• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.1196-1202
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• 2001

In boar spermatozoa, the head-to-head agglutinability changes in parallel with the development of the fertilizing ability. Namely, both abilities gradually increase in the distal caput and corpus epididymides, but are subsequently suppressed in the cauda epididymidis. It has been postulated that these changes of the agglutinability are controlled via sperm interaction with specific epididymal plasma factors including agglutination mediators (agglutinins) and inhibitors (anti-agglutinins). Expression of these abilities (sperm agglutination and capacitation) is hardly observed in spermatozoa immediately. after ejaculation, but it occurs during incubation in a capacitation medium. Recently, we have purified and characterized epididymal plasma anti-agglutinin for boar spermatozoa. Moreover, we have conducted a series of experiments to reveal biological significance and mechanism of the head-to-head agglutination and have accumulated data indicating that boar sperm agglutination is mediated by capacitation-supporting factors including calcium, bicarbonate and sterol acceptors. This review introduces our recent data and discusses a possible mechanism for suppression of the agglutinability in the distal epididymidis and relationship between agglutinability and fertilizing ability.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.543-549
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• 2011

An underwater speaker was developed for use as an acoustic deterrent device that transmits acoustic energy through the water omnidirectionally over a broadband frequency range to eliminate marine mammal attacks and to prevent physical damage to the inshore and coastal fishing grounds of Korea. The underwater speaker was constructed of two vibration caps machined from 6061-T6 aluminum alloy and a stack of PZ 26 piezoelectric ceramic rings (Ferroperm Piezoceramics A/S) connected mechanically in series and electrically in parallel. The performance characteristics of the underwater speaker were measured and analyzed in an experimental water tank of $5\;m{\times}5\;m{\times}6\;m$. The peak transmitting voltage response (TVR) was measured at 11.16 kHz with 163.45 dB re $1\;{\mu}Pa$/V at 1m. The underwater speaker showed a near omnidirectional beam pattern at the peak TVR resonance frequency. The usable frequency range was 4-25 kHz with a lower TVR limit of approximately 140 dB. We conclude that this underwater speaker could be satisfactorily used as an acoustic deterrent device against marine mammals, particularly the bottlenose dolphin, to protect catches and fishing grounds as well as the mammals themselves, for example, by keeping them away from fishing gear and/or vessels.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.436-446
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• 2016

A novel step-up DC-DC converter with a switched-coupled-inductor-capacitor (SCIC) which successfully integrates three-winding coupled inductors and switched-capacitor techniques is proposed in this paper. The primary side of the coupled inductors for the SCIC is charged by the input source, and the capacitors are charged in parallel and discharged in series by the secondary windings of the coupled inductor to achieve a high step-up voltage gain with an appropriate duty ratio. In addition, the passive lossless clamped circuits recycle the leakage energy and reduce the voltage stress on the main switch effectively, and the reverse-recovery problem of the diodes is alleviated by the leakage inductor. Thus, the efficiency can be improved. The operating principle and steady-state analyses of the converter are discussed in detail. Finally, a prototype circuit at a 50 kHz switching frequency with a 20-V input voltage, a 200-V output voltage, and a 200-W output power is built in the laboratory to verify the performance of the proposed converter.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.643-653
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• 2016

The conventional methods used to evaluate battery state-of-charge (SOC) cannot accommodate the chemistry nonlinearities, measurement inaccuracies and parameter perturbations involved in estimation systems. In this paper, an impedance-based equivalent circuit model has been constructed with respect to a LiFePO₄ battery by approximating the electrochemical impedance spectrum (EIS) with RC circuits. The efficiencies of approximating the EIS with RC networks in different series-parallel forms are first discussed. Additionally, the typical hysteresis characteristic is modeled through an empirical approach. Subsequently, a methodology incorporating an H-infinity observer designated for open-circuit voltage (OCV) observation and a hysteresis model developed for OCV-SOC mapping is proposed. Thereafter, evaluation experiments under FUDS and UDDS test cycles are undertaken with varying temperatures and different current-sense bias. Experimental comparisons, in comparison with the EKF based method, indicate that the proposed SOC estimator is more effective and robust. Moreover, test results on a group of Li-ion batteries, from different manufacturers and of different chemistries, show that the proposed method has high generalization capability for all the three types of Li-ion batteries.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.97-104
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• 2011

This paper proposes a new alternating current driving method for highly capacitive loads such as plasma display panels or piezoelectric actuators, etc. In the proposed scheme, a current balance transformer, which has two windings with the same turn-ratio, provides not only a resonance inductance for energy recovery but also a current balance among all of the switching devices of the driver for current stress reduction. The smaller conduction loss than conventional circuits occurs due to the dual conduction paths which are parallel each other in the current balance transformer. Also, the leakage inductances of the transformer are utilized as resonant inductors for energy recovery by the series resonance to the capacitive load. Furthermore, the resonance contributes to the small switching losses of the switching devices by soft-switching operation. To confirm the validity of the proposed circuit, prototype hardware with a 12-inch mercury-free flat fluorescent lamp is implemented. The experimental results are compared with a conventional energy-recovery circuit from the perspective of luminance performances.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.592-599
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• 2013

This paper investigates a new isolated single-phase AC-DC converter, which integrates a modified AC-DC buck-boost converter with a DC-DC forward converter. The front semi-stage is operated in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) to achieve an almost unity power factor and a low total harmonic distortion of the input current. The rear semi-stage is used for step-down voltage conversion and electrical isolation. The front semi-stage uses a coupled inductor with the same winding-turn in the primary and secondary sides, which is charged in series during the switch-on period and is discharged in parallel during the switch-off period. The discharging time can be shortened. In other words, the duty ratio can be extended. This semi-stage can be operated in a larger duty-ratio range than the conventional AC-DC buck-boost converter for DCM operation. Therefore, the proposed converter is suitable for universal input voltage (90~264 $V_{rms}$) and a wide output-power range. Moreover, the voltage stress on the DC-link capacitor is low. Finally, a prototype circuit is implemented to verify the performance of the proposed converter.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.159-163
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• 2005

This paper gives characterization of ZnO thin film deposited by RF magnetron sputtering method, which is concerned in deposition process and device fabrication process, to fabricate solidly mounted resonator(SMR)-type film bulk acoustic resonator(FBAR). A piezoelectric layer of 1.1${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ thick ZnO thin films were grown on thermally oxidized SiO$_2$(3000 $\AA$)/Si substrate layers by RF magnetron sputtering at the room temperature. The highly c-axis oriented ZnO thin film was obtained at the conditions of 265 W of RF power, 10 mtorr of working pressure, and 50/50 of Ar/O$_2$ gas ratio. The piezoelectric-active area was 50 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$${\times}$50${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, and the thickness of ZnO film and Al-3 % Cu electrode were 1.4 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and 180${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, respectively. Its series and parallel frequencies appeared at 2.128 and 2.151 GHz, respectively, and the qualify factor of the resonator was as high as 401.8$\pm$8.5.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.1065-1072
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• 2000

The molecular areas and the interfacial tension behavior of ten nonionic surfactants, i.e., Span 20 and Tween 20, 40, 60. 80, 21, 61, 81, 65, & 85 are tested to assay their effects on the wetting and liquid retention properties of hydrophilic and hydrophobic fibrous materials. The molecular areas at water/air interface are derived from Gibbs’adsorption equations. The following conclusions are drawn from the results: 1) Span 20 is efficient in lowering the interfacial tension and effective in adsorption at the water/air interface, resulting in the low interfacial tension at critical micelle concentration (${\gamma}$$_{CMC}$) and a small molecular area($\omega$), 2) when the hydrophiles of the surfactants are constant, $\omega$’s increase as hydrophobe carbon numbers of the surfactants increase, 3) when the hydrophobes are constant, ${\gamma}$$_{CMC}$’s and $\omega$’s increase as the hydrophile ethylene oxide units increase, indicating effectiveness and efficiency is parallel in this case, 4) the ethylene oxide unit length as a hydrophile has greater influence on u than the hydrophobe chain length.han the hydrophobe chain length.gth.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.68-75
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• 2008

The three-dimensional structure of detonation wave propagating in a circular tube was investigated using a parallel computational code developed previously. A series of parametric study for a circular tube of a fixed diameter gave the formation mechanism of the detonation cell structures depending on pre-exponential factor, k. The unsteady results in three-dimension showed the mechanisms of two, three and four cell mode of detonation wave front structures. The detonation cell number was increased but cell width and length were decreased with increased pre-exponential factor k. In the all multi-cell mode, the detonation wave structure and smoked-foil records on the wall are made by the moving of transverse waves. The detonation wave front structures have the regular polygon and windmill shapes periodically.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.269-276
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• 1992

An ion-exchange/conductometric method is applied for the determination of total acidity in simulated atmospheric samples. Non-$H^+$ cations and strong acid anions are enriched by the preconcentrator columns in series and eluted through the corresponding parallel suppressor units. The conductivities from each channel correspond to the concentrations of the resulting ionized species in equivalents per unit volume. The difference is the measure of acidity due to strong acids. With 5-min sampling at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min, the detection limits for ${NH_4}^+$ and ${SO_4}^{2-}$ are 0.3 and $0.1{\mu}equiv/L$, respectively. The acidity for samples composed of various ions can be determined without significant error, usually less than 5%. The proposed method discriminates against the artifact from the $CO_2$ dissolution. Principles of acidity measurements are also presented.