• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2016

Background: Direct impact of inorganic carbon (i.e., carbon dioxide ($CO_2$)) on the periphyton community is important to understand how and to what extent atmospheric conditions can affect the structure and dynamics of these communities in lotic systems. We investigated the influence of elevated $CO_2$ concentration on the periphyton community in the artificially constructed channels during the winter period. The channels made of acrylic paneling were continuously supplied with surface water discharged from a small reservoir, which was supported with ground water, at a flow rate of 5 L/min, and water temperature ranging $4-5^{\circ}C$. The effects of elevated $CO_2$ concentrations (790 ppm) were evaluated in comparison with the control (395 ppm $CO_2$) by analyzing pH, water carbon content and nutrients in water, periphyton composition and biomass, chlorophyll-a, ash-free dry-matter at 2-day intervals for 10 days. Results: After the addition of $CO_2$, significant decreases of pH, $NH_3-N$, and $PO_4-P$ (p < 0.05) and increases of chlorophyll-a, ash-free dry-matter, and the cell density of periphyton (p < 0.01) were observed, whereas the species composition of periphyton and water carbon content did not change. Conclusions: These results suggest that elevated $CO_2$ in flowing water system with low temperature could facilitate the growth of periphyton resulting in biomass increase, which could further influence water quality and the consumers throughout the food web.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.39-45
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• 2013

Objectives: Buxus Microphylla var. Koreana Nakai Extract (BMKNE) is used as a folk remedy for malaria and veneral disease. In the present study, we investigated the effects of BMKNE in the growth and the survival of AGS cells, the most common human gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines. Methods: The AGS cells were treated with varying concentrations of BMKNE. Analyses of the sub G1 peak, the caspase-3 and -9 activities, and the mitochondrial depolarization were conducted to determine whether AGS cell death occured by apoptosis. Also, to identify the role of transient receptor potential melastatin (TRPM) 7 channels in AGS cell growth and survival, we used human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells overexpressed with TRPM7 channels. Results: Experimental results showed that the sub G1 peak, the caspase-3 and -9 activities, and the mitochondrial depolarization were increased. Therefore, BMKNE was found to induce the apoptosis of these cells, and this apoptosis was inhibited by SB203580 (a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor), and by a c-jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) II inhibitor. Furthermore, BMKNE inhibited TRPM7 currents and TRPM7 channel over-expressions in HEK 293 cells, exacerbating BMKNE-induced cell death. Conclusions: These findings indicate that BMKNE inhibits the growth and the survival of gastric cancer cells due to a blockade of the TRPM7 channel's activity and MAPK signaling. Therefore, BMKNE is a potential drug for treatment of gastric cancer, and both the TRPM7 channel and MAPK signaling may play an important role in survival in gastric cancer cells.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.162-168
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• 2014

Fruits of Schisandra chinensis (SC) Baill are considered a traditional herbal medicine for the treatment and alleviation of various diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-cancer effects of SC extract in human breast adenocarcinoma cells (MCF-7). We used human breast adenocarcinoma cell line, MCF-7 cells. We examined cell death by MTT assay and caspase 3 and 9 assay with SC extract. To examine the inhibitory effects of SC extract, cell cycle (sub G1) analysis and mitochondrial membrane depolarization was done the MCF-7 cells after one day with SC extract. In addition, to investigate the transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) currents, we used the whole cell patch clamp techniques. Furthermore, TRPM7 channels were overexpressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells to identify the role of TRPM7 channels in MCF-7 cell growth and survival. SC extract inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent fashion. Also we showed that SC extract induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells by MTT assay, caspase 3 and 9 assay, sub-G1 analysis and mitochondrial membrane depolarization. SC extract inhibited the TRPM7 currents in MCF-7 cells and in TRPM7 overexpressed HEK 293 cells. Furthermore, TRPM7 channel overexpression in HEK 293 cells exacerbated SC extract-induced cell death. Our findings provide insight into unraveling the effects of SC extract in human breast adenocarcinoma cells and developing therapeutic agents against breast cancer.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.67-78
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• 2001

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of low frequency electroacupuncture(EA) at the $B_{62}$ (Shinmaek) $K_6$(Chohae) on vascular dementia in humans using nonlinear dynamics. Electroencephalogram(EEG) is a multi-scaled signal consisting of several components of time series with different dominant frequency ranges and different origins. Nonlinear measures of the EEG like the correlation dimension ($D_2$) and the first positive Lyapunov exponent ($L_1$) reflect the complexity of the EEG. In this study, $D_2$ was used as a measure of complexity. Sixteen channel EEG study was carried out in six subjects (5 females and 1 males; $age=83.83{\pm}7.19years$). We found that the baseline $D_2$ values of the EEG at F4 and F8 channels (P<0.01) were lowered than during the acupuncture treatment, indicating decreased complexity of the EEG. However, the comparison with that before and after the treatment shows no significant differences in all channels.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.30 no.6C
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• pp.423-433
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• 2005

We present power(in frequency domain) and rate adaptation(in time domain) schemes in multicarrier (MC) direct-sequence code-division multiple-access(DS/CDMA) communications. Utilizing channel state information from the receiver, the adaptation schemes allocate power the user's sub-band with the largest channel gain. In the time domain, the transmission data rate is adapted for a desired transmission quality. In the case of single-user channels, a closed-form expression is derived for an optimal time domain power adaptation that minimizes the average bit error rate(BER). Channel inversion power adaptation is found to provide nearly optimal performance in this case, as the number of sub-bands or available average transmission power increase. Analysis and simulation results show the BER performance of the proposed power and rate adaptations with fixed average transmission power significantly improves the performance over the power allocation in the frequency domain only. Also, we compare the performance of the proposed power and rate adaptation schemes in MC-DS/CDMA systems with that of power and rate adapted single carrier DS/CDMA systems with RAKE receiver.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1254-1261
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• 2007

Mc-OFDM(Multi code-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation has been developed for high-speed data transmission over wireless channels. However, this system suffers critical problem from relatively high PAPR(Peak to Average Power Ratio). To reduce PAPR, we suggest a new technique, called Mapping using (N+1)PSK and demonstrate the performance of mapped Mc-OFDM system. On the other side, in OFDM system, each sub-carrier experiences different fading, thus some sub-carriers may be completely lost because of deep fade. To solve a above mention problem, we propose cooperative communications that improve the reliability of sub-carriers through spatial diversity.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.860-867
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• 2001

In this study, condensation heat transfer experiments were conducted with plate and shell heat exchangers(P&SHE) using R-22. An experimental refrigerant loop has been established to measure the condensation heat transfer coefficient of R-22 in a vertical P&SHE. Two vertical counter flow channels were formed in the P&SHE by three plates of geometry with a corrugated trapezoid shape of a chevron angle of 45°. Downflow of the condensing R-22 in one channel releases heat to the cold upflow of water in the other channel. The effect of the refrigerant mass flux, average heat flux, system pressure and vapor quality of R-22 on the measured data were explored in detail. The results indicate that at a higher vapor quality the condensation heat transfer coefficients are significantly higher. A rise in the refrigerant mass flux causes an increase in the h(sub)r. Also, a rise in the average heat flux causes an increase in the h(sub)r. Finally, at a higher system pressure the h(sub)r is found to be slightly lower. Correlation is also provided for the measured heat transfer coefficients in terms of the Nusselt number.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea TC
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.1-7
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• 2004

The effect of the sub-optimal beam-forming and the fading channel correlation on the closed loop transmit antenna diversity(CTD) system is investigated in frequency flat Rayleigh fading channels. The fast channel fading prevents the perfect channel estimation at a mobile station, hence the imperfect weight is applied to the antenna branch of transmitter. The weight causes sub-optimalbeam-forming and aggravates the performance of CTD system. The fading correlation or a wireless channel also is one of the factors decreasing the diversity gain. A bit error rate expression for the CTD system is analytically derived as a function of the channel estimation error, the channel correlation coefficient the feedback delay, and fading index. It is shown that the channel estimation error gives more severe effect to the system performance than the channel correlation.

• Journal of Korea Society of Digital Industry and Information Management
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2019

Despite attractive advantages such as good time-frequency localization and improved spectral efficiency, filter bank multicarrier with offset quadrature amplitude modulation (FBMC/OQAM) suffers from multipath fading. In highly frequency-selective channels, the effect of multipath interference can significantly distort the FBMC/OQAM signal due to the absence of cyclic prefix. To resolve the problem of the multipath interference in FBMC/OQAM, this paper proposes applying an antenna array that provides well shaped beam pattern for each multipath. To evaluate the performance of the proposed array system, various computer simulations have been conducted. The accuracy of direction of arrival estimation is demonstrated through spatial spectrum for a different number of antennas in a sub-array. The performance improvement is presented in terms of bit error rate. We found that the proposed array system mitigate the multipath interferences in Extended Typical Urban model with 12 antennas in a sub-array. Moreover, as the number of antennas in a sub-array increases, the system provides a signal-to-noise ratio gain.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.481-491
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• 2023

The β subunits of high voltage-gated calcium channels (HGCCs) are essential for optimal channel functions such as channel gating, activation-inactivation kinetics, and trafficking to the membrane. In this study, we report for the first time the potent blood pressure-reducing effects of peptide fragments derived from the β subunits in anesthetized and non-anesthetized rats. Intravenous administration of 16-mer peptide fragments derived from the interacting regions of the β1 [cacb1(344-359)], β2 [cacb2(392-407)], β3 [cacb3(292-307)], and β4 [cacb4(333-348)] subunits with the main α-subunit of HGCC decreased arterial blood pressure in a dose-dependent manner for 5-8 min in anesthetized rats. In contrast, the peptides had no effect on the peak amplitudes of voltage-activated Ca²⁺ current upon their intracellular application into the acutely isolated trigeminal ganglion neurons. Further, a single mutated peptide of cacb1(344-359)-cacb1(344-359)_K357R-showed consistent and potent effects and was crippled by a two-amino acid-truncation at the N-terminal or C-terminal end. By conjugating palmitic acid with the second amino acid (lysine) of cacb1(344-359)_K357R (named K2-palm), we extended the blood pressure reduction to several hours without losing potency. This prolonged effect on the arterial blood pressure was also observed in non-anesthetized rats. On the other hand, the intrathecal administration of acetylated and amidated cacb1(344-359)_K357R peptide did not change acute nociceptive responses induced by the intradermal formalin injection in the plantar surface of rat hindpaw. Overall, these findings will be useful for developing antihypertensives.