• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.147-150
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• 2008

Multiple ZnO nanorod device detecting $NO_2$ gas was fabricated by sol-gel growth method and gas response characteristics were measured as a chemical gas sensor. The device is mainly composed of sensing electrode and sensing nano material. To acquire high sensitivity of the device for $NO_2$ gas it was heated by a heat chuck up to $400^{\circ}C$ The sensing part was easily made using the CMOS compatible process, for example, the large area and low temperature nano material growth process, etc. The sensors were successfully demonstrated and showed high sensitive response for $NO_2$ gas sensing.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.573-597
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• 2008

Among artificial intelligence-based computational techniques, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) are particularly suitable for modelling complex systems with known input-output data sets. Such systems can be efficient in modelling non-linear, complex and ambiguous behaviour of cement-based materials undergoing single, dual or multiple damage factors of different forms (chemical, physical and structural). Due to the well-known complexity of sulfate attack on cement-based materials, the current work investigates the use of ANFIS to model the behaviour of a wide range of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) mixture designs under various high-concentration sodium sulfate exposure regimes including full immersion, wetting-drying, partial immersion, freezing-thawing, and cyclic cold-hot conditions with or without sustained flexural loading. Three ANFIS models have been developed to predict the expansion, reduction in elastic dynamic modulus, and starting time of failure of the tested SCC specimens under the various high-concentration sodium sulfate exposure regimes. A fuzzy inference system was also developed to predict the level of aggression of environmental conditions associated with very severe sodium sulfate attack based on temperature, relative humidity and degree of wetting-drying. The results show that predictions of the ANFIS and fuzzy inference systems were rational and accurate, with errors not exceeding 5%. Sensitivity analyses showed that the trends of results given by the models had good agreement with actual experimental results and with thermal, mineralogical and micro-analytical studies.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

About 20 chemical elements are nutritionally essential for humans with defined molecular functions. Several essential and nonessential biometals are either functional nutrients with antidiabetic actions or can be diabetogenic. A key question remains whether changes in the metabolism of biometals and biominerals are a consequence of diabetes or are involved in its etiology. Exploration of the roles of zinc (Zn) in this regard is most revealing because 80 years of scientific discoveries link zinc and diabetes. In pancreatic ${\beta}$- and ${\alpha}$-cells, zinc has specific functions in the biochemistry of insulin and glucagon. When zinc ions are secreted during vesicular exocytosis, they have autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine roles. The membrane protein ZnT8 transports zinc ions into the insulin and glucagon granules. ZnT8 has a risk allele that predisposes the majority of humans to developing diabetes. In target tissues, increased availability of zinc enhances the insulin response by inhibiting protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B, which controls the phosphorylation state of the insulin receptor and hence downstream signalling. Inherited diseases of zinc metabolism, environmental exposures that interfere with the control of cellular zinc homeostasis, and nutritional or conditioned zinc deficiency influence the pathobiochemistry of diabetes. Accepting the view that zinc is one of the many factors in multiple gene-environment interactions that cause the functional demise of ${\beta}$-cells generates an immense potential for treating and perhaps preventing diabetes. Personalized nutrition, bioactive food, and pharmaceuticals targeting the control of cellular zinc in precision medicine are among the possible interventions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.554-559
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• 2004

The objective of the present study was to investigate the accuracy of mastitis diagnostic indicators for different dairy goat breeds. Biweekly milk samples were collected from individual half mammary gland of seven Saanen and seven Alpine dairy goats in the period of 40 to 120 days in milk. With threshold value set at 2.8 and 3.1 for Alpine and Saanen dairy goats, respectively, log (SPC) offered good sensitivity (0.89, 0.93), specificity (0.88, 0.95), positive predictive value (0.75, 0.85) and negative predictive value (0.95, 0.98) as a mastitis diagnostic tool. The correlations of log (SPC) with milk yield, log (SCC), ALP, LDH, $Na^{+}$, $K^{+}$ and EC were significant in Saanen dairy goats (p<0.05), with the highest correlation coefficient (0.653) existing between log (SPC) and log (SCC). The correlations of log (SPC) with milk yield, milk fat, milk protein, log (SCC), $Na^{+}$, $K^{+}$, EC were significant in Alpine dairy goats (p<0.05), with the highest correlation coefficient (0.416) existing between log (SPC) and log (SCC). There were different best-fit regression equations with different multiple diagnostic indicators for Saanen and Alpine dairy goats. In conclusion, different breeds of dairy goats may have to adapt different mastitis diagnostic parameters for a better diagnosis.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.40-47
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• 2024

The creation of vertically aligned one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures through the decoration of n-type tin oxide (SnO₂) on p-type chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃) constitutes an effective strategy for enhancing gas sensing performance. These heterostructures are deposited in multiple stages using a glancing angle deposition technique with an electron beam evaporator, resulting in a reduction in the surface porosity of the nanorods as SnO₂ is incorporated. In comparison to Cr₂O₃ films, the bare Cr₂O₃ nanorods exhibits a response 3.3 times greater to 50 ppm H₂S at 300℃, while the SnO₂-decorated Cr₂O₃ nanorods demonstrate an eleven-fold increase in response. Furthermore, when subjected to various gases (CH₄, H₂S, CO₂, H₂), a notable selectivity toward H₂S is observed. This study paves the way for the development of p-type semiconductor sensors with heightened selectivity and sensitivity towards H₂S, thus advancing the prospects of gas sensor technology.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.1455-1459
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• 2014

We report a sensitive and reliable FRET-based nanotechnology assay for efficient detection and quantification of bisulfite-unmodified or modified DNA. Bisulfite-untreated DNA or bisulfite-treated DNA is subjected to PCR amplification with biotin-conjugated primers so that the amounts of bisulfite-untreated and treated DNA can be differentiated. Streptavidin-coated quantum dots (QDs) are used to capture biotinylated PCR products intercalated with SYBR Green, enabling FRET measurement. Key features of our method include its low intrinsic background noise, high resolution, and high sensitivity, enabling detection of as little as 1.75 ng of bisulfite-untreated DNA in the presence of an approximately 1,000-fold excess of bisulfite-untreated DNA compared to bisulfate-treated DNA, with the use of PCR reduced (as low as 15 cycles). SYBR Green as an intercalating dye as well as a FRET acceptor allows for a single-step preparation without the need for primers or probes to be chemically conjugated to an organic fluorophore. Multiple acceptors per FRET donor significantly enhance the signal-to-noise ratio as well. In consideration of the high relevance of bisulfite treatment to DNA methylation quantitation, our system for FRET measurement between QDs and intercalating dyes can be generally utilized to analyze DNA methylation and to potentially benefit the scientific and clinical community.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.3727-3734
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• 2012

An analytical method has been developed for the rapid determination of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in human serum samples. The extraction and purification of PFCs from human serum were performed by the modified method of previous report. Ten PFCs were rapidly separated within 3.3 min by C18-monolithic column liquid chromatography (LC) and detected by electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) in negative ion mode. The runtime of PFCs on monolithic column LC was up to 4-fold faster than that on conventional column LC. The effect of triethylamine (TEA) to the mobile phase has investigated on the overall MS detection sensitivity of PFCs in ESI ionization. Quantification was performed by LC-MS/MS in multiple-ion reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, using $^{13}C$-labeled internal standards. Method validation was performed to determine recovery, linearity, precision, and limits of quantification, followed by, the analysis of a standard reference material (SRM 1957 from NIST). The overall recoveries ranged between 81.5 and 106.3% with RSDs of 3.4 to 16.2% for the entire procedure. The calibration range extended from 0.33 to 50 $ng\;mL^{-1}$, with a correlation coefficient ($R^2$) greater than 0.995 and the limits of quantification with 0.08 to 0.46 $ng\;mL^{-1}$. This approach can be used for rapid and sensitive quantitative analysis of 10 PFCs in human serum with high performance and accuracy.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.40 no.8
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• pp.542-548
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• 1996

Electrodes modified with threonine, methionine and serine as ligands, which are incorporated by ion exchange into a polycationic film of electropolymerized $[Ru(v-bpy)_3]^{2+}$, have been employed in the determination of mercury in solution. The redox response of the surface-immobilized mercury/ligand complex was used as the analytical signal. When the polymeric film was electropolymerized, the supporting electrolytes were TBAP and $KPF_6$ to compare the morphology and anodic stripping of resulted polymer electrodes. At the case of the latter, the film had high porosity to give an easy incorporation of dopant anions into polymeric film matrix and a high sensitivity in determination of mercury ion. Especially, this polymer modified electrode exhibited possibility of multiple use in mercury determination over ten times. In all cases, calibration curves which were plotted by log of the surface coverage-normalized redox response vs. log[Hg] exhibited an excellent correlation (r=0.99) for mercury concentrations ranging from 1.0{\times}10^{-8}{\sim}1.0{\times}10^{-2}M$. At these curves relative standard deviation was 5∼8% and saturation response was not observed at high concentration region. Serine of the employed ligands had the best sensitivity in analytical application, which had greater stability constant in forming a complex with mercury than others as $pK_{Hg}=8.54$. The formation constants of threonine and methionine were respectively 7.04 and 7.80.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.350-357
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• 2017

Purpose: In-situ monitoring of water quality is fundamental to most environmental applications. The high cost and long delays of conventional laboratory methods used to determine water quality, including on-site sampling and chemical analysis, have limited their use in efficiently managing water sources while preventing environmental pollution. The objective of this study was to develop an on-site water monitoring system consisting mainly of an Arduino board and a sensor array of multiple ion selective electrodes (ISEs) to measure the concentration of $NO_3$ ions. Methods: The developed system includes a combination of three ISEs, double-junction reference electrode, solution container, sampling system consisting of three pumps and solenoid valves, signal processing circuit, and an Arduino board for data acquisition and system control. Prior to each sample measurement, a two-point normalization method was applied for a sensitivity adjustment followed by an offset adjustment to minimize the potential drift that could occur during continuous measurement and standardize the response of multiple electrodes. To investigate its utility in on-site nitrate monitoring, the prototype was tested in a facility where drinking water was collected from a water supply source. Results: Differences in the electric potentials of the $NO_3$ ISEs between 10 and $100mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ $NO_3$ concentration levels were nearly constant with negative sensitivities of 58 to 62 mV during the period of sample measurement, which is representative of a stable electrode response. The $NO_3$ concentrations determined by the ISEs were almost comparable to those obtained with standard instruments within 15% relative errors. Conclusions: The use of the developed on-site nitrate monitoring system based on automatic sampling and two-point normalization was feasible for detecting abrupt changes in nitrate concentration at various water supply sites, showing a maximum difference of $4.2mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ from an actual concentration of $14mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.29-41
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• 2001

Background : The appearance of multiple-drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains has been seriously compromising successful control of tuberculosis. Rifampin-resistance, caused by mutations in the rpoB gene, can be indicative of multiple-drug-resistance, and its detection is of great importance. The present study aimed to develop an oligonucleotide chip for accurate and convenient screening of drug-resistance. Methods : In order to detect point mutations in the rpoB gene, an oligonucleotide chip was prepared by immobilizing specific probe DNA to a microscopic slide glass by a chemical reaction. The probe DNA that was selected from the 81 bp core region of the rpoB gene was designed to have mutation sites at the center. A total of 17 mutant probes related to rifampin-resistance including 8 rifabutin-sensitive mutant probes were used in this study. For accurate determination, wild type probes were prepared for each mutation position with an equal length, which enabled a direct comparison of the hybridization intensities between the mutant and wild type. Results : Mycobacterial genomic DNA from clinical samples was tested with the oligonucleotide chip and the results were compared with those of the drug-susceptibility test in addition to sequencing and INNO-LiPA Rif. TB kit test in some cases. Out of 15 samples, the oligonucleotide chip results of 13 samples showed good agreement with the rifabutin-sensitivity results. The two samples with conflicting result also showed a discrepancy between the other tests, suggesting such possibilities as existence of mixed strains and difference in drug-sensitivity. Further verification of these samples in addition to more case studies are required before the final evaluation of the oligonucleotide chip can be made. Conlcusion : An oligonucleotide chip was developed for the detection of rpoB gene mutations related to drugsusceptibility. The results to date show the potential for using the oligonucleotide chip for accurate and convenient screening of drug-resistance to provide useful information in antituberculosis drug therapy.