• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.457-463
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• 2018

In this study, we analyzed the protective effects of the vitamin C in the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced apoptosis using the SH-SY5Y, a neuroblastoma cell line. The cells were pretreated with the vitamin C ($100{\mu}g$) for 30 min, followed by the 24-hr treatment with the 2.5-mM STZ. The cell-viability assay using the Cell Counting Kit (CCK)-8 revealed the cell-survival rate increased by 15% following the vitamin-C pretreatment compared to the STZ-only treatment. Moreover, we conducted the western-blot analysis to determine the protective effect of the vitamin C regarding the apoptosis. Compared to those in the STZ-only-treatment group, the p-ERK and Bcl-2 expressions increased in the vitamin-C-pretreatment group, whereas the p-JNK and Bax expressions decreased. The vitamin-C pretreatment increased the expression of the SOD-1, an antioxidant enzyme, by more than 30%, indicating its protective role in the STZ-induced oxidative stress. Also, we found both the intrinsic- and extrinsic-pathway mechanisms of the STZ-induced apoptosis. The results of this study $s{\mu}ggest$ vitamin C may help prevent the neurodegenerative diseases.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2010

Statins are competitive inhibitors of hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase and used most frequently to reduce plasma cholesterol levels and to decrease cardiovascular events. However, statins also have been reported to have undesirable side effects such as myotoxicity and hepatotoxicity associated with their intrinsic efficacy mechanisms. Clinical studies recurrently reported that statin therapy elevated the level of liver enzymes such as ALT and AST in patients suggesting possible liver toxicity due to statins. This observation has been drawn great attention since statins are the most prescribed drugs and statin-therapy was extended to a larger number of high-risk patients. Here we employed rat primary hepatocytes and microarray technique to understand underlying mechanism responsible for statin-induced liver toxicity on cell level. We isolated genes whose expressions were commonly modulated by statin treatments and examined their biological functions. It is of interest that those genes have function related to response to stress in particular immunity and defense in cells. Our study provided the basic information on cellular mechanism of statin-induced cytotoxicity and may serve for finding indicator genes of statin -induced toxicity in rat primary hepatocytes.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2003

Plasma generator based on non-self-sustained low-pressure arc discharge has been examined as a tool for deposition of highly-adhesive hydrogenated amorphous diamond-like carbon(DLC) films. Since the discharge is stable in wide range of gas pressures and currents, this plasma source makes possible to realize both plasma-immersion ion implantation(PIII) and plasma-immersion ion deposition(PIID) in a unified vacuum cycle. The plasma parameters were measured as functions of discharge current. Discharge and substrate bias voltage parameters have been determined for the PIII and PIID modes. For PIID it has been demonstrated that hard and well-adherent DLC coating are produced at 200-500 eV energies per deposited carbon atom. The growth rates of DLC films in this case are about 200-300 nm/h. It was also shown that short(∼60$\mu\textrm{s}$) high-voltage(> 1kV) substrate bias pulses are the most favorable for achieving high hardness and good adhesion of DLC, as well as for reducing of residual intrinsic stress are.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.431-448
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• 2012

In this paper, the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) (Mindlin) for continuum incorporating surface energy is exploited to study the static behavior of ultra-thin functionally graded (FG) plates. The size-dependent mechanical response is very important while the plate thickness reduces to micro/nano scales. Bulk stresses on the surfaces are required to satisfy the surface balance conditions involving surface stresses. Unlike the classical continuum plate models, the bulk transverse normal stress is preserved here. By incorporating the surface energies into the principle of minimum potential energy, a series of continuum governing differential equations which include intrinsic length scales are derived. The modifications over the classical continuum stiffness are also obtained. To illustrate the application of the theory, simply supported micro/nano scaled rectangular films subjected to a transverse mechanical load are investigated. Numerical examples are presented to present the effects of surface energies on the behavior of functionally graded (FG) film, whose effective elastic moduli of its bulk material are represented by the simple power law. The proposed model is then used for a comparison between the continuum analysis of FG ultra-thin plates with and without incorporating surface effects. Also, the transverse shear strain effect is studied by a comparison between the FG plate behavior based on Kirchhoff and Mindlin assumptions. In our analysis the residual surface tension under unstrained conditions and the surface Lame constants are expected to be the same for the upper and lower surfaces of the FG plate. The proposed model is verified by previous work.

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.06a
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• pp.13-28
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• 2000

Human spermatozoa exhibit a capacity to generate ROS and initiate peroxidation of the unsaturated fatty acids in the sperm plasma membrane, which plays a key role in the etiology of male infertility. The short half-life and limited diffusion of these molecules is consistent with their physiologic role in key biological events such as acrosome reaction and hyperactivation. The intrinsic reactivity of these metabolites in peroxidative damage induced by ROS, particularly $H_2O_2$ and the superoxide anion, has been proposed as a major cause of defective sperm function in cases of male infertility. The number of antioxidants known to attack different stages of peroxidative damage is growing, and it will be of interest to compare alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid with these for their therapeutic potential in vitro and in vivo. Both spermatozoa and leukocytes generate ROS, although leukocytes produce much higher levels. The clinical significance of leukocyte presence in semen is controversial. Seminal plasma confers some protection against ROS damage because it contains enzymes that scavenge ROS, such as catalase and superoxide dismutase. A variety of defense mechanisms comprising a number of antioxidants can be employed to reduce or overcome oxidative stress caused by excessive ROS. Determination of male infertility etiology is important, as it will help us develop effective therapies to overcome excessive ROS generation. ROS can have both beneficial and detrimental effects on the spermatozoa and the balancing between the amounts of ROS produced and the amounts scavenged at any moment will determine whether a given sperm function will be promoted or jeopardized. Accurate assessment of ROS levels and, subsequently, OS is Vital, as this will help clinicians both elucidate the fertility status and identify the subgroups of patients that respond or do not respond to these therapeutic strategies. The overt commercial claims of antioxidant benefits and supplements for fertility purposes must be cautiously looked into, until proper multicentered clinical trials are studied. From the current data it appears that no Single adjuvant will be able to enhance the fertilizing capacity of sperm in infertile men, and a combination of the possible strategies that are not toxic at the dosage used would be a feasible approach.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.627-637
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• 2009

Composite materials have been employed in the various engineering applications due to high mechanical performances including high strength-weight ratio and high degree of free formability. Due to complex manufacturing process, however, it can have intrinsic randomness in the material constants which affect the deterministic behavior of the composite structures. In this study, we suggest a formulation for stochastic finite element analysis considering the spatial randomness of Poisson's ratio. Considering the reciprocal relation between elastic moduli and Poisson's ratios in the two mutually orthogonal axes, one of two values of Poisson's ratio can be expressed in terms of the other. Using this, the relation between stress resultants and strains is derived in the ascending order of power of the stochastic field function, which can be directly used in the formulation to obtain the coefficient of variation of responses. The adequacy of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by comparison with the results of Monte Carlo analysis.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.13-21
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• 1999

Flip chip assembly directly on organic boards offers miniaturization of package size as well as reduction in interconnection distances resulting in a high performance and cost-competitive Packaging method. This paper describes the investigation of alternative low cost flip-chip mounting processes using electroless Ni/Au bump and anisotropic conductive adhesives/films as an interconnection material on organic boards such as FR-4. As bumps for flip chip, electroless Ni/Au plating was performed and characterized in mechanical and metallurgical point of view. Effect of annealing on Ni bump characteristics informed that the formation of crystalline nickel with $Ni_3$P precipitation above $300^{\circ}C$ causes an increase of hardness and an increase of the intrinsic stress resulting in a reliability limitation. As an interconnection material, modified ACFs composed of nickel conductive fillers for electrical conductor and non-conductive inorganic fillers for modification of film properties such as coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE) and tensile strength were formulated for improved electrical and mechanical properties of ACF interconnection. The thermal fatigue life of ACA/F flip chip on organic board limited by the thermal expansion mismatch between the chip and the board could be increased by a modified ACA/F. Three ACF materials with different CTE values were prepared and bonded between Si chip and FR-4 board for the thermal strain measurement using moire interferometry. The thermal strain of ACF interconnection layer induced by temperature excursion of $80^{\circ}C$ was decreased with decreasing CTEs of ACF materials.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.403-412
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• 2020

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a hyperglycemia-induced progressive development of renal insufficiency. Excessive glucose can increase mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce cell damage, causing mitochondrial dysfunction. Our previous study indicated that cilostazol (CTZ) can reduce ROS levels and decelerate DN progression in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes. This study investigated the potential mechanisms of CTZ in rats with DN and in high glucose-treated mesangial cells. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed 5 mg/kg/day of CTZ after developing STZ-induced diabetes mellitus. Electron microscopy revealed that CTZ reduced the thickness of the glomerular basement membrane and improved mitochondrial morphology in mesangial cells of diabetic kidney. CTZ treatment reduced excessive kidney mitochondrial DNA copy numbers induced by hyperglycemia and interacted with the intrinsic pathway for regulating cell apoptosis as an antiapoptotic mechanism. In high-glucose-treated mesangial cells, CTZ reduced ROS production, altered the apoptotic status, and down-regulated transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB). Base on the results of our previous and current studies, CTZ deceleration of hyperglycemia-induced DN is attributable to ROS reduction and thereby maintenance of the mitochondrial function and reduction in TGF-β and NF-κB levels.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.533-544
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• 2016

This paper provides a reference to determine the seal performance of metallic O-rings for a reactor pressure vessel (RPV). A nonlinear elastic-plastic model of an O-ring was constructed by the finite element method to analyze its intrinsic properties. It is also validated by experiments on scaled samples. The effects of the compression ratio, the geometrical parameters of the O-ring, and the structure parameters of the groove on the flange are discussed in detail. The results showed that the numerical analysis of the O-ring agrees well with the experimental data, the compression ratio has an important role in the distribution and magnitude of contact stress, and a suitable gap between the sidewall and groove can improve the sealing capability of the O-ring. After the optimization of the sealing structure, some key parameters of the O-ring (i.e., compression ratio, cross-section diameter, wall thickness, sidewall gap) have been recommended for application in megakilowatt class nuclear power plants. Furthermore, air tightness and thermal cycling tests were performed to verify the rationality of the finite element method and to reliably evaluate the sealing performance of a RPV.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.136-149
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• 2013

We studied the characteristics and the growth mechanism of surface cracks from the Naksansa seven-storied stone pagoda(Treasure No. 499). The pagoda is composed of both medium-grained, porphyritic biotite granite and hornblende-biotite granite. Alkali feldspar megacrysts are easily found as phenocrysts in the rocks. Surface cracks intensely developed at the lower part of the stone pagoda, and their directions are of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. The rocks of the pagoda have intrinsic microcracks which can be defined as rift and grain rock cleavages. Both rock cleavages seems likely to have led to the crack growth and consequently to the mechanical deterioration of the pagoda. The vertical cracks developed parallel to the vertical compressive stress, whereas horizontal ones formed by tensile strength normal to the vertical compression. In addition mineral cleavages and twin planes of alkali feldspar phenocrysts seems to have been closely related to the mechanical breakdown of the rocks in the NE part of the pagoda.