• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.643-659
• /
• 2022

Geologic sequestration technologies such as CCS (carbon capture and storage), EGS (enhanced geothermal systems), and EOR (enhanced oil recovery) have been widely implemented in recent years, prompting evaluation of the mechanical stability of storage sites. As fluid injection can stimulate mechanical instability in storage layers by perturbing the stress state and pore pressure, poroelastic models considering various injection scenarios are required. In this study, we calculate the pore pressure, stress distribution, and vertical displacement along a surface using commercial finite element software (COMSOL); fault slips are subsequently simulated using PyLith, an open-source finite element software. The displacement fields, are obtained from PyLith is transferred back to COMSOL to determine changes in coseismic stresses and surface displacements. Our sequential use of COMSOL-PyLith-COMSOL for poroelastic modeling of fluid-injection and induced-earthquakes reveals large variations of pore pressure, vertical displacement, and Coulomb failure stress change during injection periods. On the other hand, the residual stress diffuses into the remote field after injection stops. This flow pattern suggests the necessity of numerical modeling and long-term monitoring, even after injection has stopped. We found that the time at which the Coulomb failure stress reaches the critical point greatly varies with the hydraulic and poroelastic properties (e.g., permeability and Biot-Willis coefficient) of the fault and injection layer. We suggest that an understanding of the detailed physical properties of the surrounding layer is important in selecting the injection site. Our numerical results showing the surface displacement and deviatoric stress distribution with different amounts of fault slip highlight the need to test more variable fault slip scenarios.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2024

Objectives: Ephedrae herba (EH) and Coicis semen (CS) has been frequently prescribed for the treatment of obesity. However, effects of combinational extracts of these two herbs on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of EH and CS on lipid accumulation and glucose absorption in free fatty acids (FFAs) or palmitic acid (PA)-treated HepG2 cells. Methods: Five samples of EH and CS were extracted by combination ratios (S1=0:100, S2=25:75, S3=50:50, S4=75:25, S5=100:0). Oil Red O staining was used to measure lipid accumulation in FFAs-induced steatosis cells. Intracellular triglycerides and total cholesterol levels were measured in FFAs-induced steatotic HepG2 cells. In PA-treated cells, intracellular 2-NBDG was detected using a fluorescence microplate reader and flow cytometry. Phosphorylation of key metabolism-related factors of AMP-activated protein kinase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase, expression of key lipid synthesis-related factors carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 alpha (CPT1α), sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPα) were confirmed by western blot. Results: Treatment of EH-CS combination in the FFAs-induced steatotic HepG2 cells significantly reduced lipid accumulation. As the relative ratio of Ephedrae herba increased, the lipid-lowering effects of the combination were increased. However, S1 and S5 of Ephedrae herba and Coicis semen did not significantly reduce triglycerides and total cholesterol induced by FFAs. However, the combination of Ephedrae herba and Coicis semen restored glucose absorption in PA-induced HepG2 cells. Major makers of SREBP1, PPARγ, C/EBPα, and CPT1α expression tended to decrease with EH ratio. Conclusions: The EH-CS combination has advantages over sole EH and CS extracts in improving lipid and glucose metabolism in liver steatosis models.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.373-383
• /
• 2011

Tributyltin (TBT) is one of endocrine disrupters which are known as having similar function to sex steroid hormone inducing apoptosis in various tissues of rodents. Recently, it has been reported that TBT induces apoptosis in thymus causing the decreased thymic function, but little is known about the mechanism. To elucidate the mechanism, three-week-old SD female rats were orally administrated with TBT 1, 10, and 25 mg per body weight (kg) and sesame oil as a control for 7 days. On day 8, the thymi were obtained and weighed, and then the number of thymocytes was counted. We also performed H&E staining, TUNEL assay, and Annexin V flow cytometric analysis to examine the apoptosis rates and the structure in the thymus. Next, we investigated the adipogenesis and apoptosis-related mRNA expression levels in the thymi by real-time PCR. The thymic weight and the number of thymocytes were decreased by TBT in a dose-dependent manner. As a result of the H&E staining, the boundary between cortical and medullary area was blurred in the thymi of TBT treated rats compared to those of controls. In the results of TUNEL assay and Annexin V flow cytometric analysis, apoptosis rates in the thymus were increased after TBT treatment. The expression levels of thymic epithelial cell marker genes such as EVA, KGF, AIRE, and IL-7 were significantly decreased in the thymi of TBT treated rats, but $PPAR{\gamma}$, aP2, PEPCK, and CD36 were significantly increased. The expression of $TNF{\alpha}$ and TNFR1 as apoptosis-related genes also was significantly increased after TBT treatment. The present study demonstrates that TBT can increase the expression of adipogenesis and apoptosis-related genes leading to apoptosis in the thymus. These results suggest that the increased adipogenesis of thymus by TBT exposure might induce apoptosis in the thymus resulting in a loss in thymic immune function.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.173-178
• /
• 2009

Epidemiological studies showed that high trans-fat consumption is closely associated with getting the risks of cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to produce trans-free fat through lipase-catalyzed interesterification, as a substitute for the cream margarine commonly used in industry. Optimum conditions for interesterification in a packed bed enzyme bioreactor (PBEB) were determined using response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design. Three kinds of reaction variables were chosen, such as substrate flow rate (0.4-1.2 mL/min), reaction temperature (60-70$^{\circ}C$), and ratio of fully hydrogenated canola oil (FHCO, 35-45%) to evaluate their effects on the degree of interesterification. Optimum conditions from the standpoint of solid fat content (SFC) were found to be as follows: 0.4 mL/min flow rate, 64.7$^{\circ}C$ reaction temperate, and 42.8% (w/w) ratio of FHCO, respectively. The half-life of immobilized lipase in PBEB with two stages at 60$^{\circ}C$ ($1^{st}$ stage) and 55$^{\circ}C$ ($2^{nd}$ stage) was about more than 30 days as estimated by extrapolating the incubation time course of tristearoyl glycerol (TS) conversion, whereas the half-life of the enzyme in PBEB with single stage at 65$^{\circ}C$ was only about 15 days. Finally, the results from SFC analysis suggest that trans-free fat produced in this study seems to be a suitable substitute for the cream margarine commonly used in industry.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.166-172
• /
• 2018

This study set out to conduct a field survey with smart greenhouse-based farms in seven types to figure out the actual state of smart greenhouses distributed across the nation before selecting a system to implement an optimal greenhouse environment and doing a research on higher productivity based on data related to crop growth, development, and environment. The findings show that the farms were close to an intelligent or advanced smart farm, given the main purposes of leading cases across the smart farm types found in the field. As for the age of farmers, those who were in their forties and sixties accounted for the biggest percentage, but those who were in their fifties or younger ran 21 farms that accounted for approximately 70.0%. The biggest number of farmers had a cultivation career of ten years or less. As for the greenhouse type, the 1-2W type accounted for 50.0%, and the multispan type accounted for 80.0% at 24 farms. As for crops they cultivated, only three farms cultivated flowers with the remaining farms growing only fruit vegetables, of which the tomato and paprika accounted for approximately 63.6%. As for control systems, approximately 77.4% (24 farms) used a domestic control system. As for the control method of a control system, three farms regulated temperature and humidity only with a control panel with the remaining farms adopting a digital control method to combine a panel with a computer. There were total nine environmental factors to measure and control including temperature. While all the surveyed farms measured temperature, the number of farms installing a ventilation or air flow fan or measuring the concentration of carbon dioxide was relatively small. As for a heating system, 46.7% of the farms used an electric boiler. In addition, hot water boilers, heat pumps, and lamp oil boilers were used. As for investment into a control system, there was a difference in the investment scale among the farms from 10 million won to 100 million won. As for difficulties with greenhouse management, the farmers complained about difficulties with using a smart phone and digital control system due to their old age and the utter absence of education and materials about smart greenhouse management. Those difficulties were followed by high fees paid to a consultant and system malfunction in the order.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.200-206
• /
• 2016

The 7-week feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of one experimental diet (ED) and five different commercial diets (CDs) on growth and body composition of juvenile olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus. An ED was formulated to contain 50.0% crude protein (CP) from fishmeal, casein, zein and wheat flour and 15.0% crude lipid (CL) from squid liver oil. Five CDs for seawater fish were two domestic E commercial diet (DECD) and C commercial diet (DCCD), three imported H commercial diet (IHCD), M commercial diet (IMCD) and O commercial diet (IOCD) containing 53.1~58.0% CP and 4.8~12.7% CL, respectively. Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of juvenile olive flounder initially weighing $29.1{\pm}0.8g/fish\;(mean{\pm}SD)$ in a flow-through seawater system with a water temperature of $23.4{\sim}28.0^{\circ}C$. Weight gain (WG) was significantly greatest in fish fed the IMCD; intermediate responses were observed for fish fed the DECD, DCCD, and IOCD, while the IHCD and the ED produced the lowest WG values. Feed efficiencies (FE) were similar to WG excluding fish fed the DCCD; FE was also greatest in fish fed the DCCD. Survival with no significant difference approached 100% for fish fed the all six diets in this experiment. Whole-body crude protein and ash contents were not affected excluding moisture and crude lipid by the different type of diets. Therefore, type of diets appeared to be important factor in influencing WG, FE and whole-body moisture and crude lipid of juvenile olive flounder; the best diet for juvenile olive flounder was determined to be the imported commercial M diets containing intermediate protein (55.9%) and lipid (12.7%) in natural seawater based on highest WG, and FE, respectively. This study indicates that the one commercially formulated diet containing intermediate protein and lipid used in this experiment could be a practical diet for juvenile olive flounder; these differences in growth performance between ED and CDs may be due to different dietary protein and lipid levels.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.398-405
• /
• 2012

PAHs(Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) in coastal area and estuary adjacent to urban area and industrial activities region are mainly introduced into marine environment via atmosphere and river. This study which is evaluated the distribution characteristics of PAHs discharge from rivers and sewage disposal water which flowing into Ulsan bay, and were carried out in Jun of dry season and in Auguest of wet season, 2008. The water samples from eight main rivers and Youngyeon WWTP(Wastewater Treatment Plant) flowed into Ulsan bay were taken for analysis of dissolved PAHs. The range and mean values of dissolved PAHs concentrations showed 10.30 to 87.88 ng/L, its mean 36.94 ng/L in dry season and 10.30 to 69.57 ng/L, its mean 24.37 ng/L in wet season. The distribution of dissolved PAHs showd the high concentrations in the Gungcheoncheon which is flowed from urban and industrial area. The ranges and means values of the loading fluxes were estimated with 0.04 to 8.27 g/day, its mean 2.05 g/day in dry season, and 0.03 to 4.77 g/day, its mean 1.61 g/day, in wet season. The loading flux showed the highest value in Taewha river due to the high flow rate and the urban activity. The composition patterns of dissolved PAHs compound showed most of the trend occupying low molecuar weight PAHs than high molecular weight PAHs. These results were due to physical and chemical characteristics of PAHs compound, and were similar to those of other studies. The concentrations of dissolved PAHs in this study are lower than those of other studies, and the level of PAHs pollution appeared to be not serious in reverine waters of Ulsan coast.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.47 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2014

Purpose: Several studies have proven that EGCG, the primary green tea catechin, and glucosamine-6-phosphate (PGlc) reduce triglyceride contents in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The objective of this study is to evaluate the combination effect of EGCG and PGlc on decline of accumulated fat in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Methods: EGCG and PGlc were administered for 6 day for differentiation of 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Cell viability was measured using the CCK assay kit. In addition, TG accumulation in culture 3T3-L1 adipocytes was investigated by Oil Red O staining. We examined the expres-sion level of several genes and proteins associated with adipogenesis and lipolysis using real-time RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. A flow cytometer Calibar was used to assess the effect of EGCG and PGluco on cell-cycle progression of differentiating 3T3-L1 cells. Results: Intracelluar lipid accumulation was significantly decreased by combination treatment with EGCG $60{\mu}M$ and PGlc $200{\mu}g/m$ compared with control and EGCG treatment alone. In addition, use of combination treatment resulted in directly decreased expression of $PPAR{\gamma}$, $C/EBP{\alpha}$, and SREBP1. In addition, it inhibited adipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis through downstream regulation of adipogenic target genes such as FAS, ACSL1, and LPL, and the inhibitory action of EGCG and PGlc was found to inhibit the mitotic clonal expansion (MCE) process as evidenced by impaired cell cycle entry into S phase and the S to G2/M phase transition of confluent cells and levels of cell cycle regulating proteins such as cyclin A and CDK2. Conclusion: Combination treatment of EGCG and PGlc inhibited adipocyte differentiation through decreased expression of genes related to adipogenesis and adipogenic and cell cycle arrest in early stage of adipocyte differentiation.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.53 no.10
• /
• pp.845-859
• /
• 2020

Climate change and recent heat waves have drawn public attention toward other environmental issues, such as water pollution in the form of algal blooms, chemical leaks, and oil spills. Water pollution by the leakage of chemicals may severely affect human health as well as contaminate the air, water, and soil and cause discoloration or death of crops that come in contact with these chemicals. Chemicals that may spill into water streams are often colorless and water-soluble, which makes it difficult to determine whether the water is polluted using the naked eye. When a chemical spill occurs, it is usually detected through a simple contact detection device by installing sensors at locations where leakage is likely to occur. The drawback with the approach using contact detection sensors is that it relies heavily on the skill of field workers. Moreover, these sensors are installed at a limited number of locations, so spill detection is not possible in areas where they are not installed. Recently hyperspectral images have been used to identify land cover and vegetation and to determine water quality by analyzing the inherent spectral characteristics of these materials. While hyperspectral sensors can potentially be used to detect chemical substances, there is currently a lack of research on the detection of chemicals in water streams using hyperspectral sensors. Therefore, this study utilized remote sensing techniques and the latest sensor technology to overcome the limitations of contact detection technology in detecting the leakage of hazardous chemical into aquatic systems. In this study, we aimed to determine whether 18 types of hazardous chemicals could be individually classified using hyperspectral image. To this end, we obtained hyperspectral images of each chemical to establish a spectral library. We expect that future studies will expand the spectral library database for hazardous chemicals and that verification of its application in water streams will be conducted so that it can be applied to real-time monitoring to facilitate rapid detection and response when a chemical spill has occurred.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.293-299
• /
• 2015

The feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of one experimental diet (EDP) and five different commercial diets (CEPs) on growth and body composition for juvenile parrot fish, Oplegnathus fasciatus. An EDP was formulated to contain 50% crude protein (CP) from fishmeal, casein, zein and wheat flour and 15% crude lipid (CL) from squid liver oil. Five CEPs for seawater fish were two domestic E commercial diet (DECD) and C commercial diet (DCCD), three imported H commercial diet (IHCD), L commercial diet (ILCD) and O commercial diet (IOCD) containing 53.1~66.6% CP and 10.7~14.6% CL, respectively. Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of juvenile parrot fish initially weighing $1.14{\pm}.01g/fish$ (mean${\pm}$SD) in a flow-through seawater system with a water temperature of $19.0{\sim}25.0^{\circ}C$. Weight gain (WG) and feed efficiency (FE) were significantly greatest in fish fed the DCCD and IOCD; intermediate responses were observed for fish fed the ILCD, while the IECD, IHCD, and the EDP produced the lowest WG and FE values. Survival with no significant difference approached 100% for fish fed the all six diets in this experiment. Whole-body moisture, protein, lipid and ash contents were not affected by the different type of diets. Therefore, type of diets appeared to be important factor in influencing WG and FE of juvenile parrot fish; the best diets for juvenile parrot fish was determined to be the domestic commercial C and the imported commercial O diets containing high protein (61.3, 66.6%) and lipid (14.6, 13.0%) in natural seawater based on highest WG, and FE, respectively. This study indicates that the two commercially formulated diets containing two highest proteins and lipids used in this experiment could be practical diets for juvenile parrot fish; these differences of growth performance between experimental diet and commercial diets may be reason for different dietary protein and lipid levels.