• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.1111-1118
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• 2023

As a long-term condition that affects the airways and lungs, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by inflammation, emphysema, breathlessness, chronic cough, and sputum production. Currently, the bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory drugs prescribed for COPD are mostly off-target, warranting new disease management strategies. Accumulating research has revealed the gut-lung axis to be a bidirectional communication system. Cigarette smoke, a major exacerbating factor in COPD and lung inflammation, affects gut microbiota composition and diversity, causing gut microbiota dysbiosis, a condition that has recently been described in COPD patients and animal models. For this review, we focused on the gut-lung axis, which is influenced by gut microbial metabolites, bacterial translocation, and immune cell modulation. Further, we have summarized the findings of preclinical and clinical studies on the association between gut microbiota and COPD to provide a basis for using gut microbiota in therapeutic strategies against COPD. Our review also proposes that further research on probiotics, prebiotics, short-chain fatty acids, and fecal microbiota transplantation could assist therapeutic approaches targeting the gut microbiota to alleviate COPD.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.72-77
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• 2010

Honeycomb core structure with its excellent stiffness and strength is being utilized in many fields such as interior building material. Because it is inexpensive and renewable, honeycomb paper production is economically and environmentally helpful. However, the paper needs to be fireproofed because it is vulnerable to fire. In this study, we have undergone the performance evaluation process of the honeycomb paper which is widely used as interior material of a fire door and packing material. Four kinds of honeycomb (a honeycomb made of flame-resistant paper; a honeycomb attached with conventional flame-resistant film made in the laboratory; honeycomb impregnated with flame retardant; a honeycomb attached with flame-resistant film after impregnating fire retardant) were used in the study to compare the fire retardant performance. As a result, the honeycomb with impregnated flame retardant showed the highest performance. The flame-resistant film was effective in delaying the igniting time but had a negative effect on the rate of heat and smoke production.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.755-764
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• 2020

Due to pronounced mechanical performance and being environmental friendly, aqueous polymer isocyanate adhesive (API) has been widely applied in the production of formaldehyde-free wood products. In this study, flame retardant formaldehyde-free plywood was prepared by incorporation of flame retardants into the API adhesive. Partially phosphorylated poly (vinyl alcohol) (PPVA) which was prepared by reacting poly (vinyl alcohol) with phosphoric acid was used to replace PVA in API formula. In addition, Mg-Al layered double hydroxides (LDH) was chosen as additive flame retardant, replacing traditional filler CaCO₃ in API adhesive formula. And then, the flame retardant API adhesive with main agent (PPVA replacing PVA70wt.%, SBR emulsion 30wt.%), curing agent 10wt.% (accounts for of the main agent), and 20wt.% LDHs (accounts of the main agent) was used to prepare flame retardant plywood. The effect of application of PPVA and Mg-Al LDH on bonding strength of plywood was investigated. The flammability characteristics of the plywood were determined by cone calorimeter test (CCT). The results revealed that compared with the plywood prepared with API adhesive, the use of PPVA and LDH enhanced the flame retardancy of plywood without negatively affecting bonding strength. The CCT tests indicated that the heat release and smoke production flame retardant API plywood were lower than those of the ordinary API glued plywood. Promising developments for flame retardant API adhesive were expected in future applications of flame retardant formaldehyde-free plywood.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.127-140
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• 2024

Upon direct/indirect exposure to flame or heat, composite structures may burn or thermally buckle. This issue becomes more important in the natural fiber-based composite structures with higher flammability and lower mechanical properties. The main goal of the present study was to obtain an optimal eco-friendly composite system with low flammability and high thermal buckling resistance. The studied composite consisted of polypropylene (PP) and short abaca fiber (AF) with eggshell powder (ESP) and halloysite clay nanotubes (HNTs) additives. An optimal base composite, consisting of 30 wt.% AF and 70 wt.% PP, abbreviated as OAP, was initially introduced based on burning rate (BR) and the Young's modulus determined by horizontal burning test (HBT) and tensile test, respectively. The effects of adding ESP to the base composite were then investigated with the same experimental tests. The results indicated that though the BR significantly decreased with the increase of ESP content up to 6 wt.%, it had a very destructive influence on the stiffness of the composite. To compensate for the damaging effect of ESP, small amount of HNT was used. The performance of OAP composite with 6 wt.% ESP and 3 wt.% HNT (OAPEH) was explored by conducting HBT, cone calorimeter test (CCT) and tensile test. The experimental results indicated a 9~23 % reduction in almost all flammability parameters such as heat release rate (HRR), total heat released (THR), maximum average rate of heat emission (MARHE), total smoke released (TSR), total smoke production (TSP), and mass loss (ML) during combustion. Furthermore, the combination of 6 wt.% ESP and 3 wt.% HNT reduced the stiffness of OAP to an insignificant amount by maximum 3%. Moreover, the char residue analysis revealed the distinct differences in the formation of char between AF/PP and AF/PP/ESP/HNT composites. Afterward, dilatometry test was carried out to examine the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of OAP and OAPEH samples. The obtained results showed that the CTE of OAPEH composite was about 18% less than that of OAP. Finally, a theoretical model was used based on first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) to predict the critical bucking temperatures of the OAP and OAPEH composite plates. It was shown that in the absence of mechanical load, the critical buckling temperatures of OAPEH composite plates were higher than those of OAP composites, such that the difference between the buckling temperatures increased with the increase of thickness. On the contrary, the positive effect of CTE reduction on the buckling temperature decreased by raising the axial compressive mechanical load on the composite plates which can be assigned to the reduction of stiffness after the incorporation of ESP. The results of present study generally stated that a suitable combination of AF, PP, ESP, and HNT can result in a relatively optimal and environmentally friendly composite with proper flame and thermal buckling resistance with no significant decline in the stiffness.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.246-258
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• 2010

A convective circulation box was redesigned after analyzing reasons why adolescent elementary school students could not derive a convective circulation concept from the convection circulation box experiments. Even though students were in the formal operational period of Piaget, the adolescents felt difficult to understand a concept of the natural phenomena they have never seen before. Thus, we designed a method to help students increase their scientific understandings about the concept through developing a miniature convective circulation box. Findings indicated that an application of redesigned convective circulation box in the classroom experiment significantly increased the students' understanding about the convective circulations of land and sea breezes, and as well as their participation in the activities. In addition, the redesigned convective circulation box motivated students to develop their scientific thinking skills by allowing them to decide where to put visible incenses inside the box and to directly observe the smoke currents circulation formed accordingly. Redesigning and using a convective circulationbox as a miniature of natural phenomenon helps students avoid having misconceptions. The biggest merits of the box are that it is observable in all directions, it provides much clearer convective circulations comparing to the extant box, and it requires low production costs.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.179-199
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was conducted to prepare the fundamental data on oral hygiene of the elderly and to assess the behavior of oral hygiene, subjective oral health, oral health problem among the elderly, and to contribute to successful enhancement of life in their declining years. Methods: The author surveyed the behavior of oral hygiene, subjective oral health, oral health problem to 192 elderly at a health center of Busan using structured self- administered questionnaire from Nov. 2nd 2009 to Feb. 10th 2010. Collected data were analysed by SPSS WIN 18.0 statistical program for frequency, percentage production, ${\chi}^2$ (Chi-square) verification, t-test, One-way ANOVA, Logistic Regression. Results: The distribution of total subjects by oral health behaviors were 56.8% for "have ever trained how to tooth brushing", 76.6% for "correctly performed tooth brushing by himself ", 71.8% for "tooth brushing a day is two times and less", 87.5% for "it doesn't tooth brushing in meals and after" and 53.6% for "it doesn't use the facility for oral health", respectively. The distribution of total subjects by the state of perceived oral health were 51.0% for "feel the oral discomfort", 51.6% for "feel the comfortable chewing on starchy food", respectively. The mean point of perceived oral health by general characteristics of total subjects were statistically significant difference in sex, type of medical insurance, smoke, exercise, and chronic disease. The mean point of perceived oral health by oral health behaviors of total subjects were statistically significant difference in educational experience on tooth brushing, recognition for tooth brushing by himself, tooth brushing a day, and tongue cleaning. The risk factors of perceived oral health were type of medical insurance and chronic disease in general characteristics, tooth brushing in meals and after and tooth brushing a day, and tongue cleaning in oral health behaviors. Conclusion: The author recommend to the prevention of chronic disease, carry out the tooth brushing in meals and after, three times and over tooth brushing a day and tongue cleaning for oral health. and the author consider that it need to prepare the active countermeasure to oral health such as reeducation for oral health and supply to the tongue cleaner.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.230-236
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• 2009

Acrolein, a known toxin in cigarette smoke, is the most abundant electrophilic $\alpha$, $\beta$-unsaturated aldehyde to which humans are exposed in a variety of environmental pollutants, and is also product of lipid peroxidation. Increased unsaturated aldehyde levels and reduced antioxidant status plays a major role in the pathogenesis of various diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's and atherosclerosis. The findings reported here show that low concentrations of acrolein induce heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages. HO-1 induction by acrolein and signal pathways was measured using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot and immunofluorescence staining analyses. Inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase activity significantly attenuated the induction of HO-1 protein by acrolein, while suppression of Jun N-terminal kinase and p38 activity did not affect induction of HO-1 expression. Moreover, rottlerin, an inhibitor of protein kinase $\delta$, suppressed the upregulation of HO-1 protein production, possibly involving the interaction of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which has a key role as a HO-1 transcription factor. Acrolein elevated the nuclear translocation of Nrf2 in nuclear extraction. The results suggest that RAW 264.7 may protect against acrolein-mediated cellular damage via the upregulation of HO-1, which is an adaptive response to oxidative stress.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.23-30
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• 2016

A fire extinguishing system for a rack warehouse was recently designed, which only consider the gross area and number of stories. However, the design of such a system should take into account not only the planar structuree, but also the elevation perspectives due to its vertical structure. Moreover, the fire load of the commodities palletized on the racks should be considered, in order to design a performance-based fire safety system that is appropriate for these environmental conditions. For this reason, this study analyzed the fire characteristics of the commodities palletized on the racks (pallet + the commodities in a box unit + vinyl packing material), taking into consideration the results of a field investigation conducted in Korea, as well as the Hazard Classifications of Commodities used in other countries. Through this analysis, the heat release rate (HRR) and smoke production rate (SPR) were derived.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.25-37
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• 2013

Open biomass burning (excluding biofuels) is an important contributor to air pollution in the Asian region. Estimation of emissions from fires, however, has been problematic, primarily because of uncertainty in the size and location of sources and in their temporal and spatial variability. Hence, more comprehensive tools to estimate wildfire emissions and that can characterize their temporal and spatial variability are needed. Furthermore, an emission processing system that can generate speciated, gridded, and temporally allocated emissions is needed to support air-quality modeling studies over Asia. For these reasons, a biomass-burning emissions modeling system based on satellite imagery was developed to better account for the spatial and temporal distributions of emissions. The BlueSky Framework, which was developed by the USDA Forest Service and US EPA, was used to develop the Asian biomass-burning emissions modeling system. The sub-models used for this study were the Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS), CONSUME, and the Emissions Production Model (EPM). Our domain covers not only Asia but also Siberia and part of central Asia to assess the large boreal fires in the region. The MODIS fire products and vegetation map were used in this study. Using the developed modeling system, biomass-burning emissions were estimated during April and July 2008, and the results were compared with previous studies. Our results show good to fair agreement with those of GFEDv3 for most regions, ranging from 9.7 % in East Asia to 52% in Siberia. The SMOKE modeling system was combined with this system to generate three-dimensional model-ready emissions employing the fire-plume rise algorithm. This study suggests a practicable and maintainable methodology for supporting Asian air-quality modeling studies and to help understand the impact of air-pollutant emissions on Asian air quality.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.149-157
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• 2014

Smoking is one of the most serious but preventable causes of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Key aspects of pathological process associated with smoking include endothelial dysfunction, a prothrombotic state, inflammation, altered lipid metabolism, and hypoxia. Multiple molecular events are involved in smoking-induced CVD. However, the dysregulations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and metabolism mainly contribute to the development of diverse CVDs, and NADPH oxidase (NOX) has been established as a source of ROS responsible for the pathogenesis of CVD. NOX activation and resultant ROS production by cigarette smoke (CS) treatment have been widely observed in isolated blood vessels and cultured vascular cells, including endothelial and smooth muscle cells. NOX-mediated oxidative stress has also been demonstrated in animal studies. Of the various NOX isoforms, NOX2 has been reported to mediate ROS generation by CS, but other isoforms were not tested thoroughly. Of the many CS constituents, nicotine, methyl vinyl ketone, and ${\alpha}$,${\beta}$-unsaturated aldehydes, such as, acrolein and crotonaldehyde, appear to be primarily responsible for NOX-mediated cytotoxicity, but additional validation will be needed. Human epidemiological studies have reported relationships between polymorphisms in the CYBA gene encoding p22phox, a catalytic subunit of NOX and susceptibility to smoking-related CVDs. In particular, G allele carriers of A640G and $-930^{A/G}$ polymorphisms were found to be vulnerable to smoking-induced cardiovascular toxicity, but results for C242T studies are conflicting. On the whole, evidence implicates the etiological role of NOX in smoking-induced CVD, but the clinical relevance of NOX activation by smoking and its contribution to CVD require further validation in human studies. A detailed understanding of the role of NOX would be helpful to assess the risk of smoking to human health, to define high-risk subgroups, and to develop strategies to prevent or treat smoking-induced CVD.