• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2024

Objectives : This study aimed to predict the effectiveness and potential of Schizonepeta tenuifolia as an anticancer treatment for non-small cell lung cancer through network-based pharmacology and cellular experiment. Methods : To identify the major bioactive compounds in Schizonepeta tenuifolia, we used the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems. The target genes for the cancer treatment were selected using the UniProt database and the networked using Cytoscape. We performed functional enrichment analysis based on the Gene Ontology Biological Process and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Pathways to predict the mechanisms. To investigate the effect of Schizonepeta tenuifolia on lung cancer cell growth, we treated A549 cells, a lung cancer cell line, with different concentrations of the drug and used the MTT assay for cell viability. Results : Research has shown that the most effective mechanism of active compounds from Schizonepeta tenuifolia is through the pathway of cancer. The results of the network pharmacology analysis indicate that Schizonepeta tenuifolia has potential medicinal value as an adjuvant in anticancer treatment. The concentration-dependent inhibition of cell viability was observed on A549 cells. Furthermore, synergistic anticancer activity with Doxorubicin was also observed. Conclusions : Through a network pharmacological approach, Schizonepeta tenuifolia was predicted to have potential as an anticancer agent, and its efficacy was experimentally demonstrated using A549 cells. These findings suggest that Schizonepeta tenuifolia is a promising candidate for future research.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.267-280
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• 2024

Apoptosis, programmed cell death pathway, is a vital physiological mechanism that ensures cellular homeostasis and overall cellular well-being. In the context of cancer, where evasion of apoptosis is a hallmark, the overexpression of anti-apoptotic proteins like Bcl2, Bcl-xL and Mcl-1 has been documented. Consequently, these proteins have emerged as promising targets for therapeutic interventions. The BCL-2 protein family is central to apoptosis and plays a significant importance in determining cellular fate serving as a critical determinant in this biological process. This review offers a comprehensive exploration of the BCL-2 protein family, emphasizing its dual nature. Specifically, certain members of this family promote cell survival (known as anti-apoptotic proteins), while others are involved in facilitating cell death (referred to as pro-apoptotic and BH3-only proteins). The potential of directly targeting these proteins is examined, particularly due to their involvement in conferring resistance to traditional cancer therapies. The effectiveness of such targeting strategies is also discussed, considering the tumor's propensity for anti-apoptotic pathways. Furthermore, the review highlights emerging research on combination therapies, where BCL-2 inhibitors are used synergistically with other treatments to enhance therapeutic outcomes. By understanding and manipulating the BCL-2 family and its associated pathways, we open doors to innovative and more effective cancer treatments, offering hope for resistant and aggressive cases.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.4527-4542
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• 2023

The present microbial reinforcement of rock and soil exhibits limitations, such as uneven reinforcement effectiveness and low calcium carbonate generation rate, resulting in limited solidification strength. This study introduces electroosmosis as a standard microbial grouting reinforcement technique and investigates its solidification effects on microbial-reinforced uranium tailings. The most effective electroosmosis effect on uranium tailings occurs under a potential gradient of 1.25 V/cm. The findings indicate that a weak electric field can effectively promote microbial growth and biological activity and accelerate bacterial metabolism. The largest calcium carbonate production occurred under the gradient of 0.5 V/cm, featuring a good crystal combination and the best cementation effect. Staged electroosmosis and electrode conversion efficiently drive the migration of anions and cations. Under electroosmosis, the cohesion of uranium tailings reinforced by microorganisms increased by 37.3% and 64.8% compared to those reinforced by common microorganisms and undisturbed uranium tailings, respectively. The internal friction angle is also improved, significantly enhancing the uniformity of reinforcement and a denser and stronger microscopic structure. This research demonstrates that MICP technology enhances the solidification effects and uniformity of uranium tailings, providing a novel approach to maintaining the safety and stability of uranium tailings dams.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.209-213
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• 2024

Purpose: Trauma patients are at an elevated risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE), with the subsequent mortality in patients requiring intensive care unit admission ranging from 25% to 38%. There remains significant variability in clinical practice related to VTE prophylaxis in trauma patients due to the frequent presence of contraindications impacting the timing and consistency of application. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the current practice of chemical VTE prophylaxis in trauma patients at a single Australian center. Methods: A prospective review was conducted on patients admitted to the ACT Trauma Service (Canberra, Australia) from July to November 2022. The included patients were 18 years or older, without a direct contraindication to anticoagulation, who received chemical VTE prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin (enoxaparin) for at least three doses and underwent subsequent testing of anti-factor Xa (aFXa) levels. Results: During the study period, 187 patients were admitted, of whom 63 were included in the study. Of these, 47 patients achieved therapeutic levels of anticoagulation as determined by their aFXa levels, while 16 were subtherapeutic. The only statistically significant difference between the two groups was in weight, with patients in the subtherapeutic group weighing an average of 91.9 kg compared to 79.1 kg in the therapeutic group (P<0.05). Conclusions: A fixed-dose enoxaparin regimen was utilized, with limited individualization based on patient factors, such as injuries, comorbidities, and other biological factors. Sixteen patients (25%) had subtherapeutic VTE prophylaxis, as measured by aFXa levels. Higher weight was significantly correlated with inadequate VTE prophylaxis dosing. While age, sex, and smoking status might play important roles in clinical decision-making, weight-based dosing of low-molecular-weight heparin may be more effective in achieving adequate VTE prophylaxis.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.72-81
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• 2024

Esophageal squamous cell carcinomas constitute a major proportion of esophageal cancers in Korea. Conventional chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the options for treating advanced/metastatic esophageal cancer, but the prognosis remains poor. Immunotherapy has significantly improved the prognosis of several advanced/metastatic cancers including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. In Korea, immunotherapy is used to treat advanced/metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and treatment results are expected to further improve. Immunotherapy is a term used to describe a treatment modality involving a biological/targeted agent that aims to enhance and restore the ability of the immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells by modifying or blocking co-stimulating signals. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer treatment with the administration of a single agent (monotherapy) or combinations of multiple agents, with the three approved agents being anti-PD-1 (programmed death 1), anti-PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1), and anti-CTLA4 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4) monoclonal antibodies. Anti-PD-1 drugs including nivolumab and pembrolizumab have been mainly investigated for treating advanced/metastatic esophageal squamous cell cancer. Studies on their effectiveness in a neoadjuvant setting, a curative adjuvant setting, or as the first-line treatment for advanced or metastatic setting are ongoing. This review describes the principle of action, summary of existing clinical studies, and prospects for immune checkpoint inhibitors used in the treatment of advanced/metastatic esophageal squamous cell cancer.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-40
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• 2007

The research in this paper, for the effective implementation of CBD PoW PA(Program of Work on Protected Areas of Convention on Biological Diversity) that was adopted by CBD COP7(Conference of the Parties) in 2004, shows the objectives and activities of 9 each subject in PoW PA regarding domestic status and cases of national park management. Before anything else, according to the result of the review on the status of protected areas in Korea, there are 1,119 protected areas which are classified into 14 types and the total area is about $15,621km^2$. After a thorough review on 9 each subject about the implementation of CBD PoW PA, we found out that some parts such as management planning, prevention and alleviation of threats, and establishment of PAs system, are improved while financial support, improved social benefit, and MEE(Management Effectiveness Evaluation} fields are need to be improved. Especially regarding time-bound, ecological gap analysis on national level and MEE are need to be improved immediately. This paper could help us to understand the current status of PAs management system in Korea and to prepare national reports of CBD and implementation report of PoW PA. Based on research and results of this paper, we need to find the fields that have gaps in order to meet the requirements of the CBD PoW PA and the implementation tools that are suitable for managing Korea's protected areas. To effectively implement the various activities which require a systematic approach on the national level, the establishment of the networks among relevant organizations for protected areas are vital. To effectively reach the ultimate goal of CBD PoW PA, reducing the rate of biodiversity loss, it is essential that lots of plans established by authorities must be carried out in a constant manner to achieve goals of CBD PoW PA.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.203-210
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• 2001

Here, we compared the effectiveness of 50 MeV($p{\to}RBe^+$) cyclotron fast neutrons versus $^{60}Co$ ${\gamma}$-rays by the apoptotic fragment frequency in both rat peripheral lymphocytes and crypt cells to check a radiobiological endpoint. The incidence of apoptotic cell death was increased in all irradiated groups, and radiation at all doses trigger rapid changes in both crypt cells and peripheral lymphocytes. These data suggest that apoptosis may play an important role in homeostasis of damaged radiosensitive target organ by removing damaged cells. The curve of dose-effect relationship for these data of apoptotic fragments frequencies was $y=0.3+(6.512{\pm}0.279)D(r^2=0.975)$ after neutrons, while $y=0.3+(4.435{\pm}0.473)D+(-1.300{\pm}0.551)D^2(r^2=0.988)$ after ${\gamma}$-rays. In addition, $y=3.5+(118.410{\pm}10.325)D+(-33.548{\pm}12.023)D^2(r^2=0.992)$ after ${\gamma}$-rays in rat lymphocytes. A significant dose-response relationship was found between the frequency of apoptotic cell and dose. These data show a trend towards increase of the numbers of apoptotic cells with increasing dose. Dose-response curves for high and low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation modalities in these studies were different. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) value for crypt cells was 1.919. In addition, there were significant peaks on apoptosis induction at 4 and 6h after irradiation, and the morphological findings of the irradiated groups were typical apoptotic fragments in crypt cells that were hardly observed in the control group. Thus, apoptosis induction in both crypt cells and peripheral lymphocytes could be a useful endpoint of rat model for studying screening test and microdosimetic indicator to evaluate the biological effects of radiation-induced cell damage.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 1992

The frequencies of KCCH cyclotron neutron (30 cGy/min) or $^{60}Co\;{\gamma}-rays$ (210 cGy/min)-induced asymmetrical interchanges (dicentrics and centric rings) and acentric fragments (deletion) at several doses were measured in the normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes Chromosome aberrations were scored at the first nitosis after stimulation with phytohemagglutinin. The neutron and y-ray data were analysed on linear, power-law, quadratic and linear-quadratic model . When the dicentrics and centric rings of ${\gamma}-rays$ datas were pooled and fitted to these model, good fits were obtained to power-law $[Y=(5.81{\pm}1.96){\times}10^6D^{1.93+0.06},\; P=0.931]$, quadratic $[Y=(3.91{\pm}0.09){\times}10^{-6}D^2,\;P=0.972]$ an linear-Quadrati model $[Y=(6.55{\pm}6.83){\times}10^{-5}D+(3.72{\pm}0.22){\times}10^{-6}D^2\; P=0.922]$, except for linear model (P=0.067) As in the case of neutron data, the best fit was obtained to the linear model $(Y=(6.12{\pm}0.17){\times}10^{-3}\;D-0.22,\;P=0.987]$ and good fits were obtained to power-law$[Y=(5.36{\pm}3.02) {\times}10^{-4}D^{1.42+0.11},\; P=0.601]$ and linear-quadratic model$[Y=(2.43{\pm}0.70){\times}10^{-3}D+(1.21{\pm}0.39){\times}10^{-7}D^2$, \;P=0.415], except for quadratic model (P<0.005). The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of neutron compared with y-ray was estimated by best fitting model. In the asymmetrical interchanges range between 0.1 and 1.5 per cell, the RBE was found to be $2.714{\pm}0.408$.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.313-319
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• 2006

Two hundred bacterial strains were isolated from the soil around healthy tomato plants in a polyvinyl house, where most of the other plants showed bacterial wilt symptoms. The strains were screened in vitro for their antibacterial activity. Among them, a strain, KPB3 showed strong bactericidal activity against bacterial wilt pathogen, Ralstonia solanacearum. The strain KPB3 was identified using physiological and biochemical tests, and 16S rRNA analyses. Based on these tests, the strain was found to be closer to genus Paenibacillus. To control the bacterial wilt caused by R. solanacearum, greenhouse experiments were conducted to determine the effectiveness of the Paenibacillus strain KPB3. Drench application of this strain ($4{\times}10^8$ CFU $mL^{-1}$) into the pots containing tomato plants, post-inoculated with the pathogen, R. solanacearum could drastically reduce the disease severity, compared to the non-treated plants. To evaluate effectiveness of this strain under field conditions, experiments were carried out in polyvinyl houses infested with R. solanacearum, during spring and autumn of the year 2006. It was observed that, during spring, bacterial wilt was more prevalent compared to the autumn. During spring, 50.9% disease incidences occurred in non-treated controls, while, Paenibacillus strain KPB3 treated plants showed 24.6% disease incidences. Similarly, during autumn, around 17.2% plants were infected with bacterial wilt in non- treated polyvinyl houses, compared to the Paenibacillus strain KPB3 treated plants, which showed 7.0% disease incidences. These results demonstrated that, Paenibacillus strain KPB3 is a potential biological control agent against bacterial wilt caused by R. solanacearum, effective under greenhouse as well as field conditions. This is the first report showing biocontrol of R. solanacearum using a Paenibacillus spp. under field conditions.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.280-284
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• 2006

$\underline{Purpose}$: To evaluate biological characteristics of neutron beam generated by MC50 cyclotron located in the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS). $\underline{Materials\;and\;Methods}$: The neutron beams generated with 15 mm Beryllium target hit by 35 MeV proton beam was used and dosimetry data was measured before in-vitro study. We irradiated 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Gy of neutron beam to EMT-6 cell line and surviving fraction (SF) was measured. The SF curve was also examined at the same dose when applying lead shielding to avoid gamma ray component. In the X-ray experiment, SF curve was obtained after irradiation of 0, 2, 5, 10, and 15 Gy. $\underline{Results}$: The neutron beams have 84% of neutron and 16% of gamma component at the depth of 2 cm with the field size of $26{\times}26\;cm^2$, beam current $20\;{\mu}A$, and dose rate of 9.25 cGy/min. The SF curve from X-ray, when fitted to linear-quadratic (LQ) model, had 0.611 as ${\alpha}/{\beta}$ ratio (${\alpha}=0.0204,\;{\beta}=0.0334,\;R^2=0.999$, respectively). The SF curve from neutron beam had shoulders at low dose area and fitted well to LQ model with the value of $R^2$ exceeding 0.99 in all experiments. The mean value of alpha and beta were -0.315 (range, $-0.254{\sim}-0.360$) and 0.247 ($0.220{\sim}0.262$), respectively. The addition of lead shielding resulted in no straightening of SF curve and shoulders in low dose area still existed. The RBE of neutron beam was in range of $2.07{\sim}2.19$ with SF=0.1 and $2.21{\sim}2.35$ with SF=0.01, respectively. $\underline{Conclusion}$: The neutron beam from MC50 cyclotron has significant amount of gamma component and this may have contributed to form the shoulder of survival curve. The RBE of neutron beam generated by MC50 was about 2.2.