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This study was conducted to evaluate the microbial quality of street‐vended foods in Korea. The microbiological contamination levels of aerobic mesophilic bacteria ranged from 0 to 7.43 log cfu/g with a mean value of 4.71 ± 1.53 log cfu/g, while the level of total coliforms ranged from 0 to 6.86 log cfu/g with a mean value of 3.24 ± 1.40 log cfu/g. Staphylococcus aureus (SA) and Escherichia coli (EC) were detected in 9% (mean value: 3.75 ± 0.56 log cfu/g) and 3% (mean value: 2.33 ± 0.90 log cfu/g) of 326 examined samples, respectively. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes were not detected. More than 50% of the isolated SA were found to be enterotoxin producers and these organisms primarily possessed type A toxin genes. Conversely, verocytotoxin‐producing EC were not detected. Taken together, these results indicate that consumption of street‐vended foods may pose a risk of foodborne disease and that good hygienic practices should be required to ensure public health. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Accurate and up‐to‐date data for microbiological contamination of ready‐to‐eat foods are necessary for consumer protection to improve sanitary conditions in food processing plants in Korea. Known contamination levels can be used by administrators to establish national regulations for the control of foodborne diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the development of the contemporary Korean literature. It is caused by new heterogeneous literary texts that promote the literature into a modern and realistic art. The mixture of the old and new style of literary work characteristics including post-introvertedness in novels, schizophrenic language in poetry and the concept of the new generation are explored. The concept of the new generation may contrast the old concept but it escapes from historical reality.

The constituents and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil from Acorus calamus were analysed. Methyl isoeugenol and cyclohexanone were identified as the major constituents of the essential oil. The essential oil was tested for antimicrobial activity against bacteria and yeast, and has shown strong antibiotic activities against most of the tested microbes, except Escherichia coli. The hexane extract has shown a similar pattern of antimicrobial activity as the essential oil. Methyl isoeugenol, the most abundant constituent in the essential oil, has also shown similar antimicrobial activity, except against Bacillus subtilis. The essential oil as well as the hexane extract and methyl isoeugenol have shown antimicrobial activity against Propionibacterium acne, which is known to be involved in acne vulgaris.

Background: Little is known about whether vascular risk factors predispose to atherosclerotic stroke depending on age. We evaluated predictors of large vessel atherosclerotic stroke (LVAS) stratified by age in two geographically and racially distinct study populations., Methods: Data collected over a 4-year period in prospectively maintained registries on 3,053 subjects with ischemic cerebrovascular events were analyzed: 1,982 patients from a hospital in South Korea and 1,071 patients admitted to a hospital in Los Angeles, Calif., USA. Independent vascular risk factor associations with LVAS mechanism were evaluated in three groups stratified by age (years) at symptom onset: young (75 years)., Results: Altogether at both study sites, 972 (31.8%) patients had LVAS mechanism, of whom 391 (40.2%) were female. Risk factor profiles were not significantly different between LVAS versus other stroke mechanisms. Among young patients, after adjusting for covariates, current smoking was the only predictor of atherosclerotic stroke at both Korean (OR 2.04; 95% CI: 1.13-3.69) and Californian sites (OR 4.78, 95% CI 1.54-14.89), while the metabolic syndrome was the only predictor of atherosclerotic stroke among the older patients (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.17-2.12 for Korean; OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.07-2.84 for Californian), but not in the young or oldest groups., Conclusions: Across race and region, the estimated impact of vascular risk factors for LVAS varies by age, and this is most prominently seen among persons of less than 76 years of age. Some risk factors have an early effect (smoking) and others an effect that plays out over time., (Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Flat warts, also called verruca planna (VP) or juvenile warts, are benign epithelial proliferations of the skin caused by infection with human papillomaviruses (HPV). Several HPV types are known to be associated with flat warts, and particularly HPV type 3 and 10 have been most frequently reported in other countries. In this study, for the detection and typing of human papillomavirus isolated from Korean patients with flat warts, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction endonuclease digestion were carried out with a set of restriction endonucleases, using the cloned HPV DNA and DNA from clinical specimens. A unique digestion pattern for HPV type 3 and 10, a form of miniature fingerprinting, enabled us to identify HPV type from the amplified fragments. A total of thirty clinical samples, as either frozen tissue or paraffin-embedded tissue, were investigated to verify the type. All the clinical samples except one were con-firmed to be type 3, one of the most frequently observed types in flat warts, and one sample was neither type 3 nor type 10. Further investigation of the unidentified sample by DNA sequencing and sequence alignment with other known HPV types revealed that the sample was a variant of HPV type 94, one of the EV-related HPVs, with the closest evolutionary distance to the HPV type 10 among the known flat wart-associated HPV types.

Split hand/split foot malformation (SHFM; ectrodactyly) is genetically heterogeneous, with mutations identified at five loci (SHFM1 at 7q21.3, SHFM2 at Xq26, SHFM3 at 10q24, SHFM4 at 3q27 and SHFM5 at 2q31). In this study, we attempted to identify and localize the causative allele of a Korean case of SHFM. Pedigree analysis showed that the Korean SHFM was autosomally dominant and its penetrance was high, indicating that it was not caused by SHFM2. Clinical features were variable, but limited to the four limbs unlike SHFM1, SHFM4 and SHFM5. G-banding and FISH failed to identify any chromosomal abnormalities. We also performed mutation screening by SSCP and DNA sequencing, as well as loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis, to exclude the possibility that SHFM4 or SHFM5 were involved; these revealed no mutations in gene p63 and no LOH on 2q31, respectively. It therefore appears that the Korean SHFM may be caused by mutation of SHFM3. In fact, linkage analysis using informative microsatellite markers indicated that SHFM3 was linked to D10S577 with a maximum LOD score of 1.15 at recombination fraction zero. Finally, we identified two novel alleles (191 and 211 bp) of D10S577 that have not been found in Western populations.

Objectives: To evaluate the frequency of intracranial atherosclerosis among patients with steno-occlusive extracranial carotid artery disease and to determine if there are factors related to the combined intracranial atherosclerosis., Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: A tertiary referral hospital. Patients We studied 142 consecutive patients who had atherosclerotic steno-occlusive lesions (defined as > or =30% narrowing of the luminal diameter or occlusion) of an extracranial carotid artery confirmed by conventional angiography. We excluded patients who had potential cardiogenic sources of embolism. Potential vascular risk factors for each patient were obtained from medical records. Main Outcome Measure We determined the location and severity of atherosclerotic lesions by conventional angiography. We compared the vascular risk factors between patients with steno-occlusive extracranial carotid artery disease alone and patients with combined intracranial atherosclerosis and extracranial carotid artery disease., Results: Intracranial steno-occlusive lesions (> or =30% stenosis or occlusion) were found in 80 patients (56.3%). Of 121 patients with significant (> or =50% stenosis or occlusion) extracranial carotid artery disease, 58 (47.9%) also had significant lesions of intracranial arteries. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that diabetes mellitus was the only significant factor associated with combined intracranial atherosclerosis in patients with extracranial carotid artery disease., Conclusions: Intracranial atherosclerosis is common in Korean patients with steno-occlusive extracranial carotid artery disease. Diabetes mellitus is associated with intracranial atherosclerosis in patients who had steno-occlusive extracranial carotid artery disease.

Background: By genetic analysis, the CAG repeat expansion has been established in spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) types 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7. Despite the genetic differentiation of SCA, the characterization of the phenotypes of various SCAs has been challenging for better clinical diagnosis., Objective: To analyze the frequencies and the clinical manifestations of SCA1, SCA2, SCA3, SCA6, and SCA7 in Korean patients., Patients and Methods: We performed genetic analysis in 253 unrelated Korean patients with progressive cerebellar ataxia. We compared the frequencies, inheritance patterns, and various clinical manifestations of patients with genetically confirmed SCA., Results: Among the 52 patients with expanded CAG repeat, the most frequent SCA type was SCA2, followed by SCA3, SCA6, SCA1, and SCA7. Nine patients (17%) had a negative family history of ataxia, mostly in SCA6. There were characteristic clinical features such as hypotonia and optic atrophy for SCA1; hyporeflexia for SCA2; nystagmus, bulging eye, and dystonia for SCA3; and macular degeneration for SCA7. Interestingly, 4 patients (1 with SCA2, 1 with SCA3, and 2 with SCA6) were misdiagnosed as having multiple-system atrophy because of the absence of family history and the presence of parkinsonism and urinary incontinence., Conclusions: This study provides a detailed analysis of the clinical characteristics of the genetically defined CAG-repeat SCAs in Korean patients. Although phenotypes were heterogeneous, some clinical features may be helpful for clinical diagnosis. However, genetic studies for SCA are needed despite uncertain family history or the presence of atypical clinical features causing misdiagnosis as atypical parkinsonism.