• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.309-320
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• 2013

Objectives : There is a possibility LRE as remedy in Alzheimer disease (AD), but it's nerve protection effect and mechanism have to be elucidate. In this research, we applied LRE on $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ pre-treated SH-SY5Y cells, to find out the nerve protection effect and mechanism in AD cell model. Methods : We tried to confirm that effect by experimenting with 20, 50, and $100{\mu}g/ml$ concentration of LRE as a medicine. Next experiment, we assessed damage effect which induced $A{\beta}_{25-35}$, known to cause AD, on SH-SY5Y cell. In addition, cellular viability test is executed under $H_2O_2$ treatment condition in a SH-SY5Y cell. Results : 1. In $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ treated SH-SY5Y cell, LRE exhibited an anti-phosphorylation effect about tau protein, JNK, and IKB. 2. LRE prevent nerve cell apoptosis, which indued $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ and oxidative stress, modify JNK engaged synaptic structure and $NF{\kappa}B$ induced p75-neurotrophin receptor polymorphism. Conclusions : We found that LRE prevented oxidative stress-induced cellular destruction, for example, increased SOD activity of $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ treated SH-SY5Y cell and reduced toxicity of oxygen free radical. Consequently, the ingredients of LRE have a role as a catalyzer for $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ clearance and as scavenger for active oxygen free radical.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.171-175
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• 2010

The human genome contains approximately 13 orphan cytochrome P450 (P450, CYP) genes, of which the apparent function or substrate has not been identified. However, they seem to possess their own biological relevance in some tissues or developmental stages. Here, we characterized the heterologously expressed CYP2W1, an orphan P450 enzyme. The recombinant CYP2W1 protein containing a $6{\times}$(His)-tag at Nterminus has been expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. Expression level of CYP2W1 holoenzyme was around 500 nmol P450 holoenzyme per liter culture medium. The reduced CO difference spectrum of CYP2W1 showed a maximum absorption at 449 nm. CYP2W1 indicated the significant induction to bioactivate Trp-P-1, MeIQ, and IQ in E. coli DJ701 tester strain. However, the bioactivation of B[$\alpha$]P, and NNK by CYP2W1 was relatively low. The model structure of CYP2W1 suggested the characteristic P450 folds with the lengths and orientations of the individual secondary elements. The F-G loop is situated on the distal side of heme to accommodate the flexibility of active site of CYP2W1. These studies can provide useful information for the finding of its biological roles and structure-function relationships of an orphan CYP2W1 enzyme.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.687-696
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• 2007

To increase the reliability of auto-ignition in CAI engines, the thermodynamic properties of intake flow is often controlled using recycled exhaust gases, called internal EGR. Because of the internal EGR influence on the overall thermodynamic properties and mixing quality of the gases that affect the subsequent combustion behavior, optimizing the intake and exhaust valve timing for the EGR is important to achieve the reliable auto-ignition and high thermal efficiency. In the present study, fully 3D numerical simulations were carried out to predict the mixing characteristics and flow field inside the cylinder as a function of valve timing. The 3D unsteady Eulerian-Lagrangian two-phase model was used to account for the interaction between the intake air and remaining internal EGR during the under-lap operation while varying three major parameters: the intake valve(IV) and exhaust valve(EV) timings and intake valve lift(IVL). Computational results showed that the largest EVC retardation, as in A6, yielded the optimal mixing of both EGR and fuel. The IV timing had little effect on the mixing quality. However, the IV timing variation caused backflow from the cylinder to the intake port. With respect to reduction of heat loss due to backflow, the case in B6 was considered to present the optimal operating condition. With the variation of the intake valve lift, the A1 case yielded the minimum amount of backflow. The best mixing was delivered when the lift height was at a minimum of 2 mm.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.45-69
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• 2014

The groundwater has been a major source of water supply throughout the ages. Around 50% of the rural as well as urban population in the developing countries like India depends on groundwater for drinking. The groundwater is also an important source in the agriculture and industrial sector. In many parts of the world, groundwater resources are under increasing threat from growing demands, wasteful use and contamination. A good planning and management practices are needed to face this challenge. A key to the management of groundwater is the ability to model the movement of fluids and contaminants in the subsurface environment. It is obvious that the contaminant source activities cannot be completely eliminated and perhaps our water bodies will continue to serve as receptors of vast quantities of waste. In such a scenario, the goal of water quality protection efforts must necessarily be the control and management of these sources to ensure that released pollutants will be sufficiently attenuated within the region of interest and the quality of water at points of withdrawal is not impaired. In order to understand the behaviour of contaminant transport through different types of media, several researchers are carrying out experimental investigations through laboratory and field studies. Many of them are working on the analytical and numerical studies to simulate the movement of contaminants in soil and groundwater of the contaminant transport. With the advent of high power computers especially, a numerical modelling has gained popularity and is indeed of particular relevance in this regard. This paper provides the state of the art of contaminant transport and reviews the allied research works carried out through experimental investigation or using the analytical solution and numerical method. The review involves the investigation in respect of both, saturated and unsaturated, porous media.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.249-270
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• 2014

Through comparing the mean wind profiles observed overland during the passages of four typhoons, and the gradient wind speeds calculated based on the sea level pressure data provided by a numerical model, the present paper discusses, (a) whether the gradient balance is a valid assumption to estimate the wind speed in the height range of 1250 m ~ 1750 m, which is defined as the upper-level mean wind speed, in a tropical cyclone over land, and (b) if the super-gradient feature is systematically observed below the height of 1500 m in the tropical cyclone wind field over land. It has been found that, (i) the gradient balance is a valid assumption to estimate the mean upper-level wind speed in tropical cyclones in the radial range from the radius to the maximum wind (RMW) to three times the RMW, (ii) the super-gradient flow dominates the wind field in the tropical cyclone boundary layer inside the RMW and is frequently observed in the radial range from the RMW to twice the RMW, (iii) the gradient wind speed calculated based on the post-landfall sea level pressure data underestimates the overall wind strength at an island site inside the RMW, and (iv) the unsynchronized decay of the pressure and wind fields in the tropical cyclone might be the reason for the underestimation.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.397-413
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• 2018

Excitation mechanism of interference effect between two tall buildings is investigated with wind tunnel experiments. Synchronized building surface pressure and flow field measurements by particle image velocimetry (PIV) are conducted to explore the relationship between the disturbed wind flow field and the consequent wind load modification for twin buildings in tandem. This reveals evident excitation mechanisms for the fluctuating across-wind loads on the buildings. For small distance (X/D < 3) between two buildings, the disturbed flow pattern of impaired vortex shedding is observed and the fluctuating across-wind load on the downstream building decreases. For larger distance ($X/D{\geq}3$), strong correlation between the across-wind load of the downstream building and the oscillation of the wake of the upstream building is found. By further analysis with conditional sampling and phase-averaged techniques, the coherent flow structures in the building gap are clearly observed and the wake oscillation of the upstream building is confirmed to be the reason of the magnified across-wind force on the downstream building. For efficient PIV measurement, the experiments use a square-section high-rise building model with geometry scale smaller than the usual value. Interference factors for all three components of wind loads on the building models being surrounded by another identical building with various configurations are measured and compared with those from previous studies made at large geometry scale. The results support that for interference effect between buildings with sharp corners, the length scale effect plays a minor role provided that the minimum Reynolds number requirement is met.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.260-271
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• 1992

Fruits are generally subjected to mechanical forces during harvesting, handling, and transportation that may cause damage in the form of bruises, punctures, and cracks. In order to prevent damage, and insure better quality fruits for consumers, it is very essential to study physical properties of these materials. The studies were conducted to examine the effect of storage period, storage condition, and other factors, such as loading rate and initial strain, on the stress relaxation behavior of the fruit flesh, and develop nonlinear viscoelastic models to represent its stress relaxation behavior. The following results were obtained from the study : 1. Since the viscoelastic behavior of the fruits flesh was nonlinear, the behavior was satisfactorily modelled as follows ; $${\delta}({\varepsilon},\;t)={\varepsilon}^A[B\;{\exp}(-Ct)+D\;{\exp}(-Ft)+G(-Ht)]$$ But, for the every strain applied, the stress relaxation behavior of the fruit flesh, such as apple and pear, could be well described by the Generalized Maxwell model, respectively. 2. The effect of loading rate on the stress relaxation behavior was remarkable. The higher loading rate resulted in the higher initial stress, and the faster stress relaxation. 3. The higher initial strain resulted in the higher initial stress, and stress relaxed at the large initial strain was also much higher than at the small initial strain. 4. Stress relaxation rate and quantity stored in the fruits at the low temperature storage were much higher than those at the normal temperature storage in the same storage period. Also, in all fruits tested, the longer storage period was the more relaxation rate and quantity were shown. These trends in the normal temperature condition was the more significant than in the low temperature condition.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1163-1170
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• 2017

Clostridium difficile releases two exotoxins, toxin A and toxin B, which disrupt the epithelial cell barrier in the gut to increase mucosal permeability and trigger inflammation with severe diarrhea. Many studies have suggested that enteric nerves are also directly involved in the progression of this toxin-mediated inflammation and diarrhea. C. difficile toxin A is known to enhance neurotransmitter secretion, increase gut motility, and suppress sympathetic neurotransmission in the guinea pig colitis model. Although previous studies have examined the pathophysiological role of enteric nerves in gut inflammation, the direct effect of toxins on neuronal cells and the molecular mechanisms underlying toxin-induced neuronal stress remained to be unveiled. Here, we examined the toxicity of C. difficile toxin A against neuronal cells (SH-SY5Y). We found that toxin A treatment time- and dose-dependently decreased cell viability and triggered apoptosis accompanied by caspase-3 activation in this cell line. These effects were found to depend on the up-regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the subsequent activation of p38 MAPK and induction of $p21^{Cip1/Waf1}$. Moreover, the N-acetyl-$\text\tiny L$-cysteine (NAC)-induced down-regulation of ROS could recover the viability loss and apoptosis of toxin A-treated neuronal cells. These results collectively suggest that C. difficile toxin A is toxic for neuronal cells, and that this is associated with rapid ROS generation and subsequent p38 MAPK activation and $p21^{Cip1/Waf1}$ up-regulation. Moreover, our data suggest that NAC could inhibit the toxicity of C. difficile toxin A toward enteric neurons.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2003

Various efforts to combine new high-tech materials with solar system have been progressed nowadays in order to improve the performance of the existing passive solar system. TIM(Transparent Insulation Material) replacing the conventional outer building envelope glazing as well as the wall is good example for this trend. TI integrated wall is a thermal mass wall with a special shaped TIM instead of using typical envelope materials The tested TIM type is a small(diameter 4mm and thickness 50mm) capillary tube of Okalux model and cement brick(density 1500kg/m3). The purpose of this study was to analyze the thermal performance through the actual measurements performed in a test cell. This study was carried out to justify the following issues. 1) the impact of Tl-wall over the temperature variations 2) the impact of mass wall surface absorptance over the transient thermal behavior and 3) the impact of thermal mass wall thickness over the temperature variations. Finally, as results indicated that the peak time of room temperature was shifted about one hour early when absorptance of thermal mass wall changed from 60% to 95% for the 190mm thickness thermal mass wall test case. the temperature difference of both surfaces of thermal mass wall surface showed about $23^{\circ}C$ during a day of March for the 380mm thickness thermal mass wall case. However, the thermal mass wall was over-heated by outside temperature and solar radiation in a day of May the temperature difference of both surfaces of thermal mass wall surface was indicated $10^{\circ}C$ and inside temperature was observed more than average 22C.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.25-34
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• 2011

Objectives: We performed simultaneous determination of five constituents by HPLC in Samul-tang (SMT). Additionally, we investigated the immune-stimulatory potential of SMT on specific cellular and humoral immune responses in ovalbumin (OVA)-immunized mice. Methods: Reverse-phase chromatography using a Gemini C18 column operating at $40^{\circ}C$, and photodiode array (PDA) detection at 190-400 nm, were used for quantification of the five components of SMT. Mobile phase using a gradient flow consisted of two solvent systems. Solvent A was 1.0% (v/v) aqueous acetic acid and solvent B was acetonitrile with 1.0% (v/v) acetic acid. C57BL/6 mice were immunized intraperitoneally with OVA/alum ($100{\mu}g/200{\mu}g$) on days 1, 8, and 15. The extract of SMT (1000 mg/kg) was given to mice orally for 21 days (from day 1 to day 21). At day 22, OVA-, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- and concanavalin A (Con A)-stimulated splenocyte proliferation and OVA-specific and total antibodies were measured in plasma. Results: Calibration curves were acquired with $r^2$>0.9999, and the relative standard deviation (RSD, %) for intra- and inter-day precision were both less than 3.5%. The recovery was in the range of 95.69-115.12%, with an RSD less than 6.0%. The contents of five components in SMT were 1.08-15.30 mg/g. SMT significantly enhanced Con A-induced splenocyte proliferation in OVA-immunized mice (p<0.01). Also, SMT significantly enhanced OVAspecific IgG, IgG1 and total IgM levels in plasma compared with the OVA-immunized group. Conclusions: The established method will be applied for the quantification of major components and immunestimulating activity in OVA-immunized mouse model of SMT.