• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 2016

Oxidation behaviours of ash free coal (AFC), carbon, and H₂ fuels were investigated with a coin type molten carbonate fuel cell. Because AFC has no electrical conductivity, its oxidation occurs via gasification to H₂ and CO. An interesting behaviour of mass transfer resistance reduction at higher current density was observed. Since the anode reaction has the positive reaction order of H₂, CO₂ and H₂O, the lack of CO₂ and H₂O from AFC results in a significant mass transfer resistance. However, the anode products of CO₂ and H₂O at higher current densities raise their partial pressure and mitigate the resistance. The addition of CO₂ to AFC reduced the resistance sufficiently, thus the resistance reduction at higher current densities did not appear. Electrochemical impedance results also indicate that the addition of CO₂ reduces mass transfer resistance. Carbon and H₂ fuels without CO₂ and H₂O also show similar behaviour to AFC: mass transfer resistance is diminished by raising current density and adding CO₂.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.275-287
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• 2024

Insulin resistance is a primary risk factor for developing diabetes. However, diabetes drugs generally focus on regulating and lowering patients' blood glucose levels. In recent years, diverse materials have been evaluated to improve insulin resistance and hinder the development of diabetes. Momordica charantia extract (MCE) and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been considered as potential therapeutic agents against insulin resistance and hyperglycemia. In a streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes animal model, treatment with MCE and LAB had no effect on hyperglycemia. To evaluate the effect of MCE and LAB on insulin resistance, we chose a high-fat diet-induced insulin resistance model and co-administered MCE and Lactobacillus Acidophilus CBT-LA1, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum CBT-LP3, or Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus CBT-LR5. MCE with CBT-LA1 or CBT-LP3 improved insulin resistance and hepatosteatosis. However, the effect of MCE and MCE with CBT-LR5 was weaker than the effect of MCE with CBT-LA1 or CBT-LP3. Momordica charantia induced insulin secretion from RIN-m5F in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, CBT-LA1 and CBT-LP3 enhanced the insulin secretion of MCE. These results suggest that the co-administration of MCE and a specific LAB is one approach for overcoming insulin resistance and hyperglycemia.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.734-742
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• 2021

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the occurrence and species of coagulase-positive staphylococci (CoPS) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) in retail pork meat samples collected during nationwide monitoring. The staphylococcal isolates were characterized for antimicrobial and zinc chloride resistance and enterotoxigenic potential. Methods: A total of 260 pre-packaged pork meat samples were collected from 35 retail markets in 8 provinces in Korea for isolation of staphylococci. Antimicrobial and zinc chloride resistance phenotypes, and genes associated with the resistance phenotypes were determined on the isolates. Furthermore, the presence and distribution of 19 staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) genes and enterotoxin-like genes among the pork-associated staphylococci were determined by multiplex polymerase chain reaction-based assays using the specific primer sets. Results: A total of 29 staphylococcal strains (29/260, 11.1%) were isolated from samples of retail pork meat, 24 (83%) of which were CoNS. The four CoNS species identified were S. saprophyticus (n = 16, 55%), S. sciuri (n = 3, 10%), S. warneri (n = 3, 10%), and S. epidermidis (n = 2, 7%). Among the 29 isolates, four methicillin-resistant CoNS (MR-CoNS; three S. sciuri and one S. epidermidis) and one methicillin-resistant CoPS (MR-CoPS; one S. aureus) were identified. In addition, a relatively high level of tetracycline (TET) resistance (52%) was confirmed in CoNS, along with a predominant distribution of tet(K). The most prevalent SEs were sep (45%), and sen (28%), which were carried by 81% of S. saprophyticus. Conclusion: These findings suggest that CoNS, especially S. saprophyticus strains, in raw pork meat could be a potential risk factor for staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP), and therefore, requires further investigation to elucidate the role of SEls in SFP and virulence of the pathogen. Our results also suggest that CoNS from raw pork meat may act as a source for transmission of antimicrobial resistance genes such as staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec and tet(K).

• BMB Reports
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.332-336
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• 2000

Phenazine 1-carboxylic acid (PCA) is an antifungal antibiotic isolated from a culture filtrate of Bacillus sp. B-6 producing an acyl CoA synthetase inhibitor. This antibiotic is reported as an inhibitor of an acyl CoA synthetase from Pseudomonas sp.. Bacillus sp. B-6 was resistant to PCA up to 350 ${\mu}g/ml$. We investigated the mechanism of the resistance of Bacillus sp. B-6 to PCA. The rate of growth in a medium containing up to 100 ${\mu}g/ml$ was as rapid as the PCA-free medium. At a PCA concentration of 300 ${\mu}g/ml$, the growth rate was more than half that of the control. In this work, we purified acyl CoA synthetase from Bacillus sp. B-6 and found that this acyl CoA synthetase was much less sensitive to PCA than the acyl CoA synthetase from other source. These findings suggested that the insensitivity of Bacillus sp. B-6 acyl CoA synthetase plays an important role in the PCA resistance of this bacterium.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 1993

An improvement in corrosion resistance of various types of Zn-coated steel sheets is thought to be possible with the addition of fine oxide powder to the coating. In this study the corrosion resistance of the $Al_2O_3$ dispersed Zn-Co-Cr electroplated steel sheet has been investigated and the results were as follows : The corrosion resistance of $Al_2O_3$ dispersed Zn-Co-Cr electroplated steel sheets was improved by increasing the contents of Co and Cr ions, and also $Al_2O_3$ powders in the bath because of the increased amount of Co, Cr and $Al_2O_3$ in deposits. In the $Al_2O_3$ dispersed Zn-Co-Cr electroplated steels sheet, the structure of deposits was changed from fine microstructure as observed in high Co containing deposits to coarse microstructure as in high Cr and $Al_2O_3$ containing deposits. By cold rolling of the $Al_2O_3$ dispersed Zn-Co-Cr electroplated steel sheets to about 2 percent, thr corrosion resistance was improved further.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.5037-5041
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• 2015

Background: An hCG regression curve has been used to predict the natural history and response to chemotherapy in gestational trophoblastic disease. We constructed hCG regression curves in high-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) treated with EMA/CO and identified an optimal hCG level to detect EMA/CO resistance in GTN. Materials and Methods: Eighty-one women with GTN treated with EMA/CO were classified as primary high-risk GTN (n = 65) and single agent-resistance GTN (n = 16). The hCG levels prior to each course of chemotherapy were plotted in the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles to construct the hCG regression curves. Diagnostic performance was evaluated for an optimal cut-off value. Results: The median hCG levels were 264,482 mIU/mL mIU/mL and 495.5 mIU/mL mIU/mL for primary high-risk GTN and single agent-resistance GTN, respectively. The 50th percentile of the hCG level in primary high-risk GTN and single agent-resistance turned to normal before the 4th and the 2nd course of chemotherapy, respectively. The 90th percentile of the hCG level in primary high-risk GTN and single agent-resistance turned to normal before the 9th and the 2nd course of chemotherapy, respectively. The hCG level of ${\geq}118.6mIU/mL$ mIU/mL at the 5thcourse of EMA/CO predicted the EMA/CO resistance in primary high-risk GTN patients with a sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 100%. Conclusion: EMA/CO resistance in primary high-risk GTN can be predicted by using an hCG regression curve in combination with the cut-off value of 118.6 mIU/mL at the 5thcourse of chemotherapy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.193-193
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• 2011

Strong adhesion of a silicon carbide (SiC) coating to a WC-Co substrate was achieved through an ion beam mixing technique and the corrosion resistance of the SiC coated WC-Co was investigated by means of a potentiodynamic electrochemical test. In a 1 M NaOH solution, the corrosion current density of SiC-coated WC-Co after heat treatment at 500$^{\circ}C$ was about 50 times lower than that for the as-received WC-Co. In addition, the corrosion resistance systematically increases with increasing the SiC coating thickness. On the other hand, for a 0.5 M H2SO4 solution, the corrosion current density for SiC-coated WC-Co was about 3 times lower than that for the as-received WC-Co. We discuss the physical reasons for the changes in the corrosion current density with the different electrolytes.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.138-146
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• 2022

Objective: The objective of the current study was to investigate the influences of conventional (CO) and deep litter (DE) systems on antimicrobial resistance in fecal Escherichia coli (E. coli). Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out to detect antimicrobial resistance to E. coli in swine fecal samples in CO and DE systems located in western and northeastern Thailand. Individual rectal swab samples were taken only from healthy pigs. A total of 215 individual and healthy pigs were randomly selected for isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility test of E. coli by the disc diffusion method. The test panel included amoxicillin (AMX), colistin, doxycycline (DOX), enrofloxacin, gentamicin (GEN), kanamycin, neomycin (NEO), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT). Results: There were significant (p<0.05) lower resistance levels for GEN, NEO, and SXT in the DE farms compared to those in the CO farms. There was a lower number of antimicrobial resistance agents (p<0.001) in the DE farms compared to those in the CO farms. This result was consistent with those in western (p<0.01) and northeastern (p<0.01) Thailand. Overall, antibiograms of AMX-SXT and AMX-DOX-SXT were found in the CO (19.09% and 20.91%, respectively) and the DE (16.19% and 24.76%, respectively) farms. No antimicrobial resistance (5.71%) was found and AMX (13.33%) resistant pigs in the DE farms, whereas the pattern of AMX-GEN-SXT (6.36%) and AMX-DOX-GEN-SXT (11.82%) resistant pigs was found in the CO farms. Conclusion: The DE system for pig farming was superior to conventional pig farming by lowering the resistance level of fecal E. coli to GEN, NEO, and SXT, with decreasing the number of antimicrobial resistance agents and inducing a small proportion of pigs to be free from antimicrobial resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.390-396
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• 2003

As the design rule of device continued to shrink, the contact resistance in small contact size became important. Although the conventional TiN/Ti structure as a ohmic layer has been widely used, we propose a new TiN/Co film structure. We characterized a contact resistance by using a chain pattern and a KELVIN pattern, and a leakage current determined by current-voltage measurements. Moreover, the microstructure of TiN/ Ti/ silicide/n$\^$+/ contact was investigated by a cross-sectional transmission electron microscope (TEM). The contact resistance by the Co ohmic layer showed the decrease of 26 % compared to that of a Ti ohmic layer in the chain resistance, and 50 ％ in KELYIN resistance, respectively. A Co ohmic layer shows enough ohmic behaviors comparable to the Ti ohmic layer, while higher leakage currents in wide area pattern than Ti ohmic layer. We confirmed that an uniform silicide thickness and a good interface roughness were able to be achieved in a CoSi$_2$ Process formed on a n$\^$+/ silicon junction from TEM images.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2003.07b
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• pp.1069-1072
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• 2003

Germane-sillicide phase formation on S $i_{0.25}$G $e_{0.75}$ with Ni 100$\square$, Co 10$\square$/Ni 100$\square$ and Ni 50$\square$/Co 10$\square$/Ni 50$\square$ layer was studied by sheet resistance and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy(FESEM). Thermal stability of nickel germane-silicide is found to be improved by sputtering Ni/Co/Ni on the SiGe. After annealing at 600, 650, $700^{\circ}C$, 30min., the nickel germane-silicide formed by Ni 50$\square$/Co 10$\square$/Ni 50$\square$ layer achieved a sheet resistance less than 17ohms/sq.(almost the same to the value before furnace annealing for 30min.) , while the process of the other two ways result in high sheet resistance and even sheet resistance fail due to Ge segregation.ion.