Earticle

Solar photovoltaic (PV) system shows a non-linear current (I) –voltage (V) characteristics, which depends on the surrounding environment factors, such as irradiance, temperature, and the wind. Solar PV system, with current (I) - voltage (V) and power (P) - Voltage (V) characteristics, specifies a unique operating point at where the possible maximum power point (MPP) is delivered. At the MPP, the PV array operates at maximum power efficiency. In order to continuously harvest maximum power at any point of time from solar PV modules, a good MPPT algorithms need to be employed. Currently, due to its simplicity and easy implementation, Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithms are the most commonly used MPPT control method in the PV systems but it has a drawback at suddenly varying environment situations, due to constant step size. In this paper, to overcome the difficulties of the fast changing environment and suddenly changing the power of PV array due to constant step size in the P&O algorithm, least mean Square (LMS) methods is proposed together with P&O MPPT algorithm which is superior to traditional P&O MPPT. PV output power is predicted using LMS method to improve the tracking speed and deduce the possibility of misjudgment of increasing and decreasing the PV output. Simulation results shows that the proposed MPPT technique can track the MPP accurately as well as its dynamic response is very fast in response to the change of environmental parameters in comparison with the conventional P&O MPPT algorithm, and improves system performance.

Schwann cells play a critical role for myelination in peripheral nerve system. It also plays an important role in nerve protection and regeneration. In peripheral nerve damage, regeneration is induced by the migration and proliferation of Schwann cells which were promoted by suppressing the oxidative stress. In this study, Human placental extract was prepared by homogenization and estimated its efficacy in RSC96 cells. Placental extract exhibited a protective effect against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in RSC96 cells, confirmed by MTT assay. Furthermore, placental extract decreased intracellular ROS against oxidative stress, confirmed by DCFH-DA assay. Autophagy was visualized with Cyto-ID staining to confirm the autophagy activity of placental extracts. The activity of autophagy was confirmed by immunoblot analysis of autophagy flux-associated proteins such as LC3 conversion and SQSTM1 degradation. Thus, we confirmed the antioxidant effect of placental extract to protect RSC96 cells from oxidative stress, and observed that it activated autophagy and restored autophagy flux.

Cell migration is essential for diverse cellular processes including wound healing, immune response, development, and cancer metastasis. Pi3-kinase (PI3K) is a key regulator for actin cytoskeleton and phosphorylates phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-diphosphate (PIP2) to phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PIP3). High levels of PIP3 by PI3Ks are associated with increased levels of F-actin and pseudopod extension at the leading edge of migrating cells such as neutrophils and Dictyostelium . LY294002 is a well-known PI3K specific inhibitor. Here, we investigated the effect of LY294002 on cell migration. First, we evaluated the appropriate concentration of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for using as a solvent for LY294002. DMSO is a highly polar organic reagent and one of the most common solvent for organic and inorganic chemicals. Cell morphology and cell migration were unaffected at the concentrations less than 0.1 % DMSO. Therefore, stock solution of LY294002 was prepared so that the final concentration of DMSO was 0.1 % or less when treated. When cells were treated with LY294002, cell migration was increased in a concentration-dependent manner. The maximum speed was detected in the presence of 30 μM LY294002. These results suggest that PI3Ks play a inhibitory role in regulating cell migration in our experimental conditions.