• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.59-68
• /
• 2021

Multidrug-resistant strain of Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB) is an emerging pathogen in health care facilities, preventing MDRAB is a public health concern. We conducted this experiment on a clinical isolate of A. baumannii with two main goals: the role of the efflux pump system in the stress provision of carbapenem and the response to the transcription level of the efflux pump gene. A total of 34 strains of A. baumannii was isolated from the Yangsan Hospital of Pusan National University. First, when we compared and observed the expression of the efflux pump gene and antibacterial resistance to carbapenem, a strong correlation was observed between carbapenem resistance and overexpression of adeB (P=0.0056). Second, a correlation between the efflux pump and concentration gradient and tolerance to carbapenem stress at the AdeABC efflux pump genes transcription level was confirmed. Our results revealed that the expression of the AdeABC efflux pump is an important resistance determinant in obtaining antibiotic resistance of the carbapenem group in A. baumannii.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.2.1-2.10
• /
• 2021

BRAF inhibitors (e.g., vemurafenib) are widely used to treat metastatic melanoma with the BRAF V600E mutation. The initial response is often dramatic, but treatment resistance leads to disease progression in the majority of cases. Although secondary mutations in the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway are known to be responsible for this phenomenon, the molecular mechanisms governing acquired resistance are not known in more than half of patients. Here we report a genome- and transcriptome-wide study investigating the molecular mechanisms of acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors. A microfluidic chip with a concentration gradient of vemurafenib was utilized to rapidly obtain therapy-resistant clones from two melanoma cell lines with the BRAF V600E mutation (A375 and SK-MEL-28). Exome and transcriptome data were produced from 13 resistant clones and analyzed to identify secondary mutations and gene expression changes. Various mechanisms, including phenotype switching and metabolic reprogramming, have been determined to contribute to resistance development differently for each clone. The roles of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor, the master transcription factor in melanocyte differentiation/dedifferentiation, were highlighted in terms of phenotype switching. Our study provides an omics-based comprehensive overview of the molecular mechanisms governing acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitor therapy.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.26 no.1C
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study is to experimentally analysis the eletrokinetic phenomena and remediation characteristics developed during the application of electrokinetic remediation technique to unsaturated soils contaminated by heavy metals. In the laboratory a series of column tests are performed on degree of saturation for shooting range soil. The test results indicated that Pb is mainly removed under unsaturated conditions by electromigration within diffuse double layer, and if the initial containment concentration is below cation exchange capacity and equals to adsorption per unit soil solid weight, the remedial efficiency decreases with the decreasing of transport efficiency due to the changes in the degree of saturation in the electric gradient of 1V/cm.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2022.05a
• /
• pp.86-86
• /
• 2022

While estuarine dams can develop freshwater resources and block the salt intrusion, they can result in increased sediment deposition in the estuary. The mechanism of increased sediment deposition in an estuary with an estuary dam is not well understood. To fill this knowledge gap, 7 ADCP measurements of flow and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) were collected along-channel in an estuary with an estuarine dam over a neap-spring cycle. Flow and SSC were used to calculate the sediment flux and sediment flux gradients. The results indicated that the cumulative sediment fluxes at all stations were directed landward. The along-channel sediment flux gradient was negative, which indicated deposition along the channel. The landward mean-flow fluxes were dominant in the deep portion of the channel near the estuary mouth, whereas landward correlation fluxes were dominant in the shallow portion of the channel near the estuarine dam. The tides were the dominant forcing driving the sediment fluxes throughout the estuary.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.399-410
• /
• 2023

This study proposes a novel use of backpropagated Levenberg-Marquardt neural networks based on computational intelligence heuristics to comprehend the examination of hybrid nanoparticles on the flow of dusty liquid via stretched cylinder. A two-phase model is employed in the present work to describe the fluid flow. The use of desulphated nanoparticles of silver and molybdenum suspended in water as base fluid. The mathematical model represented in terms of partial differential equations, Implementing similarity transformationsis model is converted to ordinary differential equations for the analysis . By adjusting the particle mass concentration and curvature parameter, a unique technique is utilized to generate a dataset for the proposed Levenberg-Marquardt neural networks in various nanoparticle circumstances on the flow of dusty liquid via stretched cylinder. The intelligent solver Levenberg-Marquardt neural networks is trained, tested and verified to identify the nanoparticles on the flow of dusty liquid solution for various situations. The Levenberg-Marquardt neural networks approach is applied for the solution of the hybrid nanoparticles on the flow of dusty liquid via stretched cylinder model. It is validated by comparison with the standard solution, regression analysis, histograms, and absolute error analysis. Strong agreement between proposed results and reference solutions as well as accuracy provide an evidence of the framework's validity.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.66
• /
• pp.153-158
• /
• 2023

Pinus species are native to the Northern Hemisphere and some parts of the tropics to temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere. They were used as food and medicine in prehistoric times. Massonianoside B is a compound found in pine trees and possesses antioxidant activity. In order to determine the presence and content of this compound in Pinus species, three different parts (needles, branches, and bark) of three Pinus species were extracted and investigated. High-performance liquid chromatography with a gradient elution system along with a reverse-phase INNO column with photodiode array detector was employed. Results showed that the branches of the three Pinus species had higher massonianoside B content (5.502 to 9.751 mg/g DW) than either the needles or bark. Furthermore, among the three species, P. rigida × P. taeda had the highest concentration of total massonianoside B (11.557 mg/g DW). These findings thus provide evidence of biological activity in Pinus species and establish a foundation for further research.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.66
• /
• pp.67-72
• /
• 2023

A simple and accurate method was developed for the quantitative analysis of oleanonic acid (OA) from mastic gum. The analysis was carried out using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography combined with a photodiode array detector (HPLC/PDA). Our optimized method was validated by measuring various parameters, using an INNO C18 column fitted with a gradient elution system. The results revealed limits of detection and quantification of 0.34 and 1.042 ㎍/mL, respectively. The OA calibration curve exhibited excellent linearity over the concentration range of 0.0625 to 2.0 mg/mL, with r² =0.9996. Accuracy tests revealed a high recovery rate of 99.44-103.66%, with precision values below 0.15%. These results suggest that the present analytical method can identify and quantify OA in mastic gum with high precision. The HPLC approach developed in this study might be applied to routine analyses and large-scale extraction procedures for OA content quantification.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.12
• /
• pp.4382-4394
• /
• 2023

Passive auto-catalytic recombiners (PARs) are widely used to mitigate a hydrogen hazard. The first step to evaluate the hydrogen safety by PARs is to obtain qualified test data of the PARs for validation of their analytical model. SPARC PAR tests SP8 and SP9 were conducted to evaluate the hydrogen recombination characteristics of a honeycomb-shaped catalyst PAR. To obtain the hydrogen recombination rate from the PAR test data, two methods, Method-1 and Method-2, introduced by the THAI project, were applied. Since a large gradient of hydrogen concentration developed during hydrogen injection can cause a large error in the hydrogen mass obtained by integrating the measured hydrogen concentrations, a gate was installed at the PAR inlet to homogenize hydrogen in the test vessel before the PAR operation in the tests. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code with a PAR model was also applied to evaluate the characteristics of the PAR recombination according to the PAR inlet conditions, and the results were compared with those from Method-1 and Method-2. It was confirmed that the recombination rates from Method-1 require a correction factor to be compatible with results from Method-2 and the CFD simulation in the case of the SPARC-PAR tests.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.39 no.5_1
• /
• pp.655-667
• /
• 2023

Algal bloom outbreaks are frequently reported around the world, and serious water pollution problems arise every year in Korea. It is necessary to protect the aquatic ecosystem through continuous management and rapid response. Many studies using satellite images are being conducted to estimate the concentration of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), an indicator of algal bloom occurrence. However, machine learning models have recently been used because it is difficult to accurately calculate Chl-a due to the spectral characteristics and atmospheric correction errors that change depending on the water system. It is necessary to consider the factors affecting algal bloom as well as the satellite spectral index. Therefore, this study constructed a dataset by considering water quality, hydrological and meteorological factors, and sentinel-2 images in combination. Representative ensemble models random forest and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) were used to predict the concentration of Chl-a in eight weirs located on the Nakdong river over the past five years. R-squared score (R²), root mean square errors (RMSE), and mean absolute errors (MAE) were used as model evaluation indicators, and it was confirmed that R² of XGBoost was 0.80, RMSE was 6.612, and MAE was 4.457. Shapley additive expansion analysis showed that water quality factors, suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen, and the band ratio using red edge bands were of high importance in both models. Various input data were confirmed to help improve model performance, and it seems that it can be applied to domestic and international algal bloom detection.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.314-322
• /
• 2012

In order to elucidate temporal variations of temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), suspended particulate matter (SPM), dissolved inorganic nutrients, and chlorophyll a, we performed 25-hour continuous monitoring in the Seomjin River Estuary in March (dry season) and July (rainy season) 2006. We also investigated spatial variations of marine environmental parameters across a saline gradient. In the Seomjin River Estuary, continuous monitoring results revealed that salinity variations were mainly affected by tidal cycle in the dry season and by river discharge in the rainy season. In the dry season, the spatio-temporal distribution of dissolved inorganic nutrient (nitrate, nitrite, and silicate) concentrations showed a good correlation with tidal cycle. While nutrient concentrations in rainy season showed not much variance in time. There were 6 and 4 times higher dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in the rainy season than those in the dry season, respectively. Silicate concentration was 43 times higher in the rainy season than that in the dry season. Chlorophyll a concentration was higher in the dry season than that in the rainy season showing high nutrient concentrations. The results of this study, spatio-temporal variations of marine environmental factors are determined by both tidal cycle and river discharge. It seems that chlorophyll a concentration is related to the river discharge than dissolved inorganic nutrient distribution.