• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.267-274
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• 2008

Since first discovered in chick skeletal muscles, stretch-activated channels (SACs) have been proposed as a probable mechano-transducer of the mechanical stimulus at the cellular level. Channel properties have been studied in both the single-channel and the whole-cell level. There is growing evidence to indicate that major stretch-induced changes in electrical activity are mediated by activation of these channels. We aimed to investigate the mechanism of stretch-induced automaticity by exploiting a recent mathematical model of rat atrial myocytes which had been established to reproduce cellular activities such as the action potential, $Ca^{2+}$ transients, and contractile force. The incorporation of SACs into the mathematical model, based on experimental results, successfully reproduced the repetitive firing of spontaneous action potentials by stretch. The induced automaticity was composed of two phases. The early phase was driven by increased background conductance of voltage-gated $Na^+$ channel, whereas the later phase was driven by the reverse-mode operation of $Na^+/Ca^{2+}$ exchange current secondary to the accumulation of $Na^+$ and $Ca^{2+}$ through SACs. These results of simulation successfully demonstrate how the SACs can induce automaticity in a single atrial myocyte which may act as a focus to initiate and maintain atrial fibrillation in concert with other arrhythmogenic changes in the heart.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.399-406
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• 1997

The effects of different $K^+$ channel blockers were investigated on the non-adrenergic non-cholinergic (NANC) relaxations in the circular muscle of the rabbit proximal stomach. Non-selective blockers of $K^+$ channels, 4-aminopyridine (4-AP, 3~30${\mu}M$) and tetraethylammonium (TEA, 100~1000${\mu}M$) significantly enhanced the NANC relaxations in a concentration-dependent manner. The enhancement was more prominent for the NANC relaxations induced by the electric field stimulation (EFS) with lower frequencies. Blockers of large conductance $Ca^{2+}$-activated $K^+$ channels, charybdotoxin and iberiotoxin, a blocker of small conduntance $Ca^{2+}$-activated $K^+$ channels, apamin and a blocker of ATP-sensitive $K^+$ channels, glibenclamide had no effect on the NANC relaxations, respectively. Exogeneous administration of nitric oxide (NO, 1~30${\mu}M$) caused concentration-dependent relaxations which showed a similarity to those obtained with EFS. None of the $K^+$ channel blockers had an effect on the concentration-dependent relaxation in response to NO. These results suggest that prejunctional $K^+$ channels regulate the release of NO from the NANC nerve in the rabbit proximal stomach as the inhibition of prejunctional $K^+$ channels increases the NANC relaxation induced by the EFS.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.463-468
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• 2019

The electrical and interfacial properties of $HfO_2/Al_2O_3$ and $Al_2O_3/HfO_2$ dielectrics on AlN/p-Ge interface prepared by thermal atomic layer deposition are investigated by capacitance-voltage(C-V) and current-voltage(I-V) measurements. In the C-V measurements, humps related to mid-gap states are observed when the ac frequency is below 100 kHz, revealing lower mid-gap states for the $HfO_2/Al_2O_3$ sample. Higher frequency dispersion in the inversion region is observed for the $Al_2O_3/HfO_2$ sample, indicating the presence of slow interface states A higher interface trap density calculated from the high-low frequency method is observed for the $Al_2O_3/HfO_2$ sample. The parallel conductance method, applied to the accumulation region, shows border traps at 0.3~0.32 eV for the $Al_2O_3/HfO_2$ sample, which are not observed for the $Al_2O_3/HfO_2$ sample. I-V measurements show a reduction of leakage current of about three orders of magnitude for the $HfO_2/Al_2O_3$ sample. Using the Fowler-Nordheim emission, the barrier height is calculated and found to be about 1.08 eV for the $HfO_2/Al_2O_3$ sample. Based on these results, it is suggested that $HfO_2/Al_2O_3$ is a better dielectric stack than $Al_2O_3/HfO_2$ on AlN/p-Ge interface.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.489-499
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• 2020

Effective science-based management of the basin water resources requires an understanding of the characteristics of the streams, such as the baseflow discharge. In this study, the base flow was estimated in the two watersheds with the least artificial factors among the Nakdong River watersheds, as determined using the chemical hydrograph separation technique. The 16-year (2004-2019) discontinuous observed stream flow and electrical conductivity data in the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) monitoring network were extended to continuous daily data using the TANK model and the 7-parameter log-linear model combined with the minimum variance unbiased estimator. The annual base flows at the upper Namgang Dam basin and the upper Nakdong River basin were both analyzed to be about 56% of the total annual flow. The monthly base flow ratio showed a high monthly deviation, as it was found to be higher than 0.9 in the dry season and about 0.46 in the rainy season. This is in line with the prevailing common sense notion that in winter, most of the stream flow is base flow, due to the characteristics of the dry season winter in Korea. It is expected that the chemical-based hydrological separation technique involving TANK and the 7-parameter log-linear models used in this study can help quantify the base flow required for systematic watershed water environment management.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.675-684
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• 2016

This paper demonstrates the effect of fluoride-based plasma treatment on the performance of $Al_2O_3/AlGaN/GaN$ metal-insulator-semiconductor heterostructure field effect transistors (MISHFETs) with a T-shaped gate length of $0.20{\mu}m$. For the fabrication of the MISHFET, an $Al_2O_3$ layer as a gate dielectric was deposited using atomic layer deposition, which greatly decreases the gate leakage current, followed by the deposition of the silicon nitride layer. The silicon nitride layer on the gate foot region was then selectively removed through a reactive ion etching technique using $CF_4$ plasma. The etching process was continued for a longer period of time even after the complete removal of the silicon nitride layer to expose the $Al_2O_3$ gate dielectric layer to the plasma environment. The thickness of the $Al_2O_3$ gate dielectric layer was slowly reduced during the plasma exposure. Through this plasma treatment, the device exhibited a threshold voltage shift of 3.1 V in the positive direction, an increase of 50 mS/mm in trans conductance, a degraded off-state performance and a larger gate leakage current compared with that of the reference device without a plasma treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.254-255
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• 2012

Interest in nano-crystalline silicon (nc-Si) thin films has been growing because of their favorable processing conditions for certain electronic devices. In particular, there has been an increase in the use of nc-Si thin films in photovoltaics for large solar cell panels and in thin film transistors for large flat panel displays. One of the most important material properties for these device applications is the macroscopic charge-carrier mobility. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) or nc-Si is a basic material in thin film transistors (TFTs). However, a-Si:H based devices have low carrier mobility and bias instability due to their metastable properties. The large number of trap sites and incomplete hydrogen passivation of a-Si:H film produce limited carrier transport. The basic electrical properties, including the carrier mobility and stability, of nc-Si TFTs might be superior to those of a-Si:H thin film. However, typical nc-Si thin films tend to have mobilities similar to a-Si films, although changes in the processing conditions can enhance the mobility. In polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films, the performance of the devices is strongly influenced by the boundaries between neighboring crystalline grains. These grain boundaries limit the conductance of macroscopic regions comprised of multiple grains. In much of the work on poly-Si thin films, it was shown that the performance of TFTs was largely determined by the number and location of the grain boundaries within the channel. Hence, efforts were made to reduce the total number of grain boundaries by increasing the average grain size. However, even a small number of grain boundaries can significantly reduce the macroscopic charge carrier mobility. The nano-crystalline or polymorphous-Si development for TFT and solar cells have been employed to compensate for disadvantage inherent to a-Si and micro-crystalline silicon (${\mu}$-Si). Recently, a novel process for deposition of nano-crystralline silicon (nc-Si) thin films at room temperature was developed using neutral beam assisted chemical vapor deposition (NBaCVD) with a neutral particle beam (NPB) source, which controls the energy of incident neutral particles in the range of 1~300 eV in order to enhance the atomic activation and crystalline of thin films at room temperature. In previous our experiments, we verified favorable properties of nc-Si thin films for certain electronic devices. During the formation of the nc-Si thin films by the NBaCVD with various process conditions, NPB energy directly controlled by the reflector bias and effectively increased crystal fraction (~80%) by uniformly distributed nc grains with 3~10 nm size. The more resent work on nc-Si thin film transistors (TFT) was done. We identified the performance of nc-Si TFT active channeal layers. The dependence of the performance of nc-Si TFT on the primary process parameters is explored. Raman, FT-IR and transmission electron microscope (TEM) were used to study the microstructures and the crystalline volume fraction of nc-Si films. The electric properties were investigated on Cr/SiO2/nc-Si metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2013

The recycling of coal bottom ash generated from coal power plants in Korea has been limited due to heterogenous characteristics of the materials. The most common management option for the ash is disposal in landfills (i.e. ash pond) near ocean. The presence of large coarse and fine materials in the ash has prompted the desire to beneficially use it in an application such as fill materials. Prior to reuse application as fill materials, the potential risks to the environment must be assessed with regard to the impacts. In this study, a total of nine test cells with bottom ash samples collected from pretreated bottom ash piles and coal ash pond in a coal-fired power plant were constructed and operated under the field conditions to evaluate the leachability over a period of 210 days. Leachate samples from the test cells were analyzed for a number of chemical parameters (e.g., pH, salinity, electrical conductance, anions, and metals). The concentrations of chemicals detected in the leachate were compared to appropriate standards (drinking water standard) with dilution attenuation factor, if possible, to assess potential leaching risks to the surrounding area. Based on the leachate analysis, most of the samples showed slightly high pH values for the coal ash contained test cells, and contained several ions such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulfate, and nitrate in relatively large quantities. Three elements (aluminum, boron, and barium) were commonly detected above their respective detection limits in a number of leachate samples, especially in the early leaching period of time. The results of the test cell study indicate that the pollutants in the leachate from the coal ash test cells were not of a major concern in terms of leaching risk to surface water and groundwater under field conditions as fill materials. However, care must be taken in extending these results to actual applications because the results presented in this study are based on the limited field test settings and time frame. Structural characteristics and analysis for coal bottom ash may be warranted to apply the materials to actual field conditions.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.81-99
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• 2018

Excessive groundwater discharge by tunneling and tunnel operation can lead to groundwater exhaustion and ground subsidence. Therefore, it is very important to evaluate environmental impact and to establish mitigation measures of the impact related to tunnel excavation based on hydrogeological and modeling approaches. This study examined the depletion of surface reservoirs and valley water due to tunnel excavation through field survey, water quality analysis, tracer test, and groundwater modeling. As a result of field water quality test, the concentration of chemical constituents in groundwater discharge into the tunnel is slightly higher than that of valley water. By the result of laboratory water analysis, both valley water and the groundwater belong to $Ca^{2+}+HCO_3{^-}$ type. Tracer test that was conducted between the valley at the injection point and the tunnel, indicates valley water infiltration into the ground and flowing out to the tunnel, with maximum electrical conductance changes of $70{\mu}S/cm$ in the first test and of $40{\mu}S/cm$ in the second test. By groundwater modeling, the groundwater discharge rate into the tunnel during tunnel construction is estimated as $4,942m^3/day$ and groundwater level recovers in 3 years from the tunnel completion. As a result of particle tracking modeling, the nearest particle reaches the tunnel after 6 hours and the farthest particle reaches the tunnel after 9 hours, similarly to the case of the field trace test.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.215-224
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• 1994

The presence of a calcium current $(i_{Ca^{2+}})$ passed via a specific channel was examined in the unfertilized hamster egg using the whole-cell voltage clamp technique. Pure inward current was isolated using a $Ca^{2+}-rich$ pipette solution containing 10 mM TEA. This current was independent of external $Na^+$ and was highly sensitive to the $Ca^{2+}$ concentration in the bathing solution, indicating that the inward current is carried by $Ca^{2+}$. The maximal amplitude was $-4.12{\pm}0.58nA\;(n=12)$ with 10mM $Ca^{2+}$ at -3OmV from a holding potential of -8OmV. This current reached its maximum within 20ms beyond -3OmV and decayed rapidly with an inactivation time constant $({\tau})$ of 15ms. Activation and inactivation of this $i_{Ca^{2+}}$ was steeply dependent on the membrane potential. The $i_{Ca^{2+}}$ began to activate at the lower voltage of -55 mV and reached its peak at -35 mV, being completely inactivated at potentials more positive than -40 mV. These result suggest that $i_{Ca^{2+}}$ in hamster eggs passes through channels with electrical properties similar to low voltage-activated T-type channels. Other results from the present study support this suggestion; First, the inhibitory effect of $Ni^{2+}\;(IC_{50}=13.7\;{\mu}M)$ was more potent than $Cd^{2+}\;(IC_{50}=123\;{\mu}M)$. Second, $Ba^{2+}$ conductance was equal to or below that of $Ca^{2+}$. Third, $i_{Ca^{2+}}$ in hamster eggs was relatively insensitive to nifedipine $(IC_{50}=96.6\;{\mu}M)$, known to be a specific t-type blocker. The physiological role of $i_{Ca^{2+}}$ in the unfertilized hamster eggs remains unclear. Analysis from steady-state inactivation activation curves reveals that only a small amount of this current will pass in the voltage range $(-70{\sim}-30\;mV)$ which partially overlaps with the resting membrane potential. This current has the property that it can be easily activated by a weak depolarization, thus it may trigger a certain kind of a intracellular event following fertilization which may cause oscillations in the membrane potential.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2011

This research was carried out to investigate relationship between underground part environment control and growth or yield of sweet pepper in greenhouse as affected by covering materials. Daily amount of applied nutrient solution for research period in the greenhouse of plasticfilm house was more 1.6 times than that in glass house. But daily absorptance rate of nutrient solution and specific electrical conductance of rockwool between two greenhouses were not different in the range of 71.3-73.3% and $4.17{\sim}4.23dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ respectively. Leaf area of sweet pepper, in leaf growth characteristics in two greenhouses, were $123.0cm^2$/leaf (in glass house) and $119.5cm^2$/leaf (in plasticfilm house), but the another (fresh and dry weight, dry matter) were not different. But weekly yield per square meter in glass house was more 1.3 times than that in plasticfilm house as $850g{\cdot}m^{-2}$ and $650g{\cdot}m^{-2}$, respectively. Effect of slab EC and absorptance rate of nutrient solution on leaf growth characteristics and yield between two greenhouses were not different. The results show when sweet pepper is cultured in greenhouse as affected by covering materials and above ground part environment, the plant growth and yield are little affected by underground part environment.