• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.227-234
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this research was to develop and evaluate natural hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramics produced from the heat treatment of pig bones. Methods: The properties of natural HA ceramics produced from pig bones were assessed in two parts. Firstly, the raw materials were characterized. A temperature of $1,200^{\circ}C$ was chosen as the calcination temperature. Fine bone powders (BPs) were produced via calcinations and a milling process. Sintered BPs were then characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and a 2-year in vitro degradability test. Secondly, an indirect cytotoxicity test was conducted on human osteoblast-like cells, MG63, treated with the BPs. Results: The average particle size of the BPs was $20{\pm}5{\mu}m$. FE-SEM showed a non-uniform distribution of the particle size. The phase obtained from XRD analysis confirmed the structure of HA. Elemental analysis using XRF detected phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) with the Ca/P ratio of 1.6. Functional groups examined by FTIR detected phosphate ($PO{_4}^{3-}$), hydroxyl ($OH^-$), and carbonate ($CO{_3}^{2-}$). The EDX, XRF, and FTIR analysis of BPs indicated the absence of organic compounds, which were completely removed after annealing at $1,200^{\circ}C$. The BPs were mostly stable in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution for 2 years. An indirect cytotoxicity test on natural HA ceramics showed no threat to the cells. Conclusions: In conclusion, the sintering temperature of $1,200^{\circ}C$ affected the microstructure, phase, and biological characteristics of natural HA ceramics consisting of calcium phosphate. The Ca-P-based natural ceramics are bioactive materials with good biocompatibility; our results indicate that the prepared HA ceramics have great potential for agricultural and biological applications.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.37-41
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• 2012

The current standard for testing tetrodotoxin (TTX) in foodstuffs is the mouse bioassay (MBA) in Korea as in many other countries. However, this test suffers from potential ethical concerns over the use of live animals. In addition, the mouse bioassay does not test for a specific toxin thus a sample resulting in mouse incapacitation would need further confirmatory testing to determine the exact source toxin (e.g., TTX, STX, brevotoxin, etc.). Furthermore, though the time of death is proportional to toxicity in this assay, the dynamic range for this proportional relationship is small thus many samples must be diluted and new mice be injected to yield a result that falls within the quantitative dynamic range. Therefore, in recent years, there have been many efforts in this field to develop alternative assays. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) has been emerged as one of the most promising options. A LC-MS-MS method involves solid-phase extraction (SPE) and followed by analysis using an electrospray in the positive ionization mode and multiple reactions monitoring (MRM). To adopt LC-MS-MS method as alternative standard for testing TTX, we performed a validation study for the quantification of TTX in puffer fish. This LC-MS-MS method showed good sensitivity as limits of detection (LOD) of $0.03{\sim}0.08{\mu}g/g$ and limits of quantification (LOQ) of $0.10{\sim}0.25{\mu}g/g$. The linearity ($r^2$) of tetrodotoxin were 0.9986~0.9997, the recovery were 80.9~103.0% and the relative standard deviations (RSD) were 4.3~13.0%. The correlation coefficient between the mouse bioassay and LC/MS/MS method was higher than 0.95.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.701-706
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• 2008

High frequency dielectric ceramics have potential for applications in mobile and satellite communications systems at frequencies higher than 10GHz. The Ba$(Zn_{1/3}Ta_{2/3})O_3$ ceramics are known to have a high quality factor, a small temperature coefficient of the resonance frequency and a high dielectric constant. On the other hands, sintering at high temperature for extended time is required to obtain the ordered structure for high quality factor. In this study, the microwave dielectric properties of $ZrO_2$ and NiO-added Ba$(Zn_{1/3}Ta_{2/3})O_3$ ceramics prepared by solid-state reaction have been investigated. Adding $ZrO_2$ and NiO could effectively promote the densification even the case of decreasing the sintering time. At the surface of samples, secondary phase of Ba-Ta compounds was formed possibly due to the evaporation of ZnO, however, the interior of the samples remained as pure Ba$(Zn_{1/3}Ta_{2/3})O_3$. The samples sintered at $1600^{\circ}C$ for 2h exhibited 1:2 ordering of Zn and Ta cations. Excellent microwave dielectric properties of $Q{\cdot}f$(>96,000 GHz) and ${\varepsilon}_r$=30 has been obtained.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.757-766
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• 2012

The SSH100-10 bacterial strain, which exhibits strong antifungal (anti-mold and anti-yeast) activity, was isolated from traditional korean soysauce aged 100 years. The strain was identified as Bacillus velezensis based on Gram-staining, the biochemical properties and 16S rRNA gene sequence determination. B. velezensis SSH100-10 showed strong proteinase activity and NaCl tolerance, but did not produce enterotoxin. Two-antifungal compounds from B. velezensis SSH100-10 were purified using SPE, preparative HPLC, and reverse phase-HPLC. The purified antifungal compounds were identified as $C_{14}$ and $C_{15}$ iturin through MALDI-TOF-MS and amino acid composition analysis. The stability characteristics of the antifungal compounds after temperature, pH, and enzyme treatments suggested that B. velezensis SSH100-10 produced more than two antifungal compounds; pH-stable $C_{14}$ iturin A and $C_{15}$ iturin A, and unidentified pH-unstable compounds. The results suggested that B. velezensis SSH100-10 can be used in soybean fermentation as a starter. Moreover it has potential as a biopreservative in the food and feed industry and as a biocontrol agent in the field of agriculture.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.243-244
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• 2013

Over the past 15 years, several groups have incorporated radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) based instruments before the accelerator in accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) systems for ion-gas interactions at low kinetic energy (＜40 eV). Most AMS systems arebased on a tandem accelerator, which requires negative ions at injection. Typically, AMS sensitivity abundance ratios for radioactive-to-stable isotope are limited to Xr/Xs ＞10^-15, and the range of isotopes that can be analyzed is limited because of theneed to produce rather large negative ion beams and the presence of atomic isobaric interferences after stripping. The potential of using low-kinetic energy ion-gas interactions for isobar suppression before the accelerator has been demonstrated for several negative ion isobar systems with a prototype RFQ system incorporated into the AMS system at IsoTrace Laboratory, Canada (Ontario, Toronto). Requisite for any such RFQ system applied to very rare isotope analysis is large transmission of the analyte ion. This requires proper phase-space matching between the RFQ acceptance and the ion beam phase space (e.g. 35 keV, ${\varphi}3mm$, +-35 mrad), and the ability to control the average ion energy during interactions with the gas. A segmented RFQ instrument is currently being designed at Korea Institute for Science and Technology (한국과학기술연구원, KIST). It will consist of: a) an initial static voltage electrode deceleration region, to lower the ion energy from 35 keV down to ＜40 eV at injection into the first RFQ segment; b) the segmented quadrupole ion-gas interaction region; c) a static voltage electrode re-acceleration region for ion injection into a tandem accelerator. Design considerations and modeling will be discussed. This system should greatly lower the detection limits of the 6 MV AMS system currently being commissioned at KIST. As an example, current detection sensitivity of 41Ca/Ca is limited to the order of 10^-15 while the 41Ca/Ca abundance in modern samples is typically 41Ca/Ca~10^-14 - 10^-15. The major atomic isobaric interference in AMS is 41K. Proof-of-principal work at IsoTrace Lab. has demonstrated that a properly designed system can achieve a relative suppression of KF3-/41CaF3- ＞4 orders of magnitude while maintaining very high transmission of the 41CaF3- ion. This would lower the 41Ca detection limits of the KIST AMS system to at least 41Ca/Ca~10^-19. As Ca is found in bones and shells, this would potentially allow direct dating of valuable anthropological archives and archives relevant to our understanding of the most pronounced climate change events over the past million years that cannot be directly dated with the presently accessible isotopes.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.184-190
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• 1999

A study of gas hydrate is a worldwide popular interesting subject as a potential energy source. A seismic survey for gas hydrate have performed over the East sea by the KIGAM since 1997. General indicators of natural submarine gas hydrates in seismic data is commonly inferred from the BSR (Bottom Simulating Reflection) that occurred parallel to the see floor, amplitude decrease at the top of the BSR, amplitude Blanking at the bottom of the BSR, decrease of the interval velocity, and the reflection phase reversal at the BSR. So the seismic data processing for detecting gas hydrates indicators is required the true amplitude recovery processing, a accurate velocity analysis and the AVO (Amplitude Variation with Offset) analysis. In this paper, we had processed the field data to detect the gas hydrate indicators, which had been acquired over the East sea in 1998. Applied processing modules are spherical divergence, band pass filtering, CDP sorting and accurate velocity analysis. The AVO analysis was excluded, since this field data had too short offset to apply the AVO analysis. The accurate velocity analysis was performed by XVA (X-window based Velocity Analysis). This is the method which calculate the velocity spectrum by iterative and interactive. With XVA, we could determine accurate stacking velocity. Geobit 2.9.5 developed by the KIGAM was used for processing data. Processing results say that the BSR occurred parallel to the sea floor were shown at $367\~477m$ depths (two way travel time about 1800 ms) from the sea floor through shot point 1650-1900, the interval velocity decrease around BSR and the reflection phase reversal corresponding to the reflection at the sea floor.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.869-885
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• 2000

Fibroblasts are major cellular components of gingiva and periodontal ligament. They regulate the healing process after surgery or injury. Recently, many natural medicines, whose advantages are less side effects and possibility of long-term use, have been studied for their capacity, their anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effects and regenerative potential of periodontal tissues. Sophorae radix have been traditionally used as an anti-bacterial and antiinflammatory drug in oriental medicine. The purpose of present study was to investigate the effects of Sophorae radix extract on cell cycle progression and its molecular mechanism in human gingival fibroblasts. Sophorae radix extracts($100{\mu}g/ml$) notably increased cell proliferation and cell activity in the human gingival fibroblasts as compared to non-supplemented controls. There was an increase in the S phase and a decrease in the G1 phase in $100{\mu}g/ml$ of Sophorae radix extracts group as compared to non-supplemented controls. The level of cyclin E and cdk 2 protein in test group was higher than that of control groups. But that of cyclin D, cdk 4, and cdk 6 was not distinguished from controls. The level of p53 protein in test group was lower than that of controls, whereas that of p21 was not different. The level of pRB protein in test group was higher than that of controls, whereas that of p16 was lower. These results indicate that the increase of cell proliferation by Sophorae radix extracts may be due to the increased expression of cyclin E and cdk 2, and the decreased expression of p53 and p16 in human gingival fibroblasts.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 1999

Objectives: Patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder(or PMDD) have impairments of the social, occupational or academic function due to psychological or somatic symptoms, which have the characteristic pattern of symptom exacerbation in the week before menses begin and remission shortly after the onset of menses. In the chronobiological view, many researchers have assumed that the etiology of PMDD is the advanced circadian rhythm. It has been suggested that light has a therapeutic effect on PMDD, because evening light results in phase delay of circadian rhythm through the biochemical changes including melatonin. Methods: The authors investigated the therapeutic effect of light therapy on four patients with prospectively diagnosed PMDD by DSM-IV criteria using clinical psychiatric interview, Premenstrual Assessment Form(PAF) and Daily Rating Form(or DRF). In the evening(6:30pm-8:00pm), the 2,500 lux light administered for seven consecutive days during the symptomatic late luteal phase of menstrual cycle. Beck Depression Inventory(or BDI), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression(or HAM-D), Spielberg State Anxiety Inventory(or SA), and DRF were evaluated before and after seven days of light therapy. Results: Premenstrual symptoms of PMDD could be effectively treated with the evening bright light therapy, especially in PMDD patients with atypical symptoms. In addition, the light therapy seemed to more effective on the psychologic symptoms than the somatic symptoms of PMDD. There was no significant side-effect of light therapy, except the transient and mild eye-strain in one case. Conclusions: In spite of the results of limited data from our clinical trial, the authors suggest that the potential use of light therapy as an alternative to the pharmacological management of patients with PMDD.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2014

Recently, the fuel oil of diesel engines of marine ships has been increasingly changed to heavy oil of low quality as the oil price is getting higher and higher. Therefore, the spiral gear attached at the motor of the oil purifier which plays an important role to purify the heavy oil is also easy to expose at severe environmental condition due to the purification of the heavy oil in higher temperature. Thus, the material of the spiral gear requires a better mechanical strength, wear and corrosion resistance. In this study, the heat treatment(tempering) with various holding time at temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ was carried out to the alloy of Cu-7Al-2.5Si as centrifugal casting, and the properties of both hardness and corrosion resistance with and without heat treatment were investigated with observation of the microstructure and with electrochemical methods, such as measurement of corrosion potential, cathodic and anodic polarization curves, cyclic voltammogram, and a.c. impedance. in natural seawater solution. The ${\alpha}$, ${\beta}^{\prime}$ and ${\gamma}_2$ phases were observed in the material in spite of no heat treatment due to quenching effect of a spin mold. However, their phases, that is, ${\beta}^{\prime}$ and ${\gamma}_2$ phases decreased gradually with increasing the holding time at a constant temperature of $500^{\circ}C$. The hardness more or less decreased with heat treatment, however its corrosion resistance was improved with the heat treatment. Furthermore, the longer holding time, the better corrosion resistance. In addition, when the holding time was 48hrs, its corrosion current density showed the lowest value. The pattern of corroded surface was nearly similar to that of the pitting corrosion, and this morphology was greatly observed in the case of no heat treatment. It is considered that ${\gamma}_2$ phase at the grain boundary was corroded preferentially as an anode. However, the pattern of general corrosion exhibited increasingly due to decreasing the ${\gamma}_2$ phase with heat treatment. Consequently, it is suggested that the corrosion resistance of Cu-7Al-2.5Si alloy can be improved with the heat treatment as a holding time for 48 hrs at $500^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.850-855
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• 2005

Model was developed to predict the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in raw pork. Experiment condition for model development was full 5-by-7 factorial arrangements of temperature (0, 5, 10, 15, and $20^{\circ}C$) and time (0, 1, 2, 3, 18, 48, and 120 hr). Gompertz values A, C, B, and M, and growth kinetics, exponential growth rate (EGR), generation time (GT), lag phase duration (LPD), and maximum population density (MPD) were calculated based on growth increased data. GT and LPD values gradually decreased, whereas EGR value gradually increased with increasing temperature. Response surface analysis (RSA) was carried out using Gompertz B and M values, to formulate equation with temperature being main control factor. This equation was applied to Gompertz equation. Experimental and predictive values for GT, LPD, and EGR, compared using the model, showed no significant differences (p<0.01). Proposed model could be used to predict growth of microorganisms for exposure assessment of MRA, thereby allowing more informed decision-making on potential regulatory actions of microorganisms in raw pork.