• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.197-204
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• 2012

We explore the evolution of metal plasma generated by high laser irradiances and its effect on the surrounding air by using shadowgraph images after laser pulse termination and X-ray diffraction (XRD) of aluminum plasma ablated by a high-power laser pulse (>1000 mJ/pulse) and oxygen from air. Hence, the formation of laser-supported detonation and combustion processes has been investigated. The essence of this paper is in observing the initiation of chemical reaction between the ablated aluminum plasma and oxygen from air by the high-power laser pulse (>1000 mJ/pulse) and in conducting a quantitative comparison of the chemically reactive laser-initiated waves with the classical detonation of an exploding aluminum (dust) cloud in air. The findings in this work may lead to a new method of initiating detonation from a metal sample in its bulk form without any need to mix nanoparticles with oxygen for initiation.

• Clean Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.138-144
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• 2006

Conversion of methane to synthesis gas in a capacitive rf plasma at low pressure was experimentally studied. In this plasma, electrons which had sufficient energy-level collided with the molecules of methane or oxygen-containing gas, which were than activated and converted to synthesis gas. The effect of input power, various oxygen-containing gas and composition of the gas mixture were investigated. The conversion of methane reached up to 100%. In all cases, hydrogen and carbon oxide were produced as primary products, and other compounds was generated. The conversion of methane and the yield of hydrogen and carbon oxides were increased with increasing the input power. Depending on the oxygen-containing gases, the composition of synthesis gas was varied.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.60 no.11
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• pp.2076-2082
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• 2011

The goal of this paper is to find an operating conditions of the single direct ethanol fuel cell such as the cell temperature, and flow rates of ethanol and oxygen. To investigate the output characteristics, the electrical current increased from 0[A] with interval of 0.001[A] every 2[s], and the cell voltage was increased until the voltage became 0.05[V]. Related to the effect of the cell temperature, the output characteristics both voltage and power were increased upto 80[$^{\circ}C$] according to the increase of the current density, but those were decreased over that temperature. In addition, the optimal flow rate of ethanol in anode was identified as of 2[mL/min] due to the dependence of generation rate such as the hydrogen ion and electron. And the flow rate of oxygen in cathode was desirable to about 300[sccm/min], it might be affected by the chemical reaction rate of the water formation among hydrogen ion, electron, and oxygen. Consequently, the fundamental conditions were identified in this work, and it will be carried out to find the best conditions of membrane by the effect of the plasma surface treatment, and the effect of other catalysts except for a platinum.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2010

In this study, we have demonstrated the fine structure effect of PdCo electrocatalyst on oxygen reduction reaction activity with different alloy composition and heat-treatment time. In order to identify the intrinsic factors for the electrocatalytic activity, various X-ray analyses were used, including inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometer, and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy technique. In particular, extended X-ray absorption fine structure was employed to extract the structural parameters required for understanding the atomic distribution and alloying extent, and to identify the corresponding simulated structures by using FEFF8 code and IFEFFIT software. The electrocatalytic activity of PdCo alloy nanoparticles for the oxygen reduction reaction was evaluated by using rotating disk electrode technique and correlated to the change in structural parameters. We have found that Pd-rich surface was formed on the Co core with increasing heating time over 5 hours. Such core shell structure of PdCo/C showed that a superior oxygen reduction reaction activity than pure Pd/C or alloy phase of PdCo/C electrocatalysts, because the adsorption energy of adsorbates was apparently reduced by lowering the dband center of the Pd skin due to a combination of the compressive strain effect and ligand effect.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.406-410
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• 2017

Curcumin is known as a natural antioxidant, decreasing oxidative stress in animal cells. Generally, oxidative stress induces reactive oxygen species in sperm and leads to decreased sperm characteristics in pigs. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of curcumin on sperm motility, viability, mitochondrial activity and plasma membrane integrity in pigs. Curcumin (0, 5 and $10{\mu}M$) was treated in boar semen, which were incubated for 9 hours in $37^{\circ}C$. Then, motility, viability, mitochondrial activity, plasma membrane integrity of sperm was analyzed every 3 hours. In the results, sperm motility was significantly increased by $5{\mu}M$ curcumin after 3 and 9 hours after incubation, and viability was significantly higher in $5{\mu}M$ curcumin treatment at 3 hours (P<0.05). Similarly, sperm mitochondrial activity and plasma membrane integrity were significantly increased by $5{\mu}M$ curcumin at 3, 6 and 9 hours after incubation (P<0.05). There results suggest that curcumin improve sperm characteristics such as motility, viability, mitochondrial activity, and plasma membrane integrity, and may exert a positive effect on sperm fertility in pigs.

• Journal of Information Display
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.111-116
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• 2009

In this paper, a plasma-assisted patterning method for the organic layers of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and its effect on the OLED performances are reported. Oxygen plasma was used to etch the organic layers, using the top electrode consisting of lithium fluoride and aluminum as an etching mask. Although the current flow at low voltages increased for the etched OLEDs, there was no significant degradation of the OLED efficiency and lifetime in comparison with the conventional OLEDs. Therefore, this method can be used to reduce the ohmic voltage drop along the common top electrodes by connecting the top electrode with highly conductive bus lines after the common organic layers on the bus lines are etched by plasma. To further analyze the current increase at low voltages, the plasma patterning effect on the OLED performance was investigated by changing the device sizes, especially in one direction, and by changing the etching depth in the vertical direction of the device. It was found that the current flow increase at low voltages was not proportional to the device sizes, indicating that the current flow increase does not come from the leakage current along the etched sides. In the etching depth experiment, the current flow at low voltages did not increase when the etching process was stopped in the middle of the hole transport layer. This means that the current flow increase at low voltages is closely related to the modification of the hole injection layer, and thus, to the modification of the interface between the hole injection layer and the bottom electrode.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2014

The present study was aimed to evaluate the antioxidant defense system of cinnamaldehyde in normal, diabetic rats and its possible protection of pancreatic ${\beta}$-cells against its gradual loss under diabetic conditions. In vitro free radical scavenging effect of cinnamaldehyde was determined using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-dipicrylhydrazyl), superoxide radical, and nitric oxide radical. Streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats were orally administered with cinnamaldehyde at concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight for 45 days. At the end of the experiment, the levels of plasma lipid peroxides and antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, ceruloplasmin, catalase, superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione and glutathione peroxidase were determined. A significant increase in the levels of plasma glucose, vitamin E, ceruloplasmin, and lipid peroxides and significant decrease in the levels of plasma insulin and reduced glutathione were observed in the diabetic rats. Also the activities of pancreatic antioxidant enzymes were altered in the STZ-induced diabetic rats. The altered enzyme activities were reverted to near-normal levels after treatment with cinnamaldehyde and glibenclamide. Histopathological studies also revealed a protective effect of cinnamaldehyde on pancreatic ${\beta}$-cells. Cinnamaldehyde enhances the antioxidant defense against reactive oxygen species produced under hyperglycemic conditions and thus protects pancreatic ${\beta}$-cells against their loss and exhibits antidiabetic properties.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.140.2-140.2
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• 2013

Strong metal-support interaction effect is an important issue in determining the catalytic activity for heterogeneous catalysis. In this work, we report the catalytic activity of $Au/TiO_2$, $Au/Al_2O_3$, and $Au/Al_2O_3-CeO_2$ nanocatalysts under CO oxidation fabricated by arc plasma deposition (APD), which is a facile dry process with no organic materials involved. These catalytic materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and $N_2$-physisorption. Catalytic activity of the materials has measured by CO oxidation using oxygen, as a model reaction, in a micro-flow reactor at atmospheric pressure. Using APD, the catalyst nanoparticles were well dispersed on metal oxide powder with an average particle size (3~10 nm). As for catalytic reactivity, the result shows $Au/Al_2O_3-CeO_2$ nanocatalyst has the highest catalytic activity among three samples in CO oxidation, and $Au/TiO_2$, and $Au/Al_2O_3$ in sequence. We discuss the effects of structure and metal-oxide interactions of the catalysts on catalytic activity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.15-17
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• 2001

A new possibility of our atmospheric cold plasma torch has been examined on the surface treatment of an air-exposed vulcanized rubber compound. The plasma treatment effect was evaluated by the bondability with another rubber compound using a polyurethane adhesive.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.277-289
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• 2003

This study proposes a mathematical model to characterize the removal of nitrogen oxides in a dielectric barrier discharge plasma process. As well as the reactions between nitrogen oxides, water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen, the model takes into account the effect of ethylene often used as a chemical additive to reduce the power consumption of the process on the removal of nitrogen oxides. Since the concentrations of the radicals concerned in the main reactions including O, OH, H and N should be calculated to predict the removal efficiency of nitrogen oxides, they were theoretically derived. The parameters affecting the removal of nitrogen oxides, such as initial concentration, discharge power, humidity, and ethylene concentration were experimentally evaluated, which were compared with the calculated results to verify the validity of the model proposed. The predicted concentrations of several byproducts formed in this process were also presented and discussed. The effects of several parameters mentioned above on the removal of nitrogen oxides were reasonable described by the proposed model.