• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2011

Warm-Mix Asphalt(WMA) mixtures, which meet environmental protection and have high energy efficiency, are emerging as an alternative to hot-mix asphalt mixtures. The objective of this study is to evaluate WMA made with Aspha-min in the laboratory and to compare the design results accomplished by new Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide(MEPDG) with control mixture. An asphalt mixture with a nominal maximum size of 12.5mm and PG64-28 binder was used. Resilient modulus tests for a control mixture and WMA with 0.3% and 0.5% of Aspha-min were conducted. The results obtained by MEPDG after inputting the test output into the design indicated that the predicted rut depth of WMA using Aspha-min was much lower than that of control mixture, and showed that WMA was more resistant to rutting than control mixture.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.9 no.2 s.32
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• pp.89-99
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• 2007

The stiffness of the asphalt concrete is represented by the complex modulus $E^*$, which is very important properties in the mechanistic design of flexible pavement system. The moduli of asphalt concrete were generally determined by dynamic modulus test. However, the dynamic modulus testing method is too complex, expensive, and time consuming to be applicable on a production basis. The IR(Impact Resonance) method has been shown to be a truly simple nondestructive testing method which produces very repetitive, consistent results. The major object of this study was to estimate of the effects on IR tests for determining modulus of asphalt concrete including impact position, specimen support condition, impact steel ball size and sampling rate. The variations of IR test results with various testing conditions are within ${\pm}2.7%$.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.162-166
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• 2000

High quality $Si_3N_4$ metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors were realized by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Titanium nitride (TiN) adapted as a diffusion barrier reduced the interfacial reaction between $Si_3N_4$ dielectric layer and aluminum metal electrode showing neither hillock nor observable precipitate along the interface. The capacitance and the current-voltage characteristics of the MIM capacitors showed that the minimum thickness of $Si_3N_4$ layer should be limited to 500 $\AA$ under the present process, below which most of the capacitors were electrically shorted resulting in the devastation of on-wafer yield. According to the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on the cross-sectional microstructure of the capacitors, the dielectric breakdown was caused by slit-like voids formed at the interface between TiN and $Si_3N_4$ layers when the thickness of $Si_3N_4$ layer was less than 500 $\AA$. Based on the calculation of thermally-induced residual stress, the formation of voids was understood from the mechanistic point of view.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.7 no.4 s.26
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• pp.1-8
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• 2005

Permanent Deformation is one of the most important load-related pavement distresses in asphalt pavements. The Korean Pavement Design Guide currently being developed adopted the mechanistic-empirical approach and needed the pavement distress prediction models. This study intends to develop the model for prediction of permanent deformation in the asphalt layer and estimate the pavement performance. The objectives of this paper are to figure out the factors affecting the permanent deformation and then develop the permanent deformation prediction model for asphalt mixtures. The repeated triaxial load test was Performed on the 19mm dense graded asphalt mixture with variation of temperature and air void. Results from the laboratory tests showed that temperature and air void in asphalt mixtures have significantly influenced on the factors in prediction model. The permanent deformation prediction model for 19m dense grade asphalt mixtures has been developed using the multiple regression approach and validated the proposed permanent deformation prediction model.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.581-588
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• 2016

Lonchocarpine is a phenylpropanoid compound isolated from Abrus precatorius that has anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and antiepileptic activities. In the present study, we investigated the antioxidant effects of lonchocarpine in brain glial cells and analyzed its molecular mechanisms. We found that lonchocarpine suppressed reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell death in hydrogen peroxide-treated primary astrocytes. In addition, lonchocarpine increased the expression of anti-oxidant enzymes, such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), and manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), which are all under the control of Nrf2/antioxidant response element (ARE) signaling. Further, mechanistic studies showed that lonchocarpine increases the nuclear translocation and DNA binding of Nrf2 to ARE as well as ARE-mediated transcriptional activities. Moreover, lonchocarpine increased the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and three types of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). By treating astrocytes with each signaling pathway-specific inhibitor, AMPK, c-jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK), and p38 MAPK were identified to be involved in lonchocarpine-induced HO-1 expression and ARE-mediated transcriptional activities. Therefore, lonchocarpine may be a potential therapeutic agent for neurode-generative diseases that are associated with oxidative stress.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7055-7059
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• 2014

Artemisia, as one of the largest genera in the tribe Anthemideae of the Asteraceae comprises an important part of Iranian flora. While cytotoxic and apoptotic properties have already been reported for some species of the genus there is not any report on cytotoxic effects of A. ciniformis. Petroleum ether (40-60), dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and ethanol-water (50:50) extracts of the aerial parts of A. cinformis were subjected to cytotoxic and apoptotic evaluations on two cancer human cell lines (K562 and HL-60) and on J774 normal cells. Among multiple extracts evaluated for cytotoxicity, dichloromethane ($CH_2Cl_2$) and petroleum ether (PE) extracts were shown to possess the highest anti-proliferative effects on HL-60 and K562 cells with $IC_{50}$ values of 31.3 and $25.5{\mu}g/ml$ respectively. Apoptosis induction verified by sub-G1 peaks was seen in flow cytometry histograms. Increase in the amount of Bax protein, formation of DNA fragments, and cleavage of PARP to 24 and 89kDa sub units all confirmed induction of apoptosis by A. cinformis extracts. Taken together according to the result of the present study some extracts of A. cinformis could be considered as sources for natural cytotoxic compounds and further mechanistic and phytochemical studies are recommended to fully understand the underlying mechanisms of cnacer cell death as well as identification of responsible phytochemicals.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7995-8001
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• 2014

Interferon-gamma (IFN-${\gamma}$) has been used to treat various malignant tumors. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the direct anti-proliferative activity of IFN-${\gamma}$ are poorly understood. In the present study, we examined the in vitro antitumor activity of IFN-${\gamma}$ on two human non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines, H322M and H226. Our findings indicated that IFN-${\gamma}$ treatment caused a time-dependent reduction in cell viability and induced apoptosis through a FADD-mediated caspase-8/tBid/mitochondria-dependent pathway in both cell lines. Notably, we also postulated that IFN-${\gamma}$ increased indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) expression and enzymatic activity in H322M and H226 cells. In addition, inhibition of IDO activity by the IDO inhibitor 1-MT or tryptophan significantly reduced IFN-${\gamma}$-induced apoptosis and death receptor 5 (DR5) expression, which suggests that IDO enzymatic activity plays an important role in the anti-NSCLC cancer effect of IFN-${\gamma}$. These results provide new mechanistic insights into interferon-${\gamma}$ antitumor activity and further support IFN-${\gamma}$ as a potential therapeutic adjuvant for the treatment of NCSLC.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.6 no.3 s.21
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• pp.27-35
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• 2004

There are two methods in estimating the remaining life of in-service airfield concrete pavement. They are a method simply using the past accumulated traffic and a method using the theoretical mechanistic analysis. Since the former method is somewhat far from the actual condition, the latter method is widely used by most engineers and researchers. The most essential component of the latter method is the fatigue model of the concrete slab. A fatigue model for airfield concrete pavement is developed in this study by a series of fatigue tests using 30 concrete cylinder specimens obtained from a 10 year old in-service airfield concrete slab. Strengths for the stress ratio calculation were obtained from the split tensile test of the cores sliced. Fatigue test mode was repeated split tensile test. The R2 of developed fatigue model was 0.5. Specimens taken from another airport had been tested for validation of the model. The results showed a good fit to the model. It was also found that the fatigue life predicted from the model was a tittle greater when the stress ratio is greater than 80 percent than other fatigue models developed earlier in America.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.470-475
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• 2013

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a major environmental factor that leads to acute and chronic reactions in the human skin. UV exposure induces wrinkle formation, DNA damage, and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Most mechanistic studies of skin physiology and pharmacology related with UV-irradiated skin have focused on proteins and their related gene expression or single-targeted small molecules. The present study identified and analyzed the alteration of skin metabolites following UVB irradiation and topical retinyl palmitate (RP, 5%) treatment in hairless mice using direct analysis in real time (DART) time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) with multivariate analysis. Under the negative ion mode, the DART ion source successfully ionized various fatty acids including palmitoleic and linolenic acid. From DART-TOF-MS fingerprints measured in positive mode, the prominent dehydrated ion peak (m/z: 369, M+H-$H_2O$) of cholesterol was characterized in all three groups. In positive mode, the discrimination among three groups was much clearer than that in negative mode by using multivariate analysis of orthogonal partial-least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). DART-TOF-MS can ionize various small organic molecules in living tissues and is an efficient alternative analytical tool for acquiring full chemical fingerprints from living tissues without requiring sample preparation. DART-MS measurement of skin tissue with multivariate analysis proved to be a powerful method to discriminate between experimental groups and to find biomarkers for various experiment models in skin dermatological research.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.335-340
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• 2011

In this study, we attempted to isolate novel mast cell-stimulating molecules from Staphylococcus aureus. Water-soluble extract of S. aureus cell lysate strongly induced human interleukin-8 in human mast cell line-1 and mouse interleukin-6 in mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells. The active molecule was purified to homogeneity through a $C_{18}$ reverse phase HPLC column. By determination of its structure by MALDITOF and $^1H$- and $^{13}C$-NMR, adenosine was revealed to be responsible for the observed cytokine induction activities. Further studies using 8-sulfophenyl theophylline, a selective adenosine receptor blocker, verified that purified adenosine can induce interleukin-8 production via adenosine receptors on mast cells. Moreover, adenosine was purified from S. aureus-engulfed RAW264.7 cells, a murine macrophage cell line, used to induce phagocytosis of S. aureus. These results show a novel view of the source of exogenous adenosine in vivo and provide a mechanistic link between inflammatory disease and bacterial infection.