• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.116-121
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• 1996

Antisense oligonucleotides seem to provide a promising new tool for the therapy. Choi et al. (1995) reported antisense phosphorothioate oligonucleotides (PS-ODN, 25 mer) complementary to TGF-.betha. mRNA designed for scar formation inhibitor to eliminate scars, which was caused by undesired collagen deposition due to overexpression of TGF-.betha., in wounded skin. PS-ODN were evaluated in vitro for skin penetration using normal and tape-stripped damaged rat skin. The in vitro skin transports were carried out with partially modified PS-ODN (6S) and fully modified PS-ODN (25S). The cumulative amount of PS-ODN (6S) penetrated through normal rat skin was $0.234{\pm}0.041{\mu}g/cm^2$ and that of tape-stripped damaged rat skin was $1.077{\pm}0.301{\mu}g/cm^2$ over 8 hrs. PS-ODN (25S) can not be found in receptor medium through normal skin due to high molecular weight (Mol.Wt.=8,000) and polyanionic charge. However, the cumulative amount of PS-ODN (25S) penetrated across damaged rat skin in PBS was $0.340{\pm}0.296{\mu}g/cm^2$ over 8 hrs. The absense of dermis raised the cumulative amount of PS-ODN (6S) penetrated through rat skin. And the fluxes of PS-ODN (6S) and PSODN (25S) at 8hrs across damaged rat skin were $134.63{\pm}37.67{\mu}g/cm^2$ h, and $42.50{\pm}36.95ng/cm^2$ h, respectively. While PS-ODN (25S) was stable in 10% heat inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS) during 24 hrs, PS-ODN (6S) was less stable than PS-ODN (25S), but was markedly stable than unmodified phosphodiester. It is suggested that the cumulative amount of PS-ODN (6S) penetrated through damaged rat skin is larger than that of PS-ODN (25S) since the former is easier to degrade by nuclease than the latter and then is apt to penetrate into skin. Thus, PS-ODN represents a logical candidate for further evaluation due to the potential for delivery into the wounded skin.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.608-613
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• 2017

We proposed a pyrometallurgical process to achieve gold alloy with an Au content of more than 80wt% from low grade (<35wt%) gold alloys. We performed the heat treatment at a temperature of $1200^{\circ}C$ for 5 hrs using Au35wt%-Ag5wt%-Cu60wt% gold alloys mixed with 1/2 weighed PbO and CaO flux by varying the ratio of PbO/(PbO+CaO) from 0 to 1. We investigated the change in content of the samples with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The EDS results showed that the Au content increased from 35.0wt% in the PbO-only sample to 86.7wt% (in the PbO/(PbO+CaO) 1:1 sample), while the other samples achieved more that 84wt%. In addition, the 2/3 flux ratio sample showed the lowest Ag loss into the flux. In the ToF-SIMS results, the PbO only and CaO only fluxes had Au+ peak intensities of 349 and 37, respectively. Although the CaO-only flux might be more favorable considering the loss of Au into the flux, we concluded that the amount of Au lost into the flux could be ignored. Our results imply that that the pyrometallurgical process using a mixed flux is an effective hydrometallurgical process.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.345-364
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• 2021

Developments in the understanding of fire behaviour for large open-plan spaces typical of tall buildings have been greatly outpaced by the rate at which these buildings are being constructed and their characteristics changed. Numerous high-profile fire-induced failures have highlighted the inadequacy of existing tools and standards for fire engineering when applied to highly-optimised modern tall buildings. With the continued increase in height and complexity of tall buildings, the risk to the occupants from fire-induced structural collapse increases, thus understanding the performance of complex structural systems under fire exposure is imperative. Therefore, an accurate representation of the design fire for open-plan compartments is required for the purposes of design. This will allow for knowledge-driven, quantifiable factors of safety to be used in the design of highly optimised modern tall buildings. In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art experimental research on large open-plan compartment fires from the past three decades. We have assimilated results collected from 37 large-scale compartment fire experiments of the open-plan type conducted from 1993 to 2019, covering a range of compartment and fuel characteristics. Spatial and temporal distributions of the heat fluxes imposed on compartment ceilings are estimated from the data. The complexity of the compartment fire dynamics is highlighted by the large differences in the data collected, which currently complicates the development of engineering tools based on physical models. Despite the large variability, this analysis shows that the orders of magnitude of the thermal exposure are defined by the ratio of flame spread and burnout front velocities (V_S / V_BO), which enables the grouping of open-plan compartment fires into three distinct modes of fire spread. Each mode is found to exhibit a characteristic order of magnitude and temporal distribution of thermal exposure. The results show that the magnitude of the thermal exposure for each mode are not consistent with existing performance-based design models, nevertheless, our analysis offers a new pathway for defining thermal exposure from realistic fire scenarios in large open-plan compartments.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.228-240
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• 2023

Growing complexity in ecosystem structure and functions, under impacts of climate and land-use changes, requires interdisciplinary understandings of processes and the whole-system, and accurate estimates of the changing functions. In the last three decades, observation networks for biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem functions under climate change, have been developed by interested scientists, research institutions and universities. In this paper we will review (1) the development and on-going activities of those observation networks, (2) some outcomes from forest carbon cycle studies at our super-site "Takayama site" in Japan, and (3) a few ideas how we connect in-situ and satellite observations as well as fill observation gaps in the Asia-Oceania region. There have been many intensive research and networking efforts to promote investigations for ecosystem change and functions (e.g., Long-Term Ecological Research Network), measurements of greenhouse gas, heat, and water fluxes (flux network), and biodiversity from genetic to ecosystem level (Biodiversity Observation Network). Combining those in-situ field research data with modeling analysis and satellite remote sensing allows the research communities to up-scale spatially from local to global, and temporally from the past to future. These observation networks oftern use different methodologies and target different scientific disciplines. However growing needs for comprehensive observations to understand the response of biodiversity and ecosystem functions to climate and societal changes at local, national, regional, and global scales are providing opportunities and expectations to network these networks. Among the challenges to produce and share integrated knowledge on climate, ecosystem functions and biodiversity, filling scale-gaps in space and time among the phenomena is crucial. To showcase such efforts, interdisciplinary research at 'Takayama super-site' was reviewed by focusing on studies on forest carbon cycle and phenology. A key approach to respond to multidisciplinary questions is to integrate in-situ field research, ecosystem modeling, and satellite remote sensing by developing cross-scale methodologies at long-term observation field sites called "super-sites". The research approach at 'Takayama site' in Japan showcases this response to the needs of multidisciplinary questions and further development of terrestrial ecosystem research to address environmental change issues from local to national, regional and global scales.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.307-319
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• 2016

A Land-Atmosphere Modeling Package (LAMP) for supporting agricultural and forest management was developed at the National Center for AgroMeteorology (NCAM). The package is comprised of two components; one is the Weather Research and Forecasting modeling system (WRF) coupled with Noah-Multiparameterization options (Noah-MP) Land Surface Model (LSM) and the other is an offline one-dimensional LSM. The objective of this paper is to briefly describe the two components of the NCAM-LAMP and to evaluate their initial performance. The coupled WRF/Noah-MP system is configured with a parent domain over East Asia and three nested domains with a finest horizontal grid size of 810 m. The innermost domain covers two Gwangneung deciduous and coniferous KoFlux sites (GDK and GCK). The model is integrated for about 8 days with the initial and boundary conditions taken from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Final Analysis (FNL) data. The verification variables are 2-m air temperature, 10-m wind, 2-m humidity, and surface precipitation for the WRF/Noah-MP coupled system. Skill scores are calculated for each domain and two dynamic vegetation options using the difference between the observed data from the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and the simulated data from the WRF/Noah-MP coupled system. The accuracy of precipitation simulation is examined using a contingency table that is made up of the Probability of Detection (POD) and the Equitable Threat Score (ETS). The standalone LSM simulation is conducted for one year with the original settings and is compared with the KoFlux site observation for net radiation, sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, and soil moisture variables. According to results, the innermost domain (810 m resolution) among all domains showed the minimum root mean square error for 2-m air temperature, 10-m wind, and 2-m humidity. Turning on the dynamic vegetation had a tendency of reducing 10-m wind simulation errors in all domains. The first nested domain (7,290 m resolution) showed the highest precipitation score, but showed little advantage compared with using the dynamic vegetation. On the other hand, the offline one-dimensional Noah-MP LSM simulation captured the site observed pattern and magnitude of radiative fluxes and soil moisture, and it left room for further improvement through supplementing the model input of leaf area index and finding a proper combination of model physics.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.20 no.1 s.26
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• pp.51-66
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• 2006

The climate of the last glacial maximum (LGM) in northeast Asia is simulated with an atmospheric general circulation model of NCAR CCM3 at spectral truncation of T170, corresponding to a grid cell size of roughly 75 km. Modern climate is simulated by a prescribed sea surface temperature and sea ice provided from NCAR, and contemporary atmospheric CO2, topography, and orbital parameters, while LGM simulation was forced with the reconstructed CLIMAP sea surface temperatures, sea ice distribution, ice sheet topography, reduced $CO_2$, and orbital parameters. Under LGM conditions, surface temperature is markedly reduced in winter by more than $18^{\circ}C$ in the Korean west sea and continental margin of the Korean east sea, where the ocean exposed to land in the LGM, whereas in these areas surface temperature is warmer than present in summer by up to $2^{\circ}C$. This is due to the difference in heat capacity between ocean and land. Overall, in the LGM surface is cooled by $4{\sim}6^{\circ}C$ in northeast Asia land and by $7.1^{\circ}C$ in the entire area. An analysis of surface heat fluxes show that the surface cooling is due to the increase in outgoing longwave radiation associated with the reduced $CO_2$ concentration. The reduction in surface temperature leads to a weakening of the hydrological cycle. In winter, precipitation decreases largely in the southeastern part of Asia by about $1{\sim}4\;mm/day$, while in summer a larger reduction is found over China. Overall, annual-mean precipitation decreases by about 50% in the LGM. In northeast Asia, evaporation is also overall reduced in the LGM, but the reduction of precipitation is larger, eventually leading to a drier climate. The drier LGM climate simulated in this study is consistent with proxy evidence compiled in other areas. Overall, the high-resolution model captures the climate features reasonably well under global domain.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.26-46
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• 2020

An irrigated-maize agroecosystem is viewed as an open thermodynamic system upon which solar radiation impresses a large gradient that moves the system away from equilibrium. Following the imperative of the second law of thermodynamics, such agroecosystem resists and reduces the externally applied gradient by using all means of this nature-human coupled system acting together as a nonequilibrium dissipative process. The ultimate purpose of our study is to test this hypothesis by examining the energetics of agroecosystem growth and development. As a first step toward this test, we employed the eddy covariance flux data from 2003 to 2014 at the AmeriFlux NE1 irrigated-maize site at Mead, Nebraska, USA, and analyzed the energetics of this agroecosystem by scrutinizing its radiation, energy and entropy exchange. Our results showed: (1) more energy capture during growing season than non-growing season, and increasing energy capture through growing season until senescence; (2) more energy flow activity within and through the system, providing greater potential for degradation; (3) higher efficiency in terms of carbon uptake and water use through growing season until senescence; and (4) the resulting energy degradation occurred at the expense of increasing net entropy accumulation within the system as well as net entropy transfer out to the surrounding environment. Under the drought conditions in 2012, the increased entropy production within the system was accompanied by the enhanced entropy transfer out of the system, resulting in insignificant net entropy change. Drought mitigation with more frequent irrigation shifted the main route of entropy transfer from sensible to latent heat fluxes, yielding the production and carbon uptake exceeding the 12-year mean values at the cost of less efficient use of water and light.