Development of Temperature Monitoring System of Hospital Cold Storages Based on Wireless Network and its Database Management.

Storing bio-specimens in adequate temperatures is an important task in hospitals. Usually an assigned employee records manually the temperatures of the hospital cold storages such as refrigerators and freezers that keep them at regular intervals. In this research, a low power wireless Bluetooth Low Energy network is applied where the central monitoring personal computer, receives the temperature data and stores in a database. The system consists of many beacons which are wirelessly sending the measured temperature data, and the central monitoring computer which allows the user to monitor that data. In the case of wireless signals getting blocked due to obstacles, repeaters called bridges send the data to the central computer forming a so-called scatter net. Once the data is received by the Bluetooth module connected to the monitoring computer, an application saves the data into a database. This web application forms a website where the users holding the authentication information can log in and monitor the temperature data in the form of tables and graphs. The same information can be viewed by a smartphone and a person in charge receives a warning SMS message. This system also provides a scheduled backup system where the database is automatically backed up periodically. The suggested system has the advantage of managing reagent records with reduced manpower whilst coping for emergency situations automatically.

Fermented red ginseng extract inhibits cancer cell proliferation and viability.

Red ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) is the most widely recognized medicinal herb due to its remedial effects in various disorders, such as cancers, diabetes, and heart problems. In this study, we investigated the anticancer effect of fermented red ginseng extract (f-RGE; provided by Jeonju Biomaterials Institute, Jeonju, South Korea) in a parallel comparison with the effect of nonfermented red ginseng extract (nf-RGE; control) on several cancer cell lines--MCF-7 breast cancer cells, HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and reprogrammed MCF-7 cells (mimicking cancer stem cells). Cells were cultured at various concentrations of RGE (from 0.5 up to 5 mg/mL) and their viabilities and proliferative properties were examined. Our data demonstrate the following: (1) nf-RGE inhibited cell viability at ≥1 mg/mL for MCF-7 cells and ≥2 mg/mL for HepG2 cells, (2) in the presence of a carcinogenic agent, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), nf-RGE treatment in combination with paclitaxel synergistically decreased MCF-7 as well as HepG2 cell viability, (3) f-RGE (which contained a greater level of Rg3 content) more effectively decreased the viability of MCF-7 and HepG2 cells compared to nf-RGE, and (4) f-RGE appeared more potent for inhibiting cancerous differentiation of reprogrammed MCF-7 cells in a synergistic fashion with paclitaxel, especially in the presence of TPA, compared to nf-RGE. These findings suggest that f-RGE treatment may be more effective for decreasing cancer cell survival by inducing apoptotic cell death and also presumably for preventing cancer stem cell differentiation compared to nf-RGE.