• Title/Summary/Keyword: Breakdown Mechanism

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Nanoemulsions: a Novel Vehicle for Cosmetics (나노에멀젼: 화장품을 위한 새로운 제형)

  • Cho, Wan-Goo
    • Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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    • v.37 no.1
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    • pp.1-21
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    • 2011
  • This review describes several kinds of emulsification methods for nanoemulsions and the application of nanoemulsions. Nanoemulsion droplet sizes fall typically in the range of 20 ~200 nm and show narrow size distributions. Although most of the publications on either oil-in-water (O/W) or water-in-oil (W/O) nanoemulsions have reported their formation by dispersion or high-energy emulsification methods, an increased interest is observed in the study of nano-emulsion formation by condensation or low-energy emulsification methods based on the phase transitions that take place during the emulsification process. Phase behaviour studies have shown that the size of the droplets is governed by the surfactant phase structure (bicontinuous microemulsion or lamellar) at the inversion point induced by either temperature or composition. Studies on nanoemulsion formation by the phase inversion temperature (PIT) method have shown a relation between minimum droplet size and complete solubilization of the oil in a microemulsion bicontinuous phase independently of whether the initial phase equilibrium is single or multiphase. Due to their small droplet size nanoemulsions possess stability against sedimentation or creaming with Ostwald ripening forming the main mechanism of nanoemulsion breakdown. An application of nanoemulsions is the preparation of nanoparticles using a polymerizable monomer as the disperse phase where nanoemulsion droplets act as nanoreactors, cosmetics and controlled drug delivery. In this review, we mainly focus on the cosmetics.

Micro/Nanotribology and Its Applications

  • Bhushan, Bharat
    • Tribology and Lubricants
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    • v.11 no.5
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    • pp.128-135
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    • 1995
  • Atomic force microscopy/friction force microscopy (AFM/FFM) techniques are increasingly used for tribological studies of engineering surfaces at scales, ranging from atomic and molecular to microscales. These techniques have been used to study surface roughness, adhesion, friction, scratching/wear, indentation, detection of material transfer, and boundary lubrication and for nanofabrication/nanomachining purposes. Micro/nanotribological studies of single-crystal silicon, natural diamond, magnetic media (magnetic tapes and disks) and magnetic heads have been conducted. Commonly measured roughness parameters are found to be scale dependent, requiring the need of scale-independent fractal parameters to characterize surface roughness. Measurements of atomic-scale friction of a freshly-cleaved highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite exhibited the same periodicity as that of corresponding topography. However, the peaks in friction and those in corresponding topography were displaced relative to each other. Variations in atomic-scale friction and the observed displacement has been explained by the variations in interatomic forces in the normal and lateral directions. Local variation in microscale friction is found to correspond to the local slope suggesting that a ratchet mechanism is responsible for this variation. Directionality in the friction is observed on both micro- and macro scales which results from the surface preparation and anisotropy in surface roughness. Microscale friction is generally found to be smaller than the macrofriction as there is less ploughing contribution in microscale measurements. Microscale friction is load dependent and friction values increase with an increase in the normal load approaching to the macrofriction at contact stresses higher than the hardness of the softer material. Wear rate for single-crystal silicon is approximately constant for various loads and test durations. However, for magnetic disks with a multilayered thin-film structure, the wear of the diamond like carbon overcoat is catastrophic. Breakdown of thin films can be detected with AFM. Evolution of the wear has also been studied using AFM. Wear is found to be initiated at nono scratches. AFM has been modified to obtain load-displacement curves and for nanoindentation hardness measurements with depth of indentation as low as 1 mm. Scratching and indentation on nanoscales are the powerful ways to screen for adhesion and resistance to deformation of ultrathin fdms. Detection of material transfer on a nanoscale is possible with AFM. Boundary lubrication studies and measurement of lubricant-film thichness with a lateral resolution on a nanoscale have been conducted using AFM. Self-assembled monolyers and chemically-bonded lubricant films with a mobile fraction are superior in wear resistance. Finally, AFM has also shown to be useful for nanofabrication/nanomachining. Friction and wear on micro-and nanoscales have been found to be generally smaller compared to that at macroscales. Therefore, micro/nanotribological studies may help def'me the regimes for ultra-low friction and near zero wear.

Isolation of Bovine Spermatozoal Components by Physical or Chemical Treatments (물리.화학적 처리에 의한 소 정자세포구성분의 분리)

  • 최승철;천장혜;이상호
    • Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.339-346
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    • 1994
  • An understanding of the structure and function of mammalian spermatozoa requires the iso-lation of these components. In this study, frozen-thawed bovine spermatozoa were treated by physical treatments (vortexing, 26 gauge needle, strained 26 gauge needles and freezing-thawing) or chemical treatments (trypsin, dithiothreitol, sodium dodecylsulfate and $\beta$-mercaptoethanoJ) to yield free heads and tails. The most effective treatment was repeated pumping of sperm suspension through a strained 26 gauge needle conneted to a syringe. Spermatozoa by this treatment were mainly broken at the junction of the head and the tail, resulting in 90-100% yields. Also, sperm head surface did not modify during strained 26 gauge needle treatment when either spermatozoa or sperm heads were incubated in 250${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml of FITC-UEA 1 for 1 h at room temperature to detect the modification of sperm surface components. Other physical treatments were less efficient for the breakdown of spermatozoa. The effects of chemical treatments on bovine spermatozoa are not noticeable. Dissected sperm heads and tails should be fractional leading to nearly pure components by sucrose gradient centrifugation at 1,000 rpm for 15 min. The result suggest that the established method may be useful for the biochemical study of spermatozoal components, and the understanding of oocyte activation mechanism either by spermatozoal components during fertilization or microinjection of isolated components.

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A Study on Electrical Properties of $Ta_2O_{5-x}$ Thin-films Obtained by $O_2$ RTA ($O_2$RTA 방법으로 제조된 $Ta_2O_{5-x}$ 박막의 전기적 특성)

  • Kim, In-Seong;Song, Jae-Seong;Yun, Mun-Su;Park, Jeong-Hu
    • The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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    • v.51 no.8
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    • pp.340-346
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    • 2002
  • Capacitor material utilized in the downsizing passive devices and integration of passive devices requires the physical and electrical properties at given area such as capacitor thickness reduction, relative dielectric constant increase, low leakage current and thermal stability. common capacitor materials, $Al_2O_3$, $SiO_2$, $Si_3N_4$, $SiO_2$/$Si_3N_4$, TaN and et al., used until recently have reached their physical limits in their application to integration of passive devices. $Ta_2O_{5}$ is known to be a good alternative to the existing materials for the capacitor application because of its high dielectric constant (25~35), low leakage current and high breakdown strength. Despite the numerous investigations of $Ta_2O_{5}$ material, there have little been established the clear understanding of the annealing effect on capacitance characteristic and conduction mechanism. This study presents the dielectric properties $Ta_2O_{5}$ MIM capacitor structure Processed by $O_2$ RTA oxidation. X-ray diffraction patterns showed the existence of amorphous phase in $600^{\circ}C$ annealing under the $O_2$ RTA and the formation of preferentially oriented-$Ta_2O_{5}$ in 650, $700^{\circ}C$ annealing and the AES depth profile showed $O_2$ RTA oxidation effect gives rise to the $O_2$ deficientd into the new layer. The leakage current density respectively, at 3~1l$\times$$10_{-2}$(kV/cm) were $10_{-3}$~$10_{-6}$(A/$\textrm{cm}^2$). In addition, behavior is stable irrespective of applied electric field. the frequency vs capacitance characteristic enhanced stability more then $Ta_2O_{5}$ thin films obtained by $O_2$ reactive sputtering. The capacitance vs voltage measurement that, Vfb(flat-band voltage) was increase dependance on the $O_2$ RTA oxidation temperature.

Induction of Muscle Atrophy by Dexamethasone and Hydrogen Peroxide in Differentiated C2C12 Myotubes (C2C12 근관세포에서 dexamethasone 및 hydrogen peroxide에 의한 근위축 유도)

  • Park, Cheol;Jeong, Jin-Woo;Choi, Yung Hyun
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.27 no.12
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    • pp.1479-1485
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    • 2017
  • Muscle atrophy due to aging, starvation, and various chronic diseases leads to a decrease in muscle fiber area and density due to reduced muscle protein synthesis and increased protein breakdown. This study investigated the effect of dexamethasone and hydrogen peroxide on the induction of muscle atrophy and expression of atrophy-related genes in differentiated C2C12 myotubes. C2C12 myoblasts were differentiated into myotubes in differentiation medium. During myoblast differentiation, muscle-specific transcription factors, such as myogenin, and MyoD expression increased. Differentiated C2C12 myotubes exposed to noncytotoxic levels of dexamethasone and hydrogen peroxide showed a decrease in myotube diameter, which was associated with up-regulation of muscle-specific ubiquitin ligases, such as muscle atrophy F-box (MAFbx)/atrogin-1 and muscle RING finger-1 (MuRF1), and down-regulation of myogenin and MyoD. These results demonstrated that dexamethasone and hydrogen peroxide induced atrophy through regulation of muscle-specific ubiquitin ligases and muscle-specific transcription factors in C2C12 myotubes. In this study, we confirmed the process of differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts into myotubes in in vitro experiments in the presence of atrophy. This muscle atrophy model of C2C12 cells induced by dexamethasone or hydrogen peroxide seems suited to studies of the mechanism of muscle atrophy suppression and to exploit the experiment for excavating new muscle atrophy.

Pulsed Electric Fields: An Emerging Food Processing Technology-An Overview (PEF 처리에 의한 식품의 가공)

  • Jayaprakasha, H.M.;Yoon, Y.C.;Lee, S.K.
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.46 no.5
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    • pp.871-878
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    • 2004
  • Pulsed electric fields(PEF) technology is one of the latest nonthermal methods of food processing for obtaining safe and minimally processed foods. This technology can be effectively explored for obtaining safe food with minimum effect on nutritional, flavor, rheological and sensory qualities of food products. The process involves the application of high voltage(typically 20 ${\sim}$ 80 kv/cm) to foods placed between two electrodes. The mode of inactivation of microorganism; by PEP processing has been postulated in term; of electric breakdown and electroporation. The extent of destruction of microorganisms in PEF processing depends mainly on the electric field strength of the pulses and treatment time. For each cell types, a specific critical electric field strength and specific critical treatment time are required depending on the cell characteristics and the type and strength of the medium where they have been present. The effect also depends on the types of microorganisms and their phase of growth. A careful combination of processing parameters has to be selected for effective processing. The potential applications of PEF technology are numerous ranging from biotechnology to food preservation. With respect to food processing, it has already been established that, the technology is non-thermal in nature, economical and energy efficient, besides providing minimally processed foods. This article gives a brief overview of this technology for food processing applications.

A Study on the Safety Estimation of Wiring Connection Connector Manufactured by Housing Type (하우징 형태(Housing Type)로 제작된 배선 연결 커넥터의 안전성 평가에 관한 연구)

  • Choi, Chung-Seog
    • The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
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    • v.59 no.4
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    • pp.462-466
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    • 2010
  • The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety of a wire connector fabricated for the effective installation of a lighting fixture including its contact resistance, insulation resistance, withstanding voltage characteristics, etc., and to provide the basis for the analysis and judgment of PL(Product Liability) dispute by presenting a damage pattern due to a general flame and overcurrent. This study applied the Korean Standard (KS) for the incombustibility test of the connector using a general flame and performed an overcurrent characteristics test of the connector using PCITS (Primary Current Injection Test System). The contact resistance of the housing connector was measured using a high resistance meter and the insulation resistance was measured using a multimeter. In addition, a supply voltage of AC 1,500V for testing the withstanding voltage characteristics was applied to both ends of the connector. Measurement was performed on 5 specimens and the measured values were used as a basis for judgment. Since the connector is fabricated in the form of a housing, it can be connected and separated easily and has a structure that allows no foreign material to enter. In addition, since it has a structure that allows wires to be connected only when their polarity is identical, any misconnection that may occur during installation can be prevented. When the incombustibility test was performed by applying a general flame to the connector, it showed outstanding incombustibility characteristics and the blade and blade holder connected to the housing remained firmly secured even after the insulation sheath (PVC) was completely destroyed by fire. In addition, the mechanism of the damaged connecting wire showed a comparatively uniform carbonization pattern and it was found that some residual melted insulation material was attached to both ends. In the accelerated life test (ALT) to which approximately 500% of the rated current was applied, the connector damage proceeded in the order of white smoke generation, wire separation, spark occurrence and carbonization. That is, it could be seen that the connector damaged by overcurrent lost its own metallic color with traces of discoloration and carbonization. The contact resistance of the connector at a normal state was 2.164mV/A on average. The contact resistance measured after the high temperature test was 3.258mV/A. In addition, the insulation resistance after the temperature test was completed was greater than $10G\Omega$ and the withstanding voltage test result showed that no insulation breakdown occurred to all specimens showing stable withstanding voltage and insulation resistance characteristics.

Genetic Stability of Magnaporthe oryzae during Successive Passages through Rice Plants and on Artificial Medium

  • Park, Sook-Young;Chi, Myoung-Hwan;Milgroom, Michael G.;Kim, Hyo-Jung;Han, Seong-Sook;Kang, Seog-Chan;Lee, Yong-Hwan
    • The Plant Pathology Journal
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    • v.26 no.4
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    • pp.313-320
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    • 2010
  • Genetic instability of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae has been suggested as a major factor underlying the rapid breakdown of host resistance in the field. However, little information is available on the mechanism of genetic instability. In this study, we assessed the stability of repetitive DNA elements and several key phenotypic traits important for pathogenesis after serially transferring two isolates though rice plants and an artificial medium. Using isolate 70-15, we obtained a total of 176 single-spore isolates from 10 successive rounds of culturing on artificial medium. Another 20 isolates were obtained from germ tubes formed at the basal and apical cells of 10 three-celled conidia. Additionally, 60 isolates were obtained from isolate KJ201 after serial transfers through rice plants and an artificial medium. No apparent differences in phenotypes, including mycelial growth, conidial morphologies, conidiation, conidial germination, appressorium formation, and virulence, or in DNA fingerprints using MGR586, MAGGY, Pot2, LINE, MG-SINE and PWL2 as probes were observed among isolates from the same parent isolate. Southern hybridization and sequence analysis of two avirulence genes, AVR-Pita1 and AVR-Pikm, showed that both genes were also maintained stably during 10 successive generations on medium and plants. However, one reversible loss of restriction fragments was found in the telomere-linked helicase gene (TLH1) family, suggesting some telomere regions may be more unstable than the rest of the genome. Taken together, our results suggest that phenotype and genotype of M. oryzae isolates do not noticeably change, at least up to 10 successive generations on a cultural medium and in host plants.

Vitamin D maintains E-cadherin intercellular junctions by downregulating MMP-9 production in human gingival keratinocytes treated by TNF-α

  • Oh, Changseok;Kim, Hyun Jung;Kim, Hyun-Man
    • Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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    • v.49 no.5
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    • pp.270-286
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    • 2019
  • Purpose: Despite the well-known anti-inflammatory effects of vitamin D in periodontal health, its mechanism has not been fully elucidated. In the present study, the effect of vitamin D on strengthening E-cadherin junctions (ECJs) was explored in human gingival keratinocytes (HGKs). ECJs are the major type of intercellular junction within the junctional epithelium, where loose intercellular junctions develop and microbial invasion primarily occurs. Methods: HOK-16B cells, an immortalized normal human gingival cell line, were used for the study. To mimic the inflammatory environment, cells were treated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha ($TNF-{\alpha}$). Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the culture medium were assessed by an MMP antibody microarray and gelatin zymography. The expression of various molecules was investigated using western blotting. The extent of ECJ development was evaluated by comparing the average relative extent of the ECJs around the periphery of each cell after immunocytochemical E-cadherin staining. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression was examined via immunohistochemical analysis. Results: $TNF-{\alpha}$ downregulated the development of the ECJs of the HGKs. Dissociation of the ECJs by $TNF-{\alpha}$ was accompanied by the upregulation of MMP-9 production and suppressed by a specific MMP-9 inhibitor, Bay 11-7082. Exogenous MMP-9 decreased the development of ECJs. Vitamin D reduced the production of MMP-9 and attenuated the breakdown of ECJs in the HGKs treated with $TNF-{\alpha}$. In addition, vitamin D downregulated $TNF-{\alpha}$-induced nuclear factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) signaling in the HGKs. VDR was expressed in the gingival epithelium, including the junctional epithelium. Conclusions: These results suggest that vitamin D may avert $TNF-{\alpha}$-induced downregulation of the development of ECJs in HGKs by decreasing the production of MMP-9, which was upregulated by $TNF-{\alpha}$. Vitamin D may reinforce ECJs by downregulating $NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling, which is upregulated by $TNF-{\alpha}$. Strengthening the epithelial barrier may be a way for vitamin D to protect the periodontium from bacterial invasion.

Research Trends on the Therapeutic Potential of Cordycepin, an Active Ingredient of the Insect Fungus Cordyceps spp., for the Prevention of Sarcopenia (동충하초(Cordyceps spp.)의 유효 생리활성 성분인 cordycepin의 근감소증 예방에 대한 연구 동향)

  • Kim, Sung Ok;Choi, Yung Hyun
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.32 no.6
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    • pp.482-490
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    • 2022
  • Sarcopenia, a geriatric and multifactorial syndrome characterized by progressive systemic skeletal muscle disorder, may be associated with many comorbidities. Sarcopenia caused by a decrease in muscle mass and muscle strength is accompanied by the aggravation of various pathological conditions, and as life expectancy increases, its prevalence will continue to increase in the future. During the aging process, chronic oxidative stress and increased inflammatory responses act as major contributors to skeletal muscle loss. In addition, disruption of autophagy and apoptosis signals associated with dysfunction of mitochondria, which are essential for energy metabolism, accelerates the loss of muscle proteins. The pharmacological effect of cordycepin, a major physiologically active substance in the genus Cordyceps, which has been widely used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases for a long time, is directly related to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. In this review, we present the correlation between apoptosis, autophagy, protein catabolism, and satellite cell activity important for muscle regeneration using cordycepin for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia. Although there have been few studies so far on the use of cordycepin for sarcopenia, previous studies suggest that cordycepin may contribute to inhibiting the age-related weakening of mitochondrial function and blocking the breakdown of muscle proteins. In addition, the protective effect of cordycepin on muscle cell damage is considered to be closely related to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, it is considered that more continuous basic research is needed, focusing on the molecular biological mechanism of cordycepin, which is involved in the anti-aging of muscle cells.