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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressively paralytic neurodegenerative disease that can be caused by mutations in Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1). Transgenic mice that overexpress mutant SOD1 develop paralysis and accumulate aggregates of mutant protein in the brainstem and spinal cord. Bee venom (BV), which is also known as apitoxin, is extracted from honeybees and is commonly used in oriental medicine for the treatment of chronic rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether BV affects misfolded protein aggregates such as alpha-synuclein, which is a known pathological marker in Parkinson disease, and ubiquitin-proteasomal activity in hSOD1G93A mutant mice. BV was bilaterally administered into a 98-day-old hSOD1G93A animal model. We found that BV-treated hSOD1G93A transgenic mice showed reduced detergent-insoluble polymerization and phosphorylation of α-synuclein. Furthermore, phosphorylated or nitrated α-synuclein was significantly reduced in the spinal cords and brainstems of BV-treated hSOD1G93A mice and reduced proteasomal activity was revealed in the brainstems of BV-treated symptomatic hSOD1G93A. From these findings, we suggest that BV treatment attenuates the dysfunction of the ubiquitin-proteasomal system in a symptomatic hSOD1G93A ALS model and may help to slow motor neuron loss caused by misfolded protein aggregates in ALS models

An Analysis on Size Suitability of Protective Masks

Since a mask which is not suitable for a human face type has a low protection effect, it is necessary to design the shape of the mask reflecting the face shape of the human body in consideration of the size and shape of each part of the face. The masks analyzed in this study are classified into a yellow dust mask(sanitation mask) and a Fine dust protective mask sold in four countries of Korea, China, the US and England. The standard of Korea is KF(Korea Filter, particle blocking function), which is divided into KF80, KF94 and KF99, which are certified by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The standard of the US is N95 that is certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The result ofanalyzing the sizes of products is as follows. First, there was a significant difference among the products in the 3 horizontal length items of Nose-Tragion A, Lip-Tragion A, Menton-Tragion B and the 1 vertical length item of chin-menton length. The Nose-Tragion A was the U.S. 12.2cm \u3e England 10.8cm \u3e China 10.7cm \u3e Korea 9.6cm. The result of analyzing fine dust masks in the market showed that they mark the structures, forms and penetration ratio of fine dust, but there is no size standard for each size. Therefore, it is necessary to establish standards of each size for suitable pattern designs for face shapes in each country

Examining Commuting Times and Jobs-housing Imbalance in Seoul: An Empirical Analysis of Urban Spatial Structure

Public transportation policy plays a significant role in facilitating ridership as well as travel modes, economic activities, and environmental aspects. Seoul has experienced rapid urbanization. Also, high density developments and uncontrolled land use gave rise to extensive urban sprawl in the Seoul Metropolitan Areas (SMA). Due to increased use of private vehicles, which created serious traffic congestion, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) has reformed public transportation policies-introduced bus transportation reform (BTR) in 2004 and reformed fare and ticketing structures in 2009. This research focuses on the relationships between socioeconomic characteristics and commuting patterns by applying smart card data that includes individual travel behaviors during commuting periods. Among regression results, average commuting times are significantly associated with the proportion of population with lower levels of education and the number of public transit stations. These results appear to support the idea that the lower educated people in each district tend to have longer commuting times. Also, the greater availability of public transit stations contributes to shorter commuting times. Finally, analyzing commuting times seems to be important for determining demographic movement as well as locational advantages in certain regions of Seoul based on public transportation policies

MnBa2(HPO4)2(H2PO4)2

Crystals of manganese(II) dibarium bis­(hydrogenphosphate) bis­(dihydrogenphosphate), MnBa2(HPO4)2(H2PO4)2, were obtained by hydro­thermal synthesis. The title compound is isotypic with its CdII and CaII analogues. The structure is built up of an infinite {[Mn(HPO4)2(H2PO4)2]4−}n chain running along [100], which consists of alternate MnO6 octa­hedra and [PO4] tetra­hedra, in which the centrosymmetric MnO6 octa­hedra share their four equatorial O-atom corners with tetra­hedral [PO3(OH)] groups and their two axial apices with tetra­hedral [PO2(OH)2] groups. These chains are held together by BaO9 coordination polyhedra, developing into a three-dimensional structure. The O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds additionally stabilize the structural set-up. Due to the ionic radius of Mn2+ being much smaller than those of Ca2+ and Cd2+, this may imply that their adopted structure type has a great tolerance for incorporating various ions and the exploitation of more diverse compounds in the future is encouraged

Melittin restores proteasome function in an animal model of ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a paralyzing disorder characterized by the progressive degeneration and death of motor neurons and occurs both as a sporadic and familial disease. Mutant SOD1 (mtSOD1) in motor neurons induces vulnerability to the disease through protein misfolding, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative damage, cytoskeletal abnormalities, defective axonal transport- and growth factor signaling, excitotoxicity, and neuro-inflammation

Transcriptional Regulator TonEBP Mediates Oxidative Damages in Ischemic Kidney Injury

TonEBP (tonicity-responsive enhancer binding protein) is a transcriptional regulator whose expression is elevated in response to various forms of stress including hyperglycemia, inflammation, and hypoxia. Here we investigated the role of TonEBP in acute kidney injury (AKI) using a line of TonEBP haplo-deficient mice subjected to bilateral renal ischemia followed by reperfusion (I/R). In the TonEBP haplo-deficient animals, induction of TonEBP, oxidative stress, inflammation, cell death, and functional injury in the kidney in response to I/R were all reduced. Analyses of renal transcriptome revealed that genes in several cellular pathways including peroxisome and mitochondrial inner membrane were suppressed in response to I/R, and the suppression was relieved in the TonEBP deficiency. Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the cellular injury was reproduced in a renal epithelial cell line in response to hypoxia, ATP depletion, or hydrogen peroxide. The knockdown of TonEBP reduced ROS production and cellular injury in correlation with increased expression of the suppressed genes. The cellular injury was also blocked by inhibitors of necrosis. These results demonstrate that ischemic insult suppresses many genes involved in cellular metabolism leading to local oxidative stress by way of TonEBP induction. Thus, TonEBP is a promising target to prevent AKI

Cerium(III) dihydroxidohexa­oxidotetra­borate chloride

The crystal structure of the title compound, Ce[B4O6(OH)2]Cl, is built from polyborate sheets parallel to the (001) plane. These sheets stack along the [001] direction and are linked by Ce atoms exhibiting an CeO8Cl2 coordination sphere. O—H⋯O and O—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds additionally stabilize the structural set-up. The polyborate sheet is made up of zigzag borate chains running along the [10] direction. These zigzag chains are inter­connected by shared O-vertices, resulting in a two-dimensional layer with nine-membered rings. All B and O atoms (except for the terminal OH atoms) lie in the nearly planar sheets of polyborates, leading to their isotropic atomic displacement parameters being significantly smaller than usual. This may be attributed to the fact that the atomic displacement parameters correlate not only with their atomic masses but with their coordination environments also