• Title/Summary/Keyword: blocking effect

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Echinacoside, an active constituent of Herba Cistanche, suppresses epileptiform activity in hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neurons

  • Lu, Cheng-Wei;Huang, Shu-Kuei;Lin, Tzu-Yu;Wang, Su-Jane
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.249-255
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    • 2018
  • Echinacoside, an active compound in the herb Herba Cistanche, has been reported to inhibit glutamate release. In this study, we investigated the effects of echinacoside on spontaneous excitatory synaptic transmission changes induced by 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), by using the in vitro rat hippocampal slice technique and whole-cell patch clamp recordings from CA3 pyramidal neurons. Perfusion with echinacoside significantly suppressed the 4-AP-induced epileptiform activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Echinacoside reduced 4-AP-induced increase in frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) but it did not affect the amplitude of sEPSCs or glutamate-activated currents, implicating a presynaptic mechanism of action. Echinacoside also potently blocked sustained repetitive firing, which is a basic mechanism of antiepileptic drugs. These results suggest that echinacoside exerts an antiepileptic effect on hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neurons by simultaneously decreasing glutamate release and blocking abnormal firing synchronization. Accordingly, our study provides experimental evidence that echinacoside may represent an effective pharmacological agent for treating epilepsy.

Improvement of ESD Protection Performance of High Voltage Operating EDNMOS Device with Double Polarity Source (DPS) Structure (DPS(Double Polarity Source) 구조를 갖는 고전압 동작용 EDNMOS 소자의 정전기 보호 성능 개선)

  • Seo, Yong-Jin;Yang, Jun-Won
    • Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.12-17
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    • 2014
  • In this paper, modified EDNMOS device with DPS (double polarity source) structure are suggested to realize stable and robust ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection performance of high voltage operating microchip. This DPS structure inserts the P+ diffusion layer on N+ source side, which in intended to block lateral extension of the electron rich region from N+ source side. Based on our simulation results, the inserted P+ diffusion layer effectively prevents the formation of deep electron channeling induced by high electron injection. As a result, our proposed DPS_EDNMOS devices could overcome the double snapback effect of conventional Std_EDNMOS device.

Photovoltaic Effects in Organic Semiconductor $CuPc/C_{60}$ depending on Cathodes ($CuPc/C_{60}$ 구조 유기 반도체에서의 음전극의 종류에 따른 광기전 효과 연구)

  • Oh, Hyun-Seok;Jang, Kyung-Wook;Lee, Sung-Ill;Lee, Joon-Ung;Kim, Tae-Wan
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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    • 2004.07a
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    • pp.181-184
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    • 2004
  • Organic semiconductors have attracted considerable attention due to their interesting physical properties followed by various technological applications in the area of electronics and opto-electronics. It has been a long time since organic solar cells were expected as a low-cost high-energy conversion device. Although practical use of them has not been achieved, technological progress continues. Morphology of the materials, organic/inorganic interface, metal cathodes, molecular packing and structural properties of the donor and acceptor layers are essential for photovoltaic response. We have fabricated solar-cell devices based on copper-phthalocyanine(CuPc) as a donor(D) and fullerene($C_{60}$) as an electron acceptor(A) with doped charge transport layers, and BCP as an exciton blocking layer(EBL). We have measured photovoltaic characteristics of the solar-cell devices using the xenon lamp as a light source.

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Antioxidants Effects and Roles of Endogenous Sulfhydryls in the Gastric Mucosal Protection of Puerariae Radix (갈근(葛根)의 항산화작용에 의한 위점막 보호효과와 내인성 Sulfhydryl 화합물의 영향)

  • Choi, Ho-Jeong;Shin, Heung-Mook
    • Journal of Oriental Physiology
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    • v.14 no.2 s.20
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    • pp.1-9
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    • 1999
  • Ethanol induces compoundhemorrhagic gastric lesions and causes a dose-dependent decrease in the concentration of endogenous nonprotein sulfhydryls in rat gastric mucosa. Sulfhydryl-containing drugs protect rats from ethanol - induced gastric lesions. Based on this findings, we investigated the involvement of sulfhydryl compounds in the antioxidant effects of Puerariae radix, a traditional herbal medicine, against ethanol - induced gastric lesions in the absence and presence of iodoacetamide(IDA. sulfhydryl blocking agent) in rats. respectively. Because of the known role of sulfhydryls in gastric cytoprotection, its role in gastric antioxidation was of intrest. In vitro, Puerariae radix extract(PRE) reduced linoleic acid autooxidation and exert DPPH radical scavenging effect. In vivo. PRE increased antioxidants(SOD, catalase. GSH) and reduced lipid peroxide level in ethanol-induced gastric mucosal lesions. But treatment with PRE plus IDA significantly inhibit the antioxidant effects such as SOD and GSH but did not affect catalase levels. These results suggest that Puerariae radix may play roles in the gastric cytoprotection through antioxidant effects and increase of SOD activity and GSH level are dependent of endogenous sulfhydryls.

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Protective and Therapeutic Effects of Malloti Cortex Extract on Carbon Tetrachloride- and Galactosamine-induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats (예덕나무피엑스의 사염화탄소 및 갈락토사민 유발 간독성에 대한 보호 및 치료효과)

  • 임화경;김학성;최홍석;최종원
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.35-43
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    • 1999
  • Hepatoprotective effects of Malloti cortex extract (MCE) from Mallotus japonicus against the carbon tetrachloride (CCl$_{4}$) and galactosamine (GalN) were investigated. Whereas serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels were markedly elevated after CCl$_{4}$ and GalN administration, pretreatment and posttreatment with MCE before and after the injection of CCl$_{4}$ and GalN resulted in decreases in elevated serum aminotransferase activities. Whereas CCl$_{4}$ and GalN treatment caused 3~7 fold increases in sorbitol dehydrogenase and ${\gamma}$-glutamyltransferase activities, pretreatment and posttreatment with MCE resulted in the blocking of CCl$_{4}$ and GalN-induced liver toxicity. The hepatoprotective effect of MCE was in part due to MCE-induced elevation of hepatic glutathione levels. Pretreatment and posttreatment with MCE also reduced increased lipid peroxidation induced by CCl$_{4}$ and GalN. These results suggest that MCE may be useful for the prevention and therapy of hepatotoxic pathogenesis. It is presumed that protective and therapeutic effects of MCE due to be inducible glutathione S-transferase and glutathione reductase activities, involving in glutathione-medicated detoxication and maintainment of glutathione content, respectively.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF FIRE PROTECTIVE COATING THE TERNARY SOLUBLE SILICATE

  • Lee, Nae-Woo;Choi, Jae-Wook;Kim, Jeong-Hun
    • Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Fire Science and Engineering Conference
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    • 1997.11a
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    • pp.120-129
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    • 1997
  • The fire protective coating can reduce certain damages in case of fire, also conserve energy by thermal insulation and prevent corrosion and errosion in normal daily life by means of blocking thermal transfer, that were generally made of organic, inorganic and metallic materials as adiabatic coating. In case of inorganic material such as soluble silicate, it produces less toxic substances which are exposed to Ore, and have a plenty of raw material. Also inorganic thermal insulator is good in heat resistance. To develope such a excellent inorganic thermal insulator, the study of fire protective coating using the alkali silicate is necessary The principle of intumescence for alkali silicate is from rapid evolution of water in the coating material, the quantity of water in it is of course influenced on the degree of intumescence. The phenomenon of intumescence in ternary silicate is increased as the radius of ion is bigger, and this is caused by evolution of so many kinds of water. The individual degree of intumescence is ordered like this ; $K^+$ > $Na^+$ > $Li^+$ . The best protection effect is similarity found to intumescence of ternary silicate. The result of X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that $KHSi_2O_5$ is an important ingredient in K-silicate.

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Effect of solids retention time on membrane fouling in membrane bioreactors at a constant mixed liquor suspended solids concentration

  • Hao, L.;Liss, S.N.;Liao, B.Q.
    • Membrane and Water Treatment
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    • v.8 no.4
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    • pp.337-353
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    • 2017
  • Membrane fouling at different solids retention times (SRT) (7, 12 and 20 days) was studied under well-controlled conditions in a laboratory-scale aerobic submerged membrane bioreactor under constant biomass concentration using a synthetic high strength wastewater. An increase in SRT was found to improve membrane performance and this correlated to changes in the total production of bound extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), and the composition and properties of bound EPS using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and floc sizes. A larger amount of total bound EPS was found at the lowest SRT (7 days) tested but the ratio of proteins (PN) to carbohydrates (CH) in bound EPS increased with an increase in SRT. Similarly, the quantity of soluble microbial products (SMP) decreased with an increase in SRT and the SMP PN/CH ratio increased with an increase in SRT. SMP concentrations positively correlated to the percentage of membrane pore blocking resistance. The quantity of total bound EPS and total SMP positively corresponded to the membrane fouling rate, while the PN/CH ratio in the bound EPS and SMP negatively correlated to the membrane fouling rate. The results show that both the quantity and composition of bound EPS and SMP and floc sizes are important in controlling membrane fouling.

Encapsulation Characteristics of Gas Molecules in the Cavities of Zeolite A

  • Jin Hyun Kwon;Kee Heon Cho;Hae Won Kim;Soong Hyuck Suh;Nam Ho Heo
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.14 no.5
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    • pp.583-588
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    • 1993
  • Encapsulation capacities $(V_{gas})$ of, $H_2,\;N_2,\;CO,\;CH_4$ and CO, for $Cs_{2.5}Na_{9.5}-A (C_s-A)$ and $Na_{12}$-A (Na-A) zeolites have been measured in order to understand the effect of molecular properties on the $V_{gas}$. With appropriate number of large blocking cations on the main windows of cavities in zeolite A, gas molecules can be encapsulated in both the ${\alpha}$ -and ${\beta}$-cages, resulting in much large $V_{gas}.\;V_{gas}$ is proportional to the encapsulation pressure (Pe) and is also dependent on the molecular properties of encapsulated gases themselves, especially on intermolecular forces originated from the quadrupole moments of molecules in the molecular-dimensioned cavities of zeolite A. At the low range of Pe, molecules with larger $V_{gas}$ and intermolecular forces apparently have smaller increasing tendencies of $V_{gas}$ upon increases in Pe, showing a linear relationship between the tendencies and intermolecular forces rather than their sizes. Interactions between encapsulated molecules of $CH_4$ and framework of Cs-A have been estimated and they seem to depend on the number of encapsulated molecules per unit cell. On the basis of calculated density of $CO_2$, presence of liquid-like phase for the encapsulated molecules in the molecular dimensioned cavities of zeolite A is postulated.

A Study on the Quality Safety of Apples by Region Using MA Packaging Materials (MA포장재 이용한 지역별 사과의 품질 안전성에 관한 연구)

  • Hong, Sang Tai
    • Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.1-6
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    • 2020
  • Apples are one of the most produced fruits in Korea, with 2,423,000 tons of fruits produced in Korea in 2018, of which 365,000 tons (MAF, 2018) account for about 15% of the total production. For quality safety after harvesting apples, the application of MA(modified atmosphere) packaging technology (Mostofi et. al., 2008) is being actively studied. In addition, the effects of functional packaging materials that have added functions such as fireproof, antibacterial, high-blocking, degradability, and far-infrared radiation have been studied (Chung et al., 2009). In addition, there are reports of the effects of quality changes (Park et al., 2007) and MA storage methods on the quality of apples by packing apples with functional MA films((Park et al., 2004). But there are only few reports on quality safety by analyzing the correlation between the change of reducing sugar and total sugar and preference during storage by packing Geochang, Yeongju, and Yesan apples in functional MA film. Therefore, this study aims to propose a method to secure the quality safety of apples by investigating the effect of sugar change on the preference of apples during storage by packing apples in three regions in functional MA films.

A Study on the Usefulness of Breast Shielding Apron for Reducing Exposure Dose in Mammography (유방X선촬영 시 피폭선량 감소를 위한 유방촬영용 차폐복의 유용성에 관한 연구)

  • Koo, Bon-Yeoul;Kim, Ji-Won
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.99-104
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    • 2019
  • Mammography, conducted every two years, causes cancer due to regular exposure to radiation while reducing rate of death caused by breast cancer. The study evaluates the effect of breast shielding apron made to shield off scattered radiation that occurs to the breast when the opposite side breast is mammogramed. AGD was measured using ACR phantom, composed of 50% mammary glands and 50% fat, and radiation was measured before and after wearing the apron on the breast when the opposite side of the breast is mammogramed. When CC direction mammography was conducted to a breast, the AGD was 1.84 mGy. When CC direction and MLO direction mammography were done to a breast, the average dose detected from the opposite side breast from four directions(top to bottom and medial to lateral) was $140{\mu}Gy$ with maximum dose of $256{\mu}Gy$ at medial side. After putting on the apron, the dose, caused by scattered radiation, was not detected from any of the four directions. Using of breast shielding apron is expected to minimize the radiation exposure by blocking scattered radiation to the breast shielded, when mammography is done to the opposite side breast.