• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.253-257
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• 2007

Among the arthritis symptoms, chronic pain is the most serious, and it can profoundly affect the quality of human life. Unfortunately, the mechanism of development in arthritis and arthritic pain has not yet been precisely elucidated. Accumulating evidence indicates that nitric oxide (NO) plays a pivotal role in nociceptive processing in the spinal cord. However, the modulation mechanism of NO in the peripheral site of arthritis and arthritic pain has not been clarified. Therefore, I determined in the present study which nitric oxide synthase (NOS) was involved in the induction of arthritis and arthritic pain. Monoarthritis was induced by intra-articular injection of carrageenan (2%, $50{\mu}l$) into rats, and resulted in the reduction of weight load on the injected leg, increase of knee joint diameter and inflammatory response. Pre-treatment of rats with L-N6-(1-iminoethyl)-lysine (L-NIL, $500{\mu}g$, in $50{\mu}l$), an inhibitor of inducible NOS (iNOS), partially prevented the induction of pain-related behavior and partially reduced inflammatory response in the synovial membrane in the knee joint. These results suggest that iNOS in the knee joint may play an important role in the induction of pain-related behavior and inflammation, and that NO produced by iNOS may be associated with nociceptive signaling in the peripheral site.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2018

Echinacoside, an active compound in the herb Herba Cistanche, has been reported to inhibit glutamate release. In this study, we investigated the effects of echinacoside on spontaneous excitatory synaptic transmission changes induced by 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), by using the in vitro rat hippocampal slice technique and whole-cell patch clamp recordings from CA3 pyramidal neurons. Perfusion with echinacoside significantly suppressed the 4-AP-induced epileptiform activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Echinacoside reduced 4-AP-induced increase in frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) but it did not affect the amplitude of sEPSCs or glutamate-activated currents, implicating a presynaptic mechanism of action. Echinacoside also potently blocked sustained repetitive firing, which is a basic mechanism of antiepileptic drugs. These results suggest that echinacoside exerts an antiepileptic effect on hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neurons by simultaneously decreasing glutamate release and blocking abnormal firing synchronization. Accordingly, our study provides experimental evidence that echinacoside may represent an effective pharmacological agent for treating epilepsy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.35-40
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• 2007

As a way of improving the safety of the chemical facilities, the risk based-inspection(RBI) was executed for the facilities of the applied petrochemical plant using KS-RBI Ver. 3.0 program developed based on the API-581 based resource document(BRD). From an evaluation result of KS-RBI program, we could find the evaluation of the process safety management(PSM) for the applied plant, risk of the applied process, risk of static facilities and pipes, and the demage mechanism of the facilities. Also, we could suggest a proper inspection plan(frequency and method of inspection) using the calculated risk and the status of the facilities. Therefore, the applied plant could be achieved a reduced inspection cost by an extension of inspection frequency, improved productivity, improved reliability of the facilities, and a computerized history management.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.35-35
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• 2010

Understanding the mechanistic details of heterogeneous catalytic reactions will provide a way to tune the selectivity between various competing reaction channels. In this regard, catalytic decomposition of alcohols over the rutile $TiO_2$(110) surface as a model oxide catalyst has been studied to understand the reaction mechanism employing the temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) technique. The $TiO_2$(110) model catalyst is found to be active toward alcohol dehydration. We find that the active sites are bridge-bonded oxygen vacancies where RO-H heterolytically dissociates and binds to the vacancy to produce alkoxy (RO-) and hydroxyl (HO-). Two protons adsorbed onto the bridge-bonded oxygen atoms (-OH) readily react with each other to form a water molecule at ~500 K and desorb from the surface. The alkoxy (RO-) undergoes decomposition at higher temperatures into the corresponding alkene. Here, the overall desorption kinetics is limited by a first-order decomposition of intermediate alkoxy (RO-) species bound to the vacancy. We show that detailed analysis on the yield and the desorption temperatures as a function of the alkyl substituents provides valuable insights into the reaction mechanism. After the catalytic role of the oxygen vacancies has been established, we employed x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to further study the surface electronic structure related to the catalytically active defective sites. The defect-related state in valence band has been related to the chemically reduced $Ti^{3+}$ defects near the surface region and are found to be closely related to the catalytic activity of the $TiO_2$(110) surface.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.105-112
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• 2006

Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading has been the most extensive damage to pile foundations during earthquakes. However, a case of pile failure was reported despite the fact that a large margin of safety factor was employed in their design. This means that the current seismic design method of pile is not agreeable with the actual failure mechanism of pile. Newly proposed failure mechanism of pile is a pile failure based on buckling instability. In this study, failure behavior of pile embedded in liquefied soil deposits was analyzed considering lateral spreading and buckling instability performing 1g shaking table test. As a result, it can be concluded that the pile subjected to excessive axial loads ($near\;P_{cr}$) can fail by buckling instability during liquefaction. When lateral spreading took place in sloping grounds, lateral spreading increased lateral deflection of pile and reduced the buckling load, promoting more rapid collapse. In addition, buckling shape of pile was observed. In the ease of pile buckling, hinge formed at the middle of the pile, not at the bottom. And in sloping grounds, location of hinge got loiter compared with level ground because of the effects of lateral spreading.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.70-74
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• 2018

We fabricated an anode-type ion source driven by a charge repulsion mechanism and investigated its beam shape controlled by a Whenelt mask integrated at the front face of the source. The ion beam shape was observed to vary by changing the geometry of the Whenelt mask. As the angle of inclination of the Whenelt mask was varied from $40^{\circ}$ to $60^{\circ}$, the etched area at a thin film was reduced from 20 mm to 7.5 mm at the working distance of 286 mm, and the light transmittance through the etched surface was increased from 78% to 80%, respectively. In addition, for the step height difference, ${\Delta}$ between the inner mask and the outer mask of ${\Delta}=0$, -1 mm, and +1 mm, we observed the ion beam shape was formed to be collimated, diverged, and focused, respectively. The focal length of the focused beam was 269 mm. We approved experimentally a simple way of controlling the electric field of the ion beam by changing the geometry of the Whenelt mask such that the initial direction of the ion beam in the plasma region was manipulated effectively.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.64-72
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• 1998

This study aimed at observing the effect of diazepam on the contractility of trachealis muscle isolated from canine trachea, possible involvement of central or peripheral type benzodiazepine receptor, and the calcium related mechanism of action of diazepam. Trachealis muscle strips of 15 mm long were suspended in an isolated organ bath containing 1 ml of physiologic salt solution maintained at $37^{\circ}C$, and aerated with 95% $O_2$ /5% $CO_2$. Isometric myography was performed. Diazepam reduced the basal tone concentration dependently, and this inhibitory action was not affected by neither flumazenil, a central benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, nor PK11195, a peripheral benzodiazepine receptor antagonist. Pretreatment with diazepam showed the inhibitory effect on the concentration-response curves to agonists such as bethanechol, 5-hydroxytryptamine and histamine. Diazepam also caused concentration-related inhibition of contraction with potassium chloride 30 mM. The effect of diazepam on the basal tone and potassium chloride-induced contraction with calcium channel blockers were compared. Similar results were obtained in canine trachealis with verapamil, nifedipine and diltiazem. These results suggest that diazepam relax an airway muscle not via specific receptors but by a similar action as calcium channel blockers in canine trachealis muscle.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.95-106
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• 2011

The transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) cation channel, a member of the TRP vanilloid subfamily, is expressed in a broad range of tissues. Nitric oxide (NO) as a gaseous signal mediator shows a variety of important biological effects. In many instances, NO has been shown to exhibit its activities via a protein S-nitrosylation mechanism in order to regulate its protein functions. With functional assays via site-directed mutagenesis, we demonstrate herein that NO induces the S-nitrosylation of TRPV4 $Ca^{2+}$ channel on the $Cys^{853}$ residue, and the S-nitrosylation of $Cys^{853}$ reduced its channel sensitivity to 4-${\alpha}$ phorbol 12,13-didecanoate and the interaction between TRPV4 and calmodulin. A patch clamp experiment and $Ca^{2+}$ image analysis show that the S-nitrosylation of $Cys^{853}$ modulates the TRPV4 channel as an inhibitor. Thus, our data suggest a novel regulatory mechanism of TRPV4 via NO-mediated S-nitrosylation on its $Cys^{853}$ residue.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 1988

To elucidate the reaction mechanism of ginseng protein on its antiradiation activity, its effects were studied on sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) induced by UV irradiation in CHO-KI cells. When cells were irradiated with 254 nm UV light at the dose of 0 to 8erg$\textrm{mm}^2$, the frequencies of CSE were increased more than two fold. However, when radio protective ginseng protein was added to the cells before the after UV irradiation, SCE frequencies were decreased significantly at all UV doses in both cases with no significant differences. As the amount of ginseng protein was varied from 100 to 500 .mu.g/ml, with UV irradiation at 60 erg$\textrm{mm}^2$, SCE frequencies dropped sharply at the first two concentrations and then reached a sort of plateau in both cases of pre-and post-treatment. When the ginseng protein was treated alone without UV irradiation, there were no changes in SCE frequencies no matter when the protein was added. There results suggest that the ginseng protein could reduced DNA damages, which may play an important role in the reaction mechanism of radioprotective activity of the protein.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.298-308
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• 2019

This work deals with the membrane fouling mode and the unclogging in seawater ultrafiltration process. The identification of the fouling mechanism by modeling the experimental flux decline was performed using both the classical models of Hermia and the combined models of Bolton. The results show that Bolton models did not bring more precise information than the Hermia's and the flux decline can be described by one of the four Hermia's models since the backwash interval is ${\leq}60$ min. An experimental screening study has been then conducted to choose among 5 parameters (backwash interval, duration, pulses and the flow-rate or injected hypochlorite concentration) those that are the most influential on the fouling and the net water production. It has emerged that fouling is mainly affected by the backwash interval; its prolongation from 30 to 60 min engenders an increase in the reversible fouling and a decrease in the irreversible fouling. This later is also significantly reduced when the hypochlorite concentration increases from 4.5 to 10 ppm. Moreover, the net water production significantly increases with increasing the filtration duration up to 60 min and decreases with decreasing the backwash duration and backwash flow-rate from 10 to 40 s and from 15 to ${\geq}20L.min^{-1}$, respectively.