• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.409-416
• /
• 2015

Purpose: This study evaluates a new banana bulk packaging method under the real transport conditions of Sri Lanka. Methods: A field evaluation of optimized 8-mm thick Styrofoam sheets used as the cushioning material was applied. A trial transport was conducted from Thambuttegama to Colombo using a medium-sized open truck, with banana leaves as the control material. Data were recorded at the farmer, transporter, retailer, and consumer stages of the supply chain. Mechanical damage, physiological loss in weight, fruit firmness, total soluble solids, ripeness index, visual quality ratings, and the physical damage index of the bananas were measured at each stage. A cost-benefit analysis was also conducted for both packaging methods. Results: The 8-mm styrofoam sheets significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the mechanical damage from 26.3% to 12.9% compared to the conventional method for long-distance transport, and the physiological loss in weight showed a decrease of 2.88%. The loss of firmness of the fruits followed a simmilar pattern for both methods until reaching the retailer, but at the consumer was significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the control. However, the physical damage index at the retail stage for the control showed symptoms of physical injury, whereas the bananas transported using the cushioning materials exhibited only minor symptoms. Further, the visual quality of the fruits after transport from the farmer to the consumer was preserved, which is one of the main factors affecting consumer preference and retail price. The proposed method increases the profit margin by 51.2% for Embul bananas owing to the reduced postharvest losses. Conclusion: The 8-mm thick Styrofoam sheets reduced the physical damage to the bananas, with the quality parameters maintained at the prefered level. Moreover, profits may be increased.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.20-28
• /
• 2021

Perfluorinated compounds(PFCs), an emerging environmental pollutant, are environmentally persistent and bioaccumulative organic compounds that possess a toxic impact on human health and ecosystems. PFCs are distributed widely in environment media including groundwater, surface water, soil and sediment. PFCs in contaminated solid can potentially leach into groundwater. Therefore, understanding PFCs partitioning between the aqueous phase and solid phase is important for the determination of their fate and transport in the environment. In this study, the sorption equilibrium batch and kinetic experiment of PFCs were carried out to estimated the sorption coefficient(K_d) and the fraction between aqueous-solid phase partition, respectively. Sorption branches of the PFDA(Perfluoro-n-decanoic acid), PFNA(Perfluoro-n-nonanoic acid), PFOA(Perfluoro-n-octanoic acid), PFOS(Perfluoro-1-octane sulfonic acid) and PFHxS(Perfluoro-1-hexane sulfonic acid) isotherms were nearly linear, and the estimated K_d was as follow: PFDA(1.50) > PFOS(1.49) > PFNA(0.81) > PFHxS(0.45) > PFOA(0.39). The sorption kinetics of PFDA, PFNA, PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS onto soil were described by a biexponential adsorption model, suggesting that a fast transport into the surface layer of soil, followed by two-step diffusion transport into the internal water and/or organic matter of soil. Shorter times(<20hr) were required to achieve equilibrium and fraction for adsorption on solid(F₁, F₂) increased with perfluorinated carbon chain length and sulfonate compounds in this study. Overall, our results suggested that not only the perfluorocarbon chain length, but also the terminal functional groups are important contributors to electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between PFCs and soils, and organic matter in soils significantly affects adsorption maximum capacity than kinetic rate.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2003.07a
• /
• pp.889-892
• /
• 2003

Effects of $N_{2}$ plasma treatment of the Al bottom cathode on the characteristics of top emission inverted organic light emitting diodes (TEIOLEDs) were studied. TEIOLEDs were fabricated by depositing an Al bottom cathode, a tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum $(Alq_{3})$ emitting layer, an N,N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-1,1'-diphenyl-4,4'diamine (TPD) hole transport layer, and an indium tin oxide (ITO) top anode sequentially. The Al bottom cathode layer was subjected to $N_{2}$ plasma treatment before deposition of the $Alq_{3}$ layer. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggested that the existence of and the amount of $AIN_x$ between the $Alq_{3}$ emitting layer and the Al bottom cathode significantly affect the characteristics of TEIOLEDs. The maximum external quantum efficiency of the TEIOLED with an Ai bottom cathode subjected to $N_{2}$ plasma treatment for 30 s was about twice as high as that of the TEIOLED with an untreated Al bottom cathode.

• Advances in nano research
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.245-251
• /
• 2017

Multiwalled carbon-nanotubes (MWCNT) and micro-structured carbon, such as biochar or activated carbon (AC), have been seen to significantly increase the growth indices of certain plant species such as maize (Zea mays L.). Seed imbibition is the stage where environmental factors that affect water transport across the seed coat barrier, make a large impact. This work explores the effect on water imbibition by maize seeds when the aqueous environment surrounding the seed is diluted by small concentrations (10 and 20 mg/l) of pristine MWCNT (p-MWCNT), carboxylate functionalized MWCNT (COO-MWCNT) and AC. The degree of sensitivity of the process to (i) large structural changes is seen by utilizing the nano (the MWCNT) and the micro (the AC) allotropic forms of carbon; (ii) to small changes in the purity and morphology of the p-MWCNT by utilizing 95% pure and 99% pure p-MWCNTs of slightly differing morphologies; and (iii) to MWCNT functionalization by using highly pure (97%) COO-MWCNT. Water imbibition was monitored over a 15 hour period by Near Infrared Thermography (NIRT) and also by seed weighing. Seed surface topography was seen by SEM imaging. Analysis of the NIRT images suggests rapid seed surface topological changes with the quantity of water imbibed. While further work is necessary to arrive at a conclusive answer, this work shows that the imbibition phase of the maize seed is sensitive to the presence of MWCNT even to small differences in the purity of the p-MWCNT and to small differences in the physicochemical properties of the medium caused by the hydrophilic COO-MWCNT.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.107-107
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study is to examine that the efflux transport system for choline from brain to blood is present at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) using brain efflux index (BEI) method. ［$^3$H］Choline was microinjected into parietal cortex area 2 (Par2) region of rat brain, and was eliminated from the brain with an apparent elimination half life of 45 min. The BBB efflux clearance of ［$^3$H］choline was 0.12 $m\ell$/min/g brain, which was calculated from the efflux rate constant (1.5${\times}$10$\^$-2/ min$\^$-1/) and the distribution volume in the brain slice (8.1 $m\ell$/g brain). This process was saturable and significantly inhibited by various organic cationic compounds including hemicholinium-3, tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA) and verapamil, by antioxidant, ${\alpha}$-phenyl-n-tert-butyl nitrone (PBN), and by Alzheimer's disease therapeutics, such as acetyl $\ell$-carnitine and tacrine. In conclusion, this finding is the first direct in vivo evidence that choline is transported from brain to the blood across the BBB via a carrier-mediated efflux transport process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 1998.11a
• /
• pp.125-128
• /
• 1998

Electroluminescent(EL) devices based on organic thin films have attracted lots of interests in large-area light-emitting display. One of the problems of such device is a lifetime, where a degradation of the cell is possibly due to an organic layer's thickness, morphology and interface with electrode. In this study, light-emitting organic electroluminescent devices were fabricated using Alq$_3$(8-hydroxyquinolinate aluminum) and TPD(N,N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-[1-1'-biphenyl]-4,4'-diamine).Where Alq$_3$ is an electron-transport and emissive layer, TPD is a hole-transport layer. The cell structure is ITO/TPD/Alq$_3$/Al and the cell is fabricated by vacuum evaporation method. In a measurement of current-voltage characteristics, we obtained a turn-on voltage at about 9 V. And we used other buffer layer of PPy(Polypyrrole) with ITO/PPy/TPD/Alq$_3$/Al structure. We observed a surface morphology by AFM(Atomic Force Microscopy), UV/visible absorption spectrum, and PL(Photoluminescence) spectrum. We obtained the UV/visible absorption peak at 358nm in TPD and at 359nm in Alq$_3$, and at 225nm and the PL peaks at 410nm in TPD and at 510nm in Alq$_3$ and at 350nm. We also studied EL spectrum in the cell structure of ITO/TPD/Alq$_3$/Al and ITO/PPy/TPD/Alq$_3$/Al and we observed the EL spectrum peak at 510nm from our cell

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.21-26
• /
• 2000

This study deals with effects of heat-treatment on the fatigue strength of SNC815 spur gears. The test gears are heat-treated by two different treatments. After carburization, one group of the test gears is quenched directly, while the other group is fumace cooled, reheated then quenched. The fatigue test at a constant stress amplitude is performed by using an electrohydraulic servo-controlled pulsating tester. The S-N curves are obtained and illustrated. By comparing the estimated strength with the experimental results, the validity of the previous experimental formula, presented by the author for estimating the fatigue strength of carburized gears, was discussed on these tested gears.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.163-169
• /
• 1995

A two-dimensional numerical tidal model is formulated to reproduce tides in the Southwestern Sea of Korea. Tidal charts and ellipses of eight major tidal constituents (M$_2$, S$_2$, K$_1$, O$_1$, N$_2$, K$_2$, P$_1$, Q$_1$) are presented. Model results show that the semi-diurnal tides are dominant in this area. Maximum transport by tides in the Cheju Strait is about 4.2${\times}$10$\^$6/ ㎥/sec which is greater by eight times than that by residual current.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2005.11a
• /
• pp.275-276
• /
• 2005

Organic Light Emitting Diodes(OLEDs) are attractive as alternative display components because of their relative merits of being self-emitting, having large intrinsic viewing angle and fast switching speed. But because of their relatively short history of development, much remains to be studied in terms of their basic device physics and design, manufacturing techniques, stability and so on. We invested electrical properties of N,N-diphenyl-N,N bis (3-methyphenyl)-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine(TPD) and tris-8-hydroxyquinoline aluminum($Alq_3$) when their thicknesses were changed variedly from 3:7 to 7:3 of their thickness ratios. And we also studied properties of OLEDs depend on their deposition rate between 0.05$\sim$0.2 [nm/s].

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.60-67
• /
• 2005

Nonclassical aminobenz[cd]indole antifolates 4, 5 and 6, in which the glutamic acid moiety of the classical antifolates is substituted by 2-phenylglycinamide or 3-aminobenzamide, were synthesized and their in vitro antitumor activity was evaluated. The purpose of this substitution is that the lipophilicity is enhanced due to the aromatic ring of the target compounds for the passive transport through lipid membrane of cells while the hydrogen bonding of the amide is retained in the active site of the enzyme, thymidylate synthase, where the glutamate is originally present. The target compounds were highly cytotoxic against tumor cell lines of murine and human origin with micromolar to nanomolar $IC_{50}$ values. Most effective was compound 4 ($N^6-methyl-N^6$-[4-[(${\alpha}$(S)-aminocarbonylbenzyl) aminocarbonyl]benzyl]-2,6-diaminobenz[cd]indole)with $IC_{50}$ of 2 nM against SW480, human colon adenocarcinoma cell line, which is 650-fold more potent than the reference compound 3.