• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.417-425
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• 2021

As the demand for high-capacity batteries increases, there has been growing researches on the lithium metal anode with a capacity (3,860 mAh/g) of higher than that of conventional one and a low electrochemical potential (-3.040 V). In this study, using the anatase phased TiO₂ nanoparticles synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis, a PVdF-HFP/TiO₂ organic/inorganic composite material was designed and used as an interfacial protective layer for a Li metal anode. As-formed organic/inorganic-lithium composite thin film was confirmed through the crystalline structure and morphological analyses. In addition, the electrochemical test (cycle stability and voltage profile) confirmed that the protective layer of PVdF-HFP/TiO₂ composite (10 wt% TiO₂ and 1.1 ㎛ film thickness) contributed to the enhanced electrochemical performance of the lithium metal anode (Colombic efficiency retention: 90% for 77 cycles). Based on comparative test with the untreated lithium electrode, it was confirmed that our protective layer plays an important role to stabilize/improve the EC performance of the lithium metal negative electrode.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.5-15
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• 2022

In this study, heated tobacco biomass was prepared as an active material for supercapacitor device. Retrieved tobacco leaf from the heated tobacco was carbonized at various temperature(800/850/950℃). Carbonized tobacco leaf material synthesized at 850℃ exhibited the highest C/O ratio, indicating the finest carbon quality. In addition, polypyrrole was coated onto the carbonized leaf material for increasing the electrochemical performance via low-temperature polymerization method. As-synthesized carbonized leaf material at 850℃(CTL-850)-based electrode and polypyrrole-coated carbonized leaf material(CTL-850/PPy)-based electrode displayed outstanding specific capacitances of 100.2 and 155.3F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1 with opertaing window of -1.0V and 1.0V. Asymmetric supercapacitor device, assembled with CTL-850 as the negative electrode and CTL-850/PPy as the positive electrode, manifested specific capacitance of 31.1F g^-1(@1 A g^-1) with widened operating voltage window of 2.0V. Moreover, as-prepared asymmetric supercapacitor device was able to lighten up the RED Led (1.8V), suggesting the high capacitance and extension of operating voltage window. The result of this research may help to pave the new possibility toward preparing the effective energy storage device material recycling the biomass.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.505-515
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• 2021

Creep properties of directionally solidified Ni-based superalloy CM247LC under various temperature and stress conditions have been investigated. In the heat-treated specimen, some portion of eutectic γ-γ' remained, and uniform cubic γ' was observed in the dendrites. At low temperature (750℃) and high stress condition, a large amount of deformation occurred during the primary creep, while the tertiary creep region accounted for most of the creep deformation under high temperature and low stress condition. γ' particles are sheared by dislocation dissociated into super lattice partial dislocations separated by stacking faults at 750℃. No stacking faults in γ' were found at and above 850℃ due to the temperature dependence of the stacking fault energy. Raft structure of γ' was found after creep test at high temperature of 950℃ and 1000℃. At 850℃, the deformation mechanism was shown to be dependent on the stress condition, and so rafting was observed only under low stress condition.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.57-64
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• 2022

Chloride, which is one of the main deterioration factors in reinforced concrete structures, can degrade the performance of the structure due to chloride-induced corrosion of steel. Chloride content at steel depth or the rate of chloride penetration is necessary to determine deterioration of reinforced concrete or to calculate initiation time of steel corrosion caused by chloride attack. Chlorides in concrete are generally identified with typical two methods including chloride profiling using potentiometric titration method and discoloration method using AgNO₃ solution. The former is advantageous to estimate chloride penetration rate (diffusion coefficient in general) with measured chloride contents directly, but it is laborious. In the case of latter, while the result is obtained easily with the range of discoloration, the error may occur depending on workmanship when the depth of chloride ingress is measured. This study shows that chloride penetrated depth is evaluated with the results obtained from discoloration method through image analysis, thereby the error is minimized by workmanship. In addition, the effect of micro-crack in concrete is studied on chloride penetration. In conclusion, the depth of chloride penetration was quantified with image analysis and as it was confirmed that chlorides can rapidly penetrate through micro-cracks, caution is especially required for cracks in concrete structure.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2022

Since the pandemic of COVID-19, active investigation to develop immunity to infectious disease by delivering nucleic acids has been proceeded. Particularly, many studies have been conducted on non-viral vector as several vital side-effects which were found on nucleic acid delivery system using viral vectors. In this study, we have developed plasmid DNA (pDNA) loaded-hyaluronic acid derivative (HA) coated-polyethyleneimine (PEI) based polyplex for enhanced nucleic acid delivery efficiency. We have optimized the ratio of pDNA : PEI : HA by measuring size and protein transcription efficiency. The final product, polyplex-HA, was characterized through measuring size, zeta-potential and TEM image. Intracellular uptake and protein transcription efficiency were compared to commercially available transfection reagent, lipofectamine, through fluorescence image and flow cytometry. In conclusion, polyplex-HA presents a novel gene delivery system for efficient and stable protein transcription since it is available for delivering various genetic materials and has less immunoreactivity.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.51-62
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• 2022

Objectives Objective of this study is to investigate the role of paraspinal muscles by examining the correlation between slip percentage (SP) of spondylolisthesis and fatty infiltration of lumbar paraspinal muscle. Methods Retrospective analysis was performed on 45 patients diagnosed with spondylolisthesis based on medical records. Using T2-weighted axial magnetic resonance imaging, cross-sectional areas (CSAs) of psoas major (PM), multifidus (MU) and erector spinae (ES) were calculated and divided by CSA of lower level vertebral body (VB). SP was measured using sagittal T2-weighted images. Correlation of SP with muscle relative cross-sectional area (RCSA) and muscle fatty infiltration by Goutallier classification was respectively analyzed using Spearman correlation. Statistic assessment conducted by Wilcoxon signed rank test and paired t-test using program GraphPad prism 5 (GraphPad Software, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA). Results Spondylolisthesis forward slip percentage by Taillard's method was negatively associated with both side MU RCSAs. No significant correlation was found between PM RCSA, ES RCSA and SP. Forward slippage was significantly correlated with fatty infiltration of lumbar paraspinal muscle measured by Goutallier classification. Conclusions This study is to understand the role of paraspinal muscle affecting spinal instability by investigating correlation between statistical deviation of lumbar muscle characters (RCSA, fatty infiltration of lumbar muscle) and SP. We found that spondylolisthesis SP is positively related to fatty infiltration of lumbar paraspinal muscle. and is negatively associated with both side MU RCSAs.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.232-240
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• 2022

Various methods are known for preparing liposomes, the simplest being the Bangham method which has been widely used. Although it is possible to produce liposomes effectively on a small experimental level with this approach, large-scale production cannot be easily performed due to difficulties in removing the organic solvent and the size of the reactor required to form the lipid film. On the other hand, emulsion can mass produce tons of liposomes with uniform particles but has the disadvantage of a significantly low capture rate. This study therefore developed an optimal liposome processing method using heat with improved capture rate and stability, and bio-absorption experiments were performed by oral administration to SD rat alongside capture rate, particle size, and zeta potential. Through the heating method, a small and uniform liposome of about 214 nm was formed and the capture rate was 38.67%, confirming that the liposome prepared by heating has a higher capture rate than the 26.46% achieved through emulsion. Comparing blood concentrations, it showed a 1.5 to 2 fold increase in all groups, gradually decreasing until 4-12 hr. The highest blood concentration of ascorbic acid powder was about 12.017 ㎍/ml, the emulsion liposome 13.871 ㎍/ml, and the heating liposome 16.322 ㎍/ml, thereby showing an improved absorption rate.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.127-139
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• 2023

In this study, minoxidil, which is well known as a pharmaceutical raw material, and diaminopyrimidine oxide (DAO), which is a cosmetic raw material, were used as active ingredients to evaluate the physical properties of niosomes and compare the skin penetrations of artificial skin. To prepare niosomes of the size of nanoparticles, a high pressure homogenization method was used, and physical properties were evaluated with a zetasizer. The particle size of the noisome including the active ingredient was measured to be 99 to 123 nm according to HLB, and the zeta potential was measured in the range of -60 to -81 mV. Through DSC (differential scanning colorimetry), it was confirmed that minoxidil, a crystalline component, was uniformly dissolved in an amorphous state in niosomes. In order to confirm and compare skin penetration, it was measured by the in vitro Franz diffusion cell method, and the niosome formulation showed 3.4 times higher penetration for minoxidil and 11.1 times higher penetration for DAO than the control gel formulation. In addition, when comparing the skin penetration of minoxidil niosome and DAO niosome, a similar trend was shown, and the penetration amount of DAO was relatively high. The shapes of the niosome formulations with different HLB values were observed using Cryo-TEM, and it was confirmed that vesicles were formed in all of them and that they were intermediate between SUV (small unilamella vesicle) and LUV (large unilamella vesicle). Through this study, minoxidil, an effective drug for hair loss, and DAO, a cosmetic raw material, can be effectively delivered to the skin by encapsulating them in a noisome formulation.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.305-310
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• 2023

This study aimed to determine the human androgen receptor (AR)-mediated endocrine disrupting potential of parabens and triclosan in food and household products using a cell-based assay in the OECD TG No.458, the 22Rv1/MMTV_GR-KO transcriptional activation assay. Four parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, and butyl-) are determined as AR antagonists in OECD TG No.458. However, their AR antagonistic effects were not exhibited in the presence of the S9 hepatic fraction. Triclosan is also classified as an AR antagonist, and the AR antagonistic effect induced by triclosan significantly decreased in the presence of the phase I + II S9 fraction. Regarding the mechanism of AR antagonism induced by parabens and triclosan, the AR-mediated endocrine disrupting effects were exhibited through suppressing the translocation of ligand-bound AR to the nucleus via blocking of AR dimerization in the cytosol. These results indicate that the four parabens and triclosan have AR-mediated endocrine disrupting potential through an AR antagonistic effect via inhibiting AR dimerization; however, their endocrine disrupting effects deceased in the presence of hepatic metabolic enzymes.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2024

The CaF₂ single crystal has notable characteristics such as a large band gap (12 eV), excellent transparency over a wide wavelength range, low refractive index and dispersion. Due to these outstanding properties, CaF₂ single crystal has considered as a promising material for short-wavelength light sources in recent lithography processes. However, there is an inherent birefringence of the material at 157 nm and the resulting aberration can be compensated for through the combination of the (100) plane and the (111) plane. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the characteristics according to the plane. In this study, we analyzed crystallinity, optical properties of commercial CaF₂ single crystal wafers grown by the Czochralski method. In particular, through chemical etching under various conditions, it was confirmed that the shape of etch pits appears differently depending on the plane and the shape and array of specific etch pits affected by dislocations and defects were examined.