• Title/Summary/Keyword: Research laboratory

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Differences in Colistin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Clinical Isolates Between Patients With and Without Prior Colistin Treatment

  • Park, Yu Jin;Hong, Duck Jin;Yoon, Eun-Jeong;Kim, Dokyun;Choi, Min Hyuk;Hong, Jun Sung;Lee, Hyukmin;Yong, Dongeun;Jeong, Seok Hoon
    • Annals of Laboratory Medicine
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    • v.38 no.6
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    • pp.545-554
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    • 2018
  • Background: The increasing morbidity and mortality rates associated with Acinetobacter baumannii are due to the emergence of drug resistance and the limited treatment options. We compared characteristics of colistin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CR-AB) clinical isolates recovered from patients with and without prior colistin treatment. We assessed whether prior colistin treatment affects the resistance mechanism of CR-AB isolates, mortality rates, and clinical characteristics. Additionally, a proper method for identifying CR-AB was determined. Methods: We collected 36 non-duplicate CR-AB clinical isolates resistant to colistin. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, Sanger sequencing analysis, molecular typing, lipid A structure analysis, and in vitro synergy testing were performed. Eleven colistin-susceptible AB isolates were used as controls. Results: Despite no differences in clinical characteristics between patients with and without prior colistin treatment, resistance-causing genetic mutations were more frequent in isolates from colistin-treated patients. Distinct mutations were overlooked via the Sanger sequencing method, perhaps because of a masking effect by the colistin-susceptible AB subpopulation of CR-AB isolates lacking genetic mutations. However, modified lipid A analysis revealed colistin resistance peaks, despite the population heterogeneity, and peak levels were significantly different between the groups. Conclusions: Although prior colistin use did not induce clinical or susceptibility differences, we demonstrated that identification of CR-AB by sequencing is insufficient. We propose that population heterogeneity has a masking effect, especially in colistin non-treated patients; therefore, accurate testing methods reflecting physiological alterations of the bacteria, such as phosphoethanolamine-modified lipid A identification by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight, should be employed.

Report of the Oblique Ionospheric Sounding Results from Korea to Japan

  • Bae, Seok-Hee;Park, Chung-Rim;Wee, Kyu-Jin;Akira Ohtani;Mikitoshi Nagayama;Kiyoshi Igarashi
    • International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Korean Journal of Geophysical Research
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.1.2-5
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    • 1994
  • Ionospheric sounding experiments have been conducted at RRL (Radio Research Laboratory), Ministry of Communications, using Digisonde 256 since its installation in 1990. Routine observations of the vertical sounding are carried out 48 times (or 39 times) a day, at every 24 hour. In addition, we also made oblique sounding experiments to obtain the real time data of Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and detect the anomalous HF propagation, as a part of the joint study between RRL and CRL (Communications Research Laboratory) of Japan. The two stations involved in the study were Anyang (RRL, Korea) and Kokubunji (CRL, Japan). The ionosondes used in both stations were Digisonde 256, developed by ULCAR (University of Lowell, Center for Atmospheric Research), U. S. A. , and the synchronization of time was accomplished with the help of GPS receiver. During most part of the experiments RRL transmitted non-modulated pulses, and CRL received them. The experiment was scheduled from October 25 through October 29, 1993. However, the ionosphere was not developed well enough to conduct the experiment with pre-set operation parameters. The experiment became successful (from 0500 UT to 0800 UT, October 29) only after the operation parameters had been changed, and the continuous ionograms were obtained by CRL at 0718 UT and 0733 UT in October 29, 1993. We believe this type of experiment will ensure the qualitative enhancement of solar-terrestrial physics research and a routine observation of the oblique ionospheric sounding. In this report, we present the results of the fore-mentioned oblique sounding as well as the vertical sounding results obtained by Digisonde 256 at Anyang station of RRL.

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Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Bacterium Burkholderia gladioli Bsp-1 Producing Alkaline Lipase

  • Zhu, Jing;Liu, Yanjing;Yanqin, Yanqin;Pan, Lixia;Li, Yi;Liang, Ge;Wang, Qingyan
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.29 no.7
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    • pp.1043-1052
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    • 2019
  • Active lipase-producing bacterium Burkholderia gladioli Bps-1 was rapidly isolated using a modified trypan blue and tetracycline, ampicillin plate. The electro-phoretically pure enzyme was obtained by purification using ethanol precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography, and gel filtration chromatography. The molecular weight was 34.6 kDa and the specific activity was determined to be 443.9 U/mg. The purified lipase showed the highest activity after hydrolysis with $p-NPC_{16}$ at a pH of 8.5 and $50^{\circ}C$, and the $K_m$, $k_{cat}$, and $k_{cat}/K_m$ values were 1.05 mM, $292.95s^{-1}$ and $279s^{-1}mM^{-1}$, respectively. The lipase was highly stable at $7.5{\leq}pH{\leq}10.0$. $K^+$ and $Na^+$ exerted activation effects on the lipase which had favorable tolerance to short-chain alcohols with its residual enzyme activity being 110% after being maintained in 30% ethanol for 1 h. The results demonstrated that the lipase produced by the strain B. gladioli Bps-1 has high enzyme activity and is an alkaline lipase. The lipase has promising chemical properties for a range of applications in the food-processing and detergent industries, and has particularly high potential for use in the manufacture of biodiesel.

Effects of Minor Ginsenosides, Ginsenoside Metabolites, and Ginsenoside Epimers on the Growth of Caenorhabditis elegans

  • Lee, Joon-Hee;Ahn, Ji-Yun;Shin, Tae-Joon;Choi, Sun-Hye;Lee, Byung-Hwan;Hwang, Sung-Hee;Kang, Ji-Yeon;Kim, Hyeon-Joong;Park, Chan-Woo;Nah, Seung-Yeol
    • Journal of Ginseng Research
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    • v.35 no.3
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    • pp.375-383
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    • 2011
  • In the previous report, we have demonstrated that ginsenoside Rc, one of major ginsenosides, is a major component for the restoration for normal growth of worms in cholesterol-deprived medium. In the present study, we further investigated the roles of minor ginsenosides, such as ginsenoside $Rh_1$ and $Rh_2$, ginsenoside metabolites such as compound K (CK), protopanaxadiol (PPD), and protopanaxatriol (PPT) and ginsenoside epimers such as 20(R)- and 20(S)-ginsenoside $Rg_3$ in cholesterol-deprived medium. We found that ginsenoside $Rh_1$ almost restored normal growth of worms in cholesterol-deprived medium in F1 generation. However, supplement of ginsenoside $Rh_2$ caused a suppression of worm growths in cholesterol-deprived medium. In addition, CK and PPD also slightly restored normal growth of worms in cholesterol-deprived medium but PPT not. In experiments using ginsenoside epimers, supplement of 20(S)- but not 20(R)-ginsenoside $Rg_3$ in cholesterol-deprived medium also almost restored worm growth. These results indicate that the absence or presence of carbohydrate component at backbone of ginsenoside, the number of carbohydrate attached at carbon-3, and the position of hydroxyl group at carbon-20 of ginsenoside might plays important roles in restoration of worm growth in cholesterol-deprived medium.

Evaluation of SERS Nanoparticles to Detect Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis

  • Hong, Jeehwa;Qin, Jianwei;Van Kessel, Jo Ann S.;Oh, Mirae;Dhakal, Sagar;Lee, Hoonsoo;Hwang, Chansong;Chan, Diane E.;Kim, Dongho;Cho, Hyunjeong;Kim, Moon S.
    • Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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    • v.43 no.4
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    • pp.394-400
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    • 2018
  • Purpose: This research evaluated five types of nanoparticles to develop a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) method for the rapid detection of two Bacillus species (Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis) that are commonly found on fresh produce, which can cause food poisoning. Methods: Bacterial concentrations were adjusted to a constant turbidity, and a total of $30{\mu}L$ of each Bacillus cell suspension was prepared for each nanoparticle. A point-scan Raman system with laser light source of wavelength 785 nm was used to obtain SERS data. Results: There was no qualitative difference in the SERS data of B. cereus and B. thuringiensis for any of the five nanoparticles. Three gold nanoparticles, stabilized in either citrate buffer or ethanol, showed subtle differences in Raman intensities of two Bacillus species at $877.7cm^{-1}$. Conclusions: Among the three types of nanoparticles, the gold nanoparticles stabilized in citrate buffer showed the lowest standard deviation, followed by gold nanoparticles stabilized in ethanol. This result supports the potential application of gold nanoparticles for SERS-based detection of B. cereus and B. thuringiensis.

Research Progress of the Structure Vibration-Attitude Coordinated Control of Spacecraft

  • Yang, Jingyu;Qu, Shiying;Lin, Jiahui;Liu, Zhiqi;Cui, Xuanming;Wang, Chu;Zhang, Dujiang;gu, Mingcheng;Sun, Zhongrui;Yang, Kang;Zhou, Lanwei;Chen, Guoping
    • International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.590-601
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    • 2015
  • This paper gives an overview of research on the field of structure vibration-attitude coordinated control of spacecraft. First of all, the importance of the technology has been given an introduction, and then later the research progress of space structure dynamics modeling, research progress of structure vibration-attitude coordinated control of flexible spacecraft have been discussed respectively. Finally, future research on application of structure vibration-attitude coordinated control of spacecraft has been recommended.

Design, Synthesis, Antitumor Activity and Mode of Action of Novel Oxiranyl and Thiiranyl Phenol Derivatives

  • Yang, Zunhua;Kang, Jin-Ah;Kim, Won-Hee;Park, Ah-Young;Kim, Hyung-Sik;Kim, Jung-Su;Kim, Jin-Ah;Gong, Ping;Jeong, Lak-Shin;Moon, Hyung-Ryong
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.30 no.7
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    • pp.1463-1469
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    • 2009
  • Eleven novel oxiranyl and thiiranyl phenolic compounds were synthesized as potential antitumor agents using epichlorohydrin and epithiohydrin in the presence of $K_2CO_3$. Cytotoxicities were found in range of I$C_{50}$ values of 2.5-14.8 $\mu$M, which was partially attributed to topoisomerase II inhibition. Bis-thiiranyl anthraquinone analog, 19 showed more cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 (breast cancer cell) and PC3 (prostate cancer cell) after 24 and/or 48 h and more potent topoisomerase II inhibitory activity than etoposide.