• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.331-343
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• 2002

The southern tidal flat of Kanghwa Island with an area of approximately $90km^2$ is one of the biggest flats on the west coast of Korea. Surface sediments for sedimentary analyses were sampled at 83 stations in August 1997, September 1999 and August 2000. The very poorly-sorted mud sediments were predominant in the eastern part of the tidal flat, whereas the poorly-sorted sand-mud mixed sediments were dominant in the western part. The area of muddy sediment distribution diminished, but that of sandy mud sediment extended to southeastward tidal flat for three years. In the western part of tidal flat, deposition occurred during the period of spring to summer, whereas erosion occurred in winter. Sediment accumulation rates during three years indicated that the sediments deposited continuously in the eastern part of tidal flat, whereas eroded in the western part of tidal flat. Recently, construction of artificial structures such as new airport, island-connecting bridges and dikes near the tidal flat might change tidal current and river flow pattern. In order to reduce the ecological damage and to preserve tidal-flat environment, it is necessary to Investigate long-term impacts on sedimentary environment and ecology.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.152-158
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• 2009

Reduced fetal growth is independently associated with increased risk of health problems in later life, particularly type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Insulin resistance appears to be a key component underlying these metabolic complications. It is suggested that detrimental fetal environment may program insulin resistance syndrome. An insulin-resistant genotype may also result in both low birth weight and insulin resistance syndrome, and it is likely that the association of low birth weight with insulin resistance is the result of both genetic and environmental factors. Early postnatal rapid catch-up growth is closely related to risk for subsequent metabolic diseases. Fat mass is strikingly reduced in neonates born small for gestational age (SGA), and recent data suggest that insulin resistance seen in catch-up growth is related to the disproportionate catch-up in fat mass compared with lean mass. Endocrine disturbances are also recognized in SGA children, but overt clinical problems are infrequent in childhood. Cognitive impairment is reported in some children born SGA, especially those who do not show catch-up growth, in whom early neurodevelopmental evaluation is required. Breast feeding, also known to be protective against the long-term risk of obesity, may prevent some intellectual impairment in SGA children. Calorie-dense feeding does not seem to be appropriate in SGA infants. We must balance the positive effect of nutrition on neural development against rapid fat deposition and the future risk of insulin resistance.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.2607-2610
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• 2011

Monodispersed Ag/$TiO_2$ core/shell nanoparticles were synthesized in solution via colloid-seeded deposition process using Ag nanoparticles as colloid seeds and $Ti(SO_4)_2$ as Ti-source respectively. Silver nitrate was reduced to Ag nanoparticles with $N_2H_4{\cdot}H_2O$ in the presence of CTAB as stabilizing agent. The titania sols hydrolyzed by the $Ti(SO_4)_2$ solution deposited on the surface of Ag nanoparticles to form the Ag/$TiO_2$ core/shell nanoparticles. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) showed low amount of Ag ion leaching from the Ag/$TiO_2$ core/shell nanoparticles. The Ag/$TiO_2$ core/shell nanoparticles indicated excellent antibacterial effects against Escherichia coli and maintained long-term antibacterial property.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.232-238
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• 2014

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease without known ways to cure. A key neuropathologic manifestation of the disease is extracellular deposition of beta-amyloid peptide (Ab). Specific mechanisms underlying the development of the disease have not yet been fully understood. In this study, we investigated effects of 4-O-methylhonokiol on memory dysfunction in APP/PS1 double transgenic mice. 4-O-methylhonokiol (1 mg/kg for 3 month) significantly reduced deficit in learning and memory of the transgenic mice, as determined by the Morris water maze test and step-through passive avoidance test. Our biochemical analysis suggested that 4-O-methylhonokiol ameliorated $A{\beta}$ accumulation in the cortex and hippocampus via reduction in beta-site APP-cleaving enzyme 1 expression. In addition, 4-O-methylhonokiol attenuated lipid peroxidation and elevated glutathione peroxidase activity in the double transgenic mice brains. Thus, suppressive effects of 4-O-methylhonokiol on $A{\beta}$ generation and oxidative stress in the brains of transgenic mice may be responsible for the enhancement in cognitive function. These results suggest that the natural compound has potential to intervene memory deficit and progressive neurodegeneration in AD patients.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.56-56
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• 2018

Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) have attracted attention due to their high electrical conductivity and optical transparency in the visible region. Consequently, TCOs have been widely used as electrode materials in various electronic devices such as flat panel displays and solar cells. Previous studies on TCOs focused on their electrical and optical performances; there have been numerous attempts to improve these properties, such as chemical doping and crystallinity enhancement. Recently, due to rapidly increasing demand for flexible electronics, the academic interest in the mechanical stability of materials has come to the fore as a major issue. In particular, long-term stability under bending is a crucial requirement for flexible electrodes; however, research on this feature is still in the nascent stage. Hydrogen-incorporated amorphous In-Sn-O (a-ITO) thin films were fabricated by introducing hydrogen gas during deposition. The hydrogen concentration in the film was determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry and was found to vary from $4.7{\times}10^{20}$ to $8.1{\times}10^{20}cm^{-3}$ with increasing $H_2$ flow rate. The mechanical stability of the a-ITO thin films dramatically improved because of hydrogen incorporation, without any observable degradation in their electrical or optical properties. With increasing hydrogen concentration, the compressive residual stress gradually decreased and the subgap absorption at around 3.1 eV was suppressed. Considering that the residual stress and subgap absorption mainly originated from defects, hydrogen may be a promising candidate for defect passivation in flexible electronics.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.180-183
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• 2007

Over the last century the mercury (Hg) concentration in the environment has been increased by human activities with inputs from sources such as atmospheric deposition, urban runoff, and industrial effluents. Mercury can be transformed to methylmercury (MeHg) in anaerobic conditions by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) and sediments are the principal location for MeHg production in aquatic environments. Interest in bioaccumulation of Hg and MeHg into lower trophic levels of benthic and pelagic organisms stems from public health concerns as these organisms provide essential links for higher trophic levels of food chains such as fish and larger invertebrates. Fish consumption is the major exposure route of MeHg to humans. Recently, it was reported that blood samples in Korea showed much higher Hg levels (5-8 times) than those in USA and Germany. Although this brings much attention to Hg research in Korea, there are very few studies on Hg biogeochemical cycling and bioaccumulation in aquatic environments. Given the importance of Hg methylation and MeHg transfer through food chains in aquatic environments, it is imperative that studies should be done in much detail looking at the fate, transport, and bioaccumulation of Hg and MeHg in the environment. Moreover, there should be long-term monitoring plans in Korea to evaluate the environmental and health effects of Hg and MeHg.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.102-107
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• 2010

a-Si solar cell has relatively dominant drift current when compared with crystalline solar cell due to the high internal electric field. Such drift current make an impact on the PV module in the local shading. In this paper, the a-Si PV module output characteristics of shading effects was approached in terms of process condition, because of the different deposition layer of thin film lead to rising the resistance. We suggested design condition to ensure the long-term durability of the module with regard to the degradation factors such as hot spot by analyzing the module specification. The result shows a remarkable difference on module uniformity for each shading position. In addition, the unbalanced power loss due to power mismatch of each module could intensify the degradation.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2012

Probe tip, which should have not only superior electrical characteristics but also good abrasion resistance for numerous contacts with semiconductor pads to confirm their availability, is essential for MEMS probe card. To obtain good durability of probe tip, it needs thick and crack-free rhodium layer on the tip. However, when the rhodium thickness deposited by electroplating increased, unwanted cracks by high internal stress led to serious problem of MEMS probe tip. This article reported the method of thick Rh deposition with Au buffer layer on the probe tip to overcome the problem of high internal stress and studied mechanical and electrical properties of that. MEMS probe tip with double-Rh layer had good contact resistance and durability during long term touch downs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.84-84
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• 2010

In this study, we report on the novel lithographic patterning method to fabricate organic-semiconductor devices based on photo and e-beam lithography with well-known silicon technology. The method is applied to fabricate pentacene-based organic field effect transistors. Owing to their solubility, sub-micron sized patterning of P3HT and PEDOT has been well established via micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC) and inkjet printing techniques. Since the thermally deposited pentacene cannot be dissolved in solvents, other approach was done to fabricate pentacene FETs with a very short channel length (~30nm), or in-plane orientation of pentacene molecules by using nanometer-scale periodic groove patterns as an alignment layer for high-performance pentacene devices. Here, we introduce the atomic layer deposition of $Al_2O_3$ film on pentacene as a passivation layer. $Al_2O_3$ passivation layer on OTFTs has some advantages in preventing the penetration of water and oxygen and obtaining the long-term stability of electrical properties. AZ5214 and ma N-2402 were used as a photo and e-beam resist, respectively. A few micrometer sized lithography patterns were transferred by wet and dry etching processes. Finally, we fabricated sub-micron sized pentacene FETs and measured their electrical characteristics.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.649-659
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• 2022

A long-term energy nutritional imbalance fundamentally causes the development of obesity and associated fat accumulation. Lysosomes, as nutrient-sensing and lipophagy centers, critically control cellular lipid catabolism in response to nutrient deprivation. However, whether lysosome activity is directly involved in nutrient-induced fat accumulation remains unclear. In this study, worm fat accumulation was induced by 1 mM glucose or 0.02 mM palmitic acid supplementation. Along with the elevation of fat accumulation, lysosomal number and acidification were also increased, suggesting that lysosome activity might be correlated with nutrient-induced fat deposition in Caenorhabditis elegans. Furthermore, treatments with the lysosomal inhibitors chloroquine and leupeptin significantly reduced basal and nutrient-induced fat accumulation in C. elegans. The knockdown of hlh-30, which is a critical gene in lysosomal biogenesis, also resulted in worm fat loss. Finally, the mutation of aak-2, daf-15, and rsks-1 showed that mTORC1 (mechanistic target of rapamycin complex-1) signaling mediated the effects of lysosomes on basal and nutrient-induced fat accumulation in C. elegans. Overall, this study reveals the previously undescribed role of lysosomes in overnutrition sensing, suggesting a new strategy for controlling body fat accumulation.