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Gene silencing via RNA interference inadvertently represses hundreds of off-target transcripts. Because small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) can function as microRNAs, avoiding miRNA-like off-target repression is a major challenge. Functional miRNA–target interactions are known to pre-require transitional nucleation, base pairs from position 2 to the pivot (position 6). Here, by substituting nucleotide in pivot with abasic spacers, which prevent base pairing and alleviate steric hindrance, we eliminate miRNA-like off-target repression while preserving on-target activity at ∼80–100%. Specifically, miR-124 containing dSpacer pivot substitution (6pi) loses seed-mediated transcriptome-wide target interactions, repression activity and biological function, whereas other conventional modifications are ineffective. Application of 6pi allows PCSK9 siRNA to efficiently lower plasma cholesterol concentration in vivo, and abolish potentially deleterious off-target phenotypes. The smallest spacer, C3, also shows the same improvement in target specificity. Abasic pivot substitution serves as a general means to harness the specificity of siRNA experiments and therapeutic applications., RNA interference inadvertently represses off-target transcripts. Here, Lee et al. report that substituting nucleotide in position 6 of the seed region of the small interfering RNAs with abasic spacers can significantly decrease miRNA-like off-target repression while preserving on-target activity.

Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is an attractive renewable energy technology currently under intense investigation. Electrolyte plays an important role in the photovoltaic performance of the DSSCs and many efforts have been contributed to study different kinds of electrolytes with various characteristics such as liquid electrolytes, polymer electrolytes and so on. In this study, DSSC is developed by using quasi-solid electrolyte and a novel procedure is adopted for filling this electrolyte. The quasi-solid-state electrolyte was prepared by mixing Poly ethylene oxide (PEO) and bismaleimide together and constitution was taken as PEO (15 wt%) at various bismaleimide concentrations (1, 3, 5 wt%). The novel procedure of filling electrolyte consists of three major steps (first step: filling liquid electrolyte, second step: vaporization of liquid electrolyte, third step: refilling quasi-solid-state electrolyte). The electrochemical and photovoltaic performances of DSSCs with these electrolytes were also investigated. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) indicated that TiO2/Dye/electrolyte impedance is reduced and electron lifetime is increased, and consequently efficiency of cell has been improved after using this novel procedure. The photovoltaic power conversion efficiency of 6.39% has been achieved under AM 1.5 simulated sunlight (100 W/cm 2 ) through this novel procedure and by using specified blend of polymers.

There are many technical problems in the recommendation system based on very large database(VLDB). So, it is necessary to study the recommendation system` structure and the data-mining technique suitable for the large scale Internet shopping mail. Thus we design and implement the product recommendation system using k-means clustering algorithm and sequential pattern technique which can be used in large scale Internet shopping mall. This paper processes user information by batch processing, defines the various categories by hierarchical structure, and uses a sequential pattern mining technique for the search engine. For predictive modeling and experiment, we use the real data(user`s interest and preference of given category) extracted from log file of the major Internet shopping mall in Korea during 30 days. And we define PRP(Predictive Recommend Precision), PRR(Predictive Recommend Recall), and PF1(Predictive Factor One-measure) for evaluation. In the result of experiments, the best recommendation time and the best learning time of our system are much as O(N) and the values of measures are very excellent.

This study was investigated the bactericidal effects of calcium oxide (CaO) on three common foodborne pathogenic bacteria: Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella typhimurium. Each bacteria level was determined in a CaO solution (0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20% [w/v]) exposed for either 15 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 5 min, 10 min, or 30 min. All three bacteria were not greatly affected by CaO solutions at concentrations of 0.01 and 0.03%, however, the decline of E. coli (99%; 2.78 log10 CFU/mL), L. monocytogens (45%; 1.44 log10 CFU/mL), and S. typhimurium (70%; 2.08 log10 CFU/mL) was greatest when they were exposed to 0.05% CaO solution for 10 min. Moreover, the bactericidal action of CaO was maintained for at least 24 h of storage. The results of this study provide evidence that CaO, as a substitute for synthetic chemical substances has potential for use in the disinfection and sanitization of foods and food processing equipment.

Effects of Pb(Mg 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 and Pb(Zn 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 substitution in the Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 ceramic system on structure formation, crystallographic aspects, and dielectric properties are discussed. Developed phases in the B-site precursor and perovskite systems were studied by X-ray diffraction. Crystal symmetries and dimensions of the perovskite unit cell of the two systems are compared. Changing rates of the lattice parameter with substituent PbTiO 3 concentration in the two modified systems are virtually identical to that of the unmodified Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 system. Weak-field low-frequency dielectric responses of the ceramics were investigated. The dielectric maximum temperatures of the two perovskite systems shifted almost linearly with compositional change. Dielectric constant spectra at low concentrations of PbTiO 3 exhibited typical diffuse phase transition behavior, whereas those at high PbTiO, concentrations were rather sharp. The phase transition modes reflected on the dielectric spectra were quantitatively analyzed in terms of diffuseness parameters.

Neuronal hyperexcitability and oxidative stress play critical roles in neuronal cell death in stroke. Therefore, we studied the effects of (2S,3S,4R)-N?-cyano-N-(6-amino-3,4-dihydro-3-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-dimethoxymethyl-2H-benzopyran-4-yl)-N'-benzylguanidine (KR-31378), possessing both antioxidant and K(+) channel-modulating activities, on brain ischemia-reperfusion injury models. Treatment with KR-31378 (30 mg/kg, i.v.) significantly reduced infarct area and edema by 24% and 36%, respectively, in rats subjected to 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion and 22 h of reperfusion with significant attenuation of elevated lipid peroxidation (99% of normal) and glutathione loss (60% of normal) in ischemic hemisphere. We further studied its neuroprotective mechanism in fetal rat primary mixed cortical culture. Incubation of cortical neurons with KR-31378 protected FeSO(4)-induced cell death in a concentration-dependent manner (IC(50)=12 microM). Its neuroprotective effect was neither mimicked by other K(+) channel openers nor abolished in the presence of ATP-dependent K(+) channel (K(ATP)) blockers, indicating that its effect was not related to K(+) channel opening activity. The mechanism of protection is rather attributable to the antioxidant property of KR-31378 since it suppressed the intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species and ensured lipid peroxidation by 120% and 80%, respectively, caused by FeSO(4). We further studied its effect on antioxidant defense, enzymatic and nonenzymatic systems. Treatment of neurons with FeSO(4) resulted in decrease of catalase (8% of control) and glutathione peroxidase (14% of control) activities, which were restored by KR-31378 treatment (70% and 57% of control, respectively). In addition, it attenuated the depletion of glutathione contents (60% of control) caused by FeSO(4). These results suggest that KR-31378 exerts a beneficial effect in focal ischemia, which may be attributed to its antioxidant property.

Dose-independent pharmacokinetic parameters of KR-60436, a new proton pump inhibitor, were evaluated after intravenous (i.v.; 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) and oral (20, 50, and 100 mg/kg) administration to rats. The hepatic, gastric, and intestinal first-pass effects were also measured after iv, intraportal (i.p.), intragastric (i.g.), and intraduodenal (id) administrations to rats of a dose of 20 mg/kg. The areas under the plasma concentration-time curve from time to zero to time infinity (AUCs) were independent of iv and oral dose ranges studied; the dose-normalized AUCs were 83.0-104 microg. min/mL (based on 5 mg/kg) and 78.4-96.8 microg. min/mL (based on 20 mg/kg) for iv and oral administration, respectively. After an oral administration at a dose of 20 mg/kg, approximately 3% of the oral dose was not absorbed, and the extent of absolute oral bioavaliability (F) was estimated to be 18.8%. The AUCs of KR-60436 after i.g. and i.d. administration at a dose of 20 mg/kg were significantly smaller (82.4 and 57.5% decrease, respectively) than that after an i.p. administration at a dose of 20 mg/kg, suggesting that gastrointestinal first-pass effect of KR-60436 was approximately 80% of oral dose in rats (the gastric first-pass effect was approximately 25%). After an i.p. administration at a dose of 20 mg/kg, the AUC was 77.6% of an iv administration, suggesting that hepatic first-pass effect was approximately 22% of KR-60436 absorbed into the portal vein. Note that the value of 22% was equivalent to approximately 4% of the oral dose. Because only 17% of oral dose was absorbed into the portal vein, the low F of KR-60436 in rats was mainly due to considerable gastrointestinal first-pass effect, which was approximately 80% (the gastric first-pass effect was approximately 25%) of oral dose.

The British railway safety research group has developed a risk assessment model for the railway infrastructure and major railway accidents. The major hazardous factors of the railway infrastructure were identified and classified in the model. The frequency rates of critical top events were predicted by the fault tree analysis method using failure data of the railway system components and ratings of railway maintenance experts, The consequences of critical top events were predicted by the event tree analysis method. They classified the Joss of accident due to railway system into personal. commercial and environmental damages. They also classified 110 hazardous event due to railway system into three categories. train accident. movement accident and non-movement accident. The risk assessment model of the British railway system has been designed to take full account of both the high frequency low consequence type events (events occurring routinely for which there is significant quantity of recorded data) and the low frequency high consequence events (events occurring rarely for which there is little recorded data). The results for each hazardous event were presented in terms of the frequency of occurrence (number of events/year) and the risk (number of equivalent fatalities per year).

Intracellular Ca2+([Ca2+]i) is platelet aggregation-inducing molecule and is involved in activation of aggregation associated molecules. This study was carried out to understand the Ca2+-antagonistic effect of ginsenoside Ro (G-Ro), an oleanane-type saponin inPanax ginseng. G-Ro, without affecting leakage of lactate dehydrogenase, dose-dependently inhibited thrombin-induced platelet aggregation, and the half maximal inhibitory concentration was approximately 155 μM. G-Ro inhibited strongly thrombin-elevated[Ca2+]i, which was strongly increased by A-kinase inhibitor Rp-8-Br-cAMPS compared to G-kinase inhibitor Rp-8-Br-cGMPS. G-Ro increased the level of cAMP and subsequently elevated the phosphorylation of inositol 1, 4, 5-triphosphate receptor I (IP3RI) (Ser1756) to inhibit[Ca2+]imobilization in thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. Phosphorylation of IP3RI (Ser1756) by G-Ro was decreased by PKA inhibitor Rp-8-Br-cAMPS. In addition, G-Ro inhibited thrombin-induced phosphorylation of ERK 2 (42 kDa), indicating inhibition of Ca2+influx across plasma membrane. We demonstrate that G-Ro upregulates cAMP-dependent IP3RI (Ser1756) phosphorylation and downregulates phosphorylation of ERK 2 (42 kDa) to decrease thrombin-elevated[Ca2+]i, which contributes to inhibition of ATP and serotonin release, and p-selectin expression. These results indicate that G-Ro inPanax ginsengis a beneficial novel Ca2+-antagonistic compound and may prevent platelet aggregation-mediated thrombotic disease.

This paper proposes a novel method that enables location sensing for a mobile object by utilizing deployed passive UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and a stationary RFID reader. In order to estimate the mobile object location, the proposed method utilizes the second order under damped system based tag to tag interference model. The empirical study using RFID systems and a mobile robot verifies the effectiveness and performance of the proposed method.

KR-31543, (2S,3R,4S)-6-amino-4-[N-(4-chlorophenyl)-N-(2-methyl-2H-tetrazol-5-ylmethyl)amino]-3,4-dihydro-2-dimethoxymethyl-3-hydroxy-2-methyl-2H-1-benzopyran is a new neuroprotective agent for ischemia-reperfusion damage. The in vitro and in vivo metabolism of KR-31543 in rats has been studied by LC-electrospray mass spectrometry. Rat liver microsomal incubation of KR-31543 in the presence of NADPH resulted in the formation of a metabolite M1. M1 was identified as N-(4-chlorophenyl)-N-(2-methyl-2H-tetrazol-5-ylmethyl)amine on the basis of LC-MS/MS analysis with the synthesized authentic standard. Rat CYP3A1 and 3A2 are the major CYP isozymes involved in the formation of M1.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the determination of a new reversible proton pump inhibitor, KR-60436, in human plasma and urine and in rat tissue homogenates. The method involved deproteinization of the biological samples with three volumes of acetonitrile. A 100 μL aliquot of the supernatant was injected onto a reversed-phase (C18) column. The mobile phase, 0.02 M phosphate buffer (pH 5) : acetonitrile:methanol (30 : 60 : 10, v/v/v), was run at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min and the column effluent was monitored by a fluorescence detector set at an excitation wavelength of 340 nm and an emission wavelength of 484 nm. The retention time of KR-60436 was approximately 7.5 min. The coefficients of variation (within-day and between-day) were low (below 10.5%) for human plasma and urine and rat tissue homogenates. No interferences from endogenous substances were found.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the determination of a neuroprotective agent for ischemia-reperfusion damage, KR-31543, in human plasma and urine. The method involved deproteinization of the biological samples with two volumes of acetonitrile. A 80 μL aliquot of the supernatant was injected onto a reversed-phase (C18) column. The mobile phase, 50 mM triethylamine acetate:acetonitrile (15 : 85, v/v), was run at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The column effluent was monitored by an ultraviolet detector set at 310 nm. The retention time of KR-31543 was approximately 3.5 min. The detection limits of KR-31543 in human plasma and urine were 0.2 and 0.5 μg/mL, respectively. The coefficients of variation (within-day and between-day) were low (below 4.86%) for human plasma and urine. No interferences from endogenous substances were found.

Monophasic (⩾99.4%) perovskite powders of a Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –PbTiO 3 system were prepared by a B-site precursor method. Phase developments and lattice parameter changes in the perovskite system were examined by X-ray diffraction. Weak-field dielectric responses of the ceramic system were investigated as functions of PbTiO 3 concentration and measurement frequency. Phase transition modes in the dielectric spectra were analyzed in terms of diffuseness characteristics. Ferroelectric hysteresis behaviors were monitored with respect to temperature changes.

In recent, the diet is one of a trend of the world for making a wellness life. However, the diet management depending on the characteristics of each person has a limitation. Thus, in this paper, we propose a smart dietary management not only patients but also regular users for supporting a wellness service. And then, we develop a smart phone application for providing a wellness service to each person. According to the experiment results, we can improve the utility of common smart refrigerator.

So many kinds of control schemes for autonomous locomotive robots which maneuver the behavior of the robots and avoiding obstacles as the study on autonomous robots has been done are suggested. Autonomous mobile robots should establish a secure driving stability by determining the locations of the sensed obstacles around. In the paper, we will compare the moving characteristics of the autonomous mobile robots which have a fixed interrelation zone environment to the moving characteristics of the proposed interrelation zone which have a hysteresis band between the two zones. Autonomous mobile robots can decide there behaviors, by sensing obstacles in interrelation zone.

In this study, we investigated the effects of cordycepin-enriched (CE)-WIB801C, a n-butanol extract of Cordyceps militaris-hypha on collagen-stimulated platelet aggregation. CE-WIB801C dose dependently inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation, and had a synergistic effect together with cordycepin (W-cordycepin) from CE-WIB801C on the inhibition of collagen-induced platelet aggregation. CE-WIB801C and cordycepin stimulated the phosphorylation of VASP (Ser(157)) and the dephosphorylation of PI3K and Akt, and inhibited the binding of fibrinogen to glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (αIIb/β3) and the release of ATP and serotonin in collagen-induced platelet aggregation. A-kinase inhibitor Rp-8-Br-cAMPS reduced CE-WIB801C-, and cordycepin-increased VASP (Ser(157)) phosphorylation, and increased CE-WIB801C-, and cordycepin-inhibited the fibrinogen binding to αIIb/β3. Therefore, we demonstrate that CE-WIB801C-, and cordycepin-inhibited fibrinogen binding to αIIb/β3 are due to stimulation of cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of VASP (Ser(157)), and inhibition of PI3K/Akt phosphorylation. These results strongly indicate that CE-WIB801C and cordycepin may have preventive or therapeutic potential for platelet aggregation-mediated diseases, such as thrombosis, myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, and ischemic cerebrovascular disease.

This paper describes the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a novel anti-ischemic compound, (2S,3S,4R)-N-(6-amino-3,4-dihydro-2-dimethoxymethyl-3-hydroxy-2-methyl-2H-benzopyranyl)-N'-benzyl-N"-cyanoguanidine (33), and the structure-activity relationships leading to the discovery of this compound. Compound 33 significantly reduced the myocardial infarct zone to area at risk (IZ/AAR) in the ischemic myocardium rat model with high cardioselectivity. Since the cardioprotective effect of compound 33 is reversed by ATP-sensitive potassium channel (K(ATP)) blockers, its anti-ischemic effect appears to be at least mediated by K(ATP) opening. In addition, compound 33 shows good protective activity on neuronal cells against oxidative stress, and therefore it is suggested that compound 33 may have therapeutic potential both in cardio- and in neuroprotection.

A new compound, 1-(2-methyl-4-methoxyphenyl)-4-[(3-hydroxypropyl)amino]-6-methyl-2,3-dihydropyrrolo[3,2- c ]quinoline (DBM-819), given intraduodenally in pylorus-ligated rats, inhibited basal acid secretion with an ED 50 value of 3.5 mg/kg. In addition, DBM-819 reduced histamine- and pentagastrin-stimulated gastric acid secretion with ED 50 values of 4.0 and 5.1 mg/kg, respectively. The duration of the anti-secretory effect was approximately 18 h when DBM-819 was administered orally to rats with a chronic gastric fistula. Oral administration of DBM-819 protected against gastric lesions induced by ethanol, NaOH, indomethacin and aspirin, and the duodenal ulcer induced by cysteamine, in a dose-dependent manner with ED 50 values of 7.0, 20, 3.1, 4.0 and 6.0 mg/kg, respectively. Taken together, these results suggest that DBM-819 acts as an effective oral anti-ulcer agent in vivo, and that DBM-819 could be developed as a new therapeutic agent for peptic ulcer disease.

The metabolism of 1-(2-methyl-4-methoxyphenyl)-4-[(3-hydroxypropyl)amino]-6-methyl-2,3-dihydropyrrolo[3,2c]quinoline (DBM-819), a new H+/K+ ATPase inhibitor, has been studied by HPLC with spectrometric detection and on-line LC-electrospray mass spectrometry. In vitro incubation of DBM-819 with rat liver microsomes in the presence of NADPH resulted in the production of four metabolites (M1-4), whereas DBM-819 was oxidized to two metabolites, M2 and M4, by human liver microsomes. M2, M3 and M4 were identified as O-demethyl-DBM-819, 8-hydroxy-DBM-819 and N-dehydroxypropyl-DBM-819, respectively, based on LC/MS/MS analysis with authentic standards. M1 was tentatively identified as 1-(hydroxy-2-methyl-4-methoxyphenyl)-4-[(3-hydroxypropyl)amino]-6-methyl-2,3-dihydropyrrolo[3,2c]quinoline. Rat liver CYP1A1/2 catalyzed the oxidation of DBM-819 to 8-hydroxy-DBM-819 and N-dehydroxypropyl-DBM-819. Human CYP3A4 was a major isozyme for the formation of O-demethyl-DBM-819 as well as N-dehydroxypropyl-DBM-819. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ceramic powders of a Pb[(Mg,Zn)1/3Nb2/3]O3system modified by 20 mol% PbTiO3 were prepared via a B-site precursor route. Developed structures in the B-site and perovskite systems were examined. Weak-field dielectric properties of the system ceramics were investigated as a function of measurement frequency. Phase transition modes in the dielectric constant spectra above the Curie temperatures were analyzed in terms of diffuseness exponents.

Introduction of Pb(Mg{sub 1/3}Nb{sub 2/3})O{sub 3} into Pb(Zn{sub 1/3}Nb{sub 2/3})O{sub 3}-PbTiO{sub 3} was attempted and dielectric properties of the pseudoternary system were investigated. In order to suppress pyrochlore formations, a B-site precursor method was adopted during powder preparation. Weak-field dielectric constants of the system ceramics were measured as a function of frequency. Phase transition modes in the dielectric spectra were further examined and correlated with diffuseness exponents.

Although head trauma has occasionally been described as a cause of hemiballism, relevant traumatic lesion involving subthalamic nucleus (STN) has rarely been reported. We report a 49-year-old man with focal and discrete traumatic STN hemorrhage, which presented as transient contralateral hemiballism. Although such discrete STN lesion is not infrequently found in patients with post-stroke hemiballism, it has not been reported in posttraumatic hemiballism.

Nearly-monophasic powders of Pb(Zn 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –PbTiO 3 (PZN–PT) with perovskite structure were prepared (except for PZN) by the B-site precursor method and densified into ceramic form. Phase transition modes between second-order relaxor-type and first-order normal-ferroelectric-type were studied in terms of phase developments, crystallographic aspects, dielectric constants, and diffuseness characteristics of dielectric constant spectra.

In this study, we prepared cordycepin-enriched (CE)-WIB801C, a n-butanol extract of Cordyceps militaris-hypha, and investigated the effect of CE-WIB801C on collagen-induced human platelet aggregation. CE-WIB801C dose-dependently inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation, and its IC50 value was 175 μg/ml. CE-WIB801C increased cAMP level more than cGMP level, but inhibited collagen-elevated [Ca(2+)]i mobilization and thromboxane A2 (TXA2) production. cAMP-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase) inhibitor Rp-8-Br-cAMPS increased the CE-WIB801C-downregulated [Ca(2+)]i level in a dose dependent manner, and strongly inhibited CE-WIB801C-induced inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) phosphorylation. These results suggest that the inhibition of [Ca(2+)]i mobilization by CE-WIB801C is resulted from the cAMP/A-kinase-dependent phosphorylation of IP3R. CE-WIB801C suppressed TXA2 production, but did not inhibit the activities of cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and TXA2 synthase (TXAS). These results suggest that the inhibition of TXA2 production by WIB801C is not resulted from the direct inhibition of COX-1 and TXAS. In this study, we demonstrate that CE-WIB801C with cAMP-dependent Ca(2+)-antagonistic antiplatelet effects may have preventive or therapeutic potential for platelet aggregation-mediated diseases, such as thrombosis, myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, and ischemic cerebrovascular disease.

Some database schema is very complex and it changes more frequently than the past. On the other hands, in such application database as scientific database and decision-support database, the importance of ad-hoc queries is expected to increase. Therefore the ability of a system to support ad-hoc queries without knowing the database schema information is needed. In this paper, we will describe a method to create candidate structured queries with concept hierarchy using user-input keywords. We will create structured queries in the following step; first, we extract the schema items related to keywords, and second, we compose possible paths between schema items, thus formulate candidate SQL queries.

In this study, we investigated the effect of cordycepin-enriched (CE)-WIB801C from Cordyceps militaris on ADP (20 µM)-stimulated platelet aggregation. CE-WIB801C dose-dependently inhibited ADP-induced platelet aggregation, and its IC50 value was 18.5 μg/mL. CE-WIB801C decreased TXA2 production, but did not inhibit the activities of COX-1 and thromboxane synthase (TXAS) in ADP-activated platelets, which suggests that the inhibition of TXA2 production by CE-WIB801C is not resulted from the direct inhibition of COX-1 and TXAS. CE-WIB801C inhibited ATP release and [Ca(2+)]i mobilization, and increased cAMP level and IP3RI (Ser(1756)) phosphorylation in ADP-activated platelets. cAMP-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase) inhibitor Rp-8-Br-cAMPS increased CE-WIB801C-inhibited [Ca(2+)]i mobilization, and strongly inhibited CE-WIB801C-increased IP3RI (Ser(1756)) phosphorylation. CE-WIB801C elevated the phosphorylation of VASP (Ser(157)), an A-kinase substrate, but inhibited fibrinogen binding to αIIb/β3. These results suggest that CE-WIB801C-elevated cAMP involved in IP3RI (Ser(1756)) phosphorylation to inhibit [Ca(2+)]i mobilization and, VASP (Ser(157)) phosphorylation to inhibit αIIb/β3 activation. Therefore, in this study, we demonstrate that CE-WIB801C may have a preventive or therapeutic potential for platelet aggregation-mediated diseases, such as thrombosis, myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, and ischemic cerebrovascular disease.

Stable operation of hysteresis control of the inverter output current can be guaranteed by considering the system parameter, the supply voltage and the minimum onJoff time when determining the hysteresis band. In the paper, we will discuss the characteristics of hysteresis current control and the role of frequency limiter, implement digital circuit for controlling the hysteresis and limiting the switching frequency on the FPGA base, design the frequency limiter which shows stable operation by guaranteeing the minimum on time and off time of the switching device while robust to the load changes, and compare the performance of the proposed hysteresis current control characteristics with the existing scheme.

Electricity has been widely adopted in electric car, robot, and other systems as a power sources. A lot of robots, namely, fixed or mobile robots are studied, and researches are done to fuse the new & renewable energy with robot technology to solve the energy supply problems. For the mobile robots, the energies are usually supplied through the battery, and this causes the limitations of the activity time, the discontinuation of activity, and the range of activity. Therefore, solving the problems and securing the continuous energy supply scheme for extending the running time of the mobile robots can show the advantages for the robot activity and achievements. In the study, we suggest a scheme for the battery replacing method for the mobile robot.

1. Introduction – Secondary Li ion batteries, regarded as the current benchmark for new battery technologies, are under extensive development throughout the world [1]. However, their requirement that organic electrolytes be used limits the rate capacity and specific power the cell can achieve and present several safety hazards and cost limitations that limit their application in large-scale storage systems [1, 2]. Here, aqueous Li ion cells utilizing LiMn2O4 spinel compound anodes is investigated, due to its ample capacity, cycling stability and high rate capability [3]. 2. Fabrication procedures – LiMn2O4 (LMO) anode is fabricated by solid state reaction of 5 mmol Li2CO3 and 10 mmol Mn2O3 at 750 °C for 20 hrs. Li2Mn4O9 cathode is fabricated by solid state reaction of 10 mmol LiOH·H2O and 20 mmol MnCO3 at 380 °C for 24 hrs. LiMn2O4 solid microspheres were prepared by calcination of LiOH·H2O and MnCO3 microspheres at 650 °C for 3 hrs in air. MnCO3 solid microspheres were prepared as follows: 1 mmol MnSO4·H2O and 1 mmol NaHCO3 were dissolved separately in 70 ml of distilled water. 7 ml of ethanol was added to the MnSO4 solution under stirring. Direct mixing of the NaHCO3 and MnSO4 solutions is done, and precipitate is allowed to form overnight. MnCO3 microspheres were obtained from multiple centrifugation and washing cycles. Obtained product was allowed to dry overnight at 100 °C in air. Activated carbon (AC, Kureha BAC) is utilized as received. 3. Experimental setup and results – XRD spectra of the solid state LiMn2O4 anode (LMO¬_SS) and LiMn2O4 solid microspheres (LMO_Sμ) are shown in Figure 1(a). SEM image of the LMO solid microspheres is shown in Figure 1(b). Cycling performance of LMO_SS vs. Li2Mn4O9 in 6M LiCl (pH 12, 0.01 M LiOH) is shown in Figure 2. 1st discharge capacities and charge voltage plateaus of cells utilizing LMO_SS vs. AC in 6M LiCl with varying pH is shown in Figure 3. Charge currents of 1.5 mA cm-2 and discharge currents of 0.25 mA cm-2 are used for all cell tests. 4. Conclusions – An initial decrease in discharge capacity of the LiMn2O4 and Li2Mn4O9 cell is observed from the 1st to 20th discharge cycle. The discharge capacity of the cell is observed to asymptotically approach 60 mAh/g by the 100th cycle. Discharge voltage and capacity of the LMO and AC cell is observed to be greatly dependent on electrolyte pH. A voltage plateau during is observed during charging that did not contribute to cell discharge capacity. Future work aims to investigate the processes occurring at the anode during the observed charge voltage plateau as well as the change in charge transfer kinetics and cell capacity when employing both solid and hollow LiMn2O4 microspheres as the active anode. Due to the dissolution tendencies of Mn in aqueous electrolyte, methods of increasing cell cycling stability are also of interest. 5. References – [1] G.X. Wang, S. Zhong, D.H. Bradhurst, S.X. Dou, H.K. Liu, Journal of Power Sources, 74 (1998) 198-201. [2] X. Zeng, Q. Liu, M. Chen, L. Leng, T. Shu, L. Du, H. Song, S. Liao, Electrochimica Acta, 177 (2015) 277-282. [3] W. Tang, S. Tian, L.L. Liu, L. Li, H.P. Zhang, Y.B. Yue, Y. Bai, Y.P. Wu, K. Zhu, Electrochemistry Communications, 13 (2011) 205-208. Figure 1

1. Introduction – Transition metal oxides are considered to be promising as anode materials for sodium ion batteries (SIB) [1, 2]. Among them tin oxide has attracted attention because of its high theoretical capacity, however the capacity drops steadily in the subsequent cycles due to large volume change [3]. A novel solvoplasma technique to produce SnO2 NWs as anode for SIBs is studied. 2. Fabrication procedures – A novel solvoplasma based technique is used to produce the SnO2 NWs. The precursor materials are a 1:1 ratio of micro-sized SnO2 particles and KOH pellets thoroughly ground together. The paste is held for about 2 minutes in a plasma arc which is operates at a power of 1000 W – 2000 W and an a.c. frequency of 2.5 GHz. SnO2 NWs such obtained are impure (containing K2SnO3) and need to be further purified. The purification is done by repeated centrifugation with DI water, thoroughly ground and finally treated with 50 ml of 0.1 M HCl for an hour. Once this is done, the NWs are retrieved and calcined in an oven at 550 ᵒC for 12 hours. The SnO2 NWs are tested against a Na metal foil and NaClO4 electrolyte mixed with ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate (EC and PC ratio being 1:1). 3. Results – XRD spectra of the impure SNO2 and pristine SnO2 are shown in Figure 1 below. As can be seen, the impure or as-made SnO2 sample contains some K2SnO3 peaks as well. However, the purification process is effective and the pure sample contains no K2SnO3 impurity. The SEM image of the impure and the pristine SnO2 samples are shown in Figure 2(a) and (b) respectively. As can be seen from the images, very well defined nanowires are obtained by the solvoplasma process. Figure 2(b) shows the NWs to be slightly bulged in morphology, this can be attributed to the cleaning process. The first discharge cycle for the two electrodes are shown in Figure 3 below. As can be seen the pristine SnO2 performs much better than the impure SnO2 sample, providing a specific capacity of 280.48 mAh/g as against 160.29 mAh/g of the impure sample. The cleaning process helps to remove the K+ ions and free up the pores for Na intercalation to take place. 4. Conclusions – A novel scalable technique is described to produce pristine and highly crystalline SnO2 NWs starting from rather inexpensive and easily available precursors. However the SnO2 NWs produced are impure and have K2SnO3 which are removed via an HCl based cleaning process which frees up the interstices of the SnO2 NWs from the K+ ions and improves Na+ intercalation. The manifestation of this is seen in the galvanometric discharge cycles where the pristine SnO2 shows a much higher capacity. The goal of the work remains to show that these NWs will provide a great degree of stability and not suffer from considerable capacity fading due to their crystallinity and purity. 5. References – [1] L. Wang, K. Zhang, Z. Hu, W. Duan, F. Cheng, J. Chen, Nano Research, 7 (2014) 199-208. [2] D. Su, G. Wang, ACS Nano, 7 (20133) 11218-11226. [3] Y. Wang, D. Su, C. Wang, G. Wang, Electrochemistry Communications, 29 (2013) 8-11. Figure 1

In this paper, we propose a locomotion control method for a compliant legged robot from slow walking to fast running. We also examine the energy efficiency of the compliant legged robot controlled by the proposed locomotion control method. Experimentally, we obtain the robot running speed of about 4.3m/s with the initial compliant leg length of 0.1m. In addition, we obtain very good energy efficiency. In the best case, the mechanical cost of transport(Cmt), known as an energy efficiency measure, is obtained at about 0.2. Comparing with the other energy efficient robots, our robot exhibits very good energy efficiency.

Research of bio-mimetic flying robot mimicking bird or insect is provided. And, application and analysis of flight theory on flying robot in various models is being studied. Design and improvement using relation between flight parameters are suggested. Main actions of flying robot consist of flapping and tilting. The robot is designed and modeled to imitate bird's wing motion, and modeling of wing's motion is carried out using the Matlab/Simulink.

Recently, we study for high speed compliant legged robot. We use the biologically inspired approach and simple trajectory generation for the control method. We obtained about 4.15m/s with compliant initial leg length 0.1m robot. In this paper, we present the control method and the experimental result.

In this research, we studied several factors which impact the performance of passive UHF far-field RFID based localization systems with KNN and LDTI algorithms. According to the empirical results, the localization system can be significantly interfered by distance relative factors such as the true positive reference identification rate and interrogation rates. Moreover, passive UHF RFID based localization systems need to analysis a required localization accuracy and interrogation duration to support RTLS.

This paper introduces a bio-inspired GAORI robot with renewable energy source and presents its command and data acquisition system for remote commanding as well as data forwarding/backup/relay. The hardware architecture design and software implementation of GAORI command and data acquisition system are presented in this paper.

In this paper, we propose a novel indoor localization technique of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) using passive UHF far-field RFID systems. First, this paper presents impact of existence of UAV to RFID system. According to our empirical results, the existence of UAV, in a monitoring area, induces RF shadowing and Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) interference from deployed tags. Second, we propose a localization method using observation of RF shadowing and RSSI interference under indoor environments.

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) are the most appropriate energy source for small robot applications. PEMFC is superior in power density and thermodynamic efficiency as compared with the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC). Furthermore, PEMFC is lighter weight and smaller in size than DMFC, which are very important factors for small robot power systems. Operating conditions and fabricating methods are of key importance to fuel cell performance and efficiency. In this study, analysis of pressure drop, concentration variation, deformation of GDL and electrolyte, and stack clamping pressure were completed for a 500 watt PEM fuel cell stack. Several novel designs were discussed and will be continuously studied.

In this research, we studied influence of the operating frequency of RFID system to the performance of stationary passive UHF far-field RFID based localization systems with KNN and LDTI algorithms. According to the empirical results, the localization system can be significantly varied by frequencies with the reference identification rate.

In this study, we have investigated the effects of total saponin from Korean red ginseng (TSKRG) on thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. TSKRG dose-dependently inhibited thrombin-induced platelet aggregation with IC50 value of about 81.1 μg/mL. In addition, TSKRG dose-dependently decreased thrombin-elevated the level of cytosolic-free Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)]i), one of aggregation-inducing molecules. Of two Ca(2+)-antagonistic cyclic nucleotides as aggregation-inhibiting molecules, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), TSKRG significantly dose-dependently elevated intracellular level of cAMP, but not cGMP. In addition, TSKRG dose-dependently inhibited thrombin-elevated adenosine triphosphate (ATP) release from platelets. These results suggest that the suppression of [Ca(2+)]i elevation, and of ATP release by TSKRG are associated with upregulation of cAMP. TSKRG elevated the phosphorylation of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP)-Ser(157), a cAMP-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase) substrate, but not the phosphorylation of VASP-Ser(239), a cGMPdependent protein kinase substrate, in thrombin-activated platelets. We demonstrate that TSKRG involves in increase of cAMP level and subsequent elevation of VASP-Ser(157) phosphorylation through A-kinase activation to inhibit [Ca(2+)]i mobilization and ATP release in thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. These results strongly indicate that TSKRG is a beneficial herbal substance elevating cAMP level in thrombin-platelet interaction, which may result in preventing of platelet aggregation-mediated thrombotic diseases.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a key of solving recent energy issues such as increasing carbon monoxide emission and energy consumption; however, the system of PEMFC is complex and unclear. Thus, the proper method for understanding the PEMFC system is urgently required. The purposes of this study are that design reliable control based and lumped model for PEMFC system and utilize the designed model for systematic analysis of PEMFC stack and variety operating logic. The model was designed using MathWork® Matlab/Simulink. The model for the PEMFC stack consists four sub models which are the cathode, the anode, the membrane hydration, and the voltage model. Each model is based on the proper fluid dynamic and the thermodynamic principal. The I-V curves at varying pressure and relative humidity, which are the results of this model, show the reliable results. The results of this study' control based PEMFC modeling, represent that they are a key of systematic approach of PEMFC.

In mobile multi-robot, estimation of robot location is a fundamental and critical issue to provide efficient management of given tasks for the robot systems. We propose the ideal method to estimate location information of multiple mobile robots without stationary anchors. According to our simulation result, the proposed localization algorithm decreases maximal 34.55% of computational overhead compared with the traditional trilateration based localization.

Location sensing of physical objects is one of critical issues in many applications. Passive UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technique provides an efficient solution because of its low cost for installation and easy identification of the tagged physical objects. In this paper, we research on the localization problem using passive UHF RFID systems. We discuss theoretical and practical characteristics of a passive UHF RFID system. We propose novel algorithm to minimize the number of ambiguous tag points against a single RSSI value from a target tag and increase accuracy of location estimation in 2D grid space. Because of a single Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) can be related to multiple points in the monitoring area due to signal propagation when we use the RSSI based localization technique. According to the analysis of our experiment results, our proposed approach shows over 50% improvement compared with the conventional k-Nearest Neighbor algorithm in a test frame, and 23.24cm of estimation error with a high granularity for localization of box level items with 4 different positions in the immobile applied application such as a smart shelf.