• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.1621-1631
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• 2005

In this paper, making the best use of the features of the electro-rheological (ER) valve, a two-port pressure control valve using ER fluids is proposed and manufactured. The ER-Valve characteristics are evaluated by changing the intensity of the electric field and the number of electrode. As only with electrical signal change to the ER-Valve in which ER fluid flowing, ER fluid flow is controlled, so development of simple ER-Valves have been tried. The ER-Valves and pressure drop check method are considered to be applied to the fluid power industry. Using the manufactured pressure control valve, a one-link manipulator with FHA (Flexible Hydraulic Actuator) is driven. As a result, it is experimentally confirmed that the pressure control valve using ER fluids is applicable to use in driving actuator. If it applies characteristics of the ER fluids, it will be able to apply in the control system for the ER Valve which occurs from industrial controller. After having durability test, shear stress increased regularly because of starch particles crushed by pump and particle size that was almost the same. Moreover, Ra of copper electrode increased about 1.56 times rather than before those of performing durability test, and Rz increased about 2.2 times.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1716-1721
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• 2003

Steroid hormones and their receptors play an important role in reproductive process. Estrogen is intimately involved with pregnancy and its function is mediated through the estrogen receptor which has been chosen as a candidate gene to study litter size in pigs. In this study, we report that two estrogen receptor variants, designated pER-1 and pER-2 were co-expressed in the uteri of normal cycling Lan-Yu pig (Sus vittatus; a small-ear miniature in Taiwan) with the pER-1 expression level appeared to be several times higher than that of pER-2. These receptor variants were isolated using reverse transcription-PCR from the pig uteri and their sequences were determined. The pER-1 and pER-2 sequences, which are homologous to those found in other mammalian estrogen receptors, encode putative proteins consisting of 574 and 486 amino acids, respectively. A deletion in exon I was identified in both sequences, with deletion lengths of 63 bp in pER-1 and 327 bp in pER-2. The deletion in pER-1 is internal to that in pER-2 and both deletions resulted in a truncation of the B domain, which confers the transactivating activity of estrogen receptor protein. This result describes the existence of estrogen receptor variants with a deletion in exon I and implies the possibility that physiological functioning of an estrogen receptor may not require the presence of an intact B domain.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1820-1828
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• 2010

Cobalt(II) chloride, a chemical compound with the formula$CoCl_2$, has been widely used in the treatment of anemia, as a chemical agent for the induction of hypoxia in cell cultures, and is known to activate hypoxic signaling. However, excessive exposure to cobalt is associated with several clinical conditions, including asthma, pneumonia, and hematological abnormalities, and can lead to tissue and cellular toxicity. It is also known to induce apoptosis. One of the questions was that of whether $CoCl_2$ might induce apoptosis via endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in neurons. To address this question, first, the level of DNA fragmentation was measured for assay of apoptotic rates using $CoCl_2$ with neuron PC12 cells. After confirmation of apoptosis inductions, under the same conditions, the expression levels of ER stress associated factors [ER chaperones Bip, calnexin, ERp72, ERp29, PDI, and ER membrane kinases (IRE1, ATF6, PERK)] were examined by RT-PCR and Western blotting. These results indicated that apoptosis is induced through activation of ER membrane kinases via ER stress. In conclusion, during induction of apoptosis through $CoCl_2$-induced hypoxia in neuron PC12 cells, ER membrane kinase of IRE1 was dominantly up-expressed, and, consecutively, TRAF2, which has been suggested to be one of the links connecting apoptosis and ER stress, was strongly up-expressed.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.100001.1-100001.8
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• 2024

In eukaryotes, a primary protein quality control (PQC) process involves the destruction of conformationally misfolded proteins through the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Because approximately one-third of eukaryotic proteomes fold and assemble within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) before being sent to their destinations, the ER plays a crucial role in PQC. The specific functions and biochemical roles of several E3 ubiquitin ligases involved in ER-associated degradation in mammals, on the other hand, are mainly unknown. We identified 2 E3 ligases, ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component N-recognin 1 (UBR1) and ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component N-recognin 2 (UBR2), which are the key N-recognins in the N-degron pathway and participate in the ER stress response in mammalian cells by modulating their stability. Cells lacking UBR1 and UBR2 are hypersensitive to ER stress-induced apoptosis. Under normal circumstances, these proteins are polyubiquitinated through Lys48-specific linkages and are then degraded by the 26S proteasome. In contrast, when cells are subjected to ER stress, UBR1 and UBR2 exhibit greater stability, potentially as a cellular adaptive response to stressful conditions. Although the precise mechanisms underlying these findings require further investigation, our findings show that cytoplasmic UBR1 and UBR2 have anti-ER stress activities and contribute to global PQC in mammals. These data also reveal an additional level of complexity within the mammalian ER-associated degradation system, implicating potential involvement of the N-degron pathway.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.135-135
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• 2003

The fast evolution in the fold of optical communication systems demands powerful optical information treatment. These functions can be performed by integrated optical systems. A key component of such systems is erbium doped waveguide amplifier(EDWA). The intra 4f radiative transition of Er at 1.5 $\mu\textrm{m}$ is particularly interesting because this wavelength is standard in optical telecommunications. The fabrication of waveguide amplifier for integrated optics using sol-gel process has received an increasing attention. Potential advantage of lower cost by less capital equipment and easy processing makes this process an attractive alternatives to conventional technologies like flame hydrolysis deposition, ion exchange and chemical vapor deposition, etc. In addition, sol-gel process has been found to be extremely suitable for the control of composition and refractive index related directly with optical properties. The main drawback of such an amplifier with respect to the EDWA is the need for a much higher Er3+ concentration to compensate for the smaller interaction length. However, the high doping of Er might be resulted in the non-radiative relaxation by clustering of Er ions End co-operative upconversion. In order to solve this problem, we investigate the possibility of avoiding short Er-Er distances by encapsulation of Er3+ ions in hosts such as organic-inorganic hybrid materials. For inorganic-organic hybrid sols, methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTS), zirconyl chloride octahydrate and erbium(III) chloride hexahydrate were used as starting materials, followed by conventional sol-gel process. It was observed by TEM that nano sols having core/shell toplology were formed, depending on the mole ratio of Zr/Er. The surface roughness for the coatings on Si substrate was investigated by AFM as a function of Zr/Er ratio. The local environment and vibrational Properties of Er3+ ions were studied using Near-IR, FT-IR, and UV/Vis spectroscopy. Nano hybrid coatings derived from polymer and Er doped encapsulation Eave the good luminescence at 1.55$\mu\textrm{m}$.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.43-54
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• 2019

We examined the effects of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress inhibitor treatment during the micromanipulation of porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) on the in vitro development of SCNT embryos. ER stress inhibitors such as salubrinal (200 nM) and tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA; $100{\mu}M$) were added to the micromanipulation medium and holding medium. The expression of X-box binding protein 1 (Xbp1), ER-stress-associated genes, and apoptotic genes in SCNT embryos was confirmed at the one-cell and blastocyst stages. Levels of Xbp1 splicing and expression of ER-stress-associated genes in SCNT embryos at the one-cell stage decreased significantly with TUDCA treatment (p<0.05). The expression of ER-stress-associated genes also decreased slightly with the addition of both salubrinal and TUDCA (Sal+TUD). The expression levels of caspase-3 and Bcl2-associated X protein (Bax) mRNA were also significantly lower in the TUDCA and Sal+TUD treatments (p<0.05). At the blastocyst stage, there were no differences in levels of Xbp1 splicing, and transcription of ER-stress-associated genes and apoptosis genes between control and treatment groups. However, the blastocyst formation rate (20.2%) and mean blastocyst cell number ($63.0{\pm}7.2$) were significantly higher (p<0.05) for embryos in the TUDCA treatment compared with those for control (12.6% and $41.7{\pm}3.1$, respectively). These results indicate that the addition of ER-stress inhibitors, especially TUDCA, during micromanipulation can inhibit cellular damage and enhance in vitro development of SCNT embryos by reducing stress levels in the ER.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.59-62
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• 2008

This experiment was performed to study the effect of TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) on the expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperones in the rat thyrocytes FRTL-5 cells. Although the expressions of ER membrane kinases (ATF6, IRE1 and PERK) were specially enhanced under absence of TSH, no remarkable up- or down regulations of ER chaperones (BiP, CHOP and Calnexin) were detected by TSH. We firstly report here that TSH by dose up-regulated expression of ER membrane kinases in FRTL-5 culture thyrocytes.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.216-221
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• 2010

The microstructure, electrical properties, and DC-accelerated aging behavior of the Zn-Pr-Co-Cr-Y-Er (ZPCC-YE) varistors were investigated for different amounts of erbium oxide ($Er_2O_3$). The microstructure consisted of zinc oxide grain and an intergranular layer ($Pr_6O_{11}$, $Y_2O_3$, and $Er_2O_3$-rich phase) as a secondary phase. The increase of $Er_2O_3$ amount decreased the average grain size and increased the sintered density. As the $Er_2O_3$ amount increased, the breakdown field increased from 5094 V/cm to 6966 V/cm and the nonlinear coefficient increased from 27.8 to 45.1. The ZPCC-YE varistors added with 0.5 to 1.0 mol% $Er_2O_3$ are appropriate for high voltage, with high nonlinearity and stability against DC-accelerated aging stress.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2010

A new flow mode of ER fluid available for controlling the damping force by using DME(Discrete Multi-Electrode) is presented in this study. Various characteristics about the flow of ER fluid through the experiment of ER cluster behavior visualization can be assumed. The pressure in electrode length and voltage division mode is measured. An actuator with a damping effect through DME ER damper will be developed. This damper controls the damping force by using the displacement and velocity of the plant which consists of the various electrode length and voltage modes without a controller in the real system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.444-452
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• 2010

This paper presents design and performance evaluation of electro-rheological(ER) shock absorber for electronic control suspension(ECS). In order to achieve this goal, a cylindrical ER shock absorber that satisfies design specifications for a mid-sized commercial passenger vehicle is designed and manufactured to construct ER suspension system for ECS. After experimentally evaluating dynamic characteristics of the manufactured ER shock absorber, the quarter-vehicle ER suspension system consisting of sprung mass, spring, tire and the ER shock absorber is constructed in order to investigate the ride comfort and driving stability. After deriving the equations of the motion for the proposed quarter-vehicle ER suspension system, the skyhook controller is implemented for the realization of quarter-vehicle ER suspension system. In order to present control performance of ER shock absorber for ECS, ride comfort and driving stability characteristics such as vertical acceleration and tire deflection are experimentally evaluated under various road conditions and presented in both time and frequency domain.