• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.233-239
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• 2017

Intracellular calcium ($Ca^{2+}$) oscillation is an initial event in digestive enzyme secretion of pancreatic acinar cells. Reactive oxygen species are known to be associated with a variety of oxidative stress-induced cellular disorders including pancreatitis. In this study, we investigated the effect of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) on intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ accumulation in mouse pancreatic acinar cells. Perfusion of $H_2O_2$ at $300{\mu}M$ resulted in additional elevation of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ levels and termination of oscillatory $Ca^{2+}$ signals induced by carbamylcholine (CCh) in the presence of normal extracellular $Ca^{2+}$. Antioxidants, catalase or DTT, completely prevented $H_2O_2$-induced additional $Ca^{2+}$ increase and termination of $Ca^{2+}$ oscillation. In $Ca^{2+}$-free medium, $H_2O_2$ still enhanced CCh-induced intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ levels and thapsigargin (TG) mimicked $H_2O_2$-induced cytosolic $Ca^{2+}$ increase. Furthermore, $H_2O_2$-induced elevation of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ levels was abolished under sarco/endoplasmic reticulum $Ca^{2+}$ ATPase-inactivated condition by TG pretreatment with CCh. $H_2O_2$ at $300{\mu}M$ failed to affect store-operated $Ca^{2+}$ entry or $Ca^{2+}$ extrusion through plasma membrane. Additionally, ruthenium red, a mitochondrial $Ca^{2+}$ uniporter blocker, failed to attenuate $H_2O_2$-induced intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ elevation. These results provide evidence that excessive generation of $H_2O_2$ in pathological conditions could accumulate intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ by attenuating refilling of internal $Ca^{2+}$ stores rather than by inhibiting $Ca^{2+}$ extrusion to extracellular fluid or enhancing $Ca^{2+}$ mobilization from extracellular medium in mouse pancreatic acinar cells.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.153-160
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• 2010

A magnetocardiogram (MCG) is a recording of the biomagnetic signals generated by cardiac electrical activity. Biomagnetic instruments are based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). A liquid cryogenic Dewar flask was used to maintain the superconductors in a superconducting state at a very low temperature (4 K). In this study, the temperature distribution characteristics of the liquid helium in the Dewar flask was investigated. The Dewar flask used in this study has a 30 L liquid helium capacity with a hold time of 5 d. The Dewar flask has two thermal shields rated at 150 and 40 K. The temperatures measured at the end of the thermal shield and calculated from the computer model were compared. This study attempted to minimize the heat transfer rate of the cryogenic Dewar flask using an optimization method about the geometric variable to find the characteristics for the design geometric variables in terms of the stress distribution of the Dewar flask. For thermal and optimization analysis of the structure, the finite element method code ANSYS 10 was used. The computer model used for the cryogenic Dewar flask was useful to predict the temperature distribution for the area less affected by the thermal radiation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.443-451
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• 2013

Acoustic emission(AE) has emerged as a powerful nondestructive tool to detect any further growth or expansion of preexisting defects or to characterize failure mechanisms. Recently, this kind of technique, that is an in-situ monitoring of inside damages of materials or structures, becomes increasingly popular for monitoring the integrity of large structures like a huge wind turbine blade. In this study, the activities of AE signals generated from external artificial sources was evaluated and located by new developed signal mapping source location method and this test is conducted by 750 kW full-scale blade. And a new source location method was applied to assess the damage in the wind turbine blade during step-by-step static load test. In this static loading test, we have used a full scale blade of 100 kW in capacity. The results show that the acoustic emission activities give a good agreement with the stress distribution and damage location in the blade. Finally, the applicability of the new source location method was confirmed by comparison of the result of source location and experimental damage location.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5271-5276
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• 2014

Mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase kinase 3 (MEKK3) is an important protein kinase and a member of the MAPK family, which regulates cellular responses to environmental stress and serves as key integration points along the signal transduction cascade that not only link diverse extracellular stimuli to subsequent signaling molecules but also amplify the initiating signals to ultimately activate effector molecules and induce cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. To explore the relationship between MEKK3 and cell apoptosis, clinicopathology and prognosis, we characterize the expression of MEKK3 and survivin in cervical cancer. MEKK3 and survivin expression was measured by RT-PCR and Western blotting of fresh surgical resections from 30 cases of cervical cancer and 25 cases of chronic cervicitis. Protein expression was detected by tissue microarray and immunochemistry (En Vision) in 107 cases of cervical cancer, 86 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and 35 cases of chronic cervicitis. Expression patterns were analyzed for their association with clinicopathological factors and prognosis in cervical cancer. Expression of MEKK3 and survivin mRNA was significantly higher in cervical cancer than in the controls (p<0.05). MEKK3 and survivin expression differed significantly between cervical carcinoma, CIN, and cervicitis (p<0.05) and correlated with clinical stage, infiltration depth, and lymph node metastasis (p<0.05). MEKK3 expression was positively correlated with survivin (p<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that MEKK3 and survivin expression, lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion, and FIGO stage reduce cumulative survival. Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that MEKK3, survivin, and clinical staging are independent prognostic factors in cervical cancer (p<0.05). Expression of MEKK3 and survivin are significantly increased in cervical cancer, their overexpression participating in the occurrence and development of cervical cancer, with protein expression and clinical staging acting as independent prognostic factors for patients with cervical cancer.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2003

Marine traffic management could be defined as the implementation of managerial technical measures to improve vessel traffic safety. The managerial elements of vessel traffic management for ports and harbours or narrow channels include the total amount of traffic control, the vessel traffic separation scheme, speed restriction, traffic control by signals, the navigation information service and so forth. This research aims to quantify how much the traffic separation schemes(TSS) contribute to the alleviation effect of ship handling difficulty and to propose a design standard when the individual management measure is applied in an actual waterway. Traffic separation schemes have now been established in most of the major routes and congested waters of the world, and the number of collisions and groundings have often been dramatically reduced. In this part, the relationship between the alleviation of ship handling difficulty and the reduction of encounter figures among ships is quantitatively clarified by applying the ES model. As results of simulation analysis, it is recognized that a traffic separation system is most effective in the case of narrow width and heavy traffic volume. The centre buoy installation reduces about 1/4 of the alleviation of ship handling difficulty, TSS establishment 1/3, and design change to one-way traffic from two-way traffic reduces 1/2.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.42-44
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• 2008

Bacterial biofilms are analogous to multi-cellular organisms or to clonal communities of higher organisms. In this respect, it can be demonstrated that biofilms display the type of genetic variation associated with macroorganisms. The formation of genetic variants from biofilms is the result of internally produced and regulated signals and the appearance of these variants coincides with dispersal from the biofilm. Moreover, the generation of such variation, has similar outcomes for the bacterial community, where diversification of phenotypic traits ensures that the bacterial community optimizes its chances of success when dispersing or surviving when challenged with environmental stress. These observations increase the complexity with which we view bacteria and also suggest that microbial systems can serve as models for the testing of eukaryotic ecological theories.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.595-609
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• 2016

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the guidelines for Medic Work Table (MWT) based on the anthropometric data of medical technologists. Background: Users' anthropometric data such as sitting height, sitting elbow height, knee height, and so on are significant factors for designing comfortable and useful furniture. Thus, many guidelines for different types of desks and chairs based on the users' anthropometric data have been suggested to many researchers. However, few researches have been conducted to provide design guidelines for MWT for blood collecting task. Medical technologists often use their upper extremities to perform blood collecting task with high repetitions. These repeated motions could be a critical factor in the prevalence rate of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs). Therefore, a study on ergonomic design of MWT would be essential in preventing the WMSDs and improving the quality of the working environment of medical technologists. Method: This study suggested design guidelines for ergonomic MWT by focusing on the heights of the upper side and underside, depths of the inside and outside, and width of MWT through anthropometric studies and literature reviews. Afterwards, a new MWT was made using the suggested design guidelines for this study. Five healthy medical technologists participated to evaluate the original MWT and new MWT. All participants took part in the range of motion (ROM) test, electromyography (EMG) muscle activity test, and usability test to validate the suggested guidelines in this study. EMG signals of related muscles (Flexor Carpi Ulnaris, Extensor Carpi Ulnaris, Deltoid Anterior, and Biceps Branchii) were recorded through the surface electromyography system from both the original MWT and the new MWT. The ROM test of the shoulder and elbow flexion was also assessed using motion sensors. Results: The newly designed MWT showed decreased ROMs of the shoulder and elbow up to 22% and 18% compared to the original MWT. The muscle activities in the new MWT also showed a decrease of 13% in Anterior Deltoid, 6% in Biceps Brachii, 5% in Flexor Carpi Ulnaris, and 8% in Extensor Carpi Ulnaris muscle groups, compared to the original MWT. In the usability test, the satisfaction score of the new MWT was also 56.1% higher than that of the original MWT. Conclusion: This study suggested guidelines for designing MWT and validating the guidelines through qualitative and quantitative analyses. The results of motion analysis, muscle activity, and usability tests demonstrated that the newly designed MWT may lead to less physical stress, less awkward posture, and better physical user interface. Application: The recommended guidelines of the MWT would be helpful information for designing an ergonomic MWT that reduces physical loads and improves the performance of many medical technologists.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2010

The Fourier series uses a vibrating wave that possesses an amplitude that is like the one of the sine curve. Therefore, the functions used in the Fourier series do not change due to the value of the frequency and that set a limit to express irregular signals with rapid oscillations or with discontinuities in localized regions. However, the wavelet series analysis(WSA) method supplements these limits of the Fourier series by a linear combination of a suitable number of wavelets. By using the wavelet that is focused on time, it is able to give changes to the range in the cycle. Also, this enables to express a signal more efficiently that has singular configuration and that is flowing. The main objective of this study is to propose a scheme called wavelet series analysis for the application of wavelet theory to one-dimensional problems represented by the second-order elliptic equation and to evaluate theperformance of proposed scheme comparing with the finite element analysis. After a through evaluation of different types of wavelets, the HAT wavelet system is chosen as a wavelet function as well as a scaling function. It can be stated that the WSA method is as efficient as the FEA method in the case of axial bars with distributed loads, but the WSA method is more accurate than the FEA method at the singular points and its computation time is less.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.7575-7581
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• 2015

Corticotropin-releasing factor(CRF), one of the stress driven neuropeptides, was widely proposed to influence hair loss and re-growth. For the development of receptor antagonists, the screening system based on intracellular calcium signal process was developed and optimized. The aequorin parental cells were transfected with CRF1 receptor and alpha 16 promiscuous G protein cDNA to establish HEK293a16/hCRF1, a stable cell line for the human CRF1 receptor. In HEK293a16/hCRF1 cells, the range of sauvagine dose response was 12-fold higher($EC_{50}:15.21{\pm}1.83nM$) than in the transiently expressed cells, hence essential conditions for the antagonist screening experiments such as the robust signals and high solvent tolerance were secured. The standard antagonists for the CRF1 receptor, antalarmin and CP154526, resulted $IC_{50}$ values of $414.1{\pm}5.5$ and $290.7{\pm}1.9nM$, respectively. Similar results were presented with frozen HEK293a16/hCRF1 cells. Finally, our HEK293a16/hCRF1 cells with the aequorin based cellular functional assay can be a model system for the development of functional cosmetics and modulators that can have a clinical efficacy on hair re-growth.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2014

Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites are increasingly being used in a variety of industry applications, such as aircraft, automobiles, and ships because of their high specific stiffness and high specific strength. Aircraft are exposed to high temperatures and high humidity for a long duration during flights. CFRP materials of the aircraft can absorb water, which could decrease the adhesion strength of these materials and cause their volumes to change with variation in internal stress. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the characteristics of CFRP composites under actual conditions from the viewpoint of aircraft safety. In this study air-coupled ultrasonic testing (ACUT) was applied to the evaluation of water absorption properties of CFRP composites. CFRP specimens were fabricated and immersed in distilled water at $75^{\circ}C$ for 30, 60, and 120 days, after which their ultrasonic images were obtained by ACUT. The water absorption properties were determined by quantitatively analyzing the changes in ultrasonic signals. Further, shear strength was applied to the specimens to verify the changes in their mechanical properties for water absorption.