• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.499-509
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• 2014

Wood filler is a porous and anisotropic material having different size, shape, and aspect ratio. The use of wood fillers such as wood particle, wood flour, and wood pulp in wood plastic composites (WPCs) are growing rapidly because these wood fillers give improved strength and stiffness to WPCs. However, the wood fillers have originally poor compatibility with plastic matrix affecting the mechanical properties of WPCs. Therefore, to improve compatibility between wood and plastic, numbers of physical and chemical treatments were investigated. While the various treatments led to improved performances in WPC industries using petroleum-based plastics, full biodegradation is still issues due to increased environmental concerns. Hence, bio-based plastics such as polylactide and polyhydroxybutyrate having biodegradable characteristics are being applied to WPCs, but relatively expensive prices of existing bio-based plastics prevent further uses. As conventional processing methods, extrusion, injection, and compression moldings have been used in WPC industries, but to apply WPCs to engineered or structural places, new processing methods should be developed. As one system, co-extrusion technique was introduced to WPCs and the co-extruded WPCs having core-shell structures make the extended applications of WPCs possible.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.1140-1144
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• 2005

A plastic-based CE (capillary electrophoresis) microchip was fabricated by hot embossing process. A Si mold was made by wet etching process and a PMMA wafer was cut off from 1mm thick PMMA sheet. A micro-channel structure on PMMA substrate was produced by hot embossing process using the Si mold and the PMMA wafer. A vacuum assisted thermal bonding procedure was employed to seal an imprinted PMMA wafer and a blank PMMA wafer. The results of microscopic cross sectional images showed dimensions of channels were well preserved during thermal bonding process. In our procedure, the deformation amount of bonding process was below 1%. The entire fabrication process may be very useful for plastic based microchip systems.

• Clean Technology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.141-152
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• 2015

As environmental issues are emerging, bio-plastic suppliers in leading countries have been foreseeing the strong needs for environment-friendly materials such as eco-packing materials due to increased attention and regulation on recycle. To catch up with the demand, various types of bio-plastics based on natural feedstocks were developed and released on a market. These bio-plastic products drew the great attention even in domestic industries. At present, international oil price fluctuation and heavy charge on waste raise the unit cost of production and disposal expense of conventional plastic materials. These conditions make bio-plastic an alternative, because it is not restrained by oil prices and problem in the disposal. It is also expected that bio-plastic will be applied to various types of products including containers, industrial supplies, disposables, and medical supplies. However, the bio-plastic is still in its infancy, thus more research and understanding should be followed to put it to application. Bio-plastic is considered as environment-friendly material with high potential which has the advantages of production and disposal.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.43-58
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• 2020

Mulching plastic is used for the purpose of maintaining soil temperature, moisture, and weed and pest prevention in agriculture. Any remaining plastic after use may contaminate the soil and damage crop growth. To solve this problem, mulching plastic wrappers have been studied and developed, but the actual use rate is quite low due to their poor performance and frequent tearing of the plastic on the field. In this study, we developed a tractor attachable mulching plastic wrapper to minimize the tearing of the mulched plastic. The developed mulching plastic wrapper consists of hydraulic motors and pumps, valves, a microcontroller, and sensors. The collecting speed of the plastic mulch was calculated considering the tractor's travel speed and the radius of the collecting drum. A proportional controller was designed to control the rotating speed of the hydraulic motor as the plastic was wound around the collection drum and the radius increased. The performance of an indoor experiment was quite promising because the difference between the collecting speed predicted by the calculation and the actual collecting speed was 2.71 rpm. Based on a field verification test, the speed difference was max. 14.28 rpm; thus, the, proportional integral derivative (PID) controller needs to be considered to control the drum speed precisely. Another issue was found when the soil covered at the edge of the plastic was hardened or the road surface was uneven, the speed control was unstable, and the plastic was torn. In future research, vibrational plows will be equipped to break-up the harden soil for collecting the plastic smoothly.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.852-863
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• 2016

Wood-plastic composite (WPC) is a promising and sustainable material, and refers to a combination of wood and plastic along with some binding (adhesive) materials. In comparison to pure wood material, WPCs are in general have advantages of being cost effective, high durability, moisture resistance, and microbial resistance. The properties of WPCs come directly from the concentration of different components in composite; such as wood flour concentration directly affect mechanical and physical properties of WPCs. In this study, wood powder concentration in WPC was determined by Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The reflectance spectra from WPC in both powdered and tableted form with five different concentrations of wood powder were collected and preprocessed to remove noise caused by several factors. To correlate the collected spectra with wood powder concentration, multivariate calibration method of partial least squares (PLS) was applied. During validation with an independent set of samples, good correlations with reference values were demonstrated for both FT-NIR and FT-IR data sets. In addition, high coefficient of determination (${R^2}_p$) and lower standard error of prediction (SEP) was yielded for tableted WPC than powdered WPC. The combination of FT-NIR and FT-IR spectral region was also studied. The results presented here showed that the use of both zones improved the determination accuracy for powdered WPC; however, no improvement in prediction result was achieved for tableted WPCs. The results obtained suggest that these spectroscopic techniques are a useful tool for fast and nondestructive determination of wood concentration in WPCs and have potential to replace conventional methods.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 2015

Background In all branches of medicine, it is the surgeon's responsibility to provide the patient with accurate information before surgery. This is especially important in cosmetic surgery because the surgeon must focus on the aesthetic results desired by the patient. Methods An experimental protocol was developed based on an original questionnaire given to 72 patients. The nature of the responses, the patients' motivation and expectations, the degree of patient awareness regarding the planned operation, and the patients' perceptions of the purpose of the required consent for cosmetic surgery were all analyzed using Fisher's exact test. Results Candidates for abdominal wall surgery had significantly more preoperative psychological problems than their counterparts did (P=0.035). A significantly different percentage of patients under 40 years of age compared to those over 40 years of age searched for additional sources of information prior to the operation (P=0.046). Only 30% of patients with a lower educational background stated that the preoperative information had been adequate, whereas 92% of subjects with secondary schooling or a postsecondary degree felt that the information was sufficient (P=0.001). A statistically significant difference was also present between patients according to their educational background regarding expected improvements in their quality of life postoperatively (P=0.008). Conclusions This study suggests that patients require more attention in presurgical consultations and that clear communication should be prioritized to ensure that the surgeon understands the patient's expectations.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.359-359
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• 2006

This study deals with development of new bio-based polymeric materials from epoxidized soybean oil (ESO). The curing of ESO in the presence of organophilic montmorillonite produced an oil polymer-clay nanocomposite ("green nanocomposite") showing flexible property. A green nanocomposite (oil polymer-silica nanocomposite) coatings were synthesized by an acidcatalyzed curing of ESO with 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane. The curing of ESO in the presence of a biodegradable plastic, poly(caprolactone), produced a composite with semi-IPN structure. The mechanical properties of the composite was much superior to those of polyESO. These new oil-based materials have large potential for applications in various fields.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2011

Purpose: Currently, soft tissue filler products based on hyaluronic acid are widely used. They are safe, effective, and convenient to use compared with bovine collagens. However, all commercially available hyaluronic acid based fillers in Korea are imported ones. The purpose of this study is to evaluate efficacy of a new hyaluronic acid filler (HyaFilia; CHA bio&Diostech Co., Seoul), which has been recently developed in Korea. Methods: Three kinds of soft tissue fillers, including Restylane (Q-Med, Uppsala, Sweden), HyaFilia (CHA bio & Diostech Co., Seoul), Juvederm (Allergan, CA, USA), were injected subdermally into the back of hairless mice at six sites. The 2 cephalic sites composed Restylane groups, the 2 middle sites HyaFilia groups, and the 2 caudal sites Juvederm groups. Six hairless mice were included in the study, therefore, a total of 12 injections per group were performed. After 16 weeks after injection, the nodular swellings that resulted from the injections were excised wide enough to include skin beyond the swelling points down to the panniculus carnosus layer using 8mm punches. Volumes and weights were measured using a stereoimage optical topometer system and a weighting machine. Histologic comparisons were also carried out. Results: The mean volumes of the Restylane, HyaFilia and Juvederm groups were $3698{\times}103$, $4820{\times}103$, and $1435{\times}103$ PI, respectively. The mean weights of the Restylane, HyaFilia and Juvederm groups were 36.08, 37.83, and 24.66 mg, respectively. Histologic examination between the 3 groups showed no significant difference in tissue compositions and inflammatory reactions. Conclusion: The results of this study shows that HyaFilia is superior to Restylane and Juvederm in longavity of filling effect. Therefore, HyaFilia may be an effective replacement for the imported materials including Restylane and Juvederm.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.130-135
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• 2013

Primary intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma (PIOSCC) is a rare form arising within the jaws. PIOSCC is not related to the oral mucosa, presumably developing from remnants of the odontogenic epithelium. Because odontogenic cyst epithelium often transforms malignantly into PIOSCC, it could be misdiagnosed as odontogenic cyst based on a relatively ill-defined radiolucent lesion. Therefore, definite diagnosis is established from histological examination of biopsy samples taken during cyst enucleation in many cases. The present study is reported with a case of patient complaining of discomfort on his mandible. He was diagnosed as a putative dentigerous cyst and underwent a cyst enucleation treatment. After definite diagnosis as PIOSCC was established based on histologic findings, partial mandible resection and mandible reconstruction were performed. Up to the present, 10 months follow up of the patient showed satisfactory healing without recurrence and abnormal findings; thereby, we are reporting this case with literature review.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.51-63
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• 2024

Polypropylene (PP) is a commodity plastic that is widely used owing to its cost-effectiveness, lightweight nature, easy processability, and outstanding chemical and thermomechanical characteristics. However, the imperative to address energy and environmental crises has spurred global initiatives toward a circular economy, necessitating sustainable alternatives to traditional fossil-fuel-derived plastics. In this study, we conducted a series of comparative investigations of bio-based polypropylene (bio-PP) blends with current PP of the same and different grades. An extrusion-based processing methodology was employed for the bio-PP composites. Talc was used as an active filler for the preparation of the composites. A comparative analysis with the current petroleum-based PP indicated that the thermal properties and tensile characteristics of the bio-PP blends and composites remained largely unaltered, signifying the feasibility of bio-PP as a potential substitute for the current PP. To achieve a higher Young's modulus, elongation at break (EAB), and melt flow index (MFI), we prepared different composites of PP of different grades and bio-PP with varying talc contents. Interestingly, at higher biomass contents, the composites exhibited higher MFI and EAB values with comparable Young's moduli. Notably, the impact strengths of the composites with various biomass and talc contents remained unaltered. In-depth investigations through surface analysis confirmed the uniform dispersion of talc within the composite matrix. Furthermore, the moldability of the bio-PP composites was substantiated by comprehensive rheological property assessments encompassing shear rate and shear viscosity. Thus, from these outcomes, the fabricated bio-PP-based composites could be an alternative to petroleum-based PP composites for sustainable automobile applications.