• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2013

Polyamines, putrescine, spermidine and spermine, are ubiquitous in living cells and are essential for eukaryotic cell growth. These polycations interact with negatively charged molecules such as DNA, RNA, acidic proteins and phospholipids and modulate various cellular functions including macromolecular synthesis. Dysregulation of the polyamine pathway leads to pathological conditions including cancer, inflammation, stroke, renal failure and diabetes. Increase in polyamines and polyamine synthesis enzymes is often associated with tumor growth, and urinary and plasma contents of polyamines and their metabolites have been investigated as diagnostic markers for cancers. Of these, diacetylated derivatives of spermidine and spermine are elevated in the urine of cancer patients and present potential markers for early detection. Enhanced catabolism of cellular polyamines by polyamine oxidases (PAO), spermine oxidase (SMO) or acetylpolyamine oxidase (AcPAO), increases cellular oxidative stress and generates hydrogen peroxide and a reactive toxic metabolite, acrolein, which covalently incorporates into lysine residues of cellular proteins. Levels of protein-conjuagated acrolein (PC-Acro) and polyamine oxidizing enzymes were increased in the locus of brain infarction and in plasma in a mouse model of stroke and also in the plasma of stroke patients. When the combined measurements of PC-Acro, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were evaluated, even silent brain infarction (SBI) was detected with high sensitivity and specificity. Considering that there are no reliable biochemical markers for early stage of stroke, PC-Acro and PAOs present promising markers. Thus the polyamine metabolites in plasma or urine provide useful tools in early diagnosis of cancer and stroke.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.292-297
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• 2007

The present study was focused on the synthesis of a $TiB_2$ dispersed copper matrix composite material by the combination of the mechanical milling and plasma activated sintering processes. The $Cu/TiB_2$ mixed powder was prepared by the combination of the mechanical milling and reduction processes using the copper oxide and titanium diboride powder as the raw material. The synthesized $Cu/TiB_2$ mixed powder was sintered by the plasma activated sintering process. The hardness and electric conductivity of the sintered bodies were measured using micro vickers hardness and four probe method, respectively. The relative density of $Cu/TiB_2$ composite material sintered at $800^{\circ}C$ showed about 98% of theoretical density. The $Cu-1vol%TiB_2$ composite material has a hardness of about 130Hv and an electric conductivity of about 85% IACS. The hardness and electric conductivity of $Cu-3vol%TiB_2$ composite material were about 140 Hv and about 45% IACS, respectively.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.411-424
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• 2013

In this study, the synthesis of nickel nanoparticles and copper nanospheres for the potential applications of MLCC electrode materials has been studied by plasma arc evaporation method. The change in the broad distribution of the size of nickel and copper nanopowders is successfully controlled by manifesting proper mixture of gas ambiance for plasma generation in the size range of 20 to 200 nm in diameter. The factors affecting the mean diameter of the nanopowder was studied by changing the composition of reactive gases, indicating that nitrogen enhances the formation of larger particles compared to hydrogen gas. The morphologies and particle sizes of the metal nanoparticles were observed by SEM, and ultrathin oxide layers on the powder surface generated during passivation step have been confirmed using TEM. The metallic FCC structure of the nanoparticles was confirmed using powder X-ray diffraction method.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2020

W₂C is synthesized through a reaction-sintering process from an ultrafine-W and WC powder mixture using spark plasma sintering (SPS). The effect of various parameters, such as W:WC molar ratio, sintering temperature, and sintering time, on the synthesis behavior of W₂C is investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of the microstructure, and final sintered density. Further, the etching properties of a W₂C specimen are analyzed. A W₂C sintered specimen with a particle size of 2.0 ㎛ and a relative density over 98% could be obtained from a W-WC powder mixture with 55 mol%, after SPS at 1700℃ for 20 min under a pressure of 50 MPa. The sample etching rate is similar to that of SiC. Based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, it is confirmed that fluorocarbon-based layers such as C-F and C-F2 with lower etch rates are also formed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.211.1-211.1
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• 2016

Several reports have demonstrated the wide range of nonthermal plasma applications in biomedical field including cancers, diabetics, wound healing and cosmetics. Recently, it has been shown that plasma is able to modulate the p38 MAPK and JUN level in cells which has a crucial role in melanin synthesis and skin pigmentation. Therefore we investigated the effect of plasma on melanogenesis in-vitro using melanoma (B16F10) cells and in-vivo using mouse and zebra fish. To investigate the mechanism of plasma action, plasma device characteristics were measured, reactive species inside and outside the cells were detected, and western blot was performed to find the signaling pathway involved in melanin activation in-vitro and in-vivo. This is the first report presenting the role of nonthermal plasma for melanogenesis which provides a new perspective of plasma in the field of dermatology.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.210-214
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• 2007

Silicon nanoparticles are widely studied as a material with great potential for wide applications. For application to present industry, it should be easy to control the characteristics of nanoparticle including the size and structure. In this paper, we investigated the formation of Si nanoparticle using pulse plasma technology. Plasma technology is already quite common in device industry and the size of nanoparticle can be easily controlled according to plasma pulse duration. An inductively-coupled plasma chamber with RF power (13.56 MHz) was used with DC-biased grid $(-200\sim+200\;V)$ installed above the substrate. In order to measure the shape and size of nanoparticle, TEM was used. It was found that the size of nanoparticles can be controlled well with the plasma pulse duration and the collection efficiency is increased with the use of either negative or positive DC-bias.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.44-47
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• 2014

In this study, we investigated the basic properties of N-doped ethylcyclohexene plasma polymer thin films that deposited by radio frequency (13.56 MHz) plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method with controlled ammonia flow rate. Ethylcyclohexene was used as organic precursor with hydrogen gas as the precursor bubbler gas. Additionally, ammonia ($NH_3$) gas was used as nitrogen dopant. The as-grown polymerized thin films were analyzed using ellipsometry, Fourier-transform infrared [FT-IR] spectroscopy, UV-Visible spectroscopy, and water contact angle measurement. We found that with increasing plasma power, film thickness is gradually increased while optical transmittance is drastically decreased. However, under the same plasma condition, water contact angle is decreased with increasing $NH_3$ flow rate. The FT-IR spectra showed that the N-doped ethylcyclohexene plasma polymer films were completely fragmented and polymerized from ethylcyclohexane.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.277-277
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• 2010

In this report, we present a very effective growing method of graphene using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD). The graphene is successfully grown on copper substrate. Low temperature growing is obtained with methane and hydrogen plasma. The graphene layers are analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscope. We also provide a transfer technique of graphene layer onto silicon substrate to build up various kinds of application devices.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.90.2-90.2
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• 2012

Graphene has recently attracted significant attention because of its unique optical and electrical properties. For practical device applications, special attention has to be paid to the synthesis of high-quality graphene on large-area substrates. Graphene has been synthesized by eloborated mechanical exfoliation of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, chemical reduction of exfoliated grahene oxide, thermal decomposition of silicon carbide, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on Ni or Cu substrates. Among these techniques, CVD is superior to the others from the perspective of technological applications because of its possibility to produce a large size graphene. PECVD has been demonstrated to be successful in synthesizing various carbon nanostructures, such as carbon nanotubes and nanosheets. Compared with thermal CVD, PECVD possesses a unique advantage of additional high-density reactive gas atoms and radicals, facilitating low-temperature, rapid, and controllable synthesis. In the current study, we report results in synthesizing of high-quality graphene films on a Ni films at low temperature. Controllable synthesis of quality graphene on Cu foil through inductively-coupled plasma CVD (ICPCVD), in which the surface chemistry is significantly different from that of conventional thermal CVD, was also discussed.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.116-125
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• 2021

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the most common cause of death in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and dyslipidemia is considered at least partially responsible for the increased CVD risk in NAFLD patients. The aim of the present study is to understand how hepatic de novo lipogenesis influences hepatic cholesterol content as well as its effects on the plasma lipid levels. Hepatic lipogenesis was induced in mice by feeding a fat-free/high-sucrose (FF/HS) diet and the metabolic pathways associated with cholesterol were then analyzed. Both liver triglyceride and cholesterol contents were significantly increased in mice fed an FF/HS diet. Activation of fatty acid synthesis driven by the activation of sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP)-1c resulted in the increased liver triglycerides. The augmented cholesterol content in the liver could not be explained by an increased cholesterol synthesis, which was decreased by the FF/HS diet. HMG-CoA reductase protein level was decreased in mice fed an FF/HS diet. We found that the liver retained more cholesterol through a reduced excretion of bile acids, a reduced fecal cholesterol excretion, and an increased cholesterol uptake from plasma lipoproteins. Very low-density lipoproteintriglyceride and -cholesterol secretion were increased in mice fed an FF/HS diet, which led to hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia in Ldlr-/- mice, a model that exhibits a more human like lipoprotein profile. These findings suggest that dietary cholesterol intake and cholesterol synthesis rates cannot only explain the hypercholesterolemia associated with NAFLD, and that the control of fatty acid synthesis should be considered for the management of dyslipidemia.