• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.485-495
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• 2001

It was investigated whether $Ca^{2+}$ and $K^+$ channels were involved in the inhibitory action of nitric oxide (NO) on the contractile and slow wave activity of guinea pig gastric antral circular muscle. The gastric antral circular muscle showed spontaneous phasic contraction and slow wave. NO donors, 3-morpholinosydnonimine hydrochloride (SIN-1, $0.01{\sim}100{\mu}M$) and S-nitroso-L-cysteine (CysNO, $0.001{\sim}10{\mu}M$), reduced not only the amplitude of phasic contraction but also that of slow wave in a concentration-dependent manner. Both the perfusion of $Ca^{2+}$-free solution and the administration of $Ni^{2+}$, a nonselective $Ca^{2+}$ channel blocker, reduced the phasic contraction as well as the amplitude and frequency of the slow wave. The effects of these treatments were similar to those of NO donors. Nifedipine ($10{\mu}M$), a specific L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channel blocker, abolished the phasic contraction and remarkably reduced the plateau of slow wave but had no profound effect on the upstroke of slow wave. In the whole-cell patch clamp mode, CysNO shifted the steady-state activation curve for L-type $Ca^{2+}$ current to the right and the steady-state inactivation curve to the left. Pretreatment of various $K^+$ channel blockers such as tetraethylammonium (1 mM), 4-aminopyridine (0.5 mM), glibenclamide (10 mM), apamin ($0.1{\mu}M$), and iberiotoxin ($0.1{\mu}M$) did not affect the inhibitory action of SIN-1. These results suggest that NO donors suppress mechanical and electrical activity of guinea pig gastric antral circular muscle by inhibition of L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channel rather than by activation of $K^+$ channels.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.545-552
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• 2009

This study was conducted to provide basic information for development of habitat-based conservation strategies of biological diversity in agricultural ecosystem. The carabid beetle assemblages were examined at four kinds of habitats(levee, dike, forest patch remnants and streamside) from three differently stressed areas located in Paltan-myun, Hwaseong city, Korea: agricultural and forest area(site 1), industrial area(site 2), and residential area(site 3). Pitfall trap samplings were carried out 39 times from November 2000 to November 2002. Our study's findings were that the composition of carabid beetle fauna, dominance species, and pattern of carabid beetle assemblage were different among the habitats. The similarity index was highest between two levees in site 2 and 3, and lowest between hillock in site 2 and streamside in site 3, and that among habitats fragmented by road with high traffic was lower than that among any other habitat types. So, we could know that agricultural land use respectively do an important role in diversity conservation and networking. These findings will be used to establish the land use and management plans in the aspects of conservation of biodiversity.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.153-159
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• 2004

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) are the pacemaker cells in gastrointestinal tract and generate electrical rhythmicity in gastrointestinal muscles. Therefore, ICC may be modulated by endogenous agents such as neurotransmitter, hormones, and prostaglandins (PGs). In the present study, we investigated the effects of prostaglandins, especially $PGE_2$, on pacemaker currents in cultured ICCs from murine small intestine by using whole-cell patch clamp techniques. ICCs generated spontaneous slow waves under voltage-clamp conditions and showed a mean amplitude of $-452{\pm}39\;pA$ and frequency of $18{\pm}2$ cycles/min (n=6). Treatments of the cells with $PGE_2$ $(1\;{\mu}M)$ decreased both the frequency and amplitude of the pacemaker currents and increased the resting currents in the outward direction. $PGE_2$ had only inhibitory effects on pacemaker currents and this inhibitory effect was dose-dependent. For characterization of specific membrane EP receptor subtypes, involved in the effects of $PGE_2$ on pacemaker currents in ICCs, EP receptor agonists were used: Butaprost $(1\;{\mu}M)$, $EP_2$ receptor agonist, reduced the spontaneous inward current frequency and amplitude in cultured ICCs (n=5). However sulprostone $(1\;{\mu}M)$, a mixed $EP_1$ and $EP_3$ agonist, had no effects on the frequency, amplitude and resting currents of pacemaker currents (n=5). SQ-22536 (an inhibitor of adenylate cyclase; $100\;{\mu}M$) and ODQ (an inhibitor of guanylate cyclase; $100\;{\mu}M$) had no effects on $PGE_2$ actions of pacemaker currents. These observations indicate that $PGE_2$ alter directly the pacemaker currents in ICCs, and that the $PGE_2$ receptor subtypes involved are the $EP_2$ receptor, independent of cyclic AMP- and GMP-dependent pathway.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.189-196
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• 2007

In order to investigate the potential of very low molecular weight hyaluronic acid(oligo HA) as a cosmetic ingredient, we first measured its cytotoxicity in fibroblast, keratinocyte, and SIRC cell lines. For efficacy test, its moisturizing effect and penetration rate were evaluated in an artificial skin system and Caco-2 cells. Oligo HA did not show any cytotoxicity at a concentration of 300 ${\mu}g/mL$ in fibroblasts and 1,000 ${\mu}g/mL$ in keratinocytes but it showed weak proliferation. In vitro ocular test, oligo HA showed negligible cytotoxicity at the maximum concentrations used(2,000 ${\mu}g/mL$) in SIRC cells. In the test of the single and repeated cutaneous applications, oligo HA under occlusive patch did not provoke any cumulative irritation and sensitization. Oligo HA at a concentration of 0.01 % exhibited a more potent moisturizing effect than hyaluronic acid at a concentration of 0.01 %. In the permeability test using artificial skin and Caco-2 cell lines, hyaluronic acid(M.W. $1.1{\times}10^6$) was hardly observed in the down medium of the inserts. On the other hand, oligo HA(M.W. 5,000) was detected in the down medium up to 16.0 % at 6 h in Caco-2 cell culture and up to 90 % at 6 h in an artificial skin system. These results suggest that oligo HA could be useful as an active ingredient for cosmetics.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.194-201
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• 2010

We propose a frequency selective surface(FSS) using double split ring resonators(DSRRs) for isolation enhancement between CDMA and RFID. The structure consists of an outer SRR and an inner SRR, and the gaps are formed in the same direction. By properly adjusting the gap and line width, the resonant frequency and skirt characteristics can be adjusted without varying the unit cell size. The proposed structure has a different field distribution from that of an ordinary SRR for magneto-dielectric materials. One layer consists of $9{\times}9$ unit cells and the other layer was separated by 50 mm. To validate the simulation results, we fabricated the patch antenna and the FSSs, and the measured results show a good agreement with the simulated ones. The electrical size of the unit cell is $0.110\;{\lambda}{\times}0.110\;{\lambda}{\times}0.002\;{\lambda}$, and the size of the two layer FSS is $1.058\;{\lambda}{\times}1.058\;{\lambda}{\times}0.153\;{\lambda}$. The two layer FSS maintain gain in CDMA frequency and has 6.9 dB reduced gain in RFID frequency.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2013

Various voltage-gated $K^+$ currents were recently described in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. However, the characterization and diversity of voltage-gated $K^+$ currents have not been well studied in trigeminal root ganglion (TRG) neurons, which are similar to the DRG neurons in terms of physiological roles and anatomy. This study was aimed to investigate the characteristics and diversity of voltage-gated $K^+$ currents in acutely isolated TRG neurons of rat using whole cell patch clamp techniques. The first type (type I) had a rapid, transient outward current ($I_A$) with the largest current size having a slow inactivation rate and a sustained delayed rectifier outward current ($I_K$) that was small in size having a fast inactivation rate. The $I_A$ currents of this type were mostly blocked by TEA and 4-AP, K channel blockers whereas the $I_K$ current was inhibited by TEA but not by 4-AP. The second type had a large $I_A$ current with a slow inactivation rate and a medium size-sustained delayed $I_K$ current with a slow inactivation rate. In this second type (type II), the sensitivities of the $I_A$ or $I_K$ current by TEA and 4-AP were similar to those of the type I. The third type (type III) had a medium sized $I_A$ current with a fast inactivation rate and a large sustained $I_K$ current with the slow inactivation rate. In type III current, TEA decreased both $I_A$ and $I_K$ but 4-AP only blocked $I_A$ current. The fourth type (type IV) had a smallest $I_A$ with a fast inactivation rate and a large $I_K$ current with a slow inactivation rate. TEA or 4-AP similarly decreased the $I_A$ but the $I_K$ was only blocked by 4-AP. These findings suggest that at least four different voltage-gated $K^+$ currents in biophysical and pharmacological properties exist in the TRG neurons of rats.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.16 no.3 s.94
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• pp.300-310
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• 2005

In this paper we propose the compact three-layer EBG structure. The unit cell of the proposed EBG structure is composed of a square patch in the upper layer and a square ring stripline in the lower layer that are connected to the ground plane through conducting vias. Reflection phase analysis method and tangential transmission method were considered to accomplish effective EM simulation and measurement. EM simulation results indicate that bandgap characteristics of the EBG structure using both methods is nearly identical. Parametric studies have been performed with the EM simulator to analyze the properties of the EBG structure by investigating the phase shift of the normally incident plane wave, and the transmission measurements between simple monopole antennas positioned near the EBGstructure have been done. The operating fiefuency bandgap of the proposed EBG structure is about 34 $\%$ lower than the conventional EBG structure with the same size. Measured results show bandgap from 0.930 GHz to 0.945 GHz.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.74-84
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• 2017

Since a soldier manages a hand-held landmine detector by hands, it is necessary to develop a system that can detect the target quickly and accurately. However, the hand-held landmine detector used in Korea has a problem that it can only detect the metal mines. Therefore, it is important to solve the problem and to develop a hand-held landmine detection system suitable for the Korean environment. In this paper, we propose a hand-held landmine detection system suitable for the Korean environment using ground penetrating radar. The proposed system uses depth compensation, matched filtering, and frequency shifting filtering for preprocessing. Then, in the detection step, the system detects the target using the edge ratio. In order to evaluate the proposed system, we buried landmines in sandy loam which is most of the soil in Korea and obtained a set of ground penetrating radar data by using a hand-held landmine detector. By using the obtained data, we carried out some experiments on the size and position of the patch and the shifting frequency to find the optimal parameter values and measured the detection performance using the optimized values. Experimental results show that the proposed preprocessing algorithms are suitable for detecting all landmines at low false alarm rate and the performance of the proposed system is superior to that of previous works.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.309-313
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• 2009

There are several respiratory diseases that show chronic granulomatous inflammation for the histologic finding. Among them, sarcoidosis and tuberculosis are not easy to differentiate when the clinical and radiological features present similar patterns. The increasing incidence of nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease is making it more difficult for clinicians to arrive at a proper diagnosis. A 69 year old male patient visited our hospital with chronic cough as his chief compliant. His radiologic findings were multiple enlarged mediastinal lymphadenpathies with innumerable micronodules and multiple patch infiltrations. The spleen biopsy finding showed chronic granulomatous inflammation, and Mycobacterium avium was identified on the bronchoscopic culture. Because of these findings, we treated him with drugs for nontuberculous mycobacteria disease other than sarcoidosis. However, during the treatment, his symptoms and radiological features became aggravated. Thus, we reviewed the radiologic and pathologic findings and decided to treat him with steroid, which relieved his symptoms and improved the radiologic findings. We report here on a case of sarcoidosis that was initially misdiagnosed as nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.921-932
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• 2010

This paper presents a dual-band array antenna based on a modified Sierpinski fractal structure. Array structure is mirror symmetric, and forms broadside radiation pattern for dual frequency band if the ports are fed with $180^{\circ}C$ phase difference between upper and lower $2{\times}1$ array. To use in-phase corporate feeding circuit, the phase inversion structure is designed by changing the position of patch and ground for upper and lower array. The dimensions of the array antenna is $28{\times}30{\times}5\;cm^3$ and the bandwidth of 855~1,380 MHz(47 %), 1,770~2,330 MHz(27 %) were achieved for -10 dB return loss. The measured gain is 9.06~12.44 dBi for the first band and 11.76~14.84 dBi for the second band. The half power beam width is $57^{\circ}$ for x-z plane and $46^{\circ}$ for y-z plane at 1,100 MHz and $43^{\circ}$ and $28^{\circ}$ at 2,050 MHz, respectively.