• Title/Summary/Keyword: Function Block

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Ultrastructures of Germ Cells Before and After Insemination in Rainbow Tront, Oncorhynchus mykiss (수정전후 무지개 송어 (Oncorhynchus mykiss)의 생식세포의 미세구조)

  • Yoon, Jong-Man;Park, Hong-Yang
    • Development and Reproduction
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.1-6
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    • 2000
  • Ultrastructure of the zona radiata the micropyle and fertilization process in the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were examined by light, scanning and transmission microscopes . The egg micropyle of rainbow trout consists of a funnel-shaped vestibule and a tapered canal transversing the zona radiata. The micropyle showed the type with a flat pit leading into a long canal and the micropylar wall showed the clockwise spiral structure. There were a great number of microvilli secreting adhesive materials having trapping function attracting the spermatozoa in the vicinity of micropyle. It was apparent that ridges extended between the projections. In the initial stages of penetration, the spermatozoon still within the micropylar canal attached perpendicularly at its apical tip to the egg surface, then the sperm head was rapidly engulfed by the folded egg surface with its many microvilli. The spermatozoon disappeared from the outer surface of the egg before the fertilization cone completely retracted 250 seconds after insemination. No interconnecting ridges was present in the egg surface. In short, the block to polyspermy to permit entry of a single sperm is considered to be mechanical by the morphological design of the micropyle and fertilization cone.

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Ginsenoside (20S)Rg3 Ameliorates Synaptic and Memory Deficits in an Animal Model of Alzheimer's Disease

  • Kim, Tae-Wan
    • 한국약용작물학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2011.09a
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    • pp.31-45
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    • 2011
  • The amyloid ${\beta}$-peptide ($A{\beta}$), which originates from the proteolytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP), plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mounting evidence indicates that different species of $A{\beta}$, such as $A{\beta}$ oligomers and fibrils, may contribute to AD pathogenesis via distinct mechanisms at different stages of the disease. Importantly, elevation and accumulation of soluble $A{\beta}$ oligomers closely correlate with cognitive decline and/or disease progression in animal models of AD. In agreement with these studies, oligomers of $A{\beta}$ have been shown to directly affect synaptic plasticity, a neuronal process that is known to be essential for memory formation. Our previous studies showed that $A{\beta}$ induces the breakdown of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2), a phospholipid that regulates key aspects of neuronal function. PI(4,5)P2 breakdown was found to be a key step toward synaptic and memory dysfunction in a mouse model of AD. To this end, we seek to identify small molecules that could elevate the levels of PI(4,5)P2 and subsequently block $A{\beta}$ oligomer-induced breakdown of PI(4,5)P2 and synaptic dysfunction.. We found that (20S)Rg3, an active triterpene glycoside from heat-processed ginseng, serves as an agonist for phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIalpha (PI4KIIalpha), which is a lipid kinase that mediates a rate-limiting step in PI(4,5)P2 synthesis. Consequently, (20S)Rg3 stimulates PI(4,5)P2 synthesis by directly stimulating the activity of PI4KIIalpha. Interestingly, treatment of a mouse model of AD with (20S)Rg3 leads to reversal of memory deficits. Our data suggest that the PI(4,5)P2-promoting effects of (20S)Rg3 may help mitigate the cognitive symptoms associated with AD.

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The Application of Genetic Algorithm for the Identification of Discontinuity Sets (불연속면 군 분류를 위한 유전자알고리즘의 응용)

  • Sunwoo Choon;Jung Yong-Bok
    • Tunnel and Underground Space
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    • v.15 no.1 s.54
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    • pp.47-54
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    • 2005
  • One of the standard procedures of discontinuity survey is the joint set identification from the population of field orientation data. Discontinuity set identification is fundamental to rock engineering tasks such as rock mass classification, discrete element analysis, key block analysis. and discrete fracture network modeling. Conventionally, manual method using contour plot had been widely used for this task, but this method has some short-comings such as yielding subjective identification results, manual operations, and so on. In this study, the method of discontinuity set identification using genetic algorithm was introduced, but slightly modified to handle the orientation data. Finally, based on the genetic algorithm, we developed a FORTRAN program, Genetic Algorithm based Clustering(GAC) and applied it to two different discontinuity data sets. Genetic Algorithm based Clustering(GAC) was proved to be a fast and efficient method for the discontinuity set identification task. In addition, fitness function based on variance showed more efficient performance in finding the optimal number of clusters when compared with Davis - Bouldin index.

Analysis on Vulnerability of Masked SEED Algorithm (마스킹 기법이 적용된 SEED 알고리즘에 대한 취약점 분석)

  • Kim, TaeWon;Chang, Nam Su
    • Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
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    • v.25 no.4
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    • pp.739-747
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    • 2015
  • Masking technique that is most widely known as countermeasure against power analysis attack prevents leakage for sensitive information during the implementations of cryptography algorithm. it have been studied extensively until now applied on block cipher algorithms. Masking countermeasure have been applied to international standard SEED algorithm. Masked SEED algorithm proposed by Cho et al, not only protects against first order power analysis attacks but also efficient by reducing the execution of Arithmetic to Boolean converting function. In this paper, we analyze the vulnerability of Cho's algorithm against first order power analysis attacks. We targeted additional pre-computation to improve the efficiency in order to recover the random mask value being exploited in first order power analysis attacks. We describe weakness by considering both theoretical and practical aspects and are expecting to apply on every device equipped with cho's algorithm using the proposed attack method.

Effect of Water Temperature on Heat Transfer Characteristic of Spray Cooling on Hot Steel Plate (냉각수온 효과에 따른 고온 강판의 스프레이 냉각 열전달 특성 연구)

  • Lee, Jung-Ho;Yu, Cheong-Hwan;Park, Sang-Jin
    • Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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    • v.35 no.5
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    • pp.503-511
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    • 2011
  • Water spray cooling is a significant technology for cooling of materials from high-temperature up to $900^{\circ}C$. The effects of cooling water temperature on spray cooling are mainly provided for hot steel plate cooling applications in this study. The heat flux measurements are introduced by a novel experimental technique that has a function of heat flux gauge in which test block assemblies are used to measure the heat flux distribution on the surface. The spray is produced by a fullcone nozzle and experiments are performed at fixed water impact density of G and fixed nozzle-totarget spacing. The results show that effects of water temperature on forced boiling heat transfer characteristics are presented for five different water temperatures between 5 to $45^{\circ}C$. The local heat flux curves and heat transfer coefficients are also provided to a benchmark data for the actual spray cooling of hot steel plate cooling applications.

Computer Simulation Study of the Potential Anti-arrhythmic Properties of Paeonol (Paeonol의 잠재적인 항부정맥 효과의 컴퓨터 시뮬레이션 연구)

  • Lee, Soojin
    • Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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    • v.29 no.4
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    • pp.305-312
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    • 2015
  • Paeonol is a major component found in the Paeoniaceae family such as Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews. Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews has traditionally been used to enhance blood flow and relieve joint pain in east Asian countries including China, Korea and Japan. Current research has shown that paeonol blocked the voltage-gated sodium channel and L-type calcium channel. However, there is a lack of research to reveal the relation between cardiac function and blockade of ion channels by paeonol. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate whether paeonol has anti-arrhythmic effects via modulating cardiac ion channels. It is collected that the effects of paeonol on multiple ion channels such as the fast sodium channel and L-type calcium channel from published papers. To incorporate the information on multi-channel block, we computed the effects using the mathematical cardiac model of the guinea-pig and rat ventricular cells (Noble 1998 and 1991 model) and induced early after-depolarizations (EADs) to generate an arrhythmia in the whole heart. Paeonol slightly shortened the action potential duration in the normal cardiac ventricular action potential by the inhibition of sodium channel and L-type calcium channel. Paeonol presented the protective effect from EADs by the inactivation of sodium channel but not L-type calcium channel. Paeonol did not show any changes when it treated on normal ventricular cells through the inhibition of sodium channel, but the protective effect of paeonol through sodium channel on EADs was dose-dependent. These findings suggest that paeonol and its original plant may possess anti-arrhythmic activity, which implies their cardioprotective effects.

A study on location planning of the on-street loading/unloading bays in the central business district (도심상업지역의 노상 하역공간 최적배치계획에 대한 연구)

  • Lee, Sang-Yong;Jung, Hun-Young
    • Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.57-67
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    • 2008
  • Loading zone is necessary to central business district(CBD) due to freight trucks coming into inner city. Currently truck drivers in metropolitan area are forced to illegally park their freight trucks on the roads close to the business facilities because there is no or few loading zones available in the CBD. This situation would bring into traffic congestion and even might block local roads in the CBD. This study reviews the existing improvement plans in city logistics, and examines delivery characteristics related to freight trucks and drivers in Seomyeon, the central downtown of Busan. Also it conducts a location planning for on-street loading/unloading bay using a technical method for arranging loading space. This research estimated the number of parking and stop bays for truck's operation using queueing theory based on truck-service rate and arrival rate, and found locations with the minimum resistance function values for freight movement in arranging on-street loading/unloading bays.

Electrical Stimulation Causes Endothelium-Dependent Relaxation in Isolated Aortic Vessels of the Rabbit (토끼 흉부 대동맥 절편의 전기자극에 대한 수축 및 이완반응)

  • Lee, Seok-Gi;Choe, Hyeong-Ho;Lee, Jong-Un
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.28 no.8
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    • pp.742-746
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    • 1995
  • The present study was aimed at investigating possible transmitter mechanisms in the endothelial cell layer in regulating the tone of the vascular smooth muscle. The thoracic aorta was isolated from the anesthetized male white rabbits and its helical strips were prepared. Electrical field stimulation was delivered to platinum wire electrodes positioned parallel to the vessel segment preconstricted with phenylephrine [3.5x10-6 mol/L at a distance of 1.5-2.0 mm. The electrical stimulation [70 V, 5 msec, 0.5-200 Hz caused either relaxation only [34% or a biphasic response [prolonged relaxation following a weak and transient contraction, 66% . The relaxation response was frequency- dependent, and at 200 Hz a complete relaxation was noted. Mechanical rubbing of the endothelial layer abolished or greatly attenuated the relaxation. The relaxation was also markedly attenuated in the presence of NG-nitro- L-arginine methyl ester [10-3mol/L or procaine hydrochloride [3.5x10-4mol/L . Tetrodotoxin,guanethidine, atropine or indomethacin failed to block or enhance the relaxation response to electrical field stimulation. It is concluded that the vascular endothelium in the aorta contains diffusible substances that regulates the function of the smooth muscle layer, in which relaxation is more prominent than contraction. Their release by the electrical stimualtion in vitro may not involve classic neuronal transmitter release mechanisms or metabolism of arachidonic acids by cyclooxygenase. The release of the relaxing agents may require an increase in cytosolic calcium level. The chemical nature of the relaxant may be, to a large extent, nitric oxide.

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Clinical Effectiveness of Ultrasound-guided Costotransverse Joint Injection in Thoracic Back Pain Patients

  • Yoon, Kyung Bong;Kim, Shin Hyung;Park, Sang Jun;Moon, Ji Ae;Yoon, Duck Mi
    • The Korean Journal of Pain
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    • v.29 no.3
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    • pp.197-201
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    • 2016
  • Because of its anatomical location and function, the costotransverse (CTRV) joint can be a source of thoracic back pain. In this retrospective observational study, we evaluated the clinical effectiveness of the CTRV joint injection in thoracic back pain patients with suspected CTRV joint problems. We enrolled 20 thoracic back pain patients with localized tenderness that was provoked by the application of pressure on the affected CTRV joints. We injected it with 0.5 ml of a ropivacaine and triamcinolone mixture at each level. The mean pre-injection pain score decreased by 37.9% ($7.2{\pm}1.5$ to $4.5{\pm}1.7$, P < 0.001) two weeks after CTRV joint injection. In addition, 70% of patients reported an excellent or good level of satisfaction. We demonstrated that an ultrasound-guided injection of the CTRV joint reduced patients' pain scores and led to a high level of satisfaction at short-term follow-ups in patients with suspected CTRV joint problems.

Effect of Gamma Irradiation on Anti Nutritional Factors and Nutritional Value of Canola Meal for Broiler Chickens

  • Gharaghani, Hossein;Zaghari, Mojtaba;Shahhosseini, Gholamreza;Moravej, Hossein
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.21 no.10
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    • pp.1479-1485
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    • 2008
  • Two completely randomized block design experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of gamma irradiation processing of canola meal on performance parameters of broiler chicks (Ross 308) and protein quality of canola meal. Protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net protein ratio (NPR) were measured as indices of canola meal protein quality. Samples of canola meal were tested for nutritional value after being irradiated at dose levels 10, 20 and 30 kGy. Glucosinolate content was reduced 40, 70 and 89 percent at irradiation dose levels of 10, 20 and 30 kGy respectively (p<0.01). Percent of erucic acid in total fatty acid content increased 44, 58 and 48% as a function of radiation dose (p<0.01). Dose levels did not affect feed conversion ratio (FCR) and body weight gain of chicks (p>0.05). Liver weight was decreased by irradiation dose (p<0.05). The same trend was observed for kidney weights, but this trend was not significant (p>0.05). Gamma irradiation processing of canola meal had no significant effect on $T_3$ level in blood of chickens that consumed canola meal, but $T_4$ level of chicken blood at the 30 kGy dose decreased significantly (p<0.05). PER and NPR were not affected by radiation dose level (p>0.05). Gamma irradiation seems to be a good procedure to improve the nutritional quality of canola meal.