• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2024

This study reports a direct growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the surface of LiCoO₂ (LCO) powders to apply as highly efficient cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIB). The CNT synthesis was performed using a thermal chemical vapor deposition apparatus with temperatures from 575 to 625 ℃. Ferritin molecules as growth catalyst of CNTs were mixed in deionized (DI) water with various concentrations from 0.05 to 1.0 mg/mL. Then, the LCO powders was dissolved in the ferritin solution at a ratio of 1g/mL. To obtain catalytic iron nanoparticles on the LCO surface, the LCO-ferritin suspension was dropped in silicon dioxide substrates and calcined under air at 550℃. Subsequently, the direct growth of CNTs on LCO powders was performed using a mixture of acetylene (10 sccm) and hydrogen (100 sccm) for 10 min. The growth behavior was characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. The optimized condition yielding high structural quality and amount of CNTs was 600 ℃ and 0.5 mg/mL. The obtained materials will be developed as cathode materials in LIB.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.175-193
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• 2024

Researchers have embarked on an active investigation into the feasibility of adopting alternative materials as a solution to the mounting environmental and economic challenges associated with traditional concrete-based construction materials, such as reinforced concrete. The examination of concrete's mechanical properties using laboratory methods is a complex, time-consuming, and costly endeavor. Consequently, the need for models that can overcome these drawbacks is urgent. Fortunately, the ever-increasing availability of data has paved the way for the utilization of machine learning methods, which can provide powerful, efficient, and cost-effective models. This study aims to explore the potential of twelve machine learning algorithms in predicting the tensile strength of geopolymer concrete (GPC) under various curing conditions. To fulfill this objective, 221 datasets, comprising tensile strength test results of GPC with diverse mix ratios and curing conditions, were employed. Additionally, a number of unseen datasets were used to assess the overall performance of the machine learning models. Through a comprehensive analysis of statistical indices and a comparison of the models' behavior with laboratory tests, it was determined that nearly all the models exhibited satisfactory potential in estimating the tensile strength of GPC. Nevertheless, the artificial neural networks and support vector regression models demonstrated the highest robustness. Both the laboratory tests and machine learning outcomes revealed that GPC composed of 30% fly ash and 70% ground granulated blast slag, mixed with 14 mol of NaOH, and cured in an oven at 300°F for 28 days exhibited superior tensile strength.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.226-231
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• 2024

Coal ash has been used as a sand replacement in the construction industry. Due to the use of bituminous coal as a result of anthracite depletion, and quicklime as an air purifier in the desulfurization process, pop-out defects have recently occurred in concrete using coal ash, severely limiting the recycling of coal ash into concrete. In this study, the components that cause the pop-out problem of the coal ash filled concrete were identified and a pretreatment method to fully expand the expansive components in advance was proposed as a solution to this problem. By treating water twice for 10 min, allowing the CaO mixed in the coal ash to fully expand, the problems of pop-out and reduced compressive strength of the concrete were overcome. The cost and time efficient water treatment method proposed in this study is expected to promote the recycling of coal ash into concrete.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.417-424
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• 2024

Background: This research main objective was to evaluate a proliposomes (PLs) formulation for the enhancement of oral bioavailability of ginsenosides, using ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3) as a marker. Methods: A novel PLs formulation was prepared using a modified evaporation-on-matrix method. Soy phosphatidylcholine, Rg3-enriched extract, poloxamer 188 (Lutrol® F 68) and sorbitol were mixed and dissolved using a aqueous ethanolic solution, followed by the removal of ethanol and lyophilization. The characterization of Rg3-PLs formulations was performed by powder X-ray diffractometry (PXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and in vitro release. The enhancement of oral bioavailability was investigated and analyzed by noncompartmental parameters after oral administration of the formulations. Results: PXRD of Rg3-PLs indicated that Rg3 was transformed from crystalline into its amorphous form during the preparation process. The Rg3-encapsulated liposomes with vesicular-shaped morphology were generated after the reconstitution by gentle hand-shaking in water; they had a mean diameter of approximately 350 nm, a negative zeta potential (- 28.6 mV) and a high entrapment efficiency (97.3%). The results of the in vitro release study exhibited that significantly more amount of Rg3 was released from the PLs formulation in comparison with that from the suspension of Rg3-enriched extract (control group). The pharmacokinetic parameters after oral administration of PLs formulation in rats showed an approximately 11.8-fold increase in the bioavailability of Rg3, compared to that of the control group. Conclusion: The developed PLs formulation could be a favorable delivery system to improve the oral bioavailability of ginsenosides, including Rg3.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.133-136
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• 2023

Purpose: Prolactin in the blood is separated into three types, and over 90% of prolactin presents as a double monomer (23 KDa). Rarely, it can exist in the size of big prolactin (150 KDa), which is called macroprolactin and is known as an autoantibody complex. When macroprolactin accounts for more than 60% of prolactin in the blood, it is called macroprolactinemia. The presence of such macroprolactin was first reported in a patient with hyperprolactinemia but without typical symptoms. Macroprolactinemia is emerging as an important cause of idiopathic hyperprolactinemia. The polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation method using the property of precipitating large-molecular-weight proteins is simple and recently has been widely used as a screening test. The results are in good agreement with the results of gel chromatography. The purpose of this study was to confirm the measurement method and reference value verification of monomeric prolactin in blood prolactin using the PEG precipitation method. Materials and Methods: For 40 examinees who visited the Gangnam Center of Seoul National University Hospital in 2021, the prolactin level was verified using radioimmunoassay (RIA). For macroprolactinemia PEG precipitation method, 25% PEG (molecular weight 6000kDa) solution and serum were mixed in equal amounts in a test tube, then left at room temperature for 20 minutes and centrifuged at 4℃ for 30 minutes (1500g). The prolactin level was measured in the supernatant. Results : After confirming that more than 90% of the 40 tested samples within the reference range <25 ng/mL, the same value as the reference value for prolactin was applied. Since the concentration of monomeric prolactin in serum from which macroprolactin has been removed from blood is diluted 1:1 with PEG, our laboratory is currently reporting the result by multiplying the result by a dilution factor of 2. Conclusion: Radioimmunoassay using PEG precipitation method using the property of precipitating large molecular weight proteins is simple and effective for quantitative measurement of monomeric prolactin in blood prolactin.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.89-99
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate the bonding of resin- based root canal sealer, AH26 when the sealer was applied as a thin layer between dentine and gutta-percha surface. In this study forty non-caries extracted human molars and resin-based root canal sealer(AH 26, DeTrey/Dentsply, Germany) were used. Disks of gutta-percha, 6mm in diameter.6mm thick (Diadent/Dentsply, Korea) for thermoplastic obturation were used and dentin surfaces were treated with 2% NaOCl(Group 1) or 2%NaOCl+17% EDTA(Group 3). Disks of gutta-Percha, 6mm in diameter.6mm thick (Diadent/Dentsply, Korea) for conventional obturation were used and dentin surface were treated with 2% NaOCl(Group 2) or 2%NaOCl+17% EDTA(Group 4). Enamel was removed by a horizontal section 1mm below the deepest portion of the central occlusal groove by using a watercooled low speed diamond saw. A second horizontal section was done around cementoenamel junction. Exposed dentin surface was cut to approximately $8{\times}8{\;}mm$ rectangular shape and was ground against 320, 400, 600 grade silicon carbide abrasive paper serially. After grinding, the dentine surface were soaked in a solution of 2% NaOCl for 30 minutes and twenty of specimens were treated with 17% EDTA solution for 1 minute. The treated specimens were washed and dried, Root canal sealer, AH26 was prepared according to the manufacture's instructions The Gutta-percha and dentin surface were coated with a thin layer of the freshly mixed seal or. The specimens were left overnight at room temperature. After their initial set, they were transferred to an incubator at $37$^{\circ}C$ for 72 h. After 72 hours, resin blocks were made. The resin block was serially sectioned vertically into stick of $1{\cdot}1mm$. Twenty sticks were prepared from each group. After that, tensile bond strength f3r each stick was measured with Microtensile Tester Failure patterns of the specimens at the interface between gutta-percha and dentin were observed under the SEM(x1000) and Stereomicroscope (LEICA M42O, Meyer Inst., TX U.S.A) at 1.25 x25 magnification. The results were statistically analysed by using a One-way ANOVA and Tukey's test. The results were as follows; 1. Tensile bond strengths($mean{\pm}SD$) were expressed with ascending order as follows: Group 1, $3.09{\pm}$ 1.05Mpa : Group 2, $6.23{\pm}1.16MPa$ : Group 3, $7.12{\pm}1.07MPa$ : Group 4, $10.32{\pm}2.06MPa$. 2. Tensile bond strengths of the group 2 and 4 used disks of gutta-percha for conventional obturation were significantly higher than that of the group 1 and 3 used fir thermoplastic obturation. (p < 0.05). 3. Tensile bond strengths of the group 3 and 4 treated with 2% NaOC1+17% EDTA were significantly higher than that of the group 1 and 2 treated with 2% NaOCl. (p < 0.05). 4. In analysis of failure patterns at the interface between sealer and gutta-percha, there were observed 49 (61%)cases of adhesive failure patterns and 31 (39%) cases of mixed failures patterns.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.37-50
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• 2020

Information security has become an important issue in the world. Various information and communication technologies, such as the Internet of Things, big data, cloud, and artificial intelligence, are developing, and the need for information security is increasing. Although the necessity of information security is expanding according to the development of information and communication technology, interest in information security investment is insufficient. In general, measuring the effect of information security investment is difficult, so appropriate investment is not being practice, and organizations are decreasing their information security investment. In addition, since the types and specification of information security measures are diverse, it is difficult to compare and evaluate the information security countermeasures objectively, and there is a lack of decision-making methods about information security investment. To develop the organization, policies and decisions related to information security are essential, and measuring the effect of information security investment is necessary. Therefore, this study proposes a method of constructing an investment portfolio for information security measures using game theory and derives an optimal defence probability. Using the two-person game model, the information security manager and the attacker are assumed to be the game players, and the information security countermeasures and information security threats are assumed as the strategy of the players, respectively. A zero-sum game that the sum of the players' payoffs is zero is assumed, and we derive a solution of a mixed strategy game in which a strategy is selected according to probability distribution among strategies. In the real world, there are various types of information security threats exist, so multiple information security measures should be considered to maintain the appropriate information security level of information systems. We assume that the defence ratio of the information security countermeasures is known, and we derive the optimal solution of the mixed strategy game using linear programming. The contributions of this study are as follows. First, we conduct analysis using real performance data of information security measures. Information security managers of organizations can use the methodology suggested in this study to make practical decisions when establishing investment portfolio for information security countermeasures. Second, the investment weight of information security countermeasures is derived. Since we derive the weight of each information security measure, not just whether or not information security measures have been invested, it is easy to construct an information security investment portfolio in a situation where investment decisions need to be made in consideration of a number of information security countermeasures. Finally, it is possible to find the optimal defence probability after constructing an investment portfolio of information security countermeasures. The information security managers of organizations can measure the specific investment effect by drawing out information security countermeasures that fit the organization's information security investment budget. Also, numerical examples are presented and computational results are analyzed. Based on the performance of various information security countermeasures: Firewall, IPS, and Antivirus, data related to information security measures are collected to construct a portfolio of information security countermeasures. The defence ratio of the information security countermeasures is created using a uniform distribution, and a coverage of performance is derived based on the report of each information security countermeasure. According to numerical examples that considered Firewall, IPS, and Antivirus as information security countermeasures, the investment weights of Firewall, IPS, and Antivirus are optimized to 60.74%, 39.26%, and 0%, respectively. The result shows that the defence probability of the organization is maximized to 83.87%. When the methodology and examples of this study are used in practice, information security managers can consider various types of information security measures, and the appropriate investment level of each measure can be reflected in the organization's budget.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.221-226
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• 1973

In order to investigate the silica effect of insufficient wollastonite to the official standard (above than 15% of suluble silica (N/2 HCl) on rice plant as silica fertilizer, 9 kinds of wollastonites and slag were adopted to examine the amount of silica absorbed by rice straw during growing period, and soluble silica of wollastonites extracted by 7 buffer solutions were compared with silica content in rice straw. Crystalls of ingredient in wollastonite ores were identified by X-ray diffractometer. The results were that silica content of rice plant at growing stages were increased as same ratio of soluble silica. content in wollastonite. Wollastonite containing more than 10% of souble silica (N/2 HCl) could be applied as fertilizer because absorbed amount of silica by rice plant from them are higher than from slag which contained 30% of soluble silica. Wollastonite powder mixed with impure ores in which soluble silica could not be extracted had the same effect on silica absorption of straw as wollastonite powder which contained conformable amount of soluble silica. The soluble silica of wollastonite extracted by buffer solutions (2% citric acid, N. NaOAc, N. $NH_4OAc$, Petermann solution, 0.1M. EDTA, and Hot water) had high significant relation to silica content in rice straw, but soluble silica extracted N/2 hydrochloric acid solutilon, also, had deep relation to them in rice straw. The adequate solution to extract silica from wollastonites is N/2 hydrochloric acid solution because its extracted silia amount is much higher than other solution (about one hundred times) and can be determined by gravimetric analysis. X-ray diffraction pattern would identify qualitatively purity of wollastonite, and large amount of soluble silica was extracted from wollastonite which was appeared to be weathered.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.173-179
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• 2018

Investigation of the optimum levels of pre-plant nitrogen for raising of hot pepper (cv. Nokkwang) plug seedlings was the objective of this research. To achieve this, the pre-plant nitrogen levels were varied to 0, 100, 250, 500, 750, 1,000, and $1,500mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ and the other essential nutrients were controlled to equal concentrations in all treatments. All the fertilizers were added during the formulation of the mixed medium of coir dust, peatmoss, and perlite with the ratio of 35, 35, and 30% (v/v/v). The root medium containing pre-plant fertilizer was packed into 50-cell plug trays and seeds were sown. The measurement of pH and EC in every week, soil solution analysis for nutrients in week 0, 3, and 7 and growth measurements as well as tissue analysis for nutrient contents in week 7 were conducted. The pHs measured before seed sowing did not show significant differences, but the differences among treatments became significant as seedlings grow bigger. The soil solution ECs were significantly different among treatments in week 0 and these differences were diminished by degrees after week 3, resulting in no significant differences among treatments in week 7. The trends in changes of $NH_4-N$, $NO_3-N$, and other the macro-element concentrations in soil solution of root media were similar to those of ECs. The treatments of 500 and $750mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ N were more effective than other treatments on seedling growth. The seedling growths in the treatments containing higher N than $1,000mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ and control were severely suppressed. The elevated pre-plant N concentrations in the root medium resulted in the increase of tissue N contents. The treatments of 500 and $750mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ N shown the highest seedling growths had 5.13% and 5.31%, respectively, in tissue N contents based on the dry weight of above ground tissue at week 7. The results of this study indicated that the optimum level of pre-plant N is 500 to $750mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ for the raising of hot pepper plug seedlings.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.870-877
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• 1998

With impedance spectrum measurements, impedance was studied in the interface between sample solutions for $K^+-ion$ selective PVC membrane electrode containing neutral carriers [dibenzo-18-crown-6 (D18Cr6) and valinomycine (Val)]. Response characteristics of electrode were examined by measuring AC impedance spectra that were resulted from the chemical structure and the content of carrier, variation of plasticizer, membrane thickness, doping of base electrolytes, and concentration variation of sample solution. Transport characteristics of PVC membrane electrode were also studied. It was found that the equivalent circuit for the membrane in $K^+$ solution could be expressed by a series combination of solution resistance and a parallel circuit consisting of the bulk resistance and geometric capacitance of the membrane system. But the charge transfer resistance and Warburg resistance were overlapped a little in the low concentration and low frequency ranges. The carrier, D18Cr6 was best for electrode and impedance characteristics, and ideal electrode characteristics were appeared especially in case of doping of the base electrolyte[potassium tetraphenylborate(TPB)]. The optimum carrier content was about 3.23 wt% in case of D18Cr6 and Val. DBP was best as a plasticizer. As membrane thickness decreased the impedance characteristics was improved, but electrode characteristics were lowered for membrane thickness below the optimum. In the case of D18Cr6, the selectivity coefficients by the mixed solution method for the $K^+$ ion were the order of $NH_4{^+}>Ca^{2+}>Mg^{2+}>Na^+$.