• Journal of Veterinary Science
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.60.1-60.11
• /
• 2020

Background: Tumor-associated neoangiogenesis is a crucial target for antitumor therapies. Thalidomide (TAL) is a promising anti-neoangiogenetic drug that has recently been used in the treatment of several malignancies in dogs. Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the pharmacokinetics of TAL after single oral administration in dogs. Additionally, the influence of feeding on the pharmacokinetic profile of TAL in dogs has been preliminarily investigated. Methods: Six healthy adult female Labradors were enrolled according to a randomized single-dose, 2-treatment, 2-phase, paired 2 × 2 cross-over study design. The dogs were administered a single 400 mg capsule of TAL in fasted and fed conditions. Blood was collected from 15 min to 48 h after dosing, and TAL quantified in plasma by a validated high-performance liquid chromatography method. The pharmacokinetics of TAL were analyzed using a non-compartmental approach. Results: TAL concentration was quantifiable up to 10 h and 24 h after fasted and fed conditions, respectively. C_max (fasted, 1.34 ± 0.12 ㎍/mL; fed, 2.47 ± 0.19 ㎍/mL) and T_max (fasted, 3 h; fed, 10 h) differed substantially between the 2 groups. AUC and t_1/2λz were significantly higher in fed (42.46 ± 6.64 mg × h/L; 17.14 ± 4.68 h) compared to fasted (12.38 ± 1.13 mg × h/L; 6.55 ± 1.25 h) dogs. The relative oral bioavailability of TAL for the fasted group was low (36.92% ± 3.28%). Conclusions: Feeding affects the pharmacokinetics of oral TAL in dogs, showing a delayed, but higher absorption with different rate of elimination. These findings are of importance in clinical veterinary settings, and represent a starting point for further related studies.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.32 no.11
• /
• pp.508-514
• /
• 2022

Piezoelectric composite films which are enabled by inorganic piezoelectric nanomaterials-embedded polymer, have attracted enormous attention as a sustainable power source for low powered electronics, because of their ease of fabrication and flexible nature. However, the absorption of applied stress by the soft polymeric matrices is a major issue that must be solved to expand the fields of piezoelectric composite applications. Herein, a flexible and porous piezoelectric composite (piezoelectric sponge) comprised of BaTiO₃ nanoparticles and polydimethylsiloxane was developed using template method to enhance the energy conversion efficiency by minimizing the stress that vanishes into the polymer matrix. In the porous structure, effective stress transfer can occur between the piezoelectric active materials in compression mode due to direct contact between the ceramic particles embedded in the pore-polymer interface. The piezoelectric sponge with 30 wt% of BaTiO₃ particles generated an open-circuit voltage of ~12 V and a short-circuit current of ~150 nA. A finite element method-based simulation was conducted to theoretically back up that the piezoelectric output performance was effectively improved by introducing the sponge structure. Furthermore, to demonstrate the feasibility of pressure detecting applications using the BaTiO₃ particles-embedded piezoelectric sponge, the composite was arranged in a 3 × 3 array and integrated into a single pressure sensor. The fabricated sensor array successfully detected the shape of the applied pressure. This work can provide a cost-effective, biocompatible, and structural strategy for realizing piezoelectric composite-based energy harvesters and self-powered sensors with improved energy conversion efficiency.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.64 no.2
• /
• pp.197-217
• /
• 2022

As the number of households that raise dogs and cats is increasing, there is growing interest in animal health. The gut plays an important role in animal health. In particular, the microbiome in the gut is known to affect both the absorption and metabolism of nutrients and the protective functions of the host. Using probiotics on pets has beneficial effects, such as modulating the immune system, helping to reduce stress, protecting against pathogenic bacteria and developing growth performance. The goals of this review are to summarize the relationship between probiotics/the gut microbiome and animal health, to feature technology used for identifying the diversity of microbiota composition of canine and feline microbiota, and to discuss recent reports on probiotics in canines and felines and the safety issues associated with probiotics and the gut microbiome in companion animals.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.6-10
• /
• 2020

[Purpose] Milk is a commonly ingested post-exercise recovery protein source. Casein protein, found in milk, is characterized by its slow digestion and absorption. Recently, several studies have been conducted with a focus on how pre-sleep casein protein intake could affect post-exercise recovery but our knowledge of the subject remains limited. This review aimed at presenting and discussing how pre-sleep casein protein ingestion affects post-exercise recovery and the details of its potential effector mechanisms. [Methods] We systematically reviewed the topics of 1) casein nutritional characteristics, 2) pre-sleep casein protein effects on post-exercise recovery, and 3) potential effector mechanisms of pre-sleep casein protein on post-exercise recovery, based on the currently available published studies on pre-sleep casein protein ingestion. [Results] Studies have shown that pre-sleep casein protein ingestion (timing: 30 minutes before sleep, amount of casein protein ingested: 40-48 g) could help post-exercise recovery and positively affect acute protein metabolism and exercise performance. In addition, studies have suggested that repeated pre-sleep casein protein ingestion for post-exercise recovery over a long period might also result in chronic effects that optimize intramuscular physiological adaptation (muscle strength and muscle hypertrophy). The potential mechanisms of pre-sleep casein protein ingestion that contribute to these effects include the following: 1) significantly increasing plasma amino acid availability during sleep, thereby increasing protein synthesis, inhibiting protein breakdown, and achieving a positive protein balance; and 2) weakening exercise-induced muscle damage or inflammatory responses, causing reduced muscle soreness. Future studies should focus on completely elucidating these potential mechanisms. [Conclusion] In conclusion, post-exercise ingestion of at least 40 g of casein protein, approximately 30 minutes before sleep and after a bout of resistance exercise in the evening, might be an effective nutritional intervention to facilitate muscle recovery.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.83 no.5
• /
• pp.693-707
• /
• 2022

Bonded joints have proven their performance against conventional joining processes such as welding, riveting and bolting. The single-lap joint is the most widely used to characterize adhesive joints in tensile-shear loadings. However, the high stress concentrations in the adhesive joint due to the non-linearity of the applied loads generate a bending moment in the joint, resulting in high stresses at the adhesive edges. Geometric optimization of the bonded joint to reduce this high stress concentration prompted various researchers to perform geometric modifications of the adhesive and adherends at their free edges. Modifying both edges of the adhesive (spew) and the adherends (bevel) has proven to be an effective solution to reduce stresses at both edges and improve stress transfer at the inner part of the adhesive layer. The majority of research aimed at improving the geometry of the plate and adhesive edges has not considered the effect of temperature and water absorption in evaluating the strength of the joint. The objective of this work is to analyze, by the finite element method, the stress distribution in an adhesive joint between two 2024-T3 aluminum plates. The effects of the adhesive fillet and adherend bevel on the bonded joint stresses were taken into account. On the other hand, degradation of the mechanical properties of the adhesive following its exposure to moisture and temperature was found. The results clearly showed that the modification of the edges of the adhesive and of the bonding agent have an important role in the durability of the bond. Although the modification of the adhesive and bonding edges significantly improves the joint strength, the simultaneous exposure of the joint to temperature and moisture generates high stress concentrations in the adhesive joint that, in most cases, can easily reach the failure point of the material even at low applied stresses.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.113-119
• /
• 2023

In this paper, we propose an optimization of a pose estimation deep learning model for recognition of abnormal behavior in unmanned stores using radio frequencies. The radio frequency use millimeter wave in the 30 GHz to 300 GHz band. Due to the short wavelength and strong straightness, it is a frequency with less grayness and less interference due to radio absorption on the object. A millimeter wave radar is used to solve the problem of personal information infringement that may occur in conventional CCTV image-based pose estimation. Deep learning-based pose estimation models generally use convolution neural networks. The convolution neural network is a combination of convolution layers and pooling layers of different types, and there are many cases of convolution filter size, number, and convolution operations, and more cases of combining components. Therefore, it is difficult to find the structure and components of the optimal posture estimation model for input data. Compared with conventional millimeter wave-based posture estimation studies, it is possible to explore the structure and components of the optimal posture estimation model for input data using genetic algorithms, and the performance of optimizing the proposed posture estimation model is excellent. Data are collected for actual unmanned stores, and point cloud data and three-dimensional keypoint information of Kinect Azure are collected using millimeter wave radar for collapse and property damage occurring in unmanned stores. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the error was moored compared to the conventional posture estimation model.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.67-74
• /
• 2023

The earth-abundant element-based Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ (CZTSSe) thin film solar cells (TFSCs) have attracted greater attention in the photovoltaic (PV) community due to their rapid development in device power conversion efficiency (PCE) >13%. In the present work, we demonstrated the fine-tuning of the bandgap in the CZTSSe TFSCs by altering the sulfur (S) to the selenium (Se) chalcogenide ratio. To achieve this, the CZTSSe absorber layers are fabricated with different S/(S+Se) ratios from 0.02 to 0.08 of their weight percentage. Further compositional, morphological, and optoelectronic properties are studied using various characterization techniques. It is observed that the change in the S/(S+Se) ratios has minimal impact on the overall Cu/(Zn+Sn) composition ratio. In contrast, the S and Se content within the CZTSSe absorber layer gets altered with a change in the S/(S+Se) ratio. It also influences the overall absorber quality and gets worse at higher S/(S+Se). Furthermore, the device performance evaluated for similar CZTSSe TFSCs showed a linear increase and decrease in the open circuit voltage (V_oc) and short circuit current density (J_sc) of the device with an increasing S/(S+Se) ratio. The external quantum efficiency (EQE) measured also exhibited a linear blue shift in absorption edge, increasing the bandgap from 1.056 eV to 1.228 eV, respectively.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.146-155
• /
• 2023

The Ti-6Al-4V lattice structure is widely used in the aerospace industry owing to its high specific strength, specific stiffness, and energy absorption. The quality, performance, and surface roughness of the additively manufactured parts are significantly dependent on various process parameters. Therefore, it is important to study process parameter optimization for relative density and surface roughness control. Here, the part density and surface roughness are examined according to the hatching space, laser power, and scan rotation during laser-powder bed fusion (LPBF), and the optimal process parameters for LPBF are investigated. It has high density and low surface roughness in the specific process parameter ranges of hatching space (0.06-0.12 mm), laser power (225-325 W), and scan rotation (15°). In addition, to investigate the compressive behavior of the lattice structure, a finite element analysis is performed based on the homogenization method. Finite element analysis using the homogenization method indicates that the number of elements decreases from 437,710 to 27 and the analysis time decreases from 3,360 to 9 s. In addition, to verify the reliability of this method, stress-strain data from the compression test and analysis are compared.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.17-24
• /
• 2007

In this study, the failure modes by ballistic impacts were studied both for a neat Kevlar woven fabric and a Kevlar liquid armor impregnated with shear thickening fluid (STF) containing silica particles. These two materials showed quite different failure modes macroscopically in ballistic impacts tests used by Cal.22 FSP and 9mm FMJ bullet. Yarn pull-out for the neat Kevlar woven fabric and yarn fracture occurred partially through all plies from 1st ply to last one for the STF-Kevlar are an important energy absorption mechanisms. The results observed by S.E.M showed commonly fiber damage which are torn skin in the longitudinal fiber direction, fiber split axially and fiber fracture for two materials. The reasons why STF-kevlar liquid armor material exhibits excellent ballistic performance are as follow: firstly the increased friction forces between yarn-yarn and fabric-fabric covered with silica particles and secondary the evolution of shear thickening phenomenmon resulting in suppression of yarn mobility.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
• /
• v.56 no.3
• /
• pp.208-218
• /
• 2023

Photocatalysts are advanced materials which accelerate the photoreaction by providing ordinary reactions with other pathways. The catalysts have various advantages, such as low-cost, low operating temperature and pressure, and long-term use. They are applied to environmental and energy field, including the air and water purification, water splitting for hydrogen production, sterilization and self-cleaning surfaces. However, commercial photocatalysts only absorb ultraviolet light between 100 and 400 nm of wavelength which comprises only 5% in sunlight due to the wide band gap. In addition, rapid recombination of electron-hole pairs reduces the photocatalytic performance. Recently, studies on blackening photocatalysts by laser, thermal, and plasma treatments have been conducted to enhance the absorption of visible light and photocatalytic activity. The disordered structures could yield mid-gap states and vacancies could cause charge carrier trapping. Herein, liquid phase plasma (LPP) is adopted to synthesize Ag-doped black ZnO for the utilization of visible-light. The physical and chemical characteristics of the synthesized photocatalysts are analyzed by SEM/EDS, XRD, XPS and the optical properties of them are investigated using UV/Vis DRS and PL analyses. Lastly, the photocatalytic activity was evaluated using methylene blue as a pollutant.