Choong-Ryeol Lee

Effect of manganese exposure on MPTP neurotoxicities.

We used a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-treated mice model to evaluate whether manganese (Mn) exposure can affect MPTP-induced neurotoxicity. We randomly assigned adult male C57BL/6 mice (n=5-7 per group) the following treatments: SO, Mn(-) x MPTP(-); MO, Mn(+) x MPTP(-); SM, Mn(-) x MPTP(+); MM, Mn(+) x MPTP(+). Mn (MnCl(2).4H(2)O) was administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 2 mg/kg daily for 3 weeks. MPTP was then administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 30 mg/kg daily for 5 days in the SM and MM groups. Seven days after the last MPTP injection, the animals were sacrificed. Blood Mn levels were elevated in the Mn-exposed groups. Striatal Mn levels were not influenced by Mn treatment alone, however, they were decreased following MPTP. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive (ir) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) were decreased significantly in the MPTP-exposed groups. Densities of TH- and dopamine transporter (DAT)-ir axon terminals in the caudate-putamen (CPU) were also decreased in the MPTP-treated groups. Furthermore, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-ir astrocytes increased in the CPU with MPTP treatment. However, no effects were observed with Mn exposure. Concentrations of dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydrophenyl acetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in the corpus striatum were also decreased significantly with MPTP treatment alone, but Mn had no effect. Thus, decreased dopaminergic activities with MPTP led to decreased DA and its metabolites. Significant hypertrophies of GFAP-ir astrocytes in the globus pallidus (GP) were observed in Mn-exposed groups, especially in the MM group. MPTP targeted dopaminergic systems whereas Mn neurotoxicities occurred in the GP. In conclusion, our data suggest that Mn does not potentiate the neurotoxicity of MPTP.

Comparison of higher dose and lower dose ganciclovir for cytomegalovirus prophylaxis in seropositive heart transplant recipients

S.‐O. Lee, J.H. Rim, H. Sung, S.‐H. Kim, S.‐H. Choi, C.W. Lee, T.J. Yun, J.‐W. Lee, J.H. Woo, Y.S. Kim, J.‐J. Kim. Comparison of higher dose and lower dose ganciclovir for cytomegalovirus prophylaxis in seropositive heart transplant recipients.
Transpl Infect Dis 2010: 12: 31–37. All rights reserved

A second-order generalized differentiator method for eliminating DC component in the three-phase PLL for grid-connected inverters

This, paper proposes a method to eliminate the dc component in the measured three-phase grid voltage as the input signals of phase-locked loop (PLL). The dc component in the input signals of PLL causes a low-frequency oscillation of grid frequency. The dc component elimination can be achieved by replacing the integrator in the second-order generalized integrator (SOGI) with a differentiator, named as second-order generalized differentiator (SOGD). The good performance of a proposed SOGD is validated with experimental results with 32-bit DSP by using unbalanced three-phase signals with dc components.