• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.147-157
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• 2021

Coronary microembolization (CME) is associated with cardiomyocyte apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction. Puerarin confers protection against multiple cardiovascular diseases, but its effects and specific mechanisms on CME are not fully known. Hence, our study investigated whether puerarin pretreatment could alleviate cardiomyocyte apoptosis and improve cardiac function following CME. The molecular mechanism associated was also explored. A total of 48 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into CME, CME + Puerarin (CME + Pue), sham, and sham + Puerarin (sham + Pue) groups (with 12 rats per group). A CME model was established in CME and CME + Pue groups by injecting 42 ㎛ microspheres into the left ventricle of rats. Rats in the CME + Pue and sham + Pue groups were intraperitoneally injected with puerarin at 120 mg/kg daily for 7 days before operation. Cardiac function, myocardial histopathology, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis index were determined via cardiac ultrasound, hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and hematoxylin-basic fuchsin-picric acid (HBFP) stainings, and TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining, respectively. Western blotting was used to measure protein expression related to the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) pathway. We found that, puerarin significantly ameliorated cardiac dysfunction after CME, attenuated myocardial infarct size, and reduced myocardial apoptotic index. Besides, puerarin inhibited cardiomyocyte apoptosis, as revealed by decreased Bax and cleaved caspase-3, and up-regulated Bcl-2 and PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway related proteins. Collectively, puerarin can inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis and thus attenuate myocardial injury caused by CME. Mechanistically, these effects may be achieved through activation of the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway.

• 천문학회보
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.80.2-81
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• 2016

We investigate the dependence of solar proton events (SPEs) on solar and interplanetary type II bursts associated with solar flares and/or CME-driven shocks. For this we consider NOAA solar proton events from 1997 to 2012 and their associated flare, CME, and type II radio burst data with the following subgroups: metric, decameter-hectometric (DH), and meter-to-kilometric (m-to-km) type II bursts. The primary findings of this study are as follows. First, about half (52%) of the m-to-km type II bursts are associated with SPEs and its occurrence rate is higher than those of DH type II bursts (45%) and metric type II bursts (19%). Second, the SPE occurrence rate strongly depends on flare strength and source longitude, especially for X-class flare associated ones; it is the highest in the central region for metric (46%), DH (54%), and m-to-km (75%) subgroups. Third, the SPE occurrence rate is also dependent on CME linear speed and angular width. The highest rates are found in the m-to-km subgroup associated with CME speed 1500 kms-1: partial halo CME (67%) and halo CME (55%). Fourth, in the relationships between SPE peak fluxes and solar eruption parameters (CME linear speed, flare flux, and longitude), SPE peak flux is mostly dependent on SPE peak flux for all three type II bursts (metric, DH, m-to-km). It is noted that the dependence of SPE peak flux on flare peak flux decreases from metric to m-to-km type II burst.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제47권1호
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• pp.34-41
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• 2020

Objective: The strong antioxidant activity of Commiphora mukul prompted us to conduct the present study to explore whether treatment with C. mukul extract (CME) would have any protective influence on sperm parameters, testosterone levels, and plasma glucose levels in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Methods: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: control, control animals treated with CME, diabetic animals, and diabetic animals treated with CME. CME extract (300 mg/kg) was administered for 60 days by daily gavage. Diabetes was induced by an intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg/kg STZ. The epididymal sperm count, weight, motility, morphology, viability, and serum testosterone and glucose levels were determined. Results: In the diabetic animals, CME decreased blood glucose levels (p< 0.05), increased the total sperm count (p< 0.05), and decreased the proportion of sperm with abnormal morphology (p< 0.05). Diabetes reduced sperm motility (p< 0.001), and CME supplementation partially reversed this effect of diabetes (p= 0.003). Furthermore, in diabetic animals, CME decreased the proportion of immotile sperm (p< 0.001). In rats, diabetes caused a significant decrease (p< 0.05) in serum testosterone levels (F[3, 28] = 3.283, p= 0.035), but treatment of diabetic animals with CME increased serum testosterone levels. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that C. mukul possesses proandrogenic activity and exerts a beneficial effect on sperm parameters in diabetic rats.

• 천문학회지
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• 제36권2호
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• pp.61-66
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• 2003

We have examined the relationship between the speeds of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the GOES X-ray peak fluxes of associated flares. Noting that previous studies were possibly affected by projection effects and random association effects, we have considered two sets of carefully selected CME-flare events: four homologous events and four well-observed limb events. In the respective samples, good correlations are found between the CME speeds and the GOES X-ray peak fluxes of the associated flares. A similarly good correlation is found for all eight events of both samples when the CME speeds of the homologous events are corrected for projection effect. Our results suggest that a close relationship possibly exists between CME kinematics and flaring processes.

• 센서학회지
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.158-164
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• 2014

In indoor sensor networks equalization algorithms based on the minimization of Euclidean distance (MED) for the distributions of constant modulus error (CME) have yielded superior performance in compensating for signal distortions induced from optical fiber links, wireless-links and for impulsive noise problems. One main drawback of MED-CME algorithms is a heavy computational burden hindering its implementation. In this paper, a recursive gradient estimation for weight updates of the MED-CME algorithm is proposed for reducing the operations $O(N^2)$ of the conventional MED-CME to O(N) at each iteration time for N data-block size. From the simulation results of the proposed recursive method producing exactly the same results as the conventional method, the proposed estimation method can be considered to be a reliable candidate for implementation of efficient receivers in indoor sensor networks.

• 천문학회보
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.33-33
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• 2013

We are developing empirical space weather (solar flare, solar proton event, and geomagnetic storm) forecast models based on solar data. In this talk we will review our main results and recent progress. First, we have examined solar flare (R) occurrence probability depending on sunspot McIntosh classification, its area, and its area change. We find that sunspot area and its increase (a proxy of flux emergence) greatly enhance solar flare occurrence rates for several sunspot classes. Second, a solar proton event (S) forecast model depending on flare parameters (flare strength, duration, and longitude) as well as CME parameters (speed and angular width) has been developed. We find that solar proton event probability strongly depends on these parameters and CME speed is well correlated with solar proton flux for disk events. Third, we have developed an empirical storm (G) forecast model to predict probability and strength of a storm using halo CME - Dst storm data. For this we use storm probability maps depending on CME parameters such as speed, location, and earthward direction. We are also looking for geoeffective CME parameters such as cone model parameters and magnetic field orientation. We find that all superstorms (less than -200 nT) occurred in the western hemisphere with southward field orientations. We have a plan to set up a storm forecast method with a three-stage approach, which will make a prediction within four hours after the solar coronagraph data become available. We expect that this study will enable us to forecast the onset and strength of a geomagnetic storm a few days in advance using only CME parameters and the WSA-ENLIL model. Finally, we discuss several ongoing works for space weather applications.

• 한국우주과학회:학술대회논문집(한국우주과학회보)
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• 한국우주과학회 2009년도 한국우주과학회보 제18권2호
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• pp.37.4-38
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• 2009

Rho et al.(2008) showed that the eccentricity parameter of a CME is an important indicator for forecasting CME geoeffectiveness. In this study we have tested a capability of the eccentricity parameter as an indicator of CME direction. For this work we considered 11 CMEs observed by both SOHO/LASCO and STEREO/SECCHI (2007-2008 from Temmer et al. 2009) coronagraphs. We have estimated earthward direction angles for these CMEs based on two different methods: (1) the eccentricity parameter from a single coronagraph SOHO/LASCO and (2) the triangulation technique using a pair of spacecrafts LASCO/STEREO-A and LASCO/STEREO-B. As a result, we have found that for 7 out of 11 CME events their direction angles are consistent with each other within $20^{\circ}$. This result demonstrates that the earthward direction based on the eccentricity parameter can be a good potential indicator for CME propagation direction.

• 천문학회보
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.115.1-115.1
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• 2012

The Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observes low ionization state coronal mass ejection plasma at ultraviolet wavelengths. The CME plasmas are often detected in O VI ($3{\times}10^5K$), C III ($8{\times}10^4K$), $Ly{\alpha}$, and $Ly{\beta}$. Earlier in situ observations by the Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS) on board Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) have shown mostly high ionization state plasmas in interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICME) events, which implies that most CME plasma is strongly heated during its expansion in solar corona. In this analysis, we investigate whether the low ionization state CME plasmas observed by UVCS occupy small enough fractions of the CME volume to be consistent with the small fraction of ICMEs measured by ACE that show low ionization plasma, or whether the CME must be further ionized after passing the UVCS slit. To do this, we determine the covering factors of low ionization state plasma for 10 CME events. We find that the low ionization state plasmas in CMEs observed by UVCS show small covering factors. This result shows that the high ionization state ICME plasmas observed by the ACE results from a small filling factor of cool plasma. We also find that the low ionization state plasma volumes in faster CMEs are smaller than in slower CMEs. Most slow CMEs in this analysis are associated with a prominence eruption, while the faster CMEs are associated with X-class flares.

• 한국지구과학회지
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.214-226
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• 2007

강수는 다양한 대기 변수들의 영향으로 나타나기 때문에 비선형성이 매우 강하다. 따라서 역학 모형을 통해 예측된 강수의 보정은 비선형 모형인 인공 신경망 등을 통해 가능할 것이지만, 인공 신경망의 경우 초기 가중치 선택, 지역 최소화 문제, 뉴런의 수 결정 등의 문제로 인한 한계가 있다. 그러므로 본 연구에서는 가장 보편적으로 사용되는 다중 선형 회귀 모형을 이용하여 CGCM에 의해 모사된 강수를 보정하였으며, 예측성을 살펴보았다. 이를 위하여 우선 PNU/CME 접합 대순환 모형(Coupled General Circulation model, CGCM)(박혜선과 안중배, 2004)을 이용하여 1979년부터 2005년까지 매해 4월부터 8월까지 5개월간 앙상블 적분을 하였다. 적분 결과 중 한반도를 포함한 동북아시아 지역$(110^{\circ}E-145^{\circ}E,\;25^{\circ}N-55^{\circ}N)$의 여름철인 6월(리드 2), 7월(리드 3), 8월(리드 4) 및 여름철 평균인 JJA(from June to August) 기간의 PNU/CME CGCM에 의해 모사된 강수를 보정하기 위해 다중 선형 회귀(Multiple Linear Regression, MLR)를 이용하였다. PNU/CME 접합 대순환 모형의 결과 중 강수, 500 hPa 연직 속도, 200 hPa 발산장, 지상 기온 등의 예측 인자와 관측 강수와의 선형적인 관계를 이용하여 MLR 모형을 구축하였다. 그리고 교차 검증(cross- validation)을 수행하여 PNU/CME 접합 대순환 모형의 결과와 교차 검증 결과를 비교하였다. 상관계수, 적중률 (hit rate), 오보율(false alarm rate) 그리고 Heidke 기술 점수(Heidke skill score) 등을 살펴본 바, 보정하지 않은 모형의 결과에 비해 MLR 모형을 이용하여 보정한 결과의 강수에 대한 예측성이 뛰어난 것을 알 수 있었다.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제26권5호
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• pp.335-345
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• 2022

Pyroptosis is an inflammatory form of programmed cell death that is linked with invading intracellular pathogens. Cardiac pyroptosis has a significant role in coronary microembolization (CME), thus causing myocardial injury. Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) has powerful cardioprotective effects. Hence, this study aimed to identify the effect of Tan IIA on CME and its underlying mechanism. Forty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly grouped into sham, CME, CME + low-dose Tan IIA, and CME + high-dose Tan IIA groups. Except for the sham group, polyethylene microspheres (42 ㎛) were injected to establish the CME model. The Tan-L and Tan-H groups received intraperitoneal Tan IIA for 7 days before CME. After CME, cardiac function, myocardial histopathology, and serum myocardial injury markers were assessed. The expression of pyroptosis-associated molecules and TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB/NLRP3 cascade was evaluated by qRT-PCR, Western blotting, ELISA, and IHC. Relative to the sham group, CME group's cardiac functions were significantly reduced, with a high level of serum myocardial injury markers, and microinfarct area. Also, the levels of caspase-1 p20, GSDMD-N, IL-18, IL-1β, TLR4, MyD88, p-NF-κB p65, NLRP3, and ASC expression were increased. Relative to the CME group, the Tan-H and Tan-L groups had considerably improved cardiac functions, with a considerably low level of serum myocardial injury markers and microinfarct area. Tan IIA can reduce the levels of pyroptosis-associated mRNA and protein, which may be caused by inhibiting TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB/NLRP3 cascade. In conclusion, Tanshinone IIA can suppress cardiomyocyte pyroptosis probably through modulating the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB/NLRP3 cascade, lowering cardiac dysfunction, and myocardial damage.