• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.518-521
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• 2005

Biodegradable polymers and hydrogels have been increasingly applied in a variety of biomedical applications including current drug delivery system and tissue engineering field. ${\alpha},\;{\beta}-Poly$(N-2-hydroxyethyl-DL-aspart-amide), PHEA. is one of poly(amino acids) with hydroxyethyl pendants, which is hewn to be biodegradable and potentially biocompatible. So that, the utilization and various chemical modifications of PHEA have been attempted for useful biomedical applications. In this wort chemical gels based on PHEA were prepared by crosslinking with diisocyanate compound in DMF in the presence of catalyst. Here, the PHEA was prepared from polysuccinimde, the thermal polycondensation product of aspartic acid, via ring-opening reaction with ethanolamine. The preparation of gels and their swelling behavior, depending on the different medium and pH, were investigated. Also the morphology by SEM and simple hydrolytic degradation were observed.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 2017

In this study, the higher temperature thermal property of the fly ash-blast furnace slag system Geopolymer including alumina aggregate was investigated whether that Geopolymer will be or not useful as thermal-resistant construction materials. Under every mixing conditions, the crack on the surface of hardened body was not observed up to $800^{\circ}C$ and it corresponded with fact that level of changes was not significant before and after heating process. Residual compressive strength is most high when mixing Blast-Furnace Slag ratio is 60 wt% until temperature reaches $800^{\circ}C$. The major hydrates of hardened body of Geopolymer; amorphous halo pattern between $20{\sim}35^{\circ}$ (2theta) and mullite ($3Al_2O_3{\cdot}2SiO_2$) and quartz ($SiO_2$) was found during the experiment. Amorphous halo pattern was a aluminosilicate gel generated by geopolymeric polycondensation and it was found that the halo pattern of aluminosilicate gel was preserved up to $800^{\circ}C$. The patterns of aluminosilicate gel disappeared from $1,000^{\circ}C$ and crystal phases like gehlenite, calcium silicate, calcium aluminum oxide, microcline was observed with the increase of exposure temperature.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.97-105
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• 2008

Vinclozolin (VCZ) is a systemic fungicide commonly used in fruits, vegetables and the wine industry. VCZ and its metabolites, butenoic acid (M1) and enanilide (M2) derivatives, act as anti-androgens through actions on the androgen receptor. Although there is growing body of evidence that VCZ's action as an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) in male reproductive physiology and pathphysiology, no evidence on the VCZ's EDC action in female is available yet. Previously we found that the prepubertal VCZ exposures could effectively delay the onset of puberty in female rats, suggesting the postponed or weakened activities of hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary (H-P-O) reproductive hormonal axis. The present study was performed to examine whether the VCZ administration affects the transcriptional activities of reproductive hormone-related genes in the same animal model. VCZ (10 mg/kg/day) was administered daily from postnatal day 21 (PND 21) through the day when the first vaginal opening (V.O.) was observed. To determine the transcriptional changes of reproductive hormone-related genes in hypothalamus and pituitary, total RNAs were extracted and applied to the semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). As a result, treatment with VCZ significantly lowered the transcriptional activity of nitric oxide synthase-2 (NOS-2) which is known to adjust gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion in the hypothalamus (p<0.01). Similarly, the mRNA levels of KiSS-1, G protein-coupled receptor 54 (GPR54) and GnRH were significantly decreased in hypothalamus (p<0.01) from VCZ-treated group. As expected, the transcriptional activities of luteinizing hormone-${\beta}$ (LH-${\beta}$) and follicle stimulating hormone-${\beta}$ (FSH-${\beta}$) in the anterior pituitary from VCZ-treated group were also significantly lower than those from the control group. The present study indicates that(i) the inhibitory effect of VCZ exposure on the onset of puberty in immature female rats could be derived from the reduced transcriptional activities of gonadotropin subunits and their upstream modulators such as GnRH and KiSS-1 in hypothalamus-pituitary neuroendocrine axis, and (ii) these inhibitory effects could be mediated by NO signaling pathway.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.970-976
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• 1996

An ester-carbonate copolymer was synthesized, in which carbonate was inserted into a biodegradable aliphatic polyester, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), to modify its mechanical properties. The synthesis was carried out by condensation reactions in two steps. In the first step, oligo(butylene succinate) was prepared by the reaction of succinic acid with 1,4-butanediol (BD). In the second step, it was reacted with oligohexamethylenecarbonate diol (OHMCG) to prepare the ester-carbonate copolymer. Titanium(IV) isopropoxide (TIP) was used as a catalyst for the reaction. The structure of the copolymer was confirmed by FT-IR and $^1H$-NMR and the thermal behavior and mechanical properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and universal testing machine (UTM), respectively. It was found that optimum amount of the catalyst for the formation of high molecular weight copolymer was 1wt% for succinic acid. When the BD:OHMCG is in the range 149:1~249:1, the copolymer with high viscosity was obtained. As the OHMCG content was increased, melting temperature ($T_m$) of the copolymer was decreased. When BD:OHMCG is 149:1, the copolymer showed a increase in ultimate strain by two times and the slight decrease in modulus compared to those of PBS.