• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.1-32
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the competitiveness of ports in ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which plays a leading role in basing the hub of global logistics strategies as a countermeasure in changes of logistics environments. This region represents most severe competition among Mega Hub ports in the world in terms of container cargo throughput at the onset of the 21st century. The research method in this study accounted for overlapping between attributes, and introduced the HFP method that can perform mathematical operations. The scope of this study was strictly confined to the ports of ASEAN, which cover the top 100 of 350 container ports that were presented in Containerization International Yearbook 2002 with reference to container throughput. The results of this study show Singapore in the number one position. Even when we compare with major ports in Korea (after getting comparative ratings and applying the same data and evaluation structure), the number one position still goes to Singapore and then Busan(2) and Manila(2), followed by Port Klang(4), Tanjung Priok(5), Tanjung Perak(6), Bangkok(7), Inchon(8), Laem Chabang(9) and Penang(9). In terms of the main contributions of this study, it is the first empirical study to apply the combined attributes of detailed and representative attributes into the advanced HFP model which was enhanced by the KJ method to evaluate the port competitiveness in ASEAN. Up-to-now, none has comprehensively conducted researches with sophisticated port methodology that has discussed a variety of changes in port development and terminal transfers of major shipping lines in the region. Moreover, through the comparative evaluation among major ports in Korea and ASEAN, the presentation of comparative competitiveness for Korean ports is a great achievement in this study. In order to reinforce this study, it needs further compensative research, including cost factors which could not be applied to modeling the subject ports by lack of consistently quantified data in ASEAN.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.287-298
• /
• 2019

Lotus leaf has a special dual micro and nano surface structure which gives its highly hydrophobic surface characteristics and so-called self cleaning effect. In order to endow PVDF hollow fiber membrane with this special structure and improve the hydrophobicity of membrane surface, PVDF hollow fiber composite membranes was obtained through the immersion coating of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) dilute solution on the outside surface of PVDF support membrane. The prepared PVDF composite membranes were used in the vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) for the desalination. The effects of PVDF-HFP dilute solution concentration in the dope solution and coating time on VMD separation performance was studied. Membranes were characterized by SEM, WCA measurement, porosity, and liquid entry pressure of water. VMD test was carried out using $35g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ NaCl aqueous solution as the feed solution at feed temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ and the permeate pressure of 31.3 kPa. The vapour flux reached a maximum when PVDF-HFP concentration in the dilute solution was 5 wt% and the coating time was kept in the range of 10-60 s. This was attributed to the well configuration of micro-nano rods which was similar with the dual micro-nano structure on the lotus leaf. Compared with the original PVDF membrane, the salt rejection can be well maintained which was greater than 99.99 % meanwhile permeation water conductivity was kept at a low value of $7-9{\mu}S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ during the continuous testing for 360 h.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.227-236
• /
• 2019

In this work, preparation and characterizations of hybrid membranes containing sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPES) and sulfonated poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (SPVdF-co-HFP) (20, 30 or 40 wt%) were carried out. The structure of hybrid membranes was confirmed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The prepared SPAES/SPVdF-30 membrane exhibits higher ionic conductivity of 68.9 mS/cm at $90^{\circ}C$ and 100% RH. Besides, the other studies showed that the hybrid membrane has good oxidation stability, thermal stability, and mechanical stability. Thus, we believe that the prepared hybrid membrane is suitable for the development of membranes for fuel cell applications.

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.95-109
• /
• 2024

Background/Aims: Sex differences in the prognosis of heart failure (HF) have yielded inconsistent results, and data from Asian populations are even rare. This study aimed to investigate sex differences in clinical characteristics and long-term prognosis among Korean patients with HF. Methods: A total of 5,625 Korean patients hospitalized for acute HF were analyzed using a prospective multi-center registry database. Baseline clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes including HF readmission and death were compared between sexes. Results: Women were older than men and had worse symptoms with higher N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide levels. Women had a significantly higher proportion of HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). There were no significant differences in in-hospital mortality and rate of guideline-directed medical therapies in men and women. During median follow-up of 3.4 years, cardiovascular death (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.78; p = 0.014), and composite outcomes of death and HF readmission (adjusted HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.01-1.27; p = 0.030) were significantly higher in men than women. When evaluating heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and HFpEF separately, men were an independent risk factor of cardiovascular death in patients with HFrEF. Clinical outcome was not different between sexes in HFpEF. Conclusions: In the Korean multi-center registry, despite having better clinical characteristics, men exhibited a higher risk of all-cause mortality and readmission for HF. The main cause of these disparities was the higher cardiovascular mortality rate observed in men compared to women with HFrEF.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.13-20
• /
• 2005

The effects of pectin on obesity was studied using 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes and rats fed 20% high fat diets. The concentration of leptin released from 3T3-L1 adipocytes in the presence of pectin was significantly decreased by 85% compared to that of the control (p<0.05), however, glycerol concentration was not changed. These data indicate that pectin seems to inhibit lipids accumulation in the adipocytes rather than enhance the lipolytic activity. Forty Sprague Dawley rats were fed 20% high fat diet for 8 weeks to induce obesity and then divided equally into four groups. Experimental groups were normal diet group (ND), high fat diet group (HFD), HDF with 10% pectin group (HFP10), and HDF with 20% pectin group (HFP20). Diet for the each group was prepared to be iso-caloric following AIN-76 guideline. After obesity was induced, rats were placed on an restricted diet for 9 weeks. The body weight of HFD increased 50% (p<0.05) compared to the ND, while it was decreased by 12% and 16% for HFP10 and HFP20, respectively (p<0.05). The relative amount of visceral fats for HFDl0 and HFD20 were decreased by 45% and 59% compared to that of HDF (130%), respectively (p<0.05). Pectin seems to have a greater effect on reducing visceral fats accumulation than weight reduction. Significantly increased level of triglyceride, total cholesterol or LDL-cholesterol in the plasma of HFD was returned to the normal or even below the normal by pectin diet, while the level of HDL-cholesterol increased. Lipid lowering effect was also observed in the liver and heart. These effects of pectin were dosedependent. In conclusion, the beneficial effect of pectin on the obesity was observed from cell culture experiment and animal study in terms of inhibiting the accumulation of lipids in the adipocytes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.39 no.11
• /
• pp.1595-1603
• /
• 2010

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary grape pomace on lipid metabolism and hepatic morphology of rats fed a high fat diet. The high fat diet contained additional 15% lard to AIN 93-based diet. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed experimental diets containing 5% grape pomace for 4 weeks. Serum activities of glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) were not changed by high fat and grape pomace feeding. Serum concentration of triglyceride in rats fed a high fat diet was decreased significantly by dietary grape pomace. Hepatic concentrations of total lipid, total cholesterol and triglyceride were reduced in grape pomace groups with a high fat diet. Fecal concentrations of total cholesterol and triglyceride were increased in grape pomace groups with a high fat diet. The fecal content of coprostanol was not different among the groups. Dietary grape pomace increased the fecal excretion of cholesterol and coprostanone in rats fed a high fat diet. The fecal excretion of bile acid was not affected by feeding grape pomace in rats fed a high fat diet. Light micrographs of liver tissue revealed lipid droplets were increased by a high fat diet, but dietary supplementation of grape pomace tended to alleviate such changes.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.324-328
• /
• 2009

The internal short-circuit between cathodes and anodes has been known to be a critical concern for the safety failures of lithium-ion batteries, which is strongly influenced by the thermal stability of separators. In this study, to effectively suppress the internal short-circuit failures, we developed a new composite separator with the improved thermal stability compared to conventional polyolefin-based separators. The composite separators were prepared by introducing a ceramic coating layer ($Al_2O_3$/PVdF-HFP) onto both sides of a polyethylene (PE) separator. The microporous structure of ceramic coating layers is determined by controlling the phase inversion of coating solutions and becomes more developed with the increase of nonsolvent (water) content. This structural change of ceramic coating layers was observed to greatly affect the thermal stability as well as the electrochemical performance of composite separators, which was systematically discussed in terms of phase inversion.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.425-431
• /
• 2005

New type of supercapacitor using high surface area activated carbons mixed with high conductivity polypyrrole (Ppy) has been prepared in order to achieve low impedance and high energy density. Mixed carbons of BP-20 and MSP-20 were used as the active electrode material, and polypyrrole doped with 2-naphthalenesulfonic acid (2-NSA) and carbon black (Super P) as conducting agents were added to activated carbons in order to enhance good electric conductivity. Electrodes prepared with the activated electrode materials and the conducting agents were added to a solution of organic binder [P(VdF-co-HFP) / NMP]. The ratio of optimum electrode composition was 78 : 17 : 5 wt.％ of (MSP20 : BP-20=1 : 1), (Super P : Ppy=10 : 7) and P(VdF-co-HFP) respectively. The performance of unit cell with addition of 7 wt％ Ppy have shown specific capacitance of 28.02 F/g, DC-ESR of $1.34{\Omega}$, AC-ESR of $0.36{\Omega}$, specific energy of 19.87 Wh/kg and specific power of 9.77 kW/kg. With addition of Ppy, quick charge-discharge of unit cell was possible because of low ESR, low charge transfer resistance and quick reaction rate. And good stability up to 500 chargedischarge cycles were retained about 80％ of their original capacity. It was concluded that the specific capacitance originated highly from compound phenomena of the pseudocapacitance by oxidation-reduction of polypyrrole and the nonfaradaic capacitance by adsorption-desorption of activated carbons.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.330-334
• /
• 2013

Mixtures of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) and silica nanoparticles are coated on the surface of a silk fabrics separator. The coated separators are finally prepared by injecting an electrolyte solution and then characterized for use of lithium-ion battery separator/electrolyte. In the preparation, various contents of dibutylphthalate (DBP) as a plasticizer are used to enhance the formation of micropores within the coated membrane. The coated silk fabrics separators are characterized in terms of ionic conductivity, drenching rate, and electrochemical stability, and the charge-discharge profiles of lithium-ion batteries adopting the coated separators are also examined. As a result, the coated silk fabrics separator prepared using DBP 40~50 wt% and silica shows the superior separator properties and high-rate capability. This is due to (i) high sustainability of silk fabrics, (ii) the formation of micropores with the coated layer membrane by DBP, (iii) increase in drenching rate by silica nanoparticles to involve great enhancements in specific surface area and ionic conductivity.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Fire Science and Engineering Conference
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.243-258
• /
• 2007