were detectable when pure cultures were employed. When the PCR assay was run on S. typhimurium-contaminated meat contents, only the positive meat samples containing as few as 200 CFUs reacted to the assay. The method employed for sample processing is simple and it was determined to provide a sensitive means of detecting trace amounts of S. typhimurium-specific sequences in the presence of mixed meat microbial populations. When compared with six representative intestinal gram-negative bacterial strains in foods, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus, Enterobacter cloacae, E. coli O157:H7, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Proteus sp., S. typhimurium had a unique and distinct PCR product (796 bp). In conclusion, the two OGDH primers were found to be rapid and sensitive detectors of Salmonella spp for the PCR method.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.84-87
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• 2010

Effects of gamma irradiation on microbiological changes of Gorosoe sap were characterized during a post-irradiation storage at $4^{\circ}C$. The aseptically collected sap was irradiated and stored at $4^{\circ}C$ for 0 to 60 days and analysed for standard plate counts and 16S rDNA. There were significant differences in the total number of colony forming units(CFUs) of bacteria between irradiated and non-irradiated control sap. Bacteria of non-irradiated sap were present at levels of $1.5{\times}10^4{\sim}2.3{\times}10^8\;CFU/m{\ell}$, whereas no viable microbial cells were detected in sap after 10 kGy of irradiation during storage. According to the 16S rDNA sequence analysis, bacterial community structures decrease with time and the most abundant strain was Pseudomonas species. Our results suggested that gamma irradiation can be used to enhance the shelf-life of Gorosoe sap.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.383-387
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• 2013

In the present study, we determined the antifungal effect of obacunone isolated from Phellodendri Cortex against Candida ablicans, a pathogenic fungus. The antifungal effect was analyzed by an in-vitro susceptibility test and in a murine model of disseminated candidiasis. Possible mechanism of the antifungal activity was also examined. Analyses of data resulting from the susceptibility test revealed that the compound inhibited C. albicans growth. At 25 ${\mu}g$ obacunone/ml, there was app. 45% reduction of CFUs (colony forming units) as compared to obacunone-untreated C. albicans yeast cells (P<0.01). In the murine model of disseminated candidiasis due to C. albicans, obacunone enhanced resistance of mice against disseminated candidiasis. During an entire period of 30-day observation, control animals all died within 14 days, whereas 60% of obacunone-treated mice survived (P<0.05). In addition, obacunone inhibited the hyphal production, a major virulence factor of C. albicans, from the blastoconidial form. Thus, obacunone appears to have antifungal activity for C. albicans infection. This may possibly be mediated by the blockage of hyphal production.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.38-45
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) using erythrosine and a green light emitting diode (LED) light source on biofilms of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans attached to resorbable blasted media (RBM) and sandblasted, large-grit, acid-etched (SLA) titanium surfaces in vitro. Methods: RBM and SLA disks were subdivided into four groups, including one control group and three test groups (referred to as E0, E30, E60), in order to evaluate the effect of PDT on each surface. The E0 group was put into $500{\mu}L$ of $20{\mu}M$ erythrosine for 60 seconds without irradiation, the E30 group was put into erythrosine for 60 seconds and was then irradiated with a LED for 30 seconds, and the E60 group was put into erythrosine for 60 seconds and then irradiated with a LED for 60 seconds. After PDT, sonication was performed in order to detach the bacteria, the plates were incubated under anaerobic conditions on brucella blood agar plates for 72 hours at $37^{\circ}C$, and the number of colony-forming units (CFUs) was determined. Results: Significant differences were found between the control group and the E30 and E60 groups (P<0.05). A significantly lower quantity of CFU/mL was found in the E30 and E60 groups on both titanium disk surfaces. In confocal scanning laser microscopy images, increased bacterial death was observed when disks were irradiated for a longer period of time. Conclusions: These findings suggest that PDT using erythrosine and a green LED is effective in reducing the viability of A. actinomycetemcomitans attached to surface-modified titanium in vitro.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.492-496
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• 2009

The composition of the bacterial populations in Gorosoe(Acer mono Max.) sap was characterized during storage with different heat treatments($63^{\circ}C$ for 30 min and $73^{\circ}C$ for 15 sec). The saps were aseptically collected at 0, 15 and 30 days of storage and analyzed by dilution plating and 16S rDNA PCR-DGGE analysis. There were significant differences in the total number of colony forming units(CFUs) of bacteria between heated and nonheated saps. Bacteria of nonheated sap were present at a level of $3.4{\times}10^7CFU/m{\ell}^{-1}$, whereas living bacteria were not detected in the heated sap. According to the 16S rDNA sequence and DGGE analysis, Pseudomonas sp. was the most abundant bacterial strain in the samlpes, and the bacterial community structures become more simplified with time and were composed of the Chryseobacterium sp. with time. These results allowed us to characterize the dominant bacteria involved in Gorosoe sap and to better understand their dynamics throughout storage.