• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.183-193
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• 2011

Migration and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells are crucial for tissue regeneration in response to injury. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lipid that regulates a variety of biological processes, including proliferation, survival, differentiation and motility. In the present study, we determined the role of S1P in migration and differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). S1P stimulated migration of BMSCs in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and pre-incubation of the cells with pertussis toxin completely abrogated S1P-induced migration, suggesting involvement of Gi-coupled receptors in S1P-induced cell migration. S1P elicited elevation of intracellular concentration of $Ca^{2+}$ ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) and pretreatment with VPC23019, an antagonist of $S1P_1/S1P_3$, blocked S1P-induced migration and increase of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$. Small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of endogenous $S1P_1$ attenuated S1P-induced migration of BMSCs. Furthermore, S1P treatment induced expression of $\alpha$-smooth muscle actin ($\alpha$-SMA), a smooth muscle marker, and pretreatment with VPC23019 abrogated S1P-induced $\alpha$-SMA expression. S1P induced phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and pretreatment of cells with SB202190, an inhibitor of p38 MAPK, or adenoviral overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant of the p38 MAPK blocked S1P-induced cell migration and $\alpha$-SMA expression. Taken together, these results suggest that S1P stimulates migration and smooth muscle differentiation of BMSCs through an $S1P_1$-p38 MAPK-dependent mechanism.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.9
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• pp.761-772
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• 2015

Microfin tubes having an outside diameter (O.D.) of 7.0 mm are widely used in residential air conditioning systems and heat pumps. It is known that the mass fluxes for air conditioners and heat pumps under partial load conditions are several tens of $kg/m^2s$. However, literature surveys reveal that previous investigations were limited to mass flux over $100kg/m^2s$. In this study, we conduct R-410A evaporation heat-transfer tests at low mass fluxes ($50-250kg/m^2s$) using a 7.0 mm O.D. microfin tube. During the test, the saturation temperature was maintained at $8^{\circ}C$, and the heat flux was maintained at $4.0kW/m^2$. For comparison purposes, we also test a smooth tube with a 7.0 mm O.D. The results showed that the heat-transfer enhancement factor of the microfin tube increased as the mass flux decreased up to $150kg/m^2s$, which decreased as the mass flux further decreased. The reason for this was attributed to the change of the flow pattern from an annular flow to a stratified flow. Within the test range, the frictional pressure drops of the microfin tube were approximately the same as those of the smooth tube. We then compare experimental data obtained with the predictions obtained for the existing correlations.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.39A no.12
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• pp.746-755
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• 2014

Compressive sensing (CS) has drawn much interest as a new sampling technique that enables signals to be sampled at a much lower than the Nyquist rate. By noting that the block-based compressive sensing can still keep spatial correlation in measurement domain, in this paper, we propose a novel encoding technique for measurement data obtained in the block-based CS of natural image. We apply discrete wavelet transform (DWT) to decorrelate CS measurements and then assign a proper quantization scheme to those DWT coefficients. Thus, redundancy of CS measurements and bitrate of system are reduced remarkably. Experimental results show improvements in rate-distortion performance by the proposed method against two existing methods of scalar quantization (SQ) and differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM). In the best case, the proposed method gains up to 4 dB, 0.9 dB, and 2.5 dB compared with the Block-based CS-Smoothed Projected Landweber plus SQ, Block-based CS-Smoothed Projected Landweber plus DPCM, and Multihypothesis Block-based CS-Smoothed Projected Landweber plus DPCM, respectively.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.59-69
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• 1988

This study was designed to investigate the effect of substitution of strontium for calcium on mechanical activity in isolated perfused spontaneously beating rat hearts. The mechanical activity of the hearts of Langendorff's preparation in conditions of low calcium and strontium-substitution for calcium was compared. The effect of norepinephrine and verapamil were also observed in those conditions. The results were as follows : 1. In low calcium, the mechanical activity of the heart preparation was significantly reduced, but when the equimolar strontium was substituted for the reduced calcium, the activity was kept at similar level to the normal condition. 2. When equimolar strontium was substituted for the total calcium in perfusate, the heart preparation stopped its beating, and it was not restored in spite of reperfusion with normal calcium perfusate. 3. Norepinephrine-induced positive inotropic effect was inhibited in low-calcium condition especially with low concentration of norepinephrine, but not in strontium-substitution for calcium. 4. Verapamil reduced the activity of the heart both in low-calcium and strontium-substitution as well as in normal calcium conditions. From above results, it was concluded that strontium served as a substitute of calcium in maintaining mechanical activity and in responsiveness to norepinephrine, and the influx of strontium through cell membrane is inhibited by verapamil as the influx of calcium.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.314-322
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• 1994

This study aimed to investigate the existence of GABA receptor and the mechanisms of action of GABA and diazepam on the trachealis muscle isolated from dog. Horizontal muscle strips of $2mm{\times}15mm$ were prepared from canine trachea, and isometric myography in isolated muscle chamber bubbled with 95/5%-$O_2/CO_2$at $36^{\circ}C$, at the pH of 7.4 was performed. Muscle strips contracted responding to the electrical field stimulation (ESP) by 2~20 Hz, 20 msec, monophasic square wave of 60 VDC GABA and diazepam suppressed the EFS-induced contractions to the similar extent, significantly. (p<0.05) Bicuculline, a $GABA_A$ receptor antagonist blocked both GABA- and diazepam- inhibitions; but DAVA, a $GABA_B$ receptor antagonist did not affect either of them. These results suggest that in the canine trachealis muscle, there may be only $GABA_A$ receptor, and GABA and diazepam inhibit the contractility via $GABA_A$A receptor.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 1988

This study aimed to investigate the autonomic innervations of human vas deferens and the effect of diazepam, a benzodiazepine sedative antianxiety drug, on the smooth muscle contractility of vas deferens. The specimens were obtained from healthy volunteers undergoing elective vasectomy with local anesthesia. The muscle preparation did not show any spontaneous contraction, but showed a good contraction induced by norepinephrine exerting the strongest response at $33^{\circ}C$. Phentolamine inhibited the norepinephrine-induced contraction concentration-dependently. Isoproterenol, a beta-adrenergic agonist evoked a considerable extent of contraction, and this contractile activity was antagonized by propranolol, a beta-adrenergic blocking agent. Acetylcholine induced a dashing contraction of the human vas deferens, and atropine, a muscarinic receptor blocking agent abolished the acetylcholine-induced contraction. Diazepam inhibited the norepinephrine-induced contraction in a concentration dependent manner. These results suggest that the smooth muscle of human vas deferens has cholinergic muscarinic and beta adrenergic receptors as well as the predominant alpha adrepergic receptor. Diazepam inhibits the motility, especially norepinephrine-induced contraction of human vas deferens.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.117-122
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• 2018

A large-capacity three-phase system air conditioner recently includes an inverter circuit to reduce power consumption. The inverter circuit uses a DC voltage that comes from DC-link power capacitor with the function of rectifying, which means AC voltage to DC voltage using a diode. An electrolytic capacitor is generally used to satisfy the voltage ripple and current ripple conditions of a DC-link power capacitor used for rectifying. Reducing the capacitance of the capacitor decreases the size, weight, and cost of the circuit. This paper proposes an algorithm to reduce the input ripple current by combining the minimum point estimation phase locked loop (PLL) phase control and the average voltage d axis current control technique. When this algorithm was used, the input ripple current decreased by almost 90%. The current ripple of the DC-link capacitor decreased due to the decrease in input ripple current. The capacitor capacity can be reduced but the electrolytic capacitor has a heat generation problem and life-time limitations because of its large equivalent series resistance (ESR). This paper proposes a method to select a film capacitor considering the current ripple at DC-link stage instead of an electrolytic capacitor. The capacitance was selected considering the voltage limitation, RMS (Root Mean Square) current capacity, and RMS current frequency analysis. A $1680{\mu}F$ electrolytic capacitor can be reduced to a $20{\mu}F$ film capacitor, which has the benefit of size, weight and cost. These results were verified by motor operation.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.10 no.10
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• pp.143-149
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• 2020

This study tried to observe the ability to inhibit vasocontriction in phloretin - the primary ingredient of apple tree leaves and the Manchurian apricot - through ROCK(Rho-associdated, coiled-coil containing protein kinase) inactivation in rat aortae. A piece of artery that was separated from Sprague-Dawley male rats and retained or damaged the endothelium was suspended in myograph tank with two metal rings, the lower ring fixed to the bottom of the tank, and the upper ring connected to the isotonic force transducer. Interestingly, phloretin inhibited fluoride- or phorbol ester-provoked contraction implying that additional pathways dissimilar from endothelial nitric oxide synthesis such as ROCK or MEK (mitogen activated protein kinase kinase) inactivation might be involved in the vasorelaxation. Therefore, this study provides that phloretin participates in the reduction of ROCK or MEK activity in smooth muscle in addition to the endothelial-dependent action of the endotheliuim in complete blood vessels, and consequently inhibits actin-myosin interaction in smooth muscle. Furthermore, phloretin inhibited thromboxane A2-induced contraction suggesting the mechanism including inhibition of ROCK and MEK.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.24 no.9B
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• pp.1643-1651
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• 1999

Video-On-Demand (VOD) is expected to provide the user with interactive operations such as VCR functions. In particular, fast scan functions like “Fast Forward” of “Fast Backward” for a certain speedup playback are required. Since they require a significant amount of system resources, schemes to reduce bandwidth requirements for the network or disk are needed. In MPEG standard, Group-of-Pictures (GoP) is a random access unit which can be decoded independently. Since storing and transmitting a video stream based on GoP is efficient, it is practical to support fast scan functions based on GoP. In this paper, we present a dynamic transmission scheduling scheme to support fast scan functions with m-times normal playback rate for a stored video. The proposed scheme writes a transmission schedule whenever user requests a fast scan function. That is, the scheme constructs the data set to be smoothed by skipping GoPs according to a given speedup factor, and then writes the transmission schedule by applying a bandwidth smoothing. Finally, the scheme restarts the transmission of video data to a client according to the new schedule. The proposed scheme results in speeding up the playback rate by utilizing “GoP skipping”, and then reduces the computational overhead by applying a bandwidth smoothing based on GoP.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.129-137
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• 2016

In the present study we verified performance of feed-forward control algorithm using short term prediction of ship motion information by taking advantage of developed numerical simulation model of FPSO motion. Up until now, various studies have been conducted about thrust control and allocation for dynamic positioning systems maintaining positions of ships or marine structures in diverse sea environmental conditions. In the existing studies, however, the dynamic positioning systems consist of only feedback control gains using a motion of vessel derived from environmental loads such as current, wind and wave. This study addresses dynamic positioning systems which have feedforward control gain derived from forecasted value of a motion of vessel occurred by current, wind and wave force. In this study, the future motion of vessel is forecasted via Brown's Exponential Smoothing after calculating the vessel motion via a selected mathematical model, and the control force for maintaining the position and heading angle of a vessel is decided by the feedback controller and the feedforward controller using PID theory and forecasted vessel motion respectively. For the allocation of thrusts, the Lagrange Multiplier Method is exploited. By constructing a simulation code for a dynamic positioning system of FPSO, the performance of feedforward control system which has feedback controller and feedforward controller was assessed. According to the result of this study, in case of using feedforward control system, it shows smaller maximum thrust power than using conventional feedback control system.