• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2010

The aims of this study were to investigate the nosocomial infection route of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and explore preventative methods for this pathogen that involve blocking its dispersion. We cultured MRSA from nasal cavity swabs collected between June and July 2008 that we obtained from eight dental healthcare providers, 32 nurses and the sputum specimens of two patients from our hospital. In addition, we used VITEK 2 equipment to measure drug sensitivity, and we further performed biochemical testing and pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to isolate MRSA colonies. The incidence of these bacteria on the nasal swabs was 25.0% from dental clinic healthcare providers, 13.6% from the internal medicine ward nurses and 30.0% from intensive care unit nurses. Moreover, MRSA was detectable in sputum specimens of ward patients. The antimicrobial agents resistance and partial PFGE types of MRSA showed a similar pattern. We suggest from these analyses that nasal cavity infection by MRSA could occur by cross contamination between healthcare providers and patients which underscores the importance of stringent MRSA management practices.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.64-67
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• 2014

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) are a leading cause of a nosocomial infection. While seven glycopeptide resistance genotypes have been found in Enterococci, vanA and vanB are the most common resistance genotypes. Aims of this study were to detect antibiotic susceptibilities of 23 Enterococcus spp, which broke out in a university hospital by the disk diffusion test, to investigate specific genes of vanA and vanB by conventional and real-time PCR. PCR for vanA and vanB was performed on 23 Enterococci, all 23 were positive for vanA type. This study reports the validation of a simple and rapid VRE detection method that can be easily incorporated into the daily routine of a clinical laboratory. Early detection of VRE strains, including those with susceptibility to Vancomycin, is of paramount clinical importance, as it allows a rapid initiation of strict infection control practices as well as a therapeutic guidance for a confirmed infection. The real-time PCR method is a rapid technique to detect vanA in Enterococci. It is simple and reliable for the rapid characterization of VRE.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.364-373
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigate inquiry levels in the laboratory practices of beginning middle school science teachers. For this research eight teachers were chosen among a pool of beginning teachers. Then four finalists were chosen individually by interviews. Topics associated with hands-on activity experiments were provided by the author. In order to analyze teaching-skill development, classroom observations were made under the same topic after one year. The inquiry levels of four novice teachers were confirmation or structured inquiry but the inquiry levels were not out of confirmation or structured inquiry levels when those compared to last year's one. This study contributes to the professional development of teachers and provides various informations for instructional development of beginning teachers.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2013

Outbreaks of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are being reported more frequently in many countries. While seven glycopeptide resistance genotypes have been described in Enterococci, vanA and vanB are the most common resistance genotypes. The aim of this study was to detect antibiotic susceptibilities of 23 Enterococcus faecium strains, which caused an outbreak in a University hospital by a disk diffusion test to investigate the presence of the species specific gene, and the resistant genotypes, vanA and vanB by duplex PCR. PCR for vanA and vanB was performed on 23 enterococci. Twenty three were identified as E. faecium and were tested positive for the vanA genotype. This study will report on the validation of a simple and accurate VRE detection method that can be easily incorporated into the daily routine of a clinical laboratory. Early detection of VRE strains, including those with susceptibility to vancomycin, is of paramount clinical importance as it allows rapid initiation of strict infection control practices, as well as the therapeutic guidance for confirmed infections. The PCR method developed in the present study is simple and reliable for the rapid characterization of VRE.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.381-395
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• 2007

For the purposes of participation in research projects, living in a laboratory has become popular among male university students who tend to have less opportunity for nutrition education and overestimate their own health, suggesting possibilities of many undesirable practices of lifestyle and dietary habits. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate and compare health-related lifestyle practices, dietary habits, nutrition knowledge, food preference and dietary behaviors of the male university students according to residence type. The subjects were 260 (34, 15, 44, and 167, respectively for lab-living, self-boarding, dormitory and commuting) male engineering majors in the Gyeonggi area. Self-administered questionnaires consisted of general characteristics, health-related lifestyle practices, dietary habits, fast food consumption, nutrition knowledge, preference for foods and tastes, and self-examination of dietary behaviors. Lab-living subjects showed many undesirable practices, particularly with more smokers (p < 0.05), irregular eating (p < 0.01), overeating (p < 0.05) and skipping breakfast (p < 0.01), compared to the dormitory students and more time in computer/TV usage (p < 0.05), overeating (p < 0.05), more frequent use of fast-food (p < 0.05), less nutrition knowledge (p < 0.01) and less intake of milk/dairy products (p < 0.01) and fruits (p < 0.01), compared to commuting subjects. More smokers (p < 0.05) and irregular (p < 0.01) and unrelaxed meal times (p < 0.05), compared to the dormitory group, and less intake of fruits (p < 0.01) and dietary fiber (p < 0.01), compared to the commuting group were shown as undesirable practices of the self-boarding group. Therefore, continuous effort should be made to correct undesirable health- and diet-related practices found in this study in order to improve nutritional status as well as general health by developing a nutrition education program and contents of lectures focusing on more specific problems according to each subgroup such as lab-living and self-boarding male university students.

• Journal of Environmental Analysis, Health and Toxicology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.229-236
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• 2018

In this study, inter-laboratory comparison was done using elemental analyzer-isotope ratio mass spectrometers (EA-IRMSs) to determine carbon and nitrogen contents as well as stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions (${\delta}^{13}C$ and ${\delta}^{15}N$) of five environmental samples containing lake and marine sediments, higher plant leaves, and fish muscle, and one organic analytical standard (Protein (Casein) Standard OAS). Five national laboratories participated in this comparison study, and each laboratory analyzed all five samples and the analytical standard. Results showed that variations in total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents as well as ${\delta}^{13}C_{TOC}$ and ${\delta}^{15}N_{TN}$ values among the laboratories were large compared to the analytical uncertainties. The results highlighted the inhomogeneity of the test samples and thus, the need to select suitable standard reference materials for future inter-laboratory studies. Further inter-laboratory comparison exercises could promote good measurement practices in the acquisition of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition data.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.103-110
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• 2024

Purpose: This study investigated the microbial status of beverages and desserts containing strawberries sold at coffee outlets in Busan, South Korea. The study sought to identify differencesin types of foodservice management and microbial status of beverages and desserts. Research design and methodology: This study compared microbial status between franchised and single-unit outlets via microbial laboratory tests. In addition, impact of risk factors on microbial status were investigated. We analyzed the data using independent t-tests and chi-square tests. In order to measure the impact of risk factors on microbial status, multiple regression was run. We expected franchised outlets to be more likely to apply food safety practices than single-unit outlets. The principal results: Results of microbial testing showed that franchised outlets had a higher microbial status than single-unit outlets. The results showed that franchise outlets were more inclined to adhere to food safety practices than single-unit outlets when it comes to total number of bacteria however for coliform group results showed otherwise. Major conclusions: These study results suggest that a standard food safety and sanitation manual for coffee outlets is needed, especially for single-unit coffee outlets. The current inspection items should be revised accordingly to ensure customer safety.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.170-179
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• 2013

There is a correct way to avoid any sequale in the central motor area during neurosurgery procedures. A clear way to find the circumference of the central sulcus, central motor, and sensory areas by giving cortical electrical stimulation to the central motor area immediate after surgery is proposed. Looking at patients who underwent brain surgery September 2009 to July 2013, the central sulcus and speech areas around the central area of the brain was investigated, using the practices of either a localized brain map check or a direct cortical electrical stimulation test. Brain maps localized around the surgical site through functional movement or speech areas were identified. Accurate tests done during surgery without damage to motor neurons or after surgery were conducted smoothly. Although successful brain map test localization can be accomplished, there are some factors that can interfere. The following phenomena can reverse the phase: (1) the first sensory / motor in the case of patients severe nerve damage; (2) placement of the electrode on top of the vessel; (3) presence of a brain tumor near the brain cortex; (4) use of anesthesia if patient cooperation is difficult; and (5) location of the electrode position and stimulus is inappropriate.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.4_spc
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• pp.742-754
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• 2024

Asia is not only the primary region for global pig production but also the largest consumer of pork worldwide. Although the pig production in Asia has made great progress in the past, it still is confronted with numerous challenges. These challenges include: inadequate land and feed resources, a substantial number of small-scale pig farms, escalating pressure to ensure environmental conservation, control of devastating infectious diseases, as well as coping with high temperatures and high humidity. To solve these problems, important investments of human and financial capital are required to promote large-scale production systems, exploit alternative feed resources, implement precision feeding, and focus on preventive medicine and vaccines as alternatives to antibiotics, improve pig breeding, and increase manure recycling. Implementation of these techniques and management practices will facilitate development of more environmentally-friendly and economically sustainable pig production systems in Asia, ultimately providing consumers with healthy pork products around the world.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.6
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• pp.699-712
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• 2019

The reinforced concrete lining of hydraulic pressure tunnels tends to crack under high inner water pressure (IWP), which results in the inner water exosmosis along cracks and involves typical hydro-mechanical interaction. This study aims at the development, validation and application of an indirect-coupled method to simulate the lining cracking process. Based on the concrete damage plasticity (CDP) model, the utility routine GETVRM and the user subroutine USDFLD in the finite element code ABAQUS is employed to calculate and adjust the secondary hydraulic conductivity according to the material damage and the plastic volume strain. The friction-contact method (FCM) is introduced to track the lining-rock interface behavior. Compared with the traditional node-shared method (NSM) model, the FCM model is more feasible to simulate the lining cracking process. The number of cracks and the reinforcement stress can be significantly reduced, which matches well with the observed results in engineering practices. Moreover, the damage evolution of reinforced concrete lining can be effectively slowed down. This numerical method provides an insight into the cracking process of reinforced concrete lining in hydraulic pressure tunnels.