• Advances in environmental research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2016

Magnetic nano-based sorbents have been synthesized for the recovery of two rare earth elements (REE: Nd(III) and Yb(III)). The magnetic nano-based particles are synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal procedure involving co-precipitation under thermal conditions of Fe(III) and Fe(II) salts in the presence of chitosan. The composite magnetic/chitosan material is crosslinked with epichlorohydrin and modified by grafting alanine and serine amine-acids. These materials are tested for the binding of Nd(III) (light REE) and Yb(III) (heavy REE) through the study of pH effect, sorption isotherms, uptake kinetics, metal desorption and sorbent recycling. Sorption isotherms are well fitted by the Langmuir equation: the maximum sorption capacities range between 9 and 18 mg REE $g^{-1}$ (at pH 5). The sorption mechanism is endothermic (positive value of ${\Delta}H^{\circ}$) and contributes to increase the randomness of the system (positive value of ${\Delta}S^{\circ}$). The fast uptake kinetics can be described by the pseudo-second order rate equation: the equilibrium is reached within 4 hours of contact. The sub-micron size of sorbent particles strongly reduces the contribution of resistance to intraparticle diffusion in the control of uptake kinetics. Metal desorption using acidified thiourea solutions allows maintaining sorption efficiency for at least four successive cycles with limited loss in sorption capacity.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.232-238
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• 2019

Polyethylenimine-crosslinked chitin (PEI-chitin) was developed as a biosorbent to effectively remove dyestuffs from dye-containing wastewater. A representative reactive dye, Reactive Orange 16 (RO16) was used as a model dye. The effect of pH, isotherm, kinetic and desorption experiments were performed to evaluate the adsorption/desorption ability of PEI-chitin for RO16. As a result, the maximum adsorption capacity calculated by the Langmuir model was 266.3 mg/g at pH 2, and the time needed for adsorption equilibrium was evaluated to be about 20, 60, and 240 min for 50, 100, and 200 mg/L, respectively. The desorption experiments were carried out using various eluents such as ammonia/ethanol mixture, NaOH, $NaHCO_3$, and $Na_2CO_3$, and the highest desorption rate was 75.24% in the ammonia/ethanol mixture.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2019

The power to gas (P2G) is one of the energy storage technologies that can increase the storage period and storage capacity compared to the existing battery type. One of P2G technologies produces hydrogen by decomposing water from renewable energy (electricity) and the other produces $CH_4$ by reacting hydrogen with $CO_2$. The objective of this study is the reaction of $CO_2$ methanation which synthesized methane by reacting carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The effect of $CO_2$ conversion and $CH_4$ selectivity on reaction temperature, pressure, and methane contents over 40% Ni catalyst was mainly investigated throughout this study. As a result, the activity of this catalyst appeared to be the highest in $CH_4$ yield at around $400^{\circ}C$ and the selectivity of $CH_4$ increased with increasing reaction pressure. The methane content was not significantly influenced below 3% of all componets. As the space velocity increases from 10,000 to 30,000/hr, the $CO_2$ conversion rate tends to decrease.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2021

NiO and Co3O4-doped porous La(CoNi)O3 perovskite oxides were prepared from excess Ni addition by a hydrothermal method using porous silica template, and characterized as bifunctional catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for Zn-air rechargeable batteries in alkaline solution. Excess Ni induced to form NiO and Co3O4 in La(CoNi)O3 particles. The NiO and Co3O4-doped porous La(CoNi)O3 showed high specific surface area, up to nine times of conventionally synthesized perovskite oxide, and abundant pore volume with similar structure. Extra added Ni was partially substituted for Co as B site of ABO3 perovskite structure and formed to NiO and Co3O4 which was highly dispersed in particles. Excess Ni in La(CoNi)O3 catalysts increased OER performance (259 mA/㎠ at 2.4 V) in alkaline solution, although the activities (211 mA/㎠ at 0.5 V) for ORR were not changed with the content of excess Ni. La(CoNi)O3 with excess Ni showed very stable cyclability and low capacity fading rate (0.38 & 0.07 ㎶/hour for ORR & OER) until 300 hours (~70 cycles) but more excess content of Ni in La(CoNi)O3 gave negative effect to cyclability.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.45-50
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• 2021

Agrovoltaic system is a concept that combines agriculture and photovoltaic (PV) system by applying a PV system to the upper part of farmland. In this study, we developed a folding drive system for an agrophotovoltaic (agroPV) module (150 Wp/4×9 cell) exclusively for pear farming with 10 kW capacity. The system was installed in 2018, and the growth characteristics and quantity of pears under the agroPV folding system have been investigated for 2 years. We found that thare is no differences of the characteristics of pears grown under the agroPV system compared to the pears grown without the system (control) except the percutaneous color L of pear. However, the weight and sugar content of the pear grown under the agroPV system were decreased by 4.5% and 1.3°Bx compared to that of the control, respectively. We assume that this is mainly due to the influenced of the delay in flowering as upper PV module block some of sunlight. However, interestingly, when we deleyed the pear harvesting by 2 weeks, the weight of pears increased by 8.5% and they became nearly the sample as the control pears harvested 2 week earlier. In addition, we also found that the agroPV modules decrease the fall rate of pear when the typoon struck, also it mitigates cold damage by 38% during April by protecting from frost. In conclusion, it can be said that the agroPV system help to protect target crops from the environmental conditions and the quality of the crops are similar to the that of control.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.473-481
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• 2021

Background: Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the significant reasons for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Ginsenosides, natural molecules extracted from Panax ginseng, have been demonstrated to exert essential neuroprotective functions, which can ascribe to its anti-oxidative effect, enhancing central metabolism and improving mitochondrial function. However, a comprehensive analysis of cellular mitochondrial bioenergetics after ginsenoside treatment under Aβ-oxidative stress is missing. Methods: The antioxidant activities of ginsenoside Rb₁, Rd, Re, Rg₁ were compared by measuring the cell survival and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Next, the protective effects of ginsenosides of mitochondrial bioenergetics were examined by measuring oxygen consumption rate (OCR) in PC12 cells under Aβ-oxidative stress with an extracellular flux analyzer. Meanwhile, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and mitochondrial dynamics were evaluated by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Results: Ginsenoside Rg₁ possessed the strongest anti-oxidative property, and which therefore provided the best protective function to PC12 cells under the Aβ oxidative stress by increasing ATP production to 3 folds, spare capacity to 2 folds, maximal respiration to 2 folds and non-mitochondrial respiration to 1.5 folds, as compared to Aβ cell model. Furthermore, ginsenoside Rg1 enhanced MMP and mitochondrial interconnectivity, and simultaneously reduced mitochondrial circularity. Conclusion: In the present study, these results demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg₁ could be the best natural compound, as compared with other ginsenosides, by modulating the OCR of cultured PC12 cells during oxidative phosphorylation, in regulating MMP and in improving mitochondria dynamics under Aβ-induced oxidative stress.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.5-20
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• 2022

To analyze the flow and density variations in debris flows, a two-phase finite volume model simplified with momentum equations was constructed in this study. The Hershel-Buckley rheology model was employed in this model to account for the internal and basal friction of debris flows and was utilized to analyze complex topography and entrainments of basal soil beds. In order to numerically solve the debris flow analysis model, a finite volume model with the Harten-Lax-van Leer-Contact method was used to solve the conservation equation for the debris flow interface. Case studies of circular dam failure, non-Newtonian fluid dam failure, and multiple debris flows were analyzed using the proposed model to evaluate shock absorption capacity, numerical isotropy, model accuracy, and mass conservation. The numerical stability and correctness of the debris flow analysis of this analysis model were proven by the analysis results. Additionally, the rate of debris flow with various rheological properties was systematically simulated, and the effect of debris flow rheological properties on behavior was analyzed.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.149-155
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• 2022

Purpose : This study investigated the effects of wearing a mask and different mask filters on the respiratory function of stroke patients. Methods : A total of 15 stroke patients were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The respiratory functions were compared between participants with and without masks and among respiratory functions with three different mask filters. The order of using masks was non-wearing masks, Dental masks, KF80 masks, and KF94 masks; the difference in respiratory volumes among these conditions were measured. For accuracy of the measurement, sufficient education on the respiratory measurement method was provided to the researcher, and the heart rate of the participants was estimated to confirm their stability before the measurements. To ensure accuracy, the subjects were educated on the researchers' respiratory measurement methods. Each measurement was followed by 10 min breathing stability before replacing the next mask. Results : The results of this study showed that the difference in respiratory functions, including forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁), and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV), in stroke patients was statistically significant among different masks (p<.05). Afterwards, the values of FVC, FEV₁, and MVV in stroke patients wearing masks were significantly lower than those of the non-masked control group (p<.05). The difference in respiratory functions with different mask filters showed no statistical significance (p<.05). Conclusion : This study showed that participants wearing any of the masks presented a lower respiratory function than that of those without using masks; additionally, no difference in respiratory functions was observed with differences in mask filters. Therefore, wearing a mask for a prolonged period is confirmed to affect breathing in stroke patients with weak respiratory function.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.112-119
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• 2022

Molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) are environmentally friendly, large-capacity power generation devices operated at approximately 650℃. If MCFCs are to be commercialized by improving their competitiveness, their cell life should be increased by operating them at lower temperatures. However, a decrease in the operating temperature causes a reduction in the cell performance because of the reduction in the electrochemical reaction rate. The cell performance can be improved by introducing a coating on the cathode of the cell. A coating with a high surface area expands the triple phase boundaries (TPBs) where the gas and electrolyte meet on the electrode surface. And the expansion of TPBs enhances the oxygen reduction reaction of the cathode. Therefore, the cell performance can be improved by increasing the reaction area, which can be achieved by coating nanosized LiCoO₂ particles on the cathode. However, although a coating improves the cell performance, a thick coating makes gas difficult to diffuse into the pore of the coating and thus reduces the cell performance. In addition, LiCoO₂-coated cathode cell exhibits stable cell performance because the coating layer maintains a uniform thickness under MCFC operating conditions. Therefore, the performance and stability of MCFCs can be improved by applying a LiCoO₂ coating with an appropriate thickness on the cathode.

• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.615-620
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• 2022

The murine leukemia virus-based semi-retroviral replicating vectors (MuLV-based sRRV) had been developed to improve safety and transgene capacity for cancer gene therapy. However, despite the apparent advantages of the sRRV, improvements in the in vivo transduction efficiency are still required to deliver therapeutic genes efficiently for clinical use. In this study, we established a gibbon ape leukemia virus (GaLV) envelope-pseudotyped semi-replication-competent retrovirus vector system (spRRV) which is composed of two transcomplementing replication-defective retroviral vectors termed MuLV-Gag-Pol and GaLV-Env. We found that the spRRV shows considerable improvement in efficiencies of gene transfer and spreading in both human glioblastoma cells and pre-established human glioblastoma mouse model compared with an sRRV system. When treated with ganciclovir after intratumoral injection of each vector system into pre-established U-87 MG glioblastomas, the group of mice injected with spRRV expressing the herpes simplex virus type 1-thymidine kinase (HSV1-tk) gene showed a survival rate of 100% for more than 150 days, but all control groups of mice (HSV1-tk/PBS-treated and GFP/GCV-treated groups) died within 45 days after tumor injection. In conclusion, these findings sug-gest that intratumoral delivery of the HSV1-tk gene by the spRRV system is worthy of development in clinical trials for the treatment of malignant solid tumors.