• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.759-770
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• 2022

Background: Aerobic cellular respiration provides chemical energy, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), to maintain multiple cellular functions. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) can deacetylate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α) to promote mitochondrial biosynthesis. Targeting energy metabolism is a potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of various diseases, such as cardiac and neurological disorders. Ginsenosides, one of the major bioactive constituents of Panax ginseng, have been extensively used due to their diverse beneficial effects on healthy subjects and patients with different diseases. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of total ginsenosides (GS) on energy metabolism remain unclear. Methods: In this study, oxygen consumption rate, ATP production, mitochondrial biosynthesis, glucose metabolism, and SIRT1-PGC-1α pathways in untreated and GS-treated different cells, fly, and mouse models were investigated. Results: GS pretreatment enhanced mitochondrial respiration capacity and ATP production in aerobic respiration-dominated cardiomyocytes and neurons, and promoted tricarboxylic acid metabolism in cardiomyocytes. Moreover, GS clearly enhanced NAD⁺-dependent SIRT1 activation to increase mitochondrial biosynthesis in cardiomyocytes and neurons, which was completely abrogated by nicotinamide. Importantly, ginsenoside monomers, such as Rg1, Re, Rf, Rb1, Rc, Rh1, Rb2, and Rb3, were found to activate SIRT1 and promote energy metabolism. Conclusion: This study may provide new insights into the extensive application of ginseng for cardiac and neurological protection in healthy subjects and patients.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.381-389
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• 2023

The germination characteristics of Pseudolysimachion kiusianum var. diamantiacum (Nakai) T.Yamaz., a rare and endemic plant designated by the Korea Forest Service, were investigated according to light conditions, temperature, and pretreatment. As a result of the germination experiment according to light conditions, it was determined that P. kiusianum is a photoblastic seed that does not germinate at all in dark conditions. The optimum germination temperature of the seeds was found to be 20-25℃, considering the final germination rate and germination time. Three growth regulators (IAA, GA₃, kinetin) and two inorganic salts (KNO₃, KCl) were pretreated to improve the germination rate of P. kiusianum seeds. The growth regulators IAA and kinetin had no significant effect on improving the germination rate of P. kiusianum seeds. On the other hand, GA₃ significantly increased the final germination percentage and germination rate regardless of the concentration, especially the treatment of more than 500 mg·L^-1 at 20℃ was more than 4 times more effective than the untreated. The inorganic salts KNO₃ and KCl had no significant effect on the seeds of P. kiusianum at low concentrations, but at higher concentrations (40 mM and 300 mM, respectively), they improved the germination rate and germination age by 2 times compared to the untreated. The results of this study will be useful for the mass propagation of P. kiusianum, which has the potential to be utilized as a native plant for restoration.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.4B
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• pp.441-447
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• 2008

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from various industrial sources commonly consist of biodegradable chemicals and recalcitrant compounds. Therefore, it is not effective to employ a single method to treat such mixtures. In this study, a novel hybrid system coupled with a ultraviolet (UV) photolysis reactor and a biofilter in a series was developed and evaluated using toluene and TCE as model VOCs. When only TCE was applied to the UV reactor, greater than 99% of TCE was degraded and the concentration of soluble byproducts from photo-oxidation reaction increased significantly. However, the toluene and TCE mixture was not effectively degraded by the UV photo-oxidation standalone process. The hybrid system showed high toluene removal efficiencies, and TCE degradation at a low toluene/TCE ratio was improved by UV pretreatment. These findings indicated that the UV photo-oxidation were effective for TCE degradation when the concentration of toluene in the mixture was relatively low. A restively high toluene content in the mixture resulted in an inhibition of TCE degradation. Thus, chemical interactions in both photo-oxidation and biodegradation need to be carefully considered to enhance overall performance of the hybrid system.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.233-241
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• 2024

In this study, finite element analyses of coated steel pipes were conducted to research the development of sensing-based monitoring smart pipes. The coated steel pipes underwent a chemical coating pretreatment process that used modified polyethylene on both the inside and outside surfaces. Furthermore, the steel pipes were designed to minimize damage during the expansion process by incorporating connecting parts. To evaluate structural performance under various loads, four loading conditions were established: static structural analysis by earth pressure, fatigue life evaluation by vehicle load, and resistance to water leakage under both tensile and compressive loads. The analysis estimated a higher fatigue life for the developed steel pipe, compared with that of a steel pipe using ready-made epoxy coatings and joints. In addition, an average maximum displacement reduction of 56.1% and a maximum stress reduction of 61.2% were confirmed under identical conditions and diameters, thereby verifying the safety of the connecting parts of the developed coated steel pipe. Furthermore, the results of stress distribution contour analyses revealed superior water leakage resistance at the fastening parts, compared with the centers of the pipes.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.399-407
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• 2009

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS) is an simple analysis method for directly quantifying many kinds of soil micro-elements on site using a small size of laser without pre-treatment at any property of materials(solid, liquid and gas). The purpose of this study were to find an optimum condition of the LIBS measurement including wavelengths for quantifying soil elements, to relate spectral properties to the concentration of soil elements using LIBS as a simultaneous un-breakdown quantitative analysis technology, which can be applied for the safety assessment of agricultural products and precision agriculture, and to compare the results with a standardized chemical analysis method. Soil samples classified as fine-silty, mixed, thermic Typic Hapludalf(Memphis series) from grassland and uplands in Tennessee, USA were collected, crushed, and prepared for further analysis or LIBS measurement. The samples were measured using LIBS ranged from 200 to 600 nm(0.03 nm interval) with a Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm, with a beam energy of 25 mJ per pulse, a pulse width of 5 ns, and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The optimum wavelength(${\lambda}nm$) of LIBS for estimating soil and plant elements were 308.2 nm for Al, 428.3 nm for Ca, 247.8 nm for T-C, 438.3 nm for Fe, 766.5 nm for K, 85.2 nm for Mg, 330.2 nm for Na, 213.6 nm for P, 180.7 nm for S, 288.2 nm for Si, and 351.9 nm for Ti, respectively. Coefficients of determination($r^2$) of calibration curve using standard reference soil samples for each element from LIBS measurement were ranged from 0.863 to 0.977. In comparison with ICP-AES(Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy) measurement, measurement error in terms of relative standard error were calculated. Silicon dioxide(SiO2) concentration estimated from two methods showed good agreement with -3.5% of relative standard error. The relative standard errors for the other elements were high. It implies that the prediction accuracy is low which might be caused by matrix effect such as particle size and constituent of soils. It is necessary to enhance the measurement and prediction accuracy of LIBS by improving pretreatment process, standard reference soil samples, and measurement method for a reliable quantification method.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.33-40
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• 2022

Sedimentation and pH neutralization has been investigated as preteatment of acid contaminate water. The settling and neutralizing process derive more effective degradation efficiency as the pre-treatment process before the removal process of adsorption, volatile, biodegradation, or oxidation. Settling velocity, uniformity coefficient, coefficient of curvature, and grain size index can define in the sedimentation process for characteristics of the soil. The stainless steel sieve has been used to separate each particle size of the dry soil by assembling in order of 4, 10, 20, 40, 80, 100, and 200 mesh sizes. The soil from Gamcheon Port in Busan drops upper side of the sieve and shakes back and forth to separate each different size of the particle. The 1L of Imhoff cone and 200 mL of the mass cylinder were used as settling tanks to calculate settling velocity. Stokes' equation was used to figure out the average density of dry soil with a value from settling velocity. In the results, the average particle density and lowest settling velocity were 1.93 g/cm³ and 0.11 cm/s, respectively. These values can detect the range of settling points of sediment to prevent chemical accidents. In pH neutralization, the initial pH of 2, 3, 4, and 5 of nitric acid and sulfuric acid are used as an acid solution; 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001 M of sodium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide are used as a base solution. The main goal of this experiment is to figure out the volume percentage of the acid solution becomes pH 7. The concentration of 0.001 M of base solution exceeds all the conditions, 0.01 M exceeds partially, and 0.1 M does not exceed 5 v/v% except pH 2. Calcium hydroxide present less volume than sodium hydroxide at pH neutralization both sulfuric and nitric acid.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.36 no.2 s.115
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• pp.145-152
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to evaluate electroless plating as a method of increasing the diameter of an orthodontic wire in comparison with eletroplating. After pretreatment plating of the 0.016 inch stainless steel orthodontic wire, electroless plating was performed at $90^{\circ}C$ until the diameter of the wire was increased to 0.018 inch. During the process of electroless plating, the diameter of the wire was measured every 5 minutes to examine the increasing ratio of the wire's diameter per time unit. And to examine the uniformity, the diameter at 3 points on the electroless-plated orthodontic wire was measured. An X-ray diffraction test for analyzing the nature of the plated metal and a 3-point bending test for analyzing the physical property were performed. The electroless-plated wire group showed a increased tendency for stiffness, yield strength, and ultimate strength than the electroplated wire group. And there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups for stiffness and ultimate strength. In the electroless-plated wire group, the increasing ratio of the diameter was $0.00461{\pm}0.00003mm/5min$ (0.00092 mm/min). In the electroplated wire group, it was $0.00821{\pm}0.00015mm/min$. The results of the uniformity test showed a tendency for uniformity in both the plating methods. The results of this study suggest that electroless plating of the wire is closer to the ready-made wire than electroplating wire in terms of the physical property. However, the length of plating time needs further consideration for the clinical application of electroless plating.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 1992

Studies were conducted to determine the combined effect of uniconazole [(E) -1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4, 4-demethyl 2-(1,2,4 triazol-1-yl)-1-penten-3-ol] and silver thiosulfate $[Ag {(S_2O_3)}^3\;_2-]$ (STS) on reduction of ozone injury in tomato plants(Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. 'Pink Glory'). Plants were given a 50ml soil drench of uniconazole at concentrations of 0, 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 mg/pot at the stage of emerging 4th leaf. Two days prior to ozone fumigation, STS solution contained 0.05% Tween-20 was also sprayed at concentrations of 0, 0.3 and 0.6 mM. Uniconazole at 0.01 mg/pot and STS at 0.6 mM were effective in providing protection against ozone exposure(20h at 0.2ppm) without severe retardation of plant height and chemical phytotoxicity, respectively. Combined treatment with uniconazole, STS significantly reduced ozone injury at the lower concentration than a single treatment with uniconazole or STS. Uniconazole treatment reduced plant height, stem elongation and transpiration rate on a whole plant level and increased chlorophyll concentration. STS did not give any effect on plant growth and chlorophyll content but increased transpiration rate in non-ozone-fumigated plants. Ethylene production in the leaves of ozone-fumigated plants was decreased by uniconazole and STS pretreatment, but there was no protective effect on epinasty of leaves in uniconazole-treated plants. STS increased ethylene production in non-ozone-fumigated plants, but it significantly reduced the degree of epinasty and defoliation of cotyledons when plants were exposed to ozone. Uniconazole slightly increased superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities. But STS showed little or no effects on such free radical scavengers. Day of flowering after seeding was shortened and percentages of fruit set were increased by uniconazole treatment. STS was highly effective on protecting reduction of fruit set resulting from ozone fumigation. These results suggest that combined use of uniconazole and STS should provide miximum protection against ozone injury without growth retardation resulting in yield loss.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.341-352
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• 2017

Along with Cs-137 (half-life: 30.17 years), Sr-90 (half-life: 28.8 years) is one of the most important environmental monitoring radioactive elements. Rapid and easy monitoring method for Sr-90 using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has been studied. Strontium belongs to a bivalent alkaline earth metal such as calcium and has similar electron arrangement and size. Due to these similar chemical properties, it can easily enter into the human body through the food chain via water, soil, and crops when leaked into the environment. In addition, it is immersed into the bone at the case of human influx and causes the toxicity for a long time (biological half-life: about 50 years). It is a very reductive and related with the specific reaction that makes wet analysis difficult. In particular, radioactive strontium should be monitored by nuclear power plants but it is very difficult to be analysed from high-cost problems as well as low accuracy of analysis due to complicated analysis procedures, expensive analysis equipment, and a pretreatment process of using massive chemicals. Therefore, we introduce the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis method that analyzes the elements in the sample using the inherent spectrum by generating plasma on the sample using pulse energy, and it can be analyzed in a few seconds without preprocessing. A variety of analytical plates for samples were developed to improve the analytical sensitivity by optimizing the laser, wavelength, and time resolution. This can be effectively applied to real-time monitoring of radioactive wastewater discharged from a nuclear power plant, and furthermore, it can be applied as an emergency monitoring means such as possible future accidents at a nuclear power plants.