• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.569-585
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• 2023

This paper proposes an efficient approach for the structural topology optimization of bi-directional functionally graded structures by incorporating popular radial basis functions (RBFs) into an implicit level set (ILS) method. Compared to traditional element density-based methods, a level set (LS) description of material boundaries produces a smoother boundary description of the design. The paper develops RBF implicit modeling with multiquadric (MQ) splines, thin-plate spline (TPS), exponential spline (ES), and Gaussians (GS) to define the ILS function with high accuracy and smoothness. The optimization problem is formulated by considering RBF-based nodal densities as design variables and minimizing the compliance objective function. A LS-RBF optimization method is proposed to transform a Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equation (PDE) into a system of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) over the entire design domain using a collocation formulation of the method of lines design variables. The paper presents detailed mathematical expressions for BiDFG beams topology optimization with two different material models: continuum functionally graded (CFG) and mechanical functionally graded (MFG). Several numerical examples are presented to verify the method's efficiency, reliability, and success in accuracy, convergence speed, and insensitivity to initial designs in the topology optimization of two-dimensional (2D) structures. Overall, the paper presents a novel and efficient approach to topology optimization that can handle bi-directional functionally graded structures with complex geometries.

• 한국가축번식학회지
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.427-432
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• 1997

These studies were performed to approach the precise pathway inducing the meiotic inhibitory action of hypoxanthine on mouse follicular oocytes and to identify the cause of detrimental effect of hypoxanthine on viability of the oocyte in vitro. In addition, a correlation between the meiotic inhibitory effect and the detrimental effect of hypoxanthine was investigated. Mouse follicular oocytes at germinal vesicle(GV) stage were collected from the ovaries of ICR mice by puncturing the antral follicles with a fine needle, at 48 hours after PMSG injection. Oocytes were cultured in Modified Whittingham's T6 media containing hypoxanthine and several materials that involved in metabolism of hypoxanthine, and the effects of the materials on the actions of hypoxanthine were investigated by observing germinal vesicle breake down (GVBD), 1st polar body (PB) extrusion and viability of the oocytes. Phophodiesterase significantly reduced the meiotic inhibitory effect of dbcAMP but did not influence on the inhibitory effect of hypoxanthine. Allopurinol and 6-MP significantly enhanced the meiotic inhibitory effect of hypoxanthine, but the materials themselves also showed the meiotic inhibitory action like hypoxanthine. Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase significantly enhanced the meiotic inhibitory effect of hypoxanthine, on the contrary HGPRT itself promoted meiotic resumption of the oocytes. Catalase did not induce any change in the meiotic inhibitory effect of hypoxanthine, but SOD increased the GVBD rate suppressed by hypoxanthine. The detrimental effect of hypoxanthine on viability of the oocytes was significantly reduced by allopurinol and catalase, but SOD increased the GVBD rate suppressed by hypoxanthine. The detrimental effect of hypoxanthine on viability of the oocytes was significantly reduced by allopurinol and catalase, but SOD did not reduce the deterimental effect of hypoxanthine. In conclusion, the meiotic inhibtory effect of hypoxanthine may be caused by guanyl dervartives converted from hypoxanthine via salvage pathway, and superoxide anion may partially participate in the inhibitory effect of hypoxanthine. The detrimental effect of hypoxanthine on viability of the oocytes be cused by hydrogen peroxide produced during the metabolism of hypoxanthine.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.357-367
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• 2020

The impulse of this paper is to examine the influence of unsteady flow comprising of Eyring-Powell nanofluid over a stretched surface. This work aims to explore efficient transfer of heat in Eyring-Powell nanofluid with bio-convection. Nanofluids possess significant features that have aroused various investigators because of their utilization in industrial and nanotechnology. The influence of including motile microorganism is to stabilize the nanoparticle suspensions develop by the mixed influence of magnetic field and buoyancy force. This research paper reveals the detailed information about the linearly compressed Magnetohydrodynamics boundary layer flux of two dimensional Eyring-Powell nanofluid through disposed surface area due to the existence of microorganism with inclusion the influence of non- linear thermal radiation, energy activation and bio-convection. The liquid is likely to allow conduction and thickness of the liquid is supposed to show variation exponentially. By using appropriate similarity type transforms, the nonlinear PDE's are converted into dimensionless ODE's. The results of ODE's are finally concluded by employing (HAM) Homotopy Analysis approach. The influence of relevant parameters on concentration, temperature, velocity and motile microorganism density are studied by the use of graphs and tables. We acquire skin friction, local Nusselt and motil microorganism number for various parameters.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제59권3호
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• pp.259-268
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• 2016

Objective : Accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGE) and mitochondrial glycation is importantly implicated in the pathological changes of the brain associated with diabetic complications, Alzheimer disease, and aging. The present study was undertaken to determine whether sildenafil, a type 5 phosphodiesterase type (PDE-5) inhibitor, has beneficial effect on neuronal cells challenged with AGE-induced oxidative stress to preserve their mitochondrial functional integrity. Methods : HT-22 hippocampal neuronal cells were exposed to AGE and changes in the mitochondrial functional parameters were determined. Pretreatment of cells with sildenafil effectively ameliorated these AGE-induced deterioration of mitochondrial functional integrity. Results : AGE-treated cells lost their mitochondrial functional integrity which was estimated by their MTT reduction ability and intracellular ATP concentration. These cells exhibited stimulated generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential, induction of mitochondrial permeability transition, and release of the cytochrome C, activation of the caspase-3 accompanied by apoptosis. Western blot analyses and qRT-PCR demonstrated that sildenafil increased the expression level of the heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). CoPP and bilirubin, an inducer of HO-1 and a metabolic product of HO-1, respectively, provided a similar protective effects. On the contrary, the HO-1 inhibitor ZnPP IX blocked the effect of sildenafil. Transfection with HO-1 siRNA significantly reduced the protective effect of sildenafil on the loss of MTT reduction ability and MPT induction in AGE-treated cells. Conclusion : Taken together, our results suggested that sildenafil provides beneficial effect to protect the HT-22 hippocampal neuronal cells against AGE-induced deterioration of mitochondrial integrity, and upregulation of HO-1 is involved in the underlying mechanism.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.291-297
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the effects and molecular mechanisms of the Schisandra chinensis fruit extract (SC) and its major compound gomisin A (GA), on the contractility of rabbit penile corpus cavernosum smooth muscle (PCCSM). MATERIALS/METHODS: PCCSM was exposed to SC or GA after appropriate pretreatment with nitric oxide synthase (NOS) blocker, guanylate cyclase blocker, adenylyl cyclase blocker or protein kinase A blocker. Subsequently, we evaluated the cyclic nucleotide in the perfusate by radioimmunoassay, protein expression level of neuronal NOS (nNOS) and endothelial NOS (eNOS) by western blot, and the interaction of SC or GA with udenafil and rolipram. RESULTS: Both SC and GA induce PCCSM relaxations in a concentration-dependent manner. Pretreatment with NOS blocker, guanylate cyclase blocker, adenylyl cyclase blocker or protein kinase A blocker result in significantly decreased relaxation. SC and GA also induce the levels of cyclic nucleotide in the perfusate in a concentration-dependent manner. Perfusion with GA also showed significantly higher levels of eNOS protein. Furthermore, the udenafil and rolipram induced relaxations of PCCSM were enhanced after exposure to SC and GA. Our results indicate that SC and GA induce the relaxation of PCCSM via the nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP and cAMP signaling pathways. CONCLUSIONS: The SC and GA are potential alternative treatments for men who want to consume natural products to ameliorate erectile function, or who do not respond to the commercially available medicines.

• 한국자기공명학회논문지
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.1-11
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• 1999

Localized in vivo 31P NMR spectroscopy was applied to evaluate the postmortem catabolism of high energy phosphates in rabbit skeletal muscle tissue. In the premortem processes all of the important high energy phosphate metabolites were characterized, and particularly phosphocreatine (PCr) resonance signal was the strongest. In the immediate phases of the postmortem processes the signal intensities of PCr, phosphomonoesters (PME), phosphodiesters(PDE), $\alpha$-, $\beta$- and ${\gamma}$-adenosine triphosphate (ATP) resonance began to decrease while the signal intensity of inorganic phosphorus (Pi) resonance began to increase. The present study suggests that localized in vivo 31P NMR spectroscopy may provide more precise biochemical information of the early postmortem period based on the metabolic alterations of phosphate. The unique ability of localized in vivo 31P NMR spectroscopy to offer noninvasive information about tissue biochemistry in animals as well as human may have an impact on thanatochronology and medicolegal science.

• 한국멀티미디어학회논문지
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• 제13권7호
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• pp.991-999
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• 2010

본 논문에서는 비디오 부호화에서 움직임 추정을 위한 고속 알고리즘을 제안한다. 기존의 고속 움직임 예측 방법들은 프레임에 따라 예측화질이 현저히 떨어지는 문제점을 가지고 있으며, 전영역 탐색기반의 향상 방법들은 계산량 감축이 높지 않은 문제점을 지니고 있다. 본 논문에서는 전영역 탐색기반의 방법에 비하여 예측화질은 거의 같게 유지하면서 불필요한 계산량을 현저히 줄이는 알고리즘을 제안한다. 제안하는 방법은 움직임 벡터의 확률분포와 적응적인 탐색 패턴 및 적응적인 블록매칭기준을 이용한다. 움직임 벡터의 확률분포에 따라 탐색패턴을 달리하며, 블록매칭 기준의 비교값을 다르게 함으로써 예측화질을 유지하면서 계산량만 효율적으로 감축할 수 있다. 제안한 알고리즘은 기존의 전영역 탐색 기반인 H.264 PDE 고속 알고리즘과 비교하여 예측 화질의 저하가 0~0.02dB이며, 소요된 계산량은 20%~30%정도이다. 제안한 알고리즘은 MPEG-2 및 MPEG-4 AVC를 이용하는 실시간 비디오 압축 응용분야에 유용하게 사용될 수 있을 것이다.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.63-70
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• 2018

Cilostazol is a selective inhibitor of type 3 phosphodiesterase (PDE3) and has been widely used as an antiplatelet agent. Cilostazol mediates this activity through effects on the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling cascade. Recently, it has attracted attention as a neuroprotective agent. However, little is known about cilostazol's effect on excitotoxicity induced neuronal cell death. Therefore, this study evaluated the neuroprotective effect of cilostazol treatment against hippocampal neuronal damage in a mouse model of kainic acid (KA)-induced neuronal loss. Cilostazol pretreatment reduced KA-induced seizure scores and hippocampal neuron death. In addition, cilostazol pretreatment increased cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation and decreased neuroinflammation. These observations suggest that cilostazol may have beneficial therapeutic effects on seizure activity and other neurological diseases associated with excitotoxicity.

• 한국전산구조공학회논문집
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• 제24권5호
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• pp.577-588
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• 2011

본 논문은 복합 불연속면을 갖는 포텐셜 문제의 해석을 위해 확장된 MLS(Moving Least Squares) 차분법을 제시한다. 계면경계를 따라 해(solution)와 수직방향, 접선방향 미분들이 모두 불연속 특이성을 나타내는 복합 불연속면을 묘사하기 위해 계단함수, 쐐기함수, 가위함수와 같은 불연속 특이함수를 추가하여 기존의 MLS 차분법을 개선했다. 계면경계조건은 기지의 조건으로서 지배방정식의 이산화과정에서 추가의 미지계수를 발생시키지 않는다. 포아송 방정식 형태의 지배미분 방정식을 풀기 위해 내부영역과 경계에 절점을 배치하고 차분식을 구성한다. 차분식을 조립한 계 방정식을 직접 풀기 때문에 계산효율성이 매우 우수하다. 수치예제는 제시된 해석기법의 우수성을 잘 보여주며, 균열전파, 이동경계, 상호작용 문제 등 다양한 불연속 문제로의 확장이 기대된다.

• Toxicological Research
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.297-301
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• 2005

Farmers are generally expressed to pesticides through mixing loding, application activity and harvesting of crop after application of pesticides. The present work investigated the exposure and risk of furathiocarb to workers when harvesting of cucumber was carried out in green house after application of furathiocarb EC. Glove was used for the hand exposure assessment, socks for foot and dermal patches for the other parts of body. Personal air monitor equipped with a XAD-2 resin was used for the respiratory exposure assessment. During the harvest of cucumber in green house, the initial rate of potential dermal exposure (Day 1) for methidathion was 1.3 mg/hr. The major exposure parts were hand $(78\~83\%),\;thigh\;(5\~7\%)$ and arms $(6\~9\%)$ during 3 days' harvest. No exposure was detected from the respiratory monitoring. For risk assessment, the potential dermal exposure (PDE), the absorbable quantity of exposure (AQE) and the margin of safety (MOS) and margin of exposure (MOE) were calculated. In risk assessment of harvester exposure for 7days, all MOS was > 1 and MOE was > 100 indicating that possibility of risk was little.