Taek Soo Kim

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which began in December 2019, is still ongoing in Korea, with >9,000 confirmed cases as of March 25, 2020. COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and real-time reverse transcription-PCR is currently the most reliable diagnostic method for COVID-19 around the world. Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and the Korea Centers for Disease Prevention and Control propose guidelines for diagnosing COVI

Along with positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA in nasopharyngeal swabs, viral RNA was detectable at high concentration for >3 weeks in fecal samples from 12 mildly symptomatic and asymptomatic children with COVID-19 in Seoul, South Korea. Saliva also tested positive during the early phase of infection. If proven infectious, feces and saliva could serve as transmission sources.

For the timely treatment of patients with infections in bloodstream and cerebrospinal fluid, a rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) is urgently needed. Here, we describe a direct and rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (dRAST) system, which can determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria from a positive blood culture bottle (PBCB) in six hours. The positive blood culture sample is directly mixed with agarose and inoculated into a micropatterned plastic microchip with l

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is widely used in clinical microbiology laboratories because it is cost-effective, reliable, and fast. This study is aimed at comparing the identification performance of the recently developed Autof ms1000 (Autobio, China) with that of the Bruker Biotyper (Bruker Daltonics, Germany). From January to June 2020, 205 preserved strains and 302 clinical isolates were used for comparison. Bacteria were tested w

Abstract Balanced steady‐state free precession (bSSFP) has been proposed as an alternative method to acquire the blood oxygenation level dependent contrast. Particularly, pass‐band bSSFP functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is believed to utilize the T 2 sensitivity of bSSFP in a relatively wide and flat off‐resonance frequency band of the bSSFP profile. The method has a potential to provide higher signal to noise ratio (SNR) efficiency with reduced imaging artifacts compared to conventi

Background: Various virulence factors and superantigens are encoded by mobile genetic elements. The relationship between clonal background and virulence factors differs in different geographic regions. We compared the distribution and relationship of spa types and virulence genes among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from a tertiary hospital in 2000-01 and 2007-08. Methods: In 2000-01 and 2007-08, 94 MRSA strains were collected from 3 intensive care units at a

MgZn4.3Y0.7 alloy powders were prepared using an industrial scale gas atomizer, followed by warm extrusion. The powders were almost spherical in shape. The microstructure of powders as atomized and bars as extruded was examined as a function of initial powder size distribution using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscope (EDS) and X-ray Diffractometer (XRD). The grain sizes were decreased with extruding as well as decreasing the initial powder sizes. Both the ul

In the past decade, clinical microbiology underwent revolutionary changes in methods used to identify microorganisms, a transition from slow and traditional microbial identification algorithms to rapid molecular methods and mass spectrometry (MS). Earlier, MS was clinically used as a highly complex ...

N-type Bi2Te3-Sb2Te3 solid solutions doped with CdCl2 was prepared by melt spinning, crushing and vacuum sintering processes. Microstructure, bending strength and thermoelectric property were investigated as a function of the doping quantity from 0.03wt.% to 0.10wt.% and sintering temperature from 400oC to 500oC, and finally compared with those of conventionally fabricated alloys. The alloy showed a good structural homogeneity as well as bending strength of 3.88Kgf/mm2. The highest thermoelectri

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is an important etiologic factor in cervical carcinogenesis. Various HPV DNA detection methods have been evaluated for clinicopathological level. For the specimens with normal cytological finding, discrepancies among the detection methods were frequently found and adequate interpretation can be difficult. 6,322 clinical specimens were submitted and evaluated for real-time PCR and Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2). 573 positive or “Not Detected but Amplified” (NDBA) spec

In Korea, the incidence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infection has recently been increasing, with a clinical isolation rate of up to 25%. We evaluated the clinical usefulness of real-time PCR for the detection of the vanA gene over conventional culture in patients confirmed as being VRE-colonized. During the evaluation stage, 100 consecutive clinical specimens were analyzed for the presence of the vanA gene via real-time PCR, for which 4 specimen preparations were used. During the a

지난 10여 년에 걸쳐, 임상미생물분야는 미생물 동정에 있어 다소 느린 전통적인 동정 알고리즘에서 신속히 결과를 확인할 수 있는 분자진단학적 방법 또는 질량분석법으로의 혁신적인 변화를 겪고 있다. 일찍이, 질량분석법은 임상화학검사실에서의 단백기반 시료 분석법으로 적용되어 왔다. 최근, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) 원리를 이용한 질량분석법이 미생물검사실에 도입되면서 미생물 동정에 있어 신속, 정확한 미생물 동정결과를 제공할 수 있게 되었다. 널리 알려진 제조사의 제품으로 2가지 장비 플랫폼이 기존의 표현형을 통한 동정 자동화 장비를 대체하고 있으며, 일부 경우에서는 염기서열 기반 동정기법 대신으로도 사용되고 있다. 이 종설은 임상연구나 임상미생물검사에 있어 MALDI-TOF 질량분석법의 현재 상황을 요약하고, 시료 처리, 분석 알고리즘, 해석 및 한계를 분석한 최근 연구들을 소개하고자 한

The purpose of this thesis project is to understand what the biblical principles for Church Growth are and, to evaluate the problems hindering Church Growth within the Baptist Bible Fellowship Korea. Based on surveys sent to the BBF pastors in Korea, the project analyzes and evaluates the actual figures of church ministry, strategy, pastoral leadership, and common hindrances of Church Growth. Ten practical strategies for 21st Century Church Growth of BBF in Korea are proposed. These ten strategi