• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.111-112
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• 2009

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) is a convenient term to indicate the compositions of the various forms of amorphous carbon (a-C), tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C), hydrogenated amorphous carbon and tetrahedral amorphous carbon (a-C:H and ta-C:H). The a-C film with disordered graphitic ordering, such as soot, chars, glassy carbon, and evaporated a-C, is shown in the lower left hand corner. If the fraction of sp3 bonding reaches a high degree, such an a-C is denoted as tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C), in order to distinguish it from sp2 a-C [2]. Two hydrocarbon polymers, that is, polyethylene (CH2)n and polyacetylene (CH)n, define the limits of the triangle in the right hand corner beyond which interconnecting C-C networks do not form, and only strait-chain molecules are formed. The DLC films, i.e. a-C, ta-C, a-C:H and ta-C:H, have some extreme properties similar to diamond, such as hardness, elastic modulus and chemical inertness. These films are great advantages for many applications. One of the most important applications of the carbon-based films is the coating for magnetic hard disk recording. The second successful application is wear protective and antireflective films for IR windows. The third application is wear protection of bearings and sliding friction parts. The fourth is precision gages for the automotive industry. Recently, exciting ongoing study [1] tries to deposit a carbon-based protective film on engine parts (e.g. engine cylinders and pistons) taking into account not only low friction and wear, but also self lubricating properties. Reduction of the oil consumption is expected. Currently, for an additional application field, the carbon-based films are extensively studied as excellent candidates for biocompatible films on biomedical implants. The carbon-based films consist of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, which are biologically harmless as well as the main elements of human body. Some in vitro and limited in vivo studies on the biological effects of carbon-based films have been studied [$2{\sim}5$].The carbon-based films have great potentials in many fields. However, a few technological issues for carbon-based film are still needed to be studied to improve the applicability. Aisenberg and Chabot [3] firstly prepared an amorphous carbon film on substrates remained at room temperature using a beam of carbon ions produced using argon plasma. Spencer et al. [4] had subsequently developed this field. Many deposition techniques for DLC films have been developed to increase the fraction of sp3 bonding in the films. The a-C films have been prepared by a variety of deposition methods such as ion plating, DC or RF sputtering, RF or DC plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD), ion implantation, ablation, pulsed laser deposition and cathodic arc deposition, from a variety of carbon target or gaseous sources materials [5]. Sputtering is the most common deposition method for a-C film. Deposited films by these plasma methods, such as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) [6], are ranged into the interior of the triangle. Application fields of DLC films investigated from papers. Many papers purposed to apply for tribology due to the carbon-based films of low friction and wear resistance. Figure 1 shows the percentage of DLC research interest for application field. The biggest portion is tribology field. It is occupied 57%. Second, biomedical field hold 14%. Nowadays, biomedical field is took notice in many countries and significantly increased the research papers. DLC films actually applied to many industries in 2005 as shown figure 2. The most applied fields are mold and machinery industries. It took over 50%. The automobile industry is more and more increase application parts. In the near future, automobile industry is expected a big market for DLC coating. Figure 1 Research interests of carbon-based filmsFigure 2 Demand ratio of DLC coating for industry in 2005. In this presentation, I will introduce a trend of carbon-based coating research and applications.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.42-45
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• 1999

Our previous studies have demonstrated the biological effects of alginic acid as a brown algae (Undaria pinnatifida) component on inhibitory action of obesity using animal model. Sprague-Dawely (SD) male rats were fed experimental diets ($10\%,\;20\%$ and $40\%$ brown algae noodle: BA-noodles) for 4 weeks. Effects of BA-noodles on triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol. LDL and HDL-cholesterol, and atherogenic ($10\%\~15\%$ and $15\%\~18%$, respectively) by administration of $10\%,\;20\%$and $40\%$ BA-noodles compared with control group. HDL-cholesterol contents in serum of SD rats for 4 weeks significantly increased in ranges of 7 to $16\%$ by administration of $10\%,\;20\%$ and $40\%$ BA-noodles compared with control group. Atherogenic index (AI) in serum of SD rats as a initial attack markers of chronic degenerative disease for 4 weeks remarkably decreased in ranges of 14 to $28\%$ by the adminstration of $10\%,\;20\%$ and $40\%$ BA-noodles compared with control group. These results suggest that administration of BA-noodle can not only effectively inhibit chronic degenerative disease, but also may be intervent the aging process.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.46-49
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• 1999

Our previous studies have demonstrated the biological effects of alginic acid as a brown algae (Undasia pinnatisda) component on inhibitory action of obesity using animal model. This study was designed to investigate the effect of brown algae (BA)-noodles ($10\%,\;20\%$ and $40\%$) on inhibitory action of obesity in Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats for 4 weeks. Body weight gain in SD rats for 4 weeks resulted in a marked inhibition ($7\%,\;17\%\;38\%$, respectively) by administration of $10\%,\;20\%$ and $40\%$ BA-noodles compared with control group. Total energy intake and feed efficiency in SD rats for 4 weeks resulted in a marked inhibition ($6\%,\;16\%\;37\%$ and $10\%\;20\%\;40\%$, respectively) by administration of $10\%\;20\%$ and $40\%$ BA-noodles compared with control group, but gross efficiency was not observed in these BA-noodle groups. Rohrer index and TM index as an obesity markers in SD rats for 4 weeks significantly decreased ($10\%\;15\%$ and $22\%$, respectively) by administration of $10\%,\;20\%$ and $40\%$ BA-noodles compared with control group. These results suggest that inhibitory effect of obesity in SD rats for 4 weeks may be due to decreases of body fat content resulted in a decrease of feed efficiency and energy intake by these BA-noodles.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.253-261
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• 2002

A spatially adaptive falter was formulated to imrove PET image qualify and the Performance of the filter was evaluated using simulation and phantom and human PET studies. In the proposed filter. if a pixel was identified as the edge Pixel, the Pixel value was Preserved. Otherwise a Pixel was replaced by the mean of the pixel values weighted by 2:7: 2. A Pixel was identified as the edge Pixel. if it satisfies the following conditions : the number of ADs (absolute difference between center and neighborhood pixels) which is smaller than THl (($pix_max{\times}0.1/log_2(NPM)$, NPM : mean of 6 neighborhood pixels excluding minimum and maximum) is 8-k and the number of ADs which is lager than TH2 ($NPM{\times}0.1$) is k. where k : 2, 3, …, 6. The results of this study demonstrate the superior performance of the Proposed titter compared to Gaussian fitter, weight median filter and subset averaged median filter. The proposed tittering method is simple but effective in increasing uniformity and contrast with minimal degradation of spatial resolution of PET images and thus. is expected to Provide improved diagnositc quality PET images .

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2014

Purpose: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common source of bacterial infections in infants and young children. Accurate diagnosis and treatment is important because of their association with renal scarring, which can lead to complications. Urine endothelin-1 (ET-1) is the major renal isoform produced and released by renal mesangial cells in response to glomerular injury. This study aimed to investigate whether urinary levels of ET-1 can be used as a biomarker for UTI diagnosis. Method: We conducted a prospective study using medical records of 70 patients below the age of 18 years, who visited Chung-Ang University Hospital from July 2012 to July 2013. We classified the patients into the UTI and control groups based on urine culture studies. The UTI group was further divided into upper and lower UTI groups using 99m-Technetium dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy. Urine ET-1 was measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay with 0.3 mL urine. Results: The UTI and control groups were comprised of 45 and 25 patients, respectively. Mean urine ET-1 levels were significantly higher in the UTI group than in the control group ($1.41{\pm}0.35$ pg/mL vs. $0.33{\pm}0.07$ pg/mL, P =0.04). There was no significance difference in the quantitative value between the upper and lower UTI groups (P =0.552). There was no correlation between urine ET-1 and serum C-reactive protein (Pearson correlation [R]=0.24), urine ET-1 and serum white blood cell count (R=0.19). Conclusion: Our study suggests that urine ET-1 can be used for early diagnosis of UTI in children.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.238-249
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• 1998

Purpose: To localize and compare the neural basis of verbal and visual human working memory, we performed functional activation study using $H_2^{15}O$ PET. Materials and Methods: Repeated $H_2^{15}O$ PET scans with one control and three different activation tasks were performed on six right-handed normal volunteers. Each activation task was composed of 13 match-ing trials. On each trial, four targets, a fixation dot and a probe were presented sequentially and subject's task was to press a response button to indicate whether or not the probe was one of the previous targets. Short meaningful Korean words, simple drawings and monochromic pictures of human faces were used as matching objects for verbal or visual memory. All the images were spatially normalized and the differences between control and activation states were statistically analyzed using SPM96. Results: Statistical analysis of verbal memory activation with short words showed activation in the left Broca's area, promoter cortex, cerebellum and right cingulate gyrus. In verbal memory with simple drawings, activation was shown in the larger regions including where activated with short words and left superior temporal cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, prefrontal cortex, anterior portion of right superior temporal gyrus and right infero-lateral frontal cortex. On the other hand, the visual memory task activated predominantly right-sided structures, especially inferior frontal cortex, supplementary motor cortex and superior parietal cortex. Conclusion: The results are consistent with the hypothesis of the laterality and dissociation of the verbal and visual working memory from the invasive electrophysiological studies and emphasize the pivotal role of frontal cortex and cingulate gyrus in working memory system.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.285-296
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• 1995

Anatomical studies of sink tissues are required for better understanding the biological plant growth system and energy metabolism. Kinematics of root growth zones of two genotypes of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) receiving 50 or 200 ppm N were determined. Longitudinal anatomy and cell dynamics of root growth zones were studied and calculated. The root growth zone is organized similarly to the leaf growth zone which has cell division, elongation, and maturation zones, but the root growth zone is only about 3.0 mm long compared to 25 to 30 mm for the leaf growth zone. The root cap extends about 0.4 to 0.5 mm from the apical initial, while the cell elongation zone for both cortical and metaxylem cells extends about 3.3 mm from the apical initial for both genotypes and N levels. Root cap cells elongate from an initial length of about 5$\mu{m}$ long to a final length of about 40$\mu{m}$ before being sloughed. Initial lengths of cortical and metaxylem cells were about 8.5 $\mu{m}$ and 13.0 $\mu{m}$, respectively. Elongation of cortex and metaxylem cell showed sigmoidal curves with final lengths of about 120 $\mu{m}$ for cortex cells and 650 $\mu{m}$ for metaxylem cells. Initial size and final size for both types were not affected by N level, but cell fluxes and cell elongation rates of cortical and metaxylem cells were about double in low N. Cell production rates were about 5 to 6 times higher in cortical cells than in metaxylem cells. Differences in N caused a larger change in cell production rate, duration of cell elongation, and relative cell elongation rate than did the genotypes. These data indicate that N application affects root growth longitudinally by changing cell production rate and elongation rate.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.441-477
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• 2020

There have been raised other environmental issues related to remediated soils piled up in numerous carry-out processing facilities because a considerable quantity of them have been produced every year, but most of them have not been relevantly reused or recycled. Thus, this article reports the trend of researches on the development of techniques to restore the quality of remediated soils to activate their reuse and recycling. Firstly, the tendency of change in soil properties through remediation processes was looked over, and then the degradation of soil quality was characterized according to the type of remediation processes. Besides, the direction of policy to promote the reuse and recycling of remediated soils was introduced, and finally, the future works needed were suggested. This article was prepared based on the results of the survey of domestic and foreign literature. A number of literature were reviewed to scrutinize the change of soil properties due to remediation processes and diverse techniques for the amendment and restoration of remediated soils. Furthermore, the policies related to the reuse and recycling of remediated soils were arranged with the reference of the first and second versions of the Soil Conservation Master Plan of Korea. The literature survey focused on three kinds of remediation technologies, such as land farming, soil washing, and thermal desorption, which were most frequently used so far in Korea. The results indicate that the tendency of change in soil properties was significantly different depending on the type of remediation processes applied, and the degradation characteristics of soil quality were also totally different between them. The soil amendment and restoration can be categorized as three techniques depending on the type of substances used, such as inorganic, organic, and biological ones. Diverse individual materials have been used, and the soil properties improved or enhanced were dependent on the type of specific materials utilized. However, few studies on the restoration of soil qualities degraded during the remediation processes have not been carried out so far. The second Soil Conservation Master Plan states the quality certification and target management system of remediated soils, and it is expected that their reuse and recycling will be facilitated hereafter. With the consideration of the type of remediation processes implemented and public utility, the restoration technologies of remediated soils should be developed for the vitalization of their reuse and recycling. Besides, practical and specific measures should be taken to support the policy specified in the second Soil Conservation Master Plan and to promote reuse/recycling of remediated soils.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.235-248
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• 2011

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death and disability in children and adults and is a major risk factor for the development of posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE). Recent studies have provided significant insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of epilepsy. Although the link between brain trauma and epilepsy is well recognized, the complex biological mechanisms that result in PTE following TBI have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, this study investigated in order to identify whether or not the abnormal expression of calcium-binding proteins in the lesioned hippocampus plays a role in neuronal damage by brain trauma and whether or not the expressions may change in the contralateral hippocampus during the adaptive stage as early time point following TBI. During early time point following TBI, both parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin D-28k (CB) immunoreactivities were decreased with in the lesioned hippocampus. However, these expressions were recovered to control levels as depend on time courses. On the other hand, PV immunoreactivity in contralateral hippocampus was transiently reduced as compared to the control levels, whereas CB expression was unchanged. These findings indicate that the alterations of the calcium-binding proteins, especially PV and CB, may contribute to the neuronal death and/or damage induced by abnormal inhibitory neurotransmission at early time period following brain trauma and the development of epileptogenesis in patients with traumatic brain injury.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.167-175
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• 2014

This study was conducted to quantify a carbon budget of major vegetation types established in the campus of the National Institute of Ecology (NIE). Carbon budget was measured for Pinus thunbergii and Castanea crenata stands as the existing vegetation. Net Primary Productivity (NPP) was determined by applying allometric method and soil respiration was measured by EGM-4. Heterotrophic respiration was calculated as 55% of total respiration based on the existing results. Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) was determined by the difference between NPP and heterotrophic respiration (HR). NPPs of P. thunbergii and C. crenata stands were shown in $4.9ton\;C\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ and $5.3ton\;C\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. Heterotrophic respirations of P. thunbergii and C. crenata stands were shown in $2.4ton\;C\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ and $3.5ton\;C\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. NEPs of P. thunbergii and C. crenata stands were shown in $2.5ton\;C\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ and $1.8ton\;C\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. Carbon absorption capacity for the whole set of vegetation types established in the NIE was estimated by applying NEP indices obtained from current study and extrapolating NEP indices from existing studies. The value was shown in $147.6ton\;C\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ and it was calculated as $541.2ton\;CO_2ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ converted into $CO_2$. This function corresponds to 62% of carbon emission from energy that NIE uses for operation of various facilities including the glass domes known in Ecorium. This carbon offset capacity corresponds to about five times of them of the whole national territory of Korea and the representative rural area, Seocheongun. Considered the fact that ongoing climate change was originated from imbalance of carbon budget at the global level, it is expected that evaluation on carbon budget in the spatial dimension reflected land use pattern could provide us baseline information being required to solve fundamentally climate change problem.