• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.196-201
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• 2023

In order to improve the efficiency of the water splitting system for hydrogen energy production, the high overvoltage in the electrochemical reaction caused by the catalyst in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) must be reduced. Among them, transition metal-based compounds (hydroxide, sulfide, etc.) are attracting attention as catalyst materials to replace currently used precious metals such as platinum. In this study, Ni foam, an inexpensive metal porous material, was used as a support and β-Ni(OH)₂ microcrystals were synthesized through a hydrothermal synthesis process. In addition, changes in the crystal morphology, crystal structure, and water splitting characteristics of β-Ni(OH)₂ microcrystals synthesized by doping Fe to improve electrochemical properties were observed, and applicability as a catalyst in a commercial water electrolysis system was examined.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.967-977
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• 2023

Rubus crataegifolius (RC) is a traditional Asian medicinal plant belonging to the Rosaceae family. The fruits of RC are known to prevent adult diseases through antioxidants. In this study, the effects of RC extract (RCex) on obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were evaluated in animal models. Twenty-eight male C57BL/6J mice were induced to become obese for 8 weeks and then the extract was orally administered for 8 weeks. RCex reduced body weight, adipose tissue, liver weight. RCex improved biochemical biomarkers including lipid metabolism (alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), plasma triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol). The activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) reduced the expression of adipogenesis genes (liver × receptor (LXR), sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), fatty acid synthesis (FAS), acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and the effect of enhancing carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) activity by RCex was verified. RCex also influence on plasma production of hormones (adiponectin & leptin) related on energy expenditure and metabolism. In addition, we confirmed that RCex improved glucose intolerance in HFD-induced obese rats. RCex was first demonstrated to have anti-obesity as well as anti-NAFLD effects by regulating fatty acid oxidation and fatty acid synthesis by phosphorylation of AMPK. This suggests that RCex could be a good supplement for the prevention of obesity and related NAFLD.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2023

In the current era of the global mobile smart device revolution, electronic devices are required in all spaces that people interact with. The establishment of the internet of things (IoT) among smart devices has been recognized as a crucial objective to advance towards creating a comfortable and sustainable future society. In-mold electronic (IME) processes have gained significant industrial significance due to their ability to utilize conventional high-volume methods, which involve printing functional inks on 2D substrates, thermoforming them into 3D shapes, and injection-molded, manufacturing low-cost, lightweight, and functional components or devices. In this article, we provide an overview of IME and its latest advances in application. We review biomimetic nanomaterials for constructing self-supporting biosensor electronic materials on the body, energy storage devices, self-powered devices, and bio-monitoring technology from the perspective of in-mold electronic devices. We anticipate that IME device technology will play a critical role in establishing a human-machine interface (HMI) by converging with the rapidly growing flexible printed electronics technology, which is an integral component of the fourth industrial revolution.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.348-372
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• 2023

In relation to the high-level radioactive waste disposal project in deep fractured rock aquifer environments, it is essential to evaluate hydrogeological characteristics for evaluating the suitability of the site and operational stability. Such subsurface hydrogeological data is obtained through in-situ tests using boreholes excavated at the target site. The accuracy and reliability of the investigation results are directly related to the selection of appropriate test methods, the performance of the investigation system, standardization of the investigation procedure. In this report, we introduce the detailed procedures for the representative test method, the constant pressure injection test (CPIT), which is used to determine the key hydrogeological parameters of the subsurface fractured rock aquifer, namely hydraulic conductivity and storativity. This report further refines the standard test method suggested by the KSRM in 2022 and includes practical field application case conducted in volcanic rock aquifers where this investigation procedure has been applied.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.77-84
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• 2023

In the agricultural sector, power sources are being developed that use alternative energy sources such as electric tractors and hydrogen tractors, away from internal combustion engine tractors. As parts such as engines and transmissions used in conventional internal combustion engine tractors are replaced with motors and batteries, the center of gravity changes, and thus the risk of rollover should be considered. The purpose of this study is to analyze the overturn angle of the main parts of the electric tractor through dynamic simulation to minimize the overturn accident and to derive the optimal arrangement of parts to improve stability. A total of nine dynamics simulations were conducted by designing three components of the PTO motor, drive motor and the battery pack, and three factors of the arrangement method. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that Type3 Level3, in which the drive motor and the PTO motor are located at the front and rear of the tractor, and two battery packs are located in the middle of the tractor, has a high rollover angle. As a result of this study, the stability increased as the center of gravity was placed backward and located below. Future research needs to be done to find the optimal location of parts considering their performance and placement efficiency.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.441-447
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• 2023

Recently, as demand for high-strength, lightweight materials has increased, there has been great interest in joining with metals. In the case of mechanical bonding, such as bolting and riveting, chemical bonding using adhesives is attracting attention as stress concentration, cracks, and peeling occur. In this paper, surface treatment was performed to improve the adhesive strength, and the change in adhesive strength was analyzed. For the adhesive strength test were conducted with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic(CFRP), CR340(Steel), and Al6061(Aluminum), and laser and plasma surface treatment were used. After plasma surface treatment, the adhesive strength improved by 7.3% and 39.2% in CFRP-CR340 and CFRP-Al6061, respectively. CR340-Al6061 was improved by 56.2% in laser surface treatment. Surface free energy(SFE) was measured by contact angle after plasma treatment, and it is thought that the adhesion strength was improved by minimizing damage through a chemical reaction mechanism. For laser surface treatment, it is thought that creates a rough bonding surface and improves adhesive strength due to the mechanical interlocking effect. Therefore, surface treatment is effect to improve adhesive strength, and based on this paper, the long-term fatigue test will be conducted to prevent fatigue failure, which is a representative cause of actual structural damage.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.519-524
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• 2023

In hashing-based image retrieval, the hash code of a manipulated image is different from the original image, making it difficult to search for the same image. This paper proposes and evaluates a self-supervised deephashing model that generates perceptual hash codes from feature information such as texture, shape, and color of images. The comparison models are autoencoder-based variational inference models, but the encoder is designed with a fully connected layer, convolutional neural network, and transformer modules. The proposed model is a variational inference model that includes a SimAM module of extracting geometric patterns and positional relationships within images. The SimAM module can learn latent vectors highlighting objects or local regions through an energy function using the activation values of neurons and surrounding neurons. The proposed method is a representation learning model that can generate low-dimensional latent vectors from high-dimensional input images, and the latent vectors are binarized into distinguishable hash code. From the experimental results on public datasets such as CIFAR-10, ImageNet, and NUS-WIDE, the proposed model is superior to the comparative model and analyzed to have equivalent performance to the supervised learning-based deephashing model. The proposed model can be used in application systems that require low-dimensional representation of images, such as image search or copyright image determination.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.145-160
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze diurnal thermal environments using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAV)-derived physical parameters(NDVI, SVF) and ENVI-met modeling. The research findings revealed significant correlations, with a significance level of 1%, between UAV-derived NDVI, SVF, and thermal environment elements such as S↑, S↓, L↓, L↑, Land Surface Temperature(LST), and Tmrt. In particular, NDVI showed a strong negative correlation with S↑, reaching a minimum of -0.52^** at 12:00, and exhibited a positive correlation of 0.53^** or higher with L↓ at all times. A significant negative correlation of -0.61^** with LST was observed at 13:00, suggesting the high relevance of NDVI to long-wavelength radiation. Regarding SVF, the results showed a strong relationship with long-wave radiative flux, depending on the SVF range. These research findings offer an integrated approach to evaluating thermal comfort and microclimates in urban areas. Furthermore, they can be applied to understand the impact of urban design and landscape characteristics on pedestrian thermal comfort.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.437-450
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• 2024

Objective: Vanin-1 (VNN1) is a pantetheinase that catalyses the hydrolysis of pantetheine to produce pantothenic acid and cysteamine. Our previous studies have shown that the VNN1 is specifically expressed in chicken liver which negatively regulated by microRNA-122. However, the functions of the VNN1 in lipid metabolism in chicken liver haven't been elucidated. Methods: First, we detected the VNN1 mRNA expression in 4-week chickens which were fasted 24 hours. Next, knocked out VNN1 via CRISPR/Cas9 system in the chicken Leghorn Male Hepatoma cell line. Detected the lipid deposition via oil red staining and analysis the content of triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein-C (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein-C (HDL-C) after VNN1 knockout in Leghorn Male Hepatoma cell line. Then we captured various differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between VNN1-modified LMH cells and original LMH cells by RNA-seq. Results: Firstly, fasting-induced expression of VNN1. Meanwhile, we successfully used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to achieve targeted mutations of the VNN1 in the chicken LMH cell line. Moreover, the expression level of VNN1 mRNA in LMH-KO-VNN1 cells decreased compared with that in the wild-type LMH cells (p<0.0001). Compared with control, lipid deposition was decreased after knockout VNN1 via oil red staining, meanwhile, the contents of TG and LDL-C were significantly reduced, and the content of HDL-C was increased in LMH-KO-VNN1 cells. Transcriptome sequencing showed that there were 1,335 DEGs between LMH-KO-VNN1 cells and original LMH cells. Of these DEGs, 431 were upregulated, and 904 were downregulated. Gene ontology analyses of all DEGs showed that the lipid metabolism-related pathways, such as fatty acid biosynthesis and long-chain fatty acid biosynthesis, were enriched. KEGG pathway analyses showed that "lipid metabolism pathway", "energy metabolism", and "carbohydrate metabolism" were enriched. A total of 76 DEGs were involved in these pathways, of which 29 genes were upregulated (such as cytochrome P450 family 7 subfamily A member 1, ELOVL fatty acid elongase 2, and apolipoprotein A4) and 47 genes were downregulated (such as phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1) by VNN1 knockout in the LMH cells. Conclusion: These results suggest that VNN1 plays an important role in coordinating lipid metabolism in the chicken liver.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.58-69
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• 2024

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an electro-membrane process employing ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) that can harvest electric energy from the concentration difference between seawater and river water. Multivalent ions contained in seawater and river water bind strongly to the fixed charge groups of the IEM, causing high resistance and reducing open-circuit voltage and power density through uphill transport. In this study, a pore-filled anion-exchange membrane (PFAEM) with excellent monovalent ion selectivity and electrochemical properties was fabricated and characterized for RED application. The monovalent ion selectivity of the prepared membrane was 3.65, which was superior to a commercial membrane (ASE, Astom Corp.) with a selectivity of 1.27 under the same conditions. Additionally, the prepared membrane showed excellent electrochemical properties, including low electrical resistance compared to ASE. As a result of evaluating RED performance under seawater of 0.459 M NaCl/0.0510 M Na₂SO₄ and river water of 0.0153 M NaCl/0.0017 M Na₂SO₄, the maximum power density of 1.80 W/m² was obtained by applying the prepared membrane, which is a 40.6% improved output performance compared to the ASE membrane.