• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.159-167
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• 2014

In Korea, July 2012, the law as called 'Act on Safety Control of Radioactive Rays Around Living Environment' was implemented to control the consumer product containing Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM), but, there are no appropriate database and effective dose calculation system. The aim of this study was to develop evaluation technique of the exposure dose with the use of the consumer products containing NORM and to understand the characteristics of the exposed dose according to the radiation type and energy. For the evaluate of exposure dose, the ICRP reference phantom was simulated by the MCNPX code based on Monte Carlo method, and the minimum, medium, maximum energy of alphas, betas, gammas from the representative NORM of Uranium decay series were used as the source term in the simulation. The annual effective doses were calculated by the exposure scenario of the consumer product usage time and position. Short range of the alpha and beta rays are mostly delivered the dose to the skin. On the other hand, the gamma rays mostly delivered the similar dose to all of the organs. The results of the annual effective dose with $1Bq{\cdot}g^{-1}$ radioactive stone-bed and 10% radioactive concentration were employed with the usage time of 7 hours 50 minute per day, the maximum annual effective dose of alphas, betas, gammas were calculated 0.0222, 0.0836, $0.0101mSv{\cdot}y^{-1}$, respectively.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.102-111
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• 2014

Purpose: Surface damage and bonding strength difference after micromechanical treatment of zirconia surface are to be studied yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the difference of fracture resistance and bonding strength between more surface-damaged group from higher air-blasting particle size and pressure, and less damaged group. Materials and Methods: Disk shape zirconia ($LAVA^{TM}$) was sintered and air-blasted with $30{\mu}m$ particle size (Cojet), under 2.8 bar for 15 seconds, $110{\mu}m$ particle size (Rocatec), under 2.8 bar for 15 seconds, and $110{\mu}m$ particle size (Rocatec), under 3.8 bar for 30 seconds respectively. Biaxial flexure test and bonding failure load test were performed serially (n = 10 per group). For bonding test, specimens were bonded on the base material having similar modulus of elasticity of dentin with $200{\mu}m$-thick resin cement for tension of surface damage. Failure load of bonding was detected with acoustic emission (AE) sensor. Results: There were no significant differences both in the biaxial flexure test and bonding failure load test between groups (P > 0.05). Sub-surface cracks were all radial cracks except for two specimens. Conclusion: Within the limitations of no aging under monotonic load test, surface damage from higher air-blasting particle size and pressure was not significant. Evaluations of failure load with bonded zirconia disks was clinically relevant modality for surface damage and bonding strength, simultaneously.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.817-831
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• 2014

In this paper insights from studies on the middle income trap and value chains analyses are combined to investigate one particular industry in one particular region: the sugarcane industry in Northeastern Thailand. Focusing on this region enables an in-depth focus on geographical differentiation of the middle income trap. The empirical outcomes demonstrate that policymakers involved with sugar should look at the particular challenges in Northeastern Thailand: 1. The role of brokers which is unaddressed in the current regulatory environment; 2. A lack of information of the regulatory environment among growers; 3. Distrust between growers and millers; 4. Alack of implementation of R&D efforts; 5 .A lack of support from associations; 6. The labor shortage problem, and 7. No incentives for growers, brokers and millers to improve quality and embark on upgrading. Since agricultural value chains in Southeast Asia often start in relatively poor rural areas it is imperative that policymakers balance the interests of upstream, midstream and downstream actors. Unfortunately, this is rather difficult as midstream actors (millers) and wholesalers are powerful and therefore, are in the best position to defend their interests. Our insights could function as comparative material for similar studies within other Southeast Asian upstream value chains.

• Carbon letters
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.279-284
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• 2010

Graphene is one of the most promising materials for many applications. It can be used in a variety of applications not only as a reinforcement material for polymer to obtain a combination of desirable mechanical, electrical, thermal, and barrier properties in the resulting nanocomposite but also as a component in energy storage, fuel cells, solar cells, sensors, and batteries. Recent research at Michigan State University has shown that it is possible to exfoliate natural graphite into graphite nanoplatelets composed entirely of stacks of graphene. The size of the platelets can be controlled from less than 10 nm in thickness and diameters of any size from sub-micron to 15 microns or greater. In this study we have investigated the influence of melt compounding processing on the physical properties of a polyamide 6 (PA6) nanocomposite reinforced with exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnP). The morphology, electrical conductivity, and mechanical properties of xGnP-PA6 nanocomposite were characterized with electrical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, AC impedance, and mechanical properties. It was found that counter rotation (CNR) twins crew processed xGnP/PA6 nanocomposite had similar mechanical properties with co-rotation (CoR) twin screw processed or with CoR conducted with a screw design modified for nanoparticles (MCoR). Microscopy showed that the CNR processed nanocomposite had better xGnP dispersion than the (CoR) twin screw processed and modified screw (MCoR) processed ones. It was also found that the CNR processed nanocomposite at a given xGnP content showed the lowest graphite X-ray diffraction peak at $26.5^{\circ}$ indicating better xGnP dispersion in the nanocomposite. In addition, it was also found that the electrical conductivity of the CNR processed 12 wt.% xGnP-PA6 nanocomposite is more than ten times higher than the CoR and MCoR processed ones. These results indicate that better dispersion of an xGnP-PA6 nanocomposite is attainable in CNR twins crew processing than conventional CoR processing.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 1998

The present study was performed to analyze the expression of LH genes in the rat ovary. Expression of LH subunit genes in the rat ovary was demonstrated by amplification of ovarian RNA by RT-PCR. The ovarian $LH_\beta$ transcripts contained at least two parts of the published cDNA structure, the pituitary exons 1, 2 and 3 and the part of testicular ex on 1 in the major trancripts form in rat testis. Using RIA, significant amount of LH-like molecules were detected in crude ovarian extracts, and the competition curves with increasing amount of tissue extracts were parallel with those of standard peptide, indicating that the ovarian immunoreactive LH-like material is similar to authentic pituitary LH molecule. The administration of PMSG to immature rats resulted in a sharp decrease of the ovarian LH contents after 24 h post-injection. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that genes for LH subunits are expressed in the rat ovary, and suggest that LH can playa central role in regulation of female reproduction with both endocrine (by pituitary LH) and auto- and/or para-crine (by ovarian LH) manner.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.115-124
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to investigate skin whitening effect of Resorcinol dipentyl ether [1,3-di(pentyloxyl)benzene] by in vitro experiments. Resorcinol dipentyl ether was prepared by alkylation of resorcinol with 1-bromopentane. The reaction products were confirmed by NMR, MS and other analytical equipments. In order to evaluate the skin safety of resorcinol dipentyl ether, the cytotoxicity of the cells constituting the skin (keratinocyte, melanocyte, fibroblast) was analyzed and similar cell viability was observed in all cell lines as compared with the control group. Inhibition of extracellular melanin synthesis effect of resorcinol dipentyl ether was approximately 65.75% at $20{\mu}g/mL$ and inhibition of intracellular melanin synthesis effect of resorcinol dipentyl ether was approximately 53.89% at $20{\mu}g/mL$. The real-time PCR and western blot analysis of mRNA expression and protein expression of tyrosinase, TRP-1, and TRP-2 related to melanogenesis revealed that melanin inhibitory effect of resorcinol dipentyl ether was inhibited from the transcription stage respectively. Finally, this study suggested applicability of Resorcinol dipentyl ether [1,3-di(pentyloxyl)benzene] as a whitening functional cosmetic new material.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.65-65
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• 2012

Copper zinc tin sulfide ($Cu_2ZnSnS_4$, CZTS) is a very promising material as a low cost absorber alternative to other chalcopyrite-type semiconductors based on Ga or In because of the abundant and economical elements. In addition, CZTS has a band-gap energy of 1.4~1.5eV and large absorption coefficient over ${\sim}10^4cm^{-1}$, which is similar to those of $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$(CIGS) regarded as one of the most successful absorber materials for high efficient solar cell. Most previous works on the fabrication of CZTS thin films were based on the vacuum deposition such as thermal evaporation and RF magnetron sputtering. Although the vacuum deposition has been widely adopted, it is quite expensive and complicated. In this regard, the solution processes such as sol-gel method, nanocrystal dispersion and hybrid slurry method have been developed for easy and cost-effective fabrication of CZTS film. Among these methods, the hybrid slurry method is favorable to make high crystalline and dense absorber layer. However, this method has the demerit using the toxic and explosive hydrazine solvent, which has severe limitation for common use. With these considerations, it is highly desirable to develop a robust, easily scalable and relatively safe solution-based process for the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer with a thickness of 1.5~2.0 ${\mu}m$ and micrometer-scaled grains using two different non-vacuum approaches. The first solution-processing approach includes air-stable non-toxic solvent-based inks in which the commercially available precursor nanoparticles are dispersed in ethanol. Our readily achievable air-stable precursor ink, without the involvement of complex particle synthesis, high toxic solvents, or organic additives, facilitates a convenient method to fabricate a high quality CZTS absorber layer with uniform surface composition and across the film depth when annealed at $530^{\circ}C$. The conversion efficiency and fill factor for the non-toxic ink based solar cells are 5.14% and 52.8%, respectively. The other method is based on the nanocrystal dispersions that are a key ingredient in the deposition of thermally annealed absorber layers. We report a facile synthetic method to produce phase-pure CZTS nanocrystals capped with less toxic and more easily removable ligands. The resulting CZTS nanoparticle dispersion enables us to fabricate uniform, crack-free absorber layer onto Mo-coated soda-lime glass at $500^{\circ}C$, which exhibits a robust and reproducible photovoltaic response. Our simple and less-toxic approach for the fabrication of CZTS layer, reported here, will be the first step in realizing the low-cost solution-processed CZTS solar cell with high efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.317-323
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• 2002

The composition of trace materials in domestic circulated LPG are determined. The sampling points are two cylinders of LPG cylinder re-inspection center, six vaporizer of LPG-supplying group facilities, and the compressed oil from one LPG station. In the trace materials from cylinder of LPG cylinder-reinspection center, alkene and diene derivative (No. of carbon ${\leq}9),$ aromatic compounds, and tarry chemicals(No. of carbon ${\geq}10)$ are 1.5~39.9%, 0.7%, 57.8~96.0%, respectively. While in the trace materials from LPG-supplying group facilities and in the oil from LPG station, tarry chemicals(No. of carbon>10) exceed 96.6%. Nine samples are classified into three clusters. One cluster is the sample of SE company cylinder-reinspection center(Euclidian distance between S company LPG cylinder-reinspection center and SE company cylinder-reinspection center=2.11), the other is the sample of SE company LPG cylinder-reinspection center(Euclidian distance between from samples of LPG-supplying group facilities including compressed oil from LPG station=0.110) the third is the samples of LPG-supplying group facilities(Euclidian distances among them<0.075). The compositions of samples from LPG-supplying group facilities are similar to those of oil from LPG station. Furthermore densities of samples from LPG-supplying group facilities and compressed oil in LPG station are 0.873, 0.873 [0.00798 (99% confidence limits) respectively. It was presumed that tarry chemicals had been leached from the compressed oil of LPG supplying facilities.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.267-272
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• 2011

Objective : Although iliac crest autograft is the gold standard for lumbar fusion, the morbidity of donor site leads us to find an alternatives to replace autologous bone graft. Ceramic-based synthetic bone grafts such as hydroxyapatite (HA) and b-tricalcium phosphate (b-TCP) provide scaffolds similar to those of autologous bone, are plentiful and inexpensive, and are not associated with donor morbidity. The present report describes the use of Polybone$^{(R)}$ (Kyungwon Medical, Korea), a beta-tricalcium phosphate, for lumbar posterolateral fusion and assesses clinical and radiological efficacy as a graft material. Methods : This study retrospectively analyzed data from 32 patients (11 men, 21 women) who underwent posterolateral fusion (PLF) using PolyBone$^{(R)}$ from January to August, 2008. Back and leg pain were assessed using a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and clinical outcome was assessed using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Serial radiological X-ray follow up were done at 1, 3, 6 12 month. A computed tomography (CT) scan was done in 12 month. Radiological fusion was assessed using simple anterior-posterior (AP) X-rays and computed tomography (CT). The changes of radiodensity of fusion mass showed on the X-ray image were analyzed into 4 stages to assess PLF status. Results : The mean NRS scores for leg pain and back pain decreased over 12 months postoperatively, from 8.0 to 1.0 and from 6.7 to 1.7, respectively. The mean ODI score also decreased from 60.5 to 17.7. X-rays and CT showed that 25 cases had stage IV fusion bridges at 12 months postoperatively (83.3% success). The radiodensity of fusion mass on X-ray AP image significantly changed at 1 and 6 months. Conclusion: The present results indicate that the use of a mixture of local autologous bone and PolyBone$^{(R)}$ results in fusion rates comparable to those using autologous bone and has the advantage of reduced morbidity. In addition, the graft radiodensity ratio significantly changed at postoperative 1 and 6 months, possibly reflecting the inflammatory response and stabilization.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.505-518
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• 1997

The objective of this investigation was to compare the effects of water storage on the aspect of hardness and diametral tensile strengths of four hybrid glass ionomer cements(two compomers and two resin-reinforced glass ionomers) with a resin composite material. One composite resin(Degufill Ultra), two compomers(Dyract, Compoglass Cavifil), and two resin-reinforced glass ionomers(Fuji Duet, Vitremer) were used in this study. Cylindrical specimens were prepared and stored at $36{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ in distilled water for 10 minutes after set, and then tested on an Instron testing machine(No.4467) at 1.0 mm/min displacement rate. Vicker's hardness and diametral tensile strengths as time elapsed were measured after aging in water for 10 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 5 days and 7 days at $36{\pm}1^{\circ}C$. During the test of diametral tensile strength, stress-strain curves were obtained, from which the compressive modulus were calculated and compared. The structure of four set glass ionomer cement mass was observed on SEM(Hitachi, S-2300) after being etched with 9.6% hydrofluoric acid for 1 minute. The results were as follows; 1. The hardness of the experimental group(compomer and the resin reinforced glass ionomer cement) did not exceed the value of control group(Degufill Ultra). 2. Vicker's hardness of the Fuji Duet tended to increase succeedingly, Dyract was decreased after 3 hours in water, and Vitremer was the lowest. 3. The control group(Degufill Ultra) presented progressively on increased diametral tensile strength with time, Fuji Duet were decreased after 3 days, Compoglass Cavifil and Vitremer were decreased after 5 days in water storage. 4. Compressive modulus of the control group(Degufill Ultra) and Dyract were increased sharply timely, Fuji Duet and Vitremer were increased smoothly by lapse of time in water. Fuji Duet were stronger than Vitremer. On the other hand, Vitremer exhibited the lowest toughness. 5. The microstructure of compomer was similar with that of the composite resin(Degufill Ultra), and the fillers in resin-reinforced glass ionomer cements were noticed. It can be concluded that mechanical properties of hybrid glass ionomer cements is weaker than composite resin, and that the compomers or the resin-reinforced glass ionomers can not substitute the composite resins. A plenty of considerations should be done on the application of them to the area under the loading and high wear has a little adverse effect on the mechanical properties on the water storage for 7 days. The further research should be needed to confirm the advantage of the compomer.