• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.17-28
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• 2010

Vertical drains are commonly used to accelerate the consolidation process of soft soils, such as dredged materials, because they additionally provide a radial drainage path in a deep soil deposit. In practice, vertical drains are commonly installed in the process of self-weight consolidation of a dredged soil deposit. The absence of an appropriate analysis tool for this situation makes it substantially difficult to estimate self-weight consolidation behavior considering both vertical and radial drainage. In this paper, a new method has been proposed to take into account both vertical and radial drainage conditions during nonlinear finite strain self-weight consolidation of dredged soil deposits. For 1-D nonlinear finite strain consolidation in the vertical direction, the Morris (2002) theory and the PSDDF analysis are adopted, respectively. On the other hand, to consider the radial drainage, Barron's vertical drain theory (1948) is used. The overall average degree of self-weight consolidation of the dredged soil is estimated using the Carillo formula (1942), in which both vertical and radial drainage are assembled together. A series of large-scale self-weight consolidation experiments being equipped with a vertical drain have been carried out to verify the analysis method proposed in this paper. The results of the new analysis method were generally in agreement with those of the experiments.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.33-45
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• 2009

The conventional single-core PBDs have been widely used in order to accelerate consolidation settlement of soft grounds. When using the single-core PBD in a thick clay deposit, a delay of consolidation may occur due to high confining pressure in the thick deposit and necking of drains. This study is to compare the performances of soil improvement by the single-core and double-core PBD installed at a site in Busan New Port which exhibits approximately a 40m-thick clay layer. An in-situ test program was performed at the test site where a set of the double-core PBDs and single-core PBDs were installed to compare the efficiency of each drain. In addition, the discharge capacity of each PBD has been measured using the modified Delft Test. A series of laboratory tests for estimating in-situ soil properties have also been performed in order to obtain input parameters for a numerical program ILLICON. The discharge capacity of the double-core PBD is higher than that of the single-core PBD in the modified Delft Test. However it is observed from the comparative in-situ test and numerical analysis that there is no difference in the performance of ground improvement between the two drain systems. This discrepancy comes from the fact that the amount of water released during consolidation in most common field conditions is much smaller than the capacity of even the single core PBD. And thus, considering actual field conditions, it can be concluded that the single-core PBD has enough discharge capacity even in the thick clay deposit such as this test site.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.670-681
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Oxidative stress is caused by reactive oxygen species and free radicals that accelerate inflammatory responses and exacerbate fatigue. Tormentic acid (TA) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, the aim of present study is to determine the fatigue-regulatory effects of TA in H₂O₂-stimulated myoblast cell line, C2C12 cells and treadmill stress test (TST) and forced swimming test (FST) animal models. MATERIALS/METHODS: In the in vitro study, C2C12 cells were pretreated with TA before stimulation with H₂O₂. Then, malondialdehyde (MDA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) activity, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glycogen, and cell viability were analyzed. In the in vivo study, the ICR male mice were administered TA or distilled water orally daily for 28 days. FST and TST were then performed on the last day. In addition, biochemical analysis of the serum, muscle, and liver was performed. RESULTS: TA dose-dependently alleviated the levels of MDA, LDH, CK activity, TNF-α, and IL-6 in H₂O₂-stimulated C2C12 cells without affecting the cytotoxicity. TA increased the SOD and CAT activities and the glycogen levels in H₂O₂-stimulated C2C12 cells. In TST and FST animal models, TA decreased the FST immobility time significantly while increasing the TST exhaustion time without weight fluctuations. The in vivo studies showed that the levels of SOD, CAT, citrate synthase, glycogen, and free fatty acid were increased by TA administration, whereas TA significantly reduced the levels of glucose, MDA, LDH, lactate, CK, inflammatory cytokines, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, blood urea nitrogen, and cortisol compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: TA improves fatigue by modulating oxidative stress and energy metabolism in C2C12 cells and animal models. Therefore, we suggest that TA can be a powerful substance in healthy functional foods and therapeutics to improve fatigue.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.627-632
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• 2023

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in various applications, including electric vehicles and portable electronics, due to their high energy density and long cycle life. The performance of lithium-ion batteries can be improved by using solid electrolytes, in terms of higher safety, stability, and energy density. Li_1.5Al_0.5Ti_1.5(PO₄)₃ (LATP) is a promising solid electrolyte for all-solid-state lithium batteries due to its high ionic conductivity and excellent stability. However, the ionic conductivity of LATP needs to be improved for commercializing all-solid-state lithium battery systems. In this study, we investigate the microstructures and ionic conductivities of LATP by incorporating B₂O₃ glass ceramics. The smaller grain size and narrow size distribution were obtained after the introduction of B₂O₃ in LATP, which is attributed to the B₂O₃ glass on grain boundaries of LATP. Moreover, higher ionic conductivity can be obtained after B₂O₃ incorporation, where the optimal composition is 0.1 wt% B₂O₃ incorporated LATP and the ionic conductivity reaches 8.8×10^-5 S/cm, more than 3 times higher value than pristine LATP. More research could be followed for having higher ionic conductivity and density by optimizing the processing conditions. This facile approach for establishing higher ionic conductivity in LATP solid electrolytes could accelerate the commercialization of all-solid-state lithium batteries.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.525-529
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• 2023

β-Ga₂O₃ has become the focus of considerable attention as an ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor following the successful development of bulk single crystals using the melt growth method. Accordingly, homoepitaxy studies, where the interface between the substrate and the epilayer is not problematic, have become mainstream and many results have been published. However, because the cost of homo-substrates is high, research is still mainly at the laboratory level and has not yet been scaled up to commercialization. To overcome this problem, many researchers are trying to grow high quality Ga₂O₃ epilayers on hetero-substrates. We used diluted SiH4 gas to control the doping concentration during the heteroepitaxial growth of β-Ga₂O₃ on c-plane sapphire using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Despite the high level of defect density inside the grown β-Ga₂O₃ epilayer due to the aggregation of random rotated domains, the carrier concentration could be controlled from 1 × 10¹⁹ to 1 × 10¹⁶ cm^-3 by diluting the SiH4 gas concentration. This study indicates that β-Ga₂O₃ hetero-epitaxy has similar potential to homo-epitaxy and is expected to accelerate the commercialization of β-Ga₂O₃ applications with the advantage of low substrate cost.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.45-69
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• 2023

The advent of the 4th industrial technology brought about various changes and innovations in the overall industry, but the digitalization of the logistics industry, which involved complicated paperwork processes and various stakeholders, was somewhat behind compared to other industries. However, changes and innovations related to digitalization in the logistics industry began to accelerate due to the impact of COVID-19. This study is to check the digitalization status of container liners accelerated by these changes, analyze the impact of such changes on customer satisfaction and behavioral intention. In this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted for 30 days targeting workers in the logistics industry who had experience using digitalization products of container shipping companies, and a total of 144 questionnaire responses were used to verify hypotheses. To summarize the results of this study, first, it was confirmed that perceived ease of use has a positive (+) effect on perceived usefulness. Second, perceived ease of use was found to have a positive (+) effect on customer satisfaction. Third, it was found that perceived usefulness had a positive (+) effect on customer satisfaction. Fourth, perceived usefulness has a positive (+) effect on behavioral intention. Fifth, it was found that customer satisfaction had a positive (+) effect on behavioral intention. Summarizing the results of the study, it can be summarized that the digitization of regular shipping companies is convenient to use and has a positive effect on customer satisfaction and behavioral intention if it is useful.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.12
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• pp.115-125
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• 2023

In this study, we evaluated the behavior of frozen soil using an electrical resistivity survey method-a nondestructive technique-and examined its characteristics through field experiments. Frozen soil was artificially prepared by injecting fluid to accelerate the freezing process, and naturally frozen soil was selected in a nearby area for comparison. A dynamic cone penetration test (DCPT) was performed to compare the reliability of the electrical resistivity survey, and time-domain reflectometry surveys were performed to assess the moisture content of the ground. Field experiments were conducted in February-when the atmosphere temperature was below freezing-and May-when the temperature was above freezing. This temperature-compensated method was used to determine reliability because the behavior of frozen soil depends on the underlying temperature. In the resistivity survey method, a section of high electrical resistivity was observed under freezing conditions due to the frozen water and converted into porosity. The converted porosity was compared with the porosity inferred from the DCPT, and the results showed that the measured electrical resistivity was valid.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.97-115
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• 2023

In recent years, the structure of the population has been changing rapidly, with a declining birthrate and aging population, and the inequality of population distribution is expanding. At this point, changes in population estimation methods are required, and more accurate estimates are needed at the subregional level. This study aims to estimate the population in 2040 at the 500m grid level by applying an explainable machine learning to Busan in order to respond to this need for a change in population estimation method. Comparing the results of population estimation by applying the explainable machine learning and the cohort component method, we found that the machine learning produces lower errors and is more applicable to estimating areas with large population changes. This is because machine learning can account for a combination of variables that are likely to affect demographic change. Overestimated population values in a declining population period are likely to cause problems in urban planning, such as inefficiency of investment and overinvestment in certain sectors, resulting in a decrease in quality in other sectors. Underestimated population values can also accelerate the shrinkage of cities and reduce the quality of life, so there is a need to develop appropriate population estimation methods and alternatives.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2024

Using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) based intrusive reduced order model (ROM), the total degrees of freedom of the structural system can be significantly reduced and the critical time step satisfying the conditional stability increases in the explicit time integrations. In this study, therefore, the changes in the critical time step in the explicit time integrations are investigated using both the POD-ROM and Voronoi-cell lattice model (VCLM). The snapshot matrix is composed of the data from the structural response under the arbitrary dynamic loads such as seismic excitation, from which the POD-ROM is constructed and the predictive capability is validated. The simulated results show that the significant reduction in the computational time can be achieved using the POD-ROM with sufficiently ensuring the numerical accuracy in the seismic analyses. In addition, the validations show that the POD based intrusive ROM is compatible with the Voronoi-cell lattice based explicit dynamic analyses. In the future study, the research results will be utilized as an elemental technology for the developments of the real-time predictive models or monitoring system involving the high-fidelity simulations of structural dynamics.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.3.1-3.23
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• 2024

Cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-treated mouse airway epithelial cells (MAECs)-derived exosomes accelerate the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by upregulating triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1); however, the specific mechanism remains unclear. We aimed to explore the potential mechanisms of CSE-treated MAECs-derived exosomes on M1 macrophage polarization and pyroptosis in COPD. In vitro, exosomes were extracted from CSE-treated MAECs, followed by co-culture with macrophages. In vivo, mice exposed to cigarette smoke (CS) to induce COPD, followed by injection or/and intranasal instillation with oe-TREM-1 lentivirus. Lung function and pathological changes were evaluated. CD68⁺ cell number and the levels of iNOS, TNF-α, IL-1β (M1 macrophage marker), and pyroptosis-related proteins (NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase-1 recruitment domain, caspase-1, cleaved-caspase-1, gasdermin D [GSDMD], and GSDMD-N) were examined. The expression of maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3), spleen focus forming virus proviral integration oncogene (SPI1), methyltransferase 3 (METTL3), and TREM-1 was detected and the binding relationships among them were verified. MEG3 increased N6-methyladenosine methylation of TREM-1 by recruiting SPI1 to activate METTL3. Overexpression of TREM-1 or METTL3 negated the alleviative effects of MEG3 inhibition on M1 polarization and pyroptosis. In mice exposed to CS, EXO^-CSE further aggravated lung injury, M1 polarization, and pyroptosis, which were reversed by MEG3 inhibition. TREM-1 overexpression negated the palliative effects of MEG3 inhibition on COPD mouse lung injury. Collectively, CSE-treated MAECs-derived exosomal long non-coding RNA MEG3 may expedite M1 macrophage polarization and pyroptosis in COPD via the SPI1/METTL3/TREM-1 axis.