• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.279-284
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• 2018

Membrane biofouling is a critical operational problem that hinders the rapid commercialization of MBRs. Quorum quenching (QQ) has been investigated widely to control membrane biofouling and is accepted as a promising anti-fouling strategy. Various QQ strategies based on bacterial and enzymatic agents have been identified and applied successfully. Whereas, this study aimed to compare indigenously isolated QQ strain i.e., Enterobacter cloaca with well reported Rhodococcus sp. BH4. Both bacterial species were immobilized in polymeric beads and introduced to two different MBRs keeping the overall beads to volume ratio as 1%. Efficiencies of these strains were monitored in terms of prolonging the membrane filtration cycle of MBR, release of extra-cellular polymeric substances, membrane resistivity measurements and mineralization of signal molecules and permeate quality. Indigenous strain (Enterobacter cloaca) was added to $QQ-MBR_E$ while Rhodococcus sp. BH4 was introduced to $QQ-MBR_R$. QQ bacterial embedded beads showed enhanced filtration cycles up to 1.4 and 2.3 times for $QQ-MBR_E$ and $QQ-MBR_R$ respectively as compared to control MBR (C-MBR). Soluble EPS concentration of 52 mg/L was observed in C-MBR while significantly lower EPS concentration of 20 and 10 mg/L was witnessed in $QQ-MBR_E$ and $QQ-MBR_R$, respectively. Therefore, substantial reduction in biofouling showed the effectiveness of indigenous strain.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.343-351
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• 2018

Background: Red ginseng is a popularly used traditional medicine with antiaging effects in Asian countries. The present study aimed to explore the changes in protein expression underlying the mechanisms of life span extension and antiaging caused by red ginseng extract (RGE) in Drosophila melanogaster. Methods: A proteomic approach of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE) was used to identify the differential abundance of possible target proteins of RGE in D. melanogaster. The reliability of the 2-DE results was confirmed via Western blotting to measure the expression levels of selected proteins. Proteins altered at the expression level after RGE treatment (1 mg/mL) were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight tandem mass spectrometry and by searching against the National Center for Biotechnology nonredundant and Uniprot protein databases. The differentially expressed proteins were analyzed using bioinformatics methods. Results: The average survival life span of D. melanogaster was significantly extended by 12.60% with RGE treatment (1 mg/mL) compared to untreated flies. This followed increased superoxide dismutase level and decreased methane dicarboxylic aldehyde content. Based on the searching strategy, 23 differentially expressed proteins were identified (16 up-regulated and 7 down-regulated) in the RGE-treated D. melanogaster. Transduction pathways were identified using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database, and included the hippo and oxidative phosphorylation pathways that play important roles in life span extension and antiaging process of D. melanogaster. Conclusion: Treatment with RGE in D. melanogaster demonstrated that mechanisms of life span extension and antiaging are regulated by multiple factors and complicated signal pathways.

• 제어로봇시스템학회논문지
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• 제3권6호
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• pp.644-651
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• 1997

In the water purification plant, chemicals are injected for quick purification of raw water. It is clear that the amount of chemicals intrinsically depends on water quality such as turbidity, temperature, pH and alkalinity. However, the process of chemical reaction to improve water quality (e.g., turbidity) by chemicals is not yet fully clarified nor quantified. The feedback signal in the process of coagulant dosage, which should be measured (through the sensor of the plant) to compute the appropriate amount of chemicals, is also not available. Most traditional methods focus on judging the conditions of purifying reaction and determine the amounts of chemicals through manual operation of field experts using Jar-test data. In this paper, a systematic control strategy is proposed to derive the optimum dosage of coagulant, PAC(Polymerized Aluminium Chloride), using Jar-test results. A neural network model is developed for coagulant dosing and purifying process by means of six input variables (turbidity, temperature, pH, alkalinity of raw water, PAC feed rate, turbidity in flocculation) and one output variable, while considering the relationships to the reaction of coagulation and flocculation. The model is utilized to derive the optimum coagulant dosage (in the sense of minimizing turbidity of water in flocculator). The ability of the proposed control scheme validated through the field test has proved to be of considerable practical value.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.190-201
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• 2015

This paper uses the switching function approach to present a simple state model of the Vienna-type rectifier. The approach introduces the relationship between the DC-link neutral point voltage and the AC side phase currents. A novel direct power control (DPC) strategy, which is based on the sliding mode control (SMC) for Vienna I rectifiers, is developed using the proposed power model in the stationary ${\alpha}-{\beta}$ reference frames. The SMC-based DPC methodology directly regulates instantaneous active and reactive powers without transforming to a synchronous rotating coordinate reference frame or a tracking phase angle of grid voltage. Moreover, the required rectifier control voltages are directly calculated by utilizing the non-linear SMC scheme. Theoretically, active and reactive power flows are controlled without ripple or cross coupling. Furthermore, the fixed-switching frequency is obtained by employing the simplified space vector modulation (SVM). SVM solves the complicated designing problem of the AC harmonic filter. The simplified SVM is based on the simplification of the space vector diagram of a three-level converter into that of a two-level converter. The dwelling time calculation and switching sequence selection are easily implemented like those in the conventional two-level rectifier. Replacing the current control loops with power control loops simplifies the system design and enhances the transient performance. The simulation models in MATLAB/Simulink and the digital signal processor-controlled 1.5 kW Vienna-type rectifier are used to verify the fast responses and robustness of the proposed control scheme.

• 전력전자학회논문지
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.283-292
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• 2011

본 논문에서는 기존의 멀티레벨 인버터와는 달리 DC링크단에 스위치를 설치함으로써 성능을 향상시킨 새로운 형태의 H-브리지 멀티레벨 인버터를 제안한다. 제안된 방식은 계통 연계형 단상 멀티레벨 인버터로서 기존의 단상인버터에 비하여 출력 전압 파형이 정현파에 가깝고, 고압 대용량 시스템용 멀티레벨 인버터로의 확장도 용이할 뿐만 아니라 직렬연결을 통하여 간단히 전압레벨을 확장할 수 있다는 장점을 갖는다. 동일한 5레벨의 경우 기존의 H-브리지 직렬형이나 NPC형 멀티레벨 인버터는 가제어 스위치가 8개 사용되는 반면에 제안한 멀티레벨 인버터는 가제어 스위치가 6개 사용되기 때문에 회로 구성이 간단하여 신뢰도가 높고 경제적인 구현이 가능하고 스위칭 손실이 줄어서 효율이 향상되는 특징이 있다. POD 변조기법을 기반으로 하여 반송파 신호 하나만을 사용하는 새로운 PWM 방법을 제시하였으며 DC링크 커패시터 전압의 균형을 위한 스위칭 시퀀스에 대해서도 검토하였다. 제안된 토폴로지의 타당성을 시뮬레이션과 실험을 통하여 확인하였다.

• Toxicological Research
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.325-332
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• 2017

3-Bromo-4,5-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (BDB) is a natural bromophenol compound that is most commonly isolated from red algae. The present study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory properties of BDB on atopic dermatitis (AD) in mice induced by 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) and on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine macrophages. BDB treatment (100 mg/kg) resulted in suppression of the development of AD symptoms compared with the control treatment (induction-only), as demonstrated by reduced immunoglobulin E levels in serum, smaller lymph nodes with reduced thickness and length, a decrease in ear edema, and reduced levels of inflammatory cell infiltration in the ears. In RAW 264.7 murine macrophages, BDB (12.5, 25, 50, and $100{\mu}M$) suppressed the production of interleukin-6, a proinflammatory cytokine, in a dose-dependent manner. BDB also had an inhibitory effect on the phosphorylation of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-${\kappa}B$) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1; Tyr 701), two major signaling molecules involved in cellular inflammation. Taken together, the results show that BDB treatment alleviates inflammatory responses in an atopic dermatitis mouse model and RAW 264.7 macrophages. These results suggest that BDB may be a useful therapeutic strategy for treating conditions involving allergic inflammation such as atopic dermatitis.

• Toxicological Research
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.343-350
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• 2017

Lamivudine belongs to the set of antiviral agents effective against hepatitis B virus infection. Given case reports on liver injuries after certain antiviral agent treatments, this study examined the effects of lamivudine on alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and total bilirubin (TB) using a medical system database. A total of 1,321 patients taking lamivudine alone or with others were evaluated using laboratory hits in an electronic medical system at Seoul National University Hospital from 2005 through 2011. The patients were grouped according to prior ALT results: G#1, ALT < 40 IU/L; G#2, 40 IU/L ${\leq}$ ALT < 120 IU/L; G#3, 120 IU/L ${\leq}$ ALT < 240 IU/L; and G#4, ALT ${\geq}$ 240 IU/L. In G#1 and G#2 patients, lamivudine or adefovir treatment decreased ALT and TB compared to prior values. In G#3 and G#4 patients with three times the upper limit of normal (ULN) ${\leq}$ ALT < 15 times the ULN, both ALT and TB were decreased after treatment with lamivudine alone, or adefovir following lamivudine therapy, indicating that lamivudine therapy ameliorated liver functions. However, in G#4 patients who experienced severely advanced hepatitis (ALT ${\geq}$ 15 times the ULN, or ${\geq}$ 600 IU/L), lamivudine augmented TBmax ($6.3{\rightarrow}13.3mg/dL$) despite a slight improvement in ALT ($839{\rightarrow}783IU/L$), indicative of exacerbation of bilirubinemia. Patients who used adefovir after lamivudine also showed a high incidence of hyperbilirubinemia when they experienced severely advanced hepatitis. Treatment with adefovir alone did not show the effect. In conclusion, lamivudine may increase the risk of hyperbilirubinemia in patients with severely advanced hepatitis, implying that caution should be exercised when using lamivudine therapy in certain patient populations.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.307-318
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• 2019

The frequently excessive vibrations presented in civil structures during seismic events or service conditions may result in users' discomfort, or worst, in structures failure, producing economic and even human casualties. This work contributes in proposing the synthesis of a nonlinear optimal control strategy for semiactive structural control, with the main characteristic that the synthesis considers both the structure model and the semiactive actuator nonlinear dynamics, which produces a nonlinear system that requires a nonlinear controller design. The aim is to reduce the unwanted vibrations in the response of civil structures, by means of intelligent fluid semiactive actuator such as the Magnetorheological Damper (MRD), which is a device with a low level of power consumption. The civil structures for which the proposed control methodology can be applied are those admitting a state-dependent coefficient factorized representation model, such as buildings, bridges, among others. A scaled model of a three storey building is analyzed as a case study, whose dynamical response involves displacement, velocity and acceleration of each one of the storeys, subjected to the North-South component of the September 19th., 2017, Puebla-Morelos (7.1M), Mexico earthquake. The investigation rests on comparing the structural response over time for two different conditions: with no control device installed and with one MRD installed between the first floor and the ground, where a nonlinear optimal signal for the MRD input voltage is determined. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed controller for reducing the building's dynamical response.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제35권3호
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• pp.208-218
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• 2019

Here, we reported a novel secreted protein elicitor PeBL2 from Brevibacillus laterosporus A60, which can induce hypersensitive response in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana). The ion-exchange chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry were performed for identification of protein elicitor. The 471 bp PeBL2 gene produces a 17.22 kDa protein with 156 amino acids containing an 84-residue signal peptide. Consistent with endogenous protein, the recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli induced the typical hypersensitive response (HR) and necrosis in tobacco leaves. Additionally, PeBL2 also triggered early defensive response of generation of reactive oxygen species ($H_2O_2$ and $O_2{^-}$) and systemic resistance against of B. cinerea. Our findings shed new light on a novel strategy for biocontrol using B. laterosporus A60.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권7호
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• pp.2444-2452
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• 2022

The field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is gaining popularity in industrial automation such as nuclear power plant instrumentation and control (I&C) systems due to the benefits of having non-existence of operating system, minimum software errors, and minimum common reason failures. Separate functions can be processed individually and in parallel on the same integrated circuit using FPGAs in comparison to the conventional microprocessor-based systems used in any plant operations. The use of FPGAs offers the potential to minimize complexity and the accompanying difficulty of securing regulatory approval, as well as provide superior protection against obsolescence. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are a new technology for acquiring and processing plant data wirelessly in which sensor nodes are configured for real-time signal processing, data acquisition, and monitoring. ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) is an open worldwide standard for minimum power, low-cost machine-to-machine (M2M), and internet of things (IoT) enabled wireless network communication. It is always a challenge to follow the specific topology when different Zigbee nodes are placed in a large network such as a plant. The research article focuses on the hardware chip design of different topological structures supported by ZigBee that can be used for monitoring and controlling the different operations of the plant and evaluates the performance in Vitex-5 FPGA hardware. The research work presents a strategy for configuring FPGA with ZigBee sensor nodes when communicating in a large area such as an industrial plant for real-time monitoring.