• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.423-432
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• 2020

Background and objective: Traditional farming is winning recognition as a sustainable alternative farming method. As urban farming increases in South Korea, it is crucial to develop more sustainable farming techniques. Gyeonjongbeop is the traditional farming method introduced in the Joseon period. This study was conducted to propose a productive garden model suitable for urban farming through the interpretation of traditional farming methods contained in Imwongyeongjeji Bolliji and to test the model on an actual field. Methods: Using the design and cropping system of Gyeonjongbeop as the research materials, we reviewed its tillage and cultivation and examined the applicability. We proposed a modified method by extracting parts applicable to urban farming. According to the methods, we created a garden with ridges and furrows, cultivated proper vegetables, and evaluated their growth. Results: Raphanus sativus, Allium fistulosum L., Brassica juncea, and Spinacia oleracea grown on ridges showed higher growth than those grown on a conventional flat field. The growth of Hordeum vulgare var. hexastichon and Triticum aestivum L. on furrows was also slightly higher. This proved that the method could make up for the deficiencies of barley and wheat that are weak against winds and cold and are easily destroyed by the spring rains. Conclusion: Ridge and furrow cultivation derived from Gyeonjongbeop can be an efficient urban farming system compared to the conventional cultivation in flat fields. The system can use fallow lands in winter for year-round urban farming. In addition, the application of the traditional farming system can enhance the humanistic value of urban farming.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.280-287
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• 2021

Generating electricity by using water in many energy harvesting system is due to their simplicity, sustainability and eco-friendliness. Evaporation-driven moist-electric generators (EMEGs) are an emergent technology and show great potential for harvesting clean energy. In this study, we report a transpiration driven electro kinetic power generator (TEPG) that utilize capillary flow of water in an asymmetrically wetted cotton fabric coated with carbon black. When water droplets encounter this textile EMEG, the water flows spontaneously under capillary action without requiring an external power supply. First carbon black sonicated and dispersed well in three different solvent system such as dimethylformamide (DMF), sodiumdedecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS-anionic surfactant) and cetyltrimethylammoniumbromide (CTAB-cationic surfactant). A knitted cotton/PET fabric was coated with carbon black by conventional pad method. Cotton/PET fabrics were immersed and stuttered well in these three different systems and then transferred to an autoclave at 120 ℃ for 15 minutes. Cotton/PET fabric treated with carbon black dispersed in DMF solvent generated maximum current up to 5 µA on a small piece of sample (2 µL/min of water can induce constant electric output for more than 286 hours). This study is high value for designing of electric generator to harvest clean energy constantly.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.1146-1153
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• 2022

Many probiotic species have been used as a fermentation starter for manufacturing functional food materials. We have isolated Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis LDTM 8102 from the feces of infants as a novel strain for fermentation. While Glycine max has been known to display various bioactivities including anti-oxidant, anti-skin aging, and anti-cancer effects, the immune-modulatory effect of Glycine max has not been reported. In the current study, we have discovered that the extract of Glycine max fermented with B. animalis subsp. lactis LDTM 8102 (GFB 8102), could exert immuno-modulatory properties. GFB 8102 treatment increased the production of immune-stimulatory cytokines in RAW264.7 macrophages without any noticeable cytotoxicity. Analysis of the molecular mechanism revealed that GFB 8102 could upregulate MAPK2K and MAPK signaling pathways including ERK, p38, and JNK. GFB 8102 also increased the proliferation rate of splenocytes isolated from mice. In an animal study, administration of GFB 8102 partially recovered cyclophosphamide-mediated reduction in thymus and spleen weight. Moreover, splenocytes from the GFB 8102-treated group exhibited increased TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β production. Based on these findings, GFB 8102 could be a promising functional food material for enhancing immune function.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 2022

The increased production and consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-based products over the past several decades has resulted in the discharge of countless tons of PET waste into the marine environment. PET microparticles resulting from the physical erosion of general PET wastes end up in the ocean and pose a threat to the marine biosphere and human health, necessitating the development of new technologies for recycling and upcycling. Notably, enzyme-mediated PET degradation is an appealing option due to its eco-friendly and energy-saving characteristics. PETase, a PET-hydrolyzing enzyme originating from Ideonella sakaiensis, is one of the most thoroughly researched biological catalysts. However, the industrial application of PETase-mediated PET recycling is limited due to the low stability and poor reusability of the enzyme. Here we developed the whole-cell catalyst (WCC) in which functional PETase is attached to the outer membrane of Escherichia coli. Immunoassays are used to identify the surface-expressed PETase, and we demonstrated that the WCC degraded PET microparticles most efficiently at 30℃ and pH 9 without agitation. Furthermore, the WCC increased the PET-degrading activity in a concentration-dependent manner, surpassing the limited activity of soluble PETase above 100 nM. Finally, we demonstrated that the WCC could be recycled up to three times.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.202-209
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• 2021

Natural dyes are more expensive than synthetic dyes and the dyeing process, which is mainly immersion of dye, is complicated. For this reason, relatively small-scale production methods were predominant. However, awareness and interest in environmental sustainability is rising globally, and the use of synthetic dyes causes various environmental problems such as wastewater and CO₂ emission, so the consumption of natural dyes is increasing. In addition, interest in digital textile printing, an eco-friendly dyeing method that can produce products of various designs and uses less water, is growing. In this study, natural indigo dye (Indigofera tinctoria) was used as a raw material for Digital Textile Printing ink, and ¹⁴C (Biocarbon) present in it was measured to confirm whether it was derived from natural ingredients. The performance was confirmed by testing the pH, viscosity, electrical conductivity, surface tension, and particle size analysis of natural indigo ink. In addition, the performance of natural indigo DTP ink and printing fabric was evaluated by inspecting the change in color fastness and corresponding index substances before and after digital printing with natural indigo DTP ink on textiles. Through this, the possibility of commercialization of DTP ink and printing fabric using natural indigo was confirmed.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.312-317
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• 2022

Piezoelectric energy harvesting has attracted increasing attention over the last decade as a means for generating sustainable and long-lasting energy from wasted mechanical energy. To develop self-powered wearable devices, piezoelectric materials should be flexible, stretchable, and bio-eco-friendly. This study proposed the fabrication of stretchable piezoelectric composites via dispersing perovskite-structured BaTiO₃ nanoparticles inside an Ecoflex polymeric matrix. In particular, the stretchable piezoelectric sensor array was fabricated via a simple and cost-effective spin-coating process by exploiting the piezoelectric composite comprising of BaTiO₃ nanoparticles, Ecoflex matrix, and stretchable Ag coated textile electrodes. The fabricated sensor generated an output voltage of ~4.3 V under repeated compressing deformations. Moreover, the piezoelectric sensor array exhibited robust mechanical stability during mechanical pushing of ~5,000 cycles. Finite element method with multiphysics COMSOL simulation program was employed to support the experimental output performance of the fabricated device. Finally, the stretchable piezoelectric sensor array can be used as a self-powered touch sensor that can effectively detect and distinguish mechanical stimuli, such as pressing by a human finger. The fabricated sensor demonstrated potential to be used in a stretchable, lead-free, and scalable piezoelectric sensor array.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.98-104
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• 2022

When processing parts, the cutting oil can improve the cooling performance of the workpiece and tool to increase the precision of the workpiece or extend the life of the tool and facilitate chip extraction. Since such cutting oil has a harmful effect on the environment and the human body due to additives such as sulfur, research on a minimum lubrication supply method using an eco-friendly oil is recently underway. The minimum lubrication supply method minimizes the amount of cutting oil used during processing and processes it, which can reduce the amount of cutting oil used, but has a problem in that cooling performance efficiency is poor. Therefore, this study conducted a study on mist cooling of lubricants to reduce the amount of cutting oil used and maximize the cooling effect of processing heat generated during tapping processing. Spray pressure, processing speed, direction, and lubricant spray amount, which are considered to have an effect on cooling performance, were set as process conditions, and the effect on temperature was analyzed by performing an experiment using the box benquin method among experiments were analyzed. Through the experimental analysis results, the optimal conditions for mist and processing that maximize the cooling effect were derived, and the validity of the results derived through additional experiments was verified. In the case of processing by applying the mist lubrication method verified through this study, it is considered that high-precision processing is possible by improving the cooling effect.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.391-399
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• 2022

Hydrogen is one of the energy carriers and has high energy efficiency relative to mass. It is an eco-friendly fuel that makes only water (H₂O) as a by-product after use. In order to use hydrogen conveniently and safely, development of production, storage and transfer technologies is required and attempts are being made to apply hydrogen as an energy source in various fields through the development of the technology. For transporting and storing hydrogen include high-pressure hydrogen gas storage, a type of storage technologies consist of cryogenic hydrogen liquid storage, hydrogen storage alloy, chemical storage by adsorbents and high-pressure hydrogen storage containers have been developed in a total of four stages. The biggest issue in charging high-pressure hydrogen gas which is a combustible gas is safety and the backfire prevention device is that prevents external flames from entering the tank and prevents explosion and is essential to use hydrogen safely. This study conducted a numerical analysis to analyze the performance of suppressing flame propagation of 2, 3 inch flame arrestor. As a result, it is determined that, where the flame arrestor is attached, the temperature would be lowered below the temperature of spontaneous combustion of hydrogen to suppress flame propagation.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.326-339
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• 2022

Recently, not only Korea but also the world has been suffering from problems related to coastal erosion. The hard defense method has been primarily used as a countermeasure against erosion. However, this method is expensive and has environmental implications. Hence, interest in other alternative methods, such as the eco-friendly vegetation method, is increasing. In this study, we aim to analyze the hydraulic characteristic of submerged rigid vegetation according to the cross-sectional change through a hydraulic experiment and numerical simulation. From the hydraulic experiment, the reflection coefficient, transmission coefficient, and energy dissipation coefficient were analyzed according to the density, width, and multi-row arrangement of the vegetation zone. From numerical simulations, the flow field, vorticity distribution, turbulence distribution, and wave distribution around the vegetation zone were analyzed according to the crest depth, width, density, and multi-row arrangement distance of the vegetation zone. The hydraulic experiment results suggest that the transmission coefficient decreased as the density and width of the vegetation zone increased, and the multi-row arrangement condition did not affect the hydraulic characteristics significantly. Moreover, the numerical simulations showed that as the crest depth decreased, the width and density of vegetation increased along with vorticity and turbulence intensity, resulting in increased wave height attenuation performance. Additionally, there was no significant difference in vorticity, turbulence intensity, and wave height attenuation performance based on the multi-row arrangement distance. Overall, in the case of submerged rigid vegetation, the wave energy attenuation performance increased as the density and width of the vegetation zone increased and crest depth decreased. However, the multi-row arrangement condition did not affect the wave energy attenuation performance significantly.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.355-368
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• 2022

This paper investigates the impact of length and volume fractions (VFs) of banana fibres (BFs) on the mechanical and physical properties of concrete. The mechanical properties were compressive strength, splitting tensile, flexural strength, and bond stress, while the physical properties were unit weight and absorption. The slump test was used to determine workability. The concrete's behaviour with BFs was studied using scanning electron microscopy. Experimental work of concrete mixtures with BFs of various lengths (12 mm, 25 mm, and 35 mm) and VFs (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%) were carried out. The samples did not indicate any agglomeration of fibres or heterogeneity during mixing. The addition of BFs to concrete with VFs of up to 1.50% for all fibre lengths have a significant impact on mechanical properties, also the longer fibres performed better than shorter ones at all volume fractions of BFs. The mix10, which contain BFs with VFs 1.5% and length 35 mm, demonstrated the highest mechanical properties. The compressive strength, splitting tensile, flexural strength, and bond stress of the mix10 were 37.71 MPa, 4.27 Mpa, 6.12 MPa, and 6.75 MPa, an increase of 7.37%, 20.96%, 24.13%, and 11.2% over the reference concrete, which was 35.12 MPa, 3.53 MPa, 4.93 MPa, and 6.07 MP, respectively. The absorption is increased for all lengths by increasing the VFs up to 1.5%. Longer fibres have lower absorption, while shorter fibres have higher absorption. The mix8 had the highest absorption of 4.52%, compared to 3.12% for the control mix. Furthermore, the microstructure of concrete was improved through improved bonding between the fibres and the matrix, which resulted in improved mechanical properties of the composite.