• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.251-257
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• 1995

Three PEA (Pulverised Fuel Ash) samples, which were fresh, 17 and some 40 years weathered, were collected from two major British power plants. Batch leaching tests with these samples using distilled water and simulated industrial leachate showed higher amounts of element liberation from fresh ash, including Ca, Na, K, S (as $SO^{2-}_4$, $Cr_{total}$, Cu, Li Ni, Mo and CI and this seems to indicate their surface association and easier dissolution when contact with water. On the contrary Mg, Al, Ba, Si, V, As and Se do not show such readily leachable concentrations and these elements might be more associated with glass fraction in PFA particle rather than surface. Although element concentrations in the weathered ash are much lower than those in the initial leachate from the fresh ash, elements are still detected as resonable concentrations, with rather constant levels and this seems to demonstrate the element release from unstable glass phase of PFA particle. Fe, Ca, $Cr_{total}$, Cu, Ni, Zn and Hg were removed from the synthetic leachate by PFA and this is also confirmed by gain in solid PFA. The order of element retention is Meaford weathered ash > Drax weathered ash > Drax fresh ash in decreasing order and this conforms with the degree of weathering. Namely, the more wethered, the more wethered, the more effective in metal retention from the synthetic leachate.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2012

A theoretical $CO_2$ storage capacity is estimated on the southwestern continental shelf margin of Ulleung Basin, offshore Korea using 2D/3D multi-channel seismic and wellbore data acquired in the area over the two decades since the late 1980s. For the first time in Korea, the present study applies an efficiency factor to the capacity calculation, together with the other required parameters. For possible $CO_2$ storage volume estimation of the study area, we interpreted the seismic data in the Gorae area from 800 m to 3,000 m below the seafloor integrated with the well data, and identified five different seismic units; the limited depth interval is considered because of fluid state of $CO_2$ and tightness of the formation. The total volumes of each seismic unit were converted with a time-depth relation inferred from the checkshot surveys before the other required parameters including porosity and density were applied to compute the potential storage capacity. The accumulated possible storage volume from the five depositional units in the study area is estimated to be approximately 5,100 Mton ($P_{50}$). The approaches made in this study will be applied to the rest area of the basin and other continental shelves (i.e., Yellow Sea and northern part of East China Sea) in the next phase.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.7-7
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• 2001

The increasing interest in light weight materials coupled to the need for cost -effective processing have combined to create a significant opportunity for aluminum P/M. particularly in the automotive industry in order to reduce fuel emissions and improve fuel economy at affordable prices. Additional potential markets for Al PIM parts include hand tools. Where moving parts against gravity represents a challenge; and office machinery, where reciprocating forces are important. Aluminum PIM adds light weight, high compressibility. low sintering temperatures. easy machinability and good corrosion resistance to all advantages of conventional iron bm;ed P/rv1. Current commercial alloys are pre-mixed of either the AI-Si-Mg or AL-Cu-Mg-Si type and contain 1.5% ethylene bis-stearamide as an internal lubricant. The powder is compacted in closed dies at pressure of 200-500Mpa and sintered in nitrogen at temperatures between $580~630^{\circ}C$ in continuous muffle furnace. For some applications no further processing is required. although most applications require one or more secondary operations such as sizing and finishing. These sccondary operations improve the dimension. properties or appearance of the finished part. Aluminum is often considered difficult to sinter because of the presence of a stable surface oxide film. Removal of the oxide in iron and copper based is usually achieved through the use of reducing atmospheres. such as hydrogen or dissociated ammonia. In aluminum. this occurs in the solid st,lte through the partial reduction of the aluminum by magncsium to form spinel. This exposcs the underlying metal and facilitates sintering. It has recently been shown that < 0.2% Mg is all that is required. It is noteworthy that most aluminum pre-mixes contain at least 0.5% Mg. The sintering of aluminum alloys can be further enhanced by selective microalloying. Just 100ppm pf tin chnnges the liquid phase sintering kinetics of the 2xxx alloys to produce a tensile strength of 375Mpa. an increilse of nearly 20% over the unmodified alloy. The ductility is unnffected. A similar but different effect occurs by the addition of 100 ppm of Pb to 7xxx alloys. The lend changes the wetting characteristics of the sintering liquid which serves to increase the tensile strength to 440 Mpa. a 40% increase over unmodified aIloys. Current research is predominantly aimed at the development of metal matrix composites. which have a high specific modulus. good wear resistance and a tailorable coefficient of thermal expnnsion. By controlling particle clustering and by engineering the ceramic/matrix interface in order to enhance sintering. very attractive properties can be achicved in the ns-sintered state. I\t an ils-sintered density ilpproaching 99%. these new experimental alloys hnve a modulus of 130 Gpa and an ultimate tensile strength of 212 Mpa in the T4 temper. In contest. unreinforcecl aluminum has a modulus of just 70 Gpa.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.111-120
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• 2016

This study is aimed at using the grasped problems of protected areas in Korea as the basic data for management planning and system improvement of protected areas by grasping realistic problems through the interview with the persons in charge on the basis of general problems of domestic protected areas. To this end, this study deducted major problems in urgent need of improvement, and improvement direction through the survey of the persons in charge of protected areas. This study result is as follows: The major problems, which should be preferentially improved, were found to be shortages of management infrastructure, cooperation between interested parties, and threat factors in protected areas, etc. Such problems are interconnected with each other, thus coming up complexly; therefore, it's necessary to make a comprehensive approach to the problems after confirming the causal relationship of the identified problems. In addition, for the purpose of effective management of a protected area, it's necessary to implement priority management of major problems through different management intensity from the planning phase. Also, it's important to enhance the effectiveness of planning by considering a possible potential threat factor in the outside of protected areas, and referring to the contents of the development plan for the relevant area in time of management planning. Lastly, there is the need for systematic improvement of an institution through thorough status review of the actual state of management planning fulfillment in order to increase the effectiveness of planning in a follow-up study hereafter.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1690-1698
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• 2006

In order to investigate the effect of dissolved oxygen (DO) level on AVM $B_{1a}$ production by a high yielding mutant of Streptomyces avermitilis, five sets of bioreactor cultures were performed under variously controlled DO levels. Using an online computer control system, the agitation speed and aeration rate were automatically controlled in an adaptive manner, responding timely to the oxygen requirement of the producer microorganism. In the two cultures of DO limitation, the onset of AVM $B_{1a}$ biosynthesis was observed to casually coincide with the fermentation time when oxygen-limited conditions were overcome by the producing microorganism. In contrast, this phenomenon did not occur in the parallel fermentations with DO levels controlled at around 30% and 40% throughout the entire fermentation period, showing an almost growth-associated mode of AVM $B_{1a}$ production: AVM $B_{1a}$ biosynthesis under the environments of high DO levels started much earlier than the corresponding oxygen-limited cultures, leading to a significant enhancement of AVM $B_{1a}$ production during the exponential stage. Consequently, approximately 6-fold and 9-fold increases in the final AVM $B_{1a}$ production were obtained in 30% and 40% DO-controlled fermentations, respectively, especially when compared with the culture of severe DO limitation (the culture with 0% DO level during the exponential phase). The production yield ($Y_{p/x}$), volumetric production rate (Qp), and specific production rate (${\bar{q}}_p$) of the 40% DO-controlled culture were observed to be 14%, 15%, and 15% higher, respectively, than those of the parallel cultures that were performed under an excessive agitation speed (350 rpm) and aeration rate (1 vvm) to maintain sufficiently high DO levels throughout the entire fermentation period. These results suggest that high shear damage of the high-yielding strain due to an excessive agitation speed is the primary reason for the reduction of the AVM $B_{1a}$ biosynthetic capability of the producer. As for the cell growth, exponential growth patterns during the initial 3 days were observed in the fermentations of sufficient DO levels, whereas almost linear patterns of cell growth were observed in the other two cultures of DO limitation during the identical period, resulting in apparently lower amounts of DCW. These results led us to conclude that maintenance of optimum DO levels, but not too high to cause potential shear damage on the producer, was crucial not only for the cell growth, but also for the enhanced production of AVM $B_{1a}$ by the filamentous mycelial cells of Streptomyces avermitilis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4809-4813
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• 2014

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have been reported to interfere with estrogen signaling. Exposure to these chemicals decreases the immune response and causes a wide range of diseases in animals and humans. Recently, many studies showed that licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) root extract (LRE) commonly called "gamcho" in Korea exhibits antioxidative, chemoprotective, and detoxifying properties. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of action of LRE and to determine if and how LRE can alleviate the toxicity of EDCs. LRE was prepared by vacuum evaporation and freeze-drying after homogenization of licorice root powder that was soaked in 80% ethanol for 72 h. We used 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) as a representative EDC, which is known to induce tumors or cancers; MCF-7 breast cancer cells, used as a tumor model, were treated with TCDD and various concentrations of LRE (0, 50, 100, 200, $400{\mu}g/mL$) for 24, 48, and 72 h. As a result, TCDD stimulated MCF-7 cell proliferation, but LRE significantly inhibited TCDD-induced MCF-7 cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The expression of TCDD toxicity-related genes, i.e., aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), AhR nuclear translocator, and cytochrome P450 1A1, was also down-regulated by LRE in a dose-dependent manner. Analysis of cell cycle distribution after treatment of MCF-7 cells with TCDD showed that LRE inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells via G2/M phase arrest. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis also revealed that LRE dose-dependently increased the expression of the tumor suppressor genes p53 and p27 and down-regulated the expression of cell cycle-related genes. These data suggest that LRE can mitigate the tumorigenic effects of TCDD in breast cancer cells by suppression of AhR expression and cell cycle arrest. Thus, LRE can be used as a potential toxicity-alleviating agent against EDC-mediated diseases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4933-4938
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• 2014

Background: Although various tumor markers have been utilized in management of stomach cancer (SC), only a few reports have described relevance of examples such as CYFRA 21-1 and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential diagnostic performance of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA 19-9, CA72-4, CYFRA 21-1 and NSE in patients with SC. Materials and Methods: Ninety-six SC patients with pathologic confirmation between 2012 and 2013 were enrolled. Serum levels of five tumor markers were analyzed using a solid-phase immunoradiometric assay. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted for the five tumor markers to investigate their diagnostic powers and adjusted cutoff values derived from analysis of ROC curves were evaluated to calculate the sensitivity of each for SC with recommended cutoff values. Results: Based on two different cutoff values (recommended and adjusted), CYFRA 21-1 (${\geq}2.0$ and 1.2 ng/ml) had a respective sensitivity of 50% and 78.1%, compared with 8.3% and 18.8% for CEA (${\geq}7.0$ and 3.9 ng/ml), 15.6% and 18.8% for CA 19-9 (${\geq}37$ and 26.7 ng/ml), 28.1% and 9.6% for CA 72-4 (${\geq}4.0$ and 13 ng/ml) and 7.3% and 7.3% for NSE (${\geq}14.7$ and 15.0 ng/ml) in the initial staging of primary SC. The area under the curve (AUC) for CYFRA 21-1, with a value of 0.978 (95% confidence interval, 0.964-0.991) was comparatively the highest. Univariate analysis revealed significant relationships between tumor marker level and lymph node involvement, metastasis and staging with CYFRA 21-1, CA 72-4 and NSE. Conclusions: CYFRA 21-1 was the most sensitive tumor marker and showed the most powerful diagnostic performance among the five SC tumor markers. NSE and CA 72-4 are significantly related to lymph node involvement, metastasis or stage. Further evaluations are warranted to clarify the clinical usefulness and prognostic prediction of these markers in SC.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.335-342
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• 2004

This paper describes a trans-admittance scanner for breast cancer detection. A FPGA-based sinusoidal waveform generator produces a constant voltage. The voltage is applied between a hand-held electrode and a scan probe placed on the breast. The scan probe contains an 8x8 array of electrodes that are kept at the ground potential. Multi-channel precision digital ammeters using the phase-sensitive demodulation technique were developed to measure the exit current from each electrode in the array. Different regions of the breast are scanned by moving the probe on the breast. We could get trans-admittance images of resistor and saline phantoms with an anomaly inside. The images provided the information on the depth and location of the anomaly. In future studies, we need to improve the accuracy through a better calibration method. We plan to test the scanner's ability to detect a cancer lesion inside the human breast.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1060-1068
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• 2007

Perchlorate contamination in aquatic system is a growing concern due to the human health and ecological risks associated with perchlorate exposure. In spite of potential risks associated with perchlorate, drinking water standard has not been established worldwide. Recently, US EPA has issued new protective guidance for cleaning up perchlorate contamination with a preliminary clean-up goal of 24.5 ppb. In Korea, the drinking water standard and discharge standard for perchlorate has not been established yet and little information is available to address perchlorate problems. Perchlorate treatment technologies include ion exchange, microbial reactor, carbon adsorption, composting, in situ bioremediation, permeable reactive barrier, phytoremediation, and membrane technology. The process description, capability, and advantage/disadvantages of each technology were described in detail in this review. One of recent trends in perchlorate treatment is the combination of available treatment options such as combined microbial reduction and permeable reactive burier. In this review, we provided a brief perspective on perchlorate treatment technology and to identify an efficient and cost-effective approach to manage perchlorate problem.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.57-62
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• 2011

The energy conversion efficiency of DSSCs (Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells) is dependent on the powder size, the structure, and the morphology of $TiO_2$ electrode. The higher efficiency is obtained with high surface area of the nanoanatase-$TiO_2$ powder adsorbed onto a lot more of the dye. Also, the enhancement of light scattering increases the efficiency with high adsorption of the dye. Powder size, crystalline phase, and shape of $TiO_2$ obtained by hydrothermal method have 15-20 nm, anatase and round. $TiO_2$ electrode has fabricated with the mixture of scattering $TiO_2$ particle with 0.4 ${\mu}m$ in nano-sized powder. Conversion efficiency of series of DSSCs was measured with volume fraction of scattering particle. Photovoltaic characteristics of DSSCs with 10% scattering particles are 3.51 mA for Jsc (short circuit current), 0.79 V for Voc(open circuit potential), filling factor 0.619 and 6.86% for efficiency. Jsc was improved by 11% and enhancement of efficiency by 0.77% compared with that of no scattering particles. The confinement of inserted light by light scattering particles has more increase of the injection of exiton(electron-hole pair) and decrease of moving path in electron. Efficiencies of DSSCs with more than 10% for scattering particles have reduced with increasing the pore in the $TiO_2$ electrode.