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BackgroundWe assessed the efficacy of serial interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in patients receiving immunosuppressive agents for treatment of rheumatic diseases in Korea.MethodsOf 276 patients who underwent consecutive screening with one of two IGRAs [QuantiFERON-TB Gold or QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube], 66 patients were evaluated by the serial IGRA for detection of LTBI during therapy with immunosuppressive agents. Information on clinical diagnosis, medication, previous TB, blood cell count, tuberculin skin test, and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) level measured by IGRA was collected.ResultsOf the 66 patients, the initial IGRA was positive in 24.2%, negative in 65.2%, and indeterminate in 10.6%. Forty-six patients (69.7%) showed consistent IGRA results during follow-up, and 13 patients (19.7%) had consistently positive results. IGRA conversion rate was 12.1% (8/66) and reversion rate was 4.5% (3/66). Conversion of IGRA results was only observed in ankylosing spondylitis patients, and the median interval between the two tests in patients with conversion was 8.5 months. The mean IFN-γ level in the group of patients with consistently positive IGRA results was higher than that in the group with inconsistently positive results, although this trend was not statistically significant (P=0.293). Indeterminate results were observed most frequently in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.ConclusionsIn patients receiving immunosuppressive agents, both IGRA conversions and reversions were observed. Serial IGRA testing may not be needed in patients with a positive initial IGRA result showing high IFN-γ levels, because of high consistency in the test results.

Pseudomonas oryzihabitans is frequently found in various sites within hospital settings, including sink drains and respiratory therapy equipment. Although it rarely causes human infections, P. oryzihabitans has recently been considered a potential nosocomial pathogen, especially in immunocompromised hosts. We report our experience of an outbreak of P. oryzihabitans pseudobacteremia, presumably due to faulty aseptic preparation of a saline gauze canister.

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This paper reports the design and analysis of a tubular permanent magnet linear generator (TPMLG) for a small-scale wave-energy converter. The analytical field computation is performed by applying a magnetic vector potential and a 2-D analytical model to determine design parameters. Based on analytical solutions, parametric analysis is performed to meet the design specifications of a wave-energy converter (WEC). Then, 2-D FEA is employed to validate the analytical method. Finally, the experimental result confirms the predictions of the analytical and finite element analysis (FEA) methods under regular and irregular wave conditions.

Tuberculosis remains a severe public health problem worldwide. Presently, genotyping is used for conducting epidemiologic and clinical studies on tuberculosis cases. We evaluated the efficacy of the repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR)-based DiversiLab™ system (bioMérieux, France) over the IS6110-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In all, 89 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates collected nationwide from Korea were used. The DiversiLab system allocated the 89 isolates to 8 groups with 1 unique isolate when a similarity level of 95% was applied. Seventy-six isolates of the Beijing family and 13 isolates of non-Beijing family strains were irregularly distributed regardless of rep-PCR groups. The DiversiLab system generated a rapid, sensitive, and standardized result. It can be used to conduct molecular epidemiologic studies to identify clinical M. tuberculosis isolates in Korea.

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