• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.858-864
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• 2014

Recently, many researches have shown that even photosynthetic light-harvesting pigment-protein complexes can have quantum coherence in their excitonic energy transfer at cryogenic and physiological temperatures. Because the protein supplies such noisy environment around pigments that conventional wisdom expects very short lived quantum coherence, elucidating the mechanism and searching for an applicability of the coherence have become an interesting topic in both experiment and theory. We have previously studied the quantum coherence of a phycocyanin 645 complex in a marine algae harvesting light system, using Poisson mapping bracket equation (PBME). PBME is one of the applicable methods for solving quantum-classical Liouville equation, for following the dynamics of such pigment-protein complexes. However, it may suffer from many defects mostly from mapping quantum degrees of freedom into classical ones. To make improvements against such defects, benchmarking targets with more accurately described dynamics is highly needed. Here, we fall back to reduced hierarchical equation of motion (HEOM), for such a purpose. Even though HEOM is known to applicable only to simplified system that is coupled to a set of harmonic oscillators, it can provide ultimate accuracy within the regime of quantum-classical description, thus providing perfect benchmark targets for certain systems. We compare the evolution of the density matrix of pigment excited states by HEOM against the PBME results at physiological temperature, and observe more sophisticated changes of density matrix elements from HEOM. In PBME, the population of states with intermediate energies display only monotonically increasing behaviors. Most importantly, PBME suffers a serious issue of wrong population in the long time limit, likely generated by the zero-point energy leaking problem. Future prospects for developments are briefly discussed as a concluding remark.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.235-245
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• 2009

Embryonic stem (ES) cells have a capability to generate all types of cells. However, the mechanism by which ES cells differentiate into specific cell is still unclear. Using microarray technology, the differentiation process in mouse embryonic stem cells was characterized by temporal gene expression changes of mouse ES cells during differentiation in a monolayer culture. A large number of genes were differentially regulated from 1 day to 14 days, and less number of genes were differentially expressed from 14 days to 28 days. The number of up-regulated genes was linearly increased throughout the 28 days of in vitro differentiation, while the number of down-regulated genes reached the plateau from 14 days to 28 days. Most differentially expressed genes were functionally classified into transcriptional regulation, development, extra cellular matrix (ECM),cytoskeleton organization, cytokines, receptors, RNA processing, DNA replication, chromatin assembly, proliferation and apoptosis related genes. While genes encoding ECM proteins were up-regulated, most of the genes related to proliferation, chromatin assembly, DNA replication, RNA processing, and cytoskeleton organization were down-regulated at 14 days. Genes known to be associated with embryo development or transcriptional regulation were differentially expressed mostly after 14 days of differentiation. These results indicate that the altered expression of ECM genes constitute an early event during the spontaneous differentiation, followed by the inhibition of proliferation and lineage specification. Our study might identify useful time-points for applying selective treatments for directed differentiation of mouse ES cells.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.37-50
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• 2020

Development of lightweight implant plates are important to reduce the stress shielding effect for a prosthesis of femur bone fractures. Stainless steel (SS-316L) is a widely used material for making implants. Stress shielding effect and other issues arise due to the difference in mechanical properties of stainless steel when compared with bone. To overcome these issues, composite materials seem to be a better alternative solution. The comparison is made between two biocompatible composite materials, namely Ti-hydroxyapatite and Ti-polypropylene. "Titanium (Ti)" is fiber material while "hydroxyapatite" and "polypropylene" are matrix materials. These two composites have Young's modulus closer to the bone than stainless steel. Besides the variety of bones, present paper constrained to femur bone analysis only. Being heaviest and longest, the femur is the most likely to fail among all bone failures in human. Modelling of the femur bone, screws, implant and assembly was carried out using CATIA and static analysis was carried out using ANSYS. The femur bone assembly was analyzed for forces during daily activities. Ti-hydroxyapatite and Ti-polypropylene composite implants induced more stress in composite implant plate, results less stress induced in bone leading to a reduction in shielding effect than stainless steel implant plate thus ensuring safety and quick healing for the patient.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.677-694
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• 2008

A vibration power minimization model is developed, based on the mobility matrix method, for a vibration isolation system consisting of a vibrating source placed on an elastic support structure through multiple resilient mounts. This model is applied to investigate the design optimization of an X-Y motion stage-based vibration isolation system used in semiconductor wire-bonding equipment. By varying the stiffness coefficients of the resilient mounts while constraining the dynamic displacement amplitudes of the X-Y motion stage, the total power flow from the X-Y motion stage (the vibrating source) to the equipment table (the elastic support structure) is minimized at each frequency interval in the concerned frequency range for different stiffnesses of the equipment table. The results show that when the equipment table is relatively flexible, the optimal design based on the proposed vibration power inimization model gives significantly little power flow than that obtained using a conventional vibration force minimization model at some critical frequencies. When the equipment table is rigid enough, both models provide almost the same predictions on the total power flow.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.383-388
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• 2019

To improve the mechanical properties of aluminum, graphene has been used as a reinforcing material, yielding graphene-reinforced aluminum matrix composites (GRAMCs). Dispersion of graphene materials is an important factor that affects the properties of GRAMCs, which are mainly manufactured by mechanical mixing methods such as ball milling. However, the use of only mechanical mixing process is limited to achieve homogeneous dispersion of graphene. To overcome this problem, in this study, we have prepared composite materials by coating aluminum particles with graphene by a self-assembly reaction using poly vinylalcohol and ethylene diamine as coupling agents. The scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy results confirm the coating of graphene on the Al surface. Bulk density of the sintered composites by spark plasma sintering achieved a relative density of over 99% up to 0.5 wt.% graphene oxide content.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.189-193
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• 2020

An MR-based attenuation correction (MRAC) map plays an important role in quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) image evaluation in PET/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. However, the MRAC map is affected by the magnetic field inhomogeneity of MRIs. This study aims to evaluate the characteristics of MRAC maps of physical phantoms on PET/MRI images. Phantom measurements were performed using the Siemens Biograph mMR. The modular type physical phantoms that provide assembly versatility for phantom construction were scanned in a four-channel Body Matrix coil. The MRAC map was generated using the two-point Dixon-based segmentation method for whole-body imaging. The modular phantoms were scanned in compact and non-compact assembly configurations. In addition, the phantoms were scanned repeatedly to generate MRAC maps. The acquired MRAC maps show differently assigned values for void areas. An incorrect assignment of a void area was shown on a locally compact space between phantoms. The assigned MRAC values were distorted using a wide field-of-view (FOV). The MRAC values also differed after repeated scans. However, the erroneous MRAC values appeared outside of phantom, except for a large FOV. The MRAC map of the phantom was affected by phantom configuration and the number of scans. A quantitative study using a phantom in a PET/MRI system should be performed after evaluation of the MRAC map characteristics.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2002

The effect of block sequence on the self-assembly of ABC-type triblock copolymers in the ordered state is investigated using an isothermal-isobaric molecular dynamics simulation. The block sequence has an important effect ,on the ]norphology of ABC triblock copolymers. Different morphologies are observed depending on the block sequence as well as the block composition. The triblock copolymers with the volume fraction of 1 : 1 : 1 ($f_A$=$f_B$=$f_C$= 0.33) show the three phase and four layered lamellar structures irrespective of the block sequence. The $A_{32}$$B_{16}$$C_{32}$triblock copolymer with $f_B$=0.2 shows a morphology In which cylinders of midblock B are formed at the interface between A and C lamellae, whereas the morphology of triblock copolymer $B_{16}$$C_{32}$ $A_{32}$ and $C_{32}$ $A_{32}$ $B_{16}$ show a cylindrical core-shell structure and a lamellar type morphology, respectively. The $A_{20}$$B_{40}$$C_{20}$the triblock copolymer with the block B as a major component shows a tricontinuous structure, whereas both $B_{40}$$C_{20}$$A_{20}$ and $C_{20}$$A_{20}$$B_{40}$ triblock coolymers exhibit the lamellar structures. When the block B has larger volrome fraction with $f_B$=0.75, the matrix is composed of block B, and other two blocks A and C form spherical domains.

• Architectural research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.21-27
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• 2022

For the past decade, South Korea had experienced catastrophic building fires, which resulted in consider-ably high number of casualties. This motivated research to develop fire-safe wall assemblies. In this study Fire Risk Analysis (FRA) is conducted as part of the project designing phase to ensure fire safety of the final product. Traditional approach was to consider fire performance at the end of the designing stage, when PASS/FAIL fire test results are required to be submitted to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). By applying a fire risk analysis to guide the designing phase, overall fire safety of a wall assembly can be achieved more systematically as conducting FRA allows designers to clearly identify elements that are more vulnerable to fire and simply replace them with other practical options. Severity of fire risk is determined by considering the fire hazards of a wall assembly such as the exterior layer, insulation, vertical connectivity, and external ignition sources (e.g., photovoltaic panels). Frequency of fire risk is assessed based on the factors affecting fire likelihood, which are air cavity and fire-stopping applied in the design, and random design changes occurring during on-site construction. Fire risk matrix is proposed based on these fire risk factors and efforts to reduce the fire risk level associated with the wall assembly are given by systematically assessing the fire risk factors identified from fire risk analysis. Current study demonstrates how fire risk analysis can be applied to develop fire-safe walls by reducing the relevant fire risks- both severity and frequency.

• Design Convergence Study
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.133-150
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• 2015

In this study, we proposed Interactive Visualization methods that can be analyzed relations between nations in various viewpoints such as period, issue using total 5211 of the UN General Assembly voting data.For this research, we devised a similarity matrix between nations and developed two visualization method based similarity matrix. The first one is Network Graph Visualization that can be showed relations between nations which participated in the vote of the UN General Assembly like Social Network Graph by year. and the second one is Proximity based Circular Visualization that can be analyzed relations between nations focus on one nation or Changes in voting patterns between nations according to time. This study have a great signification. that's because we proposed Proximity based Circular Visualization methods which merged Line and Circle Graph for network analysis that never tried from other cases of studies that utilize conventional voting data and made it. We also derived co-operatives of each visualization through conducting a comparative experiment for the two visualization. As a research result, we found that Proximity based Circular Visualization can be better analysis each node and Network Graph Visualization can be better analysis patterns for the nations.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.18 no.1 s.91
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• pp.37-46
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• 2006

The principal objective of this study is to assess the hierarchical effects of defects on the elastic stiffness properties at different levels of observation. In particular, quantitative damage measures which characterize the fundamental mode of degradation in the form of elastic damage provide quite insightful meanings at the level of constitutive relations and at the level of structures. For illustration, a total of three model problems of increasing complexity, a 1-D bar structure, a 2-D stress concentration problem, and a heterogeneous composite material made of a matrix with particle inclusions. Considering a damage scenario for the particle inclusions the material system degrades from a composite with very stiff inclusions to a porous material with an intact matrix skeleton. In other damage scenario for the matrix, the material system degrades from a composite made of a very stiff skeleton to a disconnected assembly of particles because of progressive matrix erosion. The trace-back and forth of tight bounds in terms of the reduction of the lowest eigenvalues are extensively discussed at different levels of observation.