• KSBB Journal
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.643-650
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• 1999

An artificial photoreceptor composed of bacteriorhodopsin(bR)/flavin complex Langmuir-Blodgett(LB) films was developed by mimicking the human visual system. bR and flavin molecules were deposited onto solid substrate by LB technique, and the deposition of two molecules was proved by UV/VIS absorption spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy(AFM). Based on AFM images and photocurrent generation from the LB films, the optimal conditions for device fabrication were determined. With a series of light illuminations, the generated photocurrent could be detected, and the response characteristics of two molecules could be clearly distinguished from each other. According to the obtained signal shapes, three distinctive regions could be found in the obtained action spectrum. Using a correlation between the photocurrent generation and the wavelength of the input light, it was possible to organize the basic rules to interpret the wavelength of the input light. It is concluded that the proposed artificial photoreceptor would e applicable to the bioelectronic device for color recognition.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.62-69
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• 2015

Coastlines are protected by breakwater structures against the erosion of sand or other materials along beaches due to wave action. This research examined the use of physical modeling to determine the effects of the tetrapod size and vertical walls of a rubble mound on the volume of wave overtopping under irregular wave conditions in coastal areas in Busan Yacht Harbor. In this analysis model, the structures were studied using irregular waves and the JONSWAP wave energy spectrum. To understand the effects of the tetrapod size and heights of the vertical wall, the study considered vertical walls of 0, 1.78, 6.83, and 9.33 cm with armor double layered material tetrapods of 8, 12, 16, and 20 tons. An extensive number of experiments covering a relatively large range of variables enabled a comprehensive discussion. First, in the presence of a short vertical wall, the water level played a key role in the overtopping discharge. In such circumstances, the values of the wave overtopping discharge decreased with increasing freeboard size. In the presence of a tall freeboard and middle, the value of the wave overtopping discharge was equally influenced by the vertical wall factor. Moreover, the tetrapod size decreased by an increase in the vertical wall factor, and relationship between them resulted in a short wall height. From an engineering point of view, considering a small water level may allow the choice of a shorter vertical wall, which would ultimately provide a more economical design.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.42-50
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• 1998

Titanium dioxide $(TiO_2)$ thin film samples were prepared by using spray pyrolysis methodology and were by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. It was found that anatase prepared by the hydrolysis of titanium(Ⅳ) oxyacetylacetonate exhibited the largest specific surface area. The particle size increased with increasing temperature, while the thickness decreased. Titanium dioxide $(TiO_2)$ in the anatase form was prepared at $400^{\circ}C$ and the photoconductivity was determined using photocurrent measurements. Photoelectrochemical properties of the $TiO_2$-phthalocyanine system were measured in a three-electrode system. The photocurrent action spectrum in the visible region coincided with intrinsic absorption spectrum of phthalocyanine. The crystal structure of phthalocyanine is considered to be a very important property in the photogeneration phenomena.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1001-1010
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• 2005

Bacillus megaterium KL39, an antibiotic-producing plant growth promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR), was selected from soil. The antifungal antibiotic, denoted KL39, was purified from culture filtrate by column chromatography using Dion HP-20, Silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and prep-HPLC. Thin layer chromatography, employing the solvent system of ethanol:ammonia:water=8:1:1, showed the $R_{f}$. value of 0.32. The antibiotic KL39 showed a negative reaction with ninhydrin solution, positive with iodine vapor, and also positive with Ehrlich reagent. It was soluble in methanol, ethanol, butanol, and acetonitrile, but insoluble in chloroform, toluene, hexane, ethyl ether, or acetone. Its UV spectrum had the maximum absorption at 208 nm. Amino acid composition, FAB-mass, $^{1}H-NMR,\;^{13}C-NMR$, and atomic analyses showed that the antibiotic KL39 (MW=1,071) has a structure very similar to iturin E. The antibiotic KL39 has a broad antifungal spectrum against a variety of plant pathogenic fungi including Rhizoctonia solani, Pyricularia oryzae, Monilinia froeticola, Botrytis cinenea, Altenaria kikuchiana, Fusarium oxysporum, and F. solani. An MIC value of $10\;{\mu}g/ml$ was determined for Phytophthora capsici. Macromolecular incorporation studies with P. capsici using radioactive [$^{3}H-adenine$] as the precursor, indicated that the antibiotic KL39 strongly inhibits the DNA biosynthesis of the fungal cell. Microscopic observation of the antifungal action showed abnormal hyphal swelling of P. capsici. The purified antibiotic KL39 was very effective for the biocontrol of in vivo Phytophthora-blight disease of pepper.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 2018

Full-scale measurements of wind action on the open roof structure of the WuXi grand theater, which is composed of eight large-span free-form leaf-shaped space trusses with the largest span of 76.79 m, were conducted during the passage of Typhoons HaiKui and SuLi. The wind pressure field data were continuously and simultaneously monitored using a wind pressure monitoring system installed on the roof structure during the typhoons. A detailed analysis of the field data was performed to investigate the characteristics of the fluctuating wind pressure on the open roof, such as the wind pressure spectrum, spatial correlation coefficients, peak wind pressures and non-Gaussian wind pressure characteristics, under typhoon conditions. Three classical methods were used to calculate the peak factors of the wind pressure on the open roof, and the suggested design method and peak factors were given. The non-Gaussianity of the wind pressure was discussed in terms of the third and fourth statistical moments of the measured wind pressure, and the corresponding indication of the non-Gaussianity on the open roof was proposed. The result shows that there were large pulses in the time-histories of the measured wind pressure on Roof A2 in the field. The spatial correlation of the wind pressures on roof A2 between the upper surface and lower surface is very weak. When the skewness is larger than 0.3 and the kurtosis is larger than 3.7, the wind pressure time series on roof A2 can be taken as a non-Gaussian distribution, and the other series can be taken as a Gaussian distribution.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.1463-1480
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• 2015

This research aims to develop an empirical model for simulation of time-varying frequency in earthquake ground motion so as to be used easily in engineering applications. Briefly, 10545 recordings of the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) global database of accelerograms from shallow crustal earthquakes are selected and binned by magnitude, distance and site condition. Then the wavelet spectrum of each acceleration record is calculated by using one-dimensional continuous wavelet transform, and the frequencies corresponding to the maximum values of the wavelet spectrum at a series of sampling time, named predominant frequencies, are extracted to analyze the variation of frequency content of seismic ground motions in time. And the time-variation of the predominant frequencies of 178 magnitude-distance-site bins for different directions are obtained by calculating the mean square root of predominant frequencies within a bin. The exponential trigonometric function is then use to fit the data, which describes the predominant frequency of ground-motion as a function of time with model parameters given in tables for different magnitude, distance, site conditions and direction. Finally, a practical frequency-dependent amplitude envelope function is developed based on the time-varying frequency derived in this paper, which has clear statistical parameters and can emphasize the effect of low-frequency components on later seismic action. The results illustrate that the time-varying predominant frequency can preferably reflect the non-stationarity of the frequency content in earthquake ground motions and that empirical models given in this paper facilitates the simulation of ground motions.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.122-129
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• 2015

DBM-2198, a six-membered azasugar nucleotide (6-AZN)-containing phosphorothioate (P = S) oligonucleotide (AZPSON), was described in our previous publication [Lee et al. (2005)] with regard to its antiviral activity against a broad spectrum of HIV-1 variants. This report describes the mechanisms underlying the anti-HIV-1 properties of DBM-2198. The LTR-mediated reporter assay indicated that the anti-HIV-1 activity of DBM-2198 is attributed to an extracellular mode of action rather than intracellular sequence-specific antisense activity. Nevertheless, the antiviral properties of DBM-2198 and other AZPSONs were highly restricted to HIV-1. Unlike other P = S oligonucleotides, DBM-2198 caused no host cell activation upon administration to cultures. HIV-1 that was pre-incubated with DBM-2198 did not show any infectivity towards host cells whereas host cells pre-incubated with DBM-2198 remained susceptible to HIV-1 infection, suggesting that DBM-2198 acts on the virus particle rather than cell surface molecules in the inhibition of HIV-1 infection. Competition assays for binding to HIV-1 envelope protein with anti-gp120 and anti-V3 antibodies revealed that DBM-2198 acts on the viral attachment site of HIV-1 gp120, but not on the V3 region. This report provides a better understanding of the antiviral mechanism of DBM-2198 and may contribute to the development of a potential therapeutic drug against a broad spectrum of HIV-1 variants.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.320-326
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• 2019

Recently, the application of atmospheric plasma technology in air filtration is increasing. Sterilization by an atmospheric plasma device is very effective. However, ozone gas, which is generated during atmospheric plasma formation, poses a hazard to human health. To reduce the ozone gas during plasma discharge, we fabricated a one-plate hybrid plasma discharge device with a heating element, which can decompose ozone gas effectively by a simple heating action. In this study, we evaluated the plasma discharge characteristics and ozone concentrations with various Ar flow rates and temperatures. With increasing Ar gas flow rate, the ozone concentration and spectrum intensity increased till an Ar gas flow rate of 60 sccm, and decreased thereafter. When discharged in high temperature, the ozone concentration and spectrum intensity decreased. Further, to evaluate the state of the treated surface under various plasma discharge and heating conditions, we measured the variation in the contact angles on the surface. Regardless of the temperature, the contact angle increased with increasing discharge voltage. However, the contact angle increased when discharged at high temperature.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.232-237
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• 2022

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) having core characteristics of social interaction problems and repetitive behaviors and interests affects individuals at varying degrees and comorbidities, making it difficult to determine the precise etiology underlying the symptoms. Given its heterogeneity, ASD is difficult to treat and the development of therapeutics is slow due to the scarcity of animal models that are easy to produce and screen with. Based on the theory of excitation/inhibition imbalance in the brain with ASD which involves glutamatergic and/or GABAergic neurotransmission, a pharmacologic agent to modulate these receptors might be a good starting point for modeling. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) is an amino acid derivative acting as a specific agonist at the NMDA receptor and therefore imitates the action of the neurotransmitter glutamate on that receptor. In contrast to glutamate, NMDA selectively binds to and regulates the NMDA receptor, but not other glutamate receptors such as AMPA and kainite receptors. Given this role, we aimed to determine whether NMDA administration could result in autistic-like behavior in adolescent mice. Both male and female mice were treated with saline or NMDA (50 and 75 mg/kg) and were tested on various behavior experiments. Interestingly, acute NMDA-treated mice showed social deficits and repetitive behavior similar to ASD phenotypes. These results support the excitation/inhibition imbalance theory of ASD and that NMDA injection can be used as a pharmacologic model of ASD-like behaviors.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.320-327
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• 2022

Neurodevelopmental disorders are complex conditions that pose difficulty in the modulation of proper motor, sensory and cognitive function due to dysregulated neuronal development. Previous studies have reported that an imbalance in the excitation/inhibition (E/I) in the brain regulated by glutamatergic and/or GABAergic neurotransmission can cause neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric behavioral deficits such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). NMDA acts as an agonist at the NMDA receptor and imitates the action of the glutamate on that receptor. NMDA however, unlike glutamate, only binds to and regulates the NMDA receptor subtypes and not the other glutamate receptors. This study seeks to determine whether NMDA administration in mice i.e., over-activation of the NMDA system would result in long-lasting behavioral deficits in the adolescent mice. Both gender mice were treated with NMDA or saline at early postnatal developmental period with significant synaptogenesis and synaptic maturation. On postnatal day 28, various behavioral experiments were conducted to assess and identify behavioral characteristics. NMDA-treated mice show social deficits, and repetitive behavior in both gender mice at adolescent periods. However, only the male mice but not female mice showed increased locomotor activity. This study implies that neonatal exposure to NMDA may illicit behavioral features similar to ASD. This study also confirms the validity of the E/I imbalance theory of ASD and that NMDA injection can be used as a pharmacologic model for ASD. Future studies may explore the mechanism behind the gender difference in locomotor activity as well as the human relevance and therapeutic significance of the present findings.