• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.479-488
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• 2014

Naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) from disturbance of rocks and soils has been overlooked as a source of exposure that could potentially have a detrimental impact on human health. But, few researches on mineralogical characteristics of NOA occurred in soils have been reported in Korea. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the mineralogical characteristics of NOA occurred in soils at Daero-ri area, Seosan, Chungnam Province, Korea. Sedimentation method was used for particle size separation of the asbestos-containing soils. XRD and PLM analyses were used to characterize mineralogical characteristics and mineral assemblages in soils. SEM-EDS and TEM-EDS analyses were used to characterize mineral morphology and chemical composition. Particle size analyses of the asbestos-containing soils showed they were composed of 26-93% sand, 4-23% silt and 3-70% clay. Soil texture of the soils was mainly sand, sandy loam, sandy clay, and clay. PLM analyses of the soil showed that most of the soil contained asbestiform tremolite and actinolite. The average content of asbestos in the soil was 1.5 wt. %. Therefore, the soil can be classified into asbestos-contaminated soils based on U. S. Environmental Protection Agency classification (content of asbestos in contaminated soil > 1%). Morphologically different types of tremolite such as long fibrous, needle-like, fiber bundle, bladed and prismatic forms co-existed. Prismatic tremolite was dominant in sand fraction and asbestiform tremolite was dominant in silt fraction. This study indicates that the prismatic form of tremolite transform gradually into a fibrous form of tremolite due to soil weathering because tremolite asbestos was mainly existed in silt fraction rather than sand fraction.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.277-284
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• 2011

This study was conducted to determine the antiseptic effect of stabilized chlorine dioxide (S-$ClO_2$) on muscle tissue of rats. Skeletal muscle of 8-week old Sprague-Dawley rats was used. Light and transmission electron microscopic findings were observed in the control group, which was not treated with stabilized chlorine dioxide, and in the experimental group, which was treated with a stabilized chlorine dioxide powder in aqueous solution. According to the LM and TEM observations, the day 1 control group showed the initiation of endomysium collapse resulting in an unclear boundary of muscle fibers, and partial collapse of the mitochondrial membranes. All endomysium had collapsed, and bacteria were observed among muscle fibers in the day 2 and later groups. Shapes of muscles were not distinguishable in day 3 or later groups. In contrast, the day 1 and 3 experimental groups revealed detailed structure of typical muscles, but partial collapse of the mitochondrial membranes was observed in the day 3 and later groups. Subsequently, connective tissues collapsed and structures in the shape of concentric circles were observed. In summary, the day 1 control group showed the initial collapse of tissues, and shapes were not distinguishable in the day 3 and later groups because most of the tissues had collapsed. In contrast, the day 3 experimental group showed partial collapse, but the overall shapes of muscles were maintained as time went on, confirming the antiseptic effect of stabilized chlorine dioxide on muscles.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.345-350
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• 2012

To investigate the exposure and health risk assessment for the residents near the D-asbestos mine in Chungbuk, Korea. We analyzed asbestos in the 20 ambient air and 23 activity based samples near the mine. The airborne sample results are showed that 8 of 20 samples ranged between 0.0025 to 0.0029 f/cc (fiber per cubic centimeter) and the others were below the detection limit by phase contrast microscopy (PCM). In addition, asbestos fibers were under the detection limit or not being by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Based on interview and survey targeting the local residents, we made the activity based sampling (ABS) scenarios fit to the conditions of field. At the same time, we calculated the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) of these ABS scenarios according to the ELCR average value and 95% upper confidence limit (UCL). At the case of weed whacking, soil digging and sweeping yard scenario, 95% UCL of ELCR exceeded the $1{\times}10^{-4}$, acceptable risk range for exposure. Based on our study results, it is necessary safety measures such as risk communication, abatement or management of naturally occurring asbestos (NOA).

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1319-1336
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• 2006

The successive round of talks oil Korea-USA Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has continued, and it also has the Intellectual property(IPR) unit. Until now, tile one of most disputing concerns in IPR unit through talks is the limitation of compulsory license of claimed invention. The US is urging to establish a safeguard for IPR, as similar measure of the US, to protecting the profit of the US enterprises through these on-going talks, it is more likely expected to take the offensive about infringement of the patent seriously. Based on the current circumstances, the provision strategy study is needed to obtain Korea inventors the first inventor defense under the US patent law system as well as understand the current Korea's patent law and its revision against that in the US. In patent Law, both nations with first to file system and first to invent system permit a prior user of an invention to continue to use the invention notwithstanding its subsequent patenting by another under being subject to certain qualifications and limitations, even though a patent by a later inventor is granted. Normally, the first inventor defense has been used to compensate the drawbacks of the first to file system. The US patent Law, however, adopting the first to invent system admits the first inventor defense. Therefore, pursuing counteract provision under consideration with Korean patent Law system and research environment along with investigating the reason why the US adopted its patent law system, the scope of right, and the new reform of Act. 2005 of the institute, which promotes the first Korean inventor to possess the defense right of the US, provides certain preparations for Korean companies against the expected offensive from the US ones under the US patent Law system.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.120-123
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• 2007

The typical double-barrier magnetic tunnel junction (DMTJ) structure examined in this paper consists of a Ta 45/Ru 9.5/IrMn 10/CoFe7/$AlO_x$/free layer/AlO/CoFe 7/IrMn 10/Ru 60 (nm). The free layer consists of an $Ni_{16}Fe_{62}Si_8B_{14}$ 7 nm, $Co_{90}Fe_{10}$ (fcc) 7 nm, or CoFe $t_1$/NiFeSiB $t_2$/CoFe $t_1$ layer in which the thicknesses $t_1$ and $t_2$ are varied. The DMTJ with an NiFeSiB-free layer had a tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) of 28%, an area-resistance product (RA) of $86\;k{\Omega}{\mu}m^2$, a coercivity ($H_c$) of 11 Oe, and an interlayer coupling field ($H_i$) of 20 Oe. To improve the TMR ratio and RA, a DMTJ comprising an amorphous NiFeSiB layer that could partially substitute for the CoFe free layer was investigated. This hybrid DMTJ had a TMR of 30%, an RA of $68\;k{\Omega}{\mu}m^2$, and a of 11 Oe, but an increased of 37 Oe. We confirmed by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy that increased as the thickness of NiFeSiB decreased. When the amorphous NiFeSiB layer was thick, it was effective in retarding the columnar growth which usually induces a wavy interface. However, if the NiFeSiB layer was thin, the roughness was increased and became large because of the magnetostatic $N{\acute{e}}el$ coupling.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.98 no.4
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• pp.399-408
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• 2009

We investigated the improvement of immuno-modulatory activities of sap of Acer mono and A. okamotoanum encapsulated with edible polymers. Anticancer activities and immune activities such as human B and T cell growth, secretion of cytokines and natural killer cell growth were observed. Both human immune B and T cells were increased up to 30~50% by the addition of nano particle sap of Acer mono and A. okamotoanum. The secretion of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) from human immune B and T cells were also significantly increased compare to the control. Natural Killer (NK) cell growth was enhanced to $19.4{\times}10^5$ cells/mL in adding nano encapsulated sap of A.okamotoanum. The cytotoxicity of the sample on normal human lung cell (HEL299) was below 19.8% in adding 1.0 mg/mL of the nano particle sap of A. okamotoanum. Generally, the growth of all three human lung adenocarcinoma, human stomach adenocarcinoma and human liver adenocarcinama was inhibited up to 85% in adding 1.0 mg/mL of the encapsulated sap. Interestingly enough, the encapsulated sap was completely penetrated into human cancer cells within 30 min after addition. It showed that the encapsulation of the sap definitely increased its biological activities, which can expand its use to wide range of food industries.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.239-240
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• 2008

As semiconductor devices are scaled down for better performance and more functionality, the Cu-based interconnects suffer from the increase of the resistivity of the Cu wires. The resistivity increase, which is attributed to the electron scattering from grain boundaries and interfaces, needs to be addressed in order to further scale down semiconductor devices [1]. The increase in the resistivity of the interconnect can be alleviated by increasing the grain size of electroplating (EP)-Cu or by modifying the Cu surface [1]. Another possible solution is to maximize the portion of the EP-Cu volume in the vias or damascene structures with the conformal diffusion barrier and seed layer by optimizing their deposition processes during Cu interconnect fabrication, which are currently ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD)-based Ta/TaN bilayer and IPVD-Cu, respectively. The use of in-situ etching, during IPVD of the barrier or the seed layer, has been effective in enlarging the trench volume where the Cu is filled, resulting in improved reliability and performance of the Cu-based interconnect. However, the application of IPVD technology is expected to be limited eventually because of poor sidewall step coverage and the narrow top part of the damascene structures. Recently, Ru has been suggested as a diffusion barrier that is compatible with the direct plating of Cu [2-3]. A single-layer diffusion barrier for the direct plating of Cu is desirable to optimize the resistance of the Cu interconnects because it eliminates the Cu-seed layer. However, previous studies have shown that the Ru by itself is not a suitable diffusion barrier for Cu metallization [4-6]. Thus, the diffusion barrier performance of the Ru film should be improved in order for it to be successfully incorporated as a seed layer/barrier layer for the direct plating of Cu. The improvement of its barrier performance, by modifying the Ru microstructure from columnar to amorphous (by incorporating the N into Ru during PVD), has been previously reported [7]. Another approach for improving the barrier performance of the Ru film is to use Ru as a just seed layer and combine it with superior materials to function as a diffusion barrier against the Cu. A RulTaN bilayer prepared by PVD has recently been suggested as a seed layer/diffusion barrier for Cu. This bilayer was stable between the Cu and Si after annealing at $700^{\circ}C$ for I min [8]. Although these reports dealt with the possible applications of Ru for Cu metallization, cases where the Ru film was prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have not been identified. These are important because of ALD's excellent conformality. In this study, a bilayer diffusion barrier of Ru/TaCN prepared by ALD was investigated. As the addition of the third element into the transition metal nitride disrupts the crystal lattice and leads to the formation of a stable ternary amorphous material, as indicated by Nicolet [9], ALD-TaCN is expected to improve the diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-Ru against Cu. Ru was deposited by a sequential supply of bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)ruthenium [Ru$(EtCp)_2$] and $NH_3$plasma and TaCN by a sequential supply of $(NEt_2)_3Ta=Nbu^t$ (tert-butylimido-trisdiethylamido-tantalum, TBTDET) and $H_2$ plasma. Sheet resistance measurements, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis showed that the bilayer diffusion barriers of ALD-Ru (12 nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) and ALD-Ru (4nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) prevented the Cu diffusion up to annealing temperatures of 600 and $550^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, respectively. This is found to be due to the excellent diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-TaCN film against the Cu, due to it having an amorphous structure. A 5-nm-thick ALD-TaCN film was even stable up to annealing at $650^{\circ}C$ between Cu and Si. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis revealed that the ALD-Ru/ALD-TaCN diffusion barrier failed by the Cu diffusion through the bilayer into the Si substrate. This is due to the ALD-TaCN interlayer preventing the interfacial reaction between the Ru and Si.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.434-441
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• 2014

This study is purposed to measure airborne asbestos concentrations at demolition sites and surrounding areas of asbestos containing buildings in Seoul and examine whether the measurement results correspond with allowable exhaust standard for asbestos of the Asbestos Safety Control Act. The airborne asbestos concentrations for 37 sites were below the detection limit ($7fiber/mm^2$) in 101 (35%) out of 288 samples. The whole average airborne asbestos concentration in 37 sites was $0.003{\pm}0.002f/cc$(max 0.0013 f/cc) and almost the whole airborne asbestos concentrations were satisfied with allowable exhaust standard for asbestos, 0.01 f/cc, of the Asbestos Safety Control Act. So possibility of asbestos exposure is not yet a major concern at current levels for sites demolished of asbestos containing buildings in Seoul. Looking at each sampling point, the average airborne asbestos concentrations in boundary line of site, entrance of sanitation, around the workplace (in), around the workplace (out), negative pressure units, storage area for waste, outlet for waste and residential area of residents were respectively $0.002{\pm}0.002f/cc$, $0.004{\pm}0.002f/cc$, $0.004{\pm}0.002f/cc$, $0.004{\pm}0.002f/cc$, $0.004{\pm}0.002f/cc$, $0.005{\pm}0.004f/cc$, $0.005{\pm}0.003f/cc$ and $0.003{\pm}0.002f/cc$. As a result, all sampling points of study were satisfied with allowable exhaust standard for asbestos, 0.01 f/cc, of the Asbestos Safety Control Act.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.141-161
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• 1998

The depth and patterns of demineralization according to the difference in concentration and application time of phosphoric acid were observed through the transmission electron microscope, and shear bond strengths to the acid -conditioned dentin were then measured and compared with the TEM results. To investigate the influence of polymer addition into the phosphoric acid and the effect of difference in concentration and application time of the acid, the specimens were randomly divided into 9 groups. Among the specimens, the exposed dentin surfaces were acid-conditioned with 10% polymer-thickened phosphoric acid(All Bond 2, Bisco, U.S.A.) and aqueous 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% phosphoric acid for 20 seconds, The rest of the specimens were acid-conditioned with 10% phosphoric acid for 15s, 30s, 60s, 120s respectively. The specimens were immersed in 4% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M sodium cacodylate buffer and postfixed with 1 % osmium tetroxide without decalcification and then observed under a JEOL Transmission Electron Microscope(JEM 1200 EX II, Japan). After the specimens were acid-conditioned as the above, primer and adhesive resin were applied to blot-dried dentin and shear bond strengths were then measured and analysed. The results were as follows : 1. The intertubular demineralization depth of 4.0-$5.0{\mu}m$ in 10% polymer-thickened phosphoric acid gels was similar or slightly deeper than that of 4.0-$4.5{\mu}m$ in aqueous 10% phosphoric acid solution. 2. The intertubular demineralization depth of aqueous 20%, 30% and 40% phosphoric acid solution was 6.5-$7.0{\mu}m$, 6.5-$7.5{\mu}m$ and 9.0-$15.0{\mu}m$ respectively. It showed that the depth of dentin demineralization is partly related to the concentration of phosphoric acid solution. 3. The intertubular demineralization depth of aqueous 10% phosphoric acid solution in application time for 15s, 30s, 60s and 120s was 2.5-$3.0{\mu}m$, 4.0-$6.0{\mu}m$, 6.5-$7.0{\mu}m$ and 8.5-$14.0{\mu}m$ respectively. It showed that the depth of dentin demineralization is directly related to the application time of phosphoric acid solution. 4. The partially demineralized dentin layer between demineralized collagen layer and unaffected dentin was showed to a width of 0.5-$1.0{\mu}m$ in lower concentration groups treated with aqueous 10% phosphoric acid for 20s, 60s, 120s and 20% phosphoric acid for 20s. 5. The demineralization effect at the border of intertubular-peritubular junction was less evident than that in the peritubular and intertubular dentin. The collagen fibers in the intertubular dentin had a random orientation, whereas those that lined the tubules were circumferentially aligned. The cross-linkage of dentinal collagen in demineralized collagen layer was clearly seen. 6. A statistically significant difference of bond strengths according to the difference in phosphoric acid concentration did not exist among the groups treated with 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% acid solution (P>0.05). However, bond strengths to the treated dentin with 10% phosphoric acid solution for 30s were significantly higher than that for 120s (P<0.05).