• Title/Summary/Keyword: Research frontier

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Intercomparison of interannual changes in NDVI from PAL and GIMMS in relation to evapotranspiration over northern Asia

  • Suzuki Rikie;Masuda Kooiti;Dye Dennis
    • Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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    • 2004.10a
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    • pp.162-165
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    • 2004
  • The authors' previous study found an interannual covariability between actual evapotranspiration (ET) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) over northern Asia. This result suggested that vegetation controls interannual variation in ET. In this prior study, NDVI data from the Pathfinder AVHRR Land (PAL) dataset were analyzed. However, studies of NDVI interannual change are subject to uncertainty, because NDVI data often contain errors associated with sensor- and atmosphere-related effects. This study is aimed toward reducing this uncertainty by employing NDVI dataset, from the Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling Studies (GIMMS) group, in addition to PAL. The analysis was carried out for the northern Asia region from 1982 to 2000. 19-year interannual change in PAL-NDVI and GIMMS-NDVI were both compared with interannual change in model-assimilated ET. Although the correlation coefficient between GIMMS-NDVI and ET is slightly less than for PAL-NDVI and ET, for both NDVI datasets the annual maximum correlation with ET occurs in June, which is near the central period of the growing season. A significant positive correlation between GIMMS-NDVI and ET was observed over most of the vegetated land area in June as well as PAL-NDVI and ET. These results reinforce the authors' prior research that indicates the control of interannual change in ET is dominated by interannual change in vegetation activity.

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Phytogenic silver nanoparticles (Alstonia scholaris) incorporated with epoxy coating on PVC materials and their biofilm degradation studies

  • Supraja, Nookala;Tollamadugu, Naga Venkata Krishna Vara Prasad;Adam, S.
    • Advances in nano research
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    • v.4 no.4
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    • pp.281-294
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    • 2016
  • The advantages of nano-scale materials (size 1-99 nm in at least in one dimension) could be realized with their potential applications in diversified avenues. Herein, we report for the first time on the successful synthesis of homogeneous epoxy coatings containing phytogenic silver nanoparticles (Ag) on PVC and glass substrates by room-temperature curing of fully mixed epoxy slurry diluted by acetone. Alstonia scholaris bark extract was used to reduce and stabilize the silver ions. The surface morphology and mechanical properties of these coatings were characterized using the techniques like, UV-Vis (UV-Visible) spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FT-IR), Epifluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of incorporating Ag nanoparticles on the biofilm (scale) resistant epoxy-coated PVC was investigated by total viable counts ($CFU/cm^2$) from epoxy coating from (Initial) $1^{st}$ day to $25^{th}$ days. The phytogenic Ag nanoparticles were found to be significantly improving the microstructure of the coating matrix and thus enhanced the anti-biofilm performance of the epoxy coating. In addition, the antimicrobial mechanism of Ag nanoparticles played an important role in improving the anti-biofilm performance of these epoxy coatings.

Comparison of Stochastic Frontier Models in Application to Analysis on R&D and Production Efficiency (R&D와 생산효율성 관계에 관한 계량모형 비교연구: 확률적 생산변경모형을 중심으로)

  • Lee, Young Hoon
    • Economic Analysis
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.103-130
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    • 2011
  • This paper intends to provide applied economists which study the effects of research and development with valuable information on econometric model selection. It includes extensive discussion on econometric models which have been applied for the study on the relationship between research and development and productivity. In particular, it compares various stochastic production frontier models which have been developed recently. The discussion decomposes them into models with scaling property and the ones with nonscaling property as well as models with monotonic and nonmonotonic relationships between research and development and productivity. Finally, this paper applies the models to two different panel data sets (firm level data and country level data) and compare estimation results from competing econometric models.

Bioinformatics Analysis of Autophagy and Mitophagy Markers Associated with Delayed Cerebral Ischemia Following Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

  • Youn, Dong Hyuk;Kim, Bong Jun;Hong, Eun Pyo;Jeon, Jin Pyeong
    • Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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    • v.65 no.2
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    • pp.236-244
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    • 2022
  • Objective : To evaluate the interactions among differentially expressed autophagy and mitophagy markers in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients with delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI). Methods : The expression data of autophagy and mitophagy-related makers in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cells was analyzed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. The markers included death-associated protein kinase (DAPK)-1, BCL2 interacting protein 3 like (BNIP3L), Bcl-1 antagonist X, phosphatase and tensin homolog-induced kinase (PINK), Unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 1, nuclear dot protein 52, and p62. In silico functional analyses including gene ontology enrichment and the protein-protein interaction network were performed. Results : A total of 56 SAH patients were included and 22 (38.6%) of them experienced DCI. The DCI patients had significantly increased mRNA levels of DAPK1, BNIP3L, and PINK1, and increased expression of BECN1 compared to the non-DCI patients. The most enriched biological process was the positive regulation of autophagy, followed by the response to mitochondrial depolarization. The molecular functions ubiquitin-like protein ligase binding and ubiquitin-protein ligase binding were enriched. In the cluster of cellular components, Lewy bodies and the phagophore assembly site were enriched. BECN1 was the most connected gene among the differentially expressed markers related to autophagy and mitophagy in the development of DCI. Conclusion : Our study may provide novel insight into mitochondrial dysfunction in DCI pathogenesis.

Novel Genome-Wide Interactions Mediated via BOLL and EDNRA Polymorphisms in Intracranial Aneurysm

  • Eun Pyo Hong;Dong Hyuk Youn;Bong Jun Kim;Jae Jun Lee;Sehyeon Nam;Hyojong Yoo;Heung Cheol Kim;Jong Kook Rhim;Jeong Jin Park;Jin Pyeong Jeon
    • Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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    • v.66 no.4
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    • pp.409-417
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    • 2023
  • Objective : The association between boule (BOLL) and endothelin receptor type A (EDNRA) loci and intracranial aneurysm (IA) formation has been reported via genome-wide association studies. We sought to identify genome-wide interactions involving BOLL and EDNRA loci for IA in a Korean adult cohort. Methods : Genome-wide pairwise interaction analyses of BOLL and EDNRA involving 250 patients with IA and 296 controls were performed using the additive effect model after adjusting for confounding factors. Results : Among 512575 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 23 and 11 common SNPs suggested a genome-wide interaction threshold (p<1.25×10-8) involving rs700651 (BOLL) and rs6841581 (EDNRA). Rather than singe SNP effect of BOLL or EDNRA on IA development, they showed a synergistic effect on IA formation via multifactorial pair-wise interactions. The rs1105980 of PTCH1 gene showed the most significant interaction with rs700651 (natural log-transformed odds ratio [lnOR], 1.53; p=6.41×10-11). The rs74585958 of RYK gene interacted strongly with rs6841581 (lnOR, -19.91; p=1.64×10-9). Although, there was no direct interaction between BOLL and EDNRA variants, two EDNRA-interacting gene variants of TNIK (rs11925024 and rs1231) and FTO (rs9302654), and one BOLL-interacting METTL4 gene variant (rs549315) exhibited marginal interaction with BOLL gene. Conclusion : BOLL or EDNRA may have a synergistic effect on IA formation via multifactorial pair-wise interactions.

Smart Honeycomb Sandwich Panels With Damage Detection and Shape Recovery Functions

  • Okabe, Yoji;Minakuchi, Shu;Shiraishi, Nobuo;Murakami, Ken;Takeda, Nobuo
    • Advanced Composite Materials
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.41-56
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    • 2008
  • In this research, optical fiber sensors and shape memory alloys (SMA) were incorporated into sandwich panels for development of a smart honeycomb sandwich structure with damage detection and shape recovery functions. First, small-diameter fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors were embedded in the adhesive layer between a CFRP face-sheet and an aluminum honeycomb core. From the change in the reflection spectrum of the FBG sensors, the debonding between the face-sheet and the core and the deformation of the face-sheet due to impact loading could be well detected. Then, the authors developed the SMA honeycomb core and bonded CFRP face-sheets to the core. When an impact load was applied to the panel, the cell walls of the core were buckled and the face-sheet was bent. However, after the panel was heated over the reverse transformation finish temperature of the SMA, the core buckling disappeared and the deflection of the face-sheet was relieved. Hence the bending stiffness of the panel could be recovered.

Photofield-Effect in Amorphous InGaZnO TFTs

  • Fung, Tze-Ching;Chuang, Chiao-Shun;Mullins, Barry G.;Nomura, Kenji;Kamiya, Toshio;Shieh, Han-Ping David;Hosono, Hideo;Kanicki, Jerzy
    • 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2008.10a
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    • pp.1208-1211
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    • 2008
  • We study the amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistors (TFTs) properties under monochromatic illumination ($\lambda=420nm$) with different intensity. TFT off-state drain current ($I_{DS_off}$) was found to increase with the light intensity while field effect mobility ($\mu_{eff}$) is almost unchanged; only small change was observed for sub-threshold swing (S). Due to photo-generated charge trapping, a negative threshold voltage ($V_{th}$) shift is also observed. The photofield-effect analysis suggests a highly efficient UV photocurrent conversion in a-IGZO TFT. Finally, a-IGZO mid-gap density-of-states (DOS) was extracted and is more than an order lower than reported value for a-Si:H, which can explain a good switching properties of the a-IGZO TFTs.

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The Formation of Nitride and Enhancement of Mechanical Properties of Al Alloy by Nitrogen Implantation (Al합금에서 질소이온주입에 의한 질화물 형성과 기계적 특성 향상)

  • Jeong, Jae-Pil;Lee, Jae-Sang;Kim, Kye-Ryung;Choi, Byung-Ho
    • Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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    • v.39 no.5
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    • pp.235-239
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    • 2006
  • The aluminum nitride(AlN) layer on Al7075 substrate has been formed through nitrogen ion implantation process. The implantation process was performed under the conditions : 100 keV energy, total ion dose up to $2{\times}10^{18}\;ions/cm^2$. XRD analysis showed that aluminum nitride layers were formed by nitrogen implantation. The formation of Aluminum nitride enhanced surface hardness up to 265HK(0.02 N) from 150HK(0.02 N) for the unimplanted specimen. Micro-Knoop hardness test showed that wear resistance was improved about 2 times for nitrogen implanted specimens above $5\;{\times}\;10^{17}\;ions/cm^2$. The friction coefficient was measured by Ball-on-disc type wear tester and was decreased to 1/3 with increasing total nitrogen ion dose up to $1\;{\times}\;10^{18}ions/cm^2$. The enhancement of mechanical properties was observed to be closely associated with AlN formation. AES analysis showed that the maximum concentration of nitrogen increased as ion dose increased until $5\;{\times}\;10^{17}\;ions/cm^2$.

Wetness or Warmth, Which is the Dominant Factor for Vegetation?

  • Suzuki, Rikie;Xu, Jianqing;Motoya, Ken
    • Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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    • 2003.11a
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    • pp.147-149
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    • 2003
  • The wetness, a function of precipitation and temperature etc, and the warmth, a function of temperature, are the dominant factor for global vegetation distribution. This paper employs the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), warmth index (WAI), and wetness index (WEI), and focuses on an essential climate-vegetation relationship at global scale. The NDVI was acquired from ‘Twenty-year global 4-minute AVHRR NDVI dataset.’ The WEI is defined as the fraction of the precipitation to the potential evaporation. The WAI was calculated by accumulating the monthly mean temperature of the portion exceeded 5$^{\circ}C$ throughout the year. Meteorological data for the WEI and WAI calculation were obtained from the ISLSCP CD-ROM. All analyses were conducted for 1 ${\times}$ 1 degree grid box on the terrestrial area of the Earth, and on annual value basis averaged in 1987 and 1988. The result of analyses demonstrated that there are two regimes in their relations, that is, a regime in which NDVIs vary depending on the WEI, and a regime in which NDVIs vary depending on the WAI. These two regimes appeared to correspond to the wetness dominant and warmth dominant vegetation, respectively. The geographical distributions of two regimes were mapped. Most of the world vegetation is categorized into wetness dominant, while warmth dominant vegetation is seen in the high-latitude area mainly to the north of 60$^{\circ}$N in the Northern Hemisphere and high-altitude areas.

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