• Clean Technology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2007

Direct coating of catalyst layer on the $Nafion^{(R)}$ membrane has been optimized in the process of fabrication of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) to enhance the performance of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). In this method, the contact resistance at the interface of the catalyst layer and the membrane was found to be low. The effect of catalyst loading, thickness of membrane and the gas diffusion layer (GDL) with or without the presence of micro-porous layer (MPL) on the performance of the MEA was also investigated. The MEA fabricated by the above-mentioned method exhibited a performance of $147\;mW/cm^2$ and $100\;mW/cm^2$ at $80^{\circ}C$ and $60^{\circ}C$, respectively, with the catalysts loading of $4\;mg/cm^2$.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.392-400
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• 2010

The electrospinning process was established as a promising method to fabricate nano and micro-textured scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. A BCP-loaded PCL micro-textured scaffold thus can be a viable option. The biocompatibility as well as the mechanical properties of such scaffold materials should be optimized for this purpose. In this study, a composite scaffold of poly ($\varepsilon$-caprolactone) (PCL)-biphase calcium phosphate (BCP) was successfully fabricated by electrospinning. EDS and XRD data show successful loading of BCP nano particles in the PCL fibers. Morphological characterization of fibers shows that with a higher loaded BCP content the fiber surface was rougher and the diameter was approximately 1 to 7 ${\mu}m$. Tensile modulus and ultimate tensile stress reached their highest values in the PCL- 10 wt% BCP composite. When content of nano ceramic particles was low, they were dispersed in the fibers as reinforcements for the polymer matrix. However, at a high content of ceramic particles, the particles tend to agglomerate and lead to decreasing tensile modulus and ultimate stress of the PCL-BCP composite mats. Therefore, the use of nano BCP content for distribution in fiber polymer using BCP for reinforcement is limited. Tensile strain decreased with increasing content of BCP loading. From in vitro study using MG-63 osteoblast cells and L-929 fibroblast like cells, it was confirmed that electrospun PCL-BCP composite mats were biocompatible and that spreading behavior was good. As BCP content increased, the area of cell spreading on the surface of the mats also increased. Cells showed the best adherence on the surface of composite mats at 50 wt% BCP for both L-929 fibroblast-like cells and MG-63 osteoblast cell. PCL- BCP composites are a promising material for application in bone scaffolds.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.227-233
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• 2015

In this study, we evaluate catalytic activity of Pd/C catalyst that is synthesized by modified polyol method. With such formed Pd/C is used as anodic catalyst for direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) and performances of the DFAFC are measured to verify whether the new catalyst is effective for enhancing DFAFC performance and to determine optimal loadings of the Pd/C needed for obtaining best DFAFC performance. Pd particle distribution of the Pd/C catalyst is analyzed by TEM, while its catalytic activity is estimated by using cyclic voltammogram (CV) as measuring formic acid oxidation reaction and active surface area. As a result of that, the Pd/C catalyst synthesized by modified polyol shows better catalytic activity and DFAFC performance with small loading amount of Pd/C. When loading amount of Pd/C is $1.5mgcm^{-2}$, maximum power density of DFAFC adopting the catalyst is $122mWcm^{-2}$.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.842-851
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• 2011

A multi-cell test system with 25 independent cells is used to test different electrode materials simultaneously for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Twenty-five segmented membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) having the same or different Pt-loading are prepared to analyze the performance deviation of cells in the multi-cell test system. Improvements in the multi-cell test system are made by ensuring that the system performs voltage sensing for the cells individually and inserting optimum gaskets between the MEAs and the graphite plates. The cell performances are improved and their deviations are significantly decreased by these modifications. The performance deviations changed according to various cell configurations because the operating conditions of the cells, such as the gas flow and concentration, differed. This cell system can be used to test multiple electrodes simultaneously because it shows relatively uniform performance under the same conditions as well as linear correlation with various catalyst loadings.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.382-393
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• 2023

Cell clusters are a histological hallmark feature of intervertebral disc degeneration. Clusters arise from cell proliferation, are associated with replicative senescence, and remain metabolically, but their precise role in various stages of disc degeneration remain obscure. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate small, medium, and large size cell-clusters. For this purpose, human disc samples were collected from 55 subjects, aged 37-72 years, 21 patients had disc herniation, 10 had degenerated non-herniated discs, and 9 had degenerative scoliosis with spinal curvature <45°. 15 non-degenerated control discs were from cadavers. Clusters and matrix changes were investigated with histology, immunohistochemistry, and Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Data obtained were analyzed with spearman rank correlation and ANOVA. Results revealed, small and medium-sized clusters were positive for cell proliferation markers Ki-67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in control and slightly degenerated human discs, while large cell clusters were typically more abundant in severely degenerated and herniated discs. Large clusters associated with matrix fissures, proteoglycan loss, matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), and Caspase-3. Spatial association findings were reconfirmed with SDS-PAGE that showed presence to these target markers based on its molecular weight. Controls, slightly degenerated discs showed smaller clusters, less proteoglycan loss, MMP-1, and Caspase-3. In conclusion, cell clusters in the early stages of degeneration could be indicative of repair, however sustained loading increases large cell clusters especially around microscopic fissures that accelerates inflammatory catabolism and alters cellular metabolism, thus attempted repair process initiated by cell clusters fails and is aborted at least in part via apoptosis.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.181-188
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• 2004

Structural analysis for materials containing regularly spaced in-homogeneities is usually executed by using averaged material properties. For the homogenization process, a unit cell is defined and loaded somehow, and its response is investigated to evaluate the properties. The imposed loading conditions should accord to the behavior of unit cell immersed in the macroscopic structure in order to guarantee the accuracy of the effective properties. Each unit cell shows periodic variation of strain if the material is loaded uniformly, and in this study, direct implementation of this characteristic behavior is attempted on FE models of unit cell. Conventional finite element analysis tool can be used without any modification, and the boundary of unit cell is constrained in a way that the periodicity is satisfied. The proposed method is applicable to skew arrayed in-homogeneity problems. The flexibility matrix relating tonsorial stress and strain components in skewed rectilinear coordinate system is transformed so that the required engineering constants can be evaluated. Effective properties are computed for the materials with square and skew arrayed circular holes, and its accuracy is examined.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2010

The objective of this study is to evaluate effects of honeycomb cell size for compressive behaviors of square sandwich composite tubes with woven fabric carbon/epoxy skin and Al honeycomb core. In order to achieve these goals, four different kinds of tubes were fabricated and compressed to 200mm~250mm under quasi-static load of 10mm/min. The Al honeycombs with cell size of 6.35mm and 9.53mm were used. The relationship of mean compressive load and cell size was evaluated. In addition, the effect of peel strength and equivalent elastic modulus in ribbon direction for the mean compressive load was investigated.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.320-325
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• 2013

TUnitized reversible fuel cells (URFC) combine the functionality of a fuel cell and electrolyzer in one unitized device. For a URFC with proton exchange membrane, a titanium (Ti)-felt is applied to the gas diffusion layer (GDL) substrate at the oxygen electrode, and additionally titanium (Ti)-powders and TiN-powders are loaded in the GDL substrate as a micro porous layer (MPL). Double porous layer with TiN MPL was not acceptable for the URFC because both of fuel cell performance and electrolysis performance are degraded. The double porous layer with Ti-powder loading in the Ti-felt substrate influence rearly for the electrolysis performance. In contrast, the change of pore-size distribution brings a significant improvement of fuel cell performance under fully humidification conditions. This fact indicates that the hydrophobic meso-pores in the GDL play an important role for mass transport.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.884-890
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• 2009

The bi-directional pile load test with variable end plate overcomes the shortcoming of the Osterberg cell test. It is possible that the ultimate bearing capacity of the bi-direction can be known by using the loading of the end plate and two step procedures. The first step is to confirming end bearing capacity with variable end plate and the second step is similar to the conventional O-cell test. In the study, To calculate ultimate capacity of bi-directional load test using model with the pile with variable end plate O-cell, operated with end plate of 3 type on sand layer according to the relative density, loose, medium and dense conditions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.953-964
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• 2015

A model has been proposed that can predict the ultimate torsional strength of single-box multi-cell reinforced concrete box girder under combined loading of bending, shear and torsion. Compared with the single-cell box girder, this model takes the influence of inner webs on the distribution of shear flow into account. According to the softening truss theory and thin walled tube theory, a failure criterion is presented and a ultimate torsional strength calculating procedure is established for single-box multi-cell reinforced concrete box girder under combined actions, which considers the effect of tensile stress among the concrete cracks, Mohr stress compatibility and the softened constitutive law of concrete. In this paper the computer program is also compiled to speed up the calculation. The model has been validated by comparing the predicted and experimental members loaded under torsion combined with different ratios of bending and shear. The theoretical torsional strength was in good agreement with the experimental results.