EarlyTect BCD, a Streamlined PENK Methylation Test in Urine DNA, Effectively Detects Bladder Cancer in Patients with Hematuria.

The current noninvasive diagnostic approaches for detecting bladder cancer (BC) often exhibit limited clinical performance, especially for the initial diagnosis. This study aims to evaluate the validity of a streamlined urine-based PENK methylation test called EarlyTect BCD in detecting BC in patients with hematuria scheduled for cystoscopy in Korean and American populations. The test seamlessly integrates two steps, linear target enrichment and quantitative methylation-specific PCR within a single closed tube. The detection limitation of the test was approximately two genome copies of methylated PENK per milliliter of urine. In the retrospective training set (n = 105), an optimal cutoff value was determined to distinguish BC from non-BC, resulting in a sensitivity of 87.3% and a specificity of 95.2%. In the prospective validation set (n = 210, 122 Korean and 88 American patients), the overall sensitivity for detecting all stages of BC was 81.0%, with a specificity of 91.5% and an area under the curve value of 0.889. There was no significant difference between the two groups. The test achieved a sensitivity of 100% in detecting high-grade Ta and higher stages of BC. The negative predictive value of the test was 97.7%, and the positive predictive value was 51.5%. The findings of this study demonstrate that EarlyTect BCD is a highly effective noninvasive diagnostic tool for identifying BC among patients with hematuria.

Searching for New Human Behavior Model in Explaining Energy Transition: Exploring the Impact of Value and Perception Factors on Inconsistency of Attitude toward Policy Support and Intention to Pay for Energy Transition.

The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the factors influencing the public's attitude toward policy support and intention to pay for energy transition from nuclear to renewable energy. We focus on inconsistency issues between attitude and intention. To this end, we set the attitude toward policy support and behavioral intention to pay as dependent variables, and value factors (i.e., ideology, political support for the current Moon Jae-in government, environmentalism, and science-technology optimism) and perception factors (i.e., perceived risk, benefit, knowledge, and trust) as the independent variables. Based on a survey, the analysis showed that at the variable level, the perceived benefits and trust in renewable energy and perceived risks and benefits in nuclear energy influenced the attitude toward policy support and the intention to pay for energy transition. Second, when evaluating the explanatory power of independent variables, the attitude toward the energy transition was affected in the following order: (1) perceived benefit in nuclear power (ß = 0.259) > (2) perceived benefit in renewable energy (ß = -0.219) > (3) perceived risk in nuclear energy (ß = 0.202) > (4) Moon Jae-in government support (ß = 0.146). On the other hand, behavioral intention to pay for energy transition was influenced in the following order: (1) trust in renewable energy (ß = 0.252) > (2) Moon Jae-in government support (ß = 0.154) > (3) perceived risk in nuclear energy (ß = 0.139) > (4) perceived benefit in renewable energy (ß = 0.099). Third, variables such as environmentalism, perceived benefit/risk/trust in renewable energy, and perceived benefit/risk in nuclear energy affected inconsistency between attitude toward policy support and intention to pay for energy transition.

Searching for New Human Behavior Model in the Climate Change Age: Analyzing the Impact of Risk Perception and Government Factors on Intention-Action Consistency in Particulate Matter Mitigation.

This study aims to analyze factors influencing citizens' intentions to take protective action against particulate matter (PM) and their actual actions in response to PM. There were few research on the role of government factors and the issue of intention-action inconsistency in the context of PM mitigation action. Therefore, this study set not only variables in the risk perception paradigm but also ones in government factors as independent variables, while intention and action in response to PM were set as dependent variables. This study's analysis was based on survey data collected from Korean people. For representativeness of the samples, this study adopted the quota sampling method, considering region, gender, and age. Five hundred respondents finished the survey. To verify the hypotheses, this study used regression and binomial logistic analysis. Analysis showed that (1) negative emotions, trust, knowledge, government competency, policy satisfaction, and policy awareness had significant effects on intention and action in response to PM, and (2) perceived benefits only affected intention, whereas government accountability only affected action. Logistic analysis showed that there were groups in which intentions and actions did not match. Negative emotions and government competence induce intention-action consistency, whereas the perceived benefits and trust in government tend to encourage inconsistency. Knowledge is a variable that induces both consistency and inconsistency in the intention-action relationship. The determinant structures of independent variables affecting the likelihood of belonging to the four groups differed.

Searching for the New Behavioral Model in Energy Transition Age: Analyzing the Forward and Reverse Causal Relationships between Belief, Attitude, and Behavior in Nuclear Policy across Countries.

This study aims to analyze the forward/reverse causal relationships between belief (risk perception), attitude (judgment), and behavior (acceptance). A traditional view stresses forward causal relationships between the three variables. However, recently, several studies have reported the possibility of reverse causal relationships between them. Based on survey data collected from 1027 Korean/Japanese participants, here we test not only the forward or reverse relationships between these three variables, but also how such causal relationships depend on the trust and country contexts (Korea and Japan in this study). The results showed that, first, not only a general forward causal relationship but also reverse causal relationship exists between belief, attitude, and behavior. Second, there exist the moderated mediation and mediated moderation effect of trust in government and media across two countries. Third, the effects of trust in government and media work significantly overall. However, the patterns of interaction effects differ between two countries. The level of trust in the government influenced the belief and attitude of citizens in Japan more than in Korea. However, the level of trust in the media showed opposite results.

Who Is Suffering from the "Corona Blues"? An Analysis of the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Depression and Its Implications for Health Policy.

COVID-19 is tremendously affecting not only social structures but also people's psychological states. In particular, COVID-19 is negatively affecting psychological health, in particular, the depression. When individuals are experiencing the depression, there is increase in the suicide rate and occurrence of serious social problems. This study therefore examines factors affecting depression by using hypothesis testing. Previous studies have limitations in that they focus only on demographic variables or other specific variables. In contrast, this study focuses on the influences of four non-pandemic and seven pandemic-related variables on people's depression. We analyze data from a social survey (N = 1525) in Korea which adopted the stratified quota sampling method. Results show that, first, among the demographic variables, young people experience depression to a greater extent than older people do. Second, among the non-pandemic variables, individuals with more social support, good health, optimism, and self-efficacy exhibit lower levels of depression. Third, among the factors related to COVID-19, fear of infection, financial instability, personal lifestyle changes, and poor health status increase depression.

The Paradox of Conspiracy Theory: The Positive Impact of Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories on Preventive Actions and Vaccination Intentions during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study aims to analyze the direct and indirect impact of beliefs in conspiracy theories on COVID-19-related preventive actions and vaccination intentions. The dominant theory in the literature is that beliefs in conspiracy theories have negative consequences. In particular, strong beliefs in conspiracy theories lower people's intentions to engage in preventive actions and get vaccinated. Previous studies indicated that this dominant theory applies in Korea as well. However, we find that this dominant theory does not apply in Korea. Based on an analysis of survey data, we find that beliefs in conspiracy theories have positive impact on preventive actions and vaccination intentions. In addition, beliefs in conspiracy theories play indirect roles in these two responses to COVID-19. Specifically, when perceived benefits and trust in the government or science enhance preventive actions or increase vaccination intentions, strong beliefs in conspiracy theories promote this effect. This positive role of conspiracy theories is paradoxical because they are generally viewed as negative.

Phosphoenolpyruvate depletion mediates both growth arrest and drug tolerance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in hypoxia.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection is difficult to treat because Mtb spends the majority of its life cycle in a nonreplicating (NR) state. Since NR Mtb is highly tolerant to antibiotic effects and can mutate to become drug resistant (DR), our conventional tuberculosis (TB) treatment is not effective. Thus, a novel strategy to kill NR Mtb is required. Accumulating evidence has shown that repetitive exposure to sublethal doses of antibiotics enhances the level of drug tolerance, implying that NR Mtb is formed by adaptive metabolic remodeling. As such, metabolic modulation strategies to block the metabolic remodeling needed to form NR Mtb have emerged as new therapeutic options. Here, we modeled in vitro NR Mtb using hypoxia, applied isotope metabolomics, and revealed that phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) is nearly completely depleted in NR Mtb. This near loss of PEP reduces PEP-carbon flux toward multiple pathways essential for replication and drug sensitivity. Inversely, supplementing with PEP restored the carbon flux and the activities of the foregoing pathways, resulting in growth and heightened drug susceptibility of NR Mtb, which ultimately prevented the development of DR. Taken together, PEP depletion in NR Mtb is associated with the acquisition of drug tolerance and subsequent emergence of DR, demonstrating that PEP treatment is a possible metabolic modulation strategy to resensitize NR Mtb to conventional TB treatment and prevent the emergence of DR.

Searching for New Model of Digital Informatics for Human-Computer Interaction: Testing the Institution-Based Technology Acceptance Model (ITAM).

The fourth industrial revolution has produced new information technology (IT) that is widely used in the healthcare industry. Although the nature of the institution affects IT adoption, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a dominant theory, has dismissed its role and influence. Our research investigates how institutions influence the adoption of new IT by using the Institution-based Technology Acceptance Model (ITAM). We conducted an empirical test by using survey data collected from 300 employees in the public sector. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the proposed hypotheses. The results showed the total effect of institutions on the intention to use new IT is positive and significant. Second, IT adoption is not only affected by external institutions but also by type of institution; the external institution takes a greater role in inducing perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and intention to use than does the internal. Third, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness play mediating roles between institution and IT adoption. Fourth, an alternative expanded model to which more individual and organizational factors were added confirmed the results of the base model. We concluded that institutions have a strong impact on the level of intention for IT use through perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness.

Searching for Evidence-Based Public Policy and Practice: Analysis of the Determinants of Personal/Public Adaptation and Mitigation Behavior against Particulate Matter by Focusing on the Roles of Risk Perception, Communication, and Attribution Factors.

In recent years, awareness about the risk of particulate matter (PM) has increased both domestically and internationally; consequently, various policies have been implemented to reduce PM. Since citizens are both victim and cause of this risk, PM cannot be successfully decreased only through government policies. Therefore, citizens' active participation is required to reduce PM and prevent its risks. However, a theoretical model about public behavior against PM has not been established. Therefore, we suggest the public behavior model about individuals' response against PM, in which response actions are classified into four types based on the combinations of the public-personal domains and mitigation-adaptation actions: Personal or public adaptations, and personal or public mitigations. We analyze how risk perception, risk communication, blame attribution factors influence the four types of responses against PM. The analysis results reveal that the receiver's ability, negative emotion, trust in government, and age influence personal mitigation behavior, personal adaptation, public mitigation, and public adaptation, respectively. As this study demonstrates the differences in the factors influencing each type of response actions against PM, evidence-based policy is needed that considers the differences in these influencing factors.

Analysis of the Impact of Health Beliefs and Resource Factors on Preventive Behaviors against the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The global spread of COVID-19 requires not only national-level responses but also active compliance with individual-level prevention measures. Because COVID-19 is an infectious disease that spreads through human contact, it is impossible to end its spread without individuals' active cooperation and preventive behavior. This study analyzes the effects of health beliefs and resource factors on behaviors to prevent COVID-19. In particular, it analyzes how resource factors moderate the impact of health beliefs on preventive behavior. A regression analysis showed that gender (female), age, number of elderly people in one's family, perceived severity, perceived benefit, self-efficacy, poor family health, media exposure, knowledge, personal health status, and social support positively affected preventive actions, whereas perceived susceptibility negatively affected them. In explaining preventive actions, self-efficacy had the greatest explanatory power, followed by gender (female), knowledge, personal health status, perceived severity, and social support. In addition, an analysis of moderating effects shows that resource variables, such as education level, personal health status, and social support, play moderating roles in inducing preventive actions.

Searching for New Directions for Energy Policy: Testing Three Causal Models of Risk Perception, Attitude, and Behavior in Nuclear Energy Context.

Although many risk studies investigate perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, the causal relationships among them have not yet been verified. Thus, further investigations of these relationships are necessary. This study analyzes three causal models consisting of three components: perceptions (i.e., perceived risk in this study), attitudes (i.e., satisfaction), and behavior (i.e., support for policy). This study checks these relationships in the context of nuclear energy policy. Using a hierarchical regression model, this study tests three different models between the three components: (1) Model 1 (a high-involvement model), (2) Model 2 (a low-involvement model), and (3) Model 3 (a hedonic model). First, in the high-involvement model, behavior is affected by perceptions and attitudes. In particular, attitudes mediate the relationship between risk perceptions and satisfaction. Second, in the low-involvement model, attitudes indirectly affect perceptions through behaviors. Third, in the hedonic model, behaviors affect attitudes, and risk perceptions do not mediate that relationship. This causal model does not depend on perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of nuclear power. Our analysis shows that Model 1 is fully significant, and Model 2 and 3 are only partially significant.

Efficient Early Diagnosis of Sepsis Using Whole-Blood PCR-Reverse Blot Hybridization Assay Depending on Serum Procalcitonin Levels.

Sepsis is one of the medical emergencies, and its early detection, within the first hours of development, and proper management improve outcomes. Molecular diagnostic assays using whole blood collected from patients with suspected sepsis have been developed, but the decision making is difficult because of the possibility of false positives, due to contamination. Here, we evaluated the performance of the reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA) Sepsis-ID test for the detection of sepsis-causing microorganisms using whole-blood samples. In addition, the concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) were determined to evaluate whether these biomarkers can provide criteria for performing REBA Sepsis-ID in clinical settings. For this study, EDTA-anticoagulated whole blood was simultaneously collected for REBA Sepsis-ID and blood culture from 440 patients with suspected sepsis, from January to October 2015. In addition, CRP and PCT concentrations were measured in 227 patients. The overall positive rates of REBA Sepsis-ID and blood culture were 16.6% (73/440) and 13.9% (61/440), respectively. The pathogen-positive rates of REBA Sepsis-ID and blood culture were 9.8% (43/440) and 9.5% (42/440), respectively. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves of PCT and CRP for predicting pathogen-positive results of REBA Sepsis-ID were 0.72 and 0.69, respectively. The PCT concentrations in the group of patients aged ≥50 years were significantly higher than those in the group aged <50 years. After adjusting for age, the PCT AUROC value was 0.77 for predicting pathogen-positive results of REBA Sepsis-ID. The optimal cutoff values of PCT concentrations for subsequent application of REBA Sepsis-ID were 0.12 ng/mL in all patients and 0.22 ng/mL in patients aged ≥50 years. Our observations showed that REBA Sepsis-ID using whole blood was advantageous for the early detection of sepsis-causing microorganisms, and the PCT concentration could be used to determine the necessity of using REBA Sepsis-ID in clinical settings. The application of REBA Sepsis-ID using whole blood, based on the PCT concentration, may contribute to a highly efficient detection of sepsis-causing microorganisms.

Searching for General Model of Conspiracy Theories and Its Implication for Public Health Policy: Analysis of the Impacts of Political, Psychological, Structural Factors on Conspiracy Beliefs about the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Along with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, beliefs in conspiracy theories are spreading within and across countries. This study aims to analyze predictors of beliefs in conspiracy theories. Because previous studies have emphasized only specific political, psychological, or structural factors or variables, this study constructs an integrated analytical model that includes all three factors. We analyze data from a large-scale survey of Koreans (N = 1525) and find several results. First, political, psychological, and structural factors influence beliefs in conspiracy theories. Second, when we examine the specific influences of the variables, we find that authoritarianism, support for minority parties, religiosity, trust in SNS (social networking services), perceived risk, anxiety, negative emotions, blame attribution, the quantity of information, health status, and health after COVID-19, all positively influence beliefs in conspiracy theories. Conversely, support for President Moon Jae-In's government, Christianity, trust in the government, perceived control, analytic thinking, knowledge, the quality of information, and gender, all negatively impact these beliefs. Among the predictors, the quality of information, health status, support for President Moon Jae-In's government, perceived risk, and anxiety have the most decisive impacts on beliefs in conspiracy theories.

Evaluation of the QuantaMatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform for Molecular Diagnosis of Multidrug- and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Using Clinical Strains Isolated in Myanmar.

BACKGROUND: Although the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is decreasing, cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB continue to increase. As conventional phenotype drug susceptibility testing (pDST) takes six to eight weeks, molecular assays are widely used to determine drug resistance. we developed QuantaMatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform (QMAP) MDR/XDR assay (QuantaMatrix Inc., Seoul, Korea) that can simultaneously detect mutations related to both first- and second-line drug resistance (rifampin, isoniazid, ethambutol, fluoroquinolones, second-line injectable drugs, and streptomycin). METHODS: We used 190 clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains isolated from Myanmar, compared QMAP and pDST results, and determined concordance rates. Additionally, we performed sequence analyses for discordant results. RESULTS: QMAP results were 87.9% (167/190) concordant with pDST results. In the 23 isolates with discordant results, the QMAP and DNA sequencing results completely matched. CONCLUSIONS: The QMAP MDR/XDR assay can detect all known DNA mutations associated with drug resistance for both MDR- and XDR-MTB strains. It can be used for molecular diagnosis of MDR- and XDR-TB to rapidly initiate appropriate anti-TB drug therapy.

Comparison of Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform and GenoType MTBDR Assay Using Smear-Positive Sputum Specimens From Patients With Multidrug- Resistant/Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in South Korea.

Rapid detection of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is crucial for timely treatment and management. The GenoType MTBDRplus and MTBDRsl (MTBDR) assays have been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the detection of DR-TB. However, MTBDR assays cannot simultaneously detect multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). Furthermore, interpretation of the MTBDR assay requires trained people, and the assay has low sample throughput, processing only up to 12 samples in parallel. We have developed the Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform (QMAP) to detect MDR-/XDR-TB simultaneously. The interpretation of QMAP results is automated, and the platform can process up to 96 samples in parallel. To compare the performance of QMAP with MTBDR assays, we performed QMAP and the MTBDR assay on 76 smear-positive, Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture-positive sputum specimens. Compared with phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) results, the sensitivity and specificity of QMAP were 100 and 98% for rifampin resistance, 80 and 100% for isoniazid resistance, 44.4 and 100% for ethambutol resistance, 100 and 100% for fluoroquinolone resistance, and 100 and 100% for second-line injectable drug resistance, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of MTBDR assays were 100 and 98% for rifampin resistance, 80 and 100% for isoniazid resistance, 44.4 and 98.1% for ethambutol resistance, 100 and 100% for fluoroquinolone resistance, and 100 and 100% for second-line injectable drug resistance, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of QMAP were 85.0 and 100%, respectively, for the detection of MDR-TB and 100 and 100%, respectively, for XDR-TB. The sensitivity and specificity of MTBDR assays was consistent with those of QMAP. Our study showed that the QMAP assay has sensitivity and specificity equivalent to that of MTBDR assays in smear-positive sputum specimens. In combination with phenotypic DST, QMAP might be useful as a supplementary DST assay for rapid detection of MDR-/XDR-TB.

Prediction of Y haplogroup by polymerase chain reaction-reverse blot hybridization assay.

BACKGROUND: The analysis of Y-SNPs from crime scene samples is helpful for investigators in narrowing down suspects by predicting biogeographical ancestry. OBJECTIVE: In this study, a PCR-reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA) for predicting Y-chromosome haplogroups was employed to determine the major haplogroups worldwide, including AB, DE, C, C3, F, K, NO, O, O2, and O3 and evaluated. METHODS: The REBA detects nine biallelic Y chromosome markers (M9, M89, M122, M145, M175, M214, M217, P31, and RPS4Y711) simultaneously using multiple probes. RESULTS: The REBA for Y-single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) genotyping was performed using 40 DNA samples from Asians-14 Koreans, 10 Indonesians, six Chineses, six Thais, and four Mongolians. 40 Asian samples were identified as haplogroup O2 (40%), O3 (32.5%), C3 (17.5%), O (7.5%) and K (2.5%). These cases were confirmed by DNA sequence analysis (κ = 1.00; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: PCR-REBA is a rapid and reliable method that complements other SNP detection methods. Therefore, implementing REBA for Y-SNP testing may be a useful tool in predicting Y-chromosome haplogroups.

Direct Detection of Rifampin-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Respiratory Specimens Using Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform (QMAP) System: A Multicenter Study in Korea.

Rapid and accurate detection of rifampin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is of primary importance for infection control and selection of anti-tuberculosis drugs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a newly developed multiplexed, bead-based bioassay (Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform, QMAP) for the direct detection of rifampin-resistant MTB in respiratory specimens. A total of 400 respiratory specimens collected from patients with clinically suspected tuberculosis or non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections were tested with the culture-based conventional Mycobacterium species identification and QMAP system. Among 400 specimens, 154 samples were evaluated using phenotypic anti-tuberculosis drug susceptibility test (DST) and the QMAP system for the detection of rifampin resistance. Detection agreement rate between the culture-based conventional identification and QMAP system for MTB and NTM according to acid-fast bacillus smear positivity was as follows: 97.0% (131/135) and 93.6% (88/94) in 229 smear-positive samples and 69.4% (25/36) and 73.0% (65/89) in 171 smear-negative samples. Based on culture as the gold standard, the overall sensitivity and specificity of the QMAP system for Mycobacterium identification were 87.3 and 97.8%, respectively. The categorical agreement rate between phenotypic DST and QMAP system for rifampin was as follows: complete agreement, 92.9% (143/154); very major error, 0%; and major error, 0.6% (1/154). The overall sensitivity of the QMAP system for the detection of rifampin resistance was 97.1% (34/35). The QMAP system is a useful screening method for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis and selection of anti-tuberculosis drug, as it may detect rifampin-resistant MTB directly from respiratory specimens.

Detection of Rifampicin- and Isoniazid-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Using the Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform System.

BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) infection represents a global public health emergency. We evaluated the usefulness of a newly developed multiplexed, bead-based bioassay (Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform [QMAP], QuantaMatrix, Seoul, Korea) to rapidly identify the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and detect rifampicin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH) resistance-associated mutations. METHODS: A total of 200 clinical isolates from respiratory samples were used. Phenotypic anti-TB drug susceptibility testing (DST) results were compared with those of the QMAP system, reverse blot hybridization (REBA) MTB-MDR assay, and gene sequencing analysis. RESULTS: Compared with the phenotypic DST results, the sensitivity and specificity of the QMAP system were 96.4% (106/110; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9072-0.9888) and 80.0% (72/90; 95% CI 0.7052-0.8705), respectively, for RIF resistance and 75.0% (108/144; 95% CI 0.6731-0.8139) and 96.4% (54/56; 95% CI 0.8718-0.9972), respectively, for INH resistance. The agreement rates between the QMAP system and REBA MTB-MDR assay for RIF and INH resistance detection were 97.6% (121/124; 95% CI 0.9282-0.9949) and 99.1% (109/110; 95% CI 0.9453-1.0000), respectively. Comparison between the QMAP system and gene sequencing analysis showed an overall agreement of 100% for RIF resistance (110/110; 95% CI 0.9711-1.0000) and INH resistance (124/124; 95% CI 0.9743-1.0000). CONCLUSIONS: The QMAP system may serve as a useful screening method for identifying and accurately discriminating MTBC from non-tuberculous mycobacteria, as well as determining RIF- and INH-resistant MTB strains.

Exploring the Determinants of Perceived Risk of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in Korea.

The world is turning into a risky society. Although modernization based on the developments in science and technology has increased individuals' well-being and wealth, the perceived risk toward the complex technological system has increased. In a risky society, social accidents amplify the existing fear among individuals. It is generally assumed that each value, perception, and resource influences the fear of risk. However, very few studies have tested these three factors together within an integrated causal model. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the determinants that influence the perceived risk in cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a deadly epidemic disease, in Korea. Based on the theoretical model, we analyzed the survey data collected from respondents (N = 814) in Korea. After controlling for variables such as sociodemographic characteristics, we examined how three competing factors, i.e., value, perception, and resource, influence the perceived risk of MERS. The analysis showed that trust and vulnerability variables in the perception factor, health state, and perceived knowledge in the resource factor had a significant impact on the perceived risk of MERS.

Performance of the Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform system for the differentiation and identification of Mycobacterium species.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a new diagnostic multiplexed bead-based bioassay (Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform; QMAP) system with shape-encoded silica microparticles for the rapid and accurate detection and identification of 23 mycobacterial species/groups, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). METHODOLOGY: A total of 295 mycobacterial clinical isolates cultured from respiratory specimens were used for identification of MTBC and non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) using the QMAP system and the results were confirmed with PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the rpoB gene, rpoB sequence analysis and PCR-reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA).Results/Key findings. The Mycobacterium genus-specific probe of the QMAP system was positive for all 46 Mycobacterium reference strains and negative for 59 non-Mycobacterium strains. Based on 295 liquid culture-positive samples, both the culture-based conventional identification method and the QMAP system identified each 212 and 81 isolates as MTB and NTM species. The concordance rates for the identification of NTM species between the QMAP system and molecular assays were 92.8 % (77/83), 97.6 % (81/83) and 100 % (83/83) for PCR-RFLP, the rpoB sequence analysis and PCR-REBA, respectively. CONCLUSION: The QMAP system yielded rapid, highly sensitive and specific results for the identification of MTBC and NTM and accurately discriminated between NTM species within 3 h.