• Title/Summary/Keyword: Active unit

Search Result 734, Processing Time 0.024 seconds

Purification of Human HtrA1 Expressed in E. coli and Characterization of Its Serine Protease Activity (E. coli에서 발현된 human HtrA1 단백질의 정제와 HtrA1의 serine protease 활성 조건에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Kyung-Hee;Kim, Sang-Soo;Kim, Goo-Young;Rhim, Hyang-Shuk
    • Journal of Life Science
    • /
    • v.16 no.7 s.80
    • /
    • pp.1133-1140
    • /
    • 2006
  • Human HtrA1 (High temperature requirement protein A1) is a homologue of the E. coli periplasmic serine protease HtrA. A recent study has demonstrated that HtrA1 is a serine protease involved in processing of insulin like growth factor binding protein (ICFBP), indicating that it serves as an important regulator of IGF activity. Additionally, several lines of evidence suggest a striking correlation between proteolytic activity of HtrA1 serine protease and the pathogenesis of several diseases; however, physiological roles of HtrA1 remain to be elucidated. We used the pGEX bacterial expression system to develop a simple and rapid method for purifying HtrA1, and the recombinant HtrA1 protein was utilized to investigate the optimal conditions in executing its proteolytic activity. The proteolytically active HtrA1 was purified to approximately 85% purity, although the yield of the recombinant HtrA1 protein was slightly low $460{\mu}g$ for 1 liter E. coli culture). Using in vitro endoproteolytic cleavage assay, we identified that the HtrA1 serine protease activity was dependent on the enzyme concentration and the incubation time and that the best reaction temperature was $42^{\circ}C$ instead of $37^{\circ}C$. We arbitrary defined one unit of proteolytic activity of the HtrA1 serine protease as 200nM of HtrA1 that cleaves half of $5{\mu}M\;of\;{\beta}-casein$ during 3 hr incubation at $37^{\circ}C$. Our study provides a method for generating useful reagents to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which HtrA1 serine protease activity contributes in regulating its physiological function and to identify natural substrates of HtrA1.

Analysis of Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection among Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Single Center Study

  • Kim, Minhye;Choi, Sujin;Jung, Young Hwa;Choi, Chang Won;Shin, Myoung-jin;Kim, Eu Suk;Lee, Hyunju
    • Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
    • /
    • v.28 no.3
    • /
    • pp.133-143
    • /
    • 2021
  • Purpose: This study aimed to determine the incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), evaluate the patients' clinical characteristics, and identify the etiologic agents for guidance in prevention and treatment. Methods: A retrospective chart review study of infants classified as having CLABSI was conducted at the NICU of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital from January 2016 to December 2020. Results: Of the 45 infants, 53 had CLABSIs within a follow-up period of 18,622 catheter days. The incidence of CLABSIs was 2.85 per 1,000 catheter days. The most common catheter type was a peripherally inserted central catheter (n=47, 81%). A total of 57 pathogens were isolated, of which 57.9% (n=33) were Gram-positive bacteria, 36.8% (n=21) were Gram-negative bacteria, and 5.3% (n=3) were Candida spp. The most common pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus (n=12, 21%) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (n=12, 21%), followed by Klebsiella aerogenes (n=8, 14%). The median duration of bacteremia was 2 days, and 19 episodes showed bacteremia for 3 days or more. The mortality rate of infants within 14 days of CLABSI was 13.3% (n=6). Conclusions: This study analyzed the incidence of CLABSI and the distribution of pathogens in the NICU. Continuous monitoring of CLABSI based on active surveillance serves as guidance for empiric antibiotic use and also serves as a tool to assess the necessity for implementation of prevention strategies and their impact.

A Study on the Performance Verification Method of Small-Sized LTE-Maritime Transceiver (소형 초고속해상무선통신망 송수신기 성능 검증 방안에 관한 연구)

  • Seok Woo;Bu-young Kim;Woo-Seong Shim
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
    • /
    • v.29 no.7
    • /
    • pp.902-909
    • /
    • 2023
  • This study evaluated the performance test of a small-sized LTE-Maritime(LTE-M) transceiver that was developed and promoted to expand the use of intelligent maritime traf ic information services led by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries with the aim of supporting the prevention of maritime accidents. Accoriding to statistics, approximately 30% of all marine accidents in Korean water occur with ships weighing less than 3 tons. Therefore, the blind spots of maritime safety must be supplemented through the development of small-sized transceivers. The small transceiver may be used in fishing boats that are active near coastal waters and in water leisure equipment near the coastline. Therefore, verifying whether sufficient performance and stable communication quality are provided is necessary, considering the environment of their real usage. In this study, we reviewed the communication quality goals of the LTE-M network and the performance requirements of small-sized transceivers suggested by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and proposed a test plan to appropriately evaluate the performance of small-sized transceivers. The validity of the proposed test method was verified for six real-sea areas with a high frequency of marine accidents. Consequently, the downlink and uplink transmission speeds of the small-sized LTE-M transceiver showed performances of 9 Mbps or more and 3 Mbps or more, respectively. In addition, using the coverage analysis system, coverage of more than 95% and 100% were confirmed in the intensive management zone (0-30 km) and interesting zone (30-50 km), respectively. The performance evaluation method and test results proposed in this paper are expected to be used as reference materials for verifying the performance of transceivers, contributing to the spread of government-promoted e-navigation services and small-sized transceivers.

Clinical implications on vancomycin-resistant enterococci isolated from the specimen of pediatric patients in a university hospital (단일 기관에서 소아 환자들의 임상검체로부터 분리된 Vancomycin 내성 장구균에 대한 임상적 고찰)

  • Park, Yeo Hoon;Kim, Khi Joo;Kim, Ki Hwan;Chun, Jin-Kyong;Lee, Taek Jin;Kim, Dong Soo;Park, Eun Suk
    • Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
    • /
    • v.14 no.2
    • /
    • pp.162-170
    • /
    • 2007
  • Purpose : While cases of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have increasingly been reported worldwide since it was first reported in the late 1980s, there have been few systemic studies on the pediatric population. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the planning of VRE prevention by investigating the prevalence, risk factors and transmission of VRE infection. Methods : We studied 230 patients under age 15 years who were isolated VRE between January 2001 and December 2006 retrospectively. The patients were classified into the intensive care unit (ICU) and the non-ICU groups. We reviewed the procedures before VRE detection as well as antibiotic sensitivity of detected organisms. Results : The number of VRE-isolation cases was higher in the ICU group than the non-ICU group. Instances of VRE-isolation were also more prevalent in patients who underwent operations or active procedures while taking 3rd-generation cephalosporins or glycopeptides. Almost all antibiotics except tetracycline were resistant to VRE. The proportion of 3rd-generation cephalosporin use was higher than those of any other antibiotics before VRE detection. Additionally, the use of 3rd-generation cephalosporins has increased annually, but that of glycopeptides had decreased in 2006. Also, the rates of VRE isolation have been increasing since 1998. Conclusion : VRE infection is increasing in pediatric population. Strict adherence to appropriate infection control guidelines for the prevention of VRE transmission in hospitals, and tracking of VRE colonization through active surveillance in high risk units are recommended.

  • PDF

Effect of Soil Temperature on Growth and Root Characteristics and P, K Uptake by Soybean (토양온도(土壤溫度)가 대두(大豆)의 생육(生育) 및 뿌리 특성(特性)과 P, K 흡수(吸收)에 미치는 영향(影響))

  • Jung, Yeong-Sang;Han, Seong;Ha, Sang-Geun;Lim, Hyung-Sik
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
    • /
    • v.25 no.1
    • /
    • pp.16-25
    • /
    • 1992
  • A pot experiment was conducted to understand effect of soil temperaute on soybean shoot and root growth, and its relations to nutrient uptake including phosporus and potassium. Pregerminated soybean seedlings, Paldal cultivar, were planted for 43 days on the pots with Ihyeon silt loam and Samgag sandy loam in the temperature controled water baths at 17, 25 and $32^{\circ}C$. Shoot and root samples were taken at four times and analyzed. Shoot and root dry matter weights were heavier as higher soil temperaure. The root dry matter increased faster than shoot at earlier period. Shoot dry matter weights grown at 17 and $25^{\circ}C$ showed little difference between two soils, however, those grown in silt loam at $32^{\circ}C$ were heavier than sandy loam. The total lengths of roots were longer as higher soil temperature, and longer in silt loam than sandy loam. The roots grown in sandy loam at low temperature were thicker than the roots grown in silt loam at high temperature. The uptakes of phosphorus and potassium were higher as higher tempeature with same trend with dry matter. The uptake rate of unit root surface area was higher in sandy loam soil than silt loam. The uptake rates showed strong dependence on soil temperature as well as dependence of water uptake rate. Based on Dalton and Gardner model, at high temperature the dependence trend of phosphorus and potassium on soil temperature showed with active uptake model, while at low temperature the dependence showed without active uptake model.

  • PDF

The Mechanism of Interferon-$\gamma$ Induced Cytotoxicity on the Lung Cancer Cell Line, A549 (인터페론감마에 의한 A549 폐암세포주 세포독성의 기전)

  • Oh, Yeon-Mok;Yoo, Chul-Gyu;Chung, Hee-Soon;Kim, Young-Whan;Han, Sung-Koo;Shim, Young-Soo
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
    • /
    • v.43 no.1
    • /
    • pp.63-68
    • /
    • 1996
  • Background: Interferon-$\gamma$ has various biologic effects, including antiviral effect, antitumor proliferative effect, activation of macrophage and B lymphocyte, and increased expression of major histocompatibility complex. Especially, antitumor proliferative effect of interferon-$\gamma$ has already been proved to be important in vivo as well as in vitro. And, clinical studies of interferon-$\gamma$ have been tried in lung cancer patients. However, the mechanism of antitumor effect of interferon-$\gamma$ has not yet been established despite of many hypotheses. "Necrosis" is a type of cell death which is well known to occur in the circumstances of severe stresses. In contrast, "apoptosis" is another type of cell death which occurs in such biological circumstances as embryonic development, regression of organs, and self-tolerance of lymphocytes. And, apoptosis is an active process of cell death in which cells are dying with fragmentations of their cytoplasms and nuclei. And, in the process of apoptosis the DNAs of cells are cleaved between nucleosomes by unidentified endonuclease and therefore DNAs of apoptotic cells result in a typical electrophoresis pattern known as DNA ladder pattern. Recently it has been suggested that cytotoxic effect of interferon-$\gamma$ occurs via apoptosis. To elucidate the mechanism of antitumor cytotoxic effect of interferon-$\gamma$, we microscopically observed a lung cancer cell line, A549 which was treated with interferon-$\gamma$. We observed A545 treated with interferon-$\gamma$ was dying fragmented. And so, we performed this study to find out that the mechanism of antitumor cytotoxic effect of interferon-$\gamma$ be apoptosis. Method: We treated A549, human lung cancer cell line with various concentration of interferon-$\gamma$ and quantified its cytotoxic effect of various periods, 24 hours, 72 hours and, 120 hours by MTT(dimethylthiazolyl diphenyltetrazolium bromide) bioassay. Also, after we treated A549 with 100 units/mi of interferon-$\gamma$ for 120 hours, we observed the pattern of cell death with inverted microscope and we extracted DNAs from the dead A549 cells and observed the pattern of 1.5% agarose gel electrophoresis with ethidium bromide staining. Result: 1) Cytotoxic effect of interferon-$\gamma$ on A549: For the first 24 hours, threre was little cytotoxic effect and for between 24 hours and 72 hours, there was the beginning of cytotoxic effect and for 120 hours there was increased cytotoxic effect. 2) Pattern of A549 cell death by interferon-$\gamma$: We observed with inverted microscope that A549 cells were dying fragmented. 3) DNA ladder pattern of gel electrophoresis: We observed DNA ladder pattern of gel electrophoresis of extracted DNAs from dead A549 cells. Conclusion: We concluded that the mechanism of interferon-$\gamma$induced cytotoxicity on lung cancer cell line, A549 be via apoptosis.

  • PDF

Efficient Topic Modeling by Mapping Global and Local Topics (전역 토픽의 지역 매핑을 통한 효율적 토픽 모델링 방안)

  • Choi, Hochang;Kim, Namgyu
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.23 no.3
    • /
    • pp.69-94
    • /
    • 2017
  • Recently, increase of demand for big data analysis has been driving the vigorous development of related technologies and tools. In addition, development of IT and increased penetration rate of smart devices are producing a large amount of data. According to this phenomenon, data analysis technology is rapidly becoming popular. Also, attempts to acquire insights through data analysis have been continuously increasing. It means that the big data analysis will be more important in various industries for the foreseeable future. Big data analysis is generally performed by a small number of experts and delivered to each demander of analysis. However, increase of interest about big data analysis arouses activation of computer programming education and development of many programs for data analysis. Accordingly, the entry barriers of big data analysis are gradually lowering and data analysis technology being spread out. As the result, big data analysis is expected to be performed by demanders of analysis themselves. Along with this, interest about various unstructured data is continually increasing. Especially, a lot of attention is focused on using text data. Emergence of new platforms and techniques using the web bring about mass production of text data and active attempt to analyze text data. Furthermore, result of text analysis has been utilized in various fields. Text mining is a concept that embraces various theories and techniques for text analysis. Many text mining techniques are utilized in this field for various research purposes, topic modeling is one of the most widely used and studied. Topic modeling is a technique that extracts the major issues from a lot of documents, identifies the documents that correspond to each issue and provides identified documents as a cluster. It is evaluated as a very useful technique in that reflect the semantic elements of the document. Traditional topic modeling is based on the distribution of key terms across the entire document. Thus, it is essential to analyze the entire document at once to identify topic of each document. This condition causes a long time in analysis process when topic modeling is applied to a lot of documents. In addition, it has a scalability problem that is an exponential increase in the processing time with the increase of analysis objects. This problem is particularly noticeable when the documents are distributed across multiple systems or regions. To overcome these problems, divide and conquer approach can be applied to topic modeling. It means dividing a large number of documents into sub-units and deriving topics through repetition of topic modeling to each unit. This method can be used for topic modeling on a large number of documents with limited system resources, and can improve processing speed of topic modeling. It also can significantly reduce analysis time and cost through ability to analyze documents in each location or place without combining analysis object documents. However, despite many advantages, this method has two major problems. First, the relationship between local topics derived from each unit and global topics derived from entire document is unclear. It means that in each document, local topics can be identified, but global topics cannot be identified. Second, a method for measuring the accuracy of the proposed methodology should be established. That is to say, assuming that global topic is ideal answer, the difference in a local topic on a global topic needs to be measured. By those difficulties, the study in this method is not performed sufficiently, compare with other studies dealing with topic modeling. In this paper, we propose a topic modeling approach to solve the above two problems. First of all, we divide the entire document cluster(Global set) into sub-clusters(Local set), and generate the reduced entire document cluster(RGS, Reduced global set) that consist of delegated documents extracted from each local set. We try to solve the first problem by mapping RGS topics and local topics. Along with this, we verify the accuracy of the proposed methodology by detecting documents, whether to be discerned as the same topic at result of global and local set. Using 24,000 news articles, we conduct experiments to evaluate practical applicability of the proposed methodology. In addition, through additional experiment, we confirmed that the proposed methodology can provide similar results to the entire topic modeling. We also proposed a reasonable method for comparing the result of both methods.

The effect of early loading on the direct bone-to-implant surface contact of the orthodontic osseointegrated titanium implant (교정력이 골유착성 티타니움 임프란트의 초기 고정에 미치는 영향에 관한 실험적 연구)

  • Chung, Kyu-Rhim;Lee, Sung-Ja
    • The korean journal of orthodontics
    • /
    • v.31 no.2 s.85
    • /
    • pp.173-185
    • /
    • 2001
  • The orthodontic osseointegrated titanium implant, a kind of intraoral skeletal anchorage can be an alternative to tooth-borne anchorage, in case that the conventional tooth-borne anchorage is not available or the anchorage is critical. This study was conducted to elucidate the effect of early loading on the osseointegration of the orthodontic titanium implant and the healing process of the impaired bone at the site of implant after removing it. In two adult beagle dogs24 osseointegrated titanium implants were inserted into the alveolar bone, with 12 implants placed in each dog. In dog1, 6 out of 12 implants were loaded with 200-300gm of force immediately after placing, and the remaining 6 implants were not loaded for 4weeks. In dog2, all 12 implants had healing period of 4weeks, and then were loaded with 200-300gm of force for another 4weeks. Following an observation period of 4 and 8 weeks, the animals were sacrificed. Then the implants and the surrounding bone of dog1 and dog2 were removed, respectively. Undecalcified sections along the long axis of implant were made and the degree of osseointegration was examined under the light microscope. The results were as follows. 1. In the histologic features of tissues around implants anchored in dog1, there was no difference between immediately loaded implants and unloaded implants. Immature woven bone was ingrowing into the thread spaces from the original compacta and in direct contact with the implant surface in part. 2. The premature loading just after 4weeks healing period did not halt the progress of the osseointegration between bone and implant surface. The woven bone around the implants was maturing into the lamellar bone which resembled the structure of the original compacta at the end of 8weeks observation period. 3. Most implants with the inflammed surrounding mucosa were lost or mobile. The mobile implants were encapsulated by fibrous connective tissue which separated the implant surface from the bone. 4. The impaired bone at the site of the implant failed to anchor was showing recovery without inflammatory reaction 2weeks after removing, with the immaure woven bone lined by active osteoblasts and osteoid. Based on the results of this study, the integration of this orthodontic implant seemed to be impaired by the inflammation of the tissue surrounding the Implant rather than by early loading on implant, and increased with time lapsed after placing the implant. The use of implant described in this report can be recommended as an orthodontic anchorage unit immediately after insertion under the careful control of orthodontic force applied and plaque.

  • PDF

Effects of Aerosol Colistin Treatment of Pneumonia Caused by Multi-drug Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (다약제 내성 Acinetobacter baumannii 에 의한 폐렴에서 Colistin 분무치료의 효과)

  • Choi, Hye Sook;Hwang, Yeon Hee;Park, Myung Jae;Kang, Hong Mo
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
    • /
    • v.64 no.1
    • /
    • pp.8-14
    • /
    • 2008
  • Background: Acinetobacter infections are difficult to treat as they often exhibit multiple resistance to the antibiotics that are currently available for the treatment of pneumonia. Colistin is active against gram-negative bacteria, including the multiple drug resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter species. However, intravenous administration of colistin was abandoned because of its nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity. The aims of this study were to examine the efficacy and safety of colistin administered by aerosol in the treatment of pneumonia caused by MDR Acinetobacter baumannii. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) from Dec. 2006 to Aug. 2007 who had been diagnosed as suffering from pneumonia due to MDR Acinetobacter baumannii and had been treated with nebulized colistin. Results: 31 patients received aerosolized colistin. The average duration of the treatment was $14{\pm}7$ days and the daily dose of ranged from 225 mg to 300 mg. All patients received concomitant intravenous antimicrobial agents. The average length of the stay in the ICU was $34{\pm}21$ days and in the hospital $58{\pm}52$ days. The overall microbiological eradication was observed in 25 patients (80.6%). 14 of these (56%) were cured, and 11 (44%) were infected with other microorganisms. The overall crude mortality of the ICU was 48%. Nephrotoxicity and significant bronchial constriction did not occur in any patient during neublized colistin treatment. Conclusion: Nebulized colistin may be a safe and effective option in the treatment of pneumonia due to MDR Acinetobacter baumannii. Its role in therapy warrants further investigation in comparative studies.

A RURAL HEALTH SERVICE MODEL FOR KOREA BASED OH A PRIMARY CARE NURSING SERVICE SYSTEM

  • Hong, Yeo-Shin
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
    • /
    • v.11 no.2
    • /
    • pp.5-8
    • /
    • 1981
  • This study concerns itself with the development of a new model of comprehensive health service for rural communities of Korea. The study was conceived to resolve the problems of both underservice in rural communities and underutilization of valuable health manpower, namely the nurses, the disenchanted elite health personnel in Korea. On review of the current situation, the greatest deficiencies in the Korean health care system were found in the availability of primary care at the peripheries of md communities, in the dissemination of knowledge of disease prevention and health care, and in the induction of and guidance for active participation by the clientele in health maintenance at the personal, family and community level Abundant untapped health resources were identified that could be brough to bear upon the national effort to extend health services to every member of the Korean Population. Therefore, it was Postulated that the problem of underservice in rural communities of Korea can be structurcturally resolved by the effective mobilization and organization of untapped health resources, and that. a primary care Nursing Service System offers the best possibility for fulfillment of rural health service goals within the current health man-power situation. In order to identify appropriate strategies to combat the present difficulties in Korean rural health services and to utilize nurses and other health personnel in community-centered health programs, a search was made for examples of innovative service models throughout the world. An extensive literature survey and field visits to project sites both in Korea and in the United States were made. Experts in the field of world health, health service, planners, administrators, and medical and nursing practitioners in Korea, in the United States as well as visitors from other Asian countries were widely consulted. On the basis of information and inputs from these experts a new rural health service model has been constructed within the conceptual framework of community development, especially of the innovation diffusion Model. It is considered especially important that citizens in each community develop capacities for self-care with assistance and supports from available health professionals and participate in health service-related decisions that affect their own well-being. The proposed model is based upon the regionalization of health care planning utilizing a comprehensive Nursing Service System at the immediate delivery level The model features: (1) a health administration unit at each administrative level; (2) mechanisms for community participation; (3) a continuous source of primary health care at the local community level; (4) relative centralization of specialty care and provision of tertiary or super-specialty care only at major national metropolitan centers; and (5) a system for patient referral to the appropriate level of care. This model has been built around professional nurses as the key community health workers because their training is particularly suited and because large numbers of well-trained nurses are currently available and being trained. The special element in this model is a professional nurse-guided, self-care facilitating primary care Community Nursing Service System. This is supported by a Nursing Extension Service as a new training and support structure. (See attached diagrams). A broad spectrum of programs was proposed for the Community Nursing Service System. These were designed to establish a balance of activities between the clinic-centered individual care component and the field activity-centered educational and supportive component of health care services. Examples of possible program alternatives and proposed guidelines for health care in specific situations were presented, as well as the roles and functions of the key health personnel within the Community Nursing Service System. This Rural Health Service Model was proposed as a real alternative to the maldistributed, inequitable, uncoordinated solo-practice, physician-centered fee-for-service health care available to Koreans today.

  • PDF