• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2011

Quercetin mainly exists in the skin of colored fruits and vegetables as one of flavonoids. Recent studies show that quercetin, like other flavonoids, has diverse pharmacological actions. However, relatively little is known about quercetin effects in the regulations of ligand-gated ion channels. In the previous reports, we have shown that quercetin regulates subsets of homomeric ligand-gated ion channels such as glycine, 5-$HT_{3A}$ and ${\alpha}7$ nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. In the present study, we examined quercetin effects on heteromeric neuronal ${\alpha}3{\beta}4$ nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channel activity expressed in Xenopus oocytes after injection of cRNA encoding bovine neuronal ${\alpha}3$ and ${\beta}4$ subunits. Treatment with acetylcholine elicited an inward peak current ($I_{ACh}$) in oocytes expressing ${\alpha}3{\beta}4$ nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Co-treatment with quercetin and acetylcholine inhibited $I_{ACh}$ in oocytes expressing ${\alpha}3{\beta}4$ nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The inhibition of $I_{ACh}$ by quercetin was reversible and concentration-dependent. The half-inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) of quercetin was $14.9{\pm}0.8\;{\mu}M$ in oocytes expressing ${\alpha}3{\beta}4$ nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. The inhibition of $I_{ACh}$ by quercetin was voltage-independent and non-competitive. These results indicate that quercetin might regulate ${\alpha}3{\beta}4$ nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and this regulation might be one of the pharmacological actions of quercetin in nervous systems.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.95.1-95.1
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• 2013

The RBSPICE (Radiation Belt Storm Probes Ion Composition Experiment) is one of five instrument suites onboard the twin Van Allan Probes (or Radiation Belt Storm Probes; RBSP), launched August 30, 2012 by NASA. One of science targets of RBSPICE instrument is to determine "how changes in that ring current affect the creation, acceleration, and loss of radiation belt particles?". For that purpose, it measures ions and electrons simultaneously. Ion's energy range is from ~20 keV to ~1 MeV and electron's energy channel is from ~35 keV to 1 MeV in order to provide supplementary information about the radiation belts. In this paper, we investigate a reliability of the electron flux measured from the RBSPICE by comparing with ECT (The Energetic Particle, Composition and Thermal Plasma Suite) data. We found there is a critical proton contamination problem in the electron channels of ~ 1MeV of RBSPICE observations during one moderate storm event of Sym H ~ -76 nT on March 1, 2013.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.277-282
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• 2015

Cryopreservation affects osmotic tolerance and intracellular ion concentration through changes in expression levels of water and ion channels. Control of these changes is important for cell survival after cryopreservation. Relatively little is known about changes in $K^+$ channel expression compared to water channel expression. This study was performed to investigate changes in TASK-2 channel (KCNK5: potassium channel, subfamily K, member 5), a member of two-pore domain $K^+$ channel family, in cryopreserved mouse ovaries. Cryopreservation increased TASK-2 mRNA expression in mouse ovaries. In addition, TASK-2 protein expression was upregulated in vitrified and slowly frozen ovaries. TASK-2 protein was expressed in all area of granulosa cells that surround the oocyte within the follicle, except nucleus. Viability of cells overexpressed with TASK-2 was higher than that of vector-transfected cells. Our results found that TASK-2 expression was increased by cryopreservation and overexpression of TASK-2 decreased cryopreservation-induced cell death. These results suggest that TASK-2 upregulation might reduce cryodamage.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.195-202
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• 2004

This paper presents the fabrication and evaluation of mechanical behavior for a peristaltic micropump by flow simulation. The valve-less micropump using the diffuser/nozzle is consists of the lower plate, the middle plate, the upper plate and the tube that connects inlet and outlet of the pump. The lower plate includes the channel and the chamber, and the plain middle plate are made of glass and actuated by the piezoelectric translator. Channels and a chamber on the lower plate are fabricated on high processability silicon wafer by the DRIE(Deep Reactive Ion Etching) process. The upper plate does the roll of a pump cover and has inlet/outlet/electric holes. Three plates are laminated by the aligner and bonded by the anodic bonding process. Flow simulation is performed using error-reduced finite volume method (FVM). As results of the flow simulation and experiments, the single chamber pump has severe flow problems, such as a backflow and large fluctuation of a flow rate. It is proved that the double-chamber micropump proposed in this paper can reduce the drawback of the single-chamber one.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 1999

Calcium has a variety of functions in neuron and muscle cells and blood clotting, especially in the visual system where dark adapted rods cotransport with Na$\^$+/ into the cell. An influx of Ca$\^$++/ flows out of the cell through the Na$\^$+/-Ca$\^$++/ exchanger. By using a modified Using chamber in order to bring in vivo environment close, we have known that Ca$\^$++/ blocks the activity of guanylate cyclase, in consequence, having an effect on the amplitude of electroretinogram (ERG). We have measured the Ca$\^$++/, K$\^$+/, and Na$\^$+/ concentration in dark and light adapted bullfrog＇s (Rana catesbeiana) vitreous humor. The calcium concentration of the light adapted bullfrog＇s vitreous humor was higher than that of the dark adapted bullfrog＇s vitreous humor This means that ion activity between the photoreceptor and vitreous humor side is light dependent and we have found that a Ca$\^$++/ channel and Ca$\^$++/K$\^$+/ exchanger exist in the vitreous humor side. Taken together permeability of Ca$\^$++/, K$\^$+/ and K$\^$+/ ion internal limiting membrane faced in the vitreous humor side has light-dependent activity during the illumination.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.70-75
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• 2010

Asp66his, Asp54Lys, and Asp50Asn are mutations in connexin 26 that are observed in the clinic and give rise to autosomal dominant syndromes. They are the result of point mutations in the human gap junction ${\beta}-2$ gene. In order to investigate the structural mechanism of Bart-Pumphrey Syndrome, Keratitis-Ichthyosis-Deafness Syndrome, and Vohwinkel Syndrome, homology modeling was carried out. Asp66 has direct contact with Asn62 by two hydrogen bonds in the wild-type protein, and in Asp66His, the biggest change observed is a tremendous energy increase caused by hydrogen bond breakage to Asn62. Shifts in the side chain and new hydrogen bond formation are observed for Lys54 compared to the wild-type protein (Asn54) and result in closer contact to Val84. Asp50Asn causes a significant decrease in bond energy, and residual charge reversal repels the ion and metabolites and, hence, inhibits their transportation. Such perturbations are likely to be a factor contributing to abnormal functioning of ion channels, resulting cell death and disease.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.869-876
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• 2018

The force of a direct current (DC) electromagnetic pump used to transport liquid lithium was analyzed to optimize its geometrical and electrical parameters by numerical simulation. In a heavy-ion accelerator, which is being developed in Korea, a liquid lithium film is utilized for its high charge-stripping efficiency for heavy ions of uranium. A DC electromagnetic pump with a flow rate of $6cm^3/s$ and a developed pressure of 1.5 MPa at a temperature of $200^{\circ}C$ was required to circulate the liquid lithium to form liquid lithium films. The current and magnetic flux densities in the flow gap, where a $Sm_2Co_{17}$ permanent magnet was used to generate a magnetic field, were analyzed for the electromagnetic force distribution generated in the pump. The pressure developed by the Lorentz force on the electromagnetic force was calculated by considering the electromotive force and hydraulic pressure drop in the narrow flow channel. The opposite force at the end part due to the magnetic flux density in the opposite direction depended on the pump geometrical parameters such as the pump duct length and width that defines the rectangular channels in the nonhomogeneous distributions of the current and magnetic fields.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.54-62
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• 2024

SICM (Scanning Ion Conductivity Microscopy) is a technique for measuring surface topography in an environment where electrochemical reactions occur, by detecting changes in ion conductivity as a nanopipette tip approaches the sample. This study includes an investigation of the current response curve, known as the approach curve, according to the distance between the tip and the sample. First, a simulation analysis was conducted on the approach curves. Based on the simulation results, then, several measuring experiments were conducted concurrently to analyze the difference between the simulated and measured approach curves. The simulation analysis confirms that the current squeezing effect occurs as the distance between the tip and the sample approaches half the inner radius of the tip. However, through the calculations, the decrease in current density due to the simple reduction in ion channels was found to be much smaller compared to the current squeezing effect measured through actual experiments. This suggests that ion conductivity in nano-scale narrow channels does not simply follow the Nernst-Einstein relationship based on the diffusion coefficients, but also takes into account the fluidic hydrodynamic resistance at the interface created by the tip and the sample. It is expected that SICM can be combined with SECM (Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy) to overcome the limitations of SECM through consecutive measurement of the two techniques, thereby to strengthen the analysis of electrochemical surface reactivity. This could potentially provide groundbreaking help in understanding the local catalytic reactions in electroless plating and the behaviors of organic additives in electroplating for various kinds of patterns used in semiconductor damascene processes and packaging processes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.101-101
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• 2018

Quantitative measurement of chloride ion concentration has an important role in various fields of electrochemistry, medical science, biology, metallurgy, architecture, etc. Among them, its importance of architecture is ever-growing due to unexpected degradations of building structure. These situations are caused by corrosion of reinforced concrete (RC) structure of buildings. And chloride ions are the most powerful factors of RC structure corrosion. Therefore, precise inspection of chloride ion concentration must be required to increase the accuracy of durability monitoring. Multi-walled Carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have high chemical resistivity, large surface area and superior electrical property. Thus, it is suitable for the channels of electrical signals made by the sensor. Silver nanoparticles were added to giving the sensing property. CuBTC, one of the metal organic frameworks (MOFs), was employed as a material to improve the sensing property because of its hydrophilicity and high surface area to volume ratio. In this study, sensing element was synthesized by various chemical reaction procedures. At first, MWCNTs were functionalized with a mixture of sulfuric acid and nitric acid because of enhancement of solubility in solution and surface activation. And functionalized MWCNTs, silver nanoparticles, and CuBTC were synthesized on PTFE membrane, one by one. Electroless deposition process was performed to deposit the silver nanoparticles. CuBTC was produced by room temperature synthesis. Surface morphology and composition analysis were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was also performed to confirm the existence of sensing materials. The electrical properties of sensor were measured by semiconductor analyzer. The chloride ion sensing characteristics were confirmed with the variation of the resistance at 1 V.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.390-395
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• 2004

In order to characterize ion channels present in tomato roots, microsomes were incorporated into an artificial lipid bilayer arranged for electrophysiological analysis. Of the five different ion channels that could be found, a channel of 450 pS conductance was found most frequently. This channel displayed subconductance states of 450, 257 and 105 pS. All subconductance states showed linear current-voltage relationships. At positive holding potentials, high frequency of transient channel openings was observed; however, at negative potentials, the open times were long and open probability high. Po was 0.83 at -40 mV. When an additional 50 mM $K^+\;or\;Na^+$ was added to the cis side of bilayer, the reversal potentials shifted in the negative direction to near -10 mV. Thus, the 450 pS cation channel selects poorly between $K^+\;and\;Na^+$. In the presence of $100\;{\mu}M$ metal ions, the channel activity was severely inhibited by $La^{3+},\;Ba^{2+},\;and\;Zn^{2+}$, and Po was decreased to 0.2 or even less. However, $Al^{3+}\;and\;Cd^{2+}$ decreased the activity by only 20%. Interestingly, each metal ion showed different kinetics of channel inhibition. While $500\;{\mu}M\;La^{3+}$ inhibited the activities of all subconductance state, 1 mM $Zn^{2+}$ inhibited all except the 105 pS state. $Cd^{2+}$ changed the gating of the channel from a long-opening state to brief transient openings even at negative holding potentials. These data represent that the metal ions may have different binding sites on the channel protein and could be useful modulators and probes to investigate structural characteristics as well as the functional roles of the 450 pS channel on the root physiology.