• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.123-132
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• 2023

Background: Pseudotyped virus systems that incorporate viral proteins have been widely employed for the rapid determination of the effectiveness and neutralizing activity of drug and vaccine candidates in biosafety level 2 facilities. We report an efficient method for producing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pseudovirus with dual luciferase and fluorescent protein reporters. Moreover, using the established method, we also aimed to investigate whether Korean Red Ginseng (KRG), a valuable Korean herbal medicine, can attenuate infectivity of the pseudotyped virus. Methods: A pseudovirus of SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-2pv) was constructed and efficiently produced using lentivirus vector systems available in the public domain by the introduction of critical mutations in the cytoplasmic tail of the spike protein. KRG extract was dose-dependently treated to Calu-3 cells during SARS2-pv treatment to evaluate the protective activity against SARS-CoV-2. Results: The use of Calu-3 cells or the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in HEK293T cells enabled SARS-2pv infection of host cells. Coexpression of transmembrane protease serine subtype 2 (TMPRSS2), which is the activator of spike protein, with ACE2 dramatically elevated luciferase activity, confirming the importance of the TMPRSS2-mediated pathway during SARS-CoV-2 entry. Our pseudovirus assay also revealed that KRG elicited resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection in lung cells, suggesting its beneficial health effect. Conclusion: The method demonstrated the production of SARS-2pv for the analysis of vaccine or drug candidates. When KRG was assessed by the method, it protected host cells from coronavirus infection. Further studies will be followed for demonstrating this potential benefit.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.43-53
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• 2024

This study attempted to elucidate the ecological niches and influencing environmental factors of Quercus variabilis and Quercus acutissima, which are representative deciduous broad-leaved trees in Korean forests, taxonomically close and genetically similar, under climate change conditions. Under climate change conditions induced by increased CO₂ and temperature, soil moisture and nutrient environments were manipulated in four gradients. At the end of the growing, plants were harvested to measure growth responses, calculate ecological niches, and compare them with those of the control. Eperimental plants were grown for 180 days in a glass greenhouse designed with four gradients each for soil moisture and nutrient environments under climate change conditions induced by increased CO₂ and temperature. After harvesting, growth responses of leaf traits were measured, ecological niches were calculated, and these were compared with those of the control groups. Furthermore, the responses of the two species' populations were interpreted using principal component analysis(PCA) based on leaf trait measurements. As a result, under climate change conditions, the ecological niche breadth for moisture environment was broader for Quercus variabilis than Quercus acutissima, whereas for the nutrient environment, Quercus acutissima exhibited a broader niche breadth than Quercus variabilis. And the rate of change in ecological niche breadth due to climate change decreased for Quercus variabilis in both moisture and nutrient environments, while for Quercus acutissima, it increased in the moisture environment but decreased in the nutrient environment. Additionally, in terms of group responses, both Quercus variabilis and Quercus acutissima expanded their ecological niches under climate change conditions in both soil moisture and nutrient conditions, with Quercus acutissima exhibiting a broader niche than Quercus variabilis under nutrient conditions. These results indicate that the changes in leaf morphological characteristics and the responses of individuals reflecting them vary not only under climate change conditions but also depending on environmental factors.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.211-218
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• 1990

CA2-based clinker with highly activated surface and hydraulic properties was synthesized at a comparatively lowr temperature than that of conventional synthesis by "hydration-burning method". This consists of calcining the mixture of CaCO3 and Al2O3 to obtain a primary clinker, hydrating the primary clinker and reburning the hydrates to obtain final clinker. Burning of primary clinker above 1200℃ was necessary to eliminate free CaO in it and to obtain it's solid hydrate. However, rising the burning temperature above 1300℃ is ineffective due to the decrease in hydraulic properties of the primary clinker with the temperature. Hydration of primary clinker at the elevated temperature(>35℃) was required to obtain the hydrate with more porous structure and final clinker with more active surface. CA2 was formed and increased with temperature at above 1150℃, finally became a primary phase of the final clinker. However, burning at the temperature above 1300℃ resulted in reverse effect on the hydraulic properties of the final clinker due to rapid decrease in it's surface area with the temperature.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1994.09a
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• pp.29-39
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• 1994

Serious issues about the changes in the environmental conditions on earth associated with human activities have arisen, and the interest in these problems has increased. It is urgent to determine how the expansion of terrestrial UV-B radiation due to the stratospheric ozone depletion influences living matters. In this connection, we have been investigating the effects of UV-B radiation on the growth of rice cultivars (Oryza sativa L.). We report here some physiological and genetic aspects of resistance to inhibitory effects of UV-B radiation on growth of rice cultivars as described below. Elevated UV radiation containing large amount of UV-B and a small amount of UV-C inhibited the development of plant height, the photosynthetic rate and the chlorophyll content in rice plants in a phytotron. Similar results were obtained in experiments, in which elevated UV-V radiation. Similar results were obtained in experiments, in which elevated UV-B radiation (transmission down to 290 nm) was applied instead of UV-B radiation containing a small amount of UV-C. The inhibitory effects of UV radiation was alleviated by the elevated CO2 atmospheric environment or by the exposure to the high irradiance visible radiation. The latter suggested the possibility that the resistance to the effects of UV radiation was either due to a lower sensitivity to UV radiation or to a greater ability to recover from the injury caused by UV radiation through the exposure to visible radiation. The examination of cultivar differences in the resistance to UV radiation-caused injuries among 198 rice cultivars belonging to 5 Asian rice ecotypes (aus, aman, boro, bulu and tjeleh) from the Bengal region and Indonesia and to Japanese lowland and upland rice groups showed the following: Various cultivars having different sensitivities to the effects of UV radiation were involved in the same ecotype and the same group, and that the Japanese lowland rice group and the boro ecotype were more resistant. Among Japanese lowland rice cultivars, Sasanishiki (one of the leading varieties in Japan) exhibited more resistance to UV rakiation, while Norin 1 showed less resistance, although these two cultivars are closely related. It was thus indicated that the resistance to the inhibitory effects of UV radiation of rice cultivars is not simply due to the difference in the geographical situation where rice cultuvars are cultivated. Form the genetic analysis of resistance to the inhibitory effects of UV radiation on growth of rice using F2 plants generated by reciprocally crossing Sasanishiki and Norin 1 and F3 lines generated by self-fertilizing F2 plants, it was evident that the resistance to the inhibitory of elebated UV radiation in these rice plants was controlled by recessive polygenes.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2010

This paper is suggesting a new technology for refrigerant amount detection of a system air-conditioner installed under various installation conditions. System air-conditioner was introduced to domestic market first in 2000. It consists of one or a series of outdoor units and a number of indoor units connected with single pipe line to the outdoor unit. The system can vary the capacity from 2.0 kW to 186 kW. For the system Installed under long and high-elevated condition, about 100 kg of refrigerant is charged in the whole system. In this paper, the new technology RAD (Refrigerant Amount Detection) with edge technology of refrigerant cycle control and measurement of a system air conditioner was developed and investigated for its application for the various installation conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.203-212
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• 2005

Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide($CO_2$) which arises mainly as wastes from the fossil fuel burning processes, are causing global warming. The effects of global warming become increasingly felt all over the world including sea level rise and extreme weather. The more direct consequences of the elevated atmospheric $CO_2$ on the ocean is the acidification of the surface ocean which brings a far reaching adverse impact on the life at sea and probably on the whole ecosystem of the planet. Improvement in energy efficiency and use of alternative energy sources are being made to reduce $CO_2$ emissions. However, a rapid transition to alternatives seems unachievable within a few decades due to the constraints on the associated technology and socio-economic factors in the world, since fossil fuels make up approximately 85% of the world's commercial energy demands. It has now been recognized that capture and geological sequestration of $CO_2$ could significantly reduce its emissions from fossil fuel utilization and therefore provides the means to rapidly achieve large reductions in $CO_2$ emissions(excerpts from London Convention, LC/SG 28, 2005). In Korea, well-developed sedimentary basins are spread over the vast continental shelf and slope regions, whereas, the land is densely populated and limited in area. Consequently, the offshore area is preferred to the land for the sites for geological sequestration. The utilization of the offshore area, however, may be subject to international agreements including London Convention. In this paper, the recent trends in technologies and regulations for $CO_2$ capture and geological sequestration are described to encourage its applications in Korea.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 2021

Among transport vehicles, Special Vehicles (SVs) are seriously exposed to energy and environmental problems. In particular, elevator cars used when moving objects in high-rise buildings increase the engine's rotational speed (radian per second: RPM). At this time, when the vehicle accelerates rapidly while idling, energy consumption increases explosively along with the engine speed, and a lot of soot is generated. The purpose of this paper is to develop a bi-directional DC-DC converter for control of vehicle power and secondary battery used in an elevated ladder vehicle (EC) used in the moving industry. As a result of this paper, the performance test of the converter was conducted. The charging/discharging state of the converter was simulated using DC power supply and DC electronic load, and a performance experiment was conducted to measure the input/output power of the converter through a power meter. Through this experimental result, it was confirmed that the efficiency was more than 92% in Buck mode and Boost mode at maximum 1.2kW output.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.196-205
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• 2019

Ni-rich layered oxides $Li(Ni_xCo_yMn_z)O_2$ (x + y + z = 1) have been extensively studied in recent times owing to their high capacity and low cost and can possibly replace $LiCoO_2$ in the near future. However, these layered oxides suffer from problems related to the capacity fading, thermal stability, and safety at high voltages. In this study, we use surface coating as a strategy to improve the thermal stability at higher voltages. The uniform and conformal $Al_2O_3$ coating on prefabricated electrodes using atomic layer deposition significantly prevented surface degradation over prolonged cycling. Initial capacity of 190, 199, 188 and $166mAh\;g^{-1}$ is obtained for pristine, 2, 5 and 10 cycles of ALD coated samples at 0.2C and maintains 145, 158, 151 and $130mAh\;g^{-1}$ for high current rate of 2C in room temperature. The two-cycle $Al_2O_3$ modified cathode retained 75% of its capacity after 500 cycles at 5C with 0.05% capacity decay per cycle, compared with 46.5% retention for a pristine electrode, at an elevated temperature. Despite the insulating nature of the $Al_2O_3$ coating, a thin layer is sufficient to improve the capacity retention at a high temperature. The $Al_2O_3$ coating can prevent the detrimental surface reactions at a high temperature. Thus, the morphology of the active material is well-maintained even after extensive cycling, whereas the bare electrode undergoes severe degradation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.93-97
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• 2015

Short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (SCAD) deficiency is an autosomal recessive hereditary metabolic disorder of mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation. Mutations in the ACADS gene cause short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, which is characterized by developmental delay, hypotonia, seizure, and hypoglycemia. Here, we describe one Korean pediatric case of SCAD deficiency, which was diagnosed during newborn screening by tandem mass spectrometry and confirmed by molecular analysis. The level of C4 was typically elevated 5.23 mg/dL (reference range <1.5 mg/dL). This patient had a homozygous mutation [c.1031A>G, p. E344G] in ACADS. Therefore, we present a case of SCAD deficiency in an otherwise healthy neonate and her subsequent development and growth over four years.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.152-155
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• 1998

Laryngeal framework surgery to improve change the voice is a challenging development in phoniatric surgery. Basically two categories can be distinguished : (1) attempted medialization of the vocal fold, as for the treatment of paralytic dysphonias (2) adjustment of the vocal fold's tension of transsexuals or mutational dysphonia. Vocal pitch can be elevated by various surgical technique 1) cricothyroid approximation 2) A-P expansion of the thyroid ala 3) longitudinal incision in the cords 4) intrachondral injection of the steroid, and 5) evaporation of the cords by $CO_2$ laser. We have experienced a case of pitch elevation procedure after transsexual operation. After transsexual operation, he had received anterior commissure laryngoplasty modified from Le Jeune with no change in voice pitch(Fo=110Hz). 8 monthes later, he had received cricothyroid approximation resulting in pitch elevation(Fo=160Hz).