• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.51
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• pp.340.1-340.14
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• 2018

Background: Various pneumococcal vaccines have been evaluated for immunogenicity by opsonophagocytic assay (OPA). A multiplexed OPA (MOPA) for 13 pneumococcal serotypes was developed by Nahm and Burton, and expanded to 26 serotypes in 2012. The development of new conjugate vaccines with increased valence has necessitated expanded MOPAs to include these additional serotypes. In this study, we validated this expanded MOPA platform and applied to measure antibodies against 11 additional serotypes (2, 8, 9N, 10A, 11A, 12F, 15B, 17F, 20B, 22F, and 33F) in human sera. Methods: All materials, including serum, complement, bacterial master stocks, and HL-60 cells, were evaluated for assay optimization. Following optimization, the assay was validated for accuracy, specificity, and intra- and inter-assay precision with sera from adult donors following standard protocols. The assay was applied to evaluate functional antibodies of 42 sera immunized with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23). Results: The expanded MOPA platform was specific for all serotypes, with the exception of serotype 20. The assay results were highly correlated with those obtained from single-serotype OPA, indicating acceptable accuracy. The coefficients of variation were 7%-24% and 13%-39% in tests of intra- and inter-assay precision, respectively, using three quality-control samples. A MOPA that included 11 additional serotypes in the PPV23 was established and validated with respect to accuracy, specificity, and precision. The opsonic indices of immune sera were obtained using this validated assay. Conclusion: The expanded MOPA will be useful for evaluation of the immunogenicity of PPV23 and future conjugate vaccine formulations.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2021

The construction of the tunnel portal should be careful because cover depth is shallow and it is difficult to exhibit the arching effect. Tunnel stability may be reduced with additional embankment above the portal of tunnel. In this study, in order to examine the stability of the tunnel according to additional embankment above the portal of tunnel, numerical analysis was performed while changing the ground conditions and height of embankment. As a result of the numerical analysis, it was found that the allowable flexural compressive stress of shotcrete and allowable axial force of rockbolts were exceeded when the height of additional embankment was 12 m in rock mass rating V. When considering the displacement, the range of the plastic region and the behavior of the support materials, the tunnel stability seems to be greatly reduced if the height of additional embankment above the portal of tunnel exceeds 10 m.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.257-266
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• 2024

Objective: To investigate molecular and functional consequences of additional exposures to iodine- or gadolinium-based contrast agents within 24 hours from the initial intravenous administration of iodine-based contrast agents through an animal study. Materials and Methods: Fifty-six Sprague-Dawley male rats were equally divided into eight groups: negative control, positive control (PC) with single-dose administration of CT contrast agent, and additional administration of either CT or MR contrast agents 2, 4, or 24 hours from initial CT contrast agent injection. A 12 µL/g of iodinated contrast agent or a 0.47 µL/g of gadolinium-based contrast agent were injected into the tail vein. Serum levels of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, cystatin C (Cys C), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. mRNA and protein levels of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) were evaluated. Results: Levels of serum creatinine (SCr) were significantly higher in repeated CT contrast agent injection groups than in PC (0.21 ± 0.02 mg/dL for PC; 0.40 ± 0.02, 0.34 ± 0.03, and 0.41 ± 0.10 mg/dL for 2-, 4-, and 24-hour interval groups, respectively; P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the average Cys C and MDA levels between PC and repeated CT contrast agent injection groups (Cys C, P = 0.256-0.362; MDA, P > 0.99). Additional doses of MR contrast agent did not make significant changes compared to PC in SCr (P > 0.99), Cys C (P = 0.262), and MDA (P = 0.139-0.771) levels. mRNA and protein levels of KIM-1 and NGAL were not significantly different among additional CT or MR contrast agent groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: A sufficient time interval, probably more than 24 hours, between repeated contrast-enhanced CT examinations may be necessary to avoid deterioration in renal function. However, conducting contrast-enhanced MRI on the same day as contrast-enhanced CT may not induce clinically significant kidney injury.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.205-217
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• 2011

This study analyzed the reading materials presented in the existing 'Experiment Observation' targeting 31 elementary school students and conducted a preliminary investigation to examine the cause which makes the science reading materials of elementary school difficult to read. Also, on the basis of a preliminary investigation, this study developed the reading materials on science. After that, by examining the degree of understanding about existing reading materials on 'Experiment Observation' targeting 55 students of elementary schools and the newly developed reading materials targeting 44 students of elementary schools, the study proved its effect. As the result of the study, the causes for which students felt difficulty in reading were as follows: the scientific or non-scientific terms were explained by using more higher levels of Chinese characters compared to the levels of students; the scientific terms never treated in the classroom were used in the reading materials without any explanation; the overall structure of existing reading materials was distracted and listed the fragments of information, and the sentences were described complicatedly; the contents of a text and the photo materials were not connected functionally. In addition, the newly developed science reading materials were preferred by students because more various methods were devised, such as more systematic structure, arrangements of simpler sentence structure, additional explanation of scientific terms, divisions of paragraphs and postscript and their understanding was found to be improved.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.116-121
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• 2012

Effect of mixed gas and additional Mg powder in an annealing process of the $MgB_2$ is investigated. Four different type of samples were prepared, each in different annealing environment of Ar, $Ar+4%H_2$, Ar with Mg powder and $Ar+4%H_2$ with Mg powder. Different annealing environment did not affect the electron-phonon interaction which is reflected from the same superconducting transition of 36.6 K for all samples. The reducing effect of hydrogen is clearly depicted from the presence of excess Mg in sample synthesized in $Ar+4%H_2$ gas implying the reduced rate of reaction between Mg and B. This has manifested itself in terms of slightly increased high-field critical current density of the sample. In contrast, the sample synthesized in $Ar+4%H_2$ with Mg powder, has shown overall enhancement in the superconducting properties as presented by higher diamagnetic saturation and critical current density.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.9-17
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• 2018

Aluminum (Al) and its alloys have been used widely in a variety of industries such as structural, electronic, aerospace, and particularly automotive industries due to their lightweight characteristic, outstanding ductility, formability, high oxidation and corrosion resistance, and high thermal and electrical conductivity. Al have different kinds of alloys according to the various additional elements system and they should be selected properly depending on their effectiveness and suitability for their particular purpose. The major elements for Al alloys are silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn). In order for Al alloys to use for each industry, it is necessary to study of Al to Al joining and/or the Al to dissimilar materials joining to combine the individual parts into one. Many studies on joining technologies about Al to Al and Al to dissimilar materials have been performed such as press joining, bolted joint, welding, soldering, riveting, adhesive bonding, and brazing. This study reviews a variety of Al alloys and their joining method including its principles and properties with recent trends.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.268-272
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• 2011

Due to their novel properties, GaN based semiconductors and their nanostructures are promising components in a wide range of nanoscale device applications. In this work, the gallium nitride is deposited on c-axis oriented sapphire and porous SWCNT substrates by molecular beam epitaxy using a novel single source precursor of $Me_2Ga(N_3)NH_2C(CH_3)_3$ with ammonia as an additional source of nitrogen. The advantage of using a single molecular precursor is possible deposition at low substrate temperature with good crystal quality. The deposition is carried out in a substrate temperature range of 600-750$^{\circ}C$. The microstructural, structural, and optical properties of the samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence. The results show that substrate oriented columnar-like morphology is obtained on the sapphire substrate while sword-like GaN nanorods are obtained on porous SWCNT substrates with rough facets. The crystallinity and surface morphology of the deposited GaN were influenced significantly by deposition temperature and the nature of the substrate used. The growth mechanism of GaN on sapphire as well as porous SWCNT substrates is discussed briefly.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2016

Niobium is one of the most important and rarest metals, and is used in the electronic and energy industries. However, it's extremely high melting point and oxygen affinity limits the manufacture of Nb coating materials. Here, a Nb coating material is manufactured using a kinetic spray process followed by hot isotactic pressing to improve its properties. OM (optical microscope), XRD (X-ray diffraction), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), and Vickers hardness and EPMA (electron probe micro analyzer) tests are employed to investigate the macroscopic properties of the manufactured Nb materials. The powder used to manufacture the material has angular-shaped particles with an average particle size of $23.8{\mu}m$. The porosity and hardness of the manufactured Nb material are 0.18% and 221 Hv, respectively. Additional HIP is applied to the manufactured Nb material for 4 h under an Ar atmosphere after which the porosity decreases to 0.08% and the hardness increases to 253 Hv. Phase analysis after the HIP shows the presence of only pure Nb. The study also discusses the possibility of using the manufactured Nb material as a sputtering target.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 2009

HDDR treated anisotropic Nd-Fe-B powders have been widely used, due to their excellent magnetic properties, especially for sheet motors and sunroof motors of hybrid and electric vehicles. Final microstructure and coercivity of such Nd-Fe-B powders depend on the state of starting mother alloys, so additional homogenization treatment is required for improving magnetic properties of them. In this study, a homogenization treatment was performed at $900\sim1140^{\circ}C$ in order to control the grain size and Nd-rich phase distribution, and at the same time to improve coercivity of the HDDR treated magnetic powders. FE-SEM was used for observing grain size of the HDDR treated powder and EPMA was employed to observe distribution of Nd-rich phase. Magnetic properties were analyzed with a vibrating sample magnetometer.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.243-248
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• 2009

Carbon-coated Cu nanopowders with core/shell structure have been successfully fabricated by pulsed wire evaporation (PWE) method, in which a mixed gas of Ar/$CH_4$ (10 vol.%) was used as an ambient gas. The characterization of the samples was carried out using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). It was found that the nanoparticles show a spherical morphology with the size ranging of 10-40 nm and are covered with graphite layers of 2-4 nm. When oxygen-passivated Cu nanopowders were annealed under flowing argon gas (600 and 800$^{\circ}C$), the crystallinity of $Cu_2O$ phase and the particle size gradually increased. On the other hand, carbon-coated Cu nanopowders remained similar to as-prepared case with no additional oxide or carbide phases even after the annealing, indicating that the metal nanoparticles are well protected by the carbon-coating layers.