Trends of fear and anger on YouTube during the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most widespread and threatening health crisis experienced by the Korean society. Faced with an unprecedented threat to survival, society has been gripped by social fear and anger, questioning the culpability of this pandemic. This study explored the correlation between social cognitions and negative emotions and their changes in response to the severe events stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. METHODS: The analysis was based on a cognitive-emotional model that links fear and anger to the social causes that trigger them and used discursive content from comments posted on YouTube's COVID-19-related videos. A total of 182,915 comments from 1,200 videos were collected between January and December 2020. We performed data analyses and visualizations using R, Netminer 4.0, and Gephi software and calculated Pearson's correlation coefficients between emotions. RESULTS: YouTube videos were analyzed for keywords indicating cognitive assessments of major events related to COVID-19 and keywords indicating negative emotions. Eight topics were identified through topic modeling: causes and risks, perceptions of China, media and information, infection prevention rules, economic activity, school and infection, political leaders, and religion, politics, and infection. The correlation coefficient between fear and anger was 0.462 (p < .001), indicating a moderate linear relationship between the two emotions. Fear was the highest from January to March in the first year of the COVID-19 outbreak, while anger occurred before and after the outbreak, with fluctuations in both emotions during this period. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that social cognitions and negative emotions are intertwined in response to major events related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with each emotion varying individually rather than being ambiguously mixed. These findings could aid in developing social cognition-emotion-based public health strategies through education and communication during future pandemic outbreaks.

Postmortem-Derived Exosomal MicroRNA 486-5p as Potential Biomarkers for Ischemic Heart Disease Diagnosis.

Exosomes are nanovesicles 30-150 nm in diameter released extracellularly. Those isolated from human body fluids reflect the characteristics of their cells or tissues of origin. Exosomes carry extensive biological information from their parent cells and have significant potential as biomarkers for disease diagnosis and prognosis. However, there are limited studies utilizing exosomes in postmortem diagnostics. In this study, we extended our initial research which identified the presence and established detection methodologies for exosomes in postmortem fluids. We analyzed exosomal miRNA extracted from plasma and pericardial fluid samples of a control group (n = 13) and subjects with acute myocardial infarction (AMI; n = 24). We employed next-generation sequencing (NGS) to investigate whether this miRNA could serve as biomarkers for coronary atherosclerosis leading to acute myocardial infarction. Our analysis revealed 29 miRNAs that were differentially expressed in the AMI group compared to the control group. Among these, five miRNAs exhibited more than a twofold increase in expression across all samples from the AMI group. Specifically, miR-486-5p levels were significantly elevated in patients with high-grade (type VI or above) atherosclerotic plaques, as per the American Heart Association criteria, highlighting its potential as a predictive biomarker for coronary atherosclerosis progression. Our results indicate that postmortem-derived exosomal microRNAs can serve as potential biomarkers for various human diseases, including cardiovascular disorders. This finding has profound implications for forensic diagnostics, a field critically lacking diagnostic markers.

Anticancer Activity of Astaxanthin-Incorporated Chitosan Nanoparticles.

Astaxanthin (AST)-encapsulated nanoparticles were fabricated using glycol chitosan (Chito) through electrostatic interaction (abbreviated as ChitoAST) to solve the aqueous solubility of astaxanthin and improve its biological activity. AST was dissolved in organic solvents and then mixed with chitosan solution, followed by a dialysis procedure. All formulations of ChitoAST nanoparticles showed small diameters (less than 400 nm) with monomodal distributions. Analysis with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy confirmed the specific peaks of AST and Chito. Furthermore, ChitoAST nanoparticles were formed through electrostatic interactions between Chito and AST. In addition, ChitoAST nanoparticles showed superior antioxidant activity, as good as AST itself; the half maximal radical scavenging concentrations (RC50) of AST and ChitoAST nanoparticles were 11.8 and 29.3 µg/mL, respectively. In vitro, AST and ChitoAST nanoparticles at 10 and 20 µg/mL properly inhibited the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROSs), nitric oxide (NO), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). ChitoAST nanoparticles had no significant cytotoxicity against RAW264.7 cells or B16F10 melanoma cells, whereas AST and ChitoAST nanoparticles inhibited the growth of cancer cells. Furthermore, AST itself and ChitoAST nanoparticles (20 µg/mL) efficiently inhibited the migration of cancer cells in a wound healing assay. An in vivo study using mice and a pulmonary metastasis model showed that ChitoAST nanoparticles were efficiently delivered to a lung with B16F10 cell metastasis; i.e., fluorescence intensity in the lung was significantly higher than in other organs. We suggest that ChitoAST nanoparticles are promising candidates for antioxidative and anticancer therapies of B16F10 cells.

The mediating effect of workplace incivility on organization culture in South Korea: A descriptive correlational analysis of the turnover intention of nurses.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to understand the mediating effect of workplace incivility on the relationship between nursing organizational culture and turnover intention among nurses. DESIGN: A descriptive survey was used to collect data. The participants were 170 nurses with more than six months of clinical experience at university hospitals or hospitals with over 500 beds in South Korea. METHODS: Data were collected using self-report questionnaires. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffé test, and Pearson's correlation. Baron and Kenny's three-step hierarchical regression analysis and the Sobel test were used to determine the mediating effect of workplace incivility on the relationship between nursing organizational culture and nurses' turnover intention. RESULTS: This study found a full mediating effect of workplace incivility on the association between relationship-oriented culture and turnover intention (Z = -3.02, p = 0.003) and a partial mediating effect of workplace incivility on the association between hierarchy-oriented culture and turnover intention (Z = 2.36, p = 0.018). CONCLUSION: This study empirically confirmed that nursing organizational culture and workplace incivility directly or indirectly influenced turnover intention, which highlights the seriousness of workplace incivility. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study suggests that there is a need to establish a concrete strategy to avoid a hierarchy-oriented culture and create a relationship-oriented culture. It is important to develop a variety of intervention programs to reduce workplace incivility in order to prevent nurses' turnover.

Effects of job embeddedness and nursing working environment on turnover intention among trauma centre nurses: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: To investigate the effects of job embeddedness and nursing working environment on trauma centre nurses' turnover intention. BACKGROUND: Trauma centre nurses have higher average turnover intention than hospital nurses. However, factors that increase the turnover intention of trauma centre nurses remain unexplored. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from August to October 2019, with 120 trauma centre nurses working at three trauma centres in B, D and U cities using measures of demographic characteristics, job embeddedness, nursing working environment and turnover intention. RESULTS: The mean turnover intention score was 3.60/5 points. There were significant correlations among turnover intention and fit, sacrifice, foundation for quality nursing, ability and leadership of nursing managers, cooperation of nurses and doctors, nurse participation in hospital management and sufficient manpower and material support. Turnover intention was predicted by nurse participation in hospital management, gender, clinical experience and fit, which explained 54%. CONCLUSIONS: Factors that influence nurses' turnover intention at trauma centres were gender, clinical experience, job fit and, especially, nurses' participation in hospital management, which had the most effect on the nursing working environment. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: To expand participation of trauma centre nurses, hospital management systems and organisational culture need improvement.

Text network analysis of research topics and trends on global health nursing literature from 1974 -2017.

AIMS: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between keywords in existing global health nursing studies during 44 years (1974-2017) and to develop schematic diagrams of the relationship between these keywords from a macro perspective. It is to identify the trend of the literature in global health nursing field. DESIGN: A descriptive bibliometric analysis of publications in global health nursing. METHODS: The keywords from 7,115 articles and literatures were examined using the Text Rank Analyzer via the applied text network analysis with NetMiner 4.0. RESULTS: As for global health nursing, keywords with the most frequent appearance and the highest networking degree in centrality were 'study', 'patient', 'nurse', and 'women'. Six central keywords were also found highly related to other keywords: 'global health nursing', 'study', 'patient', 'care', 'nurse', and 'education'. By measuring the degree of keywords connected to other keywords in centrality, six clusters were established. Then, emerging topics assessed by time periods were identified as follows: the beginning phase ('breastfeeding', 'women', and 'children'), the development phase ('quality', 'life', and 'human immunodeficiency virus'), the maturation phase ('mental health', 'depression', and 'global health'), and the expansion phase ('pregnancy', 'palliative care', and 'infectious disease'). CONCLUSION: The identified trends on this study will help nurse leaders to grasp the trends and insights for global health and to train future nurses to serve clients better in the practice fields. IMPACT: Keywords with the highest appearance and centrality in the network were found in the global health articles. The bibliometric analysis showed various subjects according to the following phases: beginning development maturation and expansion. The awareness of the trend change in the global health helps nursing researchers and educators modify the curriculum of global health nursing and train future nurses to be equipped with the global health competencies.

Intergenic recombination in feline calicivirus associated with a hemorrhagic-like disease in the Republic of Korea.

Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a common cause of upper respiratory tract disease in cats. In this study, the complete genome sequence of FCV 14Q315, which was detected from a dead domestic cat with a hemorrhagic-like disease, was analyzed to identify the genetic characteristics. The FCV 14Q315 genome was 7,684 bp. Phylogenetic analyses based on the ORF1, ORF2, and ORF3 sequences indicated that FCV 14Q315 is more closely related to FCV 15D022 than to other FCV strains. ORF1 of FCV 14Q315 shared high sequence similarity with ORF1 of FCVs 15D022 and UTCVM-H1. We further evaluated genetic recombination in ORF1 of FCV 14Q315 and detected intergenic recombination between p30 and the ORF1/ORF2 junction with high significance. Particularly, the non-recombination region in ORF1 of FCV 14Q315 showed high sequence similarity with FCVs GX2019, CH-JL2, and 15D022. The recombination region in ORF1 of FCV 14Q315 showed the highest similarity with FCV UTCVM-H1, which is associated with a hemorrhagic-like disease. The results suggest that the UTCVM-H1-like FCV was introduced into the Republic of Korea and presumably recombined with Korean FCVs by occasional mixed infections. In addition, the Korean FCV strains were located in several phylogenetic clusters with marked genetic diversity in the ORF2 region. These results imply that Korean FCVs possess high genetic diversity owing to mutations and recombination. Furthermore, it is possible that certain FCVs caused cyclical infections in the Korean cat population based on a phylogenetic analysis of FCVs isolated at different time points. Keywords: calicivirus; virulent systemic feline calicivirus; recombination; hemorrhagic-like disease.

Effects of the e-Motivate4Change Program on Metabolic Syndrome in Young Adults Using Health Apps and Wearable Devices: Quasi-Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND: The health behaviors of young adults lag behind those of other age groups, and active health management is needed to improve health behaviors and prevent chronic diseases. In addition, developing good lifestyle habits earlier in life could reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) later on. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the e-Motivate4Change program, for which health apps and wearable devices were selected based on user needs. The program was developed for the prevention and management of MetS in young adults. METHODS: This experimental study used a nonequivalent control group. In total, 59 students from 2 universities in Daegu, Korea participated in the study (experimental group n=30; control group n=29). Data were collected over 4 months, from June 1 to September 30, 2018. The experimental group received a 12-week e-Motivate4Change program intervention, and the control group received MetS education and booklets without the e-Motivate4Change program intervention. RESULTS: After the program, the experimental group had significantly higher scores for health-related lifestyle (t=3.86; P<.001) and self-efficacy (t=6.00; P<.001) than did the control group. Concerning BMI, there were significant effects by group (F=1.01; P<.001) and for the group × time interaction (F=4.71; P=.034). Concerning cholesterol, there were significant main effects for group (F=4.32; P=.042) and time (F=9.73; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The e-Motivate4Change program effectively improved participants' health-related lifestyle scores and self-efficacy, and significantly reduced their BMI and cholesterol levels. The program can be used to identify and prevent MetS among young adults.

African Swine Fever Virus in Pork Brought into South Korea by Travelers from China, August 2018.

We tested samples of pork products confiscated from travelers to South Korea for African swine fever virus (ASFV). We detected ASFV in 4 food items confiscated from travelers from Shenyang, China, in August 2018. Surveillance of pork products at country entry points is needed to mitigate the risk for ASFV introduction.

Complete genome analysis of a SARS-like bat coronavirus identified in the Republic of Korea.

Bats have been widely known as natural reservoir hosts of zoonotic diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) caused by coronaviruses (CoVs). In the present study, we investigated the whole genomic sequence of a SARS-like bat CoV (16BO133) and found it to be 29,075 nt in length with a 40.9% G+C content. Phylogenetic analysis using amino acid sequences of the ORF 1ab and the spike gene showed that the bat coronavirus strain 16BO133 was grouped with the Beta-CoV lineage B and was closely related to the JTMC15 strain isolated from Rhinolophus ferrumequinum in China. However, 16BO133 was distinctly located in the phylogenetic topology of the human SARS CoV strain (Tor2). Interestingly, 16BO133 showed complete elimination of ORF8 regions induced by a frame shift of the stop codon in ORF7b. The lowest amino acid identity of 16BO133 was identified at the spike region among various ORFs. The spike region of 16BO133 showed 84.7% and 75.2% amino acid identity with Rf1 (SARS-like bat CoV) and Tor2 (human SARS CoV), respectively. In addition, the S gene of 16BO133 was found to contain the amino acid substitution of two critical residues (N479S and T487 V) associated with human infection. In conclusion, we firstly carried out whole genome characterization of the SARS-like bat coronavirus discovered in the Republic of Korea; however, it presumably has no human infectivity. However, continuous surveillance and genomic characterization of coronaviruses from bats are necessary due to potential risks of human infection induced by genetic mutation.

Changes in Clinical and Legal Autopsy Rates in Korea from 2001 to 2015.

BACKGROUND: The autopsy is the medical examination of a deceased person that mainly provides information on the cause and manner of death. Two types are conducted in Korea: clinical and legal, depending on its purpose. Despite this procedure's importance, autopsy rates have been decreasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the nationwide autopsy rate in Korea and compare it with that in other countries. METHODS: We collected data of autopsies performed between 2001 and 2015 by searching previously published literature on autopsy statistics and by requesting data from the relevant institutions. We calculated the autopsy rate by using mortality data from Statistics Korea; furthermore, we investigated the type of autopsy performed by institution as well as by geographical region. RESULTS: The total autopsy rate in Korea increased from 2.16% in 2001 to 2.60% in 2015. In terms of autopsy types, however, clinical autopsy rates decreased from 0.17% in 2001 to 0.03% in 2015, while legal autopsy rates increased from 1.99% to 2.57% during the same period. Moreover, the clinical autopsy rate tended to decrease throughout the period, while the legal autopsy rate fluctuated between 2001 and 2010 but steadily increased thereafter. CONCLUSION: The autopsy rate in Korea is lower compared to that of the advanced countries. These findings implicate the need for nationwide policy to promote both clinical and legal autopsy, which remain crucial parts of medical science and public health.

Genetic diversity and phylogenetic analysis of newly discovered bat astroviruses in Korea.

Bats have been identified as a natural reservoir for several potentially zoonotic viruses. Recently, astroviruses have been reported in bats in many countries, but not Korea. We collected 363 bat samples from thirteen species at twenty-nine sites in Korea across 2016 and tested them for astrovirus. The detection of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene in bat astroviruses was confirmed in thirty-four bats across four bat species in Korea: twenty-five from Miniopterus fuliginosusi, one from Myotis macrodactylus, four from M. petax, and four from Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. The highest detection rates for astrovirus were found in Sunchang (61.5%, 8/13 bats), and in the samples collected in April (63.2%, 12/19 bats). The amino acid identity of astroviral sequences identified from bat samples was ≥ 46.6%. More specifically, the amino acid identity within multiple clones from individual bats was ≥ 50.8%. Additionally, the phylogenetic topology between astroviruses from different bat families showed a close relationship. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis of the partial ORF2 sequence of bat astroviruses was found to have a maximum similarity of 73.3-74.8% with available bat astrovirus sequences. These results indicate potential multiple-infection by several bat astrovirus species in individual bats, or hyperpolymorphism in the astrovirus strains, as well as the transmission of astroviruses across bat families; furthermore, our phylogenetic analysis of the partial ORF2 implied that a novel astrovirus may exist. However, the wide diversity of astroviral sequences appeared to have no significant correlation with bat species or the spatiotemporal distribution of Korean bat astroviruses.

Research topics and trends in medical education by social network analysis.

BACKGROUND: As studies analyzing the networks and relational structures of research topics in academic fields emerge, studies that apply methods of network and relationship analysis, such as social network analysis (SNA), are drawing more attention. The purpose of this study is to explore the interaction of medical education subjects in the framework of complex systems theory using SNA and to analyze the trends in medical education. METHODS: The authors extracted keywords using Medical Subject Headings terms from 9,379 research articles (162,866 keywords) published in 1963-2015 in PubMed. They generated an occurrence frequency matrix, calculated relatedness using Weighted Jaccard Similarity, and analyzed and visualized the networks with Gephi software. RESULTS: Newly emerging topics by period units were identified as historical trends, and 20 global-level topic clusters were obtained through network analysis. A time-series analysis led to the definition of five historical periods: the waking phase (1963-1975), the birth phase (1976-1990), the growth phase (1991-1996), the maturity phase (1997-2005), and the expansion phase (2006-2015). CONCLUSIONS: The study analyzed the trends in medical education research using SNA and analyzed their meaning using complex systems theory. During the 53-year period studied, medical education research has been subdivided and has expanded, improved, and changed along with shifts in society's needs. By analyzing the trends in medical education using the conceptual framework of complex systems theory, the research team determined that medical education is forming a sense of the voluntary order within the field of medicine by interacting with social studies, philosophy, etc., and establishing legitimacy and originality.

A Multi-Hop Clustering Mechanism for Scalable IoT Networks.

It is expected that up to 26 billion Internet of Things (IoT) equipped with sensors and wireless communication capabilities will be connected to the Internet by 2020 for various purposes. With a large scale IoT network, having each node connected to the Internet with an individual connection may face serious scalability issues. The scalability problem of the IoT network may be alleviated by grouping the nodes of the IoT network into clusters and having a representative node in each cluster connect to the Internet on behalf of the other nodes in the cluster instead of having a per-node Internet connection and communication. In this paper, we propose a multi-hop clustering mechanism for IoT networks to minimize the number of required Internet connections. Specifically, the objective of proposed mechanism is to select the minimum number of coordinators, which take the role of a representative node for the cluster, i.e., having the Internet connection on behalf of the rest of the nodes in the cluster and to map a partition of the IoT nodes onto the selected set of coordinators to minimize the total distance between the nodes and their respective coordinator under a certain constraint in terms of maximum hop count between the IoT nodes and their respective coordinator. Since this problem can be mapped into a set cover problem which is known as NP-hard, we pursue a heuristic approach to solve the problem and analyze the complexity of the proposed solution. Through a set of experiments with varying parameters, the proposed scheme shows 63-87.3% reduction of the Internet connections depending on the number of the IoT nodes while that of the optimal solution is 65.6-89.9% in a small scale network. Moreover, it is shown that the performance characteristics of the proposed mechanism coincide with expected performance characteristics of the optimal solution in a large-scale network.

Exploring Research Topics and Trends in Nursing-related Communication in Intensive Care Units Using Social Network Analysis.

This study used social network analysis to identify the main research topics and trends in nursing-related communication in intensive care units. Keywords from January 1967 to June 2016 were extracted from PubMed using Medical Subject Headings terms. Social network analysis was performed using Gephi software. Research publications and newly emerging topics in nursing-related communication in intensive care units were classified into five chronological phases. After the weighting was adjusted, the top five keyword searches were "conflict," "length of stay," "nursing continuing education," "family," and "nurses." During the most recent phase, research topics included "critical care nursing," "patient handoff," and "quality improvement." The keywords of the top three groups among the 10 groups identified were related to "neonatal nursing and practice guideline," "infant or pediatric and terminal care," and "family, aged, and nurse-patient relations," respectively. This study can promote a systematic understanding of communication in intensive care units by identifying topic networks. Future studies are needed to conduct large prospective cohort studies and randomized controlled trials to verify the effects of patient-centered communication in intensive care units on patient outcomes, such as length of hospital stay and mortality.

Estimation of stature from femur length measured using computed tomography after the analysis of three-dimensional characteristics of femur bone in Korean cadavers.

Estimation of stature is a basic and important forensic procedure in identifying decomposed or skeletonized bodies. Due to advances in radiologic equipment, forensic science frequently uses computed tomography (CT) and software to apply these findings to investigations. Technical developments have increased the accuracy of the measurement of various bones. However, there are still some inaccuracies, such as defining correct landmarks in three-dimensional (3D) images. Femur length is frequently used for calculation of stature, but because it is a 3D structure, the digital image may not always correlate with the femur length measured with an osteometric board. However, more studies are now showing that the maximum femur length calculated in 3D imagery is comparable to the maximum femur length calculated using an osteometric board. This study used digitalized data of the femur obtained from the CT image through the specialized software. The digitalized femur images were put on the virtual osteometric board, which helped us to understand the anatomic characteristics of the femur and to confirm that the maximum femur lengths calculated in 3D images are similar to the results obtained using an osteometric board. These data were used to obtain a stature estimation formula for the Korean population.

Evaluation of Selective-Enrichment and Chromogenic Media for Salmonella Detection in Raw Shell Egg Contents with a Low Microbial Load.

The current study was conducted to evaluate the ability to recover Salmonella from shell egg contents by culture methods. A total of 4,000 eggs were obtained from a grading and packing center located in the Gyeonggi Province of South Korea, and 200 samples were created by pooling 20 broken eggs. The pooled samples were held at room temperature for 4 d before a 25-mL aliquot of each pool was added to 225 mL of modified trypticase soy broth (mTSB) and incubated at 35°C for 24 ± 2 h. A loopful of the culture was streaked onto chromogenic Druggan-Forsythe-Iversen (DFI) agar and incubated at 36 ± 1°C for 18-24 h. In addition, 1 mL and/or 0.1 mL of the mTSB cultures were added to 10 mL of Muller-Kauffmann tetrathionate with novobiocin (MKTTn) or Rappaport-Vassiliadis (RV) broth, and they were incubated for 24 ± 2 h at 35 ± 2°C or 42 ± 0.2°C, respectively. A loopful from these cultures was streaked onto Brilliant Green (BG), xylose lysine deoxycholate (XLD), and bismuth sulfite (BS) agar plates, respectively. Directly streaking onto DFI agar revealed the presence of Salmonella in 14 out of the 200 pooled samples (7%); whereas the combination of RV medium and BG, XLD, and BS agar detected the pathogen in only 9 (4.5%), 7 (3.5%), and 3 (1.5%) of the pooled samples, respectively. When MKTTn broth was used, Salmonella was detected in 7 (3.5%), 2 (1%), and 0 (0%) of the samples when streaked onto BG, XLD, and BS agar, respectively. The results indicate that direct plating onto DFI agar without enrichment was the most suitable among the methods evaluated in this study for detecting Salmonella in raw shell egg contents with a low microbial load.

Distribution and Molecular Characterization of Campylobacter Species at Different Processing Stages in Two Poultry Processing Plants.

The present study analyzed the prevalence and molecular characterization of Campylobacter at different processing steps in poultry slaughterhouses to determine where contamination mainly occurs. A total of 1,040 samples were collected at four different stages (preprocessing cloacal swabs, postevisceration, postwashing, and postchilling) in two processing plants. Campylobacter was detected in 5.8% (15 of 260) of the cloacal swabs and in 13.3% (104 of 780) of the processing samples. In both plants, the sampling points with the greatest contamination rates were after evisceration (20.5% and 15.4% for plants A and B, respectively) and significantly decreased after chilling (p < 0.05, from 20.5% to 10.9%) in plant A and after washing (from 15.4% to 2.9%) in plants B. In the result, however, the reduction in Campylobacter contamination was achieved through the sequential processing procedures in both plants. Campylobacter loads (>103 colony-forming units [CFUs]/mL) also decreased from 41.7% at evisceration to 20.0% in final carcasses. The genetic relationships of isolates were analyzed by the automated repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) system, and the rep-PCR banding pattern was found to be unrelated to the processing plants, species, sampling point, or sampling day. As the gap in the intervention efficacy remains between plant A and B despite several consistencies, a national program for monitoring critical processing stages in poultry processing plants is recommended for the successful exportation of Korean-processed white mini broiler meat.

Synthesis and Characterization of ß-Tricalcium Phosphate Derived From Haliotis sp. Shells.

PURPOSE: To develop a methodology for the synthesis of ß-tricalcium phosphate (ß-TCP, Ca3(PO4)2) from the shell of Haliotis sp. (abalone shell) and to verify its characterization and biocompatibility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Calcium oxide (CaO) was synthesized from abalone shell by sintering and was suspended in distilled water to prepare calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2). For the synthesis of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), carbon dioxide was used to infuse Ca(OH)2 at pH 7.4. CaCO3 was reacted with phosphoric acid at pH 6.0 to obtain dicalcium phosphate (CaHPO4). Subsequently, ß-TCP was synthesized by a chemical reaction between CaHPO4 and CaO at 950°C to 1100°C for 3 hours. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) was performed to verify the physiochemical characteristics of the composite synthesized from abalone shell. RESULTS: FT-IR and XRD results showed that ß-TCP was successfully synthesized from abalone shell. The synthesized ß-TCP did not affect cell viability of either normal human oral keratinocytes or osteoblastic MG-63 cells. These data indicate that ß-TCP synthesized from abalone shell is biologically safe. CONCLUSIONS: ß-TCP (Ca3(PO4)2) synthesized from abalone shell can be used as a potential source of bone grafting material.

Detection of Hantaan virus RNA from anti-Hantaan virus IgG seronegative rodents in an area of high endemicity in Republic of Korea.

Hantaan virus (HTNV), of the family Bunyaviridae, causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in humans. Although the majority of epidemiologic studies have found that rodents are seropositive for hantavirus-specific immunoglobulin, the discovery of hantavirus RNA in seronegative hosts has led to an investigation of the presence of HTNV RNA in rodents captured in HFRS endemic areas. HTNV RNA was detected in seven (3.8%) of 186 anti-HTNV IgG seronegative rodents in Republic of Korea (ROK) during 2013-2014. RT-qPCR for HTNV RNA revealed dynamic virus-host interactions of HTNV in areas of high endemicity, providing important insights into the epidemiology of hantaviruses.