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Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common side effect of anti-cancer drugs. The main symptoms often include sensory disturbances and neuropathic pain, and currently there is no effective treatment for this condition. This study aimed to investigate the suppressive effects of magnolin, an extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitor substance derived from a 95% EtOH extract of the seeds of Magnolia denudata, on the symptoms of CIPN. A taxol-based anti-cancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) was repeatedly injected (2 mg/kg/day, total 8 mg/kg) into mice to induce CIPN. A neuropathic pain symptom was assessed using a cold allodynia test that scores behaviors of licking and shaking paw after plantar administration of acetone drop. Magnolin was administered intraperitoneally (0.1, 1, or 10 mg/kg) and behavioral changes to acetone drop were measured. The effect of magnolin administration on ERK expression in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) was investigated using western blot analysis. The results showed that the repeated injections of PTX induced cold allodynia in mice. Magnolin administration exerted an analgesic effect on the PTX-induced cold allodynia and inhibited the ERK phosphorylation in the DRG. These results suggest that magnolin could be developed as an alternative treatment to suppress paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrothermal-chemical (ETC) propulsion with the control of a combustion process yet requires large electrical energies for an appreciable effect. Referring to the changed tendency of focusing ETC researches on the early ignition phase, the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), Korea, has been studying an electrothermal ignition for a 120-mm gun using a capillary plasma injector. Under the condition of a limited capillary geometry, design efforts with various liner materials have been done to achieve robust capillary discharges capable of transferring energies around 100 kJ. Electrical properties were estimated with the help of plasma theories and compared with experimental results. Experiments using a closed vessel and a gun-chamber simulator have been done to investigate the burning behaviors and the early phase of an electrothermal ignition, respectively. The closed vessel was designed for both a plasma and a conventional ignition. The burning rates could be obtained up to 70 MPa. The gun-chamber simulator was designed in the shape of the chamber of a 120-mm gun except for an acrylic chamber wall withstanding up to 30 MPa. Through prior tests using the closed vessel and the gun-chamber simulator, appropriate electrical energies and propellant have been selected. Firings of the full-scale 120-mm gun have been done using JA2 propellant. Electrical pulses of 1-2.5-ms duration in the energy from 20 to 120 kJ were applied. Aside from ignition capability, the results showed a possibility of a control on the peak pressure. Currently, ADD, Korea, continues the research to enhance the efficiency of the plasma injector, to compact the pulse forming network, and to investigate the electrothermal ignition properties of LOVA propellant. Index Terms--Capillary, electrothermal, propellant.

In this paper, the authors present a system to inspect metal stencil that is used to print solder paste on pads of surface-mounted device on printed circuit board. The developed inspection system is composed of a moderately precise X--Y robot and a vision system. To correct a position error caused by the X--Y robot, the authors define position error vector and apply modified Hough transform to determine the dominant position error vector. Using this extracted dominant position error vector, the reference image is modified. This transformed reference image is compared with the camera image. Fuzzy logic is utilized to judge the correctness of the holes on the stencil. The input variables are the ratio of the overlapped area of two holes and the distance between the centroid of them. The output variable is the grade of the identity of the hole. These methods are verified by a simulation and applied to the inspection system. Index Terms--Automatic inspection system, fuzzy logic, modified Hough transformation (MHT), stencil (metal mask).

The performance of electrothermal-chemical (ETC) guns, besides being dependent on the total energy used, is also influenced by the time frame over which electric energy is deposited. This means the current pulse shaping is an important factor in increasing the pressure pulsewidth within the limit of the gun design pressure. For experiment design, it is necessary to predict the load resistance to supply the required shape of current pulses into the gun load. But it is difficult to identify the load resistance theoretically because the dynamic interactions of plasma with propellants should be understood. In this paper, it is suggested that the measured current and voltage can be utilized to develop an approximated model of the load resistance. It is also shown that the load resistance depends on the discharging voltage and current. Experimental tests have been performed with several shapes of current pulses to validate the resistance model. Index Terms--Electrothermal-chemical (ETC), load resistance, time-varying system parameter.

In order to maximize electrothermal-chemical (ETC) gun performance, the power supply for the ETC gun driver needs to have a capability of producing a flexible current pulse. This current pulse forming can be realized by a combination of current pulses from multiple modularized capacitor banks. For this purpose, a 2.4-MJ pulse power system (PPS) has been developed. The 2.4-MJ PPS consists of eight modular 300-kJ capacitor banks (CBs). The 300-kJ CB modules are designed to operate independently and have a charging voltage of 22 kV and a current capability of 150 kA. Operation characteristics of 2.4-MJ PPS have been investigated. Various shapes of current pulse have been tried to a dummy resistive load and an ETC gun load. In this paper, we discuss some problems that take place during multiple modules operation and suggest solutions for these problems. We also show some experimental results when the 2.4-MJ PPS was applied to resistive dummy load and a 30-mm ETC gun load. Index Terms--Capacitor bank, ETC gun, 2.4-MJ pulse power system, 30-mm electrothermal-chemical (ETC) gun, 300-kJ pulse power module.

A study of 215 middle-aged parents to evaluate the effect of their children's education, job and social status on their well-being showed that the achievements and social adjustment of the children correlate to the well-being of the parents. Positive associations with others, personal development and depression of the parents depended on their perception of the adjustment of the children. Children's achievement was not affected by parental perceptions.