• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.253-259
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• 2001

There are many methods to produce metal foams, which can be classified into three groups according to the state of the starting metal i.e. liquid or powder or solid. Three types of defects such as cell closing, cell deformation or breakdown and cell misrun are thought to be occurred when we make the open cell aluminum foams by precision casting. Filling ability of the mold slurry between preform is related with cell closing, mold collapsibility is related with cell deformation or breakdown, mold temperature and pouring pressure are related with cell misrun. These factors can be evaluated by measuring slurry fluidity, burnout strength and permeability of the mold. Properties of the plaster mold were evaluated to find optimum mold conditions for high quality open cell aluminum foam in this study. Permeability was almost zero independent of burnout conditions, however, crack initiation was found on the surface of all specimens one or two minutes after taking out from the furnace. Crack has grown and disappeared with time. This crack may facilitate the mold filling when molten metal is poured, because of the improved mold permeability. It was considered that crack initiation and disappearance was closely related with temperature difference between the surface and inner part. Knocking-out the mold is a difficult problem due to the small cell size, because continuous mesh structure of the metal foam is not strong. It is not easy to remove molding material after pouring. We can expect that water quenching can facilitate the knocking-out the mold after solidification without damaging cell structures. Collapsed particles after water quenching became bigger with the increase in time.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.369-376
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• 2022

In this study, the stability of an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) cell was evaluated in an on-off cycling operation with respect to an applied electric bias, i.e., a current density of 500 mA cm^-2, and an open circuit. The ohmic and polarization resistances of the system were monitored during operation (~800 h) using electrochemical impedance spectra. Specific consideration was given to the ohmic resistance of the cell, especially that of the membrane under on-off cycling conditions, by consistently feeding the cell with KOH solution. Owing to an excess feed solution, a momentary increase in the polarization resistance was observed immediately after the open-circuit. The excess feed solution was mostly recovered by subjecting the cell to the applied electric bias. Stability tests on the AEMWE cell under on-off cycling with continuous feeding even under an open circuit can guarantee long-term stability by avoiding an irreversible increase in ohmic and polarization resistances.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.17-28
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• 1991

The purpose of this study is to investigate and present a method for measuring public accessibility to urban open spaces. A basic assumption is that, for urban open space policies, accessibility is more important than per capita area. In this study, for the purpose of simplicity, a residential area is assumed to have access to open space if it is within a certain distance from an urban open space. Official city planning map is overlayed with a 200m grid and each cell of dwelling area is checked whether it is within a certain distance from a cell categorized as urban open space. A computer program for widely commercialized personal computer is developed for data processing so that local governments without access to more sophisticated systems can carry out similar studies for their own jurisdictions. Five cities, big, small, old and new, are selected to test the proposed method. Dwelling areas of Ansan new Town have highest accessibility to open spaces(93.4% of dwelling cells have open space cell within 500m). Seoul (91.2%), Suwon(78.2%), Pusan(73.8%), and Inchon(61.4%) have less accessibility. If we assume the Ansan City residents are evenly distributed over the dwelling area, 93.4% of the population has open spaces within walking distance of 500m. However, if we consider physical barriers such as arterial roads, railroads, and streams that reduce the accessibility, less than 93.4% of Ansan city residents enjoy good access to open spaces. Though a further detailed analysis is needed to picture the microscopic accessibility, this method can serve as a useful tool for urban open space policy and open space alternatives evaluations.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.99-107
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• 2016

Triclosan is an antimicrobial or sanitizing agent used in personal care and household products such as toothpaste, soaps, mouthwashes and kitchen utensils. There are increasing evidence of the potentially harmful effects of triclosan in many systemic and cellular processes of the body. In this study, we investigated the effects of triclosan in the survivability of cultured rat neural stem cells (NSCs). Cortical cells from embryonic day 14 rat embryos were isolated and cultured in vitro. After stabilizing the culture, triclosan was introduced to the cells with concentrations ranging from $1{\mu}M$ to $50{\mu}M$ and in varied time periods. Thereafter, cell viability parameters were measured using MTT assay and PI staining. TCS decreased the cell viability of treated NSC in a concentration-dependent manner along with increased expressions of apoptotic markers, cleaved caspase-3 and Bax, while reduced expression of Bcl2. To explore the mechanisms underlying the effects of TCS in NSC, we measured the activation of MAPKs and intracellular ROS. TCS at $50{\mu}M$ induced the activations of both p38 and JNK, which may adversely affect cell survival. In contrast, the activities of ERK, Akt and PI3K, which are positively correlated with cell survival, were inhibited. Moreover, TCS at this concentration augmented the ROS generation in treated NSC and depleted the glutathione activity. Taken together, these results suggest that TCS can induce neurodegenerative effects in developing rat brains through mechanisms involving ROS activation and apoptosis initiation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2016

Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that is known to mediate cancer cell death. Here, we show that B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), an anti-apoptotic protein, is regulated by GSK-3β and that GSK-3β-mediated regulation of Bcl-2 is crucial for mitochondrial-dependent cell death in paclitaxel-stimulated cells. We demonstrate that MCF7 GSK-3β siRNA cells are more sensitive to cell death than MCF7 GFP control cells and that in the absence of GSK-3β, Bcl-2 levels are reduced, a result enhanced by paclitaxel. Paclitaxel-induced JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) activation is critical for Bcl-2 modulation. In the absence of GSK-3β, Bcl-2 was unstable in an ubiquitination-dependent manner in both basal- and paclitaxel-treated cells. Furthermore, we demonstrate that GSK-3β-mediated regulation of Bcl-2 influences cytochrome C release and mitochondrial membrane potential. Taken together, our data suggest that GSK-3β-dependent regulation of Bcl-2 is crucial for mitochondria-dependent cell death in paclitaxel-mediated breast cancer therapy. [BMB Reports 2016; 49(1): 51-56]

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2007

Compressive properties of the open cell 6063 aluminum alloy foams made by the plaster molding process were investigated before and after heat treatment. Loading process was controlled at a displacement rate of 2 mm/min. Compressive strength of 10 PPI foam was the largest of the same density foams. Increase in strength after heat treatment for the bulk material was remark able, however was not for the 6063 aluminum foam. C values were in the range of $0.39{\sim}0.53$ for as cast foams and $0.13{\sim}0.16$ for T6 heat treated foams in the equation of ${sigma}^*_{pl}/{\sigma}_{ys}=C({\rho}/{\rho}_{s})^{1.5}$ and increased with cell size.

• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.283-288
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• 2015

We found that resveratrol enhances interferon (IFN)-γ-induced tryptophanyl-tRNA-synthetase (TTS) expression in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). Resveratrol-induced TTS expression is associated with glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) activity. In addition, we found that resveratrol regulates naive CD8⁺ T-cell polarization by modulating GSK-3β activity in IFN-γ-stimulated BMDCs, and that resveratol induces upregulation of TTS in CD8⁺ T-cells in the in vivo tumor environment. Taken together, resveratrol upregulates IFN-γ-induced TTS expression in a GSK-3β-dependent manner, and this TTS modulation is crucial for DC-mediated T-cell modulation. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(5): 283-288]

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2524-2528
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• 2013

Cell opening characteristics dependent on the cell openers for the conventional formulation of a closed-cell polyurethane foam (PUF) was studied using 1-butanol and lithium salt of 12-hydroxystearic acid (Li-12HSA) as the reactive cell opening agents. While cell openining content of only 10.5 % was obtained for the sample with 4 phr of 1-butanol as the single reactive cell opener, that of 98.0% could be obtained for the sample with 2 phr of Li-12HSA as the reactive co-cell opener. As the results, it showed that a fully open-cell rigid PUF could be obtained by introducing a novel reactive cell opener, having a functional group able to form a bulky side-chain on the urethane networks, without severe loss of mechanical properties of the closed-cell PUF like cell size, bulk density, and thermal conductivity.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.369-376
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• 2017

Temperature and humidity regulations of an open-cathode PEM fuel cell with balance of plant (BOP) are developed in this study. The axial fan, a bubble humidifier, set of solenoid valves and a controller are used to perform temperature and humidity control simultaneously. A fuzzy controller is designed, and it shows its superiority in real-time controlling for strong non-linear dynamical fuel cell system. The axial fan speed is used for temperature control and solenoid valve on/off signal of the bubble humidifier is used for humidity control. The axial fan speed is controlled to keep the fuel cell temperature within the desired point. Meanwhile, the bubble humidifier is utilized to moisture hydrogen to manage the water content of membrane. The results show that the proposed fuzzy controller effectively increases the output power of 10% for a PEM fuel cell.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1185-1191
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• 1992

Cell mediated immunity is depressed following surgical procedure and the degree of immunosuppression is directly related to the magintude of the procedure, blood transfusion, and length of operation. So we would expect cardiac operations to be highly immunosuppressive, although little is konwn about their immunosuppressive effect. The nearly complete consumption of complement factors and decreased levels of IgM and IgG resulting in an impaired opsonizing capacity. Additionally, peripheral blood mononuclear cell counts including T-and B-lymphocytes and T-cell subsets are reduced. Depression of cell-mediated immunity following open-heart surgery is potentially detrimental because it could increase the susceptability of patients to viral and bacterial infection. We reviewed 20 patients after cardiac operation to search for changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets. Lymphocyte subsets were measured by flow cytometer and the preoperative values of lymphocyte subsets were compared with those from the first, fourth, and seventh days after operation. After cardiac operation, total mumbers of T lymphocyte was severely depressed on the first postoperative day and returned to the preoperative level by the seventh day after operation. CD3, CD4, and CD8 lymphocytes were decreased on the first postoperative day and returned to the preoperative level by the seventh day also. There was four cases of wound infection and these patients had increased CD4 lympocyte and more decreased CD19 lymphocyte compared with the non-infected group. It is concluded from these data that cell-mediated immunity is significantly depressed for at least one week following open-heart surgery and this result was closely related to the postoperative infection.