• The Korean Journal of Physiology
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.165-174
• /
• 1986

The voltage clamp studies were undertaken to elucidate the properties of the slow inward current, $i_{si}$, in the small preparations of the rabbit sinoatrial node. The slow inward current, $i_{si}$, which is known to be responsible for the late one-third of pacemaker potential and whole range of upstroke phase of action potential was analysed with the effects of isoprenaline, cobalt, ouabain and higenamine. The results obtained are as follows; 1) Voltage of SA node preparation was held at zero current level, usually-40mV and the slow inward current, $i_{si}$, was activated by depolarizing clamp pulses. Peak values of $i_{si}$, in steady state were at $-10{\pm}0mV$ in most preparations. 2) Isoprenaline, ${\beta}-agonist$ increased $i_{si}$ and no shift was noticed in voltage-dependency. 3) Cobalt ion in the concentration of 1 mM abolished is, in entire range of membrane potential and the difference of two current levels before and after $Co^{2+}$ treatment could be considered as pure $i_{si}$ magnitude. 4) In the therapeutic concentration of ouabain $(5{\times}10^{-8}M)$ slightly increased is, and reduced the time to reach the peak value. 5) Higenamine $(10^{-6}M)$ changed the configurations of action potential (i. e. rapid upstroke phase and notch in the spike) and increase spontaneous rate. It also increased is, and the effect of higenamine was blocked ${\beta}-blocker$, propranolol $(10^{-6}M)$.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.12 no.12
• /
• pp.5405-5411
• /
• 2011

The effects of heat input (1.5~3.6 kJ/mm) and post weld heat treatment (PWHT, $600^{\circ}C$, 40hr.) on the TMCP HSB600 steel weldments made by GMAW process were investigated. The tensile strengths and hardness of as-welded specimens were decreased as heat input increased, but CVN (Charpy V-Notch) impact energy did not show any differences. The fine-grained acicular ferrite was mainly formed in the low heat input while polygonal and side plate ferrites were dominated in the high heat inputs. Meanwhile, tensile strength and hardness of PWHT weldments were decreased due to the coarsening and globular of microstructure as well as reduction of residual stresses.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.38 no.7
• /
• pp.639-656
• /
• 2006

In order to apply the leak before break (LBB) concept to nuclear piping systems, the dynamic strain aging effect of low carbon steel materials has to be taken into account, in compliance with the requirements of the Korean Standard Review Guide (KSRG) 3.6.3-1. For this goal, J-R tests are needed for a range of various temperatures and loading rates, including dynamic loading conditions. In the dynamic loading J-R test, the unloading compliance method can not be applied to measure the crack growth and direct current potential drop (DCPD) method; this method also has a problem defining the crack initiation point. The normalization method is known as a very useful method to determine the J-R curve under dynamic loading because it does not need additional equipment or complicated loading sequences such as electric current or unloading. This method was accepted by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) as a standard test method E1820 A15 in 2001. However, it has not yet been clearly verified yet if the normalization method is sufficiently reliable to be applied to LBB. In this study, the basic background of the J-integral, LBB and dynamic loading J-R test are explained, and the current status for dynamic loading J-R test methods are reviewed from the view point of LBB for nuclear piping. In particular, the theoretical and historical background of the normalization method which has received attention recently, is summarized. Recent studies for this method are introduced and future works are suggested that may improve the reliability of LBB for nuclear piping.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.352-357
• /
• 2008

The detection of micro cracks in materials at the early stage of fracture is important in many structural safety assurance problems. The nonlinear ultrasonic technique (NUT) has been considered as a positive method for this, since it is more sensitive to micro crack than conventional linear ultrasonic methods. The basic principle is that the waveform is distorted by nonlinear stress-displacement relationship on the crack interface when the ultrasonic wave transmits through, and resultantly higher order harmonics are generated. This phenomenon is called the contact acoustic nonlinearity (CAN). The purpose of this paper is to prove the applicability of CAN experimentally by detection of micro fatigue crack artificailly initiated in Aluminum specimen. For this, we prepared fatigue specimens of Al6061 material with V-notch to initiate the crack, and the amplitude of second order harmonic was measured by scanning along the crack direction. From the results, we could see that the harmonic amplitude had good correlation with COD and it can be used to detect the crack depth in more accurately than the common 6 dB drop echo method.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.59 no.3
• /
• pp.235-249
• /
• 2021

Leptin is a type of adipokine mainly produced by adipocytes and reported to be overproduced in prostate cancer. However, it is not known whether it stimulates the proliferation of prostate cells. In this study, we investigated whether benign prostatic hyperplasia epithelial cells (BPH-1 cells) infected with Trichomonas vaginalis induced the proliferation of prostate cells via a leptin signaling pathway. To investigate the effect of crosstalk between adipocyte leptin and inflamed epithelial cell in proliferation of prostate cells, adipocytes 3T3-L1 cells were incubated in conditioned medium of BPH-1 cells infected with T. vaginalis (T. vaginalis-conditioned medium, TCM), and then the adipocyte-conditioned medium (ATCM) was identified to cause proliferation of prostate cells. BPH-1 cells incubated with live T. vaginalis released pro-inflammatory cytokines, and conditioned medium of these cells caused migration of adipocytes. When prostate stromal cells and BPH-1 cells were incubated with adipocyte conditioned medium containing leptin, their growth rates increased as did expression of the leptin receptor (known as OBR) and signaling molecules such as JAK2/STAT3, Notch and survivin. Moreover, blocking the OBR reduced this proliferation and the expression of leptin signaling molecules in response to ATCM. In conclusion, our findings show that inflamed BPH-1 cells infected with T. vaginalis induce the proliferation of prostate cells through leptin-OBR signaling. Therefore, it is likely that T. vaginalis contributes to prostate enlargement in BPH via adipocyte leptin released as a result of inflammation of the prostate.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.283-288
• /
• 2020

Although the evolution of Arabidopsis thaliana and humans diverged approximately 1.6 billion years ago, recent studies have demonstrated that protein function and cellular processes involved in disease response remain remarkably conserved. Particularly, γ-secretase, a multisubunit protein complex that participates in intramembrane proteolysis (RIP) regulation, is also known to mediate the cleavage of more than 80 substrates including the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the Notch receptor. Although the genes (PS1/2, APH-1, PEN-2, and NCT) coding for the γ-secretase complex components are present in plant genomes, their function remains largely uncharacterized. Given that the deposition of 42 amino acid long amyloid-β peptides (hAβ₄₂) is thought to be one of the main causes of Alzheimer's disease, we aimed to examine the physiological effects of hAβ₄₂ peptides on plants. Interestingly, we found that Arabidopsis protoplast death increased after 24 h of exposure to 3 or 5 µM hAβ₄₂ peptides. Furthermore, transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing the hAβ₄₂ gene exhibited changes in primary root length and silique phyllotaxy. Taken together, our results demonstrate that hAβ₄₂ peptides, a metazoan protein, significantly affect Arabidopsis protoplast viability and plant morphology.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.75 no.1
• /
• pp.9-17
• /
• 2013

Background: In cancer cells, autophagy is generally induced as a pro-survival mechanism in response to treatment-associated genotoxic and metabolic stress. Thus, concurrent autophagy inhibition can be expected to have a synergistic effect with chemotherapy on cancer cell death. Monensin, a polyether antibiotic, is known as an autophagy inhibitor, which interferes with the fusion of autophagosome and lysosome. There have been a few reports of its effect in combination with anticancer drugs. We performed this study to investigate whether erlotinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor, or rapamycin, an mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, is effective in combination therapy with monensin in non-small cell lung cancer cells. Methods: NCI-H1299 cells were treated with rapamycin or erlotinib, with or without monensin pretreatment, and then subjected to growth inhibition assay, apoptosis analysis by flow cytometry, and cell cycle analysis on the basis of the DNA contents histogram. Finally, a Western blot analysis was done to examine the changes of proteins related to apoptosis and cell cycle control. Results: Monensin synergistically increases growth inhibition and apoptosis induced by rapamycin or erlotinib. The number of cells in the sub-$G_1$ phase increases noticeably after the combination treatment. Increase of proapoptotic proteins, including bax, cleaved caspase 3, and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and decrease of anti-apoptotic proteins, bcl-2 and bcl-xL, are augmented by the combination treatment with monensin. The promoters of cell cycle progression, notch3 and skp2, decrease and p21, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, accumulates within the cell during this process. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that concurrent autophagy inhibition could have a role in lung cancer treatment.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.37 no.7
• /
• pp.547-553
• /
• 2014

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most common brain malignancies and has a very poor prognosis. Recent evidence suggests that the presence of cancer stem cells (CSC) in GBM and the rare CSC subpopulation that is resistant to chemotherapy may be responsible for the treatment failure and unfavorable prognosis of GBM. A garlic-derived compound, Z-ajoene, has shown a range of biological activities, including anti-proliferative effects on several cancers. Here, we demonstrated for the first time that Z-ajoene specifically inhibits the growth of the GBM CSC population. CSC sphere-forming inhibition was achieved at a concentration that did not exhibit a cytotoxic effect in regular cell culture conditions. The specificity of this inhibitory effect on the CSC population was confirmed by detecting CSC cell surface marker CD133 expression and biochemical marker ALDH activity. In addition, stem cell-related mRNA profiling and real-time PCR revealed the differential expression of CSC-specific genes, including Notch, Wnt, and Hedgehog, upon treatment with Z-ajoene. A proteomic approach, i.e., reverse-phase protein array (RPPA) and Western blot analysis, showed decreased SMAD4, p-AKT, 14.3.3 and FOXO3A expression. The protein interaction map (http://string-db.org/) of the identified molecules suggested that the AKT, ERK/p38 and $TGF{\beta}$ signaling pathways are key mediators of Z-ajoene's action, which affects the transcriptional network that includes FOXO3A. These biological and bioinformatic analyses collectively demonstrate that Z-ajoene is a potential candidate for the treatment of GBM by specifically targeting GBM CSCs. We also show how this systemic approach strengthens the identification of new therapeutic agents that target CSCs.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.1-26
• /
• 1993

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of acid etching on the surface appearance and fracture toughness of five glass ionomer cements. Five kinds of commercially available glass ionomer cements including chemical curing filling type, chemical curing lining type, chemical curing metal reinforced type, light curing tilling type and light curing lining type were used for this study. The specimens for SEM study were fabricated by treating each glass ionomer cement with either visible light curing or self curing after being inserted into a rubber mold (diameter 4mm, depth 1mm). Some of the specimens were etched with 37% phosphoric acid for 0, 15, 30, 60, go seconds, at 5 minutes, 1 hour and 1 day after mixing of powder and liquid. Unetched ones comprised the control group and the others were the experimental groups. The surface texture was examined by using scanning electron microscope at 20 kV. (S-2300, Hitachi Co., Japan). The specimens for fracture toughness were fabricated by curing of each glass ionomer cement previously inserted into a metal mold for the single edge notch specimen according to the ASTME399. They were subjected to a three-point bend test after etching for 0, 30, 60, and 90 seconds at 5 minutes-, 1 hour-and 1 day-lapse after the fabrication of the specimens. The plane strain fracture toughness ($K_{IC}$) was determined by three-point bend test which was conducted with cross-head speed of 0.5 mm/min using Instron universal testing machine (Model No. 1122) following seven days storage of the etched specimens under $37^{\circ}C$, 100% humidity condition. Following conclusions were drawn. 1. In unetched control group, crack was present, but the surface was generally smooth. 2. Deterioration of the surface appearance such as serious dissolving of gel matrix and loss of glass particles occured as the etching time was increased beyond 15 s following Immediate etching of chemical curing type of glass ionomer cements. 3. Etching after 1 h, and 1 d reduced surface damage, 15 s, and 30s etch gave rough surface appearance without loss of glass particle of chemical curing type of glass ionomer cements. 4. Light curing type glass ionomer cement was etched by acid, but there was no difference in surface appearances according to various waiting periods. 5. It was found that the value of plane stram fracture toughness of glass ionomer cements was highest in the light curing filling type as $1.79\;MNm^{-1.5}$ followed by the light curing lining type, chemical curing metal reinforced type, chemical curing filling type and chemical curing lining type. 6. The value of plane stram fracture toughness of the chemical curing lining type glass ionomer cement etched after 5 minutes was lower than those of the cement etched after 1 hour or day or unetched (P < 0.05). 7. Light curing glass ionomer cement showed Irregular fractured surface and chemical curing cement showed smooth fractured surface.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.241-257
• /
• 2000

Autogenous periosteal grafts are an attractive alternative to existing barrier membrane materials since they meet the reqiurements of an ideal material. But no histological data are available on the effectiveness of periosteal membranes in the treatment of periodontal defects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effect of autogenous periosteal graft on periodontal regeneration histologically. Class II furcation defects were surgically created on the second, third and the fourth premolars bilaterally in the mandibules of six mongrel dogs. The experimental sites were divided into three groups according to the treatment modalities; control group - surgical debridement only; Group I- autogenous periosteal membrane placement after surgical debridement; Group II-autogenous periosteal membrane placement after surgical debridement and bone grafting. The animals were sacrificed at 2, 4 and 12 weeks after periodontal surgery and the decalcified and undecalcified specimens were prepared for histological and histometrical analysis. Clinically all treated groups healed without significant problems. Under light microscope, at 2 weeks, control group showed significant apical epithelial migration and bone remodelling only below the notch area. But for the group I, II with autogenous periosteal graft, less apical migration of epithelium appeared and large amount of osteoid tissue showed above the notch area. Grafted periosteal membrane was indiscernable at 4 weeks, so periosteal membrane might be organized to surrounding tissues. Histometrically, at 4 and 12 weeks, all the test and control groups didn't show significant change of epithelial zone but new attachment level tended to be gained in the test groups than control group. These results suggest that autogenous periosteal grafts should be a good alternative for guided tissue regeneration.