• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.89-97
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• 2013

Developing an animal model for a specific disease is very important in the understanding of the underlying mechanism of the disease and allows testing of newly developed new drugs before human application. However, which of the plethora of experimental animal species to use in model development can be perplexing. Administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is a very well known method to induce the symptoms of Parkinson's disease in mice. But, there is very limited information about the different sensitivities to MPTP among mouse strains. Here, we tested three different mouse strains (C57BL/6, Balb-C, and ICR) as a Parkinsonian model by repeated MPTP injections. In addition to behavioral analysis, endogenous levels of dopamine and tetrahydrobiopterin in mice brain regions, such as striatum, substantia nigra, and hippocampus were directly quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Repeated administrations of MPTP significantly affected the moving distances and rearing frequencies in all three mouse strains. The endogenous dopamine concentrations and expression levels of tyrosine hydroxylase were significantly decreased after the repeated injections, but tetrahydrobiopterin did not change in analyzed brain regions. However, susceptibilities of the mice to MPTP were differed based on the degree of behavioral change, dopamine concentration in brain regions, and expression levels of tyrosine hydroxylase, with C57BL/6 and Balb-C mice being more sensitive to the dopaminergic neuronal toxicity of MPTP than ICR mice.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.1 no.5
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• pp.467-475
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• 1997

Although one of the major physiological functions of taurine(2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is the inhibitory action on the central nervous system(CNS), the mechanism of taurine in controlling the neuronal excitation in the CNS has been in controversy. Electrically evoked pEPSP and spontaneous activity induced by the perfusion of low $Mg^{++}-ACSF$ were recorded in the CA1 pyramidal cell layer of the hippocampal slice. To test the inhibitory effect of taurine on spontaneous responses, taurine was treated for 2 min at various concentrations(1 mM-10 mM). Taurine reduced the spontaneous activity by 22.2% at 1 mM, and 100% at 2 mM in low $Mg^{++}-ACSF$. Evoked response was induced by electrical stimulation of Schaffer collateral-commissural fibers. Taurine reduced the evoked response by 11.68% at 3 mM, and 24.25% at 5 mM. Even 20 mM of taurine reduced the evoked response only by 24 % after 5 min treatment. That is, the inhibitory efficacy was much higher in spontaneous activity than in evoked response. The $GABA_A$ receptor antagonist, 100 uM bicuculline, blocked the inhibitory action of taurine, while $GABA_B$ receptor antagonist, 700 uM phaclofen, did not. Taurine blocked the spontaneous activity in the presence of CNQX, and did not block the electrically evoked responce in the presence of APV. The results suggest that taurine causes hyperpolarization in the cell by binding to $GABA_A$ receptor and preferentially attenuates NMDA receptor-mediated hyperexcitation, leaving synaptic transmission unmodified.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.371-382
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• 2011

We performed experiments using Aplysia neurons to identify the mechanism underlying the changes in the firing patterns in response to temperature changes. When the temperature was gradually increased from $11^{\circ}C$ to $31^{\circ}C$ the firing patterns changed sequentially from the silent state to beating, doublets, beating-chaos, bursting-chaos, square-wave bursting, and bursting-oscillation patterns. When the temperature was decreased over the same temperature range, these sequential changes in the firing patterns reappeared in reverse order. To simulate this entire range of spiking patterns we modified nonlinear differential equations that Chay and Lee made using temperature-dependent scaling factors. To refine the equations, we also analyzed the spike pattern changes in the presence of potassium channel blockers. Based on the solutions of these equations and potassium channel blocker experiments, we found that, as temperature increases, the maximum value of the potassium channel relaxation time constant, ${\tau}_n(t)$ increases, but the maximum value of the probabilities of openings for activation of the potassium channels, n(t) decreases. Accordingly, the voltage-dependent potassium current is likely to play a leading role in the temperature-dependent changes in the firing patterns in Aplysia neurons.

• Journal of Communications and Networks
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.234-240
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• 2006

We study the dynamic burst assembly based on traffic prediction and offset and delay differentiation in optical burst switching network. To improve existing burst assembly mechanism and build an adaptive flexible optical burst switching network, an approach called quality of service (QoS) based adaptive dynamic assembly (QADA) is proposed in this paper. QADA method takes into account current arrival traffic in prediction time adequately and performs adaptive dynamic assembly in limited burst assembly time (BAT) range. By the simulation of burst length error, the QADA method is proved better than the existing method and can achieve the small enough predictive error for real scenarios. Then the different dynamic ranges of BAT for four traffic classes are introduced to make delay differentiation. According to the limitation of BAT range, the burst assembly is classified into one-dimension limit and two-dimension limit. We draw a comparison between one-dimension and two-dimension limit with different prediction time under QoS based offset time and find that the one-dimensional approach offers better network performance, while the two-dimensional approach provides strict inter-class differentiation. Furthermore, the final simulation results in our network condition show that QADA can execute adaptive flexible burst assembly with dynamic BAT and achieve a latency reduction, delay fairness, and offset time QoS guarantee for different traffic classes.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.549-555
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• 2016

We have investigated a glass-forming region of $V_2O_5-P_2O_5-ZnO$ glass and the effects of the addition of modifier oxides ($B_2O_3$) to the glass systems as a sealing material to improve the adhesion between the glass frits and a soda lime substrate. Thermal properties and coefficient of thermal expansion were measured using a differential scanning calorimetry, a dilatometer and a hot stage microscopy. Structural changes and interfacial reactions between the glass substrate and the glass frit after sintering (at $400^{\circ}C$ for 1 h) were measured by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope. The results showed that the adhesion strength increases as the content of $B_2O_3$ at 5 mol% increases because of changes in the structural properties. It seems that the glass structures change with $B_2O_3$, and the $Si^{4+}$ ions from the substrate are diffused to the sealing glass. From these results, we could understand the mechanism of strengthening of the adhesion of soda lime silica substrate by ion-diffusion from the substrate to the glass.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.332-337
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• 2012

The primary objective of this work is to find the properties of sustained release dissolution pattern depending on solubility of drugs, so venlafaxine HCl and carbamazepine tablets were made by using polymer wich various particle size. Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) has been utilized in this study as an excipient that is one of the most widely used polymers for an oral sustained release formulation, and drug release pattern was strongly influenced by swelling rate depending on particle size of HPMC. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was employed to investigate the surface of tablets with various HPMC particle size, and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) was employed to investigate the crystallization of drugs in tablets. The release model equation was applied to analyze the main mechanism of drug release pattern. The results demonstrate that drug release pattern is controlled by the drug solubility and HPMC particle size.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.593-603
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• 1996

A dual-porosity filmed agglomerate model for the porous cathode of the molten carbonate fuel has been investigated to predict the cell performance. A phenomenological treatment of molecular, kinetic and electrode parameters has been given. The major physical and chemical phenomena being modeled include mass transfer, ohmic losses and reaction kinetics at the electrode- electrolyte interface. The model predicts steady-state cell performance, given the above conditions that characterize the state of the electrode. Quasi-linearization and finite difference techniques are used to solve the coupled nonlinear differential equations. Also, the effective surface area of electrode pore was obtained by mercury porosimeter. The results of the investigation are presented in the form of plots of overpotential vs. current density with varied the electrode material, gas composition and mechanism. The predicted polarization curves are compared with the empirical data from 1 c$m^2$ cell. A fair correspondence is observed.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.64.2-64.2
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• 2016

Optical variability is one way to probe the nature of the central engine of AGN at smaller linear scales and previous studies have shown that optical variability is more prevalent at longer timescales and at shorter wavelengths. Especially, intra-night variability can be explained through the damped random walk model but small samples and inhomogeneous data have made constraining this model hard. To understand the properties and physical mechanism of optical variability, we are performing the KMTNet Active Nuclei Variability Survey (KANVaS). Test data of KMTNet in the COSMOS field was obtained over 2 separate nights during 2015, in B, V, R, and I bands. Each night was composed of 5 and 9 epochs with ~30 min cadence. To find AGN in the COSMOS field, we applied multi-wavelength selection methods. Different selection methods means we are looking different region in unification model of AGN, and 100~120, 400~500, 50~100 number of AGN are detected in X-ray, mid-infrared, and radio selection of AGN, respectively. We performed image convolution to reflect seeing fluctuation, then differential photometry between the selected AGN and nearby stars to achieve photometric uncertainty ~0.01mag. We employed one of the standard time-series analysis tools to identify variable AGN, chi-square test. Preliminarily results indicate that intra-night variability is found for X-ray selected, Type1 AGN are 23.6%, 26.4%, 21.3% and 20.7% in the B, V, R, and I band, respectively. The majority of the identified variable AGN are classified as Type 1 AGN, with only a handful of Type 2 AGN showing evidence for variability. The work done so far confirms that there are type and wavelength dependence of intra-night optical variability of AGN.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.8
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• pp.811-817
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• 2003

Recently, application fields of non-metallic minerals by utilizing their structure properties are broadening. Especially, layered minerals have not only excellent shielding or covering ability but also absorbing and storing characteristics of chemical elements between a layers. We considered about the above mentioned characteristics and added functional substances onto their surfaces for the preparation of new environmentally friendly functional materials. In this study, natural graphite and sericite were mainly used to produce for the new environmentally friendly functional building materials. Graphite surfaces were modified with a surfactant (Alkyl Benzyle Demethyle Ammonium Chloride) for anti-bacillus and penicillium. Surface modification mechanism are that primary adsorption by differential zeta potential between graphite and ABDM and secondary adsorption by interaction between surfactant chains take place. Surfactant layers were fully formed and it was expected up to 99.7% up the efficiency of anti-bacillus and penicillium. Also the prepared functional samples have a effect to improve a various efficiency such as electromagnetic wave shield(up to 95%), deodorization(up to 80%), heat storage(5%) etc.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.138-144
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• 1994

Electrical conduction phenomena of $C_{22}$-quinolium(TCNQ) Langmuir- Blodgett(LB) films are reported through a study of current-voltage(I-V) characteristics along a perpendicular direction. The I-V characteristics were investigated by applying a step or a pulse voltage to the specimen as well as changing temperatures in the range of 20-250[.deg. C] It show an ohmic behavior in low-electric field, and a nonohmic behavior in high-electric field. This nonohmic behavior has been interpreted in terms of a conduction mechanism of space-charge limited current and Schottky effect. When the electric field is near the strength of 10$_{6}$ V/cm, there occur anomalous phenomena similar to breakdown. When step or pulse voltage is applied, the breakdown voltage shifts to the higher one as the step or pulse time width becomes shorter. To see the influence of temperature, current was measured as a function of temperature under the several bias voltages, which are lower than that of breakdown. It shows that the current increases to about 103 times near 60-70[.deg. C], and remains constant for a while up to around 150[.deg. C] and then suddenly drops. We have also performed a DSC(differential scanning calorimetry) measurement with $C_{22}$-quinolium(TCNQ) powder in the range of 30-300[.deg. C]. These results imply that the anomalous phenomena occuring in the high electric field are caused by the electrical and internal thermal effect such as a joule heating.ating.