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Insulin resistance causes type 2 diabetes; therefore, increasing insulin sensitivity is a therapeutic approach against type 2 diabetes. Activating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an effective approach for treating diabetes, and reduced insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) protein levels have been suggested as a molecular mechanism causing insulin resistance. Thus, dual targeting of AMPK and IRS-1 might provide an ideal way to treat diabetes. We found that 15,16-dihydrotanshinone I (DHTS), as a C1-Ten protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, increased IRS-1 stability, improved glucose tolerance and reduced muscle atrophy. Identification of DHTS as a C1-Ten inhibitor revealed a new function of C1-Ten in AMPK inhibition, possibly through regulation of IRS-1. These findings suggest that C1-Ten inhibition by DHTS could provide a novel therapeutic strategy for insulin resistance-associated metabolic syndrome through dual targeting of IRS-1 and AMPK.

Inflammation is a common cause of cardiac arrhythmia. Angiotensin ІІ (Ang ІІ) is a major contributing factor in the pathogenesis of cardiac inflammation; however, its underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here, we explored the effect of Ang ІІ on inflammatory mechanisms and oxidative stress using HL-1 atrial myocytes. We showed that Ang ІІ activated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) phosphorylation and other inflammatory markers, such as transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Ang ІІ decreased oxygen consumption rate, which resulted in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and inhibition of ROS blocked Ang II-mediated JNK phosphorylation and TGF-β1 induction. Ang ІІ induced the expression of its specific receptor, AT1R. Ang II-induced intracellular calcium production associated with Ang ІІ-mediated signalling pathways. In addition, the generated ROS and calcium stimulated AMPK phosphorylation. Inhibiting AMPK blocked Ang II-mediated JNK and TGF-β signalling pathways. Ang ІІ concentration, along with TGF-β1 and tumor necrosis factor-α levels, was slightly increased in plasma of patients with atrial fibrillation. Taken together, these results suggest that Ang ІІ induces inflammation mechanisms through an AMPK-related signalling pathway. Our results provide new molecular targets for the development of therapeutics for inflammation-related conditions, such as atrial fibrillation.

This study characterizes the human metabolic response to piperine, a curcumin extract, and the details of its underlying molecular mechanism. Using 1H-NMR-based metabolome analysis, we showed the metabolic effect of piperine on skeletal muscle and found that piperine increased the level of intracellular lactate, an important metabolic intermediate that controls expression of several genes involved in mitochondrial activity. Piperine also induced the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its downstream target, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), while additionally stimulating glucose uptake in an AMPK dependent manner. Piperine also stimulates the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), an effect that was reversed by pretreatment with compound C, an AMPK inhibitor. Inhibition of p38 MAPK resulted in no piperine-induced glucose uptake. Increased level of lactate resulted in increased expression of mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), which regulates energy expenditure, thermogenesis, and fat browning. Knock-down of AMPK blocked piperine-induced UCP1 up-regulation, demonstrating the required role of AMPK in this effect. Taken together, these results suggest that piperine leads to benign metabolic effects by activating the AMPK-p38 MAPK signaling pathway and UCP1 expression by activating intracellular lactate production in skeletal muscle.

Interband transitions of AlN/Al x Ga1−x N (0.65 ≤ x ≤ 0.85) single quantum wells (SQWs) have been investigated by using photoluminescence (PL) measurements. For SQWs with a well thickness of 1.5 nm, in addition to the dominant PL emission lines (E1), second PL emission lines (E2) with higher energies than E1 are found for x = 0.65, 0.7, and 0.75 at 10 K. The energy differences between E1 and E2 are about 300 ∼ 450 meV, and the E2 lines disappear for x ≥ 0.8. These results suggest that both the E1 and the E2 lines are attributable to localized exciton recombination in the AlGaN QW region; moreover the E1 and the E2 lines are due to transitions from the first electron subband to the first heavy-hole subband (e1-hh1) and from the second electron subband to the second heavy-hole subband (e2-hh2), respectively.

Background The role of small GTPase molecules is poorly understood under high glucose conditions. Methods We analyzed the expression pattern of Vav3 in skeletal muscle C2C12 cells under high glucose culture condition with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. We also measured glucose uptake using isotope-labelled glucose. Results We showed that expression of Vav3 (a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for RhoA) increased. mRNA and protein levels in skeletal muscle C2C12 cells under high glucose conditions. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator AMPK agonist 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxy-amide-1-d-ribofuranoside (AICAR) suppressed high glucose-induced Vav3 induction. In addition, exposure of cells to high glucose concentration increased the phosphorylation of PAK-1, a molecule downstream of RhoA. The phosphorylation of paxillin, a downstream molecule of PAK-1, was also increased by exposure to high glucose. Phosphorylation of these molecules was not observed in the presence of AICAR, indicating that AMPK is involved in the RhoA signal pathway under high glucose conditions. Knock down of Vav3 enhances metformin-mediated glucose uptake. Inhibition of AMPK blocked the increases of Vav3 knock down-induced glucose uptake. Metformin-mediated Glut4 translocation was also increased by Vav3 knock-down, suggesting that Vav3 is involved in metformin-mediated glucose uptake. Conclusion These results demonstrate that Vav3 is involved in the process of metformin-mediated glucose regulation.

Adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a cytoplasmic protein that plays a critical role in the maintenance of energy homeostasis. However, its role in the nucleus is still largely unknown. Here, we showed that AMPKα2 translocated into the nucleus during muscle differentiation. We also showed that upon treatment with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxy-amide-1-d-ribofuranoside (AICAR), an AMPK activator, AMPK rapidly translocated into the nucleus in rat myoblast L6 cells. On the other hand, the AMPKα2 phosphorylation-defective mutant did not translocate into the nucleus. Knockdown of AMPKα2 suppressed the differentiation-induced expression of myogenin, a differentiation marker. A physiological AMPK activator, metformin, also induced the translocation of AMPKα2 into the nucleus. Both inhibition and knockdown of AMPKα2 suppressed metformin-mediated glucose uptake. In addition, AMPKα2 was shown to directly interact with the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein H (hnRNP H). AICAR treatment increased the phosphorylation of hnRNP H. Metformin increased the interaction between AMPKα2 and hnRNP H in the nucleus. Knockdown of hnRNP H blocked metformin-induced glucose uptake. In summary, these results demonstrate that AMPKα2 translocates into the nucleus via phosphorylation, AMPKα2 interacts with and phosphorylates hnRNP H in the nucleus, and such a protein-protein interaction modulates metformin-mediated glucose uptake.

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Perilla (Perilla frutescens L.) leaves have shown therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of inflammatory disorders, allergies, bronchial asthma, and systemic damage due to free radicals. In the present study we analyzed the active constituents in perilla leaves using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and isolated luteolin, a polyphenolic flavonoid. We investigated the anti-inflammatory and antipruritic properties of luteolin. Luteolin inhibited the secretion of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1 β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) from human mast cells (HMC-1) stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate plus calcium ionophore A23187 in a dose-dependent manner. Luteolin also significantly reduced the histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells stimulated by compound 48/80, a potent histamine liberator. Furthermore, the administration of luteolin markedly inhibited the scratching behavior and vascular permeability induced by pruritogens, such as compound 48/80 or serotonin, in ICR mice. These results suggested that luteolin has potential as a therapeutic agent against inflammation and itch-related skin diseases.

Flight software operated on the on-board computers in the satellite has requirements such as real-time, high reliability. These requirements make dependency between the flight software and operating environments. Further, whenever a new system is built, such problem drives that all flight software are redeveloped. Thus, the dependency problem between them should be solved. And the problem can be resolved by improving the portability of the flight software. In order to improve the portability it is required to minimize the porting cost. In this paper, we classify the portability with the portability achieving methods. Using the classified portability, we propose a platform architecture that is based on the IMA concept and provides various portability capabilities. The proposed architecture enables us to solve the problem about the development of the flight software. ☞

We investigated the effects of an ethanol extract from Perilla frutescens sprouts (PFSE) as an antioxidant, and its effects on edema and inflammation in RAW 264.7 cells and HMC-1 cells. The antioxidant activities (DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging) of PFSE were similar to those of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and (±)-6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8- tetramethylchromane-2-carboxylic acid (Trolox). We also investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of PFSE on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells and HMC-1 cells stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) with the calcium ionophore A23187. TNF-α and IL-1β production, which had been increased by treatment with LPS or PMA plus A23187, were significantly inhibited by PFSE in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, PFSE significantly reduced the xylene-induced ear edema and the carrageenan-induced paw edema of ICR mice in a dosedependent manner. The effects of PFSE (200 mg/kg) in reducing ear and paw edema were similar to those of aspirin (50mg/kg). These results suggest that PFSE can be potentially used as a medicine for treating oxidative stress, an edematous and inflammatory disease.

Flight software is used in computers installed in satellites and requires real-time capacity and high reliability. Such requirements limit flight software to have dependency on operating environments, and it thus becomes necessary to be developed again and again each time new systems are built. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the dependency between the flight software and the operating environments, which can be achieved by improving the portability of flight software. To this end, the present invention is to suggest a platform architecture based on IMA architecture. Such architecture is a mixed architecture based on the implementations for two types of IMA architecture to maximize the portability. The architecture provided by the present invention can remove the dependency between the flight software and the operating environments.

Rhus verniciflua STOKES (RVS) is used as an anti-cancer agent in traditional herbal medicine. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of its action is poorly understood. Here, we elucidated the mechanism of the anti-cancer mechanism of RVS in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. We found that RVS increased the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and downstream acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and suppressed cell viability in an AMPK-dependent fashion. RVS also induced an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. RVS-induced AMPK phosphorylation was not observed in the presence of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), which indicated that ROS is associated with RVS-induced AMPK phosphorylation. In addition, fluorescent staining (Annexin V/propidium iodide) revealed that RVS increased the expression of Annexin V, which indicates that RVS leads to cancer-induced apoptosis. Moreover, RVS increased the phosphorylation of p53 and the expression of Bax. The inhibition of AMPK blocked RVS-induced p53 phosphorylation and Bax expression, which suggests that AMPK is involved in RVS-induced cancer apoptosis. Taken together, these results demonstrate that RVS has anti-tumor effects on MCF-7 cells through an AMPK-signaling pathway.

The dominant magnetization reversal behavior of electrodeposited CoPt samples with various thicknesses deposited at different current densities was the domain wall motion by means of wall pinning. The magnetic interaction mechanism was dipolar interaction for all samples. The dipolar interaction strength was significantly affected by the sample thickness rather than by the current density, while the magnetic properties were closely related to the current density.

The magnetic interaction effect on the magnetic activation volume and area of electrodeposited CoPt magnetic films was investigated. The dipolar interaction was predominant interaction mechanism for all samples. And the interaction strength was increased with decreasing current density and increased with increasing sample thickness. Although the activation volumes of the samples fabricated at low current density were larger than those of the high current density samples, the sample thickness seemed to have little influence on the variation of activation volume. But it was found that the activation area was apparently affected by the magnetic interaction strength as well as the current density.

Metformin is known to stimulate glucose uptake, but the mechanism for this action is not fully understood. In this study, AMPK activators (AICAR and metformin) increased the expression of T-lymphoma invasion and metastasis-inducing protein-1 (Tiam-1), a Rac1 specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF), mRNA and protein in skeletal muscle C2C12 cells. Metformin increases the serine-phosphorylation of Tiam-1 by AMPK and induces interaction between Tiam-1 and 14-3-3. Pharmacologic inhibition of AMPK blocks this interaction, indicating that 14-3-3 may be required for induction of Tiam-1 by AMPK. Metformin also increases the phosphorylation of p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1), a direct downstream target of Rac1, dependent on AMPK. Tiam-1 is down-regulated at high glucose concentrations in cultured cells and in the db/db mouse model of hyperglycemia. Furthermore, Tiam-1 knock-down blocked metformin-induced increase in glucose uptake. These findings suggest that metformin promotes cellular glucose uptake in part through Tiam-1 induction.

Smartphones have features that users feel free to install/delete the program they want. Their emergence makes many developers rush into the Smartphone application development market. Thus, developing good applications quickly is becoming even more intense competition in the market. Because, however, the application development and deployment procedures are simple in the Android environments and anyone can participate in the development easily, applications not validated thoroughly are likely to be deployed. Therefore, a systematic approach that can verify Android-based applications with fewer burdens is required. In this paper, we propose a method that generates automatically GUI-based testing scenarios for the Android applications. The automated test scenario generation can reduce the time which the developer spends on testing, thus it can improve the productivity of the development in the testing phase.

Based on the increasing demand for a solution to reduce thermal load, extensive green roofs have great opportunity for application to existing roofs due to their light-weight and easy maintenance. The present study delivers data regarding thermal behavior and heat reduction potential in relation to vegetation coverage between green roof types. 1) In the hottest hour in a day, green roofs showed considerable potential to mitigate heat load in roof environments, which can be up to 10℃ difference. 2) Compared to conventional cement roofs, the extensive green roofs only have a slight potential to cool the air over green roofs. By statistical analysis of linear regression, green coverage has little to do with the reduction of air temperature; the cooling effect was proven only in nighttime. 3) Green roofs act as an insulating roof membrane, the inner substrate of green roofs remained cooler than cement roof surfaces in the daytime, but in the nighttime the green roofs generally were warmer than the cement roof surfaces. 4) The variable of vegetation coverage resulted in no significant difference in thermal behavior in the air, but had the greatest effect in keeping the substrate cool in the daytime. The high vegetation coverage also hindered the rapid cooling of the substrate in the nighttime, and therefore was warmer than other measured temperatures. In order to draw a clear conclusion to combat urban heat island effect with extensive green roofs, the experiment needs to be applied on a larger scale.

Objectives : To develop a natural antioxidant and anti-hemolytic agents, we investigated the effects of ethanol extracts of Carpesii Fructus and Farfarae Flos. Methods : Aerial parts of Carpesii Fructus and Farfarae Flos were extracted with 80% ethanol. Antioxidant activity of Carpesii Fructus or Farfarae Flos extract was evaluated by employing three different assays, i.e., 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2`-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-suphonic acid) diammonium (ABTS) scavenging and reducing power activities. Also, anti-hemolytic activity of Carpesii Fructus or Farfarae Flos extract was determined using [2,2`-azobis (2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (AAPH)]-induced hemolysis, glutathione (GSH) depletion and malondialdehyde (MDA) formation in normal rat red blood cells (RBC) or plasma. Results : The extracts obtained from Carpesii Fructus and Farfarae Flos dose-dependently increased the scavenging activity on DPPH- or ABTS-induced radicals and the reducing power activities. Carpesii Fructus and Farfarae Flos were similar to the scavenging activity and the reducing power of butylated hydroxy anisole effect at high concentration (). RBC oxidative hemolysis and plasma MDA formation induced by AAPH were significantly suppressed by the extracts of Carpesii Fructus and Farfarae Flos in a dose-dependent manner. Also, Carpesii Fructus and Farfarae Flos extracts prevented the depletion of cystosolic antioxidant GSH in RBCs. Carpesii Fructus generally had better than the free radical scavenging activity, the reducing power and anti-hemolytic effects of Farfarae Flos. Conclusions : These results suggest that Carpesii Fructus and Farfarae Flos may have value as the potential antioxidant and anti-hemolytic medicinal plant.

A steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) accident analysis for SMART was performed using the TASS/SMR-S code. SMART with a rated thermal power of 330 MWt has been developed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The TASS/SMR-S code can analyze the thermal hydraulic phenomena of SMART in a full range of reactor operating conditions. An SGTR is one of the most important accidents from a thermal hydraulic and radiological viewpoint. A conservative analysis against a SMART SGTR was performed. The major concern of this analysis is to find the thermal hydraulic responses and maximum leakage amount from a primary to a secondary side caused by an SGTR accident. A sensitivity study searching for the conservative thermal hydraulic conditions, break locations, reactivity and other conditions was performed. The dominant parameters related with the integral leak are the high RCS pressure, low core inlet coolant temperature and low break location of the SG cassette. The largest integral leak comes to 28 tons in the most conservative case during 1 h. But there is no direct release into the atmosphere because the secondary system pressure is maintained with a sufficient margin for the design pressure. All leaks go to the condenser. The analysis results show that the primary and secondary system pressures are maintained below the design pressure and the SMART safety system is working well against an SGTR accident.

iOS applications refer to the apps operating on iOS, a mobile OS developed by Apple. As iOS provides graphic user interfaces based on touch screens, most of iOS apps support GUIs. GUIs become increasingly important for iOS apps. So are GUI tests. As GUI functions are performed by event handlers, faulty event handlers could cause defects in GUIs. Hence, this study detects faults in event handlers as a way to test GUIs for iOS apps, and suggests how to generate test cases by re-defining input domains of event handlers.

This study aims to analyze, by forming an experimental area of artificial soil green area that is of equal scale and analyzing the characteristics of runoff water in accordance with the cross-section configuration, applied the benefits in an actual multi-housing case study complex. In examining the measurement test results of the runoff water infiltration amount and surface runoff amount of a low-profile type green area(Dish type) and a general type green area(Mound type), Dish type was seen to have 1.5-times higher runoff water infiltration amount than Mound type during heavy rainfalls and showed about a 50% reduction with respect to the surface runoff amount. In other words, artificial soil green area offers the benefit of reduction of surface runoff amount and suggests, in actuality even with a change to the cross-sectional configuration of artificial soil green area alone at the time of construction of multi-housings, the possibility of benefits and reduction of costs spent on existing rainwater management facilities.

It is known that the activity of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPKα2) was depressed under high glucose conditions. However, whether protein expression of AMPKα2 is also down-regulated or not remains unclear. In this study, we showed that the expression of AMPKα2 was down-regulated in cells cultured under high glucose conditions. Treatment of proteasome inhibitor, MG132, blocked high glucose-induced AMPKα2 down-regulation. Endogenous AMPKα2 ubiquitination was detected by immunoprecipitation of AMPKα2 followed by immunoblotting detection of ubiquitin. The yeast-two hybrid (YTH) approach identified WWP1, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, as the AMPKα2-interacting protein in skeletal muscle cells. Interaction between AMPKα2 and WWP1 was validated by co-immunoprecipitation. Knockdown of WWP1 blocked high glucose-induced AMPKα2 down-regulation. The overexpression of WWP1 down-regulated AMPKα2. In addition, the expression of WWP1 is increased under high glucose culture conditions in both mRNA and protein levels. The level of AMPKα2 was down-regulated in the quadriceps muscle of diabetic animal model db/db mice. Expression of WWP1 blocked metformin-induced glucose uptake. Taken together, our results demonstrated that WWP1 down-regulated AMPKα2 under high glucose culture conditions via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

In this paper, we develop an integrated management/monitoring system that supports to dynamically reconfigure information models for systems or applications managed by heterogeneous distributed systems. When the subsystems on diverse platforms are added, removed, or modified, the altered configurations should conform to the configuration information of the integrated management/monitoring system. Further, upon the system configurations being changed, the altered system configurations should be synchronized with the information on the integrated management/monitoring system. Moreover, availability should be assured during synchronization to the extent that users can access the monitoring information with no system halting. This paper focuses on notifying the integrated management/monitoring system of any changes in hardware/software configurations on any subsystems under its management, and on dynamically re-configuring the information about hardware and software being managed based on the information notified. Finally, we expect that this research will be contributory to carrying out reliable integrated management by reflecting the information on any heterogeneous distributed systems in the integrated management/monitoring system.

Coenzyme Q10(CoQ10) is a known anti-adipogenic factor. However, the mechanism by which CoQ10 acts is unclear. In this study, we found that CoQ10 increased the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in 3T3-L1preadipocytes. CoQ10 induced an increase in cytoplasmic calcium concentrations, which is reflected by increased Fluo-3 intensity under confocal microscopy recording. Either inhibition of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase (CaMKK) or knock-down CaMKK blocked CoQ10-induced AMPK phosphorylation, suggesting the involvement of calcium in CoQ10-mediated AMPK signaling. CoQ10 also increased the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) at both the mRNA and protein levels. Knock down of AMPK with siRNA or inhibition of AMPK using an AMPK inhibitor compound C blocked CoQ10-induced expression of PPARα, indicating that AMPK plays a critical role in PPARα induction. In addition, CoQ10 increased fatty acid oxidation in 3T3-L1preadipocytes. The promoter activity of PPARα was increased by CoQ10 in an AMPK-dependent fashion. Moreover, the induction of acyl-CoA oxidase (ACO), a target gene of PPARα, was blocked under the PPARα knock down condition. Furthermore, treatment with CoQ10 blocked differentiation-induced adipogenesis. This blockade was not observed under the PPARα knock-down condition. Collectively, these results demonstrate that CoQ10 induces PPARα expression via the calcium-mediated AMPK signal pathway and suppresses differentiation-induced adipogenesis.

Due to the ever-growing amount of data produced through versatile hyper-connected networks, in pursuit of the Internet of Everything (IoE), the challenges to derive useful knowledge from these big IoE data have received increasing attention. This research deals with fusing multi-modal data from the IoE networks, in order to efficiently provide a set of highly relevant input data for further high-level data analytics such as machine learning. We propose a functional structure of such a data fusion and implement a system prototype based on Apache Spark. Further, our concept is validated through the experiments using the KDD Cup 1999 data.

Follistatin-like 1 (FSTL-1) is a novel myokine; however, little is known about its metabolic role. Here, FSTL-1 stimulated glucose uptake in an AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent manner in L6 rat skeletal muscle cells. FSTL-1 increased intracellular calcium concentration. Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase (CaMKK) inhibition blocked FSTL-1-induced AMPK phosphorylation and glucose uptake. In addition, FSTL-1 stimulated the phosphorylation of p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1), a small GTPase Rac1 downstream protein. PAK1 knockdown or inhibition of Rac1 blocked FSTL-1-induced glucose uptake; moreover, kalirin, a Rac1 guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF), was induced by FSTL-1. Kalirin knockdown with siRNA blocked FSTL-1-induced PAK1 phosphorylation and glucose uptake. Consistent with the induction of Rac1 GEF kalirin, the GTP-bound form of Rac1 was increased by FSTL-1. FSTL-1 increased the production of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) protein and also stimulated the translocation of GLUT4 to the plasma membrane. Translocation of GLUT4 was not observed in cells pre-treated with AMPK inhibitor, Rac1 inhibitor, or kalirin siRNA. In primary myoblast cell culture, FSTL-1 increased glucose uptake in an AMPK-dependent manner. A CaMKK inhibitor or kalirin knockdown blocked FSTL-1-induced glucose uptake. These results suggest that kalirin and Rac1 GEF play important roles in FSTL-1-mediated glucose regulation in skeletal muscle cells.

In order to conduct model based testing of sequence diagrams, test cases should be automatically generated from sequence diagrams. To this end, the scenarios expressed by the sequence diagrams are identified and paths that satisfy the test coverage are extracted to generate test information. However, since sequence diagrams express loop, optional, and alternative information using combined fragments, an automatic generation of test cases from sequence diagram is complicated. To solve this problem, in this paper, a model transformation process that transforms from sequence diagrams into activity diagrams is defined, the scenarios of sequence diagrams are represented in the form of control flows by the transform process. Next, test coverage is applied to generate test cases. The process to generate test cases from sequence diagrams is shown through case studies.

Resistin, an adipocyte-secreted factor, is known to be elevated in breast cancer patients. However, the molecular mechanism by which resistin acts is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate whether resistin could stimulate invasion and migration of breast cancer cells. Here, we report that resistin stimulated invasion and migration of breast cancer cells as well as phosphorylation of c-Src. Inhibition of c-Src blocked resistin-induced breast cancer cell invasion. Resistin increased intracellular calcium concentration and chelation of intracellular calcium blocked resistin-mediated activation of Src. Resistin also induced phosphorylation of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). Inhibition of c-Src blocked resistin-mediated PP2A phosphorylation. In addition, resistin increased phosphorylation of PKCα. Inhibition of PP2A enhanced resistin-induced PKCα phosphorylation, demonstrating that PP2A activity is critical for PKCα phosphorylation. Resistin also increased phosphorylation of ezrin, radixin and moesin (ERM). Additionally, ezrin interacted with PKCα and resistin promoted co-localization of ezrin and PKCα. Either inhibition of c-Src and PKCα or knock-down of ezrin blocked resistin-induced breast cancer cells invasion. Moreover, resistin increased expression of vimentin, a key molecule for cancer cell invasion. Knock-down of ezrin abrogated resistin-induced vimentin expression. These results suggest that resistin play as a critical regulator of breast cancer metastasis.

Ischemia is a blockage of blood supply due to an embolism or a hemorrhage in a blood vessel. When an organ cannot receive oxygenated blood and can therefore no longer replenish its blood supply due to ischemia, stresses, such as the disruption of blood glucose homeostasis, hypoglycemia and hypoxia, activate the AMPK complex. LKB1 and CaMKKβ are essential activators of the AMPK signaling pathway. AMPK triggers proangiogenic effects through the eNOS protein in tissues with ischemic conditions, where cells are vulnerable to apoptosis, autophagy and necrosis. The AMPK complex acts to restore blood glucose levels and ATP levels back to homeostasis. This review will discuss AMPK, as well as its key activators (LKB1 and CaMKKβ), as a central energy regulator and evaluate the upstream and downstream regulating pathways of AMPK. We will also discuss how we can control this important enzyme in ischemic conditions to prevent harmful effects in patients with vascular damage.

As software based digital I&C (Instrumentation and Control) systems are used more prevalently in nuclear plants, enhancement of software dependability has become an important issue in the area of nuclear I&C systems. Critical attributes of software dependability are safety and reliability. These attributes are tightly related to software failures caused by faults. Software testing and V&V (Verification and Validation) activities are hence important for enhancing software dependability. If the risky modules of safety-critical software can be predicted, it will be possible to focus on testing and V&V activities more efficiently and effectively. It should also make it possible to better allocate resources for regulation activities. We propose a prediction technique to estimate risky software modules by adopting machine learning models based on software complexity metrics. An empirical study with various machine learning algorithms was executed for comparing the prediction performance. Experimental results show SVMs (Support Vector Machines) perform as well or better than the other methods.

In the existing naval combat system, integrated management is done based on subsystems that make up the system. The naval combat system, however, is a large-scale distributed system made up of subsystems of diverse heterogeneous environments. Although each of the subsystems can be easily managed because they are on the same platform, it is extremely difficult to integrate and manage as a single entity all subsystems that make up the naval combat system because the heterogeneous environments and distributed systems have to be taken into account. In fact, there hasn`t been a technique available to integrate and manage subsystems that make up the naval combat system, until now. In this paper, the architecture of an integrated management system is designed and implemented to provide the user with various services. Furthermore, a system that can manage subsystems of the naval combat system in an integrated way is developed.

Co-treatment of astragalin and quercetin (AGQC) significantly suppressed the ultraviolet (UV)-induced keratinocyte damage. Administration of AGQC in UV-irradiated mice reduced the histological skin alterations and the levels of chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (CXCL1) and CXCL2. These results suggest that AGQC has a potential use as a compound for protection against UV-irradiated skin damage.

Objective：Myeongganbo (MGB) composited with Hovenia Semen, Puerariae Radi x and Dioscoreae Rhizoma is the prescription for protection of liver function. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of MGB extract against acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver injury in mice.Methods：MGB extract was prepared by extracting with hot distilled water . The extract was freeze-dried following filtration through vacuum distillation system. Mice f asted for overnight were orally administrated with or without MGB extract of different doses (25-200 mg/kg/day). After 30 min, APAP was orally applied with a single dose (400 mg/kg). The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured in plasmas of mice. Glutathione (GSH), glutathion e peroxidase GSH-px), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activity and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) level were investigated in liver homogenates. Liver sections were stained with haematoxylin & eosin, anti-TNF-α and anti-mouse COX-2 antibodies. Results：APAP treatment remarkably increased AST and ALT activities in p lasma but inhibited GSH and GSH-px levels in liver homogenates. Also, liver injury was significantly accelerated by APAP treatment. Furthermore, APAP remarkably elevated COX-2 activity and TNF-α levels in liver homogenates. However, administration of MGB extract was able to counteract these effects. Histological studies provided supportive evidence for biochemical and molecular analysisConclusions：These results suggest that MGB extract has potent hepatoprotective effect against APAP-induced liver injury, these properties may contribute to liver disease care.Key words：Myeongganbo；acetaminophen；hepatoprotection；cyclooxygenase-2；tumor necrosis factor-α

In this paper, we have surveyed the existing architectures of the image processing systems for several meteorological satellites and identified issues which are taken into consideration to construct the advanced meteorological satellite image processing system that is being developed by NMSC(National Meteorological Satellite Center). Most of the existing systems provide the functionalities of the image acquisition, the image processing, the data management, and the data dissemination. Those systems have some common problems with respect to system integration and system maintenance. To solve these problems, NOAA, NWS and ESA suggest new system architectures to improve the existing systems. This paper introduces domestic and foreign approaches to build the satellite image processing systems and studies some issues and strategies for developing those systems.

This paper suggests a system architecture for the advanced meteorological satellite image processing system that is developing by NMSC(National Meteorological Satellite Center). The meteorology satellite image processing system has basically the image acquisition, the image processing, the data management, and the data dissemination functionalities. However, the existing system has some problems with respect to system integration as well as maintenance to accommodate new satellites and/or the new image processing systems for them which will be developed in the near future. To cope with these problems we propose a new system architecture for the advanced meteorology satellite image processing system. To do this we select as the architectural drivers the quality attributes such as modifiability, inter-operability, extendability, reusability, and platform independency and design the architecture to achieve such quality attributes. We expect that the new approach will solve current issues such as system integration, system dependency, or data management problems and will provide easy ways to incorporate new systems and to maintain them.

Recently Web services and SOA(Service Oriented Architecture) is widely used for an effective integration way of distributed applications. The service choreography is a way of service compositions to define workflows and the message exchange protocols among several partner ser-vices in the B2B business process environment. It defines the overall business process from a global perspective. However, it must be transformed into some kind of the executable form to implement service compositions, because it does not support an execution mechanism but is a de-clarative form. Therefore, the transformed executable model must be validated with the original choreography model to guarantee behavior equivalence. In this paper, we propose the conformity assessment with respect to service compositions method between the choreography model and the transformed executable model. And we suggest the test method to show behavior equivalence between them from a viewpoint of the dynamic execution.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-allergy activities of persimmon leaf extract (PLE) on a phthalic anhydride (PA)-induced allergic mouse model. A human leukemic mast cell line (HMC-1) was used to examine the inhibitory activity of PLE on the histamine release by human leukemic mast cells. PLE inhibited histamine release from HMC-1 cells in response to cross-linkage of high-affinity IgE receptor-α (FceRIα). Additionally, a PA-induced allergic mouse model was used to investigate the effects of PLE in vivo. Mice were orally administrated with or without PLE of single dose (250 mg/kg/day) for 31 days. Oral intake of PLE significantly inhibited passive cutaneous reactions. Oral administration of PLE to PA-induced allergic mice also led to a striking suppression of the development of contact dermatitis, ear swelling and lymph node weight. In addition, PA-specific IL-4 production of draining lymph node cells was markedly diminished by PLE oral administration, but not IFN-γ. Furthermore, PLE treatment suppressed PA-induced thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (CCL17) and cutaneous T cell-attracting chemokine (CCL27) expressions in ear tissues. Based on these results, we suggest that PLE may have therapeutic potential as an effective material for management of irritant contact dermatitis or related inflammatory diseases.

The thickness dependence of the magnetic switching volumes in electrodeposited CoPt films was investigated from the magnetization reversal and the magnetic interaction behavior. As the sample thickness is increased, the field difference between the wall pinning field () and the nucleation field () as well as the absolute value of area are increased. Therefore, the decrement tendency of the switching diameter with increasing sample thickness can be well explained by the domain wall motion controlled by the domain wall pinning and the strength of dipolar interaction.

Recently, As a part of urban forestation, the introductions of green roofs into public projects has been actively driven. Supported by this policy, the sizes of domestic green roof related markets have been rapidly expanding and many types of root barrier materials developed in Korea or abroad are being commercially distributed. In this study, root barrier tests were conducted over two years with nine types of sheet type waterproof materials that are the most commonly used as root barrier layers in green roof systems. The test conditions prepared considered the climates, natural features and vegetation in Korea and the results and related root barrier performance were verified. From the results of this study, the necessity to improve the joint part of root barrier sheets and forming methods has been identified and a measure to improve domestic root barrier testing methods was proposed.

This paper presents the architecture for upgrading the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems of a Korean standard nuclear power plant (KSNP) as an operating nuclear power plant. This paper uses the analysis results of KSNP's I&C systems performed in a previous study. This paper proposes a Preparation–Decision–Design–Assessment (PDDA) process that focuses on quality oriented development, as a cyclical process to develop the architecture. The PDDA was motivated from the practice of architecture-based development used in software engineering fields. In the preparation step of the PDDA, the architecture of digital-based I&C systems was setup for an architectural goal. Single failure criterion and determinism were setup for architectural drivers. In the decision step, defense-in-depth, diversity, redundancy, and independence were determined as architectural tactics to satisfy the single failure criterion, and sequential execution was determined as a tactic to satisfy the determinism. After determining the tactics, the primitive digital-based I&C architecture was determined. In the design step, 17 systems were selected from the KSNP's I&C systems for the upgrade and functionally grouped based on the primitive architecture. The overall architecture was developed to show the deployment of the systems. The detailed architecture of the safety systems was developed by applying a 2-out-of-3 voting logic, and the detailed architecture of the non-safety systems was developed by hot-standby redundancy. While developing the detailed architecture, three ways of signal transmission were determined with proper rationales: hardwire, datalink, and network. In the assessment step, the required network performance, considering the worst-case of data transmission was calculated: the datalink was required by 120 kbps, the safety network by 5 Mbps, and the non-safety network by 60 Mbps. The architecture covered 17 systems out of 22 KSNP's I&C systems. The architecture is implementable with the equipment developed in South Korea. The architecture can be used as a model to upgrade the existing I&C systems in a planned, large-scale, and one-shot manner. A more detailed architecture down to software level will be developed in the future.

The influence of thickness on magnetic interaction and magnetic properties in electrodeposited CoPt magnetic films was investigated from the analysis of the magnetic remanence curves and the magnetic hysteresis loops. As the thickness of the CoPt film is increased, the perpendicular coercivity and the saturation magnetization are increased but the squareness is considerably decreased. The analysis results of the magnetic remanence curves and the magnetic hysteresis loops exhibited that the dipolar interaction is the main interaction mechanism for all samples, but the strength of the dipolar interaction gradually increased with increasing sample thickness.

When preparing test cases and running the test the existing GUI test tools require many tester`s interventions. To cope with such problem this paper suggests a new method to build test cases for GUI test. This method identifies the potential control flows within the GUI and constructs the GUI map. The UIA library in .NET Framework is used to extract information about the GUI controls and the GUI map is constructed by the extracted information. Test scenarios are generated from the extracted information about the GUI controls using the grouping mechanism. Based on the grouping mechanism, various test scenarios which are test cases in GUI tests can be made by replacing a GUI control by another one in the same group. The existing GUI test tools do not support the concept of test coverage. Since, however, our method survey which part of the GUI map is executed or not during running the test, the test coverage can be measured by using the GUI map.

Tree algorithms have been widely developed for regression problems. One of the good features of a regression tree is the flexibility of fitting because it can correctly capture the nonlinearity of data well. Especially, data with sudden structural breaks such as the price of oil and exchange rates could be fitted well with a simple mixture of a few piecewise linear regression models. Now that split points are determined by chi-squared statistics related with residuals from fitting piecewise linear models and the split variable is chosen by an objective criterion, we can get a quite reasonable fitting result which goes in line with the visual interpretation of data. The piecewise linear regression by a regression tree can be used as a good fitting method, and can be applied to a dataset with much fluctuation.

Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation induces skin damage and inflammation. Persimmon leaf extract (PLE) has traditionally been used for the treatment of acute and chronic diseases in Asia, but there have been no reports on its UVB-protective effects. Thus, protective effects of PLE against UVB-induced inflammations in HaCaT keratinocytes and mice were investigated. In an in vitro study using HaCaT keratinocytes, UVB irradiation decreased cell viability and increased chemokine production. PLE recovered cell viability and suppressed UVB-induced production of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (CCL2) and cutaneous T cell-attracting chemokine (CCL27). Moreover, oral administration of PLE to UVB-irradiated mice resulted in significant suppression of skin damage. Histological analyses revealed that infiltration of inflammatory cells, especially degranulated mast cells, thickening of the epidermis, and hyperplasia were significantly reduced. PLE treatment suppressed UVB-induced CCL2 and CCL27 expressions in the skin. These results suggest PLE has potential as an effective material for protection against UVB-induced skin inflammation.

Purpose: We examined the clinical and radiological outcomes for displaced proximal humerus fractures that were treated with a PHILOS angular stable plate. Materials and Method: Forty four patients who underwent surgery between March 2007 and February 2010 were included in this study. All the cases were followed up for an average of 12 months. All the patients were examined and interviewed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score, the Constant score and standardized Xrays to check the neck-shaft angle (NSA) and the presence of medial support. Results: The average Visual Analog Scale score was 2.8 points and the average Constant score was 70.5 points. The average neck shaft angle was 122.5° and this was statistically significant between the good result group and the poor result group. There were 36 cases of the presence of medial support and 8 cases of the absence of medial support and the difference was statistically significant. Complications such as fixation failure happened in 12 cases. Conclusion: PHILOS angular stable plate fixation as an operative treatment for displaced proximal humerus fractures is a good and reliable treatment option.

Insulin resistance is the primary cause responsible for type 2 diabetes. Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) plays a negative role in insulin signaling and its inhibition improves insulin sensitivity. Metformin is a widely used insulin-sensitizing drug; however, the mechanism by which metformin acts is poorly understood. To gain insight into the role of PTEN, we examined the effect of metformin on PTEN expression. Metformin suppressed the expression of PTEN in an AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent manner in preadipocyte 3T3-L1 cells. Knock-down of PTEN potentiated the increase in insulin-mediated phosphorylation of Akt/ERK. Metformin also increased the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-c-Jun and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-p70S6 kinase pathways. Both pharmacologic inhibition and knock-down of AMPK blocked metformin-induced phosphorylation of JNK and mTOR. Knock-down of AMPK recovered the metformin-induced PTEN down-regulation, suggesting the involvement of AMPK in PTEN regulation. PTEN promoter activity was suppressed by metformin and inhibition of mTOR and JNK by pharmacologic inhibitors blocked metformin-induced PTEN promoter activity suppression. These findings provide evidence for a novel role of AMPK on PTEN expression and thus suggest a possible mechanism by which metformin may contribute to its beneficial effects on insulin signaling.

Metformin is a major oral anti-diabetic drug and is known as an insulin sensitizer. However, the mechanism by which metformin acts is unclear. In this study, we found that AICAR, an AMPK activator, and metformin increased the expression of Rab4 mRNA and protein levels in skeletal muscle C2C12 cells. The promoter activity of Rab4 was increased by metformin in an AMPK-dependent manner. Metformin stimulated the phosphorylation of AS160, Akt substrate, and Rab GTPase activating protein (GAP), and also increased the phosphorylation of PKC-zeta, which is a critical molecule for glucose uptake. Knockdown of AMPK blocked the metformin-induced phosphorylation of AS160/PKC-zeta. In addition, a colorimetric absorbance assay showed that insulin-induced translocation of GLUT4 was suppressed in Rab4 knockdown cells. Moreover, Rab4 interacted with PKC-zeta but not with GLUT4. The C-terminal-deleted Rab4 mutant, Rab4ΔCT, showed diffuse sub-cellular localization, while wild-type Rab4 localized exclusively to the perinuclear membrane. Unlike Rab4ΔCT, wild-type Rab4 co-localized with PKC-zeta. Together, these results demonstrate that metformin induces Rab4 expression via AMPK-AS160-PKC-zeta and modulates insulin-mediated GLUT4 translocation.