• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.91-107
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• 2008

In this paper, we introduce the performance evaluation and development of Raw VLBI Data Buffer(RVDB) system for the synchronized playback processing of observed data in Korea-Japan Joint VLBI Correlator(KJJVC). The high-speed correlation processing system is under development so that the radio data obtained with 8192 channels and 8 Gbps speed from 16 stations will be able to be processed. When the recorded data of each station are played to correlator, the time synchronization of each station is very important because the correlator should process the data obtained with same time and condition. There are many types of recorder systems in the East Asia VLBI Network (EAVN). Therefore it is required to prepare the special time synchronized playback processing system to synchronize the time tag of observed data. The developed RVDB system consists of Data Input Output(DIO), 10GbE switch, and Disk Data Buffer(DDB). It can record the data with maximum 2 Gbps speed, and can play back the data to correlator with nominal 2 Gbps speed. To enable to play back the data of different playback system to the correlator, we developed the high-speed time synchronized playback processing system. We carried out the experiments of playing back and correlation for gigabit correlator and VCS trial product so as to confirm the performance of developed time synchronized playback processing system. In case of online and offline playing back experiment for gigabit correlator, we confirmed that the online and offline correlation results were the same. In case of playing back experiment for VCS trial product, we verified that the wide band and narrow band correlation results were also the same. Through the playing back experiments of RVDB system, the effectiveness of developed RVDB system was verified. In this paper, the system design, construction and experimental results are shown briefly.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1164-1168
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• 2008

We investigated gravitropic responses in the primary root of maize (Zea mays) seedlings which were exposed to salt stress. The maize roots salt-stressed with higher than 100 mM NaCl or KCl started to reveal enhanced gravitropic curvature after 2 hours form the gravi-stimulation. Such a promotion was not caused by sodium phosphate, but invoked by potassium phosphate, indicating the active component is $K^{+}$. Because NaCl increased gravitropic curvature, despite that $Na^{+}$ did not played any role, we evaluated the role for $Cl^{-}$ by comparing the effects of $MgCl_2$ and $MgSO_4$. The enhancement of the curvature only with $MgCl_2$ revealed that $Cl^{-}$ played a role in the gravi-response, indicating the involvement of anion channels. These results suggest that both of $K^{+}$ and $Cl^{-}$ play roles in the regulation of osmosis that is required for cell expansion in gravitropism as well as in nyctinasty and stomatal opening.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.596-603
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• 1998

Lambert Eaton myasthenic syndrome(LEMS) is a paraneoplastic syndrome caused by defects in the secretion of acetylcholine from the presynaptic membrane of nerve terminals and is strongly associated with small cell lung carcinoma. The pathogenesis of LEMS is the destruction of voltage gated calcium channels by an autoimmune process resulting in clinical manifestations consisting of lower extremity weakness. decreased deep tendon reflexes and autonomic dysfunctions. The diagnosis can be confirmed by the characteristic clinical features and repetitive nerve stimulation. The neurological symptoms and signs of LEMS may manifest themselves months before the clinical manifestation of the underlying malignancy. Therefore early diagnosis and treatment of the primary malignancy may become possible through the diagnosis of this rare paraneoplastic syndrome. We report a case of a patient diagnosed with LEMS who upon further evaluation for an underlying malignancy was found to have a 0.2 cm sized nodular and infiltrative mass lesion at the bifurcation of the left apicoposterior segmental and anterior segmental bronchi by bronchoscopy. Although repeated bronchoscopic biopsies of the lesion was not able to disclose malignancy, under strong clinical suspicion left upper lobectomy was performed and subsequently the diagnosis of small cell carcinoma of the lung was confirmed. Muscle weakness began to improve starting from a week after the surgery, then reached a plateau 2 weeks later. Muscle weakness improved further after the trial of anticancer chemotherapy.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2011

The secretion of insulin from pancreatic ${\beta}$-cells is triggered by the influx of $Ca^{2+}$ through voltage-dependent $Ca^{2+}$ channels. The resulting elevation of intracellular calcium ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) triggers additional $Ca^{2+}$ release from internal stores. Less well understood are the mechanisms involved in $Ca^{2+}$ mobilization from internal stores after activation of $Ca^{2+}$ influx. The mobilization process is known as calcium-induced calcium release (CICR). In this study, our goal was to investigate the existence of and the role of caffeine-sensitive ryanodine receptors (RyRs) in a rat pancreatic ${\beta}$-cell line, INS-1 cells. To measure cytosolic and stored $Ca^{2+}$, respectively, cultured INS-1 cells were loaded with fura-2/AM or furaptra/AM. $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ was repetitively increased by caffeine stimulation in normal $Ca^{2+}$ buffer. However, peak $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ was only observed after the first caffeine stimulation in $Ca^{2+}$ free buffer and this increase was markedly blocked by ruthenium red, a RyR blocker. KCl-induced elevations in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ were reduced by pretreatment with ruthenium red, as well as by depletion of internal $Ca^{2+}$ stores using cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) or caffeine. Caffeine-induced $Ca^{2+}$ mobilization ceased after the internal stores were depleted by carbamylcholine (CCh) or CPA. In permeabilized INS-1 cells,$Ca^{2+}$ release from internal stores was activated by caffeine, $Ca^{2+}$, or ryanodine. Furthermore, ruthenium red completely blocked the CICR response in perrneabilized cells. RyRs were widely distributed throughout the intracellular compartment of INS-1 cells. These results suggest that caffeine-sensitive RyRs exist and modulate the CICR response from internal stores in INS-1 pancreatic ${\beta}$-cells.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.195-201
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• 2011

The flavonoid quercetin is a low molecular weight compound generally found in apple, gingko, tomato, onion and other red-colored fruits and vegetables. Like other flavonoids, quercetin has diverse pharmacological actions. However, relatively little is known about the influence of quercetin effects in the regulation of ligand-gated ion channels. Previously, we reported that quercetin regulates subsets of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors such as ${\alpha}3{\beta}4$, ${\alpha}7$ and ${\alpha}9{\alpha}10$. Presently, we investigated the effects of quercetin on muscle-type of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channel activity expressed in Xenopus oocytes after injection of cRNA encoding human fetal or adult muscle-type of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits. Acetylcholine treatment elicited an inward peak current ($I_{ACh}$) in oocytes expressing both muscle-type of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and co-treatment of quercetin with acetylcholine inhibited $I_{ACh}$. Pre-treatment of quercetin further inhibited $I_{ACh}$ in oocytes expressing adult and fetal muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The inhibition of $I_{ACh}$ by quercetin was reversible and concentration-dependent. The $IC_{50}$ of quercetin was $18.9{\pm}1.2{\mu}M$ in oocytes expressing adult muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. The inhibition of $I_{ACh}$ by quercetin was voltage-independent and non-competitive. These results indicate that quercetin might regulate human muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channel activity and that quercetin-mediated regulation of muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptor might be coupled to regulation of neuromuscular junction activity.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.26-33
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• 2017

Vehicle communication can facilitate efficient coordination among vehicles on the road and enable future vehicular applications such as vehicle safety enhancement, infotainment, or even autonomous driving. In the $3^{rd}$ Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), many studies focus on long term evolution (LTE)-based vehicle communication. Because vehicle speed is high enough to cause severe channel distortion in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) environments. We can utilize channel estimation methods to approach a reliable vehicle communication systems. Conventional channel estimation schemes can be categorized as least-squares (LS), decision-directed channel estimation (DDCE), spectral temporal averaging (STA), and smoothing methods. In this study, we propose a smart channel estimation scheme in LTE-based V2V environments. The channel estimation scheme, based on an LTE uplink system, uses a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) as the pilot symbol. Unlike conventional channel estimation schemes, we propose an adaptive smoothing channel estimation scheme (ASCE) using quadratic smoothing (QS) of the pilot symbols, which estimates a channel with greater accuracy and adaptively estimates channels in data symbols. In simulation results, the proposed ASCE scheme shows improved overall performance in terms of the normalized mean square error (NMSE) and bit error rate (BER) relative to conventional schemes.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.235-253
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• 2014

Intensity interferometry, based on the Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect, is a simple and inexpensive method for optical interferometry at microarcsecond angular resolutions; its use in astronomy was abandoned in the 1970s because of low sensitivity. Motivated by recent technical developments, we argue that the sensitivity of large modern intensity interferometers can be improved by factors up to approximately 25 000, corresponding to 11 photometric magnitudes, compared to the pioneering Narrabri Stellar Interferometer. This is made possible by (i) using avalanche photodiodes (APD) as light detectors, (ii) distributing the light received from the source over multiple independent spectral channels, and (iii) use of arrays composed of multiple large light collectors. Our approach permits the construction of large (with baselines ranging from few kilometers to intercontinental distances) optical interferometers at the cost of (very) long-baseline radio interferometers. Realistic intensity interferometer designs are able to achieve limiting R-band magnitudes as good as $m_R{\approx}14$, sufficient for spatially resolved observations of main-sequence O-type stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Multi-channel intensity interferometers can address a wide variety of science cases: (i) linear radii, effective temperatures, and luminosities of stars, via direct measurements of stellar angular sizes; (ii) mass-radius relationships of compact stellar remnants, via direct measurements of the angular sizes of white dwarfs; (iii) stellar rotation, via observations of rotation flattening and surface gravity darkening; (iv) stellar convection and the interaction of stellar photospheres and magnetic fields, via observations of dark and bright starspots; (v) the structure and evolution of multiple stars, via mapping of the companion stars and of accretion flows in interacting binaries; (vi) direct measurements of interstellar distances, derived from angular diameters of stars or via the interferometric Baade-Wesselink method; (vii) the physics of gas accretion onto supermassive black holes, via resolved observations of the central engines of luminous active galactic nuclei; and (viii) calibration of amplitude interferometers by providing a sample of calibrator stars.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.91-99
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• 2010

Objectives: Deficit schizophrenia (DS) constitutes a disease separate from non-deficit schizophrenia (NDS). The aim of the current study was to compare the quantitative EEG and low resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) imaging between DS and NDS. Methods: This study was performed by 32 channels EEG for 42 schizophrenia patients who we categorized into DS and NDS using proxy instrument deficit syndrome (PDS). We performed the absolute power spectral analyses for delta, theta, alpha, low beta and high beta activities. We compared power spectrum between two groups using Independent t-test. Partial correlation test was performed with clinical parameters. Standardized LORETA (sLORETA) was used for comparison of cortical activity, and statistical nonparametric mapping (SnPM) was applied for the statistical analysis. Results: DS showed significantly increased delta and theta absolute power in fontal and parietal region compared with NDS (p<0.05). Power spectrum showed significant correlation with 'anergia' and 'hostility/suspiciousness' subscale of brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS)(p<0.05). sLORETA found out the source region (anterior cingulate cortex/limbic part) that delta activity was significantly increased in DS (p=0.042). Conclusions: DS showed different cortical activity compared with NDS. Our results may suggest QEEG and LORETA could be the marker in differentiating between DS and NDS.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.39-42
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• 2005

Background: Besides its general anesthetic effect, ketamine interacts with sodium channels in a local anesthetic-like fashion, including the sharing of binding sites with those commonly used by clinical local anesthetics. This study evaluated the dose related effects of ketamine during epidural anesthesia with 0.5% ropivacaine. Methods: Sixty ASA physical status I II patients, scheduled for minor elective surgery under epidural anesthesia using 0.5% ropivacaine, were randomly divided into three groups (n = 20 each). The patients initially received either 0.5% ropivacaine (group 1), ketamine (0.1 mg/kg) in addition to the epidural 0.5% ropivacaine (group 2) or ketamine (0.2 mg/kg) in addition to the epidural 0.5% ropivacaine (group 3). The regression of sensory block was assessed by transcutaneous electric stimulation (TES), equivalent to a surgical incision. Motor block was assessed using the Modified Bromage's scale. Episodes of bradycardia, hypotension and sedation were also recorded. Results: There were no significant differences among the three groups in the maximal levels of sensory block or the times taken for these levels to be reached. The mean times for the block to regress to two and four segments below the maximal level were significantly prolonged by epidural ketamine. Conclusions: Epidural ketamine prolongs the duration of ropivacaine epidural anesthesia. These results suggest that ketamine has local anesthetic-like actions.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.273-282
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• 2006

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of R-(-)-2,10,11-trihydroxy-N-propylnoraporphine [R-(-)-TNPA], a selective agonist of dopaminergic $D_2$ receptor and S(-)-raclopride, a selective antagonist of dopaminergic $D_2$ receptor, on the secretion of catecholamines (CA) evoked by cholinergic stimulation and membrane-depolarization in the isolated perfused model of the rat adrenal gland, and also to establish its mechanism of action. R-(-)-TNPA $(10{\sim}100\;{\mu}M)$ perfused into an adrenal vein for 60 min produced dose- and time-dependent inhibition in CA secretory responses evoked by ACh (5.32 mM), high $K^+$ (56 mM), DMPP $(100\;{\mu}M)$ and McN-A-343 $(100\;{\mu}M)$. R-(-)-TNPA itself did also fail to affect basal CA output. Also, in adrenal glands loaded with R-(-)-TNPA $(30\;{\mu}M)$, the CA secretory responses evoked by Bay-K-8644 $(10\;{\mu}M)$, an activator of L-type $Ca^2+$ channels and cyclopiazonic acid $(10\;{\mu}M)$, an inhibitor of cytoplasmic $Ca^{2+}-ATPase$ were also inhibited. However, S(-)-raclopride $(1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M)$, given into an adrenal vein for 60 min, enhanced the CA secretory responses evoked by ACh, high $K^+$, DMPP and McN-A-343 only for the first period (4 min), although it alone has weak effect on CA secretion. Moreover, S(-)-raclopride $(3.0\;{\mu}M)$ in to an adrenal vein for 60 min also augmented the CA release evoked by BAY-K-8644 and cyclopiazonic acid only for the first period (4 min). However, after simultaneous perfusion of R-(-)-TNP A $(30\;{\mu}M)$ and S(-)-raclopride $(3.0\;{\mu}M)$, the inhibitory responses of R(-)-TNPA $(30\;{\mu}M)$ on the CA secretion evoked by ACh, high $K^+$, DMPP, McN-A-343, Bay-K-8644, and cyclopiazonic acid were significantly reduced. Taken together, these experimental results suggest that R-(-)-TNPA greatly inhibits the CA secretion from the perfused rat adrenal medulla evoked by cholinergic stimulation (both nicotininc and muscarinic receptors) and membrane depolarization, but S(-)-raclopride rather enhances the CA release by them. It seems that this inhibitory of R-(-)-TNPA may be mediated by stimulation of inhibitory dopaminergic $D_2$ receptors located on the rat adrenomedullary chromaffin cells, while the facilitatory effect of S(-)-raclopride is due to the blockade of dopaminergic $D_2$ receptors, which are relevant to extra- and intracellular calcium mobilization. Therefore, it is thought that dopaminergic $D_2$ receptors may be involved in regulation of CA release in the rat adrenal medulla.