• Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.375-379
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• 2018

Background and aim: Heavy metals have been recognized as toxins for centuries. Cupping therapy has been shown to aid in the excretion of accumulated fluids and toxins from the interstitial fluid. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of wet cupping therapy on blood levels of heavy metals. Methods: Thirteen healthy male individuals [mean age ${\pm}$ standard deviation, $28.47{\pm}6.18$] participated in this study. Venous blood samples were collected 5 min before and 30 days after the wet cupping therapy. Five points of the posterior neck and bilateral perispinal areas of the neck and thoracic spine were selected for cupping therapy. The levels of aluminium (Al), zinc (Zn), and cadmium (Cd) were measured using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Results: The levels of heavy metals (Al, Zn, and Cd) after cupping therapy were significantly lower than the levels before therapy. Conclusions: These results suggest that wet cupping therapy has an excretory effect on the kidney. Wet cupping therapy may clear blood from excess heavy metals.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.37-42
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• 2021

The tube necking process increases the thickness of the material, and some of the tube necking products require cutting on the inside of the formed product as a post-process. In order to prevent over-cutting or un-cutting due to increased thickness during cutting, it is necessary to know in advance the increase in thickness after forming. Therefore, in this study, the thickness change according to the tube necking was observed. Aluminum 3003-F and 6061-O were used for the materials used in the experiment, and necking was carried out up to 50% of the outer diameter of the tube through five processes. The two materials were formed under the same conditions, and the thickness of three points was observed in each process. In addition, the thickness increase of the two materials was compared, and the trend of thickness increase according to the cumulative necking ratio was observed. As a result of the experiment, both materials had the smallest thickness at the end of the formed product. In addition, as a result of comparing the thickness measurement values of the two materials, the maximum difference was 0.1mm, indicating that there was no difference in thickness between the two materials.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.233-239
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• 2022

Aluminum alloys are extensively employed in several industries, such as automobile, aerospace, and architecture, owing to their high specific strength and electrical and thermal conductivities. However, to meet the rising industrial demands, aluminum alloys must be designed with both excellent mechanical and thermal properties. Computer-aided alloy design is emerging as a technique for developing novel alloys to overcome these trade-off properties. Thus, the development of a new experimental method for designing alloys with high-throughput confirmation is gaining focus. A new approach that rapidly manufactures aluminum alloys with different compositions is required in the alloy design process. This study proposes a combined approach to rapidly investigate the relationship between the microstructure and properties of aluminum alloys using a direct energy deposition system with a dual-nozzle metal 3D printing process. Two types of aluminum alloy powders (Al-4.99Si-1.05Cu-0.47Mg and Al-7Mg) are employed for the 3D printing-based combined method. Nine types of Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys are manufactured using the combined method, and the relationship between their microstructures and properties is examined.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.327-335
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• 2023

The most popular building material, concrete, is intrinsically linked to the advancement of humanity. Due to the ever-increasing complexity of cementitious systems, concrete formulation for desired qualities remains a difficult undertaking despite conceptual and methodological advancement in the field of concrete science. Recognising the significant pollution caused by the traditional cement industry, construction of civil engineering structures has been carried out successfully using Geopolymer Concrete (GPC), also known as High Performance Concrete (HPC). These are concretes formed by the reaction of inorganic materials with a high content of Silicon and Aluminium (Pozzolans) with alkalis to achieve cementitious properties. These supplementary cementitious materials include Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS), a waste material generated in the steel manufacturing industry; Fly Ash, which is a fine waste product produced by coal-fired power stations and Silica Fume, a by-product of producing silicon metal or ferrosilicon alloys. This result demonstrated that GPC/HPC can be utilised as a substitute for traditional Portland cement-based concrete, resulting in improvements in concrete properties in addition to environmental and economic benefits. This study explores utilising experimental data to train artificial neural networks, which are then used to determine the effect of supplementary cementitious material replacement, namely fly ash, Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) and silica fume, on the compressive strength, tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity of concrete and to predict these values accordingly.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2873-2878
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to perform radiation monitoring by acquiring gamma images and real-time optical images for ^99mTc vial source using charge couple device (CCD) cameras equipped with the proposed compact gamma camera. The compact gamma camera measures 86×65×78.5 mm³ and weighs 934 g. It is equipped with a metal 3D printed diverging collimator manufactured in a 45 field of view (FOV) to detect the location of the source. The circuit's system uses system-on-chip (SoC) and field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) to establish a good connection between hardware and software. In detection modules, the photodetector (multi-pixel photon counters) is tiled at 8×8 to expand the activation area and improve sensitivity. The gadolinium aluminium gallium garnet (GAGG) measuring 0.5×0.5×3.5 mm³ was arranged in 38×38 arrays. Intrinsic and extrinsic performance tests such as energy spectrum, uniformity, and system sensitivity for other radioisotopes, and sensitivity evaluation at edges within FOV were conducted. The compact gamma camera can be mounted on unmanned equipment such as drones and robots that require miniaturization and light weight, so a wide range of applications in various fields are possible.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.307-314
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• 2004

Specification and heavy metal contents of canned seafoods packed in oil were investigated. 30 species of canned tuna were classified by 4 groups as follow; group (sample codes, 1-10) composed of tuna and oil only, group (11-18) composed of tuna, vegetable and oil, group (19-27) composed of tuna, sauce and oil, and group (28-30) composed of tuna, vegetable, sauce and oil. Commercial canned shellfish packed in oil were mainly produced from sea mussel (sample codes, 31 and 32) and oyster (33-35). Can bodies of canned tuna were made by tin-plate, and used c-enamel or aluminium-paste as coating materials. In pH values of canned tuna, sample codes 1-10 (pH 5.55-5.69) and 19-27 (pH 5.17-5.85) were higher than sample codes 11-18 (pH 4.95-5.43) and 28-30 (pH 5.20-5.38). There was no difference in salinity (1.3-1.9%) and vacuum degree (15-18 mmHg) among canned samples. Heavy metal contents of canned seafoods ranged from 1.04-9.03 ppm for Sn, and 0.17-0.68 ppm for Pb. Those values are below the permitted range (less than 150 ppm for Sn and 2 ppm for Pb).

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.185-195
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• 1994

An experimental study of iron-aluminium partitioning between synthetic garnet and synthetic epidote was carried out, as equilibrium was maintained in the exchange reaction expressed as follows : $Ca_3Fe_2Si_3O_12\+\2\Ca_2Al_2AlSi_3O_12$(0H) = $Ca_3Al_2Si_3O_12\+\Ca_2Al_2FeSi_3O_12$(0H) Temperature has a pronounced effect on the distribution of Fe and A1 between the minerals. However, the pressure effect is not so drastic as in the exchange reaction. With increasing temperature, $Fe^{+3}$ becomes redistributed from garnet into epidote, whereas A1 becomes redistributed from epidote into garnet. This is in line with the general principle of phase correspondence, as the temperature increases the more electropositive metal aluminium redistributes from epidote into garnet. The agreement between the experimental results of this study and the natural samples suggests that $K_D=X^{Ep}_{Fe}/X^{Gr}_{Fe}$ may be a useful geothermometer for metamorphic rocks containing garnet and epidote that are close to binary Fe-A1 compounds.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.355-366
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to determine if repeated casting has a detrimental effect on the corrosion behavior of nickel-chrome casting alloys. The X-ray diffraction analysis, vickers hardness test, SEM, EDX and corrosion test were performed to determine the effects of recasting on chemical composition, microstructure, physical property, castability and corrosion behavior of nickel-chrome casting alloys. The X-ray diffraction analysis results for the cast and recast specimens of the VeraBond and the Rexillium V showed that major crystal phase contained nickel-chrome compounds, Nickel carbide and Chrome carbide. Microstructure analysis results for the cast and recast specimens of the VeraBond and the Rexillium V showed recasting has no effect on microstructure. EDX analysis results indicated the percentage of the main component nickel(Ni) in the specimens of the VeraBond showed a tendency to increase with recasting, but those of other components Carbon(C) showed a tendency to decrease with recasting, Chrome(Cr), Silicon(Si), Aluminium(Al) and molybdenum(Mo) showed no changes in the percentage. The percentage of the main component nickel(Ni) in the specimens of the Rexillium V showed a tendency to increase with recasting, but those of other components silicon(Si), carbon(C) and molybdenum(Mo) showed a tendency to decrease with recasting, chrome(Cr) and aluminium(Al) showed no changes in the percentage. The vickers hardness results for the cast and recast specimens of the VeraBond and the Rexillium V showed a tendency to decrease with recasting, but the differences for the first to fifth cast were not statistically significant. The castability results for the cast and recast specimens of the VeraBond and the Rexillium V showed a tendency to decrease with recasting, but the differences for the first to fifth cast were not statistically significant. The cast and recast specimens of the VeraBond and the Rexillium V showed no differences in the corrosion resistance. The results indicate that the VeraBond and the Rexillium V can be safely recast.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.50-60
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• 2008

The majority of the described experimental results deal with relatively pure aluminium. Variations were made in the pretreatment of the aluminum substrates and an investigation was performed on the resulting changes in oxide layer composition and chemistry. Subsequently, the bonding behavior of the surfaces was investigated by using model adhesion molecules. These molecules were chosen to represent the bonding functionality of an organic polymer. They were applied onto the pretreated surfaces as a monolayer and the bonding behavior was studied using infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. A direct and clear relation was found between the hydroxyl fraction on the oxide surfaces and the amount of molecules that subsequently bonded to the surface. Moreover, it was found that most bonds between the oxide surface and organic functional groups are not stable in the presence of water. The best performance was obtained using molecules, which are capable of chemisorption with the oxide surface. Finally, it was found that freshly prepared relatively pure aluminum substrates, which are left in air, rapidly lose their bonding capacity towards organic functional groups. This can be attributed to the adsorption of contamination and water to the oxide surface. In addition the adhesion of a typical epoxy-coated aluminum system was investigated during exposure to water at different temperatures. The coating was found to quite rapidly lose its adhesion upon exposure to water. This rapid loss of adhesion corresponds well with the data where it was demonstrated that the studied epoxy coating only bonds through physisorptive hydrogen bonding, these bonds not being stable in the presence of water. After the initial loss the adhesion of the coating was however found to recover again and even exceeded the adhesion prior to exposure. The improvement could be ascribed to the growth of a thin oxyhydroxide layer on the aluminum substrate, which forms a new, water-stable and stronger bond with the epoxy coating. Two routes for improvement of adhesion are finally decribed including an interphasial polymeric thin layer and a treatment in boiling water of the substrate before coating takes place. The adhesion properties were finely also studied as a function of the Mg content of the alloys. It was shown that an enrichment of Mg in the oxide could take place when Mg containing alloys are heat-treated. It is expected that for these alloys the (hydr)oxide fraction also depends on the pre-treatment and on the distribution of magnesium as compared to the aluminium hydroxides, with a direct impact on adhesive properties.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.67-74
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• 1982

The effect of various pH levels, temperatures. organic acids, inorganic salts, metal ions on the stability of the anthocyanins pigment (pH 3.7) from the juice of raspberries were investigated. Initial absorption of total anthocyanin was decreased as pH increased from 1.0 to 7.0. Total amount of anthocyanin reached the highest at pH 3.7 and least at pH 7.0. The total anthocyanin content decreased rapidly with the increasing temperature. Many organic acids were found to enrich and stabilize the color density at 520nm in anthocyanin solution (pH 3.7). The hyperchromic effect of saturated n-carboxylic acid increased in the following order; formic acid> acetic acid>n-butyric acid>propionic acid. On the polycarboxylic acid, especially, malic acid showed 550$\sim$930% higher than control group. On the inorganic salts (0.5M), sodium perchlorate had the most hyperchromic effect and followed by sodium sulfate>sodium chloride>sodium phosphate, monobasic. Among the metal ions, both aluminium ion and cupric ion much more accelerated the anthocyanins degradation as compared with other metal ions.