• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.103-113
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• 2013

The properties of the rubber composites containing a silane and silica were evaluated by changing the mixing time and temperature, in order to find the optimum mixing conditions. Characteristics of the compounds were evaluated after mixing at $120^{\circ}C$, $140^{\circ}C$, and $160^{\circ}C$ with various mixing time. With increasing of mixing time, mooney viscosity decreased while the bound rubber contents of the compounds increased. Viscosity rise by increased mixing time was bigger at low temperature and the higher the mixing temperature the faster in the formation of bound rubber. With lower mixing temperature of $120^{\circ}C$, cross-linking rate was almost constant. Dynamic viscoelastic properties and dispersity of the compound showed that dispersion of ingredients and reaction was not sufficient with the mixing time of less than 10min. On the contrary, with high temperature, it was obvious that good dynamic and physical properties could be obtained due to sufficient coupling reaction, however it was thought this high temperature is not optimum because of sensitive cross-linking rate and physical properties and excessive formation of bound rubber. Consequently, it was confirmed that the mixing condition of 10min at $140^{\circ}C$ was optimum for the silane coupling reaction and dispersion of functionalized S-SBR containing silica and silane.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 2013

Characteristics of rubber mixture were evaluated in order to find the optimum mixing conditions of compounds containing silica and silane at various temperatures. With different mixing temperatures of 105, 120, 130, 140 and $160^{\circ}C$, the viscosity of the compound mixed at $105^{\circ}C$ showed a very high viscosity value. Compounds mixed the temperature range from at $120^{\circ}C$ to $140^{\circ}C$ showed lower viscosity than the compound mixed at $105^{\circ}C$. However, the difference was found to be small in those temperature ranges. On the contrary, at the mixing temperature of $160^{\circ}C$, the viscosity of compound increased again. Through the physical and dynamic observations, it was verified that at the mixing temperature below $120^{\circ}C$ only insufficient silica-silane reaction has been obtained. In addition, with the elevated mixing temperature of $160^{\circ}C$, Cross-linking occurred during mixing by the sulfur contained in coupling agent. In the temperature ranges from $120^{\circ}C$ to $140^{\circ}C$, because of the fast coupling reaction at higher temperature, it was thought to be more advantageous during reaction even though the trend of viscosity and dynamic mechanical property was not clear.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.485-490
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• 1999

The mechanism of action of fish oil (FO), currently used in different chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is not completely understood, although it is thought that it could alter the metabolism of endogenous autacoids. In addition, we hypothesized that the known capability of fatty acids (FA) of stabilizing serum albumin and perhaps other proteins, may be of pharmacological relevance considering that it is shared by other anti-rheumatic agents (e.g. nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs). Thus, we studied the effect of oral administration of FO and corn oil (CO), a vegetable oil with a different composition, on the stability of rat serum proteins, evaluated buy a classical in vitro method based on heat-induced protein denaturation. FO, and, to a lower extent, CO inhibited heat-induced denaturation of rat serum (RS): based on the inhibitory activity (EC50) of the major fatty acids against heat-induced denaturation of RS in vitro, it was possible to speculate the in vivo effects of palmitic acid (C16:0) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5, n-3) may be more relevant than that of linolenic acid (C18:2). To better investigate this phenomenon, we extracted albumin from the serum of animals treated or not with FO with a one-step affinity chromatography technique, obtaining high purity rat serum albumin preparations (RSA-CTRL and RSA-FO), as judged by SDS-PAGE with Coomassie blue staining. When these RSA preparations were heated at $70^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, it was noted that RSA-FO was much more stable than RSA-CTRL, presumably due to higher number of long chain fatty acids (FA) such as palmitic acid or EPA. In conclusion, we provided evidences that oral administration of FO in the rat stabilizes serum albumin, due to an increase in the number of protein bound long chain fatty acids (e.g. palitic acid and EPA). We speculate that the stabilization of serum albumin and perhaps other proteins could prevent changes of antigenicity due to protein denaturation and glycosylation, which may trigger pathological autoimmune responses, suggesting that this action may be involved in the mode of action of FO in RA and other chronic inflammatory diseases.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.293-303
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• 2016

Analysis of bargaining games utilizing evolutionary computation in recent years has dealt with important issues in the field of game theory. In this paper, we investigated interaction and coevolution process among heterogeneous artificial agents using evolutionary computation in the bargaining game. We present three kinds of evolving-strategic agents participating in the bargaining games; genetic algorithms (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and differential evolution (DE). The co-evolutionary processes among three kinds of artificial agents which are GA-agent, PSO-agent, and DE-agent are tested to observe which EC-agent shows the best performance in the bargaining game. The simulation results show that a PSO-agent is better than a GA-agent and a DE-agent, and that a GA-agent is better than a DE-agent with respect to co-evolution in bargaining game. In order to understand why a PSO-agent is the best among three kinds of artificial agents in the bargaining game, we observed the strategies of artificial agents after completion of game. The results indicated that the PSO-agent evolves in direction of the strategy to gain as much as possible at the risk of gaining no property upon failure of the transaction, while the GA-agent and the DE-agent evolve in direction of the strategy to accomplish the transaction regardless of the quantity.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.197-203
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• 2018

Biochar is the carbon solid produced through the pyrolysis of a biomass from organic sources such as agricultural waste, animal manure, and sludge under limited or anaerobic conditions. Biochar has the effect of reducing greenhouse gases through the carbon sequestration method; additionally, biochar is known to function as a soil amendment. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the application of biochar on the growth characteristics of Chinese cabbage at Chungnam National University in Daejeon, Korea. The Chinese cabbage was grown for 50 days in a glasshouse in pots. A pruning branch was used to produce the bead and pellet forms of biochar through pyrolysis. The biochar was added to the soil at 0, 2, and 5% by weight. The Chinese cabbage with the 2% treatment of the bead form of biochar had the highest fresh weight ($149.43{\pm}15.92g\;plant^{-1}$) which was increased by 10% compared to the control ($136.91{\pm}31.46g\;plant^{-1}$). Moreover, for the 5% treatment of the bead form of biochar ($60.91{\pm}9.82g\;plant^{-1}$), the growth decreased by 57% compared to the control. As the content of the bead form of biochar increased, the shoot dry weight, leaf number, leaf length and lead width that appeared decreased. An increase in the total organic matter, Avail. $P_2O_5$, Ex. cation and EC was observed when the biochar content was increased. Our results support the application of 2% biochar in the bead form for increased growth of Chinese cabbage.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.347-357
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to compare EMG and GRF during a free throw. Seven pairs of surface electrodes were attached to the right-hand side of the body to monitor the flexor carpi radialis (FC), extensor carpi radialis longus (EC), biceps brachii (BB), triceps brachii (TB), rectus femoris (RF), tibialis anterior (TA) and medial gastrocnemius (GM). GRF data from two force platform were collected during a free throw. The results showed that the muscle activities in the unskilled group must be highly activated prior to the moment of release. This means that a skilled participant can shoot a free throw more efficiently while producing less muscle activeness than an unskilled participant. The DCP of unskilled group in the medio-lateral direction were greater than the corresponding values in skilled group. This showed that the unskilled group were not able to shoot the free throws stably. Thus, when a teacher or instructor teaches students how to shoot free throw, it is considered that the teacher show the learner how to use not only the upper limbs but also lower limbs on the basis of the efficent connecting movement and the flexibility in a stable procedure.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.195-203
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• 2011

Eco-friendly materials or bio-composites were made with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as matrix polymer and kenaf fibers as filler. Also, acetylated kenaf fibers and compatibilizer were adopted in order to improve the interfacial adhesion between fiber and polymer. In this study, the effect of chemical modification and compatibilizer on the mechanical-viscoelastic and morphology properties of the bio-composites was discussed. The hydrophobic fibers by acetylation were known to show better interfacial bonding with the matrix polymer and resulted in improved performance and morphology. Viscoelastic property and glass transition temperature, however, were not nearly enhanced.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.211-217
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• 2011

Wood Polymer Composite (WPC) has attracted a great deal of attention in environmental industries due to renewable resources, processability, excellent physical properties and logging regulations for application to housing units and engineering construction materials. In this study, commercial WPCs were prepared by using a modular intermeshing co-rotating twin screw extruder. The effect of three main factors such as wood flour contents, coupling agent concentrations and pre-treatment of wood flour on the properties of WPCs was extensively investigated. It was found that tensile strength and thermal stability were decreased with increasing wood flour contents whereas the water absorption was increased. Addition of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MA) into WPC exhibited better physical properties. On the contrary, the water absorption was slightly decreased with PP-g-MA. Finally the sample, which was prepared with pre-treated wood flour, represented the highest tensile strength. However, the water absorption of the sample was increased due to the transition of crystalline structure of cellulose.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.218-222
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• 2011

The effect of cycled temperature change on the mechanical properties of wood flour(50 wt.% and 70 wt.%) polypropylene WPC(Wood Plastic Composites) was investigated in this study. Flexural modulus and flexural strength of the WPC showed a decrease due to the degradation of interfacial adhesion between polymer matrix and wood flour by the freeze-thaw test regardless of the cycled number. At the higher loading level of wood flour, the reduction of the flexural modulus was remarkable. After the cycled heat-freeze test, it was found that the flexural modulus and flexural strength of the WPC were lower at the high temperature ($60^{\circ}C$) and higher at the low temperature ($-20^{\circ}C$). At the low temperature ($-20^{\circ}C$) which is below glass transition temperature of polypropylene ($-10^{\circ}C$), WPC is in a glassy state which brings about the high stiffness and strength. At the high temperature ($60^{\circ}C$), the flexural modulus and flexural strength of the WPC with 50 wt.% wood flour were lower because of the increase of polymer ductility.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.181-190
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• 2014

Melt grafting of itaconic acid (IA) onto an ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer (EPDM) with various organic peroxide initiators was performed. Finding the optimum mixing conditions and concentration of ingredients is critical for effective grafting and optimum properties of grafted materials. This study focused on the effects of mixing conditions (temperature and time), initiator type/concentration and monomer concentration on the grafting degree and efficiency, melt flow index, and gel content of EPDM-g-IA. The initiator, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(tert-butyl peroxy)-hexane (T-101), appeared to meet for the best grafting degree (1.91%). The grafting degree increased markedly by increasing the amounts of monomer IA and initiator T-101. The grafting degree also increased by increasing mixing temperature and time. The optimum monomer and initiator concentrations and reaction temperature and time were found to be about 5wt%/0.05wt% and $160^{\circ}C$/15min, respectively. It was found that the physical properties of EPDM-g-IA were higher than those of the pristine EPDM.