• Progress in Superconductivity
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.178-183
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• 2012

Two $RuSr_2(EuCe)Cu_2O_z$ samples (as prepared and after $N_2$ treatment) have been investigated by thermogravimetric (TC) analysis, high-resolution x-ray powder diffraction and magnetization measurements. TG measurements which were carried out in $H_2/Ar$ atmosphere showed that the $N_2$ treatment of the as-prepared sample at $650^{\circ}C$ for 2h leads to a decrease in the oxygen content z by about 0.25. This oxygen depletion was accompanied by an increase in the magnetic transition temperature from 54.0 K to 114.9 K. This magnetic behavior is discussed in connection with the results of Rietveld analysis of the x-ray diffraction data which showed that the $N_2$ treatment resulted in both a significant increase in the rotation angle of the $RuO_6$ octahedra and a decrease in c-lattice parameter of the sample.

• 대한전기학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한전기학회 2005년도 춘계학술대회 논문집 전기기기 및 에너지변환시스템부문
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• pp.277-279
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• 2005

The imbalance of energy demand and supply caused by rapid industrialization around the world and the associated environmental issues require and alternative energy source with possible renewable fuels. Political instability and depletion of cruel oils are other factors that cause fluctuation of oil price. Securing a new alternative energy source for the next century became an urgent issue that our nation is confronting with. As a matter of fact, the fuel cell technology can be widely used as next generation energy regardless of regions and climate. Specially, the ability of expansion and quick installation enable one to apply it for distributed power, where the technology is already gaining remarkable attentions for the application. Particularly, leading industrialized nations are focusing on the PEM fuel dell with anticipation that this technology will find their place of applications in the vehicles and homes. In this study, demonstrate the multi physics modeling of a proton exchange membrane(PEM) fuel cell with interdigitated flow field design. The model uses current balances, mass balance(Maxwell-Stefan diffusion for reactant, water and nitrogen gas) and momentum balance(gas flow) to simulate the PEM fuel cell behavior.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.439-441
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• 2002

Cyanobacteria are the dominant micro flora in rice-fields, contributing significantly to fertility as a natural biofertilizer. Recent studies show a continuous depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, and the consequent increase in solar UV-B (280-315 nm) radiation reaching the Earth's surface. UV-B radiation causes reduction in growth, survival, protein content, heterocyst frequency and fixation of carbon and nitrogen in many cyanobacteria. UV -B induced bleaching of pigments, disassembly of phycobilisomal complexes, thymine dimer formation and alterations in membrane permeability have also been encounterd in a number of cyanobacteria. However, certain cyanobacteria produce photoprotective compounds such as water soluble colorless mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) and the lipid soluble yellow-brown colored sheath pigment, scytonemin, to counteract the damaging effects of UV-B. Cyanobacteria, such as Anabaena sp., Nostoc commune, Scytonema sp. and Lyngbya sp. were isolated from rice fields and other habitats in India and screened for the presence of photoprotective compounds. A circadian induction of the synthesis of MAAs by UV -B was noted in a number of cyanobacteria. Polychromatic action spectra for the induction of MAAs in Anabaena sp. and Nostoc commune also show the induction to be UV-B dependent peaking at 290 nm. Another photoprotective compound, scytonemin, with an absorption maximum at 386 nm (also absorbs at 300, 278, 252 and 212 nm), was detected in many cyanobacteria. In conclusion, a particular cyanobacterium having photoprotective compounds may be a potent candidate as biofertilizer for crop plants.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제24권12호
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• pp.1681-1689
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• 2011

The beneficial effects of tea catechins (TCs) are related not only to their antioxidant potential but also to the improvement of animal meat quality. In this study, we assessed the effects of dietary TC supplementation on plasma biochemical parameters, hormone responses, and glutathione redox status in goats. Forty Liuyang goats were randomly divided into four equal groups (10 animals/group) that were assigned to four experimental diets with TC supplementation at 4 levels (0, 2,000, 3,000 or 4,000 mg TC/kg DM feed). After a 60-day feeding trial, all goats were slaughtered and sampled. Dietary TC treatment had no significant effect on blood biochemical parameters, however, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p<0.001), triglyceride (p<0.01), plasma urea nitrogen (p<0.01), and glucose (p<0.001) decreased and total protein (p<0.01) and albumin (p<0.05) increased with the feeding time extension, and day 20 was the turning point for most of changes. Interactions were found in glutathione (p<0.001) and the ratio of reduced and oxidized glutathione (p<0.05) in whole blood between treatment and feeding time. Oxidized glutathione in blood was reduced (p<0.05) by 2,000 mg TC/kg feed supplementation, and a similar result was observed in longissimus dorsi muscle. Though plasma glutathione peroxidase (p<0.01) and glutathione reductase (p<0.05) activities were affected by treatment and feeding time interactions, and glutathione S-transferases activity increased with feeding day extension, no changed values appeared in longissimus dorsi muscle. In conclusion, dietary TC supplementation affected the concentrations of some blood metabolites and accelerated GSH depletion in the blood of goats. In terms of less high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the highest insulin and IGF-I concentrations, the highest ratio of reduced and oxidized glutathione in plasma, the dosage of 2,000 mg TC/kg feed might be desirable for growing goats to prevent glutathione depletion and keep normal physiological metabolism.

• 한국물환경학회지
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.121-131
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• 2018

Domestic sewage treatment plants (STPs) consume about 0.5 % of total electric energy produced annually, which is equivalent to 207.7 billion Korean won per year. To minimize the energy consumption and as a way of mitigating the depletion of energy sources, the sewage treatment strategy should be improved to the level of "energy positive". The core processes for the energy positive sewage treatment include A-stage for energy recovery and B-stage for energy-efficient nitrogen removal. The integrated process is known as the A/B-process. In A-stage, chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) or high rate activated sludge (HRAS) processes can be utilized by modifying the primary settling in the first stage of sewage treatment. CEPT utilizes chemical coagulation and flocculation, while HRAS applies returned activated sludge for the efficient recovery of organic contents. The two processes showed organic recovery efficiencies ranging from 60 to 70 %. At a given recovery efficiency of 80 %, 17.3 % of energy potential ($1,398kJ/m^3$) is recovered through the anaerobic digestion and combustion of methane. Besides, anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) can recover 85% of organic contents and generate $1,580kJ/m^3$ from the sewage. The recovered energy is equal to the amount of energy consumption by sewage treatment equipped with anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX)-based B-stage, $810{\sim}1,620kJ/m^3$. Therefore, it is possible to upgrade STPs as efficient as energy neutral. However, additional novel technologies, such as, fuel cell and co-digestion, should be applied to achieve "energy positive" sewage treatment.

• 한국물환경학회지
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.110-119
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• 2004

The combination of biological and physical/chemical technologies is a promising technique to reduce highly concentrated pollutants in livestock wastewater. It is suggested to treat livestock wastewater efficiently as follows: firstly, biodegradable organic matters, nitrogen and some of phosphorus should be removed by a biological treatment process and then residual non-biodegradable organic matters, color and phosphorus be eliminated by physicochemical technologies. In this study, therefore, the integrations of chemical coagulation, activated carbon adsorption, Fenton oxidation and ozonation were evaluated to provide appropriate post-treatment processes for biologically pre-treated livestock wastewater. After chemical coagulation followed by ozonation or Fenton oxidation process, the quality of treated wastewater could meet the discharge limit in Korea. However, a yellowish brown color still remained in the treated wastewater after a single method such as coagulation and Fenton oxidation was applied. The ozonation was found to be the most effective technology for the decolorization. Neither simple biological nor physicochemical treatment provides adequate decolorization and sufficient depletion of organics in livestock wastewater so far. Consequently, the integration of Fenton oxidation and ozonation with a biological treatment process is recommended to treat livestock wastewater in terms of removal efficiency.

• 한국자동차공학회논문집
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.59-65
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• 2014

Diesel engines have the superior combustion efficiency and fuel economy that they are widely used for industry, heavyduty vehicles, etc. However, its exhaust emissions have become the major concerns due to their environmental impacts. Moreover, the depletion of fossil fuels is the main issue. Therefore, it is important to look for alternative sources of energy. Bio-diesel is one of the ideal energy which has proved to be ecofriendly for more than fossil fuels. The experimental tests analysed the engine performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine using diesel and biodiesel blended of BD25, BD45 and BD65, in order to study the use of clean fuel to meet the increasingly stringent emission regulations. The engine performance was examined by using engine dynamometer while an exhaust gas analyzer was used to examine the emission characteristics. The effect of biodiesel on engine performance were lower to diesel through comparing their HP and torque but fuel consumption was slightly increased because of biodiesel has lower heating value and higher density than diesel. However, due to the better lubricity, the brake thermal efficiency of biodiesel was higher than diesel. The emission characteristics were strongly affected by the blending ratio of diesel and biodiesel. The results showed that the smoke opacity, hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions decreased while the nitrogen oxides (NOX) slightly increased.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권5호
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• pp.854-866
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• 2016

The production cost of biodiesel from microalgae is still not competitive, compared with that of petroleum fuels. The genetic improvement of microalgal strains to increase triacylglycerol (TAG) accumulation is one way to reduce production costs. One of the most promising approaches is the isolation of starch-deficient mutants, which have been reported to successfully increase TAG yields. To date, such a stable mutant is not available in an oleaginous marine microalga, despite several advantages of using marine species for biodiesel production. Algae in the genus Dunaliella are known to tolerate high salt concentration and other environmental stresses. In addition, the cultivation processes for large-scale outdoor commercialization have been well established for this genus. In this study, Dunaliella tertiolecta was used to screen for starch-deficient mutants, using an iodine vapor-staining method. Four out of 20,016 UV-mutagenized strains showed a substantial reduction of starch content. A significantly higher TAG content, up to 3-fold of the wild-type level, was observed in three of the mutants upon induction by nitrogen depletion. The carotenoid production and growth characteristics of these mutants, under both normal and oxidative stress conditions, were not compromised, suggesting that these processes are not necessarily affected by starch deficiency. The results from this work open up new possibilities for exploring Dunaliella for biodiesel production.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.69-80
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• 2000

ADP-rubosylation may be involved in the process of macrophage activation. Nitric oxide (NO) has emerged as an important intracellular and interacellular regulatory molecule with function as diverse as vasodilation, neural communication or host defense. NO is derived from the oxidation of the terminal guanidino nitrogen atom of L-arginine by the NADPH -dependent enzyme, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) which is one of the three different isomers in mammalian tissues. Since NO can exert protective or regulatory functions in the cell at a low concentration while toxic effects at higher concentrations, its role may be tightly regulated in the cell. Therefore, this paper was focused on signal transduction pathway of NO synthesis, role of endogenous TGF-$\beta$ in NO production. effect of NO on superoxide formation. Costimulation of murine peritoneal macrophages with interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) increased both NO secretion and mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) when PMA abolished costimulation. Pretreatmnet of the cells with PMA abolished costimuation effects due to the depletion of protein kinase C (PKC) activities . The involvement of PKC in NO secretion could be further confirmed by PKC inhibitor, stauroprine, and phorbol ester derivative, phorbol 12,13-didecanoate. Addition of actinomycine D in IFN-γ plus PMA stimulated cells inhibited both NO secretion and mRNA expression of iNOS indication that PMA stabilizes mRNA of iNOS . Exogenous TGF-$\beta$ reduced NO secretion in IFN -γ stimulated murine macrophages. However addition of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) to TGF-$\beta$ to this system recovered the ability of NO production and inhibited mRNA expression of TGF-$\beta$. ACAS interactive laser cytometry analysis showed that transportation of FITC -labeled antisense ODN complementary to TGF-$\beta$ mRNA could be observed within 5 min and reached maximal intensity in 30 min in the murine macrophage cells. NO released by activated macrophages inhibits superoxide formation in the same cells . This inhibition nay be related on NO-induced auto -adenosine diphosphate (ADP) -ribosylation . In addition, ADP-ribosylation may be involved in the process of macrophage activation .

• Natural Product Sciences
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.251-257
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• 2014

Chungsimyeonja-tang (CSYJT) is an herbal decoction that consists with 12 herbal medicines. CSYJT has been shown to have anti-stress, anti-allergic and anti-oxidant effects. The aim of this study was to determine flavonoid contents in CSYJT and evaluate its protective effect against cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity using both in vitro (porcine renal epithelial cell; PK15 cell) and in vivo (Sprague Dawley rat) experiments. In the present study, thee mean contents of baicalin, wogonoside and baicalein in CSYJT were 14.65, 5.27 and 0.02 mg/g, respectively. The CSYJT extract treatment attenuated the following alteration in porcine renal epithelial (PK15) cell: the increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS), the glutathione depletion and the increase in p53 expression induced by cisplatin treatment. In the in vivo study, rats were orally treated with CSYJT extract once a day for 28 days. Five days before the last treatment, cisplatin (5 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected to induce acute renal failure. Increased blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (CRE) levels after cisplatin treatment were ameliorated by pretreatment of CSYJT extract. In addition, lipid peroxidation was decreased and antioxidant enzyme (glutathione) was recovered in CSYJT pretreated kidney tissue. In histopathological examination, CSYJT pretreated group showed ameliorated pathological alteration after cisplatin injection with decreased apoptosis. Taken together, pretreatment of CSYJT could ameliorate cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.