• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.575-582
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• 2011

A cleaning blade is an attachment installed in the toner cartridge of a laser printer for removing the residual toner from an organic photo-conductive drum. There have been many studies on the performance and life of the rubber blade. We focus on optimally designing the blade shape parameters to minimize the maximum stress of the blade while satisfying design constraints on the cleaning performance and part interference. The blade is optimally designed using a design of experiments, meta-models and an optimization algorithm implemented in PIAnO (process integration, automation, and optimization), a commercial PIDO (process integration and design optimization) tool. We integrate the CAE tools necessary for the structural analysis of the cleaning blade, automate the analysis procedure, and optimize the solution using PIAnO. We decreased the maximum stress by 32.6% in comparison with that of the initial design.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.501-510
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• 2007

The present study was conducted to establish primary bovine muscle satellite cell (MSC) culture conditions and to investigate the effects of various steroid hormones on transcription of the genes involved in muscle cell proliferation and differentiation. Of three different types of proteases (type II collagenase, pronase and trypsin-EDTA) used to hydrolyze the myogenic satellite cells from muscle tissues, trypsin-EDTA treatment yielded the highest number of cells. The cells separated by hydrolysis with type II collagenase and incubated on gelatin-coated plates showed an enhanced cell attachment onto the culture plate and cell proliferation at an initial stage of cell growth. In this study, the bovine MSCs were maintained in vitro up to passage 16 without revealing any significant morphological change, and even to when the cells died at passage 21 with decreased or almost no cell growth or deformities. When the cells were incubated in a steroid-depleted environment (DMEM(-)/10% CDFBS (charcoal-dextran stripped FBS)), they grew slowly initially, and were widened and deformed. In addition, when the cells were transferred to an incubation medium containing steroid (DMEM(+)/10% FBS), the deformed cells resumed their growth and returned to a normal morphology, suggesting that steroid hormones are crucial in maintaining normal MSC morphology and growth. The results demonstrated that treatments with 19-nortestosterone and testosterone significantly increased AR gene expression (p<0.05), implying that both testosterone and 19-nortestosterone bind with AR and that the hormone bound-AR complex up-regulates the genes of its own receptor (AR) plus other genes involved in satellite cell growth and differentiation in bovine muscle.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.434-438
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was performed in order to improve problems and to seek the efficient operating plan by surveying and analyzing the actual status of operating the agricultural machinery rental business supported by the government. Method: The data was collected through two times of survey targeting lease business operators and the leasing business reports published for the past 3 years ('08~'10) 120 cities and counties. Results: As a result of surveying 120 cities and counties nationwide of operating the agricultural machinery rental business, 96% of agricultural machinery rental businesses were indicated to be operated in the form of short-term rent for about 1~3 days centering on small-sized agricultural machinery and attachment for upland crop. As for the unit number of possessing rental agricultural machinery and the purchase cost, it was indicated to be greatly reduced the agricultural machinery for rice farming and to be expanded into upland crop whose mechanization is insufficient. The annual rental days ('10) are 9.5 days/unit, thereby being a little insufficient. Rental fee for 1 day is 0.2~0.8% of the initial purchase cost of agricultural machine, thereby being greatly lower compared to 2.0% (annually 10-day rent) of the proper rents, resulting in being demanded improvement. Conclusions: To be continuously driven the rental business of agricultural machinery with having the ability to propagate, it is judged to be likely to necessarily collect optimum rental fee in consideration of rental days as well as increasing the use days per unit by buying the agricultural machinery, which is secured the rental demand, and by possessing the reasonable unit number.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2004

We have developed a rigorous heat treatment method to improve the biocompatibility of chitosan as a tissue-engineered scaffold. The chitosan scaffold was prepared by the controlled freezing and lyophilizing method using dilute acetic acid and then it was heat-treated at 110$^{\circ}C$ in vacuo for 1-3 days. To explore changes in the physicochemical properties of the heat-treated scaffold, we analyzed the degree of deacetylation by colloid titration with poly(vinyl potassium sulfate) and the structural changes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffractometry (WAXD), and lysozyme susceptibility. The degree of deacetylation of chitosan scaffolds decreased significantly from 85 to 30% as the heat treatment time increased. FT-IR spectroscopic and WAXD data indicated the formation of amide bonds between the amino groups of chitosan and acetic acids carbonyl group, and of interchain hydrogen bonding between the carbonyl groups in the C-6 residues of chitosan and the N-acetyl groups. Our rigorous heat treatment method causes the scaffold to become more susceptible to lysozyme treatment. We performed further examinations of the changes in the biocompatibility of the chitosan scaffold after rigorous heat treatment by measuring the initial cell binding capacity and cell growth rate. Human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) adhere and spread more effectively to the heat-treated chitosan than to the untreated sample. When the cell growth of the HDFs on the film or the scaffold was analyzed by an MTT assay, we found that rigorous heat treatment stimulated cell growth by 1.5∼1.95-fold relative to that of the untreated chitosan. We conclude that the rigorous dry heat treatment process increases the biocompatibility of the chitosan scaffold by decreasing the degree of deacetylation and by increasing cell attachment and growth.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.477-483
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• 2020

The rehabilitation methods used in existing concrete box structures rely on the method of attaching the repair material to the section of the structure with a spray equipment. In the case of ceiling or wall parts, the adhesion force to the repair material may be reduced by the gravity and dead load after construction. In subway structures, vibration causes a problem that reduces the initial adhesion. Supplementary measures are needed as the quality of repair varies depending on the worker's proficiency and construction environment. In this study, mechanical pressurization equipment was developed that can apply a certain pressure after construction of a repairwork to solve problems such as reduction of adhesion of repair materials by gravity and variation of repair quality by labor work. To find out the effect of the pressurized equipment, a chamber similar to the field conditions was constructed to measure the attachment strength different from the pressurized condition, the section, and the environmental conditions. The pressurization differed from the other parts, but the adhesion strength of up to 70% was increased.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.246-251
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• 2003

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is composed of the brain capillaries, which are lined by endothelial cells displaying extremely tight intercellular junctions. Several attempts at creating an in vitro model of the BBB have been met with moderate success as brain capillary endothelial cells lose their barrier properties when isolated in cell culture. This may be due to a lack of recreation of the in vivo endothelial cellular environment in these models, including nearly constant contact with astrocyte foot processes. This work is motivated by the hypothesis that growing endothelial cells on one side of an ultra-thin, highly porous membrane and differentiating astrocyte or astrogliomal cells on the opposite side will lead to a higher degree of interaction between the two cell types and therefore to an improved model. Here we describe our initial efforts towards testing this hypothesis including a procedure for membrane fabrication and methods for culturing endothelial cells on these membranes. We have fabricated a 1 $\mu\textrm{m}$ thick, 2.0 $\mu\textrm{m}$ pore size, and 55% porous membrane with a very narrow pore size distribution from low-stress silicon nitride (SiN) utilizing techniques from the microelectronics industry. We have developed a base, acid, autoclave routine that prepares the membranes for cell culture both by cleaning residual fabrication chemicals from the surface and by increasing the hydrophilicity of the membranes (confirmed by contact angle measurements). Gelatin, fibronectin, and a 50/50 mixture of the two proteins were evaluated as potential basement membrane protein treatments prior to membrane cell seeding. All three treatments support adequate attachment and growth on the membranes compared to the control.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2004

This study was conducted to determine expression of acyl-CoA synthetase 4(ACS4), which is involved in converts arachidonic acid to postaglandins, in the mouse uterus during pregnancy. In arachidonic acid metabolism, acyl-CoA synthetase plays a key role in the esterification of free arachidonic acid into membrane phospholipids. Following its release by the action of calcium dependent phospholipases, free arachidonic acid is believed to be rapidly converted to arachidonoyl-CoA and reesterified into phospholipids in order to prevent excessive synthesis of prostaglandins. Here we demonstrate that ACS4 gene are differentially regulated in the peri-implatation mouse uterus. During the preimplantation period(days 0.5∼3.5), the ACS4 gene was expressed in the uterus until day 3.5 after which the expression was downregulated. The expression of cPLA2, COX1, and COX2 gene was similar to that of ACS4 gene in the preimplantation periods. However expression levels of COX1 gene show much variation on the various days of pregnancy examined. These data, suggest that ACS4 expression in preimplantation period is involved in initial attachment reaction with cPLA2, COX1, and COX2 gene.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.334-342
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• 2005

The prototype Chlorella virus PBCV-l encodes 11 tRNA genes and over 350 protein-encoding genes in its 330 kbp genome. Initial attempts to overexpress the recombinant A189/192R protein, a putative virus attachment protein, in E. coli strain BL21(DE3) SI were unsuccessful, and multiple protein bands were detected on Western blots. However, the full-length A189/192R recombinant protein or fragments derived from it were detected when they were expressed in E. coli BL21 CodonPlus (DE3) RIL, which contains extra tRNAs. Codon usage analysis of the a189/192r gene showed highly biased usage of the AGA and AVA codons compared to genes encoded by E. coli and Chlorella. In addition, there were biases of XXA/U($56\%$) and XXG/ C($44\%$) in the codons recognized by the viral tRNAs, which correspond to the codon usage bias in the PBCV-1 genome of XXA/U ($63\%$) over those ending in XXC/G ($37\%$). Analysis of the codon usage in the major capsid protein and DNA polymerase showed preferential usage of codons that can be recognized by the viral tRNAs. The Asn (AAC) and Lys (AAG) codons whose corresponding tRNA genes are duplicated in the tRNA gene cluster were the most abundant (i.e., preferred) codons in these two proteins. The tRNA genes encoded in the PBCV-l genome seem to play a very important role during the synthesis of viral proteins through supplementing the tRNAs that are frequently used in viral proteins, but are rare in the host cells. In addition, these tRNAs would help the virus to adapt to a wide range of hosts by providing tRNAs that are rare in the host cells.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.253-262
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• 2004

Calcareous deposits are the consequence of pH increase of the electrolyte adjacent to metal surface affected by cathodic current in seawater. It obviously has several advantages over conventional coatings, since the calcareous deposit coating is formed from coating (Mg$^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$) naturally existing in seawater. In consideration of this respect, environment friendly calcareous deposit films were formed by an electro deposition technique on steel substrates submerged in 48$^{\circ}C$ natural seawater. And the influence of current density, coating time and attachment of steel mesh on composition ratio, structure and morphology of the electrodeposited films were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy(EDS) and X-Ray Diffractor(XRD), respectively. Accordingly, this study provides a better understanding of the composition between the growth of $Mg(OH)_2$ and $CaCO_3$ during the formation of electro deposit films on steel substrate under cathodically electrodeposition in $48^{\circ}C$ natural seawater. The Mg compositions, in general, are getting decreased regardless of current density but Ca compositions are getting increased as electrodeposition time runs. That is, $Mg(OH)_2$ compounds of brucite structure shaped as flat type is formed at the initial stage of electrodeposition, but CaCO$_3$ compounds of aragonite structure shaped as flower type is formed in large scale. Besides, $Mg(OH)_2$ compounds were much formed at 5 A/$\m^2$ environment condition compared to the 3 A/$\m^2$ and 4 A/$\m^2$ environment conditions. This is because that OH- which was comparatively largely generated at the metal surface is preferably combined with $Mg^{2+}$TEX>.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.159-172
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• 2015

Treatment of polymicrobial infected musculoskeletal defects continues to be a challenge in orthopaedics. This research investigated single and dual-delivery of two antibiotics, vancomycin and amikacin, targeting different classes of microorganism from a biodegradable calcium sulfate-chitosan-nHA microsphere composite scaffold. The addition of chitosan-nHA was included to provide additional structure for cellular attachment and as a secondary drug-loading device. All scaffolds exhibited an initial burst of antibiotics, but groups containing chitosan reduced the burst for amikacin at 1hr by 50%, and vancomycin by 14-25% over the first 2 days. Extended elution was present in groups containing chitosan; amikacin was above MIC ($2-4{\mu}g/mL$, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) for 7-42 days and vancomycin was above MIC ($0.5-1{\mu}g/mL$ Staphylococcus aureus) for 42 days. The antibiotic activity of the eluates was tested against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The elution from the dual-loaded scaffold was most effective against S. aureus (bacteriostatic 34 days and bactericidal 27 days), compared to vancomycin-loaded scaffolds (bacteriostatic and bactericidal 14 days). The dual- and amikacin-loaded scaffolds were effective against P. aeruginosa, but eluates exhibited very short antibacterial properties; only 24 hours bacteriostatic and 1-5 hours bactericidal activity. For all groups, vancomycin recovery was near 100% whereas the amikacin recovery was 41%. In conclusion, in the presence of chitosan-nHA microspheres, the dual-antibiotic loaded scaffold was able to sustain an extended vancomycin elution longer than individually loaded scaffolds. The composite scaffold shows promise as a dual-drug delivery system for infected orthopaedic wounds and overcomes some deficits of other dual-delivery systems by extending the antibiotic release.