624 research outputs found
Electrogenic transport and K(+) ion channel expression by the human endolymphatic sac epithelium.
The endolymphatic sac (ES) is a cystic organ that is a part of the inner ear and is connected to the cochlea and vestibule. The ES is thought to be involved in inner ear ion homeostasis and fluid volume regulation for the maintenance of hearing and balance function. Many ion channels, transporters, and exchangers have been identified in the ES luminal epithelium, mainly in animal studies, but there has been no functional study investigating ion transport using human ES tissue. We designed the first functional experiments on electrogenic transport in human ES and investigated the contribution of K(+) channels in the electrogenic transport, which has been rarely identified, even in animal studies, using electrophysiological/pharmacological and molecular biological methods. As a result, we identified functional and molecular evidence for the essential participation of K(+) channels in the electrogenic transport of human ES epithelium. The identified K(+) channels involved in the electrogenic transport were KCNN2, KCNJ14, KCNK2, and KCNK6, and the K(+) transports via those channels are thought to play an important role in the maintenance of the unique ionic milieu of the inner ear fluid
Development of the upgraded single crystal dispersion interferometer (SCDI-U) and its first measurements of the line integrated electron densities in KSTAR during shattered pellet injections
Dispersion interferometers (DI) are widely used to measure line integrated electron densities in many fusion devices. A recent development of a heterodyne single crystal DI (SCDI) with a laser wavelength of 1064 nm (Lee et al 2021 Rev. Sci. Instrum. 92 033536) allows an easier and simpler optical setup by using only one, instead of two, nonlinear crystal. It is found that the reported heterodyne SCDI with an acoustic-optical modulator (AOM) has different beam paths between the frequency-shifted, via the AOM, fundamental and second harmonics which act as the reference beams. Such a separation of the reference beams inevitably produces non-removable phase shifts associated with mechanical vibrations, resulting in a reduction of the removing efficiency of the mechanical vibrations that DI systems can provide. By utilizing the fact that the diffraction angle due to the AOM is inversely proportional to the frequency of the laser beam and linearly proportional to an order of the frequency-shift, the SCDI-Upgrade (SCDI-U), which has complete overlap of the optical paths for both probing and reference beams from the laser source to the detectors, is proposed in this work. Its first measurements in KSTAR during shattered pellet injections are reported, and results obtained by the SCDI-U are compared with those from the existing two-color interferometer (TCI) in KSTAR. It is found that the SCDI-U measures the electron density more reliably during such an abrupt and large density change than the TCI does. Qualitative analyses on the effects of different injection schemes of the shattered pellets and possible application of the SCDI-U for ITER are also discussed
An experimental study on water surface profiles of high Froude number flows
Motivated by need to study supercritical overbank flows on floodplain, we experimentally investigate if initially supercritical flow in a rectangular flume would maintain its state throughout. Varying upstream gate opening, flow rate and angle of the slope, a total of 37 experimental cases were carried out. The experimental results are compared to two existing theories: an inviscid theory based on nonlinear shallow water equations and jump conditions and a hydraulic theory that takes friction into account. The experimental data are consistent with the two theories. Flows on downward slope were stable, while those on upward slope had unstable hydraulic jump and transformed into subcritical flow. The reported results should serve well in designing a laboratory flume with the supercritical inflow and in conducting hydraulic model experiments on overbank flows.OAIID:RECH_ACHV_DSTSH_NO:T201834776RECH_ACHV_FG:RR00200001ADJUST_YN:EMP_ID:A080988CITE_RATE:.94FILENAME:2018KSCE22Park-etal.pdfDEPT_NM:건설환경공학부EMAIL:[email protected]_YN:YFILEURL:https://srnd.snu.ac.kr/eXrepEIR/fws/file/7f084c6c-e938-4359-acd7-76c6151612bc/linkN
Magnetoelectric effects of nanoparticulate Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3-NiFe2O4 composite films
We fabricated Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3-NiFe2O4 composite films consisting of
randomly dispersed NiFe2O4 nanoparticles in the Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 matrix. The
structural analysis revealed that the crystal axes of the NiFe2O4 nanoparticles
are aligned with those of the ferroelectric matrix. The composite has good
ferroelectric and magnetic properties. We measured the transverse and
longitudinal components of the magnetoelectric voltage coefficient, which
supports the postulate that the magnetoelectric effect comes from direct stress
coupling between magnetostrictive NiFe2O4 and piezoelectric Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3
grains.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Maxwell Chern-Simons Solitons from Type IIB String Theory
We study various three-dimensional supersymmetric Maxwell Chern-Simons
solitons by using type IIB brane configurations. We give a systematic
classification of soliton spectra such as topological BPS vortices and
nontopological vortices in supersymmetric Maxwell
Chern-Simons system via the branes of type IIB string theory. We identify the
brane configurations with the soliton spectra of the field theory and obtain a
nice agreement with field theory aspects. We also discuss possible brane
constructions for BPS domain wall solutions.Comment: 23 pages, Latex, 4 figures; (q_1,q_2)-string convention changed,
minor correction
Treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head using autologous cultured osteoblasts: a case report
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Osteonecrosis of the femoral head is a progressive disease that leads to femoral head collapse and osteoarthritis. Our goal in treating osteonecrosis is to preserve, not to replace, the femoral head.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a patient with bilateral osteonecrosis of the femoral head treated with autologous cultured osteoblast injection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although our experience is limited to one patient, autologous cultured osteoblast transplantation appears to be effective for treating the osteonecrosis of femoral head.</p
Role of spinon and spinon singlet pair excitations on phase transitions in superconductors
We examine the roles of massless Dirac spinon and spin singlet pair
excitations on the phase transition in superconductors. Although the
massless spinon excitations in the presence of the spin singlet pair
excitations do not alter the nature of the phase transition at , that
is, the XY universality class, they are seen to induce an additional attractive
interaction potential between vortices, further stabilizing vortex-antivortex
pairs at low temperature for lightly doped high samples.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Small anisotropy of the lower critical field and -wave two-gap feature in single crystal LiFeAs
The in- and out-of-plane lower critical fields and magnetic penetration
depths for LiFeAs were examined. The anisotropy ratio is
smaller than the expected theoretical value, and increased slightly with
increasing temperature from 0.6 to . This small degree of anisotropy
was numerically confirmed by considering electron correlation effect. The
temperature dependence of the penetration depths followed a power
law() below 0.3, with 3.5 for both and
. Based on theoretical studies of iron-based superconductors, these
results suggest that the superconductivity of LiFeAs can be represented by an
extended -wave due to weak impurity scattering effect. And the
magnitudes of the two gaps were also evaluted by fitting the superfluid density
for both the in- and out-of-plane to the two-gap model. The estimated values
for the two gaps are consistent with the results of angle resolved
photoemission spectroscopy and specific heat experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Subchronic inhalation toxicity of gold nanoparticles
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gold nanoparticles are widely used in consumer products, including cosmetics, food packaging, beverages, toothpaste, automobiles, and lubricants. With this increase in consumer products containing gold nanoparticles, the potential for worker exposure to gold nanoparticles will also increase. Only a few studies have produced data on the <it>in vivo </it>toxicology of gold nanoparticles, meaning that the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of gold nanoparticles remain unclear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The toxicity of gold nanoparticles was studied in Sprague Dawley rats by inhalation. Seven-week-old rats, weighing approximately 200 g (males) and 145 g (females), were divided into 4 groups (10 rats in each group): fresh-air control, low-dose (2.36 × 10<sup>4 </sup>particle/cm<sup>3</sup>, 0.04 μg/m<sup>3</sup>), middle-dose (2.36 × 10<sup>5 </sup>particle/cm<sup>3</sup>, 0.38 μg/m<sup>3</sup>), and high-dose (1.85 × 10<sup>6 </sup>particle/cm<sup>3</sup>, 20.02 μg/m<sup>3</sup>). The animals were exposed to gold nanoparticles (average diameter 4-5 nm) for 6 hours/day, 5 days/week, for 90-days in a whole-body inhalation chamber. In addition to mortality and clinical observations, body weight, food consumption, and lung function were recorded weekly. At the end of the study, the rats were subjected to a full necropsy, blood samples were collected for hematology and clinical chemistry tests, and organ weights were measured. Cellular differential counts and cytotoxicity measurements, such as albumin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and total protein were also monitored in a cellular bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. Among lung function test measurements, tidal volume and minute volume showed a tendency to decrease comparing control and dose groups during the 90-days of exposure. Although no statistically significant differences were found in cellular differential counts, histopathologic examination showed minimal alveoli, an inflammatory infiltrate with a mixed cell type, and increased macrophages in the high-dose rats. Tissue distribution of gold nanoparticles showed a dose-dependent accumulation of gold in only lungs and kidneys with a gender-related difference in gold nanoparticles content in kidneys.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Lungs were the only organ in which there were dose-related changes in both male and female rats. Changes observed in lung histopathology and function in high-dose animals indicate that the highest concentration (20 μg/m<sup>3</sup>) is a LOAEL and the middle concentration (0.38 μg/m<sup>3</sup>) is a NOAEL for this study.</p
- …