• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.671-682
• /
• 1998

Electrophysiological phenomena of pyramidal cells in the CA1 area of the dorsal hippocampus were recorded from and filled with neurobiotin in anesthetized rats. The electropharmacological properties of membrane as well as the cellular-synaptic generation of rhythmic slow activity (theta) were examined. The intracellular response characteristics of these pyramidal cells were distinctly different from responses of interneurons. Pyramidal cells had a high resting membrane potential, a low input resistance, and a large amplitude action potential. A afterhyperpolarization was followed a single action potential. Most of pyramidal cells did not display a spontaneous firing. Pyramidal cells displayed weak inward rectification and anodal break excitation. The slope of the frequency-current relation was 53.4 Hz/nA for the first interspike interval and 15.9 Hz/nA for the last intervals, suggesting the presence of spike frequency adaptation. Neurobiotin-filled neurons showed pyramidal morphology. Cells were generally bipolar dendritc processes ramifying in stratum lacunosum-moleculare, radiatum, and oriens. Commissural stimulation discharged pyramidal cells, followed by excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs and IPSPs). The frequency of theta-related membrane potential oscillation was voltage-independent in pyramidal neurons. At strong depolarization levels (less than 30 mV) pyramidal cells emitted sodium spike oscillation, phase-locked to theta. The observations provide direct evidence that theta-related rhythmic hyperpolarization of principal cells is brought by the rhythmically discharging interneurons. Furthermore, the findings in which interneurons were also paced by rhythmic inhibitory postsynaptic potentials during theta suggest that they were periodically hyperpolarized by their GABAergic septal afferents.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 1999.08a
• /
• pp.83-90
• /
• 1999

Electron crystallography of two-dimensional crystalsand electron cryo-microscopy is becoming an established method for determining the structure and function of a variety of membrane proteins that are providing difficult to crystallize in three dimension. In this study this technique has been used to investigate the structure of a ~160 kDa reaction centre sub-core complex of photosystem II. Photosystem II is a photosynthetic membrane protein consisting of more than 25 subunits. It uses solar energy to split water releasing molecular oxygen into the atmosphere and creates electrochemical potential across the thylakoid membrane, which is eventually utilized to generate ATP and NADPH. Images were taken using Philips CM200 field emission gun electron microscope with an acceleration voltage of 200kW at liquid nitrogen temperature. In total, 79 images recorded dat tilt angles ranging from 0 to 67 degree yielded amplitudes and phases for a three-dimensional map with an in-plant resolution of 6$\AA$ and 11.4$\AA$ in the third dimension shows at least 23 transmembrane helices resolved in a monomeric complex, of which 18 were able to be assigned to the D1, D2, CP47 , and cytochrome b559 alfa beta-subunits with their associated pigments that ae active in electron transport (Rhee, 1998, Ph.D.thesis). The D1/D2 heterodimer is located in the central position within the complex and its helical scalffold is remarkably similar to that of the reaction centres not only in purple bacteria but also in plant photosystem I (PSI) , indicating a common evoluationary origin of all types of reaction centre in photosynthetic organism known today 9RHee et al. 1998). The structural homology is now extended to the inner antenna subunit, ascribed to CP47 in our map, where the 6 transmembrane helices show a striking structural similarity to the corresponding helices of the PSI reaction centre proteins. The overall arrangement of the chlorophylls in the D1 /D2 heterodimer, and in particular the distance between the central pair, is ocnsistent with the weak exciton coupling of P680 that distinguishes this reaction centre from bacterial counterpart. The map in most progress towards high resolution structure will be presented and discussed.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.54 no.6
• /
• pp.311-316
• /
• 2021

Ethanol often causes critical health problems by altering the neuronal activities of the central and peripheral nerve systems. One of the cellular targets of ethanol is the plasma membrane proteins including ion channels and receptors. Recently, we reported that ethanol elevates membrane excitability in sympathetic neurons by inhibiting Kv7.2/7.3 channels in a cell type-specific manner. Even though our studies revealed that the inhibitory effects of ethanol on the Kv7.2/7.3 channel was diminished by the increase of plasma membrane phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P₂), the molecular mechanism of ethanol on Kv7.2/7.3 channel inhibition remains unclear. By investigating the kinetics of Kv7.2/7.3 current in high K⁺ solution, we found that ethanol inhibited Kv7.2/7.3 channels through a mechanism distinct from that of tetraethylammonium (TEA) which enters into the pore and blocks the gate of the channels. Using a non-stationary noise analysis (NSNA), we demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of ethanol is the result of reduction of open probability (P_O) of the Kv7.2/7.3 channel, but not of a single channel current (i) or channel number (N). Finally, ethanol selectively facilitated the kinetics of Kv7.2 current suppression by voltage-sensing phosphatase (VSP)-induced PI(4,5)P₂ depletion, while it slowed down Kv7.2 current recovery from the VSP-induced inhibition. Together our results suggest that ethanol regulates neuronal activity through the reduction of open probability and PI(4,5)P₂ sensitivity of Kv7.2/7.3 channels.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.241-248
• /
• 2010

The present sutdy aimed to determine whether olmesartan, an angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 ($AT_1$) receptor blocker, can influence the CA release from the isolated perfused model of the rat adrenal medulla. Olmesartan ($5{\sim}50{\mu}M$) perfused into an adrenal vein for 90 min produced dose- and time-dependent inhibition of the CA secretory responses evoked by ACh (5.32 mM), high $K^+$ (56 mM, a direct membrane-depolarizer), DMPP (100 ${\mu}M$) and McN-A-343 (100 ${\mu}M$). Olmesartan did not affect basal CA secretion. Also, in adrenal glands loaded with olmesartan (15 ${\mu}M$), the CA secretory responses evoked by Bay-K-8644 (10 ${\mu}M$, an activator of voltage-dependent L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channels), cyclopiazonic acid (10 ${\mu}M$, an inhibitor of cytoplasmic $Ca^{2+}$-ATPase), veratridine (100 ${\mu}M$, an activator of voltage-dependent $Na^+$ channels), and Ang II (100 nM) were markedly inhibited. However, at high concentrations ($150{\sim}300{\mu}M$), olmesartan rather enhanced the ACh-evoked CA secretion. Taken together, these results show that olmesartan at low concentrations inhibits the CA secretion evoked by cholinergic stimulation (both nicotininc and muscarinic receptors) as well as by direct membrane depolarization from the rat adrenal medulla, but at high concentrations it rather potentiates the ACh-evoked CA secretion. It seems that olmesartan has a dual action, acting as both agonist and antagonist at nicotinic receptors of the isolated perfused rat adrenal medulla, which might be dependent on the concentration. It is also thought that this inhibitory effect of olmesartan may be mediated by blocking the influx of both $Na^+$ and $Ca^{2+}$ into the rat adrenomedullary chromaffin cells as well as by inhibiting the $Ca^{2+}$ release from the cytoplasmic calcium store, which is thought to be relevant to the $AT_1$ receptor blockade, in addition to its enhancement on the CA secreton.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.422-431
• /
• 2007

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) is very interesting power source due to high power density, simple construction and operation at low temperature. But it has problems such as high cost, improvement of performance and effect of temperature. These problems can be approached to be solved by using mathematical models which are useful tools for analysis and optimization of fuel cell performance and for heat and water management. In this paper, the present work is to develop an electrochemical model to examine the electrochemical process inside PEM fuel cell. A complete set of considerations of mass, momentum, species and charge is developed and solved numerically with proper account of electrochemical kinetics. When depth of gas channel becomes thinner, diffusion of reactant makes well into gas diffusion layer(GDL) and the performance increases. Although at low current region there is little voltage difference between experimental data of PEM fuel cell and numerical data. When the porosity size of gas diffusion layer for PEM fuel cell is bigger, oxygen diffusion occurs well and oxygen mass fraction appears high in catalyst layer.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.223-227
• /
• 2001

In this paper, the authors present the fabrication of high-yield Si thin-membranes by electrochemical etch-stop in tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH): isopropyl alcohol (IPA):pyrazine solutions. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of n- and p-type Si in TMAH:IPA;pyrazine solutions were analysed, repsectively. Open circuit potential (OCP)and passivation potential (PP) of n- and p-type Si, respectively, were obtained and applied potential was selected between n- and p-type Si PPs. The electrochemical etch-stop method was applied to the fabrication of 801 micro-membranes with 20.0 $\mu\textrm{m}$ thickness on a 5" Si wafer. The average thickness of fabricated 801 micro-membranes on one wafer 20.03$\mu\textrm{m}$ and the standard deviation was ${\pm}$0.26$\mu\textrm{m}$. The Si surface of the etch-stopped micro-membranes was extremely flat with no noticeable taper or nonuniformity. The results indicate that use of the electrochemical etch-stop method for the etching of Si in TMAH:IPA;pyrazine solutions provides a powerful and versatile alternative process for fabricating high-yield Si micro-membranes.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.58 no.8
• /
• pp.1551-1558
• /
• 2009

This paper proposes a new power conditioning system for the fuel cell power generation, which consists of a LLC resonant DC-DC converter and 3-phase inverter. The LLC resonant converter boosts the fuel cell voltage of 26-48V up to 400V, using the hard-switching boost converter and the high-frequency ZVS half-bridge converter. The operation of proposed power conditioning system was verified through simulations with PSCAD/EMTDC software. The feasibility of hardware implementation was verified through experimental works with a laboratory prototype, which was built with 1.2kW PEM fuel-cell stack, 1kW LLC resonant converter, and 3kW PWM inverter. The proposed system can be utilized to commercialize a real interconnection system for the fuel-cell power generation.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 1996.07c
• /
• pp.1409-1411
• /
• 1996

Direct Methanol Fuel Cell(DMFC) using Pt-Ru electrocatlayst and Nafion menbrane can provide high performance if operating conditions are well designed. In this study, operating temperature, pressure, and fuel flow rate were changed to obtain optimum operating conditions of DHFC single cell. Performance of DMFC were increased by the increase of operating temperature. The concentration of fuel methanol was 2.0M $CH_{3}OH$ and pressure difference of cathode and anode was 2 atm were showed maximum performance of DMFC single cell with showing the current density of 160 $mA/cm^2$ at 0.2V cell voltage.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.53-59
• /
• 2004

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) are presently paid attention due to their higher energy density and portability. In order to slove problems such as high anodic overpotential and methanol crossover in DMFC, an analytical analysis for electrochemical model using Tafel equation and limiting current density was performed. Change of operational parameters such as temperature, transfer coefficients and membrane thickness results in helpful informations on voltage-current curves.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2005.10c
• /
• pp.329-333
• /
• 2005

In this study paper, a 3[kW] Fuel Cell Generation (FCG)system with Fuel Cell(FC)simulator has been proposed. The developed FC simulator generates the actual voltage and current output characteristics of the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), so that the overall performance and the dynamics of the proposed system could be effectively examined and tested. In this paper, at first, the system configuration and operational principle of the developed FC simulator has been investigated and the design process of the FCG system is explained in detail. In addition, the validity of the proposed system has been verified by the informative simulation and experimental results.