• Composites Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.63-66
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• 2007

Structural analysis of automotive engine cover under vibration excitation is performed by finite element analysis (FEA) in order to identify the critical area of the structure. Assembly load due to the tightening of the bolts as well as the vibration excitation were considered to describe the actual loading condition. Natural frequencies of the system were extracted considering the damping effect of the structure. Dynamic analysis was performed based on the extracted natural frequency of the system. Experimental modal analysis (EMA) and measurement of strains were performed to verify the results of the analysis. Analysis results correlated closely with the experimental results. Analysis and experiments showed that contribution of the assembly load should not be ignored to predict the structural failure of the engine cover.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.615-629
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• 2021

An active compound, triterpene saponin, astersaponin I (AKNS-2) was isolated from Aster koraiensis Nakai (AKNS) and the autophagy activation and neuroprotective effect was investigated on in vitro and in vivo Parkinson's disease (PD) models. The autophagy-regulating effect of AKNS-2 was monitored by analyzing the expression of autophagy-related protein markers in SH-SY5Y cells using Western blot and fluorescent protein quenching assays. The neuroprotection of AKNS-2 was tested by using a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-2,3-dihydropyridium ion (MPP⁺)-induced in vitro PD model in SH-SY5Y cells and an MPTP-induced in vivo PD model in mice. The compound-treated SH-SY5Y cells not only showed enhanced microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3-II (LC3-II) and decreased sequestosome 1 (p62) expression but also showed increased phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinases (p-Erk), phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK) and phosphorylated unc-51-like kinase (p-ULK) and decreased phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) expression. AKNS-2-activated autophagy could be inhibited by the Erk inhibitor U0126 and by AMPK siRNA. In the MPP⁺-induced in vitro PD model, AKNS-2 reversed the reduced cell viability and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) levels and reduced the induced α-synuclein level. In an MPTP-induced in vivo PD model, AKNS-2 improved mice behavioral performance, and it restored dopamine synthesis and TH and α-synuclein expression in mouse brain tissues. Consistently, AKNS-2 also modulated the expressions of autophagy related markers in mouse brain tissue. Thus, AKNS-2 upregulates autophagy by activating the Erk/mTOR and AMPK/mTOR pathways. AKNS-2 exerts its neuroprotective effect through autophagy activation and may serve as a potential candidate for PD therapy.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.803-808
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• 2006

The neutron induced nuclear cross section data for Ir-191 and Ir-193 were calculated and evaluated from unresolved resonance energy to 20MeV. The energy-dependent optical model potential parameters were determined based on the experimental data and applied up to 20MeV. A spherical optical model, a statistical model in an equilibrium energy region, and a multistep direct and multistep compound model in a pre-equilibrium energy region were used in the calculations. The direct capture model enhanced the fast neutron capture in the pre-equilibrium energy. The theoretically calculated cross sections were compared with the experimental data and the evaluated files. The calculations were found to be in good agreement with the experiment data. The evaluated cross section results were compiled with the ENDF-6 format. The fast energy results will be merged with the resonance parts to create a full evaluation library. The improvement of the neutron-induced cross section data will contribute to an increase in the efficiency of the production of Ir-192 as a radiation source.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.799-807
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• 2020

Background: The skin acts as a barrier to protect organisms against harmful exogenous agents. Compound K (CK) is an active metabolite of ginsenoside Rb1, Rb2 and Rc, and researchers have focused on its skin protective efficacy. In this study, we hypothesized that increased expression of the serine protease inhibitor Kazal type-5 (SPINK5) may improve skin barrier function. Methods: We screened several ginsenosides to increase SPINK5 gene promoter activity using a transactivation assay and found that CK can increase SPINK5 expression. To investigate the protective effect of CK on the skin barrier, RT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to investigate the expression levels of SPINK5, kallikrein 5 (KLK5), KLK7 and PAR2 in UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells. Measurement of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and histological changes associated with the skin barrier were performed in a UVB-irradiated mouse model and a 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB)-induced atopic dermatitis-like model. Results: CK treatment increased the expression of SPINK5 and decreased the expression of its downstream genes, such as KLKs and PAR2. In the UVB-irradiated mouse model and the DNCB-induced atopic dermatitis model, CK restored increased TEWL and decreased hydration and epidermal hyperplasia. In addition, CK normalized the reduced SPINK5 expression caused by UVB or DNCB, thereby restoring the expression of the proteins involved in desquamation to a level similar to normal. Conclusions: Our data showed that CK contributes to improving skin-barrier function in UVB-irradiated and DNCB-induced atopic dermatitis-like models through SPINK5. These results suggest that therapeutic attempts with CK might be useful in treating barrier-disrupted diseases.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.306-313
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• 2020

To investigate the reinforcing effects of functional fillers in nitrile rubber (NBR) materials, high-structure carbon black (HS45), coated calcium carbonate (C-CaCO3), silica (200MP), and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as functional filler, and carbon black (SRF) as a common filler were used for oil-resistant rubber. The curing and mechanical properties of HS45-, 200MP-, and MWCNT-filled NBR compounds were improved compared to those of the SRF-filled NBR compound. The reinforcing effect also increased with a decrease in the particle size of the fillers. The C-CaCO3-filled NBR compound exhibited no reinforcing effect with increasing filler concentration because of their large primary particle size (2 ㎛). The reinforcing behavior based on 100% modulus of the functional filler based NBR compounds was compared by using several predictive equation models. The reinforcing behavior of the C-CaCO3-filled NBR compound was in accordance with the Smallwood-Einstein equation whereas the 200MP- and MWCNT-filled NBR compounds fitted well with the modified Guth-Gold (m-Guth-Gold) equation. The SRF- and HS45-filled NBR compounds exhibited reinforcing behavior in accordance with the Guth-Gold and m-Guth-Gold equations, respectively, at a low filler content. However, the values of reinforcement parameter (100Mf/100Mu) of the SRF- and HS45-filled NBR compounds were higher than those determined by the predictive equation model at a high filler content. Because the chains of SRF composed of spherical filler particles are similarly changed to rod-like filler particles embedded in a rubber matrix and the reinforcement parameter rapidly increased with a high content of HS45, the higher-structured filler. The reinforcing effectiveness of the functional fillers was numerically evaluated on the basis of the effectiveness index (��SRF/��f) determined by the ratio of the volume fraction of the functional filler (��f) to that of the SRF filler (��SRF) at three unit of reinforcing parameter (100Mf/100Mu). On the basis of their effectiveness index, MWCNT-, 200MP-, and HS45-filled compounds showed higher reinforcing effectiveness of 420%, 70%, and 20% than that of SRF-filled compound, respectively whereas C-CaCO3-filled compound exhibited lower reinforcing effectiveness of -50% than that of SRF-filled compound.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.173-182
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• 1996

An analytical model has been developed to predict the elastic properties of a filled resin reinforced by chopped fibers, a three-phase composite such as a filled sheet molding compound(SMC). In the model the matrix material and fillers form an effective matrix. The effective matrix is then considered to be reinforced with long fibers lying in the sheet plane but randomly oriented in the plane. Expressions for the resulting transversely isotropic composite properties are explicitly presented. Using this model, the Young's and shear moduli are calculated for the SMC sample with filler weight fraction of 35% and fiber content of 30%. The same properties are also determined experimentally. The agreement between the calculated and measured elastic moduli is found to be very good for the in-plane properties. However, the out-of-plane properties show a large difference because the effect of voids is not taken into account in the model.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.66-71
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• 2001

The objective of this study was to depict the kinetic behavior of the platinum catalyst for the deep oxidation of aromatic solvents and their binary mixtures. The oxidation kinetics of aromatic solvents, which were benzene, toluene and m-xylene, was studied on a 0.5% $Pt/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ catalyst. Deep oxidation of binary mixtures, which were 1:1 in volume, was carried out and the inlet concentration was controlled in the range of 133 and 333ppmv. An approach based on the two-stage redox model was used to analysis the results. The deep oxidation conversion of aromatic solvents was inversely proportional to inlet concentration in plug flow reactor. This trend is due to the zeroth-order kinetics with respect to inlet concentration. The kinetic parameters of multicomponent model were independently evaluated from the single compound oxidation experiments. A simple multicomponent model based on two-stage redox rate model made reasonably good predictions of conversion over the range of parameters studied.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.92-97
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• 2003

Model compounds and polymers having N-substituted 1,2-diphenylmaleimide moieties were synthesized and characterized by NMR, IR, UV, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescence intensity could be controlled by N-substituents of model compounds and polymers. As the structure of an N-substituent of them was bulkier, or the electron density of an N-substituent was denser, the photoluminescence intensity was increased. All the compounds showed greenish yellow photoluminescence with the maximum intensity between 510 and 537 nm. From quantum efficiency data of the model compounds and the polymers, the fluorescence intensity of the polymer 11 was higher than that of the model compound 4.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.929-944
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• 2019

Many critical applications require accurate real-time human action recognition. However, there are many hurdles associated with capturing and pre-processing image data, calculating features, and classification because they consume significant resources for both storage and computation. To circumvent these hurdles, this paper presents a recognition machine learning (ML) based system model which uses reduced data structure features by projecting real 3D skeleton modality on virtual 2D space. The MMU VAAC dataset is used to test the proposed ML model. The results show a high accuracy rate of 97.88% which is only slightly lower than the accuracy when using the original 3D modality-based features but with a 75% reduction ratio from using RGB modality. These results motivate implementing the proposed recognition model on an embedded system platform in the future.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2020

This study was to develop a simulation model of a compound planetary gear reducer for the final driving shaft using a gear analysis software (KISSsoft, Version 2017, KISSsoft AG, Switzerland). The aim of this study is to analyze transmission error and the tooth load distribution through micro-geometry using the simulation model. The tip and root relief were modified with Micro-geometry in the profile direction, and crowning was modified with Micro-geometry in the lead direction. The transmission error was analyzed using the PPTE (Peak to Peak Transmission Error) value, and the tooth load distribution was analyzed for the concentrated stress on the tooth surface. As a result of modifying tip and relief in the profile direction, the transmission error was reduced up to 40.7%. In the case of modifying crowning in the lead direction, the tooth load was more evenly distributed than before and decreased the stress on the tooth surface. After modifying the profile direction for the 1st and 2nd planetary gear train, the bending and contact safety factors were increased by 31.7% and 17%, and 18.3% and 12.5% respectively. Moreover, the bending and safety factors after modifying lead direction were increased by 59.5% and 32.7%, respectively for the 1st planetary gear train, and 59.6% and 43.6%, respectively for the 2nd planetary gear train. In future studies, the optimal design of a compound planetary gear reducer for the final driving shaft is needed considering both the transmission error and tooth load distribution.