• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.106-112
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• 2006

In this study, the genetic diversities of multi-resistant Salmonella typhimurium (ST) isolates were analyzed via the application of both pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis methods, using 6 kinds of primers (REP, ERIC, SERE, BOX, P-1254 and OPB-17). And their discriminative abilities (DA) were also compared in order to determine the most effective and reliable analysis method. 118 S. typhimurium isolates, cultured from diverse animals and human patients in Korea beginning in 1993, were analyzed and subjected to a comparison of Simpson's index of diversity (SID), using both PFGE and PCR methods. PFGE by XbaI enzyme digestion allowed for discrimination into 9 pulsotypes, with high SID values (0.991) on the genomic DNA level. This shows that PFGE is a very discriminative genotypic tool, and also that multiple clones of S. typhimurium isolates had existed in domestic animals and humans in Korea since 1993. However, we could ultimately not to trace the definitive sources or animal reservoirs of specific S. typhimurium isolates examined in this study. Depending on the SID values, the combined method (7 kinds of method) was found to be the most discriminative method, followed by (in order) SERE-PCR, REP-PCR, ERIC-PCR, PFGE & OPB-17 (RAPD), P-1254 (RAPD), and BOX-PCR at the $80\%$ clone cut-off value. This finding suggests that the REP-PCR method (which utilizes 4 primer types) may be an alternative tool to PFGE for the genotyping of S. typhimurium isolates, with comparable cost, time, and labor requirement. The establishment of a highly reliable and discriminatory method for epidemiologic analysis is considered necessary in order for researchers to trace the sources of specific pathogens and, consequently, to control and prevent the spread of epidemic S. typhimurium isolates to humans.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3851-3855
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• 2012

Introduction: The worldwide incidence of breast cancer has increased rapidly in recent years. The scenario of Eastern India is also showing the same trend. It is necessary to study the utility of HER-2/neu as a prognostic factor in breast cancer survival. However, there have not been detailed studies in this respect with the breast cancer patients of Eastern India. Thus this study was conducted. Materials and Methods: In this hospital-based study 86 breast cancer patients attending a breast clinic of a reputed institute of Eastern India and having invasive ductal carcinomas were observed for a period of 5 years after surgery. Associations between 5 years observed survival and status of ER, PR and HER-2/neu of the patients were critically evaluated. Results: There was statistically significant association between survival pattern for 5 years and the HER-2/neu status (p=0.00001). Better survival was observed for the patients with HER-2/neu negative tumors 67(100%) compared to HER-2/neu positive tumors 7(36.8%). Conclusions: There is strong interaction between survival and HER-2/neu expression of breast cancer patients. Thus the patients with HER-2/neu positive tumors need to be treated aggressively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.137-147
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• 2013

Most of livestock houses are concentrated in certain area with mass rearing system resulting in rapid spread of infectious diseases such as HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza). The livestock-related vehicles which frequently travel between farms could be a major factor for disease spread by means of transmission of airborne aerosol including pathogens. This study was focused on the quantitative measurement of aerosol concentration by field experiment while vehicles were passing through the road. The TSP (total suspended particle) and PM10 (particle matter) were measured using air sampler with teflon filter installed downward the road with consideration of weather forecast and the direction of road. And aerosol spectrometer and video recorders were also used to measure the real-time distribution of aerosol concentration by its size. The results showed that PM2.5 was not considerable for transmission of airborne aerosol from the livestock-related vehicle. The mass generated from the road during the vehicle movement was measured and calculated to 241.4 ${\mu}g/m^3$ by means of the difference between TSP and PM2.5. The dispersion distance was predicted by 79.6 m from the trend curve.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.148-151
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• 2003

Waterborne parasite infections are considered a reemerging threat. Most studies on the epidemiology of human cryptosporidiosis, giardiasis, and amebiasis have been carried out in developed countries, and there is little data on the occurrence of these infections in other areas. The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of waterborne parasites such as Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica in various water samples in Ankara, turkey. A total of 85 samples were examined, 43 from the municipal water supply, 34 from wells, 6 from the Ankara River, and 2 from two untreated dams; by conventional microscopy, immunologically and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Oocysts of C. parvum and cysts of G. lamblia were detected by using an indirect fluorescence (antigen) assay, whereas an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the cysts of E. histolytica and E. dispar. In addition, PCR was used for E. histolytica, E. dispar, C. parvum and G. lamblia detection. G. lamblia was found in 2 of the 34 well water samples, and parasites were found in 3 of the 6 Ankara River samples. The 1$\^$st/ contained E. histolytica cysts and Strongyloides stercoralis larvae. the 2$\^$nd/ E. histolytica cysts, and Trichuris trichiura eggs, and the 3$\^$rd/ C. parvum oocysts only. No parasite was observed in the municipal water samples and untreated dam water samples. These results extend our knowledge on waterborne parasites, such occurrence information on waterborne pathogens assists the management and treatment of municipal water.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.199-201
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• 2008

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular zoonotic protozoan with a worldwide distribution. It infects humans as well as a broad spectrum of vertebrate hosts. Cats and wild felidae play crucial roles in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. This study was performed to survey the prevalence of T. gondii infection among stray cats in the Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. A total of 174 stray cat blood samples were collected from Gwacheon-si (n = 20), Bucheon-si (82), and Yangju-si (72). Positive sera for T. gondii were identified in 14 samples (8.1%) exclusively via the latex agglutination test, 28 (16.1%) via ELISA, and 23 (13.2%) via PCR analysis. The overall infection rate of female stray cats (29.2%) presented as higher than that of male cats (24.0%). This study suggests that T. gondii is widespread in the stray cat population of Gyeonggi-do, Korea. It is urgently needed to control urban stray cat population and to reduce the risk of zoonotic transmission of toxoplasmosis to other animal hosts and humans.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.589-596
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• 2018

Ticks are the vectors of various pathogens, threatening human health and animal production across the globe. Here, for the first time we detected Ricketssia spp., Borrelia spp. and protozoan in ticks from Poyang Lake region in Jiangxi Province of eastern China. In 3 habitat categories and on 12 host species, 311 ticks from 11 species were collected. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species, accounting for 55.63%, followed by Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis flava and Ixodes granulatus. Of the collected ticks, 7.07% were positive for tick-borne pathogens, and H. longicornis and H. flava were found to be co-infected with Ricketssia spp. and protozoan. H. flava was the most detected positive for tick-borne pathogens, whereas H. longicornis had the lowest infection rate, and the difference in infection rates between tick species was significant (${\chi}^2=61.24$, P<0.001). Furthermore, adult ticks demonstrated remarkably greater infection rate than immature ticks (${\chi}^2=10.12$, P=0.018), meanwhile ticks on Erinaceidae showed significantly higher positivity than ticks collected on other host species (${\chi}^2=108.44$, P<0.001). Genetic fragment sequencing and analyses showed at least 4 pathogen species presence in ticks, namely Borrelia yangtzensis, Rickettsia slovaca or Rickettsia raoultii related genospecies, Babesia vogeli and Hepatozoon canis or Hepatozoon felis related genospecies. The finding indicates that the abundant ticks can carry diverse pathogens in Poyang Lake region, and pathogen infection is highly related to species, vertebrate hosts and life stages of ticks.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.464-472
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• 2012

To assess the space-time clustering of FMD(Foot-and-Mouth Disease) epidemic occurred in Korea between November 2010 to April 2011, geographical information system (GIS)-based spatial analysis technique was used. Farm address and geographic data obtained from a commercial portal site were integrated into GIS software, which we used to map out the color-shading geographic features of the outbreaks through a process called thematic mapping, and to produce a visual representation of the relationship between epidemic course and time throughout the country. FMD cases reported in northern area of Gyounggi province were clustered in space and time within small geographic areas due to the environmental characteristics which livestock population density is high enough to ease transmit FMD virus to the neighboring farm, whereas FMD cases were clustered in space but not in time for southern and eastern area of Gyounggi province. When analyzing the data for 7-day interval, the mean radius of the spatial-time clustering was 25km with minimum 5.4km and maximum 74km. In addition, the radius of clustering was relatively small in the early stage of FMD epidemic, but the size was geographically expanded over the epidemic course. Prior to implementing control measures during the outbreak period, assessment of geographic units potentially affected and identification of risky areas which are subsequently be targeted for specific intervention measures is recommended.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.45-59
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• 2000

The present study was conducted to investigate the epidemiological properties of salmonellosis of poultry farms in Kyongbuk province during the relied from November 1998 to November 1999 And antibiotic susceptibility and biochemical characteristics of 120 Salmonella cultures isolated from chicken samples were also investigated. The results obtained through this study were summarized as follows, 1. Among 667,200 chickens of 31 flocks in 17 layer farms and 9 broiler farms, 61,350 chickens of 31 flocks were died with salmonellosis. The death rate of 25 farms varied from 0.1% to 75.0%, and the average death rate was 9.2%. 2. According to etiological agents, fowl typhoid was shown the most predominant outbreak among the salmonellosis during a year, which accounted for 8R.0%(22/25) of the total case 3. The serotypes of 120 Salmonella isolates were identified as 7 strains(5.8%) of S pullorum, 10 strains(8.4%) of S typhimurium and 103 strains(85.8%) of S gallinarum. 4. Most outbreak of fowl typhoid were prevalent on the layer chicken farms(77.1%), and the summer season(45.5%) also appeared the most hazardous season during the year. 5. It seemed that the Hyline breed(70.6%) was the most susceptible among the layer chicken breeds, and followed by Isabrown(23.5%), Tetra(5.9%) in order. 6. In layers, 76.4% of fowl typhoid occurred commonly from 14 to 40 weeks including the early laying peroid, but in broiler farms, all cases was outbreak within first second weeks. 7 All the strains of S pullorum were resistant to lincomycin(Lm), penicillin(Pm), and steptomycin(Sm), but sensitive to amikacin(Ak), ampicillin(Am), cephalothin(Ce), ciprofloxacin (CiP), chloramphenicol(Cm), colistin(Co), enrofloxacin(Enr), furazolidone(Fu), gentamicin(Gm), kanamycin(Km), neomycin(Nm), polymyxin(Po), and teracycline(Tc). All the strains of S typhimurium were resistant to Lm(100%), Pm(100%), Po(90%), and Sm(90%), but were sensitive to Ak, Am, Ce, CiP, Cm, Co, Enr, Fu, Gm, Km, Nm, and Tc. 8. Minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC) of 103 strains of S gallinarum were also evaluated and their patterns were much more variable than others. All the strains of S gallinarum were sensitive to Ak, Am, Ce, Cip, Cm, Enr, Fu, Km, and Nm, but resistant to Lm(100%), and Sm(100%), 99(96.1%) to Co, 83(80.6%) to Pm, and 83(80.6%) to Po, 55(53.4%) to Gm, and 33(32.0%) to Tc. 9. The multiple drug resistance patterns of 120 Salmonella strains were CoLmPmPo Sm pattern(34.2%), CoGmLmPmPoSmTc(20.8%), CoGmLmPmPoSm(13.3%), CoGmLmSm(7.5%), LmPmSm(7.5%), LmPm(6.7%), CoLmSmTc(3.3%),, CoGmLmSmTc(1.7%), GmLmSmTc(1.7%), CoGmLmPoSm(0.1%), LmPmPo(0.1%), CoLm Sm(0.1%), and LmSm(0.1%), in order.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.157-165
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• 2001

Amplified fragment length polymorphism(AFLP) technique is based on the polymorphism detection through selective PCR amplification of restriction fragments from digested genomic DNA and thus includes the procedures of the total DNA digestion by endonucleases, ligation of adapters to the ends of the fragments, and following the selective amplification of the restricted DNA fragments. This study were aimed to : (1) determine the genetic variability of S aureus strains, (2) estimate genetic diversity within and among these strains, (3) compare phylogenetic relationships among these strains as genetic markers using AFLP techniques. Genomic DNA was digested with a particular combination of three restriction enzymes with specific recognition sites and the DNA fragments were ligated to restriction specific adapters and amplified using the selective primer combinations. In the S aureus strain, the number of scorable AFLP bands detected per each primer combination varied from 29 to 102, with an average of 61.59 using 27 primer combinations. A total of 1,663 markers were generated, 904 bands of which were polymorphic, showing a 33.48% level of polymorphism with these primer combinations. Among the primer combinations, E02/T02, E02/T03, E04/H02, E02/T01 and E04/H03 primer combinations showed a high level of polymorphism with 0.78, 0.76, 0.74, 0.71 and 0.70, respectively. But T03/H01, E01/T02 and E01/T03 primer combinations showed a low level of polymorphism with 0.38, 0.37 and 0.15, respectively, Therefore, the former primer combinations will be the most effective for AFLP analysis of S aureus. In SA1 sub-types the level of polymorphism of S aureus KCTC 1927 was similar to that of S aureus CU 01(0.825) and higher than those of other strains such as S aureus CU 02 (0.715), S aureus KCTC 2199(0.625), S aureus KCTC 1916(0.607) and S aureus KCTC 1621 (0.553). In SA2 sub-types the level of polymorphism of S aureus CU 07 was similar to that of S aureus CU 08(0.935) and higher than those of both S aureus CU 04(0.883) and S aureus CU 05(0.883) and lower than those of S aureus CU 03(0.583). In SA3 subtypes the level of polymorphism of S aureus CU 11 was similar to that of S aureus CU 12(0.913) and lower than that of S aureus CU 15(0.623). The results proved that AFLP marker analysis of S aureus strain could be used to study the epidemiology of mastitis and in addition, common genotype in geographic region could be useful for the development of an effective vaccine or DNA marker for easy diagnosis of mastitis caused by S aureus infection.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.89-101
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• 2015

Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza(HPAI) subtype H5N8 have occurred in Korea, January 2014 and it continued more than a year until 2015. And more than 5 million heads of poultry hads been damaged in 196 farms until May 2014. So, we studied the spatial, temporal and spatio-temporal patterns of the HPAI epidemics for understanding the propagation and diffusion characteristics of the 2014 HPAI. The results are expressed using GIS. Throughout the study period three epidemic waves occurred over the time. And outbreaks made three clusters in space. First spatial cluster is adjacent areas of province of Chungcheongbuk-do, Chungcheongnam-do and Gyeonggi -do. Second is Jeonlabuk-do Gomso Bay area. And the last is Naju and Yeongam in Jeollanam-do. Also, most of spatio-temporal clusters were formed in spatially high clustered areas. Especially, in Gomso Bay area space density and spatio-temporal density were concurrent. It means that the effective prevention activity for HPAI was carried out. But there are some exceptional areas such as Chungcheongbuk-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Gyeonggi-do adjacent area. In these areas the outbreak density was high in space but the spatio-temporal cluster was not formed. It means that the HPAI virus was continuing inflow over a long period.